Crawk!
The long-beaked bird let out a noisy cry as it tangled with the bird carrying the strange fruit.
Showing the usefulness of its tiny body, the smaller bird flapped its wings rapidly, narrowly avoiding the long-beaked bird's grasp.
However, the long-beaked bird, with its long feathers, had incredible mobility of its own.
The two birds, with their opposing advantages, battled in the sky for a while.
Crawk!
As the tiny bird struggled, another bird descended from the sky, falling at an incredible speed and dragging the long-beaked bird down with it. The bird shined in golden brown colour as it flew.
"It's the Duskbird!" Celine exclaimed in joy.
"See? Didn't I say she would never forget what you've done?" Pixie said, sharing the same vision as Celine through their bond.
Celine use all of his abilities through her so she has the capability to intervene if needed.
"Duskbird will keep it busy. In the meantime, guide the bird back to us."
Closing his eyes, Celine did as Pixie instructed. After regaining it's balance in the sky, the tiny bird flew back toward the forest, increasing its speed minute by minute.
"Celine, you can't stay hidden forever. If you want to meet your parents while they're still alive, face me before sundown."
Mordred's words echoed loudly. Celine heard them through the familiar sense of the birds.
The bird flew into the distant forest. After confirming this, Mordred closed his eyes.
"If there is one weakness common to every hero, it's that they care more about their loved ones than themselves. Which is good… very good. It makes them easier to trap."
"You're really confident. Are you sure you can defeat the Benevolent Pixie's candidates?" The Mischievous Pixie hovered closer to him. Unlike the Benevolent Pixie, who could only be seen by those with gifted eyes, the Mischievous Pixie could appear visible to whomever she wanted.
"I have trust in my own... arsenal. Also, I think a lot about what could happen or what could go wrong. That's why, when Celine comes to face me at sunset, I want you to appear visible to them and stay close to me."
"Are you sure he will come?" Flying lower, Pixie landed on Mordred's deep, dark hair.
"Oh, he definitely will."
. . . . . . . .
The tiny bird landed on Celine's hand. He petted its head first before taking the stangra fruit into his grasp.
Setting the bird free, he looked at the fruit.
"I got it. Now what?"
"Usually, you need to crush it, but in this situation, let's add a little twist."
With her words the golden glow of the pixie intensified, afterwards she touched the fruite and slowly transfer the glow to It.
With the yellow-white shine of a bright golden sun, Celine and Pixie nodded to each other before crushing the fruit.
Boom!
A wave of air sped through the forest from the crushed fruit.
A huge golden liquid exploded from the it and flowed down to the earth from Celine's hand.
Than the golden liquid on the ground began to gather, crystallizing into a structure resembling a staff.
In the forest, where the trees grow to suprass the sky, the current old pixie king stood in the middle of the blooming flower field.
From one of his hands, he held a scepter, which was slowly turning into a golden liquid and flowing down to the earth.
On the other side, from the earth, rose the golden liquid, creating the shape of the staff in front of Celine.
The creation of the scepter shook the whole forest; birds flew away in fear, than a roar of a lion resounded, calming the screaming animals' minds.
"My opposite already has the advantage by attacking you at the stage of your growth. The only way to turn the table is by breaking a few rules, just like she did," looking at the scepter that was being created, Pixie whispered.
Moments passed, and the scepter fully formed and floated above the ground, as if the item was not allowed to be touched by the ground where every other stood.
"Wait."
Celine halted his hand as Pixie interrupted him from grabbing the staff.
"Although you got the item, it's still not something in your league to wield. If you touch it with your human body, you will explode from its rage. So use benvolent force to enchant yourself with and cover yourself."
Celine did what Pixie told him. But If he used the benvolent force to help wield the scepter, he would need to use benvolent force continuously, which would eventually drain him. So, Celine only used benvolent force on one of his hands, which he used to grab the scepter.
Bang!
A magical sound came as Celine grabbed the scepter. Instantly, he felt a surge of energy run through his body, which made him energized.
"Now, we only lack in quantity, let's fix it," said Pixie, flying into the forest, and holding the scepter, Celine followed her.
With his trained body and the energy feeding into him by the scepter, he didn't need to make extra effort to keep up with her speed, like the first time they journeyed through the forest.
. . . . . . .
From the horizon, the sun slowly descended into darkness. And the long-beaked bird lifted its head, taking out a broken feather from its body.
Mordred put down the book he was reading and looked in the direction of the forest.
A lone figure stepped out from it. Holding a scepter in his hand, he had a firm and determined look on his face.
"Hmm... Pixie King's staff. Looks like they're the first ones to bend the rules in this game."
"That's unexpected," the mischievous Pixie also showed surprise.
"You need to be careful. That staff is more powerful than anyone could grasp."
"Oh... Enlighten me then," although Mordred knew the abilities possessed by the Pixie King's staff, he still asked the mischievous Pixie for information.
While the Pixie informed Mordred, Celine advanced forward and stood a considerable distance away from Mordred.
Raghh!
From behind, a monster's roar as it ripped a human in half and sent the bleeding body to the sky.
The blood of the human fell like rain upon Mordred and Celine.
"Is this to your liking? I tried to make it more comfortable for you, since soon it'll be your resting place."
Thud!
Celine hit his staff on the ground, silencing everything that made any noise, including Mordred.
"You talk too much. Where are my parents? Let's hope, for your sake, they're not injured in any way."
'Oh... He's much more confident. Benvolent pixie must have boosted it. But the staff alone couldn't bring that much confidence to a man; there must be something... like a trump card.
Well... Let's try to bring that trump card of yours before anything else does.'
"Why don't you find that out for yourself?" Mordred's words echoed, breaking the silence. And from behind him appeared countless monsters. They roared in rage and looked at every living being with bloodthirsty eyes.
At the same moment, with a purple glow, the mischievous pixie appeared, resting on Mordred's shoulder.
"Is this her powers?" Celine asked in a whisper to Benvolent Pixie.
"Absolutely not. This is likely a specialty of that man. Be careful, don't engage in battle until we determine his ability and strength," as always, Pixie instructed Celine to the best of her ability.
"Well, here here goes then."
Celine once again placed the staff on the ground.
Thud!
A sound echoed with a vibration, causing a wave to ripple through the forest behind him.
Grrrrr!
Within a second, a growling pack of wolves appeared, following behind it were countless animals running and crawling, coming out of the forest to stand beside Celine.
Mordred gazed at the enraged animals and beasts. He showed no fear nor panic, and just like always, he stayed like an immovable rock.
"There is something else looking at you from there."
At the moment Pixie informed him, pointing at the direction of the jungle.
"Let's pull them out."
Mordred pointed his hand at Celine, and the monsters beside him rushed with roars.
Celine lifted his staff and waved it forward. The beasts stood beside him and all rushed forward at command, with roars that shook everyone's hearts.