One of the sword-wielding mercenaries began to sweat, "Who the hell is this guy…? He wants to fight all of us at the same time? Does he have a death wish or…"
"If he's after the Boss, then he obviously has a death wish! Get him or we won't get paid!" A mercenary with thick, red hair yelled, rushing forward with a large war axe.
Sirius smiled at the first of the hired fighters that charged him, watching as the axe-wielding man roared out while approaching quickly, "Good job taking the initiative. Too bad it won't matter though."
Just as the axe was swung downward towards the top of his skull, Sirius swiftly spun around, kicking the weapon straight out of the studded-armored man's hands.
"Huh–?" The red-haired mercenary was dumbfounded, having swung his hands down but finding no weapon in his grip.
Sirius smirked, "Sorry about that, Champ."
"You–!"
With a snap of his fingers, the Stormheart unleashed a shock wave that emitted like thunder, expelling outward as a devastating pulse that slammed against the mercenary's body. The crunching of bones and squelching of flesh was audible as the red-haired, hired fighter was flung across the room, reduced to a bloody mess of twisted limbs.
The brutal display of power from the unknown invader of the hideout stunned the group of mercenaries, who were left agasp at the sight.
"He…He got Hector, just like that…" One of the men muttered nervously.
"One snap of his fingers…" Another gulped, sweating bullets.
The light hiss of lightning was audible through the room as the magenta element coiled around Sirius, who looked around, "Anybody else?"
Just then, from behind, a man lunged at Sirius' back with daggers in hand, aiming them for his neck.
"Die—!"
"Do better," Sirius sighed.
Before the steel of the daggers could even graze his skin, Sirius flexed his own aura without moving so much as a fingertip, causing the electricity around him to fry the sneak attacker.
"Grrrh—!" The dagger-wielding mercenary yelped as he was shocked, falling down to the ground as his skin was left charred and steaming.
Again, another tried launching a surprise attack against him, thrusting their spear towards the side of Sirius' head, only for the Stormheart to hold his hand to the left, invoking the unseen element of space.
"Crush," Sirius invoked in a whisper.
With a clench of his fist, a pressure suddenly enveloped the spear-wielding mercenary's head as his pale complexion suddenly turned as red as a tomato, bulging with veins.
"Wh-wha–?! Help me…!" The mercenary cried out.
POP
The mercenary's head exploded before his limp body fell to the ground, slumped over as blood pooled onto the tiles.
Sirius stood there, disallowing any blood to touch him as a barrier of disconnected space stopped the spray of crimson like an invisible wall around him.
"So, who's next?" Sirius asked, looking around.
Though there were still dozens of fighters, they had stepped away from him, backing away as though he was some sort of insurmountable monster.
"That's what I thought," Sirius shrugged his shoulders before pointing up to the second floor, "Your boss is up there, right?"
One of the mercenaries nodded, gulping, "Y-yeah…"
"Good. At least you all understand your position," Sirius smiled before beginning to ascend the steps to the second floor before glancing back, "Oh–I almost forgot. I have somebody else with me–if he comes through, you'd better stand down, too. He might not be as nice as me."
"S-somebody else…?" A mercenary stammered.
Just as Sirius walked away, the footsteps of the dozens of mercenaries scattering out of the room were heard as they surrendered their job completely in the face of the Stormheart's overwhelming power.
–
[The Corridor]
CRASH. CRASH. CRASH.
The four-armed giant presented his aggressive style through continuous slams of his mighty weapons, though the scale-armored Dragonheart stayed swift, weaving through the attacks before cocking his fist back.
Thrown forward with air-heating force, [Dragon Strike] was ushered forth through Emilio's knuckles as they slammed against the rock-hard abdomen of Higan.
"Grrrh–!" Higan spat out.
The colossal impact manifested through a ripple of force that shattered the nearby windows and cracked the tiles, causing the giant to be slid back a good dozen meters.
"Hfff…Huuu…" Higan slowly exhaled, still standing as his abdomen was left steaming from the blow, yet still left without any visible wounds.
Emilio held his steaming fist by his side, looking towards the elite warrior of the Four-Armed Clan.
