The lightning mage lowered his voice, ensuring that only Cykrus could hear him, "Lord Aventia, I have a proposition for you."
Cykrus winded up another punch, "What for? Aren't you here to kill me?" he threw out his fist, the air parted due to his strike, but the rank three mage before him simply turned to lightning and evaded his blow.
The man did not retaliate, even though Cykrus had shown an opening, "The Ironhoof family wants you dead. However, it would be a shame to lose someone of your calibre."
Cykrus' gaze wavered, "They won't like it if you spare me. Are you prepared to lose whatever deal you made with them?"
But the lightning mage shook his head, "That wouldn't happen. For them, killing you is just the cherry on top, what they really want is something they have no choice but to sacrifice everything for."
"Are you willing to hear me out?" the man asked.
Cykrus pondered for a moment, then nodded, "I guess I can still make my decision after hearing your words."
The man smiled, pleased, "Swear your loyalty to my master, and not only will I ensure your survival today, but we will also aid you in reaching rank three."
He stared at Cykrus for a moment, then considered his ambitions, just that alone might not be enough to satisfy a man like him, "And I will extend the same offer to you as the Ironhoof family... once my master takes the throne, you will be rewarded with the secret of reaching rank four."
"Ha. The secret that is only known to the royal family, but it appears that in truth only the king himself truly knows. I was wondering who your master might be, it seems I can narrow it down to just three possibilities." Cykrus carefully inspected the man's reaction, "Which one is it, Princess Ren? Prince Dalton? Prince Arlin?"
The man's expression stayed the same no matter which name he called, "What makes you so certain that it is one of those three?" he shrugged his shoulders, "I am afraid I cannot tell you unless you agree to my proposal, Lord Aventia."
Cykrus waved his hand, "Anyone with a modicum of interest in the succession ceremony can tell that those three have the greatest chance of becoming the next ruler. Why would a rank three like yourself choose one of the lesser candidates. That would be an unnecessary risk. And the Ironhoof family wouldn't agree either if your master didn't have some sort of guarantee for the throne."
"You are smart indeed; it makes sense why they are so eager to get rid of you. You must be quite a thorn in their side." the man chuckled, "So, Lord Aventia? I believe my proposal is quite favourable for you. What do you say?"
Cykrus stood there motionless, his eyes blinked rapidly, and many different thoughts travelled through his head, until one crystalised itself as the one he would pursue... "You are making a very tempting proposition."
The man's smile widened, "Wonderful then-"
"But there is not a single world in which I would ally with the Ironhoofs. Not to mention that I am simply not interested in bowing my head to anyone, not even His Highness the king." Cykrus interrupted him.
"What blasphemy. Are you not afraid of saying such things?" the man frowned, was his loyalty to his prince or princess the reason he had taken offense to such a statement, or was he truly blindly loyal to the crown?
Cykrus raised his head, expressing his disdain, "Why would I? Am I not going to die today?"
Lightning surged up and surrounded the rank three mage, "It seems that I unnecessarily wasted my breath. Very well, I admire your resolve, even when facing death, but you have squandered your only chance to survive."
Cykrus felt the rising voltage, he took some distance and added another layer of defence to his rocky armour.
Blinding yellow struck the surface, sparks spread in all directions, but Cykrus was merely pushed back by a couple of steps.
The man then cracked his knuckles and held out his palm, an orb appeared that grew in size, soon comparing to the stones Cykrus was launching at him.
It stopped growing before long and split into six slightly smaller orbs that acted on their own, each flying off in a different direction, trying to pincer Cykrus from all sides and even from above.
Cykrus struck his fists into the earth, walls protruded to cover him, enclosing him.
The orbs slammed into them, leaving behind a cracked surface, but they failed to penetrate the hastily created dome.
With the threat gone, Cykrus pushed his arms outwards, the walls separated, those facing the lightning mage moved along the ground to slam against him.
He took on the serpent form to once again evade the attack, but as he appeared on the side, thin and sharp spikes were already drawing close to his face.
The serpent twisted its body, making tight corners no human ever could, narrowly dodging most of the sharp spells.
As his body returned to normal, and he clutched his left leg, he spotted several small marks where blood was oozing out.
'It managed to pierce my flesh?' he became somewhat wary of Cykrus, his master had allowed him to nourish his own body by eating those otherworldly creatures, but he wasn't at a point where he could call himself invincible yet.
His sight shot ahead of himself, where Cykrus was already in front of him!
Cykrus' hand closed around the mage's throat, squeezing it as tightly as he could, his anger surfaced, "Are you related to that assassination attempt?!" tiny needles were poking into the man's flesh.
"Assassination attempt?" the man's face darkened, "You are taking me lightly..." he grabbed Cykrus' rocky wrist, lightning coiled around his arm and up his hand, then onto the impenetrable armour.
Cykrus pushed the needles further in, but he quickly lost his connection to the spell within his hand, he pulled his arm with full force and escaped the man's grip.
