He looked around and noticed the Thirteen Apostles beginning to stir with movement in the night air, having been told their departure time. There were still some ten or twenty minutes before they really had to get up, though.
Pluto moved away from the group when he left. From his disposition, I doubt he has any guards or allies nearby. Besides, they hardly have the personnel for that now anyway. He gazed into the darkness, continuing his rumination. In this short time, is it possible to go after Pluto...?
Orphen ran off without saying anything to the lord.
There’s no god who will save you if you pray to them... Not in this world. People can only believe in gods that don’t exist.
He wasn’t trying to hide his footsteps, but they still didn’t make a sound in the night. He slipped forward in the darkness as if he’d lost his physical form. Forward. Forward again. Pushing through the night air. He took air into his lungs and expelled it, but even that, he couldn’t hear.
He wished he could quiet his thoughts as well—though he knew there was no one listening to them, he wanted to just run without carrying their burden.
Humans find disappointment in the things they can see and touch. The real thing can never measure up to their expectations. It’s the same for everyone. When I spent five years searching for Azalie and finally found her, I was left with only disappointment when I heard what she had to say to me. The disappointment was only stronger the more you could see or touch something.
Finally, with a grimace, the noise in Orphen’s mind subsided.
He wasn’t running knowing where Pluto was. He was just searching for him with a general direction in mind. He didn’t have much time, and he knew that he was starting to panic a little. If he screwed up, he might end up sacrificing something he could never get back. He was no superhero, but he still had to do whatever he could.
He arrived at the location of the meeting he’d attended earlier. He did his best to recall the direction Pluto had left in and took off once more.
Still...even with disappointment and despair, humans have to keep living! Orphen picked up his pace, trying to drown out the restless thoughts his halt had brought to the surface.
All he could do now was run.
His consciousness faded into darkness, so much so that he didn’t even notice if he passed anyone by. He imagined himself as nothing more than a dark shadow on the night wind.
Eventually, he arrived before a giant figure standing ahead of him in the darkness.
He didn’t stop moving, sinking low for a moment before raising his right foot.
His foot thrust out like a spear, and it almost looked like it had pierced the figure. That was the intent with which he’d raised it, aiming for the spine in the center of the body. If he hit, he knew he could seal the figure’s movement for a few seconds. He could immobilize his opponent without even giving them the time to scream.
But the figure swiftly sidestepped to avoid the blow. In addition, they threw out a sideswipe while Orphen’s balance was still thrown off. Orphen gritted his teeth and bent back almost far enough to hit the ground as he dodged the attack. He knew that this wasn’t the sort of foe he could stumble against, even if it was just for a second. He maintained his balance and stood up swiftly.
His foe was still moving too. By the time Orphen was back up, a fist was flying in his direction.
Should he dodge it or catch it? He had to make the decision in less than a second.
He knew the enemy’s strength. He couldn’t catch it.
But Orphen didn’t avoid the blow. Instead, he raised his right foot again. He kicked out as tightly as he could in a circular motion. The blade hidden in the heel of his boot caught his enemy’s fist. Once he’d thrown off the trajectory of his opponent’s attack, he raised his foot even higher, bringing his heel down in an attack of his own.
His kick caught the figure in the shoulder, but Orphen clicked his tongue, feeling how shallow the connection was. He’d managed to block his opponent’s blow, but he hadn’t been able to counterattack with any force, and he was off-balance now. He was trying to make up for the difference in their statures by taking his opponent by surprise and using kicks instead of punches, but the force his adversary was able to muster overwhelmed even those advantages.
And it wasn’t just force. The way they moved their feet, the speed of their attacks, each and every movement was precise and as small as possible.
This guy’s a force to be reckoned with...
Orphen wove a complex spell in a second and shouted, “I leap over thee, Towering Spire!”
He used pseudo-teleportation to retreat several meters and rematerialized.
With the benefit of distance, Orphen’s enemy was actually easier to see in the darkness.
He stared back at Orphen calmly. Orphen finally found himself slightly out of breath from the enormous pressure the man exuded. Orphen got back into his combat stance, remembering facing off with the Deep Dragons a few days before. An enemy he could wield his full strength against, and it still wouldn’t be enough.
“Krylancelo... Is that you?!” The voice came not from the enemy before him, but from behind him and to the side—low to the ground. Pluto, the Demon of the Capital, called out to him with shock in his voice. “You came to protect me?”
“Well, we’ll see if I can...” Orphen muttered tensely. Pluto was trying to get up, but the way he was moving made it obvious that he was wounded already.