Harian clicked his tongue the moment he saw the weapon forming wind essence swirling and compressing in Sparrow's hand until it solidified into a sleek, deadly spear. Long, elegant, and vibrating with power. The pressure radiating off it was unmistakable. He knew that weapon.
"Vel," Harian muttered under his breath, annoyance flickering across his face. "One of the legendary artifacts."
Muliad nearly stumbled. "That's Vel? The spear of the sky? Then...doesn't that mean… that is very, very bad news?!"
Sparrow's head tilted slightly, the brim of his hat casting half his twisted face in shadow. His voice lowered into a dangerous growl.
"Boy, why do you know that name?"
"I don't answer ugly bastards' questions."
Muliad immediately snapped toward him. "Boy, silence! You can barely stand on your feet and you're provoking him?"
Sparrow's fingers tightened around Vel. The spear vibrated, reacting to its master's fury as wind essence crackled through the air. His smile stretched unnaturally wide.
"So you know this spear," Sparrow said. "Then you know what's coming next."
He angled Vel toward Harian, the tip humming with lethal intent.
"And I'm going to enjoy this. Truly. The nerve you have… the absolute fucking nerve… to call someone as handsome as me....ugly."
Both Harian and Muliad froze. Deadpan. Silent and expressionless. They stared at Sparrow with the exact same expression of disbelief, the same what-the-hell-is-he-talking-about look that no amount of training or discipline could hide.
Muliad blinked slowly. "…Handsome?"
Harian shook his head. "Gods above… he's delusional too."
Sparrow twitched. A full-body twitch of genuine offense. Wind howled violently around him.
"Enough," Sparrow hissed. "I'll carve that filthy tongue out of your mouth myself."
The concentration of wind essence around Sparrow's spear was suffocating. The air itself twisted, funneled, and collapsed inward as Vel fed on the surrounding world essence. In seconds the pressure doubled, then tripled raw essence compressing until the weapon throbbed with killing intent. Sparrow's entire body leaked a mist-like vapor, thin but constant. The sign of someone capable of manipulating world essence on a massive scale. Divine essence pure and refined rolled off him like a storm stretching its limbs.
He tilted the spear just slightly. A warning.
An attack was coming.
Muliad didn't waste a heartbeat. His stance shifted instantly, legs planting, sword lowering as he activated the Sword Song Art. Essence gathered beneath his feet in a dense wave. His muscles tightened, his breathing slowed. He was preparing for impact.
But he was nervous. Harian could feel it. A Divine Knight especially one like Sparrow wasn't someone a normal man could defend against. And Muliad was trying to shield Harian on top of it. Then Harian leaned forward and whispered something so quietly only Muliad could hear. Whatever it was made Muliad freeze.
"Are you certain?" Muliad asked, his voice trembling, not in fear, but in disbelief.
"I'm one hundred percent sure,"
Muliad exhaled. "Very well."
Because there was truth in what Harian said. Sparrow was undeniably dangerous an assassin divine knight with mastery over wind essence and an artifact that could slaughter armies. But there was something Sparrow didn't know. Something most of the world didn't know yet. Muliad this ragged, exhausted prisoner was not weak. Harian knew the truth. He remembered clearly.
Muliad was the man who would one day kill Driesten Lyren the noble who wielded the Rot Essence. Muliad was the man who would one day ascend to a Grand Knight. Muliad was the man who, in Harian's past life, escaped the kingdom, joined the rebels, and helped tear down the corrupted monarchy.
Not now and not yet. But Harian knew who Muliad was destined to become. And because of that, Harian smiled. This was not as one-sided as Sparrow believed.
For a split second, the entire world froze. Even the wind held its breath. Sparrow stood in the air above them, the storm-light glinting off Vel, his smile stretching wider and wider until it twisted into something feral. He had made up his mind.
He was going to blow these arrogant bastards into pieces.
"DIE," he snarled, and hurled Vel downward with all the force the wind could muster.
The spear tore through the air like a falling star. The pressure alone shredded leaves from trees and carved grooves into the ground. Muliad moved instantly planting his feet, drawing every ounce of essence he could force into his sword. His muscles bulged, veins stretched, and a painful heat ripped through his body.
"RRRAAAAHHH!" Muliad roared as metal met metal.
The impact was monstrous.
The shockwave flattened the trees around them. The air howled. Wind essence slashed at Muliad's skin, cutting dozens of shallow lines into him. His bones groaned under the pressure. His arms trembled violently.
Harian, who had been thrown aside by Muliad a second earlier, lay on the dirt watching with gritted teeth. The force of Vel's descent had been so intense that even from a distance he felt it tearing at his skin.
Muliad held on. Barely.
His boots sank into the soil. Cracks split the ground beneath him. Blood dripped from his elbows. His entire body felt like it was being peeled apart but he refused to let go.
With a final, earth-shaking scream, Muliad twisted his entire body and pushed Vel aside.
"GO!"
The spear was flung off its course. And the moment it struck the ground the explosion was colossal three times larger than the earlier blast. A massive crater erupted behind them, consuming trees and stone in a roaring tempest of wind essence. The forest shook. Birds scattered in terrified swarms. Dirt rained like a storm. Harian shielded himself from the shockwave, eyes wide. He had forgotten how terrifying Vel was.
But Sparrow ...Sparrow was the one who looked the most shocked. He hovered in the air, mouth hanging open as he stared down at the man who had just deflected his legendary weapon.
"What… the hell…" Sparrow whispered. His fingers twitched. His expression twisted. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?"
He genuinely couldn't comprehend what had just happened. Vel was his. A weapon of destruction. A spear that could level an army. There shouldn't be anyone in this kingdom much less a ragged prisoner capable of pushing it away.
Muliad collapsed to his knees, chest heaving violently. His arms were shaking uncontrollably, his hands half-numb from the shock. Cuts covered him. His bones throbbed in agony.
But he was alive. He had survived. He lifted his head and met Sparrow's disbelieving stare. Behind him, Harian pulled himself up on one knee. Muliad had thrown him clear at the last second saving his life.
"You crazy bastard…" Harian muttered, a grin tugging at his lips. "You really did it."
Muliad exhaled shakily and gave a tired smile. Sparrow, still hovering, still shaking with disbelief, spat out the only words he could muster.
"WHAT THE FUCK!!!"