"He's not here," Emilio noted.
"Seems like he was aware of us, after all," Sirius smirked, "It doesn't matter. They can run all they like–there isn't a thing in this world I can't catch."
Magenta electricity sparked around Sirius' body as his sights were set on the double, red doors at the back of the room. By the stance that Sirius took, spreading his arms out and lowering himself, it was clear he was preparing to travel quickly.
"Hey–" Emilio reached out.
FWOOM
"Keep up if you can!" Sirius yelled out.
Like a bolt of lightning zipping through the area, the air cracked and the double doors slammed open as Sirius disappeared in an instant.
A frustrated breath left Emilio's lips as his companion bolted off without him, muttering to himself, "...What's with this guy? Can't he do anything the normal way, just one time? It's a pain in the ass."
Following where his partner went, he stepped through the slammed-open doors that led to a wide corridor, stepping over the broken door that had landed on one of the men.
"Uuegh…!" The unconscious mercenary under the broken door winced after being crossed over by the Dragonheart.
'Keep up, huh? Guess I oughta,' Emilio thought.
Surrounding himself in dense, potent wind, he amplified it further with a spell woven through his own master of the natural element, engulfing himself in the verdant wind before invoking the spell: "Gone With The Wind."
Surrounded in the mystical air, he burst forward with the wind upon his back, blessing him with its weightless swiftness as he traversed the corridor with speed.
"Hyaaaah!"
"--!"
Stopping himself mid-dash and flipping back, something crashed down right where he was initially passing through. As he landed on his feet, he looked in front of him to find a figure that had dropped down from the ceiling: a four-armed, quadra-wielding man with dark-red skin and pitch-black eyes.
'Huh…? Just what is this guy?' He questioned.
The unknown, four-armed giant lifted one of its weapons from the shattered, tile flooring–a black-and-bronze war axe.
"The lightning man passed by before I could stop him, but you will not get past me," the red-skinned giant spoke with a serious expression, possessing a deep, bellowing voice, "Be honored to die by the hand of Higan, the mightiest of the Four-Armed Clan!"
'A bit on the nose,' Emilio thought.
"Maximus brought out the big guns, did he?" Emilio muttered, facing off against the multi-armed figure before him, raising his sword.
It seemed that the level of mercenaries was underestimated, as he could sense that the unique figure before him was strong: "Higan" wore gold jewelry on his body, having piercings on his nose and mouth, with golden chains on his face and a long, silver braid flowing down his back.
Higan spread out his mighty, muscular arms, blocking the entire width of the exuberant hallway as a wall himself, showcasing the war axe he wielded, the curved, black-handled sword, a spiked whip, and the double-ended greatsword he wielded in each of his hands.
"Your senses are superb!" Higan complimented, seeming stern yet honest in his demeanor–a pure-blooded warrior, "I am Lord Maximus' head bodyguard: none shall reach him."
The red-skinned, four-armed giant wore a black loincloth and nothing else but the jewelry he decorated himself in, having dark tattoos etched onto his muscular body as well.
"Yeah? Well, my friend has probably already made him eat dirt," Emilio said.
Higan exhaled through his mighty nostrils with a breath felt even from meters away, "False."
"Huh?"
"I am Lord Maximus' foremost bodyguard, but I am not his most elite guardian! Your friend will have to go through 'him'," Higan explained, "Now! Prepare yourself–raise your sword so that I may send you off with an honorable death, warrior!"
Emilio readied himself, "Seems like I don't have a choice."
Though he maintained an air of confidence around himself, sure of his own abilities, he knew undoubtedly that the four-armed giant before him wasn't a simple goon or merely boasting his own size.
'...Once you reach a certain level yourself, you begin to be able to sense the strength others are at. This guy is the real deal–I just wonder how a sleaze like Maximus got somebody like this under him,' Emilio questioned.
"--!"
Caught up in his own thoughts, he found himself barely sidestepping an attack as he only sensed it by the sudden change in the wind pressure around him.
CRACK.
It was the spiked whip, cracking near him with an echoing howl that bounced off of the walls, barely missing him.
"You know the person you're working for is up to no good, right? Though let me guess: money buys away all of your judgment," Emilio presumed.
As he spoke, he was forced to deflect swift whip strikes that curved around him before flipping out of the way of an axe slam.
