Chapter 53: The midnight fight

By now, due to the commotion, numerous elven soldiers had gathered at the Prison, either with their bows drawn or with poisonous small blades on their hands, two of their most favourite weapons. Still, they could not do much but stay on the sideline, observing the fight between Kibadios and Erik since with each clash, their Haki alone could have knocked some of the wood elves off their feet. The majority of the forces, though, had opted to chase after Ryan and Ryuu to ensure they could not rescue Uran from his cell.

「Who are you, kid?」asked Erik. Despite having to jump from tree to tree while exchanging blows with Kibadios, the mercenary's breathing rhythm remained as calm as a sleeping child, showing no hint of exhaustion. 「Why are you with the Princess? How come you would even consider a hero and a dragonkin to be your properties?」

「...I'm in no mood to answer your question.」Kibadios jumped up before using his whole weight to strike down at the man. 「but most importantly, I don't need to answer your questions!」Erik raised his sword up above his head, receiving the heavy strike head on instead of dodging to gauge the hybrid's power. Much to his surprise, the strike was heavy enough to cause the large tree branch he was standing on to crack and fall down. Though, neither of them were falling, since Kibadios was able to fly using his incubus wing while two red orbs of fire were supporting Erik standing in midair.

「... You're far stronger than I thought, kid.」Erik genuinely complimented Kibadios「As expected of a hybrid.」

「You too...」Kibadios smiled. 「In fact, if I'm correct, you seem to have surpassed your adopted father.」

「You have met him?」Erik frowned at the mention of Thomas.

「Yes. He was hoping for a chance to deal with you during the course of this conflict...though, I personally don't think he could ever come out on top if he were to fight against you.」Kibadios shook his head

「Thanks for viewing me in such high esteem...」Grinned Erik. 「But flattery would not save you tonight.」The Yves focused all his strength in his arm before throwing his burning sword at mach speed toward the hybrid. Since he did not expect his opponent to part with his seemingly only weapon, the move startled Kibadios, who tried to slow down the burning sword projectile with his shadows to no avail. At last, right before the sword would undoubtedly pierce his heart, the hybrid elected to simply dodge it, though due to its speed and his initial hesitation, the sword was able to nick his left arm before it easily thrusted through several large trees and flew off into the distance.

「That hurts.」Kibadios touched his wound. 「But now, how are you going to fight without your weapon?」

「Who told you that I don't have any weapon left?」Erik raised his arm, his hand violently grabbed the empty air, though just in seconds, Kibadios could see what looked to be a burning lance appeared in his hand. Unlike the scythe that Kibadios conjured, using his dark shadow as material, the hybrid could easily tell the lance Erik was holding onto was made directly from his immense reserve of Haki and the flame that were burning under his feet. In short, this weapon he had did not truly possess a physical state. Made up of only flames and haki, technically, such a weapon could have taken the form of anything that Erik could think of: Lance, sword, sabre, axe…

He's such a troublesome opponent. Kibadios thought before flapping his wings and flew high into the sky, beyond the reach of the surrounding trees that had been restricting his movements. Just like he had expected, the flame under Erik's feet was also propelling the man upward, chasing after him.

「」Erik quickly activated his skill aiming at the hybrid, preventing him from getting away any further.

「」Retaliated Kibadios as his conjured shadow clashed violently against Erik's skill, cancelling out one another.

「」Erik activated his racial's skill, which caused his two extra eyes to glow brightly in the dark, allowing him to quickly analyze the hybrid's weaknesses. 「 」His skill began to take effect, boosting the Yves' battle prowess before he finally activated his Arte. 「」

Erik muttered lowly under his breath, but the presentation of his unique skill was as flashy as it has always been, especially under the darkness of the night, for behind his back, six large wings covered in blue flames emerged, illuminated almost 1/10 of the whole capital city of the Fyeran Clan. The two men flying still in place, staying opposite one another, Kibadios with his 6 dark incubus wings while Erik with his 6 flaming angelic wings resulted from his Arte. Just like Kamui vs Fuuma from X/1999, the bystander wood elves stood and looked up in awe as the two individuals, who had completely surpassed them in term of power, violently clashed above their settlement, sending ripple shockwaves that could be felt miles away. Since Erik already activated his skills and Arte, it was not a surprise that he has gained the upper hand. Thanks to his skill, with each of his thrust, Erik's lance aimed precisely at every small openings in the hybrid's movements, allowed it to evade the ever-present shadow that has been acting as his protective barrier, forcing him to parry them off physically with the handle of his scythe, most of which were too close for comfort.

