Chapter 57 - - 57: Storm Curtain

Chapter 57: Chapter - 57: Storm Curtain

"Hehehe.... this kid got some balls" Kamil laughed and said like he has found some toys to play with.

The next instant, his figure blurred.

*Fast!*

Even with my ’Horizon Eye’, I barely managed to follow the movement. Instead of charging directly at me, Kamil zigzagged across the corridor in an irregular pattern, his feet barely making any sound while his long poisonous tail dragged behind him like a living whip waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

I immediately pointed my staff forward.

"Water Arrows."

Dozens of compressed water arrows formed around me before shooting toward him from different angles.

However, Kamil twisted his body with movements that no normal human should have been capable of. His spine bent unnaturally, his shoulders rotated almost one hundred and eighty degrees, and his tail supported his balance whenever it looked like he would fall.

Every movement resembled an agile chameleon climbing through branches rather than a human fighting on the ground.

The arrows missed one after another. Without slowing down, Kamil eventually reached near me, his tail glowed with a sinister purple light.

I instantly jumped backward.

Whish!

The poisonous tail sliced through the empty air where my neck had been only a moment earlier. The strike continued forward and slammed into the corridor wall.

Boom!

Cracks spread across the reinforced stone as fragments scattered across the corridor.

*That would have broken my neck. Luckily I am used to fast speed.*

Without wasting the opening I cast the spell and several serpents made entirely of water burst out around Kamil from different directions, attempting to bind his limbs.

’Sea Serpent’s Den!’

"Hahaha!"

Instead of retreating, Kamil laughed as his tail suddenly started expanding in length before sweeping around his body in a complete circle.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The water serpents were torn apart before they could even wrap around him.

"Too slow!" He lunged again, this time I didn’t retreat immediately.

Instead I created a water barrier while also preparing for my next attack.

Kamil’s tail struck the barrier once which caused the surface to ripple violently, but unlike the previous time his tail didn’t bounce back, instead he pushed it further and this caused the barrier to be shattered.

Luckily I have already prepared more water arrows. But unlike before, Kamil didn’t dodge all of them. His tail spun rapidly, deflecting every projectile with unbelievable precision.

*Tch...*

That tail is not just poisonous, it is practically another weapon.

"You’ve got decent a reaction speed kid." Kamil narrowed his eyes. "But let’s see how long these arrows can save you."

The next moment his magic power surged. The purple glow around his tail intensified before slowly spreading over both of his arms. His Beast Magic was becoming stronger.

I cannot keep defending for much longer nor do I have any plan to do that either.

Without hesitation, I switched tactics and cast a different spell as a high-pressure spiral of water formed in front of me turning in spear shape and heading towards him, ’Storm Spear’.

Kamil finally became serious and instead of dodging, he thrust his glowing tail directly into the spinning torrent and the compressed water exploded across the corridor.

BOOM!

Water splashed in every direction, causing low visibility only for a second, but even a second is vital during a battle.

I immediately enhanced my horizon eye so not to let Kamil escape my vision even for a second.

*Above!*

Kamil has jumped high and had attached itself to the corridor’s ceiling by using his tail, allowing him to swing across it like a giant reptile before descending directly above me. His poisonous tail shot downward like a spear.

I moved instantly by using sky steps as wind compressed below my feets and this time much denser than when I used during the forest incident and I immediately reached the speed of the fourth step in a single kick and dodged the attack.

This was the effect of ’Instant stacking’ a technique that allows you to skip the stages of the spells that usually strengthen gradually, allowing the user to instantly use the maximum limit of the ability they can handle.

At the same time as I moved aside, I also swung my magic staff and a crescent moon shaped blade of wind was released from it, directly heading for Kamil’s body.

But before the wind blade would land on him, he curled his body and retracted his tail to the side from where the wind blade was approaching and lash his tail to counter it.

The shiny tail and the blade of wind collided resulting in a sharp noise like that of a metal, but Kamil came out unscathed.

Neither of us managed to land a decisive blow.

From the opposite end of the corridor, explosions and flashes of fire, darkness and light continued to erupt where Elena, Lucian, and the others were holding Jamil back.

Aside from Elena and Lucian, their group also have a water magic user, a barrier magic user and a support type, though all of them are very weak compare to us.

