Chương 177: Fight Or Flight

Despite Damion flying quite fast, the goblin horde behind him kept up. The creatures could jump vast distances and Damion ended up having to dodge more than one goblin landing in front of his sword attempting to knock him and Mage Blythe to the ground. Damion could have flown up into the sky to elude them.

Even with this being a Breach there was not a true ceiling, though Damion suspected if he flew high enough he might encounter a force that kept him from going higher, just like when one encountered the edges of a Breach, the world seems to go on, but an invisible force stops people. In his classes Damion learned this was called the Breach Boundary. Some mages studied it, in hopes of one day finding a way through or perhaps to determine if there was an alternative way to collapse a Breach than destroying the core.

The Breach Boundary effectively was the edge of reality for Breaches, but there was a confusing aspect to them. People could not pass through them, but Demonic Beasts could. Researchers studying the Breach Boundaries in various dungeons had discovered that Demonic Beasts could be seen in the distance through the Boundary.

Of course, when this was discovered the researchers naturally had to determine if they were simply seeing an illusion or if there really where Demonic Beasts beyond the Boundary, so they lured the Demonic Beasts to them. The researchers discovered the Demonic Beasts could pass through the Breach Boundary as if it was not there which was a groundbreaking discovery. But what it meant was still hotly debated. Were Breaches portals to another world?

Some said this confirmed it and that this proved Breaches were a way to send Demonic Beasts to Nerotath. Others theorized that the Breach Boundary signified the edge of the stable zone of the pocket dimension and the Demonic Beasts outside were just creations of the dungeon core to repopulate the Breach after it was cleared. There were many other theories as well, but like all theories, they were just guesses and might never be proven true or false.

The flight from the meadow to his former teammates did not take long and Damion watched with a smile on his face as the looks of excitement on his pursuer's faces turned to dread. The two dozen goblins behind Damion were more than what the team of eight could handle, especially since the B Rank goblin was likely a match for their B Rank mage.

"Hold your ground," Mage Blanche ordered.

"Form up on me." As Damion sped past he turned to look at the mage who had similar hair to his. He had never met another Ice mage before, but instead of feeling some sort of kinship, due to their shared affinity, Damion felt only disgust. Now that the two forces had met, Damion climbed into the sky on his Ice Sword to watch the fight unfold. Occasionally he would see the B Rank mage glance at him, but mostly the man focused on taking down the goblins, which he was very good at.

With one hand Mage Blanche would cast Ice Shard and with his other he would slice a goblin in two with Ice Sword. It was not until the B Rank goblin warrior charged in at Blanche that the mage was forced to do anything other than slaughter. After the B Rank goblin's initial charge Mage Blanche cast a spell Damion had not seen before but had been expecting. From around the Ice mage a layer of ice formed, radiating in all directions reaching what Damion estimated was 50 meters all around Mage Blanche.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Since the area around him was quickly turning to ice, the goblins and his own teammates were afflicted by the cold and the surface of the ground becoming slick. Several of the group moved away from Mage Blanche, evidently wanting to be able to fight more freely and also likely wanting to move away from a B Rank fight. As they spaced out, Damion recognized two of the mages flinging fireballs at the goblins.

The Mages Fontane were not easy to forget and now Damion had an idea of who might be responsible for this whole mess. Damion watched as the goblin horde was picked apart by the team below. Despite the advantage in numbers the goblins were outmatched by the experienced mages of the group. Damion had to make a choice quickly before the goblins were eliminated. Flee or help the goblins. A fireball from Lucas Fontane was enough to make the choice for him.

Damion started casting Ice Shard as rapidly as he could towards his would-be assassins. From the distance he was at in the sky, he did not hold out much hope in actually hitting anyone down there, as they would have plenty of time to dodge, but Damion hoped to add a layer of distraction to their fight with the goblins. As soon as Damion's first Ice Shard struck a ward on one of their armors and his actions became apparent, they were all suddenly on high alert.

The Fontane brothers were both screaming obscenities at Damion and for him to come down and fight like a man, but he just laughed at them and sent more Ice Shards their way. With Damion's distraction, the remaining dozen goblins were faring better, though he still felt it was a forgone conclusion that the goblins would lose. Especially, if Mage Blanche was able to finish off the B Rank goblin warrior. Damion decided to poke the bear. If this did not work, he would surrender to Mage Blythe's pleas to flee.

Casting another group of Ice Shards, this time Damion took aim at Mage Blanche. The first Ice Shard he sent out hit Mage Blanche square in the back between his shoulder blades. The ice crystal shattered against the wards in the mages armor, but it got his attention. Mage Blanche was able to dodge out of the way of the next few Ice Shards, but he was still battling the B Rank goblin and could not afford to send an attack of his own towards Damion.

The goblins were almost all dead, though Damion could see the Fontane's team was quite exhausted, but they were beginning to team up against the other goblins. Soon they would finish off the last of the C and D Rank goblins and take out the B Rank goblin. Figuring this was his last chance. Damion swooped down into the midst of the battle, flying as fast as he could make his Ice Sword fly.

As he moved through the fight, Damion turned his head and cast Ice Breath catching Knight Macmillan and two others, who he assumed where the group's healer and Spatial mage off guard. The healer was a woman, and the Ice Breath caught her in the hands as she raised them to shield herself from his attack. Damion had focused mainly on Knight Macmillan, and the attack had overwhelmed the defensive enchantments on the man's armor, leaving his with a shocked frozen look on his face as he fell to the ground.

The healer turned and tried casting a spell on Macmillan, but she was too late. A split-second later, Damion was up in the sky again as the healer's screams alerted her team to what he had just done. Unfortunately, they were too slow to stop him. Without Macmillan to protect the healer and the Spatial mage, a goblin rushed in and was able to bury an axe in the healer's face while another goblin stabbed the Spatial mage in the back.

In just a few short seconds, Damion had killed one of their team, while goblins had killed two others. The Fontane brothers started casting Fireballs at Damion, but he was able to easily dodge their attacks. He began circling the battlefield high up and raining Ice Shards down at people. He managed to catch Mage Sooter in the leg with one, but most of his attacks were avoided. Still, with Damion's renewed offensive and their team losing their healer, things were going a bit better for the goblins.