While the battle amused the mysterious man, the knights involved couldn't have been more terrified than they were now.
"We are doomed," one knight muttered, seeing Sharv in a fighting stance.
"Yeah… how can we fight that monster?" another spoke. Faces pale, shoulders shaking, they were afraid to their core.
"The sole purpose of our lives is to protect people from Voidhearts." A knight with a massive shield stepped forward. Another also came forward, wielding a spear. "Fight with all your might. Leave everything else to the Commanders."
Four such knights came forward, extended their PRĀNÀ, and put up an earthen shield by channeling Earth Chakra in front of them. All the other knights followed.
"It won't matter," Sharv spoke.
"PÀVÀN ĀKĀSH SÀNYOJÀNÀM"
(AIR SPACE ALIGNMENT)
His Air and Space Chakras pulsed, emanating silver and black lights.
"Should we run away, Brother?" Vijay asked.
"I think we should. We don't have the power needed to defeat him," Sujay said, already on the move.
"VĀYÀVÍYÀ ĀKĀSH ÀSÌ"
(AIRY ETHEREAL SPACE BLADE)
Sharv's deep voice stirred both his sword and the air around him. Kràntàk hummed and then rotated in his hands multiple times. Twenty-five ethereal blades came into existence out of thin air. Shaped similarly to Kràntàk and made of pure silver air, their edges had a black shine. Each of their tips locked onto one knight, and their hilts connected to Sharv with a silver thread linked to the shell surrounding him.
"May your souls find peace." Sharv brought his sword down faster than any of the knights could see, cutting the threads binding the blades. With another pulse of PRĀNÀ, the silver blades rained down on the knights, each locked on its target. Shields crumbled, followed by their bodies. Five to ten-foot-deep gashes were created on the ground by the impact, filled with blood, flesh, and split corpses.
Sharv didn't care to look at the aftermath. Instead, he looked into the distance, in the direction of a certain tree which towered over every other tree in the forest, even though it couldn't be seen from there.
'I should kill those two first.' Thinking this, he followed the commanders with great speed, the air seemingly carrying him, induced by PRĀNÀ, boosting his speed beyond normal.
'Did he just sense me, from two miles away?' the mysterious man questioned himself, putting his binoculars away under his cloak.
'Those two are bound to die, it seems. I should inform the City Magistrate.' Thinking this, he jumped off the tree and flew south, towards the city.
In under half a minute, Sharv traveled more than five kilometers, catching up to them. He flew in front of them, blocking their paths.
"You can't run away. Answer my questions quickly, and I might let you live," Sharv offered.
But they unleashed their Chakras. Sujay had three and Vijay had four Chakras awakened, but the color of their Chakras was normal, unlike Sharv's changed colors, and the intensity of their Chakras was nowhere near Sharv's. But they boasted nonetheless.
"We are Voidhearts. We choose death over weakness!" Vijay shouted, shooting a volley of arrows. The arrows were carried by winds and were burning red.
"Yes, you shouldn't have followed us," Sujay boasted, as he brought out another bow and shot his own arrows. But his arrows were coated with ice and were ice-blue, the air itself seeming to freeze after touching them.
'Are they for real?' Sharv asked himself. 'Fear is written all over their faces, and they ran from the fight.' His face remained emotionless. But this didn't mean he was doing nothing. A red earthen armor covered his body, leaving only his head exposed. Arrows rained left and right, some hitting, some missing. But not a single arrow was able to penetrate his armor, though it was covered with ice in some places after the attack. 'They boasted about this level of power,' he thought to himself.
'What is this monster?' Sujay thought. 'What kind of dumb assessment ranked him as a Commander?'
'Fuck!' Vijay cursed himself. 'This guy… I have used all my power but haven't noticed even a single change in his expression from the very beginning.'
Sharv, without knowing what they thought, simply moved towards Vijay, who shot volley after volley of arrows. The arrows that missed Sharv and hit the ground exploded, leaving behind craters deep enough for a burial. But Sharv moved without even flinching, tanking all of them.
The fight happening in the air would have seemed like a rain of red and blue firecrackers, if not for the shockwaves uprooting trees after every exchange. The devastation brought upon the forest due to the battle was massive, as most of the trees in, more or less, a one-mile radius were affected by it in some way. It was as if autumn had arrived with celebratory crackers whose explosions had left the trees without leaves and with shaking branches.
'I am out of PRĀNÀ,' Vijay thought, and with that thought came his doom.
Sharv caught up to him as he was falling and beheaded him mid-air. The death was silent and swift, contrary to the explosions going on. Vijay's body and head fell at least twenty meters apart.
All this time, Sujay had drawn out a straight sword and was chanting some unclear incantations.
"It won't be easy for you now!" he shouted, his face twisted with anger. Armor made of frozen ice and earth had covered him. He lunged towards Sharv and attacked with all his might.
Sharv blocked his sword with bare hands then counter-slashed, cutting off Sujay's other hand. Screams of agony echoed in the forest. But before Sujay could come back to his senses, Sharv moved again without a care and slashed all four of his limbs, letting him free-fall. He caught Sujay before his torso hit the ground, then laid him down.
"Cool armor," Sharv taunted him, deactivating his Chakras and armor.
"At least show some happiness now, you Monster!" Sujay cried.
"You came to kill a Voidheart. Even though I am not one, I can at least act like one." Sharv's comment infuriated the limbless man, but before he could say anything, Sharv added, "Now listen, I can keep you alive and in the same pain for as long as I want. But you will be free the moment you answer my questions."
"Okay!" Sujay nodded with a grunt, his face distorted due to immense pain. "Hurry and ask what you want."
"How powerful are you, as in the power levels that you guys use?" Sharv questioned, sheathing his sword.
"Commander level."
"Hmm, and what is the criterion for that?"
"At least three Chakras, mastered to the fifth stage—the Master stage."
"And what is the eligibility for a Knight?"
"One Chakra mastery up to the fifth stage."
"And what do you think of me? Someone who has mastered the first five Chakras to the fifth stage," Sharv asked as he healed Sujay just enough for him to answer, "Answer me honestly."
"That would be the next level—a Marshal," Sujay answered, panting and exhausted. Sharv had sealed all his wounds, stopping the blood loss, but the pain remained. "But if I have to answer honestly, your mastery seems different from ours. So I can't tell how powerful you are."
"Hmm, I understand. And who sent you after me?"
"The City Magistrate."
"Do you have any idea how he would have come to know about me?" Sharv asked with a frown, testing a hunch.
"I wouldn't know. He told me that an unawakened Voidheart, from a faraway village in the forest, had entered the kingdom. He also sent your portrait from the last military post alongside your path to the city," Sujay spilled everything he knew. "Can you kill me now?" he added in a weak voice.
'So the magistrate knows where I am from. Could he also…' Sharv's thoughts were interrupted by a frustrated cry, "Can I die now? Please!"
Sharv fulfilled his wish with an earthen blade. The words 'die' and 'please' had reminded him of Kant. The boy had suffered a fatal injury because of him—at least, that's what Sharv thought. He left the place at unprecedented speed to reach Kant.