With a sword thrust, the last wolf hits the ground with a lifeless thud.
"Last one." The Knight said as he wiped the sweat from his brow and turned to notice the other knights staring at Xavier talking to the two young traitors.
"What are they talking about?" The knight asked as he sheathes his weapon, but the others shake their heads.
"Can't really hear them from here. But..." Another knight responded, his gaze fixed on the dark expression on Xavier's face... "It's rare to see the boss look that serious."
Meanwhile, the injured Dom, crouched on a knee, clenches his fists as he hears every word clearly.
Xavier's words are cruel, pessimistic, and plain, dark... but even Dom couldn't deny that there was sound logic in them.
"Like it or not, rookie," Xavier said, his expression still daunting. "A war is coming. And it's because the Monarchs acted like heroes without actually solving the root problem."
Dom's still angered expression slowly softens the more he thinks about Xavier's words... until a frown completely overtakes his expression."Then..." He said, his eyes now passive. "... how can we solve the root problem?"
Xavier scoffs. "We can't."
Dom flinches at Xavier's blunt response.
"It's said that the war didn't originally start with anger or righteousness... It was greed." He raises a hand, using gestures to emphasize his point. "I want this land; that resource should be mine, I am more powerful than they, all those stupid thoughts by rulers are what drive wars."
Dom bites his lip, his mouth quick to retort, yet his mind eager to listen.
"The only way to stop the war for good is to destroy that selfish desire completely. But..." Xavier taps his temple. "... how can you stop something that's basically integrated in human psychology since birth?"
Dom's expression falls deeper into despair. Selfishness. Self-desire. It's a word that his guardian always speaks of.
Once Xavier sees Dom's helpless face, he shrugs and lazily spins his spear at his side."The cycle of war will never end. So, at least until that day comes, I'm going to do my job and enjoy myself in the process." His magic conjures a gentle whirlwind around his body. "I suggest you do the same thing, rookie."
A smirk forms on Xavier's face.
"And with how long the other nations have been hiding in shame and frustration, I'm sure they've cooked up something crazy for this next war."
Dom suddenly stands, his expression once again fired up. "You're wrong." He said. "The Council may be twisted... but I'm sure they have something to stop that from happening."
"They probably do," Xavier answered. "In fact, I'll be happy if the war didn't happen. Less work for me." His smile quickly fades again. "But the Monarchs raised the bar. So when the war starts again... this time, it could potentially end our world. And the man who will be the trigger... is the old man."
"Hey, boss! What's taking so long?!"
Xavier turns to find his men already done with the wolves.
"Damn," Dom grumbled under his breath.
Seeing her defeated family, Lucy growls, her teeth bared as she tries to stand, only to stumble back down, her body still weakened by the pain and blood loss.
"Guess I should finish this then," Xavier said as he took a low stance again.
Already anticipating the bullets, Dom guards with his arms.
"You can just move out of the way, you know? I'm sure you're fast enough to do that." Xavier said.
"You'll just hit her, right?" Dom said, his mind acknowledging the weakened damsel behind him.
Xavier chuckles as he draws his spear back, his wind magic swirling around the weapon's edge.
Dom's eyes widen as he focuses most of his mana into his arms.
Xavier suddenly fires... and Dom grunts as the bullet pierces through his arm again and whistles past his face.
"Did you really think I wouldn't change my bullet's nature?" Xavier said as he showed Dom the rapidly spinning dust around his spear's tip. "As long as I have my magic, my bullets cut through anything."
He fires another shot, and Dom groans as it rips through his side, causing him to stumble back to a knee as blood leaks out of the wound.
Xavier laughs as he fires another shot, which pierces through Dom's shoulder and grazes Lucy's cheek, making her wince.
Dom glances at her and glares at Xavier, who laughs.
"Come on, hero. If you don't block it, it'll hit your girl." Xavier said as he drew his spear back again, but this time, his red aura visibly intensified around him, with his left arm muscles now visibly bulging.
Sensing the incoming danger despite not being the target, Dae glares at Dom. "You can't stop it! Run!" Dae shouted.
Dom doesn't even acknowledge Dae's words. His entire mind focuses on Xavier, the spear, and the person he wants to save behind him.
Without saying a word, Dom takes a low stance that makes sure that every single inch of Lucy's body is covered while his body becomes encased in a thick shroud of his blue mana.
Xavier scoffs. "Heroes... so predictable."
With a sudden shift in his footing, Xavier fires several bullets at once, all of which instantaneously penetrate through Dom's body.
"Dom!" Dae shouted out as blood spilled out from the numerous cuts and holes being made on Dom's body while Xavier fired a couple more shots.
A second later, Xavier stops, a heavy sigh escaping his lips while steam hisses at his spear's tip.
Dae scuffles forward a little, the pricking pain in his leg nothing compared to the pain of seeing his partner in such a state.
