Chapter 21- The Last Piece

"There you are! We've been looking everywhere for you…"

Ruh looked in the direction of the voice. Keith and another man, dressed in a trenchcoat with a blue sword, stepped through the broken glass doors.

Bob had rounded up the group of children along with Zimmi. The little girl stood at the back of the group silently, though her usual positive smile was nowhere to be seen.

Keith looked down at Zimmi. "You ok, kid?"

Zimmi nodded with a blank expression on her face. Keith asked Ruh if something had happened while he was gone, looking at the boy suspiciously. Ruh simply glanced in the direction of the dead Assassin.

"Yeah, she killed someone, big whoop. Asshole didn't deserve to live anyway, am I right, kid?" Keith scoffed.

Zimmi grimaced when she heard what he said and stayed silent. Bob, Enteico and Ruh glared at Keith disapprovingly. Keith did a double-take at them, briefly confused.

"We should get moving. The safe zone's not far from here." Bob said, nodding at Enteico and Keith.

Zimmi ran to Keith and hugged him.

Keith almost fell over from the sudden move. He looked around awkwardly at the others before tilting his head. "Uhh…ahem…kid? Something wrong?"

"Mr. Keef…I…I did something bad…and I-I don't know what to do…or…or how to fix it. Am I a bad person, Mr. Keef?" Zimmi said, looking up at Keith. She was so confused, so terrified that she had become someone horrible. She desperately needed to know that it wasn't true.

"I…umm…kid…you're going to be fine. It's just…his life wasn't that important, you know? People die all the time, and that guy was a bad guy. You made the world better by getting rid of him, so don't worry." Keith stuttered.

Zimmi sniffed and nodded. She didn't seem convinced. Her chest felt empty and hard while her hands were limp on either side of her body.

Enteico shook his head slightly when Keith looked to him for approval.

That wasn't what she needed to hear.

"Zimmi, we should get going. Uncle Bob, can you take the lead?" Ruh asked, taking Zimmi by the hand.

"Sure. Keep an eye on Zimmi and the others." Bob nodded, walking outside the orphanage.

Ruh shook Zimmi slightly. "Hey, bestie. You think you can walk with us?"

"Y…yeah. I'll try. Thanks." Zimmi said, softly.

"You guys go on. I'll catch up in a bit." Enteico nodded, prompting Ruh and Zimmi to walk outside, but not before Keith shot a dirty look at Ruh.

How is a kid better at this shit than me?!

"So," Enteico said.

"Yeah. That's Zimmi. She's usually more…loud." Keith mumbled.

"I could tell. You want to talk about what happened there?" Enteico asked, folding his arms.

"There's nothing to talk about! I'm…I'm not good at this stuff! Everyone knows that I'm not the sappy or…or emotional type, so why the fuck is everyone expecting that shit from me?!" Keith snapped.

"Have you ever considered trying to be more open?"

"The hell is that supposed to mean?! Now you're on my case too!" Keith exclaimed.

"It means, Keith, that you need to drop this arrogant dickhead persona that you've put up for the past few years! You need to be more honest with those around you, stop pushing them away and deflecting everything with stupid humor!" Enteico said.

"But that's not who I am, Enteico. You're asking me to change myself. I don't…"

"No, Keith. I'm not asking you to change; I'm telling you to grow up. Just because the world is cruel and…and brutal, doesn't mean that you need to turn into a monster too. Things happen…accidents happen, mistakes happen, but people can still be good. Not everyone has to turn into a killer." Enteico said, calmly.

"Well, since you're so good at this, then why the hell didn't you open your goddamn mouth when the kid was here?!"

"Because she doesn't need to hear it from me, Keith! She needs to hear it from you! They both do!" Enteico yelled.

Keith fell silent as Enteico's words repeated themselves, echoing through the empty hallways.

"Y'know something, Keith? I fucking hate your jokes. I hate the way you can just laugh everything off without a care in the goddamn world. I hate the way you can fix so much, yet you choose to do so little."

Enteico turned around to leave the orphanage, his sword distorting itself once again.

"And usually, I wouldn't care what the hell happened to you at all, because I know you can just smile and wave at your troubles. But this is something you can't ignore, something you can't run from. You need to understand that. And if I have to be the one to give you that bloody wake-up call, then so be it."

Enteico walked outside, running to catch up with Bob and the rest of the group.

Keith looked at his friend run outside. The sound of fighting dulled out from his head and faded into the background as his shoes scraped against the broken glass pieces.

He took everything away from me. I'll end it my way, Enteico. On my terms.

A pricking sensation coursed through Keith's body. A group of shadows surrounded him. There were at least a dozen Assassins surrounding him, with their weapons ready at their side.

Keith clicked his tongue in annoyance as he pulled the trigger on his gauntlets.

"Did he send you?" Keith asked.

The Assassins looked at each other and then nodded.

"If you're so sure that you can beat me, then you're welcome to become target practice for me. Otherwise, you can leave." Keith said, pointing out the door.

A few Assassins briefly looked around, desperately hoping their comrades would see reason and leave. After a long silence, four Assassins dropped their weapons in haste and turned to run.

The other Assassins killed the deserters before they even made it out the door.

