Emil stared in disbelief, first at the blackened, smoking ruin of his shoulder, then at the smirk plastered across Aurelion's face.
"How?" his mind screamed, trying to reconcile the image of the panting, exhausted elf from moments ago with the confident terror standing before him.
"He doesn't look tired at all."
He scanned the distance between them. "I was charging, and he just... threw lightning at me? From this far? There are at least fifteen meters between us. And why didn't he use this in his last fight? He was about to be burned alive."
Then, a horrifying realization dawned, and Emil's eyes widened in shock. It had all been an act?
"Come on, no daydreaming now," a calm voice cut through his panicked thoughts.
He snapped his focus back just in time to see a flicker of blue light blossom in Aurelion's palm.
He threw himself into a desperate forward roll, the crackling bolt of lightning searing the air where his head had just been.
