A young man sat silently in a desolate, rocky valley under the crimson hue of the first daybreak, not uttering a word as if he were mute. Underneath his heavily armoured body was a mountain of disfigured corpses, each more grotesque than the next. His armour, once gleaming with the shine of impeccable mithril, had been worn away after numerous hard-fought battles.
Scratches and scars, smeared with his enemies' dark, tar-like blood, had turned his shiny armour black. His chest plate and pauldrons were nowhere to be seen, likely destroyed after the final carnage he plunged himself into.
His face was weary, and his hair dishevelled. Matted with sweat and grime, the young man seemed to have gone through a thousand tribulations with no rest, earning himself an unapproachable atmosphere that terrified any lesser souls.
The air around the young man was thick with the pungent stench of sulphur and burnt flesh, and it was for good reason. Otherworldly Demons and Demonic Beasts lay dismembered around the Knight, their aberrant forms contorted in death. Clawed hands, jagged horns, and gaping maws with razor-sharp teeth were some of the many dismembered body parts which littered the land.
And that wasn't all.
Luminescent golden embers flickered all over the scorched earth, the remnants of the heavenly battle that purged the Demonic creatures from this planet. The young man rose to his feet as the Sun emerged from the horizon to bring light onto the forsaken battlefield.
The illumination from the Sun gave the Knight a divine halo, making him look like an agent sent from the heavens to eradicate evil. But the man wasn't holy in the slightest. Looking down at the skull of the foe he spent so much energy dispatching, he stomped his feet down mercilessly and obliterated the final corpse.
With his work done, the young man raised his right hand, which held a broken sword, leaving only the hilt and bits of metal behind. Furrowing his brows, he spat:
"Another one broke again…"
Amon threw the broken sword away and leapt down from the mountain of corpses. The final battle he had with the Demons was more challenging than anticipated. Instead of one Greater Demon, there were three. And there was a small battalion of members from the Demon Cult supporting them.
Perhaps it was a coincidence, or perhaps the Demon Cult had caught on to the fact that they were actively hunting sealed Greater Demons and weaker Demon Cult bases. Nevertheless, the battle forced Amon to unveil some of his hidden cards, which led to yet another blade of his being shattered.
Sighing, he thought out loud:
"Should I invest in a better sword?"
A sword was a Knight's lifeblood. All this while, Amon has been using inferior swords, as he was hiding his strength from the world. But throughout these five months, Amon had gone through twenty swords. At this point, buying an expensive sword would be better than breaking every inferior sword he touched.
"You could, but what's the point? It'll just break again."
Amon had meant his thoughts to be rhetorical. Never did he expect someone to answer his question. He glanced over his shoulders and saw a pristine young woman floating down from the upper ravine. Unlike Amon, she was all dolled up with not a speck of dust dirtying her clothes. Her clear, ruby eyes sparkled with the rising Sun, and her glorious white hair fluttered with the wind.
Amon rolled his eyes and approached the woman who had become his travelling companion for the past five months.
"Doesn't the Elune House have a treasured sword or two? Perhaps you could loan it to me."
"Huh? A member of the Solaris House is asking the Elune House for a sword? Haha, the Sun must be rising from the west today!"
"..."
Ignoring the derisive tone Yue used, Amon couldn't rebut her words. The Solaris House was the premier place for Knights to get powerful weapons. And it wasn't limited to swords. Bows, maces, hammers, shields… There were countless precious artefacts housed in the Solaris House.
"Anyway, you don't have to worry. The Sword Bestowment Ceremony is coming up anyway. You'll probably get a good sword from that sacred vault."
In a month's time, Amon will be participating in the Sword Bestowment Ceremony to receive one of the precious swords sealed within the Solaris House's treasure vault.
The Sword Garden.
The Sword Garden was a sacred place where numerous precious weapons were stored, from swords of past heroes to high-grade weapons crafted by the world's best blacksmiths. It was so restricted that even the Solaris Lord would have to get a unanimous vote from the Elders to enter.
The Sword Garden would only be opened once every five years during the Sword Bestowment Ceremony, where young Solaris Knights would enter and select the weapon that would be their lifelong companion. Naturally, Amon was one of the youngsters who participated this year.
There was no strict metric as to what weapon someone would get. If it were the weaker weapons, the more talented the Knight, the more options he had. However, for the more powerful weapons, everything was fair game. Some weapons had egos and would only settle for genius Knights with ample potential. Other weapons were whimsical and would choose their owner based on their appearance.
