"This is not good, not good at all. I'm actually losing." Bezeth said, gritting his teeth and standing up.
This was the chance that I actually needed.
I looked behind me and saw that the Sorcerers' Flame Circle was finally complete, and then I spoke the words and spouted the chants.
With a flick of my wrist, it was mobile.
I didn't wait too long for Bezeth to get on his feet, and I attempted to attack before he'd recovered.
I moved the circle right beneath him and then I placed it. All that was left was the spark and then...
"What's this? The Dead Beat is aware of Circles, but Stein stated that you had almost no knowledge of anything, and how the hell did you draw this? My eyes have been on you all the time." He said.
Before I could make any further threats with the circle he kicked the border line of the Circle with his foot and the circle was damaged.
-[I'm also quite surprised myself], Stein said.
I then swung my arm vertically out in front of me.
It created a single projectile arch of flames that traveled towards Bezeth. He very easily just moved out of its trajectory, but Anastasia just happened to land another perfect strike upon him with her Dragons Battle Cry.
The dust had risen, and I began wondering; "He did hear me clearly tell her what to be doing, so why was he being hit?"
But as usual, once my mind wanders into something and I start thinking deeply about things that would mean bad things for me, they mostly always turn out to be true.
The dust was yet to settle, so I lost vision of Bezeth.
Shockingly, Anastasia fell face-flat onto the ground.
It was very clear she had lost consciousness, but I was unsure if it was because she was knocked out or dead.
At that point, I saw Bezeth standing behind her, and around that time, the dust had also begun settling, but he was still clearly where he was before.
He was in two places at once.
[A/N: No shit sherlock?]
"I had enough of those screams" The Bezeth that fell Anastasia said.
The Bezeth that got hit slowly dissipated. Was it an after image or a clone?
"I move faster than your measly minds can even begin to comprehend. I may not be in my best state, but I can still create quasi clones that are basically just the effect of me moving so fast."
I lost my support and, along with it, my will to continue with this fight, but I wanted to try one last thing before I'd accept defeat.
I put my thumb and index finger at a ninety-degree angle and pointed them up to a part of the ceiling directly above Bezeth.
I made sure some sparks came out so it would look as convincing as possible.
I tried to feign exhaustion.
But in reality, I was telling Athena where to place the next Sorcerers' Flame Circle.
I fell onto the ground, letting my eyelids become heavy and barely even close, and then I let the flames engulfing me slowly extinguish.
While the Sorcerers' Flame Circle formed high above Bezeth.
This one was much different from the rest.
It was quite narrow and looked more like a thin oval than an actual circle, and its pentagram and runic symbols were on the outside.
I doubt Bezeth could even see it because the ceiling was so high up.
But I was able to see vague signs of Athena doing her thing. From time to time, I could see a black crow flying around the Circle.
I believe only I could see it. Then, eventually, the Circle began accumulating energy at an even quicker pace than I would have.
Bezeth began flapping his broad gray feathered wing and even with one wing, he took to the sky.
He was already pretty high in the sky when he began to dust the black ash and dust from his clothing, and then he looked down upon his den.
Filled with bones and two new corpses, that's what he must have been thinking.
I then remembered what Athena told me before entering the den.
--
-{There Are Symbols For 'Quick Energy Absorption'. But Using Them On Oneself Was Completely Unheard Of. The Energy Would Keep On Accumulating Even If It Passes Your Limits And You Would Basically Pop Like A Balloon. Holding Energy Within Yourself Also Consumes 'Stamina' And If Too Much 'Stamina' Or 'Brio' As You Call It Is Used, Then Death Is Highly Feasible}
"Oh no no. You are misunderstanding my intentions, my dear Librarian Athena. I'm not going to put my life on the line like that. All I want to know is if, as long as the symbol is out and active, will it absorb utilizable energy?"
-{Well, Yes Indeed, But Do You Think You'll Have The Time In Battle To Even Start Inscribing These Symbols. They Need To Be Perfectly Done And All Them Need To Have Some Unique Form Of An Intricate Flow Pattern And-}
"But you are perfect for the job. I'd bet that after you drew my first Sorcerers' Flame Circle, you'd be able to create more on my behalf. Even if I have no idea about them, you can come into contact with the physical world, even if it's in the tiniest most insignificant way. That alone can be exploited, and don't forget: you are living rent free inside my head, so you don't really have much of a choice here. "
-{Knowing That I'm Responsible For Literally Making You Assimilate And Understand Nearly Everything That You Know Right Now Yet You Are Able To Perfectly Persuade Me In This Manner Is Making Me Afraid. More Afraid Than I Was Of You Originally, But You Are Still Quite Dumb}
--
Bezeth was high in the sky. His single wing flaps were producing a subtle disturbance in the air below and around him, and he was levitating.
The lightning on his body slowly dissipated and that was when I knew I had won.
Bezeth was just about to speak.
He was probably intending to declare victory, but I had other, more beneficial plans for him.
Like an orange thunderbolt, a thin blast of concentrated flames was shot down by my circle.
It went straight through Bezeth and seemed to leave a black ashy line straight down his middle.
Highly compressing a shot of fire would have been nigh impossible normally, but with Sorcery and Energy involved, all that was required was an innovative and intellectual mind.
I stood tall as Bezeth slowly returned to the ground with an irrelevant wide grin on my face.
"The hell was that?" He asked in his usual vulgar tone.
For a moment, I thought it didn't work.
Then blood started to drip from the side of his lips and from the middle, what seemed to be blood stained with soot also dropped.
"Stein, this guy is good. I can't believe he won. I did drop my guard, but he won against me, a Fallen Angel. Wait till Xaphan hears this. His clumsy ass is gonna laugh so hard."
After Bezeth says this, his body finally separates into two halves and falls in different directions.
The parts of his inner organs that were touched by the flames were burnt completely, and his guts had already begun to slosh out with a whole lot of blood.
As soon as the halves touched the ground, they dissipated into what seemed to be steam or white smoke.
I heard the vivid sound of the show glass that covered where Stein was, shattering. Then Stein descended with help from Kage, who was attached to his back and brought him down safely with the dark tentacle-like appendages.
"Awn. You disposed of my favorite toy. Now what am I going to do?" The last phrase that escaped his lips was spoken in a very serious tone.
His energy, or possibly that of Kage, was seeping out menacingly and continuously.
I couldn't help but tremble in the presence of a force that felt so powerful that he could make me cease to exist simply by wishing it.
I should have pissed myself in fear, but I had thoughts enriching me.
"Is this the point where I finally get to go into the outside world?"
I felt like a kid being held back from the ultimate playground that was the world.
Even though I knew nothing of its struggles, mere curiosity and ignorance were my main driving forces.