Chapter Twenty

While Karan was pleading for help, the robed man immediately took action. Without being stingy about his Authorities, he clenched his fist and instantly disappeared once again. The heat from the crumbling city shed light on their appearance, both of them looked haggard and were injured.

"He's gone!" Kyle put his back against Karan's in hopes to spot the robed man as soon as he appeared.

Among the two of them, Kyle was more composed than Karan. His brain was working at a high speed to find a solution for this situation.

'Overwhelming strength and overwhelming abilities, what a nightmare. To make matters worse, both of us have no weapons…If only we have some artifacts at our disposal…!'

The only thing they could use to fight the robed man was their energy and Karan's Authority.

To store energy into an object and detonate them, how could they make use of it to defeat this person?

At this moment, a flash of darkness appeared in front of him. It wasn't that noticeable, but it definitely existed. The dark light moved at a high speed and stopped near him. And from that spot, the robed man appeared, swinging his fist at Kyle.

But the young man had happened to see all of this.

Aware of the dark object, he had grabbed Karan's arm and ran away.

The robed man was unperturbed by their escape and shouted in a deep voice, "Flame!"

Scorching hot flames appeared in front of him, spreading hastily and blocking their path. In response, Karan held Kyle's hand tightly and detonated some energy on his shoes, jumping over the dark fire.

"It's not teleportation, he transformed into a streak of black light to approach us," Kyle adjusted his body mid-air to not burn his clothes.

"A black light?" Karan landed on the ground and turned around to face the robed man.

Kyle hummed and nodded his head, "It's hard to notice, but I definitely saw him appearing from something dark."

To approach them, the robed man turned into a black light. The trees around them provided excellent cover for him to do so.

Kyle swept his vision to the trees around them and glanced to the burning city.

If he was moving around like a shadow, then what is the best way to reduce his advantage?

"Follow me," he broke into a dash, following the walls surrounding the city.

Karan was stumped for a second before understanding Kyle's intention. He turned his back on the robed man and followed the young man.

Left behind, the robed man gritted his teeth and lifted his head to see the city. Most skyscrapers had collapsed long ago, and the flames had started to calm down.

He then glanced at the two figures which were getting further away from him. Feeling the pain in his jaw, he stomped the ground and chased after them.

"I'll leave after I'm finished with both of you…!"

Transforming into a floating streak of shadow, he approached them at a high speed. Kyle and Karan were trying to run into an open space so the robed man wouldn't be able to move around as easily.

In front of him, the two young men were discussing their plans.

"What's after this?" Karan raised one of his eyebrows while panting.

Gritting his teeth, Kyle held out from crying in pain. His abdomen was screaming in agony from all these movements. He felt lucky for noticing the dark light, they would've stayed in that dangerous situation if he didn't.

Confirming that his energy was still abundant, Kyle spoke.

"Explain your Authority again."

To come up with a solution, he has to understand every tool at their disposal. Karan didn't bother with small talks and glanced to his back.

"Storing a part of my energy and exploding them as I wish—oh God he's coming!" Karan yelled while flailing his arms.

The arrogant youth clicked his tongue and swung his head around. The moving streak of darkness approached them at a high speed, before turning into the robed man.

'Huh?'

Kyle saw this and felt the gears turning in his head, before finally speaking to the panicked man beside min.

"He can only turn into that thing for a while, before being forced back to his original form."

If the robed man was able to freely transform himself, then why would he turn back into his original form before reaching both of them.

It would be logical for him to only transform when he was extremely close to them.

'And if that flaw exists, then other problems should exist too.'

He focused his sight on the robed figure in the corner of his eyes. After a while of running and listening to Karan's screaming, the robed man transformed again into a black streak, chasing after them.

'So, there's also a cooldown period between transformations,' he squinted his eyes.

Their current location was nowhere near the city gates, but it was also nowhere near any trees. The sky-high flame was also illuminating their surroundings, leaving almost no place shaded. This was the perfect place for them to continue their battle.

"Stop!"

Karan heard Kyle's command and stopped, glaring at the approaching darkness. Both of them wore tense expressions and were ready for the robed man to appear.

"Come…" Karan felt the vessels on his forehead bulging in anxiety. He clenched his hands tightly and prepared himself for the worst.

Within a second, the dark light was a meter away from him, making him dodge the dark thing. But it kept moving forward without stopping. In its path, Kyle also dashed away from it.

'What?' Kyle observed as the dark object strayed further away from their position.

'Why is it still going? What's wrong with him?'

After two seconds, the robed man appeared from the dark light. He was still running forward as if he was chasing something.

"What's wrong with him?" Karan raised one of his eyebrows.

"That's my question," Tapping his fingers, Kyle squinted his eyes.

The robed man stopped running shortly and swung his head furiously. When he spotted the two young men, he yelled something at them and turned around, immediately chasing after them.

Upon seeing this, Kyle's eyes widened, and spoke to Karan.

"I get it…he can't see anything when he's on that form!"

Kyle held himself back from laughing at the robed man and prepared himself to fight against him. Although their opponent was strong and agile, both of them can stall him until help arrives.

Now more composed, a corner of Kyle's mouth rose. Unlike Karan which was still afraid and wary of their opponent

The robed man approached them in no time and began to launch his limbs in hopes of hitting them.

While shouting "Flames…!", the robed man swung his gigantic his at Karan. With difficulty, Karan dodges his attacks and kept retreating.

They were now aware of their opponent's power and had much less difficulty in facing him. Not only did they know about his Authorities, Kyle even knew about their weaknesses.

'The black flames are dangerous, but it is slow enough for both of us to dodge it. Even his "teleportation" powers were full of flaws,' he felt as if Authorities were no longer such a big deal.

Every single one of them should have their own strength and weaknesses. As long as he knew his opponent, dealing with them wouldn't be that difficult.

Even though the robed man held an overwhelming advantage earlier, he was now being led around by both Kyle and Karan.

With Karan's Authority and Kyle's wits, they managed to score some hits on their enemy.

'…Wait, if his powers are full of flaws…'

The youth waited for an opportunity to strike the robed man when a thought suddenly struck him.

'Then what are the downsides of Karan's ability?'

For now, there seemed to be no problem with the baby-faced man himself. But what if the side effects of his Authority weren't visible to the naked eye?

"Now!"

Karan had detonated a pool of energy on the robed man's feet, almost knocking him over.

Kyle broke from his reverie and dashed forward, focusing his energy on his foot. When his kick was about to him their enemy, he suddenly vanished from his place, turning into a dark streak of light.

The robed man reappeared a few meters away from them, panting heavily. The two young men were in a similar condition. Even though they were slowly winning against the robed man, their earlier injuries won't vanish to thin air.

The arrogant youth felt as if his stomach was on fire, his abdominal area must've gotten worse throughout the fight. Karan's arm was aching terribly, a result of their earlier exchange.

Kyle took this chance to glance at Karan and asked.

"Are there any negative consequences of using your Authority?" his chest heaved.

Karan wiped the blood on his face.

"Not really, I can still hold myself perfectly here."

Kyle felt as if Karan was trying to dodge his questions. But even then, he wasn't going to expose him for that.

"I see," Kyle saw their approaching enemy.

He admired Karan's determination, and will not hinder his will.