Joshua

June fell on her wooden seat, drinking her 5th mug of ale. A clank of table and cup woke me up.

"Milord! Why the long face?" June said, waving her hand at my face.

I flicked her annoying hand away. "My mother died."

"Oh…" She stole her sixth mug, quickly drinking its contents. "Then can you be sad for the evil bitch somewhere else-

"And… I let it happen… Oh, lands above!" I nestle my heavy head in my drunken hands, feeling sorrow weigh on me like a thousand castles.

"Mi l-" June put down her mug to offer condolences in the midst of merry men. A pat on the shoulder did little to remove the sorrow from my soul, but I did appreciate the thought.

"She was evil anyway. Waste no tears for the bi-" My mana repulsed a maid's hand. She shied back, seeing my uncharacteristic anger. After blowing on her sore hand, she came back for a second round. "She killed your father!" The single sentence stopped the loud room in its tracks. "She poisoned your only brother till he is nothing but bones!"

I raised my hand to June's face, which was warped with passion. "You made your case. I hear you. I understand, but still…" Mother… The son you spent many hours labouring for and years raising offers you up without a thought. I mourn her no more than I mourn the loss of my old self. The old self that welcomed my mother's love and ignored the world.

Men mumble. Chairs creaked and scraped on floors. Someone important is coming through.

"Brother-in-law, I hoped to catch you at a time when you were less compromised."

Circles spun, sobering me up quick as the heroine of the battle strode between knightly salutes. I rush from my chair to meet the blushing dame, still unfamiliar with her prestige. I took her hand in mine, bowing down with my forehead to her fingers.

"Surely you must know every hour my time has me compromised."

"Yeah, it's called being a lazy drunk git." June burped from her dumb mouth.

I grimaced in embarrassment. My kind sister-in-law tried to hide her enjoyment at my roast.

"Clamp those lips before hot tongs will do it for you." A gesture: I ordered men to move the drunk away.

"Hehe." The duchess chuckled lightly, making the rough men around her swoon with her easygoing smile. "Keep her! I need someone fun to keep me company while you take care of an errand."

I feigned a gasp. "Oh, an errand for this Greystone. How grand must this task be if it comes from the saintess of the battlefield?"

"S-saintess?"

"Quaint name, isn't it? Your holy water ensured victory when many of our men saw no chance. Look around. To them, you are God descended!" She does look around at gazing eyes with a pensive expression.

"Mmm…"

I returned the conversation back. "My errand. Do tell what the dame has in store for me."

"Check up on your brother."

I folded my arm full of intricately sewn lace. "That's it?"

"Yes. He is flying by the castle tower."

"So? Let him oversee his prize."

Vanessa looked down. "He has been there for 5 hours."

That busybody? Being lazy?

"June!! Wake the fuck up and find my coat. It's chilly at high heights."

Tarion

Foolish.

Holding onto a gold-plated neck, regret shook me. But I looked up at a man used to being feared, and my regret evaporated away. That face twisted with ugly anger made my heart bump like a girl in love. How can I make it angrier? How can I make him take back his words?

A left hand hummed with smoky white qi. I clamped tight on the metal around the screaming fire knight.

"UNHAND HIM!!" The earth knight growled from his big chest.

I choked the knight harder, hearing the growl of pain. I feel a smile grow. "Surely you can let a little of the royal pride go and apologise."

"His highness apologises to no one!" muffled the broken-nose fire knight. Flame burst from his throat, shoving away my hand.

Mmm. A nine-circle knight is nothing to snuff at.

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I leapt back, parrying three javelins of flame. "Your Highness. Allow me to do the honours of eliminating this traitor!"

Silence filled the war-torn plains as four of his pantheon hovered by Kyros. A cloud shifted into a throne he was unworthy of.

"Let go of my pride. To fuck such a bitch, you lost every bit of it. But i wll get you a chane to get it back. A way to make me forgive you for your rebellious act." The prince of Friedland leaned forward with a smile.

"Duel." The prince brought his arm up. "Ignis. My Knight of the Great Flame fights for honour. Tarion Greystone fights for his balls." Kyros brought his arm down.

"Fight!"

I exhaled slowly, letting it sift through me. My heart, my lungs, and my vessels fill with great power. My meridian hummed with strength. With my fist blazing with heat so searing that air blew away, Ignis walked toward me with a fixed nose and a confident smile.

Inexperienced.

My flash step surprised the flame knight, but with reflexes quicker than I was used to, his left fist snapped at my head. I dodged more and more flickering jabs till they almost blurred into a shower of fire.

But very well trained.

Like a cannon shot at close range, Ignis' right pelted my forearms as I blocked. Feet dug holes in the grass.

"Great!" I shout as I pelt with jabs again.

I leaned, tensing my left thigh. As the fire knight was tricked by a feint, a left hook broke the chestnut-haired fool. But I pulled my fist back in pain. A knight chuckled while his blood burned from his face. His mana field expanded from his armour to the field around him. In seconds, metres of grass turned into charcoal before this god of fire.

