Manaless Mage-Chapter 303: Helpless

Once more, the earth beneath Trent stirred.

The rocks trembled violently, then erupted upward like hungry jaws, trying to snap shut around Trent’s lower body.

But again, the water tentacles beneath him surged, lifting him into the air just before the trap could close.

Boom!

The spell clamped on itself, missing its mark.

Bonny hissed in frustration again, but this time, three more tentacles were already rushing toward him like serpents.

He tried to dodge, but his speed had dropped. His legs felt heavy. His movements slower.

His body was breaking down.

His mana... nearly gone.

’He’s too fast...’ he thought again, his vision starting to blur.

Bonny’s eyes narrowed as he gritted his teeth. Blood dripped down his face, the sting from his wounds sharper than ever.

His body trembled, not just from pain, but from something far worse—fear.

Each time Trent attacked, it felt like the world itself was about to collapse. Bonny had seen powerful opponents before, but none like this.

Still, he wasn’t going to stop.

He slammed his palm into the ground. "Stone Burst!" he yelled.

RUMBLE!

The ground cracked beneath his feet as multiple jagged rocks shot upward and launched at Trent from different angles.

They whistled through the air, slicing wind apart with their sharp edges. But Trent didn’t flinch. freēnovelkiss.com

A tentacle whipped forward—WHAP!—and smacked three away. The others surged forward, but Trent raised another tentacle.

"Hmph," he muttered.

SPLASH!

A stream of water burst out with a deafening roar, slamming into the rest of the stones mid-air.

They shattered into pebbles before vanishing into faint brown particles. Bonny hissed.

"Earth Lance!" he barked.

Five sharp spears of stone erupted from the ground and spun mid-air before shooting at Trent like arrows.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

But the response was the same.

Crack!

A water tentacle twisted and swept through them like twigs in a flood. Bonny barely saw it move before another blast of pressurized water smashed the remaining lances into dust.

"Tch... Why?" he muttered, stepping back slightly. "Why won’t anything work?"

He clapped his hands together. "Rock Shard Cannon!"

BOOM!

From the wall behind him, a makeshift cannon made of stone extended, and a series of rock bullets fired out like a Gatling gun. The sound alone shook the battlefield.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

But all they struck was water—an enormous curtain of it conjured by Trent’s tentacle.

Shhhhhhhhhh!

The rocks melted into the downpour and never even reached him.

Bonny’s eyes widened. "No way..."

He didn’t get time to think further. With a growl, Trent extended one tentacle forward, water forming at the tip. The pressure built up in a blink—and then—

BOOOOSH!

A massive surge of water blasted through the air with incredible speed. Bonny’s mouth dropped open.

"EARTH WALL!" he screamed, slamming his hand on the floor.

A thick wall rose instantly. It was huge, reinforced with extra mana this time, its base twice as wide, and its top curved for added strength. For a moment, he thought it would hold.

CRACK!

It didn’t.

BOOM!

The wall shattered like glass struck by a hammer. Pieces flew in every direction as the water blast slammed into Bonny’s chest with a THUMP! that echoed through the arena. He was lifted off his feet and flung backwards.

Thud! Thud! CRACK! BAM!

He bounced across the ground, leaving cracks and blood trails behind him until his back struck the base of a crumbled wall.

"Guhk!" he coughed, blood spurting from his mouth.

Before he could even think, a tentacle surged through the air—WHIP!—and wrapped tightly around his torso, squeezing like a serpent.

"Arghhh!" Bonny groaned, his limbs flailing.

He couldn’t move. The grip was too tight, the pain unbearable. He looked up.

Trent was there, standing with the same cold, unfeeling gaze. No smile. No expression.

"I... won’t... lose," Trent muttered again.

The tentacle tightened.

Crk!

Bonny gasped, blood dripping from his lips as his ribs strained. But even in pain, even with his vision blurring again, he clenched his fist weakly.

"I... I won’t lose either," he murmured, barely above a whisper.

He lifted a shaky hand.

"Stone Spikes!"

KRK-KRK-KRAAAK!

Dozens of jagged spikes burst out from the ground beneath Trent, aiming to impale him. Trent jumped back, using his water tentacles to fling himself backward into the air.

Bonny dropped to the ground with a grunt as the tentacle released him.

Thud!

He coughed violently, his fingers digging into the dirt. Blood trickled from his mouth and nose. His body felt broken. But still, he pushed himself up to his knees.

"I’m not... done yet..."

He slammed his hands together.

"Wall Meteor!"

From the surrounding earth, massive blocks rose and flew into the sky before changing mid-air.

WHUMM!

Each one morphed—some into fists, others into axes, spears, even blades.

They swirled overhead, casting dark shadows across the entire battlefield. Then they fell like thunderbolts, crashing toward Trent with explosive force.

BOOM!

CRASH!

BANG!

Trent dodged to the side, his tentacles whipping through the air. One of them smashed into a massive stone axe, reducing it to rubble.

WHACK!

Another swung through a falling stone spear, breaking it into pebbles.

BWOOSH!

Then came the water. He blasted a portion of the descending projectiles, breaking through three stone fists in one go.

Bonny watched, still crouched on the floor, his chest heaving.

One after another, his creations were obliterated.

"Why..." he whispered. "Why won’t anything work?"

As the dust cleared, he could barely see through the blood in his eyes. But the outline of Trent—still standing, completely untouched—made his heart drop.

Was this the difference between them?

No... it couldn’t be. He couldn’t accept that.

He wiped the blood from his mouth, trembling as he stood up.

Bonny panted heavily. "Nothing... Nothing works..."

Then Trent raised a single tentacle again.

Water spun around it like a whirlpool.

WHRRRRR!

Bonny’s eyes widened.

"No—!"

BOOOOOM!

The water blast struck him straight in the chest once again.

CRACK!

His body flew backward, bouncing repeatedly on the ground.

He couldn’t count how many bones were broken as he bounced around, only grunting in pain.

BAM! CRASH! THUD!

He hit the ground hard, coughing blood, vision spinning.

Another tentacle surged forward and wrapped around his body, lifting him into the air.

He couldn’t break free. He could barely even move.

This was the same attack Trent used against him previously, which he had barely been able to break out of.

However, this time, he didn’t even have enough mana to cast another spell and counter attack.

And with his broken bones and battered body, he barely had enough strength to even move.

He slowly looked up, coughing out blood even as he did so.

Trent stared at him with dead, lifeless eyes.

"I... won’t... lose," Trent repeated again, those same words reverberating in Bonny’s ears.

Then he tightened the grip.

CRK!

Bonny grunted, blood spurting from his lips again.

The pressure around his body grew stronger.

Everything... everything was fading.

’I guess this is it... I did my best... I-’ His thoughts were interrupted as another round of blood sprayed out of his mouth.

The blood splattered on Trent’s tentacles, but they simply sunk through them, falling on the ground.

’I’m sorry...’ Bonny mumbled inwardly, his vision rapidly turning blurry. ’That I wasn’t able to defend you, brother...’