Timeless Prominence

The very next moment, Rein found himself plastered against the ground under some sort of invisible pressure. No. Rein quickly realized it was the captivating woman’s foot on his back. Though the devilish beauty looked dainty, her magical powers made Rein feel as if her foot was  as heavy as a mountain. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Jein was already held in the woman’s arms, barely visible within the black aurae surrounding her body like a protective cloud.

For the very first time today, Rein felt an all-encompassing fear. He had felt some dread throughout his escape up until now and a sense of sorrow and dismay from his parent’s demise that he managed to suppress in the moment. But, it had never grown to the point where he became frozen without resistance.

Part of him was aware that he should be struggling to try to save his younger brother, but he only felt helpless against the weight plastering him against the ground; he instantly gave up on even trying to resist.

All Rein could think was that he had to survive, and the only way to even have a half-chance at that was to remain completely compliant on the ground. And even then, this devilish beauty might drop that corrosive sphere onto him!

If he struggled in any way to try to save Jein, he would undoubtedly die a miserable death.

“Lovely!” The evil beauty grabbed the two pouches that hung around Rein and Jein’s neck and was delighted to find what they contained.

An enraged roar suddenly shattered this pressure on his back, and Rein found himself being able to breathe again.

The wall right next to the devilish woman collapsed into rubble. A large fist burst through, followed by Blacksmith Tiehr’s square face, which appeared fierce as a tigress defending her cubs, contrasting to his normally welcoming expression. This was further accentuated by the veins on the surface of his face, which emitted a crimson hue.

The devilish female’s eyes were wide with surprise, and she quickly raised a hand covered with an extremely solid black layer of aurae to block the fist.

“Burst!” Blacksmith Tiehr roared again.

Fweep Fweep Fweep!

Numerous solid crimson fist shadows projected from his knuckles, each shadow crushing surrounding air before smashing into the devilish woman’s black palm.

“Outer advancer!” She screamed in pain. The devilish woman’s arm now hung limp beside her body, and she had dropped one of the pouches she had stolen. Rein immediately grabbed it and returned it to around his neck, though the second pouch was nowhere to be seen.

The devil beauty had only defended against the projected fist shadows. Blacksmith Tiehr’s actual crimson-coated burly fist was still traveling towards her.

“Fuse!” Blacksmith Tiehr boomed.

The dispersed red aurae from the fist projections that had shattered upon contacting the devilish woman’s defenses rushed backwards and gathered into the approaching physical fist again, causing Blacksmith’s Tie’s intimidating aura to rise even further.

The devilish woman had a look of panic in her eyes, and quickly tapped a pouch hanging on her waist that was nearly fully obscured by the black wisps surrounding her body.

A sturdy looking black scale from a powerful beast-- Rein’s guess-- popped out, enlarging to completely separate the two ends of the alleyway.

She then clutched onto Jein’s collar and rapidly glided away, as Blacksmith Tiehr’s fist smashed into the scale treasure, causing a resounding boom to echo through the alleyway, scattering all the smoke and dust.

Blacksmith Tiehr braced his legs against the ground before throwing forward a few more rapid fists into the scale treasure in an attempt to open up the path to the devilish woman.

It would be inaccurate to say the devilish beauty was flying away though. She was more or less hovering at a certain height above the ground, moving toward the alleyway exit where her underlings had dashed toward previously. She did not seem like she could actually fly into the skies and instantly leave the area.

“All of you! Turn around and face this burly man! Slow him down by any means necessary, and your families will be well taken care of by me when I return!” commanded the devilish woman.

Meanwhile, the black scale treasure now had multiple cracks across its surface. With a final fist, Blacksmith Tiehr caused the scale to fracture into a few separate pieces that littered the ground. The black pieces gradually lost whatever enchantment it was given, reverting to yellow hued remnants.

The black cloaked team had turned around to face Blacksmith Tiehr, and although initially they appeared hesitant as well as scared of this burly man, they could not avoid their task.

Against an outer advancer as identified by the devilish woman in the brief previous clash, they were aware that they would undoubtedly die, especially since the devilish woman who was much stronger than any of them needed to sacrifice a defensive armament just to escape half the length of an alleyway.

The devilish woman had promised them that she would take care of their families to encourage them, but in reality, it was also a veiled threat that if they did not fight, their families would face retribution.

The remaining bandits and townsfolk that were tricked by the disguised black cloaked group to fight alongside them previously, decided to band behind Blacksmith Tiehr. Blacksmith Tiehr turned toward Rein, “Go inside the forge and leave your younger brother to me.”