So effectively, what weapon Amon would get was a roll of the dice. But the youth realised that he had a cheat code by his side.
"Hmmm? In your previous timeline, what sword did I get?"
Yue came from an alternate timeline, and she would know what sword Amon would get during the Sword Bestowment Ceremony. However, the young woman shook her head and placed her index finger on her lips.
"It's a secret, hehe. But don't worry; you'll get a good sword that won't break easily."
"... right."
The young Knight was curious but didn't press the matter. In his opinion, the sword he would receive was irrelevant. As long as it could withstand his power, whether it was a heroic sword or a recently created one, it didn't matter. Instead, Amon was more curious about the battle he'd just gone through.
"There were three Greater Demons here, Yue. Have the Demon Cult caught on to our activities?"
"It seems like it," the beauty's face turned serious as she nodded. "It seems that the Demon Cult can trace the lifeforce of the sealed Greater Demons. While they can't trace their location, they know whenever the Greater Demons die."
"Looks like it would be dangerous to continue our activities then."
Amon and Yue's greatest advantage over the Demon Cult was the element of surprise. The Demon Cult didn't know their identities or how powerful the pair were. Hence, they can't pinpoint who is hunting them from the shadows. However, if this trend continues, it will only be a matter of time before the Demon Cult uncovered their identity.
"It seems that way," Yue replied with a solemn smile.
"Either way, we have eliminated most of the dangerous Greater Demons. At the same time, we weakened the Demon Cult forces tremendously by smashing a few of their hidden branches. We must have eliminated the risk of some deviations by now."
The main reason why the pair eloped and went on this five-month adventure in the first place was to mitigate the risk posed by unforeseen deviations. And from how they eradicated most of the sealed Greater Demons and reduced the influence of the Demon Cult, Yue presumed that the deviations wouldn't be as dangerous anymore.
"Should we return then?"
Amon asked with a tired tone in his voice. He wasn't able to convey it, but the five months away from the Solaris House did take a toll on his mental state. Not because he was worried about his family or hunting Greater Demons was difficult. Amon felt mentally fatigued mainly because he was unable to watch over Leon.
Leon was the protagonist of [Bright] and integral to saving Hyades from its doomed fate. If Amon wasn't there to help the young man grow, he had no idea what could happen.
And Yue knew that.
"Haha, are you that worried about Leon?"
"..."
"You know, I'm kind of shocked. Could it be that you're into guys? Rather than taking care of your beloved bride-to-be, the only thing on your mind is another man."
"You know that's not the case."
Amon rolled his eyes in protest; even after spending five months with Yue hunting Greater Demons and the Demon Cult, he was still unable to get used to her constant teasing. In his opinion, the woman was just trying to get on his nerves to solicit a reaction. Though, it wasn't in his personality to bite.
"Hehe, if you're into guys, you must tell me, okay? I may not be good at it, but I could attempt transformation magic to change my gender."
"... please, let's get back on topic."
"Hah… Always the straight-laced Knight."
Yue shrugged her shoulders and acquiesced to Amon's plea.
"Well, even without the Demon Cult's intervention, we needed to return this month anyway. The Sword Bestowment Ceremony is upon us, and Leon has been forced to participate in the Demonic Beast Purge to prove his worth."
"Ah."
Hearing the news, Amon's golden eyes lit with understanding. However, he wasn't surprised. This was part of Leon's story when Amon read through [Bright]. After returning to the Solaris House, the Elders weren't convinced to let Leon attend the Sword Bestowment Ceremony. They feared Leon obtaining a precious weapon and leaving the Solaris House immediately.
Essentially, they were questioning Leon's loyalty.
"The Demonic Beast Purge… That's when Leon showcases his skills for the first time. Inherently, there won't be any dangers, barring any deviations to the timeline."
The first chapter of [Bright] didn't see Leon face life-and-death situations. Most of it was his awakening and showcasing his powers to the Solaris House. He would gain allies and enemies until he eventually became the centrepiece of the ancient House by obtaining the Holy Sword, Ascalon.
Of course, that's if there weren't any deviation.
"Leon should be fine, but just in case, you should watch over him."
Yue mirrored Amon's worry. They had failed terribly during her previous timeline, and one of the critical factors for their success this time was Leon's growth. If Leon and Ascalon were to grow exponentially, fighting against the Demon Cult would be infinitely easier, and they would prevent the final calamity that triggered the Apocalypse.
"Okay, then."
Amon gazed back at the carnage behind him and heaved a huge sigh. He dropped his guard and stared into the distance before saying:
"Let us return to the Solaris House."