Within a single second, the group from the Southern Revolution scattered. Some ran toward the village, while one took the unconscious Hina and ran back into the forest. Two of them were left standing in front of Drake and Luna, one of whom was the assassin who had previously attacked first, and the other the leader.
This was going to be difficult, even if the village did have other adventurers, there was no guarantee that they would be a match for them. Especially considering their techniques and origin. Wasting no time, Luna lunged towards the leader, her daggers clashed with the man's short sword.
"Go back to the village! Help them. I'll go after the girl after I'm done here," she yelled while fending for herself. Luna blocked two strikes from the other assassin before pushing her back and averting her focus back to the leader.
The most notable feature of the Southern Revolution was their spatial magic. What looked like short-range teleportation was, in actuality, position exchange. The bullet grass was a particular kind that grew near the southern tip of Adrenia, right outside the Orc nation. It was thin and nearly invisible, which made it the perfect tool to utilize with spatial exchange.
It made it seem as if they always just appeared out of thin air, giving them the advantage of an ambush. However, Luna was well-versed in how they fought, matter of fact, she had the advantage in the current fight. This was the case until they showcased the true efficacy of the spell.
Dodging a dagger imbued with lightning with less than an inch between the blade and his face, the leader suddenly disappeared. The next second, Luna chucked the same dagger towards a tree behind her. "You think your skill works on me?" she caught the leg of the other assassin and threw her away.
"So what if you know how it works? You can't keep up," the leader chuckled, his voice felt like it came from everywhere. His figure appeared and vanished multiple times across the area, each time he chucked a blade of bullet grass at Luna.
"Can't keep up?" she smiled before combusting into a ball of lightning. It looked like a ball of pure lightning flew around the clearing, every time the leaders figured disappeared, just a split second later, Luna jumped onto that spot. The timing between their clash was closing in. Even if he thought he could, the leader couldn't simply continue spamming spatial exchange. Meanwhile, the other assassin simply stood in bewilderment, she was careful not to move out of fear that she'd be recognized as a target.
"That's….just how fast she is….??" the assassin muttered in utter disbelief. The smell of metal, along with the charring of leaves, consumed her senses as she stared at the impossible unfolding.
At the same time, Drake now stood before the two assassins. There was a reason he was given the title Warborn Mourner. Drake excelled on the battlefield, every swing had such a wide radius that it took a bunch of people down, moreover, his physique and strength suited such a grotesque situation as well.
However, going against his very own deeds and fame, Drake had a warm heart; he hated bloodshed but understood aggression. This meant that he was okay with people lashing out against him, but not others. He was strong enough to take blows, but what about innocent bystanders? They had nothing to do with anything, yet they suffered the most.
"Your opponent is me. I ask you to respect the sanctity of a fight and face me," These were people he was soon going to kill or be killed by. What respect should they show each other?
"The people of the village….they've done nothing wrong. Please…" The desperation and heaviness in his heart continued to increase with every moment the assassins stood motionless. They had a sword drawn and its blade pressed against an elderly woman. She was short, and her hunched back made her look tinier. Her walking stick was tossed aside as she remained completely helpless.
"Do not make mistakes you can't own u-"
A squelching sound accompanied by wails and screams of horror, the blade was now half into the old woman's body. Her weary and energetic eyes looked at Drake one last time in absolute forgiveness and understanding. His fists gripped the hilt so hard that for the first time, his weapon's integrity was compromised.
"...." He wasn't fast enough. That was the only disadvantage he had. Even if he were superhuman, he couldn't keep up with spatial exchange. It was beyond his capabilities considering his stature. But what did that tell him?
"I'm sorry…it's my fault…" he knelt down and closed his eyes. He pushed two fingers into the ground and rubbed sand across his forehead. "Do you enjoy it? The unnecessary killing? Hurting the helpless and the powerless? Does it feed into your sense of dominance?"
"Let me show you. Let me show you what real dominance is…" Tears continued to flow from his eyes while instantly being dried at the same time. A dark red aura leaked out of his body, resembling his son's eyes. Right behind him, in the sky, lightning strikes crashed into the ground, tearing apart the very soil they called home.
"You will die today. No matter what you do…" he appeared right before them, a towering figure that now seemed like a Giant. He was monstrous in that very second, every part of their body rejected the idea of moving. Yet the second his blade was about to strike them, they appeared somewhere else. This time, near another bystander.
It was the adventurer who came in with the torch, the same one who asked for Drake and Luna's help. He was now held hostage with a blade to his throat. It all happened so fast that the poor adventurer had no time to respond. After taking a few seconds to understand his situation, the man looked up at Drake and smiled. Without saying anything else, he held the blade and pushed it into his throat. Even at the end of his life, he made his own choice. He lived and died by his own will.