When we arrived back at the station the Captain seemed to lighten up. His ever-present smile hinted at it to us. I dreaded returning to the station. It was likely after everything that happened we were never going to be able to patrol again. I was desperate to stay even for just a second longer.
Then suddenly, the reason why we went on the patrol, in the first place. Flashed through my head.
"What about the woods? There was a report of cultist behavior right?" I asked, this caused Damon and the Captain to look at one another. With a sigh, the Captain started to speak.
"Look Lysander, Damon made that-." Alden stopped talking midway, the sound of a child crying caused him to stop talking and turn to where it was coming from. Much to his displeasure it came from the woods.
Of course without looking I rushed headlong into the woods, looking back to see if they were following, the Captain caught up almost instantly, and Damon wasn't too far behind with Garret lagging.
When we walked in, the crying almost completely stopped, the deeper we went the more the sound got quieter, but you could still hear it. The more we closed in, the more I felt a strange feeling bubbling in my stomach. I felt despair and fear, yet I didn't understand why. Looking around, Garret had been much more scared than all of us. Was his fear spreading? Luckily the Captain's calm and shockingly happy look was even more infectious which helped to keep the fear down.
Suddenly we arrived, to the source of the crying voice. It was a young girl wearing a pink frilly ornate dress with white trimmings. Her hair was forcibly tied back into two small pigtails, though she didn't have enough hair for them to be comfortable, causing her head to contort slightly.
When we saw it, the Captain immediately stopped me and forced me to duck using a bush as cover, Damon followed with Garret being the last to do the same. We all looked on at the young girl, she looked like any other crying young girl. Her pink dress contrasted the endless green of the forest. I couldn't tell if this was what the tip was talking about. Reports of cultists said they covered their faces and wore a black cloak decorated with red symbols and none seemed to be children.
Yet the young girl in front of them followed none of the reports. The thought crossed my mind that this could be a Sin Archbishop, but while there have been reports of child-like Sin Archbishop none of their descriptions matched the girl. Looking at how sad and unfortunate the girl was, I almost felt compelled to help. Help up! She's just a poor girl, a thought that almost feels forced into my mind. The only reason I hadn't was that familiar feeling of sickness it made me all too sure that it was no ordinary girl. An average criminal tends only to make me a little uneasy. There were some expectations but that mostly remained true, I've never seen a criminal who made me feel so sick that I experienced fever-like symptoms, yet the girl did exactly that.
"Why are we just hiding here? This girl is in danger!" Garret said, a concerned look on his face. He said looking at the Captain before looking back at the girl.
The Captain just stared, I heard him murmuring something, and he was visibly shaking, his face lacking his usually animated smile, or that cartoony frown, Sweat beaded along his brow, his breath shallow and uneven, His murmurs grew quieter as his eyes darted around, searching for something—an escape? This was nothing like he normally is, he was in deathly fear of something.
"Captain?" I asked, I couldn't stop the concern in my voice. The Captain ignored me, Damon also seemed to notice as he desperately shook the Captain, but to no avail. After minutes of this Garret broke the silence.
"Alright I've had enough!" Garret said, getting out of the bush and walking towards the pink-dressed girl. I tried to grab him, but I couldn't without exposing myself in the process. I watched on, my heart beating out of my chest, clutching my sword. I was unconsciously slowly pulling it out. Even the Captain was watching Garrett.
Garret approached, reaching out. What happened next blinked by in seconds, two seemingly females dressed in maid outfits suddenly surrounded Garret and the girl, before he could react a giant shard of ice crashed into Garret's head. Immediately falling to the ground unconscious, his limp body was dragged into the bushes by the "maids' ' and the pink-dressed girl before disappearing once more.
"GARR-" Before I could shout Damon quickly covered my mouth. I turned to him and shouted.
"What are you doing? We have to go help him!" I yelled. Damon shook his head pointing to the Captain who was huddling himself, "You won't do that by screaming. The Captain is out of action. Even if he weren't, we wouldn't be enough to stop whatever the hell that was we saw, maybe if every squad in the town helped we could." He shouted back.
"So what's the plan? We just leave?" I spat.
