What... what is this? An update? In time? Is this, is this progress? Oh my god, I think I am going to cry!
Jokes aside, I can't actually believe I did it this time and I am very proud of it (let's forget I need two months to do it). For the next chapter, well, I am not too sure because, well, Elden Ring happened and oh my god I am losing my life in that beautiful game. But I am going to stop bothering you with this nonsense and let you read the chapter. But first, the reviews!
Halo - Thank you! And yes, the scene sounds good. About the tower, yeah, as I said, I was overthinking it XD And I didn't know about that magical spell, but I have to admit it's given me some ideas. Thank you for the info!
JustAnotherGuest - I have to say, there is a lot of those closed doors in Elden Ring as well XD
And that's it. I haven't answered all the reviews, but hopefully I would do it today, but I wanted to update now because I can reply with my phone, but updating chapters doesn't seem like a easy thing. So, thank you all for the reviews, favorites and follows, really, thank you all. And now, enjoy the chapter!
(Real size 13428 words)
As Knight moved through the dark corridor, he hoped there would be no enemy waiting for him, because fighting in such a narrow space and with only the little light from the bracelet could be a real nightmare. The light was not the worst problem, as there were not a lot of directions he could be attacked from, but the little space meant that even if he knew where the enemy was, he would not be able to swing his sword.
He had some memories of him dying only because there had not been enough space to use his weapon. They had not been very dignified deaths.
Thankfully for him, it did not seem to be anyone down there with him. Knight had been walking for a while, and he was very sure he had not changed directions once. So, it probably meant this corridor just connected the secret door with the tower, where he would have to start to worry about enemies and traps. For now, his only foe was the boredom of the situation fighting against his tension for what he had to do.
Finally, after what felt as hours, Knight arrived at the end of the corridor. It looked like a solid wall, but before he could wonder if he had to hit it to dispel an illusion —really, why did his old world have so many of those?— the bracelet on his right wrist pulse again and the wall opened without a sound.
The sudden light blinded Knight for a second, forcing him to narrow his eyes a little in order to recover faster. Still, the moment of blindness was fairly short, his sight returning to normal very fast. He was not sure if it was due to his strange helmet or to how his body was, but he was grateful nonetheless.
Now being able to see, Knight found that the source of light were several torches set on the walls, illuminating a corridor made of stone. Curiously enough, said corridor was decorated with several sets of armor, all of them made of black metal, with their —he hoped— empty helmets pointing at the ground. For a second, Knight felt strange, as if a memory was about to appear in his mind, but then he looked closer to the armors and, after seeing they were different to his own, the feeling stopped. He could not help but feel curious about it.
A memory related to being around several Black Knights had to be an important one… and probably containing a lot of his deaths.
However, he did not have the time to think about such things or observe the armors. The secret passage he had just exited, placed between two of the sets, was already closing itself, and he took it as a sign that he should keep moving. Besides, the bracelet did not seem to be glowing, so this was not the right way. With that in mind, Knight turned around to continue his mission.
And found two imps looking at him with wide eyes and gaping mouths.
Knight had to admit, he froze for a second after noticing the unexpected witnesses to his, in theory, stealthy infiltration. He had been so surprised by this that his first thought was an absurd idea of hiding by pretending to be one of the empty armors. Thankfully, he snapped out of it before trying said idea and reacted as he should have done immediately. So, without further delay, Knight swung his sword, bisecting the two monsters.
The first one died in an instant, the attack separating his head from the rest of his body. The second one was not as lucky, the descending attack going through his waist instead of through his neck. Still, it had been so fast and brutal that the monster barely reacted as his upper half fell to the ground, just gaping like a fish out of the water as his cut lungs tried to work. It was a close thing, but he finally died in silence, which Knight was grateful for.
Still, he cursed himself while ignoring the sensation of absorbing their souls. He had almost failed his mission at the very beginning. He knew it had been bad luck the imps were at the passage's exit, but he should have been more careful and killed them as soon as he had noticed them. Really, he had been lucky, as the monsters had been too shocked by his sudden entrance to raise the alarm, but he could not keep hoping his luck would hold. After all, almost every memory of his past life showed he did not have what people would call 'good fortune'.
Clenching his fist around the sword's handle, Knight forced himself to focus again, and began to move through the Dark Tower, doing his best to listen for any sound that could signal the presence of more monsters. The corridor full of armors ended in some kind of squared room with two exits: one to the right, and the other to another corridor. Knight could see stairs at the end of the corridor, but as he tried that direction, the bracelet stopped shining, so the correct exit had to be the right one.
Following the light, Knight kept going through several more intersections and stairs. Really, he was very grateful for having something telling him where he had to go. This area was like a maze, without any signs or distinctives decorations that could help him navigate the identical halls. The only bright side was that the more he advanced, the less paths he found, so he knew he was getting close to his objective.
And just after thinking that, Knight began to notice how the walls around him were starting to be different, with darker stones and some kind of figures engraved on them. His memories of exploring told him this probably meant he was getting close to something important. To the barrier's core, perhaps? That would be good, however, he could not ignore how suspiciously easy it had been. Maia and Vault had talked about traps and enemies, but he had found nothing of the first, and very little of the latter.
It seemed this night was special, some kind of event that kept the Dark Tower's security at minimum. But even then, he had expected to find some problems along the way. Knight kept walking, keeping his guard up and waiting for the moment an enemy would try to ambush him. It was always like that in this kind of place, if there was something worthy of being protected, there was something close to enforce said protection.
Yes… just like...like…
~ He did his best to regain his breath after the fight, his long sword still piercing the snake man's chest. He had heard snakes only died after being beheaded, but, thankfully, grave injuries were enough to kill the strange guardians of Sen's Fortress. If they were not, he would be in a world of trouble, as the damned reptiles were tough foes. This one not so much as the warrior types, but at least those did not throw pure lighting at him.
He had discovered he was surprisingly resistant to their divine attacks —or maybe they were just weak in the first place—, but they still stunned him for a little, which gave the other snake men time to finish the job… when the giant, bladed pendulums did not do it for them. Really, the reason for his fatigue was not this last bout but all the previous steps to reach this point, which included walking a very narrow path while fighting strong enemies, dodging deathly pendulums, and avoiding lighting shots.
And this was only the beginning of this place.
He sighed and shook his head, pulling his sword from the dead body. He had already died… a lot of times, enough to learn how to use the trap in the first room to kill the snake-men just by trial and error. The worst part was, he knew all those deaths would not be the last ones. However, the vision of a treasure chest just in front of him raised his spirit. They usually contained useful item or weapons, so he quickly approached it to open it, not noticing the pressure plate on the floor until— ~
CLICK
...
Wait, that had been part of the memory or—
Before he could finish that thought —or realize one of the floor stones had sunken under his weight—, the corridor in front of him and at his left were suddenly closed by walls of black rocks. A loud sound made him look behind and saw another wall blocking the path. Before Knight could curse himself for basically asking for a trap, the right wall began to spit streams of black fire from hidden holes. First, close to the recently blocked exits, but quickly activating closer and closer to him.
