Chapter 6: Battle of Havenport

Tatum saw the situation at hand, knew that in his current situation, he was not in the least bit ready to take on all these mages himself. He was weak and exhausted from hosting the demon in him, and he would not be able to fight against a wood user. It's just next to impossible, nevertheless he wanted to push himself, maybe the demon would heed him that way.

Eleanor yelled at the boy with the dark red hair, "Why are you here Wharton, we had him!"

Wharton did not look back at her as he answered dully, "You guys needed help plus I thought you were going to inspect the crater near the South Tower."

"Yeah, well we had him. Don't budge in," she snapped as Cadence eyed her with wariness.

"We should go check on it, to be honest," Cadence said as Alan noticed them for the first time.

"Ayo, Cooper take this kid Rai and get out of here. We need less distractions to work with," Alan announced as Cooper continued his edgy smile as Tatum's hand started steaming. With a quick shout of surprise he dropped Rai as Rai floated into Cooper's arm already charmed to sleep by his magic.

A quick flash of feathers, and Cooper was gone along with Eleanor, and Cadence. Tatum looked at where Cooper and Rai were, astounded.

"Transmission, an ability the people of the angel race possess to transmit things," Wharton answered his thoughts as he continued looking at him with a poker face.

"I don't care about that, I just need to get out of here," he said as he swooshed out towards Wharton but a branch came out from under the bridge as his foot tripped on it. As he was falling forward, Wharton restrained him with more branches as he walked towards Tatum. Tatum struggled to free himself, trying to break free with no success.

Tatum looked at him with a grim face before Wharton swung a punch at him in the gut causing him to gag. That was the part where the demon took over Tatum's body, making it more sensitive. It hurt like hell as Tatum closed his eyes trying to block out the pain.

Alan looked grumpy as he stated, "Wharton, you are taking all the glory at least let me in on it."

"I think I'm good," Wharton replied as he prepared a swing again, this time at the face.

It was cut off as Tatum activated mana zone and mana skin. As the swing was about to approach his face, barrier spikes formed around his body, cutting off all the branches as he grabbed Wharton's hand. Wharton's face was full of alarm as Tatum buried his fist into Wharton's face slamming it with force. Wharton went flying as Tatum released his arm.

Sand tendrils formed around his feet as he felt it grabbing tightly. A sand armored guard prepared to swing its ax at Tatum aiming to cut off his head when the sand tendrils broke from the mana skin. Tatum swung his hand to grab the ax as he gripped it hard. Cracks formed on the rock made ax as Tatum tightened his hold on it, grunting. He broke off a chunk of those rocks as he saw two branches slicing through the concrete from underneath.

They stretched and aimed to pierce his chest when he felt the mana under his robes vibrate as they turned into a barrier.

It wasn't strong enough as the branches pierced the upper layers of his chest. He groaned as he felt the wetness of his blood soak into his robes.

God, he really was weak after summoning that devil, he thought with ferocity as he regretted coming here. He did not have the time to think as Wharton came soaring towards him, his grimoire out as ten tails of wood formed behind him.

Tatum formed a barrier on his left side as he sent it towards Wharton with speed. While sending his barrier to Wharton, two hands made of the barrier gripped Alan's legs from under. Alan's feet sunk into the concrete as he was stuck in the bridge as he looked with confusion.

Wharton saw the barrier flying towards him as the tails around him slammed on the floor, propelling him over the barrier and into the air as he sent the tails at Tatum who looked at it with anticipation. Tatum opened his grimoire as he slammed both hands on the ground. 7 sharp edged barriers erupted from underneath, cutting the tails to pieces as Wharton continued aiming at him, regrowing the branches as they rained down on him. The barriers broke one by one as the wooden tails continued to rain blows on them repeatedly.

Tatum knew this was his last shot as 10 clones identical to him appeared in front of him combining a gigantic layer of barriers all in one. They reflected the branches at Wharton who swerved to avoid it as he finally landed on the ground.