But before he could answer people in dark cloaks jumped out of the greenery and surrounded us, I quickly unsheathed my sword with Damon doing the same. I had no chance to help the Captain as they charged at us. I managed to cut one down before another charged at me. Pulling out a crimson knife they slashed at me before I parried it and slashed them across the chest. One snuck up behind me and brought their blade down. My armor, despite being slightly damaged after, was left perfectly fine before counter stabbing. The world began to spin, all I knew was I had been repeatedly slashed and stabbed, until I realized there weren't any more cultists. I looked down at myself and my sword and I realized the sheer amount of blood that stained it. I looked towards Damon who was also covered in blood, with only spots where blood was absent where you could see his actual body.
It was only now that I realized how sore my whole body felt, despite that I turned towards the direction Garret was dragged. Until something grabbed my leg
I was expecting it to be Damon, so I turned around to tell him he couldn't change my mind, I had to go help Garret even if he could already be dead.
But to my shock, it was the Captain, he looked at me with a sad look in his eyes.
"You wanted to know? Right? Why am I the Captain of such a small squad and not some big-shot knight?" The Captain said.
His hands were shaking uncontrollably. His grip on my hand was weak. I could've broken out easily yet I couldn't bring myself to do it. Someone I respected so highly being reduced to this.
"Is this really the time-" I stopped, remaining silent as the Captain started to talk.
"It was a situation like this," the Captain began, his voice shaky. "I led a small group on a rescue mission, the last one I needed to prove myself as a proper knight. At the time, we believed a small group of criminals had kidnapped a girl and taken refuge in the forest…" He trailed off, his gaze distant, and I glanced at Damon, who turned away, a pained expression etched on his face. He must have heard this story before.
"I was a much different person back then—smug, arrogant, and above all, a fool. I pushed my team into the depths of that forest, convinced I could handle anything that came our way. The thrill of the hunt blinded me. What we thought were just petty criminals turned out to be the witch cult, a force far more sinister than I could have ever imagined. They had laid a trap, and I was the bait. I led my comrades into a slaughterhouse. I experienced their deaths firsthand."
The Captain's voice wavered as he spoke, each word weighted with guilt. "I watched as one by one, they fell, their screams echoing in my ears even now. I had to bear witness to their deaths—friends who trusted me, who looked to me for guidance. I can still hear their cries, feel the weight of their blood on my hands."
He lowered his gaze to the ground, tears streaming down his cheeks, splattering against the earth like a heavy rain. "How could I ever have the gall to call myself a knight after that? I failed them all, and now, I'm standing here, on the verge of letting another person down…" He stared into the dirt. Wetting it with his tears.
I paused, pushing his hand off mine and kneeling, placing my hand on his shoulder. Before slapping him, his tear-soaked cheek soaking my hand as I did. Damon and the Captain looked at me, both equally shocked.
"Are you an idiot? No, you absolutely are an idiot. I can't imagine how it feels to do that, a decision you make leading to the death of people you care for. But your response to that is hiding away and crying like a coward when another person is in danger? Would your dead comrades want you to do that? This is your chance to make it up to them! Help me get Garret back, and send those damn cultists back to hell! Damon you too, Garret should be our priority not saving our asses." I said almost screaming at the two of themI got up and dusted myself off, then offered a hand to the Captain, which he accepted.
"I wasn't saying that to- whatever." Damon said with a sigh before smiling. The Captain looked at me before nodding, I could tell he was still scared. But I could see that familiar cartoony smile was starting to grow back on his face. Seeing this instantly boosted my mood, I never thought my speech would work. It's not like I had any right to speak… I was fully prepared to go fight the cultist on my own, and die trying. But with The Captain and Damon on my side, maybe…!
"MOVE!" The Captain said, backing away. As if to remind me of the reality we live in. I was knocked out of balance and I fell on the ground before being dragged deeper into the forest far away from the Captain. He faded from view as I was dragged further and further.
I turned to see what grabbed me, but there was nothing there. Despite that, I was being dragged along the ground. Bushes, twigs, and mud slammed into my face as I was dragged.
Arriving at a clearing, before being suddenly lifted off the ground. I was suspended upside down for a moment high in the air, I could see the tips of the trees far below me before being slammed back down to the ground. I heard a loud crack as I landed. My armor was almost destroyed only the shoulder piece being somewhat functional, luckily it had taken most of the crash. But My right leg was shattered.
