An Owl's Rise

'Is he an idiot? He can't really expect me to agree to that.'

Instead of giving a proper response to Morten's proposition, Lucia let her magic do the talking for her. She could tell that Morten was the type of guy to stab anyone in the back the moment they were no longer useful to him.

"Razing Radiance."

Above Lucia's head, a massive dazzling sphere exploded in a blast of searing light.

Everything in front of her was consumed by a white flash and the once tranquil terrain was transformed into a scorched wasteland.

Yet, as the bright light cleared there was a single thing that survived the attack.

Fully engulfed in a reflective and rotating liquid was Morten. Completely unharmed despite having been at the center of Lucia's devastating spell.

"I suppose that I will take that as a no." Morten said with a sneer on his face.

He then began rapidly moving his hands as he constructed a new spell to fight Lucia with.

Of course, she did not just wait around and began conjuring her own magic.

Lucia picked a quick spell she had practiced thousands of times so that she could blend in whenever she snuck into human territories. Its activation came before whatever spell Morten was weaving and seven dots of light like stars in the sky appeared in front of Lucia and shot towards their target.

Each of the beads of light followed different trajectories and struck incredibly quickly.

Unfortunately, Lucia's light magic was once again deflected.

The protective acid blob around Morten reflected and refracted the light away from him.

"It is too bad for you, but I've had plenty of practice fighting against light magic users. You're strong, but you won't be able to hit me." Morten taunted.

A second later he finished his own spell.

"Corrosive Giant."

An immense amount of magical energy burst from Morten's body and rapidly transformed into a mass of clear liquid that took the form of a vaguely humanoid figure.

Towering at around two hundred meters tall, this Corrosive Giant looked like it was made of water, but the ground that was melting under its feet was more than enough proof to show that it was not.

"Now regret your choice and be melted away into nothing by ultimate spell." Morten cackled loudly. He believed from the bottom of his heart that he would be the victor in this confrontation.

His Corrosive Giant lifted one of its legs and moved to squash Lucia, but it was never able to finish its attack.

A monstrous blizzard wrapped around the spell composed completely of acid and instantly froze it solid.

Just a second later several large metal spheres impacted the Corrosive Giant that had been turned into an ice statue and shattered it into thousands of pieces.

"You seem to have forgotten that I am not fighting alone. The rabble you brought with you never stood a chance against my companions."

Lucia stood there wearing a smug grin on her face as Morten's greatest magic crumbled around him.

Watching in horror, he could not believe that his Corrosive Giant was beaten so easily. It could normally crush or dissolve any opponent he came up against.

'It's not possible. This must be some sort of illusion.' Morten thought in denial.

Sadly for him, reality was cruel and his eyes were not playing tricks on him. In one fell swoop Bylur and Rehni had brought down his strongest weapon.

Unable to continue to be delusional, Morten realized that he had lost. Sure, he could attempt to conjure more magic, but he now knew very well that he was outmatched.

That did not mean he was just going to wait to be taken down though. All he needed to do was escape and live to fight another day. With his defensive magic still active he felt condiment he could get away.

Except, as he was about to flee a powerful gust of wind descended on him and tore through the reflective acid that had been protecting him.

Reflexively he tried to move away but found a light pink glow enveloped him and his movements slowed to a crawl.

From up above Aralee had just unleashed the magic she had been holding at Lucia's command. There was practically zero chance that Morten would get away now that she had nullified his defensive magic and drastically lowered how fast he could move.

Looking around for something, Morten's eye met Lucia's.

For just a moment her eyes flashed, and Morten felt a burning pain in his own eyes.

With sluggish movements he reached up to his eyes and screamed in pain.

It was honestly a bit disturbing to watch as he moved in slow motion thanks to Aralee's magic, but no one was going to show any pity towards an enemy.

Once Morten was able to regain the slightest semblance of sanity, he screeched for help from his remaining assassins.

However, no one responded to his call. Instead, the only one that approached was Evelyn. She had just finished eliminating the last of the attackers that had been assaulting the camp from afar.

"So, this guy must be the boss. Should I finish him off?"

Evelyn held her hand up and was ready to unleash magic and deal the finishing blow to Morten. He had attacked planning to take all of their lives, so it only made sense to eliminate him now that he was beaten.

"No, we should hold off on that. It's possible that he has more allies about. Let's question him before killing him."

Following Lucia's order, Evelyn put her hand down, but still continued to glare at their captured enemy.

Rehni then used her magic to bind Morten in sturdy chains and prevent him from casting any other spells.

"Make sure to take any magic items off him as well. We don't want to be surprised later."

Evelyn, Bylur, and Rehni frisked Moten and removed every magical tool on his person.

With that done, they ripped off his head covering and were ready to interrogate him.

But before they could, Edgar came running over towards them now that it was certain that the young mistress of the Taidale Family was safe.

"What?! Lord Morten!" Edgar shouted when he saw the face of the man that had been captured. Naturally he recognized the uncle of the person he had sworn to serve.