In an unknown place, Misaki.
The two figures with covered faces took a few steps closer in silence, the look they had causing chills.
Reddish hair, brown eyes, thick build wearing a leather jacket and tight leg pants was the appearance of a young man who stood between a frightened girl and two delinquents.
"Delinquents who can use barriers, I'm sick of them" she thought to herself as the red-haired man took a battle stance.
He was already used to fighting those enemies, the only thing that bothered him was that he ended up involving an innocent girl, although he also knew that if he wanted to save her he had no choice, so he gave up the blame.
Midory observed everything as if she were in a nightmare, she felt disoriented and fearful throughout her body, the only thing that kept her stable was that man who covered her from dangerous types, she knew that he had saved her from that accident and that's why she felt safer, but even with that the situation overwhelmed her senses, it would take her a while to calm down.
The man's eyes fixed on his enemies devising a plan of attack, his main objective was to test the terrain before attacking with force, he knew how to have an advantage and he would start that way. His body tensed in anticipation.
The two criminals saw the experience in the posture that the man was taking. They exchanged a look and with some gestures they decided his battle style.
One defends and the other counterattacks, then they would attack.
With both sides ready, the atmosphere became tense.
The air flowed around with a suffocating feeling.
With an orange flash the man disappeared, Midory was surprised and the others used her senses searching for her attacker, the taller of the assailants swinging one of her arms back with admirable speed. The metallic sound of two forces colliding sounded, he had defended himself.
Moving a metal cane counterattacked the other assailant, the man disappeared from the place at great speed. Another move from the tall guy stopped a kick aimed at his partner.
The red-haired man was surprised, he never thought that they could defend themselves well even with their great speed, he had even assumed that the first time they blocked him because his attack was very obvious, but these guys had better experience than he thought. .
The enemy weapon gathered energy and then waved in the air aiming at the man, with a movement it returned to the blonde-haired girl.
Her gaze changed from fear to seriousness.
The place where he he had been shook by the pressure of the air and the tearing of something was heard.
"They seem to be proficient in the use of energy" the man's analysis was not wrong, the opponents began to gather around them.
He took a quick look back making sure the girl was okay, her eyes didn't take off from the enemies looking worried, her expression was different from the beginning, before she was scared, now she seemed to understand the situation a little, the man called her.
"Hey, don't worry, I'm here to protect you" her words made the girl feel relieved, however some of those words plunged her into her past.
"I am here to protect you" those words evoked feelings that he had long since forgotten. She felt protected again, in her memories a person with a blurred silhouette had said those same words to her, it was the one she loved. A sadness shook her for a few moments, then she recovered with a serious look.
She didn't understand what she was up to, but she was willing to stay as calm as possible if it would help her protector.
Eros' gaze softened feeling that this girl had a strong heart. He looked back at his opponents.
"Shallow cuts," the staff raider yelled, waving his staff deftly, a master of his weapon.
"Flames from the abyss" yelled the tall one creating a line of flames from his hands in the direction of the semi-large man.
"Always with basic techniques, it's the only thing they know how to do" he denied mentally focusing, he could defeat them.
"Let's start by neutralizing his powers" he thought confidently, using his movement techniques.
"Step One" Using the momentum of the energy in his legs he moved at high speed dodging the slashes and deflecting the other assailant's fire. The whole scene was seen by Midory who had lost her fear.
"He's so strong" she thought surprised.
The red-haired man used more energy on his legs and disappeared from everyone's sight, the tall assailant moved his body to defend, but something in the environment made him change his mind.
"Abyss Armor" with a red light manifested a resplendent structure on the side of him, it looked like the arm of a red giant who waved in one direction, at that moment, the red-haired man appeared dodging the attack while gathering energy in his hands.
"It was close, they can use attributes, I didn't expect it, I must withdraw" deciding that a figure moved behind her, a cane waved in the air with a dangerous feeling.
