He stood, huffing and puffing. The sole figure in a clearing of the battlefield. His enemies surrounded him on all sides with their spears and magic casts ready. The footsoldiers and unskilled knights were the first to attack, scurrying at him full throttle.
Without his blade, there was no way he could be of any threat- is what they were thinking. He looked like a cornered animal. As they came forward towards him, he muttered words under his breath. "Divine Art; Godsense." His cognitive abilities bolstered.
As each of them came forward, their onslaught was avoided with single step movements. Several spears came at him only for him to move out of the way of each of them.
He then locked his hands around each of the spears and began to ragdoll the guards aside. He was relying solely on brute strength. The soldiers eventually fell back and released their weapons.
A mage arose from the back and attempted to cast an attack at him. Whatever the attack was, one would never know- for he was impaled by a thrown spear before he could even mutter his words.
Galtz removed the arrow from his arm and cursed angrily. Everyone around him immediately took several paces back. He was not as helpless as he seemed. Now equipped with 2 spears, it looked as if he was now the hunter.
There was an awkward stand-off as various soldiers attempted to hype themselves up and step up to him first. "Hear me, everyone...I am Galtz Rein!" He panted heavily as his voice carried throughout the entire encampment.
"The greatest warrior in Sei'O!"
Everyone suddenly gasped and began to look around panicked. "Is he the one who killed off 3,000 guards in one night?"
"That name, I've heard of him...it had to be him!"
"I don't want to fight that, I'll die!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Galtz laughed maniacally as they began to lose morale and panic. "No..."
He didn't want so many soldiers to leave him here. If he was going to die, it would be with the greatest fight he could put up." Right now, the country had expected this onslaught. Most of all their military forces are protecting the King's city of Luxe-Sei'O.
However, even Galtz knew that was pointless. Against such an army, they would all abandon the king and queen and flee. The military in Sei'O had lost their fight years ago.
He alone did not lose the will to fight. Throughout all these years, he alone wanted to continue his violence. If he had to die here, then he would surely show the citizens of Sei'O what the power of one man can do.
"Heh...No... it was not I that killed off those guards." He laughed hard as he hoisted himself up on his own spear. "The one who did that.... is within the city. There is someone even stronger than I- And H-...he's...incredibly unmerciful."
"This is the power of the future of Sei'O! Just know, for every thousand of you I can kill, he can eliminate 10,000!"
"Sir Oreimi, the man seems to not want to die..." Kawa said. "Incredible.."
"Tch. Kid, you are too easily impressed." Haeri spoke. "Have the army advance to the city. I will handle that man."
Oreimi nodded and signaled for Haeri to go on. The old man stood atop his horse. In the council meeting, he was the one who feigned sleep. His eyebrows drooped over each side of his face and his bald head reflected all of the light in the sky.
"Old man, are you sure?" Reon asked playfully. "You look like you haven't moved in ages." He yawned yet again, the effects of old age hitting him. "I haven't."
Oreimi raised his flag upwards and commanded most of his units and magicians to slip past Galtz. Galtz didn't have enough energy to try and stop them. He only needed to focus on survival.
The old man leaped off of his horse, doing several backflips on the way down. From the moment his feet touched the ground he dashed forward towards Galtz at extremely fast speed. "Oh my..that old man is immensely fast." Reon seemed genuinely surprised.
As he dashed, he was incredibly agile, jumping off the shoulders of other soldiers, weaving under horses and continuing his fluid motion.
His long robes flapped about in the wind behind him, beating as if they were drums.
Galtz awaited the soldiers to make their move. Instead, he found them running right past him. The magicians flew over him entirely as well.
What the-?
Did they instead decide that they wanted a better challenge and go to confront the man he mentioned in the city? This was the exact opposite effect he had desired!
He caught one of the guards in the face with a slap and sent the guard sprawling to the ground. He then hardened his fingertips and stabbed right through him, taking his sword in the process. He couldn't stand spears.
Very well, he began to slice through all the men that were unlucky enough to come in contact with him. But with them slipping past him by the tens of thousands, he could not defend against even a tiny minority of them. They crowded the city within at impeccable speeds.
A clearing had appeared around him. At that moment, as he was about to strike down another soldier, something crawled from behind the shadow of them and with the glistening small dagger aimed at his face, he barely avoided it.
