High up in the sky, Malek had been fighting nonstop against the commander. Flying far above the castle, explosions had been going off nonstop as Malek seemed to have an infinite amount of energy.
Shooting off arrows whenever he could, the commander had trouble dealing with them all. One of them hit him right in the shoulder, yet no damage was visible. Instead, the gleam of a perfectly polished shoulder guard appeared.
"Demon Archer! You cannot hurt me with your petty spells! My artifacts are much too powerful for you to handle."
Rylo and Malek looked like opposites, one covered in a heavy bulky white armor, the other wearing loose dark brown clothing.
"Hahaha! A commander who can't even fight without toys? Have you become so old you need a walking stick as well?!", Malek's high was in full swing, being able to let loose on the battlefield without thinking of the consequences made him who he truly was.
Conjuring two arrows, he merged them into one big one, pulling it back, he instantly let it go. The commander flew past it towards Malek, but his crazy smile made the commander pause. Sensing the danger, he turned around and raised his defenses as the arrow had changed direction, striking him instantly.
From the cloud a single swipe of his arm cleared up his vision.
"Demon Archer! I'd recognize your spells anywhere! Why fight against us! You were supposed to be a symbol of justice, fighting against evil, what happened to you!
The commander felt angry seeing a symbol of hope being twisted to its darker side. The man pulled out a large shield the size of his body and a claymore that had held electric arcs. With his equipment, he was almost unstoppable.
"Hah! Fighting against oppression, for the weak, that's always been my goal, and it hasn't changed!", readying a special metal arrow, he covered it in his most powerful flames. They were dark red, containing his hatred and anger against the world.
"Your attacks won't breach my shield!", raising his shield to protect himself, Malek knew it would be a futile attempt, but he wasn't readying just a single arrow. Unlike other mages that simply conjured the arrows and shot them with their willpower, Malek often used his bow, but that wasn't a requirement.
Smiling deeply, tens of large fire arrows appeared around him. Each one containing the power of five standard arrows, they all shot off in seemingly random directions, each one carefully controlled.
Rylo knew that his armor would be able to bear the brunt of the attacks, the issue being the arrows were controlled. If they aimed for an opening in his armor, he wouldn't be able to walk it off.
He had been in plenty of fights and wouldn't make such a beginner mistake. If he had to name his weakness, he would mention there was only one, the parts where his artifacts didn't shield him.
"Shield of the Tortoise!", pressing his shield forward, an array activated, creating a hexagon-covered sphere of protection. "Your arrows are meaningless here archer. I don't even want to fight you, why are you helping The Holy Kingdom so much!"
Since fighting against a named mage would take a lot of energy, fights higher in the Ranks tended to be avoided. Not only due to the loss of energy, but also the danger they posed to their surroundings.
Having his shield up, Rylo flew towards Malek at an extreme speed. Malek kept his arrow nocked as he waited for the perfect timing.
The other arrows started to harass Rylo, hitting him from all sides. The damage was negligible, but that didn't mean his trajectory was kept. Being in the air, the man was pushed back a considerable distance.
"Your attacks are meaningless, when will that undeniable fact get through your thick skull!", Rylo shouted through the explosions that blocked his sight, not that he needed to actually see.
Suddenly, the sound of glass shattering filled the air. The explosions had stopped and even Rylo couldn't believe what he was seeing. Right in front of his eyes, the tip of an arrow stood stationary. As it got stuck in the shield, it stayed in suspension. Had he not raised his defenses, he wouldn't be able to breathe anymore.
'Those explosive arrows weren't used to damage my defenses, they only served as a distraction! Damn this fool!'
A single drop of sweat made its way down on the side of his face before his fear turned into anger. Dispelling the shield, he grabbed the arrow and melted it right then and there. Throwing it away would only lead to the archer getting it back one way or another.
"Hahaha, I'd love to conjure a mirror, you should see the look on your face! Hahaha, what was it? 'Your attacks are meaningless?' Just you wait buddy!", Malek laughed out loud as he flew around in the air, shooting off stray arrows.
Rylo thought he would be able to talk things out, or show his superior defense, but that clearly didn't work out. Lifting his massive sword with a single hand, he took a battle-ready stance.
With his heavy frame, Malek wasn't expecting anything spectacular, but his eyes widened the moment he saw Rylo instantly appear before him, slashing his weapon down, Malek barely made it out unscathed. From the swing, a large electric arc appeared in the air, getting caught in it meant almost certain death.
