Nero immediately dismissed the thought again. It would only draw unnecessary attention to him if he interfered now. So he simply continued to watch; perhaps later an opportunity would present itself to gain an advantage from this fight.
Finally, Morch had recovered from the previous attack. He spat out a mouthful of blood and then looked angrily at the Lizzian, who was fleeing in a breathtakingly beautiful song before Kia, who was running after him with shoes of pure ice and an extremely sharp blade. Every time she struck, she cut stone like paper, steel like rotten wood, and wood like air. Nero did not need Eleanor's ability to perceive the enormous magical aura that was within the sword, but he could also see that it was taking a toll on Kia to maintain the blade. The first cracks were already visible on her fingertips.
The Lizzian, on the other hand, did not even seem to be breathing heavily; instead, he simply continued to flee, attacking Kia again and again while doing so.
But now Morch joined in, who suddenly appeared behind the Lizzian. "JUST! DIE! ALREADY!" he roared at the top of his lungs. He raised both of his hands. An intense red glow emanated from them, becoming so hot that the air around his hands turned into plasma, then a gigantic flame exploded from his palms, burning everything in its path to ash instantly.
The Lizzian screamed as if in complete panic, yet his facial expression remained motionless and calm. The Lizzian suddenly vanished from the spot, but the scream could still be heard. At the last second, he rushed out of the way of Morch's all-devouring flame. A hundred meters away, the scream stopped, and the Lizzian reappeared.
He took a deep breath, then let out a deafening roar. A gigantic shockwave spread from the lizard man, sweeping away the nearby buildings with ease. Morch was thrown backward by the shockwave, while Kia dissolved her blade. She focused the blizzard around her, which absorbed most of the shockwave, yet she was still pushed several steps back. The Lizzian stopped the roar, turned around, and began a new song. Immediately, he started to lift into the air, apparently trying to flee. But Morch prevented that, propelled by a gigantic flame shooting from his hands as he shot toward the Lizzian.
He accelerated so incredibly fast that Nero blinked for a moment, and he was already upon the Lizzian, who snapped both of his fingers in Morch's direction. Two sound waves struck the giant man, yet he was only slightly slowed down. He stopped the flames in his hands and swung both arms widely. His fists suddenly began to burn, but not in the usual red orange flames, instead in deep blue flames. He struck.
The Lizzian stopped his song, and seconds before Morch reached him, he began hissing loudly with his tongue. Morch hit him with such immense force that the Lizzian crashed into the ground at the speed of sound, leaving behind a massive crater. For a brief moment, the entire world seemed to be illuminated in a beautiful blue glow, then a gigantic explosion followed. The ground trembled, and massive craters spread outward.
"What in the name of the holy…" Eleanor murmured, who had never seen a being so powerful. "Are those demigods?"
Nero only laughed coldly and did not answer. He himself had already fought against humans who possessed just as much power as the three. In addition, he had been fortunate enough to witness the battle between Luis and Xersies, which had escalated to such an unbelievable scale that the two had to fight high in the clouds and still killed thousands of Polykenas and humans as collateral.
Nero focused on the fight again. Morch landed on the ground. He looked at the spot where the Lizzian had crashed. For a short time, nothing moved. Kia straightened up. Slowly, she walked to Morch's side. Four pairs of eyes, Morchs, Kias, Eleanors, and Neros, stared at the same place.
An eternity that was probably only a few seconds passed until, suddenly, a shrill sound burst out of the crater. Morch roared in shock as the sound wave hit him. His entire body tensed and twisted brutally. A disgusting cracking sound could be heard as several of his bones broke. His arm bent backward unnaturally, a bone protruding from his flesh. Kia bent forward and vomited blood. Even Nero felt slight effects, but he had created a shield of darkness in time. Eleanor was not so lucky; although he had activated his magic, he was simply not powerful enough to keep up in such a fight.
Immediately, he vomited blood, and his index finger on his right hand twisted into an unnatural angle.
It was nowhere near as bad as what Morch had gone through, but for how far away they were, it was shocking, and Eleanor had already used his magic to defend himself.
Below, another song spread out from the crater as the Lizzian pulled himself out of it. He had some burns and scratches, but otherwise, he looked almost unharmed for what he had just endured.
