Chapter 1028: Gauntlet That Strikes Back

Strax sat on one of the highest branches of a tree, his back resting against the trunk and one leg swinging in the air. From there, he could see the entire clearing below, including the numerous sword marks scattered across the ground. Some trees had been cut so perfectly that their upper halves were still resting on their trunks, while large blocks of stone had been split into two or three pieces.

At the center of all that destruction, Samira continued training.

She held her new sword in one hand, performing slow, controlled movements. The blade was much smaller than the enormous weapon she usually carried, but Samira seemed increasingly comfortable with it. Her steps were precise, her shoulders remained relaxed, and each cut ended exactly where it should. Every now and then, she stopped, corrected the position of her feet, and started again, completely focused.

Strax had been watching her for almost half an hour.

"That woman has gotten way too focused," he murmured, resting his chin on his hand. "She hasn’t even been coming to see me. I’m starting to get jealous of that sword."

Samira stopped moving.

Her hearing was sharp enough to distinguish his voice even through the wind and the rustling leaves. Without even raising her head, she replied, "Then stop watching me and come help. If you have that much free time, grab a sword."

Strax smiled.

"I’m not exactly the best at swordsmanship. I make up for almost everything with brute strength."

"Great."

Samira finally raised her head.

"Then use that black gauntlet on your arm and fight me. Don’t hold back."

Strax looked at his right hand.

The chains of the Gauntlet of Darkness were motionless around his forearm. Since he had started testing the weapon, he had discovered several functions related to shadows and the essence of the dead, but he still hadn’t properly explored its capabilities in direct combat.

He jumped from the branch.

Before he even touched the ground, his body disappeared into the shadow cast by the tree. The next instant, he emerged from Samira’s shadow, appearing directly in front of her.

"I still don’t know what this thing is capable of."

Samira didn’t step back.

She simply raised her sword.

"I don’t know what I’m capable of now, either. So we’re even."

Strax looked at the blade.

Then at her.

A smile appeared on his face.

"You’ve gotten pretty confident after training with Zi Bai."

"I’ve gotten better."

"That’s what we’re going to find out."

Samira adjusted her stance.

"Come on."

Strax raised his right hand.

And Samira charged.

Her first attack was a diagonal slash aimed at his shoulder. Strax raised his forearm on instinct, positioning the gauntlet in the sword’s path.

The blade struck the black surface.

CLANG!

The impact produced a pressure wave that swept through the clearing and sent the leaves of nearby trees whipping violently. The ground beneath Strax’s feet sank several centimeters, but the gauntlet remained completely intact.

He looked at it.

Samira didn’t give him time to analyze it.

The sword immediately changed direction, aiming for the side of his body. Strax moved his hand and blocked again. This time, the strike carried a considerable amount of energy, but the gauntlet absorbed the impact without showing any change.

Samira took a step back.

"Did you feel that?"

Strax opened and closed his hand.

"Almost nothing."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Almost nothing?"

"It’s like you’re hitting a really thick wall."

Samira smiled.

"Then I’ll hit harder."

She disappeared.

Strax noticed her movement too late to follow it with his eyes alone, but his demonic perception detected her approach. He turned and raised his arm just as the sword came down.

The impact was much greater.

A crater formed beneath his feet, and a deep line tore through the ground behind him. The energy from the strike spread across the clearing, tearing up chunks of earth and splitting a nearby tree in half.

The gauntlet suffered no damage.

Strax examined the black surface.

There wasn’t even a scratch.

"Interesting."

Samira stepped back and spun her sword.

"Are you paying attention to me or that thing?"

"Both."

"Then pay more attention."

She charged again.

This time, she didn’t attack directly.

Samira made a short movement with her sword, causing Strax to raise his arm to block a strike that never came. At the same instant, she shifted her feet and struck the side of his torso with the flat of her blade.

Strax was launched several meters backward.

He crashed through one tree, struck another, and finally stopped when he planted his feet on the ground.

Samira remained where she was.

"You’re still watching the sword."

Strax pulled a piece of wood from his shoulder.

"I was watching the gauntlet."

"That’s even worse."

He let out a small laugh.

"Okay. Now I’m paying attention."

Strax disappeared into his own shadow.

Samira immediately turned.

The gauntlet emerged from the shadow behind her, followed by Strax’s arm. He tried to grab her shoulder, but Samira ducked and swung her sword toward his wrist.

The blade struck the black chain wrapped around his forearm.

The sound was different.

