A few moments ago, knights were marching outside the Shieldscape City. No one was talking among them; they didn't want to offend the diamond-class mercenary. Even their leader was following Tigrid without asking a question about where they were headed.
They continued to walk until Tigrid halted his steps, then he looked behind.
"I will be going first; meet me in the tavern in that place," he said before pointing to the town in the distance.
He jumped and didn't wait for the knights' response. Platforms made from a small amount of energy particles appeared below his feet, giving him the ability to levitate in the air.
"I envy those who have full control of their energies," one of the knights uttered in silence while looking at the man above the sky.
The town was not that far from the place they stopped, and after Tigrid left them, they resumed marching; however, as soon as they entered the borders of the town, people were running everywhere, and fear was written on their faces.
The battalion commander blocked one person and asked him the reason for their desperate action.
"In the tavern! A monster! A monster appeared!" The man explained while catching his breath before continuing to run.
The knights didn't waste time upon hearing the word "tavern." They ran and arrived at the place. It was damaged, along with several houses and buildings. They were destroyed to the point that the only things left were debris and small pieces of rock.
"What kind of battle happened here? To reduce this place to something like this," one of the knights expressed his surprise.
At that time, the leader of the knights ran closer to the site, and the first thing he saw was a large man with a red body that resembled an orc, but it had a tail and wings.
'What is that monster?' He thought, then he glanced in the direction that the creature was focusing his eyes on.
"Silver hair, a red dice as an earring, it's him!" He exclaimed upon realizing that the man fit the description of the one they were looking for.
"Then, that monster! Tigrid?" He murmured, stunned by the reality before his eyes.
. . . . .
"That's some nasty Legacy you've got there," Zeno said, brimming with smiles.
"Yes, but its power is tremendously worthy," Tigrid answered, then he raised his arm and his gothic axe hurled and stopped on his palm.
"Don't worry, you'll soon be part of my body, for my brother!" he said, full of pride.
His wings spread, and he flew to Zeno with incredible speed. The next second, his axe was going to chop off his opponent's head, but Zeno raised his arm, and his gauntlets transformed into a jet-black battle scythe that deflected the axe.
They exchanged blows, but they both evaded all of their attacks.
"This weapon of yours really pisses me off," Tigrid blurted out.
"Thanks, your irritation sounds like a compliment to me; I'll show you something new," Zeno chuckled before he struck with his scythe.
Tigrid was supposed to block the blade of the scythe with his axe, but it disappeared with Zeno, and then he felt two sharp objects stabbing him behind.
"Don't joke with me," He turned around and slashed his axe against his back, but the only thing he cut was air. Then again, he felt pain in the lower part of his torso.
Tigrid flapped his wings and went up to the sky, and from there, he searched for Zeno. He was standing on one of the broken walls with two jet-black daggers in his hands, and he was staring up at Tigrid with a vicious smile.
"Come down here; I'm not done yet," he shouted, then he spun the dagger on his left hand's finger.
'His weapon is annoying to deal with,' Tigrid thought after he saw that Zeno was now holding a different type of weapon. 'How many tricks does he have up his sleeve?'
Soon, he swung in the air, and a huge gust of wind appeared, howling at his opponent, but Zeno jumped upward to dodge the attack. Then, he propelled himself to Tigrid by kicking the platform made of energy behind his back.
He aimed his dagger at his opponent's neck, but Tigrid's axe didn't let him do so. Tigrid spun around after he blocked the dagger, his tail whipping against Zeno's body.
It created vibrations in its trajectory, but it was deflected by Zeno's dagger before he leaped backward. Tigrid dashed and followed Zeno in the air. He didn't want to give the man a chance to breathe.
His right hand was holding a cyclone of wind, which he pushed towards Zeno's body.
Zeno smiled upon seeing the man close the distance between them; he tossed the dagger above his head, but Tigrid ignored his action. His focus was to land a hit on the silver-haired man; however, Zeno parried the cyclone of wind by using his remaining dagger.
The next moment, Zeno leaned closer to Tigrid; he held him in the arm before he whispered in his ear.
"In-grid," he uttered, making sure that the large creature heard all of the syllables.
. . . . .
Inside a simple inn, a man dressed in a black coat was preparing something to drink, but soon enough, he froze to his position and he looked outside the window.
"Is there something wrong, Lux?" a blue-haired woman asked as soon as she saw the butler staring somewhere, deep in his thoughts.
"Nothing," Lux replied, then he resumed his chore, walked towards a room, knocked twice on the door, and entered as soon as a voice from the other side allowed him to do so.
"Mistress, here's your drink! I'll be taking a stroll in the city; I'll be back before the sun sets," he lied, then he bowed as soon as the woman nodded.
