"Caleb, is that wise?" Rika asked. "We can regroup and find the Princess together."

"We may not have much time if we do." Caleb replied. "I’ll be ok."

Rika knew Caleb was right; anything could be happening to the Princess right now; Rika nodded as she understood what needed to be done.

"Just be careful out there." Said Rika.

Caleb gave Rika the thumbs up and started running back upstairs, returning to the room with several pathways leading to other areas of the Castle. Rika faces the villagers as they patiently wait for instructions.

"Ok, everyone, rest assured we will find those who were taken from here." Rika confirmed. "In the meantime, please follow me and stay together."

Rika encourages the villagers to follow her as they head back towards the airship before any more Lurkers would arrive. Back at the ship, Vinnie puts the final touches on the ship’s engine. The wing was fixed using the rubble from the flying fortress. Meanwhile, Kevin used his free time to practice his sword skills, or at least what he remembered growing up. Wielding the sword brought him back to when he was twelve, and he took in martial arts. As he practiced, the vibe he felt from the sword earlier was getting stronger. With each swing, it felt like the sword was becoming a part of him, like an extension of himself. Vinnie watched Kevin practicing as he noticed how serious he was taking it. Kevin finished his training letting out a sigh of satisfaction. He puts his sword back in the scabbard and wipes the sweat from his face.

"You’re getting good with that sword." Vinnie complimented

"Thanks." Kevin replied. "It’s weird, though; at first, the sword was a little heavy, but it seems like it’s getting lighter, like it’s a part of me, ya know."

"Really?" Vinnie said as he jumped off the airship and easily landed on the ground. "What kind of sword did Rika give you?"

Kevin started getting nervous as he remembered that no one knew he had taken the sword from one of the knights. He sees Vinnie walk toward him as he wants to look closer at the sword. Kevin steps back, trying to prevent Vinnie from looking at the sword.

"It’s nothing special; it’s just a sword."

"Nonsense, for you to feel attached to a weapon so quickly must mean your reiki resonates with the energy from the sword." Vinnie replied.

Vinnie continued to approach Kevin, who was backing away from him, until Vinnie heard something which caused him to stop. Kevin watched as Vinnie’s ears were twitching and turning, trying to pinpoint the location of the sound as it was getting closer. Kevin then noticed Vinnie looking worried as he began hearing several metallic shrills from far away.

"What’s wrong?" Kevin asked.

"It looks like we got company." Vinnie announced. "They’re coming for us. I hope you can hold your own, as Rika said."

"Yea, me too." Kevin said to himself as he took out his sword and prepared to fight. A small group of ten Lurkers appeared as they came from all areas of the room. One transformed its claws into sharp blades and attacked Kevin, which he blocked with his sword, and the two fought for dominance. Vinnie charges at a nearby Lurker and attacks it. As the two battle their foes, a few other Lurkers noticed their ship and were heading there to destroy it.

Vinnie noticed and quickly charged one of his swords with reiki energy and sent the energy toward the Lurkers before going back to focusing on the Lurkers he was fighting. One saw it in time as it moved away, but the Other Lurker got caught as it made contact destroying its mask and destroying the Lurker. The Lurker that dodged looked at Vinnie and hissed with its hair-like tentacles flailing with rage. With its tentacle hair, it created energy balls and shot them at Vinnie while his back was turned. Kevin looked back at Vinnie to see how he was doing and noticed the volley of energy balls heading to Vinnie. He pushed the Lurker in front of him away and ran towards Vinnie. He stood in front of Vinnie, and with his sword, he either blocked or swung away the energy balls that were heading their way. Those he deflected went flying in different directions, crashing and exploding on impact when they hit the wall. Vinnie quickly looked back and saw Kevin had saved him from an attack.

"Hey, thanks, man." Vinnie said as he turned his attention back to who he was fighting.

With great speed, a Lurker appeared in front of Kevin, ready to cut him down with his sharp claws till an energy ball hit it from behind, sending the Lurker flying overhead. Everyone stopped to look back and see Rika had arrived. The Villagers stood from a distance and watched as Kevin and the Knights succeeded in defeating the remaining Lurkers. The villagers cheered for their heroes, and three united thrilled to see each other ok. Vinnie looked past the others and noticed the villagers from different places.

"You found the villagers." Said Vinnie.

"Not all of them." Rika replied. They say that those creatures have been taking the villagers someplace, but they don’t know where. Caleb is still looking for the Princess.

