Magus Reborn

54. Fiend

Gone was the unassuming Mage, replaced by a horrifying monstrosity.

Kai’s blood ran cold as leathery wings erupted from Actra’s back, a sickening blend of membranous flesh and chitinous spikes. Razor-sharp claws replaced his fingernails, and his eyes glowed a malevolent red, the crimson hue reflecting a chilling awareness.

Panic threatened to consume Kai, everything he thought he knew about Actra shattered in an instant.

This wasn’t a desperate Mage lashing out, this looked like a predator, a terrifying fusion of weaver and bloodsucker.

A rough snarl ripped from Actra’s throat— sounding oddly like a mana fiend’s voice.

The air crackled with mana, the effects of Mana Bane extinguished by the raw power that seemed to course through Actra.

Spiked stones materialized from the very air, propelled by a surge of magic, hurtling towards Kai. He sidestepped them with inhuman agility, the projectiles shattering against the wall with a deafening crash.

With a swift movement, Actra lept at Kai, their bodies colliding in a burst of raw power. In the heat of the moment, Kai looked at Actra’s rageful eyes as they beamed with something else— something he had never seen before.

The impact sent them crashing through the dusty window, their fight spilling out onto the estate grounds.

They were suddenly hurtling through the air.

Actra twisted in mid-air, his monstrous form aiming to slam Kai into the unforgiving earth.

With a desperate surge of adrenaline, Kai reacted on instinct. He twisted away from the impending impact, his hand snapping forward as he channelled his mana.

A blazing bolt of fire erupted from his palm, aimed directly at the leathery wings. The sound felt like the air splitting as the fire met flesh.

The impact threw both of them off course, their intertwined bodies crashing towards the training grounds below in a tangled mess of limbs and fury.

A few people scrambled with shrieks, terrified of the monster’s appearance. Kai looked up to see Francis walking towards the ground with a few people following behind. They seemed to have seen the monster flying around and looked shell shocked.

Actra, a monstrous parody of his former self, shrieked in fury, its wings caught in fire. Kai, barely registering the guards scattering in terror, scrambled to his feet.

Out of nowhere, Killian appeared at his side, his eyebrows furrowed.

Kai looked down at his body immediately, seeing the bruises and cuts where Actra had grabbed him with his claws.

He got to his feet, though a sharp pain through his knee nearly made him fall again.

"What’s happening?" Killian asked, holding up his sword. His loud voice echoed through the grounds that were suddenly in complete silence.

"No time to explain!" Kai roared, hurling a searing bolt of fire towards the monster.

Actra, wings beating furiously, twisted in mid-air, the flames licking harmlessly against the rapidly growing scales that now covered his forearms. He launched himself at Kai with a guttural snarl, a horrifying blend of a bloodsucker’s rasp and a fiend’s hungry roar.

Dark vines, thick and menacing, erupted from the ground like black serpents, coiling towards Kai with unnatural speed. What the fuck-

"Actra? Is that Actra?" Killian’s voice cracked with disbelief as he lunged forward, his sword flashing in the sunlight. Steel met writhing vines in a shower of sparks and severed tendrils. But for every vine he cut down, two more seemed to rise.

Kai, caught in a whirlwind of thrashing vines and snapping jaws, desperately launched another volley of fire.

The flames momentarily singed the leathery wings, but the monstrous hybrid pressed its attack. With a powerful kick, Actra sent Kai rocketing towards the makeshift weapon stand on the ground.

Kai slammed into it with a grunt, the air momentarily knocked from his lungs.

He scrambled to his feet, a throbbing pain radiating from his hip where he saw a dagger plunged. Taking it out, he frowned and looked around.

Spotting a discarded spear lying nearby, he snatched it up, its smooth surface slick.

Actra, a monstrous whirlwind of fury, swooped down before him. Claws raked at the air, inches from Kai’s face, the stench of decay and blood washing over him.

Kai ducked it and jabbed the spear forward, hoping to land a lucky strike, but Actra twisted with unnatural agility, the tip of the spear whistling harmlessly past.

This wasn’t the Actra he knew or had seen firsthand.

This monstrosity was a blur of fangs and claws, screaming a terrifying power.

Kai gritted his teeth. Actra’s mana surged, the telltale signs of a 4th circle Mage radiating from the creature. Actra was previously just a 3rd circle mage, but now, it was hard to tell if he would be able to stand against him for long.

Focusing, Kai formed a spell structure of a second circle spell [Wind Blade] and unleashed it at Actra who hacked down at him with his claws. The blade of wind hit its sides, but the monster’s smile simply grew as if he was relishing the pain.

Kai quickly rolled on the ground to dodge the attack and just then, Killian rushed from behind, his sword flashing under the sun in a desperate attempt to flank the creature.

But even with their combined efforts, they were barely holding their own.

A swipe of Actra’s claws left a bloody gash on Kai’s arm as he barely sidestepped the attack. The pain shot through his entire being, his feet turning cold for a second.

