The Hot Mantle

Buchanan slammed his fist against his chest plate, "Then show me how strong it is!" His confidence was still there, resting in his mind, but Sun's challenge was beginning to chip away the idea that he had absolute strength. It's because he was missing his helmet, and Sun is a naturally talented fighter whether he liked to admit it or not.

But as if blessed by a god of luck, Sun announced that he did not intend to end the fight with one strike to the head, to his most vulnerable. Sun showed his desire to destroy his armor, his hubris, by opening the armor that he hides behind. "Then, I hope that armor can withstand my attacks!" Sun yelled as he wears his intentions with pride, but Buchanan must be careful because Sun is not stupid.

Sun charged towards Buchanan with such speed that Buchanan could react. The level of adrenaline Buchanan achieved during his small confrontation with Rock and Smoke slowed down the world around him enough for Buchanan to dodge the attack.

He teleported behind Sun with his fist raised to the air to hammer strike Sun's back. Sun sensed Buchanan's mana and knew to counter. He spun his body using his sword's momentum and struck a heavy blow to Buchanan's chest.

His body flew back, but the armor remained true and unbroken. Buchanan landed on his feet and inspected his body. "Bakacacaca!" Buchanan laughed, "You really want to break my invincible armor that much! Then come at me!"

"I always had," Sun's mana exploded on his feet, and he flew towards Buchanan, "But you kept running away!"

"I'm not running away!"

And true to his words, Buchanan's foot was planted on the ground. He was now drunk in confidence. And Sun smiled when he saw Buchanan's eyes light with such arrogance. Sun raised his sword over his head, and in that instance, Buchanan's pride ran out, and only fear remained.

Now his sword no longer aimed at his chest, and the fool was not aware of how large his head was now, an easy target for Sun. He did not have time to teleport, nor could he run away. Sun was already standing in front of him with his sword ready strike him.

Buchanan raised his hands and caught the sword between his palm. "You fucker!" Buchanan spat at Sun's face.

Sun front kick Buchanan away and wipe the saliva off his face. "What? I never said I wasn't going to aim for your head. You only assumed that I was only going for that hunk of junk you're wearing."

Buchanan's head was glowing red in anger for nearly dying from a trick. He yelled at the top of his lungs and released a flurry of attacks with his missiles made of mana. The missiles homed in on Sun, but he deflected most of them. As Buchanan's attacks begin to slow, Sun rushed in a while dancing around the attacks.

And in the blink of an eye, Sun was once again, breathing down on Buchanan's neck. Sun nearly struck Buchanan in the head, but he managed to teleport away, towards the mana that missed Sun and hit the barn's walls instead. Once on the wall, Buchanan began to desperately punch his way through it with no avail.

"Hey!" Sun yelled, "I thought you said you weren't running away!"

Buchanan turned around and scanned the room. He saw his helmet gleam in the dark under the stables and behind the small wired cages. He teleported to it and to his fortune, and his sword was also sleeping under a haystack. Sun followed Buchanan and leaped over the cages and the stable door and about to strike him in the back.

Buchanan turned in the nick of time with his helmet on, protecting his head once more. His face was hidden behind the visors, and with his full armor, Buchanan is no longer exposed to Sun's retaliation.

He parried Sun's attack with his sword's crossguard, throwing Sun and his sword to the side. Then he slammed his hilt against Sun's face, breaking his nose. Before he could follow with a swift slash, Sun blew fire from his mouth, and the light from the flame put Buchanan in a momentary daze. Sun uses the energy from his fire breath to roll away from Buchanan. He stood to his feet and fired a barrage of fireballs at Buchanan, but none of them hindered him. Buchanan walked past them.

"Bakacacaca! I am done playing around!" Buchanan charged through the fire and bodyslammed Sun to the floor.

He followed with a quick slash, but Sun parried the attack and countered with a cut between Buchanan's steel knee pads. But Buchanan shook the attack off with the same indifference as the fireballs. "What?" Sun was shocked. Buchanan raised his sword to plunge it towards Sun's chest.

