“I’ve seen that before.”
“Tch!”
Earth Digger!
“That one, too.”
But the veteran proved his experience. He knew Dimension Sword and dodged it completely. I thought taking the ground from under him would prevent him from moving, but he predicted this move and formed a web over the pitfall.
“Now it’s my turn!” he said.
“These threads…!”
Some of the threads formed sickles and whipped into Fran. The smaller threads formed spears and launched at her from all sides. Each point was strong enough to pierce plate armor. The hidden threads were even more dangerous. On top of being practically invisible, these thin wires were charged with Phelms’ mana and sharp enough to lop off an arm or two. Our barrier managed to hold them off, but we couldn’t let our guard down.
Fran, things are only going to get worse for us the longer this drags out. He can probably keep making threads indefinitely. There’s no end to them!
Hm! Got it.
Phelms continued weaving, despite all our attempts at burning, cutting, and destroying them. I didn’t know if it was his Create Mana Thread skill or something about his equipment, but the wires kept on coming. He was even able to control the threads after they were cut off, further adding to his web.
Teacher, use Thunder Magic.
Sure.
He’d dispersed our thunder spells earlier, but there had to be a limit to that. A spell like Thunderbolt should be able to overload him. Black Thunderfall would immediately kick Fran out of her awakened state, so we held off on using that for now. Its area of effect was far too focused. We needed something that would prevent Phelms from running away.
Thor’s Hammer!
The Level 8 thunder spell covered a sufficient amount of ground—not enough to set the plains on fire, but good enough for the purposes of this arena.
“Hrmph!”
Get those threads out of here!
A giant magic circle formed over the arena, and large pillar of lightning shot out, crushing everything like the hammer of an angry god. We could mitigate its wrath with Fran’s Thunder Resistance and my Dimension Shift. Phelms should be the only one fried to a crisp.
“…!”
Seriously?!
But it was not to be. I lost count of how many times our expectations had been subverted today. The thick bolt of lightning disintegrated upon touching a single thread. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
But that was a high-level thunder spell!
“This is a barrier I prepared specifically for thunder dragons. It’s served me well, even after all these years.”
There goes lightning! His weave must be strong if it could fend off thunder dragons. I realized there must be a dragon for every element, and started having second thoughts about using magic.
“Tidal Weave!”
Fran’s shock at seeing our attack fail hadn’t worn off, and Phelms exploited this chance by sending a wall of threads that looked like a tsunami. Should I teleport us away, or break through it with sword and spell?
I’m going in!
Got it. Dimension Gate!
It was Phelms’ turn to be shocked as he saw us charge through his wall. Dimension Gate was much easier to control than Short Jump. He tried to get away from Fran as she stepped out of the gate, but it was too late.
“Haaa!”
Fran slashed right across Phelms’ body. I gasped in surprise, startled at the odd sensation of cutting through his flesh. It was a lot more brittle than I remember.
This is…!
“Hm…?”
A dummy!
Threads burst out of the body instead of blood. He had crafted a puppet of himself, even casting a spell on it to make it look like him—all in the time it took us to break through his wire wall. Fran shook off the threads and looked for him. He was right behind us!
Swoop! Wires shot from Phelms’ hand and looped around Fran’s neck. It was only a few strands, but they could easily chop off her head.
“Ha!” Fran dodged and pivoted. She tossed me into her free hand and stabbed Phelms’ right side.
“What?!” Phelms contorted his body, evading our counterattack. He whirled and launched more threads from the back of his hand.
Fran pressed on, cutting through the threads that were reaching for her neck, but Phelms was persistent. He set tripwires around Fran’s feet to disrupt her. She only managed to keep her feet attached thanks to her barrier. She made another attempt at stabbing him, but he leaned back like a limbo dancer. However, that was the limit of his movement. She immediately brought her sword down on him. He shouldn’t be able to dodge that.
And yet, just as I was about to cut through him, his body moved at an impossible angle. It jolted to the right while he was still leaning back. As I looked closer, I found that there were threads attached to his body. He must’ve used them to yank himself to the right.
We got him, though.
“Hm!”
I felt my blade reach his organs, despite not cutting him straight through. His threads nullified my Elemental Blade, but not my physical one.
“Gah…Weave Bandage.”
Come on, how many tricks does he have left?
His threads wrapped around the gushing wound. It didn’t seal the cut completely, but it was good enough to stop the bleeding. Slight blood loss wouldn’t impair him in battle, thanks to his Pain Immunity. He was also wearing a Bracelet of Life Regeneration instead of his Bracelet of Poison Immunity today. He’d soon be back to full health.
He jumped backwards, realizing the dangers of being in close. “You’re pretty good.”
“You too!” Fran prepared to charge again.
“I’ll have you stay there, if you don’t mind.” Mana gathered in Phelms’ fingers. So far, it had been distributed all over the arena via his threads. This was the first time he was focusing it on a singular point.
Get ready! It’s a big one!
“Hm!”
“Thread Manipulation! Formation of the Four Spirits!”
Phelms crossed his arms over his chest, then flung them open. Every thread stretched out over the arena obeyed his command and launched at Fran. Each one was also slightly elementally charged, making for a rainbow display of slaughter. We couldn’t
