24. Distracting the party from me

Guys, we did reach the goal I set, and here is the bonus chapter. Here's another deal, if we reach 669 Powerstones before Sunday's reset(approx 56 hours after this chapter is released), then another bonus chapter will be on Monday.

Whether this fic will continue or not would depend on the support I am getting which is decided by the number of Powerstones this fic receives or the number of Patreon members)

"It seems you are really lacking in that area," she said, and a large hand of mist appeared between her and Akeru.

'Tch, if she had used something like mist to hide herself from view, then it would have been to my advantage, as I am definitely sure she is not an advanced sensor to locate me after I don't let any mana leak from me. But she also noticed that and didn't do it,' Akeru thought while sidestepping the mist hand slamming on the ground where he was standing.

He saw a red python grabbing for him along with red projectiles made of mist coming from his right side.

'This is just cheating. Nebra alone could have defeated me, yet this guy has to intervene too,' Akeru did a moonwalk to escape even before both of the siblings' attacks came at him.

Some of the other people in the hall used defensive spells to save themselves from the mist projectiles and the aftermath the spells had caused.

'This is gonna be tough.'

Solid's snake hadn't dispelled yet and rushed at Akeru.

'This is going to be tricky. Defeating Solid alone wouldn't have been that easy in the first place. I only caught him off guard that time. He definitely is on par with that green mantis fire mage I fought with. It would significantly affect my reserves. Now you're telling me I have to fight both?' Akeru cursed.

Before the snake could reach him, it got evaporated by flames.

"I was always curious how strong an intermediate-level knight is," Leopold showed himself.

"Why are you involving yourself in this battle?" Nebra asked venomously.

"Well, you guys were insulting something about the Vermillion House, no? I have to keep the pride of it, so I am going to battle you," Leopold said and gave a discreet thumbs up to Akeru.

Akeru was touched. 'But you're going to get thrashed pretty quickly. I hope he can stall them for a few minutes,' Akeru prayed and dashed toward Nebra.

Leopold might be strong due to his training, but he still didn't have a grimoire.

He could barely defeat a Junior Magic Knight, and that was also not guaranteed. Fighting Solid was just asking to get beat up.

"I will gladly show you your place," Solid said and sent a few water pythons at Leopold, who threw some fireballs at those to intercept them.

A few mist clones materialized beside Nebra, and all of them started hurling mist projectiles at Akeru at blinding speeds.

Akeru's skin turned blue, indicating mana skin; however, in the next instant, it got bluer, and weird patterns could be seen on him.

It was the defensive spell he had recently created in nearly half a year using his Ki to find holes in the defense.

'Heh, I believe this could even withstand that green mantis's final attack. Your projectiles are nothing.'

Clang

Clang

When the projectiles and Akeru's body met, they produced sounds like metals colliding with each other.

Akeru remained unfazed and reached Nebra in a few seconds.

Akeru's eyes widened as he saw a red line—or more like a blanket—covering his lower half completely.

He immediately used Moonwalk sideways just as a blanket of mist materialized on the spot where he had been standing.

'Tch, this is going to be hard. In a long battle, I would be the one to lose,' Akeru glanced at Leopold, who was already looking beat up and still fighting Solid.

'Tch, I need to help him too,' Akeru thought while looking back at Nebra.

He was still getting hit by various mist projectiles, but all were kept at bay with his pure mana barrier.

'Let's just attack from long range then,' Akeru summoned a big water bullet, which in the next instant split into two and rushed at the siblings at blinding speed.

A mist hand materialized, taking care of the bullet for Nebra; however, Solid had to take the attack in the gut.

Akeru had intentionally used a blunt bullet as he didn't want to cause any everlasting damage.

In that case, the situation would have escalated to a point of no return, which Akeru obviously didn't want.

"Oh, are we playing that game? Well, let's see how that brat dodges my projectiles," Nebra spat while aiming the materialized projectiles at Leopold.

However, the latter instantly mana-burst and appeared in the path of both siblings, such that Solid couldn't retreat toward his sister, and his sister would have a high chance of hitting Solid if she did a wide-area spell.

"I could just send a few targeted ones then," she scoffed, but before she could focus to do that, Akeru again closed the distance, prompting her to focus on him and shoo him away.

The battle again went into a stalemate, with Leopold getting dominated, only able to continue in battle due to some of the water bullets shot at random intervals with precise accuracy.

Nebra tried to do the same, but most of her shots missed; only a few hit Leopold.

Just as this battle seemed like it was in a stalemate, cherry blossoms entered the battlefield, appearing on both sides and acting as a barrier.

"How utterly uncouth!" a loud voice boomed.

Akeru's eyes widened.

With his Ki sensing, he noticed red lines all over his body.

'This guy gives similar vibes to a captain. So this is the Vice-Captain of Coral Peacocks,' Akeru thought while looking at the Vermillion-haired youth standing near the entrance of the hall, his body and facial expression all oozing disdain.

'He became a Vice-Captain in less than one year of joining as a magic knight,' Akeru recalled how Leopold mentioned him once.

"Really, fighting at a royal party? Have you no sense of decorum or beauty? This is a sacred space for admiration—mostly of me—and not for your brutish displays of mediocrity."

Leopold glared, his flames still flickering.

A lot of places on his body had his clothes torn, and at some places, blood was seeping out.

"Kirsch, this isn't the time to lecture us on beauty! They started this!"

Kirsch sighed dramatically, placing a hand on his chest.

"Oh, Leopold, my dear cousin, must you always ruin the mood with your fiery temper? It's simply so... unsophisticated." He turned toward Nebra and Solid, wagging a finger.

"And you two—must I remind you that true royals exude grace and elegance, not barbarism? Your clumsy spells are an affront to this very room."

Nebra scoffed, her fog dissipating slightly.

"Stay out of this, Kirsch. This doesn't concern you."

"But it does," Kirsch countered, his tone sharp but still laced with his usual flair. "For every moment of your crude bickering tarnishes the brilliance of this event—and, more importantly, distracts from me."

Solid rolled his eyes, muttering, "Of course, it's about you..."

Kirsch ignored him, turning to address the room.

"Now, cease this nonsense at once, or I shall be forced to unleash more of my awe-inspiring magic to graciously end your squabble. And trust me, darlings, none of you want to be overshadowed by my brilliance any further."

The petals danced around him as if to emphasize his point.

They all knew that even if they teamed up against him, they would be the ones going down effortlessly.

Akeru started moving back to the table where Mimosa was present while ignoring the glares of both Silva siblings.

Leopold also started going back to that table, but not before retorting, "Just you wait. I will definitely defeat you next time."

"I will crush you again like today," Solid said, also retreating.

Seeing that both parties had withdrawn and wouldn't distract the party from his presence, Kirsch dispelled his spell.

"You guys really battled awesomely," Mimosa exclaimed when both of them came near the table.

"Hehe, I don't think that's a word, but sure, I'll take the praise," Akeru said while grabbing his plate, which he had left before.

The battle had only taken place for not longer than 10 minutes, so the food wasn't really spoiled or anything.

He had also made sure that his positioning during the battle was such that no stray attack would come and hit his food.

After all, he would have been really angry if this battle had led to his food being wasted.

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