Close… way too close… and I couldn’t protect my body in the end. This complicates things a little, but everything should be in place for them. Only one more step remains, and it is not for me to take. I wonder for how long will I remain in this place… assuming I ever break free. Still, there was no invasion of the south thanks to him, probably more than I could’ve asked for. I should’ve known… it goes hand in hand with what little I remember about him. It terrifies how he never stops… and to take Ninigi out of the picture was not in the cards either, but now I must deal with him being out of the conflict for the time being.
Was it enough I wonder? It’s been a year since she took the spectral gear into her hands… could I have prepared her better? It makes no difference now, but if ever comes down to it, I know she’d find a solution. Dammit… even now I feel like nothing was ever enough… I robbed her of everything, and I could do was throw into my own war. I was able to keep Sebastian to the very end at least, with him by her side I know…
Victory may not be guaranteed now, but I know she can do it. Her control over the gear was never of an amateur who’s never wielding such power... it is her… and yet I can’t remember why she was so comfortable with it, even now. Still, this will my resting place… this… is where I choose to fall. My Bloodhound will take of it… I just know it.
Center of the Deadlands: 936, December 31st, Monday, 6:00 AM.
Outside of the black ruined castle, under the rumbling crimson skies of the Deadlands, knight and daemon battled for the total defeat of one another. King’s gigantic sword of azure steel met the twin blades created from Loki’s natural inner power, neither seemingly stronger than the other.
Armed with a weapon that matched his size, the giant daemon began his assault with a fast swing of his blade, bringing its hefty weight down against the gladean knight. Wounded, and at a single step away from death’s door, Loki still managed to leap away from the powerful attack of his foe and roll to safety—hitting the ground hard with his shoulder.
“Urk!” the impact caused him just as much pain as any other strike would, forcing him to crawl back rapidly into his feet. “How pathetic…” he grunted, infuriated by his own weakness.
“You have accomplished your goal, champion.” Approached King, lifting his azure sword in the air with one hand alone. “Allow your story to be written by the hands of the order. Your name will be done justice, and engraved in the minds of every man, woman and child for the duration of my eternal reign.”
The giant clasped his fingers tightly on the grip of his weapon, bringing it into a rapid spin over his head before allowing its blade to fall against the injured knight. Though nearly out of the battle, Loki fought to materialize one of his swords and deflect King’s attack, however, his weakened arms still failed to resist the absurd weight of the weapon’s azure steel, its bursting power alone flattening his body on the dirt.
Loki’s blade shattered into particles of azure light, and his back caused the ground to open as he was hammered down against it. The knight’s vision was absorbed by a sudden darkness, turning into a foggy blur before readjusting itself to the light. For every breath he took, a sharp sensation on his open torso quickly followed, drawing painful grunts from his lips with every motion. Despite his refusal to walk towards the gates of the afterlife, death waited for none, as it lurked in closer to his soul with every drop of blood spilled.
King approached a dying Loki with no expression behind his glowing azures, making the ground tremble slightly with every stomp of his heavy steps. He walked in closer, and looked down at the knight before lifting his azure blade above the man’s head. The tip of his sword was aligned in between the knight’s eyes—who gritted his teeth with an angry frown, his infuriated expression causing his eyebrows to twitch, as he could not force his body to respond.
“Reunite with your friend,” King told him. “The Golden Lightning is waiting for you in the warm embrace of our goddess.”
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“As if…” Loki muttered with fast and quivering breaths. “I’d believe that…”
“Go in peace, champion. You have become a legend…”
Having offered his last words to his champion, King was quick to plunged his sword into the face of the gladean knight. His expression revealed no emotion behind it, yet his heart throbbed with excitement at what the future may hold. Centuries of hiding and preparing for the arrival of a new era, one that he would create with the help of an alternate generation of gladean knights, bound to no oath other than the believes of their king. They would prevent the world from falling into despair, as their absolute control over life on earth would serve to maintain an everlasting peace. The key to immortality in his hands, a few sacrifices may be required to keep his reign alive, a small price to pay for eternal stability.
The blade of his sword pierced through the gladean knight’s head with ease, its weight alone bursting the ground open into a pile of rocks. The sensation of his blade pulverizing the head of the knight felt wrong in the giant’s hands, leaving him with a wandering mind for a second—enough for his foe to retaliate at full force.
“…!” King’s eyes widened at the sight of Loki’s body transforming into a cluster of azure particles, turning himself around quickly in an attempt to catch his witty foe. “Argh!” the giant screamed in pain before he could finish his motion.
A blade of azure energy entered his flesh from the back, tearing through his insides to emerge at the front of his lower quadrant. King dropped his weight on the sword as he kept it buried on the ground, feeling the scorching pain on his sides crawled through every artery in his body.
“A clone…” Loki groaned with a smirk, still afflicted by the pain in his open torso. “Did you forg…Urk!” he chuckled, tightening the grip on his blade. “It will take more than that, you bastard…”
Accumulating as much power as he could muster, the gladean knight pushed his blade deeper into King’s flesh with a violent twist, forcing a series of agonizing grunts from the giant. Unfortunately for the order’s champion, the combination of extreme blood loss and fatigue had finally taken its toll on his body. Both arms flopped on his sides with no strength left to hold them, and with a couple of stumbling steps away, Loki hit the dirt on his back one more time.
“Gagh…” he coughed his last drops of blood, as whatever organs he had left intact began to wither. “Bastard… fight me at my best…”
“Ngh…” King groaned before standing firmly, feeling Loki’s sword vanish quickly as the knight had run dry of energy. The gashing wound left in his back and torso healed almost immediately after being relieved from the azure blade, aided by the powers of both a knight and a specter. “I always knew you were special, Loki.” Claimed the daemon, turning to face the champion of his own army. “From the day of your birth… Gladea blessed you with great potential. I wanted to claim your power for myself, yet something about you drove me away from that decision.”
“Go… to hell…” breathed the knight, drowning in a pool of his own blood.
“You were considerably stronger… smarter, than the rest of your generation. I personally planned your training regimen with great detail, gifted you with our best gladean knight to raise you, and eventually… granted you the title of champion.” King released his grip from the sword, relaxing his shoulders as he watched the last moments of the gladean knight before him. “You were supposed to be the guide that would lead the knights into a new world… but fortunately for me and this planet… I was shown a better future… a better solution to our problems by the divinity of our goddess. Gladean knights were obsolete… her pleading reached me, told me about a new generation… one that would never die… one th…”
“You talk too much…” protested Loki, gripping the dirt with his fingers as he clenched his jaw. The knight kept his eyes wide open, a forceful attempt to avoid the darkness that would consume him in a blink. “Just wait until I’m back on my feet… I will put you in your place…”
“Goodbye, champion…”
A loud bang suddenly thundered in the ears of both men, its intimidating roars echoing across the barren lands of the region, silencing the Deadlands for nearly half a minute. Loki trembled in the dirt with agonizing groans, watching in disbelief as a string of hissing steam emanated from one of King’s eyes.
The giant furiously growled as he slowly opened his eyes, revealing the glowing crimson light of the specters behind them “You…”
From within the shadows of the fog, to both the daemon and the knight’s surprise, a small group of four emerged to confront the powerful giant despite their clear disadvantage. A young timid redhead, a confident man and his glasses, a blonde noble from lands far away, and a young girl that wielded immeasurable power in her hands.
“Second lieutenant, Claire Lionheart.” She announced to King. “Bloodhound… prepare to engage.”
“Ma’am!”
END OF CHAPTER