Higan howled with mighty laughter, "You amuse me with your assumptions, human warrior! I do not fight for money—we of the Four-Armed Clan live and die for proper battles! Only through one thousand worthy victories may we ascend to Yresmania!"
Following his booming words, the decorated warrior of great size swept all of his weapons at once, sweeping through the halls as Emilio backpedaled on the defense. Each swing of the weapons of battle, forged with the size of the giant's size in mind, no doubt, produced heavy force that rattled the windows.
'So strong–still, I can easily see through attacks of this caliber,' Emilio thought.
As he dashed in, weaving through the barrage of attacks that made it feel as though he was fighting multiple foes at once, he stomped down before ushering in a fundamental technique of the Mountain God Style:
"Mountain Splitter–"
Though to his surprise as he slashed forth with what he felt was perfect execution of the downward slash, his blade merely bounced off of the red-skinned warrior's chest.
'The blade didn't go through? What is this guy made out of, diamonds?' He questioned.
While he wasn't using any of his system stages, it wasn't like he was holding back; he used the Mountain God Style–a teaching of swordsmanship that focused on straightforward, powerful attacks–yet didn't make a dent in his opponent.
Higan proudly exuded, "The Four-Armed Clan are among the mightiest of all giants, human warrior. I do not blame you for being unaware of this–the land of giants is far, far away from here. Let me put it this way: do you see a single scar on my body?"
Hesitant to answer, Emilio kept his distance, holding his sword up as he looked at his opponent's body, surprisingly noticing now that there was not one scar etched onto his flesh.
"No, can't say I do," Emilio answered.
"Your eyes do not deceive you. I have been through thousands of battles, and yet my flesh has not given to any warrior's blade," Higan flexed his entire body, "I am Higan, The Unbreakable–and I have endured that name for over a century now! Come, try to put an end to that name, young warrior!"
It was definitely unexpected for him to find such a straightforward, battle-bound warrior of a distant land in the Vasmorian town, though the unexpected was to be expected when dealing with the nefarious organization.
'...Half-assing it won't get me through this guy. I guess I'll need to turn it up a notch,' Emilio decided.
"You want a 'worthy fight'? Just stand there a second, then," Emilio offered, breathing in-and-out as he stoked the internal flame within him.
Higan looked intrigued, folding his arms over his chest, "Do what you must. I will only face you at your strongest."
The Dragonheart summoned azure scales over his body, armoring himself completely as azure flames were breathed out from his mouth before his face was covered as well.
[Dragonheart System Activated]
[Current Stage: 3/10 | Dragon Warrior]
"Magic? This land holds extraordinary beings–I will fight you, human warrior," Higan decided, unfolding his arms and wielding his gigantic weapons.
"The name's Emilio," he corrected the giant, "Let's make this quick."
–
Zipping through the surprisingly lengthy and confusing layout of the secret hideout, Sirius blitzed through the halls, passing by mercenaries stationed without it.
"Hey, stop right the–!"
Before the hired warriors could even properly get their warnings out, the man of magenta lightning sped by, leaving behind electric shocks for the slow fighters.
"Heh," Sirius chuckled as he passed by, leaving a trail of unconscious mercenaries throughout the halls.
'This place is a lot bigger than expected. It seems like our target is quite the big spender,' Sirius thought.
Without much worry and doing his own thing, Sirius dashed forth as his eyes were locked on a set of doors before bolting forward, kicking through them with a dramatic entrance.
"Comin' through!" Sirius announced, sliding across the gray tiles beyond the door before coming to a stop.
As he looked around, he found himself in what seemed to be the heart of the hideout; mercenaries were standing in plentiful numbers, and a dual set of staircases led up to an exuberant second floor.
"Who the hell are ya?"
"Looking to die, punk?"
"Get him!"
"Fuckin' nosy adventurer!"
–All at once, the hardened mercenaries picked up their weapons and surrounded Sirius, though the magenta-eyed man looked less than worried–in fact, he looked quite excited. There were a few dozen, at least; each of them dressed in rough, leather armor or mixed assortments of steel, wielding unrefined weapons.
"Come on, then. All at once? Sure thing. Just don't blame me if I play a bit rough," Sirius playfully said as electricity began to wrap around his arms.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel