Author notes
Warning – Long author comments below. If you want to skip it, look for [TL;DR] down below. - Though read it if you want a mostly clear understanding of the backstory of the chosen undead, and what I'll do next.
Honestly I'm kinda scared of releasing this. Although I tried by best, I can't shake off the feeling that this fic is sort of badly written. Maybe it's just me being having no confidence in myself again, but still.
Though I had to wonder, since the Pandora are basically Super fast versions of Artorias, I have to wonder if the Chosen Undead could even match up. Then again, the CU is a combat pragmatist. He fights dirty and uses unfair tactics. There was also the issue of the Pandora's super speed and dodging fast attacks...my solution was invincibility frames. Dark Wood Grain Ring is bullshit when it comes to invincibility frames. That thing is broken as hell. Ninja flip through god damn everything.
There was also the whole Nova damage issue. Since the Pandora are said to have strength 10X of an average person, then the Chosen Undead needs to be hella strong. The Zweihander in Dark souls is as long, or longer than your player character(assuming they're 6 ft.). Using Pier Gerlof's Zweihander as a reference (7 feet, 14.5 lb), I can assume that 24 str allows you to swing the Zweihander like a normal sword. Disregard swing speed ingame since it is for balancing purposes. The Greatsword is 12 units, so multiply 14.5 by 1.2 and we get about 17.5 lbs of raw metal. With 50 STR, assume that you can swing the greatsword at high speeds with the 17.5 lbs being increased by the velocity. Now I'm not a physics expert but that sounds like it could do some serious damage. Probably break open walls or something. From this possibly incorrect examination of mine, I can say that the Chosen Undead is slightly stronger than the Pandora if his strength is or exceeds 50.
So I got Dark Souls during the steam summer sale and fell in love with it. I somehow had the idea of pitting the Chosen Undead (CU) against the Nova. In Dark souls there were many enemies that were several stories high, so I thought 'What if the CU was in the world of Freezing!' And thus this bastard child was born from my crazy imagination. At first I had no idea how to bring him to the world of freezing, but then I remembered that Solaire said the flow of time was distorted in Lordran. Opportunities were seized.
Why I chose to use OCs intead of the main? Well... I wanted a change of pace. Since the main focus on Freezing is West Genetics, why not focus on the schools in other countries. Like Genetics America for example. Though sooner or later the Chosen undead will be sent to West Genetics, since the major conflicts will take place there.
About the name... Lucius means 'Light'. Quite fitting considering that if the CU chooses to link the fire and bring the 'Light' back to Lordran. Now, for the character I am using, Lucius is not his original name. This version of the CU is given the name Lucius by Solaire. With the Sol in Solaire meaning Sun in Latin, it makes sense that Solaire would use a name that is derived from the Latin word Lux.
To go a bit into the character, the name Lucius is fitting for my version of the CU, because my CU is an idealist who will link the fire regardless of what others say for the sake of others. Linking the fire will make the Undead Curse disappear, and from Anastasia's dialogue she says she can finally die as a human when the fire is linked, and allow mankind to die in peace, and die as a human and not go hollow.
Of course there was the problem of actually getting him into the world of Freezing. So then I turned to Eye orbs. There were a red, blue and black, but all of them were only temporary. From there I looked at the Warriors of Sunlight. The covenant is obviously a co-op group, so it can be implied that members help others just for the sake of helping them. Lo and behold the insane idea of a gold-eye orb that can permanently send a person across worlds was born. For this to work I assume that Gywn's firstborn still had his powers, or at least some of it, after being stripped of his deific status. So basically the Chosen Undead's journey across worlds is influenced by the firstborn. This could also imply that Solaire is the firstborn and gives the CU the golden eye orb…but I won't go further into that.
And with Solaire lighting the flame in the CU's place, the developers say that happens if he survives the fight with Gywn. Take it as it is…
I took the liberty to add in power stance since of course it is a game mechanic. The Bonfire sword…well that is hard to explain. Since it is known that firekeeper souls are what keep bonfires lit, and that when you kill the firekeeper the bonfire is extinguished. I naturally assume that all the bonfires that are not attended by firekeepers had their firekeepers buried in the surrounding area, or had a firekeeper's soul infused with the sword. I chose the latter for this fic.
Just in case anyone wanted to know…STATS!
Starting class Warrior
SL 150
VIT: 40
ATT: 14
END: 40
STR: 50 (1 hand the 50 Str Dragon weapons and Havel's Shield)
DEX: 40
RES: 12 (Because 11 is an odd one out, and I want all even numbers.)
INT: 18
FTH: 18
Yes…the 18/18 Int/Fth is for the Abyss Greatsword. Rule of Cool is the reason for the 18/18.
…
I'm all up for continuing this. My original plan for this is a one shot…, but I figured why not extend it just a bit and bring him up to date. Make him fight the legendary pandora's and Type-Pandora Nova's. After finishing this chapter, I think my experience writing combat scenes has improved a bit. This will help me when writing Chp. 8 of [Freezing White Knight], and yes it is being written. I got everything set up. Only problem is, I got a lot of school work. And I'm still a lazy bastard.
Warning: Freezing is owned by Im Dal Young, and Dark souls is owned by From Software and all respective parties.
