-They're close. I can feel it
Jeyson Arostarea vaulted over a rock as he continued to sprint through the vast expanse of undisturbed trees.
The tall trees and their leaves covered the ground completely, causing little to no sunlight to shine on the ground. Hiding Jeyson who is miniscule compared to them.
"Haaaarggh"
-I can hear it from here.
Jeyson had run past an extremely huge beast. It was a beast big enough to make even the most skilled of mercenaries - such as himself, to be wary of it.
He sharpened his senses. He must be quick, the more time he wastes, the higher the chance those monsters would escape.
-I can feel it.
His senses detected something faint in the distance. It had an alluring sensation and gave a tender touch on his skin.
Magic Flow.
With each step he took, the stronger the sensation became.
He doesn't know where he is, nor where he is heading.
All he knew is that the Magic Flow is coming from that way.
The sensation continued to intensify until a man appeared in Jeyson's sight.
Jeyson stopped running and hid behind a tree. Keeping an eye on the man while staying hidden.
He equipped his bow and arrow and locked his focus towards him.
"Hah. That troll is fast. I couldn't catch up to it.. well at least I can still hear it."
-Wait. So that huge beast is a troll?
The words of the bald man in a black robe shook Jeyson. He wasn't able to clearly discern what was that huge humanoid beast he saw, so he thought it was anything else - anything but a troll.
A shocked Jeyson no longer had his mind in the right place. His eyes in rage as he loaded the bow and revealed himself, immediately pointing it at the man.
"What do you mean 'Troll'?"
Jeyson used a fair amount of his strength to utter these words. He abhors the idea of even speaking to the likes of these Monsters.
The man stopped moving and stood still, surprised by this sudden encounter.
"Who are you?.. Wait.. You're!-"
"I don't do my jobs halfway."
Jeyson replied, the man immediately recognized Jeyson's clothing and the little silver hair coming out of his hood.
The man came into realization towards how Jeyson ended up here. His face became angry as he slowly lifted both of his hands, palms facing forward.
"The dead weight must've snitched. That idiot."
"Don't worry, you're all going to meet him in hell soon enough."
Jeyson reassured him, not letting the bow leave it's aimed target.
The man finds himself in a disadvantage. He rolled his eyes to see if there are any terrain advantages, which unfortunately for him, there isn't.
His standing in a small free plane of land not covered by any trees, even if he were to try and dodge, the bow would hit him before he could react.
As the man was surveying his surroundings, Jeyson opened his mouth and spoke in clear volume.
"So. Why are you alone? Where are the other monsters?"
The man doesn't have any intention of telling him anything, because he knew his opponent's ruthlessness. If he tells Jeyson, he would most likely still be killed. So he formulated a quick plan and replied.
"What would benefit me if I tell you?"
"You'll die a painless death."
He knew this was coming. He twisted the peculiar ring he is wearing on his middle finger so the top of it won't face Jeyson.
Jeyson didn't notice him as he was completely focused on the face of the man. He concentrated just enough to subtly activate his Dark Magic.
The man still locks eye contact with Jeyson. But at the same time, dark matter is flowing through behind his hands ready to execute his ability.
Jeyson didn't immediately shoot, which tells the man that the Magic Flow of his subtle action was completely hidden from his opponent.
Though, he still tried to continue to bargain.
"How about, If you let me go, I'll tell you everything you need to know."
Jeyson thought long and hard. Not moving a muscle from the stance as he did so. The man became visibly impatient and spoke.
"So?"
Jeyson knows there are no downsides for him in agreeing. In fact, agreeing would save him much more time because of the information the man might give. Still, his pride made him reluctant to agree to what this monster is proposing. He gritted his teeth at his internal conflict, but then he remembered something.
-I need to stop what they're doing.
With this thought, he eventually swallowed his pride and opened his mouth to speak.
"Why are you alone?"
The man made a smirk impossible for Jeyson to see from the distance between them.
He didn't recall his dark matter. He couldn't let his guard down against Jeyson who wouldn't hesitate to kill him if he made a wrong move.
What's more is that he hasn't detected any Magic Flow from Jeyson, fooling him that Jeyson is a master of Magic.
He focused his eyes on Jeyson while concentrating just enough to retain the dark matter and spoke.
"I was told to follow the troll to see what it does, but it seems I failed because you intercepted me."
"Who ordered you?"
"Some guy called Relon."
"Where is he?"
