"Rhys..."
The word slowly left her mouth as Aria stared at the young man in front of her with mixed feelings. Happy, that he was alive and well. Glad, that he had saved her brother. And Seriously worried, for his safety as he confronted all these men. They all looked bulky and muscular.
A pale comparison to Rhys' lean frame.
"Go somewhere safe." Rhys nudged at the creature on his shoulder, who wasted no time in taking to one of the nearby trees.
"Finally decided to show up didn't you?" The boss asked, turning to Rhys. His smile was growing bigger with each second. Just now, he had wondering how they were going to retrieve the target. And just when all hope seemed to have been lost, the target had delivered himself into their hands. it must be my lucky day after all. He thought.
"They have nothing to do with this. I'm the one you want, let them go" Rhys said raising his hands as a sign of surrender. The boss raised his eyebrows in surprise. this was even going to be easier than he thought. He had thought the young man would put up a bit of resistance given his dramatic entrance. But now he was surrendering?
" So he DID have something to do with all of this " Elvinn thought, staring hard at Rhys. He might have been wrong about the whole knight thing, but Rhys definitely brought trouble to them.
"I didn't mean to drag you two into this." Rhys, exchanging glances with the two siblings, mumbled apologetically as if reading Elvinn's thoughts. "I'm truly sorry." He mouthed
"Very moving" The boss remarked, slowly clapping. "However." He went on. "The situation's changed. I'm interested in the girl now. The boy was of no use to me though," He added, carelessly gesturing at Elvinn "Perhaps you'd like to share the same fate with him?" He asked playfully.
"So It's alright if we kill this one too?" one of the boss's men asked, pointing at Rhys.
"Go ahead. He's been a nuisance from the very beginning." The boss approved. He couldn't care less about Rhys anyway, he had given them far too much trouble. His order was bring the young man back dead or alive. He had been trying to capture him alive all this time, which was why he kept slipping through their fingers.
On the boss's approval, the man who had asked charged forward, his sword pointing directly at Rhys' chest. "Go to hell ya damn brat!" He shouted, projecting his sword at the young man.
SLASH!
"Argh!!" The man groaned in pain as blood spurted from the wound on his chest. He dropped to the ground, his sword leaving his arm.
"When... When did he move?" He asked, his gaze shifting from Rhys to the blade in the young man's palm which still had crimson liquid seeping through it. He barely had time to make sense of anything before his consciousness slowly left him.
One down...
Still reeling from the shock of what had just happened, the rest of the men stared blankly at the scene that just played out. The man had moved to attack Rhys but the latter had evaded and struck him down in one blow.
It happened so quickly their eyes could barely keep up.
"GET HIM!" Getting out of his reverie, one of the men exclaimed, jolting the others. On his command, all the remaining men lunged directly at Rhys. Circling him in all directions, all of them brought their swords down at him simultaneously.
He was a goner...
Or was he?..
CLANG!
Huh?" The men gasped in shock. He had parried all of their attacks with a single sword! "What... immense strength." one of the men muttered. Even with all the men pressing their blades against his, Rhys' sword still refused to budge.
"... Knight style..." Closing his eyes, Rhys mumbled some incoherent words. Channeling his aura through the sword in his hands, he spun around with incredible speed.
"RISING CYCLONE!" Rhys called out, generating a massive tornado around him.
GUUUUAAAAAHHHHH!!!
All of the men that circled him were blown away by the tornado. The boss stared transfixed. Surprise clearly written on his face.
"That was... Aura manipulation?." He thought. Only knights of his caliber could make use of aura manipulation. Then would that make him...? ." I see now." He finally voiced out, walking towards Rhys. "I had wondered why he'd spent so much money contracting us to kill a common nobody. But" He said, his gaze never leaving Rhys as he slowly drew his sword "you're not JUST a "nobody", are you?"
"Damn, brat.." One of the men muttered, groaning in pain from the attack. Getting up inrage, he made to charge at Rhys one more time. However...
"STAY BACK!" The boss ordered, causing the men to flinch. "This is a battle you cannot win." He continued, the men were confused as to what he meant as the watched him walk closer towards Rhys. "A duel between knights is not to be interrupted" He said.
"A… Knight?" The word lingered on the mouths of all the men present. The boy standing in front of them looked nothing like a knight. The only reference they had for a knight was their boss, so the mere thought that they had dared to challenge an ACTUAL knight sent shivers down their spine.
"He's a…Knight?" Elvinn thought. His eyes furrowing at the thought that he was witnessing the battle between two knights.
"State your name young knight." the boss stated drawing his sword.
Taking a brief glance at the siblings, particularly Aria, the young man introduced himself. "My name... Is Rhys... Galahad."
Silence descended on everyone present at the mention of the last name. There was only one family in the entire Celerian Empire who bore that last name Galahad. Then that would make the young man in front of them...
"He's... The Prince?" was the thought that lingered on the minds of all of them.
Everyone present there knew of the how the Celerian Empire had fallen over twelve years ago, the entire royal family was said to have perished that very day and a new king had taken over. However, standing in front of them...
The golden hair? the eyes that shone like the sun? the way he carried himself? How had they failed to piece it together....
He WAS the prince...
BAHAHAAHAHAHA!!! the boss threw his head back, heaving out a throathy laughter. "How had I failed to piece this together. You're the prince aren't you?" He asked Rhys, who remained mute "Then that makes this all the more fun." He lunged forward at the boy.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Swing after swing, Slash after slash, each man deflected and swung their blades at each other, all in a bid to best the other. However, for the meantime, they appeared to be evenly matched.
