Magic Breaker [Enby MC Anti-Mage LitRPG]

From one moment to another, I go from running to being smashed into the ground. Raven stumbles. Dove groans, grabbing his head, and the guards quickly rise against us again. Water reaches out for Jean almost casually, and I grit my teeth. 

With enormous effort, I take a step, even as the weight of the world bears against me, taking the kid along with me. Jean looks scared. His face is distorted from the pain, and the air around us hums with charge.

Second by second, I feel the Tower’s Wrath accumulate, but Respitia must have spent some sort of favour. The pressure just keeps rising. One of the guards lands a boot on me, pressing me into the dirty cobblestone, and I eat dust. “You rat,” he hisses. “Gutter-dwellers should know their place. Don’t cross the line.”

Then, feathers blur around me. Owl. Her mangy little hands have warped into brutal talons, and her axe catches the man in the joint of his shoulder. Chainmail cracks underneath the wild swing, and I feel cool wings wrapping around me as the world blurs. Then, I’m suddenly somewhere else.

Black and white feathers slowly fall to the ground around me. Dove is panting heavily, a deep stab through his abdomen making him pale and sweaty. Owl is silent, staring at me intensely, tilting her head, while Raven nurses a cut on their shoulder.

“We’re underneath the ground,” Raven hisses quietly. “These tunnels are warded, but it won’t hold long. I spent my entire authority for that little move. I’m out.” As they talk, their hands move in flickers, and I see Owl give a nod. She must be deaf, then.

I sign a quick thanks to her for picking me up, and her eyes widen as she nods. Then, we dart through the tunnel. Jean follows me, and I can see that he wants to lay hands on Dove, to heal the man. Slowly, I shake my head, pulling him along, and to his credit, the kid runs. 

And, very sneakily, I break my promise to Sylves. We made a bargain, after all. I told her I’d be home by sunset, and the sun has already set. So, in exchange, she gets a chunk of my mana pool.

All at once, I feel power stream out of me as I break my promise. I stumble as the weakness pulls through me, then I drop the cruncher and focus on just placing one foot in front of the other. Jean looks at me with concern, and I almost snicker. He shouldn’t be worried about me. 

Instead, we run. For a long while. There’s a point at which we cross past the city walls, and even one where Owl carries us across a small gap between floating islands, so we avoid the bridges up above. Except, of course, when we cross the gap, we find ourselves in open air.

It’s out of sight from most of the island surfaces. It’s a battlefield that’s overwhelmingly to her advantage. So, when the wind picks up, I’m not surprised.

With a sudden terrible storm, Sylves lifts from the side of the island. Her mantle is grey-blue, blending in with the environment, and her authority crushes down on us. With her opening attack, she pierces Raven’s mantle as they’re flying across the gap, sending the sumeen spiraling downwards. 

Across from us, I see Dove’s eyes widen as Sylves draws arrows from her quiver. The smile on her face is unnaturally wide, almost monstrous, and the gale picks up even more, howling winds pulling at Owl in the air. “Now, now, now,” she whispers. “What has the bird brought in, hmmm?”

She floats down to Jean, who thankfully recognizes her. The winds rise around him to a roaring hurricane. Mana bends around Sylves, warping the air, and the winds pick the boy from his feet. “A little morsel for a faerie?” she asks with a sinister grin.

I squeeze Jean encouragingly, then the winds pull him from my grasp, and Sylves hovers the both of them in the air. She must have… three or five times as much mana as usually. Owl appears behind her, but when she gets pierced, her form turns to a laughing mirage. Arrows stab through Owl’s wings, and the zoof shrieks as she spirals through the air, catching herself just barely before slamming into an island.

Bravely, as Raven rises from the abyss, I draw a knife and toss it at Sylves. Her eyes turn to me, and she tilts her head in a silent question. I nod.

Instantly, she grins. “Raven!!” she calls, her voice carried by the roaring gale. “It’s the kid-healer… or your enchanter!” she politely informs him, before sending three arrows through me. One through the shoulder right around where my missing arm is, one through my left leg, and one through my abdomen.

I scream in pain, and Raven, rising in darkness, gives an angry screech. They summon their flock of birds, but they simply cannot compete with the hurricane as Sylves and Jean slowly rise higher. 

Deciding, Raven heads for me, stuffing the wounds shut. “Don’t you dare die,” they hiss. Then, they rise higher, following after Sylves who gives a chilling laugh. Their figures tumble through the air, while I lay on the ground in a puddle of blood. It hurts… but I’ve played my part. 

Bit by bit, I feel my heartbeat slow. Blood pools on the rocks beneath me - and then Owl appears. Her feathers wrap around me, stemming the flow. The zoof picks me up almost gently, and we vanish in a blur of feathers again, bringing me across the gap. I smile at her. Dove is already running through the tunnels ahead of us, with Owl now on his heels.

Raven and Sylves still fight - arrows impacting the stone with faint explosions. But I know Sylves will play a lovely little [Violent Trick] on Raven. Her skill must be running on full power, making illusions of herself… and Jean, of course. In fact, by now, he might already be on the islands again.

And, with a little bit of luck, Anna will be guiding him to safety, while Sylves holds off Raven.

Mission success, I think, as I pass out from blood loss.