Chapter Nineteen

Kyle's pupils moved rapidly in order to find any hint of black fabric in his vision. However, the robed man wasn't present in his sight.

[Woosh!]

Suddenly, a gust of wind approached him from his right.

"Keough—!?"

He focused his energy on his right abdomen and tightened his muscles. From this distance, he could neither dodge nor defend himself from the attack.

As the quick-thinker he was, Kyle decided to not uselessly struggle and focused all of his energy to brace himself for impact.

Gritting his teeth, he squinted his eyes and mentally prepared himself to get blown away by the approaching fist.

The incoming knuckles hit him in his right abdomen, right where he predicted. And as expected, he was blown away by the enormous amount of force focused on that attack.

"Akh!"

Spewing blood, the youth went flying through the air and fell to the ground, almost hitting a massive tree on the way.

His right abdomen was definitely more than purple by now, and he struggled to relieve himself from the pain

"Cough! Cough!"

Kyle had won a gamble, he abandoned most of the energy from the other parts of his body and focused all of them on his right abdomen. If he wasn't hit there, he would've fallen into a precarious situation.

"Kyle!"

Karan reached out the wheezing Kyle on the ground. He yelled as if he could feel Kyle's pain as well.

The robed man looked at his own first in puzzlement. Although he didn't use his whole strength to punch Kyle, it should have been more than enough to paralyze his body. But not only was this young man fine, he was also able to retain his consciousness.

He glanced at Kyle from the corner of his eye and remarked, "Very impressive, but—."

"Shut it!"

Karan's fist came down from above. He had launched himself to the air by propelling himself from the ground, specks of light still visible on the sole of his foot

The robed man moved to the left and let Karan's fist approach the ground. His movements were smooth as if he had no problem dodging the baby-faced man's fist.

What he didn't expect was the flash of light in front of his eyes. Throughout Karan's arm, he had detonated a certain amount of energy. It was definitely incapable of injuring an opponent, but it was definitely enough to redirect a person's arm.

The robed man was caught off-guard with the sudden brightness and felt a huge impact hitting his jaw. The fist went through his face, making him lose his balance.

The baby-faced man landed on the ground and continued his attacks, furious at the robed man.

Still delirious, the robed man saw the flurry of attacks coming in his direction. His pupils widened, and he disappeared from his spot.

A few meters away from his original position, the robed man reappeared, gasping for air. He touched his face and found a painful bump present on his right cheek.

His hand trembled and he spoke with a deep trembling voice.

"How… how dare you!"

With his appearance still covered by the black robe, he brought his hand forward and clenched it. In an instant, it was as if he was swallowed by the air around him.

That robe instantly disappeared from their sights, leaving the surrounding trees illuminated by the fiery glow from inside the gates.

Kyle managed to pick himself up and saw the robed man reappearing behind the baby-faced man, his hands were clenched fiercely as if he was building up power inside it.

"Behind you!"

Karan heard his call and jumped away from his spot, nearly evading the fist that hit his shirt. The robed man was going all over the place, reminding Kyle of the stern woman's ability.

But he had a vague feeling that Loine's Authority is different from this robed person's Authority.

A click of a tongue was heard from behind the robe. The robed man seemed unamused by both of their behaviors.

With the burning sensation from his abdomen, Kyle propped himself against a tree and observed their battle.

The robed man stood still for a while, leaving the two men thinking about his plan. Until finally, he brought his palm forward and spoke with a shaky voice.

"I will definitely kill both of you here!"

He moved his eyes and glared at Kyle. The arrogant youth felt as if a predator was locking in on him. When the robe went out of existence, Kyle forced himself to leap away and escape from his position.

And true to his worries, the robed man reappeared just footsteps away from his original position.

When he saw his prey running away from him, the robed man clenched his fist tightly and glared at both of them.

"Are you fine?" Karan asked worriedly as Kyle approached him.

"Don't worry, this minor injury won't hinder me whatsoever."

The arrogant youth ignore the taste of metal on his mouth and stared at the robed man, circulating his energy.

"What was that Authority suppression earlier? He doesn't seem that powerful to me." He spoke while spitting out blood mixed with his saliva.

Hearing this, the robed man's body started shaking.

"I don't know why he's this weak, but I definitely feel some kind of suppression from him." Karan pursed his mouth.

"Enough!"

Faster than ever before, the robed man clenched his fist and faded away from existence.

Both of them had already experienced this multiple times, and they dashed away from their location.

Kyle looked back in expectations of seeing the black fabric showing on their spot. But to his dismay, there was no trace of the robed man there.

He frantically looked around for the robed man, before finding him in the exact same position as he was before he disappeared.

Raising his hands forward, he was muttering something under his breath. The robed man straightened his back and shouted, "Flames, arise!"

Black fire suddenly appeared in front of Kyle, scorching his skin with its high temperature. The arrogant youth would've had plunged into the black flame if not for the hand pulling him from his back.

Flashes of light burst from Kyle's chest. Although it didn't hurt him that much, his abdomen still felt some pain from the impact.

The black fire quickly scorched the surrounding grass, emanating darkness through its path. It was different from regular flames and felt more dangerous.

Both of them managed to barely leave unscathed from the flames due to Karan's nimbleness and Authority.

But a monster-sized cloak suddenly appeared on their path.

A huge fist came down in Karan's direction, prompting him to drop his grip on Kyle and defend against the upcoming fist.

"Die!" the robed man angrily said.

After being dropped by Karan, the arrogant youth turned around and focused his energy on his legs, trying to attack their enemy.

The baby-faced man, on the other hand, felt like his arms were being crushed. Even with his energy and Authority helping him at the same time, he still felt powerless under the robed man's attack.

Karan was pushed away, giving Kyle a chance to attack the robed man.

However, the robed man was fast and agile. Despite his huge build, he jumped over Kyle's feet and avoided his attack.

'He's fast!'

Near them, Karan felt no sensation on his arms whatsoever. He could still move them, but it would be difficult to endure another attack of that degree.

"Burn!" The robed man suddenly shouted while he dodged Kyle's kick.

Hearing the familiar instruction, Karan and Kyle jumped to the air and looked around for dim areas around them. The chaos from the city is way more than enough to help them spot any abnormalities.

But they weren't able to find anything weird around them. If anything, only the traces left behind by the previous flame were visible.

The arrogant youth felt that something was wrong and shouted.

"It's a trap!"

Looking back, the robed man suddenly disappeared from his sight.

[Whoosh!]

"Argh—!"

Karan's scream reached his ears, and the arrogant youth quickly swung his head in its direction. The robed man managed to hit Karan's chest, but the flashes of light on Karan's chest reassured him slightly.

Karan would get injured, but at least the damage would be lessened thanks to his Authority.

But the robed man's attacks weren't over just yet.

He quickly followed with another fist to the baby-faced man. With difficulty, Karan ducked down and got his hair grazed by the thick fist.

Karan then launched himself away from his position, dodging another monster-like attack.

At this moment, Kyle's rapidly approaching foot neared the robed man's body. But he managed to dodge his kick with ease.

Trusting his instinct, the arrogant youth quickly dashed to Karan, dodging another one of their enemy's fist.

"What can we do here?!" Droplets of sweat dripped down his forehead.

Karan was in a similarly panicked state. He then yelled at the sky as if someone would hear him.

"Help us, sister!!!"

Hearing the ear-splitting shout, Kyle cursed loudly.