Chapter 47: Treachery.
Michael suddenly began to laugh as he unleashed a lightning bolt inside Jonathan's body through the dagger. "Haha hahah — do you feel it, despair?" he taunted, the sound of his laughter echoing in the air.
Jonathan stood there as the lightning attack entered his body. He groaned in pain, but he didn't move because the child was still in front of him. He would not flinch while an innocent stood there ready to be killed.
Michael twisted the dagger in Jonathan's stomach, savoring the moment as he mocked, "What did you say just now, that I can't defeat you, huh?"
Then he continued, the contempt plain in his voice as he said. "Do you feel pain now, huh? Tell me."
At that moment, Michael felt that victory was in his grasp as his eyes were filled with pride and mockery.
Then suddenly everything changed.
Michael's expression shifted as he looked toward his chest. A lava blade had pierced through his heart, burning through armor and flesh alike.
It had pierced deep into his heart. Heat and blood sprayed as he staggered back. Michael began to cough blood, panic and disbelief mingling on his face.
He let go of the dagger and looked backward in shock as he saw standing there was Jonathan, holding the lava blade that had just pierced his heart.
"How... how can this be?" Michael spat, bewilderment evident in his voice.
His gaze darted around. The figure he had stabbed — the one whose body had been pierced — had turned rigid, then it took wooden form. It was a puppet.
Then moved his eyes as what he saw in the corner of his eye confirmed it: the boy was still there, unmoving. As realization struck him. 'This was an illusion,' He thought.
"An illusion… but how?" he gasped for air. "How can you use illusions? There is no illusionary mage here, and even if there was, how can they be at Stage 5?"
Jonathan smiled coldly, and for the first time, Michael noticed the necklace hanging at Jonathan's neck. It shimmered faintly in the air.
Jonathan pointed toward his own neck and said, in a calm tone, simple and precise, "Do you know why you haven't been able to find us for fifteen years?"
Michael's chest tightened as he waited for the answer, but Jonathan only added, "It's because of this necklace. It's a Stage 5 illusionary mana artifact — and right now I used this to trick you."
The realization hit Michael like a physical blow. The world around him began to blur. The illusion collapsed. The child vanished from where he had stood.
Far off, Sara held the boy in her arms, standing at a safe distance from the battle. The sight pinched at him, a cold stab of failure.
Michael looked toward Sara, his breath coming ragged and quick. "So you're just going to let your brother die, huh?" he shouted with fury in his voice.
He then began to laugh crazily. "Hahahaha!"
Then his voice dropped into madness as he said to them both. "Do you know why Stage 5 mana cultivators are called immortals? It's because their bodies can turn into the element they use. They can take the form of their element — their whole bodies turn into that element. It's called an elemental form."
Around his skin, lightning began to dance. Sparks ignited along his arms and shoulders, and a pale blue hue washed over him as his body shimmered and transformed. His whole body took on a blue hue.
"This is my lightning elemental form. In this form, I am lightning itself. Let's see you try to kill me in this form," he declared, pride and madness evident in his words.
But at that moment, he suddenly fell to his knees, agony ripping through him as the wound in his chest burned. The elemental form was unstable — a powerful but reckless change.
The lightning around his body began to flicker uncontrollably.
Jonathan, sensing the danger, vanished in an instant as he arrived beside Sara. He was gone from the place where Michael knelt.
Sara suddenly vanished and reappeared as she escorted the boy to safety.
Michael groaned in pain as he was furious and fearful as he whispered to himself. "My heart was completely burned, but if I stay in this form and wait for a healer to arrive, I can completely heal myself. But this form is too unstable," while clutching his chest.
Jonathan and Sara both saw the instability of his elemental state. They both vanished, each reappearing on opposite sides of Michael.
Michael's mind raced: No — if I fight them now, my form will be even more unstable, and if I turn back into a human form, I will die.
He tried to use teleportation to escape, but he was too slow.
Jonathan conjured a lava blade and swung it in a clean arc toward Michael's exposed side. Sara pushed herself forward to kick him; her intent was to disrupt him further.
In that instant, two armored figures materialized and intercepted Jonathan and Sara — blocking the strikes with speed and precision.
A third figure appeared at Michael's side, her hand a blur as she teleported Michael away before Jonathan or Sara could do anything.
Jonathan and Sara blinked as they recognized all of them. The three who had intervened were the captains of the Draconia family soldiers.
Jonathan looked at the man in the black armor who now stood before him; the crest of Draconia was engraved on his armored chest and helmet. "How have you been doing lately, Luke?" Jonathan said in a calm tone.
Luke's voice was cold as he answered, "Don't talk to me, you traitor."
Jonathan's mouth twitched as a smile appeared on his face as he said. "So you have learned to talk back, huh? I still remember the newbie soldier who didn't even know how to wield a sword. Or did you forget who taught you how to fight? Shouldn't you call me 'teacher'?"
Luke's anger increased like a flare as he said. "Why did you betray the family? If you had stayed loyal, I would have called you my teacher. But now I cannot. You are also trying to kill the son of the person who saved you. Did you forget how much his father did for us both?"