The man turned his head behind as he heard that and replied.
"He is deeper in the forest, hiding from danger like the coward he is."
-There.
Jeyson had heard what he needed. His mind became slightly at ease hearing that. With an unchanging expression, he released a relieved breath and spoke.
"Take me to him."
Silence filled the expanse. The man's facade slowly crumbles as he realizes he has been cornered.
"So? Are you going to take me to this Relon or do you feel like dying?"
Jeyson's expression intensifies as he threatens him. The man's face became visibly distressed with sweat running down his face.
The man is in trouble, both of the choices he had in the situation would lead to something bad happening to him.
Either he takes him to Relon or he doesn't. Both of these choices would have their own consequences.
"No. Just give me a moment."
He said as he tried to stall as much time as he could to manipulate his dark matter, moving them into the sleeves of his robe. He couldn't risk recalling his dark matter so he had to hide it in a place where his opponent couldn't see it.
It took approximately a minute, Jeyson became visibly impatient and he looked like he would shoot anytime.
"Follow me. This way."
He reluctantly complied with his order. He turned, facing the direction he came and started to walk, leading him to Relon.
Although Jeyson is getting what he intended, he doesn't have the leisure to take it slow.
"Faster."
"Let me go at my own pace."
"You won't even have a pace when I shoot your legs. Move it."
Though he is in position powerless against Jeyson, he hated the fact that the man still had the guts to reply to him in such a manner. Jeyson's grip on the bow's string strengthened, it's taking every ounce of will in himself to not shoot him after hearing that reply.
The man on the other hand is just as irritated as Jeyson. The man made an annoyed face that Jeyson couldn't see, trying not to get himself killed.
-What a jerk.
He thought as he continued to walk at an increased speed.
Jeyson and the man continued to walk deeper into the forest, where they would find Relon. Jeyson knows he is responsible for the troll's abnormal increase in size, and he must put a stop to it.
-Hold on a little longer, guys.
____________
Silence.
No words were exchanged between the two for the entirety of the journey.
Each step they took forward, the troll's scream that are heard occasionally, slowly died down, to the point they don't hear it anymore. The Magic Flow intensified every step they took, which made Jeyson confirm that he wasn't misleading him.
Jeyson maintains his focus towards the man he is using to lead him to his remaining targets, not to say that the man isn't one.
Although the agreement was to let him go, he had no intention of honoring it. Once the man expended his uses, Jeyson will dispose of him.
-Monsters don't deserve to be spared.
Jeyson reminded himself not to show mercy. He never has and never will. Those who are affiliated with monsters have become the target of Jeyson's goal.
The man occasionally glanced behind to see if his opponent had let down his guard. Only to see that he hadn't stopped aiming his bow at him since they met.
-This guy is persistent.
He thought, continuing to move forward. It appears that his Magic Flow isn't detected because he knew that if he was doing anything suspicious he would get shot immediately.
Eventually, Jeyson heard deep groaning in the distance and the sensation of Magic Flow was incredibly dense.
Jeyson knew this was the place.
He kept his position still and waited for the man he was threatening to be unwary of him.
The man is lost in his thoughts. He is leading a man capable of overpowering 4 of his comrades towards their safe spot, where they were still recovering from their losses.
With each step they're getting closer, it's natural that he'd try to come up with some sort of defense.
Jeyson sees the man is no longer facing him, he slowly lowers his bow to see if it baits any reaction from him.
Nothing.
They went on for a while with Jeyson's bow lowered and there was no reaction. Jeyson spotted a rock in front of him and kicked the ground and the rock with it, causing enough noise to get anyone's attention.
Still nothing.
-Idiot let his guard down.
Jeyson took this as the perfect chance. He slipped away into the trees, hiding his presence. In hiding, Jeyson prepares his bow and follows the man trying his best not to make any.
The man who is still lost in his thoughts still hadn't come up with a plan, he released a frustrated sigh. However he noticed something amiss.
He wasn't reprimanded by what he did, which he thought was weird. He then glanced behind to see if his opponent was still there. He wasn't.
He turned around completely. Much to his horror, it was not a trick, the person threatening to kill him had vanished.
He frantically surveyed his surroundings. Nothing. He gulped his saliva, not prepared for this outcome, he began running towards Relon, he didn't know what his opponent would do so he took the easiest route.
During his haste towards Relon, he finds that he had no choice but to manifest his Dark Magic.
"Form!"
