Near the Center of the Deadlands: 936, December 31st, Monday, 1:00 AM.
Sprinting across the barren lands of the hellish zone, Loki entertained himself with a large horde of specters that threatened to interfere with his advance. From the smallest of demons to the largest of titans, the knight cut down any foe that stood in between him and his ultimate target at the center of the Deadlands, leaving no trail of the many victims that had fallen by his hand.
A foul looking monster bravely lunged at him with a frontal attack, slashing at the knight with a vertical swing of its arms. Loki ducked under the black shiny claws of his foe, and responded with a swing of his own, shattering the sturdy exoskeleton bones of the creature’s jaw. The absurd amount of energy behind the knight’s punch flung the demon’s mandible away, blinding the staggered creature through intense pain.
“Boring!” Loki roared, ending the life of his opponent with a powerful uppercut that propelled its head into the sky, leaving its confused body dancing around the battlefield before plummeting down into the ground.
Giving the knight no time to rest from the fight however, an enormous dragon of sturdy black scales plunged down against him from the crimson sky above. The specter kept its mouth open to reveal its hundreds of gleaming obsidian teeth, eagerly waiting to taste the flesh of their foe.
The smirking knight glanced at the approaching creature from the corner of his eye, and waited patiently for its arrival instead of making his move quicky. Unaware of Loki’s intentions, the spectral dragon continued its rapid descend against him, and shattered the earth below with a powerful stomp of its feet—sinking its claws in the ground, and lifting a large pile of rocks around it and the gladean knight.
Towering over its opponent as it gripped the ground with its back feet, the dragon attempted to crush Loki with a single bite of its enormous mouth—opening wide to envelop his body inside. However, the knight vanished from view in a mere instant, and the specter’s teeth smacked against each other at the absence of their target. The confused monster turned from side to side in an attempted to locate its foe, only to be met by the end of the knight’s azure sword.
“Another waste of time,” Loki claimed as his body rematerialized in the same spot as before, clasping the grip of his sword and splitting the dragon’s body in half with a single upper swing.
A soft and painful whimper escaped the dying specter as both halves of its body separated from each other, flopping against the dry dirt and vanishing into embers—leaving a pile of dust behind.
“Let’s just move on from this,” the knight muttered with a frown of dissatisfaction—avoiding the constant onslaught of demons that lunged at him from all directions, proven an undemanding task thanks to his teleportation ability. “This time will be different…” he said to himself, continuing to skillfully evaded the attack of the violent horde.
Eastern Region of the Deadlands: 936, December 31st, Monday, 1:00 AM.
“T-thank you…” an injured office sobbed as he was laid down on the dusty floor—looking up at the man that saved his life from a large horde of specters.
A pair of soldiers dressed in the same way as the injured officer arrived to pick him up, wearing combat armor painted in a bright magenta—which emitted a faint glow of the same color to be more detectable within the region. All three soldiers looked at the resolute man that had taken multiple demons by himself, crushing their hardened armor with only the strength of his fists—a feat not even their strongest calibers could achieve.
“Think nothing of it,” he told them, looking at the trio from over his shoulder. “Make sure to leave this place as soon as possible.”
“Thank you,” one of the soldiers nodded, unable to hide the fear in his expression and quivering breaths. “Are you a gladean knight?”
The man’s words brought a smile to the hybrid’s face, who took pride in the question. Despite receiving a compliment from the clueless officer, the intimidating roars and screeches of the specters that unleashed chaos in the distance kept the man focused on his task—denying his identity as a knight, and proceeding to leave the trio behind to continue the fight.
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Not too far from his position was a young redhead of short hair, fending off multiple specters by her lonesome. Despite the dangerous situation she found herself in, the girl bared her teeth with a smile of innocent bravery—feeling herself invisible among the ravenous assault of the dozens of monsters eager to take her life.
“Hyaa!” she roared, propelling herself forward against one of the gaunt creature’s charging against her.
The young redhead cut the distance between them with a rapid spin of her body, rolling across the air before extending her leg out once in reach of the monster. Her attack proved successful once the bridge of her foot smacked the creature in the face, shattering its armor, and snapping its neck out of place by the sheer force of her impact.
