Tiger: I must say I'm impressed. It seems Xylek watching lots of anime has made him a good action writer

Xylek: *bows head solemnly *

Chapter 8: Overwhelmed

"Come at me then," Xylek said as he leveled his sword at the heroes.

Well, most of the heroes. Not two seconds later, Regal leapt from a tree behind the swordsman, and aimed a powerful kick at the back of his head. He hoped to use the element of surprise to end the battle quickly. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work. Xylek, exhibiting speed that belied his suit of armor, turned and snatched Regal by the ankle.

'This is bad,' thought Regal, 'Real bad.'

"Ha, nice try, but you aren't the most graceful of assailants," Xylek remarked with a smirk.

He swung Regal around like a stuffed animal, slamming him into and through trees. Finally releasing him, Xylek threw the duke into a tree so hard that the trunk snapped in half from the impact. Regal collapsed at the base of the tree, slumped over, and passed out.

"Regal!" Presea cried as she charged Xylek in a fit of rage.

"Oh ho," Xylek said, dodging her wild axe swings. "I'm not one to fight little girls, but if you keep this up, somebody might get hurt."

"Shut up!" she replied. "That's the idea!"

As Xylek parried her attack, he unexpectedly lost his footing, and then he noticed that part of the ground had been turned to mud. His foot was stuck.

"What?" he yelled in surprise.

"Didn't notice me flooding that patch of ground with water?" said Genis. "How unobservant of you."

"Tch," was all Xylek got out of his mouth as Presea's axe caught him in the chest, ripping him out of the ground and launching him into the air.

"Hiyaa!" yelled Celsius as she leapt into the air with a flip. "Hunting Beast!"

She drove Xylek back into the ground, emitting an immense shockwave into his chest. She quickly rolled out of the way as Efreet charged with a bellow. He took both of his newly acquired axes (both about as big as Presea's) and began hacking at Xylek, who was still slightly dazed from the Hunting Beast.

"Professor Sage, go help Regal," yelled Lloyd. "We can handle this."

She ran over to the incapacitated warrior and began looking over his wounds. He had several broken ribs, a dislocated and broken shoulder, and was generally battered all over his body. She immediately began channeling her strongest healing magic to aid him. However, she was broken out of her concentration by a large explosion from the site of the battle.

Xylek stood up, having blasted Efreet away with a pulse of frost energy from his sword. "Feel the cold arms of death… Final Embrace!"

A giant chunk of ice flew at Efreet, though he was unable to move, still dazed from the previous attack.

"Watch out!" Celsius cried, running at Efreet, to shove him out of the way, but she was too slow, and the ice slammed them both, slamming them into a small cliffside. They both collapsed to the ground, unconscious from the blow.

Presea charged again, accompanied by magic from Zelos and Genis. Xylek shrugged off the magic attacks with his armor and charged at Presea. He parried her first axe-swing with his sword and grabbed the handle behind the blade.

"You're too worked up," he said to her. "So full of openings too."

He kicked her in the chest, sending her rolling on the ground until she came to a stop, unmoving.

"YOU MONSTER!" yelled Genis. "You'll pay! Indignation!"

"No you don't!" countered Xylek. "Gravity Well!"

The runes pulsed on Xylek's armor, and the spell was cast immediately. "The runes aren't for show. They make it so I can cast lower ranks of magic without incantation. It's much faster than your method, foolish half-elf."

Genis couldn't quite hear him, as he was being crushed into the ground by the surge of gravity around his body, which had stopped his incantation. Lloyd, Sheena, and Zelos charged the swordsman as one.

"Come on then," Xylek said with a bit of arrogance. "It's faster if I can defeat you all at once."

"Like hell that'll happen!" yelled Lloyd, as he began swinging his swords.

"Don't underestimate us," snarked Zelos as he joined Lloyd in the swordplay.

"Follow your own advice," remarked the armored warrior as he deftly parried the attacks of both swordsmen.

"Cyclone Seal!" yelled Sheena, and Xylek was launched into the air by the blast of wind.

"Thunder Blade!" said Zelos as he unleashed his magic.

Xylek knew he couldn't dodge in midair, so he met the magic head-on. His sword clashed with the Thunder Blade, causing a large explosion. The impact sent him soaring away from the three remaining warriors. Unfortunately, he landed next to Raine, who was still tending to Regal.

"Tisk tisk," he said to her. "We don't need him getting back into the fight."

He grabbed her by the arm, and in another show of strength, he lifted her into the air and slammed her into the ground. She was knocked out, her body not used to melee combat. He left her there, satisfied that she wouldn't be a factor in the fight anymore, and turned back to the others, who had been trying to reach Raine before she was hurt.

"Duck," Xylek said as he took a lunge at the heroes, swinging his sword in a large horizontal arc.

Sheena artfully dodged it, and Lloyd blocked it, but the impact threw him back several feet. The sword swing didn't stop though, as Zelos had thought it would after Lloyd absorbed such an impact. Lloyd's block had turned the blade slightly, so Zelos was only struck with the broad side of the blade. Unfortunately, it struck him directly in the face, causing him to flip through the air multiple times before landing with blood pouring down his face.

"Ouch…" was all he said as his vision faded and he lost consciousness.

"You… you… you…" Lloyd said as he slowly stood, "you will pay for what you've done to my friends!"

