Youden looked around the smoldering husk of the field. The debris was everywhere, and he didn't feel like waiting any longer at the sight, as he began to make his way back towards the city on foot. So much for not holding back, Youden had to snigger with relief, knowing that Jamal couldn't hurt him or the nation anymore. He simply got outplayed.
"Youden!" he could hear a loud voice above him.
Turning around, Youden was shattered at the sight. Jamal's entire body was glowing a deep blue, as a large ball of the shade and the size of several city blocks was floating above him. It couldn't be possible, for him to get through that attack and not have any repercussion or damage at all. The burning man himself didn't even say another word as he shifted his hand downwards, the ball of energy coming down with it.
Holding his hand up, Youden could actually feel the temperature quickly increasing, as he formed multiple balls of water around him, before launching it towards the attack. The insane heat managed to simply turn it into steam, before Youden had to grasp the attack, burning his hands. His screams filled the air, as his skin was getting seared from the outside, and would be quite the healing process afterwards. It was time to do this.
In a new rage, Youden roared in anger as his aura quickly expanded past the ball of fire, as he pushed the attack back into the sky. Jamal dodged it with ease, as he phased back in front of Youden, as they clashed with their fists. They both managed to land punches against each other, as Jamal managed to scrap the side near Youden's cheek.
For some strange reason, it caused Youden to stumble back, as Jamal managed to land a kick to his side, causing him to travel hundreds of feet, before rolling on his side. What caused that, Jamal was a bit confused, until he recalled what Calwort had told him about the inaction points. With that in mind, Jamal grinned at the action he was looking forward to.
Meanwhile, Youden gotten back up as he pushed himself towards Jamal, reaching him in less than a second, causing Jamal to be a bit surprised of the speed, before getting countered into the ground. He managed to propel himself to the side, although Youden was on his tail, and he wouldn't be able to shake him off easily.
Stopping, he held his ground, as Youden roared with expanded aura, as Jamal fired thousands of fireballs towards the man. Youden's aura propelled them around him, as he put both hands forward.
"I haven't use this one in awhile. Now die, you cancer!" Youden smiled in a maddened rage.
Jamal stared at his hands, with nothing forming between them. Not letting anything become of it, Jamal condensed his arms into blades, before charging the man regardless. He had to hit those points quickly or else things could have gotten worse. As he was arm's length away from him, he noticed how Youden's arm were faintly glowing red through the dark aura. Before he could change his direction of attack, Youden tapped him once through the chest, Jamal unable to dodge.
He had still felt fine, as he managed to slice Youden's side, before stopping to his side for some reason. It was as if he couldn't move, as Youden winced slightly from the attack, before shifting back to see his work. Jamal could see his hands still recovering from the burns, although well over half of it was completely healed, at least it seemed.
Jamal just watched as Youden muttered something strangely, before taking a breath of fresh air. He didn't know what had happened, until he felt a painful bursting in his chest. He couldn't even speak, as his flames dispersed, and he sputtered out blood through his mouth.
"It seems you like my ancient technique, used by the feared Ket-Got warriors of 400 BCE. That attack completely devastates your body from the inside out, and I bet it feels so good to you doesn't it, Jamal Wrint."
"Shut up." Jamal managed to cough out, before getting kicked in the exact same spot, howling in agony.
"Almost like every time you tell me that, it's as if your ass is getting kicked repeatedly. You cannot kill me, you cannot stop me, you literally have no one here to save you this time. You only have ever done so with help. Be a real man, and die with some fucking honor for once."
Jamal was impressed with the language Youden had, before getting a foot placed on his chest, causing him to struggle to breath. Gasping for air, he tried clawing his leg, only for Youden to swat it away.
"I will say, your powers are very unique, as I've never seen someone with the ability to manipulate fire have so much potential. Before I kill you, I think I might use it for my own gain."
"You can't take it. It's not like you already don't have enough." Jamal launched back, before Youden grabbed his neck.
"I think this is the least of your problems." Youden grinned, as he was about to start the process.
"Hey!" a voice cried out from a distance.
Turning around, Youden looked to see a man walking towards him, wearing a black cloak. Was that one of the Keepers of Darkness, he still had them around?
"Do I know you?" Youden still had his foot on top of Jamal, although he was somewhat relaxed.
"I am Quanini, Keeper of Darkness, here to assist you after seeing such a large explosion. May I help?"
"I have no need for you at this moment. Your current objectives should be like the rest of the army in the area, hunting down the rest of the Eluyim Hexan and any other perpetrators. Go."
