The orange-reddish hue covers the horizon, signaling the setting sun.
A strong wind sweeps through the deserted streets, drawing us toward the guild.
Suddenly, a man is hurled through the guild wall, sent flying as houses crumble in his path. He crashes into the rubble, nearly dead. At nearly the same moment, a fireball pierces the guild's roof and explodes in the sky.
Silent had redirected the arcane's hand upward, making him miss the Ancient Art. Next, Silent strikes the arcane's neck, knocking him out instantly.
Inside the guild, a fierce battle unfolds between Silent and dozens of adventurers.
With a sharp turn, Silent throws the arcane into the crowd of adventurers. The crowd dodges and presses forward.
A swordsman brings his blade down, but misses. Silent lands a kick that sends him flying.
More adventurers advance. Silent drops an elf, buries an elbow into another's stomach, blocks the beastman's punches, then counterattacks with countless rapid strikes, sending the beastman flying.
An adventurer runs toward Silent, wielding spear and shield. Skillfully, he moves the spear, trying to pierce him, but Silent evades the thrusts, pins the spear under his arm, and moves in to punch.
The adventurer raises his shield quickly, but the shield shatters upon impact. The punch strikes his face, sending him flying out of the guild, crashing through the wall.
A quartet of assassins, wielding daggers, approaches. Silent dodges the strikes effortlessly. In a swift movement, he hits one of them on the nape, knocking him out instantly. The other three retreat with a leap, but Silent grabs two of them by the feet and hurls them against the wall.
Their backs slam into the wall. Even so, they return to the fight.
An arcane points his staff, reciting an Ancient Art.
-Chaining!!
Hundreds of chains erupt from the ground, binding Silent. At the same moment, many adventurers seize the opportunity and advance together.
Silent shatters the chains and charges at them.
In a single moment, the adventurers are sent crashing to the ground.
Those still standing are astonished. No one understands how that happened.
The same arcane tries to conjure the chains once more, but Silent is faster.
He points the staff at Silent as he shouts.
-Impact!
A powerful pressure wave pushes Silent back, but he plants his feet on the ground and keeps advancing, completely indifferent. The arcane watches, horrified.
Silent vanishes from everyone's view. He reappears inches from the arcane, strikes him in the stomach, grabs his head, and slams him to the ground.
-... oof... oof... You… Monster... y...
Silent lifts him by the head, analyzing him, then pierces his body with his arm, killing the arcane instantly.
The adventurers, even in shock, keep advancing.
Their assaults are fierce, but no attack truly lands on Silent.
A human swordsman in light armor tries to attack him. Silent dodges, grabs the swordsman's arm, and lands a punch that sends him flying.
Quickly, an arcane and an assassin support the swordsman, but even so, the three of them crash against the guild wall. They lay the swordsman on the ground.
The oni arcane, dressed in a black cloak, speaks to the swordsman.
-What will we do, Titio?
-He's too strong!
Titio furrows his brow.
-(Damn!)
-I don't know, Bruno!
He takes a deep breath.
-The rumors were true…
-He's far stronger than I imagined. I was arrogant to think I could stop him just because I'm Rank S. But now is not the time to be afraid. We need to finish him quickly!
He grips his sword, about to return to the battle, but the assassin companion draws both of their attention.
Titio.
-What is it, Marcos?
The assassin Marcos, of the human race, dressed in green clothes and black pants, then replies.
-I have an idea...
They crouch down, gathered in a circle.
Marcos looks at Silent and then turns his attention back to Bruno and Titio.
-...Then it will be this way. You will distract him, and I will appear from behind to behead him.
Everyone agrees with a nod. It is not the most elaborate plan, but it is what they have at the moment.
They stand up, ready for combat.
Titio looks at Marcos and Bruno.
-Ready, everyone! As planned!
Titio grips the sword with both hands, then activates his fire and light Skills, which envelop the blade.
He murmurs the Ancient Art in a low voice.
-Acceleration.
He becomes so fast that he vanishes into thin air.
Behind where Titio had stood, the arcane Bruno takes a simple yet powerful wooden staff from his spatial ring.
He grips the staff firmly and focuses on the Ancient Art, accumulating the Source.
-...
Beside Bruno, Marcos pulls up his hood, takes his dagger, and whispers his Ancient Arts.
