The Battle of Rulers

“Let us see whose beliefs are stronger: mine in The Lady or your heretic beliefs in these filthy animals!” cried Lord Brighton as he brought his rapier up to strike John, who readied his own weapon to counter the incoming blow. John quickly cast Observe on the blade that his enemy used against him, just in case it was magical like Fran’s weapon.

Scalpel of the Angel of Blades
Legendary Item
This Heaven-forged sliver of physical light was re-forged into a rapier weapon to be wielded by the Wardens and Warden-Lords who could control it.
The sword is merely enchanted to survive contact with the scalpel, which itself is wrapped along both edges of the service-end of the blade.
The Scalpel deals a base 200 unaspected damage on contact and is either sharpened or dulled by the faith (in any Heaven and its mission) of its wielder.
Hitting with the non-Scalpel parts of the sword simply deals its base damage +10.

Shit, that sounds dangerous. Really gotta make sure I don’t get hit with that thing. John told himself as he used Spinesplitter to parry Lord Brighton’s downward swing. With an opening in front of him, John quickly slashed his axe across the belly of Lord Brighton’s horse, the young warrior knew well that a mounted opponent would be much harder to defeat than one on the ground.

“No! Maximus!” roared Lord Brighton as he rolled off his horse as it fell to the ground. Lord Brighton landed on his feet, rage in his eyes. “I had that horse since he was a young colt. I spent years training him,” Lord Brighton said as he slowly walked towards John, his voice calm but John could hear the pain and anger in it for the **** of Maximus.

“We rode together on countless campaigns, hunting all sorts of wicked mages from the Cabal to Black Velvet! From rabid werewolves to orcs! Together, we slayed them all! Yet, you, a warlock of only a week managed to slay him?! John Newman you shall pay for your crimes!” Lord Brighton yelled as he swiftly lunged at John.

While Lord Brighton was walking and talking to John, he thought it would be best to cast Observe on his opponent to see what he was up against. John did not like what he saw.

What the hell kind of buffs are those?! John yelled in his mind. How is his level so high?! And those stats?! How am I gonna win against him?! John panicked as his mind processed the new information he had received. Level 65? And I’m only level 11! I’m gonna fucking die! No, I can’t die. I have to live. No… I have to win! For Idena, the twins, Gali, the elves, the derps, for everyone! I can’t lose, I won’t lose! With a renewed vigor after a soul shattering Observe, John snapped back to reality with just enough time to parry Lord Brighton’s attack. This time, however, his opponent was ready for that move and brought his left elbow up to John’s right cheek. John heard his jaw crack from the impact as blood and spit flew from his mouth as the warrior tumbled to the side.

- 15 HP

“Fuck that hurt!” cried out John as he felt Gamer’s Body repair the damage to his face.

“That is just the beginning of your pain, Mr. Newman,” Lord Brighton said coldly as his blade pierced John’s back.

“AAHHHHHHHHH!” screamed John as he felt a burning pain in the center of his back that radiated to his front.

-250 HP

John wheezed heavily as he recovered from the pain of Lord Brighton’s attack and saw that 1/6 of his HP was taken by a single blow.

“That is a mere taste of what is in store for you!” Lord Brighton cried as he pierced John on the left side of his back. John felt the same pain flow from his wounds impact straight to his left lung.

-250 HP

“FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!” screamed John as his lung burned like a raging wildfire. Every breath John took burned as his destroyed lung attempted and failed to accept the oxygen. My armor did nothing against that blade! John realized as he felt the blade of Lord Brighton’s rapier in his back.

“Every pain you’ve caused my soldiers, my daughters, will be paid back in triple!” yelled Lord Brighton as he raised his rapier to strike John once again.

“YOU SHALL NOT HARM MY MASTER!” roared Idena as she shoved two electrified punches square into Lord Brighton's back.

“AAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGH!” cried out Lord Brighton as the high voltage attack surged through his body. Despite the electricity flowing through his body, Lord Brighton reached for his fallen weapon, intent on striking down the insolent Abyssal creature that dared to attack him.

“No no, none of that!” said Miho as she spotted what the leader of the Order was up to and used a gust of wind blow away his weapon. Miho grabbed John and flew a few feet away from Lord Brighton as Idena continued to shock the man.

“You,” Bzzt “Will,” Bzzt “Not,” Bzzt “Hurt,” Bzzt “My,” Bzzt “Master!” Bzzt bellowed Idena as she repeated shocked Lord Brighton.

“How you feeling, John?” asked Miho as she held John up, a concerned tone in her voice.

“Like I just got burned from the inside out,” John weakly said, still struggling to breathe. “My… my axe. Can you get it for me?” John asked as he slowly breathed as he waited for Gamer’s Body to fix his lungs. Miho nodded as she let go of John and waited a few seconds to make sure he could stand on his own, before she quickly went over to grab his axe. It was when Miho bent over to grab his axe that a powerful explosion at the top of his castle rocked the battlefield, with debris falling everywhere.

Miho quickly dodged some debris as it fell all around her. John was just barely able to stumble away from a piece of debris that landed right where he was.

“John you okaaaaaaaaaaah!” started Miho before she felt something hit her back so hard that it propelled her forward. John was able to see what hit Miho: Idena. The two ladies then flew straight towards John and crashed into him, with all three falling to the ground, one on top of the other.

-50 HP

“I’m not sure what your creatures are doing on those ramparts, but I must thank them before I kill them. Afterall, that explosion was the distraction I needed to get that feathered nuisance under control,” Lord Brighton said as he dusted himself off before he reached down and grabbed his rapier. “Now, what do you say I kill you three and move on to ending this battle?” the man said in a cold tone as he made his way over to the three. John used what strength he could muster to toss Idena and Miho a few feet away from him and Lord Brighton. If anyone is gonna die first, it’s gonna be me. John breathed in once more and saw that his lung’s damage had been repaired. Well, that changes things a bit, I suppose. Now to come up with a plan before I get impaled.

“You tossing them aside will not save them from their fate, John Newman. You shall die, and then the rest will join you shortly after,” Lord Brighton told him as he raised his rapier, ready to strike. “Embrace the Lady!” said the executioner as he thrust his sword towards John’s heart.