Lost resistance

The cold rains continued to darken the surroundings as they brought dense, black clouds along with them.

The once gently levitating city was now on its knees and every single building within it was utterly destroyed, leaving a landscape ravaged with rubble.

Simply put, everything was laid to waste. And none of the souls within that wasteland seemed to be moved by the sheer amount of destruction that brought the Great Eye city to its pitiful state.

A young girl stood amidst the mercilessly battering rain, holding a dull blue sphere in her right hand and the collar of an unconscious soul in the other. She raised the wounded 17-year-old and stared at him with an indifferent look.

Her gaze turned to the orb in her blood-drenched arm, the red liquid slowly washing away due to the rain. She ignored the awkward feeling she had from standing in that downpour, ignored her ruined black uniform and soaked silver hair.

To her, victory meant more than anything. But before she could crush the Shadow soul's core, she needed to deal with the last three pests that still stood in her way.

"You", she pointed at a particular rock, her voice barely audible. "The Spirit Warrior who commands the flames."

There was no response except the sound of the rain hitting the ground. No action occurred whatsoever and it seemed to last for quite a while. That is, until someone emerged from behind the large rock.

This soul was donned in a similar black uniform as hers, though battered from the battle. There was a look of slight seriousness in his expression.

"There was no use hiding forever huh", Kekeli lightly smirked.

Xoese, the silver-haired spirit warrior, responded with a sharp glare.

"Of course, right now…", Kekeli began. "I can't let you do whatever you want with the shadow soul's core."

"You seem to be functioning waywardly", she tilted her head. "Do you understand what your words imply?"

The flame warrior nodded, his smirk turning into a small grin, "I do. A hundred percent."

"You see, the thing is, the only one capable of making me do what I do is my little mistress", he continued and his eyes turned stern. "And anyone who tries to go against what she wants, becomes my enemy."

Xoese's brows rose and her emerald green eyes barely betrayed her amusement.

"What?", Kekeli raised an eyebrow. "W- Why are you looking at me as if I said something awkward!?"

An exasperated sigh left Xoese's lungs, "I've had enough of this."

The air began to shift as the energy within her body slowly grew active, flowing in a particular direction within her soul core. A gust of wind then surrounded her, causing her protective shielding to flare up.

'Crap! I'm all out of Spirit Energy!'', Kekeli receded, glancing over his shoulder. 'Plus, I left Jackie back there so she could protect the little mistress'

"You're a traitor", Xoese muttered. "That's more than enough to rip your core to shreds."

A packet of air amalgamated and formed a crescent-like blade right before her. The silver-haired warrior simply raised her chin and the wind blade to charge at Kekeli with blinding speed.

The flame warrior tried to move out of the way, but for some reason he was stuck in place!

Was it fear?

No, it was something else.

He looked down and noticed to his horror, a wind sphere had engulfed his left ankle, rendering it immobile. Impact was inevitable. There was no way he was going to make it out in one piece!

A high-pitched tone then blared out as a golden circle seemingly made out of a long music sheet appeared right before the immobile spirit warrior. The incoming projectile stopped mid-air upon impact with the circle, leaving Kekeli with the feeling of the wind rushing up his face.

Kekeli gulped as cold sweat snaked down the sides of his face.

"Golden magic circle", he whispered, his expression of fear slowly turning into irritation. "That annoying-"

His words were interrupted as a cloaked figure softly landed right beside him. This cloaked figure was a young man who looked like he was in his early twenties. His heterochromatic eyes glistened despite the darkness the rains brought.

"Did I take too long?", Edem smirked and then snapped his fingers.

A small golden circle appeared around Kekeli's ankle, causing the wind sphere to dissipate. The energy from the crescent wind blade had also dissipated and both golden circles disappeared into thin air.

"That important thing you had to get back so desperately was your cloak!?", Kekeli raged, fear quite evident in his eyes.

Edem simply smiled and then turned to the silver-haired girl.

"Oh, don't get so mad about that", he began. "Reasons for certain actions are best kept secret."

Something about what he said made a slow, cold chill run down the flame warrior's spine.

"It's been a really long time, hasn't it?", Edem stepped forward, his gaze fixed on Xoese.

The wind-controlling spirit warrior simply stared at Edem with an indifference in her eyes. She dropped Zanetor's body and raised her chin.

