Chapter 71-The Eye of the Devil, Part Two

The blue-fire man continues screaming as the flesh begins to melt off of his face as boiling-hot steam continues spewing from the new man's hand.  Until eventually, a pile of flesh-colored group pools at the new man's feet, and the blue-fire man limply falls to his side, his face nothing more than a bloody mess.

Dead at last.

The new man sighs as he turns around to face Old-Man F and I, causing the two of us to flinch.

Finally, I can get a good look at this guy.

He has long, smoke-gray hair tied up in a man-bun, sort of like my own hairdo.  On top of that, his left eye is an orangish-reddish coral color, sort of the opposite of my own seafoam green eyes.  His right eye, however, is hidden by a black eyepatch.  Wrapped around his hip, is a mess of jungle brown belts, which has a long, sheathed sword hanging off of it in a black scabbard, which ends in a flat, triangular blade edge, unlike Ana's katana.  The sword has an ornate golden handle.

"Those two were sent to capture you, Water Charger, and Sand User," the new man says, "However, they failed, and so must be disposed of."

"Are you another one of those Devil Eye FREAKS?"  I growl.

"I'm the superior of the two men you just fought."

"The two men you just KILLED."

The gray-haired man pauses.

"Yes."

"What do you want with us…?"  I growl.

"I'm here for two things," the gray-haired man answers as he aims a hand at Old-Man F and I, "The first objective which I already completed, was to dispose of my two former juniors.  And the second…"

"-To capture the Water Charger and all of his allies, ALIVE."

I grunt as I struggle to stand up on my feet, whoever, a wave of pain courses throughout my entire body, causing me to crash back down to one knee.

"Damn…" I pant, "I expended too much energy back in our last fight…"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of this, Noah!"  Old-Man F shouts as he pops up to his feet and resumes his Charge Stance.

"SAND CHARGE, LEVEL O-"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

My eyes widen.

In the blink of an eye, the gray-haired man appears directly in front of Old-Man F, with his sword drawn and placed directly against Old-Man F's throat.

Old-Man F's eyes widen as his eyes flicker down to the blade drawn directly to his neck.

A bead of sweat trickles down Old-Man F's face and drips onto the gray-haired man's blade.

"You know what happens if you move, right?"  The gray-haired man asks.

Old-Man F says nothing, he just continues panting heavily.

"MASTER FLINT!"  I cry.

"Don't you move either, Water Charger," the gray-haired man flatly orders.

"How…did we not see him move…?"  Old-Man F softly asks in a hoarse whisper.

The gray-haired man doesn't answer.  He just narrows his eyes and leaves the blade of his sword pressed against Old-Man F's throat.

Old-Man F pants, and I stare at the gray haired-man.

After a moment of waiting, the gray-haired man retracts his sword and swiftly sheaths it.

"Very well," he says, "I prefer obedient targets.  It means I don't have to harm them too much."

The gray-haired man then turns away from Old-Man F, and as he does, blood EXPLODES from a slash wound that suddenly appeared on Old-Man F's throat.

"O-O-" I stammer.

Old-Man F opens his mouth to cry out in pain, but the blood pouring from his lips causes him to let out nothing more than a muffled gurgle.

Old-Man F scratches desperately at his throat, until his eyes roll into the back of his head, and falls backwards onto the ground.

My eyes widen as I stare at my master's body.

"MASTER FLIIIIIIIIIIIIIINT!!!!!!!!!"

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!"  I roar as I pop up to my feet.  Seafoam green sparks of energy EXPLODE from my entire body.

The gray-haired man turns and peers over his shoulder at me.

"Stand down, Water Charger," he orders, "I don't want any more blood on my hands."

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO TAKE US IN ALIVE?!"

"I am.  Don't worry, your master's alive.  I slit his throat JUST enough to slow down the air supply to his lungs.  He's unconscious for now, but we'll wake up.  Whether or not he'll ever be able to use his throat again, well…that's a different story."

My entire body tenses up in a feral rage that I've never felt before.

"-JET STREAM!"  I roar as I thrust both hands towards the gray-haired man, and a giant blast of water EXPLODES from each palm, and flies towards the gray haired man.

"I told you to stand down," the gray-haired man sighs as he aims a single palm towards me, and subsequently, a blast of steam fires from his palm and flies towards me.

Our two attacks collide in a burst of water and steam, engulfing the area in a cloud of smoke.

While the smoke settles, I stare at the gray-haired man as my eyes widen.

"How interesting…your water was almost TOO hot for my steam to evaporate…"

"Y-you casted a spell without E-Charging…?"  I gasp.

"I suppose that's what it looks like to you," the gray-haired man replies.

"IT'S NO MATTER," I roar as I crouch down low and bring a clawed hand up, "YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"

Blades of water begin swirling around my hand as I charge towards the gray-haired man.

"You just don't quit, do you?"  The gray haired man sighs as he draws his sword, steam swirling around his sword.

Once in front of the gray-haired man, I slash my hands forwards just as he swings his sword outwards,and your two spells collide.

However, the force of the gray-haired man's swings sends a powerful blast of steam towards me which sends me flying backwards.

"D-damn it…" I grunt as I struggle to push myself up, but as I do so, my arms give out under me, and I crash back to the ground, eating dirt.

In the blink of an eye, the gray-haired man appears before me, sheathed sword in hand.

"Interesting…" he says.

And then…the gray-haired man swings his sheathed-sword downwards, smashing it against the top of my head.

"Our abilities…are just so similar…"

Those are the last words I hear.