Chapter XII: Ad Lucem (To The Light)

Absolution Arc

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER PRIMARILY CONTAINS ADULT LANGUAGE. READER DISCRETION ADVISED, SO READ AT OWN RISK!


1624 Hours, December 18, 2714

If the audience and eliminated Guardians could be heard right now, it would be in complete shock and disbelief. A cacophony of voices clearly rang out in this forsaken arena, carried out by the wind. A deathly presence lingered on in the atmosphere of the Yoyogi Gymnasium, its ruins repurposed as an arena for combat by request of Dark Knight Cloud Strife.

Lightning could barely speak. Not just from the wounds inflicted on her but also of how this Hunter that threw himself in the path of Adam's weapon knew her real name. As she leaned against the wall grasping her wounds, her HUD interfacing with her eyesight saw static over Combatant 30's ID but the color to indicate an ally changed. Her eyes widened when the ID border changed to bluish-green instead of red.

The moment the Gunslinger threw off his hood and cloak was enough to send her into either a shock or fit of scolding. Under the shattered Celestial Nighthawk as a mess of blonde hair, his armor changed in an instant like a magician and his disappearing trick.

The Hunter turned his gaze to the wounded Dark Knight, "Missed me yet?"

"No way…!" Lightning tried to get back on her feet, but she slumped against the wall. "It's you!"

"You!"

"You see, Combatant 30 never existed. He was made up. A forged identity," 'Excalibur' reached for Interitum's hilt, drawing it out before summoning another katana on his hip. "The handheld rocket launcher that wiped out Blood Gulch in one use? Followed by me using a Glaive that belonged to a Dark Knight and only his close friend kept it? A normal Guardian couldn't have access to such weapons, and seeing the look on your face Adam, I'm rather enjoying it. Priceless, even. Excalibur...is me. The one you hated so much."

"Spectre, you damned piece of—!" A shot from the Dark Knight's custom sidearm stopped Adam's insult with a shot close to his ear, the gaze Spectre gave enough to intimidate most.

"You know, I grew tired of being cooped up in the medical bay doing nothing but laying down until I got better. And when I heard from Reaper you going toe-to-toe with my family and sister for your harassment bullshit again? Oh, that was enough for me to sneak out and get even."

"But, you should be still hindered by the poison!" Gasps Lightning, and her brother lowered his sidearm.

"Not anymore, Light. I think you should thank Reaper for getting me out of the medical bay," Spectre's armor morphed once again, this time being a near replica of the Disgraced One's armor as a Dark Knight albeit with a different pattern and sharing the same black and red as his sister. Instead of having his guns in his holsters, on his back and hips underneath his cape were sword sheaths. Eight of them in total, including his Raze-Lighter. Spectre faced Adam, baring his teeth angrily. "As for you, I'm just this close to killing you off for good. Ever since I got here, and now when you heard about the Dark Knights, you just wanted to exile us for framing us on things we didn't do."

"You don't intimidate me in the slightest, Spectre. According to your report created by your sister, you don't use the Darkness."

Spectre threw his head back, cackling like he lost his mind when he heard that straight from Adam's mouth. "…Well, not anymore." Dragunus appeared over his shoulders once again, roaring towards the sky. "Now that I look back at it, it was impossible to rely heavily on the Light and forsake the Darkness for someone like me. People who share Light and Darkness in their blood should be in equilibrium!"

Growling, Adam fired his handcannon at the Dark Knight until he ran empty in the magazine. A swift gold shone in Nero's eyes and drew out both katanas, slashing the rounds to dust faster than anyone could process seeing it. "You're gonna need more than that to stop me!" Without warning, Spectre dashed towards Adam, blades grinding against the ground and crimson sparks erupting from the blades. His sprinting closely resembled him evaporating into a black wraithlike mist, and his dragon familiar giving him its wings.

The blades slashed at Adam, rebounding off the plating like it was nothing. Taking his chance, Adam threw a punch at Spectre's chest and sent him back a few feet. Even though the punch was painful, Spectre shook it off. Damn, that's some tough plating! Luckily I have the right tool for the job! He spun both katanas and sheathed them. But not before reaching for one across the lower of his back and drew it out with both hands.

This one was close enough to match Cloud's Buster and Fusion Swords in both size and weight, with a dull gray encompassing the massive single-edged sword and a blackened hilt. It was massive compared to Spectre's fit build, yet he's handling it like Cloud would. He vanished from his place in dark mist, reappearing behind Adam and raising the sword overhead with both hands.

