Chapter 11: City of Knights (II)

Crackle…

The leader cracked his knuckles, grinning widely, as he stared at Gray with murderous eyes.

“You sure you wanna do this? Still time to cry and beg.”

Gray didn’t answer his words; he just reached down and tied his coat tighter around his waist.

His black eyes glinted beneath the dim lantern light.

[Fufufu~ this is going to be fun, Gray~] Jasmine whispered in his mind, her voice sweet as honey and sharp as broken glass.

[I want to hear their bones snap~ Make it hurt, paint this alley red~]

Gray only smiled at her words.

CRACK.!

The leader slammed his training sword against a nearby crate to make it splinter.

“We’ll beat your ass so bad, you won’t even crawl back to the brothel you came from.”

The one on his left, a freckled boy with a jagged scar across his nose, chuckled.

“Just look at his clothes. You some runaway, pretty boy?”

Gray’s smile faded.

His gaze, however, didn’t as it remained cool as ice.

He waited until one of them twitched forward, and shortly after, the first blow finally came.

SWOOSH—!!

The scar-nosed boy lunged, blade raised overhead like a butcher’s cleaver.

Gray whispered:

“Swap.”

In a blink, his body vanished in a flicker of dark violet light, and in his place, a moldy old crate appeared.

CRUNCH—!!

The boy’s wooden sword slammed full-force into the crate, splinters exploding into his face, his eyes widening in complete surprise.

Gray reappeared above him, crouching mid-air.

WHAM!!

He came down hard, both boots crashing onto the boy’s shoulders.

The impact bent the trainee’s legs backward at a sick angle, slamming him face-first into the cobblestones.

SPLAT—!!

Blood gushed from his nose, and teeth scattered like tiny white stones.

[Aww, his mouth came apart so easily~]

Another one quickly charged.

Gray rolled away just in time, grabbing the boy’s arm mid-swing, and the results were… pretty breaking…

TWIST—!!

CRACK—!!

A scream echoed through the alley.

“GRAAAAAAHH—!!”

His elbow bent the wrong way. Bone pierced skin, blood arcing onto the wall like a red signature.

“Next.”

CLACK-CLACK—!

Two more came now, one from the left, the other from the rear.

Gray instantly pivoted, slammed his foot against the wall, and jumped.

“Swap.”

This time, he traded places with a broken barrel on the side.

The two attackers swung wildly—

Only to strike each other.

THUNK—!!

“AAGH—!”

One of their wooden swords cracked against his partner’s head, making the other trainee knight panic.

And just at that moment, Gray reappeared beside him and drove his knee into the boy’s temple.

THUMP—!!

The skull connected with a sickening thud.

He dropped instantly, twitching.

[Gray… you’re really… like a devil in human skin.]

Blood pooled.

Breathing was ragged.

Three down.

The leader and one other stood frozen.

“You monster…”

“N-no… he’s cheating! He’s using spatial magic!”

Crack…

Gray cracked his neck slowly, his boots splashing through the fresh blood on the stones.

“I’m only using whatever I have at my disposal,” he said flatly.

“And you… provoked the wrong person, bitch.”

The fourth one panicked.

He turned to run.

“Swap.”

Gray was there, in front of him, blocking the way.

The boy skidded.

“Wait—! I—”

THWACK—!!

A right hook smashed his jaw sideways. He collapsed, groaning, spitting up blood and what looked like pieces of gum, but it was just his teeth.

[Phew~, that one was good~]

Now only the leader remained.

The air had turned cold, and now, the leader was already scared to death; his wooden sword trembled in his hand.

“D-Don’t come closer. I’m warning you…”

Gray didn’t stop at all.

He approached slowly, his black eyes darkly, as his lips curled up into a sadistic smile.

The instant the leader saw that smile, he shouted and lunged immediately.

“FUCK YOU!”

His blade came screaming toward Gray’s head, but strangely, Gray didn’t move at all… not until the last second.

“Swap.”

He was behind the leader.

And then…

SLAM!!

His elbow drove into the back of the boy’s neck, slamming him into the alley wall. A deep, wet crunch echoed as cartilage cracked.

But Gray didn’t stop there… he yanked the boy back and then rammed his knee into his ribs.

CRACK!

CRUNCH—!!

Blood exploded from the boy’s mouth.

Gray grabbed him by the collar, slammed him against the wall, eyes burning.

“Say it,” he growled.

The boy gurgled.

“Say you’re weak.”

His grip tightened.

The boy gasped for air.

“Say you’re nothing.”

