Slash!
The metallic sound of a sword being sheathed could be heard as a wyvern-like creature fell to the ground, the contents of its body seeping out and dying the once rose-colored Sakura petals into a muddy red.
"We've covered a lotta ground, so let's rest a bit at the clearing up ahead".
Winson announced, his voice echoing through the forest.
Cheers among the unit could be heard.
"You going easy on us captain? I feel like I could do this all day."
That was the response from the arch knight donned in the purple Armor that just cut down the scaly creature.
"No that's not it, we're in unfamiliar territory, so I'd like us to reserve our strength as much as possible. This place is full of mana but don't let yourself get careless."
Replied Winson as he was once again sent off with a chorus like "Yes sir".
As they entered the clearing, they came across a strange, yet surreal sight. There was a river about 50 meters wide rushing down a slope and forming a waterfall, with the occasional fish and magical beasts being seen through its clarity.
(Even the ecosystems in this place are weird.)
Thought Winson upon witnessing the peculiar duality of prey-predator coexistence. Upstream there were seemingly two smaller streams that met in order to form this massive river. At the point of confluence, brazenly guiding the water downstream, was a massive tree about 150 meters tall and 50 meters across.
It hardly had any branches on the way up and its thick bark acted as stark indication of its age. Despite the initial awe inspiring scene sprawled out before their eyes, the tranquil scenery wasn't the strangest thing about all of this. The truly strange part was laying in wait across the river, atop a pile of carcasses neatly arranged on the glistening riverbank. At its apex was a young boy who, to everyone's surprise, was now devouring a magical beast that resembled a crab.
The creature now being consumed was peach in color, minus the exoskeleton, and had a tail about ten cm long that swung wildly with each bite the boy took. Taking a closer look, it seemed as if all the creatures in the pile had human sized bite marks. Apparently, everything contributing to the pyramid of bodies was nothing more than a bunch of half-eaten leftovers.
"Captain is that one of them?" Asked Tiana, unable to hide the childish fascination in her eyes.
Winson wore a stern look as he examined the boy further. He seemed to be about 13 or 14 years old, with jet black hair that reached no further than the nape of his neck, and was somewhat disheveled. His face couldn't be clearly seen as he was quite the messy eater, putting all of his strength into devouring the crab-like creature in his hands.
"Now's as good a time as any to confirm, hopefully he's able to understand us."' Said Winson as he took a deep breath.
"Hey, you there, across the river!"
The man's voice shook the entire area, the boy didn't budge, but Wison continued nonetheless.
"We've come from the country of Lorath, under the Cian empire! We have orders to subjugate this island and the ones regarded as Asura, failure to comply will result in conflict!!"
Being a man of his word, Winson felt no need to hide his true intentions, but then again this was something like standard procedure for him at this point. Whether they complied or not didn't really matter to him, in the worst-case scenario, they would just end up polishing their techniques on real humans, or supposed humans anyway.
A dreadful silence filled the air, the illusive figure across from them had seemingly paid no heed to the warning.
"Doesn't he understand us?" Erick asked no one in particular.
"E-Everybody be on guard!" Shouted Cecilia
She was trembling slightly but tried to hold back her feeling of angst.
"T-This kid, I can't sense any mana from him, it's like all the mana in his body has been removed and something else has taken its place!"
With that shocking revelation, the tone of this chance meeting had abruptly shifted. Mana was a given for anything that possessed life force, so if this boy didn't have any, something was definitely off about him.
"She's right something feels off about him. I tried putting on a show with my aura earlier to speed this whole thing up, but he didn't even flinch." The rest of combat unit 4 had gotten used to their captain's oppressive aura long ago and didn't even notice the sudden change.
Finally, the boy lifted his head, the gentle sunlight reflecting off his golden Irises. After wiping the mess off his face with a handkerchief and folding it neatly, he spoke.
"Ahhhh that was good! I've gotta thank Nia for telling me about this spot."
