He defended himself from the attack by using his arm, but he was thrown towards the rubble of the house. Michaelis coughed, trying to fill his lungs with air after the harsh throw.
'He is strong with just his hand.'
There are no traces of aura that have been used, and there is no such magic from this man. It was solely due to this man's brute strength.
Michaelis hissed and touched his side, where his broken rib might be. He slowly rose from the ground, but right after that, he was met with a fist. By using his smaller body as an advantage, he dodged the punch by bending his body to the back.
'F*ck!'
He could feel the pain when he moved like that, but he ignored it for a moment to put some distance between him and that large man.
"You're quite good at dodging. But you think that's enough?!"
The large man came at him again with a large smile. Michaelis activated his aura to surround his body before he took a leap, where the man landed the punch. The ground shook and cracked with just the punch.
Grole clicked his tongue and turned back to send another strong punch at Michaelis.
It was easy to dodge because Grole did not rely on fast movement but on strength. It would be easy for Michaelis to beat this man up because his teacher at the Forest of Miracles is stronger than this man.
Grole was just a kid throwing a punch here and there without proper strategy. Such a waste of strength, he might say.
By using his speed, Michaelis leaped behind Grole and landed a hard punch using his aura. Grole was staggered by the punch and turned his body along with his hand to collide with Michaelis' face. But Michaelis bent his body back and stood on his hands before he kicked Grole's chin harshly.
He cursed internally after his acrobatic movement just now. His broken ribs are not giving him an advantage right now, but he can still move.
Grole spit out the blood in his mouth and grinned at Michaelis. The white-haired boy frowned when he looked into Grole's crazed eyes.
'This man is crazy.'
"Hahahaha! You are strong! Is that why you did not die that night?"
Michaelis did not answer him or make a move to go near him. Michaelis just looked at Grole, who was laughing loudly like a madman.
"I don't have much time; I'll crush that tiny skull of yours with my hand."
Grole dashed towards him in a split second, which made his eyes widen. He lessened the impact of the punch by crossing his arms in front of his face. He got sent flying towards the tree harshly.
He knew that this man had another power based on his experience that night. Now he knew what this man was capable of. He could finally see the aura flowing from that body. His aura must be some sort of teleportation or superspeed.
Combining his strength with his speed, this man is no joke. Michaelis should not assess this man hastily.
'This is bad.'
Michaelis spit the blood in his mouth and stood up wobbly.
"Protect His Highness!"
Just a split second, but someone already stood in front of him to receive another punch from that man. He could hear a loud gasp from his protector before he collapsed.
"Your Highness, run!"
Michaelis widened his eyes when he saw the other members of the group already forming an attack on Grole. Grole easily dodged all the attacks and made a counterattack.
"Stupid."
Why would they do that? Did they want to die so badly?
He also saw some using magic but was too slow to activate it and got sent flying. Some magic attacks managed to hit Grole, but because of the aura surrounding that man, the magic was easily deflected.
Michaelis frowned and gritted his teeth.
A magic user against an aura user. Everyone knew that it would be a win for an aura user. Only an archmage could rival an aura user. These people did not know about it. Aura was a forbidden power, so it was understandable.
He would not say this group consisted of weak people because many of them were trained soldiers with the ability to use magic. But they met a difficult opponent, especially with their injuries from the explosion just now.
They all collapsed in an instant, but when Grole was about to punch Lyucryx in his hold, Michaelis dashed towards them and kicked Grole's arm with his knee. A cracking sound was heard before Grole's hold on Lyucryx was released.
Grole swung his other large hand at Michaelis, but Michaelis dove under it and held onto it before he kneed the hand, creating another cracking sound. He successfully broke Grole's two arms. Grole shouted in pain.
Michaelis landed on his feet before he grabbed Lyucryx on the ground to distance themselves from their enemy.
"I will kill you!"
In a split second, Grole appeared in front of him and punched him in the face. Michaelis rolled on the ground before he coughed out blood. He spits again when he can feel the hard object in his mouth; missing a tooth is not a big deal after receiving such a punch in the face.
He didn't wait any longer when he saw that Grole was shocked when looking at his now-frozen hand to move forward.
He finally pulled out his sword from his scabbard, which was thrown into the bushes after the explosion, and channeled his aura toward his sword. His aura slowly turned his sword into ice before he sliced through Grole's frozen hand.
Grole managed to dodge by using his superspeed, but the wound inflicted on his arm made his arm almost fall from his body. There is no blood because of the ice around his hand that was made by Michaelis when he threw a punch at Michaelis' face just now.
