*Emerging from a manhole on the other side of the kingdom is Dust, Sanada, Gael, Jin, Alita and Hibana’s drone*
(Dust): Ahhh~. Smell that fresh air. Feels good to be out of the sewers. I told you we were going the right way.
(Hibana): Oh yeah, we’re just about ten miles from where we entered the sewers in the first place.
(Dust): I thought you would enjoy the scenic route of the kingdom.
(Sanada): It would appear that the lights of the kingdom have returned.
(???): Which is bad for us.
*The group turns around to see eleven Blood Moon members each holding weapons and wearing animal masks to cover their faces*
(Gael): Blood Moon? You guys are behind this?
(Dust): Now it’s starting to make sense. The riots, prison break, the loss of communication. Too many incidents happening all at once and all of them organized to perfection.
(Penguin demihuman): And now that you guys know too much we’ll have to put you down.
(Dust): Well the night is still young. You guys got one more in you?
(Jin): Ugh~, this has been one hell of a night.
*As everyone gets ready to fight a mysterious figure wearing a black ninja garb and face mask appears from the sky. The mysterious figure was a male elf with short red hair and black eyes. He stared at the members of Shadow Eye before turning his attention to the members of Blood Moon. The mysterious man takes out an energy saber where both sides of the saber light up black showing that this was dual sided energy saber. This shocked the members of Shadow Eye and Blood Moon. The elf charged at the members of Blood Moon slashing each of the members in quick succession to take them down without killing them. When the final member of Blood Moon fell to the ground, the mysterious elf pressed a button on the saber turning it off*
(Gael): Woah. Now that, was wild.
(Jin): He took them all out like it was nothing.
(Sanada): His movements were impressive. He was almost as fast as me.
(Alita): Is he another member of the order?
(Dust): No one that I’ve seen and he definitely doesn’t belong to the other orders. Hey! Who are you?
(Mysterious elf): I am simply a nomad passing through to deliver a message. My name is Wyatt. I seek the one known as Sanada.
(Sanada): That would be me, Seraph.
(Jin): That’s a Seraph!? I thought they were humans.
(Dust): The Seraphs aren’t a race of people. It’s a brotherhood. A group of individuals composed of different races. Skilled warriors who have been trained since birth to go around and protect people from Eclipses and provide aid to them. Settlements that the kingdoms normally can’t reach, or Eclipses considered too dangerous to take down are handled by the Seraphs. The strongest members of the group inherit the name of the original Seraphs to continue their legacy.
(Gael): Wow, these guys sound hardcore.
(Dust): So to what do we owe this rare sight? If you’re here to get revenge on Sanada for killing Hanzo then don’t expect to leave here in one piece.
(Wyatt): No. I did not come here to fight. The Hanzo that you defeated was a traitor. He stole the name and fled from us committing horrible deeds and besmirching Hanzo’s great name. On behalf of the Seraphs, I would like to thank you for killing the traitor. As a way to thank you I have been sent to deliver an important message from our seer that concerns all of you. In the future, the eyes that lurk in the shadows will be hunted down by the animals they once watched. A fire as black as the Eclipse will return and threaten to burn the kingdom to the ground. The enemy that you believed was dead is still alive and planning their next move.
*Everyone remained silent as they heard this*
(Sanada): What does this message mean?
(Wyatt): I am not sure. That is all that the message said. All I know is that a great battle is on the horizon for this kingdom and you will be caught in the middle of it.
(Hibana): What else is new?
(Wyatt): Just know this. By slaying the false Hanzo, you have acquired an ally in the form of the Seraphs.
*Wyatt extends his hand to Sanada. Sanada shakes his hand*
(Sanada): Thank you for your message. I will take it to heart.
(Wyatt): I am sure you will. Farewell for now. May we meet again.
*Wyatt steps back and begins to walk away before disappearing in a puff of smoke*
(Gael): So what do you think all that stuff meant?
(Dust): Don’t know. One thing is for certain, the future won’t be boring.
