Anathema and Malison, They Mean the Same

…

"Don't ask me what happened, barbecue head. Ask yourself why you let that damn shadow demon loose! Now my hands are full!" Taizun shouted. "Get over he—ARGH—…"

"Taizun? Taizun!"

Ognist calls him over and over, but only noises of shattering branches of trees and grumbling of the ground breaking apart welcomes his hearing. Endless cacophony murmurs within the contact magic for the next several seconds. He hears ice magic activating several times, but the sound of shattering icicle makes him aching in his heart. Though, he couldn't witness visually, but with only noises, it is unpleasant to hear.

The noises from beyond shortly cut off. Taizun is no longer in connection with him. He fears his safety. Ognist feels his soul torn apart. He didn't realize he stood up.

His colleague called him for less than a minute. But in that short period of time, Ognist can feel the struggle his junior is fighting.

Marco and his friends witnesses the fire dragonian standing unevenly. His feet are seen faintly shivering. Even though they don't know what Ognist heard from beyond the village, but seeing his reactions, him calling his colleague countless times, and ultimately his composed face that is slowly losing confidence.

Ognist clenches his fist. He realizes that both Taizun and Zeugen are in trouble, perhaps far beyond a simple trouble. Their lives are threatened at this point. He must act quickly. He wanted to, but he feared of being unable to save them both, regarding his own battered condition.

Marco approaches him hurrily and states, "Man, don't you worry, we will help you out!" he said seriously, knowing that the time is at stake.

Ognist blankly watches the young explorer in the slightly illuminated area. Within seconds, he thinks of multiple possible ways to help his colleagues:

He can enlist the help of Marco and his friends, ignoring the fact that some of his party members are not fully recovered and probably won't be that much of help based on their power compared to a demon general. Also, he didn't want them to die.

Most of the Imperial soldiers were commanded to evacuate and stay as far as possible from the battlefield. They are not a choice to be asked of help.

"Darn it," he piqued silently. "…Maybe I can accept Miss Nina's offer after all. With her Purify spell, I can fight the demon general again! But wait… that demon general specializes in curse abilities. I might get cursed again the moment I reenter the battlefield. It's pointless to get myself cured now. I can't get myself healed either… Miss Nina's mana energy is running out. Even I can sense it. Not to mention though… that I had denied her help earlier."

Ognist stares into the place where he came from. "…I guess there's no other choice," he thought.

He gathers all bravery and spirit that is left within him. His feet no longer tremble, for he has stabilized his will fully. "If I can't get any help, then there's only one way left. And that is to fight on my own. Time is running short and I don't have any other decision left. I must act soon."

Every second ticks as he was thinking rapidly. "I must go now. I must save those two! Or else, the same tragedy will repeat again!"

Suddenly, a hand landed on his right shoulder, shocking the troubled dragonian. Ognist turns around and finds a man slightly taller than him staring coldly at him.

"I will go," the man said shortly.

Marco, whose standing next to him retorts, "Scias, bro, what are you doing?"

"Pio will go, too," the small kid stands up as well.

"Pi…Pio?" Nina said in surprise. Who could've thought the young girl would stand up and offer help.

Ognist quietly stared back in response. He knew he must go now, but all of sudden several members of Marco's party rise up to help him. He felt unsure to let them help, but regarding the situation he's in right now, he really need any help as much as possible. When he looked at Scias' eyes directly, he saw the fiery of strength within his eyes. But Ognist lost it and stared the soil.

Scias blinks and lets go of the Dragonian and looks at Marco with his usual stiff serious face. "Rest assured, Marco. I will be fine."

"Moreover…" Scias turned his attention to Ognist. "I don't think you'd come here not with the intention of asking our help."

"I…"

"Y-You underestimate us that much, huh? Why would you d-disbelief in our strength?"

Ognist looked back to his face. "Under…estimate…?" He realized it now. He underestimated them. He always felt humans are all feeble. They are all helpless, fragile, and weak, only waiting to be saved most of the time.

Seconds has passed, Ognist is getting much eager to go. He even fears as of now that his allies no longer live.

Scias lets out a long breath. "Time is getting shorter, I see. Rest assured, Marco, I will return safely, and with the demon dead, morning by the latest," Scias solidly stated.

Hearing Scias' tone, Marco realizes that he is dead serious about it. He remembers when Scias speaks of "finishing his mission and will return safely" that means he will accomplish it flawlessly. Moreover, he mentioned the time of his return solidifies his indomitable will.

"…I guess this is the point where I must let go of my 'limiter'."

Everyone fails to understand. But even so, Marco pats him and bids him good luck, "I trust you bud, good hunting out there!"

Scias faintly smiles and nods at him.

Pio on the other hand successfully assured Nina to let her go and fight. Marco didn't know what changed the rock-headed Nina to break and lets someone she cared about to go on their own. Aily is the one responsible for assuring Nina, though. Her bond with Pio reveals to make her understand her better and believed in her power.

Pio reveals to have created a new weapon: two large shurikens tied into two separate ropes. She tied those ropes onto her arms, thus forming a new rope dart variation.

Scias and Pio have convinced their party successfully in a few minutes. Indeed, time has been going off for a while, but it is a cost to achieve that victory over the demon general.

