One of the best things Soren had discovered about his abilities was its usefulness in casting magecraft. [Record] as he understood it, acts as a bridge of knowledge between him and The Records. Anything the Records knows, was subsequently information he could recall just as easily.
After all, chronicling information with [Record] went both ways. If he needed to recall a memory he had once lost, it would be as simple as invoking that skill and finding the information he was requesting within his Soul Weapon.
And in that same vein, recalling magecraft spellforms was also made easier.
When casting magecraft, one needs to form a mental image of its numerous axioms and the geometry its structure holds. Spellfocuses, like his Minor Silverlight Spire, help with this process by guiding the anima itself through the Channels of Willpower the magus possesses.
However, the original mental image itself was still something the magus needed to recall themselves. Obviously, as spellforms become more complicated the higher the circle one possesses, this becomes more and more difficult. It was because of this that many tend to carry their grimoires around with them. And in battle, many magi tend to only use the few spells they already have fully memorized.
Soren, however, was not held back by this limitation. Even though his memory was already much better than most, his Soul Weapon provided him an edge that no other magus had.
A database from which any spell could be recalled from.
All he really needed to do was simply request it, and that information would instantly form in his mind. And what’s even better, this process was quicker than if he had simply imagined things himself.
With the Hermit’s Eye activated, Soren could also see the entire battlefield all at once. No movement of the enemy could ever escape his grasp as long as his Soul Realm covered the battlefield.
“I’ll support you from the back,” Soren said swiftly. “You can engage him at any time.”
Cassia smirked, “That’s what I wanted to hear!”
Without an ounce of hesitation, she jumped through the Fairy Barrier, flying directly at the Fallen. The enemy didn’t hold back either—countless swords of light manifested behind him that shot themselves at Cassia like homing missiles.
Controlling her gravity magecraft, she maneuvered around all of them as she made her way closer to the enemy. Her claws widened in anticipation as the flames covering them danced eerily.
Behind her, Soren frowned as he witnessed a few of the light swords heading his way. He had already anticipated this, however. After all, what kind of enemy would not go after the weakest link? Soren was unequivocally the least experienced in battle out of the three of them, and as a 1st Circle magus, the amount of spells he had in his repertoire was less than a dozen in total.
Neither of these mattered that much, however. The spellforms he had access to were beyond the means of most 1st Circle magi. They were enough to defend against this kind of attack.
And just as he had assumed, the light swords failed to even scratch him. In fact, they never posed any danger to him at all.
The Fallen had mistaken his true position and attacked one of his illusions instead.
Without waiting any longer, he channeled his focus back onto the Hermit’s Eye to witness the battle between Cassia and the Riftspawn.
As soon as the dragon girl reached her target, she didn’t waste any time to attack him with her massive claws. The damage would have been severe—the enemy recognized that.
In the last second, he turned into a ray of light to dash away.
To Cassia however, the creature simply disappeared.
“I see now… So that’s how he does it.”
He appeared behind her. Cassia noticed, but it was still a bit late. A ray of light shot out from his palm toward her.
She tried to block it with her arms but the damage was still serious. Many of her scales were damaged. Shaking away the pain, Cassia distanced herself a bit from the enemy then casted an array of fireballs that she sent hurtling toward him.
The enemy dodged once again at speeds she could not even comprehend.
“Damn it…”
Soren decided to shout, “He’s timing his movements during your blind spots or whenever you blink! He’s going at the speed of light!”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Cassia turned for a second and frowned. “Speed of light?... How is that even possible…”
Soren observed as the ray of light maneuvered across the battlefield. If he had simply been using his own eyes, he would not have been able to notice. But the Hermit’s Eye lets him see everything inside his Soul Realm all at once. He could roughly predict the trajectory.
However, the hint he gave her was enough information to approach the battle differently.
Without waiting another second, she activated her Soul Weapon and allowed her wings to unfurl even more. Scales grew on her feet, covered in a layer of golden flames. She shot rapidly toward the enemy, breaking the sound barrier.
Soon, a high speed chase covered the night sky—one illuminated by illustrious flames and the other in pure light. It was as if he was witnessing a fireworks show. The dance of fire and light streaked from one side to the other. Sometimes, they escaped the range of his Soul Realm, leaving him blind to what was truly happening.
