“Don’t you dare hold me back.”
“Right... I’ll do my best,” I briefly answered. I could feel a cold nipping at my back, and when I glanced at Therion, I found he had already used magic to form a sword of ice.
Therion himself didn’t seem all too focused on creating this sword. He really was amazing. Such fine control was something even the most well-versed in ice magic couldn’t replicate.
So, this was Therion, the Hero of Crystal. I could understand why Claira had called him the strongest. His power was on another level. Even Allen, another one of the Heroes, wouldn’t stand a chance.
Grist’s attention was completely focused on the beautiful blade of ice Therion had summoned, as if he didn’t even acknowledge my presence.
“I suppose I can’t let myself be outshined,” I said, wanting to contribute just as much. I cast some buffs on Therion—strength up, magic up, and MP consumption down. I undid the buffs on the others to focus all my magic and cast multiple in succession on him. Now, even my measly skills should be of some help, at least.
While I was at it, I cast some buffs on myself too.
“All right, white mage! Let’s do this!”
“Right!”
Therion froze everything within a few dozen meters of him—the trees, the ground, the monsters, everything.
Grist repelled the attack with his mana. So, the same trick wouldn’t work twice. However...
“Huh?!” Grist had reflected his spell, but his body gradually froze as ice crept up from the tips of his fingers and toes. He contorted his face. The chill was much colder than he was expecting.
Therion sneered. “Hey! Ya didn’t think I was gonna try the same trick twice, did ya?! Is that all you got?!” Grist’s frozen limbs dulled his movements, so Therion took the opportunity to summon countless thin, sharp icicles to surround him, then fired them off at dazzling speeds. “Hey, what’s wrong?! So much for one of the ‘great’ Four Fiends!” said Therion, egging him on further and further.
“Damn it! Don’t underestimate me!” Mana rushed from Grist as if he had released the floodgates, forming a sturdy mana armor around him that blocked the attack. Then, he created an explosion that destroyed the icicles. The air was filled with glittering ice fragments.
“Tch. If only that had killed ’im,” said Therion, clicking his tongue.
The whole time, I was behind Therion, casting a specific spell.
“Did you really think that’d be enough to destroy a Four Fiend like me, Hero?!”
“No, not really. That’s not what I was going for anyway. Check your hand, dumbass,” said Therion, gesturing with his chin.
“Huh? Your attack failed to even leave a scr—”
“Yeah, don’t think so.”
Grist looked down to find his left arm completely purple. He had lost all feeling in it, and it was only now that he had noticed. He was clearly shocked, and it had Therion cackling.
“What the hell did you do to me?!”
“Gave your arm necrosis, obviously,” replied Therion.
“B-But when did you...?” Despite the current state of his arm, Grist had remained completely ignorant to it. And naturally, that wasn’t a coincidence. While standing side by side, I had activated thought-sharing magic with Therion, which allowed us to put together a plan. It had worked beautifully.
“Your armor sure is tough, and you’re pretty damn strong too. Even with some buffs, summoning and manipulating ice ain’t enough to take you down.” Grist was shockingly strong, even in Therion’s eyes. His ice alone just wasn’t enough.
“Then how was I injured...?”
“Who the hell said all I could manipulate was ice? I’ve just got an ice resistance, and that comes with an invisible chill.”
Grist gasped. He had caught on to Therion’s words. “Impossible! Then you...?!”
“Yup. Your mana armor only works against stuff you can actually see. You’ve gotta be cognizant of it, don’t ya?”
Grist gasped once again. Clearly, we were right on the money.
“Wh-When did you notice?!”
“I caught on from your first attack! You didn’t defend against my chill at all! And that was because you didn’t even notice! That right?”
Grist was silent—in other words, it was.
Therion ignored this and kept chatting. “Still, I can’t frickin’ believe you didn’t notice frostbite like that! And that was because...”
“I was secretly casting mental-type healing magic on you,” I said.
