Gran had no binding ring on his finger.
He's not like the rest of these weaklings, Nox thought. He definitely has an ability. That punch felt defensive, not offensive, his punch was steel strong but hollow of force. What is it?
"Planning your attack, killer?" Gran mocked, grinning. "Too bad I'm not gonna let you."
He charged forward with frightening speed, fast, but not beyond Nox's sight.
Gran swung for Nox's head. Nox ducked under the massive arm, slipping into his guard. His torso was wide open.
Nox sprang up, driving his fist straight into Gran's stomach.
Bang!
That same unyielding resistance hit his knuckles, almost like striking a wall.
"Huh!" Gran scoffed, swinging his left arm.
Nox gathered Iora in his chest right as the hit landed.
Bang!
He was sent rolling across the dirt, skidding twice before stopping flat on his back. Before he could catch his breath, a shadow loomed over him, Gran's leg crashing down.
Nox rolled aside just in time. The ground where he'd lain split apart from the impact.
Nox spat blood, glaring up at the towering brute.
"Is this how you plan to kill me?" he taunted. "By rolling in the dirt? Hah!" Gran laughed darkly.
"I'll get to that in a minute." Nox wiped his mouth and stood, sliding into position again.
Boom!
He launched forward. Gran crossed his arms to defend, but Nox leapt, striking his shoulder and then his head in quick succession.
Gran countered with another blow to Nox's chest.
Nox braced, but it sent him flying again. This time, he landed on his feet,smiling faintly, like he'd discovered something.
Gran tried to hide the pain twisting his face as he clutched his shoulder.
"What are you smiling at, you damned brat?" he snarled.
"What are you wincing for?" Nox shot back. "We're just getting started."
"Bring it on then. It's your death day boy," Gran spat.
"We'll see who dies today."
Nox reached into his pouch and drew his short blade.
Gran laughed. "A blade? What's that gonna do?"
Nox didn't answer. He bent his knees, channeled Iora into his right arm, and launched forward at lightning speed, throwing the blade straight at Gran's head.
He followed behind it almost as fast, fists glowing with Iora.
Gran grinned. "This won't end well for you."
The blade struck Gran's forehead and bent instantly on impact.
Almost at the same moment, Nox's fist slammed into his stomach.
BOOOOM!
Gran shot backward like a cannonball, smashing into the open field. The ground exploded under his body, dirt and smoke rising high.
BOOM!
The crater swallowed him whole.
The children chained nearby began to cheer, believing they'd been saved.
But Gran wasn't done.
He rose from the pit, coughing blood, his glare sharp enough to kill. He turned toward the cheering children, hatred burned in his eyes.
The soldiers guarding the children began to retreat in fear.
Gran smiled, a bloody, twisted smile.
"After I kill you," he growled at Nox, "I'll make sure these brats wish they were dead."
The children froze, trembling.
Nox looked down at the bent blade Raizen had given him. Useless now. He sheathed it, then pulled out the last filled binding ring he'd taken before leaving the forest.
So his ability is similar to Iora defense, Nox thought as he smirked and faced him.
"I've figured out your ability," Nox said, smirking. "At the moment of impact, you harden your body to nullify attacks. It's both offense and defense, but there's a tiny delay before you can use it again. If I strike you in succession fast enough, you can't steel up in time."
Gran's eyes widened. How the hell did he figure that out so fast?
"You just got lucky," Gran snapped. "There's no way you'll land that again. You're not fast enough. And your blade's already done for."
"I know," Nox replied, voice low. "That's why I'll overwhelm you instead. And you won't get off with coughing up a little blood this time."
He glanced toward the girl clutching her brother's lifeless body.
The girl met his eyes. "Win," she whispered.
Then louder: "Win! Win for my brother!"
The other children joined in, shouting in unison.
"Win! Win! Win! Beat him up! Kill him!"
Their voices carried fury, grief, and hope.
Gran's rage boiled over. "Shut the hell up!" he roared. But their cries only grew louder.
Nox clenched his fists, drawing in Iora through the binding ring.
Gran scoffed. "Your fists or my steel body? Let's find out which breaks first."
They stood twenty feet apart.
Then they moved.
Nox launched five times faster than before, Gran bolted too.
Their fists met halfway, shockwaves rippling through the field.
Nox slipped left, twisted, and slammed his body into Gran's center.
Gran staggered, unbalanced.
Nox followed through with another strike to the chest.
BOOM!
Gran was hurled back, rolling through the dirt. He clawed his way up, pulling a binding ring from his pocket,the same demonic kind the soldiers wore,and jammed it onto his finger.
"Let's see you try that again," he snarled.
"Hmph," Nox scoffed. "Gladly."
They launched at each other once more, this time evenly matched.
BOOM! BANG! CRACK!
A storm of fists erupted.
Nox's blows blurred into streaks of light. Gran blocked, parried, deflected,but each defense came a heartbeat slower than the last, while Nox's punches grew ever faster.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
The air thundered with every hit.
Gran's timing broke. His hardened skin flickered,
his defense could no longer keep.
Then. SPLAT! Blood exploded from Gran's back.
The onslaught stopped.
Nox had driven his fist straight through his chest.
A wet, heavy sound.
Gran's eyes went wide. He stared into Nox's cold eyes as the light faded from his own.
Then he fell, with not so much as a squeal.
Dead.
Nox's arm was drenched in blood. He looked down at it, detached.
Is this what it's supposed feels like, to take a life?
He felt nothing.
He turned toward the battlefield.
The soldiers were all dead.
Only the commander on his horse remained, silent, unmoving, like a statue.
Ren and Soren, along with the freed children, had watched everything.
Ren whistled in amazement, then stepped forward, grinning, placing a hand on Nox's shoulder.
"So," he said. "What's it feel like to kill scum?"
Nox scoffed,he looked at the blood he was drenched in. "Dirty."
Soren freed the last of the chains. The children cheered as Gran's corpse hit the ground with a dull thud.
Then—
VROOM!
Something streaked past them, faster than sound. Even Ren froze.
A figure stood at the center of the field, cloaked in a dark aura that reeked of death. Its Iora twisted unnaturally. Its clothes, simple, blue, like a farmer's. His reddish brown hair fluttered in the morning breeze. A sword gleamed in his hand, catching the light.
No one needed to say a word.
This was the aura of a Demon Lord.
Kiran staggered forward, eyes wide, voice trembling.
"...Solar?