OKAY THIS CHAPTER WILL RUN VERY LONG. PROBABLY THE LONGEST CHAPTER OF THIS STORY TILL NOW. SO ENJOY!
Everyone present at the hall were petrified at the outrageous words the thin figure had spoken to the imperial general and the man in address himself was no exception.
"The general should keep his promise too. Hmm?" His tone was very placid and calm as if speaking to the old veteran nonchalantly. "Lick my shoes!"
"Outrageous!" General Gale boomed. The council of ministers followed him. Specially those typical parasite nobles.
"Your majesty, our king. This youth has overstepped his boundaries by daring to ask a noble to lick a commoner's shoe! Please seek justice for your subject."
"Yes my king. Please seek justice!"
"And besides how would we even know that he had hunted the black fury himself, that he is not a snake or a fox in action?"
The ministers retaliated. As lady Augreal had said before these load of pigs were spoiled rotten due to their birth privileges. However little did they knew that the king already had a final verdict for the so called convict.
Amidst this outburst a loud laugh was heard and his soft voice echoed in the hall.
"Well well! Really amusing mouths my fellow ministers have! Hahaha really deep shit puking out of your rotten breathes. Haha!" Although Eustin received daggers of stares at him it did not effect him in any way. Just as he was about to speak again a voice interrupted.
"If anyone doubts this lowly commoner i am more than eager to melt the shell of this matter right here before you all." Hitomu wore neither a passive nor an active expression. But his eyes were speaking volumes.
"Oh?" Zarad's eyes glinted with excitement though he did not show it on his face.
His voice was clear and calm. No provocation as if just inviting.
"I challenge the imperial general to a duel."
"Since he is not willing to lick my shoes."
He did not forget to add the last part.
Yes this was an invitation of opportunity. But only for himself and not anyone else. Debts, he still had debts to collect since he already knew what would become of him.
'Puh' General Gale and the other ministers spat at his words.
At this point even the crown prince was getting a bit interested. His mind had been all over another place but now his attention was diverted back to the hall.
"Wah! Nice. This is only just! Yes. Since the general does not believe him he should test it out himself." Revard was excited to see how it would turn out.
Gale was more than happy to take on the fight. He was actually convinced that the boy must have used some underhanded tricks to slay the black fury. But he did not believe the boy was without skills. Its just that he was a well know veteran, a fighter and survivor of the battle field. His martial arts had a very solid foundation and he had slayed countless of enemies. Strong warriors above and below his skills. So he was confident he would not lose to this timid youth who had dared to challenge him, inviting his own doom. From his perspective this match was like a developing wolf going against the leader of the pack. Getting up from his seat he kept away his sword and instead took out the little dagger from his side waist.
"Impudent boy. As a veteran i shall have mercy on you and shall step up to this fight with my little fang. However heed my words i shall not hold back against you."
This meant an insult. The thigh hugging parasites snickered at him. 'He is being nice to a disrespectful brat like you' was what their mocking eyes were saying.
Hitomu displayed no hesitation. "Then, this lowly one shall also step up the fight with a dagger." He pulled out a small dagger from his inner clothes.
Towards his statement the imperial general snickered at him, mocking him a thousand times. Actually it was not only him but also the rest who were almost uncertain of his decision.
To most of them he was like a fool. A very fat fool.
And that was how a battle full of unexpectation began.
The two figures stood facing each other at the imperial court. The seats of the ministers had been moved back by metres so there was enough space for them to move and battle.
General gale drew his little fang. His dagger was a monstrous legend to the knights of the empire. It was a thirty six inch long blade, very sharp with claw mark shaped edges decorating the one side of the blade while the other side was a straight line of a sharp shiny knife. The sight of this intimidating weapon that had taken thousands of prominent lives excited those parasites but not Hitmou. He knew since he had read the book. He drew his own weapon that he had chosen while in hast on his way here a few days ago. It was a 15 inch long simple dagger with two blades. Compared to the mighty legendary weapon of his opponent his plain dagger was dull to the onlookers. Only those with eyes could tell he had a nice taste in blades. The two locked eyes with each other for a second and the temperature dropped. Just as the audience were thinking who would make the first move the two figures dashed towards each other with a bolting speed and in a split of mere two seconds they had exchanged their blades with each other.
'Clang.' 'Clang.' 'Clang.' The sound of metals meeting as the two sliver skins produced flicks of red threads with silver ends.
Hitomu made a turn on his left while he attacked the bold looking dagger with his right hand and as he completed the turn he flipped the dagger into his left hand, repeating the same offence again and again, switching from both his hands, left to right and right to left. General Gale counterfeited his each strike with a strong and swift swing. The effortless works on both the sides were very evident. The onlookers now could not deny the boy had some skills. But to them favour was still on the veteran's side as he had yet to strike with his full force. That was until an effortless attack was initiated by the opponent. Backing away a step Hitomu hit off the ground springing right up to the others right hand. With a swift left swing it moved towards the spot he was aiming at. The general's eyes flashed with some surprise. He immediately moved up his hand into a swing to avoid the kick. From the corner he sensed another attack moving towards him. It was a clenched punch from his opponent's right arm while his lower leg was going left in action.
