Jack...Jack The Ripper

Louis and Cruz roamaed closer, and closer to the village, but there was still a bit of distance till they got there.

"I still can't understand how on point your hunches are." said Cruz.

"They're usually right most of the time, but there are situations where I am painfully wrong." Louis claimed.

Cruz thought back on how smoothly Louis had outshined her during their first encounter. If he didn't show any mercy, Cruz knew how fast her tale would've ended.

She thought to herself, 'This man. His vibe is a reliable one. He gives off a protective feeling, one that makes you feel safe. I haven't known him for long and I even tried to kill him, but I almost want to trust him.'

Louis's steps came to a pause. There were many trails of smoke off in the distance.

"What? Do you have another hunch?" Cruz asked.

"That's too much smoke. The village should be up ahead and I think the people there are in distress. That's my hunch. Let's hurry up."

"If you say so."

Louis sprinted at full speed while Cruz tried to keep up.

Reaching the entrance of the village, smoke was all around and the burning scent was strong. The villagers were fleeing from the area while bandits caused destruction. Houses were set ablaze along with haystacks and other belongings.

"Are these your men?" Louis accused.

Cruz let out an offended gasp.

"I'm a bandit leader but even I'm not this messed up. These men don't belong to me. From what they're wearing, these bandits from a group that I happen to be rivals with. I don't care what you do to them."

"I guess this area of the map just has lots of criminals wandering."

Louis proceeded forward.

A bandit held his axe against the throat of a little girl, lost in the chaos.

"I know there's gold around here SOMEWHERE! Come on, KID! Spit it out! I won't have mercy on ya if ya stay quiet!"

"I...I….I d-don't know!" The girl cried.

A low humming filled the air -Mmmmmmmmmmm-

Dark clouds hovered over the village as an intense thunderstorm brought rain. In moments, the droplets extinguished every fire that was set around the village. While everyone's clothes became drenched, the bandits were shocked.

"This...isn't just a thunderstorm."

"Someone called it here with black magic.. Were one of the villagers capable of this?"

Louis stepped up, amplifying his voice with magic and getting every villager's and bandit's attention.

"As a former Royal Knight, I, Louis Loopy, order for you bandit's to stop your violence. If not, I will be forced to cut you down."

The villagers's voices murmured as they felt relief from the savior.

"A Royal Knight came to help?"

"We're saved."

"Thank you, god!"

"Please! Deal with these devils!"

Louis's intense look reached the bandits as he asked once more, "So, What will it be?"

Tmp...Tmp..Tmp..

A man with spiky grey-hair and a dark coat steadily came forward.

"Former Royal Knight? Haha! I don't believe that one bit. If you had that kind of power, you would've already been killing us off. Well, not me, of course."

"Are you their leader?" Louis asked.

A twisted grin appeared on the man's face, showing his teeth that resemble knives. He raised his arms, looking at the sky above and laughed.

"HAhahah! I am indeed. You can call me Jack...Jack The Ripper."

His smile resembled a maniac who wanted nothing more than to cause bloodshed, no matter who the victim was.

Louis stroked his chin, recalling the name 'Jack'

He did remember one of the knight's mentoning something about a canceler by that name. If this man was who Louis thought he was, it was a good thing he arrived before any villagers were slaughtered in cold blood.

"Yep. I think I've heard of you." said Louis.

"I know you have. I am beyonnnnd popularrr."

Noticing the girl by Louis's side, Jack's grin grew wider as he spoke to her.

"Sayyy. Is that you, Cruz? I heard that you talk poorly of me. How about me settle our little beef here?"

He pulled out a dagger and marched toward her but was halted by Louis, blocking the way.

"This girl is in my custody until I take her to the nearest jail. Until then, it's my job to keep her alive to face her crimes."

Jack bit into his bottom lip out of anger, letting the blood slowly drip.

"You want to get in my way?! I'll murder you. Hah, I actually planned to do that anyway. Let's duel, then."