Meanwhile, Alan was still struggling with his feet, grumbling and complaining while one of the clones ran up towards him brandishing a barrier chain as he wrapped Alan's body with it. The barrier chain had special qualities to it as it started sucking Alan's mana with it, feeding them to Tatum who felt more energized.

Tatum knew Alan wasn't the problem now as he faced a panting Wharton whose tails were gone now. The clones in front of him, held up a gigantic barrier that separated them.

"Why do you want Marielle," Wharton suddenly asked, his eyes alert.

Tatum, who was taken aback, responded, "How did you know that? Our information specialist never said anything about you."

A smirk formed around Wharton's lips as he answered calmly, "Rumors spread, let me just say that, so why," he repeated the question.

Tatum, who did not feel the need to hide it anymore, answered, "She possesses a magic that is the final step to connecting the thousand worlds together. A magic accidentally created from a genetic mutation due to the failure of Plagueis."

Wharton thought about this for a while. Sure, he never was close to that Marielle girl but he always sensed something was off about her. In a sense, Wharton does not feel obliged to protect her but it was his duty to do so as a mage who just passed his provision exam. Duty was always number 1 in the Timberwolf family, something his father has ingrained in him at a young age. His father reasoned that his mother did her duty to protect them and by doing his duty he was respecting her death.

He snapped out of his thoughts as he replied sarcastically, "Seems like a heavy operation for an almighty group just to bring in a girl who was powerless."

Tatum's face flushed red with anger as he was about to reply when Alan smashed right through the concrete from under as he materialized in front of Tatum with a determined face. He swung a right kick at Tatum, swinging a 45 degree downwards kick at Tatum's face kicking him into the ground with a large

CRACK!!!

Tatum blew a hole onto the ground as smoke surrounded him, his head was dizzy from the impact. Sand flowed into the hole as it filled the hole up, solidifying it.

What Alan did was sending the sand into the hole he was stuck in, the bridge's inside had many holes as Alan used a transmitter device that gave him the ability to travel using the sand that he sent.

"Sand Coffin," Alan said hauntingly as he looked down, "you are trapped here with no way out."

A moment passed as a kaboom sounded as a gigantic barrier hand appeared from behind Alan who looked back in shock. It came swinging downwards, it's shadows completely covering Alan as a shink sounded.

The hand was cut in half as Wharton's golden sword glinted in the dim sunlight. Wharton's cloak flapped wildly in the air as he looked down on a stunned Alan grinning, "Had to watch your back."

The remnants of the hand fell on the floor as Alan grinned back, "Thanks man, you saved me there. Now we just wait for him to suffocate." He looked back down on the sand filled hole, hoping that it was making progress on Tatum.

Alan started walking towards the hole when he felt something was behind him as he whirled around to see a branch grabbing a dagger made of barriers, reanimated from the broken barrier pieces earlier.

Alan tried to lighten up the mood by joking, "Seriously, Wharton saving me once is enough. Two times in a row is just squashing up my pride."

Wharton sighed heavily and pointed at the hole, "He's still alive and controlling the mana around him using mana zone while detecting our mana to aim. That's something only upper magic knights would be able to do. We can't take him lightly Alan, he may be a rookie but we are too."

Alan nodded in agreement, "True, I guess we just need to be extra careful until he suffocates."

They looked around carefully when the sand hole split open revealing a coughing Tatum who was blue in the face. He gasped and panted heavily, trying to catch his breath.

"You almost fucking killed me if it weren't for my barriers holding me up," Tatum said with difficulty still grasping for hair.

"Then let me enlighten you with my physical prowess," a dangerous voice sounded behind him as Wharton swung his golden sword at Tatum's head. Tatum barely blocked the overhead attack with a razor sharp barrier blade.

Alan knew the stakes as sand formed around Tatum's body, containing hihm as Wharton swung again, this time aiming for a clean cut at the neck.

The mana skin around him erupted as the sand corroded, leaving him room to grab on the sword and using its momentum to swing himself over the sword, releasing his grip, as his hands bled from the sharpness of the sword. He somersaulted over the sword as he tried to use his knees to choke Wharton with it. He succeeded in the first part, managing to get in the position to place his knees on Wharton's shoulders but all went wrong when Wharton sensing movement behind him turned around without knowing what's going on as his elbow smashed right into Tatum's nose.

