Chapter 21 - Gone with a bang

Mariuz was surprised to see the brat he had frequently wanted to kill in front of him saving Julieth. Especially since he had not sensed his presence previously, not to mention that he did not understand how Nerun could have reached them, given that he had used all his speed to reach this remote spot in the forest. Furthermore, Nerun was little more than a child, yet the kick he had given him had left him a little dizzy and hurt. The force of that kick was even greater than that of some Qi Masters. Mariuz was also markedly worried because if there were witnesses, even if they managed to kill the Miss, there would be no place in the world from which they could hide from old man Corena's fury. At this moment he regretted not following Roger's orders and killing Julieth earlier.

"Little boy. When I'm done with you, you're going to beg me to kill you," Mariuz said as he stood up with an angry look on his face and his blade in hand. Nerun, however, wasted no time, but began hurling rocks at Mariuz at high speed, which he pulled from a satchel on his shoulders.

"Do you think I'm a dog you can get rid of with rocks," Mariuz snapped as he used his blade to fend off the stones and stalked menacingly towards Nerun and Julieth.

"Please don't insult dogs. At least dogs don't usually bite the hand that feeds them, you are clearly worse than an animal," said Nerun. Nerun didn't lose his cool and kept throwing rocks at him, some in such complex positions that Mariuz didn't manage to defend himself at all and hit him in the chest or shoulder. Mariuz was surprised because with his power and skills as a Qi Grandmaster, he was finding it hard to keep up with the rocks Nerun was throwing at him. For one thing, they were coming at high speed and force, so he couldn't just ignore them in case one hit him in the face or uncovered parts. Besides, the kick Nerun had given him had hurt him more than he thought it would, and he was finding it hard to focus on the fight. Lastly, Mariuz could never suspect that an orphan like Nerun already had his eye meridians open, something that Nerun was using to see Mariuz's weak points and attack him at the precise moment when it was hardest for him to defend himself.

Even though Nerun was much weaker in terms of Qi and strength, since the battle started he had not allowed Mariuz to get a breath and focus on the fight, but forced him to be with all his nerves on edge. Nerun despite being so small, learned from Maikal, on the one hand, to never let his guard down, and on the other hand to always take advantage of any small edge, and never let the enemy take control of the tempo of the battle. It is these little things that can determine life or death, especially when you are much weaker than your opponent.

Mariuz was losing his patience, and while he wasn't taking any major damage, the mere fact that he was being held back by a brat he had despised until recently was hurting his pride. So he decided to use all his power to slash with his blade and kill Nerun and Julieth at the same time even if he had to resist the hurling rocks for a while. He started to accumulate Qi in his blade, but right at that moment, Nerun used all his strength to throw a rock right towards Mariuz's face. Mariuz was taken aback by the timing of the rock, which was right when his Qi was about to coalesce together. Furthermore, he felt the great force coming towards him and couldn't help but use his blade to defend himself from the attack, wasting all the previous Qi gathering.

- BAM!

The stone exploded against the blade and the debris created a small smokescreen that blocked Mariuz's view and made him flinch a little. At that moment Nerun, with unexpected speed, leapt towards Mariuz and tackled him, using one of his hands to strike him on the wrist to make him drop his blade.

What Nerun had used was the technique that Elijah had taught him. This was not a combat technique, but a movement skill: <Flash Walk>. This technique allowed Qi to rapidly accumulate on the soles of the feet and explode in a flash, allowing the user to instantly accelerate and run at a high speed. It was precisely this technique that had allowed Nerun to chase Mariuz, along with his greater familiarity with the terrain of the Forest. <Flash Walk> needed a great balance and control of inner energy, as well as the use of leg meridians. While Nerun did not have his leg meridians completely open, he managed to maintain them open from time to time, which allowed him to run at a very high speed for a short period, up to 60 km/h, and keep up with Mariuz's pace.

However, Mariuz did not get blown away as Nerun had hoped. Although it was an attack that took him by surprise, some of the Qi he had accumulated was used to protect his body, so that Nerun was barely able to push him back a couple of feet. Even though he had dropped his weapon, with his free hand he grabbed Nerun by the hair and with his other hand he hit him hard in the abdomen so that Nerun was thrown backwards, dropping all the objects he was carrying, falling to the ground and lying face down while spitting blood. Julieth couldn't help but put her hands to her mouth as she trembled. Nerun had surprised her greatly, yet she knew deep inside that he would never be able to defeat Mariuz. After all, Nerun wasn't even a Qi master, and Mariuz was a trained and ruthless guard, and a Qi Grandmaster.

"Did you really think you could beat me, you punk? This is just the beginning. You're going to regret deeply you came all this way. Don't worry. You'll die very slowly, and then I'll take care of all the other brats in your orphanage," Mariuz said as he gloated.

"Please Mariuz, let Nerun go. He is nothing more than a child. Take me if you want, but leave him alone," Julieth pleaded. However, Mariuz paid her no heed.

"Has anyone told you that you talk too much?" Nerun said as he struggled to his feet. Although he was injured, at the last instant he was able to jump in the direction of the attack, thus negating some of the force of the blow, something he was able to do by observing Mariuz's movements with his ocular meridians. He looked up, but curiously he was not looking into Mariuz's eyes, but at Mariuz's feet, making a peculiar grimace on his face.