[TL;DR] - Warning, if you want to at least understand the first part (Before the Chosen Undead is sent to the world of Freezing) read my comments.
"Solaire!" The Chosen Undead watched as Gywn, the Lord of Cinder, grab a hold of his friend and engulf him in a fiery explosion. The sunlight warrior was launched into the air and came back down with a painful thud. The hollowed god shifted his attention towards the Chosen Undead, who was clad in Astora's elite knight armor. His right hand held a longsword and his left a shield with a crest of some family painted on the front. The undead warrior shifted into a defensive stance, shield raised, and readied himself.
Gwyn charged at the Chosen Undead and swung his flaming greatsword diagonally. The shield was ripped from the undead's hand and thrown across the arena. The hollowed god spared no time and ran his greatsword through the undead's chest, going for a quick kill. The now incapacitated undead dropped to his knees and was at the mercy of the Lord of Cinder. He started breathing heavily, trying to keep himself calm. Even though he was in terrible pain, he was not afraid. His life as a cursed undead was filled with repetition. He would challenge strong beings and die over and over again until he finally defeated them. Dying was always painful…but it got easier. He lost count of how many times he died, but despite that he continued to push on when it looked bleak. Giving up was something he never did. Using all of his might, he willed himself to get back on his feet and continue fighting.
In one swift motion he pushed himself back up and drove his longsword into Gywn's stomach. The god was stunned by the sudden attack and gave the undead enough time to move away. He crawled behind one of the stalagmites in the arena. He took out a golden flask and checked how much estus he had left, and it wasn't much. About one mouthful, maybe even less, was left. It would help him dull the pain, but it wouldn't completely heal his wounds, though why would he heal when there was a giant sword stuck in his chest. He drank everything he had and felt the gold energy warm his body, washing the pain away. His legs stopped shaking, but the 'massive greatsword through the chest' problem was still present.
The stalagmites he was hiding behind was smashed to pieces when the hollowed god rammed through them. The Chosen Undead shielded himself from the flying debris with his hands, but it was a bad move on his part because he was now vulnerable. Gywn reclaimed his greatsword and slowly pulled it out of the chosen undead's chest, causing massive damage in the process. The undead stumbled backwards and kept from falling flat on his back by supporting himself with his arms. This was it. He always knew when he would be killed. To survive a situation like this would need a miracle to pull off. Gwyn raised his greatsword, ready to execute the Chosen Undead. His empty, hollowed eyes showed no emotion. Everything he did had no intent. He was just an empty shell. The Chosen Undead could only pity him.
A lightning bolt flew across the room and struck the Lord of Cinder in the head before he could kill the Chosen Undead. The attack stunned the hollowed god and made him drop his weapon. "Finish him off now!" Solaire screamed from across the room. He was using his Sunlight Straightsword as support for he too was too weak to stand properly. The Chosen undead felt lightheaded, probably because of the blood loss and extreme exhaustion, but he did not care. He forced himself back onto his feet, despite his body screaming for him to stay down. This was his chance to put Gwyn out of his misery. He got off the ground and winced in pain as more blood started to run out of the hole in his chest. There was no time for anything else, especially healing. It was now or never.
The Chosen Undead reached out for his longsword. Blood was now splashing on the ashes of the arena and each time he moved he aggravated his wound, which only caused even more blood to leak out. He wrapped his hand around his longsword's handle and with great effort he pulled it out of Gwyn's stomach. He held the sword with both hands and pointed the blade at spot where Gwyn's heart should be. "You can rest now. I'll be taking your place…" The chosen undead's longsword went through the Lord of Cinder's chest, killing him instantly. Normally such an attack wouldn't have killed him, but he had sustained quite the amount of damage during the fight. The Chosen undead released his hold on his sword and allowed the defeated god to fall to the ground. The flames on his sword slowly died out and let darkness fill the area. The Chosen Undead could swear he saw Gwyn smiling as he faded away.
It was done. They had finally managed to defeat Gywn. His journey was over. All he had to do now was light the first flame. But it would seem that fate was not so kind, and he found himself falling face first into the ground. "Damn! Not now!" He groaned. What terrible luck at an important moment like this. The first flame doesn't have much time left. If he doesn't kindle it before it dies, then the Age of Dark will begin. The chosen undead had firsthand experience with the abyss from his time in Oolacile. Kaathe had told the truth about the prophecy and the age of man, but not everything. The Age of Dark was tied with the abyss. The two were almost inseparable. The abyss was not a place where mankind thrived. It was pure darkness, and was poison to the soul. He slowly dragged himself towards the first flame, ignoring the massive pain coming from the hole in his chest. He would've healed himself if he had the items, but he didn't. No more humanity sprites, no more estus, no more Elizabeth's mushrooms, no divine blessing. No nothing. It looked like he wouldn't make it in time.
When it seemed like all hope was lost the Chosen Undead felt a pair of strong arms grab a hold of his shoulders and pull him up. He was set up straight and had an estus flask, a golden eye orb, and a black sword shoved into his hands. To his surprise, it was Solaire who had helped and given him the items. Normally anyone who was summoned returned to their world after defeating the strongest being in the area, but why was Solaire still around? "Only you would be able to survive a nasty wound like that, hah hah hah!"
