"Kiwi? Why are you here?" I asked, eyes wide in disbelief.
That brown hair, combed right down the middle and that long staff, a very durable staff, I rembered it well.
As I instinctively took a few steps back, my voice lowered. "Don’t tell ... you’re here to take revenge for Black Eagle?"
If Black Eagle was involved, this was very bad.
But Kiwi just shook his head, calm as ever. "No. I already left that group."
He looked straight in the eye.
"I ca here to et you... and your friend."
I was confused, questions bubbling in my head, but before I could open my mouth, the mantis shrieked and charged again.
Damn this overgrown insect couldn’t wait five seconds? Can you see we were in the middle of a conversation?
With a screech, it swung its remaining three bladed forelegs in a wide horizontal arc, aiming to turn Kiwi into half.
"Watch out!" I yelled, stepping back.
But Kiwi? He didn’t flinch.
Kiwi launched into the air, his movents fluid and deliberate, light as if the weight of the world did not apply to him. He stepped off the crumbling wall with precision, sprinting across it at an angle before vaulting skyward in a wide arc. It was more than just agility, it was trained instinct.
The mantis hissed when its blades sliced nothing but air. It jerked its head upward, catching sight of Kiwi soaring above. Without hesitation, it unfurled its veined wings with a snap and burst into the sky in pursuit.
I, anwhile, had already slipped into the nearest house. Right now... I’m nothing but a bystander without my power.
As the mantis soared with terrifying speed, its bladed forelegs whipped through the air in a flurry of deadly slashes, each one fast enough to tear through steel. It was a vicious assault, and Kiwi was mid-air, seemingly defenseless, caught in freefall.
For a split second, ti seem slowed.
Then, he moved.
Just before the blades could reach him, Kiwi kicked out with one leg, as though pressing against the air itself. His body spun with impossible grace, twisting out of the line of attack in a fluid motion that defied gravity. The insect’s claws barely brushed his cloak.
He moved like wind. No wasted effort and no hesitation. His movent was so elegant and smooth, my jaw dropped so hard I think I heard it click.
After he rotated mid-air, Kiwi brought down his staff with precision and force, striking one of the mantis’s forelegs. The creature let out a shriek as the leg fractured at the joint, severing completely. The jagged blade spun through the air like a deadly scythe, slicing past my face and embedding itself into the ground just inches from where I stood. I froze. That could have been .
Kiwi landed gracefully, his staff still humming from the impact. The mantis screeched, released a cry that echoed through the ruined street. It glanced at its remaining limbs. Without hesitation, it raised the two bladeless forelegs and severed them itself in one clean, brutal motion.
The limbs dropped to the ground with a dull thud. Green blood seeped onto the stone.
Now, it looked like a real praying mantis.
Kiwi stood in a firm battle stance, his body rooted like stone, calm, but unshakable. As the mantis charged, fury in every stride and blade, it was clear the creature had lost all sense of caution. All it wanted now was to kill the man who wounded it.
But Kiwi’s eyes were deadly sharp. Every motion of the mantis was read, every slash anticipated. He moved with precision, evading the vicious blades by re inches. And with every graceful dodge, his staff struck with clean, controlled blows aid at the mantis’s joints and carapace. Steel t flesh with the sound of cracking armor. He was dismantling the creature, piece by piece.
Watching him handle the mantis like dispatching a re insect raised more questions than answers. How did soone this skilled even end up with a bandit group? Was it all just a clever disguise?
His movents were sharp and controlled. I couldn’t help but wonder if this man was hiding a power rivaling even the leader of Black Eagle, Phoenix.
So many questions flooded my mind as Kiwi continued his one-sided battle.
I stared at the fallen foreleg near , then back at Kiwi. Honestly, I couldn’t tell if he was toying with the mantis or if he was struggling, he was mostly dodging and striking the body, never going for a decisive blow.
Lucky for , my trait made lifting that heavy blade feel like picking up a feather. Green blood oozed from the severed limb as I gripped the blade like a scythe, tightening my resolve and stepping forward toward the mantis.
As Kiwi weaved through the mantis’ furious attacks, he caught sight of charging in from behind. At first, he looked utterly baffled, who the hell uses a monster’s own severed limb as a weapon? But seeing my bold move, he kept distracting the mantis without hesitation.
I sprinted toward the beast, leapt onto a nearby cart, then vaulted over it, swinging the blade in a perfect, horizontal arc. The blade was so sharp it sliced through the mantis’s massive body cleanly without the slightest resistance.
The mantis’s upper torso collapsed first, crashing heavily to the ground, followed by its severed lower half.
"Thanks, Alan," Kiwi said, tapping on the shoulder. "Let’s head to the mayor’s house. There’s a shelter there." Without waiting for a reply, he sprinted ahead. I hurried after him.
