Upon hearing the words from the Cardinal, Sol told to his trusted knights and Draven in his palace about the mysterious man in black hooded cloak.
"The man in black hooded cloak, who killed the fifty-sixth devotee in a procession, is a half-demonic being called as Nick. He, a powerful swordsman, a knight of Hell, and a Prince of Darkness; is born from a union of a human and a demon."
"That man hath a sword, as I gazed from his visage." said a witnessed knight.
"He wielded a long sword, which the Cardinal named it as Gehenna. The sword is named after a place where the idolatrous followers sacrificed their children, and also where the dead bodies are consumed by fire that always burns. The sword Nick wieldeth is fueled by the souls of the damned, and is fed by the blood of his victims." Sol added.
"Gehenna? This meaneth hell, am I right?" asked Draven.
"Exactly as it is."
"Where can we find him?"
"He keepeth wandering around this town or stayeth in a dark place we see not. We can easily track him, but he is too strong that not even a brave human warrior can stop him. Demons give him his immense power, fueled by the sins human beings committed. The three knights who witnessed him before shall meet him again together with Draven. Only four of you will confront Nick."
"And canst thou come with us too, Majesty?"
"I need to go to the Emperor for an updated set of laws in his empire. This includeth where we live. My trusted knights will accompany me."
"Orders complied, sire." responded the knights and Draven.
"Draven and the three witnesses, thy faith in the Lord shall be fortified. Thou art not just confronting him, thou art also confronting the human beings who, we know not, believed in the devil's false assumptions." warned Sol.
"The church involved in the procession of the devotees is there." said the first knight while pointing at the church."
The three knights, who witnessed Nick's presence, guided Draven to where they last met with him.
It was almost evening and rain started to fall, but the three knights prepared their crosses.
One after another, three lightning bolts zapped the ground in front of the witnesses, and Nick, as expected, came to them.
"Is this where he lived?" asked Draven.
"Aye." said the three witnessing knights.
"Fools." said Nick, in a dark, cold voice.
"We came for thee, Nick. Let us settle this fast." said the first knight.
"What is wrong? Art thou shocked that we know thy name?" asked the second.
"Why canst thou not show thyself?" added the third.
Draven was left speechless.
The three knights prepared to draw their swords as Nick came closer to them. The man in black wielded his Gehenna sword and suddenly charged them.
As Nick tried to slash them, the three witnesses blocked his sword by their own. But such powerful force moved them backwards and closer to Draven. They even fell down to the ground while dropping their swords.
Draven just watched but was shocked of Nick's power in action.
"Draven! We need thy help!" said the third knight.
"What can I do?" asked Draven.
"Help us attack that demon!"
"I am coming, friends."
Draven came closer to Nick by walking slowly towards him. The three witnesses crawled back and tried to pick up their swords.
As the young squire walked closer, he made a short, silent prayer; and when they both stood still...
"Nick, am I right?" asked Draven.
"Yes, and who art thou?" asked Nick.
"Draven."
"Art thou a loyal servant of Sol?"
Draven nods.
"And thou art born from the union of a human and a demon, am I right?"
"Exactly."
"And why didst thou come here right now?"
"I am warning thee, Draven. I came here to torment souls of the mindless human beings I can see."
"And what madest thou do that?"
"Humans are corrupted by the society that is corrupted by evil. I know from them that mankind are like angels. They are given freedom to choose which side they are, and yet, they chose to defy the order of their Creator."
"And why?"
"A third of the angels are fallen because of such choice they made, and there is no turning back. Once thou wilt choose either side, thou wilt need to make an effort to prove that thou art good or evil. Sometimes, I see human beings as flawed creations, as they are making an effort to follow the footsteps of the demons."
"What madest thou say that humans and demons are interrelated?"
"Sin. It is what makes humans and demons have in common. Human beings judged others without knowing the true story. They kill each other when tasked to or furious. They made others believe what is false. They even tend to have strong desires for power, wealth, and even flesh from other human beings."
"Nick, we all apologize. Forgive us, for all thou sayest are true. But it is not always like this to us. Thou art a human being, art thou not?"
"How canst thou?"
"We human beings, like both of us, have freedom of choice. We all can do what we want to do. We also made mistakes, but not all mistakes are sins. All of us have the same purpose, and Nick, I am telling thee, such purpose we all have is not about what thou sayest right now."
"If thou canst tell me thy purpose as a human being, I will tell mine too."
