*After Sanada led the group down a number of streets and alleyways, they arrive at a small hidden house tucked away between other houses*
(Raika): So this is where you’ve been hiding? Got to admit, it’s a tough place to see. Looks cozy too.
(Sanada): Don’t get cute with me.
*Sanada opens the door and lets everyone into the house where Ryuuji closes the door as he was the last one to enter. The place was mostly empty with little light. There was a small kitchen and a small bedroom and bathroom off to the left side of the house. Sera comes running from the kitchen after hearing the door. When she sees Sanada and the others she prepares to grab her weapon a dagger with a chain*
(Sanada): No! They’re with me. Everyone, this is Sera, the spy I was asked to guard.
*Sera takes a deep breath and relaxes*
(Dust): I thought there were two spies. Where’s the other?
*Sera gets a sad look in her face as she looks down*
(Sanada): I arrived too late. He gave his life to protect Sera.
(Dust): Which means she holds all the information and all the more important to keep her alive.
(Raika): What’s the situation like in the village?
(Sanada): The mercenaries have taken over.
(Dust): Yeah, we saw that in the report. Hargus has handed over complete control of the village to them in order to stop you guys. What about the villagers?
(Sanada): They’re all safe for now. But anyone who tries to resist or leave gets injured badly by their leader. He’s using this large dagger-like sword that feeds off of his anger.
(Ryuuji): Sounds like he uses dark magic. Where is he?
(Sera): He set up base in the mayor’s office. It oversees the whole village.
(Raika): I’m surprised you didn’t try and make a move to escape.
(Sanada): I would have, but I’m afraid of what he’ll do to the villagers if we escape. They’re all good people here who helped us when we needed it most. Even when the village was taken over, they didn’t sell us out for their own safety. We can’t repay their kindness by leaving them in the hands of these cowards.
(Ryuuji): Well said Sanada. Receive kindness and show kindness in return. Let’s save this village.
(Dust): Liberate a village from a bunch of mercenaries? Sure, it’ll make this trip exciting.
*As they were talking, Jin hears the door slowly creaking open and turns around to see a mercenary with a gun peeking in*
(Jin): Mercenary!
*Everyone turns to the door with Raika pulling out her gun and scaring the mercenary away. Jin was about to go after them before Ryuuji stops him*
(Ryuuji): Wait! He had a clear shot but didn’t take it.
*Outside of the alleyway where the hideout was, five mercenaries with guns were waiting for the group to come out. They hear footsteps and see Sera running towards them where they open fire on her. Sera was shot seven times before she fell to the ground and landed right in front of them. As the mercenaries inspect the body, it begins to dissolve into water leaving a puddle. With their backs turned and distracted, the group attacks. Dust takes out one of the mercenaries with a high jump kick, Ryuuji and Jin knock out two mercenaries with a fire fist and brass knuckles, and the fourth one was knocked out by Sanada who hits him in the back of the head with the handle of his sword. The final mercenary runs away with the guys not chasing after him as he was quickly sniped in the back of the head by Raika’s rifle who made it to the roof of one of the houses. Sera comes out of the alleyway shortly after the last mercenary went down*
(Ryuuji): Creating water clones of yourself. Impressive skill.
*Ryuuji’s comment made Sera blush a little*
(Dust): Let’s head to the village square and see what trouble we can get into.
*The group begins to make their way to the village square with Raika following behind them by jumping from roof to roof*
***
*In the mayor’s office, the mayor, a short middle-aged man with short brown hair, glasses and green eyes that matched his green pants and vest as well as a black long-sleeved shirt was standing by the doorway while sitting by his desk was Kor with a bottle of whiskey in his hand and a large Chinese dagger leaning off the side of the desk. He began to chug his whiskey bottle happily with his brown boots on the mayor’s desk as the alcohol began to drip from his mouth and stain his brown poncho which covered his upper body and protected his green military pants*
(Mayor): Um. . .Mr. Milo-
(Kor): Hey! No need for formalities Mr. Mayor. We’re practically friends. Call me, Kor.
(Mayor): Yes. Well then, Kor, I was hoping for an update on just how much longer you and your men would be occupying our village?
(Kor): Is there a problem with our presence here? We’ve followed the rules, haven’t trashed the place, or hurt anybody in the village when we could have.
