"Well, that happened…" Wilhelm said out loud, hearing the words the natives of this place said before they ushered Black Bulls into the place where their supposed chief is.
"Hmm…what?" Noelle asked, stopping to look at him while the rest of the members continued to walk leisurely.
Looking at her for a moment, Wilhelm wanted to say something, but halted whatever he wanted to say and simply shook his head and said, "Nothing."
Saying this, he walked up to Noelle, who was looking at him with a weirded-out gaze.
"You are weird." Noelle said as she started to walk beside him, shoulder to shoulder.
"And you are useless. Now move."
"WHa-How dare you speak to me this way! I am a Royal, just so you know." Noelle said as she pushed one of her pigtails behind her back.
"I dare to speak this way because…" Wilhelm said, bringing his face close to Noelle, who was taken aback and housed a full-blown blush on her face and meekly muttered, "…because?"
"…because…you…are…my…"
'Oh no!! He is about to say it!! He is about to say it!! Oh my god!! What should I say!!'
"…precious…"
'This is moving way too fast!! I don't even know if Nozel will accept!! No! We will find a way somehow!'
"…idiot."
"…Eh?"
Saying that, Wilhelm walked away, leaving behind a Noelle who was equal parts shocked and flustered due to being caught in Wilhelm's joke once more.
"HEEYYY!!!!" Noelle shouted in indignation while Wilhelm just chuckled and walked away with a pep in his step.
...
Soon, Black Bulls, after what seemed like almost a couple of minutes, reached the middle of the structure. But there was a single problem…
"There is nobody here."
"Wrong." Wilhelm said briefly in response to Finral's comment before he aimed a magic circle over his head at a gigantic serpent-like thing that was coiled on the ceiling of the room they were in, and suddenly, ropes made of fire covered the creature spontaneously.
"WHOAA!! What is it? It looks so ugly!" Asta shouted as he took a step back, settling his eyes on the creature.
But then, in response to his outburst, a high-pitched laughter rang in the room.
"Hehehehehe…~"
"Who is there?" Magna shouted as he, along with the rest of the Black Bulls, readied their weapons, other than Yami, Luck, and Wilhelm, who looked at a very particular corner in the room since they had superior magic sensing capability from the rest of the team.
"Will you walk out of there yourself or should I help, huh?" Yami said in a thug-like tone.
"Hehehehe…it seems we have guests here." The voice said as the owner revealed himself. An old man wearing a long white gown-like object with hair in a completely weird style, which seemed almost impossible to have.
With a creepy smile that made everyone feel uneasy, the man stepped forward.
"Hehehehe~ Nice to meet you all. My name is Gifso, and I am the Grand Priest of Seabed Temple." He said in over-the-top fashion with much flair in his actions, looking expectantly at the expressions of all. Whether he found what he was looking for remains a mystery.
"Well, Gifso, I am Yami the Great and Handsome, the captain of Black Bulls, and we are here for a magic stone that happens to be here. Give it to us and we will be on our merry way out." Yami said bluntly.
'I would be surprised if it went that peacefully.' Everyone thought at the brash comment.
"Hehehehe~ I don't mind parting with the stone, but not that easily." Gifso said as he moved his index finger to show denial.
'Ah, there it is.' All of them sighed internally.
"Go on then, speak up. What do you want, eh?" Yami said with his neutral face, lowering his guard a bit, knowing that this person was willing to part with the magic stone.
"What do I want…?" Gifso said rhetorically as he was bubbling with excitement, causing him to hunch forward a bit, "…I want to play a game."
"What game? Dice, roulette, poker, tell me the name. I am God of them all." Yami replied with an aura of confidence befitting the God of Gambling Games.
"None of them!! We are going to play the greatest game of them all…BATTLE ROYAL!!!" The man shouted as he raised his hands high up in the air, following which multiple figures suddenly appeared behind him.
"All of you will be fighting with them. That is, if you wish to get magic stones."
Hearing this, Yami sighed tiredly before he turned to his team, who were waiting for his answer, then turned back to Gifso and said, "Yeah, we are ready. Let's just get this over with."
