“Alright, show yourselves!” He yelled, his golden aura flaring as he did, but his demands were only met with disembodied cackles.

"What the..." Zadavia muttered to herself; powering up instinctually in preparation to fight or flee.

Slowly however she watched as his adversaries began to materialise, their bodies twisting and contorting as they emerged from the crimson flames, before they finally adopted more familiar humanoid forms. Zadavia's eyes widened with shock at their attackers, but it was just as Roun had expected. It was the same trio that had attacked them in the bar in Osteele; the three haima'sa soldiers Shade, Blitz and Roc. These three wraiths now surrounded Roun, preparing to enact the task that their dark master had set forth for them.

“I must admit that I’m impressed.” The massive bruiser that was Roc finally spoke, drawing Roun’s attention towards him. “I’d very much expected you to flee in the face of all three of us.”

“A few months ago I might have, but I’m not the same confused kid you fought in Merricent.” Roun replied, almost dismissively.

"That's good to hear." The blue-haired Blitz now spoke up. "You might just make this fun for us."

"I've got a better idea." Roun interjected. "How about we not do this at all. Leave now and I won't even think twice about the fact that you just attacked me, unprovoked, for a second time."

Once again, however his words were met with loud laughter.

“I can only assume that your father has taught you nothing of our kind, boy.” Shade scoffed at his suggestion with visible disdain. “You speak, ignorant of a feud that has spanned centuries and of the transgressions perpetrated by your matriarch against our people?”

His statement however only left Roun completely puzzled, causing the youngster’s eyebrow to tip upwards at the mention of this so-called matriarch.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, or who this woman is that you're so obsessed with.” He dismissed. “All I know is that I have no personal beef with any of you and I'm actually in a bit of a hurry – so why don't we just end this before someone gets hurt.”

“Oh, you foolish human—” Blitz once again spoke up “—someone getting hurt is the entire reason that we’re here.”

All Roun could do was scoff at their insolence and prepare for a fight that he'd rather not have. In the past few months, his ability to generate and control not just his own powers, but those of Synchros, had grown exponentially and he knew that he'd have to put them to the test eventually. However, the stakes were now as high as they had even been -- it was certain that these things wanted him dead and it was expected that his mission should be to see that they met that fate instead. A light growl escaped his lips.

“Fine then, it's your funeral.” Was all he replied before he allowed himself to fully tap into the energy that his connection to Synchros granted him.

The result was an extraordinarily potent eruption of golden flames from his body, which emerged to create a violent dust storm with him at the epicentre. Interestingly enough however, and much like his Veranos had done in the previous battle with these three, now even the legendary flames of Synchros seemed to adopt the odd spiralling motion of had become the defining feature of his natural aesis energy type. The result was a full-fledged energetic cyclone that he now seemed to generate with virtually no effort.

His eyebrow tipped upwards slightly at the effect before he briefly turned his attentions inward.

“Are you ready Synchros?” He inquired audibly, before the disembodied voice echoed in his ear.

“Yes, Roun.” He could feel her smiling warmly. “Let us show these insolent few the power of Gaea’s chosen.”

With this, Roun vanished from his location. In his wake, all that was left were two small craters where his feet once rested and a massive cloud of dust that was thrown into the air under the force with which he took off from that location. Blitz smirked at his opponent's speed, preparing to take off and intercept him before he could attack any of the slower haima'sa, but before he could even make a move he felt a palm resting against his face. The magic-wraith's eyes widened to inhuman levels as he felt Roun's fingers digging into his skull, a sensation that preceded his body being lifted off the ground and slammed into the earth below before he could even react.

The force with which Blitz hit the ground created a visible shockwave that rippled outwards from the two speedsters, throwing dust up into the air as it travelled towards and then past both Shade and Roc. These two only noticed the effects of this attack after it had already taken place, tracing the path from Roun's previous location to Blitz's before they noticed that the young guardian host had their brother-in-arms pinned to the ground with great force. However, as they prepared to lend the blue-haired wraith their aid, a pillar of swirling golden flames erupted from his location and his screams could be heard amidst the roars of this raging inferno.

Just metres away, Shade and Roc froze in place briefly as they realised just how far the youngster had come since their first encounter. While at the centre of the entire attack, Roun just exhaled deeply as he basked in the power that flowed through him. With a calm and deliberate motion, he stood, lifting Blitz from the charred crater from which he had been embedded before throwing him out of the inferno that surrounded them both.

"This can still end here." Roun cautioned them as he dissipated the golden flames that swirled around him, but his warnings once again fell on deaf ears.

From his own shadow, a mass of tendrils erupted, attempting to bind him before he could react. Unfortunately, in his current state – with his mind and senses heightened by their infusion with Synchros – this was a much more difficult task than Shade had bargained for. Before these tendrils could grab hold of Roun's body, he began moving forward, keeping his body just out of their reach -- even as they grew longer and longer in an attempt to ensnare him. This time however, his motion was not as blindingly fast, allowing Roc to track him as he tried to close in on his attacker. This gave the massive bruiser ample time to reposition himself in front of the much more fragile manipulator of shadows. Roun's gaze narrowed as he saw Roc position himself to block his path, forcing the young guardian host to accelerate so that he could attack with his full power.

Unlike with Blitz however, his impact failed to even budge the massive Roc. Instead, the flaming lunge punch was stopped in its tracks and Roun was stopped behind it, hovering in the air briefly as his body struggled to cope with the stress that the sudden impact had put on it. As he came to a halt, the energy that surrounded him exploded off into the atmosphere, manifesting as an explosive shockwave that bent the trees around them outwards and even caused the now stationary Betchnar to rock from side to side. Even Blitz's immobile body was picked up and tossed on the winds of this powerful force, leaving just Shade untouched as he hid in Roc's shadow.

