"I don't even know what that thing is. Tell me please, I don't sense any souls coming from it," Daniel nervously asked.

"It's one of the reasons why death exists, the green horseman, a harbinger, Pestilence. Known for diseases, vermin and rotting away everything in his way. He is one of the many mistakes of the past, I can barely believe he has come already. Things are going much faster than they are supposed to go." Wulf's face looks angry, frowns and wrinkles covered his face.

"I don't get it, you always say that things don't go as planned, so how are you even supposed to know that?"

"We don't know. We can merely guess, however we were told that the first rank two would be born months later, and that the harbingers would appear about a year later. As you can probably tell now, this situation is rushed, so I wonder what is making Lucifer act this impatiently," Wulf mumbles.

They went outside, the women hiding in an underground storage room. The car was still going, almost reaching the parking lot, but it was too slow. The wave of critters was now completely surrounding them, blinding their vision and throwing them off road, causing them to crash into the wall of the centre.

Daniel trembled at the sight, knowing that his friend was inside the car. He worried about him and quickly rushed to the crash scene but the shroud of bugs blocked his way.

"Call my name!" Wulf shouts.

Dan was still unsure of what to do, would he blight the angel again or would everything be justified this time, he didn't know. Only the confirmation, the support of said angel was what drove him, made him trust in himself.

"Wulf!" he shouted with a serious look on his face, for once, without tears.

The wolf became a ray of light and shaped into the regalia, the sword with three blades. The radiant light burned away the bugs around it, they fell to ashes. He hurried to the car to keep the bugs away, hoping that nothing happened, yet something did happen. Nobody was moving, blood flowing from their heads, even Leo's. Eyes closed, lifeless.

"You know Wulf, I really am trying you know," tears ran down his face. "I just can't stop being weak, especially now."

"You need not be ashamed of feeling companionship, for being worried about your friends. I would be disappointed if you were not."

Daniel brushed off the tears in his face with his sleeves and then turned his sight to the knight in green, Pestilence. Surrounded by a large swarm of critters and his horse by a veil of green mist, as well as his overwhelming size. He choked, unaware if he was even capable of helping, of fighting a harbinger, a cause of death. However, he didn't give in yet, for as Wulf already said, he is the only chance they have, he is the only one who can fight. Proudly, he held the regalia in his hands, pointing it towards the knight.

"A holy knight? Interesting, it has been a while since I plucked an angel's wings," the green knight said, fanatically shaking his head, as if looking for something. "I sense someone familiar, could it be?"

Wulf became curious, as did Daniel, despite that they went for the engage while the enemy was distracted with his thoughts. This time, he could fight full power on the same front, both physically and mentally. He was clear of unrest, driven by his sense of protection.

Sending the blades flying towards the swarm, it fell to ashes, pierced by the blades radiating light. Before returning to him, the blades still flew further towards the horse. Suddenly the helmet of the knight, which had thin slits to see through, glowed in a bright green. He held his hand out and a black and green smoke was released from it, forming and materializing a scythe, a large dark pole with a curved, green blade, reflecting the blades.

He dismounted his horse, it running off into the distance, leaving him standing alone, circling and swinging his scythe, warming himself for the fight.

"Fitting for the one who brings disease, a scythe in poison green," Wulf sounded from within the regalia.

The sword Dan wielded was merely about a sixth of the scythe, if not even smaller, it looked like an impossible fight, but he kept going.

He launched the blades as a distraction.

They were parried by the large scythe through a rotating motion.

As the blades returned, he took the opening he created to test how big their difference was, attacking the enemies weapon directly.

It not only was bigger, but it was heavier and the knight was stronger. Pushing back the young man with ease, barely moving a finger while he laughed.

"An angel could never overcome us! We are beyond your puny powers, we are above you! While you care for the souls, we take care of life and death, we have been your counterparts forever, and we always win. No matter how much an angel tries to save a human, they fail and we get our way. We bring death to those who require it, we take away the souls you hold so dear. You cannot even hope to win a fight with me!"

The helpless looking fight continued, although it was more like trying to pick up peas with a blunt fork, the knight was playing with his prey.

Meanwhile inside the car.

The little boy woke up, shocked from the crash but unscathed, different from the others. He was completely fine, merely a bit dizzy. He sat on the back seats between Hanson and Robert, looking in front he saw both Clark and Leo. Everyone was covered in blood, lifeless. He shook and pulled on Leo's jacket, as if trying to wake him up, but without a reply. He pulled back his hands and held his hands near his mouth, at the brink of crying.

"Daniel! Please don't feel guilty. I know you will blame yourself for what happened," a voice, similar to Leo's sounded in Dan's head.

Shocked, he turned around to look at the car but he was still just sitting still, his head down, not moving. He knew at that point what happened.

"Leo, he's dead. It can't be, all because I wasn't with him, I should have saved him, them," his thoughts ran wild, anger and hatred was within him. Not against the knight, but against himself, for being useless.

