The Runic Alchemist

To give himself a reprieve from the unrelenting assault, Threadripper gathered a tremendous amount of aura into his two rapiers while deftly dodging rock bullets and fire arrows.

With a dark blue glint in his pupils, he released a horizontal slash of pure aura, the blade so fast and so large that Damian's mind blanked for a second at just the intensity and the pressure that the attack held, unsure how to respond. It wasn't until he saw Vidalia casting her flying spell on both of them, giant green runic circles forming above and below them, that he snapped back into focus.

With the rock bullets and fire arrows halted, Threadripper leaped down onto the snow-covered ground, cracking it beneath his feet. He unleashed multiple smaller aura blades towards them in the air, while a giant green runic circle formed near his mouth as he chanted continuously.

Vidalia expertly made them dodge the blades one by one, maneuvering carefully through the air, all while chanting additional spells to protect them. However, by that time, Threadripper had finished casting his unknown wind spell. Damian watched as a massive hurricane began to form just a few meters in front of the ominous spellsword, its air pressure rushing towards them with incredible force.

Vidalia's flying spell, which was based on air magic, became difficult to control in the chaotic winds, forcing them to land and face the approaching hurricane. Damian quickly pulled out another wormhole scroll and activated it, even as Threadripper continued launching hundreds of aura blades and wind blades toward them.

Vidalia deflected the onslaught with an earth wall and other defensive spells, but the hurricane grew closer and closer, making it difficult to even keep their eyes open, let alone defend effectively. The wall was tearing up getting caught up in the fast twisting winds.

A purple shimmering portal opened, and Vidalia leaped through it, her sword raised high and coated in dark green aura. Damian followed closely behind her. He had manipulated the exit of the portal to open just a few meters from Threadripper by calculating the distance and using appropriate mana, catching the clever spellsword off guard.

Vidalia's blade struck deep into his flesh, but not exactly where she had aimed. If it had been any other third-rank warrior, she might have overpowered them; her technique was usually too fast and precise to defend against. But Threadripper was a swordmaster, as skilled at defense as he was at attack.

Vidalia had aimed for his heart, but her strike was deflected, piercing just beneath his shoulder. Even then, the wound wasn't deep. She had made him bleed, but he quickly erected his aura barrier and leaped backward, creating distance between them.

Seeing an opening, Vidalia summoned hundreds of vines to capture him, but it wasn't fast enough. Threadripper was already prepared to launch another spell, this one marked by a huge, multi-elemental runic circle. Damian watched, astonished. It was the only spell he had seen, besides Vidalia's divine seeker vine spell, that required multiple elements. This had to be something special.

'Careful, he's using some kind of strange spell...' Damian warned her.

Vidalia increased the speed of her chanting and hand gestures, launching her spell at the same time Threadripper activated his. To Damian's surprise, the spell was indeed extraordinary—it created seven identical copies of Threadripper, each hacking and slashing at the surrounding vines with equal ferocity. It was the strangest spell Damian had ever seen.

It was too complicated and fast for him to fully understand, but he caught some details and formed ideas about what was happening.

There were earth and light elements, mixed with fire and water. These copies were some sort of golems, each containing part of Threadripper's consciousness. There was no way a spell that powerful could be cast so quickly—it had to be one of his trump cards, saved in some runic tool on his body. The activation chant alone was long enough already. Who in the world made this crazy spell?

Damian was mostly staying out of the way, defending himself, but when he saw his chance, he pulled out another scroll and activated it. The wormhole appeared directly beneath the feet of one of Threadripper's copies, the one with 70% of the original's mana. Damian had modified the other end of the wormhole to open at the top of the dome, sending Threadripper into free fall.

Threadripper might have sensed it, but there was no way for him to stop Damian while Vidalia was so close. Perhaps Threadripper thought his seven copies would confuse Damian, but he didn't know about Damian's flawless mana sense and was now paying the price, falling from over 90 meters into the air.

This was their chance. The dome was a one-time-use ancient enchantment; One of very few of it's kind, there wouldn't be another opportunity. Damian had to act now.

'I'm doing it. Signal the others.'

Damian warned Vidalia while pulling out two more wormhole scrolls from his storage, chanting in random gibberish as he formed two additional runic spells with his hands. Using one scroll, he manipulated the portal to open near the Moondancer fight, and Vidalia threw a bright small red lamp through it, signaling the others.

As soon as the signal was released, five second-rank warriors noticed it and leaped through the portal, joining Damian and Vidalia after launching their last spells and attacks at Moondancer, to buy some time.

Damian used the second scroll to create a wormhole aimed just inches away from the falling Threadripper with precise calculation, not giving him chance to see it and change his path. The other end of the wormhole opened thousands of meters above the mountain wall, at the edge of the limit of Damian's vision, the mana cost was tremendous but Vidalia had maintained steady supply through the link.

Threadripper fell so fast that he rolled several meters into the snow-covered mountain-top, momentarily out of the fight.

With Threadripper out of the way, Damian opened another wormhole just inches above where Threadripper had been moments ago. He and the others jumped through, crossing two wormholes before landing near Threadripper at the top of the mountain.

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