Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Phoebesius cursed his luck. He was close to breaking the Dimensional Barrier but thanks to Layland's arrival, the effort he had spent ended up in vain. He had to stop whatever he was doing and retreat, so Layland couldn't do anything to him. His choice couldn't be any more right.
Slash!
Although Layland didn't put much effort into attacking him, had he stayed where he had been, he would suffer a quite fatal injury.
"AAAACK!"
Frowning lightly, Layland turned to Mark whom he held like a broken shield. The failed Hero was clutching the halberd that was half-submerged into his body, trying his best to get it out of his body. It didn't work, sadly. What he did only added more pain to himself, which frustrated him even more.
Smirking lightly underneath his mask, Layland said, "Let me help you with it." Then, he yanked the halberd, causing blood to spurt out of the body of the Hero.
Mark screeched like a dying rabbit. Phoebesius cringed as he heard him—the Phoenix could imagine the pain that he must be enduring—yet Layland couldn't grin any wider. It was fortunate that his mask covered his face. Had it not been the case, he would have shown his ugly side to the world.
Inspecting the halberd in his right hand, totally ignoring Mark, Layland remarked, "This is quite an amazing halberd. I don't like its colour but I will still keep it since Luxia will be able to help me utilize it." He stored it in his Spatial Storage, paying no mind to Phoebesius' bewildered gaze.
"Koff! Koff!"
"Hoh? You are still alive."
Looking down at the ground, Layland hummed to himself as he found Elegast half alive. The Elven General was tougher than he had expected, so he was as surprised as he was amused to see that the Elven Commander still had the energy to glare at him.
Crouching down, Layland put the half-conscious Mark beside the dying Elegast. The glare the Elven General sent him got more intense but he didn't care. He grabbed Elegast by his armour and then slapped his face, further irking the Elven General. Elegast would have spat at Layland if he wasn't in so much pain.
Turning Elegast around, Layland forced him to look at Mark. "Take a good look at the masterpiece you made," he said with glee dripping into each of his words.
"You see, I only wanted one thing—that accursed Phoenix's death. Had you listened to me first instead of immediately attacking me, you wouldn't have ended up like this, you know?"
"I regret nothing," Elegast retorted with his raspy voice.
"We will see about that."
Even though the mask covering Layland's face should be emotionless, at this moment, Elegast could see it smirking at him. His body—what was left of it—tensed up. He turned his head as far as he could to look at Layland but failed miserably. Layland put his body right on top of Mark, forcing them to stare at each other in silent horror.
The ground rumbled and they found themselves hugged by a pair of earthen hands. They weren't sure what was Layland's purpose for doing it and they could care less since they suffered from an even more excruciating pain than before.
Turning his attention away from the two, Layland looked at the dumbfounded Phoenix watching the scene. He quirked his eyebrow in amusement; he wondered if the Phoenix was too dumb to realize that he had time to escape while he was busy minding Mark and Elegast.
"Let me hear your offer."
It was much to Layland's surprise that Phoebesius cut straight to the chase.
"Are you not going to try escaping this place?" Layland asked in wonder.
"I know what that accursed Forest Spirit is doing. I will certainly survive whatever you have in wait for me but I won't escape it unscathed and so will you. I figured that you are aiming for the best outcome, in which you don't have to sustain any injuries."
"That will be wrong, cracker bird," Layland retorted, making Phoebesius' eyebrow twitch because of the way he called him. "I don't aim for the other outcome because it will give me less injury; I do it because it will give me the most profit. I don't mind getting injuries, you know?"
"Then, tell me the offer."
"Your Mana Core for your freedom."
Silence immediately descended upon the place as soon as the offer was uttered.
Mana Core was something that a Beast manifested after a few hundred years of using Mana. It was a solid form of Mana that Beasts and some selected few could produce. It was highly valued in the Magic world—its worth was second only to a Spiritual Heart. It was worth to be noted that Phoebesius wasn't just any Beast. He was a Phoenix; therefore, Layland's offer was stupefying.
A Legendary Beast like Phoebesius might be able to manifest another Mana Core in a decade but its quality wouldn't be as good as the one he currently had. He had nurtured the Mana Core for millennia, so losing it was the same as losing the millennia of effort he had spent on nurturing it.
