As Max rode through the battlefield, his blade danced through the air. Moving left and right atop his steed, he cut down dozens as if they were nothing more than stalks of wheat. His sword moved with unnatural grace, each swing effortless yet devastating. His blows shattered shields, his kicks broke bones, and with every strike, the battlefield bent to his will.
The warriors of Crystalden whispered his name in dread.
Velora gritted her teeth. "We'll never hold if he keeps this up."
Orveth spat into the dirt. "Then we cut the head off the beast."
Auron's eyes narrowed. "Together. It's the only way."
The three of them prepared to face Maximus.
But Alex… Alex was still at the window. Her fear kept her rooted, shaking, small. Until her eyes found him.
Until she saw Maximus.
Her heart lurched. Hatred ignited in her chest, hotter than any flame consuming the village. Memories stabbed through her mind her destroyed home, the dead, the endless nights of grief.
The terrified girl vanished. What remained was something else. Something darker.
Her grip tightened on the hilts of her twin swords.
No more hiding.
With a sudden roar, she smashed through the glass and hurled herself from the high window. She landed hard, the earth shuddering under her weight, shards of glass falling like rain around her. Soldiers froze, startled.
She closed her eyes. The world went quiet. Only her breath, steady now, filled her ears.
"Ahhhh!"
Her scream split the battlefield, and her eyes snapped open no longer trembling, but burning with vengeance.
In an instant, she moved. Her speed blurred her figure into streaks of light and shadow. Soldiers who dared to stand in her way fell before they could even react. A single strike, a single dash, and bodies crumpled. The path to Maximus cleared itself in her fury.
Velora, Orveth, and Auron reached him first, blades drawn. They never stood a chance. Their swords met nothing but air as Maximus, unyielding, cast them aside with brutal efficiency. They were thrown back like rag dolls, their weapons skittering across the bloodied ground.
And then Maximus saw her.
The color drained from his face.
"Alex…?" His voice cracked with disbelief. For the first time, he faltered. His grip on the reins tightened as his eyes widened in shock. "You… you're alive?"
Her aura flared, crimson and violent, searing the ground beneath her feet. Her hair lengthened, strands lifting with the current of her power. The very air bent around her, humming with raw energy.
"Why didn't you tell me you were alive?" Maximus demanded, though his voice lacked its usual confidence.
"Shut up!" Alex roared.
The battlefield froze. Every blade, every arrow, every shout silenced as her voice crashed across the field like thunder. All eyes turned to her.
Her power swelled, a red tide of mana and fury. She took a step forward, every motion heavy with wrath.
"Nothing you say will save you," she spat. "You deserve to die. You must die. It's your fault our village was destroyed! Your foolishness your selfishness cost us everything!"
Velora, bloodied but unbroken, forced herself to her feet. Her voice cracked with pain.
"Is that why you left me behind? Is that why you abandoned me, Alex?"
Alex's glare snapped toward her, eyes blazing.
"Stay away from him," she growled, voice low and venomous. "He's mine to kill."
Leo, another Redmere warrior, rushed forward to aid Maximus, but Elliot barred his path. Steel flashed as he raised his sword.
"Not so fast," Elliot said, his voice cold and unwavering. "You and I have unfinished business."
The air thickened, charged with tension. Around them, the battle paused, as if the world itself knew the moment was pivotal.
And so, under a sky choked with smoke and flame, Alex stood before Maximus no longer the frightened girl at the window, but a storm of vengeance ready to consume him.
Leo's eyes widened as Elliot's blade cut through the air with terrifying speed and strength. In an instant, he realized if that sword had connected, his life would have ended. With a desperate leap, he threw himself backward, barely escaping death. Sweat poured down his face, his hands trembling as he gripped his weapon.
"What… what is this power?" he whispered, shaken to his core.
Elliot lowered his sword, his gaze like iron. "Well played, warrior. Well played. But you shouldn't have come here. Did you think waging war against the king would grant you freedom?" His voice thundered with authority.
Leo's heart pounded. He could feel it the vast gulf in strength between himself and this monster of a man. He dared not face Elliot head on. Instead, he kept his distance, dodging every strike, slipping away from each swing. Close combat meant certain death, and he knew it. If I want to survive, I must never let him catch me.
Around them, the battle raged on, soldiers from both Crystalden and Redmere locked in a storm of blood and steel.
Meanwhile, Alex faced Maximus.
Max's voice wavered, caught between guilt and desperation. "Alex, listen. I know you're angry, but we can talk about this"
"No!" Alex's scream cut him off. Hatred poured from her eyes, her aura burning crimson. "You must die! For the innocent lives you destroyed… for my parents… you will never be forgiven. Never!"
Before Max could reply, she charged. "Brace yourself!"
Their swords clashed, sparks erupting. Max dodged her first strike, catching her wrist and yanking her closer but Alex reacted instantly, swinging her second blade. Max blocked with his sword, the clang echoing through the battlefield. He pushed her back, only for Alex to strike again. The two warriors moved in perfect opposition, each attack met with an equally precise defense.
Finally, they leapt apart, their stances sharp and unyielding.
Max raised his sword high, prepared to cleave through anything in his path. Alex crouched low, her blade leveled forward, ready to pierce straight through him. The crowd of soldiers instinctively gave them space, knowing this fight was unlike any other.
All around them, chaos unfolded.
Velora clashed with Thoarok. Zarek moved to intercept Elliot, while Auron battled Draven. Orveth fought fiercely alongside King Theron himself.
"Don't!" Leo shouted as Zarek recklessly rushed Elliot, blade raised.
But it was too late.
