Sagran lunged violently forward forcing Shoyo to instinctively block and drop back in a low guard. Remi tried to come in from behind with a high strike only for Sagran to immediately counter with a well-placed left hook to Remi’s jaw. Remi went flying into the wall breaking the grey brick and stone. Gil slithered underneath and stabbed at Sagran’s right ankle. Sagran felt the stab and jumped back with Gil holding on unintentionally. Sagran swung his sword down to stab Gil in the back only for Ren to redirect his strike into the ground followed by a swift round-house kick to the face. She grabbed Gil by the collar and threw him behind her. She unclipped her cloak and threw it behind her.

  Ren said through gritted teeth, “Don’t try anything heroic or dumb! He’s more skilled than he lets on.”

  “Noted,” Gil quietly said thanking the gods for his temporary save.

  Clara fired an arrow at Sagran only for him to catch it with his right hand. He snapped it in two and snarled. Shoyo was trying to catch his breath and was focused on Sagran’s movements. They were precise and nothing was wasted. He could be hurt, though at a cost. Shoyo looked back at Remi only for him to groggily sit himself up claiming to be fine. He spat out some teeth and got into a rage as he pounded his breast plate and the ground. The demon and imp crowd cheered excitedly at this.

  Shoyo asked Ren, “You notice his tells yet?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Figures… Okay… EVERYONE! Don’t attack one on one. Work in tandem,” Shoyo yelled out.

  Clara jokingly replied, “Think saying it out loud is supposed to scare the fucker?”

  “It doesn’t matter! He’s skilled and readied anyway.”

  “What makes you say that,” Remi asked breathing through flared nostrils as his brow hardened into a mixture of fury and delight.

  Ren interjected flatly, “Because he’s no longer talking.”

  Sagran stared forward silently. His grip tightened, his stance lowered, and his eyes narrowed slightly. All that could be heard from behind his helmet was muffled snarling. An aura of pure evil and power oozed from him.

  Shoyo shakily asked Ren, “Ever experienced this? What do you recommend? Never fought this.”

  “Keep moving fast and don’t over commit.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Shit,” Ren said as she felt her heart race. “We’re going to take a lot of pain before we can land anything significant… We’re going to have to constantly hit and force him to be defensive. Keep him moving until we see an opening!”

  “RIGHT,” Remi growled. “DIE YOU DEMON! AUUGGH!”

  “Remi you freaking – Everyone move,” Shoyo yelled as Remi lunged forward in a jumping attack.

  Sagran countered with an upward slash that Remi barely caught with his axe and decided to attack Sagran with his fists. Sagran ate the first volley of rabbit punches only to counter with a precise kidney shot with his clawed fingers drawing blood. Gil came in from the left with Clara shooting two arrows from the right. Sagran grabbed Remi and used Remi’s momentum and weight to spin just below the arrows and Gil’s attack.

  One arrow hit Remi in the back glancing off the armor. The second one grazed Gil in the cheek. The thud from Remi’s body shook the ground. Sagran grabbed one of the knives from Remi’s belt and stabbed upward into Gil’s stomach slicing his chest all the way to his left nipple. Gil crashed into the ground as he spat out blood. Clara charged forward using her short sword.

  Sagran effortlessly dodged all of Clara’s quick attacks unphased as her anger and frustration grew. She stabbed forward only for her arm to be caught and her left foot to be swept from under her feet. As she was almost flat to the ground in the air, Sagran elbowed her into the cold stone below cracking it. Blood spat out of her mouth. Remi charged forward again with his axe grazing the back of Sagran as he rolled away towards his great sword.

  Shoyo lunged forward and made quick attacks trying to prevent Sagran from getting a good footing. However, Sagran’s skill with the great sword created good separation and forced Shoyo and Remi to back off slightly and fight more defensively. Ren quietly dragged Clara and Gil to the side. Clara gave a thumbs up and immediately started to patch up Gil who was looking back. His gut was slashed open partially and only a thin membrane and his belt were holding it all in. His chest was cleanly sliced open and it was a miracle his nipple was not damaged. Gil was out of the fight.