The pain from my leg was unbearable, however, I forced myself up completely relying on my only unbroken leg to hold my whole body. Looking around, I saw Damon who had already been up and quick to face away from the Cultist who was watching the two of us. Unlike me, he was left unharmed; his armor was similarly unscathed. We had been surrounded, this time there was no more doubt,
"Witch Cultist!" I shouted in pure rage.
The pink-dress girl was in the center of them all, but the twin maids were nowhere to be seen. She walked towards us before stopping only a couple feet ahead of the other cultist, her small drill ponytails bounced as she did.
"Stay there! Are you the leader, are you affiliated with the witches' cult!" Damon Loudly shouted, but the girl looked on silently. Damon asked more and more things yet both the Cultists and the girl said nothing, only standing there and watching the two of us in dead silence. Suddenly the loud clang of metal rang out behind the young girl. Out from the forest came a woman, with a white and purple outfit and long flowing silver hair, on the hair was a white flower. Chains attached to her arms with hooks at the end dragged along the ground as she walked. A single red tear remained under her eyes were oddly alluring, yet disgusting and hideous at the same looking at her gave me a wave of disgust, and my Divine protection made it obvious. This woman was evil incarnate. My divine protection made me have the urge to vomit, yet I couldn't turn my head away.
"Forgive them, I apologize for their rude behavior. I often forgot to introduce myself, A trait I seem to have in common with my beloved," The woman smiled, pushing past the Cultist and the young girl, She bowed, then rose with a smile that was far too hideous to bring any comfort.
"Oh my! I'm so embarrassed, you really must forgive me." The woman said, before finally introducing herself.
"Sin Archbishop Representing Wrath, Sirius Romanee-Conti." She said with glee, Damon aimed his sword directly at her.
"I understand I may be threatening but could you-" Before Sirius could finish Damon loudly interrupted, "Where the hell did you take Garret!"
She shook her head and shrugged, "My beloved handles recruitment, I dearly apologize." Sirius said with dramatized regret.
"Recruitment?" I had asked loud enough for her to hear me. But she put a finger to her mouth. I limped next to Damon, and we both gave a knowing nod to each other.
"Alright Sirius, Let me introduce myself then, Lysander Vale," I said glaring at her.
"Damon Darrow," Damon said with an expression matching my own.
Sirius narrowed her eyes doing yet another Courtesy bow.
"A pleasure-!" Sirius was cut off, the moment she looked away from us Damon and I unleashed our desperate surprise attack. The plan, if you could call it that, was simple. We expected the Cultists and girl to rush to her aid, staying back my goal was to keep them off of Damon, who'd push her into the forest. Damon was in a much better condition to fight an Archbishop than I was. And supposedly a better fighter, or so he claimed endlessly.
To my surprise, the Cultist simply watched on, as Sirius stopped bowing and her chain flickered to life. Like snakes, they glided through the air as the hook end closed in towards Damon who quickly ducked below and continued to run as fast as he could to her.
I couldn't just stand there, and seeing the other cultist had no plans to help. I saw the chains that Miss slightly slew towards me taking my chance, grabbed the chains and planted my foot in the ground. The force with which the chains pulled away was inhumane, despite that I stubbornly held on. I couldn't let my focus slip even a little. But I felt my whole body slowly shift forward, the force pulling the chains back. Yet I held on,
"LET GO ZANDER!" Damon screamed, as fire quickly engulfed the entire chain, despite letting it go, my left hand was caught in the flames for merely a couple of seconds. Despite that my hand became charred, and I couldn't feel it at all. I couldn't even hold my sword in my left hand anymore.
Damon backed far away grabbing me as he did when we were a good distance away. I took a look at him. Despite being unable to use her chains which I had assumed was her only weapon Damon looked awful. A piece of his armor closed in on itself as impact marks made it obvious where he had been hit. A small trail of blood fell from his mouth and his breathing was quick and sporadic. Did She do that on brute force alone?
Damon ran toward crashing into Sirius forcibly pushing her into the forest away from the clearing, a scream quickly rang out soon after. The cultist attempted to follow her, I limped as fast as I could to block any of them from exiting the clearing. If they wanted to get to Damon they'd have to get past me.
