Hellgate - The Ultimate Sacrifice

Kagg was walking down the tunnel on his own when he heard the screams. It had been only 4 years since the demons had struck at the humans from their gates into the realm of hell. His family, for the last 6 generations, had stayed in the darkness, waiting for the demons to return, as the ancient ones knew they would. The current people wouldn't have had any chance at survival had it not been for the plans of the ancient ones. They had seen the signs, knew the dangers, and had prepared, sanctifying certain points of the underground of London. They still had the knowledge of magic, and as such, had imbued their guns and blades with that energy in order to slay the demons. This was passed onto him, and his armor reflected it, having numerous golden glowing sigils carved into it, with his two guns, both family heirlooms, having similar looks, only they had the sigils all along the barrels.

He pulled his rifle out. It was a special one, not having any real attachments, but wielding the power of the sanctified and being able to cut through the demons as well as his sword. His other gun was a double-barrel shotgun, being modified to hold a 10 round clip and being pump action. The rounds within it were comprised of water blessed by the church and explosives. His family blade was strapped underneath the harnesses that his guns were in, and it had seen his ancestors through multiple wars. According to family legend, it had seen one of his ancestors through the crusades, and was still as powerful then as it was now. He believed it, as he had cleaved many demons in half using this ancient blade. His gauntlets had blades built into them, should he require to use him, despite the fact that in his long time serving, he hadn't had to.

He turned towards the sound of the screams, holding his rifle at the ready, and started marching down the tunnel; there were still human survivors that had to be saved, and he would see it done. As he looked down the tunnel, he didn't just hear the screams, but also the growls of multiple demons, causing him to look up, bringing his rifle to bear just in time to shot a demon that tried to leap down on him. His rifle spat out glowing white bullets, which tore through both the demon and its companion, the force behind them throwing them farther away from the knight in a wide arc. Kagg kept firing at them as they fell, only stopping when they hit the ground. He then turned his attention back towards the sound of the screaming and saw over 15 humans fleeing from a large pack of what his superiors had simply called "Hounds".

He saw one of the Hounds leap into the air, intent on mauling one of the survivors, and shot his rifle at it, sending a 5-round burst catapulting into its head, which caused the swarm of over 20 Hounds to turn around and flee at the sudden resistance. The Hound he shot fell to the ground whimpering in its high-pitched demon voice. He approached it as the humans stopped to catch their breathe, put the barrel of his rifle to its head and squeezed the trigger, ending its pitiful life and sending it back to hell where it belonged. After that was done, he pulled out a new clip for his rifle and slammed it home.

"Thank you." One of the survivors said. "Those things had been picking us off one by one for the past 5 minutes."

Kagg looked at them with indifference.

"There is no need to thank me." He said. "But the Hounds will be back, as will other demons. Go down the tunnel behind me and take a left. Keep going until you hit the station and don't look back."

"What about you?" The survivor asked.

"I'll hold them off for as long as I can." Kagg said. "Now go. All that is important is that you stay alive."

"Fight well, good knight." The survivor said. "Your sacrifice will not be forgotten."

Kagg nodded and turned back to face down the tunnel. He heard the screeches and whines of demons and zombies coming from the station ahead and started charging down the tunnel. He knew in some way that he was going to die by doing this, but his father had taught him something of great importance before he gave his life to the first few waves of the demons that streamed into their world.

"To sacrifice one's life, even if it is to save the life of one innocent, makes all the difference in the world." He recited, as he had done multiple times throughout his childhood. "For that one life can tip the scales towards good in time."

He entered a large room that was filled with them. He started the chant his family had created and used since the crusades.

"For every demon that I slay, one human will survive…" He said quietly at first, repeating it over and over, increasing how loud he said it every time.

He brought his rifle to bear and started firing, choosing the targets that were moving faster than he liked. They were falling quickly under his bullets, but more kept coming. Eventually he ran out of rounds in the clip for his rifle, so he reloaded. He then resumed the slaughter.