Their methods are secrets even to the Greystone, but these Patheon bastards are a special lot. Training every circle to enforce a single element. And out of hundreds, the very best of each element is whittled down to this bodyguard, forever duty-bound to protect the king. How they got stuck with the princeling babysitting duty remains to be known.

Like a sun descended from heaven, the knights' every step liquefied the earth. Rune glow bright on the knights' spectacular gold armour, rebuffing the heat.

"Bow down."

I blew on my burning hand and assumed a peek-a-boo boxing stance. I resonate. "Suck my dick."

A flash step leapt me. metre is a quarter of a second, and another let me slip under a blazing right fist of gold armour. Appearing at ignis' right a a right uppercut slammed on the metal stomach, bending him forward.

"Taking my offer?" A knee opened a fountain from Ignis' nose. "I was fucking joking." An apple struck and bounced off a shield, and a furious knight slashed down with flame. Umbra steps slipped me past utter destruction. A flame slice burnt all within a half mile. With his back open, flame exploded as I struck with my palm again, blowing my arm away with great force. With a smarmy grin, a golden knight twists with heavenly flame concentrated to a single point.

Lifesight saw all. Many weaknesses to supplement his power.

45 points to Vitality, 30 points to Agility, and 30 to Senses.

I stepped in. Following the arc of Ignis's strike, my right glowed gold, and the rushing tide diverted. The city-destroying punch to the cloud above, opening holes in the dark sky.

"Be careful with such power. A great weapon in bad hands is worse than a weak weapon in great hands.

The knight looks up. He looked down at me, and then his arm that I grasped. "I forgot it was a duel."

"N-n-NO!!"

A palm strike pushed into the knight's elbow. The popping and cracking were only drowned out by a young man's screams.

"Mmm…" I let go of the useless arm. "You are not the ignis of the Northern war. A glorified babysitter is all you are. " I turned around with hot eyes. My gaze stopped the element avengers from doing anything silly. "A duel." I found a disappointed yet calm prince upon his cloud throne. "Do you dare go against his highness' order?"

"IT'S NOT OVER YET!!" Lifesight saw thousands of flame attacks begin to form. Each is strong enough to reduce a small mansion to bits.

I felt the oneness in me again. A universe inside me, under my control. I float.

A sailfish in the dark expansive sky, I swam through everything with qi resonating with the flame. I turned sharply, allowing balls of fire to hit each other, and life sight found my target.

A chance to practise doesn't come easily.

I felt a tug pulling me back, like a slingshot power builds. GO. It snapped. Like a bullet, my punch pierced through shield and fire, finally crashing on the knight's face. Flight pulled me away from the desperate hook, but another punch to a flattened face spun the unfortunate knight across the battlefield.

"I-I-I yield!"

I dropped down onto his chest, giving him a bloody cough. "It ends when your owner says so." Left, right, left, right. Punch after punch, the floor became dirtier with blood. I could barely hear a 'please' between the mush that was Ignis' teeth. I turned to the prince. I whispered to the wind.

"You allowed this to happen." Without a care, he relaxed on his throne. He heard me.

My fist hummed with qi. I raised my first.

"Tarion…" The princeling finally spoke, holding back his ravenous guard dogs. "That is mine."

I exhaled smoky qi. "Sometimes, your highness", I raised my arm higher, you need to learn that consequences come for everyone."

I chopped down my killing blow, marking the air with a vacuum. But I felt no flesh, only metal under my hand. A rapier. I let it dissipate before I struck my only brother down. "Joshua! What the fuck are you doing here?"

My sibling fell on his bottom with exhaustion. Sweat from his Red hair poured down like he had just left the shower. "What do you mean by 'what'? I'm here to stop you from doing something foolish! Fuck, why are you men so fast?" Joshua looked down at his bent rapier. "You owe me, brother."

"Haha. I do…" Up close… The resemblance is strong. "But you interrupted something important." Folding my arms, I laid my eyes on a disgruntled prince. "The prince has yet to take back his shameful words about your duchess."

Lightning sparked from my little brother's skin; his energy seemed different. A different, lighter hue. As white as my qi.

"Kyros… still the dirty mouth. If your mother could see what you have become."

Ignis' smouldering flame erupted metres high.

"Mention the queen again…" Resting his chin on a arm his left rose the flames around use higher and higher.

"And I will let you join her."

I chuckled, jokily shoving my brother. "You came to stop us. But you just made things worse!" But I am glad he came. I wanted to let out my frustrations, but I was going too far. My eyes warmed with qi. Scales appear on the ridges of my eye sockets.

A water drop fell on my nose, then another on Joshua's shoulder.

"Oh shit!" Josshua shouted. "She came!"

A moment later, cold rain showered down, dousing the erupting flames until it extinguished. From the sky, a golden figure fell. The hero of the northern war hovered down on a platform of water.

"Gentlemen," Aqua spoke as she landed between us. With her arrival. Anger returned to the immature prince's face. She bowed to her owner. "Your highness."

I turned to my brother, buzzing with joy. "She actually got the message!" He smiled at me. "Haha, we might actually leave here alive."

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