"Ha, big words, even from the Hero of Regeneration," remarked Xylek. "You couldn't stop me before, and there were more of you. What threat does two pose compared to nine?"

"Well, it makes you underestimate us," said Sheena, appearing suddenly behind the warrior. "Pyre Seal!"

Xylek went flying towards Lloyd, who stood ready. "Raging Beast!"

The impact landed squarely in the stomach of the armored knight, and he let out a loud grunt of pain as he landed on the ground between the two remaining heroes.

He sighed as he stood, surprised that he had been caught off-guard again. "I'm a bit rusty. It's been a while since I've fought warriors of this caliber."

Sheena and Lloyd charged again, and Xylek stood ready. He turned and faced Lloyd to parry his swords, and then rotated to kick Sheena back.

"Stay right there, I'll be done in a second," he said as more runes pulsed on his armor.

Sheena's eyes went wide as ice formed around her feet and legs, rendering her immobile.

"Just you and me then, boy" said Xylek. "Can you take me?"

"You'll see!" yelled Lloyd as he charged alone. "Remember, I'm the Eternal Swordsman!"

Xylek froze for a second, remembering the blade that had cursed him to 4000 years of solitude. Lloyd used this opening to its fullest. He began slashing at Xylek, whose stance was off balance, not allowing him to defend properly. Though the swords didn't seem to penetrate the armor, the blows were having some effect as Xylek regained himself.

"I will not return to that hell again!" he roared, and a blast of shadow energy erupted from the ground around him, forcing Lloyd back.

"I'm not going to seal you away," said Lloyd. "I'm going to kill you so you can't cause anymore pain!

"Pain? What do you know of pain!" yelled Xylek, seemingly enraged. "You cannot comprehend pain like I have known!"

"Like I care!" Lloyd yelled back. "Divine Justice!"

Lloyd leapt into the air, combining his swords into one as he came down with a mighty slash. Xylek ran to meet the impact head-on, and every rune on his armor and his sword began to glow. He cried out, "Zenryuken!" and there was a massive explosion as the blades collided in the air.

"Lloyd, are you alright?" yelled out Sheena, who was unable to free herself from her icy restraints.

Something went flying out of the cloud of dust and landed in the ground next to her. She looked at it with shock. It was Lloyd's combined sword. She then looked up again as the dust settled. Xylek stood over Lloyd, who was kneeling on the ground, winded.

"No…" she thought to herself, knowing that they were beaten.

Xylek stared down at Lloyd, who knew he was beaten.

"Hmm, should I finish it?" he asked as he hefted his sword over Lloyd's head.

"Go to hell," said Lloyd.

"You first."

Xylek reached his sword back over his head and swung it downwards.

"No! Lloyd!" Sheena cried out with tears forming in her eyes. "I can't lose you!"

Xylek's blade stopped an inch above Lloyds head, and he turned his head to look at Sheena, then back at Lloyd. Lloyd looked up at his adversary, and saw a glimpse of the eyes staring at him. He saw eyes of a broken man, lonely and full of pain. The current situation had seemed to do something to him, as his sword was beginning to shake in his hand.

"You… why did you stop?" asked Lloyd. "Don't you dare take pity on me!"

"Silence, you idiot," said Xylek as he turned away from him and sheathed his sword. "That pain I spoke of, is a pain that nobody should have to endure. It's the pain of a dream being taken away, and nobody has the right to steal another's dream. Dreams can be ideas, or even people. I see that girl over there," he pointed at Sheena, "and for some reason I cannot finish you. You lucked out today. Don't interfere with Xegros and me anymore, or I may not be so inclined to spare you again."

"Those don't sound like the words of an evil man," said Lloyd as Xylek began walking away. "What happened?"

"My dream was taken from me, and it can never be returned," snapped the knight, "I have nothing left in this world but my friend. He still has his dream, so regardless of what it is, I will help him. It's my only reason for existing now."

"That's a load of crap," Lloyd said as he slowly stood back up. "You just need to find a new reason to live. One that doesn't involve harming others."

"Naïve, young, stupid idealists like yourself don't help anything. An idealist stole my dream from me for the sake of his own. When you returned the world to its original form, did you steal anyone's dreams from them? Did you ever think of that? About how your actions would impact others?"

"Well…" Lloyd said, irritated that he was feeling pity for the same man who had injured his friends.

"Like I said, stay out of the way. You and your friends should ignore us. We plan to change this world, since as it is now, it will eventually die."

"What do you mean?" a confused Lloyd asked

"The mana is being pulled from the land. I have an idea what it's for, so I'm going to stop it."

"Wait, you mean what Ratatosk is doing to seal the world of demons back? You can't stop that! This world will be invaded!"

"Idiot, you think I don't know that? There are more ways to seal that door than one. I just need more mana than this world can provide me at the moment, so I have to get more. I have to act quickly before it gets too far away to bring back."

"What do you mean 'too far away to bring back'? You don't mean…"

"We're going to pull Derris-Kharlan back. Don't interfere."

Xylek walked off into the trees as Lloyd stood there, dumbstruck.

"If it comes back," he said to himself, "then that means he will be brought back too."

A million thoughts raced through his head as he went to help Sheena, who was still crying before turning to the others.