"Look out! They're all around us!" Kai yelled as the next few moments descended into chaos for the princes.
A huge invisible force battered their bodies left and right, making them unable to move freely on their own feet.
Kion stabbed the sharp end of his long sword in the earth, anchoring himself to the ground despite the waves of that came at him from all directions.
Kai noticed his move and did the same finding the task quite easy with his elevated strength.
Mouse was clearly trying to disorient them so the rest of her goons would easily pick them out like flies. It was a simple trick of the book, one that Kion was not going to fall for.
The other mercenaries—seemingly tired of hiding themselves within the trees—finally decided to show their faces as they descended all around them, surrounding the two princes in a tight circle.
"Ready? This is it." Kion said, his back pressed to his half brother's
Kai remained quiet, but expressed his readiness with an affirmative nod.
Both princes struck in unison.
The first wave of mercenaries came. Kion remembered the bulky man from earlier who had knocked him out as well as the woman Mouse had ordered to pillage his carriage. These two mercenaries came at him from both directions, attempting to overwhelm him with synchronized strikes.
Kion calmed his breathing. The basic lessons Shaman had given him based on his fire mana replaying in his mind.
"A fire is something that can only be stoked with small consecutive amounts of oxygen, not a rush of air, as most people assume. Just breathe, and remain calm. Only a peaceful mind can wield the flame."
That was the first step for him to unleashing his power.
He watched his attackers in slow-mo, their bodies flying at him with the same speed, agility and force, one attacking from the east, and the other from the west.
They were going to meet him in the middle, at the same time. This gave him an idea.
The woman wrapped Kion with her whipchain, ensuring that there was absolutely nothing the prince could do to escape the force of the man's mace strike. At the same time, the man reared up his giant mace for a brutal crushing strike that was sure to break some of Kion's bones.
Meanwhile, the young prince smiled within himself. He vaguely remembered Lukas, deploying the same move with his ice-mancy to hold Kuvira in place.
It was a textbook move. He'd been the one to teach them.
So he sure as hell knew how to avoid it.
His amber eyes glowed faintly, and the next thing that happened made the two mercenaries shocked.
[Smoke Form].
Their attacks met only empty space, and billowing plumes of black toxic gas.
Kion had disintegrated into smoke before their very eyes.
The waves of smoke particles rushed over them, swooshing and picking its way through their nostrils and into their lungs and eyes, causing them to cry, wretch and cough.
It was something they had not expected, as they were momentarily stunned.
After a quick moment, the acrid smoke gathered, materializing into the young prince that they were once sure they had struck.
Kion smirked at what played out before him. Two stunned mercenaries, standing right where he wanted them.
Now, the finishing move.
Kill them.
The young prince's eyes glowed once more as he activated another move: [Fire Barrage].
Obliterate them.
His longsword glowed with primal heat as he readied himself for what would be their end.
Destroy them all!
"Hrraggghhhh". KIon screamed
[Fire Slash]
Using the power of two skills, he slashed at the air in rapid successive arcs, creating crescent-shaped waves of fire that flew at the enemy with blinding speed.
The man and woman were not spared when hundreds of fire crescents crashed against their bodies.
The heat singed their clothes of their skin. The force of each successful hit sent them stumbling, breaking their bones and searing their flesh.
In the end, they were reduced to a mere heap of blackened ash.
Congratulations, young blood.
Kion finally noticed the voice of Tyril Everglade.
The bloodlust finally cleared from his eyes. He hadn't even noticed that he had been seeing everything in red.
He watched in awe as a floating screen of some sort materialized before his eyes.
{WELCOME TO THE ANCESTRAL SOUL-STEALING SYSTEM!]
***
Kai, on a similar note, did not spare his opponents.
Maybe it was the fact that he'd had so many failures in such little time, or his mere hatred for the mercenaries who had caused his dad to call him a royal clown, but there was an unmistakable fury in his eyes which shone bright gold as he called upon skills from his light-mancy domain.
[Light Speed]…[Light Slash]…[Heaven's Strike]
Kai finished up his two men with a barrage of Light daggers that fell from the sky.
He had an impressive rack, just like Kion.
When he had finished, he turned around to get a view of how his brother had fared.
Kion seemed to had fared better than his opponents, whose corpses smoldered with blackened ash.
But Kai's heart sank when he saw Kion standing, staring into space in a somewhat hypnotized and dazed state, as a mercenary crept towards him, a dagger dangerously concealed within the man's robes.
***
Kai was tempted to leave Kion to die.
What was the lunatic thinking, staring into space like that at a time like this?
Was he trying to get himself killed?
But then there was the fact that he could be under some sort of spell. Kai knew enough to discern that these mercenaries didn't operate under some sort of illusion-mancy.
No, this whole thing had magic-mancy written all over it. The invisible telekinetic waves already explained that much.
But Kai couldn't feel any aura coming from the mercenaries.
No.
The magic-mancer had to be Mouse.
She must have cast invisibility spells on the mercenaries when they'd struck earlier, making it so that even he couldn't see through their trickery.
It was all magic.
And she was the source.
He'd long figured this out, and his new sim was to take her out.
He was sure that Kion, as smart as he was, would have figured that out too.
But the boy stood frozen to the spot, like he'd seen a ghost.
The dagger wielding mercenary drew near.
Kai knew he had to act now.