(Alita): Communications have been restored.
(Jin): Really? The others did it?
(Alita): Yes. A message is being sent out as we speak.
(Jin): What does it say?
(Alita): Power and communications have been restored. All knights prepare to retake the kingdom. It is time to begin Operation: Takeback.
(Jin): Oh man we’ve got to go?
(Dust): Hold it rookie, do you even know what Operation: Takeback is?
(Jin): Uh, no. But still they’re saying all available knights so-
(Dust): So nothing. We had a mission: restore power and communication to the kingdom. We accomplished it. The rest is all up to them. Come on, let’s go enjoy the show.
(Jin): Enjoy the show?
(Dust): Did you forget we’re not the only knights in the kingdom?
***
*On the other side of the kingdom, rioters and prisoners are out in the streets starting fires and ruining property. On top of a building overlooking the mayhem are Walter, Korone, Arslan and Morrison*
(Arslan): It’s been a while since the four of us got together like this.
(Korone): I’d personally rather be playing my games, but this will be a good light exercise for me.
(Walter): You all have your orders on what to do. These guys have run the kingdom long enough. It’s time to end it.
(Arslan and Korone): Yes sir.
*Arslan takes flight and heads south while Korone lifts up a halberd and jumps off the building, lands safely and heads west. This just left Morrison and Walter, with Walter opening a violin case and taking out a blue violin with silver strings*
(Walter): How shall we begin, maestro?
(Morrison): We’ll start with a symphony in E minor. Number nine should be more than enough.
(Walter): Ah~ a classic. As you command.
*Walter began to play his violin which could be heard down below by the escaped prisoners and rioters. As they all wondered where that music was coming from, a series of purple summoning circles could be seen forming on the street. All of a sudden shaman spirits in the form of soldiers clad in armor as pure as silver and purple eyes emerged with various weapons in hand. Some of the knights appeared on horses and others were wearing heavy armor and carrying large shields*
(Walter) Imperium Army! Advance! Defeat those who would dare harm the kingdom!
(Imperium Soldiers): Hai!
*With a battlecry the soldiers charged at the prisoners and rioters who refused to back down. The prisoners and rioters attempted to fight back with magic and weapons of their own but it didn’t matter. Their weapons weren’t harming the soldiers and their magic seemed to have no effect on them as well as the soldiers continued to advance and take them down one by one. Onlookers who were hiding in buildings for safety looked outside and saw the spirits fighting. One young boy with light green hair, brown eyes, and freckles watched in amazement from the window*
(Freckled boy): Daddy, who are they?
(Father of freckled boy): They’re the Imperium Army. The soldiers of the one and only Imperium General himself, Walter Bedivere. His own personal spirit army. Said to be over a thousand spirits and counting.
(Freckled boy): How does he control them all?
(Father of freckled boy): It’s said that the spirits are soldiers who either served under General Bedivere or were once soldiers of the kingdom who died long ago. They sense his aura and command and willingly serve him as his spirits.
*Back outside, about fifty prisoners and rioters began to run away from the army without the soldiers pursuing them*
(Freckled boy): They’re letting them get away.
(Father of freckled boy): Not to worry. For wherever the army is lightning isn’t far behind.
*As the prisoners and rioters were running down the street heading north, they looked ahead and saw Morrison standing in the middle of the road waiting for them. One of the prisoners who was a elf with a pointy nose, short spikey white hair, and red eyes recognized Morrison and got a scared look on his face*
(Elf prisoner): It’s the Conductor of Storms!
(Morrison): Thurderbird’s Cry!
