The quick but powerful beatdown from Hakuhi had left Yohiro staring empily at Rosa’s unconscious body. ‘’Hakuhi, brotha’! Congratulations on yer victory!’’ Sakuhi praised him as he helped him up gently, holding his dear brother close until he sat him down in the sewer water behind their third, still silent brother. ‘’Sakuhi… Are ye gonna be goin’ up next?’’ Hakuhi asked, gasping as his muscles were on clear display, feeling hot him. Hakuhi, however, hadn’t been surprised by the development. It hadn’t been the first time something of that magnitude had occurred. Although he had superior knowledge of his limits and willingness to push to the last inch. ‘’Of course it’s my turn, brother… And I won’t lose if I stand by my honor!’’ Sakuhi declared to his two brothers, getting a happy nod from Hakuhi.

‘’Off you go, Clous.’’ Hiona said seriously, continuing to feel spiteful due to the outcome of Rosa’s battle. ‘’Are you joking? We might as well surrender ourselves and let them take us to the king or some prison within the castle, master… I can’t beat that guy,’’ Clous suggested, almost sounding like he was trying to beg, but couldn’t due to his glaring pride. ‘’Don’t kid, Clous, don’t fret. You’ll easily kill him,’’ she stared Sakuhi down, giving off a tremendous, amazingly horrible presence, almost making Clous throw up again just by standing meters away from her. Yohiro mustered up the strength, standing up and walking over to Rosa, picking her up carefully and gently, beginning to carry her backwards. He stared down in shame as he leaned her beat up body against the sewer wall. ‘’Master. Rosa’s damage is severe. The bruises are beyond black and swollen…’’ Yohiro reported to Hiona after lifting Rosa’s clothes and checking out her stomach and neck before covering her up again and leaving to stay there safely, walking over to Clous.

‘’Yohiro, whatever you;re feeling right now, don’t let it overwhelm you. That’s the worst thing you could do right now,’’ Clous warned him, shaking in his boots. Yohiro stood quiet. ‘’Thank you very much.’’ Yohiro let out, confusing the two of them. ‘’I want to be useful and you’re not pointing out how much I failed back there. Thank you, master, Clous…!’’ He raised his head, looking forward coldly. ‘’Calm yourself,’’ Hiona gritted her teeth slightly, ‘’It’s not your turn. With how this is going, you might not need to have a turn. Clous, move in.’’ She finished straightforwardly, surprising both of them with her out of character act of urgency. ‘’I won’t repeat myself anymore. That’s all,’’ she looked at Clous, prompting him to walk forward reluctantly, stepping in front of Sakuhi.

‘’So you’ve come, my fox frien’!’’ Sakuhi shouted friendlily at Clous, getting a quick scoff in return. ‘’Don’t fuck with me, countryside boy. I’m not as weak as you seem to think!’’ Clous replied, watching Sakuhi become clearly offended. ‘’Y-yer words cut more tha’ a knife, young fox, but I shall not--’’ ‘’Shut it, kid. I’m clearly older than you. Kind of a shame that you’re trying to ignore that fact, isn’t it?’’ Clous shot a second mental bullet at Sakuhi, landing directly in his large heart. ‘’I-I apologize for disrespectin’ my elders, but you sure ar’ rude,’’ Sakuhi chuckled from behind his mask, hoping to improve his own mood. ‘’Sure, play it that way. ‘The pure-hearted warrior who never steps over his moral boundaries.’ Seen that shit a thousand times over. Just hurry up and fight me…!’’ Clous expressed his stressed in the form of straight aggression, fully directing it at Sakuhi as he took out his tome, placing his foot back with purpose as Sakuhi sighed, taking stance with both his hands forward.

Clous found no clear openings even though he considered Sakuhi’s stance to be flawed and incomplete-looking. Sakuhi bowed with only his head, springing off the ground so fast that the water took a quarter of a second to react. He stood steady on the ceiling, shooting down towards Clous before he could look up, striking him under the chin and sending him towards the still hot wall in a kick he performed after an elegant spin. Clous, after hitting the wall, slid down, falling on his stomach. ‘’Clous isn’t given enough time to incantate…’’ Yohiro whispered to himself, not noticing the gem begin to glow again, which garnered Hiona’s attention in an instant.

Clous got up, huffing slowly and repeatedly, beginning to regain control over his breaths as he parted his lips, feeling a sharp sting in back, getting kicked across into the wall on the opposite side and like before, falling down pathetically. ‘’I’m sorry elde’. Seems you’re too slow for good ol’ me. Yer arrogance and cockiness deserve the punishmen’ you just received and thensum!’’ Sakuhi stated, his hand twitching in a sudden motion; an action Yohiro caught carefully with his eyes. ‘’Yeah, sure i’m cocky, but don’t get cocky yourself over my shitty personality, bastard!’’ Clous yelled as he forced his body upwards, throwing his tome at Hiona, with her catching it easily. ‘’Is that your final strategy, Clous?’’ Hiona asked from slightly far away, watching him throw away his robe as well, wiping the sweat off his forehead. ‘’Master, if I can’t even incantate anything, the book’s useless, isn’t it?! Then I only have my body left to use, and that’s what i’ll use to break him!’’ He said, clearly angry at himself more than at Sakuhi; not for his misperformance, but rather the words he was letting leave his mouth. Those spiteful words he hated oh so much.