As he said that, the Dark Matter that had been hiding in his robe oozed out and gather on his right hand.
When all of the Dark Matter gathered, he gripped his hand, this caused all the dark matter on his hand to splatter. The man stiffened his arms and concentrated on the peculiar ring, causing it's head to glow. Almost instantly after the ring glowed, all the splattered Dark Matter froze in mid air. The man then opened his hand again, recalling all the Dark Matter in great speed.
The Dark Matter that came back formed a handle-like rectangle on the man's arm. The Dark Matter connected and formed a circle centered from the back of hand with a radius length halfway towards his elbow.
The Man had manifested his weapon, a dark shield.
-I have to warn Relon.
He thought, as he sprinted deeper into the dense expanse of trees.
Little did he know. That his opponent - Jeyson Arostarea, was observing him, waiting for the man to lead him towards his main target.
-Relon? Was his name?
-I'll kill him.
Jeyson thought as he tailed the sprinting shieldman.
____________
*huff* *huff*
A bald man with a dark shield on his hand exhaled loud breaths as he sprinted through the forest.
The man knew that the event that happened just now, would have dire consequences.
However, he has a goal. Accomplishing this goal would reduce the losses that he might suffer from.
Report this incident towards the acting leader.
The Magic Flow from the Control Stone and groans from the corrupted trolls intensified with each step he takes, signalling that he is close.
Not long after, two men wearing the same black robe as him entered his sight.
Those two men are Relon, the acting leader of this mission, he is holding a peculiar object with the shape of a round grey stone with engravings of a broken tree in his hand. This object is the Control Stone, the one that places the trolls under the wielder's control.
The other man is his comrade, a man with black hair with decent length, wearing a blue headband.
The man wearing the blue headband is sitting down on the ground due to his right thigh being injured from a battle with the silver haired hooded man from before. The injury is caused from him being outmaneuvered and had his leg shot by the ally that they left behind
Although he is injured, his injury was covered up by a Dark Magic spell that nullifies the pain. However this spell isn't as reliable as natural healing.
"Relon!"
The shieldman calls Relon, to which attracts the attention of Relon and his comrade with a headband.
"The hell? Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to he making me a story"
Relon, who had ordered the shieldman to watch over the trolls earlier, was angry from his subordinates' sudden return.
The shieldman, who is out of breath from the continuous sprinting, tried to make out words to answer.
"I'm sorry... but we have... an emergency."
"What now?"
Relon rolled his eyes hearing this. However the shieldman who knew the severity of the situation, replied to Relon.
"The hooded man.... he's back."
"WHAT? HOW DID HE FIND US?"
""Grrrrr""
He screamed hearing this, causing him to lose a little concentration required to use the Control Stone, resulting in the trolls regaining themselves for a moment.
The man with the headband also made a baffled face like Relon, this was a situation that none of them had seen coming.
"The guy you left behind must've snitched."
The shieldman replied, regaining his breath.
Hearing this, Relon lashed out.
"That.. BASTARD!"
Relon's expression became irritated as he kicked a stone. The stone he kicked hit the trolls' side stomach resulting in an abrasion on its skin. However, due to being under the effects of the Control Stone, the trolls were unresponsive.
The two men looked at Relon, both of them just waiting to receive orders. The man wearing a headband looked up at Relon, who was still irritated, and asked.
"So what do we do now?"
Relon took deep breaths. He remembers his order by Dermon and decided the best course of action was to abide by it.
"We could make our escape but Dermon still hasn't arrived, and he knows this is the rendezvous point."
Relon spoke in a clear manner, though far from being calm. He looked at his two remaining comrades and continued.
"We'll defend our position here until he comes. As soon as he arrives, he is the one in charge."
He shifted his sights towards the Control Stone and gripped it.
"Yes."
"Understood."
Hearing this, the two men nodded and answered with clear voices.
The man wearing a headband stands up, the shieldman looks at him and speaks.
"You can fight right?"
"Of course I can, my leg is all better now."
He replied with a confident smile as he concentrated on the hand which had his ring. Oozing Dark Matter that formed into a sword
Hearing this, Relon rolled his eyes and snarked at him.
"Don't get cocky, you lost against him."
"Hey, it won't happen again." The swordsman replied confidently.
"Yeah, yeah." Relon replied as he placed his fingertips on something inside his robe.
It was then.
"Huh.."
Relon sees something from the trees, it seemed to be pointing at the bald shieldman.
