Inverse System

Chapter 4 - Sophisticated Fight

"Stop you barbarian! In the name of the king!" A black-haired man and a green-haired boy appeared. One looked in his mid-30s, wearing Orthlys knight armor. He looked muscular, with scars over his face. The other boy looked a little bit older than Rein. He had a Smooth, sheltered-looking face with blue eyes. He wore a royal broach on his chest, indicating that he was royalty.

"It's Prince Zane and Sir Artus!" One of the remaining soldiers exclaimed. "Please your majesty! This boy is an Econican spy. He wiped out his village and killed all of the villagers."

"Silence!" Said Artus. "... What is your name boy?"

"..."

"No answer? Then did you kill those villagers we saw?"

"..."

"Enough of this Artus, he was obviously the one who did it. Just look in his hand. One of the swords he's wielding is Econican. He massacred the village, and now, he's killing innocent soldiers." The prince gestured towards Rein's hand. He was wielding the swords his sister used, one of which was stabbed in her shoulder by a Checkmate soldier who was wielding Econican attire.

"Are you the prince of Orthlys?" Rein said emotionlessly.

"Be quiet you vermin, I don't need to answer that." Said the prince with disgust, thinking that Rein was the culprit.

"You're barely older than me, you naive shit."

"How dare you utter such insolence to his majesty. I will personally cut you do-" Prince Zane interrupted him.

"Stop Artus. I'll take him myself. This is a declaration of war from Econica. I, the 44th crown prince of Orthlys will cut him down." Prince Zane took out a small cylinder-looking object from behind him. With a press of a button, the object transformed into a large, white scythe. It was at least double his size in height. The blade looked long enough to kill 5 humans at once.

"En Garde, Econican spy."

"..." Rein put up his swords and waited for the prince to make his first move, but, he wouldn't move. They stayed at a standstill for a good 10 seconds. From the look of the prince's stance and the fact that he refused to move, Rein deduced that the prince's fighting style most likely relied on counter-offensive strategies. But he wasn't in the right headspace to wait it out. He ran in with incredible speed headfirst towards prince Zane. As soon as he did, he saw Zane slice into the air in his direction. Rein thought it was strange, but then remembered what the Orthlys royal family's Spring was. He dodged, or so he thought. He felt one minuscule part of the attack clip him, and as a result, his left arm got blown off.

The prince's Spring was the ability to control any wind he produces. For example, with a swing of the scythe, he can control the wind produced from the force at will. He can make it go faster, change the shape, etc. Rein remembered reading about the royal families of different nations. For Orthlys it's wind-related Springs, and for Econica it's fire-related Springs.

"You anticipated my attack, yet your arm still got blown off. Is your skin made out of paper or something?" Said the prince, dripping with sweat. That attack seemed to take a lot out of him.

Rein was dripping with something else entirely. Blood was gushing out of his arm, but for some reason, he wasn't feeling pain. He ripped cloth from the rags he was wearing and tied it around his severed arm to stop the bleeding. Rein had no idea what had just happened, but he didn't question it for long. He was full of bloodlust, rage, and resentment. This time, with even greater speed to which the prince couldn't counter, he slashed with all of his might. The prince barely blocked in time, but unlike the wooden shield, Rein's sword didn't cut through. He sent the prince flying.

"Argh, he's fast. It's fine though, he sent me through the air, meaning I can control this air I'm producing." The prince came to a stop mid-air, but when he looked back down Rein was gone. Suddenly, Rein appeared behind him, sending him flying to the ground. He couldn't stop himself fast enough. He impacted with the ground making a huge cloud of smoke. He couldn't see anything. He tried getting up but almost went headfirst into a blade. Rein was standing on top of him, with his sword pointed at him.

"I win." He said, his eyes turning yellow again. Suddenly, the pain from his arm came in all at once. The overwhelming jolt of pain caused him to scream at the top of his lungs.

"GAAAAAHH!!" His scream overlapped with that of the prince's knight, Artus, who rushed in to protect the beaten royal. Rein thought he was done for, Artus' sword was seconds from connecting with him. Out of reflex, he held his sword out to try and block, but before the swords came into contact, he saw a small marble-looking object fly in front of him and explode into a huge boulder, blocking the attack of the knight. He felt himself being lifted by something and carried away. He looked up to see a tall, muscular woman with an eyepatch. She had black hair, and wore black shoes, black pants, a black unbuttoned jacket with a grey shirt underneath. She circled back and grabbed Rein's severed arm and sword. She was incredibly fast, on par with how fast Rein was previously.

"D8, over here!" Rein heard Core yell. Rein's played chess, and going off the starting positions of the pieces, D8 was the Black Queen. The queen being the most powerful piece on the board. In no time at all, she made her way to Core and Emria.

"I brought the boy master. What should I do with him?"

"Let's get out of here first. Did ya bring that horse and carriage I told you to?"

"Yes sir, it's right here." She took out another marble, throwing it on the ground. Smoke generated once it made contact, and out of it emerged a sleeping horse tied to a large carriage.

"Hey! Wake up you mule!" Yelled Core at the horse. After it woke, Core ordered them: "D8, throw Alister in. Green girl, you get in too." Rein could barely speak. He was coughing blood, not only because of his injuries but because of the overwhelming power he just manifested.

"The hell are you planning Core. *Cough* You've got your subordinate here now. You can kill us and collect your reward. Just where are you taking us."

"Just shut up and rest for now." Once everyone was in, Core whipped the horse into movement. As they started moving east, they heard the prince yell.

"All remaining troops go after that carriage! Don't let them escape!" It was too late though, the soldiers weren't fast enough to catch up.

Emria hugged Rein. "I'm so glad you're okay Rein!" She said while crying.

"Do I look okay to you?" He said while patting her head.

Rein smiled wearily. He looked at the swords he was wielding, the ones that his sister once wielded. He looked back at his village.

"Farewell, Leona." holding Emria in his arm as he drifted to sleep.