Sahro relaxed his hand on his sword, breathing in deeply before ducking under the blade of his opponent. The Emerald Knight, as he had chosen to name him, whipped his boot into his face. His leg stretched past its length, ripping as it elongated, but the flesh healed almost instantly.

The Black Heir flashed away in a bolt of red lightning, the tip of his sword carving through the ground as he circled the Emerald Knight. His armor had completely fused with his body, and each wound he received regenerated within seconds.

"Damn ruh sayiaya..." Sahro clenched his teeth as Raijin hissed on his shoulder. The fox wanted to help but was too weak to face the Emerald Knight himself. Sahro found himself wishing he had some help to tie down the Knight while he inflicted a critical injury, but sadly, he was alone.

"What am I thinking..." Sahro shook his head as the mark on his forehead gleamed brightly. His red lightning surged out once more, ready to reduce the Emerald Knight to ashes. Sahro jumped in the air, moving like a thunderbolt as his sword pierced and cut through the Knight. His mechanical arm trembled under the load, the bolts loosening and the cogs creaking, but he couldn't care less.

The Emerald Knight exploded with a dark green Aura, blowing Sahro away. The Black Heir spun in the air before landing in the mud, his feet planted firmly. The Knight raised his greatsword above his head, but white light suddenly washed over him, burning him. Monsters rushed at the Knight, biting and clawing at him as he tried to defend himself the best he could.

Liara flew in on her sword, her spear covered in pure white light as the cross on her forehead shone brightly. She clenched her spear tightly before throwing it at the knight's chest, piercing through the skin-armor and pinning him to the ground in a grand explosion of searing white light.

Milena jumped out of behind a mind-controlled monster and stabbed the Knight in every part of his body, cutting his tendons and restraining his movements. The Knight went to attack her, but the monsters threw themselves in his way, protecting her.

Sahro didn't waste the opportunity and gathered all of his strength. The red lightning enveloped him from head to toe, crackling like true thunder. Raijin disappeared, but he couldn't spare a thought for him.

Liara gracefully dove down, her sword shining with bright white light as her small round bird chirped. It disappeared into a cloud of light that stuck to her back, changing into two wide, feathery wings of pure light. Her sword left an after-image as she cleaved cleanly through the Emerald Knight, revealing a black, beating heart in his chest.

A tail of red lightning and fox ears appeared on Sahro, empowering him with infinite strength. His eyes changed to those of a fox, and suddenly, he disappeared.

"Sekiraijin."

A sonic bang shook the battlefield as he pierced through the Emerald Knight's heart, reducing it to ashes. Electricity crackled in his wake, destroying every monster that was still alive. The red lightning covering Sahro disappeared as his fox reappeared, purring happily as it lounged comfortably in the hair of his master.

Milena ran up to him, her eyes wide open in amazement. "What was that? Y- You looked like a—"

"—A fox! You had a tail and fox ears!" Liara interrupted her friend, as awed as her.

Sahro looked at them both like they were insane. "What are you talking about?" He pointed a finger at Liara. "What about you? What was that pair of wings you had?"

Liara raised an eyebrow. "A pair of wings? What?"

Milena chuckled lightly in disbelief. "Liara, you had wings, and...Sahro, we're telling the truth, you looked like a human fox for a moment!"

The Black Heir's eyebrows creased as he cleaned his blade and sheathed it. "No matter. It's not the moment to wonder about these things. Why did you come to help me?"

Liara and Milena exchanged a complicated gaze.

"Well...let's just say our support wasn't needed there," tried Milena. Liara nodded slowly, her eyes drifting back to the place they were supposed to protect. Sahro followed her gaze. Where countless monsters previously raged was now a gigantic bloody gash in the ground, filled with corpses of monsters.

Sahro's eyes widened. "What the fuck...?"

***

The eyes in the Beyond's skies stared down, unblinking. Glenn's fingers tightened around his sword's hilt. A bead of sweat slid down the back of his head, his heart thumping in his ears. Lucian stood beside him, silent and without his usual regal smile. The demon Elder Ialkris appeared beside him as well, his teeth clenched. Laurance, the Occult Wanderer Earthling was grinning widely, blood oozing from his lips.

"The other elder and your comrades will take care of the rest of the battlefield," muttered Ialkris as Mana swirled around him. "I'll have to rely on your help to deal with him. A Newborn Ruler."

