Black String of Fate

"As you remember, I had reached the Crafted Archon tier. I still retain the skills and expertise that came with that realm, but being only a Novice Initiate now, my lack of energy restricts me to a fraction of my powers."

With his back to Seraphina, Xavier swung his sword sideways, displaying his blade with all its glory.

"With my current power, I can only use Aura, and only for a short duration."

Xavier's sword lit up with a crimson-red light, condensed with dense amounts of energy flowing with immaculate fluidity. It was nothing like the other regular experts, whose Aura flickered and was inconsistent. The expertise displayed was enough for even a non-swordsman like Seraphina to be left awestruck.

"It's horrifyingly beautiful..."

"Haha, I'll take that as a compliment. Now, see this."

Xavier got into a stance with his sword, preparing for a downward slash. He took a deep breath and his Aura got brighter, almost blindingly bright. He swung down with full force, and the aura, which had stuck to his sword till now, detached, and proceeded to form a crescent wave of energy traveling forward with extreme speed.

Seraphina watched as that Aura wave proceeded to split a building in two with a clean cut. It was a solid abandoned 4-story building that was cut in half like butter. She could not even say anything, this was beyond her expectations. She looked at Xavier with terrified eyes, awestruck by the powers that he displayed despite being an Initiate Novice.

Xavier, on the other hand, went down on one knee and began breathing heavily.

"You see, even though I can perform these skills, my body and my internal energy are not sufficient to use them in full power. If I had more energy, I could've used much more of my arsenal.

Except this, I also have my Arts, but those are better to be used in actual combat rather than some display. They can improve my combat prowess by 3-4 times on average, but in dire cases, I can use 25-30 times my power at the cost of my life. Overall, if I had to judge my total power after pulling every bit of power, sacrificial or not, it would be just shy of the Master level."

Seraphina smiled and nodded,

"It's good to have a powerful ally such as you, where the strongest I know is only a Grandmaster. Your strength would be significant in the plan I have. Now, it's only fair that I show you what I can do."

Seraphina got up from the rubble she was sitting on and went to the same place Xavier had displayed his capabilities. Xavier, meanwhile, sat in her position to see what she was capable of.

'A Crafted Archon mage, I wonder just what she can do...'

He was excited, after all, he was probably going to witness the magic of most probably the strongest mage to ever exist.

Seraphina took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She immersed herself in her concentration, feeling the mana that surrounded her.

"Like you, I can also display abilities far beyond my current realm. For example, something like this."

She raised her arms, and out of nowhere, multiple icicles formed behind her, all primed and aimed at the building.

"This is just some simple ice magic. I can layer them with some earth magic, some wind magic, and some extra manipulation."

The icicles above started to change color to a more metallic shade that Xavier guessed was earthly metals and minerals. Soon after, they started to spin rapidly in the same spot, and with a single hand gesture, the icicles launched at massive speeds towards the split building.

*BOOM* *CRASH* *BOOM*

A storm of dust was kicked up, telling the world of its destructive power. When the dust finally settled, Xavier could see the building he had split in half was reduced to rubble.

"I'm not limited to these elements, here, see this."

Seraphina then proceeded to stomp her feet on the ground, and on a 50-meter radius, an outgrowth of thick vines spurt out of the ground, painting the dead land with life. She then closed her eyes, and to Xavier's surprise, she started floating up.

"I can combine the earth, water, and light elements to create nature magic, wind elements to create flight, and..."

Seraphina pointed her hand down, and a fireball began forming in her hands. The fireball formed was initially the size of a head and orange in color, but it slowly began shrinking in size and changing color. From orange to yellow, from yellow to white, from white to blue, and finally, a plasmic marble flickering dangerously in white-blue.

Xavier could even feel the flame from where he was sitting. He gulped, smiling nervously at the crazy power the flame held.

Seraphina was huffing heavily as she held the micro-sun in the palm of her hands. She twists her hand while aiming towards the overgrowth, and finally flicked her fingers, launching the 'fireball' towards the green plants, and upon contact,

*WOOOSH*

The area was immediately engulfed in flames, looking like a scene from hell. The heat was enough to scorch anyone who was unprepared to face the fire, the smoke and lack of oxygen were also enough to give anyone a grueling death.

"That was... my full power." Seraphina said as she slowly descended away from the ongoing forest fire.

"This is probably just shy of Master-level magic, but I'm completely out of mana after using this once."

Seraphina stepped on the ground but her knees started buckling. Xavier got up and supported her as it seemed like she would collapse any second.

"Are you dumb? Why would you exhaust yourself in front of a person who could change his mind and decide to kill you? We came to simply a temporary truce just yesterday."

Seraphina smiled as she said,

"I'm... good at judging people. Your petty pride won't allow that, Demon King."

Xavier looked at her strangely before saying,

"You know, you don't look cool saying that while lying limp in my arms. You're a grown-ass woman, have some shame."

"...Fuck you."

"Whatever, what about this forest fire you've created? Can you use some magic and make it go out?"

"Of course I can, just give me a second."

"..."

A few seconds passed, but nothing happened.

'Shit... I'm completely out of mana.'

Seraphina's eyes widened at the realization, then looked away. Xavier, who immediately understood what that look meant, made a face of disappointment as he set her down.

"It'll settle soon anyway, it's just a small area with nothing combustible nearby..." Seraphina made some excuses to save some face, but the look on Xavier's face didn't change.

"Just shut up and let me handle it. What a mess you've made."

Xavier drew his sword and muttered under his breath.

"Supreme Demonic Arts

Advent of Insanity."

The sword glowed with a brighter Aura than before, and this time, the aura began expanding. It extended from the regular blade of the sword to 20 meters in length, and Xavier once again swung in full force.

*SLASH*

The Aura blade expanded even further, covering the whole circle of fire with a crimson-red hue. Wherever the Aura struck, the fire was immediately snuffed out. In no longer a second, the whole area was reverted back to a calm, dead state.