Tyndale spoke the truth. To some degree, he had become weaker. It was as if the Heads knew how powerful he was so they sought to suppress his power as a precautionary measure in case he broke free of the slave emblem and went after them.He picked out the vurhan and forced him to the ground with a shoulder tackle to its abdomen. Its injured leg couldn’t support its weight so it went down easily.“I've grown tired of you!”Tyndale said, lifting a fist and driving it into the creature’s face, bludgeoning it in with powerful strikes. Daito swung a kick, aiming for Tyndale's head, but he was pushed back with a strong energy wave. Tyndale picked up the shield he used earlier. Grabbing it by its sides, he drove it down with immense force, bashing the creature’s throat. Its windpipe could be heard cracking from afar as breathing became difficult. It finally stopped moving.“This has gotten boring for me. I thought you would be a worthy adversary. It turns out I was wrong!”Tyndale got up an
"Vurhans no longer live in that place, but if I return there, it would clearly break its terms and continue attacking people, which I cannot have. That is why I fled and will not return until all of the vurhans beyond these walls have died. That completes my sad heroic tale!" Alicia was speechless; the story was too unbelievable for her to believe, yet she did. "You may trust me or not, child, but the truth is the truth. You won't have to worry about me once I've eliminated all the vurhans; I'll turn myself in." Alicia was pitiful in Slejj's case, selling his body to an unseen malevolent life and leaving his own home in order to save and defend the people who hate him with all their might. People who made great sacrifices for the common good were viewed unfairly by the world. The world rewarded his motives by stripping him of the one thing that made him human, his spirit, for what the first king ever did was to preserve mankind, both the Gifted and the normals. Slejj was now in th
I've brought you all here to recognize me as your new ruler. Your king has succumbed to my grasp. And the leaders are no longer in control. You must now swear your allegiance to me or suffer the consequences.” He elicited no response from the frightened audience. After that, there was a long period of silence. Tyndale's emotions were steadily rising up to anger, and before he knew it, he was barking another command at the crowd. “Do neither of you wish to acknowledge me?” . When he yelled at the terrified people, they backed away from the podium, others tripping on the ground. Tyndale exhaled steadily, letting go of the frustration that was causing him to lose his cool. He was determined to assert his superiority, and he knew exactly how to do so. He'd done it several times before, and that day would be no different. “Well, I think your leaders will suffer as a result of your indecisiveness,” he said. He approached the leaders and delegates of the crested families. He left the aud
All Lora felt was an unrealistically powerful force driving her to the ground. She landed with a thud, her head bouncing off the moldy floor. Needle-like pain reverberated across her skull. She lost her orientation, the world began spinning. As she tried to straighten to her feet another powerful blow landed across her frame, knocking the air out of her lungs, sending her spinning and spiraling across the floor. She collided with the wall, breaking her momentum. Jrue swung his twin blades with malicious intent. Though it wasn’t him succumbing to all those terrifying blows they were so brutal that he felt the impact of his raw strength. Before his blades could gain momentum he was rudely picked off the ground with an inhumane tackle. He was driven to the wall, the impact so violent it pushed the bricks out of position. Once he was pinned to the wall a flurry of punches started coming his way. The iron-like knuckles dug into his face, he felt like a hammer pounding his cheeks. His mout
miniature dot warped through the empty space deforming the white blanket covering everything. In a second or two ground materialized and Daito found himself standing dead center on an orchid garden. The flowers already bloomed, painting the ground with a constellate of colors. At the end of the garden, he saw someone, walking by, plucking off a flower and sniffing it with a soft smile on his face. Lora's voice echoed once more, cutting across the air like the wind itself. The man picking the flowers seemed to have also heard it because he too reacted, his smile quickly fading. Could this be a dream? Daito asked himself. The man had a white toga covering him, with a golden ring clipping the ends of the toga together on his shoulder. Lora's voice surfed over the garden once more, calling out Daito's name. This time the man dropped the flower he had in his hand and started scanning his surroundings. Once he caught sight of Daito standing amongst the flowers his expression quickly change
Tyndale stepped over him and clamped his face with his hand, charging up a blast that rendered him headless in a matter of seconds. Alicia headed for Drom, Daito still beside him, emotionless. Anato appeared in front of Alicia's path, blocking her "That's the wrong way darling," he said, puckering his hands. Alicia punched him but ended up with sore knuckles, she decided to reach for her sword and swung it hard, but turned out cutting a green mist. Strider reappeared behind her and booted her from the back, she senselessly sprawled to the ground. She turned back and poured all her emotion towards a wild swing which ended up being a lucky shot. The blade of the sword lit up with a bright stroke of light and managed to hit Strider, sending him gliding across the room. Even he was surprised, but he managed to conjure up another portal that swallowed him and spit him back in the same orientation. He tackled Alicia and sent her falling, landing awkwardly the fact that she didn't break he
