A sound drifted in from the night sky, the sound of a great object cutting its way through the air, a giant boulder engulfed in flames came flying from outside the city walls, its fiery light like a small sun, Raphael squinted as it past by their balcony. It flew a few moments more before crashing into a tower, cutting it by its midsection, bricks and wood exploded into the air as the ground shook, Raphael felt the shock wave at his feet. He turned toward Amy and said "Daughter, they have finally come."
The walls of the evil city were high, behind the giant city a cliff descended into darkness, on its right a mountain, to its left, jagged rocks sloped away. Nothing could escape save for anything that had wings, and the attacking army knew this. A legion of Ecclesian soldiers had come to destroy the City of Evil, their ranks were vast, 50,000 soldiers, all sent to raze the city to the ground. Huge catapults lodged giant boulders into the city at will, buildings and towers in the city fell under their onslaught, the front lines of the army welding shields and halberds, their flags adorned with the name of the Christian Symbol. A Knight walked forth, his helm covering his features, causing him to look like a lifeless statue, his armor white, a black cross covered his chest, a massive sword was clenched in his hand, its blade longer than his height, he held it behind him, he watched the city, waiting for the right moment.
"We are under attack," A hulking minotaur roared "Gather the militia, now!" He commanded his minions, hundreds of other minotaurs and orcs. They immediately disappeared into the city, gathering soldiers from the streets. Archers began filling the walls, arrows poking out from small windows covering the wall front. The front gates opened as thousands of soldiers filed out, they began forming a loose line, the boulders fell around them, yet they still held their ground. Other monsters took to the sky, banshees, gargoyles and dark angels, all of them brandishing weapons of war. The great Minotaur walked to the front line, he held a tower shield and a spiked flail, he bellowed, his chest pumped and he began to charge. The monster army followed, in full sprint toward the Christian army, hate washing over their eyes as arrows fell around them.
"Destroy them all..." The Knight said, his voice like a distorted whisper in the soldiers ears, they held up their shields and advanced, holding their halberds forward, archers behind them fired their arrows, the catapults still leveling the city. The White Knight walked forth, preparing to be the first to meet the incoming tide of raging monsters, he held his massive sword to his side, ready to swing a killing blow to the first of them that came upon him.
The two armies met, the sound of an immense crash of steel and iron echoed through the city, Raphael heard it, Amy looked at him, her eyes seeming both innocent and evil at the same time, she whispered into his ear. Raphael looked down at her "Worry not, the fighters of the city will protect you, I shall return." He then disappeared into the shadows, Amy lowered her head, though this was not the first time he had left her, she felt that this may be the last.
The Minotaur fought ferociously, crushing through the helms of many of the human soldiers effortlessly with his flail, he used his weight to crash through the strongest of the human lines. The White Knight swung his giant zweihander left and right, cleaving many of the monsters in two, its weight snapping their shields easily, he heard a scream behind him, the knight turned and saw the Minotaur kill two of the Christian armies best warriors with ease, the knight held his sword high, a blue fiery hue crept up his arm toward its hilt, the blade glowed white, he stabbed it into the ground, "Minotaur, come forth, I challenge you!" the Knight spoke, gathering energy from the air around him.
The Minotaur turned and saw the knight, understanding his challenge, he bellowed, lowering his horns he charged forward, ready to crush the Knights helm with a single blow. The knight pulled the sword from the ground, he held it back, his knees lowered, the minotaur came rushing forward, the knight unleashed the sword, the minotaur raised his shield to block, he felt the full weight from the knights swing, his shield cracked as he was thrown off his feet. The knight stood up and rested the sword on the ground," Get up, fool, get up!" He yelled, the minotaur slowly got to his feet, he looked at his broken shield, knowing if the knight were to hit it again, the giant sword would cut through both him and the shield, he threw it to the ground.
He charged forward again, the knight swung again, the minotaur ducked, letting the blade pass harmlessly over his head, he came back up and struck with the flail, the knight still in mid swing was unable to guard and the spiked ball of the flail collided with his chest plate, denting it in, the knight stumbled back, barely able to keep his footing. He regained himself and rushed forward, swinging the sword around his head, the minotaur unable to duck under every swipe dashed backward, then swung his own weapon forward, catching the blade tip of the knights sword in its chain, the minotaur yanked the knight forward, he grabbed the neck of the knight and lifted him into the air, the knight clenched the minotaurs wrist in his armored glove and began to crush it, the minotaur roared, releasing the knight, the knight retreated back, placing the blade of the sword over his shoulder, the tip pointed toward the ground, he shoulder bashed the minotaur, again throwing him from his feet.
The knight grasped the swords hilt with both hands, he held it high, he stabbed into the chest of the minotaur, blood sprayed out as the minotaur bellowed in pain, the knight knelt down next to his dying foe, he held his hand over the chest of the minotaur and began to draw out his soul, consuming his power. The minotaur's body instantly grew cold, hues of white light rushed into the palm of the knight, his soul gone. The knight stood up, the battle around him still raging, he could feel another great presence on the battlefield, even stronger than that of the minotaur, his gaze fell upon a blond human welding a rapier, the man was clad in a greenish suit of high class, he was cutting his way through the human forces. The knight focused his gaze on him, he looked at his giant blade, its beautiful marks drenched with blood, clenching it, he started off toward the man.
Rapheal slashed and cut his way through the armored ranks of human knights that repeatedly came at him, he dodged and parried, his accuracy was unmatched, he stabbed his blade into the crevasses between each knight's armor plates, injuring many but with few kills. The battle raged around him, thousands upon thousands of warriors surged together as the sound of steel and iron colliding filled the air, along with the echoes of screaming and roaring. Another knight came at him, this one female, her shapely body covered with revealing armor, her legs showed and her stomach, she had no helm but she welded a short sword and shield, her eyes were grey, her hair orangish, she charged. Raphael sidestepped, preparing to make another quick battle end, he stabbed, she blocked, she struck sideways with her sword, Raphael, barely able to block, stumbled back. He bared his teeth, as a hiss came up through his throat, he jumped into the air, and came down onto the woman, she raised her shield to block, Raphael stomped down on the shield, sending the woman off her feet, she fell back.
Raphael quickly cut the straps holding her chest plate on, and brought the blade tip to her exposed neck before she could react. The woman froze, her eyes staring at him with anger, she spoke," Finish it!" Raphael laughed," Crusaders, when will you realize your quests are meaningless?" His amusement was cut off when an armored glove clenched his hair from behind, he was lifted off the ground then thrown back, Raphael fell to the ground barely able to keep his sword in is hand, he quickly jumped to his feet, enraged at the thought of some human had touched him with their hands. He was about to charge when he saw the human that had thrown him, it was the white knight welding the giant sword, he stopped, narrowing his eyes.
He knew this knight, he was one of the Six Dark Knights of the Blackstorm, servants to Nightmare, he thought they were all killed in the battle he had instigated to give him his chance of facing off with Nightmare one on one. However, it seemed this one had survived, his name was DarXyde, Nightmare's most trusted disciple.
Raphael was about to attack when the battle began to stop, warriors that had fought each other with rage had now become transfixed, they stared toward the east, the only way into the city. The sun was coming up, its orangish light barely peeking over the rise. Standing on top of the hill was Nightmare himself, Raphael gasped, this was not possible, he remembered seeing the knight crumble, he remembered how a man had come out of the body of Nightmare, like he was escaping, he remembered how the black armor of Nightmare had fell to the ground in bent and twisted pieces, and yet, here he saw him, though his armor had seemed to change it was undoubtedly him, the massive sword with an eye, clenched in an ugly and disfigured arm, this was Nightmare, he had returned.