"Haha, t- this is the perfect opportunity to bring glory to Munirp!" Lucian forced a smile out, the colors draining out of his face. Glenn didn't say a word as a Sun appeared above his free hand, the flames licking his skin ravenously. The horde of monsters commanded by Laurance suddenly took one step forward...then another, before jumping forward in a cacophony of screams and shrieks.

'It's on!' Diamanes laughed madly. 'Time to show that fake Ruler what true strength is!'

“Dear Onnea, let us survive this new ordeal...” Nelg uttered a desperate, terrified prayer. Glenn silenced both voices and dashed forward, headlong into the wave of monsters. The Sun flew out of his hand, growing to ridiculous proportion as it engulfed the monsters. Laurance suddenly appeared before the spell and tried crushing it with one of his eight hands. His gray, lustrous skin burnt off as the flames went out. The smile on his split face faded away, replaced by calm seriousness.

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Glenn prepared another spell to take on the countless monsters, but Lucian was ahead of him. His Mana exploded in an orange and magenta wave as his voice thundered above the battlefield.

"Eternal Dusk!" The monsters faded into dust at the touch of the magic, dying silently without being able to defend themselves. A majestic crown appeared on top of Lucian's head, his eyes glowing with mystical might. Laurance suddenly disappeared out of Glenn's sight, reappearing above Lucian, his bone sword cleaving down mercilessly.

Ialkris knocked Lucian to safety as a fissure in reality appeared above his head. A massive bone hand came out of the fissure, clashing head-on with Laurance's sword. The hand stopped the attack for a second before cleaving through it, but the Elder had already retreated to safety. Glenn didn't question this strange new demon magic and instead pulled himself in Laurance's direction, the Lance of Prometheus burning bright in his hand. The Occult Wanderer leader dodged to the side, but a black and white beam pushed him back into Glenn's spell. The Lance cleanly destroyed his left side, leaving two charred arms and four burnt legs.

Laurance shrieked painfully as Ialkris and Lucian returned next to Glenn, preparing new spells to face the monster.

"Foreigner, aren't you only a Fifth Circle? How are you able to harm a Newborn Ruler?" Ialkris asked in disbelief.

Lucian nodded with a tense laugh. "Promise me you'll teach me how to make my spells that powerful, Big Bro! Because I really hate feeling so terrified and helpless, if I'm being honest!"

"Terrified?" Glenn wiped the sweat off his eyebrows. "I didn't know royalty could feel fear."

"I am majestically scared, it's quite different from common terror," corrected Lucian as his crown brightened with an orange glow. A dozen fissures appeared above Ialkris, strange limbs of probably strange creatures protruding out of them. Skeletal arms of ridiculous size, tentacles, thin and sharp insect limbs...

"Argh! Bastard! What the fuck is this magic? How—how did you get such power?!?" Countless eyes widened on Laurance's split face, staring at Glenn in rage and shock. "This is impossible!"

Glenn raised an eyebrow as he forced himself to breathe calmly. "No, no, I'm not that strong—you're just that weak." He pointed a finger at the Earthling monster. "Newborn Ruler? Are you sure? You certainly don't fight like one. Exan was much stronger than you."

Laurance's eyes turned bloodshot as he rushed forward like a beast. "YOU!!"

"Yes, me!" Glenn grinned wickedly as he soared into the skies, drawing Laurance in. Ialkris summoned limbs that grabbed onto Laurance, ripping bones and skin away, but the monster had incredible regeneration powers. His burnt legs and arms fell off, replaced by shiny new ones, ready to rip the throat of Glenn. The latter drew a deep breath before slamming down his spell on Laurance's face.

"The Sun!" The massive ball of fire consumed much of his Mana, only to be snuffed out by Laurance once more. Glenn frowned as he saw only one of his arms destroyed. Laurance suddenly stopped, a wide grin appearing on his split face.

"Oh, naughty bastard. Nice try, but no." He disappeared without a noise. Glenn's heart missed a beat as his eyes searched madly for the threat. Laurance grabbed his leg from behind and threw him down onto the ground. The volcanic stone exploded into countless shards from the shock. Lucian dashed into Laurance's arms, his eyes brimming with power. He slammed his hands on the monster's chest, roaring.

"First Dawn!" A ring of light cleaved through Laurance and flew past him, shattering into countless particles. Laurance looked down in awe as blood gushed out of his torso. A chain dragged Lucian away as the magic maintaining his crown faded away. The Prince gasped heavily, his eyes and ears bleeding heavily. Ialkris didn't spare him a glance as he conjured more and more fissures around Laurance. Chains shot out of the fissures, wrapping around the monster's limbs and restraining him.