‘’But fox o little, would ya have any bette’ luck without yer best and only tool?’’ Sakuhi asked him with genuine curiosity. ‘’Don’t mock me. I didn’t concentrate on damaging spells when training myself in magic; my body was enough to contribute for my lacking in talent!’’ He gave him a proud answer, taking him aback. ‘’No talent…? Little fox managed to sense my quick attacks, but thinks he’s lackin’ the good ol’ skills and talent?!’’ Sakuhi thought, beginning to get filled with anger as sprung forward towards Clous, ignoring strategy or thought, only focusing on punishing his downlook on himself. ‘’Clous!! Don’t try to watch out for him!’’ Yohiro butted in, shouting what sounded like complete nonsense, distracting Clous who less than two seconds later felt incredible pain in his left lung, finding Sakuhi’s knee connected with it, pressing him against the wall in a loud thud, only finding its opponent in Clous’ shriek of pain, widening Yohiro’s eyes in an instant.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

‘’Fox, surrender before I reluctantly crush your entire body!!’’ Sakuhi ordered him outright, thinking of Clous’ own good, who began coughing and vomiting uncontrollably on top of Sakuhi’s leg. ‘’G-go jump off a cliff… If I do that, I won’t hear the end of it and will get killed by someone much more intimidating than you supernatural freaks…!’’ Clous muttered, placing both his arms on Sakuhi’s leg, stabbing his long nails into it quickly. ‘’Come on, you scream this time!’’ Clous ordered with a mean smile, only getting a sigh from the superior Sakuhi. ‘’Ya don’t get it. Ya will never get it, little fox friend. I ain’t on the same plane of power as ya, therefore… you cannot surpass me.’’ He said to Clous, opening his eyes wider than a window as he was dropped down to the ground, left to sulk in the water.

Cannot surpass. Ever.

‘’Clous! Get up, Clous!’’ Yohiro continued yelling, beginning to deeply despair as he stomped forward into the water. ‘’Quiet, Yohiro… They hit a nerve of Clous’. Better stand back.’’ Hiona warned Yohiro, confused him. ‘’Yer partner here ain’t dead, I believe. But ya’ve all lost. Come quietly an--’’ Sakuhi tried to warn them as he felt a swift breeze, feeling Clous’ presence shift places faster than even he could calculate. ‘’Gagu!!!’’ Clous shouted in an abnormal voice, filling everyone’s ears with its anger. Sakuhi turned around, swinging at Clous, only finding an image of what once used to be there a bit ago. ‘’Gagu, you overly pretentious idiot!!!’’ Clous growled as the others felt rapid bursts of air shoot from all sides, causing the water to falter in its way. They finally realised: Clous was moving around the space.

Clous fastened his pace, jumping from wall to wall between the two, starting to push Sakuhi off balance with the continuous current of wind, until Clous stepped on the floor behind him, scratching the back of his leg before shooting upwards towards the ceiling, concentrating all the packed up wind, flinging the previously grounded Sakuhi upwards, leaving him to watch Clous’ almost demon-like rage-filled expression as he ascended. Clous, who had stabbed his entire hand into the ceiling, prepped up his fist, tensing his arm’s muscle with all of his force. ‘’DIE, GAGU!!!’’ Clous erupted, landing his fist in Sakuhi’s stomach, sending all of the accumulated wind towards his two brothers, pushing the speechless Hakuhi further back into the tunnel and not moving the one left behind more than a few small centimeters. He grasped the foe’s stomach mid punch, pushing himself off the ceiling with his feet and beginning to harshly descend towards the floor, ignoring the futile struggle from Sakuhi to escape as he pushed on, slamming him into the concrete, breaking the very floor under their feet.

‘’W-what...is that thing?’’ Yohiro asked Hiona with concern as he forced himself to watch Clous pick his opponent up and begin to jab his stomach with all of his force, causing him to cough blood all over Clous’ body. ‘’That’s Clous alright! At his best and worst, that is!’’ Hiona laughed energetically in a familiar to him tone, crossing her arms confidently. ‘’I’ve seen that state of his once before, and only that one time. Back when I recruited him,’’ she smiled as she gave him a quick not-explanation. Yohiro turned his head back at the pure torture unfolding before his eyes, watching Clous throw the already way past unconscious Sakuhi at the wall. ‘’S-stop it, Clous, he’s not able to continue anymore!’’ He shouted, getting his warning shunned by what previously used to be Clous. ‘’That won’t work here; this Clous’s a tough one to crack. For now, continue watching.’’ Hiona ordered him, receiving a judgemental frown from him.

‘’I don’t want to watch Clous kill him so viciously…! It’s horrible, but what can I do, of all people…?’’ Yohiro sulked as he began to realise the shine from the now unsurprisingly consistent gem. It shone so brightly that it began to feel like the harsh sun, widening Yohiro and Hiona’s eyes in surprise. ‘’Yeah… Yeah! Just like last time with master! Just like last time at the army base! I can place my trust in you, right?! Please then, help me!’’ Yohiro began crying in a mix of happiness and sorrow, watching as the light began to change in intensity, blinding Clous from across. ‘’T-thank you so much! I can’t pay you back enough, no matter how much I try!!’’ Yohiro clenched a fist, taking Clous’ tome from Hiona’s arms and strutting forward, tripping but ultimately not surrendering as he set his foot down, pulling his arm back.

‘’Please God, don’t let anyone die!’’ He begged, the light enveloping the whole room as he tossed the tome with all of his strength, leaving it to fly out of his hand like an arrow, landing the edge directly on Clous’ forehead and knocking him back. ‘’That light again… This kid won’t stop amazing me since back then!’’ Hiona grinned as the powerful light enveloped the entire room, leaving nothing but pure, beautiful white, covering their sights completely.