Shards of razor-sharp ice exploded outward in every direction, turning the sky into a dead trap.
The Magus's smile vanished as hundreds of frozen needles whirled toward him.
He raised his hand, mana pulsing—
A barrier of lightning flared to life, catching most of the shrapnel—but not all.
A shard tore across his cheek. Another scraped past his shoulder, slicing through his cloak.
He landed lightly on a nearby cliff edge, gaze sharpening.
"Hoh…" he muttered, glancing at the blood on his fingers. "Interesting."
His wound start healing, but Bend doesn't give him any moment to breath.
Dozens more ice bolts screamed down from above, trailing frost like silver comets.
Half of them exploded midair, detonating like magical fireworks. The blast scattered frozen shrapnel in every direction, transforming the sky into a rain of death.
Lightning pulsed from his body like a living aura.
He shot upward like a lightning bolt, twisting midair.. Frost exploded, shards raining down like glacial meteors. The sky bloomed white with magic.
He weaved through the storm, teleporting short distances with crackling arcs of lightning. Each step left a flash in the air, each movement melting the frost before it could settle.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
Three bolts adjusted midflight—guided magic. They turned on his trail. The Magus whipped around midair, flicked his fingers.
A surge of lightning burst outward like a pulse wave—disrupting the tracking enchantments.
Two bolts exploded prematurely, scattering harmlessly. The last streaked toward him.
He caught it. His hand, wrapped in crackling energy, closed around the shaft. Ice sizzled against mana-soaked skin as he twisted it midair and hurled it back.
It screamed downward—straight toward the ballista platform that fired it.
The bolt slammed into the magical barrier. The shield flared bright, by only for a moment. There's no a single crack, just ripples of energy fading into the air.
More bolts followed, slicing through the sky like silver spears.
The first ice bolt exploded in midair, shattering into a storm of razor sharp ice bolt
A heartbeat later— BOOM!
The second burst followed, its icy whirlwind catching the shards, spinning them into a bladed cyclone.
A storm of death howled through the sky, rampaging across everything in its path.
The Magus floated within the chaos, his cloak whipping wildly, eyes sharp.
A third bolt flew straight toward him.
It exploded. A bucket's worth of pure liquid drenched him. He narrowed his eyes. "What?"
That was when the cyclone changed..
All the spinning ice shards hunreds of them were suddenly drawn inward. It than shifted in angle aimed right at him.
The water reacted instantly.
Ice spread across his limbs like living glass, encasing him in an instant, an ice prison formed around his body, locking him in place midair.
A hundreds shard of sharpened ice screamed through the cyclone—slamming into his frozen shell, over and over again.
'Damn it!' The Magus cursed silently, electricity crackling off his body as his mana surged in all directions.
In a single pulse, a shockwave of lightning burst outward shattering the cyclone, dispelling the ice prison, and wiping the air clean of lingering magic.
His eyes glowed with fury. "Enough."
His palm opened, arcs of lightning crackling across his fingers, gathering into a blinding orb as he prepared to fire a counterattack.
Something dropped from above.
The gleam of metal caught his eye. Ben, mid-air, pickaxe raised high, falling like a comet.
The Magus reacted instantly, body twisting, mana flaring.
But as the blow came crashing down it passed straight through.
A blur. A silhouette.
The real strike came from the side.
Ben reappeared at his flank in a blink, pickaxe low, driving forward like a spear aimed straight for the Magus's torso.
The Magus snapped his hand around, conjuring a lightning barrier.
The pickaxe hit and tore through the barrier like it wasn't even there.
The Magus's eyes widened, real shock flashing across his face. 'What—!?'
The artifact cut clean through the lightning, slicing toward his ribs.
He twisted just in time, avoiding a fatal blow—but the pickaxe still raked across his side, leaving a long, sparking gash across his coat and skin.
His foot slammed into the Magus's chest, launching him backward through the air like a missile, sending him crashing into a cliff face.
The stone split on impact.
Ben landed hard, dragging his pickaxe through the dirt with one hand, "So who're you?," he muttered, eyes burning. "A Magus? Part of the Templar?"
But The Magus didn't respond. Instead the cliffside crackled with sparks.
A blinding bolt of lightning shot from his palm, splitting the air with a banshee scream as it tore toward Ben.
Ben didn't flinch. He pivoted low, driving his heel into the dirt for leverage, then swung.
The pickaxe met the bolt mid-strike. Not only did it stop it, but the head of the weapon bent the lightning, redirecting it like a river hitting a blade.
The bolt veered off course, slamming harmlessly into the side of the ravaged wall, exploding in a shower of stone and sparks.
The Magus's eyes narrowed. 'That artifact again… 'He raised both hands now, summoning not a single bolt—but dozens.
The air around him darkened with streaks electricityt. "Let's see you deflect this," he snarled.
The sky rained thunder.
Each bolt screamed toward Ben like guided spears, closing in from every angle.
Ben exhaled once. His body shimmered. Adaptive muscles tightened across his limbs.
Then he moved. A blur of motion.
His pickaxe spun in wide arcs, deflecting one then another.
His body sliding, weaving, twisting like a beast born for battle. One lightning spear grazed his shoulder, sending a jolt through his chest, but he grit his teeth and pushed forward.
Another bolt came in Ben caught it on the shaft of his weapon, then twisted, redirecting the energy into the ground.
The stone beneath him shattered from the force, but he never slowed. He closed the distance in seconds.
The Magus saw him coming. His hands lit with magic circle spiraling along his arms.