The fog hung thick, a suffocating shroud that seemed to choke the very air. Thunder growled, its low rumble like a beast ready to pounce. Baka stood with his katana raised behind Green Phoenix, the rogue knight's neck caught in the precise angle of a kunai. Dark mana danced over the blade, making it glow ominously.
Baka's voice was icy, his usual carefree tone now gone. "Don't move. You've lost."
A tense silence gripped the misty street, the air heavy with the scent of rain and anticipation. Seig was the first to break it, his voice unsteady, cycling between confusion, fear, and awe.
Seig's eyes widened. "Wow… that's so cool, Baka Sensei!"
Miki, still trembling from the fight, forced a shaky smile, the relief barely visible behind the cloud of terror that had settled over her.
Green Phoenix let out a cocky laugh beneath his bandages, the sound grating on their nerves.
Green Phoenix: "You think I've lost? You won't beat me just by absorbing my magic and skills, using them against me. No chance. But I must say—you're good. My hidden art, Cloud Mist Magic, absorbed without me noticing. And substitution—basic beginner technique, yet you caught me off guard. But I'm no fool."
Lightning cracked from the sky, and in the blink of an eye, Phoenix vanished.
Before Baka could react, Green Phoenix reappeared behind him with lightning speed. His executioner blade slashed down toward Baka with deadly precision.
Baka blocked with his katana—sparks flew as the blades clashed. But Phoenix was already spinning, using the katana as a pole to launch himself into a brutal kick. The blow slammed under Baka's jaw, sending him flying backward through a fruit cart, the wreckage exploding around him in a shower of splintered wood and squashed produce.
Green Phoenix: "You fool."
Baka gritted his teeth, struggling to rise from the debris. He brushed dust from his clothes, coughing lightly as he regained his footing.
Baka: "What's wrong with this cloud? It's awfully heavy…"
Another crack of lightning split the air, and Phoenix reappeared behind Baka once again.
Green Phoenix: "Fool. It's Cloud Lightning Prison Magic."
Suddenly, a crackling prison of lightning clouds engulfed Baka, trapping him mid-air. His katana clattered to the ground as the cloud prison surged with power, locking him in place.
Green Phoenix: "You're caught. This special prison is impossible to escape. And you dropped your katana, so no absorption for you and you can't use your magic technique. Now I'll settle you later. First, these kids. Then the old man. Then we all have a happy ending.
Cloud clones shimmered into existence around the team, each one brandishing a weapon.
Green Phoenix: "You brats act big just because you've got worthless scrap-metal badges playing at being magic knights. A real magic knight has hovered between life and death countless times. Little scared brats like you can't be called magic knights."
A clone lunged at Seig, landing a gut punch and a vicious face kick before Seig could even react. He crumpled to the ground, dazed.
Baka, struggling against the cloud prison, shouted through gritted teeth: "You three—take Mr. Iroh and run! You have no chance. As long as he's holding me here, he can't move far. He won't use clones or substitution if he's distant from his real body!"
Athuria's eyes flashed with determination. "Run away? You've got to be kidding. That option vanished the moment you got caught. Even if we ran without you, he'd hunt us down eventually. We'd all die. In the end… our only choice to survive is rescuing you."
Her words weren't just defiance—they were resolve. Athuria charged at the nearest clone, firing large sharp icicles But the clone blocks with his blade, and before she could land another blow, he grabbed her by the neck and tossed her aside like a ragdoll.
Miki screamed: "Athuria!!"
Seig's face twisted with panic, then quickly melted into one of resolve.
Seig: "Athuria—are you alright?!" He rushed to her side, but his voice wavered. He stared up, eyes wide with terror. So this is a Rank 1 rogue magic knight...
Seig's voice cracked as the reality of the situation hit him. "We've got to run… at this rate... at this rate..." His legs shook, and he hesitated. But then, the words from the poison incident flashed in his mind: Never run. Never be a coward. Never lose to Athuria. Protect everyone. Become King of Knights.
Seig forced himself up, his breath shaky but his resolve hardening.
Seig: "That's right… I'm a magic knight. I swore on my badge—I won't run away!"
He charged at the clone, fists clenched, determination burning in his chest.
Miki: "Wait, Seig! You'll get hurt!"
Seig hurled a fireball at the clone. It was weak, barely flickering, but he didn't care. He kept pushing forward, even as the clone dodged and kicked him down hard.
Miki's healing instincts flared as she rushed to Athuria first, mending her wounds. Her voice trembled as she worked, the effort almost too much for her.
Miki: "Stop it, Seig! We Rank 3 knights are no match for him!"