The red crimson remained on his cheek. The old man that had launched himself from behind the soldier dropped the dagger after missing Galtz's face, pushed off his shoulder, jumped, and pushed off another soldier to come rebounding back at Galtz.
He did all this, in under the time it took for the dagger to hit the ground, reaching it in his grasp and performing an array of slashes.
Luckily, the sword he was holding in his hand was much lighter than what he was normally used to with his buster-blade. With his Godsense activated, he was able to just barely keep up, remaining on the defensive as the man continued to strike at him.
"Tch... you're very fast old man..."
"Galtz Rein" He smiled as he said this. It had been a while since he had tasted combat. "It will be a delight to put an end to you."
Galtz parried his last hit with enough strength to send him flying back. The man was lightweight, no more than 120lbs. His age looked to be about 89. The fact that he could move like that... was shocking to Galtz.
He took the breakaway moment as an opportunity to respond to the old man likewise. He dashed up at the old man and came to slice through him from above.
This move had two actions to it. The old man instantly moved out of the way with a leap. As the old man leaped, Galtz activated Godspear and hardened his fingertips, coming towards the man with a slash.
The first intention was to discombobulate the man by having him dodge the slash, only to be attacked off-guard by his second strike.
Instead, the old man, with such rapid precision, grasped onto Galtz's wrist, just before the hand could touch him. As if anticipating Galtz's next horizontal strike with the sword, he then twisted himself a full 180 degrees, hanging upside down from Galtz arms just in time to avoid the sword.
Galtz eyes widened. "Very talented-"
The man kicked Galtz in the stomach too fast for him to activate the Divine Arts ability. He used that kick off to release off of Galtz hand and back flipped several feet through the air.
Galtz yet again had thought he finally had the chance to strike him and dashed forward at the man mid-air. His blade was ready to pierce exactly where the old man was going to fall.
Instead, just before the sword could slice through him, he exhaled and blew himself upwards as if he was a feather. He had just barely dodged the blade's malice.
"Oh my my my my..."
"Wind magic?!"
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What in the world? Galtz went mustered up the strength to yet again engage the man with a flurry of highspeed slashes and attacks. He even performed Divine Art: Whirlwind Gale, spinning in the form of a tornado once the man was in range.
Yet again, he had escaped unscathed. Instead, he was blown away like he was a piece of paper.
"You will not survive this too easily, Galtz."
Another warrior attempted to strike Galtz from behind, only to be met by his swift slash and decapitated. He did this all while his eyes remained entirely on the old man.
"Haeri Inmein."
"Third General of Baerim's Lakia Province." He gave a bow and pulled out a sake bottle he had resting in his pocket. He poured some into his cup and began to drink from it.
Galtz nodded. "Of course, I take it you already know who I am..."
"So then, you're that variant in Lakia."
"So you have heard of me?"
"The Paper General."
He laughed wholeheartedly. "It has been a while since anyone has called me that... Shark Lord, Galtz Rein"
Galtz smiled and bowed, showing much respect as warriors of the old times did. They were both men of valor. They merely lived on opposing sides.
The Shark Lord.... this would be the first time that they had seen each other on the field.
Galtz suddenly thought of something "This may not work...but I believe I have adequate information."
"Say...you've already used your Frenzy once huh? If I recall correctly, years ago you could use it twice at best. The man who could slay 2,000. So tell me, Shark Lord...-"
Galtz dashed at him in a quick display of booming strength, pushing off with his feet and attempting to stab the man with the spear beside him.
He instantly bent backward as if he was being folded, and the spear missed his upper body entirely. "-have you gotten better?"
He grabbed onto the spear and spun himself around it as if he was as light as paper and pushed off the spear itself, tracing his dagger just a hair shy of Galtz's eyes. Instead, a giant gash appeared on his forehead and blood spilled open over his eyes.
Tch. He backed off the offensive and tore his sleeve, tying it around his forehead. The man simply remained still and watched him. It was disgraceful to attack a wounded soldier.
"So Galtz. If you don't mind giving up, I will be willing to spare your life."
"Our abilities are incompatible- And you don't appear to have the reserves left to continue this fight efficientl-"
"DIVINE ART! FRENZY!"
