The Art Of Battle

A tense atmosphere enveloped the clearing in the forest as Elish watched the leader of the fallen soldiers glare at him with a mix of caution and resolve.

"Did you do this?" The man asked, his tone a deep calm devoid of irrational rage.

"Ah…" Elish unconsciously leaked out a sound in relief. 'I can finally understand their language.'

At least, the bronze-armored man didn't die in vain. He couldn't say the same for the rest, though.

"What if I said I did?" Elish replied to him in the same language, though it felt strange to him. It would take some getting used to, but Elish figured he could get the hang of it within a few more tries.

Making conversation was the best way to get used to a new language, so he indulged the soldier a little.

"Do you know who I am?" The man asked in a menacing tone, almost as if demanding a certain kind of response from Elish

And for that reason alone, Elish remained silent.

"I am their leader," In the end, the man had to answer his own query himself.

"You sure aren't acting like it. Shouldn't you be a bit sad for them?" Elish retorted, though he couldn't care less about why such a 'distinguished' leader didn't show more emotion for his fallen subordinates

In the end, humans would be humans.

"Why should I be? Such weak men do not deserve my sympathy or grief. They were simply weak, that is how the world is. The strong prey on the weak," The man shrugged.

'This guy…' Elish's eyes twitched a little, and a small smile formed on his face.

So far, the conversation had only been a way for him to pass time and get used to his accent, but now… now it was different.

'Finally, someone gets it!' Elish's thoughts echoed within him.

This man understood the nature of the world. It was just as he suspected.

He was a survivor.

'But, is he willing to let this slide?' Elish could only wonder to himself.

"As their superior and as a warrior, however, I cannot let this go unpunished." The soldier disappointed him by his words.

Though, to be fair, what did he expect?

No… mercy was an excuse for the lack of justification or strength to take action. Elish understood that much.

"For your crime of killing six warriors of the Western Kingdom, I, Sir Leon Bertuli, will dispense justice." This Sir Leon declared, drawing his sword from its sheath.

Elish simply stared at this man in silent evaluation.

'Overall, he is vastly stronger than the ones I previously faced. He is still weaker than me, though.'

And what was with his noble speech on justice, especially after kidnapping and brutalizing the Fairy he just saved, going as far as taking away her wings?

Wasn't that just hypocrisy?

"What is your name?" Sir Leon Bertuli asked Elish, pointing his blade towards him.

Once again, this irked Elish. The man before him was definitely going to die, but he decided it was probably for the best not to get offended by such behavior moving forward.

"It would be wasted on your ears," Elish replied him with a curt, nearly detached tone. What purpose would it be to tell his name to someone who would soon be dead?

"Ho? You're fairly confident in your skills then. However, you are too confident," Sir Leon replied, now taking a battle stance.

'Hm? Battle stances, huh? They certainly weren't present in the past. It seems humans have developed Martial Arts since then…'

The memory he stole from the soldier before also confirmed this.

Elish took a moment to glance in the direction of the Fairy, and she seemed immensely terrified of this Leon individual.

'Is he that strong?' Of course, Elish could guess he was since he had seen him in the memories of the soldier he killed.

He was one of the Imperial Knights of the Western Kingdom, also the leader of their whole unit.

'They captured the Fairy, but she managed to escape, so they chased and caught up to her here.'

These were the events that occurred before Elish showed up.

'For him to be among the Imperial Knights means he must be fairly strong.' Imperial Knights were this Kingdom's greatest military force, after all.

There were cadres and ranks, sure, but merely being one was a testament of power around these parts… supposedly.

Elish watched as Sir Leon Bertuli took his stance. It was decent, enough to be recognized properly among humans.

All that was left was his actual attack.

~WHOOOSH!~

Sir Leon leaped toward Elish at full speed, his body blurring with the wind as he neared with what many would consider breakneck speed.

'It seems he is serious about killing me. Decisive and quick. Not bad…'

Elish easily dodged the first slash by swerving to the side, but it seemed Sir Leon had anticipated that since he changed the trajectory of his body nearly instantly.

He twisted and turned, revealing his sword heading in Elish's direction. Elish casually leaped and avoided the hit once again, but Sir Leon quickly jumped.

'He's stubborn…' Elish watched as the man tightly clutched his blade and rushed at him with great force.

~SWISH!~

Slicing through the air, Sir Leon made slashed vertically at Elish with his sword.

Elish wasn't really impressed. His swordsmanship was okay, but this was simply too ordinary to be considered special.

'Maybe a little more like this…'

Elish lifted his right hand, and just as he had done with his outfit, he summoned a blade that appeared similar to the sword of his opponent.

It was a simple construct, but Elish considered it effective enough for the kind of fight he was having.

~CLANG!~

He moved faster than Leon using pure skill alone, and sent his sword in the direction of Leon's approaching strike.

His ordinary blade parried Leon's sword, and the impact sent both of them backward—though one moved due to recoil, while the other simply folowed suit.

"I'm surprised. I didn't know you're a user of the [Arts]," Leon spoke, his slightly heavy breathing concealed under a facade of composure.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean," Elish responded, an eyebrow raised.

"What else would you call that move just now? Summoning a sword just like that?"

'Ah. I only used my essence to generate a construct. If he calls it an Art, and he thinks I'm a user, does that mean… people can do that too?'

"It seems I still have a lot to learn in this world." Elish murmured to himself.

He quickly scanned through the rest of memories he had received from the dead soldier, and indeed, he encountered vague mentions of the [Arts] that the man before him was referring to.

"It looks like I won't have to hold back against you, after all. I will also use the art. The one which devastates enemies and renders all things naught," Leon said to him, now donning a fearless smile.

'This is fascinating. Another thing that has changed!'

Elish was curious now. What was he about to witness?

The current memories he had of the [Arts] were limited. Judging by Leon's words, there seemed to be different kinds of [Arts], and he was going to be using a specific one.

'Humans didn't have any special abilities in the past. If they can do things like summon swords now, then a lot has changed.'

"This is the end of the line for you!" Sir Leon bellowed, his thunderous voice causing the atmosphere itself to take on a new form of tension.

Elish felt a thrill he couldn't explain. His eyes widened a little as he experienced childish stimulation, a desire to understand what he was currently unaware of.

"Art of the Ultimate Destruction: Hex!" Leon declared, and suddenly a massive rush of power swelled from within him.

~VWUUUUMMM!~

'... What?' The excitement Elish had felt just moments earlier dissolved as quickly as they had peaked.

He was conflicted about how to feel. There were multitudes of emotions swirling within him, but the most pronounced of them, by far, was shock.

"How is this possible?" Elish thought aloud as his brows crinkled slightly. "Hex…?"

If that was what he thought it was, then Elish understood that the current situation was going to take an unexpected turn.

'I might actually have to get serious.'

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[A/N]

It seems there exists something out there that can pose a threat to the seemingly invincible Monarch.

Let us find out!