"You are going to die at my hands, you insolent brat!" Dark energy swivelled around him as he flung, swinging his wings, but Kai kept standing, anger flaring at him as he sensed the scent of foul, dead mana coming at him.

He reached deep within himself, knowing the exact spell that was going to get him out of this predicament. In an instant, four spell structures formed in front of him, taking in the form of glyphs.

"Astrum Laxme Endro Fiend!"

Every word he took, more pressure dawned upon him until he felt like every part of the body was pierced by sharp rocks, but as he completed the incantation, the glyphs flared to life.

Blood leaked out of his nostrils and Kai felt like he was barely managing to stand. Despite that, a smile formed on his lips.

The glyphs mixed into one and Actra’s eyes widened as he paused his charge.

"How?" he stammered. "How can you wield such power? Your mana..."

Kai cut him off with a snarl. "I don’t have to answer a dead man."

With that, white-hot flames flared up to life, engulfing everything around them and heading straight towards Actra.

As he felt the power coming from the mystical flames, Actra retreated, fear clear on his face.

The flames pressed onwards, leaving a trail of charred ground whenever they went.

Actra, for the first time in the fight, was on the defensive, his monstrous facade crumbling under the might of the flames. They struck his body, burning his whole hand as he tried to leapt back, but the more he struggled, the more the flames chased him as if they had the sole goal of burning his entire soul. He only protected himself with vines emerging from the ground, forming a barrier around him, but the flames burned them at a rapid pace. He frowned, looking down at his bloodied left arm. The flames had burned away three of his fingers and the pain was excruciating. If they touched him again, he knew he was dead.

Driven by desperation, Actra lashed out with a volley of jagged stones, ripped from the very cobblestones beneath their feet.

They didn’t move towards the flames, but Kai who was standing right behind them.

The projectiles rained down on him, each strike leaving a fresh gash on his already bloodied form. A pained grunt escaped Kai’s lips, but he pressed on.

Actra, his crimson eyes gleaming with sadistic glee, threw his head back and let out a chilling laugh. "You see, Arzan? Even with your fancy tricks, your power wanes! You’ll burn yourself out before I’m finished with you!"

Kai ignored the taunt, focusing on channelling the remaining mana.

The [Fiendfire] spell was a hungry beast, draining his reserves at an alarming rate.

With a final surge of will, the white flames flared up, severing the thick vines in a matter of seconds that protected Actra.

Knowing his tricks won’t work anymore, Actra flapped his wings, aiming to fly away to protect himself, but Kai couldn’t let it be.

The flames chased after him, but Kai knew they would die before reaching him, so he thought of another spell. Maybe the last spell he might be able to do and even then, he would be borrowing strength from his life force.

Despite the risk, letting Actra go was the worst thing after all this trouble.

So, he channelled mana around his hands as all his energy seeped away into the spell, but he didn’t care.

In a heartbeat, he cast [Infernal Chains].

Out of nowhere, dark, flaming chains erupted out of the ground, heading towards Actra who had already reached quite far away, but they bound themselves at his legs, yanking him down as he screamed.

He tried to move, swinging his claws at the chains.

"You think these pathetic chains can hold me?" he asked, loudly. The voice blended with monstrous noises filled the air. "You can clearly not hold yourself together. Once I’m free, your secrets will be mine! I’ll tear every one from your lips, even if I have to rip your very soul from your body!"

Kai ignored the threats and moved forward towards him, one of his hands moving towards one of the inner pockets of his robe.

Actra, consumed by his rage, didn’t seem to notice something far more dangerous than fear in Kai’s eyes as he continued to taunt him while trying to get out of the chains.

"Have you given up?" Actra’s voice came after noticing how silent Kai had gone. Kai smirked. Without the flame, his spells would barely scratch Actra’s body and he didn’t have enough mana to keep up with the chains for long.

"You’re a fool, Actra," Kai rasped, his voice hoarse. "You have no idea what you’ve just done. Dead mana isn’t a thing to play around even if I have no idea how it managed to transform you to such an extent."

His hand came forward, powering up the chains with the last remaining mana so that the fire would burn him up. Actra opened his mouth to let out a monstrous shriek but Kai lunged himself forward.

He tipped the vial and poured the shimmering liquid down the hybrid’s throat.

Actra’s eyes widened in horror as the potion coursed through his veins.

By the look of his eyes, it was clear that the monster realised what was happening to him. Kai gave a final smile that was too cruel to his liking and ran away from the chains, as far away as he could.

He had taken around thirty wide steps when a horrifying sound burst from behind.

The force of the explosion made the ground beneath them shake, the shockwave rippling through the marketplace, shattering windows and sending dust flying.

Kai, his ears ringing, scrambled to his feet and took cover behind a sturdy stone wall just as the marketplace erupted in chaos.

The detonation was deafening as flesh and blood rained on the ground.