Chapter 13: No choice left at the end of the street

“Defend this!” Saar screeched and pounced forward with his whole body. Behind him was the strike of the whip which traveled suddenly in great speed forward. Clayton pushed his sword upwards and with a flick deflected it away, forcing it towards the innocent wall.

“It is too flexible. I won’t be able to destroy that whip as easily as I thought.” Clayton deducted from the hit, with quality beyond his understanding.

The unnamed figure of the 2nd person went around, while Clayton was distracted. Crouching like a rabbit, he jumped high into the air above Clayton. He took his great war hammer which was hidden in the same way as Saar from his back and struck down right into Clayton. He was also once again facing the whip attack. A two-way attack happened in a blink of an eye as Saar continued attacking as well.

Velocity and power went hand to hand. He hit Clayton head-on but staggered while his weapon, took the brunt of this hammer attack. Of course, in exchange for a small whip slack to his shoulder. With his defensive stance, his weapon went through the most impact, but it will never be destroyed by ordinary means.

His hands trembled a little, but he defended from this attack without a problem. Just as he was retreating from this strike. An unnamed figure stuck him again, but Clayton crouched down and caused the swing to miss completely. The force from a huge swing left the unnamed figure no choice but to discard the hammer. So, he attacked with both legs as Clayton had no other choice but to face both attackers.

He kicked Clayton in an unexpected way and as he closed the distance; he went forward to close quarters with his fist. Bombarding the unprepared Clayton. “You are courting death,” Clayton muttered and a death sentence was placed upon one of the two people. His sword pierced the unnamed foe to a shoulder from point-blank distance. He was aiming towards his head but was unable to because of the barrage of attacks.

The man didn’t mind it and shouted instead. “Now!”

Whip swirled and in a moment, it wrapped around Clayton’s sword in an attempt to steal it away from the man's shoulder.

“You won’t be able to take it, idiot!” Clayton sternly said and flexed his hand, which was holding his weapon. His other hand was safe, so he grabbed the whip and pushed Saar towards him. Kicking him into a stomach area, caused him to fly a dozen meters away. Then Clayton pushed away the unnamed figure to free his blade.

Saar did not give up with this, while the punctured ribs or whatnot felt like nothing. His whip still in hand, he got up to his feet and charged forward against Clayton, who had had his colleague as an easy target.

Clayton already expected this and jumped to his left from the pouncing whip right into the Saar and kicked him to his ribcage with a knee. His hand, which wanted to protect the impact, bent from the attack. It fractured his ribs even more, but this was minor trouble in the fleeting moment.

Clayton retrieved his sword from the unnamed man's shoulder who screeched in pain. It was still wrapped in Saar’s whip, but not like it mattered.

“You want to take my sword? Then take it!” A glow appeared around the blade, rotating around the sword and Clayton’s hand. It destroyed the whip in a moment.

After that, the two-man had no choice. No… It was more about the change than anything else. In just a moment, the sword made a horizontal slash from close range.

“Fuck me.” Thought Saar in his last moments as his torso was cleaved in half, along with a chunk of the near house and wall. Even if he wanted to defend to his best abilities, he failed as his precious whip was turned to dust with this attack. The fierce blow of Clayton ended their exchange as fast as he could, but he couldn't do the second on… The unnamed figure wasn't in the direction of Saar.

Clayton stumbled to a side. “Damn it…” he complained.

A sudden force pushed the unnamed man that fortunately survived. The glowing strike did not reach him. Although, this still surprised him and made him mad that he was unable to get to his comrade in time. He waited it out as his shoulder side was bleeding quite a bit. As the blade was pulled out with the force, it went lower and sliced more of his shoulder and arm. It made lifting his hammer more difficult, but he still had the remaining strong hand.

So, the unnamed figure jumped toward Clayton with no hesitation, while noticing his momentary pause. He swung his hammer onto Clayton’s back, which was defenseless. Perhaps because of the lack of focus or inability to defend, it hit him straight on.

Bang!

Clayton was unable to dodge it and fell to the ground. He tried to defend with crisscrossed hands and with a sword he faced the sudden onslaught with his back, facing the ground.

Bang! Bang!

“Drop unconscious, you bastard!” The unnamed figure swung his hammer without stopping, while more blood dropped everywhere. Only stopping after the bloodied Clayton dropped his defending hands. His sword was still in hand, but with bloodied face, and hands, he couldn't do anything any longer.

Looking at him, the man dropped his hammer. Checking if he was still alive, he was glad he was. “Tough bastard. I am glad he is still breathing.”

