Mane's gentle whisper was an edict to Edict; an order to the energy that embodied order. Streams of Edict rushed into his body at his command. Outer energy that was escaping from the dead Barbarians merged into the energy of the surroundings and filled Mane's body speedily. Mane allowed himself to be filled with Edict. Like a withered branch soaking in the pleasant waters of the river of life, Mane basked in the glow of power that dominated the world. Every fiber of his being – from his bones to his muscles; from his heart and blood vessels to his organs and every single tissue; from his every single one of his tendons to his ligaments – was filled with power. His eyes flashed brightly as he basked in the glow of being filled once again and he finally, for the first time since the fight had begun, unsheathed his twin blades.
"Camila," the three leaders of the now obliterated party of 15 were together once again. They made the decision to separate, but that had only made it easy for Mane to pick off the weak ones from the horde. But now they had regrouped.
"What is it Nasir?" Camila's eyes were cold as she regarded the figure of the golden haired boy whose battle sense was far beyond his age. Logically, their decision to attack as individuals seemed the right choice, but this boy had turned it around. And their decision now looked foolish. And that was because they had been judging him by his energy. They had been judging him as a Pseudo Nightmare, when really they should have been judging him based on his fighting prowess. So he had been underestimated, and they had paid the price. Although they didn't know about his strange abilities or how he was already this good as a young man, it was no excuse that they had lost all the people they came with.
"What should we do? Should we retreat?" Nasir asked and Camila furrowed her brows. She turned to look at Nasir, and then at Chichi. Chichi's expression suggested that she agreed with Nasir. However she couldn't understand their logic. Neither looked terrified; they only looked weary. So she couldn't understand why they wanted to retreat when someone had killed their teammates.
"We can't. The punishment we would face when we return will be several degrees greater if we cannot bring back his head!" Camila stated, almost losing her composure.
They had left with more than 15. The ambush from the Ancients had whittled down those numbers so that they reached Dark Valley with just 15 people. Their Lord could understand losing numbers to an ambush – as long as they completed their mission. But what would they say if they didn't? Those were valuable fighters of the Barbarian Race; Pseudo Nightmare and Nightmare Level Teams! And all of them had died. They would be lucky to complete the report without dying at the hands of the Flames of Magma!
"I understand; believe me, I do," Nasir placed his hand on the shoulder of the agitated Camila. He knew how frustrating this must be for her, especially since she was the leader for the mission. Not only had she lost all her subordinates, including her own teammates, he was asking her to retreat. It would be difficult for anyone to accept such an outcome.
"But this boy is dangerous. We must report this to the Elders and the Lord." Nasir reasoned. The boy was strong, so much stronger than they thought or expected. If they knew he was this powerful, they would have come with one of the Elders. But they didn't, and now they were in a pickle. Nasir wasn't foolish enough to declare that they would win. They had already lost 12. Thinking that you would be the victor wasn't optimism. It was foolishness. They had to cut their losses and do the most important thing. They had to let their Elders know that this boy was dangerous. And that he had to be killed – not captured – at all cost. And Nasir didn't believe that the three had the power to do this.
"You're right," Camila lightly exhaled and said. Nasir's words were very reasonable. And he was right. She was angry so her reasoning was impaired. But that was why she had assistance. And she had to admit that his way was the right one.
"I know what to do," Camila faced Nasir and said. "What about you? Are you ready?" She asked Nasir.
"I have always been," Nasir smirked and said.
"Chichi," Camila called.
"Yes?" Chichi responded.
"I want you to escape quickly when Nasir and I engage the boy. You're the fastest amongst the three of us. You have the best chance of getting to the Elders. Do not stop to rest, sleep or eat. Just go straight back to Intersection." Camila ordered.
"Noted," although Chichi wasn't at all pleased with the decision, she had to follow. Her friend and Nasir were willing to keep Mane in check so that she could report this to the Lord and the Elders. After all, there was no way they would all be able to escape together. That would only leave them open to attacks from the boy. So the only option was to send out the fastest to return and make the report. And it had to be done now. For the boy was walking towards them already. But this time he wasn't barehanded. He held two pitch black heavy swords in his hands; his eyes fixed on them.
"Go," Camila ordered as she and Nasir dashed towards the approaching Mane. Chichi gritted her teeth as a pail of sorrow was dropped onto her head at the realization that she may not see her friend again. She turned her head and run away, not looking back even once. For she knew that if she turned her head, she would return. She was very quick, and soon her figure was nothing but a small dot in the distance.
