"Of course! You saw it yourself!" he replied with a smile on his lips, and then the door closed, leaving the principal and Lily sharing a hug.
"Dahlia... Do you want to go to school?" Lum asked Dahlia while they walked along the sidewalk.
"Yes! I'd love to!" Dahlia replied excitedly, raising both of her left hands.
"Xitlari... Xitlari!" Kassie said, making Xitlari react.
"Huh?! What... what happened?" Xitlari asked, a bit confused, stopping in her tracks.
"You've been quiet for a while. Did something happen?" Kassie replied in front of her, with Louis by her side.
"Do you want me to help?" Louis asked with a concerned face.
"No, I'm fine, let's continue!" Xitlari answered, giving a nod of her head and then continuing her walk.
Kassie watched her as she kept walking toward the kingdom center. "Maybe I should change the subject," Kassie thought. "Hey, Louis, did you know this gem I have can exorcise spirits and curses?" she mentioned, touching the gem with her index finger, making a slight sound.
"Really?! Have you used it before?" Louis was surprised by the revelation, also feeling curious.
"Yes, it used to be blue, but I've exorcised so many that it only has one use left. When I use the last one, it will turn dark and must be destroyed," she said with a slight smile. "Also, it gives me a vision of the future to show me what the next target will be, but... for some reason, it hasn't given the last vision. I'm actually happy about that because it was a gift from my brother and... it's the reason I stayed here instead of going back to my kingdom." Remembering her brother made Kassie's tone become a little sad and melancholic.
"He must have been a great brother... I read about exorciser objects. They're very powerful, but high-ranking ones come with a cost to use them," Louis mentioned, trying to ease the feeling he noticed in Kassie's voice.
"How do you know so much? And... when do you have time to read?" Kassie asked, surprised that Louis knew about that.
"My teacher Rei, after that day... I didn't want anything, I was sad and... honestly, I didn't want to keep living," he said, feeling regretful. "But he encouraged me, and I started reading all the books he gave me. It was part of his training." Louis smiled as he remembered a small part of his training with Rei over the last six years while continuing to walk.
"What was his training like?" Xitlari asked curiously, briefly directing her gaze at Louis.
"Pretty tough, I'd say... In the fourth year, he made me carry a meteor that had fallen near the kingdom to the top of a volcano, and then he threw me off," Louis responded, a bit annoyed as he remembered that day.
"What?! Oh my God! That's crazy... Fortunately, you can withstand lava," Kassie exclaimed with great surprise, turning her gaze to Louis.
"He's the son of Lion Fordesthmans, but he's still a bit crazy... I also want to tell you something. I think... about that day," Xitlari said while adjusting the capsule on her shoulder.
For a moment, Kassie turned, showing her worried face at Xitlari's comment. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I think a talkative bird would tell me to do it," Xitlari replied with a slight smile on her face. "The day I'm talking about... It was a very important day for me and my father... He had received a call from a sponsor who would take his food chain to other kingdoms, and I was going to participate in my second magical martial arts tournament, three years ago."
"Dad, I'm ready!" Dahlia expressed excitedly, with a small smile on her face after finishing putting on a black compression shirt with long sleeves. She also wore white leggings with black shorts that covered up to her knees and black fighting gloves for the tournament. Her hair was much longer than it is now, and she looked younger, measuring 173 cm at that time. Dahlia's room had an L-shaped space. In the longer part, there was a bed with a small piece of furniture beside it. On top of the furniture, there was a silver medal and a square alarm clock. In front of the bed was a medium-sized window decorated with a blue curtain, letting sunlight in, and a brown desk with some notebooks on top. In the shorter part of the L, there was a white two-door wardrobe with a long mirror on the right door, and in front of the wardrobe, the door to leave the room. Dahlia ran out of her room and down the stairs, jumping, reaching the front entrance of the house.
"Dahlia..." Lum said, approaching her. He was wearing a white apron and had the kitchen on. This was a completely unusual kitchen: it had 8 burners and 4 ovens, as well as a large amount of ingredients on a rectangular table. "Today will be very important for both of us... I'm sorry I can't be with you, but I'll be watching you on the holographic broadcast and supporting you with all my being." Lum touched Dahlia's cheek, feeling a little guilty for not being able to be with his daughter.