"I'll take another arm and your two legs. If you want your head to still be intact with your body, better tell me where my sister is."
"You, son of a bitch!"
A loud growl came from the huge man before Grole grabbed his almost-fallen arm and rigged it from his body. The arm was already of no use after all; it was thanks to the ice from Michaelis that there was no blood splatter everywhere. His ice ate Grole's arm inside out.
Grole dashed towards him at an alarming speed. Michaelis was ready with his sword, but no collision was made. The white-haired boy widened his eyes when he saw the familiar clothes and voice.
"I'm sorry, I'm late, Your Highness."
A brown aura surrounded the man before he pushed Grole away with a swing of his sword.
"Sir—!"
Raihan kicked Grole, who was coming at them, and got sent flying away again.
"Let's finish him off first."
Raihan dashed towards Grole, who was waking up groggily from the kick. Michaelis could finally sense the other people approaching them.
"Your Highness!"
"Help the injured one first."
"You need treatment too."
Michaelis ignored the man and dashed towards the fight. Raihan had an advantage. He managed to cut Grole's other arm. Grole was in a panic.
"Uda, I can't handle both of them."
Grole gritted his teeth while trying to avoid the swords. His voice was low, but he knew his friend would manage to hear him.
"Don't kill him, Raihan."
Michaelis said this to his sword instructor before he slashed down his sword along Grole's body, creating a large wound vertically.
'I will be the one killing him.'
With two aura users fighting with him, Grole was cornered easily. Michaelis and Raihan cut Grole's legs each. Grole plopped down on the ground, unmoving and in a battered condition. Blood oozed out of the cut wound.
Raihan put his sword on Grole's neck. It's over for Grole now.
"Tell us where you put the princess."
Grole snarled at them even in this condition. The large man coughed out blood.
Michaelis crouched down to stop the bleeding by freezing his arms and legs.
"Now, you won't die of blood loss if that is what you want to happen. Tell me where Nasharis is."
Grole laughed.
"Do you think your sister is still alive at this moment?"
The sarcastic question alarmed both the teacher and the student.
"What do you mean? Tell us where the princess is!"
Raihan pushed the sword deeper towards Grole's neck. Grole just grinned at them. He can't do anything anymore; he is already defeated, but he will be saved eventually. These people from the palace won't kill him just like that. They would need to interrogate him, but he would be free before that anyway.
He would also receive his limbs back. Jokes on them; he would be free after this. Killing the crown prince is just a side task, but he would be more than happy if that happened. He underestimates this kid too much.
"You would have seen her tiny finger in the box! That's the proof that she's not alive anymore!"
Grole smiled even more when he saw the angry faces of these two people. He liked to taunt people like this; Uda would come at any moment now, and Visilon would heal him back.
At that moment, his smile froze and his eyes shook. His breath was hitched by the sudden pressure surrounding him. Even Raihan almost lost his grip on his sword.
"What the f*ck do you say? You must have a death wish."
The hazel eyes shone brightly, looking down at Grole lying on the ground. This man must not know where he is or what condition he is in to spit bullshit like that.
Like a large magnet pulling a large iron, they could feel the pressure being pulled on them. There is no direction; it's more like they were pulled from every direction.
"You'd better die than waste the air around here."
Grole's eyes widened at the serious look on Michaelis' face. Moreover, when he saw Michaelis raising his sword.
"Your Highness!"
Michaelis pushed away Raihan, who was not ready, by using his aura. He placed the sword above Grole's chest, where his beating heart was.
'Uda, where the hell are you?!'
"Wait, I will—"
"Too late."
"Uda—!!"
Shrakk!
The sword embedded deeply into Grole's chest, cutting his heart. Grole stopped moving while looking into Michaelis' cold eyes. He was wrong; the people in the palace would not kill him. But this kid has set out to kill him from the start, whether he gets the answer or not.
The last thing Grole saw was the dead eyes of Michaelis, staring at him like a grim reaper. For the first time, he felt fear, and he died after that.
Shrak!
Michaelis pulled out the sword, and some blood splattered on his hand.
"Your Highness."
Michaelis looked at Raihan.
"I will go to Nasharis now, Raihan."
Michaelis crouched down on the ground before he took something from Grole's pocket. The tiny rock was now in his hand. When Raihan saw this, he knew what it was.
"Wait, Your—!"
Michaelis crushed the teleportation stone before he vanished from there.