Yep, as I thought, I can't keep up with him without my summoned spirits. Kibadios thought to himself before flying backward away from Erik, hoping to create a distance between the two so that he would not be within range of the Yves' lance.

「Let me try this skill out.」Kibadios raised his arm, his hand formed into a crude shape of a "gun", with his index and middle finger pointing outward while his thumb upward. 「」

This new skill was essentially a mix between Reuk's skill that he had obtained after devouring the near death elf and the affinity for the Holy element, which he gained after consuming Corey. An aura of holy element quickly formed into the shape of a large bow, with the hybrid's fingers acting as the imaginary arrow. Erik was dumbstruck the moment he saw Kibadios utilize his skill, not because of the "bow" or "arrow" part, but because of the holy elements that he was able to imbue onto them.

「Kid, how is this possible?」Erik wearily called out to the hybrid.「How can you, a demihuman hybrid, be in command of the holy element?」Granted, the "holy element" Kibadios possessed was not as strong as when they were used by the individuals since it was not naturally his, but it was undoubtedly genuine. 「Who are you?」

「... The name is Kibadios… Got it memorized?」The hybrid jerked his arms, signalling the simultaneous release of the 10 holy arrows. Of course the Yves would quickly spring sideways to dodge the attack, but the arrow projectiles quickly adapted and altered, aiming at his new position like guided missiles. Seeing how it was futile to dodge, Erik finally decided to deal with those annoying arrows heads-on. The mercenary finally flapped his wings loudly, released thousands of small burning feathers, which quickly spread around where he flew, preventing the hybrid's projected attacks from hitting him. As Erik had calculated, the arrows inadvertently hit the floating feathers, causing several fiery explosions to envelop him. Yet, once the smoke and fire cleared up, he was floating still, completely unharmed.

「...」Kibadios simply remained. 「That's not all your Arte can do, is it?」

「I wonder.」Erik smirked, then raised his hand up to the sky above. The scattered feathers began to spiral upward and gathered together into a large sphere. Before he could finalize his attack; however, a loud explosion down below momentarily distracted both combatants. From the ground, Kibadios could see Ryuu's dragon form began to grow bigger and fly up to where he was. His back carried two individuals, one was Ryan, who was panting heavily but did not seem to have to suffer any injuries while the other, Kibadios guessed, should be Lord Uran. The elf was wearing high-class oriental looking clothes, similar to the Princess. The heir of the Fyeran Clan was clearly a bishounen type. His straight blond hair reached down past his shoulder, which perfectly complimented his handsome, well-defined face. To be honest, the elven lord unfortunately reminded the hybrid of "Fairy King Oberon," though from everything Kibadios heard about him from the Princess, his character was

「Master, we have gotten Lord Uran out.」Spoke Ryuu once he got close enough to the hybrid. 「It's time for us to leave.」

「I was hoping to spar with him a bit more...」Kibadios turned to look at Erik.「Well, I guess it can't be helped. Ryuu, blast him down. We can't let him tailing us back to our hideout.」

「Sure, Master!」Ryuu opened his mouth, releasing a concentrated beam of energy straight at the Yves, who quickly reacted by rearranging the sea of feathers above his head to form a barrier to block the attack. Needless to say, it was useless. Ryuu's shattered the flaming wall made of Zhuque's feather and blasted straight Erik, who coated himself with his immense Haki, his own wings wrapped around his body. Thanks to multiple layers of defense, despite being directly struck and sent crashing down onto the ground, Kibadios noticed the man slowly stood up once the dust settled, spitting out the blood in his mouth, then wiped off his lips. His eyes fixated onto the hybrid's group as they disappeared beyond the horizon.

「Are you okay, Ryan?」asked Kibadios concerningly

「I'm fine, Master. I just had a little problem dealing with that twintail girl.」explained Ryan. 「She ambushed me when Ryuu and I split off to find Lord Uran.」

「I wasn't able to scan her with my skill so she's for sure higher level than you, Ryan. It's good that you were still able to fend her off. We can have Rowan take care of your wounds when we get back.」Kibadios patted his slave.

「These are mere scratches. Dont worry, Master.」dismissed the hero.

「... and you're Lord Uran, I presume?」Kibadios turned around and spoke to the elven man, whose face resembled the picture Yllaner had previously shown him. Of course, Kibadios had already scanned him with his skill to ensure the elf wasn't an imposter.

