Boom! Boom!
Approaching the place where he had sent Dabrio flying, Cristhian found himself confused by the Knight's actions and somewhat surprised.
Despite the constant use of random teleportation, not only had the man been able to stay close enough to not break the 'No running from combat' rule, but he was managing to dodge the areas of order he was leaving behind him.
Cristhian had lost sight of him, but the sound of explosions indicated that the knight had not. The same explosions that he did not know why they were occurring.
It could not be part of a ritual; he would have noticed it in the order of the forest, which would reflect a change. That is not to say that rituals were extremely delicate processes that should not be rushed or taken lightly; that one required explosions as part of it was like lighting dynamite in your hand.
'The interval between each one must be a kind of signal. To inform those engaging the rest that I'm still occupied with Dabrio, or to mark my position? Both?' Having an idea of what it might be about, Cristhian accelerated his movements.
Thinking of his target, he remembered his strange state.
The Unshadowed Domain of the Sword of Dawn not only destroys the darkness but also reveals everything hidden in it in a 150-meter region.
He should be able to find Dabrio without a problem, but not only was this not the case, even the Knight of Sequence 6 had managed to hide from him.
Something that with the Unshadowed Domain should be impossible!
The black smoke he saw coming from Dabrio once he released the Sword of Dwan's seal was likely the product of a ritual or the effects of a special ability.
His gait stopped suddenly, Cristhian frowned, and looked around slowly...
The tetric forest seemed to have bared sharp teeth, and unknown monsters lurked in corners that not even the light of the Sword of Dwan could reveal.
Dabrio's preparations exceeded what he had expected, and he clearly had a plan.
'Maybe me going after him plays into that as well...' Cristhian mumbled inwardly as he clicked his tongue soundlessly.
While he was still in control of the combat, that could change if he let them wander him without knowing where he was going.
With those thoughts in mind, Cristhian decided to change his approach. In a blur, his body disappeared.
...
Dabrio would not stand idly by while his enemy moved him from side to side like a rag doll in the mouths of a mad dog.
As the leader of the last branch, it was his duty to show that they still had pride in their family name!
Using his power of law, he erased the distance between him and the ground, his figure disappeared from the stormy sky to reappear standing in the middle of the forest.
The inertia and speed that had been subdued were left behind in the process. Remembering where he had to go, he moved hastily and began to circle the area, teleporting from time to time, leaving areas of order behind him.
His figure was a blur that carried the wind with it. With the wind hitting his face, Dabrio's mind reviewed what the traitor had done.
Upon reaching high sequences, the biggest qualitative change in the powers that the beyonders of the Arbitrer Pathway had were their commands.
They could no longer only exert restrictions; if certain conditions were met, something could be 'permitted' in an area.
There were two conditions for performing such permit commands.
First, the zone where it was launched did not have to have it implied or taken for granted that the actions sought to be permitted were forbidden - if there were laws that said so, the permit command would be completely ineffective and might even have severe drawbacks.
In the city, the command that David had used would be impossible to launch due to the control of order that the Churches possess over them—he could still try to launch it, but this would have great repercussions on his condition. Being demigods of order, attacking it was equal to attacking oneself.
Second, if the first condition was met, the 'order' of the area had to be weak or, in particular cases, have 'weak' laws that allowed one to dictate stronger laws of one's own—islands dominated by pirates fell into that category of weak laws.
The less order and laws there are in an area when the permission command is launched, the more powerful it is.
Hidden places or places far away from established civilizations were perfect for this kind of command since, being lawless places, the words of an Imperative Mage were more powerful. Trying to ban a permission given by the Imperative Mage was equal to trying to ban a law in a city, bringing considerable drawbacks.
The depths of the Lumea Forest fulfilled all these conditions with excellence.
Dabrio had a very good idea of what the traitor branch had planned to confront him.
The permission command would be the first part of the plan, followed by constant prohibitions, restrictions, and punishments. On their side, the half-sequences he brought would attack from a distance with artifacts and abilities of their own.
When two Imperative Mages faced each other, they would cancel each other out. And what determined who won always fell on who had the greater number of supporters.
Even if Dabrio dropped everything and revealed his incomplete mythical creature form, he would still lose because of the numerical disadvantage and the commands launched during the fight.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Listening to the nearby explosions and using them as a guide, Dabrio slowed down considerably once he noticed he was close to the agreed point, but he always made sure to stay on the edge and not enter the danger range.
Suddenly, everything around him was bathed in sunlight. The darkness receded and the shadows no longer hid his figure.
His spirituality soared, and his head whipped to the sky.
Piercing the air like an angel streaking across the sky. A spear of light of golden fire shot towards him, the tip of it cutting through the wind and leaving a horrible hissing sound in its wake.
Unshadowed Spear!
Behind it, multiple more followed, falling from the sky like shooting stars.
