It’s never a good thing when you’re spectating a match involving magic to see a fireball come straight at you. It’s a bad thing when you’re aware that the fireball is lethal enough to melt stone effortlessly. It’s a terrifying thing when you know that there are no barriers to stop or slow it down. And it’s a disaster when you realize your brain has blanked out and all you can do is look at the oncoming missile with a dazed look on your face.

Thankfully the people around him were not that slow witted. So even though Ciel was sitting there with a confused look on his face, he felt his arm being yanked before he was dragged off his chair and across the table. Behind him, Captain Chen Liang had launched several fireballs and a blue orb at the oncoming flaming rose. The fireballs slowed the momentum of the rose, as petal after petal of flames fell like a real flower due to the impact. There was a hiss as the last, crystal blue ball met the remains of the battered rose and a perfectly frozen flower stopped in mid-air before it fell and shattered on the ground, just a few centimetres shy of where he had been sitting.

“Snap out of it. Just because it’s a match doesn’t mean you won’t be in danger.”

Ciel felt ashamed of his inaction. It was true; he should not have been lulled into a false sense of security, just because it was supposedly a match between George and his grandmother. He knew they would not hurt him intentionally but accidents like these could happen. He looked up and realized he was more or less sitting on his uncle and hastily got up, thanking him with sincere contrition. He returned to his seat before looking up to the stage and realized that there was one more person he needed to apologize to later. George and even Madam Huo had managed to step in in time to stop the remaining flaming roses from reaching the audience. Aside from the one aimed at Ciel and another one nearer to his grandmother, the rest had been extinguished by the both of them. George threw one dark look at Ciel before he turned his attention back to his opponent on stage. What was this unsettling feeling in his gut?

“Were you planning to kill everyone?”

“Accidents happen.” His grandmother threw a careless shrug. Beside him, his uncle gave a groan into his hands.

“Why does she anger people like that?”

“She doesn’t seem to watch her words.”

“She only does that when she’s embarrassed. Those who know her well are aware of it but for people she’s just met, that’s just like setting a match to a keg of gunpowder…”

Boom…

And it seemed like Hong Yang’s words were true because George’s face was blacker than he had ever seen before. There was no bloodlust, just anger at how flippant her words had been, as if the lives of the people around her, including her son and grandson’s were insignificant. The wind that was only heard outside in the valley seemed to pick up. It rushed into the town and whipped past the audiences, causing them to raise their arms to protect their faces from the sand and dust. The swirling, sand sharp winds seemed to twist around George this time, as if he had wrest control of it from his grandmother.They twisted and turned and soon George and Madam Huo were caged within the vortex of blade-like wind and sand.

Within this blinding sandstorm, no one, not even Madam Huo noticed that George’s blue eye had changed. It was not the red from dragon madness; it was green and brown and yellow; an iridescent like colour with a black slit pupil that made his eye seem serpent-like. No one saw scale like patterns appear and spread over his arms and neck; not even the person himself. All anyone could see was flying yellow sand that obscured the two figures within. By now, chatter had begun and was drowning out the sounds of the howling wind. Everyone was shocked that George was powerful enough to pull off such a move; he did not seem like he was skilled in manipulating qi.

Despite the commotion, Ciel did not seem to have noticed anything, his eyes glued on the two indistinct figures shrouded by the veil of yellow wind. He stared till his eyes watered, his hand clutching the armrest of his seat till the knuckles turned white. His uncle did not notice his anxiety, his eyes also staring at the two hidden combatants. But he frowned as if he had just noticed something.

“Does your man use his internal energy often?”

“Not really, he was previously a knight without magic and has normally fought without the help of magic or qi.”

“His qi feels strange…”

Ciel pulled back his penetrating gaze and turned to look at his uncle before he allowed himself to sense George’s qi. His eyes that had been closed in concentration snapped open in alarm.

“That’s not his qi.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

How could he not be sure? Being stuck in George’s arms for several days in a row while he circulated his internal energy through him, how could he not recognise it? George’s internal energy was like him; distinct but warm, strong but curbed. It had the strength to rip through a person, killing them where they stood but it was always restrained, as if too much of it would kill you. Ciel knew that this was from centuries of holding back, of holding onto his self-control so as not to kill anyone by accident because of the dragon madness. But this energy felt cold, biting and angry. As if it were rejecting everyone and everything. This energy didn’t care if you were collateral damage in the wake of its rampage; it was your fault for coming near.

“Has he been possessed?”

Ciel blinked. They couldn’t see through the winds that blocked everybody’s view. If this wasn’t George’s qi, whose was it? Ciel wished that the winds would dissipate, that they could see what was going on. At least it didn’t feel like the manic oppression like when he had lost his mind. For that, Ciel was thankful. George hated his dragon madness and always had a black look on his face whenever he thought about his bouts of insanity, where he would slaughter every living thing in his path.

