Chapter 18 - 19 : Like sA Frog In A Wells (2/2)
”Now that we have played a little, you should know you are no match for me, so how about we finish and we consider my sin otherwise i can't guarantee you will end up uninjured”
His tone contained some threat and a warning as if she didn't back out now, he would show no mercy, but Mary didn't seem affected by that and simply rushed at him again.
Her time in [berserker mode] was limited so every second counted. Seeing her act like this, Arthur just sighed and teleported away one last time before creating a small ball of ancient fire, it was a dark red ball of fire but it contained some grey here and there, the pressure it emitted was extraordinary and could be felt from some distance, even the principal frowned, normally the arena was supported by a strong barrier to protect the spectators and even if sound of impact could be heard, no after effects of a skill would affect it, so when she noticed this strange fire appear above Arthur hand, she felt a strong pressure followed by some heat. Albeit being was quite some distance away from it and the presence of the barrier, she could feel that this 'thing' is dangerous... very dangerous.
Arthur didn't waste time, and threw the ball of ancient fire which was smaller than a man's first at the female beastman standing not to far from him, the speed of the fireball was lightning fast, even faster than Arthur speed, so Mary who was already surprised by the sudden turn of events and the appearance of this strange fire couldn't react in time to defend against it and could only stand there.
Sonia who sensed the danger and saw Arthur about to throw his small fireball quickly rushed at the arena why retrieving her chain and chanting a skill with fast speed, she didn't care about the fight anymore and she knew this was no normal fireball and if it hits Mary it's for sure she will most likely die if not be seriously injured.
Before the fire ball could hit the 2 women, a huge barrier made of ice was formed it was very thick and extremly cold, once the dark red fire ball hit the ice barrier, an ear-breaking sound came from the impact, the whole underground arena shook and some of the walls started chattering, as for the ice barrier it held out until the dark red ball almost extinguished before breaking, nevertheless, a small 5 inch flame still remained and headed toward the femalebeastman who was still astonished and couldn't react in time.
Sonia who was beside her quickly pushed her and crossed her arms in reflex as the small flame was extremly close and she didn't have time to even form a small mana barrier to reduce the attack intensity.
The flames hit her left arm and it totally burned her robe and some of her skin, great pain soon filled her, even though it was a small burn and she was wearing quite an amount of items which protected her, nonetheless she was injured and couldn't help but be astonished and hold some fear towards this flame, for her ice barrier which was perfected and almost unbreakable to just be demolished by a fist-sized fireball, this was unheard of!
Arthur wasn't surprised by the damage made by his ancient flame as he already tested it when he was in that forest, but what surprised him is the principal interfering and protecting the female beastman, he also saw her ice barrier and guessed she too was someone with a special attribute like Lucy but none of that matters to him, he even saw her left arm slightly burned but he didn't intend to apologize as this was a fight and it was already against the rules for her to interfere.
Mary who was pushed by the principal, fell on her butt and was still in a daze as if she couldn't comprehend what just happened, she already returned to her normal appearance and the effects of [berserker mode] already ended, her mouth was wide open and her eyes filled with disbelief, a couple of seconds passed before she came back to her senses and rushed at Sonia while speaking to her with shaky voice
”B-big ss-ister Sonia!! Are you okk?”
She still couldn't understand what happened, she only remembered Arthur making a strange fireball than throwing it at her and then her mind went blank and a loud sound struck her ears but she could distinguish Sonia her big sister rushing at her and pushing her to the side to protect her and in return getting injured in her left arm.
The principal retrieved a potion of some kind from what appeared to be her storage ring and quickly consumed it, she breathed a sigh of relief and responded to Mary who was already beside her
”No worries, I'm fine!”
After speaking she turned her head and stared at Arthur but you could see some anger and caution in her eyes
”Did you want to kill her? If I didn't interfere she would really have died if not seriously injured!”
Arthur hearing this, shrugged his shoulder seemingly not caring and replied nonchalantly
”We were fighting so was I supposed to hold back? I don't think she did hold back anything, so why would I? Plus, you interfered with the fight which is against your own rules and you're still blaming me? Pathetic ! You can't even accept the fact that I won. Moreover, I already warned her but she was persistent and didn't heed my warning, she was basically asking for it.”
