Chapter 104 Unique Challenge: Survive [5] Iris Project

The more the tornado and the scarred man approached, the paler Elona's and Simon's face became. They knew that the lives of their guards depended on their choices. They had their lives in their hands.

Despite Manu's and the others' insistence, Elona and Simon couldn't run away knowing well that people would die for them.

"I will stay." Simon was the one stepping forward first.

"B-Brother?!" Elona shouted incredulous but Simon quickly raised his hand.

"No. I know you would have stepped if I didn't intervene Elona. I will follow him and you tell father about what happened," Simon said with a resigned smile.

"N-No! You are the heir of our House! You are the most important one between us. I should be the one following him!"

"ARGGHHHH!" A terrific scream interrupted them.

""!""

We turned around and saw a knight of the Falkrona Duchy burning in a sunfire.

"AGHHHHHHH!" His scream chilled everyone one of us. Few seconds later, he turned to ashes.

With a wave of his hand, the scarred man summoned a powerful blast of sunfire, sending the knights scattering. He advanced on them, his sword flashing in the sunlight as he pressed his attack.

"Still not enough?"

The knights, taken by surprise, were quickly overwhelmed by the scarred man's relentless assault. They swung their swords with all their might, but he was too quick for them, ducking and weaving as he moved in for the kill. Burning them ruthlessly alive.

One by one, the knights fell before him, their armor blackened and charred by the intense heat of the sunfire. But the scarred man was not done yet. He advanced on Elona and Simon, his eyes fixed on his prey.

"Noooo!" Elona screamed when she saw that horrific sight.

"ARGGHHHHHH!" Another one caught fire and burned to ashes.

"My patience reached its limit." The scarred man said in a chilling tone.

"Stop that! I will come!" Simon walked quickly toward him.

"Broth-!"

"Elona! You stay behind!"

"B-But!"

"It's my order, Elona!" Simon shouted loudly at Elona, surprising her. "It's my order as the heir of our House and your older brother." He added before turning around.

I sighed in frustration as the noisy commotion around me continued. My mana was taking too long to recover after the recent burn, so I reluctantly took out a vial of mana from my ring and drank it down.

To my dismay, it still wasn't enough. "Miss Avia?" I turned to Aurora, hoping for a solution.

"Yes?"

"Can you use your attribute to send me towards that guy?" I asked her urgently.

"Mr. Amael…? He is dangerous…"Aurora hesitated, worried for my safety.

"Please. Believe me." But I urged her to trust me, and eventually she agreed. She placed her hand on my shoulder, and suddenly I was propelled forward with incredible speed in a flash of light.

Despite the danger, I felt a rush of excitement as I closed in on my target. I was determined to spoil that fucker's day.

[<I don't like what you are planning at all. He seems to want bring you with him but he will not hesitate to kill you if you keep angering him.>]

Cleenah was worried but do I have any choices?

I had now an idea about this dude's identity and if he took Simon with him, I could guess what he was going to do with him.

"Gather." Ruah started to swirl around my fist like a sphere of water and I punched out.

"..." The bastard, unfortunately, noticed me and raised his arm. My fist and his arm collided and cracking sounds resounded. I couldn't tell if they were my bones and his but I guess they were mine.

"Y-You!" Simon was shocked as I didn't give up.

Elona and the other knights were also shocked.

"Do you wish to die, kid?" The bastard's red eye glared at me.

"Shut up." I grabbed his arm and raised my other fist to punch him again and it successfully hit his cheek. Blood dripped down from his mouth.

"..." The man tilted his head as if my punch of Ruah didn't deal any damage.

"Son of a b*tch! Fucking die!" I cursed angrily but it didn't bother him at all. Rather, he slowly raised his knee and I knew what was coming.

Shit!

I put my arm before my stomach at time but it didn't ease what was coming after.

