The Achievement Junkie

Not too far-off from the battle between the regents and the auction house owners, two mages were facing each other. One was old and ancient while the other was elderly yet couldn't compare in terms of age or wisdom.

"Thyron, what's your motive in working with the syndicate?"

"Tralon, shouldn't you be more interested in your survival than in my motives?" Thyron chuckled, gathering electricity around his hands.

At the same time, Tralon called out telepathically, 'Kims, are you still at the back?'

'Yes, we're holding off the invaders who rushed past Dragov,' the one-armed swordsman replied.

'Hurry here and switch with me.'

A bolt of lightning shot out from Thyron's hand, but it only hit an empty building as Tralon teleported to the opposite side of Thyron.

'Tralon, I can't just--'

Tralon cut off Kims, making sure the proud swordsman understood his logic, 'If not, you won't get your revenge on Thyron. Now will be your only chance. And you'll fare better than I.'

'... I'm on my way!'

With that conversation over, Tralon felt much more focused on the fight, evading another lightning bolt.

"If all you do is run, you'll be out of mana before you ever get a chance to injure me," chuckled Thyron. "Come on, show me why you were chosen as the Legend's aide!"

Taking in a deep breath, Tralon raised his arm with yellow energy while pointing his staff to the ground, also using yellow energy.

At the same time, Thyron felt the ground beneath his feet suddenly disappear. His footing fell three feet until solid ground was found, but a dome of earth had also emerged around him to trap Thyron's arms and torso in the center of the dome.

Tralon had dual cast Collapsing earth and Earth Fortress, showing off his creativity as a wizard against the sorcerer that relied purely on powerful spells. It was simple yet effective.

"Not bad… But not enough!"

Yellow energy filled Thyron's eyes as the rock trapping him burst apart. Then the ground started to do the same, erupting and spewing rocks and boulders viciously toward Tralon.

The wizard dashed to the side, revealing his strangely high dexterity, a stat that Jack forced Tralon to raise in the past.

"Oh! You're quicker than you look for such an old-timer," commented Thyron. "If only you weren't so hard-headed and were willing to work with us. You'd be an amazing ally and we could even remove that curse from you. Wouldn't you want that?"

"You're a true politician, Thyron. Always blowing hot air, especially amid a drastic situation," Tralon replied.

The sorcerer shrugged. "Then your death is your own fault."

More lightning was gathered in one of Thyron's hands. At the same time, yellow energy gathered around the spokesman's other arm.

"Dodge this!"

Another lightning bolt targeted Tralon, but the earth on either side of the wizard was being splintered apart like before. With no other choice, Tralon teleported to evade the attack, reappearing at the side.

"I wonder how much mana you still have. Maybe your former self could win, but you're nothing but a walking corpse compared to him!" mocked Thyron.

"True… But at least I have my priorities straight," stated Tralon, unfazed by the comment. "My priorities keep my aim true and consistent while yours will cause your downfall, Thyron."

"Oh really? Will your hero come and save you? Will your weak gods be able to hold out against the strongest of the deities?" Thyron questioned. "Today the Leisure Guild will fall, even if Gilga has to join it in hell."

A contact crystal appeared in Thyron's hand. He activated it and calmly stated, "You're needed. Launch the assault now!"

Just as quickly as the contact crystal was put away, Tralon asked, "What's all that about?"

"Nothing for you to worry about. You'll be busy begging for a merciful death!"

Another bolt of lighting and barrage of cracking earth forced Tralon to teleport again.

However, as Tralon teleported, he was greeted with an electrical shock. Electricity was dancing through the air as if it formed a thirty-meter perimeter around Thyron. And with it taking form as Tralon teleported, the wizard was unable to dodge the attack.

"Lightning Cage…" Thyron spoke up. "Usually, it's used to keep warriors contained and away from me. But in your case, it's to keep you from constantly avoiding damage. And anything beyond twenty meters won't be very effective against me unless you spend far more mana than necessary, which I'm also okay with. A neat trick, right?"

The constant tension and relaxation of Tralon's muscles were forcing Tralon's body to spasm. Physically moving was out of the question and attacking from beyond thirty meters was indeed a handicap to force Tralon to waste his mana. With the seven-level gap between the mages, Thyron wanted nothing more than the crafty, experienced Tralon to simply run out of mana and become a sitting duck. That was the easiest way to guarantee his victory.

"Not going to teleport?"

Thyron carefully managed the lightning cage with one arm, making sure to not hit himself while raining additional electricity down onto Tralon. His second arm glowed yellow as the sorcerer clenched his fist.

Stealing Tralon's prior strategy, Thyron cast Earth Fortress to trap Tralon's torso in a ring of earth.

Unable to do anything else, Tralon released a flash of light. His body was carried out of the earthen entrapment and outside of the lightning cage.

Before Thyron could give Tralon some verbal retort, the wizard gathered purple energy around his hand and slashed his arm through the air.

A thin blade of spatial energy took shape and was thrown through the cage of lightning, not affecting it at all. It rushed toward Thyron, intent on slicing the sorcerer clean in two.

Thyron began to run toward Tralon and the attack, but he drastically dropped in height. Casting Collapsing Earth allowed Thyron to sink a path of earth toward Tralon, dropping his height beneath the trajectory of Tralon's attack. At the same time, the lightning cage around Thyron threatened to consume Tralon yet again as Thyron got closer.

Still feeling the aching aftereffects from his time inside the lightning cage, Tralon teleported even further away.

That's when Thyron noticed something. Amidst battling, Tralon was making sure to never place himself in line with the nearest city buildings or some buildings in particular. The sorcerer deduced Tralon's most likely places to reappear and readjusted for his next attack.

While keeping Lightning Cage active, Thyron cast Erupting Earth again. This forced Tralon to teleport again and evade, but the wizard was bombarded with earthen debris the moment he appeared elsewhere.

"You're too predictable, Tralon," Thyron laughed as the wizard was pummeled with rocks and boulders. "You're concern for others makes you a liability at your level."

Tralon teleported again but was again bombarded with debris and stone.

Bloodied and nearing the brink of his abilities, Tralon was then trapped again by the Lightning Cage as Thyron casually approached Tralon.

"If you don't teleport away, I'll tell you more about that call I just made," stated Thyron, catching the wizard's attention. And since Tralon didn't teleport, Thyron chuckled and continued, "Though you're well prepared to the west, there's no way the city of Gigla will be prepared to the east. As we speak, thousands are charging through the eastern fields. I'm sure they'll reach the city walls any minute now."

"W-What?"

"An army of thousands will tear the city apart and then overrun you," Thyron clarified, relishing in Tralon's pained expression. "Sure, they are no regents with them, but those syndicate chiefs and disciples are more than enough to level a city. You scared the syndicate enough for them to bring out everyone.

"Can you picture it? An army of thousands of lv. 60's and lv. 50's marching onto Gilga, stampeding it to smithereens? What a glorious sight!"