Even the Grail Knights couldn't resist the yellow-green poison fog for long, but Ryan seemed unaffected. The chosen champion, surrounded by corrupt and poisonous fog, held the Goddess of Vengeance tightly and charged directly at the master of decay.
After a fierce battle, he had carved a bloody path through the surrounding chaos god-chosen warriors to reach this point.
"Ah, the sweet fragrance!" The great filth demon took a deep breath of the yellow-green fog, finding the sweet and tender aroma in the air invigorating, easing the pain in its body.
It couldn't believe Ryan was unaffected by the poison fog. Except for the children of the Father, no creature could withstand the fog's corruption for long.
He was just enduring it.
The master of decay raised its great sword, its movements slightly sluggish. The wound on its wrist, inflicted by the Elector Count Boris's holy sword, caused a burning pain, making it difficult to heal quickly.
As the huge sword swept over, Ryan immediately ducked. He and his psionic precision-engineered power armor submerged in the ground, now a corroded mire, with foul rotting water filling his mouth and nose, nauseating.
"Heh, weak human, the world will eventually be destroyed. Your resistance is futile." The master of decay laughed wildly on its swollen face, pulling out the chain and swinging it in the air. The chain's skull end smashed down on Ryan's back, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood and nearly flattening him instantly.
Swinging the chain in the air, the master of decay aimed another blow at Ryan, who was lying on the ground.
"Snap!" The skull missed this time, splashing up a clump of dirty water.
Ryan rolled over and stood up, gripping the Goddess of Vengeance tightly in his hand. The blade's flames grew fiercer, cutting towards the master of decay's chain-holding hand as Ryan moved through the fog.
"Err, agh!" The master of decay quickly released its grip. The Goddess of Vengeance had sliced off two of its fingers, its face contorting in pain it hadn't felt in ages: "Human!"
"For the lady!" Ryan pressed the attack, thrusting the Goddess of Vengeance deep into the master of decay's chest.
"Ah!" The great filth demon staggered backward, its great sword dropping as it grabbed Ryan from its chest with its intact right hand, tightened its fist, pulling the Grail Knight from its chest, and threw him to the ground.
Ryan clutched his sword as he tumbled several times on the ground, feeling his internal organs bleeding.
Fury and calmness occupied Ryan's mind simultaneously. On one hand, the madness of battle made it hard for humans to maintain their sanity against such terrifying beings. Ryan knew he must defeat the great demon in this mad duel for victory.
On the other hand, he remained calm, holding his sword before him. He knew that in a direct confrontation, he wouldn't stand a chance against the great demon of chaos.
But he had a unique advantage. As a Grey Knight, he feared not the deadly fog or fighting in such a corrupt environment. After the assault by the Grail Knights and Elector Count Boris, the great filth demon was heavily wounded.
He still had a chance to win.
His iron boots slipped in the mud-filled pits, and outside the fog, the Grail Knights fought bravely. Boris was tearing a chaos demon to pieces, shouting to Ryan: "Ryan, we can't get close to the fog!"
"It's okay! Cover me!" Ryan turned around, and the master of decay had recovered, roaring and charging at Ryan with its thick legs: "Another human seeking death."
Ryan swung the holy sword, the white flames of the Goddess of Vengeance clashing with the great filth demon's great sword. With a shout, Ryan unbelievably deflected the great sword with the Goddess of Vengeance.
"Darkness approaches, but we march towards the light as our mission." Ryan recited in Gothic, moving forward, slicing open the master of decay with a long wound, the white purification flames burning on the demon's flesh.
"Gangrene missile!" In agony, the master of decay's rage was ignited. Opening its fist, a three-meter-diameter green energy orb shot out, hitting Ryan unexpectedly, engulfing him in explosive light and smoke.
"No!" Some Grail Knights noticed this scene, shouting uncontrollably.
"The lady's champion won't fall so easily, brothers, keep moving forward! Protect Ryan!" Duke Lancel shouted, his sword of Gorlon cutting through the sturdy armor of a chaos god-chosen warrior.
