The following is a work of fiction using elements not belonging to the author. Such elements belong their respective owners. Any similarities with other stories by other authors, either living or dead, is purely coincidental.
It had been a grueling mission. Even though the rescue team under Joan and Kat left immediately after the message was sent, they were still only able to rescue so few. They thought they would get there on time, but in truth they were already too late to begin with.
"I've never seen an abysmal knight that powerful before." Joan said as she looked at the sling where her bow arm hung.
Kat played the mission continuously in her head. The pinned down parties composed mostly second job level members, all of high level. There were a lot of wizards, priests, sages, monks, and hunters. There were even knights and crusaders, some of which she knew had experience going against a baphomet. And to top it up, there were ten parties in the area to begin with. How could such strong parties be decimated by an enemy that should not have even had a chance against them in the first place?
'That was no ordinary abysmal knight.' Kat said to herself.
Flashback
The rescue party warped into the Glast Heim castle courtyard just in time to see the survivors under siege by Mysts. At Joan's command, several hunters and wizards let out their most powerful attacks on the hostile forces, completely wiping them out in a matter of minutes.
"Ragna-league! We're getting you guys outta here." Kat shouted as she neared the survivors.
A mounted knight came to them.
"Thank goodness. I was beginning to think the acolyte we sent didn't make it."
"She's fine. Gather your wounded so we could get them out quickly."
Before any of them could move the sound of metal hitting stone was heard.
"Here it comes again" the knight said.
Joan ordered some of their priest to start warping the wounded, while the rest of the rescue party and those survivors who could still fight took up defensive positions. The sound became louder and louder. The rescuers strained their eyes and turned their heads, trying to find the source.
Soon a figure came out from the shadows. It was a tall black knight. He was covered in black armor and a dark tattered cape flowed behind him. He rode upon a nightmare also suited in armor. Upon the rider's head was a terrifying mask. It looked like a tall skull, but instead of two eye sockets there were four, all of which bore menacing stares.
Joan ordered her marksmen to aim at the enemy, while Kat began to assemble her company of knights and crusaders into a defensive barrier. They new they had to protect the evacuation at all costs.
The black knight eyed them menacingly. The sheer amount of enemy forces didn't seem to deter him. Kat looked at the enemy knight closely. As she looked at how it rode, something inside her stirred, but she quickly pushed it way
In a flash the abysmal knight was galloping towards the company. Joan ordered her bowmen to release their arrows. A rain of silver death fell upon the rider. The black knight only whirled his gigantic sword above his head, slicing the barrage before it could hit him. Wizards cast Frost Driver, Stormgust and Quagmire spells, trying to slow the advance. The enemy merely avoided it. It was now up to Kat and her company.
"Spears ready!"
At ones the lancer knights prepped their spears and planted them into the ground. Crusaders locked their shields together, forming a spiked barricade. If this didn't stop the enemy, nothing will.
Their enemy still kept on even under heavy fire from bowmen and wizards. Then, he did something that surprised the defenders. Before reaching Kat's wall, the nightmare leapt up into the air, clearing the defensive position as he went on where the evacuation was currently taking place. As he drew near the black knight lifted his sword, ready to strike down at the first target he could hit. Seeing a blacksmith carrying a wounded mage, he brought down his sword upon him.
A priestess came between them, erected a Safety Wall and effectively blocked the attack. The black knight stopped for a moment. The priestess smirked, thinking she had deterred the enemy. Suddenly, he began to hammer the shield with a series of fast, powerful strikes. The priestess could feel the force of each blow passing through her shield as she fell to her knees. It was too much for her to bear.
Joan cursed under her breath. She quickly skidded down the fallen pillar she was standing on. At the same moment Kat and the other defenders began to move towards the black knight.
With one last blow, the priestess's shield fell. She was thrown back by the force into the ground. She looked up and saw the black knight with its weapon ready to strike.
"Hey, tough guy!"
The enemy looked to his right and saw Joan with an arrow pointing at him at point blank range.
"Deflect this!!! Arrow Charge!!!"
Joan let loose her Arrow Charge, hitting the black knight square on its chest. The attack sent the enemy into a wall five meters away. He then fell to the ground with a loud thud and did not move. Silence fell on the battle field. Some knights went closer, to see if the enemy was really down.
"Should've done that in the first place." Joan said triumphantly before turning to check on her other subordinates.
Loud cries suddenly pierced the quietness. Joan turned as several of her knights went flying into the air. The abysmal knight was not defeated, and was now cutting trough her force as if they were toys. She had just reached for a silver arrow, when she suddenly felt the impact of the flat side of the enemy's sword on her right arm.
Joan fell to the ground, clutching her broken arm. The abysmal knight charged towards her, intent of putting her out of her misery. Before the enemy could strike, a rain of arrows fell over him. Seeing the firing line on a wall above him, the knight left the wounded huntress and hit the wall instead, sending several archers and hunters falling to the ground.
Several mounted knights and crusaders went charging against the abysmal knight now that he was cornered. The enemy only planted his sword on the ground beside him. Once the enemy phalanx was close enough, the abysmal knight dragged his sword across the ground, throwing rocks and dirt at his enemies. Distracted by the smokescreen, they did not see the enemy charge forward to cut all of them down with one swing.
