Chapter 688: Surround and Strike ( 688 )

Seventh sneered viciously, raising his palm high as dark flames erupted around his hand—twisting violently, hungrily.

“Heh! Talk big for someone who’s only got two pretty maids and a bunch of training dummies,” he mocked. His eyes glowed with a crazed, dangerous gleam. “See this, brat? One good shot, and you and your toy soldiers will be vaporized.”

Javier didn’t even flinch. He just yawned loudly, deliberately bored, and lowered his swords slightly.

“Then stop wasting my time,” Javier said flatly. “Show me already. We’re not here to exchange speeches.”

Seventh’s grin widened. Dangerous. Excited. Mad.

“Fine, brat. You asked for it.”

He clenched his fist, condensing the swirling dark flames until they became a blazing, pulsing sphere of destruction. Dark tendrils hissed violently in every direction, scorching the air itself.

“Goodbye,” Seventh spat with a wild grin.

He hurled the blazing orb directly at Javier.

The air howled with heat as the projectile shot forward.

Javier didn’t even blink.

Instead, he calmly raised one hand, channeling mana effortlessly through his palm.

“White barrier”

Instantly, a brilliant white shield of light materialized in front of him.

The dark fireball collided with it head-on.

But instead of vaporizing Javier and his allies, the flames sputtered uselessly, dissipating harmlessly into mana particles.

Silence.

Javier smiled serenely.

“That it?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “All that buildup, and you couldn’t even scorch my simple barrier?”

Seventh’s grin twitched as Javier casually flicked a speck of dust off his coat.

“You’re lucky I didn’t use my full power,” Seventh growled. “That spell I shot? Just testing the waters.”

Javier stuck his pinky into his ear and dug lazily, his expression one of utter disinterest.

“You keep yapping like it matters,” he muttered, flicking whatever was on his finger toward the ground. “How about you stop narrating and actually do something?”

Seventh’s grin twitched again, this time with frustration. His eye twitched.

“Fine! You asked for it, brat!” he snapped, raising his hand.

He made a sharp motion in the air—like slashing through a ribbon of fate—and the rest of his squad moved instantly.

Javier simply yawned again, resting one of his twin swords against his shoulder.

He turned his head slightly, just enough to glance back at the two girls behind him.

“Liana. Gloria. Just defend yourselves. Don’t interfere.”

Liana didn’t argue. She nodded and held her bow low, mana slowly gathering around her arrow.

Gloria, already gripping her war hammer, gave a calm “Ara~” and nodded.

Javier then turned to his puppet knights—his personal twenty-unit Shironii guard standing silently in formation behind him.

“Command: Protect Liana and Gloria. Include their Pekko. Prioritize defense.”

The knights’ glowing eyes lit up in synchronized response.

[Command received: Defense protocol activated.]

The units shifted—ten moving to form a semi-circle wall around the girls and the three Pekko mounts, while the remaining ten took flanking positions around Javier, glowing softly with white rune sigils.

A low breeze passed through the field.

Javier exhaled.

And lowered into his stance.

Clang!

Javier’s twin swords moved with graceful precision. The first blade clashed against Seventh’s dual swords—each coated in seething dark miasma that hissed on contact. Sparks flew as the force of the strike sent a shockwave through the clearing.

“Tch—!” Seventh gritted his teeth.

But Javier was already moving.

With his free hand, he twisted and drove a sharp elbow toward First, who lunged in from the flank. The man barely had time to react before Javier followed up with a sweeping side kick—thunderous and precise—slamming directly into First’s ribs with a solid thud that cracked the ground beneath them.

Before the next breath, Third came charging in—swinging a massive obsidian war axe laced with enchantments. The weapon roared as it cleaved downward, but Javier tilted back with inhuman grace, letting the axe smash into the dirt with an earth-splitting impact that sent debris flying.

From the rear, Fourth and Sixth launched their coordinated barrage—one with chain-lightning bolts surging in arcs, and the other with high-velocity flame spears spinning like drills.

“Pathetic.”

His twin swords spun.

He slapped the lightning bolt aside with a backhand slice, the blade humming with mana. The fire spear met the flat of his other sword, and with a flick of his wrist—it shattered into harmless embers.

Sixth’s eyes widened. “He slapped my spell!?”

Before the next wave, Second raised both palms, and blue glyphs lit up the ground beneath Javier.

“Glacial Spike—Rise!”

Dozens of razor-sharp ice spikes erupted from below.

But Javier’s body blurred—he stepped down with a heel drop, shattering the nearest spike before it could even reach knee height. The shockwave from his mana-infused stomp cracked the others mid-formation, reducing the entire spell to harmless frost shards scattering through the wind.

“You people are too slow.”

His calm voice echoed as he stood tall, blades spinning loosely in his hands.

Gloria watched from behind the puppet knights. “He’s serious now,” she muttered, eyes gleaming.

Liana didn’t blink. “No mercy, young master…”

Javier tilted his head and smirked.

“Come on, Seventh. Was that your warm-up?.”

Javier yawned with one hand over his mouth, flicking imaginary dust off his shoulder.

“I didn’t know if you can call that full speed… Come on! Even Marita is faster than that.”

Seventh’s eye twitched, veins bulging. “You dare mock us!?”

He slammed both blades together, and a shockwave of corrupted mana exploded from his body—distorting the air with heat and pressure.

The other five responded in sync.

First exhaled slowly, mana symbols flashing across his skin. A violet aura coated his body, and wind blades circled him like orbiting knives.

Second slammed her daggers into the ground—causing the earth to freeze in an instant. Crystalline ice spread out in a perfect circle, turning the terrain into a battlefield of razors.

Third roared, muscles bulging unnaturally. Earth magic surged beneath his skin, forming jagged rock armor around his fists and chest.

Fourth vanished in a blur, cloaking himself in stealth magic so complete that even mana sense struggled to detect him.

Fifth floated up, lightning running up and down his arms as storm clouds gathered unnaturally above the clearing. Mana crackled with tension.

Sixth raised both spears overhead, dark symbols burning along their shafts. His magic twisted with a red-purple aura, curses laced with decay.

“You’ve got no idea what you’re facing, brat!” Seventh roared. “You mock us? Then DIE WITH REGRET!”

( End Of Chapter )

Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.