Approaching the smoke-filled pit, the master of decay wondered: "Dead?"
"Intolerance for the unclean, in light and flame, we shall unite!"
"Psionic storm!"
Thick, branch-like psionic lightning shot out from the pit, striking the great filth demon. The lightning penetrated the demon's decayed skin, evaporating the pus on its body, burning its rotten innards, and exploding its festering sores, blackening its oily intestines.
Ryan, his face scarred from burns, climbed out of the pit like a desperate griffin. He raised the Goddess of Vengeance, its blade tracing a vicious arc, the fiery blade grazing the great filth demon's neck.
The great demon's sword also crossed Ryan's chest.
Even the psionic precision-engineered power armor couldn't protect Ryan; a crack appeared in the armor, and the sharp great sword of the great demon sliced through, opening his flesh, staining his clothes with bright red blood.
The master of decay roared in anger and frustration, thinking its sword would bisect Ryan, but that didn't happen.
"Die, die!" The great sword swung down at Ryan again with earth-splitting might.
"Ryan, catch this!" Just then, a crisp calling voice came from the sky.
It was Sulia, the lady knight riding a pegasus to aid, tossing a shield with a blue pegasus emblem towards Ryan. Instinctively, Ryan caught it.
No one knew what the shield was made of, but its sturdy material incredulously withstood the great filth demon's fierce attack, stopping the thick blade short of the shield, which deformed from the impact.
Unbeknownst to them, the sun was high in the sky, and the knightly army led by King Richard was arriving at the battlefield. However, the situation remained grim as the number of the filth demon army had swollen to over nine thousand. On the battlefield, the knightly army still stood evenly matched against the filth demon army, with new chaos legions being continuously deployed to the blood-soaked battlefield under the will of filth.
The master of decay continued to emit large volumes of poison fog, turning any knight or horse it touched into blood water, with only the Grail Knights able to withstand it for a brief moment.
The chosen champion and the great filth demon were both heavily wounded, yet neither side showed signs of stopping. A spectacular yet brutal duel unfolded in the fog, with every attack from the master of decay powerful enough to leave Ryan dead on the spot. However, the chosen champion continued to bravely combat the great evil, slashing, stabbing, and pounding non-stop. Leveraging his psionic power and immunity to the poison gas to compensate for his physical disadvantage, Ryan opened one wound after another on the great demon.
The great demon's resilience and damage mitigation capabilities became apparent. Despite the heavy damage inflicted by the Grail Knights, it remained mobile and strong. Ryan knew he had to thank Elector Count Boris, for if it weren't for the holy sword's wounds on the demon, which refused to heal, he might not have been able to hold on.
Now, with unhealable wounds on its wrist, chest, and legs—some inflicted by Ryan, others by Boris—the dark pus continuously flowing from the demon's body was a clear sign it had been weakened.
The flame of the Goddess of Vengeance still burned bright. Ryan, feeling the effects of blood loss, knew he didn't have much time to think. The great demon extended its hand, intending to completely tear apart the troublesome knight before it.
Ryan swung the Goddess of Vengeance sideways, cutting another wound into the demon's hand. But as he raised his sword to counterattack, the demon's other hand didn't stop; its massive fist continued, burying the Grail Knight into the muck-filled ground.
Ryan felt his nose was smashed, tasting blood in his mouth, his body embedded into the ground, the demon's great sword aimed at his chest, ready to pierce through.
Something faster than the great sword intervened, the sound of urgent hooves approaching. It was Lancel! The newly appointed Duke of Connacht and Grail Knight, wielding his lion's spear, charged from the side. The sharp blade of the Sword of Gorlon pierced through the master of decay's arm, flesh and blood flying: "Cough, cough! Ryan... Keep fighting! For the lady!"
Unable to stay within the toxic fog, Lancel immediately retreated from the battlefield.
