Elesia kneels and puts her fingers on James' neck. She gasps and turns her eyes to Nicholas. "There's still a chance that he might live!"
"But we have no transportation to bring him to the hospital!" Ash moved his head aside, seeing James lying on the ground with his eyes closed.
"I have no choice," Nicholas whispered.
He closes his eyes and rests his hand on his chest. "Apo."
Nicholas opens his eyes, and he's standing on a stone ground while facing the gigantic gorilla, Apo.
"What do you need, human?" Apo asked with a puff of smoke from his mouth.
"I want you to use your giant form and bring James to the hospital," Nicholas told him.
Those words result in Apo blinking, and he yells, "WHAT?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!"
"Yeah! And I don't care. This is a serious situation, and I need your help," Nicholas replied.
"If I separate myself from you! You can't use the element of fire! The same thing went with wind!" Apo lowered his upper body, his face leaning closer to Nicholas.
"It's a kind thing that you're that concerned for me. You do have this soft side," Nicholas smiled.
"What?! No! I am just showing pity!" Apo leaned away.
"Alright! Alright!" Nicholas smiled, "I can handle myself! Just make sure that James will be brought safely to the hospital."
Nicholas begins to shut his eyes, and the voice of Apo fills his ear. "Judging from the injuries that James endured, I can't guarantee you that he will be... safe. You need to know the risk that you are taking."
A gentle smile forms on Nicholas's lip, and his eyes remain closed. "That man is my comrade. It will be heavy for me to carry if I watch a comrade die without doing anything for him."
He chuckles. "It might sound foolish but I want to help him even if it costs me to lose a percentage of my strength."
Those words left the titanic burning gorilla to look at Nicholas with respect as the young man disappeared from his sight.
"Alright!" Apo's fur began to glow.
Nicholas opens his eyes, and he turns his head over his shoulder. Apo jumps from his shoulder, and he turns into a massive gorilla not his gigantic form.
Xander continues to watch the entire scene while standing calmly. The old man carrying the bird cage slashes his long tongue towards Nicholas.
"Don't ignore us!" the old man yelled in frustration.
The tongue reaches Nicholas but he swings a dagger upwards, and it cuts the tongue in half.
Apo looks over his shoulder and smirks at the sight.
Apo carries the unconscious James over his shoulder. A bright red light covers Apo as the light expands until it vanishes which revealing Apo standing at a gigantic size.
"Let's go, peasant." Apo signaled Ash with a wave of his gigantic hand.
Ash hops on Apo's back and stabilizes James' position on the back of Apo.
"No!" the burning man yelled as he flew towards Apo.
Nicholas is running towards Apo and jumps on the gorilla's back. He focuses all of his strength in his feet and jumps toward the burning man.
Nicholas kicks the burning man straight in his face. The old fat man gasps as his eyes widen at the sight.
"Impossible! Did he kick Magron?!" The fat old man said.
Magron crashes into the stone wall. Nicholas lands on the ground and smiles before looking over his shoulder.
"Apo! Hurry, get out of here," Nicholas told the gorilla.
Apo bows his head before running away. Nicholas turns his eyes around and faces Xander who's walking back inside the hideout.
"I'll use the training that Gale and the passerby taught me." Nicholas tightened his grip on his daggers.
Xander stops walking, and he brings out his sword from its sheath. The single draw of his sword already released a gust of wind seen by the moving dust that spreads in different directions.
Nicholas looks fiercely at Xander before looking at Elesia. "Hey! Elesia, right? Sorry, I walked away while you were talking earlier."
Elesia chuckles, and she swings her spear before looking at him. "No problem! I'm happier that you accepted the invitation."
"Yeah," Nicholas said.
"Even if it is temporary," Nicholas and Elesia said at the same time.
Xander says, "Are you both done talking? Let's start this fight, I'm getting bored."
The fat old man yells, "If you managed to defeat Xander! I'll free this bird!"
A laugh follows his words before saying, "But you're too pathetic to win against one of our best swordsmen!"
Nicholas twirls his daggers and puts them closer to his chest. "Bring it, 'best swordman' so that I can feed that fatty his words!"
Xander swings his sword, sending a dark slash towards Nicholas. Elesia comes in and slices the slash with her spear coated in green energy.
Nicholas runs past her while his daggers are ready to strike. Xander swings his sword multiple times.
"Here it goes!" Nicholas gathered his breath in his mouth.
He avoids the waves of dark slashes coming at him. Elesia's eyes widen at the sight as she runs towards Xander.
"That was amazing!" Elesia yelled.
