Ciel's face had gone pale. The mere mention of a "nuclear explosion" from Reeves' mouth didn't just stretch the imagination—it pushed the very boundaries of reality. Taku and Kou turned to Ciel, expecting a plan. But for the first time, uncertainty and real fear shimmered in Ciel's eyes.
Ciel was thinking.
"If he really can trigger a nuclear blast… we're all going to die…"
As if he had heard Ciel's inner thoughts, Reeves spoke."A nuclear explosion? Ah, that will take a bit more time... But if you'd like, I can show you a miniature version. This one is not much different from the other one"
He raised his hands. Energy trembled at his fingertips. The atmosphere grew heavier. The sky turned as dark as night in the middle of the day. Taku's knees shook slightly, and Kou instinctively took a step back.
Ciel swallowed hard in fear. This wasn't a fight—it was a gamble. And even though he was terrified, he shouted with forced composure: "Don't attack him! We can't take him head-on! We need to slow him down. If we give him the chance to unleash his full power, we're dead!"
Taku yelled in frustration. "Then what do we do?! That thing has us completely cornered! We're powerless!"
"We'll provoke him. We all know he's impatient. The more he sees our weakness, the more he'll want to finish this quickly. We'll force him to accelerate the explosion. But in the meantime... we need to set up a field. A trap to pull him into."
Kou seemed to understand what Ciel meant. "Some kind of ice labyrinth. It'll slow him down. Maybe even disperse the explosion's effect."
Kou and Taku started casting spells together. Ciel also hid special seals created with dark magic inside the labyrinth. Ice surrounded the area. Giant ice pillars rose from the ground, starting to close in around Reeves.
Taku answered hopelessly, "Gods, I really don't think this is going to work. I hope I am wrong..."
Reeves got excited and his grin widened."Are we playing hide and seek now? Alright then..."
The ice wasn't just a trap. Inside it were Ciel's special seals—runic seals that could temporarily absorb explosion energy.
Taku lunged forward. This time, his goal wasn't to hurt Reeves, but to draw his attention. As Reeves turned toward Taku, he shouted at Ciel:"NOW!"
Ciel triggered the seals. Lights shined from inside the ice pillars. They began absorbing the explosion energy. The brightness in Reeves' hands started to fade.
There was no longer joy on Reeves' face. On the contrary, he looked very angry. "What the hell did you do?!"
Ciel answered with a grin, "I took your art from you, moron. Now all that's left is to finish you."
But inside, Ciel knew it was all a lie. This was just a few seconds of advantage. It wouldn't stop Reeves from unleashing full nuclear energy. But this brief moment was enough—for him to use a dangerous strategy:
Ciel placed his hand on the ground. This time, he placed a seal underground. It was drawn with his own blood. This final seal would use Ciel's life energy in exchange for an explosion. If Reeves really released something nuclear… this seal would sacrifice itself and take him down along with it.
"If this works… I may not survive. But at least the others will live."
Reeves, cracks his knuckles. He still seems to be filled with rage. He grits his teeth: "You think just because I can't blow you up, I won't be able to beat the shit out of you?"
Ciel, remarks: "Well, I'm betting on it."
Reeves, gets ready to give it all he's got. He's never had any experience with one like Ciel, but he's still pretty confident. Reeves, loads up his fist engulfed in flames. He then throws out a punch from far away, a flaming fist flies towards Ciel with blinding speeds.
But Ciel is ready. Ciel, switches his stance and sends out a gush of wind that puts out Reeves' flames. Ciel smirks: "Forgot about the wind, did ya?" Reeves throws out multiple other flaming fists, then shouts: "Wind only makes the flames stronger!"
Ciel, places his hands together. When he spreads them again, a trail of fire follows. "You think I don't know that? I was taught from the best." Ciel, creates a wall of flame and sends it out forwards. Ciel's and Reeves' flames clash together, ultimately, Ciel's flames consume the flaming fists and continue flying towards Reeves.
Along with the wall of flames, Ciel starts rushing the same direction as Reeves. He slides across the frozen ground by casting a water spell underneath his feet, he then separates the flaming wall and slides through the gap, with his hand engulfed in a sphere of condensed, smoky air.
Reeves, in turn, grabs Ciel's wrist and avoid touching the sphere of air. He throws out a punch of his own, his fist coated in his mana to reinforce the strike, he hits Ciel's abdomen.
