Taeko didn't think it all the way through, his only chance was to take a shot at hitting him, he knew, whatever happened, there was no chance to survive either way. They wanted his sword, after all, there was no reason to keep him alive.

"Why even bother trying to hit me, your skill is uncomparable to mine!". Taeko was running towards him with his sword raised, ready to slash him at any moment, there was a small space between them, a normal human couldn't survive Taeko's hit. Only the mystery man grabbed on to his blade like it was nothing, blood was coming out of his hand, it was like he didn't feel pain, afterward, he only laughed, only now Taeko got close to him, saw his big scary eyes, he looked like he was starring into your soul, his hand was skinny, his nails were missing and even some of them were replaced by knives. The man got his tongue out and licked his blood.

"Blood spilled from a fight is the best blood, as a warrior myself I know the feeling of getting overwhelmed by my enemy, that feeling, is eating you up inside, you feel scared. Although you know your death is approaching you still fought me, what a brave young man! Sorry to warn you so late, but you ain't playing any games with me.". His eyes looked right at him, his facial expression drastically changed. He then grabbed his sword from his hand, it was like Taeko's hands were extremely slippery, he took the sword so easily.

"Maybe he used a spell on me, or he weakened my body by scaring me, damn...I lost it all!" Taeko's thoughts showed how unsafe he felt. It was the end of him.

The man sprinted towards him, the pain was his target, to weaken his opponent. He didn't bother using the sharp tip of the blade, instead, he took a pocket knife who didn't look too useful for a fight and headed it towards Taeko's stomach.

"Is this it, I feel dizzy, I can't feel any pain, I blacked out. Goddamnit! Now Yumi will die because of him, cmon Taeko, wake up, you can't die, not here! I hear talking, I hear the mysterious man and some other guy...". "Boss, didn't you just attack him with the enchanted knife?" "He thought he could win, crushing someone's dreams is very fun, he may hear us, he thinks, how could I lose? Against him? Hahaha..."

"Now, as I am your boos, my fellow weaklings, go ahead bring the girl here!". They grabbed her unconscious body and brought it to their boss. "Please don't! Please! It's no use, whatever I say, they can't hear me. I need to wake up, now!" "Her lips are so gentle, put her on my lap, you know what... I might marry her. Hahaha!" "Wake up, Taeko, NOW!" Taeko jumped off the ground and punched him. Yumi's unconscious body fell, but Taeko caught her. "Why would you do this, what did I ever do to deserve this?" said Taeko in tears

"Boss, are you ok. Should we attack?" "Of course not, he is a minimal danger, not even a danger I suppose, hahaha!". The man took the pocket knife in his hands and attacked Taeko.

Another blade went right past the man's face. "Who are you, you managed to make me drip some blood. Hahaha!". A boy under a cape took his hood off. It was a young man with black-red hair, his appearance made anyone think he came from a rich family. "Hey, big bro"

Silence aroused in the room. "So, Katashi, did you plan to save this young man and his girl-friend?" "I am here to stop your senseless doings, about that, you are right, Kaori. I indeed need to save them, now, how about you'd hand me that sword without me needing to use force"

"How dare you mess with our Boss you..." his saying was interrupted by a clap of thunder. "So, your minions are foolish, as always. If any of you tries to say anything I'll kill you all, and your boss.". They all looked scared, even though they had nothing to live for, death was what they feared the most.

"Well, Kaori. I hope you liked holding that sword." .Something flashed before Taeko's eyes, Katashi was in the other corner of the room they were standing in. "We'll meet again, Katashi!", he laughed.

"I can't stand a chance against him with these weak troops, I'll act scared and flee."."Well, then, see you later!" Said Katashi. Suddenly a flash of light appeared in the room, it was like a flashbang, everyone was blinded. Taeko felt like someone grabbed him on their back.

After his vision was restored Taeko saw the boy who stood up yo Kaori earlier, he was carrying him. "Hope you're holding tight to that girl.". Taeko was too weakened, he couldn't talk.

He brought them to a small cabin in the forest and gave each one of them a small bed to rest. After a few hours of resting Taeko woke up again to someone else's house, it was a small room made out of wood, he was in a bunk bed.

"Where is Yumi, I hope she's ok, I must go check on h..." He jumped out of his bed only to get a gigantic pain around his stomach. "Stop it, dumbass, you have a pretty severe wound from your fight, I must admit, you fought like you had nothing to lose, pretty reckless.". Taeko heard the voice from the bunk bed, it was the guy from earlier, Katashi. "You've got some explaining to do! Now help me get up, I can barely get up!"

TO BE CONTINUED