Lightning Is the Only Way

The man continued. "My name is Samuel Norrington. I have been judged guilty on four accounts of burglary, 25 counts of robbery, 184 counts of ****, and 184 counts of murder."

Suddenly, Samuel charged forward. He had said the bare minimum that the formation required and tried to get Gravis by surprise. He quickly closed the five meters and lifted his sword for a chop.

Gravis didn't see this attack coming, but he immediately jumped back due to his fighting experience. When Gravis saw the sword slashing down, he took his chance and countered with a side swing. What Gravis didn't realize, was that his opponent's chop was only a feint. The sword easily stopped in the middle and quickly stabbed forward. The sword would reach Gravis before his saber reached Samuel.

Gravis jumped back again, aborting his attack. Samuel got the initiative and slashed again. Gravis only managed a weak block and got blown back again. Samuel didn't let up and continued to follow up with even fiercer attacks. Gravis could only continue holding on bitterly by blocking and jumping back. Sadly, mistakes were bound to occur when one only bitterly blocks, and Gravis received a slash to his abdomen, where a large cut opened.

Luckily, Gravis was able to jump back further and finally got some breathing room. All this dodging grated the bones in his broken shoulder, and the pain he felt was immense. The open cut in his abdomen was even worse! It was continually leaking blood, and small parts of his innards could be seen from outside.

Seeing that Gravis was outside his attacking range, Samuel stopped his onslaught. The surprise attack had worked and gave him a clear advantage in the fight. "You know, when I first saw you, I thought this would be a bitter fight." Samuel smiled arrogantly. "Luckily, I wasn't completely deceived by your bloody appearance. Say, did you roll in blood to intimidate me?"

Gravis furrowed his brows and said nothing. He tried to think of a way to win against his opponent. He only had to get one clean hit, and it would be over. Not in the mood for talking, Gravis jumped forward and took the initiative to attack with a slash from the side. Samuel lifted his free arm to block this strike and stabbed Gravis again.

and he was ready to exchange this injury for a severed arm

away. The sword left his gut, and Samuel flew back for a couple of meters. Samuel casually landed, laughed loudly. "Trying to trade injuries with someone who has tempered their skin. Truly, only an idiot would think of that.

tempered his skin. No wonder he felt such a massive resistance when his saber met Samuel's skin. This was a problem. How could he kill someone like that? Gravis could die

there. "You wanna know something? Do you realize why my counts

faint sense of unease. Nothing good could come from that. "That's because killing someone is the domination of the body." Samuel tapped his chest with the side of his sword. "When you

soul?" Samuel waited for an answer, but none came. He released a short chuckle. "When you want to dominate someone completely, you should do it thoroughly!" He lifted his sword and pointed it between Gravis' legs. "By fucking them, you dominate their soul too. I pride myself on the fact that I have completely dominated everyone I killed. I want to keep that streak up,

and disbelief, but Samuel didn't let up. His whole demeanor changed. He violently clenched his fist in front of him and shouted with a mix of passion and fury, "Hate! Despair!

the suffering of his opponents. Killing was a tool to resolve conflict securely, not to dominate. Gravis got used to the

beast was different. With his hesitation gone, Gravis finally found a plan that could work. 'I don't want to do this, but I

smile resurfaced. "Oh? You wanna go? What makes you think that this will end differently?" He raised his sword and pointed it at Gravis. "Well, what are you waiting for? Come on!" The sword tip

He charged and slashed at Samuel. Samuel blocked with another part of his injured arm and stabbed his sword forward. This time, Gravis jumped back instead of clashing with his opponent. Samuel gained the initiative again and followed up with a slash towards

used all his strength to slash his opponent's neck. Samuel didn't see that coming. He was sure that Gravis would jump back. What was it with this suicidal exchange? He had tempered skin,