Ulric was ecstatic about what was happening for all his immortal years in searching for a worthy opponent, had he never encountered such an individual like the one currently before him: "You are truly the god of war," finally accepting it to be real after all this time, "even when your old bones are breaking and failing, you are still moving like a young man in his prime," praising the human for this achievement.
This is a true warrior he has been yearning for, someone who was not afraid to die when it mattered the most. "You have surpassed the limits of mortality and have ascended beyond mere humans, becoming a legend to yourself." His respect for the old man is growing strong, "which is why." He smiled widely under his helmet. "I will enjoy killing you." His eyes then flared up with intensity. "May your name be remembered forevermore, Guan Yu!"
The madman sprints towards him with ferocity never seen before, forcing the old warrior to gather his bearings and continue the fight. He must prevail, or else he and everyone he knows will surely die tonight, gritting his teeth in anger while inhaling sharply.
Now the battle has begun anew, and there are no rules to this duel. It is a battle of life and death, a struggle where only one shall emerge victorious. Guan Yu hopes that he may claim the title of being the winner in this duel, but alas, that will only be known when they have reached their conclusions.
Their weapons meet repeatedly as sparks fly from the friction between them, causing a sonic boom to resound all across the clearing. Neither man is relenting to the other, as neither warrior has yet to fall on his back. Each combatant is displaying their true skills and abilities through their combat prowess.
Veins then appeared all over his wrinkly skin, but despite his old age, he still possessed plenty of inner strength and determination to keep going. Ulric observed the visible veins with astonishment, marveling at how he manages to achieve this state without having died from either exertion or shock due to immense physical strain.
His opponent didn't speak nor continue his parlay of words; the fight was more important. He continued swinging his curved sword with ferocity, forcing the old man to put some distance between them as he backs away from his opponent, who tries to strike once again. "Ha ha! A little bit slow, are we?" He cackled in laughter as he slashed his sword in rapid succession.
He evaded by bending his knees and back and narrowly missing the edge of the blade by inches. Then, his enemy immediately switched to a downward swing, causing Guan Yu to roll to the side and dodge it once more, followed by an upper swing that he ducked from as the ominous metal passed right above his head.
Using his right hand, he swiftly dug his fingers inside the exposed part of where he had cracked it, using his remaining strength to painfully tear away the remaining pieces of the armor before finally entering the skin. With one full swoop, he tore a chunk of flesh from Ulric.
Confused, Ulric took a step backward as he looked down at a large chunk of his lower torso to be removed from his body. He didn't expect the old man to do such a thing. "You know this isn't enough to kill me," blood then sprouted out from the exposed wound. "But I congratulate you on exploiting our weakness," he admitted with pride of being tricked into thinking that this human would never use such a tactic.
Panting heavily, he readied his guandao to face the opponent once again. "With a chunk of your armor gone, I can pull out all of my remaining strength to end your life," was his serious voice. This is his chance to end the fight entirely, but he needed to make it count.
Guan Yu's stamina is at its lowest, having lasted for nearly hours in this fight and knowing that he only had one swing left before his whole body finally gives up for good. He then changed his fighting stance, placing his left foot slightly ahead of his right one and pointing his weapon towards his foe.
Sweating profusely, this is his end of the rope. "With every swing that I deliver, it will make an impact," he exhaled, exhaling air from his lungs. "If I don't, then I'm going to die here," the words resonated within everyone who watched the entire battle unfold before them. It was a grueling, painful sight to behold.
Studying the man's stance and body language, realization dawned on him like the sun in the morning sky: "I see now..." The red-armored knight exclaimed with interest, "You intend to kill me using only one attack?" Grinning with amusement as he grips his curved sword, he says, "But I can see your endurance is finally at its end," watching the weariness overcome his opponent with each passing second.
"It can't be..." Tightening his fists with a mixture of dread and worry, Billy doesn't want to believe the monster's words, but he can see why: "Guan Yu, don't die on me, old timer," whispering quietly as his heart sank into the depths of despair. His mentor has no more energy to keep this up for long; his own life is on the line. "Please win." I hopelessly wish for miracles to occur.
Having listened to the Crimson Knight's words, they rang true, for he himself is reaching the brink of collapse. His vision is becoming blurry, and knowing he is going to collapse soon, he will no longer stay idle. With one last ounce of strength within him, he roared mightily as he charged forth at the enemy.
Hearing the man's cry, Ulric's smile widened. "Yes!"Give me more!" Gripping his curved sword tighter in his grasp, he anticipated and analyzed what this strong human was doing. He saw through this man's intentions, his mind filled with a joyous madness at the thought of ending a worthy opponent.
But his readings came wrong when Guan Yu deceitfully swung at a different angle than what he originally planned, kicking on the knight's left leg as he fell on one knee before using his beloved guando with one powerful swing, ripping his armor off in the process and striking the right spot of the body.
The crescent blade entered the area of Ulric's exposed flesh, slicing through in line as blood violently gushed out and splattered onto the ground, staining the grass. However, his weapon stopped in midway as the old man's eye widened in horror of stopping.
Slowly looking down, he looks to see his opponent's sword deeply impaled into his stomach, with half of the blade sticking out. Blood came gushing out of the wound and dripping down onto the ground in a puddle before the knight drew it out. "You know..." The Crimson Knight said as the frozen old man could only listen, "You played a very good game of life and death with me," he whispered to his ear in glee, "it was worth losing against a person like you."
