A thick fog covered the cost, the path made visible only by the reflection of the moonlight. The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks below was all the party heard as they traverse the rocky path. The path was high up on the cliffs, with a long straight drop down on the rocks below. "The fog’s so thick," Melvin said, breaking the silence.

"I can barely see where I'm going," Allisa said. Suddenly the ground on the path gave way. Max rushed and pulled her in before she fell. "Thanks." She said, looking down at the jagged rocks below.

"Are we even going the right way?" Yuki asked.

"Just a bit further," Nel replied. "The fog's starting to lift. We should be able to see it soon."

"See what? I can barely see anything." Allisa said. Shortly after, the fog started to roll back, just like Nel said.

They were then greeted by the view of a massive building embedded into the cliff face in front of them. Despite the darkness, the group could see the structure in the distance dominating the cliff despite being tucked away behind the rock face. A small path to the building was seen to the left leading down the cliff, going around a cove, leading down into what looked like a courtyard.

"Whoa." Max gasped. "That looks creepy."

"Is this the place?" Allisa asked Nel, who simply nodded.

"While you were searching the garden, I tracked the group that attacked us here. A pretty convenient hideout." She answered, folding her arms.

"More like hidden in plain sight," Yuki said. "Why isn't this on the map?"

"Well, there are lots of ruins dotted around Avalon, and there's still loads left to be discovered," Melvin said. "This place is pretty far out of the way so I doubt there'd many people who've seen this place. Makes for a good hideout." He squinted trying to make out the structure. "By the looks of it, I'd say its some kind of old sea temple. Probably built before the time of Saruin."

"Meaning?" Max said scratching his head cluelessly.

"It's very old," Melvin said irately.

"So Elizabeth is somewhere in there?" Allisa said to herself, gulping.

"Scared?" Nel asked.

"No," Allisa replied, shaking her head. "I'm not like I was two months ago. I promised I'd save, so I'm going to save her."

Nel smiled to herself. She really has grown considerably compared to what she was before. She then resumed walking toward the big structure. "Then let's go."

The others followed her leave. Before moving again, Allisa dug into her pocket and pulled out the charm Elizabeth gave her, gently clenching it.

Elizabeth. I promise I'll save you.

She clenched it tight while putting it back, then followed the others to the structure.

Into the temple

The fog was lighter down on the grounds of the structure, making it more visible for the group who had just reached the courtyard of the building. The space was large, wide enough for two football fields. Twelve decorated pillars stood on the sides, six to each. Three giant arches were dug into the rock, with three statues within; A median to the left holding a dove in her hands, a horned and terrifying demonic man holding a heart in its hands, a man, presumably a hero of old legends holding a sword faced down by the crossguard.

"Ok. This is really creepy." Max said as they walked into the courtyard.

"Scared?" Yuki said to him.

"No way. I'm just saying that it looks creepy."

"So Elizabeth is somewhere inside," Allisa said as the group looked at the entrance to the building. "I wonder how big this place is?"

"Most old temples are known to be pretty big on the inside," Melvin answered for her. "There are also some that have many floors leading down."

"Really. I wonder if the knights found this place?"

"In theory, they shouldn't." Everyone then turned to Nel, who was also fixated on the entrance.

"What do you mean in theory?" Yuki asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I'm certain that I was the only one tailing them, which is inconsistent with what Sir Garlahad told us."

"What are you trying to say?" Melvin asked.

"Let's just say I have a bad feeling."

"Well, Well. Visitors." A loud voice echoed around the empty courtyard, taking the group by surprise. "This certainly is a predicament. I didn't think anyone would be able to find this place."

"Who's there?" Nel demanded while drawing her weapons. In response, Allisa summoned her sword. Yuki drew his sword and Melvin readied his wand.

"And the ceremony is nearly ready to be performed and we get some uninvited guests."

"Ceremony?" Allisa's heart then sank. "What have you guys done to Elizabeth?"

"Nothing at the moment. But I guess that it won't be long now before she draws blood."

