But with the light of his sword, he noticed a part of the Bishop's armour took on a whitish colour.
“You're that roaming swordsman I've heard of.” The bowman said as they dodged, stabbed and slashed at each other, Tibaut barely being able to keep up with their bodies anymore.
“Expecting me?”
“I was travelling prepared.” He answered as he landed a blow on the white part of his armour.
It broke like glass and the bowman had to pay the price with the sword slashing into his own, evaporating most of it and melting the rest, including the pommel in his hand. He flicked his hand to get it off, leaving a burn and kicked the Bishop forward.
He took it with no problem, creating some distance between them, noticing himself slow down.
The bowman whistled again and another arrow struck the top of his helmet, not piercing it, but instead turning it white. As he backed up he noticed the horse waiting and it kicked at his head, breaking the top of his helmet, leaving only his face shielded.
It showed his hair formed in a long black ponytail and also revealed some pale skin.
(“The poison on the blade, I couldn't have imagined it'd be so potent as a gas.”)
If he had evaporated all of the blade with his sword, he likely would have destroyed whatever toxin the bowman used. But the parts of the sword that got turned to liquid experienced a “gentle” enough heat that it simply turned the poison into a gas.
He managed a slice with the tip of his sabaton on the horse and then neighed in defiance, rushing at him.
(“How'd he know Milky's breed is temperamental?”) The Bowman wondered as he blocked the swing of his bright sword.
He parried the hand-holding sword to the side and whistled down a final arrow. The arrow aimed for his head.
(“Well, it's not meant for this but it should kill just fin-”)
He blocked a kick and the Bishop brought his face to the path of the arrow, turning his black mask, a glassy white, with the red material used for his eyes unaffected.
He used the force of the bowman's parry to swing his sword quicker into the enemy behind him. This was my goal from the start.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
(“With this horse out of the way, I should be able to escape. Based on the way he fights I have a good idea who he is… But killing him isn't something I'm not properly prepared for yet.”)
The very very tip of the sword brushed against the skin of the horse’s two legs, leaving both charred and the horse falling to the ground. Both men dodged and the Bishop quickly ducked into an alley as the bowman faltered seeing his horse neigh in pain.
“Damnit!” He shouted. (“Not only were we equal, he was using one hand to carry that man on his shoulder. To think there was a man that could match me one-handed… I should have gone all out from the start!”)
He didn't even bother chasing, he knew an opponent of that calibre was impossible to catch up to if your focus slipped for a moment.
He knelt to his horse and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the burns only went as far as the two front legs he connected with.
“Phew, it's not too serious. It should heal within a week.”
The horse neighed defiantly and tried to get back to its feet.
“Calm down Milky, we should be glad we got intel on that guy without any more damage.”
The horse tried to slam its head against him but the bowman quickly dodged.
“If you're going to be like that, then I'll just leave you to yourself, you miserable little girl. Your mother wasn't anywhere near as hard to deal with.”
They neighed again and he walked off.
As he surveyed the scene, he noticed Tibaut on the floor with his eyes barely open. He was breathing heavily trying to stay awake.
“Can you talk?” The bowman asked. Tibaut could only look at him and groaned. The instant he saw the man in black armour disappear, he could no longer keep himself awake. He soon passed out and the man above him shook his head and crouched down. He placed a hand over him and a green glow emitted from his hand. Tibaut's wounds began healing but also left quite noticeable scars. The parts of his ribs still showing quickly got covered up with skin and one of the burns on his back fully healed with the scar tissue the only sign it happened.
He got up and waited for a moment but the boy didn't wake up.
“I… was too late.”
He bent down again and listened to his heartbeat.
.......................Beat
He could hear the beating of his heart.
“Or maybe I was just being pessimistic? Was the guy playing around with him before I showed up? Poor guy. I should ask around about what happened, I can't see why this guy would be so interesting to him. Wait a second, there was a redhead on his shoulder. W-was that his brother? Uh, uh-no how could I have?” he held his hand against his head and started leaning forward, distraught taking over his face.
“T-Tibaut? Tibaut!” A woman shouted, running over. She had pink hair and tear marks under her eyes.
“Huh? Is he your friend? (Did I respond to the letter too late? Damn! I didn't think they'd run through the place, what's even worth destroying in a place like this?)”