Center of the Deadlands: 936, August 12th, Sunday, 2:00 PM.
Surrounded by the red crimson fog, as hordes of specters charged in against him with frantic rage. Ninigi kept his eyes closed while breathing calmly through his nose, weaving across the battlefield to avoid the constant onslaught of the demons—ravenously gnawing and lunging at him from every direction.
“So many…” the knight said to himself—ducking under the sharp claws of a gaunt creature.
As an opponent leaped at him from behind, Ninigi responded with a powerful elbow that connected with enough force to split the demon in half—ripping its torso apart from one rib to the other. Stepping to the side, the knight evaded a second specter that lunged at him with its sharp claws at the front. The monster gnawed at Ninigi while it snapped at him furiously, but its assault was abruptly stopped as the knight took a hold of its lower jaw—putting a quick end to its life with a single strike of two fingers against its chest, shattering the demon’s body like glass.
The battle continued with the odds firmly on the knight’s side, mowing the numbers of the massive horde one demon at a time. Sensing a large enemy from behind, Ninigi rapidly turned around to intercept an enemy about double his size—exhibiting a humanoid appearance with a muscular structure.
“Allow me!” a feminine voice roared from the skies—halting the creature’s advance as it turned its head to face her.
With a powerful thunder that resonated across the Deadlands, a lightning coated in resplendent gold struck the demon’s head from above—splitting its body in half from top to bottom. Both pieces of the specter pulled apart from each other and plummeted into the scorched earth, vanishing into embers.
“You are welcome,” the voice said with confidence—cloaked within the steam emanating from the ground. “Or did you want to deal with it yourself?”
Clad in golden armor while concealing her face with a mask of the same material, Atalanta emerged from within the heating smoke left behind by the lightning strike. She swung her glaive at the air, splitting the fog around the blade—its steel body sparking with lightning that the blonde knight emitted from within.
“Not at all,” Ninigi replied with a smile—keeping his eyes closed still. “Although I wish you didn’t have to do this either.”
“Then we better finish things up quick. Lead the way.”
Having gained the help of The Golden Lightning, Ninigi was able to eliminate all threats within the area in mere minutes—making quick work of the specters. The hellish zone fell into a deep slumbering state, with the screeches and roars of the demons abruptly silenced by the pair of knights. Shrinking her weapon back into its small metallic tube shape, Atalanta sighed in satisfaction as the battle reached a swift end—walking next to Ninigi, who decided to open his eyes.
“Any reason you close them? I know it doesn’t affect your ability to fight but… what’s the point?”
Stretching his arms and shoulders, the knight’s lips curved into a smile at the blonde’s question. “If you kept training through my methods, you would know by now.”
“Bah, whatever.” Atalanta shrugged—playing along with the knight’s humorous reply.
The knights’ short interaction was quickly interrupted by the screeches of a large horde of demons in the distance, spotting their glowing crimson eyes rapidly approaching from within the dense fog. Atalanta picked her weapon once again, extending the glaive as she engulfed it in sparking waves of lightning. Ninigi in the other hand took a deep breath and relaxed his posture, tapping the tip of his feet on the ground.
“Hm?” the blonde knight glanced at her former master—noticing the lack of interest in joining the battle. “I get that you’d rather be home drinking tea but… you are not looking too good. Are you still injured from your previous fight?”
“Hah...” Ninigi exhaled through his mouth. “Sorry… I still feel a little dizzy after so much movement. My pathway is not what it used to be.”
“Don’t worry, I can handle them on my own.” she reassured her companion. “Just wait for me here, I’ll deal with them in a second.” Offering her last words, The Golden Lightning sprinted away to intercept the fierce hordes of demons on her own—leaving her Ninigi behind.
“…”
Watching as Atalanta vanished from view within the red fog, the blazing breeze of the Deadlands swayed his ponytail gently—a whistling sound covering the region. Closing his eyes with a paused blink, Ninigi casually turned around to stare into the dense crimson fog as he opened them again. His mouth was kept into a straight line, with eyebrows slightly curved downwards—his gaze fixed on what seemed to be nothing but a mist of red in front of him.
“Come out.” he demanded.
Easily exposed by the sharp senses of the knight, it took only a few short seconds for the figure behind the fog to comply with his demands—stepping out from the shadows to confront Ninigi face to face. He pushed through the crimson screen of mist, swinging his arms to the side to push the fog away—clearing the area with a strong gust.
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“I only wish to speak,” Theo claimed with a calm voice—resting both hands in front near his chest. “If you are willing to listen.”
Offering no words, Ninigi simply nodded at Theo to allow him to continue—keeping his unblinking eyes fixed on Paradise’ knight. Clearing his throat, Theo bowed respectfully towards Ninigi before voicing his intentions.
“I wanted to ask for your assistance against Specter, former champion.” The man claimed—prompting Ninigi to squint his eyes slightly. “We believe to be close to finding the god, but the order may need further assistance to achieve its goals. Would you be willing to aid us?”
“Specter…” the knight whispered—thinking for a quick second before replying. “I have no interest in helping the order. You have destroyed everything Gladea ever wanted for us, and turned your back against her and humanity a long time ago.”
