CHAPTER 16, THE BATTLE FOR HOROLOGIUM

As we all tried to head to our target together we were sent apart by the enemies, I've been separated from the rest of the guild so I need to hurry and regroup but an obstacle stops me. A man and I what hate most us the fact that he has spirits under his control, three. I can't tell who but just then as he puts on a necklace, he raises his hands. "Come; the Dragon, Draco." He says and a dragon, without the wings appears. He orders it to attack me and I dodge it carefully but I do get injuries.

"Come, the Lion Familiar; Leo." I say and Leo wears above the dragon and punches it and it falls on the ground. "You scum, how can you treat spirits so horribly!?"

"Spirits are but tools, they are here fo obey our orders. They are nothing more than tools for war." He says and comes at me with his fists, a melee fighter. I fight back with the hand-to-hand combat techniques I received from the memories. The techniques passed down by our family.

As we fight Leo fights with Draco, I feel sorry for it, I want to free him and whoever's this guy has taken hostage. "Child why don't we play games?" He asks.

"What kind?" I ask him.

"Whoever can incapacitate the enemy can take his spirits?" He asks with a smirk, this guy thinks he can take me down easily.

"Fine by me. What are the rules?" I ask him.

"No outside assistance, only your own magic can be used." He says, if no outside assistance means no help from friends then he can't fight with his friends help that's already an advantage.

"You're on. Just to be clear any magic as long as I'm the one who casts is is fine right?" I double check.

"Yeah." He grins.

As we fight each other I feel a tremendous tremor from somewhere in town, this is... Yue's magic? Just then I see a barrier form in the distance, Yue made a barrier around her and some of our members. "You don't have the leisure to look away." He says as a knife comes a little too close for comfort.

"I know that!" I say and punch him.

In terms of physical power I have the advantage, this man has high faith in his magical power and physical strength but most magicians lack muscular strength, endurance and stamina. He has the upper hand when it comes to magical attacks but I have the advantage in battle of strength and stamina.

Aria's POV

As I notice Yue-chan raise her barrier, I focus my power on attacking the woman in front of me. Her power is incredible, her physical power may be equal to Dia's. But it seems she disregards its effects on her body, she must have high faith in her stamina, looks like she's underestimating the stamina of an adventurer. She charges at me with fans that seem to have steel blades in them. As our fight intensifies I throw knives at her and one is embedded in her left shoulder, the second in her leg, the third on her right arm. She focus her power into her fists and I try to block it but a kick is landed on my side. I have faith in my Fortification Magic but her attacks are powerful, a regular person would've broken their bones with those attacks.

This woman, she isn't just a melee fighter, her physical power is enhanced with magical power.

As the fight between us gets rougher, I try my best to avoid anymore direct hits but her speed is unbelievable, she's almost as fast as Dia when someone asks her to do chores. This woman has probably spent a long time fighting to become this strong. "Roar, howl, circle, let thy power be know with thy strength, Earth Roar!" I chant and an boulder is sent her way.

"He, girlie, tell me... how many swords do you think I can sink into your body before you die?" She asks, this woman is twisted and is a battle maniac.

"Let's not find out." I say and dodge her throwing knives, this woman is crazy! "Southern Stars, shine and grant my thy radiance, Star Light!"

This woman is stronger than I had expected, my body is covered in wounds and bruises, I need to regroup with everyone but she needs to be eliminated immediately. I carefully dodge her attacks but that being said I have multiple wounds and I can barely use my magic when she attacks, the most I can do is bide out time. "Oh light, circle and turn this area become sanctuary, hallowed ground." I say chant and the area around me becomes engulfed in light and her attacks are deflected her attack.

JADE'S POV

This man I front of me can use swords as if their part of their body, what should I do with him? I'm not taking any chances. "Equip; Dainsleif, Fafnir.." I say and the blade appears in my hand, my magic Knight King allows me to store and equip weapons and such from a separate pocket in space. Fafnir, is an armor made from dragon skin it covers my chest, head and legs, the arms have a special kind of guard on them. The armor boosts defense and speed.

"Well then, looks like it won't be boring." The man says with a grin and I block his sword with mine but he still has another sword aiming at me.

"Equip, Mistiltienn." I say an another sword appears in my hand and blocks his other sword, this one has a blue blade with spring-like designs for the sword's handle and at the point where th two wings meet is a blue diamond shaped gem. "Aqua Thrust!"

He is pushed back by a strong water like bullet and as if thrusted at by a cannon ball he flies back a bit, using this chance I slash him with Mistiltienn and Dainsleif towards the roof of the house in the distance. He is strong, but the words in my hands enhance my power to unbelievable, what's more a wound made by Dainsleif drains a person's power while Mistiltienn forces a person's strength to fade, he won't be able to fight anymore. As I get the chance I fall back and regroup with the rest of our team. I rush quickly knowing that I need to protect my family.

