The Runic Alchemist

Moondancer, enraged, charged at them, aiming her javelins and massive black, shimmering sword directly at Damian, who was at the rear of the group. Vidalia intercepted, clashing her own sword huge aura blade against Moondancer's with a sharp, echoing impact. The rest of the group quickly formed a protective circle around Damian, shielding him from the projectiles being hurled their way.

Damian, focused and quickly, activated the two wormhole spells from the rolls in his hands, tossing the burning parchments aside while keeping the runic circles suspended near him with his mana threads. He grabbed two more rolls, unfurling them and letting them gather the necessary mana.

The first wormhole opened beside them, with its exit point positioned a little farther from Moondancer, perfectly timed to catch her javelins and throw them back at her.

This immediately reduced 60% of the incoming projectiles, allowing his defenders to focus on the ones he missed and other shadowy threats—like the two huge, faceless creatures that somehow managed to look as enraged as Moondancer herself without a face.

Meanwhile, Vidalia, while engaged in the clash with Moondancer's enormous shadowy sword, chanted the molten lava spell and aimed it at the two approaching creatures. Damian used another wormhole roll, positioning its endpoint near the shimmering blue waygate in the distance.

Moondancer noticed instantly, her fury rising as she summoned her gigantic mount and took to the skies, trying to bypass Vidalia and attack Damian directly, halting her barrage of javelins.

"Let her be. Let's move!" Damian called, tossing two more burning rolls that contained wormhole spells. Keeping the runic circles hovering near him, he jumped through the purple-glowing portal, followed closely by the others. Vidalia, while retreating, unleashed a flurry of spells at Moondancer, forcing her back.

With one final look exchanged among the group, they all steeled themselves before stepping into the shimmering blue portal.

The moment they crossed, Damian immediately sealed the waygate with another wormhole spell, blocking its entrance by connecting the portal's exit several hundred meters up in the air. As expected, they found themselves surrounded by hundreds of Ashenvale soldiers, who looked just as surprised to see them.

Chaos erupted.

Spells flew in every direction as second-rankers unleashed their aura into their weapons, charging at them one by one, followed by the sea of first rankers. It became a messy battlefield, but Damian stayed at the rear, supporting the group from behind.

He used his wormhole spells to absorb incoming projectiles and return them to the unsuspecting mages in the backline, making their life slightly easier.

Just behind him, four second-ranker mages were still powering the waygate. A large black-and-gold runic structure stood behind it, continuously feeding mana into the portal. One of the mages, realizing the situation, shouted for the others to shut it down since Damian had blocked the entrance anyway. He had expected Moondancer to jump through the wormhole after them, but nothing happened.

Did she take a different route? Damian couldn't be sure, but part of him hoped she was still searching for Threadripper and would leave them alone for now. A guy could hope.

Taking out his backup spear, Damian left his protected area and charged toward the four mages. Behind him, he unfurled three more rolls throwing them on the ground, allowing them to gather mana and activate their runic circles.

He moved with sudden, silent speed, his body low and agile like a predator stalking its prey. He had to test his newfound strength. The first mage, a short man, noticed him at the last second, and flung his hands outward, conjuring a shimmering wall of force, using some kind of enchanted tool. The barrier crackled with energy, but Damian didn't falter.

He let momentum carry his spear forward, its tip glowing with dark fire aura as he activated the the small runic circle he had drawn in hurry. The spear pierced the magical shield.

The barrier resisted for a moment, but Damian's strength overwhelmed it, shattering the shield into a spray of ethereal sparks. Before the mage could react, Damian's spear thrust into his throat, silencing him with a gurgling choke. Blood splattered as the mage collapsed, eyes wide in disbelief.

Before the body hit the ground, Damian was already moving toward his next target—a tall woman with fiery red hair. She thrust her hands forward, unleashing a torrent of flames in his direction with a red runic circle. Damian sidestepped, feeling the searing heat pass by him. With a swift, practiced motion, he hurled his spear. The weapon sliced through the air, embedding itself deep into her chest.

She faltered, flames flickering out as she crumpled to the ground, smoke curling from the charred hole in her chest. It was too fast, he felt himself being just too fast.

Two left.

The third mage, a man clad in dark blue robes, was the most dangerous. His eyes glowed with a sickly green light as he muttered an incantation, forming a rustic black runic circle near his hands. The ground beneath Damian began to tremble, cracks forming as dark tendrils of earth snaked toward him. A chaos element user—those were rare. Damian would have loved to copy that spell, but there was no time.

He dodged the tendrils, leaping back, but the mage twisted them upward, trying to trap him from above. Damian dashed forward, his enhanced speed too fast for the mage to react. As he closed the distance, Damian took out a low-quality spear he had bought way earlier on his journey and thrust it into the blue-robed mage's chest.

The man gasped, his spell dying as he slumped forward, blood pooling around him.

Only one remained.

The final mage, the one with the spatial storage tool, stood frozen in shock. Damian strode toward him, eyes locked on his target. The man fumbled, desperately trying to retrieve something from the runic tool—forgetting, in his panic, that he was a mage.

"No!" he shouted, fear creeping into his voice.

Damian didn't stop. He moved towards him but just as he took two steps he felt the ominous mana he had hoped to avoid right above him. Without even looking up Damian thrust the spear in the guy's throat and hurriedly took the small square metal box that was in his hands. Now he just had to return back to...

"WHERE IS HE..? WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM !? YOU BASTARD !! ANSWER ME !!"

A massive dark shadow enveloped the whole battlefield, for a second making everyone pause their struggles. She was too close.

'Goddammit !! What is up with her, did she love him or what..?'

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