“Decapitate yourself,” I commanded at a volume loud enough for everyone in the large chamber to hear. Salmasius, Kinro, and Miriam looked at me like I was a crazy person, but the intended recipients of my command understood.

  Without hesitation, the eight zombies under my command lifted their weapons up and began slashing at their own throats. Those zombies with blades were able to remove their own heads in one quick stroke, since their [Strength] was much higher than their [Fortitude]. Those with axes had a much harder time. They sawed furiously at their own necks for several seconds before they hit their own spinal columns, prompting them to fall to the ground like cut marionettes.

  Against a [Necromancer], my undead minions would only serve to be a detriment. Salmasius knew the spell [Control Undead], and his first move would be to wrench control of my zombies away from me. The only logical move was to destroy that weapon before it fell into the hands of the [Necromancer].

  “Do you really think you can defeat me, foolish boy?” Salmasius said, a guttural laugh escaping from his throat.

  “Kinro, focus on the others while I attack the [Mage]. Miriam, heal Kinro if he takes damage,” I said, deciding that my time was better spent organizing the attack than engaging in smack talk.

  “You’re beginning to anger me, boy!” Salmasius shouted. He withdrew a wand from his pocket, and four spears of ice appeared as the water in the air froze. The ice spears were a sickly green color due to the unclean water used in the spell.

  “Terra vivificare!” I shouted as the sickly spears fired in my direction. A wall of stone appeared in front of me, and the spears shattered against it. The wall would not last for long against such a skilled [Mage], but it would buy me a few extra seconds.

  I focused on the blood rune inscribed on my chest and willed my blood to flow at a faster rate. I felt as my heartbeat sped up and vigor filled my muscles. For the moment, I felt like a normal person, like I could run and jump without hurting myself.

  Two more motes of Hellfire appeared, adding to the first one, and all three shot forward at the wooden shanty town. Without looking out from my makeshift cover, I mentally sent the command for the sparks to fly over Salmasius’s position and begin ejecting flames downward. The sparks were only able to act for a few seconds before I felt the telltale feedback of their destruction.

  “What are you doing!? You’ll ruin the ritual like that!” Salmasius shouted toward me.

  That was the idea. If the ritual matrix was inscribed upon those wooden structures, then a little fire would be enough to stop the ritual. At least, the fire should be enough to draw the Necromancer’s attention elsewhere.

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  “Lympha sphera maxima!” Salmasius chanted, giving me the opportunity I was looking for.

  I flicked my wand, casting the [Fly] spell an instant before casting the [Gust] spell. With my mind focusing on the upkeep of the [Blood Enhancement], [Fly], and [Gust] spells simultaneously, I flew into the air. I kept the arc of my flight shallow, and I was standing atop a wooden structure within less than five seconds. The smell was seriously distracting, and it threatened to break my concentration on my spells.

  I dropped concentration on [Fly] as I found myself just a few meters away from Salmasius. Several of the wooden structures were covered in water, and Salmasius turned to look at me with a renewed rage. In the center of the wooden shanty town, I could see the edge of a large arcane circle that glowed faintly with mana.

  Standing there, I couldn’t help but feel unprepared for a fight. Due to our location, I would not be able to use any earth magic, meaning I would have to rely on counter-charms and Source magic for defense. This was intentional, however, as the awkward spellcasting conditions would harm Salmasius more than me. There were no intact corpses nearby for him to control, and his need to defend the circle would limit his mobility.

  “Oh, you will make a fine zombie,” Salmasius said, and I fired two Wind Knives at him as he spoke. Without much effort, he stopped the invisible attacks with a conjured Shield. “I will use your corpse to burn villages to the ground. Maybe, I’ll have you walk into a volcano? We’ll see the strength of your fire resistance!”

  “Shut up and fight, old man!” I shouted in response.

  The Necromancer’s face twitched in renewed anger. Enraged, he shouted, “I’ll show you power! Magia apparet…!”

  Salmasius began the incantation for [Mana Bolt], a 4th-level spell that would be enough to kill me. My conjured Shield would not be enough to stop it.

  “Vas terrae!” I shouted, and the counter-charm pulled a significant amount of mana out of my core. If I had to guess, I’d say the counter-charm used about 50 mana, which meant that Salmasius had put that much mana into his spell. Jesus, a [Mana Bolt] with that much mana would be more than enough to kill me.

  “...impetus!” Salmasius finished his incantation, but nothing happened. To an outsider, it looked like we had simply been shouting obscenities at each other in some foreign language.

  “You dare!?” Salmasius shouted.

  “Mulciber ignis tormentum!” I chanted, and my empowered Volcano Cannon fired at the Necromancer at a speed that was way too fast for him to dodge.

  In a vain attempt to block the attack, Salmasius conjured a Shield and imposed it in front of himself. The Shield stopped some of my attack’s momentum, but it wasn’t nearly enough to block the attack completely. A scattered glob of magma struck Salmasius. He shouted in pain and took several faltering steps back, but the attack was not enough to kill him.

  With much of his body covered in burning coals, Salmasius regained his footing and turned his attention back toward me.

  “You upstart! I’ll kill you!”