The Chosen Undead drank everything in the flask for good measure and felt the warm energy do its job and mend his damaged body. Even the hole in his chest closed itself and left no scars. He was thankful for the help, but he had questions to ask and more importantly a bonfire to kindle. "Solaire, why are you still here?"
The sunlight warrior chuckled again and slapped the Chosen Undead's back in a friendly manner. "Didn't I tell you this before? Our worlds can intertwine with each other and allow the both of us to physically exist here at the same time. It won't be too long until they separate once again."
"I understand…but why give me this sword? I won't have any use for it once I kindle the first flame." The Chosen undead asked. He eyed the black sword with interest and noticed that it looked exactly like the swords in the bonfires. Solaire walked over to the first flame and faced the Chosen undead one more time. "Oh, you will find it very useful." The sunlight warrior waved his hand over the first flame and let the fire latch onto him. His whole hand was wreathed by the flames. The Chosen Undead knew what he was doing, and shouted out to him. "Solaire, what are you doing!"
"I'm doing you a favor." The sunlight warrior said casually. "Everytime you've summoned me, we managed to defeat the enemy blocking the way. I could have never done it myself, but with your help we were able to overcome the challenges. This is my way of returning the favor. I will kindle the fire in your place so that you may live, even if just a bit longer."
"You don't have to do this, Solaire!" The chosen undead tried to stop him, but couldn't move. He looked down at his feet and noticed a golden summoning circle had entrapped him. "What is this?"
"That's just the golden eye orb doing its job, hah hah hah…" The flames already engulfed his body and was expanding further outward. It had already reached the outer stalagmites of the circular rock formation that surrounded the first flame. "I want you to live and go on more adventures. I don't believe it is time for you to sacrifice yourself. You have more to your life than this."
The fires were slowly expanding and were dangerously close to the chosen undead. The summoning circle was almost complete. Soon he would be transported to some other world. "I doubt I'll burn as long as you. Do come back…Oh, and tell me about your adventures when you do! I look forward to it! Farewell, Lucius."
Lucius was unable to say anything else and had his vision obscured by the dazzling golden light emitted from the summoning circle. From Solaire's point of view, he disappeared in a brilliant golden flash. The Warrior of Sunlight removed his bucket helmet and sat down on the ground, making sure not to touch the first flame's sword. The fire did not hurt him, but the pain of his soul being burned away little by little was unbearable. Solaire chuckled with the same level enthusiasm he always had and said his last words. "Live…live so that you may become the light to those who need it the most."
Lucius woke up and saw nothing but a blanket of grey and white. He was certain that he was staring at the sky, since was lying flat on his back. He sat up and noticed the entirely white landscape that stretched on for miles. There were white balls falling from the sky. He had never seen anything like this before. Wait...he did see it in the Painted World of Ariamis. It was snow, but there was more here. The chosen undead got back on his feet and patted off snow that clung to his armor. He turned 360 degrees to get a look around, hoping to find anything remotely resembling a building or house. It is always a good idea to ask any locals for directions, though that rarely worked out for him. "Where exactly am I?" He mumbled, crossing his arms together. "I'm not a gold phantom, so is this like the Painted World? Am I stuck here until I find a way back?"
The sound of a massive explosion broke his focus, and it sounded like it came from the left. He turned his head a bit and saw flashes of light coming from that direction. He squinted a bit and noticed that there was some sort of giant figure in the distance. The grey clouds and falling snow masked it well. Whatever it was, it was dangerous. Life in Lordran taught him that Giant monsters were always dangerous. Take the Gaping Dragon as an example. Anything that big ought to be dangerous…Well, off to see what it was!
He scanned his surroundings in case he missed something and he found the black sword he was given half covered with snow. Its use was not determined yet, but judging by how similar it looked to a bonfire's sword…maybe it can create a bonfire. Well, there's only one way to test it. The Chosen Undead stabbed the sword into the ground and placed his hand over the blade, and to his surprise a small fire was lit at the base of the blade. What in the abyss… Solaire had a damn bonfire sword with him? How in blazes did he even get one of those?
That question should be put aside for later. A portable bonfire was something amazing to have. It would be a great asset in his journey through this new land. Before pulling the sword out and going to where that giant thing was, he needed to get equipped. His longsword was stuck in Gywn and disappeared along with him for some reason, and the crest shield was in the arena. He sat down at the bonfire and pulled out his bottomless box. Rummaged through it, he looked for suitable replacements for his gear. In his experience, large enemies were often slow, so a fast hitting weapon would do the job just fine. He pulled out a Balder Side Sword and the Greatshield of Artorias. Large enemies always hit hard, and the Greatshield of Artorias was no pushover. It could withstand anything. He attached the Balder Side Sword's (BSS) scabbard to his belt and fitted the shield onto his back. He almost forgot about the bonfire sword and grabbed it as well, securing it near the BSS. All that's left is to repair his armor, and after that off to fighting the giant thing.
Somewhere in the Canadian Arctic Archipelagos
"Hey! Get your ass over here! It's about to fire its particle cannon!" A blonde Pandora screamed out to her brown-haired comrade. The brunette nodded and sprinted back, not stopping until she was literally at the blonde's side. "Hey…where's Lin?" The brunette asked. She looked around for the girl called 'Lin' but couldn't find her. "She's probably hiding somewhere. Her limiter just died, so I wouldn't be surprised if she went into shock." The blonde said nonchalantly.