Keith watched their bodies drop to the floor with an indifferent expression on his face. He rolled his eyes at the Assassins' proud stance at acting out their precious code.

"Who thought that the most wanted target of our clan was such a softie? Offering mercy to his enemies, how pathetic." An Assassin barked in laughter.

The next thing he felt was the jagged edge of the Blades of Alysides pierce his stomach.

"You don't want mercy? I can arrange that."

Keith wrapped the chains around the man's neck and pulled it against his body. The rapid popping of bones was heard before the man's neck was wrangled and his flesh caved in.

The Assassin collapsed to the floor.

Nothing.

An Assassin behind him yelled before he slammed his sword down on Keith.

Keith cut off the Assassin's hands and used his own weapon to drive it through the man's skull, twisting and ripping his head off, still attached to his sword.

Nothing.

The cries of anger and screams of agony died away in Keith's head as he quickly dispatched his other attackers, using the dead man's head stuck onto his sword as a club, brutally colliding and smashing against anyone unfortunate to be in his way.

His jacket began to burn his skin. There were so many of them. All of them wanted him dead. All of them didn't know who he was, yet would risk their lives to kill him.

All because of a code.

All because of a fucking code.

Keith unbuttoned his jacket and closed his eyes.

The entire hallway turned dark. It was pitch black. Keith held out his arm in front of his face. As he clutched his fist, he felt the blood stick around his fingers.

When he opened his eyes, he was on the second floor.

An Assassin stepped out from the corner of the hallway. Another left a room. Another emerged from the darkness. Then another, followed by another.

"They're our people! They deserve to move on from this life the way they choose, not the way they're forced to!"

Keith shook the voice away from his head.

You're the reason I'm in this mess, old man. Just stay dead. That was the one thing you were good at doing anyway. They're your people, not mine. Not anymore.

Keith held out his hand in front of him. The darkness returned once again. A vast shadow surrounded the Assassins, similar to the unknown depths of an ocean.

The Assassins rushed against Keith. He grabbed one Assassin and threw him against the other before stomping his head into the ground. A group of Assassins pounced on top of him at the same time.

"Then who would be your people now?"

Keith's eyes widened when he realized the sound of a weapon attacking him from behind. He took the pain of the cut from the weapon so he could get in close to his attacker, and pulled the trigger for his Blades into the Assassin's stomach.

"Who are they, Keith?"

Keith gritted his teeth in anger as he pulled his Blades out, twirling it around in the air over his head, cutting and slicing the other Assassins viciously.

"You've failed them too, haven't you?"

An Assassin caught Keith off guard and charged against him, knocking him through a classroom door and crashing against the edge of a metal table. It seemed this was the chemistry lab of the school.

His back instantly stiffened from the intense pain wrecking through his body. Clutching his back with his arm, he prepared to face off against the group of Assassins, with a tall and muscular man leading the group.

Keith attacked the man with his Blades, but the man merely grunted as the Blades pierced his chest and made sure Keith couldn't move by holding his chains.

"Grab the Blades off him!" The Assassins yelled, struggling to keep the Blades from retracting back into Keith's gauntlets.

An Assassin attempted to knock Keith out, but Keith kicked him hard in the throat, smashing it, making the man gag and collapse in pain while holding his throat.

His arms were still rendered immobile by the Assassin holding his Blades.

Keith jumped up and did a split kick, knocking two Assassins away from him when his legs connected with their face.

He saw a glint of steel slice at his chest. Keith yanked his gauntlets back desperately, blocking the strike with the metal around his arms.

He felt something click inside the gauntlet.

Keith ran towards the Assassin holding his Blades and drove the Blades still in his stomach deeper, yelling and grunting with each stab that he took.

"Blowing off steam isn't going to help."

He ripped the Blades away and spun around, aiming at an Assassin running toward him with his weapon raised.

But when Keith pulled the trigger, the Blades didn't eject.

The trigger was jammed.

Shit, shit, shit. Damn it!

He grabbed the nearest thing he could find and ducked as fast as he could.

A cut opened upon his shoulder as he felt the cold bite of steel rip through his skin. The wound was deep and drew a gush of blood that seeped into the red interior of his black jacket.

He took the pencil he had grabbed, driving it into the Assassin's eye. As the Assassin yelled in pain, Keith snapped off half of the pencil to slit the Assassin's throat.

Keith felt the trigger mechanism click again. It had snapped back into place.

He raised his hands into the air and yelled, ready to attack the next Assassin.

Only the empty silence of the lab greeted him.

Keith looked at the corpses around him; lifeless, empty husks that were no longer relevant to his existence. The Assassin next to Keith gargled blood and clutched his bleeding throat.

Nothing.

Keith saw a pencil holder on the table next to him. He grabbed the holder and crouched down to look at the man.

The Assassin whimpered at Keith, bleeding out. His lips were stained red with blood. Keith took a pen out from the holder and pried open the Assassin's mouth. He slammed it down into his throat, cutting his tongue.

The man screamed and struggled, but Keith had a firm hold on him as he drove another pen into the Assassin's mouth.

Nothing.

A pencil was brutally forced down his throat.

Nothing.

He grabbed two and stabbed deeper.

Nothing.

He heard someone outside the lab. Keith walked outside to find another swarm of Assassins.

