Chapter 96 Attacks

The man grabbed Kali's arm before she could react, and he held her tightly.

"What the hell are you doing?" Lucas yelled, "you're hurting her!"

"Let go of me!" Kali screamed.

"I'll break both of your arms off!" The red fire was raging in Lucas's eyes, he looked ready to attack the man holding her.

"Enough!" The man barked, "since the protagonist of the story showed himself here, I will not need to work hard to find you anymore," he said in a stern voice, "and the reward for keeping you alive will be worth it."

Lucas glared at the man once more.

"Why do you want to hurt us?" Kali asked.

"Because you're the ones responsible for Raven's plans being ruined," The man said, "I want to teach you a lesson so that your friends won't dare to mess with us ever again."

"So what do you want?" Kali asked, "if you think we're the criminals, you can't just send us back to where we came from, can you?"

"I will decide where you will go," the man said with a smile, "but first, you have to answer some questions."

Lucas gently pulled his sword behind his back, and the man took a step backwards.

"Who are you?" Kali asked, "wha-what do you want?" Her voice shook.

"That's enough, kid," the man said, "I'm sick and tired of repeating myself."

"I have no time for your games, release Kali now or die. The choice is yours."

"I don't think you will be able to beat me, kid," the man said, "you might even lose yourself."

"It doesn't matter anyway,"  Lucas replied as he slowly closed his eyes, "we can fight you together or separately, but either way, it's over."

Kali noticed that the man was not intimidated in any way.

"Listen to me, kid," the man began, "you think you can beat me? You're wrong. Letting you go right now would be the best decision I ever made because if you actually manage to defeat me, you will be much stronger than me. But that's impossible," He released Kali's arm and pushed her to the side.

"If you actually wanna die right now, let's do it!" He shouted, and he charged at the man who stood firm in front of him.

The man blocked the blade of Lucas' sword with his left arm, and he twisted his body to evade Lucas' attack. He then swiped at Lucas with his right hand but was met by a powerful blow from Lucas's sword. The force of their blows knocked them back several feet, but they were still locked in combat.

Lucas swung again at the man's head but missed as the man ducked under the blow. The green-haired man stepped forward and kicked Lucas squarely in the chest, knocking him over backwards.

As Lucas landed on his back, the man charged toward him with a furious look on his face, 'you won't defeat me!' Lucas grinned as he prepared for another battle against this mysterious opponent.

But before he could even take a step, he felt something strike his shoulder, and immediately felt intense pain. It took him a moment to realize what had happened: the man's fist had struck Lucas' blade arm.

Lucas stopped for a second because he has never seen anyone fight like this before.

As Lucas rose to his feet, he saw the man's other hand clench into a fist. Before Lucas could even think of an escape, the man unleashed a vicious punch towards Lucas' midsection; Lucas tried to jump out of the way but found himself unable to move quickly enough.

The impact shook Lucas' entire body, and he gasped for breath as he clutched at his stomach. His vision blurred, and suddenly everything went black... -Focus!-  Izek spoke from inside. That forced Lucas's heart to skip a beat and he forcibly opened his eyes.

"Now!" Lucas heard a voice command behind him, and all around him, there was a sudden rush of wind.

The air pressure changed so abruptly that he lost his balance and stumbled backwards, falling onto his rear end. When he finally right himself, it was too late: the man has already moved in for the kill!

He swings his arm down with blinding speed, and Lucas felt the force of his blow slam into his torso. The pain was excruciating, but somehow he managed to remain standing.

Before the man could deliver another blow, Lucas kicked off the ground and launched himself forward, directly towards his face. As he reached him, Lucas drove his knee straight into his nose, and he screamed in agony, "Renexa!" Lucas shouted and a white massive bird appeared from nowhere, grabbed the man by the neck, and slammed him into the ground.

At first, Lucas thought the blow to the man's head was fatal, but he soon stood up, snarling and spitting blood. His face was covered in cuts and bruises, and he glared at Lucas with hatred in his eyes.

Lucas wondered if he should try to finish this once and for all, he looked at Kali who was biting her lips and nervously shaking her legs, 'where are you, Haya?' Lucas gritted his teeth as he turned back to the man, 'Izek said I'll be fine.' Lucas breathed a sigh of relief, and he faced the enemy once more...

The man charged toward Lucas, swinging wildly with both hands.

Lucas parried the man's attacks easily, and he saw a flash of steel as the man drew his dagger.

Lucas couldn't let the man get close enough to stab him, so he leapt away and attacked the man's leg with his mace, 'take this!' He clenched his jaw.

The force of the impact caused the man to trip and fall, but he quickly recovered and jumped back up with a furious expression on his face.

As the two combatants circled each other, Lucas noticed that he hadn't been breathing properly since being wounded. He held his breath and waited for the perfect opportunity to strike, 'just a little bit more...'

His plan worked perfectly so far, "Renexa, now!" He ordered a white phoenix to attack him.

The phoenix soared through the air and hovered above Lucas, its wings spread wide, ready to swoop down and slash at the man's face.

But before the man could even raise his arms to block the attack, Lucas heard a familiar voice cry out from within the sky: "Haya!"

Lucas turned around and saw a dark cloud forming in the distance. "What's happening?" He opened his mouth, furrowing his eyebrows.

"It appears that your friend is under attack,"

The man's eyes went wide as he saw the black cloud rushing toward him.

"He doesn't stand a chance!" Lucas shouted smirking and watching how the black cloud was eating this man's subordinate alive.

"No, wait!" Lucas shouted back, but the cloud continued to approach.

As the man desperately tries to figure out a way to defend himself from the incoming storm, Lucas grabbed the man's dagger and threw it away, "it's over!" Lucas said as he inhaled more air.

"Is it?" the man raised his eyebrow and smirked while giving a dead glare into Lucas's eyes.