The Aegis floats behind Louis.

It radiates blinding mana for those who can see mana. The ambient mana pales in comparison to it.

Ovelia held her hand on the side of her head.

‘There it is again, the headache’ she thought.

She tucked her orange hair behind her ear. Her bright robe contrasted the surrounding mellow atmosphere, although the pattern on her robe was not as magnificent Elle’s garb.

Looking at Louis, she wears a worried expression.

Louis directed the mana into his barrier. His controls are delicate, reminiscent of his ‘Helmer.’

His Helmer waits patiently on Louis.

‘I didn’t expect that Helmer is still able to cast that spell, even though it’s not as powerful as it used to be. Still, there’s no problem beating him if he doesn’t use that thing.’

He casts a spell, it is the same one as he used on the girl before. It doesn’t seem to have much effect to Tasha, as his barrier’s gentle glow only dimmed for a while.

Louis clicked his tongue.

He took another item from his pouch. This time it was a tiny halberd. Sealed by Runes, softly it glows as Louis undoes it.

It grows in size the moment he releases the Runes. It was 1.8 meter in length, with golden stripe on the blade. It was in good condition with minimal wear.

Intricate Runes flow in the shaft of the spear such as a liquid color of a molten gold. It too gathers the surrounding mana.

Without spending a word, he slashes the weapon.

Thunderous roar of the air followed beams of blade. It launches towards Tasha. Anything it touches evaporated. The hard stone leave not a single trace of dust until the beams of blade fade in the distance. It leaves huge trail of gash in the hard stone floor

‘...’

Ovelia was speechless over the scene. A prodigy who only appeared in those of the legends robs her of her common sense.

‘Even when it’s used by someone like Louis… that Artifact is too powerful’ Ovelia thought. She couldn’t imagine the destruction that weapon would cause if it falls into the wrong hand.

Usually when a person used a weapon type Artifact, it can only amplify the user strength. It draws the potent energy of mana with the cost of one’s vitality. Thereafter the destructive power of one’s attack is increased.

So if someone with a higher base of strength were to use that same Artifact, the resultant force may differ.

Yet credit is given where credit’s due. The power of that youth is still undeniably strong for someone who trains in a path of Magi and a Warrior.

Tasha raises his hand forward, he instantly casted a spell similar to Mage Hand to counter it.

The beam of blade bends slightly from it trajectory, this time Tasha moves. He avoided it with simple steps.

“Too slow, you should focus on the speed form of your technique.”

“Tsk!” Louis clicked his tongue, although the words of his Helmer hold truth.

Tasha ran at Louis with the same speck of light at the tip of his staff ready to be launched. Louis seems to avoid him from getting too close. The dynamics of the battle shifted.

‘Why would Louis put distances between them when he has the advantage of Artifact?’ Ovelia thought.

Louis attacked him again. This time his attack contained Natural Elemental Aspects. It is much faster than the attack before.

Spikes of hard stones protruding from the ground at 45 degree angle spread from Louis surrounding the area in front of him.

Unfortunately for him, Tasha jumped over it. Mana amplified his impulsiveness for a brief period every time he dodges.

Louis kept charging and slashing different kind of Natural Element at Tasha. All of it was bended by Tasha’s Mage Hand.

The battle turns into a battle of tag.

Tasha would chase Louis while Louis attacked from the distance. Louis clearly has the advantage of impulsive speed, but Tasha would close in on him when he charges his attacks.

When Louis attacked, Tasha would manipulate the incoming barrages of attack with his other hand, and dodge them whether they are blades of wind, earth, fire or lightning.

At one time Tasha dodged Louis attack with paper thin margin. As the result his barrier got obliterated from the chaotic elemental attack and his left arm gotten cuts.

It was a wind barrage of blades.

If this was the earlier energy attack, his left side of his body would’ve completely burned from radiated energy. At best, he would be disabled for the rest of his life, and at worst death.

Both of their style of battle was insane. None of the battle-style from this kingdom was comparable to them.

Especially that guy, many things could go wrong. His life would be gone just from a single mistake. He couldn’t possibly be assured that Louis will not attack with the beams of blade. She can only conclude that he is—

‘A complete maniac!’ Ovelia concluded her thought.

This sacrifice put him close enough to Louis.

“It’s over” Tasha said.