"Killing them isn't going to change anything."

Keith ran at them, fury shaking his hands as he angrily cut down his enemies. Not even the ones who tried to run could escape.

"You criticize them for killing with a code, but are you any better?"

Keith ripped through flesh and bone. The disgusting sound of flesh squelched through the hallway. He snapped an Assassin's neck. He tore off another's backbone with his bare hands with blood flying out of his back.

An Assassin tried to stab him from above. He shot his Blades upwards and dragged the chains through his body, splitting the Assassin in half.

One Assassin fell. Then another. And another.

Keith slammed an Assassin into a locker repeatedly, banging the Assassin's head against the metal, denting it with each whump emanating from the locker.

Until finally, all that was left was the pain searing through his shoulder, the corpses and the blood on his hands.

The locker creaked open slowly as a gust of wind blew through the hallway. Keith got up and began walking down the hallway. From the window, Keith could see the Tournament stadium. A few civilians were visible around the giant structure.

He could feel a giant pricking sensation. There was someone in the stadium.

An image of a man with a blindfold blinked into his mind.

Time to finish this.

A stack of papers blew away from the locker, fluttering around with the wind through the hallway. A child's painting flew past Keith's face.

"Am I a bad person, Mr. Keef?"

Keith took a deep breath, forcing himself to focus on ending the nightmare. Zimmi might have thought that she was a bad person for defending herself, but she couldn't have been further from the truth.

After all, he knew what a bad person looked like.

Keith looked at his reflection in the window before walking away. The face of his double in the window haunted his mind; an empty, soulless husk.

______________________________________________________________________________________

"Enteico!"

Felix and Yokubo ran up to the group of children with Bob. Felix noticed that Keith was missing.

"Where's Keith?" Felix asked.

"Taking care of some…stuff," Enteico said.

Yokubo scowled as she knew what that meant. "Same old Keith. Anyway, the guards managed to create a breach in the Assassin's perimeter around the town. They're evacuating the civilians through there. It's behind the Tournament stadium. We came here looking for you so we could let you know."

"What happened to the Assassins there?" Enteico asked.

"What do you think?" Yokubo asked, folding her arms.

Enteico remembered that one person was missing from their group. "Oh."

"Anyway, where's this oh-so-special girl that Keith wanted to rescue so badly?" Yokubo asked, with annoyance heavily evident in her voice.

Zimmi's ears perked up slightly after hearing that.

"Yokubo, this is Zimmi," Enteico said, placing his hand on Zimmi's shoulder. Zimmi waved awkwardly at Yokubo.

"Hi." She said, forcing a smile. She had no idea why the purple-haired woman didn't like her, but Zimmi didn't want to make a bad first impression.

Yokubo's eyes widened before she rubbed the bridge of her nose with her fingers. She let out a deep sigh.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid fucking dumb…ugh!" She said, lightly facepalming herself repeatedly before she knelt down to speak with Zimmi at the girl's eye level.

"Hi, Zimmi. My name is Yokubo. It's nice to finally meet you, I've heard a lot about you." Yokubo smiled warmly at the girl.

Zimmi nodded and looked away from the woman. Yokubo raised her eyebrow at Enteico, who just shook his head in response. Yokubo placed a hand on Zimmi's shoulder.

"Hey, we're going to get you and your friends to a safe place now, ok? You don't need to worry about a thing. Just follow us and be careful." Yokubo said, trying to make the girl smile.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Zimmi nodded silently and walked back to her place behind Ruh. Her eyes were fixed on the floor.

"Hold on, I've got this," Felix said, walking to Zimmi.

Felix bent down and put on his best smile. "Hey there, buckaroo. Come on; don't be sad, we're here to help."

Zimmi hid behind Ruh, who glared at Felix. "Talking to her like she's a parakeet is not helping, idiot," Ruh growled.

Felix stepped back immediately to avoid any further hostility from the young boy. He looked with shock and disdain at Ruh.

"Can you believe this rat?!" Felix exclaimed.

"The kid does have a point," Enteico said with a grin.

The kids laughed at Felix's flabbergasted expression, except for Zimmi. Bob led the group of kids behind Enteico, Yokubo and Felix, sticking to the cover of the trees to avoid any Assassins spotting them. Enteico peeked from behind cover to find a platoon of Assassins blocking the main road.

"Ok, good news, the Assassins are still mostly preoccupied with the Central Kingdom guards. Bad news, there's a platoon of Assassins blocking the only way to the Tournament grounds." Enteico said.

"Not the only way. We can always go under." Bob stated, pointing at a sewer grate. The kids all groaned in disgust.

"Hey, it's not that bad. You guys just need to hold your nose and it'll be all good." Yokubo smiled.

"Yeah, or else you can play hopscotch with the Assassins. Your choice." Felix chuckled, making the children look at him with fear in their eyes.

Yokubo turned to look at Felix and then, without warning, headbutted him on the forehead, causing Felix to fall onto the ground.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Felix yelled.

"Are you trying to scare them?! They're just kids!" Yokubo said.

"Yeah, kids with fancy superpowers." Felix scoffed.

Yokubo gave him a glare before she smiled and comforted the kids, reassuring them that everything would be fine. She went down the sewer grate, followed soon after by the rest of the group.