Jonathan's voice stayed steady as he replied calmly. "Am I grateful to the late family head? Yes, I am. That's why I am fulfilling the order he gave me. He told me to protect Sara at all costs and make sure nothing bad happens to her. I am doing just that."
Luke's face hardened as he shouted. "He didn't tell you to take her away from her family. You liked her, so you tricked her and made her think of her family as enemies."
Jonathan met his gaze as he answered without flinching. "Think whatever you want," he continued. "But this was Sara's choice, not mine. OK — let us fight. I want to see how much you have grown."
Without another word, he vanished and reappeared at Luke's side, then formed a bright ball of fire and hurled it towards Luke.
Luke responded calmly, a he conjured a hurricane of wind that unfolded to envelope and smother the fire into harmless spirals.
Sara, who had her kick blocked, leapt backward — and saw the captain who had intercepted her. "You also came, Albert," she said, surprise and amusement in her voice.
Albert, who was armored and straight-backed, replied with respect that barely masked his duty: "My lady, please go back with us. I do not want to hurt you."
Sara chuckled as she said. "You hurt me — did you forget that I never lost to you in a single duel?"
Albert's answer came with an almost sorrowful smile. "My lady, I also didn't lose any of those duels."
"Okay," Sara said, her eyes narrowing as the past duels flashed into her mind as she said, "let's decide once and for all who is stronger."
She raised her hand and summoned hundreds of puppets; Albert answered in kind, as he summoned another hundred forming to clash with Sara's army. This was a fight between two Puppeteers.
On the side, a female captain appeared carrying Michael. Her name was Anna— she set him down and began to heal his almost destroyed heart.
Michael lay there in his unstable elemental state, the lightning form flickering and unstable as he shouted at Anna. "Hurry up and heal me, dammit!".
Anna's hands glowed as she began to heal him, her voice steady. "Yes, sir," she answered.
Michael was filled with hatred as he muttered to himself in a crazed manner. "I will kill them both. I will make them feel true despair."
Suddenly, an idea bloomed in his mind, cruel and sharp. He leaned toward Anna as if making a plan aloud. "Yes — their son. I will kill him in front of their eyes. I will make them feel true despair."
He then continued, "That half-breed went inside that house. I am sure he is trying to escape." He then looked at Anna once again and shouted, "Hurry up and heal me. That half-breed is going to escape."
Anna didn't reply as she continued healing Michael's heart. Slowly, Michael's heart healed and began to pulse. He could feel his own heartbeat once again.
It was only half-healed when he pushed Anna aside and stood up. A twisted smile spread across his face as he vanished in a flash.
Sara and Jonathan suddenly looked toward him as they saw him vanish. They suddenly realised what Michael was trying to do. He was going after Aiden.
Panic flared in Jonathan for a moment. He conjured a small sun and hurled it at Luke.
Luke saw the sun coming towards him as he felt surprised. Then he conjured a windstorm to meet the sun head-on.
Jonathan, who was just about to go after Michael, suddenly stopped at that instant. A condensed beam of light stabbed into Jonathan's leg. He turned around and saw Anna standing there — her eyes were calm as she looked at him.
Jonathan, thinking quickly, fused mana into the necklace hanging at his neck. He activated the artifact's illusionary power.
The world around him rippled as it cast an illusion; with one practiced motion, he vanished, reappearing on Albert's backside. Before Albert could react, Jonathan landed a strong kick that sent him flying and also weakened his grip over his puppets.
He grabbed Sara's hand, and both of them vanished together.
As this was happening, Michael arrived above their home. He conjured a hundred-meter-long bolt as he launched it towards the house. The attack struck, destroying the whole house.
As the dust settled, a metal door could be seen in the center of the destroyed house. It was open, as the stairs inside could be seen.
A smile crept across Michael's face as he descended from the sky and walked toward the underground door.
At that moment, Aiden had just arrived inside the room where the strange heart was sealed. The air around him hummed with mana as he had used Blitz continuously.
He entered the underground room as memories from three days ago surfaced in his mind. The heartbeat below was gone, but the memory of its pulse still lingered like a shadow in the back of Aiden's mind.
Dust fell silently from the ceiling, and the metal of the chest glowed faintly beneath the thick earth tomb Aiden had created.
He stepped forward, his breath steady as he looked at the chest in which the heart was sealed. The room smelled of metal and old ash.
For a second, he thought he saw movement in the corner of his eye — It was just an echo from the battle outside — but then he focused on the chest.
He felt the weight of everything that had happened settle on his shoulders; as somewhere far above, his parents were fighting for his safety. Outside, the war for their lives had not ended.
In front of him, the artifact — the thing that had once called to him — was trapped and silent. Aiden's fingers curled into a fist as the memory of his parents' faces appeared in his mind, increasing his resolve and courage.
He closed his eyes, and in the silence of the underground chamber, as he whispered, "Mom... Dad... I will not fail."
Author's Note: As Michael begins to approach him, Aiden moves closer to his destiny. What will be the outcome of this Battle?