The gates had opened. Members of the Dead Eye Gang poured out of the keep and surrounded Alex. He looked straight ahead, completely ignoring the dozens of armed bandits around him.

“Where is your leader?!” Alex shouted.

As the large crowd of bandits laughed, a scrawny one emerged from the group.

“You want to see Samson? Are you some kind of Idiot?” He laughed.

As the crowd began to chuckle louder, Alex rushed the scrawny bandit and spun around, slicing his head off. The crowd grew silent, and they began gripping their weapons.

“Alex! Duck!” A familiar voice shouted.

It was the captain, followed by Aria and Stella. They were rushing the crowd from the side of the fort.

Alex ducked down as the captain began to wind up a full power strike with his sword. Once he released it, a giant blast was created that swept over Alex’s head. Over a dozen bandits fell to the ground as they were decapitated by the force of his slice. Blood sprayed everywhere and before Alex knew it, he was covered in it.

This display caused the group to begin charging the captain. Aria and Stella began to draw their weapons, the sight of over 30 bandits charging them filled them with fear. However, the captain held out his hand, signaling them to get back. Stella and Aria obliged as the captain charged forward.

He let out a roar as he collided with the crowd of bandits. Bodies began to fly into the air, some of them were even missing body parts.

“Is this the captains full power?” Aria asked Stella.

“He’s so powerful.” Stella replied.

The captain danced around his enemies, effortlessly dodging their blades and slicing through their bodies with his supreme force. Eventually, he got to Alex, who was fighting off bandits as well.

“You fool, you destroyed the whole operation. We were going to catch them by surprise! You could’ve been killed!” The captain said angrily.

A bandit charged the captain, but was met with a swift punch to the face and a slice to the neck.

“I have to do this. I have to look the man who killed my family in the eyes and kill him.” Alex replied.

A bandit began to charge Alex this time, but he slammed him in the face with his shield and cut him down.

The captain saw his conviction and decided to go with it, he owed him that much. However, his thoughts were interrupted when he remembered that there were 10 archers above them on the tower. But when he looked up, all he saw was Nero standing on top of it, who was covered in blood. The captain smirked and continued fighting alongside Alex.

Meanwhile, six bandits charged Stella and Aria, who were standing by the wall. The two pulled out their weapons and prepared to fight. However, Nero jumped off the tower above them and punched the ground by the group of bandits, causing an explosion of force that sent them flying. Nero exited the cloud of dust and noticed one of the bandits was still alive. He summoned his sword and began walking towards him. However, Stella got there first and delivered a swift stab into the bandit's chest. This shocked Nero.

“Stell... you-” He tried to say.

“Hush, we have to help Alex and the captain.” She said as she ran towards the battling crowd.

“Fine by me.” Nero laughed as he charged into the crowd.

The squad battled ferociously for a while longer, eventually, they were the last ones standing.

The captain was out of breath, he looked back at his squad, who were standing over the bodies of their foes. He seemed proud.

“That actually worked out.” The captain said with a smile.

“The job isn’t over yet. We need to kill Samson.” Alex replied.

“Leave him to me and Nero. He is beyond the rest of you in power.” The captain said.

“Not on your life.” Aria interjected.

Stella stood next to her in agreeance. The captain began laughing, which was unnatural.

“We’re starting to sound like a team.” He spoke.

The squad walked through the gates. The inside of the walls was empty, the squad had killed all of the ones who were standing guard.

“The archers on the other tower?” The captain asked.

“Taken care of.” Nero replied.

“Good. All that remains are the ones inside the building and the ones out in the countryside.”

“And Samson.” Alex said sternly.

The captain looked at Alex, he was worried that he would lose control.

“Kid, don’t let your anger make you think you can beat him alone. He will kill you if you let your guard down.” He spoke.

Alex didn't respond as he led them into the courtyard.

“Samson! Get out here! Meet your death!” Alex yelled.

The group stood on guard, in silence. They were covering all of their corners, awaiting their opponent's appearance. Suddenly, the large door to the main building burst open. A group of 10 bandits appeared, it was obvious Samson was not among them.

“Your leader, you fools. Where is he?”

The bandits did not get a chance to answer, Stella stepped in front of her squad and pointed her rapier at the bandits. She had a look of courage on her face.

“Enough games.” She said with authority.

The tip of her sword lit up with a brilliant light and her squad stepped back. A loud humming noise began emitting from her blade. She let out a small yell as she thrust her sword forward, putting her full power into the strike. An incredible explosion came from her rapier, blasting all of the bandits to ash and causing the walls of the fort to crack. All that remained was black smoke.

The squad was dumbstruck, they had never seen her act with such conviction before.

“Holy shit Stell, that was fucking awesome.” Aria said in awe.

“It was nothing.” She replied stoically.

As the smoke began to clear, a lone pair of footsteps were heard from inside the keep, slowly approaching the courtyard. They were heavy and careless, as if whoever they belonged to was completely unaware of the threat waiting for them.

“Get ready.” The captain said quietly.

A shadow of a man appeared within the smoke and some light coughs were heard from him.