"Oh no." Allisa then made a break for the entrance.

"Allisa! Wait!" Nel ran after her, followed by the others. Allisa nearly reached the entrance when she suddenly stopped. Standing before the entrance was a man, covered in bronze armor. A helmet with a creepy face mask covered his face. He held a shield of Bronze and a sword. The others stopped by Allisa, staring at the first obstacle.

"I'm afraid I can't just let you walk in," the man said as he walked towards the group. "You'll have to go through me first."

A blade then burst through the man's chest. "Sorry," Nel said, who was now behind him with her short blade stabbing into his back. "but it seems we're in a hurry."

"Quickstep huh?" The armored man said with no hint of pain in his voice. He then raises his sword, and swings back. Sensing the danger, Nel withdrew her blade and leaped back.

"What?" The man turned to face her. Nel inspected the wound she inflicted. That should have been fatal. But he's moving like it didn't hurt him.

"Not bad. Have to admit, I didn't even see that coming." The man jeered.

Nel then looked at her blade, which had no trace of blood on it despite the fact she ran it through her opponent.

"Out of the way!" Allisa yelled as she sliced through the man's back.

"That was rude you know." The man turned back and swung at Allisa. Startled, Allisa quickly blocked the strike, skidding back by the force of the blow.

"What the? I struck you!" Allisa said in confusion.

"You did?" The man then turned to face Allisa. "I didn't notice." With his back turned, Nel inspected the damage inflicted by Allisa, along with the wound she inflicted on his back.

He's not bleeding. Nel thought to herself. Those wounds should be bleeding.

"Fire bolt" A fireball shot from Melvin passed Allisa, and smashed against the man, blowing off his entire upper right side of his body, scattering pieces of his armor about. What was left collapsed to the ground. "Did I get him?" Nel walked over and inspected the remains of the body.

"No." The others then approached Nel and inspected the remains of the amour.

"It's empty." Allisa gasped. The armor was indeed completely empty, with no trace of a human within it.

"I'm guessing it was empty, to begin with." Nel summarized. The armor then started to disintegrate into dust.

"Good guess." The same voice echoed around them. Then, the same man in armour approached them from the entrance. A second then emerged from behind him. Then a third split from him.

"What the?" Allisa said, even more confused. "There are three?"

"Behind us!" Yuki warned. Behind them, an army of Bronze armored soldiers emerged from the fog, quickly surrounding them.

"They're hundreds of them!" Melvin said. Surrounded and cut off, the group started to huddle together.

"What do we do?" Allisa asked, holding her sword out. "We can't fight them all." As she turned her head to the others, one of the men rushed her.

"ALLISA!!" Max rushed towards the man. As Allisa turned to see the danger, Max pushed past her and punched the man in the chest. His fist ran straight through the armor. "What the?" Max withdrew, allowing the armor to flop backward. Like the first, it was also hollow. "What's going on? This one's empty too."

"Just as I thought," Nel said as she dogged a blow from another attacker. She spun around and with her blade ran through the helmet, ripping it off. The armor had no head and still managed to move. As it prepared another attack, Yuki came up and slashed upwards, slicing the armor into, revealing it to be hollow as well.

"The hell?" Yuki said as he resumed his guard. "Are all of them hollow?"

"It's some kind of clone technique," Nel said, activating her piercer eyes. "We're only fighting one opponent."

"One? There's hundreds of them." Melvin said anxiously.

"No. It's definitely one. He's somehow cloned his armor, controlling all of them remotely."

"Good observation." The voice came from one of the clones. "Since my secrets out, perhaps I should introduce myself." The same voice then came from another clone, which was far from the first one. "I am Hecoton the Cloner. I can make hundreds of copies off my armor, as you have just witnessed, and use them to attack my foe's." The voice shifted again. "And the best bit, no matter how many you destroy, I can simply make more. You can fight until you completely out of energy. And when that happens, I move in for the kill."

"So basically, he's just wearing us down with numbers," Nel concluded. "Not good."

"What do we do?" Allisa said, fending off a blow from another clone and shoving it back.

