The air shimmered with heat as Gareth wiped blood from his split lip, his sword beginning to glow with an inner fire. Heat radiated off him in waves, making the ground beneath his feet steam.
Jet stood across from him, that infuriating smirk still plastered on his face despite the fresh cuts decorating his arms.
"Come on, ember boy," Jet taunted, rolling his shoulders with casual arrogance. "I'm getting bored here. Is this really all the great Gareth's got?"
Gareth's jaw clenched, his body temperature rising. "You talk too much."
"And you fight like you're scared of getting your outfit dirty." Jet's eyes gleamed with malicious amusement. "What's wrong? Worried about disappointing daddy?"
Without warning, Gareth's emotions flared, and with them, his flames. He lunged forward, his blade now white-hot.
Cinder Slash!
A crescent of fire erupted from his sword, blazing through the air directly at Jet's chest.
Jet twisted sideways, the flame searing past his face close enough to singe his hair. "Shit, that was close!" He grinned, seemingly delighted by the near miss. "Finally showing some balls!"
Gareth pressed his advantage, his feet igniting as he launched forward.
Ignition Step!
The burst of fire propelled him across the distance in a blink, leaving scorched, unstable ground in his wake. His sword came down in a blazing arc.
"Damn it!" Jet cursed, barely rolling away as the superheated blade carved through the stone where he'd been standing. The rock glowed red-hot, steam rising from the melted edges.
Gareth's anger was building, and with it, his power. His body began to glow with ember-light as he spun into his next attack.
Branding Spiral!
He whirled with his blade extended, heat rising exponentially around him. The vortex of flame drew Jet in despite his attempts to retreat.
"What the hell—" Jet started, but the spiral detonated, sending him flying backward with singed clothes and smoking skin. He hit the ground hard, rolling to extinguish the flames clinging to his shirt.
"Now we're talking!" Jet laughed, his burns already healing. But Gareth could sense something through the heat displacement around him—Jet's regeneration was working harder now, the flame having burned deeper than expected.
Gareth didn't let up.
Sear Chain!
Three chained slashes came in rapid succession, each one blazing brighter than the last. The final strike erupted in a cone of blinding embers that made Jet stumble backward, clawing at his eyes.
"You son of a bitch!" Jet wiped ash from his face, his vision clearing just in time to see Gareth's next attack coming. "That actually hurt!"
But Jet was learning too. He ducked under the flame-wreathed blade and drove his fist toward Gareth's solar plexus. The blow connected, but Gareth's Flare Guard activated instinctively, a burst of radiant heat exploding from his body. Jet's knuckles came away charred and blistered.
"Fuck!" Jet shook his hand, the skin already beginning to regenerate. "You're like a walking furnace!"
As they circled each other, both breathing hard, their battle began to drift closer to where Eirlys stood watching. Gareth, desperate to gain an advantage, feinted left then dove right—directly toward her position.
"Oh, hell no!" Eirlys snapped, glaring at both fighters. "Are you two complete morons? I'm not some damsel you can use as a human shield!"
Jet, seeing an opportunity, also shifted his angle of attack to potentially catch Eirlys in the crossfire. "Sorry, princess, but all's fair in—"
"Dumbasses!" Eirlys's voice cut through the air like a whip. She raised her hands, rose-colored light gathering around her fingers.
A shimmering barrier of soft pink light bloomed around her like a protective cocoon, its surface rippling with ethereal beauty. The ward pulsed gently, ready to absorb whatever these idiots threw at it.
"Please fight without dragging me into your testosterone-fueled stupidity!" she called out from within her protective bubble.
Jet whistled appreciatively. "Nice light show, sweetheart. But this is between me and golden boy here."
"Shut up and fight," Gareth growled, his sword now glowing white-hot. Steam rose from his body as his anger built, the ember-light tattoos beginning to trace patterns across his skin.
"Oh, I'll fight," Jet said, his grin turning predatory. "But first, let me give you a little tip, since you're clearly struggling here."
He tapped his chest, right over his heart, the gesture casual and mocking. "See this? Right here?" He made a little heart shape with his hands, framing the spot. "You want to win? All you gotta do is pierce my heart. Easy, right?"
Eirlys's voice rang out from her barrier, incredulous. "Are you completely insane? Why would you tell him that? What kind of dangerous game are you playing?"
Jet shrugged, still grinning. "Relax, princess. He's gonna figure it out eventually anyway. Besides..." His eyes glinted with confidence. "It's not like he's actually gonna hit me."
The casual dismissal sent rage coursing through Gareth's veins, and his flames responded. His body temperature spiked, the air around him wavering with heat. "You arrogant piece of shit!"
He attacked with renewed fury, his emotions amplifying his fire to dangerous levels.
Eruption Fang!
