As the man's sweat began to mix with the blood that got splashed on his body, an unpleasant odor began forming. Unlike the fresh breeze tainted by the smell of blood, this wasn't satisfying in the least.
There was no fun in doing this, there was no struggle or desperation, only powerlessness.
The look in his eyes showed someone who was used to being on the dominant side of things and not on the receiving end.
I was disappointed by the situation. I thought this would be the boss room and it would be more exciting but it seemed that even I was wrong.
"Get up, now!" I said to him.
He muttered to himself, in a slight daze.
"I don't like repeating myself" I said to him, slightly annoyed.
He snapped back to reality and stood up, his feet trembling.
His slow and pathetic reaction was really annoying me. I felt disgusted.
"Are you really a human?" I asked him in disgust.
He was tongue tied, any word or carelessness could mean his death. He was walking on a fine line and the slightest offset of balance would lead to his demise. I sighed.
"Lets just get this over with" I said to myself in disappointment.
I would use 'Memory Drain' on him and that would be the end of it.
I moved closer to him, raising my hand to carry out the deed. His scared eyes begged me to stop, though he couldn't mouth any words and his body wouldn't move. I raised my hand and as it almost reached his face I felt a presence behind me.
I instantly leaped away from my location and as soon as I did, I saw a blade slice through the air of my previous location. If I hadn't dodged it, it could have sliced my head clean off. I got separated from the Nobleman and was standing in the corner of the room. Who could the attacker be?
"I'm impressed. To think you were able to dodge my blade." the intruder said, emerging from the door which led to the room I was in.
The intruder entered the room slowly. His steps were careful and intentional and even I could tell that he was unlike the other ones I had faced thus far.
The Nobleman's face brightened as he saw the intruder.
"Knight Gwain! Bless the Heavens you're here! Dispose of this man immediately!" The Nobleman shrieked.
"Yes sir, that is the reason I am here. Please get behind me as things could get dangerous from hereon out," the Imperial Knight Gwain said.
I see." I thought to myself.
It seemed the Imperial Knight was called upon by the soldier that escaped the other time and not the Nobleman. This would explain why he was surprised at both the assault from me and the intervention of Gwain altogether. He wasn't informed of anything happening. Most likely because he had strictly forbidden anyone from interrupting him whenever he was in his private chambers, drowning in his lust.
"Fortunately a guard made it to my premises and informed me of the situation. While it is unfortunate that so many have lost their lives, it is indeed a miracle that you have survived Milord." Knight Gwain said to the Nobleman.
"Indeed. It is regrettable. Now that you're here, however, I have nothing to fear." The Nobleman replied.
"Indeed sir."
"Do take care of this assailant, however do not kill him, I have some things I would like to ask him, such that he will be begging for a quick death." The Nobleman said.
"Do so, and you will be well compensated. Your reward for this service will be great." He added. "Yes Milord. I appreciate it sir" The Knight said with a bowed head and then turned to my direction.
I patiently watched as the entire exchange went on and I could've interrupted their discourse, but I waited. "This had better be worth the wait" I said.
"I assure you, nothing would be better for you. I do not know why you have chosen this foolish course of action. Daring to attack a Nobleman, one of high standing for that matter. How foolish" Gwain remarked to me.
Me? Foolish? The pride of humans, especially these knights knew no bounds.
However, for the sake of the battle I chose to ignore it.
"A young lad your age . With this much skill and talent in the Arts, you could have joined the Imperial or even the Royal Knights. However, unfortunately for you, this is as far as you go" Gwain continued. "You're pretty confident. What makes you so certain you can win?" I asked him.
"Huh? You mean to question my skills as an Imperial Knight?" He asked me.
"Not really, it's just that I fought one of you Imperial Knights just the other day and he also had a great deal of confidence in his skills but he turned out to be pretty weak in the end" I remarked.
Gwain paused for a while and looked at me seriously.
"Did you kill him?" He asked.
I shrugged.