"The ship should be able to hold these villagers, but we’ll need to come back for the others."

As Rika and Vinnie were discussing a plan to escape, several claws emerged from the ground behind Kevin stretching towards him. Without warning, they grabbed Kevin by the waist, shoulders, and ankles, putting him in a stronghold Kevin couldn’t get out of.

"Hey!" Kevin yelled, struggling to break free.

Vinnie and Rika look at Kevin to see the Lurkers holding him. The Lurkers begin to drag him to the ground, separating him from the others.

"Newbie, hang on!" Yelled Rika as she and Vinnie grabbed his hands and tried to pull him out from the ground. Unfortunately, the Lurkers were too strong for them and pulled Kevin through. The Lurkers phased Kevin through the floor into another room, the same room where the factory was held, and the villagers were turned into Lurkers. Kevin managed to grab his sword out of its scabbard and cut the Lurkers' arms. They let go, and Kevin falls several feet from the air, landing hard on the ground. Sore and feeling he may be bruised, he rolls on his back, trying to recover. Kevin then hears metallic shrills above him; he looks up to see the lurkers on the ceiling falling towards him with their arms regenerated and transformed into large sharp talons.

They all stretched their arms towards Kevin to attack, but Kevin rolled away in time as their claws almost made contact. Kevin rolled to a stop and quickly got on his knees with the sword still in hand.

A Lurker emerged behind him from the ground, ready to attack, but Kevin sensed the Lurker behind him. He turned and quickly cut the Lurker’s mask off, destroying it. Kevin then hears screaming coming from the human-sized conveyor belts. He looked at the machine seeing what it was doing, as he saw villagers being turned into Lurkers. He looked back at the Lurker he had just killed, realizing that it was a villager that he killed. Before the thought could sink in, he heard the Princess calling for help. He looked back at the machine as he saw that the last two people on the conveyor belt were the Princess and Callon attached to the machine as it prepared to put masks on them. Kevin runs over to the controls to try and stop it, but a Lurker comes out from the controls, grabs Kevin by his face, and begins to squeeze. As Kevin tried to yank the Lurkers off his face, Callon was locked into position. He looked up as he saw a mechanical arm holding a mask over his head. The arm descends, heading towards Callon’s face.

"No! Noooo!" Yelled Callon as he struggled to break free from his straps.

Kevin starts to feel the painful pressure on his head as it is about to be crushed by the claws of a Lurker. Kevin tried to swing his sword, hoping he would make contact, but the Lurker dodged with ease. With no time left, Kevin dropped his sword, grabbed the wrist of the Lurker with one hand, and broke the Lurker’s elbow with the other hand. The Lurker shrilled in pain, releasing its grip. Kevin quickly roundhouses the Lurker sending it flying into the machine. The Lurker lands on the mechanical arm that was holding the mask prepared for Callon, and sparks flew everywhere as the machine malfunctioned, electrocuting the Lurker. The large surge of energy causes the Lurker and the machine to explode. The mask attached to the arm explodes into several pieces flying everywhere. Small shards of the masked land on Callon’s neck, unknown to him, the shards absorbed into Callon’s skin till it was out of sight. Kevin picks up his sword and uses it to cut the straps off the Princess and Callon from the conveyor. The remaining Lurkers cornered the three; Kevin and the Princess armed themselves with their weapons protecting Callon from them.

"You guys alright?" Kevin asked.

"I can’t believe you came." Said Princess Anya.

"Just returning the favor." Kevin said as he looked at her and smiled.

The Lurkers then began to shrill, causing Kevin and the others to cover their ears as it was piercing their ears with their sharp shrills. The Lurkers stopped and retreated, phasing through walls and the ground till they were out of sight. They looked at each other, confused as to why they left when clearly they were surrounded.

"Why do I get the feeling this is not a good idea?" Princess Anya asked.

Just as the Princess asked the question, they suddenly felt a rumble underneath them. The pressure in the room changed as it became heavy; the pressure forced the three to go down on their knees, gasping for air.

"I can’t…breathe." Callon softly said.

"What’s going on?" Kevin asked.

"It’s Laban." The Princess replied.

"Who?" Kevin asked.

"She’s referring to me." Laban said as he walked into the room, still exerting his energy, parading his dominant power with pride.

Kevin looked at Laban; he could feel his whole body trembling not only because of the large amount of reiki energy he was emitting but with fear. He could feel the intent of this warrior wanting to kill them, and Kevin felt there was nothing he could do. Laban looked at Kevin as he tried to sense any reiki energy coming from him, but he sensed nothing, which disappointed him as he thought that the earlier power might have come from him.

