Chapter 162 - The Power Couple (End Of The Volume)
The fight kept going in the front. Now that the two flanks were crushed, the forces of the Bloodsails were facing a grave danger. But there were a certain four reckless brats in much greater danger right now.
"YOU… YOU… GIVE ME BACK MY SON!"
The old man charged at Jon with all his power and aimed the spear at Jon's heart.
"Disperse!" Jon shouted and the trio around him jumped away.
Jon couldn't afford to evade escape as the man was going to chase his friends instead. He had to face him head-on.
Jon's best option was to block the spear so he used 'Bound Shield' spell on both hands and two spectral shields appeared.
The old man was shouting in anger but his moves were skillful and magnificent. Every time he stabs or swings, Jon would be sent a few steps to the back.
'Fuck! What a monster! I can't even counter-attack!'
It was too troublesome to move already and Jon felt numbness in his arms. Each attack he received was akin to the anger of the grim reaper. One misstep and he would lose his life.
The man swung the spear left and right, Jon could duck and jump rather than blocking but he suffered some scratches. The Bloodsail patriarch was so determined to kill Jon no matter what. Once Jon showed a small opening, a relentless stab tore throw the air demanding the life of Jon.
"Got you!"
But it seemed that Jon showed an opening on purpose!
Once the old man stabbed and also exposed a part of his defense, Jon managed to teleport behind the man and use a close quarter flame magic spell to attack the man. The spell was called 'Flame Claw' and it was one of the things that Jon learned from Jonrad. It was equivalent to Jon's 'Thunder Cookie'.
Once the 'Fire Claw' was unleashed, it would tear through anything and everything. Jon expected to see some blood but the scene didn't come as he hoped.
The old man managed to block the 'Fire Claw' by only his arm. His arm seemed to have been reinforced by a purple Aura.
Jon wasn't sure what happened but that Aura seemed too dangerous to touch, he jumped away and faced the man carefully.
The old man didn't seem as maddened as before and closed his eyes letting out a breath then opened his eyes and looked at Jon once again.
"I have fought the cursed Firemanes for many years. I have tasted all kind of Flame Magic the Firemanes could do and survived a hundred battle against them. Yet one time, there was that brat who injured me with his Flame Magic. He is being called the King of Ash and is one of the Bloody Names in my clan. I knew his fire too damn well… But who would have thought that there will be another brat like him."
"..." Jon didn't respond to the old man's remorse about the past and focused on recovery.
"You are Jon Dare! The cursed Thane of Winterhold. Hmmm… Jon, isn't it? I see…" The old man looked around himself and saw the state of his troops. It was a mess and every one of them moved forward to stop the Firemane Chargers who were but a few seconds away.
"A boy who will be born between the Blood and Fire. Carrying the wrath of the unspeakable anger that soars the sky. These were the words, weren't they? After all those years… You were alive all along! We couldn't kill you… no one could! The Firemanes hid you, didn't they? The cursed child."
Jon looked at the man and realized that his identity was exposed so he didn't need to worry from then on.
"Not really glad to meet you. Name's Jonhild."
"Yeah! I know… We kept paying the price of chasing your mother for five bloody years! Every time we faced her cursed fleet, she would scream 'For Jonhild!'... Every damn time! Your name holds a meaning in the sea, they say once it was heard, the sea's water would turn red after the massacres your maddened mother would commit."
Jon raised his brows, he didn't understand why Hilda was called 'The Bloody Hilda' and considered the name a bit disrespect for his mother compared to his father's cool name but it seemed she deserved it some way or the other.
"I guess there is no room to talk now! We knew too damn well that if you survived, then all the enemies of the Firemanes would be destroyed."
"And look where it has gotten you!"
"Hehe! True… still, don't mock fate, boy! Fate favors the strong. Once you are not the strong anymore, Fate can abandon you on a whim."
"... What, do you mean?"
The old man laughed and his Aura intensified. He stepped forward towards Jon who stood his ground and released his Aura too.
"It means that as long as I kill you here and now, the Fate will backfire on your clan and my clan will thrive."
"Crazy old man!"
"Die!"
The Bloodsails patriarch said something vague then charged at Jon with a heavy killing intent. Jon who was recovered for some time used all his power to unleash the best magic he had and took out the Skyforge Saber from his side.
The old man stabbed at Jon's face and Jon deflected it with the back of his blade then used Lightning Magic to counterattack but the old man evaded the lightning before it was even cast.
"Damn! Was that Haki?"
"DIE!"
"I am not going to do so just because you are telling me too."
Jon was counter-attacking with magic and jumping around while healing himself with Magic. Not everyone may have noticed but Jon's vast Magicka Pool and his overall control were noticed by some people around.
Alina, who was fighting back to back with Jullanar and Wulfur while trying to open an escape path, halted for a minute and was kept looking at the high-speed battle that was happening not far away from her.
"So that is Senior when he is fighting seriously?"
Jon was indeed using the privilege of his ridiculous amount of Magicka to turn the tide to his favor but it was clear how the old patriarch of the Bloodsails was a skillful fighter.
A bit far away, Ulfric Stormcloak and his people were watching from far away. Ralof's eyes were open wide, he realized the difference between himself and those crazy four youngsters who were fighting in the middle of the enemy forces on their own. More to that he felt one of them was very familiar.
"That one over there… that is Wulfur!"
Ralof recognized Wulfur right away.
"Who is that?"
"It is Jon Dare's teammate from the tournament."