Mental-type healing magic—specifically, the spell Pain Kill, which did exactly what it sounded like. Typically, it was used to alleviate the aches of battle wounds. But this time, I had cast it over and over on Grist’s right arm so that it wouldn’t feel any pain. Therion’s ice sword had just been a way to distract Grist.
“We used Pain Kill and attacked you with invisible cold air! Basically, you lost an arm, dumbass. And it’s not just decaying, it’s still frozen! Healing potions ain’t gonna fix that,” said Therion, his eyes sparkling as he laughed maniacally. “So, how’s it feel being surrounded by danger you can’t even damn sense?!”
Grist retreated in a panic, summoning every ounce of his strength to do so. Was he going to run? Given the circumstances, that was the right call. We didn’t have a real need to chase after him, after all.
“Like hell I’ll let you run!” screamed Therion, bolting after him with his ice sword in hand. I switched our buffs to speed-based ones and followed. Still, Therion was super fast with all those buffs on him. Meanwhile, I had undone Pain Kill, which meant Grist was starting to feel the pain and chill. He seemed exhausted, and it slowed him down.
We were gradually closing in, and it would only be a matter of time before we had caught up completely. Plus, the mana-filled fog had dissipated at some point. Now, I could use my detection magic, which meant Grist had nowhere to run. I was assured of our victory.
That’s when a green-haired demon suddenly came flying out of the woods. He tumbled across the ground, and once Grist noticed him, he froze. “Mischel?!” he asked.
“Is that you, Grist?” said the green-haired demon, lifting his tattered, beaten body from the ground.
Who was this guy? He definitely looked worse for wear, but he was still an unknown enemy, so I readied my staff.
But the green-haired demon didn’t match my will to fight. “Let’s retreat. I’ve encountered a threat.”
“A threat?”
“Yes, one I’m sure you’ve heard of. The Phantom Alchemist.”
As soon as he heard that name, Grist looked more shocked than I had seen him before. “I-Impossible! H-He’s dead, no?!”
“Unfortunately, it is possible. As far as I knew, he was dead—or at least retired. But first, we must run before he catches up. We won’t stand a chance against him.”
Grist and the green-haired demon were mumbling something, but we had no reason to let them chat, and neither did Therion.
“So, you had a friend, huh? Guess I’ll just have to kill the both of you, then!” Therion rushed toward Grist, completely unperturbed. “You’re effin’ dead! You can take your regrets for messin’ with the wrong damn man to your graves!” said Therion, swinging down his ice blade while spouting an incredibly un-hero-like line. His blade was pointed right at Grist’s heart.
But immediately, a mana-filled mist fell over Grist and the green-haired demon, concealing them. Then, it spread out in multiple directions, tracing white lines between the gaps in the trees. They planned to use the fog to cover their escape.
Huh. I hadn’t expected this. There were countless lines of fog, and it spread out widely, and quickly. If we could determine which path they used, we could pursue them, but checking each one would be impossible.
“Don’t you dare run from me, damn it! You! White mage! There any humans or beastmen within a few kilometers of us?!”
I immediately cast my detection magic, searching through a large area around the land. “There are a few signals, but no humans or beastmen!”
“What about demons?!”
“Sorry, I can’t sense any.”
“Crap!” cursed Therion. But immediately, he sneered. “Guess I’ve got no damn choice! Activate your detection and thought-sharing magic! Hurry!”
“R-Right.” As soon as I telepathically shared the intel from my detection magic with him, a large amount of mana began to gather.
A few moments later, the woods froze in a flash. Since I was using my detection magic, I could tell Therion had turned a huge swath of land into a winter wonderland without killing a single monster. Despite the scope of that spell, he managed to control it down to the last detail.
“Oh, I get it...” I felt like I was finally starting to understand Therion, and why he didn’t have any comrades. With skills like his, he could easily damage his allies by throwing around unchecked magic like he just had. Plus, his fighting style was better suited for solo combat. There was no one in the world who could match his talents. I had already realized he was amazing, but not this amazing.
I bet my help really did amount to nothing. “He really is a Hero...”
Once again, I grew painfully aware of just how powerless I really was.