Power of Runes-Chapter 78: Twin Calamity Subjugation (8)

What kind of spell was that..?

That was the collective thought ringing through the minds of everyone who had witnessed it—Ash vanishing, only to appear above the demon, thorns bypassed like they were never meant to touch him.

His body hovered for the briefest second, suspended in the air as if space itself bent to his presence.

And then, his fist moved.

A magic circle flared to life, pulsing around his hand, crackling with raw, unfiltered mana. It was the [Lightning Fist] spell—technically, a basic First Circle wide-range spell meant to hurl a barrage of weak lightning punches.

Ash didn't like long-range combat. He believed in the thrill of close-quarters, the raw clash of body and magic.

So he tore the spell apart, rewove them one by one until it wasn't a barrage anymore. It became one—a single fist, formed from the essence of many.

That wasn't all.

He hadn't stopped there.

He altered the structure to let the spell wrap around his arm like a second skin, letting him channel not only his mana but his own physical strength through the strike.

It was a simple task as long as you understand the magic and it's working and remember the frequency, alignment and other things, which was a piece of cake for him.

And if anyone questioned why the attack hit so hard, he could always blame the spell.

That's what made it perfect.

The moment his fist clenched, the circle pulsed violently, and the jagged lightning began taking shape around his arm like a living gauntlet. His hand blurred forward with terrifying speed, driven by the full power of his body behind it.

Then—

Crack.

The sound tore through the battlefield, a thunderclap that echoed into the heavens.

The impact was brutal.

Miraak's head snapped downward, his whole frame shaking as if a mountain had landed on him.

He dropped to his knees, disbelief frozen in his wide eyes, pain laced through every nerve in his body.

The ground beneath them scorched and cracked, lightning splintering out from the point of contact.

The loud impact brought the ones watching back to reality, they saw this as a chance to attack

"ATTACK—NOW!"

Aurora's voice cracked the air like lightning, her emotions buried beneath layers of urgency and resolve.

"Arc-Bolt!"

The magic surged forth, three blue streaks of raw electricity powered by star mana spiraling from her outstretched fingers. They curved mid-flight like guided spears of divine fury, each bolt targeting the exposed wound left by Ash's earlier strike.

But the demon—though on his knees—was far from defeated.

With a snarl that bared his fanged teeth, Miraak slammed his palms together. A dense shockwave of corrupted mana pulsed outward, and a barrier formed around his stomach.

The lightning collided with the barrier and erupted in furious bursts of electric fire.

BOOM!!!

BOOM!!

BOOM!

Yet Miraak twisted with the impact, using the force behind the attack as momentum to launch himself back—away from Ash's reach.

WhhhHRRRRMMM!!!!!

Only for Amelia to materialize behind him in a silver blur. Her movements were not fueled by rage, but by a terrifying clarity.

Her spear spun overhead once, aiming for the demon's exposed spine.

CLANG!

The weapon struck the barrier with a screech, a sound like tortured metal grinding against bone.

It did not pierce through.

"Curse of Blindness," Miraak snarled.

And in a blink, that curse blinded Amelia's eyes. Her momentum broke like a wave against a cliff.

She stumbled, blinking rapidly, her world now a swirling void of formless shadows.

But even before she could fall—

A soft, verdant glow spilled over her. Grace had already been chanting. Her hands extended forward as the purification spell fell onto Amelia's body.

The curse vanished, slowly.

Miraak noticed it, but his grin widened.

"Too slow."

From his free hand, claws unfurled like wicked blades. With a grunt, he lunged, cutting through the air with inhuman speed, aimed directly for Amelia's chest.

—Clang!!!!

A golden barrier erupted in front of Amelia's chest, triggered by the necklace at her throat.

It caught the blow, but not entirely.

CRACK.

The shield cracked like glass under pressure, and the force behind the attack hurled her across the broken ground like a ragdoll caught in a hurricane.

BOOM!!!!!

She slammed into the tiles, a storm of debris exploded upward, veiling her in a thick curtain of dust and shattered stone.

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But before the impact could injure her more—

Silver Panther, Lyra's summoned beast, arrived in a streak of silver light. He caught her midair, his landing skidding across the fractured battlefield, trailing sparks behind him.

Ash watched all this with his cold eyes, then increased his speed and moved toward the demon.

In a blink, he was behind Miraak. One leg lifted with a magic circle around it, lightning coiling around it like boots.

"Lightning Kick."

It was a spell that was just like Lightning Fist.

The strike landed with the sound of cracking stone.

The barrier cracked, and—

The impact forced Miraak's spine into a sickening arc, his body twisting unnaturally as he was launched skyward.

Even then, the demon laughed.

"HAHAHAHAHA, HAHAHAHA"

Blood sprayed from his mouth, but still he laughed—a gurgled, bitter sound twisted with madness.

"CURSE OF CONFUSION!!!"

He screamed it mid-air.

A demonic energy erupted around him, insidious and clinging, infecting the minds of those nearby.

Screams broke out. Some second-year students collapsed, others froze with wide, disoriented eyes. But not all—

Silver Panther, who arrived with Amelia near Lyra, shielded both of them, its spirit magic burning away the corruption before it touched.