"The real body must be amongst the clones," Nel said looking around. "If we can take him out, his clones will disappear."

"Well," Max fought back against two of the clones, shattering them by his attacks. "Where's the real body." Nel searched around with her Piercer eyes, taking in the detail on the armor. She also used her sensor ability to try and find the main body.

"I-I don't know." She finally said. "The detail of the armors is exactly the same. He's also distributed his own mana amongst them so I can't pinpoint where he is."

"Then what do we do now?" Allisa cried out. "We don't have time to fight all of them!"

"She's right!" Yuki said as he sliced one of the clones in half. "They could start this ceremony any minute."

"I have an idea,"

Before anyone could ask, Max rushed forwards to face the entrance, and gave offa roar, sending an instance and concentrated burst of fire which blew away the clones standing in the way. The path to the entrance was now clear. "Ok, GO!"

Realizing what he had done the others made a break for the entrance, which was wide open. The clones attempted to close the gap, but the group managed to make it to the entrance. Max stopped just short of the entrance and turned to face the clones.

"Max!" Allisa stopped and turned. The others did the same.

"Go ahead!" Max called out. "I'll take care of these guys."

"Are you nuts! There's too many of them!" Melvin yelled.

"Someone hasta keep them here. And I have a much better chance of taking them all out."

"But Max-" Allisa tried to protest but Nel stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder.

"He's right." She said, "Remember times, not on our side. We can't afford any delays."

"But...." Allisa didn't like the prospect of leaving behind her friend, especially in the face of so many.

"Don't worry. I'll catch up." Max said, attracting Allisa's attention. He turned his head and grinned at her. "And there's no way I'm losing to a bunch of tin cans." He then turned back.

"Come on." Nel and Yuki then broke into a run.

"Good luck!" Melvin then followed.

"Don't die!" Allisa said to Max before catching up with the others.

"Don't worry," Max said quietly, a big grin on his face.

"You really think you can take my clones all by yourself," Hecoton said through one of his clones. "Have you lost your mind? I can wipe out an entire army through my clones. What makes you think that some kid like you will stand a chance by yourself."

Max flared up his left hand and shot the fire at the roof of the entrance, causing it to become blocked by rubble, preventing the clones to pursue further.

"Very clever, but it also means that you are trapped here with me." Hecoton chuckled, amused by the prospect that this lone boy was going to fight all his clones by himself.

Max then engulfed himself in flames, causing the clones to halt their advance. "This is perfect." He said grinning. "Now I don't have to hold back in blasting each one of you to dust."

The flames suddenly resided and Max charged the clones. Fire burst outwards as many were sent flying back in shattered pieces. When he stopped, Max leaped in the air, forming a massive ball of flame, which he threw at the mass of armors below, causing a massive blast on impact leaving behind a crater in its wake. He landed short of it with the smoke still spewing from the crater, broken bits of armor disintegrating around him.

H-He took out all of though clones with one attack. Hecoton thought anxiously as his clones surrounded Max. By his estimate, about a quarter of his clones was taken out by that attack. What the heck is he? He's definitely not human.

"All right. That's it for the warm-up." Max said as turned to the clones around him. "Now for the main event." He then burst flames from his Fists.

Hecoton's anxiety turned to irritation over Max's last remark. "Alright freak, play times over! Let's see how long you can hold out against my army!"

"Bring it on tin can!"

****

The corridor the group traveled down quickly led to a staircase. The staircase itself went down, going back and forth on several junctions before finally ending at a large room. Despite being underground, the room was well lit with fire lanterns and light crystals similar to the ones at the house. Large statues were dotted along the path leading to another entrance at the opposite end of the room.

"No ones here," Yuki said as he walked into the room.

"They must be deeper inside," Nel said to him.

"Wonder how deep this place goes?" Yuki turned around and saw Allisa looking up the stairs. "You don't have to worry about him." He said to her, drawing her attention away from her current thoughts. "Frankly, if that Pyro loses to those things, I'll kill him myself."

