Point-of-View: Belia Lasmodeus
———————————————————————————
Okay, this is going nowhere and starting to get really freaking boring...figures, even with Sant having changed so drastically, deep down he's still as boring as ever. He's continuing to attack with immense rage, but he's fighting more and more carefully the longer this goes on...guess his fear of getting his brains boiled again is greater than his rage.
On a more concerning note, his fighting style is also getting sharper and more competent with each and every exchange...I don't like that he's such a fast learner, each time I exploit one of his mistakes, he's careful not to make the same mistake again afterwards..
"Belia!!! Stop running away, you coward!" He exclaimed, teleporting behind me.
I immediately responded by teleporting away, but the instant that I reappeared, he swiftly took aim and fired out a rapid shard of ice at me, which I countered with a bolt of lightning, shattering the ice before it could reach me.
He expected me to respond the way I did, and tried to the target me in the instant I reappeared after teleporting...I'm not going to get anywhere in this fight, the fact is that I don't have a way to actually kill him, I don't have any tricks up my sleeve that would prompt him to use his remaining Divine Magic.
Physical injuries won't do a thing to him, and sealing him away won't work either, because, A, highly complex spells take a fair bit of time and concentration to cast, and B, because any spell I cast, he can unravel, it's just a matter of time.
But since I'm not really having much fun with this anymore, I want to end it...and the only way I can do that is to force him to retreat somehow. But, uh-...
"Belia!!!" He yelled furiously, as he shot towards me again.
...-he seems pretty fixated on finishing me off right here and now.
He then teleported, appearing right in front of me and driving a flaming fist towards my face. I activated my portal defense to block his attack...as I opened a connected portal to the right of his face, resulting in him slamming his own fist onto the side of his face, eliciting a choked gasp as he shattered most of his teeth and sending himself rapidly plummeting towards the ground, crashing down with a devastating impact.
Heh, he may be getting more competent as this fight goes on, but I'm still far more skilled than he is, and every so often, his rage overpowers his emotions and he blindly charges in, giving me an opening.
That last attack seems to have scorched off the skin on the right side of his face, along with absolutely destroying his cheekbone and teeth, but the damage was undone almost instantly, as he used his Restoration Magic.
Okay, that's it, I am officially over this, time to wrap it up. And I think I know exactly how to do that. As he began to fly up towards me again, I started teleporting all over the place while formulating a spell in my head, my sudden, random movements confusing him for a moment.
And in that moment, I took the opportunity and swiftly formed a barrier around him, one that nullifies General Magic spells and was highly durable. Oh, and it was also soundproof, he was yelling something in anger and gesturing at me, but I couldn't hear a thing.
Whether he tries to unravel the barrier or break it by using physical force, either way, it wouldn't hold for more than a few minutes. And I'll put that time to good use. First, a quick look around with Observation Magic-...oh, wow.
Sant's forces definitely have the advantage, the main forces of the Rustlands are barely hanging on right now...a few more minutes and they'll be overwhelmed, which means they'll be massacred. Okay, yeah, I made the right choice in deciding to bring this battle to an end.
My telepathy Divine Magic is almost totally irrelevant now, with most of the remaining intelligent monsters resistant to it thanks to Kuro's Chaos Magic, and the majority of the Monster Kings dead...but right now, I'm really glad I have it...well, here goes...
I focused on the telepathic link that had transferred from Korpse to Minise when Shiro channeled his life force into her. Wait, she and Shiro were left with the Fire Sage when I transported Sant and myself over here...crap, she might be dead-...oh, never mind, it connected!
"Oh, you're alive, great!" I communicated to her telepathically.
"Huh? Who said that!?" She responded in surprise.
Guess I should get straight to the point, Sant is already starting to put some cracks in the barrier, looks like he's going for the brute force option, why am I not surprised...
"It's me, Belia. I'm currently fighting Sant, and uh...this is going absolutely nowhere, if it keeps up much longer, we'll lose. Our side has already suffered a lot more casualties than their side, but our Adventurers are keeping them at bay, to some extent...I need you to tip the scales!"
"Me? But how? And how are you in my head like this anyway?" She asked, sounding bewildered and confused.
