Since time immemorial, a shrouded enemy has been observing and scrutinizing us from the depths of the unknown... a sinister adversary originating from a world beyond our own!
Cloaked in secrecy, their existence has been expertly concealed, leaving no trace in historical annals or mystical texts. All that remains of their enigmatic presence are hushed whispers and legends lost to the sands of time. These formidable beings identify themselves as the Wardoks.
Masters of subterfuge, the Wardoks have succeeded in veiling their existence from humanity for millennia, ensuring their continued anonymity. A chilling and unyielding rule governed their clandestine society: any human unfortunate enough to glimpse a Wardok would be ruthlessly executed by the very entity they had witnessed. In the shadowy world of the Wardoks, this law was absolute.
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On a frigid night, deep within the mysterious realm of the Wardoks, a dense forest stood tall, its ancient trees reaching for the heavens and solid ground seemingly untouched by time. Within this enigmatic woodland, a relentless chase was underway, as three highly skilled warriors pursued a desperate fugitive.
"The fugitive has been identified! It's one of the squadron leaders, Ruster!" One of the warriors bellowed, breathless from the chase. "Send up a signal, now!" He commanded the warrior to his left.
With a fluid motion, the warrior conjured a flare gun from the void, grasping it firmly in his hand. Without hesitation, he fired a shot skyward, sending a brilliant red light piercing through the canopy of trees, illuminating their surroundings and signaling their position to the other search parties.
Ruster, the fugitive, was being hunted for stealing the most vital artifact for the Wardoks' survival: the enigmatic Cluster Stone.
The chase was nothing short of intense, with Ruster propelling himself at breakneck speeds, leaping from tree to tree with astonishing agility and grace.
"I refuse to be captured! I will halt the invasion of the human world... and, grandfather, I will atone for your sin and restore your honor, no matter the cost..." Ruster whispered to himself, his resolve unwavering.
Despite the exceptional speed and skill of his pursuers, Ruster continued to widen the gap between them. With each breathless moment, he vanished further into the shadows, evading their desperate grasp.
The Wardoks were a formidable race of warriors, bearing a striking resemblance to humans in their features, yet distinguished by their larger, more imposing statures and various shades of blue skin.
Possessing extraordinary powers and a plethora of abilities, the Wardoks were truly a force to be reckoned with. Among their many capabilities was the ability to traverse realms, allowing them to leap into the human world. However, this skill was not universal among their kind. Only a select few who had honed and mastered this talent were able to perform the feat using their own energy reserves.
For the remaining Wardoks who had not yet grasped this power, they could only enter the human realm with the assistance of a skilled teleporter or through the use of the enigmatic Cluster Stone. This precious artifact held the key to bridging the gap between worlds, making it a priceless resource and the target of those who sought to control the fate of both realms.
As Ruster leaped nimbly from tree to tree, increasing the distance between himself and his pursuers, he suddenly found himself cornered. Three additional warriors had anticipated his path and now stood before him, advancing aggressively. Despite the seemingly hopeless situation, Ruster was not one to surrender easily.
"Three warriors up ahead... piece of cake," he thought to himself, before shouting, "Ghost! Arm me with Razor!"
In an instant, a sword with two uneven lengths of steel materialized in his right hand, just as it had with the flare gun-wielding warrior earlier. As Ruster neared the warriors blocking his path, one of them attempted to reason with him. "Ruster, you don't have to do this. Hand over the stone, and you might survive! Lord Ozen himself has given the order!"
Seeing the fierce determination in Ruster's eyes, the warrior knew there was no persuading him to abandon his mission. Resigned, he unsheathed his own sword and raised it high, preparing to strike as Ruster approached. Undaunted, Ruster charged towards his opponent, assuming a defensive posture with his sword held horizontally in front of his face. His speed was astonishing as he closed the distance between them.
As the two swords clashed, Ruster's weapon unleashed a powerful shockwave, sending the warrior flying backward. The other two warriors, caught off guard by their comrade's sudden defeat, momentarily lost focus. Seizing the opportunity, Ruster swiftly kicked one aside and used the other's back as a springboard to reach a nearby tree branch. With grace and agility, he resumed his flight through the treetops, leaving his stunned pursuers behind.
The first search party finally caught up to the warriors Ruster had defeated just moments earlier, finding them sprawled on the ground.
"Don't let the target escape! All soldiers, on your feet, NOW!" One of the warriors bellowed.
Despite the warriors' fearless pursuit and relentless determination, Ruster's incredible speed allowed him to maintain and expand the distance between them. Eventually, he managed to shake them off completely.
"Looks like I'm in the clear now. I don't sense anyone behind me anymore," Ruster murmured to himself, glancing back. He pressed on without taking a break, his jumps astoundingly high as he easily scaled the trees and leapt between their branches.
"Master... on your left, WATCH OUT!" A voice suddenly shouted, emanating from within the armor Ruster wore.
As Ruster was alerted, he instantly glanced to his left. To his surprise, a massive metallic shield emerged from the tree canopy, rocketing towards him at incredible speed. Ruster twisted his body to face the shield, using his left leg to propel himself higher onto another tree as he made contact with it. Landing on the higher trunk, he drove his sword into it and clung to the hilt. Ruster wanted to stay elevated to survey his surroundings, scanning the area from his vantage point until he spotted his attacker—a squadron leader.
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"Koggy!" he thought in surprise. "I knew she was a skilled tracker... but that was fast..."
"Master... we're surrounded. There are 16 other squadron leaders encircling us!" the voice spoke again.
"What?!... I can't fight that many squadron leaders. Ghost, are you certain?"
"Affirmative, Master," the voice confirmed.
