Signs of rain
The green barrier ford between the wizard’s face and Haru’s fist.
The fist touched the erald surface, but at the sa mont, flas burst from Haru’s hand. The barrier cracked, shattered, and the punch went straight through, hitting the wizard’s nose.
The wizard staggered backward, clutching his face.
Haru had already dashed to the right, heading straight for Cedrick.
He spun his body. He drew his sword in one fluid motion. He slashed from bottom to top, Cedrick dodged, leaning his torso backward. Haru spun his body again. Side kick, Cedrick blocked with his forearm.
Haru didn’t stop. He dashed forward, giving his enemy no space, no room to breathe. He began to unleash a series of sword strikes. Diagonal. Horizontal. Vertical. Thrust. Spinning cut.
Cedrick kept defending. Dodging. Retreating.
Haru raised his sword above his head, preparing a heavy vertical cut, but a green rope, made of magical energy, wrapped around his wrist and pulled.
"The wizard..." thought Haru, freezing in midair. "I had forgotten about that little shit..."
Cedrick took advantage. He stomped hard on Haru’s stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs. The wizard pulled the rope, bringing Haru staggering toward him. He took a dagger from his waist, preparing to stab Haru in the back.
Haru did a sorsault, stepping on the wizard’s head in mid-spin. He jumped high, slashed the air with his sword, and a burst of fire shot out of the blade, flying toward the wizard.
The wizard turned, raising his hands, creating another green shield.
Cedrick, seeing Haru still in the air, made an explosive dash. He took advantage of the vulnerability. He tried to stab him straight in the chest.
Haru hit Cedrick’s sword with his own blade, deflecting the blow to the side.
He landed on the ground.
Cedrick landed next to the wizard, the two standing side by side, looking at Haru. Cedrick smiled. He looked at Haru’s sword.
"Your sword is breaking," he said, chuckling softly. "There’s still ti to surrender..."
Haru’s blade had several cracks. Pieces of tal were missing. The tip was bent.
Cedrick continued:
"I always thought you were smart."
Haru took a deep breath, looked at the broken sword in his hand, and then looked at the two enemies in front of him.
The wizard’s book began to float beside him, the pages turning by themselves. Runes glowed in the air. The wizard stretched out his hand, and a wave of green energy enveloped Haru, holding him in place. His muscles locked up. He couldn’t move.
Paralysis.
Cedrick advanced. His sword began to glow gold, the blade vibrating with accumulated power.
"Cut of a Thousand Golden Stars!" He prepared his strike.
"I won’t die here!" Haru shouted. "Not this ti!"
He forced his body. He broke the paralysis with sheer willpower, placing his broken sword in front of him, holding it with both hands.
Cedrick’s cut ca from bottom to top, eting Haru’s blade, the two swords clashing. Energy exploded from the impact. Sparks flew. The ground cracked beneath Haru’s feet.
His sword caught fire. Red flas rose up the broken blade.
Cedrick’s eyes widened. "How can this brat unleash the fire of the Valtherion!?"
Haru had the strength to stay in that power struggle. But the sword did not. The blade cracked further. tal shards began to fall off.
Haru had already anticipated this. The mont the sword broke in half, he spun his body, letting Cedrick pass through the pressure of his own blow.
A shard from the broken blade flew upward, spinning in the air. Haru dashed toward the mage.
The mage raised his hand. A wall of earth rose in front of him, blocking the way.
Haru jumped. In midair, with the rest of the broken sword in his hand, he hit the shard that was still flying.
TINK!
The piece of tal was projected like a bullet.
It pierced the wizard’s skull. The wizard’s eyes widened. He didn’t expect that, and fell backwards, dead before he hit the ground.
Haru spun her body in the air. With her free hand, the one holding only Isabela’s panties, she pointed at Cedrick’s back. She concentrated all her remaining mana.
"Fire Cannon!"
BANG!
The explosion lit up the entire forest, flas consuming the surrounding trees.
Rain began to fall heavily, trying to extinguish the fire. In the distance, the barking of the mansion’s dogs echoed, growing closer.
Haru landed on the ground, panting, and looked at his hand. Only one panty remained, the one in the hand that held the sword.
He took a deep breath. Exhausted. Then he saw Cedrick’s silhouette erging from the smoke and fire of the explosion, still standing, burned, wounded, but alive.
Haru pays attention to him... Cedrick’s sword was broken, at the last second he defended himself with his sword...
Without giving each other ti. Woosh, the two clashed in a fight of broken swords and quick fists, Haru received and returned two more punches...
Isabela opened her eyes, her vision blurred by the rain and the poison. The cold mud stuck to her skin. Her last mory, Cedrick’s breath, collided with the brutal reality in front of her: Haru and Cedrick in a deadly clash.
"What’s going on?!" she muttered, trying to get up, but her legs gave way, returning her to the mud.
Cedrick roared, a guttural sound of pure frustration. He lunged forward, aiming a thrust straight for Haru’s skull. It was supposed to be the end. But Haru didn’t dodge. With a movent that defied his instinct for self-preservation, he interposed his own open hand. Cedrick’s broken steel pierced Haru’s palm, tearing flesh and nerves all the way to the poml of the sword.
"Are you crazy?!" asked Cedrick, his face inches from Haru’s, paralyzed by the slave’s lack of hesitation.
"Very!" replied Haru.
Without hesitation, Haru used his impaled hand as an anchor. With his other hand, he drove the tip of a broken sword directly into the traitor’s skull. The sound of tal breaking bone was muffled by thunder that lit up the forest.
Cedrick fell to the side. Blood mixed with the rain. In his last seconds, his eyes focused on Isabela one last ti. "Miss... I’m sorry. In the end, my greed got the better of ..." Cedrick’s consciousness faded.
Haru dropped what was left of the weapon and the panties. The silence of victory was broken by Isabela’s trembling voice:
"Those... those are my panties?!"
Haru did not answer. He turned, trying to walk towards her. One step. Two. The world began to tilt. The exhaustion of mana and loss of blood finally took their toll. He collapsed. Isabela, in a desperate effort, staggered to her feet and caught his body. Haru’s head rested on her thighs.
[Touch of the Goddess]: ACTIVATED
"I didn’t tell you..." he whispered, looking into Isabela’s wide eyes.
He was right... Her voice beca a distant echo, the sound of rain disappeared, and darkness rose before Haru’s eyes.
The absolute silence was replaced by an electric vibration. Haru opened his eyes. He was no longer in the mud, but in the neon void. Before him, the divine figure watched him from her throne with an enigmatic smile.
"I confess I am surprised, Mizuki..." she said.
Haru rose slowly, feeling strangely light.
"Your na... is Chronia?" he asked, staring at the goddess.
"Yes."
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