I would like to thank everyone that has reviewed my story so far. The story has been posted for four days, and I already have four reviews. I guess that is pretty good. Please continue to write reviews --- it shows me that you are reading the story. Remember: both compliments and complaints are welcome. Your input will help me make other chapters better. Thanks! And now, here is chapter three, my longest chapter yet.

Chapter 3: The Sword of Heroes

"State your name and business," the guard grunted.

"My name is Kilik, and I would like to spend the night in the citadel," Kilik replied, though somewhat nervously. The guard stared at him suspiciously. He didn't really see why; he had nothing to hide. He stood there, drenched with by the unending rain, wearing a red shirt, and long bluish pants. The shirt was so long, in fact, that it extended down his back like a cape. He also wore a shimmering jewel around his neck, and he carried a long rod. There was also a scar on his left cheek. The guard finally allowed him to enter, on the condition that he remained in the village, well away from the castle.

Kilik had been wandering around with no particular destination in mind, when it suddenly began to downpour. Luckily, he had been near the citadel, Xiwei, which was located on the outskirts of the Ming Empire. Like most fortresses, Xiwei was very well protected. The main castle and the village were hidden away inside an outer wall, an inner wall, and they were even equipped with a drawbridge and a sturdy portcullis.

Naturally, Kilik was had not been inside the village for very long when the rain stopped. Normally, he would have taken this opportunity to leave, but he had told the guard that he would be staying the night. He had no doubt that the guard would become suspicious if he attempted to leave before then. Seeing as he was stuck there for the time being, he began to stroll around the village.

The many shops and stalls offered nothing special; if you had seen one bazaar, you had seen them all. He walked on for a little, and then he noticed a commotion up ahead. As he got closer, it appeared that two men were arguing. One of them was undoubtably a samurai. The other man was wearing a thick cloak. He was hunched over and appeared to be elderly. The samurai yelled at him for a while, and the old man answered by spreading his arms out and shaking his head. It looked as though he was saying he couldn't do anything to help. The samurai swore, and stormed off, heading right at Kilik.

"Do you see that man over there?" he said as he drew nearer.

It took Kilik a moment to realize that the question was directed at him. "Oh . . . yes. Yes, I see him."

"Don't trust a thing that man tells you," the samurai said angrily. "And don't buy anything from him, for that matter."

"Why not?"

The samurai pointed an accusing finger at the man. "That man is only interested in your money. He doesn't care what condition his products are in, as long as people buy them. His merchandise is fake, I tell you." The samurai reached inside a bag and pulled out a piece of metal. Kilik's heart skipped a beat when he saw it. He knew exactly what it was. The samurai continued, "Can you believe that fool tricked me into buying this piece of junk? He told me it was a piece of the legendary weapon, Soul Edge!"

"That is a piece of —"

"Rubbish," the samurai growled. He tossed the shard forcefully at Kilik who caught it, slightly taken aback. Instantly, he could sense the evil aura that the fragment was emitting. He wished the samurai would take it back. That aura brought back horrible memories that he had hoped to forget . . . Kilik shuddered.

"You can feel it, can't you?" the samurai asked. Kilik simply nodded. "You see? That piece of metal is possessed! It's evil! And there is no way that Soul Edge, the ultimate weapon, is evil!"

Kilik didn't feel like arguing with him, but he knew better. Soul Edge was evil. That was something he knew far too well. After an unfortunate event, Kilik set out to destroy the evil sword. He was later accompanied by two other people: Maxi and Xianghua. They eventually managed to track down Nightmare, the wielder of Soul Edge. Maxi stayed behind to take on the monstrous creature called Astaroth, while he and Xianghua went ahead to fight Nightmare. It had been Kilik who had defeated Nightmare, and Xianghua shattered Soul Edge, scattering the pieces using the sprit sword, Soul Calibur. They had all thought they had seen the last of the demonic sword. Until now.

Somehow, it just didn't seem possible. How could Soul Edge have survived, and why hadn't they known about it all these years? It didn't make sense. Unless . . .

"You look pretty fascinated with that thing," the samurai commented. Kilik shook his head — his train of thought had been broken. "You can keep it if you like. I don't want it."

Kilik looked up. "You know what? I think I will take it. How much —"

"No, it's free. I insist. Just take it."

"Thank you."

"Whatever," said the samurai said. "You do know about Soul Edge, don't you?"

Kilik said, "Yes," in a very definite tone. The samurai seemed mildly surprised.

"By the way, what is your name?"

"Kilik."

"I'm Heishiro Mitsurgi. Most people just call me Mitsurgi. You've heard of me, of course."

"No."

Mitsurgi blinked. "No? I see. Well, I have also been known as the 'One Man Army' and the 'Demon.' "

"Sorry," said Kilik. "I have never heard of you before."

