To Vale, Helcurt is the true enemy. The true poisonous tree. The disease contaminating the Land. Reflected now in the irises of his gold eyes are the enemies, who, undoubtedly, serve at Helcurt's pleasure. They share the same principles. The same poison. Hence, they should be annihilated.
Empowered by Cyclop's aquamarine, Vale started his attacks by deploying one Wind Blow - a dangerously violent and thick tornado.
It went for Leomord but it was not fast enough so the latter easily evaded it. Discontented, Vale casted another. And another. And another... Infringing upon the effects of zero cooldown, he opted to utilize the flowing energy he had by continually unleashing powerful Wind Blows.
However, to everyone's surprise, not a single whirlwind hit the enemies.
"Effortless," Khufra smirked. "These tornadoes might be deadly, but it seemed the mage had lost his focus."
"Poor soul. Blinded by love," Alice commented.
"Let's keep on evading. The effect only lasts an hour. After that, he's no more," Leomord advised his team.
Terizla and Thamuz tried to dash forward to engage Vale in a closer combat. But the same was impossible. The aura surrounding him was a hurricane of critical and fatal magic.
Vale continued. Despite the fact that he missed, he still casted his tornadoes. One after another. They were now everywhere in the map.
"Ten, twenty... Thirty tornadoes. Thirty tornadoes deployed in the field, my Lady. Aquamarines certainly drive the demons out of you," Ling said.
"Yes. But the side effects are obvious. Look, not a single one hit them," Benedetta sighed.
Ling smiled. "Again, the fight's not over yet, my Lady."
Khaleed, Tigreal and Esmeralda were also in the same page. Just like the enemies, they were also trying to dodge the colossal tornadoes.
"I can't bear this any longer!" Tigreal, concerned for his own safety.
"Persevere, Tigreal. Let's be thankful the odds somehow turned in our favor. If it were not for his tornadoes, we are surely dead by now, executed by Terizla's hammer!" Khaleed shouted amidst the deafening sound of the unsettled winds. Indeed, the team was saved by the bell.
"I'd rather die in the hands of an enemy than in the hands of a stranger!" Tigreal, still referring to honor and dignity in the crucial moments.
"Less talk, Old Man. You need to watch out! One wrong step and you're dissolved by these winds! You have to keep that pterosaur alive, remember?!" Esmeralda had a point.
But Vale made another unprecedented move. In addition to the living tornadoes, he was casting his Wind Blades. Not against Leomord's squad, but against Khaleed's.
"What the fuck is he thinking?! All this time I thought he was on our side!" Khaleed retorted, as he dodged the Wind Blade directed by Vale to him using his first skill.
"He's surely out of his mind!" Esmeralda seconded, sidestepping to avoid another Wind Blade, pumping Frostmoon Shield at the same time.
"That's why I never thought absorbing one! Crazy! It's just crazy! And I can hardly breath! Too much air is as suffocating as none!" Tigreal complained, as he, too, was targeted by another Wind Blade, notwithstanding the tornadoes still moving around.
Terizla and Thamuz laughed terribly. They happened to entertain themselves as they watched the miserable Khaleed, Tigreal and Esmeralda avoid the face of death. More so, they were amused by the sudden change of events.
The pattern continued, until the trio were already on the edge of the battlefield with Lesley.
Something's not right here. Leomord thought as he and his allies keep on evading the deadly whirlwinds.
However, the thirty huge tornadoes instantly changed their formation heeding the orders of the mage that owned them. They became outside borders forcing Leomord's squad to draw themselves in the center.
"Thirty dancing tornadoes realigning themselves! What a wonderful art!" Ling couldn't contain his excitement.
You're a monster, Vale. Even Lesley was captivated by such grand display of power.
"I know he will cast his Wind Storm after this. I've been through his Wind Storm once. But it takes a longer time to cast. Should he plan to charge it quickly, it won't be that deadly. We can survive this," proposed Khufra, recalling how he survived one during his first encounter with Vale in the latter's palace. "Come near me, my Revitalize spell has cooled down."