After a few seconds, he left the inn, searched for an alley that had no people, then leaped into one of the buildings. He stared in the direction of a town before the capital.
'That abnormal energy is coming from that place,' he said through his mind, then he levitated and flew to the town.
. . . . .
Tigrid was shocked by Zeno's action; questions kept hanging in his mind.
'What's that for? Is he taunting me by my dead brother's name?' He thought.
Then, he was preparing to punch Zeno, but the arm that the silver-haired man was holding exploded without notice. And it didn't stop there; Zeno touched his shoulder, and a bang reverberated in his ear.
'Impossible,' he thought, ignoring the pain he felt.
Afterward, Zeno moved to his back and clipped his wings, and another explosion burst behind him, then the silver-haired man gave him a kick on the head.
In that instance, he plunged downward, the pavement was destroyed, and a crater appeared with him as its center.
But his mind was still occupied by Zeno's last attacks, and shock was still painted on his face.
'It's my brother, I can't be wronged,' he repeated in his mind before slowly getting up from the ground. His left arm was burned by the sudden outburst, and his wings were torn down.
He pushed his body above the ground to stand; the burns on his arm and shoulder were healing bit by bit. Then he pulled out his wings and grew another pair. Thanks to the troll's blood running through his veins, he could recover from any fatal injuries while in this form. He looked at the man standing in the sky.
"How? Why do you have my brother's Legacy?" He asked before charging back to Zeno.
He was sure about it—to make anything explode upon contact. That was his brother's unique ability, and now the man he was tasked to apprehend was using that Legacy.
"It's a little punishment for those who oppose me; don't be too concerned, though; you'll be part of my collection soon," Zeno answered and smirked before he engaged in another intense battle with Tigrid.
Wave after wave of explosions reverberated in the sky. Tigrid was doing his best to dodge Zeno's hand. His agility was to be considered top-tier, but his opponent was still faster than him. He was able to last because of his special body. His Legacy—Devour gave him the ability to have the characteristics of the creatures he killed, gaining each of their bodies' properties.
It was the best he could offer, but it was not enough to outmatch his opponent. His death was around the corner if this continued any further.
"Damn it," Tigrid cursed after he failed to block Zeno's scythe that impaled on his chest. He held it and was about to pull the blade of the weapon but it disappeared, and a dagger slashed his throat in an instant.
He saw Zeno; the smile on his face never faded, as if he were enjoying himself each time Tigrid received a wound. The blood spurted from his throat, and Zeno held him by the head. Then he felt a burning sensation, and a loud noise rang in his ear.
Afterward, Zeno swirled him around while holding him in the head and then threw him downward. He suffered grave injuries from the explosion, but his blood started to heal his wounds.
'He's toying with me,' Tigrid thought after slamming to the broken concrete. He was tired and exhausted. Every time he regenerated, an extreme amount of his energy was consumed.
Again, he tried to stand, but several arrows struck him from above. Each of its tips was buried deep behind his back; he cried, filled with agony. He lied on the ground, reaching the arrows behind him, then the sensation of the arrows from his back was removed as soon as Zeno plunged to him downwards.
He landed on Tigrid's back, making the bald man howled in pain; his spine broke below Zeno's feet.
"Bastard," Tigrid uttered, blood dripping from his mouth.
Zeno sat down, plucked his wings, and stabbed his dagger into his back.
"Have you already reached your limit?" He asked, then pulled his dagger. He waited for the wound to close, then stabbed Tigrid again, in the same spot that had healed earlier.
Tigrid used his tail to sweep the man behind him, but Zeno caught it and made it explode, which caused Tigrid's wailing.
He repeated this set of actions; his hand was now tainted with blood, and there were splashes on his coat as well, but he didn't mind. Each second was a torture to the bald man, and after a minute of endless suffering, he lost consciousness, and his body reverted to its human form.
"Ahhh, that's satisfying." Zeno grinned, stood up, and cut the diamond-class mercenary's head with his scythe.
He leaned over and picked up Tigrid's head by holding it on the ear, then he faced the group of knights bearing the kingdom's crest.
"Are you with him?" Zeno asked, but the men in armor lost their ability to speak upon seeing the man they considered a monster lying on the ground, defeated and dead.
"Do tell the king, if he sends another one, I'll destroy his kingdom and his head will be rolling like this," he threatened, his eyes sharp enough to give the knights chills. He then threw Tigrid's head, which rolled to the battalion commander's feet.
Then, Zeno walked away as if nothing happened, but after taking several steps, he turned around, which made the knights jump into panic.
"Is there a place here where I can get clothes like this? I feel little sticky due to blood," he asked in a gentle manner, which caused confusion among the knights.
'Is he the same man as earlier?' They thought and looked at each other with amazement.
. . . . .