Most people, caught in this situation, would panic. Most would waste precious seconds struggling against the binds. But Alex only smirked. The real priority here wasn’t the snow tendrils, it was the burrowing curses. If he let himself be distracted, he’d miss the chance to counter them properly. With a decisive flick of his wrist, his wand slashed downward. A streak of silver-blue lightning arced from the tip, slicing across the snow-covered ground.
CRACK! BOOM!
The moment the lightning touched the subterranean hexes, they exploded violently, sending snow and ice spraying into the air. Now, he had just one problem left. The restraints on his legs.
Without hesitation, he summoned his magic, letting the current surge through his body. Electricity crackled across his limbs. In a single pulse of energy, the lightning discharge burned through the snow tendrils, shattering them into a fine mist of white powder.
Alex straightened, his wand still crackling with residual energy. His narrowed eyes cut through the thick fog.It was time to turn the tables.
Despite the dense fog cloaking the battlefield, the two masked wizards could somehow track Alex’s movements with uncanny precision. They had seen his swift, calculated responses, his ability to dismantle their attacks with ease, and their confidence wavered. The man they faced wasn’t just powerful; he was composed, methodical. Winning this fight in a short time wasn’t going to be easy.
Realizing this, the two exchanged a silent glance. A flicker of understanding passed between them, if they wanted to end this quickly, they had to change tactics.
At that same moment, Alex reached the same conclusion. If he wanted to win, he had to eliminate one of them first. But with how quickly they reacted, any spell that required charging would be too slow.
There was no time to hesitate. All three of them moved at once. Alex snapped his left hand forward, sending several silver streaks flying from his sleeve, enchanted projectiles aimed straight at the invisible wizard. At the same time, he swung his wand in his right hand, unleashing a brilliant surge of lightning at the other masked figure.
The wizard facing the lightning remained calm. With a practiced flick of his wand, he conjured a Reinforced Shield Charm, its barrier shimmering thickly around him. Then, with his free hand, he pulled out five Charms, intricately inscribed pieces of enchanted parchment. Without hesitation, he hurled them toward Alex.
The Charms shot through the air like cursed daggers, veering sharply mid-flight to home in on Alex. Alex scoffed. ‘Using my own techniques against me?’ He recognized them immediately, these were his own creations. A variant of the enchanted throwing Charms he had sold to Azalea, now being turned against him. Did these fools even realize they were trying to use his own weapons against their creator?
Without missing a moment, Alex raised his wand, his expression unreadable. A surge of arc lightning crackled from the tip, the silver-blue energy slithering through the air like a living serpent. The moment it struck the Charms, they crackled violently, then burst apart like overcharged fireworks, their magic neutralized instantly. But Alex wasn’t finished. The current of his Stormscatter Hex continued, slamming into the masked man’s shield with force.
BOOM!
The Reinforced Shield Charm rippled under the impact, shimmering wildly as it struggled to contain the raw power of the attack. The masked wizard clenched his jaw, beads of sweat forming beneath his mask as he fought to maintain his barrier. The force behind Alex’s magic was far greater than he had anticipated. His fingers tightened around his wand, his mind racing for another counter. But his moment of hesitation cost him, he couldn’t keep his focus split between offense and defense. His attack had been completely nullified.
Meanwhile, the second masked wizard, still concealed by his invisibility, had wasted no time. A flick of his wand summoned a violent miniature tornado, whipping up the snow and ice from the ground into a swirling cyclone.
At the same time, Alex’s projectiles, four enchanted Charms and a single metal sphere, were already streaking toward him. A cold dread settled in the masked man’s chest. He recognized those devices. They were almost identical to the standard-issue magical equipment used by the Ministry’s elite forces. ‘Who the hell is this guy?’ There was no time to wonder. His spell wasn’t fully charged yet, but that no longer mattered. He had to act.
With a sharp motion, he pushed the whirlwind forward, hoping it would intercept the incoming projectiles before they could reach him. The moment the Charms made contact, they detonated. A chain of explosions erupted within the tornado, sending arcs of energy lashing out in all directions. Luckily, the masked wizard had instinctively backed away, just far enough to avoid the full brunt of the blast. But the real problem wasn’t the explosions. It was the metal sphere. The moment it struck the storm, it unfurled into a large, glimmering silver net, crackling with faint blue electricity.
The net tangled into the tornado’s spinning winds, and within seconds, the storm itself began to collapse. The whirlwind, its magical support severed, disintegrated into nothingness. The silver net, now useless without momentum, dropped limply to the ground.
The masked man gritted his teeth in frustration as he watched his carefully prepared spell be effortlessly neutralized by a mere alchemical item. The ease with which Alex had dismantled his attack stung his pride, but he had no time to dwell on it.
His companion was in trouble. The other masked wizard, who had been holding off Alex’s direct assault, was clearly struggling. His defense flickered under the relentless pressure of Alex’s lightning, barely holding together. If he didn’t get help soon, he wouldn’t last much longer. The decision was made in an instant. "Haaah!" The masked man let out a sharp breath, channeling all his energy into his next move. With a violent thrust of his wand, he sent a sickly green-black curse surging toward Alex. The magic pulsed thickly in the air, its inky tendrils moving like molten tar, leaving a faintly corrosive hiss in its wake.
Alex was completely focused on overwhelming the wizard in front of him. He hadn’t expected such a powerful spell to be fired at him from behind, not when the fight was so close to being over. For a split second, his mind raced. ‘I need to take one of them down, fast.’ But dodging the incoming attack outright would give the weakened wizard in front of him time to recover.
No. That wasn’t an option.
Instead, Alex’s hand snapped to his belt, tapping a concealed compartment. Instantly, a small metal sphere shot into the air, whirling around him before positioning itself behind him to intercept the incoming curse. Runesguard Sphere.
As the curse closed in, the enchanted orb reacted at once, unfolding a shimmering Shield around itself. But the moment the spell made contact, something strange happened.
The curse twisted. Instead of striking head-on, it suddenly veered to the side, curving unnaturally as if it were a living thing seeking a new path.
A Tracking Curse. Alex’s monocles picked up the shift immediately. He almost laughed. ‘Seriously? You think a tracking curse is going to work on me?’ He had mastered that technique two years ago. At this point, he had already developed several ways to counter it.