THE WAR Part 2

Juse slid back, his body hitting the ground with a thud. He crouched, wincing, trying to shield himself from further harm to his legs.

"JUSE, stop this! Bring yourself back!" Menes's voice reverberated with anger and concern, but Juse was ensnared, unable to break free from Nefer's grip.

For a fleeting moment, Juse managed to wrestle back control, his voice strained as he pleaded, "Commander, I fear this is the end for me. YOU must end it."

"No, Juse, there is still hope! You must fight!" urged Menes desperately. But before he could finish, Nefer regained control, directing Juse to attack.

Disappointed, Nefer muttered, "Hmm, Juse, you disappoint me. Let's finish this."

With a final command, Nefer whispered, "Explode."

Juse's body swelled like a balloon, grotesquely distending before exploding. His skin burst, eyes bulging from their sockets, before his existence vanished into nothingness. Juse was gone.

Menes was pushed back by the sheer force of the explosion, but he gripped the ground with his legs and stood back up.

"No, Juse," he mumbled. This time, anger engraved itself in his voice.

Taking this as a chance to attack, a horde of Nebu soldiers rushed with their swords to kill Menes.

Making the ground tremble and striking the hearts with fear, Menes smiled. Raising his sword, he signalled his soldiers to get away. The army's soldiers followed the signal; they all rushed to the sides, getting ready for the impact.

"You really think losing one person will defeat me? I have lost many, and they live with me. They stand behind me, they lend me their power. This is for them," Menes said. He struck his sword to the ground and said, "Absolute END"...

The once Nebu soldiers who were rushing to Menes all got squashed by a force from above. Their bodies bent as if an invisible black hole had engulfed them. All their bones crushed, but only their skin remained.

A crater formed as if a meteor had just struck the place. Over 200 Nebu soldiers, their battle ended by one single BLOW.

Jack, who was on the sidelines away from Menes, saw the impact, the swoosh which swept his face, the wind that rumbled his heart. It added to his will, the courage to fight on as he saw Menes.

Kasib, who had just finished off killing a Nebu soldier, awed in shock. Looking up to Menes as his master, he tensed his body and thought to himself, "Someday I will surpass you, Commander."

While Kamil and Ramon were not shocked by Menes's extreme strength as they were both used to seeing him like this, but it did add to their adrenaline rush.

While Memnon, who was standing on the pile of corpses which consisted of Nebu soldiers, smiled, and said, "There you go. See, you did it, Commander."

At that point, the Nebu Soldiers felt hesitant. Even Nefer himself was slightly shaken.

"Oh my, oh my, I guess I underestimated the King of Darkness," said Nefer, with thrill and excitement in his voice. Nefer voiced his command. "Well, this is exciting, isn't it? Let's give it our all, soldiers! Go beyond!" he shouted, and the Nebu soldiers all of a sudden got an adrenaline rush, as if their wounds didn't hurt them, and they all stood up, rushing to kill the Royal Army soldiers.

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The corpses on which Memnon stood grabbed his legs. Memnon, annoyed, spoke. "What the hell? Aren't you guys already dead?" He used his sword to cut the hands which clung to him.

While Kasib used his swords to make sure that the organs of the Nebu soldiers weren't living. He kept stabbing and hitting and stepping on their corpses, making sure they never come alive again. He was amazed to make this discovery and shouted to Menes.

"Commander Menes, if we kill them fully and destroy all their organs, they won't be able to get back up with Nefer's power."

Menes, amazed by Kasib's discovery, shouted, alerting the whole fleet. "Soldiers, finish them and leave nothing behind. Remember to not let their organs live."

Kamil's eyes filled with shock as Menes said those words. He couldn't bring himself to kill his own people, the people of Saharan, that brutally.

A soldier got stabbed. Kamil looked at him worriedly; he let his guard down, thus he didn't use his shield to protect the soldier.

The soldier of the Royal Army got injured and was on his knees. The Nebu soldier who attacked tried to use this opportunity to finish the Royal Army soldier.

"Oh no, I can't use my shield; I'm at my limit. I have too many of them across the battlefield," worried Kamil.

However, from the corner of his eyes, Jack dashed from behind the injured soldier and stabbed the enemy in the chest. The sword dashed from behind the soldier's back, marking that it had killed him.

Jack pulled his sword back and helped the injured soldier get back up.

