*Gael*
I gritted my teeth and stared back at the ring of flames around us.
How were we getting out of this one?
Facing a djinn wasn’t easy.
While difficult to control, they were more powerful than the typical guardian angel.
“Any ideas, big guy?” I asked, glancing at Griff.
He gave the kid and djinn a steely gaze.
“I think we’ll go with your original plan.”
I smirked.
“So, time for an all out brawl?”
Griff nodded.
“If you think you can handle it.”
I snickered.
“Don’t doubt me!”
“I’ll wipe that cocky smile off your face!” the boy said as he swung the grappling hook at me.
I ducked and grasped the chain between my twin guns.
“Right back at ya, Gilly!”
He grumbled.
“You aren’t a friend of mine, so it’s Giles to you!”
I snickered.
Nice.
I touched a sore spot.
“Nuisances will burn to cinders!” the djinn yelled as she appeared in front of me.
My smile subsided a little.
Giles smiled as his hook ignited.
“Get ready to get roasted, bastard!”
I cracked my knuckles and rolled my shoulders.
“Bring it!”
The two of them charged me at the same time.
I readied my gun and appeared behind them in the blink of an eye.
“What?” the djinn asked, turning around.
“Ice Mirror teleportation,” I said before shooting at her.
Beneath my feet laid a small patch of ice from an earlier shot.
Luckily, it hadn’t melted away.
The djinn ducked and sent a whip made up of fireballs at me.
I leaned back and fired a few rounds into the air.
“What are you up to?” Gil asked, taking a step back.
He was a smart kid after all.
I smirked and snapped my fingers, “Ice Threads!” Beams of freezing mana shot out of the bullets, now suspended in the air, forming a web around my opponents.
“Shit!” the djinn yelled, trying to dodge the strands.
I jumped up, grabbed onto a thread, then climbed up a bit higher before shooting down at the ground.
She swung her flame whip at them, melting them.
But thinner, more complex ice webbing took their place.
“This man isn’t a normal knight,” the djinn said.
Griff laughed as he avoided an attack from Gil’s bow.
Seemed he too could use multiple angel tools simultaneously.
“Indeed.
He’s an oddball.”
I chuckled.
“Also, he’s one of the Seven Hill Knights, the king’s own elite force.”
“That explains a lot!” Gil said as he avoided getting smacked by Griff’s shield.
He snickered.
“But a Seven Hill Knight’s presence here only makes your Kuroriku look more guilty!” The wall of flames drew closer as the boy took to the air.
“Anim, go wild!”
The djinn let out a roar as her flaming crimson hair turned into literal flames.
Her clothes also turned fiery.
“We’d rather not die today,” I said.
“You should’ve thought twice before messing with Taahid’s saviors!”
I snorted.
“Saviors?
You’re a bunch of thieves!
What are you possibly saving?”
He glared at me as he charged wind prana into his arrow.
“You’re one to call us thieves.
You’re a dog of the king!
Your nation seized half of Taahid for yourselves!”
I shot at him but his djinn got in the way, melting the bullet.
My eyes widened as she reached a fiery hand at me.
“No you don’t!” Griff yelled, slamming her with his shield.
“I’ll take care of you first!” She expanded in size, transforming into a raging inferno and swept over him.
I shot multiple bullets at her.
“Leave Griff alone!” I yelled, firing even more crazily than I usually did.
The bullets melted as soon as they struck her but still managed to form holes in her fiery body.
“I’ll rip you apart!” the djinn bellowed as she turned her sights on me.
The holes vanished.
I was amazed by how fast she regenerated.
Djinn truly could bring out the full power of the elements.
I raised my gun and shot again.
A small hole formed in her skin and I continued firing, moving my gun across the surface of her fiery body.
She tried to blast me with her flames, but the bullets kept hitting her until she started falling back.
“Return, Anim!” Gil yelled before shooting his arrow at us.
