“Stay still! Do not move!” A voice called out across the plains, directed at a small speck in the sky that was slowly inching towards us.

  “Hey Bran, do you think that small dot in the sky is really the Reaper? It’s so tiny, what if it’s a bird?”

  I looked at Gareth with an annoyed expression on my face.

  “Gareth quit callin’ me Bran, my name is Brandon! And yes, o’ course that speck in duh sky is duh Reaper, duh watchers saw ‘im!”

  Gareth frowned.

  “Duh this duh that! Speak normally, stop the country drawl! Please!”

  I scowled and grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulling his face close to mine.

  “Don’ you tell me ha’ ta’ talk! I can talk whateva’ way I want!”

  “Hey! Pay attention you two! Stop arguing!” The commander yelled at us.

  Gareth smirked at me.

  “You heard the man. Let me go.”

  I frowned and pushed him away, causing him to stumble and bump into Roland.

  Roland pushed him back to me.

  “Quit being annoying and focus on the target!” He whispered, glaring at me and Gareth as if we had committed some sort of crime.

  “Fine. But only if Gareth quits annoyin’ me wit’ foolish questions.”

  Gareth scowled but stayed silent.

  “If you move one more time, we will fire!” The voice called out again.

  ‘Man, they needa’ quit beein’ so loud. It’s hurtin’ my ears.’ I thought in annoyance.

  The speck in the sky didn’t respond and kept on crawling ever closer to us.

  The commander nodded at us and raised his fist in the air.

  “Second battalion! In three, fire!”

  “Yes sir!” We responded.

  ‘I still can’t believe that wa’ gonna waste so much faya’ powa’ on obliteratin’ a little dot.’ I thought in annoyance.

  “One!”

  I pushed mana into my hands in preparation.

  “Two!”

  I felt the ends of my fingers tingle from the mana within them.

  “Three!”

  I released my spell and watched as it shot through the sky, along with thousands of other spells, causing the sky to turn a bright red.

  ‘Man, that’s bright!’

  I covered my eyes and relaxed my mana.

  ‘There is no way that that speck is survivin’ this. I can’t wait ta’ get home and eat dinner with ma’ family after all this is over.’

  Abruptly, the bright light in the sky disappeared. I uncovered my eyes and stared at the sky, confused.

  “Huh? Where did all the spells go? The sky is empty.” Gareth said from beside me.

  I squinted.

  “It ain’t empty, duh speck is still there!”

  Gareth frowned and squinted as well.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “I’ll say, you’re right! What the hell happened!”

  Soldiers murmured around us, and some pointed at the sky.

  The commander growled and sent a small pulse of mana into the air, causing us to twitch and fall silent.

  “Soldiers! Be quiet and wait for further orders!”

  “Yes sir!”

  I gulped. The speck continued to move forward lazily, and now that it was closer, I could see that it did look a little bit like a person.

  The commander raised his fist once more.

  “Soldiers! Fire second round on five!”

  “Yes sir!”

  I swelled up half of my remaining mana and pushed it into my hands. Unlike the tingle I got before, now my hands were burning.

  “One!” The commander yelled.

  “Connect!” A voice called out from the third battalion.

  I watched as a swarm of translucent lines crisscrossed through the sky toward the speck.

  ‘That must be duh wata’ type mages.’

  “Two!”

  I continued to stare as the crisscrossing lines of water circled the speck in the sky, creating a spherical net around it.

  “Three!”

  My hands were burning. It felt like they were gonna melt off.

  ‘Come on commander, get ta’ five already!’ I thought heatedly.

  “Four!”

  The net made out of the crisscrossing lines of water began to quiver and shake around the speck.

  ‘Come on already, come one!’

  “Five!”

  With a roar I released my spell, and I watched it as it joined the thousands of other colorful streaks as they flew towards the net.

  ‘They better give me a promotion afta’ this.’

  The spells flew through the openings in the net and then the net closed itself off and turned into an orb of water.