"My Aegis too. This is just another harmless Ultimate same as that of Khaleed's," Alice, confident.
As correctly predicted, Vale's Wind Storm followed. Trapped inside the stomach of thirty hungry tornadoes, they had no choice but to face it. But they had a well-crafted strategy. If it worked against Khaleed, it should also work against Vale.
"As the saying goes, sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind." Ling grinned from ear to ear. "Game over, my Lady."
Leomord. Khufra. Alice. Terizla. Thamuz.
Everyone of them just watched in awe... their frightened souls trying to escape their mortal bodies. Contrary to their expectations, about to land on them is no ordinary Wind Storm. It was not only composed of disordered winds. Or turbulent waters. Or confused electric particles sparking lightning. Rather, it was a mixture of all these elements... and lava.
An explosion. A massive, thunderous, nuclear explosion. As the falling sun kissed the surface, clouds of hot, red dust were blown out of the ground accompanied by a loud earthquake.
What the f--?! Shit! No! Why?! Assorted murmurs. Assorted cries. Assorted sufferings. Assorted flesh devoured by scorching storm of winds and lava. The impact pierced Alice's Aegis, and the quick blast dissolved their flesh and bones.
Khaleed, Tigreal, Esmeralda and Lesley dropped their jaws as they saw a huge crater resulting from Vale's Ultimate. It was as wide as a lake, engulfed and filled with hot, boiling, steaming lava.
"Tactics. The game is all about tactics. And never underestimate one coming from a Class-S, my Lady," Ling was amazed. He, too, did not expect it.
"What happened Ling?! What happened?!" Benedetta wondered.
"First, he casted his Wind Storm."
"But, I didn't see it. He deployed tornadoes first!"
"No, my Lady. He deployed his Wind Storm first. There. In the atmosphere," Ling pointed his finger at the sky's direction. "He did it while the blue beam of light distracted our attention."
"Whoa!" Benedetta was amazed. He couldn't believe how Vale successfully concealed his Ultimate.
"Next, he deployed his tornadoes. And his target? Not the enemies. Rather, the lava that were scattered all over the place. Look, my Lady. The ground dried out. All the lava were gone as tornadoes ran past over them."
"I see." Benedetta couldn't help but agree. She saw the ground dry. No traces of liquid lava can be seen.
"His tornadoes collected every ounce of lava. They acted as powerful suction machines. Extracting even all those stored beneath the ground. Then he channeled them to the atmosphere. Fueling his already placed Wind Storm. We didn't see the trick, my Lady. Because his tornadoes were thick. A mixture of sand and dusts," Ling explained. "Moreover, the enemies might have underestimated him when they saw his accuracy and hit rate going low. But that was part of the trick. A decoy," Ling continued.
"Then he intentionally used his Wind Blades on Khaleed, Tigreal and Esmeralda because he needed them to stay out of the incoming blast site, correct?!" Benedetta, contributing her piece of the puzzle.
"Exactly, my Lady. And now we see the result. A big bang explosion. A lava storm," Ling, impressed. "All I can say is never underestimate the power of aquamarines. They help mages cast skills without cooldown. Simultaneously at the same time. Pair it with a tactician like Vale and you see them last on the ground. Performing like actors in an opera. Carefully hiding every true intention of each deployed skill. Unknown to the enemies, they, too, were part of the script. Their roles? To die in the end," Ling, still amazed of the epic scene.
"I guess you won, my Lady. See, the fight's not over yet. And having said so, I must admit your Super Minion is exceptional. I can't wait to fight him someday."
Benedetta looked down. She was happy for Vale's victory. But she had made her choice. And she must stand to it. Thankfully, everything was clear to her now. She was certain of the path to take. A warrior like Ling. And a tactician like Vale.