"Teacher…", she muttered, her voice betraying no emotion. "No, those times are long gone."

Kekeli's eyebrow rose as he thought, 'They know each other?'

At this point, he was beginning to wonder just who in the world this cloaked individual was.

"Really now?", Edem's voice lowered a bit.

Xoese slowly raised her right arm. She let go of the shadow soul's core as a blanket of air caused it to levitate in mid-air. The blanket of air raged so powerfully that trying to approach it would be plain suicide.

"You've longed ceased to be of any importance to me", she readied a battle stance. "You're nothing but a traitor to the king and hence…"

Edem's eyes widened as the silver-haired girl suddenly blurred with a whirring violence. She reappeared right behind the cloaked man, hiding a wind covered palm that formed a sharp vibrating shredder.

"You're going to die just like the others", she thrust her palm at Edem's lower back.

The shredding winds charged with a relentless agitation only to be stopped by a golden circle that appeared right between it and the cloaked man's skin.

Edem chuckled lightly, "Like the others huh. Seems like you've been holding an enormous grudge with you."

Xoese, refusing to flinch from her attack's sudden halt, immediately moved her attacking palm in a particular motion. The wind around her palm suddenly reduced its vibrations and the golden circle disappeared right after that.

Alarms kicked off in Edem's head as he made a quick evasion, leaping several feet back.

"Oh?", cold sweat ran down the sides of his face.

The chilling winds seemed to get even more cold as Xoese stood upright.

"I haven't been idling around ever since you left the Spirit warrior corps", she took slow, steady steps towards the cloaked figure. "In fact, ever since you left, I've been honing my skills just to take you down."

"Well Well", Edem clapped. "Can't say I'm not impressed."

"Die!"

The muddy earth shook as the spirit energy within her burst out in a large explosion and all that could be seen was a barely visible image that sped through the dark rains.

Kekeli had made his way back to the rock he was hiding behind as both Edem and Xoese seemed to be engrossed in their little reunion.

"That freaking monster still has a lot of spirit energy left!?", he cursed as he increased his pace, nearly falling as he lost traction in the slippery soil. "Little mistress!"

He finally arrived at their hiding spot and a brief sigh of relief safely exited his lungs. Leticia, though still unconscious, was safely bound in a large sphere that had familiar golden circles rotating on its exterior.

Kekeli had immediately understood that it was Edem's doing.

Meow!

A black cat lunged out from nowhere and landed on his right shoulder, caressing his cheek with its furry skin.

The flame warrior laughed, "Jackie! Good job looking after the little mistress."

He turned to look back and then stared at the soil as a few thoughts began to run through his mind.

He finally found the young mistress

He found the person he swore to protect.

Now that he had done that, how was he going to convince her to leave that outlaw's side and go with him to some place far away?

Honestly, he was tired of all the Spirit warrior work and just wanted to be as far away as possible from them.

Frustrated, Kekeli began to rub his hair vigorously.

"Ahhhh damn it!", he slammed his fist onto the rock. "The young mistress has probably gotten attached to them by now…"

Jackie stared at its owner with eyes that almost suggested concern.

Kekeli stood silent for a long while until he suddenly clapped his cheeks with his palms.

"Of course!", a mischievous grin spread across his face. "I know exactly what to do."

*BOOM!*

Kekeli flinched at the sudden explosion that sent several mounds of debris flying in his direction

"Tch, they're gonna end up bringing the battle over to this side"

Both Edem and Xoese were locked in a tight battle. However, Edem only seemed to simply evade all of her attacks.

A look of concern drew up on the cloaked man's face.

"You're putting a bit too much power into those single attacks, Xoese"

"Shut your mouth", a packet of air surrounded the silver-haired girl's palms as she readied herself to deliver a deadly thrust.

Her attack shot forth, tearing through the rain and aiming straight for Edem's chest.

Edem sighed, "Even after improving so much, it's still the same."

He casually moved to the side and then touched Xoese's forehead with his right finger. A golden circle grew from the point of contact, causing Xoese to remain frozen in place.

The cloaked man brought his face inches closer to hers, smirking as he spoke.

"You get a bit too worked up during certain times", he began. "Do you miss me that badly?"

Great winds descended upon the pair and immediately, the golden circle dissipated. Xoese quickly motioned forward, ready to continue her relentless frenzy.

Edem simply laughed.