Kyle didn't have any leverage in the air, but he could still move his hammer to his side a bit.
BANG!
The sword hit the hammer's handle.
However, the Paladins were exceptionally trained, and he had changed the angle of his sword a bit.
Because of that, the sword also cut into Kyle's lower left arm, which was beside the handle.
At that moment, the Paladin's eyes narrowed.
BANG!
A tiny explosion of light appeared at the spot where the sword hit Kyle's arm.
The next moment, the force of the strike threw Kyle and his hammer into the distance.
As Kyle flew into the distance, he noticed a lower arm flying past him.
That was his arm.
The little explosion of light had not been weak.
In fact, it had been stronger than all the ones the Paladins had used before.
The only reason why the explosion was smaller was that it was just very concentrated.
Kyle landed on the ground, his feet creating two long crevices as his body stopped.
'Fuck!' he thought, looking at his left arm, which was now a stump. 'I've been using the full power of my Aristocrat's Body, but I'm still losing! These guys are scary when fighting in a team!'
Kyle could fight one of them, but two of them were too hard to deal with.
Since he only had one arm left, swinging his hammer was no longer easy.
The hammer was designed to be swung with two arms.
'I might die here,' Kyle thought.
However, instead of despairing, Kyle just narrowed his eyes with conviction.
Naturally, the two Paladins immediately made use of Kyle's weakened state and charged at him.
One of them stopped around ten meters away from Kyle, planning on launching another destabilizing explosion.
The other one charged forward with his sword.
Kyle bent down and readied to jump backward.
He moved back.
The other Paladin launched the explosion.
And yet…
It was only Kyle's torso that moved back.
He didn't actually jump.
BANG!
The light explosion appeared a meter behind Kyle, but since it wasn't below him, it pushed him toward the other Paladin.
The other Paladin adapted to the change and swung early.
At that moment, Kyle hooked his right foot under the hammer and kicked forward.
The hammer's head shot up, leaving a trail of fire behind.
BANG!
The sword hit the hammer, but since there was almost no power behind the hammer, the sword just pushed the hammer to the side.
The Paladin knew that his strike had essentially disarmed Kyle.
With one arm, he couldn't possibly regain control of his hammer.
So, he readied to charge through the fire wall, which had appeared between him and the target.
But just when the Paladin charged forward, Kyle also jumped through the fire wall.
The Paladin stopped.
Kyle was too close for his sword.
The Paladin tried to move the handle of his sword upward to block, but moving such a heavy sword also wasn't easy.
Because of that, the Paladin was essentially not defending himself.
Luckily, he still wore armor.
This armor could even survive the strike of a beast.
An unarmed human couldn't do much damage with a punch or kick, and if Kyle decided to grapple with him, the other Paladin would just kill him.
Kyle crashed into the Paladin, and the Paladin fell backward.
Kyle's left knee was on the Paladin's chest as the Paladin's back hit the ground.
At that moment, Kyle gritted his teeth and used his elbow to hit the Paladin's helmet.
Yet, just before the impact, Metal Ether gathered around Kyle's elbow.
BANG!
The Paladin's helmet broke under Kyle's Pilebunker.
If the helmet were as hard as Kyle's helmet, this wouldn't have happened.
Kyle's elbow hit the head beneath the helmet, but almost all of its power had already been used on the helmet.
BANG!
Some blood came out of the Paladin's head, but his skull wasn't injured.
It was just a surface wound.
Yet, the Paladin felt the world around him warp and shift.
His skull was still intact, but the elbow strike had still been enough to give his brain a strong shake.
The Paladin dropped his sword as he lost control of his body.
Meanwhile, the other Paladin was already charging forward.
After finishing his strike, Metal Ether gathered around Kyle's middle finger.
And then, he stabbed it right into the Paladin's left eye.
CRKSH!
Kyle's finger broke the eyeball and buried itself into the Paladin's head.
The back of the orbital bones were not very hard, and Kyle's finger broke through them, reaching the Paladin's brain.
Then, he shoved a huge amount of Fire Ether into the Paladin's brain, essentially cooking it.
The Paladin's body spasmed, but that was just a reflex.
He was already dead.
It was not different from half a fish suddenly jumping around in the oven, which happened frequently on Earth when the fish was especially fresh.
The other Paladin reached Kyle and swung down.
Kyle lifted his left arm.
Half of his lower arm and his upper arm were still there.
He stretched his arm right into the sword.
CRKSH!
The sword hit the stump and bisected Kyle's arm length-wise.
However, Kyle's body was not weak, and he used a lot of the stored Ether in his Center to strengthen his arm.
Because of that, the sword lost its stability and changed its cutting angle after closing in on Kyle's shoulder.
It moved out of Kyle's body, essentially removing Kyle's entire triceps.
CRACK!
Then, the sword re-entered Kyle's body on his ribcage, cracking several ribs.
But it didn't have enough power to punch through the ribs.
The strike was halted.
BANG!
Kyle kicked the Paladin away before jumping back.
The Paladin quickly recovered his stance and charged towards Kyle.
Yet, Kyle just turned around and ran.
He was missing half of his armor and 75% of his left arm. On top of that, he also wasn't carrying his hammer.
Because of that, his speed was even a bit higher than the Paladin's.
The Paladin gritted his teeth.
He couldn't catch up to the half-dead Kyle!
He was so close to killing him!
Kyle had to lose his power at some point!
If he just kept charging, he would get him!
The Paladin charged after Kyle for several seconds.
He was so close!
Eventually, the two of them reached the street again.
Suddenly, Kyle stopped running, and the Paladin found his chance.
He would kill Kyle!
But then, the Paladin's Soul sensed danger in the surroundings.
He moved his sword to the left to block.
BANG!
A staff hit the sword, but the Paladin managed to withstand the strike.
His stance was still stable.
CRKSH!
Then, a spear came out of his chest.
In shock, the Paladin looked back, and he saw a small human with a long spear.
Falk.
This was the last thing he saw before another staff strike from Tracy broke his neck.
Kyle sighed in relief.
'This is not a one-on-two.'
'I just have to survive long enough for my teammates to arrive.'
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