Alice hid among the women in the church. Before the assault had begun, all the women and children had been taken to the church. Around two hundred people had found shelter inside, not including children. The adults all scurried around, praying and doing whatever they could. Alice was there alone, not overly familiar with anyone else there.

Time passed, she wasn’t sure how much. All sorts of sounds could be heard outside - occasional screams and the sounds of magical chanting, but nothing sounded too close.

Alice stay huddled among all the strangers around her. She was told to hide behind people, so that she might not be seen. The head priest told everyone to keep quiet, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible.

Alice was scared, but she had faith in everyone. All the adventurers that frequented The Hearth said they would protect this town no matter what. That under no circumstances would the army reach her.

That promise was broken when the shouting and cries could be heard right outside the church’s doors. Loud banging was heard as the doors began to shake, the heavy thuds mixing in with the sudden cries of babies. Less than a minute later, the doors fell flat onto the cold stone floors, dozens of armored soldiers barging inside.

Alice huddled down, trying to hide. She looked down at the stone floor, trying not to cry. Her little heart was pounding so fast that she was afraid it would give away at any moment. She had her eyes closed as the shouting began. She heard many steps around her, but she herself was paralyzed by fear.

“Take the women, kill the children.” she heard a voice above her. As she opened her eyes to look up, she was greeted by a tall heavy soldier that stood in front of her. She fell backwards, slowly crawling back. Imagine her surprise when she realized that everyone else had run towards the back, and that she was the only person to be so close to the front.

The soldier raised his sword up high, ready to swing it down.

Alice closed her eyes, tears dripping out of her eyes as she raised her arms to cover her head in fear.

Seconds passed, but she felt nothing. She heard only silence, and wondered what had just happened. Chills went down her back as she found the courage to open her eyes. In front of her was a different figure now. It was a familiar person, someone she recognized.

Magnus turned his head, and he smiled just a little.

“I’ve come back for you.” He grinned. He held the soldier’s sword in his hand, blood dripping down his elbow. He showed no signs of pain, but that wasn’t important. There was simply something terrifying and sinister about the way Magnus carried himself, as well as the air around him. Yet she believed deep down, that she could still trust him.

“I need you to help me out with one thing… could you please close your eyes? Until it’s safe?” he asked.

Alice closed her eyes, and that was when the blood curdling screaming began.

* * *

As she closed her eyes, I found a sense of relief. If anything, it was just a selfish request of mine.

The soldier cut deeper, even more blood dripped down my arms. You could hear the blood as it splattered onto the stone floors. The pain wasn’t that bad for some reason. I grabbed the soldier’s throat, and he let go of the sword. I pulled the sword out of my arm with my other hand as I raised him into the air. His legs flail about as he tried to get out of my grip, but to no avail. What immediately followed after was the sound of entrails and steels as it hit the stone floors.

I was tired. I felt so weary and slow, like behind held down by heavy chains. But I moved on, pushing past everything. As I walked, the shadows and the lights in my eyes seemed to bend. Trickles of black and white mingled with each other, creating strands of darkness and coils of white. It felt slightly nauseous, but otherwise I felt alright.

Black tendrils broke out of the ground like branches, grabbing them by the feet. The branches split apart, wrapping around the chest and limbs. They screamed as I grasped my hand, the black branches crushing most of the bones in their body. Blood splattered all over the place as I dropped them on the ground. The soldiers ahead took a step back, holding up their shields. Soldiers in the back held out spears directed towards me.

In my head I could see the Abyss. A world of red and black, filled with the putrid stench of death and decay. And in that moment I slipped into the other world, reappearing behind the soldiers. They stared ahead, unsure of what had just happened as I created spears of black pointed at their backs. They were able to turn their heads before I impaled them and the spears slammed onto the ground beneath. They were alive, but in agony. I left one alone, after all I needed information. The screams would encourage him to talk.

“Where are your leaders?” I leaned forward, the shadows behind me leaning forward as well, looking down upon him.

His knees were shaking and his stance was completely shattered. He had no will to fight, but surprisingly he wasn’t completely broken yet.

I didn’t have time for this.

I tossed him into the air, four triangular prisms forming beneath him. I pointed them at his limbs as he fell down, piercing the palm of his hands and his feet. He screamed as the spikes dug deeper, and I forced the black matter to travel through his body. The cries continued as I ripped the bones out from the inside, tearing apart his flesh until he conceded. Drool and tears dripped down onto the floor as I pulled his hair, forcing him to look into my eyes.

