"Those eternal flowers had the power to read people's hearts," Neo continued. Amarok clashed with the lances. Sparkles exploded upon impact. The air was whistling under their move. Amarok fought, Neo counted the story preventing anyone from cornering Amarok.

"Once you offered an eternal flower to someone. If his heart bore ill intention, it would shed into darkness," Neo continued. Pulling Amarok by the shoulder, sending him flying in mid-air. Neo evaded the lance aiming for his head. His foot smashed with a cracking sound, sending another guard biting the ground. Two lances were charging at Neo's back.

Amarok descended, his sword forming a dazzling arc. The world seemed to be shed, leaving a trail of white. The sword and the lance collided, sparkles bloomed. The lance was sent burying into the ground, shattering upon impact, sending debris flying everywhere. Amarok and Neo were now back to back.

A lance pierced towards Amarok's head. He bent, dodging the blow. The lance kept charging forward, its momentum unstable. Neo shifted his upper body, deflecting the lance with a single arm. Then he caught it before the guard could retract it.Amarok spun while bent, arriving before Neo's front. His sword drew another dazzling arc upward, another firework of sparkles exploded. The lance was sent smashing into the luster above.

Then Amarok and Neo shifted once more, moving in opposite directions. The luster crashed at the center with a resounding thud. The glass particles flew in every direction. Many stepped back to avoid getting hit. The particles flew towards the table of the City Lord. He scoffed; a Rune appeared before them, blocking the deadly projectiles.

"The Lord of the Garden Mountain used this to his advantage, eradicating all his enemies," Neo kept speaking. The number of guards had increased; it looked like all the City guards had come this time.

Amarok and Neo looked tiny before the sea of people. They had stains of blood on their clothes and were already drenched in sweat.

"What are you waiting for?" City Lord said impatient. If at first some thought they had a chance of leaving, now it was clear they were doomed. The City guards unleashed their Rune weapons. A dazzling halo of colors exploded in the hall. Amarok and Neo turned serious.

A guard sliced forward, his aura exploding violently. The air whistled; his leather armor flapped as he moved. His sword shimmered with fire. Amarok and the guard collided, a blinding halo of fiery sparkles exploded, forcing the onlookers to hide their eyes. Their swords trembled. A hurricane swept through Amarok's hairs as he was sent flying back into Neo's arms.

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"If by any ill luck, you touched the flower and it turned dark," Neo pounced forward. The guard smirked as his sword slashed once more, drawing a fiery arc.

Neo moved with the sword side by side; it was a few centimeters away from his left thigh, but he kept moving along the arc. Appearing before the shocked guard, his fist landed on the guard's chest. "You die," Neo added. The guard was sent straight into the tables, smashing everything to pieces.

The guests looked frustrated at the food spilled on the ground. "A massacre ensued, blood flowed," Neo said, his fist delivering a powerful uppercut that sent his enemy in the stars, lifting him from the ground, blood splashing out.

"Bones broke," Neo kept speaking. Amarok gritted his teeth, letting the lance shimmering with fire slice through his shoulder. Then his sword landed on the guard's waist. A clear cracking sound echoed; the guard's eyes turned white in a flash.

"He was unwilling to let it continue and decided to stop growing eternal flowers. The Lord of the Garden Mountain decided to inflict his judgment and capture his daughter," they had all entered an intense battle.

Neo was slashed several times protecting Amarok. Blood was staining his clothes. His body was covered in burn marks. He felt unimaginable pain. His eyes were shining as he kept counting.

A guard dashed forward, waving a long lance with a curved tip. He pounced in the air. The lance bloomed with wild energy. The Rune called Mountain Rock came crashing. Amarok tried to block the lance, but his sword shattered upon impact. He and Neo were both sent biting the ground.

Was the fight finally over? Many asked themselves. Lyra gritted her teeth, gripping tightly on her skirt. Her heart was beating violently. Was it really going to end like this? They wanted to know the end of the story, what happened next.

Neo was spitting blood as he tried to get up. Amarok was in no better shape. His ears were ringing, his vision blurry. He felt like all his bones had been broken, his body screaming of agony. He was not yet screaming because he had no strength left for it. All he could do was shoot hateful stares at the City Lord, unable to even lift his body off the ground. His teeth were clenched tight.

Then Neo was lifted with a single hand by the guard with the curved point lance. His eyes were that of mockery. These two daredevils had tried to fight an entire unit of guards armed with Rune weapons with a single normal sword.

How presumptuous. The most frustrating part is they even defeated two of them. His entire unit was humiliated by these two in front of so many people. How could he let it go? He raised his free hand with the lance ready to finish his job.

The crowd was antsy right now; they only wanted him to finish the story before he could die, some even praying for him to live slightly longer. Neo's breath was heretic and loud. Now that the sound of fighting had stopped, it was the only thing heard.

One could hear his chest heaving up and down, his breath becoming weaker with time. Time seemed to slow down. They kept staring at the half-conscious Neo. The crowd held their breath.