A painful screech escaped the specter, unable to fix its dislocated joint as it stumbled backwards. To its high fortune however, another group of demons quickly arrived to distract the girl with an overwhelming and ravenous assault. The hybrid girl evaded their attacks with swift and concentrated movements, jumping over their claws, ducking under their swinging arms, and countering their pointy teeth with a kick to the mouth.
“Watch this!” she enthusiastically called for their attention, bending her knees slightly with a confident smirk.
She took a deep breath as her knees continued to lower slowly, and waited for the horde of specters to approach. Falling for her trick, the brainless demons blindly followed their hunger and bestial instincts that screamed for blood—wanting nothing more than to put an end to the redhead in front of them.
Their unflinching opponent exhaled the air inside her lungs with a single huff from her lips, and valiantly met the horde of hungry demons with a deadly frontal assault. She extended her legs and threw herself at the specters, unleashing a flurry of kicks that split not only the crimson fog of the region, but the bodies of every adversary that crossed her path.
“Hya! Hya! Hya! Hya!”
The girl continued to advance relentlessly with a ceaseless onslaught of kicks, cutting through the creatures like a scythe harvesting a large field of crops. Her stamina could only take her so far however, as the careless use of energy from her rapid and violent attacks left her panting for air not long after—now tired and vulnerable to the remaining beasts.
“Hah… hah…” she breathed, resting her arms on her knees. “Did I… do it?”
Her question was quickly answered by the furious growl of a specter, taking advantage of the clear opening as the girl rested in the open field. The creature approached her from behind, displaying a dislocated neck that left its head stuck in a sideways position. It promptly raised one arm high in the air before bringing it back down against its foe, aiming for the head of its fatigued opponent—who’s depleted stamina forced her to turn around sluggishly in order to fight back.
Before the beast could bring its arm down however, its head was violently ripped from its neck with a single impact that shook the ground—swiftly removed with tremendous speed. The headless specter dropped to its knees and crashed on the scorched dirt before dissipating into embers, leaving nothing but dust behind.
“The master told you to be more careful,”
Behind the deceased monster stood a man of wheatish complexion, holding his smoking fist close to his chest. He looked at the girl with lowered brows, reminding her of the guidance offered by their master before their arrival at the deadly zone. The young redhead dusted off her clothes before fixing her posture, having regained her breath after the powerful flurry of kicks she unleashed on the beasts.
“Bah…” she scoffed, crossing her arms with a pouting frown. “You are just jealous because Gigi prefers me over you, Maulik.”
“He d—!” the hybrid almost snapped, but quickly recollected himself before losing his composure—keeping his head in the task at hand. “He is trusting us with this, Gal.” he told the girl. “We were able to save as many people as we could from these things, but it will be no use if they break through the walls anyway.”
“You are right…” Gal’s expression softened, and her brows furrowed with worry. “I wish Gigi had come with us so that we could keep an eye on him… He looked very injured last week.”
“I know…” replied Maulik, matching her concern for the gladean knight. “But let’s not think about that for now,” he said, offering a confident smile to the girl instead. “He is not only our master, but a legendary warrior chosen by the goddess herself. We both know he’ll be fine, now come on… we have more guests in need of a warm greeting.” Maulik finished his sentence by taking a fighting stance, pressing his fingers together into tight fists.
Turning around to look behind her, the young redhead spotted the hundreds of glowing eyes rapidly approaching from within the shadows of the Deadlands—expanding all across the region nearby. Although completely outmatched in number, neither hybrid showed signs of fear towards the horde—carrying themselves with pride at being the young students of a living legend.
“Haha,” Gal chuckled, lifting one knee near her chest to prepare herself for combat. “Bet I can take more than you, Maulik.”
“In your dreams,” the hybrid replied with a smirk.
Both hybrids looked at each other’s smiling faces, bumping fists before splitting up. The pair valiantly charged against the approaching army of specters, increasing their efforts by tenfold in order to protect their values, the lives of those in need of their power, and the pride they held for their master, own strength, and training throughout the years.
END OF CHAPTER