Bathed In Flames

Shouting at Randy whom Baz was for some reason very sure had been observing him all this while, the man watched his sword which had become covered in flames and then with a sigh and fluctuation of his mana within him, he watched as the flames gradually spread from his blade onto his body, burning on his golden armour and then when it reached his chest, seconds from reaching his face, a golden light shined on Baz's face and by the time the light died down his face was covered in a golden dragon helmet and his entire body was on fire.

From within his armour of flames, Baz let out a heavy breath and then he shot forward, his movement leaving a trail of fire behind him.

Moving like a god of flame coming to exact death, Baz charged into the depth of the crater, and by the time he was more than halfway to the spot where he knew Randy's body should be, the ground cracked open and a boy with ragged and tattered clothes burst out of it, his white staff pointed at him as the boy wrapped in a whirlwind of purple energy charged at him.

"By my blade, you shall die," Baz said his words a declaration and the intensity of his golden flames increasing.

"Come dance for me old man" Randy's voice rang out in laughter just a second before they both got into close range, the end of Randy's staff poised to slam into Baz's chest.

Saying no other word, Baz swung his blade and slapped Randy's staff to the side and then with his free left hand he threw a punch at the boy whose body was now going past him.

Baz hoped to at least land a hit and give Randy a serious case of burn and pain, but like the boy could see through his helmet, he looked him straight in the eye with a smile and in a split second also sent out his own left fist.

Hand enclosed in gold armour and fiery fire met a hand protected by just purple energy, and when the two of them clashed, both opponents ended up taking two steps backwards.

As an experienced fighter, while his body was being forcefully pushed back as a result of their clash, Baz had his mana churning within him and immediately he got back his footing his left palm struck forward at Randy who was a few steps away.

Without much delay, an ethereal palm print shot out of Baz's hand and sped towards Randy, shocking the boy who had just managed to fight off the backward momentum from his and Baz's fist clash.

"Arghh," Randy let out a shout of surprise as he stared at the palm imprint which was now 5 times its original size and was about to hit him.

Pouring mana into his staff, Randy struck at the palm with all his strength, this action of his completely shattering the ethereal palm and then generating a powerful wind that smashed again everything in front of it.

"Bang" rang the sound of the wind hitting Baz and though it didn't leave a scratch on the man's armour, it still had him growling within his helmet.

"Imagine if that had been a proper technique and not just him enhancing his body with his riatsu and then swinging his staff." Baz thought with a sigh

Holding this thought only for a second, Baz kicked off the ground once more and charged Randy.

With his armour still lit ablaze and the air around him steaming, Baz attacked Randy once more.

With no words to say to each other the both of them entered into minutes of intense close combat, the both of them doing their best to crush the other.

In a desire to enforce their own will, two figures, one golden and one purple clashed in a heated battle and it seemed this battle would go on for an hour but close to ten minutes later, the golden figure was the only one shining bright.

"Welp, now I can feel how much energy I have left in me," Randy muttered as the purple energy that he had been wrapped in all this while faded away and left him in just his tattered clothes.

Randy had always desired to know just how much energy he had within him, but unfortunately, all he could ever feel was an unending fullness, up until now when he could actually quantify his energy and see that if he continued with his extravagant use of it, his pool would soon be dry.

Both Randy and Baz had been in a heated exchange and it was after a punch from Baz sent Randy taking a few steps backwards that the purple energy which had been surrounding Randy disappeared.

A few seconds of silence passed after this happened and it was with a curious face that Randy spoke to Baz.

"Ehh won't you say anything."

Looking at the little boy before him, behind his helmet, Baz silently let out a sigh of relief that his plan had worked.

After the first clash where Randy had stopped his swing by catching his weapon in his hand, Baz knew that despite the fact that the boy was an amateur in battle engaging him in an extended battle would lead to his death.

In that one instant Baz had figured that when it came to physical strength, Randy's body stats far surpassed him and that was why he had decided to instead go for a powerful move that would instantly end the boy

It was rather unfortunate that not only was the boy really strong, but he also had a powerful and absurd quantity of riatsu.

Fortunately for Baz despite the boy's overpowered nature he was far too ignorant and had gone using his riastu carelessly till he was now running low on it.

Behind his Helmet, Baz smiled at the fact that his patience had paid off, and then without giving Randy a reply he once more shot forward the flames on his body burning bright like they would never die out.

"Hmm show them a bit of weakness and they will try to stomp on you."

Randy wasn't sure where he had heard that quote, but seeing the confident charge Baz was making at him he just instinctually remembered it, and after muttering it, he strengthened his grip on the staff on his shoulder ready to launch it at Baz.

Seeing Randy stand in place and wait for him, Baz grinned.

While it was applaudable that Randy himself knew how much he sucked in combat and had decided to instead be instead reactive as they fought his body stats making this possible, this also made him predictable and Baz was going to take advantage of this.

Moving towards Randy, just when Baz was about four steps from him, he swung his sword prematurely counter to how he always came close before attacking.

This move of Baz made it look like he had foolishly struck the air, but the searing torrent of flames that left his sword and sped towards Randy said otherwise.

Given how close they were and the fact that Randy had already prepared to block a sword strike, even with his fast reaction he could do nothing but be devoured by the flames of the golden fire.

"Finally victory," Baz thought as he prepared to rush towards Randy.

Though he knew the boy could heal from injuries, it wasn't an instantaneous thing and Baz was betting that within that time frame, he could send Randy's head flying.

Baz had just put strength into his left leg, preparing to propel himself forward and follow the last of his golden flames that was heading towards Randy when he observed a disturbance in the flames.

A bloody skinless arm covered in flames burst out from the last of the fire which was still before him and before he could react, it gripped his right wrist.

"Impossible," Baz thought as a body which was covered in blood and at the same time on fire came into his view.

Reacting quickly to what he perceived as a threat, Baz tried to free his right hand from Randy's grip, and when that did not work, he went to punch him with his left fist.

With a creepy smile on his face, especially considering he had no skin and his teeth were almost without lips, Randy ignored Baz's punch and instead delivered his own to the boy not minding the hot flames and the hard metal that protected the man.

For every punch Baz landed on Randy, the boy also landed one on him in return and this continued for the next three punches as by the fourth, Baz's left hand had stopped punching Randy and instead began trying to push him away.

Like an unmovable mountain, Randy remained standing and punching Baz till eventually, he could no longer endure it.

First, the flames on the man's armour rapidly died out, and then the shine of his golden armour dulled till finally dents began appearing in it and the chest area of the armour was breached.

By this time, despite still being covered by his armour, Baz was already bleeding from his lips and seconds later he found himself unable to keep his eyes open.

"The world is doomed, hope Melissa listened to me." The golden knight thought, his heart bitter.