*shoot*
He heard that sound and immediately knew what it was.
An arrow was shot towards the bald shieldman who is facing backwards.
"IDIOT WATCH OUT!"
Relon immediately reacted. He stretched out his vacant hand towards the arrow.
"AWAY!"
A small ball of Dark Matter was shot at the arrow from the palm of Relon's vacant hand.
The ball of darkness travelled at enough speed for it to collide with the arrow. The sphere vanished, the arrow that touched the ball also vanished along with it
The shieldman and the swordsman didn't even notice what happened even when it's over. They were confused and looked at Relon.
Relon stared at the place the arrow came from and screamed.
"COME OUT!"
Hearing that, the two men also looked towards the direction Relon was looking.
Silence.
It was as if he retreated. Relon let down his hand and spoke to himself.
"Did.. he.."
It was calm, but only for a moment, for a faint sound slowly became louder.
Someone is approaching them.
*crack* *crack* *crack* *crack*
A man became visible from the midst of the trees.
A hooded man, a man wearing light blue and a brown hood.
A man whose silver can be seen slightly sticking out of his hood.
Relon had his guard up, the two men gulped their saliva at his sight.
The man approaching them placed both of his hands behind his back, holding onto the handles of two blades stationed behind it.
*shing* *shing*
Relon, the Shieldman and the Swordsman.
Confronted with Jeyson Arostarea.
Jeyson, who will finally lay his judgement upon them, uttered only one word.
"Monsters."
____________
"All 3.."
Jeyson whispered under his breath.
Gripping his twin swords with his hands, Jeyson confronts the surviving members of the raid he did earlier today.
Once again facing the monsters that mercilessly hurt the squirrel, even having one of them kill it, Jeyson's rationality was thrown out the window.
He could not think of anything else but to kill.
"Wh-Who are you?"
Jeyson's focus was broken as the voice entered his eardrums.
He looked over to the direction it was spoken and he found out that the person who asked was a dark blue haired man wearing identical black robes as his allies - Relon.
The leader of monsters.
The squirrel killer.
"Where are you from?"
"..."
Relon's expression gets more annoyed with each question he throws that Jeyson didn't answer.
Jeyson has no intention of answering questions from monsters. He doesn't find need to nor does he have to.
"How did you find us?"
"...."
Jeyson's stared at Relon's detestable face with disgust. His blood boiled with every word coming out of his mouth.
"What do you want?"
"...."
"Who do you wo-"
"Shut up."
Jeyson just had about enough. He had waited for them to make the first move for they outnumbered him. This alone placed him in a disadvantageous position.
But his patience just reached his limit. He didn't think about their counter attacks.
All he could think right now is to cut his tongue off.
Jeyson started charging at Relon.
Jeyson's sudden charge caught Relon off guard, which made Relon freeze on the spot from shock.
Jeyson lifted his left sword preparing to swing it down.
"Watch out!"
The shieldman, who was prepared for the attack, rushed in between Relon and Jeyson who swung down his blade to kill Relon.
*CLANG*
Jeyson's sword got blocked by the dark shield on his right hand. It made an extremely loud sound that signifies that if that strike were to hit a defenseless Relon, it would've killed him instantly.
"Ha!"
To Jeyson's left, the swordsman charged towards him and swung his dark sword down towards his back.
*TING*
Jeyson blocked the attack with his vacant sword just in time. If he were any slower, he wouldn't have come out unscathed.
Jeyson, who knew he was in a disadvantageous position, jumped back, recovering his distance between the 3 men.
-This is going to be tricky.
He thought, unlike the previous battle, Jeyson was technically only up against the swordsman.
The bowman only provided ranged support. Though, he only fired when Jeyson tried to recover distance for an instant counter attack or whenever he could get a good shot.
Then again, his marksmanship wasn't the best, he injured the swordsman leg because of his imperfect shooting.
In short, the bowman was useless.
This time however, the shieldman would play a bigger role in this battle. It wasn't going to be an easy fight if the shieldman was added to the equation. Jeyson knew this, which is the reason he tried to shoot the shieldman down. but it failed and gave away his position.
Fortunately, that action made him know the base of Relon's abilities.
He knew that Relon couldn't fight against him in a head on battle.
-I need to get rid of the shield.
Those two are the only nuisances, Jeyson could best the swordsman alone, he did it before. But he doesn't know if he could best him with the support of the shieldman.
