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The vile sound of flesh being torn and the whaling of men were all that could be heard over the clanging of swords clashing, two young men faught relentlessly through the hoard of barbarians leaving not a single opening in between them. In the sea of bodies they only had each other, completely cut off from the main army their only choice was to go forward as their objective the head of the enemy general was all that mattered.

The men were worn out, covered in blood which soaked their leather armour along with their hair making them hard to distinguish. What was once blonde was now crimson red and what was once black was now a muddy brown, for days the battle had lasted and out of sheer desperation to at least force a retreat if only momentarily their own General had sent the two men to their likely death.

They swung their swords like madmen eventually cutting a path to the rear where the enemy general's personal guards were ready for them. "Damn dogs!" One of the guards yelled to which one of the men simply continued his charge clashing against the guard.

As guard deflected the first strike another punctured his waist quickly being dragged across tearing him open. The other guards too stunned to react in time to the second swordsman who quickly changed directions to deal the deadly blow.

"Stick together boys, don't give them the chance!" a guard said while huddling together.

"Well, what now?" the crimson haired man said the the other to which he responded "I'll deal with them, just get the head."

Looking at his comrade one last time before sighing and nodding the crimson haired swordsman leapt over the guards and while their attention was momentarily attracted to him the muddied swordsman threw a slurry of sloppy slashes only being able to knock the men back but not break their guard.

The crimson swordsman rushed through the soldiers of the rear which mostly consisted of cooks and the injured combatants. This made his advance that much easier as he simply slashed through the weak defence eventually arriving at a large tent which standing outside was a burly, bearded man holding a large sword which stood around 6 foot standing alongside him.

"Finally the little pups have come to play, I was just about getting tired of playing with your women. As much as I do enjoy the taste of Dracian I can only handle so much." the man smiled clearly taunting the swordsman and exactly as he wanted the swordsman quickly flung a series of attacks at the man. "Cnut, I swear on my name that today I will have your head." he said coldly to which Cnut replied "Brat, don't piss me off!" laughing as he met the attacks head on blocking them effortlessly with his giant sword.

The two raged through the camp destroying everything around them, the crimson swordsman now exerting the little mana he had left saved up into his sword to increase the weakening strength of his attacks. Cnut simply followed suit and let out his immense pool of mana to further widen the already colossal gap in their strength.

As their battle raged on another was soon coming to an end, the second swordsman now entirely covered in a mixture of mud, sweat and blood, most of which was now his own having endured a barrage of attacks from all sides he had no choice but the desperately hold the guardsmen as well as the rest of the main forces which had sent troops to assist the general back. He knew in his heart that this mission was suicide however he simply followed his orders as a good soldier should, having been born a commoner he had no idea how to use mana meaning he would be at a disadvantage against a veteran magic swordsman. All he could do was buy time and that's exactly what he intended to do.

The guardsmen now reduced to only two simultaneously slashed at his limbs delivering significant damage however as he grit his teeth and bared the pain the swordsman dug his now dulled blade into the chest of one of the men pushing as hard as he could penetrating the steel armour, he quickly let go of the sword and grabbed the last remaining guard slamming his his head into the mans skull repeatedly. Blood began to trickly down his forehead and through the blood that covered his eyes he looked down at the man, seeing his helmet now caved into his skull the guard only twitched as the swordsman took his sword along with the sword of the other swordsman.

Without enough time to catch his breath let alone wipe the blood from his eyes, the swordsman dashed towards the rushing soldiers hacking away wildly with both swords, now only being able to see the dark silhouettes through the red that covered his eyes. After around ten minutes of wildly swinging only knowing that he his an enemy as he felt the blades cutting flesh and the sound of their screams the swordsman heard yelling that sounded all too familiar. Rushing back a few paces he wiped his eyes as the soldiers caught their own breath and began to regroup. He looked behind him in the direction of the yelling and started dashing towards it which the soldiers followed behind arriving at an all but destroyed camp inside a small crater was the General resting his boot on the body of a tired and bloodied young man.

Cnut raised his sword and looked down at the boy with a look of disappointment before swinging down at his neck. As it was only inches away from it's destination a loud clang was heard as two blades stuck out from beneath the sword. The swordsman struggled with all the strength he had allowing enough time for the young man to raise himself after which the swordsman pushed up forcing the giant blade to lift up before jumping back.

"A second, now this is interesting." as Cnut leaned the sword over his shoulder and looked at the battered swordsman with curiosity. Pointing at the man Cnut said while chuckling, "You, I don't feel anything from you. But you certainly was the first one to lift my sword." He then extended his hand towards the man stating "Lay down your weapons, profess to me your loyalty and I can take you to new heights of strength." to be offered tutelage from a veteran magic swordsman was something even the most outstanding of nobles could dream of, this caused the young man beside him to look in disbelief at the offer and made him cower slightly in fear of his comrades inevitable betrayal.

However despite his lack of faith the swordman smirked while looking over at the young man and saying in a low tone, "It seems we failed dear friend, I ask of you this one favour. Survive, retreat back to the castle and survive you must." leaving the young man speechless and simply turning back towards Cnut raising his swords which Cnut sighed with a slight smile on his face "Honourable indeed, then I shall send you off as a warrior." Cnut lunged forwards bringing his sword crashing down only narrowly missing the swordsman who after taking the chance to regain some composure was dancing around the general pelting him with strike after strike which were all blocked effortlessly.

The young man clenched his fist however with only one working arm and after exhausting most of his mana he was in no position to aid his friend with no choice left but the retreat and inform his general of their failure. As the reinforcing soldiers attempted to chase the young man the swordsman launched himself off of the generals sword landing infront of them. The soldiers all lunged together at him in a last ditch attempt to stall the soldiers he allowed himself to be pierced multiple times all so that he could kill a single one of them and as he took two attacks to deal one he continued until all that remained was himself and the general once again.

The swordsman collapsed to his knees barely holding onto his swords, wheezing and gasping for air he looked at the cloudy sky and smiled. 'haha, A warriors death huh. I feel more like a dog than anything.' he looked back down at the man standing infront of him who walked over leaning down beside him. "What is your name warrior?" the swordsman who could barely even move his eyes glanced at the General before closing his eyes and in a low wheeze he responded

"Ku-Kurtz..."

"I shall remember the name, now rest warrior you have earned it."