Chapter 9 - The Man Who Calls Himself Father

Raiyen hopped down and pulled out two daggers. One of the dagger's hilt was gold, and the other was silver. Both had a brass knuckle attached to its handle, connecting to its pommel. The blades themselves were a sight to behold as he held them up to the light.

Engravings of the floral pattern were embellished on the silver hilt dagger. The golden hilt had been engraved with leaves, clovers to be exact. Mavislin followed him, gliding down using her wings. The villagers backed off in fear, yet they still held determination in their eyes.

"Now, now. What is the commotion about?" asked a cheerful yet heavy tone of voice from behind the mob.

The man appeared after the crowd parted to two. He was huge, quite chubby. Reminded Raiyen of Igor. His black locks were in messy curls as he had donned a white cloak, with a small cross around his neck. The man had little stubbles of hair on his chin, complimented with a wonderful round face.

"It's the demons again, Father. They are here to curse us!" yelled a teen boy, holding out his flaming torch.

"Yea, and we'll likely die from that torch of yours if you don't hold it correctly," commented the man called Father.

"Sassy," murmured Mavislin, smiling.

He looked up with a solemn expression. Raiyen took note and stood with his daggers out, ready to fight. Mavislin had no physical weapon except for the wings that she had on her back.

"So, you two are taking up the offer I gave Gillian?" asked the Father.

The two kids nodded. The man shook his head.

"This won't do. I can't have a proper fight with these onlookers. We ain't a zoo. You lot! Go back while I disperse of these demons," instructed the Father, trying to get the crowd away.

When he ultimately managed to do so, the two had not moved at all.

"Haven't had a duel for a long time," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

As the three looked at each other, their Auras started to appear. The Father showed a huge Aura of pale blue light, just shy of Raiyen's blue Aura.

Raising his twin daggers, he quickly dashed towards the man who called himself Father. In a blink of an eye, the man met with Raiyen's attack with ease. Sparks flew in the air as two weapons clashed.

"What's that?" asked Raiyen, intrigued at this new type of weaponry.

"It's called a Kunai. And they come in by the plentiful," answered the man as he pulled out another to strike at him.

Raiyen barely dodged it, moving away and into a pocket once more. He then reappeared behind the man, initiating another attack. The man successfully dodged the attack by throwing another Kunai.

"Time element, huh? Haven't seen that for years," said the opponent as he readied up some more Kunais.

He swiftly threw three more at Mavislin. She was prepared to use her wings, but a flash of light appeared from where Raiyen once stood. Shocked that he had gone, the man gave a bitter smile. The Time Mage then appeared in front of the girl to deflect the Kunais.

His body was outlined light blue, with his whole appearance appearing to be glitchy. He had given Mavislin the impression of fading in and out of the time that they were in. Even his Elemental Aura was fluctuating in and out of existence.

"Wow, Glitch being used in such a minute situation. You must be a young one," commented the Father, hurling more Kunais towards the young Valkyrie.

"Don't underestimate what I can do!" yelled the Valkyrie, soaring up into the skies.

With a single strong movement of her crimson wings, the air started getting heavy. However, it had only affected Father. Raiyen was confused as to why the attack left him unharmed.

"Windfall!" yelled Mavislin, attacking Father head-on.

The Kunais were barely scratching her wings. As he felt it was of no use, Father stopped. Mavislin then retracted her wings.

"Sorry, couldn't help it. Now then, let's finish this duel off in one blow," said the priest as he threw out a bunch of Kunais at the partners' direction.

"Liyab. Tubig. Himpapawid. Lupain. Liwanag. Dilim.(Flame. Water. Air. Land. Brightness. Dark)..." chanted the man.

The air started to shift as the Kunais blew into the respective elements of the chant. It then linked with each other and started to glow brightly.

"Oasis Ng Mga Elemento! (Oasis of the Elements)!"

With that said, the whole formation suddenly felt hot and burst into a huge ball of elements. And in the blink of an eye, Raiyen was out of the danger with blue sparks around him.

"Mav!" he exclaimed, failing to get her out on time.

"It has been years since I've shown my true wings. I don't even remember how the actual thing looks like anymore," said the Valkyrie, in a cheerful tone.

"What do you mean?" asked Raiyen, confused at what was going on.