He inspected his wrist, only to find that the earth had practically fallen apart on its own.
"If I had been sent to assassinate you, then today would have never come. Your defence may be strong, and any regular lightning mage might have trouble against your earth magic, but I have deliberately prepared my spells in advance." the man sneered.
"The spells you use is widely known, and mine now perfectly counter yours. I have been holding back out of consideration for you. Give up. Accept my offer, Lord Aventia. Or else this fight continues in earnest."
Cykrus reapplied earth to the parts that had been affected while ignoring his opponent's words, "You are saying you weren't involved? It's strange, since our assailant used the exact orb spell you just did."
The lightning mage grumbled, "What are you saying? Do you intend to accuse me of such a pitiful act now? Have you fallen into despair in your last moments and are clinging onto some vague idea in your desperation? It won't change a thing, Lord Aventia!"
Cykrus shook his head, he first chuckled, then burst out into laughter, he tried to catch his breath and stop several times, "Despair? Haha, hardly!"
The man raised both of his hands, jolts were visible in-between his fingers, "It looks like you've lost your mind. Then allow me to preserve your image and send you off!"
Cykrus stomped his foot into the ground, hundreds of little earthen pellets sprung into the air, then flung themselves at the lightning user.
Yellow and orange jolts spread from the man's hands, short-ranged bolts tore through the wave of pellets, but some managed to slip through, now clinging to his clothes and skin, where they were exerting their weight to pull him to the ground.
While the pellets assaulted him, his lightning bolts pulverized Cykrus' armour.
"How annoying!" the man shouted, stopping his bolts, particles gathered around him for a moment, then spewed forth in all directions, an electrical net without gaps destroyed the pellets with a loud sizzling noise.
Cykrus jumped backwards to increase the distance, his landing caused waves of earth to deform their arena; a second longer and the lightning would have turned all of his armour brittle and ineffective, likely killing him on the spot.
He kneeled on the ground, layers and layers of earth stacked onto him, renewing his shield and increasing its density.
As the waves approached the man, he took to the skies, then remained there, standing on electric platforms.
"What will you do when your attacks cannot reach me?" he smiled down, and the sun painted one large shadow over Cykrus, "Let's get rid of that first." lightning came rushing out of his fingers, pouring itself onto Cykrus' new armour; each hit caused the solid rocks to become liquid and shaved off parts of his shield.
Simon's mouth was open wide, he didn't know if he was ever so happy before, seeing how his mortal enemy was taking an absolute beating.
Vivienne's face on the other hand was warped, she did not know whether to intervene and save Cykrus, likely causing a falling out with most aristocrats and noble mages, not to mention the royal family, or to allow Cykrus to die in battle in this disgusting scheme.
"Lord Aventia! You can see the difference between us! Surrender!" the man urged yet again, Cykrus had forced him to start taking this fight seriously, his value was incomparable to the Ironhoof mages!
Surely his master would agree that they had to recruit this man, even if it meant that they had to leave Simon's request unsatisfied.
The rocks beneath him shook under the pressure of his attacks, Cykrus' figure rose to his feet, the lightning was shaving away all his armour, his head faced the sky, he could see his foe's silhouette overlayed with the sun, "You and your master both, you can go to hell!"
Veins bulged out across the man's throat and forehead, he bit his lips, drawing blood, then spoke coldly, "I will send you there first..." he stopped his spell, in its stead, yellow particles surrounded Cykrus, they formed into a giant pillar that reach towards the sky.
The yellow pillar solidified from the ground up, the man inhaled, he had expected Cykrus Aventia to go out with a shrill scream, but instead there was silence, perhaps a more fitting end for a nobleman like him.
"It is done Baron Ironhoof. Duchess Debora." he turned his head as he floated back to the peak of the mountain.
Vivienne looked past the man, her heart was beating out of her chest... she had made her choice, though involuntarily, as she failed to act in time.
She clenched her fists, and her eyes became watery, but she suppressed her feelings and stopped herself from showing tears, she had forsaken him, she felt that she had no right to mourn him.
But her gaze shot back at the bright pillar, as an aura with increasing intensity revealed itself.
The lightning pillar vanished after having burnt through its particles, and at the spot of impact stood a lone figure clad in golden armour, adorned with the intricate design of peacock feathers that barbed around the surface, holding a lance within his right hand, even all of his joints were coated in the same hue, all of it reflecting the harsh sunlight; the sight moved Vivienne's heart, she had hoped for a miracle, and her prayer was heard.
Though she breathed a sigh of relief, '...Those aren't the artefacts I gave him...?' Vivienne scratched her head.
"We are not done. In fact, we've only just begun." Cykrus voice reached their ears, all of their heads turned.
Simon scoffed as he crossed his arms, "So, this was your trump card Cykrus. Rank three armour and a weapon. Your family's pockets are truly deep. This fight would be over if it was against me, but unfortunately for you that is not the case."
