Drake resisted the temptation to go and help out. Cannons were still occasionally being fired. He swept his gaze past the entirety of the walls and counted at least 7 cannons he would need to handle. The quicker he got it done, the faster he would be able to help Samuel and the others.
But there was something else that had caught his eyes. Two orcs, one seemed quite lean yet oddly sophisticated while the other wore shamanistic garbs. The real problem was that they were each holding two crystals which shone fiercely.
Suddenly, the sight before his eyes became distorted. It twisted and wiggle oddly and seemed to be carried away by something.
Drake's expression turned stern. As a person that practiced the use of the fire element, he was naturally acquainted with the phenomenon. Heat distortion. They were summoning a heatwave!
Although he initially planned to take care of the cannons, there was now a more dastardly issue that needed to be dealt with.
"RAAARGH! Cough cough!" The sound of a roar followed by pained coughs.
Drake glanced not too far away were the muscular orc laid. He had stood up and issued a battle cry but clearly he had underestimated his own injuries. Drake could only scoff internally at the sight. The previous kick he had issued had left the orc with some internal injuries.
He dashed forward and clenched his fists as he punched out hard. Durgash barely had time to react as he used his lightning steps to move aside and dodge the flame clad fist.
Drake followed up with a jab that grazed the area near Durgash's previous wound causing him to grimace. Drake intended to quickly deal with the orc so he grabbed him with his free hand and prepared to bash him on the head.
His stern expression had long since turned into anger as he could see the wave of heat making its way down towards the battlefield.
So he did. He bashed his head turning his burnt face into a bloodied one. He got two more hits in before he noticed the female orc he had thrown aside approach with lots of vigor.
He didn't make his previous mistake of letting the enemy live and tossed Durgash off the walls. The female orc in front of him seemed alarmed by his actions before turning into rage. She charged ahead and released a sweeping axe swing which Drake crouched under and then followed with a strike to her abdomen. Shel felt the air leave her body for that brief moment before being brought to the real world by a clean punch on the face. She wasn't quite let off the hook though. What felt like a flurry of attacks quickly rained down on her.
Drake's expression turned ugly after seeing the aftermath of his own work. An adventure was bound to see many traumatic or disturbing sights though so he quickly tossed Shel's burnt and bloodied body aside. The trip to the current floor alone had proved this point.
"They are monsters…" He reaffirmed himself after taking a glance towards the adventurers on the battlefield.
Drake always held doubts about his chosen career but… he had never really had a choice. He thus forced any thoughts of sorrow or sympathy down into the depths of his mind to hopefully never resurface.
At the moment, the adventurers down in the field were suddenly struck by a wave of heat. Some already tired adventurers started to show clear signs of breaking down.
A man who could barely continue to hold up his greatsword for example suddenly felt both thirsty and exhausted. He began to sweat profusely and his grip became inevitably loose. He hacked at a powerful and skilled orc but the other party easily parried his slow and unsteady attack. The adventurer was then met by an axe on the head.
Even some of the B-class adventurers thought that they might go mad, The sweltering heat couple with the oppressing number of enemies made them feel suffocated. The constant healing couldn't ease up their fatigue either. Luckily they could try to fight the heat by reinforcing their body with mana. The C-class adventurers weren't this capable though and many were losing their lives at the moment.
Drake's Vermillion flames covered both of his hands. He was intending to grab both of the enemies in front of him on the head to plow it against the floor. His flames would also ensure they wouldn't easily get back up.
Vorgarag hadn't missed his approach though. He also hadn't missed his atrocities. The wave of heat had already been cast, he could now deal with the threat in front of him. Out of his loose clothing, he pulled out a blue crystal and quickly chanted. He still deeply lamented his inability.
Ever since he was born, it always felt as though his life was not his own. He had researched a way to break out by his own means but always felt himself relying on the knowledge left behind by others. This incomplete knowledge inevitably led him down the wrong path.
In the process, he realized that his abilities, his 'smarts,' were not up to the task. Ed then showed up and made him feel even more incapable. But now wasn't the time to consider such matters. His main concern was dealing with the charging Drake.
The water spurt spell formed in front of him. With the help of the crystal however, it was more like a water cannon.
Drake was very close to Vorgarag and Sharog but he failed to reach them before being struck by the fierce gush of water. The high pressure made him feel more like he was hit by a boulder.
Steam started to form near Drake, he was using his fire to ward off the attack inadvertently cloaking himself at the same time.
Vorgarag narrowed his eyes and peered into the steam full of caution. He then heard Sharog who was beside him start a chant. It was unfamiliar to him which wasn't a surprise since they had different inheritances.
Vorgarag's spell was cut short after he canceled the steady supply of mana. He then noticed a bloody red hue inside of the hazy white steam and instantly reacted. He used the remainder of his water crystal to create a thick wall of water in front of both of them.
A concentrated volley of flames flew towards him. The water sizzled as it heated up and started to mistify.
"Vortex!" Sharog then shouted hastily as she pointed towards her target.
A small swirl came from that hand. It rapidly grew in size and started to suck up its surroundings. The mist and water were no exceptions. Drake was also not an exception.
"Move away for me" Vorgarag told Sharog. Drake would unavoidably try to close the distance. Sharog wasn't physically strong. She also never partook in any training as far as he could tell. She would be in needless danger if she stayed next to him.
Drake was currently forced to experience the attack. The vortex couldn't suck him in as he was too heavy so he was simply tanking it.
"Damn!" Drake yelled as he endured the raging winds occasionally being soaked by water.
The wind soon passed though and Drake no longer loitered. He dashed forward with an explosive speed no longer safeguarding his mana.
Vorgarag would have been caught off guard if he hadn't seen him move like this before. Luckily he had remained observant all the while. Regardless, there wasn't much he could prepare here to deal with it.
As a last ditch attempt, he used what was left of the fire crystal. He knew that although Drake was enveloped in flames, he wasn't immune. It was simply because he reinforced his body with mana. In that case, he just had to make things hot enough.
Hot flames flew forward. Drake took the full brunt but by that point, he was already face to face with Vorgarag.
Vorgarag then felt a searing sensation briefly before tumbling backward by the strike. Another fierce fist came towards him which he tried to instinctively block. A dull cracking sound could almost be heard.
The slew of punches kept coming, Vorgarag did his best to keep up with his limited experience in close combat. Durgash who was more experience faced a poor end so one could only imagine his own.
"Urg-" He didn't even have the time to groan in pain before another strike hit him.
And although he was pained. Vorgarag still managed to keep a clear mind. He diverted one of Drake's fists by sheer luck and will before headbutting him.
Drake's head was reinforced by mana however so the effect was limited. Nonetheless, he didn't need more than a second. What he was about to do wasn't a spell after all.
He rapidly pulled out two final crystals. He didn't have more since having any more would weight him down. Still, there was no longer a need to be conservative.
He forcefully smashed the two crystals against one another. One was wind, the other was fire. You could say he had expected something like this would happen all along as these two were ideal for the situation.
"I don't have anything to say…" He regretfully muttered to himself.
The two elements didn't oppose one another. As a matter of fact, you could say they augment each other.
Combustion.. The fiery explosion wasted no time in enveloping both Vorgarag and Drake.