Chapter 15: You Shouldn’t Have Provoked Me

Chapter 15. You Shouldn’t Have Provoked Me

Black-violet energy gathered in my palm.

The behemoth lunged.

I fired.

The Corruption Bolt crossed the courtyard like a streak of condensed night.

It struck the monster’s left shoulder.

The armored plate didn’t crack.

It exploded.

Chunks of black shell, flesh, and shattered bone sprayed across the courtyard wall. A thick burst of dark blood followed, painting the pale stone in a wet fan.

The behemoth staggered sideways.

Its roar rattled the windows.

The servant behind me went completely still.

I stepped forward.

One measured step.

Then another.

No hurry.

The behemoth recovered, rage replacing the confusion in its remaining senses. One massive claw swept toward me, sharp enough to split a horse in half.

"Void Shift." I disappeared.

The claw passed through empty space.

Then I reappeared directly above the monster’s back.

My boots touched one of the thick plates along its spine for barely half a second.

A smirk bloomed across my face. "Let’s play..." My palm slammed down. "Obsidian Earth."

Black crystal erupted beneath my hand.

Not from the ground.

From the monster itself.

Its natural armor was earth-aligned.

My magic invaded the structure protecting its body and turned that protection against it.

The plates warped.

Bent inward.

The first spike punched through flesh.

Then another.

Then five more.

Black crystalline spears erupted inward beneath the armor, piercing muscle from multiple directions.

The behemoth screamed.

Not roared.

Screamed.

Blood surged between its plates in thick streams, running over its sides and dripping from its belly.

I pushed harder.

The crystal twisted.

The scream became higher.

Almost desperate.

My smile widened. I liked that sound. It sounded like the exact moment something strong realized strength wasn’t going to save it.

I jumped away just before the beast threw itself sideways.

My body turned once in the air.

Boots struck stone.

I landed lightly.

Already facing it.

The behemoth spun toward me.

Blood poured from beneath its armor.

Its breathing had become rough. Angry.

Now it had a legitimate reason to hate me.

Its jaws opened.

Earth mana condensed inside its throat.

Compressed stone.

Dense enough to punch through reinforced barriers.

Fast enough to pulverize a normal mage before they finished screaming.

I raised one hand. "Abyssal Water."

Dark-blue liquid spiraled around my forearm.

The stone projectile fired.

I snapped my fingers.

Dark-blue liquid swallowed the projectile in midair.

Then I clenched my fist.

The water froze instantly and shattered.

Hundreds of razor-edged fragments hung in the air for one beautiful second.

Then reversed direction.

The behemoth barely had time to blink.

The ice storm hit.

Its face vanished behind a spray of blood.

Shards punched through flesh.

One buried itself beneath the jaw.

Another split the ear.

Several tore into the gums.

One struck the eye.

The eyeball burst.

Wet fluid and blood splashed down its snout.

The monster shrieked and reared backward, shaking its head wildly.

More blood flew from it with every movement.

The servant behind me made a choking sound.

I didn’t bother looking at her.

I was busy.

The behemoth slammed both forelimbs down.

The courtyard ruptured.

Stone slabs shot upward.

A brutal earth shockwave tore toward me.

I shifted my stance.

Left foot back.

Heel raised.

Weight centered.

Shoulders loose.

Voidwind wrapped around my calves.

Then I moved.

Forward. Straight through the collapsing stone.

One step carried me past the first wave.

A second took me between two flying chunks of masonry.

My body tilted just enough for a jagged piece to miss my throat.

Another grazed my cheek.

Heat followed.

Blood.

A thin line ran down my face.

I touched it with two fingers while moving.

Looked at the red on them.

Then smiled.

Slowly.

Wrongly.

The kind of smile people remembered afterward. "Oh."

I raised my right hand. "Blackflame."

Dark fire surged outward.

A blade.

Long.

Curved.

Black at its center, crimson along the edge, violet flame licking outward like hungry tongues.

It extended from my forearm like an oversized scimitar.

The monster swung again.

I stepped inside its reach.

Too close.

Exactly where a mage wasn’t supposed to be.

My left foot crossed forward.

Hip turned.

Shoulder followed.

Then the blade came down.

It carved through the behemoth’s front leg.

Armor melted first.

Then skin.

Then muscle.

The flame cut so cleanly through bone that there was half a second where the limb remained attached simply because the body hadn’t realized it was gone yet.

Then it fell.

-THUD!

The severed leg crashed onto the courtyard.

Blood erupted from the stump.

Not a stream.

A fountain.

Hot, dark blood sprayed across the ground, splattering my boots and the lower half of my clothes.

The behemoth collapsed forward.

Its scream came out wet now.

Broken.

Spit and blood poured from its mouth.

I stepped around the severed limb.

Calmly.

The monster tried to drag itself backward.

That almost made me laugh.

Its remaining eye locked onto me.

And there it was.

Fear.

Pure.

Animal.

Beautifully honest.

The great A-rank Ironback Behemoth finally understood.

It wasn’t fighting prey. It was fighting something that had started enjoying the lesson.

I crouched slightly. "Too late."

Abyssal Darkness spread beneath its body.

The shadows deepened.

Then chains erupted.

Around its neck.

Torso.

Remaining limbs.

One chain wrapped around the broken stump.

Another forced itself beneath a damaged armor plate.

Then I pulled.

The chains tightened.

Metallic darkness bit into flesh.

The behemoth thrashed.

Bad idea.

The more it moved, the deeper they cut.

Blood ran down the chains in thick ribbons.

One link tore through exposed muscle.

Another split skin across the stomach.

I watched without blinking. Then pulled harder.

Something inside snapped.

The monster roared.

I tilted my head. Then smiled wider.

The servant behind me took another step back.

Rey Valen was supposed to be the Mad Magus.

Fine. I’d give her the Mad Magus.

The beast tried to stand.

I dropped my hand.

The chains obeyed.

Its body slammed face-first into the stone.

The jaw hit first.

Teeth shattered.

Several flew loose across the courtyard.

Blood exploded from its mouth.

Its tongue caught between broken teeth.

More blood. More screaming.

I walked toward it.

My boots stepped through the spreading pool beneath its body.

The behemoth’s breathing came ragged.

Wet.

Bubbling now.

Its remaining eye followed me desperately.

I stopped beside its head.

For one second, I simply looked down.

Then I raised my hand.

Eclipse Light formed.

Not a spear.

A thin spinning ring.

White radiance burned along the outer edge.

Absolute blackness churned within.

I lowered my gaze toward its neck. "Don’t worry." My smile became almost gentle, as if I gave it mercy. "That was the painful part."

The ring launched.

It passed through.

For one heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then the monster’s neck opened.

A thin glowing line appeared beneath the jaw.

The head slid sideways.

Slowly at first.

Then completely.

The massive skull hit the courtyard.

Blood erupted from the severed neck in a violent arc.

It splashed around.

The head rolled once.

Twice.

Stopped near the shattered barrier.

The body twitched violently.

One leg kicked.

The claws scraped against the stone.

Then... Nothing.