We walked further, towards the mountains, a considerable distance away from the Academy.
Surrounding us are ruins of the old civilization. It's been said that Etherons fight to get the old days back, but that's just a rumor. From their actions, it's safe to say that they go against everything superpowers represent.
Etherons like these places to hide and ambush people, but I doubt they'll get this close to the Academy.
The ancient stones, as if they were part of the grassy fields, emerge from the earth and stand proudly, overseeing the surrounding area.
Tallgrass, trees, and small hills provided cover for our friends to stay undetected as they watched the person following us.
Lucina looked at me, blushing. She shook her head a few times and regained her composure. She grabbed my hand tight and smiled. "It's just us. You can remove that hood you have on!"
Her voice, being slightly louder than normal, alerted the person behind us. Of course, we didn't turn around. Instead, Rollen informed us.
That person walked closer and waited.
I whispered to the golden-haired girl. "Get ready!"
I shifted into Jax and removed the hood. Before it rested on my shoulders, a bloodlust like I never felt before rushed at me.
Upon turning back, the person who followed us, already charged forward with enough intensity to shake our bones.
As he propelled himself, a launched fist headed straight to my face.
I didn't have enough time to phase through it and barely evaded it.
His knuckles landed on my cheekbones, almost breaking my jaw.
I retreated to Lucina's side.
Her power flowed inside me healed my damaged cells, and a green aura enveloped me. 'That's handy!'
The girl, worried, grabbed my shoulder. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine! Keep your focus up!"
She nodded, and vines grew from her arms as if they were whips.
He launched another attack, even faster this time, and landed on my right side.
He must have cracked my ribs since my breathing weakened. Fresh blood poured out of my mouth.
I tried to keep my eyes on him, but he moved too fast to follow.
Lucina healed my internal injuries while throwing her attacks.
The fast, descending whips whistled through the air. When the tips hit the ground, the bang made my ears ring.
Of course, that person evaded with ease.
['Rikeron, what do you want us to do?']
"My shift will soon be over, so keep Jax safe!"
He completely ignored Lucina's attacks and focused on me.
Even as a distraction, her attempts didn't work. Jax's power is almost up and Lucina's doesn't work. Let's see how we fare with the black smoke.
As it poured out of my body and dropped to the ground, it flowed like a stream in all directions.
The attacker stopped moving and, confused, stared at me.
He ran towards me. Every time I blinked, he got closer or changed directions. I couldn't keep track of him, but the moment he entered the smoke's domain, his movements became sluggish.
During that time, a deafening bang surprised me.
The smoke rippled, making the ground visible for a few seconds before it went back to normal.
Before I look at what had happened, the enemy flew out of the smoke and crashed a few meters away, raising a cloud of dust.
Lucina landed a hit with her whip. She must've inflicted a considerable amount of damage because he didn't move for a while.
He stood up and looked at her. He sneered and run back at me. When he reached the smoke's domain, he didn't enter this time. Instead, he circled around me, keeping Lucina's whip in the corners of his eyes.
Before I run out of time. Let's hope it works. "Why are you doing this?"
He looked at me and started laughing. "You are kidding, right?"
"I'm dead serious!"
"Why would I answer? My employers won't take it well!"
Lucina must've thought something was up and joined in the conversation. "Our families decided this marriage."
Once again, he laughed. "My lady Lucina, please don't interfere!"
The golden-haired girl shouted. "Who's your employer?"
In a condescending tone, he replied. "Lady Lucina, don't force me to come after you. I've had it with your meddling!"
Oh, my shifting ended. He stared at me confused and lost for words, looked at the girl who was smiling the entire time.
In a fit of rage, he disregarded the thick black smoke and entered it. When he realized his mistake, it was already too late, as Lucina launched a whip strike.
It landed on his forehead, almost splitting it in half, but this time he didn't fly off.
Roots crept from underneath his feet and grabbed him.
His entering the smoke helped me a great deal because of the significant change in the distance; since I needed some more time to reach him. When he got closer, I directed the roots and grabbed his legs.
I looked at the girl and showed her a smile. "He's grounded!"
Lucina glared at him and let out her anger and frustration. Every sudden crack sound that popped from the whip left a bloody mark on the man's body.
I know this is part of the plan, but damn, she's sadistic. I really feel sorry for Jax! I better stop her, though, before she kills him. "That's enough Lucina!"
I turned to him and walked closer, almost a breath away. "Are you ready to talk now?"
While the roots held him, black smoke enveloped him. Only his head was visible.
He struggled and cursed, to no avail. Unable to escape, he glared at us. Veins popped on his forehead and with every scream, droplets of blood would escape his mouth.
I'll tighten the roots a little. "Oh, you can feel your legs getting crushed, right? Won't you miss that speed?"
That's a strong will! I admire that! "How about it? Don't you want to feel the brushing of the air on your face; Or do you perhaps prefer to catch it whenever it picks up?
"Fine! My name is Dil Rogue! The people I work for, want the feud to continue so they can keep supplying the weapons!"
"Is that the only reason? Why go through the trouble of killing Jax? Aren't there other ways to go about it?"
He clicked his tongue. "The young master…!"