As Ryo stood in the middle of the expansive battlefield, the voice of the system rang in his mind.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: Phase 4 – Use only Elemental Manipulation to defeat your enemies. All other offensive abilities have been sealed.]
Before he could act, the ground shook furiously. Roars shook the air as a tide of beasts came out of the thick fog in front of him—ogres swinging huge clubs, trolls with regenerative powers, wyverns flying overhead, and hulking vampire behemoths clad in thick armor-like skin.
Ryo let out a sharp breath. No blood magic, no physical augmentations, and no draconic powers? Just elements?
The battlefield descended into chaos as the monsters attacked him.
---
The first wave comprised ogres—brutish giants with rough armor, all wielding enormous tree-trunk clubs.
Ryo held up his hand, warping the ground beneath them. The earth opened up, creating jagged spikes that pierced their legs and made them stumble. With a flick of his fingers, a concentrated gust of wind screamed through the air, cutting through their exposed skin like a thousand hidden blades. The ogres let out screams of pain before they fell.
Before he could even catch his breath, a group of trolls rushed towards him, their deformed bodies healing from their wounds.
Regeneration, eh?
Ryo gritted his teeth, unleashing fire magic. A huge burst of blue flames shot out from his hands, engulfing the trolls. Their roars became screams of pain as their bodies were incinerated beyond the point of regeneration. Their burned bodies disintegrated into ash.
A shadow appeared above him suddenly.
Ryo hardly had enough time to evade as a wyvern swooped down, the razor-sharp talons just grazing past him.
He backed up, turning midair before landing on both feet. The wyvern wheeled above, readying to strike again.
Ryo focused on the air around him, condensing the moisture into sharp ice shards. With a flick of his wrist, he launched them toward the wyvern. The shards tore through its wings, forcing it to plummet. As it crashed to the ground, he manipulated gravity, increasing its weight to ten times normal—crushing the beast under its own weight.
---
Just as he started catching his breath, the ground trembled fiercely. Stepping out of the darkness were three giant vampire behemoths, their blood-red eyes shining with malevolent intent. These were not normal vampires; these were huge, over six meters tall, with bodies encased in an exoskeleton resembling obsidian.
One of them disappeared in a flash, appearing right before him with frightening quickness. Ryo managed to dodge barely as its huge claws sliced through the air, generating shockwaves.
Fast… and their armor is ridiculously tough.
Ryo knew that brute strength wouldn't cut it. He needed to think.
He retreated, holding both arms up. The air around him charged as he called down a great storm of lightning.
"Thunder Wrath."
Dark clouds massed above him, and in an instant a storm of lightning bolts came crashing down on the behemoths. Their armor deflected most of the blows, but enough struck home to freeze them for a moment.
Seizing the opening, Ryo manipulated the sand around them to create gigantic quicksand holes at their feet. The behemoths roared, sinking further as the sand became an immovable binding agent.
"Let's see how you deal with this."
Ryo tightened his fist, and a whirlpool of compressed air encircled the plummeting behemoths. He mixed it with flame, and a blaze tornado engulfed them whole.
The monsters growled in rage, but suffocation and fire finally knocked them out.
---
Phase 4 Ends
As the final monster fell, the battlefield was silent. Ryo let out a heavy breath, sweat covering his body.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: Phase 4 Complete.]
His body was weighed down, fatigue setting in. The system voice rang out again.
[Phase 5 will start in 30 minutes.]
Ryo fell to one knee, panting.
I don't even want to think about what's next….