Ryo lowers his sword to his side. A quietness washes over the crowd around them, individuals wait with bated breath for someone to make the first move. Only the crackle of wood burning echoes around them. Raull sneers raising his ax upwards then brings it down onto the ground. A dust field kicks up, spreading out across the ground carried by a rough wind. In his defense position, Axel raises his sword vertically, gripping it with both hands, ready for a counter. Around him the objects distort into blurs then fading into shadows. The dust field grows thicker and Raull’s shadow melts away.

“It’s about time I show the difference in our power.” He sneers.

Axel glances to his left and right, his feet slide against the dirt. A dust field? What is this? Caught off guard, he tries to figure out where the next attack will come from. Loud footsteps stomp in every direction. Behind him Ryo’s shadow finally disappears, leaving him alone.

“Think you can win against me? Just try it!” Raull mocks him. A rushing noise deafens Axel’s hearing.

To his left side, his eyes catch the faint glimmer of steel falling towards his face. With two sidesteps Axel moves his body to dodge the attack. Raull’s blade misses by inches, however, the miss causes dust to kick up into Axel’s eyes.

“Ahhhh!” He screams out in pain. In a panic, Axel tries to use his sleeve to wipe the dust away. The sting worsens his pain, between his eyes and his nostrils.

Unable to see and building disorientation causes Axel to swing his blade wildly in every direction. The ax comes down, slamming the ground in front of Axel’s feet, knocking him off balance with small tremors. His erratic swings keep hitting empty space. From behind, a hot wind gust slam into him, sending pain straight up his spine. His body screams in agony with the sensation of blood dripping down his back and legs.

“That was barely a hit.” Raull says.

Axel falls to his knees, his palms hitting the ground. Tears stream down the corner of his eyes, sharpening the pain cycle.

Outside the dust field, Finn approaches Ryo. “To think that he can do something like this. It shouldn’t even be possible.”  

“So, you know what kind of power that is?” Ryo’s eyes catch glimpses of confusion and disbelief from the other residents. “It seems like quite a few might know about it.”

“I do.” Finn lets out a drawn-out sigh. “But right now, Axel’s safety is more important.”

“I wouldn’t worry. This is a challenge he will be able to overcome.” Finn notices that Ryo’s confidence doesn’t waver. He eyes deeply focused on the dust cloud in front of them.

Axel sticks his blade into the ground, using it as a splint to help him to his feet. His body slumps over the sword’s hilt. “What do I do!? What do I do?!” Axel internally screams.

Whooosh!

A calmness washes over Axel’s body, a heartbeat steadies itself in his ears. A low whistling crescendo to Axel’s right side. A cold breeze circles around his fingertips and up his arms. Small green ripples of energy circle around him. Right…Right…A low whisper sings in the wind. Both hands lift the sword, swinging it directly to his right with full strength. The sword connects to Raull’s ax attack, while also slicing through the dust field. It splits cleanly in two.

“What?!” Raull’s shout of surprise rings out.

Raull clicks his tongue, raises his ax into the air into a downward swing. The wind in front of Axel grows heavy, so he brings his sword upward once again connecting to Raull’s attack. A metallic sound reverberates, with a shockwave of wind exploding outwards across the town. Each wind gust catches the structure fires, suffocating them into submission. Both Raull and Axel slide backwards from the power impact. Raull regains his footing but falls to one knee.

“What’s going on? What is this? What is that dam brat?!” Raull’s frustration and disbelief grows.

Following his voice, Axel lunges at Raull with repeated forward strikes. On the defensive, Raull blocks each attack but each hit sends pain up his arms. Both attackers match each other blow for blow, until Axel changes his into an underhand swing. The wind gathers against his blade as he brings the swing upwards connecting it to the center of Raull’s ax. The impact sends Raull off his feet, knocking him several feet away onto his back.  

The townspeople and remaining bandits watch in silence. Axel takes a step forward but collapses onto his knees. The release of unknown energy weakens his muscles, draining him of strength. A few raindrops pelted his face from above. He turns his face upwards, and the rain grows heavier. All the dust washes away from his eyes and nose. Axel opens his eyes, but his world remains blurry. Finn approaches him, kneeling at his side. .

“Axel? How are you doing?” Finn asks him.

“I can’t move. What happened?” Confusion fills Axel’s voice. “I thought I heard…” He trails off looking in Ryo’s direction. Ryo’s arms are cross, his blade stuck into the ground at his feet.

Finn falls silent and grips Axel around his shoulders. Momentum helps him lift Axel up halfway into a crouch. A short distance away Raull stirs from his down position.