"Dan, stop punishing yourself, stop keeping all the responsibility for yourself... share it for once. It was our fault, we shouldn't have taken so long. Please forgive me for not being able to understand your pain," the voice faded away, he no longer sensed the soul.

Wrinkles formed at his chin and forehead, quivering in agony, shaking in sadness and guilt. Tears ran down his face and once they began to drip down his face, the face lifted. As if washing away all sadness, he knew what was in front of him, and who was still alive. He had to protect the women at least, otherwise he had no right to possess a regalia, he thought.

"Pestilence!" he screamed. "This is all your fault! You killed them and many others, I will make you pay for what you did!"

The light dimmed down, black spots quickly covering the regalia.

"Wulf?" he worried.

"Don't worry about me. Remember what he said, share the responsibility even if it blights me, go ahead and rid the world of this monster."

The knight acted before him, confronting the man with a storm of swift slices. He overpowered him, barely capable of blocking the scythe. Pushed around, bruised all over, he began to stumble and loose balance, the harbinger was on a whole different level. Daniel was cornered, be the scythe blade alone, which was much bigger than he was himself. Pressed against the wall of the garden centre, barely shielding its blade with the sword in his hands, he had nowhere to go.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

"What a joke, I have never seen an angel whose wings I could pluck this easily. You do not even know how to properly use your regalia, what a shame. Well it was fun, now farewell human!"

The scythe swung back, and right back at the sword with momentum, clashing with it and breaking through it. Like glass, it shattered into thousand pieces combined with the painful sound of Wulf being badly injured. The blade went on and cut straight into his right arm, with a clean cut.

It all happened so quickly, he merely saw the sparkling shatters falling, and felt a cold shock rushing through his spine. Noticing it came from his arm he looked down, to the right of him, was blood, a pool of it, and within it, his arm. The pain set in, causing him to choke on the last bit of breath he had within his lungs, fall onto the ground and scream in agony. As his head was tilted downwards he saw the shatters, tinted black and heard Wulf yelping. The regalia was connected to him, meaning that since it broke, his body was charged with similar pain and terror.

"Wulf... are you alright?" he asked, his head scratching against the ground beneath him, tears flowing down upon it as he breathed hastily.

As the shards began to glow, and formed like a liquid. Into one shape, back into the wolf guardian, his usually white shine was almost gone, "I am still alive, don't worry about me. You have worse problems right now, you have lost your right arm and you are quickly losing blood."

He slowly stepped towards the man's shoulder, dripping with blood, bones wide open to see, as he pat it with his almost black paw.

"What are you doing Wulf?" Daniel whispered, not having the strength within him anymore to speak.

"Look at me, it is almost time," he said, referring to his body, covered in black. "I will depart from this world soon, but before I do, I will see through my duty as your guardian."

He bit into his shoulder, not actually hurting him, as his tail began to evaporate into dark sparkles.

"I am sorry, it's all my fault. If you hadn't met me, you would still be fine, you wouldn't be dying right now Wulf."

Still biting his shoulder, "No, I am the one who should apologize. We should have never let the demons come this far, but we were weak. So take my last gift," his body became transparent, only his front legs and head still being visible. "Farewell, my friend."

Daniel's eyes opened wide, finally realizing that this was really happening, trying to grab Wulf with his left arm, "No! Wulf, no, don't leave me! Please!"

He was gone, dissipated into the air, as a cool breeze came towards Dan, "I won't leave you completely, part of me will always stay with you and I do not mean your memories of me."

Suddenly, glowing particles began appearing to the right of him, shaping into something long, more rays of light coming from it, attaching to his shoulder. The shimmering light began to dim down, as did the pain in his shoulder and when he looked at it, he couldn't believe his eyes. White as the light, he had a new arm. It was thin and bony, the nails razor sharp and long. He tried moving it, and indeed it moved like as if he had never lost his arm. On it was a small sign, like a Tattoo, in the shape of a paw, right on his upper arm.

He sulked, crying, unable to fathom whether they were tears of sadness, pain or joy, however he new one thing, this arm was Wulf's last gift. Even after he had died because of him, he still cared enough to protect him.

All of the sudden loud scream came from inside the car, "MUM!"

The windows began to shine, from a light within, everyone in the area, the women, the knight and Daniel, they all heard a young voice.

"I can't be alone again, why must everyone around me die? Mum, why are you gone? Why are these nice people gone? Why me? Why!"

The child was the source of said voice, his body shining even brighter than Wulf ever did, light which pierced the knight.

"I knew it! You are it! You are the lamb! I found you, now I just need to---" he stopped talking, noticing that something drastic happened to him.

His armour turned opaque, revealing the dark mass of shadow hiding within, feeling his power swindling away, even the scythe started to melt away. It was as if acid had been raining onto him.

Below the car, a large sign appeared, a chain shaped circle, spreading further out, covering the garden centre, then the road block, next the entire city. Its radiant light burned the knight of Pestilence, his power drained by the seal below.