"Don't worry, you must follow your dream too!" Dahlia expressed with understanding and happiness on her face, taking Lum's hand. Additionally, a car horn was heard waiting outside. "Thank you for everything, Dad," she said before leaving through the door and getting into a tall, rectangular car with several windows. It carried multiple passengers and was white with black.
"Good luck," Lum expressed, smiling while raising his hand and watching his daughter leave.
The car passed through the kingdom before reaching the city center, where the tournament would take place. On the car, a girl with white hair and blue eyes wore a button-up shirt with embroidery on the collar, under a dark skirt with golden lines on the edges, and black sneakers. She also had a brown hoop with golden lines in her hair. She was 165 cm tall. Next to her was her twin brother, Caspian, with the same clothing style, except he wore pants and his shirt had no embroidery on the collar.
"Can't be! But that's Dahlia... You're coming to the tournament to be my shadow for another two years," she said in a whimsical but refined voice. "Ha, ha, ha. Do you really still think someone like you can beat me?" she asked, touching her right extra arm.
"Get out of here, Blanca. We'll decide that in the final," Dahlia said, fixing her gaze on the bus window.
"What?... Did you say my middle name... to annoy me!? Right?!" she expressed angrily, pressing her hands together. "Anyway, it didn't work!" she said while retreating angrily to her seat, making a sound of contempt with her mouth.
"Don't think you can beat my sister," Caspian said with a serious and calm voice before following his sister.
"We'll see about that," Dahlia whispered after watching how the brother left with Blanca.
The car finally reached the city center. Trumpets sounded to announce the magical martial arts tournament, while many wizards in royal gray coats with a star on their back prepared the venue using magic. The platform was made of a prefab material in a brown color, and the concrete bleachers had special wood seats. At high speed, the wizards assembled the entire stadium, setting up lights, connecting cables, placing seats, and finishing the platform, using wind and earth magic. The stadium also had a reserved section for the king and his son, with a large window to view every match of the tournament. Once finished, the people of the kingdom began to arrive and occupy every seat. The stadium filled up quickly.
After finishing the preparations, a man in a red suit with a tail and black pants approached the platform. He was holding a silver case and also wore a black hat. The man opened the case and threw it away. "Hello everyone, friends! Are you ready for this wonderful tournament?" the man shouted through a triangular microphone that had a gem in its handle, which shone every time he spoke. The referee and the loudspeakers, placed high on the walls, shone from within as they also had the same gem inside them. Everyone in the stadium shouted with excitement.
"Alright, this is your friend Rop, and I will be the referee for this tournament. LET'S BEGIN! This year, we have incredible participants and, of course, our beloved king Shane Ystir! And, of course, our dear prince Lue Ystir!" he said, and then the crowd's cheers could be heard. The king waved from the booth, with his son by his side.
A large virtual screen appeared with all the participants. The screen showed how it randomly selected one participant at a time, placing a reference image on each bracket. The total number of participants was 18.
"There are more people in the bleachers than in the last tournament," Dahlia thought nervously, watching the broadcast through a hologram in the locker rooms. The place had several lockers for changing clothes and seats attached to the wall, plus a hologram of the broadcast in front of the seats.
"Are you going to present yourself like that?... Ha, I thought you'd have something better. There are a lot more fans in this tournament than the last one, so... you should show off," Blanca said while looking at the participant bracket and stretching a bit. Blanca wore a light blue shirt with a collar that left her shoulders exposed. It also had pink petal drawings on her chest and abdomen. She wore grayish pants and combat boots. In addition to Blanca, there were eight other participants in the tournament in those locker rooms.
"Wow! Looks like I'm first. See you, Dahlia. Good luck, you'll need it," she said while heading out the door.
"Wow! It looks like I’m first. See you, Dahlia. Good luck, you’ll need it," she said as she walked out the door. "Seriously, you’re going to need it," she said mockingly, poking her face through the door.
"Just go already!" Dahlia said, annoyed.
"What a temper... Hahaha," she said in a mocking tone, then walked out the door.
"Alright, everyone! The first match will be between Tim Marnie and the champion of the last tournament, Blan..." Rop said excitedly, until he noticed a furious presence in the distance: it was Blanca. She glared at Rop with crossed arms.
"I mean... Jazmín Blirip!" he shouted after reviewing the participant list. Blanca's expression changed and she smiled, preparing to head to the platform.
