Arat headed for the tall tree he had crashed to earlier, his eyes scanning the ground for any sign of his sword. He searched desperately for a glint of metal under the moonlight as he kept running, while the female knight continued her pursuit. Though still on his tail, she had slowed down to some extent.
She has her limits too, seems like she is getting a tired. But what is with her strength? she couldn't fight like this when she fought grandpa. I have to be wary of her if she is really this strong, even a single strike no matter whether I block it or not, can kill me on the spot.
Arat spotted a long, shiny object in the distance immediately rushing toward it, increasing his speed, the current him felt no exhaustion. His blood surged faster and faster in his veins fueling him beyond his limits every time he pushed himself beyond them. The female knight tried herself to catch up, but to her surprise, Arat only seemed to grow faster, pulling further away with every stride.
What's going on with him? What happened? This feels like he's using his demonic powers just now. Was he suppressing them? Can he do that intentionally? Can he control it? No, that's not it, he would have used them when I was beating him. Something forced him into it.
Arat snatched the sword off the ground without slowing down, continuing until he felt he had put a safe distance between himself and the female knight, he stopped, turning back to face her, being in a safe distance made him sure that he wouldn't suddenly meet her iron mace near his head once he faced her.
His lungs felt as if they were filled with hot steam, and his body so warm as if he had spent an entire day in a hot spring. Breathing became harder and harder under the iron mask but he didn't have time to remove it for relief, his eyes remained locked on the figure approaching him.
As long as just injure one of her legs I can out run her. My only goal should be that. Her left leg seems like the weaker one, as for her monstrous strength, it seems that she can't use it freely, or she would do so stopping grandpa from killing her friends.
The female knight, noticing that Arat had stopped slowed down coming to a halt a few meters away. She took her stance and tightened her grip on her mace's handle, ready to engage.
This time, Arat waited patiently for the woman to come at him, they began circling around each other, staring each other in the eye. The female knight lunged forward, swinging her mace, Arat wove his sword toward her exposed side forcing her to defend. He immediately followed up, chaining his attacks together as he assaulted the Devil Bride.
The seasoned warrior kept up with Arat's pace, fending of his strikes, Arat reminded himself to keep taking small sips of air so he wouldn't run out of breath. He cycled through all the fighting forms his grandfather had taught him, mixing low and high strikes with occasional stabs, making his attacks unpredictable.
His feet stayed firmly planted as he anticipated his opponent's secret move at any time, Arat quickened the pace of his attacks, forcing the knight backward with his new body, which seemed tireless.
The female knight showed clear signs of exhaustion. Her duty was to fight devils and half devils, the Devil brides were trained to battle in groups and their enemies usually had animalistic traits with low intelligence. But this opponent was different he had an understanding of sword techniques, so some extend.
He was not using his normal demonic powers before, I triggered it. At first he acted like a savage beast attacking purely based on rage and anger, he then regained some control. This means this is his first time to experience the true extent of his body's true potential, sooner or later he will cool down, I just have to hold out until then.
Arat didn't let up his furry of strikes, he forced the female warrior in a defensive state, knowing that if he let her gain the upper hand it was easy for her to land her powerful attack mixed in one of her normal strikes thus resulting in his death.
She can't attack me now, and that alone is a lot by itself. Thanks to my body being filled with energy I can manage her, but if I want to injure her leg I have to somehow get behind her, that's were her steel armor doesn't protect her, but her moves are good though I need to take her off guard.
As they fought, an idea formed in Arat's mind, he vaguely remembered how the fight had unfolded earlier. he tried to distance himself and stopped his attacks, With his steady breathing between strikes he didn't feel as exhausted as he expected. Arat kept the female knight at a safe distance as he tried to get near where his leather bag was.
Once Arat was within ten meters of the bag, he stopped shifting his position, and continued trading blows with the female knight, he had a basic understanding of how she fought now, he could even foresee some of her moves.
Arat deliberately slowed his movements and acted tired, he left the female knight with openings small enough to be noticed yet unreliable so that the she wouldn't risk it and attack him.
He is slowing down, fool, you used all your strength for nothing. I will wait for when he is out of breath then I will end him with one ultimate strike.
Once Arat had lured the Devil bride to were the leather bag was behind her, he shouted.
"Mr. Stranger, help me."
The female knight not fooled by such a childish trick remained her stance as she only swept a gaze before her in less than a second to ensure no one was around.
"You take me as I was born yesterday?"
She yelled without looking at her back, Arat remained silent his green eyes shining from behind the iron mask at the female knight. A gentle male voice spoke.
"You wish me to save you?"
The gentle voice had came directly from behind the female knight. Stunned, she believed she had been caught off guard by someone who had sneaked up on her. Without wasting a second, she pivoted ninety degrees and immediately stepped back to distance herself from the supposed stranger behind her.
That instant which was only a second, Arat who had pretended to be slowed down and tried darted forward and brought down his sword with all his might, at the back of the female knight's knee, where her armor ended. Dark red blood flowed, staining Arat's blade.
The female knight let out a sharp scream, groaning in pain. Yet, her injury didn't stop her she quickly regained her balance and moved back, glancing behind her in disbelief, there was no one there, only a leather bag on the ground.
Arat who had successfully landed a blow to his opponent, felt a small sense of relief but it was short lived, the woman stared at him with her crimson eyes her expression turned monstrous as her skin darkened and her vertical pupils narrowed to thin slits.
