It was late in the day as the sun long passed its apex within the sky and steadily set across a beautiful mixture of oranges, blues and yellows in a variety. A simple town sat upon a fertile hill with a nearby thicket of forest and general flora nearby, a running stream also complimented the surroundings to this peaceful place giving off the idea that this small paradise called home by many was rich in agriculture.

The chirping of birds and talk of the town would only last for so long however…

A darkness approached…

And it hungered…

Smoke had risen over a dark horizon how, fierce fires and screams in the dark gave the landscape a hellish outlook, monstrous laughter, the swinging of steel against iron, wood and hardened clay bounced off the trees and echoed in the distance whilst the dying panic within the town steadily grew silent as time marched onward.

A man in simple clothing, well built in physique and carried a hefty metal slab attached to a hilt rushed up the burnt hillside and was welcomed by the horror squalled gore and broken houses. Two bright blue orbs scanned the area of the towns entrance, the bodies of fallen townsmen littered the muddied streets, many were dismembered, those that were not carried the expression of an agonising demise as the man marched onward, his strong right hand keeping a tight white-knuckled grip on the hilt of his "sword" which rested on his back, with left hand open and wary of his surroundings, his steps slowed as the quietened town made every step notable to the one who caused such an onslaught.

A scream broke the silence and originated at the centre of the town, a great hall where ceremony of a variety must have taken place within, its shattered, large doors offered entrance still and the man of brilliant snow white hair entered in a hurry, his blue eyes gazing upon the sight of yet another mockery to battle, not even the children survived….

Within awaited a wailing woman on the far side of the hall, its stonework had been tarnished by blade and claw. It was not the woman which fixated the man's gaze but the monster which approached, a creature in heavy plated armour approached the mortal woman, its monstrous right arm which seemed to be otherworldly crunched as its carapace dripped with the blood of the fallen, its left arm appeared human but held a gigantic blade of unnatural appearance, clad in heavy metal, a single fierce gaze pierced out of the shadow of its helm on its approach.

"souls…." It garbled under its rusting helm, "Bring me more…..Souls…."

The woman trembled uncontrollably and finally fell to her knees, praying for a miracle to come and save her from this hell, it would be answered in the form of a sweeping blade, catching the creature off guard as its left were tripped by this metallic slab and pushed whilst tripped, shoved into a wall with such force on the collision it made the very foundations of the town hall quiver.

"I've finally found you." Came a powerful, masculine voice, belonging to the unnamed warrior as he too seemed to hold a vast amount of power within his form, easily holding his great blade out to one side, the creature steadily walked through the risen ash and dust, the blade within its grip wobbled and quivered but its gaze fixated on the unknown warrior, it garbled once again before murmuring something understandable "Your soul will do…"

"Nightmare" of the man's response but as soon as the last syllable left his lips the monster lumbered towards him with somewhat impressive speed with all that metal covering his body and with one wide strike, attacking towards the right side of the man's torso, the clamber of metal met metal, runes crawled up the side of the slab of metal which enabled it to withstand the force of even the infamous soul edge, the man grunted and retaliated with an onslaught of his own, mortal vs. Monster the sheer strength and speed of these two saw a ferocious battle take place.

A few exchanges of blade and slab saw both warriors take on damage from each other until finally Nightmare unleashed a bellow so mighty it forced the man off his feet, crash through the already ruined doors and roll across the muddy streets outside. The man had panted after the last few strikes left by Nightmare, it had seen him wounded from his torso with a deep gash and a few minor cuts across his face and upper torso, stabbing his weapon into the ground assisted him in getting back on his feet and preparing for another fight.

This soon came in the form of Nightmare sprinting forwards and an overhead strike coming down towards the man's head, this was successfully blocked however, a grunt escaping the mans gritted teeth, but he retorted by forcing Soul Edge off his blade, spinning around in a three hundred degree angle and with force, made contact with the slab of metal across the metallic helm of Nightmare's head, the power of so palpable that not only was the beast knocked off his feet and collided with a building, but the very street quaked under the thrum of the man's mighty strike.

A screech erupted from Nightmare as he disappeared passed the buildings, out of sight and on the retreat, the unnamed man had a mind to pursue, placing the slab of metal on his back and quickly following the beast, not before however seeing if the woman had remained safe. Unfortunately, she had died during their fight within the town hall, a wayward attack meant for each other may have accidentally found its way killing the woman, an unfortunate conclusion to her previous survival of Nightmare's initial attack and something he would see the beast pay in full.