Fight [ 6 ]

[ Ascension Realm - Fortress 1 - Time Elapsed ( 4 minutes ) ]

Swish!

A blade came swinging, arching downwards to the head of a bipedal lizard. It had a short stature, standing at about four and a half feet tall. Tough red scales covered its body, except for its soft yellow underbelly and its head which was shaped like a salamander's. It wore sparse leather armor that barely covered anything while holding a jagged iron knife and an old worn down circular wooden shield.

Sensing the blade, the creature dodge to its right. Its serpentine eyes contracted as it focused on its enemy. Its foe was dangerous, although it had narrowly avoided the attempted beheading, a small cut on its left cheek had opened up.

It wasn't a deep wound and probably would not leave a scar. Still it was an insult to it. As such it let out a low and heavy growl to express its anger. Gripping its knife, it prepared to launch a counter attack.

"Pfft!"

The lizard heard its opponent scoff, infuriating it. But something about it sounded off, as if the noise didn't come from the enemy in front of it. Maybe it was distorted due to the enemy rotating its body. Yet it couldn't shake the feeling that the sound didn't come from its direction.

Still the burning rage, that it could not control, swelled as the pain from its bruised and battered pride sunk in, overwhelming the unease it felt. Thus that inconsistency was ignored.

'This lowly human…'

Before that thought could be finished, the lizard felt a sharp pain in its back. 

Pierce!

Splurt!

Warm crimson blood dripped down its scales. Something, no, rather someone had stabbed it.

'I was stabbed! What lowly beings!'

Its eyes shifted to look at what had stabbed it. Another human. This detestable creature had actually injured it with a sneak attack, something that a warrior such as it would never do. Its rage reached a boiling point as it stabbed down at the enemy.

Swoosh!

However before it could act on its anger, the blade that the lizard thought to have evaded came back, hacking its head off with unexpected ferocity. It was incomparable to before. The sheer speed and power were almost double.

Only now did it become obvious that the first attack was a mere feint. In its eyes these humans had laid down an intricate plan, which further reinforced its preconceived notions about humans being a deceptive and evil race.

The first attack was meant to lead it into position while the second drew the lizard's attention, giving the opening needed for the third attack to land a lethal blow. 

'What a pathetic way to die…'

It only took three attacks for it to go down. Three measly attacks. The lizard used the time it had left before its consciousness faded into the endless void to contemplate on its battle.

Flying through the air, it caught a glimpse of something unbelievable. Three of its companions had received the same treatment as it had. Heads soared into the sky. 

Blood sprayed everywhere, tainting the environment scarlet. Their headless corpses went limp and collapsed. The sight was horrifying. 

'Dreadful cretans…'

This only reinforced its earlier thought, everything that had happened was too well coordinated for it to not have been planned well in advance. Before they were summoned, before the humans had even stepped foot into the Ascension Realm.

Such intricate scheming, the lizards could not understand them. 

Still this was not what struck fear into them. Before their deaths an image of pure terror was engraved into their dissipating consciousness.

A few tens of feet away five of their kin were engaged in an intense battle. Standing at the center of the chaotic field of daggers and knives stood a lone man. Five warriors of their mighty clan faced off against one feeble human.

At least that was what they wanted to believe. That human was not feeble or weak, no, not even in the slightest. In fact he seemed to exude the aura of a champion.

An honored title that few were qualified to bear. Strong, unwavering, and capable.

The human at the center of the blades embodied these words. Not only was the man holding them off, he completely suppressed them.

He dictated the flow of the fight, not allowing a single attack to even so much as graze him. Flawless was the only way to describe his movements. It looked as if he was dancing.

From one fluid motion to the next, he effortlessly controlled the battle, forcing their attacks on their own kin. Then with striking elegance and demeanor, the man defeated his opponents with ease.

His surroundings were granted the brilliance of a crimson shower, dying everything around him with malicious intent. What a terrifying monster that human must have seemed in their eyes.

The final thought of the lizard was that its kin would suffer the same fate as it. Death.

Given that the human had not even taken a single hit throughout the ordeal, it was no longer a question but a guarantee. The only solace the dying lizard had was that it would not have to endure the torture of witnessing its kin being slaughtered.

Darkness enveloped it until its thought became nothing.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

The heads of the lizard monsters hit the ground rolling as their decapitated corpses crumpled into a pool of blood.

And sure enough, just as the now dead lizard warrior had imagined, its remaining kin had been turned into corpses mere seconds upon its death.