*Morrison raised his cane and slammed it on the ground. Thunder could be heard as a big yellow bird made of lighting emerged from the ground shocking all of the prisoners and rioters as it flew past them before disappearing. The lightning caused the lights and surrounding buildings to lose power before coming back on seconds later. Morrison watched as the bodies of the rioters and prisoners fell to the ground after being electrocuted except for one rioter who was a monkey demihuman with brown eyes, black hair, and dark skin. He reacted quickly enough to jump up and use his tail to hang from the streetlight to avoid getting shocked. While hanging upside down, he reached behind him, pulled out an SMG, and fired at Morrison. Morrison saw the bullets and pointed his cane at the demihuman. Umbrella panels made of lightning appeared and destroyed all the bullets that were fired at Morrison. Once the demihuman ran out of bullets, Morrison pressed a button on his cane which fired off the umbrella panels at the demihuman. The panels wrapped around the demihuman like a net shocking him as he fell to the ground*
(Morrison): Should’ve just ran away.
***
*In the south, Arslan was flying through the night sky and looked downward to see his targets*
(Arslan): Targets acquired.
*Arslan concentrates and creates six green astral cannons made out of magic. Arslan did a fly by and fired the cannons which released a blast of wind striking the ground, prisoners, and rioters. Screams of pain could be heard as bodies went flying from the blasts*
(Arslan): Well that does it for the greeting. Now it’s time to formally introduce myself.
*Arslan turns around and lands on the ground where he sees prisoners and rioters were still standing ready to fight. Arslan’s astral wings disappear and as he prepares to fight, a tower of fire erupts behind him to send a few prisoners and rioters flying. A person comes flying out of the fire and lands by Arslan. The person that landed was Leon dual wielding twin black rapiers that were emitting fire*
(Leon): I’ve got your back, Arslan.
*Arslan smirks*
(Arslan): You sure? There’s a lot of them.
(Leon): I’ve been on the sidelines long enough. Allow me to show you my pride as a White Knight.
(Arslan): Alright. I’ll go to the left.
(Leon): And I’ll go to the right.
*Arslan and Leon charge at their enemies in the opposite direction of each other. Arslan struck a human prisoner with a palm strike to the stomach. Arslan’s palm strike lifts the prisoner off the ground and sends him flying backwards in the air. As everyone standing around was stunned by what just happened, Arslan took advantage of this and chopped two rioters on the side of the neck to knock them out instantly. The sound of the two rioters collapsing managed to return everyone to the present and focus on Arslan. One prisoner released metal claws from his knuckles and charged at Arslan while another prisoner charged at him from behind with a lead pipe. Arslan ducked to dodge the lead pipe and spun 180 degrees to the right to avoid the second strike. Arslan then struck the spines of prisoners each with a mantis punch. Both prisoners collapsed to the ground unconscious once again shocking everyone around him and leaving them in disbelief. One rioter fought through their fear and tried to punch Arslan with an electrified punch, but Arslan stopped the punch with his bare hand unfazed by the electricity and used his free hand to deliver a knuckle strike to the forehead of the rioter to send them flying backwards into a prisoner and two rioters. All men fell to the ground with the rioter Arslan punched unconscious. A dark elf prisoner with short grey hair and red eyes tried to attack Arslan from behind, but received a backfist for his troubles which sent him flying backwards into a wall. Six more prisoners tried to rush Arslan but they were each taken down by one strike from Arslan. Eight more rioters pulled out guns and fired at Arslan who summoned his astral wings and used them as a shield to protect him from the gunfire. As the shots were being fired, the feathers of Arslan’s wings began to float up into the air and fly toward the gunmen where they delivered a slash attack across the neck or chest area of the rioters to take them down. After seeing this, the remaining twenty-two prisoners/rioters ran away scared and Arslan parted his wings to see them running away*
(Arslan): *Smirk* Oh no you don’t.
*Arslan stretches out his left leg and bends his right leg while stretching out his left hand forward and raising his right hand*
(Arslan): Sky King’s Wrath: Descending Eagle.
*Arslan lunges forward with incredible speed at the prisoners and rioters flying low past all of them and delivering strikes to their spinal areas. After Arslan finished striking the final runaway he was in front of all the prisoners and rioters who began to fall one by one. As Arslan’s wings began to fade away, he turned his head back to see his handiwork unaware that one of Hibana’s drones was recording the action and showing it to Dust, Sanada, Jin, Gael, and Alita*
***
(Jin): Holy- how’d he do that?