Adding the fact he is outnumbered.
-I need to stay on guard, if I make one mistake, I'm done.
"Aaah!"
Just as Jeyson thought of that, the swordsman charged at him with his sword held in a position ready to strike.
*TING*
Jeyson blocked the attack with his right sword.
-The same swing from before.
Jeyson remembered when they battled in the building in the building, his first swing was also an overhead swing.
*SHHHRT*
Jeyson dragged down his opponent's sword, creating a screeching sound from the friction of the colliding blades. The swordsman caught on with what Jeyson is trying to pull off, which he responded by jumping behind to recover the distance.
"Gah!"
Jeyson however, was hoping for him to take that action. Jeyson's footing allowed him to immediately sprint and follow up after blocking the attack. Not giving the swordsman time to assess anything, he launched himself from his right foot towards him. He extended his left arm to gather momentum for an attack. But when he swung the sword with the gathered momentum, the shieldman moved between them and blocked the slash with his shield.
*CLANG*
"Tch!"
Once again, Jeyson's attack had been blocked by the shieldman. Jeyson tried to follow up the attack with his right sword but the shieldman didn't just stand there and took the attack.
"Hu!"
The shieldman threw off Jeyson's blade with force to set him off balance.
"Kuh!"
Jeyson's left hand which was gripping the blade had gotten loose. The shieldman saw this as an opportunity and launched a high side-kick aiming for Jeyson's left temple.
-Crap!
Jeyson thought as his eyes caught on the kick. He lowered his head just in time to evade the kick.
He tried to jump back to recover distance and form another strategy. However the swordsman who had gained himself rushed from behind the shieldman, charging towards Jeyson with his right hand holding his sword raised.
Jeyson is in a bad position and an enemy charging towards him, he is in trouble. The swordsman swung his sword downwards towards him. Jeyson was barely able to stop the attack, intercepting the falling blade by catching it with his two swords in the center of a V shape.
"Grah!"
*TING*
*SHHHHHHHRTRRT*
The impact was already strong enough to loosen Jeyson's grip onto both of his swords. But after the initial strike, the force pushing down on his swords were weaker, which allowed Jeyson to match the power with the swordman.
*SHUU*
Jeyson felt a strong Magic Flow coming from his left. He glanced towards its source and saw Relon stretching his hands towards him.
Relon's Magic Flow, which are his veins, are glowing pure white. The veins became black as they passed the ring on Relon's middle finger, the black veins slowly converted into Dark Matter that charged up a ball of darkness similar to the one that disappeared with the arrow he shot earlier.
"Away!"
Relon shot the ball at Jeyson who still hasn't recovered his stance from throwing his opponent's sword off trajectory.
-Shit!
The dark ball was fast, heading towards his arm. Jeyson jumps back, closely evading the ball of darkness.
The ball of darkness hits a tree that happened to be on its collision course. The ball exploded, expanding its area of effect. Almost as soon as it exploded, the expanded area of the ball shrunk into nothingness, taking a chunk of the tree's body with it.
The upper half of the tree that now doesn't have a body to support it. The tree fell down backwards, not affecting the battle area of the Jeyson and the 3 men.
"Tch, you're fast."
In a snarky manner, Relon spoke to Jeyson. Jeyson has recovered his position and is ready to strike again.
Jeyson's legs have an urge to charge once more, however, he knows that letting his anger and hate take over isn't going to win him this already disadvantageous battle.
-How?
"What's wrong? Aren't you going to use your Magic?" Relon taunted Jeyson.
-I.....
Jeyson calmed his thoughts, knowing this is an obvious trap. He took a step back and assessed the situation.
Jeyson has 3 opponents, Relon, whose ability is Dark Matter that relates to teleportation. Jeyson assumes so because the mass teleportation earlier in the abandoned building has to be either Relon's or the bald man, which clearly isn't him because his ability is the Dark Shield.
The headband and the bald man are as straightforward as it gets. A Dark Shield made of Dark Matter that his blades can't penetrate with seemingly infinite durability. And a Dark Sword made of Dark Matter that acts the same as a longsword, except Jeyson assumes that the blade is also unbreakable.
-This is impossible.
Jeyson clenched his teeth, he had fought against monsters fiercer and more dangerous. But never this troublesome. One of the reasons is their annoying abilities, countering Jeyson's attacks. Another reason is their teamwork isn't giving Jeyson any weakness to exploit.