Louis pushed Cruz behind, warning her, "Just stay behind me. I won't let him get to you."

Cruz felt awkward about her being protected. Was this really okay? She was responsible for the deaths of many knights and even tried to kill Louis. Despite those facts, Cruz was under his protection.

"He's a canceler. If he kills you, you're going to stay dead with no resurrection. Don't risk your life for me. I'm a bandit responsible for many deaths."

"But, you surrendered and now it's only a part of my job to see that you're put in a cell. Don't worry about me, I have a hunch that I'll be alright." Louis replied.

Jack spun around, voicing the terms of the fight to the villagers.

"Evevryooonnneee. Watch as I kill you're savoir. None of my men will jump in to help. This will only be a fight between me and him. HAhahah. If he so happens to win, I will let you live. If he FAILS, I will SLAUGHTER you ALL."

Jack's neck nearly snapped as he quickly looked back at Louis and asked, "Tell me, Former Royal Knight. Are you ready?"

In the fearsome moment, the villagers from all around cheered Louis on.

"You can do this!"

"You used to be a Royal Knight! There's no way you'll lose."

"Kill that devil of a madman!"

"Please! You have to win!"

Hearing these voices filled with hope, Jack smiled.

"Looks like they all believe in you."

Louis held out his hand, chanting, "Summon: Blade of Light, come forth."

An angelic magic circle formed next to him, slowly revealing a gleaming sword. Lifting it, Louis was prepared to face his opponent.

"Alright, I'm ready."

"Ahhaha, That's a blade that easily cuts through flesh. What an advanced summon. Most can't pull that spell off.. I hope you don't disappoint me."

"I'll try not to."

Fwosh.

Jack came forward, rapidly swinging his daggers. Left and right, Louis gently evaded and parried the swings as they continued.

Clink. Clink! Clink! Clink!

Jack flinged his daggers across the air, but as they came close to hitting Louis, they swayed off track and missed.

Swoosh.

"Spirit Smash!!" Louis shouted.

"Not happening!" Jack rolled out of the way as an unseen force splintered to the floor.

Crackle!

He had dodged a force that was supposed to be invisible, meaning he had some sort of True Sight ability.

'So spirit magic won't work. That's fine.' Louis thought to himself.

Jack's blood-lust smile greatend as he pulled out a spare blade.

Swoosh! Fwsh! Slash! Clink!

The floor underneath them vibrated as they locked blades.

"Pretty impressive." Jack complimented.

"Any praise from you feels no better than an insult." Louis replied.

Jack's body jerked back as a hot blade slit his arm.

"Aghh."

A smooth trail of steam flowed from his open wound as his flesh slowly melted. Hanging on a single strand of skin, his arm came off.

Sizzle. Thump!

"Without the use of your arm, you're pretty much done for. Do you give up already?" Louis asked.

"Hahah! As if! I can fix that really easily. Sanity: Grant me regeneration."

Blup! Blup! Blup!

His flesh began growing, forming back the shape of his missing arm.

Louis was familiar with the spell his opponent used. It was a spell that was forbidden. Under direct law of the kingdom, anyone who uses it, shall be executed on sight.

'Sanity type spells. They grant you something in exchange for losing part of your humanity. Those who use it, usually end up with Jack's way of thinking. What an idiot. No wonder he's so dumb.'

A gasp of excitement escaped Jack's mouth.

"Ahahah, Let's keep going!"

The way he showed no sign of giving up made Louis sigh.

The fight continued.

Five long minutes passed as the two were at a stalemate.

Slash! Slash! Clink! Clink!

Cruz tensely watched the fight. The two were evenly parrying eachothers slashes. Even though Louis was faster with his weapon, his strength and skill was on par with Jack. As much as she believed in Louis, it didn't change the fact that the outcome was unclear.

"HAhahahah. I'm going to get serious now! Sanity: Dramatically increase my stats!" Jack shouted.

A surge of energy travels through his veins as he overflowed with psychotic laughter.

"HAHahahahaha."

