31 Dio's fight

"Myzer, let's go." A man wearing black robes that covered him from top to bottom spoke to the man sitting next to him, sharpening his sword.

Getting up from the ground, Myzer looked at Hiari, the man who called him and asked with a creepy tone, "Slice or Dice?"

"Neither! This time our goal is different."

"Tch, fine," Myzer said while putting his sharpened sword behind his back and following Hiari's line of sight that landed on a carriage.

Licking his lips, Myzer put on a serious expression while thinking, 'it should be interesting.'

***

Back at the carriage unbeknownst to the passengers of the danger lurking around, Dio was, as usual, giving tips to the students while glancing at Xue Mo's direction to check what he was doing.

Unlike Dio, who was unaware of what was happening, Xue Mo had noticed the men in black robes as soon as they directed their ill intent towards the carriage. If they specified who they were targeting, Xue Mo might have failed to detect them, but because they just focused it on the whole carriage, he could catch it. This, of course, piqued his curiosity.

He was supposedly joining the Ash Expanse's strongest faction if so, then who would dare fight them. He knew that the attackers knew who this carriage belonged to, so he dismissed any thoughts about it being bandits or someone who didn't know. This left him interested, 'if they risk opposing the Battle Mage Academy, they must be just as strong. It seems this world isn't as simple and straightforward as it seems.'

Just as Xue Mo had thought that he felt the auras disappear and suddenly appear somewhere in front of the carriage. He didn't tell Dio or warn anyone as he wanted to see what would happen.

In no time the carriage neared the place the black-robed men landed, and when it passed by them, they flickered again before landing on top of the carriage. Yet Dio still hadn't felt anything. Xue Mo was disappointed as he wanted to see if Dio was hiding his strength even though he was sure that he made him go all out against him.

'It seems, that's all the Battle Mage Academy amounts to,' Xue Mo thought in disappointment. Although he didn't interact with anyone other than Lu Yao, he kept his ears on Dio and picked up some things over this period. One of the things he picked up was Dio telling the other students about his real position in the Battle Mage Academy, which was third, right below the Head and Vice-Head Master of the Academy.

"Hmm, yup, this Battle Mage Academy turned out to be a disappointment." Lu Yao commented while lazily sitting on Xue Mo's shoulder. She also felt the intruders, and even though she was currently weak, her battle experience and honed instincts still hadn't disappeared.

Xue Mo didn't say anything further. He tried limiting their presence to the limit as he wanted to see what would happen soon.

As they expected, the two men soon entered the carriage; however, Dio still hadn't noticed them. And the students were, as usual, discussing and talking to each other while practicing Mana control, not knowing of the danger they were in.

Maybe because of their experience, but Xue Mo and Lu Yao could hide their presence, and the two men hadn't detected them. They were focused entirely on the kids.

'Don't forget, no slicing or dicing the kids! They might be potential members.' Hiari reminded Myzer using some secret technique as he slowly approached the unknowing Dio. Suddenly Dio, who was focused on driving, turned around and stared at Hiari with a stern look as if saying I-had-been-expecting-you. But even so, Hiari didn't get startled and immediately backed away.

"As expected of Dio, The Lightning Bolt!" Hiari said in a muffled and deep voice. "Have you noticed our presence the whole time?"

"Not at all," Dio replied calmly. "I had noticed you when you boarded the carriage only."

'So, he didn't feel us at all. It seems that we still thought highly of the third strongest person in the Battle Mage Academy.' Myzer thought while listening to the conversation Hiari and Dio had.

"Well, let's not waste any more time," Hiari stated.

"Shall we then Mr. Black robed man?"

Not speaking anymore or replying to Dio, who seemed to take them lightly for some reason, Hiari flickered behind Dio using an unusual technique and almost took his head off. But unluckily, Dio was able to sense the attack and barely dodge at the last second.

"Who are you?!" Dio finally seemed to take the threat he was facing seriously as cold sweat filled his back. 'I almost died over there!'

Just currently had the children seen the culprits, and perceiving how Dio responded to them, fear-filled them as they realized that they were in a dangerous circumstance.

Neither Myzer nor Hiari said anything; instead, they felt more inclined to finish their job fast and go back. Nodding to each other, both of them attacked Dio at the same time to not waste time.

Mana flooded from them as they concentrated it on their bodies while also muttering something beneath their breath. Suddenly the speed they were going at doubled as Hiari flickered behind Dio just like before, but this time his attack was blocked since Dio anticipated it.

However, Myzer's attack went through as he slashed down with his saber ripping Dio's shoulder, making blood spray everywhere.

"AGHH You Bastards! I won't let you go!!" Dio screamed as not only had Myzer taken his shoulder off, but he also neared his neck and took a part of the bone connecting his shoulder to his head.

Still as silent as ever, the duo once again initiated an attack on Dio, who had bloodshot eyes but seemed calmer than ever. Lightning sparkled around Dio as orbs of lightning menacingly gathered around him, defending him from further attacks.

"Lightning Bolt!" Dio screamed, releasing the orbs around him and throwing them at the two men in front of him. He didn't care that the students that he had recruited were near the men as madness took over him; the only thing Dio cared about was taking the bastards who took his arm down.

"So, this is the Lightning Bolt that he was famous for!" Myzer exclaimed in a similar muffled voice to Hiari, who shot him a look before concentrating on dodging the attacks.

Abruptly, the two men, who were as normal as mortals usually were, suddenly seemed to have risen past their former limits. Instantly pivoting around in a speed incomparable yo their previous one, the men grabbed three of the children behind them and promptly tossed them out of the carriage in an unexpected unison.

Though the three thrown out managed to survive, the remaining person, Kyle, got hit by Dio's full-powered attack and died as he turned to ash.

Dio hadn't expected this at all when the two men burst with a power that they didn't seem to have before; he thought he was done for. But, they suddenly changed trajectories and saved the kids? He didn't know what to think or feel.

While Dio was feeling like the bad guy, his missing arm and the pain that accompanied it woke him up from his stupor, but before he could re-concentrate on the fight, he felt a warm feeling coming from his chest, looking down he saw a hole extending out from it. With an unwilling face and bulging eyes that seemed to curse the two men in front of him, the last thing he thought, 'Ah, shit. I died!'

While moving his sword around, cleaning the blood from it, and using Dio's corpse to remove any remaining stains, Myzer looked down at his handiwork and smiled under the mask while thinking, 'I was able to slice at least!'

Exchanging glances with Hiari, they were about to leave the carriage to follow the kids they dropped off when they heard the sound of someone clapping originate from behind them, prompting them to check it with vigilance.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" A voice that came from the same place the clapping sounded out from suddenly caught both the perpetrators' attention as they raised their guard even higher.

Turning their heads to the voice's direction, they saw a man walking towards them with a beautiful white fox sitting on his shoulder while yawning.

"Who are you?" Hiari asked a little nervous. He didn't know why but the man in front of him felt like he could take their lives in a moment's notice and also he could tell from the way this young man appeared relaxed that he had watched the fight from the beginning, but they hadn't felt his presence at all!

"I am Xue Mo." The young man said with pride before concentrating his gaze on the two people in front of him and declaring. "And you two are cultivators!"