Before Arat could react, she lunged at him with terrifying speed, her mace raised high above her head. In the blink of an eye, she brought the heavy iron weapon down. Arat, without a second of hesitation, let go of his sword and rolled backward. He didn't pause to look behind him; he just ran forward as he heard a loud sound and felt dirt flying every were.
The female knight, despite her injured leg, pursued him relentlessly. Arat intentionally kept his speed just slow enough to allow her to stay on his trail.
She is indeed a monster I know that it was a deep wound yet she is still chasing me this is crazy, die, just die you monster, don't follow me.
Arat quickened his pace as he veered to make a sharp turn, the female knight desperately dragged her injured leg and followed him, As he neared the spot where he had left the bag, he grabbed it and slung it over his back, glancing briefly at the approaching knight with her devilish, monstrous appearance. He spotted his silver sword on the ground but he didn't risk it as he was terrified by the female knight he ran ahead at full speed.
His eyes registered the trees and stones, but he had no conscious understanding of what his body was doing. He instinctively dodged the protruding tree roots and boulders in his path. Arat kept running without stopping to catch a breath or even turning his head back to look if the female knight was still chasing him or not.
After a long time, Arat's foot caught in a bush, and he tumbled to the ground. In a panic, he looked back and saw no one was following him, only the silent trees stood in his view. His breathing began to slow, he became acutely aware of the pain radiating through his body, from the top of his head down to the tip of his toes were in pain.
His throat burned, his mouth dry, his clothes were torn and scratched all over by bushes and tree branches.
Did I made it? She is not following me, I lost her, I'm safe, I'm safe.
Arat thought, panting. he slowly got up and sat near a tree Laying his back against it, The red haze before his eyes had faded but his body still felt unnaturally warm, he looked up, watching rays of light filter through the leaves, illuminating the forest. Arat closed his eyes, for a moment his heart was finally at ease, he wanted to sleep but then he remembered one crucial thing.
Those female knights and soldiers along with some of the villagers have horses. They can catch up to me if that injured monster of a woman had told them, which I'm sure she definitely did so by now.
The thought jolted him back into action. Just as this thought came to his mind Arat gathered his strength and moved his legs, but he could walk like nails were hammered in his muscles and each step made them sink deeper inside his flesh.
Then he heard it: the sound of flowing water. Following the sound, he reached a cliff and, beneath it, a river. Relief washed over him at first, but the realization that he still had to make his way down to the water made the corners of his lips drop.
Slowly he worked his way down and descended the slope to finally reaching the river. putting down his leather bag he rushed over to the river, gulping down mouthfuls to quench his thirst. Afterward, he splashed the cold water over his face, feeling a surge of rejuvenation.
Arat then pulled his empty leather flask from his bag and filled it, then he noticed his mask that had dried stains of vomit and blood on its interior.
"Urghh, what a mess."
After washing the mask he wasn't in hurry to put it back on. His grandfather had always drilled into him to never remove it, ensuring that no one would ever see his face by accident but Arat couldn't care less about that now, his grand father wasn't here to punish him and he wanted to breath freely.
Knowing he could hear the sound of horses at any moment, Arat set off to find a place to spend the night. A cave would be ideal, even a small burrow would do fine as long as no dangerous animal had claimed it.
I don't think I can find anything here, might as well sleep on the trees like a bird.
"Even if I find someone I can't just go with them and trust them. What a pain. What should I do after I find a place to sleep tonight?"
Sleep in the woods and avoid all humans my entire life and run from them? Where should I go tomorrow? Just keep going so that those knights don't find me? For how long should I walk, how far is far enough to be safe from them.
Arat came across a hollow tree, large enough to fit him if he sat inside. And it was quite tall, no one would be able to see him inside unless they climbed up and looked inside. The sun was still up, it had only been a few hours past noon. He had run all night until noon, collapsing from exhaustion.
My body sure is amazing, just think how easily I could beat grandpa if I had such speed and strength all that time.
Fitting himself in the tree trunk after climbing it Arat took out the dried meat of the old man out of his leather bag and chewed some of, stuffing the rest back to the bag to eat it later, he drank some water lost in thought about what to do next, drifted off to sleep.
In the vast forest, towering oak trees were home to birds and small creatures and birds. The silence shattered once a dog ran barking loudly, tearing through the woods. Following it were three men, walking steadily, unconcerned with keeping up with the dog.
Arat suddenly jolted awake from all the barking, he had put the leather bag over his stomach and used it as a pillow to rest his head, the sound grew louder, Arat who couldn't see much from inside the hollow space in the tree panicked but tried his best to not make a sound.
Did the companions of the female knight arrived? How did they found me so soon?
On the other side the dog stood before the tree and kept barking violently, the three men stood next to it, one of them crouched and put his hand on the dogs neck.
"Shhh, shhh, good boy."
With a few gentle pats, the dog calmed, though it remained tense, teeth bared, ready to attack anything that emerged from the tree. a man gave a signal with his head to the other one to see what had picked the interest of the dog.
The second man grabbed the edge of the tree and climbed up to peer inside. he saw a child wearing a rusty iron mask who had bright green eyes and a leather bag staring at him, a wide grin spread across his face. The other man asked
"What is it?"
The man perched above Arat answered his voice brimming with excitement.
"A lucky discovery."
Arat's eyes widened in terror looking at the man who had The man had short, curly brown hair, white skin, and brown eyes. not knowing who he was talking to or what he meant by saying 'a lucky discovery '. He just felt one thing. The man's intentions didn't seem friendly.