WorldCrafter - Building My Underground Kingdom-Chapter 151: Distraction
Just moments earlier, after cleaving down the monstrous bird, Ben spotted they locked in battle. At first, he suspect them, 'were they allies of the Magus? Or this is just a trap?'
But then the spells flew. They clash againt each other, and the magus is planning to kill one of them.
Whatever connection they might've shared before, it was broken now. Maybe they had stood on the same side once… but not anymore.
That was all Ben needed to see. With no hesitation, he charged.
BOOM!
The Magus smashed into the ground like a falling star, cracks spiderwebbing out beneath him. The shockwave shattered nearby stones and hurled debris in every direction.
Ben landed with both feet forward, already swinging again. His pickaxe cleaved downward.
The Magus twisted, deflecting with a wave of shadow, but Ben's mana-disrupting strike cut through it like paper.
Sparks erupted as the pickaxe grazed his ribs, and the Magus hissed, pain flickering behind his eyes for the first time.
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Draeven didn't waste the opening. He charged, shovel blazing with purple flame, and came in from the side.
The Magus snapped his arm up, calling a wall of lightning, but Ben's pickaxe shot out like a spear, punching through it, forcing him to sidestep right into Draeven's arc.
CLANG!
The strike hit clean across his side, spinning him off balance.
Vek'tal was already back on his feet. He leapt high, fire burning across his fists, and came crashing down like a meteor toward the Magus's back.
BOOM!
The Magus grunted, barely raising his arm in time to block. The three on one pressure was effective.
Then he roared. Aether surged outward in all directions, turning the air to fire. The cavern groaned under the strain, the very stone trembling from the energy released.
The three warriors were thrown back.
Ben flipped mid-air, landed on his feet with a skid.
Draeven crashed into a boulder, coughing smoke, but still upright.
Vek'tal slammed into the ground, rolled, and rose with flames still licking his skin.
And the Magus floated upward again, his body glowing now, veins lit with aether like molten cracks in stone. His wings were spread wide, his expression twisted into a blend of wrath and awe.
"You pests…" he spat. "You want to see true ruin?"
Ben stood firm, his grip tightening on the pickaxe. A crooked grin pulled at his lips as he dragged his thumb along the weapon's blade.
"Funny. That's exactly what I was about to say."
His gaze sharpened. Through the chaos of the battle, he'd seen it, Draeven's purple flame.
it felt… familiar.
Ben tilted his head slightly, his eyes flickering with realization. 'So that's it,' he muttered to himself. 'The flame and my pickaxe...have similiar ablites.'
It could destroy mana. This give him more confidence to fight against the Magus.
Ben's stance shifted subtly. His muscles coiled, his weight lowered, and the gleam along the edge of his pickaxe intensified.
High above, the Magus roared. "Then DIE!"
He swept both arms forward. Fire, shadow, and lightning surged outward in a wide arc. Blazing spears of flame twisted with bolts of thunder, riding waves of darkness like sentient serpents.
Tzarek darted across the battlefield, twin daggers spinning in his hands. He circled wide, slipping through gaps in the Magus's barrage, trying to get into position.
Ben and Draeven held the line, intercepting the brunt of the Magus's devastating wave. Fire spears crashed down like comets. Shadow tendrils whipped and tore, while streaks of lightning carved paths through the air.
Ben's pickaxe tore through a bolt of thunder, splitting it in half as he slid under another, closing distance again.
Draeven charged alongside him, his purple flames roaring, burning through mana itself, carving holes in the Magus's defenses.
But as they clashed, the Magus's gaze flicked just for a moment toward the edge of the fight.
In that instant, the Magus vanished.
Draeven's eyes widened. "Tzarek—!"
The Magus reappeared in a crack of thunder behind the nephirid. Lightning wrapped around his fingers.
Tzarek spun, eyes narrowing as he raised his blade, but the bolt struck first.
CRACK!
A blinding flash of purple-blue light swallowed him. The explosion blew apart a section of the cavern wall. Shards of crystal and debris rained down.
The shockwave hurled Tzarek backward, his body skipping across the stone like a broken doll.
He hit the ground, smoke trailing from his chest. His armor was cracked. One dagger gone. He coughed blood, barely able to push himself up.
The Magus appeared in front of him, stepping slowly, savoring the moment.
"So fragile," he said with a cold smile. "Now give me th relic."
Draeven roared. His shovel blazed with purple fire as he launched forward.
Ben follow behind him. They collided with the Magus just before he could finish Tzarek.
BOOM!
Pickaxe met barrier. Shovel met jaw. Lightning exploded outward again.
The Magus reeled back, blood dripping down his lip, eyes wide in rage, but he caught himself mid-air, mana wings flaring as he righted his position.
"Persistent worms!" he snarled.
Draeven skidded to a stop beside Tzarek, eyes scanning the rogue's wounds. "Still breathing?"
Tzarek coughed, spit blood, and gave a strained grin. "More than him soon, I hope."
The Magus raised his hands. A ripple spread from his body, and six magic circle flared into existence. For a heartbeat, everything stilled.
Then chaos erupted.
Six copies of the Magus shot out in all directions, each weaving a storm of spells lightning lances, searing flame spirals, and sharp shadow blade all hurled toward Ben and Draeven.
The cavern lit up in a barrage of destruction.
Ben reacted first. His pickaxe swung in a wide arc, deflecting a dozen bolts at once. Each spell that touched him drained itself into the blade, fizzling out before they could land a hit.
Draeven launched through the center, flames roaring around him. His shovel cleaved through one of the clones, dispersing it into smoke and light.
Another leapt at him from the side, he twisted midair, boots skidding on stone, and slammed the purple flame down with a roar.
Two more clones scattered.
"We're winning," Draeven shouted.
"Weird, it's too easy," Ben muttered.
That's when it hit him. This wasn't a real assault. It was a distraction.
