The Hunters Volume Two: War

Chapter Thirteen: Trump Card

  His boots carved trenches through the earth as he slid to a stop almost a dozen meters away. Jade smirked at the man's hardened expression. That last attack had carried a fair bit more power than she had been using so far. From where he stood, Hugo sent multiple energy slashes from his sword which she tore apart with her bare hands. However just as she had done that, twelve large white magic circles appeared around her, enclosing her within a circle. Each circle was maintained by two ACDC mages with one forming the framework and the other supplying the energy. 

  "And what is this supposed to do?" Jade asked in her perpetually condescending tone.

  "Mock while you can, invader," Hugo declared in a booming voice that roused up morale among his men. "You have been a most worthy adversary. Your strength and skill cannot be underestimated. But this is where it ends."

  He threw his sword high into the air and manipulated it telekinetically to remain suspended in the air directly above Jade. The dark haired girl narrowed her eyes when she felt the massive buildup of magical energy in the circles around her.

  "This is the ultimate trump card of my 15th Division! A perfect combination of offense and defense magic! You have fought well, but you will not survive this."

  The circles lit up in a flash of blinding light that was redirected straight into the sword hovering above. Amplified by the Awakened ether surrounding the weapon, the six foot wide beam of pure energy surged down to completely engulf the form of the stranger who had caused them so much trouble.

  "Ars Perdita: Carcer Animarum Frozen!"

  As dictated by the laws of the mystic arts, the utterance of its true name released the full power of the spell. With a deafening boom, a giant spire of ice shot into the air, its jagged peak towering above all the nearby buildings. The temperature dropped drastically to the point where even cycling their magics through their bodies did not stop the mages from shivering. 

  Hugo exhales heavily as a breath of relief escaped his lungs. That had been without a doubt the most difficult battle he had ever been in. The words he had said earlier had not meant nothing. That girl had seemed like an almost impossible opponent. She had shrugged off all their elemental spells like they were nothing, and her physical capabilities had been like nothing he had ever seen before. Even in his Awakened form, it had felt he had to struggle to keep up with her. He still didn't know exactly what her Variant ability was but he was definitely glad she had not used her Awakening assuming she even had one.

  "I-is it over...?" 

  Hugo turned to regard his injured lieutenant as she limped towards him, her hand still gingerly cradling her broken ribs. Even through all the pain, Lydia still maintained her stiffness. 

  Hugo smiled softly at her. "Yes."

  Her relief was almost tangible as she sighed heavily. "That's... that's good..."

  "I agree," Hugo nodded and had just begun to turn around when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye that made his blood run colder than it already was. "Impossible...."

  As the chilly fog created by the rapid change in temperature cleared out, the base of the ice spire came into view. Within it, trapped inside over two feet of solid magic infused ice on all sides was the stranger who's name was Jade. But instead of being completely frozen in place and unable to move a muscle, she was standing right in the center of the spire looking none the worse for the wear. Her right hand was raised, presumably to summon and maintain the invisible sphere of unknown energy that surrounded and protected her from the ice.

  "H-how is she doing this?" Lydia muttered dumbstruck.

  "The ice created by the Prison of Frozen Souls drastically lowers the temperature of the affected area, causing the ether in the air to become slow and extremely difficult to manipulate," Hugo explained grimly. "It was a spell specifically designed to hold mages. But it would seem that our enemy is no ordinary magic user."

  "Jade."

  It was spoken like a simple statement but there was no soul in that area who did not instinctively turn to look at Michael in that instant. 

  He gave them all a sweeping look before making eye contact with Jade, his gaze hardening ever so slightly. That was all it took to convey his intentions to her. The mocking smile on her face was quickly replaced by a frustrated sigh and an indignant huff that had her turning her face away from him.

  "What a spoilsport," she grumbled before looking at where the captain and his lieutenant stood in shock induced paralysis. "Well, it's been fun. But looks like it's about time I end this."

  The fingers on her raised hand lowered except for the index finger which remained aimed upwards. The air in the atmosphere suddenly began to speed up, the wind blowing erratically. The ground shook with unseen tremors and the world itself seemed to get heavier.

  "Oh my god," Lydia gasped breathlessly, her eyes fixed at something in the sky. Hugo followed her gaze and felt his mouth run dry at the sight. He has seen many strange and wondrous things before, but never had he seen something like this. 

  It was as if there were invisible hands squeezing and contorting reality itself in the sky. Space warped and bent under the unseen pressure, creating a shrill high pitched noise that forced some weaker soldiers down in their knees holding their ears in agony. Finally, a murky purple symbol came into sight in the sky, that of a three pronged fork that pulsed with raw power.

  What separates a mere practitioner from a true expert in runecraft was the ability to draw runes in the air. Typical mages who were well versed in the art of runic magic would use their own magic to compel the wind or even use their own energy to create unnoticeable invisible platforms on which the runes were inscribed. In other words, mages who practiced Arcane Magic used their energy to trigger a rune's true effect into action. What Jade was doing was completely different. Rather than draw the rune with her own energy, she was controlling the flow of space-time in the sky, manipulating reality itself into 'writing' the rune into the very thread of existence. 