He opened his mouth wide and yawned, "End this, Lokan."
The lightning mage tilted his head in Simon's direction, having his name revealed could paint a target on his back, considering that Duchess Debora would survive and leave this place no matter what.
Lokan frowned, but did not pursue the matter, "It's a shame. It is very rare to come across such powerful artefacts, they are almost wasted on a rank two mage, since you are unable to bring out their full power. No matter, I'll just take them from your corpse." as he finished his words, Cykrus' figure had blurred and reappeared in his vision, the tip of the lance grazed Lokan's ear as he managed to avoid the deadly strike.
"You've gotten stronger and faster! What wondrous effects!" Lokan's desire for the armour just continued to grow, particles surrounded him, and then turned into another net-like barrier, driving Cykrus away to make some room to breathe... or so he thought, but the golden armour withstood the brunt of the attack and forced its way through, "Earth-elemental armour!" he narrowed his eyes, truly an annoying pair of artefacts and master.
The imposing armour silently drew closer, swing after swing disrupted the spells Lokan was preparing leaving him with barely enough space to evade life-threatening strikes, only receiving several shallow wounds across his abdomen.
'That weapon is dangerous...' he focused entirely on it, not noticing the golden greaves that stomped onto his foot, until it was too late.
Lokan attempted to pull away, but he couldn't muster up enough strength in his leg thanks to the previous wounds Cykrus had inflicted on him using the sharp spikes.
He changed his plan and pushed out his hand, orange cackling lightning formed in his palm, but before he could reach Cykrus' chest, he lost all feeling in his left arm, it was severed at the shoulder bone.
Lokan's mouth opened wide, a pained scream escaped his throat as his arm was taken from him by the same weapon he had been keeping his full attention on.
Lokan followed through with his attack, a rush of adrenaline somewhat dulled the horrific sensation for now, the resulting blast knocked Cykrus' entire body ten meters away, with his leg freed, he took to the skies to leverage his superiority in range, "I wanted to give you a swift death… congratulations, you've changed my mind!" he grunted, and his face contorted in a heart wrenching manner as he cauterised the wound using another spell.
The air was filled with the smell of burned flesh, but at least the bleeding wouldn't turn into an immediate problem.
He raised his hand, particles formed into another giant orb, it had the same hue as the lightning that dissolved Cykrus' armour, then it split into tens of smaller projectiles, each flying on their own and finding a different path towards their target.
The rock below Cykrus' feet cracked as he dashed to evade them, he used his lance to swat the incoming spells, but there were far too many to escape them all.
While they were chasing him, Lokan was preparing another spell, he lifted his remaining arm above his head, it took some time to properly form it, but it was time Lokan was willing to sacrifice, since it meant conjuring one of his strongest rank three spells.
His clothes fluttered in the air, and his hair became even wilder, a faint humming warned everyone of the incoming attack.
Lokan's index and middle finger pointed at the sky, then slowly moved to face Cykrus' figure, the small orbs weren't flying aimlessly, they had been forcing him into a certain location.
In the blink of an eye a small yellow dot travelled from Lokan's fingers to where Cykrus had been, a bright flash forced Vivienne and Simon to cover their eyes, then the sound of thunder followed right after.
The smaller spells also converged on his position, forcing him to take the brunt of it all.
Lokan fixated his attention on the source of the light, he was used to the radiance, and could withstand it to some degree, once it cleared, all three saw Cykrus' stumbling figure, his spotless golden armour was now riddled with blemishes, dark spots that showed how intense the burns of the lightning would have been on his skin.
"It doesn't matter how strong your armour is, beneath it all you are just a measly rank two mage. Your body has its limits, even if you can still stand now, you will fall to your knees eventually!" Lokan taunted his enemy as a vast number of particles flowed in from all around him.
Cykrus looked up into the sky, his hands were trembling with anticipation, and he chuckled, it had been so long since he last put his life on the line in battle, it truly was a feeling nothing else could compare to.
He squatted down on the ground, his eyes scanned their target and his position, then before Lokan could execute whatever he was building up, a rocky pillar boosted Cykrus into the air, launching him like a cannonball with no regards for his landing afterwards!
He primed his lance as he closed in on the lightning mage, whose eyes had opened wide in surprise.
Lokan's mind screamed at him to cut the preparations of his spell short, feeling unease by the possibility of death this rank two mage could bring upon him... and so he did.
The yellow particles he gathered until now streamed towards him, looking to flood his body, he stretched out his arm and legs, and they were enveloped right away.
His figure became gigantic, with a long and scaley body that ended in a tail, one pair of wings in the middle and the head of a viper.
Its monstrous body stormed into the air, out-speeding Cykrus and leaving him dangling for a moment before making a sharp turn and attacking him!
The winged-serpent's mouth opened, swallowing the comparatively miniature golden armour in one go and steering its own body into the mountain.