Laurance laughed madly as he pulled onto the chains, breaking one after the other. Ialkris sweated with heavy drops as he concentrated his efforts, restraining the monster with all his strength. A massive fissure appeared above Laurance, slowly unraveling into reality.

'Wake the fuck up, samurai. We have a Laurance to burn.' Diamanes' voice guided Glenn as he pulled himself out of the ground, coughing his lungs out. Each breath burnt a hole in his chest as his body struggled to fix itself. Ialkris screamed painfully as the large fissure finally opened, letting in a massive shark jaw into the world that bit down on Laurance.

Glenn gasped, wondering if that had been enough, but the shark's head exploded into a gore mess, his brains splattering all over the ground as Laurance laughed madly under the rain of blood he created.

"More, more, MORE!" He disappeared once again and crashed down onto Ialkris, ripping a horn out of the demon. His bone sword cleaved through one of the Elder's arms, before falling on his chest.

"Absolute Zero!" Glenn's words froze Laurance's movements to a stop, the blade inches away from Ialkris' skin. Glenn felt his head ring as he exerted himself to conjure another spell while maintaining the Absolute Zero. Laurance trembled as his split head turned to face Glenn's, his mouth appearing contorted with hatred and fury.

"Pebble..." Glenn muttered. The small dragon appeared in his palm, his one eye resolute. His body became wrapped in blue, fiery flames as Glenn prepared his most powerful spell. Laurance shrieked, breaking the Absolute Zero and rushing for Glenn's throat.

"Final Dusk!" Lucian ignored the blood flowing out of his every holes as he commanded thousand of shadows to stop Laurance, pulling him into the darkness. The creature shrieked and fought back with all of its might, laughing madly as it escaped from the spell. That laugh faded away as Pebble, transformed by the Meteor spell, pierced through his chest and left a steaming hole behind. Laurance fell on his knees, staring down at the hole silently.

Glenn almost collapsed, but he held himself up on his sword, his eyes not leaving Laurance.

"Did...did you get him?" Nelg muttered hesitantly. The moment he spoke, Laurance stood back up, his bone sword tightly clenched. Without a word, he plunged the sword into his throat, the blade ripping through the flesh effortlessly.

"H- He didn't die...?" Lucian's desperate and shocked voice reached Glenn's ears. The latter couldn't help but echo the Prince's feelings.

'I put everything I had in that spell. Shit. Are those the limits of an Expert Magi?' He heaved with difficulty as he held his waist, breathing through the pain of shattered bones. Ialkris pulled himself up with difficulty, a stump where his right arm previously was. His face was covered in blood from the ripped horn, and his expression was contorted from the pain.

A large cloud of dark smoke engulfed Laurance, hiding him from sight.

'Oh. Prepare yourself,' warned Diamanes with a serious tone. 'You will maybe need to run.'

The smoke of a black cloud exploded as a figure dashed out of it. Glenn raised his sword hastily, but the weapon was deflected out of his hands with a loud clang. Coldness bit into his stomach as warmth fled from his body. He coughed a handful of blood as he forced himself to look down.

A bone sword was stabbed through his stomach up to the guard, held by a skeletal hand. A wide grin was decorating Laurance's split face, his body smaller and more compact, almost returned to human shape. He had two arms and two legs, all covered in disgusting, yellow bone armor, while a gaping hole was opened in his chest.

"Peek-a-boo!"

Laurance ripped the sword out of Glenn's stomach and kicked him down, pressing down on his head. Glenn gasped painfully, recalling Nelg into his battle axe form and sending a Cleave & Double It at his opponent, only for the attack to be swatted away like a fly.

"Come on, put your back into it!" Laurance laughed madly as he stabbed his sword in Glenn's chest, pinning him to the ground. Glenn felt the life drain out of him, the pain drowning out everything.

He weakly grabbed onto Laurance's bone boot, stealing the monster's strength with Diamanes.

"The hell is...What the fuck are you doing?" Laurance crushed Glenn's hand under his heel, but the young man refused to stop draining his strength. Laurance pulled his sword back and sighed heavily.

"You're impressive, considering your age. In your twenties, and already strong enough to threaten a centuries-old monster like me. Haha, too bad you're not on my side. Die now."

His sword fell for Glenn's neck but a dark steel boot kicked the weapon away. Glenn looked through a veil of blood and exhaustion, his eyes struggling not to close themselves.

Standing alone beneath the sky of eyes was a knight.

The Knight of Hell.