The Clown's Harem

Solomon immediately knew that this was a dangerous fight. He had been warned about this man, and now he had to face him while the man was enraged.

Still, Solomon had expected this. He knew this was a battle that he would eventually have to fight, and he was prepared.

Badrick lunged, scraping his axe against the floor and lifting it high above his head. He swung it downwards with all of his might, aiming to slice Solomon in half.

Luckily, he managed to dodge it, barely. The blade caught him in his chest slightly, but he used the powers of restoration to help himself as he danced out of the way towards the large bed.

"Close one, Blackhand!" Solomon taunted with a smile.

Badrick turned around, growling as tears flew from his eyes.

"This is for the Prince!" He roared as he swung again.

Solomon dove out of the way and the axe crashed into the bed, cleaving it in half. Feathers from the mattress fluttered through the air like birds.

Then, Badrick lifted a hand, finally channelling the powers of his decay god. The feathers eroded to dust, making the air thick.

"Shit!" Solomon cursed as he choked on the dust, and struggled to see his opponent clearly.

He stepped to the side, trying his best to circle the figure through the dust.

And then...

Crash!

The floorboards where he stepped suddenly decayed, forcing him to plunge one foot through, becoming stuck.

He thought he heard a sharp laugh as his opponent swung his axe, aimed for his head.

Solomon just managed to duck, causing Badrick to stumble off balance.

This was Solomon’s chance!

He focused on the man’s eyeball, trying his best to cause the same effect on him as he did on the Prince.

It worked! However, Solomon noticed that it took much, much more mana to mount the attack.

Blood sprayed from the man’s right eye as the eyeball burst. Badrick immediately let out a groan as he stumbled for the helmet that he had tossed on the ground earlier.

He placed it back over his head, covering his bloody face entirely. "Let’s see you use petty tricks now!" He growled through the pain before charging again.

Solomon dodged one blow, and then another, dancing over to the prince’s sword that he had left discarded on the floor and claiming it as his own.

Once in hand, he started to use it to deflect the axe strikes. However, Badrick was stronger and more talented than he was, which made it dangerous. Solomon was often cut, which forced him to use his powers to heal himself. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Badrick attempted to utilise the powers of decay to directly erode Solomon’s body, which compelled him to employ the powers of restoration to restore himself as well.

This kept them in a deadlock of powers. A place that Solomon did not want to be, as it forced him to engage in martial combat with his stronger opponent.

I need to fight smarter... Find an opening, and fast, or else others in the palace will come to his aid.

As he dodged another strike and almost stumbled over Prince Godrick’s fallen body, an idea came to him. One that was so grotesque, he felt thankful that Lucy was not here to witness it.

He took two steps back, gasping for breath that he could not gather and stared down at the prince’s body.

Gadrick was still stalking towards him, axe dragging against the floor whilst simultaneously using powers of decay. Solomon knew that he had to act fast.

For what he hoped to achieve, he was certain that the entirety of his restoration veins’ mana would be used. After all, it was a feat that should not have been possible to achieve.

Solomon focused on Godrick’s body, sending a variety of transparent magical flowers fluttering towards him in a mere second. He pumped the flowers with as much restoration magic as he could, and felt himself become completely drained.

He stared at the Prince’s decapitated head, only hoping that it had worked.

When he saw one of the Princes’ grotesquely wounded eyes open, he realised it had.

"B-badrick..." The Prince’s head spoke.

It was all that was needed for Badrick to be caught off guard. The man turned towards the sound of the voice, staring at the head with utter disbelief.

His axe went limp in his hand for only a moment as he spoke, "Prince?"

That was all Solomon needed.

An opening was created, which he used to lunge forwards, thrusting his sword into a gap in the man’s armour, and twisting it. It pierced his hip and came out of his back, forcing Badrick to roar in pain.

The man fell to his knees, clutching at his wound where blood poured profusely.

But Badrick didn’t care about the pain in that moment. He turned back to his best friend, the Prince, still in disbelief that the man had been able to speak.

However, when he looked at the Prince now, his eyes were shut once again... The same sword that had been used to stab him in the hip was now sticking out of the prince’s head.

And when Badrick turned back to where the white-haired man should have been standing, he had already long since escaped out of the window, fleeing.

Badrick stared at the blood where his name had been written, and at the same time, he heard footsteps approaching down the hallway.

Immediately he knew what the implications were.

The white-haired man had planned it all perfectly to make it look like Badrick had fought the Prince to the death and won.

And in the end, he had even played with Bradrick’s emotions by using his restoration powers to temporarily bring the Prince back to life, creating a distraction.

The man clenched his fist and thumped it into the ground, as he let out a roar that could be heard throughout the entire city.

A roar of pure pain, and anger.