Chapter 14- Crusader (Part 4)
The attack was sudden, out of nowhere, and almost incomprehensible. One second ago, the man was praising Tin for his remarkable achievements in the past and then instantly changed his tone, demeanor, and everything about him and quickly went in for the kill.
*Swish* *Klang*
His arm smashed against something, generating an extremely loud sound as if it clashed with raw diamonds. The mere hit was akin to a storm moving at the will of the man at speed far superior to what Akio could even perceive.
For an instant, a faint light flashed between the two of them that blinded Akio and made him squint. The light then quickly vanished as fast as it appeared.
Tin's body was thrown back a good distance. His body landed on the ground before he rolled a few times roughly.
"...?!" Akio eventually woke up from his shock and reacted to the sudden occurrence. He retreated back a few meters as he put his guard up. Even though he knew that if that man wanted to kill him, this puny attempt to protect himself won't even be considered a joke, he still followed his instincts to be ready for anything.
The man's smile vanished and instead, a strong frown appeared on his face. His glare slowly shifted from the old man to his own hand. There, he could see and even Akio could see as smoke rose up in the air. It was as if someone ignited his hand on fire and then extinguished it.
Shaking it a few times, he looked up again and said.
"For a vegetable, you sure still have trick up your sleeves, Tin."
*Ruble*
Standing up with noticeable difficulty, Tin groaned.
"I landed on my back again… ugh… Fuck! Can't you aim for something more resilient like my legs for example?!"
'H-How?' Blinking in shock at the old man, Akio couldn't understand how it was possible that he came out fairly unscathed from that hit. If his eyes weren't hallucinating, that punch could've easily destroyed a house yet Tin somehow only ended up with no injuries.
"Tsk, what kind of item did you even use?" The man asked.
"Ugh, I don't know. I have this piece of trash in my pocket so I put it to some good use." Tin replied vaguely as he showed a small stone the size of his fist. It was grey in color with nothing particularly noticeable about it except the fact that it was fairly polished as if it was made out of marble.
The man squinted his eyes at the small stone as if he was trying to discern what it was. However, after a few seconds of silence, he sighed and decided not to try anymore.
"For a mighty and proud crusader, you sure like to play underhanded," Tin said as he grinned.
"Low-handed? Oh, please. I could've ended your life whenever I wanted. I was merely entertaining a small conversation with a Holem Legend before killing him. It will be an honor for you to be killed by me."
"The same arrogant attitude and contagious idiocy. You lot really lost your minds in that shithole."
"Shithole?"
"Yes! Holem is nothing but a corrupted, tarnished shithole filled with morons and sick bastards! You lot really need some mass cleaning."
Tin's tone was loud and quite perturbed for some reason. In his eyes, Akio could see a myriad of emotions passing through one after the other. Anger, hatred, fear, hopelessness, and all kinds of negative emotions.
The little boy didn't know what he went through for him to show such an expression of deep dread, but he was certain that it wasn't a pleasant experience at all. That made him think of one simple question.
'Is Holem Really the paradise that people talk about?'
"Pffft!!! Hahahahahahaha! Truly amazing! Truly worthy of admiration! To see one of the greatest figures of Holem criticize it. Aren't you one of the people who made it like that in the first place, ironically?"
"And here I am paying for my sins," Tin replied with a dark expression.
"Holem is still Holem. A place that rewards the strong and pushes the weak down the hierarchy more and more. It's truly a very unique place. These powers, this wealth, and these achievements are all because that realm exists. What more do you want, huh?" The man giggled as he flashed a weird glance at Tin.
"Maybe more humanity will do. That place robs everyone of their humanity." The sad tone and the complicated emotions intensified in Tin's voice. Whatever his words meant, he truly believed in them and that only confused Akio even more.
"Humanity? Humanity, you say?! Hahahahah! I can't! My stomach!" Laughing out loud again, tears fell down from his eyes.
"Can 'humanity' do this?"
*Swish*
Then, the man's body vanished, leaving behind only a small cloud of dust where he stood before. Then, he reappeared near a house that was weirdly still intact even after everything that happened.
Swinging his fist, the man sent a punch toward the house.
*BOOOOOOOOOM*
That single hit blasted the whole house out of its roots as if it was made out of thin sheets of paper and not hardwood.
"See?! Anyone would trade anything to get this! To feel this power pumping through their veins! You know that more than I do, Tin! You've experienced it firsthand. That intoxicating feeling of power. It's what keeps us humans alive."
Even though the crusader could've easily killed Tin now and ended this whole debate, for some reason, he didn't do so and instead kept talking and blabbering. In fact, Akio could easily see that the man was trying to convince Tin of his point. Was Tin's opinion really that important to him? Wasn't he a mere 'trash' a few seconds ago?
'What is this situation?' Akio could only ask himself. How did they end up like this?
"I did experience it and that's why I will always say this… Holem is a cursed land that will eat away from everyone's morals. You lot are not even aware of how much that place could turn the purest of saints into the cruelest of devils."
"Oh, WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP?!" The man yelled as he started walking toward Tin.
*RUMBLE*
Then, suddenly, the ground shook around them. Almost instinctively, Akio looked in a particular direction as his eyes squinted. It didn't take long before he noticed the abnormality that caused this earthquake.
Tens and even hundreds of Holem creatures were rushing toward them at an alarming speed. The way they jumped and ran was the most horrifying sight Akio had ever witnessed. Their previous eerily calm behavior even when killing humans was nowhere to be found. Instead, they had turned into these morbidly insane creatures with their mouths wide open and weird sounds emanating from them as if they were groaning in deep pain and agony.
Their bodies were riddled with injuries and blood, most likely because of how careless they were as they ran. Some jumped on top of each other while others were simply slashed with their claws left and right to free their way ahead. It was as if their lives depended on running in this particular direction, the one that coincidentally aligns with where the three people were standing.
"...Crap." Only one word was uttered by Akio who just stared blankly at the stampede of monsters coming toward them.
"Tsk, that scream really brought all of them here." The man simply rubbed the back of his head.
'I need to run!'
That was the only thought that came to Akio as his legs were about to dart in a random direction.
"Opop, where do you think you are going, child?"
However, his worst nightmare happened, the man had vanished again and reappeared in front of him.
'Fuck, fuck, fuck! This is really bad!' Staring at the human monster, Akio's mind raced to find a quick escape from this mess.
"You are linked to that old man there. Hmm, maybe you are his son or grandson? Pfft, whatever, I won't let you leave, anyway."
*Rumble*
The monsters were closing up on them faster and faster. Akio had at most a minute or two to run away or he will be a dinner for those carnivorous bastards tonight.
However, his escape route has been closed completely. He had no way of escaping, no way of fighting the man in front of him, and no way of hiding. He was completely trapped.
"Oi, Akio!! Bend down!"
Then, from behind him, Tin's voice echoed.
*Swish*