  Sagran managed to use Remi’s orc rage against him by feigning tiredness. Remi charged forward without thought only to be met by a swift knee to the face and a few head smashes into the ground. Remi was knocked out cold. Shoyo remained defensive and confident, though his smile was gone. Sagran did not attack. He knew Ren was behind him and was more scared of her than Shoyo.

  Shoyo winked at Ren and made a forward roll followed by a feint attack in which he made it appear he would slash from the side only to step back and cut upward and then stab. Sagran countered all of this with swift blocking wondering why Ren was not attacking him yet. Shoyo’s quick attacks were relentless and unnervingly efficient. However, Sagran managed to push him back with a shoulder bump followed by multiple swinging strikes forcing Shoyo to back off.

  Sagran went in for a downward slash that Shoyo barely managed to block across his chest as he was being forced downward. Shoyo gritted his teeth determined to win. Sagran was growing impatient and snarled harshly before he punched Shoyo in the crotch. Shoyo absorbed the hit holding back a tear. Shoyo then yelled out, “NOW!”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Sagran let go for a moment only for three well-timed arrows from Clara to come flying towards Sagran’s helmet instinctively forcing him to duck. As he did this, the third arrow just pierced inside the visor poking out the left eye causing Sagran to let out a blood curdling screech of pain that echoed violently all around. Ren sprinted in from Sagran’s new blind side and sliced his left arm off. Blood shot out from his stump like a violent hose spraying the walls and Ren in bright red blood. Ren jumped backwards instinctively and gagged out the blood from her mouth.

  Sagran thought in that moment, “They were willing to sacrifice themselves to slow me down just enough to do that… I WILL KILL THEM ALL!”

  Sagran screamed angrily ripping off his black armor. His helmet broke off as a hulking, maroon, well-muscled bodied of a horned man with razor sharp teeth and one intensely green, glowing eye appeared. Sagran grew to twice his size. His recently cut off left arm grew back into a black, ethereal, clawed arm. He ripped the arrow out from his eye. He broke his great sword in his right hand to pieces. Shoyo was immediately grabbed by Ren who in turn jumped both of them back about 20 feet.

  Everyone’s eyes grew as all the demons and imps watching groaned to a hush. Some scurried away out of fear knowing what was to come. Shoyo asked Ren with a shaky voice, “Wh – What just happened?”

  “He’s pissed.”

  “We’re dead?”

  “Not yet.”

  “You sure?”

  “I’m not, Sho,” Ren said with the slightest hesitation. “We may be able to kill him thought if…”

  Shoyo Grabbed her left hand and smiled. He stood up and looked over at Gil, Remi, and Clara on the other side. Gil was still ready to fight despite him grabbing his gut and his chest was crudely patched up. Remi woke up still raging. Clara was still able to fight, but was frightened. Shoyo looked at Ren and then at the glowing, blue sword of Zin in the middle. Ren understood what Shoyo was silently asking.

  Ren made a few hand signals towards the rest of Naga squad that initially shocked all of them. Remi stood up and yelled, “WE AREN’T DONE YET! AAAAAUUUGGH!”

  Remi dove at Sagran’s legs with reckless abandon once again with Gil rolling his eyes charging in after. Clara gulped and fired more arrows. Shoyo sighed with a smile and charged forward. Ren in that moment realized something.

  She saw this squad as a bunch of “soon to be dead idiots with skill.” However, she finally understood why they were like this. She understood why she was willing to throw her life away at multiple points in fights in order to win. She remembered why she was called the “Ghost.” On her first mission as a commanding officer, her entire platoon was wiped out by a band of roaming demon knights outside the capital walls. The demon knights were killed, but only she lived. She never cried or showed any feeling for her dead platoon. She accepted the brutal insults of her being “cold” and “remorseless.” She deeply cared for them. She understood that in order to win against an enemy far more powerful than you, you have to inspire everyone together and be with them until the end. Her past method of being cold and using others to win selfishly was stupid.