In a quick burst of activity, Galtz blasted forward towards Haeri. It was at speeds Haeri could not match. The spear was intended to impale Haeri, however, even though Haeri was too slow, his body yet again moved out of the way as if he was a leaf being guided by the wind.
"You know such attacks would not work on me! What kind of fool are you?"
As he looked back, he realized Galtz had not yet turned around. Nor.... did it seem like he intended to...what in the -
Galtz was actually continuing on his Frenzy, blazing through everyone in his path. The upper torso of everyone in his path was being slashed into pieces by his sword. It was a nasty display of carnage.
It was also the most disrespectful thing Haeri had ever witnessed. To be ignored like fodder... he clenched his fists and pushed on after Galtz.
He couldn't get close, however. Every time he did, the very intense movement that Galtz had outputted caused a burst of wind pressure all around him, that repealed the Paper General.
In this way, it became like a game of chase with a target that was untouchable.
The Paper General was unmatched in this bout. He could defeat Galtz should in the battle, but at this moment, Galtz was fighting in the war.
He cared not for these pleasantries that the old man had longed for.
"GAAALLTTTZZ!!!" He shouted enraged. At some point during his onslaught, Galtz flew right past him. The man didn't blast away but didn't even attempt to dodge against Galtz onslaught, nor did he move.
That was what he needed...that observation was all he needed.
Galtz went on to slay another 1,300 men. He found himself 200 meters away from Haeri.
Once the carnage had died down, Haeri realized the time limit must have been over with.
Galtz stood in the middle of the battlefield, blurry-visioned and bathed in blood. Everyone was afraid to advance upon him. Instead, magicians began to chant spells towards him. They sent an array of fire, lightning and elemental attacks, only for Galtz to whirlwind around them.
He remained slouched over this time. He could barely hold himself up, resting on his spear until he needed to move again.
The fact that he was STILL able to fight was perplexing. The old man descended from above Galtz, floating slowly down. "Galtz...what an incredible man you are, truly."
"However...I think this time for sure. I will have to put an end to you. If you were smarter, you could have prolonged your life to rival mine."
He dashed forward at Galtz with his cup of sake that he drank. With such quick speed, he spat this liquor outwards at galtz, biting onto a fire seed. The heat mixed with the alcohol and blasted out of his mouth as flames from a dragon might.
Galtz instantly dodged only to find the man awaiting him where he was. "Die." Several daggers were launched from his pocket all aimed for Galtz vital regions.
"It was a pleasure facing you in co-"
"Divine Art: F-frenzy" Haeri's eyes widened. "Again!?- What y-you can't!"
He caught two of the daggers and instantly used them to repeal the other two. He slashed the air before him "Divine Art: Gale-slicing wind"
The old man yet again paper-fied himself. He moved smoothly along the grooves of the wind. At that moment Galtz threw the knives halfheartedly. The old man caught them.
"Heh...this might be a hunch here...but-" Galtz tore right past Haeri and continued on yet another onslaught. Yet again, he ignored Haeri.
Haeri knew not to even approach the man. There was nothing he could do to change the outcome of this situation. He instead focused his visions elsewhere. He found himself terrorizing the remaining units of Galtz's volunteers.
The 60 elites had fallen to a mere 25 and Haeri began disassembling them. If he could not fight Galtz, then he would lure the attention of him by going through those men.
"I'm sorry...please hold on just a bit longer...I'm doing everything I can.."
"H-hey...isn't that old man losing?" Kawa asked, observing from the distance.
"Hahah, seriously, Kawa? Can you not see the Galtz is on the ropes? This is a game of endurance and he's highly disadvantaged. Though not as flashy, the old man is much more useful in combat than Galtz." Reon said relaxing back on her horse.
The generals were not really here to do much. They were merely here to observe a massacre. As such, they cared very little if they only lost a thousand men out of their 120,000. The weakest were the ones at the forefront of this operation anyways.
"No...he's losing..-" Kawa urged yet again.
"What do you mean?" Oreimi asked, clearly annoyed.
"He's been seen through," Kawa added.
"Galtz has found out how to destroy him."