Ognist felt thrilled in his heart. His confidence is much greater than ever. His spirit is blazing wilder than a firestorm. Without further ado, the Dragonian attempts to contact Taizun. He greatly hopes that he is still alive and enduring the demon's attacks.

"Please be alive and okay, Taizun my boy! Contact!"

…

..

.

Meanwhile…

Relentless clashes has been going for several minutes and the result was devastating, both to the fighters and the environment around them. Many craters and fissures shaped in the ground, several trees felled, and pillars of ice scattered all around the region.

But Taizun is still alive. He is fighting with all his might, even though he is losing to the demon general. Previously, he lost contact with his senior due to him receiving a blunt attack right in the chest that broke his armor and sent him flying. Right now, he is hiding from the demon's sight from within walls of ice he made quickly.

"Damn demon… he's more powerful than I thought. If I didn't use [Divine Ice Spear] I would've been able to keep up with this creature. His speed diminishes my ability to hit accurately. I can see during night time like my brethren, but his speed is unbearable. Even so, for a creature made out of shadows, he is dumb to not procure the dark environment properly."

Suddenly, a flow of mana energy came to him. Taizun is surprised. "This familiar mana energy…! Ognist!"

"Contact Received"

"—Taizun! Taizun, you there?!"

"Yeah, I'm here, barbecue head. Where the hell are you?! I'm pretty much dying at this point!" he shouted.

Static, but still audible to his ears, Ognist replies, "Hold your ground for two minutes! I'll be there shortly."

"T-Two MINUTES?! You nuts? I don't think I can fight him that long!"

"If you can shout to me like that, then I suppose you're holding out pretty well. Just hang on for few more minutes, you understood?"

"Wait hold up a sec—...… dammit, he cut it off!" Taizun said aggravatingly. "In this situation, he wanted me to wait longer? Don't make me laugh… Zeugen is injured, I'm also injured. How much longer did he want me to suffer?"

Suddenly, the walls of ice exactly on his right collapse and shatter. From beyond, Toma strikes once again, attempting to hit the dragonian again.

"You think you're smart to hide from me? Well, not for long!" Toma swipes his foot from beneath, trying to snag the dragonian's foot. But just in time, Taizun leaps highly, avoiding the demon's attack and landed on the top of the retaining ice walls.

The two stared each other for a few seconds. Toma is also damaged, but his ability to regenerate makes the fight seem unfair for Taizun.

"…I can't risk this bastard getting closer to Zeugen. I must bait him somehow just for a few minutes…"

Shortly, Taizun realizes a simple idea. "That's it!" he thought quickly. "I don't have to wait for two goddamn minutes. I can shorten that…"

He hops below and from his feet emerges a sparkle of ice. "…with closing my position to the village!" and then, Taizun runs away fast.

Toma gets angrier for being ignored. "That damn Dragonian… you think you can run…?! I will diminish your power once more until you've no strength left to run!"

The shadow demon general takes a stance and starts another magical ability.

"Demon Aspect – Accursio Anathema"

The demon charges forth, attempting to chase Taizun. On the other hand, Taizun notices him chasing him down and felt glad that he didn't resort to chasing Zeugen instead.

"Good, he's going after me. Such prideful demon like him won't let anyone escape at all,"

The fight turned into a cat and mouse game. Taizun runs as fast as possible, while Toma chases him down. But the dragonian is actually slower, making him easily caught up by the shadow demon.

"He's too fast!"

"Errruuuah!" The demon strikes a punch at Taizun, but the latter defends by casting a pillar of ice, preventing him from getting hit. The pillar of ice got destroyed almost instantly.

The demon didn't stop at all. He proceeds to send a barrage of punches to Taizun. Within seconds, Taizun reacts and spawns his spear. He meticulously parries all incoming attacks, but in one point, Toma changes his attack pattern suddenly.

As a result, Taizun tries to change his defense in a quick session. Unexpectedly, the demon taunts, "Got you!"

The demon is making a feint attack. He instantly returns to his initial attack pattern and strikes Taizun's undefended point.

The shadow demon sends a blow right to his belly, breaking most of his already broken armor. Taizun spits out saliva, and got flung away in a short distance, but manages to stop his momentum.

"Ergh…" he ached.

But… the demon does not let him take a breather even for a mere second. Toma takes a different stance and casts his other ability quickly.

"Demon Aspect – Accursio Malison"

Toma attacks again. Taizun is shocked to see him moving twice as fast. "What the—ARGH!"

Flurry of punches directly hit him. Taizun still stands, however. He manages to defend from his series of deadly attack.

"Why is he faster now? He's not that fast before… he's also twice as strong," Taizun thought in his mind.

Shortly, Taizun wipes his head off his blood. He then sways his spear sideways, but somehow he felt that his moves are getting sloppy and slower.

In the next second, he realizes something crucial, "Hold on… it's not him who got faster! It's me who got weaker!"

The demon taunts, "Haaahahaha! So you finally realized it? Took you some time, eh? The attack previously, Accursio Anathema… it is one of my most useful techniques. It reduces my opponents stats overall by half for one successful hit."

Taizun grits his teeth, "So that's why… he has used that Anathema thingy twice on me, which means I am very weak now… what a troublesome curse…"