“I am grateful for everything you’ve done for me, really.” said Ninigi. “I know I’m not what you wanted, but I’ve decided to fight… Gladea, I want to put an end to this conflict myself.”

“Ninigi…” the woman whispered. Her face—to the knight’s surprise, was of concern and not happiness. “I never thought of you that way,” she told him—her furrowed brows and worried frown transforming into a warm smile. “You are everything I wanted. That you are like this is not a mistake, y—”

“But how,” retorted Ninigi. “Knights, people, animals, the entire world has been slowly dying because of me. You wanted me to fight, but all I did was hide with the rest. Knowing that I’m not like them.”

Gladea shook her head slowly, replying to the knight’s claims. “I wanted you to love this world, Ninigi. From the smallest of animals to the tallest of trees, only someone like you could have the power to protect them.” She told him. “I was overjoyed seeing you treat everyone with so much compassion… that same love and compassion that makes you hesitate in a fight.”

“Then… should I just forget about it?”

“No, of course not.” Gladea calmly stated. “With it, your desire to protect the world will vanish alongside it. I know it’s hard for you, and I will not push you to fight.” She told the knight. “If you are doing this because the others are pressuring you… then don’t worry about it, I know I can find a way to deal with this.” The goddess giggled while placing one hand in her mouth, offering her brightest smile to Ninigi. “I am a goddess, you know?”

Northern Region of the Deadlands: 936, August 12th, Sunday, 4:00 PM.

Deadly clashes of steel echoed across the northern region of the Deadlands. The supernatural abilities combined with the raw talent of the four knights locked in combat, had mostly only served to anger the god further. Specter found himself retreating continuously, but his growing power began to take the upper hand—even outnumbered in a fight with the most powerful knights left alive.

Spotting the massive Warhammer of King approaching his head, Specter stepped to the side as he watched the weapon crash against the scorched earth—lifting large piles of rocks on impact. Reacting quickly, the demon took a hold of the giant’s neck with his spectral hand while stepping on the head of his hammer—pulling the knight down to eye level.

“You made a mistake coming here,” stated the god. “I know what you are, D—"

A powerful gust of wind approaching forced Specter to release King from his grasp, jumping out of the way just in time to avoid the sharp and powerful breeze. In order to protect the giant, Theo jumped in to assist personally—his expression revealing the pain and struggle as his eyes and mouth twitched, feeling the heavy influence of the Deadlands in his mind and body.

“You…” muttered the demon.

Before he could initiate his attack however, Loki sliced at his neck with a horizontal attack of his azure sword—emerging from within the fog on his left side. Caught off guard, Specter rose one arm to block the knight’s blade with his forearm—part of his exoskeleton shattering into tiny black fragments.

“Gh! Time is running out for you… champion.”

Assisting in the assault, Atalanta leaped at the god from his right side—she too emerging from the fog to slash at Specter’s human side with her glaive. Spotting the Golden Lightning approaching, the demon saw no better option than to block her attack as well—the blade of her weapon burying itself in his flesh.

“Gah!”

“G…give… up!” roared the blonde knight as she pushed forward, halted by Specter as he applied pressure against her weapon.

Loki’s angry frown remained somewhat pensive as he pushed against the god from his side, his contemplative azure eyes almost lost in the distance. “…”

“Enough of you two…” growled Specter as he pulled both arms closer—causing both Loki and Atalanta to stumble forward. Having drawn in both knights close to him, he then proceeded to extend his arms to each side with a single thrust—hurling his opponents away with a strike of his palms.

The two knights bounced off the dirt multiple times before sliding across it, coming to a halt while lying face first on the ground. Fatigued himself, Specter dropped on one knee with panting breaths—gritting his teeth as drops of sweat ran down the human side of his drenched face.

Nearby, Theo assisted King back on his feet. The giant’s royal clothes were mostly ragged and covered in dirt—the many rings in his fingers had been shattered, his tunic sliced open in many areas, and his body presenting bruises and cuts all over. Theo was no different, his azure robe which used to be long-sleeved was now showing his arms, a large cut running down from his shoulder towards the hips—blood and dirt covering his face and body.

“King… you must run and take the knights. I will stay here and hold him off as much as I c—”

In a sudden rush and with no announcement whatsoever, Theo was tackled away from King in a startling attack that took both knights by surprise. Feeling the back of his head being slammed against the ground, Theo forced his eyes open to stare into the crimson eye of the demon—who held him down against the dirt with his spectral hand.