Covering his body in flames, Malek didn't bother creating shields or the like, for they would be useless against this tank. Instead, he drew his bow and aimed at the commander. Rylo turned to face Malek and right as he lifted his massive sword, he appeared in front of Malek again.
Seeing no way to dodge it, he launched his arrow point-blank, creating a large explosion that propelled him out of harms way. The electric arc followed him for quite some time, giving him enough room to fly in a different direction.
'Why is he so fast? He's not flying, is he? No, is he bending space?'
Malek couldn't help but speculate what his opponent was doing to appear before him so suddenly. Seeing no way to prevent it, he unleashed one of his cards. The flames around his body grew massively in size, covering him from all sides, Rylo stared from afar.
'I can't even make his body out with willpower, a smart counter, befitting of the Demon Archer I suppose.', Rylo knew of the legends and always found it laughable that an archer was capable of so much destruction since all they needed to do was close the distance and attack. But now, standing in front of a miniature sun, he didn't know where to cut first.
"Archer! You can't keep this up for long, I can tell this is exhausting. I don't even have to move and you-!", Rylo hurriedly lifted his shield as from the miniature sun three massive arrows the size of his body appeared. Being caught in the large streams of flames, Rylo upped his defenses as much as he was capable of.
Blinking to a different place in the air, Rylo felt his instinct scream as he quickly blinked to a different place and cast his turtle shell once more. The sound of glass shattering reached his ears again as the arrow was lodged behind him, aimed at his neck.
'This bastard knows where I'm moving?'
Rylo felt his anger slowly take over. Blinking towards the sun, he hacked away at the surface, but all he did was cause explosions that pushed himself away. The smoke released felt like the plumes of a volcano, deadly to any human. Rylo knew he would still be fine with his artifacts, but his options were starting to run out.
"Fine, you want to stay in your shell, go ahead! I'll just completely demolish your sun!", putting his shield away, he grabbed his claymore with both his hands before powering it up. Electric arcs appeared all around him, creating a powerful scene.
Malek inside the sun knew he wouldn't last if he suffered such an attack. Around Rylo's sword an even larger form appeared. Crackling with electricity, it had the power to split the heavens and earth. Even Rylo felt the danger from being so close to it. Lifting it in the air with all he got, he brought it down upon the sun, slicing it cleanly in half, causing the entire sky above Proktor to explode.
Almost nobody was saved from the aftershock. The people on the ground felt pressured to the ground, while those flying lost all control and were flung haphazardly around.
Rylo felt his hands go numb, a price to pay for the power. This didn't mean he was done for though. Spreading his willpower, he sought for the man in question, or his remains. Standing in the dust cloud, there was nothing to see for miles.
'Did he fall down?'
Right as he was about to look downwards, he found multiple arrows flying towards him from all directions. Each one capable of breaking through his turtle shield, not that it stopped him from taking his shield out and casting his turtle shell spell as insurance. 'Where is that bastard!?'
On the very edge of his willpower, he found a single man smiling widely as he prepared another arrow, even more powerful than the others already flying towards him.
Blinking around, Rylo tried his absolute best to avoid any of the arrows as they stubbornly chased after him. The man gritted his teeth as he readied his shield and rushed towards the nearest arrow. Trying to hit it from the side, the arrow suddenly stopped in place, making Rylo shield bash the open air.
"Huh?", Rylo's eyes stared at the arrow he just passed by. They were going at an extremely rapid speed, so how did this arrow suddenly stop in the middle of the air? It didn't make any sense! What shocked him even more was the fact that the arrow suddenly burst forward, retaining the speed it had before, crashing through his shield, leaving an opening for another arrow to pierce his left leg.
"Argh!", the artifact armor that Rylo was extremely proud of was punctures like it was nothing. 'Goddammit! How did this vagrant-!?', not bothering to finish his own thoughts, he tried to heal his body to no avail. The arrow was stuck in his flesh and the wound was instantly catharized due to the heat. Were it not for his armor, his leg would be on fire.
"Demon bastard! I'll kill you!", screaming out his pain, he flew and blinked whenever he could to avoid the arrows hunting him from all around. 'If I can just snap that archer's neck, this entire fight would be over.'
His hands were still numb, making it hard to lift his massive sword, but he didn't need such a weapon to break someone's neck.