I spat blood as my arm broke, writhing in pain. The scarred man grabbed my shirt, lifting me effortlessly. "Why are you still fighting?" he asked, his voice dangerously low. "You know you have no chance of defeating me. You could just run away and save yourself."

Ignoring his words, I spoke through gritted teeth. "You're from the Iris Project."

His expression twisted with shock. "How...?"

I laughed weakly, coughing up more blood. "Guess?"

In a sudden rage, he slammed me onto the ground, cutting off my laughter with a cry of pain. I knew I was in deep trouble. "Cleenah," I thought desperately, "how much longer until this fight is over?"

[<Ten minutes…Amael! Get out of here!>]

'Not like I can do something against that freak…'

[<I warned you!>]

'Don't worry, he won't kill me.'

[Edward. He will kill you after getting the answers out of you.]

'No. I will just reveal my face and he will not kill me. Even though I left my House, my shitty grandfather won't leave my body to those fuckers…I hope.'

It was just my guess.

[<I don't understand why you are doing all of that, Amael? You really care for your sister th->]

'I agree that it played a big part but more than that, that guy is from the Iris Project. If he gets someone strong and with a rare bloodline like Elona or Simon…he might resurrect that monster…'

[<Who?>]

'Xenos Arvatra. The guy behind the Third Great Holy War 300 years ago. Believe me Cleenah, if that freak gets reborn now, it will be the end.'

"I will torture the answers out of you, kid. You will regret having been born in this cruel world." He said and his sunfire started to burn my cheek. "Red Seal."

I bit my lips, holding back a scream because of the searing pain on my cheek.

"You are…really strange…how can you resist?" When the bastard said that, the pain became unbearable.

"Krrri!"

"What?" A grey falcon suddenly appeared next to me, slicing the man's hand with its sharp claws and drawing blood.

I managed to break free from his grasp, but the blood spattered on my blindfold, making it difficult to see. I stumbled and fell to the ground, wiping the blood off my face.

"Ember?" I called out, noticing Elonar's familiar at my knees. The falcon tilted her head, regarding me with curious eyes.

"One after another…" The scarred man taunted us with his annoying voice, as a fiery ball hurtled towards us, heating up the air around us.

Ember rushed in front of me to shield me, but I didn't want her to get hurt. With shaky legs, I stood up and stepped in front of her, ready to take the hit.

"No!" I shouted, but before I could even move, Elona appeared out of nowhere with a flash of grey mana.

My brain couldn't comprehend what was happening. Why was she putting herself in danger like this?

"Take me now!" Elona demanded, her tone leaving no room for argument.

I was stunned, but I knew I had to act fast. I reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her away, but it was too late.

"..." The man didn't hesitate and took out another sphere from the void. The sphere slowly swelled before transforming into a big prison sphere. He raised his hand, and Elona's body flew inside the prison, enclosing her.

"It's over." The man grabbed my shirt and flew into the sky with me. The sphere floated right next to us.

"ELONA!!!!" Simon's voice echoed from below. The whole ground seemed to float as Simon's sand covered the entire area. All the knights raised their swords, aiming for the sky, hoping to reach and save Elona.

"If you try anything, I will kill your sister and take you instead," the scarred man warned Simon, who was about to fly with his sand and all the other knights.

"..." I glanced at Elona.

She was on her knees, hugging Ember tightly in her arms. Tears streamed down her face endlessly from her grey eyes, and her disheveled black hair stuck to her face, making it difficult for her to wipe them.

The situation felt hopeless. Elona was trapped, and we were at the mercy of our enemy. The scarred man's warning kept ringing in my ears, making me feel even more powerless.

But I knew I couldn't give up. We had come too far to let everything slip away now. As I stared at the prison sphere that held Elona captive, a fierce determination grew within me.

No.

I won't accept that outcome.

Why am I always getting defeated?

-Ding!

[Edward.]

[Full Mana Vial~2000AP~]

I drank the content and slid my blindfold on my forehead, pulling up my altered white hair and revealing my dilated amber eyes.

"Leave us."