“It was you then…” Specter muttered.

“…” Theo’s azure eyes twitched as the burning pain in his body only continued to grow—the sharp claws in Specter’s hand tearing at his flesh slowly.

“You ordered her death,” hissed the demon while lowering his head—staring deeply into the frightened the knight. “Here I thought creatures like you couldn’t feel fear… you are one of those husks too, what is it there to be afraid of?” he taunted. “Maybe you’ve realized… how in over your head you truly were.”

As the god remained distracted with his target, King used the opportunity to strike at Specter from behind with a horizontal swing of his Warhammer. Anticipating the attack however, the demon stopped the weapon by using his spectral hand to whip it away—flinging King’s arm backwards on impact. His foe staggered momentarily, Specter placed his human hand in the giant’s abdomen—releasing a burst of crimson energy from within, its powerful ignition catapulting King a distance away.

With the giant out of the way, the demon returned to finish the job with Theo—who attempted to crawl away. He grabbed the knight by the head and spun him around to face him eye to eye, slamming his spectral hand on the man’s head while kneeling on top of him—slowly applying pressure to his skull.

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“When his fountain brings your corpse back to life,” spoke Specter—talking about Paradise’s secret garden. “Make sure to remember this moment well… as it will repeat itself the next time you face me, husk.”

With one last push against Theo’s head, the god completely smashed his skull into the dirt. The knight’s body burst into azure particles, his trails vanishing into thin air. Specter stood back on his feet, admiring the show of blue lights being absorbed by the crimson fog.

Recovering from their injuries in the distance, both Atalanta and Loki held themselves standing by placing their arms over the other’s shoulder. They breathed heavily with exhausted faces, bloody and dirty from the drawn-out battle—their bodies shivering over the influence of the Deadlands.

“If there’s no core… then what can we do?” wondered Atalanta, breathing heavily through her mouth. “I already feel like passing out…”

“…” Loki contemplated the situation in silence, his eyes fixed on the demon. “Gah…” a strange pain in his face caused him to gently touch it with his finger, inspecting the drop of blood in his index and middle fingers. His eyes suddenly widened, releasing a small gasp that brought Atalanta’s attention to him.

“Loki?”

“The girl…” he whispered, clenching his shaking fist. “It’s the girl… she must have his core!”

“Girl? What girl?”

“Too bad you won’t get a chance to test your theory,” claimed Specter—striding towards the pair.

Loki clicked his tongue before stepping away from Atalanta, materializing one of his azure swords in hand. Preparing herself for a fight as well, she extended the pole of her weapon to form the long glaive—standing back-to-back with Loki once again.

“Any ideas?” asked the blonde knight.

A low grunt escaped Loki, glaring deeply into the god’s crimson eyes. “Get out of here…”

“What?”

“I don’t need you to deal with him!” he snapped at her. “I can use my pathway to buy myself more time, that should be enough to handle him. I am the champion, remember? Get out already!”

Tired of listening to their banter, Specter leaped at both knights with his spectral arm pulled back—thrusting it against them with a powerful punch. Avoiding his attack, Atalanta flipped in the air before landing on her feet—spinning the glaive above her head before charging her opponent.

Instead of jumping out of the way, Loki deflected the demon’s attack with his sword—reversing the motion of his arm to swing at his opponent. Ducking under the knight’s horizontal slash, Specter attempted a counter against him with an uppercut—interrupted by Atalanta.

“Not a chance!”

Forcing Specter to retreat with a roll across the dirt, The Golden Lightning’s blade crashed on the ground with tremendous magnitude—lifting rocks from underneath. Her offensive did not end with the single swing however, as waves of electricity crawled from the glaive into the scorched earth—running across to strike at Specter.

“Gh!” caught by her lightning, the god convulsed as the sparking waves contracted his muscles.

“N-now…” Atalanta dropped suddenly, hitting her back on the dirt. “Agh…”

“I… I will… kill…” unable to force himself to move, Loki was incapable of continuing his combined assault with Atalanta—falling on the ground himself. “Gah…”

Gaining back control of his body, Specter released a burst of crimson from within his body to disperse the sparks of lightning that crawled all over his body. He huffed through his nose as he regained control, glaring at both knights on the floor as he stomped towards them.