A tornado formed around the arrow, pulling the flames around us and covering us in sweeping flames.
I rapidly formed an ice and barrier, but it melted nearly right away.
My eyes widened as a hand grabbed me from behind and I was pulled into the darkness.
The air smelled of burnt mud.
“You okay?” Griff’s voice echoed in the darkness.
He sounded exhausted.
“Y-yeah.
You scared me for a moment.
I really owe you one.
You saved me more times than I could count.
Although, why didn’t we just travel underground to begin with?
“You can’t see, but the terrain here is super hard rock.
Beyond it lies sand.
Neither is especially convenient to move.
Especially within a city.
“Oh, like a mole in cartoons!”
He laughed as I felt the ground continue to shift.
“Indeed.
But we have no choice now.”
The ground finally stopped shifting and I looked around, but I still couldn’t see past the darkness.
Unlike the Captain or Ore, I sucked at seeing in the dark.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Why did we stop?”
“Sorry, needed some rest.”
I furrowed my brow and put a hand over his armor.
It was hot and felt melted.
“Griff…”
“I’m fine,” he said, putting a hand on my shoulder.
I sighed and moved my hand away.
“We need to get you medical help fast.”
He nodded and we began to move again, this time forward.
It felt like being inside a conveyer belt.
After a while, our pace slowed again.
“We’re almost there,” Griff said, huffing.
How was the old man holding up?
He had to have been in rather dire shape.
He nodded and pushed through the darkness.
I couldn’t tell if we were going up or down but after some time, we stopped again.
“Only a little more.
Once we’re at the surface, it’s up to you to get us home.
Think you’re up to the task?” Griff asked.
I scoffed.
“Look who you’re talking to!
I’m an elite knight!
Of course I can handle it!”
He grinned.
“I know.
But I doubt anyone’s going to believe you’re an elite if you faint halfway.”
I groaned.
“Just send us up!
I’m tired of the dark already!”
Another round of shaking commenced as we rose.
My eyes widened as I saw water around us.
This place, it looked like the rock that me and and the others had hidden behind earlier.
Well, used to look as now it looked like a miniature volcano with an oversized crater.
I held my hand down.
My hands widened as I stared at Griff.
His armor was indeed badly melted.
“You look worse than I thought,” I said.
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” he said, forcing a smile.
“You don’t have to hide it.
You’re running out of steam.” I faced the water and began shooting at it, forming an ice bridge for us.
Griff started to sway as we walked on the ice, but he wasn’t sleeping.
I grabbed him.
“Hey, old on, big guy!”
He fell into my arms, causing me to stumble a bit.
“Oof!”
“Sorry,” he muttered.
I narrowed my eyes.
“Save your breath.
Lean on me.”
“Gael.
I-if I don’t make it, please tell my wife.”
I shook my head.
“Don’t be ridiculous!
You’re going to make it!”
He laughed weakly.
“You’re a good kid.”
I put my hands on him and covered him in ice.
It was hard to tell where he was bleeding thanks to his armor and patches of his skin being burnt.
But I couldn’t let him die.
I ran across the ice, hoping that my ice wouldn’t melt and the water wouldn’t rise.
It was a miracle we hadn’t fallen through already.
After a while, we came across a boat, but it wasn’t one of ours.
I gripped Griff and glared at it.
The Taahidian navy.
“Who are you?” a navy man asked, pointing his gun at us.
“None of your business!
Now leave us alone or else!” I had no time to waste.
Griff needed treatment.
They laughed.
I growled.
“Don’t mess with me when I’m a bad mood!” Ice flew out of my free hand, freezing the ship solid.
“Gael,” Griff said, his voice more hoarse than before.
“Hold on, we’re almost there!”
He coughed up blood.
“Griff!”
“I can’t hold on any longer.”
“Don’t you dare die on me, old man!
I won’t forgive you!”
He laughed weakly.
I clicked my tongue and continued running.
I didn’t want him to die.
He was like a father to me.