"Oh, well," Mitsurgi sighed. "I guess I haven't been that popular ever since I was beaten by Tanegashima."

Kilik shifted his weight uncomfortably. He was bored with the conversation, and this man was really beginning to irritate him. He wished Mitsurgi would leave him alone; he had too much on his mind at the moment. He found the fragment of Soul Edge to be very disturbing indeed. Seeing no other way out of it, he sighed and decided to wait it out. "Who is Tanegashima?" Kilik asked lazily.

Mitsurgi's face lit up as though he though Kilik would never ask. "Tanegashima was a rifle, not a man," he explained. "It was the first thing to ever defeat me. While I was recovering, I heard about Soul Edge for the first time. It was then that I decided that I would search for it — as soon as I was feeling better, of course. And that's just what I did. I mean, who wouldn't? It's rumored to be the ultimate weapon . . ."

Kilik couldn't take it any longer. "I'm sorry, but I have to go now," he said, and he left before Mitsurgi could say anything else.
Unfortunately, that was not the last Kilik saw of the samurai. Later that evening, he headed to the top of the outer wall. Many villagers had told him that view was incredible, and he wanted to see the sunset. He stood on the wall, holding his rod in one hand, and he looked at the horizon. It really was a breathtaking sight. At that moment, he became aware the samurai was standing just a few yards away from him. He tried to sneak away, but Mitsurgi had already spotted him. He clapped his had on Kilik's shoulder and steered him to the edge of the wall. "Look down there," he said.

Kilik suddenly had a terrible feeling that Mitsurgi was trying to trick him and would push him off the instant he looked over the edge. Very reluctantly, he peered down and watched the scene before him.

Down on the ground, a very official looking man walked up to the same guard that he had confronted earlier that day. Kilik could tell that the man was intimidated by the guard, but that did not seem to stop him. "I am here on the orders of the Emperor." The man was probably referring to the Emperor of the Ming Empire, but the guard did not seem to care. Instead, he continued to stare fiercely at the man. The poor guy did his best to remain calm, but Kilik could see beads of sweat running down his face. Apparently, he must have found some courage, for he spoke again. "The Emperor demands that you hand over the Sword of Heroes at once." Kilik recognized the name.

Unaware that Soul Edge was evil, many people mistakenly referred to it as "The Sword of Heroes" and "The Sword of Salvation." The spirt sword, Soul Calibur, would do a better job at upholding such names, but for some reason, the world did not know it existed. People also failed to realize that Soul Edge was a demonic blade that possessed terrible powers. One of them was the ability to change its shape depending on the one who wields it. Luckily, its counterpart also had this power.

The guard laughed at the man. "There is no Hero's Sword within these walls. Be on your way, for you will not find it here."

Shaking from head to toe, the man fumbled around in his clothes, and brought out a dagger. Before the guard could react, he found the blade pressed up against his neck. "Drop your weapon," the man said, but his voice was no longer trembling. The guard obeyed. After taking a deep breath, the man said, "Now, let's try this one more time. Hand over the Sword of Heroes. The Emperor greatly desires the sword, so I do not plan to leave empty-handed. And if you try anything, I will slit your throat." The man pressed a little harder on the dagger. A single drop of blood dripped off of it. Now that the man was in control of the situation, he seemed much more confident. In fact, his previous attitude appeared to have been an act.

"I told you, we don't have —"

"Don't lie," the man snarled. "We know you have it."

Kilik turned to Mitsurgi. "Is the Heroes Sword in the castle?" he asked.

Mitsurgi shook his head. "No, not that I know of. This all seems to be a bit extreme, though. For a sword, I mean. Don't you think? I suppose it must be some sort of heirloom or something. Oh, here comes the lord of the castle now. He'll sort things out."

The lord walked up to the man and asked him something. In return, he received a rather spiteful answer from the man, who was still holding onto the guard as a hostage. The lord then drew his sword, and promptly cut off the man's head.

"Oh my God!" Kilik said, completely shocked.

Mitsurgi sighed. "I told you he would take care of things. Although, if you ask me, he made a very poor decision."

Kilik stared at him. "Why is that?"

"Because," he answered, "we weren't the only ones watching this. There is a spy over there. And there is another one on the hill over there. They were probably waiting to see if something like this happened. Unfortunately it did. They will no doubt inform their masters. Yes, there they go . . ."

Kilik was surprised. He wondered how Mitsurgi could have possibly seen the spies; they were so far away, they were like specks on the horizon. And the way he talked . . . it was as though he was a different man. Mitsurgi may have been annoying before, but when it came down to it, he seemed very knowledgeable — especially when it came to battle. Kilik respected that, but he also feared it.

