Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 36: Eyes Opened

Emeryʼs whole body froze. The beating of his heart was now reaching behind his ear. Seeing that monster stare at him as it chewed Fatty made his breathing become tight. It was just that horrifying for Emery to see the giant monster that only appeared in stories his familyʼs scholar told him to be actually real in this world. Even more so when he saw their instituteʼs magus was powerless bleeding on the side. This world and its creatures were outlandish beyond his imagination.

He hadnʼt noticed it but when he had somehow gotten a clearer view, all he had initially seen so far was its dragon-shaped head. The hulking monster had two large horns protruding from its head and spikes starting from the top of its head up to its back. Its two wings were retracted at the moment as it simply enjoyed its meal.

On its head, there was a figure of a man with long, golden hair wearing bulky scarlet armor. The red dragon didnʼt mind the man as it continued chomping on the last bit of Fatty, which was the arm peeking out of its mouth. When Emeryʼs eyes met the manʼs, he could feel a tremendous pressure that was making him look down. The manʼs presence was so overwhelming that a simple glance from him made Emery want to throw himself on the ground.

Emery tried to resist the urge even though he felt like an ant facing a god of death and continued watching as the man raised a hand toward Emeryʼs direction and Magus Erica suddenly flew as if the air had pulled her.

Emery could hear his deep, cold voice, filled with intent to kill and said, ”Pretentious human, die.”

The man in red armor grabbed Magus Erica by the throat. Her legs were kicking in the air as she struggled to break free from the manʼs clasp.

Emery watched helplessly. He wanted to run away from here as far as possible, but his feet were stuck to the ground, even his arms and head. He couldnʼt move. His eyes were glued to Magus Ericaʼs weakening struggle when suddenly a lightning from the sky struck the manʼs arm and a thunderous boom soon followed.

A halo of light opened on top of Emery and several figures wearing magus robes burst out including a fireball hitting the dragonʼs head. The fireball exploded on the dragonʼs head, making it fall down and issued a powerful shockwave that threw Emery back to a tree. Topper and Silva had actually followed him not far behind and were also caught in the wind and sent back.

Emeryʼs head was buzzing once again and coughed out blood. He dazedly got up, his vision, and barely made out the figure of a large thing that was no less smaller than the dragon fighting. The thing pounded the dragonʼs head downward, issuing another blast. The ground beneath Emeryʼs shook as if an earthquake had occurred, making him lose his balance once more.

The initial shockwave had thrown him and Silva and Topper not far but even though there was still a gap between them and the magi fighting against the man and the dragon, the succeeding explosions from the battle reverberated inside his whole being. This was terrifying but this was also the first time Emery had experienced the pinnacle of a magusʼ power. It was an eye-opening experience.

After Emeryʼs vision had cleared, he saw the thing fighting that smacked the dragon down was a giant version of the stone monster he had seen in the institute of stone. At that moment, he heard a familiar friendly voice.

”You guys, get away from this place immediately and run!” Darius said to Emery, Silva and Topper, who were still half-shocked. ”Get going!”

Emery hadnʼt had the time to reply when Dariusʼ palm glowed yellow as the nearby rocks darted to his body, making an armor made of sparkling stone. After covering his whole body from head to toe, he jetted over to the hovering man wearing red armor, still clasping Magus Erica while fighting the other magi, and enlarged his fist with the rocks from the forest before punching the man.

Emery, Silva and Topper turned back and ran toward the general direction of Elderʼs Respite but when Emery took another look, the man in red armor knocked Darius and destroyed sparkling stone armor. He noticed though that the man was no longer holding Magus Erica but still fending off the other magi.

His eyes then fell to the dragon. The dragon had the stone monster beneath its feet and when Emery and the dragonʼs bloodshot eyes met, it opened its jaw and light was converging inside. A sharp sound was ringing out as the light was turning brighter and redder. Emeryʼs instinct then went haywire as he could feel his life was knocking at deathʼs door. He shouted at the top of his lungs. ”Jump!”

The dragonʼs wings opened before flapping back as a blazing ray of flames gushed from the dragonʼs mouth toward Emery, Silva and Topperʼs direction. Emery jumped, pushing Silva on his side as the dragonʼs breath hurled just behind them. It barely missed them but the searing heat from the flame prickled Emeryʼs skin. Two seconds hadnʼt even passed yet but Emery was sweating everywhere.

Smoke rose to the sky and when he got back to his feet, Emery searched for Topper. He found him, however, what he saw once again shocked him to his core. ”Topper!”

Topper hadnʼt jumped in time and got caught in the blast. His lower half had melted like a pile of goo, bones sticking out, the smell of burnt meat filled the air as his face was becoming charred. Topper was still somewhat alive and had his hand reaching out to Emery.

Emery stared at Topper with wide eyes opened. Five seconds had just passed but within that time, all that Emery could see of Topper was the white eyes and mouth that was making the words ʼHelp meʼ.

He unconsciously moved forward, wanting to help the Topper who had helped free him and Silva earlier, but Silva grabbed his arm. She said, ”Itʼs too late for him! Donʼt be stupid!”

Emeryʼs mind was blank.

Silva took it upon herself and didnʼt let go of Emeryʼs arm as she dragged him away. The look on Topperʼs face kept on running in Emeryʼs mind as they ran deeper into the forest leaving the battlefield that kept on issuing thundering blasts behind. ṝ𝐀ＮɵᛒĚṣ