(Mayor): Right, and I’m grateful for that. It’s just, our food supplies are beginning to run low and you’ve turned away all carriers from entering the village as well as forbidden anyone from leaving the village. I’m worried about everyone’s morality and well-being.
(Kor): As am I. Sadly, I can’t leave this village until I get those Brister spies. This is the only way they could come, so they’ll have to pass through here to reach Brister. They should have been here by now. Unless, your people are hiding them from us.
(Mayor): They would never do such a thing. The people of Messner are all loyal to Hargus.
(Kor): That’s good to hear. I would hate to have to kill you like I did that spineless coward who came crawling back to tell me about the girl and samurai he was too afraid to face.
*Just as the mayor and Kor continued their conversation, a mercenary burst through the door breathing heavily*
(Mercenary): Boss! We found them! They’re out in the village square with three other guys joining them. They took down a few of our men trying to capture them. They said they’re waiting for you.
*Kor smiled at this information. He took his boots off the table, got up, and grabbed his dagger*
(Kor): Looks like it’s your lucky day Mr. Mayor. It appears that me and my men will be out of here by the end of the day.
*Kor left the room with a deranged smile on his face along with the mercenary who delivered the message as the mayor watched them leave*
***
*Down in the village square, the village residents had gathered outside or by the windows of their houses to watch what was transpiring. The bodies of some of the mercenaries were on the ground completely unconscious around the village square. By the fountain, Jin and Ryuuji were sitting while keeping an eye on Sera who was sitting right between them. She was a little nervous and blushing as this was the first time she had ever been seated between two men. To have one of them be a living legend and the other a boy her age, it took everything Sera had to keep herself from passing out. Sanada was sitting on the ground in front of the fountain seiza style meditating with his sword lying on the ground next to him. Raika was nowhere to be seen as she was watching the group from a vantage point. Dust was standing and swinging his wire around taunting the remaining mercenaries to try and attack him. They weren’t foolish enough to rush in and fight him as they saw what happened to those who tried to rush in*
(Dust): Come on fellas, don’t be shy. Step up and you too can have the privilege of saying I got my ass kicked.
*The mercenaries that were in front of the fountain quickly stepped to the side to clear a path as they felt Kor’s presence behind them. They all had been around Kor long enough to sense his murderous intent and knew not to get in his way as they knew whoever he was going to fight was destined to die. Kor makes it to the fountain where Sanada comes out of his meditation to stare down Kor*
(Dust): That’s quite an aura you’re giving off there. You must be Kor?
(Kor): Hmph. That’s right. So, which one of you is the so-called samurai who defeated Clay and Gen? Was it you?
(Dust): Sorry, can’t take credit for that one. All credit goes to that man sitting on the ground.
*Dust points his thumb to Sanada who was behind him. Kor looks past Dust and stares down Sanada*
(Kor): You’re joking right? This is the guy who took out Clay and Gen? Just how weak were those idiots?
*Sanada grabs his sword and rises to his feet. He walks forward to face Kor as Dust starts to move back to join the others by the fountain*
(Sanada): I’ve come to ask you to let us pass through this village peacefully and not to harm the people here. This fight doesn’t have to end in a bloodshed.
(Kor): I disagree. I think this village could use a good bloodshed. Your friends are free to go peacefully, but the spy and you have to stay here with us. I need to offer her head to Hargus and I need to pay you back for killing my men.
(Sanada): I cannot accept that condition.
(Kor): Then it looks like we got a fight on our hands.
(Sanada): It would appear so.
*Sanada unsheathes his sword and takes up the Wind stance with his sword held out vertically in front of him while Kor holds out his dagger in front of him as black magic particles begin to glow around the dagger*
(Jin): I hope Sanada’s sword will hold up against that dagger.
(Ryuuji): I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Sanada’s sword is quite strong, even I would have a tough time breaking it. Truth be told, I’m not sure I could break it if I wanted to and went all out.
