"Cops?"
A chuckle escaped from Ado's lips, his face curling into a smug grin.
"I'm from the Phoenix Guild. I could report you for selling weapons to criminals. So you want that?"
"Criminals?"
The shopkeeper's face twisted in shock. He glanced at Claire and Arthur, the innocent-looking lady and the well-dressed young man.
It was hard to believe they were actually criminals and on that Phoenix Guild, itself was after them.
His gaze settled on Arthur, his eyes now filled with disgust. But before he could speak, Arthur spoke first, with a gun suddenly aimed at him.
"Just hand over the sword," Arthur said coldly. "Unless you want to die right now."
"You—"
The shopkeeper's voice trembled with frustration, but this wasn't the place to argue, especially not in Stefan Street, a district notorious for harbouring criminals and he was just a common seller.
With a resigned sigh, he handed the broadsword to Arthur.
Arthur inspected the blade briefly, then tossed it to Claire, who was still struck against the wall.
Ado's brows furrowed in confusion. "Huh?"
Without hesitation, Claire grabbed the sword as if she was just waiting for it, her sharp eyes never leaving Ado.
Despite the pain coursing through her body, she pushed off the wall and dashed toward him in a blur of motion. The blade swung with intent to kill, aimed straight for Ado's throat.
It was a powerful, precise strike, her footwork solid despite being a rushed attack.
Ado's eyes tracked the blade calmly, and with an effortless motion, he leaned back just enough to let the blade miss by mere centimetres.
"You're quite trained with a sword, huh?" he remarked, a grin of amusement tugged on his lips.
Before Claire could recover, he appeared behind her in an instant, his movement so fast it seemed almost inhuman.
His leg shot out, delivering a brutal kick aimed straight at her face. Yet his hands stayed comfortably in his pockets as if this fight was nothing more than child's play for him.
This time, however, Claire was prepared. Her eyes locked onto his movements, it was a familiar pattern of his strike. Aware, she raised the broad sword just in time, making the blade take the full impact of the kick.
Even though it was a successful block, the sheer impact forced her knees to buckle slightly.
"Ahh!" she hissed through gritted teeth, steadying herself with effort.
Ado let out a chuckle, his voice laced with mockery. "See the difference? This is the gap between us, an Advanced Realm fighter and someone at the Elite Realm. The world doesn't act merciful just because you are a little talented,"
He prepared for another kick, his leg winding up as he kept his stance firm.
But Claire wasn't idle this time, The moment his foot pressed against her blade, she shifted it to the side with a quick motion, unbalancing him just enough to create distance between them.
She stepped back, catching her breath, she gripped the sword tightly. Taking a proper stance, she raised her sword high.
"Form One: The Impact."
Claire's blue aura surged around her sword, intensifying as she executed a precise vertical slash.
The blade's motion unleashed a giant, yet sharp wave of energy, tearing through air it moved directly toward Ado.
He narrowly dodged, again only, shifting his body just enough for the strike to miss, but its sheer power caused a deep crack to split across one of the building's sturdy pillars and into the wall behind it.
Ado's grin widened, impressed but unfazed. "Not bad," he muttered before drawing the daggers at his hips.
Before Claire could recover, he dashed forward, his blades flashing as he aimed for her eyes.
But just in time, she somehow managed to move out of the way with precise footwork, her heart pounding.
But just as she thought she had avoided the attack, Ado's knee shot up, connecting with her face in a brutal blow.
The impact sent her flying backwards, her body colliding with the wall. *Thud!* Blood streamed down from her nose and head as she slumped to the ground, her breathing getting more and more faster.
Ado casually wiped the sweat from his brow, stepping closer. "So," he said, his tone mockingly calm, "what do you think of my offer now?"
Claire's glare was ice-cold, but without answering she rose to her feet once more. Her grip on the broadsword tightened, and with a furious scream, she charged at him.
With all the strength she could muster.
"Ahhhhh!"
She swung her sword in a wide, horizontal arc, aiming directly for his face. But Ado, smirking, caught the blade with his bare hand, stopping it mid-swing. The clash of swords against his aura-coated palm sent a metallic ring echoing through the room.
"If you had a better technique, maybe you'd stand a chance," He said, again mocking her with a wide grin plastered on his face.
But instead of what he expected,
Claire's lips curled into a smirk of her own. "I was hoping you'd do that," she muttered.
Before he could react in any way, her knee shot up, aiming precisely downwards at his balls.
The kick landed with full force. Ado froze, a sharp gasp of pain escaping him as he staggered, his body shaking.
"You... bitch!" he growled through clenched teeth. "With these, you risked the life of our children,"
"Shut up,"
Claire didn't let go. Seizing the moment, she clenched her fist and delivered a series of multiple brutal punches to his face, each blow landing harder than the last.
His head snapped back with each hit, blood splattering from his nose soon followed by cuts appearing throughout his face.
When Ado finally fell to his knees, Claire turned and reached for her fallen broadsword.
But it gave Ado enough time to recover, If until now he was taking it lightly, now he was surely filled with rage, Ado stood back to his feet, his daggers flashing once again. Without a moment's delay, he slashed at her back.
Sensing the attack, Claire moved aside at the last second, avoiding a fatal strike. However, the blade cut through her face, leaving a sharp, yet shallow cut across the bridge of her nose.
A cry expressing her pain escaped her lips, blood dripping onto the floor.
"Bitch!"
Without waiting a moment Ado launched a savage kick to her stomach, sending her crashing to the ground. Before she could recover, he stomped on her head, pressing her face into the floor with brutal force.
"Now I'll show you what makes an Elite Realm practitioner feared by all."
He casually wiped the blood from his split lip, adjusting his hair as though the fight was already over. Tightening his grip on the knife, he muttered,
"Let me teach you what true Aura feels like."
The dark red flames surged higher, transforming the small knife into a weapon that radiated pure destruction. The knife now had the size and presence of a sword, glowing with intense heat.
From the corner, the shopkeeper, who had been trembling in fear, gasped. His voice wavered as he whispered, "That's… elemental aura. Only a true Elite Realm practitioner can manifest something like that." His gaze shifted to the crumbling walls of his shop, "There's no hope now. My shop and carrier... It's all over."
Claire's eyes locked onto the glowing blade.
The heat, it was suffocating for her already wounded body.
The rugged breath she took made her chest burn even more...
It was that strong.
Her instincts, No her very being knew if that blade hit, there would be no surviving it.
She glanced around instinctively, her gaze searching for Arthur.
But his seat was empty.
Her heart sank as her eyes moved around the room, looking for any sign of him. He wasn't hiding behind the counters. He wasn't standing near the shopkeeper.
There was no one other than the shopkeeper.
Her chest tightened with a mix of emotions, a relief that her master had escaped, but a feeling of disappointment that he had left her behind and a faint sense of betrayal at the far corner of her heart, that she quickly suppressed.
'At least he's safe,'
She thought, exhaling deeply.
If her sacrifice meant buying him enough time to flee, then it was all worth it.
She was just a summon after all, and this was her duty,
Her fate!
☘︎☘︎☘︎☘︎☘︎☘︎☘︎☘︎☘︎
{A/N}
I know the chapter was a stretch, the whole chapter was nothing but a fight, It's like you are reading Dragon B_jjkkj_all's novel, right?
A cheaper copy, yes of course.
I know that but everything in the chapter was as important, for the plot later.
Okay, so do you think Arthur has really left her and ran away or will he come back?
Or if he really left her, cause it's a logical route but the point is do you think he has done the right thing??