Chapter Two — The Bore, The wolf and The Sheep. 

Part One — The Bore 

The west gate. 

“So you’re the big shot commander of this mock crew of knights eh? Ha-ha. What a beautiful feather you have in your helmet. Mind if I take it for a second?” Asher plucked the feather from the knight’s helmet and slid it into his own hair. The knights were so captivated at the fool’s stupidity they stood in silence, waiting to see what he’d do next. “Oh wise commander, general person.” Said Asher slurring his words. “I’ve written you all a poem. Some say my poems tell the future. Would you like to hear it?” Asked Asher a huge grin on his face from ear to ear, his cheeks blushed and his eyes low. He twirled the end of his braid around with his finger. “Oh don’t tell me you big strong men, don’t have the time for little ol’ me?” He said in a mock shy tone. 

“Uh commander, why don’t we hear him out? I mean he went through all the trouble-” the soldier was interrupted abruptly by his commanding officer. 

“Enough of these preposterous ramblings of a drunk fool. Men we have business to attend too. Kill him and be done with it!” The commander shouted to his garrison of nine-thousand-nine-hundred-ninety-nine men. 

“YES SIR!” the garrison roared in response as they charged the drunk warrior. 

“I take it this means you won’t hear me out?” Asked Asher in a sarcastic shy tone. His low eyes glossed over with blood-lust and malice as the men approached him. “Did your mothers ever teach you swine proper manners? You lot of uncultured degenerates. Rejoice! For I’ve decided to recite the poem to you anyway.” He said as he took the stance of the drunken fist. Ten men surrounded him overconfident in their ability against a single drunken man. Asher spun his body at subsonic speeds as he held himself up on the tip toes of his foot like a top. Asher used the momentum to cut all of their throats in one fell swoop with a razor hidden in his braid. The dead men fell into the dirt as Asher stopped his body by planting his feet into the ground. 

Caught by surprise at Asher’s capability. They realized just who the drunk man was. “I-its A-Asher t-the green b-b-bore!!!” A nameless knight from the back of the horde pointed out. 

“Asher the green bore? So he’s one of Edward’s brothers? Be careful men. This man’s no simple fool. The bastard actually becomes stronger the more he drinks!” The commander barked. 

Asher bowed before them like a performer after a closing act. “So I’m known then? I’m flattered. I’d tip my hat if I had one.” He said grinning. “Now then on with my poem. It goes something like this.” He continued. 

“Ten-thousand men walked into my wall.” Asher read from a piece of parchment paper in his left hand. He threw the quill in his right with the force of a bullet as it penetrated the helmets of two-thousand knights in a line killing them instantly. Asher sat down with his legs crossed in the dirt. He held his free hand up open palm as the quill shot back into fingers like a dart. The army began to panic, breaking formation as they witnessed their comrades slumped on the floor. 

Asher continued his poem. “Two-thousand men had a great fall, eight-thousand men left if I can recall” he threw the quill once more with twice the force as it ripped through the heads of four-thousand men. Their bodies fell into the dirt as he called back his quill and continued his poem. “There were Four-thousand men left to kill after all.” He spoke rhyming stanzas. “Huh? That’s it? Well I guess I never finished the damn thing. Oh, well. Enough fun, it’s time to Finnish you off.” Asher tossed the parchment paper to the ground as he stood up dusting himself off. He dropped the quill to his feet and drew his duel short swords. “As much as I enjoyed this, I'm starting to sober up and trust me when I say, nobody likes me sober. I had better end this quickly before that tight assed bastard Maximus never lets me hear the end of it.” Asher’s eyes went cold as he glared into the very souls of the knights with hate. “Now die, you worthless government dogs!” 

Asher ran through the remaining Four-thousand men in a blink of an eye, zigzagging through the garrison as he ran his blade through their necks. He reached their backs so quickly it was as if he had teleported. “When you see your God, tell him I said he’s a worthless piece of shit.” Asher spat out in anger. As he slid his blades back into their sheaths the heads of the Four-thousand men fell into the dirt, their lifeless bodies soon followed as they now sat in a puddle of their own blood. “Phew. Killing people is a nasty business.” He said as he pulled a cloth from his cloak to pat the sweat from his forehead. “Well as much as I want to make a break for the tavern and drink my fill, I guess I had better head toward the southern gate to back up Edward.” Asher broke for the south gate at top speed.

Part Two — The Wolf 

The east gate.

