CHAPTER 43: THEO, THE ARCHMAGE

Liam is dizzy and disoriented. The constant cycle of falling, getting caught, pulling himself up, and cutting the vines tires him quickly. Before entering the daylight dungeon to hunt the water serpent, Liam had trained his body to the extreme, but this kind of exercise was never part of his routine.

His movements are slowing, his breathing is heavier, and his vision is beginning to blur.

He lets out a loud yell, pulls himself upward, and slices through another vine. He tries to maneuver midair so the next one cannot catch him.

He’s falling upside down inside a vast cavern with a high ceiling when he notices something strange.

First, there’s light, moving, rotating around... something. Then, several dots of blue light. They’re descending.

Then he notices that he is falling toward the ground fast. There is no time to flip or brace for the impact.

"Shit!" he curses, closing his eyes and covering his head.

But he stops falling.

He opens his eyes and sees that he is floating slowly toward the ground, still upside down.

He turns his head toward the lights and blue dots and realizes they are descending at the same speed as he is.

That’s when he sees her, a woman surrounded by all the light and the blue dots. They aren’t just light; they are light orbsand blue flame swords.

What the hell is she?

Suddenly, several vines shoot out, trying to grab the woman.

"Look out!" Liam shouts.

But the vines never reach her. The blue flame swords move on their own, cutting every vine that approaches with perfect precision.

Liam lands gently on the ground. His gaze stays fixed on the woman who has stopped descending and is now floating midair, sending hundreds of blue flame arrows into a dark corner of the cave.

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Theo keeps his eyes on what’s ahead. His light orbs continue circling him, while his blue flame sword "soldiers" relentlessly slice through the vines.

He hears an exhausted shout from below and quickens his pace. A young man is being tossed around by the vines, wielding some sort of mana blade with surprising skill.

Theo sees him fall. No vines manage to catch him. With a simple wave of his hand, Theo sends a gentle gust of wind to slow the man’s descent.

Satisfied that the stranger is safe, Theo turns his focus back to the source of the vines.

He moves his hands slightly and halts in midair. At the same moment, the blue flame swords shift shape, turning into arrows that launch toward the dark corner of the cave, the place where he senses the vine haelion is lurking.

As the blue flame arrows strike, a loud shriek echoes through the cavern. The haelion refuses to come out into the light.

"Refusing to come out? Fine." Theo launches thousands of light orbs, each as large as his fist, toward the dark corner.

As the light hits the Haelion, it lets out an even louder shriek.

"So, you’re weak to light." Theo smirks. He’s about to launch his next attack when he suddenly feels heat rising behind him.

Liam pales. He completely forgot about the two-headed water serpent. The fire head rears back and breathes out a column of flame, sending it straight toward Theo.

"Look out!" Liam shouts. He jumps to his feet, shifts his weapon into a long whip, and lashes it around the serpent’s fiery neck. He pulls hard.

The fire pillar misses Theo by only a few meters.

Theo flies to the side and turns his head toward the source. He sees the stranger holding what looks like a glowing mana leash looped tightly around one of the serpent’s heads.

Jeez, I didn’t see it there, Theo thinks inwardly.

You’re trying to attack me from behind? Eat this! Theo attacks the fire-headed serpent with a pillar of blue flame.

But the ice head counters it with a blast of freezing breath.

Oh wow! The other head breathes ice. I’ve never met any beast that can do this. Theo silently admires it.

"Is she crazy? Why is she not moving?" Liam mutters to himself.

"Hey, lady! Don’t—whoa!"

Liam is about to warn Theo when the fire head suddenly swings and launches him high into the air. He instinctively retracts his Aetherion, but he’s already airborne.

"Shit, shit, shit!" he curses again.

Then he stops midair. He knows instantly it’s Theo. He turns his head toward her, about to say thank you, when several vines shoot toward him.

He cuts them with practiced movements and flashes a grin at Theo, intending to show off.

But Theo isn’t paying attention to him. He’s preparing a high-level Light Magic spell, one he has never successfully cast before.

He points his finger toward the dark corner and, out of habit, says, "Luxtra."

A concentrated beam of light bursts from his fingertip and strikes the vine Haelion.

It shrieks, the sound high and agonized, before finally emerging from its hiding place.

It looks like a kraken, but its body is covered in countless tiny eyes, human eyes.

"Ugh! Are those eyes its victims’ eyes?!" Liam exclaims in disgust.

Theo launches countless beams of light, striking every single eye. The kraken haelion shrieks and slowly dissipates into the wind.

Before Theo and Liam can exhale in relief, they feel an ominous presence behind them. Still floating midair, they both slowly turn and see two heads rising to their level, each locking its gaze on one of them.

Without breaking eye contact, Theo whispers to Liam, "Do you know its weaknesses?"

Liam keeps his focus. "Probably the opposite elements."

"Makes sense. I’ll try it."

With that, Theo sends Liam toward the ground, where the fire head immediately chases after him and launches a pillar of flame. Liam does not have time to dodge and can only duck. But the fire never reaches him.

A faint shield shimmers in front of him, stopping the flames completely. Although the barrier looks delicate, it does not waver or flicker. It is more than enough.

"Hey! Your opponent is me," Theo calls out calmly, keeping his gaze on the ice head.

The fire head, annoyed that it cannot burn Liam, turns toward Theo and breathes another pillar of fire.

It fails again. Theo floats behind his own shield, looking bored.

"You should already know your fire pillar is useless against me."

The serpent shifts, both heads rising together. This time, they combine their power, launching intertwined pillars of fire and ice toward Theo.

He raises his hand. Blue flame and crystal water surge forward, colliding with the serpent’s twin attack midair.

The impact feels like a small explosion. A wave of energy ripples through the cave, shaking the walls and sending debris tumbling down.

Liam scrambles to his feet and searches for higher ground. He knows he is no match for the woman’s power. What are those skills? How can she manipulate Heartstone energy like that? But he is a Sentinel. He will not back down.

While Theo battles the two-headed serpent head-on, Liam circles to its tail and slices it clean off with Aetherion.

The water serpent lets out a piercing shriek that makes both Liam and Theo flinch. The two heads snap toward Liam and attack him together.

Liam runs toward Theo, who has descended to the ground, slightly disoriented from the sound.

The haelion is furious. Its body glows as it hums and vibrates, charging mana at a frightening rate.

"Oh, shit. That cannot be good," Liam mutters.

Theo sighs. "You just had to do it, didn’t you?"

"I thought I was helping. Apparently, I just made it worse." Liam chuckles bitterly.

"Go hide. I will handle this."

Theo waves his hand and sends Liam floating away, encased in a faint protective bubble.

Theo rises again, his jet-black hair flowing freely as he absorbs mana from the air, an impossible amount. He is preparing to cast the highest-tier spells of fire, water, and wind all at once, a feat he could never achieve in his old body.

Liam watches from inside the shield bubble, staring at both opponents, especially Theo. What is she doing? Is she powering up too? Is she even human? This is insane.

If Liam could see Theo’s eyes now, his jaw would drop.

He is right. Theo is charging. Every cell in his body floods with mana. His eyes are glowing, a golden ring surrounding them.

The water serpent unleashes its ultimate attack, a combined pillar of fire and ice that merges into a light-blue and purple beam of destructive energy.

Liam holds his breath.

From Theo, a smaller beam of whitish-purple light erupts, meeting the serpent’s attack head-on. The impact shakes the air, but Theo’s beam does not stop. It pushes forward, overwhelming the serpent’s power until it strikes both heads.

Then he raises his hand once more and unleashes a rain of whitish-purple beams that fall upon the serpent.

It is over in seconds.

And then, silence.