"Who are you?"
Wouldn't dare to blink even for once as this devil never took her eyes off the silver figure whose armor almost completely reflected all the moonlight it received,
"Why did you attack me?"
The only conjecture left was down onto him; not without a clear basis, yet because all of the observation had been done by her senses, showing quite a few rational reasons. Abilities, equipment, power, place, and time he appeared… she knew that the Mountain Spears of Ice, which still hadn't melted, was high-level magic. From its thickness, height reached the starry sky, and its width covered half of the width of the river… only a few individuals who were capable of performing such a feat; and curiously, the said individuals were all coming from her kin… not known humans capable of doing such a feat. Apart from that, his equipment, especially his weapon, emitted the same aura as his presence… the stygian intent.
"'Who are you' you asked me? Oh pardon me. Thought you already knew regarding who and what your pursuer might be. Well, no matter, I reckon starting off with an introduction isn't too bad at all," the silver figure began to speak oddly in quite a polite manner, even towards such a creature, "The second Knight of Agarath who's given the title of Holy Knight as his successor. The Scion of Holy Knight… the name's Kharys Neveta."
'H-Holy Knight?! Of course he is, I mean I should've known it…. a someone as troublesome as him would soon appear… but not so soon!' the devil's thought began to interrupt, though keeping still her focus towards that silver figure turned out to be the Holy Knight just like she had guessed, 'Still, that dark-as-night greatsword… that's not something which can be wielded by such a holy one… or so he claims,'
"Then, regarding why I attacked…" the stentorian voice of the Holy Knight, later shattered the little devil's inner thought thus restoring her concentration on this fragile moment, since any hostile clash she must have confronted anytime soon, "Maybe you'll find a better answer if you look at your own reflection… down on the surface of the river."
The little devil gasped, realizing what he meant by 'looked at her own reflection'. She briskly looked down at the river underneath just like he said, when suddenly yet another magic circle was formed once again. This time however, the size was much more bigger than the first one, hence leaving no gap for her to escape… even if there was… she wouldn't get enough time to do it because dozens of massive spears of ice were already on their way to thrust their sharp points to pierce through her body.
'S-since when he—?'
The little devil immediately raised her left hand, facing the ice spears, and then began to create a circle. It was formed through her fingers that emitted dark red flame as its outline while the inner was completely empty since she could clearly see those spears dashing toward her. This flame circle apparently acted as a shield… all of the ice spears that went through it were vaporized instantly and entirely, without doing any harm and without leaving any single fog around her… all of those ice spears were completely burnt, leaving no residue. All thanks to the flame circle she managed to avoid being poked. Her situation, however, didn't get any better, because the other ice spears that didn't get vaporize were now limiting her movement, imprisoning her from any direction except above, high in the skies. She began to rush toward the exit, jumping from ice pillars to one another very quickly, and when she finally arrived at the top just to be greeted by the Holy Knight who had been waiting, and was about to swing his greatsword vertically, aiming for the devil's skull.
Expecting such a sudden attack, this little devil swiftly clenched the air inside her right palm, behaved as though holding something in it and It was a deliberate movement indeed; because all of a sudden, a wooden staff appeared out of thin air from within her palm while the Holy Knight's arms appeared busy lifting the greatsword passed over his head in preparation for a downward strike, leaving his abdomen defenseless. This little devil perceived the small gap, thus instead of using her wooden staff to block the downward slash, she purposely took action to lower the weapon around her waist and to achieve a successful attack, however she must be swiftly rotating her waist before the sharp edge of that black greatsword touching a strand of her white hair.
Unfortunately, her opponent was an experienced knight more than she anticipated; he who had been served in the battle for years, so he must have noticed the flaw in his flow of attack and then proceeded with an unexpected move such as twirling his wrist and lowering his elbow joint so that the black greatsword could block the horizontal strike from the wooden staff by taking the advantage of its large body surface.
Both of them then felt a sudden tension within their arms when the clash happened between wood and dark metal, resulting in quite a strong shockwave to the point it shook the two mountains of ice and made some of their chunks were avalanching, producing yet another shockwave on the river which tranquil no more,
"I see… 'look at your own reflection', huh?" the little devil then spoke, trying to hold still the Holy Knight's black greatsword with her wooden staff, "You attacked because I am the devil, didn't you?"