“Where are your leaders?” I asked again.

“Outside, with the rest of the army,” his voice was hollow and empty.

“How did you get in?”

“They told a small portion us to push in regardless of the consequences. We set up a phalanx and shoved our way inside. Some of us died on our way in.”

“How many captains?”

“Three…” his voice had become soft and quiet.

“How strong are they?”

There was no response. He had bled out and died there on the spot. That question didn’t really matter anyways. Whoever it was, as long as they were human, I would crush them. The black pillars that held him up dissipated, and his corpse was dropped onto the stone floor. The other soldiers on the floor tried to get up, trying to pull the sword out of their chests, only in vain. I walked towards one of them, forcing the sword to dissolve. I immediately grabbed him by the throat and raised him into the air, blood dripped down my arm like a flood.

“How many of you are waiting outside?” I asked.

“Well over a thousand were left outside. They said to attack in waves.”

This one spoke up rather easily.

“Why?”

“To let the weaker soldiers tire you out, so that it’ll be easier on the stronger soldiers.”

“How cruel,” I said it, but I knew it was hypocritical of me to say such a thing.

“Please… let us go. We were just following orders, it was to win the battle!” he begged. I looked into his eyes. I knew that if this battle had been won by them, they would slaughter all the children and rape all the women. Every soldier’s excuse was that they were following orders. Yet in the end it’s in their nature to act in such savagery.

I lowered his body onto the ground, and for a split second a look of relief spread across his face.

Leaning in close, I whispered into his ears.

“And this is just losing.”

My dagger jutted upwards into his chin, blood ripped out of his throat as I pulled out the blade. He gurgled on his blood as I ripped out his throat, his body dropping down onto its knees. I cleaned my dagger on his cloak before I sheathed it.

I turned around, looking for Alice.

She was huddled on the floor, her eyes closed, just like I had asked of her. What an honest girl.

I stepped towards her, the crowd of women and children stepping back at a similar pace. I knelt down, patting Alice’s head.

“It’s safe now.” I whispered.

Alice looked up, opening her eyes. Her eyes were teary. She wrapped her arms around me as I rested my head lightly on her shoulders.

“You promised!” she exclaimed.

“I did. But I have to go now.”

“You’ll come back again, right?”

“Not this time.”

She let go, her small head right in front of me.

“What do you mean?” she cried.

“Goodbye, Alice.” I whispered, my body melting into the shadows. I could see and feel everything that were within the shadows. All the humans, all the soldiers, and all the guards. I knew where all of them were. It was just a matter of killing them.

You show weakness.

“Shut up.”

I reformed at the entrance to the church, black shadows wrapping around me.

Many of the houses were on fire, and if things continued the whole town would be ashes before dawn. I walked over to the raging flames.

You’re learning. You adapt quickly for a human.

“Like you said, I’m one of the sharpest humans you’ve ever seen.”

Such insolent arrogance.

“The privilege of the mighty.”

I ran through the town, looking for people to save. Everywhere I went there was fire and death, corpses lined the side of streets and market stalls were burning. If only I had been there earlier… if only I had decided faster. I stomped on the ground, the stone tiles broke apart as I leapt up into the air, going on the rooftops. I had grown much stronger physically, but my magic was still weak. I looked around, seeing blinking lights in the distance. I began running towards it. As I got to the destination, I saw a group of town guards being cornered by an even larger group of enemy soldiers.

The white lights in the back grew in size, like spears of light. I needed to get closer. I jumped down and immediately rushed in, launching inwards like a bolt and throwing away anyone that stood in my way to the side, be it friend or foe. The small squadron was surprised to see me as they shouted to take their positions, but it didn’t matter. I crashed into the first soldier. I grabbed him by the shoulders as I ripped off both of his arms and held his body up like a shield. Arrows and spells were blocked by his body as I charged forward. With as much force as I had, I threw the meat shield forward into another soldier. With my empty hand I caught one of the soldiers by my side by his throat and with the sword in my other hand, I stabbed him through the chest. I pulled upwards and ripped off his head, his spine shooting out with his head still attached. An assortment of fluids dripped from his spine as I dropped it, the rest of the soldiers surrounding me, but I could see the fear in their eyes. They weren’t prepared to fight such savage ruthlessness. I created a black cloak around me as they charged with their spears and swords. Just when they got close, the cloak extruded outwards and created spikes in a spherical area around me, impaling anyone that got close. As the cloak disappeared I saw bodies with several holes in them dropping onto the ground, leaving only one mage alive. She tried to run away, but I grabbed a spear at my side and threw it, striking her in the shoulder. The female mage dropped onto the ground, turning around to see me re-appear in front of her.

