And just like that, it was time to face off with the Wraithclaws who used the time we so generously gifted them to organize themselves much better.
“Wait! Let’s talk this out like gentlemen! I don’t want to have to rebuild my home, you know how much I spent on this place?!” A sudden voice interrupted me just before I could truly get into the mood of murdering dozens of my enemies.
“ten gold?” I threw my random guess at him. I didn’t want to start conversing with the enemies since they could use the momentary loll in the battle to come up with better countermeasures. Your next journey awaits at empire
“T-t-ten?! Are you insane, brother?! I live in bumfuck nowhere, just getting the materials here nearly cost me half of that amount! You have no clue how much hard work’s fruit this mansion is!” The speaker of these strange sentences finally became visible as he came to the front of his soldiers. He was standing behind two tankers who had their human-sized shields raised to protect him.
The man in question had a fake eye with a marble in its socket and his other was also marred with scars. He looked like a man who had seen it all and his travels had probably made him ‘a bit’ off in the rationality department. That’s my long-winded way of saying that he looked like a certified madman.
Ayame wasn’t having his bullshit as she began shouting, “hard work?! You got the money by taking from the poor and vulnerable! You ruined numerous lives to fill your bottomless coffers! You and your cronies are the lowest of the low!”
“Brother, keep ya girl from barking lessons of morality at me. My mother did just that throughout my entire childhood and that kind soul got nothing but beatings from my father as a reward for her good heart. She even died at his hands when in his drunken rage he went overboard. In this harsh world, everyone has to strive to provide themselves with the best and most secure lives possible even if that can only be earned by trampling on the innocents. Only the strong get the luxury of deciding their own fate. That’s the life lesson I’d learned over my many years spent in this cruel plane of existence. Anyhow, tell me what you want! I’m amazed at your ability to invade us so seamlessly, therefore I’ll formally forgive all of you and welcome your entire group to the ranks of my inner confidants.”
“I’m astonished by your seemingly endless vanity. Do you truly think I invaded your home to be recruited by you?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“I don’t know, like a trial by fire. You proved your worth not with pretty words but with hardcore actions. I can most certainly respect that.” He shrugged his shoulders when I pointed out his unconventional leap in logic. “What’s your name, brother? I’m Blackjack.”
I ignored his introductions and replied to his earlier words briefly, “I’m sorry to pop the merry little bubble of delusions you’d surrounded yourself with, but no. I’m here to take all that you have to your name. Riches, land, and even people. With that out of the way, let us get back to it. [Flash Strike].”
The world instantly exploded into blurred motion. My Stormblade spell surged through me like a bolt of electricity and I darted forward with supernatural speed. The air around me hissed as I moved so fast that I nearly transformed into the storm itself that was aimed straight at Blackjack and his life.
The two shield bearers that flanked him barely had good enough reaction time to move a quarter of an inch before I was already at their position, thus they had no hopes of deterring me. My precise control guided my blade in the perfect arc, allowing me to thread the narrow gap between the slabs of reinforced metal. My aim was absolute: a clean, lethal strike to the man who stood in front of me as my next stepping stone in my endless climb to reach the very top.
The blade was a mere inch away from sinking deep into his chest when a metallic clang reverberated through the space, stopping me cold in my tracks. My saber flew off course since it was deflected by a weapon I hadn’t even seen him draw. My eyes snapped to Blackjack only to see a wide, mad grin stretch across his scarred face – a grin that made him look like he belonged in an asylum more than a battlefield.
“Oh! What a speedy man you are despite your hulking size, brother!” he cackled while his single eye swirled with madness. In his hand a wickedly curved blade emerged. Unlike mine which was pitch black, it was of a proper shiny steel and was a lot more curved. He reminded me a bit of some Islamic pirate boss. “However, I’ve seen both faster and stronger as well. You’ll need more than a party trick to best me!”
I didn’t respond for I was too busy assessing the situation. His parry hadn’t just been reactionary – it was calculated as if he’d predicted exactly where I would strike. This man wasn’t just some backwater thug playing warlord as I had expected him to. No, this was someone who had danced on the edge of death way too many times and lived to tell the tale.
Blackjack twirled his blade lazily as if this was all a fun little game to him. “You’ve got the fire, I’ll give you that, but you’ll need a whole lot more to burn me, brother. Is it my turn to make my warrior’s introduction?”
Blackjack’s grin widened with his single eye glowing with red chaotic energy as he lowered himself into a fighting stance. “Let’s see if you can handle this, brother!” he roared as his voice dripped with exhilaration. “[Bladed Vortex]!”
The air around him shifted and in the next moment, his form became foggy for just a heartbeat. Then, with a strong *vrmmm* sound that came from the air he displaced, he zig-zagged out from behind the cover provided to him by the two towering shields. His movements were erratic and unpredictable and each step carried him closer to me in a whirlwind of chaotic speed.