Adam felt the massive sword tear through his heavy armor but not killing him. He moved away and caught Spectre by the neck, lifting him from the ground and forcing him to drop his sword. "You just made my job a lot easier by showing up. How foolish of you to fight in such a weakened state."

"You know your threats are as empty as your head. In fact, it's you that's foolish to think you can defeat a Dark Knight!" Nero stabbed Adam in his collarbone with his combat knife, kicking him square in the chest and backflipping on his feet hand on the hilt of his heavy sword known to him as Armorbreaker. A pale yellow substance dripped from the knife, pooling on the ground like blood.

Snarling angrily again, the leader of Fireteam Sparta grasped his wound, his blood and the substance from Spectre's knife oozing out. In his HUD, his once charged Super was starting to rapidly lose the built-up energy, as well as his grenade and Storm Fist. "What the hell did you do?!"

"That poison there isn't the same one that was used against me. In fact, that poison was specially brewed to inhibit a Guardian's Light from further use for as long as thirty days considering the amount I put in your system."

Before he knew it, Adam had charged towards the Dark Knight like the bull he was. He lunged at Spectre, only for him to vanish in mist and appear behind him. Again, another swing of Armorbreaker took out another layer of his armor with ease and the rest of the layer fell apart. Adam threw an uppercut at him, but missed his mark when Spectre warped back a few feet from him.

The Dark Knight planted his massive sword into the ground next to him and reached for another blade perpendicular to his upper left sword and drew it out. To Shaxx, Zavala, Ikora, and the Speaker, his fourth was Trionius's sword from when he returned from the Void, unchanged in appearance for a hundred years. Again, Adam charged towards Spectre only for him to put distance between him and Adam with his father's sword. The blade ignited with Darkness, symbols along the blade coming to life as Spectre withdrew it and slashed with unprecedented speed.

Dammit, hold still! Adam couldn't keep his sights on the Dark Knight's sword no matter how hard he tries to. Blocking his body with his arms? No good. Getting a hold on the blade? Completely futile! He was just too fast with it! "Enough!" He reached out to grab the blade and firmly held on. "I'm getting sick of your sword roulette! Make up your fucking mind!" He went on to smash his fist against the blade whilst in his grasp but a blinding flash of light erupted from the sword.


Back in the Hall of Guardians, Shaxx and Zavala were arguing back and forth concerning Spectre being in the Battle Royale when he shouldn't be in the first place. Amidst the argument was Ikora and Cayde watching the match not even concerned about the argument in earshot.

"Y'know, I don't know who's scarier to tick off: Lightning in her Valkyr's Super, or Spectre using all those swords with a million ways to kill you."

Ikora ignored the Hunter Vanguard's comment and looked towards the A.I, arms folded. "I suppose you knew about this, Primus."

"I suppose I do and don't," answered MI6 cryptically. "When an A.I is given an order by their partner, it's absolute that they must follow it to the letter myself included. Besides, I knew Spectre loved to make an entrance in his younger years."

"Spectre fights like he knows how to use a sword here yet like us before he was revealed to be a Dark Knight. I assume you have a justification for his sudden shift in mastery of the sword."

Primus's holographic cube distorted for a split second, then returning to the Ghost shell he inhabited. "Aside from Dark Knights being trained in the sword before anything else? It's quite simple for me to explain. The hidden abilities from Dark Knight subclasses aren't just offensive or defensive; they're also supportive and enhancers to a Dark Knight's greatest strength."

"Whoa whoa whoa, is that why Dark Knights are unstoppable to us Guardians? Because of those four qualities of hidden abilities as one?" Cayde questioned.

"Not really. The type of the hidden ability varies from subclass to subclass. For example, Leon's hidden ability as an Ash subclass lets him deal lingering damage with any blade he uses; Cloud's ability from his Rhino subclass lets him create an immobilizing shockwave after falling from a great height; Aqua's hidden ability from the Trinity subclass lets her heal and revive everyone faster than any Guardian reviving anyone using a Crest of Alpha Lupi or Light Beyond Nemesis; Lightning's creates a shockwave upon being knocked down and recover from her knock down faster due to her dual subclasses…"

"And Spectre's?"

"His hidden ability synergizes well with his subclass. Spectre's enhances his reflexes, strength in his attacks, and reaction time whenever he uses a sword for combat. That and his discipline with the sword makes him almost unmatched and near impossible to beat."