The speck of light flew at a speed invisible to the naked eye. It gathers mana even after it left Tasha’s reach.

This time, Ovelia gets a clear look of it. The speck of light behaved oddly in her eyes. It was similar to what she saw when she was on a past mission.

Nodes of mana.

It was when mana and pure Natural Element particle cluster together. They can naturally be found at certain ecosystem of mana, where they rejuvenate the surrounding particle. They are particularly useful for recuperating injury and alchemical purposes.

Especially nobles, they like to have Nodes around their bedroom for it enhances one’s health. They also believed it can prolong lifespan.

It was similar, yet not quite right. She saw the particle clustered with mana and continue to gather mana. But it doesn’t seem to have the rejuvenating effect of nodes.

The point of light attaches itself to Louis’ barrier.

“Fuck!” he cursed.

The moment it enters the area which the Aegis radiates mana, it furiously absorbs the surrounding mana. The surrounding mana becomes the subject of entropy under Tasha’s control as the Aspects fuses under his command—he became the ruler of them in this little bubble of moments.

Louis immediately canceled his barrier, and catapulted backwards away from the speck of light. He put the halberd in front of him. Black metal flows from it. It has a viscous quality which keeps expanding in size, enveloping Louis’ arms and torso in a blink of an eye. Unfortunately, it was unable to cover his entire body.

But Tasha knew Louis’ mannerism of battle very well. He released his control over the particle—the only thing keeping the speck of light balanced.

All of this happened in mere moments.

‘This guy… don’t tell me he can control when it explodes too!?’

“Behind me!” Elle said.

*BOOOOOM!!!*

—An explosion bigger than before shook the earth. Although the shockwave was contained, it didn’t stop it from disintegrating the hard stone floor, such that the mithril alloy track within its reach was reduced to pieces too.

Debris and dust gets thrown around the tunnel, obstructing visibility.

Waiting the dust to settle, Ovelia stood up from the mental shock. Elle’s barrier kept them safe from the debris. She was completely unharmed.

She now understood the reason behind why Louis avoided that guy from getting too close. It was because of that spell. A terrifying spell with an ability to explode in scale with how much mana it gathered without any consequence. But that wasn’t of her concern now.

She can hear clanks of steps coming echoing. She saw a shadow walking in the distance.

“Louis!” She shouted. There’s no reply. She looks around the surrounding area.

It wasn’t Louis.

‘No magi could ever survive this attack. Not even all Archmagi would be able to survive it’ she thought.

Although Louis’ enthusiasm was sometimes annoying, she didn’t hate him. She would never hate him.

Knowing him throughout the past weeks was a great time for her. They spent time each other on research, and he would gladly help her when he’s free. He treated her with a kindness which she didn’t expect.

He is brilliant in researches of Runes, but she thinks his cheerful attitude is more brilliant.

She even thought of him as a sweet little guy.

Elle remain unfazed this entire time.

Looking through the distance some more, she can barely see a halberd embedded on the floor. The brilliance of the golden pattern had dimmed significantly. Not far from it she saw a boy lying down, the Aegis float still on top of him.

“Louis…”

Surprisingly, no burn marks could be seen in Louis. The only real injury he got was from over-exerting his body, trying to contain the amplifying effect of the mana. Thus it temporarily injured his muscles and tendons.

He was also covered in a tattered black metal which negated most of the raging energy. Strange Runes flowed with golden pattern on it, but was nowhere as bright and brilliant as the one found in the halberd before.

It encased his body like armor. Though not all of it, it only covered his arms, torso, and some part of his thigh—which means the rest of Louis’ pants were gone. Surprisingly, his long red scarf was all right, only that it was covered with dusts.

Wanting to check his condition, Ovelia started walking impatiently, but she immediately stopped when Elle raises he hand in front of her.

Louis hand flinched. He struggled to get up.

“Urghh…”

Ovelia lets out a sigh of relief when she saw Louis was alive.

“Next time*cough* you omits the truth from me again, I’ll beat the shit out of you twice as hard.”

Then Tasha takes a peek at Louis’ half-gone pants. It was cluttered even worse than his black armor, with most of being gone. Only some patch of his pants remain to cover his special region. The color red stood out among the patches.

