Duncan saw as a meteor hit the Dullahan, slowly melting its magic-enchanted armour. The Dullahan scream with pain, but nothing could save it now. After a while, the Dullahan's scream stopped, but the spell was still intact. Once the Dullahan's scream stopped, the undead stopped moving before they headed straight back down.
A few minutes later, the spell dissipates, leaving behind a massive crater at the centre of the prison with a black-charred floor. Davida and Diane jump from the second floor, with Davida casting a float spell. They fell slowly towards the first floor and ran straight to Duncan. Davida looked at Duncan's wounded body with a sigh; she said, "Look at you…. Why do you have to be so stubborn? Now, your body is full of wounds", Davida scolded.
Duncan wryly smile, "Haha, if I'm not still in this technique, I would not suggest that, young miss", he continues, "Besides, you said that we heal quickly in this place, right?" Davida shook her head helplessly, "Fine, this time it works, but don't do anything like this again, okay? Do you know how worried me and Diane were?" she concernedly said. Duncan felt touched after hearing Davida, "Okay, I'm sorry young miss", he hung his head low, but inside, Duncan was smiling.
Diane crouched down; she points her staff towards Duncan and proceeds to heal him, "I can't be around to heal you forever, you know?" Diane complained. Duncan rubbed his nose, saying, "Well, don't worry about it. I'm just an old man that's already going grey." Diane hit Duncan with her staff, "Don't jinx yourself", she pouted. After a while, Davida's hypothesis was proven true, as Duncan's body was already recovered.
Duncan observed his body, baffled that he found that his body was already completely healed. Diane looked confused while Davida nodded her head. "This is…. Why don't we notice this sooner?" Duncan said, puzzled. "I don't know. Maybe because of all the things that were happening to us, we neglect seeing these things." Diane speculated. Davida nodded, "Maybe, but let's move back inside the metal gate. After all, we don't know where the giant lizard might be lurking", she reminded.
"Right…. I even forgot about that too…." Duncan sighed. The trio got up, walking near the metal gate; Diane raised her staff, casting a spell in which vines comes out from the ground, opening the massive metal gate. They hurriedly ran inside as the metal gate slowly closed itself. Unbeknownst to Davia and the others, they were being watched by two pairs of eyes, one from a lion-headed lizard and one from a cute little bunny.
"So, you're satisfied?" Anthony, the giant lion-headed lizard, asked the little bunny, a little bit annoyed at the little bunny for stomping on his head. "Huh? What's that tone?" the little bunny glared at the giant lizard, threatening him with her eyes. Realising his mistake, Anthony body shakes with fear, "No, no, no, it's not like that sister, ouch, ouch sister, I'm sorry", he tried apologising. Still, the little bunny pretends that she did not hear her younger brother and kept hopping on top of Anthony's head.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, sis…. I did not mean it. Please stop…." Anthony begged in tears to the little bunny. The little bunny snickered at Anthony, but she continues hopping, only stopping a while later. Anthony's head felt sore as he looked miserably at the little bunny, "Sob, sob. Why are you so mean to me, sis?" Anthony sobbingly said. Feeling a little bit guilty, the little bunny rubbed Anthony's head, "There, there. Don't cry, little Tony…. You're a big boy, right? Besides, if you can't handle this much pain, how are you going to face them later?" the little bunny comforted the giant lizard as well as provoking him at the same time.
Anthony scoffed, "Hmph, facing those three weaklings, just my body alone is enough", he said arrogantly. "Really?" the little bunny raised her eyebrow, "Are your body that strong?" Anthony puffed his chest, "Of course. Who do you think I am, sis? I'm your younger brother, after all." The little bunny nodded, "Good. So, if you face those three together, you're confident in facing them all with your might alone?" Anthony raised his head up, feeling smug for himself, "Of course, facing those three, I don't even need to think or use my abilities. I'm just that strong!"
The little bunny smirked, "Ok, you said it. Once Davida, Diane and Duncan figure out the puzzle inside the metal door when it's time to finally fight you, you won't use your mind and magic", stated the little bunny, feeling satisfied with herself. The giant lizard flinched, "Ha… ha… ha…." Anthony let out a hollow laugh, "Sure, I'll prove to you that I can do it," realising that he's in too deep, Anthony could only grit his teeth.
===
Meanwhile, in the throne room, I watched the screen with awe as the fight between Duncan and the headless knight still etched deeply inside of my mind. "Hey, old man…." I turned towards the Demon King, "Why didn't Duncan use his aura more against the Dullahan?" I asked. The Demon King smile mockingly, "Do you think that your friend did not use his aura?" he asked back to me. I just shook my head, "I think he did, but I think that he's not using his aura to his full power."
The Demon King let out a chuckle, "Then you are still ignorant." I stared at the Demon King with annoyance, "Tell me why then…." I said, sulking. The Demon King leaned back at his throne, "Well…. If you kowtowed to me and begged me politely, I'll think about it…." I scoffed, "Never mind then", returning to my seat, I tried to meditate. The Demon King clicked his tongue, "Spoilsport. Fine, I'll tell you", he paused, "When two people of a similar level fight, one mistake can decide life or death."
"I know that…."
"No, you don't. When you fight my younger self earlier, what do you feel?" the Demon King asked with a smile. I pondered for a while before answering, "That you are stronger than me…." It pains me to admit, but I did not think that I could defeat the Demon King without the explosion spell. "And?" the Demon King raised his eyebrow. "I don't know. That you have more aura than me?"
"Yes, at that time, I do. But, why is that?" the Demon King asked me back. I get quiet for a while, thinking. However, the more I think about it, the more I did not find an answer besides that the Demon King younger self is stronger than me. "Stumped, aren't you?" the Demon King smirked smugly at me. "Well, let me just say that I'm not much stronger than you at your age."
The Demon King sentence got me thinking again. He's got to be lying, right? How can someone on the same level as me have more aura than me? Then it suddenly hit me. The whole time the Demon King younger self fought me, he only used a minimal amount of aura to strike at me, but the effect was that a minimal amount of that aura managed to push me back.
"I get it now; it is about efficiency, right?"
The Demon King nodded with a smile on his face, "Now you're getting it. When I fought you back then, I used a minimal amount of my aura to the fullest. As a result, I managed to get an advantage against you, and I would have won if you had not used that explosion spell", the Demon King chuckled.
Realisation dawned on me. All this time, whenever I tried all of my techniques, I felt drained. I could only fight with my full power in a short burst. I always blamed my lack of aura storage, but it looks like it's because I'm not using my aura properly. Looking at my face, the Demon King laugh, "Whoever taught you is a cruel man. In my time, efficient use of aura was the basic of the basic."
When I hear the Demon King's word, I thought about my father and his puffed-up face. Thinking about my father, it all made sense to me. What the Demon King said was true, my father is a cruel teacher. Who in the right mind would drop their twelve-year-old child alone in a forest to kill 50 goblins? I swear at my dad inside my head. Looking back, I'm an idiot too. Just because I'm not on Earth, I thought I could get stronger like those protagonists in isekai novels that I read, forgotten that this is not a story someone wrote; it's my life.
I shivered at the thought. If I could have a re-do, I definitely chose the merchant way of life. Travelling the world can be done without me being an aura master. What's done, is done I guess. While I still thinking, the floating screen showed Davida, Diane, and Duncan sat inside the laboratory.
The Demon King watched with amusement as he leans back on his throne.