He slammed his sword tip-first into the ground, causing a volcanic fissure to surge forward in a line, spewing molten rock and flames directly at Jet.
Jet leaped high, clearing the molten eruption by inches. "Holy shit! You're trying to kill me!"
"That's the idea!" Gareth snarled, his Ignition Step launching him into the air after Jet. His blade came down in a blazing arc that Jet barely managed to deflect with his forearm, accepting the burn to avoid a fatal blow.
They crashed to the ground together, rolling apart as Gareth's Sear Chain carved through the space between them. The three chained slashes left burning trails in the air, the final cone of embers forcing Jet to retreat.
"You know what your problem is?" Jet taunted, his burns healing but slower now—Gareth's Ash Memory was making each successive wound burn deeper. "You're getting predictable when you're angry!"
Gareth's response was to activate Ash Cloak. For ten seconds, his body shed continuous ash that obscured vision and made Jet cough as it clogged his lungs. In the gray haze, Gareth struck from multiple angles, his heat-sense allowing him to track Jet's movements perfectly.
"Can't see shit!" Jet cursed, swinging blindly as Gareth's blade found its mark again and again. Each strike with superheated mid-swing, cauterizing the wounds and slowing Jet's regeneration.
But Jet was cunning. Instead of just trying to avoid the attacks, he began using his regeneration tactically. He'd let a flame strike hit his arm to get inside Gareth's guard, accepting the cauterized wound to land a crushing blow to Gareth's ribs. When Gareth aimed for his heart, Jet would deliberately take the hit on his shoulder or chest, using his body as a shield for his vital organ.
"You're getting closer," Jet grunted, his regeneration working overtime against the persistent burns. "But not close enough!"
Funeral Mark
In desperation, Gareth marked Jet. On contact, a glowing flame seal appeared on Jet's chest, and immediately his body temperature began to rise. "What the hell did you do to me?"
"Ten seconds," Gareth said grimly, his own body now glowing with ember-light as he prepared for his ultimate technique. "Then you burn from the inside out."
Jet's movements began to slow as his internal temperature spiked, his regeneration struggling against the supernatural heat. But he gritted his teeth and pushed through, using the remaining time to launch one final, desperate assault.
The battle raged on, but slowly, inevitably, Gareth's emotional state began to make his flames harder to control. His strikes became wilder, more powerful but less precise. Jet, despite the Funeral Mark burning through his system, managed to exploit these openings.
With a final, desperate gambit, Jet allowed the mark to fully detonate, using the explosion to mask his approach. As Gareth staggered from the backlash, Jet's fist connected with his jaw, followed by a devastating combination that sent the flame-wielder crashing to the ground.
Gareth's sword spun away into the dust, his flames flickering and dying as consciousness left him. He tried to push himself up, but his arms gave out. Blood trickled from his mouth as he gasped for breath, defeated.
Jet stood over him, his body still smoking from the internal burns, breathing hard but victorious. "And that's how you—"
"This is quite a disgraceful sight."
The voice came from above. All three of them looked up to see a figure perched on a high outcropping of rock, silhouetted against the sky. With casual grace, the man dropped down, landing silently beside Gareth's prone form.
"Gareth," the newcomer said, his voice carrying disappointed authority. "You had one job. Now look at your pitiful self."
Gareth struggled to sit up, his body still radiating residual heat. "Leave me alone, Riley."
"Who the hell are you?" Jet shouted, his fists clenched and ready for another fight.
From within her barrier, Eirlys's voice carried a note of recognition. "He's been watching us for a while now."
Jet's head snapped toward her. "What? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you were too busy playing your stupid heart-target game to notice," Eirlys shot back with a withering look. "Idiot."
Riley glanced over at Eirlys, and his expression shifted to something approaching appreciation. "You're quite the looker, aren't you?"
Eirlys responded with a look of pure disdain, not dignifying the comment with a response.
Riley turned back to Gareth, who was struggling to his feet, small flames still flickering around his hands. "You should ask for my help, don't you think?"
"I can handle this myself," Gareth said through gritted teeth, wiping blood from his mouth.
"Is that so?" Riley's tone was mildly amused.
Gareth's body flared with heat as he launched himself at Jet again, desperation driving him forward.
Cinder Slash!
But without his emotional control, the flame was wild, unfocused. Jet casually swatted him aside, sending him tumbling back to land at Riley's feet.
Riley crouched down beside him, his voice gentle but cutting. "It doesn't seem like you're handling this."
"Hey!" Jet snarled, clearly annoyed at being ignored. "You think you have time to be chatting right now?"
He dashed forward, his fist aimed directly at Riley's face. Riley caught the punch without even looking, his hand closing around Jet's fist like a steel trap. With a casual flick of his wrist, he sent Jet flying backward to crash into a building.
