- ORIS, PRISON CAMP -
"What can I do?!"
Darrel roared back at the voice, the pain had made him edgy and he could barely contain the rage he was feeling.
Everything around him was a blur, but he could tell some people were coming over to where he lay.
"Lieutenant! It's the spell-less wizard." Calestian called out to Seuvial.
Calestian had noticed Darrel fall to the ground, at first he had ignored him and wished he would roll over and die, but Calestian noticed a spike in Darrel's mana. This reminded him of what had happened when he first fought Darrel, so in order to avert a similar event, Calestian called out to his mentor.
A gust of wind blew from where Darrel was laying, he felt his veins seem to bulk from the pain he was feeling.
Darrel tried to get up, but his hand seemed to go through the ground and fell back on his face. Confused Darrel tried again without touching the ground, and this time his feet went through it, and when he looked down at them.
'Cracks...?'
It appeared that Darrel's feet had crushed through the hard ground, when he looked where he had placed his hand earlier, he noticed the ground had cracked through.
'What's going on with me?'
Seuvial and Muriel came down from the tower, with their advanced sensing ability they could feel the exuberant amount of aura emanating from Darrel.
"What did you do Muriel?!"
"Nothing..."
Even Muriel was surprised at the sudden change in Darrel, it was not long ago that she had used her Rank-Master ability to evaluate his strength. Darrel's rank on the Echelon was of the lowest tier in the Demotic rank, the lowest of all six ranks.
"It was moments ago that I noticed a change..." Realizing what may have happened, Muriel's eyes took on the same chromatic green glow and she set her sights on Darrel. "Absurd..."
"What is it this time?"
"His status... it's growing."
Seuvial grit her teeth in disbelief, this was not something any ordinary mortal could achieve, especially one that has been heavily monitored and weakened for weeks.
"Haha! Hahahaha! Hahaha! This is insane!" Darrel clutched his face in ecstasy and chortled in a crazed manner.
Everyone in the yard could feel the presence of his aura, a few of the guards felt faint and could barely stand straight. Calestian drew his sword and began preparing himself, it had only been a few weeks since he was embarrassed by Darrel, as he polished his craft in the late nights, he would often wonder if the day would ever come.
'To redeem my honor.'
"Muriel, can you fix this?" Seuvial asked her cousin.
"Yes and no."
"Calestian!" Seuvial called forth her squire, Calestian nodded and quickly came to her side. "We can't use lethal force yet, so let's try and subdue him with a blunt assault."
"Understood."
The two charged toward Darrel as their fists suddenly took on a yellowish glow, but before they could land a blow on the deranged Darrel, the sound of shattering glass and cracking electricity filled the air.
A blast back of wind blew the dust up and concealed them from the onlookers, but the descending dust revealed a dome around Darrel with sparks of electricity pulsating across it.
"A barrier?" Calestian wondered.
"The same one from last time." Seuvial surmised.
Darrel had his arms raised over his face, Seuvial noticed that his stance was not of someone who had intentionally protected himself, but Darrel appeared as though he was merely trying to protect his face from getting hit.
"That was close hehe! Hehehe wow!"
Regardless of how well he had protected himself, Darrel could feel his consciousness slipping away as his strength continued to grow. Deep down in his mind, he could feel another consciousness slowly taking control of his body.
'Who's there?'
Suddenly Darrel found himself staring at a dark canvas, and symbols etched themselves in the dark sky but this time Darrel could tell what they said.
'[Counter Spark.]'
Immediately after learning this Darrel found himself snapped back to reality, Seuvial and Calestian had backed away from him. However, they all stood at an odd distance from him on opposite ends, and before he could react to them, he heard them chanting peculiar words as Muriel led them along.
"Not this again, hehe!"
Darrel reaction's had been delayed and the three raised their hands to unveil an enormous magic circle around Darrel, translucent pillars suddenly emerged from around the edges of the circle and enclosed themselves around Darrel.
