"That's right. I hate selfless people, my father, and I don't know if I'm selfless or selfish or both, either way, I hate myself for it. If you feel bothered by it..." Aran took a stance, he hovered his open hand across the blade of his golden sword, covering it with raging water. "... Then piss off!"
Aran violently swung his blade horizontally, sending a wave of crescent water toward Uruk.
"Crescent Wave!"
Uruk began surrounding himself with strong dark energy, the sharp edge of Aran's Crescent Wave clashed with the dark energy that acted as a shield for Uruk.
"There is hatred in your heart, you're not the same as Kael who is pure." The Turbulent Ocean Wave dispersed, leaving the Hari of Kruule unscathed. "But that hatred is slowly getting weaker and weaker by the second. It's like a dying fire clinging down to its last embers. But again, that doesn't matter."
At that moment, both Aran and Uruk heard a faint sound coming from somewhere. As it got progressively louder and seemingly closer, they realized that it was the sound of something piercing the sky and descending at a high speed. They both looked up.
Btoooom!!
Quelch!
Something came from the sky and struck Uruk's heart.
'What was that? Fire? A ray of concentrated fire?' Aran said in his thought as he watched Uruk collapse to the ground. 'It pierced his heart and melted everything else around it.'
"Flintrock: Overheat." Lyrica's voice resonated as she landed right next to Aran. She appeared unscathed after being thrown out of the plateau thanks to her Wind Drum. She then looked at Aran from the corner of her eyes and mouthed. "So you hate selfish and selfless people, huh. You're weird."
"Ha?"
Ignoring the young man she just blatantly called weird, Lyrica started walking toward the Hari who's lying on the ground.
"Get back up already!" She told Uruk. "I know using my power at 60dB is not enough to kill you. So stop the lame acting, you damn Anino!"
That moment, Uruk's body jolted as if he was convulsing before lifting himself back up.
"Kael said earlier that even if we can't kill you right away, we can at least hurt you pretty hard so long as you're inside that body. But it doesn't make sense."
"That's right," Aran interjected as he appeared next to Lyrica from behind. "If you can cut your main body to avoid physical attacks anyway, why bother possessing a human?"
That question brought Uruk into a short pause.
"You don't have full control over that body, do you?" Lyrica guessed after a short while. "Kael got permission earlier from the real Hari, right? That he's willing to die too if that's what it takes to bring peace to this kingdom."
"If there's a reason why Hari Uruk cannot speak with us right now, it's either you're trying to keep his mouth shut, or he's busy trying to keep you from leaving his body."
Wordlessly and steady, Lyrica had her sharp eyes on the Hari of Kruule. The moment Aran said his thoughts, Lyrica noticed a reaction from the glint in Uruk's eyes. It happened faster than a blink of an eye, like a sudden lightning strike from the sky, and yet she still saw it.
"Heh."
Lyrica sported a pompous smug. That's when the Anino realized an answer wasn't necessary. He realized a little too late that Lyrica had sharp eyes and the slightest reaction he presented was more than enough of an answer for them to think they got a bullseye.
The Anino then figured there was no point in hiding it.
"Right as we speak, Uruk is foolishly trying to keep me from leaving his body by holding on with the Spark I put in his heart. I can only possess someone who had my Spark inside them, and for me to get that Spark inside a person, that person must either harbor feelings of hatred or had that feeling in the past. And because I'm bound with him, killing him myself would mean killing me too."
"I see, that makes things a little easier! Thank you! Now die!"
Lyrica dashed without restraint. She clenched her fist as she approached Uruk.
"So now you know I cannot escape this body at the moment, what about it?"
Uruk began releasing his Hate Impulse, strong enough to have Lyrica slowly being pushed back. However...
"Even if I'm stuck in this piece of garbage, what makes you think you can win against me?"
"I'll show you!" Lyrica's body flickered with red light. It caught Uruk wondering what it was about. And then, he realized she was no longer being pushed back, rather she was moving forward. "I'll show you how stupid you are for getting trapped into your own demise!"
Rendering Hate Impulse ineffective, Lyrica leaped forward and landed an unstoppable left punch, sending his head crashing to the surface, creating a wide crater.
"80dB: Fierock!"
'Impossible...! I see, that light... it's Lakas! (Strong/Strength) How? I thought you can only manifest one type of magic?'
After Lyrica's attack, Aran came from behind Lyrica and unleashed his Water Current Slash. Uruk was forced to roll aside to avoid the attack. He got himself back up, only to meet Lyrica up close and received a barrage of hard punches.
'Is this why Agatha was confident?'
Uruk stood his ground and caught one of Lyrica's fists. But to his surprise, the girl's sudden boost in strength allowed her to overcome his hold and pull him toward her before striking Uruk with a headbutt.
'But how is it possible?'
"Ha!"
Bam!!
'Is... Is it because she was one of them?'
Blood sprayed out of Uruk's forehead. Albeit the wound soon healed on its own.