"A foolish question I have asked. On my way here I saw the trail of bodies you left. Someone who has no qualms about taking that many lives. You definitely killed him." Gwain concluded.
I smiled.
"Let's give it up for the great detective" I joked.
"That's enough idle chatter. You have enraged me. Not only have you taken so many lives, but you also took the life of a fellow Imperial Knight. According to the code we live by, I shall avenge my fallen comrade." Gwain said in a noble fashion.
The self-righteous behavior again. How utterly distasteful.
He took his stance, holding his blade which was now in its sheath. For the first time since he entered, I noticed his blade. It was a single edged one; a katana. Not just that, it radiated a form of energy.
As I was observing his blade, he immediately unsheathed his katana and launched at me. He slashed horizontally, but I dodged by flying up. I saw the look on his face, and he was. Smiling?
Suddenly, I felt a tear on my cloth and I realized he had cleanly cut the chest region of my outfit.
"Wha-?" I said in shock.
"Looks like I missed" He said with a smile.
I looked at him, still a bit confused. Did he use some form of Art?
He sheathed his sword back and took his stance again. This time the energy he was releasing was greater than before.
"I'll end it with this" He said.
With an even greater speed and force he dashed at me again and slashed vertically this time. I dodged by dashing backward. However, I felt my cloth tear again, this time from my groins up to my collar. The rip came as a surprise to me as I was sure I had dodged his strike.
He sheathed his sword again and stood upright. He had an impressed look in his eyes.
"I'm surprised, for you to have dodged not just one but two of my slashes. If I count the one you evaded when I first arrived that makes three. Indeed you are quite formidable." He remarked.
I wasn't sure at first, but now I had no doubt.
"That blade of yours. It's a Relic isn't it?" I asked him.
He seemed surprised for a moment but quickly regained his composure.
"Indeed. It is the Blade of Rupture" He told me.
"I'm guessing its ability has something to do with how I'm suffering damage even though I clearly dodged your strike." I said.
"That is something I can not say" He said slyly.
"This man is quite shrewd. Not only does he possess a Relic, but he doesn't expose its abilities. Indeed he is different from the one I faced previously" I found myself thinking.
"If I had to take a guess I'd say its ability is to ignore distance and get a clean hit on an opponent no matter how such a person evades. So far an opponent is in your Area of Effect." I said to Gwain.
He smiled.
"Maybe. Maybe not." He replied.
"So he's going to be tight lipped about this eh?" I mused to myself.
If he won't tell me, I'll just have to find out.
He took his stance and began to attack once again, I dodged every of his moves but somehow I kept getting hit. My clothes were already a mess at this point.
"You're pretty skilled. For me to have missed for this long." He said.
"I'll have to get serious" He said with a tone of finality.
"Finally. Lets see what you can do" I said with a smile.
He held the hilt of his blade, while it was still sheathed and rushed at me. I stood, waiting for him to approach. He used his blade, without unsheathing it to launch multiple blunt attacks on me which I parried with my arms. As he made a move to strike me again I held his blade, however since it was just the sheath, he removed his blade and struck at me. I leaped away and as usual, my attire got cut once again.
However, I was with his sheath this time. I noticed something whenever he attacked me. After making his attacks that ignored my dodging, he would sheath his blade back and unsheathe it. That could be a condition for using the troublesome ability. If this was true Then there was no way for him to use the ability unless he got the sheath back.
"Check" I said with a smile and looked at him.
"Checkmate" He said as he took his stance and released the most energy I had seen since we started fighting.
He raised his sword and prepared a clean and powerful vertical slash. I saw his smiling and confident face as he looked straight at me.
It was then I realized what he had done. Since the start of the match he had been sheathing his sword at every interval to make me believe his ability was dependent on it, but the truth was that he could use his ability without the sheath. And since I had let my guard down and was in midair, I was the perfect target for him.
Since the start of the match... He had been waiting for this decisive moment!
"Sword of Rupture. Strike!" Gwain declared, entirely guaranteed of his victory.