"Enough." Marco murmurs and distances himself slightly. "I'm tired of it all." The sword he carries ignites intensely. 

In the blink of an eye, he launches a slash of flames towards William, who doesn't even have time to process the attack. 

A frontal attack, which would have cut William in two if not for his brother, who conjured a root in time to pull him aside by his arm! 

The slash of flame hits the wall and causes bizarrely frightening damage. 

Marco takes this chance to distance himself even more from his brothers. William also takes the opportunity to reunite with Light. 

"Thanks." William says. "I would have died if it weren't for you." 

"Don't worry about it." Light responds. "Do you still have mana?" 

"Yes, but if I continue at this rate, I don't think I can last much longer." William responds. 

"How many minutes do you think you have?" Light asks. 

"I have no idea, I'm not good at math." William speaks. "This attack just now... I think he's saving what mana he still has." 

"So it means he's not going all out." Light says. "He must be waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack..." 

"Just when I thought I was getting over him..." William whispers. "I'm a failure, even though this guy is exhausted, I'm still not on his level!" William gets excited. 

"Take it easy, William." Light tries to reassure him. "We haven't used our most powerful magic yet." 

"You're right." He agrees. "Why don't we just use it and get rid of it?!" 

"We can't risk running out of mana." Light explains. "I don't know what could happen if you or I fall unconscious..." Although they had a better chance of winning, the risk of being killed was also high. 

Marco just stands in front, taking the short time to cauterize his wounds in a rustic way, using his own magic. 

"How many minutes must have passed?" Light thinks. "Two minutes? Three minutes?" The boy tries to use his perception of time. If he knew the exact minutes, he could formulate some plan, some strategy. 

"William, I want you to keep attacking. When he opens his guard, I will use my thunder magic to pierce him." Light mutters. 

"It looks like they made some plan." Marco thinks. "I don't like how that wizard child acts." Marco thinks. "I feel like he's hiding something. Despite having quick reflexes, and casting spells quickly, he seems to be serving as a support." Marco concludes. "Are you saving your mana for an emergency? I don't know, but I have to pay attention to your movements!" 

William engages Wind Magic in a green aura again, and heads towards his last enemy! 

The man in the black cloak immediately closes his guard with his sword. Marco is so focused on his enemy that he doesn't even notice Yanma Fumiko on his back, ready to stab her sword! 

Throughout the Rods brothers' fight, Yanma was watching and following them, just waiting for the right moment to execute an unexpected blow. 

However, Marco would not be a warrior who would die from an attack from behind, and so, with his reflexes developed by years of fighting alongside Zakov, he is able to perceive the captain's presence. 

Now, Marco finds himself in a dilemma. 

What is better, or what is less bad: receiving a blow from the back, or from the front?

William is not yet close enough to carry out the hit. If he's fast enough, he'll be able to avoid both attacks, but does he have enough speed? 

Perhaps the only solution is to use your mana to boost your limbs through explosions, but that would waste energy... 

From all angles and possibilities, Marco finds himself having to sacrifice something in order to get out of this situation alive.

What the bandit leader chooses is to use his mana to get away with Yanma's blow! 

Marco's arms are propelled by the explosion generated by his magic, and thus, he is able to defend himself. Yanma's arms are thrown up by the collision of his sword. 

Marco doesn't want to stop there. He tries to cut Yanma's belly with his sword, but the knight captain manages to dodge it in time! 

Behind Marco now arrives William, prepared to make multiple stabs at his back. At that moment, Marco conjures an explosion below his feet! 

The man is thrown upwards and remains suspended in the air for milliseconds, but he already knew what to do before he even took to the air. 

His sword is imbued with fire, his body quickly tilts, almost in a diving position. With the sword on fire, he positions it with both hands, with the tip of the blade centered on William's face. 

With another push on his feet, Marco launches himself towards William, who doesn't have the reaction time to dodge! 

The attack would go through William's head if it weren't for Yanma, who manages to defend the blow using the edge of his sword! 

"Get away, William!!" Yanma screams. William suddenly pulls away, with a bead of sweat running down his forehead, and with his eyes scared and perplexed. 

The attack only lasts a short moment, even so, it is enough for Yanma's sword to crack where it was hit. 

Splinters from the sword break off, and a crack forms. The blade still remains without breaking completely, fragile and weak, it will not resist for long if it receives heavy attacks. 

And Marco realizes the fragility of his sword, and doesn't stop attacking, intensifying his strength even more! 

Heavy blows one after another clash! 

Marco doesn't care about openings in his defense, he just wants to break Yanma's sword. Their attacks are not fast, they are loaded entirely with brute force. Yanma would even try to attack if it weren't for his fragile sword. 

One attack after another, sparks escape from the clash of blades. 

At this point, Light was conjuring a seed fast enough to go through Marco's head, which is what he thinks given the amount of mana spent. 

"Light..." William calls him. "I need some time to rest..." The boy wipes the sweat that drips from his forehead. He still has mana left, but his body isn't as tough. 

"No problem." Light says and then shoots the seed. Anything in front will be torn apart, human or not! 

The projectile heads towards Marco's neck, and when it seems that Light will finally be able to end the fight, Marco throws his head back while showing a small smile, looking at the starry sky, with the burning colors of the flames. The moonlight shines brighter than expected, it's a full moon night, perfect for seeing in the dark. These small details are what make Marco feel the pleasure of being alive. 

Marco returns from his reverie with ecstasy, and fires his attack with the most power yet! 

Yanma's sword cracks even more. 

"Come on, please don't break yourself now!!" Yanma internally pleads with his sword. Empty words, aimed at an object that is already breaking. 

Marco raises his hand and delivers another strong blow, this time, Yanma's sword holds, but does not resist, and ends up breaking into pieces. 

Yanma's eyes widen. Abruptly, Marco accelerates his blows. 

In a lunge to the right, Yanma avoids it by moving his head. Then, a diagonal blow, starting from left to right, from top to bottom, again Yanma dodges. Without losing speed, Marco executes another diagonal blow, doing the reverse movement. This time, Yanma is unable to escape, and his armor is pierced, as is his chest. Yanma can feel his flesh cut and slowly bleeding. 

"I have to distance myself!!" Too late. 

"TEACHER YANMA!!" William shouts. 

Marco approaches like a snake, holds the back of Yanma's head, as if he were giving her a hug, and thrusts his cold, sharp blade directly into the woman's belly, passing through her body. 

Yanma's eyes widen, his lips tremble, his eyebrows tremble, his legs become weak, his arms become weak! 

The pain is agonizing for a moment, then becomes an agonizing tingling. Heat leaks from the wound, something warm and comfortable is expelled! 

Blood! IT'S BLOOD! 

Blood everywhere, blood drips everywhere!! 

"I'm disappointed..." Marco says. 

To ensure his defeat, he swings the sword, tearing apart another part of Yanma's body, which is supported by Marco's body. 

And then, pushing hard, he pulls the sword out of his body, making a macabre visceral sound. 

"My leader taught me that when you stick your sword into the enemy, you have to swing the sword, to ensure death. Because if the enemy survives, he will kill you." Cold words from a man who had never come so close to death.