SNAP, it sounded as Tatum's nose snapped from the contact. He fell on the ground screaming in pain as Wharton looked with bewilderment at the scene, confused on what happened.

Blood flowed from Tatum's nose as he tried to stop the flow of his blood by cupping his hands over it. The pain was unbearable as he forced himself to be awake, his vision blurry from the impact on his skull.

Wharton looked pitifully at him as he started walking slowly towards him. His golden sword glowing menacingly in the sunlight as he walked next to the kneeling Tatum who did not look up at him.

"So, are you going to surrender or not," Wharton asked politely as he stopped above Tatum, his sword close to Tatum's neck.

Tatum glared up at him, still covering his nose as he growed, "No way in hell. I would rather die," with that his mind went blank as a voice spoke into his mind.

Tatum, Tatum wake up

Tatum was back to the old meadows of his childhood. The meadow felt vibrant as the natural flight flooded it with a dazzling feel to it. The colors felt surreal to him as he stared around with a nostalgic feeling piercing through him. He walked around trying to feel the air but the voice continued.

Tatum, you said you wanted my help, a girl's voice sounded as he could hear it clearer now.

"W-Who are you," he stammered to himself as he looked around frantically.

"Your mother, I'm sorry I never got to see you," a figure now appeared in front of him, her face barely past girlhood, she was at most 19. Two feathery white wings emerged from behind her.

An angel, he thought with awe, both in face and figure. He stumbled backwards falling flat on his butt as he looked up at her in stupor. The light around her only made it seem more ethereal. Her hair was white and she looked truly like an angel. He tried to find similarities in their faces but the only thing that was the same was the silvery white hair.

"M-My mom. What are you saying," he blurted out without thinking.

The girl kneeled down in front of him smiling, her white hair tumbling behind as she spoke gently, "Yes, Tatum. I am your mother but I died 17 years ago when I gave birth to you."

"I'm an angel?" he managed to ask sounding stupid to himself. Him an angel?? No way.

She shook her head, "You are a hybrid. The first demon angel to exist."

She let that sink in as his eyes widened even more. Frankly, he was told that his dad was a low tier demon and he became another host to another demon that hated his dad. As of right now, that little experiment is not working as the demon refuses to cooperate.

"That demon hates you for two reasons, your dad and me," she continued as she put her hand slowly on his stomach where a magic circle shone brightly.

"W-what," he stuttered as he felt her warm hands trace the circle.

"Tatum, you need to be careful. The world's about to enter a crisis right now, unorderly things imputed in your life. The spiritual world and the underworld are on the verge of breaking through. If it does not stop, the world will be thrown into chaos," she said as he felt a gagging feeling inside him.

With a vomit, black energy swirled out from inside his mouth as it dripped onto the grass, covering part of it in black.

"The foreign demon sealed inside you is gone now, awaken your own magic Tatum not others," she stared into his eyes, lifelessly.

Tatum felt empty now as if something weird was just pulled out of his body. He felt much better now as he looked back at her with a burning question in his mind.

"You said dad was a demon, how did you guys meet," he asked with eyes burning with curiosity.

She looked away from him, staring away at the distance as she said, "It was not love, not love at all. I was young and naive at only the age of 18 when I first met him. We met on another continent far far from here," here she stared back at him coldly.

"Another continent, where?"

"A continent called Windrun where the angels and demons coexisted together in different countries. These demons can enter the Spade Kingdom through a pact they made long ago, a portal where demon presence can be summoned. I met your father while the war raged on between angels and demons. As a part of the conflict, I was sent as a prisoner of war to him as a special gift. You see we had no love, I never wanted to do anything with him" she finished with those lifeless eyes staring into him.

"You...…..You were," Tatum could not finish the thought as she nodded somberly.