Rein felt some concern, noticing that although Blacksmith Tiehr appeared strong, the man seemed to be panting heavily after his earlier exertion. Then again, he knew little of advancers and their world.

He felt helpless. He should be fighting for his younger brother, but at this key moment, he knew he was absolutely useless and could only skulk through the hole in the wall to hide inside Blacksmith Tiehr’s forge. 

Looking out through the hole in the wall, he saw Blacksmith Tiehr letting out a few coughs, before once again giving an almighty roar, leading the group behind him towards the direction of the group of devils.

After that he would only hear the sound of metal clashing with metal, loud painful screams and wails as well as courageous hollering. This continued for well over the time it would take to drink a cup of tea, and the sounds of combat gradually became increasingly scattered. No doubt, the battle had moved farther and farther away, chasing after the devilish beauty who was trying to escape.

Looking around, Rein noticed that Blacksmith Tiehr’s forge had managed to avoid being set on fire, likely because of the advancer’s strength in resisting any invaders.

After witnessing Blacksmith’s Tie combat level, Rein concluded that his parents likely knew the blacksmith was an advancer trying to blend in with the mortal world.

Rein, now alone, sat on the ground with his arms wrapped around his knees. His normally black and sleek hair was a mess covered in dust and soot, his clothing grayed and desecrated by a few bloody streaks here and there. His body was fully trembling now, an emotional release under the illusion that at least he himself was finally safe in Blacksmith Tiehr’s forge.

His slight reprieve made him enter a state of heightened awareness that felt as if he was outside of his body. He realized he was nothing but an ant, a truly useless body. His parents died in front of him, and he had thought at least that he could protect Jein. Yet instead, he was now sitting safely in the forge waiting for Blacksmith Tiehr to rescue Jein. He scoffed at himself. What ‘Young Sir of House Hehr’? More like a piece of flesh fated to feed the crows.

In the brief moment of silence, Rein increasingly felt that his life before today was a pathetic joke. It felt real yet illusory.

However, Rein would not have time for further contemplation. A smirking bandit stepped into the forge through the hole in the wall. The bandit had a sly expression, and had a chopper in each of his hands.

He looked at Rein and smirked, “My friends died trying to break in here before, but now it’s only you. I have been paid to kill everyone in this town to eliminate all the devils! Oh, the joy of killing…”

The bandit broke into a huge grin that showed his crooked teeth as he confidently stomped toward Rein. He also noticed the pouch around Rein’s neck and felt even more elated at potentially finding bonus loot.

Rein did not know why the bandit spoke such words to him, but he quickly stood up, barely able to stand up straight due to his overall emotional fatigue, quickly picking up the closest tool as a weapon-- a heavy hammer.

The bandit looked at the teen and frowned, wondering why the teen did not start begging for his life like many others he had slaughtered, before letting out an almighty bellow.

“I’ll make you scream, you youngling!” 

It would seem that the bandit initially spoke to Rein in hopes of eliciting a desired response. Rein instead picked up a hammer to fight. The bandit had originally assumed it would be an easy task intimidating a teen dressed in merchant clothes. An intimidated prey usually put up less of a fight, and decreased the risk of danger to himself.

Rein had never been in an actual fight before, but he had been taught basic techniques by Guard Wein, and also sparred occasionally. He recalled Guard Wein’s words with regards to being in a fight: “In a fight, nothing ever goes to plan. In your first fight, everything will be a mess, so you must conquer your fear and might have to very well go all out for your life, otherwise you will fall.”

He started his deep breathing exercise, calming his heart and mind. His dangerous situation had made him focus his mind. Perhaps not even he knew he was capable of such clarity of mind. He knew that the bandit was undoubtedly more experienced than him. He would definitely need to fight like a cornered dog, and even then, that would only give him barely a chance at survival.

With that in mind, he determined that all he needed to do was land a single blow to crush any part of the bandit’s body with the heavy hammer. Getting sliced by the bandit’s choppers would be worth it if he could land a heavy blow.

The bandit grew increasingly vigilant after noticing Rein perform a breathing technique. This was not going to be as effortless as he initially thought. He gradually shifted his feet forward, swaying the two choppers in his hands in a bid to elicit a careless response from Rein.

Rein was well instructed by Guard Wein. He felt anxious and tense, but remembered all the lessons taught to him especially with regards to distance and feints. He stood tall with the heavy hammer.

There was no reason for him to move. He needed to maintain a stable stance right now and be ready to react. He had to wait for the bandit to close the distance-- the bandit’s choppers had a specific range of attack.