"Second step" said the man concentrating explosive energy on his feet, with an impulse he moved in mid-air narrowly dodging the assailant's attack, everyone looked surprised at the scene without believing it.
"I manage to move in the air, what kind of monster is it?" the attackers thought.
Although they had the advantage in numbers in the battle, that did not prevent the fight from dragging on, this happened due to the red-haired man's mistrust of enemy movements and not wanting to attack with killing intent. It wasn't the best thing for the attackers either, without an advantage, seeing how they could only defend themselves and counterattack, it was like being cornered, that man was incredible, his skills far exceeded what they had experienced in other battles, if they didn't have their secret weapon they would have already accepted his deaths.
"We must escape" said the tall one, the other nodded in response, he launched a hundred cuts, and his partner limited himself to launching flames towards the enemy when he saw an opening, they were wasting energy to gain time.
The semi-burly man understood the situation and disappeared from everyone's sight gathering energy in his hands, his original plan was to capture and interrogate the assailants, but they caused many problems, if he was careless they could hurt the girl and there was no point in prolonging the battle if their goals were not possible.
"Energy from the heavens, converge and create the cycle that defies the gods, accept the sacrifice and manifest, Photon Cannon!!" With a loud voice a figure appeared in the sky shining like a star.
"It's our chance, do it" without fear, both assailants, moved in sync, one threw something into the sky and the other gathered energy, then fired it in the same direction.
The man in the sky pointed his arms towards the enemy releasing the light in his hands, he was falling with great force sweeping the surrounding air and the propulsion increased his speed.
The light attack touched touched something in the air, a sharp beeping sound was heard in the surroundings.
Midory covered her ears as an explosion erupted from the scene, the energy consuming everything in its path and the wind churning violently.
It looked like a natural disaster.
The two assailants smiled fading from the alley, they were making their escape, the muscular man dodging the shock wave in the air with his second step watching his opponents go. That explosion didn't come from his attack, whatever they launched had the force to destroy an area, that was deadly, he had felt that if he pushed them too hard it could cost him, now that feeling had cleared up, it wasn't a mistake to be cautious .
However, if he let them run away he would surely regret it. Boosted with energy in his legs he sped towards his target even faster than before, it was the third step of his, he was just brushing the limits of his abilities, but he wasn't going to give up.
He gathered energy into his body, covering himself, then prepared to punch and kick. Without warning another object was thrown in his direction, this time he wouldn't be able to dodge it, he had spent his third movement, that meant he had no way to move in the air at the moment, if he tried the result could kill him, he knew how dangerous it was a fourth try, so he didn't, still, he covered himself with more energy hoping to lessen the damage.
The assailants' smirks never faded as they left, Midory's eyes widening in panic, a bad feeling surging through his body.
"She's going to die" was what she thought when she recognized her omen, her mind searched for a way to help, but she didn't have one, she didn't know what was happening, she barely recognized the danger of each movement made by the people in front of her, and still, he felt powerless.
"I wish I could do something" the girl lamented listening to the beep in the air. Her eyes filled with tears and a lump formed in her throat.
A light shined in the place, the area was consumed by a destructive energy, the man had disappeared from the area swallowed by that energy, the girl screamed in denial.
The air caught in her throat without being able to get up, thinking the worst.
She felt lost, in an unknown place, without the person who had saved her, this feeling bothered her, her tears fell from her eyes remembering.
"Not again…" she whispered, her voice cracking.
The smoke from the explosion slowly dispersed, something distorted was beginning to clear, and in the space of the explosion the figure of a man standing covered by a white barrier of pink tones could be distinguished, the man's look of consternation was directed towards the girl's direction, seeing something shine.
"Could it be...?! No! It's impossible!" She whispered surprised.
Midory was glad to see him safe.
Suddenly her body lost strength, something was not right, some organs ached and his consciousness faded.
The last thing she saw was an orange flash and then everything went black.
Next Chapter: The bearer of the Water relic.