The Fallen One

LUCIUS.

The little white star darted forward, no longer just an orb of mana, but an actual rivalling technique. It cut through the rain-soaked air with a hunger that mirrored my own, meeting the Chimaera's lightning bolt mid-flight. The two collided—mana of vastly different origins, raw and refined, natural and forged.

Sun and moon. Wild and willful. The clash was instantaneous—and apocalyptic.

The sky erupted in white and blue, the detonation splitting the world apart at its seams. The shockwave tore through the battlefield like a wrathful god sweeping its arm across a broken chessboard. Trees were uprooted. Earth cracked. Air itself screamed as it was thrown back in all directions. I felt it hit me, but I didn't let it take me.

I launched myself forward, hurling through the maelstrom with a body wrapped in telekinetic force. Like armour, it clung to my limbs, compressed tight against muscle and bone, layered not just with defence but with raw intent.

Ahead, the Chimaera roared—thunder given voice. She didn't wait either. With lightning crackling across her frame, she lunged forward, talons carving deep into the earth, every footstep crackling with speed and stored violence. She wasn't going to let this be a long fight. Neither was I.

I darted across the broken ground, my eyes scanning, marking, calculating. Every fragment of the battlefield was a potential weapon. Splintered bark, cracked roots, broken trunks half-sunken in muddy earth—I saw them all, and I commanded them. With each breath, I hurled debris like arrows. Dozens of shattered logs and jagged tree remains launched at her like a volley of siege fire.

She dodged. Agile. Experienced. She twisted between the wooden barrage like wind between blades of grass, lightning dancing across her skin, her presence sharpening by the second. She countered—arcs of electric death flaring from her claws and maw. Bigger this time. Bolder. They weren't just attacks; they were punishments.

But I felt them. Not with eyes. Not with reflexes. With mana sense.

Each arc sang a song as it formed—its tempo, trajectory, and density. I tracked every strand as it unravelled from her core, bending and shaping itself through the storm. As they neared, I pulled what little cover I had left—logs, splinters, even broken roots—floating them between us, shaping a makeshift shield mid-sprint.

The bolts struck like war hammers—exploding bark and burning air—but they didn't reach me.

The Chimaera didn't stop.

She lunged again, this time her serpentine tail coiling beside her, glistening with venomous dew. Each step she took left behind a sickly green mist—poison thick enough to melt skin, corrupt lungs, and blur the senses. The air around her warped, toxic clouds clinging to her like a veil of death.

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I reacted instantly. I didn't just push with telekinesis—My mana pulse, a harmless technique which was no longer a mere show of strength and intent, as it pushed forward with telekinetic mana.

Mana erupted from my core in a violent ripple, amplified by intent and pressure. It surged out like a tide crashing against cliffs, slamming into the encroaching mist and blowing it away in a sweeping arc. The poison scattered like dust before a storm, ripping away from the field and revealing the beast once more, bared and lunging straight at me.

The Chimaera whipped her tail at me, somehow accelerating her momentum midair, which startled me for a second, as I stepped backwards immediately, using my other foot to propel myself forward again as soon as it hit the ground, with telekinesis, I moved forward, directly on her, using my reinforced fist to smash her, anywhere would do. The Chimaera was even quicker to react, using the same technique I had used previously, a violent pulse of mana, hers charged with electricity, unleashed.

REPEL.

I chanted, and the mana responded fast, forming a dense pulse in front of me. It was unstable, barely holding its shape, but it didn't need to. Just one good hit would be enough.

The Chimaera was already preparing another lightning lance, forcing her unstable body to cooperate. But this time, I wasn't just watching. As the lightning began to form, I directed the surrounding raw mana, untethered and wild, straight into her spell. It reacted violently, overloading the lance from within. Before she could release it, it exploded across her back, knocking her off balance and forcing her to the ground.

'Raw mana doesn't listen to anyone.' I lunged into the skies and descended quickly, controlling four arcs of compressed mana around me, held steady by telekinesis. The Chimaera struggled to get back on her feet, but her legs gave out, and she dropped to one knee, panting. Still, she wasn't done yet.

With a sharp twist, her tail swung around. A slash of lightning surged from it—thin, fast, and laced with something else—probably poison. I couldn't afford to take that hit.

I launched two arcs forward. They intercepted the slash mid-air, detonating with a sharp burst of heat and pressure. The impact forced me to adjust my incoming descent on Earth.

PRAISE: ULTIMA!

I unleashed the orb just as the arcs and the Chimaera's own lightning slash collided mid-air. The explosion that followed split the sky open, but through its burning heart, the white orb tore forward, cutting across the chaos like a judgment. It soared straight toward the Chimaera, who was still grounded, breathing hard, crouched in the dust and shockwaves. For a moment, I believed it might strike true.

But she vanished.

In the blink of an eye, she reappeared fifty meters away, her form flickering like a mirage, glowing brighter than ever, her eyes burning with elemental fury. This… this had to be her peak. Which meant I was out of time.

My brain was already fraying. The spell casting, the nonstop telekinetic strain, and now the raw force needed to sustain Praise: Ultima—they pushed me far past what I once believed were my limits. My mind screamed. But my body… my body endured. I still had patience. I still had stamina. I still had strength. What I didn't have was a way out.

Escape wasn't on the table. I had already come to terms with that. She came again.

In a flash, she materialised behind me just as my feet hit the ground. Her jaws—wide, furious—snapped toward my head, intent on ripping it from my shoulders. But my body moved before thought could form. A seamless chain of instinct, reflex, and telekinetic precision. I ducked.

And struck.