Instead of the earlier metallic impact, there was a muffled noise, as though the sword had struck something extremely dense. The chain moved with the blow, absorbing part of the force before returning to its original position.

Strax raised his eyebrows.

Samira noticed it too.

She jumped backward.

"That chain is tough too."

"Tougher than I expected."

Strax moved his arm.

The chains slowly slid over the gauntlet.

He thought about extending them.

One immediately shot forward.

Samira raised her sword and deflected the chain, but another appeared from the side. She twisted her body, jumped over the second attack, and landed several meters away.

Strax looked at his arm.

"Ah."

Samira narrowed her eyes.

"Did you just discover that?"

"Yes."

"Great. Then keep discovering things while we fight."

She charged.

Strax launched three chains simultaneously.

Samira dodged the first, intercepted the second with her sword, and ducked beneath the third. Her speed was much greater than before, but what truly caught Strax’s attention was the way she moved. Samira didn’t waste energy trying to destroy the chains. She simply identified the space she needed to pass between them.

She reached him.

Her sword came down.

Strax raised the gauntlet.

The strike hit his open palm.

This time, he felt something different.

The energy from the impact didn’t spread through his arm.

It disappeared.

Strax frowned.

Samira noticed his distraction and immediately performed another slash.

He blocked.

The same thing happened.

The impact struck the gauntlet, but the force transmitted to the rest of his body was much smaller than it should have been.

Strax began to smile.

"Wait."

Samira stopped her next movement.

"What?"

"Attack again."

She didn’t need to be told twice.

Samira gripped her sword with both hands and concentrated energy in the blade. The air around her began to vibrate as growing pressure spread through the clearing. Strax remained in front of her, his feet planted firmly on the ground and his right hand open.

Samira charged.

The strike was aimed at the center of his palm.

BOOM!

A pressure wave swept through the forest.

The ground behind Strax split open into an enormous fissure, and several trees were uprooted by the force escaping to either side. Even so, he wasn’t pushed backward.

The sword remained pressed against the gauntlet.

Strax looked at the point of contact.

So did Samira.

"Are you nullifying the force?"

"Not exactly."

He closed his fingers around the blade.

Samira tried to pull it free, but Strax held it firmly.

"I’m cushioning the impact."

"How much?"

"I don’t know."

Samira increased her strength.

The sword remained motionless.

Strax felt the gauntlet’s energy moving.

The weapon wasn’t simply resisting the strike. Part of the force it received seemed to be conducted somewhere inside it, where it dispersed before reaching his arm.

He released the sword.

Samira immediately stepped back.

Strax examined his hand.

"So that’s how it works."

Samira rested her sword on her shoulder.

"What?"

"This thing isn’t just indestructible. It can also cushion the damage it receives."

"That explains why my strikes aren’t moving you."

"Exactly."

Strax closed his hand.

The black chains moved again.

"But I want to test something else."

Samira raised her sword.

"Then come on."

Strax charged.

This time, he didn’t try to match her technique.

He simply threw a punch.

Samira dodged by a few centimeters, and Strax’s fist struck an enormous rock behind her.

The rock exploded.

Fragments flew across the clearing as a wave of black energy tore through the ground and opened a crater where the rock had stood.

Samira landed on a block of stone.

"You said you make up for everything with brute strength."

Strax looked at the destruction.

"I warned you."

"Then keep going."

She jumped.

Her sword came down toward his head.

Strax raised his arm to block, but Samira changed its trajectory at the last instant. The blade passed beside the gauntlet and struck his shoulder.

This time, Strax felt the blow.

Not enough to seriously injure him, but the difference was obvious.

Samira stepped back.

"You can’t protect your entire body with that thing."

"Not yet."

Strax moved his fingers.

The chains detached from his forearm and began to spread.

One wrapped around his shoulder.

Another passed across his chest.

The third extended over his back.

Samira watched the change.

"Are you trying to create armor?"

"Maybe."

Strax concentrated energy in the gauntlet.

The chains began to multiply, gradually covering part of his torso. They didn’t form a complete suit of armor, but they created a protective structure that followed his movements.

Samira smiled.

"Now this is getting interesting."

She charged again.

The first strike hit a chain across Strax’s chest.

The force was cushioned.

The second struck his shoulder.

Another chain moved automatically and intercepted the blade.

Strax noticed immediately.

He hadn’t ordered that movement.

The gauntlet was reacting on its own.

Samira noticed it too.

"It’s defending you."

"Yes."

"Then I’ll attack faster."

Samira disappeared.

