Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave seemed to have a penchant for fighting powerful people in high towers with the intent of subverting their governance. This was the second time—not a lot by any measure, but even still, it was strange that it had happened twice. This time, Argrave had a lot more at his disposal than a bag of Ebonice arrowheads and a gutful of spite.

Magister Vera held both of her hands out, palms whirling with spell matrixes as she contested Ivan with her magic. The margrave became aglow with golden sparks as he took blow after blow as though they were nothing. Bolts of lightning exploded into pillars of frost, flames soared out like gusts of wind… yet still he resisted, taking them all with the aid of the enchantments inscribed along the wall, the floors, and the ceiling.

Vera’s A-rank ascension, [Two-Faced], imbued all of her elemental spells with another element of her choosing. It defied the conventional logic of all the elements, yet its effect was undeniably powerful. She could send lightning-fast projectiles that exploded into ice or send fire through the air with the structure and force of wind magic.

Margrave Ivan, her target, was far from a static target. He stepped about the room, commanding the spells writ into the stone in magic to assault them at no expenditure to himself. Spears of ice came from the walls in relentless waves, lightning rained down from above, jaws of fire bit from below like wolves nipping at the heels…

But then, Vera was not alone.

Closely bunched with the others, Vasilisa handled all attacks with the grace of a figure skater. With a snap of her finger, a stomp of her foot, a clench of her fist, a whistle from her mouth, or even a turn of her head, wards rose to confront each and every attack like the woman had an enchanted array just like Ivan’s hidden out of sight. Hegazar and Anneliese’s magic defense, though robust, seemed lacking sorely beside hers.

Vasilisa’s ascension was singular in effect and somewhat underwhelming by simple observation. She needed no spell matrix to cast magic. She needed only vague gesture and clear intent: as such, her ascension bore the name [Matrix of the Body].

Even then, Hegazar, Vera, and Anneliese together were not enough to resist Ivan’s relentless barrage. Galamon was the only able to deal with the faster magics—with one Giantkiller held in his right hand to ward lightning and the left hand occupied with his Ebonice axe, his weapons soared through the air as though he fought ghosts. Their position was so unfavorable even the four of them could not block all attacks, and the wounds mounted—slight, yet building.

over the moment you attacked me in my tower,” Ivan

intensity—Galamon had to drop his Ebonice axe and retrieve the other Giantkiller to receive the sparking assault. Anneliese, once idle, had to join in the defense. Vera’s attacks cut through this storm of chaos like a sword, yet Ivan’s wards

were hard-pressed to defend, and his reserves of enchantments within the tower were without an end. With so many variables in this battle,

end three Magisters, he would’ve seen through the illusion quite easily. But locked in mortal combat as he was… he could hardly be pressed to acknowledge the B-rank

This essence had been gathering for well over a month. He poured all of it within the [Bloodfeud Bow], its power growing and growing. It was starting to

from his crouching position and walked as the spell tore at his vitality. Hegazar’s illusion magic shattered from the intensity of the spell, revealing Argrave in earnest. Ivan’s gaze rushed to Argrave, his recognition slowing turning

the Magisters restrained him long enough to get an attack off, it would be over. But

back. He took aim… and released the arrow

tore through all below them with speed far beyond any other times Argrave had ever used it. To describe it simply… the first few floors beneath them merely vanished as soon as the arrow left Argrave’s bow. Far below, the other floors folded inwards, a gaping hole

undeniable advantage… Argrave didn’t believe it was prudent to engage in a slugging match. Instead, he’d rather strip them of their

whims of gravity. The sound was so deafening his hearing vanished in wake of a simple ringing. He looked back up, dazed and full of adrenaline, to witness the utter shock and dismay on Ivan’s face as he saw his tower gutted. His reliance on the tower’s enchantments left him out of his element and

were

wind took shape beneath them. It slammed into Ivan with all the speed of a car, pinning him to the still-stable wall while suspending everyone except Argrave in the air. The complete destruction of all the tower’s floors weakened the protective enchantments, but did not diminish them totally—still, Ivan coughed up blood from the blow, displaying his weakness plainly. As Argrave fell down, he witnessed Galamon jam both Giantkillers into Ivan’s chest. The tower’s enchantments still worked to defend him as brilliant blue lightning exploded in all directions… yet then Vasilisa joined the attack, and Hegazar next, contributing spells of

rapidly approaching floors below. Above, he spotted someone