Chương 8: Festival 2
I kept pursuing the sword thief, yet both my speed and agility were made irrelevant by the smothering crowds. My size didn't help either as I was constantly 2 steps away from being trampled on.
'Fuck this' I inwardly cursed as I jumped on someone's shoulder and propelled myself onto a rooftop.
'Heading towards a dark alleyway. Bad move'
I rushed to intercept the perpetrator, jumping from rooftop to rooftop in my pursuit. After catching up I jumped and landed on the street in front of him with all the grace of a newborn giraffe.
"Who are you kid? Where did you come from" The man said with a shriek
I simply pointed to the katana in the man's hands.
"You're the little imp I stole this from? I took it from right under your nose while you were too busy spacing out. You should really pay more attention to your stuff next time" He said with a smirk plastered on his face
"Well, we have to get this back to the boss. It's really too bad."
"We?" I asked as 2 other people appeared behind the thief.
"Sorry kid, we gotta move though"
"You motherfuckers aren't going anywhere" I growled
"Kids these days sure have a sharp tongue huh. Get rid of him"
The 2 people rushed towards me with questionable balance, they looked like drunken madmen in a bar fight. The first man to arrive in front of me put all his power into his right fist which he lunged at me. I responded with a sidestep, bringing me to the man's side, followed by a left hook to his ribcage. Off balance from his initial strike, the first man offered no resistance and went down in one hit.
The second man was a little more crafty with his attacks. He threw a feint with his left hand to put my guard up, then proceeded to use his right leg to sweep me off my feet.
The large pot bellied man was undoubtedly stronger than me, but slow. I jumped backwards and to the side to avoid his sweep, but ended up with my back against the wall of a wooden building.
The man took this opportunity to get closer, rotate his hips to generate momentum and throw a punch aimed at my head. I weaved the punch which only struck the wooden wall. With his hand still extended, I dropped below his guard and offered him a left hook to the liver. The man winced in pain which gave me enough room to escape the entrapment and retreat in an alleyway.
As soon as the man started following me I too started running towards him. When we were about to clash, I planted my left foot in front of my victim and pivoted, causing me to spin around and get out of his way, leaving the man tumbling down the dark alleyway.
"Are these the kind of goons you hire to do your dirty work?" I said while laughing, looking at the man carrying the sword
"You little demon! You'll regret this"
"Shut up you third rate villain. Hand me the sword before I-" I was interrupted by horrific screaming coming from one of the alleyways
'What an overreaction, I sent him flying but I don't remember tearing his limbs apart' I thought to myself while instinctively moving away from the alleyway entrance
"What an unexpected surprise" Said a man in a low baritone voice "I didn't think prey would come flying to me tonight"
The footsteps of the man got closer and closer as he threatened to emerge from the shadows of the alleyway.
"Stay away! Don't take another step" I screamed while moving towards the man with my sword to reclaim it.
But the footsteps didn't stop
"Give it to me now and we'll call it even kay? You steal my treasure and I beat up your friends. We're good right?" I desperately tried pleading. The voice had awakened an emotion I haven't felt for a while; pure terror. The kind prey feels when face to face with a predator.
The man with the sword simply stood there, frozen stiff. I yanked the blade out of his hand and pushed him towards the incoming footsteps. The man yelped and tried to get up but couldn't and I didn't help either.
I was too focused on the figure that emerged from the shadows. A figure which looked almost human, but with skin too pale, teeth and claws too sharp to be human. His eyes were half open, revealing a pink, vertical cat-like pupil. His teeth and mouth were dyed red, and his right hand held something which I couldn't make out.
I took a step back. 'Is that a leg' I thought while looking at the 'man' holding a human leg like a chicken drumstick.
Taking a step backwards, I clenched the scabbard of my sword while my thumb pushed the guard up, slightly unsheathing the blade.
The demon took one bite out of the leg, tearing the flesh off and chewing it before spitting it out.
"What is this inedible garbage? You better be a tasty kid. I hate wasting my time."
The demon dropped low and rushed towards me with speed I had never seen up to that point. He aimed the claws of his right hand at my throat while his mouth was open in a wide smile as though he'd been presented with the biggest feast of his life.
I activated total concentration while placing my hand on my hilt, drawing the sword and swinging, all in the blink of an eye.
The man's arm flew off, detached from his body by the shoulder as he zipped past me. I looked behind to see the man had already regained his footing, facing me once again. Where his arm used to be, a weird lump of flesh was quickly morphing and reshaping itself in the form of an arm.
I watched this regenerating process in absolute terror as the man flashed another smile at me and lunged again, this time with his still intact left arm aiming for my head.
I blocked the talon like claws with the sharp edge of my blade, cutting a few of them down to the knuckle. The man backed off but only for a second, his fingers had already completely regenerated and his right arm was getting there.
I didn't give him a chance to completely heal though as I got low, gripped the hilt of my sword with both hands then swung upward, cutting the man's left arm. With my opponent temporarily incapacitated I took a step back and collected my thoughts.
'Why won't he die. He seems entirely unaffected by my slashing his arms straight off. Blood loss doesn't seem to be a problem for him either. What the hell am I dealing with here'.
"What are you?" I yelled while the man was still regenerating his severed arm "How do I kill you"
Truthfully, I didn't want to kill, but I figured it would be necessary to become a swordsman. I knew it would happen some day. The day I have to kill someone.
'I have no problem killing whatever this thing is though'
"Wouldn't you like to know" The man's smile completely faded, replaced with a deep frown and a look of complete hatred.
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