(Sanada): Ah, I forgot. This is your first time seeing Arslan fight. Flying isn’t his only specialty, he’s also an accomplished hand to hand fighter. You’ve heard of magic points, right? Or in some cultures pressure or chi points?
(Jin): Yeah. They’re areas throughout the body which help the flow of magic circulate inside of us.
(Sanada): Well Arslan’s fighting style targets those points. His attacks aren’t hurting a person externally, they’re hurting them internally. Arslan strikes a specific magic point to disrupt the flow of magic. Incapacitating them in the process.
(Jin): Woah! Wait, I’ve heard there’s over a hundred magic points in the body alone. How does he know where and how to strike?
(Gael): Can he see a person’s magic points?
(Sanada): No. He memorized where the magic points are on the body.
*Jin and Gael stood there stunned*
(Sanada): He comes from a long line of physical therapists and masseuses. He spent years studying and memorizing the anatomies of every race out there just so he could offer them comfort or pain if he chooses.
(Dust): Can you believe he once went to medical school?
***
*Returning to the fight, Leon’s rapiers were on fire as a swung and slashed his way through the prisoners and rioters with such grace and elegance that it looked as if he was dancing with fire as his maiden and partner. When he got surrounded he spun himself around creating a whirlwind of fire which took down the eleven prisoners and rioters trying to surround him. When the fire whirlwind died down Leon surveyed the area seeing the prisoners and rioters on the ground either unconscious or in pain from the burns he delivered except for one prisoner. A tall muscular demihuman with blood shot green eyes and a brown mohawk who was carrying axes in each hand while yelling and speaking incoherent gibberish*
(Leon): Rabidness Boar Izuka. So they let you out too?
(Izuka): LEON! BAD LEON LOCKED ME UP!
(Leon): Well maybe if you didn’t go on a rampage and kill sixteen people I wouldn’t have had to bring you in the hard way. How’s your back?
(Izuka): RAARRRRRHHHHH! IZUKA CRUSH BAD LEON!
(Leon): Bad Leon slash Izuka.
*With another roar Izuka charged at Leon swinging his axes which began to glow a blackish purple. Leon dodged the axe swings where purple ooze could be seen coming from them and eating away at the ground and walls where the axes hit. Leon managed to dodge a double axe attack by jumping where he landed right by Arslan who saw the ooze begin to bubble on the ground*
(Arslan): What the hell is with that ooze?
(Leon): It’s his power. Izuka can create toxic ooze. Whatever you do don’t let it touch you. That stuff’s highly poisonous. I watched three knights die just from getting slashed by those axes.
(Arslan): Then he must be brought down fast before he does any more damage.
*Arslan gets prepared to charge and strike the magic point near Izuka’s heart to trigger cardiac arrest which would lead to a heart attack. However, Leon stops him with his rapier*
(Leon): No. This is my job. I should have done this when I first fought him.
*Arslan stands down and steps back as Leon walks towards Izuka before charging forward with his rapiers on fire. Izuka swings his axe wildly downward missing Leon who sidesteps the attack. Izuka then swings diagonally with the second axe at Leon who slides onto his knees to avoid the attack. Leon slides between the legs of Izuka and slashes his heels. Izuka lets out a scream of pain as he falls to his knees while Leon returns to his feet and jumps up to slash through Izuka’s neck and cut his head off. As Leon landed, Izuka’s head rolled to the ground and the body along with it. Leon put his rapiers away and let out a deep breath*
(Leon): May you find peace in the afterlife.
***
(Gael): Woah! Amazing!
(Jin): I had no idea Sir Leon was that good and powerful.
(Dust): Well what did you expect from a descendent of Ingrid Argo?
(Jin): Ingrid Argo!? The Ingrid Argo!? One of the Eight Legendary Heroes?