-Just wait.
Jeyson strengthens his grip, he observes the three men who are not initiating any attack on him.
-Smart.
They must've concluded that Jeyson is highly reliant on his speed, which they would be correct. If they were to initiate the attack, Jeyson would be able to avoid it with ease because of his refined agility.
With that deduction, they hoped Jeyson would attack first and then counter attack him. Although it was annoying for Jeyson, waiting for Jeyson to attack and counter attacking at the same time are his opponents winning tactic.
-I'm at a bigger disadvantage than I thought.
In a losing situation, being outnumbered and countered in almost every way, Jeyson went into thought and formed some sort of strategy to defeat them.
-I need to kill the monster at the back. But how do I-
However the swordsman noticed Jeyson in his thoughts and charged at him.
"Aah!"
Hearing the footsteps and the swordsman's voice, Jeyson snapped out and had his attention directed to the man.
-Dammit!
Completely unexpecting this, Jeyson had a delay in his reaction. The second he laid his eyes on the man, he was doing swinging motion from his head downwards.
*Shing*
Jeyson leaped to the side, avoiding the attack by a tiny margin. Although he wasn't injured by the slash, his hood was torn, revealing a little of his ear and his silver hair.
-That was too close! I let my guard down!
The swordsman continued his attack with another slash from the side. He had Jeyson on the defensive, he isn't letting him go so easily.
*Shing* *Shing* *Shing*
The swordsman kept pressing the attack onto Jeyson, directing his sword slashes at him. At first, his attacks were strong and fast, putting Jeyson on edge. But slowly, Jeyson is able to predict his next attack, one by one, leading him to be able to easily maneuver away from the next swings. After a few more swings, Jeyson is now able to move out of the way as soon as the swordsman started the next follow up attack.
-Too easy
*Shing* *Shing* *Shing*
Jeyson continued to dodge the swordsman's attacks, waiting for the perfect moment to counter attack. Then. There it is, an overhead slash that was slower and weaker compared to his attacks before. Jeyson lifted his left sword and blocked the incoming dark blade.
*TING*
-Now!
*SHRRRRRT*
The two swords made screeching sounds from friction. Jeyson moved his body towards the swordsman from beneath while still blocking the dark sword with his left blade.
The swordsman jumped back to evade what would be his end and tried to recover himself, but Jeyson isn't letting that happen. Jeyson boosted himself off his left foot and launched consecutive slashes aimed at his opponent's chest.
Right, left, right, left, right. Although blocked each time, the next attack is always more precise and closer to the chest. It's only a matter of time until the bandana swordsman is bested by a better fighter.
Jeyson glanced over the two men. The shieldman had already started running towards their direction. But the distance between them is too far, he will not make it in time. Jeyson swung his right blade from the left, his opponent's grip is starting to falter
Left, right, left, right, left. With each strike, the resistance decreases. Until a final swing from his right blade caused the swordsman's arm to flung away, leaving his entire body wide open. Jeyson pulled his right arm back to gather momentum for a slash that would end the swordsman.
The continued charges of follow up attacks caused the swordsman to have gone too far from the shiedman. The shieldman, who was rushing towards his comrade is halfway there, but he will not make it in time.
-One down!
Jeyson thought. He placed his right foot forward and swung his right sword from his left towards the swordsman.
"Away!"
The familiar word entered Jeyson's ears, causing him to glance towards the voice again. He saw the shieldman running at Jeyson's direction and Relon who had just fired a ball of darkness.
-NOW!
Jeyson acted immediately. Jeyson cancelled his swing and swiftly dodged the ball of darkness by maneuvering to the side, away from its course. He strengthened the grip on both of his swords and charged towards Relon with full intent to kill.
Jeyson's plan all along was to get rid of the ranged support. As annoying as the shield is, he does not have any offensive capabilities aside from kicks and punches. Relon on the other hand, has power to kill him, which is why Jeyson decided he must go first.
The swordsman didn't react quick enough and the shieldman could not intercept Jeyson because of Jeyson's swift moving. The moment they turned their bodies to catch up to Jeyson, he had already outdistanced them.
Jeyson pulled back his right arm, preparing the blade. Relon reached his right arm inside his robe and bent his knees preparing to dodge.
He arrived at a distance close enough to land the strike, Jeyson swung his blade, aiming for the neck.
Relon jumped back, dodging the blade by a tiny margin. Jeyson gritted his teeth as he heard the two men coming in his direction.