Letting go of his weapon, he stumbled backwards while covering the bleeding with his hands, trying to prevent more blood from pouring out. His consciousness is fading by the second, and he is struggling to maintain any sort of awareness while keeping his feet.
"GUAN YU!"
Billy shouted in pure fear of witnessing the worst-case scenario. He felt like crying right there on the spot; he failed to protect his friend and the others that he swore to keep safe. The guilt and shame ate him alive to the point of rushing much to Morgan's protests.
As the green-robbed warrior fell on his back with his weapon still sticking out from his enemy's torso, he violently coughed blood out as everything started to fade out. The fight has finally taken toll on him, rendering him helpless against his powerful opponent, who slowly approaches him, "Congratulations for being victorious," mocking the dying man as he looms over.
Reaching where he was lying, Billy quickly knelt down with tears running down his eyes. "You can't die! Get up!" Sobbing uncontrollably while grabbing hold of the old man's shoulder, "GET UP, YOU BASTARD!" He shook him violently, but there was no response.
Instead of finishing the job, Ulric allowed the boy to grieve, for he can see his enemy's eye still briefly alive for the moment, having respect for a dying warrior that he refused to kill him in this moment. Seeing how it is rude to end a person when he is in moments of his own demise, "the boy cares for you deeply, as your allies do," he pointed at Morgan and Seth, who are also distressed to see what is happening.
Smiling sadly, Guan Yu coughed up more blood. "Billy, listen to me before I depart." Reaching onto the boy's shoulder with a shaky hand and getting his attention, "I always loved the three of you like family; I am proud to have you as my comrades; I never forgot that," he said, receiving a nod in return.
This is too much for someone like him. He had seen many deaths, both allies and enemies, but in all his years of being an outlaw, there was no one who had considered him a real friend. "Don't go. Seth needs you," begging desperately to remain conscious. He wanted to hold onto him and save him.
"I know...son...I know..." Look of sorrow upon his face, he saw Billy as his son just like Seth, "take care of each other, protect them from everything and everyone who tries to harm you," his hand slipping away, falling into the ground, "and promise me to better yourself and learn from your mistakes, you understand...?" Weakly asking with a slight smile.
Looking at his father figure one more time, he sobbed quietly and nodded. "I..." At a loss for words, he swallowed the lump in his throat as the old man weakly and lightly patted him on the back. "I will..." Sniffing his nose and rubbing his eyes, he tried to be brave for this before he finally saw it.
Guan Yu's eye slowly closed, his smiling wavering bit by bit until life finally left his body. His chest stopped moving as his body also became numb. "OLD MAN!" Billy screamed at the top of his lungs in a fit of anguish, "HELP! SOMEONE!" He is looking around for anyone to help him in this moment of distress.
Despite all that, there is nothing that he or Morgan can do. What has been done cannot be undone; Guan Yu has sacrificed everything for the sake of their safety, and they could do nothing to bring him back from the dead. He will never open his eyes or utter a single word ever again.
"A pity to see him die like this," Ulric finally uttered those words: "Your comrade is indeed a formidable man; few times have I faced someone so strong," sincerely commending the old warrior for how he has managed to fight until the end, "at least he has—"
"SHUT UP!"
Pure anger spawned on the blond boy's tearful face, standing up as he unstrapped his musket. "SHUT UP YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Shaking in fury at the monster who is responsible for this. He has enough of him, of everything. "DON'T YOU EVER DARE TALK ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT!" Gripping his weapon tightly.
Silence befell the area before Ulric laughed at this amusing display. "Then you will take revenge?" Excitement was once again in his tone of voice: "Then come, child, let me see what you are also capable of!" Spreading his arms, he anticipates seeing another warrior firsthand.
Morgan called him out, "Billy, don't!" She can't lose another one, not again. The trauma is fresh in her mind, and she is not ready to go through it all over. "Stop this!" Holding onto Seth firmly as she witnessed Billy taking a stance to charge.
However, before this could happen, a fist suddenly appeared on the knight's right cheek, resulting in his whole head exploding in a bloody mess with his brain and bits of bones scattering around while blood spew out, with a majority splattered on Billy's surprised face.
Landing on his two feet was an unarmed young boy with long black hair, a green Japanese kimeno robe, and brown eyes, along with an expressionless and unchanging facade. "Follow me if you all want to live," he coldly spoke before turning around to stare directly at the body he had recently killed as it began to fall on its back.
"Hmm..." Wymar hummed to himself, observing the recent intruder. "Strange, the child killed him with bare hands," which is interesting to see since most humans aren't capable of such feats, causing everyone to focus on him. "It seems I have no choice," Morgan said, and the mysterious teen was more than ready to fight again.
"You all shall be spared, for now." Just as he said that, he walked away, leaving all to look at him in bewilderment before Billy spoke up, tears still streaming down his own face as he looked directly at their savior.
"Why...?" Exhaustion, sadness, and defeat were evident in Billy's voice. He's in no shape to continue fighting—not anymore, not after what he saw. Nor has the energy to yell at this expressionless teen to get their full attention.
The long-haired boy sighed at this while giving the cowboy a frown. He had expected as much from someone when he decided to save a person's life, but alas, he found no harm in doing so, "My name is Genno Shinsho," revealing his own name with indifference.