His childlike innocence was radiated across the river's gap. The boy had a face that was prone to make a girl's heart skip a beat, and it definitely had an effect on Tiana at least. He lowered his piercing gaze to the people across the river before leaping down the pile of bodies, one hand now inside the chest pocket of his black kimono like shirt as he examined the newly arrived tress-passers with a thin smile.
"So you guys are the ones that killed Jiro nearby the coast earlier?''
The boy asked as he sharpened his golden gaze.
"If by Jiro you mean that huge snake, then yes".
Replied Winson, not breaking character for a moment.
"Hmm I see, but Y'know that was meant to be a warning." replied the boy, now crafting an uninterested expression with his peculiar features.
"Hmph, if that's your idea of a warning then it was well received." countered Winson as formed a small smirk.
This boy was apparently one responsible for the encounter they had with that giant boa.
"You say you're here to subjugate us but do you really think you can pull that off? I mean you're a long way from home and from what I can tell you've only brought around 100 or so people that can fight right?"
"Huh?"
That thought crossed everybody in Salamander's mind simultaneously. So he was listening after all. Not only was this boy close to guessing their exact numbers, but he also knew where they'd come from and had sent a beast to intercept them.
"What's your name?"
Winson asked, sweat dripping down his forehead.
"Kanon....Kanon Malford" The brazen youth responded with a confident smile.
"Huh? Malford, isn't this island supposed to be inhabited only by Asura?"
"Ohh that... I threw that name away a while ago, but anyway, if you really intend on fighting us, you don't stand a chance, you'd best leave now."
He continued, seemingly in his own world.
"But still, it's been years since anybody's made it this far inland."
Kanon said in a matter-of-factly way as he turned his back to the invaders intending to leave, but Winson spoke, stopping him in his tracks.
"Afraid we can't do that kid, archers ready!"
Turning around with a curious expression, the boy was greeted with a battle ready formation.
"You said "us" just now, didn't you? Take us to wherever the rest of your clan is, your hair aside, those eyes are a dead give away."
Following in the wake of Winson's order, countless bows and majic circles were aimed at the black haired youth. Without context, this appeared to be quite the heartless situation.
The pleasant sound of the river's flowing stream didn't help to lessen the tension one bit, but after only a few seconds, Kanon gave a loud sigh before suddenly disappearing. There was no sound to it, and nobody could even track his movements. In that oppressive silence, the only sounds to be heard apart from the flowing stream, was that of rustling leaves, but before long, this monotone dynamic would be broken by none other than the vanishing boy himself.
A dull thud echoed from behind Winson.
"Oi"
Turning around he saw the head of the arc knight wearing purple in Kanon's right hand, the crimson fluid now oozing from it stained the glistening riverbank with a viscous smear. Unsurprisingly, his lifeless body now stood out quite a bit amid the paradise like scenery.
"See what I mean? You're completely powerless."
The boy had ripped the arch knight's head clean off his shoulders in an instant, like it didn't even belong there in the first place. Realizing their plight, Winson instantly leapt back about ten meters into the air, higher than he had intended but the shock of it all had overwhelmed him.
Regaining his cool immediately however, he shouted-
"Kill him!!!"
A torrent of Majic and arrows assaulted Kanon, but before they could even make contact, he simply swung his left hand in a backward motion, blasting away the flurry of attacks with an abrasive gust of wind.
"Heh"
The boy wore a devilish grin before crouching down low, his golden Irises had locked on to their target. A semicircular battle formation had instantly formed in the river before him with Winson being a member of the vanguard.
"Let's begin" The young challenger declared.
With the arch knight's head still in hand, he dashed forth with enough force to rupture the earth beneath him.
His target – Winson
Weaving skillfully between the second wave of oncoming attacks and members of the combat unit, he closed the distance between him and Winson in less than two seconds.
The chevalier, boosting himself with mana and bringing down his scythe with every ounce of force he could muster, was left shocked as his arcane stage weapon shattered to pieces in his hands. All it took was a simple backhanded motion from the boy's occupied right hand.