"War is coming," the samurai said.

"What? What do you mean? How can you say that?"

Again, Mitsurgi sighed. "I can feel it." Seeing that Kilik wasn't satisfied with this answer, he added, "Just look over there at that hill. The one where the spy had been. I wouldn't be surprised if an army was waiting just beyond that hill."

You're wrong, Kilik thought, not wanting to accept it. Well, why should he? Mitsurgi had no proof to back up his claims. In fact . . .

Kilik froze, for at that moment, a large number of people had appeared at the top of the hill. They were heading for the citadel. "How did you know?" he asked, clearly astonished.

"I have been in countless battles," Mitsurgi explained, "and after a while, I learned many different strategies. I have also picked up a little intuition. Besides, it just makes sense. Would you send a single man hundreds of miles to a citadel in the middle of nowhere, with only a dagger for protection, and suspect them to hand over some treasured item? No, of course not. It doesn't work like that. It would make more sense to take a huge army with you, and set up camp somewhere out a sight, like behind that hill. If things don't go according to plan, you can bring out the army and scare them into giving it to you. If that doesn't work, you can fight them for it."

Needless to say, Kilik was impressed. And worried — the army was drawing nearer with each passing second. He definitely didn't want to be caught in a fight. "Look," he said, "I don't know about you, but I don't really think we should be up here right now."

Mitsurgi nodded in agreement. "You are probably right. The top of this wall suddenly doesn't seem so inviting. Let's go . . ." But they were too late. The only way down from the outer wall was a single ladder, and a large group of men were lined up, waiting to climb it. They were archers, so they were probably taking their positions at the top of the wall. Until they had finished climbing up, the two of them couldn't get down.

The army approached the front of Xiwei. A single man stepped away from the others, and shouted, "This is your final chance. Hand over the Hero's Sword now, or we will take it by force."

By now, the lord was safely inside the citadel and the drawbridge had been raised. Instead of answering the man, he shouted an order to the archers: "Fire!"

The archers (or at least, the ones that had made it to the top of the wall) set their arrows, pulled back, and let them fly. The man ran to the right as about ten arrows landed where he had been standing, and another twenty flew at the soldiers. A few seconds later, they returned the volley.

"Look out!" someone screamed. Kilik's heart beat like crazy as arrows landed all around him. Everywhere he looked, archers were dropping like flies, but more were still coming up the ladder. He was amazed he hadn't been hit. Once more, the archers shot at the soldiers below were greeted by yet another round of fire. The arrows seemed to fly together, like a swarm of bees that was descending upon a target. He watched as the samurai deflected one using his sword. Another hit his shoulder, but it bounced off of his steel shoulder plates. I could really use some of those right about now, Kilik thought.

After the arrows stopped falling, Mitsurgi pointed at something of in the distance. "Siege engines," he cried. Kilik turned and saw three large trebuchets rising over the top of the hill. Oh, no, he thought. He wondered if the citadel was built to stand up to the power of such machines. And that army was massive! If they could break in, they would surely be overrun.

He watched as the loaded the first engine. Trebuchets were similar to catapults in the way that they were designed to fling heavy objects to break into castles and forts. A trebuchet worked kind of like a teeter-totter that was weighted at one end. While the weighted end was in the air, the other end would be loaded. And then, they would let it go.

Suddenly, without warning, it fired. A huge rock hurled through the air. Oh, God, Kilik thought, it's coming right at us! He was taken by fear and found that he couldn't move. He couldn't run. The next thing he knew, he found himself lying on the ground, pain shooting through his body. He looked behind him. Apparently, Mitsurgi had grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him to the ground. Then he noticed — Mitsurgi was on the ladder. The samurai didn't wait another second; he started down the ladder, and Kilik followed soon after. He had only went down five rungs went the bolder connected with the wall.

The impact was incredible, and the noise was deafening. Chunks of rock were flying in all directions. Many people were screaming, but others lay, unmoving. In the chaos, the ladder lifted away from the wall, and it began to fall backwards. Kilik and Mitsurgi still clung desperately to the ladder as it fell. Mitsurgi was much closer to the ground, however, and he jumped to safety. Kilik wasn't so lucky.

An idea hit him. He wrapped an arm around the ladder he wouldn't fall, and he grabbed onto his staff with both hands. Just before he collided with the ground, he planted the rod into the soft earth, softening his fall. Nevertheless, he hit pretty hard, and the ladder landed on top of him. Mitsurgi rushed over, flung off the ladder, and offered Kilik his hand. He took it, and the samurai pulled him to his feet. "That was mighty impressive," he said.

"Thanks," Kilik replied. He brushed dirt off of his clothes. "But we're not out of this yet. I—" Another rock soared over their heads and leveled a house behind them. "I need to get out of here," he said.

