Chapter 18. Miraculous salvation

"Well, well, well, what have we here? Another spawn sent for me?"

"You're friendly and kind as always, Scarlet Demon, the last pup of the Nine-Tailed Clan."

The words were spat out by a muscular, bullheaded man.

Akihiro gritted his teeth in anger at the phrase 'the last pup', but showed no other sign.

 "To be honest, I'm not really interested in the battle or anything related to it. But I can't have these brats interfering in my lord's affairs. Therefore, I, Aton, summon the Scarlet Demon before me to a duel, on the rights of the mark of the Ancients, in the name of balance...

Before he could finish his sentence, both men were enveloped by a black energy that defiled all living things and ripped out the nearest row of trees like a crushing whirlwind. 

Unlike the bull-man, whose appearance didn't change much, Lord Akihiro's hands were transformed by the black flames, turning his aristocratic fingers into deadly weapons - long claws like blades and nine black tails instead of one red fox tail. 

The wooden mask on his face shattered into tiny splinters.

'Well, why do I seem to be the one who is always involved in some sort of mess, every now and again?' thought Xiao Hong, her ears pricked up at the noise as the Lord had taken her to watch an interesting duel between two of the most famous Masters in Virdis. 

Who would have thought that a pleasant pastime at the nobleman tribune would turn into such a situation for her.

Before she could blink, the Lord had vanished in a flash of black lightning, leaving her to search for him through the remnants of his aura.

She didn't have any great combat skills, and despite the power of her Lord, she was still afraid that a sneak attack might follow, and she wouldn't be able to provide full combat support.

 She could only clench her hands against her chest and watch with bated breath as Lord Akihiro fought furiously.

Even though their battle was unarmed, all the surrounding trees were felled by the concentrated energy. 

If Xiao Hong hesitated for even a second, she would be buried under the debris.

In the midst of the confusion, and worrying about her Lord, she didn't notice a few more enemies ambushing her. 

Taking advantage of the enemy's distraction, they drew their arrows and sent them flying at the back of the nine-tailed man who, despite his opponent's strength, had clearly turned the tide of the battle and was actively advancing on his opponent, delivering blows that him energy armour could barely contain.

Sensing something was wrong, he snapped the arrows with a flick of his tail, but unfortunately that was exactly what they were after. 

There was a cavity in the body of the arrow and the tiny powder hit Akihiro's eyes and nose, easily overcoming the energy armour surrounding the body.

Xiao Hong immediately realised her mistake and rushed towards the three men who had achieved their goal and dispersed. 

But although Xiao Hong was not very strong, she was not lacking in agility. As she tore at the flesh of her hated enemies with her hands, her heart pounding in her ears, she thought of the manicure she had recently had.

Akihiro could feel himself beginning to lose control of his body. His consciousness was slowly slipping away from him, no matter how hard he tried to stay focused. He could hear Xiao Hong's aura pounding hysterically somewhere nearby, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had made a fool of himself, overestimated his strength or whatever it was called? 

Seeing the changes that had happened to his opponent, Aton concentrated all his strength into one blow, hitting his opponent's chest, piercing his energy armour and sending him flying a good three hundred metres, spitting blood.

At that moment, Akihiro's world finally faded away. 

But that was just the beginning.

After easily deflecting the pesky girl's blow, counting her ribs and letting her fly, Aton walked towards the unconscious opponent with the clear intention of crushing his skull with a single blow, but something he hadn't expected happened. 

Instead of extinguishing completely, his aura flared up like a natural gas explosion, sending all nine of his tails flying upwards. 

As he flew into the air, the Scarlet Demon let out a roar that sent shivers down the spine of even a bull man who had seen a lot in his life.

 "No, he should be out by now."

 He concentrated his power once more and threw it like a spear at the man who seemed to have come from the underworld.

As it collided with his opponent in a blinding flash, Aton shielded his eyes for a second from the blinding light as he was suddenly grabbed by a firm grip around the neck and shaken like a puppet.

"So this is the true power of the Scarlet Demon, but why hasn't he used it before, and why doesn't the poison that can incapacitate even a member of the Ancients work on him?" thought Aton, who had suddenly gone from victor to punching bag.

