A group of sinisterly garbed figures assembled with weapons drawn and catalysts in hand in front of a knight, who was a paladin named Velstadt, dressed in silver chainmail with gold plates and worn white half-cape and waist-cloth. The group in front of him were assassins and former members of a sorcery academy. The leader was responsible for burning the knight's home village to the ground. Five of the figures split off from the rest, attacking the knight in front of them. They all used their long catalytic staves to apply deep purple sorcery into their long, curved sabres, before simultaneously slashing at the paladin. Velstadt pulled out his silver-engraved greatsword, which was impaled in the ground next to him, and in the same movement, slashed one of the assassins in half, before rolling through the gap he just created to dodge the strikes of the others. He pulled the shield on his back off and held it in front of himself in a guard, and proceeded to charge straight in. He smashed one of them out of the way with the flat of the blade, causing the man's ribs to shatter, and leapt in the air at a hundred and eighty degree angle, performing a mid-air flip, and crashing his greatsword down on one of his opponent's heads, cleaving him vertically in two. He was about to spin around and finish the last two off with a horizontal two-handed slash, but was interrupted by a mass of magic energy colliding directly with his helmet. As pure, unshaped magic energy is etherial, it did not damage Velstadt's armor at all, however it exploded on impact, sending the knight crashing into the ground. He pushed himself off the ground just in time to dodge out of the way from a volley of slow moving, though numerous, spears of blue sorcery. One of the assassins cast a spell that fired a folly of tiny sorcery darts, many of which hit Velstadt before he could lift his shield. He began his charge once more, this time heading straight towards the main group of assassins; however, they all lifted their staves in unison, and a black fog erupted from the ground, depleting all visibility to a few feet. The paladin immediately halted his charge and thrust his sword into the ground at his feet, and knelt before it. He closed his eyes, although it was impossible to tell due to his helm, and silently said a prayer. A quiet, comforting chiming sound came from the ornate hilt of the blessed greatsword, to which Velstadt smiled at, as brilliant, white-hot bolts of lightning wreathed the blade of the sword. He stood up again, and pulled the blade out of the ground. He spun on the spot, and with a roar, made an olympic jump straight forwards, landing with his blade impaling one of the assassins. An explosion of lightning accompanied the man's demise, whipping away all of the dark fog and utterly obliterating all traces of the man's immediate existence. A charged straight towards another of his attackers, and with a mighty swing, rent his mortal form asunder. Velstadt held his blade in two hands and with another flipping strike towards a group of his enemies, called down furious bolts of lightning around his strike. His direct target was immediately annihilated, while those around him who were struck by lightning dropped dead, husks charred black from the heat of the lightning. There were only two assassins left alive now, one being the one previously incapacitated with his ribcage shattered, the other being their leader. This one wore all black hooded robes and carried a long, dark grey rapier and a black longstaff. He brushed his staff over his rapier and a black foggy residue coated the blade. The paladin crouched in a defensive stance, and the assassin sprang forwards. They traded blows, Velstadt blocking many of the assassin's slashes with his sword, as he was using two hands, however, many of his attacker's quick stabs made it past his guard, and with each successive hit, Velstadt could feel his very humanity cry out in pain as the dark magic took effect on him. He bashed aside the assassin's next strike and used the extra time to grab his shield from his back. Panting, the paladin put his guard up just in time as his adversary darted forwards and began slashing a complicated pattern around the shield in an attempt to get around Velstadt's guard or break it. The man stops his deadly onslaught for a moment, and Velstadt drops his guard and swings, however, the leader of the assassin's had stopped just to charge a spell, and he unleashed its full force directly onto the defender's body. A massive "blade" of dark energy erupted from the sorcerer's staff and flattened the paladin, further draining his vigor and putting him on the edge of death. Velstadt silently mumbled a desperate plea for help as the lightning on his blade sparked and disappeared. Just as the dark assassin was about to impale him, a fierce shockwave tore through the space around Velstadt, sending the sinister spell sword flying. The holy knight struggled to his feet, using his sword as a cane, and started walking forwards. The leader of the assassins was still on his back, waking up after a very brief spell of unconsciousness. His hood having been thrown back due to the force of the shockwave, one could now see his face. He had shoulder length ivory hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. He attempted to scramble back, still on the ground, when he saw the golden armored knight standing over him. The assassin scuffle back on his butt, staring in terror at the paladin, who simply kept slowly walking towards him. Velstadt started talking, condemning the sorcerer, "Heretic Thrasius. You have been found guilty, not only by my order, which you used to be a part of, but also by your last guild, for the use of black magic." Here, the now named Thrasius yelled out, panic making his voice higher than usual, "Get away from me, monster!" Velstadt kept walking towards him, continuing his tirade, "You have been judged guilty for your crimes against fellow human beings, and for your trespasses against the sanctity of the human soul. Your transgressions are serious, and your punishment is death." A brilliant white light erupted from the paladin's blade, and he sprang forwards, crossing the few meters between him and his target, and impaled him through the chest. The man gasped in pain and shock as a gaping hole was ripped through his stomach, and he died. Beams of white light shone from all around Thrasius' body until it seemed as if a star had fallen to the ground. The light faded, but all that was left of the dark sorcerer was dust. So utter had his corruption been that the divine light had completely wiped his existence from earth as it purged the remaining traces of dark magic from his body. Velstadt knelt down and said a prayer, that the man's spirit might find rest, and than he got up, strapped his sword and shield to his back, and took off his helmet. He had short, spiky, black hair, slightly tanned skin, and had brown eyes. He wiped the sweat from his brow with his arm, and began walking. He had no idea where he was, for what use does a wondering knight with no home have for such things as a map?