“What do you mean? I feel quite good…” Clayton murmured.

“Bastard. You killed Saar. It is good that you are alive.” The man kicked his head, in a try to quench his frustration with the death of his comrade.

“Shut up you coward. Let me go.”

“Too bad. That won't happen.” The figure shouted in anger and took a crystal that had specks of light inside of it from his pocket.

“Sir, the target is captured. He got Saar, and I am injured. It is best if you come here personally to get him.” He talked to it as it was glowing from his grip.

“Good. Let him not escape again. Where are you?” An unclear voice talked from the crystal.

“Close to a central district, west main street.” He replied and glanced at laying Clayton. He struggled to push himself up, and move away in a try to reach his home. The man came closer and pushed his face to the ground with his hammer. “You won’t get anywhere from now on. What a pity.”

A row of riding horsemen came to a place where a rather quick battle had happened a while ago. In the lead was a youth with an arrogant look and loose cloak, which let the shiny armor out into the open. He was a young man in his mid-20s, with arrogant eyes and a prominent nose. He could be described as handsome with royal stature.

He did not even glance at the surroundings of battle, nor the two halves of Saar, which lay on the ground in the pool of his blood. He could not care less about the results of his orders. No. It was his purpose to lead the others. For himself, his convictions, and greater meaning.

“Good work Raamsi.” He got from his horse and walked to the remaining survivor.

“He killed Saar! Bastard.”

“That is to be expected. He isn't someone who could be defeated easily. I even expected for his another escape, but this is already good enough.” The youth calmly said.

“So you sent us to our deaths?” Raamsi thought to himself but didn't voice any anger outside.

The youth approached, laying Clayton who still had the hammer on himself. Crouching down, he grabbed his hand for him to see.

“I can finally meet you, sir. I heard about your skills.”

“Who the fuck are you? And why are you doing this?” Clayton asked while still struggling through the pain.

“I bet you already know. Man of your status shouldn't be completely clueless about the world we all live in. However, who knows, maybe you are like the people here after living here for so long.”

“You are from the Dawn?”

“No. No. No. I am the Dawn. Is something more accurate to say.” Youth explained.

“Hehehe. So a brat from the royal family wants some small pie from insignificant mortal countries? What do you want? The world?” Clayton asked in a mocking tone, seemingly understanding of what went behind the scenes.

This angered the youth a little, but he calmed himself before doing something unnatural.

“You don't need to know. You will serve me from now on, and that's all that matters. This will be an exciting new age for you and your abilities! Expect more forging and fame than ever before!” The youth talked in an exaggerated manner with mannerisms that went with the words he spoke.

“Get lost. I won’t be serving anyone.” Clayton shot down his request without no hesitation.

“I did not ask for your consent. This is an order, and you will be glad to be serving me.” The youth placed his face closer to Clayton in a chilly voice right to his ear. Then, getting up, he turned to his group.

“I heard he has a kid. Mister Rose, can you get him for me?” His question was pointing to the one particular hunched figure with a mask and hooded cloak.

“Don’t you dare to touch him!!!!” Shouted Clayton agitatedly as he heard his order.

“I am giving you a choice and no chances to refuse. You are unworthy to wield such weapons! You are weak, unable to defend against my soldiers. How pathetic to have them in hand and be so weak yourself!” The youth shouted with an unwavering tone before ordering Rose again. “Get going, mister Rose.”

The shrouded figure quietly left on a horse on the foggy streets. His place of going was the smithy of Clayton, who was known to them by now. Per Boris's instructions and information.

The youth then took a scroll from beneath his clothes and returned to face the laying, Clayton. He shoved it in front of his face while being unable to do anything but watch. A bitter expression of helplessness and anger was deeply within him. A black beam shot from the scroll and started to spread all over his body. This was a kind of forceful slavery seal, which was rare beyond mortal means, but this youth had it.

Shock appeared in Clayton's eyes as he discovered the harsh truth. He had no way to defend or stop this apart from the slim chance he had.

Gritting his teeth in pain. Clayton made up his mind. He did not know where they got their hands on such a thing, but the last strand of chance was still somewhere… Not for him… No. He was lost at the moment this seal emerged. They were impossible to create for most of the royalties on this continent. Getting their hands on them was outside of their scope, but some could manage it… with difficulties, luck, or enough treasures. This was something that came outside of this planet from individuals beyond mortal's royalty.

“You… Regrets will be the last things that will be on your mind when you die. I still chose… refusal.” Clayton muttered as the pain from the forceful seal pressed against his very being. It was that kind of pain that seeped to the bone with chilling power which was impossible to get rid of.

