Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

While watching the bloody scene, the king looked very satisfied… in a single motion of his hand, he ended the battle. He couldn't feel more satisfied than that.

At the same time, Joanis was studying the whole situation with a careful gaze… the sea emperor was struggling a lot more than expected… even if he was strong and he was resisting the control with his willpower alone, he could only do it for so long.

At the same time, he was studying Rain as well. His flesh was exploding at a microscopic level soon; his muscles would also suffer the same fate, and he wouldn't be able to survive that… It was a pity that he would lose such a useful pawn, but that was what the king wanted.

Besides, the sea emperor would be a much better pawn… he didn't expect that he would lead the charge, but that unexpected development had been more than a little bit pleasant.

"The others are obeying my will, so why are those two still struggling?" The king asked.

"Their physical strength and willpower are at the top of their side, Your Majesty," Joanis explained. "Still, this much proves that the sea emperor will be an invaluable card against the dragons. If you wish to end this quickly, making the sea emperor finish him off should be easy. As long as you try to control him alone."

"No… he deserves to suffer much more for killing my friends," The king said while looking coldly at Rain. "I won't feel satisfied until I hear him screaming in pain and agony and beg for his life. He deserves this much and this will set a good example."

"Your Majesty… that would be unwise; that kid is too resourceful, and he was able to develop techniques that we still don't understand," Joanis showed a serious expression. "He might understand how the spell works, and that could be a problem."

"He won't, I won't let him," The king said and then focused his focus on making Rain suffer.

In the next moment, Rain felt his legs' flesh being ripped apart faster than the rest of his body, and the pain made him fall. The king laughed since that was what he liked to see… at the same time, he controlled the others to block Rain's path if he tried to run, but soon, he realized that the sea emperor was starting to resist a lot more.

He raised his spear and tried to use it and soon realized that he could use his magic again.

"Your Majesty!" Joanis raised his voice.

"I suppose it can't be helped," The king said.

The king forced the sea emperor to stop struggling and soon forced him to split Rain in half with his spear… that should have been more painful than a simple thrust in the heart, but Rain managed to raise his forearm guards and block the attack… he was blown away in the distance.

Rain collided with numerous of his friends and allies and knocked them down… not even they were able to stop the blow, though. The sea emperor's serious attack made him cross several kilometers and almost reach the end of the barrier.

"You lowly half-fish man… I didn't order you to send him there," The king said.

"Your Majesty, it seems that you need to be more precise with your commands, or someone like the sea emperor would be able to make use of that," Joanis said while looking in the distance.

Rain blocked the attack, but his arms were smashed by the attack… it was amazing that his forearm guards resisted all that, but even if he survived that, Joanis was certain that he would no longer be a problem… As long as that blood is inside him, he won't be able to use magic and healing magic won't work on him either.

The king obtained full control over the sea emperor and the other enemies on that side, but soon, he realized that his mana was being drained insanely fast… controlling all of them at once would be difficult in the long run, so he decided to test the might of the sea emperor against the magic people.

— —

Everyone back outside the barrier had noticed that something weird had happened, but they didn't know what it was… they only noticed that things got a turn for the worse when Seadrei attacked Rain and sent him in their direction. That area was free from enemies, so they used Impulse toward Rain, only to find him like that… his skin was still imploding, and the parts that were fine were bloody red.

"What happened to you?" Terra asked.

Rain shook his head since he couldn't risk opening his mouth. Even the interior of his nose was slowly being destroyed. In the end, they understood the message and brought him outside the barrier… The cellular explosions ended, and Rain finally had the chance to breathe, but that only made him suffer more.

"... My healing magic, it isn't working!" Terra panicked.

"Calm down, don't panic," Leiah said while her face was completely pale. "Don't move him too much, rest a little… It seems that they are retreating… or turning around to face the magic people."

"... We fell for their trap. I only realized what was going on when the king attacked me," Rain said, trying to get up, but his damaged legs couldn't support him. "He made all his soldiers digest the anti-magic substance, and when their blood became rich in it, he could expand their anti-magic barrier…"

"... The king shouldn't have that kind of ability," Branden said and then gulped since he didn't see Rain trying to use his magic to stand or heal himself.

"I can only imagine that his blood can do that for some reason… control the blood of his subjects," Rain said while groaning. "He also must be the one who controls the explosions, or he has a relic that lets him control the magic bombs."