“I don’t think so… but this doesn’t feel like him either.”

A sudden explosion brought Ciel and his uncle’s attention back to the stage. Flames met sandy winds and all around people screamed as the impact from the two opposing forces actually caused the sand to meld into glass. The shards were even more deadly now as they flew like shrapnel upon impact. Hong Yang immediately stood up and with several deft hand movements, a faint iridescence covered the stage, like a bubble. The bubble-like dome wobbled a little before it disappeared but now, none of the sand or shrapnel was able to leave the confines of that invisible barrier; they hit the edges of it and fell uselessly to the ground.

“If I had known how ferocious the battle was going to be, I’d have set it up the minute they got on the stage…”

“It’s all right, lord. At least it’s up now. The damage will be a lot less than when she fought that black Lóng.”

“Hah, that wasn’t as bad as when she fought the silver one. But you weren’t even born yet so you wouldn’t know.”

“There was a battle even more frightening?” there was awe in the captain’s voice.

“Oh, yes.” Hong Yang cast a side eye at his nephew. “Now that I think about it, you and your family are walking disasters. I’m throwing you out the next time I see any of you in town.”

“Wouldn’t it just be easier to lock Grandmother Huo up?” Ciel muttered under his breath.

“I dare you to say that to your grandmother.”

Ciel shut up and focused his gaze back to the stage. The winds had more or less died down now, having been spent against his grandmother’s flaming roses. George had now moved forward and was swinging his jian. It was a familiar move, having seen it countless times when he fought against Arnitikós. Rush forward and an overhead swing, from left to right. His moves would evolve, depending on his enemies but George never seemed to change his opening move. It was so familiar Ciel could predict it in his sleep; but he would never be able to defend or counter it. The strength in that swing was powerful enough to down dragons, according George. Ciel could not stop him when he had his full strength, what more now when he had lost it?

The battle raged between the two of them and still did not reveal signs of concluding. His grandmother had stopped using her fireballs and was now concentrating her attacks using her sword again. But unlike before, George met her attacks head on, trading blows with her in a calm manner. Only… Ciel’s eyes widened; George was going for the kill! His calm manner belied the fact that each of his blows could kill a person, despite not aiming for the vitals. His grandmother seemed to have sensed that something was wrong and was doing her best to avoid his blows.

But Ciel could tell that the attacks that she had blocked and parried had weakened her; the manner which she was using her sword was not as forceful as the beginning. Ciel focused his gaze on George instead and blinked, wondering if his eyes were deceiving him. Was it an illusion that he imagined scales on the back of George’s neck? What was wrong with George?

Madam Huo was unable to cope with the rising speed of George’s sword strikes on top of the heavy power that was used in every swing. Her fluid and fancy footwork was also lagging and everyone could see that her face was growing increasingly grim and beads of sweat was rolling down her forehead. George on the other hand was calm to the point of emotionless. He released a series of sword lights that attacked not his grandmother but her feet, as if to knock her off balance.

“Ah!” One of the sword lights connected and sliced his grandmother’s calf. She staggered and turned around, facing George with her sword again, blood trickling down her injured leg.

“You’ve been beaten. Surrender.” Ciel breathed a sigh of relief; George did not lose all his reasoning.

“Do you really think I would do that?” Ciel palmed his face. Why did his grandmother have to be so stubborn? He had a sudden suspicion why his father always relented when his parents disagreed. Beside him, his uncle groaned again. Ciel gave him a look of pity.

“I need dad to come and get her fast…”

“Then die.”

Before Ciel could respond to his uncle, George’s cold voice shocked his blood cold. He stared as George started to power his own jian. Without thinking, he leapt out of his seat. In a few quick steps, he jumped onto the stage, tackling George. Hong Yang seemed to have been spurred into action and had managed to pull his mother out of the way. The sword qi that George released sliced at least six inches into the stone as it torpedoed its way towards his grandmother, its momentum not slowing down a single bit. Thankfully she had been saved by his uncle. But the sword light that had been avoided still made its way off the stage before crashing and shattering the barrier raised by Hong Yang. Even then, it was like an unstoppable wave, aiming for the crowd. There was screams as everyone got out of the way. There was a crash when the wave met the side of a building, destroying the wall and who knows what inside.

Amidst the dust and the commotion, Ciel who had been struggling to get back to his feet felt a strong pair of hands grab his upper arms painfully. He looked into a blue eye so dark it was almost black. Relief surged even as anger crested after it. Soon four voices shouted at each other from the stage.

“Are you crazy?!”

Apologies for the delay... this week has been... I owe Friday's chapter, hopefully I can release something over the weekend.