Before I start, I would like to respond to some reviews.
enumeaelish666: Well, I'm not sure I'll remove the disciples from the story. I don't dislike them, honestly I find some of them funny and amusing, but I'm sure the Intoners' personalities will change a bit.
RikudoNaruto1: Thank you very much! Alan will change the personalities of the Intoners. They won't become completely different people, but there will be a positive change.
Xs0nicblAdeX: Yes, you got it right! Gabriela is talking about the MASO of Angelus in Alan.
Chapter 21 – Beach Episode
Today was a beautiful day, a bright yellow sun in a cloudless blue sky illuminated this beautiful beach with a pleasant warmth and light, not too hot, not too cold.
The sea was calm, a big bright blue blanket, reflecting sunlight, the rhythmic sound of the waves crashing against the rocks and sand calmed me down, giving me a certain feeling of peace.
Which was welcome, the recent days have been hectic, I would love to nap and rest in this wonderful setting. Would I risk getting killed by sunlight without realizing it? Yes! However, how many times will I have the chance to visit such a marvelous place?
Noir, Rubrum and the sisters would love this place. I can imagine us swimming and playing next to the water, all working together to build a big sandcastle.
Speaking of the sand, it was soft and slightly wet from the waves; my boots dipped slightly and rose with little resistance with each step, leaving a trail of footprints behind.
Today is definitely a great day! Nothing could ruin that! Except, of course, the smell of burning flesh coming from the flaming remains of corpses next to me, victims of the purple-scaled dragon that was right behind me.
I can't blame the dragon, the first impression we had of her might not have been the best. Being arrogant, yelling at One, telling her to run and calling me a false dragon, but I feel like she's not that bad.
One, the girl was behind me, probably confused by what I was doing. What must be going through her head? I imagine some questions like... Who is this guy with the metal arm? How did he and Alan meet? Or something like that.
Why did you and your sisters have to get involved in this kind of thing? You are still young and have a long life ahead of you. Children are meant to play and learn, not fight cruel dictators and their armies or try to open legendary magical gates. I think it's too late now; we're heading towards Cathedral City, too late to turn back now.
Changing the subject, there's the man walking towards me. Bartas, a man seven feet tall, ten inches taller than I am, about forty years old, fair, weathered skin, long, pale blond hair, combed back and reaching to the back of the neck, with a thread hanging in front of his face.
He wore a large brown cloak, which covered the upper half of his body but did little to hide his lower half, where I could see he was wearing the standard armor of the lords' soldiers, nothing too flashy.
However, his most striking feature was his large metallic right arm, made of a black metal; the arm had metal spikes on the knuckles, serving as brass knuckles. In addition, the tip of each finger ended in claws. I don't need to say what his weapon of choice was, do I?
Despite having promised a fight to the death against him, in the end, I don't know anything about Bartas. Caerula seems to have good opinions of him, but I question his loyalty to the lords, as he helped me escape Cathedral City.
So what makes Bartas different from everyone I've faced so far? He looks confident he can take me on. 'Are you strong?' He asked that question to me so long ago. I hate unknown elements! What makes you so confident? Magic? Physical ability? Some OP anime skills? Everything together.
Well, I guess in the end it doesn't matter. He's in front of me and I only see one way to find out.
"Alan! What are you doing? Who is this man?" I heard One yell behind me.
"Don't worry, One! I know this man, his name is Bartas, I made him a promise a long time ago and today I intend to fulfill it!" I answered without turning around.
"What kind of promise?" One asked, the worried tone in her voice was noticeable.
"A fight to the death! One of us won't get out of here alive!"
"What?! Let me help you!" One exclaimed.
I heard the sound of footsteps behind me, but they were interrupted by a loud crash that echoed across the beach, pushing back some of the waves and creating a cloud of sand that passed over me.
Turning my head and looking back, I saw the dragon using her tail to block One's path.
"What are you doing?!" One yelled at the dragon.