A sequence of strikes hit Strax from different directions. The sword seemed to appear from every side, but the chains began moving automatically, intercepting some of the attacks while he blocked the others with his right hand.

The sound of impacts became continuous.

The surrounding ground was destroyed.

Trees fell.

Rocks were split apart.

With every strike, Strax felt the gauntlet react more precisely.

After a few seconds, however, he noticed a limitation.

The chains couldn’t fully keep up with Samira’s speed.

A blade slipped past his defenses and struck his side.

Another hit his leg.

Strax retreated.

Samira stopped her sequence and smiled.

"You’re relying too much on that weapon."

"I’m testing it."

"Then test it properly."

She pointed her sword at him.

"If you keep waiting for it to do everything on its own, you’ll keep getting hit."

Strax looked at the gauntlet.

Samira was right.

The weapon was powerful, but it couldn’t replace his own combat ability.

He smiled.

"Okay."

The chains returned to his arm.

Strax adopted a firmer stance.

Samira immediately noticed the change.

"That’s more like it."

She charged.

So did Strax.

This time, he followed her movements with his entire body. When the sword came from the right, he blocked with the gauntlet and immediately tried to grab Samira’s wrist. She retreated, spun her blade, and attacked again, but Strax used a chain to deflect the strike while advancing with his shoulder.

Samira jumped backward.

Strax entered his own shadow.

She spun her sword.

The blade struck the gauntlet the instant he emerged behind her.

Strax smiled.

"You’re starting to predict that."

"You always appear wherever my shadow is."

"Fair observation."

He disappeared again.

Samira immediately looked at the ground.

But Strax didn’t appear behind her.

A chain emerged from the shadow of a nearby tree and wrapped around her ankle.

Samira’s eyes widened slightly.

Strax pulled.

She lost her balance for an instant but managed to twist her body and cut the chain before hitting the ground.

Strax appeared in front of her.

The gauntlet shot forward.

Samira blocked with her sword.

The impact sent them flying in opposite directions.

Strax slid several meters across the ground.

Samira landed on a rock, which split beneath her feet.

Both remained motionless for a few seconds.

Then Samira started laughing.

So did Strax.

"You’re enjoying this," he commented.

"I am."

Samira raised her sword.

"It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to fight like this."

Strax observed her stance.

She really had changed.

Before, Samira probably would have tried to face his strength directly, using her own energy to compensate for any difference. Now, however, she was using speed, precision, and the ability to read movements to create opportunities.

Strax smiled.

"Zi Bai did a good job."

Samira nodded.

"He did."

She looked at her sword.

"But I still have a lot to learn."

"So do I."

Strax raised the gauntlet.

The black chains moved slowly.

Samira pointed her sword at him.

"Then let’s keep going."

Strax smiled more broadly.

"No holding back?"

"No holding back."

He closed his hand.

Black energy began accumulating around the gauntlet.

Samira immediately noticed that something had changed.

"What are you doing?"

Strax observed the energy.

"I don’t know."

Samira let out a small laugh.

"You really need to stop saying that."

The gauntlet began absorbing the darkness around it.

The shadows of the trees stretched.

The chains grew denser.

And for the first time since he had started using it, Strax felt the weapon respond directly to his intention to fight.

Not just to defend.

Not just to absorb impacts.

But to return what it had received.

Strax looked at Samira.

"I have an idea."

She raised her sword.

"Then try it."

Strax charged.

Samira delivered a horizontal slash.

He blocked with the gauntlet.

The energy from the strike was absorbed.

But this time, Strax didn’t allow it to simply disperse.

He closed his fingers.

The gauntlet vibrated.

And Strax threw a punch.

The accumulated force exploded in front of him.

An enormous wave of black energy tore through the clearing, ripping up the ground and destroying everything in its path.

Samira reacted immediately.

Her sword traced a perfect arc.

The strike split the wave of energy in half.

The two halves passed on either side of her and struck the distant mountains, producing two gigantic explosions.

Samira remained standing.

So did Strax.

They both looked at the destruction.

Then at each other.

Strax slowly opened his hand.

"Ah."

Samira narrowed her eyes.

"You discovered something else."

"Yes."

"What?"

Strax smiled.

"This thing can return attacks."

Samira looked at her sword.

Then at the gauntlet.

An equally satisfied smile appeared on her face.

"Then I think we’ve finally found a reason to keep training."

Strax let out a low laugh.

"Are you really jealous of losing to a gauntlet?"

Samira pointed her sword directly at him.

"I’m going to make you swallow that thing."

Strax raised his right hand.

"You can try."

And the two charged at each other again.