Part II . 2

Orion had little time to brainstorm, the combination of his opponents magic meter was above his, and he lost his fan after the first attack he experienced.

Talwen rammed into the Fox with a flame encrust sword, raining down attacks on the Beastman who kept dodging skillfully.

In a fair one on one battle with Vikckson, he would've won in a flash. But, he didn't disregard the fact that he was judging on experience. Who knows how hard Vikckson must have been training ever since Orion quit the front lines, and started working for Melissa even before her reign.

Orion was still troubled by two things; the fact that his opponents had weapons, and the possibility of the other two Beastman launching a surprise attack.

He wasn't going to take the risk of reforming a weapon. His magic meter would reduce drastically before he'd really need it. He planned to take out one, steal a weapon while evading spells, and close combat attack.

Once he spotted an error in Talwen's dexterity, he shoved his palm straight up at the lizard man's armed hand. The look of bewilderment on his face was synonymous with the sound of his weapon hitting the ground; it was the ideal opportunity to dispatch a counter assault, however Orion didn't have the time.

When he picked up the smothered blade, he turned to find Vikckson lunging at him with two swords. Evading the attack took all his attention, and he couldn't do anything about Foslight's dagger piercing his side.

Vikckson was aggravated. It was supposed to be his kill, but the Wolfman had meddled with his perfect opportunity.

The pain of his body moving against the dagger hit him hard. Pulling himself back together, he ripped the weapon out of his gut, feeling the blood trickling out. The battle was already going sideways. His adversaries were ready to attack again.

"This is my kill! Stand down!!!"

"Who are you to order me around?" The two were fighting over who was supposed to get Orion. The orders were for him to be brought back alive, but they kept forgetting. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't have the fun they wanted.

Orion paced towards his distracted foes, grabbed Vikckson by the hand, pulled him close; head butted him square in the face and threw him at Foslight.

Talwen had a substitute for his sword that was with Orion. The lizard lashed at Orion's hands hoping he'd drop the sword that didn't belong to him, but it would take more than that to knock off a sword from the fox clan's number one swordsman.

Orion could already feel the current running through the hilt of the revolting sword, but he slashed at Talwen's neck before he hurled the living sword that was close to consuming his hand for breaking the spell rules.

He subsequently felt his first drawbacks of having a half-foot hole in his gut. His recovery wasn't getting any fast and he started to wonder what was wrong.

He avoided foslight's quick attack, but his vulnerable spot was seen by Vikckson, and he jabbed his fingers into his old friend's ribs, opening old injuries and exacerbating it.

Orion didn't plan to surrender, but the unexpected strain of his muscles wanted him to do so.

The wounded place Vikckson had attacked was a life threatening injury that made Orion leave the defense unit. As sneaky as Vikckson was, he used what Orion strived to keep a secret against him. That was how much Vikckson had been preparing and hoping for a rematch with his ally.

Orion grabbed Vikckson by the neck and flung him towards the nearest tree with his deprecating strength.

Orion's nose wrinkled at the way the event was unfolding in his enemies favour. He was fast enough to sense Foslight's sword, and ducked under the attack.

Before he could target a punch at the defenseless spots in the wolfman's body, his arm was lashed by Talwen who was still alive.

Orion's miscalculation and drop in speed brought about another Jab into his ribs by Vikckson, forcing blood to eject from his mouth.

Anna couldn't watch the bloodbath in front of her. She was worried about Orion. He wasn't winning, and he seemed to be losing consciousness. If she had strength, she'd have assisted, but the reality remained. She was powerless. 

She couldn't help her village before, and she couldn't help herself as well. There was no way she'd intervene in that zone and not get herself and Orion killed.

Her gaze switched to Vikckson who had his fingers around her neck and placed his blade on it with evil intent.

"I told you this would be over soon didn't I? Look, he's dying" He spewed venom in every word he uttered as they watched Orion struggle to take Foslight and Talwen down.

"Stop" Orion commanded once he caught a glimpse of the uncomfortable position Anna was in with his psychotic friend.

Foslight and Talwen hindered his movement and his wounds weren't making things easier for him.

"Let her go" he begged, desperation crawling into his words. Letting her die was the last thing on his mind. He couldn't afford to watch her get killed.

By the malicious grin on Vikckson's face, it was clear he wasn't going to spare her. Orion was close to death, thus, she was of no need anymore. Foslight and Talwen would have her corpse as their bed slave. It would save them of the struggle of having to tame her. To Vikckson, he was doing everyone good.