"This is impossible! You released us and yet you choose to seal me away again? Damn you child of the lamb!" he shouted.

Daniel stood confused, it was too much for him to understand at once. All he saw was the glowing light coming from the car. Slowly the child's body rose from within, like a ghost he passed through the roof. The golden glow blinding Daniel at first, until his eyes adjusted to it.

He had never seen the boy, making him wonder why he came from inside. Suddenly the radiant child began to speak up, "Pestilence, you have caused enough trouble, I do not wish to see you any further, thus I shall seal you back into my book, send you back from whence you came!"

The light of the seal, which surrounded the entire city, shone brightly like a beacon into the sky above. Several chains began to rise from below, hitting the dark matter, which was Pestilence, attempting to catch him and bind him down. Despite all efforts, he was still strong enough to fend them off.

"Young man, would you use your regalia to aid me?" the lamb spoke, through the body of the kid.

"I-I no longer possess a regalia... he died..." he said, wanting to barf with every word leaving his mouth.

"Indeed, the angel may have died, however he left with you his regalia and his light. It was very kind of him to do so."

Daniel wondered what he meant, looking into palm of his new hand, he wondered if it really was true.

"You need merely imagine the regalia you once had, and it will appear before you once again, for it is yours to wield," he explains, as Dan closed his eyes, trying to focus on the sword, every detail. The long shining blade, the cross shaped hilt, almost like a crucifix, a wide handle to grab. Its three blades, glowing brightly, pointing towards the tip of the sword, flying in grace.

He collected his thoughts and slowly opened his eyes, within his right hand now was the sword, the regalia which had shattered not long ago.

"Incredible!" he said excited, using his left sleeve to brush off the tears in his eyes. "Alright then, how can I help you... uhm.. Lamb?"

"I am not powerful enough to seal a harbinger by myself, the one who did it before was the Almighty himself after all. However, if you could make him stand still, damage him, I could use the chance to chain him down. I will protect you as you fight, you need merely run towards him and I will aid you from there." The child's arm lifted, the index pointing at the shadow form who was still fighting against the chains.

The young man tilted his head forwards, confirming the order as he ran towards the harbinger. Chains of gold, erupting from the ground beneath him, trying to avoid them, he ran onwards, the sword in his hands, glowing brighter than ever before, the blight was gone, only the white shine was to see.

"You fool Lamb! How long do you think you can keep this up? A mere being like you could never seal me away, so why don't you give up already," the shadow shouted exhaustingly.

Daniel was right before his feet as Lamb gave him his signal, "Hold on! And jump off when you are at the top! I will protect you, so just hit him with all you have, do it with all your might, your feelings, for your friends, the living and the deceased!"

Out of nowhere, a chain appeared from beneath Dan as he held onto it, being dragged upwards. The air getting thinner, colder and eventually passing the clouds, from up there he could see the head of the harbinger, and the size of the entire seal in its heavenly gold shimmer.

"Now!"

As he heard the Lamb's shout, he jumped off, his sword proudly held with his hands, both his and the gift. Like a cinematic record, his past few days flashed before his eyes. Looking at Leo, saving him, caring for him, hitting him and in the end, dying for him same was for Wulf. Jumping from the skies before them, miraculously stopping the zombies, telling them about the terrible Judgement which was prepared, the glowing regalia, the blight, his voice and his ever so shining body. This time he didn't cry, he smiled in joy, feeling proud and lucky. He had very good friends, who looked out for him, even as they were suffering themselves.

Finally, he pointed the sword downwards, dropping at a rapid speed onto the head of the knight, piercing straight into it. A loud yell of pain echoed through the city, the being held his head with his hands, pushing off the young man, leaving behind the sword, his regalia. Daniel was surrounded by a golden mist, his fall cushioned, as he watched the chains digging into the shadow, pulling it down.

Slowly but surely, the knight sunk into the seal, his screams of ache never faltering, as Daniel remembered the sword still being within the head as he shouted, "Wulf!"

The sword disappeared into a small orb of light, flying over to him as he finally touched ground, but unlike before, instead of shaping into the angel, it simply vanished inside his new hand. Finally, the head was also swallowed by the chains. The golden seal became smaller, slimming down, becoming a ray of light, heading up into the skies, or what Daniel believed to be the heavens by now.

"Thank you, with your help I was able to seal this abomination of a creature back to where it came from. I only have one last thing to ask of you, please take care of my host body," he hovered over from the car, towards Daniel, touching the ground and slowly stepping forwards. "I am unable to maintain this form, so please would you protect this child? He lost his family and has nobody to depend on anymore, do me this favour."

In a way, the child and Daniel were similar, and he felt so too, thus accepting, "Of course I will, I could never leave a small child alone in this world, it would be like sending him to die."

"You have my fullest gratitude, may the heavens be with you," his last words were said, the golden shimmer disappearing, the boy falling unconscious. He was caught by Daniel, noticing the child's body was cold, he sat down and let him rest in his arms.