Ruster heard more voices shouting deep within the forest—the warriors he had left behind earlier must have caught up. Feeling trapped, he began searching for an escape route. As he pondered his options, Koggy leaped onto a tree branch in front of him.
"Ruster, please, just give up. You're surrounded. Hand over the stone, and perhaps Lord Ozen will show you mercy."
"Over my dead body, Koggy!" Ruster retorted.
"We were once comrades, Ruster. I don't want to hurt you. We've fought side by side... Don't you remember?" she tried to reason with him.
But Ruster was resolute. "Battles, that's all you ever care about. I've had enough. I want to change this madness, and there's no way I'm giving up the stone!"
"Ruster, where will you go? You can run, but you can't hide. Please... surrender."
"No chance, Koggy. I can and will run," Ruster replied, steeling himself to flee. His sword vanished as soon as he released his grip. He quickly jumped down to another tree, but as his left foot landed, an excruciating pain shot through his ankle. Losing his balance, Ruster tumbled downward, crashing through branches before slamming into the ground with a heavy thud. "That must be from before. I must've hurt my ankle when I used my leg to propel myself off Koggy's shield," he realized.
The dizziness from the fall left Ruster disoriented, and his back ached from the impact. As his head stopped spinning, he spotted a massive hammer hurtling towards his face. He narrowly dodged the attack, but the force of the shock wave still pushed him further away.
"Damn it, I missed!" his attacker exclaimed.
"Iron! He's here too!" Ruster said, worry creeping into his voice.
"Master!" the voice in his armor cried out in panic.
Ruster sensed it too late—a powerful kick aimed directly at his head from behind. Unable to dodge in time, the blow sent him flying through the air before crashing into a large tree trunk.
Iron let out a low whistle of amazement and remarked sarcastically, "Please remind me never to get on your bad side, Koggy!"
Koggy responded with an irritated "Tsk!" as she was the one who had kicked Ruster.
The hit had been powerful enough to immobilize Ruster. As he lay against the tree trunk, he slowly opened his eyes, only to see around 30 squadron leaders and warriors dispersed among the trees and on the ground in every direction. Ruster was completely encircled.
"Your time is up, Ruster. You have nowhere left to run," Koggy declared confidently.
Ruster, in immense pain and exhausted, his body covered in bruises and scars, could barely speak as he coughed up blood from his internal injuries. He tried to reason with his former comrades despite his condition.
Iron cynically questioned Ruster's sudden concern for the humans, pointing out his own violent past. "What? Killing some pathetic humans is wrong now? You've gone mad, Ruster. You've killed more humans than I have."
Squala, another comrade, looked at Ruster with a mix of disbelief and sorrow. "I can't believe you betrayed us, Ruster. I thought we were friends, brothers-in-arms."
With great effort, Ruster pushed himself upright, leaning against the tree trunk for support. He tried to explain that he had come to understand his grandfather's message about the futility of their endless war. "I know you won't believe me now, but you must hear me out. Ozen's ambitions may seem noble, but his methods are wrong! There's no benefit in killing all humans."
Squala couldn't comprehend Ruster's change of heart. "You've been gone for years, and now you talk like one of those Unnamed people. Have you given up on Avalon?"
Koggy's anger only grew more intense. "I was going to let you fight to the death like a warrior, Ruster. But hearing you speak like this, I just want to end you!"
Ruster, realizing that there was no point in trying to persuade them any further, revealed his true intentions. "My grandfather was executed by Ozen for speaking the truth. I never understood what he truly meant before, but now I do. There is no Avalon, Squala. We've been chasing a dream that doesn't exist."
As his former comrades prepared to strike, Ruster stood tall, defiance shining in his eyes. He held the stone firmly in his hand, raising it in front of him. As if sensing the resolve within his heart, the stone began to glow with a brilliant radiance, casting ethereal light upon the faces of the gathered warriors. Ruster tightened his grip on the stone, its energy pulsing through him, and clenched his teeth in determination. With a voice that resonated with conviction and echoed through the forest, he made a bold declaration that seemed to reverberate in the very air around them. "If embracing the path of atonement and forging a new way forward is what it takes, then mark my words, I will gladly become... Humanity's Greatest Ally!"
His proclamation sent a shiver down the spines of all those who heard it, the power of his conviction and the weight of his words leaving them momentarily breathless. It was a declaration that held the potential to reshape the very fate of two worlds.
With those words, Ruster vanished in a spectacular light effect, leaving his stunned former comrades behind. They were left to grapple with the consequences of their actions in shock.
As everyone else around her began to panic at the realization that their target had slipped away, Koggy remained focused and took charge. She shouted, "Did anyone here master the jumping technique?" She scanned the faces of the thirty warriors and squadron leaders, but none stepped forward to answer.
"Koggy, I don't think anyone here is a jumper. We need to inform a Captain!" Squala said.
"Then we're going to inform Captain Loopy immediately! We need to follow him now!" She replied decisively.
One of the warriors carried a communication device. Koggy strode over to him and ordered him to establish contact with one of the mightiest Captains in the wardoks world, Captain Loopy.
Meanwhile, Ruster found himself transported to the human world. He couldn't pinpoint his exact location because he didn't yet know how to manipulate the stone accurately, so he had teleported at random. His senses were overwhelmed, and his vision blurry, as using the stone for the first time had taken a toll on him.
Before he could see clearly, he muttered to himself, "I hope I don't encounter any humans right away. I don't want to kill anybody right now!"
But as his vision started to stabilize and the dazzling light of the morning sun ceased to pain his eyes that had just emerged from the darkness of the forest, he felt a jolt of shock. As the blur receded and the scene before him came into focus, he saw that merely a few feet away stood a young human boy, around thirteen years old. The boy had golden blonde hair and black eyes, and he stared at Ruster with a mixture of fear and confusion.