"At least she didn't go for the nuts," Felix said, wiping the sweat off his brow.

As they descended into the murky tunnels, Enteico looked at him with doubt. "From my experience, whenever she doesn't do anything too bad immediately, that means she's planning to do something far worse to you later on."

Felix felt his asscheeks clench together in fear when he saw Yokubo shoot him a forced smile.

Ruh was deeply concerned about Zimmi. He had tried to do everything to make his friend smile, but his efforts were proving to be futile. Enteico and Yokubo looked at each other before nodding.

"Hey, kid. What's your name?" Enteico asked the boy.

"Oh. Ruh."

"Ruh. Mind if I talk to you for a bit?" Enteico asked him, trying to get Yokubo an opportunity to speak with Zimmi.

"Uhh…but…" Ruh said, glancing at Zimmi before Yokubo cleared her throat.

Ruh nodded, turning to head back to Enteico.

A hand grabbed onto his.

"Ruh? W…Where are you going?" Zimmi asked.

"I'm just going to talk with Enteico. He's one of Keith's friends, remember?"

"No…no, don't leave. Don't leave me. Please. I'm scared I'll…" Zimmi begged.

Ruh shook his head and moved her hair away from her face. "Not gonna happen. I'm still under the pinky promise contract after all, right?"

"But…but…no…don't…"

"Zippy, it's fine. They're not going to do anything. They just want to talk. Trust me."

Zimmi looked up at him and reluctantly let go of his hand, nodding. Ruh walked back to speak with Enteico.

"She seems pretty shaken up," Enteico stated.

"Thank you, I hadn't noticed," Ruh said, rolling his eyes.

Enteico laughed softly. "Alright, I get it. I'm just trying to help you out, Ruh."

"I'm not the one who needs help," Ruh growled.

"Are you sure? Seems to me like you're trying to avoid something from happening to Zimmi. Something you've experienced yourself." Enteico stated.

"She needs to understand that the world is cruel, but that shouldn't change who she is. She's perfect the way she is; always happy, always making others happy, the way she's supposed to be." Ruh said.

"And who gets to decide how she's supposed to be? You?"

"W…No, no. That's not what I'm trying to say…"

"I know what you mean, but the world will change people, whether we like it or not. Now, I'm not saying that it's completely hopeless and that you can't do anything to help someone out, but there's a different way to do it."

"Like how?" Ruh asked.

"Stick by their side. If they need you, you'll know. But, remind them of who they were. It's their choice if they choose to go back to being that person, not yours. Hold them accountable for their mistakes, but help them become better. That's your job as a best friend." Enteico said, staring blankly ahead.

Meanwhile, Yokubo tapped Zimmi lightly on her shoulder, snapping her back to reality.

"Hi, Zimmi. It's me. Do you need anything?" Yokubo asked softly.

Zimmi shook her head and kept walking silently.

Yokubo tried to think of something to break the ice, yet she couldn't find any topics. They walked together without saying a word for a while.

"Is Mr. Keef going to be ok?" Zimmi asked her, finally.

"Kee…? Oh! Keith. Yeah…yeah, he'll be fine. You worried about him?"

"Y…I guess…" Zimmi mumbled.

Yokubo looked at her for a while and then laughed as something popped into her head. Zimmi stared at Yokubo in confusion.

"No…hehmm. It's just that I remembered something. So, there was this one time I was going with Keith and his grandfather with one of our friends. He's…well, he was Keith's best friend, but that's beside the point." Yokubo said, clearing her throat.

Zimmi found herself inadvertently and eagerly listening to Yokubo's story. Ruh saw something return in her eyes as Yokubo kept speaking.

"Anyway, we were going through the mountain route because the main road was blocked to our town. We were bringing some yummy berries in a basket. It was so hot that day. Keith kept grumbling and whining like a child because he was carrying so many berries, even though his grandpa told him not to overfill his basket with them." Yokubo smiled.

Zimmi unconsciously smiled lightly. Her eyes widened with interest while Yokubo continued.

"And then, we see this…this huge nest! There were these big, gigantic eggs that had so many pretty spots on them just lying there, so, with Keith being the big troublemaker that he was, decided to swipe one of those and carry it back home."

"And then?" Zimmi asked, her eyes fixated on Yokubo.

"Then a huge, mighty roar just shook the earth. Turns out, it was a dragon's nest, and the mama dragon was very angry that Keith decided to touch her eggs. The dragon was so fierce and big!" Yokubo exclaimed.

"How big?!" Zimmi asked eagerly.

Yokubo stretched her hands apart from each other with a big gap in the middle.

"Like this! It was massive!" She said, making a swooshing sound with her mouth.

Zimmi giggled softly. "What happened next?"

"Keith and his friend yelled all the way down the mountain. His grandpa was so upset because Keith's pants had gotten burned in the chase and scolded him badly. It was a gift from his grandpa for the New Year's. Keith was so upset that he didn't get a dragon egg. But…" Yokubo paused, smiling at the look on Zimmi's face.

"But?! But what?!"

"I went back to the nest that night. And I stole an egg for him." Yokubo smiled.

"YOU WHAT?!"