I grabbed her by the mouth, lifting her up into the air. She resisted, kicking me and trying to loosen my grip. Swiftly, I cut off her legs from the kneecaps and I could feel her screaming through my hands. Effortlessly she was tossed into the fires and now everyone could hear her screaming as she rolled around, unable to run out. I turned around, looking at the remaining soldiers, there was only one thing that I could extract from the look on their faces.

Absolute terror.

I walked towards the soldiers that I had left behind as they backed away from me. None of the townspeople moved, but I knew they wanted to walk away, even though they knew I was on their side. The soldiers began to run away, the sound of heavy metal clinging against the cobblestones. Unfortunately behind them there was nothing but a wall of flames and rubble, and yet again they were forced to turn towards me. There was nothing silence in the air as I approached them.

“Kneel,” I commanded, saying it just loud enough for them to hear.

They looked at each other, as if coming to an agreement. All of the enemy soldiers dropped their weapons, and then dropped down to their knees.

I walked away, leaving the enemy soldiers to the people of the town. I didn’t want to waste more energy, there were a thousand more soldiers to slaughter.

The streets were lined with more and more bodies as I got closer to the main entrance.

There was a larger group, I recognized some of them from the guild. Wounded were all over the place as there was a wide arrangement of injuries. As I approached, one of them turned to me, as if recognizing my presence in the back.

It was Clara, and she had bandages and medicine in a small basket next to her. She was applying treatment to the wounded. Blood stained her hands, but she herself was not injured. Next to her was Isabella, doing the same.

“Magnus?” she cried out. At the same time, Isabella turned her head in surprise, but immediately after went back to treating the injured.

“Where’s everyone else?” I asked, walking over to her.

“Everyone was trying to hold a choke point here, but a whole load of soldiers made it past. They shoved past us, ignoring us entirely.”

“They wanted to flush out the civilians, they knew that they had more than double our numbers. They didn’t mind giving up a handful to hasten the attack.”

“Did they succeed?” she wept sweat from her forehead as she continued to apply potions and medicine to the injured.

“No.” I walked towards the gate, peering out. “Where’s Rachel?” I shouted.

“On the fields, in the front lines.” Isabella answered this time.

“Dammit.” I growled.

“There’s reinforcements coming.” Isabella looked really worn out. It’d look like she had been in the battle herself, even if only for a short while.

“Do you guys have a retreat signal?” I looked outside. To call this a battle would be generous. It was closer to a slaughter, we were being pushed back, their backranks were completely annihilating us, and there was little to nothing we could do about it. No wonder they suddenly decided to send some of them inside, they knew that at this rate that there was nothing that could stop them and that it would simply be a matter of time.

“Yes, we do. But why? If we retreat now, we’ll get overwhelmed!” Isabella shouted.

“Call them back.” I said calmly.

* * *

Rachel had been on the battlefield this entire time. She stuck up a steel dagger up a soldier’s throat, slamming it with force that toppled his body backwards. Steps were taken backwards as a small group of soldiers approached her, as she swung back and dragged out her bow. Her shots were precise, aiming between the small gaps between their defenses and the small openings in their armor. Each arrow was accurate, but progress was slow. Other adventurers got in the way, and so she had to make sure to shoot only when she knew she had a clear shot. An arrow flew by her face as she lost focus, creating a small cut on her cheek.

She scouted out where the arrow came from, grabbing another arrow from her quiver and quickly nocking it on her bowstring. The bow was aimed higher, so that it would reach further, and as she let go she heard the sounds of wind wrapping around her arrow. It flew across the field among many other arrows, but she could clearly see it slowly descend upon an unknowing soldier, hitting a target. In the far distance, she could see a humanoid figure collapse onto the ground.

Having difficulty breathing, she backed off further, trying to create some distance between her enemies and herself. That was when the horn blare across the battlefield. That sound… it was the signal for retreating. But why now?

There was no time for asking questions, all of the townspeople began slowly but surely moving back towards the town, entering the gate. If the horn had been used, then it must have been for an important reason.