Sun rolled away before the sword could touch his gambeson. "I learned my lesson from before," Buchanan bellowed, "My armor protects me, but it does have openings, including my helmet. But with my mana surrounding my armor and body, I have no more opening. I am a literal walking fortress! Bakacacaca!"

Buchanan continued to monologue, explaining the genius behind his invincible armor while Sun concentrated his mana towards his sword. The blue light circulated his blade, creating a twister around Sun. "Let's see if you can handle this!" Sun ignited his mana.

The intense heat woke Buchanan back to reality, "What the hell are you doing? You think just because you created a flame sword with your mana, you think you will be able to cut through my armor! You saw how I could just walk through those candle lights of yours, didn't you?

"You really need to stop assuming things." Sun struck the floor with his fire sword. The fire burned through the hardwood, and the hay around him caught on fire just from the heat alone. "I heard you were planning to choke someone or something inside that cave with smoke. Maybe you should get a taste of that too."

The fire quickly turned wild and expanded through the barn. The smoke rose up the ceiling and through the second floor, but they eventually accumulated inside the barn. Buchanan's eyes burned in the hot smoke and were getting harder for him to breathe.

Sun closed his eyes, covered it with mana, and wrapped his face with one of the dirty clothes the goblin children were wearing. Despite being blind in the smoke, his Isiptali guided his way. He could see Buchanan standing in front of him, struggling to breathe.

His sword was glowing orange, but Sun's mana protected him from his fire. There was no reason to fear his flames, only the smoke consuming him and Buchanan that was worrisome. And Sun could leave Buchanan to his demise, but he still wanted to prove a point. "Buchanan! Prepare yourself because I'm about to break that stupid armor!"

Sun dashed to him, slashing his shoulders. "Not strong enough!" Buchanan retaliated and trusted his sword forward. But he was blind and missed Sun.

"Then, I'll just use more force!" Sun swung his sword, slamming it against Buchanan's abdomen, but it did nothing to the armor.

Buchanan did, however, coughed out blood, which made his inflamed throat swell even more. "Enough!" Buchanan summoned all of his mana inside his body and blew away Sun, the smoke, and fire around him, giving him a momentary respite.

Meanwhile, Sun's only protection was blown off, and the smog quickly climbed his airways. His lungs began to burn and swell. Sun covered his mouth and nose with his hand. He was not immune to fire, and just like Buchanan, he will soon lose to the overwhelming weight of the smoke around him. And it was not thought out plan, but no time to dwell and what could have been a better plan.

Sun jumped back up his feet and tore a part of his gambeson. He wrapped his face with the cloth and got ready for his attack. The mana Buchanan released began to converge around him and fortify his body. His armor glows bright blue in the dark clouds that even Sun could see the light through his closed eyelids.

"I'm going to fucking kill you!" Buchanan charged through the flame and smoke. He hoisted his sword over his shoulder and swung his it, but Sun could sense his attack despite closing his eyes. He deflected the attack effortlessly.

"Try again!" Sun yelled. The weight of his feet broke the charred floor beneath, and the pressure he exuded from his body shackled Buchanan in place. His mana exploded out from his body and flew to his sword like moths drawn by the light. Sun's sword dropped to the floor.

"Why are you so stubborn?" Buchanan jumped back.

Sun's mana blanketed the floor beneath Buchanan, then he pulled the sword into the air, and the mana followed the sword. The blue carpet carried Buchanan and once Sun swung the sword over his head, the carpet rocketed to the roof with Buchanan on top. The weight of his armor was so great that Sun's sword broke in half as it pulled the carpet.

When the blade snapped in two, the mana exploded into a brilliant array and sent Buchanan flying through the barn's roof. Everyone outside stopped fighting and watch as the Black Crow's Captain ascends to the sky. And then he fell. His impenetrable armor protected him from the impact and like a shooting star, he fell.

