The light of the trodden

The Next Conquest

"Nolander are you okay?" Boris rushed towards Nolander. Nolander lay on the ground clutching his stomach.
"He doesn't look okay." Zane said. Boris glared at Zane. Zane rolled his  eyes. "Yeah I know I stepped down, but I have a sense that I can spot out people's weak points and leader then didn't have any."
"Yeah, I sensed that just before I got dealt that punch." Nolander got up, still clenching his stomach "The bas-fool got me good."
"Can you fight?" Boris asked, glancing at General. General and leader just stood there staring at each other. General then tightened the strap on his shield and leader stepped back a little.
"I can throw one powerful punch, at most but in this state I can't get close to him." Nolander stood up with some help from Zane and Boris.
"Look at the irony. I can close the distance but can't hurt him and you can hurt him but can't close the distance." Boris chuckled.
"He predicted that." Zane smiled "but he will not dream in his wildest dreams, the stuff that's about to happen."
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General kicked Oliver away. Leader cracked his neck.
"With your crew on the brink of defeat, how does it feel?"
General tightened the strap of his shield in response. Leader stepped back. This fight was inevitable. Both of them could sense that. General drew his sword. Leader got in position and both of them charged at each other. Swords crossed and they flew in seperate directions, both of them flipped midair and landed on their feet and charged yet again, leader attacked and the General blocked and pushed him back, leader momentarily lost his footing and the General rushed to take advantage but leader in a spectacle of massive athletic experience used the General himself as a footing and launched himself in the air. General rushed at leader the moment he landed. Block, parry, thrust, dodge, both of the greatest warriors of their age engaged in a furious battle demanding each other's blood. Each strike stronger than the last. Each dodge, bacame the epitome of using martial arts in battles. The spectators, spellbound by the sheer beauty of seeing these great warriors in battle but Zane shook out of the stupor and said
"Listen Boris. Get in position. You have only one chance, use that wisely and close the distance once you get the opportunity, even if you do not have the strength. Just do it. Trust me." Zane pleaded. Boris Slightly nodded his head and gave Nolander a pat on his back and ran off.
"Nolander, listen to me. You have the power, you'll have to lend your power to Boris." Zane said.
"If I could I would but I can't." Nolander argued. Zane racked his head, Boris by himself would be enough to make the leader distracted but he needed a punch and exact powerful punch to shake him up. Zane made up his mind.
"When you see Boris about to hit leader, you hit the air, okay. Believe me and give the air your best punch." Zane said. Nolander nodded and balled his hand. Zane wanted a punch, then Nolander would give him a punch.
General leaped away from leader to catch his breath. Leader also panted heavily. However short the battle was, it was exhausting. General, then readied himself.
'Seems like you leave me no option brother but to do that. Although I hate to do it.' General thought, but then he looked to his left 'What's Boris doing in that position? Is he getting ready to run?' he then looked at Zane and Nolander. Zane nodded ever so slightly at General 'Okay something is up, and I have to engage leader in the meantime.'
General charged at leader, swinging his sword from the right. Leader jumped back and barely dodged the slash but then General immediately gave him a sharp blow on his stomach, not from his sword but from his shield. General's cross-shaped shield was one specially made for him by the blacksmith. The shield's sides were blunt but with enough force they could kill a person. General gave him a sharp blow on the stomach and leader doubled over. General then leaped back and gave Boris a slight nod. Boris then ran with all his strength and raised his fist, Nolander also raised his fist. Zane closed his eyes.
'Imagine the strings, intervined. Then break them apart analyse them and use them to your benefit. Turn the strings of space-time and impact them in a way beneficial for you.' Zane thought and opened his eyes. The job was done. Nolander and Boris both punched at the same time and then came the most miraculous one second, the crew had ever seen. The sky changed a thousand colours in the one second and the whole world changed. The logistics that bound it all together, the science became meaningless and the strings of space-time themself unraveled. Between all that confusion, Boris and Nolander still punched and suddenly the world cane back to normal. Leader lay on the ground, his face, a disaster, unfit for any human to see.
"What did you do?" Nolander asked, amazed at what had transpired.
"Just changed the strings of space-time for one measly second." Zane fell on his knees "It took a lot out of me." Zane closed his eyes. General stood, afraid. There were very less people who could even stand after that incident. Most of the crew were sitting after experiencing the terrifying yet majestic moment. Most were unsure about wheather they could walk again. Leader got up, apparently the straight punch to the face wasn't enough to break him. Suddenly out of nowhere, two black daggers came and pierced leader in the chest. Leader looked at the daggers and then looked at Shadow.
"Traitor." Leader said, blood dripping out of his mouth. Leader looked around, on his right Oliver lay close to death, in front of him General and to his left, Zane and Nolander both unable to stand, the rest of the crew, further back. Leader then dashed towards Oliver's body. Then came Lionheart. With a mighty swing, the leader flew across the deck and fell in the ocean.
"Darn, I should have been a little more gentle." Lionheart growled.
"He took Oliver's body." General sat down, the exertion of the battle was catching up to him. The rest of the crew except Boris, Nolander and Shadow looked over the side of the ship. They searched for an hour and did not find anything.
"Where could he have gone?" Alex asked, helping Zane up. General smiled sadly.
"If you solve the mystery of how he got here, then you'll solve that mystery too." General lied down on the deck.
"He can sort of teleport." Shadow said. Alex turned to him.
"How?"
"Well, from what I found out, he sort of manipulates the energy of each and everything around him. That's how he defeats people and then recruits them into the army. That's how he got me and I'm only the sixth most powerfull in the General's army." Shadow said, also sitting down. General sat up.
"Who's the strongest in his army?" General asked.
"The question you should be asking right now General, is who is the enemy you're going to face next? Because he outshines me by far and... Fun fact, he's only the fifth strongest in his army." Shadow smiled.