“My, My. Was all of this really necessary?” The man said as he revealed himself.

It was Samson. As he appeared from the black smoke, the squad could finally see the rogue knight behind the heinous crimes of the Dead Eye Gang. He was a tall human, who was incredibly muscular and had long blonde hair. There was a large scar that ran diagonally across his face. He wore no knights armor, instead he had black leather armor and wore the fur of a large snow lion as a coat. He had two golden sabers sheathed on each hip, and a small sword on his back. He looked upon each of them, but smiled when he got to the captain.

“Joshua War-Song the 3rd? Color me impressed, I never thought I’d see you again. This is such a treat, who else could have irradicated a fort of men in less than an hour?” Samson said with a fake smile.

The captain spit, showing disrespect.

“You’re going to have your hands full with us, traitor, I have a squad of powerful knights with me.” He replied.

Samson took another look at the squad and began laughing hysterically.

“These... These Kids? Joshua you heartless man! You’ve brought them to die.” Samson laughed.

Alex stepped forward and pointed his sword at Samson.

“I am a son of the village you destroyed! On this day, you pay for your crimes!” He yelled.

“Village? Destroyed? By me? No, no, you’ve got it all wrong that must’ve been a dragon, or elves or something, I don’t know.” Samson replied with a smug smile.

Alex lost his cool, at that moment he began charging Samson. The captain tried to intervene but couldn’t stop him. Samson let out a laugh as Alex approached him.

When Alex was upon Samson, he noticed something strange. Samson’s body was fading, and was perfectly still. Suddenly, Alex was kicked in the side and rolled several feet before crashing into the wall. Samsons still body by the door faded away.

“Careful! Samson can create false bodies of himself using his speed. It’s called an afterimage. He could be anywhere, be on your guard!” The captain ordered.

Alex was slow to get up, but the rest of the squad formed a square to watch every angle around them.

Small gusts of wind were felt around them, each time from a different spot. Sometimes from the walls of the fort and even right in front of them. The captain's eyes were moving incredibly fast, he was skilled enough to barely keep track of Samsons speed.

Suddenly, the captain unleashed a powerful slash, sending a blast of force towards the wall above Alex. A loud clang was heard, and by the time the rest of the squad turned to look, all they could see was an afterimage of Samson blocking the slash with his sabers, right above Alex’s head. If the captain hadn’t done that, Samson would’ve killed Alex from above.

“Boy, get over here! I can’t cover you from afar. We all need to stick close.” The captain ordered.

Alex began running towards the group. However, at that moment his legs were swept from under him, causing him to fall on his face. Alex was completely vulnerable. Samson seemed to specialize against isolated targets.

Suddenly, Nero jumped high into the air and swung a wild punch into the sky. To the team's surprise, Samson had appeared where Nero punched, blocking it with his arms. He had predicted where he was going to be and stopped him in his tracks. Samson dashed to the top of one of the towers, while Nero landed on the ground. Samson looked down at Nero.

“You’ve got some eyes, not even your captain noticed that.”

Nero didn’t answer. His senses were far more enhanced than the rest of his squad. To win this fight, he was going to have to be their eyes. Nero reached down to his shadow and summoned his sword, he then pointed it at Samson.

“Cool trick.” Samson said.

Samson leapt off of the tower and pulled out his sabers, he was coming straight towards Nero. However, Nero jumped and met him in midair. Their swords collided and a shockwave was sent through the courtyard. The two then landed on the ground and started skirmishing at high speeds. The rest of the team could only defend themselves from the blasts of the fight. They watched in awe as Nero kept up with the Samsons speed.

Sparks began to fly from the collision of blades. The air itself began to heat up from friction.

“Damn it! We need to get back.” Aria exclaimed as she covered her face with her arms.

Everyone but the captain began shuffling backwards. The captain stood strong, ready to jump in at any moment. He had a feeling Samson was up to something.

For the first time, Nero could feel himself growing exhausted. His arms grew heavier with each blow. His legs grew more tired with each step. This feeling did not make him wary, he actually liked it. His power was only growing through his pain. However, Samson was no easy opponent. He struck at random, often swinging his swords in two different directions. This caused Nero to have to block and dodge in awkward ways.

Nero noticed something odd, despite Samsons random dashing strikes, they had a strange rhythm.

Suddenly, he heard his squad mates yelling to him, causing him to look away from Samson.

While Nero was distracted, he felt a heavy kick to his right knee, causing him to kneel down and look at the ground. This is when he noticed there were intricate lines drawn in the dirt around him. It was a rune. Samson had been drawing it with his feet while striking around Nero’s body.

Samson jumped far backwards, with a smirk on his face.

“You’re fast kid, but I know something that’s even faster.” He spoke.

Samson raised his sword in the air, and began exerting magic energy. Nero tried to get up, but the pain in his knee caused him to stumble. He had been outplayed.

Samson let out a grunt as he swung his sword down.

Nero felt a surge running through his body, he knew what was coming.

He looked up to the sky and saw a yellow flash approaching him at blinding speeds.

Everything went black, the fight before him was gone. All that followed was thunder.