The Val brothers were surprised that someone dared to question their statement. When they looked in the direction of the person who challenged them, they saw Rafael still floating on what was left of the red platform made of blood. The two brothers looked at each other and began to smile. The Masters who were already preparing to return to their towers had the opportunity to witness another show, and remained at the top of their towers using spells and other methods to watch, listen, and secretly talk to each other about the ongoing battle.
The eldest brother, Valder, spoke back in a loud tone:
"Yes! That's what you heard. Do you have a problem? Master Sun was the leader, and now he's dead."
"Master Sun was no longer the leader of the Adventurers' Alliance... I am!"
Rafael replied in a mocking tone.
Several messages were exchanged between the various Masters, among them even the Master of Whispers was questioned about such information. At that very moment, an undead bird with three people on top approached the battlefield where Master Sun lay dead. They were the three vice-leaders of the Adventurers' Alliance: Liana, Old Xu, and Asimov. Liana then said loudly:
"That's right, you heard correctly, our leader is the Red Sage, Master Sun no longer holds that position in the Alliance."
While Valder analyzed the situation and thought about the meaning behind everything, Valmir, who used to be the most impulsive, acted first. He advanced towards Rafael along with his chimera while shouting:
"Let's see if you have what it takes to lead them!"
Before he got close enough, Rafael advanced towards them, flying on top of the platform, and punched him in the chest.
"POW!"
After the powerful impact, Valmir flew back towards the ground like a comet. As the chimera was about to reach Rafael, all the remaining blood on the platform formed another spinning blade heading towards the creature, cutting it in half. This shocked everyone watching once again. The power of his ritual was something that all the many Masters present had already seen during the fight against Iahssa, but his powerful physical strength was something new. Only Rafael knew that he was now completely out of blood for his ritual; all that was left were two small spots that now remained under his feet, keeping him in the sky. He looked at Valder, who had not yet made a move, and did not wait for him to react, advancing towards him as well. The Necromancer reacted a little late, but still created a wall of bones that exploded after another powerful punch from Rafael. He then cast several curses on his body. But no matter how many curses he cast, it seemed that Rafael was not affected.
Realizing that Valmir was already returning to the battlefield, he used the spell "Soul Binding" to keep Rafael still for a few seconds, allowing his brother to cut off Rafael's head with his terrible claws. But in the end, this failed too. Rafael regained control of his body at the last second, breaking the spell with his brute strength, diverting his head and causing the claws to pierce only his shoulder and chest.
Even his steel armor could not resist the powerful claws of the Blood Mage. Valmir, still smiling, stuck the claws of his other hand into Rafael's heart. While everyone watched the scene, thinking that Rafael had been defeated, Master Ezio had a mocking smile on his face, but even he could not predict what Rafael would do next.
Valmir was about to begin his victory speech when he was embraced by Rafael with both arms. All he heard was the Red Sage's laughter and his brother's scream.
"Hehe"
"VALMIR!"
"BOOM"
After the explosion, a thin, red mist covered almost 2 kilometers. In the center of the mist where the explosion occurred, there were no more traces of Valmir or Rafael, and even Valder, who was very close, was injured, but his body was being healed at a visible speed. He knew that his brother had died and quickly grabbed a drop of crystalline blood that contained his soul and placed it in a container. He then turned his gaze to one of the buildings within the red mist.
Rafael's true body came out of the shadows. he also waved his hand, retrieving a red crystal similar to the one on his forehead that was in his clone, it was the only item that survived the explosion. It was also the most valuable item, used to collect powerful life energy.
Rafael wasted no time, using the blood mist to his advantage, this mist was a beneficial effect after the destruction of his clone, allowing him to move freely within the limited area, but it would only last 30 seconds. He needed to take care of his other brother in that time. And so he did, flying towards Valder, he launched several balls and arrows of fire, the Necromancer reacted using the bone barrier again, while his summoned lich began to use several attack magic against Rafael, who only flew at high speed dodging them.
When he got close enough to the Necromancer and his Lich, he used his powerful innate spell, Fire Breath, spitting out a huge blaze of flames, catching them by surprise. The flames were fast, with great range and high temperature. Rafael used his innate spell for the first time in public without holding back, spitting a second and a third time.
The lich turned to ashes at the end of the first breath and Valder only held on until now because he used a powerful relic he had, creating an advanced soul shield. Realizing that he didn't have many spells left and was low on souls, the Necromancer used his last method that could be used in the sky, summoning several zombie chimera birds that varied in size, all of them flew towards Rafael, blocking his vision and filling the sky still within the red mist, Rafael didn't waste spells on these creatures, drawing his Valyrian Steel sword, he cut them all down during a rampant massacre, only to see Valder flee by diving into one of the branches of the Ash River that circulated within the city.
His hand reached for his Chief Exorcist necklace, thinking of casting his powerful advanced spell to attack the Necromancer inside the river, but after looking in the direction of Master Baron Bones' tower, he gave up. He had already shown too much of his power today, it was better to have some hidden trump cards, especially powerful trump cards against Necromancers.
As the final seconds of the mist faded, he slowly landed on Yin Yang Tower and bid farewell to the vice-leaders of the Adventurer's Guild who flew away. Now that Iahssa was gone, it was time to prepare for the auction…
****
Special thanks to the Patreons:
Sage's Supporter: Jan, Vinnie, frimorigo, Leery Falcon, Parsa, Scott Robertson, and Pato Senalima!
Magical Apprentice: Axel Bour, Gabriele Sulpizio, Takatchi, mandeep singh, Austin, and Kobe Robertson!
Senior Magic Apprentice: Cole Bromley!