"Not so fast," The knight said, looking down.
Click!
With a sharp snap of his fingers, a tiny azure spark ignited on the knight's thumb, crackling with static before darting to Valentine's chest and phasing through his clothes, exploding within.
A muffled thump came from inside his torso.
His body jumped at the recoil; Val's eyes snapped wide open, followed by him coughing and trying to hold his chest, which felt as if a bolt of lightning pierced through his heart.
Writhing on the ground, the knight's heavy armour roughly met his resistance.
"Gah!-" Holding him up by his hair, the knight effortlessly lifted the boy from the ground, meeting his pained eyes.
He tried to resist, pushing the hand away as much as he could. But it seemed that no matter how hard he tried, there was not a budge in his steel grip.
"You're going to pull my hair out! Stop!"
Amidst his cries, the knight tightened his grip, looking down at him with an expressionless gaze.
Two rubies stared him down, cutting through his voice.
"Who are you?"
The knight asked, his other arm already preparing to strike him in the abdomen, making an iron fist.
Valentine's face paled.
"I-I already told you! My name is Valenti-"
"Lies."
The next second, his fist dug into Valentine's stomach. The impact sent him on the verge of spitting out the apple he ate minutes ago, alongside blood and stomach acid.
Tightening his grip on Valentine's hair, the knight brought him closer, his scarlet gaze piercing through him as if no lie could escape its sight.
"Who was it that you stole the invitation from?"
"What invitati-Urgh!" His body tasted steel once more, the knight's eyes narrowing at the constant, pathetic denial.
His heavy blows made Valentine double over in pain while lingering blood dropped down his lip.
He glared at the knight.
"What did I do to you!?"
"Fool."
Valentine winced at the knight's raised fist, already preparing for the next hit to land through him.
The shadow above them had yet to leave, still focused on watching the boy's helpless state.
However, the next moment, another snap of fingers rang in Val's deaf ears, forcing his eyes to widen at the sight.
A tiny blue spark appeared in front of him, similar to the one Sunday showed him days ago.
It was smaller, like comparing a human to an elephant; this was merely dust. But around it, tiny sparks kept exploding quietly, like lightning.
When it entered his chest, it was as if a ghost was passing through a solid object.
His whole body lit up for a split second, akin to a tiny explosion burning within him. He wanted to scream out at the scorching pain of his insides being burnt, but all that left him were clouds of dark smoke from all of his orifices.
The knight let go of his hair with a sigh, dropping the boy on the wet grass.
Then, he spoke.
"You are useless."
Below him, Valentine was slowly standing up, his entire body shaking. It seemed as if his injuries had healed, replaced by dark scars across his limbs.
He looked up with a resentful expression, gritting his teeth.
"I'm going to kill you, you asshole."
"Arrogant as well? It would be quite amusing to crush you."
His brow rose while Valentine continued to stand up, his height matching the knight's.
"It seems that you are quite sturdy; even if I were pulling my punches, you would be lying on the ground with fractured ribs and begging for Victoria to grant her blessing."
"Hah!"
Valentine gave him a bloody grin.
"Bastard... Come here, I'll give you a blessing alright."
Winding up his punch, Valentine clenched his teeth and moved his throbbing torso, twisting it while cutting through the air in front of him with all of his might.
The knight's whisper reached his ears.
"Is that all?"
Valentine's eyes widened as he side-stepped unevenly. The red-eyed man appeared over his shoulder like a wraith, no sound of his footsteps ever reaching Val's ears. Raising his fists to his eye level, he tried mimicking a boxing stance he saw once.
He exhaled a pained breath.
"Combat arts?" The knight's tone held a tinge of curiosity.
However, the next moment, Valentine rushed at him like a barbarian, throwing his fists everywhere he saw the knight's figure flash. He tripped, coughed, and shouted, but mere desperation was not enough to defeat an opponent.
It was clear he couldn't fight.
He couldn't even stand properly.
"You can stop now." His voice sounded displeased. "This is pointless."
Dodging his punches with ease, the knight vanished for a moment, appearing a few steps behind Valentine, who could only watch with wide eyes.
