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*****
By the time Fenye and his companions arrived at the active combat zone, the forces on both sides were currently executing a tactical disengagement. Because he still lacked comprehensive data on Karnilla's combat loop, Fenye refrained from blindly rushing into the melee.
Positioned on the periphery of the battlefield, Fenye meticulously analyzed Karnilla's baseline capabilities. Beyond her standard ranged energy blasts and localized barrier defenses, she showcased a handful of highly intriguing traits during the skirmish.
Most notably, her physical form could seamlessly phase through solid matter, and she displayed a secondary trait that closely resembled a telekinetic grip. Witnessing this filled Fenye with immense surprise.
Before long, both factions completely fell back into their respective defensive trench lines. Once the opposing forces vanished from his line of sight, Fenye finally retracted his gaze and immediately set to work assisting the vanguard medics in managing the local casualties.
As dusk settled over the camp, the injured Asgardian soldiers began showing a substantial level of structural recovery, thanks to the continuous distribution of Violet-Brand Fried Chicken Rolls.
Over the past few weeks, Fenye had effectively become a household name within the golden realm. Consequently, his and Thor's arrival at the front lines provided a massive psychological boost to the soldiers' confidence for the upcoming morning offensive.
However, observing the uncharacteristic, subtle gravity lingering across Thor's expression, Fenye deduced that despite the reinforcements they had introduced to the field, tomorrow's engagement was bound to be a brutal, uphill slog.
Navigating through the encampment, Fenye approached Thor once the prince finished mapping out the vanguard's tactical assignments. Leaning against a nearby supply crate, he said, "How about leaving that Karnilla to me tomorrow?"
Thor blinked in surprise, studying Fenye's armored form for a brief moment before offering a slow nod. "She is exceptionally formidable, and her arcane casting matrix is highly volatile. Maintain maximum vigilance."
"Relax. Only magic can defeat magic!" Fenye replied with a confident laugh.
Based on his data tracking from earlier in the day, Karnilla's overall threat output operated well within his tolerance parameters. Judging by pure instinct, her direct physical parameters likely lagged significantly behind a powerhouse like Thor.
As long as he maintained a structured defense, the engagement carried minimal risk—assuming, of course, that the Norn Queen wasn't actively suppressing her baseline attributes or harboring a catastrophic hidden trump card.
---
However, before the dawn of the morning offensive could materialize, the conflict erupted prematurely under the cover of a massive night raid.
Utilizing the pitch-black obscurity of the midnight hours, a specialized strike force comprised of Norn female warriors and multiple alien mercenaries whose biological species Fenye couldn't identify successfully bypassed the vanguard's perimeter watch, launching a brutal assault on the heart of the camp.
Deafening war cries and the chaotic clash of metal rang out across every sector, forcing Fenye to immediately drop his rest cycle and lunge into the fray.
"Explosion!"
With a casual flick of his wrist, a quick-cast Explosion systematically vaporized a cluster of alien marksmen who were actively painting his position. Fenye rapidly materialized the full matrix of Incursio, triggered the stealth cloaking protocol, and soared high into the smoke-filled air to secure a bird's-eye view of the chaotic grid below.
Because the combatants from both factions were locked in an incredibly dense, hand-to-hand scramble, executing large-scale, area-of-effect Explosion Magic carried too high a risk of friendly fire. Descaling his offensive workflow, Fenye descended back into the shadows, adopting a pure assassin methodology to systematically pick off high-value targets and enemy commanders.
Under the covert disruption of Fenye's invisible sweeps, Karnilla's strike force rapidly lost its tactical cohesion, breaking formation to initiate a full retreat.
Scanning the fleeing columns, Fenye estimated their numbers to be roughly around a few hundred. After a brief moment of internal hesitation, he began initiating the chant matrix for an Explosion.
Given that the target volume was relatively low and their baseline defenses were unverified, Fenye refrained from scaling the spell to its maximum yield, delivering a brief, standard verbal chant before unleashing the compressed kinetic energy.
BOOM!
The brilliant, cataclysmic flash of Explosion Magic illuminated the pitch-black night sky with absolute clarity, followed immediately by a roaring chorus of cheers from the Asgardian vanguard columns. They were all intimately familiar with the distinct visual signature of Fenye's signature spell.
With the concussive echo of his magic fading, the midnight skirmish officially drew to a close. However, as the vanguard began auditing the grid and clearing the casualties, the morning sun revealed a sobering reality.
Even with Fenye's covert intervention, a single individual couldn't blanket an entire military perimeter. Compounded by the fact that many Asgardian soldiers were already carrying residual injuries from prior engagements, the calculated raid had still managed to inflict a painful number of permanent casualties, driving Thor into a state of unbridled fury.
Beholding the rows of fallen warriors laid out across the grass, Fenye found himself entirely at a loss for words to comfort the prince.