  She always struggled with that concept of working together. She was so used to being alone since childhood that her feelings of teamwork were almost nonexistent and she knew it. However, Argos believed she would learn this someday. She remembered the moment she had with Thomas before he died in her arms. She remembered the letter and the look of pride Argos had for her when she handed it to him. She saw the same look of trust and pride in Shoyo when he last looked at her. Everyone else in Naga Squad had it too.

  Ren took a deep breath and charged forward at Sagran. With lightning speed she cleanly slashed into Sagran’s gut. She blocked and jumped back from his swinging arm. The new arm slashed a line of fire that Ren easily jumped over. Gil and Clara ducked down getting as low to the ground as they could. Remi did not care. He held onto Sagran’s leg stabbing and biting at him with reckless abandon. Sagran punched Remi in the back of the head knocking him out. Gil jumped forward stabbing into Sagran’s back with Clara firing arrows at Sagran’s front.

  Sagran growled, “You will all die!”

  “No we won’t,” Shoyo said as he grabbed the enchanted sword out of the stone with surprising ease.

  “Impossible,” Sagran yelled. “Impossible!”

  When Shoyo grabbed the sword of Zin, he felt an immense shock through his whole body to the point he felt his spirit eave him. He floated into an ether of blackness. A blinding flash of blue light stung his eyes and he found himself on a very soft patch of grass near a shoreline viewing an endless ocean that was mirror and crystal-like. A firm and soft hand delicately grazed his cheek. He looked up to see a very tall and beautiful woman with silky blue hair, blue skin, piercing blue eyes, and a flowy, white dress with a flower crown. She gently lifted him onto his feet.

  He was a loss for words. She smiled as her eyes flashed a blinding yellow for a second. Her hand drifted towards his chest right over his heart. Her smile disappeared as her eyes closed. A single tear dripped down her cheek. Shoyo felt the same and could not stop his tears as well. The armor on his right arm had disintegrated and his veins glowed a light blue. His strength felt immense in that moment as he felt a burning sensation snake through his whole body and wrap around his heart.

  She opened her eyes and said softly, “You are pure of heart… But your time is short… You are worthy my son… Go forth and bring peace… I’ll wait for you again.”

  “Who… Who are you?”

  “I am the light in the darkness. I am the reason the sun shines and the night fades. I am the goddess of light and truth… I am… Now go,” she said with a thin smile.

  She kissed him on the lips and then poked his nose playfully. Shoyo was instantly brought back to the sword as he quickly pulled the sword out of the stone. He surprised by what he saw and by the speed in which he pulled the sword. He also realized how light and perfectly balanced the sword felt despite being a long sword. He felt that he understood the power of the sword and the damage it will inflict upon others. He also felt energy ball up inside him as his eyes glowed a bright blue.

  Sagran charged at Shoyo firing multiple fire balls from his new left arm. Shoyo instantly blocked all of fireballs with the new sword as streaks of blue lightning struck and flashed in the air. Gil threw himself off of Sagran and dragged Remi to the side. Clara yelled at Ren, “DUCK!”

  Ren instantly ducked missing a stray fireball. Ren knew she had to stay out of the way. She looked around noticing how all the demons and imps watching were in awe of what they saw. Ren looked over to Gil who was covered in blood and large slash marks. He gave a thumbs up as he was resuscitating Remi. Ren then looked back at Shoyo with amazement and fear.

  Shoyo calmly ran towards Sagran ignoring the fireballs. Sagran was cursing and frothing out of his jagged mouth as he screamed forward like a wild animal. Sagran lunged in the air like a leopard leaping from a tree. Shoyo calmly lifted his sword and with one quick motion sliced through Sagran like a knife through butter. A streak of lighting slashed the ground and some of the watching demons and imps. A long and harsh slash was embedded in the stone. Sagran was silent. Shoyo stood upright and took a deep breath.

  Sagran’s body split in two diagonally as his insides spewed out like a tipped over cauldron of stew.

  The fight was over.