"I'm not stopping you for your safety. I want to see what the false dragon is capable of, I want to know if he is worthy of carrying even a fraction of the power of our proud race. And even though he's a false dragon, he still has a bit of a dragon in him, dragons are proud beings, and we don't like other people meddling in our fights." The purple dragon said to One with amusement in her voice.
I noticed One looking at me worriedly from behind the dragon's tail, her gaze flickering between the dragon and me. I gave her a reassuring smile, which I think only made her more worried. Meh! I can't do anything at the moment but return to my advance.
"If it serves as consolation, I have no problem with the girl or the dragon. I had orders to kill her along with her sisters, but I can ignore that order as long as she doesn't meddle in our affairs." Bartas said, approaching me, his armored boots leaving footprints on the beach with loud creaks.
"Don't worry. You won't even get the chance to do that." I said as I cocked my head to the side, closed my eyes and smiled amiably at Bartas. A smile that went from ear to ear, showing all my teeth.
"Hump! You seem confident that you can defeat me." Bartas said as he cracked his knuckles, making his metallic arm glint in the sunlight.
"When I am done with you, there will be nothing left for the funeral." I replied as I cracked my knuckles, I saw the yellow lines on my arms glowing brightly.
"Oh! Brave words for someone who is about to die! But you wouldn't be the first to say that to me." Bartas replied, stepping closer.
"Believe me, I'm serious! Nevertheless, before we start killing each other, I'd like you to answer a few questions. Why did you help me escape even though you served Caerula and why do you want to fight me so badly?" I asked as I approached Bartas.
As he walked forward, Bartas looked up, pondering his answer.
"If you are expecting a monologue or the story of my life then you will be disappointed as there is no complex reason for me to serve Caerula or fight you. I just want to fight, because it's the only thing that makes me feel something, because it's the only thing that makes me genuinely happy. I only followed Caerula because she is the person who found me. And hoping to find someone who would give me a challenge. I wonder if you are that someone."
"I promise not to disappoint."
"I hope so."
We kept getting closer to each other, but as that was happening, I couldn't help but laugh when a thought crossed my mind "Hahaha!"
"Oh! What's so funny?" Bartas asked with a curious smile.
"Nothing! It's just the thought that until today I've never hit anyone with all my might. I wonder if you can handle it."
Bartas and I were less than six feet apart.
"Why don't you come over here and find out? Ready to have your wings plucked angel?" Bartas asked with a cocky grin as he pulled his fist back.
"Better take it easy, you might end up hurting your back, old man." I returned the smile with my own cocky smile as I pulled my fist back.
We landed our blows, two punches moving with blinding speed, tearing the air in two dark blurs. Our blows met in the center of the beach, Bartas's metallic fist colliding with mine.
A powerful metallic crack echoed across the beach, creating a gale and blowing up a cloud of sand.
"You are alive? Maybe it won't be so disappointing in the end." Bartas said with a small smile of surprise.
"I could say the same; you didn't turn into a red stain on the ground." I responded with my own smile, our fists being forced against each other.
We pulled our fists back again and continued to trade blows, what followed was a barrage of punches, each strike being so fast it was almost invisible to the normal human eye, but I wasn't human and I wasn't normal.
Our fists looked like blurs that collided repeatedly in the air, each blow generating a bang accompanied by a shock wave, throwing sand and forcing the sea waves away. This exchange of punches continued for quite a while, neither of us could get an advantage, we always blocked each other's blows.
"Not bad, but how long can you go on like this?" Bartas asked as he stomped the ground, raising a cloud of sand with a strong shock wave, blinding me.
I covered my eyes with my hands, trying to protect them from the sand. It was hard to see, but I managed to glimpse a metallic fist crossing the cloud of sand and heading towards my face.
I immediately transformed into darkness, dodging the punch that created a whirlwind just above me, and slid across the floor towards Bartas. It seems he didn't notice me, I returned to my physical form next to his feet while I landed a hook on his chin.
I saw Bartas' eyes widen in surprise before my fist collided with his jaw, forcing his head up, knocking his feet off the ground, and making a loud bone-crunching noise echo across the beach.