On top of that, of course, he would suffer from a quite significant power deficiency. Mana Core could work as the second Mana Heart, so losing it would force him to stay down for some time.
Given the ramifications of accepting Layland's offer, Phoebesius couldn't help thinking about it twice before accepting it.
"I will make it clear. If I can't get your Mana Core, I will make sure you won't be able to have it either."
Layland's casual remark made Phoebesius' eyes darken. From the very beginning, he didn't have any choice. Should he refuse Layland's offer here, Teanosvera would immediately drag all of them into his chaotic Sub-Dimension. They would fight until they could no longer fight there; no one would win but they would sustain fatal injuries that needed time to heal.
For Layland and Teanosvera, that might be an undesirable outcome but it would barely affect their lives. They could recuperate for as long as they could since they had nothing on the line. It wasn't the case, however, with Phoebesius. He was the Guardian Beast of the Elven Empire, so sustaining fatal injuries on top of losing his Mana Core was an absolute nightmare for him.
"Detestable Demon!"
"Aren't we all?"
Layland's quip made Phoebesius click his tongue in irritation. He soon calmed down, though, the moment he realized that debating with such a witty Demon would only make him crazier.
"Let's make it a bit more equal here. Give me the Hero's heart."
Layland quirked his eyebrow for a moment before saying, "Sure."
Making a 'come' gesture with his left hand, the bundled-up Mark and Elegast flew toward Layland. The light in Phoebesius' eyes dimmed slightly as he observed the state of the Hero and the Elven Commander. Their bodies were stitched together by some earthen threads that seemed to do something excruciating to them. Their grimace was unbearable to watch.
Phoebesius eliminated the distance and stood before Layland. The Demon positioned Mark before him, meanwhile, the Phoenix extracted his Mana Core.
Stab!
"AAAACK!"
When Phoebesius' Mana Core was completely extracted, Layland's hand passed through Mark's chest and Elegast's. A heart-shaped golden crystal with some pulsing veins could be seen in his hand and Phoebesius' eyes were planted on it.
It was the heart of the hybrid Hero. The heart that the Light Elf had been trying to retrieve for years.
Pulling his hand out of Mark's chest, he caused the Hero to wail in pain. It was fascinating for him to see that Mark could still be alive even after having his heart pulled out. It showed how much Mana did to one's body. Elegast had run out of his, so he died the moment Layland pierced through his heart.
"Teanosvera!"
"Yes, Master."
Surprising Phoebesius, Layland ordered Teanosvera to open a gap in the Dimensional Barrier. The Phoenix soon shook his head in amusement; he couldn't believe that there was such a unique Demon as Layland. When he saw Layland throw the heart, he immediately threw his Mana Core. It pained him to see his Mana Core fall into the Demon's hand but he had no choice.
'At least, I managed to retrieve the heart,' he consoled himself.
It was much to his utter ire and complete disbelief that the heart never reached his side. His Mana Core had landed on Layland's hand, yet the heart also flew back at Layland. He was about to shout indignantly but this was the moment when Layland's mask opened its jaw, revealing Layland's nightmarish grin underneath. In horror, he watched as Layland munched on the heart.
Squelch.
Quickly accepting the fact that he had utterly lost, Phoebesius flew out of the forest. He passed through the gap in the Dimensional Barrier and turned into a golden streak.
Layland smirked and looked up as he gulped down the last bit of the modified heart. "Haven't I told you, birdie? We all are detestable."
At this moment, Layland exuded nothing but darkness and wickedness. One might wonder if he was a Demon, not a manifestation of evil. Even Teanosvera himself, who was well-acquainted with darkness, couldn't help getting nervous as he looked at Layland. The darkness had awakened and he had full control over it.
"Teanosvera," Layland called out neutrally, bereft of any insanity he had shown earlier. "It is a little bit too dark here, no? Let me light things up a little bit."
Teanosvera kept silent as his Master shot into the air. Layland stopped upon reaching a certain height and the Mana Core in his hand immediately shone radiantly. The humans looked up, wondering how there could be two suns. As their mental alarms went off, the light blinded them.
This attack turned every human into ashes; thus, ending the battle.
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