NOVEL NEXT Chapter 25: Weak
Before he starts wreaking havoc and bringing calamity upon these people who interrupted their party, Diluc decided to bow towards the owner first out of respect for him allowing the fight inside this prized establishment of his, then returning his attention to the armored guards that are nearing towards him.
"Are you sure you people want to do this?" he asked as he starts cracking his fist while circling his head as if to stretch his neck as well, his leisure manner of acting causing him to trigger the anger of the guards as it looks to them like he is not even taking them seriously.
"Boy, you offended our young master, you better pay up for the grave sins you had done" one of the guards said with a confident, even proud, expression on his face, the arrogance that he has despite only being a guard to a noble something that just ticks off everyone in the place, but they decided to hold themselves back as they know that this night is for the youngest member of this large family of misfit of theirs, the young man who is currently approaching the armored and armed guards with such confidence on his step.
"Offend? Me? I see, then why don't you struggle and do your best to try and capture me then?" walking towards them with steady, unbothered steps, Diluc smiles in reply as he starts emitting something out of his body, the confidence of a battle veteran that seems to be way too unconcerned about the opponent he is about to face, as if he could not even take this people seriously despite their levels being slightly higher than his.
"Arrogant boy, face the consequences of your action!" the other guards couldn't hold it in anymore as they feel more and more humiliated from the words of this young man, something in him whispering that he must stay away from him as much as possible but the boiling anger from his frail pride causing him to ignore such whispering, his feet treading heavily on the ground as he starts rushing towards the young man just a couple of meters in front of him.
'I heard from the young master that he's a mage, meaning he will be completely useless against me in close quarter combat' being a martial artist, the guard confidently thought to himself as a smile appeared on his covered face, a smile of someone already certain of his victory against the opponent in front of him.
As much as he wants to claim this victory as his just like how he imagines it to be though, there are other plans for him that destiny seems to have in store, a plan that is way too humiliating not only for him, but also for the young man who orders him and his companion to capture the person in front of them.
Swinging his sword forward in order to terrify Diluc, the guard was so shocked when he opted for another choice instead, moving forward and coming closer towards him, his eyes that of a veteran hunter seemingly looking down on its prey, his movements swift and decisive, finishing this match the moment it barely began.
"You're swinging your sword too wide" Diluc said as he observes the sword coming from the top of the guard's body, thinking that albeit it is already being a really long time since his father and mother taught him a lesson about swords, he still remembers the foundation that the two of them drills into him repeatedly since he was a child, something that he found a pity he couldn't use as he turns out to be a mage rather than a martial artist like the two of them.
'I can carry our family name better now, old folks' he thought to himself as his fist rushes through the chest of his opponent, said fist moving so fast that barely anyone from the audience manages to follow through his movements, the only thing the weaker one is seeing is there is a shadow that moves at an indescribable speed towards the armored guard, before his metallic armor collapse and seemingly imploded on one part before he got thrown into the air.
After travelling for a few meters in the air, he finally crashed and destroyed an entire empty table set in the process, before his body limply fall into the ground, only showing his eyes rolling up as he loses consciousness due to the pain that not only his chest, but also his entire body is feeling currently.
"And your footwork is weak…." Diluc said with disdain on his face as he just couldn't believe that people like these one is even called guards by these nobles, and their weakness just show how much these high and mighty, haughty people are hiding even towards their own men.
"That's…" while the people in the building are currently stupefied by how easily the young man dealt with the guardsman with a higher level of strength than him, one of the people watching couldn't help but look at him in an utter disbelief for a reason completely different from the others, her eyes fixated on the fist that nearly shatters the metal armor of the guardsman, her powerful strength granting her something and allowing her to see something that the other people couldn't, a thing that she just couldn't make herself believe to be true.
"Those are scales, right?" she mutters to herself in utter disbelief while looking at the young man in front of her, thinking that after all these times that they are playing around in this building, it looks like she still doesn't know a lot of things about him yet.
"What is it, Sister Bea?" hearing her words and wondering what she said previously, one of the ladies surrounding her snapped out of her daze as she looks at this tall beauty who seems to be way too mysterious and beautiful for her to be a normal adventurer.
"Oh? Nothing, just some rambling from an old lady" the tall beauty replies with a smile on her face causing the one who just talked to her to return her attention to the tall, heroic looking young man now walking once again towards the other guard, each of his steps making him appear bigger and bigger to the guard's eyes.
'I need to talk to him later' the tall beauty thought to herself as she decided to put on all her efforts to pull this young man to her force just from what she saw this time alone, her mind already thinking that this young man is definitely soaring to high places should he be nourished properly, possibly even transforming to become one of the pillars that will hold this kingdom for years to come.
While she starts considering what he could possibly want and how she could pull him with it though, the young man she is watching is now currently standing right in front of the other guard that seems to have their sole purpose to be a probing tools or cannon fodders to assess his strength, yet even this two fails to do so causing the young man ordering them to start shaking in terror.
Standing in front of the unmoving man, Diluc stare at him eye to eye, the eyes of his opponent that of someone who just wants to run away from the trouble he had gotten himself into, yet the harsh punishment of abandoning this young master of theirs scares him from doing so.
Before he could even start taking a course of action, or rather, before he could even start thinking of one, he feels an intimidating presence exploding from the young man in front of him, casting an illusion in his mind as if he is currently standing in front of a massive mountain that overshadows the skies, causing him to shake in terror as the incomprehensible size of this mountain just starts to mess with his mind.
Outside, his eyes are already rolling backwards and his mouth foaming from the fear he felt, his upright posture only lasting for a few more moments as his knees collapsed and bent, causing his entire body to fall flat into the ground.
"Is that all your prided guardsman can do?" looking at the lavishly dressed young man standing just a few meters in front of him, Diluc said with a mocking, disdainful smile on his face as he cracks his fist once again, the people in the surrounding wondering just how much change happens to this upbeat young man for the duration of his time wandering outside, such change in strength they can understand from fortuitous encounters, but such change in character just something they couldn't wrap their heads around.
Looking at the lavishly dressed young man and his seemingly petrified guards, Diluc's smile disappears in a flash as his eyes glow with ruthlessness, his hands clenching into fists once again as he starts walking towards this group of people, scaring them so much that they start taking steps backwards.