Within the dense trees of Everlast forest, two men were sitting across from each other. The first one was a portly middle-aged man wearing a sweater made of wool and a pair of trousers. They were bloody, dirty, and cut in multiple places, but they did the job. The other man was wearing plated armor that clanked with each movement.
“Shouldn’t we be back there helping them?” Derek, the plump man spoke out in frustration. “What use is there just staying here?”
“Believe it or not, this is as important,” Conrad chuckled. His eyes then looked blankly behind Derek, “There is nothing more important than fighting and knowing your back is safe. Having a good vanguard wins you battles, but a rear guard lets all the stabs come from up front.”
Seeing the knight staring blankly, Derek asked, “Are you speaking from experience?”
“Yeah, you could say so,” the knight chuckled. “We can talk about it another time though.”
Derek nodded, “Sure, I like hearing wartime stories.”
As minutes passed by, the last rays of the twilight dissipated, replaced by the gentler light of the moon. Derek stared at the lake in the distance and the reflection of the glimmering sky on the still water. The contrast of the silver light with the dark forest was more beautiful than any painting.
“This would have been a peaceful sight if not for the noise those guys are making in the back,” the middle-aged man laughed.
“Chaos and serenity I say, that makes it even more artistic,” Conrad chuckled.
Derek raised an eyebrow at the knight’s response, “I didn’t take you for the romantic kind. I guess you learn something new every day.”
Conrad did not respond to Derek’s comment, he just looked to the left and smiled. His facial expression suddenly froze as he noticed something. He then looked at Derek with a serious expression and signaled for him to hide without saying a word.
The two silently slithered within the shrubbery behind their respective trees. After a minute of waiting, they could finally hear the thudding of footsteps. A squad of eight knights walked out from within the dense trees and made their way through the trail.
“So we just need to stay here to cut off their escape?” A red-haired knight asked his captain.
“Yeah, easy work, right?” The black-haired captain laughed. “If those traitors and criminals dare to escape, they will be executed by our hands.”
Both Conrad and Derek were shocked by the words of the knight captain. They did not budge an inch as they realized the meaning behind the knights’ knowledge. Conrad reigned in his emotions and gestured at Derek with his head. With just minute twitches of eyebrow and eye signals, both Conrad and Derek understood what they needed to do.
Just as the gloating knights walked in front of them, the two pounced in synchrony. Conrad jumped at the red-haired knight while unsheathing his sword, before slashing off the knight’s neck. His head rolled on the ground at the shock of the captain and the rest of the knights.
However, they could not be shocked for long as Derek pounced at one of the knights’ back and shoved his blade at his waist. Derek’s sword pierced through the opening in the knight’s plated armor and plunged deep into his abdomen.
“No, that can’t…” The knight gurgled on his blood before falling to the ground, life leaving his eyes.
“YOU FUCKER!” The knight captain roared and charged at Conrad, his sword glowed with a red aura.
Conrad knew that he could not block that sword head-on. As such, he casually side-stepped the captain’s charge before parrying the next knight’s attack.
With only six of their enemies left, he took as much space as possible on the battlefield. He saw three of the six facing Derek and leaving their backs open to him. As such, he charged past the last knight that was facing him and rushed at their back.
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“Careful!”
The captain’s shout startled the three knights that were facing Derek. They turned around only to see Conrad’s ghostly image as he charged at them.
The flustered knight’s defense was clumsy, as Conrad swiftly disarmed him and shoved his sword into his neck. He then quickly backed out and got away from the knights’ encirclement.
“Goddammit, focus on the traitor! Tony, you take care of the fucking villager!”
Of the five knights that were left, four of them faced Conrad while only one was fighting with Derek. The four knights immediately activated their red aura and coupled them with bightly colorful skills.
Seeing the display of various skills by the knights, Derek was beyond worried for Conrad. His eyes were fixated on his teammate that was in a precarious situation.
“You don’t have to worry about him,” The young knight, Tony, smirked as he looked at Derek. “You two will be joining each other real soon. You won’t have to miss him for long.”
“Why? Why are you knights trying to kill us?” Derek spat and clenched the grip of his sword. “What did we ever do to you?!”
“You harbored traitors and criminals!” The young knight shouted with a final tone. “Your crimes are beyond repent. Give up and allow yourself to be executed in peace.”
“I see,” Derek muttered under his breath. “So that’s how it’s going to be.”
Seeing the middle-aged man taking a stance with his sword, Tony clicked his tongue, “You’re making this more painful for yourself.”
The two stared at each other for a few seconds before Derek readied his posture. His thighs were tight and ready to explode into a pounce before he turned around and ran into the forest.
“What the…” the young knight was left in shock at what happened in front of him before he burst out laughing, “Good, that’s more like it!”
Tony followed after Derek using the sound of footsteps and the shuffling in the grass as his guide. As he saw a silhouette jump into a field of shrubbery, the young knight followed right after him.
However, just as he crossed the shrubs and passed by a tree, Derek surprised him with a flying slash. His sword cut through the knight’s armor and left a deep gash across his arm.
“Aghh, you fucker!” The knight jumped back out and held his injured arm while biting his lower lip, “I will not let you die easy! You will suffer!”
Tony’s sword emitted a deep red aura before he dashed toward the middle-aged man. Derek blocked the knight’s assault before being pushed back by the moment.
Tony grinned as the tides of battle changed in his favor. Even while using only one hand, he masterfully applied his aura on his feet to increase his acceleration before placing it on his sword to increase strength and power.
With each strike, Derek was pushed back several steps. The only thing he could do was block the knight’s frightening assault. However, with each step, he was being pushed back to a dead-end. Soon, he found his back glued to the trunk of a tree.
Tony’s eyes gleamed as he saw victory within them.
“Die!” the knight’s sword shone with a bright red light as he slashed at Derek, gnashing his teeth with all the pressure he could muster. The middle-aged man blocked the young knight’s attack, only to have his blade broken in front of his face.
Seeing the defenseless man’s pitiful figure, Tony raised his sword for an overhead slash, intending to end it right then and there. Derek smiled.
A brown aura surged from within the middle-aged man before gathering on his fist and turning it into a rock. After a deep breath, he punched the young knight through the stomach with his stone fist, breaking his steel armor apart.
Tony coughed out blood as he was sent flying through the air. The knight’s sword fell right next to Derek’s feet. The villager did not waste any time and took the sword from the ground. He then walked toward Tony and aimed the tip of the blade toward his throat.
“You’re not the only one with a skill, bitch!”
After finishing off Tony, Derek took a few seconds to catch his breath before walking back to their old spot. As he reached the place where he left Conrad and the knights, he could only see destruction. Small trees were cut and laid flat on the ground, while big ones had deep slashing marks all over their trunk.
Derek followed the trail of destruction until he found the body of a dead knight lying on the ground. He then continued on his path as he climbed up the hill, finding one corpse after the other.
After a minute of walking, he found the black-haired knight captain’s body; Conrad’s sword was shoved almost vertically in its throat.
Derek looked around for his teammate amongst the destruction, only to find a trail of blood leading to the back of a tree. The man followed the trail with dry lips and a heavy heart before looking at its back and finding what he feared the most.
Conrad was laying on the tree soaked in blood. His body was full of cuts, wounds, and holes, with a deep gash that slashed through his chest piece and cut his flesh.
“No, no, don’t die,” Derek kneeled next to Conrad with shaking hands. It took all his effort to stabilize them before he could put his two fingers on the knight’s neck; there was no pulse.