“I’m going to have fun running you through with my spear.” Said Maximus as he spun his long sharpened stick in front of him before aiming the point at the knights. 

A tall burly knight stepped forward wearing thick heavy armor. “I commander William will be your opponent. Let’s see what that twig will do against my steel armor.” The commander approached Maximus dwarfing him in stature and muscle mass. 

Maximus’s eyes turned blue as a magic circle appeared under his feet showing him the range of his spear. “Take one more step and you’re done for.” 

The massive armored commander laughed as he placed his hand on his gut. “Right, right. Just try to hurt me.” He took one more fatal step.

“You’re in range!” Maximus planted one foot forward and gritted his teeth as he twisted his hips lunging his arm forward. “Target magic, ABSOLUTE BULLSEYE!!” The spear slid through commander William’s armor like butter puncturing his heart. “You disgust me.” Said Maximus as he swung his spear to the side, flinging blood on the dirt. Before the behemoth of a corpse could hit the ground Maximus grabbed the arm of the dead giant, gripping it so tight the armor around his arm caved in and shattered the bone underneath. He spun around lifting the commander off of his feet before throwing him over the shoulder at the knights. “Here, take this worthless piece of trash back! I don’t want him. Pfft. Stupid ass. My target magic lets me hit anything with one-hundred percent accuracy when in range.” 

“He defeated commander William so easily.” One knight said in a panic. “Not only that he threw him at us with his raw strength. The commander has to be at least five hundred pounds of pure muscle with his armor on.” Said another. “I didn’t sign up for this! He’s a monster!” They continued. “Ruuuunn!!!!” They all shouted in unison as they turned around to escape through the gate. 

“Pfft. This is the might of the famous holy knights of cross? Pathetic! You lot are worse than that good for nothing slacker Asher.” Maximus snapped his fingers. “Spatial magic, substitution!” He popped up right in front of the retreating men switching positions with a rock that was in front of them. “You didn’t really think I’d let you go, did you? You know who I am right? They call me Maximus the blue wolf because once I lock jaws on my prey I never let go. You all should be grateful. I’m going to show you a new spell I’ve been working on just for an occasion like this!” 

“Where did he come from? Did he just fucking teleport!?” Shouted a knight. “The blue wolf? The same blue wolf that was trained by Edward!?” A soldier screeched in terror. “What do we do now? He blocked our escape!”

“I’ll tell you what you do now you fucking worms! YOU DIE!!!” Maximus clapped his hands in front of him channeling his aura into his fingertips, the aura coming off his fingers like blue steam. “Now! Compound spell! Spatial-copy-target magic, ENDLESS HEART SHATTERING SPEAR!!!” he screamed as blue aura exploded off of his whole body. The pressure of his aura brought all ten-thousand knights to their knees like amplified gravity. Hundreds of blue magic circles appeared in the air above the head of Maximus. Spears began slowly peeking out of the magic circles as Maximus’s eyes turned blue, he locked onto the hearts of all ten-thousand men. He let out a roaring battle cry before cutting them all down like livestock. “AHHHHH!!!!” He screamed as he exhausted his power quickly trying to hold on as the spears rained down on the knights like an endless volley of arrows. After a solid minute of letting his spears rip through the enemies hearts, the last man had finally fallen marking Maximus’s over achieved victory. 

“Son of a bitch. I may have gone a little too hard.” Said Maximus hunched over trying to catch his breath as it escaped him. “I’m almost out of juice. I really shouldn’t have used that experimental spell. Oh well, no use crying over it now. Well I guess I should make my way toward Edward. Slow and steady wins the race right?” Maximus began jogging toward the south gate as fast as his exhausted body would carry him.

Part Three — The Sheep 

The north gate. 

“Hurry into the passage! I’ll protect you!” Shouted Artorus as he fended off wave after wave of knights. 

“What a spineless wretch! I detest men like you. The whole battle you haven’t attacked once. You can’t evade us forever.” Said commander Yohan, the strongest commander of all the holy knights. “Let me show you what real power looks like.” Yohan was six feet tall, he wore golden armor head to toe. He had long blonde hair and eyes as blue as the sea. “Stand down men. I’ll face this man in a duel in my honor. Should I lose we will concede defeat and I’ll order a full withdrawal.” 

“Take the brats fucking head off commander Yohan!!” A knight shouted. 

“Believe me I fully intend too.” Stated Yohan as he twisted his head, cracking his neck. 

“Let me guess if I lose I forfeit my life to you? Something along those lines?” Asked Artorus in an unimpressed tone. 

