M1-Astray: Please stop spamming me and my mail…well anyway since you asked, I might not be at Tom's beck and call but I chose to work for him. And you might want to speak to alatariel meneldur about some matters.

Frosthound: Glad to hear that. You might want to read Tom's fics too.

Chapter 20: Doubts Concerning Existence

"Farina, Ark, get out of here!"

Necron's zweihander glowed with golden energies as soon as the lord knight turned back to the Raydric General. A younger lord knight stared longingly at him before leading an alchemist to the exit.

Kael's mount spurted out gout of white flames.

"Such a noble stand. Ever the true knight you are."

Raydric General turned to the raydrics behind him.

"Seek them out and eliminate them. Your sheer numbers alone is enough."

The hollow suits of armor rushed the opposite direction. Raydric General waited until every one of them was gone before facing his opponent.

Necron's glowing black sword suddenly fell towards his head but instead met his blazing two-handed sword. Raydric General pulled the reins of his mount and spurred it to leap backwards, away from zweihander's blade.

"That petty sword…was given to you by Lord Knight Salendriel, is it not?"

Kael's voice was cold and hollow as ever. Necron's expression turned from emotionless to furious at the mention of his teacher's name.

"Leave him out of this!"

Zweihander was swung towards him again but Raydric General's mount sprang into action and managed to evade the blow. His blazing sword rent the air and practically crashed into the flat of zweihander.

Without warning, strange red waves of light coursed through Necron's body. The dark-haired lord knight positioned for a counterattack at the same time executing it. It was another skill he learned from Salendriel.

Kael staggered backward as the flat edge smashed into his chest.

"Ha, the very thought of the lapdog's owner could bring dire ramifications."

Necron readied his heavy black sword for another strike. If used properly, zweihander can tear through the mass of burning purple armor in front of him.

"When the enemy is mounted it is best to dispose of his mount first, be it a horse or a pecopeco. But if the enemy is mounted and has something like a wall of fire around him, it is wiser to keep him mounted at the same time knock both him and the mount to the ground. When the guard is lowered, deliver the final blow."

The lord knight remembered one of the intermediate lessons Salendriel taught him.

'Since Kael is mounted, no wait…he is mounted but if I'm not careful, I'll get singed by those flames. Then I must…'

Impatient, Raydric General raised his blazing sword and charged. Necron shifted his focus from the burning raydric to the ghastly armored horse.

'If both of them are knocked down, I can use the horse as a barrier and Kael will be finished for good.'

"You are going to learn why we are the superior!"

"Not while I draw breath, Kael."

The lord knight pointed the tip of his large black sword at the charging spectral horse which was just about a few feet away from where he was standing. Raydric General pulled the reins to try and avoid zweihander's tip but it was already too late. His horse had plunged straight into the large blade.

"You have forgotten what I'm made of, have you?"

Necron twisted his blade and made it dig deep into the spectral horse's chest then swung it to the sides, causing both Kael and his mount tumbling sideward.

The spectral horse lost its balance and threw off Raydric General from his back. The mount also tripped and fell on its rider.

With Kael disabled, Necron knew that this was his chance. The lord knight raised his zweihander and charged…

…………………………………………..

"So what have you been doing when I was out?"

Farina asked the green-haired lord knight beside her. Ark turned to look at her. A few days ago, she had just slipped away without anyone noticing. Who knows how she got in and out of Glastheim.

"The usual…"

The lord knight fixed his stare at the blue-haired alchemist. She was now clad in the standard alchemy dress from Alberta although she wore a waist-length coat above it. She held a two-handed axe whose blade was shining, a sign that the oridecon was well tempered.

"What? What is it?"

"You're an alchemist now…"

All of a sudden, the looming figure of a raydric appeared beside the ledge on the monastery walls.

Ark drew his lance and looked around. The place outside the monastery was grassy but more raydrics emerged from all directions.

"Damn them! Farina, stay close. Do not let them pick you off."

The alchemist nodded her agreement and hurled an explosive bottle at the nearest group of raydrics.

When it crashed against a raydric's empty helm, instead of spraying gas and fire around, it covered the area with bright moisture. All raydrics that were in the area of effect suddenly had thick layers of ice form on their armor, driving them to the ground.

"Success…"

Upon seeing her new product's effect, Farina raised her axe and charged. Ark looked back at her.

'She never listens doesn't she…?'

The green-haired lord knight raised his lance which glowed in an immense bronze and charged.

…………………………………….

"You are indeed an opportunist…like your teacher was."

Raydric General's eyes flashed menacingly once before he "aimed" his left gauntlet at the enraged lord knight before him. To Necron's astonishment, the purple flames that serve as Kael's arm extended and his burning hand bolted and clenched tightly around his neck.

The flames were searing the dark-haired lord knight's neck guard. Necron locked his teeth and tried to pry it off using his elunium hand but surely it would be useless. Zweihander was slowly slipping off his grip. Suddenly a thought entered the lord knight's mind.

"To hell with you!"

Necron grasped the medallion that dangled out from his armor and concentrated on the warp spell. The other medallion that dangled from Raydric General's neck guard also glowed violently as a warp portals were going to be created under them.

The energy emitted from the spell combusted and instead of creating warp portals at such a close distance, it made the monastery floor quake violently, sending both of them flying backwards.

Energies from the warp were still coalescing on the ground and the next second, exploded, sending blocks of stone flying in all directions and left a crater in its place before the light vanished.

Necron got up and wiped away some blood dripping out of the long cut on his face. On the opposite side, Raydric General was already standing with his blazing sword ready.

"We may never know if there's actually a place waiting for me in the hells."

Kael charged, trampling over his mount as he knew it wasn't going to survive.

Necron shifted his zweihander before him and took an attacking stance then analyzed what his enemy was doing.

'Behind me is a wall and with this position, I am likely to be vulnerable to a Magnum Break or a Bowling Bash. But then again if I attack with a long…wait.'

A burning gauntlet bolted towards him which he barely managed to evade. The lord knight had managed to stride to his side, leaving Kael totally prone to a strike.

Necron swung zweihander in an overhead strike but his sword struck an invisible barrier.

'What the…'

Kael's blazing sword swung towards him, hitting him squarely in his chest. Raydric General withdrew his weapon and raised it again for another strike but zweihander's tip bolted towards him, missing him barely by half an inch. Necron twisted the blade and…

……………………………………………..

"Wait."

The Lord of Death pulled his silver lance out of a priest's chest, spilling out blood from the gaping hole.

"I sense that Raydric General is in risk…"

……………………………………………..

"Too late, lord knight."

Raydric General clutched his gaping hole in his side. Necron straightened up at full height despite the severe wounds and burns he had. Enduring injuries were probably a lord knight's skills.

"Too late?"

The dark-haired lord knight prepared his elunium arm for a killing strike. Raydric General took a step forward.

"By this time, my lord's raydrics are already marching across your streets. It will be over soon for you and all your vermin."

"I've already sent my main force under the command of Sir Daniel Cypher. Only you are the obstacle now."

That was when a part of the monastery wall exploded and the looming figure of a mounted being appeared…