"For the... lady!" Lancel's effort bought the chosen champion precious time. Enduring the pain, Ryan stood up, raising the Goddess of Vengeance that was connected to his very bloodline.
A light blue glow intensified, the Goddess of Vengeance wielding unmatched power, cutting off the hand and wrist of the great demon's sword. The master of decay's howls echoed across the battlefield. Then Ryan, stepping on the demon's rotting and bulky belly, climbed up its damaged chest.
Inside the chest, a black, rotting heart was faintly visible, pulsating violently, covered in worms and festering wounds. Ryan's eyes red with determination, aimed his sword at the heart, the chosen champion, Grail Knight commander, and Baron Jean.
On the vast plains, knights, sergeants, and serf soldiers fought valiantly. The knightly army, seeking to aid the Grail and White Wolf Knights, was blocked by swarms of plague bearers and chaos giants.
The battle gradually turned against humanity.
In the center of the battlefield, within the yellow-green fog, Ryan's fight with the great filth demon neared its conclusion.
The decisive moment had arrived.
"Do you think you've won, knight?" The master of decay's severed hand still bleeding, it suddenly laughed. Despite losing an arm, being crippled in the legs, losing three fingers on another hand, and being severely wounded by Lancel, it looked as though Ryan was about to claim the final victory.
"Taste this, knight." Just as the sword was about to pierce its chest, the great demon's mouth, cavernous as a cave, opened wide.
"What?" Ryan felt a chill in his chest.
From front to back.
He looked down.
The demon's tongue, shot from its mouth, had pierced through his chest, breaking through his power armor, shredding his lung, fracturing several ribs, the long, sharp tongue piercing straight through Ryan's body.
"Ah!" The excruciating pain made Ryan scream, his trembling hands no longer able to hold the Goddess of Vengeance, which fell to the ground as copious amounts of blood flowed down his armor and body.
The great demon thought it had won, flicking its tongue to throw the knight away.
But it didn't succeed. Something firmly grasped its tongue.
"Life is..." A whisper came from the demon.
The knight wasn't dead?!
"Life is... currency, use it wisely!!!" Blood streamed from Ryan's eyes, nostrils, and mouth. His hands tightly gripped the penetrating tongue, unleashing all his psionic energy. Powerful lightning traveled up the tongue into the great filth demon's body, its massive form convulsing under the strain of rippling fat and tearing muscle, its horned head swaying side to side. The powerful psionic lightning was obliterating its life force, destroying everything.
Its injured chest exploded open, revealing the black heart in full.
With his left hand gripping the tongue and his right wrist extending a long psionic blade, the chosen champion mustered his last strength. The blade, burning with a pale blue flame embodying Ryan's unyielding will and hope, pierced the black heart.
"No!!!" The great demon, sensing its end, struggled in vain to avoid its fate. But Ryan didn't let go of the tongue; he moved steadfastly, inch by inch, undeterred by agonizing pain.
Following the tongue, Ryan, as his consciousness began to blur, raised the psionic blade. In the great demon's eyes of despair, the blade completely penetrated the black heart. He twisted his wrist, the psionic blade grinding the organ to mush.
The master of decay's struggles slowly ceased, its body slumping.
In the midst of the battlefield, a tremendous noise erupted, the earth shook, and the river flowed backward. A vast and filthy energy burst from the yellow-green fog, shattering everything within it, flipping and blowing away countless fighting knights and chaos demons and warriors.
The knights were momentarily unaware of what had happened. But as they regained their focus, an indescribable joy filled their chests.
Swarms of chaos demons and warriors were disintegrating under the sunlight. The realm of filth was being stripped from the material world, the chaos creatures losing their energy source. The filth demon army was rapidly decaying.
This could only mean one thing.
The great filth demon—the master of decay—had been banished.
___________________
(Support with power stones, comments or reviews)
If you guys enjoy this story, In support me on Patreon and get access to +200 advance Chapters
Read Ahead
Patreon.com/INNIT