"Curses!"
Enhancing his legs and hips, Zolovat leaped back a couple of meters, barely dodging an annihilating strike from Aquarius, whose arms seemed to burning, and found himself suddenly tumbling, the world tilting suddenly as he felt the ground beneath him.
Glancing down, he noticed that the stone beneath his feet had grown soft like mud, and his own weight was pushing him down, slowly sinking him to his doom.
He hadn't sunk down that low yet; the quagmire had only swallowed up to his ankle.
"Tch." Calling upon the earth, he molded his intentions and sent it through the quagmire.
The ground suddenly solidified, and he overpowered the spell easily. When it came to earth magic, Zolovat wasn't one to be trifled with.
Bam! The ground suddenly, and he extricated himself from the situation with ease, legs Fortified.
The night seemed to grow brighter. He leaped back again, making certain this time to solidify the ground before going landing, and sent mana rushing throughout his entire body.
*BOOM!*
An explosion echoed just ahead, sending shockwaves rolling. The ground cracked and splintered, then flew at high speed. A cloud of smoke erupted, blocking sight.
Luckily, he had been prepared. The stone shards bounced off his body, glancing past his clothes, and with a wave of his arm, he sent the stone flying back.
As an Accomplice with an affinity for earth, this much was simple.
"How predictable," Aquarius's voice resounded from beyond the smoke screen, and a wall erected from earth rose in front of him with a deafening crunch. "Did you really think that would work?"
The corner of Zolovat's lips rose.
"Yeah, I did." Extending his arm, he grabbed an invisible cluster of beige energy and twisted, exciting the earth mana to the point of imbalance.
With a crack, the wall of earth crumbled into shards of stone and fell to the ground.
Behind the crumbling wall, a blue-haired figure stood with a dazed expression. Aquarius.
*Bam!**Bam!**Bam!*
The stone shards pierced Aquarius's defenses, tearing through his clothes. His skin ripped from the barrage, blood seeping at thin drips.
A pained groan resounded.
Enhancing his legs, Zolovat drew closer to the figure, gathering stone shards one the way, piecing them together into a short spear. It was crude and cracked at some places, barely held together with whatever magic he could conjure.
'It'll have to do. Without the gauntlet, I have no way of satisfying the restrictions.'
Gripping the spear, he dashed forward and thrust. The spear flew, sending the point whistling.
Aquarius's eyes opened wide, his muddled irises looking at him indifferently.
The dangerous premonition returned, and this time, it was even more powerful. A cold and ominous feeling overcame Zolovat's body, and his mind slowed to snail's pace.
But his body did not give up. Instead, it moved forward, independent of his instincts and sent his spear forward with murderous intent.
"Gah!" his opponent groaned, grabbing at the deep gash on his shoulder, which was seeping a dangerous amount of blood, and stepped back, conjuring another wall of earth between them…
And then crumbled instantly.
'Perception! His spells depend on perception!'
With Aquarius's line of sight to Zolovat interrupted by the wall of earth, the dangerous premonition disintegrated like it was never there.
Zolovat recovered quickly, having grown accustomed to the dreadful spell already, and instantly countered his opponent's spell. This realization was near instant, and as he guessed, his opponent hadn't gone far.
A few meters ahead, Aquarius stood with bared teeth, his face contorted to resemble a fierce animal. He held a glass vial, poured red liquid into his bleeding shoulder, and grimaced when the liquid fizzled.
Zolovat frowned when he witnessed the red liquid seep into Aquarius's wound, closing it and preventing further bleeding. He also knew what the liquid was, and was aware that such a hasty treatment was extremely unstable, and therefore lacked the stability to keep hold under the slightest amount of pressure… for now, at least. From where he stood, he couldn't judge whether the potion was of high enough quality or just a measly distillation.
He grinned as he noticed Aquarius's shaking, bleeding hand. Cold sweat ran down the man's face when he realized that Zolovat wasn't the "trash" he had expected to be.
"It's commendable that you haven't runaway yet," Zolovat raised his voice and placed one hand on his hip. "But I think it's about time you take your leave.
"I'm not here to fight you. And with that monster preoccupied with another monster, my reason for coming here has gone to moot."
Aquarius frowned. "Liar.
"I didn't inform anybody of my arrival here, and my family isn't stupid enough to let information about this out. The fact that you haven't run away either means that you have something else to do other than taking down that beast.
"This all point to a greater reason. Something that you would risk even your life for… A chance to reenter the competition, perhaps?
"Maybe a deal with Exousia for your proof of participation? I heard that you lost it a while back."
The corner of Zolovat's mouth twitched.
"I guess I hit the nail on the head, huh?" Aquarius said in a low voice.
'So, he knows about that… Figures. It's been three days since that happened, and with the Silata's information network, I sincerely doubt that they would let such a juicy piece of news out of their grasp.'
'Do thy have a spy in our midst? Or was one of their informants at Eavesdrop at the day in question? Hmm… I'll worry about these later. For now, I should focus on getting away from this guy. I can't let him follow me, either. That would ruin the mission. Beating him with my weakened abilities would be difficult, too.'
'Convincing him to leave of his own accord isn't a viable option anymore. He's onto me. So, I have to "make" him leave. Taking his proof participation would be difficult, but possible. I know that it's a beaded bracelet, the family was nice enough to provide me with information about that.'
