Balton shifted his feet to a wider stance, then looked at Jason once. "Shoot only when there is a clear moment. Understood!"
Jason closed his mouth, but his jaw visibly tightened.
Balton shot downward.
His board dove sharply toward Ash who was still moving to avoid the shots from above, and Ash turned his head half a second before the iron bat struck the right side of his body.
The sound of the impact was not a normal sound, more like the sound of iron striking stone, and Ash's body was thrown to the right, floating several meters before hitting the surface of a large boulder and falling.
"Everyone stand ready!" Jason called from above.
Balton raised one hand backward without turning around. "Easy, Jason."
Ash had already risen again. The cracks on his skin were brighter than before, and now from each of those cracks small tongues of fire emerged, thin and short but clearly visible in the night, moving with every breath that came from his body.
Several people above reflexively pushed their flying boards back a few steps each.
Ash shot toward Balton.
Balton stepped half a step to the left, letting the momentum of Ash's attack pass beside his body, then his iron bat swung from below upward and struck the underside of Ash's jaw. Ash's body was launched upward, his head snapping back, and he fell to the rocky ground.
Rose again.
Attacked again, and Balton shifted half a step to the right this time, Ash's punch hit air, and the iron bat swung again striking Ash's back from above. His body hit the ground hard, the boulders around the point of impact cracking in every direction.
Rose again.
The fire from the cracks on his skin was now longer than before, licking into the air each time Ash moved his arms. The entire area around them became bright from that red-orange light, and the heat coming from Ash's body was felt even from several meters away.
In the tree, Shiva gripped the branch in front of her more tightly. Her breath came in gasps, her eyes did not blink. That fire was not a sign of strength, it was a sign that something inside Ash's body had already crossed a limit that should not have been crossed.
"Something has to stop him," Shiva murmured, her voice barely audible even to herself. "If this keeps going, Ash will be the one who runs out first."
Balton stood on his flying board with the iron bat in his right hand, staring at Ash who stood below with small fires licking out from every crack in his skin.
The smile on Balton's face did not disappear, but there was something different in his eyes now, not worry and not fear either, more like a very strong curiosity toward something he had never seen before.
Jason flew toward Balton from the right side, his voice dropping lower but his tone remaining tense. "Boss, it looks like his skin is burning from the inside. Wouldn't it be better to disable him immediately? He might explode after this."
Balton did not answer immediately. His eyes were still on Ash, following every small movement, every tongue of fire that came from those cracks.
"Fascinating," he said, quietly and calmly like someone who had just found the answer to a question that had long been bothering him.
Ash did not move.
He stood among the boulders that were still smoking, both his hands at his sides, small fires from the cracks in his skin moving slowly following his long breaths.
The two red points in his eyes did not focus on a single target, but moved slowly from one direction to another, like something that was calculating.
"Let's see what he will do next." Balton stood on his flying board several meters above the ground, his bat still in hand, his eyes not moving from the figure in front of him.
Ash opened his mouth slowly.
Inside his throat, red light glowed, moving like embers being blown from within, growing brighter the wider he opened his mouth.
"Everyone be careful!" Jason shouted.
A blast of fire shot out from Ash's mouth, long and large, shooting at a speed that gave no room to think toward the positions of Balton and Jason. Balton banked his board sharply to the right, Jason to the left, and the fire passed between them before hitting the boulders behind.
A deafening explosion split the night air.
Large boulders split and were lifted, the earth beneath them overturned, and the pressure wave from the explosion pushed everyone in the air backward.
Flying boards lurched, several people nearly fell before they each recovered their balance. Thick smoke and dust billowed into the air, covering the entire area within seconds.
Small rocks and clumps of earth fell like rain from above, striking the flying boards with irregular loud sounds. Hot wind from the explosion's effect pushed the bodies in the air, making several people struggle to maintain the direction of their boards.
As the dust began to settle, Balton directed his board back to a stable position. His eyes swept the area ahead, searching for the figure that had been standing in the middle of those boulders. The place where Ash had stood was now empty, only scorched earth and cracks on the rock surfaces remaining.
Jason turned his board in every direction, his eyes scanning through the smoke that was still rising. "Where is he? Anyone see him?"
One of his men on the right side raised his hand. "There! There is firelight going into the forest!"
Jason turned toward the direction pointed, only catching a glimpse of a red-orange flash moving quickly between tree trunks before disappearing into the darkness.
"Damn." Jason gritted his teeth. "He ran, his body must already be critical."
His hand rose giving a signal. "Everyone into the forest, chase him and don't let him escape!"
***