Dale stood at around 6 to 6'2 feet tall, with blonde hair and crystal-like pupils that reflected the blue sky. The kind of face and posture that would make any woman's heart race. Dale looked at Xin, but noticed that Xin was not moving or responding.
"Hey! Old man, wake up!" The Dale said with a panicked tone. He lightly tapped Xin's cheek, then checked if he was still breathing by holding his finger under Xin's nose.
"What do I do? What do I do…?" The youth was lightly pulling his hair, walking fast, pacing back and forth.
"Think, Dale, Think…" His mind raced. "Wait, why am I panicking? I simply followed the orders, and it's beyond my responsibility if I catch an already dead person, right?"
After convincing himself of that logic, Dale calmed down. "It's Sir Bannis's fault. He did not hold back his attack and ended up killing the old man. Yeah, that's right—I'm innocent."
Dale yelled at one of his companions. "Hey, Uok, did you save the guy?"
Uok Stood at around 7'5 or 8 feet tall, with tan skin, a bald head, and a muscular body rivalling that of a bodybuilder––or perhaps even larger. He was gently carrying Jun in his arms. Uok nodded at Dale. "Mm. He just lost consciousness, likely due to the impact." He murmured.
"Huh?" Dale placed his hand beside his ear, "What did you say?"
Unbothered by Dale's action, as if this had happened a lot between them. Uok repeated what he had said, but this time it was much louder than before.
"Nevermind, we'll talk later," Dale said to himself, then he looked at the last person. "How about you, Shia? Is he still alive?" He yelled at the other side.
Dale closed his eyes. "1… 2… 3…" Then he suddenly looked behind him, and there she was. Standing at around 5'2 to 5'4 feet tall, with pale skin, hair shaded black and red, she wore a mask so her face was not visible, and a cast-iron collar around her neck.
She looked at Junnix, then stared at Dale and nodded slightly.
After the three of them got together, Dale, Uok, and Shia set the three down on the ground.
"Damn," Dale had no choice but to scratch the back of his head. "Sir Bannis will surely cut my pay for this mission."
Dale looked at the three. "Are they related?" He rubbed his chin as he stared at the trio.
"That seems to be the case." Uok also looked down.
"BOOM!"
The three looked in the direction of where the explosion had happened.
"Whoa!" Dale opened his mouth, looking at the two figures fighting. One was in the air, and the other was on the ground.
"Sir Bannis's power never ceases to amaze me whenever I see it," Dale said enthusiastically, giggling and bouncing on his shoes with excitement.
"That snake was also quite remarkable; it could face Sir Bannis's onslaught of attacks," Uok murmured.
"Huh?" Dale didn't hear what Uok was mumbling. Uok repeated himself, louder this time.
"Ahh, yes, it's really quite remarkable to stand toe-to-toe with Sir Bannis." Dale nodded in agreement.
Dale stared at the serpent, wondering whether he had ever seen this kind of species. But no matter how hard he thought, none appeared in his memory.
Having no other choice, Dale asked Uok. "Hey, Uok. Have you seen this kind of snake before, or at least read about it somewhere?"
"… I think I've seen this kind of snake, but not that big. The book records a serpent measuring 100 meters long, but this one… I think it was around 200-300 meters in length. This may be the same species as the one I read about in the past." Uok murmured—but this time, Dale was prepared, already standing right beside Uok.
"BOOM!"
"Crazy!" Dale whispered.
–––
On the other side, Sir Bannis was amazed by this serpent's durability. Even using almost 90% of his power, this snake tanked every attack thrown at it.
Moreover, this serpent also had a peculiar skill; the closer his attack got to it, the weaker it became. And that's what annoyed Bannis. At first, he had been using projectile attacks, but after discovering this serpent's skill, he changed to a melee attack. But its scales were so hard that they put any known metal to shame.
Thankfully, embedded in the middle of its scales were eyes. Unlike the scales, these eyes were much more fragile, and surprisingly, the more of them he destroyed, the more effective his attacks grew.
After rounds of playing tag, the serpent opened its mouth and released black smoke in the shape of a hands. Thousands upon thousands of hands surged toward where Bannis stood.
After seeing this, Bannis evaded the smoke. But wherever he went, it followed him. While evading, he unleashed a barrage of projectile attacks towards the smoke and the serpent.
However, after seeing his projectile attacks made out of pure magic and energy––neared the smoke, they darkened and dissolved before making contact.
Painfully slow as it was, Bannis had no choice but to attack the eyes one at a time. Attack, evade, attack, evade––this back and forth lasted for minutes.
The surroundings were in shambles, craters everywhere, the trees were cut or uprooted, and the ground trembled with every impact.
"This can't be dragged any further, else this might attract more corrupted monsters, or worse, a corrupted entity from that accursed land." Bannis thought while being chased by the smoke-like hands.
Bannis flew into the sky, then stopped. He looked down at the serpent and the smoke pouring out of its mouth. Then he raised his sword, and it pointed at the sun.
Seeing this, Dale and Uok swallowed hard. They knew what this meant. The three were blinded by the brilliance Sir Bannis unleashed.
Excitement hit Dale as he stared directly at the light high up in the sky. Happiness overcame his senses, so he didn't feel any pain in his eyes. Both he and Sir Bannis said at the same time: "Sword Style: Equal Judgement."
After saying that, in the golden sky, an eye appeared, looking directly at the serpent. After being stared at, the serpent froze, along with the smoke that had been pursuing him.
In the golden sky, a sword materialized. Adorned with draconic designs, at its pommel sat a dragon's head, mouth wide open; inside sat a gemstone reflecting the golden hue of the sky. The dragon's body coiled around the grip, connecting down to the pommel. Its hilt was designed like an angel's wing, radiating with purity and divinity. And lastly, the blade that would impose equal judgment on anyone who dared look upon it.
"It's been so long since I last experienced this feeling. I knew you wouldn't understand me, but… I'm honored to show you a skill that I take pride in with all my heart. I want this feeling to last. Alas, fate has other plans." Banni's voice echoed, carrying an aura of dominance and superiority over all life forms. "Farewell."