However, I didn't stop my attack. As soon as Bartas put his feet on the ground and lowered his head, his jaw hanging loosely on his head with blood running from his mouth and teeth missing, I landed another punch to the center of his face; his nose broke with little resistance with a loud snap.
Then Bartas was sent flying to the other side of the beach, repeatedly slamming against the ground until he slammed his back against the rocks, stopping his flight, slowly Bartas slid down until he was sitting on the ground, jaw almost severed from his head, nose crushed and blood pouring all over his face.
Bartas stood there in total silence without moving. I won? He died? Hm… That was too easy. There's something wrong.
"Bartas! What are you doing standing there?! Stop playing and get up! Take this guy seriously!" The fairy accompanying Bartas shouted across the beach.
However, Bartas did not react.
"He won?" One asked, still held back by the dragon, a relieved smile on her face.
"Not yet. I can hear that man breathing." The dragon answered.
Hearing what the dragon said, I focused my eyes on Bartas' chest, saw that it was still rising and falling. So he's still alive. Better, get this over with. I pointed my right index finger at Bartas, magic building up in my fingertip, and fired a magic projectile towards him.
The black and red projectile sliced through the air before hitting Bartas' head, creating a huge explosion accompanied by a boom and shock wave, leaving only a cloud of smoke.
Know what? It's better to be sure!
I created another projectile on my fingertip and fired again, before the cloud of smoke could dissipate and show me what was left of Bartas, a second explosion occurred, and I did it repeatedly.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Projectile after projectile, explosion after explosion. After a good few seconds of non-stop shooting, I thought it was enough. I turned away and walked towards One and the dragon. I saw both of them giving me surprised looks, open mouths and wide eyes.
"What?" I asked as I opened my arms.
"Don't you think you overdid it a bit?" One asked hesitantly, sweat trickling down her forehead.
"Not bad, false dragon. Perhaps you are not a disgrace to all dragons after all." The purple dragon said with an amused smile and a small chuckle.
"What can I say? I'm glad I didn't disappoint." I said as I shrugged and smiled slightly, but my smile died as soon as I heard a gruff voice behind me.
"Hey… Where are you going… This fight… This fight is not over…"
Holy shit! Turning to the source of the voice, I saw Bartas walking out of the smoke, or what was left of him. His right arm was gone, leaving only a ragged stump of skin, muscle, and bone sticking out as it let out a spray of blood, staining the sand red.
The left side of his face disappeared, revealing his bloodstained white skull, his eyeball hanging out of its socket, but it ended up falling to the ground a few seconds later. His hair was completely incinerated, leaving only scorched strands on a head covered in burned skin.
His robe and part of the chestplate of his armor were destroyed, revealing the inside of his ribcage, showing rows of broken ribs, piercing organs, what was left of the organs oozed towards the ground in a red, fleshy mess.
The only part of Bartas that appeared to be unharmed was his metal arm. What the hell was that thing made of?!
"How are you still alive? Know what? It doesn't matter! I've seen enough strange things in this world, I shouldn't be impressed, but anyway, that's enough, Bartas, look at you. You lost." I spoke to the walking corpse in front of me.
"No… It only ends… It only ends when one of us is dead…" Bartas said with difficulty, slowly walking towards me.
"Hm… If that's what you want." I pointed my finger at Bartas again, this time aiming for his head.
"Bartas! What happened to you?! Stop it and regenerate already!" The fairy screamed.
Regenerate? Like regeneration?
To my surprise, I saw what the faerie meant, the best way I can explain it is that steam rose from Bartas's wounds. Slowly, very slowly, his wounds closed, the bones grew and connected in the right places, the organs rebuilt and pulsed with life, blood, veins, muscles and skin all returned to their place.
Skin and muscle covered Bartas's skull, in a burst of steam, a new eye popped within its socket, the eye rotated in its place before focusing on me, Bartas' hair grew back and the burned skin healed, as if I had never been assaulted by magic.