The Holy Knight seemed to be struggling to hold back this wooden staff of the devil from reaching forward towards himself; no matter how and where he perceived it, this staff was indeed simply a wood, however his black greatsword as though capable not of cutting through it… even when being backed up by the brute force of his arms, hence he felt at a disadvantage, instead of answering that little devil's questions, the Holy Knight drew his second greatsword seemingly out of nowhere using his left hand then swung it towards the foe before him,
The devil, of course, was aware of this unexpected move as she swiftly leaped backward using the air beneath her feet once again as her foothold, keeping a safe distance between her and her dual-wielding opponent while trying her best to settle the battle without any bloodshed,
Moreover once she realized what kind of armament this time that silvery figure just pulled out. It was a bright, white greatsword… brighter than snow, whiter color than that of milk… even when the darkness of the night still was lurking around, its white shade was proven capable of ceasing its surrounding blackness.
'Isn't that… one of the divine artifacts they were talking about in this reality?' the devil whispered to herself, feeling a bit uneasy as she was fixing her gaze at the white greatsword without a blink,
Discerning the situation, she then proceeded to negotiate with that silvery figure who had drawn his two weapons, seeming nowhere near to settling this confrontation yet. No matter where and how she stared at it, knowing it was one hell of nearly impossible negotiation. She had to do it regardless, even if it would fail, it could buy her some time to prepare something.
"Can we end this meaningless fight? There is no merit in it." she began to speak, offering a compromise,
"Meaningless… you say? There's no merit in it?" from his tone alone… however, such a compromise seemed to spark a sense of resentment inside the Holy Knight as he strengthened his grips and gritted his teeth hidden behind that silverly helmet, "Was it also as meaningless as you killed that whole family?! Was there even merit for you doing such a blasphemous thing?!"
Hearing quite a response, though she did expect her offer to get spurned, yet his reason for spurning… his reason to hunt and ambush her was out of place from what she knew; something was definitely off, "What? What family? The heck are you saying? I've no a single clue of what you're trying to tell?"
"Ah forget it! Expecting a devil to understand is indeed a delusion after all. It's my bad for asking in the first place – please pardon my manner." the Holy Knight slowly became more serene now, keeping his temper at bay at last, as he let out a very long deep breath and then pointed out his white greatsword at a direction of that little devil... still bewildered by this moonlight rendezvous,
And so the little devil, as expected, already was in a cautious state, moreover after the divine artifact was pulled out, seemingly acting as an ultimate weapon to end all of this. Alas, her lack of knowledge regarding such an item, rendered her in the most unpropitious situation. Even though she had put her eyes on every corner, on every possible attack that would occur, she never anticipated such an attack… one that came down from the sky… one bigger, denser, and stronger attack without a doubt on a different level than that of magic Mountain Spears of Ice.
A Pillar of Heavenly Light,
Just a moment later, right after the white greatsword was raised… a dense, enormous divine light rained down onto the devil. The night suddenly became noon, the starry sky of the night was no more and so was the moonlight, itself felt inferior before the godly light – the hallowed light was growing more and more, larger and denser, as the devil's scream too became louder to be heard. Despite how colossal the size of such a light was, the potential destructive capability the hallowed carried, yet remarkably causing no significant damage to the environment besides its blinding shine caused… seemed only capable of harming any beings pointed by the white greatsword,
Despite the fact that the devil still felt the pain while struggling to escape from inside the divine light, it appeared still incapable of causing any damage to her body. Even such heavenly light simply was not strong enough, although had an impact on her movement – the overwhelming divine light her body must endure, rendering herself immobilized.
'I should've—should've known this cheap trick of his. Darn it! Is––is it still not ready?' she whispered to herself, struggling still to escape from this hallowed light,
The little devil who was still able to move a finger, surprised the Holy Knight. He simply couldn't believe what his eyes were seen right now, "That's the same light that killed and annihilated the King of Hell five centuries ago, yet a tiny devil such as herself… could withstand such divine power?! Might she even survive from it?!" he wondered to himself.
