At first, Chislon didn't understand why Theresa assigned Damian's head butler to tag along with him. Wouldn't it be better if she appointed someone who could fight?
He thought there were not many options she could take because this was an urgent matter and didn't want to waste any more time, knowing that her son might be killed at any moment. However...
Chislon stole a glance ahead and Fedel could be seen jumping from one branch to another at a rapid speed. Even though he used his Wind Elemental to quicken his feet, he was unable to match his speed. It seemed Fedel wasn't just a 'nobody' as he previously thought.
Chislon looked at his telesphere. A red dot blinked 4 km away from him and wrinkles materialized on his forehead. Just how did the Prince end up in the middle of the Imperial Forest outside Aeon Castle? He spun his head toward the old man.
"How did you lose the Prince?"
"He disappeared inside his chamber."
"You're not planting a watcher inside the Prince's chamber?"
Fedel shook his head.
"Her Majesty doesn't want the Prince to look like a prisoner, she wants to give him some privacy. But, who would know it backfired her."
"Are you sure this is not a kidnapping? There are a lot of kidnapping cases lately."
"No. He asked me to prepare light snacks for the whole day."
"Whole day?"
Chislon scoffed.
"Looks like he planned his runaway earnestly."
"It'll be better if it's just a simple run away, but His Highness knows nothing about the political struggle."
At this point, Chislon was amazed.
"Her Majesty really did a great job of putting the Prince in the dark."
Fedel nodded in agreement.
However, they stopped talking and exchanged glances when their speed suddenly slowed down. Not that they wanted it due to being tired, they just realized that the Mana flow in this area had been manipulated.
"Somebody planted a Mana Disruption Device."
"Seems that way."
"Let's speed up."
Fedel accelerated his feet once more and left Chislon behind.
"Hei. Wait!"
Chislon stared at Fedel's back in disbelief. The Count couldn't believe that the old man still could hasten up even after the mana in this area was disabled. He wished he could catch up to Fedel but this was the maximum speed he had.
Fedel frowned after he saw a fog up ahead. Even though yesterday was raining, the humidity here wasn't enough to cause a fog. There was also a lot of grunting sound inside it.
The moment he entered the fog, he immediately hopped out of it and landed on a branch on his knees. It was only a split second, yet he felt his body being electrocuted. If he stayed in there for too long, he undoubtedly would be paralyzed.
"Are you okay?"
Fedel glanced sideways and found Chislon.
"I'm fine. But, what is that?"
"The Prince made it."
Chislon leaped down on the ground.
"The Prince?"
Fedel frowned. He followed suit and landed beside the Count.
"Isn't the Mana around here disabled?"
Chislon took out a blue crystal point and showed it to Fedel.
"I gave him this."
Chislon cracked the crystal and cast a Wind Elemental to dismiss the mist. Men wearing black attire were lying on the ground whilst groaning, estimated around twelve. The Count peeked at his telesphere and saw how the blinking red dot slowly moved.
"It seems the Prince managed to escape. But--"
"You finished them off."
Fedel cut in and soared up to branches. He climbed higher to avoid the fog and left Chislon.
"Wait!"
But it didn't last long, Chislon's smirk vanished as he returned his eyes to the assassins, and without wasting any more time, he unsheathed his sword.
"But first, let's send them to hell."
.
.
.
Damian glanced to the side and deflected the dagger that was flying toward him while running. Looked like the fog had failed to reach the assassins above the tree since many of them still threw daggers at him although he was inside the fog which meant they weren't affected by the lightning, even now his body was tingling.
Elementalists weren't immune to their own spell. When creating a spell (Conjuring) or doing a Manipulation, 'Control' played a great role. As the Elemental was in control it wouldn't hurt the caster but once released, then it was totally out of their control and might hurt allies or the caster itself.
But luckily, Elementalist had Elemental Resistance. Elemental Resistance was usually based on the Elementals within them. For example, if you had a Lightning Elemental it meant you had 25% resistance to lightning, etc. Not only that, but every Elemental also has its own strength and weakness.
Fire stronger against Wind and weak against Water.
Water stronger against Fire and weak against Lightning.
Lightning stronger against Water and weak against Earth.
Earth stronger against Lightning and weak against Wind.
Wind stronger against Earth and weak against Fire.
Those above could trigger Elemental Advantage and Elemental Disadvantage. In other words, if your Elemental was superior to your enemy, then you were at Elemental Advantage. If your enemy had a superior Elemental than you then, you were at Elemental Disadvantage. Simplicity, it had the same concept as Rock-Paper-Scissors.
When you were at Elemental Advantage, the damage you received was reduced by 25% and your attacks increased by 50%. When you were at Elemental Disadvantage, the damage you received was increased by 50%, and your attacks were reduced by 25%.
What made Damian still able to move was because of the Elemental Advantage and Elemental Resistance he had. As he was a Quint Elementals Bearer, he had balance within him and when a certain Elemental inflicted damage on him, it triggered the Elemental Advantage which reduced the amount of damage he received by 25%. By adding the Lightning Resistance 25%, with this Damian only received 50% damage from his magic.
Even if he only received 50% damage, the damage was still damage. Also, Damian had no idea how long he had been sprinting, but he couldn't wait to get out of the fog because the numbness began to feel more and more unbearable.
–Bang!
Damian parried a dagger and continued running. His breath was rough, and his body was drenched with sweat. As expected of well-trained assassins, they didn't even let him catch his breath. Albeit he was running inside the fog, their accuracy was not a joke as if their dagger shadowed him.
He could feel how his legs weakened each time he took a step. He tried to move his leg but it didn't listen to him. In the end, he lost his footing and fell. Damian bit his bottom lip and clutched the soil as he lay on the ground. Why did it have to be his mom that he remembered at a time like this?
His heart ached just thinking about his mother. His eyes hurt and felt burned. He just acknowledged how naive he was. He thought that he only needed to solely focus on the First Prince and didn't have to worry about any other possibilities, which turned out his speculation was wholly wrong from the start!
Damian took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. After feeling calm, he took the sword and used it to assist him to get up. Successfully stood, he saw his reflection on the sword.
'Regret would not change anything.'
Also, he promised that he would return to his mother and it would be best if he kept his word unless he wanted his mother to not trust him anymore. However, Damian abruptly turned and raised his weapon when he heard something sharp fly approaching him.
–Bang!
The dagger fell to the ground as he deflected it. He swung his sword once again.
–Bang!
The knife stabbed the earth below right after it diverted. However, another came in and cut his left arm.
"Urg!"
His weapon fell and Damian landed on the butt. He admitted that he was too late to lift his sword and the attack hit him. He clutched his arm and blood gushed out from the wound. It was a pretty deep cut.
"Ah, finally the cat stopped running."
Damian froze at the familiar voice.
He raised his head and Trickster was seen standing whilst licking a dagger in his hand.
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