“*Whistle* HAHA-HA! You like the color red so much that your underwear is even red? What are you a 5^th grader? Look, even your girlfriend thinks it’s funny! HAHAHAHA!” Tasha laughed louder than a child.

“SHUT THE HELL UP!!!” Louis shouted in surprise. His face contorts as it become red with embarrassment. He glances at Ovelia, only for his face to become redder.

Ovelia chuckled. Seeing that Louis’ is all right, Ovelia’s worries fade.

‘Dammit! This guy even went on his way to detonate his spell at just the right distance, so that my underwear is exposed but it won’t roast my skin? Fucking jerk! Bringing out the Aegis was a mistake indeed.’ Louis lamented as he grits his teeth.

“All right-All right. Here, Get up” Tasha said. He held out his hand to him.

“Th..anks Helmer*cough*”

Louis grabbed his arm and he stood up with much difficulty. Tasha was kind enough to support him on his shoulder.

“Crap!”

Tasha glared at the Aegis and reach out with his hand.

But he was too late.

A flying figure grabbed the Aegis a moment faster than him. It was a girl around her mid-age.

She wore a fiery red garb which color is similar to her hair. The way she floats in the air matches her angelic face. Her proportional curves bring men to awe her beauty such as it completed her fierce appearance.

She held the Aegis in her right hand.

She is the superintendent supervising all of the research in The Royal Research Institute.

“Senior Agris!” Ovelia shouted.

“So you were their accomplice, no matter. You on the other hand shall be executed for thievery of a national treasure” she pointed at Louis.

‘Both them was scheming for the Aegis from the very start…what are their connection to the Flying Ark? Was there a traitor among us TROI? No matter, because—’

“The Kingsman are on their way, all of you shall be punished. Hand over the thief or you’ll be executed too!”

‘The Kingsman? Oh, Aren’t they the group who turn our ship in?’

On his 2 month of stay in this kingdom, Tasha learned of that name in many place.

They are the most elite of the elite party of fighters and minds who symbolize order to the ruling class in this kingdom. The Kingsman is powerful group which has the authority next to the king himself, they are capable of resolving a threat which endangers the nation.

They are quite the trouble for Tasha himself although hadn’t met them personally.

For they to come here personally, surely this matter of “thievery” have escalated so much that they are moving to deal with it.

But that wasn’t really what he concern of.

“Okay, put away the Aegis first.”

Agris was a bit surprised.

‘Isn’t this a heist? If so, aren’t they taking a chance to reclaim the Aegis if there is an opportunity?’ she thought.

Looking closer at her target, she examined them closely.

One was a youth Magi with pale colored robe, his hood shaded half of his face but it cannot hide his brown hair. He stood tall supporting the injured boy beside him.

Another was the injured boy supported by the guy, the thief who stole the Aegis. He was wearing an odd tattered breastplate which was black in color, and dim golden line flowed on it. She knew him, the boy. He was a gifted child in magic. Glancing at the other way, she recognized the other recruit who joined on the ark project.

Looking from the previous scene, the reason they are fighting seems to be the Aegis. But she didn’t really understand why that guy would help the thief now. Agris concluded that they had come into an agreement.

And the only logical reason of why he asked her to put away the crystal is if they were afraid.

She clutches the crystal tighter. With it she concluded her thoughts.

Seeing that the girl in floating above him won’t put away the Aegis, Tasha let out a sigh and prepared for battle.

“The lady up there! Put away the Aegis and I’ll give this guy to you!”

“You have no rights to give demand!”

She charged a spell with her other hand.

The moment she does so, the Aegis gleamed with a mana more lustrous than the sunlight.

She didn’t let the spell went out of control. She tried suppressing it and releases it in another direction.

What came out is a raging inferno ravaging the already tattered stone floor like waves of the ocean. Not only it burns hotter than the sun’s surface, the spell lit the whole tunnel brighter than a sunny day.

Although they weren’t the target of the spell, the residual heat is something that is equally capable of roasting them alive.

The tunnel wall became hollowed from the fire.

The fire continues in a spree of madness as if it was a wave in the middle of the stormy sea.

Luckily Tasha's barrier made in time.

The stone behind the now gone pavements and walls was absent of lights as to show the depth of the tear. It lingers there—the darkness—as a memento of how mighty the force behind the cause was.

“Dear lord this is such a drag” Tasha said.