BOOM!
A resplendent bolt of lightning streaked through the night sky, revealing seven figures locked in a deadly dance.
Monroe's figure was a blur as he battled with a man in a hooded robe, each of their clashes causing shockwaves that battered the surroundings.
He performed a swift forward strike with his blade, only for it to be blocked by twin blades wreathed in crimson lightning.
"You're going to die today, Monroe. Even your brothers won't save you!" The hooded man shrieked shrilly.
"What an ugly mouth you've got," Monroe replied while clicking his tongue. He promptly changed his stance, turning the strike into a diagonal slash.
Unable to withstand the strength of the strongest human, the hooded man was sent hurtling backwards like a marionette with its strings cut.
Monroe was about to go for the kill when—
BAM!
A large rod as thick as a teenager's height landed before him, blocking his path forward. The staff seemed to cause the thunder rumbling to intensify, but he shrugged it off.
Ignoring the sense of oppression the staff exuded, he performed a backflip, successfully avoiding the splinters that had formed on the earth.
The wind picked up, whispering promises of blood as it blew Monroe's long hair back, revealing his irked expression. "Persistent roaches."
At the same time, he took a moment to observe his assailants. Unfortunately, the hooded robes prevented him from seeing much.
The face off didn't last long. The ground where he stood exploded and he appeared right in front of the two hooded men in an instant, his blade gleaming with an intense cyan light.
'Soul cleaver!' Monroe shouted in his mind as mana coalesced onto the edge of his blade before being released in a wide arc. Lightning flashed and the air itself seemed to have been split, but the two men were nowhere to be found.
An ice cold killing intent sprung up behind him almost immediately, causing him to snort in derision. He leapt up, raising his blade above his head.
'Bladestorm!'
The wind seemed to pick up in response to Monroe's actions. An unnatural hurricane formed of sharp blades of wind suddenly took form out of nowhere.
As a result, three arrows dripping with a smelly green liquid were promptly shattered, turning into fragments that bore holes into the ground the moment they touched it.
It was an incredibly potent poison!
When Bladestorm ended, two figures rapidly flashed to Monroe's side. At the same time, four hooded men appeared around three of them, forming an enclosure.
Puzzled, he asked, "What happened to both of your fights?"
A bald man the size of a bear snorted loudly. "The pussies decided to regroup."
"Indeed," the third man with a refined bearing nodded in agreement.
Monroe opened his mouth and was about to reply when he suddenly looked up and his expression turned solemn. "Brothers, let's end this quickly. I have a bad feeling."
Bruce rubbed his bald head and exchanged furtive glances with Elva, their expressions turning solemn.
Monroe sensed something off, but he shrugged it off. His gaze turned sharp as he spoke, "Let's rush them. I'll be at the forefront while the both of you support me."
"Okay," Elva and Bruce replied.
Monroe immediately charged out at the person closest to him— a man with an arrow made of black wood. He could sense that he was the weakest and would be easiest to finish off.
The ground seemed to have been upturned by a behemoth as Mark immediately leapt into the sky. His blade was dyed in a pale white colour as he shouted in his mind.
'Dead ray of the sun!'
The blade was about to connect and pierce through the hooded marksman who was just drawing his bow when—
"Brother, watch out!" Monroe heard Bruce's sudden shout. It was like a loud gong that echoed in his head, bringing a sense of danger that made him smell the scent of death.
He seemed to see himself standing with a hole in his chest where his heart should have been.
'I'm mid-air... I can't dodge effectively or stop my attack in time...' his mind raced at an astonishing speed, but failed to come up with an effective solution.
Simultaneously, a fair, bony hand reached out from the space in front of Monroe, phasing through his attack like it never existed. His pupils constricted, but he found himself bound by space itself. He could only watch helplessly as the bony hand approached his heart bit by bit.
He felt the touch. It was cold and freezing, just like the depths of an icy hell.
'This is going to be painful...'
Monroe braced himself for the incoming attack, but it never came.
He opened his eyes, finding himself next to Elva. He was about to look around for Bruce when a realization suddenly struck him, causing his gaze to drift to his former position.
Monroe's breath hitched at the sight. Bruce—the brother he had been through seas of fire and mountains of swords with—was hanging lifelessly mid hair, hung on a bony hand that was piercing through his chest with a pumping heart in it.
"Bruce..." He muttered, struggling to come to terms with what had just happened.
Bruce raised his head with difficulty and tried to speak to his brother, but he was promptly covered in ice from head to toe. Right before Monroe's bloodshot eyes, he shattered into shards of ice that reflected the lightning bolts streaking through the sky.
The hooded figure responsible for this stood mid air, exuding waves of palpable arrogance. Then, their lips curled into a cruel smirk as they uttered a single word.
"Pathetic."
Monroe immediately felt something snap.
His throat seemed to have been stabbed with a thousand needles as he screamed at the top of his lungs.
"BRUCE!!!"
The hooded figure said something, but Monroe didn't hear. His vision turned red as he plunged his hand straight into his chest. His hand pierced his chest, but no blood flowed out.
The moment he concluded his actions, a malevolent aura that reeked of evil and death erupted from him. His hair took on a pitch black hue, his eyes turned grey, and his skin started to petrify.
An aura that far surpassed every life form present descended, causing everyone present—including the arrogant, bony figure—to tremble.
Monroe rose up into the air bit by bit until he stood above everyone present, then he pointed a finger to the space before him.
The hooded figure immediately froze. Their hood flew off, revealing a male face stricken with terror as his body approached Monroe.
"Have m-mercy..." He mumbled, but Monroe's grey eyes had no emotions in them.
With a wave of his hand, ghostly wisps drilled out of the bony man's eyes, ears and nose. He cried shrilly as he felt a part of his existence being ripped out of him. He tried to struggle to no avail, staying in place until he became nothing but a husk that dropped to the ground.
Monroe remained silent. He cast his gaze at the rest of the hooded figures, who promptly fled in all directions. He didn't chase after them though, appearing beside Elva.
He looked at Elva, who was about to speak, then—
"Bleurgh!"
Monroe crumpled to the ground, hurling up blood. His skin flaked and broke and bloody tears streamed out of his face. His breathing was shallow, as if it would cease any moment.
Taken by surprise, Elva knelt down beside him.
"Brother! What... what did you do?!"
Monroe gave a pained smile, which looked uglier than a grimace. "I... cough.. scared them.. off... We should.. cough.. head to the safe.. house..."
He knew that Elva possessed the ability to teleport the both of them, so he was counting on it.
"Yes, brother," Elva replied softly... then plunged a pitch black arrow straight into Monroe's eye.
His eyes widened, but before he could move or speak, Elva, pushed the arrow deeper into his brain before turning it a few times.
As Monroe's consciousness faded, he couldn't help but ask a question in his mind.
"Why...?"