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veryone stared eagerly at Davy as he held the scroll.
"What is this?" Davy furrowed his eyes as he stared at the scroll.
"DON'T OPEN THAT!!!" Cross yelled furiously.
"Heh! Like we'll be taking orders from a little brat."
The leader nodded at Davy. "Open it."
Davy licked his lips excitedly and began opening it slowly.
"I SAID STOP!!!" Cross could no longer contain his anger. He turned to the man holding him by his right
and delivered to vicious kick to his groin. Then to the man on his left, he raised his leg and crushed the
man's foot, before charging towards Davy.
Davy turned to see what the noise was about, but he was far too slow. Cross was already upon him with
a flying kick. The kick caught him and the face and sent him crashing to the ground, with the scroll rolling
from his hands.
The rest men looked on in shock. Cross had knocked down three men with his hands tied. It would seem
the royalties were quite trained after all. They stood on guard immediately, not planning to underestimate
Cross anymore.
Davy groaned and struggled to his feet. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and stared at the
blood on it, before proceeding to touch it carefully. He cringed as the stinging pain hit him. His nose felt
swollen. He was hit in the nose yet again, what was the big idea? He gritted his teeth as he dipped his hand
into his back pocket and retrieved a palm sized mirror. Sure enough, his nose seemed horribly deformed.
Intense anger swelled up inside him as he stared at Cross.
He took a deep breath and calmed himself down, before breaking into a smile. The same kid was going to
make him rich, they was no need to get so angry. That didn't mean he wasn't going to teach him some
manners. So what if Cross was well trained? He had been fighting long before the brat was born. He could
easily deal with the likes of him.
"Hold the kid!" Davy said.
Cross rolled the scroll with his leg and heaved it up, before catching it with his mouth. He tried to take a
battle stance, but couldn't as he was still tied. Three men moved towards Cross hurriedly, taking out small
knives. Cross slid back and shook his body, letting the robe that bound him fall to the ground. The men
stopped in the tracks on seeing this, wondering if they should proceed or not.
Davy face palmed in anger. "You couldn't even tie his hands properly, Gordo? Well what does it even
matter, you guys are armed and he's just defenseless! To think professional mercenaries would be afraid
of a mere kid. Truly humiliating"
The men looked at themselves in embarrassment, before charging over at Cross.
The first man ran with his arms wide at Cross, seeking to tackle him to the ground. Cross jumped with his
knee and landed it on the man's jaw. There was a crushing sound as the man crumbled to the ground in
pains. Turning to the second man, he put his hand on the ground for support, and attacked him with a
sweeping kick. The man lost contact with the earth immediately. The unforgiving gravity who didn't take
lightly to those who tried to escape its clutches, brought him down to earth, reminding him of his place.
The man's head hit the ground and he blacked out momentarily.
Still on the ground, Cross gathered strength and pushed upwards. The little boost he received was enough
to make him twist in midair and deliver a fatal dropping kick to the third man's face. The third man flew
and crashed against the body of the leader.
The leader pushed him off immediately and frowned. "What nonsense is this? What kind of mercenaries get bullied
by a kid?"
Davy took a small knife from his pocket and began moving towards Cross.
"We need him alive Davy, we can't kill him… probably not just yet." The leader said.
"I understand, I should at least give him a few marks though." Davy grinned.
Cross turned to him and aimed a high kick at Davy's head. But Davy was faster this time. He caught Cross' leg
with one hand and flung him to the ground.
"You like kicking eh? Prince. Hehehe, you quite amaze me though. For a kid, you're not so bad. How old
are you, 13 or 14? That means had we encountered someone older, things would have gotten pretty bad.
Horathium indeed earned its place as one of the three great kingdoms." Davy laughed as he walked
towards Cross. "But, you run out of luck today! Horathium's reign will end, and you will be the tool for it."
He raised his leg and stomped down at Cross.
"Heh! Big words for mere mercenaries. Taking down Horathium? You won't even dream about it!" Cross rolled
out of the way and attacked Davy with a sweeping kick.
"Tsk!" Davy jumped and avoided it.
Jumping to his feet, Cross rushed at Davy.
Davy swiped the knife at Cross' forehead, looking to leave a deep wound, and not the mark he had said
earlier. Cross bent backwards slightly and grabbed Davy's hand, before twisting his whole body over Davy's
arm. Davy's arm followed Cross' body movement, and knife was yanked out of it. He didn't have time to
grunt when Cross followed immediately with a kick. He raised his other hand and blocked it, before sliding
backwards due to the force.
Cross twisted a few times on the air before landing on the ground and taking a stance.
"Well then, I'll just have to beat you senseless with my fist." Davy snorted "Bring it!"
Cross was getting rather excited, instead of being scared.
They rushed each other and began a fierce duel, while the other men watched, not knowing what to do.
Davy tried to rely on his brute strength as a mercenary, but Cross was quite good in hand combat, and
what's more, he was a lot faster. His reflexes were catlike. He had trained under legends after all.
The combat went on for about thirty seconds, before Davy went on the defensive. He realized with much
embarrassment that he couldn't beat Cross this way, so he looked for opportunities to draw a weapon out.
