*battle sirens*
'Awawa, what should I do...?' Iris thought as she looked around in panic.
All of a sudden, one of the warriors appeared in front of Iris and raised his sword.
"No (Iya)!" Iris screamed as she put her hands on her head.
"Flash Move!" I chanted as I channeled light magic into my body, dashed towards Iris and channeled light magic into my sword at the same time.
Clang!
And... it looks like I made it on time.
"Onii-chan!" Iris exclaimed happily.
I turned around and gave her a reassuring smile.
"You think you can defeat me?" the warrior laughed.
"I never think. I know." I replied confidently as I channeled my mana into the Core Outfit.
"Onii-chan..." Iris looked at my back as if she realized I was trying to tell her how we can kick that guy's ass together.
"I got it!" Iris exclaimed as she drew her sword and ran.
"Look at you. Being ditched by your teammates." The guy sneered as he pushed me back and went for the final blow.
However, before he could finish the job, he was sliced into two halves from behind.
And the one who did that was... Iris.
"Well done! And thank you for saving me!" I told Iris like a proud parent.
"That was what you would call 'Divide and Conquer', right?" Iris looked up as she hugged me.
"Exactly. Let's get to Chris and Loby!"
"Yes (Hai)!"
5 minutes later...
"Let's split up from here! You take Chris, I take Loby!"
"I understand (wakarimashita), Onii-chan!"
"Core change, Pegasus to Phoenix!" I muttered as my Core Outfit transformed into a red warrior outfit.
And then I dropkicked another warrior in the face and sent him flying off the mountain before he killed Loby off.
"Seriously, what's taking you so long?" Loby sighed in exasperation.
"Hey, I just saved your ass on time here. Is that how you thank a guy who saved you?" I shot back as I sheathed the nodachi and drew the pair of slash blades on my back.
"Flashfire Combo Slash (Sen-ho Ren Zan)!" I swung the blades in a rather fast succession as I shouted the name of the skill and took on a few more warriors.
"Now stay back before you got me killed!" I told Loby as I took down two more barbarians.
"Don't you dare look down on me!" Loby shot me a glare as he started to recite the incantation for Explosion.
"Remember what I said before the quest?" I asked Loby as I kept fighting.
"You don't need to remind me that!" Loby answered as he pointed his staff at the food storage.
"Burst forth, Explosion!" Loby cast Explosion after he finished chanting.
And the base's food storage turned into a crater with a 'Kaboom!'
"Good job!" I looked back as I gave him a nod.
"Well, who do you think I am-"
Before Loby could finish the sentence, a burly man appeared in front of us and drew his scimitar.
"Summon Core Constellation: Wind Aquila." I muttered under my breath as I had a staring contest with the Chieftain.
All of a sudden, a giant pastel green eagle swooped in, grabbed Loby by the arms and flew away.
"What are you doing? Let me down!" Loby yelled on top of his lungs as he demanded to let him go.
"Get the hell outta here before the shit hits the fan!" I shouted back as I sheathed my slash blades and drew the nodachi.
Silence formed between us as we still had the staring contest.
The Chieftain lunged at me at his full speed. But I sidestepped and attempted to slash downwards.
The Chieftain blocked the slash with his scimitar.
Then he swiped with his scimitar in attempt to go for my head.
I dodged the attack by doing a backflip.
'This ain't doing well in my favor... If that's the case...!'
"Core change, Phoenix to Wolf!" I commanded as the red Core Outfit took the form of the black and purple Core Outfit.
I chanted Advanced Lurk and dashed towards the Chieftain in an incredible speed.
Even though I managed to get a couple hits off him, the daggers didn't even hurt him one bit.
'This ain't much, but it's honest work.' I thought to myself as I dodged around and attacked the Chieftain every chance I had.
Meanwhile...
"The Wind Aquila! Hey (Nee), where is Onii-chan?" Iris asked Loby worriedly.
"I don't know... But he is up against the Chieftain." Loby replied.
Iris then turned onto the Wind Aquila.
"Hey you (Nee Anata)... I know you wanted to save Onii- your master, Guardian." Iris' blue eyes met the Aquila's purple eyes. "Can you... help me please?"
The Wind Aquila moved a bit forward and nudged Iris with its head.
"Thank you... Thank you very much, Wind Aquila!" Iris thanked the Wind Aquila with tears in her eyes as she rode on the Aquila's back.
"Hey, don't forget about us as well." Chris placed a hand on Iris' shoulder. "We are a party, right? Let's take him on... Together."
"Yes (Hai)!" Iris replied as she nodded and gave Chris a smile.
Two minutes later...
"Wait for us, Onii-chan. We are coming!" Iris thought as the three were flying towards our direction.
At the same time...
It seems like the Chieftain started to figure out how I fight as he calmed down and attack with precision.
'I can do this... Just like before!' I thought as I created a few Shadow Clones and continued fighting.
The Chieftain muttered some incomprehensible noises before he lunged at me and cut down the Shadow Clones one by one.
Before I could react, the Chieftain knocked me down to the ground with the hilt of his scimitar.
"I can't be taken out like this..." I muttered as I struggled to get up and keep on fighting.
Before I could even get up, the Chieftain pointed the tip of his scimitar at my neck.
"I have heard rumors about you, Magic Swordmaster." The Chieftain said amusingly. "But... It seems like you aren't as strong as I expected, which is a disappointment to me." The Chieftain's said with disdain.
"Anyway, my name is Montoya the Chieftain. You destroyed my village. Prepare to die." The Chieftain raised his scimitar as he was about to decapitate me.
All of a sudden, an arrow flew towards the Chieftain as it whistled through the air.
The Chieftain looked towards where the arrow came from as the arrow just flew past and almost hit him. A teenage boy with short orange hair and green eyes was standing there as he nocked another arrow on the bow.
"Who are you?" The Chieftain asked in amusement. "My business is with the Magic Swordmaster, not a random guy who has horrible aim."
The teenage boy fired another arrow at him without saying anything.
The Chieftain turned around and found out the boy missed his arrow again.
"Core change, Wolf to Pegasus!" I changed my Core Outfit before he turned around and went for the killing stroke.
Then I jumped before the Chieftain turned around.
"Hmm?" Apparently the Chieftain wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, as he couldn't see I was above him.
"You are finished!" I hollered as I brought my sword down to his head.
"Ash Pile Explosion!" The Chieftain released gunpowder infused ash from his scimitar.
"Shield change, Pegasus to Dragon!" I commanded as a blue Absorb Shield appeared on my right forearm.
"Perish!" The Chieftain lit the ash and caused an explosion. Fortunately, I turned on the Water Absorb Shield, and so, I absorbed the Explosion and got myself a large amount of mana.
"Flash Slash!" The boy drew his swords and swung them in a quick succession.
"Sacred Judgment!" I channeled light magic into my sword and strike the Chieftain down. The skill was more powerful than the last time as I received the mana from the Barbarian leader.
A/N: Stay tuned for the next chapter!