Seal of Magic IV

From all the books I'd read, and then from common knowledge, that rumbling could not be good.

Then there was a definite earthquake.

I whipped out my stolen acacia wood wand while the rest of the elders gasped.

"Where did you get that?" Azael asked.

"It fell off the back of a carriage," I said, winking at Panthera as she put on her armor. "We are going to have to confront and EXORCISE Cerberus now, or we might as well die trying. There can't be any sacrifices this time around."

It was pretty clear to them that this was the case. There was no way around this fated confrontation. We were going to have to handle the mistakes made over a century ago and keep the villagers safe. Or we were going o die trying.

Rushing out, the dog was not as big or mighty as had been described. "It's not that big of a monster you said it was, Azael!" I remarked.

"Starvation..." he said, before laughing slowly. "...it's to our advantage. That's the effect of not consuming anything for more than a hundred years. It has reduced in size drastically, and we can manage it. Hopefully, that is..."

We dashed towards the scene the 12-feet-tall fog was creating in the center of the city, scattering homes and stomping on people. A quick assessment of the scene showed that at least two had died, and three were injured severely.

"Petrification!" Azael shouted as a mage seal appeared in front of him. Chains sprouted from it and wound themselves around the beast, under its legs, and across all its limbs. The chain became taut, and the beast was left shaking violently but unable to take steps.

"Panthera! Leo! It is still very strong, so this can't last much longer."

I leaped into the air. "Scorch!"

Instantly five fireballs materialized where I whipped my wand and shot towards the beast. They were meant to be searingly hot, but none managed to even tint its fur darker.

"How the hell did that not-"

"CRIMSON DARTS!"

I turned just in time to see Panthera fire four arrows from her bow. They whizzed through the air, glowing red like mini meteors as they hit different locations on the beast. There was no effect, but then she reloaded and fired again and again until the beasts howled a terrifying, pain-filled howl and broke through the restraints.

"Not that easy, huh?" Azael said. "Panthera! Leo! Shut your eyes! This one is going to be a bit extreme, but I don't really have an option!"

I shut my eyes immediately, wondering what manner of magic he was going to use.

"SOLAR KANNON!"

He couldn't have...

I was glad I didn't even try to take a peek. The light was so intense, my eyes hurt even when protected by the cover of my eyelids. The Solar Kannon was one of the forbidden magics I had only read a little about, but it was said to take 10% of the user's lifespan in order to send a beam that was an incredible 50% of the sun's heat.

Azael was old, so this magic had the potential of being fatal. "Why the hell is he going all out like that," I wondered. At any rate, it was obvious that he was the one more suited for combat with this beast.

Panthera tried her best with those magic-infused arrows. As I turned to see her dipping the tips of the arrows in her blood before loading up the bow, I understood what she was doing. Blood Arts were also terrifyingly powerful.

But why was she gearing up? Cerberus couldn't possibly have survived the Kannon.

"Heh. I only managed to cut it down a bit, did I?" Azael said, struggling to stand up straight. I was right. It did take a lot out of him to use that technique.

Cerberus was no more than a skeleton with flesh on it, but it soon shrunk in size to about 8 feet tall and five feet wide. It had drastically reduced now, still, and most of the village wasn't destroyed by Kannon since Cerberus soaked up most of the damage.

Azael had favored intensity over quantity, and this was the result.

I had to go further.

"Leo!" Panthera screamed.

"Yeah!"

"Give me some juice here. Small and hot, more intensity than quantity, just like your scorch magic."

"NOVA!" I said as four small orbs appeared around me.

"Blood Art, Conjunction!"

The arrows whizzed through the air, coming in contact with the orbs. The two combined and accelerated forward at a hypersonic speed before hitting the beast.

The same shriek and howl from before were only heard after the last arrow hit under its eye.

"The eyes...its weakness are in its eyes!"

"Yes! So let's give it-"

"Panthera!" Azael screamed. "Look out!"

Rejoicing our little finding...our minor victory, we had a momentary lapse in concentration.

As we turned, the only thing I saw was the thick tail of Cerberus slamming into Panthera from her blindspot and sending her flying into a wall with a sickening crunch and splash of blood.

*****

To Be Continued.