Finally, his right arm grew too, similarly to the rest of his body, when it was all over, it didn't even look like Bartas was on the verge of death, and the only sign that he received any damage was his destroyed armor.
"You bastard! I didn't know you had the power of a dragon. This just got interesting!" Bartas yelled with a look of madness on his face and a toothy smile.
In a burst of speed, lifting the sand off the beach, Bartas charged towards me, his metallic fist gleaming in the sunlight. I fired more projectiles toward him, but Bartas batted each projectile away with his metal arm, each one creating explosions of sand and water as it hit the beach or sea.
As soon as he got close, Bartas took a big leap and dove towards me, trying to punch me in the head. I immediately revealed my wings and flapped them, taking flight and dodging Bartas' blow.
As soon as his fist hit the ground, the entire beach shook as a crater formed where he hit and sand flew in all directions. Wasting no time, accumulating magic at the tip of each finger, I fired a shower of projectiles towards the crater.
In a rain of magic, similar to shooting stars, dozens of explosions occurred in the place. For a moment, all was silent, until the smoke cleared as a shape leapt out of the crater and headed towards me.
It was Bartas, his body shattered by my attack but already regenerating. I was taken aback that Bartas had managed to jump that high, so I was slow to react when Bartas grabbed my head with his metallic arm and held me towards the ground as we fell.
"Hahaha! What else can you do?! Show me!" Bartas shouted with a maniacal smile on his face.
This man is crazy! Although I can't judge, after all I can't consider myself completely sane after everything I've been through. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the ground closing in. As soon as we were a few feet from the beach, I transformed into darkness, escaping Bartas' grasp.
His face contorted in confusion as I disappeared from his hands. Bartas landed on the beach with a bang, creating a big hole in the ground, as I landed safely behind him. I returned to my physical form before Bartas got up and created a projectile on the tip of each finger of my right hand.
I grabbed Bartas by the back of the neck with my left hand and dug the fingers of my right hand into his back. Then I fired the projectiles.
Bartas screamed in pain as his body swelled, the flesh expanded outwards, forming large blisters, a strong light shone beneath his skin, being visible to everyone. His body kept swelling until the flesh couldn't hold it anymore, then...
BOOM!
Most of the right side of Bartas' body exploded in a shower of blood and guts, half of his torso and his entire head disappeared, leaving only his metallic arm, hip and legs intact.
What was left of the body fell to the ground with a wet thud, but steam began to seep out of the wounds, I could see the bones and organ slowly returning to normal. But they regenerated slower than before..
Excellent! I'm dealing with a homunculus from a certain alchemy anime! How many times do I have to kill this guy before he stops regenerating? Moreover, the worst part is, I don't have anything here to completely destroy him. Bury him in the sand? Crush him with rocks? Drown him in the sea? I doubt this will work! I can only rely on my fists and magic.
I kept shooting projectiles at the regenerating body, ripping off even more pieces of flesh and bone, the wounds would close right away, but it regenerated slower and slower, I couldn't get past its regeneration, but I was making some progress.
Suddenly Bartas' body threw itself up and shot towards me, with a mixture of surprise and disgust, I continued my attack, but in the middle of his advance, Bartas' body regenerated, his torso and head returned to normal and with a big smile, Bartas threw a powerful punch in my direction.
I crossed my arms in front of my face, blocking the blow, but I was sent flying backwards quickly from the strength of the blow, I felt my bones shake from the blow.
I spread my wings, stopping my flight, but I stayed open for Bartas's next strike, I saw doubled over for a moment as I received a hard punch to the side of the head. It looked like there were several Bartas in front of me, unfortunately, I couldn't recover in time to dodge or block the next blows.
I felt my hat flying off my head and the sunlight burning me. Great, now I'm on a time limit!
I felt a series of punches hit me in the head as my face burned, left and right, left and right, punch after punch as my head was thrown sideways. I felt blood trickling down my mouth and it felt like some teeth were coming out of place.
Still not fully understanding what was happening, I flapped my wings, throwing myself back and away from Bartas. When I felt my feet on the ground, I had a few seconds of freedom to recover, slowly my vision returned to normal, just in time to see Bartas's punch coming towards my face again.