Seeing this Zarad's pupils widened.
General Gale tackled his punch with his fist adding some spiritual energy at he tip of his fist. The two fists met on straight oozing out force waves with an intense kinetic energy. Hitomu did not stop his course of action. He swung his left hand which held the dagger towards the latter's nape taking him by surprise. In a moment of alertness Gale fueled some spiritual energy into his knees and striked it up to the boy's stomach. Too bad Hitomu saw this coming. He stomped it down with his right feet aiming at the weak joints of the front knees and added extreme pressure on the area. Knitting his eyebrows a little he stumbled back a step and finally initiated an attack with full force, concentrating his energy onto his little fang.
This was the reason the onlookers believed the general to have the upperhand. A noble's flow and control of spiritual energy was bound to be solid and strong. No commoner's low stock energy could not compare to it. Too bad Hitomu was not a commoner by soul.
His eyes saw this huge attack fueled with his full power striking towards him in a slow motion. He dodged it and jumped up. The tip of his shoe landed on his opponent's blade.
To see someone standing on legendary little fang, a renowned veteran's deadly weapon with the tip of his toes up on its lustrous blade, it was akin to stepping on the veteran general's pride over his possession. The veins on general's forehead bulged out in anger.
"How dare you!" He shouted while attacking with his right leg. Keeping his eyes still and calm Hitomu received his provocation with pleasure. The man had brought this upon himself. So without holding back he applied momentum on his left leg and striked it towards the approaching kick to meet it up front.
The result of their head on instigation was strong force waves flowing out from the centre point where their legs met in close combat.
The audience was stupefied. As they witnessed the two figures entangle and separate they had their jaw dropping at that unexpected boy's effortless attacks which shooked the very core of their heart as if ransacking their hearts to beat it out of their chests. Clearly there was excitement. Excitement out of thrill, disappointment and shock.
His body control was top notch. Even a fool could tell. While going left he could move his hands right. And that alone was enough to drive the martial artists insane.
The image of the thin and frail boy standing on the blade of Little Fang with the tip of his toes, with a stance so beautiful and enigmatic was......very annoyingly mesmerizing.
Surely now no one could deny the potential the boy possessed. And the fact that it was a commoner made the parasites loathe him even more.
Back to the fight although the two were in a very intense battle, being a prodigy assassin Hitomu was beginning to get a little bored. His habit of getting bored while in the middle of a battle showed up once again. The attacks of the general were getting more and more repetitive, as if going through the same pattern following the same cycle. Deciphering a person's fighting style was a piece of cake for him. Not to mention a prodigy who had learnt each and every art, even those unattainable tricks of the secret assassin society back on earth. The teachings and the arts of the secret society were no joke, defying even gravity and science, breaking rules on human bodies. And Once he saw how the trick was done he was able to do it on one try, that was how he had lived for his entire life until he had committed suicide.
He sighed in silence.
It was time to end it with a huge slap as a present from the reaper.
Hitomu narrowed his eyes at him. He smiled at the prideful person glaring back at him. Taking up a loose posture he readjusted the flow of his blood in his body. Gliding his fingers down the blade his opening eyes glinted with unspoken intent to kill. In a flash of lightning speed he dashed forward almost leaping off the ground. Throwing his dagger towards the imperial general he kept flying forward. Gale dodged the dagger and it went right pass him. He also likewise, leaped froward unrestrained. With little fang on his right and a fistful of spiritual energy into his left hand he would have appeared intimidating if not for Hitomu's unusual combat ability. When they graudually came closer the boy unexpectedly jumped again. Dreading that he might step on his prideful possession again he srtiked out his left hand with a clenching fist. Intercepting it mid way Hitomu crawled his right fingers from underneath his hand simply avoiding his fist. Grabbing his wrist which was free from the domain of his fuel he pressed onto a certain vein. A stabbing pain shivered throughout his entire arm. Making this an opportunity he landed a clean hit punch on the general's face in a split of second.
Being punched by a little brat ignited a fury of anger inside him. The half retreating dagger was withdrawn from the behind and was instead purged forward towards the disfigured face. Hitomu saw this action in a slow mo once again. He leaped up and again ended up standing on the dagger's blade with the tip of his toes while the blade was still in motion. Gale slashed it upwards in an attempt to injure his feet but the boy's flexible body bent over and flipped down. After that what followed was a bewildering ending. Before anyone could realise what was about to come next, the prideful veteran was knocked onto his knees and in the blink on an eye the youth held his weapon back at his hand pointing it against the neck of the imperial general. The clean nape was decorated with a thin thread of blood flowing down as the sharp blade threatened to dig into his skin. And on the face of the frail looking boy was an alluring expression; his corners curved into a smile with glinting eyes staring down at his defeated opponent; the look in his eyes speaking volumes of unspoken words.
This sight to everyone was just savage. This boy was simply savage as fuck!