He had just a second to look to his right, where he found another hidden hole and raised his shield an instant before it began to throw fire, thankfully stopping it before it could hit him directly. A part of Knight thought he was acting silly, that simple fire could not do anything to him. After all, he had endured an eternity inside the Fire, this could not be any worse.
That was the moment when he began to feel pain in his legs from the flames his shield could not stop.
Ignoring the unexpected pain, Knight crouched down to reduce the area not protected. What the hell had he been thinking!? The Fire had burned away his mind, not his body. Normal fire was still dangerous, and, somehow, this strange black fire seemed to be even more powerful than the normal kind. It was like… No, the fire of that beast had been black and yellow, this was different, but it still felt incredibly dangerous. He felt he was right about the last part when, after just a couple of seconds, the shield began to become red hot, its thin edge already starting to melt.
Knight grabbed what remained of the burning leather straps with both hands and prayed that the trap would stop soon. A second later, the straps turned to ashes and he was forced to hold the shield with his hands. The overheated metal burned his hands, but his armor offered protection, probably the only reason why his legs had not disappeared. Even then, he felt the heat over his whole body.
Another five or six seconds and the shield finally lost its integrity, losing parts that flowed like water over his hands. Knight released the melting shield and covered his head with his arms, but it did little for the rest of his body, as he could feel his skin burning in contact with the metal of his armor. He did his best to ignore the pain and waited, focusing on enduring the heat.
He did not know how long he remained in that position, but what Knight did know was that he would not survive this for much longer. For some reason, he could recognize the smell of burned flesh, and he knew that because he was smelling it right now, which, added to the pain, formed a very bad image of his immediate future. However, he just needed to endure it, it could not go forever. So, Knight clenched his fists and waited. And waited. And waited.
And then, after an agonizing eternity, the stream of fire finally stopped.
Slowly, Knight dropped his arms and looked at his surroundings, grimacing a little from the pain. Even now that the trap had stopped, black flames remained around him and on him, doing their very best to burn whatever they could. His armor was still unbelievably hot, but it seemed its metal was strong enough to not be melted by the black fire. The floor, walls and ceiling had flames as well, but some kind of blue barrier protected them. Still, the flames did not stop even if there was nothing to burn.
What the hell was this black fire?
A loud noise behind him made him turn around, but just found his sword on the ground. When he had grabbed his shield with both hands, Knight had returned the bastard sword to his back, protecting it from the worst of the flames. However, even then, the black fire had burned the sheath without leaving any trace, and the scorched marks in the metal told him the sword was damaged as well, probably more than what he could appreciate.
What he could appreciate was that the sword was shorter now, its new uneven tip still red hot. Probably melted by the fire, as the blade had been too long to be completely protected by his body. Fantastic.
And the sword was not the only thing damaged. His body still burned, spikes of pain going through his skin as he began to stand up. It… it was the most damage he had received in this world, and a part of him was demanding him to grab his flask and drink from it to recover, but that was not something he could actually do. The strange flask he could see in his memories, the one filled with liquid fire, was another thing that remained in his old world. Knight knew it could heal him, but its nature made him suspicious of it.
He had not had good experiences with fire recently.
Interrupting his thoughts, several symbols began to appear on the walls, shining with a dark gleam. Then, the persistent flames on him and around him began to move, returning to the holes they had come from. Finally, when the corridor was free from the black fire, the walls blocking the path returned to its original place as well, leaving the area as if nothing had happened.
Knight did not understand. Why did the trap open itself after the fire? Was the creator so sure that it would be enough? Well… now that he looked at the molten remains of his shield on the ground, Knight supposed that, usually, one time was more than enough. Really, the only reasons he had survived were his abnormal resistance and his armor, which everyone who had seen it had said it was incredible and enchanted, so he assumed normal people, even with armor, would not survive the trap.
He was more surprised that the bracelet in his right wrist had survived, to tell the truth. It was a little scorched, but the little gems still shined, pointing him towards his objective. It was a magical artifact after all, so Knight supposed part of its power had protected it, but he was just glad that he had not lost his only guide inside this maze.
That left him with nothing to distract himself from the loss of his shield.
In a sense, it was even more painful than his burnings. Knight had grown fond of the shield, and that after only a few days. It was not the best shield he had had, but it had been his shield nonetheless, the first one in this new world. And the first one he had lost like this too.
He had memories of damaging equipment to its limits, but that had meant big cracks or lost parts, not being reduced to an unrecognizable puddle. This was beyond repair, no matter the blacksmith who tried. It would be no different than making an entirely new shield. Knight had… he just had to accept it.
However, that still left with the problem of not having a shield anymore. And in the middle of his mission to make it better. Knight frowned at his now empty left hand, knowing it would make every battle harder, but he could not let it stop him, not when he was so close. He clenched his left fist and looked at the floor, observing the stones under his feet a lot more carefully.
The one which had triggered the trap had not been raised like in his memories, but after studying it for a bit, Knight saw it had some subtle differences in color compared to the rest. As he advanced through the corridors, he found another two corridors with multiple stones that could be triggers, but who knew if they were or if they would activate the same kind of trap. However, he avoided them by a large margin, even if he lost some time doing it, because he could not afford to activate another trap like the one with black fire.
Knight knew his body, and knew he would not survive it.
His relation with death was still very confusing, and he was not sure how it worked, but even if he had the ability to return to life, Knight did not know how long it would take… or where he would end. He had seen in his memories that it would be near a bonfire, but… Which one? One of the bonfires from Kuroinu's camps? The one made in the town to celebrate the return of the villagers? Whichever the case, it would be far away, and everyone was counting on him to break the barrier that night. He could not die.
With his determination renewed, Knight kept going through the black corridors. However, it seemed the traps were closer to the treasure than what he had thought, because after another right turn, he found himself in front of a big, circular room and the bracelet began to pulse with light. This had to be it.
As Knight entered the room, he saw it was a lot more decorated than the previous ones. There were a lot of engravings on the walls, similar to what he had been seeing since the first trap, but this time, some of them were figures showing scenes, almost like a story. He could barely understand what those scenes were trying to show, but the ones he could recognize seemed to be humanoid figures, some smaller, some taller, some with big ears… Were those the races of this land?
It was interesting, but Knight had no time to lose appreciating it. Beyond that, the room had some stone statues of armored warriors —not very proportionate, their arms were as big as their bodies and reached the floor—, two at the door he had come from and two on the only exit. That last detail was the important one, as the bracelet's light got brighter when he looked at it. He could see the beginning of what seemed like a spiral staircase going up, so he supposed the core was just over this room. Then, making sure he did not step on any pressure plate, Knight went to the exit…
And discovered there seemed to be more types of trap triggers.
Before he could react, the exits were blocked with a stone wall like the last time. Knight began to look around him with fear and anxiousness creeping in his mind, waiting for the streams of black fire that would surely kill him this time. However, after some seconds of nothing happening, he began to think that something had gone wrong with the trap, or even that it just was to keep him trapped inside the room.
All that was proved wrong when the stone statues began to move towards him. Still better than the black fire, though.
