Vas never had never considered himself to be extremely lucky until this moment.

Hades had ripped the scythe across Vas’s back so forcefully that it had cracked the scabbard of his second sword, Hades’ old nodachi. The nodachi fell onto the ground.

Aside from having the wind knocked out of him, Vas was unharmed.

Adding to his luck, the scythe’s blade had shattered like glass.

During the split second where Hades was trying to figure out what had happened, Vas spun around and swung his miaodao straight through Hades’ right arm. The monster made a grinding sound with its mouth and attempted to grab Vas with its remaining hand, but Vas dodged back and away.

“Suppose this makes things more even.”

Hades bent down and grabbed the nodachi from the ground.

Vas took the time to analyze himself. Was he moving too aggressively? He’d figured that if he wasn’t aggressive, Hades would win the fight. The being with more speed and strength would probably win if its opposition couldn’t bring something new to the fight.

However, now that he’d taken a gamble and effectively halved his opponent’s offensive capabilities, Vas hoped he could win through a contest of skill.

A fight wasn’t about who was stronger, smarter, or faster. It was about who could manipulate their advantage the best. And luck.

“So quiet. What happened to your… Spunk?”

Hades charged without waiting for a reply.

Vas brushed ash aside with his feet and set into a defensive posture, keeping his sword well in front of his body. He’d gained a lot of experience fighting defensively through sparring with Jade. Her halberd’s extreme range had made for excellent practice.

Jade.

Vas clenched his jaw. It was hard to stay focused in fights, recently. Ever since that day. His thoughts kept drifting. He couldn’t just go into blind rage and win fights anymore. He’d lost a piece of his soul.

Hades grinned as he neared Vas’s range, and initiated with a swing similar to one Vas would have used.

The extra weight along with momentum made Hades’ attack extremely dangerous. Vas stepped into it and parried the powerful blow to the side. The nodachi’s momentum was unavoidable to some extent, and it sliced through part of Vas’s right leg.

However, Vas used the moment for a bigger objective. He brought the miaodao up and around, aimed for Hades’ head, and swung. Hades used his stump of a right arm to slow the attack, and stepped out of the way just in time. He kicked Vas in the side. CRACK.

Vas rolled with the blow, absorbing as much of the shock as possible. He still lost a few ribs, he knew. As he rolled, Vas’s hand caught onto something hard.

A piece of concrete, maybe?

Vas threw the object at Hades before standing, which caught the monster by surprise. It had been a pebble, and hit Hades directly in the forehead. It fractured the skull, but damage-wise was naturally ineffective.

It did buy Vas time to stand up.

“Your pattern is extremely difficult to predict.”

Vas spat out a wad of blood.

“That’s what I’m going for.”

Hades snorted and took a step forward. Vas fell into a defensive stance again.

Ash fell around them like snow. Maybe there was some snow intermixed?

No. Vas had to focus. If there was such a thing as divine intervention, he’d already used it all up.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Smiling, Hades attacked again. This time Vas dodged backwards.

Mistake.

Hades’ nodachi sliced another notch into Vas’s right leg. Both cuts had been shallow, but Vas knew he’d be losing blood too fast now. He obviously wasn’t skilled enough to fight defensively.

It was time to gamble.

Vas attacked. Hades parried him easily and followed up with a blow of his own, but Vas was already waiting. As Hades brought his blade through for a counter attack, Vas’s blade was being swung down just to the inside. Hades’ blade touched Vas’s right arm, sliced a small bit into it, and stopped. In that split second, Vas had cut off Hades’ left arm.

Vas kicked the monster over.

Vas was stunned. Hades had made a mistake thinking Vas would fight defensively the entire time.

If he’d been a split second late with his swing…

But no, he wasn’t.

“Now, let us go.”

Hades cackled and looked down.

Then he jumped up, attempting to bite Vas.

Vas decapitated Hades in a swift motion.

All of the Risen around Vas suddenly collapsed. Lifeless, almost. Puppets with their strings cut.

“HELL YEAH! RUN!”

Alex. Oh, Alex. Vas smiled.

----------------------------------------

She was still in her body, somehow. Wasn’t she dead?

They should all die too.

She opened her eyes. Only, she didn’t have eyes. She just saw things around her.

She felt around with her senses. It was really just like eyesight, except she didn’t require light to see.

She knew she was a Risen now. An enemy… No. An immortal.

She sat on a snowy hill, alone. She was where she had died. Or was it where she had awoken?

She was waiting.

She didn’t know what she was waiting for, only that it would come.

Days passed. Perhaps weeks. Maybe months. She did not know. It did not matter to an immortal.

She knew her thoughts were changing, even as she thought them.

She knew—

Suddenly a large being of mixed pieces of flesh stood up not far from her hill.

She knew it was a commander. Its presence gave her the strength to stand. The will to stand.

“Nocturnal! So unpredictable!”

Hades. That was the name of this commander. She knew it the moment he looked at her.

Why did he have a name?

Hades smiled at her, and she smiled back.

“We will go to their wall. Gather others.”

“How will I gather others?” She didn’t know how she spoke. It had seemed like a requirement to get the information needed to obey.

“Name yourself.”

A name.

A name for her.

She thought long and hard.

After what may have been days, Hades cracked his neck.

“Well?”

“How do I find my name?”

“Remember. With memory comes control over the others.”

And so she sat. Closed her eyes. Thought.

Hours passed. Remember.

Then, she knew. She remembered.

“Jade.”