"Come on. This is Max we're talking about." Melvin said to her. "Crowd control is his specialty."

Allisa took one last look up the stairs and nodded. "Y-Yeah. He'll be ok." She told herself as she caught up with the others. "Anyway, where are we?"

"Not sure," Melvin said looking around. "Probably some kind of entrance way to the main temple further inside."

"This is an entrance?" Yuki said, looking at the statues. "Not very welcoming if you ask me."

"No kidding. This place gives me the creeps." Allisa said.

"I agree with you on that," Melvin said. "I'm getting some kind of bad vibe from here." Nel then suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Allisa asked.

"They're here." She said.

"Who?" Yuki said calmly, gripping the hilt of his sword gently. "The guys from before?" Nel nodded.

"Where?" Allisa said looking around quickly. "I don't see anything."

"There somewhere in the room. Since they haven't made a move yet, they're probably waiting to ambush us."

"You mean we walked into a trap?" Melvin said looking around nervously. "But I don't see anyone."

"Since they're leaving us alone, they're probably planning to jump us when we get closer to that entrance," Nel said. "Their goal is likely to occupy us while their priestess performs this ceremony."

"So just like that clone guy," Melvin said. "Will this ever end?"

"We have to keep moving," Allisa said. "We'll just go through them and don't stop till we make it."

"That may be easy enough, but we'll be leaving ourselves exposed from the rear." Yuki said drawing his sword, "One of us will have to stay behind to keep them occupied while the rest of you go on ahead." He then grinned. "I guess that means I'm up."

"Wait, what?"

"If you're concerned about me then don't," Yuki said before she could object. "If what Nel says is true about delaying us, then I doubt these bastards will pose a challenge."

The swordsman walked a few steps in front of the others, his eyes focusing on the empty room before him. "Personally, cutting down a group of armatures doesn't sound promising. And I honestly don't care that much about the princess. That said, we were hired to protect her, and I take my jobs seriously, which I'm sure you agree." He then held his sword down as he lowered his stance. "So make sure you save her."

Allisa remained silent for a short time, before simply nodding.

"Make sure you don't get killed," Nel said to Yuki.

"Hm. I'm not sure if that's an insult or concern." Yuki smirked.

"Alright, on my mark, we make a break for it," Nel instructed Allisa and Melvin.

"Right." they both said together.

"Ok." Nel then took a deep breath, locking the entrance insight. "Now!" On her mark, Allisa, Nel, and Melvin made a sprint for the entrance.

As they approached it, two cloaked men leaped out from behind the statues, swords drawn, descending upon the three as they approached the entrance. A flash then passed by them, slicing the two men in half. Yuki skidded to a halt in front of the entrance as the bodies hit the floor.

"Alright, you walking carpets," He said as he turned around, seeing more cloaked men approaching him, all bearing blades,

Seeing them gathered before him, Yuki couldn't help but let sip a grin. "Which one of you's next?"

Melvin vs. Lougas

The passageway the group went down yet more stairs, going deeper underground. After reaching the bottom, the sound of running water could be heard. The next room was a wide passageway with water below, with a long and narrow walkway in front, with pillars supporting the passage from below. On the sides were large spaces with pillars, keeping level with the walkway.

"Water?" Allisa said, looking down at the water below.

"We must be at sea level now," Melvin said, picking over the edge of the walkway.

He was standing behind Allisa, and was also looking down at the water below the bridge. The water wasn't so deep as they could see the bottom.

"Don't dawdle." Nel, who was ahead, called out to them.

"Oh, sorry," Allisa said as she ran to catch up. Melvin did the same, bringing up the rear. The walkway went on for a while. Ahead was yet another entrance. "Another one," Allisa said exhaustedly. "Seriously how big is this place?"

"There's one more room after this one." A voice came from the groups left. Leaning against one of the pillars was a young, early teen boy, wearing dark clothing and a knit cap and glasses. "After that is where they have the princess." He then looked at the group. "That's why you're here right." he then instinctively pushed up his glasses. "Honestly though, what's Hecoton doing out there to let intruders in. And those cult creeps were just as useless to let you in this far."