"She's escaping," Hildegarde looked on worriedly as Chichi displayed her unreal speed. She was right to be worried. For she, just like Mane, had listened to Number 3 talk about the history of the Three Great Races. And she was aware that there were Pseudo Phenoms and Phenoms amongst them. As long as Chichi successfully escaped, Mane will be in a lot of trouble.
"I can't do anything about it," Mane frowned and said. There were two strong Pseudo Phenoms rushing at him. He couldn't afford to pay any attention to the escapee.
"Absolute Darkness: Evasive Killing," that said, he was going to finish this as quickly as he could and leave this place before more trouble came looking for him.
Camila's axe was the first thing to reach Mane, and Nasir's hammer wasn't far behind either. But just like before, the axe passed through Mane's figure like it was a mirage, and Nasir's hammer was no different. Mane literally walked through the hammer, as the giant weapon crashed into the ground with a loud explosion.
*Boom*
A new large crater forced Mane to pay a bit more attention to the large Barbarian with the shaggy beard. Several cracks that looked like a spider's intricate webbing spread from the site of impact and across several dozens of meters. Mane knew that if he were to be hit by that, there was no way he would survive!
Camila's axe wasn't weak either. In fact, its effects were more devastating than Nasir's. For when her axe went through him, the wind it carried forced every single particle of sand off the ground! Her power was tremendous, and Mane was shaken by the fact that this was just the result of the aftereffects; a shockwave born from a mighty warrior's strike. Neither of these two was weak!
And Mane acknowledged that. His swords gave a loud cry as they enjoyed the baptism of darkness. As Darkness attributed weapons, this process was like giving them food. And they relished it. With Absolute Darkness: Evasive Killing still activated, Mane swung his swords towards Nasir. Although he wasn't using any sword techniques, he had injected a rich supply of inner energy into his sword. And unlike the Barbarians who only had outer energy, hence couldn't manifest weapon beams, he could. And the dark sword lights that traveled towards Nasir were perfect examples of this.
But Nasir wasn't slow. His quick wit and sharp movement already prepared him for attacks like this. He didn't attempt to block the attacks. He recognized the element now that he could see its color. The boy was a Darkness User! It was no wonder he was able to phase through attacks like that. But even for Darkness Users, a skill like that was very rare and highly sought after. He had seen Mane effortlessly chop off a person's head because of Darkness energy. And he wasn't slowwitted enough to think that he could actually block and intangible sword light.
With movements so graceful that Mane started to doubt if Nasir was truly a big man, the large barbarian evaded both sword beams. The beams travelled for several meters more before they disappeared.
It was at this time that Camila struck again. She held her huge axe over her head as she gathered energy into her slender arms. Those arms that looked like fragile branches bulged out as she released a low roar and slashed downwards with all her power.
Mane was tall, but compared to a Barbarian woman, he was short. Camila was a full head taller than him, and he could feel the stinging power of her axe even before it reached him. Like a furious whirlwind it threatened to crush him, and Mane's expression grew stern.
"Absolute Darkness: Evasive Killing," Mane once again turned to this technique, and the huge axe went right through his head and all the way to the ground without so much as leaving a cut on him! But it left a cut on the floor. A huge cut.
*Boom*
The axe was a weapon that wasn't as destructive as a hammer. Yet one would be forced to rethink this after seeing the results of Camila's slash. The huge axe was lodged deeply into the earth, its entire head almost swallowed by the ground. A huge crack that stretched for as far as the eye could see was born from that mighty slash.
Mane immediately went on the offensive whilst Absolute Darkness was still in effect. He stabbed Night Mare at the crouching Camila whilst gathering power in Night's Kiss.
Camila let go of her axe handle and slightly tilted her slender frame to avoid Mane's sword. And then she grabbed her handle once again and tugged at her axe.
*Creak*
With a loud groan, the earth gladly relinquished its hold over the large axe that had cut it so deeply, and Camila swung it again – immediately.
Mane frowned seeing the axe approaching his head. Since Camila was still crouching, she wasn't able to gather much power in her arms and deliver a devastating strike, but it was still nothing to scoff at. Night's Kiss screamed in ecstasy, having had its fill of Edict. And just in time too, because Mane needed its assistance. Without any hesitation the young Supreme brought his sword down to meet Camila's axe. And the two produced a loud explosion in response to their first meeting.
*Bang*
Camila was knocked into the ground, her figure rolling for a few meters before screeching to a halt. She flipped back up almost immediately. Mane wasn't any better. Though he was the one with literally the higher ground in that confrontation he was knocked back as well. His body remained midair for a while before he landed on the much more familiar ground. His arms shook from the impact, and his bones creaked under the pressure of that blow.
Camila licked her lips, a crazed look in her eyes. She smiled and said, "So that's it."