“We only did what was necessary, and the souls of those who aided our cause are already in the goddess’ embrace. King will bring a new era of peace to everyone.”
“I’m not in the mood for lies,” Ninigi’s voice dropped into an intimidating growl. “Paradise has hurt people just as much as the specters have, and for almost just as long. I see no difference between you and them.”
“Paradise is…” Noticing the knight’s unfriendly stare, Theo stopped himself before finishing his sentence—moving straight to the point instead. “You, Loki and Atalanta are the only knights left capable of killing Specter, and we’ll need all the help we can muster if we are to succeed.” He began to explain. “We believe the god is at the verge of awakening, and the order cannot allow Specter to bring another age of calamity to this world.”
“What do you know about him?”
“The exile’s spawn. You may not know of him, as the exile was born thousands of years after you.” Theo began to explain. “His child however, was cursed to carry the heart of the god within him. A blessing from our kind goddess I’m sure, sealing the devil inside a weakened body for us knights to complete our objective.”
“What do you want with him?”
“If our assumptions are true, then the exile’s spawn must be weak at the moment, as a human body would not be able to bear the powers of Specter.” Theo—having Ninigi’s complete attention, continued to explain the order’s plans. “A pure knight could strike his heart and end the god’s life… not only for a moment, or even a thousand years like before… he would die forever.”
Having heard the man’s suggestions, Ninigi stared at Theo with a humorless gaze for a short second. Despite his story being nothing new to him, the order’s interference with Sovereign could cause undesired consequences where the memories of Specter resurface in their entirety—a scenario Ninigi has been trying to avoid for a long time.
“I will not cooperate with you or King,” he coldly stated. “Not only because of my promise to Gladea, but because of my hatred towards your actions as well. I may not be the right person to make this statement, but none of you are worthy of calling yourselves her knights.” he affronted Theo—a firm yet tranquil tone in his voice. “Leave the Deadlands before you become a daemon, Theo. You will not resist its temptations with what you’ve decided to become.”
“You knew already…” Paradise’s knight lowered his head while closing his eyes—lifting his gaze once more before speaking. “The legends speak of a warrior with the purest of hearts, compassionate and diligent, ready to defend the weak at every turn. Is this why Loki was so disappointed in you?” he taunted—keeping a straight face through every word. “What happened to that warrior people speak of?”
“Compassionate… not merciful.” Ninigi snapped back without raising his voice. “I asked you to leave.”
Bowing respectfully once again, Theo turned his back towards the knight before disappearing within the crimson fog of the hellish zone—bringing Ninigi’s attention back to the battle taking place a great distance away from his position. Although impossible to spot by the human eye, the knight’s sharply honed pathway and superhuman abilities allowed him to sense activity within the Deadlands—closing his eyes once more to check on Atalanta.
The Golden Lightning sliced through hordes of demons with her glaive, cutting down specters with every swing of her weapon—the bodies of the creature’s burning with her powerful lightning attacks. Somewhere in the distance, as he sensed a different presence far away. Ninigi spotted a girl clad in black armor fighting off a colossal demon—the one known by Cerberus as ‘The Wendigo.’
“Even more?” Ninigi opened his eyes—whispering to himself. “This activity makes no sense… there should be no need to kill this many.”
In a foul move from Paradise’s knight, as Ninigi remained distracted in the middle of the hellish zone. Three warriors from the floating island suddenly leaped out from the fog with their blades at the ready—all of them slicing at Ninigi simultaneously. They wore the azure tunics from the floating island, keeping their faces concealed under azure masks—their design identical to Atalanta’s
Reacting just in time to defend himself, the knight stopped the first sword with the sole of his boot—pushing against his foe. Protecting his throat from the weapon of the second assailer, Ninigi bit down on the steel blade while clenching his teeth as hard he could. Lastly but not less important, he rapidly caught the third blade in between his palms, stopping the opponent’s weapon from piercing his abdomen.
“Grr…” Ninigi growled as he wrestled his opponents for control of their weapons—being forced to balance himself in one foot. “…!”
His eyes suddenly opened wide, noticing the crimson glow within the eyes of Paradise’s knights. His eyebrows curved into a downwards arrow, knowing well the fate of the opponents right in front of his eyes. Paradise had sacrificed more of its people to turn them into daemons, a fate that separates the gladean knight from their roots—abandoning Gladea to become pawns of the god they now serve.
Using his unrestrained foot to leap slightly upwards, Ninigi hammered the knight threatening to pierce his abdomen with a kick to the face—freeing his hands. Having earned better mobility, he quickly pulled the sword in his teeth aside to deliver a powerful punch against the daemon—drawing out blood from his mouth. Only one adversary left, Ninigi pushed the sword of his foe away by throwing his foot forward—which forced the daemon a few steps backwards, an opportunity he used to take a hold of his arm and catapult him away with a forceful throw.
All three opponents crashed against the scorched earth with their backs, quickly picking their weapons from the ground and jumping on their feet—their faces as expressionless as the knights from Paradise, and their eyes as red as the crimson of Specter’s demons.
“Hah…” Ninigi sighed with furrowed brows—a saddened look plastered in his face as he looked into the eyes of his fellow knights. “I will deal with you... know that I find no joy in this.”
END OF CHAPTER