(Skillful. What an interesting trick) I thought, feeling my head spin slightly, dizziness beginning to take over.
Before I could recover, Dagen was already behind me, preparing his spear for the next attack.
"Beg" he muttered, as if challenging me.
I didn't hesitate. I took a step forward and, with all my strength, swung my body backward, raising my sword for a full downward strike.
Clank!
Dagen stepped back slightly, parrying the blow with his spear. In a quick movement, he swung the weapon behind his back and swept it in a rapid sequence, cutting from bottom to top.
Clank!
This time, I managed to hook my sword onto his spear, gaining the upper hand. I pushed hard, feeling his muscles give way under the pressure.
Dagen looked like a clay doll, being molded and crushed by my brute force.
Suddenly, a red wrist exploded from his body. Instinctively, I stepped back, jumping sideways, leap after leap, seeking distance as I felt the blade of my sword cutting through the air right behind me—as if it wanted to split my body in half.
By a hair's breadth, I almost felt my soul being ripped from my body at that moment. I stopped three meters away, holding the spear tightly with both hands, trying to catch my breath.
(What physical strength... and inhuman speed) I thought, my eyes fixed on him.
I mentally thanked that monstrosity for being only thirteen years old. If he were older, with more experience in the art of combat, I would be in serious trouble.
I took a deep breath and stepped forward. The sword spun in my hands, cutting through the wind in a vertical arc, fast and sharp as a howl tearing through the night.
Dagen took a side step and twisted his waist to the left, deftly dodging as he swept the tip of his spear toward me. I leaned back at the last second—all I could feel was my hair being ruffled.
Without wasting any time, I lunged forward again before he could retreat.
He parried my sword with his spear, balancing on one foot. With surprising smoothness, Dagen guided the force backward, twisting his entire waist, holding firm, and emerged unscathed as I passed him, like a runaway bull.
No sooner had he regained his footing than he was coming at me again.
Clank! Clank!
Sparks flew from the tip of his spear as he parried a thrust and a vertical slash in quick succession—fast, graceful. He used the advantage of his long weapon masterfully, deflecting my blows with agility.
I took a step back, gaining distance, and he took the opportunity to thrust forward.
Psh!
The spear pierced my armor, but didn't move a single steel plate.
It was my mistake — I lost my stance at that moment and took a direct front kick to the chest.
Boom!
I was thrown backwards, landing sitting down three meters from the impact.
Before I could get up, he swept his spear behind me, spinning like a whirlwind as he advanced.
The weapon swept twice in quick succession, forcing me to dodge quickly.
With both hands, I gripped my sword tightly and struck the wooden shaft of the spear with all my strength.
Kaa!!
The wood split in two under the brute force.
Dagen lost his balance and was thrown to the side, falling to his knees.
The blade didn't stop — it came slashing toward me, ready to tear my leg off.
But with an agile leap, I dodged like a juggler, almost floating in the air. In the next instant, I grabbed another spear, swinging it vertically to the left and right around my body, advancing step by step.
He came with a lunge, which I parried with my blade, knocking him off balance to the side. Quickly, Dagen ducked and swept at my lower body, but I used the pommel of my sword to block him.
I took another step forward, hitting his chest squarely with the hilt of my sword.
BAMM!
Dagen was thrown back once again. Silence fell over the audience—seeing that man thrown backward, falling like a broken doll, was shocking.
I advanced, swinging my sword and bringing it down in a vertical cut, straight at him.
Still on the ground, he tried to parry as he struggled to get up.
Clank!
Our weapons clashed again.
He deflected the sword to the side with all his strength.
That's when I realized: I was on top of him.
My heavy body fell straight onto his waist, causing his sword to slip from his hand as I pressed him against the floor.
Our eyes glowed bright red like rubies, with vertical pupils, a sinister pattern that only I could see at that moment.
"Ahhh!" Dagen roared, trying to push me back, his muscles contracting violently under the pressure.
His legs kicked, his arms punched as I held both sides of his head firmly.
"YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!" my voice came out harsh, full of rage and determination. I squeezed hard, pulling his head up, making it clear that this wasn't going to end here.
Dagen began to struggle even harder, trying to escape, trying desperately to get away. For the first time, the light of his life shone with all the intensity I had ever seen—but that light was swallowed by a dense, relentless crimson shadow.
I grabbed his head with all my strength, pulling it up while my knees crushed his body, keeping him pinned to the ground.
"Aaaaahhhh!!!" he howled, sounding like a wounded and desperate animal, fighting against a force he couldn't overcome.
"Aaaaahhhh!!!" His scream grew louder, more frightened, more desperate. He looked like a doll being taken apart, the pieces of his body giving way under my will.
Smash!!
With one last brutal effort, I ripped his head off his neck. The flesh was torn apart, his ribs gave way, his bloody vertebrae were torn from the flesh as if they were paper.
I held his spine and head as if holding a shapeless mass.
A woman in the audience screamed, covered her mouth with her hands, and collapsed on the floor as blood spurted in all directions.
Lifting his severed head above me, I showed everyone there the expression of pain and anguish he had at the moment of death.
Screams of fear spread, and some women fainted. I felt nothing but the cold certainty of my strength.