Without hesitation, Gerard had cut up several Templar Knights; each swing brought fear and devastation among the lines of Knights, causing them to run away.
He raised his Bardiche in the air, and like magic, it's as if it disappeared into the void. Blood ran through his helmet like runny water, covering his armor in dark-red. Patches of greenery were tainted by the crimson hue of Gerard's dead enemies.
He showed no mercy, letting all his strength rampage throughout like a torrent. Cleaving his way was a hassle, despite them falling like leaves, their body armor was hard to cut.
Gerard had to exert a certain amount of strength to make it seamlessly a mindless massacre, but he was calculative of his strikes and stabs. Only aiming for weak spots while endlessly dodging attacks from all sides.
Draped in a dark cape and the shadow as his armor, he continued his onslaught without any signs of stopping soon. The Shadow of Yuuyhrar City was a nickname given to him after he overwhelmed his enemies by blocking the sun and removing their sense of sight.
Of course, it was an illusion—yet the sensation and the sight of it were to behold. Under the covered sun, Gerard took advantage of a breath of fresh air.
Without exerting much strength, he had killed almost a hundred Templar Knights. His breath was as stable as lead, muscles getting warmed up while he continued to swing through bodies after bodies of what was deemed to be the pinnacle of humanity.
'So if they call this pinnacle of humanity, then does that mean we're monsters?' Gerard thought about it. It was an insult to his training and hard work that made him what he is today.
Nonetheless, he continued his massacre. Templar Knights falling left and right, their Colonel too stunned to give orders. At this point, they will lose almost half of their brigade to only a single person.
"Formation A!!!" Swiftly, Templar Knights formed in their positions. Surrounding Gerard, their guards were up and their weapons pointed at him.
"..." Gerard stood still, he tried to cut the formation—it was blocked by the shield, a massive mark etched throughout.
"Quite sturdy, this is new." Gerard looked in intrigue at their shields. While their weapon remained the same, the shields were unknowingly upgraded.
"Just give it up and surrender. The rest of my men will storm the village and into the jungle; no one will be spared." Colonel lifted his hand and pointed to the village, and a flock of Templar Knights immediately ran towards it.
Suddenly, their heads flew to the sky. Gerard had escaped from the formation and painted the fields red. Even though he had taken their sight away, they managed to run towards the village without stumbling into other places.
"They managed to escape from my grasp?" Gerard began to scan around the brigade, there was a priest mixed in. Only priests of the 1st position could dispel it. A sense of pure and rather 'holy' aura could be felt among them.
Gerard is no match against a brigade with a 1st-class priest. From that moment of realization, he covered himself with his cape and escaped. The sky shone through the darkness, tainted by the blood of the Templar Knights; it was like a field of roses.
***
'A dream? What kind of dream do I want when I grow up? Maybe... To be like my dad, the fastest in the world!' Laughter filled the air. It was I, a few years younger.
Puberty had yet to reach me at that time, and we were in our old house, celebrating my 8th birthday. A myriad of confetti and balloons ran through the air, it was a joyous day for me.
Or at least, that is what it seems to be. It is not the scenario that I remembered, it was a bit emptier than that. If I recall, my dad was not present at that time—only my mom and I celebrated.
That was before I knew that she was mute. I didn't fully understand why she didn't want to talk, but her expressions were more than enough to tell that she was elated and grateful for such an amazing day.
I looked at her trance, still wondering why she couldn't talk. She had told me countless times about how she was born without vocal cords, but my dad said that she met her when she still had her voice.
Curious as to why, I asked my mom by sign language.
"My dad said when he met you, you could still speak. But you said that you couldn't speak when you were born?"
My mother replied in the same sign language.
"It will come to a point where you'll know it, right now it's still too early for you."
Seeing her words, I patiently waited for the day that my mom would reveal why she couldn't speak; it was like a hidden family secret!
After the whole celebration, I was inside my room drawing while my mom was in the living room, when suddenly...-
***
"!!" Lein woke up feeling refreshed, yet a cold shiver went down his spine as he looked around. A moment of brief relief ran through like the trailing cold wind, but he was not in the clear yet, as he speculated that someone was following behind him.
He was right; someone was following him. Yet, the identity of the person was unknown. Nonetheless, he continued his journey. However, he felt something amiss. As if he had forgotten something."
"...The Stone!" Lein immediately packed his things and went back to the cliff. The trail of cold air also followed him, but they lost trace of Lein. Confused, they went back to where he was a while ago, only to be met with a chokehold.
"Ghhkk!!" In reflex, they tried to grab Lein's arms, but ultimately failed as Lein dropped down on the grass, their spine at the verge of being dislocated.
"Who are you? Why are you following me?" Lein tensed the muscles in his arms, increasing his grip and restricting more of their airflow.
"W-wait..! I'm here for you...! Your dad sent me to help you get to the Academy safely!!" They pleaded for mercy while Lein slowly loosened his lock on their head.
"An Academy you say...?" Lein removed his headlock and she immediately gasped for air.
Streams of water begain their downpour as the skies darken, with the shade of leaves that clinged onto branches—they were safe from being drenched.
"You got the stone? Hand it over." She extended her hands to Lein, unbeknownst to her, he doesn't have the stone.
He forgot about it.
"Why should I?" Lein bluffed, refusing to cooperate.
She scoffed, her face seemed to twitch as her mind began to think of ways, ruthless ways rather. He had shown a bold yet arrogant statement that pissed her off.
"Look kiddo, I got no time for this—just hand over the stone and I'll take you to a safe place." Nevertheless she continues to offer him help.
Only for her to be rejected again.
"I don't need your assistance, I'll find it on my own." Lein immediately covered his mouth—he had accidentally slipped-up.
"Oh, hohoho? Perhaps you lost the stone by any chance???" A cheeky wide grin can be seen on her face, a mocking tone echoed through Lein's ears like it had been repeated several times.
Lein felt silent, simple as that. There is nothing to refute what she said. He knew he had missed something.
Seeing his distraught face, she smirked;
"Rest assured, you don't need that lousily carved stone, I made a few just in case~" She grabbed several rocks with an "X" etched into it.
"I used the finest stones for this, compared to what your father made, I can create much better items than him!" She laughed as she roared, fierce and confident.
The weather passed, the smell of rain only lingered as rays of sunshine sliced through the dark clouds. Both of them forgot about the time as they converse, she continued to talk as they made their way to the portal.
After a few minutes of running, and a few conversations—they came across a tree with the same marks as the rocks.
She squinted her eyes, "Looks like we're finally here. And then he said to go top-right...?"
"Well whatever!!" She said as she sprinted north-east.
Lein followed, conserving his strength—he wasn't as quick as her, but around the same speed as she ran. And eventually, they had reached their destination.
It was a relatively small cave, around the height of an average human, it's width is big enough to fit three people. But inside the cave—there is only darkness, even light cannot shine an inch through.
Beside the entrance, there is a marking—the same 'X' mark as the stone, as she pulled out her own item and placed it into the marking, there was a distant sound.
Click.
As the noise trickled and echoed, the stone that she had embedded vanished into thin air, leaving a strand of blue dust as it floats.
"Are you sure this is it?"