Chapter 692: – Trouble in the Whistling Woods (5) |
Owain was definitely close enough for his enemies to notice him as well, so he hoped that they were too deeply engrossed in their fights to do so. Not wanting to worsen his odds by delaying, he charged towards the nearest opponent.
Time mana spilled out of his pores, enveloping his body and accelerating his every movement. He was consuming his resources much faster than what most Yellows could sustain, but he didn’t care. His affinity already allowed him to regenerate his mana more rapidly than others at his grade, and his boosting art only sped the process up even further.
His surroundings blurred as he struggled to avoid the trees in his path. Crossing half of the distance to his target in an instant, he raised his right fist, preparing yet another spell. Owain could currently only cast three: Circulation, Temporal Dash, and Heartbreak. Seeing as the last two were merely Crude ones, he knew that he had to make every part of his embarrassingly narrow arsenal count.
The Green standing before him was a woman with a water affinity like Elaine. Having never seriously harmed a person before, Owain hated the idea of starting with somebody who resembled his sister, however vaguely, though this wasn’t the time to hesitate. At least, he couldn’t make her blurry features out completely, which helped him steel his will. As did the knowledge that she had come here to murder him and his loved ones.
The enemy mage spotted him, hastily launching a barrage of pressurized water arrows. Thankfully, there was only so much that she could do at a moment’s notice, her mana and attention split between Owain and her other opponent.
Taking advantage of his accelerated reflexes, Owain sidestepped most of the projectiles. One still pierced his left shoulder cleanly, leaving a hole wide enough for his finger to pass through. This was his first time being injured this badly, causing his heart to leap to his throat.
The good news was that the attack hadn’t damaged any vital organs, and even the pain had yet to register. Knowing that he only had seconds before his brain caught up, he hastened his steps further, closing the rest of the distance to his now-toothless opponent.
Planting his right fist in the woman’s sternum, Owain felt both his own knuckle and the water user’s ribs crack. She had a grade on him, but she lacked his mutation or boosting art, and he had struck with way too much force for either of them to just brush it off.
The damage wasn’t too serious, at least until he poured nearly a third of his mana into her body, focusing on what he hoped where her largest veins and arteries. Having practiced the technique extensively on one of his grandfather’s clones, Owain was familiar with the structure of the human body and fairly confident in his aim, though he had never used the spell on a different person or under so much pressure.
By the time he heard the viscous liquid splash on the dirt, he had already retreated behind the nearest tree. Multiple spells of various colours rained down on the trunk, crushing it into splinters. Owain kept running without looking back, not wanting to get caught by multiple angry Greens.
His work here was done. It would be up to the ally that he had hopefully just assisted to capitalize on their advantage and finish their weakened opponents off.
About fifteen seconds later, the pain in Owain’s shoulder and fist finally hit, causing him to wince. Even so, he didn’t dare to stop moving until he was sure that nobody had followed him.
Grabbing the black cube strung around his neck, he activated the enchantment on one of its faces. He couldn’t lift his left hand or unclench his right, so he had to hold the expanding spatial amulet that Elaine had gifted him with his elbows and thighs while leaning on a tree.
Clumsily extracting a couple of potions that his cousin had brewed and sent from the Alchemists’ Guild; Owain uncorked the vials with his teeth and gulped down their contents. The thick, minty flavour of the liquid wasn’t the worst thing in the world, though he was most interested in the refreshing feeling that spread out of his stomach and towards his injuries the very next moment.
‘Wow. Green healing potions aren’t a joke,’ he noted as soon as the effect died down.
His wounds hadn’t healed entirely, yet the pain had greatly dulled. He was tempted to drink another dose or three, but he figured that he should save them in case he suffered a more serious injury later. At least, the hole in his shoulder had stopped bleeding and he had regained some control of both limbs, though it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to repeat his earlier stunt anytime this month.
Well… tough. Owain had every intention of risking his butt a couple more times today. He was still an able-bodied combatant by anyone’s definition, and he knew that his cousins and uncles were currently suffering much worse out there.
Despite the minor hiccups, Owain had confirmed that his previous approach was viable, so he resumed his search for suitable battles to join. Staying as far away from the Blues and Violets as he reasonably could, he ignored the corpses and destroyed flora in his path while looking for anything alive.
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Over the next twenty minutes or so, Owain managed to intervene in a couple of additional fights, though only the first of the new ambushes was successful. The second time, he made the mistake of targeting a burly earth mage who blocked the assassination attempt with a hastily erected wall of stone. Worse still, the impact finally shattered Owain’s right fist completely.
Luckily, he was able to flee from the pissed off Green and his companions before they could do anything to him. If the gods willed it, Owain might have even distracted them long enough for their opponent to gain the upper hand, though there was no way to tell.
‘I need to come up with an offensive spell that doesn’t require physical contact,’ he thought with a grimace as he drank the last of his potions.
A project for another day.
As far as today’s battle was concerned, Owain knew that he had reached his limits. His hand was a complete mess, despite the potent remedy that he had consumed. He would have to ask his grandfather to fix him after the war – assuming that Archibald didn’t kill him himself for disobeying his orders. Even if he didn’t, Owain would probably need a second round of healing after Elaine was done with him.
