"Leave now." Houvdon kept his gaze on the armored figure, who had not made any threatening movements yet.
He had managed to deflect the sky attack of Verilius, yet was not able to prevent him from actually stepping on the same dirt as him.
"But Houvdon-" Zylaorfier attempted to protest, but his complaint was cut off by a realization.
Their camp was surrounded.
Just as the thought had crossed his mind, he heard the sounds of battle. The earth itself rumbled as hundreds of mages called upon their magic simultaneously.
"You go help fight them off. They need you more than I need you here. I will face Verilius alone while you guys escape from here. If you really want to help me, bring a small group of mages to me, but none of the Rank Four mages can be a part of that group, including yourself. We need the strongest to protect everyone retreating."
Zylaorfier's blue eyes glowed with dissatisfaction as he looked between the two unmoving powerhouses he couldn't even dream of stopping.
The Prince of Nihlahim made his decision as he solidified his resolve. He hurried off back to the main buildings, attempting to carry out his friend's orders.
Not even a second had passed after the Frost mage was out of earshot before Verilius began to speak.
"I didn't notice this before. Your hair? How poetic. I believe I am the only one that understands the meaning behind it. From amber to dark blue. The next one will be a full black to symbolize your descent into darkness as the time draws nearer?"
He knew that Verilius missed nothing. He was only talking as a way to taunt him, making sure Houvdon knew that he was capable of understanding his thinking. Houvdon can only give a grim smile back at this subtle reminder. "To think you knew of my intentions. I thought that I had hidden it well enough."
"Of course not. No matter how much you attempt to pose as human, no matter what habits you pick up by walking among them, you have been forever cursed since that day you willingly decided to give up your humanity."
"Tell me, am I wrong again? Your goal was neither Kryva nor Dusk Breaker, Tempus Vernum Ruptor."
Verilius bowed his covered head, and Houvdon was able to tell there was a smile on his face.
He didn't see a point in the Vice-Commander stalling. All he did was give Houvdon more time to wait for his reinforcements to arrive. While he fought off Verilius, the small group of mages would attack him while he was occupied with Houvdon. There was no reason for Verilius to wait besides to give the Prince more time to prepare himself.
"Retainer, I truly overestimated you. I thought you would be able to figure it out by now." Verilius reached upwards, pressing his fingers against his temples. The mechanisms within his helmet soundlessly moved as the tight hold it had against his head loosened.
It was different from last time, almost as if this armor had been upgraded. Before, he at least heard something move from within the helm as the contraptions flexed to release its hold on his head. Now however, Houvdon didn't hear a single thing despite the massive amount of mechanisms built into the armor.
It was eerie, and Houvdon wasn't ashamed to admit he felt his skin crawl as he realized he would no longer be able to hear Verilius at all unless he spoke.
Golden eyes met amber, as the knight held his helmet at his side, his golden eyes holding something akin to a taunting glint.
"What use does Kryva have to us? What use do we have for the Weapon of Darkness? We have no need for either of them, just as we don't intend to sway you to our side."
Houvdon stayed silent, knowing this was the only time he would ever get straight answers even if they were mixed in between cryptic words and hidden insults.
Verilius bowed his head, looking down at the dirt beneath his boots, before looking back up.
"Just as you belong to your master, we belong to our Lord. We do as our master wishes just as you do as your Lady wishes. I know not of what he intends to do, but I dare not to question his command."
"So what is it your master wishes?"
Verilius gave a small smile. "'Houvdon Archelio...your life has lasted too long. You came in contact with something that shouldn't exist, and your life has continued unhindered. We shall do the world of Phantasma a favor, and remove you entirely.' Those were the words passed onto me by our master. As a [Knight] of this world, I intend to fully eradicate you from this world, just as our Lord wishes."
"You talk as if you are any different from me." Surprisingly, Houvdon felt no anger or resentment after Verilius's words. Verilius 𝘸𝘢𝘴 right. His life should have ended long ago, yet it continued almost unhindered after he created contact with an existence that shouldn't exist. It was Verilius's rightful duty as a [Knight] of this world, to protect his [King].
He gave a wry smile. "Of course we are very different. While you gave up everything since you held nothing, I gave up everything since I had everything."
"You bore me with your words." Now, Houvdon felt anger. The implication from Verilius's words finally caused his rage to begin again.
𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.
How many times has he heard those mocking words? How many times had he been looked down upon?
How many times did he feel the curse of powerlessness? How many more times will he have to verify his strength?
"Do you have anything else to do besides mock me with your words? How much longer do you intend to stand there, taunting me?" The Prince of Etherstorm's eyes glowed with power as he was finally reaching his limit listening to Verilius in the hopes of gaining answers he had so long desired.
The vice-commander tapped the edge of his forehead twice, a smile forming at the corner of his lips.
"You are cursed to forever lose everything, even if you hold nothing within your hands."
-----
𝘒𝘯𝘦𝘦���.
𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦.
𝘏𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘷𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘰.
-----
Houvdon's eyes flickered, Verilius raising his hand as a barrier formed in front of him. Almost out of nowhere, a blast of dark energy bounced harmlessly off of his shield.
