Magus Supremacy

Swoosh!

Zoom!

Boom!

In an unknown region, somewhere deep within a vast and untouched forest, a swirling gray portal tore through the fabric of space.

It opened violently and instantly ejected two figures, launching them through the air as they crashed into several towering trees, razing them down like matchsticks.

"Ugh…" both wounded individuals groaned in agony, their bodies aching and battered from the brutal battle they had barely survived.

One of them, a man with a fractured mask concealing most of his face, quickly scanned his surroundings. His breathing was uneven, and his cracked mask revealed one bloodshot eye filled with unease and calculation.

They had landed in a dense forest, its tall trees dancing gently beneath a clear, azure sky. Sunlight pierced through the canopy, casting rays of warmth across the mossy earth.

'Wait! This isn't the destination I input. Where the hell are we?' the assassin thought, eyes narrowing.

"You!" Grey roared, lightning crackling madly around his hands as his body trembled with rage and pain. His teeth were clenched tightly, veins bulging on his neck. "You dared escape again?!"

"Shut the hell up and look around you!" the assassin barked, voice tight with frustration as he rubbed at his cracked mask. "You dragged us to an unknown land! And you're still eager to continue fighting?"

"To hell with this unknown world!" Grey screamed. "Once I'm done with you, I'll find my way back! But first—I want your blood!"

With that declaration, he vanished in a burst of lightning, dashing at the assassin like a furious storm unleashed.

"He's just as stubborn as his damn mother!" the assassin growled, his eyes darting across the shattered clearing, trying to anticipate where Grey would reappear.

Bang!

A thunderous explosion echoed as trees behind the assassin erupted in a wave of force. In the blink of an eye, Grey appeared with a lightning bolt clutched in his hand.

He swung it toward the assassin's back—but the masked man whirled around swiftly and raised his middle finger in defense.

A shadow portal instantly opened behind him, and he slipped inside, disappearing just as Grey's bolt narrowly missed him.

"Tch," Grey clicked his tongue, scanning the area warily. His fingers twitched, lightning dancing at his fingertips, ready to strike.

"I must commend you," the assassin's voice echoed as another portal briefly opened overhead. "Despite the pain, the blood loss, the exhaustion... you're still standing. You're just a kid. Give it a rest."

Two bolts of lightning arced upward, but the portal sealed before they reached it.

"This kid just lost his only support," Grey growled, teeth grinding. "And you want me to keep calm?! You want me to rest?!"

Another portal opened to his side, but Grey twisted sharply, stomping the earth. A massive slab of rock launched into the space—only to collide with nothing.

"Look at your body," the assassin said again, his voice now echoing from in front of Grey as a fresh portal opened. "If you don't get treatment soon, you'll bleed out. No one will save you."

Grey sent a blazing fireball through the portal in response.

"You don't have to worry about me bleeding to death," Grey barked. "Because before I die, I'll drag you to hell myself!"

With a thunderous clap, Grey summoned wind magic, and the air roared to life. The trees trembled, and the skies seemed to stir with his fury.

"Well then…" the assassin's voice slithered up again, "…how sure are you we won't be roommates in hell?"

Beneath Grey's feet, the shadows twisted violently. They seized his legs, yanking him downward. Before he could react, his head slammed against the ground with brutal force. Blood sprayed from his skull like a fountain, and the world around him spun in a dizzy blur.

His breathing grew labored, each gasp scraping his throat. Blood poured from his head, painting the grass crimson.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" the assassin muttered as he emerged slowly from the shadows beside Grey. His posture was confident, voice laced with contempt.

"So much for being the so-called Supreme Mage."

Grey, who was still feeling dizzy, clenched his hands tightly in anger. His teeth grit as he tried to get up, when a hard kick from the assassin sent his body hurling across the place.

His flight was halted by a thick tree, his body crashing into it with a sickening thud while his bones and muscles throbbed in agony.

"See what you did? You could have just died peacefully in your house, but now, you're going to die in an unknown place. In a forest, no less," the assassin chuckled as he snapped his fingers, launching twenty shadow swords towards Grey.