"I thought I was going to die... Ah," Rop said, frightened, pulling the microphone away from his mouth.
Blanca and her opponent Tim took their positions. The bell rang to start the first match.
"Is that girl named Blanca still here in Ystir?" Louis asked, interrupting the story.
"No, because the king died, her father took both her and her brother to the kingdom of Lynquia," Xitlari responded calmly.
"I see. The king’s death must have been hard on everyone... At least that’s what I’ve heard," he said, though deep inside, he knew no words could truly capture the weight of that loss.
"It was... He was an incredible king... The battles in the tournament were very interesting, but the one I was most looking forward to was the final against Blanca," Xitlari said with slight sadness on her face, then continued the story.
"The champion takes the victory!" Rop said energetically. "This fight was very humiliating for Tim!" A group of four people wearing light blue shirts and white pants carried Tim off on a stretcher.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the next match will be between Yamada Sumi and the runner-up, Dahlia Xitlari!" he announced as two mages repaired the damage to the platform.
"Go, Yamada, disqualify that phenomenon!" a man shouted. "You can do it!" said a boy sitting with Lily and several other children in the stands.
"Hey, it’s unfair that she uses her four arms!" a woman, who seemed to be Yamada's mother, yelled. After her comment, many people began booing Dahlia.
"Calm down, everyone! Just like in the previous tournament, Dahlia Xitlari will only use two of her hands. If she uses one more, she will be disqualified," the referee commented, somewhat irritated by the people's behavior.
Louis watched them for a moment, feeling a little bad seeing their attitude. "In the time I've been here... There’s no doubt, if they find out I’m half-demon, they’ll hate me. Luckily, people don’t have access to the paladins' information," Louis thought as he kept walking. "People can be awful sometimes, at least not everyone hates you..." Louis said, a little sad, lowering his gaze.
"You don’t have to remember that if you don’t want to, Xitlari. Some people in this kingdom... are a nuisance," he said, giving a serious look to the sidewalk after passing the car zone, where there were many more people walking than in the area they were in.
"Hey, Xitlari, didn’t you have any trouble with any fights?" Louis asked, trying to change the subject from the people.
"In my first tournament, yes, but in this one... The only fight that was a bit... was the final," she replied, adjusting the capsule on her other shoulder.
"Are you sure you..." Louis said, concerned.
"Yes, don’t worry... I’ll tell you about the final match so we don’t drag it on, we’re almost at the center of the kingdom," Xitlari interrupted Louis while stretching one of her right arms. "In the final against Blanca, she..."
"It seems like it’s just you and me again, but you’ll still be behind me," Blanca said confidently. "Although I was hoping to fight the fire magic guy you beat in your last match, he was more interesting," she added while stretching on the platform.
"Sorry to disappoint you," Dahlia said, placing two of her hands behind her back after warming up a bit.
"What are you doing? With me, you can fight with all your four arms, you know that!" Blanca expressed, annoyed and confused. "Referee!"
"Eh?! Well, I can’t do anything... It’s not against the rules that she doesn’t want to fight with all her arms," Rop replied, a bit scared of Blanca.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
"I'm sorry, but this is very unfair to you," Dahlia said seriously.
"The fight will start... NOW!" Rop shouted.
"Fine... If that’s what you want! I’ll humiliate you for thinking you're something," Blanca said, taking her fighting stance.
Gaining momentum with her legs, Blanca rushed to land a punch to Dahlia’s face, but Dahlia stopped the punch with one of her hands and then punched her in the stomach, making her stumble back and groan in pain. Everyone who supported Blanca was stunned and couldn’t believe it.
The only ones shouting were less than half of the people in the stadium. I would say about 20% of the entire stadium was supporting Dahlia.
"When... did you get this strength?" Blanca asked, with slight difficulty breathing and one hand on her stomach.
"This is my new self," Dahlia replied simply, then moved closer to kick her, which Blanca managed to dodge by crouching. Then, Dahlia continued throwing punches with two of her hands. Blanca barely managed to dodge them until one landed on her shoulder. Blanca tried to attack again, spinning and launching a kick to Dahlia’s face. Dahlia stopped the kick with her hand and then grabbed Blanca by her leg to punch her in the face, sending her falling to the ground.
"It can’t... be," Blanca muttered on the ground, then looked up to see a hooded man watching the fight.