As he started to get closer to Malek, the arrows flying around became a lot more aggressive. Rylo knew that the moment he stopped his charge and focus on the arrows, Malek would simply fly backwards. He had to catch up!
Spreading his willpower, he focussed on dodging anything he could. The sound of glass breaking occurred behind him, yet if he bothered with it, Malek would fly out of his reach. Even now, he was backing up as he kept shooting arrows. Rylo didn't know how many of those metal arrows Malek had, but if they came prepared, it would be near infinite.
Not taking any chances, he spread his aura, turning his immediate surroundings completely white. Ignoring the arrows, he rushed towards the fleeing Malek. Arrows punctured his shields as they bore entire holes in his armor and body. The seething heat coming from them hurt him immensely, but he knew he wouldn't fall, no matter how many tore his flesh apart.
Under the influence of his own aura, no matter the wound, as long as his brain stayed intact, he would be okay. The onslaught of arrows never seemed to stop as they puncture his legs and arms. Using magic to control his body, he took his sword out as he blinked forward, catching up with Malek.
Right as he appeared, Malek's smile was clearly visible as he caused another explosion, pushing them apart. 'The bastard is reading my moves now? Fine.'
Putting his sword away, he chased after Malek again as they went around in circles above Proktor. Eventually he blinked again, this time without warning or sign. Right as he appeared, he stretches his arm out, grasping Malek's neck tightly in his hands. "No running anymore you demon!"
Grasping his throat with both his hands, he tried to crush it to bits. Rylo was certain his victory was near until he saw the crazed smile on Malek's face. His aura spread, clashing with Rylo's, cancelling each other out.
"What? How can your aura cancel-!", right when Rylo was about to focus on his target, all the arrows in the sky simultaneously pierced his back. As the rods of steel protruded from his being, his body leaked blood.
Rylo felt his heart being pierced. Without his aura, there was no way for him to recover. "Hahaha, that's what you get for being so arrogant! Justice wins today!"
"Like hell it will!", Rylo held Malek's neck tight as his other hand plunged into his own stomach. Crushing his own core to bits, Rylo was determined to not hold back any longer.
The entire sky above Proktor flashed white as the energy remaining in Rylo's core exploded from within. Any unlucky mage fighting in the sky was turned to ash from the pure white light. From the massive cloud of fire, a single black dot fell down.
Crashing on the ground, it almost caved in. Malek had never been in such dire straights as his body was visibly scorched. Spreading his willpower, he noticed the surrounding ground was covered in corpses of both The Holy Kingdom as Frigus. Bodies piled over one another as a single mage walked towards him.
"Hah! Asta! You should've seen the idiot's face! Using fire against me? He's a complete idiot, isn't he? Haha- urgh," Malek was already healing himself, but the pain from laughing was enough to bring him down. As he tried to get up, a stake suddenly appeared, piercing his palm, it forced his arm to the ground.
"Huh?", another stake quickly brought his other hand to the ground. The pain was terrible, but easily forgotten due to Roly's attack. "Asta! What are you doing?! Stop this immediately!"
"I will not apologize. Do try not to think too badly of us. This was the most efficient way for us to accomplish our task."
"Task?", Malek barely got the word out of his mouth. He tried to move his arms, but Asta made certain that wouldn't happen anytime soon.
"You see, without that commander's core, we need one more Rank 3 core to get enough points."
"...what?", a dark feeling of gloom started to set in once he saw the emotionless eyes of Asta stare into his own.
"Well, we never planned on keeping you alive in the first place. Either way, thank you for your service."
Malek didn't know how to give his emotions voice as his instincts screamed, facing forward, in the distance, Lucas had released his upgraded Dark Beam. The beam was too fast for him to even blink. Completely swallowing Malek's head in less than a second. It left a fountain of blood in its wake.
The lifeless body collapsed on the ground. Asta wiped his sweat away with a cloth. "That was pretty close. I wasn't expecting it to turn out like this."
"Well, if that captain hadn't gone to aid the forces here we would've had it way easier. At least now we're finished here. We should hurry up as soon as possible."
"Indeed, I don't believe we'll be left alone for long. I suppose you want me to spread the second set of rumors?"
"Correct. The people don't know of our existence, and I'd like to keep it that way. Let the story of the heroic Demon Archer end here," Lucas spoke with a voice filled with theatrics as his hand pulled out the shining red core of Malek's carcass.
Inspecting the core, Lucas smiled widely.