Chapter 220: Diversion (Part 5)

Point-of-View: Ciel Campbell———————————————————————————

"D-Damn, you...!" Exclaimed Pieter furiously, unleashing a barrage of ice spheres towards me, which I swiftly countered with a volley of explosions, intercepting the incoming projectiles.

I shuddered slightly as the explosions rang out, getting goosebumps, before quickly shuffling across to my left as a rapid beam of Negative Energy came shooting out towards me, narrowly evading it.

I then leapt away as a pillar of ice came extending out towards me, grazing the soles of my boots, before I rolled across as fast as I could as spikes of ice rapidly extended out of the pillar, branching out with immense speed.

I scrambled back onto my feet and fired out a sphere of explosive energy as several of the razor-sharp ice branches began to converge in on me, blasting them to pieces, the force of the explosion simultaneously pushing me further away.

As my feet came to a skidding halt across the ground, I took a swift step to my right as a rapid, vertical slashing wave of dark energy came shooting towards me, missing my left side by a hair, before I launched a flurry of explosions at him.

He sprinted across as they closed in on him, peppering the ground one after the other, throwing him off-balance as small but intense shockwaves erupted out, the ground rumbling.

He quickly raised several walls of ice in front of himself as I unleashed a massive explosive blast towards him, a cloud of dust and steam bursting out as the blast struck his foremost ice wall and exploded with devastating force, a muffled cry ringing out as several chunks of ice flew out of the dust cloud and scattered across the surrounding area.

Suddenly, dozens of ice shards came shooting up out of the dust cloud, my eyes widening as they plummeted down towards me.

I fired off several explosions before racing away, before stiffening and quickly turning across as a tall, wide wall of ice covered in spikes came barreling towards me.

I took aim and fired off a explosion as it closed in me, shattering it to pieces before tilting my head across as one of the pieces came shooting towards my face, grazing my right cheek and drawing out a trickle of blood.

"Th-This is getting annoying...j-just die already!" Roared Pieter, the dust cloud getting blown away as a burst of cold air erupted around him, dozens of massive icicles forming all around him, pointing towards me.

Okay, this isn’t going to work. I need to forget about taking him in alive.

"Try this on for size...[Explosion Nova]!" I exclaimed as I raised my right arm, a tremendous mass of explosive energy forming above me, swirling around intensely and forming a colossal sphere, bathing the surrounding area in a deep red glow.

I took a swift, firm step forward as I swung my arm down, launching the gigantic ball of explosive energy straight towards him as he fired the icicles towards me.

I backed away as fast as I could as my most powerful Spell barreled towards him, before promptly getting blown away as it exploded devastatingly.

My back collided against the wall of a building, before I braced myself against the wall as a cataclysmic shockwave erupted out.

The entire area rumbled violently, the glass on the windows of the surrounding buildings shattering as deep cracks spread out across the ground rapidly, thick puffs of dust bursting out as the cracks widening.

I fired out a few smaller explosions as chunks of rubble came hurtling towards me, blasting them to pieces before they could hit me.

As the rumbling finally began to settle, a massive cloud of dust rose up from the spot where my Explosion Nova had erupted, the area eerily quiet.

I warily got back onto my feet and let out a slow exhale, before cautiously making my way forward, the dust cloud steadily starting to clear.

My eyes widened slightly as I got a look through it, a large, deep crater left in the wake of my explosion, a slight, bloody stench invading my nostrils as I drew closer to the edge of the crater.

I could see some sludgy bits and pieces scattered about the sides of the crater, are those...body parts?

Wait, I think I see some charred bone shards too.

Looks like I blasted him to tiny little pieces. I guess I should’ve figured that’d happen, but to be fair, I’ve never actually hit a living target with Explosion Nova before.

I can’t use it in the Dungeons since it poses a very real risk of triggering a cave-in, and while I did use it in the final of the HCC against Kaivel, the barrier teleported him out before the Spell actually hit him...it teleported me out for the same reason too.

So, this is the first time this Spell has actually hit someone, or any living thing, for that matter. Well, not counting micro-organisms or, like, small bugs I didn’t notice or whatever.

"Okay, the target has been neutralized...heh, I’ve always wanted to say that. What next? What’s going on with Kaivel right now?" I inquired, tapping on my holographic earpiece.

I don’t need to press it or anything, but this just feels right.

"The Archdemon just showed up, looks like they’re about to start fighting for real. The Chairwoman has it covered though, so we’d like you to keep fighting the corrupted Aces.

Five of them have been taken down already, but there are still eight more, three of which are rampaging without any resistance. I’ll direct you to the nearest of those three, please hurry."

Seems I don’t have much of a choice...eliminating the Archdemon may be a priority, but we can’t ignore the corrupted Aces and let even more civilians die.

Here’s hoping the Chairwoman’s really got Kaivel covered...otherwise, he’ll probably die.

"Alright, tell me where to go. Oh, and please get the area evacuated faster...I lost my sword, so I can only fight with my Magic."

Even if I did have my sword, these corrupted Aces have had their powers boosted, Mages aren’t usually able to challenge me to that extent.

"Understood, we’re doing our best to evacuate the areas under attack as fast as possible."

"Okay, I’m on my way."