"No... NOOO! YOU WON’T BEAT ME!" Blanca screamed, getting up from the ground, furious. Suddenly, her body began to grow larger and was covered in white fur with black stripes. Her hands grew bigger. Then, she closed her hand and started growing white fur on her hand, and then opened her hand again, growing large claws like a tiger’s. A tail appeared at the lower part of her back, tearing a hole in her clothes. Her face transformed into that of a tiger. Her ears moved to the top of her head. Her eyes were still blue, but now like those of a feline. She now stood at 175 cm, and the only thing that didn’t change was her hair. Everyone in the stands was speechless at such a revelation.
"That’s right, daughter! Don’t be afraid of who you are, show the world your true self!" shouted a tiger man with white fur and black stripes after taking off his hood, raising his hands with joy and pride.
"Ahhh! A monster!" a woman screamed, pointing at Blanca's father.
"I’m not a monster, ma’am!" he replied, offended, pointing back at her.
"What the hell is this?! Only freaks!" shouted a man, disgusted. "Yeah, I want my refund!" said another. "They’re a nuisance!" added another. Many were booing Dahlia and Blanca, throwing cups and things at them, and then the sound of glass breaking could be heard.
"All of you! Throughout the tournament, all I’ve heard are stupid comments!" shouted the king of Ystir furiously from the booth. Apparently, he broke the booth’s window to speak. "My own kingdom discriminates against others for their appearance... What a shame! Your problem is that you don’t know how to tell what’s good and what’s bad. Enjoy the fight, those who want to stay. The rest can leave," he said firmly and with disappointment, then sat back down to watch the fight. Most of the spectators were leaving in silence after hearing the king.
"Pathetic!" shouted Blanca's father, upset seeing how most people were leaving the place.
"We’re not leaving, Blanca!" shouted a woman. "We support you!" said a man. "You can do it!" added a little girl. Despite most people leaving, a good number stayed to keep watching the fight, and those supporting Dahlia also started cheering.
"You can do it, daughter!" shouted Blanca’s father.
"I didn’t expect you to be a tiger woman," Dahlia commented, preparing to continue.
"Ha! Now things are going to get rough for you," Blanca said in a deeper voice, taking her fighting stance.
Blanca rushed with great speed, landing a kick on Dahlia that made her stumble back, then attacked with her claws at great speed. With great effort, Dahlia managed to dodge the attacks.
"Still underestimating me? Use your four arms!" Blanca said impatiently as she kept attacking with her claws, until she managed to cut one of Dahlia's arms. Dahlia tried to defend herself, but even her gloves were torn apart by Blanca’s claws. Quickly, Dahlia used her other two arms and punched the sides of Blanca’s head simultaneously, then kicked her, sending her flying to the other side of the platform.
"Finally... you take it... seriously!" Blanca exclaimed, then let out a huge roar before charging toward Dahlia. The two quickly closed in, throwing countless punches... some were blocked, others dodged, and others landed. They moved at incredible speeds without stopping.
"My God... This fight is amazing!" Rop exclaimed, able to see it up close.
"This time, no..." Dahlia said as she kept throwing punches and dodging.
"What?" Blanca said, confused, as she heard Dahlia.
"This time, NO!" Dahlia shouted, using her two right arms covered in estritual magic to strike Blanca's chest and stomach at the same time! The incredible attack sent her flying off the platform, leaving a moment of silence in the air.
"It's over! The victory goes to... Dahlia Xitlari!" Rop said with excitement and People started screaming with excitement.
"Not... yet... over," Blanca said with difficulty as she tried to get up. Dahlia quickly rushed to attack Blanca... Seeing this, Blanca tried to stand quickly, but failed and just closed her eyes... When she opened them again, she saw Dahlia's fist right in front of her face.
"This... is over," Dahlia said while offering her hand to help Blanca up. "Good fight," she said with a smile on her face.
Blanca rejected Dahlia's hand and, with difficulty, got up and began walking toward the locker room, only to hear loud applause and whistles coming from the stands.
"Well done, Dahlia!" shouted many children, while many men and women clapped. "Well done!... You did it," Lily shouted with pride, showing a great happiness on her face.
"Does she... have a lot of people supporting her?" Blanca said, feeling bad while looking at the spectators.
