*BANG!*

A lot of spells have abridged versions of their cast, like shortcuts that can help the caster get them out faster.

It takes a lot of skill to accomplish and it's easy to mess up. As is usually the case with Magic—especially the act of condensing magic—messing up usually results in a backfire that can destroy the Mage from within. So again, it's a skill only used by skilled Mages.

The thing is though, the caution is only really directed at normal Mages who rely only on spells and thus cast large spells that are dangerous and insurmountably difficult to condense into shorter casts.

For Mage-Knights, simple spells are their bread and butter.

Why?

Well, first, most Mage-Knights venture into the practice in the first place because they can't perform the grand spell casting and thus decide to focus more on honing their bodies instead.

Second, because of the close combat way of fighting, there isn't the advantage of distance that normal Mages have to craft large spells.

As such, Mage-Knights only cast spells as necessities. Over time, this grew into a culture that made Mage-Knights the most skilled at shortening spell cast-time because they do it the most.

Still, it's always for simple spells. Never for the large and complicated spells to avoid backfiring and burning away from the inside.

In the past few weeks and in his preparation for today, Caius had given spell Condensation a try and that was what he made use of just now.

He was going to try it with his upgraded version of ~Galleon's Gate~ but the complication, mostly stemming from the Unique Element nature of the spell itself made that unwise so he rethought his plans.

Instead, he created an Earth Magic spell. Creating the spell with the plans of condensing it made the process a lot more straightforward. Caius picked out what he considered 'fluff' to make the cast more compact. Of course, there was a lot of trial and error. But eventually, he succeeded.

Now despite being in an awkward position because he had his hands gripping his sword handle, all Caius needed to do was release a few fingers and in two moves, a spell circle had spawned to conjure a thick Earthen wall to protect him.

Or so he hoped.

When the Beam hit the wall, it shattered it and while the spell had been able to defend Caius from the worst of the beam, some of its force still hit him in the chest and sent him flying.

But Caius refused to get too far.

The Earthen wall was not the only condensed spell Caius had in his arsenal.

He kept one hand on his sword and held his other hand close to his chest to cast three simple seals that spawned a light-blue spell circle that only appeared for a second before vanishing.

~Davy Jones' Hold!~

Watery tentacles spawned out of Caius's sides. There were six in total and they struck out before Caius had even gotten more than three feet away from the Centipede after the slam. The tentacles wrapped around the Centipede and used it as an anchor to pull Caius back to it.

Because his father's basic Elemental Affinities were Lightning, Fire, and Wind—whose spells he had been taught—it was somewhat easy for Caius to ignore his two other Basic Elemental affinities in which he also had High Affinity.

He had only created a few Earth Magic spells, all for defense, and the creation of ~Davy Jones' Hold~ was the first time he had acknowledged his Water affinity. Making use of its fluidity to his advantage here.

Once again close to the Centipede, Caius called as many muscles as he could and parried a pincer strike.

The beast shrieked and recoiled but the tentacles, which Caius kept up with his concentration, pulled it back. This time though, Caius was aiming his sword at a spot close to its mouth. A part that would have been its throat had it been a normal beast whose anatomy he knew for certain.

Caius took one hand off his sword to create seals that spawned the spell circle for ~Erratic Fireball~ and he forced the energy of the spell into his sword.

If there was one argument for keeping ~Erratic Fireball~ at the level it was before Caius advanced to the Fourth Circle, it was this. The sword could conduct the magic better than it would if the spell were breaking the barrier of the Fourth Circle into the Fifth Circle. Which is exactly what would happen if Caius had upgraded it at his current level of Magical Excellence.

In any case, the erratic flames caused by the deliberate instability of the spell, caused Caius's sword to get past the Aura of protection around the Beast's body so he could sink the blade into the Beast's body, causing its shriek to ring even louder.

There was a crackle of lightning overhead then as Delia arrived.

Less than a minute had passed since the Beast had escaped her attack. All that happened after—the beast's emergence and its battle with Caius—had been a matter of seconds. Seconds that Delia had spent letting her frustration stew, using it to fuel her anger.

A dark cloud formed above her head as she launched herself in the air and when she descended and her Hammer made contact, Lightning split the cloud.

*KRAKA- BANG!*

The Lightning bolt streaked down, hitting the same spot Delia's Warhammer had hit like a very effective afterthought that completed the breakthrough of its hellish aura and wracked the Beast's body with Fourth Circle Electrical charge that definitely charred its insides up to a point.

But then, Caius felt an electrical current hit the blade of his sword that was still stabbed into the Beast and it seemed to make use of the conductive material of the weapon to increase its intensity and spread even further inside the Beast, charring even more of its insides and causing thick smoke to billow from its mouth.

"Step aside!" Aurelius yelled then.

Delia's eyes widened and she turned to see the Light Mage in the air with his hand raised and a spell circle forming.

Caius pulled his sword out of the Clacking Centipede and pulled his tentacles off the beast's body. Then he stretched one of those tentacles to Delia and wrapped it around her waist, pulling her close to wrap an arm around her waist as they both stepped many feet away from the Centipede.

Aurelius's spell landed barely a second later and there was a shining light that caused both Caius and Delia to squint as they watched a powerful light construct split the Centipede into two. From its head, between its pincers, and down to about the midway point of its massively long body.

There was a moment of silence and then with a squelching sound as its blood poured out, the two split halves fell away and hit the ground with a near-simultaneous thud.

For a minute, neither of them said a thing.

Aurelius silently descended, his feet touching the ground as he eyed the felled Beast. Its three large horns vanished and so did the Hellish Aura entirely.

"Okay, I think it's time we ask, what the hell was that thing?" Delia said.

Caius released her waist as his tentacles turned to mana mist. Delia turned around and glared at one of the spinning discs as though expecting one of the Professors to speak through it. Preferably her sister who knew she knew had to be watching on the other side.

"A Clacking Centipede," Aurelius said in a monotone, "A corrupted Clacking Centipede."

"Yeah, I think I got that," Delia said, "But corrupted by what?"

She turned to Caius now like she was sure he had the answer.

Caius opened his mouth but Aurelius spoke first.

"Demonic energy," he answered Delia's question.

"Demon— what?" Delia asked in confusion.

Caius didn't blame her. That was not something any citizen of the Acheron Empire heard every day.

Aurelius continued, clenching and unclenching his fists,

"They're here for me," he said as though in a trance, and then he became resolute and somber as he held up his chin,

"This isn't over."

As though to punctuate those ominous words, reddish aura, same as what had corrupted the felled Beast—Demonic Energy—began to swirl in a sickening and terrifying vortex a few feet away from them and it caused the nemesis-reaction of Caius and Delia's Divine Seeds to hike up into hyperdrive.

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