The curse this time was powerful, even Miraak knew his curses were not working on anyone here. Even if they were working, they were being resisted.

But the most unusual one was the boy with silvery white hair and icy-blue eye—no matter the curse, it literally had no effect on him.

But still he tried, as a way to distract others and not give them a chance to attack while he was in mid-air.

Still, things didn't go as planned.

"Hello, Bitch"

Ash suddenly made a jump and crossed the distance between them in the air, his fist arched backward, preparing for the momentum to attack.

With in a second, a punch drove itself into the cracked barrier over Miraak's wound.

BOOOOOOM!!!!!

The air trembled, the barrier broke and the fist was connected to the injury on his stomach.

A shockwave exploded outward, shattering what little remained of the surroundings.

Even allies stumbled due to the shockwave. The wind howled through the broken space.

Miraak's eyes bulged with the sudden attack, a scream trapped halfway up his throat—only for it to erupt as blood.

But still—

He laughed.

A second mouth tore open across his chest—unnatural, grinning.

"WITNESS THIS—"

A pillar of demonic energy surged from his body, a geyser of corrupted power so thick it choked the air.

"Who would've believed—me, Miraak—bruised by children! HAHAHA!"

Aurora, after seeing the demon laugh like a madman, felt a creeping sensation. She knew he was going to do something wrong, so to stop him she lifted her hand skyward, her voice cracking—

"Starlight Spear!!!"

Then, suddenly—

A radiant spear, forged of celestial judgment, descended in a flash. It struck Miraak's spine as he was ascending upward with a roar that cracked the sky.

KRA-KOOOM!

The starlight spear struck his back and he fell to the ground with loud BANG.

BOOOOM!!!

The ground splintered beneath them. Walls trembled. A crater formed where he fell.

And yet—he rose.

Charred. Wounded. Unbowed.

"Didn't think I'd use this one," he muttered, his body cracking with pulsing black light, his grin like a knife slicing through the smoke.

"Let me show you filthy bloods... what real pain feels like."

"Curse of Pain."

Then, suddenly, a black sun manifested above his head, its light falling onto the ones fighting him.

Aurora's scream died in her throat as her knees buckled. Dark veins snaked up her skin, her star mana flickering out like a candle suffocated. She felt as if her body was torn apart, but there were no wounds on her body.

Lyra gasped as her summoned beast vanished and got re-summoned after protecting her from the black light, but it was in vain as the light fell on her either way. She screamed, as if someone was shoving a burning rod into her body.

Her body was under immense pain.

Even Grace faltered. No matter what blood flows in her veins, it was still unawakened blood, so resisting every curse was difficult.

She coughed blood, hands shaking violently as her body trembled in agony.

Amelia's barrier—a pale whisper of its former strength—took the full-force of curse, but it was still not able to stop it, as its glow dimmed and the black light landed on her.

Her body convulsed. Her spear fell from trembling hands. Blood trailed from her lips, her eyes, her ears. Her breath came in short, ragged gasps as her vision flickered.

She felt as if someone was tearing her apart from the inside out.

And even in the storm of pain, her gaze searched—desperately, as if searching for someone to free them from their pain.

Then she saw him.

A figure limned in lightning, eyes burning with fury and resolve.

"Ash...?"

In his hands, a sphere of lightning pulsed like a living storm, filled with smaller lightning orbs that danced within it—not in harmony, not in chaos, but in a strange rhythm between both, orbiting and colliding as though caught in an eternal battle of wills, yet never breaking apart.

I only have one chance.

The thought cut through the haze as Ash's gaze lifted toward the dark sky above, where the cursed black sun loomed like a god of agony,

The only way to stop the Curse of Pain... is to destroy its source before it consumes everything.

His fingers tightened around the orb,

He launched the lightning sphere, channeling every ounce of strength into the throw—his mind still under the lingering clarity of Omni Thought, calculating the angle, the force, the timing with inhuman precision.

Every neuron in his body fired in sync, pushing his aim toward absolute perfection.

And then, in the very moment the orb left his grasp, he deactivated the skill, feeling the sharp pain in his mind which increased again.

The sphere carved through the air, spinning and shrieking and then,

It collided.

BOOM.

The black sun ruptured like a cracked void lantern, unleashing a surge of energy that painted the skies with streaks of blue lightning and ribbons of black fire.

The explosion lit the hall like dawn in reverse and the ceiling was destroyed due to the impact, revealing the black barrier that covered the hall, beautiful and apocalyptic.

But just then—

A fist cleaved through the fading light from behind. Ash's body jolted, his spine bending as the blow struck him clean in the back.

The impact flung him like a shattered comet, his limbs twisting mid-air before he crashed into the distant wall with devastating force.

BOOOOOOM!!!

The entire hall groaned under the pressure as the far wall exploded with debris, dust, and fractured stone.

Yet even in that split second when he was hit, due to the lingering effect of Omni Thought, he saw the one who hit him.

Zerak...? Why is he here...?

Confusion struck deeper than the pain itself. His thoughts reeled, the edges of his vision dimming as realization bloomed like a poison.

His breath caught, dread folding around his ribs like ice.

No. No, don't tell me...

What about the other...? What about Elysia?—

NO NO NO NO NO NO—!!!!!!

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