And there’s also a girl with taming attribute but unfortunately we aren’t allowed to keep magic beast inside the academy buildings because of which she can’t do anything.

But as the situation looks, they can slowly overpower Jamil with their combine efforts. So I just need to focus on the opponent in front of me.

"You really are a troublesome kid." Kamil clicked his tongue in annoyance.

I tightened my grip around my staff without replying as water and wind in the surroundings slowly started to gather around me. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

At the same time, dense purple mana began condensing around Kamil’s tail.

Neither of us intended to continue testing the other anymore.

*Looks like this won’t end with ordinary spells.*

Taking a deep breath, I planted the lower end of my magic staff firmly against the stone floor.

*I didn’t want to reveal it this early... but I don’t have another choice.*

Mana began pouring out of my body without restraint as the surrounding air trembled.

Even Kamil’s mocking smile gradually faded as he instinctively sensed the sudden change in pressure. His expression finally turned serious as he launched an attack without any second thought.

The instant the poisonous tail lashed toward me once again, I struck the lower end of my magic staff against the floor and a violent burst of mana erupted around me.

Water gathered from the atmosphere while torrents of wind compressed around my body. Within a fraction of a second, the two elements merged into a rapidly rotating dome that completely enclosed me from every direction. It looked like a miniature storm centered around my own body, ’Storm Curtain’.

The outer layer consisted of violently rotating currents of wind while countless streams of water revolved beneath them in perfect synchronization, making the entire barrier resemble a moving fortress.

*Bang!*

Kamil’s tail struck the surface of the Storm Curtain.

Instead of shattering the barrier like it had done to my Water Barrier, the spinning current instantly diverted the force of the attack as the tail slid across the rapidly rotating surface before being violently thrown away.

"Ugh!"

Kamil immediately retracted his tail, outer layer of which had been torn away in some places by the high-speed rotation of wind and water.

He narrowed his eyes as he felt the sudden change in the situation accompanied by the pain in his tail.

Unlike a normal barrier that merely blocked attacks, Storm Curtain attacked anything that touched it. Trying to force one’s way through it was like thrusting an arm into a spinning grinder.

But I had no intention of remaining passive.

*This spell consumes too much mana.*

*The longer this battle drags on, the worse it becomes for me.*

Without giving Kamil even a second to recover, I kicked the ground and moved forward. The entire dome of Storm Curtain moved together with me. The roaring dome surged across the corridor like a raging cyclone.

"What?!"

Kamil clearly hadn’t expected a defensive spell to be used offensively. Sensing the danger, he immediately jumped backward.

*Too late.*

I thrust my staff forward, the violent rotation of Storm Curtain instantly condensed several miniature whirlwinds around its surface.

The preparation time that normally required several seconds had almost disappeared.

"Piercing Storm Needles."

Dozens of compressed wind needles burst out from the rotating storm almost simultaneously and shot toward Kamil from different trajectories.

"So fast!"

Kamil twisted his body with unbelievable flexibility and again managed to evade most of them.

However—

*Slash!*

One needle pierced his shoulder.

*Slash!*

Another cut across his thigh.

A third grazed the side of his waist before disappearing into the corridor wall behind him. Blood splattered across the stone floor.

"Tch!"

Kamil clicked his tongue before immediately counterattacking.

His Beast Magic erupted but instead of attacking directly, the tail suddenly split into several afterimages and surrounded me from different angles.

"So this is your answer?"

I immediately pushed Storm Curtain forward.

*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Every poisonous strike was either deflected or scraped across the spinning currents.

Whenever the tail touched the surface, the violently rotating wind and water shaved away part of skin forcing Kamil to repeatedly pull it back before serious damage accumulated.

The corridor echoed with continuous explosions as poisonous strikes collided against the spinning fortress from every direction.

Seeing that he couldn’t break through, Kamil suddenly retreated several meters.

His tail expanded even further but the movements became slower. Purple mana flowed into it continuously until it had become almost twice as thick as before.

"I’ll simply crush you together with your little cover!"

The floor beneath his feet cracked with a deafening boom, he launched himself straight toward me like a cannonball with the tail spiraled around his body before concentrating every bit of its momentum into a single thrust. The sheer pressure distorted the air.

Instead of waiting, I charged forward as well. The raging wind roared louder than before as the two of us closed the distance in an instant.

"Die!"