Bodies were littered around the area, and there were bright red patches in the snow. It was brutal. No one was sure how many died, and many of the Pandora were scared and tired. Almost all of them lost hope. They prayed and begged to whoever was listening to come save them. The blonde watched as her comrades were charging at the Nova and getting torn apart. There was no way she would be able to defeat that thing. She felt something tugging at her sleeve and was sure that it was her friend doing that. "What is it now, Barbara?" The blonde asked, with a bit of rage in her voice. "Janet…I think you have to see this. Turn around and look where I'm pointing."
Janet turned around and peered into the distance where Barbara was pointing at. The enhanced eyesight provided by the volt textures helped her see even in the visibly obstructing snow storm. She was able to make out a human figure treading through the snow. The figure was covered head to toe in medieval knight's armor. Janet thought she was going crazy. Who in their right minds would take a walk in the northern regions wearing plate armor? "…What the hell."
When the figure got closer, she was able to see the finer details of the armor, and determined that it was a male. He wore a blue surcoat, with gold trimmed ends, adored with a golden crest. There was a metal pauldron covering the left shoulder…and the entire left arm was fitted with plate armor, whereas the right was covered with chain mail and a single metal plate layered over the upper arm. He wore fine leather gloves on his right hand. He had greyish, loose pants and there was plate armor covering the knees and below. The back of the legs were left unarmoured, presumably to allow for better mobility. He had on a belt with several pouches, and a leather strap across his chest. Finally, he had a brown cloth loosely hanging on his shoulders. It looked like a part of a cloak. His helmet was an arnet, with the visor down. The armor looked authentic, and very expensive. There was no possible way it was a recreation. It looked like the armor kept in museums. He had a massive shield secured on his back, and had two swords attached to his left hip. It looked like he jumped right out of the middle ages.
Janet didn't realize that the knight was standing right in front of her. She must have either zoned out, or had her brain short circuit when trying to comprehend why a person would travel in freezing conditions with medieval plate armor. He waved his hand to get her attention, but she didn't respond. Barbara was unsure of what to do, so she remained quiet. Only by making a fake cough did he pull her back to reality. "Well shit!"
"Is there something wrong, miss?" The knight asked, his voice slightly muffled by his helmet. He was a bit surprised by their odd clothing. He had never seen anything like that before. The skirts were too short, and the clothes looked like they provided no protection. Where is the practicality in that?
"Who the hell are you?!" Janet screamed, getting into a defensive position. She materialized her volt weapon, which was a longsword, and held it out in a ready position. The knight raised both his arms up and said, "I mean no harm. I only seek answers." Janet reluctantly lowered her word. Maybe she was being too irrational, but that knight looked geared for battle. People should always be suspicious around someone like that. Not her problem though. "Fine, what do you want?"
"I'm just wondering what that thing is." He asked, pointing towards the Nova that was in battle with several Pandora. The tone of his voice confirmed that he had no idea what a Nova was. Any normal person who watched the news would immediately recognize a Nova, but this man was not a normal person. This man was a crazy person. A crazy person suited in medieval armor ready for war.
"That is a Nova, an extraterrestrial being bent on eradicating all the humans on this planet." Janet gave the knight an extremely short summary. Hopefully he would get the gist of it. "So it's a monster." The knight mused. Janet nodded. He wasn't wrong but the Nova were aliens, not monsters. The knight then pointed at the Pandora attacking the Nova, "It seems your allies are having trouble with it. Mind if I help?"
This time, both Janet and Barbara were surprised. If the knight was perhaps a Pandora then it would make sense, but he's just a male in armor. What good could he do? They tried to tell him to not fight, saying he would die, but he still insisted on helping. He unsheathed the black sword and stuck it into the ground. At the base of the sword, where it was sticking out of the snow, a small flame flickered to life. Despite the harsh cold winds and falling snow, the fire continued to burn.
"I no longer fear death. Once you go through what I did, it gets easier." He said, unsheathing his BSS. He walked slowly towards the Nova and removed the Greatshield from his back. The Greatshield was beautifully made, and the finish on it was a work of art. The Pandora would've been amazed, if not for the fact that the knight was going to fight the Nova with a sword and shield. That was madness!
While the Chosen Undead made his way over to the Nova he passed by several dead bodies, and injured combatants along the way. Most, if not all, of them looked like they were in their adolescence. "How cruel…letting young fight and die. What a waste…" He muttered. Everyone stopped and stared as he walked by. Even the Nova stopped. The Nova was given orders to kill all living beings, but the new entity that arrived was not alive. It was able to detect if something was alive or not to determine the most ideal places to attack. It was unsure of what to do now. The Pandora noticed that the Nova stopped attacking and took the opportunity to retreat and regroup. It was distracted by the sudden appearance of a knight. No eyebrows were raised. They were thankful that the knight came along. He provided them a window of opportunity to escape, even if it is at his expense.