"Eh? What do you mean he's been seen through? Galtz is doing nothing but combating others and wasting his energy. There's no way he could-"
At that instant, the words "Goodbye" was felt in Kawa's mind and Kawa looked away. "Tch. I was hoping to see what all the talk was about, but even the old generation have nothing to show for their talents."
Perhaps when Haeri was younger he might've stood a chance... He thought.
During this chaotic onslaught once again, Galtz's men began to dwindle rapidly. They were being destroyed left and right by Haeri. Whenever they attacked, Haeri would take the motion of a feather and float away from reach. He continued again on the onslaught.
It was there....
Galtz finally found the chance. Within moments the next course of action occurred. If you blinked, you'd have missed it. All the strength from his frenzy coursed through his arms. It looked freakishly distorted with veins and muscle.
With the boost from Frenzy strengthening his arms, the spear in his hand received an impetus. It launched faster than anything he had ever thrown. He had waited for the times to line up oh so perfectly. There was not a single person in his way.
Haeri was about 240 meters away from him. The spear zoomed passed, unperturbed. With one solid thunk, it had pierced through the old man's torso. Sending him flying more than 30 feet before stabbing into the back of another soldier and sending them both tumbling through the ground.
Haeri died upon impact with the other soldier.
Everyone's mouths were agape. Everyone except Kawa remained surprised.
They all looked to Kawa for an explanation. "Galtz had tested Haeri thrice earlier. With what he did, he confirmed certain things about his ability. One is that Haeri's ability is activated on and off. If it's on, he cannot move as fast as he could because his light feather weight would be blown around by the wind."
Kawa looked at Galtz with awe. "Thus, whenever he attacked, he had to maintain an average weight. When he's on the defensive, he gets rid of all his weight and becomes like paper and Galtz could not get close to him."
"This was a conclusion one could reach just by simply observing his power. Though he confirmed it in his 2nd frenzy. When he flew right past Haeri and Haeri's body did not drift away."
"Of course we all knew that."
"When Galtz attacked with a sword, the amount of force he was exerting from his body was enough to send Haeri flying about from his feather mode."
"However, when he tested with a spear, Haeri had to dodge of his own accord. This was because Galtz wasn't nearly as close to him as with a sword. The amount of wind his body created wasn't close by enough to send the featherweight Haeri drifting about."
"The second test was that the man had decided to float when Galtz slashed him earlier, yet he had to resort to catching the daggers."
"This suggests long ranged, small piercing type of abilities could not muster up enough force to send him flying in his feather mode."
"After that, Galtz merely had to have the man distract himself. This was done by throwing him off mental balance. The disrespect made him unaware he was being observed."
"Thus, after all his observations tied in, he utilized his Frenzy ability one more time, and when Haeri was not paying attention he launched the spear through him."
"As pinpointed as the spear's tip was, it did not cause much air distortion. But just to be sure, Galtz waited until he was on the offensive and out of his feather-mode."
"Brillianttte...very brilliant."
The others looked at Kawa, mouth agape. This man was....an absolute nerd!
Preposterous!
After Galtz had launched his spear, he collapsed onto the ground. He was no longer capable of keeping himself upright. Nor was he capable of moving much at all. He had performed his ability 3 times in a row...He panted heavily. In total, he was able to slay 3,800 men.
"Hagh...hagh...hagh...what do you say plague child? I managed to slay 3,000 as well. Hahaha- " he coughed hard.
"Not bad huh?...Not bad old man... Haeri Inmein ... you're a warrior I was glad to be able to fight against. "I'd have shuddered to see you at your prime."
His world was slowly beginning to fade. Several knights and magicians prepared to finish the job.
Or so that was the plan...but things had an eery way of working out. For at that moment, a scourge had appeared on the battlefield, even more ravenous than the beast they had just finally defeated.
The shadows that sprouted up from the walls sent everyone screaming and knights by the thousands dying one after another... it struck fear into the hearts of everyone there.
Galtz could not see at the time, but he could only laugh victoriously. He knew the kid had demons to fight over helping the city or not. But...he believed he would have helped. The future of everything depended on it. "3,000 men...in 1 minute. Even if I could kill the same amount. The ease at which he did it.... they stand no chance."
He slowly drifted out of consciousness with the thought of victory fresh on his mind.