“Why, you…” Raull snarls in between his clench teeth. He rises to his feet with assistance from his ax. “I will not let a brat, a lowly insect, make a fool out of me!” He shouts.

The wind picks up around them, several wind gusts become visible like silver streaks cutting through then air. Each streak circles Raull’s weapon when he raises his above his head. Nearby tree limbs come down and isolated structure fires spread move unable to be contained by the heavy rain.

“This wind…!’ A Remure resident shouts.

“We need to get of here!” A panic air rolls over the crowd.  

“No way…it can’t be.” Finn stares at Raull, his disbelief betrays his calm eyes.

A bandit runs to Raull. “Boss! You can’t use that!”

A huge wind gust slashes the bandit across his chest. “Gah!” The bandit gasps, crumbling to the ground.

“You don’t give me orders. He is going to pay for everything, then I’m going to level this whole town until there is nothing left!” Raull roars, a frenzied energy clouds his eyes.

Blood stains appear all over Raull’s body, the wind also rips away at his clothing. His bloodshot eyes jitter back and forth having trouble focusing on their target. Cuts spread up his arms when he swings his ax in front of him. Water collecting at his feet turns murky. A strong metallic scent flows through the air.

”Finn, what’s going on?” Axel asks, his eyes finally clearing up.

“You fool.” Finn whispers under his breath. “Now I know what’s going on.”

Axel struggles to look back, catching a glimpse of a grave expression washing over Finn’s face. His attention turns back to Raull. Pain shoots from his feet up to his head when he tries to stand up. Each muscle screams out for relief but tighten under the heavy strain. Through sheer willpower Axel gets to his feet.

“My boy…you can’t win against this.” Finn grabs his arm. “He will kill you!”

“He’s coming.” Unable to form sentences, Axel’s heavy breathing catches in his throat.

“This farce ends here!” Raull shouts. He digs his feels into the ground, push off into a full charge like a bull. The ground trembles beneath him, his arms raise the ax above his head. Screams escape from the residents. He brings the ax downwards.

“Mr. Finn!” A voice shouts.

“Axel!” Theresa calls out.

Clang!

A defending metallic sound echoes outward. The wild excess energy erupts upwards into the clouds above. Able to focus his vision, Axel stares at Ryo’s backside. His feet dig into the dirt with both hands and sword in a defensive position. A small smile appears on Finn’s face. Raull’s eyes widen. One of his strongest attacks deflect like was nothing.

“Wh-what!? My attack!” He howls.

Some of the energy lingers on Ryo’s blade. He switches the blade from his left hand to right. With the opening, Ryo uses his full body to tackle Raull squarely in the chest, knocking him back.

“Arh!” Raull regains his footing, swinging wildly at Ryo. Each swing emits high wind energy aimed at him. With swift movement, Ryo dodges the attacks and parries the ax blade, like he can predict Raull’s attacks. The cuts on Raull’s arms grow deeper and longer each swing he takes. Blow for blow, their strikes match up but Raull’s movements faulter from over exertion.

He jumps back, his appearance now reflects a savage animal ready to kill. Ryo steadies himself again pointing the sword towards him. Rain pours around them. Raull kicks off from the ground into another charge. Axel’s attention gets drawn to the tip of Ryo’s blade. A very faint purplish mist forms, spiraling down the sword to its hilt. The unknown mist grows larger, mixing into the rain around him. Ryo holds his sword vertically in front of his chest.

“I don’t know what power you used but your rampage ends here.” Ryo says. He shuts his eyes.

Raull jumps at Ryo, bringing the sword down pulling in a strong swing. That moment freezes for Raull. He lets out a gasp, making eye contact with Ryo. He feels his energy drain and the creeping inevitability of defeat becomes clear for him. Ryo disappears in an instant and from below his sword connects to Raull’s midsection, creating a large diagonal gash across it. Behind him, Ryo reappears with his sword back in its sheath. Blood trickles down the side of Raull’s mouth.

“You won’t see the last of me…you will pay.” Raull wheezes. “This…town…is…done for.” He collapses onto the ground.

A hush overtakes the crowd unable to comprehend what they just saw. The remaining bandits disperse, recovering their leader and disappearing into the heavy rain like wounded animals. All eyes remain on Ryo. Axel stares at his eyes, a lonely hollow darkness swirls in the center of his pupils. Ryo looks up into the rain. I will remember everything. Each droplet of rain helps to soften an unknown tightness and rage in his chest.