Invisible Reaper Dragon (A Reincarnation Story)

Chapter 46 - Some Unwanted Attention (Part 2)

<Wreign>

Foxy and I had gotten to the Eastern Sanctuary at around 9:75am so that we had some extra time before Redline got there; however we weren't able to sit in a tree under the rising sun for very long as around 10:30 the tree we were resting on was suddenly turned into a giant fireball. A Spell Stone landed at the base of the tree and encircled the entire thing, us included, in a giant cone of blue fire, Freija was able to react fast enough to encircle us in a bubble of her Barrier Magic but even that cracked under the pressure of such a high energy output. 

"Tsk, I was really hoping you wouldn't be fast enough to dodge that." A strangely Young male voice admitted in a disappointed tone. Freija repaired her barrier around the two of us and we made our way out of the small crater of burned dirt and tree ash. "Why can't you make this easy on me?" 

"You just ruined a nice moment," Freija growled next to me, brandishing her Chakram and baring her teeth in anger. 

The person that attacked us, now able to be seen clearly, flinched as if struck, speaking in a mocking tone, "Oh, please forgive me...If you let me kill you faster I wouldn't have had to ruin anything." His head ticked to the side and dodged flawlessly as Freija threw both of her Chakrams, using her barriers to reflect them back at different angles whilst increasing their speed. "My, my. You definitely a rather promising future with that ability...or, well, you had one." 

Freija say that he wasn't treating this like an actual battle and I decided to get out my Identification Crystal as he started speaking again, "Oh my, please forgive me. I forgot to introduce myself," he went into a deep bow, not caring whether we'd attack him or not, "I am Shri'n'thyl, Master Illusionist and an Acolyte of The End." 

"Really? You're in cult? And attacking out in the open, and in the middle of The Human Empire's second strongest Kingdom?" Freija dead-panned and Shri'n'thyl shrugged. 

"I don't get to choose when the Master decides it's time to act, or where..." Shri'n'thyl sighed, stepping to the side as a blade of Hardened Blood Crystals passed by the area his head had been. I growled internally, I'd thought maybe I could get a quick hit on this guy before the actual fighting started, but his perception was just way too advanced to tell what he was and wasn't paying attention to. 

"...As I was saying: I don't get to decide so whoever or whatever I'm told to go after; Whatever needs to be sacrificed for The End, needs to be sacrificed and that's that." Shri'n'thyl shrugged, "Unfortunately for you, The End calls for your sacrifice, so...I'll be needing those heads of yours now." And with that he suddenly exploded into a giant ball of fire, spreading out towards both of us. 

Both me and Freija instinctively lept back as the heat of the flame seared at the ends of out coats. It continued to spread until Freija cut through it with a giant arrow-shaped barrier. The barrier stopped the spread of the flame, but it seemed like whatever it was he was using was eating away at her magic: small holes of flame torches opening up here and there from the pressure and forcing the two of us to take two giant steps backwards again as to not get burned alive.  

"These aren't normal Illusions," Foxy said. The two of us were standing back to back: she was doing her best to reinforce the barrier, or adding another when it failed, and I was watching her back for if anything came by after us.

"Yeah." I growled, "These feel way too real to be simple illusion magic." A whip of flame came from around the edge of her barrier and I used my (Bloody Claws) to slash at the whip and dissipate the magic before it got close enough to hit her. "I thought he wanted our heads? Not to straight up disintigrate us?"

I continued to slash at whips, figures made of flame, and other constructions made of the magic that I momentarily lost my sense of direction. I turned to look back, realizing I'd gone a little farther away than intended, but as soon as I looked back at where Freija was my surroundings warped and changed.