The Knight and the mage openly glared at each other, both of their eyes glowing with power as they simply sized the other up. They stopped pretending to be old friends, choosing to finally release their spite for the other.
Verilius made a sudden movement of tossing his helmet into the air.
The moment the strange metallic material touched the ground, Verilius dashed faster than Houvdon thought was possible.
In his hands, he held a blade that he had unsheathed from his waist 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦.
The Prince took less than a split second to admire the beauty that was the sword. It was perfect despite its simplicity, no flaws at all in its creation. Its blade was single-edged, slanted just barely as the blade went from the hilt to the point.
He realized the sword had no crossguard, very noticeable as the sword illuminated with light so similar to the Sun, yet the hilt remained dull and black.
This admiration for the vice-commander's weapon faded as he refocused on the fight.
He threw his hand outwards, a second burst of energy leaving his hand as the black energy flickered in the space between his hand and Verilius's body before taking effect and knocking the vice-commander backwards.
It was almost as if this black energy Houvdon called upon was not originally from this world, hence there was a period where the dark power simply could not be supported by the natural magical energy of Phantasma.
This game of theirs continued for a few more seconds.
In the span of five seconds at most, Verilius had been pushed back by Houvdon's unnatural black power at least a dozen times.
"Night has come, and so has the dark power that has been gifted to you. During the day you wield your inherited Light, and during the night, you wield the borrowed Darkness. It is only reasonable that I do the same and bring out my own borrowed power."
Verilius held his palm upwards as he dragged his blade slowly across his open hand. Blood leaked out of the cut, but instead of dripping onto the dirt, the liquid wrapped around the glowing brilliance that was his sword.
A sword that once reflected the light of the Sun itself was now full of the tainted redness of Verilius's blood.
"And with this power, I will bless this world by removing your existence."
His eyes widened as Verilius swung his sword despite there being at least five meters of space between the two. The swing of the sword would never reach him as it was only seventy-five centimeters long.
He threw his hand outward, the night practically solidifying in front of him as the arc of energy that was released from the Knight's swing clashed against seemingly nothing.
His surprise doubled when he realized Verilius was behind him.
He formed a barrier subconsciously, his Dark magic responding even quicker to his will than his Light despite the smallest of time where the Dark energy simply hung in space before taking effect.
He heard what was almost steel grating against steel as he felt the sparks that flew from the impact of Verilius's blade against his shield.
He spun around, raising his arm as his fingers twitched. The shadows in the area formed as a small ball in his palm as he inhaled, before exhaling harshly. Verilius raised his sword to block at the exact second the energy within his hand exploded outwards.
It was as if the world itself shattered as the power within the energy beam distorted the space around it, holding enough power to completely warp its surroundings.
Yet, Verilius's sword was able to absorb it with little effort, the red-tainted blade glowing a sinister dark shade that mixed his Darkness with the red that was Verilius's blood.
"That sword..." Houvdon couldn't hide his amazement or curiosity. To be able to absorb the power given to him by his benefactor was nothing short of otherworldly.
Because his borrowed power was something from beyond this world.
It only made sense that something that could counter his power also originated from outside Phantasma.
"It's called a Dawn Blade." The smile on Verilius's face was gentle, full of love as he stroked the flat side of his sword. "It is a gift just like how that flame of yours is a gift."
Houvdon's brow furrowed at Verilius's knowledge of his abilities, but it was brushed aside.
That was the last word exchanged before they continued their fight with renewed vigor after being given only seconds to recuperate.
-----
Zylaorfier tried as hard as he could to ignore the feeling in the pit of his stomach as he followed Houvdon's orders to leave him.
There was something different about the air.
In the valley, he felt unnerved because of the amount of magic being cast together. It flooded the body with the immense pressure of the mages' combined might.
Yet...right now he felt like collapsing from the strain of the innate magic.
Such a great change in the atmosphere despite there being little to no difference in the situation.
The electricity in the air sparked as he stumbled upon his first Knights. Within their grasp were blades that glowed so similar to the sunlight that bathed their world.
He admired their beauty before shifting his attention to the actual people that wielded such blades.
No words were exchanged as both Knights rushed at him. Zylaorfier threw his hand out, his fingers twitched as they weaved together threads of magic.
By his will, threads made of the thinnest yet strongest ice wrapped around the duo, their blades dropping from their hands as their arms were bound tightly to their body.
He rushed past them, ignoring how they struggled and cursed him underneath their visors.
What did it matter that he took the "wrong" side? All he saw was a bunch of figures coming down to attempt to bully the mages of the Delusional Lands before seizing a young girl.
Kryva was innocent, she had done nothing to deserve being fought over.
No time could be wasted. The most dangerous part of the camp would be where Kryva was being protected.
-----
Kryva concentrated, commanding her fire to obey her command. It took only a second for the flame to gather in her vision, before she ignited it where she wished.
With just a glance and a bit of her concentration, she was able to create Flame without using her hands.
She found it to be strange. The other mages around her were waving their hands dramatically, while she only needed to concentrate on where she wanted her flame to go.
