He wields his golden blade above his head as he leaps in the air, and prepares to cut me in two. I don't even bother to dodge, and take the blow head-on.

Clink*

It seems he put all of his strength and weight into the attack, for it shattered like glass once it touched the base of my skull. Before he could react, my skeletal hand lifts him up in the air by the neck. I slowly begin to strengthen my grip.

"A mere mortal believes he can best me in combat.. I will show the world true death, true suffering, true sorrow, then they will all fear me. And unfortunately, mortal, it starts with you."

He struggles to gasp for air as I press harder and harder on his throat.

"W-WAI-"

Before he could repeat the same process as all the others before him and struggle to ask for forgiveness and mercy, I crush his throat instantly, and let his body fall to the floor. He lies on the floor clawing at his throat, his eyes bloodshot. The blood pours onto the ground and his once shiny, golden armor is now coated in his own blood. He dies a tragic death. One fit for a fool.

The templar army is completely baffled by how easily I slaughtered the vermin. I glare at them with my burning eyes, and they quiver in fear.

All of them.. a waste of space on this planet.

"Leave not one alive."

My brethren rush in, blades in hand, and began assaulting the now shaken templar army. With their leader easily killed, their morale plummeted. No one could assume command, so their once admirable phalanx that they greeted me with was nowhere to be seen. Some tried to fight at first, but once they realised the power of the undead, they scattered about like roaches in a desperate attempt to flee. Templars were the elite, so they were much stronger than the average guard, but they weren't a match for my brethren.

Two of them could take on one of the undead without getting slaughtered, but overtime, they tired out. We never tire, and as cuts get across their bodies, the ticks on my brethren's bones easily gets repaired by the black mist of death. Overtime, their defenses break, and none of them even think about defending against the attackers.

"R-retreat!"

One of them screams and runs into the inner parts of the Hall of Order.

The undead line up in front of me in a military order, and they escort me deeper inside.

Extravagant designs embellish the inside of the Hall, with many different golds and silvers to express the wealth and power of the Paladin Order. I don't take a second glance at them, and take large strides towards the main hall. Once this Hall is taken, I will give the command to the other undead. I see the remnants of the surviving templars, only a couple dozen of them left.

They surround five people adorned with armor that would give the golden mortal a run for his money. I see them look at me with an arrogant face, and I already know what type of mortal these paladins fall in.

The ones that will die in agony.

My undead swarm them. They are outnumbers by a large margin. While their forces were decimated, I haven't lost one of my brethren. However, once they start to swarm the enemies, one of the paladins, a tall, youth-faced man with a glowing sword and silver-lined shield takes a swing at one of the undead, and it manages to slice the undead's head off with one swing, decapitating it. He takes on more than 10 of my brethren at once, and the rest of them divide themselves to fend off the other areas with the templars.

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All of the ones that get strucken down eventually rise back up, and I know overtime, they will weaken. Their strength will crumble, and once it does, they will die and be absorbed by my brothers, making them stronger.

I look upon them and watch as the undead gets broken down again and again, never ceasing to stop. One of them realizes their fate, and shouts to the others.

"We won't win this way, we must destroy the leader in order to stop these skeletons from regenerating. If we keep on with this, sooner or later, we will die."

"You're right Ordias, that fiend dares to look down on us!"

The other paladins agree with the youth-faced man, Ordias, and they all group up together to blitz me. The templars now struggle to ward off the other undead, but I am defenseless, with none of my brothers to protect me.

Like I need it..

One of them, a brute in armor wielding a large war hammer, strikes first. I dodge his blow and it creates a crater at the places I was. I don't even bother to pull out Purge, and strike a punch towards his abdomen. His armor makes way for my fist like punching a pillow, and his body flies across the area.

A duel-wielding paladin comes next, her long red hair flies behind her as she prepares to stab me from behind. I twist my body around and backslap her face before she could react, and I hear her neck snap as her corpse flies as well.

The others' faces contort into fear as I reveal my power. Ordias, the one that looks to be the strongest, speaks to me.

"You are strong, monster, but you will not prevail! By the light of HELIOS, I will avenge my fallen brethren! Come, we must fight him together to destroy him!"

They all come at me at once. One wore gauntlets in each hand, and threw a punch to my left. Ordias attacked from the right, aiming for my leg. The last one, with a broadsword, leaped in the air behind me, aiming to slice off my skull from my body. My eyes burn with an intense red.

BOOM*

I release the black mist and push all of them away with the sudden change in atmosphere that resulted in an explosion. They all at once flew across the area, and Ordias was the only one to survive. The others weren't prepared for the blast, and their bodies, along with their souls, were already aten from the mist. Their bodies and armor withered to nothingness as they collided with the floor.

Ordias struggles to get up, and finally manages to get back onto his feet. Blood leaks from within his armor, and his youth-face now slowly begins to wither away as the mist eats at his flesh.

He must be at least a 5-star paladin.. he shouldn't be here.

"You should not be here, mortal. A five-star paladin is a valuable asset to the order, it would be a tragic loss to them if you were to die already."

Tch*

He clicks his tongue and clenches his teeth to embrace through the pain, and begins to walk towards me, blade in hand.

"I-i was assigned to look over the examinations for the newer paladins.. what luck I have, to meet a monster such as you.."

"You already know you cannot win, why do you persist to fight? Why stand again, when there is no hope for you?"

He stops, and looks up at bright lights and decorations of the inner hall.

"I was meant to die, but by the light of Helios, I was saved.. my life belongs to him, and if I were to die, I will stand on my feet, and use the last of my strength.. to vanquish demon-spawn like you, that threaten to engulf the world in darkness.."

His face grows pale, and when I thought he would collapse, he charges straight towards me. His shield was obliterated in defending him against the black mist, so he focused all his efforts on offense. I dodge his attacks, again and again, and decide to humor him. He yells and cleaves his blade towards me, and I pull out Purge from the void. The entire inner hall lights in a bright, crimson light, and I smash the living blade against Ordias' sword.

It shattered, and Purge expands. The sword doesn't stop, and slices him in half. Its flames start to rapidly cover his body, and his face looks at me with a last glance of astonishment as his body is turned to ash. The flames, however, do not stop, and greedily devour the ashes as well, until there is nothing left. I grip onto his soul, and give him the honor of being absorbed by me. He was a loyal fool, but he was still loyal and unyielding in the face of death. He deserved as much. The templars are slaughtered by now, and I choose four undead to absorb the souls of the dead paladins, unable to flee due to the black mist constricting them of movement.

They absorb them, and gain a huge boost in power. A torrent of black mist spawns from them, and their bones slowly turn black. Their flaming eyes turn from blue to green, and they kneel before me. To my amazement, they speak to me in unison.

"We are at your command, my liege."