But he had stopped. That meant for a brief window, it wasn’t a two versus one scenario. It would take a few seconds for the tall man to recover from blocking the throwing knife.
A few seconds were all Zig needed.
“Hmph!”
He hit the ground with his heels to stop in his tracks, forcibly turning around while drawing his twinblade. Zig rushed the short man, holding his weapon overhead. The dark red blade glowed eerily in the darkness.
“Urk!”
The short man couldn’t stop his magically enhanced acceleration. Even if he did, he would be cut down the moment he did. All he could do was fight back.
Zig was limited to thrusting and overhead attacks in the cramped alley. Judging by his stance, he was going for the latter.
His decision made, the short man continued rushing toward Zig.
“Shah!”
Creating a wind blade in his right hand, he thrust the tanto with the other.
The darkness made it difficult to see his first attack, which meant his slice would go through first before the twinblade fell on him. That was the best-case scenario, of course, but the short man had underestimated Zig’s abilities.
“Seah!”
Zig brought his twinblade down with a shout, the dark red blade easily cutting through the invisible wind blade. Because of its high mana purity, the bloodcrystal-clad dragon’s horn dispelled it.
“Impossible!”
The blade dissipated with a crumpling sound.
The twinblade continued its trajectory. The short man could only hold his tanto up in a desperate attempt at self-defense.
The blade broke through his skull. Blood and brain matter splattered all over the alley as the twinblade crushed the man’s head, as if he had been hit with a hammer.
The tall man behind Zig continued his advance, unbothered by the death of his comrade. He struck.
“Tsh!”
Zig had no time to turn around. He stabbed the tall man with his bottom blade, but the move was predictable, and his opponent easily dodged.
The dagger then came at Zig’s neck. Zig put up his right gauntlet to stop the attack that aimed to end him.
“Shaa!”
The tall man exploited the opportunity, stepping on the twinblade with his right foot while using his left leg to deliver a body blow. His leg struck an unprotected portion of Zig’s body, sinking into him with a crushing sound.
“Urgh…”
The magically enhanced attack knocked the wind out of Zig, its force far greater than the man’s body would normally allow.
Rolling past the short man’s body, Zig picked up the tanto and got up. He blocked an incoming knife with his left gauntlet and stopped the tall man’s dagger with his right, grabbing it with his hand.
“Tsh!”
The tall man’s dagger suddenly wrapped around him like a snake. As Zig thrust out his palm, the blade of the dagger twisted around it, trying to take off his hand at the wrist.
“Whoa!” He quickly let go of the tanto and pulled back.
Zig managed to escape the exchange by a hair’s breadth, though his glove was torn.
Kicking the dropped tanto behind him, the tall man approached Zig slowly. Unarmed, Zig put up his hands in defense. He got into a boxing stance, left foot in front, left hand in front of his chin, with his right by it.
Standing on his toes, Zig was prioritizing footwork over stability.
The tall man grinned at the sight of his defenseless prey. “Hee hee.” He started an incantation while holding up his dagger, pointing his left finger upward.
Zig noticed the rising heat around him and quickly stepped back.
The tall man lunged toward him as Zig dodged the pillar of fire, doing multiple cuts in rapid succession. He focused on light and quick movements so Zig couldn’t grab his arm.
Zig used his gauntlets to quickly deal with the attacks. If he got careless, he would pay for it with a dagger sinking into his side. After being on the defensive for a few moments, Zig made his move.
“Tsh!”
He did a left jab just as his opponent’s dagger was about to come at him. The move was sharp and compact, deflecting the dagger with his gauntlet and managing to connect with the man’s face.
“Gah!”
However, the dagger between them absorbed some of the force.
Zig was only checking him, however, and the jab was mainly to obfuscate his foe’s view. The right straight following it, however, was not—cutting through the air straight for the tall man.
“Hieee!”
He sensed the lethality behind Zig’s fist and avoided it. The dagger flashed as it came for the retreating right arm. However, Zig’s right leg was faster, delivering a low kick to the tall man’s own leg in a flash before he could cut his right arm.
“Gah!”
It was an impressive one-two punch into a low kick. The combo finally knocked the tall man’s legs from under him, the dull sound signaling to Zig that the limb had shattered. His opponent’s posture broke after that excruciating kick from Zig’s armored leg.
Zig wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass by. He swayed to avoid a frantic dagger swipe and delivered another kick with his left leg into his attacker’s stomach.
“Geh!”
He let his toes sink into the tall man’s belly until he let go of his dagger and fell to his knees.
It was over.
He pivoted on his kicking leg and spun to the right with his left leg planted to the ground.
“Eat shit!”
Zig’s next deadly move had the force of a battering ram—a spinning kick to the head using all his strength. Leaning into the right roundhouse kick, it collided with the tall man’s head. The force was so great that it wouldn’t be surprising if he ripped his opponent’s head right off his neck.
However, that was only if it made direct contact.
“Whoa, I have to ease up.”
When Zig brought his leg down, he saw a body lying on the ground.
The man’s head was still in one piece. His jaw was broken, his mouth hanging lazily as saliva and blood dribbled out of it. The white shards swimming in the pool of red were probably teeth. He wasn’t dead, but he wouldn’t be able to eat solid food for a while.