The Chosen Undead raised his Greatshield and ran towards the Nova. The Nova flagged the action as hostile and extended its whip-like arms at the knight. The whips struck the Greatshield and threw the Chosen Undead back several meters. Right before impact he did a roll backwards and negated any injuries from hitting the ground at high speeds. That just baffled everyone else who saw what happened. A Type-S Nova could pierce high-grade steel with their blade arms, but the knight's shield was impenetrable. "What the-!? What is his shield made of?" Barbara gasped, awed by the durability of the shield. The brunette felt a tap on her shoulder, and turned around to see who was doing that. She was met face to face with an Asian girl. She was right up in her face. "Oh-mi-god!" Barbara fell back and landed on her rear. "Lin! Don't do that!"
"Sorry." The girl apologized with a blank look on her face. She looked like the type that did not speak often. Lin pointed at the knight, who was blocking the Nova's attacks and getting thrown away. "One-thousand."
"Are you saying you bet One-thousand dollars on him winning? That's uncalled for!" Janet couldn't tell if Lin was serious or not. To think that a normal human could beat a Nova, even with a super shield. Lin's expression did not change, which only meant that she was serious. "Your loss. One-thousand on the Nova. What about you Barbara?"
"Same as Janet." Barbara replied. "I'm not risking it by betting on a human that could potentially lose." It was no surprise that they bet on the Nova. Only Pandoras, and Valkyries, could beat the Nova. A regular human had no chance, even if they had the training. They just weren't powerful enough. Lin had a different opinion about the knight. She had a feeling that he would be able to defeat the Nova because he was some sort of otherworldly being. Oh, how correct she was…
"Damn. This is harder than I though." The Chosen Undead said to no one in particular. Most of the monster's attacks were comprised of striking with the whip-like arms, and there were only a few variations of it. For the umpteenth time, he blocked a hit and was thrown back several feet because of the sheer strength behind the attacks. He felt as if he memorized all the attacks and decided to weave through with his shield up. How could he do damage if he wasn't close enough to hit the monster. He turtled behind his shield and broke into a sprint, moving in a zig-zag pattern, and avoiding the attacks. When he finally got close, he realized that the damn thing floated in the air. "What in the abyss? That thing can float?"
It didn't matter to him anyways and he continued on. He cocked his arm back and lunged at the Nova with his Side Sword. What he didn't expect was for his weapon to bounce off the armor plating of the monster. His arm suffered from the rebound and temporarily stunned him. In that brief moment of immobility he was struck from the sides by the Nova's whips and was instantly killed. He dropped down onto the snow and slowly faded away. The Nova was confused. It was accustomed to things leaving corpses, not fading away. From a distance, Janet saw the knight get skewered and fall down. She didn't see him fade away though. "Alright, Lin. Pay up. The knight died." Lin sighed and shook her head slowly. She really hoped that the knight would be able to defeat the Nova. Was her intuition wrong?
The three girls heard something that sounded like a wind being blown through a valley. It had an eerie sound to it. Green, grey, and yellow smoke suddenly appeared and obstructed their view. "The hell is with this smoke?!" Janet growled, trying to fan it away with her hands. The smoke apparently came from the black sword stuck in the snow. How it was produced they had no idea. When it finally cleared, there was an unexpected person sitting near the sword. It was the knight who had died seconds ago. The knight had one of his arms resting on his knee, and the other at his side. "Hey, can I ask you girls a question?" He asked out of the blue.
The three girls were too shocked to say anything. The person they saw die not even thirty seconds ago is now sitting in front of them looking mostly unscathed. There were holes in his armor, but that was the extent of the damage. "Hmm…I'll take that as a yes." He mumbled, not sure why the girls became quiet all of a sudden. "Is there any way to knock it down? That thing is floating, and it is making it hard for me to do some damage."
Again, he received no answer. The girls were still trying to get over on how he revived. Unknown to him they don't know what an undead is, but he naturally assume they did. He sighed and pulled out his bottomless box. The Balder Side Sword did not damage the armor at all, how bothersome. It was time to take out the ultra greatswords. He pulls a gigantic sword out of the small box, which was physically impossible in the girls' world. This action only shocked the three girls even more. Their brains may have been fried by that point. He started removing his armor on the spot, without a care in the world, and to his surprise he was not in a hollowed state. He was still human…and that was…interesting. Something is going on. The Chosen undead swapped out his Elite Knight armor for the Black Leather set. Seeing as how he died in a single hit, armor was useless against the monster. He opted to use a set that allowed for full range of motion. He still kept his greatshield because it was useful for blocking the whip-arm attacks. He got off the snow and rested the greatsword on his shoulder. That sword was not sharp at all and looked like it focused more on smashing, but that was a good thing. The armor plating of the Nova looked resistant to cutting weapons, so a weapon that focused on striking would work wonders.
"Okay, here I go." The Chosen Undead broke off into a sprint and ran through the battlefield once more. Memorizing the attack patterns was easy, and the only hard part is pulling off the dodges properly. The Nova made a subtle motion with its whip-like appendages and that was the signal. The Chosen Undead did a jumping roll over the whips. He barely cleared them. If his jump was a few centimeters lower, he would've have been stabbed to death by the one of the whip-like appendages. Utilizing skillful dodging, the Chosen Undead easily evaded the Nova's attacks. He got dangerously close to the Nova and switched to two handing his greatsword. He swung his greatsword in an arc and clipped the Nova's lowest point and cleaved into it. The greatsword tore the armor apart and sent bits of it flying. The amount of force generated by the attack shook the Nova and made it tilt forward.