This time I was faster and ducked under the punch and grabbed Bartas's arm, throwing him over my head and slamming his body against the floor. I heard his bones crack at the moment of impact, but still holding Bartas' metal arm, I threw him over my head again and slammed him repeatedly against the beach.
With each blow, the outline of Bartas' body formed on the sand next to a bloodstain and with each impact, Bartas' bones broke with a loud crack, blood dripping from his mouth as I used him like a doll.
With a final blow, I stomped on his head, Bartas's skull and nose cracked with a loud crack, blood spurted from his eyes and ears. So still stepping on his head, I grabbed his metallic arm with both hands and pulled with all my might.
The metal creaked and popped as I applied more strength. I had a theory; if Bartas has a metal arm then it means he can't regrow his left arm, which means something in this world can stop his regeneration. In addition, I would like to deprive him of his weapon of choice.
With a pull, I felt something come loose and to my surprise, it wasn't the arm breaking, but being separated from Bartas' body. The metal of this thing was strong!
Blood gushed from the area where the arm connected to the body; I realized that the metallic arm included a chestplate that was just above Bartas's heart. I kept pulling slowly on the arm and it started to come off.
"NO!" With a scream of rage, Bartas' eyes widened underneath my foot, he grabbed my leg with his remaining hand, it felt like my leg would break in his grip and pulled me to the side, causing me to let go of his arm.
"That was dangerous but fun." Bartas muttered before slamming me repeatedly against the ground, this time I was the rag doll, with each blow it felt like my bones would break, with a final blow, Bartas slammed my face against the ground.
Then I felt a foot on my back and two hands gripping my wings. Meanwhile, the sunlight was still burning my face.
"Mind if I return the favor?" I heard Bartas ask before I felt my wings being pulled. The pain was horrible; it was one of the worst things I've ever felt in my life.
"Hey, Bartas! Take it easy! We have to get the girl and him alive to the Lords!" The fairy screamed.
"I don't mind taking the girl! However, this guy! We will only stop when one of us is dead!" Bartas shouted with disturbing joy in his voice. He was enjoying this too much! Is he one of those anime characters addicted to fighting?
I felt Bartas pull my wings even harder; I couldn't hold back a cry of pain.
"Enough!" I heard One scream, looking at the source of the voice, I saw the red-eyed girl giving me a worried look, and I could see that she wanted to help me, but the dragon stopped her.
The dragon, on the other hand, looked at me doubtfully, I think. It sounded like a mixture of pride and disappointment. Did the dragon expect me to do something?
"Give it up, girl! Bartas loves fighting strong people; it's one of the few things that make him smile! Once it starts, it only stops when the opponent is dead!" The fairy screamed.
One flinched at that statement, her gaze switching between the dragon and me. Damn it! What have I gotten myself into? I should have stayed in Lyllenas. Well, One is worried sick and the dragon seems to expect something from me, better get it over with. I still have one more trick that I haven't tried.
I morphed into darkness, breaking out of Bartas' grip and slid beneath his feet, Bartas looked at me in confusion before lifting his feet and trying to stomp me.
I "pointed" both of my hands upwards; accumulating magic on each fingertip then used a similar but more powerful attack than the one I used in the Coliseum.
I showed the result of all that time training when I fired a gigantic blast of magic towards the heavens. A huge pillar of black and red magic pierced the clouds and Bartas was at the center of it.
"AAAHHH!" I heard Bartas scream as his body boiled in the midst of my attack, his armor starting to melt into bright orange goo that oozed down his body. His skin burned, revealing muscles that were scalded shortly thereafter.
His hair caught fire until there was nothing left; his eyes melted from their sockets, his lips were incinerated, leaving only his teeth.
When I stopped my attack, Bartas was static, only letting out a low and repetitive hiss. For a moment I thought he would fall to the ground, until steam came out of his body again, so I continued my attack.
Bartas raised his fist, trying to hit me in my darkness form, but I sent a second pillar of magic skyward.
