Lord of Charm

"An advanced mage!"

Ronda shouted to Gale after the latter saved her. They started running back in the direction they came from. real heroes don't put up a fight when the odds are against them.

"Haha! The empire's dogs are running, kill them! We have nothing to fear with Lord Blue with us!"

Freedom's mages got a morale boost and gave chase with renewed enthusiasm.

By running away, Gale and Ronda prevented the enemies from surrounding them, and they had to defend only their backs. The problem was the advanced mage; his attacks were powerful, so while Gale defended against him, Ronda had to defend against all the others by herself.

"What should we do?"

He asked Ronda. She had a higher combat experience than him and she fought an advanced mage before, so he wasn't embarrassed to ask.

"We need to pretend to be on the verge of losing and catch them off guard with a surprise attack. Can you endure some pain?"

"Sure."

Although he was never at risk, he did have his share of pain when training with Lena, Elizabeth, and Shana. Alice wasn't that gentle either.

"We need to mix our wind and fire spells into a double firestorm. It would be much stronger than your normal firestorm."

They both started letting the weaker spells slip through their defenses. It required all their concentration to be able to determine which attacks they could endure and which they shouldn't even try to.

"We are breaking through their defenses! They are on their last legs, keep pushing through!"

One of the mages shouted and everyone listened. The spells were hitting Gale and Ronda, sending them stumbling a few steps back. Bruises were piling up on their bodies one after another, but they could still endure.

"Now!"

Ronda shouted and the duo released their offensive spells. The mages were spamming offensive spells by now and most of them didn't think it was necessary to be ready with defense when it was 2v12, especially with an advanced mage by their side.

"Careful, defend yourselves!"

Ronda executed her windstorm and Gale added his firestorm to it. They were focused completely on the task and could only stand in place without moving. Luckily, they had enemies only in one direction, which the storms covered.

The storms slowly merged and the weaker of the enemy mages' spells disintegrated just from the huge mana pull of the storms, while the stronger ones dissipated after entering the storm.

The combined storm advanced at a fast speed toward the 12 mages, and they did their best to cast defensive spells. The best they could do was cast a single spell with the time they had left, and 12 defensive spells raised in the air.

The defenses crumbled one by one, and the mages' screams resounded throughout the whole building. The walls were burning and decaying, the floor was melting, and chunks of stones fell from the ceiling.

The storm faded, and only one man stood, 100 meters away from Ronda and Gale. The floor and the ceiling between them were gone, and even the walls were missing.

"CRAZY BITCHES, WHO DID THAT?"

A scream was heard on the floor above them. Looking up, they saw 2 mages with burns on their bodies standing and looking down toward them, along with a male mage who was unharmed.

Gale recognized them. The injured were the advanced mages ranked second and fifth in his age group while the uninjured one was ranked first. Apparently, they just killed 2 of their enemies and were facing the other 3 advanced mages when the ground started shaking.

Caught unprepared, the combined firestorm engulfed them and only the strongest one among them could defend and remain unharmed. The worst part was that the enemies were out of the attack range.

"It's their problem, let's focus on our enemy, he survived."

Ronda said with a cold voice and they looked back at the advanced mage in front of them. She was right; he only dared scream at them because he was an advanced mage. Other than him, they didn't know how many casualties they caused on the floor below them.

The advanced mage managed to cast a second defensive spell at the last moment with the time the other mages bought him with their last struggle. That last spell saved his life, but he was still injured and expended a huge burst of mana to defend himself.

However, Gale and Ronda weren't much better. They had bruises, cuts, and even a few broken bones. Gale broke his right arm and a few ribs, while Ronda had a deep cut in her right leg that hindered her movement.

"It's 1v2, we can win."

He said and Ronda nodded in agreement. They weren't normal mages, while their enemy wasn't even a genius advanced mage.

The fights on the three floors affected by their spell started again, and Gale cast a few long stone paths from their end of the chasm to the other. They started running toward the advanced mage and cast one offensive spell each. They kept their second casting slot for defense.

The advanced mage retreated; he doubted he could win against the two after seeing their combined spell earlier.

'Screw it, I just need to get out of the HQ and run away. I already saw other 3 advanced mages on the floor above and who knows how many others there are. I was lucky to get laid in a true mage's room tonight and be on a lower floor during their attack.'

That true mage burned in that last combined firestorm. It was a shame to lose the pretty girl he just got, but his life was more important than revenge.

There were no more walls around him, so he jumped outside and used a strong wind to glide as fast as he could.

"We killed 20 mages, and we are wounded and not in our best condition. There's no reason to chase after him since our first spot is already secured."

Gale told Ronda his thoughts. They weren't soldiers, and completing the mission wasn't their goal. Their goal was to do their part and get the best rewards. Since they already achieved that, they didn't plan on risking themselves any further.