"I was expecting a worthy opponent after seeing my Lurker army demolished by such incredible reiki. However, I arrive with more disappointment." Laban said as he reduced the pressure of his energy enough for the three to stand back up. "I am Laban Du Kane, the future ruler of this world."

"Well, I am Kevin, a warrior from Earth who's gonna stop you." He said as he stood tall, trying to look intimidating even though, in his mind, he knew he had no chance in hell against him.

"You? An Earthling? Do you take me for a fool?" Laban asked.

"I don’t know, you tell me." Kevin replied with a smile.

"I admire your attitude boy." Laban chuckled. "I don’t know whether it's bravery or sheer stupidity." Laban replied.

After hearing that remark, Kevin honestly felt insulted and stepped forward in front of the Princess and Callon with his sword in hand as he prepared to fight. The Princess looked at him, confused as to what he was doing. She grabbed him by the arm, stopping him in place.

"Wait, what are you doing?" She asked. "You’re not thinking about fighting him, are you?"

"What choice do we have?" Asked Kevin. "He’s not going to let us go."

"But you felt his reiki; he’s too powerful. You can’t beat him." The Princess warned him.

"Yea, I kinda figured that out when he came in." Kevin sarcastically said.

"Why? The Princess asked. Why are you going to fight him knowing that you’re going to die?"

"Isn’t that what being a knight is about?" Kevin asked. "I may not be a descendant, but I’ve seen what you guys do. I want to help; I don’t know how but I wanna be able to protect people, even those I just met."

Kevin looked at her softly, smiling; the Princess softly blushed as she looked at him, surprised that he would do this. She remembered he didn’t want anything to do with their world, and now he wanted to help. She nodded as she understood what he wanted; she and Callon stepped back to give them room as Kevin and Laban approached the center of the room.

"This is amusing; you still want to fight despite having no powers." Laban stated.

"Hey, I wouldn’t say I’m completely powerless." Kevin snapped back. I"’m part seirei jin; I just can’t figure out that side of me that has powers."

Laban couldn’t help but chuckle again, amused by Kevin as he’s never fought someone as amusing as him.

"I admire you, kid; in fact, I’ll make it fair and fight on your own level."

Laban raises his hand in the air; particles of his reiki energy come out from his body and begin to collect in front of his hand in the air. The particles of reiki formed into a sword and materialized before their eyes. He grabs the sword in midair and aims it at Kevin as he prepares to fight with his sword in hand. Kevin looks at Laban, feeling clammy; he could feel the cold sweat pouring down his head, nervous about whether he should make the first move. Because of his mask, it was hard for Kevin to get any kind of reading from him whether he was nervous too, but then again, he thought to himself that it was very doubtful. He gives out a sigh, knowing he should make the first move. He inches forward to see if he could psych him out, but Laban wasn’t moving. Kevin then ran towards Laban, sword in the air, and attacked, but Laban blocked without having to move. Kevin moved back and then tried to attack him on all sides. Laban matched Kevin blocking him with each attack and still not moving from where he stood. The two clashed, Kevin tried to push Laban back, but it was like an impenetrable wall as Laban remained where he stood.

"Are you even trying to hit me?" Laban asked to boast about his skills.

With his free hand, he punched Kevin hard on his left side, knocking the wind out of him. Kevin dropped his sword as he could barely breathe. He hunched over, still trying to take a breath in, but Laban hit Kevin on his back with the bottom of his sword, causing him to fall to the ground. Kevin, in pain, tries to get up; he reaches out for his sword but not fast enough as Laban pierces Kevin’s right shoulder. Kevin hollers in excruciating pain; Laban pulls his bloodied-up sword out from Kevin’s shoulder, releasing more blood as it begins to pool out, staining his clothes where he was wounded. He holds his wound, trying to ease the stinging, throbbing pain as he crouches in a fetal position.

"I had hoped the fight would’ve lasted longer; however, we must end this. I have a world to conquer, after all." Laban boasted.

Refusing to admit defeat, Kevin tries to ignore the pain as he stands up, holding his wound.

"We’re not finished." Kevin said.

Without warning, Laban strikes Kevin deep across his chest with his sword. Blood sprays out from his chest as Laban cuts a vital area. Kevin, unable to express the amount of pain he was in, watched as he saw his blood gushing out from him.