Edmund landed on the other building opposite the temple, where he had just launched the guardian. As the guardian began to rise and heal its wounds, Edmund observed its movements. Slower than before, the guardian showed signs of pain, which intrigued Edmund. This was not the same creature that had faced Ariadne's attacks.
‘If you didn’t feel my strikes, this wouldn’t work, and I probably would be dead, but look how lucky I am.’ He smiled as he positioned himself in a combat position.
The guardian finished healing and held the palm of his hand toward Edmund. Noticing what it was about to do, Edmund moved forward, and before it could fire its spell, he punched right in the side where the kidney was supposed to be.
And it felt it, stopping and instead trying to punch him multiple times, but each time Edmund, with his right, moved the punch away from himself and, with the other, struck the guardian on the core. As it felt the blow and leaned slightly, his right hand was now striking its head. Everything was happening so fast, but it was like a dance of destruction, and Edmund was winning.
They weren’t standing still; Edmund was pushing it back with every strike, destroying walls and changing directions multiple times until the guardian was pushed outside by him, and it took this opportunity to launch consecutive white beams at Edmund that jumped to the building to its side through a window and started to run as fast as he could, busting through the doors and jumping to the other building as the beams were piercing the building right behind him.
He realized he was too far from the guardian and leaped out of a window, landing on the street below. He continued to run, dodging the fireballs launched at him. As he entered a building, he could hear his footsteps echoing in the empty corridors. He burst through a door, but there was no time to pause as he continued his pursuit.
He started running in the guardian's direction through the buildings, jumping through the windows of the first floor, and flashes of light and fire followed him until he was right next to the guardian.
Edmund saw a wall of fire coming his way the moment he entered the building through the window, so he jumped towards a hallway to his right side, rolled on the ground, and continued to run as the fire was right behind him. He saw the stairs going to the second floor, jumped right to the top, busted through another door, and ran towards a window before him as the floor collapsed because of the fire.
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The guardian noticed only at the last moment when he looked up, and Edmund was coming towards him with a kick; it dodged it to the side and punched him, but Edmund did just like he had been doing it this entire fight, always staying on the outside of his opponent pushing away the punches, this time it wasn’t different and right after punished with a strike where the liver was supposed to be, making the guardian move back a little and coming with a kick with its right leg, Edmund moved to the left dodging and at the same time grabbing its right foot and pulling with him, making the guardian fall, it didn’t stop there, he used his left knee to pressure and bend the guardian knee inward, but he noticed that he had to put more strength them before.
Edmund, always on the move, dodged the guardian's glowing hands as it prepared to cast a spell. The creature's leg healed as it stood, a testament to its resilience. Edmund closed the distance, but this time, he was not met with punches but with white beams of energy.
With the same movements, Edmund struck the guardian repeatedly, but this time, he wasn’t trying to make him fall because maybe he couldn’t break its bones anymore. The flow of the fight was fast but constant.
Luther was recording all of this; he was following them as they fought on streets or pushed into alleyways, recording everything as Edmund punched the guardian more and more towards him. With every punch or kick that made it go too far, he would permanently close the gap or dodge a spell it launched at him, punishing it with another punch, kick, or elbow to the head.
Although he was still surprised by their speed, he could now understand more of what was happening, at least the guardian movements. Edmund remained the same, but his white hair and black clothes mixed, making him look like a ghost.
But as they got closer and were passing him, he hid in an alley and saw for a moment that it looked like a dance. Edmund was about to punch it like he was holding a hammer, but it was blocked, and with that, he punched with his other hand right on what was supposed to be its stomach.
Just one thing made Luther worry: it didn’t look like the guardian had any visible damage on him at all. Luther continued to follow and record Edmund's fight from what he thought was safe, but Edmund had already noticed the cameraman and knew he was too close. This made his mind drift as he dove into the hero’s memory and revived the moment he trained the children and young adults inside the dungeon.
A new student asked the name of this fighting style, and he said it was Silat, something the gods gave him, but the truth was that it came from the memory of the other world, and by this time, he was trying to leave something at least behind.
As the battle raged, the guardian's movements became faster and more precise. It could now block Edmund's strikes, starkly contrasting its earlier vulnerability. Edmund's concerns were realized when he failed to block a punch, the impact leaving a bright red bruise on his chest and tearing his shirt.