Chương 91: Xia’s Move

Gunnar approached the gigantic black cube and reached out a hand toward it. The cube slowly began to shrink until it was no larger than a small die.

"I didn't kill anyone and I still managed to defeat you", he said with a satisfied smile.

"I believe Seer Aelira will reward me for this great achievement". He bent down, picked up the legendary swords, and, tracing swift symbols through the air, sealed them inside a second cube, just as small as the first. He casually slipped it into the pocket of his cloak before turning his gaze back to Xia.

"Join your friends". He pointed his hand toward her, and in an instant Xia was transferred into the cube as well. Gunnar now had both containers tucked away inside his cloak. He cracked his neck, stretched out his hand in front of him, and summoned a portal. But then something strange happened. The cubes began to tremble. Gunnar felt the vibrations travel through his cloak until they shook his entire body. He stopped, confused, and pulled them back out. The trembling was growing stronger.

"What is this?" he muttered.

"Too much magical energy inside them? No…the legendary swords aren't active, and the others are just ordinary humans, along with a mage who barely has any magic left. That can't be it. Then what is it?" He never had the chance to finish the thought. Blinding violet light erupted from both cubes. An instant later, an explosion of unimaginable power engulfed Gunnar and devastated a vast portion of the surrounding forest.

"What?! What the hell did that witch do?!" he screamed. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. His body was utterly obliterated by the blast, erased so completely that not even ashes remained. Trees, rocks, animals…everything within the explosion's radius was reduced to ash. When the energy finally dissipated, nothing remained but a cloud of smoke. Elsewhere in the forest, Felicity watched as the towering column of energy slowly faded away.

"What the hell did you do?" she asked in disbelief.

"I didn't understand any of that". Leah, Ethan, and Agnes also turned toward Xia, utterly confused. The absorption pillars were no longer impaling her body. She was sitting on a fallen log, slowly regenerating the wounds they had left behind while catching her breath. She looked at each of them before speaking calmly.

"From the very beginning, I knew I could never win in a direct confrontation. Those absorption pillars had already drained nearly half of my magical energy in just a few minutes". She paused briefly.

"So I pretended to seal all of you inside a cube. In reality, I teleported you here, along with the legendary swords and the horses. The cube Gunnar saw was completely empty, but to him it looked as though you were all inside". Their expressions grew even more bewildered.

"I summoned a demonic creature to slow him down and buy myself time", she continued.

"Meanwhile, I created fake legendary swords. I couldn't rely on a simple illusion, he would have seen through it immediately. So I transformed several demonic creatures under my control into perfect replicas of the swords". She took a deep breath.

"Then I pretended to be completely exhausted and made the demon that was fighting him disappear. Without him noticing, I sealed that creature inside the empty cube. Right afterward, I created a copy of myself and teleported back to all of you". She looked at them.

"Gunnar thought he had captured us and the legendary swords. In reality, he had four demons inside one cube and another demon inside the other. I ordered them to detonate, and he was eliminated". For several seconds, no one spoke.

"How…how did you even come up with something like that?" Ethan finally asked. Leah rubbed her forehead.

"My brain hurts just from hearing that". Xia lowered her gaze slightly.

"He was an extraordinary mage. I had to think quickly or he really would have defeated me. I only won because I convinced him I was losing sooner than I actually would have". Agnes shrugged.

"I didn't understand a thing, but I'm just happy to be alive". Ethan looked at her, then back at Xia.

"You saved our lives. Thank you". Xia nodded, offering a faint, weary smile. Far away from there, Seer Aelira trembled ever so slightly. She bit her lower lip.

"Gunnar…no…damn it".