The candidates still on the rooftop saw the lightning-wrapped man finally plumting from the stormy sky.
"That’s it!" shouted the short-haired woman, pointing. "That’s our signal!"
The others gave quick nods and moved without hesitation.
They had already learned how to enhance their bodies with Magic to survive a fall from that height and to run faster once they hit the ground.
They leapt. Rain and wind whipped at their faces as they dropped.
The impact cracked the wet rooftop beneath them, but the enhancent held.
The mont their feet hit the muddy ground, they sprinted toward the crater where the lightning being had fallen. Sparks and dust rose in thick waves from the small impact site.
Billy and Cody descended monts later.
"Give him hell!" Billy roared through the storm.
The four candidates didn’t need to be told twice. They charged in together, circling the crater’s edge.
The lightning being was still on his back, electricity flickering weakly across his body. Monts ago, he had looked unstoppable.
His figure blazing against the dark clouds like an untouchable god. Now, stripped of his flight, he looked almost human with a little bit of lightning. Vulnerable.
Cody’s disruption had worked perfectly.
"Don’t let up!" the broad-shouldered man yelled.
They rained down blows—punches, kicks, slashes—each enhanced by raw Magic energy.
Sparks burst on impact as they struck his arms, chest, and back. The man groaned, reeling under the barrage.
"Not so invincible now, huh?" the short-haired woman taunted, her movents a blur as she drove a kick straight into his ribs.
Billy and Cody landed beside them. Cody slid off Billy’s back, his legs still trembling from the flight.
Billy watched the scene for a mont. The enemy was pumled by five soldiers at once, and if not for how dangerous that creature had been, he might’ve thought it looked like a gang of bullies cornering a victim.
"How long does your disruption last?" Billy asked, eyes never leaving the fight.
"Not long, Sergeant," Cody answered. "Maybe fifteen seconds more."
"And how long until you can use it again?"
"I’ll need a minute to recover first."
Billy frowned. "That’s too long."
"I know," Cody said, breath unsteady. "But that’s the best I can do right now."
Billy’s scowl deepened, but then he nodded. "Fine. Do it again as soon as you’re ready."
Without another word, he charged forward, joining the others in their assault. The ground trembled as Billy’s blows landed, each impact exploding with force.
Adrien landed monts later, his boots splashing into the mud.
"He won’t go down from this alone," he warned. "Be ready for the next round. And you—" he glanced at Cody "—that’s a damn fine ability you’ve got."
"Thank you, sir," Cody replied with a shaky smile.
Adrien joined the fray, striking hard and fast. Every hit counted.
They all knew they had to deal as much damage as possible before the creature recovered.
But then, the air changed.
A deep hum vibrated through the rain-soaked ground. The man’s body twitched and suddenly his eyes flared open and glowing again with blinding blue light.
Arcs of lightning snaked across his body, gathering strength in violent bursts.
"Back up!" Billy shouted.
The warning ca a heartbeat too late. A shockwave of lightning erupted outward, hurling the candidates backward.
The short-haired woman scread as she hit the mud. The broad man crashed into a broken wall, his body sizzling.
Billy was thrown too, but his barrier absorbed the blast. He slid across the ground, boots digging into the wet soil.
"Damn it! That was too fast!" he snarled.
Adrien appeared beside him, his expression grim. "He’s regained control already."
The being rose from the crater, blood running down his arms, his face twisted in fury. The glow in his eyes burned brighter than before. Lightning burst from his body in wild surges, striking the ground and nearby trees.
Billy and Adrien braced themselves against the gale of power, rain hamring down in sheets.
They both knew what this ant. This next round would be worse than before.
—
Sylmira and the other Mages managed to keep the barrier stable, though the being still floated high above the city.
Lightning shimred faintly around him, but he did not strike again.
Sylmira frowned, her staff glowing with steady azure light as she reinforced another rune layer.
"Why did he stop? Is he recovering his power?" she thought, sweat running down her temple.
The air itself humd from the leftover charge of his last attack.
On the sa ramparts a few ters from her, Arty stood ready. She wore a fitted leather armor inscribed with glowing runes and a pair of gauntlets embedded with Magic circuits that pulsed with faint blue light.
Her hair clung to her damp face, but her eyes stayed sharp and focused. She had already braced herself for the possibility that Sylmira would call on her.
Sylmira glanced at her, reading the sa thought on her face.
"Arty, can you attack now?"
"Yes," Arty replied without hesitation. Her tone was steady, but her body still carried traces of the earlier instability.
She didn’t ntion it because there was no ti, and Sylmira didn’t need another thing to worry about. Besides, she felt alright right now.
She simply clenched her fists and felt the energy coursing through the runes on her gauntlets, her strength amplifying with each breath.
"We must attack him before he regains his strength," Sylmira said firmly. Her voice cut through the noise of the storm. "Go now."
Arty nodded once. In one smooth motion, she shot into the air, her body leaving a trail of Magic that cut through the rain.
Sylmira quickly opened a gap in the barrier for her and closed it the instant Arty passed through, sealing it tight again with a flick of her staff.
Arty rose higher, climbing fast until she t the sa altitude as the being above.
The sky around her churned like a sea of dark clouds, lightning flashing in bursts that illuminated her determined face.
The being hovered motionless for a mont, eyes dimd yet still dangerous.
His energy was building again. She could feel it in her bones.
The runes on Arty’s gauntlets ignited, streams of light spiraling up her arms.
She clenched her fists, drawing on her Magic until the air cracked around her.
Below, Sylmira watched closely. She could sense Arty’s rising energy signature, the temperature in the atmosphere climbing sharply.
Arty extended her hands forward, fire and kinetic Magic converging into a dense orb.
Then, she launched it straight toward the being, breaking through the trembling air with blinding force.
The heavens flared red as the impact lit the clouds.
—
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