"I… I… I won't be giving up!" Grey shouted as he used whatever strength he had left to push himself up. He blitzed away just in time, narrowly avoiding the shadow spears that pierced into the tree behind him with terrifying force.

Now kneeling on one knee, Grey gasped for breath. Blood sprayed out of his head, dripping down his face and staining the ground.

His breaths were ragged and shallow, but in his eyes—those bloodshot, battle-worn eyes—burned unrelenting fire. His teeth clenched so tightly it felt like they could shatter.

"If you don't want to learn the easy way, then you'll just have to learn the hard way!" the assassin shouted, his body sinking into the shadows once again.

Grey stood upright, his hands now licked with flames. His body swayed slightly from exhaustion, but he twisted and turned sharply, scanning for any hint of the assassin's next move.

"Peekaboo!" the assassin's voice called out from beneath Grey as a shadowy hand shot up to grab his legs. But in a split second, Grey activated his wind magic and launched himself into the air.

"Eat this!" he roared mid-air, twisting to deliver a flaming kick straight onto the assassin's head, slamming him back into the shadows.

"Come out, you coward! Stop hiding!" Grey shouted, though his voice was laced with pain as he clutched his side. Blood continued dripping from the open wound near his ribs.

"Says the guy who's hanging onto life by a thread," the assassin sneered. A portal swirled open in the sky, and in response, Grey launched a fireball into it.

But another portal opened beside him and the same fireball came hurtling back, smashing directly into his side.

"Agh!" Grey screamed as his body flew into another tree, the impact jarring his already injured head and reopening old wounds. More blood trickled down his forehead and into his eyes.

Shadows rippled beneath him again as the assassin emerged, fumbling in his pocket. From it, he pulled a metallic cube, pulsating with a dark, eerie energy.

"You should've just agreed to join us instead of making us go through all this," the assassin muttered, staring down at Grey. "With this, you'll finally be gone from this life."

He swung the cube forward, smashing it against Grey's already injured head. The impact was devastating—Grey's ears rang with a high-pitched whine, his vision blurred, and the world tilted violently. Darkness loomed at the edge of his senses.

"Goodbye, Grey," the assassin whispered, turning around and casually walking away, hands stuffed in his pockets, whistling a cheerful tune—oblivious to the fact that Grey was still clinging to life.

'I… I… I won't die… not until I kill him!' Grey screamed in his mind, using every last shred of willpower to push his battered body off the ground.

The assassin, unaware, was now just a few meters away, humming peacefully.

"Fire Creation Magic: Salamander…" Grey whispered, voice barely audible.

Suddenly, the air trembled.

A massive dragon, wreathed in blazing flames from head to tail and as big as a house, erupted from thin air.

Its wings spread wide, and with a single flap, the fireballs it released ignited the surrounding forest. The trees were ablaze, and the entire clearing became an inferno.

"What the hell?!" the assassin gasped, spinning around. His eyes widened in horror, dry with fear.

It was too late.

The fire dragon opened its massive maw and a colossal fireball launched forward at impossible speed—far faster than anything Grey had ever conjured before.

"NOOO—!" was all the assassin could scream before the fire engulfed him completely, turning his shadowy form into nothing but ash and smoke.

"Wrong," Grey muttered, blood dripping from his mouth. His body swayed and trembled. His vision was fading. "I won… and yo… you lost."

Then his body gave out.

He collapsed with a sickening thud, his chest heaving up and down with effort. His eyes fluttered between open and shut, the edge of consciousness claiming him.

"Mu… Mum… I hope you… you're proud of me now. I… I avenged your murder," Grey whispered, his voice faint and trembling.

Just then, his mother's face flashed in his mind—warm, smiling, radiant.

"I'm always proud of you, Grey. Thank you. And I love you," Clara's voice echoed gently, as if whispered by the wind itself.

A weak smile crept onto Grey's lips. A single tear slid down the side of his face.

"I… I love you too, Mum," he said.

And then… he stopped breathing.

His eyes remained open, but the light in them faded. His hands fell limply to his sides, the warmth leaving his body. The great fire dragon vanished in a quiet puff of embers, leaving behind only the smell of smoke… and silence.