Houvdon did mention those around him tried to copy what he did because they believed he held the secrets to become stronger. She did notice Houvdon usually waved his hands around whenever he cast his magic, but he implied it wasn't necessary. She was sure that he didn't need to use his arms, yet he began to only recently.
Was that why she didn't need to use any hand motion? It was merely preference to use one's arms while fighting? If that was the case, why did he switch from using none at all, into arm swings?
Two Knights appeared in front of her, their swords already raised to strike her down.
Her eyes widened in surprise as she instinctively raised her arms, not realizing her mistake afterwards. She could have stepped back to avoid the blades, yet she raised her arms.
They let out a grunt of surprise as flames formed in front of her, blocking the swords.
Had her flame not created a barrier in front of her, she would have lost both limbs.
The barrier faded from in front of her, her red and purple eyes glowing brilliantly as their armors ignited with flames. They let out screams of pain as they fell to the ground, attempting to extinguish the flames.
So long as she willed, her flames would never go out. It would take a massive amount of energy and power to get rid of her flames, power these Knights didn't have.
While Kirva's Flame was much more widespread than hers, capable of covering entire areas with an intense heat, Kryva's was able to have an advantage over her brother's due to its inability to be removed without great effort. While it did not hold the same raw power, its uniqueness was able to give her some value.
She wondered just how much better her Flame would become if she were to ascend to Rank Three.
"Kryva!" A voice called out to her that she recognized as Zylaorfier.
After spending practically an entire week with Zylaorfier and Houvdon, she was sure that she would be able to identify either one of them.
She felt his presence appear right next to her, grasping her arm. "Houvdon is holding off Verilius right now. He wants all of us to leave while he holds them all off."
Kryva nodded, the glow in her eyes fading as she calmed her magical core. The Frost mage released his hand from her arm just as the words he had spoken processed in her mind.
She spun around, her eyes wide. "W-what?! Houvdon can't fight Verilius evenly!"
The moment she finished her sentence did a large explosion occur just on the other side of their camp.
Mages and knights alike forgot about their small battles, and refocused on the clearly otherworldly one despite not being able to see anything.
A second explosion sounded as what was akin to a roar echoed in the area. Immediately after the inhumane roar was a third explosion, even bigger than the previous two. It's magnitude was so large that it instantly blew the assembled Knights and mages off of their feet, ripping the tents and the hastily built wooden buildings from their foundations.
There in the middle surrounded by what appeared to be ordinary fires caused from the ignition of their powers, as well as clearly anything but ordinary cracks in space itself, were two figures.
One figure wielded a sword, while the other kept the sword-wielder at bay with quickly formed barriers as well as small offensive attacks that just sneakily snaked out in between every defensive shield made.
Yet, even with just a sword, he was able to somehow create his own magical attacks by swinging his blade.
Truly, these swords wielded by these fake [DELUSIONAL] Knights were something that couldn't be recreated with ordinary means.
"Mages that are of Rank Three! Aid Prince Archelio while the rest retreat!" Zylaorfier called out loudly, somehow being louder than the battle.
But the power radiating from the Prince of Etherstorm and Vice-Commander was obviously too much for anyone else besides the Rank Four mages. Kryva could feel the air itself change in pressure as they continued their battle. There was no possible way for anyone that was Rank Three to be able to stand remotely close to their fight.
What was Zylaorfier thinking?
Scratch that, what was Houvdon thinking? She knew that it was Houvdon's suggestion to have Rank Three mages aid him. After all, Zylaorfier was just with Houvdon. If Houvdon wanted help from the strongest, then Zylaorfier would not be standing next to her, but fighting alongside his friend.
It was clear his directions were to have those that have already achieved the fourth rank to defend the mages as they retreated from the battle. Yet, she doubted that any Rank Three could even approach it further than Zylaorfier stood. Could it be perhaps-
Houvdon didn't want any help?
While she was lost in thought, the duel between Verilius and Houvdon continued. At least, if it can be considered a duel.
It was simply Houvdon defending against all attacks, and Verilius constantly attacking. There were moments where Houvdon would sneak in a counterattack, but it would simply be absorbed into the vice-commander's sword.
But there came a time where the stalemate ended.
Houvdon created yet another barrier just as Verilius swung. But this time, the swing was different. Kryva realized this at the exact time that Houvdon realized it.
"𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫." His voice spoke with power as his Dawn Blade released an absurd amount of power at once, almost as if it were amplified with every attack that had been absorbed from Houvdon.
She screamed out just as space itself warped around the two of them. The aftereffects of Verilius's attack happened 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 the actual power connected with Houvdon, whose eyes were wide as he realized that his barrier had been broken.
The immense power released from the Dawn Blade collided with Houvdon's arms that had been raised in a futile attempt to defend himself.
One final explosion, perhaps even bigger than all other previous ones combined, broke the sound barrier as it lit up the entire area with a dark light, pushing everyone off of their feet as the intense wind blew outwards.
When the dust cleared, neither Verilius or Houvdon were where they once stood.
-----
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕰𝖓𝖉