The Nova then realized that this thing it was fighting was no pushover. Due to being on the receiving end of such a devastating attack it started to feel threatened, if it had emotions, and began to take the battle seriously. It deployed its Freezing field and immobilized the attacker. The Chosen undead was about to let loose another swing with his mighty greatsword but found that he couldn't move his body at all. He looked down and saw a honeycomb like pattern extending from the Nova. "Ah bloody abyss…this just keeps getting better and better."
He was stabbed to death once again by the Nova and fell into bloodied snow. He slowly lost consciousness as his body faded away. Once again, he opened his eyes and found himself staring into the bonfire. It was common for him. Die, then restart sitting near a bonfire. It was easy to overcome the feeling of dread that comes after dying. One just has to accept it and keep on pushing forward. The Chosen Undead touched his pendant and steeled himself for the battle. He got back on his feet and rested the greatsword on his shoulder once again. In a shocking turn of events, he found a sword being run through his body. It didn't kill him immediately, but the follow-up did. The sword was pulled out of his body and flowed into a three hit combo. He had no comment on what happened while he fell to the ground. His eyes closed as he embraced the darkness that follows after death.
Janet dropped her sword, her hands visibly shaking, after striking the…person…down. She thought she went crazy when she saw the same man die twice, but she had to confirm it. The best course of action was, in her opinion, to kill the man and see if he revives again. Based on her observation, he always 'respawns' at the sword. After a few seconds, the man's body started to fade away and break into white orbs. She heard the sound of a fire being ignited and once again found smoke obscuring the area. Upon clearing the very same man, who Janet had killed, was sitting before the sword. His black hood and mask hid all emotion, so no one knew if he was furious or not.
"Why did you kill me?" He sighed, as he pushed himself up. The revived man stuck his greatsword into snow and went to check his bottomless box, like he would've had he not been interrupted. He took out two rings, the rusted iron ring and the dark wood grain ring. Additional mobility is essential. He removed his ring of steel protection and wolf ring. There was no use for both at the moment since he died in one attack anyways. The man tossed the two used rings back into the box and put on the new ones. "Not that it matters though. Just curious."
The three girls had varying reactions. Barbara fainted and fell into a blanket of snow. Janet took several steps back, her body shaking and fear in her eyes. Lin…was detached and continued to watch with her unchanging gaze. "You…I killed you, and you came back! How are you not dead?" Janet screamed. The Chosen Undead tilted his head slightly, "I'm undead. I can never die."
"Holy shit you're a zombie!" She said the first thing that was on her mind. Her mind was once again on the verge of overloading. Trying to wrap her head around the truth that a zombie was real took a toll on her mental reserves. Her distress was interrupted by the undead, who asked a question. "Say, is there any way to bypass the monster's immobilizing field?"
"Ah, you mean the Nova's freezing field?'" Somehow, the girl recovered from shock quickly. She was the type to get over things quickly if the subject is changed. For her, talking about fighting Novas does the trick. An odd girl she is. "You need a limiter to emit an anti-freezing field."
"Can you get these 'limiters' to neutralize the monster's 'freezing field' for me?" The undead asked. He'd never heard of monsters that could release an immobilization field. A thing like that would be a nightmare to face. Fortunately there are people that can negate the field. The blonde Pandora nodded and tapped something in her ear. It was a communications device, but the undead had no idea what the thing was.
"If any of you can hear me, can all limiters please activate their freezing field and open a path for the new arrival." Janet said out loud. The Chosen Undead thought she was talking to herself, but she had her finger pressed on the thing attached to her ear. He didn't know what was going on. The protests of Pandora and Limiters alike were directed at Janet. Most of them did not want to fight anymore. It would take some convincing to get the limiters to crawl out of their hiding spots and do their jobs. "None of you have to fight. You just have to use your freezing. One person will be doing all the fighting."
The limiters did consider it. Some were already traumatised because of either seeing so many people die, or seeing their partner die. Eventually they gathered enough courage and came out of hiding. As if in perfect synchronization, they all extended their arms out and projected their Anti-freezing field. Their own honey-comb pattern overwrote parts of the Nova's freezing field, neutralizing it and making it a safe ground to move through. Janet signalled for the undead to get going, telling him that he would have no troubles approaching the Nova. The Chosen Undead slung his greatsword over his shoulder and did a mad dash. His speed, for a non-pandora or Valkyrie, was incredible. He would make even the best Olympic sprinters green with envy.
The undead owed his speed to the two rings he wore. The rusted iron ring was imbued with some sort of enchantment that gave the wearer full mobility even in poor ground. Snow restricted movement, and the iron ring made it trivial. The Dark Wood Grain Ring however had a much more significant effect. It enhanced the wearer's speed, agility, endurance, and balance. When wearing the Dark Wood Grain Ring the chosen undead would always utilize flips to dodge instead of rolling. The enhancements it provided allowed him to slide through attacks that were nearly impossible to evade. That single ring allowed him to conquer any invader, and most of the enemies he encountered.
