"Ha ha!" The man let out a booming laugh, turning to his comrades with a mocking grin. "Did you hear that? He says he's going to kill us all!"
His followers burst into laughter, the forest echoing with their jeers. But the laughter died just as quickly as it had begun.
With a thunderous crash, their leader was suddenly sent hurtling through the air. He slammed into a tree with a sickening thud before crumpling to the ground.
In his place stood Ignis, fists clenched, arm still extended from the punch. The air around him seemed to crackle with tension.
It took a heartbeat for the others to realize what had happened—Ignis had appeared out of nowhere, landed a single blow, and launched their leader like a ragdoll.
Silence fell.
The leader staggered back to his feet, the cloth mask that had covered the lower half of his face now lying in the dirt. His expression was twisted with rage, lips curled in a snarl.
"Bastard!" he bellowed, veins bulging in his neck. "What are you all waiting for? Attack him—kill him!"
With a chorus of furious shouts—"YAAAH!"—the remaining nineteen charged forward. Each one wielded a sword, the most accessible and widely used weapon available—simple to learn, easy to carry, and deadly in the hands of many.
Ignis didn't flinch. Instead, he unsheathed his blade in a smooth motion. A flash of energy enveloped him as he activated Shunpo, vanishing from his spot and reappearing in a blur at the far right corner of the semi-circular formation.
Without hesitation, he lunged.
The man closest to him barely had time to widen his eyes. He possessed only slightly above-average strength—comparable to a well-built adult—but no mana flowed within him. To Ignis, he was no more than a civilian with a sword.
The tip of Ignis's blade pierced clean through the man's chest before he could so much as react. The man collapsed, his sword clattering uselessly to the ground.
Ignis moved again, fast and ruthless.
He turned left, slashing toward the next two enemies. They raised their swords in defense, but the force behind Ignis's attack was overwhelming. Their weapons were torn from their hands, sent flying through the air, and both men staggered back, arms numb from the impact.
Neither had mana either.
Twin arcs of red flashed through the air. Thin, precise cuts opened across their throats. They dropped to their knees, clutching at the wounds, but it was no use. Within moments, they collapsed beside their fallen comrade, lifeless.
Just then, an arrow whistled through the air, aimed straight at Ignis.
With a casual flick of his sword, he sliced it clean in half. The broken pieces clattered harmlessly to the ground.
The archer had revealed himself again—the same one who had struck first during the ambush minutes earlier.
But Ignis wasn't concerned. Though the archer possessed some mana, he was still far from reaching the level of a 1-Star Knight. His attacks were barely a threat.
Without wasting a second, Ignis sprinted toward him, sword ready to end the fight.
Predictably, the archer didn't try to meet him head-on. As a ranged combatant, close-quarters was a death sentence. Like always, his comrades formed a defensive line to shield him—ten men stepping up between Ignis and their precious archer, acting as human barriers.
"Hmph," Ignis muttered, coming to a stop just a few meters away.
His grip tightened on his blade.
Flames burst to life, wrapping around the sword in a spiraling blaze. Ignis raised it high, preparing a technique.
Draconic Flame Technique.
He slashed horizontally through the air.
A roaring arc of fire surged from the blade, sweeping across the field in a blazing wave. It struck the ten defenders with terrifying force. Screams were lost in the rush of flames as their bodies were launched backward, limbs flailing before they slammed into the earth.
They didn't rise again.
Each one bore the same mark—a charred black line burned across their torsos, from neck to abdomen. The fire-infused sword energy had cut through them all in a single, devastating strike.
Ignis lowered his blade, eyes locked on the now-exposed archer.
The archer's face twisted in horror. His voice trembled as he muttered, "How can a child like him possess such strength...?"
Even the leader, watching from a distance, went pale. Fear drained the color from his face as realization sank in. "What have I done…? In my greed, I provoked a monster."
But Ignis had no intention of stopping. The battle was nearly over—only seven remained out of the original twenty.
Without hesitation, he vanished again in a blur of movement.
Shunpo.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared before the archer. A single, swift slash ended the man's life, blood blooming in the air as the archer collapsed.
Before the body even hit the ground, Ignis vanished once more. He reappeared behind another enemy and drove his sword straight through the man's back. The victim gasped, then fell forward, lifeless.
That was enough to break the leader's nerves.
He turned and bolted, fleeing into the trees with the desperate speed of a cornered animal. As the only one among them to reach the level of a 1-Star Knight, he pushed his body to the limit, sprinting with everything he had.
But Ignis didn't chase him—yet.
He turned to face the last four survivors. None of them had any visible mana. Ordinary men with ordinary swords—nothing more.
He would finish them first.
They barely had time to react. With terrifying efficiency, Ignis closed the distance and cut them down. Each fell to a single strike, their defenses meaningless before his speed and power.
When the last one hit the dirt, silence returned.
Ignis raised his gaze, now fixed on the direction the leader had run.
"Running won't help you," he muttered.
He activated Shunpo once more—and vanished.
It didn't take long to catch up.
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