They all charged at me at varying speeds, the first to arrive did a wide horizontal slash, and I backed away enough to avoid it before counter-stabbing through the cultist's heart. I had to kick him to disconnect him from the blade, forcing me to stand alone on the broken leg wobbling as I did. After another arrived attempting to stab me in the chest, I managed to sidestep it and cut the cultist's hand clean off, they quickly clutched their arm while screaming before I brought my blade upwards and slashed their head clean off. A sudden jolt of pain ruined my attempt to finish the cultist all off as quickly as possible, as I realized a knife had been thrown and penetrated its way deep into my shoulder.
Grabbing one of the cultist's bodies I used it as a shield as more knives were thrown toward me. Running towards them I crashed into the group throwing the knives and letting go of the cultist I slashed and stabbed until my hands were too fatigued to do so. This went on for what seemed like hours, dodging before counter-attacking. Until the Cultist began chanting quickly dodging to the left a fireball flew behind me, and more and more marched towards lighting the forest ablaze. Two cultists had managed to catch me by surprise; however, A large amount of dirt had been thrown into the air as something crashed into the ground distracting the two cultists, allowing me to deal with the two of them quickly.
As the dirt settled I saw what it was that crashed into the dirt. It was Damon, I ran up to him and kneeled. His pulse was faint but he was still alive. But he was in an even worse state than me. Pieces of his armor were missing and the parts that were still on him were charred and completely burnt. Hook-like holes riddled his body. Most of his skin had suffered horrible burns and the parts that weren't were covered in other injuries.
"What happened? Damon! Can you still move?" I desperately asked, trying to shake him as if it would help.
"What happened was I got my ass handed to me." He said plainly, a small smile on his face. He tried to chuckle but more blood filled his mouth forcing him to turn to the side to drain it.
"This is not the time to joke Idiot! You can't die, there's no way I can handle Sirius and the rest of these cultists alone!" I said tears fell down my cheeks without me realizing, ironically cleaning a lot of the blood and dirt that had covered them. I tried to stop the bleeding by applying pressure yet it only seemed to get worse. He shook his head pushing my hand away. "You're not going to." He said placing his hand on my leg, suddenly a blue glow engulfed it. I could feel the fatigue and pain from my leg evaporate, and I could move it again. He then did the same for my left hand.
"You're going to run as fast as you can. Far away from here. Try to find the Captain, he will be able-''. I shook my head, "Shut up!" I screamed "I'm not leaving you, we're here to get Garret back, no way we are leaving you! You for Garret? What kind of messed up trade is that?" I questioned, "Zander, you can't save everyone no matter how much you want to. I always found you to be incredibly strong, but out of all of us you were always one of the mentally weakest. Save what you can." He said looking towards the pain evident in his eyes.
Before I could disagree with him, a loud metallic ring rang out as each link of the chain scraped against the ground, I desperately looked around to find where it was coming from, where she was coming from. Corpses of cultists littered the area, Most of the cultists had been cut down, and the few that remained had all gone back to only watching the two of us. And then I saw her, behind her the fire that the cultist started spreading uncontrollably. Sirius's purple and white shirt had been torn in places and slight small gashes where the clothing had torn. However, compared to Damon, she was practically untouched. Yet the rage she was in was incredibly obvious.
"You ruined it, the clothes my beloved hand-picked! You destroyed it! YOU WORTHLESS TRASH!" Sirius yelled, "I'll kill both of you! By my own hands! Kill the trouble maker! I'll handle them!" She yelled once more, the cultists that were watching all quickly dissipated including the Girl. Suddenly with the flick of her wrist, the chains were animated once more, she raised her left hand before quickly bringing it back down. I rolled Damon over to the side before backing away myself. The hook end of the chain embedded itself to the ground, in the spot I had just been in. I was lying flat on the ground to dodge the second Chain aimed at my neck. Standing up I placed myself in front of Damon, I knew I had to protect Damon that was one win condition.
The second would be getting rid of Sirius, whether it be through killing or disabling her. I only know two things about her abilities, she can control those things incredibly well, and she has some kind of fire magic. I have no trump cards to speak of.
After thinking of all my options, I knew what I had to do, in all honesty, it was the only thing I could do. I charged towards her, as fast as I could. I needed to finish the fight as quickly as possible. She swiped as the chains quickly followed, forcing me to duck down. As I closed in, the chain's movements grew more fluid and advanced. Her control of the battlefield was painfully evident, a single wrong move and I'd get hooked. Even staying far away I could only barely hold my own. Despite that, I rushed forward when I could.
