Tower of Paradise

Suddenly, the knight wielded his sword in the direction of my head with surprising speed. With no other option, I sat on my rear to evade the horizontal cut, but the force of the sword against the ground generated a shock wave that made me violently stagger.

I felt the air around me being cut as if it were fine fabric, and a cloud of dust rose when a line appeared on the ground less than a meter away from where I was.

I didn't waste time regaining my posture. I knew that in combat against a superior opponent, the inertia of constant movement was my best ally. I turned right, executing a lateral attack that connected with the Guardian's torso. My spear hit the armor with a metallic sound that resonated in my ears, but I barely managed to scratch the surface of that impenetrable metallic structure.

Sensing something, I looked up and my face paled at what I saw. The knight had his long sword raised above his head with his left arm and threatened to crush my existence with a single blow. The sword descended forcefully and split the ground with a deafening roar. With my enhanced senses, I managed to move and avoid the blow by jumping backward, but when I looked up, a layer of dust around me momentarily clouded my vision.

Sensing imminent danger, I tilted my neck and back backward in an almost impossible movement as the guardian's sword passed through where my head had been a second before, sweeping the surrounding dust forcefully and leaving behind a trail of dark energy.

I put all my strength in my legs and concentrated on maintaining distance from the Guardian. His destruction capability was clearly above mine, as was his agility despite the heavy armor. And his metallic shell could effortlessly block my worn spear even when it was enhanced with a layer of stellar energy. Was there any way to defeat him? Doubt settled in my mind, but I pushed it away immediately; I couldn't allow myself to doubt, not now.

I came to the conclusion that my spear was useless against his armor, so I stored it in my inventory. If I couldn't pierce his protection, I couldn't inflict damage anyway.

I raised my arms in a fighting position. To defeat a knight of that magnitude required overwhelming force. I needed to find another way to beat him, exploit some weakness I hadn't yet identified.

The Guardian observed me in silence for a while, before abruptly removing his black cape. The cape fell to the ground with a muffled sound, as if it were heavier than it appeared.

What is he doing?, I wondered, disconcerted by his behavior.

The bastard's strange actions didn't end there. He proceeded to drive the long sword into the ground as if he didn't really need it, as if I didn't represent a threat that required his main weapon.

The Guardian finished discarding his weapon and, as if to imitate my posture, clenched his fists and took a fighting stance. My eyes widened at this unexpected attitude.

Was this thing going to fight me with bare hands because I also had bare hands?

I bit my lower lip hard. The creature wasn't taking me seriously, and that was a humiliation that ignited a spark of rage in my ego.

However, the provocation only served to quickly cool my head. The more my emotions burned, the colder my mind became. Conversely, despite my heart beating faster and faster, my eyes became sharper and more calculating, seeking any advantage I could gain.

Soon, the Guardian headed directly toward me. The speed he produced was so impressive that I found it closed the distance in the blink of an eye.

— Kuh! —The air left my lungs when the Guardian grabbed my neck with his dead hand and threw me forcefully. The power of the blow was enough to make my rib cage collapse and caused my body to fly through the air like a rag doll and crash against one of the village houses with the force of a siege ram.

I collapsed on the ground, with my head tilted and my body in pain, struggling to breathe. The wall was solid wood, but the force of the impact had left very visible cracks on its surface.

— Arceus!! —I heard KathyIn's desperate cry in the distance. She tried to lunge forward to help me, but the nearest undead pounced on her from multiple directions, preventing her from reaching me.

The Guardian stood still, choosing not to pursue me and deliver the final blow. I got up slowly, still looking down. Every muscle in my body suffered agonizing pain.

The knight closed the distance in the blink of an eye. However, this time I was prepared; I took my own movement speed to the extreme when we both shortened the distance at the same time.

This time, he jumped into the air. Once in flight, he stretched his knee and aimed at my face. I bent my back almost 90 degrees and let the Guardian's attack graze me, feeling the wind cut by his armor pass centimeters from my face.

I got up quickly, taking advantage of the moment. Unlike common undead who needed some distance to stop after their charge failed, the Guardian simply landed on the ground without much fanfare, maintaining his perfect balance.

But there was no time to admire that flawless landing. I hurried and, before he could turn around completely, I kicked him in the head diagonally, putting all my strength into the blow.

Surprisingly, the thing could still move its arm with precision even when its posture was unstable. My right leg was easily blocked by his left hand, as if he had anticipated my movement.

My eyes opened wider while one of my legs was blocked, and I saw how the knight's other fist flew toward my face with the force of a war hammer.

Whoosh!

I instinctively raised both arms to protect myself, but the force of the impact still transmitted to the rest of my body like a seismic wave. My guard broke and my entire body was suspended in the air for an instant.

— What?! —A gasp of surprise escaped my mouth. But it soon turned into a groan of pain, because the Guardian had already appeared before my eyes again. Even before I had the chance to do anything about it, his left fist powerfully crashed against my left cheek, sending waves of pain through my skull.

I crashed against the ground and bounced from the impact, before continuing to roll out of control. I only managed to get up again after a while, as the inside of my ears loudly resonated, as if a thousand bees were buzzing inside my head.

I shook my head a couple of times, trying to clear my thoughts. Only then did the loud sound fade a bit, allowing me to concentrate again.

However, the much more serious problem was that my adversary was getting closer and closer to me with slow steps. My blurry vision caught the Guardian as he walked in my direction, like a predator sure that his prey was cornered.

I opened my eyes wider and prepared for the next assault, knowing it would be decisive. Finally, the knight arrived right before my nose. And so, a bloody fight erupted between the two, an exchange of blows that seemed taken from the most brutal barbarians.