Two Down

Xander felt it before he could see it, really.

First, his eyes started to sting and water. Then his exposed skin began to feel irritated, and the inside of his nose started to burn.

The Verdant Boa arrived in a cloud of green mist, and Xander watched as the ground near this mist began to sizzle ominously, then an intimidating hiss came from within the mist.

But just as it was about to become problematic, a cold wind swept through, immediately arresting the offensive fumes near them, and with a wave of his wand, frigid air pushed back against the mist sharply, preventing it from advancing further.

In that moment, everyone knew that the Verdant Boa turned its attention to Curtis.

’Curtis, can you handle it?’ Aubrey asked calmly, not taking her eyes off the Void Raptor for a second.

’... Yeah. I can.’ Curtis’s voice was surprisingly firm. No one asked if he was sure and simply took it at that. Instead, Curtis waved his wand again, and two hexagonal shields of ice appeared around the other three, hovering like silent sentries.

There was a standoff that lasted for a few seconds, then both sides moved.

The Raptor performed a series of rapid teleports in quick succession, causing its momentum to stack as it appeared near Falael in an instant, but due to Aubrey’s warning, they were prepared.

They ducked just as Xander’s sword swung over their head, clashing with the sharp claws of the Raptor. They then raised their wand and fired a beam of concentrated starlight at its chest, only for the beam to get redirected entirely, striking the ravine wall.

A short moment later, Xander and the Raptor already exchanged several moves. The latter rapidly teleporting around him to strike at a blindspot, but Xander’s defenses were ironclad, preventing a single blow from coming through.

’It can only attack after it teleports. And since it can’t teleport through objects, could I make it teleport into my sword? Moreover, the spatial interference doesn’t exist when we clash. Does that mean it can’t attack with the barrier active around its claws?’ Xander’s mind spun as he searched for a way to bypass the defenses of the Raptor.

He wasn’t alone as Aubrey split her attention between the Raptor and the Boa, giving relevant call outs to the people fighting both. And she, too, was looking for ways to counter the spatial interference.

Meanwhile, the battle between Curtis and the Boa was in full swing. On one side, icy winds blew powerfully, turning a region of the Ravine into a land of ice. And on the other side, billowing green mist constantly eroded at the land, melting it and everything that got close.

Curtis constantly sent all sorts of frost projectiles into the green mist, hoping to strike the snake, but even if his constructs were now far more durable due to his understanding of molecules, the corrosive mist was still potent enough to sever his connection with any construct that got in too deep, making projectiles useless.

Inversely, whenever the Boa sent out streams of poison and other vile substances to taint Curtis, they didn’t get very far before they were encased in a layer of ice, falling to the ground. As such, two of them were locked in a stalemate as it turned into a war of attrition.

Back to the other three, upon seeing that Xander was proving to be a tough opponent to kill, the Void Raptor immediately turned its attention to Falael and teleported over.

But Falale had been prepared.

’Stellar Net!’ A complicated tapestry of starlight appeared between Falael and the Raptor, forcing it to end its teleportation early to avoid running into the obstacle.

That’s when three mana arrows came from the sky and descended on the Raptor, but when they neared, their trajectories were weirdly changed, making them strike the ground around the Raptor.

But that wasn’t all.

"Seal!" Aubrey moved her Mana, and the three arrows which had made a triangle shape around the Raptor suddenly connected, and a pyramid of pure Mana surrounded the Raptor, temporarily trapping it.

It prepared strike at the barrier, only for it to see Falael raise their fingers and snap.

A small orb of starlight suddenly shone at its feet before detonating. The explosion not immediately spreading as a result of the barrier. But it inevitably shattered, the blast engulfing a small area.

Xander did not wait to see the result. Instead, he dived headfirst into the aftermath and through the smoke.

’Water Screen.’ He swung his blade, creating a thin film of water which rebuffed the Raptor that had just gotten ready to teleport towards Aubrey.

’Frost Flower Thrust.’ He thrust his sword into the water film, rapidly freezing it as the tip approached the still reeling Raptor.

’Ice Breaker.’

BANG

The ice exploded, and the Raptor’s body was sent flying through the smoke, but it quickly stabilized and teleported to the ground.

Xander inspected its condition before clicking his tongue. Even after all of that, the Raptor was still unharmed.

’Still, if that’s the case, how come it was still sent flying by Ice Breaker?’ As he had that thought, Aubrey sent him a message.

’Xander, I sensed it. That last attack of yours, I felt the Raptor increase the potency of its barrier around that spot before it landed, and as a result, the defense around the rest of its body weakened, albeit momentarily. Plus, it was a bit unsteady after enduring my and Falael’s joint attack. So it must have expended a lot of Mana to block it.’ Hearing this, Xander’s eyes widened for a moment.

’So enough firepower can indeed force its hand. It can’t endure heavy attacks consistently, and it costs energy to use.’ Xander nodded slightly, but he soon noticed another issue.

The Raptor moved again, and once more Xander moved to intercept it.

This time, he was far more proactive in his attacks as he trusted the two barriers Curtis had entrusted to him to block most of the Raptor’s attacks, and they did their job wonderfully. As such, he had a far easier time keeping it occupied.

But the creature was smart, it seemed, as it decisively prevented itself from being forced into a situation where it had to expended too much Mana enduring their attacks like before.

’That, and even if we could consistently get that done, who knows how long it would take to fully get through the barrier? It’s already been a few minutes.... Could I perhaps sever the mana points if I enter that state? No, we need a more clear method to get through the barrier. That will just burn through my mana unnecessarily.’ With that thought, Xander did not hesitate to do something he’d never done before.

He started attempting to learn the frequency of the space around the Raptor itself.

But herein lies the problem.

... How does one go about doing that?

Understanding the frequencies of physical matter was easy... well, not easy, but somewhat understandable when it came to grasping the concept. Atoms constantly vibrated, and each thing had its own frequency. Match said frequency and you can achieve certain effects. Yes.

Even when it came to magic and mana. Most mages still used their mana to manifest physical things, like water, fire, ice, and so on.

But... space was far more fundamental. There were places without water, places without air, and so on.

But space was all-encompassing and difficult to interact with, let alone understand the frequency that governed it.

It’s as Xander was contemplating this as a change occurred.

A wave of cold wind suddenly swept through the area, forcing everyone to temporarily stop fighting. They looked to the side just in time to see a huge pillar of ice stretching of dozens of meters, and within it, a massive serpent could be seen, jaw wide open and frozen.

Then, the pillar fractured, and so did the snake, then it shattered, sending ice and frozen meat tumbling to the ground.

On the ground, Curtis could be seen on one knee, coughing and looking especially pale, but alive and relatively unhurt.

Verdant Boa, eliminated.

Before they could ruminate on this fact, though, the Raptor suddenly moved, rapidly teleporting towards Curtis.

’Curtis!’ Aubrey yelled through the link, and the boy looked up just as the Raptor reached him. However...

"Got you." It’s teleportation was halted abruptly as it rammed into something, and a pained cry left its mouth. Red lines appeared on the side of its body where it had been charging, and it struggled like it was trying to remove itself from something unseen.

But then Xander did see it.

A wall of transparent ice threads so thin they were practically invisible. The Raptor had teleported straight into them, and sure enough, its barrier was was deactivated mid teleport, making it run straight into the threads and get itself ensnared.

Curtis twisted his hand, and the threads wrapped around the Raptor before it could remove itself and reactivate its barrier, binding it.

Falael did not let up that opportunity.

"Starlight Magic: Stellar Ray!" They aimed their wand at the struggling Raptor, and a beam of starlight shot out before engulfing its form.