「Yes. And you guys are?」

「Name's Kibadios. These two are my retainers, Ryan and Ryuu.」The hybrid introduced the group. 「But I'm sure you know of Ryan?」

「Yes, of course. I have known of him through Lady Yllaner. A hero and a dragonkin working under a hybrid...」Lord Uran calmly pointed out.「Lady Yllaner sure has made acquaintances with some interesting people, and good thing that she did too. With your help, I'm sure we'll be able to deal with Lord Yllaes.」

「...I'm sorry but we do not intend to actively participate in this conflict. We're only here to protect the Princess.」explained Kibadios.

「Really?」Uran thought for a second. 「Though, I'm sure merely your "presence" is enough to help the Princess.」

How sharp ! Kibadios was surprised by the young lord's strategic mind, who seemed to have realized why Ryuu had transformed into a dragon and made such a flashy escape.

「Master, I was wondering.」Ryuu finally entered the conversation. 「Why did you go easy on that Erik guy? If you use your other skills or summons, you could have beat him, right?」

「Oh, I just want to gauge my strength without relying too much on my skills… Just to see how strong I have become after sparring with you for months, Ryuu chan.」answered Kibadios.

「I see! He's not your average fighter, though. It's amazing that you were able to keep up with him.」

「I know.」Kibadios grinned satisfactorily, though he could feel his cold sweat still lingered on his forehead. On the back, Ryan sat silently as he discreetly gazed at the hybrid… Soon ...

.

.

.

The group arrived at the hidden lake just half past four. Just like before, they made their last half hour of journey on foot since any of the Fyeran scouts might easily track them to their destination had they flown on Ryuu all the way. Since it was early in the morning, once Kibadios made it back, his three slaves, along with Floria, were still soundly asleep. Only the two other heroes were awake and attentively guarding the princess, who was wiping Kyle's unconscious dirty face with a wet towel she brought with her.

「Yllaner!」called out Uran as he hurriedly walked toward the princess and Kyles. 「Thank the Forest Spirits you're alright!」

「Uran!」Yllaner was laughing in relief the moment she saw her friend unharmed.「Are you okay? 」

「Of course!」The elven lord replied. 「You know me being imprisoned by my grandfather was just a farce. He has always been expecting you to come to my aid.」Uran's face turned grim as he looked at Kyles. 「How's Kyles though? Is there any progress?」

「Unfortunately, no.」Yllaner frowned. 「Initially, I was hoping to take him to the Spring of Healing to see if it can do anything to treat him, but this whole thing with my brother happened and I have to deal with it first.」

「... I am not someone who is well-versed in the art of healing, but just by looking at his complexion, I'd say we need to get him to the spring sooner than later.」Uran held onto Kyles' cold hand.

「I know… But we all know the Spring located in the Shilna territory, it's not like we can take him there as we wish.」The princess caressed her beloved's hair.「That's why I have to quickly end this feud with my brother.」

「What is your next step, Yllaner?」

「I'm sure your territory in the Fyeran will welcome us with open arms, Uran?」

「Of course.」He nodded. 「My entourage in the capital was imprisoned together with me a few days ago but there is plenty of support that we can count on back in the territory that I personally governed. If you want to gather those who are loyal to the Vernys Confederation, then gathering them at my territory is the best option. It can act as our base of operation.」

「... Do you think lord Easlyn would attack us there?」

「He would not.」Uran confirmed. 「My territory boasts the strongest military forces in Fyeran so even if my grandfather wanted to, it would take him days to gather enough soldiers to be a threat to us. If you send out a rally call now to forces who are still loyal to the Vernys Confederation to gather there, by the time my grandfather finishes preparing, our number would also swell up to the point that the Fyeran military alone would not be able to overwhelm our potential forces. He would have no choice but to wait for Yllaes' reinforcement… Though, personally, I know he would never willingly attack us on his own since he has only been forced to side with your brother.」

「That's good to hear. We can set out to your territory now and I'll send out messages to all who would come to aid us on the way. We can't waste any more time. My battle with my dear brother starts now.」Yllaner said determinedly.

=================================

SAME ANNOUNCEMENT AS LAST CHAPTER, IF YOU HAVE ALREADY VOTED, IGNORE THIS AND THANK YOU :) :

SURVEY TIME: I'm torn when deciding Kibadios' next harem members. If you can, please fill out survey here. I will go with whatever option has the highest vote. You can vote multiple times (I think) but please only vote once. I'll use the honor system and believe that you only vote once. :)

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/62CN5BW