Rachel ran back, breathing heavily. Bloodstained ground slowed her down, like running through mud while raining. It was only then she realized that her hands were shaking. Never before had she truly been in a battlefield. She had killed before, but never to a number of this extent. She shook her head, running to the town gates. Around half of the remaining townspeople were already back inside, recuperating. But the enemy soldiers looked completely unfazed, acting as if they lost but a handful of people. The steps of the heavily armored soldiers could be heard as they marched forward in response to our retreat, trying to push into the town.

Celeste was in the far back, casting spells from a distance. However there were too many people for her to target - it was impactful, but not doing enough. Leon was somewhere in the front lines, probably at the very front, holding the soldiers back.

Disemboweled body parts and copious corpses blocked her path as she ran into the gate. But while everyone was running, she could clearly see someone walking outside. The air about him was intense, the mana surrounding was dense and malicious. His entire body was like a tempest, mana coursing through his body like blood, except it was closer to poison. Magnus alone walked out the gates, his eyes were completely empty, as if completely void of emotion or thought. There was a certain terror that followed him, like a spectre was following him. Whenever he took another step, dread followed.

* * *

I walked towards the enemy army as the marched closer. I saw Rachel as she came closer to the gates, cuts and bruises infested her whole body. Blood trickled down her cheek, probably from a small graze. Celeste appeared from behind me, probably wanting to check on Rachel and Leon. I still wasn’t sure where Leon was. He was probably mixed among the many going back into town.

“What are you doing?” Rachel shouted at me angrily.

“Get back,” I walked past her. Her shouting began to soften as I entered a state of pure focus. All unnecessary information disappeared, and I became lost in my own little world, where it was only me and the army that I had to destroy.

I felt something surging from within me. Not rage, not anything I recognized. It was less of an emotion and more of my soul soul were being unraveled to reveal something underneath.

The truth.

And the truth ...the truth was that I hated this world.

It took everything from me.

My childhood

My family.

My first love.

And now it threatened to take from me again.

Not again.

Not fucking again.

I won’t allow it.

A large cloud of black dust dispersed across the air, floating about. It gathered around me, spreading across my skin and my weapons. It eventually settled down, completely surrounding me like a morning fog. It was quite dense, I had difficulty seeing through it but I felt quite safe. It felt like a part of my subconscious was instinctively using magic to help me.

Then the dust stopped moving, completely frozen as if time had suddenly frozen. And in an instant, it latched onto my skin and forged my dagger into a sword. My skin and my sword were coated in a layer of black matter, reinforcing my body and my weapon. Strangely enough the demonic matter was purely matter, but in some ways still retained magical properties. Behind me, more black matter gathered and I it forge itself into swords, spreading out behind me like a fan. As the dust settled and the blades pointed forward, I began stepping towards the battlefield.

The enemy began to step back. The darkness surrounding me was like an illusion, a shadow on the wall. And a single man could cast a very large shadow.

When I ran into them at full speed, I crushed the shields of several soldiers at the front. They were surprised when I moved faster than the wind, and hit harder than a bear. I threw the swords behind me outwards impaling several soldiers. The swords flung outwards and floated in the air, as if gravity suddenly stopped working. A few soldiers tried to grab me only for me to bash their chest inwards with my open hand, and their bones shattered at my brute force. Dozens of them mobbed me as I charged forward. The swords would hit my skin but only chip away at the black before they realized that all they could do was watch in horror, an immovable object, an impassable obstacle. I raised my hands to my side, black matter materializing around me like a cloak. Instantaneously it flung outwards like spikes in a spherical area, implaling several dozens soldiers through their bodies. The spikes dissolved into the air as I threw myself forward into the eye of the storm, hundreds of soldiers charging at me now. Every ounce of my strength and willpower went into my arm, slicing through flesh as hard and as fast as I could. It had been a while since so much adrenaline pumped through my veins. I cut through them with brute force, breaking bones and severing heads. Hundreds fell as dismembered legs and arms flew across the field as my ruthless rampage continued, and as the casualties increased I could feel everything that I stood for fall apart in a matter of seconds. For so long I tried to escape this… all this blood and gore. And yet, I found myself back at the frontlines… perhaps I was never meant to leave the fight. Perhaps I was destined to be a part of the eternal struggle that was war.

A bolt of light pierced my shoulder. I cried out in pain as more arrows began to pelt me from behind. Spears lunged forward as I fell down onto my knees, black matter surrounded my body to protect my vitals. It acted like armor, chipping the spearheads and swords as it collided against my skin. A pathway opened up in front of me, revealing several sorcerers and mages in the backline. I saw blurs of red and other colors as their raised their hands. Time seemed to slow down, as it always does when you’re in a life and death situation. Sweat and blood dripped down my forehead, and I wondered whether this was the extent of my capabilities. The last demon lord, and this was how I die? Being poked by spears and being unable to use my own magic?

