The white beam only pierced empty air. Its heat evaporated the raindrops around it.
"Ritual magic, huh," Tominus said. His voice now sounded right behind the nape of the Viona envoy's neck.
The envoy twisted his palms. Without looking back, he fired a sharp light laser beam from his palms straight toward his own back.
The beam once again hit nothing.
"What is your plan?" Tominus said.
The Elfier King was now floating in the air. He was right on the right side of the Viona envoy.
As the Viona envoy tried to turn his body, Tominus raised his right hand. He snapped his fingers.
Click.
The snapping sound rang loud. Dense, pitch-black telekinetic energy exploded from the tip of Tominus's finger. The energy slammed into the Viona envoy's chest incredibly hard. The middle-aged man's body was thrown backward for tens of meters, piercing through the night air.
The Viona envoy gritted his teeth, enduring the pain. He rapidly chanted a magic spell.
Dozens of light halos the size of a human head opened up, surrounding the man's body. The halos simultaneously fired searing laser beams straight at Tominus.
Tominus raised a single index finger into the air.
Instantly, an invisible barrier wall formed in front of the king. The hot laser beams crashed into the wall of air. Their light dimmed and immediately vanished, completely absorbed by the telekinetic shield without a trace.
"Are you working with Villavia?" Tominus asked in a flat tone.
The air vibrated. The Viona envoy used short-range teleportation magic. He appeared right behind Tominus. Both his hands radiated a bright green mana. The man launched a rapid barrage of punches at the king's head.
Tominus shifted his neck and shoulders with minimal movement. He deflected and dodged all of the man's punches with ease.
"What level are you?" Tominus asked quietly.
Tominus's right hand clenched into a fist. He struck the Viona envoy's lower jaw from the side. The sound of cracking bone was heard very clearly. The punch sent the Viona envoy's body tumbling down. He plummeted at high speed toward the rows of stone building roofs of the city.
"Oh no. Do not destroy the buildings," Tominus said.
He looked down and then snapped his fingers again.
Click.
A spatial distortion in the form of a black hole opened right beneath the Viona envoy's falling trajectory. The man's body was swallowed into the hole. At the exact same second, another hole opened in the upper sky. The envoy's body plummeted out of the upper hole, right within Tominus's reach.
Tominus clenched both his hands. He hammered the envoy's body hard from above.
The Viona envoy's body ricocheted sharply to the side. His body crashed hard into the city's protective light wall. A dull thud echoed in the air. Fresh blood spurted, staining the white light wall.
The air hissed softly. Tominus teleported and instantly appeared in front of the sliding man. Tominus's right hand gripped the Viona envoy's neck incredibly tight. He pinned the man's body suspended against the surface of the light wall.
Tominus pressed harder on the man's neck. He forced the Viona envoy's face upward and made him stare straight into his eyes.
Blood poured heavily from the middle-aged man's nose, eyes, and mouth. His jawbone was shifted and broken. He breathed with great difficulty, letting out a hoarse sound. However, the man did not scream or beg for mercy. He stared back into Tominus's eyes and formed a bitter smile on his ruined lips.
"You are ready to die for this," Tominus said with a deep and flat voice.
The man remained silent, maintaining his bitter smile.
"Do you realize how foolish you are to declare war on us?" Tominus asked. "At a time when our kingdom's population is so scarce, and you arrogantly cause us to kill each other."
Tominus tightened his grip on the envoy's neck.
"Just because I rejected your cheap offer."
"If it is cheap, why did you reject it?" the Viona envoy said hoarsely. Blood dripped from his chin onto the back of Tominus's hand.
"Why do you reject us? Why do you always refuse when we need your help?"
Both of the envoy's eyes widened, glaring at Tominus with anger. His chest rose and fell rapidly.
"Shouldn't we, the remaining humans, help and share with each other?"
"Since long ago, I have always hated your kingdom. You feel like you are the most superior. The richest and the strongest!"
The man gritted his remaining teeth.
"Even though you are all just humans!"
Tominus chuckled softly. He pulled his head back and then slammed his forehead into the Viona envoy's head with tremendous force.
Thud.
The sound of skulls colliding rang loudly. The envoy's nose was crushed.
"Stupid."
Tominus stared coldly at the man's face.
"The reason I do not help you is because you can solve that problem yourselves."
"It is just that your kingdom is too corrupt and lazy."
Tominus laughed lightly as he saw the consciousness of the man in front of him begin to fade.
"And also..."
"We are indeed superior."
As the man closed his eyes and nearly lost his life, Tominus raised his left hand. He placed his palm on the envoy's chest and chanted a healing spell. Golden-green light enveloped the Viona envoy's body. His broken bones shifted back together. His bleeding stopped.
The man jolted in shock. His eyes snapped open as he gasped for fresh air.
"You are the right man to be killed by him."