Kamil thought, "Thanks, Jack," in his inner thoughts. He prepared, "If Jack is fighting with all he's got, then I will too, to protect what I love." Kamil's eyes became determined to protect the Royal Army.

In a cave, a Nebu soldier ran, bowing down to his knees as he halted in front of a woman who was wearing thick Armor, her eyes shiny green and her skin white. While her black hair escaped her helmet from behind. "Boss, we have some news," spoke the Nebu soldier.

"Speak," the woman commanded.

The leaking of water from the cave's corners dripped every few seconds, adding to the enigma and suspense. The only light which shone was the fiery torch which crackled as the air rubbed against it. The soldier spoke with a trembling voice, "We had equal numbers from the start, but as soon as Menes, that bastard, showed his real power, we lost the numbers advantage. It killed many of our own soldiers, but it scared them and gave the Royal Army soldiers hope."

The woman spoke, "I knew what had happened, but still, this is a tricky situation. Don't worry; I will manage the commands. Also, did you manage to find the boy who thwarted our plans?"

"Yes, I found him, but he isn't all that strong. He's actually struggling on the battlefield," spoke the Nebu soldier.

"Right, continue as planned," the woman said, then looked to her right. "Khafra, go and do as you were told," she commanded.

Khafra, who was resting with his back against the wall with his right foot as support, got ready, getting up on both legs and grabbed his sword from the floor. His figure was lumpy and medium heighted; he wore a cloak, and his face had a few blisters. While he had no facial hair, his face had many marks.

"Don't worry; I will take good care of him," Khafra spoke in a predatory voice.

Back at the battlefield, the soldiers' swords still clashed. The Royal Army had about 12,000 men while the Nebu only 9,000 left. The battle was fierce. Blood stained the yellow sands, sweat dripped on the soldiers' faces, and the horses became a disadvantage as they had nowhere to go in the crowds; sitting on one would make you an open target. Ramon pushed away Kailo, telling it to go back behind the Royal Army soldiers; he didn't want his horse to be killed.

"Dark Shell Punch!" Ramon chanted, coating his fist in a pocket of dark energy while punching a Nebu soldier who was both taller and stronger than him. The Nebu soldier spat out blood from his mouth as he got pushed back by the sheer force of the attack. He stood up straight, wiped the blood near his mouth with his palm, and then spat out some blood on the corpse of the Royal Army soldier.

Visibly pissed off at the man's actions, Ramon shouted, "You bastard, how dare you!"

Before Ramon could make a move, the Nebu soldier ran to him and punched him in the stomach with dark energy as well. He spoke, "Don't think, kid; you're not the only one who can use dark energy."

Ramon felt something crack inside his body. In his head, he spoke, "Oh no, this is bad."

Ramon went flying backward like a car speeding and crashed into his fellow soldiers. Jack looked at Ramon and worried, "Oh NO, Ramon!" But before he turned his feet to run toward him, some Nebu soldiers blocked his path, insisting him to fight. A voice commanded the Nebu soldiers to gather around Jack and go at him one by one, maybe someone was trying to gauge his strength.

One of the muscular soldiers attacked Jack. Jack defended with the tip of his sword, clashing with the soldier's helmet. Jack slowly retreated a few steps back, worried and trying to figure out a way out of this situation. "I can't fight him with the sword; I don't have much training with it. Maybe there is something else that could help me," Jack thought as he slowly patted his brown coat's pockets, but only found some bags of spice which he took from Pharaoh's palace. "Oh damn, these spices are no good; I only took some to put in my food," the impression on Jack's face became one of annoyance.

The hunched soldier rushed towards Jack with immense speed. "Oh no, oh no, what am I going to do?" mumbled Jack. He gripped his sword and started to run towards the soldier with a loud scream. He blinked for a millisecond, then...

Cling! As if two swords collided, but it wasn't his. He opened his eyes again and saw Kasib had appeared from thin air, beheading the hunched Nebu soldier. He mocked Jack, saying, "You never close your eyes in battle, you moron." Jack's face lit up with hope.

Kasib then challenged the Nebu soldiers as he held the head of the one whom he killed. He spoke, "You bastards, why don't you go after someone your own size, huh?" He then threw the head towards the soldiers of the Nebu in rage and anger. They all started to run towards Kasib for an attack, surrounding him while Jack ran further into the battlefield.