Suddenly, Nick and Draven wielded their own swords as the half-demon attacked him first. But successfully, the young squire blocked Gehenna's attacks.
"My purpose in this cruel and lonely world is different from thine." said Draven as they continued.
While raining, thunder and lightning boomed and flashed the sky as Draven and Nick both fenced with their own swords.
Successfully, Draven slit Nick's left cheek and forced him to unveil his hood.
As Nick showed his formally combed black hair, pale-colored face, closed lips, and black demonic eyes; his left cheek trickled with blood but walked slowly to Draven, who shivered while wielding his sword in both hands.
The three witnesses, getting up in place, rushed to Nick with their swords at the right and crosses at the left.
While Nick and Draven both gazed at the witnessing knights in action, the young squire dodged for them to ambush the half-demon. Nick, in response, raised his left hand and cast a fireball in front of them. Exploding in contact, the three witnessing knights were under serious burns inside their armors, making them scream in agony immediately after the fireball explosion.
Draven, in response, raised his right hand while wielding his sword at his left. His right hand sparked and created a spear out of lightning bolts.
"What? Could this be a miracle?" asked the shocked Nick, gazing at the spear.
Draven, now wielding two weapons at once, came to contact with Nick's sword Gehenna. In this case, they both fenced with their weapons.
"Draven! Careful!" pleaded the second witnessing knight.
A second fireball from Nick was thrown to Draven and exploded in his contact, but the half-demon did not even see the squire in the air throwing his spear.
Nick tried to block Draven's spear using Gehenna, but was given shocks of lightning from the spear along with the sword.
"No! This can not be!" Nick was endangered, falling. Draven also landed on the ground and confronted him.
"Human beings have a purpose like both of us. Though it is meaningless, Nick, creating something that only thou canst understand is the beginning of such purpose. As for thee, thou art viewing us humans negatively because thou art cursed with demonic power, fed with rage, hate, and vengeance. Thou dost not know yet the true purpose of human existence." spoke Draven.
"Leasing-monger!" cursed Nick, continuing the bloody battle against the squire.
As the Gehenna sword collided with both Draven's sword and lightning-forged spear, the three witnessing knights, injured, ambushed Nick at his back. They all raised their crosses and as a result, the crosses glow with holy light.
The half-demonic swordsman was forced to gaze at the three glowing crosses, but he shook his head and disappeared in the shadows. As he appeared again, far away from Draven and the knights, he suddenly crouched and dropped his sword.
The young squire came closer to Nick but the half-demonic being raised his right hand and stopped him.
"Leave me alone, for I want thee not to enter Hell alive. This is no place for living mortals." warned Nick.
"But why dost thou go there?" resisted Draven.
"Hell is where I was born and is my home Thou knowest me that I am a demon. Humans are not worthy to enter Hell unless they are sinners who died without repentance or atonement for their sins, or who died with their sins unpardonable or mortal. If they dare to enter Hell alive, suffering will be expected, fear will be invoked, and faith will be destroyed. Hate and rage will conquer in thy mind, heart, and soul. Hell is not just an abode of demons, it is also a prison of eternal suffering to the wicked who are consigned after death."
"Why art thou living there?"
"Thou wilt know the reason when we will meet again."
Nick cast a blood-involved demonic magic that summoned the devil's flaming pentagram symbol on the ground and he disappeared along with the symbol.
Meanwhile, Sol and his knights reported to the emperor as directed.
"Master, I came." Sol initiated.
"Sol, I will use thy knights this time together with mine." said the emperor.
"What for?"
"I will conquer a free empire right now."
"Which empire?"
"Well, I am not sure, but I will meet any foreign citizens and enslave them."
"Enslave them? This can't be. I will turn down such insolent information."
"What would it be insolent? Which is thy priority, Sol? Power or humanity?"
"If thou aimest for power, then what wilt thou use it for?"
"I am the emperor, thy master! How can I meet such rude baron in front of me?"
"I am not doing wrong. What is wrong is thy purpose as an emperor. Thy purpose is just craving for power with no submission allowed from thee."
"Liar!"
The emperor stood immediately and charged to Sol, while the knights under Sol's command advanced to him. The knights, who are under the emperor's command, also ambushed Sol's knights.
Sol and the emperor confronted each other face-to-face, as knights on both sides positioned themselves while the conflict between the emperor and one of his feudal lords continued.