Realizing even such divine light did not work as he had planned, he then released the white greatsword from his grasp, falling later vanished in the air instantly, so that he could now use the black one with his two hands – increasing its strength and hopefully his chance of causing damage to that little devil. He put on a poised stance yet firm, holding the black greatsword that seemed to have absorbed all of the visible light from the surrounding… mainly from that Pillar of Heavenly Light became its main source of power, thus rendering the surrounding became darker than before.
He was reading to launch his final blow,
'I—I still can't move!' the little devil shouted within her mind, trying to twitch all of her muscles as she bore the pain once she realized what was about to be transpired,
Fast as lightning, the Holy Knight was later dashing and drawing his shimmering stygian greatsword towards her – about to unleash whatever power contained within it,
She tried to keep it a cool head, collecting herself and observing the situation, the slight chance to escape from this dire circumstance… and so a plan she finally had come inside her mind, one very risky plan. She knew if that final blow was aimed towards the head, 'Got no other way. It's only my chance… now or never… though I know this still gonna hurt as hell.'
At last, the final blow began to be performed… that black greatsword was being slashed horizontally, releasing its energy wave which flew forward towards the devil.
The energy was released, immediately causing a massive earthquake, despite it being released high in the sky, the seismic waves were seemingly capable of crawling miles away from the center of force. The gloomy night clouds were blown off, those two Mountains Spear of Ice were no more, the surface of the river gone wild and most of those rows of giant trees in the dense forest were all collapsed. The energy wave moved relatively slowly, yet it grew bigger as it began to absorb more visible light from its surrounding – might result in severe damage and destruction if it happened to reach its target.
Such a great force had to be endured by this little devil in order to break free from this heavenly light shackle. Fortunately, she already had anticipated it, as evident by how she had saved the rest of her energy just for this one chance – one big, quick move. Still, it wasn't easy to bow the head and bend the neck. Nevertheless, she managed to avoid a fatal wound… though it cost one of her horns in the process. Instead of cutting the devil's head, the energy released cut more than half of her right horn – one of the body parts she failed to protect.
Regardless of the fact that she lost one of her 'precious' horn, it was all well according to her plan. The after-impact pushed her out of the divine light, forcefully throwing her away backward. As the eventual result, she didn't have any energy left to cast any spell, even to balance herself in midair she could not. In the end, the only thing she could do in such a moment was to plunge herself into the river.
"I see… she utilized Light Piercer's momentum to break free from the divine light, huh?" the Holy Knight then whispered to himself, witnessing the little devil falling into the river, "What a powerful devil; stores such strength inside that little body… to be able to survive from Milky Way's light and Light Piercer's energy. And yet, not clever enough, unfortunately."
This silvery figure somewhat felt unperturbed; despite seeing the devil had now freed herself from the divine shackle and seemed now getting away, this Holy Knight felt no desire to after her. Still moving not from where he was floating around; looked down at those water ripples and waited for what may transpire after he managed to conduct his plan – forcing the devil to plunge herself into the river,
For this river below his floating feet, was no an ordinary one…
The Vadge River–––as many called it so–––was not only famous for its impossibly large and wide physical terrain that split the continent into two main territories, but also as one of many sacred places rich with historical reasoning that formed many centuries ago. It wasn't the place, in reality, that formed Vadge River the way it was now, instead its water that flowed from the far northern mountains to the far south bay. This water somehow created a unique phenomenon… seeming like the water was capable of "purifying" lies hidden within any living being, and sometimes outright killing the said individual in the process, depending on the weight of a lie one was carrying, because the water would create a reaction, a corrosive-like reaction to those liars touching the water… hence in theory, it was a very effective tool for eradicating the devil and all of its kin,
That was the Holy Knight's first intention… by creating Mountain Spears of Ice taken from the Vadge River which undeniably would harm the little devil yet sadly failed – till he managed to throw her into the river. If what she said about the family was a lie, if this devil was indeed responsible for their demise, surely the river below would become a pool full of poison for her body and soul alike,
A theory in a paper; rumors that emerged from the historical experience of many… yet in reality, sometimes a reality liked to commit a little twist within its supposedly steady flow. And not long after, this Holy Knight became the first one to witness such a twist by witnessing such a mind-blowing scene before his concealed eyes,
Once making sure the drowned devil stayed that way, he put the black greatsword on his large back and was ready to bring good news to those villages who rested their hope and trust on his shoulder. Just a moment later however, he heard a coughing voice of someone who seemed to be barely managed to swim to the surface.
