Colour of Flames

In another side of the battlefield, the air was different. Though nothing was moving, the air itself was shaking and trembling.

The source of this disturbance was nobody else but Charles and Brandor with just the sheer power of the pressure they are releasing.

"I'm surprised. Not only that you could resist my <Warlord's Madness>, you can match my magic pressure as well."

"I've been training for a while."

"I won't ask how you gained power without relying on your Holy Affinity, but I would like to remind you. You'll lose every bit of Spirits in Favour of you after you lose. You won't be able to use Holy Magic anymore."

Brandor warned him. Not because he pities him, but because he couldn't fathom being unable to use the power at all. To him, it was everything.

However, Charles simply smiles and shakes his head.

"I may have the holy affinity, but I never intend to use it. It's weak as of now. But after I beat you, I'll reconsider using it in the future."

Brandor got confused by his reply. He doesn't understand why he would just throw aside a power as rare as the Holy element.

"Why did you choose to discard it? The Holy Flames you could make would help light battlefields."

"Well, I mean, all it does is change my flames' colour."

Without any warning, Charles kicks the ground and instantly closes the gap between them.

With a swing of his flame covered sword, the shield explodes upon going in contact with it.

"Quite eager are we?"

Brandor was unscathed despite the large explosion. But this didn't surprise Charles.

Bashing away the flame sword with his shield, Charles became wide open for attack.

But just when Brandor was about to swing his sword, Charles activates his Force Arte: Counter Swing and reverses the momentum of his sword.

Seeing that, instead of attacking Charles and risking getting hit himself, Brandor decides to swing and parry.

Because of the sheer strength both exerted on their swing, the air explodes and every thing that wasn't nailed to the ground were blown away.

They were in a deadlock when it come to raw strength, but that wasn't the only thing they have in their arsenal.

"<Cinder Blast>!"

In an instant, the flames around Charles' sword explodes.

But when the dust settled, it was useless as Brandon had already raised his shield to protect himself.

With a roar, Brandor overpowers Charles and shoves him away with his shield and disarmed him in the process.

"<Smite>!"

"<Searing Chains>!"

As the sword of light shines brighter with <Smite>, Charles creates a chain of flames and throws it at his sword.

After pulling, the tip connects with the butt of his sword's handle and immediately Charles brings it down to Brandor.

When the Sword of Flames and Sword of Light collided, they erupt in a blindening fiery explosion.

Charles got to jump just in time to avoid the explosion. But to his surprise, something came out from the explosion.

With his shield first guarding him, Brandor powered through the explosion.

This surprised Charles and caught him off guard. A chance Brandor didn't allow to slip away.

Hitting him with the shield on his chest, Charles couldn't move has he was being pinned by the momentum itself.

"You mothetf-"

"Angel's Call <Heavenly Bell>"

Upon invocation, the shield creates a sound similar to a church bell.

It was so loud that not only it deafened Charles, it even damaged his internal organs.

Seeing Charles in pain, Brandor couldn't help but draw a cruel smile on his face.

This continued as they get into the forest and making Charles break through several trees with his back.

After the dust settled, Brandor stands up and looks down on Charles.

"Even with half my power, you can't defeat me."

He declared while watching the unmoving Charles.

But just when he though the flame armor would disappear, it suddenly roars and bursts into a stronger flame.

This made Brandor inadvertently lift his shield and guard.

"You haven't made me even use a quarter of mine."

Though he was bleeding from his mouth, Charles was standing straight and strong while gripping his sword with his bloodied hand.

"Quite bold of you to declare that when you're wounded all over."

"We'll see."

Slowly, Charles slowly starts vanishing from Brandor's line of sight. His figure suddenly disappears as the surroundings start to look hazy.

"That holy armor of yours, it makes you resist abnormal states like poison, burn, and other mental attacks."

"For someone who claims they discarded their Holy Magic, you sure do know a lot about it."

"Of course. What kind of hunter would attack a prey he knows nothing about?"

Out of nowhere, Brandor recieves a very strong blow on his left arm. It was so strong that it blew him away into a tree and through it.

When he look back here he formerly stood, he saw a figure of Charles for a moment before he faded out of sight again.

Though the blow was strong, it almost didn't hurt Brandon at all.

Standing up like nothing happened, he suddenly noticed that a part of his holy armor that got hit was not only chipped, but also partially melted like wax.

He was in disbelief, but not as if he was afraid. Instead, he lets our a laugh to express his excitement from seeing such feat.

"Amazing! You've actually become stronger than we first met. Truly, your investment to your Fire Magic has paid off. Not only that, you also can use it to make yourself disappear. You have impressed me, Charles!"

Immediately, he lifts his shield. And out of nowhere, a loud blow lands on it.

"Unfortunately, I've seen through it."

"Did you really?"

Slowly, the Sword wrapped with fire appears like a mirage. However, it was just only the sword that appeared.