The roof was made of Tungstree, and no matter how hard he fell, it will not break. But still, Sun was strong enough to throw him and punch a hole through the red roof. This fact made Buchanan quiver in fear. For the first time in his life, he was truly unsure of the future. He always assumed it would come his way, but the future was becoming uncertain throughout his conflict with this stranger.

Sun climbed his way to the roof. Buchanan hovered his hands over his face and used a healing spell over his eyes. When the gentle cold touch of the mana healed his vision, he opened his eyes and saw Sun behind the smoke. He emerged through the smoke clouds rising from the hole like a devil escaping hell's prison. Buchanan remembered the feathers attached behind his ears and recalled that the angels were not the only race with feathers. "You're a demon," Buchanan slowly got back up his feet.

Sun walked out under the twilight sky, "No," He smirked and opened his eyes, "I'm a goblin."

Buchanan's eyes turned bloody red, "Stop this mockery!" His left fist ignited into flames.

Sun smiled and welcomed the challenge. He dropped his broken sword and opened his arms. "Come, and I'll show you how strong my mettle really is." Sun clenched his right fist, and he too ignited the mana circulating around it and pointed his fire fist at Buchanan.

The Captain charged towards Sun. His heavy armor clanked at every step, and the barn shook from his heavy feet. He raised his fist to punch Sun, but his heavy armor made his movements slow. Sun thought it was foolish for him to charge recklessly until he noticed foreign mana past through his body.

Buchanan teleported behind Sun and attacked. His punch missed as Sun ducked to the right. Sun pivoted his body to face Buchanan, using his lead left foot to trip Buchanan, and his head fell to Sun's fire right hook. His punch melted and punctured its way through Buchanan's helmet and reached his cheeks and dislocated his jaw.

Sun's punch carried Buchanan's body. He plunged his fist along with Buchanan through the barn's roof, and the weight of the punch combined with Buchanan's heavy armor crushed the rooftop. It caved in, and the two fell back into the hellish landscape inside the hot building. Everyone outside stopped fighting and watched in horror as the building collapse in itself.

"Sun!" Shuja ran to the burning building. The Black Crows and Sun's brothers followed her, desperate to save the two from the pyre.

"Everyone, get water!" Cossack screamed at the goblins. They searched for a well, but there was none. The nearest source of water was a large pond located on the top cliff.

Everyone began to scurry in different directions like mice. Only Isla stood still as a rock, watching the flame engulf the dead sacred trees that made up the building. A tear rolled down her cheek. She has never seen such magnificence before, and she could not believe Sun caused the pyre to bloom. She realized that his name was fitting for him.

And as the smoke rises to the dark sky and the sun finally past the horizon and only the pyre's light was visible that night, Bret Hart stood up from his chair and took one heavy step.

That one step was as loud as thunder, and it stopped everyone from moving. They turned their eyes away from the bright pyre and watched Hart walk across the field. Once in front of the pyre, he walked through the fire and over the charred debris.

The smoke nor the heat bothered Hart. he experienced a much hellish landscape than this, but the fire was still impressive. The Tungstree was burning away as its waxy protection melted like metal in a blacksmith's furnace.

At the heart of the pyre was Sun on his knee, clutching on Buchanan's collar while he was laying on the floor. "I killed someone before," Sun whispered, "I remembered it vividly in my dream. Before I came here. And yet it's still so difficult. Tell me," Sun touched his cheek, "Please, tell me. If I spare you, will you change?"

"No, he won't," Hart answered in his place.

Sun turned, surprised to see someone inside the hell hole they were in, "Who are you?"

"I am Bret Hart, and I came here to arrest that unconscious man and his band of hooligans under the orders of the King of Dark Flower Kingdom. As well as to save the dark elves they kidnapped from their raids."

"Then I'm guessing you need him,"

"I can take him dead or alive," Hart took a knee next to Buchanan's body. "But I think my client would prefer him alive. Makes it more satisfying." as