It would be a complete lie if Emery said his body was not trembling in fear when he saw the fierce battle happening in the distance. The horror in his eyes grew exponentially when he saw the normal expressions in the two Wind Wolf warriors, who had turned into frozen sculptures, proving they didn't even realize they had died until the very last moment of their life.
"That's a tier 7 spell. That must be it. There's no other explanation otherwise," said Emery to himself, eyes still fixed on the scene of magnificent destruction in front of him.
The fear Emery experienced was justified though, as he was currently only able to cast up to tier 4 spells. Even if he managed to make a breakthrough to rank 9 right at this instant, it would only allow him to cast tier 5 spells. He clearly saw how Beatrice didn't leave unscathed when she tried to counteract it with her tier 6 spell.
This matter was clearly out of his league, just like what Klea had told him before.
Right now, Emery could only try his best to resist the fear budding and growing in his heart. He soon discovered he couldn't move his body, much less come out of his hiding place and help Magus Leon's group as planned.
In the end, he only watched the ongoing battle from afar and hoped that Magister Kadek would arrive soon. Otherwise, what would greet her would be the sight of all her subordinates being killed.
The possessor of Tiger Bloodline Magus Nimeria looked like she was about to deliver a ferocious, relentless attack to Beatrice's subordinates, who were trying to get away. Magus Leon immediately got into action when he saw this.
Unexpectedly, he decided to stop Magus Nimeria in her tracks, instead of helping his fellow enforcer, who was still struggling with the black goat magus Jigow.
[Sun Blade – Tier 6 light spell]
It was an advanced-level enhancement spell, just like Emery's [Dark Infusion] spell, but obviously better.
An eye-piercing glow was cast on his blade, making it thrum with power as Magus Leon brandished it and shot towards Magus Nimeria, who was also running toward the escaping group led by Brutus.
Magus Nimeria realized she would suffer dire consequences if she persisted with her assault, so she quickly changed her trajectory and took a defensive stance to welcome magus Leon, instead of continuing to attack the Wind Wolf pack.
Clank! BAM!
A loud metallic sound followed by an explosive one resounded in the air as, the two magus figures clashed into each other. Magus Nimeria blocked Magus Leon's deadly slash with her high tier gloves artifact. Before Emery could see whether the two sustained injury or not, they immediately started a round of exchanging attacks.
"WHY?! Tell me why would you do this?!" shouted Magus Leon, as he sent a horizontal slash. "From whom did you receive the order?! Is it the king himself?!" A glint flashed in his eyes as Magus Leon spoke those words.
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
Unexpectedly, the usually temperamental Magus Nimeria didn't say anything, as if she had turned mute. She just kept deflecting and evading the attacks Magus Leon threw at her, while also squeezing a few attacks of her own.
Seeing there was no reaction, the scowl on Magus Leon's face deepened and the man shouted loudly.
"TELL ME THE TRUTH!"
Splat!
Blood splattered in the air. This time Magus Leon managed to land his attack and wound Magus Nimeria's right shoulder, causing the latter to instinctively take a step back. A hateful look appeared on her face as Magus Nimeria stared at her opponent.
The expression on her face visibly distorted as she angrily said, "You slaves of the human alliance! you don't deserve the truth!"
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
While the battle between two magus level figures continued and grew fiercer as time went on, Emery shifted his gaze towards Brutus and the others. After Magus Nimeria was blocked by Magus Leon, they immediately grabbed the bound serpent girl and continued their escape as their figures shot towards the dense forest. Meanwhile, Beatrice quickly made her way to the two frozen sculptures, to see and check if they could still be saved.
On the other hand, Emery clearly saw how Magus Garnet shouted loudly, before his body started to emit a bright light. For a moment, he thought the other party was using some kind of enhancement spell, but his guess was proven wrong when Magus Garnet's body rapidly grew and finally allowed him to break free from Magus Jigow's grip.
Twice.
Thrice.
Nearly four times the size of a normal human back on Earth.
Magus Garnet finally broke away from Magus Jigow and the moment they faced each other again, the former had grown into a 8 meter tall figure. As if that wasn't enough, his entire body was also completely covered in metallic sheen as his spell took effect.
A metal element Half-Moon magus would certainly not die easily even against someone at the peak Full-Moon stage. The living proof was Magus Garnet standing right before Emery's very eyes.
ARGH! A loud scream filled with hatred echoed in the air. Magus Garnet shot towards the transformed Magus Jigow at breakneck speed.
Blood could be seen trickling out from his mouth as he raged ferociously and attacked his opponent relentlessly. The latter, however, was able to block each and every attack perfectly; he even managed to throw a punch or two amidst the onslaught of the storm of blows he received.
Bam! Bam! Bam! A series of dull sounds continuously reverberated in the air as the two battled, eavh strike they unleashed was capable of making the earth tremble.
What shocked Emery was the fact the smaller-size, dark-fur magus managed to hold his ground and even gradually take the flow of the battle. In just a dozen exchanges, he could see cracks had appeared everywhere on the metallic body of Magus Garnet, while his opponent Magus Jigow didn't seem to have sustained any major injuries.
Then all of a sudden, a pair of horns grew on Magus Jigow's head. Following that was the appearance of multiple sharp-looking bones protruding out of the latter's arms. Using those newly-arrived bones, Magus Jigow launched a series of attacks that crushed Garnet's cracked body apart.
CRACK!
The next thing Emery saw was the sight of a long horn piercing through Magus Garnet's body. The massive figure gradually returned to his original human appearance. It was clear Magus Garnet had lost and was at Magus Jigow's mercy, as the black goat splintered the former's arms and threw his body to the ground like garbage.
"No!" shouted Magus Leon from the other side.
He had noticed how Magus Garnet couldn't handle the bloodline magus, but he couldn't go and help because he still had Magus Nimeria on his plate.
Emery, on the other hand, was stunned speechless. What he had just seen was nothing, but terrifying. Such a powerful Half-Moon magus enforcer was defeated in a matter of minutes and would probably be crippled for life even if he didn't die.
The sight only served to fuel the terror in Emery's heart. He considered the option of running away at this very moment. It was also at this time Emery could sense multiple figures approaching.
Seeing how the situation at a distance was unfolding, Emery sincerely wished this group of arrivals were friendly. Unfortunately, he was once again reminded reality was cruel, because he couldn't be more wrong.
Four, six, before eventually stopping at ten. Emery recognized these people's signatures, as he had met them before. They were the 10 bloodline saint level warriors that Magus Jigow and Magus Nimeria had brought for this mission. Apparently, they had been running from the beginning and only catching up to the group now.
The few who ran the fastest arrived in front of the transformed Magus Jigow, and the latter calmly said, while glancing at a certain direction. "Chase the wolves. Kill them all."
Once again, Emery was rendered speechless by this revelation. He couldn't believe the whole bloodline warriors were in this too, could it be true that King Alduin was the mastermind behind all of this? If so, what could this possibly mean? A declaration of war of the whole bloodlines?
As the ten warriors started moving to chase after Brutus and the others, Beatrice immediately took action and tried to stop them, but was unable to stop them all due to their numbers. When she was about to chase after those who slipped away, the large black-fur figure already arrived before her.
In the next second, Beatrice's body was slammed hard to the ground and she groaned in pain.
Emery knew it was time for him to make a decision: be it help or retreat, he had to make a decision right now.
He closed his eyes and whispered to no one in particular. He had made his decision.
"I am sorry, Klea."
The next instant, a gate appeared in front of him.
A determined look appeared in Emery's eyes.
It was decided: no more hiding.