Phoenix

That thought suddenly came across Ares' mind. All his body shivered and his hair stood on end once he thought about it. Still, it appeared one more time as if to torment him.

'I will die!' The voice in his mind seemed similar to his, but at the same time, it was completely different. His head was playing with him at that point.

The phoenix, with its imponent figure emitting a strong and constant wave of heat, opened its wings. That pose increased the feeling of sovereignty it had on others as it seemed two times bigger.

Ares' flesh was getting burned all over, even though he was reasonably distant from the Phoenix. The tears in his eyes vaporized as soon as they appeared. His body didn't even have the time to sweat, as it vanished quickly as well.

The boy was feeling that he could not get enough oxygen, which made him panic. He knew that, if he stayed for more time there, not moving an inch, he would die. That thing wouldn't even need to touch him. Just its presence would kill him.

The environment was getting hotter several degrees more. A level which the human body couldn't take for too long, and it was worse with a boy in his twelves since he was not fully developed yet.

'The sword! The sword is still in your hand! Do something, Ares!' He thought while looking at the weapon, but his fear was so intense that he couldn't lift it at all. His body wasn't answering him.

Seeing that he was completely impotent there, his heart throbbed in agony.

The beast began to give several steps in his direction. Just those casual and wary steps could make the boy feel the ground trembling.

The fire on its body was getting wilder. It was spreading in the ground and spilling to other buildings. That creature was passively creating chaos without struggling for that.

Ares lost his cool completely and screamed as he tried to escape.

'My freaking legs don't stop to tremble! I can't get up and run at all. I can't!'

The beast's eyes weren't nonchalant. They had feelings showing all the time. However, the only one that the boy was able to notice was disappointment as it saw him run away without even trying to protect himself.

"Pathetic" was what the phoenix probably was thinking.

The beast raised its paws, which had long claws on it. It was about to subdue the kid for once and for all and go to the next target.

Ares let go of his sword, putting his hands in front of his face and closing his eyes. He waited anxiously for his upcoming death. He already accepted that there was no way out of that situation.

"NO!" A deep and loud voice echoed throughout the village like a rumble of thunder.

Ares felt a strong gust of wind hitting his body as something fastly crossed his way.

The attack of the phoenix never came and so he opened his eyes slowly.

His father was standing in front of him. Kavir's feet were sinking into the ground as his body was being pushed hard. With an axe, he stopped the beast's attack midway to strike Ares.

"What the hell was the first thing I taught you, Ares!?" His angry shout made the boy's heart throb with fear. Kavir's eyes were resolute and furious as he stared into the beast's eyes and fought to push her claws away.

Ares at that moment clearly remembered the first lesson of his father to him. It was on their first day of training and they went straight to do sparring with their swords. Kavir would always force him to fight with real weapons, so he would learn faster because of the sense of danger.

When his father swung his sword offensively, Ares dropped his weapon and covered his face. He stopped the sparring, kneeled in front of his son, and said with serious eyes something that he should never forget...

"No matter what happens..." Kavir yelled, forcing the beast's paw forward using all the strength on his muscles.

"Never, ever...!" His hands and arms were burning in flames. The phoenix was roaring while trying to fight back and push him away.

"... let go of your sword!" He stomped the ground as hard as he could, applying the weight of all his body and pushing that enormous beast away.

A human 1.8 meters tall could be able to hold the attack and push a beast, at least, 6 meters tall.

Once Ares heard that, he could overcome his fear and stood from the ground while taking his sword with him, pointing it to the Phoenix. The tip of the blade was trembling and he couldn't make his hands get firm no matter what, though.

'However, it's better to have a weapon in hands, even if they are shaking.' He thought to himself.

Kavir was standing in front of that beast. His eyes didn't change even slightly. There was no trace of fear in his actions. He was prepared even to face death.

The determination on that man's eyes seemed to amuse the beast and it roared to the skies, walking slowly towards him. That phoenix was challenging the human. It clearly had a major advantage while on the sky, but it preferred to fight him on the ground, testing his brute force.

"It's been a while since we don't meet." He said.

His burned hands strengthened the grip on the axe. The runes that it had written on it started to shine in a strong silver light afterward.

"The same power that defeated you once. Do you think it can make the job again?" He raised one brow.

That Ancient looked at him with anger, opening its wings as the flames on its body got furiously agitated.

Kavir knew that the battle that was to come would be brutal. So, he looked over his shoulder, staring into his son's eyes. Unfortunately, what he saw there wasn't just fear, but hatred as well. Even that frightening situation wasn't able to clean Ares' heart.

Nonetheless, at that point, he didn't care anymore. He just wanted to memorize every detail of the boy in his mind.

"Ares..." He called, smiling faintly. "Take care." His father winked at him.

Kavir turned again to the phoenix, getting into a fight stance, then rushing towards it. The Ancient followed him in sync, doing huge and fast strides.

As the human was too fast, the beast couldn't use its long and wider body to attack him in long-range. However, the firebird wasn't slow either, and could dance through the battlefield as the human tried to close in.

This way, their battle became extremely dynamic. They never stood still in the same place. Their exchange of blows could be heard across the village, their speed was surpassing everything that any person living there could ever imagine, the impact of their weapons locking and parrying each other made the ground shake.

Nobody could believe that someone that seemed to be a normal peasant could secretly be so strong. But they also couldn't believe that a bird as big as that could make such nimble movements, yet so powerful.

The flames of the phoenix grew stronger, it started to spread them around, making it envelop its body and also throwing bursts and balls of fire in Kavir's direction. It wasn't so easy to avoid all those attacks, but the man could pull through magnificently.

Ares was stunned in the same place. As his father told him, he didn't let go of his weapon, but he wasn't able to move anymore.

Silver and red were filling his vision as those two beings seemed like two colorful trails of light traveling through that village as fast as lightning bolts.

He understood that the battle-axe was what gave his father such strength, but he couldn't get its exact power.

Suddenly, a realization passed in his mind, and the boy got alarmed.

"My grandpa! He is still in the house and I am not sure if the maids tried to get him out of there. In the middle of this chaos, I doubt that they did it!"

Slapping his thighs as strongly as he could to forcefully wake up his legs, he began to run towards the mansion of the village that was some kilometers away from there.

As he moved, the battle also seemed to move along with him. The simple and rustic houses around were being melted or destroyed because of them, making Ares run faster to not be caught by that.

He was nearing Arthur's house, his legs moving like crazy.

Meanwhile, Kavir was struck in the middle air by the wings of the phoenix, which made him fly several meters away from there and collide with a building.

The firebird noticed the mansion in which Ares was running toward. The Ancient flapped its wings strongly, getting higher in the air and accumulating heat and mana on them.

"No... NO!" Kavir screamed, but it was too late.

In front of Kavir and Ares, the grandfather's mansion was reduced into ashes as a burst of fire violently enveloped it.