 The energy armour that had protected his body, and which had been considered the unbreakable property of his clan, had turned into a light cloth that allowed blow after blow to pass through, bringing him closer to death. 

"Monster, you are a monster," the bull-man thought as another blow brought the darkness with it.

Xiao Hong, watching this atrocity, began to feel sick. 

She seemed to have twisted her leg and broken a rib. 

But what she saw before her eyes frightened her. She had never seen the Lord in such a state. His face was barely visible behind the black aura.

As he finished off his opponent, he roared and suddenly began to tear his own body apart like a wild beast gone mad.

'No!" Xiao Hong screamed as she ran towards her beloved Lord in tears. 

As he turned to face her, the girl's heart skipped a beat as she saw the long claws pointing straight at her head. 

Unable to do anything, she squeezed her eyes shut as she ran, thinking that death at the hands of the Lord would not be so bad, when suddenly something, or rather someone, gently scooped her up in his arms and, like a feather in the wind, he easily dodged the clawed hand that only tore at his hood, which had been pulled back by a gust of wind.

 Xiao Hong stared spellbound into the face of her saviour, who in turn stared at the aftermath of the Lord's unsuccessful attack with a strange stare that carried her away to a safe distance.

 Holding the girl in his arms, Cornflower continued to stare at the bloody man, who radiated an eerie aura of concentrated defiling energy. 

But beyond that, Cornflower saw something he hadn't noticed before. 

In that thick desecration he saw the purest light. 

Teacher Zhiva had told him that some people were endowed with a core of pure energy, a sign of higher powers.

"Unthinkable, such thick filth and pure energy. How can they coexist in this body?"

Snarling at the fact that his prey had disappeared from under his nose, Akihiro began to tear his body apart again, causing Xiao Hong to plead.

"Master, please, I don't know who you are, but please, if you can help him, save him. I... I am the mistress of a large estate in the capital. I will pay any price."

Cornflower placed the girl gently on the ground, shook his head, threw off his tattered cloak and walked towards the man who had haunted him in his nightmares some time ago.

It was obvious that this man would take his own life if nothing was done. Flashes of black energy made him hit, bite and scratch himself. 

Cornflower guessed, that the reason of it was the core in this man's body. 

The desecration had taken over his mind and was trying to get to his natural enemy.

As Cornflower approached, he tried to influence it from the outside, as he had done with the defilement terrain, but his energy found an obstacle in the form of a barrier of pure defilement. 

 Cleansing the terrain of the remnants of the defilement was one thing, but cleansing a human being of pure defilement was quite another. 

Sensing the interference, Akihira's body threw several blows at Cornflower, who managed to dodge them at the last moment.

Time was running out in seconds, blood was oozing from the deep wounds of the nine-tailed fox, and the girl's wailing behind him was beginning to irritate the young man.

He didn't really want to save him, but remembering everything Noralf had told him, and the girl's pleas, he made a final decision.

And grimacing inwardly, Cornflower decided to try the only way he could think of - he would try to simply filter the energy through direct contact. 

 Releasing his power, he flashed gold at the man, who had become enraged under the oppression of evil, and used half of his current energy to slam him to the ground, knocking him down with one powerful blow.

Bending over him, he hesitated, which caused to immediately leave several deep cuts on his back from this man.

Grimacing in pain, Cornflower forcefully lifted the man's head, forcing his pure energy to break through the defiling barrier, bending his entire being to his bloody lips forcibly and closing his eyes.

A stream of defiled energy rushed into his mouth, but Cornflower denied all unnecessary thoughts and concentrated on cleansing this man's body of negative energy, causing his own aura to burst out in an uncontrollable, violent flow, revealing wings woven from threads of his inner energy. 

Xiao Hong watched with his hand over his mouth, unable to scream or cry, unable to think clearly or not so clearly. 

From the outside, it looked like a passionate farewell kiss between the two handsome men, and the girl, who was an unintentional witness, immediately turned scarlet, all eyes watching as the enchanting light absorbed the raging darkness and burned it without a trace.

From the outside it looked like a peaceful scene, but inside Cornflower it was a real battle between good and evil.

As Cornflower felt the human defilement stirring his energy channels with hundreds of hissing blades, he felt a strong desire to distance himself from this man. 

