Aberon teleported himself a mile in the air, above the palace, to have a good vantage point from which to look and extend his mana perception. But he didn't have to do the latter, as a loud explosion rocked the forest a few miles south, catching his attention.
Turning to face that direction, he saw a plume of fire rise into the sky, followed immediately by large brambles, their trunk the size of a common tree trunk. The way the brambles lashed about, it was clear they were trying to swat something out of the sky.
Aberon smiled as he burst forward in that direction, knowing he had found his quarry.
***
Astaroth, in the meantime, had been playing a game of tag with the brambles striking at him. He was the target, but moved much too fast for the plants to strike him out of the sky.
Occasionally, he would launch a firebolt at Argos, forcing the man to stay on his toes as well. The first firebolt Astaroth had fired, Argos made the mistake of taking it head-on, assuming his mana shield would brush away such a weak attack.
But Astaroth was not an idiot. He had pumped Aether in the attack, and with his current stats, the firebolt itself would have been enough to one-shot a level forty monster, turning it into cinders.
So when it slammed into the mana shield of the mage, his eyes went wide as it burned through it, the residual attack slamming into his chest, singing his beard and his mage robes. That was the moment Argos understood.
Astaroth was not playing around with magic. He was a legitimate threat.
Argos had not played around, either, and unleashed his full power immediately.
Astaroth had looked at the man suddenly go from an old codger to a younger man, beard still well singed and long, but his traits all seemed at least forty years younger. He understood that the old man took him seriously, and that was enough to fire him up even more.
But before things could get interesting, Astaroth felt another spike of mana, coming this time from above himself. That's when he saw Aberon flying over him.
Aberon wasted no time, swiftly casting out a wide net of mana, capturing every bramble growth with it, and holding them in place. His feat of magic annoyed Argos even further, as he tried casting another spell at Aberon this time.
"Stay out of it, you traitor! Forest of Thorns!"
But just as his mana started peaking, and his spell was taking root, a powerful blow to his sternum blew the air out of his lungs, knocking him out. Astaroth caught him before he fell to the ground, holding his limp form in one arm.
Aberon chortled at the sight before he undid the first spell the thorn mage had cast. The large brambles suddenly fell to the ground, turning to ashes as they disappeared one by one.
He then flew down next to Astaroth.
"If it was this easy for you to end this, why didn't you do it at the beginning? Now, you might have brought upon the ire of all the mages' guild on you and your kingdom."
Astaroth looked at Aberon, the former's eyes still black as night.
"I needed him to know he couldn't just mess with me. But you ruined my superb choreography. I had to knock him out before he changed the landscape too much."
"Hah! Look at you being all cocky again. What would you have done if you couldn't meld with whatever abomination you are melded to right now?"
Astaroth's voice resounded double, as Asmodeus replied through him.
"I don't appreciate being called an abomination, mortal. If I wasn't bound to this young man, I would make you eat your own tongue."
Astaroth rocked his head, growling to himself.
"What did I say about speaking out of turn? Do you want me to lock you up further inside the ring?!"
Astaroth suddenly lost his demonic appearance, as Asmodeus willingly pulled out of him, retreating into the ring. This had the effect of Astaroth suddenly losing the power to fly, and he felt his body lurch toward the ground.
His quick thinking kicked in, and he used Sky Steps to go back down without crashing into the forest floor. But he grumbled to himself all the way there.
Aberon watched the comical scene, simply enjoying it like a sketch at the theatre, without saying anything. But they now had to fix the issue on their hands.
It wouldn't take long for the mages' guild to know what happened here today. All of them had their mana levels tracked at every moment of the day, and Argos releasing his full power like this would not have gone unnoticed.
Aberon estimated that it would take no longer than four hours before they sent someone to investigate. They had to get Argos back on his feet and on their side before then.
Flying to the ground, Aberon landed next to Astaroth.
"Alright, young man. Head back to the throne room. They are waiting for you there. I'll take care of this burden for you. And I'll try to make it so we don't end up in trouble."
Astaroth frowned at Aberon.
"You were just watching everything unfold before, and now you want to help? How strange of you…"
But a quick smack to the back of Astaroth's head made him stop his complaining.
"Or I could just let you deal with an organization that has outlived kingdoms and wars while I watch from the sidelines! Do you want my help, or not?"
"I'm sorry! Yes, I'll take any help I can get! Please and thank you, master Aberon!"
Aberon leaned in to smack Astaroth again, but he dropped Argos and bolted out before it could reach him. Aberon watched the young Ash Elf disappear into the forest, his laughter echoing on the trees, chuckling to himself.
"You little shit," he mumbled, a smile on his lips.
But looking down at Argos' unconscious form took his smile away.
"Now. To deal with you. How I wished your guild would get off their high horses sometimes. That's why I left…"
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