Chapter 26: Menma VS Garrick
Garrick stood silently on the thick branch of the old pine tree, unmoving, like a vulture waiting for its prey.
The wind tousled his tattered cloak, carrying with it the scent of smoke and blood. The battle down below had long ended—but this one, the one that mattered, was just beginning.
With a sharp pulse of energy, Menma appeared beside him in a blink, sword recharged and crackling with crimson light.
His sudden presence snapped the branch beneath them, the brittle wood unable to hold the weight of two killers anymore.
Their eyes locked.
Menma didn't blink. "Why come all the way here just to die again?"
Before Garrick could answer, the branch split with a loud crack, and both men fell. Neither panicked.
They flipped midair with practiced ease, blades drawn and clashing mid-fall with a metallic screech that echoed across the forest.
Sparks rained as their weapons met again and again—precise, vicious strikes exchanged in fractions of seconds—until their boots hit the forest floor.
The ground trembled under the weight of their landing.
Menma didn't waste time. He took one breath, then released a controlled surge of demonic energy—20% of his power. A red-black aura wrapped around him like fire, distorting the air around his body.