But remembering what he had heard earlier about the Lord of the Five Elements Theatre, and feeling his core tremble under the layer of defilement, he only squeezed it tighter, replacing the defilement areas with purified ones. 

Along with the purified energy, parts of Cornflower's own energy began to flow within Akihiro, which he found difficult to handle carefully. 

Akihiro awoke from them as a melody woven from the strings of a harp swept through his being. He remembered all the times he had captured that aura, all its forms, and like a puzzle in his mind, an image came together, the image of a man whose lips had met his at that moment, their energy currents intertwining in a whirlwind. 

The whisper of cold death he had heard a few moments ago melted into this turbulent stream of life like a whirlwind of flame. 

Akihiro's heart pounded wildly, ready to jump out of his chest. His damaged tissues were almost reunited and the warmth that tickled his insides, combined with the pleasant honey scent that emanated from this man, made his head spin.

Feeling that the critical moment had passed, Cornflower was about to pull away, to burn the remaining tainted energy of the other man inside him as quickly as possible, when he opened his eyes and froze. 

Red amber eyes, framed by light fluffy eyelashes, gazed tenderly at him, and a light touch on his back made him jump a metre away from the man, who had fully regained his original, albeit slightly shabby, appearance. 

The interrupted flow of energy disintegrated into dust, and with it two beautiful wings.

A billion phrases of explanations and curses flashed through Cornflower's mind at the speed of light, but he couldn't utter a single one. 

Meanwhile, Akihiro sat down, still staring into those eyes that were as inviting as a green summer meadow. 

Cornflower was about to open his mouth to explain, but then something happened that confused him completely. 

"I've found you." Akihiro said hoarsely, and without letting the young man in front of him digest the sentence, wrapped him in a tight embrace.

 And when the shocked Cornflower already thought that this strange fox must have lost his mind under the powerful pressure of the defilement, he suddenly sank his teeth into the Cornflower's neck with an animal impulse, bit through the tender flesh and then, after waiting for the first drops of blood, licked them off guiltily and pulled away slightly, pressing his nose into the golden shock of hair without releasing the embrace. 

Everything happened so quickly that Cornflower only had time to sigh in surprise, his eyes bulging.

"That's right, the fox-like one has gone completely off the rails."

At that moment, Kardus arrived on the scene who's did not immediately notice that Cornflower had disappeared from his seat. 

He found him thanks to Stipe, who, in the middle of the climax of the fight, which had been organised more for the amusement of the spectators than for the seriousness of the fight, jumped on his lap, scratched and bit him, causing him to curse loudly and his neighbours to look at him angrily.

When he realised that she obviously wanted something from him, he followed her, or rather ran, when he realised that she wanted to take him somewhere. 

As he approached the place with the defilement negative aura, the cat seemed to vanish into thin air, and the image that appeared before his eyes made Cardus cringe - a pile of fallen trees, several mangled bodies, blood everywhere, and a girl with tearful eyes that made his gaze linger on her. 

"Mmmm... what a pretty girl," he thought.

Looking closer, he noticed that she was staring into the opposite corner of the room. 

Looking in the same corner, he involuntarily burst out loud:

"What's going on here?"

Cornflower, coming to his senses at this exclamation, jerked out of this strange embrace to break up this already ridiculous scene, realising at the same time that the impertinent fox was also as dubious as a witch. 

It was only when he jumped to his feet and sprinted a dozen metres away that he felt his back burn excruciatingly. 

It seemed that he had no strength left to heal his wounds; in fact, even moving was difficult for him.

 The girl snapped out of her stupor and rushed over to the still-sitting man, screaming hysterically:

-My Lo-o-ord!

Feeling his mind about to go blank, Cornflower flew over to Cardus, grabbed his arm and whispered in his ear with feigned earnestness:

"Help us get out of here before the red-haired man comes to his senses and sizzles us. He's too strong, you see the bodies, they're his and the girl's work."

Before he could realise what was happening, Cardus swallowed nervously and obeyed, pulling himself and the man leaning on him away at the speed limit.

Xiao Hong rushed to embrace the Lord like a little girl, against all norms of propriety, expecting him to push away her impulse, but he was petrified, staring at the back of two man.