"... Teacher?"
Kael and Gaia stopped attacking each other as soon as they heard Kenneth's voice. Both of them stepped back to put some distance between them. Kael frowned as he looked at Kenneth. But other than that, he still didn't say anything to the prince.
On the other hand, Kenneth could hardly believe his own eyes when he realized that aside from his teacher not wearing a mask that covered his face, Kael was wearing the same black clothes as the people who attacked him. Kenneth did feel familiar with the way his killer attacked him at that time. However, Kenneth couldn't believe that the person who wanted to take his life was the teacher he had respected so much.
"Teacher! Why-"
Kenneth stopped his words as he felt his throat tighten as he wanted to ask whatever was on his mind. Kenneth wanted to ask why Kael disappeared suddenly. He wanted to know why the teacher he respected tried to kill him at that time. And lastly, Kenneth wanted to know why Kael looked at him with such hatred.
Kael, in Kenneth's memory, was a genius man who was always full of smiles. In his entire life, this was the first time Kenneth had seen Kael's eyes reflect nothing but hatred. Kenneth had indeed come to help Audoran Forest this time. However, if Kenneth had to fight Kael to restore peace to Audoran Forest, the prince did not think he could do it.
CLANG!
"What are you doing here, Human?! This is not a place where you can daydream as you please! Can't you see that your teacher is serious about killing you!?"
Kenneth regained consciousness as Kael advanced to attack him, and Gaia saved him by using magic to form a thick wall that blocked Kael's attack. Gaia grunted as the earthen wall immediately shattered after receiving the man's attack. Of all the enemies Gaia had fought, Kael was the first person who could break his defenses so easily.
"Get away if you don't want to help! You're just getting in my way here!"
Gaia's scolding slowly brought Kenneth's mind back into focus. Kenneth unconsciously stepped back, only to stop again when he saw the strong wall containing the badly injured Aqua inside. Kenneth then remembered the destruction suffered by the Audoran Forest due to the human attack. Kenneth's eyes stared at Kael, who kept attacking Gaia, and then finally realized that hesitation was not an option for him.
While he was weighing up which side he should defend, the humans continued to attack the Audoran Forest while those with power in the Audoran Forest tried to fight them. Kenneth also realized something from the fight between his teacher and Gaia. Although Kenneth did not know Gaia well, from the direction of the fight alone, Kenneth could tell that Gaia would lose sooner or later.
As an earth fairy, Gaia was not an attack-type elemental fairy, like Kegan or Fay. Her strengths were more focused on defense and control like she did against Ervin before. Her weakness made Gaia prefer to fight enemies by trapping them or asking strong magical animals to fight for her. However, in this situation, Gaia could no longer do either.
On the other hand, Kael was an agile attacker who mastered magic and was an expert in swordsmanship. Kenneth could see that his teacher easily managed to avoid Gaia's attacks, then turned to attack the earth's journey with powerful attacks. The battle had only been going on for a short while, but Gaia had already received many wounds from Kael. The earth fairy was probably trying to appear strong in front of her enemy. However, Gaia would probably fall soon if she continued to receive attacks from Kael.
Gaia's defeat would mean the destruction of the Audoran Forest. Kenneth didn't know where Lelitia had gone when he was supposed to protect the Audoran Forest. However, if he hadn't taken action, the peaceful, beautiful forest might have been destroyed by humans.
Kenneth took a deep breath, then advanced towards Kael while drawing his sword. Kenneth managed to block Kael's attack this time. However, because Kenneth was still not used to fighting, the prince had to take a few steps back due to the power of Kael's attack.
"Master, please stop attacking him! This forest... I don't think it's appropriate for humans to invade this forest!"
Kenneth couldn't understand what was happening. No matter how much he talked to Kael, his teacher kept attacking him as if the man couldn't hear him. Kenneth blocked some of Kael's attacks with his sword. However, because Kenneth had no intention of seriously attacking Kael from the start, the prince started to be overwhelmed as Kael attacked him without even giving the slightest pause.
"Teacher!"
"Move aside, you idiot!"
When Gaia saw that Kenneth had an opening and Kael planned to use that opening to make a final attack, the earth fairy unconsciously stepped forward and used the rest of her strength to form the strongest shield she could with her power.
The shield did indeed block Kael's attack. They could see that Kael frowned before retreating again to put some distance between them.
"Tsunami."
"Damn-"
Kael's main element was water, so his water magic was the strongest magic he could cast. Kael managed to create a high wave thanks to his magic. Gaia's strong wall was quickly eroded by the wave of water before finally breaking completely and hitting Gaia and Kenneth, who were hiding behind it.
"Shield!"
Fortunately, Kenneth was able to react quickly and immediately cast shield magic to reduce the impact on him and Gaia. Kenneth stared in disbelief at Kael, who did not change his expression even though he almost killed him and Gaia. The prince did not know what had happened to his teacher since he suddenly disappeared. But there was no mistake. The person in front of him no longer looked like the teacher who always protected and supported Kenneth.
"Tsu-"
"Acceleration."
CLANG!
Kenneth did not give Kael a chance to cast magic as he used body-enhancement magic to approach Kael. Being attacked by the sword made Kael immediately raise his sword again to protect himself from Kenneth's attack.
Only when they were at close range, Kenneth could finally see that behind the hateful gaze that Kenneth had been seeing from Kael, the prince could no longer see any light in his teacher's eyes. Kael's eyes seemed to reflect nothing. Even when those eyes were staring at Kenneth, the prince still couldn't see any emotion from Kael's two eyes.
"Teacher-"
Kael again didn't give Kenneth a chance to speak as he immediately attacked Kenneth with fast or strong movements. If Kenneth hadn't been his greatest student in the past, the prince might not have been able to withstand those movements. Kael looked even stronger than the last time Kenneth had seen him. Although his movements still felt familiar in Kenneth's memory, he could feel that every single one of Kael's movements was stronger than before.
"Ugh!"
One mistake and Kael managed to injure Kenneth when the prince lost his focus on following the movements of his sword. Kenneth felt like his chest was burning from Kael's sword strokes. Kenneth's gaze unconsciously glanced at Gaia, who was also having difficulty standing after being hit by Kael. Poison. There was no mistake. They had both been poisoned after receiving Kael's attack.
"Tornado!"
When Kael was about to move forward to approach Kenneth again, the prince immediately released mid-level magic to keep Kael busy for a while. However, Kael managed to lose that powerful magic with one slash. Kenneth tightened his grip on his sword after that. After Kenneth consumed the same poison, the prince knew that he didn't have much time before the poison worked and killed him slowly.
Kenneth was also worried about Gaia, who had been poisoned by Kael. Kenneth looked at Kael, who seemed unaffected by his presence, then shouted one last time.
"Teacher, are you really okay with this? You let me go on purpose at that time, right? Why did you suddenly disappear at that time? What happened to you?"
Kenneth asked because he needed a reason to fight Kael, or he might regret his decision forever. Kael was like family to Kenneth. Even if Kael intended to kill him, Kenneth felt he had to know if Kael did it of his own free will.
"Tsuna-"
"I won't let it!"
Kael once again failed to finish his magic spell because Gaia attacked him again. Gaia was having difficulty just standing because of the poison that was starting to spread in her body. But every time Gaia saw an opportunity, the earth fairy still tried to attack Kael with her power.
Her determination proved that Gaia prioritized the safety of the Audoran Forest over her own life. Gaia's figure made Kenneth finally make up his mind. The prince bit his lip hard, then readied his sword again as he approached Gaia.