Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

For an eternity there seemed to only be the sound of wind rushing through the valley below. Sand skittered across the rocky surface of the cliffside. Sweat dripped off the brows of all five warriors.

The twang of a bowstring shattered the peace.

"[Tempestas: Lightning Charge]!"

Lighting surged around Lucius' body while at the same time he twisted out of the path of the arrow. He rushed forward to strike at Jen/Shiyani and Lethen.

"[Bow Arts: Curving Shot]"

The arrow glowed and made a complete u-turn, launching back at Lucius from behind. Thankfully he was able to hear the buzz of the arrow cutting through the air, and side stepped it a second time. There wasn't enough sand or dirt to properly utilize Sand Veil, so he was out of options for Arts, at least that they were aware of.

"[Sword Arts: Heavy Slash]"

"[Sword Arts: Double Slash]"

Shiyani and Lethen simultaneously made strikes at him. Lethen's Double Slash was the more worrisome of the two and was coming from his left side. The Heavy Slash came from above, leaving only the right side to contend with, however…

The moment Lucius jumped to the right, Mia materialized out of nowhere and slashed a dagger at his throat. Not being able to hear her was a major liability for him on the battlefield. The tip of her blade missed his neck by a hair as he managed to duck beneath it.

"[Tempestas: Lightning Field]"

This time, he allowed the spell to take full effect. Mana poured from his body and into the ground below. For a twenty foot radius around him, the ground became charged with Thunder Magic. If his opponents made any attempts to move by even a single step, they would be shocked. It was not lethal, but it would create an involuntary spasm and create an opening.

There was one way around it and that was to make sure both feet left and returned to the ground at the same time. This resulted in Lethen, Shiyani, and Mia having to jump around the battlefield like crazed rabbits while the spell was active. This movement restriction helped even the playing field a little, though did nothing to inhibit Paul in the distance.

Lucius attempted to make an attack towards him, but was intercepted by attacks from the melee fighters. At the moment their range support was untouchable which made him click his tongue.

He was up against two Advance Rank fighters and an Intermediate… that is unless Paul was also an Advance Rank… there was no telling what information he knew about his old party was a lie. Caution was key and the flow of information for this battle was entirely controlled by his enemy.

"What are you going to do, kid?" Jen… Shiyani, questioned.

"[Forsaken Arts: Merciless]"

Mana exploded out of him as the Art artificially enhanced his body's strength, similar to a Light Magic enhancement spell. This particular ability was difficult to control and exhausted him after a single use, though he kind of hoped that his training with Kalivas would allow him to keep fighting after it was finished.

"[Tempestas: Thunderclap], [Forsaken Arts: Weapon Breaker]"

With the spell channeled into his blade, he lunged towards Shiyani, targeting her neck. She reflexively moved to guard herself with her blade, which is exactly what he wanted. There was an explosion of force as the Thunderclap spell activated at the same time as the Weapon Breaker skill, sending the top three-quarters of her blade skittering across the rock.

Without skipping a beat, he followed up with a kick to her abdomen, sending the elven woman flying almost thirty feet. Mia once again came up from behind him and managed to sink a dagger into his side.

"Gragh!" He shouted in pain as he twisted away from the blade.

Mia was able to yank it free and jumped forward into another attack.

"[Tempestas: Lighting B…]… gurgh!"

"[Shield Arts: Double Bash]"

Lethen charged in out of nowhere and landed two powerful strikes into Lucius' back, sending him sprawling into the dirt. The boy quickly regained his footing, but felt the muscles in his shoulder blades scream in defiance.

His breathing became heavy. The Merciless skill was still active, so his physical strength was probably in the range of a high, Intermediate or maybe a low Advance Rank. However, the ability wouldn't last much longer.

"One shot… [Forsaken Arts: Savage Strike]" His machete glowed and he dove towards Paul's location. Lucius forced every ounce of mana in his body to enhance his feet.

Beneath him, the rocks shattered, sending a cascade of falling boulders into the valley below as the cliff face became forever changed. Paul's eyes barely had time to widen before Lucius was basically on top of him. Lucius went to swing his blade, but the world in front of him shimmer and suddenly one Paul became twenty.

Lucius' blade cut through the same one he had targeted and blood spurted into the air as he severed the archer's head from his body.

Lucius landed on the other side of the man and blinked. When his eyes refocused, the thing he had cut looked to be a cactus instead of a man. Paul seemed to be several dozen feet away and looked perfectly fine.

"Nice try kid, but it's not going to be that easy."

"[Tempestas: Lightning Strike]"

Instead of worrying about the fact that his mind was tricked into killing a plant instead of his target, Lucius quickly made a follow-up attack. The clouds swirled above for a moment and a massive bolt of lightning struck the ground blinding everyone and generating a massive explosion of noise and heat.

"So close, kid." Shiyani tried to taunt. However the words fell a little flat as everyone in the area, save Lucius had smoke rising from their bodies. All of his attackers had taken at least some amount of damage from his spell.

Lucius felt his body slowing down and weakening. Merciless was running out.

"Are you ready to surrender your head, kid? It'll be easier for you, and for Rena."

Hearing his lover's name fall out of the traitor's mouth boiled his blood. He would not stand for it. Lucius had been trying to hold back from using it because of his promise to Kalivas.

The warrior's words echoed in his mind about how relying too much on his mark too early would ruin his potential. In a situation like this though, it was likely such behavior would be forgiven. After all, there's no potential in a grave.

"Alright you fucks. Let's play for real."

"Oh?" Shiyani had a sick grin on her face. Lethen and Paul seemed worse for wear than she did, and Mia said nothing, not that they would be able to hear her if she did. Instead the woman simply tightened her grip around her daggers.

Lucius took a deep breath. This was his only gambit, if it failed, he would have nothing left in the tank to keep fighting.

"[Abyss Break: Demon Sword], [Forsaken Arts: Mutilation], [Tempestas: Lightning Charge]"

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