Perhaps I had forgotten how to fight. Perhaps peace had dulled the fangs that I grew during war. How could one fight without the single greatest impulse of the human spirit.

Fear.

I saw the bolts of magic fly towards me in a wide array of colors.

Then the Abyss opened itself to me. The space in front of me shattered and I intuitively ran towards it. For a split second, I saw that I had entered the Abyss. To the soldiers, I appeared out of nowhere, and disappear just as fast. Soon I found myself all over the battlefield. One second I would be at the backline executing mages but within the next second, I would be bringing a soldier down to his knees. I raised my arms, creating swords out of thin air. The black blades descended towards the ground, but entered through the fractures of the Abyss to re-appear all over the field. The blades gained velocity as followed its path, effortlessly crushing shields and thick armor without losing momentum. The swords flew all over the field, but never touched me once. It was as if they had a mind of their own, and knew not to touch its creator.

I roared as I slammed the ground, the earth beneath me breaking apart. A pillar of black erected in front of me and fell apart as it was hit by the spells. In that moment the space around me began to warp, the very fabric of existence shattered as I seemingly teleported behind my enemies. Wasting no time, I jammed my sword into the nearest shoulder’s throat, catching everyone around me off guard. A soldier jammed his sword into my back, only for it to go through me and stab the soldier in front of me. I had phased through the Abyss, making my body intangible. I slammed the ground, black spikes erecting from the ground and impaling the soldiers from below.

I slammed my sword onto the ground for stability. A fan of swords formed next to me as the spikes dissipated, the immediately flung out like had been shot out of a longbow. Waves of soldiers stepped back, the ones at the front collapsed onto the ground, and the ones fortunate to survive had lost a few limbs. The swords spun in a circular motion, creating a circle of pure gore around me. Organs spewed out of disemboweled bodies and bodies flew apart as the blades spun into them. I raised a hand, calling back the fan of swords. It immediately stopped rotating, and instead returned to me. They slowly floated to my back, returning to their original positions. I was tired, out of breath and nearly drained of mana. I hadn’t fought a battle like this for a long time, and it clearly showed.

The soldiers started backing off, the few hundreds that remained had completely lost all composure. In the face of such savage violence, those without will or strength will succumb to the brutality of combat. Some of the soldiers began moving to the side, like they were opening a path. Behind them, three unique figures walked towards me. They were dressed differently, more eloquently and refined than the rest. Towards the left was a large figure, slightly larger than Leon. With a mask of a lion’s head, he gave off the image of a knight. He had a large greatsword on his back that shined a cold blue hue. His armor was decorated with the same symbol of their army’s sigil - an eight headed snake. In the middle resided a thin masked person. I couldn’t exactly tell whether it was a woman or a man. Judging by the way that he or she moved through, on top of my instincts, I believed it to be a woman. She made no sound as she moved, a talent unique to highly skilled assassins. Her mask hid her face, leaving me with very little to work with. To the right, was someone of normal size. This one wore no mask, was dressed in black robes and her face was empty, solemn and emotionless. Her short gray hair danced in the night air as it blew past. As far as I could tell she didn’t seem to care about the thousand soldiers she had just lost. She had no large weapons, but I could sense that some part of her wasn’t human either. In fact all of them felt inhuman in some way to me, through some sixth sense.

They stopped when they got close to me.

“Hello, Magnus,” the one in the middle spoke.

I didn’t respond back. I waited as the swords around me pointed towards them, ready to initiate.

“It’s been a while, I was wondering what happened since you left,” she seemed very calm.

I still didn’t answer, in fact I wasn’t even sure who the person behind the mask was. The assassin on the other hand, seemed to know exactly who I was.

“You probably don’t recognize me… but we met once. I was nothing but an assassin in training at that time.”

She took a step forward, the mage and the warrior didn’t.

“When I first met you, you were the coldest person I knew. Uncaring, objective and unreadable. You would trample over everything that you needed to, absorbed in your own sense of justice. Yet now here you stand, amongst a field of corpses, defending the innocent and the weak. I wonder, what strange path did you take that you find yourself here?”

I still didn’t respond.

“I suppose you have nothing to say to us. Shall we proceed?”

