Chief Khon’s Lackeys

Blood propelled himself past Emile. The skinny boy flew through the air of the hallway, only touching the floor whenever he needed to push off it again.

He quickly made contact with the first of Khon's men: another middle-aged man dressed in typical adventurer's clothing. The man pulled a sword from his waist and ran towards Blood.

Seconds before collision, his sword sparkled as essence was pulled into the metal. He held the blade below his waist and swung up just before Blood crashed into him.

Blood's colossal arm engulfed the man's sword and drowned its light. Immediately following, the weight of Blood's arm plummeted down onto the man, crushing his ribs until they were as flat as the floor.

Sparks ignited in the narrow hallway and Emile's figure burst through the dissipating essence. He rushed down the hall past Blood and caught the incoming rope that was barreling towards him.

Emile wrapped the callus rope around his forearm over and over, all the while running towards its wielder. Before the rope ran out of length, however, it glowed white and returned to soul essence.

The man tried to summon the relic once more, but Emile was going to reach him before it manifested. In a growing panic, the man unbuckled his belt and cracked it at Emile.

The belt extended in mid-air and coiled around Emile's ankle like a snake, pulling him to the ground once more. Once Emile was on the ground, the multi-colored carpet softened and molded around Emile's body.

He pushed into the soft ground, but his limbs slowly sunk into the floor like quicksand. Looking up, Emile noticed another person kneeling beside the man who wields the rope. His hands were sunk into the ground as well but his eyes were closed, presumably to help him concentrate.

Almost like they were passing batons, Blood rushed past the fallen Emile. As he did so, he grabbed Emile with his colossal arm and ripped him out of the sinking carpet.

The second Emile split from the floor, Blood grounded himself and passed his momentum onto Emile by launching him across the hallway towards their opponents.

Soaring through the air, Emile straightened his body and held the dagger out in front of him. He spiraled down, diving straight for the man who carried the rope.

Fear, shock, disbelief, the man's face contorted in a slew of exotic ways as he watched Emile fall back to the ground, himself standing in the way. The silver dagger punctured the man's chest just as Emile toppled over him.

In the next instant, Emile ripped the dagger from the man's chest and gouged it into the other man's eye. The dagger cracked the man's skull and burst through his brain.

Then, like clockwork, Blood got involved again. He sprinted past Emile, towards the final man standing just in front of Chief Khon. The man looked frail and small.

Of course, in comparison to Khon most people would look insignificant, but this man looked rather weak compared to Emile himself. His knees wobbled, his eyes darted around the room like he was afraid he'd see something he wasn't meant to.

Chief Khon released a heavy sigh as he lowered his head. For the entirety of their mini battle, Khon never intervened. In fact, Khon never moved at all.

"How disappointing." Were the only words Chief Khon spoke before he hovered his hand above his final lackey's head.

His hand, much like Blood's artificially constructed crystal arm, was thrice the size of an average hand. His palm enveloped the man's skull while his fingers dug into the sides of his cranium.

The moment Chief Khon's hand touched the man's head, Blood stopped running. About ten feet away from Khon, Blood trembled.

Emile felt it too, something wrong, something unnatural. It wasn't visible, Emile could not see anything out of the ordinary, but a sudden pressure exerted itself within the hallway.

Beads of sweat trickled down Emile's back. His hands grew clammy and his mouth dried.

'What the hell is it?!'

Emile felt no physical pressure. Gravity hadn't multiplied, and yet, he felt hesitant to move. His eyes couldn't look away from Khon and his body couldn't turn back.

Straining his eyes, Emile forced himself to look at Blood. Blood was much, much closer to Khon than Emile was. The boy's back was already drenched and his shoulders shivered like he was cold.

"What—" Emile barely managed to spit out, "what did you do?"

Chief Khon's gaze slowly rose from the man before him and found its way over to meet Emile's.

"What did I do?" He repeated, "Take a look for yourself."

He raised his hand off the man's head and, once again, nothing appeared out of place. That was until the man moved, or rather, until he exploded forward and crashed into Blood with the weight of a train.

For a second, time seemed to slow and Emile could see the shockwave travel through Blood's body. First his chest caved in. Then his shoulders got dragged back as well.

And finally, his neck snapped backwards as Blood flew through the hall, tearing through the still air until his body collided with an open door. The door ripped off its hinges and continued to slide across the floor with Blood's unconscious body resting upon it.