Ikora cupped her chin in her hand, taking in the information the Dark Knight counterpart of a Guardian's Ghost gave. "A Dark Knight subclass that synergizes with such an enhancing ability?"

"Unbelievably, Spectre's dragon familiar isn't the only thing that's rare among the Dark Knights," Primus looked at the two Vanguards listening to him, then back at the match. "His subclass…is an Excalibur: a nearly extinct subclass where an Excalibur embodies both the Tenno code and Trionus's teachings of being a true Dark Knight while being bound to honor and mastery of the sword."

"How rare is Spectre's subclass?"

"At this point in time? Only two Excaliburs are alive according to my knowledge: Spectre and his adoptive father slash mentor slash disciple of his father's, Teshin."

"Teshin?!"


Once more, Spectre attacked Adam relentlessly with his blinding-fast speed with Path to the Light, slicing up the rubber suit of the Titan's armor faster than anything Adam faced before! The blade didn't cut through his skin, as it wasn't Spectre's intention. Even when he stabs forward, it was more like a Cabal Interceptor plowing against Adam's body rather than a blade! Punch left, disappear. Jab right, disappeared. It was seriously getting to Adam's nerves like a pesky bug that just doesn't know when to get away from him!

You're fast… But not fast enough! Adam roared angrily once more and finally punched Spectre in his face, sending the Dark Knight flying into the wall and dropping his father's Dark Knight sword. A cloud of dust enveloped him upon impact, sealing him from the sight of everyone else watching whether it be in person or through a monitor. Out of the corner of his shattered visor, Adam saw the rest of Lightning's team coming in through an entrance followed by calls towards Lightning and the former ordering them to stand down. Leon and Cloud complied, but Aqua ran up and carried Lightning away to tend to her wounds.

"To think you were just so pissed off everyone compares you to a bull in that state… Ha!" The dust cloud that swallowed Spectre was blown away, revealing the awakened Dark Knight still retaining his spectral wings and helmet self-regenerating the damage it took. "It's true after all. You really did use everything up! You had your eight, and now I'll have my eighty!"

"What are you talking about, you little shit?!" In response, Spectre threw a helmet in Adam's direction, rolling on the snow until it settled against his boot. Once the Titan looked at the helmet, Spectre gave a rather disturbing yet smug grin.

"I thought we should, how shall I say this? 'Even the odds' a bit? South shot my sister in your fight, and now Reaper brought North down."

"How?!"

Spectre retrieved Path to the Light and sheathed it, along with Armorbreaker. "Simple, really. When you and South's backs were turned during the, oh I don't know, radio silence?"

"That's it! I'll rip you apart limb for limb, you fuck!" Once more, Adam roared and brought out a copy of his Brute Shot and unleashed a salvo of rockets at the Dark Knight.

Dragunus, you ready for this?

You do realize the consequences of expending a use from the Maledictus Anima from our union as master and familiar? Once a use has been expended, the Maledictus Anima within you will weaken in strength until it starts feeding on your soul, Light, and Darkness.

As if I'd use it all in one go. I'm smarter than to expend a Level Ten on just this son of a bitch. Dragunus, activate Maledictus Anima ability Level Three! Spectre's helmet retreated into his neckguard like it was melting from heavy amounts of acid rather than a mechanical form and extended an arm towards the white and brown Titan.

Very well then. Releasing Maledictus Anima restrictions to Level Three until target has been rendered defeated. As soon as Dragunus unlocked the ability, an aura of golden white and pitch black light enveloped the Dark Knight just the same as Lightning's Hysteria Super from her Valkyr subclass. Even his cold steel blue eyes had shifted back into gold, violent than it ever was before.

The rockets were mere inches away from blowing his arm off and himself as a whole, but an invisible shield had reflected all the rockets fired at him and sent them flying into the ceiling. "I am the pinnacle of the Dark Knights and Tenno, and my heart the soul of a dragon's…"


The same vein-like markings from Lightning when she unleashed her Super now appeared on his face, but with the Light breaking through the veins like light erupting from the cracks. From their standing, the kazoku watched on as the aura around him burned like a fire from the sun, raging out of control.

"What is he doing?!"

"He can't! He hasn't used it for years now and the last time was an accident!" cried out Lightning. She ran towards her brother, but Cloud held a firm grip on her shoulder.