Knight raised his sword, ready to fight. The statues were big, having almost two heads over him, and their arms were as wide as trees. At least, they did not carry weapons for what he could see, so he just had to worry about their fists. Beyond that, they did not say a word and the stone did not seem to be an armor but what they were made of, so he guessed those were magical golems. The kind that everyone thought he was part of.
Observing their slow and rigid movements, he found said fact even more insulting than before.
Before they could get closer, Knight moved to his right and swung his bastard sword at one of them. It barely reacted, just raising an arm to block the attack. The edge was not able to cut through the stone limb, but the force behind it was enough to break a part of it, the rest crumbling on its own. The impact made a horrible sound, so he dreaded the damage this battle would do to the sword, especially after the fire, but he had already lost his shield. He was ready to sacrifice his sword as well.
However, before he could keep the pressure, the other golem forced him to take a step back to avoid a downward punch that cracked the ground on impact. After that, Knight looked back to find the other two golems almost on him. They were not fast, but they were big and every one of their steps meant a lot of distance inside the sealed room. He ran between the two groups before they could cage him, avoiding another couple of punches, and charged at the damaged golem, swinging his sword again.
This time, Knight aimed at its head, destroying it with a strong crush, but the lack of head did not seem to affect the stone warrior, as it tried to smash him with its remaining arm. He was able to avoid it, but the dodge left him too close to the other group, and before he could move again, one of the golems' fist impacted against him, crushing Knight against the wall and keeping him pinned. He grunted; the strength behind those fists was no laughing matter.
Not speaking about the pain now running through his body, reminding him of all the damage the black fire had done to him. His skin and muscles had to be in a deplorable situation, and even if he could still move somehow, he knew this was not something he could recover from quickly, and this fight was making it worse. Without his shield, Knight could not protect himself from the attacks, and dodging the four golems in a closed space was getting harder and harder. He needed to destroy them fast, before they could aggravate his injuries even more.
Still, using his sword was not the best option, as its edge was not enough to cut them. However, brute force seemed to work, so he dropped the bastard sword, grabbed the oversized arm with both of his hands, and pushed. The golem tried to resist, but even if its strength was no laughing matter, Knight's was no joke either. As the stone limb began to tremble with the effort, the golem was forced to take a step back, giving him enough space to move again. However, the others were close, ready to crush Knight again while he was busy.
He had a plan for them, though.
It was something he had never done before, always trusting his weapon, or changing it when it was not enough. There was no memory to help him, but he was still in a fight, so he just needed a little effort to force his muscles to obey. And then, with a mental shout and exerting every ounce of his strength, Knight rotated his body, dragging the golem with him by its arm, until they began to spin, the massive stone warrior not touching the ground anymore.
It was not exactly fast, but the stone statue weighed probably more than the Killer Rabbit, so he was still glad he could move it at all. And all that weight was revolving around him, like a giant morning star, ready to crush whatever it found in its path. Yet the golems kept approaching, not reacting to the swinging mass of stones close to their objectives. And then, one got too close, and his improvised mace slammed against it with the force of a raging dragon.
The impact was brutal, more akin to an explosion than to a simple clash. The golems' bodies broke, leaving behind a cloud of dust and one remaining arm in Knight's hands. He grinned, satisfied with the results. That only left two more. Pushing his advantage, he went towards the damaged golem, using the stone limb like a club. He swung it and slammed it against the statue's chest, breaking both his current weapon and its objective. Thankfully, it seemed their core was in their chests, as the golem stopped moving. The last one tried to hit Knight, but without the others, he avoided the attack easily.
Regaining some space, Knight observed the situation. He was close to the door he had entered from, the remaining golem in front of him with the blocked exit behind it. There were piles of crumbled rocks on the ground and the arm he had broken in his first attack. He could pick it up and use it like the other one to defeat the golem. However, this one was not damaged, so Knight was not sure it would be enough… and even if it was, nothing assured him the blocked doors would open after defeating all the golems. So, he decided he needed to do something else, something…
A sudden idea appeared in his mind. A reckless plan coming from a very questionable source. However, it could work, even if he would not come out of it unscathed. Without any better ideas, and knowing he could not waste time, Knight lowered his body, mentally prepared himself, and then, began to sprint towards the golem, ready to ram it like the Killer Rabbit had tried to ram him.
Knight impacted its chest with his right shoulder, swallowed the pain that the crash gave him, grabbed the golem with both arms, and kept going towards the closed exit, barely losing any impulse in the process. The stone statue was incredibly heavy, even more than what Knight had felt from spinning the other one, but that did not mean he could stop. He pushed forward until, with a mental roar, they crashed against the rocks covering the door.
It was not as violent as when he had slammed one golem against another, but it still hurt like hell, Knight's whole body throbbing with the impact. Still, it worked, both the stones from the blockage and from the unwilling battering ram crumbling around him. When the new cloud of dust dissipated, Knight found himself on the floor outside the room, the spiral staircase at his right. To tell the truth, for a moment, he just wanted to remain on the floor until the pain returned to tolerable levels, but the Kuroinu were waiting for him to break the barrier… Maia was waiting for him to show everyone he could be a hero.
That was enough motivation. With pure determination, Knight rose from the ground and returned to the circular room. He had a no negligible amount of worry that this would trigger another trap, but he could not leave without his sword. Thankfully, nothing happened, and he was able to pick it up with no further problems. However, now that he could focus on it, the blade was a sorry sight. The half melted tip had broken a little more, and the area he had used to attack the golems was deformed, its edge dull.
He knew it would not last a lot longer, but he just hoped it would be enough.
With a mental sigh, Knight turned around, went to the exit and began to climb up the stairs. The staircase went up and right in a circular direction, so he was pretty sure he was surrounding the previous room. Luckily for his aching body, he just had to go up a floor to reach his objective. The room was smaller than the previous one, walls filled with engravings very similar to the ones in the room below, but that was not what caught his attention.
The main object in the room was the strange black sphere on a stone pedestal. It looked like a crystal, but it was so dark that there was no reflection of light on its surface. Knight knew he could not do magic, and did not know if this world's magic worked like the one in his old life, but even he could feel the power radiating from the crystal orb.
Approaching the strange object, Knight began to see it was not completely black but that it was filled with a dark mist which seemed to be more black than anything he had seen or remembered. The mystical smoke moved inside the orb in circles, creating the effect that made the crystal look completely dark. He had to admit it was beautiful.
Mentally shaking those thoughts off, Knight looked at his wrist and saw how the bracelet was shining with the brightest light since he had received it. It was obvious he had reached his objective, the barrier's core. With that in mind, Knight began to take a step closer, ready to destroy the orb.
"Don't you dare to take another step."
Of course it could not be easy.
A voice —cold, feminine and very threatening— sounded just behind Knight, making him froze for a second from the sudden surprise. He had not heard any sound before the voice's owner decided to reveal herself, nothing. It was like with Kyle, but worse, because this time he knew for sure the one sneaking up behind him was an enemy. Thousands of memories appeared in his mind, all filled with situations where he had been stabbed in the back due to a trap, due to being distracted, or because the enemy had outmaneuvered him.