I edged closer and closer. But just before I could land even a single hit one of the chain hooks caught my leg before the other wrapped around my waist and effortlessly lifted me off the ground. Before long I could once again see over the treetops. I got a glimpse of how much damage was done to the forest. The fire had spread far beyond the point of being able to be stopped, the plume from all of it dwarfed anything I'd ever seen. It completely covered the night sky in soot and smoke. As I was raised higher and higher I felt a feeling of weightlessness, before a sudden and violent thug brought me closer to the ground.
"Not again!," I screamed as I came crashing down to the ground, my armor is what took most of the blow the first time, and even then I was left with a broken leg. Yet another situation where death was all but Guaranteed, In this situation I let go of myself and just relaxed. For a couple of moments everything felt alright, it felt as if everything would be ok. As if they would actually find Garret alive and kicking, I found myself almost laughing at the naivety of that thought. The naivety of the hero stories I always read to myself, always thinking I could be like them! That this Divine Protection was proof I was destined to be a hero. I understood it all to well now that was just not the I could still try!
Despite being told Divine Protections were a gift from the gods themselves it had never helped me, I could never help anyone. And after what I've done, I was worthy of either. Despite that, at this moment falling who knows how high. I would still strive to become those naive heroes in the stories, sure I would never have the strength those same hero's had, but I wouldn't let that stop me. With that I was brought back from thought and curled up into a ball and tried covering my vitals. I had no idea how to survive a high fall especially not when there's hooks attached to my body. But I did my best to brace for the fall.
I waited and waited, expecting to feel even more unbearable pain or a loud crunch from my bones shattering from being broken. Yet nothing, instead I was caught. I felt the hook detach from my body and heard them grind against the ground as they returned to their owner.
Opening my eyes, waiting for them to adjust, I saw him.
"Captain!" I exclaimed in shock, the Captain was definitely holding me, it wasn't some illusion.
"Apply pressure to where the hooks attached to your legs stop the bleeding." He said, I did as he was told. I hadn't even realized my leg was starting to bleed, staining my already damaged pants.
"Can you stand?" He asked, after realizing he was still holding me I felt my cheek redden, but I quickly shook off that ridiculous thought before nodding, he gently placed me down and I quickly stood up. "Status?" He asked, almost star struck by his seriousness, I managed to respond.
"Damon worse for wear, I don't know if he can-" The Captain interrupted me, "He never told you did he?" The Captain said, sighing, after seeing my confused look he pointed to Damon. Who was in an infinitely better state than he was before. Most of the injuries on his body were gone the burns had seemed to shrink or disappear altogether, and he was standing and staring right at me with a stupid smirk on his face.
"To my credit I did show you didn't I?." Damon said softly while looking away from me. Scratching the temple of his nose. I ran towards him and the sound of a sharp slap echoed. "I thought... I thought you were going to die!" I yelled at him, not even realizing some tears had started to form before hugging him. "You're giving a lot of mixed feelings, no?" He asked, before patting me on the head. After I let go he fell back down much to my shock.
"Damn fire! I can never tell when it's fully healed!" He exclaimed.
"How long until you can walk again?" The Captain said. "It'll take most of my magic but 10 minutes." Damon answered.
The Captain suddenly forced my head down, before proceeding ducking himself, as a chain passed by both of our heads. He rapidly turned towards the direction the chain came from, When that all too familiar voice rang out.
"Another one, I can assume you're the one who ruined my beloved's toys?" Sirius questioned, her eyes narrowed.
"I have no clue what you're talking about or who you even are." Alden answered. I tried moving towards Sirius but Alden stretched his arm out instantly. I stopped, and he turned to me. "Protect Damon, she's a Sin Archbishop right? I'll handle her, take care of him, alright?" he asked, nodding I backed off, I couldn't help but be amazed. The whole time his guard was never down, he was calm and collected. Looking at him, there wasn't a single ounce of fear. A far cry from how he was before. No, it was more than that. He had absolute confidence.
I had never seen the Captain so serious, it was like he was a different person. It was nothing like how serious he was earlier with the girl in the town. I wasn't even fighting him yet I felt like I would be crushed from the pressure I felt. The battle started not even a second after I had this thought. The chains that me and Damon had so much problem with the Captain dodged it all effortlessly as if he knew exactly where they would be. It took everything I had just to get close to her.