"That's why Tatum, you should never use your demon side, to do so is to betray your mother," she said with a heartbroken expression as she reached out to him, a hungry light lingering in her eyes.

Tatum, who could not overcome his shock, sat motionless, not moving. His thoughts were swirling and he could not control them but something clicked into his mind. Something about how he grew up without parents but also the way she carried herself. He set his jaw rigid as he faced her now with confidence.

"You are not my mother, you are merely a person using her memory to persuade me to give in," he snarled fiercely as she looked at him flabbergasted.

The figure in front of him started changing as the wings changed from white feathery wings to black leathery wings shaped like a bat. The two eyes on his face were pure black while his lower body, reaching up to his chest were all pitched black. Two horns appeared on top of his head as he gave a triumphed smile at Tatum.

"You figured it out, I am the demon inside of you that wanted out and I did just that by manipulating a memory of your mother through mana connection, linking your past relatives. But what I said was all true, we demons could be pretty horrible heh," he gave a sideways smile that revealed a set of jagged teeth at him.

"I don't need you anyways," Tatum replied with dead eyes as the demon chuckled.

"You sure are interesting but let me warn you that for the first time since 5000 years ago, the continents will meet and when it does, it will not be pretty. You guys called your first little "world war" between your own little continent. What this war will be, will be a war between worlds. A war that will impact every living being on this planet, not just one continent. You think all the continents will collaborate together and trade? No, that idea is a mere dream. Your leader Ricky is an idiot for thinking he can unify all continents as one. He thinks he can control us demons but we are the ones controlling him instead. We already pushed him into orchestrating a plan to get that girl. He thinks that girl is the piece to unifying the world but she isn't. She is the key to destroying the world."

Tatum took all this in silence as he asked, "And what if she destroys the world and how?"

"How?" the demon mocked him with a laugh as he answered casually. "She's going to destroy the world by letting us demons rule it with zero to nothing left. All humans gone, angels as our slaves, and everything else decimated. And how is she going to achieve that? By opening the lock to the ancient vault sealed off for centuries, simple!"

This all hit Tatum in the face as he contemplated it. They were getting used and used badly. They think they were the painter but in reality they were the canvas. Puppets pulled on strings, that's what they were.

"The world's going to end soon once our plan succeeds and your little idealistic group of idiots will all perish," he taunted him as he flew towards him, his perfectfully shaped nose pressing against his deformed one.

Tatum's bravado escaped him as his legs started trembling with fear at the demon's aura. He smiled widely at his shaking legs.

"It was nice meeting you Tatum," he said with a girl's voice mocking him as he felt the glowing meadow being ripped apart from his senses as he came back to the present.

Something itched in his chest as he saw a golden sword buried deep inside it as he saw Alan's back right in front of him soaking with blood. The golden sword was pierced through both of their bodies while the person holding it gasped.

"A-Alan, how did you get over here so fast," Wharton stammered out in disbelief.

Alan's whose tired eyes did not look up coughed out blood, "I...I felt the sudden urge to move myself towards you, a....a demon's breath you call it," more blood coughed out as Alan forced his eyelids to open.

Tatum felt the energy drain out of him as his blood continued pouring. He was about to die at the hands of Wharton but all his rage was directed towards the demon. His eyelids drooped heavily as he felt the sword unstick from his body as Wharton pulled it out slowly, his face still contorted in horror. Tatum slumped forward on the ground as Alan fell into Wharton's arms. Wharton, a normally emotionless person, trained to be a knight, felt something ache inside of him. A fellow knight has just been stabbed by him, a person who does his duty. This was so unlike him that Wharton felt a rush of emotions that propelled him to tears.

Emotions such as love, guilt, sadness, betrayal, and more purged him as he cradled Alan's head into his arms, tears flowing down his face.

Tatum just layed there staring up at the broken clouds in the sky, lined with blue, the sunlight reminding him of the meadow.

He thought he was dreaming when he saw a huge bird, and two figures standing on top flying towards them, their shadows prominent in the sunlight. As it got closer, Tatum recognized the two people riding on top of the flying bird.

