Youji heard screams and frantic cries around him. Although he appeared calm on the outside, he was anything but. The unreal scene before him had thrown him into a state of fear and desperation.

It was as if a giant hand was sweeping across the army. Except the hand was a blade of energy, and instead of knocking knights down, it was scorching them to dust. The knights below were pushing and trampling over one another. But their desperate attempts to flee were in vain. The blade of energy was not slowed at all by the tens of thousands of bodies in its path. Anyone and anything it touched was incinerated in an instant, without exception.

How can anyone be so powerful?

The floor beneath him began quaking. A loud screeching noise pierced the air. He looked down the edge of the observation deck and saw the blade of energy cutting into the Royal Palace. The windows and stone walls were being blown to bits, releasing shards of glass and plumes of dust. It was only a matter of time before the whole palace collapsed.

He tried to think of a way to save the royal family. Since they wouldn’t be able to reach the front doors in time, the only one way out of the palace was off the edge of the observation deck. With his skills, he would only be able to save one member the royal family. He needed to entrust the safety of the other two to Raizen.

Youji turned to face Raizen. "Save the prince and princess! I'll take the king!"

Raizen nodded. "Got it!"

Youji rushed to King Rowan's side and flung him over his shoulder. "My apologies, Your Majesty."

"What about my children?"

"Raizen has that covered."

The floor beneath Youji cracked and tilted. He anchored himself by stabbing his sword into it.

He watched the nobles cling desperately to the railings of the observation deck. But there was nothing he could do to help them. They fell screaming, one after another, as the observation deck broke apart into stone slabs.

Youji pulled out his sword. "Leg Boost!"

Mana flowed into his legs, filling them with power. He sprung from one stone slab to another, dodging and cutting away debris, all the while carrying King Rowan over his shoulder.

"Tornado Slash!" Youji spun around at high speed, right before reaching the ground.

The air current created by his spinning motion blew away the plumes of dust around him and softened his landing.

A massive shadow loomed overhead. Looking up, he saw a gigantic slab of stone falling straight toward him. There was no time to move out of the way. His only option was to cut through it.

Youji was about to make a move, when a torrent of lightning crackled through the air and struck the stone slab from the side, ripping it apart into countless of pieces.

I'll thank him later.

Raizen was the only mage he knew who could cast [Lightning Barrage]. It was an incredibly fast and powerful attack spell.

Most of the debris from the stone slab fell harmlessly around Youji, but some of the it continued falling toward him.

I cannot afford to let a single one reach the king.

“Razor Focus!”

Time itself seemed to slow down. The debris appeared to fall more slowly. He could perceive the location and movement of each and every stone.

"Limiter Release!" The limitations that his mind had subconsciously placed on his body, to protect it, were removed.

He repelled every stone that entered his sword range. It was as if there was a barrier around him.

After knocking away all the stones, he lay King Rowan on the ground. The king was unconscious, but otherwise unharmed. When the dust settled, only rubble remained where the Royal Palace once stood.

After using so many skills in quick succession, he felt physically and mentally drained. He fell to his knees, gasping for air. His head throbbed and his vision blurred. He heard muffled voices and turned his head toward them. Although his vision was blurry, he could still make out the figures of Raizen, the prince, and the princess approaching him.

His mental fog cleared enough for Raizen's voice to break through.

"You alright, Youji? How's the king?"

"I'm alright." Youji stopped to catch his breath. "The king is unconscious."

Raizen knelt next to King Rowan and muttered “Awaken.”

King Rowan's eyes fluttered open. "Wha-what happened?"

"The Royal Palace collapsed." Raizen paused. "Apart from you and your children, we couldn't save anyone else. I'm sorry, your Majesty."

"What about the army?"

Raizen shook his head.

"But-but how? How can that be? Twenty-five thousand knights gone... in an instant..." King Rowan appeared dazed.

Youji helped the king stand. "Your Majesty, I don't mean to be pushy, but we need to leave now. Hupo is probably headed this way."

He heard a deafening thunder clap behind him. A fraction of a second later, he felt as if a huge hand had slammed into his back. He was sent flying through the air, for what seemed like ages, until he crashed onto his side. As dirt fell all around him, he pushed himself up.

He rushed toward King Rowan, who lay on the ground not far from to him. "Your Majesty, are you hurt anywhere?"

King Rowan coughed. "I'm fine. How are others?"

Before Youji could reply, he heard a distant, but clear voice from the direction of the blast.

"They look fine as well." Hupo was strolling up the edge of a crater toward them.

***

Youji scanned his surroundings and saw that Raizen, Prince Darius, and Princess Amigdala were back on their feet. He knew that he couldn’t beat Hupo, even with Raizen's help. The best he could do was buy time for the royal family to escape. Even if he could only buy a minute, with his life, then that would be enough.

“Raizen, get the royal family away from here, as far as you can. I'll hold Hupo here.”

"Don't worry, I'll take care of them. But don't go dying on me just yet. You still owe me one." Raizen gathered the royal family and ran.

There's no one I trust more than you, old friend, with the royal family's safety.

Resolving to put everything he had into the next minute, Youji began activating his skills, one after another.

"Razor Focus, Limiter Release, Arm Boost, Leg Boost, Harden Muscles, Harden Bones, Endure Pain."

Under normal circumstances, he would never activate so many skills at once. Otherwise, he could die from exhaustion when they wore off. But now was not the time to hold back. Extreme circumstances called for extreme measures.

He felt like a ball of energy had exploded inside of him, spreading power to his entire body. He had never felt power like this before.

Yes, with this power, I should be able to last at least a minute against him.

For the next few minutes, he would have a superhuman body. His senses and reflexes had exceeded the bounds of humanity. He could bend metal with his arms and leap several stories. His muscles and bones were as tough as metal. He could endure a stab wound without batting an eye. And to top it all off, he had the skills of a Master Level swordsman.

All his skills and battle experience would be put to the test in the next few minutes.

This is it.

He raised his sword and lunged toward Hupo with a speed he never knew he had. But before he could take another step, his heart and mind were pierced by an overwhelming sense of impending doom. His sword fell from his hand and he collapsed onto his knees.

"Hold me here? Please don't say impossible things." A choking bloodlust was bursting forth from Hupo.

Youji felt wave after wave of intense fear. His heart pounded so loudly that he was afraid it was going to burst out of his chest. He became so afraid that he couldn’t catch his breath. His whole body was shaking, and he felt as though he was going to throw up.

Am I dying?

Hupo stopped at Youji’s side, leaned toward his ear, and whispered, "How can you hold me here, when you can't even move?"

After Hupo passed him, the bloodlust dissipated. Youji was able to breathe normally again, but he couldn’t stop shaking or move his body.

Is this all that my decades of backbreaking training and battle experience amounts to? A one second fight?