Kei saw his best friend getting mercilessly pummeled by the Cyclops. Little John was doing his best to fight back, but a ten year old lacks the combat experience to fight a veteran hunter like Amar.
A powerful kick on his chest sent Little John flying. The ground shook once more after he landed on the mountain at the back of the stronghold. Amar didn't waste any time and ran after him.
Kei almost growled in anger. {Grandma Sophie!}
{Calm down Kei,} Grandma Sophie said with a calmness that resembled the peace before a storm. {The way you are now, you won't be able to help anyone.}
Kei closed his eyes and forcefully took deep breaths. His rage at seeing his best friend getting hurt burned in his heart and he wasn't able to calm himself no matter what he did.
Grandma Sophie sighed within the ring. 'You're still too young, Kei. Your emotions is still raw and cannot be controlled. However, that is what I like about you.'
{Listen closely, Kei} Grandma Sophie said using a firm and confident tone. {We managed to get six magic scrolls when we looted the fortress. All of them were one time use spells, but you don't have the mana capacity to release all of them.}
Kei gritted his teeth in frustration. He understood that his body physique was not capable of using magic aside from scrolls that he got from his family.
Grandma Sophie sorted out the magic scrolls within the ring. 'At most he can only use [Zephyr] and another lower tier spell, but that's it.'
Her mind worked overtime to assess the situation. She knew that it would not be enough to turn the tide of battle, so she used her ability and scanned the surroundings. 'There must be something, anything that we can use…'
After a futile search, she returned her attention to the clash of the two titans. She could see that Little John was barely hanging on and it wouldn't be long before he was defeated. She then observed the Cyclops for any weakness and a realization struck her.
'A forced awakening?! Then this makes thing simple!'
The ring on Kei's finger vibrated and Grandma Sophie's voice resounded in his mind.
{Listen to me Kei, that Cyclops has forcefully awakened itself. That means that he can't stay in that form for a long time.}
Kei narrowed his eyes. He has complete trust in Grandma Sophie's deduction and waited for her instructions.
{We don't need to confront it head on. We just need to delay him as long as we can until the effect of the forced awakening wears off.}
{Grandma, what you're saying is…}
A small astral projection of Grandma Sophie appeared on Kei's shoulder. {That's right. We just need to delay as much time as we can. Here is what we are going to do…}
Kei listened patiently and didn't question Grandma Sophie's strategy. After she was done, he immediately went into action. He opened a magic scroll and chanted.
"Glide like there's no tomorrow, leave behind all the pain and sorrow."
"Give us the power of flight, aid us in our current plight!"
[Zephyr!]
Kei flew to the sky and headed towards the direction of the two rampaging giants. Little John's left arm was hanging loosely at his side and blood was flowing freely from different parts of his body.
Without alerting their enemy, Kei sneaked behind the giant's head and prepared a magic scroll in his hand. After a great deal of thought, Grandma Sophie decided that this was the most appropriate spell that they could use in this rescue operation.
A low tier spell without any chants was what they needed right now.
{Now!} Grandma Sophie shouted from Kei's shoulder.
Kei dropped down from the sky and headed towards the eye of the Cyclops. He didn't give any warnings to Little John because the enemy might get wind of their exchange. He appeared right in front of the enemy and opened the magic scroll.
[Solar Flare!]
A blinding light erupted from the scroll illuminating the darkness of the night. The Cyclops howled in fury as it took a step back and randomly swiped in front of him. Little John was also caught up in the effect of the solar flare and stood immobile.
Little John didn't panic because he recognized the voice. He knew it was Kei who had come to help him. The familiar voice of his best friend whispered in his ears.
"Return to your normal form."
Little John didn't hesitate and deactivated his Titan Form. He immediately returned to being six foot tall. He had a lot of wounds and a few broken bones in his body, but he was not afraid.
For some reason, he felt safe whenever Kei was around. He didn't know when this started or how it started. The only thing he knew was that no matter how dire the situation, as long as Kei was around, everything would be alright.
He felt two small hands embraced his chest from behind and lift him from the ground.
"You're heavy!" Kei said as he flew upwards. "You should consider going on a diet."
Little John wanted to laugh, but he was hurting all over. He just smiled and closed his eyes and allowed his best friend to curse him as the two of them flew above the dark clouds that were hovering in the night sky of Veritas.
Amar raged on the ground for a good five minutes before he was able to regain his sight. When he saw that Little John was no longer around the vicinity, he immediately activated another special ability of the Cyclops the [X-Ray Vision].
He scanned the stronghold looking for his target. When it yielded no results he looked at the sky. Amar was not stupid, he knew that the one who interfered with their fight could fly, so it was only natural to scan the skies.
After a minute, he finally located his target. He roared and grabbed a large rock from the ground and hurled it in the air.
{Kei go down!} Grandma Sophie ordered.
Kei immediately descended and after a few seconds a strong "Wooosh!" was heard behind them. He didn't bother to turn his head and check the object that barely missed them. He was afraid that he might loosen his grip on Little John's body if he lost his concentration.
{Move to the right!}
{The Left!}
{Go up!}
Grandma Sophie gave a series of commands one after another as Kei narrowly dodged everything that Amar threw at them. The Cyclops was desperate, he could feel his body starting to collapse. In one last desperate attempt, he lifted a massive boulder and threw it with everything he had.
The astral body of Grandma Sophie resting on Kei's shoulder understood that there was no way they could evade this final blow that the Cyclops gave them.
{Kei, brace yourself!} Grandma Sophie shouted and enclosed him in a protective barrier.
A deafening sound was heard as the barrier and the boulder collided. The barrier shattered and the two children were propelled in the sky like a kite that lost its strings. Kei gritted his teeth as he firmly held unto Little John and his dear life.
"Things can't get any worse than this right?" Little John asked.
"F*ck!"
{F*ck!}
Kei and Grandma Sophie cursed at the same time. Little John has this weird ability to [Raise Flags] and it brought them a lot of trouble in the past.
As if waiting for that moment, the effect of [Zephyr] wore off and they fell towards the ground. Kei cursed his best friend while praying for a miracle to happen.
"Me and my big mouth…"
Was the last thing Little John said before he lost consciousness.