Yokubo jumped slightly as it turned out that Zimmi, Ruh, Felix, Enteico and Bob were all listening to her story eagerly.

Yokubo cleared her throat. "But, that…is a story for another time. I'll tell you about it later, in secret." She said, winking at Zimmi.

The rest of her audience groaned in disappointment. "Damn it, Yokubo. What a tease."

"Oh, just ask Keith. He knows what a tease I am." Yokubo snickered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ruh asked.

"Uhhh…nothing. I just…had some fun with him…is all." Yokubo stammered awkwardly, glancing between Zimmi and Ruh nervously.

"But what's that supposed to mean?" Ruh asked in frustration.

"Ruh, another piece of advice. Don't tick Yokubo off." Enteico whispered.

Ruh looked at the red face of the purple-haired woman and nodded. "Gotcha."

Yokubo was happy that she managed to cheer Zimmi up slightly, but the girl still appeared downcast.

Baby steps, Yokubo. Baby steps.

"I hope Mr. Keef's alright…" Zimmi mumbled.

"Keith'll be fine. He's one of the strongest Assassins to walk the planet. No one's gonna lay a finger on him. What's the worst that could happen?" Yokubo smiled.

________________________________________________________________

Keith stumbled from the force of the punch, spitting out blood.

"What's the matter, boy? Have you been slacking off on your training after grandpops kicked the bucket?" Dairokkan sneered.

Keith yelled in anger, engaging the chains on his Blades. Dashing towards Dairokkan, the chains whipped around in the air, flailing towards the Chief of the Assassins.

Dairokkan stopped the attack with his two spears, but Keith wasn't slowing down in his attack.

Grabbing his Blades by the chains, Keith spun downwards, rapidly slicing at Dairokkan, who spun his staff, knocking the Blades away before thrusting his spear at Keith's stomach.

Keith rolled aside, ready to attack, but Dairokkan had disappeared.

"Why do you still fight, boy?"

Dairokkan now stood at the edge of the tournament ground. The stadium around them was empty, only the sounds of the incoming storm rumbled in the distance, with no one to spectate their fateful duel, save for their shadows.

Keith panted, flinching in pain as he touched the wound that had opened up across his stomach. Taking out a glass vial, he popped the cork off and drunk the potion. A warm, tingling sensation ran through his body.

Dairokkan laughed. "Healing potions? Are you that desperate to exact vengeance upon me, boy?"

"I'll do whatever it takes. I've already come this far. You won't ruin anyone's life ever again, you loinclothed prick." Keith said, pointing his Blades at Dairokkan.

"Hey, come on. It's a lot easier with my…condition." Dairokkan grumbled.

"Micro-penis?" Keith asked.

"W…What?! No, not that one!" Dairokkan groaned, pointing at his blindfold.

"Oh, right. Anyway, about your tiny dick…" Keith smirked.

Dairokkan laughed sinisterly. "Always cracking jokes, always being a thorn in my side…"

Keith dashed across the ground at a nearly imperceivable speed, a cloud of dust kicked up behind him while he grabbed the Blades and threw it at Dairokkan, cracking it like a whip.

Dairokkan dodged and ran at Keith, his spear held up at his side as he charged.

The air rang out with the clash of metal. The two looked over their shoulder, having struck through the other.

Dairokkan smirked, lifting his arm to show no wounds. Keith felt something dampen his chest. Blood began to seep out of his jacket and onto the floor.

Keith grunted, turning around to attack once again. Dairokkan jumped out of the way and onto the spectator seats. He chuckled and took a seat as Keith fell onto the floor, losing blood from his wound rapidly.

Dairokkan noticed a half-empty bucket of popcorn. He crunched the snack with satisfaction while Keith popped another vial and drank it.

His wounds healed, though the pain took longer to dispel the second time around.

"It seems you've come geared out for this battle." Dairokkan laughed from the seats.

Keith instantly appeared in front of Dairokkan, driving his blades forward at the man. Dairokkan vanished into the shadows once again.

"You never learned your lesson, did you? I'll always be faster than you."

Dairokkan was back on the tournament ground, stretching.

Keith was about to charge after him when a foul stench blew across his face.

"There is no point in fighting."

Keith attacked the man behind him frantically, who disappeared once again.

"STOP RUNNING! STAND AND FIGHT!" Keith yelled angrily, chasing after him.

Dairokkan began to run along the walls, jumping and swinging from the retractable roof beams. Keith swung after him, using his chains to latch onto the beams. He managed to get closer until Dairokkan spun around mid-air.

At the last second, Keith managed to grapple the beam and dodge Dairokkan's spear, twisting and twirling desperately.

A memory of his training sprung into his mind.

"Focus on the step ahead, not your goal. To overlook that one small, tiny detail could be fatal in battle. Find your enemy's strengths and disable them."

The problem was, even without his staffs, Dairokkan could evade Keith's attack endlessly.

Keith swung with a cry of effort and attacked Dairokkan mid-air. Sparks flew off the steel of their weapons. Keith grabbed Dairokkan, but not before the Assassin landed a punch on his face.

Tossing and tumbling in mid-air, the two struggled as they hurtled closer towards the ground. Keith felt Dairokkan maintain a choke-hold around his throat, pushing him below Dairokkan to obtain the brunt force of the fall.

