Center of the Deadlands: 936, August 12th, Sunday, 3:00 PM.
Sword in hand, charging at the man who stood firm in front of it with his eyes closed. The daemon attempted to end Ninigi’s life with a fast attack against his neck—stopped immediately by the knight, as he deflected the blade with the back of his hand. Taking advantage of the opening, Ninigi pressed on the offensive with multiple strikes of two fingers—battering the daemon continuously with absurd levels of speed, shattering every bone in its body.
Allowing his opponent some room to breathe, Ninigi placed two fingers at the center of the daemon’s chest—pressing both of them back together to form a fist in his hand, striking at his foe with his knuckles.
As the wind around them ignited with the knight’s attack, the daemon was propelled a great distance away as it bounced off the scorched earth—landing face first on the ground. Before he could relax however, Ninigi was attacked from behind by a second daemon as it sliced downwards with its blade.
“Hu!” the knight responded by twisting his upper body to the side while throwing his elbow backwards, deflecting the sword of his foe.
Using the movement of his spin, Ninigi continued to turn as the daemon’s arm flung to the side after the impact with his elbow—allow him to deliver a powerful punch against the staggered adversary, hammering its jaw and catapulting it away into the ground.
“Now you…” the knight whispered to himself—keeping his eyes closed while holding his breath.
Lunging at him from the side, the third daemon attempted to slash the knight’s legs with a low horizontal swing of its sword. Already expecting its attack, Ninigi jumped above the blade as it flew past under him. The daemon swung its arm back towards the knight, attempting a second horizontal slash—aiming for his torso. Blocking the sword with one hand, Ninigi pulled the daemon in closer to staggered it with a strong headbutt to the nose—finishing his assault with an elbow to its stomach, sending the demon off into the dirt.
“Hah…” the knight exhaled through his mouth as he opened his eyes—furrowing his eyebrows while looking at the wounded group of daemons—struggling to pick themselves from the ground. “I’ll end this…” he whispered—raising one open palm in front while keeping the other close to his sides.
“I’ll do it,” a feminine voice spoke from behind him—prompting the knight turn to face it.
“Atalanta.”
“Let me take care of them,” the blonde knight said—offering a confident smile. “Don’t worry, I should be enough to handle them on my own now.”
Taking a deep breath, Ninigi nodded in agreement before stepping aside—offering a few words to his companion. “Remember they were gladean knights like us too. They should be sent off with honor.”
“Only you would think of something like that when fighting daemons… three of them at that.” Atalanta pointed out, taking a fighting stance. “But I recognize some of their faces from my old days in the order… so I have no objections against that.”
Having recovered themselves from Ninigi’s assault, the red eyed knights didn’t wait a second before charging at the new opponent joining the fight. Despite their considerable strength as daemons, the effect of Paradise’s fountain bringing the warriors back to life, had altered their transformation into mindless feral-like creatures—lunging at their opponent with bestial instinct.
“Begin!” Atalanta shouted, meeting the charge of the monsters with her own.
Pressing forward with her glaive safeguarded into its small tube form, The Golden Lightning evaded the slashing blade of one daemon by sliding on the ground—quickly transition into the air with a fast jump to avoid an attack from the second red eyed knight. As she flew above the head of her third adversary, Atalanta stretched her arm out to place her hand on the daemon’s shoulder—using the momentum of her jump to hurl the creature away with a throw, landing on her feet.
“Now you’ll see…” Atalanta whispered, expanding her weapon while surrounding it with waves of electricity. “I’m not the same as before!”
With a thunderous roar, The Golden Lightning sprinted fearlessly at her opponents—leaving a sparking trail of lightning behind. One of the daemons sliced at her mask with a curved swing of its sword, deflected immediately by Atalanta before responding with a tackle of her shoulder—pushing her foe into the ground to focus on the second daemon in front of her.
In an attempt to defend itself, the red eyed knight placed its sword in front in a horizontal position—waiting to block Atalanta’s attack. Having no intentions of changing her strategy, the blonde knight reeled one arm backwards while pressing her fingers tight on the body of her weapon—responding with an upwards swing that split the red fog in her path.
“Meet your end!” she shouted as her glaive shattered the steel of the daemon’s blade—forcing it to stumble backwards.
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Using the opportunity, Atalanta thrusted her weapon forward to pierce the heart of the daemon with a swift attack—pulling back immediately to watch her opponent fall to its knees. She took a quick second to glance at Ninigi through her mask, watching the knight nod slowly at her as he observed the fight.
“Right,” she nodded back, dropping on one knee in front of her foe. She placed one hand on its chest before releasing a burst of electricity that forced it backwards into the dirt, ending its life as the sparks turned its body into crimson embers.
Just as she lifted herself back on her feet, Atalanta sensed the steel of her opponent approaching from behind—glancing back from over her shoulder. Placing the glaive behind her back, she successfully stopped the creature’s attack as the steel of both weapons collided into a lock. Knowing the second daemon approached her quickly, The Golden Lightning pulled away from the lock by swinging her weapon as she turned around to face her foe—flinging the arm of the daemon away.