As all of his momentum and the force of his attack was dispersed into the environment, Roun's body finally touched down on the ground, but not long before Shade's tendrils caught up to him. These dark feelers took this opportunity to ensnare their prey before they commenced their assigned task of drinking of his legendary energy. Roun grimaced heavily as he felt Synchros' power being drawn out of him just as fast as he could produce it, but what made things worse was that with the energy that they'd managed to siphon from him, Shade's tendrils were also now actually capable of holding him in place. This allowed Roc to finally land a blow on the now immobilised guardian host, rocking his head back with a powerful straight punch to the face. All Roun could do was wince as Roc's massive fist careened into his head, knocking him off his feet and flooring him.

"Damnit!" He growled heavily, watching as Roc positioned himself over Roun and prepared to descend upon him with a double axe-handle strike.

Roun had to think fast. Thankfully, this was one of his specialties. Diverting Synchros' power away from his muscles, he instead coalesced the legendary energy into his right palm and used it to summon the blade that Synchros had presented him with as a gift when she first manifested some months prior. With this legendary energy now condensed into such a narrow blade, he used Synchros' power to sever Shade's tentacles – and just in time to narrowly avoid Roc's descending attack. As Roc's massive fists came smashing down into the ground, Roun rolled out of the way before vanishing from that location and appearing a few meters away.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't even get a chance to catch his breath. In fact, he barely managed to react in time to a previously unforeseen attack. Almost instinctually, he pulled the blade up and braced it with his left hand, providing just enough force to block a flying kick that was delivered by the previously incapacitated Blitz. The thin sword managed to stop the attack in its tracks, but snapped as Blitz kicked off it and performed a backflip, landing on his feet some distance away.

All Roun could do was scoff and dissipate the broken blade before preparing himself for the next onslaught of attacks. As he waited however, Synchros' voice echoed in his mind.

"These truly are strange creatures, those not entirely of this world." She stated, puzzling Roun slightly.

Unfortunately, he couldn't focus on her statements as he was forced to dodge yet another lunging attack from the haima'sa assault team's lone speedster. This attack was a sliding side kick, which Roun barely managed to dodge with his body, while deflecting the attack with his hand. As he did this, he pivoted, spinning his body to launch a powerful roundhouse kick that connected with the enemy speedster's head and sent him skating into the nearby trees.

Once again however, Roun was forced to take off from his location to avoid Shade's pursuit, dodging tentacles as they erupted from every shadow that was cast on the battlefield. As he had done before, Roc once again did his best to position himself between Roun and Shade to prevent attacks similar to that with which he had opened the battle. Much to Roun's chagrin. But what made it even worse was the fact that in seconds, Blitz had once again emerged from the ether to engage the young guardian host in high speed combat. The entire ordeal pushed Roun's speed to its limits, along with his wits.

As he found himself dodging between the relentless pursuit of tendrils that constantly snaked their way around him, he once again managed to catch Blitz with an attack, this time a close range elbow strike infused with as much Synchros as he could manage for the attack. This time, the energy caused his opponent to burst into the chaotic red flames from which he had formed, giving Roun the false hope that he'd actually managed to dispatch the speedster for good this time. Unfortunately, just as he had done twice before, within just seconds, Blitz returned to once again hound Roun relentlessly.

"Why won't you just die!?" Roun exclaimed, but once again synchronised laughter just erupted from his attackers.

"Death is a state unique to the living Roun." Synchros' voice once again filled her young host's mind. "These creatures are neither alive nor capable of death."

As Synchros spoke, Roun broke out of a silhouette slide some distance away, skating to a stop before once again summoning the blade that Synchros had bestowed upon him. Before his opponents could react, Roun once again vanished from his location at blinding speeds. This time he took an arching path, moving around Roc's massive frame to get at that ever-elusive Shade. As he closed the distance, it was as if time stood still for his opponents, with only Blitz being able to even track his movements at this speed. Unfortunately despite being able to see Roun as he moved, even Blitz was unable to intercept him when he moved this quickly, leaving him powerless to watch as Roun closed in on Shade. Once he'd completely closed the distance that separated them, Roun drove the blade into Shade's stomach and continued to move past him, slicing the energetic wraith in half before sliding to a stop some distance away.

The resulting sight was simply a streak of golden flames leading from Roun's previous location to his current and the agonising screeches as Shade's torso separated from his legs. This gruesome sight was short-lived however as the liberated parts quickly exploded into red flames. Roun watched carefully as the two balls of fire swirled aimlessly, before being drawn back together. Just as with Blitz, in seconds, Shade simply reformed and Roun cursed under his breath. In annoyance, he glanced downwards at Synchros' blade, and then back to his opponents.

"You finally see the similarities, don’t you?" The guardian inquired, causing Roun to nod slightly.

As he prepared for his assailants' next onslaught, his mind harkened back to his first encounter with these strange creatures. He remembered as they so proudly introduced themselves to Rueben, first as 'we' then correcting themselves and introducing themselves as 'I'. It was only then that it dawned on him; these haima'sa were a single collective with multiple manifestations. These three in particular then were not much different from his sword, simply a manifestation of a separate power. Just as it could be broken and re-summoned, so could these three soldiers.

"They are merely manifestations of code." Synchros elaborated on his realisation. "Destroying their present manifestation does you no good and simply wastes our energy."

"Agreed." Roun stated, but this time not audibly. "Unfortunately, you can't exactly destroy code..." He scowled.

"My sisters and I would beg to differ." Roun's eyebrow tipped upwards as he felt Synchros smiling warmly. "Prepare for another of your high speed assaults – and choose carefully which of these manifestations that you wish to eradicate for good."