Are they ready?” he asked one of the servants behind him.“Yes sire, I taught them everything. They are ready to recite the oath.”“... very well.” he lifted up his arm with the sleeve and suspended it in mid-air, waiting.The servant threw a wave to the crowd and they all started chanting in unison.“WE PLEDGE OUR ALLEGIANCE TO THE ALMIGHTY KING. WE REWARD OUR SOUL TO BE UNDER HIS WING. WE GRANT HIM POWER TO GUIDE US. OH HAIL THE GREAT KING...LADZGERY TYNDALE!!!”As soon as they finished their recital the etches on the sleeve multiplied. One by one they began forming on the surface of the sleeve, tainting it dark. Tyndale looked down on the soldiers as they fell down one after the other. He stared down at the pile of unconscious bodies, a smile overrun him. The laces of the sleeve tightened by themselves, sending a slight burst of energy into his arm.“Two hundred and twenty-six souls will be enough to fuel my next battle. Call lieutenant Jrue Deryleen, tell him to ready the new squa
"Everyone is terrified of losing something, whether it's the one thing that distinguishes them from the vurhans or some other species. My humanity was what I was terrified of losing, and it's likely the same thing the kid is afraid of losing as well." Slejj said, shaking his head in the direction of Daito. Alicia returned her attention to Daito as she stepped towards them. The thin waves of fog swaying in front of him were being moved away by his muscular frame. He rubbed his hand over his bouncy hair, stroking back the sun-kissed hair, which was drenched with icy water. As he got closer and closer to them, it flapped and fluttered above his ears. A thin stream of water poured down his face and down his defined chest, originating in his hair. The tents behind him were obscured by his broad-shouldered torso. ou are a traitor." Slejj leaned back in his chair and burst out laughing, as if Alicia had said a terrible joke and he was teasing her. It lasted about as long as uncomfortabl
They rushed into the palace, two awls trailing behind them, holding a huge wooden box. When they were climbing the flight of stairs, one of the awls relaxed his grasp on the case's side handle and it slid off, falling to the ground. The case's housing broke open and objects spewed out, including several scrolls, a large book with a lock restricting the pages, and a fairly long dagger. "Wait, I'm familiar with both the book and the sword. They are normally at my father's place. He's been devoting a lot of time lately to reading that book." "And what is the purpose of the blade?" "It's for, yeah, I read about it in my father's library a long time ago, it's used for the rite when when...no!" Daito's eyes abruptly opened as he realized what the intention of the visit could be. He made a hasty descent down the trunk, losing his balance and slipping off several times. Drom pursued him blindly. "Hey! Dai, what is it tell me!" "Come on Drom! We have to hurry before it's too late." They
Needle-like pain reverberated across her skull. She lost her orientation, the world began spinning. As she tried to straighten to her feet another powerful blow landed across her frame, knocking the air out of her lungs, sending her spinning and spiraling across the floor. She collided with the wall, breaking her momentum. Jrue swung his twin blades with malicious intent. Though it wasn’t him succumbing to all those terrifying blows they were so brutal that he felt the impact of his raw strength. Before his blades could gain momentum he was rudely picked off the ground with an inhumane tackle. He was driven to the wall, the impact so violent it pushed the bricks out of position. Once he was pinned to the wall a flurry of punches started coming his way. The iron-like knuckles dug into his face, he felt like a hammer pounding his cheeks. His mouth filled with blood. The relentless attacks were halted by a deafening sound of a metal bar striking Tyndale’s skull. It seemed to have less
“A paralytic Poison. I see I taught you well my son…” “Don’t you ever dare call me that again!” He picked up his right arm and slit his wrist across, doing the same to his left hand. Jrue wanted him to suffer. He wanted him to bleed to death knowing that he was powerless, unable to do anything about it and save himself. He left him outside and limped back into the house. All the soldiers guarding the house had evacuated, deployed to handle the uprising of the slaves in the mines, giving the two siblings all the time they needed to execute duties assigned to them by Anato Strider as part of their escape plan. He managed to reach the room where the fight had begun. He shook her sister to wake. “Lora, Lora! Wake up, it is done!” All Lora felt was an unrealistically powerful force driving her to the ground. She landed with a thud, her head bouncing off the moldy floor. Needle-like pain reverberated across her skull. She lost her orientation, the world began spinning. As she tried to s
