Swoosh!
Sol dodge the man’s first swing and his ears buzzed with the sound of the sword tearing through the air.
Sol didn’t have to get hit by this sword to know that he would be cut in two if it did. He was nervous at first as he dodged the man’s attacks, but with each successive dodge Sol gain a bit of confidence.
This man wasn’t a master. His movements were clear as day to Sol and he could easily predict his movements.
After Sol dodge another one of his attacks, the leader’s face began to turn red from anger.
“H-How dare you! I’ll kill you damn brat!!”
The man roared out and the golden aura around him exploded.
Sol tried to resist the force but he was forced to retreat. Looking through his crossed arms as the man wildly release his aura and kicked up dust, Sol thought to himself.
‘This is my chance.’
As the man grabbed his sword with both hands the golden aura around it doubled in intensity, meanwhile the protective layer of Holy Energy around him weakened.
“DIE!!”
The man roared and bolted forward. His arms rose before he violently swung down with his sword.
A terrifying sword arc lept from his sword towards Sol, but despite the terrifying attack, Sol was relatively calm.
The leader had gone all out completely neglecting his defense.
Sol dodge his wild attack and took this opportunity to approach him. He concentrated all his strength in his fist and punch forward.
The protective barrier around the man shattered and Sol’s fist slammed into his chest.
Because Sol was weakened from using this attack previously, his strength scatter a bit and caused the leader to fly back several meters. The wild Holy Energy he was releasing popped like a bubble and faded away.
Sol was on all four wheezing; he tried desperately to regain his breath. However, his breath suddenly hitched in his throat when he saw the leader moving.
He wasn’t dead yet.
Sol looked to the side and saw the sword the leader had dropped.
His hands reached out and wrapped around its hilt before he used it to stand up.
Sol then wobbled over to the leader who was bleeding profusely from all of his orifices. He was on his front trying to crawl away.
Seeing Sol coming towards him with his sword, the leader began to panic.
“N-No… ple-please… spare…*vomit*”
The man tried to beg for his life, but blood spilled from his mouth cutting him off.
Sol stood over the man and look at him with a rather blank expression.
“Please…”
The man manage to say as he reached up with his hands that were covered in blood; trying to block Sol.
Sol silently looked at this man who just moments ago treated a human life like it was nothing. .
How many of his tribesmen had died to this sword in his hands while they were begging to be spared?
But now that he was on the verge of death the man was doing the same thing as them.
Suddenly all those lessons his father tried to explain to him about how wicked and hypocritical humans can be became clear to Sol. He didn’t understand then, but after experiencing it for the first time Sol understood now.
“If I wasn’t strong… If you were the one standing over me, would you have spared my life?”
Sol said this to the man, and immediately the man’s blood run cold.
However, the sword in Sol’s hand fell to the ground with a clang.
The man looked away from it and then back up at Sol, wondering why he dropped the sword.
After shaking his head Sol said.
“You don’t deserve to die like this.”
A bit of hope appeared in the man’s eyes when he heard this. He thought Sol had changed his mind about killing him, but how wrong he was.
With dead eyes and a cold tone of voice, Sol look at the man and countinued.
“You deserve to die way worse.”
Sol then straddle the man and immediately began hammering fist after fist into his face. The man was unable to block the attacks and could only take Sol’s fist strikes straight to his face.
After more than a dozen punches from Sol, the man’s grunts and groaning faded before his body went limp.
Sol who was just about to punch the man again paused. His face was spattered with blood as he looked down.
What remained of the man’s head was buried inside the cracked ground. He was completely unrecognizable.
With bloody fists, Sol struggled to stand up and head over to where Amon’s Father was.
He felt numb.
Maybe it was due to his extreme exhausted, but it could also be that he was in shock after just killing someone for the first time. Well, three to be exact.
Sol was still just a child. No matter how mature he looked or seems, he still thinks and acts his age.
Unable to keep himself together any longer, Sol vomited. He then sat down on the blood-soaked ground and grabbed his head; his body began to shake uncontrollably.
Distant screams were heard in the village, a sign that this mass murder spree was still in full swing.
Between his sobbing, Sol suddenly heard his name being called. After looking up, he saw Amon’s Father’s chest slowly rising up and down as he struggle to breathe.
Sol wiped his tears and hurriedly came up to the man’s side on all fours.
“Mister, are… are you okay?”
Sol began examining the man for injuries wanting to save his life, but what immediately stood out was his sunken chest.
The leader’s kick must have crushed his internal organs. He might not have long to live.
“S-Sol…”
The man was heard saying while lifting his hand.
“Yes, I’m here.”
Sol quickly responded and instinctively grabbed the man’s hand.
“Please… save Amon, save my son… please.”
Tears stream down the man’s face uncontrollably as pleaded.
“Your father, he… he was right, but we didn’t listen. Now the village is gone.”
Sol’s grip tightened around the man’s hand as he firmly said.
“I’ll save Amon, I’ll definitely save him. And the village isn’t gone, my father will defeat these people, he will. So please don’t die, Amon, he-”
Sol’s words were cut short as the man’s head suddenly fell to one side, and his chest stopped moving as he exhale one final breath.
He was dead.
Sol gritted his teeth and tears rolled down his cheeks. However, he soon whipped his tears and with a serious expression on his face, he stood up.
Sol then turned and dashed towards the village square.
Despite the exhaustion he was feeling, Sol continued to run. After some time, he reached the last turn in an alley to reach the village square, but he paused and then chose to peak around the corner.
Immediately Sol saw several guards stationed around the temple. Worse of all each of them looked either as strong as the leader he faced before or more powerful.
‘I-I can’t face all of them. What should I do? From what that man said Amon and the kids should be in the temple.’
Sol’s heart sank. It felt like he had just met with an unbreakable wall.
‘If only I was stronger, damn it.’
Sol began to curse himself for being weak. If he was even half as strong as his father he could-
‘Wait! Father! Where is Dad? If he came he can save Amon and the others.’
Sol wanted to look for his father, but he didn’t know where he was.
Suddenly and without warning, a wretched scream rang out from outside the alleyway drawing Sol out of his thoughts. Quickly he turned around to see a Paladin Warrior beheading a young woman running with a newborn child in her arms.
Sol was instantly taken aback by the heartlessness of the scene, but he soon began furious. He was about to run out and attack the man but he paused.
Shouldn’t he be focused on saving Amon and the others?
No, in his current condition he might not be able to save them, he needed to find his father.
But people in the village were dying around him he should help them as well.
Sol’s mind spun and spun, he didn’t know what to do, or who to save. But can he even save anyone the way he was? He was too weak.
It all came down that one factor, being too weak.
As Sol began to panic and his thoughts raced on what to do in this situation, he suddenly heard a commotion from the temple. Looking around the corner, he saw the guards frantically dashing inside the temple.
Seeing this, Sol hesitate on whether to approach the temple or not, but he suddenly watched as a small figure sneaked out of the double doors of the temple.
Seeing this small figure, Sol’s hesitations were immediately dashed and he burst forth with all the speed he could muster towards the temple… towards the little Amon.