TBATE - The Help of a Certain Being

Showdown(2)

Arthur Leywin

Rage. Unbridled, relentless rage. Like a fire ready to burn down a forest.

Sylvie was quiet as we flew, but I could feel within our bond her abnormal hostility towards the miasmic mana that met us.

"Stay back. I want him to myself."

I rolled my sleeves up and grabbed the hair tie holding my auburn locks behind my head, pulling it off.

Sylvie let out a blood-curdling roar and the wind ruffled my hair, now freely flowing as we landed.

I jumped off of Sylvie and eyed the small army of hooded mages and various mana beasts, frozen in fear as they were rendered incapable of moving in the presence of my bond.

My gaze ran across a series of bodies clothed in Xyrus uniforms, dried blood having made a home at their upper chest where the core should've been.

I took notice of the pointed ears and stubby legs alike, concluding that they were indeed Elven and Dwarven students.

Their cores were probably ripped out of their bodies. The chances of them living normal lives were low, but not zero.

The buildings around had also taken enough damage to have been melted, but I could see it slowly molding back together like clay.

Not to mention, the amount of Earth mana in those areas wouldn't normally exist in such large quantities.

Suddenly, I saw. A nest of dirtied blonde hair atop a pale, gray face bulging with veins caught my attention.

Blood pumped through my heart and face as I locked eyes with a masked man atop the bell tower.

That's probably him.

'Be careful, Papa. That one's dangerous.'

Sylvie let out a low rumble, lowering her head down to mine.

"AH! OUR FIRST GUEST! WELCOME, MR. LEYWIN!" His voice pierced my ears like nails on a chalkboard.

Lucas' voice spoke up as I maintained sight of the masked mage.

"Welcome to the party, Arthur. You're just in time." His jeer was clearly a facade, kept up with what remained of the seemingly calm timbre of his voice.

I ignored him, glancing in the direction of Kuro's flight path, accompanied by Nico, Elijah, Tess, Claire and Theo.

"Sorry we took so long. I had to wake up our key players."

We exchanged glances knowingly and Kuro turned to the others.

"Alright. Claire, Theo and Elijah. Detain everyone wearing a cloak. I don't care if a few of them go missing all of a sudden.

Nico, kill the mana beasts. Tessia, try not to get caught in the crossfire and support Jade."

He walked up to me and glared at Lucas.

"I really want your head, you know that?"

Lucas tried to maintain a calm composure as he countered. "Likewise, Prez. But if you say that, am I to assume my prey is him?"

He pointed his staff at me arrogantly and I felt my mana flaring wildly.

"As much as I'd love to return you to the earth myself, I've got business with a real enemy. Make yourself busy with this one, yeah?"

Kuro tapped my shoulder with a fist and walked towards the bell tower.

"And then there were two."

Speaking up alone made him flinch, gripping his staff tightly as his arm trembled. In the end, he was still just Lucas Wykes. It didn't matter how much stronger he could get.