The wind blew between the walls of the backyard.
Time seemed frozen.
Three people. One fight. One chance.
Kragg slowly got up, one hand resting on Leo's shoulder to steady him.
Across the hall, the assailant remained motionless, Eline in one arm, unconscious, her head hanging, her hair brushing the ground.
He hadn't moved a step.
But he was looking at them.
And that look... wasn't cruel.
Nor sadistic.
It was... analytical.
As if he were observing an experiment.
"Ready?" Kragg murmured.
Leo nodded.
His gaze still fixed on their enemy.
"I'll go. You wait for the moment."
"Got it." »
Kragg charged.
---
The half-orc leaped, his boots pounding the ground, his mass of muscle propelled by years of combat.
He struck with all his might, a monstrous right.
The wind bent under the pressure.
And the assailant raised his arm.
The barrier fell for a moment.
Leo leaped.
He ran. Not like a soldier.
Not like a knight.
Like a boy determined to protect a friend.
He jumped. Aimed at the man's arm.
His fist connected with flesh.
A shock.
Not enough to make him let go of Eline.
But enough to make him lower his gaze.
Kragg returned to the charge, hammering the other flank.
"AGAIN!"
Leo continued. Another blow. Another angle. He aimed for the joints, the points of balance.
The man stepped back... a step.
But nothing broke his concentration.
Then he moved.
An elbow strike.
Kragg collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath.
A swipe of the arm.
Leo was thrown to the ground, hitting a stack of barrels.
Breathless, he stood up again.
The world shook around him.
But he wasn't going to run away.
Never.
He ran again.
Strike.
Again.
And again.
Each attack hurt his fists.
Each recoil shattered his ribs a little more.
But he struck with his heart.
Then, in a flash, the man released Eline.
A decoy.
The moment of release.
An opening. Kragg yelled:
"NOW!"
Leo charged forward, reaching out—he didn't want to hit, he wanted to get Eline back.
His hands reached out—he grabbed her—pushed her away.
But that was the last thing he did before the assailant's knee struck him hard in the stomach.
A heavy, deep impact.
He was lifted.
Then crushed to the ground.
The world blurred.
Leo saw the sky.
The blood on his fingers.
The silhouette of Kragg...still interposing himself.
But most of all, he heard a voice.
Faint.
Far away.
But there.
"You're standing, kid. That's good. I see what you're made of now."
The assailant's voice.
Ruggero.
And then, nothing.
A rush of wind.
And the man was gone.
Leo collapsed for good.
But Eline...
was in his arms.
Kragg was collapsing.
The half-orc, solid as a rock, had just received a blow so swift, so precise, that he hadn't even had time to realize he wasn't dreaming.
He thought the enemy had left.
But the assailant had only just begun.
With a swift movement, he reappeared and sent Kragg to the ground, gasping for breath, his eye red with pain.
Leo, still on his knees, held Eline in his arms. His arms trembled. His muscles screamed. But he gently lowered her against the bricks, carrying her away from the battlefield.
Then he stood up.
He clenched his fists. Blood trickled from his split lip.
His legs wobbled.
But he said, in a breathless voice:
"I can do this all... day."
**
The assailant charged.
Blazing speed.
He raised his fist.
Leo didn't wait.
He dodged—barely—and grabbed the assailant's arm.
He turned abruptly, hoisted him up with all his might...
And slammed him to the ground.
The man's back crashed heavily against the earth. A clean, controlled impact.
Leo leaped, his fist poised to strike... but the air barrier reformed.
Too late.
The fist bounced off the air like glass.
And already, the man was rolling, placing one hand on the ground, and running on the air itself, horizontal, fast, at an impossible angle.
He sent a lightning kick towards Leo's face.
Leo raised his arms.
Guard high.
Impact.
Slide.
But this time, he reacted.
He planted a foot on the ground and, with an instinctive movement, struck the assailant's abdomen.
A clean blow.
The man stepped back.
A silence. Slight.
A nod.
