Atticus had always been careful from the outset. This was how he had always been.

He could have chosen to engrave multiple grade one runes so he would be able to probably minimize his will, but Atticus had decided against that.

Apart from the fact that the material he could engrave on was very limited, Atticus could feel the scorching heat of the massive fireballs approaching him. It wasn't something a grade one rune shield could block, not even close.

So he had decided to be careful from the outset and go with a grade 2 rune despite the strain. But Atticus would have never expected what happened next to happen.

One second elapsed, the massive fireballs landing with force.

The shield emitted a chorus of metallic clangs as the fireballs bombarded its surface, the sound reminiscent of a blacksmith hammering molten metal on an anvil.

Atticus's assumption had been completely accurate; the wave of fire was cataclysmic.

It engulfed the entire area in a scorching wave of fire. If not for the rune shield Atticus had made, their forms would've turned into nothing more than a charred mess already.

It didn't take long before it happened, something that shook Atticus to his core. The sound had been nonexistent, but the gravity of the situation made it as loud as a nuclear explosion.

A crack suddenly appeared on the surface of the shield.

'It's more powerful than an advanced+ rank!?'

"Atticus,"

It had been so abrupt and sudden that Atticus only had the chance to hear the soft and worried mutter of Aurora from behind him before a multitude of cracks started appearing on the shield.

Atticus forcefully swung Aurora, who was trying to come to his front, behind him and deftly took off his trench coat, spreading it in front of him.

The intense wave of fire broke through the shield with great force, exploding in a raging inferno of scorching fire that swallowed everything up.

Atticus crossed his hand in front of him, enveloping his form with the trench coat, making sure Aurora was covered behind him.

At the next instant, the intense force of the fire blasted their forms away from the air in different directions as they separated in the air.

Atticus's figure was sent hurtling backward, his form engulfed in a torrent of fire and smoke like a leaf caught in a tempest of flames.

An unimaginable amount of pain racked Atticus's form, fire ravaging his whole body, but despite this intense pain that would have made many pass out, Atticus's bloodied eyes swept around the area, his head oddly clear.

His gaze locked on to the form of Aurora in the air, his mind mapping the trajectory of her descent.

At the next instant, Atticus's form collided and broke through multiple sturdy trees like twigs before getting lodged into an imposing and large tree.

A mouthful of blood spilled out of Atticus's mouth, landing on the earth in a huge splatter.

Atticus shook his head profusely, his gaze cloudy as he tried to regain his grip on reality.

Atticus struggled, his figure shaking and turning, removing himself from the lodged tree. He landed on the floor, his form sinking to both knees as he lay down on the earth on all fours.

Atticus coughed a few more times, crimson blood and a significant amount of black smoke streaming out of his mouth.

He raised both his hands, shakily unclenching his arms, his gaze landing on two small pieces of the remains of his trench coat.

Then, as Atticus's gaze turned to look at his arms and then his whole body, his heart shook.

Luckily, Atticus had crossed his arms in front of him, but this had enabled said arms to take the full brunt of the scorching fire.

His arms were thoroughly blackened and charred, and the same could be said for a significant portion of his form.

Only half of his trousers remained, covering his kneecap upwards. His inner robe had been reduced to a blackened mess that clung to him.

Luckily, his face had been spared, but there were some burnt patches here and there on his hair, its Snow White form tainted by blackened spots.

'It's too slow,'

Atticus could feel it; he was barely healing. And this was because most of the mana inside his body was being completely suppressed.

This was a problem, a huge problem.

He had no access to any of his bloodlines, so he couldn't use the water element to heal.

Atticus slowly clenched both his fists, instantly wincing at the enormous pain that racked his form.

Although they were still somewhat usable, Atticus could feel his fighting strength would be hindered.

Especially now that his strength was being suppressed.

'I have to go after Aurora,'

Atticus shook his head profusely, clearing his thoughts from anything apart from this.

He shakily stood up, noting that his shoe had luckily survived the raging fire.

Atticus stretched out his hands and legs, rolling them and relieving their tensed forms.

'I can only engrave one grade one rune for now; any more and I would become demotivated,'

He turned towards the east, where he had seen Aurora fall.

Just as he was about to take a step forward, Atticus felt his spine tingle.

With lightning-fast moves and without hesitation, Atticus ducked and rolled, barely managing to dodge multiple laser beams that pierced the space he had been before.

'There're four of them,'

The dust from the earth had hardly cleared when Atticus instantly scanned the surroundings.

Atticus didn't waste a single second; there was nothing to think about. There were four enemies in the area, that was all he needed to know.

Atticus bit into his index finger, engraving the word "heal" onto one of the leftover pieces of his trench coat. He instantly channeled his mana into it, a green wave enveloping his form.

However, Atticus's injuries had been far too severe, not enough for a grade one rune to heal completely.

But for now, Atticus needed all the help he could get, no matter how little.

Atticus's action had been too swift and sudden, not giving the enemies enough time to fire at him a second time.

The green light faded just in time for Atticus cold gaze to land on the forms of the enemies.

Four large figures donned in a purple futuristic combat suit walked into the small clearing Atticus was in, each of their large gun-like weapons pointed straight at Atticus's form, their gazes radiating an intense crimson glow.