They walked for hours through frost-dusted trees ๐ฒโ๏ธ, breath fogging the air ๐จ, boots crunching snow โ, until a sharp voice rang out from a rocky ridge ๐ป๐ข.
"STOP! In the name of the Adventurer's Balance Guild!" โ๏ธ๐
King didn't even lift his head ๐โ๏ธ.
From behind the rocks ๐ชจ, six adventurers appeared ๐งโ๐คโ๐งโ๏ธ.
Well-armed ๐ช๐ก๏ธ.
Well-trained ๐ช.
Painfully confident ๐.
Their leader, wearing a wolf-pelt cloak ๐บ๐งฅ, pointed straight at Ember ๐๐ฅ.
"That girl is kidnapped. Hand her over."
Ember's eyes lit up โจ๐ฒ.
"YES! Finally! Someone sane!" ๐ญ๐
King kept walking ๐ถโโ๏ธโ๏ธ.
The wolf-cloak leader shouted again ๐ก๐ข,
"This is your final warning!"
King muttered under his breath ๐ค,
"Don't fuck with me, asshole."
A flash of steel flew through the air โก๐ก๏ธ.
King caught the sword mid-flight โ๐ก๏ธโ
with two fingers โ๏ธ.
Ember's jaw dropped ๐ฑ.
The adventurers' eyes exploded wide ๐๐จ.
"Wrong move," King said calmly โ ๏ธ.
The first fight lasted eight seconds โฑ๏ธโ๏ธ.
Eight.
King crushed the wolf-cloak's shield with his boot ๐ข๐ฅ๐ก๏ธ.
Headbutted another into a tree ๐ค๐ฒ.
Flipped a third over his shoulder ๐คธโโ๏ธโ๏ธ.
Sent two more rolling into the snow with broken ribs ๐ฉธโ.
But a mage screamed a spell ๐ฎ๐,
and Ember vanished in a flash of light โจโก.
King stopped mid-punch โ.
Slowly ๐ข.
Very slowly ๐ฐ.
Very dangerously โ ๏ธ.
He turned ๐๏ธโ๏ธ.
Ember stood behind the adventurers ๐งโโ๏ธโ๏ธ,
untied ๐ชขโ,
trembling ๐จ.
"Mage," King said quietly ๐.
"Bring her back."
"No!" ๐ฑ
"Wrong answer."
They ran ๐โโ๏ธ๐จ.
Full sprint ๐โโ๏ธโ๏ธ.
King's eye twitched ๐๏ธโก.
"Great," he muttered ๐ค.
"Now I have to chase."
He kicked off the ground ๐ข๐ฅ.
The snow cracked like thunder โโก.
Ember screamed ๐ฑ as the adventurers grabbed her and ran ๐โโ๏ธ๐ชข.
They made it twenty steps ๐ฃโฆ
Before King appeared in front of them ๐ถโโ๏ธโ๏ธโ
blocking the path ๐.
One adventurer whispered ๐ฐ,
"H-how did heโ? He was behind usโ"
King cracked his neck ๐.
"Give me the girl," he said calmly ๐.
"Or give me your head." โ ๏ธ
They chose exercise ๐โโ๏ธ๐จ.
The second fight lasted longer โฑ๏ธโ
twenty seconds.
King grabbed a spear and snapped it ๐ช๐ฅ.
Used one man as a battering ram ๐โก๏ธ๐.
Swung his shield so hard it knocked three people down like bowling pins ๐ณ๐ก๏ธ.
Ember fell into the snow โ๏ธ๐ต, staring.
She had seen strong warriors ๐ช.
She had seen heroes ๐ฆธโโ๏ธ.
But thisโ
This was a storm wearing skin ๐ช๏ธ๐ค.
More adventurers arrived ๐จโ๏ธ.
Eleven more.
Seventeen total ๐ข.
They formed a perfect semicircle ๐ต around King.
"Surround him!" ๐ข
"Attack together!" โ๏ธ
"Don't let him grab the girl!" ๐ฑ
King sighed ๐ฎโ๐จ.
"This is annoying."
They charged ๐ฅ.
Steel โ๏ธ.
Arrows ๐น.
Fire spells ๐ฅ.
Ice blades โ๏ธ๐ก๏ธ.
King moved through them like a giant tearing tall grass ๐พ๐ฅ.
He smashed shields ๐ก๏ธโ.
Kicked a man twenty feet ๐ข๐จ.
Caught an arrow mid-air โ๐น and stabbed its owner ๐ฉธ.