The Nova saw that the very same thing that it killed came back. Now this scared it. It was not used to things coming back to life and charging right at it. It already took note that an attack from its sword was devastating. It could not risk allowing the returning entity to get close. The Nova extended all of its whip-like arms at the approaching undead and, instead of being hit, he ninja-flipped through the barrage of blades. The whip-like arms were buried deep into the snow and actually penetrated the permafrost. The Chosen Undead took this as an opportunity to attack and dropped his shield in favor of two handing. He swung the greatsword around him and did what was known as a 'spin attack'. His greatsword ripped through the whips with ease, shattering them. The greatsword did not cut. It smashed. The Nova had its whip-like arms destroyed, now left with no means to attack physically. It was now restricted to its particle cannon, which the undead could easily dodge.
Running out of options, the Nova released a massive amount of cloth like wrappings from its body. They reached for the corpses of the Pandora that were littering the battlefield and dragged them to it. The corpses were being absorbed by the Nova. In total there were four that it grabbed a hold of, and they were the intact bodies. The rest was mutilated beyond use. All of the Pandora and limiters recognized what was going on. The Nova was trying to assimilate, but not once has it been recorded that a Nova tried to assimilate dead bodies. The Chosen Undead was unsure of what was going on. He went over the possible reasons why it absorbed corpses. "Does it want to eat? Or is it trying to power itself up?" He said to himself, trying to guess what the monster was doing.
By the time he gave up on trying to guess, he was surrounded by several humanoid figures. They looked human, but parts of their bodies were covered with the same white plating the Nova had, and large crystals were sticking out of their backs. It reminded him of the crystallized hollow warriors Seath created. When he took a closer look at them, he noticed that their eyes were empty. They were just animated corpses. No free will. Just like a hollow. He honestly felt bad for them, their corpses desecrated like that. He held his shield up and leaned his greatsword on his shoulder, ready to react to any attack.
Turtling behind a shield and watching the opponent, that was his most commonly used strategy. It worked well, but he wasn't prepared for what was next. The Novafied corpses disappeared in a flash, displacing snow shortly after vanishing. The Chosen Undead didn't even have any time to react and was struck from several angles. There were gashes on his back, torso, and right arm. The corpses reappeared, with their weapons covered with blood. Ah, how unfair. They had super speed. "This reminds me about the time with Artorias, only he wasn't as fast." He recalled the fierce battles with Artorias. That knight was crazy fast and hit harder than Black Iron Tarkus… and that was saying something. Compared to him, the girls were faster but lacked his strength. The fight shouldn't be too hard.
The Chosen Undead placed his greatshield on his back and held his greatsword in both hands. Blocking wasn't an option against fast opponents. This time he would wait for them to move and anticipate their attacks. He knew for a fact that the eyes could not keep up with fast movements, and if that was the case then these corpses should only be able to move in a straight line at high speeds. The moment the novafied corpses disappeared, he would move. If his theory was correct, then he would be able to kill all of them at the same time.
They disappeared and he ninja-flipped forward, dodging the attacks by mere millimeters. At the end of the flip, he pivoted on his heel and quickly turned around. He saw the novafied corpses piled up in a heap, with their weapons and limbs sticking out. Just perfect. They were all in the right spot. The Chosen Undead spun his entire body and slammed his greatsword into the pile with a 360 degree swing. The greatsword tore through two of the novafied Pandora corpses and heavily injured another. Only one of them was unscathed. The two unlucky ones were ripped in half, and were killed a second time. The injured one had a massive gash from the left shoulder down to the stomach. There were bits of bone and muscle hanging out of its wound. The two surviving novafied Pandora corpses got out of the heap and backed away, hoping to create some distance.
They tried to do the pincer attack one more time, but they were easily dodged and almost got decapitated for their troubles. The undead was already accustomed to their accel turns. He would dodge the moment they moved and easily got out of the attack range. Using accel would only make things harder for them. They had to engaging in traditional combat. Their weapons were a war hammer and a broadword. The undead had a greatsword, which was longer than the Warhammer, so he had both the advantage in strength and reach but lacked in speed. The injured one, who was the one wielding the broadsword, charged at the undead recklessly. He simply flipped around her and kicked the back of her legs, knocking her down on her knees.
"May you rest in peace…" The Chosen Undead muttered as he took a step back and executed a rising sweep. The attack launched the novafied Pandora into the air, breaking several bones while it carrier her up, killing her instantly. Only one more left. The chosen undead rested the greatsword on his shoulder again, and focused on the last animated corpse. She got into a defensive position and approached him slowly. He left himself wide open, almost as if he was baiting the dead Pandora to attack. They circled each other and nothing happened for the first minute, so he decided to make the first move by swinging his sword horizontally. The Pandora rolled backwards and barely avoided the tip of the blade. She understood that a single hit could kill and chose to be very cautious. After avoiding several slow swings, the dead Pandora got a bit overconfident and started going on the offensive. She thought there was no trouble avoiding the slow attacks of her opponent.
The chosen undead easily dodged her swings and continued to circle around her, waiting for another attack. Eventually the dead, novafied Pandora did a telegraphed horizontal swing and had her attack parried, with bare hands, by the Chosen Undead. The Warhammer was pushed aside, leaving her wide open. He swung his greatsword and struck the Pandoras stomach with a horizontal chop, forcing her to get on her knees, and quickly followed up with a vicious bash to the head with the hilt, knocking the Pandora down. She laid there on the ground dazed and incapacitated. He shot his hand at her neck to keep her down and used the other to raise his greatsword up high. With a quick switch to two handing, right before the finisher, he brutally slammed the greatsword onto the Novafied Pandora. There was a sickening smash that came with the blood that flew everywhere.
