CH462 Thera’s Perspective

“Ben, watch Verbum!”

It was the only thing she could yell before the ground burst, dirt that had been turned to rock under the pressure she’d exerted shooting out as shards with the demon that had come with it hanging in the air while Thera took it in.

Tall and thin, the one before her had two sets of arms and legs neatly pressed against its torso as it lightly landed on the ground, seemingly unaffected by her attack that had obliterated its brethren.

How though? I put so much force into that, I doubt that even if it had an awakened earth magic it could have managed. Magic nullification again? Even if it canceled the deepest bits of mana, the higher layers would have still kept pushing down. And besides that…

There were bands on each of its four arms, shiny metal things she hadn’t seen on any of the other demons who had come through the gate, implying it might be something more. An invader with true intelligence like the one that had destroyed Iberu’s weapon.

She couldn’t imagine how something like that had found its way so deep in the woods, the only reason it was even on the planet likely being a simple accident. She’d never heard of any proper invaders staying and raising hell before the second wave, the fact it was there had to be a mistake caused by the gates closing early. If it had come out to deal with some insurmountable problem like the last one she’d seen back at craftsman’s tower then it was the only thing that made sense.

But none of that mattered. Why it was there, how it had got there, what it had been doing and what it had planned, the only thing she knew was that it needed to die and began her assault, ripping earth from the ground in a constant barrage as bullets and spikes came at it from all angles, each one expertly avoided in the end.

No, not avoided.

It was barely moving. Instead, the attacks moved around it, each chunk of earth being subtly shifted away from its target, left to fly off further into the devastated land.

Okay, maybe it is an earth mage then?

Without her staff in her hands she was handicapped, but it was something Ben saw himself from the side.

“THERA!”

With a scream, he threw it at her and she pulled it from the air, using just a bit of her magic to make sure it went to her hand and changed tactics the second it was there, switching to mana crystallization as massive spears of her raw power shot out towards it, expecting to hit but getting the same effect, each attack missing and breaking down.

Not earth magic then. Not good.

She felt unprepared, too caught off guard after she’d been so sure of her success in handling everything with her first strike against the horde to think as clearly as she could, but the answers became apparent with its first move, holding out its hand and causing a gale of wind to flood the area.

She was almost knocked off her feet before she had a barrier up, but it gave her the answer she sought.

Air magic, powerful too. Awakened maybe? The last one seemed to be, maybe they send warriors that should be in the third wave over to handle any problems during the first?

She didn’t get a chance to question it further. It flew through the sky at her, closing the distance in an instant and smashing its fists against her barrier, making the whole of it shake. Both her level and control of that branch of magic were low enough that it was far from perfect, but the fact it was showing any strain against a punch just felt insulting considering the mana she was pouring into it and spoke volumes of the strength that demon must have possessed.