"Fu Hua, I said no. I have no practical knowledge and I cannot repair the array" the slave who was getting ready to fight stopped at those words and turned toward the kid with a deadpan expression.

"Are you killing me? What kind of situation have you forced me into?" Xiao Lan had no answer to it so he remained quiet throughout.

The mist was getting thicker around them now. It would not be long before they would no longer be able to see each other anymore.

"Can't you be the one to repair the array while I distract the beast? I'm sure we will finish way earlier that way" Fu Hua had just one problem with the plan. Can Xiao Ran, this kid even handle the monster on his own?

Fu Hua refused to be held responsible for getting the other killed, especially when it was not his fault in any way. Xiao Lan already hated him and if something happened to this kid then their relationship would never repair itself.

Not that Fu Hua had any hope of reconciling with the other. That was something he only saw in his nightmares where Xiao Lan runs him through with his sword. Good times those were.

"Can you do it? I won't have your blood on my hands. Besides, I'm sure I can handle this situation myself so you still have time to run away" Xiao Lan gave the other a look, his gaze moving from Fu Hua's face to his wrists that were covered by chains.

The judgement in his eyes was clear as a day for anyone to see and Fu Hua felt flush at being caught in the lie. It was true that he would not be able to handle the monster and the array at the same time but it was totally possible to have the monster ignore him.

"I'm going to engage the monster whether you like it or not. You can either stay away or you can handle the array. Also, you don't have access to your abilities right now so there is no way you will survive the monster if he attacked you"

What the child was saying was the truth and now it was out in the open. Fu Hua did it even get a chance of a rebuttal before the teen continued.

"It had been a while since noble Lee left to get help. I'm sure the royal guards and others are about to arrive anytime. They will be more inclined to help me than you in any case" again, this was the truth.

The life of a royal and a noble held far higher priority than a slave. Those guards would rush to help Xiao Lan as soon as they saw him in danger but they might ignore Fu Hua. There was also a chance they might kill Fu Hua if they recognised him.

Xiao Lan was not willing to take that risk if he could avoid it. Fu Hua was the key to many of the mysteries and questions he had encountered in recent times and there was no way Xiao Lan would allow the other to die a death like that.

The other had likely survived to die at Xiao Lan's hand and that was the death Xiao Lan would give the other.

"I got it, kid. God, you're persistent like your cousin so I'll allow you to do this. But the second it feels like a danger to you, you should run away" Xiao Lan agreed, his intention to make the other move.

Fu Hua was the first one to separate from the pair, his steps quiet as he made his way closer to the direction of the array. It was clear that he had too much practice in sneaking around and avoiding danger.

Xiao Lan, on the other hand, had never been silent and low key. His every move had always been flashy and under the eyes of people so he had learned to attract attention and manipulate it to his advantage.

The monster was not human at all but attention-seeking skills affected him all the same. Xiao Lan released his energy in a concentrated wave and the monster turned toward him.

The semi-solid form of the monster was getting closer to a Byakko but it still looked incomplete. Had it not been for the demonic miasma, Xiao Lan would have surely said that this was a god summoning array.

Even the form of the monster corresponds to a god and not a demon but the demonic miasma was too thick to ignore. This was a mockery of the holy arts and something that could not be tolerated by Xiao Lan at all.

As soon as the creator of this monstrosity was caught, he would be made an example out of. The only reason Xiao Lan was sure that this had not been the work of Fu Hua was because of the holy elements.

Fu Hua was a purist who did not really mix these arts together. He had always complained about the impossibility of combining these elements due to their conflicting natures.

In simple words - it was not possible to combine these two forms at all.

"You poor soul, return to the holy grounds and be purified" Xiao Lan used the most common purifying spell. There was a burst of light which boosted the excess of power Xiao Lan had.

Normally the power he had used was enough to wipe a whole town full of lower-level monsters clean but the monster in front of him just screamed in agony but had no visible wounds.

The spell had been too weak to injure it properly.

As a result of the attack, the beast lost its composure and attacked. The long and heavy tail met the ground below Xiao Lan's feet but he avoided the collision with a well-timed jump.

His hands gathered another ball of pure energy which he hurled at the beast. It made direct contact and the beast was pushed back a little.

That should have done significant damage to the other since the energy was so concentrated. But the beast proved to be even more powerful than Xiao Lan expected.

Not only was it still standing and growling, but it also wasn't injured. The place where the energy ball had hit was unmarked by the impact. That should not have been possible since every demonic beast took at least a little damage from the divine energy

It should have weakened the monster but it seemed even more powerful all of a sudden. The monster was behaving not like a demonic beast but a divine beast who feasted on divine energy.

"Impossible. The ritual was not demonic in nature?" Xiao Lan could not help but believe this. The array had looked familiar enough to him but he had ignored that part because of the miasma.

Maybe that's what had gone wrong with his attempt. He was not lacking in practice but had made a mistake in theory. Naturally, the divine array needed to be handled differently from the demonic array.

The claw almost made an impact with Xiao Lan before he narrowly dodged it. Too close, the beast was too close for comfort now. But this string of bad news was finally replaced by a pleasant one.

"Your highness, please allow us to assist" the guards were here and now they had enough manpower to distract the beast. Now it was up to Fu Hua to hopefully resolve the array and free this fake Byakko from its misery.

"Everyone, keep this monster engaged and stop it from advancing outside this area. We need to save the common people" the guards felt awkward at taking orders from someone this young but this person was royalty.

Besides, the teen was right and he was the authority here so they had to follow. Some of the soldiers charged their divine energy to attack the monster before the shout stopped them.

"It's a divine beast that's under demonic corruption so don't attack it directly. Use your divine techniques to bind it and keep it here. Someone is working to resolve the array and send it back currently" whispers of surprise broke out among the group.

A divine beast was rare enough but one sunder demonic influence was almost unheard of. Many guards ignored the warning since the speaker was a teen and still attacked. Their attacks were absorbed by the beast who got even more furious at being attacked.

It was not long before the foolish guards who had gotten closer to attack were sent flying. Seeing this the others reacted accordingly and used their energy to detain the beast behind the fog.

The beast struggled in his new binds, his growls taking a terrifying tone and his body shook to get free. The restraints would not hold on for much longer.

'Fu Hua, if you somehow resolved this in time then I promise to give you more time to live. I'll even protect you till I get to the bottom of all this' the prince could only count on the other now, his own self doing its best to gather enough time and hope it was enough.

Meanwhile, Fu Hua was faced with his own set of problems, namely - the divine array.