In no time at all, chaos erupted around me. It was difficult to discern who was attacking whom amidst the confusion.
I faced a group of warriors who had banded together in front of me. With a single punch, I sent them tumbling to the ground. They were not as formidable as I had initially thought.
Despite my quick reflexes, the onslaught seemed never-ending. Some assailants attacked with their bare hands while others brandished weapons and equipment.
As I fended off the warriors closest to me, I suddenly felt a nudge from behind. Something was hurtling towards me at an alarming speed. I had to either block it or dodge out of its path.
When I realized that it was an arrow, I whipped my head around to locate its source. Far behind the throng of warriors, a man stood apart from the rest, his bow trained on me.
His face was obscured by a cloth and he was heavily armed. He appeared to be a formidable opponent, though I sensed no unusual strength emanating from him. Nevertheless, his aim was true; the arrow had flown straight and true towards its target - me.
I couldn't fathom why he had singled me out as his target, but the determination in his eyes left no doubt that I was his intended victim. I knew that I had to shift my focus to him or risk being caught off guard by his deadly arrows.
I was approaching him with slow, deliberate steps. He mirrored my movements, and as we both quickened our pace, we began to run towards each other. We dodged and weaved through the fighters coming towards us, our eyes locked on one another. When we were within arm's reach, I leaped towards him, ready to return fire and make it difficult for him to shoot. But he was quick - he dropped to his knees and slid under me, narrowly escaping my grasp. I spun around to face him again, but he was already firing arrows at me. I quickly dodged them and lunged towards him, throwing a punch.
He managed to dodge it by throwing himself back. I threw another punch, but this time he leaned to the left and avoided it. He was faster than I had anticipated. As I swung my fist again, he reached for the short rope around his waist and wrapped it around my arm. Before I could even react, he had maneuvered behind me and delivered a swift kick to my knee, forcing me to the ground.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
The blow to my knee had left me bent over and vulnerable. The rope that was wrapped around my arm now slipped around my neck, tightening like a noose. It felt like he was choking me with his own arm. Every time I tried to reach behind me to grab him, he skillfully avoided my grasp.
I knew I had to act fast. Throwing myself forward, I struggled to regain control of my feet. Once I was steady, I stood up and swung an elbow with my free arm into the fighter's right side. Then, with a sharp tug on the rope in my hand, I threw the fighter off my back and sent him flying forward.
But he didn't lose his balance. As he soared through the air, he fired arrows at me from his crossbow. I deflected them with the palm of my hand, shattering the incoming projectiles in mid-air.
"Look," shouted one of the spectators. "It's the desert assassin versus the wanted man!"
The man facing me was clearly well-known among the crowd. Just like him, they recognized me too. I knew it was only a matter of time before all eyes in the coliseum were fixed on us.
My opponent may not have been as powerful as Hiroshi, but he was skilled and fast for an ordinary human. I knew I had to use every ounce of my limited strength to defeat him. As the noise from the crowd died down, the warrior began to shoot at me with one hand while holding his crossbow and running towards me.
I hadn't expected such a bold attack, but I had no choice but to fight back. I ran towards him, keeping my focus on the warrior as if anticipating his next move. When we were face to face, he threw a punch at me in a seemingly ordinary way.
It wouldn't have been difficult to dodge such an obvious punch, but the warrior had something else up his sleeve. Just as I thought I could block his punch and counterattack, he pulled out a hidden knife from his wrist and brandished it at me.
It dawned on me too late that a mere scratch on my cheek saved me from a fatal stab wound. The assassin ambushed me, brandishing a knife from his other hand, fully expecting to strike me down. However, I reacted in time, leaping up and catching his hand mid-air before he could make contact.
Frustrated, the assassin attempted to attack me with his free hand, but I was one step ahead, quickly grabbing his other hand and yanking him towards me, slamming my forehead into his face. The blow momentarily stunned him, but he quickly regained his senses, spinning around and launching a high kick at me with incredible speed.
To my horror, I noticed a knife attached to the end of his foot, just like the one in his hand. Reacting instinctively, I thrust my arm forward and managed to stop the kick just an inch away from my face. If I had been even slightly slower, it wouldn't have ended well.
With his foot now in my grasp, I began to pummel him in the gut with my other hand. Then, in one swift motion, I spun him around and threw him into a nearby corner. I didn't intend to kill him, but at that moment another warrior stabbed the assassin from behind. The assassin, who was knocked down by the knife blow, was incapacitated, and the one who knocked him down was my next new opponent.