In that moment, I was paralyzed, stuck between using my power to rescue the armored woman who would soon be falling through the air or using this opportunity to unleash whatever my mind conjured on the person responsible for attacking the town.

  Within seconds, I visualized a multitude of possibilities.

  A strong jump toward her.

  Conjuring a rope to pull her to safety.

  Produce a motion-locked, floating platform, just below the height of her arc.

  Make her float and levitate her to safety.

  At the same time, I had turned my back toward the town’s attacker. Manifesting something to save her would also put me at risk of being attacked.

  Despite this, I couldn’t afford to look away.

  But this was also the perfect opportunity to attack!

  I remembered the scene of Ms. Grey being in the crater. It was clear that the perpetrator was responsible for her state. I need to get back at that bastard.

  Wait, ‘get back at?’

  This wasn’t the time for revenge.

  Not wanting to get attacked, I ran from my position toward the gap between the 2 buildings surrounding the attacker, producing a floating platform with a similar design to the hovercraft I parked earlier. It was square, and its length took up the distance between the 2 buildings.

  I heard someone shout, but I ignored it, prioritizing the rescue over being a hindrance to the others.

  Just as I was about to step on the platform and drive it toward where Ms. Black Ponytail would be in midair, there was a sudden surge of heat. Flames were produced before whatever caused them launched toward Ms. Black Ponytail.

  The figure producing flames zoomed toward the falling woman in armor. I watched, stunned and confused, as the unknown person caught her midair and used their flames to slow their descent by pushing themselves against gravity. Their landing looked messy, seeing how both of them rolled on the ground, separating from each other.

  It wasn’t until I saw the flame-wielding rescuer raise their arm while lying on the ground, and the armored woman pick themselves up and check the other’s condition. They survived unscathed, from the look of things.

  Good, they’re alright.

  Thoughts of internal celebration were interrupted when I was tackled from the roof of the building, landing on the floating platform I had made. My head was close to the edge, and I felt the platform lowering, crashing against the ground, and the resulting impact tossing me up into the air with whoever tackled me.

  Thankfully, I was seeing the ground, so I quickly produced a mountain of feather pillows to cushion my fall. Whoever tackled me landed close by in the pile. They were wearing a green uniform.

  I was about to say thank you, but they shouted in my face. It made sense. I was in an active battlefield, and here I was getting distracted and standing still like an idiot.

  As versatile and powerful as my ability was, my mind simply isn’t prepared for battle.

  That didn’t mean I couldn’t change its direction.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  I looked at the fallen, floating platform I had produced. It was in the shape of an upside-down pyramid, hiding whatever mechanisms kept it afloat. It was tilted, sitting on one of its triangular faces. The way it’s positioned made it slanted toward us, angled like a ramp.

  It also acted as a barrier and obstruction to whatever battle was occurring on the other side.

  Although the platform was flat, it still had features. I produced various grips and footholds of different shapes, similar to a rock climbing wall, and climbed up slowly, intending to peek over the fallen platform while using it as cover.

  The person who tackled me, likely to get me out of the way of an attack, had the same idea and followed my lead. I produced and got rid of a few more so that they’d be able to peek over alongside me.

  The person next to me was a girl with either peach or grapefruit blonde hair and onyx eyes.

  When we peeked over, I saw the attacker fighting off against several magic attacks of different elements and intensities. The attacker had minty-green or cyan colored hair, flailing wildly as the attacker oriented themselves accordingly to various attacks. A duck or deflecting, using their wind as defense while blasting away anyone who stood still for too long. The blasts weren’t as strong as the one that launched Ms. Black Ponytail, only serving to incapacitate and push away different combatants. Some were knocked out, and some struggled to stand up after a blast.

  All in all, the cyan-haired attacker, likely a man, proved themselves a capable close-ranged combatant, using what appeared to be martial arts for both attack and defense.

  Charging recklessly would be a bad idea. I should maintain a distance.

  With the chaos of the fight happening ahead, and how wild and unpredictable everyone’s movements are, there was little opportunity to use my power without risking someone else getting hurt, at least for the visualizations I had currently.

  I quickly sorted through different visualizations while watching the fight. The best option I have is to use a visualization that exclusively targets the attacker while keeping everyone else unharmed. Discarding everything with an area-of-effect or indiscriminate, one option came to mind.

  Making the attacker’s body levitate against their will, restraining their movements with telekinesis. Something I’ve done to both my summoner and water assailant with different intentions.

  The problem is that various attacks of different elemental natures kept blocking my line of sight on the attacker. A wall of earth to defend, blue ice to distract and capture, and vines attempting to grab and hold down the attacker. It looked like elements with more rigidity and substance were being used to restrain him, avoiding the use of flame, water, and wind attacks since they could be deflected by the man’s superior abilities, and could easily be used against those trying to stop him.

  If everyone could get away from him for a moment, I could stop him.

  Visualization ready, I waited behind the tilted platform, getting rid of unnecessary movements or preparations that came with it. Still, I prepared my hand.

  I heard Peach Blonde’s voice and turned to her. She was staring at me, more specifically, my face. Her expression looked focused.

  I simply looked back, preparing the visualization once again.

  There was a tap on my shoulder, and I turned to see her arm raised, hand hovering near my left shoulder.

  She spoke some things I couldn’t decipher.

  This really isn’t the time.

  Not wanting to get attacked while in a conversation with the girl, I slid down a bit, wanting to keep my head out of the attacker’s line of sight.

  She’s expecting me to answer, but I don’t know what to say.

  Instead of speaking, I produced an array of simple, wooden dolls. They had no faces, and their legs were replaced with a spherical bottom, similar to snowmen or Russian nesting dolls. There were 8 smaller dolls, either wearing a pastel orange or green shirt, and 1 taller doll with a black cloak and cyan hair, all floating between us. I willed the smaller dolls to move away, increasing the circumference surrounding the taller doll, before dousing the larger doll in a clear, slimy, glue-like substance with a bunch of air bubbles. It was supposed to represent enveloping the man in a telekinetic force, but I wanted to avoid visualizations that needed more elaboration, and this was the first thing that came to mind.

  The girl opened her mouth in awe, before reverting to her more composed, battle-ready expression.

  I nodded, and so did she, before we peeked over the tilted platform we were lying on.

  The cyan-haired attacker had vanished!

  And everyone who was fighting him was on the ground!

  Damn it! Where did he go?

  I looked around, trying to pinpoint the man.

  The girl spoke, her tone sounding different.

  When I looked at her, she had the most terrified expression I’ve seen on her in the short time we’ve met each other.

  Don’t tell me…

  Fear and anxiety overcame me as I slowly turned around.

  The cyan-haired stood behind me with an unreadable expression.