Slammed his axe into a boulder ๐ช๐ชจ, splitting it ๐ฅ, shards flying everywhere.
The forest screamed ๐ฒ๐ฑ.
When it endedโฆ
Seventeen adventurers lay on the ground ๐งโ๐ฆฝโ๏ธ.
Groaning ๐.
Broken ๐.
Defeated โ ๏ธ.
All beaten by one boyโ
the boy not chosen ๐ฉธโ.
Ember stared ๐จ.
"Y-you're not humanโฆ"
King wiped blood from his cheek ๐ฉธโ.
"I agree."
Then he began stripping them of gear ๐งฅ๐ก๏ธ๐.
Armor.
Cloaks.
Bags.
Weapons.
Everything piled together ๐ฅ.
Ember panicked ๐ฑ.
"W-wait! What are youโ"
King struck a sparkstone โก.
FOOOOM
The pile erupted in flames ๐ฅ๐ฅ.
Seventeen adventurers screamed ๐ญ๐ข.
"My cloak!"
"My staff!"
"MY UNDERPANTS WERE IN THAT BAG!" ๐ฑ
"NOOOOOโ!!"
Ember stood frozen ๐ถโ๏ธ.
King dusted his hands ๐.
"Now they can't chase us."
"Youโฆ burned everythingโฆ" Ember whispered ๐จ.
"Should've stayed home," King replied ๐.
He grabbed the rope again ๐ชข,
slung Ember behind him ๐,
and walked into the forest ๐ถโโ๏ธ๐ฒโ๏ธ.
Behind them, the adventurers wailed in tragic harmony ๐ญ๐ถ.
King never looked back โ๐.
The North Village gates slammed open ๐ช๐ฅ.
A single surviving adventurer stumbled inside ๐งโโ๏ธ๐ฅถโ
bruised ๐ค,
half-frozen โ๏ธ,
wearing nothing but underwear and shame ๐ฉฒ๐ณ.
"HE'S A DEMON!" the man screamed ๐ฑ๐ฅ.
Villagers surrounded him ๐ฅ๐จ.
The priest rushed forward ๐งโโ๏ธ๐ฐ.
Valmira marched out ๐๐ก.
The skinny North Hero peeked from behind a pillar ๐ฅ.
The man collapsed to his knees ๐ญ.
"What happened?" Valmira demanded ๐ข.
The adventurer grabbed her ankle like a child ๐ถโก๏ธ๐.
"King smashed usโ seventeenโ he burned everythingโ even my pantsโ"
The North Hero turned pale ๐ต.
"Seventeenโฆ together?"
The survivor shook violently ๐จ.
"We weren't defeated," he sobbed.
"We were erased." โ ๏ธ
Valmira screamed ๐ก.
"WHERE IS MY SISTER EMBER?!"
"T-that monster still has her!"
The priest whispered ๐ฐ,
"King is making wrong decision every secondโฆ"
Valmira clenched her fists ๐๐ฅ.
"I'll kill himโ I'llโ"
The North Hero whispered ๐จ,
"He fought seventeen people and walked awayโฆ"
"I'M TRYING NOT TO FAINT!" he squeaked ๐ญ.
Fear spread like frost ๐ง.
"He's unstoppableโฆ"
"A monsterโฆ"
Valmira snarled ๐ก.
"Prepare a hundred warriors!"
The priest swallowed ๐ถ.
"And pray the gods help you."
Far away ๐ฒโ๏ธโฆ
King dragged Ember again ๐ชข๐ถโโ๏ธ.
She stumbled, shaking ๐ฐ.
Finally, she screamed ๐ญ.
"STOP!"
She fell to her knees โ๏ธ, pounding the snow ๐.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!"
King stopped ๐.
He turned slowly ๐บ.
"Whatโฆ am I to youโฆ?" Ember whispered ๐จ.
King crouched, eye-level ๐๏ธ๐๏ธ.
"You," he said calmly ๐,
"are my trophy." ๐
Her breath vanished ๐ฑ.
"T-trophyโฆ?"
"Bait," he said.
"Heroes will come."
He stood ๐ช๏ธ.
"And when they comeโ"
He cracked his knuckles ๐๐ฅ.
"I have fun."
Ember trembled ๐ญ.
"The world was cruel to me first," King said quietly โ๏ธ.
He turned away ๐ถโโ๏ธ.
"Come, trophy," he said.
"We still have paths to break before sunset." ๐
Ember followedโฆ not by choice ๐จโ
but because she knew:
Running would only make him hunt her harder .