“Please, don’t die!”
“Thank you, Gael.
You’ve done enough.
I’m ready to face judgment.”
“Don’t say that!”
“Stay with me!”
His body relaxed, pulling me down into the ice.
“G-Griff!”
I checked his pulse.
He was still alive, but just barely.
“Don’t die!
Don’t die!” I pleaded, pushing on ahead.
I scanned the area.
I couldn’t even tell where we were other than in the middle of the lake.
I heard a rumbling behind us.
A wave was coming straight at us!
I turned around and flashed froze it with my mana.
The waves here were wild.
I glanced up and saw storm clouds.
“Griff, what do I do?” I asked.
“You always know what to do!”
His breathing was so shallow.
I clicked my tongue and froze his body.
It would keep him preserved until we got help.
I didn’t know how long that would be though.
Hopefully, I’d done it correctly.
It was a gamble, but he would’ve died on the way if I didn’t.
The waves became even stronger.
The sky was darkening, and lightning was flashing.
“Damnit!” I yelled as it became harder to move thanks to my damp clothes.
I couldn’t see the shore anywhere.
I could only keep moving forward, hoping for the best.
‘Sky Father.
I know that I don’t pray often, but please watch over us.
Don’t let us die like this.
Both Griff and I have our families.
I want my little Seb to grow up with his daddy, unlike me.
And I don’t want Griff’s grandkids to lose him either.’
As if to answer my prayers, a small boat appeared.
On it were Saffron and Koyuki.
Milo must’ve stayed back for fear of becoming seasick from all the waves.
“Captain!” I yelled at him.
“Dad!” Koyuki yelled as she stared at Griff.
She lifted us from the water and sat us down inside the ship.
“Thanks, Koyuki.”
“Daddy!” Koyuki said, hugging the ice.
Her hands glowed with light-blue mana.
I lowered my head.
Would he make it?
Captain Saffron sighed, maintaining his cool demeanor.
“Gael.
You look terrible.
What happened?”
“I’ll save that for later.
Griff needs help.
He’s in bad shape.
We need to get back to base camp.” Koyuki was healing him, but it might not have been enough.
Saffron’s expression darkened.
“Alright, just hang on.
We’ll get ya back to shore soon.” He grabbed the paddles and started to paddle as fast as he could.
I grabbed the other pair and did the same.
“What about you?” Koyuki asked, looking over her shoulder.
I smiled faintly.
“Just a few scrapes.”
Saffron glared at me.
“You were stabbed in the chest earlier.”
I smiled.
“I froze my wound, so not like I’m bleeding out!
Plus, think it might’ve gotten sealed up from the djinn’s flames.”
He averted his gaze.
“A djinn?”
I nodded.
“The kid in blue that you knocked back tried to kill us.
His name is Gil.
He’s the Prince’s righthand man.”
Saffron sighed.
“Should’ve killed the guy when I could’ve.”
I should’ve as well.
“You should grab a towel,” Koyuki said, returning to healing her dad through the ice.
“The last thing you need is to catch a cold.”
“It’s pouring, so it won’t do him much good,” Saffron said, staring at the sky.
Koyuki wiped her face with the sleeve of her shirt.
“You froze him as his lifeforce was weak, right?”
I nodded.
“I couldn’t let him die.
Not while I’m around.”
She smiled slightly.
“It was smart thinking, although risky.
I managed to get him out of the danger zone, but he’s still weak.”
“Oh, thank The Sky Father!” I exclaimed.
Saffron glanced up.
The dark clouds began to subside.
“Looks like the Sky Father is watching over us,” Koyuki said, smiling slightly.
The two of us nodded.
That he was.
As the Father of all, he knew my pain.
Once I returned home, I needed to get little Seb baptized.
Hope that you enjoyed the episode ^^.
This chapter ends volume 2.
Think Saffron, Gael, and co.
will be able to defeat the raiders and return home to their familes?
Or are they destined to perish?