Although he had previously witnessed the raw, unadulterated cruelty of war firsthand across the battlefields of Vanaheim, and had personally compiled a non-negligible body count of his own, he fundamentally detested bearing witness to these scenes.
Karnilla's calculated midnight strike had kindled an authentic spark of rage within his own chest.
While his underlying incentive for participating in these campaigns was the acquisition of premium experience points, he held a genuine desire to assist Asgard. Looking down at the lifeless faces of the fallen soldiers, he recognized multiple individuals who had smiled warmly while receiving his Violet-Brand Fried Chicken Rolls, actively offering him their heartfelt gratitude just hours prior.
Consequently, when Thor organized the vanguard lines to launch a devastating daytime counter-offensive, Fenye uncharacteristically secured a position right at the absolute front of the column.
---
"Karnilla!"
Fenye's tracking parameters were hyper-focused. He locked onto the Norn Queen instantly; her vibrant, multi-colored ceremonial armor, coupled with her imposing two-meter height, rendered her an exceptionally conspicuous target amidst the churning sea of infantry.
As Fenye closed the distance, Karnilla's gaze locked onto his approach, her expression shifting into a trace of detached curiosity. "I am familiar with your data profile, White Butcher."
" 'White' your uncle!"
Fenye fired back in a flash of pure irritation. Refusing to indulge in further verbal banter, he directly unleashed a standard Explosion straight at her position.
That specific title officially constituted the single most loathsome moniker Fenye had ever acquired. He hadn't experienced this level of sheer annoyance even back on Midgard when the media persistently referred to him as a knight—after all, he could objectively accept that the visual contour of Incursio bore a structural resemblance to classical armor. But "White Butcher" crossed a definitive line.
Faced with the incoming kinetic shockwave of the spell, Karnilla's tactical reflexes proved exceptionally sharp. Extending her left hand, she manifested a massive, translucent arcane barrier, smoothly absorbing the full brunt of the Explosion.
Seeing his opening salvo neutralized, Fenye's expression remained unfazed. The strike was fundamentally designed as a exploratory calibration test anyway, though he had to admit the structural density of her energy shield surpassed his baseline estimates.
"Hmph!"
Fenye's blunt assault had clearly incensed the Norn Queen. As the sovereign of her realm, she was accustomed to absolute subservience and bowing knees; encountering an intruder who initiated dialogue by throwing a high-tier kinetic blast was a profound insult.
The absolute moment her barrier absorbed the residual shockwave, Karnilla executed a swift, fluid counter-movement, projecting a volley of translucent energy lances straight toward Fenye.
Having observed these exact offensive and defensive vectors during the previous day's observation window, Fenye didn't experience a shred of tactical surprise.
With a subtle, practiced rotation of his left wrist, a micro-Sling Ring portal materialized directly along the trajectory of the incoming projectiles. The translucent lances pierced through the spatial anomaly in the blink of an eye, re-emerging instantaneously right in front of Karnilla's own face.
Swish!
However, the sequence didn't culminate in the self-inflicted blow Fenye had engineered. The moment the deflected energy lances made physical contact with Karnilla's perimeter, they simply dissolved into absolute nothingness, causing him to narrow his eyes.
"Spatial manipulation capabilities?!" Karnilla murmured, watching Fenye smoothly collapse the micro-portal.
A flash of genuine surprise registered across her features, but her focus reset instantly. Levelling her palms toward the boy once more, she unleashed a rapid-fire succession of high-density energy volleys—projectiles engineered with a tracking matrix that allowed them to dynamically pivot, arc, and pursue their target automatically.
Pitted against these unconventional homing tracking arcs, Fenye re-centered his internal focus.
Instantly triggering his breathing technique, he executed a clean transition over to his Water Mode. The silver-white plating of Incursio shifted seamlessly into a deep, sky-blue hue, while a thick, fluid mantle of hyper-condensed water energy enveloped the exterior of his armor.
Snap!
The entire cluster of tracking energy lances slammed dead-center into the fluid mantle. The collision managed to trigger nothing more than a series of localized ripples across the water barrier before the fluid surface smoothly stabilized back into a calm, pristine sheen. The preliminary calibration phase between the two casters was officially wrapped up.
Scanning Fenye's unyielding stance, Karnilla's expression transformed into a mask of intense gravity. She possessed extensive intelligence briefs indicating that this specific sorcerer had previously utilized a catastrophic, apocalyptic flame spell to systematically obliterate a military column of nearly ten thousand combatants in Vanaheim.
Executing a swift tactical adjustment, she channeled her innate phasing traits to their absolute limit. Her physical silhouette rapidly lost its opacity, fading into a translucent mist before vanishing from the battlefield entirely.
"Invisibility phasing?!"
Fenye blinked in mild surprise at the empty space. He hesitated for a brief moment, debating whether he should deactivate his Water Mode to trigger his own stealth cloaking, effectively dragging the Norn Queen into a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek.
(End of Chapter)