"A respectable blow, human warrior! I felt that one throughout my entire being!" Higan complimented with an excited expression, "More!"
'Fine, then!' Emilio thought.
As the four-armed warrior seemed more thrilled than actually damaged by the draconic blow, Emilio rushed back in, this time flexing his body as it surged with mystical heat: [Draconic Might]
"Nnnragh!" Higan roared out, attempting to intercept him with rapid movements of his spiked chip, though the Dragonheart was able to maneuver between each strike.
Arriving in front of the giant warrior again, Emilio clenched his fist, allowing the draconic power to flood through his limb again before jumping up and slamming his knuckles directly against the chin of Higan.
The resulting force howled through the corridor as the decorated giant's head violently whipped back.
"Ghh…!" Higan winced as he slid back, gritting his teeth before actually falling onto his back with a loud thud that filled the shattered halls.
Emilio breathed out, holding his fist, "How's that?"
For a solid moment, the red-skinned giant of jewels laid on his back before suddenly exclaiming, "Wonderful!"
"—" Emilio immediately furrowed his eyebrows.
Despite the gargantuan stature of the man, the giant kicked himself back onto his feet in a seamless motion, spitting out blood from his mouth and onto the floor.
'I punched him hard enough to send his head flying from his shoulders. At the very least, I would've expected it to break his neck, but—this guy is really just built different,' Emilio thought.
"This is the first time in decades I've tasted my own blood," Higan claimed, "Commendable, human warrior."
"Yeah—save it," Emilio responded as he dashed in, this time choosing to use his sword.
It was like attempting to pass through a wall primed to attack him; an unmoving, unbreakable barrier that retaliated with swift, brutal strikes that kept him on his toes. He used his own sword to deflect the heavy strikes of the giant's weapons, while also finding himself having to use footwork to maneuver through the unorthodox range of the whip.
Every time the bronze-and-gold whip struck against a wall, it chipped the sturdy material before cracking it altogether, barely missing Emilio, who made sure not to find out what it felt like to be struck.
"Yes! Superb movements! You're both nimble and strong!" Higan complimented while continuing his relentless attacks.
In the narrow corridor, the disadvantage was held by Emilio as his movements were limited and the range of the giant's weapons took up most of that space, eventually leading to–CRACK.
"Ngh!"
Whipping against his back, the spiked weapon curved around behind Emilio as he had already dodged the axe, being struck by the whip as it shattered the portion of armor hit and inflicted his skin beneath. It was a sharp, stinging pain; burning as if a hot iron had been pressed against his flesh.
'Damn! That fucking hurts!' Emilio thought.
Being struck by a whip, especially wielded by the monstrous strength of one such as his opponent, was the kind of pain that stirred one's head up; a rage-inducing, frustrating pain of lip-biting, teary-eyed agony.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
Being thrown off by the potent pain of being struck just once, he dodged the whips again before–CRACK.
"GAH–!"
Straight against his left arm, the spiked whip shattered the scales protecting him, hitting his arm with that teeth-grinding burst of pain again.
In response, he waved his hand forward with an ushering of roaring flames; the wave of fire rushed in like a burning tidal wave against the giant warrior.
"FWOOOOO—!"
An unorthodox counter came from a massive exhale of the decorated giant, who puffed his cheeks and his chest as a high-pressure cone of air was blown out from his mouth.
'Seriously—? This guy is straight out of an epic,' Emilio thought, watching the flames be breathed away as he jumped back.
He acted quickly, adapting to his opponent's skills as he wove a different element into reality; through a stomp of his foot, he morphed the surrounding walls, causing hands of stone to stretch and reach for Higan.
The giant responses by using all four of his limbs to cleave away the stone hands, though Emilio simply used the hands as a distraction for his next spell:
"Hundred Arrows of The Volcanic Sea."
With a movement of his hand that resembled drawing the string of a bow, he released dozens of water-formed arrows that shot forth. Each of the projectiles was boiling; steaming with supreme heat, they were too numerous for the giant to deflect all of them.
"Oh!" Higan let out as the boiling arrows of water pelted his seemingly impervious skin.
'That diamond-like skin is even heat resistant, then? What a pain,' Emilio thought.
Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnovel(.)com