"How do you know my na?" I called out, just to be sure. "Why are you looking for us, Kiwi?"
"I’ll explain later. And don’t call Kiwi, that’s not my real na."
"But I like that na," I said with a grin.
Kiwi paused for a mont, lost in thought, then shook his head and kept running ahead.
As we ran, monsters kept appearing, each one more bizarre than the last. First, there was a chicken with a crow’s head that squawked like a parrot, mocking by copying everything I said. Then ca an alligator with two heads, one was a regular alligator, the other an alligator gar. Yeah, I know it had sa na, but one a reptile and the other basically a fish.
And every ti, Kiwi would tell to stand back and hide while he handled everything like I was so kind of nuisance. Man, I really wanted my power back just so I could show him who’s boss.
After nearly 15 minutes of running, fighting, and hiding, we finally arrived at the mayor’s house. The place was surrounded by a tall gate and had a yard the size of a football field. It was a two-story bungalow, painted white, not too fancy for the town’s leader, but solid enough.
At the gate, a crowd had gathered, mostly adult n, busily helping carry the injured inside. As we approached, a man with a sword stepped toward us.
"Are you guys hurt?" he asked.
"No, we’re fine," Kiwi replied calmly.
I looked at the man, concern pressing in. "How’s the situation?" I asked, my voice tight with worry for the town.
"I don’t know much about everything either," the man said, gripping his fist tightly. "But we managed to save as many people as we could. Still, many were slain by those monsters."
He pointed toward the middle of the yard. "Luckily, Jane, the mayor’s daughter, is here. She’s an advanced warder. She’s the one who erected the barrier around this house. So, we’re safe for now."
I followed his gaze and saw a woman standing in the center of the yard. It was obvious she not had a mont to dress properly. Her gown hung loosely around her fra, and the fur sweater on her shoulders looked hastily thrown on. Both her hands were raised in concentration.
At first, I didn’t notice, but as I looked closer, a shimring, bubble-like sphere ford around the house.
So this was the barrier.
I and Kiwi stepped through the barrier and into the yard. The scene hit imdiately, injured people everywhere. Crying, screaming, mourning,it was chaos. Stretchers lined the ground, carrying those who barely clung to life. This was a disaster.
I wanted to help, but without my powers that I did not even understand why I lost, I felt useless.
A woman approached and offered a glass of water. I took it out of courtesy, even though a part of hesitated. Drinking water in this world without knowing the source felt like a gamble I wasn’t ready to take.
"Where’s your other friend?" Kiwi asked, eyes sharp, obviously talking about Bob.
"I don’t know," I replied. "We split up at the inn."
The thought gnawed at . The monsters might be manageable one-on-one, but in numbers... it could get ugly fast. I hoped Bob did not do anything stupid.
As I stared down at the water cup in my hand, suddenly a familiar voice cut through the noise. It was Bob, along with Kel, the boy we’d saved, and his mother, Ria. Behind them ca a few townspeople.
I stood up quickly and headed toward Bob, Kiwi right on my heels..
"Ria! Kel!" A man dashed forward and pulled them both into a tight embrace. It was Liam. Around us, other townsfolk were also embracing the survivors Bob had brought back.
I approached Bob, handing him the water I’d gotten from the lady. He grabbed the cup eagerly, gulping it down like he hadn’t had a drink in days. "Where did you go, Bob?"
After a long exhale, he began to explain. "I was heading to one of the town districts when I saw a group of townspeople under attack, Kel and Ria were with them. I couldn’t just stand by. So I knocked out the monsters and brought them here. Along the way, I brought as many as I could."
As I listened to Bob’s story, I couldn’t help but realize how reliable he was when he set his mind to sothing.
"But dude," Bob suddenly said, wrapping his right arm around my neck and pulling aside, "I think there’s a glitch in our system." His voice dropped to a worried tone. "I can’t use the skills or items from the cards we bought before. The only thing I can use is the Gaia Sword and the skills I had before we linked up. Even my status, it’s like I got a factory reset."
" too. I was worse. I can’t even open my status or summon Indra," I said, feeling the weight of the situation.
Suddenly, blue particles began to swirl around my right hand, coalescing into the shape of a gunblade. The townspeople nearby gasped, and even Kiwi’s eyes widened in shock.
I quickly released the gunblade, it dissolved back into shimring particles before vanishing completely. I swept my hand to clear the last of them.
Kiwi approached us, eyes full of disbelief. "What did you just do?"
Bob’s face suddenly flushed red, his breathing quickening as he stared at Kiwi.
"You!" he hissed, summoning his glowing red Gaia Sword out of nowhere.
Before I could react, Bob charged at Kiwi, sword raised high, aiming to slash him.
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