A week had passed since they captured the girl and she had just regained consciousness. Edmund had suggested that they don't send any updates to the superiors until they were sure she was healthy and the three had agreed on it.
A day never passed without her trying to kill them but it was all futile. She had refused every form of care offered to her. Sian tried relentlessly to escape and only ended up getting worse. She always stressed herself and a healer was called everyday to attend to her.
She had hurt herself once again, this time worse than usual. She had once again attacked the three and had momentarily pushed them back before Harold got serious and knocked her out.
"Don't you think you overreacted Harold?" Caleb asked.
"It's best this way. IF we continue to allow her go berserk everyday then we might end up homeless" He answered. "besides we're taking her back after this treatment." He added. The healer had finished with her and walked out of the room before Edmund handed him a pouch of coins. The three waited for the healer to make his, but he didn't seem to want to leave.
"I think I will be able to treat her faster back in my clinic. She will definitely recover faster there" The healer suggested.
"Sorry but she's staying with us." Edmund replied.
"You make it sound like I asked for your permission" The healer stated. His voice different from what it sounded before. The atmosphere around him had changed and out of his flowing gown he pulled a pair of nunchucks and made his way towards Sian's room but was intercepted by an eager Edmund.
"I don't know who you are but you have to leave now!" Edmund warned.
"Edmund was it? Why don't you ask your Father about me. We were very good pals back in the days" The healer disclosed just before catching a dagger mid air."I wouldn't recommend retaliation. I don't like violence at all. Especially not with children."
Harold couldn't fathom what was going on, but he could sense the power emanating from this man and it was almost on par with Inferno's. This stranger was dangerous. Stretching his hands forth, he created a barrier of solid air around the healer, restraining him from further movement.
"How annoying" He scoffed before shattering the barrier with a single stroke of his nunchaku.
Their jaws dropped in awe and their defenses were suddenly up, now realizing the kind of threat this healer posed.
"What's this? No need to be tensed up, I only came for the girl, there's no need for violence" His new tone was mocking and at the same time annoying. He walked towards the room but a sudden outburst of flames made him change his direction. He carefully sidestepped, easily staying out of the flame's range. Caleb had attacked simultaneously but he was easily outmatched and thrown backwards.
"It seems you kids have lost your manners and I have run out of grace to offer you. Now I will teach you what it means to obey"
Harold felt it again, that overwhelming power this stranger emnated now conjoint with this unnatural sense of evil.
"The inertia is killing me, why don't we get a little serious" Harold announced before taking few steps forward. He looked at the two through the side of his eyes giving them an impression they were already acquainted to. "Cover me." He ordered and they nodded in approval just before Edmund launched the first attack.
Harold created a dome over Sian's room, protecting her from the violence at hand before aiding Edmund in his assault. The plan was to keep the stranger occupied from simultaneous attacks from Edmund and Caleb and when he is caught off guard, Harold would deal the finishing blow. It was obvious they would lose going one on one with this stranger and that was the message he had relayed to them earlier. If he was on par with Inferno, then the best strategy was to take him by surprise.
Caleb had taken the cover of Edmund's flames and had engaged in close combat with the healer, but he got knocked back everytime. Edmund launched his own attacks, hoping to change their condition, but the results were not yielding at all.
He was an Earth Elemental and a highly skilled one. He easily bypassed all of Edmund's attacks and Caleb was struggling with the healer's attacks even though he was the best in swordsmanship.
The difference in their capabilities was clear and Harold had been forced to intervene. If he kept waiting for an opening that wasn't looking realistic, then his comrades will inevitably fall in this battle.
Every swipe of his nunchaku caused serious damage upon impact and he wasn't sure he could take anymore of them. Caleb was bleeding from every corner of his body and he knew he would fall soon, but he chose to keep fighting. He rushed forward again but he was stopped by Harold.
"You'll die if you continue, stay back" The expression on his face and the vibes he gave off was totally different from before. 'This is it, the power of the strongest Triumvirate' Caleb thought just before he was pushed backwards by rushing air that protected him from a large rock that came flying his way.
A barrier was well enough to protect him from the advent storm of debris that came his way. With another flinch of his hand, the debris were sent flying backwards but were easily avoided. The ground below him propelled upwards with force but he was able to move just in time. Spikes of earth shot out from below, forcing him to take flight without a second thought. Edmund had taken flight momentarily also, by focusing the flames from his hands to the floor to act as a boost. He had been able to push himself upwards momentarily but gravity was already doing it's work.
Acting immediately, he leveled the entire ground with a single wave of air, pushing back the demented healer with the attack.
"You're strong" The healer admonished as he stood from where he fell wiping blood off his lips. He smiled to himself. He never believed the younger generation would be this powerful. It made him happy, he hadn't engaged in such an exciting fight for years and not taking these boys seriously would only mean insulting them.
He launched forward at Edmund who had just struck the ground and was yet to rise, ambushing him in his most delicate time.
The healer's speed was overwhelming, and his reaction speed wasn't fast enough. Edmund got kneed in the face and got thrown backwards by a spinning kick.
The Healer bent low to avoid a deadly wave of air from hitting him, broke past a barrier of solid air and reached Harold in an instant.
His eyes widened in shock and his jaws dropped in awe. His reactions had faltered for a second and here he was in his enemies grasp. He had been caught off guard by the overwhelming speed of his opponent and didn't have time to react. The nunchakus were coming down on him and he was defenses. A single hit could be lethal to him in his current condition.
All his life as long as he could remember, he was talented in the use of his prowess and he had never for once engaged in physical training. He thought it wasn't necessary since he easily overwhelmed his opponents without much effort. But now that decision had backfired. His physique was poor and he had no mastery of any weapon. An attack such as this would most certainly drain him and he would be left to battle with little power and after that it was over.
A time beater, another barrier formed around him but it was relatively weak compared to the other ones he created. It will shield him a little from this attack but the outcome wasn't guaranteed to change. He had used this technique only once in his is training with Inferno.
A sudden intervention had saved him and had minimized the outcome of the attack. Caleb had intervened just it time to ward off the attack but the impact snapped his scythe in half and still broke past his barrier sending them both backwards. Harold regained himself midair and broke their fall and at the same time sent out a wave of air to keep the approaching man off.
Edmund wasn't moving any longer and Caleb was at his limits. 'impossible' He thought as he took a quick look around. The entire house was already destroyed and the only part intact was the room Sian laid unconscious in. Spikes shot up again from where he stood and he had taken flight again to escape the danger. Sharp debris of earth rushed at him but he countered them with a wind scythe, shattering the stalagmites that came with it. He released series more but they were either countered and dodged.
The healer raced forward and when he was in range, he propelled himself forward with a boost from the earth reaching Harold in an instant.
His attacks were direct yet complex, he raised seven barriers but he easily bypassed them. He thought that making seven different barriers would slow him down instead of making one powerful one but it was useless. The next thing he felt was a sharp pain in his abdomen before he found himself on the floor, coughing blood and struggling to rise. The healer had stopped his assault and with a single strike, broke past the dome over Sian's room and walked away, barely scratched at all.
Harold couldn't get himself to admit it, he was weak and his demons wouldn't stop taunting him about it. 'its just one loss' he consoled himself as he grabbed Edmund from the rubbles and helped Caleb up.
It was self-evident, this fight had broken his fat ego, and for the first time in more than a decade, he shed tears.