Amidst the horde, the Elder danced—or something like that.
Guille couldn't quite tell what he was doing, but he moved with too much fluidity to see clearly.
The sword he had taken into battle was no longer in his hands. Instead, he was fighting barehanded, striking the wanderers.
The Elder used a strange martial art.
His blows targeted the jaws and stomachs of the wanderers. Each hit shattered bone and flesh, leaving his victims as mere burdens.
Guille couldn't keep focusing on him—the wave of wanderers was crashing down on him and the others with more force.
Tom, for his part, watched the Elder in awe. A glimmer of realization flickered in his eyes.
"Is that boxing?" he wondered.
But he soon forgot about it, momentarily, due to the horde.
The Elder was euphoric.
"Jab, straight, hook, dodge, dodge, dodge, straight, uppercut."
In his mind, he was reviewing a series of movements that he executed perfectly.
The irregular wanderer had lost his grin. With all his teeth knocked out, he looked like a toothless old man. He swung his sword to slash at the Elder, but it bounced back as his arm twisted at an unnatural angle.
This had been happening ever since he faced the man before him.
Not a single wanderer managed to touch him.
When one lunged, its head ended up flying through the air.
Another tried to bite his feet and only chomped at air.
A group charged at him all at once—each of them ended up with inverted or dented faces.
The wanderer tried to step back, but the horde behind blocked him.
When he recovered from the sword recoil, he tried to swing again—only to find his vision shift toward the sky. The next moment, he saw the ground, then to his left.
He tried to stand, but his foot was struck and he collapsed sideways.
He thought he could get up—until his head flew through the air…
The Elder continued landing punches left and right.
Thunder
The sound of his punches began to compete with the rain.
His fists started to glow red, then began to burn.
"I think I'm starting to remember," he thought.
A wanderer flew at him from a blind spot, mouth wide open.
Crack–Splash
A moment later, its head exploded. The Elder didn't even glance at it.
He could feel every movement around him. His body moved instinctively to the ideal position.
He stepped to the left and twisted his waist, driving his body into a hook.
He ducked low to follow with an uppercut, then dodged and came back with a straight to a wanderer's liver.
They couldn't feel pain, but the speed and force in each blow were enough to take out any of them with just one hit.
Thunder
The Elder stepped back.
In his vision, every movement appeared in slow motion. It was like looking at a photograph.
"A photo? What's a photo? I feel like I'm remembering more."
Not even a second had passed.
As his foot landed firmly, a tingling sensation climbed from his quads and glutes, through his obliques, deltoids, triceps, and biceps, until it reached his fist.
Every fiber of his being recognized the movement, but his mind was still desynchronized.
Even so, he thought of the name that came to mind and launched forward, throwing a punch.
"Blazing Straight!"
In the next instant, a light flared—and everything in front of him was reduced to ashes.
Thunder
In the midst of the rain, two figures met.
Thunder
Santos stared intensely at the creature before him.
A black knight dragged one man and carried two others over his shoulders.
The two faced each other in silence.
Sojep and Julia were behind the knight, but Santos never spared them a glance.
The knight dropped the dragging man and tossed the other two like rags. He slid his hand behind his back and, from the shadow of his waist, drew a strange sword.
Santos planted his black sword into the ground and walked slowly forward. Rain streamed down his cheeks as he smiled.
Step
Step
Step
The black knight also approached, tightening his grip and stepping forward with hollow thuds as the rain poured over his helmet's visor.
Step
Step
Step
Just a meter apart, they stared directly into each other's eyes.
A palpable pressure filled the surroundings, choking Sojep and Julia. On the verge of fainting, Julia clung to a tree while Sojep stared at the ground, trembling in fear.
He looked up again to see the man facing the knight—but the knight's massive frame blocked his view of the man opposing him.
Santos tightened his grip. At this distance, one swing could finish anyone—including the knight before him.
—Just like that, we draw our swords, fight, and that's it? A hello would've been nice at least— said Santos.
—… —was the only response. Silence.
—I see. Well then...
Thunder
Clang!
As if waiting for a signal, their swords clashed. A shockwave rippled out.
Santos held his sword firmly with both hands, while the knight seemed to force his weapon forward with just one.
He slid his left hand back and, with a swift motion, struck Santos' guard with his sheath.
Santos withdrew his sword just in time and dodged the knight's incoming kick.
He lunged at the knight and pushed, but only managed to move him one step.
The knight didn't miss this mistake and slashed at Santos, not giving him a chance to breathe.
CLING! CLANG!
He swung his sheath toward Santos' head, but Santos dodged by stepping back.
The knight tried to strike again, but Santos had already begun moving swiftly.
From less than a meter away, Santos spun his sword and struck toward the knight's side with devastating force.
The knight used his sheath to block the blow, only to be pushed and slammed into a tree.
—Come on, don't tell me blocking is all you can do —Santos taunted.
The impact made the tree bend almost to the point of falling.
Creak
The knight stood upright and looked at Santos indifferently.
He reversed his grip on sword and sheath and crouched like a beast.
Even crouching, he was still Santos' height. He lunged with a beastly charge and slammed into Santos, who blocked the attack—but still got sent crashing into a tree.
Creak
Crash
This time, he went straight through the tree, toppling the colossal trunk.
Boom
Thunder
The crash shook the ground slightly.
But neither of them cared.
—Yeah, now we're talking… —Santos said with a smile. —But let's save the rest for later, Khan!.
—… —the knight tilted his head.
Khan, the Desolator—the tenth of the Hundred—saw Santos' sword glow and realized something.
—…Down —came a single word from his gutural voice, pressing against the surroundings.
In the next instant, a light flashed and everything at Santos' chest height was cleaved through.
Boom
Crash
As the trees fell, Sojep—who had been standing moments before—watched the expressions of astonishment, fear, and disbelief on Vashina, Fredar, and Cuar.