Chapter 30
Taida stood horrified and motionless with his sword drawn. He knew this battle would not be like his duel with Solis. It would not be a simple contest of swordplay. No. There was no winning this fight. This was the most dire of all circumstances. He would be forced to fight with everything he had just to survive for a few more seconds. He knew who this man was even though he had never seen him. This man who had crashed through the door and killed his team leader in a split second.
Lux had provided the group of Gammas a safe place to stay, and safe it was, at least for a while. Nowhere could truly be safe from this man. They stayed peacefully and undisturbed until this moment, but they all knew it had to come eventually. When Lux gave them directions to the cabin, he had instructed Taida to protect the others as he was the only one who still possessed the power of nature. He intended to do just that to the best of his ability.
The samurai held his katana at arms' length. He understood that his skills could only last so long against an opponent such as this. This was an opponent with unparalleled power and ferocity. Even still, Taida had absolutely no intentions of giving up without a fight. Despite his natural instincts for laziness, he decided it was time to use every bit of power at his disposal. A deep red outline etched its way around his blade. He concentrated all of his energy into the weapon. The steel of the katana began to scream with energy. Of course, there was a plan, but he felt like it was a long shot at best. But, if he was going to die, it would be as a samurai.
The Alpha was still crouched beside a small cot. The unconscious leader who had fought Lux was the unfortunate soul to occupy that particular cot. As far as the Alpha was concerned, he had allowed enough cowards to escape his grasp. This time, he hadn't taken any chances. As soon as he had breached the small, cabin door, he eliminated his first target. It was only a happy coincidence that it was the leader of the group. The man he had sent to lead the gamma strike force against Lux. The responsibility of their failure was his to bear. The Alpha considered his death a just outcome. The moment he breached the room, he punched a hole through the bald man's sternum with his fist.
Taida was unable to see his movements up to this point. Even though he had been on watch, the only thing he saw was the door shatter into pieces. Immediately, he jumped to his feet and drew his sword, but nothing happened. Then, he turned to see their nightmares were coming to life. The Alpha had already assassinated their unconscious leader.
The samurai had channeled so much energy into his katana that the full length of the blade was glowing red. He prepared to attack, but he was suddenly taken off guard. The Alpha stood up and turned to face him. To Taida's surprise, he had what seemed like a pleasant smile on his face.
"Taida, right?" He gestured toward him. "I've had my eye on you for ages. I was actually thinking you might become a Beta one day. You always performed excellently on missions. Of course, you have a small problem with laziness, but I put up with much worse. I expected you to keep growing stronger and join my personal guard one day. Tell me, Taida. I'm genuinely curious. What caused you to betray me?"
Taida furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, but he didn't drop his guard. "Is this some kind of trick?"
"No, no, I'd really like to know. You could say that I've been doing some self-evaluation. I mean, I will of course have to kill you regardless of your answer, but I hoped your death might have some usefulness...unlike his." The Alpha motioned to the bald assassin he had just killed.
Taida held his sword in place, "I guess, I didn't really think about it that much at the time. I never really cared about the power we had. Then, I fought Solis who handled himself with a great honor that I had never seen before. I just felt like my life might be worth something if I helped them, and the only thing that could've stopped me from helping them was fear. I saw that they truly value one another like they're a family. If the only thing I have to pay for helping them is my life, that's a price I am willing to pay. If my life will finally mean something, fear has no hold on me."
The Alpha's eyes widened briefly, then they went back to normal. He nodded his head slowly and seemed to be in thought.
"I suppose you're right, master samurai." Taida found this response to be strange. He had never heard of this powerful and terrible man addressing his enemies respectfully. "Fear has no place for you anymore. I'm a little saddened that I lost a man such as yourself. Please know that I take no pleasure in your death."
As the words left his mouth, four figures emerged through the doorway. The Betas entered the room and with them an air of death. Taida raised his fiery, red katana above his head as he prepared for what he figured was his last battle. The Alpha raised his hand without ever turning to look behind him at the band of Betas. He motioned for them to attack.
They shot forward in an a fierce but orderly assault to kill Taida instantly, but in that moment the air changed. Around the samurai, the air suddenly felt like static. It became difficult to draw in a breath. Just as they reached him, a blast of energy unlike anything they had ever felt crashed through the ceiling and struck the ground between them. It hit with such force the Betas were launched violently backwards and through the wall of the cabin.
In the midst of the dust and debris, the shadow of a person began to emerge. The room gradually cleared, and sparks of lightning became visible. The Alpha was left staring into familiar eyes. Lux had returned.