By noon, the sound of horses echoed through the roads. The villagers, already on edge, hurried to their doors, whispering prayers and clutching rosaries. From the mist emerged a column of armored men bearing the crest of the Empire, a red sun enclosed in thorns.
The Inquisition.
Their leader, a tall man with steel-gray hair and a gaze sharp enough to pierce stone, dismounted first. His armor gleamed despite the grime of travel, and a red cape trailed behind him.
"Liutenant Reinhardt from the Inquisition," he announced. "We received reports of witchcraft in this village."
The villagers pointed, trembling fingers directed at the inn. "It's her," one woman cried.
"The girl with the black hair! She's cursed! The beasts from our farms died when she arrived!"
Jay clenched his fists, stepping protectively in front of Yumina as the soldiers approached.
"She didn't do anything wrong," he said firmly.
Reinhardt's cold eyes shifted to him. "You speak for her?"
"I do."
"That's unfortunate." Reinhardt's tone was almost polite, but the danger beneath it was palpable. "We'll still have to take her in. For the safety of the people."
"There's no need for that," Shiro interrupted. "You're chasing shadows. There's no witch here."
Reinhardt studied them both, his expression unreadable. "You're outsiders. Unregistered travelers, if I had to guess. From another world."
Jay's heartbeat quickened. "How you-"
Reinhardt smiled faintly. "You think the Empire doesn't know? Every otherworlder that falls here leaves traces of foreign mana. It's only a matter of time before we find them."
The tension snapped when one of the inquisitors stepped forward, reaching for Yumina's wrist. Jay moved first.
He grabbed the soldier's arm and twisted, the man screamed as his elbow bent the wrong way. The rest drew their weapons in response, and in the blink of an eye, chaos erupted.
"Jay! Don't let them make you angry!" Shiro shouted, raising a wall of solid earth between them and the incoming soldiers.
Jay glanced back at Yumina. "No matter what happens," he said, "don't use your power."
Yumina didn't answer. Her eyes remained calm.
The inquisitors broke through the wall. Jay stepped forward, his fists glowing faintly with heat as he charged. The first knight that swung at him never saw the counterpunch coming, Jay's fist connected with the man's chest like a cannonball, sending him flying back several meters, crashing into a wall and losing consciousness instantly.
Jay blinked. "Did I…just do that?"
Shiro didn't have time to respond, his own fight began as he summoned barriers and redirected incoming attacks. Next, he copied one of Allot's spells to turn multiple soldiers into trees, albeit not as efficiently or as fast as Allot.
Reinhardt watched the display with growing fascination. "Impressive," he murmured. "You, boy," he called to Jay. "You've got strength, far above the average outsider."
Jay glared at him. "And what about it?"
"You'd make a fine soldier," Reinhardt said, sheathing his sword. "Join the Empire. Serve under King Charles. You'll be fed, trained, and rewarded. Power like yours shouldn't go to waste."
Jay shook his head. "I'm not serving anyone. Especially not you."
Reinhardt's polite tone vanished. "That's a shame. You leave me no choice then."
He raised one hand and whispered an incantation. "Bindus."
Shiro froze instantly, trapped mid-step. Invisible chains of light wrapped around him, paralyzing him completely.
"Shiro!" Jay shouted.
Reinhardt advanced slowly. "Relax. He's unharmed, for now. My quarrel is with you."
Jay dropped into his stance, feet firm, fists raised.
Reinhardt didn't even draw his sword. "If you wish to fight me, prove yourself worthy of facing my blade first."
Jay lunged, his movements sharp, a mixture of boxing and kickboxing from his original world. He aimed for speed and precision, throwing quick jabs followed by a sweeping kick. Reinhardt blocked and parried them effortlessly.
"Fascinating techniques," the captain noted, sidestepping and countering with a strike to Jay's ribs. The blow was fast, too fast, and Jay stumbled back, coughing. "But you're still inexperienced."
Jay's muscles tensed. He threw a feint, then a left hook, then tried to sweep Reinhardt's legs, nothing landed. Every move was read.
"This is pointless," Reinhardt said. "You're strong, but you lack-"
Suddenly, Jay stopped moving. He stood perfectly still, breathing slowly, eyes locked on Reinhardt's stance. He realized that his opponent was faster and stronger than he was. He had to think of a method to win and fast.
The captain frowned. "Giving up?"
Jay didn't answer.
Impatience flashed across Reinhardt's face. He dashed forward, throwing a lightning-fast punch aimed at Jay's head.
But before it could land, Jay moved, his hand shot up, grabbing Reinhardt's wrist mid-attack. Using the man's own momentum, Jay pivoted his body, swung around, and slammed him hard into the ground with immaculate technique. The impact cracked the ground and sent dust flying.
Reinhardt grunted, stunned, before chuckling as he got to his knees. "Using my own strength and speed against me, huh? Interesting."
He drew his sword. "You've earned my respect. What's your name?"
"Jay Park" he said while raising his fists again.
"It's regrettable," Reinhardt said softly, "that I must kill you."
He stepped forward and whispered a single word: "Magnanimus!"
In an instant, the air shimmered. Illusory blades, dozens of them, appeared around Jay, all moving at once. He couldn't tell which was real. He tried to dodge, but slashes opened across his arms, shoulders, and chest. He hit the ground, gasping in pain as blood dripped down his side.
"Still alive?" Reinhardt said, genuinely impressed. "Your body…it's really incredible. You have a gifted endurance."
Jay forced himself up, trembling but defiant.
"It's useless," Reinhardt warned. "Even with analysis spells, no one can track which blade is mine. Even being faster wouldn't allow you to spot the difference."
He raised his sword again, leaping forward. "It was a good fight, Jay Park!"
The illusion repeated, countless sword strikes converging. The real blade a centimeter away from reaching Jay's neck. Jay braced himself, closed his eyes, and...
BOOM.
The impact was deafening. The ground exploded, dirt and smoke rising in all directions. Yumina shielded her eyes. When the dust cleared, a massive crater stretched before her completely taking the spectators by surprise.
Reinhardt lay at the center of it, unconscious, with a footprint embedded on his face.
Jay stood over him, chest heaving, eyes glowing faintly blue for a second. He looked down at his fallen opponent, confusion and shock mixing on his face.
"I… I'm not fully sure what happened," he muttered.
Shiro, now free from the spell, limped over. "I think I do," he said, staring at the crater.
"You do?", asked Yumina with doubt.
"My ability is related to programming, but also analysis," Shiro says with his eyes glowing blue and binary code running through it. "...which means I can also gather data from anything in my line of sight, even if I can't react to it immediately. After your move, I ran the data back on my mind to actually understand what happened. In the fraction of a second, you dodged his attack and performed an axe kick on his face."
Jay was dumbfounded after hearing these words. He neither remembers nor noticed anything like this. It happened faster than what he could proccess.
"But how?", Jay asked. "Not only he was faster than me but I couldn't even spot his real blade..."
Shiro pushes his glasses up. "It appears your power not only boosts your strength and speed but also your reflexes. Simply put, you acted instinctively there. But I gotta say, it looked more like you were in a trance than acting on instincts."
Jay remembers the other times when his body moved on its own to save Yumina and to dodge lightning. In all of these instances, his body not only moved against his own will but his speed was somehow massively increased.
Jay looks at his fist in contemplation. "If I train enough to control this..."
"It would certainly be a powerful weapon", Shiro says matter-of-factly.
The village behind them was silent again.