“Well naturally. Haha,” Yohan replied with an amused look on his face as he chuckled. 

“Just a retreat seems a little steep when I’m putting my life on the line here. How about this, if I win you order a full retreat and you have to obey a single order from me no matter what the cost?” Asked Artorus with a smile on his face. 

“Ha-ha-ha! Deal. I swear it upon my honor but understand boy. Today is a very unlucky day for you. You have no chance in this fight.” Yohan started to take off his armor, dropping it to the side of him in pieces. The pieces were so heavy they caused a crater in the ground on impact kicking up dust clouds. “That’s much better. You see, my armor weighs two-thousand pounds alone. I use it to give opponents a sporting chance.” Yohan explained as he stretched his arms. 

“I see. So you’re super strong right? In that case I’ll stand here and let you have the first blow. No tricks. I’ll let you give it your best. After all, you're dealing with a real man. My name is Artorus Carnell Blair Christ and I’ll be your huckleberry this morning.” He spoke in confidence with determination written on his face. 

“Christ? As in the son of god? Are you actually saying you're the son of Jesus? You do know you're talking to a holy knight of cross right? Bluffing in my face, that’s rather bold. I like your style, you crazy bastard. I accept your offer. I pity your fragile body.” Yohan pointed out cracking his knuckles. 

“Well big fella I’m ready when you are. You may see me as a sheep but if I’m a sheep it’s not because I’m soft. It’s because my heart melts for the defenseless, making me even stronger. Come at me Yohan!” Artorus said with pride. 

Yohan squatted before exploding off the ground, breaking the earth beneath his feet as he launched himself like a spring toward Artorus. “Be careful what you wish for, pip squeak! Eeeerrraaaahhhh!!!!” Yohan’s body reached Artorus in a fraction of a second, before he buried his fist into the boy’s abdomen. Artorus’s body folded around Yohan’s fist, an ear-splitting cracking sound filled the air. Multiple ribs shattered and his spinal cord snapped before Yohan pulled back his fist and the force of the blow sent Artorus flying back. SMACK! Artorus’s tattered body slammed against a stone pillar in the middle of the training grounds, he gritted his teeth before his mouth exploded, blood jumping from his lips. His body was lodged in the stone pillar he fought for air but his punctured lungs wouldn’t hold any.

“Hahaha look at that cocky bastard gasping for air!” Said a nameless knight. “ After all that talk of being a ‘real man’ and the son of Christ he’s about to die from one blow!” Said another. The knights roared cheering for their commander. 

“I have to say kid even I’m disappointed. I expected you to put up somewhat of a fight after that bold display.” Yohan said in disappointment as he stroked his chin watching as Artorus suffered in agony. Artorus clawed at his neck gripping his throat as his eyes rolled back into his head and his face turned purple. 

As he drew his last breath “this is it.” thought Artorus. Commander Yohan turned around as life escaped Artorus’s lips. He began walking toward his armor to put it back on as his garrison continued cheering him on. 

“Men ready yourselves to turn this village inside out until we’ve located that witch.” Said Yohan as he picked up his chest plate but there was no response. “Didn’t you hear me you're worthless-” he was stopped in his tracks stunned as he looked up to what was happening. His whole garrison was captivated by a huge white magic circle in the sky. It covered the circumference of their whole squad. Every man was tapped. Frozen in fear as he looked up at Artorus hovering over the circle with their jaws dropped. Yohan finally snapped out of it. “Move! Get out of the fucking way! Do you want to die!?” He pleaded with his men, but they were so terrified their commander's words didn’t reach them. 

Artorus’s body was covered with an eerie white aura, his dark brown hair floating unnaturally upright. A shadow was cast over his white pupilless eyes. He looked like a demon as his wounds healed steam came off of his stomach. He was floating high in the sky above the magic circle that now trapped the knights. Silently pointing at them from afar. 

“Run damn it! Think about your families!” Commander Yohan begged, screaming at the top of his lungs. 

Artorus spoke just loud enough for his words to reach Yohan’s ears. “It’s too late.” Time seemed to stop for Yohan as he watched what happened next. “Holy magic — divine punishment from one! LIGHT FROM THE HEAVENS OBEY MY COMMAND AND SMIGHT MY ENEMY!!!” he screamed in an unsettling distorted voice. A massive blast of blinding light erupted from the magic circle. It vaporized all ten-thousand men except Yohan, leaving the ground riddled with ash and bone.