"Stay here, my Lady." Ling told her.
"Why Ling? Where are you going?"
"Let me just finish some acts backstage," he grinned.
Ling was about to project his second skill, Defiant Sword, targeting the crash site when a powerful message was relayed to his mind --
"Step aside. I'm not done yet."
"Hmmm. Alright. And please. I hate those gold eyes. It makes me shiver," Ling replied.
What transpired next are eight Wind Blades formed like an asterisk above the lava lake. They were waiting for a head to come out.
"No!!!" Thamuz roared. The lava lord, who survived the attack and just resurfaced, was ambushed by sharp invisible blades lurking for him. It became the fourth aquamarine collected by Vale that night. Next to Terizla, Alice, and Leomord.
"Hahaha," Khufra came into sight. "I guess I'm the only one who brought Immortality with me."
"I know. And I know you betrayed them," Vale asserted.
"Well, well, well... Those were surely sharp eyes, Wind Mage. And yes. I betrayed them. And I don't care being called a snake. I, myself, know who I am." At the same time, Khufra molted, shedding his old skin.
"I never used my Revitalize in the last seconds. I never maximize the effects of my Bouncing Ball either. More so, I never used my Ultimate in this battle, not at all. You know why? Because I patiently waited for this moment. The moment when my weak allies die so I get new ones. I have no interests in partnering with them. Some sort of allergies, perhaps. No strategies. No game style. Everyone's showing off. Trying to be pros. And Leomord? Boy, he is a man of principle. Too good to be a commander. Too organized. Too demanding. Yet, weak," Khufra revealed his true intentions. "A Class-A like him shouldn't lead a Class-S like me."
Then Lesley joined Vale. Though badly injured, she managed to get her rifle and aimed it at him. Khaleed, Esmeralda, and Tigreal also rallied behind Vale.
"Let me formally introduce myself to you. My name is Khufra. Ranked Class-S for the longest time. Built for a grand chase and a grand escape. Enemies fear me. They don't want to see me in the battlefield. And oh, talking about the battlefield, I know I can't win against all of you. I'm not stupid not to think of that. But I can leave safely anytime I want, without any harm inflicted on me," he boasted.
"Really, and how is that, Snake Ball?" Esmeralda, curious.
"The traditional way, of course. You don't expect me to jump to that lava lake, do you? Hahaha," Khufra in his maniacal laugh. "I can just easily cast my first skill here to pull myself out, followed by a Bouncing Ball not even that Ling above can stop. And I've got my Athena's Shield working, baby. I'm all geared. I'm Khufra. Prepared to run, but not to die. And I'm confident none of you can stop me. None of you."
"But I can," Vale told him, still under the effect of aquamarine.
"No, you can't." Khufra smirked again. "Or you can. If you want Harith dead by today." Khufra's treacherous eyes maliciously looked at him before raising his hoarse voice further. "Vexana's with me. And she's watching how things are going on right now."
"Well then, see you around. And may my good exit add some fun to this boring world! Hahaha," Khufra, before confidently casting his first skill to move away from them.
Vale gritted his teeth. "Don't. Don't kill him." He did not also hesitate to transmit these words to Ling, warning the Cyan Finch from afar.
~***~
The epic battle in the Barren Lands was now over at last. To Lesley, some questions remained unanswered. How did the enemies capture Ling, Esmeralda and Kadita? What's the purpose? Does that mean that Kadita's Ocean Kingdom was defeated too? How is Harith related to Vale? What happened to him? And most importantly, what must they do now?
She looked Vale in the eyes. And she could see that his inner battle continued. He may have won the war. He may have been victorious. But his heart remained defeated.
[Author's Note: Thank you for reading! And congratulations to @Hoshiumi_Korai for winning last chapter's flfc! Just some heads up, expect delays in uploading the next chapters. I've got so many school stuff to do. But i'll try as much as possible to update at least once a week. I hope you had fun! Stay safe! :) ]