The warrior swung out his greatsword immediately, the assassin threw herself towards me and the mage began channeling bolts of lights. They didn’t give me a chance to do anything, they simply got on top of me. The swords behind me lunged forward, but The warrior dashed towards me, more agile than I had thought. His attacks were slow but looked impactful, I couldn’t block them, it would be much safer for me to dodge. I saw a small window and kicked him as he slashed upwards, not in position to stab him. He lowered his greatsword to block my attack and I used the momentum to push myself back and get some distance. Now, the assassin was behind me. I felt something coming my way as I arched backwards, a dagger splicing across the air behind me. At the same time I twisted my body, spinning the sword in the air like a twister. She jumped, staying out of range and landed on top of my body. Her hands went up in the air immediately, holding a dagger and slammed it downwards. I caught it in time, not only was she fast but she was strong as well. I focused the fan of swords as they levitated upwards, and swiftly dropped down towards her nape. Before the swords reached her a large greatsword slammed upwards on its blunt edge, stopping the blades from reaching downwards. I saw that it took the warrior a great amount of force to stop it, but he was holding it steady. I allowed myself to slip through the Abyss, momentarily disappearing as the assassin dropped to the ground where I was previously. It was still hard to use, so far I could only use it impulsively.

I reappeared a certain distance away, immediately the swords I created earlier disappeared as dozens more appeared behind my back, and I threw them forwards. The warrior stepped forward, kneeling on the ground. He raised the palm of his hand as multiple walls of stone burst out of the ground beneath him. The swords penetrated a few layers of the stone walls, but eventually came to a halt as it remained stuck inside. Right now I couldn’t see them behind the wall and that made me slightly uncomfortable. I looked around, the mage was all the way at the back. She seemed to still be channeling. That also made me more nervous. Out of the corner of my eyes under the night sky, I saw something black move out from behind the walls. Something flashed under the moonlight as it eventually began homing towards me. I stepped backwards, hundreds of knives attached to strings landing where I was just standing. The stone walls crumbled as the knives were retracted, returning to their owners. So far it seemed that the warrior could use some sort of earth manipulation, the assassin had some fluency in controlling strings.

The air around me began to crackle. I was caught off guard as my vision turned blue, followed by a massive shock. I roared as lightning flowed through my body, I wasn’t even able to detect a single drop of mana as the spell had finished casting. Either they had a way of masking spell incantations or that was her ability. My body had difficulty responding as the shocks died out, the warrior and assassin began charging towards me. I couldn’t swing my sword and dagger, so I was forced to create a black wall in front of me with my hands.The layer was too thick and they smashed through it, the greatsword easily smashing apart the shield while the assassin took the opportune moment to dash forward. I dashed through the Abyss, momentarily reappearing behind the mage. She didn’t turn around, I found it rather peculiar someone of her skill wouldn’t notice me. As I lunged forward to send my sword through her back, I saw something flash beneath me. Too late to back off, a burst of electricity shot out from the ground, immobilizing and stunning me.

I dropped onto my ground, looking around. As I observed carefully, more and more runes now revealed themselves to me. How had I failed to notice them while they were being placed? I looked up at the mage, who seemed as calm as ever. Her figure seemed to twirl and blend into the air as my image of her disappeared, and now she resided behind the other two.

Dammit. The whole time I had been tricked by an illusion. She must be really good at it for me not to have noticed anything.

I tried to raise myself up, but my body refused to respond. The shock had done its damage, the most I could move my right shoulder and left arm. Blood spurted out of my stomach and mouth. Swinging blindly at them wouldn’t do anything. I needed to travel through the Abyss, but I couldn’t control it. I was weak. Brutally weak. Brought down to my knees, I couldn’t even control my own body. In what world would I be able to protect anything? No amount of rage, no amount of wrath could help me right now. I watched as their boots came into view, and looking up I only saw the eight headed snake that would consume me. As his greatsword raised up into the air, time seemed to slow down, almost as if I was being given a chance to reflect on my actions.

Why had I allowed myself to become so weak?

Why couldn’t I fight like did years ago?

Why was I still holding onto this world?

Why couldn’t I protect the few things I found valuable in this world?

As these thoughts ran through my head I saw a red light approach from my side and to my surprise it crashed into the warrior in front of me, knocking him sideways. I turned my head left, slightly disoriented still. A few blurry faces popped up, and as my vision came into focus, I recognized who they were.

Rachel, Leon and Celeste.

Leon held out his hand and helped me up, my body still malfunctioning from the heavy shocks.