"Is it because you're a Himala?!"
With Lyrica closing in on him one more time, an image of a crestfallen boy allowed Uruk to receive Lyrica's kick in the face without care despite how strong it was.
"Wha?"
Seeing her attack being taken like it was nothing shocked Lyrica to her core. Right then, a water fissure was ramming the ground forward as it approached the two from the side. Uruk violently stomped the ground to stop the water fissure before it even reached him.
"H-He canceled my Rising Water Current Slash just like that?" Seeing his long-range attack being rendered useless, Aran dashed. "My only choice is to attack him up close!"
Uruk shoved Lyrica's leg before he disappeared to get to the Prinsepe of Reilaea.
"W-Watch out!" Lyrica warned Aran, but it didn't reach Aran in time.
Aran was caught by surprise as Uruk got closer to him faster than he could.
"Begone, mongrel."
Uruk's burning arm covered with black fire stretched out to Aran who immediately realized he had no way of protecting himself nor the ability to stop his momentum after running that fast to take a step back.
'I-I have to brace myself for the impact! No, I don't think I can take it, it's gonna hit me!'
Right when Uruk's fist was less than a meter away from hammering him, Lyrica came in the nick of time to land a powerful blow on Uruk's gut.
Pow!
Psssshhh!!
Still, it didn't look like it did anything to him, but Lyrica was able to send Uruk far across the plateau.
However, the tremendous force of Lyrica's attack ended up knocking back Aran.
"Hey, you all right?" Lyrica questioned while looking down at the Prinsepe. "You fell quite pathetically there."
"You didn't have to add that second line, you know." Aran retorted before getting himself up. "By the way, that light was Lakas, right? No, it's similar but not the same."
"Yeah, it's my Fierock."
"I see. I didn't think I'd find a person who also possessed two kinds of magic ability like me this so—"
Dooohm~!
"Ah...!"
"Ngh...!"
Lyrica and Aran's conversation was abruptly put to a halt as a throat-numbing dark air filled the atmosphere around them. They turned their gaze to the source, only to get taken aback at the sight of Uruk glaring furiously at them behind the dark aura emanating around him.
"Like you? Are you saying you also possess two kinds of magic?" The Anino queried, its eerily inhuman voice beckoned Aran and Lyrica's instincts to take another step back. "Do you, Aran!?"
Despite their bodies sending the signal in their brain to retreat, both Aran and Lyrica steeled their composure and remained still to where they are.
"... What about it?"
Lyrica raised her guard in anticipation. Aran did the same as he continued to speak.
"You got a problem with that?"
"Yeah, a lot."
Aran and Lyrica kept a sharp eye as they watched Uruk take a step forward. However, what happened next was something they failed to see coming.
Pow!
"Guogh!"
Aran did not know what happened. All he knew was that his feet were afloat, he puked out blood and he was also out of breath. He slowly looked down and saw what was lifting him up in the air. Uruk's first had struck him in his gut, the armor that was supposed to protect him was rendered useless as Uruk's hard punch created a hole and cracks around the armor like a plate that was thrown to the floor.
"Don't die on me now..." Uruk pushed his fist further in Aran's gut.
"Guagh!"
"I have yet to enjoy tormenting you to death."
"Haa!!"
Lyrica came from the side and hammered her fist into Uruk's open liver. She was able to force the Hari to take his arm off of Aran. But...
'How troublesome, I'm already using Fierock at 80 decibels, and yet all I did was push him aside! And what was that ridiculous speed?! I could barely follow his movements!' Lyrica gritted her teeth in frustration and disbelief. 'Damn you... Are you saying you're just starting to get serious on us?!'
"You, too," Uruk spoke.
Lyrica used the moment to carry Aran and get some distance away from Uruk who appeared unscathed and seemingly more powerful than before.
"You whose presence ruined my plans, you who was recognized by Alteria to be a Himala despite being born in another world, I'll make sure you get no less than torment!" Uruk declared whilst his body was radiating with an aura full of hatred. "I will not kill you, but I will make sure you taste hell in my own hands for as long as you live!"
Lyrica scoffed at Uruk as she tried to hide the nervousness visible on her face. "You sure know how to threaten people, huh? I don't know why the hell you're calling me a Himala, though."
"It's one of the three old sayings that came from the Magic Hierarchy thousands of years ago." Aran coughed out blood as he struggled to get himself on his feet. "It is said that a Wahika is the Bringer of Bad Luck. A Daniw is the Carrier of Good Luck. And then, a Himala is the Harbinger of Great Change."
After a quiet second, Aran glanced at Lyrica and saw her looking confused.
"Wahika?" Lyrica said in a troubled tone. "What the hell is that?"
"Eh?"
"You're fighting one, you damn Himala."
Uruk stole their attention as he charged up his Dark Burst with his open hand stretched forward.
"I'm a Wahika."
Saying this, Uruk finally released his Dark Burst.