Focus. Focus.

Keith felt the edge of his vision fade away with the lack of oxygen. The last thing that flitted in his mind was the image of the ground about to collide with him. Keith opened his mouth, gasping for air.

Before biting down hard on Dairokkan's arm, drawing a scream of pain and blood from the Assassin.

Grabbing Dairokkan, he forced the man downwards below him.

Dairokkan vanished at the last second, causing Keith to hit the ground and dislocate his shoulder with a crack. The Assassin re-appeared and clicked his tongue.

"Such a pity. Still fighting, even though you've already lost."

Keith cried out in pain as he forcibly snapped his joint back in place. He reached into his vial pocket, only to find that he had used up all his potions.

"Hehe. I've already killed half of your men with my own hands. The Central Kingdom guards will wipe out the rest with the rest of my allies. You're the one who lost." Keith scoffed, trying to buy some time to think.

"You still don't see the bigger picture, do you? A battle is similar to a game of chess. I presume you're not so ill-educated as to have never played chess before?" Dairokkan asked, pacing with his hands behind his back.

Keith rushed at him once again while his guard was down. Dairokkan grabbed his arm and twisted it before vanishing.

"You see, boy, there are many ways to conquer your enemy in chess. A scotch opening, a scholar's mate…regardless, there are many unsatisfying ways to win the game for me. No, you see, the only true way to win is to completely eliminate all resistance, piece by piece." Dairokkan smiled.

Keith ran to attack him once again, to no avail. The Chief Assassin was too fast and kept merging with his shadow before any physical harm could be done.

"To kill every single chance the enemy might have for survival, to ruin their morale and spirit, before making them dance at the tug of your fingertips, like puppets on a string."

Dairokkan chuckled, running his fingers on the soft, bloodstained cloth of his blindfold.

"You've already lost, Keith. Your past actions have forced you to abandon those close to you. Your naïve prodigy has been scarred by reality, your admirer disgusted by your mistakes, your friends have been thrown aside due to your pride and, perhaps the most delicious of all, your late grandfather ashamed at your failure."

Keith attacked with fury, his body screaming in pain and anger, fueled by a singular motive to kill Dairokkan. The Assassin toyed with him, grabbing his chains and wrapping it around his finger like a string, pulling it with a yank to deliver a kick to Keith's gut with a thud.

Keith sprawled onto the floor with his eyes closed, forcing himself to ignore the pain ringing through his limbs, forcing himself to push past the fatigue of the earlier fights.

"There is no point, Keith. You may be the strongest Assassin, but I am the one who perfected the art of the Shadow Walkers. You must focus to become with the darkness, whereas I understand that it will always be one with me."

Dairokkan tapped his blindfold with a smile.

"Being blind is something bizarre. There is no light, nor any darkness that I can see, yet I can sense everything. The screams, the blood, even now as you crawl like a frail, pathetic whelp on the floor, delaying the inevitable, I can sense the rubble shift beneath your feet. I can sense you gritting your teeth with hate."

Keith appeared behind Dairokkan from his shadow, ready to backstab the man.

"By seeing nothing, I can sense everything."

Dairokkan drove his elbow backwards into Keith's face, before hooking his spear through Keith's jacket, cutting across his stomach and throwing him forward. Keith laid on the floor, clutching the huge, deep cut across his body.

"I am simply trying to show our people the power we hold. Unlike your grandfather, who simply wished to take what is rightfully ours away from us."

"Ngh…you…you're nothing like him! You will never be a leader as great or a man as honorable like him! He wanted us…tch…live!" Keith said, struggling to stand back up.

Dairokkan laughed maniacally. "As what? Farmers? Lapdogs to those who mocked us by offering us a peace treaty, as if they were of any threat to our people in the first place? As if they were superior to us? No, I will show our people that they should be the ones kneeling before our clan!"

Dairokkan rammed his foot into Keith's face, drawing blood from his forehead.

"Your grandfather simply got all the benefits, laughed at the council and when he realized he couldn't have that power anymore, he attempted to disband us!"

"SHUT UP! YOU DON'T…"

Dairokkan slowly pushed his spear into Keith's back, bit by bit.

"I'm no different than your grandfather. I want peace. But, unlike him, I'm not stupid to sacrifice our power for it. Instead, I'll use it. And then, our people will live like kings, never forced to kill…unless they wish to." Dairokkan cackled, his voice unhinged.

"BULLSHIT! YOU FORCED OUR PEOPLE TO HUNT ME…AHHH!"

Keith screamed in pain as he felt the tip of the spear sink past his shoulder blades.

"In a game of chess, some sacrifices must be made. The pawns are always the first to go. The strong survive and the weak shall pave the path with their blood. For the clan, I will sacrifice everything to gain control over our people."

Desperately trying to block out the pain, Keith merged with his shadow, gaining some distance away from Dairokkan.

"You might think I'm the monster, but you are no better than I. How many people have you killed, Keith? Do you think your grandfather would be proud to see how you slaughtered our people? To protect someone who is not one of us?" Dairokkan said, getting closer to Keith.

"She's better…kch…than any of you. One day, she'll…she'll succeed where I failed. She'll never become like us." Keith spluttered out a clot of blood.

