The cold wind from the Mysterious Forest still bit at his skin as Zevaron stood on the imaginary line separating the ancient, dense trees from the territory of the Aurelthar Empire. He unfurled an old scroll; a faint light emerged from its surface, projecting a map.
"According to this map, my destination is the Kingdom of Eldravia," he murmured softly. His eyes gazed into the distance, toward a civilization rife with intrigue. "Getting in shouldn't be difficult. My sister's branch office is there. That identity will serve as the perfect key."
After a long journey to the heart of Eldravia's capital, Zevaron finally stood before the towering main gates. Two guards in silver armor stopped him, their spears crossing in front of his chest. Without a word, Zevaron reached into his cloak and produced a metallic card engraved with an elegant family crest. Upon seeing the seal, the guards flinched, gave a brief salute, and allowed him to pass through the massive gates.
Zevaron headed toward the grand building owned by his sister's company. However, just as he stepped into the lobby and was greeted by a row of bowing staff, the city's silence shattered.
The floor beneath his feet shuddered violently. The first boom sent the building's glass windows vibrating fiercely. Without hesitation, Zevaron bolted outside, reinforcing his legs with energy, and leaped high onto the roof of one of the tallest structures.
"That explosion... it's far off," he whispered, narrowing his eyes. Black smoke billowed into the sky in the distance. But before he could analyze the situation, a second, far more powerful detonation rocked the atmosphere.
This time, the earth felt as if it were splitting open. Zevaron's eyes widened. At the epicenter of the blast, a gargantuan crater gaped, at least a hundred meters in diameter. Dust and debris surged upward, blotting out the sun.
"What is actually happening?" Zevaron hissed, his fists clenching tight as he sensed the lingering traces of a terrifying, alien energy in the air.
Zevaron remained suspended in the air for a moment, his body held aloft by the lingering momentum of his powerful leap. From that vantage point, he bore witness to an impossible sight. Above the gaping crater, several hundred meters from his position, two figures were locked in aerial combat. They shifted from one point to another at speeds that tore through the clouds, far above the center of the explosion.
"I don't know who they are, but this power level... is insane," Zevaron whispered. He stabilized his position, trying to remain undetected from such a distance. "Better to stay quiet. Provoking them right now would be suicide."
In the distance, a woman with snow-white hair moved gracefully. She traced a complex magic circle with her fingertips.
"
Massive slabs of crystal materialized instantly, locking the space around the red-haired man, entombing him in a transparent cage floating in the sky.
The man smirked. He drew a massive greatsword from his back. The blade was etched with ancient symbols that suddenly pulsed, emitting a crimson flame so hot that the temperature around the crater spiked drastically.
With a single horizontal swing, the crystal prison shattered into pieces, melting as it was swallowed by the fire. "How about now, Crystal Girl?" he asked with a nauseatingly arrogant tone.
Expressionless, the woman traced another magic circle. "
"Incredible control!" the man laughed with delight. "If I hand you over to him, my reward will be immense!"
"Try it," the woman replied coldly.
Right as those words were uttered, Zevaron leaped from the building he was perched on. He thought he was safe because of the hundreds of meters of distance, but the moment his feet touched the ground, a sharp hiss tore through the air from his side. Zevaron's reflexes kicked in instantly; he tilted his body, and an iron spear streaked just millimeters from his chest, smashing into a concrete wall until it crumbled.
"Hahahaha! You can dodge? Interesting, very interesting!"
A bald, muscular man stood at the edge of the same roof, laughing uproariously. It turned out that while Zevaron kept his distance from the main fight, there were others guarding the perimeter of the area.
Zevaron didn't waste time. As soon as his feet found their footing, he lunged forward. His speed created a small shockwave beneath his boots. In a flash, he was in front of the bald man, delivering a right hook reinforced with full power directly to his opponent's jaw.
The bald man tumbled back several meters, but he quickly stood up, wiping blood from his lip. His eyes glinted with madness. "Hahahaha! Your punch is quite strong! It's been a long time since I felt a hit that hard!"
The bald man rose slowly, ignoring the pain in his jaw. With a flick of his wrist, a pitch-black spear emerged from a storage ring on his finger. Without warning, he charged; his footsteps shattered the roof tiles as he swung the spear horizontally.
Zevaron leaped high, letting the spearhead pass just centimeters beneath his feet. While still in the air, he spun his body and landed a devastating heel kick to the bald man's chest.
Before his opponent could counter, Zevaron landed and blurred forward like a shadow. His right hand moved with lightning speed, grabbing the bald man's entire face in an iron grip. Without mercy, Zevaron hoisted the massive frame and slammed it into the floor.
One, two, three times... Zevaron slammed him repeatedly to the left and right as if the muscular man weighed no more than a sack of grain. On the fifth slam, Zevaron released his grip just as the body bounced, then twisted his waist to deliver a straight kick directly to the opponent's face.
The bald man's body hit the roof surface with such force that it created a crater of cracks spreading wide around him.
"Hahahaha!" The bald man coughed, spitting out blood, yet his laughter remained explosive. "Your attacks... are truly powerful! Hahahaha!" While still lying down, he jerked his hand, throwing his spear at the speed of sound toward Zevaron's chest.
Zevaron tilted his body with absolute calm, letting the spear pass. However, the moment the spear went by, the bald man's figure suddenly vanished. In the blink of an eye, he reappeared behind Zevaron's back, prepared to deliver a fatal strike.
Yet, before the bald man could even move, a wave of unseen pressure slammed into the pit of his stomach.
The bald man was hurled back a dozen meters, vomiting fresh blood that soaked the asphalt. He gasped, failing to realize when Zevaron had even attacked. Zevaron gave him no time to think; he appeared before the man in an instant, his fingers moving with lethal precision, striking key nerve points on the opponent's neck and joints.
Instantly, the bald man's laughter stopped. His eyes bulged wide, but his entire musculature froze like stone. He tried to move his fingers, but the signals from his brain were completely severed. He collapsed to the ground like a statue, unable to move a single inch of his body.