At the last moment, Zarek realized Elliot was already staring at him his sword poised, his stance unshaken. Zarek barely managed to duck as Elliot roared, his kick slamming into Zarek's head and neck with monstrous force. The impact sent him flying, crashing through soldiers and demolishing a villager's hut.
Zarek's body lay amidst the wreckage, broken and unmoving. He could not even twitch a finger.
Leo's heart dropped. His breath quickened as fear tightened its grip. I was right… this man. This Elliot. He's the most dangerous warrior I've ever seen. I must never get close to him.
Elsewhere, Velora's duel with Thoarok intensified.
He struck when her guard was down, slashing at her back but his sword rebounded, as if it had struck solid steel. His eyes widened.
"What what just happened?" he stammered.
Velora smiled coldly. "Oh, I'm sorry. Don't you know how to use a sword? Or maybe… you're just a baby who grew too fast and got lucky."
Rage twisted Thoarok's face. "I'll show you I'm no child!" he snarled, tightening his grip.
Their blades met in a flurry, sparks scattering with each clash. Velora countered every strike with ease, her mocking smile never fading. Thoarok's confidence crumbled, frustration boiling over.
"Enough!" he roared, his voice breaking. His eyes went wild, his movements a blur. He struck faster, harder, his attacks near invisible.
Velora's smile vanished. For the first time, she struggled to follow his speed, his blade grazing dangerously close. He slashed at her face nothing. Her legs nothing. Her chest nothing.
When he circled to strike her from behind, Velora's expression hardened. She spun with perfect timing, seizing the point of his blade between her hands. Her crimson eyes burned.
"You know nothing," she whispered.
She yanked him forward and drove her fist into his chest with crushing force. Thoarok's body went limp, his consciousness slipping away as he collapsed into the dirt, unmoving.
At the heart of the battlefield, two kings clashed.
King Theron of Crystalden, righteous and unyielding, and King Morvax of Redmere, dark and merciless. Their swords struck again and again, each swing shaking the ground. Neither yielded an inch, their hatred burning as fiercely as their blades.
The war raged around them, but here king against king the outcome of nations hung in the balance.
Steel clashed against steel as Alex and Max drove into each other, their swords sparking in the twilight. Every movement mirrored, every strike countered they fought as though one mind commanded two bodies. Step for step, swing for swing, they matched each other perfectly. The duel was no longer a battle of skill but a contest of will, and the pace grew faster with every heartbeat.
Blades blurred, air cracked with each collision, and the ground beneath their feet trembled from the force. To the soldiers watching, their fight was like a storm trapped in human form.
Then Alex made her choice. She would end this.
She vaulted backward in a graceful leap, her boots skidding on stone before she sprang high into the air. Her shadow fell over Max as she descended like a hawk on its prey, sword raised in both hands. He raised his blades instinctively, expecting the familiar rhythm of their exchange.
But Alex had changed everything.
With a furious scream, she channeled her power raw energy flooding her limbs until her sword became an extension of her will. She unleashed a storm of strikes, her blade flashing faster than sight. Over a hundred blows rained down in less than eighteen seconds, each one a thunderclap of steel and fury.
Maximus staggered under the onslaught. His twin swords flared with sparks as they caught her blows, but each strike fractured them further. Piece by piece, steel splintered, his defense breaking like a crumbling wall. The soldiers nearby gasped as shards of his blades scattered across the battlefield.
The hundredth strike fell, a killing stroke meant to end him. Max twisted away at the last instant, and her blade carved through empty air. But before he could recover, Alex's eyes blazed. With a primal roar, she drove her boot into his ribs and stomach.
The kick exploded with such force that Max's body shot across the field like a hurled boulder. He crashed into the ranks of soldiers over a hundred of them toppled in his wake sending men sprawling, weapons clattering, and dust rising in a violent shockwave.
The battlefield fell silent for a heartbeat.
And then chaos.
Leo, eyes sharp, seized the moment. Whispering the words of an ancient incantation, he split himself into three. Illusory clones sprang forth like shadows made flesh. One seized Thoarok, another pulled Zarek, and the last stepped boldly before Elliot, mimicking Leo's stance to draw his focus. At the same moment, real dust swirled in the air, cloaking the true Leo's escape.
The real him slipped through unseen, gathering Max's broken body and the wounded King of Redmere. With the remaining warriors of Redmere, he vanished into the darkened roads beyond Crystalden.
Alex did not pursue.
She stood frozen, her chest heaving, sword lowered but still trembling with leftover energy. Her eyes lingered on the gates beyond them, beyond the horizon where Max had disappeared.
Around her, the village stirred to life. Guards rushed to mend shattered walls, while warriors and guardians gathered together, their relief a tidal wave.
Elliot raised his voice above the din, his tone heavy with both exhaustion and triumph.
"Thank the gods no innocents were harmed. We stood our ground. We protected Crystalden!"
A thunderous roar of victory followed.
"Yeah!" the soldiers cried, their voices echoing into the night.
Orveth slapped his chest with a laugh. "This calls for celebration!"
The warriors erupted with joy, but Alex remained apart, quiet, her gaze fixed still on the gate.
Elliot glanced at Lady Selena, lowering his voice. "She looks… different. Since the battle began and even now."
Velora frowned, her arms folded. "Different? She was a monster out there. No human fights like that. I've never seen such power. I wonder what she truly is…"
Auron shrugged, though his voice carried a grim note. "Monster or not, a win is a win."
Elliot turned back to the warriors, his tone rising again, firm and commanding.
"Tonight we won a battle. But the war is far from over. We must all grow stronger not only for the next fight, but for every battle that lies ahead."
Their answering cry shook the village, a shout of unity and triumph.
Yet in the midst of victory, Alex stood in silence her thoughts not on celebration, but on Max.