THUNK!

Another slam.

Blood smeared the wall like finger paint.

The boy whimpered.

“I-I’m—”

SPLAT!

The leader’s half-broken body dropped limply from Gray’s grip before he could finish his words.

[…Someone is approaching this place.]

Jasmine suddenly warned him, and sure enough…

Tap, tap, tap!

Gray heard footsteps, and from the mouth of the alley, a new figure stepped into his view.

She had short, soft brown hair that curled gently around her cheeks, cut in a tidy, shoulder-length bob.

Her hazel eyes gleamed like amber glass, calm but sharp. She was petite, barely over five feet tall, but carried herself like a blade, having a strangely dangerous aura ooming around her.

Her armor was light, silvery-gray trimmed with royal blue lines that shimmered faintly, and over her heart, the sigil of a lion piercing a crescent moon glowed.

Gray’s gaze caught on it instantly.

The insignia of the Virelian First Order.

His brow furrowed.

“…Fuck.”

He cursed, after all, that insignia meant that this girl was supposed to be one of the strongest people in this city.

And Gray… was obviously not strong enough to deal with her.

[Ooh~ Now that’s interesting…]

Jasmine cooed teasingly.

[A little lion cub shows up to protect her little sheep~]

“Step away from him.”

The girl’s voice suddenly rang clear and firm across the alley.

Gray tilted his head and slowly turned to face her, finally holding his rapier.

His eyes flicked over her again.

Small frame, slim arms. But… her aura… looked dangerous.

He scoffed.

“Seriously?”

A cruel smirk twisted his lips.

“They’re sending little girls to clean the mess now?”

She didn’t flinch, as she probably had received multiple comments like this one, and her tone didn’t waver at all.

“I said: Halt. Your. Actions.”

Her hand drifted to the hilt of the thin saber at her side, her thumb flicking the guard.

It was a clear warning.

Gray’s eyes narrowed slightly, but not from fear.

He glanced back at the barely-breathing leader of the trainee knights, whose body trembled on the floor, whimpering with wide, panicked eyes, blood leaking from his stomach and nose.

Then, he turned his attention back to the girl, and gave her that same twisted, devilish smirk.

“No.”

SPLURT—!!

His rapier slid cleanly into the leader’s gut, twisting once for good measure.

“AAAH—!!” the boy screamed as blood gushed around the blade.

“Stop!!” the brown-haired girl shouted, already moving.

Her boots thundered on the stone as she burst forward like a bullet, faster than anything Gray had seen in this city.

Her saber came up mid-run.

She was about to cut him down.

But then, Gray’s lips moved, whispering softly:

“Swap.”

FSSHHH—!

In a flash of light, he vanished from sight.

Fwip!

Her saber sliced through empty air.

Only a rock dropped where he’d been.

It bounced once.

Twice.

Tap, tap.

And then, there was complete silence.

Her breathing stopped as she scanned the alley with wide, focused eyes.

“Where did he go?!”

She spun.

Right.

Left.

Up.

Even behind.

Nothing.

Not even a breath of aura.

The alley was empty, except for the blood, and the groaning mess of trainees who had already lost their fight.

The rock lay still on the ground.

She clenched her jaw, sword still drawn, but her knuckles were white.

“Damn it…” she muttered under her breath.

But suddenly…

Her thoughts began to slip… slightly.

Her gaze drifted… remembering the curve of his jaw, sharp and angled perfectly. The way the dim light of the alley had hit his pale skin, how his black hair looked windblown, untamed.

Those deep, merciless black eyes that didn’t look at people, and instead, they read them.

And that voice…

Cold, cruel, yet irresistibly rich. Velvety, even when tinged with blood.

A slight flush crept up her neck.

“No… no, what the hell?” she whispered, blinking quickly, shaking her head as if to snap herself out of it.

This was the result of Gray’s title and skill.

They were working quite well.

Her sword lowered a few inches, and then her breath hitched slighly, as she fluttered her hand on her cheek, trying to calm down.

“Who… is he…?”

She clenched her jaw, forcing herself to look away from the empty street.

“I’ll report this… after I get his name,” she muttered, not realizing she was still thinking about his smirk.

And was still hearing his voice in her mind.

[Oh~? Someone’s flustered~]

Jasmine teased in Gray’s ear from a rooftop across the district.

Gray clicked his tongue as he jumped to another ledge, vanishing into the darkness.

“I didn’t expect my ’Beauty’ to work out this well… but that just means that she’s just another weakling…”

But the small grin curling his lips said otherwise.

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