An Owl's Rise



Otis knew what he had to do now, though he was sure that Evelyn would not approve of his plan.

With his partially reformed sand titan he launched himself towards their enemy and prepared for his final move. 

"I'm tired of this. Your amusement has worn off!"

Fury in his voice the hooded man met Otis' charge, this time emitting more magical energy than he had before.

Without any care for his own safety Otis threw the full weight of his partially constructed sand titan at the man and did not pull back for anything.

The only reason he had truly held out for this long was that this man was still wary of Evelyn even though she had disengaged.

He knew she was still around and had kept at least some amount of his awareness trained on a surprise attack. Otis needed to force him to devote as many resources as he could towards himself to make Evelyn attack more likely to hit.

"I finally got you."

Two seconds after they clashed was all it took for the hooded man to find Otis and close his massive hand around the defenseless owl.

In an effort to protect himself for just a moment long, Otis had reverted to his smaller owl form and formed the hardest ball of earth he could as a protective shell.

It would only take another moment for him to be crushed and he could feel his final defense cracking.

Still, this had always been his plan.

At the cusp of assured victory was when one was almost always at their most vulnerable. The hooded man had caught Otis and was just a second away from delivering the final blow and felt full of himself. That was when Evelyn struck.

She had watched on with fear creeping into her heart that she had put too much on Otis and that he could die at any moment, but she needed time to prepare an attack that could beat this guy.

Her worst fears seemed to be realized when the man caught Otis, and Evelyn nearly lost concertation on her magic as a result of distress.

'No, the man's hand is not clenched tight enough to have crushed Otis yet. He has to still be alive.' 

Part of her thought process was just so she did not fall into despair. While it made some logical sense that Otis might be alive, it was equally likely he had been killed.

However, Evelyn could not let herself get disheartened at this final stage and fired off her attack.

'Heavenly Laser.'

Of all of her spells this one had the most speed and precision behind it.

She had used all three of her magic affinities to create this beam of concentrated flames that sliced through anything in its path with its intense heat.

The spell was as difficult to control now as when she first thought it up, but even with the pressure on she had not failed in casting it.

Otis had given her all the time she needed to bring out the full might of what was one of her strongest attacks.

Her target did not have a single instant to react before the heavenly laser hit him and seared right through his arm.

Evelyn felt the energy she had amassed beginning to wane after firing her spell and swiftly turned her head for a follow-up before she ran out of energy.

She was aiming to cleave her target in half at the waist, but her initial shot had garnered his complete attention and he jumped back and defend himself with all of the magical energy he could conjure at a moment's notice.

The heavenly laser spell burned through the hooded man's barrier with ease, but by the time it reached his skin, it was almost out of power.

Damn it! I couldn't finish him.'

After her attack ran out of magical energy, Evelyn had failed in her goal to kill her and Otis' adversary.

There was now a half meter deep line seared into the hooded man's lower torso, but that was far from enough to cleave him in half.

His large bulky frame had saved him and the high durability of someone of his rank meant that even his damaged organs would not be enough to kill him.

Had she not used her first shot to cut off his arm and aimed for his head as she initially planned, he would not still be alive.

Nevertheless, when she saw Otis about to be crushed, she could not risk the man's body spasming in death and squishing Otis. She had to make sure to protect her companion first.

'It should be enough. I may be drained, but he is certainly too injured to continue. Down and arm and with a deep scar in his torso he is probably barely able to move.'

And just as Evelyn had surmised, her and Otis' opponent was barely hanging on.

Just the pain he felt from the extreme burns was enough to make him want to pass out.

"This isn't over yet. I will not be satisfied until your corpses line my room as trophies." The man said before pulling out some sort of idol and crushing it.

An instant alter he was enveloped in a warp portal and vanished from sight. They had not been able to kill him but forcing him to retreat was the next best thing.

Once the man was gone, Otis broke out of the earthen shell he had surrounded himself in and began flying over to Evelyn.

He was back in his owl from as he needed to be smaller to leave more room to protect himself with his magic, but also because he knew that Evelyn would be uncomfortable if he came back to her side still in his humanoid form.

'Now, how are the others doing?'

With her battle over for now, Evelyn turned her attention to her compassions' fights to see if they needed assistance.

Yet as her attention waned for a moment Otis noticed something Evelyn did not and rushed towards her as fast as she could.

The next thing she knew he had slammed into her with enough force to launch her away and she looked towards him with shock, not understanding what he was doing.

Then it happened.

Several black rods pierced through Otis' body all at once.

His wings, feet, and beak were skewered, and his body became suspended in the air.

He had not been hit anywhere vital by some miracle.

'No, it was not a miracle. Those rods had been aimed at me. They want me alive. Only me.'

A dark premonition came over Evelyn, and she tried to right herself and fly to Otis' aid.

She began challenging the remaining magical energy she had to unleash her heavenly flame and melt away the rods that had pierced Otis.

"Another pest getting in my way. I have no need for this one."

The world seemed to slow down for Evelyn as she watched what happened next.

The dozen rods that had impaled Otis began to pull apart, and Evelyn could do nothing but stare at the horror in front of her as his wings, feet, and head were torn from his body.

Chapter 356 The Return of Despair