-I need this one!
Jeyson screamed in his thoughts as his eyes widened. He swung his right sword from the left to follow up with the attack, and then the left sword and the right again. As fast as he was, Relon was always able to dodge the attacks.
Then, because of all that stepping back, Relon had hit a tree, the end of the treeless plane that they had been battling on.
-THIS IS IT!
Jeyson swung his right sword to slice Relon's neck in a downward slant from the right. It was fast and Relon's bad position made it unavoidable, it was the killing slash.
However, in the nick of time, Relon finally pulled his hand out of his robe and-
*TING*
-What!?
Jeyson is in shock, Relon blocked his strike with a hand to elbow length blade. The back of the blade was already touching Relon's neck.
"Heh."
Relon smirked as sweat ran down his face.
"Teleport."
As Relon said that, his body was engulfed by darkness. The moment the darkness fully engulfed Relon, the darkness disappeared along with Relon.
Jeyson was baffled at the sight. He franctically moved around trying to find Relon. His head finally clear from the single minded rage due to the shock.
"Haah!"
Jeyson heard the scream behind him. He snapped out and turned behind to see the swordsman had caught up to him and pulled his right arm upwards. Jeyson jumped to his left in an attempt to dodge the attack as he had no time to block it. The sword swung diagonally aiming for his chest and stomach. He was able to evade being cut clean in the stomach, but his calves were caught in the sword's trajectory, resulting in a tearing of his trousers and a cut on his calves
"Atch.. You.."
Jeyson unintentionally released his voice from sustaining the injury. He was out of reach for the swordsman but his eyes caught a glimpse of the shieldman running towards his direction.
He tried to move his legs but the cut on his calves made his movements slower than they originally were. The shieldman, who rushed to him at full speed, kicked Jeyson in the stomach. Jeyson's original speed would've been able to dodge this, but the injury took a larger toll on his battling abilities than he expected.
"Hah!"
"KUH!"
The force of the kick caused Jeyson to drop both of his swords on the ground. He held his stomach as he suppressed the intense feeling of vomiting.
The pain reached his entire body, he felt that he could pass out at any second. Jeyson used what was left of his strength to reach the blade with his left hand, but the shieldman stomped on his arm, inflicting more damage and stopping Jeyson who laid on his stomach.
"You know-"
Jeyson heard a familiar voice in the distance.
"-You're an annoying one."
He looked up, he saw a blue haired man with a punchable face.
Relon.
Jeyson gritted his teeth and widened his eyes to prevent himself from passing out.
-This.. I failed again... If only I had it.... It would've been so much easier.
"If you used your powers, this might have been easy for you, but you're too arrogant." Relon mocked him, laughing. Jeyson could only continue to clench his teeth hearing this. It hit a spot that Jeyson hated to mention, and he had received many insults because of his 'disability' by the words of the Mercenaries.
His anger and hate only grew, neverendingly growing towards these excuses for living beings.
"So. What are we going to do with him." The swordsman asked, twisting his right wrist.
"Hmm. He is a pretty skilled fighter, we could use him on our side." The shieldman who moved his right arm in a circular motion answered to the swordsman.
"Good idea. We'll just keep him here until Dermon comes, then he'll do his business with him." Relon nodded as he replied to them.
Jeyson has the urge to throw up listening to their plans. He would rather die than to join their side. This thought burnt his mind until something shook him, Jeyson focused his eyes onto Relon. No- more precisely, the blade that Relon is holding. The one he used to block his killing attack.
-That Rose Guard...
Jeyson focuses his eyes onto the guard of the sword. It's in the shape of a rose.
Jeyson has 2 twin blades, but they're not actually 'twins'.
The blades he owns right now are made from the same blacksmith, which explains the same design. He bought a pair of twin blades in the past, but he lost one of the swords during one of his missions. This led to him to buy another pair. He used the left blade of the old pair and the right blade of the new pair. With the rose guard and a flat guard respectively.
The longer Jeyson stared at the sword Relon was holding, the more confused he got.
It would take him a hundred years to forget that blade.
That rose guard blade was the same blade Jeyson lost 4 years ago.
____________
Sweat dropped down Jeyson's face, his left hand and stomach were stinging in pain. He gritted his teeth and forced his eyes to widen just so he wouldn't pass out.
In a moderate plane of clear land, surrounded by what seems to be an endless array of trees, Jeyson observes the three men having a conversation amongst themselves.