"Excellent! Let us begin! Game Magic: Temple Shuffle!" Gifso's shout was followed by multiple shimmering lights that shot first at his allies, which seemed to reassure the Black Bulls that this was not some underhanded tactic, and then it struck the Black Bulls.
*WOOSH*
*SLURRSH*
Suddenly, water started to rush from the feet of the people and started to resemble a whirlpool.
'This magic feels similar to spatial magic that Finral and I have.' Wilhelm thought as he braced himself while his body was washed away.
…
*WOOOSSH*
*THUD*
With a thud, Wilhelm landed with a thud on his feet, barely balancing himself in mid-air.
'Uhh…I am wet, and not in a good way.' Wilhelm thought as he ran his hand through his hair, which was drenched with water.
'…and cold.' He shivered due to the cold, in response to which he focused on his mana.
Suddenly, a warm current of heat akin to standing in a bonfire covered his body. Following this, Wilhelm reached his hand out as his eyes focused, and immediately when a small light surrounded him.
As the light subsided, Wilhelm appeared with his armor on his body. The armor thrummed with a sound that was due to the runes on the armor that were working.
"That is some neat armor you got there." A voice came from a distance.
"About time you showed up. I thought you were going to hide behind that rock wanking, picturing me with your sister." Wilhelm shot a random shot in the dark that hit the target and caused the man who was wearing a seahorse helmet to stop in his step for a moment, before he replied, his posture changing from lackadaisical to aggressive.
"Oh, those words don't sound very knightly at all." The seahorse bit out of gritted teeth...
"A seahorse is going to teach me how to be a knight. Why don't you try teaching me how to swim instead? Wait, you can't."
...but the seahorse did not know who Wilhelm was. A person who did not like to be on the shorter end of the stick.
"Heh, your tongue is sharp. Hope your sword is as sharp." Seahorse said as he took a stance, and a pair of swords came out of his long sleeves that he grasped in his hands.
"Oh, but it is."
*SHING*
Wilhelm replied as he unsheathed the Zweihänder behind his back and the heater shield in the other hand. Taking a stance, his body shimmered with an orange hue.
Beast Magic: Preying Blade
Immediately, the aura extended to the sword, and a faint shimmer of a praying mantis was felt by Seahorse, whose body too was covered by a blue aura.
For a moment, there was a tense silence that was soon broken by the Seahorse, who took the initiative to attack.
"Butoh Magic!!"
With a wary cry, Seahorse launched himself at Wilhelm, but the curious thing was not his ambient mana or his Magic that he was yet to show, but his movement.
'His movement…they almost seem like dance moves.'
With his movement reminiscent of dance, Seahorse closed up to Wilhelm.
"Aha, you blabber mouth, take…THIS!" Seahorse shouted as he instantly disappeared from where he stood, as if by…magic.
Immediately, he appeared behind Wilhelm, who could not react to the change in pace…
'I got you now.'
…or so it seemed.
*THWACK*
*SHING*
"Ar-aaahhh!!"
Suddenly, Wilhelm moved, his hand holding the sword moving like a bullet that struck Seahorse's hastily moved sword, which he was able to do due to years of experience.
"Sh*t!! How did you *Gets up from the ground* do that?" Seahorse said in response as he got up from the ground, shaking off the numbness that had taken over his arms.
"It is magic. I am not going to explain anything." Wilhelm replied gaudily as he once again took the stance, with a similar aura coiling at his sword once again.
*Inhale*
*Exhale*
Focusing on himself, Seahorse once again steeled himself and launched at Wilhelm once again. As he had previously, Wilhelm remained completely still.
"You reacted to that before, but now try to react to this!!!"
'Just like before, huh?' Wilhelm commented internally, seeing that Seahorse disappeared from his sight and appeared behind him, but then, he disappeared from there too.
'No, it is different.'
Seahorse appeared once more, but this time, there were two. One was attacking from above with a downward slash, while the other was attacking him from his left side with a wide horizontal slash.
"Parry this!" X2
Voice verberated, which caused Wilhelm to smirk in realization.
'And this is why you don't scream when you fight.'
Beast Magic: Preying Blade
Beast Magic: Turtle Shell Shield
All of it happened in an instant. The figure of Seahorse above him was struck by his sword, and the one on his left side was in face…parried by his heater shield that was covered in an aura of turtle shield.