"AAAHHH!" Bartas screamed as his body was burned. His muscles were starting to fade away, revealing bones, his armor was nothing but shreds clinging to his body, his blood evaporating as soon as it left his body, his legs shaking, trying to stay upright.
I stopped my attack again, it was getting hard to continue, I was using too much magic, and soon I would have to go back to using my fists.
However, Bartas continued to regenerate. Attack after attack, blast after blast, I slowly turned Bartas' body to ash, with each strike his form was consumed by my magic, burning his body even more.
I continued my attack again...
Again...
Again...
"AAAHHH!" With another cry of pain, I scrambled out from under Bartas and slid in close to One and the Dragon, keeping them behind me.
I returned to my physical form while breathing heavily, that's it, I couldn't use my magic anymore, I can't manifest my wings, transform into darkness or launch projectiles, if this guy has one more trick up his sleeve, I don't know what to do.
What was left of Bartas was still standing, the best way to describe him would be a skeleton covered in charred pieces of flesh, but that damned metal arm was still in one piece.
"Hey... Why... Why did you stop... I'm still... I'm still standing..." Bartas mumbled as he slowly walked towards me, his body regenerating, but it was barely noticeable.
I was doing something right in this fight. But what?
"Standing? Look at you, you can barely walk." I said as I tried to recover.
"It doesn't... It doesn't matter... I want to continue... Nevertheless, tell me... What are you?" Bartas murmured.
"A Gestalt."
"Gestalt? Gestalt... Gestalt... That word is familiar to me... Project Gestalt... Where have I heard that name before? I don't... I can't remember... What the hell... It doesn't matter... Let's continue..." Bartas continued advancing.
"You're sure? Because I'm sure I'm doing something right here. You are regenerating slower and slower, I think you won't be coming back soon."
"I... I'm also surprised... No one... No one has ever managed to hurt me like this... Tell me... What's your name?"
"Alan."
"Alan? Such a common name... I'll remember you... Alan..."
"You say that like you're going to beat me."
"Because I will!"
With a scream of rage, Bartas charged towards me, with heavy steps that shook the ground, each one throwing sand in the air. Maybe it was one last power boost, but Bartas regenerated faster as he ran toward me, so he almost looked like new.
Wasting no time, I charged towards Bartas, our fists pulled back, so we returned to where it all started, to the center of the beach, our fists collided again, creating a shock wave, but weaker than when we started, I think we are both near the end.
The sleeve of my coat was destroyed, revealing my skin to the sunlight, steam escaping my arm as it began to burn. I clenched my teeth in pain, but I had to endure it.
Bartas spun his body, trying to kick me on the side of the head. I blocked the blow with my right arm, and then grabbed his leg, spinning him above my head and slamming him against the ground, creating a crater and making blood fly out of his mouth, but Bartas laughed with a big bloody grin.
I tried to stomp Bartas head, that smile pissed me off, but he rolled out of the way and tripped me, knocking me to the ground, then I felt a weight on my chest and arms, it was Bartas sitting on top of me and using his legs to trap my arms, at least he blocked the sunlight.
What wasn't so good was the series of punches landed on my head, each blow felt like a sledgehammer trying to crush my skull, I felt my teeth loosening and my nose almost breaking with each blow, more blood trickled out of my mouth and my vision was getting blurry.
"AAAHHH!" With a scream of fury, I used all the strength I had left to get up and headbutt Bartas in the chin, which took him off me and made him sit on the beach.
I saw that Bartas was playing with something inside his mouth, then he spat something on the floor, half of his tongue. Bartas showed me his open mouth, where steam was forming at the wound site, but as I noticed before, it was getting more and more slow, almost stopping.
Bartas tried to get up, but before he could do that, I threw myself against his chest, knocking him to the ground. This time I held his arms and landed a series of punches on his face, sinking his head into the ground.
Nevertheless, even though a barrage of punches hit him, Bartas was still laughing, and that frustrated me.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Hahaha!" Bartas laughed at the top of his lungs, his manic laughter echoing through the beach.