'But I should give up on that and focus on getting my own proof of participation. I don't know what his bracelet does, nor do I know how to operate it. I shouldn't get greedy now and focus on my mission. That way, I could also ally myself with the Exousia family. This would raise my status in the Mocný family and offset some risks and dangers that my fool of a brother could throw at me.'
Having learned the values of assessing risk and reward from his previous altercation with Aries, Zolovat was now more controlled and decisive, and he didn't dare to take a greater risk that surpassed the rewards waiting.
He needed to get away from Aquarius, and make sure that his mission doesn't get found out!
To do that, he needed to damage Aquarius enough, allow him to escape, and quickly fine Aries and bring him back to the Exousia family!
He sighed heavily.
'The problem now is how I could do that "and" survive…'
Casting a brief glance at Aquarius, Zolovat felt the pressure on his shoulders increase significantly. And this time, he knew it wasn't because of the effects of a spell.
Lowering his spear's point, he faced his feet on the ground, feeling the earth underneath him much more vividly than a normal human should.
"Are you ready?" Aquarius smiled.
Zolovat felt something dark surface when he saw that smile, his head muddled with dark and harmful thoughts. Still, he didn't let it stop him from forming a plan of attack and committing to it.
Letting the potion settle and stabilize, but not quite fully, Naruse shifted his weight in a way that hid his hand behind his coat and back, obscuring it from view entirely.
Zolovat frowned when he witnessed that, and shifted his stance as well. With narrowed eyes, he cast a glance at the man overall.
There were various tears and wear on his long coat, and his shoulder was stained with fresh blood. He wasn't bleeding anymore, but the wound in his shoulder was severe and debilitating.
Aquarius himself didn't look to be as passive and calm as his voice let out. There were obvious signs of frustration and perspiration on his forehead, and he subtly bit his lip, probably to offset the pain.
Healing potions did not shy away a wounded person from pain. Instead, it made it even more present, the relatively rapid healing causing an unnatural reaction to wielder.
Lowering his grip down the spear's shaft, Zolovat leapt forward, thrusting the sharp, earthen point with all his power, using Mana Burst to further enhance his speed.
"…!" Aquarius barely reacted in time, the ground beneath him suddenly rising and sending him flying.
Thunk! The spear pierced the stone wall, digging deep into it using its sharp tip. Looking up, Zolovat Manipulated the earth mana particles, eviscerating the stone wall. This close, he had no problem shaking the construct's stability.
Using the crumbling stone wall, he Manipulated the stone shards converge into his spear and refined it even further, using the residual mana in it to further Enhance its shape and form.
With a huff, he sent the stone spear flying.
At the same time, a couple meters atop Zolovat, Aquarius whipped his injured arm, throwing a small vial of orange-red liquid. The contents sizzled, bubbling over and glowing brightly.
With a deafening sound, the orange-red liquid destroyed the vial and flashed white.
*BOOM!*
The sky turned red for a brief moment.
The vial exploded, completely eradicating the stone spear with ease. Not even dust was left by the raging fire.
Except, that is, for Zolovat.
He grinned like madman as he finally satisfied his restriction: to break free from line of sight using either all-encompassing darkness or bright rays of light.
Manipulating the earth under his feet, he constructed a dozen spears of stone, each sharper than the one he threw.
Sweat flowed down his face as the explosion expanded, but after a few seconds, there was only silence, and he immediately made his move.
Up above, a voice resounded.
"Tear them apart, Asunder!" The air stirred, molding around him like a cocoon of eviscerating wind.
It grew, then shrunk very quickly, converging on his position, the eviscerating wind whistling in the air…
And shattered almost immediately. As a gust of winds swirled around his figure, the spears rose from the ground and didn't stop, tearing through the wind cage spell and flying higher than he could possibly throw.
"Damn you!" somebody spat. The figure moved.
That was when Zolovat caught a glint at the corner of his periphery, and he instinctively Manipulated one of his spears to the vial of orang-red liquid, knocking it gently as it flew past, throwing it a few meters away.
*BOOM!*
As expected, an explosion.
Intrepid, Zolovat shouted:
"I have you now!"
The new moon hung high in the sky, casting a soft glow on the godforsaken city.
Bathed in that glow, Aquarius grimaced as he called upon of his accommodated soul's magical power, using its Dying Will to burn through its essence at an exaggerated rate, wiping it from the face of this world to power his own spell and Fortify his entire body, especially his wounded shoulder, vitals, and head. His appendages came last.
Gritting his teeth, Aquarius tried his best not to scream as a dozen sharp stone spears tore through his skin, flesh, and blood vessels. His most important were spared as he curled into a ball, but everything else did not.
And finally, he screamed, letting all the pain and frustration out. For a second, his eyes even looked alive.
'Must be my imagination,' Zolovat guessed as he raised his arm, summoning a new stone spear to throw. This was going to be his last, as his mana couldn't afford any more.
'I really need to get my proof of participation back…'
Raising his spear, he rolled his shoulders back and took aim… and came to horrifying conclusion.
Could it really have been that easy?
And then, with the sound of something shattering, reality collapsed.