The white glow blazed in his eyes.
"Mars!"
Garrett slamming his fist on the ground raises a wall just in the nick of time pushing the claw to the side stopping it from piercing Mars's head.
"Back off you bitch!" Mars enveloping his arms in flames blasts the beast searing it across its face.
Roar!
Angry at Mars's attack the panther swiped back hard, catching him across the forearm with the flat of its paw before the white glow could fully charge.
The force alone sent Mars skidding sideways across the dirt.
"Mars!" Amy called out from behind the wall.
"I'm fine!" He caught himself on one knee, arm throbbing, teeth gritted. "Just — give me a second—"
The panther didn't wait.
It closed the gap in one stride and brought its claw down.
CRACK.
Mars's scream cut through the forest and silenced every bird in the canopy.
He hit the ground clutching his arm to his chest, the flames along his hands sputtering out in an instant, face drained of color.
"Mars—!" Amy was already moving from behind the wall.
"His arm." Garrett's voice came out flat with shock. "It broke his arm."
'Shit!'
Arthur stepped forward whipping his wand unleashing a flurry of mana bolts. Each one cracking against the panther's chest, shoulder and jaw before it could react. They weren't killing shots, only mere hammering strikes to bluntly harm the beast.
"Angela!"
She was already moving.
Two blasts fired in tight sequence, gold and purple wisps slammed into the panther's sides with enough force to send it skidding sideways across the dirt. She closed the distance as she fired, her legs glowing in a gold and purple enhancing her speed.
"Mythic arts: Touch of the Divine."
The air around Angela shifted.
The gold and purple light that had been flickering at her fingertips spread crawling up her arms, across her shoulders, bleeding outward until it wrapped around her entirely like a second skin. The forest darkened by comparison, her figure radiant light as if she was the sun itself.
Her feet left the ground.
Just enough that the tips of her boots cleared the soil, her hair lifting slowly behind her as the energy rose around her in slow circling streams. Her face and aura like that of someone reclaiming something that is theirs.
The panther went completely still.
Those green hunter's eyes calm and calculating through the entire fight are now silent. Only fear runs through the eyes of the beast.
It wanted to run, to hide, to get away from what every beast it awakened.
Angela looked down at it from above with her gold eyes carrying no anger, no satisfaction, no expression at all. Like a judge.
She pulled her hands apart slowly.
The energy between her palms stretched like a cord being drawn to its limit, gold and purple bleeding together into a single blinding point of light that hummed at a frequency felt more in the chest than heard with the ears.
The panther turned to run, but it was too late.
Angela her palms facing outward glow vibrant.
"Ingite."
BOOM!
In a split second a beam of gold and purple brought judgement down from above striking the panther dead in the back.
Erasing it from the world, leaving nothing but ash.
Angela descended slowly back to the earth, the light retreating from her limbs, her face contorting in pain as she fell flat on the ground.
"Angela!" Garrett seeing her fall catches her before she hits the ground.
"Are you ok?" Panic and worry strikes his face seeing her condition.
"I'm fine, just…tired." Angela replies, her face becoming pale.
'Mythic arts at peak bronze what kind of monster is she…' Arthur watching can't help but stare in awe even if he can do dmg at that level if given enough prep time it still requires numerous resources and time. Angela can do it whenever.
"Well, well, well." The voice came from the treeline. Unhurried, almost amused. "Look what we have here."
Arthur's head snapped toward the voice. He frowned at the sight.
Stepping out from the forest the figure of two people stepped out. Harold and Tommy.
"It seems you all are in a predicament. Surely you wouldn't mind if we helped you out, no?" Harold teases as he stares down at them.
"Not if you don't care about the points you spent to get here."
"Trust me our backer is more than willing to compensate us if we do a good job here." Tommy adds not caring about such meaningless things.
"I'm sure Damien has told you many things he can do for you but that's if you make it out of here. Mana bolt!" Not getting them a chance Arthur strikes first forcing them on the defensive.
The bolt cracked between Harold and Tommy forcing them both to split, boots scraping against the dirt as they dove to opposite sides.
"Asshole, we're going to give it to you now!" Harold springs forward at Arthur, his body bursting in flames similar to Mars, only lesser in color and size.
Rolling out of the way Arthur dodges the attack peppering them with mana bolts while he creates space for Mars and Angela who are still out of commission.
Igniting runes along the bottom of his shoes they light up activating.
A mana burst left both feet simultaneously and Arthur's world lurched. One moment he was standing still the next he was three steps to the left, the movement so sudden his coat snapped in the air behind him from the speed of it.
Harold's flame fist hit nothing.
"What—"
Arthur was already behind him as he kept low to the ground, his body parallel with the floor.
He flipped his wand in his grip, reversing it so the carved tip pointed downward like a blade as he enforced it in mana. Like gutting a fish Arthur stabs it into Harold's knee making him collapse as the mana discharges in the knee rupturing it.
"Argh!" Falling over, Harold swipes at Arthur trying to hit him, however he only singes the ground as Arthur turns his attention to Tommy, who is winding up a mana punch. This one feels different though as the air around his fist dense and compressed in a way that puts Arthur on alert.
Not keen to get hit, Arthur uses the runes on his shoes again, the burst launching him out of Tommy's path and into open ground. What follows is a strange sight Tommy swinging and missing, Harold crawling and swiping from the ground, and Arthur weaving between them with calm precise footwork, making two fighters look like they're chasing smoke.
A 2v1 that should have been overwhelmingly in their favor had been reduced to something almost embarrassing on their end.
"Stand still you bastard!" Harold, even with a torn knee, pushes himself forward, his body temperature rising visibly, the flames across his skin burning hotter and brighter with each passing second. Almost like he was doping.
'This idiot is burning his mana just so he can stand on his own two feet. He really must not want to get in trouble with Damein.'
Author Note: Patreon.com/Lord_Cuckles or Search TabooQuill on Patreon for up to 20 advance Chapters.