CHAPTER 23 - I NEED TO LEARN MUSCLE MATHS

Are you scared of creepy old priests? I do. I’m pretty sure Lizzy does too. Especially when the old priest knows how to do kung fu and projects black flames on his hands. 

Every extraordinary punch that the priest unleashes makes a weak sonic boom that rattles the surroundings. The chandeliers above started swinging when they commenced the fight.

Lizzy blocked the flaming fists of the priests using her sword. Shockwaves were the result of the clashing of the priests’ knuckles and Lizzy’s magical blade.

“Guh!” 

Lizzy softly cried as she stayed on the defensive. The priest’s fists are so fast that I can barely see his punches. Only the black flames he’s projecting on his hands are the clues where his attacks are going!

“Rune Enhancement: Stardust Heel!”

Lizzy coated her feet with stardusts and dashed back. After that, she surged forward with a jet-like speed trying to knee the priest to the face!

A loud shockwave echoed once again. Lizzy’s knee was blocked by the priest’s right arm. I’m starting to think that the priest has a steel skin since he’s not even slightly hurt in punching blades or taking a flaming knee.

Lizzy coated her sword with white flames as she made a sideswipe, aiming for the priest’s blind spot on the right. But just when the blade was about to hit, it was blocked by the priest’s leg. His slacks sustained a little cut, but his skin is free from any injury!

“Stardust Fury!”

Lizzy jumped up in the air and unleashed a series of flaming kicks that is as fast as a machine gun’s rate of fire. 

Stardust showered upon the priest, but all he did is to make an X-arm to block those blinding attacks. I can see a semi-transparent barrier that makes the priest safe from the raging stardust.

All of a sudden, the priest’s smile widened. It gave a more cold blow on my bones.

“Void Kata Form Number 1: Reverse Black Hole Sphere!”

The priest stomped on the ground as he slowly spun his arms wide. The barrier that has been protecting him imploded and exploded, blasting all the stardust embers away!

“Gyah!” Lizzy cried as she was launched in the air. The power of that reverse black hole explosion or something was a powerful force that made her outbalanced in the air!

The priest charged his right fist once again, but now with some dark particles combined with his black flames. With a strong kick from the ground, he launched himself forward to unleash this finishing counterattack!

“Lizzy!” I cried out loud.

In the nick of time, Lizzy was able to open her eyes once again. She saw the priest with a burning fist ready to smash her to a pulp.

“You can’t dodge in midair!” The priest proclaimed his win.

“Or am I?”

Lizzy backflipped in midair with blue glittery afterimage leaving her trail. It’s as if she’s an angel acrobat who can do gymnastics in empty space.

“What!?”

Lizzy gracefully controlled her aerodynamics to take aim at the priest’s opening, which is his stomach. She charged her sword with white flames and made a powerful hack!

“Stardust Whirlpool!”

Lizzy spun like a top, her blade leaving flame trails all around that made her look like a white galaxy disk. With her torque and magical pressure, she hit the enemy priest on the abdomen which blasted him away!

The old priest crashed towards the pews and then to the wall like a meteorite. There’s now a huge canal in the church, and also the bricks on that side of the wall started to crumble. There was a thick smoke which made it impossible to check on the priest’s condition.

When Lizzy landed back to my side, I asked her with a doubtful stare.

“You overdid it.”

“You said that he’s Rank S+++, right? If that’s true, it would take a lot more than that to put him down. Unless the system is bugged.” That last sentence was a whisper to Lizzy’s own self.

It took a few more seconds after the smoke thinned. A silhouette of the man appeared, followed by the chillingly deep voice.

“You actually landed a clean hit in me. As I expected from the Princess of Agartha.”

The man swiped his arms in the air, and the dusty smoke was all blown away. The priest revealed himself in still perfect condition with no bruises or whatever.

“I told you.” Lizzy gritted as she murmured to me. “He’s tough.”

“I know that twenty percent of my power is not enough to fight you.” The priest clenched his fists. “So now I will try fifty percent.”

I can’t believe the priest was just holding back. And I can’t believe he can measure the percentage of strength he’s currently using! I need to learn how to compute muscle maths too!

The air became hostile as dark energy started to surround the priest. Flames burst out from his shoulders, feet, arms, and elbows. Half of his face is also engulfed in flames. A dark fire sword materialized on the priest’s left hand.

I pointed my glowing hand to Lizzy. I had a hunch that the priest is holding back in the earlier fight, that’s why I’m saving my Command Code. I think I should be alert at every moment from now on.

With a tap of the priest’s leather shoes, he vanished!

The next time I know it is he’s in front of me, his dark eyes gazing at my soul. 

"You must protect your Archon too." Father Corsola whispered that sent chills in my whole skeletal system.

“John!” Lizzy turned around, but she’s already too late. She cannot reach me in time.

However...

“Urp!”

The priest cried in pain as blood gushed from his lips. Blood dripped on the white tiled floor. Seemingly skeptical, the priest wiped the blood on his lips and stared at it in disbelief. It must be an injury he sustained from that earlier attack.

“Haaaah!” Lizzy took the opportunity to slash the opponent from the back, but the priest caught her sword with his fingers. All of us were in awe when the priest effortlessly stopped the sword.

“Wait! Time out!” The priest shouted. 

“E-Eh?” Lizzy muttered. “Why?”

“Are you blind? I’m bleeding!” The priest protested. “We should stop!”

“B-But bleeding is part of any fight. That’s not even a lot of blood.”

“Pfft! Don’t you see it? The blood did not come from any external wound! I would still continue the fight if you busted my lip or broke my nose! But this? This is internal bleeding! My broken ribs might have torn my lungs or stomach, or even my heart! I might be dying!”

“S-So are we finished?” Lizzy asked with a disappointed tone.

“Of course! In fact, you better call an ambulance right now!” 

“Ah!” Yufa who was a background audience the entire time finally made a noise by gasping. She immediately pulled out her phone and dialed 911. “I’m calling the ambulance right now!”

The priest let go of Lizzy’s sword and started to walk slowly, with his hand on his stomach. I think he’s not in great pain, but he’s just worried about his condition.

“Kids these days don’t know how to hold back when fighting against the elderly.” The priest muttered.

The priest is now what I imagined him to be; an old man who sermons a lot. The chilling aura he had has already subsided.

Lizzy and I were left there, standing in disbelief. I think this is the biggest non-sexual blue ball we had in our entire life.