A hot streak of light pushed through the hordes of Faceless, explosions followed through it and burned them to crisp!
His armor melted due to his speed and the friction that it caused. Although his body could withstand running at the speed of sound, his gear slowly corroded as the seconds passed by.
Except for the lance.
Its glow made a pointy tip and a length befitting that of the great weapon.
A figure of a rapier was inside of it and the radiating heat made it form explosions in its surroundings.
Lancelot quickly rushed through the abominations and made his way towards the Seraphim!
In mere seconds, he arrived in front of it and used the lance to strike it on the abdomen!
But.. a loud clang echoed in the battlefield, the Seraphim was not pierced at all!
It wasn't even damaged!
'Damnation!'
Following the lance's strike, a large multitude of explosions suddenly formed! Luckily, Lancelot used his speed to dodge it or otherwise.. he would've burned into crisp.
The surroundings turned dimmer by the second. Lancelot circled the Seraphim and waited to get momentum in order to attack once more!
3 seconds passed and he looked like a particle accelerator as he ran in circles!
Then.. he struck!
*Clang!*
Another useless effort, sending out explosions with a delay.
A crater formed under the Seraphim who seemed to be unbothered by his useless attacks!
Lancelot gritted his teeth due to the complexity of their levels.
Was their Souls really that distinct from one another? Could a Beyond even be content with a Hallowed?
Due to the qualitative change between the two and the existence of a physical manifestation of the Soul, it would take a group of Beyond to even damage a Hallowed!
Unless they've fully unified with their Souls, or their Paths belong to a high rank, which was highly unlikely, then they would stand no chance against one!
Buried in a deep crater, the Seraphim shifted his head to look towards Lancelot!
A deep feeling of dread was engraved within him, making his Soul tremble and fluctuate.
"Krrngh-"
However! Lancelot utilized his searing lance in order to inflict pain upon himself!
It gave a temporary fix to the Seraphim's mental attacks so he struck once more!
The sunlight was being absorbed further and further until the surroundings finally turned as dark as night!
With the exception of a glowing light circling around the Seraphim, everywhere was darkened and devoid of light.
"Grrahh!"
He leaped and struck down on the Seraphim's head, jumping back while he still had the time!
A second later, a massive explosion erupted from within the crater, digging it further down and entrapping the Seraphim.
"Still undamaged!"
A few more attempts were made and Lancelot gave up on damaging the Seraphim but rather.. trapping it inside the hole!
The dread engraved inside of him grew stronger with every strike that he did.
Moreover, another emotion grew louder in his body!
"Is this.. sorrow?"
Tears began to flow uncontrollably in Lancelot's eyes, but immediately evaporated due to the heat of his lance.
Yet his body shook and trembled, his knees weakened, and his speed got slower.
It was not only him that experienced this!
The knights in the vicinity began to cry uncontrollably as the Seraphim performed a mental attack on them!
Those that were closer to the Seraphim fell to the ground and their Souls trembled in fear and sorrow!
Lancelot screamed.
"Cassius!"
The surrounding darkness was not enough to be considered as a shadow. Rather, it is mere darkness that is devoid of light.
Shadow is intertwined with light itself and it needs light to exist.
However, even amidst the darkness of the surroundings, a bright light shone in the distance, forming a shadow behind every Faceless and Knights!
..They were drowning in shadows!
"Summon!"
Suddenly, a towering figure of a shadow dragon appeared due to that very light!
Not only that, but shadow knights began to rise up from the shadows of the Faceless, slaying them effortlessly and silently.
Tens of Thousands of shadow knights rose up and began to attack! These are knights without feeling so they could not be damaged by the Seraphim's attacks!
While that's happening, the real and organic knights were suddenly pulled down on the shadows and were brought back to the inside of the earthen wall where 3 healers awaited them.
The only ones left in the battlefield were a knight with streaks of crimson blood on his light-golden hair and a messy black-haired knight that summoned the shadows from within.
The latter then yelled:
"5 Minutes! I only have 5 minutes, Lancelot!"
"That's plenty!"
The shadow dragon flew up in the air and vanished in the darkness. Suddenly! Black flames were breathed out on the Seraphim's body!
As Beyond-rank with a Sacred Path, Cassius could hold a group of Faceless on his own. But his skill, Shadow Summon, could only last for 5 minutes as it quickly ate his Soul.
Anything after that, he would be useless and could only rely on his physical body!
And he was not that athletic or strong either! Cassius mainly served as Lancelot's adviser and tactician. He served from the backlines and used his summons as a main way to attack!
While the dragon fought the Seraphim, Lancelot dove further into the battlefield to fend off as much Faceless as he could.
His Soul still trembled due to the Seraphim's attacks but that did not stop him from fighting!
He ran in a straight line, lance in front of him, and explosions formed in contact!
No runes popped up in front of him and that was for the better!
He needed to focus on fighting and slowing the Faceless down.
However, something felt off.. it was as if a third feeling rose up inside of him but he could not discern what it was.
He shifted his head to the right and saw hundred thousand Faceless grouping together in order to form a mountain!
Lancelot immediately rushed straight through that mountain and caused it to implode!
The Faceless on its surface flew out and their bodies were destroyed.
However..
"Something's off."
He looked towards the direction of the Seraphim and saw the shadow dragon spitting out black flames towards the crater where it lay.
"Something's off."
Something bugged him, a feeling arose deep within him and it was foreign! A feeling that he never felt in his entire lifetime!
It felt as if he was dazed or.. nauseous.
"A mental attack by the Seraphim?!"
Quite possibly! It was an attack that he'd never felt before.
Then! His feeling of dread got louder and washed through his entire body!
Lancelot fell to his knees and spat out black blood.
The shadow dragon in the distance suddenly flew up as if it were dealt a massive blow!
Then, it fell down beside Lancelot and faded slowly.
"Krgh- what.. happened?"
He was kneeling down and supporting himself using his weakly arms, surrounding him was a horde of Faceless waiting to attack all at once.
Lancelot raised his head towards the crater.
He saw a dark figure with three heads, one belonging to a lion, one belonging to a goat, and in the middle a Faceless humanoid face rested.
The figure flew with its 4 layered wings and made its way above the battlefield, looking to the direction of a knight with black hair.
"Cassius!"
In a flash, the Seraphim shot at the black-haired knight like a torpedo! Her long sharp claws pierced through his body and blood spurted out from the gaping wound.
The black-haired knight stared at the direction of a shining star.
"..my lord."
He pointed his fingers towards him and the shadows suddenly rushed towards that star!
With his bloodied mouth, the knight's eyes suddenly turned hollow and lifeless, falling onto the ground.
Lancelot was cornered by the shadows and it made its way up his body.
Then.. a dark cloak formed from the shadows which enveloped every limb and part of his body.
Lancelot was now wearing a pure-black body suit that rejected all light! Behind him, the black cloak fluttered along in the air and was encased in a pure black color.
"Damnation.."
He regretted losing his companion but such feelings of sorrow and regret would only backfire.
So, he calmed himself down once more in order to prevent the Seraphim to take advantage of it.
Rather, he stood silently in the darkness while his lance radiated light.
Then, he said monotonously:
"Pay for your sins, Seraphim."
Light and shadow converged together and formed a duality of the elements in Lancelot.
He rushed towards the Seraphim and explosions blew up behind him.