The council chamber was in ruins.
Spells had torn through the walls and the floor, leaving deep scorch marks and frozen fractures behind. Sword cuts crisscrossed stone pillars and shattered tiles.
The great round table lay broken at the center of the room, splintered and overturned, half-buried under the rubble.
Blood stained the ground, mixed with dust and debris. Smoke choked the air, rolling thick and low, obscuring sight and sound alike.
Within the smoke, figures moved at blinding speed, colliding, separating, striking again with bursts of mana flashing through the haze as the battle raged on without pause.
If the chamber hadn't been reinforced and sealed beforehand, the destruction would have spread far beyond it.
The shockwaves from spells and clashes alone would have torn through adjacent halls, collapsing ceilings and shattering walls across the headquarters.
Entire sections would have been reduced to rubble, and the battle between these Mana Core Magi would have endangered everyone inside.
Only the chamber's wards and barriers kept the devastation contained.
Needless to say, Berger's side had the upper hand. They outnumbered the enemy, after all. But even then, Bowman and the rest put up a fierce fight.
Until now, none from Berger's side had been injured. Every powerful attack capable of harming them had been swallowed whole by Blackie.
"Stick together!" Bowman yelled out in frustration.
His allies, Yaegar and Hastings, had already been grievously injured after only a few minutes into the fight. He also wasn't faring so well.
It's all because of that damn wolf! He thought in exasperation.
Blackie would slip into the shadows and remain hidden, putting a terrifying psychological pressure on them. He would erge only to swallow powerful spells. His physiology was… strange, to say the least.
How could a beast simply devour magical spells?
Bowman and the others held a triangle formation, fending off a relentless barrage of spells. Then suddenly, the smoke in the chamber thickened.
It grew so dense that they couldn't see more than a few inches ahead. Even their senses were smothered, perception dulled, and unreliable.
The smoke contained magic from the School of Illusion, after all.
Within monts, their formation collapsed without them even realizing it. When the smoke finally shifted, they were already separated.
Bowman found himself locked in combat with Carlton Yates. The latter summoned sharp projectiles, hurling them at him relentlessly. Bowman, anwhile, erected a complex barrier from the School of Abjuration, defending himself from all sides.
Kenton Hastings was engaged with Shaw Jidu. He attacked with wind magic, while the latter defended with earth magic. For now, it seed that these two battles had reached a brief stalemate.
But how long would this stalemate last?
Bowman was the first to realize it when he sensed that there was no sign of Agron Yaegar, Berger, and the damned wolf.
As realization dawned on the elderly Councilor, he knew that defeat was a forgone conclusion.
After all, Berger himself was a powerful Magus, and with Blackie's help, he was even stronger. So the chances of Yaegar making it out alive were slim to none.
And what would happen when Yaegar died?
They'll go for Hastings next, Bowman thought with a grim look on his face as he infused mana into the barrier to keep it steady.
Do I truly have no other option left?
***
On the other side of the chamber, surrounded by thick, smoky miasma, Agron Yaegar frantically looked around for his opponent.
"Show yourself!" He scread in panic, his teeth clattering.
In the depths of the smoke, he could see ominous figures moving. He abruptly turned around when he felt soone familiar call out to him. He turned once again when his gaze locked onto a giant, demonic monster creeping toward him.
Dread gripped his heart, his back drenched in a layer of cold sweat. Although he knew these were all illusions, there was nothing he could do to counter them.
Everyone knew Berger was a master of illusions. It's why he was hailed as the Ghost of Twilight.
A sudden growl echoed from the side. Yaegar turned to the source and saw a giant monster with red eyes glaring at him.
"Was it worth it?" It asked.
"Y-You're not real!" Yaegar roared, hurling several flaming spheres at the monster.
"Am I not real?"
Another voice echoed from the other side.
Yaegar quickly turned and saw Berger standing calmly, smoking from the pipe. Yaegar's bloodshot eyes flashed with ruthlessness, and he instantly conjured a blade made of wind magic and viciously slashed it at the gno's figure.
However, the blade passed through Berger effortlessly, and his figure dissipated into smoke.
"Damn it!" Yaegar scread in frustration and fear. "Coward! Fucking show yourself! Where are you?!"
"Here."
Berger's cold voice echoed from beside him.
Agron Yaegar's heart sank, and he quickly weaved hand seals for a spell.
But Berger was already one step ahead.
Tyrannical mana coating his hand, he took a calm step forward and…
Hand of Doom: One Hit!
The gno drove a devastating one-inch punch into Yaegar's knee. The force shattered it instantly, sending bone splinters, blood, and flesh bursting outward.
Yaegar scread in anguish as his balance gave way. The pain was real. The injury was real. This was no illusion.
Before the traitorous Councilor even collapsed on the ground, his death had already arrived.
Blackie, now in the form of a puppy, leapt up from the floor and landed on Berger's hand.
He sprinted across his shoulders and jumped forward once again, his jaws opening wide and revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth.
With a ruthless gleam flashing in his tenebrous eyes, Blackie tore into Yaegar's throat and pulled away, the damage instantly fatal.
Yaegar's eyes widened, and blood gushed out from his neck like a broken fountain. He clutched at his neck, but the blood wouldn't stop flowing.
His strength failed him. With a dull thud, he collapsed to the ground, blood already pooling beneath his head. His movents grew weaker by the second. He tried to speak, but no sound escaped his lips.
As the light in his eyes slowly faded away, the last thing he saw was the black-furred puppy approaching him with a cold and unwavering gaze.
It was as if the beast wasn't looking at a Magus at the Mana Core Rank.
No. It was looking at food.
Blackie opened his maw wide one final ti.
And then…
There was only darkness.
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