Leaving his injuries aside, he wouldn’t be able to keep Circulation running for much longer, and even the environment clearly didn’t want him here. The wildfire had spread dangerously close to his location, the heat causing his skin to blister as the acrid smoke stung the back of his throat and made his eyes water.
The Greens fighting deeper inside the hellish battlefield could probably keep the flames at bay and endure the toxic fumes for a while, but even the outskirts of the forest were no longer safe for a Yellow.
Sighing, he headed where he thought the mansion was. Disoriented by this new, burning version of the once-familiar forest, he wasn’t sure that he had guessed correctly, yet he should be fine as long as he moved away from the fire and the giant explosions.
All things considered, Owain hadn’t accomplished much, but he would at least be able to sleep better with the knowledge that he had done his best. He might have even saved a relative or two, though he wouldn’t find out until later.
Just as he was about to deactivate his boosting art, he heard a girl screaming for help.
Given his poor condition and the desperation evident in the agonized cry, Owain doubted that he would be able to provide timely assistance. Still, he couldn’t find it in his heart to ignore her – especially because he recognized the voice of his cousin, Yeelia. She was a Yellow-born only a couple of years older, and they used to play together as kids. Their mothers were quite close, so Owain wouldn’t be able to look his aunt in the eye if he left her daughter here to die. Gritting his teeth, he rushed toward the source of the scream against his better judgement.
Arriving at a small clearing, he was instantly assaulted by the stench of blood, thick enough to drown out the omnipresent scent of burning wood. Stumbling upon the most horrific scene that he had ever witnessed, he wasn’t able to keep himself from heaving out his most recent meal this time. Countless severed body parts were scattered within a muddy pool, most of them impaled by or lying next to various metallic weapons: spears, swords, scimitars and lances. Every single object appeared to have been forged out of the same metal mana, glowing in a bright Blue colour in Owain’s Mana Sense.
“Shit,” he spat.
Owain would readily admit that he had been quite daring and, sure, even a little reckless today, but he wasn’t suicidal. He was under no delusion that he would be able to do anything to a Blue – ambush or not. Scanning his surroundings carefully, he tried to figure out which way the murderer had gone, only to avoid meeting them by accident.
“Looking for something?” an icy voice asked, startling Owain who hadn’t realized that he had company.
A lone figure sat atop a branch near the top of the pine tree opposite him, with tens of additional metallic weapons floating by his side. He was a lanky man with a crooked nose and long, greasy dark hair. Owain had only missed the human-shaped monster because he wasn’t used to keeping an eye out for enemies from above.
Unable to stop himself from trembling in his boots, Owain suddenly regretted coming to this place. It was honestly an irrational thought, since he had been cautious enough and held his own just fine against the Greens. Even one of his family’s Greens would have been screwed facing a Blue alone, yet so many had bravely risked their lives in similar situations.
Still, he didn’t want to die, and there was nobody around to save him.
“Hmm? Just a Yellow runt? House Avalon must be desperate, sending a kid to such a nasty battle,” the Blue said, tilting his head in confusion. Owain felt a pang of hope that the man would spare him, though it evaporated once the metal mage added, “not my problem. You clearly don’t have the life affinity, so there’s no need to leave you alive.”
A suffocating pressure descended upon Owain, slamming him into the damp ground and pressing his left cheek against dirt still soaked with his relatives’ blood. Half an hour earlier, he might have had enough strength to try and flee, but his sore muscles and overdrawn boosting art chose the worst possible moment to betray him.
His accumulated mana spilled out of his pores, a wave of weakness sealing his fate. The most he could do was lift his gaze slightly, just to see the Blue holding his palm up, with over half of the weapons pointing straight at him. Closing his eyes, Owain felt a couple of bitter tears roll down his face to mix with the mud.
‘I’m so sorry Dad. Mom. Elaine. Grandpa. I should have listened to you all and stayed at home.’
He held his breath, waiting for his inevitable end, though the moment stretched for a couple of seconds too many. Why was the Blue hesitating? Had he suddenly grown a conscience? Wasn’t he in a rush to wrap this situation up and move on to the next battle?
Shifting slightly, Owain realized that the willpower locking him in place had vanished at some point. His eyes jolted wide open just in time to see the metallic weapons hit the ground. Some stabbed straight into the dirt, lodging themselves deeply, while others didn’t strike at the right angle, bouncing clumsily on their hilts, handles, or flat of their blades.
The cacophony of clanging steel rattled Owain to the bone, but not as much as the Blue’s expression. He was still sitting in the same spot, his features calm, though his pupils were now dull. That only lasted for a moment before he slid down from the branch, plummeting right behind his constructs and hitting the ground face-first with a sickening crunch.
Owain felt a chill rush down his spine. The powerful mage who had slaughtered several Greens as if they had been chicken had died in an instant, without even realizing how!
There still wasn’t anyone nearby, nor had there been any injuries on the enemy’s body – at least not before his graceless landing. The only thing out of place was a strange weapon lodged into the tree right next to where the Blue had been a second ago.
Owain gasped.
‘That scythe… wasn’t there before.’