Having no choice, he activated something within his very being. Flickering droplets of blue light began to rise from Clayton's chest, who recited hard-to-discern words in an unknown language. Those droplets rose from him and formed a tall wall of flickering light right above him. They formed a formation that summoned a portal to unbeknown lands. The glow from them started to spread forth into the very middle, where it quickly formed a bright, bluish, round wall. This was a portal to that land, which was also something not of this world.

“Fuck! He has a spirit beast in his service! Get the hell out of here, sir!” said one of the masked figures behind the youth, who was a bit slow to recognize what was happening.

“What? How could it be possible? The information said nothing about this.” The handsome youth said in return. Having no choice but to accept the incoming danger, he chose to leave as fast as he could with the forceful way his servant acted. He tossed the scroll to the grind while it still continued to perform the sealing process on its own. The group managed to flee to the end of the street when they were shocked by the sigh on the other side.

Behind them, as they fled, furry paws with hidden sharp claws emerged from the portal. They continued to make long, furred legs of a few meters which landed around Clayton's body. Then came a head of colossal size with sinister eyes. A beast of 5 meters tall stature, resembling a wolf with thicker, spiked fur and great fangs, quietly looked at Clayton as it emerged fully from the portal. It had pointing ears, a similarly spiked tail, and eyes that were crimson.

Clayton was still struggling with the pain as the ideas in his head were being eaten up in this situation.

“This will be the last request. Afterward… You are free to leave and no longer be with me. Please help save my son and take him somewhere safe.”

The wolf growled at Clayton, hatred in his eyes. “You kept me sealed for so long. Now, this? Your fate is quite ironic, considering the circumstances. I hope Damascus will cease to exist with your lineage, while I will watch with sincerity.” Wolf talked in the deep voice of what sounded anything but humane.

“No… You are mistaken. It was a protection for the future. It was never mea…” Clayton struggled to say but was cut short.

“…I don’t believe you.” Wolf howled at him as he turned around and left. It didn't even care about the scroll beside his body, that was the sealing scroll it recognize. He couldn't be saved anyway, even if he shredded that scroll to smithereens. It would only lead to Clayton's death, which he was undeserving in its eyes.

“I will help your son. Farewell.”

“Wait… Take this and give it to him.” Clayton took out a piece of cloth from his pocket. A double hammer metallic emblem was in its corner. Hammers were divided in a beam of light as a single metallic hammer fell off to the ground. With this being done, Clayton laid his right hand, which still gripped his sword, and pushed it into the emblem hammer on the cloth. With the last shred of his energy active, he forced the sword inside, while it warped and disappeared into it in a moment. Clayton took this single hemmer jewel for himself and the other one was for Allan.

“I am sorry for everything,” Clayton said as he tossed the cloth to the wolf. He Watched the beast catch it in its mouth, before leaving the streets.

At the end of the road, the group of shrouded figures was watching everything from afar. “Sir Meng, we should rather leave right now.” said one figure to a handsome man. He tried to pursue him since the unexpected turn of events greatly risked their safety.

This was no beast that they could take care of, and they saw and understood it immediately. Not even weapons similar to what Clayton had in his hand would be much of a help against it.

“Calm down. It left in the other direction. Which is bad news as well.” Meng said as he turned around on his horse while riding back to Clayton, even with the hesitation and fear of his men.

“Where did you get that beast?” He asked while noticing the untouched scroll.

Clayton was still there, and the pain slowly disappeared. Not saying a word, he knew he was done for. Even if he asked the wolf to get him away, he would suffer from the cursed effects of Meng’s scroll and destroying it wasn't a question too. He will rather suffer the consequences than get the easy way out.

Seeing as Clayton accepted his fate, Meng did not pursue his questions, as his reason for coming here was done.

Clayton could have asked for a better solution, but the fate of what was coming to him was not something that could be stopped with a flick of some words or promises.

“I will contact my master to get hold of your son if you think what you tried before is some chance for yourself. You still won’t have a chance, no matter what. I swear on my name.” Meng smirked upon watching his face. Meng knew that he was a strong-willed man and will always be unwavering. He needed his son for the blackmailing, as that was the best choice for such a condition.

Clayton couldn’t help but curse the world inside, thus accepting his fate in bitter truth. He felt this world was against him and even the whole universe couldn't stand his hope and life.

“Take him away!” Meng shouted to the approaching group, which was still hesitant and nervous about the beast's appearance.

In Meng’s hands, a crystal with red veins materialized. He shattered it apart into a foggy crimson line that disappeared into nothingness.