'Who are you?'
Both Aqua and the person shrouded in darkness asked the same question at the same time, confusing each other. X looked forward at this person, trying to sense his strength, but to no avail. X's eyes glowed pink, as he stared at the person, then at the sky.
He had learnt this on the journey through the subcontinent. He could use Immortal Tree and the intensity of the strong that connected the being to X to measure their strength. Only demon's were not connected to him, and for good reason. He did not want to be infected by a demon, after all.
He was sure that this person was the one who was in his recent visions, the one who was attached to the withered string. There was only one string in the sky though, and that was connected to X himself. The string that spread from X was connected to Brik and Aqua, alongside the dead humans, but the demon corpses were not connected to him by that string. But this person was not connected to him. Was he really a human?
A sharp shooting pain struck inside his head like he was about to see a vision, as the world slowly turned pitch black. He blinked, and his eyes went back to their normal golden color. The being coated in darkness spoke out in a low, unexpectedly smooth voice that would have allowed X to become an orator.
'So, did you see how strong I am?'
X gasped in shock. Up until now, no one recognized that he was measuring their strengths using Immortal Tree. Well, he did not use it against anything intelligent, but still. Only X could use Immortal Tree, but this person had not only discovered that but did it in such a small fraction of time. It took more time for X to activate and deactivate Immortal Tree than it took for him to recognize that Immortal Tree had been used.
The overwhelming darkness that shrouded the person they were talking to slowly vanished away, revealing a young man wearing a wear black dress, probably not more than two years older than X, with a pale face and pitch-black pupils. His long dark hair had grown out so much that it reached his back like a girl's hair, a flowing mass of smooth and shiny black silk. His lean muscles looked so strong, so tightly wound that it was hard to think of it not bursting apart.
Two sword sheaths were attached to the black cotton belt that hung around his waist, one of which was empty. The sword in his hand was obsidian in color, of a model they had seen only in museums, curved swords that took an eternity to make and master. Katanas.
He was wearing a long pitch black flowing robe. It was different from every dress they had ever seen before, one that he had only heard about in one of the Tower Master's old stories, just like the Katana. A warrior's kimono, something that was worn by exceptional fighters in the Great Continent, especially in the island regions. This meant only one thing.
'Are you from the Great Continent?'
Brik asked, going through the same thinking process as X. He looked this person straight in the eyes. Brik had never seen a human kill another human before. Murdering your own kind was something that even demons did not do, but this guy had slashed off a person's head with no remorse.
A person who was already close to death, and could have died in a comparatively painless way, after knowing that the people he gave his life to protect were safe. Rage boiled inside Brik, and he struggled to leash it in.
'Well, yes and no. I am from the Great Continent for now, but I might not be... It's a long story. Now answer me, Who are you?'
'We are knights from the Royal Academy of the Kingdom of Europa.'
Aqua replied in a regal tone, trying to emphasize the Academy and the Kingdom. No person with a sane mind would dare to fight back against the Academy since it is directly related to the Tower, especially now that they were the strongest they have ever been. No matter how strong they are.
Aqua's eyes glowed with pure hatred, and the tips of her hair slowly turned into liquid water, displaying her hidden rage. The only other time this happened was when she was fighting against the Demons, after all. She had gained confidence in her abilities, now that she knew that her powers were pretty effective. Not as good as X's or Brik's, but she did destroy two Stage 2 demons with a single Kilo Trident and had only improved since then.
'Ha hahaha, the Royal Academy.'
The person spoke mockingly like he did not consider the Tower as a menacing place. It held the most powerful in the Kingdom, and almost every single knight was under the command of the Tower Master, excluding the dozen or so Royal Servants. No matter how strong he was, the Tower was not something he should have been able to take lightly.
Even though his soft, smooth voice had morphed into a tone that seemed non-threatening like they were merely chatting about some trivia like the weather, the manner of speech maintained the threat, instilling fear. It was like a tiger cracking a joke to a wounded deer before killing it.
'Do you really think that some rotten academy that barely has the power to protect the smallest floating continent would save you?'
He proceeded to continue laughing like a madman as if this did not bother him at all. The cold-blooded murderer laughed away like he was at an auspicious gathering, not a place where dozens of humans and Demons had lost their lives in a futile battle. He laughed away like he did not have the blood of a fellow human on his sword, like he had not murdered someone for no apparent reason.
When he finally stopped laughing, he moved his arms in front of his chest, then bent it down and pierced the ground with his black sword. He impaled the floor, embedding the sword deep within, left the sword behind, and started walking around them casually before speaking
'In terms of Stages, how strong would you be?'
On hearing the question, Brik was startled. This person unarmed himself and asked them how strong they were. And that too in Stages, something that was mostly used only in the Northern Continent of Europa. He heard Aqua continue to speak in a cold voice, a manner of speech he never expected from someone as wierd as her
'Stage 2. Closer to Stage 3, though.'
'Stronger than expected, considering your energy signatures. Ok, would you like me to fight with my weapon, or without it.'
The question shocked Brik even more. Not only was this random person deciding to fight them weaponless before revealing anything about himself, but he was doing that after killing a person in cold blood in front of their eyes. Brik's brain stopped working for a moment as rage took over.
The person who had died, was he a role model, a father figure for someone else? Was he someone's Uncle Ken? Brik's vision slowly faded to red, his claws expanding. Words were not enough to deal with this heartless brute.
Brik leaped forward, his claws cutting the air apart. From behind, he could hear the sounds of fire moving quickly through the air and knew that X was following him. Brik's muscles swelled as he laid his hand on the murderer.
'Block this, with or without weapons.'
The fist touched the nose of the man shrouded in darkness. Brik was sure that he had hit the opponent's nose, and had torn his face apart. He had heavily injured him for the evil act he had committed, perhaps even leaving behind a permanent injury. Considering Brik's current strength, a punch from him could shake the Tower, so why was this person still standing, in the exact same place, without moving an inch, uninjured?
A streak of golden flames cut through the air, a hatchet and a hand wielding it protruding out of the flames, the weapon aimed for the murderer's neck. Brik turned around, and saw in dismay, as the person dodged the attack without moving an inch, the weapon seemingly going through him.
'So weak, yet so boastful. You need to learn humility, kid.'
Tridents made of ocean water rushed behind the unknown person, ten tridents coming from different directions, attacking at different speeds. The first one went through him, and so did the second, third, and fourth. Every single one excluding the last missed, but they were not exactly moving through him, rather he was dodging them so fast that it appeared that way.
Just how quick is he to be able to do something like that? As the last trident, one that moved faster than all the previous ones and was stealthily moving behind him was about to collide into his back, the person picked up his long curved pure-black katana from the ground. The darkness rushed back, shrouding him once again. The temperature seemed to drop, and the shadows grew darker.
'One percent.'
The trident was sliced in half with a single swift motion, the wind pressure from the swing causing a couple of trees to topple over and crash.