The Captain however closed the distance in only a couple minutes, once he did Sirius attempted to knock him away, but the Captain nimbly dodged it, once he was in the clear he swiftly brought his blade and slice, in that moment I heard a thump and a ear piercing scream, but the Captain didn't relent this time slicing her across the chest leaving a large gaping gash. Suddenly flames started to form but the Captain kicked her back before the flames could reach him. Turning back he looked at me "Focus on Damon!" he screamed before charging at her again. As if in a trance I hadn't realized I wasn't trying to help Damon at all. Instead, I was staring at his fight like an idiot!
Turning back Damon was fine, he was completely focused on his leg. I walked up to him and stood by his side. He hadn't noticed me, which I was thankful for. I wanted him to completely focus on recovering, with the Captain and Damon. That naive dream of mine seemed like a possibility, no more than that, it seemed guaranteed.
The sounds of battle from Sirius and the Captain were deafening, however unlike our fights with Sirius, the sound of chains was always complimented by her screams. However, for me and Damon nothing was happening. Because of this for once I finally had a second to think. Sirius was only one Bishop, while I'm not exactly sure. Only the Captain was given the finer details but, there were four Bishops that were alive. Sirius was one, but what about the other two? Lust and Pride were nowhere to be seen, and while Gluttony is alive he's not known for teaming up as the other three. My Divine protection was not picking up anything other than Sirius. I couldn't even sense the Cultist anymore, had the Captain killed them all? And what about that Frilly dressed girl? The more questions the less I feel I understood. All I knew for sure was I hated them, every single one of these cultists, I could feel it too, my divine protection screamed its support at this thought.
Wait since when did my Divine protection do something like that?
Through the massive fire that was once a forest, came a knight. Whose hair was as Crimson as the fire behind him, the flames seemed to part as he passed by, his white clothes was almost exactly like the one a white knight from the capital would wear, a long sword was there in his sheath, the swords hilt design was elaborate so much so I couldn't help but marvel at its beauty.
"Reinhard?" I asked in confusion, a man I had only seen once. During my coronation when I was officially made a soldier of the army, despite only seeing him once he made a lasting impression on me that I would never forget, I came to learn that everyone else at the coronation felt the same.
No response was made, he only walked forward edging closer and closer to Damon. Something was off, Reinhard had blue eyes, yet the person In Front of me had black ones. As I realized this. I began to notice even more his hair while crimson seemed fake, like an artificial dye, and when I focused I could see the tiniest traces of black peaking through. And his outfit, it was incredibly well made that I couldn't deny. But the design was off, it's as if it was made by memory. The sword was overly decorated, as if trying to distract from something. But more than all of that, my divine protection was roaring, screaming at me. This person is not to be trusted.
"Stay back!" I yelled, I stood In Front of Damon. The knight stopped, "Who the hell are you! Why are you impersonating the Sword Saint?" I berated. A pure evil masking itself as the sword saint only enraged me further. To my shock it actually spoke,
"Sorry, I could've... it's my fault." The crimson knight's apologies were ceaseless, but they made no sense. They weren't directed to me, or Damon. They weren't even directed to someone I knew… a man named Subaru?
"Yet another stunning personality." I sarcastically blurted to myself, the cultists were nothing more than eccentric criminals.
The knight pulled his sword from its sheath, he hid one of his hands behind his back. He was underestimating me, it was clear as day. He didn't see me as a challenge, it looked as if he was trying to see past me. That's when I realized, the Captain. He's trying to see the Captain. I was nothing but an object blocking his eyesight from the actual challenge.
I sheath my sword as well, I stood my ground. One step, one step was all it took for me to lose him, he had seemed to vanish. A moment later his sword was inches away from my face, a downward slash. A simple downwards slash told me everything I needed to know, this cultist. This Crimson knight was far stronger than me. I managed to meet his sword with my own, perhaps because of luck or sheer instinct alone. I managed to shove him away, and our blades clashed once more. Every swing was heavenly, his technique was as if he was making a painting and I was the canvas, I tried desperately to see if I had anything over him. Speed, Strength, Technique, and instinct. He was far beyond me in every way, my only saving grace was he had chosen to not attack. He was toying with me, each time the sparks came from the meeting of the metal I felt a shockwave through my body. And then I felt a sharp chilling blade.
