Chapter 1653 - Players And Pawns (Part 3)

"Get over here!" The sudden pull dragged Quaron down, sending him crashing against the ground akin to a living meteor.

He promptly reacted by making the soil elastic in order to soften his landing and add the momentum gained to his counterattack.

Unfortunately for him, Lith noticed his plan with Life Vision and foiled it with a flick of his wrist. The construct changed the direction of the fall, leading straight against Lith's fist.

Quaron managed to Blink away in the nick of time, but he had no way to get rid of the hand of light that shackled him. The moment he came out of the dimensional door, the construct exerted its pull again and this time he was ready to counter it.

Quaron managed to avoid getting dragged again, but only until Lith sent a second construct to also pull Quaron by the cape and change the direction of the force.

'His quick thinking and reaction speed are worthy of someone ranked M by the military. Yet only a self-absorbed idiot wears a cape. Solus, analysis.' Lith thought while Quaron orbited around him akin to a planet with its star.

'I would have ranked him C for cheater rather than M for monster.' She replied. 'His equipment is nothing like the standard stuff they gave you received at the end of the boot camp. They are all high-end artifacts, some of Awakened making and some not.

'Whoever gave them to him is no Forgemaster. As for his mana core, Quaron has a nice bright blue Awakened one but for some reason, it has several violet streaks and it produces mana of similar quality to yours.'

'What?' Lith was flabbergasted, holding the thug of war long enough for Solus to complete her report. 'I don't remember any way to temporarily boost your mana core and it took me years to reach the pseudo-violet level.

'Even thralls just receive a blood core while their original mana core stays the same. Quaron's status service was impeccable until last winter but nothing in his personal achievements makes me think he's a self-Awakened.'

'I have no idea what's going on. If I had to make an educated guess, I'd say that Quaron's core, just like his equipment has been modified by the so-called god who is pulling the strings behind the scenes.' Solus said.

In the few seconds that their conversation lasted, Lith used every iota of his willpower to twist and pull the constructs.

There was only so much he could do from a distance whereas his opponent exploited his enhanced body, further boosting it with fusion magic. On top of that, Quaron kept flooding the phantom hands with darkness magic that ate at them from the inside.

The hard-light construct had just started to crack when they suddenly disappeared into thin air.

'Tired of fighting a losing battle, Verhen? Too bad those spells weren't just a leash, they were also your lifeline!' The traitorous Ranger brimmed with fury just thinking the word leash.

Lith was unknowingly salting Quaron's wounds and the fact that he had fallen for such an obvious trap only worsened his mood. He weaved one of his best Battle Mage spells, Eclipsing Shockwave.

It would conjure several streams of darkness-infused bolts of lightning followed by a series of high-speed winds comprised of razor-sharp air blades.

The flashes from the bolts were barely visible under the darkness coating them, giving the spell the first part of its name, while the air currents that devastated everything in their wake gave it the second half.

Quaron's favorite tactic was to spread the lightning bolts so that the high-speed winds would block any escape route.

'Back when I was still a fake mage, my opponents could avoid Eclipsing Shockwave with Blink, but now I can see the exit points with Life-' A sudden hit to back cut him short.

Quaron completed the spell despite the pain, yet Eclipsing Shockwave failed to take form, throwing a good chunk of his mana into the gutter.

The Ranger was stunned by the sudden turn of events but things got even worse when he started to fall like a brick despite his flying spell. He gritted his teeth to endure the pain and never avert his eyes from the opponent.

The moment Lith had dispelled the construct he had also jumped towards the enemy and deactivated Gravity Fusion, leaving behind a small crater.

Quaron tried to Blink away but the spell failed him.

Only then did he notice thanks to Life Vision that Lith had timed the disappearance of the construct so that it would throw Quaron inside the elemental sealing arrays of Zeska.

Unbeknownst to him, Lith had further fooled the traitorous Ranger by coating himself in air fusion in a way that resembled a flight spell. Quaron had mistaken Lith's speed for a spell whereas it was only due to his boosted physical prowess.

'What the heck is this guy?' Quaron thought. 'The fight has barely started, yet I'm already backed into a corner without even having the time to unsheathe my weapon. I didn't want to use Syrook's powers against a human but I've got no choice left.'

The Ranger opened his mouth as if he was about to yell but instead of words, a violent burst of Origin Flames came out. Just like his mana core, the mystical fire was bright blue yet several violet streaks brought it to the next level.

'Origin Flames? I thought he was a human. How could you make such a mistake, Solus?' Lith inwardly cursed.

He could still dodge them with Spirit Magic, but that would mean being forced to give an explanation later.

If he didn't, however, Lith would take a huge blow. The problem with Origin Flames wasn't just their destructive power but the fact that he would have to stop and extinguish them, giving the enemy the time to recover.

'He seems human. Without the Scanner spell or Invigoration, I can't see much from a distance. He might even be a hybrid as you were.' She replied. 'You can still move freely without earth and air magic. Use Light Mastery to conjure floating platforms to step on.'

'Excellent idea. It makes my plan even better.' Despite the surprise attack, Lith had already faced enough Origin Flames users to know what to do.

He hurled a jet stream of violet flames that clashed with Quaron's for a split second before exploding. Lith was in mid-air so the shockwave just pushed him back whereas Quaron was stuck to the city walls.

The conflagration pinned him in place, making it impossible for him to dodge the incoming burst of fire. To make matters worse, Lith's Origin Flames were stronger than his own so part of them had pierced through the explosion that now boosted their speed to that of a bullet.

"Are those two really human?" Many of those spectating to the fight asked to their neighbors.

The former Lieutenant Colonel Xolman Pelan was covered in a cold sweat, his neck hurting from the sharp movements necessary to pretend that he managed to follow the fight with his eyes.

'I really want Verhen to lose. His career and reputation would be destroyed and I would be the new commanding officer.. On the other hand, I don't want to fight Quaron.'