Louis stood in utter shock as he found blood spurting from his chest. Looking down, he saw that a wound had opened up. But How! He didn't have time to think this through, his body was growing limp as he slowly fell through the air.

'....'

Thump!

He laid motionless as his blood spilled out, spreading around him.

His life faded into nothing.

"Hahahah! I was so fast that you didn't realize I even cut you." Jack laughed.

Cruz felt a slight emptiness in her heart. She didn't even know Louis for long, but she had great faith in him.

"No…"

She fell heavily on her knees, recalling Louis's words, "Don't worry about me, I have a hunch that I'll be alright."

It was the one time his hunch had to be wrong.

"I did not expect that. I didn't even notice you slashed me." said Louis's voice.

Cruz's eyes lit up as she spotted Louis rising back up. Had she witnessed a miracle?

Jack's face twisted into disgust.

"Huh!? You're not dead? Explain yourself!"

Louis patted the dirt from his clothes. He then shook his head in disappointment.

"Gosh, you really are a noob. Not only do you overuse harmful spells that rot your brain, you don't even understand how your canceling works. Don't you know, passive abilities can't be canceled. Duh, Idiot. Remember when you tried to throw your daggers at me earlier? They missed because one of my passive abilities doesn't allow projectiles to hit me. So basically, resurrection is one of my passive abilities."

"Then I'll kill you again!"

Jack suddenly appeared behind Louis, shoving his dagger through his back.

Shank! Stab!

Thump!

Louis fell.

"There! Now you're really dead!" Jack shouted.

"Nope...You didn't even kill me that time." said Louis, slowly getting back to his feet.

[This Is A Moment Where You Truly Need Strength. 'Blessing of Strength' is now active. Your strength will exceed your opponent's.]

[This Is A Moment Where You Truly Need Speed. 'Blessing of Speed' is now active. Your speed will exceed your opponent's]

'It's about time it decided to activate.'

Louis lifted his glowing blade.

"Now, let's wrap this up."

"Oh! I will!"

Jack sent a fury of slashes forward, all missing their target.

Slash! Slash! Sash!

"Oh?! You can keep up now?!" Jack asked. He swung his dagger dowards, clashing against his rival's sword.

Clink! Bounce!

"!!?" Jack gasped, stumbling back while his weapon was knocked into the sky.

Louis stomped forward, slicing one of Jack's arms off.

Slash! Thump!

Yelling in agony, he looked up as he was being held at the edge of a sizzling sword.

"It is law that anyone who uses a forbidden spell is to be killed on sight. I can't spare you. But, I will let you say some last words." said Louis.

"Last words. How about this....GUST!"

A giant wave of wind blasted into Louis, pushing him back.

Swoosh!

It was just enough time to give Jack an opening to escape. He ran and ran, disappearing into the forest.

Louis received his balance back and was about to chase after him, but the bandits surrounded him.

"You ain't getting past us!" one shouted.

Louis kneeled down, gently poking the ground.

"Traveling Shock!"

Shaking bolts of lighting wiggled across the floor and traveled up each one of the bandit's bodies.

ZZzzzz

Shaking, they foamed at the mouth until they couldn't take anymore, falling over, lifeless.

Louis looked to the side, where one bandit was standing, unharmed. Of course, he did this on purpose. He had a hunch about something and needed answers.

The bandit's eyes filled with fear. He turned to run away but was blasted down by a heavy bolt of fire.

Blast! ZzZZZ.

Baldy injured, the bandit tried to stay awake, but failed, passing out.

"I'll just have to question him once he's awake again."

The villager's voices all shook the air.

"Yeahhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

"You did it!"

"The bandits are defeated!!"

"Well done!"

In mere seconds, everyone gathered around, celebrating their savior's victory.

Cruz stayed sitting, relaxing her heart rate. From watching the entire battle, her pulse was bouncing and she felt light-headed and wobbly.

'That...was scary to watch.'

Above all, she was happy that Louis succeeded and survived. That was the only relief she felt in the moment.