Kaelith squinted at the reflections of fire dancing on the damp walls of the cave. There were four of them. They attacked from the darkness like a pack of hyenas, constantly shifting positions and trying to wear them down with ranged fire spells.
Boran roared in anger as he swung his massive sword in wide arcs to parry the fireballs raining down on him: "WATCH OUT! DON'T LEAVE YOURSELF OPEN, THESE AREN'T AMATEURS!"
But Kaelith's attention was already divided. All four targets before him wore the exact same robes. Damn it, you all look the same, he thought to himself. I can't tell which of you is an illusion and which is real.
Just then, Boran caught an opening in one of the enemies. With a swift lunge, he darted forward and clamped his massive hand around the man's neck. "Die!" Boran bellowed, squeezing his fingers to snap the man's neck. However, instead of the crunch of bone, the only sound heard was the sizzle of Boran's burning flesh.
The body he held suddenly turned into a smoke of flames. As the heat of the illusion scorched Boran's palm, the large man recoiled his hand in pain and shock. "How the hell? I just had him!" he yelled, shaking his smoldering hand to extinguish it.
Kaelith was trying to map out the battlefield in his mind. One is constantly separating us with fire attacks. They are targeting Boran, trying to isolate him. Another holds a small dagger... As a deterrent for close combat? No, he hasn't made a single move yet. His eyes scanned the dark corners of the cave. I can't even see clearly the ones distracting Boran. Damn it, I wish I was fighting them all on my own.
His thoughts were interrupted by a shrill whistle tearing through the darkness. Before Kaelith could comprehend what was happening, an arrow of fire pierced his left eye.
The cave walls echoed with Kaelith's agonizing scream. However, this scream soon morphed into a muffled, twisted laugh. "Now..." Kaelith gasped, as the blood flowing down his face slowly drew back and sealed his wound, "...I'm starting to enjoy the pain." His eye socket healed within seconds through the grotesque yet mesmerizing power of blood magic.
"Boran!" he called out, his voice sharp enough to cut through the roar of the cave. "None of them know close combat! You can't lose unless you leave a glaring opening. Stay cautious, you will win this fight!"
One of the enemies laughed mockingly from beneath his hood at Kaelith's words. "Hah, do you think you're so smart?" The man's hands slowly drew closer, as if bringing two wings together in the center. A blinding brilliance began to radiate from his palms.
The movements of Captain Bojr flashed through Kaelith's mind like lightning. Sensing the nature of the approaching attack in a split second, he threw himself aside. A scorching wave of energy, intense enough to turn even the air to ash, passed through the exact spot where he had stood seconds ago. The enemy did not stop; he began raining down the same devastating attack on Kaelith one after another.
As Kaelith dodged the flames with agile movements, Boran's massive sword emerged from the darkness with a merciless hiss. The steel pierced the fire mage's abdomen with a savage tearing sound.
"I'M SICK OF YOUR ILLUSIONS!" roared Boran. When he yanked his sword back with a single, sharp motion, the man's shredded organs and blood splattered across the stone floor of the cave. The enemy collapsed, choking on the blood pouring from his mouth, unable to utter a single word.
"THANKS, BORAN!" shouted Kaelith, as he began to pull the still-warm blood of the fallen man up into the air. Boran gulped upon seeing his friend siphon a dying man's blood in such a macabre way to weaponize it, but he hid his discomfort and raised his guard once more.
Kaelith condensed the blood drops in the air, shaping them into sharp daggers, and hurled them at the remaining enemies. One of them yelled, "Hazuki, watch out!" and conjured a shield of fire in the air. Kaelith's blood daggers hissed and evaporated as they met the flames.
Kaelith wore a cold smile as he looked at the enemy whose name was just revealed. "Hazuki, huh? How dare you try to take a life when you can't even protect yourself? Look, your friends are going to die one by one because of a pathetic wretch like you."
He then shifted his gaze to the man who cast the protection spell. "And what about you? Even though I can't see who's behind that mask, I'd like to know your name before I spill your blood."
The man hissed in anger. "None of your business, you son of a bitch!" With a snap of his fingers, the flames on the ground writhed like living snakes and coiled around Kaelith's body in seconds, leaving him immobilized.
Seeing this, Boran yelled, "YOU BASTARD, ATTACK ME!" and raised his sword high with both hands. Just as he was about to lunge forward to cleave the man in two, he felt his body being bound by thick, invisible ropes. His muscles locked; he became unable to move a single finger.
What the hell is going on? Boran thought in a panic. Which one did this to me? If I could just move, I'd tear you all to pieces! Kaelith... I'm sorry, brother, I can't help you. He quickly tried to analyze the situation. This loser Hazuki obviously can't fight. The other one is holding Kaelith with his flames. Then it must be the third guy locking me down! I need to tell Kaelith... But his lips felt as if they were sealed shut.
Intoxicated with victory, the man who had trapped Kaelith with fire snakes slowly approached him.
"You're from the Black Lotus, aren't you?" the enemy smirked. "They sent you here. You look just like them... An agile, magic-wielding freak. Our society trains us specifically to hunt down your kind. We will finish you. The Ash Brotherhood will bring the end of you all!"
The man stepped a little closer to Kaelith, a sick ambition in his eyes. "I will kill you and present that book you're carrying to our master. He will reward us. Your head will ensure my promotion."
Amidst the flames, Kaelith asked without the slightest hint of fear on his face: "I will ask one last thing before dying. What are you going to use that book for?"
The sense of resignation implied by the question inflated the Ash Brotherhood member's ego even further. He laughed arrogantly. "That book is one of the rare artifacts written before the Great War, something not even the Archive could get its hands on. It's truly absurd that they gave this mission to a fool like you..."
Kaelith's lips curled upwards. "Thanks for the information," he whispered. "It will come in handy."
Within seconds, the fire snakes coiling around Kaelith's body shattered apart from a violent shockwave of blood magic erupting from within. Before the man could process what was happening and cast a new spell, Kaelith dashed forward with incredible speed. He slammed the concentrated blood magic in his hand directly into the man's face.
A horrific explosion echoed in the cave. The man's head and neck were instantly blown off; his blood and chunks of flesh scattered around like a savage downpour. Wiping the splattered blood from his face, Kaelith calmly muttered: "When I said 'before dying,' I meant your death. Sorry, a fool like me just can't explain these things properly."
Drawing the fresh blood flowing from the headless corpse toward himself, Kaelith began to walk slowly toward the last two members who were frozen in absolute terror.
"Before I kill you," Kaelith said, his voice even more chilling than the cave's cold. "Don't try anything. Whatever you do, I will kill you just as painfully." These words were spoken so soullessly, with such an absolute promise of death, that the fire-wielding members of the Ash Brotherhood were nailed to the spot as if turned to ice.
Having watched the two strongest members of their group get obliterated in seconds, the duo surrendered to their fate.
"Thank you," Kaelith said calmly. With a single hand gesture, he lashed a sharp blood whip that severed both their heads from their shoulders simultaneously.
With the death of the spellcasters, the invisible bonds on Boran dissolved instantly. The large man took a deep breath of relief.
"KAELITH, THANK YOU MY FRIEND!" Boran boomed, letting out a cheerful laugh. "If they hadn't put that damn binding spell on me, I would've warned you, but the bastards always hit my weak spot!"
Kaelith smiled as he wiped the blood off his face. "Sure, sure, Boran, I know. Otherwise, these guys are a piece of cake for you, right?"
As the tension of battle gave way to their familiar banter, Kaelith bent down to pick up the dropped book.
But the moment his fingers touched the leather cover, his body went stiff. His breath caught in his throat. A woman's voice echoed in the cave.