Without wasting a second, Dabrio erased the distance again and quickly moved away. The spears impacted the forest and exploded into mini 'suns', uprooting dozens of trees and quickly burning them to charcoal.
Floating into the sky through the laws at work in it and carrying a sword whose blade seemed to be made of the very rays of the sun, Cristhian Tamara stabbed the air and twisted his wrist, the motion identical to that of inserting a key into a lock.
Immediately after that, a sphere of pure light surrounded by countless holy flames descended out of thin air, a few meters above where Dabrio had disappeared.
The appearance of this mini sun strengthened the Unshadowed Domain affecting the area; the light that bathed everything increased until it seemed to be the middle of summer.
The leaves of the trees near the sphere of holy fire immediately caught fire, and the trunks turned to ash.
Cristhian's hair began to burn, and the hand holding the Sword of Dawn began to glow. The light condensed into an armor of whitish light that slowly covered it.
Only 10 seconds after the flaring sun appeared, something shot out of the void. Faster than the same lightning that flooded the sky, this sudden attack headed for death towards Crishtian.
With its appearance, Cristhian immediately 'closed' the key, the flaring sun vanishing as it appeared.
The illusory white armor remained, and he placed that arm in front.
Kraboom!
Like the rumble of thunder, the attack struck full force. The white armor fragmented and shattered, the pieces becoming illusory before sinking into the skin of his forearm.
Following that, the illusory armor formed again, this time reaching his bicep.
Ignoring the trembling of his arm as he blocked an execution, Cristhian said solemnly, "Teleportation is prohibited!"
In the damaged and burning forest, an unknown change happened.
This command had not been a mere prohibition. Receiving the attack while risky, doing so allowed him to use it to perform the strongest form of banning an Imperative Mage could do.
Restriction!
Prohibition only prevented the use of an action or ability by those without divinity, but Demigods could still resist it.
With the Restriction that changed, even demigods could not use the ability or perform the restricted action—his command was absolute!
Unless Cristhian released it, teleportation in this region was completely unusable!
In the fiery clearing generated by the flaring sun, Dabrio's figure formed after failing to erase the distance.
Feeling the new order spread, Dabrio was not alarmed or worried. A long life and many experiences had hardened him.
He already expected such an order to be given; as the best means of escape, it was only natural that it would have to be repressed sooner or later.
But he was not worried, it was in the plans after all.
While Cristhian was hiding it, the attack had clearly affected him, and from what he could see on the man's arm, it accelerated the spread of the armor.
Having punished him with execution, Dabrio knew that the armor not only protected him, but was also deeply connected to the negative effect Cristhian had chosen.
Not letting his thoughts affect his actions, Dabrio raised a hand to the front.
Since Cristhian had impeded his movement procedure, it was natural for him to punish that action.
The hand he raised opened with the palm pointing down, Hermes reverberated in the forest once again.
"This place will have the divine weakened and the human strengthened!"
Just as he said that, the glow of the Sword of Dawn dimmed considerably as Cristhian plummeted to the ground, unable to keep himself floating.
Both Demigods felt their divinity considerably suppressed at the same time as they weakened, all their related abilities losing much of their power...
Observing this from his hiding place, a reasonable distance away, a red-haired man smiled in amusement.
'Being at a numerical disadvantage and without the possibility of escape, an Imperative Mage cannot use 'Weaken Mysticism, Strengthen Reality' as he would be easily overpowered. Reducing the command to 'Weaken Divinity, Strengthen Humanity,' at least ensures that he will still have a fighting chance~''
Laughing to himself, he stepped out of the darkness that had returned. His body then ignited in orange flames that soon took on a reddish hue.
In his hand, a spear of crimson-white fire formed.
Tensing his enhanced muscles, he pulled his arm back and threw it violently. But before it left his hand, he used his fire transformation and merged his body with it.
Fushhh!
With the increase brought by the command, the speed and power of this fiery white spear left behind it a line in the air, only a blur...
Cristhian cursed as he gnashed his teeth; 'I didn't think he would use it!'
Not letting his surprise interrupt his actions and letting his experience guide him, he allowed himself to follow the moment he hit the ground, falling over his shoulder and rolling several times, letting the force continue without hurting him.
His spirituality ignited, and he could barely lift and place the Sword of Dawn before him.
A white glow was all he could see before something collided a few feet away from him.
Boom!
Crimson-white sparks and flames erupted, the intensity of the blast dragging him through the ground, nearly knocking him over.
Out of the flames, a blur shot towards him.
Fush! Fush!
Reacting quickly, Cristhian readjusted his guard and launched a powerful strike to the front.
Clash! Boom!
Sparks flew from the impact between dagger and sword—the impact cracking the ground.
With the crimson eyes of his helmet grinning madly, the Knight laughed in a twisted voice.
"It's my turn to dance with you!"