Xander swings his sword, and it clashes against Nicholas' daggers. Dark energy flows to the blade of Xander's sword, and Xander swings his sword, sending a dark aura that pushes Nicholas away.
He touches his chest and looks up at Xander with narrowing eyes.
"That was something else! Ash is right. This man is not an easy foe," Nicholas spoke mentally.
"I have to give my words on what you've shown. It was impressive but it will still not be enough to oppose me," Xander said.
The fat man speaks, "I can't wait for his downfall. If he loses against Xander, I will eat this bird."
Xander turns his head from side to side, cracking his neck. With one step, he reaches Nicholas.
Nicholas immediately swings his daggers, countering every swing that Xander creates with his sword.
The blades of his daggers radiate bright red light, and release bright red flames which push Xander away.
He grits his teeth and looks up. Xander swings his sword against the incoming slash from Elesia's spear.
"Hey!" Nicholas ran toward him.
Elesia's eyes grow wide, and she yells, "Hey! You're unbelievable, Nicholas!"
Xander pushes Elesia away with a push of his sword. He turns his eyes toward Nicholas and sends forth 10 slashes of dark energy.
"Why did you do that to your father?!" Nicholas stepped aside from the slashes bit sliced a few ones.
"He left my mother and me!" Xander travelled at Nicholas' right side in the blink of an eye.
Nicholas swings his daggers toward Xander's sword, and the clash of both blades brings a massive wind shockwave around them.
Cracks are appearing on the daggers' blades. Nicholas' eyes grow wide, and before he can respond, Xander pushes the sword further against his daggers.
The red blades shatter in half. Xander steps closer to Nicholas and swings his foot right at Nicholas' abdomen.
Nicholas rolls on the ground. He stands up quickly with eyes narrowing, and his long dark hair is swinging gently like a wave.
Xander twirls his sword in circles. "What will you utilize now to fight against me? Don't fight me with your bare fists, it will not work."
Nicholas stares at the daggers one last time and releases them from his grasp. He laughs and inhales deeply through his nose.
"Should I be sad?" Nicholas shook his head.
He begins to walk towards Xander while cracking the bones of each of his knuckles.
Xander channels his energy into the dark blade of his sword. The energy starts to thicken around the blade while Xander's dark eyes are darkening with anger.
"You really are a fool!" Xander swung his sword downwards.
The movement of the sword releases a gigantic dark energy slash heading straight at Nicholas. The energy is also causing a cut in the ground.
Elesia runs toward Nicholas but multiple grey humanoids land in front of her. Xander glances in Elesia's direction, and he flies toward her.
The memory of Apo's words appears in Nicholas' head. "Hey, human! In case of any emergency, I'll give my blue flames. Use it in your fights! But remember, without my presence, it will run out after many uses!"
The movement of Xander suddenly stops. He turns around and sees a massive wave of blue flames clashing against the giant slash of dark energy.
Xander shifts his eyes beside him and gets hit on his face by a fist wrapped in blue flames.
"What was that?!" Xander struck the ground with his sword, stabilizing himself.
He pulls out his sword from the ground. Nicholas appears in front of him with his fist in blue flames preparing to thrust.
"The blue flames not only enhanced your fire attacks but they also strengthened your physical speed," the words of Apo rang in his ears.
With a smirk, Nicholas throws multiple flaming punches at Xander's chest down to his abdomen.
"His punches!" A strain of saliva came out of Xander's mouth as he coughed.
Nicholas released a massive blue flame from his palm, and it sent Xander flying away.
Xander opens his eyes. "What the fuck?!"
Elesia is just above him. A wicked smile appears on her lip, and she aims her spear at Xander.
"This is for James and Ash!" Elesia released a massive green energy beam from the tip of her spear.
After the energy disappears, Elesia runs toward Nicholas. She looks at his eyes calmly, and says, "I did it. I stopped him, you can get your bird now."
"He's not a bird but a friend," Nicholas said while the blue flames wrapped around his hands.
He turns his eyes in a certain direction and sees the fat man trembling while standing on an elevated platform.
"Hey! Give me back Gale!" Nicholas sprinted toward him.
From the crater, Xander is kneeling on his right knee only with his hand resting on his thigh.
He releases a deep breath from his mouth, and a vision appears in his head. A vision where he's facing a man with a pair of yellow eyes while sitting on his throne.
"I bestowed upon you, the sword crafted from the dark elves. Use it, and channel your energy for you are limitless, a being who transcended being a human."
