The Dark Commander and the Hero of Bright

The Hero of Bright was a man by the name of Girolamo. He had fought countless battles up to this day and now was in the Dark Castle for one reason, to slay the Demon Lord that plagued their world.

The hero had gone through many trials and tribulations up to this day. He was once a poor peasant boy living in a village that was near the border of Evuluss. Naturally, his village was attacked one day. The Holy Princess arrived one day after the attack to see the damage. At that time, the current Holy Princess was still a child, so she was accompanied by her mother, who currently reigned as the Holy Queen. The young Holy Princess had thought the peasant was funny, so she decided to take him back to the Castle of Bright with her.

Girolamo was happy to join her. He had developed a desire for revenge after the attack, so he trained vigorously day after day until he grew into a fantastic soldier. In his first battle, the Hero quickly made a name for himself. It was a significant battle that retook the Kingdom of Bright's border city of Peacetown. He was quickly declared the Hero of Bright and became the Commander of the Bright Army.

After that, he fought many battles to retake land in the Kingdom of Bright along with their major allies such as Elvenwood, Dwarfoutain, and many others. All the while, he built a strong party and set his sights on the Dark Castle that sat in the heart of Evuluss.

By this point, the Hero of Bright had become tired of the war. His thirst for revenge had long been sated, and he just wanted to end the war as quickly as possible so that peace could return to all lands and he could take a long nap. On this day, he burst through the castle's gates with just that intention.

The attack on Goblopolis had been a distraction to draw troops away from other significant points. It had worked like a charm, and the hero had easily slipped through the enemies' lines. Now he was here for the face off against the ultimate evil. The castle was the last battlefield he would fight on, one way or another.

His party was surrounded by foes immediately as they burst in. They cut down some, but the numbers didn't seem to falter.

Then, in the distance, some large doors opened. A man stepped out from inside the castle. He wore a black trench coat and had one red eye; from a contact, he had had the goblins develop. He was the human Dark Commander. Girolamo gritted his teeth. There were rumors that a new Dark Commander was leading the forces of evil. A human that had betrayed his own to join a band of monsters. The Hero of Bright could not forgive such an act. He readied his sword as the Dark Commander walked closer.

"Hey, wassup," the man said with a slight wave of his hand.

The Hero became tense. Was that supposed to be some sort of spell? A curse even? He looked around at the Dark Army and then around at the scenery. Nothing was happening.

"What have you come here for? You villain!" the hero shouted while pointing his sword at the Dark Commander.

"Hmm, let's see. You seem like a hero, what with the clothes and fancy sword and all... and you have an elf with a bow, a dwarf with a hammer, and some kind of wizard with a beard and pointed hat. Were all the halflings that could carry rings too busy?"

The hero didn't know what the Dark Commander meant, but he felt like he was being mocked.

"Your vile words cannot sway me; I will defeat you and return peace to the lands!" he shouted.

"You know, I never realized how many "V" words could be used to talk to a Dark Army," the Dark Commander said while rubbing his chin.

"I will stop you!" Girolamo yelled.

"No, no, no. It should be something like 'Villain! Your venomous vapor is nothing but vanity. We will vanquish you, and you will wander hell as a vagabond.' You really should go all-in on the v's since I mentioned it."

"My Hero, I believe he is taunting us," the elf in the Hero's party said.

"He may be, but we must not give in," the Hero said. He pointed his sword at the Dark Commander.

"Woah, hold up. Shouldn't we trade names before a bloody battle to the death? It can be one of those things where the winner says 'I'll remember your name' at the end of the fight. Here I'll start, I'm Pain Killer."

"You even have a sick name, villain," the Hero said while shaking his head, "If it comforts you to know the name of the man who will slay you, I am Girolamo Shinelusterbrightness!" the Hero of Bright confidently declared.

Pain snorted and then covered his mouth as he started to chuckle. He turned away and waved his hand to the hero to indicate he needed a minute.

"I'm sorry," he finally said through chuckles, "You were just talking so seriously... and then that last name was so ridiculous... I thought it would be generic like Smith or something... Oh, I'm glad I'm not the only one with a stupid name."

The Hero of Bright's eyebrow twitched; he would waste no more words. He began to charge at Pain with his sword pointed at the Dark Commanders' neck. Pain finally stopped laughing and took a swift sidestep to avoid the blow.

"He dodged it?" the hero's party members and the Dark Army troops gawked from the sidelines.

"Whoops, that thing looks dangerous." Pain used his magic to stretch a series of invisible hands at the hero. The hands grabbed the sword and pulled it out of the unsuspecting hero's hands. From what all the observers could see, the sword flew from the Hero of Bright to Pain. "Remember, kids, don't run with sharp objects," Pain said to no one.

The Hero stood in place as he stared at his hands. He tried to grip the hilt that was no longer there before he yelled out.

"The Holy Sword of Light!" he shouted.

"Impossible, only a pure person capable of handling the pure energy of our Holy Princess can wield that sword! It was forged out of lightium in the dwarves' holy forge and blessed under the elves' sacred tree. Then it was blessed by the Holy Princess herself. After which, it was lined with the sacred gemstones. A force of darkness should not be capable of casually holding such a blade!" the old wizard, the Hero, brought suddenly shouted.

Pain looked at the sword, then to the shocked hero, then to the shocked Dark Army.

"Is it such a surprise that I am holding this thing?" he asked.

The hero, the hero's party, and the dark army soldiers that surrounded them all nodded in unison.

"You... you... need to give that back..." The Hero stammered. He was at a loss of what to say.

Pain looked around at the shocked faces. He shrugged.

"Hahaha, no, wait, I can do better. Ehaehayeha... no, that sounded stupid. Never mind, I have your sword or whatever. You can't defeat me." Pain pointed the sword at the hero. "Ow, ow, hold on a minute. Why are their uncut gemstones in the hilt! Exposition wizard, do you know anything about this!"

"The holy sword was forged to line the hilt with the six sacred gemstones. A series of ancient gems that were forged by heroes of old. It is said that the stones were created when the righteous passion and fury that lit the heroes of old's hearts ablaze was crystalized. When found and placed in the holy sword's hilt, they granted the hero immeasurable power," The hero's old wizard exposited.

"That's great, but why weren't they smoothed out or placed on a part where the user doesn't have to hold this sword? Pain turned to the Hero, "Doesn't this thing hurt when you swing it around?"

Girolamo slid his hands behind his back and turned away.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Obviously, you can't use it properly since your evil," He said while looking away.

Pain pulled out one of the sacred gemstones. It was a jagged red rock.

"Why couldn't you smooth it a little? Exposition wizard, you got anything?"

"The six sacred gemstones were said to be formed out of the souls of the heroes of old. The rough appearance is indicative of the fires that blazed within them while they were alive. Smoothing the stones would only serve to smooth the soul's passionate fire, thus weakening the stone. Now put it back in the blade, you unholy madman! And that's not my name either!"

"Hmm, I guess that makes some kind of sense," Pain said as he popped the stone back into the sword.

This was the scene that Demon Lord saw when she finally caught up with Pain. A sad, disarmed hero, a confused party, an equally confused dark army, and Pain who was giving The Holy Sword of Light strange looks.

She was flooded with a flurry of emotions. Happiness to confusion to anger and then to embarrassment. She ran out onto the battlefield and smacked Pain on the back of the head. Then, she grabbed his head and made him do a slight bow with her.

"I'm very sorry for our idiot Dark Commander; he has never been one to follow standard Hero and Demon Lord procedure," she said.

"Uh, that's okay?" The Hero of Bright said with a confused tone.