However, Soren could at least tell what Cassia was doing. She was using her Figments of the Serpent to twist the truth in regards to his spells. Everytime the Fallen manifests a spellform, she would change the representation of it to screw with the casting. Of course, it was not a perfect ability—at most, she could change the representation of one or two of the axioms he was utilizing.
But, it was still giving her enough time to catch up to him during the battle.
While this was happening, Soren kept himself hidden, looking for any weakness to exploit. However, without being able to use [Eyes of the Fairy], that became a truly daunting task…
His ability to cast spells is a lot faster than us. And to top it off, his abilities themselves are speed-based. If not for Violet Mirage, I would have already died by now—I have no way of dodging any of his attacks…
Still, that did not mean they were out of options. Indeed, although [Eyes of the Fairy] could not be used on the Fallen themselves, he could still utilize it in other ways.
Namely, by obtaining information from his allies instead.
Up in the night sky, phasing through the faint cloud cover, Cassia battled against the Vynasian, claws and flames against light itself. Light that could bend, form structures, and exert pressure on the person it opposes.
It was truly a tricky affinity to deal with. One that she had no experience in facing. However, she knew she was not alone. And while chasing after the light was impossible, at the end of the day, Cassia knew she had no reason to.
After all, it wasn’t them that started this fight.
It was the Vynasians.
Their goal seemed to be the destruction of the guild—the massacre of their members. Why else would they not have left already if that wasn’t the case?
Cassia didn’t need to chase after the light.
She simply needed the light to chase after her.
And that was exactly what she was going to do. After attacking one last time with her flames, she pushed against the air and distanced herself from the enemy.
The Vynasian shot down like a shooting star toward her.
In the last second, she cast her Soul Weapon’s ability and twisted one of the runes in his spellform, causing it to fail. The Fallen spent no time recasting it, but it gave her enough time to dodge the attack.
Again and again, the situation repeated itself. The Fallen would attack her and with perfect timing, she messes with his spellforms to give time for her to escape even further away.
The enemy had noticed the shift in strategy—he was certain it was a trap.
But allowing her to distance herself from him was equally as dangerous. Both the Fallen and Cassia were heavily wounded—both in the abdomen. And their bleeding had not ceased since the start of the battle.
Soon, one of them will die, and the other will recover. If he allowed her to escape, she might seek healing from her allies, who were rushing toward the battlefield soon.
He needed to end this now.
And with these thoughts racing toward a conclusion, he had failed to grasp one last variable.
A variable that had simply erased itself from his mind.
“Caught you.”
The words startled the Vynasian. He glanced back in utter awe.
The visage of a 1st Circle magus appeared—one that was wearing a simple black checkered robe paired with a cone hat of the same color. His amber eyes hid layers of madness never before seen from even the elders of his race.
Before he had any time to react, the next few words left him stumbling to grasp himself.
“Fairy Bind.”
A mind hex wrapped itself around him, making even the simplest of thoughts impossible. He had lost the ability to maneuver his anima. Even the shape of his Soul Realm was becoming unstable.
The young man smiled. “Did you think the Mesmerize spell I casted earlier simply put you to sleep? You’d be mistaken then.”
As he talked, a glass-like barrier wrapped around the both of them. The young woman he was chasing after was also behind him—her claws ready to pounce at any moment.
“It’s governed by a Mystery—one that even I have yet to fully comprehend. But in essence, it allows me to recreate things that shouldn’t exist... not within the bounds of a mere illusion.”
Soren corrected his cone hat and dusted his robe from the battle.
“You’re probably wondering why you forgot I even existed?” He continued, “It’s simple, really—I used my understanding of something just as ancient, just as profound, as the place you guys call home. The natives of this world call it The Nameless Mist. And I must say—using it for my illusions? Far more fun when you’re not the one on the receiving end…”
The Fallen trembled. Its form was slowly faltering as its vision dimmed once again. But this time, it knew—truly knew—there was no escape. No second awakening…
The battle… was over…
The only thing that awaited it was the unending silence of a sleep from which there was no return…