Ciel, coughs up. Another smile creeps up to Reeves' face. "What did I tell you?" He doesn't allow Ciel to recover and punches him in the face, knocking him to the ground. However, Ciel doesn't seem effected by the punch. He sweeps Reeves with both legs, a trail of fire behind his feet, leaving a spinning trail like a helicopter. After kicking Reeves down, he lifts himself from the ground with both hands and kicks Reeves in the face with both feet, making his nose bleed.
But that's not enough to stop Reeves. Reeves holds Ciel by the collar and throws another punch, his punches still feel like it's exploding in Ciel's face even without his adjustment art. But Ciel has to overcome it. He coats his whole arm with his mana, reinforcing his strikes, then slams his elbow into Reeves' face, holding his fist to generate more power. He then strikes with his knee, kicking him in the stomach. Finishes it off with a left hook, all that just to make Reeves bleed a little.
Of course, Reeves does take some damage, but it doesn't knock him out. "Nice strikes, kiddo!" Reeves then latches onto Ciel's arm after the left hook, punching him in the abdomen again. He then knee kicks him in the stomach multiple times, but Ciel slams his elbow into Reeves' thigh and punches him down. "Kiddo...? I'm twenty two years old, for gods' sakes."
Ciel places his hands on the solid ice walls of the maze, casting a water spell, he creates a water whip. He then slams the whip onto the ground, trying to hit Reeves. But Reeves moves out of the way quickly, then sends a blast of fire directly at Ciel.
Ciel, transforms the whip into a water wall to block the fire. After blocking the fire, Ciel hops from the ground to the walls then jumps down to the ground. Covering his feet in water, water that freezes into solid ice, with the intent of slamming Reeves' face with his feet, using gravity to enhance the strength of his kick.
Reeves, slides to the side to avoid the kick. Ciel, sinks down to the ground after the kick. Reeves then uses the opportunity to pull Ciel down, while doing so, Reeves gets up as well.
After pulling Ciel down, he goes into back kick him in the face. While doing so, he instinctively uses an explosion afterwards. Which proves that he hasn't lost his art. His eyes widen, realizing he's been lied to.
Reeves, wipes the sweat off his face. "You cheeky bastard... You fucking lied to me!" He chuckles.
However, the chuckle is replaced by a grim voice from Reeves. "You realize what this means. Right?"
Reeves, cracks his knuckles then slams his fist into Ciel's stomach and creates a giant explosion right after the punch. The impact creates a small crater that Ciel sinks into in the solid ice ground. Ciel's eyes go wide after the punch, coughing up some blood, definitely breaking some bones.
Reeves steps on Ciel's rib cage, who is barely conscious at the time. Ciel's mind races, with the brutal, natural fear of death. But he can't do anything to fight back, his body doesn't listen to his brain, it's like he's paralyzed.
Reeves, sighs as he places more weight onto his foot. "You entertained me quite a bit, I should say. I would like to learn your name, but there isn't anyone here who can tell me. And I'm sure you bit your tongue or something. So, farewell."
Reeves, wipes his chin, covered in blood. He then starts glowing, ready to blast Ciel out of his life, killing him permanently and surely. The whole maze glowed with a yellow blast, the nearby ice starting to melt and the air crackling with Reeves' art.
Just as Reeves was about to kill Ciel, an intimidating, yet familiar for Ciel, voice raise out of the maze. Taro! Taro lowered the whole maze down to the ground, finding Ciel. A spear taller than Taro was in his hand and he threw it at Reeves with full power. Reeves had no choice but to cancel his spell and step out of the scene.
Taro, yelled. "You dare invade my clan, attack my sons and attack an outsider under MY protection?! Your audacity shall be your end."
Reeves was shocked by how strong this old man seemed to be. Taro was barely dressed, he had a sleeveless shirt and bear fur tied to his neck, flapping behind him like a cape. Reeves cracked a smile. "You're pretty confident old man. Can you back that up?"
Taro, looked at Ciel, who was injured and probably unconscious. He let out a sigh and ignored Reeves completely, started walking towards Ciel. He held him and lifted him. "I saw the runic seal. Oh, Ciel, that was such an unnecessary sacrifice. Risking your precious life for a lackey such as this? Taku, take him to safety."