  If the power of a rune was dictated by the skill of the drawer and the amount of energy infused into it, how powerful then would a rune be when it was pushed into existence by reality itself?

  The dark haired girl smiled darkly, her lips opening slightly to utter two clear words. "Ishkur's Wrath."

  The massive rune flashed once before transforming into an extremely wide bolt of pure lightning that completely engulfed the entire ice spire and Jade within it. The soldiers were blown backwards by the shockwave of the bolt, too stunned to react properly to the oppressive force that ripped the ground apart. Under the intense heat, the ice spire was vaporized near instantly in a huge cloud of steam that hung low close to the earth. 

  Clamping down in his tongue to break himself out of his shock, Hugo pumped magical energy into his sword and swept it in an arc that created strong gusts of wind that dispersed the fog. Having been subject to many of the strange girl's tricks so far, he wasn't the least surprised when the fog cleared out and she was nowhere to be found. Movement from his right drew the attention of his sharp eyes and he rounded to face the girl who was suddenly sitting languidly on the parapet of the roof of one of the old buildings that had not been leveled by the battle. 

  "I'd take this next attack very seriously if I were you," Jade said in an uncharacteristically solemn tone and pointed a finger down at them. "It's over."

  The tip of the finger flashed purple and it was as if the world itself seemed to fold in the space in front of it. Lilac strands of natural energy were pulled into the epicenter to form a rapidly rotating dark purple mass of chaotic energy about the size of a small car. But the pressure that sphere exuded was enough to put every single soldier in that area on high alert. 

  Without warning, the sphere was launched forward at a surprising speed faster than most soldiers could even follow, but not fast enough to escape the eyes of an Awakened Captain. Within a second Hugo had appeared at the forefront of his men and then tapped the blade of his sword thrice at the base, middle and tip. The blade gleamed brightly, the sudden infusion of magical energy causing wisps of excess pure ether to waft up from it. 

  "Pruina Destructionus!"  He yelled and slashed upwards as soon as the crushing sphere was within range. A frost blue crescent wave of energy swept out to clash with the sphere as the latter warped the very space it traveled through, thereby causing massive amounts of environmental damage.

  The clash of powers erupted in a cataclysm of light and destruction. The explosion sent even more powerful tremors through the ground, forcing Hugo to use his now far less brighter sword to create a platform of ice to support his men. Distracted as he was, he was unable to see the results of the clash. Jade however got a front row view to the impressive scene of the captain's energy slash slowly but surely cutting through her own attack. 

  "Looks like I'm the one who ended up underestimating him," she murmured to herself. A wistful sigh left her mouth as she rose to her feet and stretched out her body gently. "Oh well, good for him I guess."

  In an instant, she was gone. Teleporting herself right in the path of the energy crescent, Jade reached out to straight up grab the highly volatile powerful and razor sharp construct. Right before it could rip her hand to shreds, she drew out the power of her ability to force space to bend and freeze around the construct, temporarily stopping it in suspended animation. Wrapping her hand around the middle of the now solidified energy crescent, she teleported out the detonating cataclysm and reappeared right behind Hugo, crescent blade drawn back to strike.

  Lydia's eyes sent wide as she screamed out a warning. But Hugo, having expended so much energy had already dropped out of his Awakened State and was too slow to dodge. Still with years of instinct conditioning plus an iron willed determination not to die without a fight, he swung his weakened blade backwards with every ounce of force he could muster. 

  Two sounds rang out throughout the area. One of metal shattering into pieces and the other of a powerful offense meeting an even more powerful defense. Terrified of the fate that might had befallen her captain, Lydia almost didn't dare open her eyes. But eventually curiosity won out in the end and she peered through frightened eyelids to stare in shock at the scene before her. 

  Hugo's sword had shattered predictably against the more powerful force of his opponent, bringing a resigned look to the man's face as he watched his death come. It truly would have been the end, were it not for the spear of flames that was lodged into the ground, being the only thing separating his neck from the crescent blade. 

  "I would appreciate it if you cease your attempt to murder one of my own," a clear stern voice said from above.

  Jade stared pointedly at the captain for a few seconds more before she finally grinned and let up on her attack to step back from the man. His lieutenant rushed to his side right as he collapsed weakly, shooting Jade an incensed glare which she couldn't care less about. Her eyes were completely focused on the female mage in embroidered royal blue robes floating several dozen feet in the air and gazing down at them dispassionately.

  "Well, hello again Miranda," Jade smirked darkly. "Fancy seeing you here."

  Both Lydia and Hugo snapped their heads upwards fast enough to crack something, alongside every other cognizant soldier. Their eyes widened in surprise at seeing one of the highly famed Elders of the Arcane Circle down there but more so at the ease with which the strange girl had spoken to her.

  The woman's displeased expression intensified when she spotted Michael and the others approaching them. "I believe I should be the one asking that question. I do not recall the Elders requesting nor permitting such a visit, so tell me; why have the Hunters attacked the headquarters of the Arcane Circle?"