73

73
Third Person POV

The fight was getting more and more heated. Both Artemis and Lord Noah were being pushed to their limits. Body weight was successful in bending the advantage to their side. At the beginning of the fight, they had both gained deep wounds, successively putting them at a disadvantage.

But immediately after a surge in morale, they turned things around and were able to balance the strength and speed of Raphael and Muriel. Experience in battle helped them manage to gain the upper hand.

"Who is the older of the two of you?" Lord Noah asked as soon as he got enough time to ask Raphael.

This was a desperate attempt on his end to catch his breath, and although Raphael didn't like the idea, he too needed to catch his breath. They had been engaged in furious and consistent barrages.

"Well, neither of us knows the answer to that. We were told that on our birth, we managed to kill our mother by mistake. It was as though both of us were racing to come out of her womb at the same time, and eventually, the force from everything made her lose too much blood and energy, and eventually she died," Raphael said, taking deep breaths.

"How unfortunate for her. She stressed so much to birth two troublesome people such as yourselves. Politicians who will make the world a better place. She gave birth to two very dangerous men who will go on to kill more men. Well, even though both of you were said to burst out at the same time, one can tell the senior of two twins from their character. Which one of you is more reserved?" Lord Noah asked.

"Neither Muriel nor I are reserved. We both like to have fun, and when needed, we are serious. What I do say is that Muriel likes to have fun inside a bit more than myself. Sometimes when he jokes around too much, we both have to pay the price. But when it comes down to it, we are both extroverts that only show ourselves when necessary. I always had the feeling I was older, but since I could not base that on anything, I could never reach a conclusion," Raphael explained.

"Well, I do feel that you are older. If Muriel over there is more playful than yourself, then there's a good chance you are older than him and therefore more responsible," Lord Noah said with a smirk on his face.

"What the hell are you smiling about?" Raphael asked, glaring at Lord Noah angrily.

This was an intense battle where no one could afford to let their guard down. What could possibly be so amusing to make him so happy and smile this much?

"Well, since I'm fighting the stronger one, I will be able to use this to mock Artemis later on that he fought an inferior opponent. Both of us have been stressing ourselves, and eventually, we are going to kill the both of you. When you both die and this whole thing blows over, we are both going to discuss this entire battle and talk about just how strong the both of you were. Thanks to you being the older one, I will be able to brag about killing a stronger opponent. Artemis will have no choice but to concede and admit that I am more powerful than him," Lord Noah said, smiling.

Raphael stared at Lord Noah for a while before slapping his forehead and beginning to chuckle. "Look at you, bragging and confident that you are going to kill me. You keep on referring to me as though I were a thing of the past and that you killing me is inevitable. You really think that the both of you are going to walk out of here alive and myself and Muriel will be dead? If you think that, then you are nothing but a fool," Raphael said as veins began to pop out from his body.

"You can think me to be a fool as much as you want. But what you just insinuated is what is going to happen. Your death is nothing more than a matter of time, and as soon as the time comes, you and your brother will die by both our hands," Lord Noah said as he began to approach Raphael.

Raphael, in turn, began to approach Lord Noah as well with great momentum. The both of them had spoken long enough to catch their breath, and they had regained a bit of energy. Raphael was younger and therefore had more stamina as a youth. But Lord Noah was older and also more experienced. He knew how to conserve energy and make sure not to spend too much. Eventually, when it was all said and done, their energy consumption was basically the same.

Raphael struck at Lord Noah from the side. It was a brutal and devastating blow from the left side to the eye, but Lord Noah was quick enough to dodge to the side and block with his left hand. A powerful fist emerged from his right hand aimed directly for Raphael's face.

But Raphael was quick enough to contort his body to the side and strike out violently. Lord Noah was not as flexible as him, but his reflexes were sharper. Although Raphael was bending from all angles and directions, Lord Noah was able to block and strike out occasionally.