"As you say." the cloaked man nodded, as he started rushing him.
It looked like he was going to past him, as Youden returned focused onto Jamal. The man was still breathing, and he didn't want to give him another opportunity to overpower him, as he began to press his fingers against his throat. Just as he was about to start the process once again, he felt a sharp sting against the back of his neck, causing him to leap off Jamal.
Looking back, he saw Quanini having his hand's in his pockets, staring him down. More betrayal for him to clean up after, he suppose, as he disappeared in blur. Quanini didn't even move, as he was quickly sucking up a large vacuum of air, before firing it in the spot where Youden reappeared at, causing his already ruined clothes to be further shredded, and scratches leaking blood across his body. Quanini himself wiped his mouth, leaking a little blood from the bits of rock still carried in the air, as Jamal managed to come back up.
"Didn't we fight in Suruthum, why help me now?" Jamal managed to engulf his flames again, noting Youden applying pressure in the air.
"My goals are different from yours. I'm just going to say that I don't expect either of us to last long in this situation." Quanini pulled his hands out of his pockets, facing a recovered Youden.
Jamal was a bit confused, until Quanini began to pace himself towards Youden. Whatever was going to happen wasn't going to be good, as Jamal quickly rushed to his side. Youden slammed his foot onto the ground, causing both men to fly a few feet above ground to avoid the earthquake. Jamal managed to slice some streaks of fire towards Youden's way, who dodged them with ease, although got hit with a blast of air, lifting him in the air with them.
Not hesitating, Jamal managed to propel himself, before kicking Youden back onto the ground, causing a massive crater to appear. Not even waiting, Quanini fired an extremely large blast of air, preventing Youden from being able to come up and back into the fight. Using the excess oxygen, Jamal quickly formed and launched a blast of fire, expanding thanks to the prior attack. Youden had no time to counter, before getting pummeled by the flames, creating large smoke into the air.
Both landed on the ground, watching with awe as the smoke disappeared. Youden had managed to survive the attack, although there was blood leaking from his mouth, and the scratches deeper than before. However, the man managed to still laugh after all of that, as his dark aura launched into the sky.
Both of the men stayed down, as the aura waned back, although the entire halo of energy expanded farther than even Jamal's fire in his current state. Youden didn't even reply, as he threw hundreds of energy balls towards them. Jamal managed to get in front of Quanini, as he retaliated back with his own, as the attacks exploded ahead of him. Once it cleared, Youden was no where in sight, as Jamal looked cautiously for Youden until he heard a cry of pain.
Turning around, he was Quanini on the ground, as Youden managed to slice the man's side with a blade of darkness as it dissipated. Jamal attempted to rush him, before Youden forced a wall of darkness to travel towards him. It quickly expanded past the perimeter, although Jamal managed to punch his way through, despite forcing him to hold his cry of pain.
Now through, he saw Youden had disappeared, with Quanini slow to get up.
"Don't help me." the man pointed above. "He's going to finish us. Get out of here while you still can. I wanted this to happen."
Jamal was going to object, until he saw the hundreds of several-metered asteroids above Youden. There was no way the man expected to make it through this.
"Jamal, just kill Youden. I don't really care what happens afterwards but finish him at the very least." Quanini managed to say, before he began to suck in air from the surroundings.
Jamal looked at the man that had nothing to lose, before disappearing in a blur. Youden wasn't even paying attention to Jamal anymore, as he launched the asteroids towards the ground. Quanini stood his ground, as he blew all the air he consumed. Thanks to concentrating the air within, he managed to break apart a small chunk of the entire cluster, although it was just too many and dispersed for it to truly work, as the attacks landed around him.
Staying still, Quanini managed to blow the dust around him away, only to be greeted with Youden's fist. The punch caused him to launch hundreds of feet across the space, before Youden appeared on top of him, and slammed him back into the ground. Sputtering blood everywhere, Quanini attempted to propel himself to the side, but Youden was too fast at this point for any time of counter. By the time Youden's lightning fast barrage ended, the man couldn't even get up, as Youden placed his foot on top of him.
"You should have stayed with your group." Youden called back his aura, staring at the defeated man.
Despite choking on his own blood, Quanini managed to grin with pride, knowing the end was here, before Youden crushed his chest cavity, and killing the man instantly. With that, Youden wiped his feet on the ground, before trying to look for Jamal. He was so focused on this weak excuse of a fighter, that Jamal had managed to get away, once again. At least this time, he wasn't the one embarrassed, and world domination would continue onward. After all, there was no way that group was going to last long in his land anyway.