"We're all the heroes of our own story, boy. I simply accept that for most, I will always be the one to teach them how impotent that vain and fruitless quest of heroism will be. In the end, all that matters is power. The power to do what is necessary, for the greater good. She'll know that soon enough. After all, she's already taken the first step to realizing it." Dairokkan said, aiming his spear at Keith.

"Mr. KEEF!"

Zimmi came in from the entrance, with the rest of the group behind her.

"What are you doing here?!" Keith yelled, glaring at the others behind her.

"We heard your little bitch screams after evacuating the civilians and we thought you could use a hand." Felix chuckled.

"I don't need your help! Get the kid and get the hell out of here, this is my fucking fight to finish-"

Keith screamed in pain as a spear pierced his thigh.

"Don't be such a spoilsport, Keith. Let the little girl play with us. I've been running out of pieces to eliminate." Dairokkan chuckled, pointing his spear at Zimmi.

"Ngh…fuck! What are you standing around for?! I told you to get the hell out of here!" Keith screamed, tearing out the spear from his leg.

Dairokkan took off his blindfold. Wisps of dark shadows swirled out of his eyes as he wrapped the blindfold around his wrist.

"Now you're playing my game, Keith. And there's only one way this ends. With the stain of the Alysides clan being wiped out. Completely. And the best part is, I've already got everything I need to do that." Dairokkan laughed.

Dairokkan walked towards Keith. In the Assassin's mind, all he saw was a blanket of nothingness and the final piece in his twisted game of chess, struggling to find a way out, but all that was left was his inevitable demise.

"Zimmi, stop!"

Keith turned in horror at the yells to find Zimmi rush in between him and the approaching demon of shadows with his spears screeching across the cracked ground below him.

"Leave him alone!" Zimmi yelled.

Keith felt his legs give way once again, desperately trying to get Zimmi out of harm's path. Dairokkan tilted his head at the girl, grinning widely.

"If that is what you wish. I suppose you will have to do instead."

Dairokkan sprinted across the ground, prompting Zimmi to release small sparks of electricity involuntarily before she froze in fear.

The spear stopped before it could reach Zimmi, mid-way through Dairokkan's attack.

"Stay away from Zimmi. Or I'll make you."

Ruh held out his left hand, holding an invisible barrier to protect Zimmi and himself. Dairokkan cackled, ready to attack with his second staff. "Your fear is palpable, Ruh, but maybe there is a use for you yet-"

Ruh used his right hand to deliver a devastating right hook that shook the ground, sending a massive shockwave upon first contact, before the force of the blow caused a huge gust of wind to create a huge dust cloud with his punch.

Dairokkan's body was launched across the stadium and collided with the wall, creating a huge crater that his body was stuck in.

Ruh panted, his fist shaking, still in the air. Zimmi had her mouth agape as Ruh turned around, shaking her lightly.

"W…wha-?" Zimmi mumbled.

"Look, we don't have time for this. We still need to finish your homework. If this guy thinks he's scary, wait 'till he sees Miss Silvia when she's livid. That face brings me more terror than anything the Assassins have ever done." Ruh smiled at her.

"Heh. Yeah. But…"

Zimmi stood her ground, refusing to go with him.

"I'm not leaving. Not until Mr. Keef's safe. I'm sorry, Ruh."

Ruh bit the inside of his cheek, before he shook his head with a smile.

"Then I guess we can't die until we finish up that homework," Ruh said.

Zimmi hugged Ruh from behind. "Thank you."

"A promise is a promise. You don't need to thank me for it."

Enteico looked at Yokubo and Felix, extremely annoyed. He could sense their reluctance to help Keith.

"You two better get your asses over there, now."

"You might be his boss, but you're not mine," Yokubo growled.

Enteico pointed at the two children. "If two actual kids can put aside their differences to help him out, then how fucking childish are you going to be?"

"Why should we care? He said he doesn't want our help." Yokubo scoffed.

Enteico widened his eyes in anger. His limit for bullshit had been crossed a long time ago. "He's on the floor, bleeding out! What part of that seems like he doesn't need our help?!"

Yokubo turned away from Keith, but she still couldn't shake that uneasy pit of dread building up in her stomach.

He said he doesn't need you. So, why bother? Screw him.

"Suit yourself. Good luck getting the truth from him once he's dead." Enteico said, hopping down onto the Tournament with Felix.

Ruh still looked at the crater on the opposite end of the stadium, not willing to look away from the dust cloud gathered around Dairokkan's body.

It can't be that easy. It's never that easy.

Enteico lifted Keith up and held a healing potion vial to his lips. "Not your brightest idea, I do have to say. You good?" Enteico chuckled.

Keith grabbed the vial and smashed it onto the floor.

"Dude, what the fuck is wrong with y-"

"I told you to stay out of this! This is my fight and I need to do this by myself, my way!" Keith yelled at him, before collapsing to the floor again.

"Well, I guess we'll see you around then…" Felix said, turning to leave, before Enteico grabbed him by the neck of his shirt, stopping him.

"We're not leaving. You can barely stand up and I've seen you drunk enough times to know when you can't handle walking on your own." Enteico said, trying to stay calm.