(Dust): The same one. The Helios are her descendants who have produced skilled warriors throughout the centuries. Whether it be in politics, as knights, or anything else, the descendants of Ingrid fight for the kingdom and the good of the people. Rumors are going around that Scarlet will be the one to inherit her title in the future. Out of all the descendants, no one has shown more promise and skills than her. That’s not to say Leon’s no slouch. He’s considered one of the best swordsmen in the kingdom. He’s one of the few people who can keep up with Sanada.
(Gael): No way! This guy is as strong as you, bro?
(Sanada): We did have a duel once in the past, but it wound up being a draw. I must say that out of all the knights I’ve battled since coming to Brister his skills were by far the best.
(Gael): And he’s only just a vice-commander. I wonder what his commander is like?
(Hibana): Why don’t you see for yourself.
*Hibana switches camera drones and focuses on Rika, Saber and the members of Javan taking down prisoners and rioters. Rika and Saber were leading the charge*
***
(Rika): That’s 64. What’s your count, Saber?
(Saber): I’m at 71.
(Rika): What!
*Rika focused her attention on eight prisoners and charged at them with her sword in hand*
(Rika): Hold!
*The prisoners tried to run away but couldn’t move. Rika slashed through them in quick succession*
(Rika): Absolute Execution.
*Rika taps the ground with her sword and the prisoners fall to the ground unconscious. Rika turned sideways smiling at Saber smugly*
(Rika): That’s 72.
(Saber): Oh really now?
*Saber glared over at five rioters who saw the sadistic look in her eyes and ran away fearing for their lives. They didn’t get far as Saber transformed her sword into a whip and tripped up the five rioters who were airborne. With a tug of her whip, the rioters were slashed multiple times before the bladed whip retracted back into a sword*
(Saber): 76.
(Brodie): Uh ladies, let’s not make this a competition and instead focus on getting the streets under control.
*As Brodie said this, Lola leaped over him and attacked three prisoners. She punched the first one in the face, kicked the second one upside the head and then grabbed the third one by the head in a claw where frost could be seen forming around her fingers and on the head of the prisoner who was starting to lose consciousness. He blacked out before his head completely froze over and fell to the ground*
(Lola): There’s 80.
*Lola turned around to smile smugly at Saber and Rika who both had agitated looks on their faces. All of a sudden an explosion went off behind Lola. Many prisoners and rioters went flying through the air because of the explosion. Another explosion occurred striking a large group of prisoners and rioters to clear up the streets as Korone came walking down them while carrying a grenade launcher and grinning. She stopped in the middle of the street and sat the launcher up next to her where everyone could clearly see it was taller than her*
(Korone): You guys destroyed my favorite videogame store. Prepare to die. First Form: Houseberg (Halberd)!
*All of a sudden the launcher turned into a halberd and Korone picked it up. Using her speed Korone began slashing and dashing through the prisoners and rioters picking them off one by one. She was moving so fast none of them could react in time to counterattack. She dove directly in the middle of a group of prisoners and rioters where she spun around slashing away at her enemies. After spinning around multiple times she stopped and began to stagger around feeling dizzy. One prisoner who was a cat demihuman with grey hair and black eyes saw this as an opportunity to attack and charged at Korone from behind with a box cutter knife. Korone sensed the attack and turned around transforming her halberd into a flint rifle. Korone quickly turned around the pointed the rifle at the head of the demihuman who stopped in his tracks, dropped the box cutter, put his hands up and began to back away slowly all while Korone smiled at him*
(Korone): It only takes one.
(Cat demihuman): You don’t have the nerve.
*Korone pointed the gun at a nearby human rioter who was short, had blue eyes and was wearing an orange jacket that covered his hair. Korone fired the gun and shot him in the head where he fell to the ground unconscious. Korone then repointed the gun back at the cat demihuman who was now sweating profusely*
(Korone): Still want to try me?
*Realizing he had no hope of escaping or beating Korone, the prisoner fell to his knees*
(Cat demihuman): I surrender.