— "You learn. During combat. And you learn quickly."
He smiled, for the first time.
— "Let's see if you can keep up with me... after this."
**
The world seemed to explode.
The man disappeared.
Leo looked around.
Right. Nothing.
Left... too late.
A blow to the face.
He staggered.
Another to the leg.
He fell to his knees.
A roundhouse kick to the face.
Blood.
Stars.
Then a final blow to the abdomen, like a hammer.
Leo collapsed.
The ground swallowed him.
His vision blurred.
He only heard... his own heart.
And he saw, blurry, the enemy walking towards Eline.
No.
Not her.
Not now.
Not yet.
**
His fist struck the ground.
Once.
Then a second time.
Then a third.
With each impact, a shockwave vibrated through the air.
Dust rose around him.
The ground shook.
The dormant aura... exploded.
A dark blue glow appeared on his chest.
A gigantic symbol, pulsing like a second heart.
His eyes opened, completely black.
His voice was hoarse. Deep.
But calm.
— "...Third round."
He stood up.
The wind swirled around him.
His aura was no longer a whisper. It was a silent scream.
And this time, the fight was truly about to begin.
The symbol on Leo's chest pulsed, like a second heart.
His aura, a dark blue, almost black, wrapped around him, shaking the air, slicing through the dust on the ground.
He had no technique.
No school.
No name for what he had become.
But he had a purpose.
He charged.
And this time, he was fast.
Almost too fast.
Ruggero, behind his camouflage, saw the movement, calculated, and activated his air barrier.
But Leo's fist struck with such raw force, such dense aura, that the barrier retreated.
With him.
One step. Two. Three.
Ruggero slid back, surprised.
A small shock. A breath.
But a crack.
Enough for Leo to leap toward Kragg, lift him with difficulty—his arms were still shaking with fatigue—and carry him to Eline, sheltering behind an old, overturned table.
"Stay here. I'll be back."
He turned around.
And Ruggero was already upon him.
A flash. A strike.
But Leo was moving just as fast.
The two figures collided.
And this time... Leo gained the advantage.
He slipped under the blow, struck the torso,
then a sharp sweep to the knee, forcing Ruggero to bend.
"Get off your pedestal..."
He followed up with an uppercut, sending the camouflaged body spinning through the air.
Then, in a fluid, furious movement, he charged his fist.
A vibrant, black aura distorted the air around him.
He struck the abdomen in mid-air.
The impact was brutal.
A muffled scream.
And Ruggero crashed against a wall, gasping for breath.
But Leo didn't stop there.
He moved again.
A wave of aura vibrated with every step.
He grabbed the assailant's leg, lifted him effortlessly.
— "It's for Kragg..."
BAM.
He hit him on the left.
— "...For Eline..."
BAM.
He hit him on the right.
— "...And for me!"
He spun him like a drill, launching him into the air.
Then, without waiting, he jumped.
Aurora spiraled, black flashes following him as he ascended.
His fist charged, pulsing with that wild energy, uncontrolled, yet unleashed.
And with a cry, he struck.
— "DARKNESS PUNCH!!!"
The fist struck.
The air cracked.
The wall behind Ruggero exploded.
Dust rose in columns, and the ground vibrated.
A silence.
Thick.
Motionless.
Then, slowly, Leo fell back to the ground, panting.
Arms relaxed.
Breathless.
Glasses still black with aura.
And in front of him... the shadow in the debris moved.
The fight...
wasn't over.
The dust settled.
The rubble slid down the destroyed wall.
And amidst the chaos, the wounded shadow in the rubble... stood up.
The assailant stood up, Ruggero.
His coat was partially torn off, his hood ripped.
Blood trickled from his lip. His ribs cracked with every breath.
He slowly raised his hand.
— "Concealment, over."
His camouflage faded, revealing his serious face, his mop of wild hair, and Attira's medallion hidden beneath his shirt.
He looked at Leo, on the ground, unconscious.
— "I knew it was you..."