“You bloody idiot,” Rachel scolded.

I caught my breath, panting heavily.

“I thought you didn’t trust me,” I looked at Leon straight in the eyes.

“That power of yours… I want to know how to stumble upon it. I don’t fully trust you yet… but right now we’re fighting a different battle,” there was a different air about him. Determination.

“Boys, we don’t have all day,” Celeste drew out her staff, turned towards the enemy.

“Plus,” Rachel stepped forward. “We still owe you a favor for defeating the griffin.”

The seven of us clashed into each other, all of us fighting in a frenzy. Leon held up his sword against the warrior, the sound of heavy steel clashing against heavy steel ringing across the battlefield while me and Rachel had a staredown with the assassin. The air crackled and heated up around Celeste and the mage, each of us engaged in our own separate battles. As Leon traded blows with the warrior he was pushed further back and back. Rachel continued pelting arrows at a distance, but weaved into melee range with her daggers at well. I stood in front of her, launching a fan of daggers at the assassin and coating Rachel’s daggers in demonic matter. She leapt up into the air, launching daggers attached to strings. The projectiles collided, dropping to the ground in the middle. I dove through the Abyss, appearing in front of the assassin as she dropped onto the ground. I threw my sword forward in the hopes of getting a stab in but she blocked it with her sword. She wrapped her legs around my neck and coiled behind me, grasping me in a choking position. I tried to throw her off but she kicked my stomach with her heel. The wound I had suffered earlier flared with pain, but I did my best to ignore it. I heard her pull out her swords as I tried to push her off, but a set of flames appeared by my side, nearly burning half my face off. I felt her legs loosen and I finally threw her off, the assassin landed gracefully and took a low stance.

Lights began to flash as flames and electricity flew through the air, arcs of lightning and tunnels of flames blasted next to us. The ground beneath us broke as I created pillars of darkness, slashing across the air with blades of entropy. I had managed to create hundreds of swords at this point, all stuck into the ground like scarecrows in a field. A black mist surrounded me as all of them levitated into the air, and thus the final count of the storm rung across the skies. I teleported into the Abyss, appearing behind the warrior. I was immediately shocked with a bolt of lightning as I re-appeared, the silent mage appearing behind me and grabbing me with around both shoulders. The warrior turned, throwing his sword through me. My body had gone intangible, the sword plowed through the mage. A pool of red drained out of her as she pulled the sword out, a circle of fire forming at their feet. The warrior rushed over and held the mage as a tower of fire erupted out of the ground. As the flames died a scorched earthen shell crumbled, revealing the two unharmed.

I felt the assassin come up towards me, but slightly too late. Her dagger slammed into her back as I felt even more pain course through my body. I grabbed onto her hand, not letting her go. Pulling her arm towards me, I sent my knee upwards crushing her elbow and making her arm twist in an unnatural way. She screamed as she pulled her hand back, jumping forward this time leading with her other hand in order to try to stab me. A wall of black appeared in front of me as she leapt into the coffin. An assassin will always want to be nimble and get to their target quickly, leaving them with very little time and opportunity to find counterplay. That also meant that they would take the shortest route possible to get to their target. The coffin closed, black chains keeping the door shut. The black swords I controlled levitated towards the coffin, surrounding it like a shell.

“Goodbye,” I whispered.

The storm of blades came crashing down as I clenched my hand, and every single blade that I had created that night pierced the coffin. The sound of crackling lightning was all I heard as the blades faded, blood leaking out of the coffin and as the doors of death opened, all that dropped out were fragments of a human being.

I saw blue flashes at the edges of my irises, and immediately turned around, grabbing the mage by the throat. The shocks perpetuated my body like needles but I ignored the pain, pushing onward. My body was getting numb, and the strength was leaving my arms. With one final push, I roared as black dust travelled down my body, through my arms and thickened the armor. I choked her in the air, and her face began to turn a different color as the oxygen began to leave her body. Behind me, I felt a presence approach but was unable to do anything about it. I felt a greatsword slam into my back right after the demonic armor had travelled to my back instinctually. I was at the verge of collapsing. Leon, Celeste and Rachel approached me but a wall of static surged suddenly, created by the mage as I felt the electricity leave my body. I was already on the very last drops of mana and I couldn’t feel my arms. With the electricity leaving my body, and with one last surge of strength, I put everything into my hands. I heard a snap as her head drooped to the side. I dropped her body, turning around immediately and slammed the greatsword by its side. It flung to the side with unexpected force, the only one left standing was the warrior himself. He punched me in the face, but I ignored the pain. I grabbed his left arm with my own, preventing him from using it. His other arm flew towards me, but was intercepted with my right hand. I pushed him down, forcing him onto his knees. We were both tired and worn out. His face tightened and turned red as he tried to break free, to no avail. A singular black sword appeared behind him. Larger than a longsword, but smaller than a greatsword. His expression didn’t change, even in the face of death. I saw Leon, Celeste and Rachel stand by the side as the static faded and now everything had settled down.