Keith pushed Enteico away from him, wobbling to his feet.

"Stay out of my way, dumbass."

Enteico shrugged, before turning to look at the dust cloud. Something was moving in there…

A shadow walked out from the cloud, flashing an angry, twisted smile.

"Good! Good! You're making this more fun for me! Keep at it, and I might consider letting you die quickly! Oh, except for you, my boy. You get the special honor of watching all your friends die before you do! Isn't that EXCITING?! Yes…yes, very, very, very exciting…" Dairokkan rambled hysterically.

"Felix, get the kids out of…"

Dairokkan appeared from behind Zimmi, his spear aiming at her head.

An invisible force and two Blades stopped the attack from hitting Zimmi.

"HAHA! YES…YES! PROTECT HER ALL YOU WANT, SHE WILL BECOME ONE OF US...YES, ONE OF US! ONE OF US! HAHAHAH!" Dairokkan cracked his neck, laughing maniacally.

Ruh threw another kinetic punch. Dairokkan blocked it with his spear, the wind making their clothes flutter while Keith appeared from behind Dairokkan to end him.

"Too slow."

Dairokkan began spinning his spears rapidly, making a protective buzzsaw around him that spun around him towards Keith.

Keith jumped out of the way, backflipping through the air until he managed to get out of the range of the attack. Dairokkan smiled as he spun the spear against Ruh's barrier, slowly tearing it away with each rapid hit.

Keith lunged at Dairokkan, about to kick his back, but Dairokkan grabbed his leg and hurled him aside, turning his attention back to the two children. He thrust the spear at Ruh to deliver the killing strike.

The barrier broke, yet the spear didn't reach its target.

Dairokkan yelled in fury as he realized Enteico had stopped the attack with his shield, ramming it against the man with a grunt of effort. Enteico smiled at Ruh, patting Ruh's head.

"Good job. Now, get behind Felix. I'll convince Mr. Moron over here to see reason." Enteico said, walking over to Keith whilst keeping an eye on Dairokkan.

Ruh nodded at Zimmi, pulling her by her hand towards Felix.

"Don't worry, we're not leaving him. Enteico's just going to help him out." Ruh calmed her down.

"No, no…I should be helping him…I should…" Zimmi said, her hands sparking before she started shaking violently.

Ruh didn't say much. He knew it was too much to ask her to fight, even if she wanted to.

Meanwhile, Enteico deflected another blow from Dairokkan that was aimed at Keith.

"How many times do I need to tell you that I can do this on my own?!" Keith yelled, attacking Dairokkan.

"How many times do I need to tell you that you don't have to?!" Enteico yelled, stopping Dairokkan's follow-up attack.

Dairokkan noticed that Enteico's shield turned into a sword and grinned. "So you must be the infamous mythical sword user. You're quite a target for a lot of very important clients at the moment. The type that would pay good money to obtain what they desire."

"Sorry, but this isn't for sale. The sword's a package deal." Enteico said.

"Let me re-phrase that. They will pay to obtain it, one way or the other." Dairokkan said, pointing his spear at Enteico.

Enteico rushed in to attack Dairokkan, but Keith shoved him aside, making him fall to the floor. "Out of the way!"

Dairokkan cackled, thrusting his spear multiple times, cutting through Keith's arm. "Why do you still choose to defend someone who evidently doesn't care if you do? There is no point in fighting a lost battle!"

Enteico jumped in, clashing with Dairokkan. His sword glowed and began to emanate an aura around his body, flowing into his other arm.

"Because we're just as insane as he is."

Enteico attacked Dairokkan with his second sword, rapidly spinning; a whirlwind of glowing blue steel pushing back against the demon of shadows.

Dairokkan flinched back in surprise, shrugging off the pain from the cuts across his body from Enteico's attack. The merchant now held two swords, ready to attack Dairokkan, challenging him with his glare.

A stone fist whacked against Dairokkan, catching the Assassin off guard. Dairokkan spat out a tooth, tilting his head at Felix, who punched his fists that were covered by stone together.

"It's clobbering time, dickhead!"

Something whistled through the air. Dairokkan dodged at the last minute, whacking away the projectile with his spear.

Yokubo dropped down from the ceiling, standing next to Enteico and Felix, with Keith, Zimmi and Ruh behind them. Keith weakly lifted his head. He was about to tell them to piss off before Enteico spoke.

"We're not leaving, Keith. This might be your fight, but you're one of us, whether you like it or not." Enteico said, holding his swords on either side.

Keith heard Zimmi walk in front of him with Ruh. They stood their ground, while Zimmi gave a soft smile to Keith as he raised his head. He looked at his friends around him, protecting him with their lives.

"Who are your people, Keith?"

Keith stood back up, clutching the wound across his chest. He smiled.

"You guys just don't want to be left out from the fun, do you?"

The others shot a look back at him and laughed from his stupid, goofy smile.

"You'd better believe it." Enteico grinned.

Keith hopped to Enteico, giving Zimmi a brief smile of reassurance.

"I'm presuming you have a plan?" Keith asked.

Enteico turned the swords into battleaxes while Dairokkan charged at them.

"Of course I do. Stop the bad guy, save the day and, quite possibly, look good while doing it."