Except it wasn't a normal bird. It was a blue flamed Phoenix with a young man around it holding the reins. The young man had a streak of red hair on the side of his face, the rest of it pure black. The other young man, also 19, looked with a twisted smile at them.

They were Itaewon and Trix, the Alistars from the Idealists, same as him except they had more experience in the group than him. Both were former students in the Royal Academy that decided life in Clover was too boring.

Trix waved to Tatum as he jumped down from the phoenix saying, "We knew you would get in trouble, per usual." He kneeled down next to Tatum as he inspected his wounds with disbelief painted all over his face.

Wharton looked at them with anger as he put an arm protectively around Alan, "Just, just TRY ME!" He lost his cool for a moment there as Itaewon approached slowly.

Itaewon looked at Alan with interest and said, "Shh, calm down. I can heal your little friend over here with my flames."

Wharton pulled an unconscious Alan back a bit, shying from Itaewon with a wary face, "No…..no. Don't come near me," wood branches from underneath tried to wrap themselves around Itaewon who looked at it with a bored expression.

Blue flames surrounded Itaewon as the wood crumbled upon contact. Wharton scooted back further as he sent another branch at him but was burnt as Itaewon immediately grabbed it. The flames dissolved the wooden branch again as Itaewon knelt next to a feverish Alan.

He put his hand on Alan's upper back region as the flames surrounded it. The hole in Alan's back was slowly mending as Alan's color returned.

"He should be fine for now as long as the flames keep burning," Itaewon said as he turned to walk away.

Wharton yelled, "WAIT!"

He turned back questionably as Wharton asked, "Why did you help us, you are clearly on Tatum's side."

Itaewon looked at him with a lazy expression and answered nonchalantly, "Because I feel like it."

With that he walked off onto Tatum's side where he slung him over his shoulders not bulking from the weight. Meanwhile, Trix chattered happily unconcerned of his comrade's status. The phoenix waited for them as Itaewon gently placed Tatum on the back of the phoenix while both him and Trix climbed on.

Wharton looked with daze as he saw the phoenix fly high, high up into the sky as the white clouds eventually covered them.

—-----

The crater was huge, so big that it took them just 12 minutes to walk its diameter. Walking fast too. Pieces of ornaments were shattered on those chunks of rocks, smoke everywhere as they tried to find any sign of bodies.

No results, no nothing as they continued scavenging. Adam felt a sense of despair at the message that was written. Avenge me, what does it mean, he thought. He trodden deeper into the ruins as Garth called out to him.

"Yo, I found something valuable," he said as he signaled for him to come.

Adam suddenly vibrant with curiosity jogged to where Garth was. A chunk of rock covered what Garth saw as he removed it with difficulty. Adam went to help as the both of them pushed with all their might. Finally after some strenuous minutes of painfulness, they removed it.

What they saw was a ring, a dark silver ring that kept changing colors.

Adam who recognized the ring immediately said, "Wait Garth, I know that ring. It's part of the Yang Family's family heirloom. Emelia wears it all the time."

Garth's face darkened as he said, "So are you saying that they are dead or what?"

They have been here scavenging for bodies and found nothing, either their bodies were removed or they are gone.

Adam shrugged not knowing the answer as he felt something pulse through his veins. His mana started reacting rapidly as his mana link reopened.

What, no way, Adam thought with amazement, the last time he felt this was when they first activated mana link bringing new people to the connection. There was no way that a new connection would be made without his permission so what is exactly happening?!!

He felt Emelia's presence again as her mana levels peaked back to life. He thought she was dead or disconnected from him but it seemed like she rejoined back into his circle.

Her voice sounded in his brain, something the future he would always remember as one of the most iconic moments in his life.

Adam, Adam if you can hear me, I just want to say that the three of us are all safe. I don't blame you for ditching us since it wouldn't have helped matters anyways, here she stopped as she thought of something to say.

Adam, I just want to say that we are in another continent far, far far from here. A continent where demons and angels exist.

Her presence disconnected as Adam felt his mana link being ripped apart once again.