“You think this changes anything?” the warrior asked.

I simply stared down at him as he began to lose strength in his arms.

“They said you were strong… we’ve all heard the stories. The Hand of the King, The Vanguard of Visereal, The Rider of White, The Conqueror. You’ve been called so many things, there are so many stories of your deeds that have grown out of proportion. One thing’s for certain… you’re less powerful than in the stories. You will never defeat him now.”

I knew who he was referring to. I knew exactly of the incoming calamity, and now it was time that I stopped running from it. And like any other calamity, with the storm comes a tide of blood.

The sword slammed into his back, blood dropped from his chest like a waterfall and his eyes widened. He did not make a single sound, only turning his eyes towards me as life left his body, and his head tipped to the side like a puppet’s.

My hands softened as I let go, and my legs dug into the dirt below as I fell to my knees. There was nothing but silence now. There was no celebration, no cries of joy. Surrounded by hundreds of bodies, desecrated by death and blood. They never put this in the stories, the people always come up with tall tales that always ended with happiness and victory, but they forget that for those that stand on the battlefield until the bitter end, that there was no happiness for them.

The remaining soldiers began running away, scattering and making it for the forests. As they ran, some of them were shot down by arrows and bolts of magic as I saw troops and reinforcements coming in from the direction of the town. The only thing that I heard was the sound of hooves beating against the ground as horses raced towards me.

Rachel, Leon and Celeste came to my side, helping me up. I nearly slipped on blood as I leaned onto Leon. He swung my arm around his shoulder, rays of sunlight beginning to break into view over the horizon.

There was talking as the three of them helped me along, but everything they said went through one ear and out the other. Fatigue and exhaustion had set in as I found comfort in the silence, happiness in not being able to hear anything. They helped me along, dragging my body with them.

Suddenly we came to a stop. I was shaken and opened my drowsy eyes, facing a chivalry of knights in white armor, each set decorated with the sigil of a winged lion, similar to a griffin. Knights of the church. Shouting ensued as Leon slipped out from my shoulder and held up his shield. Celeste took out her staff and lights began to flicker among the sun rays. Rachel stayed to my side, tending to me as I woke up from my very short rest. I tried my best to pay attention, the ringing in my ears stopped and the voices came into focus.

I felt Leon slip out from under my arm as I leaned onto a smaller body. I opened my eyes a little bit, seeing that Rachel had helped me up this time.

“Give up the heathen,” I didn’t recognize this voice.

“He saved this town,” tt was Leon’s voice this time.

“You saw what he did. You want to tell me that’s our savior? A beast of insurmountable strength, and you think he’ll protect us?”

“He’s human, just like us,” Celeste argued as I felt her leave my side.

“Whatever he thing, he’s most definitely not human. That power… that savagery. He killed thousands… and yet there is not a drop of remorse on his face, nor regret. Only exhaustion. I bet if he wanted to, he could level this whole town on his own.”

“He could…” Rachel’s voice was loud as she was right next to me. “But he won’t.”

I raised my head, looking upwards. Leon and Celeste had taken up their weapons, standing between me and the cavalry. A war had just ended, yet they were prepared to fight another battle. This time, for me.

It was fortunate for me to have met such people. I knew my destiny, the road that awaited me ahead. Dragging these three in would only bring them despair.

Whatever strength or magic was keeping me conscious, I used it to stomp on the ground next to me. I dragged my arm from over Rachel’s shoulder as she began shouting. I ignored her, nearly tripping forward. I leaned onto Leon and Celeste, pushing them to the side gently.

“It’s fine…” I whispered. They might have heard me, they might not have, it didn’t really matter.

I rushed forward, taking a few steps in quick succession before I fell down on one knee. I was just tired. I wasn’t begging for forgiveness or anything. I was simply exhausted.

White lights began to appear in the air, and the last thing that I saw was bolts of holy magic as it flew towards me.