Green Phoenix's voice rang out, cruel and mocking: "Listen to your friend, kid. Give up while you still have the chance."
Seig got to his feet, blood streaking from his lips and forehead His body was bruised, his spirit battered, but his will to fight was unyielding.
Seig: "Hey, Green Phoenix… remember this face. The boy who will become the King of Knights of one of the five great kingdoms—the Kingdom of Camelot. Seig Pendragon." His voice was raw and defiant, despite the pain.
Iroh's inner thought echoed in Seig's mind. When I first saw that little kid… he seemed so unreliable…
Seig clenched his jaw. "Athuria, Miki I'm not sure if this is going to work but — I may have a plan possibly."
Athuria sat up with help from Miki as her bruises slowly heal "A half baked plan under these circumstances you must be either stupid or brave? Let me guess—teamwork?"
Seig didn't wait for further comment. "Now… let's get wild."
Green Phoenix laughed, the sound cruel and full of malice. "I commend your brave enthusiasm… but it's all futile."
Baka, still trapped in his lightning prison, shouted: "What are you three doing? I told you to run!" Damn it none of this would be happening if I hadn't drop my katana (he looks at his katana lying still on the ground behind Green Phoenix back)
Green Phoenix's laugh grew louder as he taunted: "You kids still play at being knights. When I was your age, these hands were already stained red with blood—at my graduation exam back in this kingdom."
Seig, his fear overwhelming him, shouted back: "Graduation exam? Speak up—what the hell are you talking about?!"
Phoenix's cruel smile widened: "Students kill each other. Classmates who were friends one day formed plans to murder you the next. It didn't end until one died."
Miki's face twisted in horror as the words sank in. "How cruel…"
Baka, straining against his magical prison, added: "Ten years ago, the Lightning Kingdom's graduation exam underwent drastic reform. That was because an evil demon appeared the previous year."
Miki gasped. "What about the reform? What did that evil demon do?"
Baka: "Without hesitation… a young boy who didn't even qualify as a magic knight killed over a hundred students in that exam. He was named… Green Phoenix."
Phoenix grinned wickedly. "That sure was fun."
Before anyone could react, the clone elbowed Miki hard, stepping on her stomach. She coughed up blood, her face contorted in agony.
The clone pressed harder, the sickening sound of cracking ribs filling the air.
Green Phoenix: "Die."
Seig's eyes burned with fury. "Damn you—get away from her!!"
He gathered mana in his feet, using it like rocket thrusters to propel himself toward the clone. His fireball still flickered weakly as he swung his flaming fist,The clone blocked the blow with it's palm and countered it by driving it's sword handle into Seig's face and a punch that sent him stumbling mid-air.
Seig landed with a heavy thud, pulling off his green jacket and wrapping it around the clone's face. In an instant, he leaped onto the clone's back, thrashing with all his might. His feet thrusters gave him bursts of speed as he tried to disorient the clone, hoping to buy time.
Seig: "There's only one way to defeat this guy… I hope I bought you enough time to replenish your mana, Athuria!"
High above, Athuria aimed an Ice Cannon formed from her magic, a powerful blast of concentrated cold. Miki, drained but still determined, channeled the last of her mana, giving the ice blast a tiny but crucial boost.
Athuria: "Yeah… go to hell, Phoenix."
The trigger was pulled. The Ice Cannon shot forward with tremendous force, a concentrated blast of freezing magic hurtling toward Green Phoenix.
But Phoenix, ever the tactician, saw it coming.
He held Baka's lightning prison with one hand and caught the ice blast with the other. His hand cracked with power as the icy magic met his palm, freezing the air around him. But he didn't just stop there—he caught the blast midair, holding it like a shield. The raw power of the ice magic left his hand coated in frost.
Green Phoenix: "I see… so they aimed for my real body. Still futile."
Then without warning a second attack hit him from behind his blind spot—an attack that came too quickly for Phoenix to react in time. The real Phoenix turned his back slowly to see who it was behind him.
It was Miki—who used substitution magic to switch places with Baka Sensei katana that was on the floor behind Green Phoenix to appear right next to his real body.
Miki screamed as she threw her dagger with every ounce of strength left in her body. Blood still trickled from her mouth, but her resolve burned brighter than her pain.
Miki: "It's over!!"
Time seemed to slow as the dagger flew through the air, a gleaming streak in the fog. Phoenix's eyes widened—he had no more room to maneuver. His left hand was already holding the frozen Ice Cannon, and his right hand was busy maintaining the lightning prison that held Baka in place. There was no free hand to unsheathe his blade and his clone was busy struggling with Seig.
Was it all really over?