"You did your best," said a dark-skinned girl with brown hair, watching Blanca from the stands with her parents.
"We support you! It doesn't matter if you're different. By the way, if you need clothes, I’m a great designer and my wife is the best tailor in the kingdom," said the girl's father.
"Don’t exaggerate!" the woman said, giving him a light nudge.
Surprised, Blanca replied, "I appreciate the offer... What’s your name?" she asked with a smile.
"My name is Yina, and my dad’s name is Lowin, and my mom’s is Lara. And this is... Ñin," Yina replied with a smile, showing a boomerang-shaped being floating next to her.
"Nice to meet you... I’m sorry I disappointed you," Blanca said, looking down at the ground.
"Disappointed? I’m excited! I’ll be able to design..." Lowin said, but was interrupted by Lara giving him another nudge. "I mean... Look for yourself!" Lowin gestured with his hand for her to look around and see how the people who stayed behind were holding up signs and their hands, also starting to clap and whistle to cheer Blanca on.
"Sweetheart! You did so well," she expressed, crying and hugging Blanca.
"Dad, it hurts..." Blanca said, enduring the pain.
"I’m sorry!" Blanca's father immediately stopped hugging her and stepped back a bit.
"Are you okay, sis?!" Caspian asked, running from the locker room to give her a round bottle.
"Yeah, I’m fine, thanks," Blanca replied, taking the bottle, then unscrewing the cap and drinking it.
"I’m glad you accepted who you are, daughter... I’m proud of you," he said, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"Thanks, Dad," she thanked after drinking all the liquid in the bottle.
"Great fight!" some people in the stands shouted. "We support you, Blanca!"
"Thanks... but don’t say my first name," she said, annoyed, trying to force a smile.
"You’ll have to put up with it," Caspian added, taking the bottle he gave Blanca.
"Just like the defeat..." he said, then turned around and saw Dahlia sitting at the edge of the platform, watching Blanca with a smile on her face, then raising her thumbs. "Jah... you weren’t so different after all."
"Ladies and... gentlemen! The champion of the sixth magical fighting tournament... Dahlia Xitlari!" Rop shouted, then pulled out a remote from his pocket and made all the speakers around the tournament venue sound.
The king had come down from his booth to present the medal and a golden trophy. He was accompanied by Mei, with Clara on her shoulder, and six knights. He wore silver armor and a pink cape, and had a smile on his lips. King Shane had blue eyes, and his hair was silver-blue, short with two strands in front. He wore a purple tunic with blue details, grayish-tight pants, and blue shoes. He was 185 cm tall and had a golden bracelet on his right hand.
"It’s been a pleasure to see you again in this tournament, Dahlia... I hope this time you’ll accept my offer to become a paladin," he said with a firm, deep voice full of kindness while placing the medal on her.
"I really appreciate your offer, I’ll think about it more seriously this time," Dahlia replied with gratitude and respect.
"I'm glad to hear that," the king handed her the trophy, and then Dahlia lifted it so that only the applause and cheers from the people in the stands could be heard.
"After that... Lily and the kids came with me to the locker room to congratulate me, and then I returned home... And..." Xitlari said, lowering her voice as she spoke, showing pain on her face as she thought about what was coming.
"We’re here! Could you take that lid off, Louis? I think that’s enough... You don’t have to remember that, friend," Kassie said, worried, approaching her as Louis removed a lid from the ground.
The city center was very large and spacious; its shape was like a circle, with some benches and flower zones. A lot of people were walking around, and it had a car zone going in circles connecting to all the areas: east, west, north, south, etc. And of course, it also had houses around it, after the car zone and sidewalk.
"Do you think...?" Xitlari lowered the capsule and stretched her arms and shoulders.
"Alright, Louis, could you move a little further just in case the quiritánidas tries to escape?" Kassie said, approaching the hole in the ground.
"Yeah, sure," Louis replied, stepping away.
"Didn’t you already tell him?" Xitlari whispered to Kassie.
"Yeah, but don’t let anyone see me, okay?" Kassie said, a little nervous.
"Don’t worry, no one will come close with me here," Xitlari replied, then Kassie entered the hole.
Louis approached Xitlari to ask her, "What happened to your father?"
"Do you... want to know? Sit here," Xitlari sat on the ground and, with one of her hands, pointed to Louis for him to sit next to her. Louis sat next to her and, realizing how close he was to her, blushed slightly.
