The two blades clashed, sparks flying between them. Takechi tried to defend himself, keeping his sword steady, while Infori continued to push, trying to break Takechi's defense.
"Tch... Damn it!" Takechi said.
Unfortunately, Infori ignored Takechi's words. He focused solely on pushing his sword to stop Takechi's parry, and eventually, he pushed with all his might, causing Takechi's defense to collapse.
His body became unbalanced, and his sword moved to the right. This gave Infori an opportunity to attack.
(Chance...!)
"....!"
But Takechi didn't let that happen. Because even though he was now off balance, he remained firm. Therefore, he made a move to slash Infori's neck.
"...?!"
However, the slash was stopped when Infori's sword precisely blocked and protected his neck. However, Infori's body, which had been trying to advance, lost momentum, which ultimately caused him to move to the right.
Meanwhile, Takechi managed to regain his balance.
Takechi then found an opportunity to land a kick at Infori—unguarded, Infori only raised his left arm to protect his head, but the kick was still successful.
Infori was knocked back again, but still managed to maintain his balance.
"...!" Infori was quite surprised by the power of Takechi's kick.
At that moment—Takechi stepped to the left, forcing Infori to twist his wrist. At that moment, Takechi stabbed.
CLANG
Infori parried it, using his gauntlet, regaining his balance. However, Infori's foot slipped slightly on the floor. This gave Takechi enough of an opening for a second attack.
Takechi stabbed with his sword.
"Haaa!"
Unfortunately, Infori had momentum. So he turned, rendering his stab ineffective. And then Infori slashed his body, leaving a graze on Takechi's stomach, a fresh red liquid gushing from the wound.
CRACK!
"ARGHH!" Takechi screamed in pain.
His body went limp, and he finally took a few steps away from where Infori was. Enduring the pain, he looked down to see the wound Infori had inflicted on him.
Infori's attack had left a small, but painful, cut. He held his stomach with his left hand, blood dripping onto his palm.
"...!"
Flynn, Lilith, and Iris were quite impressed by Infori's sword skills. Flynn wondered how a mere shopkeeper could face an adventurer.
(I've never seen him fight like this, but he's quite skilled.)
Then, Flynn suddenly noticed something on Infori's sword. It turned out that some parts of it were quite dangerous.
"...?! Rusted?!" Flynn whispered.
Takechi glared at Infori with a sharp gaze filled with mounting anger, while Infori simply looked at him with a casual but still serious look.
"You bastard!"
Takechi advanced again, intending to slash. As a result, Infori parried it. But Takechi's slash wasn't as powerful this time, making it easy for Infori to turn the tide.
"This is the moment...!" Infori exclaimed.
Infori immediately pushed his sword to the right, dragging Takechi's sword with him. Then, at that moment, Infori stabbed his sword into Takechi's left shoulder.
"ARGHH!" Takechi had to endure the pain that now radiated from his shoulder and stomach.
Taking Takechi back again, he turned slightly to the left and found the stab mark and the torn clothing on his shoulder.
But then, Infori suddenly told Takechi,
"You better stop now."
"What did you say...?"
"Do you think you can fight with a body covered in wounds like that?"
Hearing that, Takechi became even more furious with Infori. He immediately ran and shouted at him to shut up.
"Shut up!"
Then, Takechi stabbed with his sword. But Infori moved, deflecting his sword thrust, rendering it meaningless. Then Infori clenched his fist and finally punched Takechi in the stomach, knocking him unconscious.
"Ack! ..."
His body was about to collapse, but fortunately Infori held him up. Flynn saw this as a sign that the fight was over, when he heard the sound of busy footsteps behind him.
He looked back and saw the Knightley Queen knights returning, stopping in front of Flynn.
"Captain, I'm sorry we can't help you," said one of the knights.
"It's okay, now you take that man," replied Flynn, pointing at Takechi. The knights understood. "Make sure he's healed first and then send him to prison."
The knights accepted the instruction, and they answered in unison. "Yes, captain!"
They all then approached Infori, who was carrying Takechi's body, and asked him to hand him over.
"Let us handle this man."
"Yes, I'll leave it to you." Infori handed Takechi over to the knights, and the knights carried Takechi's body away to the plaza, leaving the four of them there.
Infori breathed a sigh of relief.
"Haah..."
Infori then looked down at the Gauntlet of Rebirth on his left arm, recalling the time he had accidentally summoned Initium Bahamut. Infori remembered every event that had happened in that dimension, even its destruction due to Initium Bahamut, which left him even more stunned.
"..."
"Infori," Flynn's voice suddenly called out to him, forcing him to turn around. He saw Flynn approaching him.
"Flynn…" Infori whispered.
"Are you okay? You seem down," Flynn said.
"Ah, no. I was just a little… Umm, surprised that I could use this gauntlet so easily," Infori replied, looking back down at his gauntlet.
"..." Flynn paused for a moment. "I want you to tell me everything you experienced there, but first, you need to rest."
"Yes, yes," Infori agreed to Flynn's request, then approached Lilith and Iris. This left both of them confused by Infori's sudden arrival.
"…"
Infori removed the Gauntlet of Rebirth from his arm and handed it to Lilith. Both of them were surprised.
"…?"
"I'm sorry, Miss Lilith. You might be wondering why I'm wearing this artifact that the Seraphim have been searching for, but I have no idea."
"Ah, yes." Lilith accepted the Gauntlet of Rebirth with an open heart. She hadn't expected one of the rare artifacts she was supposed to seek and protect to be right in her hands. She then turned to Infori with a small smile. "Thank you, Mr. Infori."
"You're welcome," Infori replied with a similar smile.
But a hint of confusion crossed her face. "Eh... So you two know each other, huh?"
"Ah, yes. Mr. Infori is the artifact seller at the artifact shop in Awania Sudo."
"Oh..." Iris understood Lilith's brief explanation. She then looked at Infori, scanning her up and down. Infori, who had regained consciousness, was confused by Iris's behavior.
"Eh? What's wrong?"
Iris was finally quite surprised when she saw Infori's red eyes. "...! Hmm, you're quite impressive for a Nephilim."
"Huh?"