"Wh-what? What in the name of Gods?!"
That cough was coming from the devil, meaning one thing that the sacred river didn't do any harm to her apparently – his prediction was erroneous, very much in fact by seeing the devil was able still to swim freely across the river. Sure she looked exhausted after enduring such an attack, yet the way of the river treated her shocked this speechless silver figure, so much so that he no longer have any intent to dash towards and attack her and be done with it… for his "murder" intention was being overwhelmed by such a blasphemous event.
After watching the exhausted devil swam across the large river for a few moments, a portal that seemed like a broken mirror slowly opened right after she reach the riverbank. It was the portal she had been prepared not long ago, and it was the reason why she couldn't just cast a spell when she was almost drowning, for such a spell consumed a lot of her energy.
Standing beside the portal, she waited for a brief second to expect another attack from that Holy Knight, expecting the worse that he might be after her through this portal, though it didn't seem so. She thought the knight had given up since she was now only watching him floating quietly there in the air, not twitching a single muscle.
Their eyes met each other for the last time, watching each other, before this one-horned devil proceed to enter the portal and then vanished without a trace beneath this moonlight,
.
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Just like the chosen warrior who just returned from the fiery battlefield, the lone soldier was expected to receive a lot of salutes from the war refugees who prayed for his triumph. The silver figure who just came out from the depths of an enormous forest, however, wasn't the chosen warrior. Sure no significant wounds or scratches were found on his silver-plated armor but marks of victory gave a good impression not to the war refugees, but to a dozen villagers who had been cheering him since that silverclad soldier arrived.
"O' the mighty Lord Kharys. The Devil Slayer! We've been waiting for your victory!"
"That was an amazing yet terrifying battle. Despite we were miles away from it, we could feel its bone-chilling impact."
"Thank you for your hard work!"
If only they knew what had actually happened there – might have all of these under moonlight cheers become jeers,
"It's all thanks to you, Lord Kharys," the village's leader approached the silver figure with a big smile on his face, "After witnessing the divine light of Milky Way you used to vanquish the devil; our elders, women, and children are finally able to sleep soundly from now on."
Despite receiving direct applause from the village's leader himself, no response of words yet to be heard from this silver knight. The village's leader could see that the Holy Knight's face was staring directly at him, yet what kind of expression he showed was hidden beneath that silver helmet… a kind of expression which beyond him to know,
"Something wrong, Lord Kharys?"
"Oh, pardon me. I was just… having too many thoughts."
"A-ah, yes, of course! How stupid I am not realizing it. You must be tired after the fiery fight. Come right here, Lord Kharys… we have—"
"I greatly appreciate your generosity, Head Villager, but I have to return to the council by noon to report this incident."
"A-ah, of course…"
Lord Kharys, the Holy Knight, then looked at the crowd of villagers around him to declare his success, "It's safe now, gentlemen. The so-called devil is no longer a threat to your village and your family. Please, return to them for they have been waiting for your return long enough to hear about this good news!"
A convincing shout that came from the Holy Knight's figure was more than enough to restore a sense of security. No more stiff nor tense expressions on their faces… just a simple smile wanted to see their family again, continuing their daily life in peace,
The head villager also looked around, instructing his people just like the Holy Knight did, "We're done for tonight, folks! No more fear. You lot can now sleep soundly tonight. Everyone, thank you for your hard work!"
Jubilation echoed through the quiet forest surrounding the village. No more crimson color of many flames to illuminate the agitated faces but that colorful starlight, brightening the gleeful faces and chuckles among these men after a tragic incident befallen upon a family amidst this village…
And a devil was believed to be the main culprit of the said incident,
Or… was it so,
"Head villager," once the crowd of villagers had gone to their own houses, leaving only the Holy Knight with their leader, Kharys before departing for the council, he asked one last thing to the village's leader, "May I ask you a favor?"
"Of course Lord Kharys, you are very welcome to receive any favor after what you've done for my people." the village's leader was kindly and willingly ready to help the village's savior, but maybe not that kind of favor he might expect,
"Then, I'll straight to the point. About the family said to be murdered by the devil – please show me the crime scene. It is for… my report material."