Just one more second... just one step... I clenched the knife in my left hand, waiting for my only chance to defeat him—the moment he truly let his guard down.
One second is all I need.
The moment his blade began its descent I lunged at him.
The knife pierced through his right knee—deep enough to even scrape his left leg—followed by a single misstep from him.
My eyes widened as his knee buckled, and I flew up.
His right arm was left lowered, while I had my sword ready.
A dull sound was swallowed by the surrounding air—the sound announcing his defeat—as his arm had hit the ground beneath us.
Blood streamed past my hands, and soaked into his clothes—after my blade pierced through his chest.
I win...
"Kgh..." He choked on the blood pooling inside his chest and throat—slowly leaking from his mouth, leaving a stain on my shoulder before it fell on the ground.
I calmly stepped back, and took my blade along with me.
He can't save himself anymore.
I lifted my blade above my head, and looked him straight in the eyes.
They were shining—these were not the eyes of a dying man.
"DIE!!" I screamed, while my blade descended at a speed faster than ever before.
Finally... My blade had reached the first strands of hair.
Huh?
Nothing but air was left, only a gust came from where he was.
Until a voice came from the roof across.
"Boy! Tell me... what is your name?" The bloodied man stood there with his eyes completely closed, showing a smile that was visible even through his mask.
H-how did this happen? My eyes stood wide, unable to talk any longer.
"It's common courtesy to respond... but I already know it, Tjer."
Why does he know my name?
"I—Arih won't forget about you, Tjer." The smile grew with each word.
Those were not the words of a dying man—no.
They were far from it.
His eyes looked like the crescent moon itself, curving in utter ecstasy.
He let go of his already sheathed sword, but I couldn't move—I couldn't take the opening that had revealed itself.
He brought his hands slowly to his head, wrapping his fingers around his hood, and he pulled it down—revealing wavy dark brown hair,
Hair wavier than mine.
His hand continued down, removing even his face covering, showing the golden tinted skin that hid underneath with sharp features.
He was no older than sixteen.
He held nothing back, revealing all of himself,
Shouldn't he be an assassin? Why is he here?!
He reached for his robe and unbuckled it—almost comically using his one hand available.
But there was nothing funny as I saw what he revealed.
It was a scar filled body—covered by a green tattoo that ran past them.
Something is strange about it...
The tattoo wasn't one made of ink—it seemed like a part of him.
"Y-you were lucky... you understand that don't you." He reminded me of his injuries as he spoke, but even then I couldn't respond—the truth was already clear.
"If essence could be used, it's obvious what would've happened right?" He crossed his arms.
I felt my nails drill into my palm, unable to change anything about it.
"Even against those laying by your feet, you would have lost easily. It truly amazes me—your physicality that is!"
"But even after all that, you still stand no chance against me. I'm truly proud of you, Tjer!" He showed a narrowed smile along with his closed eyes—a smile unfitting for someone like him.
"..."
"So you've chosen to be silent... let me tell you one thing, there are..." Once again I was held back from hearing.
After he saw the slight shift in my eyes, he said,
"So this is Kage, huh?"
"It's easier to show you anyway," He said, followed by a deep breath—a long, calm breath.
His murmurings were carried by the wind itself.
"Z!KDM@$ND"
It was incomprehensible.
Unlike usual, I could hear it.
But I couldn't understand—no.
I could not fathom it.
Something outside my existence.
Outside my world.
A green light reflected through the air—it came from Arih.
His tattoos were emitting it.
I felt my body sink into the ground as I looked up,
What is happening...?
My head felt lightened, forcing me to correct my stance to hold my balance.
The air itself was leaving my vicinity—gradually gathering at a certain point—it was Arih.
It enclosed all around him, thickening with each second that passed.
Until a deep rambling echoed through the alleyways, both my ears popped as the noise softened—alongside the ringing that went through my head.
I brought my hand to my chest, forcing myself to breathe, with a pain piercing me with each breath I took.
I jolted as the muffled blasts around me—all the doors broke, and the windows shattered—starting from the houses beneath him, reaching to both ends of the street.
The pain slowly eased as my hearing returned.
The air around Arih started to thin out.
And he slowly came back into sight.
Huh? I looked down, and saw a groove spread in front of me.
Before I could realize what happened a blast sounded, throwing me back into the same ruin from before.
A ring tore through my head, while everything around me spun.
All I saw was a blur.
Down was up.
Left was right.
Nothing made sense to me.
"Look... you pushed me this far, Tjer!" A voice cut through the ringing.
As if his voice itself healed me—my senses had cleared, and that was the moment I realized it.
Arih has changed.
A pressure was weighing down on me—it felt like a needle pressing into every pore, my chest tightened with every breath I took.
It wasn't the air itself anymore that weighed me down.
