Seed Of Speed

Diego only had the sense to activate his [Scarlet-Gold Skin] after the explosion. The ice shell that Rainshower had created only lasted for a moment before it was vaporized by the fiery blast, but it was enough time for Diego to react. He pulled Rainshower into his embrace as he shielded her with his body.

Flames seared his back and legs despite the fact that his [Scarlet-Gold Skin] is what strengthened his fire affinity. The eruption was fueled by pure Fire Mana, so only someone at the level of Firesand or Fanflame could complete defend against it, and that was only thanks to the fact that fire was one of their major affinities.

A second explosion rang out a moment later as the Void Passage imploded because of the impact of the first. The attack delivered by Catro was one of pure fire which was destructive, but the blast from the Void Passage's collapse was one of pure force. A wave of energy threw everything flying over twenty meters away, including Diego and Rainshower.

The pair had managed to survive the fireball with only Diego taking any major burns, but the impact of the shockwave caused both of them to cough up a mouthful of blood as they crashed heavily into the ground. Despite Diego now pinning her down on the ground with his body, he had, once again, taken the brunt of the damage for her as he used his shoulder to take the fall. Rainshower knew she could not roll him off of herself, so she slid out from under him and looked over his back while summoning her mana.

::Die…go… Diego! Diego! You can't fall asleep! Pure Fire Mana has invaded your body! If you don't do something about it, it will destroy your mana pathways and the 'Seed' can't fix this::

Diego g.r.o.a.n.e.d. His mind was in a think, dark fog that threatened to claim it, but the burning pain in his body was the only anchor he had. In spite of the agony, he focused on that pain as his mind clawed its way back to his body.

His hand twitched as he opened his eyes. A pair of hands grabbed his, but he did not have the strength to lift his head to discover who they belonged to. The was an eerie silent as he could not even hear the sound of the wind, only the pounding of his heartbeat. He could only guess the explosion ruptured his eardrums along with everything else it had done while he laid in the sand.

Suddenly, it was as if someone poured ice water over his whole body, causing him to jerk with pain. The feeling did not stop, it only increased instead. If he had been able to be outside his body, he would have seen Rainshower kneeling over his body as desperately tried to heal his body as she cried, her tears adding to the water she used to work on him.

The entire camp had been thrown into a panic after the double explosions. Those unlucky people who had been within ten meters of Catro burned alive, say nothing of the tents and equipment that had been nearby. Everything within a thirty-meter radius had also been scorched to the point of leaving major burns on anyone in that area and tents as far as fifty meters had also been set ablaze. The erupt from the Void Passage had thrown everything that had been in the fiery blast radius out another twenty-five meters away.

The Quko campground had been decimated and the damage had even spread into both the Telryn's and Bolxi's camp. There were men crying out in pain all around as a figure engulfed in flames shot up into the air. Needless to say, Shaman Fanflame was livid as she looked down on the destruction that had been brought to her people. She stretched out her arms in a beckoning fashion and slowly, all of the flames around the camp came alive. The flames stretched towards Fanflame, growing thinner and thinner until they left the ground altogether and wrapped themselves around her body with the other flames. An arrow came whizzing out of the dark, straight for her heart, but her mastery over Wind Magic alerted her in time to dodge the sneak attack.

"YOU DARE?!?" she bellowed.

The flames around her body shot up into the air, taking the shape of a mighty phoenix. The fire bird gave a fierce cry then shot towards the source of the arrow. Before the phoenix could attack, a dragon of ice shot in the air to fight it. It was the same ice dragon spell that Rainshower had used when fighting the earth golem, but on a much grander scale than she had been able to achieve. The two majestic beasts clashed in the air and shattered, canceling each other out.

"Snowneedles! You dare break the sect laws!" Fanflame shouted.

The clash between the beasts had lit up the dune below, so that men in black and gold and red and gold army were revealed as they charged towards the camp. A man in white and blue robes jumped into the air and walked towards Fanflame, his feet leaving a small flurry of snow to fall when he stepped.

"You are not defending your oasis, so I am breaking no laws! Today, you will submit and serve me as a good wife, or you will die!" he laughed.

"You've said that numerous times over the course of the past eighteen years, yet here I am, still thinking you the same pig from back then. It's a 'small' man who can't satisfied his betrothed," Fanflame snickered, gesturing with her fingers when she said small.

A vein could be seen pulsing on his temple, but otherwise, his face was a perfect mask of calm. "You will soon see the difference between us," he growled as he threw out his arms.

Black storm clouds suddenly began to form in the sky as the temperature began to plummet. Fanflame frowned as she could instantly tell that Snowneedles must have made a recent breakthrough. The activation of his snowstorm had been too fast and smooth, and combined with the fact that he launched his attack just as the moon rose, his power would strengthen further while hers weakened. The moon would strength water magic just how the sun strengthened fire. She knew she was in for a hard fight and would not be able to help her people repel the warriors of the Langu and Yung Clans.

A large, hand-painted fan appeared in her hand as she stared coldly at the man she repeatedly rejected. There was no attempt to hide the madness and possessiveness in his face as he glared back at her. Fanflame had become his focus long ago after she had rejected their betrothal, humiliating him, so when he heard that the Quko had discovered the pocket world as well, he had devised this elaborate plan in the hope that she would be the one watching over their Void Passage. The Telryn boy had just been a means to expose their location and cause a distraction for the clan warriors. Now, he could claim his prize without having to worry about his people, not that he would when faced against her.

Flames reignited around Fanflames as the snowstorm turned into a blizzard and sought to contain her. The flames morphed into wings as she zoomed off into the distance. The only way she could help anyone right now was make sure the mortals were not caught in their crossfire. There was no question in her mind that Snowneedles would follow and he proved her right, chasing after her at nearly the same speed.

The next moment after she stopped, she was engulfed by the blizzard. Her flames wrapped themselves around her protectively as she took a defensive stance. Her visibility was reduced just a meter or two around her, but her only hope was that Snowneedles would run out of mana by control this domain spell before he could kill her.

The air around her stirred and a stream of ice needles shot out at her. She waved her fan and a burst of yellow-green flames vaporized the attack since he would be able to refreeze them instantly if water remained then continue the attack. That was where the difficult in facing those with domain spells lied.

Everything related to the element of the domain was under the user's control, so you had to destroy it or risk attack. There was still a limit on how much a person could truly control, or every snowflake could become a threat. The user would have to stir up the energy in the area which was how Fanflame had blocked his attack.

The second, third, and forth attacks came and she blocked as she had done the first time, but the fifth one carried three metal needles that heated until they were white-hot, but their form remained. Fanflame blocked the needle aimed for her heart with her fan while twisting her body to dodge the other two. Snowneedles's weapons were always coated in a numbing poison, so there was no way she could risk even being scratched by a single one.

Attacks continued to rain down upon her, every now and then, metal needles appearing mixed with the ice. He never revealed himself to her growing frustrations. Her yellow-green flames were from her custom spell which reduced the price of the spell, but she had maximized it for power was increased the cost. Although the snowstorm domain spell used a monstrous amount of mana, Snowneedles was able to rest and replenish his reserves while she was forced to constantly defend. She was slowly realizing that she might not be able to win this at all.