But every time he brought one out, Cross would knock it out of his hands. It wouldn't be long before he
too was knocked down. By a kid at that.
Davy had never felt so embarrassed in his life. He gritted before turning to the rest of the men.
"Help me with this kid, will you? I didn't get enough rest last night, so I'm not in a good shape now."
The leader sneered at him.
The rest men prepared to attack, but the leader raised his hand.
"Let's give the kid a break, we can't just be attacking him so shamelessly."
"But leader, you taught us never to underestimate the enemy!" one of them said.
"Yes, but it's still very embarrassing. I'll go myself. Get lost Davy."
'Phew!' Davy heaved a sigh of relieve before moving to stand behind the leader.
Cross furrowed his eyes as he stared unblinking at the leader. Now that the leader was standing up right,
Cross saw how huge he was. He was taller than everyone in the room by nearly a feet, and he had thick
arms like branches of a tree. Cross felt he was almost as tall Norvawich. He took a step back as he thought
of an attack strategy.
Hehehe, now then, don't give me such a hard time, eh kid?" The leader laughed and punched at Cross.
Cross raised his hands to block, but the force of the punch sent him crashing down to the ground.
'Tsk! What brute strength.' Cross stood up slowly and wiped his lips, before charging over with a flying
kick. The leader waved Cross' leg aside easily, before throwing a kick of his own. The kick caught Cross on
the waist, making him fall to the ground in pain. Then he followed up with a brutal knee to the face.
Cross landed with his back to the ground and lay motionless. His vision was momentarily impaired, and he felt
voices ringing in his head. The stinging pain he felt was making him lose consciousness. He could hear them
laughing at him, and he felt very angry. Had he been a Jinda, he wouldn't even break a sweat to deal with them.
He clenched his fist as he swore to get stronger. Gritting his teeth, he opened his eyes forcefully, before
struggling to sit up. It took a few seconds before his eyes adjusted to the candle light in the tent.
"Oh? You are still conscious? Heh! This kid's not so bad." The leader chuckled.
"You… you guys are mere bandits. I will not be defeated by lowly criminals!" Cross spat.
The leader's face turned ugly. He felt very insulted by Cross' remark.
"It would seem your people failed to teach you manners above all. Allow me to do the job then. Davy?"
"Hehehe, I understand." Davy said, and walked towards Cross with a pocket knife.
Cross tried to stand to his feet, but Davy moved faster.
"Like I'll let you!" He said as he kicked him to the ground.
He held Cross by the collar and raised the knife up. "Now kid, feel some pain. Don't worry, I won't kill you. Not
just yet." He said and brought the knife down.
Cross closed his eyes and waited for the pain to hit him. But a few seconds later, there was no pain or
anything. Huh? He opened his eyes slowly and was surprised at what he saw. Davy was staring down at
him in horror. He looked round and saw the rest men were also looking at him in the same way. He was
confused at first, then he saw it.
What used to be Davy's hand was now a stump, with blood flowing freely. Somehow, his hand had been sliced
off. The knife lay on the ground beside the detached arm.
"You!!! What… what have you done!!?" Davy shrieked.
"Heh!" Cross sneered. Although he didn't know what had happened, he was pleased nevertheless.
"I will kill you!!!" Davy raised his other hand to punch Cross, but a black projection flew past and Davy
fell motionless on the ground, blood dripping from his forehead. .
There was silence for a while as everyone tried to process what had happened .Or rather, what was happening? They
hadn't seen Cross move.
Cross himself was more shocked. He pushed Davy's body away from him and ran outside the tent.
"Don't let him get away!" The leader yelled.
They all left the tent and ran after Cross. By now, the commotion had woken all the mercenaries and they all
trooped outside their tent to see what was going on.
"I don't know what you're doing kid, but it all ends here. Kill the boy!" The leader yelled to his men. About
four men rushed at Cross with their sword raised, but they didn't even get a meter close before they were
sliced in half.
The mercenaries saw this and shifted back in alarm. Everyone was sure it wasn't Cross' doing. It was one
thing facing a powerful enemy, but it was an entirely different thing fighting an enemy they couldn't see.
Someone was attacking from the shadows!
The leader looked around him. His men were all frightened, and were retreating slowly. He gritted his
teeth, but he knew the problem was in him. His men were scared, and he was too. Experience over the
years had made him come to understand that the fierce unwavering determination of a general, was his
soldiers' fuel in battle. If he moved, they would move.
He walked to the front immediately. "Don't panic everyone. We wouldn't have gotten here today if we could
be frightened easily. Everyone, we attack with ranged weapons. It'll all probably end if we kill the kid."
Cross watched as they all took out small knives and a few even took out Cross bows.
"Launch!"
They launched their ranged weapons immediately, with tens of objects flying towards Cross.
Cross slid back and caught a small knife flying towards him, before using it the parry the rest.
The mercenaries were surprised, but they didn't stop their attacks.
For most people, this was a legendary feat. But for someone who had catlike reflexes like Cross, it was nothing. His
teacher Albertos was one of the fastest men in Horathium after all.