"I was so excited to tell my father... after the car dropped me off at home, I... "
"Dad! I’m home! I... did it..." she expressed with a smile as she entered the house. That smile disappeared as she dropped her medal and trophy, seeing her father on the floor with a man having a foot on him, and he was tied up with roots. The man wore a black coat with a hood that hid his eyes, decorated with golden chains crossing his torso. Under the coat, he wore a black suit with a golden tie, and had golden metallic details on his shoulder pads. He wore black gloves, entirely golden on the palm side. He wore a black belt with golden details and a dark cape that was very worn and torn.
"Hmm... Lum? Didn't you say you lived alone?" asked the man in a loud, calm voice, bending down slightly.
"Do you want me to take care of it?" said a being whose body was made entirely of wood, with a very deep and grave voice. He was 190 cm tall, and his eyes were greenish.
"Let me handle it..." said another man with an arrogant but subtle voice. His eyes were a deep green, and his semi-long hair was also green, with lighter green strands. He wore a white vest with black details and a dark brown cape that wrapped around his neck. His pants and shoes were black with silver lines. He was about 176 cm tall.
"Don't hurt her! SHE DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING!" yelled Lum in desperation, unable to do anything.
"Hmm, maybe with her, you'll tell us where the bracelets are... Jeff, take the... whatever it is," said the man in the dark purple suit.
"With pleasure," said Jeff as he approached Dahlia, cracking his hands and neck.
"Dahlia... Run!" yelled Lum.
Dahlia wanted to stay and fight, but she saw things around Jeff when she looked into his eyes, and she ran out of the room. As she was about to leave the house, Jeff was in front of the door. "Where are you going?"
Dahlia punched Jeff, and when she touched him, he disappeared and appeared behind her. He struck her from behind, sending her flying out of the house, destroying the entrance, and landing on the pavement.
"What the hell are you?" asked Jeff as he walked out of the house and watched Dahlia get back up.
"MY DAUGHTER! YOU DON'T TOUCH HER!" yelled Lum in fury, creating a large blue rhinoceros that charged out of the house, destroying part of it, and then rammed Jeff, slamming him to the ground. The other man was thrown off the roof of the house while Lum followed him as an eagle.
The wooden creature removed the rhinoceros from Jeff, To then absorb the rhinoceros and then Jeff appeared behind Dahlia. He grabbed one of her arms and tried to immobilize her, but Dahlia spun around and this time managed to strike Jeff in the face with all her might, using her estritual magic, making him stagger back from the impact, crashing into the ground and cracking it.
Dahlia looked for her father, and a great blue light appeared in the sky for a moment. After that, her father shot down from the sky, crashing into the ground, creating a large smoke screen and destroying much of the ground.
"Father!" Dahlia said desperately as she covered her face from the dust.
"That blow..." he said while crushing Lum's head with his left foot and holding a watch in his right hand. "It was so powerful... Good thing I had this." The watch in his hand shattered. "Whoa... That was my best watch, no beating around the bush, huh?" he said in surprise.
"Dad!" she cried out desperately, rushing to help her father.
Jeff stood in her way, halting her steps. "Hahaha... Hahahaha! Magnificent! That was incredible... What a marvelous punch!" he said sadistically as blood dripped from his mouth and his eyes turned black.
"Impossible... He withstood one of my blows and I used all my strength..." Dahlia thought with fear as she saw his reaction. "Who the hell are you?!". Determined, forgetting her fear, Dahlia assumed her fighting stance and filled her fists with estritual magic.
"Dahlia! Run!" said Lum with great effort, after moving his head, which was being crushed by the other man.
"Father..." Dahlia stood firm to fight and not lose her father.
"Go! Go, Xitlari! Go! Remember what I told you! One day you’ll leave this world behind," said Lum with great effort.
"So live a life you'll remember..." replied Dahlia, almost in tears, following her father's words.
"You haven’t lived enough!" exclaimed Lum as tears ran down his battered face.
"I won’t go! I’ll fight... For you. You did so much for me!" Dahlia said as tears began to fall from her face.
"Enough whining... It's time to fight!" yelled Jeff, jumping on her to disappear before she could hit him. Then he appeared behind her and, when he tried to elbow her, he disappeared again, reappearing in front of her. Upon touching her hand, he gave her a smile that revealed his sharp teeth.
