The last time Rita and Kyle had faced this monstrosity, they had fought against it and instantly lost.
That was the moment Kyle had seen real death ever since coming to the realm.
One that he had envisioned countless times since. If it came true, he would be instantly killed from a sword through the heart, despite whatever tenacity he had with the Roach.
He had no idea how Rita was feeling then, but he suspected her body screamed of the same thing.
They were meant to die at that spot.
But for some reason, the Grim Knight had let them go, walking back to the monstrous, beating substance on the wall with its usual psychotic chuckling as it held something in its grasp.
It hadn’t left them alone.
At least, not completely.
In its grasp was a golden light.
The Grim Knight had placed it into the cold, surging body of the abomination on the wall.
The light was instantly absorbed.
And in the next moment, Kyle’s head had formed around one of its writhing vines.
"Your fate belongs now to me. Your freedom is yours to keep."
Those were the exact words of the monster as it had let them go, taking Kyle’s fate as its trophy.
Kyle recalled every moment of those terrifying minutes.
The helplessness.
The humiliation.
The sheer embarrassment of being defeated so easily by a creature that had treated his life as though it were nothing more than an insignificant inconvenience.
And now, all of it fueled his determination.
His teeth gritted together as his grip tightened around his sword.
He thrust the weapon forward, his voice exploding from his throat in a furious roar.
"Kill them all!"
With that, his legion moved.
Those on all fours pounced forward, claws digging into the cold obsidian ground as they launched themselves into the fray. Those on two legs raced forward as quickly as they could, their heavy footsteps pounding against the earth as they struggled to keep up with the faster beasts.
Roars echoed through the walls of the crevice.
Snorts.
The thunderous sound of heavy footsteps.
The screeches of monsters.
The clash of steel.
The entire battlefield seemed to come alive.
The Grim Knight chuckled.
Then it gestured forward.
Its army of knights charged towards the horde of monsters.
Swords drawn.
Spears held tightly in their hands.
Arrows cocked.
It was a battle of legion against legion.
For one passing moment, the two forces charged against each other.
And in the next...
All hell rained loose.
Creatures mounted knights, scratching and clawing through their armour like a hot knife slicing through butter.
Heavy clubs crashed into other knights, sending their bodies staggering backwards as their armour dented beneath the overwhelming force.
Fangs sunk into metal.
Swords retaliated.
Blades hacked into the thick hides of horrid abominations, black blood spraying through the air.
Claws tore through flesh.
Spears pierced monstrous bodies.
The battlefield became a storm of violence.
Within seconds, the entire battlefield was filled with blood and carnage.
The bodies of the Decayed Knights filled the ground with puddles of black blood that stained the obsidian surface beneath them, while the corpses of twisted monstrosities were scattered across the battlefield.
The ancient knights were not very powerful compared to the band of horrors Kyle owned as an army.
But they had numbers.
Great numbers.
And that was enough.
They outnumbered the summons, surrounding them from every direction and cleaving through their flesh little by little until finally killing them.
For every one summon that fell, three crude knights followed.
Kyle gritted his teeth.
He let out a great battle cry and finally charged forward from the spot where he had originally stood, joining the battle himself.
Taking just three steps out into the field of carnage, he ducked underneath a flying arrow, letting it miss him by barely a foot.
The projectile whistled past his ear.
Kyle didn’t even look at it.
He simply persevered, racing forward with all his might.
"Kayhaak!"
A horrid knight dove at him from the side, its sword raised high overhead as it attempted to behead Kyle while he moved.
Kyle swiftly turned.
His sword rose.
Clang!
The two blades collided.
Kyle parried the attack from the crude knight, redirecting the sword away from his body.
He immediately rammed his shoulder into its face.
Crack!
A loud snap escaped into the air as the knight staggered backwards.
"Fucking bastard!"
Kyle swung.
The blade tore through the knight’s neck and cleaved its head off in one easy stroke.
The head flew.
Black blood erupted from the stump.
Kyle didn’t even spare the corpse a glance.
He turned to the next knight.
He grabbed onto its shoulder and pulled it close before headbutting it with so much force that the visor of its helmet cracked inward.
The knight staggered.
Kyle was about to finish it when—
A giant, snake-like creature moved with terrifying speed.
Its massive body swiftly wrapped itself around the crude knight.
The monster squeezed.
Hard.
The armour of the knight began to buckle.
Crack! Snap!
The entire body of the knight shattered beneath the crushing force, its black blood spilling across the ground as its bones broke apart inside its armour.
Kyle immediately continued his charge forward.
"Goddamnit..."
His face contorted as his gaze caught a volley of arrows tore through the air.
Hundreds of them.
All aimed directly at him and his summons.
Kyle gritted his teeth.
This could not be blocked.
Not by him.
Nor with a sword.
Or with anything he currently possessed.
His eyes shifted rapidly.
Then he jumped forward.
Kyle hit the ground and skidded across the bloodied obsidian, his body sliding beneath the massive body of the Blood Devourer.
The next moment—
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
The arrows came down in a mighty rain.
They struck deeply into many of his summons, piercing flesh and burying themselves into bodies.
But for the Blood Devourer and it’s veiny Carapace...
The arrows simply bounced off its impenetrable hide.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The projectiles struck its body and fell uselessly to the ground.
Kyle and the abomination remained completely unscathed from the attack.
Kyle grunted.
He immediately rolled out from underneath the Veined Abomination as the massive creature charged deeper into the legion of knights, crushing and tearing through anything that stood in its path.
Kyle rose to his feet.
And before him...
Was his target.
The Grim Knight.
The monster that had stolen his fate. He has finally found the wretched bastard in the carnage of the battle.