My hands trembled. It was a challenge to even hold my sword. I couldn't back away and leave Damon vulnerable, but it was like I could charge in either, this man was far above me. My breathing grew jagged, my vision started to blur, the man continued to ceaselessly apologize but a ringing sound completely enveloped my ears.
He crossed the distance I tried to make between us almost instantly, he managed to cut my sword leaving only a stud left before lodging that stud into my neck.
He didn't even want to use his own sword to kill me, perhaps he felt it would have only ruined his sword.
This sense of helplessness, this familiar feeling.
"Promise me you won't say a word about this, sweetheart. If you do, Mommy and Daddy could end up in prison—or worse."
It was just like those dark days from my past.
My parents... they were far from ideal. They revealed in their crimes, finding a perverse joy in the violence they inflicted. Their habit of killing made them more infamous as each day passed, and I was forced to watch it firsthand. No, it was more than that; it was much worse.
"What did we say about keeping our secrets? We'll discuss this later. For now, just handle your own mistakes."
"Lysander?" Her scared voice haunts me.
"Yes, Ma'am." Why hadn't I stopped them?
Hero? Justice? What was I on? I had known what true justice was the whole time as I helped them. I wasn't a hero, no I was just like this knight In Front of me. I was a fake, perhaps that's why I despised this knight and the cult so much. They were just like me. I became a knight as an apology, no matter what I convinced myself of before this was the real reason. I needed a way to punish myself, to repay what I had done. Trying? What nonsense!
The son of two murderers given such a Divine protection? Was I being taunted? What a cruel fate.
I'm not a hero.
However, despite this even if it cost me my life, Damon, Garret, and the Captain they weren't like me. They were what I strived to be, something I could only wish to be a fraction of. I wanted to die, but if I did I would be avoiding punishment, the gift they gave me. The gift of being able to stand by them. I had to help them, if just by a little. Even if their burden is only lessened by mere fractions, that would be enough.
I managed to grab the stud and push it away from my neck. Before damage could be done, at the cost of my hand, which was now a bloody mess. Clearly I had shocked him, using my chance I quickly went for a stab, but the crimson knight regained his focus in a matter of seconds managing to parry it. He had both his hand on his sword, his expression changed as well; it wasn't the same uninterested frown he had, but a twisted grin. He went for another clean cut aiming for my limbs, I couldn't move back and leave Damon vulnerable, I was doomed, or so I thought but?
He was moving awfully slow. I managed to meet his sword with my own, before knocking it away and landing a cut on his chest, a small minuscule meaningless cut. Then another and another. It wasn't his speed that decreased but his strength as well, for the first time during the fight the knight was actually sweating.
Parry, block, dodge, slash. In a fraction of a second all those moves were done in succession, the talent of the knight was undeniable before but I started to realize the whole world seemed to be slower, the knights movements seemed predictable and flawed, a far cry from what it was before. But it was much more than that, my hearing was incredible. I could hear every breath the man took and the crackles of the fire raging behind him. I saw things not only slowed down, but I noticed every little flinch and muscle movement the knight made. It was as if I was looking through him.
As our blades clashed once more a loud ring roared as the metal collided, but his blade was far from matching mine. I had surpassed him in speed and strength in a matter of moments. His technique alone was what kept him in the fight, but I was still getting stronger. I could feel an energy surging through my body. It's as if it was trying to compensate for my lack of technique. My body was actively getting stronger to overcome the Crimson Knight. He backed away, allowing me to cut at his legs, it came clean off. He raised his head, and opened his mouth wide, but I had dislocated the knight's head before he could scream.
Blood poured like a fountain where his head should've been. Covering the area in red. It seeped into the dirt.
As I looked at the dirt, I was hit with a wave of Nausea, My legs gave in like a house of cards and I crashed into the ground with a loud thud.
My body was on fire, everything inside me was under a burning sensation I never experienced before. When I tried to get up, I only came crashing back down. My eyes teared, I felt the energy in my body was being sapped. I felt as if it was being taken away and the strength I was given was only temporary. I couldn't breathe at all. It felt like a rock had been lodged into my throat.
As time continued I finally managed to get a hold of myself, my breathing became normal once more, my heart rate returned to normal as well. That burning feeling had also dissipated, but I could tell I wasn't whole body felt weaker. A few of my hair turned white, it felt as though I had physically aged by years. /p
That feeling of power, entering my body, and then leaving it again. It felt similar to when I got that feeling of sickness from my Divine protection.