No—this was simpler.
It was utter dread.
Arih came slowly into sight as I left the ruin.
It wasn't just his presence that had changed.
It was his appearance that was the strangest.
My lips separated as I saw him.
This wasn't fear anymore—it was scarier.
I was in awe.
In awe of the man who killed my parents.
Is this what absolute power looks like...?
His tattoos had vanished, but what I felt of them still remained.
A symbol ran from his cheekbones up to his forehead, reaching two wing-shaped bones that protruded outward, encircling his head—as if announcing its royalty.
This was no human.
It was something beyond that.
I clenched my eyes shut, hoping for a different view when I opened them.
But each time that hope was ruined—sealed by the words that came from his mouth.
"Are you ready Tjer!" He screamed as he descended from the roof.
None of my meager plans would work.
The only choice left was to face him head on.
He is already injured, so maybe...
I raised my sword out in front of me, coiling my fingers around the handle.
And took my stance, one solid enough to even take the wind itself on.
"I'm coming—" His voice disappeared along with the gust that passed.
A whisper sounded from my right,
"You are too slow."
I stepped back and turned,
"Wrong side."
A kick hard enough to fold my back followed, the wind pressing me to the end of the alley.
I drove my blade into the ground—slowing my momentum, stopping myself just short of the wall.
I spun around and faced him again.
But he was nowhere to be seen.
Along with that realization a cold wind cut into my pores,
Where am I?
I was unable to feel the ground beneath me, and I was unable to see the world surrounding me, it was all the same—a single blur.
It stopped.
While the world around me started to get clear again, I still felt nothing underneath me.
The moment my feet felt a sensation again, a voice arrived alongside it,
"I knew it... you aren't worthy at all."
Where!?
I struck in every direction while in this wooden enclosure.
But I felt no weight as I cut around me, and the only sounds that reached my ears were that of the wooden walls being scratched, and his ragged breaths.
"That's quite... pathetic." He tilted his head while narrowing his eyebrows—a sorry look.
His face had appeared right in front of me,
What is happening.... My lower jaw trembled.
I'm going to die...
The only speck of light I thought to have found had been extinguished.
Between Arih and me was just darkness.
With only one thing waiting at the end of this path.
Death.
I couldn't register anything.
Not the wooden boards, nor the cold floor that I had collapsed onto.
Only the cold air that pierced through my clothes, it was the only thing reaching me—a hand stretching out from the dark.
"Do you finally give up?" He glared at me with eyes empty of color.
"Y—"
What was I about to say...
"NO!" I screamed as I threw my body forward, followed by my blade that descended upon his figure, and once again I only reached the air he had left behind.
"You are amazing! I really like you, Tjer~!" A light reappeared in his eyes as he sang my name.
The wind picked up—I clenched my jaw, and wrapped both hands around my sword.
He crushed my jaw as he took hold of it, lifting me off the ground, followed by a step heavy enough to shake the house.
The heat from his fingers disappeared while the pain still stayed.
With each second that passed, a heavy bang followed against the back of my head, followed by wood cracking and glass shattering.
As the momentum gradually slowed, I caught glimpses of the craters I had left behind, with the bodies from Kage that lay room after room.
A bang echoed through my spine, unable to crack the wood behind me.
I will face him here. He still stood there—ten rooms separating us.
A single blink.
And he was gone.
I need to stay inside.
A gust flew by.
My sword was held in front of me—in the way I had been taught.
Each room he passed, rubble flew.
That was my only way to track him.
NOW! It was the room right before mine, diminishing his options as I stepped forward, revealing my entire body as my blade descended from above my head.
Huh...!?
It was not the usual air that I hit.
But neither was it his body.
Heavy layers of wind had met the edge of my blade—it was the wind itself that guarded him.
"ARGHHHH!" I screamed, cutting through every layer separating us.
Until my blade moved through space like usual.
Finally—
The ringing of steel broke through my thought,
"Did you forget about my blade?" He said, sheathing it again.
"Isn't this fun?! Let this go on!" His arms spread out, his eyes widened as he approached.
"But this area is a bit tight don't you think?"
I need to do somet—
His hand appeared around my throat,
"Let's go back outside."
He held me out in front of him, I couldn't feel anything except for the wind that carried me.
The sounds of wooden boards slowly cracking came from behind me, but I couldn't feel anything weigh down on me as we broke through the final wall that kept this room together.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"This is so much better, right!?"
What can I do? What is left for me?
Even when it was the way I had learned to survive, no plans came to me.
I lifted my head, and looked at the clouds above,
This is his realm...
I have no other choice. I held my sword out once again, and followed the same plan from before—my only plan.
Just fight.
"I'm coming..." His voice was taken by the wind that followed.
'Left.'
Another voice had reached me.