"Who are you?" Nel demanded. "You don't look like you with the cult!"

"Names Lougas. I'm just some hired help in case anyone tries to interrupt this ceremony that's taking place."

"A mercenary?"

Lougas then sat up and pointed towards the entrance. "They're about to start so you'd best hurry." He said as he put his hands in his pockets.

"You're letting us go?" Allisa asked him cautiously.

"I can't fight you all. If possible I'd rather not fight at all. But I need to do something to earn my reward." He then nodded to Melvin. "So I'll take the wizard there."

"Huh? Me?" Melvin quickly drew out his wand. Lougas then brought out two yo-yos from his pockets. "Huh?"

"Yo-yos?" Allisa looked puzzled. The world may have been bizarre ever since she arrived in Avalon, with strange new developments happening all around her, she never thought to see someone who used Yo-yo's as their main weapon.

"I'd keep your guard up," Nel said to them. "He's definitely no amateur, I can tell that much."

"I think I should take this one," Melvin said to the girls. "Sounds like the princess is in danger."

"Hold on!" Allisa protested. "You're gonna take him by yourself?"

"Don't worry. No way I'll lose to some kid with toys. And you forget," Melvin grinned at her. "I'm the powerful apprentice of Arch Sage Dran, which means this guy's toast."

"Normally I'd recommend that move ahead," Nel said cautiously staring at Lougas. "But this kid seems dangerous. I think it is best if we fight together."

"I'll be fine. Besides, it sound's like we're running out of time. So you two should go on ahead. We'll meet up later with the rest of the guys."

"Are you sure?" Allisa felt uneasy. They had already lost Max and Yuki, and know they were about to lose another member of the team.

"Yeah," Melvin said, determinedly keeping his eye on Lougas.

"Alright," Nel said reluctantly. "We'll leave it to you." She then ran for the next entrance.

"Good luck," Allisa said as she ran after Nel. "We better see you again!" she called out as she disappeared into the passage.

"Well, those two are dead," Lougas said. "The next guy will definitely kill them."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Melvin said holding up his wand, "and you fight with me."

Lougas then played with one of the yoyos. "Apprentice of the Arch Sage Dran, huh?" He then caught the yo-yo we were playing with. "This should be fun."

"Wind Blast!" Melvin immediately unleashed a gust of wind at Lougas, who jumped up high, causing the blast to damage the pillars behind him. In the air, Lougas summersault letting one of the yo-yos to drop down on its string.

As he came around, approaching the walkway, he brought down the yo-yo onto Melvin, who moved back out of the way as the yo-yo hit the walkway. The entire section where Melvin was standing was instantly obliterated, sending rock everywhere.

What the? Losing his balance as the walkway cracked and gave way beneath him, he held out his wand and unleashed a gust of wind, pushing him away while avoiding getting crushed by the debris.

He landed in the shallow water and struggled to get back on his feet. The remnant of the section destroyed was now rubble in the water, supported by the two pillars from the other sections. Lougas landed on top of the heap.

He destroyed that with a yo-yo?

"You think the reason I chose to fight you is because you seem the weakest, am I wrong?"

"W-what of it?"

"Well, you're wrong." He said as he jumped into the water. "I chose you specifically because you're a wizard?" he then spanned one of his yoyos down and then pulled it back up again. "Do you know the biggest weakness of a wizard?" He then lunged at Melvin, letting both yoyos fly forward. Out of instinct, Melvin put up his barrier.

The yoyos instantly passed through it and slammed into his chest. To Melvin, it felt as though 2 meteors had just hit him at full force. He flew back and smashed into the wall behind him.

"It's their bodies," Lougas said as he grounded to a halt. Melvin coughed and spluttered as he tried to regain his breath as the attack severely winded him.

"W-W-wha...." he could barely say anything as he struggled back to his feet, coughing in the process.

