Chapter Eight – It's a Real World
"They know each other."
A voice whispered quickly within me.
Meanwhile, the black-armored knight's response was only one thing..
He raised his hand high.
Then it fell like a sledgehammer.
His strike descended with absolute violence, aimed directly at Monali's bow.
Once again, a massive sound of impact echoed..
I won't hide it from you…
Fear was tunneling through me without permission, without accountability or restraint.
How could it not?
This confrontation… is something that couldn't happen on Earth.
But here.
I was living a scene resembling a superhero movie.
One possesses an absolute offense,
And the other possesses an absolute defense.
The only weakling between Monali and the Armored Knight… was me.
And without a doubt.
I was the target.
"You are exerting double the effort just to parry me… move aside."
His voice boomed harshly,
And with his words, he delivered another strike, trying to push Monali away.
A strike.
Then another.
Then a third.
All were parried with terrifying precision.
However…
There was an ugly feeling gnawing at my insides.
Monali…
Is not his equal.
The Armored Knight retreated several steps.
It seemed exhaustion began to creep into him after that volume of strikes.
But Monali.
She didn't move.
She remained standing before me,
As if she were a shield that could not be broken.
The Armored Knight raised his hand again.
And muttered faintly.
Perhaps he said something like:
"You've forced my hand."
I wasn't sure.
But the direction of his hand confirmed my suspicions.
His hand…
Finally gripped The Banner Reaper.
Suddenly...
Everything changed.
The air exploded.
A violent mass of air uprooted the grass from a wide area around the Armored Knight.
He raised his sword high…
Like a celestial spear.
Monali finally moved.
She stepped forward several paces,
And tightened her grip on the arrow with violence.
Within me.
Fear joined forces with old companions.
Anxiety.
Tension.
Confusion… regarding what was to come.
My breathing quickened suddenly.
As if a strange energy pierced my being and collided with it violently.
No sooner had that begun.
The Armored Knight moved two steps.
Then…
He vanished.
He vanished from my sight completely.
And reappeared near Monali in an instant.
His sword was still raised.
For just one moment.
Then he brought it down toward her with fury.
"Monali! Get away!"
I screamed without thinking.
No matter how strong she was…
No one could parry that horror descending from the sky.
A side step.
Then a flash.
Her movement exploded like lightning,
And she withdrew from the path of the strike.
The Banner Reaper slammed into the ground.
A new crater was formed,
Larger than everything that preceded it.
Monali was fine..
A sense of reassurance descended upon me…
But my face...
Darkened.
I don't know how to describe that feeling.
I am a writer.
I have a published work titled { Echo Shadows } on the Webnovel platform.
What distinguished my work.
Was that my protagonist relies on intelligence more than strength.
At that moment…
The Armored Knight's strike seemed to me like one of my protagonist's clever moves.
A feint.
To move Monali away from his true target.
Opening a direct path.
To eliminate me.
I could almost swear I felt his mocking smile behind the mask.
No sooner had he pulled his sword.
Than he lunged toward me.
"This must truly be the end now…"
My mind was screaming the truth in a faint voice.
While my eyes followed the rising of his hand,
And his massive sword.
Everything seemed slow…
But it was never so.
Suddenly.
He stopped.
The sword fell from his hand.
His hands rose toward his head,
And he fell to one knee.
Thunder roared in the sky.
At that moment.
The black curtain vanished completely.
And the sky… settled once again.
I looked toward him again.
His staggering ended.
He carried his sword.
Moved.
And struck.
"Swoosh!"
From the side.
A terrible yellow light struck him suddenly.
His body flew away.
Twenty steps…
Then ten more…
Until he settled in the dirt.
His armor.
A large part of it was shattered.
"The sterile sunlight…"
The Armored Knight muttered, raising his head toward Monali.
She was standing far off.
Her arrow was drawn.
And in its center.
A glowing yellow light.
A smile slanted on his lips from between the cracks of his helmet.
Part of his face was now exposed.
His red eyes burned with rage.
His long ears revealed his lineage.
He stood again.
Raised his sword.
"You should have accepted the Master's invitation… instead of serving this helpless one."
Two steps.
Then he appeared before me.
And before he could strike.
Monali was present again.
Another strike.
He retreated.
Then rose.
His armor shattered further.
But he… did not care.
Moments passed.
The armor became almost non-existent.
Beneath it appeared an outfit similar to Monali's.
But entirely black.
He grabbed the helmet.
And threw it away.
Long black hair.
A serious, long-featured face.
He pointed his sword toward Monali.
"Ten strikes. That is your limit.
It is over.
Step back now… Sister."
…Whataaaaaaat
They are siblings.. so that's why.. he doesn't attack her.. I thought there was an emotional bond between them.. yes, siblings have an emotional bond as well, but.. I thought it was a non-sibling bond.. Perhaps now..
I have a chance of survival..
But…
He said her strikes were finished.
Yet… she doesn't look it.
Is he lying?
Or is she faking her toughness?
Based on my limite knowledge of her...
I would say:
"You are faking it."
Before my mind could finish the sentence..
His raspy voice rang out with the truth.
He raised his sword.
Two steps.
Before me again.
Shall I say it's the end once more?
A part of me feels reassured..
But whenever I feel that..
The opposite happens.
Damn…
He's really going to hit me.
Then.
"You bastard… leave Master Ali alone!"
A voice roared violently.
A massive man, three meters tall.
Muscular physique.
And on his shoulders.
Two tree trunks.
His eyes were deep as the forest.
And in his hand.
The Unbreakable Axe.
Jo.
He drove his feet into the ground,
And lunged toward the Knight with ferocity.
The Knight was close to me.
But his gaze turned toward Jo violently.
He turned like a precision machine.
Raised his sword high.
A dense black energy gathered around The Banner Reaper..
Stronger…
Ten times over.
And Jo.
Did not retreat..
I screamed:
"Jo! Watch out! His strike is powerful!"
He replied immediately:
"And I… my strikes are powerful as well, My Lord."
A fierce smile was etched on his face.
He looked completely different from before. He was no longer the old Jo.
The evolution…
Changed him.
It added something new to his personality... something that made him.. wild..
He raised his axe.
And instead of attacking.
He tilted it to receive the strike.
"Harvest."
The word rang out from the Knight's lips.
The strike fell.
The collision roared until it gave me a sharp headache.
Dust filled the clearing.
Through the shadows.
Jo's feet were planted in the ground like an ancient tree.
His hands were raised.
Carrying the Unbreakable Axe.
And The Banner Reaper's strike.
Was stopped.
Jo's hands were trembling like a magnet and making a repeated sound.
Then..
He tightened his grip. And stopped the trembling.
He changed his grip position.
Raised the axe high.
Then he jumped.
And before I realized what he intended..
He descended like a celestial cannon.
And struck.
The earth split open.
And in the next moment.
I was twenty meters away, in Monali's arms.
A long line of dust appeared.
It was clear she had caught me from rolling away..
The dust faded.
Jo stood in the middle of his crater.
And ten meters away..
There was something new.
Blood.
Lots of blood.
Covering the ground near the Armored Knight.
A long line in his chest,
Bleeding like a waterfall.
And yet.
He was smiling.
"What kind of fighter is this?"
I couldn't help but whisper in admiration..
He had taken 10 powerful arrow strikes..
And a devastating strike from Jo..
Blood surrounded him like a pool..
And his invincible armor was entirely destroyed..
His powerful sword had been stopped..
Despite that..
It seems that we..
are losing here....