*The other prisoners and rioters decided to take a chance and tried to rush Korone who pointed her gun up in the air chanting in elfen. The barrel of the rifle began to glow white as blue elfen markings appeared on the barrel. Korone pulled the trigger and a white bullet was shot in the air where it quickly dispersed into multiple bullets and rained down on all of them like snow falling in the winter. In total, she had simultaneously shot 36 prisoners and rioters. The cat demihuman who had surrendered earlier attempted to reach for the box cutter he dropped and stab Korone, but she saw what he was doing and used the stock of her gun to bash the head of the demihuman and knocked him unconscious*
(Korone): And that’s 157. Am I winning?
*Rika, Saber, and Lola stood there in silence*
(Lukas): *Chuckles* It would appear so, commander.
***
(Dust): Looks like the Warden of Snow still got it.
(Gael): The Warden of Snow?
(Dust): That’s what they call her. Before joining Brister she was in charge of watching over the Hills of Pinchester for fifty years by the snow elves.
(Jin): Fifty years? Why?
(Dust): It was a rite of passage for her to leave her village. For fifty years she fought off Eclipses and thieves who attempted to invade the hills. The snow on those hills were so pure and clean under her supervision.
(Gael): Why were those hills so important?
(Dust): Don’t know. Nobody knows what snow elves think. Rumor has it there’s some kind of power source on the hill. Others say there’s treasure buried underneath that snow. Whatever the case, snow elves have been guarding that area for years. As soon as she left she became quite the accomplished adventurer and then eventual knight where she served Brister and became commander of the White Tiger Knights. Out of all the commanders she’s the oldest and has the most battle experience.
(Sanada): I once heard she was considered to be the leader of the Commander’s Table but she turned it down and let General Bedivere be the leader. Said it would interfere with her gaming.
(Hibana): Smart choice.
(Dust): Well, I think I’m going to call it a night.
(Hibana): Same here. I’m exhausted.
(Alita): I too must head back to the lab and make sure everything is in order.
(Jin): You guys are leaving!?
(Dust): Well we accomplished our mission so~.
(Jin): What about the kingdom?
(Dust): Trust me, if the commanders are out and about then the kingdom is in good hands. They should have this mess cleaned up shortly. Now might be a good time to get some rest as we’ll be busy tomorrow.
(Sanada): I agree. I sense a dark presence in the wind. Everything that has happened tonight was meant to accomplish something sinister and they succeeded.
*As Dust, Hibana, and Alita took off Jin, Gael and Sanada stayed behind a little longer to see the knights take back the city. Jin was amazed at how strong and quick the knights acted to restore order to the kingdom and capture all the prisoners and rioters. As he watched this he couldn’t help but realize just how much he has to improve before he could consider himself on the same level as the knights he admired so much*
Author’s Notes: This was an exciting chapter to write. One of the things I wanted to do in volume two was show off the fighting styles of the commanders and other characters. I just wanted everyone to know that yes, the members of Shadow Eye are strong but they’re not the only strong knights in the kingdom and if something were to happen to them the kingdom would still be in good hands with the commanders and various other knights protecting it. Fun fact, I was originally going to make Walter’s instrument a guitar but switched it to a violin because I felt that suited his personality better. He’s a guy who likes classic music so of course the violin works better for him. Don’t worry, I haven’t given up on the guitar. I’m already thinking of a character who can use it. However, if I had to name my favorite commander’s fighting style it would have to be Arslan. I was very happy with the way his fighting style came out. Originally, I had him just using his wings to fight, but I wasn’t happy with that. As I was creating the character I knew I wanted to give him a medical background and I figured why not combine his medical knowledge with martial arts? Because there’s nothing more dangerous than a man who has studied the human body and knows how and where to hurt you the most. Morrison and Korone’s fighting styles were easy to do. I had their fighting styles planned out as soon as I started creating them. I was originally going to give Leon one rapier but I went with two to show how skilled he is and make him stand out more. I actually wouldn’t mind creating a scenario where he and Sanada fight each other. I know it’ll be a great fight. All right, next week is the final chapter of the volume so look forward to it. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.