"Ah! There was that one indeed. Where is Jon Dare then? Wasn't he announced as a new member of the Firemanes a month ago."
It would have been fortunate if it was only the Stormcloak who watched the battle closely. In the dark corners of the area, some eyes and ears were watching the situation closely. It was lucky they couldn't hear the conversation of Jon and the Bloodsail patriarch but they were still paying a very close attention to the result of that fight. Jon Dare was a hot topic between many powers right now.
Back to the fight, Jon used every trick in the book against the old beast that didn't let go of him. He also noticed that the old man started to use his bloodline power.
The bloodline power of the Bloodsails is known as the 'Blood Boil'. It can make the body stronger and the recovery faster, it may affect the sanity a bit but it was a great ability.
Jon could trap the old man a few times using some rune traps on the ground but the endurance of that old man was ridiculous, he could pressure Jon to a corner no matter what Jon tried.
"Damn you! Just how much can you withstand, you fuckin masochist?"
Jon's attacks have indeed landed on the old man but the later was as lively as ever and attacked left and right without slowing down, it was so annoying to fight that old man like that. Jon's speed was his only remaining advantage but his Stamina wasn't as good as his Magicka and his healing magic couldn't restore Stamina like Alina's.
'Sigh! What is left I can use?' Jon asked himself.
In his state, the Thu'um was not the best idea. The Thu'um words he can use were all 'Area of Effect' attacks, and right now he was surrounded with both allies and enemies.
'There is that thing… But I am not good with it just yet.'
Jon remembered some of Jonrad's and Hilda's words about how to use his Bloodline Limit, his bloodline limit should be identical to Jonrad's but it was not an easy thing to wield.
He looked right and left and saw that the Firemane Chargers were closing in but the enemy ahead was much closer. His Friends and loved ones were all around him.
Jullanar, the feral girl he tamed, was fighting like the beast he trained her to be. Alina, the girl he fancied and made a strange connection with, was an all-rounder magic turret. Wulfur, his brother and partner in nearly every crime, was switching between weapons and sticking them in the bodies of his enemies like nothing.
'Oh boy! They are good.' Jon smiled helplessly and shook his head.
"Guys, will hunt lots of dragons together!" Jon who was started smiling said something really weird.
"Just kick that old man's ass first!" Wulfur who was in the least dangerous situation refuted helplessly.
"Got it! Sorry old man but I will do a very boring thing right now. I am going to defeat you with the 'Power of Friendship' like those lame ass animes."
***
"Oh! So he is finally using it. That was a bit fast!"
In some place, a serpent, a fox and a scarab spoke all at the same time. A figure appeared from the shadow that resembled Jon came out and sat around them.
The four then spoke one more time as if they are one.
"It looks way better than what I anticipated."
***
Jon's hand evoked Flame Magic once again.
The Flames on Jon's hands were not the usual Flame Magic he used, they were a bit white to blue with a hint of reading. It looked like the flame of a Bunsen burner but it was clearly being controlled by Jon.
"Come at me!"
Jon taunted the old man and the man wasn't even willing to stand back. It was then when Jon cast his magic normally.
The Flame that would take a bit to penetrate through the Aura was spreading through it like fire and oil. Not a second passed and the old man felt how strong and heavy these Flame was.
It indeed was like that day.
The same Flame that killed one of his sons ten years ago when they tried to take revenge on the Firemanes. The infamous Ashen Flames!
The old man realized what happened and there was only one thing in his mind right now.
"RETREEEEAT!"
Jon's flames have returned him to his sanity and reminded him of the disaster that there is no way to avoid now.
He didn't think of it but he knew the Firemanes too damn well. He knew about them and their guardians. If it is like that then the boy in front of him was just like his father, someone that the Dragon Guardian recognized.
It was unrelated to how he found out Jon's identity at first but those with the Dragon Guardian's protection are not to be messed with. Even though the cub in front of him was not yet the full-fledged lion to be feared, a cub was still a lion. He alone may not be enough anymore. If only he could spread the word, the old enemies of the Firemanes would rise up one more time like fifteen years ago. He only needs to make the news go around.
Just as Jon's first attack was over and the next was in the way, the old man whose body was clearly suffering a lot of burns jumped away and was about to run.
"Did I say you can run? WULD NAH KEST!"
Jon knew he was an advantage and used the 'Whirlwind Sprint' Thu'um to charge past the old man and block his path.
"A voice master! Kid, I admit that you have grown too much. More than that is dangerous."
The old man tried to gamble on one last attack then make a run for it but amidst the chaos, something happened.
""HAAA!""
A strong 'War Cry' sounded and a large white wolf came out charging followed by a Flame Atronach Horse. On the wolf was a raging woman with a red fluttering hair holding a big axe and bloody red Aura was enveloping her. One the Flame Atronach Horse was a man holding a golden sword and his Aura was dense and resembled a real fire that covered his whole body and made him look like the Atronach he was on.
Just as they passed past the old Bloodsail Patriarch, he was cut to shreds and burnt to ashes in less than a second.
The show of power was simply… terrifying!
The onlookers in the shadows, the onlookers on the peaks, Ulfric and his goons, Jon and his team, and those who witnessed the last charge, they all witnessed the Power Couple of the Firemane in their best conditions fending off a youngster from their clan and luckily, they were oblivious enough to forget about Jon right now.
This news is much more important than anything right now.
The Bloody Hilda, the King of Ash… They have reappeared in public.