Unpierceable Love

Chapter 49

Staying behind the tree, Gino poked his head out to see the fight but would retreat now and then to protect himself from flying leaves, twigs and small branches, which would later be followed by a strong gust of wind coming from the direction of the fight.

Gino stood firm, holding on tight to whatever he could grab onto, afraid to be blown away by the gust of wind with eyes tightly closed; once the wind died down, Gino poked his head out once more, standing a few meters apart, facing each other was Valerio and another man that Gino did not get a chance to look at until now.

Once Gino could make out who stood opposite Valerio, the shock was written on his face. Standing in full glory was none other than the man Xander had plunged a weapon through weeks earlier, the man responsible for the death of so many dragons, the man who collided with Nick and Cherry.

It was Don.

With Each side suffering heavy collateral damage, Gino watched as the two men stood far apart, contemplating their opponent's move.

The man, supposedly called Don, unclenched his fists and relaxed his shoulders, letting all the tension out of his body before he spoke.

"They were right; you are strong. I have underestimated your strength; even with serious wounds and injury, you can still put up a good fight, so this is the strength of a pureblood, haha."Valerio stood, not letting his guard down for one second, knowing what his opponent was doing; by idly chit-chatting, they were merely buying time to restore their strength.

Sensing the other movements, Valerio rushed forward and blocked their attack, delivering one of his own instead, sending them flying back a hundred meters away.

While flying back, the man used his hands to grab fallen leaves and small twigs to stop themselves from further sliding away. Once he stopped himself, he then looked up at his enemy, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Using the back of his hands to wipe away the blood, the man smirked while getting up from his position on the ground.

"Give up and surrender. You are no match for me."

"To surrender is to admit defeat; how can I be defeated when I still have not fulfilled my dead brother's wish? If I can not take revenge for him, I can only take the next best thing." said the man, unleashing a fireball from his palms.

Valerio dodged the attack in time and turned to block another when he realised that the second attack was not headed his way but straight ahead.

"GINO!!"

The second fireball flew towards a petrified Gino. Just as the fireball was inches from his face, another light beam collided, instantly exhausting the attack.

Turning his head, Gino saw Xander and Connor running up to him.

"Gino, are you alright?" asked Xander, placing his hands on Gino's shoulder.

"Xander, it's good to see you", replied a surprised Gino while moving forward and hugging the man mid-waist before continuing.

"Xander, I'm glad you're alright. I'm sorry about what happened before; I couldn't help you in time, resulting in you being.."

"Hey, don't you worry about that, you hear me? I'm alright now; besides, you were a great help."

"But I.."

"You fought to keep yourself alive. That is the biggest thing that you have helped me accomplish. You helped me keep my promise to him."

Both Xander and Gino turned to look at Valerio, who was approaching the three of them. Valerio reached out to grab Gino from Xander and hugged him until he was tugged away in his embrace before turning his attention to the other two.

"Why are you only showing up now? Any later, I would've."

"Relax, Val, we are here now. If you keep stressing out, you will age faster than everyone here." Valerio ignored Xander's teasing and turned his attention to Connor, who did not speak until now.

"Connor, any update on who this man is? "

"Yes, this is Dion, twin brother of Don; he was not a part of the recruitment of rogue dragons and the attack on our kind; word had it that he disappeared a few years ago. Some thought he settled down with his mate, while others thought he had died during the first fight with hunters all those years ago. Even with the death of his brother, he did not show himself; why now."

"Whatever his reasons are, we should send him to meet his brother."

"Xander, don't underestimate him."

"Connor's right; he was able to block most of my attack with low spiritual energy; save your energy and focus on combat; it will at least divert his attention and keep him busy from unleashing one of his fireball attacks."

Xander and Connor walked up to Dion, who looked on as the three dragons conversed with one another, giving him the chance to restore some of his energy.

"He has sent you out to replace him; only a coward would hide behind his comrades."

"Keep shooting your mouth like that; we will see which of us stays alive long enough to have the last say."

Dion did not reply to Xander's comments but turned his attention to Connor.

"It's a good thing you are here too; it will save me the trouble of tracking you down; my brother was a fool to put his trust in you."

"Are we done with pleasantries? Should I lay out the picnic blanket, or should we get this over and done with."

"Two against one? Where is the honour in that."

"There is no need to be honourable with a man like you."

Rage flashed across Dion's face; taking a few steps back, Dion transformed himself into his proper form; he flew a few meters off the ground and began flapping his vast wings, creating strong winds that could easily blow normal humans hundreds of meters away.

The wind nearly blew away Gino if Valerio had not used his massive body as a shield and tucked him into his bosom, securing him tightly.

Xander and Connor used their forearms to cover their face from the harsh wind; once it was safe enough, they transformed themselves into their dragon form and flew up to the sky, where they both stood on the opposite side, with Dion in the middle.