"Twilight Gear, activate!" I yelled, holding up Baldo. It transformed into its wide, heavy blade form. This was probably the best thing to used to against that giant.

"Zafir, I don't think using that form is a good idea! You might lose control like last time!" Marina yelled.

Zafir's laugher echoed around the room. "I'll be fine! I'd been practicing with it."

Against who? By himself?

Well, now was my chance! If I could land a hit in-between the joints of the armor, I could bring it down. The ankle was the best point to strike a metallic giant!

Zafir stepped back, causing the ground to tremble under the colossus's weight. I felt like a pebble with how much I was being shaken with each step.

Spreading out my wings, I pointed Baldo at the water that had spilled out of the pool. A blue wisp of mana flew out of the tip of the sword, striking the dislodged liquid, freezing it in place. Zafir stepped back, causing the ice to shatter with the resulting tremors.

"Trying to freeze my feet in place, huh?"

That's wasn't my plan at all. It was actually simpler than that, to cause him to slip and fall. As the saying went, 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall'.

Zafir punched the ground, sending a plume of dust into the air, effectively blinding me.

"Hyoryu!" I yelled. A blue dragon emerged from my sword and devoured the dust with a single huff.

"A dragon?" Zafir asked as the beast coiled around his leg. Hyoryu released its breath, unleashing chilly air.

Zafir shook his leg but doing so only played to my plan. His left leg froze up while raised, causing him to wobble.

"Seems you still need more practice, Cousin," I said, slashing his leg. The armor shattered, revealing a hollow interior.

So, he didn't really become a giant after all.

"Nice mecha," I said, flying up the leg cavity. If this was no different from mecha in anime, then he was bound to be on top. I grumbled. Sounded like Kohri for a second there.

My eyes widened as the sound of water could be heard from above. Sure enough, water struck me, pushing me downward. With a swing of my sword, I froze the liquid. Stabbing the ice with my sword, I shattered it.

I gritted my teeth as water came from below, pushing me upward. There was no pathway at the top! I was wrong to think that it linked with the abdomen.

I stabbed the metal coating, using the force of the water to boost my momentum. Light poked out of the hole. It must've led to the outside, or the abdominal area had a light source within it. The water coiled around my leg and yanked me back down before I could break more of it.

"Freeze!" I yelled, holding a hand toward the water. Wisps of cyan mana flew out of my hand, turning the coils into ice. "Baldo!" My sword warped back to my hand. The wisps were cleanly sliced in half.

I narrowed my eyes at the ceiling of the leg. The light had vanished. Likewise, the opening that I'd used to come inside was now closed. Was this one of its abilities? Or was Zafir using his metal powers to fix it? Regardless, how much energy did it waste? If I were to damage it enough, could I win? Though, going straight for the prince might've been easier. Or the least less energy consuming. But, if I could get an assured victory...

"Hyoryu, how are things out there?" I asked, closing my eyes.

"Busy dodging that cousin of yours!"

I gasped as the leg I was on suddenly moved. The ice must've defrosted or Zafir finally thought of using his ice powers to do so. My back struck the side, only to be quickly pushed to the other. This had to be how that bug that Asil put in a can when we were five must've felt.

"Enough!" I yelled, freezing the sides of the leg. The thing effectively came to a stop once again.

Taking a deep breath, I flew straight up. My wings must've been damaged by the movement as they ached and felt out of place. Well, at least they were still in good enough shape to fly, minus me having to turn from time to time to readjust myself.

"Snow Wolf's Ravenous Fang!" I screamed once I reached the top. The metal gave way under the pressure of my ice drill. The answer to whether the light was from outside of the abdomen turned out to be from the latter. A giant blue orb linked to blue and red wires pulsated with energy.

"Is that the core of his angel too?" Hyoryu's voice echoed from within Baldo.

"You returned?" I sighed. "Don't tell me that Zafir beat you."

"No, I am still playing tag with him, but I can see what you are seeing. After all, Baldo is a part of me. Or rather, I am a part of it."

I smiled. "Good. Keep him busy a little while longer. Think I reached the power center of this thing."

"Altuwfan Aleazim!" My eyes widened as the chamber was rapidly covered in water. A smiling Zafir floated down from a hole on the ceiling. So, he was on top like I'd thought.

I flapped my wings, using them as oars to push myself toward the core.

Zafir appeared in front of me, knee-kicking me into the ceiling. The air in my lungs escaped. I could lose here! But freezing all of this water while being inside of it was impossible. I smiled as a thought came to mind. 

I pushed the water away from me, forming a bubble near the part leading to the head. "White Crane!" I yelled, swinging Baldo straight down.

Zafir held his hands up, pushing against my bird-shaped attack. The water around the crane turned into ice, creating a floor for me. Sadly, it wasn't stable as cracks soon formed, spewing water. Zafir wasn't giving up, but nor was I!

I raised my sword over my head and swung it down with as much force as I could muster, shattering the ice.

