Aethelos: The Bastard of Light

Violeta watched the fight with her arms crossed. Her tone came out almost casual, but there was calculation underneath. · “Maybe we’ll side with the movement.” · Brock smiled slightly, without taking his eyes off the students. · “Do you really think mine are going to lose that easily?” · In the center of the devastated clearing, Lygar was still bleeding from the shoulder. The humiliation and pain had piled up until they reached the limit. He stood up slowly, fists clenched, and the aura around him began to expand violently — denser, heavier than he had ever shown before. · “AAAAAAAAAAH!” · The scream echoed among the ruins. Violeta’s eyes widened slightly. · “Brock… you have a rough diamond here.” · “Now let’s see if it still makes sense for you to join the movement,” he replied. · Lygar vanished from his position. Jared barely had time to react. · “How can he, while injured, reach this kind of speed…?” · The punch arrived before the answer. · “Shadow Punch!” · The impact was clean and brutal. Jared was launched against the debris on the other side of the clearing, raising a cloud of dust and stone. · On the other side, Yana still felt the tingling of electricity in her body. She looked at Vincent for a second and then smiled coldly. · “He played the psychological game… so I’ll play mine too. · Forest Groien!” · Hundreds of trees exploded from the ground in seconds, turning the area into a dense, oppressive forest. Vincent looked around, still confident. · “Okay, nice orchard. But that’s not an offensive attack! · Thunder Bolt!” · The lightning cut through the air toward Yana. In the same instant a giant tree grew under her feet and lifted her rapidly to the top of the battlefield. The attack only hit the trunk. · Violeta frowned. · “What’s her goal?” · Brock answered without hesitation. · “She’s smart. If she’s spending that much aura to create an entire forest, it’s because she’s already thought of how to contain your son.” · Violeta clenched her teeth. · “You have some promising kids. No doubt.” · “You still haven’t seen the third one,” Brock said. · “The third one? Where is he?” · Brock took a second to answer. His voice came out lower, cautious. · “He’s Nayb’s son…” · The name fell like a stone. Violeta froze. Her eyes opened completely and, for the first time, her confident posture wavered. · “You people… are playing with someone you shouldn’t play with.” · Inside the forest Yana had created, Vincent started to feel his body growing heavy. His vision blurred. His movements became slow. · What’s happening…? · From the top of a tree, Yana raised her hand. · “Leaf Blade!” · The thorned vine came down at high speed. Vincent tried to dodge, but his body no longer responded the way it used to. Coughing and stumbling, he barely managed to move away. · “What… what’s going on?” · Yana descended through the branches calmly and stopped in front of him. · “While you were inside my forest, you were inhaling the pollen from the trees. You were being poisoned little by little. · And now… you’re going to pass out.” · Vincent dropped to his knees and then fell to the side, unconscious. · “…now.” · On the other side, the fight between Lygar and Jared had become balanced again. The two exchanged fast, heavy blows among the ruins. Suddenly Lygar’s expression changed. His eyes emptied of any restraint. A clear bloodlust took over his face. · “It’s over. · Shadow Moon!” · A dense, oppressive black sphere began to form in his hand. Jared instinctively stepped back, his face showing real fear for the first time. · Then Brock’s voice cut through the air like an order: · “Hey! The fight is over! Come here!” · The sphere trembled in Lygar’s hand. Jared kept staring at him, still shaken by the expression he had seen seconds earlier. · Silence fell once more over the Valley of the Wind.