Considering the enemy had spoken to him, and the lack of excruciating pain on his back, he wanted to believe this situation was a little different. Praying he was not wrong, Knight turned around, slowly, to see the person behind him.
As the voice had suggested, it was a woman, but the long ears were a clear sign that it was not a human one. It automatically reminded him of Celestine, but where the Goddess Reborn had porcelain-like skin, this woman's was a darker tone, but more intense that the one achieved by the farmers working under the Sun. Added to what Maia had explained, Knight knew he was in front of a dark elf, but he had to admit that, with how the redhead had described them, he had imagined them with skin as black as the night sky.
And it was curious, because this tanned color made her look almost… human, instead of the monsters responsible for the war Knight had created inside his mind. Still, this was not the moment to ponder such thoughts.
Beyond her peculiar ears and skin, the dark elf was incredibly beautiful, with long, blonde hair tied in a ponytail and deep, red eyes. She was wearing some kind of dark blue, sleeveless shirt and… very little else. Knight almost forced his eyes away to preserve her modesty, only resisting due to the fact she was an enemy. Still, he was sure she had not been expecting his intrusion, as there was no piece of cloth in her lower half beyond some kind of black underwear.
However, the most surprising fact was that it was not her ears, skin or state of undress that had caught his attention the most, but the glowing runes moving in circles over her arms and legs, pulsing with what Knight could only describe as power. That, and the confidence she exuded, looking at him as if she was the one in control despite the lack of weapons or proper clothes in her person.
Whoever she was, Knight had the feeling she was strong.
Tired of the silence, she began to talk to him, tone full of contempt, "When I first noticed one of the traps had been activated, I thought it was just another imp who had wandered where he should have not. Nothing important. But then, I found the remains of two imps cut in half and felt the guardian golems activated, so I knew I had some uninvited rats to kill. Still, I couldn't help but wonder how an intruder could survive a trap of Cursed Fire or the guardian golems, but now it's clear how you were prepared for it." she finished with some disgust.
Maybe she had expected him to react to her words, or for him to say something at least, but for whatever the reason, she frowned even more after some seconds of nothing happening, her eyes and delicate features radiating a surprising amount of hate. Especially after she focused her glare on the bracelet around Knight's wrist. After a couple of very tense seconds, she decided to continue.
"Not even a word? I guess I shouldn't expect anything else from a filthy thief and traitor like you, even from one that dresses up like a knight. What made you think you could come back and steal from your Queen like this?"
Well, Knight had not expected that one. She had clearly misjudged the situation if she thought he wanted to steal the orb. And what did she mean with the last part? His queen? Did she... did she think he was a dark elf? Maybe it was the normal assumption, considering the barrier around the tower, but if she was some kind of guard, should not she know that other races could get past it? Or maybe it was more a secret than what he had thought. That did not matter right now, though.
What mattered was, this time she had demanded an answer, and his silence was doing the impossible and aggravating her even more. After what felt like an eternity of silence, the dark elf moved, adopting some kind of combat stance without weapons, the runes in her limbs brighter than before. Then, she looked directly at him, eyes still filled with hate, but now with a cold and brutal seriousness as well.
"So be it. I will find my answers from your corpse."
Sword ready on his right shoulder, Knight clenched his fist around the handle, getting ready to fight again. However... was fighting what he should do? He knew he was in bad shape after the trap and the golems, not mentioning how he had lost his shield and a not-so-little part of his sword. Maybe the woman would be an easy win —which did not seem likely—, or maybe she would be strong enough to finally kill him. It was the doubts inherent to any battle, but in his memories, it had always been mitigated by the knowledge that death was not the end.
But this was not like his memories, he could not afford to die and try again. Knight was on a mission. He could not risk it, especially because he did not know how much time he had left. He was too close to his goal to fail now, he had to break the barrier first, nothing else was more important than that.
And after reaffirming that determination, his path of action was clear.
The next second, Knight swung his sword in a wide arc, enough strength behind the attack to cut anything in half. The dark elf was faster, though, immediately taking a step back to avoid the sharp edge and got ready to counterattack. It would have been harder to dodge with a full bastard sword, but missing part of it, it had been insultingly easy.
Probably for the best, as Knight had not wanted to hit her.
After missing the woman, he did not stop his attack. Instead, he kept going, twisting his body to prolong the arc in order to reach the real objective behind him. As he turned, he could not see the dark elf any more, but he heard a gasp from her, maybe realizing what he was doing. But it was too late to stop him.
With a sound akin to an explosion, the blade impacted against the magical orb. It was not able to cut it, but as it had happened with the golems, the strength behind the attack was enough to crack the crystal and deform the metal even more. Not fully breaking, the orb was projected against the wall, the impact aggravating the damage. Finally, with a sound that Knight would never be able to describe nor forget, the dark mist inside escaped through the cracks, the whole room trembling after it.
Sadly, Knight could not enjoy his success for long. Before he knew what was happening, an immense force impacted against his back, making him crash into and through the now empty pedestal. When he finally processed what had happened, Knight was lying on the ground, his sword still in his hand only due to his body remembering a whole other life, a life of fighting where dropping your weapon had always meant death. Still, he had no time to worry about that.
"YOU BASTARD!" the cause of the sudden meeting between the ground and his face shouted as Knight tried to turn and stand up to face her again, "Why!? Why did you break the anchor!? Do you know what you have done!?"
It seemed this time she did not want an answer, because before he was able to fully regain his stance, the dark elf moved with a speed Knight had only seen from Maia and punched him in the chest with enough strength to shatter stone. All air left his lungs as he was pushed and half buried into the wall, his mind too busy reconnecting her petite frame with the outstanding power behind her hits to process this event.
At least, Knight had the little consolation that she seemed to have suffered some damage from the exchange, because right now, she was shaking her right hand, as if trying to regain the feeling of a slept limb. Still, her strength was dangerous if such an impact had just stung instead of completely breaking her hand. She had to be stronger than Sard, stronger than the Killer Rabbit's paws. She... she could be as strong as Knight himself. Was this her natural power, or maybe, was it enhanced by the glowing runes around her arms and legs?
The answer to that did not matter as much as making sure he did not receive more of those attacks directly. Like the one she seemed to be ready to deliver.
Knight wanted to raise his shield and block it, but that was something he could not do for obvious reasons. That left him with the choice of trying to dodge, or trying to block the next attack with his sword. With little faith in his general mobility and speed compared to the ones of his new foe, Knight decided to use the sword. However, when he tried to raise his right arm, he could barely move it, realizing he was more buried in the wall from the previous punch than what he had thought.
Acting as fast as he could, Knight flexed his whole body, grateful that said body remembered the action of trying to escape from a full body grab. With the sound of cracking stones, he was able to free himself from the wall. He had lost too much time, though. Knight had a fraction of a second to see how the dark elf did a full rotation to gain momentum, and then threw a powerful kick towards him before he could react.
Oh, it was going to hurt.