“Ha!” she shouted—slashing at the stunned opponent.
Atalanta’s attack slashed the daemon’s face from top to button, leaving an electrified wound that crawled all over its skin—forcing it to its knees. Spotting her second target rapidly approaching in front, The Golden Lightning jumped at the daemon before placing both feet in front of her—planting them on the chest of her adversary with a powerful kick.
“One!”
Forcing the daemon against the scorched earth with her double kick—its back breaking the rocks underneath on impact. Atalanta stood on top of her opponent before turning around rapidly to deflect the other daemon’s attack—who attempted an ambush from behind. Her glaive caused its arm to swerve away violently, giving The Golden Lightning an opening for attack.
“Two!”
Gripping both hands on her glaive, Atalanta used the butt of her weapon to bash the chin of the daemon—turning around with a rapid spin to bring her attention back to the daemon lying on the ground.
“Three!”
She slashed her opponent’s chest with the blade of her weapon, leaving an open wound at the center. Kneeling down before it, The Golden Lightning placed her hand on the large cut—transferring waves of lightning through the pores of her skin into the wound, ending the daemon’s life as it vanished into embers.
“Four!”
Spinning once again while still on the ground, Atalanta swept the legs of the last daemon as it raised one arm above its head—ready to bring its sword down with a vertical slash. The Golden Lightning’s attack would stop it cold in its tracks however, dropping face first against the scorched earth. Continuing her spin to stand back on her feet, the blonde knight twirled her glaive in one hand before bringing it down against her foe—perforating its back with the blade of her glaive.
“Five.”
She whispered, gently pressing her palm on the staggered daemon. Releasing waves of electricity that slid into the red eyed knight’s open wound, destroying its heart from the inside, and vanishing the creature into crimson embers—joining together with the red fog.
All opponents beaten, and freed from the clutches that tied them to Specter. The Golden Lightning hid away her glaive as it shrunk back into a small tube. “Hah…” she sighed, gently removing the mask from her face.
“Excellently done, Atalanta.” Ninigi approached with a smile, nodding proudly at his former student.
The blonde knight returned the smile, her azure eyes glowing confidently. “Thank you, I’ve learnt quite a lot these past few months.” she told the knight, clearing her throat. “I’m sure you noticed the moment I showed up but… I had something to prove with this fight. You didn’t mind, did you?”
“I know what you were thinking, although I do not agree with the reason.” Ninigi said. “I understand why you’d want to test yourself against them. Just like Loki, it is the life you know. Regardless, it is over now…”
Noticing a contemplating gaze on the knight’s expression, Atalanta expressed her doubts on the situation herself. “The order sent them against you, didn’t they?”
“They did,” Ninigi nodded in response.
Glancing around the Deadlands, Atalanta kept a close eye for possible ambushes before speaking. “It’s safe to say they didn’t think this would be enough to kill you…” she returned her gaze to Ninigi—just to be interrupted by nauseating sensation. “Ugh…” the blonde knight rested her forehead in one hand—groaning with a painful frown before shaking her head rapidly. “The Deadlands… I feel their influence weighting on me already…”
“Hmm…” Ninigi frowned with a clenched jaw—humming in suspicion. “You should go back to the village, if there’s anything to find here, I’ll do it on my own.”
“How can you keep up… when it’s this strong?” Atalanta struggled to speak. “I know you are the champion and all but… don’t you feel it even a little?”
“The Deadlands have no affect me,” the knight casually stated. “Gladea made sure I remained impervious to any influence the specters could have on my mind or body.”
“Wha—and you… never thought about telling me that?”
“It never came up,” shrugged Ninigi.
The pair’s banter was interrupted by a strong quake that shook the ground violently however, the rumbling echoing throughout the entire region. Both Ninigi and Atalanta glanced around them as the trembling split the ground across the hellish zone, resulting in multiple belfries emerging from the bottom of the Deadlands—breaking through the earth to raise above the crimson sky enveloping the zone.
“What is this!” Atalanta reacted in shock.
Ninigi’s frowned with eyebrows scrunched downwards, watching as the demons crawled their way to the surface—hundreds of specters gathering all around them. From giants to gaunt decrepit creatures, the specters rose like an army of undead—awakened to wreak havoc one more time.
“Go back, Atalanta.” Ninigi demanded with a calm tone. “I’m going to Cerberus.”
“What? There are too many of them… even for you!”
Turning his gaze to meet The Golden Lightning’s, Ninigi smiled casually at the blonde knight—displaying the sheer confidence only one titled as ‘the champion’ could in such dire situation. “I’ll be alright, but if anything does happen, someone needs to protect the outside world from the Deadlands.” He moved away to face the immense army of demons, slowly approaching them from within the shadows of the fog. “This can only mean one thing…”
END OF CHAPTER