Blade of Ruin- Aspiration to the Heavens: Becoming the Supreme Mage Vol 3

Episode 97: Desperate Measures

*Qing-Yuan*

Alex warped us out of the range of the giant fire hands. The two of us watched as the ground got turned into lava.

"That was a close one," I mumbled.

He nodded. 

Bernard turned around and slammed his hands on the ground.

Alexis held out his hand and stopped the flames sprouting out of the ground, sending them flying back to Bernard.

The Hierarchian jumped back and stopped the flames mid-flight. The fire encircled him, forming another ring of flame like the one he'd used to try to evaporate my barrier before had Alex returned.

For the first time in a while, the boy's angry face gave way to a smile. "Not bad, psychic. But how much more heat can you handle?"

Alex gritted his teeth and stared him down. "As much as I have to to defeat you."

He wagged his finger. "Like I believe that. Look at you. You already look to be at your limit, boy."

"He's right. Alex, try to conserve your energy and stand back. I'll do the bulk of the fighting."

Bernard sighed as he lowered his arm. "Did I just mess up?"

I smiled. "Oh? Interesting that you can recognize your mistakes. Here I thought you were some fool."

He vanished from where he stood.

Alex turned around and trapped him in a barrier. I shot it with water as Bernard started to heat up his flames. As I had wanted, Alex allowed my magic to go through it. The water within the sphere boiled, but the steam remained. Using my magic, I condensed it back into water, creating a continuous loop.

Bernard's fire output increased, making it increasingly harder to revert the gas back into water.

"Alex, step away," I said, myself moving away from the sphere.

He did as I said, grunting as he did so. His barrier wasn't going to last much longer.

Alexis raised his hands, shooting the barrier high into the sky. The sphere, raining embers throughout the forest. Thankfully, it was sufficiently damp by our battle with Anastasia and my recent water attacks.

Bernard panted. The clouds vanished to reveal him with his hair flattened, completely drenched. Was it sweat?

Seems he's tired. Now's our time to strike.

I raised my sapphire scepter up at him, channeling my prana into the central orb. This staff had been passed down my family for years. It dated back to at least the era of the Second Xelerian Empire's birth.

"Dà Tūnshì Shuǐhuā!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. A giant glob of water in the shape of a seed shot up into the air. As it ascended, it cracked open, forming a bud shape and gradually expanded outward to form petals.

Bernard gritted his teeth and fired a fire blast at it, but it was quickly extinguished as soon as it hit the pistil of the flower. His eyes bulged as the flower petals spun around, closing around him.

"Glacis Draco Maxima!" a feminine voice called out. An ice dragon struck the giant closed flower in the sky, turning it into a giant hailstone.

Alex grabbed me by the arm and warped us away.

The two of us saw a girl dressed in a fur coat standing several meters away from us. She stepped forward, toward the falling flower of ice.

"That girl must've cast that spell," I mumbled.