"Since wizards can use their mana as both offensive and defensive weapons they usually grow too reliant on it, therefore neglect to strengthen their bodies. This leaves them physically weaker than most people."

Melvin managed to regain his balance, gulping in the air.

"Still, the fact that you can still stand after that attack is impressive for someone your age."

"W-What exactly are you." He knew his barrier should have been strong enough to block the blow, or at least cushion it if he was using mana channeling. But the yoyos literally passed through the barrier, as though it melted a hole through it.

Before he answered, Lougas took a swing at Melvin with his yo-yo. Melvin ducked as the string passed overhead. The tip, on the other hand, smashed through the wall, leaving behind a large grove, showering Melvin with rubble before returning to Lougas hand.

"I'm what's known as a mage killer."

"M-Mage killer?"

"It's pretty self-explanatory, but if you need me to spell it out for you I'm trained to deal with wizards and mages like you." He then held up a yo-yo. "You probably thought at first glance that these were ordinary yoyos. They actually have a special gem inside which allows them to nullify a wizard's barrier. On top of that, each one weighs around 4 tons."

4 tons! How is he able to lift them like they were normal? Melvin though. That does explain why they hit so hard, but still, he looks even scrawnier than me.

"It's unfortunate for you. If you had heeded the advice of the red-haired woman, the three of you together could have easily defeated me. But you let your arrogance get the better of you, and know you find yourself in this situation."

"You really talk a lot." Melvin pointed his wand at Lougas grinning. "You talk as though you've already won." He then waved his wand and launched two fire bolts at Lougas. "We're just getting started!" Lougas spun his right yo-yo out, intercepting both, and launched his other forwards at Melvin. "Water Wall!" Large bodies of water then moved up, causing the yo-yo to smash into it, slowing the trust down.

"Clever." Melvin ran to his left, getting beside the water wall, and aimed his wand.

"Firebolt!" he sent three more fireballs after Lougas, while he was recovering the yoyos. Lougas smiled to himself. He then turned and swung both arms. The fireballs got close to him before the first yo-yo intercepted them. "Wind b-" before Melvin could finish Lougas's second yoyo burst from the water wall and slammed into his left arm, sending him flying to the right.

"That wasn't a bad move," Lougas said as he recovered his second yo-yo. "You couldn't use the barrier so you took advantage of the water which slowed my yoyo long enough for you to counterattack."

Melvin struggled back to his feet again, clutching his left arm. D-Damn it... I think my arm's broken.

"You then took advantage of the fact that I could only use one to block, then launched another attack on top of that confident that I couldn't effectively move my second. Unfortunately for you, you overlooked a crucial fact."

Lougas then held up a yo-yo. "I told you these weigh roughly 4 tones. Which means they require someone with considerable strength to use them." He then started to walk towards Melvin who was recovering his wand after which he lost grip off after that last attack. "Though the water did slow the movement of the yo-yo enough to prevent any major damage, I was still strong enough to wrench it from the wall and land a second blow on you, a feat that no one without my strength could muster."

"Don't you ever shut up?" Melvin said as he got back to his feet. "Cause I'm getting real tired herring that voice of yours." He left his left arm dangling. That last blow certainly broke some of his bones, leaving him unable to move it much. Not to mention that he was getting some pain in his chest where the first blow hit, indicating that some of his ribs may be broken.

Despite this, he pointed his wand down into the water. Some of the water then raised and pointed directly at Lougas, turning into 4 sharp blades. "Aqua slicer!"

He then sent them to Lougas, who dogged all and sent a yo-yo at Melvin. Melvin dogged to the right. Due to the pain he was in he didn't move too far, in the end leaning against a pillar that supported the walkway. Lougas swung another yo-yo at him. Melvin quickly dived down and the yoyo tore through the pillar.

This is getting nowhere. Melvin though as he rushed off to his left, hampered by the pain. At this rate, he'll annihilate me. Melvin turned and aimed his wand at Lougas. "Thunder bo-" he then hesitated, stopping him from casting the spell. If I actually hit him, that could kill him.

