After Raphael, Rick, and the members of the Myriad Wings defeated their respective Paladins, the first with the remaining four Paladins raged in the front line, the most intense position of the battlefield. In the middle of the battlefield, surrounded by the sounds of war cries and gunshots, two men had been fighting for several minutes since then. One man wielded a sword, while the other was equipped with a gauntlet. “Haaa!” Clink!
Gex, a former member of the Paladins, swung his mithrill longsword overhead and clashed it with his opponent’s gauntlet. It might sound ridiculous that a powerful strike of a sharp edge could not even leave a scratch or dent on a gauntlet of the same material, but it was not impossible if the wielder was Jack the Iron Fist, the greatest martial artist of the kingdom. The same as Gex, Jack was a former Supreme Class adventurer. He was the leader of the top adventurer party during his era. But due to the brutal nature of their party, the members got their adventurer license revoked, and their names gradually disappeared in the history of the kingdom. Jack, along with his former colleague, Frederick, somewhat got invited to join the king’s Twelve Paladins months after they became vagabonds. They immediately accepted the invitation, thinking they could exert dominance in the kingdom, but they were utterly humbled by the captain of the order.
“You are as weak as ever, Gex! No matter what you do, you will never win against me!” “Guh—!” Jack parried the sword, and then he quickly threw a quiet, strong punch to Gex’s chest, whose impact sent Gex flying for several meters. Gex immediately got up after a few seconds, but a deep dent was carved on his cuirass, however. “Haa… Haa…” Gex held his sword firmly as he sharpened his focus. On the other hand, Jack crossed his arms and waited for his opponent to move. In a blink of an eye, Gex suddenly vanished from his spot. Jack smiled and then raised his left fist. Clink! .
With a sharp sound, the sword and the gauntlet met. Gex actually used Instantaneous Movement to teleport himself behind Jack. He then performed a Fast Sword to sever Jack’s head, but Jack instantly read his move, and Gex miserably failed.
“Do you think you could catch me with your cheap tricks? Unfortunately for you, I have the upper hand.” “Kuh!” Jack once again threw his right fist at Gex. Luckily, Gex barely reacted and immediately used his sword to block the incoming punch. But Jack’s fist was way too much for him to handle, so Gex was pushed back by a few feet. “Power Punch!”
Without giving him time and space, Jack quickly rushed forth and used a Level 3 Close Quarter Art technique toward Gex. With Jack finally using a technique, his power and speed significantly improved, and Gex had no time to react or decide.
“Guh—!” Gex instinctively crossed his arms in the last milliseconds in an attempt to block the punch, and the gauntlet landed on his vambraces. The impact was so powerful that the dent on the vambraces punctured Gex’s arms, and he was knocked back anew. Clank. Clank. Clank.
Gex flew midair for a few seconds before landing and rolling on the ground, using his sword in the process. His arms were so severely damaged that Gex was having a hard time getting up. As soon as he was on his knees, Jack suddenly grabbed his scalp with his left hand and lifted him over the ground. Jack was a seven-footer, so Gex was suspended about a foot from the surface. No matter how hard he exerted resistance, punching Jack’s arms and kicking his body, Jack remained unwavered as he put on a grin. “You know what? I am still wondering why a weakling like you was enlisted in the order. It is a fact that you are the weakest of the Paladins. And now you have the nerve to join the rebels and fight us with your pity strength? What an idiot.” “Unlike you, who only wants power and fortune, I have the conviction to protect my country. I thought that joining the order would allow me to help the kingdom better, but it was the opposite. Being in the top position, I could clearly see the darkness that poisoned our kingdom to the core. Which is why, even in exchange for my life, I will fight in the name of Astley.” “Blah. Blah. Blah. I don’t give a damn thing to your stupid principles. One more word, and I will shut you up permanently.” “…At least I’ll die with honor.” “You really want to die, huh?” Still holding Gex, Jack prepared his right fist and focused his fighting spirit on it. Once filled with enough energy, Jack was ready to unleash his killing blow. “Die! Exploding Fist!” (I am very sorry, my dear wife and daughter…)
A Level 7 technique would surely atomized Gex’s head; there was no doubt of it. However, a few centimeters before Jack’s gauntlet could land on his face, something unexpected happened.
“What?!” For some mysterious reason, Gex’s body suddenly flew away from Jack’s grasp, and his gauntlet hit nothing but air. When he took a glance at him, he saw him flying backwards as if some force were pulling him. Clank.
With a loud, hard sound, his body eventually came to a halt. Behind him, there was a woman holding his cuirass with her mithrill gauntlet. Dane barely saved Gex’s life from his demise.
“Sorry, I am late.” “No, you are just in time, Dane.” Among the Paladins, Dane was the only one in possession of a unique skill. Her unique skill, Magnetician, was an ability that let her freely move any metallic objects she marked. It was a skill similar to Extra Skill: Poltergeist, which also moves objects but with more force, speed, precision, and effectiveness. In contrast to the name, her skill did not only apply to iron or nickel; she could make anything move as long as it had materials formed by metallic bonds, including nonmagnetic metals such as gold and silver. With her unique skill and high level Parallel Thinking, Dane could simultaneously wield multiple weapons at the same time with precision and grace. Due to her ability to freely control her weapons and how others saw her, she was often called the Dancing Blades. Before the war, Gex told Dane to mark his armor and weapons in case things went south. After one-sidedly beating her opponent, Diana the Sword and Shield, a blonde swordwoman with a heater shield, Dane immediately rushed to Gex, knowing he could not win against his opponent. By the breadth of a hair, Dane miraculously made it in time and barely rescued Gex from Jack’s fist.
“You can thank me later; we still have an ass to beat.” Dane pulled his sword and then handed it to Gex alongside a healing potion, which he immediately drank. “I agree. Let’s face him together.” After that, Gex lunged himself toward Jack as Dane remotely commanded her army of a dozen bastard swords, scattering them in different directions. “Bring it on!” In response, Jack dashed to Gex, and his gauntlet and Gex’s sword met anew before they started exchanging mighty blows. As they did, Dane’s swords swiftly flew toward Jack, one after another. Dealing with thirteen swords, Jack was having a hard time parrying, evading, and blocking them all with only his gauntlets, which gave him cuts and scrapes all over his body. The wounds he sustained eventually made his body sluggish, and then Gex finally spotted an opening. “Impaler!” Upon lunging forward at an incredible speed, Gex thrust his sword and aimed its tip at Jack’s chest. With a sword technique, his blade easily penetrated Jack’s dragon’s hide armor and pierced his internal organs.
“Ack—! You fuc—?!” Almost immediately, four of Dane’s swords stabbed Jack’s broad back. Blood then started to gush out of his mouth. With all his remaining strength, Jack tried to throw a fist at Gex’s head. However, flying swords also prevented that from happening by stabbing both of his exposed arms. “Aaaaahh!!! .
Jack was agonizing in excruciating pain and fell to his knees as blades pierced his flesh. Gex then pulled out his sword and delivered a powerful front kick to his face. Although Jack was not blasted away, he was knocked unconscious and collapsed to the ground, causing the swords to penetrate deeper into his body, which instantly took away his life.
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