Last Wish
"Faith must be truly novel, beautiful and timeless, so gives life to thee."
Act 0
Chapter 10 - The Umpire Feletheus.
Xavier struggles, but finally gets up. The next second he sees Feletheus walking towards him menacingly, drawing his sword from its sheath, harshly saying "You are not worthy to see my abilities. I will take your life only with the sword."
As there was no chance Xavier could fight against Feletheus, all he could do is dodge or defend. When Feletheus swang his sword from side to side, Xavier used last bits of his cursed ardor of speed and jumped back, quickly looking for anything to defend with.
As Xavier was merely defending from Feletheus, Phanuhel appeared, and called out for Xavier, trying to distract Feletheus from him. It didn't work, so Phanuhel was about to intervene, but his legs were not listening him. He knew there was little to no chance of him defeating one of the umpires, even with his cursed ardor.
In the present moment, Phanuhel watches as Xavier struggles to defend himself from the powerful onslaught of Feletheus' attacks. Horror fills his eyes as he realises the true extent of Xavier's predicament.
"Xavier!" Phanuhel screams, his voice cracking with fear and desperation. "What in the world are you doing here and against Feletheus, of all people?!"
Xavier's heart raced as he tried to keep up with Feletheus' relentless onslaught. He could hear Phanuhel's voice in the background, but he was too focused on staying alive to respond.
"I got lost!" Xavier managed to shout back between dodging and defending Feletheus' attacks. "I was trying to find a way home!"
"I told you to not go into the goddamn basement!" screamed Phanuhel.
"I know, I was stupid!" Xavier called back, grunting under the strain of dodging and defending. "But it's a little late for that now, isn't it?!"
Phanuhel clenched his fists, watching helplessly as Xavier continued to fight for his life against Feletheus. He knew that he needed to do something, anything, to help his friend.
"Xavier, listen to me," Phanuhel shouted, his voice cracking with desperation. "You have to find a weakness in Feletheus' attacks, something we can use against him! Watch for his patterns, look for an opening, and I will help you!"
"I'm trying!" Xavier yelled back, his voice strained and panicked. "But he's freaking fast! I can barely keep up with him as it is!"
Feletheus, hearing the conversation, let out a deep, cold chuckle. "Poor little mouse, struggling to survive against the cat," he taunted, advancing towards Xavier once again.
"This is bad! If I don't intervene now Xavier will die!" thought Phanuhel as he focused himself on the thought of dead Xavier, his veins boiling. He used his cursed ardor, teleportation. He sacrificied an hour of his life to push Xavier out the way of Feletheus' sword, but instead, he got hit.
The impact of the sword hit Phanuhel hard, sending him sprawling to the ground.
Xavier watched in shock as Phanuhel took the hit for him, his heart sinking as he realized what had just happened. "Phanuhel!" he shouted, dropping to his knees beside Phanuhel.
Phanuhel groaned, clutching at his side. The wound from Feletheus' sword was deep, and he could feel the warm stickiness of his own blood seeping through his shirt.
"Damn it," he hissed through gritted teeth. "I wasn't fast enough."
"That is for both of you. I will see you in hell." as Feletheus put his sword up, and was about to murder both Phanuhel and Xavier, the woman spoke. "Feletheus, stop now. This old man sees familiar." the woman spoke calmly. "With all respect, Anneth, I have to finish it. It will be disrespect to their efforts, to not end it now."
"Feletheus, do not forget your place. I told you to not call me by my name. More respectful will be calling me Lady Bizeret." she exclaimed with a lowered tone. "Forgive me, your highness." Feletheus spoke quietly, while putting his sword away.
"Bizeret? Ugh.. No way.." Phanuhel was barely conscious, but still spoke. "Phanuhel, please don't talk!" shouted Xavier, holding Phanuhel's body upright. "You...", Phanuhel pointed his finger on Anneth, "You should have heard about me from Agaue. T-this is Xavier, my apprentice. Spare his life..." and he fainted.