Arsonny felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. The Flaming Lion above him was growling, as if it was wary of something.
He slowly panned up his head to the skies, only to see the golden-haired boy standing in the air.
This child had stayed away from the battlefield this whole time. Arsonny thought that he was just a spectator, nothing more than a kid who tagged along without knowing anything.
Yet as he looked up at the skies, he saw something that he could not believe.
Above the boy's head, there was an image of a right hand made out of metal, whose veins seemed to be glowing with a strange white light.
The fact that his own Flaming Lion Diva had noticed this right hand meant only one thing: it was a Diva.
"How is this possible…" Arsonny muttered under his breath, his eyes trying to adjust. He tried to scrutinize the figure, wanting to see if it was just an ordinary illusion.
However, the more he observed it, the more he realized that it was the real deal.
Somehow, an unknown child had gotten his hands on one of the strongest metals in the world and obtained an Aubility all on his own.
This was akin to a monkey suddenly learning how to speak and write. This shouldn't have happened, especially in a backwoods part of the Queens region.
"Who are you, really?" Arsonny asked. There was no way that a boy would be able to obtain a Diva accidentally. It had to have involved a Healer who surgically placed the GodForge piece in his heart.
"Me? I'm the leader of the Reborn company," Michael replied.
The fact that Arsonny had no idea of this name made even less sense. If it was low enough in the Golden 500 ranking, then there was no way it was powerful enough to obtain even a single GodForge piece.
"How did you obtain that Diva?"
"I just found it," Michael replied. "Oh, and Blazelle gave her piece to me. Or more accurately, I took it from her."
The moment Blazelle's name was mentioned, a sense of realization came to pass in Arsonny's mind.
"She would never betray Flarecorp. This means that you defeated her.
I think I understand it now. Your Reborn company has somehow defeated Blazelle and the army we sent her, foiling our plans to conquer this entire region," Arsonny said.
"And looking at your members," he said, looking at the Rebornians. "It's not hard to see how they lost."
"DING! DING! DING! You got it right, bleh!" Zion said, sticking out his tongue.
"They tried to attack us. Well, you know what happened," Jaku said, sheathing his sword.
Arsonny ignored them and focused on Michael. "But it still doesn't make sense. How did you defeat her and obtain a Diva for yourself?"
Michael shrugged. "The GodForge pieces just came to me," he said truthfully.
But Arsonny just scoffed, thinking that it was a boldfaced lie. "It does not matter. I will force you to tell me the truth once I have proved my Diva superior to yours."
"Try," Michael challenged.
"Hmph. Such confidence for someone only in the 2nd stage of Body Formation. Meanwhile, I am already on the 3rd stage and have matured enough to advance to the next one. Once I have defeated you, I will take back Blazelle's GodForge pieces and surgically implement them to myself!"
Arsonny squatted deep in the ground, holding the halberd in both hands and sweeping it in an arc around him.
The red fire of the Mithril Relic weapon spread to the ground in a circle, creating a crescent platform that Arsonny could stand on.
"Arise," he commanded.
And soon, the chunk of soil on the ground lifted in the air and began to hover, allowing Arsonny to float closer towards Michael.
"So anything that touches your weapon has to follow your words," Michael observed.
"That is correct," Arsonny nodded. In his mind, the results of the fight wouldn't matter even if Michael figured out his power. "A lion is the king of the jungle. My Flaming Lion is the King of everything in the world. Anything my fire touches will submit to my words."
"Interesting," Michael said, nodding in satisfaction.
"I do not know how you prevented my flames from hitting your red-scaled friend from below, but it doesn't matter. It was a fluke."
Arsonny raised his hand, beckoning the platform underneath his feet to charge towards Michael.
And with his halberd in hand, he swung it in a straight vertical line towards Michael.
"Even your clothes will strangle you!" Arsonny said, intending to use his red flames on Michael.
Michael's feet blasted off air, allowing him to dodge easily from Arsonny's swing.
"Hmph. You're fast but—"
Before he could even finish his sentence, he suddenly saw a bright light flash on the corner of his eye.
He saw the tip of Michael's finger glow white with power. Worry showed on Arsonny's face. But he soon realized that this power was not an Aubility, but just a simple spell made out of mana. This would not affect his Diva.
"How did you defeat Blazelle if you don't even know the basics of Maugnetics?"
It was at that moment that Michael fired his [Unity Gun], creating an instantaneous white laser beam that hit Arsonny square in the chest.
Arsonny's eyes widened, not expecting it to be so fast he couldn't even react.
But thanks to his top of the line Flarecorp armor, the laser beam slowed down just a few milliseconds, enough for his red flames to manifest and try to conquer the laser beam.
However, Arsonny's red flames seemed to recoil in pain as it touched the [Unity Gun] beam, with its flames becoming destroyed upon contact.
Arsonny could only stare in shock as the [Unity Gun] continued on its course and penetrated through his armor and into his body.
"KAGH!" Arsonny winced. Blood started to flow from the wound in his chest, despite it being smaller than a fingernail.
Red flames manifested around the wound. "Stop bleeding," Arsonny said to himself, causing the blood to flow back into his body.
Still he could not reverse the injury.
Holding his chest in pain, Arsonny looked at Michael, confusion and anger directed at him.
"A mana spell that could defeat an Aubility? That's impossible!"
Michael didn't respond and simply raised his hand again, with the tip of his fingers glowing with the same power as before.
Now wary of this strange spell, Arsonny dived back into the ground.
He swooped down into the forest, slicing trees as his halberd swung by.
Each of the trees were cut from the trunk. The sound of wood splintering echoed out as the trees started to fall like dominoes.
But then, red flames started to envelop the trees, allowing Arsonny to take full control over them.
"Attack him!" he shouted, pointing at Michael. There was a sense of urgency in his voice, one that was spurred on by the ominous glowing light on Michael's finger.
Twenty trees shot towards Michael, each one with its crown pointed at him.
Just as one tree was about to hit Michael, a small blur sped forth from his fingers and attached itself to the tree.
And suddenly, the tree froze in place, unable to move any further.
Arsonny's face turned into one of complete shock and horror as he realized that even his red flames stopped moving, as if time itself had ceased to flow!