Path of the Unmentioned: The Missing Piece-Chapter 58: No Turning Back [2]

Kyle pulled his tachi free with a sharp shing of steel.

His fingers tightened around the hilt.

"Guess I am improvising," he muttered under his breath.

Then he moved.

Wind mana surged around his legs, wrapping around his legs like a living thing.

The wind crackled as he launched forward, a blur of motion.

Risha eyes widened a little, his tachi slashing downward in a silver arc aimed straight for her collarbone.

Clang!

Her twin daggers wreathed in flickering fire blocked the strike just in time.

The impact sent sparks flying between them, the heat grazing at Kyle’s face.

He could feel the strain in her arms, the way her boots skidded back against the wooden floor.

Before he could adjust, she twisted her body with viper like speed and lashed out with a kick wreathed with flames aimed straight for his gut.

Kyle sidestepped at the last second feeling the heat of her kick graze his side.

The fabric of his shirt charred, the burnt smell filling his nostrils.

Kyle didn’t let her recover.

With a flick of his wrist, he sent a razor-sharp blade of wind slicing toward her, the attack whistling through the air like a vengeful spirit.

Risha’s eyes widened.

She slashed her daggers sending the arc of flames to block the attack.

BOOM!

The collision of wind and fire exploded between them, filling the room with black smoke and embers.

The force of the blast sent them stumbling back, their boots scraping against the floor.

Kyle’s lungs burned as he coughed, the acrid smoke stinging his eyes.

Just as the door burst open.

Two more Vipers charged in their weapons drawn.

The first, a hulking brute with a scar running down his cheek swung a halberd in a wide, sweeping arc. Forcing Kyle to duck.

The blade whistled inches above his head, close enough to slice a few strands of his hair.

The second, a black man wearing a cruel smirk, thrust the spear at him its tip wrapping with wind mana.

’Tch.’

Kyle’s fingers tightened around his tachi.

He could feel the weight of the fight pressing down on him, three against one now.

The odds weren’t in his favor. Then—

Crack!

’Lightning steps’

Lightning surged through his veins.

His body moved leaving a streak of blue-white lightning.

The two newcomers barely had time to register what was happening before Kyle was upon them.

One moment he was across the room. The next, he was right in front of them, his blade already mid-swing.

The spearman’s eyes widened. "Ligh—"

Slash!

Kyle’s tachi opened his throat before he could finish.

Blood sprayed across the floor in a crimson arc as the man crumpled, his spear clattering from his grip.

The halberd wielder roared, swinging wildly.

Kyle ducked under the strike, pivoted on his heel, and drove his sword straight through the man’s chest.

A wet gasp escaped the Viper’s lips before he collapsed, his weapon slipping from his fingers.

Kyle didn’t have time to breathe.

Two more enforcers rushed in, one with a spiked mace, the other with a short sword.

Their faces were twisted in fury, their movements sharp with trained aggression.

Three against one now.

Kyle exhaled.

The fight became a blur of steel and blood.

The mace-wielder swung first, the heavy weapon whistling through the air. Kyle parried with his tachi, the impact vibrating up his arms.

The sheer force of the blow made his teeth rattle, but he gritted them and held firm.

Before the man could recover, Kyle unleashed the wind blade that split his body in half. Blood spattered across the floor.

The swordsman lunged next, his blade a flicker of silver in the dim light.

Kyle sidestepped, letting the strike graze his sleeve, then countered with a lightning-fast slash across the man’s neck. Instantly killing him.

A dagger whistled past Kyle’s ear.

’Risha.’

She had circled behind him, her daggers blazing with fire.

Her movements were sharp, precise—but not experienced. She was clearly not used to fighting.

She relied too much on her Silver-ranked strength, not enough on technique.

Kyle exploited that.

When she lunged, he feinted left. Then twisted right, his tachi slicing across her thigh.

Blood splattered the floor, the scent of iron thick in the air.

Risha hissed but didn’t slow down. She spun, unleashing a torrent of fire from her blades, the heat searing Kyle’s skin.

He gritted his teeth and pushed through it, closing the distance before she could react.

His elbow smashed into her ribs, and he heard the satisfying crack of bone.

She staggered— freeωebnovēl.c૦m

—and Kyle drove his knee into her stomach.

Risha gasped, doubling over.

But she wasn’t done yet.

Her hands glowed crimson.

The air around her warped as flames gathered between her palms, growing larger, hotter—

A massive fireball.

Kyle didn’t hesitate.

He took a deep breath, and for the first time since the fight began, he called upon his water affinity.

The fireball rocketed toward him.

At the last second, water surged from Kyle’s feet, forming a swirling barrier.

Steam hissed as the flames crashed against it, dissipating in a cloud of smoke.

Risha’s eyes widened. "You—"

Kyle didn’t let her finish.

With a flick of his fingers, the water morphed.

Jagged blades of liquid shot from the ground, twisting at unnatural angles.

One. Two. Three.

They pierced Risha’s body in an instant. Her shoulder, her stomach, and finally, her throat.

Her mouth opened. Maybe to curse, maybe to scream, but only blood came out.

She collapsed, her daggers clattering to the floor.

Silence.

Kyle stood there, breathing hard.

Too hard.

His chest rose and fell like he had just run a Mile.

His hands couldn’t stop shaking. He stared at them like they belonged to someone else.

’I just killed someone.’

The thought hit him like a hammer to his ribs.

His mouth filled with the sour taste of bile.

His vision blurred at the edges, the room tilting just slightly. His knees wobbled, threatening to give out.

’No. Not now.’

He clenched his fists, forcing himself to focus.

The fight wasn’t over.

Others would come.

More Vipers.

Maybe even Garrick himself.

He had to move.

With a shaky breath, he turned toward the sword.

It hung there, silent. Unassuming. Just a curved blade on a wall, like any other decorative weapon. But Kyle knew better.

He reached out—

—and took it.

He didn’t have time to think about it and bolted towards the door.

***

The hallway was too quiet.

Then he saw them.

Bodies.

Dozens of them.

Vipers, their uniforms torn, their weapons still clutched in stiff fingers.

Blood pooled across the floor, so thick it made the air taste like copper. Some had been cut down mid-sprint.

Others... looked like they had been ripped apart.

Kyle’s breath caught.

’What the hell happened here?’

Then he saw him.

A man.

Tall. Too tall. His black coat draped over his frame like a shadow.

His face was hidden behind a mask—black and red, with a stitched mouth sewn shut by a red thread in a grotesque smile.

But his eyes...

Crimson.

Burning.

Locked onto Kyle like a predator spotting prey.

And in his hand... a blade. Dripping.

Red.

Their eyes met.

A chill shot down Kyle’s spine.

’Demonic energy.’

Thick. Suffocating. The kind that made the air itself feel wrong.

The masked figure tilted his head.

And then—

He moved.

***