Winson could do nothing else but accept the powerful left jab to his face that sent him flying over twenty meters away, skipping on the river's surface like a carefree stone. A loud crash was heard as the members of combat unit 4 could only watch as their captain got sent flying into the century old tree.
"Winson!!"
Tianna shouted before summoning a golem like creature that resembled a Daruma doll. The golem was well over 15 meters in height and was constructed out of something like hardened mud. With a murderous red gleam in its eyes, the giant delivered a shattering blow that tore through the very Earth itself, yet it held no significance. The attack didn't even make contact with its intended target. Kanon was already positioned in the space above it, and he hurled the fallen knight's head with such destructive force that it shattered the golem-like doll to pieces.
Tiana was next …... she couldn't even react to her target's blinding speed.
He appeared behind her like a sudden gust of wind, scattering the dust cloud the fallen summon had made upon its defeat. Ready to deliver the finishing blow with his bare hands.
CRUNCH
The sound of flesh being crushed was heard, but it wasn't Tianna. The druid girl had slumped to her knees, paralyzed with fear at the horrid scene in front of her. Erick, the only obstacle between the two, now had a gaping fist sized hole in his chest where his heart should've been, there wasn't even time for his blood to gush out. Erick's heart had been destroyed with a single, clean strike, the pain from receiving such an attack must have been brief.
"Ti..anna.....R..un ...aw..ay"
Erick managed to squeeze out his last words.
"Erickkkkk!"
The girl screamed from behind the now punctured corpse, once a member of her unit, but it was far too late. Kanon made a disinterested face before saying:
"Enshou"
Both Tianna and Ericks corpse simultaneously burst into a mix of purple and black flames. The girl died without even taking note of the excruciating pain, her body, quickly crumbling to ashes.
"Ahhhhhhhh!!!"
A torrent of screams and wails followed in wake of the slaughter as the members of the combat unit began to scatter like flies, breaking their formation in the process. This was a first for every member of Salamander, even though they survived two major crises they had yet to encounter such a powerful opponent. Being pressed this hard by an enemy, and experiencing the death of their comrades in rapid succession didn't help with the situation at all.
"Everyone retreat, I'll hold him off!"
Shouted Cecilia as she began chanting
"Esos Pectos Lagros!"
Timid though she was, in tough times she always managed to pull through. A large water dragon erupted from the nearby river and headed straight for the golden eyed killer. However, as the swirling mass of water, strong enough to tear through steel came crashing down, the attack and its caster were both suddenly blown away by an immense explosive force. Mounds of water, earth and debris were swept up in its wake, like a sudden tidal wave. The only ones not affected by the devastating attack were those that had already fled back the way they came - much faster than they had initially come.
It was Childsplay for members of this unit to reinforce their bodies with mana, but if an attack landed before they could use the technique, then it was all meaningless. The entire area was suddenly decimated by a single attack as bones and bodies alike were crushed by the sudden shift in the landscape. On top of that, pieces of earth and rocks were flung in every direction by the explosion and acted as shrapnel-like projectiles that claimed many lives with assassin-like precision.
The origin of the explosion in question was the silhouette standing at the center of the devastation. A 14-year-old boy in a pair of black shorts that reached a few inches below his knees, and a short-sleeved top of the same color that resembled a kimono with a strange clan style symbol on the back, it was similar to an overcoat but shorter in length.
To counter the mage's attack earlier, he had stomped on the ground with such destructive force that it had caused the very earth itself to shake, being deformed by the boy's attack as if bending to his will.
"Hooo" he exhaled all the tension he had previously built up.
A few drops of water trickled down his face, falling into the fifty-meter-wide crater of his own creation. The river's stream was now completely disrupted, who knew how long it'd be before the water was able to flow here normally again. It had been less than three minutes since the battle had begun and yet there was already a litter of bodies and body parts lying around as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Truly a scene of slaughter.