"What is so funny?!" I demanded through my blows, each punch knocking out teeth and crushing Bartas's skull into a bloody mess.
"Hahaha!" However, he didn't stop laughing.
Gritting my teeth in rage, I stopped my attack and pulled Bartas up, leveling his face with mine.
"Listen here you bastard! I'm about to kill you! Do you really want to die like that?! Why are you doing this? What is so funny that you can't stop laughing?! Why are you doing this?!" I screamed into Bartas' face as I shook him.
For a moment, the smile on Bartas' face disappeared and a thoughtful look came over his face, then Bartas gave me an answer that surprised me.
"Because I have nothing to lose." Bartas said in a serious voice, the madness on Bartas' face disappeared and I saw a void in his eyes.
"Nothing?" I asked.
"I don't have friends, family, home or anything like that. I don't have any memory of my parents or my homeland... I have nothing... The only thing that makes me feel anything is fighting... Fighting until someone kills me... And apparently, I'll get what I always wanted." Bartas replied with a sad smile.
"Do you feel an emptiness in your chest? Do you feel lost not knowing what to do?" I asked Bartas.
"Every day of my life." Bartas replied.
Damn it! I stared into Bartas' eyes for a while, and it was like looking into a mirror. Was this what I almost became?
"Well, it looks like you'll get what you've always wanted, indeed..." I raised my fist again, preparing my final attack.
Bartas's smile widened in anticipation.
So I launched my attack...
"BARTAS!"
BOOM!
"AAAHHH!"
"ALAN!"
I can't say what happened. I heard the fairy screaming, and a bright light coming towards me right after. A sharp pain followed by an explosion hit me, sending me away.
SPLASH!
I felt my back hitting the sea and the water enveloping me, luckily, I was still in the shallows, but the sunlight made my body boil.
I saw the fairy who accompanied Bartas stop beside him as he yelled at him.
"Come on Bartas! Don't just stand there! Get rid of him while you can!"
Slowly Bartas stood up and looked around in confusion, before his startled eyes focused on me. Steam covered Bartas' body as he regenerated, when it was all over, Bartas was back to normal, he just stood there, looking at his hands in horror.
That is until he started laughing.
"Hahahaha!"
Bartas laughed as if he had heard the best joke in the world.
"Hahaha! I was... I was so close... Everything I ever wanted... I could already see the other side!" Bartas screamed.
"Bartas! Stop laughing and..." But the fairy never finished, as Bartas squashed it with the palm of both hands as if it were a mosquito.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG I HAVE WAITED FOR THIS?! A WORTHY ADVERSARY?! WHEN WILL I GET THE NEXT CHANCE?!" Bartas shouted down at the faerie's crushed remains in his hands.
"Enough!" I heard One scream, and then the red haired girl appeared in my field of vision, running towards Bartas.
"Hey, are you strong?" Bartas asked emotionlessly as he turned to One.
Shit! I tried to get up, but I felt a sharp pain in my right side. My vision was getting dark. What I saw next were just flashes.
One being punched away by Bartas, the girl getting up again, trying to punch Bartas, only for him to grab her fist and punch her in the stomach and throw her away. One fell to the ground without moving.
"How shameful! An adult hitting a little girl!" I heard the dragon scream.
It became more difficult to understand what was happening, I was bordering on unconsciousness, all I could feel was the whole beach shaking and the sounds of fighting hammering my ears.
I saw Bartas punching the dragon's head, breaking one of its teeth, the tip of the dragon's teeth fell next to One, everything went dark again, and when my vision returned, I saw One covered in magical energy and with completely white eyes stabbing Bartas with the dragon's teeth.
Then everything went dark.
END OF CHAPTER
Well, it took quite a while, but I've finally updated this story. You know, I'm having to make these fights longer and more dynamic than in the manga to make them more entertaining. But I'm still having fun. I hope you enjoyed it!
Leave your comments and opinions about what you think of the chapter! Reviews are welcome! Until the next chapter!