Chapter 106: Kristian vs Tegan BlackFire

The incandescent smoke slowly dissipated to reveal the imposing silhouette of the man who had just landed.

He was bald, endowed with a thick beard and possessed eyes of an amber red that recalled those of a starved predator.

His armor bore the blason of the House of Fire. It was Tegan BlackFire, the uncle and the designated protector of Kal, an elite Master having crossed the fourth level of Chi mastery.

“Young master Kristian, I pray you return to your domain… it would not be wise to create a disturbance here,” declared Tegan.

Kristian readjusted his posture, his gaze fixing the colossus without the slightest hesitation. “And if I refuse?”

Tegan sketched a slight smile: “Then I will send my sincere condolences to the patriarch Dorian.”

Immediately, Tegan’s aura exploded. His eyes became incandescent.

Thanks to this visual capacity, the world around Tegan tinted itself with thermal nuances. He could read the circulation of the blood and of the Chi in Kristian’s body, observing the variations of heat in his muscles to anticipate his movements even before he launched himself.

Tegan cast a glance behind toward his pathetic nephew. “Go put yourself in safety, I will take care of here.”

Kal got up precipitously and bolted toward the rear guard of his troops, leaving the veteran to face the heir of the Sword Clan. Kristian took a step forward, observing the troops of the House of Spring who continued to battle in the distance, too occupied to bring him assistance.

“Lord Tegan, are you sure about putting yourself in my path? The situation has not worsened because it has limited itself to the young generation. If you get involved in it “

But before he could speak, Tegan had already seized the hilt of a long greatsword hung on his back. The massive weapon sprang from its scabbard in a roar of flames. With a horizontal movement of a savage brutality, Tegan swept the air, releasing a devastating wave of fire.

Kristian jumped backward with a natural grace, the wave of heat grazing his blue tunic and burning the tips of his blond hair.

“I see that the voice of reason no longer serves any purpose,” murmured Kristian.

Kristian drew his two swords. He had already understood the situation: the Elemental House of Fire was in a bad posture and he was playing all or nothing to reverse the course of the battle.

Kristian stabilized his breath. Even facing a Master of the Fourth Sense capable of absorbing the ambient Chi to regenerate his reserves, Kristian remained of an absolute calm.

Tegan leaped forward, the ground sinking under his boots under the effect of the impact. He raised his greatsword above his head and brought it down with a vertical blow.

Kristian did not try to block the attack head-on. He knew his brute strength.

He slid to the side with a precise leg movement, leaving the heavy blade sink two meters into the stone. The impact made shards of molten rock spring forth. Taking advantage of the opening on the flank of his adversary, Kristian countered with a lightning speed. His right blade executed a horizontal cut toward Tegan’s throat, while his left blade aimed at his abdomen.

Tegan, using his Heat Vision, anticipated the trajectory of the steel strikes. He pivoted his massive torso backward, the two blades grazing his armor. Kristian’s steel notched the surface, tracing two lines of superficial blood on the veteran’s chest.

Tegan growled, surprised by the precision of the heir. With a reverse of the elbow wrapped in flames, he tried to break Kristian’s guard. The latter crossed his two swords in front of him to absorb the discharge.

The impact of Tegan’s elbow against the crossed swords produced a metallic sound. The kinetic force projected Kristian ten meters backward.

“You have truly not usurped your title, you are truly the genius of the Sword Clan…” recognized Tegan while spitting soot on the ground. “But that will not be enough!”

Tegan’s aura suddenly changed density. The Chi that surrounded him became bright red, and the air around him began to crackle under the effect of a colossal energetic pressure. He crushed his heels into the ground and spread his arms.

A pool of liquid and roaring fire sprang from Tegan’s body, extending in a radius of fifty meters. The flames devoured everything in their path: the rocks exploded under the extreme heat, the earth transformed into a field of boiling magma, and a thermal shockwave propagated in all directions. In the distance, the knights of Spring had to raise their shields to protect themselves from the incandescent dust.

But at the heart of the furnace, Kristian did not retreat by an inch. He let his energetic center project his own Chi toward the exterior.

A barrier of cutting energy deployed itself around Kristian.

The world slowed in Kristian’s mind. Through the smoke and the flames, he perceived the massive silhouette of Tegan who was charging at him, his greatsword armed for a mortal thrust.

Kristian circumvented the line of attack with a pivot of the pelvis. He let Tegan’s blade cross the void where his torso had been an instant earlier.

Taking advantage of the inertia of the colossus, Kristian passed under Tegan’s right arm and struck.

His right blade sank under the ribs of the Master of Fire, crossing the flesh and cutting the intercostal muscles. The hot blood gushed, vaporizing immediately on contact with the burning air.

Without concerning himself with the wound on his flank, Tegan released the hilt of his greatsword with one hand and seized Kristian’s right wrist with a steel grip coated in flames. The skin of Kristian’s wrist began to sizzle under the heat, but the young man let escape no cry.

He kept his glacial face, his blue eyes plunging into those of Tegan.

“I have you, kid!”

With his free hand, Tegan formed a flaming fist and drove it with all his strength into Kristian’s abdomen. The impact was devastating: the punch crossed Kristian’s guard and crashed against his solar plexus, breaking his Chi protection and cracking his ribs.

Kristian spat a spray of purple blood that ignited on contact with Tegan’s aura. The brutal force of the Master disengaged him from the grip and sent him tumbling across the plain.

Kristian bounced twice on the rocky ground, raising a cloud of dust and shards of stone, before immobilizing himself on his back at about thirty meters.

“You fought well, young master…” said Tegan while picking up his greatsword and advancing with a heavy step toward the immobile silhouette. “But the difference between the Third and the Fourth Sense is a gulf that talent alone cannot fill.”