Kaien stood before the scattered horde of demons, his glowing red blade held mere inches from his chest. The air around him had distorted as the blade’s light illuminated the dark tunnel. The hounds before him staggered back in fear as a wave of scorching heat crept toward them. Kaien took a single, long breath, then opened his eyes. His dark pupils locked onto the darkness ahead, ignoring the horde of demons that surrounded him.

  He gently lowered the only source of light within the tunnel to his side and took a step forward, followed by the low echo of another. A slow, deliberate pace. Above him, several shadows scurried away as the overwhelming heat consumed the area. Kaien lowered his right hand further, forcing his weapon beneath the thin sheet of water and directly into the stone below. Barely a second passed before a soft sizzle echoed through the tunnel. He glanced down toward his side and smirked. As he walked, his blade sliced through the rigid stone like butter, leaving a wake of molten rock followed by the rapid rise of dense steam that surrounded him.

  I shouldn’t feed it so much, but for the demon that lurks there, I do not have a choice.

  His gaze returned to the darkness ahead. He lifted his blade, resting the glowing metal against his shoulder, and extended his left hand forward.

  “Well then. Let’s go.”

  He surged forward like a falling star through the tunnel, a red line carving through the darkness before the whistle of his blade could follow. A short burst of compressed air rushed in his wake, setting the horde ablaze. Their pitch-black fur charred almost instantly, the soft tissue of their eyes burned by the heat trailing his blade.

  He appeared further into the tunnel with his blade in hand to illuminate the darkness. Now, despite the horde of lifeless bodies that surrounded him, Kaien’s gaze remained on a single frame. The smile he had worn moments earlier vanished.

  “I see, so you are the source of all this…overwhelming presence”

  Before him, within the pile of rotten corpse, knelt a being shrouded in ancient metal armour. It’s back faced Kaien as it pulled its left hand from the masses, slowly revealing its armoured arm, painted in blood. Kaien stood in confusion, as though he had witnessed a crime he had no business seeing. What kind of demon is this? Is this thing even a demon?

  Questions burned into his mind. Should I even fight it?

  And yet each led to the same conclusion. I cannot run now, after all. To die is my duty!

  He lowered his stance and leapt toward the armoured figure, its blood-drenched arm still hovering above the lifeless pile below, closing the gap between its head and his blade. In that instant, the figure’s steel arm fully withdrew, revealing its hands, fingers, and hooked steel claws. Within a fraction of a second, it twisted at the waist to face Kaien. The sudden motion caught him off guard; a brief, frozen beat was all the armoured figure needed to rake its claws across Kaien’s torso, the steel tearing through his flesh. The attack sent Kaien soaring as he eventually crashed into the nearby stone walls.

  “AAARGH”

  A moment passed before he pushed himself from the stone wall, a low groan escaping his bleeding lips as pain flared across his abdomen and the rough stone scraped against his skin. **

  What just happened?!

  Kaien stood once more, his left hand pressed against his abdomen. The light of his blade had begun to dim, causing the tunnel to darken around him. Damn it, I don’t have much time left. If I run out of V? now, there’s no chance I’ll survive this.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  His gaze locked onto the armoured figure once more. Who am I kidding? I’m not so weak as to commit treason against the Wardens.

  Several feet ahead, the armoured figure clenched its fists and pressed them into the red stone below. Slowly, it rose until it stood at full height. Kaien glared at it at first, only to realise the being before him was not merely clad in armour, but bore an uncanny, deliberate resemblance to a knight, a grey knight whose head has nearly brushed the ceiling. Two sharp eye slits were carved into its helm, and a bright blue glow burned within them, while a large, dark blue plume trailed down its back.

  Kaien stood hunched, one hand pressed against his stomach. Disappointment washed over his face as he stared up at the terrifyingly tall figure before him.

  “Haha… you’re kidding me, right?” He paused for a moment, the words lingering in the air before he spoke again. “This is so… unbelievable.”

  He raised his left hand, only to find it drenched in his own blood. “Heh, I don’t suppose you’d let me out, huh?” he said as he glanced toward the towering knight, its slender figure remaining as still as stone.

  “No? Nothing? No words, at least?”

  The desperation finally settled within Kaien’s chest, heavy and suffocating, along with the reality that he would not make it out of the tunnel alive.

  The tunnel fell into silence for a moment, with a faint drip-drop to fill the void. The knight, who had remained perfectly still, lowered its glowing gaze towards the single path that led to the beginning of the tunnel as a strange echo had caught its attention.

  “Haha.”

  “Hahaha…”

  “AHAHAHA!”

  The small figure suddenly began to laugh hysterically, his blood-soaked hand flailing behind him. “You know what? This is perfect. I get to die.”

  He raised his blade and set it against his shoulder, facing the entrance behind him. Its glow illuminating the dark tunnel once more.

  “They get to die.”

  He crouched, then pointed his blood-soaked hand toward the knight ahead. His face contorted and his teeth clenched as pain fed his newfound rage.

  “And now, you get to die.”

  He raised the blade, pointing it toward the ceiling, then, in one clean motion, swiped it down in a curved arc, unleashing a large wave of pressurised hot air that rushed toward the towering knight. Without waiting, he swiped horizontally this time, releasing another large wave. The knight remained still as both arcs rushed towards it. Both strikes then collided with the knight in quick succession, detonating into violent gusts of wind. The air however, had split around its frame, ripping into the stone wall behind…yet the knight remained still.

  “Alright.” A trace of defeat lingered in Kaien’s voice.

  He launched toward the enormous figure, his grip tightening around the scorching blade. I need to distract it. Suddenly, he drove the blade into the ground, halting mid-motion, then dashed to his right.

  This place… round.

  He reached the edge of the circular chamber and dug his glowing blade into the ground with the flat facing forward. In one fluid motion, he spun around, dragging the blade across the bubbling stone. Once fully facing the demon, he flicked the blade upward, spraying molten stone toward the monster. The knight slowly turned to face the clumps of molten rock flying toward it, followed by a blazing light that swallowed its line of sight entirely.

  This is my chance!

  Kaien dashed sharply to his right, slipping out of the knight’s silhouette. He flicked his gaze toward the molten stone he had launched, then to his blade he’d thrown as it burned with a blinding white light. At that distance, it will see me if I attack from below. However, it has two blind spots now!

  He dropped low, his left hand still pressed against his stomach, then he burst forward, cutting through the air and soaring past the suspended stone and glowing blade as though time itself had stalled. He struck the ceiling behind the towering knight, driving his right hand into the stone to keep himself from falling.

  One chance. That’s all I’ve got.

  The world slowed further. The knight, the molten stone, the blade, everything hung in place as Kaien clung to the vertical surface. With one final push, he surged forward like a falling star through the open space, a short burst of compressed air rushed in his wake. Kaien’s fist closed the gap, stopping just inches from the knight.

  Got you.

  The knight, however, no longer remained still. It slowly turned its head, then its entire body, before taking a single step backward. Kaien’s expression dimmed with confusion as the figure he had kept within his vision vanished, replaced by an immense sensation that seeped into his skin and spread like thunder along his spine.

  What is happening?! Where is it?

  Unbeknown to him, an illuminating blue glow from above had already sealed his judgment.