  ‘Ah, I get it. This will close off duh explosion and cause it ta’ be more concentrated. It also traps duh Reaper in, making him unable ta’ escape. Hah, what a foolish man, thinking he can challenge an empire. You are literally facing off against an army of ten thousand mages! What are ya gonna do?’

  I smirked at our victory, watching the bright red ball of water as it roiled and spun in place.

  “Well, that's that,” Gareth said from beside me.

  I nodded in agreement.

  ‘Just cause’ he destroyed duh fifth battalion, literally duh weakest battalion in duh army, does not mean he’s a true threat. Duh empire truly overestimated him.’ I thought smugly.

  Suddenly, the orb popped, and a huge torrent of mana shot out of it straight towards us.

  “Raise a grand formation, now!” The commander yelled.

  “Yes sir!” We responded.

  I pushed my remaining mana through my arms and out of my body and then directed it to the grand formation that was forming in the air above our heads.

  “Hold, hold… release the grand formation, now!” The commander yelled.

  I stared in amazement as a massive translucent shield of pure mana materialized around the army in seconds, barely blocking the torrent of mana in time.

  The torrent pushed against the shield, causing it to strain, and then dissipated into the air.

  “Put down the shield!” The voice commanded.

  I watched as the shield slowly disintegrated into the ground, and released a breath of relief.

  “That was close. What happened? Why did the bubble pop?” Gareth asked.

  ‘It’s an orb, not a bubble ya idiot.’ I thought but said nothing.

  “He must have somehow completely blocked our attack, and then used the concentrated energy of it to destroy the connected water formation,” Roland said from behind me.

  “Ah, I see,” Gareth replied with a thoughtful look on his face.

  I looked up at the sky where the speck was.

  ‘Wait what? It’s gone!’

  “What? Where’s the Reaper? He disappeared!” Gareth yelled.

  “Stop sayin’ everythin’ that I’m thinking!” I screamed at Gareth.

  He stumbled backward in surprise.

  ‘Hah! That’ll teach him to stop messin’ with me.’

  “You fools.” A deep voice echoed from above me.

  I looked up to see a man wearing a gray military uniform, standing in the air above my head.

  “Do you truly believe that such measly and weak magic can kill me? Children like you are far too eccentric to survive in the real world. Let me show you what true power is.”

  He raised his hand.

  I flinched and raised my hands to protect my head.

  ‘I have no mana left! How did he get here?! Did he teleport?’

  I balled my hands into fists.

  ‘A-am I gonna die?’

  I felt a light breeze blow across my face. The battlefield was silent.

  ‘H-huh? Nothin’ happened?’

  Abruptly, the man began to fall upwards. I stared at him as he did.

  ‘Huh?’

  I continued to stare at him, as he went further and further away.

  ‘Wait, why is he going so far away? And who is standin’ there below him without a head? Why is he wearin’ my clothes?’

  I felt an impact, and my vision spun and rolled, and then came to a stop.

  ‘Why is my body standin’ over there, without a head? Am I… dead?’

  The world fuzzed and then turned black.

  ————

  I looked down at the ten thousand-man army as every soldier’s body fell to the ground next to its decapitated head.

  ‘They were stronger than that last army, but only by a little bit.’

  I saw a small movement in the corner of my eye.

  ‘Ah, one of them survived.’

  I flew towards the source of the movement and saw a man, who looked to be in his late seventies, standing unmoving in the center of a field of corpses.

  ‘Oh, he’s A rank. No wonder he managed to block my attack.’

  He looked at me as I neared, and opened his mouth as if to speak.

  I raised my hand and his mouth snapped shut.

  “No, no, no, you do not need to utter a word,” I said in a chiding tone.

  I landed in front of him, raised my hand to his face, and then caressed his cheek.

  “You must be in so much pain. Don’t you worry, your pain and all others within this empire will go away very soon.”

  I pushed a small amount of space mana through my meridians and into his brain.

  “Goodbye.”

  His head exploded, and his body flew backward from the pressure.

  I smiled as his headless body rolled and landed among his comrades.

  “Be free from your pain in the afterlife.”