Out of nowhere once again, Charles appear in front of him and throws a punch directly into his core.

As it was propelled by explosive fire magic from his elbow, it was by no means just a powerful punch.

This blow was so great that it made Brandon spit out blood as some of his internal organs were damaged by it.

The blow was rather effective that it made Brandon stagger back and drop on one knee.

But despite that, his smile and enthusiasm did not go away. Rather, even though he was in agonizing pain, he still managed to let out a laugh. A madman's laugh.

"More, more!"

"What in the world..."

The holy armour grows brighter and the pressure Brandor suddenly skyrockets. For unknown reason, his power suddenly had increased.

"It's been a long while since someone managed to activated my real <Warlord's Madness> blessing. This feeling never gets old for me."

It only took Charles seconds to understand that Brandor has become much more dangerous. So as precaution, he runs to his sword while he slowly disappears once again.

"If I remember correctly, this magic is <Haze Mirage>."

Although hidden, Brandor could tell that Charles was shocked that he knew something that isn't Holy Magic related.

And our of nowhere, Charles appears behind Brandor.

But to his surprise, Brandor simply parries it by lifting his sword instead of his shield.

"You!"

"I've seen through your trick."

When Charles jumps to the side, he noticed that Brandor had his eyes closed. This makes Charles look like he had eaten a bitter bug.

"By using the refraction effect of hot air from your fire armour, you made yourself basically invisible by redirecting light that came from my armour."

"But to find me, you'll have to trade your sight for it."

After gaining a proper footing, Charles points the tip of his sword towards Brandor and charges his magic towards his sword.

"Sun God's Glare! <Focused Flare>"

Upon invocation, a fire so powerful it came out like a ray was fired upon Brandor.

"Lunar Goddess' Embrace. <Moon Dust>"

When the ray touched the shield, it immediately dissipates into sparkling dust resembling the glowing crown of the moon on the sky.

Seeing that, Charles couldn't help but get angered further. Not because his attack was countered, but because he used something he doesn't know about.

"Why do you know Lunar Magic?"

Hearing the frustration in his voice, Brandor draws a smile on his face.

"It's a magic I learned from Blessed Sun Clover before transferring here. Though it's quite a pity that my father wanted me to transfer even though I still had much more to study."

Then out of nowhere, the Yellow film of holy power suddenly shift into silver and becomes extremely volatile.

"I don't know why, but every time I use Lunar Magic, the spirits suddenly become timid and cold. But at the same time, I get stronger when they do."

As the silver dust falls off his armour, Brandor suddenly kicks the ground and shrinks the distance between them.

Charles evades a downward slash by moving to the right.

He counters, but because he's using his left non-dominant arm, there was not much power to pierce throught the flame.

Brandor notices this and immediately lets go of his sword and throws the back of his fist and hits Charles on the side blowing him away.

And still doing it with his eyes closed.

Though in pain, Charles immediately pulls himself out of the ground and rolls to the side.

And just in time, he was able to dodge a slam attack.

"Not only that you're good at hiding, you're also good at running away."

"Shut up!"

After standing up, he calls forth <Searing Chains> once more and ties it to his sword and his right arm. After that, he tosses the sword up in the air.

By using Force Arte: Flashing Blink, Charles closes the gap between them and throws a powerful punch.

However, Brandor was fast enough to block it with his shield which made Charles immediately back off.

But to Brandor's surprise, he suddenly received a blow on the shoulder with Charles's Sword.

"Crafty Bastard!"

By using the chains, Charles could pull and throw his sword everywhere he wants. And earlier, he used the momentum of his instantaneous movement, he was able to pull the sword with great speed and then he controled the range by pulling back to bypass his shield.

A strategy that is very technical and risky but it makes Charles motivated to see that it works.

By doing hit and runs with his fists, he was also throwing a sword attack at Brandor at the same time. A one-two punch technique.

And with each blow taken, more of the silver dust falls off Brandor's armour which is weakening his defences.

And then finally, all of the dust finally falls off which meant his defences were practically gone.

As a finishing blow, Charles grabs his sword imbues it with most of his power.

"Dragon's Claw! <All Cleaver>!"

As he Charges towards Brandor, the fire surrounding his sword becomes stronger and becomes a crimson crystal. Just by the sharpness of it's appearance, it could probably cut through Brandor's shield easily.

"This is the end!"

"You should've kept your mouth shut."

Just before the blade could land on Brandor, he opens his eyes and meets Charles' glare.

And just when Charles had realized it, he had fallen for his trap. He can be now seen because the light from Brandor's armour is gone.

To make it worse, he was in his range.

In one quick stroke, Brandor jumps forward and hits Charles' chest with his shoulder and pushing him back.

With him thrown off balance, Brandor took it as a chance.

"God's Punishment <Judgement>"

With one quick downward slash, Charles' right hand was cleanly severed.

-End of Chapter-