(AN: Surprise update! The third and final part of this chapter will be updated by next Wednesday. In the meantime, enjoy this and the other until then!)

Chapter III (Part 1): The Son Of Black

Since the Court had rendered judgment upon the land of Albion and its people, the evil entities hailing from the Void had proclaimed absolute and tortuous rule over the mortal realm. Eight sunless summers and snow-less winters had passed before a young man with extraordinary potential finally sought revenge and would rise up against the tyrants in order to seek it to become a hero in the eyes of his common folk and himself.

The smoke from the day the Great Plains had burned had still lingered in the sky, extinguishing all life and all hope for the oppressed people of Albion. The only thing that came close to the clouds of pure darkness was the omnipresent peak of Mount Ruon, a true colossus of a land formation that the Court had seen fit to call their "citadel". Little did they know, however, was that their dark haven would soon be breached.

Will Black was tired, to say the very least, and not just physically. Though it does seem a daunting task to sneak past the legions of abominations spawned by the Void to protect their masters' domain, and especially when one has to account for another to tag along (the less-then-courageous Cyrus Red), the young man was far more fatigued mentally. He was eternally scorned at what The Court had done to his people, his world, his father...and with Smith Black's alloyed blade in hand, he intended to exact the vengeance that had been growing within him for eight years.

Cracking open the massive steel doors leading crafted into the side of Ruon's peak, Will peered within to the barely lit sanctum and noted there were no sentries about, to which he motioned for Cyrus to follow him within while he parted the doors enough for their entry. Stepping fully within, they had both pulled the hoods of their cloaks off to rest against the back of their necks while they looked around.

Will had grown well, form tall and lean within his armor of black chain and grey plate, the striations of glowing blue very much present through the dark hued rings of mail as they streaked down his body's entirety from resting on his face alone like they had in childhood; they were a manifestation of the power he had trained within himself all of those years, the ability to control and weave the immaterial as both defense and weapon alike.

Cyrus, both small and wiry even for his age just a bit behind Will's, had maintained a stable hold on the twin daggers he had possessed in either hand as he looked around cautiously. With unbound anxiety, he flipped them through his fingers one at a time, skillful yet careful, whilst his eyes darted all about the large entry chamber alertly.

As they walked, weapons in their hands and at the ready, they glanced about while they traveled down the long dim hallway, a feeling of despair pressing down upon the both of them as they moved cautiously.

Upon reaching the next chamber, they were greeted by another circular room like the one prior, only this time it was far from empty. Before the two mortal men were row upon row of Wardog minions, clad in their jackal headed armor while emitting an aura of corruption created from their demonic nature. Only after a few moments did one of the creatures gaze upon Will, gesturing with a long chipped claw for the others to notice.

Almost thirty strong, they all started to snarl from behind the as they reached to their hips, gripping a fearsome assortment of weapons; flails with bits of sharpened bone, tethered by lines of sinew, hammers with screaming skulls that appeared to have been dotted with spikes and dipped in a strange black metal, large blood-encrusted cleavers and even a collection of human spine with a leather grip affixed near the base like an intimidating lash.

Gripping both hands upon the hilt of his sire's blade, Will nodded over his shoulder to the now-trembling Cyrus, who whimpered before finding his place a good ways back into the hallway behind them to hide. After a stare-down of the feral, twitching demons, with his own demeanor unflinching and his gaze still dead-set on the throng of void-spawn, they charged him, almost trampling over each other to maul the intruder that meant the most ill will to their Masters.

Only striding forward, Will met them with an almost casual sweep in front of him, the shimmering platinum blade igniting in gold flame as it met the side of a Wardog's head, cleaving straight through the beast's and three others' heads within the motion. The son of Black, then sliced hard the opposite way and then the way opposing the previous, cutting a swath through the middle at a nonchalant pace, weaving and leaning only slightly to evade the maces, blades and spine-whips and responding by delivering a slash to whomsoever struck at him last.

Once Will had reached the middle of the evil rabble, he slammed the pommel of his sword downwards into the ground, a distorted sound emanating from him as the invisible space around him rippled and created a momentary dome exploding outwards from his crouching body, as the minions were flung out all around him into the air and finally ending their flight with a loud crashing into each of the room's walls, armor splintering from the immense force by which they sailed.