End Flashback
Kat's head was spinning as she made her way to Psyke's quarters. She had to talk to her guild master about the mission. She had gone against many abysmal knights during her career, but none so powerful and skilled as this one.
There was also something else about the enemy. Something that confused and troubled her greatly.
Flashback
Seeing her company fall, Kat charged towards the abysmal knight. Her enemy saw her approach and sends a horizontal strike against her.
"Shield Reflect!!!"
Some of the blow's force deflected back to the black knight. Still, she could feel most of the power.
'This one is stronger than the other abysmal knights I've encountered. It would best if I tried to avoid contact as much as possible.'
Pulling back a few feet, Kat prepared for ranged combat. Casting Defender on herself, she began to cast a spell. The enemy saw her. Slamming his sword to the floor, the abysmal knight began to gather a ball of dark energy between its hands.
Kat didn't notice this, however. When the spell was complete, she released it against her foe.
"Grand Cross!!!"
At once a bright light filled the area where the two were fighting. The abysmal knight, seeing that his opponent has unleashed her attack, released the dark ball of energy towards her. The two energies met and a great explosion resulted. The two energies canceling each other threw the two combatants off their feet.
Kat flew a few feet away and hit the ground hard. She was quite shaken up by the aftershock. The crusader was slowly getting up when a shadow fell over her. She suddenly felt a foot on her chest, sending her back down to the stone floor.
The abysmal knight was standing on top of her. The foot on Kat's chest made it very hard for her to move and to breath. Looking down on his prey, the black knight raised his sword. Seeing her flamberge a few inches from her, the crusader made a grab for it and swings it in front of her. This made her opponent loose his aim but he still manage to nick Kat's shoulder.
The abysmal knight stepped back a bit. Kat stood up with her sword ready. She then noticed her enemy was holding his face. The crusader's last didn't harm the dark knight, but it did manage to cut its mask. It slowly began to crumble into pieces. As it did, long dark hair was released to flow with the wind. Having nothing more to hold up, he removed his hands from his face and returned it to his blade.
The clouds above began to part, and pale moonlight fell upon the two. For the first time, Kat saw the face behind the mask of an abysmal knight. She gasped and dropped her sword when she saw the face…
…a face she thought she would never see again.
Abysmal knights were supposed to be merciless killing machines, but as the moonlight stuck the crusader, illuminating her features making it more clear to see, it stirred something within this one. The look of murder in his face melted away, as if to recognize this woman before him. His mouth then let out an almost inaudible sound.
"K…a…t."
As the last letter came out of his mouth, pained began to course through the unmasked knight's head. He dropped his sword and gripped his head as the pain threatened to rip it apart. Kat, shocked at what she is seeing, was frozen on where she stood. After a moment the torture seemed to stop for the abysmal knight, as he ceased to scream and writhe in pain. Giving out a whistle from his kneeling position, he summoned his black stead to him.
"No! Wait! Don't go!"
The crusader tried to stop the retreat, but the black knight was already riding towards the open doors of Glast Heim castle.
This left Kat hundreds of questions running around her head.
Reaching the oak doors of the guild master's office, Kat knocked on it three times and waited.
"Come in."
She opened the doors and entered the room. Inside, the guild master sat behind a wooden desk. He was reading was seemed to be a letter, a very long letter.
"Kat, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be resting?" Pske said when he saw who it was who entered.
"I wanted to talk to you about the rescue mission, master."
Pske immediately knew Kat was in a very serious mood. He knew this was very important if it made the young woman put on her crusader face outside the battlefield.
"I've read your report. You lost a lot of good people there. I'm really sorry."
A frown momentarily formed in Kat's face.
"They knew the risks and the dangers of what we do." She said sternly.
The wizard just sat there silently.
"What about the mission did you want to talk to me about?"
Kat went straight to the point
"Sir, I would like to request permission to lead my team to investigate the event's prior to the mission."
Her master's answer was straightforward.
"No."
"What?"
"I can't let you take team now, at least not at this time."
Kat scowled at her master.
"Master, giving me a small team wouldn't affect our fighting strength in the guild war."
"It's not about the guild war." Psyke shouted out of frustration. This made Kat take a step back. She had never seen the young wizard get mad like this.
Psyke threw the letter he was reading in front of Kat. "By order of the king, the guild wars have been postponed until further notice."
"What?" the crusader asked before taking the letter and skimmed over it.
"It seems that the wizards in the king's court have sensed something really strange happening over at Glast Heim and they fear this might also happen to other places where strong monsters live. That's why the guild wars have been cancelled and all guilds have been ordered to watch out for any signs of trouble."
Kat put down the letter and looked at her master.
"With all due respect, sir, I don't think just sitting around will reveal what's wrong."
"And charging head long into the unknown will give us the same results plus the added bonus of your possible disappearance or death."
Kat was once again taken a back by this.
"Remember Kat that I'm also a wizard. I may not sense things as precisely as the ones in the king's court, but a can still sense them." Psyke took a deep breath. "And I feel that something far out of the ordinary is happening in that place."
Kat knew this to be true. She was a crusader and she could sense dark energies to some extent.
"But I must…I must find out why."
The wizard heard this.
"Why what?"
Kat answered. "When I was fighting that abysmal knight I was able to slice of its mask. I was expecting some kind of monstrosity but instead I saw a human face. A face I could never forget."
"Who's face?"
Kat looked at her master with tears in her eyes.
"It was Jays."