*In the blink of an eye Sanada vanishes and reappears in front of Kor who blocked Sanada’s upward slash with his dagger putting the two in a stalemate until Kor uses his foot to kick Sanada away and swings his dagger down with both hands as it begins to glow black. Sanada dodges the attack by jumping to the side. Kor’s attack shattered the ground where it landed and his magic began to leave his sword and seeped onto the ground in five directions where it began to rise to create humanoid spirits with black bodies and orange eyes. Each spirit was carrying a giant dagger similar to Kor’s dagger that was made out of magic particles and was the same color as the spirits. The spirits charge toward Sanada who defends himself by blocking, parrying and dodging the attacks of the five spirits with a calm mind not succumbing to the pressures of being outnumbered. Kor pulls his dagger from the ground and joins the spirits in attacking Sanada. They drive Sanada back first into a wall to corner him, where Kor thrusts his dagger forward hoping to pierce Sanada through the chest only to miss. Sanada jumped up into the air to land on the dagger perfectly surprising Kor who had never seen anyone use this as a means to evade a strike in all the battles he’s been in*
(Kor): What the fu-
*Sanada does a quick sprint along the dagger to kick Kor in the head which dazes him. As Sanada kicked Kor, he jumped off the sword to land on the ground behind Kor and the spirits. Kor quickly recovered from the kick and sic his spirits on Sanada who was waiting for them. Sanada changed up his stance lowering his sword below his waist and to the left side of his leg while holding the sword with both hands*
(Sanada): Cyclone Stance: Dance of the Vortex!
*As quick as the wind, Sanada vanishes slashing upward cutting the first spirit in two, then downward to cut the second spirit in two, followed by an upward slash on the third, downward slash on the fourth, and an upward slash on the fifth. Sanada reappeared in front of Kor where he executed a downward slash diagonally across Kor’s chest with such force that he went flying backwards into the wall of the building he cornered Sanada in earlier as a mini dust cloud appears to cover him. Sanada kept his eyes on the dust cloud waiting for Kor to emerge as he could sense Kor wasn’t finished. A few seconds passed and the dust cloud disappeared as Kor stood there with blood dripping from his lip and a look of glee on his face*
(Kor): HAHAHAHA! Yes! This is it! This is what I’ve been waiting for all this time!
*Wiping the blood from his lip, Kor ripped off his poncho to reveal that he was wearing a metal chest plate underneath which was over a black long-sleeved latex shirt*
(Kor): I take back what I said about you. You’re great! Let’s fight some more you bastard!
(Mercenary): Oh no, the boss has lost it! Whenever he gets like this he loses all sense of reason and goes on a killing spree.
*Dust, the villagers, and everyone else couldn’t help overhearing what the mercenary said. A few of the villagers started to panic and even Jin and Sera got a little scared for their safety with everyone else, but Dust and Ryuuji just stood there unfazed by what was said. Even Sanada was unfazed by what he just heard*
(Dust): PTSD. All the stress from those campaigns must have warped his mind and made him battle crazy.
(Ryuuji): For some people the war ends and for others it never stops.
*With his sword glowing black once again, Kor ran at amazing speed toward Sanada laughing insanely in the process. Sanada quickly changed up his stance to the Hurricane Stance by placing his sword horizontally out in front of him with both hands firmly gripped on his sword to block Kor’s attack. Sparks go flying as their blades began colliding with each other*
(Kor): I’ll kill you! I swear I’ll kill you! But it won’t be a fast death, I’ll kill you nice and slow so I can enjoy every minute of it.
(Sanada): Is that all this is to you? Just a battle of life and death?
(Kor): That’s the way this world works! We all live to kill or be killed! If you want to live than kill to survive.
(Sanada): Very well, you demon. Then for the sake of myself and this village I shall kill you, so that we may all survive.
*Sanada jumps back to distance himself from Kor and switches over to the Wind Stance by holding his sword vertically out in front of him. He charges at Kor and the two begin to clash blades with each other*
(Jin): Hey, he switched up his stance again.
(Sera): I too noticed that when he saved me.
(Ryuuji): I take it this is your first time seeing a wind samurai? The Wind School has a total of four sword stances that they use to fight. Wind, Tornado, Hurricane, and Cyclone. Each stance has a different focus on power, speed, and precision and can be used to help the samurai adapt to whoever they’re fighting against. Wind is the first stance and is the basic style that all students at the school learn in their first year. After that, they’re free to choose whatever second stance they want to master. Most wind samurais only master two styles and those who master three are granted the title of Wind Master.
(Sera): Then that means Sanada has earned the title of Wind Master?
(Ryuuji): No.