Despite still maintaining his stance, his body is riddled with numerous bleeding cuts and bullet holes. His clothes and residual bandages are also mostly torn to pieces and soaked in his warm blood.
Either from the pain or the blood loss, Dom staggers but manages to catch himself at the last second. His body is trembling, his vision blurry, and his chest heaving with each fast breath he takes.
"Wow. You're still standing." Xavier said with a smirk, which quickly fades as Dom finally drops to his knees, a hand on his gut as he coughs up some blood on the floor. Xavier shakes his head in disappointment. "And there it is. You know you could..."
Xavier quickly stops himself once he realizes something... Now that Dom is hunched over, he has a clear view of Lucy... who does not have a single new scratch on her body. His eyes then focus on Dom's back. Despite the numerous entry points on his front, there is not a single exit hole in his back, just bruises under his skin.
Dae's eyes widen once he quickly understands what just happened.
"I thought you just stupidly poured your whole mana to stop the bullets... but that's not what did, right?" Xavier said as he straightened up, his spear now pressed against the ground as he narrowed his eyes at Dom. "You distributed your mana in different proportions, with your back having the most. You used your body to absorb the impact and slow the bullet enough for your back to stop it completely. Like bullet-proof glass."
Dom couldn't respond in his current state. He could only look up through his reddened eyes to meet Xavier's now annoyed expression.
"A strategy completely fixated on protecting the one behind you while abandoning your own health..." Xavier said as his grip tightened on his weapon and his eyes widened, his pupils trembling with fury. "That stupid selfless regard... really pisses me off."
This anger seemed strange. It wasn't just fixed on Dom. It was like the act alone reminded him of someone he knew before. A person he can't seem to forget, no matter how hard he tries.
Lucy stares at Dom, hunched over in front of her. She weakly reaches out to him, her eyes filled with concern, just as Xavier suddenly laughs.
"You really are a crazy, rookie!"
Xavier continues to laugh, his back hunched over and his hand on his gut as he fills the air with a joyous cry... but just as suddenly, he stops and frowns. "Alright, I'm officially bored with this."
With that, Xavier turns away.
"Wait," Dom grumbled as he forced himself up.
"Don't bother," Xavier said as he walked away, not even sparing Dom a glance. "I made sure to avoid all your vital organs, but you're still losing a lot of blood. Keep moving around and you're dead."
"I said... wait." Dom tries to step forward, only to fall onto his side and cough up some more blood.
"Hey guys! Tie these idiots up!" Xavier said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
As the knights move towards the young mages, Dae clicks his tongue as he picks up a sword with his uninjured hand before gasping once he sees something.
The knights also stop, their expressions shocked, while Xavier stops walking once he senses a shift in the air. He looks over his shoulder, following everyone's eyes back to Dom, who is now standing on his two feet again. But something is different about him.
Saliva mixed with blood drools out of his open mouth, his dim eyes remain unfocused, with his vision and other senses dulled, while his body trembles.
<...one day, they'll try to use you too.>
Those words fill Dom's drowsy mind. Completely distances him from the environment around him.
"Pathetic," Xavier said with a sneer at Dom's miserable state and continued on his way.
The knights give him a pitiful look as they approach him with chains and a mana cuff.
While Dae forces himself up, his blade aimed at the first knight to come his way, Dom couldn't even notice the others, already some feet away from him.
All he could perceive was an old conversation.
"What..." The knights stop once Dom speaks. "... what should I..." Dom mumbled, mindlessly.
That's when he recalls the bright grin on Pops' face once he answered him back then.
Those particular words resonated in his mind, echoing over and over... until his eyes suddenly glowed as life returned into them.
He suddenly lifts his head and lets out a battle cry so loud that the knights close by had to cover their ears.
"Dom?" Dae mumbled, clearly confused at Dom's action.
Lucy stares, her expression both confused and concerned as Dom continues to scream his lungs out until he slowly stops...
He remains still for a brief moment, his eyes fixed on the night sky, before suddenly gritting his teeth and glaring at Xavier's back.
"I said, wait!" Dom shouted.
Xavier stops and looks over his shoulder with a still uninterested gaze in his eyes.
"I can still fight," Dom said as he wiped the blood from his lips.
Xavier turns to him with a sigh. "Don't push your luck, rookie. You act tough, but I know your body is in so much pain now that you can't even move."
"Pain? What pain?" Dom asked as a grin suddenly formed on his face. With a firmly tightened fist, he loudly beats his chest. "I feel fucking great."
The knights stare at Dom, their expressions completely speechless...
But Dae smiles. That's the reckless muscle-brained partner he knows.
Xavier stares at Dom for a moment, his eyes fixed on the determined grin on Dom's face.
Then, just as suddenly, a sick grin forms on Xavier's face as he immediately dashes in Dom's direction, his spear rapidly spinning in his hand.
"Stay back unless you wanna get hit!" Xavier shouted to his men, who instantly scrambled for safety.