"Deki masen. Sotto shite oku, Tohsaka Don't. Let him be, Tohsaka."

"I am not going to let him use Maledictus Anima as he pleases!"

"Kareha leberu san de shiyou shite i masu. Anata no otoutoha, karega naniwo shitte i masu. He's using a Level Three. Your brother knows what he's doing." Counters Cloud, his gaze setting Lightning at ease.

"I just hope you're right…"


"Try as I may, but never have I fallen from my honor as the son of Trionus Pendragon and emerged from many battles with my honor intact,"

Adam kept on firing more rockets from his Brute Shot, hoping to break through the barrier that Spectre had conjured. Even if he tried, there was no way to break through. Once he ran out of shots, he swapped over to his rocket launcher and fired another salvo of rockets, once again hitting the invisible shield and detonating cluster bombs. Spectre winced and held his extended arm with his hand, holding it in position and concentrating.

"Never have my wings been let free, nor has my pride as a Pendragon been recognized by everyone around me. Even so, I will remain in my domain forging blades upon a babel of fire. My soul is made of blades forged from the flames of the phoenix-dragon!"

At long last, the aura that took Spectre in its wings erupted, a multitude of energy blades born from Light and Darkness replicating both Interitum and Path to the Light in a neverending supply. Many of them made themselves resemble an angel and demon's wings replacing his spectral draconic wings once they hovered over his back and the rest like a halo of sorts circling around him. Even the shadows around him and the arena started to shift and pool towards the Dark Knight, materializing into tendrils once more yet under his full command.

"You're finished, Adam of Sparta!" A 'gust' from his wings sent a storm of blades towards Adam, sailing in brilliant light and dark mist. Adam defended himself, but it was all futile. The blades struck him in his elbows, kneecaps, ankles and wrists and pinned him to the wall like he was being crucified. Try as he may to free himself in spite of the pain, one move resulted in one of the ethereal swords impaling itself near his flesh. One by one, the swords of Light and Darkness outlined his body in a blinding frenzy, drawing blood for the ones that got too close.

Adam reached for the sword of golden white Light impaled in his hand. Instead of Light, it shifted to Darkness burning his hand with the cursed power. Struggling to be free, Adam squirmed all he could in his trap. A tightness wrapped around his legs and arms, binding him to the wall and realizing it was his tendrils. More of the blades were stabbed in his chest, pinning him down and causing massive internal damage. Adam snarled like the enraged animal he was at Spectre, his wounds clearly inhibiting his ability to speak.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you over the sound of you drowning in your blood," mocked Spectre, cupping an ear tauntingly. "Eye for an eye, Adam. You shot Cloud in the throat on one of our missions twelve years ago, remember that?"

Adam spat at Spectre's face with his blood, "So what? You were trash to begin with." He hissed painfully when the Dark Knight before him stabbed him in the lung with Raze-Lighter, thumb on the switch to enable the Solar flames. The customized sidearm that Reaper borrowed from Spectre was pressed against Adam's throat, followed by more impalements from his never ending supply of ethereal swords to the chest.

"Did you think we'd forget you after what you did? I didn't, Lightning didn't, and Cloud didn't! You may change your looks but you can't hide what you did!" Spectre pressed the barrel further. "Checkmate."

Spectre unloaded the Handcannon-caliber rounds at Adam's throat faster than he ever shot the weapon before, his anger getting the better of him. But his beliefs stopped his anger from fully consuming him. Yes, he would keep his word. An eye for an eye, this was why he was doing this. He won't stop until Adam suffers the same as Cloud did. Maybe a little more than he should.

A clicking emerged from the custom Lex Prime sidearm built by his late fiancée, telling him what he doesn't want to hear. Even so, the massive pool of blood on both the sidearm and his hand was enough to snap him to his senses. Weakly but surely, Adam growled angrily at the Dark Knight his blood seeping from his mouth. He tried to speak but instead of words there was only growls.

Spectre walked away from the pinned Titan, wings starting to dissipate. "Hopefully you learned your lesson the hard way. And the lesson?" He held out his hand, fingers curled and ready to snap. "A bull like you shouldn't fuck with a Pendragon and their family." He snapped his fingers, and an explosion erupted where Adam was crucified by the Dark Knight. Cloud… That was for you. You can put your vendetta to rest now.

"Fireteam Sparta has been eliminated by Spectre and the Dark Knights. Congratulations Dark Knights, you have proven yourselves to be different from the generation before you. This victory goes to you!" Shaxx announced, the banner of the Dark Knights falling across the HUDs and monitors.