*As Ryuuji was explaining the Wind School stances to Jin and Sera, Sanada had dodged against the crazed Kor with a sidestep. Sanada then lifted his sword above his head with one hand*
(Sanada): Tornado Stance: Spiral Arrow!
*Sanada swings his sword downward slashing the shoulder of Kor who screams out in pain as the slash felt like he was being pierced by an arrow flying through his shoulder and out the other end*
(Ryuuji): He’s a Grand Wind Master, he’s mastered all four styles. He’s one of eleven in the history of the Wind School to master all four styles. Not to mention the youngest to do it at the age of 24.
(Jin and Sera): *Inner Thoughts* So cool~!
*Kor tried to retaliate with his dagger, but the damage from Sanada’s slash was just too great. Kor couldn’t swing the dagger with both hands and left himself defenseless. Sanada quickly capitalizes on this*
(Sanada): Wind Stance: Triple Gust!
*Sanada kicked Kor in the face with three roundhouse kicks. The kicks were so fast that from a normal person’s perspective it looked like he kicked Kor only once. However, Dust and Ryuuji knew that it was three kicks. Kor had a dead look in his eyes as he fell to the ground backwards and didn’t move. The remaining mercenaries were shocked at what they were seeing. Their leader, the man that they both feared and respected, the man that they followed, and the man who had defeated countless others before him was now lying motionless on the ground completely dissected and picked apart by a no-named samurai like nothing. He was completely outmatched, outsmarted, and outpowered by this samurai just like Gen and Clay before him. Sanada stared down the remaining mercenaries with a glare as if daring them to fight him*
(Mercenary): Screw you, you bastard!
*Three mercenaries came charging at Sanada with lances out of fear and panic. Before the mercenaries could even reach them, all three of them were hit with a lightning bullet to the head. Everyone turns their attention to where the bullets came from and they see Raika kneeling down on the roof of a building with her sniper rifle out and aimed at the mercenaries. Sanada turned his head to smile at Raika*
(Sanada): *Chuckles* I had that you know.
*Raika read Sanada’s lips through her scope where she just smiles*
(Raika): *Chuckles* I know. I was getting bored over here.
*One mercenary pulled out a gun and was aiming it directly at Sanada thinking he let his guard down. However, Sanada could sense the gun pointed at him and was about to unleash a counterattack until the mercenary had his arm cut off.
(Mercenary): AHHHHHHHH~!
*As the mercenary screamed out in pain, the villagers had a look of shock and fear on their faces when they saw that the man who cut off the mercenary’s arm was none other than Kor. While everyone was distracted by the mercenaries and Raika, they failed to notice Kor regaining consciousness and rising back to his feet*
(Mercenary): *Heavy breathing* W. . .Why?
(Kor): Who gave you permission to interfere in my war!?
*Using his good arm, Kor diagonally slashes the body of the mercenary in half getting gasps and screams from the villagers and causing the other mercenaries to step away from their deranged leader. Kor turned his attention back to Sanada. A black aura surrounded Kor’s body. He was completely consumed by rage and only wanted one thing: Sanada’s death. Whether it meant destroying the village, his men, or even himself, Kor was determined to kill Sanada here and now. The black aura quickly moved from Kor’s body and moved into the dagger covering it in complete darkness as it began to glow and the ground began to crumble underneath him*
(Jin): Everybody move! He’s going to unleash a blast of pure magic energy!
*Everyone who was behind Sanada watching from afar quickly ran away. This left only Sanada, Dust, Ryuuji, Jin, and Sera staring down Kor’s attack. Jin and Sera were quick to get up and run away, but stopped when they saw that Dust and Ryuuji were still standing there*
(Jin): What are you guys doing!? The magic that he’s exerting is enough to blow off a piece of the mountain!
(Dust): Zenquilo Jin! Why are you panicking? Look at Sanada.
*Jin as well as Sera turn their attention where they see he hasn’t moved an inch and is unfazed by Kor’s gathering of magic*
(Dust): That guy is as calm as the wind and not panicking in the least. Whatever attack Kor has planned Sanada is ready for it. So have some faith in your colleague and stand behind him.
*Jin and Sera were shocked at what they heard. Dust and Ryuuji trusted Sanada so much that they weren’t even going to move from their spots. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Jin went back out to stand by Dust to show how much he trusted Sanada*
(Kor): Die!