Xander's red eyes open apart. A massive dark energy fire toward the ceiling, wrecking the entire ceiling of the hideout.
"That power is enormous!" Elesia stared at the energy.
From the dark energy streaming to the sky, Xander walks with his armor crackling with dark energy. His red eyes fixate on Elesia and Nicholas.
"I'll destroy both of you, puny humans!" he swung his sword.
Nicholas reaches him with so much speed in his movement. Elesia appears beside Xander with her spear swinging towards him.
"Don't underestimate me," Xander said.
A surge of dark energy emanates from the dark blade, slapping both Nicholas and Elesia away.
Nicholas fires a strong pressure of blue flames from his palms, and it boosts him to land on the ground on his feet.
He grabs Elesia by her hand before she flies across him.
"Thanks!" Elesia landed on her feet.
Nicholas says, "Elesia, I'll use all of my flames."
Elesia glances at him. "If you do that, you'll lose your powers."
"Not all, I still have one in my sleeve." Nicholas smiled.
Xander reaches them, and he swings his sword which releases a massive arc of dark energy.
The arc disappears after Elesia cuts it in half with her spear. Her eyes are green and glowing, and a green aura is covering her entire form.
Elesia slashes her spear, causing a cut to manifest on the dark armor covering Xander's torso.
Nicholas is crouching as his left hand is being covered in blue flames. He thrusts his left hand and lands a piercing punch straight on Xander's waist.
The punch sends Xander flying away. He moves quickly in mid-air and rushes back to Nicholas.
Nicholas raises his hands, capturing the incoming blade strike from Xander.
Elesia comes in and swings her spear towards Xander but he captures it with his left hand covered in a dark gauntlet.
"I knew it!" Nicholas began covering the entire blade with his blue flames.
"What are you doing?!" Xander pulled his sword away.
His eyes are widening while Nicholas is pulling his blade downwards.
"I figured out that you depend your power onto this sword! I will destroy it!" Nicholas channeled too many flames onto the blade.
The flames spark until they release a massive explosion, and every being around them is completely burnt by the flames; reducing them to nothing but ash.
The entire battleground shakes as the entire mountain breaks apart.
Elesia who's lying on the ground with her eyes closed, begins to regain her consciousness. Her sight slowly becomes clear, and she lifts her chin.
"Nicholas?" she looked up.
Nicholas is standing but one of his knees is resting on the ground while his hands are lowered on his waist.
She turns her eyes away, and from a distance, the smoke parts slowly only for Xander to be seen.
"That was reckless," Xander spoke lowly.
His armor slowly falls piece by piece with his sword lying on the ground with cracks evident on its dark blade.
"I don't care," Nicholas spoke, "I only wanted to defeat you!"
"Where's Felicia?" he stood back on his feet but his legs remained shaking a bit.
Xander flinches and holds his waist. "Did you see me fall already?! A fight will not end unless one of the fighters falls!"
His dazing sight becomes stable, and he's now seeing Nicholas clearly standing on his feet.
"You must defeat me!" Xander picked up his sword.
The dark energy from his sword breaks apart. He spins his sword and aims it at Nicholas.
"Elesia... don't heal me." Nicholas walked towards Xander.
Xander swings his sword once Nicholas reaches him. Nicholas steps aside from the slash, his foot jerks upon making his step.
Nicholas lifts his foot and stomps it on Xander's hand before punching his face. The punch causes Xander to stumble but Nicholas already steps toward him.
Xander swings his sword straight at Nicholas, and a cut forms on Nicholas' cheek. He grabs a stone from the ground and smashes it against Xander's head.
"Quit doing your dirty trick!" Xander stumbled aside but he kept his balance.
He opens his eyes, and Nicholas strikes his belly with a kick. Nicholas groans and clenches his fists. "You should not have harmed your own father! Now, he's in the hospital! Suffering!"
Xander's breathing is faster. "You spoke as you knew him!"
He reaches Nicholas with many steps before slashing his sword towards Nicholas. The blade clashed against a steel surface, and it was none other than Nicholas' left wrist coated in steel.
Nicholas pushes the blade away with one swing of his left steel wrist. "I barely knew him but he always spoke of you! It was annoying but I understand that he's just a father who longs to have his son again!"
Xander goes for another strike but his eyes widen after seeing half of the blade flying away.
Nicholas swings his left wrist with a steel blade protruded from it. "Don't push me to harm you more than what you are experiencing right now."
He raises his left hand and extends it as if he's reaching Xander. "Join me. See for your eyes how your father truly loves you."
Xander stares at Nicholas' left hand coated in steel.