Aurelius was blown backwards in the explosion.

  The first thought that crossed his mind was self-pity. It was the second time he was getting caught up in explosions TODAY! What kind of a cruel joke was this?

  The second thought was terror.

  He was sure that Quetzalcoatl was involved in such a ridiculous occurrence! Did he offend Him with a careless prayer? What a jealous guy! The thought felt absurd and awful at once.

  Fortunately the initial explosion was not that violent, only knocking Aurelius back by a few meters.

  Seraphine was even luckier, with her being far enough to escape the original blast.

  Realising the strangeness of the situation, her face was filled with bewilderment.

  She had never heard of such catastrophic failure during a simple spirit summoning.

  She waved her hands deftly with practiced fluidity, conjuring up a mana shield to cover herself.

  After securing her safety, Aurelius was next. A large boulder rose from the ground with the snap of her finger, quickly shaping itself into the shape of a curved shield, protecting Aurelius from any more abnormalities.

  It was lucky that she was so quick-witted, given that mere milliseconds after she had done so, a second, more destructive explosion occurred.

  A glow of purple insane light erupted from where the golem had been standing. It swept over the barrier of stone that protected Aurelius silently.

  The force of the light felt tangible, as if a fireball was expanding in all directions. Seraphine struggled against this force, her feet sliding and sinking into the loose soil.

  She waved her hand again and again, repairing and reforming the thin barrier that was barely sustaining her.

  Her familiar took on the burden of the intense mana manipulation with her. It reinforced the soul bonds between the two, channelling mana with immense concentration.

  Seraphine felt the heat affect her skin, boiling the flesh all over her body.

  The swiftness in which such injuries materialised was a testament to the incredible power that was blasting the girl. The heat couldn’t be fully kept out with her best mana shield!

  Aurelius suffered worse. He was frozen in place under the cover of the stony barrier.

  He struggled to breathe against a double entendre of misfortune; the initial blast that had knocked the wind out of his lungs and the struggle for breath in the burning air around him.

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  He felt his recently mended ribs had cracked once more, but the pain was negligible given the insane situation all around him.

  He could see the stone barrier starting to glow all around himself, emanating the toasty heat of hellfire.

  It felt reminiscent of a baker’s oven. He felt himself roasting in the heat, his hair starting to burn and his flesh starting to smell… delicious.

  Aurelius attempted to use magic, but could not concentrate in the slightest. He was exhausted from the magic involved in the 2 rituals. Plus, he wasn’t a trained and experienced mage like Seraphine. Magic that might have felt instinctive to her would take him at least a few seconds to cast in full focus!

  Aurelius felt helpless as he tried to reign in his thoughts and focus.

  Then, without warning in the next instant, the light stopped, faded to nothing.

  The heat still lingered on the stone that protected Aurelius, proving it was not an illusion what had happened in the last few seconds.

  Amidst the globules of magma strewn all around the clearing, a terrifying sight awaited Seraphine and Aurelius.

  Where the golem had been moments before was a pitch black mass twisting in an over itself. It was the size of a small beach ball, with the texture of human skin.

  The moment that Serapine noticed it, an insane suction force burst forth from it.

  It pulled at all of the surrounding air, mana and soil.

  The ball compressed and writhed as it absorbed all that grazed its surface.

  That was when they realised a horrifying fact. It wasn’t merely the physical pull they had to resist. It was tugging at their souls as well!

  While it had not yet broken the bond between their bodies and soul, the two mages felt their souls lifting out of their bodies, enticed to join the squirming mass.

  For a magic to affect others’ souls without permission was unthinkable.

  The most advanced spells could possibly create such force, and neither of them knew what had gone wrong to introduce such terror in their faces.

  The two of them responded immediately, starting to meditate and pray respectively.

  As expected, the pathetic mage who prayed for salvation was Aurelius. An absolutely useless act in his current predicament.

  He personally vowed that he would be the most faithful of the Church of Dragons. In fact, he would willingly castrate himself and join a bloody monastery if he was saved right now!

  As if answering his prayers, another intense light started to emanate from the vortex.

  His wish would be fulfilled. He wouldn’t die from his soul being forced into that ball of horror. He would die from the coming explosion!

  Seraphine tensed up, recognising the signs of it threatening to blow up once again. Despite her meditation and experience, her focus was still too jumbled to resist the influence of the ball of light.

  Additionally, the now stretched shape of her soul meant that she could not cast any magic until the vortex let up its influence.

  No magic could be cast without the proper shape! Worse still, most ambient mana had been sucked into the ball already. A shield conjured up using this miniscule mana would at best preserve her charred skeleton in the impending blast!

  As Seraphine also fell to despair, the ball expanded once more into a ball of light, exploding forcefully.

  Seeing this, Seraphine’s eyes went cold, and her lips curled into a smile. She was going to die, but she was going to die with dignity!

  Her familiar had been more successful at resisting the pull on their soul, and with effort, it conjured up a flimsy mana shield to protect its mistress one last time.

  Aurelius… Aurelius cowered in the cover of the still glowing stone shield of his.

  The sphere continued to expand, enveloping the vicinity.

  When it reached her, Seraphine knew all hope was lost. The shield had broken immediately on contact.

  She was pleasantly surprised to find the light felt ticklish on her skin.

  Hmmm. Not a bad way to go, she thought.

  And for a split second, beneath her terror, a small, defiant amusement flickered through her. The laugh that almost escaped her mouth was absurd and very much… human.