Distant III

"Scary my ass!!!" Anthony shouted. He slashed his blade, creating a flaming arc that flew toward Aron.

That man who had shrunk his eagle wings to his back just leaned to the side, dodging such an obvious attack. But then Teres' small build and swift action caught him by surprise.

Aron had to lunge backward as Teres pursued up with another swing. Then a clanking sound startled even those who were inside the carriage.

"So finally you have the gut to fight me. Back then, you never had the guts to look at me in the eye," Aron teased as he gripped Teres' sword with his morphed talon-like hand.

That skinny bodyguard had his eyes widened as Aron started pulling his sword. Since Teres did not think of letting go of his weapon, he grabbed onto it firmly. However, Aron's arm was so brawny that he was able to hurl Teres body along with his sword.

While Teres was midair, Aron wasted no time to swing his other hands that had morphed and grown sharp eagle talon. Aiming at the poor boy's chest.

Loud crashing sound then emerged. But it was coming from Aron that was suddenly slammed by a boulder thrown by Anthony's Venevisium. The boulder crashed into Aron with tremendous force, knocking him off his feet and sending him flying sideways.

"Teres! Are you okay?!"

"Yes, Anthony. Thank you." He quickly got up and stood alongside his comrade.

Pain lanced through Aron's body as he crashed to the ground. But he was resilient. Result of his vigorous training.

Aron smirked and rose up. To him, it was quite shameful to have his guard down. Luckily, his partner still hasn't shown herself and did not witness that scene.

Under the dimmed canopies of leaves, Aron reached out his hand and slowly approached Teres and Anthony, letting his smile release a murderous intent.

The two Leriat's bodyguards gulped. However, they surely could not let their focus away as their opponent started running with two blades of materialized dark-red Venevisium.

Anthony took the vanguard. His metal sword clanked with Aron's Visblade multiple times. Aron surely had an agile movement, but Anthony's steady motion with a solid build and iron paddings were able to block his opponent's assault.

They continued their clash while both of them at the same time accumulated Venevisium.

Anthony's Vis flowed to his feet, then he stomped. That Vis of Terra later spread to the ground.

With command from his mind, Anthony activated his Vis, which made the ground around Aron's foot crumble and trapped him, immobilizing Aron's movement.

Teres seized the opportunity and swiftly attempted to land a finishing blow on Aron. However, Aron was merely smiling in response.

With a handful of Vis, Aron quickly coated himself in brownish Vis. His body transformed into a cheetah. With such powerfully lean and firm limbs, Aron broke free from Anthony's earth trap with ease.

He opened his jaw and successfully made a bite into Teres shoulder. Its sharp teeth pierced the young bodyguard's armor and its forefoot held Teres' hands on the ground. Aron then pulled out his bite, lacerating Teres' armor and tearing a painful wound.

"No! Teres!!" Anthony shrieked as he heard his comrade's agonizing scream. He flung another boulder towards Aron, but the newly transformed Visbeast was able to dodge it in a moment and now galloping in his direction. This time, Aron would surely get his revenge for crashing him with flying rocks.

After a few clashes with Anthony's sword and Aron's claws, the Visbeast successfully dug his tooth into Anthony's arm. The victim tried to shake him off, but Aron's bite was surely firm.

Panicking, Anthony coated his arms in Ardor and activated it. Small flames then burst out of his hands and into the cheetah's mouth, causing it to recoil in pain.

"Bleh!" Aron distanced and transformed back to his human form. A stinging hot sensation lingers at the tip of his tongue. "You're gonna get toasted!"

As Anthony warily watched his opponent, he noticed that Aron was channeling Vis of Ardor in both hands. Later, Aron rushed towards him with a Visblade while keeping his hand blazing with fire.

Teres struggled to catch his breath as he watched the intense swordplay between Anthony and Aron. His injury was taking a toll on him, and he felt helpless. He couldn't help but wonder if they had underestimated their opponent.

Anthony's injured arm proved to be a hindrance as he failed to maintain his vanguard and was swiftly thrown away by a powerful and unexpected kick delivered by Aron. The kicker later smiled as he pointed a gun finger at Anthony, who had just crashed to the ground.

"The end, of you."

A significant amount of Vis Ardor that Aron had accumulated during the sword clash flickered in the surrounding air, creating sparkling blazes, which later concentrated at the tip of his finger.

Anthony could only just gulp as the deadly flame bursted out from a tiny point and fired at him with enormous force.

"Shoot ...." screamed Anthony internally as his face got paler.

Somewhat large shockwave of explosion lighted up the surrounding area, scaring away resting birds with its explosive bang. Which later followed by a maniacal laughter.

"No ... Anthony!" Teres eyes were filled with anger. But his body was having a hard time listening to his mind.

To an unexpected outcome, an unfaltering Vis barrier domed Anthony. Leaving him completely unharmed.

"Anthony! Are you alright?!"

Leriat's voice alerted Teres and Anthony of his presence, but was feeling thankful that he showed up at the crucial moment.

Aron clicked his tongue as he and Leriat made eye contact with each other. That boy has his hand reaching out in the direction of Anthony's position, keeping his intact.

Leriat saw everything that happened from the carriage while accompanying his grandmother. But now, he could no longer hold back and watched his friends and bodyguards getting hurt.

"What did father want, Aron?" Leriat shouted.

Aron smiled and huffed a small breath of fire. "Isn't it obvious? He wants everyone else to die except for you, young master Leriat."