The principal couldn't even reply to him as she knew she broke her own rules and interfered but it couldn't be helped because if she didn't her friend would probably have died. Still, she dared not underestimate his powers and knew he is not someone to mess with. She sighed and said with an apologetic tone
”It was indeed my fault, it's your win and she will no longer bother you.”
As she finished speaking she looked at Mary and waited for her to declare her defeat, the female beastman was ashamed but had to admit she lost and couldn't even withstand a single attack of his, if not for her big sister she could've died because of that small fire ball. At last, she had a chance to take revenge but she wasn't able to and also her big sister got injured because of her, she felt guilty but she had to give up her reckless revenge for a stupid cause, she sought revenge for a death of someone she didn't know, plus this person was shameful nonetheless he was the same race as her and it is known that all beastmen share a great bond between them and all like one big family. Mary clenched her fists while saying
”It's your w-win..” she dropped her head after speaking as if feeling guilty and remorse.
”Truly like 'the frog in the well', even with my warnings you are still naive, now then I should excuse myself.”
Arthur snickered at Mary then turned around and left with Lucy as if nothing happened and all the fight earlier was just a play. When the principal saw his nonchalant attitude she was sure he was confident of his win from the very beginning and all of this was just entertainment.
It would be a lie to say she didn't hold a grudge against him for he almost killed Mary when he could have beaten her with just a weak attack since he was that powerful, but he didn't, and just threw that terrifying fireball which injured even her, bypassing all her protective items and burning her skin.
The injury had yet to heal even with the help of the potion, though the recovery was slow it was happening nonetheless so the wound would be sooner or later healed but Sonia was fearful, to have a man like him for an enemy is really no good so she to warn everyone from the council about him and not to provoke him or even she couldn't protect them if he attacked them.
Yes, she was strong but if he were to attack someone of Mary's strength when she was not present, that person would surely die if he doesn't have any counter to that fireball. In fact the president was really a wizard but the ice attribute was her strongest and to that small fireball to break her ice barrier just like that made her anxious but she didn't know that the ancient flames would have 400% increase in damage against any ice or water attribute.
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Edward Omond's butler finally arrived at Nemia academy, he has been instructed by his 'master' to deliver a letter personally to one of the 9 council members, it was a human called Frederic, he was one of the 9 council members Arthur had appraised and his level was 162, it was quite high compared to the others, the butler who was named James was at Alex's office handing him the letter.
”Lord Frederic, my master told me to deliver this letter personally to you as he couldn't trust anyone.”
As he finished speaking he gave the letter to Frederic, who was sitting on his desk, he was a blonde middle-aged man with blue eyes, he is also the newest member of the council members and only joined it for 2 years, though the reason he managed to do so is that of Edward.
Edward was Frederic's benefactor and helped him when they once met, Frederic was seriously injured and was saved by Edward who happened to pass by. Since then they became like blood-brothers and vowed to help each other if they encountered an enemy or a problem occurred.
Frederic quickly read the contents of the letter which explained what happened to Feylord and how Edward wants revenge, of course, Edward changed some facts and exaggerated things.
He even made Arthur seem more evil and ruthless, when he finished reading the letter Frederic knew that this person Edward was talking about was the same one as the black-robed man from yesterday who caused that commotion.
He saw that this black-robed man was mysterious but he didn't judge him to be strong and even with the principal's warning not to disturb him, he thought the others were overestimating this guy. Actually Frederic was obviously stronger than Mary, and he didn't even place her in his eyes, in fact, he hated all other races and his belief was that humans are superior, though he was on a council with other races, he felt disgusted when he talked with them but he bore with it, so when he saw Arthur block Mary's punch he only thought of her being weak and not him being strong and never pay it any heed.
”Go back and tell Edward I will think of a way to deal with this guy.”
James thanked Frederic and quickly left the room after respectfully bowing. Frederic was a usually cautious but he didn't deem Arthur to be dangerous or a threat so killing him would be just a piece of cake but the letter from Edward told him to capture Arthur alive because Edward wanted to personally kill him, so even though it's more troublesome Frederic didn't think much of it and started planning how he is going to do it...