Chapter 1
Enter the Dead Blade
Enter the Dead Blade
The sky thundered and roared as it hatefully threw thunderbolts at the ground of Ragol, the single band of warriors making their way slowly towards the single deformed monster. It was the product of a madmanâs wish to create the ultimate beast of destruction using DNA from Ragolâs unique life form, Hildetor. It was twisted through science, gaining characteristics of man and beast. It was a gruesome sight to behold, but despite its appearance, its purpose was achieved. That madman had indeed created the ultimate killing machine.
Knowing this, the band of four warriors made their way towards their foe, weapons at ready. The one on the far left was known as Darius, a FOnewm dressed in black and red who was capable of wielding powerful Techs and using the legendary blade Elysion. On Dariusâ right walked a tall black figure, spots of red on his armor. It was a HUcast by the alias of Punisher, a powerful warrior whose speed was unmatched. In his hands were two katanas by the names of Sange & Yasha. On the far right walked a small girl dressed in red and black. She was a RAmar named Stacie, and in her hands were the Yasminkov 9000âs, a pair of automatic mechguns known for using actual ammunition instead of photons. The final warrior is the main character of our story. He was a HUmar dressed in black with shoulder-length sky-blue hair. On his left arm was the Shield of Delsaber, a barrier made from the left arm of a Delsaber. In his right hand was the katana Orotiagito, his signature weapon capable of launches waves of energy at his enemies. This manâs name is Melfice- The Dead Blade.
The four stopped a little ways away from the creature, each of them anticipating this battle to be an interesting one. Melfice looked over to Darius and said, âDarius, cast Shifta and Deband on us. Punisher and I will attack it head on while you and Stacie support us.â Melfice then turned to Punisher and said, âPunisher, Iâll distract it while you use freeze traps on it. Once itâs frozen attack like a madman.â Melfice then turned to Stacie and said, âYouâre new to our group, and keep in mind youâll never replace Noodle, the ranger of our group before you came here, but weâll need you to keep a constant flow of damage on that thing.â
Stacie nodded and said, âYes sir.â The group turned their attention towards the beast who only then noticed their presence. Melfice smiled and gripped his blade tightly.
âLetâs do this.â
Melfice and Punisher dashed forward as soon as Darius cast his techs. Melfice was the first to the beast, leaping up over it and throwing several waves of energy at it before landing on the other side of it. Punisher already had the freeze trap set up and the beast was frozen before it could react. Stacie had been pumping the beast full of lead the entire time up to the point where it was frozen, as bullets cannot penetrate ice as thick as Punisherâs freeze trapâs. Melfice turned to Darius and yelled, âNow, blow that thing to pieces!â Dariusâ eyes lit up as he summoned an enormous flame and sent it flying at the frozen monster, shattering the ice and causing a thick fog to come about due to the rapid thawing of the ice.
Melfice peered into the fog and asked aloud, âDid we get it?â He was answered by a roar and a punch in the face as he was sent flying into a tree, followed by Punisher. Melfice stood up and smiled as he said, âWell, Punisher, looks like weâll have to tag team it.â
Punisher smiled and said, âOro-Sange-Yasha Assault?â
Melfice smiled back and said, âLetâs go.â Melfice and Punisher took off at blinding speeds, circling the beast like a tornado. In this hurricane of madness Punisher was unleashing a barrage of attacks while Melfice was throwing energy wave after energy wave. The two stopped suddenly and looked over at the beast, but their eyes were instead greeted with only half of the beast. Melfice looked over to Darius and said, âDarius, throw up a Ryuker, weâre done here.â
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Melfice sat alone in his living quarters aboard Pioneer 2 as he counted the share of meseta heâd earned from the mission. Heâd been working with Punisher ever since heâd got his first saber, so their combined skill was far beyond that of the twisted ape theyâd fought earlier. He sighed and set down the rest of his money before leaning back in his chair. Iâm getting too strong⦠these things arenât even fun to fight anymore⦠itâs so easy for me⦠Melfice suddenly heard the doorbell go off, breaking his chain of thought. He stood up and walked to the hatch of his quaint little Pioneer 2 home. He pushed the button to open up the door and was staring into the faces of several government workers.