The bandit felt slightly unnerved, seeing his prey acting like an unmoving rock under his provocation. He realized he would need to surprise the young teen.

As the distance between the two gradually closed, Rein kept track of the distance that the bandit could reach with his choppers. He once again reminded himself of his objective as he regulated his breathing, trying to keep his heart from pounding too hard as the bandit edged closer.

He reminded himself that even if he were to take a semi-fatal hit, as long as he could smash the heavy hammer into the bandit, Blacksmith Tiehr would likely be able to save him with his advancer powers when he returns.

A few more steps, and the bandit would be in range to attack Rein with his choppers. The bandit suddenly smirked. He was experienced and even if the teen in front of him was trained with the right approach, there was no way the teen would respond well to a surprise.

The bandit suddenly threw his left chopper towards the right side of Rein’s body, before dashing forward to close the remaining distance while chopping down with his right at Rein’s left side.

Rein could only dodge towards his left, surprised that this bandit had made the pivotal choice of sacrificing one of his choppers. Unfortunately, that movement threw his body in line of the bandit’s right chopper.

He tried to move the heavy hammer to meet the bandit’s right chopper, but his stance was unstable after dodging to his left, and he could not summon the proper strength to accurately shift the heavy hammer.

At the very last moment, Rein roared like Blacksmith Tiehr, barely summoning enough strength to awkwardly maneuver the hammer into the bandit’s line of path. He attempted to smash the bandit with the hammer, completely disregarding how heavy an injury the right chopper might cause to himself if left unimpeded.

But the hammer met no resistance, nor did Rein get injured by the chopper! Rein suddenly saw the chopper withdraw. It was a feint! Next, all Rein felt was the bandit’s foot connecting with his chest followed by the crackling sound of a few broken ribs, causing him to lose his grip on the hammer before stumbling backwards.

Rein felt his back crash into a wall, a throbbing dull pain on his left chest where the bandit’s foot had cracked a number of his ribs. He could not help but slide down the wall and onto the ground in agony. He could not even groan in pain, as he was winded from the bandit’s foot connecting with his chest.

Inwardly, Rein struggled to understand why this bandit had opted to use multiple feints against a total amateur like him.

The bandit once again had a wide smile on his face. However, he felt cold sweat on his forehead, and was relieved that he had planned a set of moves that would normally be unnecessary facing a greenhorn like Rein.

It was a good thing he had listened to the words of his long dead mentor to never be careless even if facing someone that appeared relatively harmless. As said, even lions had to use their full strength when hunting a rabbit.

He had noticed Rein focusing on his choppers and the distance, and thus decided to surprise Rein by first, disrupting the distance through throwing his chopper, and then using his other chopper as a feint.

The unexpected foot to the chest was the final strike. This had helped him avoid being struck by the hammer, which Rein had decided to aggressively wield with disregard of his very own life, betting on Blacksmith Tiehr to save him afterwards.

The bandit leisurely picked up his previously thrown chopper from the ground, and moved towards Rein in a relaxed manner. Rein wanted to struggle, but he could not even breathe properly after having his ribs cracked by the bandit’s kick.

As the bandit moved closer, all Rein saw was the manic expression of the bandit. His distinct mocking smile with sadistic eyes and crooked yellow teeth. Rein saw a shadow of a chopper hanging in the air. 

Everything was for naught. He thought he could one day get revenge for his parents and also keep his younger brother safe. Yet, he was unable to even survive this encounter against a single bandit.

He closed his eyes, bracing himself for his demise.

Instead, he suddenly felt warm liquid splashing onto his face. His initial thought was that the bandit had decided to pee on his face as a form of humiliation. 

Bandits were famous for using many methods to humiliate their foes and their prey. However, when he opened his eyes, what his crossed-eyes saw was a sharp sword tip in front of his nose, and the warm liquid spurting onto his face was blood from the chest of the bandit that had been pierced by the sword.

The bandit collapsed sideways, revealing Blacksmith Tiehr’s figure. Rein, again, had his miserable life saved by Blacksmith Tiehr, only to notice that Blacksmith Tiehr was covered in wounds, bruises and blood. 

Normally, this might not be surprising given that Blacksmith Tiehr had been in combat, but Blacksmith Tiehr suddenly coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood before collapsing onto a knee. Blacksmith Tiehr muttered dejectedly, “Sorry, Rein… I could not take your younger brother back…”

Rein finally felt as if the world had abandoned him. He had somehow survived everything, but his parents and Jein were nowhere to be found. All his emotions, the rage at the situation, the fatigue, the helplessness consumed him and he only felt a burning and throbbing headache before he lost consciousness.