Orion's magic meter was being used to heal his wounds, but no difference was made. He then realized most of it was stolen by Vikckson. That was a forbidden move, and there were also disadvantages about it, but he'd do anything to exact revenge.

At that point, Orion started to wonder what the problem with Vikckson was. His mind narrowed around the fact that he was jealous of all the time he spent with Melissa instead of him. It was sad, after so many years, Vikckson didn't change. He was still the crazy person he knew ever since the time his family took over initiative from his. 

Orion's mistake in the beginning was underestimating Vikckson. He was different regarding strength, and he had a lot of surprised attacks he garnered with rodent moves.

"Tell me Vikckson, why are you doing this?"

"YOU CHEATED ON ME THAT'S WHY!"

Foslight and Talwen were irked by his reason to fight. Things like that could've been settled in a bedroom, yet again, it wasn't much of their problem. On the other hand, Orion was embarrassed that Anna had to hear one of Vikckson's senseless allegations. 

"You left me for that bitchy Melissa!"

"How dare you insult her!"

Orion's fury constrained him to move, however he reviewed what might occur if he got excessively close. The sword was already digging into her skin, and he didn't want it to spill any more of her blood.

"If you want to kill me, fine. I surrender" he dropped the weapon and went on his knees "Just let her go. Please. She has nothing to do with this."

Vikckson let out a small laugh "Well isn't this fantastic, the mighty Orion, on his knees before me! All because of this human" he said, grinning like a devil.

From the tree branch above him, Artemis jumped down. Once Vikckson looked up, he got his eyes soiled with mud. Before he could clean it off, Orion's fingers collided with his sockets, and Vikckson fell backwards.

"That was a strong one, Mi amor" Coupled with the mud, his eyes had been punctured with long nails.

Talwen and Foslight were left.

Orion doubted his chances of winning. They were healing, but he wasn't.

"Are you nuts kid?"

Artemis smiled raising her thumbs, "Scale of preference Orion. Now go!!!"

It took Orion a couple of seconds to comprehend what Artemis' motion implied. When he did, he shook his head. He started to wonder if she thought things through. He couldn't leave her in the hands of Vikckson. She'd surely get killed.

Foslight charged towards Artemis, but Orion responded in the nick of time before his blade would hit her. 

"You can't take them on Artemis! Why do you always make these mistakes. If you can't win! Don't try!!!"

Talwen lashed at Orion's face, and it left a cut on his cheek. The whip was lashed once more, and this time Orion snatched it, disregarding the injuries that had made way into his palms. 

He yanked the whip and talwen moved towards him. The lizardman slammed into Orion's raised knee and he staggered. Orion strengthened his foot, and smashed the lizard's head. He didn't stop until it burst open, and his shoes were stained with the blood.

Orion's stats declined. He weighed his options and swallowed his fate. He picked Anna up smoothly, hoisted her on his shoulder "let's go Artemis!!!" The girl nodded and they both ran as fast as they could.

Once Vikckson's eyes recovered his face had gone livid with anger. His aura was dangerous. Foslight could feel it.

"YOU JUST HAD TO GET IN MY WAY!!!" His orbs darted to the wolf not too far away, and at a speed faster than lightning, he diced foslight.

"This was supposed to be my fight! They got in the way! They had to get in the way!" He was having a mental meltdown. The magic he'd stolen was already hammering his muscles. He had to transfer them, before it would kill him.

He poked the chest of Talwen's headless corpse, and it gradually plumped out like a balloon being filled with water. The corpse popped before he could finish, but he was lucky enough to transfer most of the magic that didn't belong to him.

Meanwhile, Orion stopped running once his leg's gave up from his unusual speed. The poison those weapons had weren't something to joke about. They were making his healing slow, and his magic diminished as a result of it. 

"Artemis let's rest here for a minute. I need to catch my breath." He backed Anna against a tree. She was out cold. As for Artemis, he expected her to say something, but he'd agnized how quiet his surrounding was. He looked over his shoulder to check for the child, but she was gone.

***

"So they failed to capture Orion" The fourth member of the assault party that went solo weighed Artemis.

The overwhelming energy flow was what attracted him to the fight scene, and he was lucky enough to see the girl who was struggling to keep up with Orion's pace.

His hands were around her ankles, holding her a similar way chickens were held. He was glad he caught her. She was something the senates definitely had to talk about.

"Let me go!!!" Artemis tried knocking and pinching his knees, but he wasn't moved by her efforts and frail threats.

His malicious plot was composed all over his face, and Artemis was certain he didn't mean well.

"They were unable to catch a rat, and it got away with it's cheese. This time, I'll be the one to set the trap, and I have the cheese to do so."