"The ring, give it to me." The man said with a cold tone that sent shivers down Fynnis and Lucia's spine.
"Ring? W-what ring?" Fynnis said cautiously, not knowing his fingers were trembling.
"Don't play dumb, Fynnis Corretson."
"How do you know my-"
"Hush…what I know is not important, what's important is that you hand over the ring. Now." The man's voice grew deep, almost like he was not human at all.
"I don't know no ring. Now if you excuse us, we'll be going home." Fynnis grabbed Lucia's wrist and started walking away while avoiding eye contact with the man. Lucia slowly looked back to see the man staring at them menacingly, his eyes filled with nothing but darkness. Lucia turned her head back to the front, slowly reaching for her dagger, just for Fynnis to stop her.
"Don't fight back you idiot, you're gonna get killed, plus there's an entire crowd."he whispered.
Lucia grinned weakly, trying to act tough but clearly terrified, "Nothing has ever stopped me. Take care of my bag for me, thanks!"she said as she threw her bag at Fynnis, pulled out her dagger and ran towards the man's direction.
"You reckless idiot!"
Lucia immediately went for the neck, she swiftly swinged her dagger with as much force as she can. Though the speed was immense, the man dodged it like it was a game of dodgeball, his pale lips curved up to a wicked smile as he lifted his fist and struck Lucia in the abdomen.
"That's all you got?"he mocked with a sinister tone. Struck by the man, Lucia fell to the floor, blood slowly dripping out her mouth, her eyes were blank.
"Luica!" Fynnis yelled in shock.
"Hmm, still alive? You're quite a strong one, Ms Akylha. Now then, would you mind passing me the ring on behalf of your friend, Corretson?"
"Wait, somethings off," Fynnis thought and looked at his surroundings, "The crowd's not reacting, can't they see what's going on?"
"Do it, or I won't promise your dear friend's safety."the man provoked.
"Hey! Somebody help! My friend is hurt! Help! Please!"he shouted desperately, but no one reacted, everyone were minding their own business and not a single person heard him, or saw him.
Hearing Fynnis cry for help, the man chuckled lightly, then twisted into a maniacal laugh. "Oh you poor soul, don't sweat it, no one even knows you are here. Now, the ring."
Confused but desperate, Fynnis froze, stuck at the decision of whether he should give in the ring. His breath became heavier and faster.
"Don't…give him…the…ring…" Lucia breathed out weakly.
Hearing that, Fynnis took a deep breath, pulled out the ring from Lucia's bag and reached out for the man. "Here, now let Lucia go."he said strictly.
"Damn you…coward…" Lucia groaned in unwillingness.
"Heh, now that's more like it." The man reached out and grabbed it and started leaving.
Once he started leaving, Fynnis rushed over to carry up Lucia.
"Are you okay?"
"You…why did you give out the ring…you dumbass?"
"Calm down, let me explain." Fynnis said as his voice gradually became quiet.
"I haven't seen this ring for so long, it's actually pretty majestic looking."the man thought to himself as his held up the ring. "Hm? Wait…"
"Actually," Fynnis whispered, "the ring I gave him…"
The man took a close look at the ring, "This ring is…"
"…is a…"
"A fake!"the man shouted and turned back to Fynnis and Lucia in shock.
"Lucia! Run!!" Fynnis panically yelled and sprinted through the streets while pulling Lucia's hand.
"Useless waste of stamina, you can't outrun me."the man sniggered and disappeared into the darkness.
Fynnis turned back his head while running and the man was no where in sight, he sighed and said to Lucia, "I think we lost him." In a blink of an eye, the man appeared from their shadow.
"Long time no see." He smilingly mocked and with a push, kicked Fynnis and Lucia into an alley. Shocked but weak, they groaned in pain and was unable to hold their ground, Lucia picked up her dagger but dropped it due to her finger shaking immensely.
"You mortals really are a fragile being, you stand no chance against me." He chuckled. "Only a god can hold me down for just a minute of two, then get devoured mercilessly. But I guess you won't be remembering these words from today onwards, willl ya? So while we're at it, let's have a little chat, great idea don't you think?"
"Shut it you old hag." Fynnis growled.
"Huh?"the man was annoyed.
"I don't give a single crap about who you are. But since you are trying to harm us…"he slowly reached into the bag.
Seeing this, Lucia mouthed, "You don't mean…"
"…then all I have to do is to beat the living hell out of you!" In a swift motion, Fynnis wore the ring onto his head. Immediately, fire lit up and engulfed him, the bright fire roared and shocked Lucia and the man.
The man nervously grinned and said, "This is nothing but a little power up. Now, en guarde!" Razor sharp spikes exited from the shadow and rushed towards Fynnis's burning body.
"Fynnis! Watch out!" Lucia warned.
Snap! "What the-"
Hands came out from the pillar of fire and snapped the spikes in half. "Woah, this is incredible! I feel so much stronger! Now then…" he gripped the spike and with a strong outburst, threw the spike at the man with immense speed and hit his waist.
"Wha-"the man hasn't react yet, and Fynnis was already close in front of him. "Watch out buddy."he said as he kicked the man's jaws with both feet launching like him like a cannonball.
"Ugh! How the-" uppercut, left hook, right kick, right hook, uppercut again…Fynnis was utterly destroying the man.
"Urgh…" the man groaned as he laid flat on the ground.
Fynnis panted and walked over to Lucia, he took off the ring and threw it at her, "Never again, the amount of power is scaring me."
She caught the ring, speechless for a few seconds, then teasingly said, "Didn't you say it was incredible?"
"Incredible, so incredible that I was scared myself." Fynnis exhaustingly replied.
"You're unexpectedly strong, guess I do have to get serious."the man slowly got up, his entire body seemingly never hurt.
Fynnis and Lucia turned their heads in shock of the man's situation. "How the heck is he still able to stand up…" Fynnis muttered.
"Fynnis! The ring!" Lucia urged him.
"I know!" Fynnis rushed over to grab the ring, just for a tentacle to come out of the darkness and slap it away. "What the fu-"
"Watch out, buddy." The man immitated Fynnis. He pulled out a sword from his shadow and threw it at Fynnis, but Fynnis just stood there knowing it's going to kill him but was unable to move. He closed his eyes and held his breath, ready to meet death.
Suddenly, Lucia threw herself in front of Fynnis and tried to block it with her dagger, but the force applied on the sword was too strong and it knocked the dagger out of Lucia's hand, causing her to get slashed at the arm.
Blood gushed out her serious injury. She fell on the ground and looked at Fynnis while resisting the torturing pain in her arm.
"You better…thank me…for this…"
"LUCIA!!"