As much as the kazoku didn't feel victory on their part, they raised their weapons and proved their victory. Even Reaper raised her Night Predator bow and felt satisfied.

On the other hand, Spectre drew out Path to the Light and stared at one of the two swords his father left for him. The mist of Darkness shrouded his hand, not harmful at the least until he spun it in his hand and planted the sword in the ground before him, resting his hands on the pommel. His tendrils melted away, as did the blackened veins on his face. He took a deep breath and and closed his eyes, savoring his victory within. I'm on the way. Soon, what my father did to the Guardians will be undone. That, I will continue to swear.

"For my father… And the Pendragon name…"


It was freezing as hell, as it did every time a Guardian lands here.

Out in the arctic-cold darkness lies a sky scattered with many diamonds in the sky bright as a distant sun. Dark, cold, yet mesmerizing. Even if it was freezing to the bone without armor to regulate body temperature, the sky above was worth lazing about under the stars.

The makeshift camp situated in a cave was barely lit by a small fire, the embers crackling as it tried its best to give warmth. Even if a large fire was lit, it could be seen from a distance and bring much unwanted attention from the Fallen or worse, the Hive. That was the last thing the occupants of the camp needed. They already have their own agenda and the surface of the Moon to worry about.

A dog-like creature lay next to the warmth of the campfire, wagging its tail in content despite the scarce heat. It bore armor to make it resemble some kind of mechanical hound, protecting its vital areas from the cold of the Moon. The dog stretched from its slumber and stared out into the starry sky before howling like a wolf. A howl of loneliness. So far, it didn't care about being seen or found by the enemy. Its howl alone would paralyze them in fear. When silence followed its howl, the creature howled again and again. Once it realized that there would be nothing responding, it whined and put its head down on its paws.

That was until a shadow loomed over the canine. Perking its ears and the shadow's scent filling its nostrils, it barked happily and leapt into the shadow's arms. A gauntleted hand stroking against its head and it looked up to its master's face.

"Sorry boy, doing recon isn't an easy task," the Heir apologized, followed by the canine licking their helmeted face. "Okay, okay! Down boy! I forgot how much you miss Him. Don't worry, I'll make sure we see him again." They laughed, pushing their companion away and sat against the cavern wall. They placed their weapon against the wall next to them, the fire and the stars revealing the weapon to be of a frame similar to the Jade Rabbit scout rifle, colored red, black, and silvery-gray.

Yawning and stretching their arms, the Heir stared out into the cosmos above them their companion's head resting on their lap and stroking their head. "Soon… We'll see him again. I know it. Just wait until then, buddy."

The canine let out a content growl and fell back to sleep, the Heir still stroking its head affectionately and gazing out into the stars. Within time, the Heir too fell victim to sleep.

I'll see you again… I promise…


Me: Finally! We're done with the Battle Royale!

Prophet: And now we can get on to the rest of the story! Although something seems like we've been through a timeskip…

Me: One of the problems I find with very few missions to work with in The Taken King expansion: only six missions?! Christ, we're chronologically halfway through…

Prophet: So, what now?

Me: We haven't touched on the Heir and the Stalker, so guess it's time for a filler!

Prophet: Okay then. And please tell me after that filler we'll be back on track.

Me: You do realize that one half of the filler actually connects back to Samson, AKA The Right Hand?

Prophet: Oh yeah, I forgot about that guy.

Me: Well, let's get on with it!

The Crimson Commando (II-XI): Thankfully that time distortion device doesn't exist in-game otherwise it'd be a pain in the ass! And thanks for the feedback on the fight scene.

Mordred Render (I-XII, II-I, II-V, II-XI): Overall, I forgive you for what you initially said in the Arc I finale. Yes, the Battle Royale is like the Hunger Games (I just so happened to have read The Hunger Games as I was writing II-V), and I know how it feels to be lulled into something and then the unexpected happens! I don't like doing that kind of thing, but why not try it for once? Hopefully, you understood the story behind the Dark Knights so that I don't have to go in-depth with the thing (this class is fan-made and inspired by the Warframes from Warframe, so don't expect too much) but Dark Knights as a whole have the ability to disguise themselves as a Guardian and replicate any class's armor and subclass. Titans FTW in my opinion! (P.S Thanks for the comment!)

Thank you for your patience, everyone! I'll see you in the next chapter!