Upon meeting ground, many lay slain while very few others remained crippled, backs severed and shattered while they writhed helplessly and whined painfully. Will slowly rose, smirking with satisfaction, but dropped the expression as another noise echoed through the chamber: the sound of armored gauntlets. Turning his head to the sound, he noticed that a structure had materialized towards the other side of the cavernous room out of a chaotic mist of black and red; a collection of three regal yet gory thrones, embellished with sheets of both gossamer and human flesh with bone lattices to support the black metal constructs.

In the center-most and the tallest was the Queen of Blades idly clapping her fearsome yet elegant claws, still as terrible as Will had remembered her to be the day his father was run through right before him. On either side was a roost for the Knight and Jack of Blades respectively, the former having risen from his throne and had descending off of the steeple leading to the granite floor off of the obsidian steel to be on the same plane as Will. The latter, however, was holding a chain affixed to a heavy spiked collar. The restraint had been placed around the neck of a woman, with emaciated body and tortured violet eyes. Face now beautiful rather then pretty, Will froze as he recognized the visage of Jessica Grey, his childhood friend and secret affection.

"Braaavo, child...You have come this far and have done away with most of our minion reserves," The Queen echoed, the overlapping voices emanating from the Queen's skull jewelry assuming a mocking tone as the Knight had held out a massive gauntlet, fingers splayed as his axe had slowly assembled itself from the void after being culled. As its form was full, he closed his fingers to grip the large weapon while standing confidently before the human with its bloody cloak draped over his free arm.

"Of course...It is the farthest you will ever come, Son of Black...Your war against the Court ends now!" There was an element of aggression that was not a common occurrence within the Queen's voices, their flanging tones almost a malevolent shout. As she finishes, a bloodthirsty roar explodes from within the Knight's visor, both hands reaching to his weapon and hoisting it over his helmet with the intent on splitting the smaller man in two down the middle.

Will simply raised his sword to meet the massive head of the opposing weapon. Surprisingly, the man-made weapon yields not to the unnatural cleaver, yet as they meet, his father's blade began to vibrantly glow, sapphire light slowly growing from the hilt and up the sword while the Knight forces and struggles to break their lock. Will gives not even an inch to his assailant as his sword becomes completely alight with the blinding azure.

As the pinnacle of energy is reached, the Knight's axe explodes in a flash of blue, causing him to stumble. His deep, hollow voice soon began to shudder helplessly, raising his large armored hands in defense as Will tightened his grip on the sapphire sword and pounced forward, blade tucked under his arm to prepare for a powerful swing as he sailed through the air at his target.

Sword's brunt meeting fortress-like armor, it sliced effortlessly through the Knight's cuirass, yet left the blue energy streaked across the red of his plate. The Knight let out an ensemble of sounds, first of confusion, then of surprise and finally of pain as the bolt of sapphire essence strewn across his massive torso shot out upwards through the mountain's roof to the heavens above, even through the despairing black clouds before slamming back down with terrible force in a blinding deep blue pillar, freezing the man-thing in place and then crushing down while his fearsome armor merely evaporated in the column of power.

Soon after, the pillar dispels into small particles, wisps of blue glow that faded into nothingness soon after while the Knight was no more, leaving only a skeletal, shriveled shadow behind and prone against the floor. Its raspy breath echoing out all around, it attempted to crawl further back onto the throne of its kin, beady red eyes looking up to the Queen as if to receive mercy from the most terrible of tyrants to which the Queen shook her head and boomed out with her multiple voices once more, skulls' jaws hanging open as they emitted their words. "You have failed, Knight...Rest well in oblivion, and know that your service were cherished by your Queen and King."

The thrones then disappeared beneath the miserable creature, which had mournfully moaned out in response to being both defeated and forsaken before turning onto its back to leer over to the victor and his tag-along, who had just now returned from hiding with both daggers in hand and glared at the shade with vengeful intent. Will, glancing at the next doorway further into Mount Ruon, then stared to the defeated Knight. "Have fun, Cyrus...I'm going to save Jessica, and end this nightmare," the young Hero had said before dashing through to the next hallway over.