Duel accelerated its pace, with the two warriors fighting side by side for the majority of the time, while Natan and Tomomi watched the out-bursting field of flames and drifting dust as Tim and Clawford exchanged blows that were nearly impossible to see, with pulses breaking out ahead of time.
Through the wind, their actions were quick and non-stop, resulting in Clawford being thrown to the stoney floor, while Tim sped toward the ground, slamming his soles into Clawford's face, hurling him back against the wall.
Clawford regained his footing by slipping his soles on the ground, squatting, and using his right palm to slow down and stop before crashing into the wall, while Tim landed his two feet and scuttled straight into a high-speed dash, lifting his left arm, forming it into a fist, and smashing it into Clawford's stomach, exerting enough force to tear down a hole in the wall, with Clawford being lobbed out into the forest.
Because of the impact, Clawford's body rotated into a reverse roll, causing him to lose control of the flight and crush his forehead against the ground. It twisted his body into a horrific contortion by slamming his back into the floor and rubbing it against the rough terrain at breakneck speed, eventually slamming him into a shallow wall over the bridge an. It scattered dust everywhere.
Tim stepped out of the room to feel the fresh air blowing on the connecting bridge between the two castle towers, watching in the distance from the frame of the door.
The wind was howling, causing others' garments and hair to flutter.
"Those claws are definitely getting in the way. I'll get hurt in an accident if I make a mistake. If only I could find something crisp to match them..."
Tim's breathing had slowed from the rest, he'd had as he struggled to come up with a viable plan for destroying the claws, and he'd even swallowed from the difficulty he'd been having.
"Why don't you just use your sword? That should be enough to destroy the claws, right...?"
Tim froze on the spot, a vein on his forehead protruding, and whirled around with sharp teeth and white eyes, enraged.
"Why are you the one commenting on that?! It sure would be great if somebody summoned the sword for me!!!"
With silence dominating in the castle's environs, but the wind whistling, Natan reacted with a tiny roll of his squiggly eye to the side where Tomomi stood, who glanced forward in uncertainty. Tomomi raised her index finger slowly and directed it at herself.
"You mean... me...?"
"No! I'm talking about my imaginary friend, of course! Yes, I mean you!!!"
"Yes..."
For a few seconds, everything was silent, and no one moved for the time to pass. Tim felt dissatisfied, and opened his mouth without holding back, enough to encourage Clawford to recover from the agony and launch an attack, while Tim's protests reached Tomomi, who stood immobile in place.
"How about you activate your ability then?!"
Tim was instantly warned by Natan before he could provoke Tomomi into summoning his sword.
When Tim turned around to look behind him, he saw Clawford open his claw and slash at him. Tim squatted and dived beneath the slash, crossing both arms in front of his chest to guard against an upcoming kick that Clawford shifted into, with a loud collision thrumming over the top of the castle, with immense pressure for Tim's arms to be squeezed against his chest, then pushed back over the top of the castle's bridge.
The floor scraped his soles with burning pain, and the castle's bridge corners cracked.
Clawford dashed forward with incredible speed, spreading both arms outward, and closing in on Tim's torso, who straightened and took a step back, bracing for the assault.
Clawford sped between the bridge's walls to prevent Tim from foreseeing his attack, and in doing so, he swiftly stretched his arm backward and ducked forward, purple traces swirling around his claw.
Tim kept up with Clawford's speed and punched the ground without hesitation, only to notice Clawford vanish into thin air, purple trails wrapping around Tim's torso, when Clawford reappeared behind Tim's back.
With both hands, he pulled the energy to squeeze Tim's torso together, then pulled it back at his position.
Tim lost his footing and was dragged into the air, with Clawford whipping Tim's body in the air like a lasso, spinning around quickly, and finally unwrapping the lasso from Tim's body and tossing him through the hard wall, causing the rubble to fall around and pile up on top of each other, with dust drifting into the air.
Clawford expanded his legs at the conclusion to regain his balance and movement control. Tim's resistance made him laugh, and he shook the blood off his claws. He crossed his arms, revealing his claws beneath, and peered up into the air, inhaling a foul odor.
"Do you smell that? I call it 'victory'. To be precise, my victory, and there's nothing you can do about it."
He began to watch Tim's shape slowly rise up with a right arm outstretched, and the second silhouette form into a long shadow of a massive sword after believing he had already won.
Clawford became solemn and prepared for another round of combat. He gradually became aware of the swirling dust, which made him realize that someone would dash out. The spotted person leaped out of the dust in the next few seconds, and when it reached the light, it was dressed in a black jacket with red corners and zipper, and gray jeans.
The shocked and befuddled Clawford came into the view of a completely different person, who gradually attacked at high speed by sending a powerful kick forward, enough to encourage Clawford to cross his claws in defensive manners, but they were quickly destroyed as the person slammed it into tiny pieces of metal with his foot.
Clawford's eyes, shook in surprise as he was shoved back into the air and then crashed against the wall when the person flipped forward and landed on their feet.
"Who the-"
Clawford raised his torso to reveal a different warrior standing in front of him, both eyes gleaming crimson, with a severe gaze.
The dust slowly cleared, revealing Tim standing still with Natan, Tomomi, and a new ally, Karisa, behind the fighter. They were all looking ahead, a look of rage on their faces.
"Did that catch you off guard? The name's Codey."
Codey's curly hair and clothes blew in the wind as he stood with his left arm on his hip and the other twirling a boomerang on his finger and flinging it up and down.
"Now there's even more of you?! This is messing with my stomach. Just how many of you are there?"
"In a total of seven people, with Natan being the eighth. It's really not a large number in comparison with the entire army of pirates, but it sure is more than enough to overwhelm a single soul like you. Serves you right, after all. Now the people will be free of your merciless abductions. The moment I'm done, here with you, those people will finally be able to return to their homes."
"This has to be some kind of a joke. Seven of you came to this island just to try and clear this isle's abductions. I suppose there is more stupid people that show their faces around here. Don't you get it? My bounty is not a lie. I could fight all of you at once, and still win at the end."
"Then, why don't you prove me so. I'll be your opponent, so try to stay away from the others unless you want an ass whooping. Trust me, there's no way I'll show mercy to a monster like you."
When Codey's boomerang bounced near his head, it immediately developed into a gigantic star with four generated blades and corners, which he caught and spun again.
It created a hurricane-like wind that blew the pebbles and dust away and split several edges of the castle's walls, bridge, and roof with ease, while the others sat quietly in the back.
"How did you two find us so quickly?"
"Oh. It was rather ease. Codey beat down that Smoghand guy and forced him to bring us here."
"Huh? Him, again? I thought he got beat down enough, earlier."
"Yeah, I believed so too, but he showed up out of nowhere when we were tracking you down."
"So, where is he now?"
"Don't worry. That guy found a bedroom for his nap. It's quite close by..."
As he was thoroughly beaten down, Smoghand was clapped on the floor with dizzy eyes.
"These individuals are insane. Their authority is irrational..."
He claimed, but then passed out as the clouds darkened around him. It began to rain in the next several seconds, soaking a big section of the forest's ground.
To be continued...