It was afternoon later that day.
After another grueling spar with Suna which ended as well as anybody has expected, the Six Blades sat together underneath an oak tree.
A messenger dove flew on top of Luken's hand.
There was a note attached.
As Luken's blue eyes scanned the message, his expression screamed trouble.
"We're leaving the day after tomorrow."
Yin, Gavin, and Suna had perplexed faces.
"The High Council has ordered the Six Blades to exterminate an Angel outside of Niflheim."
Although terrified, Yin and Suna knew this was the time to show their worth.
They thought that since the Commander and Gavin was with them, it would be a lot easier.
"One more thing. Rank C Slayer Yin and Rank B Slayer Suna were to be the only combatants against the Angel."
"W-what?!"
Gavin had clenched his jaw in anger.
"It's their orders. We have to follow it."
The Commander says with a blank stare.
"Right. We still have until nighttime today and the entirety of tomorrow to train. Both of you, stand up."
Gavin says with authority.
"I'll take the Angel on by myself, sir!"
Yin had exclaimed in a cocky way.
This prompted Gavin to look at him with a piercing gaze.
"If you cannot best my summons, forget about exterminating Angels."
He said as he took out his Summoning Grimoire.
His right hand flicked the pages as fast as he could.
When he finally settled on a page, he used a Summoning Incantation.
"Cursed Wolf. I call on thee!"
In just an instant, a bloodthirsty wolf had been summoned.
Its fur was as dark as the night.
"This is my weakest summon. I expect you to beat it."
[ Quest : Exterminate Cursed Wolf (0/1) ]
Gavin was not playing around now.
Yin and Suna assumed fighting stances.
"Suna, distract the wolf for a bit, I have to put on my gauntlets!"
"Gotcha."
Just as the fangs of the Cursed Wolf were about to sink into Yin's face.
Suna struck it first.
Her grey eyes resembled that of a hungry beast itself.
She stepped forward with her right foot first.
Suna then did a crescent kick with her left.
The Cursed Wolf was stricken with a blow to the gut.
This was enough to buy Yin a few precious seconds to arm himself.
"Thanks, Suna."
"Don't mention it. Back me up."
Yin had deployed his fighting stance.
Suna charged at the Wolf with speed.
She tried to do the crescent kick again, but the Wolf sidestepped it easily.
Little did it know, Yin was behind it now.
Sparks of black lightning dimmed the sky and came crashing down into the ground where it landed.
This caused the Cursed Wolf to use Yin's body as a wall and leaped away from the electrocuting ground.
"A-ah!"
Yin was injured now.
The claws of the Wolf had scratched him deeply.
It then hastily readied to pounce a split second after landing.
Yin's shoulder and lower stomach was struck the most.
With quick thinking, Suna kicked Yin off the side so he won't get hit by the pounce.
"Are you alright?"
She shouted.
"Y-yeah. I'll manage."
The Cursed Wolf's blood lust was now directed at Suna.
It was now faster than before.
With a combination of alternating swipes, it backed Suna off into a corner.
As it readied for another opportunity to munch them off, she quickly moved out of the way.
Projectiles were now flying towards the Wolf.
"R-rocks?"
Suna was confused.
There Yin was, throwing boulders and decaying it once it was midair.
"Who says I can't fight from long distances!?"
Yin's body was obviously battered, but his face signified perseverance.
He was not about to give up.
"Suna! Try to keep him off the ground. I'll bombard him as soon as he jumps."
In an instant, Suna was on the offensive now.
The Cursed Wolf was the one backing up, until it hit a tree from behind.
She was now hitting it with a barrage of punches.
As soon as the Wolf recovered, they switched.
Suna did a backwards cartwheel to switch positions with Yin.
"Come here, doggy."
He was provoking it.
As soon as it was only a few centimeters in front of him, Yin punched the ground with decay.
This caused the Wolf to stumble and fall into a hole.
"I'm going to need a few seconds to recharge my Decay, Suna. Pin it down for me!"
Suna's silhouette was engraved deeply into the Wolf's sight.
She landed on its body with both feet.
A loud whimper was heard all across the forest.
Human-sized boulders were being crumbled midair now.
This was the last thing the Wolf would ever see.
The Wolf evaporated into nothingness.
[ Quest : Exterminate Cursed Wolf (1/1 ]
[ EXP gained : 500 ]
[ Experience Points : 1200/2000 ]
Yin gave Suna a high-five, celebrating their triumph.
Gavin glared at the pair, and then switched his eyes towards Luken.
"I knew Suna was going to be strong. But I never thought Yin was this adept at combat."
The Commander had a playful smile written on his face which seemed to say the words : I told you so. Albeit non verbally.
"Why don't we try for something a little more challenging, shall we?"
Gavin smirked.
Luken motioned towards the pair to look at Gavin.
Yin and Suna both had the same reaction.
"I-is he serious?"
The S rank Slayer was now summoning a humanoid opponent.
"Headless Swordsman. I call on thee!"
