Tension strummed the air, boulders of sweat went down Leo's face as the knight opposite waited his response.
Quite the situation he'd gotten into, even if he thought he could beat the flexile brute there would still be a hoard of others ready to jump in, not to mention the two other bastards that seemed just as strong taunting him with their silence.
'There's no way it's this simple, or are they taking pity on me?'
A soft breeze enveloped his face, the room was being ventilated through the blasted roof. His breathing would not be any steadier, without assistance he was just some plain idiot that couldn't swing a stick even if he tried to.
But that was okay, because his strategy had worked numerous times before, stealing from the market, getting shaken down by thugs, all sorts of things it worked on, the running part did anyway.
If the brute didn't budge soon he'd be left with no choice but to attack.
'Come on damn it.'
Growing impatient he took the first reluctant step forward, it didn't budge. He took a second step forward, it didnt budge this time either. Their stationary stances only turbulated his mind further into the abyss.
Click.
The dial embedded in his hand changed, it radiated a golden aura into the surroundings as it twisted. The writings on the back of his palm rearranged into a row of cryptic numbers and the tiny needle engravings shifted, forming a long and thick line across the top of his knuckles.
Click.
A second click pierced the room, the clock on the farside of the room hit its first number, one. At the exact same moment the thick line strung across his hand moved down to the first of the engravings, one.
'What?'
Before Leo could even look up the heavy knight slinged his sword forward narrowly grazing the floor and roof as he swung it around. The blade was coming straight for Leo and it wasnt looking good at all.
'...'
A little startled from the sudden move Leo hesitates in his movements, dashing to the side narrowly avoiding the gaint blade as it slammed into the ground breaking away the marblestone work.
An intense feeling flushed over him.
'What the hell!'
This guy was almost as crazy as the worm dog!
"Where's the honour in striking an unsuspecting enemy?"
The knight couldn't hear him, he just paused for a second more.
Click.
Simultaneously the clock and dial moved again, this time it's mark hit four, while the dial remained at one.
The knight dragged his sword across the floor behind him, walking slowly and then picking up pace running straight for Leo.
Bewildered by this action Leo could only circle around and evade as the sword transitioned immense strength through the floor into an upper cut that missed its target by a mile.
'This isn't how knights fight!'
Knights are supposed to be elegant and honorary, no matter how big or brutish they were, even the most vile of the lot had honour!
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Click.
Six, with a swift step in the forward direction the knight thrust his sword unexpectedly, this strength was simply absurd, to move that mucy weight in such a fashion is simply incredible and terrifying at the same time.
His eyes went wide as the tip of death was facing him, he'd only just managed to dodge and now the blade was back at his throat ready to cleave through.
He couldn't dodge this one, his legs were all tangled up from his evasion, a step in the wrong direction now would result with his body sliding down the bloodied edges of long aged iron, his only way out of this was to parry it away.
The next movements were done on pure survival instinct, evident by the desperate motion displayed. Leo flung his sword up, crossing blades with the knight as the argentine beauty shaved off the metal workings of its foe.
A great spark illuminated the room as the two clashed, Leo's tiny body in comparison would've been crushed had his sword been regular, but it wasn't – it was a beast slaying light, and what stood infront of him was not much different from a beast.
Leo paid close attention to it's stillness.
Click.
Twelve, the brute quickly retreated back with half the swords edge shaven off. What he was holding now wasn't a greatsword anymore, but something more reminiscent of a katana than a sword.
"..."
He turned to it as if to look it up and down for a few seconds, then in the most humane way possible he twisted his wrists and took position once more, remaining at a standstill with his feet planted in the debris filled floor.
The room was already silent, only their clashes could be heard, but somehow now it felt even more so.
Leo stared at it in disbelief too, he knew the sword was amazing but to this extent was incredible, turns out it was just as durable as it was powerfull.
After a brief pause from the two—
Click.
Two, Leo was observing the fight carefully, running aimlessly would get him killed, so if he didn't come up with a solid plan sometime soon then he will surely die, if not to the brute then to the swarm before him.
It stepped forward on one foot charging in for a heavy looking attack with its sword tucked to the side, it looked like a knight unseathing his sword to strike immediately, just he didn't have a seathe.
'Here it comes.'
A wind breaking horizontal sweep was sent out, Leo narrowly dodge it by jumping up in the air and landing on the blades side, pinning it down to the ground before the next click could occur. Thats exactly when it became incredibly obvious to him how he would beat it:
'That's it! Theres a slight delay inbetween clicks, there's a small delay in between when the small stick moves where it's completely still!'
An opening was nothing without finding a window safe enough for him to attack, it was hard to say how easy that would be though considering these were real, battle hardened knights.
Sure the knight had several open slots in his armour, around the neck, the shoulders and greaves, but it was still a knight – with what little time he had in between it wasnt looking too promising.
Click.
The clock hosted three arms, one moving, and two indifferent. This click around was different, a second arm started moving and vibrating vigorously, shaking the room and leftover debris from in the sky.
Eight, One. On his hand only the first collumn grew luminous as with all previous attacks, the remaining five simply stayed quiet. On the clock the arms twisted into position charging up for another wave of attacks.
Leo had no time to think about that yet, he didn't even pay it any mind until it actually struck him how important that clock was.
The knight lifted the sword off the ground, flinging the unsuspecting Leo to the floor, at the same time the lanky axe wielder stepped up with his flamboyant and sharp bicorn hat swaying in the dust, pointing the barreled axe sideways towards Leo and pressing down on the lever at its base.
An iron pellet shot out at incredible speeds, ricocheting off the swaying sword and into his direction very lightly grazing his arm.
'I knew it, another one!'
'Then the numbers and lines on my hand... what are they upposed to be, they change at the same time but they're both different, is it some kind of code that let's more of them in?'
That was quite worrying, if his suspicions were right then the situation was worse than first thought, he'd have to finish this quickly or they might just march on him.
Leo kept his eyes peeled on the ranger, he was far more dangerous as it stood, attacking the brute would be hard if he had someone constantly shooting bolts at him from the back.
Click.
Seven, Twelve.
Recuperating his posture the knight sprinted forward, holding his sword in one hand and letting the other seek his enemy freely. It was going for a grab.
On the other side of battle the ranger played with his weapon, sliding in a fresh iron pellet from his leather pouch hanging from the side through the hollow barrel of his axe.
It was reloading, Leo was more than satisfied with it, he could focus on the brute for now. His hand was half his size, getting grabbed meant certain defeat, but what he'd noticed earlier, was a huge flaw in its armour, the back of its legs were plated, but it was so incredibly worn down a single strike would pierce through and light him on fire.
Leo had a plan here:
'When he moves in to grab me, I'll weave around his right side and push my sword right in the back of his legs, I can use the inbetween time to escape and let the flames do all the work, that's a great plan yeah!'
His eyes burned with determination, feeling proud of himself for devising a strategy during the heat of battle, it made him feel like a real knight.
It went for the grab, Leo quickly positioned himself to the side avoiding the arm and pushing himself off the ground with his sword ready to strike, the path was now clear, one strike and it would be over.
He didn't hesitate, twisting his sword around and lunging straight for the weak spot on the back of its leg.
Click.