Have a little Faith

Harold suddenly seemed interested the moment Edmund rushed in. Amongst all of them he was the one who didn't flinch even when Inferno was about to kill Nathaniel but everyone else was too busy to notice.

He didn't know if he had become evil for overlooking the wellness of his comrade or he just hadn't forgiven the man for wounding his pride. But as soon as Edmund had jumped in, his attention became glued to the fight. The flashy scenery, display of skills and the emotional weight the fight carried. At this point, he deeply respected Edmund. It took more than just guts and courage to actually fight one's dad not to talk of a death match. At this point he could proudly say that Edmund was the strongest in the room.

Harold watched carefully as his friend battled his father not the least worried for him. He had confidence and full trust in his leader's capabilities and had never for once doubted him. He had already seen the outcome of this battle and with the sudden increase in inferno's attacks it was obvious he was loosing control and letting his emotions get in the way and it was the excellent time to exploit such flaw.

He acknowledged Edmund's battle skills even though he wasn't usually the brightest when it came to battle strategy. But he had full confidence in the resolve which he fought with. There was absolutely no way he was going to loose.

Caleb watched his best friend with his heart in his throat. They had trained with Inferno and even with the three of them going all out, he still bested them. But they'd grown stronger since the last time of their training but he still doubted that their training was enough to match a power house like Inferno.

With every attack Inferno sent Edmund's way, he said a prayer in his heart that his friend had a better solution to whatever thing Inferno threw at him.

Even though he knew Inferno was already weakened from his previous fight with Nathaniel, the mere display of power be had shown earlier still scared him. To think he was even holding back against the three of them, the trio who only ranked below him and the master he had never seen only crippled him with fear. The power difference between the three of them combined against inferno's was ridiculously wide that it made him feel incompetent.

A hard smack to the back of his head made him turn immediately, his battle instincts already kicking in because of fear. He had every right to be afraid even of the wind. He was surrounded by enemies and even though most of them were lifeless, there was no telling if one of the unconscious ones had regained consciousness and ambushed him.

He turned, his blade in hand ready to decapitate anyone who stood behind. The shield of solid air that stopped his attack brought him back to his senses opening his eyes to recognize Harold's figure standing behind him.

He had been staring at Caleb for some time now. Knowing the relationship he and Edmund had, he couldn't help but sense the fear that emnated from him. Even though they never saw eye to eye, he was still his comrade and with his fear, he would only end up jeopardizing the prayers of the others. He had walked up to where he stood and given him a great knock that made him swing back with the intent to kill. He might have not held back on the hit he gave not because he didn't like him, but because he didn't know how to get one's attention if not using his skills.

He blocked the scared boy's attack before giving him a stern look. "What do you think you're doing?" Caleb questioned rubbing the back of his head. It was unusual Harold coming to talk to him and so he felt a little off by his actions.

"You worry too much, have some faith in our captain". Harold said ignoring the fact that he had almost cracked open Caleb's skull

Caleb opened his mouth to talk but Harold silenced him.

"I know, but I'm confident, Edmund has something that's more powerful than anything Inferno has right now" Harold assured preventing Caleb from saying out loud whatever it is he had to say.

He fought back his tears and almost hugged Harold but had to restrain himself. He had totally forsaken his best friend by harbouring such thoughts. Infact he wasn't even meant to think about his victory at all, he should visualize it happening and stick to that possiblity. He had never gotten along with Harold before because he always thought that he cared only about himself and sometimes it was simply out of jealousy.

This single act of his had totally changed his perception about Harold. He had a heart after all but the knock on the head was totally unnecessary.

He already had a migraine from his excessive thinking and prayers for Edmund only for him to add more problem to his already existing one.

Caleb took a deep breath before exhaling, his confidence fully restored and his spirit high. He was only waiting for his friend to finish.

Edmund delivered a spinning kick to his father's face now manhandling his old man without much effort. Just as he had expected, his father had cracked and was loosing control of his attacks and co ordination. He had taken early precautions to make sure he didn't fall prey to the weakness that they both shared in this battle, sentimentality and emotions.

He knew these things would either determine his victory or his loss. It was a fifty fifty gamble and luck had seemingly shone upon him. But he wasn't going to go ahead of himself with excitement and end up loosing his own control.

He raised a firewall to block a flowing flame technique his father had just pulled out mid air. Even though he wasn't fighting like he used, his attacks were still as deadly and lethal as they used to and he had to avoid them at all cost.

He deflected another attack with his blade before getting pushed back by a kick to the torso. He used the opportunity to make a summersault backwards while releasing arrows made of fire at his father. He landed gracefully and bolted forward once more to engage his father in close combat already taking in the fact that he wasn't very good at close range combat. His fight with Nathaniel had revealed that fact. Even if he wasn't as skilled as Nathaniel in close range combat, he was quite sure he excelled better than his father in that aspect or at least, they'd be evenly matched.

He ducked low just in time to avoid a slash towards his head before making his advances towards his father's legs which were easier to reach in his position but the man had already read through the attack and took to the air before proceeding to release balls of fire at Edmund who covered himself promptly with a dome of flame. Once the impact of his father's flames had died down, he manipulated the dome of fire into a larger conflagration and sent it towards his father whose stability with the earth hadn't been fully established.

Inferno stumbled backwards, startled by the incoming attack. His feet had just touched the floor and he hadn't made his stance properly and now he was falling. He acted at the last moment shooting flames from his hands just before he fell. His flames had managed to tear through Edmund's conflagration just in time with him only sustaining minor burns from the excessive heat that had washed over him.

From the dissection his flames had created, he could see his son surging forward, his blade at hand releasing a deadly slash at him. He panicked and rotated his arms, creating a shield of flames that didn't do much to defend him from the attack.

The blade of fire had broken through and burnt his arm relieving him of the use of one of his hands.

With one hand no longer in play, he utilized his legs better than he had before, shooting flames from them with every kick he made. Even though the attacks were weaker than before, they could still do considerable damage if they hit but that wasn't looking very possible. He was slower and more depleted of energy than his son who easily mowed through his attacks and reached him before he could realize.

A jawbreaking uppercut sent him upwards while a kick to the stomach sent him crashing down into the earth before he could properly lift off from the uppercut. Blood spluttered out of his mouth and nostrils as he impacted with the burning earth raising a crater of dust and burning ash.

He rolled aside just before Edmund's blade created a hole where his head used to lie. But his son wasn't done yet, using the impaled blade as a lift, he propelled himself upwards and poured down a shower of fire on him. He danced around, dodging and blocking as good as he could but still took damage from the fire storm. Edmund landed beside him just as he had just blocked the last drop of fire from above and knocked him down again with a fall kick.

More blows followed suit, but he failed to defend himself properly. He finally gave in accepting defeat as he fell on his knees. "Just kill me!"