Her body was split in half from the waist up. It was a gruesome sight. The Chosen Undead felt bad for mutilating a dead body, but in his defence it was attacking him after all. He lifted his greasword off the dead body and rested it on his shoulder once again. Now that that was over, all that was left is the Nova. As soon as he turned around he was blinded by a white flash…and then it became dark. He regained his vision and found himself staring at the bonfire sword. Somehow he had died, and he didn't know how he was killed. "Hey…how did I die?" He asked the girls that were near him.
"Laser Beam." Lin said, pointing at the Nova. She then pointed at the massive crater in the battle field. The permafrost had a massive hole in carved into it. Probably twenty meters wide and a several meters deep. "This is crazy…" The undead sighed as he pulled out his bottomless box and rummaged through it once more. After smashing the Nova's whip-like arms and killing the revived Pandora, it now lacked a reliable way to defend against fast moving targets. He could afford to abandon his shield and go on the offensive. He pulled out another greatsword out of the small wooden box. It was made clear what he was going to do with two giant swords. "It doesn't matter. I was caught off guard that time. It won't hit me again."
"Weakspot, chest." The girl said two more words, which was probably the most she could say at a time. "Thanks." After securing Artorias' Greatshield on his back, he held a greatsword in each hand and slung the both of them across his shoulders. He changed his stance slightly letting the right greatsword point behind him while leaning on his shoulder, and the left pointing upwards. This was what he called a 'power stance'. The swords were heavy of course, but he got used to the weight after some practice. He only dual wielded weapons when he truly needed the additional damage.
This would be his fifth attempt, and he was sure it would be the last one needed. The undead was confident that he would defeat the Nova. He ran towards it and no longer needed to hold a shield up due to its lack of whips. All he had to worry about was the 'laser beam'. A ball of light appeared near its mouth and quickly grew in size, which meant that it was charging its attack. By flipping twice to the right, the undead easily evaded the 'laser beam' and simply continued running towards the Nova as if nothing happened. He got under the Nova and was within distance of the area he hit last time. Earlier, a hit from the greatsword made the Nova tilt forward. So what would happen if it was struck by two greatswords simultaneously? He went ahead and tried his theory out. He spun counter-clockwise, swinging both of his greatswords and building up momentum. The Nova received a brutal double sword slam on its low point and was staggered by the sheer force. Such an incredible attack was not over yet because the Chosen Undead recovered from the attack and did another double swing, this time smashing the lower part of the Nova to pieces and knocking it backwards, sending it crashing down.
The ground shook, alerting every Pandora and Limiter who were in hiding. When they poked their heads out to check, they were greeted with the sight of a fallen Nova, something that none of them expected .Their fear was quickly washed away and replaced with hope. The Nova looked like it could actually be beaten! When all hope was lost, a stranger came along and turned the tides.
"Hmph, this is nothing compared to Ornstein and Smough. It's too easy to predict and it becomes severely weakened if it loses its appendages." The Chosen Undead climbed the fallen Nova's body and made his way to its torso. The chest is its weakpoint, so the only course of action is to continuously smash the damn thing until it dies. He held his greatswords as high as possible and slammed them down on its chest. The two greatswords broke through the armor, sending white shards flying in every direction. Underneath the white armor was a giant red orb. Normally he would find out what it was out of curiosity, but because he had to kill the monster he ignored it and raised his swords again. Another hit sent red shards flying into the air, mixing them with the white shards. There was no stopping the Chosen Undead, who kept on pounding the destroyed Nova to oblivion with his two greatswords. Each overhead slam made a very satisfying smash sound upon impact. He continued until it was almost in two pieces. The only thing holding it together was a wall of armor all the way at the bottom that was covered with cracks.
Janet stared at the sight before her, mouth agape. The Nova was brutally destroyed by a person dual wielding gigantic greatswords. Words could not express her disbelief and shock. Nothing in her entire life could compare to what she had seen. Only a few of the top ranked Pandora displayed this much destructive capabilities, but she had not seen a Pandora swing around two greatswords before. It was as if the 'undead' was on a different level. He could never die because he would always revive near the black sword, and hit like a freight train. Simply unreal. He also saved the lives of the attack force. Was this some sort of divine intervention? Janet felt a few taps on her shoulder and turned around. The culprit was Lin, who happened to be fond of tapping on people's shoulders to grab their attention. "Pay up." She said with her ever so monotonous tone. "Not now!" The blonde Pandora shouted.
A few of the Pandoras and Limiters gathered the courage to approach the warrior, who was now standing on the snow with his two greatswords resting on his shoulders. Some were genuinely freaked out by his fighting style. Swing around two gigantic swords was very intimidating after all…That and mauling something that was several stories high and appeared nigh invincible. One of them spoke out and asked him a very important question. "W-who are you?" The Limiter asked. The Chosen Undead shifted his stance slightly and tilted the greatsword in his right hand backwards, the tip facing behind him. He looked pretty damn intimidating in that pose, and his mask only added to his image. "I am called Lucius, the Light of Hope."
If you guys want me to continue this, go ahead and tell me. I'm all up for it.
If you skipped my ramblings - I am working on Chp. 8 of Freezing white knight, if you want to know.