Chapter 19: Friend Against Friend

  There were no words.

  The moment Kairo settled into his stance, he attacked. There was no formal start, no countdown. Just an instant explosion of violence.

  A wave of sharp wind rushed toward me, accompanied by a barrage of earth bullets. It wasn't a random attack; it was precisely calculated. The wind was to force me back, and the bullets were to define my retreat path.

  I dodged right and left, the Sword of Life dancing in my hand, slicing raindrops and parrying stray bullets. I did not move from my spot. Then I attacked.

  It was like a clash between two forces of nature. He was the master of rules, mastering conventional magic to the point of perfection. And I was the rule-breaker, twisting reality itself. He launched a fireball, and I summoned water to turn it into steam. He jumped into the air using the wind, and I raised a column of earth to catch up to him.

  We were insane. We were dancing a dance of death in the rain, every move a dialogue, every attack a question. The ground beneath our feet cracked, froze, and turned into mud. The air was saturated with the smell of ozone, rain, and burnt metal.

  But he was better than me. In every exchange, I felt it. His magic was purer, his attacks were more efficient. He was reading me, anticipating my moves. I wasn't just fighting a genius; I was fighting Kairo. The person who knows me better than anyone else.

  I retreated, my breath ragged. This won't work. Direct fighting is suicide. I have to change.

  I closed my ears to the sound of the rain and ignored the sight of his attacks. I started focusing on something deeper: the flow of Stone energy around him. How he pulled it, how he shaped it. There was a rhythm, a deadly music. And I began to change my sword style to dance with that music, to be where his attacks would not be.

  I saw an opportunity. While he was forming a complex fire spell, I manipulated reality. I created a quick illusion of myself to his left, while moving to his right. A simple trick that worked easily with Isabella.

  "Stupid."

  He didn't attack the illusion. He turned directly toward me and fired a small earthen bullet that I wasn't prepared for. It wasn't powerful, but it was accurate. I felt a burning pain in my left side, and the bullet pierced my skin. Not deep, but it was a message.

  "Maybe that trick works with Isabella," Kairo said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "But it won't work with me. I noticed the change in the energy flow."

  I laughed as I moved to the opposite side of the arena. "Too bad. The idea is still in its infancy."

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  We clashed again. But this time, I decided to be more daring.

  While he was launching a series of attacks, I didn't attack him. I attacked his mind. I manipulated reality on a grander scale. Suddenly, we were no longer in a dark, rainy arena. We were in a green garden, under a beautiful silver moonlight, with flowers blooming around us.

  Kairo stopped for a moment and looked around. "What an idea. A garden, a moon, and rain too."

  Half a minute later, the illusion shattered, and the ruined arena returned.

  "You took too long," I said.

  "What do you want me to do?" Kairo laughed. "I'm fighting the Magic Swordsman."

  The fight continued for more than two hours. We were panting, sweating, and bleeding. Each of us had inflicted minor injuries on the other. We were utterly exhausted. And with the first streaks of dawn, the rain stopped.

  We stopped, standing on opposite sides of the arena, looking at each other. The sun began to rise, and its orange rays reflected on the puddles of water, turning the battlefield into a beautiful and tragic work of art.

  "Let's see whose attack is stronger," Kairo said, his voice hoarse with fatigue.

  "Show me what you've got."

  I took the cutting stance, the Sword of Life vibrating in my hand.

  Kairo began to create his attack. It was a masterpiece. He gathered the earth and compressed it, then infused it with fire and water until it turned into a shining black material he called Obsidian. Then he wrapped it in wind to increase its speed, and surrounded it with another strong gale to guide it.

  This is what it means to be a genius, I thought.

  "Come on!" Kairo shouted, and released his attack.

  The black bullet rushed toward me, tearing the air and leaving a trail of steam behind it. I saw it approaching. I felt the air vibrate. I heard its sharp whistle.

  I waited until it was almost at my right liver.

  Then, I cut.

  There was no light, there was no sound. Just a silent tear in reality.

  The "Cut" I unleashed passed through Kairo's attack, and passed through Kairo himself.

  And at the same instant, the bullet pierced my body.

  We fell to the ground together.

  The sunrise was painting the sky with warm colors. I was lying on my back, looking at the sky, feeling the hot blood flowing from my wound. Beside me, Kairo was doing the same.

  "My attack... reached before yours," Kairo said in a weak voice. "So... I won."

  "No... my attack was the one that arrived first."

  Then, we started laughing. A mad, pained, and exhausted laugh.

  "You fool... you bastard..." I said, laughing. "Did you see what we did? We are now severely injured... for a foolish reason."

  Kairo's laugh stopped in a silent calm. "It's not... not a foolish reason." He turned toward me, and I saw tears mixing with the blood on his face.

  "I'm sorry, Deo," he whispered. "Your mother... she died because of me."

  "When I was looking for the key to the damned book. It seems the Knoxville family was interested in it too. They thought... they thought the key and the book were with your mother. I don't know why. They went to her... and I... I wasn't there. I was the reason."

  I looked at the sky, which had become clear blue. Five years of pain, of regret, of shame, of searching for meaning. And it was all because of this.

  "So," I said quietly. "I don't care."

  He looked at me in shock. "What?"

  "If it weren't for that book, and if it weren't for her death... I wouldn't have become a Magic Swordsman." I looked at him. "And if it weren't for the book, I wouldn't have met you. I wouldn't have met Clara. I wouldn't have come here, and I wouldn't have become strong. And maybe my family would have thrown me out onto the street, and I would be eating garbage... like you."

  Kairo looked at me for a moment, then burst out laughing, a laugh full of relief.

  "Yes," he said, laughing. "You're right."

  And we stayed like that, lying on the ground, looking at the new sky, and laughing. Friends, injured, but finally, reconciled.