Albert was unconcerned about her feelings. He spread the crinkled letter out on the table and began reading it aloud. "The official report. On the second day of the third week of the sixth moon of the year, the commander of the independent states arrived at Defectors State headquarters, where honorary State guard, Lora Deryleen, provided information on the whereabouts of the fugitive, ex-commander, and traitor to the States, Slejj. In the evening, the commander gathered an army to go over to make a stand. "What are you babbling about, is it a fantasy scenario you've been dreaming about?" "Come on...you of all people should know the report never lies," "You seriously can't be considering something this low Albert!," "I made a deal with fugitives Lora, fugitives you wanted to protect. now it seems like their crimes have caught up to them, and there is no way I can delay the inevitable," "You're not going to be able to accomplish it, Albert. We struck a deal!" "Lora...dear Lora, I
The kick was aimed at the shield. Tyndale pushed out the shield with his kick so violently that it broke the teeth submerged into the metal. As the shield rolled on the mud with the teeth sticking out of it, Jericho shrieked in pain. Daito finally came to, getting to his feet just in time before the blast shot the Vurhan's entire face off. He charged forward with a blast of his own. Tyndale reverted his attention towards him which left him exposed to the mercy of the beast. Another swipe of the claws ripped up a shred of his skin, allowing blood to run over his chest. His muscular arms pushed Daito back onto the ground once more. He kicked the vurhan and took out its left knee with a blast of energy, rendering it immobile, momentarily. As the vurhan stumbled to the ground he grabbed its arm and pulled it back up, directing its head towards his punch. The two targets collided, leaving a bloody green stain on the Vurhan's face as it slid across the mud. Tyndale felt a severe force pus
"I made a deal with fugitives Lora, fugitives you wanted to protect. now it seems like their crimes have caught up to them, and there is no way I can delay the inevitable," "You're not going to be able to accomplish it, Albert. We struck a deal!" "Lora...dear Lora, I mean, come on, you knew what you were up to. We all knew this make-believe family you built wasn't going to last." "Albert, you're a jerk!" "Let's not talk about that princess. I'm aware of your darkest secrets!" "Wait... What secret?" He moved closer to her face, leaning in. Her stomach turned at the smell of his alcoholic breath. "You think I don't know about your little secret, Deryleen... you're not from around here, are you?" "You're not selling it Albert...get out of here." Lora bumped shoulders with him as she walked into her quarters. "Get out of my quarters now!!!" "... According to the second official report, Lora Deryleen and Alicia Iko captured the previous commander of the independent nations and we
Alicia dazed in a similar trance. She looked on as her apparently dead little brother reaped his swords and whirled them, chopping off delegates arms and legs. At one point he arced his head and caught sight of her, but ventured on with his slaughter as if she wasn't even there, as if he had no clue who she was. Reene and the others tapped them out of their stupor as they pulled out their swords. Alicia began galloping straight towards Drom, and Lora headed for Deryleen. Before they could both reach their intended targets the rest of the faction popped up under the teleportation circle and dropped to the arena, jumping straight into the action. Outside the castle, the intense battle raged on. The army of undead knights fought relentlessly like they had nothing to lose, mostly because they didn't. They overpowered the knights trying to secure the castle and fell to their blades, most of them cowardly retreating. The vurhans continued their orchestra, by then the whole city had awoken
"You know the truth is I was never your brother you simpleton! I was never your brother!" "... Wha... What did I ever do to you brother?" "NOTHING! And that is why I despise you. You never did anything for anyone, only cared about yourself. Using others to get what you wanted... Using me to become the commander!" Slejj coughed up a couple of times before speaking. "What in the hell are you talking about?" "I do not need to explain myself to you! Have you ever heard of Enkai, the forest deity who supposedly guarded the gates against crossers? Protected the Independent States from the world outside, especially vurhans." Slejj stared back in discomfort as a response. "Well, do you remember the day we were on the battlefield, fighting off the hoards of vurhans? I was the one who called on to him. I corrupted him with the help of some new friends I made. Using the power I made it turn against us... It killed and devoured those soldiers, and it was also to devour you! But I didn't pla
Fear was creeping in and Jrue was re-evaluating his options. A retreat would seem reasonable at that point. Lora had been completely taken out of the equation. “Well! I am Waiting!” Tyndale barked, his voice full of excitement. Jrue charged towards him. He wasn’t that good of a fighter in tight spaces but give him an open field and he would perform his acrobatic stunts that surprisingly packed a punch. He sought to tilt the odds to his advantage by taking him to an open field, and there was only one way he saw how. Running full steam ahead he tackled Tyndale and they both burst through the window, shattering the glass and falling three from a height three stories high. There was no object below to cushion their landing, so they sprawled to the hard ground. Jrue landed on his chest, breaking a bone or two. Tyndale landed on the shards of glass. They dug into his back, yet he seemed not to feel irritated by the pain. Before he could get up Jrue rushed over to him and impaled his leg w