Mariuz was disturbed when he saw the look on Nerun's face as he thought to himself that perhaps he had been made a fool by the blow, but he could not help but look down at the ground where Nerun was watching. His eyes could not widen, and he felt a frantic horror as all his hair stood on end. At his feet were some rocks, like the ones Nerun had been throwing previously, and something else. A rounded, dark-coloured contraption, which was beginning to glow a deep blue colour. This contraption was precisely a Mana Bomb, the very bomb that he carried with him in his inner pocket. When Nerun had tackled him, with his free hand he quickly searched through Mariuz's clothes and found the bomb that all the guards carried. Nerun had remembered the bomb the guards used, and where they hid them. While Nerun was not a thief, he had learned all sorts of skills at the orphanage, including pickpocketing.

All of Mariuz's life flashed before his eyes, and he tried to jump as far as he could, but to little avail.

- BOOOOOOM!

The bomb exploded in its familiar blue colour and although Mariuz had been able to move several metres away from the bomb and was not in the centre of the explosion, the blast radius hit him and he was shot into the distance suffering severe wounds and burns all over his body, with multiple associated fractures. He had been completely crippled.

Julieth was dumbfounded by this rapid turn of events. One second it seemed that all was lost for Nerun and that nothing he did would be able to stop Mariuz, yet now Mariuz was near death and completely wrecked. Nerun himself was shocked by the damage Mariuz had suffered. Nerun's plan was to steal the bomb and then threaten Mariuz with it, so he could escape with Julieth, but he certainly didn't want to kill him or maim him. After all, Nerun was still a child, and there was no concept of cruelty in him that would make him want to hurt a person so badly. But when Mariuz hit him, he lost everything in his hands, and accidentally pulled the trigger of the bomb, which activated it and led to the current outcome.

As a matter of fact, had Mariuz stayed in the centre of the explosion, he might have died immediately with little to no pain, but by moving away from it, the wounds he suffered all over his body meant that although he did not lose his life instantly, his life would become a literal hell, given that the wounds he had sustained were enough to make him suffer for the rest of his days, not counting that he would likely be caught in old man Corena's vengeance. In the end, it was all a product of underestimating Nerun and not heeding Roger's orders from the beginning.

Nerun and Julieth looked at each other, not knowing what to say. In the end, Julieth sighed at this result and approached Nerun to look at his wounds, concern on her face.

....

Captain Roger and the other two guards ran to the pre-arranged rendezvous point, which was several miles from the previous battle site. The Captain led the charge and they were lucky not to encounter any Magical Beasts on the way, so it didn't take them long to arrive. Just then, they heard a loud explosion in the distance. At first, they thought it was from the trapped guards, who were putting up a last-ditch effort to fight off the apes, however, the direction of the blast was from a completely different place, precisely where Mariuz had taken Julieth to kill her. Roger had a bad feeling, because under no circumstances would Mariuz have to use the Mana Bomb unless he had encountered a problem. Besides, with his speed and agility, he should have killed the Miss and met up with them.

Wasting no time, he ordered the guards to head towards the site of the explosion, while he brought up the rear. They sped towards the site of the explosion and took only a few minutes to arrive. They were shocked and terrified by what they found.

Mariuz was lying on the ground, mumbling nonsense, with black foam coming out of his mouth, covered with wounds and burns all over his body. He was almost unrecognisable, and he looked in great pain. On the other side, Julieth was with Nerun helping him to his feet and they were about to make their way out of the forest. When Roger and the guards saw Julieth and Nerun unharmed, their nerves frayed. If Miss Julieth was still alive and old man Corena found out what had happened, there would be no place in the world for them to hide. Their whole plan was based on there being no witness to what had happened and the belief that wild beasts had wiped out the group. If they had arrived later and Nerun escaped with Julieth, they might have to really wish they had been eaten by Beasts.

Roger was extremely angry when he saw Mariuz, as well as the open clothes of the young lady. He quickly realised that Mariuz had not obeyed his orders, and the truth is that if he were not so seriously injured, Roger himself would want to kill him right at that very moment, for jeopardising the whole operation. However, he quickly composed himself and approached the children slowly so as not to frighten them, saying, "Miss Julieth. I'm glad you are well. We were able to break free of the Shadow Macaques, and these two guards and I went ahead of Steward Menke and the rest of the convoy to check that you were all right. What happened?" His gaze seemed calm and kind but there was a clear hint of killing intent hidden in his gaze.

Nerun and Julieth were startled when they saw Roger arrive with the two guards. Julieth at first was happy to hear Captain Roger's words but Nerun squeezed her hand and started to back away with her. "Don't listen to him. The captain's in cahoot with the other burnt lanky one. Remember it was he who gave Mariuz the order to take you away from Mr Menke," said Nerun.

Julieth wanted to reply, but in the end, she kept quiet. Deep inside she knew that Nerun's words were true. Mariuz could never have betrayed her alone, and he had to have help from someone else within the group. She just never thought that the captain of her guards himself would be the leader of the traitors. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at Roger and the two guards approaching them.