He smiled weakly.
— "I must say... I'm impressed."
He ran a hand through his hair. A shudder of aura escaped him.
— "I'll see you again, Leo DioAngelo. Sooner than you think."
And with a rustle of wind...
he disappeared.
--
A few minutes later...
A moan escaped Eline.
Her eyes slowly opened.
Everything was blurry.
Her stomach throbbed.
Her ribs made her scream.
But she forced herself.
She sat up, painfully, placing her hand on the ground.
— "K-Kragg...?"
She turned her head.
The half-orc was collapsed beside her, unconscious, his face marked with blood and sweat.
Around them: impacts on the ground, cracks, shattered bricks.
The ground told a story of fury. Of combat. Of violence.
Then her eyes slid further.
And she saw him.
— "Leo..."
Inert
Breathless, she forgot her pain.
Crawling at first, then running, she crossed the debris, her heart pounding.
He was there, lying motionless.
A trickle of blood at his mouth. His clothes in tatters. His chest heaved weakly with painful breathing. His hands were open, his fingers half-burned by his own aura.
— "No, no, no..."
She stumbled as she ran, then got up. Her heart pounding.
She fell to her knees beside him, placed two fingers on his neck.
He had a pulse.
Faint. But alive.
She felt her throat tighten.
Tears welled up, uncontrollable.
"You idiot..."
She gently took him in her arms.
<<< You tore yourself apart... for us. huh?
— "Hang in there. I'm not leaving you."
She gritted her teeth, got up, and then with all the strength her bruised body could muster, she hoisted Leo onto her back.
Her legs were buckling.
Her arms were shaking.
Her eyes shone with anger and worry.
She took one last look at Kragg.
— "I'm going to get help. The healers will take care of you, tough old man."
And she ran.
Her legs were screaming. Her breath was catching.
But she ran, her heart on fire.
Toward the clinic in the northern district.
Where Aurona DioAngelo worked.
She went through the alley. Crossing the street.
Passersby turned around.
Some helped her keep from falling.
The break was coming to an end.
Aurona was quietly finishing her chamomile tea in the clinic cafeteria. A warm cup in her hands, a pleasant silence in her head, rare these last few days.
She stood up, wiping her hands on her scrubs, then headed down the corridor towards the treatment room.
And there...
She saw him.
A silhouette.
A young girl, panting, running down the hall, a bloodied boy on her back.
Aurona squinted, surprised.
"What's wrong with him..."
Then she saw his face.
Her world stopped.
The red hair.
The trace of blood at the corner of his lips.
The arms dangling.
Leo.
"LEO!"
The cup fell from her hands, exploding on the floor.
She ran. His feet slammed against the tiles, each step faster than the last.
"HELP! EMERGENCY ROOM IMMEDIATE! CODE PURPLE!"
The other healers jumped to their feet, surprised.
Eline collapsed to her knees, her legs failing.
But she held out her arms, offering Leo to his mother.
"He... he fought for us..."
Aurona caught her son in her arms.
He was hot. Feverish.
His hands were covered in aura burns.
His ribs were dented.
His eyes, even closed, were still furrowed, as if he were fighting in his dreams.
She didn't scream.
She didn't cry.
She was acting.
"Put him on table three!" Hurry! I need a regeneration catalyst, two units of stabilized mana, and a flux purification! Immediately!"
"But Ms. Aurona, you can't treat a family member without authorization from the—"
"I AM HIS MOTHER."
She glared at the nurse.
"If you want to fill out any paperwork, do it afterward. Right now, I'm saving my son's life."
And she walked into the emergency room, closing the door behind her.
--
Eline remained on her knees in the hallway.
Her breath was ragged.
Her stomach still hurt.
But she was smiling.
A small, tired smile.
"You're in good hands now... idiot."
She slumped gently against the wall, her gaze blank but relieved.
And behind the door...
Aurona was struggling.
So that his son would wake up.
So that he could continue living.
And so that he would never have to risk his life again.
To be continued