Roland appeared beside Silas, carried by his nimble footwork. He kicked at the ribcage of Silas's left side.
Silas stumbled across the room, crushing to the barrier. He looked up and saw Roland's eyes. Determined and convinced that taking Zeke's attack was no joke.
Silas nodded and thanked the knight.
Roland also nodded back.
Zeke's laughter erupted. He looked down at his fingerless hand and laughed again in satisfaction. He wiped the blood on his shirt and clapped his hand.
Slowly, the dripping blood dried under the cold.
"Come. Come. We don't have that much time, the temperature is getting lower." Zeke motioned with his wounded hand.
Roland accepted the invite and jumped in with his footwork. Each step pushed him faster and smoother, like walking on an icefield.
He arrived in front of Zeke and swung his sword.
"Again. You never learn." Zeke yelled, blocking his chain, trying to warp the sword.
But Roland foresaw this and took back his sword. He then followed Silas's flow and stabbed at the gaps between the chains.
The sword entered into the chest, avoiding the heart but the energy behind the blade shook the internal organs. Zeke coughed a huge amount of blood but it didn't stop his weapon from chasing Roland.
Roland grabbed the chain and tried to pull using his physical strength but no matter how much he gathered his strength, he couldn't match Zeke's physique.
After all, the man was an experienced fourth circle martial artist.
Roland groaned as he lost the tug of war and threw across the room yet again, crushing landing on the wall.
Silas didn't let Zeke rush through again as he fired many first circle spells. Pierce.
Zeke guarded the spell by warping around his body with a chain, turning into a small armor.
"More. More. Press me more. I can't even feel my blood boil." Zeke yelled.
Roland rushed again, this time he grabbed his longsword, aiming at Zeke's left foot. He pinned the sword to the left foot. The sword stood tall on the ground.
Blood gushing over, forming a pool beneath.
Regular humans would die from this amount of blood lost but Zeke was not regular at all.
Despite the pain and cold, he continued laughing madly as if fights were the one who bring him joy in his life.
Roland let go of the sword and climbed Zeke's body. The wind was his stepping stone and he reached the top. He then rammed his knees to the bald man's face repeatedly.
Zeke tried to shake off but no use, Roland had hugged him tightly.
Zeke grabbed Roland's shirt with his right hand where he still had fingers.
Silas interrupted the brawl. Right now, it was no knightly sword fight.
From the start, there was no honor in this fight. They just simply wanted to kill the other party.
Silas used his first circle technique, Stab and aimed at the chest. But unlike Roland, he didn't miss.
He felt the beating heart, vibrating along the sword. He twisted the sword.
"Ahh..!" Zeke laughed, ripping apart his left foot. The foot split in half and he used the foot to kick Silas.
Silas dodged the attack. No matter how fast it was, its movement was limited so he could see it. He took back the sword and jumped back, conjuring second circle spells.
Water serpent.
He turned the serpent into the spear. Taking advantage of the Thamior's domain, Silas willed the mana inside the spear to stay still. The cold penetrated the water and immediately freezed.
Then, he used the mana inside the spear to strengthen the structure.
By combining with Life energy, he threw the spear as hard as he could.
"Roland." He yelled.
The young knight understood his call and grabbed Zeke's head, jumped down, exposing the neck.
The spear went through the neck.
Roland let go of the head and rolled to the side, waiting for the body to fall down but it didn't happen.
Despite all the odds, all the wounds on his body, Zeke was still standing, moving.
His neck was barely hanging with the help of his skin. The ice spear was now gone due to the collision with Fourth circle energy.
Seeing this terrible state, Silas flinched.
Martial artists were built differently in this world. They were a beast, a monster in disguise.
Mage held the highest destruction capabilities but Martial artists were the savior.
Deep inside his heart, Silas knew Zeke could heal from all the wounds.
The thought of that was terrifying.
Zeke laughed madly, ignoring all the pain, maybe he didn't feel at all. His mind was lost.
Broken by pain or already broken from the start? Silas didn't know. He didn't have a shred of feeling for Zeke.
Silas thought of burning him alive with his spell, so he did.
He conjured up a spell crest. To burn the body of a Fourth circle human, you need a fire strong enough to rival Tire 2.
Fortunately for Zeke, Silas studied every element up to Tier 3. He crafted a Tier 3 spell. Because the crest didn't exist in the mana circle, it took him a bit of time.
"Silas, dodge?!!" Roland yelled out.
Silas looked up and saw Zeke's body getting bigger. It was comical to say the least. As if his body was stuffed with blood and energy.
He was getting bigger but the laughter didn't stop.
Silas sensed a wave of energy pouring out from Zeke and remembered Zeke's techniques.
He had the ability to control his body parts and had another ability which can cause an explosion every time he attacks with his body.
And looking at the current state, Silas had a bad terrible feeling about this. So he threw away the fire crest and immediately activated the Water serpent.
Being a martial artist had many effects. Your physique broke the limit of humans. The energy you controlled gave you a godly amount of things you can do.
But the real reason Silas trained as a martial artist was because energy came with a quick reflex.
He let the first serpent freeze and conjured another one.
He repeated that until the explosion occurred.
The air vibrated as Zeke's body tore pieces by pieces, consumed by the energy waves he emitted.
Flame overwhelmed.
Silas sensed his serpent slowly being melted and fire rushing toward him.
He clenched his teeth and poured out another serpent, this time coating his entire body. The fire broke free and rushed toward his direction.
The water on the surface of his skin boiled and turned into vapor. Silas created another water.
The same process happened.
'Is it an explosion right? How is it still going?' Silas thought as he felt his skin cooked alive.
His skin was tearing down, his lungs were filled with hot vapor, blood ran through his eyes, nose and ears.
Then, just like that, the explosion settled.
Silas stood up, his body numb with overwhelming pain. Even the brush of a faint wind gave him a sharp pain.
He wiped the blood that was flowing from his lips.
"Killing Fourth circle Martial artists is difficult." Silas muttered and dragged his feet.
He looked around, his eyes icy cold. The barrier he set up to protect the bodies was gone. The corpses turned to ash.
Silas evaded the ashes and continued walking toward the door. He couldn't think of anything at all. His mind was focusing on not anything just trying to cope with the pain.
He walked past whatever was left from Zeke's remains.
His feet dragged across the ground.
He stopped at the charred body. It was Roland. Silas crouched down and listened to the pulse.
Still alive.
He ignored the young knight and walked into the door.
'Alive is good. Alive. It is painful.' Silas murmured. His throat burned.
He felt the internal organs shaking every step he took. Still, there was a monster he had to face. A monster so horrible that he would create a weakness in the kingdom.
Silas didn't remember how long he walked. The temperature also returned to normal.
"Welcome, you look like a monster. No…no. Perhaps, a demon is a more fitting word…cough… anyway, welcome."
An old man spoke, covering his mouth.