CHAPTER 58: METAL MAGIC

When the royal guard had appeared, Orion had started casting as many spells as he could handle at the moment.

And so when the blade made of water materialized above the man, he was well prepared.

The blade descended and threatened to maim, or even kill the both of them.

Orion sent his blades flying to intercept the giant falling sword.

The two clashed and released sparks.

"Metal magic? Not so commonly seen in non-reputable individuals." The royal guard hummed before conjuring six more blades from water.

Orion fused his blades until they formed a large shield.

All six blades fell and completely shattered the shield before turning into a massive torrent that threatened to drown Orion.

The Royal Guard manipulated the water, increasing the temperature, density, and other properties to reduce Orion’s chances of escape.

"Trust me when I say that the only reason that you’re alive is that I don’t see the point in killing someone with whom I have no business or dealings." The Royal Guard sighed.

"But I can’t say the same for that slimy snake and your little friend who interrupted her attack." He completed before turning his focus to the prince.

The latter started casting spells to protect himself.

’Logan was right. It was the pendant that he was using to track me but I didn’t listen.’ William’s hand trembled.

’My father, the King sent them. He just confirmed it himself.’

’Now not only Logan but we as well are in danger.’ Amidst his panic, he messed up part of the spell and received a visible whiplash.

The spell collapsed on itself and sent waves of pain running through him.

The Royal Guard smiled cockily and created another sword - this time aimed for Orion.

A pulse of energy swept the battlefield as the sky darkened with thunder clouds and the ground started to shake.

The attention of the royal guard landed on the direction of Logan’s battle.

"That isn’t what her mana feels like." The royal guard furrowed his eyebrows and turned towards the battle, ready to intervene.

The golden armour on his body suddenly started to shake.

The royal guard stopped to observe what was happening.

Slowly but certainly, his eyes landed on Orion and he could see the latter.

Orion had both of his arms pointing to the guard in sheer defiance.

The fact that he was drowning didn’t even seem to bother him a bit. In fact, it seemed as though it added to his drive and will.

"I must address your resolve and congratulate you accordingly. It’s not every day that one has the privilege of running into a young fellow as mentally driven and focused as the average adult." The Royal Guard praised Orion.

"It only goes to tell the amount of stressful and perhaps even lethal encounters that you may or may not have had." He took a pause.

"But it still doesn’t imply that you will win. An ant is still an ant and no matter how much it wants a mountain to move, it can’t do anything to realize its vision." The man sighed before summoning more water.

Amidst the mass of water, Orion stared at the guard with blackening vision.

His mana surged as he focused on the familiar mana flow involved in casting one of his many spells.

The Royal Guard made multiple structures from water - all small, round, silent, and lethal.

"This is goodbye." He sighed and was about to kill Prince William when a trail of blood started falling from his left eye.

The Royal Guard retreated to inspect the sudden wound. He could’ve seen through the eye again.

Reaching his hand into it, he pulled out a small metal sphere that had failed to kill him only because the caster was too weak.

He looked at the mass of water and found that Orion was no longer there.

His head turned around and soon found the two of them running deeper into the forest.

With gritted teeth, he started his chase.

Sending spells seems to achieve nothing except destroy the forest around them.

Stopping abruptly, Orion turned around and chucked three metal spikes at the Royal Guard.

The latter caught the weapons with ease.

The sky started to crackle with lightning and the trembling of the ground increased in intensity.

"What you said is correct, you know that right?" Orion asked referencing the analogy he had made earlier with the ants.

"No matter how much an ant wants the mountain to move, there’s simply nothing that it can do." Orion sighed.

With still present trepidation, the royal guard started casting another spell to prepare to kill the two people in front of him.

"And so it has to use its wits." Orion suddenly resumed after a long wait.

"Why waste its energy on the endeavor when it can use a passing dragon to destroy the mountain on its behalf?" A devious and twisted grin, only typical of Logan, spread on his face.

"Static pull." Orion’s grin grew wider.

The hair on the royal guard’s body stood on end - this time literally.

He looked at the spikes in his hand and could feel the static electricity emanating from them.

Realizing what was happening, he tried to throw them away but it was too late.

Bolts of white lightning that carried devastating power struck him and sent him flying to the ground.

The spikes left his grip and embedded themselves in his palms and the injured eye socket.

More lightning continued to strike the spike and sent the charge into the body of the guard.

His golden armor only helped with the conduction.

Using the opportunity, Orion started weaving another spell. He knew that the spell wouldn’t hold the guard off forever and it also couldn’t kill him.

A large wave of mana left the Royal Guard and his rage could be felt in every bit of it.

Orion could only hope that the spell he was casting would be enough to beat the fury of the angry guard.

And soon enough, he got his answer.

The clouds dispersed, and with them the lightning.

Without wasting much time, Orion used all his swords to create a large dome to protect them from the guard.

The latter flew into the air and removed the spikes before summoning a large blade of water that struck the dome and sent a web of cracks running through it.

He didn’t stop and continued to attack the dome unrelentlessly.

While Orion couldn’t see what was happening on the outside, he could still sense the sudden break in tempo of the man’s attack.

Someone was there.