“I’m tired of you… this… is the end of your generation.” He spoke, the crimson veins in his arm glowing fiercely. “And then… your entire race.”

“Enough of this, Specter.” A calm voice resonated among the chaos—quickly bringing everyone’s attention to it.

The sound of his composed and gentle tone brought shivers down the demon’s spine, who slowly turned to confirm his suspicions. Standing tall in front of him, was a warrior of old, one that withstood and surpassed many challenges—himself among them.

“N-Ninigi…” a relieved smile drew itself in Atalanta’s face, ignoring the pain running through her body.

Unlike the blonde knight, Loki’s face showed nothing but contempt—gritting his teeth with an angry stare. “Damn you…”

In a mere instant, with such velocity that drew a gasp from between Specter’s lips. Ninigi vanished from view to appear behind the demon—who sharply turned around before leaping back. The composed knight kneeled down next to his former students, grabbing them gently by the arm.

The bright azure light emanating from within his body caused Specter to take a few steps back—watching as Ninigi’s aura revitalized the artery network of Loki and Atalanta, enough to buy them further time in the Deadlands. With a breath of fresh air, both knights were capable to stand back on their feet—accompanied by Ninigi, who smiled with relief next to them.

“Thank you… Ninigi.” Atalanta offered a warm smile—both concern and relief showing in her eyes.

Loki scoffed instead, fixing his sore shoulders. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

His smile fading away as he stepped in front of his former students, Ninigi proceeded to bring his attention to Specter—who cautiously observed the situation from a somewhat safe distance, displaying a prideful stance with his spectral arm at the front. His spectral appearance brought many questions to the knight’s mind, who clenched his jaw with a low grunt.

“What happened?” the champion said under his breath—quickly turning to look back at his students from over his shoulder. “Loki, Atalanta. Leave the Deadlands now that you can… I know I can only distract him at the moment.” He stated.

“Not a chance!” protested Loki, beginning to stomp forward—stopped immediately by Ninigi’s hand.

“I told you to leave,” the man’s voice was heavier—not a hint of humor in his tone or expression. “I have a suspicion you provoked this, Loki. And I will deal with that another time.”

The angry frown in Loki’s face became lighter, scrunching his eyebrows downwards quickly to hide his surprise. Despite his protest however, Loki reluctantly stood aside for the time being—feeling the energy gifted to him by Ninigi quickly slipping away by the Deadlands influence. Atalanta nodded to him without protest, convincing Loki to run away with her.

During their escape, they turned back to look where King once stood—noticing the giant had already disappeared from the battlefield. Lucy still in Loki’s mind, the knight remained pensive as he ran away from the hellish zone—his behavior not going unnoticed by Atalanta.

Back in the fight, both the god and the knight stood in front of each other—neither making a move against the other. The winds whistled while carrying the red fog across the Deadlands, dust and scorched earth surrounding the pair during their silent face off.

“I don’t know what happened,” Ninigi claimed to the god. “But I’d like to ask you to end things here. There’s no need for us to fight… go back home.”

“Home?” calmly repeated the demon. “Your people invaded that home, and you want me to let things go… champion?”

“I have no connections with the order and you know that,” he said. “I gave you one chance because of Gladea. Your life is just as valuable to her as anyone else’s, that’s why you are even alive right now.” Claimed Ninigi as he continued. “I’ve been turning a blind eye to you because of the people you saved, even if the Deadlands expanded there were no casualties… and you also rescued the people in Paradise, which I failed to do… Just go back.”

“…” quietly staring at the knight with a cautious frown—Specter took a deep breath through his nose before replying. “You will protect them, after what they did?”

“It’s in my oath.”

“Was Ki-Joon not part of that oath?”

“What?”

Pressing the fingers of his spectral hand, the demon clenched his fist tightly with a low grunt. “I am done waiting, Champion. I will bring down Paradise, and end the order once and for all.” Specter claimed. “Heildin, Pelkesk… the entire continent of Hemel will be consumed by the Deadlands if that’s what I have to do. They will not go unpunished for what they’ve done… no one will.”

With a short sigh and furrowed brows, Ninigi clenched his jaw as he bent his knees slightly. One foot in front of the other, with his slightly closed left hand in front, and the right one pulled back near his ribs. The champion inhaled deeply while closing his eyes, keeping the air in his lungs. “Then I must stop you.” He stated.

END OF CHAPTER