"Idiot," Eirlys muttered from her barrier.
Riley stood and turned toward her with a charming smile. "Hi there, miss. Why do you have such a brute with you?"
Eirlys shrugged, her tone dry. "Even I don't know what to do with him."
"That's rather sad," Riley said with mock sympathy.
Before he could say more, Jet sprang forward again, rage overriding common sense. "Don't ignore me!"
Riley barely moved, simply backhanding Jet across the face with enough force to send him spinning through the air. Jet hit the ground hard and rolled several times before coming to a stop.
"As I was saying," Riley continued conversationally, turning back to Eirlys as if nothing had happened. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Riley, Fourth Knight of the Crimson Watch. May I ask your name?"
Eirlys raised an eyebrow. "Riley?"
"Oh, you know me?" Riley seemed genuinely surprised. "How intriguing."
"The gardener we met before coming here mentioned that name," Eirlys explained.
Riley's expression shifted, becoming more serious. "Ah, Rose. That's very interesting. You crossed paths with Rose and you're still here..." He seemed to consider this for a moment. "It seems the cause of her... disconnection from us is thanks to you people."
His tone grew colder. "And I was quite fond of Rose. Seems like I have a reasonable reason for revenge, don't you think?"
Jet emerged from behind a rock, blood streaming from his nose and mouth. "Stop ignoring me, you bastard!"
He charged again, but Riley simply grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the ground with devastating force. The impact created a small crater in the earth.
"Let's see," Riley mused, keeping his hand on Jet's throat. "Borak down, Rose down, and now this weakling about to go down. You people were actually this troublesome."
He looked up at Eirlys. "You said you met Rose, right? Let me show you the power gap between the Fourth Knight and the Seventh."
Riley hauled Jet to his feet, then began systematically dismantling him. But unlike the raw, brutal fighting they'd witnessed before, this was artistry. Riley moved with fluid grace, his weapon—a strange, flexible blade that seemed to shift between sword and whip—dancing through the air.
Burstling Orb!
Riley's palm erupted with a shimmering bubble that expanded rapidly before detonating against Jet's chest, sending him flying backward.
"What the hell—" Jet started to say, but Riley was already moving.
Gleamweb!
Several smaller bubbles stuck to Jet's arms and legs, then expanded to trap his limbs in crystalline gel. Jet struggled against the restraints, his regeneration working to break free.
"Interesting," Riley observed. "You adapt quickly. But not quickly enough."
Snapveil!
A defensive bubble formed around Riley just as Jet broke free and lunged forward. When Jet's fist connected with the bubble, it exploded outward, and suddenly Jet's perception of time seemed to slow. Riley moved past his sluggish guard with ease.
Tension Pulse!
Riley created a pressure bubble beneath his feet and detonated it, launching himself into the air. His blade extended into its whip form as he spun, leaving trails of iridescent light as it carved through the air.
The flexible weapon wrapped around Jet's throat, and Riley used the momentum to slam him into the ground. As Jet hit the earth, Riley's blade coated the fresh wounds with a reactive film.
"You're tough," Riley admitted, landing gracefully. "But toughness isn't everything."
Jet pushed himself up, his wounds already healing. "Is that all you got, bubble boy?"
Riley smiled. "Oh, I'm just getting started."
Murkfloat!
A dark bubble expanded between them, releasing thick, choking smoke that obscured vision and disrupted Jet's regeneration sense. In the confusion, Riley struck from three different angles, his blade finding gaps in Jet's defense.
Silken Drone!
A small orb struck near Jet's position, and suddenly all sound in the area was muted. Jet's curses, his footsteps, even the sound of his fists striking Riley's defensive bubbles—all silent.
Riley used the eerie quiet to his advantage, his technique creating six orbiting bubbles around him. Each time Jet struck one, it reacted differently—some exploded with concussive force, others bound his limbs, one even reflected his own punch back at him.
Magnosphere.
Riley placed a charged orb in the air that began subtly pulling Jet's movements off course, making his punches miss by inches and his dodges less effective.
"How does it feel," Riley asked conversationally as he continued his methodical dismantling of Jet, "to fight against someone above your league?"
Jet was breathing hard now, his regeneration struggling to keep up with the diverse and unpredictable attacks. Blood ran freely from dozens of wounds, and his usual cocky demeanor had given way to desperate fury.
Riley glanced over at Gareth, who was watching the one-sided battle with a mixture of awe and humiliation. "Watch how I handle this, my dear brother," he said with a cold smile.
The casual dismissal, the ease with which Riley dominated someone who had just defeated him—it was almost too much for Gareth to bear. But he forced himself to watch, to learn, to understand just how far he still had to go.
Riley turned back to Jet, who was struggling to his feet once more. "Shall we continue? I have so many more techniques to show you."