836 Frightful

Mathias blinks away to escape the fist heading for his head, he knew if it connected he'd probably instantly die from the impact, even with his Lightning Armour activated.

Even with the distance between them, the shockwave of the fist striking air hits him in the face, feeling like he'd been punched by a regular person... Mathias throws his hand into the air which forms a ball of light to illuminate the darkness, finally giving him a good view of whatever was attacking them...

His suspicions were correct... In-front of him was a 7ft man covered in scars with shaggy white hair and a large beard, he wore a white wolf pelt over his head and primitive-looking armour that showed a significant amount of skin. This was the armour Barnock used in the Howling Plateau, seems he'd changed from his plate armour to that, but why was he attacking them?

Mathias "Barnock! Stop! It's me, Mathias!" he shouts, hoping to end the conflict without injuring each other.

The large man stumbles as he hears the name, his eyes flash purple as he grabs his head and roars at the sky, Mathias notices that the burned area on Barnocks chest that'd been hit by Adria's attack was glowing purple as well, perhaps he was under her influence?

Barnock stops his roar and glares back at Mathias, holding his hand out and materialising a large hand-axe, the head of it bursting into flames when equipped.

Mathias "Don't Barnock, I don't want to hurt you-"

*SLASH*

Barnock swings his axe horizontally at him, Mathias ducking just as the wind-blade sweeps through the area and cuts all the nearby tree's in half. The Barbarian catches a falling tree and throws it at Mathias at quick speeds, the mage having to blink away again to escape instant death.

Mathias "SEE REASON BARNOCK!" he shouts, throwing his hands out and casting Ice Nova which freezing everything nearby, covering Barnock in a thin layer of frost and trapping his feet to the ground.

*Crack!*

The ice cracks as the Barbarian raises their foot with ease, bringing it down quickly and creating a large shockwave.

*Boooom!*

All the ice in the area instantly shatters and a huge crater replaces it, Mathias shoots lightning at Barnock in an attempt to paralyse him, but the man simply shrugs off the cascading blue arcs of death, instead electing to charge Mathias.

The mage blinks behind Barnock as the man charges through whatever trees were left after his first attack, all that are left after the charge are small sticks and splinters... If this forest had a Leshen, it'd be absolutely furious right about now, the duo's unintentional efforts at deforesting the area proving quite effective.

Barnock gives a roar as he leaps in the air towards Mathias, his hand-axe glowing blue as a large ephemeral two-handed hammer manifests itself. The mage blinks away yet again as the Barbarian slams the new hammer onto his previous position, causing huge cracks to form in the ground, knocking Mathias over due to the impact of the shockwave.

Barnock "DEMONS! YOU'LL ALL PAY!" he roars, swinging his weapon upwards and uprooting a huge amount of earth in the process, causing a veritable avalanche of stone to be shot towards Mathias.

Mathias "Damn it!" he shouts, channeling his magic and enveloping the area in a strange large orb. The wave of stone thrown at him is moving at half speed, making it relatively easy to dodge, he destroyed the large rocks and boulders he can't maneuver around with magic... After a couple seconds the Slow Time spell ends, just as the Avalanche passes.

They both stare at one another, waiting for the other to move while thinking up ways to counter it... Barnock wasn't in his right mind, but he was still a master of battle, he'd probably still be capable of forming tactics even when enraged or unconscious...

The area was utterly annihilated, parts frozen, burned from lightning, or reduced to rubble and splinters. From the treeline leading to the destroyed land, Arie steps out holding his chest.

Arie "I don't know who you are, but you're in deep shit now!" he shouts, drawing both Barnock and Mathias's attention. It's only the latter that notices the turquoise glowing necklace held in the man's hand.

A couple tense moments pass when suddenly a distortion in space appears, it ripples before being torn open and creating a portal to somewhere, a person is visible on the other side...

They confidently step through, it's a woman who stands at 5.11ft wearing black gothic clothing under a trenchcoat that goes down to her ankles. A bandoleer can also be seen slung across her chest, filled with many small silver knives, as well as a Katana strapped to her waist.

She glances to the side at Arie, nodding to him before directing a glare at the fighting duo, revealing her strange turquoise and red coloured eyes. "Now, who's causing trouble for my uncle?" she asks, her voice almost immediately causing the duo to spill the beans...

Mathias "Y-your charm i-is ineffective against me... I-I'm an ally of Arie there." he adds, not wishing to fight this obviously powerful person.

The woman sighs, resting her hand on the handle of her katana and looking at the Barbarian looking-fellow. "Hm, will you tell me what I want to know?" she asks sweetly.

Barnock trembles, his eyes flashing Purple as he shakes his head, "No, do not try to temp me Demon!"

Arie "Mathias, do you know this guy?" he shouts.

Mathias "He's a companion of mine, he appears to be possessed! I don't have anything that's able to break that a spell!"

The woman nods, "Shall we just beat him until he regains his senses then?" she asks, causing Mathias to sweatdrop.