He was proven correct when her foot collided against his chest with a force similar to the monster rabbit's final charge. His damaged body screamed with new pain as the kick buried him again in the wall, and then made him go through it. After an instant of complete darkness, Knight found himself looking at the other side of the wall and part of the night sky. Was he... was he outside? Knight had no time to process the events as an old but familiar sensation invaded his body, triggering flashes and flashes of deaths caused by said sensation.
That was the exact moment he realized he was falling.
Thankfully, it was not a big fall, a mental calculation and a quick look told him the room where he had fought the golems was probably at ground level. Still, said room had been big, and as his back hit the ground painfully, he decided that any fall greater than the usual height of a baby, was a fall too big for him right now.
At least he had not dropped his sword, his right hand still clenched around its handle. It... it surely was a well learned ability.
He seemed to have fallen in some kind of courtyard made of smooth stones, close to the building he had forcefully exited and the Dark Tower. However, any more thoughts about it were interrupted when Knight saw a figure falling from the sky just over him. Forcing his body again, he was able to move out of the way just before the woman crashed on the ground, her foot stomping the ground and cracking the stone where his head had been. Without losing a second, she attacked again, throwing a punch at him, but this time, Knight was ready for it, and done with being treated as a training dummy.
Before her fist could hit him, he stopped it with the flat of his sword, using his two hands for support. Knight tried to deviate the attack to the side instead of just blocking it, afraid of her monstrous strength damaging even more the blade. The metal still protested, but it held strong. She seemed surprised by his defense and Knight tried to take advantage of it with an attack of his own, but the woman was too fast, instantly taking a step back to avoid his swing.
Knight mentally cursed. The fight was not going great. She was faster than him, and after those blows, he knew the usual ratio of speed and strength did not apply to her. And he had to add his injuries to that, because after his fight with the golems and his little travel through a solid wall, Knight was sure he had some bruised ribs if not worse. It did not keep him from moving in anyway, but it still hurt.
If he wanted to win, he needed to stop receiving so much damage. Again, he dearly missed his shield.
Ignorant to his mental grieving, the dark elf looked at him with a raised eyebrow, some confusion mixing with the hate of her glare, "You are a lot stronger than what I expected from an architect. None of the stories I have heard pictured you as a warrior."
From a what?
Mentally, Knight shook his head. He had not the time to decipher the woman's insane remarks, he was too busy trying to survive, as she had begun to attack again. This time, it was not just a punch or a kick but a constant stream of hits he was trying to dodge with questionable success. His body wanted to move more, to roll away from the attacks, but when he tried, his knees and back froze, letting her connect several powerful punches until he was able to recover.
So, he decided rolling was beyond him for now.
Knight's immediate future was looking grim, because his attacks never reached her, and hers were too fast for him to avoid completely. The only bright side was, he could see how she was hurting herself hitting his armor, stopping sometimes and shaking off the numbness and pain of her limbs. However, in his current state, Knight would not bet on his body lasting longer than her hands, so he had to do something. This was not a battle he should fight.
Besides, he was having contradictory feelings about the dark elf. One hand, she was trying to kill him, and while that was not as uncommon for him as it should be, it made her his enemy. On the other hand, she was basically the first person he had interacted with in this world who thought there was someone inside the armor, even if she had mistaken him for someone else.
It was a really complex feeling.
The part about wanting to kill him was winning, though, due to the fact that she was winning the fight. And... and it did not make sense. Yes, she was strong and fast, but not as strong nor as fast as some of the beings he had fought and killed. Knight did not have a shield and his sword was in a deplorable state, but even with better gear, he was not confident in his victory.
The woman was not the problem, she was not too strong. It was him. He... he was weak.
Maybe not in general terms, but he was surely weaker than what he had been.
The memories of his old life showed a journey, a constant struggle. And through that struggle, Knight had improved and got stronger. He could see the difference between his first fights in that forgotten land compared to the last ones. But now... now he felt as if he had lost part of it, as if part of his strength had been... had been... burned away.
Oh.
It seemed his memories had not been the only thing affected by the Fire.
The distraction caused by that realization gained him another punch in the chest, but he barely reacted, his body moving away automatically to avoid more attacks while his mind kept processing what had happened. He did not understand, Knight knew the Fire was something he did not know anything about, but how was it able to burn the memories and the strength of a person?
Further pondering the topic would have to wait, as a kick almost hitting his head forced him to snap out of it. Yes, he was weaker than what he should be, but he could not do anything about it right now. He had to think, how could he win against someone as strong as him but faster? The first option that appeared in his mind was... to change his equipment for something lighter and faster. Great.
He was really regretting not investigating more his ability to summon weapons.
Ok, there had to be another way, changing weapons and armor could not be his only strategy. And... it was not the only one. The second option that appeared in his mind was to die, get stronger, and then try again later. Not very useful for his current situation, but, sadly, probably what was going to happen.
Another exchange of attacks, another time hers connected and his did not. His body hurt, but not as much as his pride, knowing he was going to lose against someone who should be inferior to him. Death was probably inevitable, so Knight began to wonder where he would revive. And, of course, that was the very same moment when a distant noise made them stop. A noise of steps, shouts and battle.
The dark elf was the first to react, glaring at him with disbelief, "You... you broke the barrier for someone?" the disbelief turned into pure hate, the runes around her limbs shining with more strength. She clenched her fists with barely controlled anger, "You... you fucking traitor! I will skin you alive!"
Ok, so maybe he was starting to prefer when people thought he was an empty armor. At least, no one supposed loyalties or had imaginary grudges with an empty armo— Oh, right. There was Sard.
Leaving that aside, those sounds could only mean that the Kuroinu was here. It was a relief, really. After all, he was not sure if the damage to the orb had been enough to break the barrier. He would have liked to destroy it completely, but his current enemy had not let him. Speaking of her, the woman took a battle stance again, ready to beat him into a pulp. However, the distant noises were rapidly getting louder, and before she could act, they turned to look at the invaders.
"Good work, big guy. I knew I had nothing to worry about. And thanks for receiving those hits. The gong-like sounds were a good way to find you."
Knight had probably never been happier to hear Maia's voice, jokes at his struggle included.
And she was not alone. Hicks and a group of men Knight did not recognize were at her side, weapons ready and breathing heavily, as if they had been running to come here... which, considering Maia's promise of looking for him when the barrier went down, maybe they had. The other detail he noticed was, both Maia and Hicks were looking at the dark elf with very serious faces, while some of the men looked to be in the boundary between fear and terror.
So, maybe it was not only that Knight was too weak but that she was stupidly strong. It was a bit comforting.
Said stupidly strong woman looked at the new group with her usual dose of hate and some disappointment, "Maia of the Seven Shields and some men of the Kuroinu." then she turned to Knight, "Is this who you betrayed your Queen for? You are a disgrace to your race."
It seemed Maia's protective impulse was as sharp as ever, because she replied almost instantaneously, "Knight hasn't betrayed anyone! He has never been with your side!"
The redhead declaration was enough to make the dark elf pause, studying Knight again with focused eyes until she stopped again at the bracelet around his wrist. Then, she nodded.