Then suddenly it hit me, this whole time, every second of my life. Every time I saw someone evil two things happened, I would feel sick and fight them and fail miserably. Especially after helping my parents I felt that sick feeling coming from myself, I had never thought of myself as someone who could give out justice and deliver it. Never worthy of having the right to do something like that.
I still don't but now, I don't care about the evil I did. I just want to help Damon, Garret, and the Captain any way I can. I unconsciously want to be the "deliverer of justice" the divine protection wants. So it gave me strength. But perhaps this was the price of such power. Forcing my body to grow exponentially like that so quickly. I was dealing with the consequences. I knew I couldn't do that for too long or risk overextending my body.
I looked back at the Knight's body, it refused to fall completely. Instead it remained on the floor upright with his knees preventing him from falling , holding on to the well-decorated handle of his sword. Which was now slightly coated in blood due to cuts on the man's hands.
"He really stuck to his Reinhard act till the very end." I blurted out but when I looked at the man's decapitated head. His expression was full of regret and fear, his body refused to give up the Reinhard act even though his mind didn't want to.
"Was he… being forced to do this?" I asked, it never made sense to me why the people in the Witch Cult were willing to do the awful deeds they do. Was he being forced into it? In that way, me and the Knight could be even more alike than I thought.
I gently laid the knight on his back, placing his hands on his chest before removing his sword from its sheath and replacing it with my own, placing his sword in my own sheath. I hated the Witch Cult, but if this knight was really forced into doing this just like I was all those years ago, rope into someone else's evil schemes then I could at least do this much to respect him.
Something was bugging me, why was that cultist impersonating the Sword Saint? His skills were undeniable, but comparing it to Reinhard would be a joke. Unless the strength given by my divine protection really was that great.
This question only led to more, the biggest being. If the Knight was impersonating the sword saint, had the twin maids and that girl been impersonating someone? But who?
After racking my brain as much as I could, I could only find one other person that matched the young girl in my head. The king candidate, Emilia's great spirit Beatrice. I couldn't be for sure as I have never seen her in person but I was certain from what I heard she would match the girl perfectly. As for the maids, I had no clue.
I grabbed at my hair, trying to find any reason as to why the Witch Cult would impersonate those two people, but there wasn't any I could think of. There was no connection between the two either. Other than that they both served under Kings candidates. I started to feel a headache coming on so I sighing I gave up.
Turning back, I saw Damon had already finished healing his leg, but he just looked at me in awe.
"Did something happen?" I asked, after getting close enough for him to hear me.
After a couple of seconds he shook his head, "That was…-N-nothing." Damon stammered, stumbling before getting up. The fire was quickly getting out of hand, the amount of smoke in the air was suffocating, and the heat was even worse. I felt like any moment I would be burned alive. Under the thick cover of Smoke I saw the glint of a golden chain, I quickly grabbed Damon and laid flat avoiding it. Then I saw a bandaged figure running past us, Sirius, holding onto what looked to be an arm. She ran desperately into the burning forest. Chains awkwardly swinging behind her as she did.
"Get back here!" I shouted before covering my mouth, I looked around, the Captain. He was nowhere to be seen. My heart was racing, I couldn't see anything except for the black smoke and Damon, before long I was starting to panic. But then the glint of a sword shined through the smoke.
"Looks like I missed the party!" The Captain said, a smug smile. He was completely unscathed, even his hair wasn't even so much as singed.
"H-how did…" I was in shock, I saw Sirius holding an arm, was that... her own? Had she lost the fight that badly? I couldn't help but gulp, just how strong was the Captain?
"Damon?" the Captain asked. Damon quickly nodded.
"Then…" The Captain said, looking at both Damon and me.
The air was thick, with black smoke, but somehow, in that moment, it tasted sweet. The Captain glanced at both of us, leisurely stretching his hand above his head. "This is it," he said, before quickly straightening himself. "Shall we go get Garret?"
Even though he tried to hide it, the fire in the Captains eyes burned brightly. I could imagine it even brighter than the burning forest.
Damon cracked a grin, the fire in his eyes mirroring the Captain's. "Zander?" Damon asked, I could hear the smugness in his voice.
"Hell yeah!" I exclaimed before the Captain ran towards the direction Sirius went, me and Damon following closely behind.