*TING*
Seahorse's sword was halted in its step by the shield and bounced back, causing a bitter numbness to move through his arm.
"Damn it!!"
Seahorse shouted as he tried to move away from Wilhelm, who did not let the chance go, realizing that Seahorse was somewhat capable of adapting to his attack. To what degree, he did not want to find out.
*SWOOSH*
He swung his sword, taking advantage of the long range that Zweihänder offered. With a slight shift of wind that was almost imperceptible, his sword touched Seahorse's chest.
'SHIT! SHIT!! SHIT!! SHIT! MOVE LEGS!!!' Seahorse thought as he felt the cool touch of the metal touch his chest, which brought a chill down his spine.
Pushing to his limits using a ginormous amount of mana from his natural mana pool along with adrenaline coursing through his veins, he managed to shoot himself away from the place where he stood, but not without a price.
*CRACK*
"ARGH!!!" He screamed in pain as his eyes widened beneath the mask, feeling the bones in his legs crack due to the pressure with which he propelled himself back. With blood seeping from his lips that he had bitten too hard to stifle any sound of pain, he leveled his eyes at Wilhelm, who stood in the place where he had been previously, looking at him.
Looking down at him.
"I will wipe that gri-aAAAA!!!" Seahorse shouted as he tried to get on his legs, which, instead of lifting his weight, seemed to shift and bend under it.
"You seem to be in pain." Wilhelm commented off-handedly as he moved a bit towards him, with his imposing sword's blade resting on his shoulder.
"And you seem to have missed." Seahorse bit back, not letting win his argument due to his pride as a swordsman, refusing to accept that he was defeated so easily.
"I think not."
*DRIP DRIP*
Wilhelm replied, and as if almost waiting for this, a drop of liquid fell from Seahorse. A red liquid, from a slash on his stomach.
"How…I dodged?" He muttered in disbelief and was still not able to register the pain that the thin yet long cut brought him, due to adrenaline still in his body.
"Well, it is exactly because you dodged, and rather foolishly at that. I was hoping to just prick you with the sword, but your abrupt movement caused you to skid through the blade on your one.
Be thankful that the cut is shallow and just cuts your skin." Wilhelm said, with his hand on his face, almost as if schooling the Seahorse.
"Argh…" Another grunt left Seahorse's mouth as he tried to adjust his body, which just shot searing pain through his legs.
"Hmm…it seems that this is as far as you go. I wish I could say that it was a wonderful and insightful fight, but we both know that it would be a lie to say so." Wilhelm said in his usual flippant tone that causes everyone to seethe in anger while looking at him.
"What are you saying? I can do this *Sucks in mouthful of air*all day." Seahorse said as he tried to lift with sheer strength of will, surprising Wilhelm a bit.
Just a bit.
*THWACK*
"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!" A roar of pain left his mouth as Wilhelm tapped his legs gently with the flat side of the blade, causing all of his will to crumple down on the ground along with him.
"Yeah…" Wilhelm muttered with a roll of his eyes, sarcasm in his tone. Without saying anything, he started to move out of the cavern.
"NAME!"
"Hmm…?"
"YOUR NAME!! TELL ME YOUR NAME!!" Seahorse shouted from the ground as he grasped the mask on his face and removed it, revealing the face of a boy around Wilhelm's age with dark blue shade of hair.
A braid of hair on one side over his otherwise short hair.
Studying his features, Wilhelm just stood completely still, looking at the face of the former Seahorse who tried to keep pain from showing on his face but failed a bit short.
Then, after what seemed like almost an eternity, Wilhelm replied.
"Wilhelm."
Hearing those words, Seahorse sucked in a mouthful of air and shouted back.
"Wilhelm of Black Bulls! My name is Kiato! And I will defeat you!!"
"…Heh." Wilhelm just gave a brief chuckle as he turned around and snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, fire enveloped Kiato's legs, and his features started to relax due to the subsiding of pain.
"I would like to see you try."
And with those words, Kiato lost his consciousness.
***
I have written volume-2 so the updates will be daily until volume 2 is finished.
Send Powerstones and leave comments.