"I see, you are not him, he gave you his key. So, he is a traitor, just one too cowardly to come here to face his punishment."
No one replied to her declaration, too busy being tense and getting ready to fight, but Knight was more confused about what had just happened. Only a few words and then they had cleared the misunderstanding? That... that was not fair. Why his other misunderstandings could not be resolved as easily as this one!?
"Whatever you say lady, the only thing that matters now is that you are going down!" one the men Knight did not know interrupted the tension with a shout, jumping to attack the dark elf at the same time, his sword raised up.
Almost everyone else reacted with surprise and disbelief, but they had been too focused on the woman to do anything about the shouting man, not even Knight. Hicks raised his arm, as if trying to grab him, "Wait, you fucking idiot! Sto—!"
But it was too late, in less than a second, the woman did a quick spin and delivered a roundhouse kick on the man's face. The sound of breaking bones resounded around the group as his head rotated more than what a healthy neck should allow. Then, before the man could fall to the ground, the dark elf grabbed his arm and took his sword from the now lifeless fingers.
The body collided with the stone floor with a thud, and all the group, sans Knight, Maia and Hicks, took a step back, fear running through their veins.
As this happened, the dark elf just observed her new weapon, rubbing one finger along the blade, "What a disgrace of a sword, but I guess I can't expect anything better from something crafted by human hands."
Knight really wanted to be able to control his facial muscles in order to grimace to what had just happened. Not only had she killed one of them, but now she had a weapon as well. If she knew how to use it —and it looked as if she knew—, adding a sword to her speed and strength had turned her into an even more dangerous enemy.
The first to react was Maia, positioning herself in front of the group, her dual blades raised and ready, eye fixed on the other woman, "Ok, so it seems I should make something clear. Knight, and any other idiot who doesn't have a valid excuse for not knowing her, I present to you Chloe, more known as the Dark Tempest, the Dark Queen's right hand and the strongest warrior of her army. So, do not fucking attack her without thinking."
She did not shout the last part, but the serious tone and the dead body at their feet were enough to convey the weight of the message. When she was sure everyone of the group had understood her words, Maia continued.
"In case what has just happened was not enough evidence, let me tell you she is fast, and with those runes of her she hits like a battering ram... almost like you, Knight, I would say. But seeing the state of your sword, I think you already know that."
Knight gave her a quick nod. This woman, Chloe, had not been responsible for his weapons destruction, but he already knew those facts, and could understand why Maia would think that. That, and he could not explain the real cause with only nods and gestures.
Seeing Maia was not speaking any more, the dark elf, Chloe, decided to move, sword ready to attack, "Are you done praising me? Because I am sick of it and I have things to do, among others, kill you all and check if more vermin have entered the tower."
The tone was threatening yet calm, as if she was really talking about some chores. However, Knight could see she was tense. He did not know if it was due to having to fight all of them, or for the possibility of someone invading the tower, but it was clear the woman was worried. That could make her prone to mistakes, which was good, but, at the same time, it could make her fight a lot harder than before.
In front of him, Maia just nodded at Chloe's words, "Yeah, we don't have time to waste, let's do this." she raised her swords, ready to start the fight, "Ah, and Hicks? Don't interfere, I will fight her alone."
She said the last part as a simple afterthought, but the response to it was not.
"Alone? What the fuck are you saying!? Are you crazy?" Hicks shouted, voicing Knight's thoughts as well.
He knew Maia was strong, but the dark elf was very dangerous, being as strong as him and probably as fast as Maia. It was not the kind of battle she should fight alone!
"Shut up and listen to me!" Maia replied with as much vehemence as Hicks, "What was the last time we fought side by side? We can't practice it now, and if we tried to fight her together, we will only make it easier for her. I have to do it alone."
"That's..." Hicks trailed off, obviously not happy with the situation, but not rebuking what Maia had said either.
She understood and nodded, not taking her eyes off the dark elf, "Remain there, watch my back, and make sure she doesn't put you between me and her. The same goes for you, Knight. I trust you, but we don't know how to fight together at this level."
The muscles in Knight's jaw tensed. He... he did not like it, but knew as well she was right. He had memories of battles where he had not been alone —even if he could not recall the ones helping him—, but those had not had any teamwork, just... cooperation. Against rabid monsters it worked, but against a smart enemy who could use one of them against the other, it would be dangerous. He... he could not help Maia like he wanted. His jaw tensed again and he realized he was gritting his teeth.
The revelation did not bring him any happiness, knowing where the emotion behind said action was coming from.
Finally accepting, Knight took a step back, removing himself from the fight zone. Maia just gave a little nod, not taking her eyes from the enemy, and then moved. However, 'move' maybe was not the right word, as she basically disappeared, going from stillness to impossible speed in the span of a blink.
Yet the attack was swiftly stopped by Chloe, not even fazed by the sudden action. Then, the dark elf counterattacked and Maia was forced to dodge, moving to the right and using her other sword to try again, but this time it was Chloe the one who dodged, taking a step back and replying in kind. And so the pattern continued, making their exchange of attacks more like a dance than like a fight.
From that moment, it was hard to follow their movements. Both fighters were fast and nimble, doing attacks and maneuvers that Knight could only dream of. He knew Maia had not exactly held back when they had sparred, but it was clear she had started easy, pushing herself as their duel progressed. This time was different, she had started giving her all, focusing her whole body and mind on the fight. She would not be caught out of guard by simple tricks like what he had done with the shield.
At first glance, it was hard to see who was winning, both women avoiding real damage and receiving just some grazing cuts. Behind him, the men were cheering Maia, clear trust on her victory. At his side, Hicks looked very tense, but was keeping his word and did not interfere. For his part, Knight was nervous. Because yes, it was hard to see who was winning, but he could see a worrying difference: while Chloe blocked and dodged, Maia just dodged, with just some too-close-for-comfort parries when she could not.
Maia was doing her very best to avoid a direct hit, but even then, the redirected swings were brutal, and Knight could see how her arms shook every time she parried the dark elf's attacks. He gritted his teeth, cursing again the fact he could not help. He could see the two women were almost equal in speed, but not in strength, and after feeling Chloe's blows, he knew she was as strong as him. That was the most worrying fact, because after their little spar back at the town, Knight knew that kind of power could kill Maia if she made just one mistake.
He clenched his fists, feeling useless and worried. That was when he realized he still had his sword on his right hand, but it was not as if that could really help. He had not been able to connect a single attack, and without a shield to control the pace of the fight, Knight was basically a static target.
With renewed shame, he looked down, angry at himself. He should be able to help, hell, he should be able to fight the dark elf on his own, but the Fire had stripped him of part of his real strength. Missing for the first time his ability to sigh, Knight lowered his head and looked at the remains of his bastard sword, seeing his armor reflected in the damaged metal. Yes, that was what he was now, a broken weapon and a... pristine armor?
He blinked, self-hate forgotten for the moment.
Surprised, Knight raised his left arm and began to inspect his armor. It was... in almost perfect condition. He could see some scratches, and what could or could not be some scorched marks, but beyond that, he did not find any damage. After the burning trap, after the golems, after Chloe punches and kicks... it barely had a mark. That without considering possible fights before his time in the Fire.