Raphael sent out a violent punch, and Lord Noah caught it between his arms, but right after, Raphael lunged himself into the air, expending not only his energy but a bit of Lord Noah's energy as well. He twisted several times in the air, and as soon as Lord Noah had no choice but to let him go, a violent kick came down on Lord Noah's head.

The kick was incredibly loud as the impact was undeniably strong. Lord Noah didn't have a choice but to step back a little while to nurse the wound and shake his head from left to right. A massive headache fell on him, and he began to lose a bit of the coordination he had earlier.

As soon as Raphael saw this chance, he did not hesitate to take it. He attacked Lord Noah violently, overwhelming him.

When Lord Noah's vision became too distorted to even see Raphael's punches, he was immediately knocked to the ground. One punch followed, and Lord Noah began to incur massive injuries.

Raphael was relentless with his punches, and Lord Noah could not help but defend with everything he had. If he allowed any one of Raphael's vicious punches to get to any of his vital organs, the battle would be lost immediately.

Raphael was relentless with his attacks because he knew that if Lord Noah were to get back on his feet, then the tables would turn drastically. Now that the heavens had presented him with such a chance, he would not let it slip through his fingers. He had gotten lucky, and Lord Noah had decided to choose attack over defense.

The opportunity was to be exploited, and he was going to exploit it to the fullness of his capability. Raphael looked for vital organs to hit so that the fight could be over abruptly, but unfortunately, Lord Noah was just too guarded.

Eventually, Lord Noah's arms began to get more and more bruised, and he was losing the fight. But then suddenly, a loud, terrifying scream exploded from him, and with an outburst of his hands, he managed to fling Raphael into a nearby wall.

Raphael smashed into the wall violently, and his back got significant damage from the smash. The realization that tables were about to turn hit him like a ton of bricks. Immediately after he realized that Lord Noah was about to regain his stance once more, he let everything loose and attacked without bothering about defense.

He attacked with punches and kicks. His punches were swift, and his kicks were forceful. Lord Noah did not attack in any way but simply put both of his fists to guard his face and upper body. He dodged and ducked whenever necessary. None of Raphael's forceful attacks managed to make their way to hit him.

It was a wonderful sight to watch one enemy attack violently with all he had and another one so simply focus on defense. There was no way any of Raphael's attacks could make their way to Lord Noah. He was simply too guarded for Raphael to hit him.

And eventually, when he gathered enough momentum, he drew his hand back and struck out with all his might. The punch made its way to Raphael's belly, causing Raphael to temporarily convulse. The punch was so forceful that if it had made its way to Raphael's chest where his heart was, an irregularity in breathing would have occurred.

Raphael was wrong to ever allow someone as experienced and strong as Lord Noah to hit him in such a vital region.

As though in a comic manner, the flow of the battle turned around completely. Raphael, who had been bombarding Lord Noah with attacks, suddenly became the one on defense. Lord Noah punched and kicked, and most of his punches and kicks made their way to Raphael.

Raphael was beginning to gain more and more lacerations on his body than before. Lord Noah began to punch and kick in a certain manner that followed a definite pattern. He swung his leg around and punched with the exact same amount of force, guiding Raphael into a special corner.

As soon as he had Raphael in that corner, he did not even wait one second before jumping up into the air and smashing his leg on Raphael's head. Raphael's head was forced into the ground, which was welcomed by different stones and dust. The dust got into his eyes, and his vision became blurry.

His blurred vision was not only from the sand but from the massive headache he was feeling at the moment. Lord Noah's kicks were just simply too deadly for one to allow to hit somewhere as vital as the head.

After exhausting his energy tank, Lord Noah eventually put some distance between Raphael and himself. When they were far enough, he then chuckled.

"You were really confident until a second earlier. You see how quickly battle can change. This is why I knew you would die right from the beginning of our fight. The victor in a fight is not dependent simply on speed and strength, but on experience."