- - -

William tilted his head, staring at the old knight with evident scorn in his eyes. Shaking his head slightly, he rested Yeriel on a corner rather softly, as if worried it would wake her up. Lord Kirien’s wife was not that far away from him, actually, the sick lady was closer to him than the old knight, however, William tried nothing on her, since he could deal with this old fool easily.

Why bother to play a dirty hand when you can win with a clean hand? Then again, his hands were not that clean. He had drugged the knight and Yeriel, and sneaked an attack to make him this weak. If he still needs to take that sick lady as hostage, he better give up on himself already.

Lord Kirien was barely standing, taking a stance with his sword. He appeared to have one foot in the grave already, yet was still standing. His breathing was uneven, but he managed to organise himself pretty well, though his inside was in upheaval. That’s what decades of service in Knightship do to one.

"You could’ve died in peace, or waited in ignorance for help to arrive," William said, "but no, you have to play the hero at your age, old fool."

Lord Kirien said nothing and charged at the warlock, both palms gripped tight onto his sword, elbows bent. In response, William formed a head-sized ball of flame, though it didn’t blaze in crimson, but in pitch black.

That only made the flame more terrifying because the afflicted person had to deal with more than just the heat. With no qualms, William shot the black fireball at the elderly knight, who was rushing at him.

The dark fireball was about to strike Lord Kirien, however, with a sudden lurch defying gravity, the elderly Knight shot up in the air to charge at his target.

William’s eyes widened at the sudden revelation, but he managed to infuse some amount of spirit energy into his amulet to form an obsidian-like shield in time. The blade clashed against the shield as it shook violently, on the verge of shattering before William fuelled it with more energy. The swing was an all-out slash. Though it lacked an element, it didn’t lack any power.

Of course, Lord Kirien was already losing strength, which is why he would be much more callous, especially with surprise attacks. However, he failed to deliver any critical blows here and also revealed his Dominion of Gravity in the process.

William didn’t take any chances and shot another black fireball at his opponent. Lord Kirien was at his hands' distance. There was no way to dodge this, unless . . .

A peculiar force hurled itself around Lord Kirien. It was not like any spirit art, but like a force of nature. The force hurled for a moment and then lurched against the ground; in the next moment, the elderly Knight was already in the air, clashing against the hardwood ceiling.

"I always hated these Dominions," William said, as if stating a fact, looking at the undignified elderly knight. "I practised for years, countless sleepless nights studying, even fell low to drop all self-esteem and begged to gain my strength. And you?"

Dominion was the cheat that those users who don’t have any proficiency in the high arts train in. They transport you to a secret facility where you are reborn as a capable practitioner after half an hour. William didn’t know the actual process, but he was sure it can’t be like the high arts, which required years of hard work. That was the gist of Dominion. You didn’t need to study or work that hard at all. Furthermore, even using these dominions was easy. A fool could do it if he was given proper training afterwards.

"This power," Lord Kirien said, his voice hoarse and fatigued, "all power, comes with a price, with a duty. It hurts me to see how you failed to grasp it."

"Now you will teach me about price and duty, old fool." William shouted, hurling the black flame again. "You have no idea how much or what I paid to get here."

William shot the fire, this time not as a fireball, but as a large wave of black fire. The elderly knight lurched his body to dodge and managed to get out safely, though some of the dark flame burned into his light armour to invade his system. The flames ignored the armour, drilled into his skin, giving a chilly burning feeling.

The breathing he was trying so hard to keep even, the energy he was drawing to keep the dominion of gravity in check, fled away from his grasp as Lord Kirien clashed against a sidewall, rattling the camp violently.

William was about to attack again, but the elderly knight lurched up from there at him, crashing in fiercely. The spell he was forming dissolved, however, yet again, he drew his energy into his amulet to protect himself, forming the shield. Lord Kirien was in no position to make any slashes with the sword, but he had plans for something else entirely.

With a hurl of his power, the dominion of gravity pushed against the earth as the two of them lurched up. William’s shield collided against the hardwood roof, creating a hole in it as both of them lurched higher to collide against the final roof.

Snow fell on them as the crack enlarged on the roof. William’s shield dissolved after shaking violently as icy bone-chilling winds assaulted them as the snowfall crashed onto them.

"Old fool, you’re going to kill us both," William screamed at the elderly knight, who seemed to not hear him.

Lord Kirien carried him high in the air as the violent chilling wind slapped heavily against their body. William was forming his black flame yet again, though only to threaten, however, Lord Kirien wasted no time, and jerked his body to fling away William from the hundred metres high. However, the old knight was in no better condition as his body followed suit.

Despite his attempt to undermine the fall with dominion, Lord Kirien’s body crashed against the roof, breaking the roof into the first floor. With a thud, he collapsed on the first floor, but didn’t have enough momentum to break another roof.

While William fell in another direction in the snow, it’s hard to guess who between the two had the worst fall.

Lord Kirien coughed, and dark scarlet blood oozed out of his mouth again. He stood up, weighing himself with his sword, still coughing. He coughed out blood again and walked down the stairs, clanging onto the wall. His entire body was jolting with pain, while the power inside his body. More than a half dozen of his bones shattered. The inconsiderable amount of freedom he got from ignoring everything was fleeting away.

He came down to the ground floor, staggering to find the familiar room. The healer, Lady Yeriel, was still unconscious with a reddish pale face, and his wife, she was shaking just the same, wrapped in a blanket.

Staggering, the old knight reached for the healer, shaking her. “Lady Yeriel,” he called, laying his palms on her shoulder to shake her. “Please . . . please wake up, I need you, my wife needs . . .”

A disturbance came behind him, and he spun to find the familiar figure of the Warlock. William didn’t have his cheeky grin on his lips, nor was he organised like he presented himself. His sweater was torn, hair dishevelled, and was walking unevenly, protecting his left foot.

Lord Kirien grunted silently, taking a stance again with his sword. Yeriel and his sick wife were behind him. Only then did he learn what kind of position he was in. If William attacks, he cannot dodge it, as it would likely hit one of the two.

William jolted or acted as if he did. “Peace, peace,” he said, holding both of his palms upwards. “I came in peace.”

“What game are you trying to play?”

"No game." The cheeky grin returned to his lips as William crept safely away from the knight, hands still held high. "I came up with a proposal." Seeing the old knight silent, he continued. "Lord Kirien, why are you here? Of course, it’s to cure your wife, right? So why not come to a compromise here? "

“What are you talking about?” Lord Kirien said, eyes glaring.

"I'll let you have Yeriel cure your wife first, and then we'll both go our separate ways," William continued.

"What do you want with Lady Yeriel?" Lord Kirien inquired, his grip on the hilt tightening. His stomach churned with hatred just thinking he considered this proposal.

"She still has uses in my plan," William said, "but that’s not important to you. What is important to you is the life of your dear wife. So tell me, do we have a deal?"

"Do you think I’ll compromise with you?" Lord Kirien shouted, standing a little more poise. "Especially to someone like you!"

"Well, well, aren’t you an Auger of Purity and Innocence?" William mocked, the scorn returning in his voice. “Old fool, do you think I need to compromise with you? You’re waist deep in a grave. All I need is time. If it isn’t because I’m short on that, do you think I’ll negotiate with you? To a noble of all people?"

Lord Kirien went silent, his lips quivering. Even though he presented a strong front, he couldn’t hide his state from the assailant.

"So what would it be, old fool?" William asked, laughing, "I can wait for some time to see you die, before taking her with me, however, I’m promising you this: your dear wife will pay in full for your fault in wasting my precious time. Either way, it's my win here."