-Concealment.
-Acceleration.
-Invisibility.
Vanishing from sight.
….
…
..
.
Minutes earlier.
Silent defeats adventurers without showing any effort, making many faint or die from a single blow.
Two sisters appear before Silent, both wielding spears. One comes from behind and the other from the front.
Silent dodges by rolling across the ground and gets back up.
The two, side by side, advance against him.
The spear tip of one aims for Silent's foot, while the other tries to pierce his arm. But in such a direct manner, Silent would easily intercept them.
They were feints.
The first redirects the spear tip toward his head, while the other raises her weapon to pierce his chest.
But it doesn't matter. With swift movements, Silent jumps and steps on the guild's ceiling.
The two sisters raise their weapons upward, about to leap to reach him. But Silent was no longer on the ceiling.
Before their eyes, a blur passes very close.
-!!!
-!!!
When they realize it, they are already struck at pressure points around their bodies and, right after, grabbed by the neck.
They try to react, but their bodies do not move. They can only look at Silent. Then, he hurls them out of the guild, crashing through the side walls.
A very tall man, looking like a giant, burly and bearded, brings his axe down on Silent, creating a cloud of dust.
The man smiles, showing his crooked teeth, believing he has managed to hit him.
When the dust dissipates, it reveals that Silent is intact.
With just one hand, he firmly grips the axe blade.
The man furrows his brow and tries to pull the weapon back, but he can't.
Silent then pushes the weapon with force, making the back of the axe strike squarely against the opponent's forehead, causing him to stagger.
-Grrr! Damn you!
He charges furiously, gripping the axe with both hands and bringing down more blows. Silent dodges.
Once again, he delivers fierce strikes, but Silent keeps evading the attacks, making the man grow more and more enraged.
Silent leaps, reaching the height of the man's head, and quickly lands an elbow strike to his face, slamming him heavily to the ground.
Silent is still falling.
Behind him, a wolf-type beastman runs and jumps.
-Silent!!!
In midair, Silent twists his body.
Silent's punch and the beastman's punch collide, but the beastman is pushed back, bouncing across the ground.
One of his companions, of the fairy race, wearing golden armor, approaches calmly.
-Martins, are you okay?
Martins, his body covered in wounds, lifts his head. Even without speaking, his expression can be interpreted as, "Are you serious you just asked that?"
Martins, with full sarcasm.
-Of course I'm fine, Celina. Can't you see?
Celina smiles, replying with the same mocking tone.
-Ah, that's good then... So I guess Rit doesn't need to help you.
An elf dressed in green clothes and cloak approaches the two.
Raising her hand toward Martins, Rit speaks an Ancient healing Art, and the wounds vanish without leaving any marks.
Martins stands up from the ground and walks to the front of the two.
Rit.
-And now? What's the plan, leader?
Celina crosses her arms.
-What plan?
-Martins will just go there and try, by luck, to knock Silent down with a punch.
Martins ignores Celina's comment and answers Rit's question.
-I'm analyzing.
-(Just looking at that bastard is infuriating.)
-(But I have to admit, defeating several adventurers alone is something only a few can do.)
-(But that's not necessarily bad. If they can't stop him, it means more reward for us, but how am I going to defeat him?)
-(I need a plan of action.)
Looking to the other side, Martins sees a group of adventurers forming a circle. They seem to be discussing something, and soon they enter a combat formation. Two disappear from sight, while another concentrates energy, accumulating the Source.
Martins already knows how to act.
-Guys, come closer. I have an idea.
Celina and Rit move closer. Martins shares his idea. As they understand what they will do, the three look at the oni arcane and then at Silent.
Martins' thoughts begin to fuel his rage.
His fur bristles, his fury so intense that he growls.
Such overwhelming wrath drives him into berserker mode, becoming larger and more robust, his fur thickening, his muzzle more pronounced, gaining even more wolf-like traits.
His companions feel his power increase several times over.
Martins' words come out tangled with growls.
-Grrr At my... Grrr… signal...
-Now!
In an instant, Martins closes in on Silent.
Struggling to keep up with his speed, Celina follows, shining intensely with golden (solar) light.
Rit remains behind, beginning to invoke an Ancient Art.
….
…
..
.