CHAPTER FOUR - EARTH REALM - THE BRAWL

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Not only was I astonished to see Erwin appear out of the midst of those on rampaging flight towards where Lucan and I was standing beside the thief, the man whom I had earlier bumped into, became paralyzed with fear at the sight of the Erwin and the guards who were after him in the first place.

"Move aside!"

Erwin shouted at the passersby as he led his armed companions to where we stood in complete dismal. Before we could think of running, He and the other guards had already surrounded us and clearly, there was nowhere to escape from them.

Little did I know that the guards had suspected that we had colluded together with the thief particularly Erwin who was the first to order his guards to take us in after catching his unsteady breath since he had been running on foot around the streets, in fervent search for the thief.

"Avaron, arrest them now"

He ordered and the guards drew closer as they clenched tightly to their swords which still remained in their scabbard. Avaron was the first to draw out his sword when he noticed that I made a move to flee whilst Lucan was completely struck dumb right where he stood behind. The pouch containing the food we had bought had fallen from his hand and he was trembling in fear beside me as well as the thief who ironically, was less frightened than he was.

"Alright…Take it easy and come with us"

"We haven't done anything and it's not what you think"

I replied and took two steps backwards but they seemed convinced of their intuition about the three of us.

"If you don't want to beaten to death, surrender the money or else…."

It was Erwin who rejoined and came to the front pointing his sword to my face.

"I can't do that. We aren't guilty of stealing your money"

"You lying bastard. It's quite clear that you plan this whole thing with this man…"

"What? Don't be ridiculous…I don't know this man neither have we met him before"

"Be Silent! Give us the money bag or face the consequences"

"I don't have it"

I retorted daringly even when I knew the odds were stacked against all three of us. As a result of their appearance, the traders and passersby had abandoned what they were doing and fled for safety at the sight of the guards knowing a fight might broke out but some brave bystanders were watching from where they hid themselves out of sight.

"Handel, please let's not get into any trouble and follow them like they said"

Lucan advised but I remained adamant.

"No, we are not. We are innocent and you know that"

"Yes but—"

"Erwin, they aren't listening. Let's just go ahead and capture them by force"

"Hazel wouldn't mind us attacking them first if they resist"

"I think so too. Besides, Hazel will be here any moment from now"

A third of the guards rejoined.

"Let's wrap things up before he comes"

"Avaron, do what you must to take them down"

Erwin commanded and two of the guard came rushing at the three of us with their swords even before Avaron could make his move towards us. The first guard who got to me first, threw his fist at me instead of his sword but I was quick to dodge it and it landed on the culprit's face. It knocked out his senses and he fell down unconscious.

I kept dodging their attack as each of the guards kept flinging their swords to cut me down. Then I doggedly ran towards shops nearby now deserted when I noticed their numbers increased but they chased after me trying to stop me with the very end of the sharp swords they kept swing at me. But I was fast enough to evade all of it. I took a next turn to the left to avoid them but I was surrounded each time I tried running. Then I stopped when I saw that I could not escape from them.

"It's no use running, boy. Give up now and we'll spare you"

Unknown to them, I've been holding back thinking it was better not to fight back but I had no choice when I saw Erwin holding Lucan hostage while pointing a sword at his neck. With the help of his comrades, Avaron had apprehended the man that had fallen unconscious and was holding him captive.

"I said Give up now or else…he dies!"

Erwin threatened but I felt angrier. I clenched my fist and thought of the fighting style Ryaku had taught the whole gang to defend themselves whenever they were in danger. I thought for other ways to ease my condition apart from surrendering but there was no way I could further resist the guards who greatly outnumbered me not to mention Lucan being held hostage right before my very eyes.

But then something struck my mind and it was the fighting technique I had hope would save me from being taken that appeared as the best solution to save Lucan and make run for it.

Thankfully, I had learned a bit of the technique but hardly had I used it against anyone stronger than the guards that were trying to get me. It was the only Shibori technique he had decided to teach everyone back at the Aru valley ever since he left the Shibori corps to Aru valley years ago.

At that moment, Ryaku's voice suddenly spoke to me like he often does whenever we were afraid of getting caught by the police.

"You better stop running away like a coward and face your fears"

Erwin was irritated at this and yelled at me.

"It's over. Surrender now or your friend dies"

He warned again.

"No…It's not over"

"Get him!"

Avaron shouted when he noticed that I was going to attack instead of running.

"NOW YOU GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!"

I yelled at the top of my voice and felt the same power I had nurtured. To their great surprise, I summoned enough strength to issue out a fiery flame of fire around me. It was a great Shibori fighting technique but I had to make sure I had defeated the guards before my internal organs get charred in to bits which will lead to my eventual demise.

According to Ryaku, the technique was by far risky in its approach and life-threatening for those who haven't fully mastered the technique but yet rewarding in conquering any formidable opponent.

If a mistake in tolerating the amount of energy while attacking my foes was to occurs, I would not only lose my life but my internal organs would be charred to ash. I knew this but I was willing to take the risk because I believed I had to use only a bit of the cultivated power I amassed to defeat the guards while maintain a constant interior heat that will not harm my internal organs for the next couple of minutes.

With the fiery speed I could gather from within, I launched myself towards the guards and struck each of them in their torso. One after the other, I struck them hard on the vital points and they all fell to the ground groining in pain leaving Erwin and Avaron in total dismay.

On the other hand, the last guard beside Avaron who clung to the culprit by himself, wanted to run but I was too quick to block him. He made a weak attempt to cut me with his sword despite knowing that he had little chances of getting past me but I dodged it. Then I brought him down with a decisive blow on his belly and left chin which was a lot easier than the other counterparts.

"A Shibori fighting style?"

Erwin said to himself in utter shock and looked around him.

What he saw was his men lying down helplessly on the ground, wriggling in pain except for himself and Avaron. Only two of the guards were left standing and the rest had fallen down easily without much struggle which left the bystanders watching how I singlehandedly fought with the men all by myself using a fighting technique they knew too well to used only by a Shibori. And that was Erwin with his right hand man, Avaron.

In order to restore back my energy, I inhaled deeply thrice to calm let out the heat from within and I was able to cool off the fiery rage inside of me in a heartbeat. Lucan knew I haven't mastered the technique yet but was bewildered to see me control its effect swiftly like Ryaku did in front of us.

"How did you…."

"Put down your sword and let him go now"

I ordered and walked to confront Erwin through the midst of those lying ground.

"I can't do that"

"Erwin, it wouldn't be wise to refuse a Shibori"

"No, I can't let you both leave. I have orders from Hazel to arrest the thief at all cost"

"Don't be stupid, Erwin. Your life's more important than taking orders from Hazel"

Avaron retorted in desperate effort to dissuade Erwin from remaining defiant.

"I don't care what you think but Shibori or not, I am taking him back to the shop!"

"But we're clearly no match for him"

"Do as your partner says and let go of Lucan. I have no intentions of fighting you, Erwin"

"Don't act triumphantly like you have won…I may not be a Shibori or have trained to become one but Hazel is stronger than you"

"What…?"

I asked and it was then that I realized his intentions. He was stalling for backup and the smirk that appeared on Erwin's lips, confirmed my intuition that Lucan and I was going to end up in a bigger trouble than what we had just encountered.

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