The Prince Of Magic

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"NO WAI–"

"AH OI! DU–"

*THWACK*

"AUGH!" Astolfo cried out, reeling from the pain.

With the intruder avoiding the sneak attack at the last second, the magically charged flying kick that was supposed to hit the crazy bearded old man had hit Astolfo instead.

Yan's left foot had planted itself directly on Astolfo's face, causing the pink haired paladin to fly backwards.

Astolfo's back slammed against a peculiar black crystal that stood out of the ground, then he slid down onto his front in a painful heap a few feet away from where he stood, looking a bit out of it.

Before Yan could even feel sorry for his friend, he was suddenly accosted by the bloodstained knight, who turned his demented attention upon him before right after he sent Astolfo away.

Yan's face turned grim when he saw the ominous glint in the armored Servant's red eyes and the dual polearms gripped in his hands, both readied at his sides as he got closer to him.

The intention in his enemy's eyes was clear, and Yan, while surprised by the sudden turn of events, was not unprepared. He had some experience with sparring individuals who uses spears or lances, so he was not concerned for a close up battle, despite being unarmed.

The one thing that does worry him though, was whether he can hit the enemy with his attacks.

Yan's fighting style mostly revolves around unarmed techniques.

He has the speed, strength, and proper instinct of an assassin class Servant that was above the average. His experience with enemies that favor spears or lances can help him greatly in the fight.

He honestly would have no problem, if not for the fact that his opponent seems to be stronger and faster than him.

Earlier, before they managed to uncloak the bearded bastard, Yan noticed the difference in strength and speed.

Even handicapped as he was by fighting the three of them at the same time, the intruder managed to last for thirty minutes or so before they got the chance to inflict enough damage on the black cloak to render the protections inscribed upon it useless.

Their Master warned them that there were spells casted on the cloak, protecting the intruders from his abilities to discover identities.

Yan has some suspicion that his Master knows why, but for now, what was important was for them to damage the cloak enough that the protections would be rendered inert.

The white bearded bastard was mostly passive and silent earlier before the cloak was damage.

Then, when he, Rider, and Astolfo managed to successfully damage the cloak enough for the enemy to discard it away, the mission to take down the intruder had simply become a lot more difficult from then on, especially when spikes specifically designed for impalement kept coming out of thin air.

It was as if the black cloak was restraining the enemy's true parameters, which would explain the reason why the white bearded old goat had suddenly became a lot stronger, faster and kept resorting to cheap tricks by trying to impale them with black spikes from whatever hellhole he pulled it out from.

The evidence of that last observation can be seen in the small clearing they happened to be fighting in, pinned on the ground and tree crystals here and there.

With an irate huff to himself, Yan dashed forward and met the intruder in the middle.

"HAAH!" He shouted, a determined glare on his face.

Yan started the fight with a quick jab to the face, undaunted by the polearm that was about to close in on fist.

He had already charged his fist with his magical energy, so he was not concern about being injured.

While the polearms gave off an ominous vibe, he sensed that they were normal enough and he has expectations that he would be able to deflect them with just his fists alone.

But, he would need to be careful since the bearded bastard has the advantage in range and power.

It was only speed that Yan felt he was in equal terms with the intruder.

His turn (and mental preparation) for a one-on-one fight had gone down to the drain when a certain lavender haired servant stole his highlight by landing a roundhouse kick on the enemy's c.h.e.s.t as she suddenly came out of nowhere, which caught the bloodstained knight off guard as he was thrown back to the side.

Medusa followed up on her attack by a series quick slashes, unwilling to let the bloodstained knight get the upper hand again.

The statuesque woman thorough and precise with her assault.

She had made use of her weapon and the flexibility of her body in an efficient manner. She used her deadly scythe, Harpe, as her main offense, then her powerful kicks to keep the intruder off his guard, which often worked in her favor as it lets her flow continue without interruption.

The chains attached to the scythe was also not spared as she uses it to restrain the enemy's foot or arm every time she gets the opportunity.

The white bearded bastard tried to retaliate, to counter, but Medusa was vicious, diligent and opportunistic with her attacks.

She attacks whenever it was safe, and she defends whenever she has too. It was a matter of timing when to strike, guessing the next move and how to evade them. She was like a beautiful and deadly snake, striking hard and viciously yet nimble and fast enough to get away.

She was so meticulous in her strategy, it almost made Yan forgot that she stole his turn to fight the bastard.

Yan shook his head slightly, ridding his mind of the childish negativity.

"Ah, no. I think she can handle that bastard for a while." He muttered under his breath. "Gotta check on pinky first."

He turned to look over his shoulder and sighed when he saw that his fellow retainer still got swirls in his eyes.

"Ey! Pinky! Get up!" Yan shouted as he ran to his friend's side. "C'mon, get off your a.s.s. You can do that later once this is over!"

"Ugh… my head…" Astolfo g.r.o.a.n.e.d as he slowly rose to his feet.

"Sorry, but no time for that. We'll get Master to heal you up later, but try to stay in the game." Yan urged as he dragged him to assist their fellow retainer in the fight.

"Argh... right." Astolfo said dazedly, slowly coming to his senses.

Then, as if realizing something, he turned his head and glared at Yan as they jogged to where the two servants were fighting.

"Your kick hurt, by the way." Astolfo began, violet eyes squinting as a scheme formed in his mind.

"It's supposed to hurt." Yan laughed dryly, slightly sheepish at his previous blunder.

"You know I'm going to get back at you for that." Astolfo stated with a glare, which doesn't seem to affect Yan in the slightest.

"What?! The hell would you do that for? I didn't expect that bearded bastard would just vanish, you know?" Yan reasoned, glaring back.

"It still hurt, ya know! Merde, look at my face!" Astolfo shouted, pointing at himself after he saw his reflection via the crystal. "I got a shoe mark from my forehead and down to my chin!"

Quelling the urge to laugh out loud, Yan shook his head in exasperation.

"Argh, whatever, pinky!" Yan coughed into his hand, feigning irritation before jogging ahead of him.

"Oi! You were laughing just now, weren't cha!" Astolfo accused.

"I don't know what'cha talkin' bout!"

So focused were they in their banter, the two servants did not noticed the seemingly black crystal (the one that Astolfo had slammed his back against by coincidence) moved, twitching every few seconds as if it was alive by the time the two male retainers joined in their fellow ally in the battle.

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