Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

With her bow in hand, she drew and fired an arrow infused with potent wind magic. The arrow streaked through the air with precision, piercing the heart of the swirling fire tornado, disrupting its form and causing the flames to burst outward.

The resulting explosion sent forth an intense wave of heat and fire in all directions, consuming the area around the creature. The monstrous coral-covered octopus writhed in pain as the flames burned its form. The combination of fire and wind magic had proven to be devastatingly effective, altering the course of the battle in favor of Rain and his companions.

Still, the fire was soon dispersed when the monster suddenly hit the water of the ocean and made some waves go upward and wash away the flames. Liss bit her lips in exasperation since she used a lot of mana in that spell…

"I trained so hard to cast that spell that fast…" Liss muttered.

Despite Liss's attempt to stop for good the colossal coral-covered octopus, the creature seethed in anger, its skin reddening in fury. It brought two of its massive tentacles together and unleashed a powerful water cannon aimed directly at Liss. Before the water cannon could reach her, Rain and his comrades sprang and moved to action.

Rain summoned a sturdy wall of compacted earth just in time to intercept the oncoming water cannon. The collision between the water cannon and the earth wall created a mighty impact, and for a brief moment, it appeared that Rain's defense would hold.

However, the relentless force of the attack began to take its toll, causing the earth wall to crack and crumble under the immense pressure of the water.

In a swift move to protect himself, Rain encased his arms in solid, hardened earth, reinforcing them to withstand the relentless assault. As the water cannon continued to bear down on him, Rain braced for impact.

The collision was fierce, and Rain was pushed back at an astonishing speed, the force of the water cannon exceeding his expectations. Witnessing their companion in peril, Jori and Reca rushed to his side, extending their arms in an attempt to support him.

Despite their combined efforts, they found themselves locked in a fierce struggle against the colossal coral-covered octopus. The creature's relentless assault threatened to overpower them. Still, eventually, they stopped moving, and the beast showed a hint of surprise.

Eventually, the attacked ended, and those three showed themselves drenched. However, almost completely intact… the earth around Rain's arms was still fine, which puzzled the monsters.

It seemed that the beasts were fairly smart, but that didn't matter. What did matter was the fact that their actions managed to attract the attention of some of those who remained underwater until now.

Rising from the ocean's depths, sea folk began to emerge, revealing their faces above the water's surface. Rain, taken aback by their appearance, couldn't help but furrow his brow slightly as he examined them more closely.

What he saw defied his expectations. Unlike the monstrous sea creatures they had been fighting, the sea folk had a striking resemblance to humans. Some of them looked almost entirely human, with features similar to people from the land. But there was one notable difference – they had elongated, fin-like ears on the sides of their heads.

These unique earfins, though unusual, added an aquatic elegance to their human-like appearance.

However, Rain also noticed that not all sea folk had this human-like appearance. Among them were individuals whose appearance leaned more towards fish or even reptilian characteristics, reminding him of the diverse marine life in the ocean's depths. Some had scales on their skin in various colors, while others had webbed hands and feet, more suitable for life underwater. Discover stories on m _v _le _mp _yr.

Their eyes, varying in size and shape, had an otherworldly, aquatic quality.

On one hand, their human-like features, along with their distinctive fin-like ears, created a connection between the land and the sea. On the other hand, the wide range of appearances among the sea folk highlighted the vast and mysterious nature of the underwater world.

"Rain…" Jori whispered.

"I saw them," Rain said. "Let's let the monsters push us a bit more. I can't use that technique well when the terrain is uneven and drenched like this."

The area that they were in was a bit taller than the level of the ocean. While Rain could reach the sea folk from there, he would pass above them. He couldn't mess up and give them the chance to escape… it would be too dangerous to try to chase them underwater.

In the end, the group didn't have much time to follow the plan since the soldiers of the other group were having a hard time withstanding the attacks of the first coral octopus. It didn't take long for the creature to change its attention toward Rain and then fire a blast of water as well.

The second creature joined the attack and then used the same spell. Rain assumed his defensive stance and activated Limit Breaker without any other choice.

Rain's skin turned red, and his muscles began to bulge. The temperature of his body increased, but thanks to all that, he blocked the two attacks without flinching even a bit. Still, all that water was going to eventually drown the city, but it wasn't enough to cool down his body.

Jori and Reca had a hard time breathing behind Rain, thanks to all that water being spread around. While they weren't suffering damage, they felt like they were under one crazy waterfall… fortunately, they endured the attack, and that made the sea folk even more curious, to the point that they approached the land to the point that the water was on their waists.

They never saw a human that could withstand that level of attack; survive was already too shocking, after all…

Still, the attacks eventually ended, and then pieces of the hardened ground began to fall from Rain's arms… which had been a close one.