The masked assassins offered no words of retort.
Instead, the one at their center, clearly their leader, flexed his fingers.
Crimson infernal flames roared to life around his palms, and with a savage throw of his wrist, he hurled forth a blazing sphere of condensed hellfire straight toward Alistair's chest.
The fireball tore through the air, trailing roiling black smoke and scorching heat that warped the very energy in its path.
Alya and Halwin's gazes locked onto the incoming doom.
And Alya's brows furrowed in confusion, wondering why Alistair just stood there like a literal fire wasn't going toward him.
Then realization dawned on her. 'Of course… That kind of calm only belongs to one who is powerful.'
Before the blazing orb could reach Alistair, Thane Veya rose silently into the air and with an indifferent sweep of his sleeve, he unleashed a crescent arc of profound ice-attributed spiritual energy.
The icy arc collided head-on with the fireball.
Hiss—!
A violent burst of steam exploded outward as extreme cold devoured extreme heat.
The infernal sphere was extinguished in an instant, reduced to nothing more than harmless white mist that drifted away like morning dew under moonlight.
Still hovering mid-air, he turned to the side and extended his left palm.
A glacial chill gathered at his fingertips, condensing into a massive, glittering, long icicle.
With a casual push, he sent it hurtling forward.
Mid-flight, the single icicle suddenly fractured, splitting into dozens, then hundreds of razor-sharp ice spears that rained down like a meteor shower of frozen starlight, each one carrying enough killing intent to pierce through any formation.
One of the masked men immediately surged forward.
Both his hands thrust out and layers of dense earth-attributed energy coalesced into a trembling golden barrier that shimmered.
The icicles slammed into it with deafening cracks and the barrier shuddered violently, spiderweb fractures already spreading across its surface.
"Such tyrannical spiritual pressure…" the masked man gritted out through clenched teeth, veins bulging on his forehead as sweat beaded beneath his black mask. "This one… cannot hold!"
Halwin stared at the scene, heart pounding with unease. His gaze shifted to the red-haired figure dominating the sky, the same man he remembered from the Dominion Trial.
Beside him, Geoffrey spoke in a low, urgent murmur. "That's him… the ice cultivator. One of Supreme Domain's new warriors: Thane Veyer."
Halwin's expression twisted into something bitter. This isn't how it was supposed to go,' he thought. They are all protecting him.'
High above the faltering barrier, the fire-affinity leader rose once more. Both arms swept outward and countless arcs of blazing flames erupted like a thousand suns igniting at once, slashing toward Thane in a net of apocalyptic fire.
Thane's silhouette flickered, evading each deadly arc with casual, almost contemptuous grace, all while his palm continued to press down, reinforcing the crushing pressure on the barrier below.
But before the flames could close in…
A new presence appeared silently behind Alistair and Regan.
Youthful yet carrying the sharp edge of a honed blade.
In one fluid motion, the newcomer drew his sword and executed a single, sweeping arc.
A terrifying gale of pure sword intent howled forth.
The wind was not ordinary, it carried the profound law of severance.
Every blazing arc was snuffed out as though an invisible hand had pinched them into nothingness.
The air cleared in an instant.
Thane glanced sideways, tone flat. "I did not need your help, Karis."