He turned around, ready to jump at him again.
Without changing his expression, the knight opened the envelope, now glowing with an even brighter lantern-like glow.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Val's face dropped.
When did he...
He immediately looked down to check his pockets, just to find the envelope and the letter missing.
"I see now," The knight murmured, holding up the letter. "So it is yours after all, Mr. All bark and no bite."
Fwoosh!
"No!"
In an instant, the scrap of paper turned to ashes, vanishing under an azure flame. It was gone just like that.
The smell of burnt paper reached Val's nose, making him take a step back.
"Oh, you're not going anywhere."
Looking up at something above them, the knight gave it a curt nod.
The next moment, something bit onto Valentine's shirt collar, lifting him from the ground while he tried to pull away, flailing his limbs at it.
The knight looked up at the creature standing above them.
"Kyle, please treat him as an honourable guest."
Valentine stopped briefly, watching the knight put on a false smile.
"Make sure you hold him properly; we don't want to lose someone who has been recommended by one of the Saints, now do we?"
A warm breath washed over Valentine, making him twist and turn.
The knight, without a word, walked over to the shadows, caressing them with his hand gently. Then, like magic, through the shadow that he walked through, black scales started to reveal themself under his palm, individually emerging under the cover of dark clouds.
Despite the lack of sunlight, they shone brilliantly like an obsidian shell, with rugged, bloodless skin being protected by them.
Behind him, a thin tail coiled in a circle around the area, akin to five pythons. It rose weakly from the ground, then fell down with a heavy thud, forcing grass and earth to shatter under its monstrous weight.
I-Is that!?
Valentine swallowed hard, seeing a pair of torn wings spread themselves across the forest, forcing shadows to swallow them.
Tracing its body with his gaze, he finally noticed a devilish maw holding his clothes, with two amber slit's staring back at him.
Ah... ahah...
He was at a loss for words.
The otherworldly reptile exhaled through its wide nostrils, sending waves of searing heat to brush across his face.
The knight, already having mounted the monster, held onto its neck with an unbothered expression as if used to it.
With a flap of its extended wings, a violent gust of wind rose, sending it soaring through the tall trees.
Everything shifted.
From the grassy forest to cold skies. They rose high up faster than the boy could blink, exposed for the world below to see. With another flap of its ripped wings, the reptile darted forward like an arrow, straightening its body in a straight line of darkness.
Holding onto his dear life, Valentine looked up despite the fright, trying to claw his way up the beast's abrasive skin that was painful to the touch. It let out a low growl, shaking its head; the beast threw him off, his expression that of horror painted across his features as he slid off its neck, barely kept from dropping down thanks to its teeth cleanly piercing his collar.
He looked down.
"Ah... Ah!"
And then he immediately looked up.
I-I'm going to die!
Despite being on the brink of death, his fears were showing even fiercer than ever.
The willow tide beneath their eyes was fleeting; its terrain making the forest look as if a giant earthquake hit it long ago, with countless cracks that cut through the dense forest and gave way for new mountains to grow.
Far behind them, in the distance, a small wooden cabin stood alone in nature's maze.
Valentine saw it briefly while looking up at the cloudy sky, watching it creep closer to them with every swing of the creature's wings.
He closed his eyes tightly, trying to shift his mind away from the current situation.
But there was nothing else he could think of. His life was now balanced on a thread, many even. The ones that kept his already lackluster clothing from tearing and dropping him to the ground.
With wind cutting through his face, he clasped his hands quietly, holding them together under his belt.
"Oh god..."
After seeing Sunday pray to his own gods for days, Valentine understood a few things despite not having his own beliefs towards them. Those were little things such as daily prayer or constant praise.
Or specific phrases that are a core part of their prayer.
"Please save... this lost believer."
Names and titles.
That is the little meaning he had understood throughout Sunday's daily prayer that kept him awake.
His new title and condition as a Lost believer was not just a way of phrasing it.
And it seemed that even such meager understanding was enough to leave someone shaken.
Despite the fierce wind blowing everything away.
A firm hand grabbed Valentine by his shoulder, pulling him onto the beast's broad back.