Zafir's eyes widened as the water rose up in the form of two waves as it split apart in the middle. I gritted my teeth as the two waves struck me, but I it was worth it to destroy the core. The metal giant vanished, dissolving into cyan mana. The water around us rained down on the broken pool, filling it back up.

My cousin stretched his wings out and dashed me. Using his chains, he grasped my sword and swung it along with me toward the pool.

"Good, you're not missing a beat," I said, smirking.

He smiled back and swung his chains at me. They coiled around my waist. I raised my sword in front of me as he pulled me toward him. His armored elbow struck the blade, pushing the flat side against my chest, knocking the air out of my lungs. The chains slid away, letting me fall into the pool.

My back ached as I hit the water. It felt like I'd struck concrete. Given how high we were and how fast I was going, that was to be expected.

Zafir dropped from the sky and kicked me into the bottom of the pool. "You've grown, Hyosetsu, but your power still isn't enough to best me. Kind of disappointing since you're said to be the strongest out of the Five Knights of Prophecy."

I gritted my teeth as my back hit the bottom. Was this the size of our gap was all along? No, he said that he'd been training. If anything, I'd shrunk it since my birthday. Plus, I still had my power ups, though it would be best not to depend too heavily on them. If anything, Tetsuya was the strongest considering it took me using Third Heaven to beat him in Second.

My wings retracted, but doing so hurt a lot. I would need to go to Xian to get them fixed later. Well, at least I could see if Zafir's father had reason for concern.

The water pressed down on me. Zafir, he was increasing the pressure. If only I'd taken the time to practice my water control. I was dumb not to do so, especially given it was the weakness of the strongest abysmal we'd faced thus far.

Gripping my sword with both hands, I swung it up, cutting the pool of water. Zafir flew slightly to the right, avoiding getting slashed in half. His eyes darted upward as rubble rained down. Using his chains, he swatted those that fell close to him away. The water around me churned as the rocks that hit the pool displaced the liquid.

Rocks. My earth control was as bad as my water control, but maybe I could make use of them.

"Boulder Barrage!" I yelled as I cut the water again.

Zafir gasped as the rocks shot out of the water. He kicked one of them to the side of the pool, causing a wave to pushed me over to the opposite side.

I jumped out of the pool and raised both the water and the rocks toward him. "Aquifer Fang!"

Zafir crossed his arms over his chest and pushed back against the water and stones. He pushed them back, causing the pool to exploded into a muddy mess behind me. My cousin panted. "Ha, not bad, kid."

Did he seriously call me a kid?

I smiled as Hyoryu snuck up behind him and coiled around him.

"What?" he let out a deep breath and pushed back Hyoryu with a wave of darkness. So, he had mastery over all four elements plus ice. Even after all this time, he was still putting me to shame.

"Don't let up, Hyoryu!" I yelled as I jumped into the air. 

Zafir gasped as I slashed him on the arms seven times. "H-how can you jump that high?"

I smiled. "Serra gave me a few pointers in return for giving him some tips on dual-wielding. Seven Aurora!" 

My cousin grimaced as his chains vanished.

"N-no way! Big brother lost!" Marina said.

I smiled. "Yeah, and your cousin won."

Zafir snickered as Hyoryu lowered him. "Not bad, Hyo. I can see why you're considered the 'strongest' now. You didn't even rely on your famous dual-wielding."

I reverted Baldo back to normal. "That was in part because of your giant transformation. Plus, this form packs more raw power. Something which is necessary to counteract that armor of yours." In hindsight, this form might've been better to have used against Tetsuya's Agnes.

He smiled. "Smart. Rosa really could use someone like you by her side."

My cheeks warmed. "W-why are you saying that all of a sudden?" I asked as I turned around and slid Baldo back into its sheath.

"Well, she's always getting into trouble. Her current team have people who rush into it or attract it."

He wasn't wrong about that. The only cool heads in that group were Ximena and Nori, the latter who was still training in Xeleria.

I scoffed. "I understand. I'll keep an eye on her."

"Here, Hyo. Let me heal you," Marina said as she finished fixing up her brother.

"Thanks," I said, holding out an arm toward her.

Zafir snickered.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What?"

"You've changed. When we met again on your birthday, you didn't seem like the type who would so readily accept help."

I looked away. "I did back then too." Not that I liked to. I still didn't.

"You really are something, Mr. Kuroyuki. I'm glad to have someone like you on our side," Nahla said, smiling.

Damien chuckled. "Same here!"

My face warmed up.

"Aww, you're blushing!" Marina said, giggling.

I felt like pulling my arm away, but my back hurt like crazy.

"S-shut up," I mumbled. I glanced back at Zafir. "If you have time, could you help me perfect my water control?"

Zafir scratched his head. "I would love to, but Ranaa will yell my head off if I don't go do my work. And he would be right to do so. I've allowed it to pile up."

"I'll teach you!" Marina said, grinning.

"Same!" Nahla said.

Damien scratched his face. "If you want to learn any concentrated water mana attacks, I could be of some help."

I smiled. "Then let's get to work!"

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^^. Pardon the delay. Hopefully it was worth the wait.**