The Thief

One day when I get Barbiel and Oathkeepr the hell knight will rise. Then, I will kill everyone who betrayed me. This is an oath I Leomord of the Fortress of Despair promise to keep.

Those words echoed in his mind. Those were words he would live by from now on.

Leomord stood at the edge of a cliff with his eyes closed. The wind brushing past his long black hair and worn out grey cloth. He had no idea how he got here. Hell, he did not even know how he was alive. He was sure Thamuz had managed to kill him that day with his scythe.

But when Leo woke up, he found himself in an unknown forest with the wound on his chest gone. He no longer had Barbiel or Oathkeer. They were back in a place he once used to call home.

Now he found himself in an unknown place devoid of everything he once held dear.

The forest was endless. The trees rose to touch the sky, the sun-dappled leaves made flickering shadows on the ground. But now he was embracing the sunlight as the trees refused to come this close to the edge.

He had searched for the past two days but managed to find nothing. There were only plants, trees and a range of animals in the forest.

One such animal was burning behind him. The once white and majestic animal was now roasting behind him. Even though he no longer had Oathkeer that did not mean he would not practice. He had practiced with a sword every day from the moment he learned to walk and hold a sword.

Since he could not get a real sword Leo made do with a wooden one. He found a long and thick stick. He had used it for the last two days.

Sighing, he turned back to the fire ready to eat his food, but when he looked at the fire the rabbit was gone. Only the fierce flame and smoke remained.

Leo raised his eyebrows as he looked around but found nothing. Then, he looked towards the trees. In one of the branches of a tree near him, there was a monkey chewing on the piece of meat with its tail wiggling up and down. To his surprise, the monkey had a gun to its back.

Leo's hand moved in an intricate pattern. Soon a black orb formed in his hand. Then, he sent the orb flying towards the monkey. But before the orb could strike it the monkey moved out-of-the-way.

The monkey opened its mouth to show its tongue towards Leo as it swallowed the last piece of meat. Then, it moved towards the next tree.

Leo would not let that monkey escape even if it meant chasing it for days.

And so the hell knight started to chase the monkey with the gun.

The monkey leaped through the trees with vigor and precision. It knew its way around the forest. But Leo's eyes and senses were sharp. He kept his eyes focused on the monkey while his senses made sure to not trip on anything or bump into a tree. He mastered this after years of training and hard work. He could focus his eyesight on a target while his senses took care of the surroundings.

The monkey seemed to get annoyed by Leo's constant chasing as it started yelling out things. It also spat towards Leo, who dodged it. That is after it struck him the first time.

Leo's eyes shifted their vision to his side. His senses sent him a warning. He did not stop as he jumped to the left. A small condensed beam crashed into where he once stood.

Leo's eyes moved around the forest. He could see that monkey with an evil smile on its face. Soon a voice entered his ears. "Dexter I thought I told you to leave some for me."

As the voice ended a small orb of light rushed towards Dexter, who like before dodged it. That monkey had good reflexes.

Soon, a figure appeared in front of Leomord. The man wore a red scarf around his neck while his right arm had nothing but technology. There were two things on his right arm. Both dark gold in color. The most eye-catching of them was the gun. It looked like a bigger version of the gun with the monkey.

Leo's hands once again moved in an intricate pattern and the black ball soon appeared. Unlike the attack from the gun, his attack contained pure energy. He fired the attack.

But before the attack could hit the person, he disappeared. The voice soon emerged from another tree nearby. "Is that all?"

Leomord eyes moved towards the voice. He stared into the eyes of this mysterious person with a gun and who could teleport. "Who are you?"

In response, the person in front shrugged his shoulders. "I guess there is no need for me to hide anything. Name's Claude and that over there is Dexter. We are in fact the greatest thieves in the entire land."

Claude had a proud look on his face.

"Greatest thieves in the world who no one has heard about," Said Leo.

Claude's smiled faded. "Enough about me. Who are you? And what are you doing in the endless forest?"

Leo's eyebrows shot up. The endless forest was miles away from the castle. How and why did he end up here?

The endless forest was not endless. It got the name from its massive size which spanned half the lands. It was one of the structures that divided The Moniyan Alliance and The Dark Abyss.

For him to end up here, Leo had no idea what to make of the situation.

"Hello? Did you fall asleep with your eyes open?" Claude's voice brought him back to reality.

Leo turned his eyes away from the ground and faced Claude. "Tell me, what are you doing here?"

He was not going to get any answers about how he got here from Claude, so might as well ask what the man was doing here.

Claude's smile returned. This time though it was a little different. "We are on the run. People are out to get us, but they fail every time."

A black beam rushed towards Leo, who dodged it. The beam of light then expanded into a strange creature. It had two purple lines on each side of its eyes with teeth sharp enough to cut metal.

"Leomord of the fortress of despair. How amusing it is to see the one who lead an army that killed my people in such a pathetic state."