*Kor unleashed his massive attack which took on the form of a large sphere that shattered the windows of buildings and destroyed the streets making its way to Sanada who took a deep breath and prepared himself. He sheathed his sword and closed his eyes as green magic particles gathered in his sword*
(Sanada): Fear not what lies before you. Remain as calm and gentle as the wind. Cut down that which opposes you. Cyclone Stance.
*As Kor’s attack is only a few inches from Sanada, he opens his eyes and unsheathes his sword which unleashes a powerful gust of wind as he swings his sword upwards. The wind shoots Kor’s attack into the sky high above the village and past the clouds. The sphere of magic exploded dispersing the clouds and made the sky clear as the sun was setting*
(Sanada): Aether’s Requiem.
*Dust, Ryuuji, and Raika stared up into the sky with smug looks on their faces. Everyone else who didn’t close their eyes or duck and cover stood still staring up into the sky at the explosion of Kor’s sphere. Their mouths wide open with amazement and disbelief at what they just witnessed. This samurai standing before them managed to deflect a sphere of pure magic into the sky with ease. Not only saving himself but half the village in the process. Jin and Sera were beside themselves as they couldn’t believe what they just witnessed. In all their studies and training to become a knight they had never seen anyone pull off what Sanada just did. Questions of how powerful Sanada was ran through Sera’s head. Jin questioned just how powerful were the members of Shadow Eye? If one member could do this amazing feat single-handedly than just how strong was everyone else who hadn’t shown their true potential yet*
(Kor): Im-impossible.
*Kor stood there shook to his core. All of his rage and anger was put into that attack and got deflected so easily. Kor was so shook by this that he failed to notice Sanada appearing behind him*
(Sanada): Your war ends here. May you find peace in the next life.
*Before Kor could process what was happening, Sanada swung his sword slicing Kor’s head clean off his body. Kor’s body feel to the ground as did his head which rolled before stopping. As the explosion finally died down, everyone’s attention returned to Kor. Everyone aside from Dust, Ryuuji, and Raika were shocked to see him decapitated by Sanada who turned his attention to the remaining mercenaries who were visibly scared and shaking*
(Sanada): Mercenaries! Look at your leader! Run! Never return to this village again or meet the same fate!
*As if seeing a ghost, the mercenaries began to run away with some screaming out of pure terror. They ran out of the village vowing never to return as they feared the samurai who had defeated their leader. With the mercenaries gone, the village began to cheer. Sanada took a deep breath and sheathed his sword just as he was joined by Dust, Ryuuji, Raika, Jin and Sera*
(Dust): Good job out there.
(Jin): That was incredible! How did you do that? How is your sword not damaged or destroyed from the attack?
(Raika): That sword is made of pure Reindium.
(Jin): Rei-Rei-Reindium! You have a sword made of pure Reindium!? The hardest and rarest metal in the world is right in front of me.
*Jin was starting to hyperventilate*
(Ryuuji): Deep breaths Jin. Deep breaths.
*The mayor soon approached the group*
(Mayor): Thank you! Thank you so much for ridding us of those mercenaries.
(Sanada): You don’t need to thank me. I was just passing through. Nothing more.
*The group begins to walk away towards the exit of the village that would put them in Brister territory. As they headed for the exit everyone waved to them and thanked them for everything they did. Once out of the village they began their descent down the mountain and back to the Kingdom of Brister*
Author’s Note: And completed. How’s that for a climatic battle? Our first real one on one battle in the novel. Out of all the chapters to date this is the one chapter that took me the longest to write. I wanted to make sure I got the battle right. I must say writing one on one battles is a lot tougher but at the same time more engaging and fun to do. The choreography, the emotions, the tension, the thrill. It’s all great stuff and I can’t wait to do this with the other characters. Sanada’s sword styles are loosely based off Ghost of Tsushima’s sword styles. At the time when I was developing Sanada’s character I was playing that game and just really loved the various sword styles they incorporated into Jin’s fighting, so I figured why not do that for Sanada. Different sword styles to adapt to different opponents and scenarios and finds himself in. Also, reindium. Every fantasy world needs their special and rare metal that’s strong and doesn’t exist in our world. Next week, we’ll be taking the attention away from this group and focusing on the others who also had their own adventure. Thanks for reading as always and I’ll see you next time.