It became clearer and clearer that Morch and Kia were not a match for the Lizzian. Not only was he more powerful than the two, but he also had far more control over his magic. Within seconds, he switched from one attack to another in an incredible display that clearly showed his overwhelming talent. Still, Morch and Kia were not to be underestimated, especially Kia, who had maintained the blizzard since the beginning of the fight and adjusted it depending on the situation. Morch, on the other hand, possessed overwhelming raw strength, which would have surprised even Nero.
Together, they managed to keep up with the Lizzian, who now watched the two with cold eyes. Morch growled as he pushed the bone back into his arm, and Kia used her magic to freeze the wound shut.
Meanwhile, the Lizzian's last wounds healed as he slightly looked upward. He looked directly at Nero and Eleanor, who were standing in the air.
'Why have they not moved yet?' he asked himself internally. He had noticed the two relatively early in the fight and had thought they were reinforcements for Morch and Kia, but so far, they had only been watching. 'Maybe they are not on their side after all?'
He had deliberately held back because he had always kept part of his attention on the two unknown men, but now he began to doubt that they would interfere.
Slowly, he inhaled. Morch and Kia prepared themselves. The Lizzian slowly opened his mouth,
"Silence."
It was just this one word.
His magic burst out of him, and cracks spread along his hand up to his wrist. A massive sphere enveloped the entire city block; even Nero and Eleanor were caught inside it. All sounds vanished as an unnatural silence set in. Eleanor frowned. He tried to say something, his mouth moved, but no sound could be heard.
This was similar to the dark dome that Nero could summon. It would ensure that everything was completely dark, allowing Nero to use his magic more easily and strengthening his attacks. He assumed that this had a similar effect on the Lizzian. Still, he spread a thin membrane of darkness around himself and Eleanor to protect them.
"Oh…" Eleanor said something and was relieved to hear his voice again.
They watched as Kia looked around in confusion when her blizzard suddenly made no sound at all. She looked at the Lizzian, moved her mouth, but of course, no sound came out. Morch, on the other hand, ignored it and ran straight at the Lizzian. He raised his hands to strike again, but the Lizzian simply clapped his hands. It was a simple attack he had already used several times, but this time, due to the complete silence, it was amplified to an unbelievable level. Morch slammed his fists together before the attack hit him, and a wall of flames spread out. Unfortunately, it was only enough to weaken the attack, not to stop it, so it struck Morch in the shoulder, sending him spinning wildly.
His shoulder blade was shattered, and Morch crashed into the ground. Kia jumped forward. She unleashed a cloud of ice at the Lizzian, so cold that the air around it froze. The beautiful song of the Lizzian spread again, heating the air around him as he slowly walked toward Kia and Morch.
Morch's entire body began to glow. He stood up, and an explosion beneath him launched him toward the Lizzian, who snapped his fingers. The snap was more like the blast of a cannon, but Morch was prepared. Flames shot from his palm, propelling him to the side. Immediately, he changed direction and flew toward the Lizzian again, who actually took a step back. He sang and ran to the side. His speed had increased significantly, but this time Kia cut off his path by firing a storm of crystals at him. Morch grabbed the Lizzian. He wrapped his gigantic arms around him while his body continued to heat up.
The Lizzian roared as a new shockwave blasted Morch away from him, but he immediately flew back toward his opponent.
An angelic song began, lifting the Lizzian into the air. He clapped his palms together, then snapped his fingers while flying away from Morch. Morch barely dodged the attacks as the Lizzian descended again, his song changing once more. Kia ran toward the Lizzian, who cracked his jaw. Kia was forced to defend herself against the attack, giving the Lizzian enough time to complete his song. Morch immediately lost control over his flames, his mouth opening in a silent scream.
He crashed into the ground with full force, his hands pressed against his head, and this time, even Kia was not protected. The blizzard around her dissolved as she fell to one knee.
Eleanor held his forehead as he suddenly felt enormous pressure on his mind. It felt as though someone were driving nails straight into his head with a hammer.
Even Nero was affected by the attack, as his expression changed. His brow furrowed as he recoiled, "We have to—" he began, but then he fell silent, not because he stopped speaking, but because the protection around them suddenly collapsed. Nero had lost control for just a second, but that was enough to break the defences.
Nero's eyes focused on the Lizzian as he began to retreat. He had underestimated him. He bared his teeth as he gave a cold grin.
He had to concentrate intensely just to keep his balance in the air. He grabbed Eleanor by the arm and then threw him away. Shadows wrapped around him as they dragged him along. The last thing Eleanor saw was Nero being struck by a sound wave.