The man wears a sweater, with slightly dark blond hair and glasses.
He slowly removes his glasses as he walks forward.
"I am curious, child… what does it feel like to fight you?" he says enthusiastically, a faint smile on his lips.
Johan throws his glasses aside.
"CAN YOU LAST EVEN A FEW SECONDS AGAINST ME?!" he shouts, suddenly sprinting toward me.
I close my eyes. He stands before me. In my sight, I can see the attack he is about to launch—using… what is that?
He strikes toward my neck at close range. I evade. Yet he does not attack with his legs or fists, but with sharpened hands.
Ukh—though I avoid it, the edge of his strike still grazes my neck.
"WHAT ARE YOU?!" he shouts, about to strike my ribs—I see it coming.
I dodge again, yet I am lightly hit again.
"AS STRONG AS—" he continues, aiming for my heart.
"—AS THEY SAID?!"
I evade again and again. Still, his attacks continue to wound me.
He suddenly stops attacking and stands upright in silence. He pulls his other hand from his pocket. His glasses lie on the ground.
"SO YOU REALLY ARE THIS STRONG?!" he says with an excited smile.
"A Special Fighter," I murmur softly.
That is the proper title for him. He no longer attacks. He stands still—I do not know what he plans. There is no opening, yet I will try.
Hiro assumes one of Loki's stances. Johan is visibly startled.
"Ehh?!" he murmurs.
I charge at him, attacking at close range as he did before.
His jaw—I launch a powerful kick at extreme speed. Now—
C-TAS—he dodges, still smiling.
"I see."
There is no visible movement of what he intends to do. But—
C-TUST—he pierces straight into my heart.
ARGHT—I am thrown back, nearly losing consciousness—
"It cannot be that easy, can it?!" His voice sounds faint as he steps closer.
I land and steady myself. My vision blurs. Blood stains my lips.
"Even Loki was not that fast. You perfected it, did you not?!" he says, drawing nearer.
"And that crystal shows the future. You overcome whatever I am about to do, correct?!" He stops walking.
"What if I do nothing… and then act suddenly? It turns out like this, does it not?!" He neither walks nor attacks. He remains still, allowing my body to heal.
I rise. The pain begins to fade. I close my eyes and charge.
He shows no movement ahead—but this time, there is an opening.
I dash toward him, both fists clenched, aiming for his ribs. I leap briefly, preparing—
SKLASH—my entire body is slashed deeply.
Argh—my wounds reopen.
I am thrown only a short distance—still within his reach. I give him no opening and immediately assume one of Paragon's stances.
"Hmm?" he murmurs near me.
I attack again with my leg—C-TAST—I strike swiftly in two directions within a single motion—heart and head.
C-TAST—C-TUST—finally, one of the two unavoidable strikes lands—his heart.
"Impressive!" he says as he is thrown backward.
I bend slightly, hands bracing my thighs, trying to close my wounds—but—
In my sight, he charges again. I tighten both palms firmly and assume Jiza's stance.
His rapid steps toward me slow. He freezes? At the same moment, I strike toward his ribs with a punch.
Half-alert to the move he does not intend to use next—but will use suddenly—I shift from punch to kick in the same instant, targeting the same ribs—
SKLASH—it lands cleanly. No defense. Is he careless? My wounds bleed more heavily, drop by drop. I withdraw my leg quickly.
I will not last if I keep attacking. I shift into a defensive stance.
"Damn, I thought…" he says breathlessly, stepping back before stopping. "…you would use the stance of the one I once defeated!"
"Very impressive, huft!" he adds with a faint smile, exhaling. "You know I cannot defeat you, do you not?!"
In my sight, no more attacks come. I open my eyes, remaining cautious.
"Fyuuh, exhausting. It has been a long time since I have been like this," he says, standing still. "In truth, my presence here is not to defeat you, but—"
"L-Leon?!" someone interrupts.
Hiro and Johan turn. She crawls away from the carriage—Rose.
"Is that… you… my brother?!"
---
From noon, it turns to afternoon. From afternoon, to night.
It is already too late to head toward the mountain after the sudden attack from Rose's own brother.
Besides, even without the fight, we cannot continue. Three carriages are destroyed, crashed into trees.
When I think about it again, it is astonishing how he accomplished that—alone.
Leon now sits near the campfire, beside me.
The others treat one another with sufficient bandages, their gloomy gazes repeatedly directed at Leon.
"Hey, hey. How was I supposed to know you were my sister's friends? Forgive me. I did not mean to injure my sister either," he says, turning toward Rose.
Rose wears the same sullen expression, staring continuously at her brother, Leon.
Leon gives in.
"Please forgive me," he says.
Under everyone's relentless stares at Leon, the scent of roasting food suddenly sharpens—it is nearly burnt.
Rose quickly flips the grill; it is almost completely charred.
She turns toward Leon again.
"This is, YOUR FAULT!" she exclaims.
"Alright, alright."
---
Dinner passes in silence and tension, the atmosphere gradually easing as one by one they fall asleep, until midnight arrives.
From the beginning, I leave my seat by the campfire after dinner. I now lie down, pretending to sleep.
This is not like me. Yet I do it so I can wake in the deep of night and bind the wounds that have reopened across my body.
I do not wish to burden Leon with further guilt, nor do I want them to see me tending to my injuries.
What I want now is simple—I sleep, remain still, and wake later to treat these wounds.
Rose enters the tent.
"E-eh, that is unusual," she says faintly.
I remain half-conscious. She lies down beside me, pulls the remaining blanket—ukh—and sleeps beneath it.
"Hmm?" Rose murmurs. I can feel that she is looking at me.
"You are very strange tonight, you know," she says softly, then lies on her side. "Not like usual."
Fortunately, I remain in a half-conscious state. I begin forcing myself to sleep.
This… is… it.