"Why are you hesitating?" Lougas said, remaining still. "Go ahead. Cast that spell." Melvin stood still pointing his wand at Lougas who just stood there. "You were about to cast 'Thunderbolt,' a spell which even I find difficult to dodge. A spell that at this point is your only chance." Melvin wand started shaking. He gritted his teeth hard.

He's right. It travels at speeds too fast to be dogged by someone like him. But since he has nothing to properly shield the bolt, it will burn right through him.

"Don't tell me you aren't prepared to kill me?" Melvin lost track of his thoughts, staring at Lougas. "You wield magic to destroy your opponent. Every wizard I've come across has shown me no mercy as they launch spells with the exact purpose of killing me. But you, since we've begun, have only used spells that will injure or incapacitate me, but not kill."

Melvin gripped his wand tight. The pain in his chest and left shoulder grew. The cold water soaked up his sweat as he nervously stared at his opponent. "I-I.... I.... Can't kill you." He finally said.

"You can't, or won't." Lougas lowered one of his yoyos and started spinning it behind him. "I can block or dodge any spell that you thought of me that isn't meant to take my life. The only chance you have is to attack with spells that could potentially end my life."

"NO!!"

Lougas stopped spinning his yo-yo and retracted it back into his hand.

"I-I promised my master, the second I took up magic, never to use it to kill." He then fixed his wand at Lougas, fixing him with a detriment stare. "I will beat you. And I will do it without taking your life!"

"That's a bold statement. But you do realize the disadvantage it puts you in. Choosing not to kill-"

"Wind blast!" A burst of wind blasted into Lougas sending him flying backward. "I told you, I'm getting really sick of your voice." Lougas quickly got back to his feet. "And stop talking like you've already won!" 4 ice needles then started to form around him. "I have plenty of fight left in me! Ice Needles!"

Lougas intercepted them with one of his yoyos. As he did, Melvin increased the distance between them, though hampered by his injuries. Lougas ran, and quickly closed the distance between them before launching his yoyos at Melvin. The right one aimed straight at him, which Melvin saw and dogged to the left. He then noticed the second one above him. Lougas then gently tugged the string and bought the yo-yo to bear down on him.

Unable to move out of the way fast enough due to the pain in his chest, Melvin used his wand to emit a burst of wind, which pushed him out of the way in time, causing the yo-yo to smash into the water, causing a massive splash. Melvin landed hard on the ground and quickly tried to get back on his feet. He then scrambled under the walkway to the next pillar, circling it from the left. He then stopped as he got around it, out of Lougas's sight. The pain in his broken arm was now reaching intolerable levels, and his chest was no better.

I can't keep this up for long.

"You can't escape." Lougas then appeared before him and launched the yo-yo in his right hand.

"Water Wall!" Melvin instinctively put up the water wall like before, which he knew would slow the yo-yo down, but not stop it. That should buy me some time. He thought as the yo-yo impacted. Now I need to find-

Suddenly he was then struck hard at the back of the head.

Wha-?

As his consciousness began to fade, he saw through the water that Lougas had launched his second yo-yo. The second went around past the pillar, and as it did, Lougas tugged it gently, allowing it to swing around behind Melvin's defenses and struck him in the back of the head.

Crap.

Melvin was pushed forward by the impact of the yo-yo. As he did, the first yo-yo broke through the water wall and smashed into his chest, making a distinct cracking sound. Melvin then coughed up blood as he was pushed around before landing on his back.

"It's over," Lougas said as he retracted both yoyos and put them back into his pockets. He then walked towards the barely conscious.

"Personally, I am impressed that you managed to survive this long against me." As he approached, Melvin lost consciousness. "If you had been a little older, you could have defeated me. But your biggest weakness was that stubborn desire not to take a life."

He then started to walk away from Melvin, who just lay there, partially submerged in the water.

"In this world, only the strong can survive. And if you lack the will to take a life, then this will be your fate. Try all you want, but the outcome will always be the same." He then took a quick glance at Melvin. "Although, it's not like you can try again."