The obvious leader stepped forward in his black suit and said, âMelfice the hunter, I presume?â
Melfice smirked and said, âYeah, thatâs me. What does the government need my services for this time?â
The suit held forth a letter and said, âYou are personally invited to attend this yearâs Pioneer Tournament. The principle is looking forward to seeing the legendary Melficeâs skills.â With that the suits turned and walked down the hall. Melfice looked down at the letter with an excited look.
âJust when things are looking their worst⦠Something like this comes up and makes my day.â
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Melfice lounged about on the surface of Ragol, surrounded by a dozen or so dead Hildetor. His Orotiagito was stuck in the ground next to him as he lay on his back, staring up at the clouds. He sighed and thought to himself, This tournamentâs the only interesting thing thatâll happen for a while⦠I donât even have a decent sparring partner thatâs not competing. Heâd already checked in with his other teammates. All of his team, except Stacie, had received invites to the tournament. He sighed again before hearing footsteps not too far away, followed by a, âMelfice, right?â
Melfice sat up and looked over at the person who had just spoken to him. It was a hunter for sure, but Melfice had never seen the person before. The hunter wore white and blue hunter-class clothing and had short black hair. He wielded what looked like a Zanba. Melfice reached up and rested his hand on the hilt of his katana and he looked up through strands of hair and asked, âThatâs my name. Who the hell are you?â
The man rested his enormous blade across his shoulders as he said, âThe nameâs Ryu, and I heard that youâre participating in the upcoming tournament, is that right?â
Melfice sighed and thought, Darius you drunken loser. He focused his attention back to Ryu before answering, âYeah, Iâm gonna be in that tournament. Why?â
Without hesitation the man called Ryu swung his massive blade down at Melfice. However, Melfice would not so easily be killed, and had kicked off the ground and landed a little ways away from the would-be assassin. Ryu snickered and said, âSo you are good. Iâve accepted the quest posted up at the guild to take you out.â
Melfice sighed and asked, âWho would post such a quest? Better yet, what kind of moron would accept it?â
Ryu laughed and said, âDonât underestimate me just before Iâm not very well known like you. As for who posted the quest, it was anonymous, followed by about 12 zeros and a one.â Ryu charged at Melfice, who brought his katana up and blocked the big blade, digging his feet into the ground to hold back Ryu.
Melfice grinned as he said, âFor someone to give his life away for any amount of money⦠is just foolishness. And for you to underestimate me of all people⦠youâve gotta be missing a good chunk of your brain!â Melfice pushed back Ryu and launched a wave of energy at him who then dispersed it with a swing from his Zanba. Melfice dropped his sword to the ground as he opened up the top of his suit, pulling it down to his sides as he revealed his chest and many scars. Suddenly, amongst the scars appeared runes and kanji, covering up most of his body. He picked his katana back up as he said, âI am a product of human engineering by the government, an attempted step to make a ânewman of strengthâ. Picking a fight with me and expect to live is not something that can be forgiven by me. It is an insult to expect such good fortune through fighting me, and for that Iâll end your life right here and now.â Melficeâs body radiated with photon energy as the wind around him and Ryu picked up. Melficeâs eyes had glazed over with a bright blue light by this time.
Ryu slid his feet into battle stance, getting ready to attack. Holy shit, Ryu thought to himself, What the hell is this guy?! Ryu dashed forward at Melfice, swinging his blade at him as fast as he could. To Ryuâs surprise and dismay, his attack was blocked, but not by Melficeâs katana. Melfice had grabbed Ryuâs sword with his bare hand. Melfice looked down at Ryu and smiled.
âTell me, Ryu⦠Was your life worth so many zeros?â
...to be continued
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Let me know what you think. I'll be posting the next part sometime next week.