What... What the hell was his armor made of?
No, that was not the right question. He could remember how strong his armor was, how even in his old world, it was considered something out of legends. However, even his old regular armors could probably be okay after all that, every and each of them made to last. The same for his weapons. So, the real question was, what were his new sword and shield made of? What was their quality to be melted and broken by the recent events?
Knight began to remember, remember everything that had happened in the tower, everything that had happened since he had received these weapons. The impossibly hot fire, the hard stones of the golems, the attacks from Chloe. How his shield had melted, how his sword had broken, how she had hurt herself hitting his armor. And with those memories, the beginning of a plan started to form in his mind.
It was a very risky plan, but still better than doing nothing while Maia risked her life. Because he wanted to help her, he wanted to protect her. She was weird, usually acted silly and liked to mess with him... and she was kind as well, was passionate, positive, and cared for Knight more than what he thought possible. And after the days of travel, after the hours of one-sided conversations and the old memories she evoked in him... She…
~ "Another fruitful cooperation, my friend! I have to admit, I did not expect to slay a dragon today, but it is the destiny and duty of my covenant to help those who are in need." the warrior extended his arm and he grabbed it, sharing a gesture of respect, "As I said, you should join us. After all, brothers in arms should stay together!" ~
The flash of memories hurt, like a red-hot nail going through his head, but this time, it did not disappear, Knight did not want it to disappear. He could not remember the man who had said those words, could not remember anything about their interactions. But Knight knew what he had been to him, how close it was to what he had found on Maia. And accepting that, there was no more doubt.
Maia was his friend. They were companions, brother and sister in arms. And he would die before letting anything happen to her.
Decision made, Knight began to approach the fighting duo. He heard Hicks saying something to him, but he did not stop, after all, he had decided to not pay too much heed to his orders, had he not? Ignoring the man, he quickly reached the fight and announced his presence by swinging his blade downwards, trying to cut the dark elf. As he had expected, it did not work, Chloe dodging flawlessly and now positioning so Knight was between her and Maia.
He was received with surprise and anger... from both sides.
"What the fuck, Knight!? I told you to not interfere!" Maia shouted at his side. He understood his anger, but he was not going to remain still when he had an idea to help. He was sure she would understand it soon.
So, with the dark elf's eyes on him, Knight took the first step of his plan: he dropped his sword, the metal clanking against the stone floor.
The action was met with silence from both his group and Chloe. The woman seemed surprised for a second, but Knight knew it was not a surprise he could take advantage of, she was ready for whatever he was going to try. However, he was counting on that, so, without more delay, Knight threw a simple punch at her.
It was clear no one had expected that, but as he had predicted, the surprise was not enough. The punch was slow, telegraphed and with poor form, so Chloe dodged with barely any movement, replying with an attack to his side that impacted with her immense strength. Ignoring the pain, Knight tried to punch her again, receiving another swing, this time to his leg, that almost made him fall. Regaining his stance, Knight attacked again.
And so, their own dance began.
It was not a graceful dance, at least, Knight's part was not. He had very little experience in hand to hand combat, and he looked more like a drunken brawler than anything else. For her part, Chloe really looked like a perfect dancer, avoiding effortlessly his attacks and constantly replying with her own.
Even if his armor could not be damaged by her sword, Knight felt the pain of every impact, bruising his muscles and cracking his bones. Through the fog of battle and pain, sometimes, he could see Maia in the corner of his eyes, frustration and anxiety obvious in her face. After all, as Knight's punches were so easy to dodge, Chloe was keeping him between her and Maia, moving constantly so the redhead could not attack unless she wanted to hit Knight as well.
He knew he was receiving an alarming amount of damage, but it was his only choice. He had been careless and lost his shield and sword as result. As with the tree he had cut just after getting the bastard sword, Knight had been ignoring the weapons' limit. The same way he was ignoring his body's limit now, but that was starting to become harder and harder. It did not matter, though, as they had been at it for a while, so, hoping he was right, he decided it had been enough.
With a mental roar, Knight finally attacked back, moving his arm to hit the sword with an open arc, as if he still had his shield and could parry with it. But he did not have it, it had been melted by the black fire, it had not endured enough. And that was again the point that he was trying to make. A strength like the one he or Chloe had was not normal in this new life compared to the other one. And what was more important...
CRACK
The blacksmiths of both lives were worlds apart, in more than one sense.
In a frozen second, as cracks began to appear in the point where sword met armor, Knight thought that there had to be great blacksmiths in this world too, capable of amazing works like Maia's blades or Vault's sword, but those seemed to be exceptions. In his memories, in that forgotten land, any weapon was wielded by someone or something that surpassed humans by large margins. There were special arms and masterpieces, but the baseline weapons, the most common of them, were better than the ones in this world.
His bastard sword had not been made for someone of his strength, had not been made to crush golems made of rock. The blade Chloe had taken from the man she had killed had not been made for someone of her strength, had not been made to collide with an armor reinforced to sustain the attacks of old gods. And, as said blade hit his arm one last time, he proved his point. Because with a shrill sound, the sword shattered in pieces.
The dark elf's eyes widened in surprise, not expecting the sudden break. Not receiving the expected recoil from her attack, she lost her stance for a second. Her reflexes were unbelievable, trying to recover from it before even finishing the arc of her swing. The distraction was minimal, the window to take advantage of it even smaller.
But Knight had been waiting for it.
Before she could recover completely, he squared his shoulders, lowered his stance, and grabbed her by the waist, keeping his right shoulder against her chest. She shrieked in surprise, probably not understanding what he was doing, but Knight did not care and began to move, running towards the Dark Tower with all his might and with no intention of stopping.
After all, it had worked with the golem.
The first wall could have been made of paper by how much it stopped them. Knight knew it was the main structure of the tower and said wall was very sturdy and thick, but before his strength combined with his frustration for being useless in the fight until now and the anger from all the attacks he had received from the woman, well, it had barely slowed him down. With an explosion of dust and stones, they went through the wall and into some kind of room.
Chloe cried, in half surprise-half pain. He felt her moving and then blow after blow rained down on his back. Her strength was still monstrous, but he would not stop just due to some excruciating pain, so, with his recently remembered ability, Knight gritted his teeth and collided with the second wall.
The impact was enough to stop her attacks. He knew she would restart in a second, but thankfully, they arrived in a narrow corridor, so they hit the third wall before she could recover. With another cry of pain and another cloud of broken stones, they went through it and entered another room. It seemed the charge was effective, as Chloe was too shocked to resume her attacks, so, with redouble effort, Knight kept going, having only time to see some pieces of furniture before they reached the end of the room.
After demolishing the fourth wall, he was sure a half if nor more of her ribs had given in inside her. Probably nothing fatal, but still a debilitating injury. However, when they impacted the fifth wall, it proved to be more resilient than the others, or maybe he had just lost too much impulse. Whichever the reason, the wall did not break, so Knight and the dark elf just impacted the stone, cracking it a little. The woman cried in pain, but before he could keep the pressure, Chloe used the wall as support, regaining enough space to raise her arms, and then slam both her fists in his back. Hard.
