Chapter 144: Fighting with Fire!
Chapter 144: Fighting with Fire!
Aster stood in place after seeing that his attack was ineffective. His face was the very definition of shock, with his eyes wide in disbelief.
"Good work, Aster!"
But then, Mistelle's words brought him back to his senses. He turned toward her and saw that, using the time Aster had bought, she had finished casting a powerful-looking spell!
"Kyuin Thorne Ambuor Mythra Sirreo Gala Spicht! Tree God's Wrathful Iron Spear!" Right then, Mistelle's shout echoed.
The roots of the trees around her started to rise, like long, gigantic spears, ready to attack at any given moment. Each of the roots seemed to be coated in a thin layer of metal, increasing their destructiveness and toughness. Read exclusive content at m_v-l'-NovelBin.net
The sharp roots shot forward, piercing multiple of the Anti-Human Movement guys who got slowed down by Aster's frozen area. In just a moment, the several dozen enemies fell to only five survivors!
Mistelle, however, didn't lower her guard down despite practically winning already. After all, she could tell that the remaining five composed more than 90% of the power of the previous group.
"They're strong. Be careful, you three!" She warned.
Aster, of course, didn't listen. Instead of staying put, he changed his approach and started to use flames instead of ice. He waved his hand, sending a powerful wave of heat reaching 10,000 degrees Celcius!
The five saw the fluctuations of mana in the air and moved, but they were a step too late. The hoods covering their bodies were burned to a crisp, revealing their full appearance to the four.
"No way..." Mistelle, upon seeing their state, had her face turn pale.
The five all had monstrous appearances, but unlike the ones behind, facing Helvetica, who looked like they lost all rational thinking, the ones before them right now had calm eyes. "They... are Second Gens!"
"...?"
Aster was, of course, clueless about the term. However, Cassy and Kali knew what the term meant, and also started to show expressions of disbelief and half-resignation.
"This is bad..." Kali murmured.
"M-Miss officer, can't you call backup?" Cassy asked with fear covering her face.
Mistelle, hearing Cassy's suggestion, quickly moved. She pulled out something like a rocket firework from her spatial pocket—similar to Aster's team's Spatial Fanny Pack—and poured mana into it.
*PSHEEEEW!* *BOOOM!*
The rocket quickly zipped toward the sky, before exploding into a bright red flash, releasing red smoke that lingered in the sky without fading or getting carried away by the wind.
"I've sent the SOS signal. Now, given the distance, we'd only need to delay them for at least one minute!"
One minute seemed short enough, but thinking about who or what their enemy was, was near impossible to achieve. Of course, Aster was still clueless about how dangerous the five before them were.
All he had in mind was to think of ways he could support Mistelle, and kill those five.
'Since ice didn't work on them, I should assume they have high mana.'
Having higher mana would mean higher resistance against spells. Of course, this would practically be useless if the enemy was of the same level, and only useful when facing weaker enemies.
'But for the fire, they chose evasion instead.'
This meant that even though they had high mana, they would still die if they breathed in hot air and burned their lungs. After all, the increase in temperature was only partially caused by mana and was partially a physical phenomenon.
"The answer is clear!" Aster declared as he activated his Frostfire Legacy once more.
"...!"
The three girls opened their eyes wide at Aster's actions. Instead of attacking the five directly, he decided to create a "dome" that spans a hundred meters in diameter. The flames were over 10 meters thick, ensuring that even if they held their breath, they would still get affected by it if they tried to break through by force.
"Ugh...!"
But Aster didn't stop there. He was slowly expanding the area at a pace of 1 meter per second, limiting the space inside for the five!
The forest burned brightly, caught in the crossfire, but Aster didn't mind it.
The five monster-ified Second Gens started to panic. The heat from the surroundings was already starting to singe their fur! They could imagine how things would end if the area reached them. Death!
"Grrr! Graaah!"
One of the five lost his rational thoughts in fear and tried to dash forward. However, the heat was so great that his skin melted as soon as he came into contact with it. Still, he endured the pain and rushed forward, slipping through the thick field of flames with severe injuries.
*Sizzle!*
His wounds were severe enough that his bones could be seen, but a moment later, his injuries started to heal rapidly. Meat was regenerating at a pace visible to the naked eye!
"Oh no, you don't!"
But Mistelle was a step faster, doing a follow-up. As soon as the enemy moved, she had already cast her spell in advance, prioritizing zone suppression over damage. She used Tree God's Wrathful Iron Spear once again!
"GRRR!"
The enemy saw that the roots were prepared as if waiting for him, causing him to growl in anger. He tried to evade as much as possible, but since the numbers were too overwhelming, he was pushed back gradually. His back was already at the boundary of Aster's burning zone, and one more step would mean he would return there to get cooked!
"...!"
Then, without warning, a large root burst through the midst of the smaller roots. It was both sharp and quick—enough that if he didn't dodge or protect himself, it would without a doubt pierce through his body!
He quickly crossed his arms to block the root, successfully stopping it from injuring him. "ARRRRGH!" But upon doing so, he was pushed back by its large mass and into the burning zone.
He was forced to stay there for only five seconds before his body disintegrated into ashes. The other four saw this and started to panic completely. They didn't want to die just yet!
Instinctively, they knew that what would give them the highest chance of survival was to escape in different directions at the same time. As such, the four ran in random directions and started to dash through Aster's burning zone.
"... Heh."
But after killing the first one, something changed in Aster. His eyes burned with disdain, as if he were looking down on his enemies. A hedonistic smile covered his face.
"Bastards, you think you can escape from me?!" He shouted.
His hand moved, as if twisting something. Right then, the large zone of flames was divided into four. Each of them is centered around one of the enemies!
"ARGH!"
Screams of pain followed as they tried to run out of the zone, but Aster also moved the zone with them, keeping them locked in the middle of it. His control suddenly jumped multiple levels, reaching the point that he seemed to have mastered it!
"Mistelle! Kill those four! Hurry!"
Kali pulled at Mistelle's sleeve, her face covered in worry.
"Don't let Aster kill them, or it'll be too late!"