I guess I can't blame her for her confusion, but I don't have time for this! Okay, calm down...I shifted my gaze down towards Sant, who had almost shattered through the barrier.
I then quickly activated several more similar barriers over the first one, eliciting a roar of anger from him, before he switched from brute force to trying to unravel the spell...uh-oh, once he unravels and shatters one, he'll be able to undo the rest immediately, I need to hurry...!
"The spell I cast on you when Shiro transferred Korpse's life force into you, it wasn't just to ensure that you can respawn the monsters under your control...it also lets me contact you telepathically like I could with the Monster Kings, and also...it lets you summon your monsters anywhere you want, not just to your position," I explained as quickly as I could without losing coherency, before continuing as I got to the point, "Here's what I want you to do...summon every single one of the monsters under your control, spread them out evenly throughout the Rustlands and have them attack Elves, Dwarves, Fairies and Halflings. Oh, and don't summon the Ghouls...they'll attack indiscriminately no matter what. Got it?"
"Yeah, I-...wait, how do I do all that?" She inquired uncertainly.
"Uh...you're just going to have to figure it out yourself, I can't talk anymore. Seriously, he's so persistent, unlimited Restoration Magic is cheating! Anyway, hurry up and do as I said...otherwise, the Rustlands is finished. No pressure!" I explained, before cutting the link as Sant unraveled the barriers and let out a scream of fury, his eyes bulging and twitching with rage as he glared at me fiercely.
"You know, it always seemed like you were really hard to provoke, and I always found it annoying, but...right now, you're ridiculously easy to provoke, and you know what...it's really not all that fun," I remarked with a disappointed sigh, in an effort to buy time, since I didn't feel like fighting.
"Huh? All I hear from you is utter nonsense, you fool," He responded spitefully.
"Is that so? Alright, then, let me dumb it down for you...me bored now, so you leave...understand?" I remarked in a slow, condescending tone.
"You infuriating bitch!" He snapped, as he teleported above me with a huge fireball charging up in his hands.
The instant he swung it down at me, I swiftly formed a roof of water above myself, blocking and putting out the flames, before swiftly turning the water to ice, shattering it and then blasting all the pieces at Sant, several gashing and piercing into him before he teleported away with a yelp of pain.
As soon as he reappeared, I took aim and fired out a powerful lightning bolt at him, which he blocked with his Defense Magic, dissipating my lightning.
I then coated my fists in Weathering Magic and shot towards him, before teleporting behind him as I closed in and driving my fist towards his back, he activated his Defense Magic just in time, but all it did was slow my fist down by a negligible amount, as it dissipated upon contact, my Weathering Magic wearing out its time limit.
Right before my fist reached his back, I cast an intangibility spell on my hand, before undoing it as it went inside him, a scream of pain escaping his lips as I grabbed hold of his spine the instant my fist became tangible again.
"D-damn you...!" He exclaimed, his voice trembling with pain as I blasted out intense lightning and flames inside him.
"What's the matter, Sant? Thought you were gonna kill me and stuff?" I inquired in an innocent tone, as I channeled a powerful burst of lightning into him, blood bursting out of his mouth as I did, with wisps of smoke coming out of his eyeballs.
I then quickly let go, wrenched my hand out of his back and flew backwards as fast as I could, as several streaks of blue burst out of his fingertips towards me...tch, Destruction Magic again, and it looks like they're following me...this is really annoying!
I swooped down towards the ground, and as the streaks of Destruction Magic began to close in on me, I swiftly used Earth Magic to raise the ground and form a thick shield above myself, which got wiped out by the streaks of destruction, just barely absorbing all of the impact.
That was close. And, of course, Sant's already used his Restoration Magic to fix himself up.
"You have delayed the inevitable for long enough, Belia!" Exclaimed Sant in immense rage, his eyes bulging maniacally and his veins popping, "I shall put an end to this ridiculousness, you-...!"
He abruptly trailed off in shock as, suddenly, hundreds of monsters appeared all around, surprising me as well...
"She actually pulled it off...," I muttered to myself with an impressed smirk, "Well done, Minise..."
_____________________________________________
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!
Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.
Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:
https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP