Earth's Greatest Magus

“I know you’re around here somewhere… you can hide better than I thought!”

Talaro’s confidence in his spatial prowess was unshakable. With the ability to teleport over 3,000 miles and scan everything within a 300-mile radius, few could evade him for long. But the endless sandstorm and Emery’s ingenuity in masking his presence deep within the ground posed an unexpected challenge. The frustration began to mount—until a sudden spatial disturbance flared up a hundred miles away.

“This isn’t another one of your clones, is it? Doesn’t matter; I’ll take care of it in seconds!” Talaro muttered, a smirk forming on his lips.

The grand magus locked onto the location, preparing to teleport directly to the source, but to his surprise, his spatial abilities were disrupted. He could only approach within a few miles of the target.

“What is this? Another clever ploy?”

Undeterred, Talaro closed the distance in an instant, emerging in the heart of the storm. To his astonishment, the figure before him wasn’t Emery or one of his clones. It was a dark elf magus darting frantically through the chaos of the storm. The figure appeared disoriented, his movements erratic. Attached to his body was a strange, humming device—Emery’s signature spatula disruptor. Talaro chuckled darkly.

“Hahaha, I am amused!”.

Talaro hadn’t expected Emery to play so ruthlessly. The dark elf before him was clearly a prisoner, his mind being broken, forced to act as a distraction. Talaro could see the desperation in the elf’s eyes—a broken mind, now left to wander aimlessly.

With a simple gesture of his hand, Talaro eradicated the dark elf in a flash. He chanted a few words in Elvish, a prayer of some kind. When he opened his eyes, his gaze hardened as he saw four more identical figures, each 100 miles away, running in different directions.

“Same trick! You have to be in one of them!” Talaro growled. His patience thinning, he teleported again, chasing after the first target. Each figure he pursued was a dark elf, each with the same spatial disruptor attached to their body. These were clearly part of Emery’s plan, sent to draw attention while Emery prepared his next move.

One by one, Talaro destroyed each disruptor, his irritation growing with every second wasted. Each dark elf was eliminated quickly, their bodies disintegrating before him. After dealing with the last one, Talaro stood still. He felt a mix of frustration and mounting anger. He had just wasted several minutes and still couldn’t find Emery.

Suddenly, a loud roar filled the air. The crimson elder dragon emerged from the sandstorm, its massive form blocking the sky. Talaro scowled, annoyed by the interruption.

“If you can’t help… at least…stay quiet; I need to focus!” He snapped, waving his hand to silence the dragon.

He began to focus his senses, stretching his spiritual awareness outward and expanding his detection abilities to encompass the surrounding area. His spirit reading expanded over a radius of 500 miles, sweeping over the landscape for any unnatural movements or life forms that didn’t belong.

His scan easily detected the presence of several orc tribes in the distance. Most of them were either fleeing from the sandstorm or huddling in their underground breeding grounds, trying to avoid the chaos. Orcs have unique signatures—and were much weaker than his target; it was easy to differentiate with Talaro’s advanced spirit reading. The dark elf narrowed his eyes. If Emery was hiding, it would be among stronger creatures—something more elusive.

He turned his attention to something larger, stronger.

Two dozen massive signatures slithered through the desert sands—sandworms, the colossal serpentine predators that came along with the planet’s disaster.

“If he’s masking his presence, attaching himself to one of these creatures is plausible.”

Convinced of this possibility, Talaro began scanning each sandworm meticulously, searching for anything that betrayed Emery’s presence.

####

Talaro was right,

Emery was riding through the sands on the back of one of the massive sandworms, keeping himself concealed as he traveled. This was the perfect strategy—by attaching himself to the creature, he could move faster without relying on his spells, especially spatial ones, which Talaro would likely be able to track.

Minutes earlier, Emery had executed his plan. He’d teleported himself and his captive dark elves to various points across the storm, using them as decoys to lure Talaro away. In the chaos, he’d attached himself to the sandworm, concealing his aura and movements beneath its massive bulk.

Despite his efforts, Emery knew Talaro’s relentless pursuit would eventually catch up to him. The grand magus’s spirit-reading ability was simply too powerful.

With him also holding the last spatial disruptors, Talaro would not be able to suddenly get close to him, but Emery silently cursed under his breath. He didn’t expect the grand magus to be this quick… Still, he wasn’t caught yet. He had time—enough to make a move.

“Just a little further…” Emery whispered to himself.

Fortunately, Emery had arrived close enough to access one of his previously prepared spatial stone formations. With it, he executed a long-distance jump, transporting himself 800 miles away. Wasting no time, he closed the waypoints and destroyed the stone formation behind him, ensuring nothing could aid Talaro in following his trail.

With his pursuer temporarily delayed, Emery made another jump, this time arriving back to the already abandoned ruins city outpost.

Despite the ruins providing better terrain for battle than the open desert, Emery knew the multiple buildings scattered around wouldn’t offer him much of an advantage against a spatial expert like Talaro. Speed was his only ally now. Without hesitation, he rushed into one of the crumbling structures and prepared his desperate plan for survival.

As Talaro followed the spatial trail, he materialized near the ruins, only to witness an unexpected sight. A metallic capsule burst forth from one of the ruined buildings, rocketing away at incredible speed.

Emery had activated the escape pod he had taken from Major Zoller, a piece of technology designed for quick escape. It required only a little time to activate and power up, and Emery had taken full advantage of it.

Talaro’s expression twisted into a mix of irritation and amusement. “You think you can run from me?” he muttered, his voice dripping with disdain.

He could not match the escape pod’s sheer velocity through spatial magic. However, his irritation soon turned to satisfaction as a deafening roar echoed from above.

The crimson elder dragon, unhindered by the same limitations, swooped into action. Its massive wings spread wide, and with a powerful beat, it surged through the air in pursuit of the fleeing capsule.