南瓜影院

Minutes Earlier…

Al had deflected his opponent\'s attack and with a powerful diagonal slash, he dealt a heavy blow that had blood spilling out of the Bandit\'s front.

Stunned by the pain, the Bandit kept a hold of his sword and made to swing it. Al ducked so the blade sailed over his head before he then stabbed his sword into the Bandit\'s stomach and twisted.

"Ack!" The bandit let out and when Al pulled his sword out, he fell to his knees, the light vanishing from his eyes in a second.

Al turned away from his kill immediately and his eyes fell on Eli who had just gotten stabbed in the side.

Eli had been fighting off two Bandits and had managed to hold his own but the longer he fought, the weaker he became so when a sword cut through his ribs, he arched his back and his sword arm slumped.

With blood streaming down one side of his bald head, Eli closed his eyes like he was embracing the death that looked so sure to come.

*Clang!*

Eli opened his eyes when he heard the unmistakable sound of a sword stopping the blade that would have ended his life.

"Get a hold of yourself, Eli," Al yelled and as he channeled his Mana to coat his sword\'s blade, he pushed hard until the Bandit whose sword he had stopped was forced to stagger a few steps back.

Next, Al swung his sword at the Bandit who still had his sword in Eli\'s ribs, forcing him to pull the sword out and raise it in defense.

*Clang!*

The blades met and the Bandit successfully parried the strike but had to leap away when Eli, one hand over the wound in his side, swung his sword in a wide and dangerous arch.

"In my defense, I was facing two of them," Eli said with a sad smile.

Al just rolled his eyes and gestured with his head at the Bandit he had caused to stagger away,

"I\'ll take him. Handle the other one."

With a nod of agreement, Eli said nothing more and gripped his sword even tighter as he let out his Mana in a turbulent haze. The roaring of Magical energy through his body numbed the pain of his wound and with one second to adjust his stance, he was charging at his Bandit the very next.

*Clang* *Clang* *Clang*

Now only needing to focus on one opponent, Eli seemed to finally be able to shine. Striking at his opponent over and over with the force of a hammer striking a nail. He hit so many times and so heavily that the Bandit\'s knees shook and he wobbled.

Eli took advantage of the shaking stance to draw his sword back and make a dangerous jab.

The Bandit fell to his knees completely and then leaned as far back as he could to the point where his back was almost flat against the ground. Once Eli\'s sword had pierced harmlessly through the air above him, the Bandit made a skillful twist of his wrist before jabbing his sword at Eli\'s jaw.

Eli\'s sword arm was still outstretched and there was no way he\'d manage to pull his sword back in time to parry the blade coming at him. Fortunately for Eli, a sword wasn\'t required to knock the hand controlling the sword off course.

Eli swung his free hand and smacked the Bandit\'s wrist aside. That should have been enough. By all rights, it should have knocked the blade off course long enough for Eli to pull back his sword arm and be ready to make a proper parry.

Alas, the Bandit, while crude in his techniques, was not all too incapable. Even as his arm was knocked off course, he recovered quickly enough to turn it into a slash.

"Ugh!" Eli let out as the blade cut through his shirt and drew blood but before it could get even deeper, his outstretched arm was pulled back and he slammed the pommel of his sword into the Bandit\'s head. Stunning him while knocking him to the side.

The Bandit blinked and as light danced in his sights, he made a wild swing with his sword. He hit nothing and Eli\'s sword cut through his neck the very next second, ending his life.

Letting out multiple breaths and looking spent, Eli looked over at Al and saw he had completed his kill as well.

Al looked around and saw Eli had sustained more injuries since he last saw him and let out a chuckle,

"You look terrible," he said.

"I\'ll live," Eli said with a smile as he pulled himself closer to him.

Together, they both looked over at Jonas and watched as he expertly stabbed one of his opponents before slashing the neck of the second in what looked like a single fluid move.

Even more impressive was how Jonas looked to have barely sustained any injuries in the fight. The most both Al and Eli could see were scratches.

"Kinda looks like he\'s showing off, doesn\'t it?" Al said with a smile.

"That\'s Jonas for ya," Eli agreed with a chuckle, and then the smile froze on his face as he seemed to detect something off.

Al had sensed it too and he raised his sword just in time to intercept a powerful strike that came at him.

*CLANG!*

"Hngh!" Al groaned and his legs went so weak that he fell to his knees with Roran the Bandit standing over him pressing him to the ground with the heavy and overpowering contact he had made with his sword.

Roran had looked away from Henry to this trio just in time to see them put swift ends to his comrades and was so irate that his body let loose a powerful aura that backed his sword swing.

"You dare laugh while I still live?" Roran asked in a deep rumbling voice,

"I\'ll wipe that smirk off your face."

With a strained expression, Al struggled to keep Roran\'s sword from slashing him. It felt so heavy that he knew that the slightest show of weakness on his part would likely kill him so he put every bit of his strength on his defense.

"Al!" Eli called out before charging forward to swing his sword at Roran only to be smacked in the face by an outburst of Mana so powerful that it caused dust to erupt.

"Oof!" Eli let out as he was sent many feet away.

Jonas noticed what was happening and with his eyes wide, he charged and unleashed his Mana in an outburst meant to quell the one keeping him away.

And then the dust began to settle.

Eli rose off the ground and squinted to see what was happening through the cloud of dust only for it to become all too clear the very next second.

The wide blade of Roran the Bandit\'s sword was on the ground. It was bloodied and more blood was pooling on the ground. Blood that came from two halves of what used to be a whole.

With a sickening Squelch sound of gore and spilling innards all perfectly cut down the middle (if they were symmetrical and centered in the first place), both halves of Al\'s body hit the ground.

The whole of him, very much dead.