Even now, the divine lightning courses through the prison. The pained bellows of the other soldiers echo across the halls. As I run across, I notice them groan in pain. Somehow they are not dead, or were not purposefully attacked to end their life. I don’t understand.

Red.

There was no red.

I definitely noticed more people collapsed under our banner than the other. In fact, now that we’re finally in, I’m only seeing Mysmegalos Soldiers. Whoever this hooded figure is, he’s good. I didn't expect to somewhat enjoy this. Everyone else was simply in the way.

I stop once I reach a door.

This is it.

Behind these doors is where the hooded man ran away into. My commanding officer started to whisper his orders to all of us. The magicians will cast a combination of spells in order to disable him and anyone else who may be in this room. First, they will cast Flash, which is so uncreative it bothers even me; all it does is radiate a blinding light that prevents others from seeing for a short time. Second, the ones who are not casting Flash will cast Mute, which prevents magic from being used. Honestly, I don't get how that spell works since it just prevents others from speaking? It probably has something to do with reading the atmosphere.

Afterwards, all of us non-magic users will charge at the hooded man and neutralize him. Whatever that means; regardless, I will strike him down or he will surrender. Doesn't matter to me. In these few seconds our commander kicks open the door. This hastily concocted plan is now going to be acted upon.

“Now!”

As the mages finish their incoherent babble in order to use their magic, we bust open the door. Just like that, the entire room was filled with a blinding light. In this brief moment, I shield my eyes and scan for the man wearing the robes. I’m not sure if the effects of Mute was done or not since I can’t read that on anyone I’m facing.

All I have to do is eliminate those that are in this room. Instantly, as we enter the room, iron spikes are launched directly at us. Using my swords, I deflect the one aiming at me away, but at the very moment, I hear the metallic cling, I feel a surge of electricity blast through me.

“Nnggh..!”

My insides… they feel like they’re roasting. I stop moving to keep my knees from buckling. The intensity is nothing like before. I hear the other soldiers behind me scream in pain. Every one of us who charged in first was greeted by a surge of electricity. Strangely, everyone other than me collapsed to this power. Disgruntled, the commander squeals at the mages.

“What the hell were you doing?! He’s not supposed to be able to use magic!”

Just like that, with blinding speed the robed man strikes through the commander and unleashes a similar wave of lightning towards the magicians. A few moments and the group I arrived with was already decimated. It was effortless, not even worthy of any note, as if he was disposing us like we’re garbage.

The two green onions that were a part of my squad were convulsing on the ground, along with that swordsman that kept following me.

I stare down at this man… I can’t see his face, but he has jet black hair protruding out of his hood, slightly above average in height and a silent demeanor. What I am wary of; however, is his sword wreathed in cerulean lightning. The electricity pulses between his hands and to the end of his blade with static arching through it.

When he notices I’m still conscious, he directs his ethereal blade towards me. I have no choice but to force myself into a combat stance.

Lightning passes through me, I felt nothing, but instinct drives me to block my blind side with my left blade.

Crash!

[https://imgur.com/kHGvDEi.jpeg]

The moment my sword is raised to defend, my arm swings up from blocking the force. With my other hand I swing my right blade into the space I felt the strike. However, once again, my arm was forcibly removed from the area.

This motion repeated itself for what seemed like forever, but in reality, it was probably only a few seconds. Soon my arms won’t be able to keep up with the strikes. It wasn’t about how strong the attacks were, but with every single exchange I felt the prickling sensation of electricity surging right through my swords. My blood is boiling. The lack of control I have over this exchange, the risk against my own life, all of it is flooding through my mind.

In order to disengage from his relentless hits, I used both swords to block a single strike. Using the force from the hit, I roll myself backwards.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

I know I don’t have much time. In fact these thoughts are itself, cutting down the response I can give to this man’s attacks. I expected a pursuit, but instead the man just stood there pointing his blade away from me.

I see… He was affected by the Flash that the mages did. Before I knew it, I leapt forward, swinging my blade against his neck. Barely, he resisted my strike, and I noticed a change.

His ethereal blade flickered red. I’m not sure what that meant, but this was my chance to have revenge. I kept swinging my blades at my assailant, one after another. Every strike caused his blade to flicker red and his sword begun to fluctuate more to an unstable looking form.

This was it; with my right arm, I struck at an unusual angle, aiming at his ribs. Once he avoided that, I used my left arm to swing down a powerful slash towards his head.

“Guh…!”

This is the first time I heard him respond. However, once our blades clashed sparks of red electricity blasted into the air. This should be the end of it. Soon, his sword will be dispelled and I can finish the job. The sword that was wreathed in a seemingly divine light was now coursing with a vibrant red pulse. The man stumbles backwards, and while I’d like to finish this, the blade keeps emitting dangerous electricity all around.

The increased heat that was dispersed from the sword is too much and with a brief scream, he swings his blade into the air.

For a moment, I thought of it as a pathetic display, until crimson lightning radiates from the blade. Unleashed from the blade, an immensely powerful discharge blasted through the ceiling with a deafening roar, echoing throughout the ward.

The roofing above us was missing. I guess there are no stars in this part of the country. The clouds of dust and fragments of debris rain down upon us, but they’re nothing more than soot that is dispersed on impact. I couldn’t move, the display of power was beyond anything I can comprehend.

When the dust settles I can see the man arched over, holding his sword with both arms. Heat radiates from the sword, but it is no longer covered in electricity. He was breathing heavily, likely from the sheer force that was unleashed just now.

However, that wasn’t important. Now that his hood shifted off his head, I could finally see his face.

There was that jet black hair I noticed earlier, but even though he was squinting, trying to adjust to the change of light, I could tell.

Piercing amber eyes, captivating amber eyes. The same eyes… that reassured me when I was just an afraid child.

I stood there in shock. Until the man started to speak.

“The effects of the spell from earlier is starting wear off. What will you do, ‘hero’? I have to say, you’re pretty sloppy at using those two swords.”

Speechless, I approached him. Honestly, I feel the years of darkness slowly creeping up on me. Just a moment ago, I felt a pit of anger for this assailant who struck down the other people with me, but now? I’m not sure. Bitterly accepting the silence, the man glared right back at me.

“We surrendered this place to you and we were still attacked, we should have expected better—”

When his eyes finally adjusted, we looked at each other face-to-face. In complete disbelief he uttered the words I’ve always wanted to hear for the past four years.

“E…claire...?”

Sure, it was not the tone I would have liked, but it’s nice.

There isn’t anything in this world that could describe that feeling. I’m not even sure why I was so happy hearing my name from him after so long. I felt numb, probably from all the electrical discharges I took, but that’s beside the point. He is… Wing, isn’t he?

His voice became deeper, sharper, and more confident.

The cynical edge in his words.

It has to be… it was him.

Before I could reply back to him, we heard marching and shouting from soldiers of both sides charging where we were in the dilapidated ward.

“It came from here! Hurry!”

Frustrated, Wing closed his eyes and paused. I felt a mysterious pressure coming from him, one that I only sense around magic users. I suppose he was using that strange ability with his sword.

[Flame Tempest] Wing focuses magic on his sword and unleashes spiral flames.

Rather than engulfing fire, it had warmth, as if it was protecting us.

I wondered if he could teach me that, too. Before I could finish that thought, intense flames surrounded us, expanding against both sides of the confrontation. He then started to address me.

“Eclaire, we really have to go, we can talk after we’re out of here.”

“…Okay!”