Bent Fate (An Arknights Fanfiction)

Chapter 85.2

After a while, a branch bigger than the others fell down in front of the sarkaz. He stared as the flames consumed the piece of wood, nothing left of its flowers and leaves.

Parts of the tree kept snapping as the fire severs branches off. Maybe a few more minutes, and the whole trunk goes down.

Along the tainted glass walls, soldiers quietly moved under the white canopy of the Dome, though he can see them in the gaps between the trees.

"You want to play the waiting game, I see?" the caster which he still couldn't see eye to eye figured.

"Yeah, why? Gotta pee?" he asked casually.

"Just did so while you were going through the gates."

He chuckles.

"Where are your friends? I could tell you mine will be all around you soon. How about your other Reunion fellows?"

"Mine?? Well, where else could they be but the east."

"So you are all alone..."

"For real."

The wind caster huffs in mockery of the sarkaz. "I wish you really came here to switch sides."

The sarkaz hum, tilting his head side to side, "Half and half... maybe if I'm impressed. Could you do that?"

"You should have known what's best for you long ago..."

He looks down, the flames burning on his legs and feet have long gone out, the same with those all over his body.

"... do you feel miserable now?"

He smiles at the enemy's question as he looked to the side. "Not really, a little problematic."

He looks at his palm, closes it, and opens it. Again, and again.

After a third repetition, his hand opens with a small hovering flame inside.

"We can end this right now." the wind caster challenges him, "Come out, give it everything you've got. At the very least, you wouldn't die not having used your powers. As a fellow caster, I know it's a very satisfying experience."

"Yeah..."—

The sarkaz jumps out of cover, sending an arm's worth of his dagger-shaped arts forward.

The ice casters returned fire instantly, sending ice needles his way.

His chitchat buddy for a while, a man with a straw hat concealing his face, hits the ground with his staff and tilts it forward, directing two wind currents to intersect directly in front of him.

The sarkaz strides in behind another tree, casting a fire wave towards the nearby soldiers as they charged at him with their pole arms, their clothes catched fire, and burned them within their armor.

"What happened to your fire armor?" the wind caster asked curiously.

"My what...?"

"You were literally on fire a while ago..."

"Ah..." he uttered. "... Don't wanna burn another tree now."

"Souka..."

"What??"—

The man swings his staff, and what seemed like an invisible razor blade cuts the trunk of the burning tree clean off of it's base.

The trunk stops mid air, and with a violent whistling wind, is thrown towards where the sarkaz is currently hiding, tilting the other tree.

He drops to the ground along with the splinters and crawls away.

The charred tree slips past two of it's own kind, darting towards the sarkaz's back.