Cross was parrying and dodging most of the attacks, but they began increasing in numbers, becoming too
difficult for him to handle. A few arrows even grazed his clothes. Cross could swear he saw purple liquid at
their tip.
"Allow me!" One mercenary ran forward and flung a machete at Cross.
Cross didn't see it in time, so he could only swipe at it with the knife he was holding, but he was in for a
shocker. As his blade touched the machete, the machete split into smaller knifes and pierced towards him.
Cross blocked some of it, but the rest hit his shoulders and abdomen, making him loose his balance and
fall to the ground in pains.
Cross bit his lips and was almost moved to tears, He had never felt this kind of pain before. He was losing
consciousness, and he knew the knife would have been poisoned. He stared at his body and began sobbing
quietly, thinking this was the end for him.
"Yes!" The leader screamed, "Now's not the time to be staring, finish him off! If we go down with him, then so
be it. We'll deal a big blow to Horathium!"
The leader was figured that whoever was behind the projection attacks was probably a Jinda they ought not
to have messed with. Presumably, Cross' body guard.
He cursed himself for being so careless. Cross was a member of the royal family, there ought to be someone
moving with him, but this bodyguard of the Prince was a bit too elusive. It would be better if he got out
and faced them like a man instead of hiding and attacking. Anyway, if they die, the kid dies too. He planned
to take Cross' belongings and go far away. He leader took out his sword and flung it at Cross' head. The
rest men followed suit, seeking to end the defenseless Cross.
Cross whose vision was blurry from pain and poison could only look on helplessly as the weapons reached
him. But the mysterious figure saving him didn't plan to do a half job. A black cloud appeared in front of
him, and all the weapons were sucked inside.
"Huh?"
Everyone shifted back in alarm, wondering what the black cloud was.
"The work of a Jinda alright…" The leader mumbled.
Neither he nor his men were Jindas, but that didn't mean they hadn't faced one. In fact, they had killed quite
a number of them. That was mainly because they at least saw who they were fighting.
The black cloud vanished from Cross' front and appeared above the mercenaries head, expanding in size. "Oh
no…"
"Run!"
They all tried to scramble for safety as knives and arrows came raining down on them. The black projection
appeared again, but this time, there were two of them. Wait, not two, or three, or four either! There were
dozens of them all around, whizzing in the air, and slicing more and more mercenaries into halves.
The leader gritted his teeth bitterly, they were truly done for.
"Retreat!" He yelled, but there was no need to say it. He was the only one still standing in place. His men had all abandoned him and fled for their lives.
He couldn't get mad or blame his men at this point, they could barely save themselves much less care about him.
Turning around, he picked a direction and joined in the race for life.
Somehow, he felt he was just wasting his time. He could feel the cold hands of death patting his shoulders and
telling him to save his strength for the afterlife. More and more of his men dropped to the ground, and it was
probably just a matter before he joined them. His life flashed swiftly before his eyes, from infant to adulthood. His
wife's laughter, his daughter's playfully screeches. He had seen it all instantly.
Something felt lighter on him, a bit cold. He looked down to see one of his arms had been sliced off. He laughed
at it. He was getting closer to death, but this was not the kind of death he always envisioned for himself. He
always dreamt of dying with a very powerful opponent in battle, and have legend sing of his bravery all around.
He still had lots of things he wanted to do. He hadn't had the chance to grow his strength and bring the down
fall of Sural's royal family. The ones primarily responsible for his predicaments. And here he was, dying while
running for his pathetic life. He felt so embarrassed that he couldn't stop laughing at himself. Some of his men
thought he had gone mad with grief, but only he knew what he was thinking. He continued to laugh as more
and more men fell to the ground. Poor Davy, he was the first to die.
'But he deserved it anyway.' The leader chuckled to himself. If it hadn't been for him unable to control his
greed, this might not have happened. But who was he kidding, he was as greedy as Davy was, if not
greedier. In fact, Cross' Horo coins were still jiggling merrily in his pockets.
He was still laughing hard when he saw blackness…
Few meters away, Connor saw the leader fall and nodded his head in satisfaction.
"A very foolish leader he was. If I could just escape in this commotion, I could get back to Sural and organize
a new group. I'm sure the royal family would be pleased with the info I've gathered." He said as he patted
his pockets while running. He could help but smile as he wondered what kind of reward he would be
receiving for bringing something so important.
Sticking out of his pocket, was Cross' scroll, and how he got it was still a mystery.
He hadn't finished laughing when he too saw blackness.
Minutes later, all the mercenaries lay on the ground, with each cleanly sliced. Not a single one was still
standing. At this point, Cross had become too numb and dizzy that he couldn't even feel pain again. It was
just a matter of seconds before he lost consciousness. He had also lost quite an amount of blood already.
He heard footsteps approaching him, and saw a blurry shadow moving towards him slowly. He tried to
move, but his strength failed him. He could only wait as the figure approached him. The matter of life and
death were no longer in his hands. The figure came close and touched his head calmly. Cross felt his eyes
heavy immediately, and he blacked out.