Page 229 of Axis of Fire

Miloran hadn’t simply brought them to life.

He had awakened their magic as well.

That was why every step the iron statue took struck the air itself.

And the air answered with crushing shockwaves.

Every movement of the wooden statue sent clouds of razor-sharp splinters flying toward us.

My skin burned beneath thousands of needle-like stings.

As though countless splinters were piercing it all at once.

The moment the wooden statue moved again, I reacted instinctively and raised a wall of fire in front of us.

It stopped the splinters.

But not the iron statue’s attack.

One step.

The shockwave tore straight through my flames and slammed into me.

I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for unbearable heat.

But surprisingly...

It barely burned.

Maybe my flames weren’t as destructive as I’d always believed.

“So what the hell am I supposed to do?” Stasia shouted from behind me.

“My magic is useless here!”

“Maybe yours alone is,” Miloran replied calmly from somewhere across the hall.

“But together, your powers can achieve something neither of you can alone.”

The men stood far away.

Yet their voices sounded unnervingly clear.

As though they were standing right beside us.

“You need to think ahead,” Tarven called.

“You need a thousand possibilities ready.”

The more he talked...

The more irritated we became.

None of those statues were attacking him.

“You know how to create shields,” he added, clearly directing the words at Stasia.

“If I put up that damn barrier, the poison will spread toward Ria!” she shouted back.