Meanwhile, Dom widens his eyes at the rapidly approaching Xavier.
As Dom raises his fist back, Xavier laughs. "Can't you do something else, you one-trick pony?!" He asked as he drew his spear back, just as Dom planted his foot to the ground, instantly creating a small crater under his feet and forcing himself to stop. "You can't reach me from t-"
With a grunt, Dom suddenly swings his fist forward, the rapid thrust of his punch at hypersonic speed, briefly distorting the space in front of him, resulting in an explosion that propels a blast of wind that instantly slams into the unexpected Xavier, promptly flinging him across the clearing while Dom stumbles from the excessive momentum of his attack.
The knights stare in shock as they watch their leader soar past them before digging his feet into the ground to stop. "What the f-" Still flustered, he barely notices the shadowy figure behind him until another explosion of wind digs into the side and blasts him up into the sky, his spear spiraling out of his grasp and onto the ground
Several feet in the air, Xavier suddenly twists his body and uses a hand to conjure a current of wind, which quickly stops his flight. "Pressured wind? From just his punches?" Xavier mumbled just as a figure appeared behind him. He turns around and flinches as Dom throws another punch, a trail of blue light following his laser-focused eyes.
Xavier grits his teeth as he quickly creates a barrier of wind that collides with Dom's attack. The resulting explosion sends them both rocketing to the ground.
And while Xavier quickly uses his magic to make a soft descent, Dom crashes loudly into the ground. Xavier frowns at his damaged shirt just as Dom steps out of the dust cloud with a proud grin on his face.
"Looks like I finally got my first spell." He said as he held his fist up. "I'll call it... Gale Punch."
Xavier scoffs. "Spell? All you're doing is making a breeze by moving around."
"At least it's a breeze strong enough to throw your dumbass around," Dom said with a mocking tone in his voice.
A vein visibly protrudes on Xavier's forehead, right above his brow, with twitches at Dom's comment. "You're gonna regret that." With an annoyed expression, Xavier raises a hand that oozes with red mana. "Whirlwind."
A sudden spiral of harsh wind suddenly appears in front of him and surges towards Dom, who narrowly dodges it.
"Gale punch!" Dom shouted as he threw another wind pressure punch, which sent his own body spiraling from the recoil, his still leaking blood spilling into the roaring wind.
Xavier simply raises a palm and dispels the wind attack with his mana once it touches him. "I'll admit that you caught me off guard before, but... do you really think you could beat me with my own affinity?"
Dom simply smirks, angering Xavier the more.
With a wave of his arm, Xavier creates several more whirlwinds and hurls them at Dom from all sides. Even though he actually couldn't see them, his senses and instincts allowed him to dodge each of them, the last of which he disperses with a gale punch.
"Shit," Dom grumbled as the recoil from the wind blast sent him rolling across the floor. As Dom gets up, a lightbulb goes off in his mind.
Xavier picks up his discarded spear and spins it, his eyes fixed on Dom until a distant thunderclap prompts him to hold up his spear, instantly blocking a single katana swing from above.
Xavier narrows his eyes in annoyance. "You too?"
Dae smirks as he backs away, his sword tightly held in his uninjured left hand. As he tries to take a stance, he stumbles from the pain in his leg.
Xavier fires, and Dae barely blocks the bullet with his blade, causing him to tumble again.
Xavier vanishes and reappears behind Dae, his spear aimed at Dae's back.
"You're even slower now." He said as he suddenly slashes across Dae's back... but his eyes widen as Dae's body slowly fades away like mist.
Xavier then looks up, his attention now drawn to Dae, who now appears as dozens of blurry copies moving around him.
"Lightning magic; Image Concert." Dae's voice echoed between the moving copies.
A smile forms on Xavier's face as he looks around. "This brings back memories." He said as his eyes rapidly searched between the copies. "But like I said..." He suddenly dashes to the side and thrusts the blunt end of the spear into one of the images.
This image drops to a knee, groaning in pain, while the other images quickly fade away.
"Too bad, kid," Xavier said as he drew his spear back... which two hands immediately grabbed.
Xavier turns to find Dom grinning at him. "Let's try this again." Dom chuckled, and Xavier gasped as
At that moment, Xavier flinches as Dae suddenly takes a stance. "Form 24!" Dae shouted as his purple mana surged.
Xavier grunts as he pulls on his spear, but unlike before, he can't pry the weapon from Dom's vise-like grip. Desperate, Xavier raises a hand and fires a wide range wind spell from his palm, completely blowing Dae away... only for Dae's body to fade away again.
That's when Xavier's eyes find Dae, now crouched at his side.
"Cross," Dae said as he held his pearly white blade up, revealing the blood coating its edge.
Instantly, Xavier groans and presses a hand to his chest... where he finds a cross-shaped slash with his warm blood spilling into his ripped shirt.