"Yo Gavin, are you trying to kill the kids?"
"They'll live if they win. They'll die if they lose. They'll lose if they don't fight."
The cool calm and collected Gavin now had a sinister smirk.
The Headless Swordsman was fully covered in plated armor.
It wielded a heavy sword as sharp as a razor.
"Since you're both physical fighters. Let's see if you can take on my Headless Swordsman."
[ Quest : Exterminate Headless Swordsman (0/1) ]
"I-I thought it was over, Suna."
Yin looked at her with a worried expression.
"That's just how Gavin is. He wants us to be strong. Now quit whining and get off your ass."
She helped Yin up.
The pair assumed combat positions once more.
"Suna. I want to take the lead this time. Wait for an opening and strike as soon as you see it."
This was the first time Yin had displayed authority in a fight.
He was deliberately putting himself in harm's way.
Suna thought hard.
"Is Yin trying to kill himself? He was still injured from the battle earlier."
No. She knew better.
His eyes flickered red whilst grinding his teeth.
He was the predator, not the prey.
His hands reached towards the sky in a fist-like manner.
Black lightning enveloped his limbs.
Yin assumed a runner's stance at the start.
A split second after, he sprinted towards the Headless Swordsman.
The summoned creature easily dodged it by moving tilting its body left.
Yin's speed was not faltering, he charged right back while it had its back turned towards him.
With a swift right jab, he hit the swordsman's chest.
The ground shook from the attack's intensity.
The black lightning had no effect on the creature.
"How about this?"
Yin kicked its thighs with the same force and power.
Luken's eyes were enlarged with shock.
Yin could now apply Decay with his feet, not only his hands.
The Headless Swordsman's thigh-armor slowly rotted away and turned into dust.
It backed off at the perfect time, if it had waited a second longer, it would have lost its whole left limb from decay.
What was left was a rectangular mark where the thigh used to be.
"How's that?"
Yin asked as he turned his face towards Gavin.
Gavin was as surprised as Luken.
"Now, Suna!"
With the Headless Swordsman now facing Yin's direction, she could land a direct hit.
But her exhaustion from earlier had started to creep up and whittled away at her stamina.
Her punch wasn't as strong as she thought it would have been.
With her fist still on the swordsman's armor, it drew its sword and sliced through the air horizontally.
Suna immediately ducked to avoid the blow.
But she was in deep trouble now.
The swordsman was preparing its foot to stomp on her as she was defenseless on the ground.
Yin focused all the black lightning he had left into his shoulders and tackled it.
"Suna! Move!"
He shouted as the Headless Swordsman fell down having lost its balance.
She thought about every single probability wherein she is able to help Yin.
Then she saw it. The sword was now on the ground.
Suna kicked it as hard as she could.
Flocks of birds flew away as the sword flew out the stratosphere.
She then moved out of the way to take cover.
Yin leaped towards the Headless Swordsman's downed body.
Both his feet held its legs in place.
Punches were exchanged with so much force that each impact made leaves fall from the trees.
Yin was slowly being overpowered.
His black lightning had run out.
His decay abilities were at their limit as well.
That's when he remembered what Suna said shortly after he woke up after the farm incident.
A grey Suna appeared in his memories.
"If I can't use magic against the monsters, the least I could do is use my fists to bash their heads in!"
He curled his lips in anger.
Yin was done trying to dodge its punches.
If it landed a punch on him, he was going to punch back even stronger.
"If I can't use my skills, I'll just have to bash your head in."
Suna was gazing in Yin's direction worriedly.
Just as she was about to jump in, she noticed Gavin gazing at her in a way that suggested she should not interfere.
After he heard what Yin said, she knew that her worry was for naught.
That worry slowly vanished.
It turned into hope.
She had now acknowledged Yin's strength as a Slayer.
The Headless Swordsman landed focused punches aimed at Yin's face.
He dodged none of it.
His face was badly battered by the punches, but so was the Headless Swordsman's chest.
Instead, he did what he said he would.
He just fought fire with fire.
It was now a war of attrition.
To see who can hold out the longest against each other.
Gavin and Luken stared in anticipation.
Luken was ready to save Yin in case worse comes to worst.
Gavin signaled him not to do it.
"Hope, Luken. Believe in Yin."
To which the Commander clenched his fists in worry.
Five whole minutes had passed.
The last punch was thrown.
It was Yin's.
He shouted a battle cry of victory at the top of his lungs.
The Headless Swordsman's armor and whole body shortly united with the gust of the wind. It had turned into dust.
Yin then collapsed shortly after, not before being caught by Luken.
[ Quest : Exterminate Headless Swordsman (1/1) ]
[ EXP gained : 800 ]
[ Experience Points : 2000/2000 ]
[ Leveled up. Current level : 3 ]
[ Passive skill unlocked : Regeneration ]
Just as Gavin was about to summon his healing snake, he stopped immediately after seeing Yin's face.
It was healing by itself. Although a tad bit slower, Yin was still healing, all on his own.
He was regenerating.