Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Among the chaos and destruction, one figure managed to withstand the onslaught – the leader of the caravan. Despite being pushed away and rolled across the ground, they rose to their feet, determination burning in their eyes. Rain's attack had made a powerful statement, but the battle was far from over.

"I should have known," Rain thought, and then he began to fall. "I guess Joanis is a history nerd."

When Rain landed in the area, he took a good look at the enemy. He was armored, but his helmet had fallen. Thanks to that, Rain was surprised to see a woman there. It wasn't surprising that half of Joanis' soldiers would be women, but it was surprising that one of them would follow his orders when he wasn't around.

The woman who had withstood Rain's devastating water attack had short, tousled hair that framed her face. Her hair, soaked from the water assault, clung to her head, revealing her unique features. What stood out most were her ears, which resembled those of a mermaid, with delicate, glistening scales running along their edges.

These peculiar ears explained her remarkable resistance to Rain's water attack, marking her as someone with both human and mermaid lineage.

"I am not the type of guy to talk with an enemy and try to make them change sides, but why are you still following his orders when he isn't around?" Rain asked.

The woman ignored Rain's words and just pointed her fingers at him… Rain didn't see any attacks, but he felt some danger… Much to his surprise, some water bullets emerged out of nowhere while they were moving toward him.

Rain blocked the attacks with his forearm guards, but he still was surprised to see that they pushed him backward despite their small size. The impacts were thunderous, and Rain felt the vibrations across his whole body.

When Rain stopped, the woman had several ice shurikens spinning and rotating around her… that was another ability that another person in the past once had developed…

Throughout history, a renowned ice mage has carved its legacy with remarkable prowess. Their unique talent allowed them to conjure ice seemingly from thin air. But this power went beyond mere frosty creations. With a mere wave of their hand, they could craft an array of weapons from this ice.

These weapons, though seemingly fragile, possessed incredible durability. They could effortlessly penetrate even the most robust suits of armor, leaving no defense unbreached when propelled toward their target.

The ice mage's unparalleled mastery over both ice and weaponry solidified their place in history as a formidable force. Their legend persisted through the ages, leaving all who heard of their incredible abilities in awe and admiration.

"I suppose I can call this ability the frozen gate of Babylon," Rain thought. "This is very cool… why didn't I develop this?"

The woman fired the ice shurikens at Rain, and then he tried to block them with his forearm guards with them, but they suddenly changed direction and began to rotate around him. It seems that blocking them won't be that easy…

When Rain felt some danger once again, he quickly spun his body and then destroyed the ice shurikens with his forearm guards. It was amazing, but it felt like he had smashed some blocks of steel. He didn't have time to celebrate since the woman created more of them.

"She can change their directions fast and control them with pinpoint precision since they are small…" Rain thought. "It seems that I am not going to leave this unscathed… even I can use my magic."

Rain just kicked the ground, and then an earth spike emerged to pierce the legs of that woman, but while the attack pushed her backward, the armor wasn't penetrated… Rain wasn't surprised to see that the armor had been Enhanced by the anti-magic substance.

Despite that, the woman silently studied Rain… she probably heard that he had defeated the royal guard in the palace, and she was trying to create a strategy based on that knowledge and the current image of Rain.

At the same time, Rain was thankful for the fact that such enemies were a lot less annoying than the ones that never shut up.

In any case, Rain knew better than to let the enemies think too much about their plans and then dashed toward her. In the last moment, he used Impulse and Limit Breaker and just punched the shurikens with all his might and destroyed them, even though blood began to gush from his fists… now he could attack the woman.

Or so he thought. several ice spikes emerged from the ground and tried to impale his legs, but he blocked them with his shin guards. That slowed down Rain just enough to give her enough time to move. Using one hand, she began to slip on the ground creating a path of ice. She was quite fast, too…

"Why is she so damn cool?" Rain thought.

Rain truly had more compatibility with Water magic, that was why he thought that ice spells were cool. In any case, Rain used Impulse to get closer to her faster, but then an ice wall suddenly appeared in front of him.

Rain slammed his body and face against the ice wall and for a moment, he passed out… It was no surprise since he used Impulse to move. When he recovered, he barely had time to react to the fact that the ice wall became spears and then were fired at his head.

Once again, Rain blocked the attacks by the skin of his teeth with his forearm guards, but he was sent rolling on the ground thanks to the massive power of the attacks.

When Rain got up, he saw some ice saws cutting the ground and moving toward him at insane speeds. Rain blocked the attack with his forearm guards, but then he smashed them with earth pillars that emerged from the sides and hit the saws.