"Nooo...! Please!" screamed Lum, unable to do anything but watch.
Dahlia tried to hit him with both of her hands, but he stopped them with his own, their hands interlocking. The muscles in their arms tensed in a strength duel.
"Your punches lack light! Hahaha!" he said mockingly, pushing harder and making Dahlia move back. With all her strength, she struck Jeff’s stomach with her other two fists full of ritual magic, but he, receiving the blow, only laughed sadistically as more blood flowed from his mouth. Jeff pushed Dahlia, winning the strength battle, and sent her flying, making her tumble and hit the ground. Then he appeared behind her, and with his hands, he created dark whips that caught all of Dahlia's arms and began pulling them. She tried to resist, but her strength wasn’t enough, surrendering to the pain.
"Enough! Please... Let her go!" expressed Lum in desperation and pain, hearing his daughter’s screams.
"I’ll do it if you tell me where the bracelets are! Come on... You don’t want me to break her arms, do you?" shouted Jeff, smiling as he pulled harder. Dahlia, unable to do more, was losing consciousness.
"Kill her!" said the man, crushing Lum’s head with more force.
"NOOO!" screamed Lum, extending his hand across the ground and tearing part of his skin. His face filled with blue cracks and stars, and suddenly, a huge blue dragon emerged from his hand, tearing apart part of the ground and throwing the man off. The dragon sped towards Jeff, trapping him with its mouth and pressing hard before slamming him into the ground. It then took Dahlia and carried her away.
"No... I must save him..." murmured Dahlia, enduring the pain as she saw him being taken away atop the dragon.
"You can't, Dahlia... I must take you to a safe place," said the dragon as it continued flying away.
"No..." she replied, remembering every moment from the night Lum adopted her. "I won’t lose my father!" Dahlia kicked the dragon with her legs, making it head toward the ground. Then she jumped and covered her legs with ritual magic to cushion the fall, starting to run with all her might toward her father. Behind her, the dragon crashed to the ground. "I can't... I can’t lose him... He gave everything for me. Now it’s my turn," she said determinedly, as tears ran down her face, evaporating in the air due to her speed. "Father... Dad... Dad..."
Dahlia reached the place, and her tears stopped. Gradually, she slowed down. In front of her was Lum, who had been pierced in the chest by the wooden creature. The creature lifted him, and thousands of roots pierced Lum’s body. In Dahlia’s eyes, she could see how the roots disappeared, taking Lum’s body with them, making him vanish completely. It seemed that his entire body had been absorbed by the creature. Dahlia fell to her knees, speechless, with a stunned expression, as if she had lost her life.
"Xitlari..." said Louis, seeing how tears fell from Xitlari’s face.
She turned away and wiped her tears. "Don’t look at me..."
"I shouldn’t have asked. I’m so sorry..." Louis expressed, feeling guilty and sad for Xitlari. "I completely understand what it must have been... To see and not be able to do anything."
"I must be strong... It's what he would have wanted," she said, turning around with a calmer face and no tears.
"I think in our lives, we can’t always be happy. At some point, bad things will happen, and we’ll decide whether that changes us for better or for worse," said Louis, his eyes fixed on Xitlari, as if speaking from the depths of his heart.
"You may be right... Not always can we be happy... After what happened..." Xitlari understood what Louis was saying, feeling his pain.
"Well, well! Look who’s back, hahaha," said Jeff with his sadistic grin.
"She has ritual magic. Absorb it, Tohn. It will help you have more magic," said the man in the dark coat with a hood.
"Yes," replied the creature, approaching Dahlia.
"Wait! I want to have fun!" said Jeff, smiling and approaching Dahlia first. When he was about to put his hand on her, his arm was severed.
"And this?" he said, unfazed, looking at his severed arm.
With a quick movement, Mei aimed her scimitar horizontally at Jeff. "Great butterfly!" A giant golden butterfly with pink accents flew out of the scimitar, crashing into Jeff and sending him flying, while the ground shattered after the butterfly's path, which kept advancing until it exploded.
"Are you okay?" said Mei with concern, approaching Dahlia. The creature was about to attack them, but Mern created a large block of golden gyverna that stopped it. The creature tried to resist the weight, but Mern kept pushing with his outstretched hand toward it.