Even from such a bad position, the attack carried so much strength that the floor cracked around Knight's feet. He fell to his knees, releasing Chloe in the process, and he was very sure this time, it had been his ribs the ones that gave in. Then, something happened in his mouth. It was strange, but he… remembered the sensation. It had happened a lot during his fights. He was tasting… iron?
Oh, he was tasting his own blood, was he not?
Sadly, Chloe did not give him time to think about it. With a grunt of pain, and while grabbing her left side, she got close to him and kicked him in the head with all her might, making him fly again. Knight collided with the wall, close to the hole he had made in his charge, and the debilitated structure collapsed as he went through it. He was pretty sure the kick would have been enough to do it without his previous help, though.
Knight fell to the ground of the previous room with a loud clank and an inaudible gasp, all air leaving his lungs. While his recently kicked head wondered why he seemed to breathe when the rest of body functions were more or less optional for him, Chloe entered the room as well through the ruined wall.
"You bastard! Did you think you could come here and do whatever you wanted?" she stood over him and put one foot on his chest, applying more and more pressure, "First, I am going to crush you like the bug you are. And then, I will kill the rest of the intruders in the most painful way imaginable! I will show them why this has been the worst and last mistake of their lives!"
Knight frowned. His head hurt, his thoughts were still a little scrambled and his armor was starting to groan under the immense pressure, but even then, it seemed she was more hurt overall. After all, she was breathing hard, with some blood in the corner of her lips, still holding her injured side and finally, the most obvious sign of all: she had forgotten who she was fighting against. But Knight did not, he still remembered, and he knew who had his back. And like that person had done in every step of this journey with him, Knight would trust her with his life. So, with all his remaining strength, he grabbed the leg currently crushing him and held it firmly.
Chloe looked at him confused, but she could do it only for a second. The next one, the sound of quick steps reached them and she raised her head to look, her eyes widening in realization. With impossible reflexes, the elf tried to dodge, but Knight did not let go of her leg. In that situation, a shadow passed over him in an instant, faster than the wind. So fast he could barely see the glint coming from the metal of Maia's swords as they slashed Chloe in a decisive attack.
The elf cried in pain, blood coming out from her wounds as she fell and, with Knight still holding her leg, she was forced to fall over him. For a second, their eyes met, even if he knew she was not able to see through his helmet. And even with two big, bleeding gashes in her belly, her eyes did not show any sign of giving up, only anger and determination. So, before she could do anything else, Knight clenched his right fist.
And then, with a mental shout, Knight threw the, possibly, worst punch in history.
Still, it was backed with all his strength and determination, so after impacting the woman's chest, she was thrown to the side. The sound of wood breaking instead of stone told him she had not reached the wall, but with a quick look, Knight found the seemingly unconscious form of the woman under what probably had been several shelves full of books, the runes around her limbs fading out. Even then, he waited, in case she would wake up and attack, but, after a few seconds of nothing happening, he finally let out a sigh and returned to his lying position, looking at the ceiling and—
Wait. Had he just sighed?
"Fuck, what a monster." Maia's voice broke him out of his thoughts and made him look at her. She was standing some meters in front of him looking at Chloe, swords still ready and prepared to keep fighting. Then, she finally relaxed and looked at him with a relieved smile, "I wanted to cut her in half, but even with you keeping her from moving, she was able to bend enough to avoid a lethal wound. So, good job finishing her so quickly." her smile and voice acquired a teasing tone, "Even if I am sure wasted drunks can punch better than that."
Knight mentally chuckled. Yes, she could tease him about it all she wanted, but if she had time to tease, it was only because his plan had worked in the first place.
After some seconds of just directing her teasing smile at him, Maia sheathed her swords and approached him, giving Knight an open hand for him to take it. He needed a second to understand what she was doing, and a couple more to finally move his arm to take said hand. With a joint effort, she was able to help him stand up. His whole body protested, but he was used to it at this point. After making sure he could stand on his own, Maia looked at the unconscious woman.
"But we did it." she finally said with some amazement. Then she looked at him again with a nervous laugh, "Fuck, we really did it! We beat the Dark Tempest! We surprised her and the bitch killed one of us, but still, do you know how incredible this is?" Maia finished with another nervous, little laugh, looking almost giddy at the situation, "We beat her, not just forced her to disengage. We did it!"
And then she moved.
Before he could react, Maia had her arms around him, hugging him with all the strength she could muster. It was... strange. Even with the armor between them and the pain of his injured body being aggravated by the hug, Knight could feel the warmth of the action, the positive feeling inside him caused by it. Remembering his last conversation with Anna, he moved his arms and hugged her back, happy that now it was more like a real hug than the last time.
After some seconds, Maia finally separated and looked at him with a giant smile on her face, her eyes filled with a light that made clear to Knight that she was proud of him, that he had proved her expectations of him were right. That he could be a hero. And it meant a lot more to him than what he could have imagined.
Maybe it was silly to think a simple look could tell him so much, but after how Maia had been correctly reading his mind with just minimal body language and her intuition, Knight knew he was right about this as well. So, forcing his facial muscles, Knight smiled back, surprised by how easy it had been and grateful for this last fight. It had really helped him in regaining some control.
Yes, Knight was having a very good moment, filled with pride for his accomplishment.
And then Maia broke said moment when he smacked him in the arm with enough strength to rattle his whole body.
"And that's for ignoring my orders and fucking scaring the hell out of me." she explained with a serious tone, but soon her eyes softened, "Really, don't do something like that again. I couldn't help you, and even if you are strong, she hits like a monster. I don't know anyone who could have endure so much blows like those and survive, so in case there was any doubt, yes, I was fucking worried about you."
Knight looked down, feeling a bit bad for what he had made her feel. It was not as if he could have explained his plan, but he understood why his seemingly suicide attack had worried her. However, he did not regret it. A little mistake on her part, and instead of worrying, she would have suffered a severed limb or worse. Knight tried to transmit that to her, looking at some of the shallow cuts her fight had left in her arms. Somehow, she seemed to get it and sighed, looking at her side.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. You did it to protect me, but that doesn't mean I am fine with it..." she trailed off. Then, she looked at him again, now with a grin on her face, "So prepare yourself, big guy, because as soon as we finish here, we are going to train until we can fight together like a pair of twins!"
He relaxed with her words. Even if they were a promise of a busy future, it was still said in an upbeat tone. Really, her ability to keep her spirit up was one of the things he admired of her. Hopefully, he would be able to tell her that soon with his own voice... or maybe not. She probably would never let him forget it if he told her. She was that obnoxious after all.
"For some reason I have the feeling I should hit you again for a rude thought, but I will let it pass because I am that awesome." she said to him with a grin, reminding him again of her scary ability to read him, "And now, there is only one thing left to do. Are you ready, Knight?"
He nodded, getting serious again. They had defeated Chloe, but that did not mean they had finished. There was one last mission between them and the end of the war, the same mission the goddess of this land had given to them.
It was time to capture the Dark Queen.