After a while, they approached Jeyson, who was laying down on the dirt in pain.
"Now all we need is to wait for Dermon."
Relon spoke as he crouched down. The shieldman and the swordsman remain standing up.
"Let's take that annoying hood off first."
The shieldman suggested. Jeyson tried to resist, but even the slightest movements caused his stomach to feel like getting smashed with a mallet.
"Good idea."
Relon agreed as he placed his hands on the head of Jeyson's hood. He then pushed the hood off of Jeyson, revealing a handsome silver haired man with purple eyes.
Relon's expression turned from smiling to serious.
"Huh? Wait.."
He said, he lifted the blade he was holding in his hand - The Rose Guard's right blade. He turned around as if in search of something.
"There!"
Relon exclaimed as he saw the Jeyson's left blade. He rushed over to it and picked it up.
He examined the blades side by side, after a moment. His face turned dark.
He dropped the left blade. He had discovered something.
"Screw taking him in."
"Relon?"
Relon moved towards Jeyson who was laying down on his stomach. He lifted the left rose guard sword, his face in anger, nothing can be said about his face except 'pure killing intent'
Relon swung down the rose guard blade on a weakened Jeyson.
-NO!
Jeyson will not accept dying here. Not before succeeding in his goal.
He rolled to the side just before the blade was about to chop off his neck.
-It's not painful.
The pain from his stomach now relieved. Although the injury from his calves made it difficult for Jeyson to move, ultimately his original speed had recovered.
He rolled away and quickly stood up from laying down, grabbing both of his blades on the ground as he did so. Jeyson stood up straight, looking straight at Relon and the two men who had confused looks on their faces.
Relon's face was serious, his eyes stared at Jeyson, radiating pure hostility. His body was straight, he gripped the left rose guard sword as he opened his mouth speaking in a near inaudible voice.
"Silver Hair... Purple Eyes.. Rose Guard Right Sword.. So it was you..-"
Relon took a step forward.
"-MURDERER!"
He screamed as he charged at Jeyson, swinging the blade.
The swordsman and the shieldman stood in shock seeing their leader uncharacteristically charged towards an enemy clearly more skilled than him.
-What?
Jeyson easily dodges the Relon who carelessly charged at him. He tackled Relon and pinned him down, putting his knee on Relon's back not letting him move.
"Ack!"
"Relon!"
"Don't." Jeyson placed his left blade close to Relon's neck, he looked straight at the two men, threatened to slice it if the two men came any closer.
The two men stopped at once. Just as Jeyson intended.
"Mon.. ster.."
Jeyson heard a cracking voice coming from Relon. He turned his head towards him and spoke.
"What did you say?"
Jeyson grabbed Relon's hair and lifted his head to see his face. Relon had teary eyes and his voice cracking as he answered to Jeyson.
"You.... You killed.... my parents... MONSTER!"
Hearing this, Jeyson's eyes widened.
Not because he heard himself being called a monster.
It's because Relon's eyes.
Yes.
The same eyes as Jeyson's own hateful reflection.
____________
A red haired woman and a brown haired man is overseeing the battle from a distance. They both were silent, but as Relon lashed out after pulling down the hood, the man spoke to the woman next to her.
"What a terrifying coincidence. He's here."
"That guy? So that's the murderer?"
"No. But he totally believed that. So laughable, how gullible people can be in their darkest times."
"Hahaha! 4 years now? He still hasn't found out the truth?"
"I did hide it pretty well."
"You did. Our plan is slowly coming into fruition."
"Relon has become a great asset, he listens to everything I say as long as I say that it would bring him closer to his parents' murderer."
"What an idiot! Well.. technically.. you weren't lying."
"I never lied, I just said I knew who killed them."
"Hahahah! Hmmm... Come to think of it, do you remember burning down a village?"
"That was.. 12 years ago.. I only watched Horrus do it."
"Yeah... I remember you telling me.. you spared a silver haired child.."
"I didn't spare him. I left him to die. Children don't last long without anyone taking care of them."
"Well.. seems to me, he is definitely alive.."
"How so?"
"There. Isn't that the 'silver haired boy' you thought died."
"... oh ... So he's alive... And.. he's the killer Relon believed..."
"Don't tell me you didn't-"
"I think it's time I make my debut over there."
"What are you going to do?"
"Well.. let's just see.. maybe he'll live? Maybe he'll die?"