The man in the coat appeared behind Mei, taking advantage of her vulnerability after a dark purple vortex. "Eternal prison." A sphere of the same color surrounded Mei. Before she was fully trapped, Mei pushed Dahlia to safety.
"I knew the paladins of this kingdom would take less time to arrive," said the man. The sphere started to crack, letting out golden light.
"It’s not light magic...! It’s fairy magic!" she exclaimed in a worried and fearful voice before disappearing into the vortex. She appeared next to the pillar that contained the creature, touching it, and both disappeared into the vortex.
"Mei managed to get out of the sphere and then came to me to see how I was..." Xitlari mentioned, her gaze fixed on the ground, while in the background, the traffic and people passing by not too far from them could be heard.
"They escaped. Could it be... the bracelets they were looking for are the ones you're wearing?" Louis asked, realizing when he saw the bracelets on two of her hands.
With a small smile, Xitlari replied, "I'm glad you paid attention. My father had them hidden with a legal agent... I inherited them after his death, along with everything he had..." Xitlari raised the arms with the bracelets on them. "When I received them, there was a note with them. It said I must protect them with my life and that they must not fall into the wrong hands." Xitlari finished speaking and hid her arms back inside her jacket. "And that day, I also got my first spirit," Xitlari thought.
"It’s a great responsibility... Estritual magic is very interesting. Too bad you can't tell me about it," Louis mentioned, remembering that a week ago, Xitlari told him she was not allowed to talk much about spiritual magic. "I have a question... Why, when telling the story, did you refer to yourself as Dahlia and not Xitlari? You spoke as if you weren’t you."
"Because Dahlia left that day... Now I’m just Xitlari, because that’s the name my father gave me," Xitlari replied, standing up from the ground and brushing off the dust.
"Name?" Louis thought, confused, tilting his head to one side, after standing up from the ground and dusting himself off.
"Xitlari! I’ve got it!" Kassie shouted from inside the water area hole.
"I'm coming!" Xitlari ran to open the capsule and bring it closer to the hole. "Go ahead, a little higher." The quiritanidas was a long creature with a slightly large head, large tusks, and thick skin.
"I should help them, but Kassie doesn't want me to look at her like that," Louis thought as a girl with a small holographic device (similar to a cell phone) approached him.
"Paladin Louis..." the girl said, a bit worried with a sad face.
"Eh? Hello, little one! What’s wrong? Did you get lost?" he said, surprised when he saw the girl, then crouching down to look around to see if the girl's mother was nearby, but instead, he noticed people starting to look at him strangely.
"No... But... Is this true?" the girl said, showing him the device. It was a video where Louis was fighting with Kein and his brothers. Louis was speechless upon seeing the video. "In the video, the lady says you're half demon and that you control lava magic... Is that true?"
Louis stood up and saw how all the people in the kingdom center were looking at him in terror, while others simply started running.
"Get away, demon!" shouted a man. "Get out, monster!" others said. "Disgusting being!" People began throwing things at Louis.
"It’s done, Kassie. Huh? What’s happening? Louis?" said Xitlari when she saw what was going on, after placing the quiritanidas in the capsule. Louis had left without saying anything, leaving the girl behind as people continued shouting.
"Yeah, go away, monster!" the people said.
"What’s going on?!" asked Kassie, as she came out of the water area hole.
"I don’t know. Louis left... I think the people found out he’s half demon," Xitlari replied, closing the capsule. "Damn... I’ll take this to the agency. Go look for him." Xitlari quickly made hand gestures, and the rhino spirit appeared on her shoulder. She started running at great speed with the capsule in her arms while Kassie went to find Louis.
*West of Lyran - Church - Priest's Office*
In the priest's office, the video was playing through a holographic screen. "As you can see, here, Paladin Louis faced the Schulz trio of brothers, and the big revelation was that Paladin Louis, in addition to being half demon, controls lava magic!" said a woman as the video continued. After the last comment, the device creating the holographic screen was destroyed by a small explosion.
"Lava magic... Damn bastard... Edgar!" the priest said furiously beside his desk.
"What happened, sir?" Edgar asked, arriving at the office.
"Announce a meeting with all the leaders! And cancel anything i have to do tomorrow! We’re going to Ystir immediately," the priest replied, taking his golden staff and grabbing Edgar by the shirt.
End of the chapter.