It was too late. Darrel recalled how the prison guards had tried to bind him when he first got here, but that only failed because he interrupted the caster, but this time the magic had been cast before he had a chance to do anything.
'There is still a way.'
The voice whispered to him like the wind and he immediately felt his veins begin to sear from the pulsating mana within his body.
"Look at him Seu, he's beautiful." Muriel admired Darrel's radiating aura.
"Muriel..."
Seuvial shook her head, she had called her gifted cousin to help her regulate the prisoner's power since she was the most skilled Rank-Master in Morland. However, she had failed to account for her obsession with the gifted and the uncharted.
Muriel has always been this way, she would do anything to understand what others feared, to nurture what others neglected, not because she was compassionate, but because it was in her nature.
"So this is the kind of power you had hidden Dar-rel?" Seuvial stated as she walked towards the barrier they had created around Darrel.
Darrel looked up at her, but she had vanished from where she was standing and appeared right behind him.
Another shriek from Darrel's [Counter Spark] filled the air, Seuvial's sword had cracked through an inch of the barrier and scratched Darrel's nape. If the blade had gone further, Darrel's head would have rolled across the ground.
"I knew you were trying to kill me..." Darrel muttered with a wicked grin.
The blade of Seuvial's sword began to heat up and before she could pull it away, she was instantly pushed back by an invisible force. Seuvial landed on her feet a few meters from Darrel, the force seemed not to have fazed her at all.
"For once it seems you were right Calestian." Seuvial raised her sword and pointed it at Darrel. "We should have executed him when we had the chance."
"Lieutenant..."
Calestian bemoaned his mentor's approval and wiped a trickle of tears from his eyes, it had been hard learning under the Holy Knights, especially when the one you learned under was a royal who had much to be expected from them too.
"Muriel..."
"I won't be able to hold this barrier for long if you go all out." Muriel responded to Seuvial's lingering woes.
"Five minutes?" Seuvial requested of her cousin, Muriel seemed reluctant but she sighed and nodded with approval.
Seuvial smiled.
"Now Dar-rel, allow me to exert myself."
Seuvial took a stance with her sword and immediately a column of light ascended from her being, she had started to release all her mana in preparation for a final confrontation with Darrel. Seuvial's aura expanded and replaced Darrel's mana that once filled the space within the barrier.
"Since normal attacks aren't working on you..." Seuvial raised her sword to her face and the blade took on a shimmering light. "[Equestria - Venerate Armament, Hallowed Blade]."
Darrel immediately felt a menacing aura from Seuvial's sword, and then his eyes revealed to him a peculiar light emanating from the blade. Waves of the menacing aura appeared to radiate from the blade and disperse the rest of Darrel's aura within the barrier.
"Oh, where's your vile smile now Dar-rel?!" Seuvial scorned then launched herself from where she was standing.
Seuvial raised her sword whilst in the air and swung it in a vertical slice towards Darrel, and from the blade's aura, a wave of golden energy with a darker outline shot toward Darrel. The wave of energy engulfed Darrel and burst into a glimmering yellow flame on impact, setting everything within its vicinity ablaze.
Seuvial landed back on the ground with a loud thud, breaking the ground beneath her, she exhales calmly as the aura on her blade dissipates.
"You got him, Lieutenant!" Calestian exclaimed.
Seuvial's eyes were still glued to the flame, it may have been one of her most powerful long ranged attacks, but she knew that her attack had not done much to hurt Darrel. Her true intention was not to hurt him in the first place but to test out the limits of his troublesome defense.
"[Counter Spark]. Haha, hahaha!" Darrel's deranged laugh alerted them of his recovery.
Seuvial raised her sword again and then took a quick glance at Muriel who appeared to be struggling to hold the barrier.
"My turn..." Darrel raised his hand towards Seuvial, and on his palm was an orb of concentrated shock magic, this appeared like the same energy he had tried to shoot out when he first woke up. Darrel paused for a moment before suddenly exclaiming. "...I got it. Haaaaah, [Focus Re-Volt]!!"