Edward’s body landed somewhere over the next hill, carving a broad ditch in the ground during the impact.

He looked around for the attacker, his torso still hurt, parts of his organs must have ruptured from the strike. He wiped some blood from the edge of his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Ha! You’re a resilient one, aren’t you?”

Suddenly a man appeared on top of the mound looking down on Ed. The young warrior didn’t even notice how that guy moved. He only knew that someone was suddenly standing where there was nobody just a moment ago.

The man walked closer slowly, stroking his grey unkempt moustache. A thick black woven beanie protected his hair from the wind, but the grey unbuttoned military jacket fluttered with the breeze.

“Hmm… you don’t recognize me? Wow, I feel kind of offended.”

Every step the man took, made Edward’s heart beat faster. Despite his ordinary stature, this person carried an imposing aura around him.

Ed opened his eyes wide in shock. It all finally got to him.

‘This person, this pressure… That’s why the enemy was constantly stalling… It was all a trap…’

The middle aged stranger readied his punch, despite still being quite a distance away.

‘This man… this man is a Legend!’

A bright golden light flashed from the man’s body, as he sent his fist forward. A strong shockwave followed his movement, forcing the air out of Edward’s lungs.

This time, the young warrior tried his best to protect his body from the impact, but there wasn’t much he could do. He smashed into the ground once again, now dangerously close to the edge of the compound.

“Wow! Still conscious? I’m very impressed.” The man was standing right over Edward, staring into his blue eyes with a sadistic smile.

He grabbed the young man by the throat, holding him out in front of him. Ed tried to shout, to tell everybody to run away, but couldn’t squeeze the words out of his mouth.

The Legend brought his hand back, waving Edward around like a rag doll. He threw his body forward towards the camp.

The young Marked smashed through the steel wall of the compound, but didn’t stop at that. The force carried him through several other structures, before his body finally stopped at a familiar bar.

While Edward tried pulling himself out from the rubble, the alarms sounded all throughout the base.

‘Marcus and Layla better get here soon…’

The warrior could barely stand. So many bones in his body were broken, that his regeneration couldn’t keep up with all of the damage.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

His ears were ringing, but as his sense of hearing started coming back, he heard sounds of heavy gunfire blaring from the direction he came from.

The Legend must’ve already entered the camp, but the turrets wouldn’t stop him. Such mundane weaponry can’t affect the chosen of Valhalla. This enemy may only fall from a warrior’s blade.

‘Well… to be fair, something like a nuke would probably work as well.’

Unfortunately, Edward wasn’t in the habit of carrying a nuclear bomb in his back pocket. That’s probably for the better, he didn’t really like the idea of becoming a suicide bomber either.

Ed tried to focus despite all the pain, he looked around for his blade. He has to find it fast. He definitely still held it when he fell, that’s the one thing he was fully focused on.

Finally the smooth alloy of his blade shone through the dust and the rubble. He bent down, feeling the bone fragments in his fractures grind against each other. Finding the handle, he drew his sword, and turned towards the north.

A long corridor of destruction now existed before him. And at the very end of it, he could see the man responsible for its creation. The Legend stared straight towards Edward. Bullets bounced back from the air around him, and a furious gale started forming all over his body.

It started picking up speed, lifting only some small rocks, and tools at first, but soon everyone who approached too close, got picked up by the wind or thrown back from the pressure.

Ed still awaited the enemy’s approach, but goosebumps started forming on his skin. He still couldn’t really move much. Even if he tried forcing it, some injuries simply made it impossible from a biomechanical standpoint. He prayed his body would connect the tissues that would at least allow him some ability to defend himself, before the opponent came too close.

“Hey! Master Legend!” Edward shouted, trying to make his voice heard through the rushing wind. “How about an honorable duel? Away from all this nuisance. We can start it cleanly from the top…”

The man came closer, but didn’t attack yet.

“Young man, let me teach you something about the art of battle… Attacks from surprise, underhanded tactics, hostages, all of those things are simply a part of an effective strategy. Why would any sensible warrior refuse to take advantage of them?”

The sharp wind tried to pull Edward away, tussling his tattered shirt.

He planted his feet firmly to the ground, doing his best to resist. Surrounded by a golden aura and pushing against the hurricane, he managed to stay in place. Ed waited for the enemy to throw another punch, ready to throw himself on the ground to dodge. But the Legend waited calmly on the spot, the only thing in the vicinity unaffected by the cyclone.

What Edward was unaware of, was that his opponent was dangerous even when stationary. A strong gust of wind launched a bunch of rocks and bolts at his torso. Their speed rivaled a bullet.

‘Shit, it’s too late to react…’

The warrior readied himself for the impact, hoping for the projectiles to at least miss his heart, but suddenly, two figures covered him from the front.

One moved incredibly fast, using both his sword, and a small shield to destroy the weaponized rubble. The other moved her long blade gracefully, catching all of the stray debris, letting nothing pass her impenetrable defence.

“Hey Ed! You still alive?!” The female voice called out.

“Shit… Took you long enough guys!” Ed grunted.

“Alright man, take a breather. We’ll handle it for now…” Marcus stared firmly towards the calm perpetrator.

“Be careful guys, this man…”

“Yeah we know…” Layla interrupted.

“Atlas, The Furious Hurricane they call him. He was supposed to be on a different battlefield. Must’ve come straight here to surprise us…” It was one of those moments, where Marcus’s face turned serious. “No choice then, let’s go get him…”

Edward supported the group from the back, limping on one leg. The trio walked forward, surrounded by a golden light.

And that’s when they heard it…

[Valhalla’s eyes gather over you once again.]