"You're impressive" The boss muttered. " for an average knight at least." he smirked, lunging forward at Rhys with seemingly newfound speed.
"Heh" One of the bandits smirked, observing the fight "That kid's got promise, however." He went on. "our boss isn't just any knight. He's one with a star"
"A star?" Elvinn asked, turning to face the man who just spoke.
"That's right!" The man remarked proudly "A starred knight is on a completely different level, Even among regular knights."
"He's right." Elvinn thought, shifting his attention towards the battle which had now tilted in favour of the boss.
CLANG!
Swinging his sword directly at Rhys, the latter defended with his own sword. However...
"He's...Stronger now?" He thought, he hadn't expected the strength behind the swing and was sent flying backwards, crashing against a tree.
CRASH.
"Hehehe. " The boss chuckled, an evil grin escaping his lips. "I must say," he went on. "since I left the order, I haven't been entertained like this."
"I know of you," Rhys said, getting up seemingly unfazed from the previous attack. "You are Calvin Roland. Excommunicated for betraying his own band." He grimaced, picking his sword up and pointing it at the boss, whom he identified as Calvin "It's a shame my father didn't do away with scum like you"
"Oh? The prince knows of me?" Calvin asked in fake surprise. "I'm honored" He remarked sarcastically before lunging at Rhys once again.
CLANG! CLANG!!
Grinning maniacally, he attacked, his attacks growing stronger with each slash. He seemed rather eager to finish off the young prince
"You're even weaker than your father." Calvin taunted, staring down at Rhys " He was a fool until the very end." He went on.
His words seemed to have struck something within Rhys as he remained on the floor, his expression growing darker and darker as memories from the past flooded his mind. The past he had tried so hard to run away from corroded his thoughts, threatening to split his head in two. "Shut up." He whispered, more to himself than to Calvin.
"Twas a good thing he died when he did too." Calvin went on, apparently oblivious of the effect his words were having on the young man. "My only regret was that I didn't get to land the killing blow on him." he bemoaned, staring at his blade.
"The heavens denied me the chance to kill Alverr," Calvin muttered in a dark tone. " However..." He went on, raising his sword at Rhys. "...I'd settle for killing his son" As soon as the words left his mouth, he brought his sword down on the young prince.
"RHYS!" Both siblings, Aria and Elvinn shouted simultaneously. Was Rhys going to--
CLANG!!
Just before the blade found its mark, it was intercepted... by Rhys hand!
He had caught the sword with his bare hand!
"What?" Calvin uttered in surprise, even blocking that would have had Rhys' sword shattered into bits.
But he caught it?
With his bare hands?
Without sustaining as much as a bruise on the palm?
What... Is this kid? Calvin wondered, his eyes fixated on Rhys, unwavering fear present in them
"I told you... Shut up!" Rhys seethed, rage in his eyes as he effortlessly flung aside Calvin's blade.
Crouching down, Rhys closes his eyes, channeling his aura through his blade once more. Opening his eyes, he lunged forward, swinging his blade at Calvin.
"Golden Knight Style: SPECTRAL IMPACT!!!" He calls out, his sword glowing with a golden hue as it makes it's way to Calvin
Calvin quickly reached for his blade, blocking Rhys' attack with as much energy as he could muster. "What is this... aura?" He thought. Even channeling all of his own aura to his sword was still not enough to withstand the impact from Rhys' attack, which overwhelmed him in no time at all
WHOOSH!
Forcing more of his aura into the blade, the golden glow around Rhys' blade intensifies, easily overwhelming Calvin as his attack broke through Calvin's sword. "Guaagh!" Calvin grunted, Coughing up a mouthful of blood as the attack sent him crashing through multiple trees
CRASH! CRASH!! CRASH!!!
"Huff…Huff…Huff…" Rhys panted. That attack had taken a lot out of him, and his sword was in no better shape that Calvin's broken blade. "A weakling like you... could never be a match for my father." He muttered, staring down at the now unconscious Calvin, completely oblivious of the looks he was getting from the people around him.
"N-No way, the boss was... defeated?"
"impossible."
The men muttered, their boss was a knight on his way to cultivating his second star...
...and he had been defeated by some kid?
"Rhys?" Aria muttered, more out of surprise. Elvinn just stared blankly at the young man, wondering at the true power of a starred knight. The rest of the bandits? They were awestruck at the defeat of their boss.
"Hey you three." Rhys' voice jolted the from their awestruck state. "Y-yes?" They stuttered, more out of fear than surprise.
"Untie them" He ordered, gesturing at the siblings "Y-yes my Lord." They responded, immediately getting to work, no less than 5 minutes later, the siblings were free. Maik, who had been atop a tree observing the entire scenario, jumped at Elvinn the very second he was freed.
"Now get out of here." Rhys growled "And if I ever catch you robbing people again... There WILL be consequences" He added, staring menacingly at them, his tone growing darker with each word.
"Y-yes sir. S-sorry for attacking you" The men muttered apologetically before scurrying away. hurreidly. As soon as the men were out of sight, Elvinn turned to Rhys questioningly
" Umm..." Rhys began "Sorry, I didn't…" His voice broke off as his knees gave way, causing him to slump to the floor, That last attack has used up a lot of energy, and now the consequences were finally catching up with him.
"RHYS!" Aria called out, rushing to him almost immediately. "Are you alright?" She asked, her voice layered with concern
"I'm... tired…" was all the young man could muster as his eyes slowly closed...