Then he felt something that sent shivers down his spine—he could sense bloodlust in the air. His body reacted before his conscious mind.
“Meow-meow!” Adlet rolled to one side just as the sword stabbed into the roof where he’d been. The other man had approached from behind without making the slightest sound. “Hiya,” Hans said. “I thought ya’d show up, Adlet.”
“Hans. So it’s you.” Adlet had forgotten—Hans was an assassin. Traps and surprise attacks were his field of expertise. Hans had probably predicted his arrival and concealed himself beforehand somewhere in the forest.
Hans yanked his sword out of the roof, and then, grasping a hatchet-like blade in each hand, he whirled them around, moving only his wrists. It looked like he was playing, yet he revealed no openings. His movements were bizarre. “I thought all ya could meownage was cowardly tricks. Yer better than I thought.” It sounded as though Hans was surprised that his ambush had failed.
“Well, damn,” said Adlet. “Now that I’ve run into you, it looks like I’ve got no choice but to do this.” He drew his sword and faced Hans. But that was just bluster. Since negotiation was off the table, Adlet was already considering his only option: flight.
“Come at me like yer gonna kill me. If ya don’t, this’ll be over real fast.” Hans had a broad smile on his face as he swung his sword. It was as if he enjoyed fighting so much he could barely control it.
“You go first,” said Adlet. “It’ll be a nice learning experience for you.”
“Mya-hee. Mee-hee-hee. Hmya-mya-meow!” Hans emitted a strange laugh and leaped at him.
Just what I wanted, Adlet thought. He would block Hans’s first attack and use the opportunity to throw a smoke bomb in his face.
But an instant before Hans would have struck, the assassin dropped to all fours and came to a halt. Adlet wasn’t ready for that. Hans threw a spinning roundhouse kick to smack away the smoke bomb in Adlet’s left hand. “That same trick ain’t gonna keep workin’ again and again.” Hans swung his sword, using the momentum of his spin. Adlet jumped backward, barely avoiding it. Hans twisted his body and pounced once more.
The two fell from the roof of the temple. Adlet landed, and when he saw Hans falling headfirst, he thought this would be his chance to run. But Hans landed on his fists, swords still in hand, and smoothly, with the strength of his arms alone, launched himself at Adlet. “Yah!” Twisting through the air, he struck.
It was all Adlet could do to block the blow with the flat of his blade. Hans’s full weight behind the attack threw Adlet off-balance. Hans landed on his hands and then, of all things, ran upside down toward Adlet. Then he flipped forward to plant his feet on the ground again, aiming for Adlet’s head with both swords.
“Ngh!” Though Hans’s build wasn’t that large, his strike was terrifyingly heavy. Just blocking it made Adlet’s shoulders scream. Hans’s stream of attacks was continuous—he flipped upside down, rolled forward, cartwheeled to the side, all four of his limbs working freely to harry Adlet. It was as if gravity didn’t even exist. How can a human move like that? Adlet wondered. He had no idea where the onslaught would come from next. Though it seemed as if Hans was just messing with him, his manner of movement was utterly efficient. He followed Adlet about like a cat playing with a ball, keeping his prey from getting too far.
“Tsk!” Adlet tossed a poison needle from his sleeve as he kicked at Hans with a nail hidden in his shoe. But neither hit their mark. There was no way they could. Adlet’s weapons were all for catching an opponent off guard. But at the moment, Adlet was the one off-balance.
“Hnnmya!” Hans grunted as Adlet’s desperate kick connected with his stomach. Hans dropped both his swords. In that brief moment, Adlet tried to throw a smoke bomb.
“Hnnmya-meow!” But as the swords flew through the air, Hans caught them between his feet. Then, spinning his body with the strength of his arms, he lunged at Adlet. Adlet somehow managed to block the attack from Hans’s feet with a sword, but Hans took advantage of the opportunity to grab his opponent’s legs and pull him to the ground.
“Damn it…” Adlet fell on his face. He didn’t even have time to cry out. Hans was instantly on his feet, pressing a steel edge against Adlet’s neck. Hans had defeated him utterly with little effort. Adlet had been crushed. Dumbfounded, the boy gazed at the blade at his throat. It prevented him from moving at all. If Adlet so much as twitched, he would be unceremoniously decapitated.
“Meow, too bad for you, Adlet,” Hans said, smiling. “It wasn’t a bad plan. Most people wouldn’t have thought up turnin’ themselves into a fake Brave. If I hadn’t been here, ya might’ve done a better job foolin’ everyone.”
“Hans, I…”
“Are you gonna say yer not the impostor? That’s not gonna work.” Hans was smirking. “I was blown away when ya went and took a hostage. I thought ya had more brains than that.”
So that had been a poor move, after all. At this point, Adlet was regretting it. But there was no time for that. He had to get himself out of this.
“So why don’t ya spit it out?” goaded Hans. “Who’s behind this? Why’d ya betray the
