Lucky landed in the center of the clearing like a falling boulder.
The earth split beneath his feet.
A shockwave rolled outward through the forest, kicking up a violent storm of dust and leaves. The assassins scattered in practiced silence, each vanishing into motion before the expanding force could swallow them.
Lucky straightened slowly.
Kutote and Itekan still hung over his shoulders like sacks of grain.
He rolled one shoulder.
Then the other.
His grin widened.
"Come on then."
---
The first strike came from the trees.
A glimmer of steel flashed through the leaves, followed by a second, both moving in perfect harmony. Their wielder dropped from the canopy with feline precision, twin blades carving intersecting arcs meant to separate Lucky's head from his shoulders.
Lucky tilted his neck.
The blades screamed past his throat.
The assassin landed behind him, already spinning for another strike—his movements fluid, relentless, the rhythm of someone who had spent a lifetime killing with paired weapons.
Lucky turned halfway.
Their eyes met.
"Oh?"
The man's second slash came faster.
Lucky caught both blades between two fingers.
Metal shrieked.
Then shattered.
The assassin barely had time to react before Lucky's head snapped forward.
CRACK.
The sound of skull meeting skull echoed through the clearing.
The man vanished into the forest like a broken arrow.
---
Lightning answered the attack.
A heavy figure charged from the right, boots crushing the undergrowth as arcs of electricity crawled across the iron gauntlets wrapped around his forearms.
The man roared and drove both fists together.
Thunder exploded as the gauntlets discharged.
Lightning tore across Lucky's body in a blinding flash.
For a moment the forest became white.
When the light faded—
Lucky stood exactly where he had been.
Smoke curled lazily from his shoulders.
He glanced down at the crackling gauntlets pressed against his chest.
Then he laughed.
The large man's eyes widened.
Lucky reached forward.
His hand closed around the assassin's wrist.
The lightning died instantly.
With a lazy swing of his arm, Lucky hurled the man sideways.
The body smashed through a tree trunk thick as a carriage.
Then another.
And another.
---
Chains came next.
They whipped out from the shadows like striking serpents, dozens of links lashing through the air before coiling tightly around Lucky's arms.
The metal glowed faintly with spiritual reinforcement as the unseen wielder pulled back with all his strength.
For a moment the chains held.
Then the ground beneath Lucky's feet shifted.
Stone surged upward in jagged ridges, swallowing his legs to the knees.
The earth hardened instantly.
A prison of rock and iron.
Perfect timing.
---
The air shimmered.
The forest twisted.
Suddenly there were dozens of Lucky's standing in the clearing.
Dozens of assassins.
Trees bending into impossible shapes.
The illusion spread outward like ripples across water.
Hidden within it, another figure moved.
His feet never quite touched the ground.
He flowed through shadow like smoke through cracks, closing the distance with a spear held low and ready.
The moment he stepped within striking range—
He thrust.
The weapon shot forward like lightning.
---
Lucky moved.
His head snapped sideways.
The spear missed his throat by a hair.
His shoulder jerked.
The chains snapped.
His leg flexed.
The stone exploded.
The illusion shattered like a mirror struck by a hammer.
Lucky's hand shot out and grabbed the spear shaft.
The assassin's eyes widened.
Lucky yanked him forward.
Then headbutted him hard enough to send teeth spraying into the dirt.
---
A blur of motion appeared beside Lucky.
Tiger.
His body moved like a predator finally unleashed.
Ice condensed instantly along his arm, forming a spear of jagged frost as he lunged forward with terrifying speed.
The weapon drove straight toward Lucky's spine.
Lucky twisted.
The ice spear pierced his side.
Cold mist exploded outward.
Tiger landed lightly several paces away.
For the first time since the battle began—
Lucky bled.
The crimson line spread slowly across his shirt.
Lucky stared at it.
Touched the wound.
Then burst into laughter so loud the trees shook.
"Good!"
He turned toward Tiger.
"Very good!"
---
A ripple of movement spread through the clearing.
The remaining assassins closed in together.
Wind screamed suddenly through the forest.
Invisible blades tore through the air, slicing leaves from branches and gouging deep lines into the ground as they converged on Lucky from every direction.
At the same time the earth shifted again.
Stone hands burst from the soil, clawing toward Lucky's legs.
Chains lashed out once more.
Steel flashed from the shadows.
And from above—
A figure dropped silently through the canopy.
Shwarer.
His descent was soundless.
His presence alone changed the atmosphere of the battlefield.
The others were deadly.
Shwarer was something colder.
More precise.
He landed behind Lucky and stepped forward calmly.
A thin line of dark energy formed along his forearm.
It hummed softly.
Like a blade sharpening itself.
---
Lucky felt it.
Even before the strike came.
His grin widened.
"Ah."
Shwarer moved.
The slash was so fast it seemed to skip the motion entirely.
One moment he stood behind Lucky.
The next—
Blood sprayed across the forest floor.
Lucky staggered half a step.
A deep line now ran across his chest.
The clearing fell silent.
Tiger's eyes narrowed.
They had finally cut him.
Lucky stared down at the wound.
Then looked back at Shwarer.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
His grin stretched wider than ever.
"Oh…"
He rolled his shoulders, the air around him trembling with the sudden rise of his spiritual energy.
"That one hurt."
The pressure in the clearing doubled.
Leaves tore free from branches.
The assassins braced instinctively.
Lucky pointed directly at Shwarer.
"You."
His voice rumbled like distant thunder.
"You're fun."
He took a step forward.
The ground trembled beneath him.
Behind him, the unconscious forms of Itekan and Kutote swayed slightly over his shoulders.
Lucky cracked his neck.
Around him the remaining assassins shifted into new positions, tightening their circle.
Eleven hunters had entered the forest.
Several now lay broken among the trees.
But the rest did not retreat.
Because now they understood something terrible.
This man wasn't trying to survive.
He was playing.
Lucky's grin widened.
"Let's keep going."
.
.
.
Spiritual Energy (SE)
Spiritual Sea (SS)
Spiritual Signature (SST)
Natural Energy (NE)
Holy Energy (HE)