STORM'S POV

As I hear a huge explosion in the distance it feels like the ground is shaking from an earthquake. In the distance ahead of me a man is lying on the roof with a multiple wounds on his body. Those marks are wounds from Neph's Mistiltienn, the others are from Dainsleif, that man won't be able to fight anymore. I hastily run to the area where Yue-sama has raised her barrier but a person blocks my path. A man. I can't see his face that's covered by a mask that's just a simple white one. Here goes nothing. This man, he maybe a little smaller than me but for him to fight alone, he must be confident in his skills. I must approach with caution. "You boy... you are weak." He says pointing to me.

"Are you mocking me?" I ask him with a measured voice.

"My magic is Truth, I can tell the emotions of a person. Inside you know it, you're weak." He says with a superior tone, don't be fooled, I'm not weak. Never listen to your opponents words.

"Blades of the Fallen Leaves." I say and throw leaves at him, my magic can create anything out of leaves, right now it's fall. The time of years where the leaves lose their green color and fall, my power is weakest at this time of year. "Oh wind, dance beautifully at my will, Gale Wind."

I can use multiple aspects of magic as well as weapons, my highest level spells are wind and water. As the spell that takes in the blades that have been formed by the leaves, it becomes an assault of fallen leaves. As the wind circles around him I make it close in at the center and the leaves impale him. He grins a bit and just then he sends the leaves that have impaled his towards me with *poof*. I make the wind circle around me and the leaves follow the wind this man he is on a higher level. "Call fourth the storm, clad in the rage of the wind and water, roar, Great Storm!" I say and clouds gather above head, as if forming a whirlwind they begin to spin and everything on the ground is slowly being pulled up to the air. He is brought up into the air and is tossed around.

I take this chance to run and regroup with the other and as the storm dissipate into nothing I see the barrier Yue-sama has put up. The barrier grows closer in view and as the I feel the ground quake an arrow flies my way but it stopped by a weird diamond star shaped metal thingy.

HARU'S POV

Leo is struggling with the Dragon Familiar but I don't have the time to help him with this guy trying to cut me into pieces. I have multiple cuts all over me, I underestimated him. I need to get this over with and quickly. "Come, my Ram Familiar; Aries!" I say and Aries' earmuffs appear on my head and she stand beside me.

"A dual summon?" He asks and grins.

Aries raises her hands and just then the man's clothes suddenly wrap around him and stops his movements. I see, Aries can manipulate anything as long as it has wool in it. She then kicks the man's side and just then I feel extreme hatred, its Lupus'. After Aries has had her fill of punishing the man I summon Lupus and he relentlessly punches, kicks and stomps on the man. I usually would stop them but I understand why he is doing this so I let it go. He and Aries were hurt because of them, and finally the man falls to the ground and loses consciousness and the dragon stops raging. A light shines from where the man has fallen and three jewelries shine. From the two of them two figures appear, the first would be the dragon, the second is a a bird, with beautiful blue plumage, the other is a woman, with beautiful blonde hair and the dress of a princess. "Greetings, my name is Andromeda, the bird is Apus. As the deal said we shall now be in your care, master." The woman says, she has a gentle voice.

"I see, then my first order is for you to not call me master." I say and Leo and Lupus disappear. The dragon, Draco takes on a human form, with silver hair and red eyes, he is wearing a kimono, it is green with a red camellias decorated on it.

"Thy name is Haru, I respect thee as my master. Please treat me well, Haru-sama." He says with a smile and takes my face in his soft hands and kisses me.

"Same here." Apus says and what appears before me is a woman, she has blue hair that is tied in a braid down her shoulder, she has a fan in her hand and she is wearing a formal dress that is deep blue which emphasizes on her figure. She takes my face and kisses me.

"I may be a princess but I can tell you have the right to command me." Andromeda says and takes a small kiss from my mouth.

They disappear and leave behind their Mediums, for Draco a necklace with a dragon fang fashioned on it, for Apus a brooch with a figure of a bird on it, and for Andromeda a hairpiece that is designed to look like a princess tiara. The three of them disappear and I rush to the area where the spirits now reside. As I approach it I notice Aria in the distance, she's being beaten up by a woman. I won't stand by and let my fiancee be hurt. "Aria! Are you fine!?" I call out to her.

"Haru, hurry to where the spirits are, I'll be fine." She tells me and with a heavy heart I rush to where the spirits. I saw the figure of Dia approaching, I know she'll pick up Aria after her fight so I focus on the spirits.

As I approached the source of the enormous magical power I saw a house, I landed on the ground and opened the door, inside I find figures protecting another that sits on the ground.