"Okay," Mitsurgi said. "I'll do my best to help you get out." He led Kilik to the front gate. "As far as I can tell, this is the only way in or out of Xiwei. It's not going to be easy — if anyone tries to leave, they'll be massacred. And then the army will overrun the castle."

"Let's face it," Kilik said, "the castle is as good as gone. There is no way they can keep up this fight."

"That's true. Though I still can't see why they would go through all of this trouble for a sword. The way they talk about it, you would think that the Sword of Heroes was Soul Edge." Kilik had nothing to say to that, so Mitsurgi continued. "Anyway, in order to get out, we need to raise the portcullis and lower the drawbridge. Unfortunately, if we try to do that, the people inside the citadel would probably attempt to kill us. But if we succeed, then the army outside will try to kill us. Either way, it doesn't look good."

No, things didn't look good. He desperately needed to get out. He may be the only one who realized that Soul Edge was back, and he had to warn his friends. It may be up to them to take on the loathsome blade once again.

They stood there, trying to think of a plan, when all of a sudden a rock blasted it's way right through the draw bridge and the portcullis. "Well, that takes care of that problem." But the truth was, theirs problems were just beginning. Even though they now had an escape route, the army was also using the newly formed passage to spill into Xiwei. Kilik couldn't see how —

"Come with me, I have an idea," Mitsurgi said. He grabbed Kilik's arm, and forcefully pulled him to the village, away from the front gate. Kilik started to protest, but Mitsurgi stopped him. "Don't worry, I'm going to get you out of here."

They stopped at a barn. Kilik's face lit up; he saw where this was going. He stood back as the samurai pulled out his katana. He lifted the sword above his head, and brought it down on a rusty lock, breaking it in half. They hurried inside where they quickly chose two horses. Mitsurgi mounted his easily, but Kilik was having trouble; he did not much experience as a rider. In the end, he managed to climb on, and they trotted out of the barn.

Immediately, they were greeted by a lady who came out of a nearby house. She swung a broom at them while yelling, "No! No, not the horses! You dirty, rotten thieves! Bring our horses back!" Somehow she was able to grab onto Kilik's rod as he rode past, and she nearly pulled him off the horse. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you want to look at it) one of the Emperor's soldiers ran passed, stabbing the lady after mistaking Kilik and Mitsurgi as one of his fellow companions. She died instantly, and Kilik was able to pull the rod out of her dead hands.

"Come on!" the samurai yelled. "This way!" Together, they rode for the gateway. The Emperor's soldiers were continuously filing through it, and the castle guards were putting up a feeble defense. Kilik braced himself. This was it.

They passed the guards. Now only the soldiers stood in their way. He swung his staff as hard as he could, hitting one of the in the head. He swung again, knocking another one off his feet. The soldiers quickly turned their attention away from them, and concentrated on bring down the horses. Kilik was having a difficult time keeping up. There was a soldier on his right! On his left! Now there were two on his right. He was able to take out the first one in time, but the other put an enormous gash in the horse's side. It screeched in pain, rearing up on its hind legs. Kilik was force to hang onto its neck in order to stay on. The front feet came crashing down, trampling a soldier. And still, the horse moved onward. It wouldn't quit, and Kilik had to give it credit for that.

Finally, they passed through the main gate. With the drawbridge destroyed, they had no choice but to go through the moat. The horses willingly jumped in. Perhaps it would sooth their wounds. Kilik looked to his left; yes, Mitsurgi was still with him. He dipped his bloodstained sword in the water trying to clean it off. But then they were out of the water again, and yet another wave of soldiers awaited them. Right away, Mitsurgi began swinging his sword, killing soldier after soldier . . . at least he didn't appear to be having a hard time. Kilik, on the other hand, was falling behind.

Up ahead, he saw a soldier with an enormous lance. He tried to stop the horse, but he wasn't really sure how. His attempts were in vain, and the horse continued to run forward. At the last second, Mitsurgi galloped passed, slaying the soldier with the lance. But in the process, the lance stabbed the horse's front leg and it gave out. Mitsurgi rolled on ground before jumping to his feet. "Go on!" he bellowed. "Keep going, I'll hold them off!" Kilik tried to answer, but the soldiers had already begun to fight the samurai.

Without hesitating, he obeyed Mitsurgi's order and plowed through the remaining soldiers. He broke though the final wave, and rode off. Some of the archers noticed him, and they fired their arrows, but they were too late; Kilik was too far away.

After checking to see if the piece of Soul Edge was still in his pocket (which it was), he rode into the horizon. Kilik wished he could have gotten a chance to thank Mitsurgi for his help. He never found out what had happened to the samurai, but he was eternally grateful.