When he finally ran out of ammo for his rifle altogether, so he dropped it and brought out his shotgun, chambering the first pair of shells.

"Come." He said. "I will send you straight back to hell, where you belong."

Then one of the demons leaped at him from the side, but someone else shot it. He turned around to see the new person. It was another knight. She was holding a pistol in one hand and a katana in the other.

"I had heard that you were planning on fighting a horde on your own." She said. "So, I came to help."

"No." He said. "There are too many. Don't deny me this chance to bring honor to my family."

"But-" She began, but Kagg cut her off by pointing the shotgun at her.

"Go." He said. "My family was slandered for years after the actions of my grandfather. I plan on rectifying that here."

He turned back around and fired at a Hound that had leaped at him. It was blown back into the crowd, tumbling multiple zombies and even bowling over one of the larger demons in the group. He turned back around.

"You'll never change, Kagg." The newcomer said. "Always thinking about your family first."

"Kyra, Don't deny me this chance to do what is right." Kagg said, realizing who it was. "You remember what they kept calling me and my family."

"Yes. They called you 'Demonspawn', and I hated seeing them do that to you." Kiera said. "But don't just throw your life away here because of that."

"It's not only that. I also ran into a group of 15 humans. They can't have made it back to the station yet." He said. "And these demons will tear them apart if I don't hold them off."

With that Kagg turned back around and saw the group getting even closer. He fired his shotgun into the crowd multiple times, killing zombies and demons alike. Kiera drew close to him as he slaughtered them and started firing her pistol into the crowd.

"You just don't get it, do you?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" Kagg replied.

"Who always stood up for you whenever they made fun of you and your family?" Kiera asked.

"You did, but-"

"Doesn't that tell you anything?" Kiera aksed, cutting him off.

"Now that you say it, it does." Kagg said. "It tells me that you were the only person that really cared."

"And why would I do that?" Kiera asked.

Kagg looked at her, the realization of her feelings towards him forming on his face. This was interrupted by a clawed tendril of flesh jetting out, intent on grabbing her. Without thinking, Kagg threw himself in front of her, so that the tentacle grabbed him instead of her; He wasn't about to let her pay the price for his actions.

"GO!" He said. "I know you love me, but I will not let these demons take you in my place!"

Kiera looked at him with a gaze he hadn't seen before; That of acceptance. She nodded and ran out of the tunnel.

"Ancestors, today I will appease to you what my grandfather did." Kagg said before restarting the chant of his family.

He grabbed onto the tentacle, and with a strength that transcended that of any normal person, he tore the tentacle. He had lost his shotgun, so he brought out the sword of his family. As they came at him, he swung the sword again and again, cleaving multiple zombies and demons in half. However, no matter how many he killed, they kept coming.

As time wore on, his swings became less and less frequent. Then one of the larger demons entered the fray and back-handed him, sending him flying into a column. He stood up, dropped his sword and took a large circular stone off of his back. On it were 5 symbols, which had started to glow. Without thinking, he twisted the symbols until they were glowing blue. After that he dropped it and picked his sword back up, bringing it down on the head of the demon that had back-handed him. He then resumed the slaughter.

After a time, he got tackled by one of the Hounds, sending him back onto a pile of bodies. As he hit the ground, his sword flew from his grasp and the Hound continued to attempt to chomp down on his throat. He held back it's head with one hand, extended the blade of the other gauntlet and stabbed the blade through the Hound's head. It fell off of him and he stood up, extending the other blades. Without thinking he flew into the crowd, cutting down every zombie and demon he saw.

Eventually, one of them managed to tackle him and he looked back at the stone to see that it was starting to glow white, signaling that its time was almost up. As the horde started to converge on him, he yelled the one line that would hold meaning in the next life.

"FOR THE LIVING!" He yelled, before the stone exploded, engulfing him and everything else in the room in white fire. The tunnel entrance also collapsed, meaning that the demons would be unable to use that path for a while.