[i]The entire bottom floor had already been completely engulfed in flames. Smoke bellowed out from the house causing several of the inquisition soldiers to violently cough. The family had retreated upstairs to escape the flames and Omero could hear their cries for help coming from above. Omero watched as the fire continued to devour the house. Though he showed no signs of it, he was in turmoil. Was this truly justice? Omero didn’t even know what this man had been accused of and yet he had been ordered to execute him before even giving him a trial. Even if the man was unquestionably guilty, why did his family have to share the same grisly fate, were they too guilty? What if Archippo De Santis was wrong? Omero thought, what if these people were not guilty, what if they… No. If the church deemed this man as an evil doer then he would trust in their judgement. The cries for help soon changed to screams of agony as the flames rose into the second floor. Normally Omero would take pleasure when justice was being done upon evil doers, so why was it that all he felt was shame and guilt…[/i]

Omero woke to sound of shattering wood and gunfire. It was clear the ship was under attack, most likely from pirates or brigands. Omero instinctively grabbed his sword and crossbow and ran up to the top deck. As Omero made his way up he could only wonder what was going on, on the deck above; it sounded as if the ship was being completely torn apart, though Omero could hear no cannon fire or explosives. What force could possibly be causing so much damage? Once Omero had made his way to the top deck, he soon discovered who the attacker was. It appeared to be a disembodied ebony-plated suit of armour, wielding an abnormally long lance with black smoke and red sparks emanated from its hinges. Needless to say, it was not human.

Omero had a great deal of knowledge and experience on monsters and demons; their appearances, their intelligence, their deadliness and most importantly their weaknesses. But this…Omero had never seen nor heard of anything like this before. Both Epunamun and Leonard were fighting this giant monstrosity head on. Leonard had distracted the attention of the ebony cladded knight as he fired a pistol into the back of its head before running towards the quarter deck, with the ebony knight rampaging after him. Omero readied his crossbow. Giving the circumstances Omero decided that keeping a low profile wasn’t at the top of his priorities at the moment.

Omero knew that his crossbow didn’t have a hope in breaching the knight’s armour, besides there wasn’t even anything beneath the armour to harm. Though Omero had observed that the knight was having difficulty moving; one of Epunamun’s axes had lodged itself into one of the knight’s knee joints. If he could do the same with one of his crossbow bolts into another joint then he could at least slow it down. Omero aimed his crossbow, before lowering it again. Leonard had drawn the ebony knight to the quarter deck and even for Omero it would be an impossible shot at this angle. He needed a better vantage spot, and the mast provided the solution.

Omero started to climb the rigging, the battle continued to rage on bellow. Once Omero had reached the Fighting Top he heard an explosion from the deck bellow; it appeared that his efforts were for naught. Leonard had caused an explosion that had engulfed the ebony plated figure, causing it to collapse through the navigation deck and into the captain’s cabin bellow. The captain had appeared to have gotten out just in time. Omero relaxed and smiled to himself, it appeared he didn’t have to reveal his true identity afterall. As Omero decided to start heading back down the rigging he heard a dark echoing voice coming from where the captain’s cabin used to be.

"Peeerrissh. You all shall perish!"

Omero’s head spun round, the ebony knight had somehow survived the blast and was currently slowly walking forward towards the captain and Leonard.

Omero once again aimed his crossbow. This time he was ready.