Requiem Of A Failed Hero

“Perhaps this skill was actually created for my army. Could that be why it was added with the class skills?” Raith muttered to himself as he closed the tab view in front of him.

There was a stronger link between him and higher rank soldiers. He had felt it in a jiffy when he resurrected and with how his whole body just linked with the darkness that Noir exuded but with what happened a few moments ago he was sure.

His body shook with goosebumps, not one that excited him but one that feared him. A feeling that couldn’t be put to a how, but he just could feel it, a hint of Antares fear.

Antares was fearful? It shocked him too. That strong monster, the strongest soldier in his army safe Noir, was in a fearful state. Raith knew that Hallan Lamar must have pulled something and so he decided to look for how to help, which prompted him to open his skill window.

And there it was, suddenly standing out. ‘Bestow skill’. Even after that Raith didn’t have too many skills that would be of good use. Except for greed. The greed sub-skills are amazing. After confirming from the abyss if he could try it– he borrowed Antares ‘Greed Flare’ and was very contented with the disappearance of that fearful feeling the moment he got alerted that Antares has received the skill.

Hence he looked forward toward the temple that towered. He was going to come back for Hallan wherever Antares stopped, and if Hallan is lucky, Antares would have dealt with him.

The height of the temple was magnanimous, although not as tall as the castle but the architecture of the entire place was catchy, it would be worth being a tourist attraction for travelers, the sculptures were sculpted using glass, wood, and rare metal, there was even a sculpted diamond sitting at the highest edge of the temple.

Well, not like Raith cared about any of that stuff. The only thing that he probably cared about was how he was going to slap the shit out of that pontifex depending on her answers.

Meanwhile.

Throbb!!

“What is that?!!”

Pieter suddenly shot up shouting from where he was sitting as he felt a heavy tension fall on his chest.

He was in Alachra library, studying like he usually does, Therut might look like a limited world but it has quite an expanse of knowledge one that scholars find interesting to explore. Pieter if not for his talent in swordsmanship would have become a scholar like he always wanted to be.

After being named as one of the best of the era at the age of 12, he was drafted out to take the Knightship test. And easily passed, out of hundreds that were selected he came out as the second best and was given the privilege to choose the pontifex he wanted to serve.

That little white-eared elf girl standing amongst the many other kids somehow stood out for him. She was beautiful, glamorous, and elegant but all that was written on her face was loneliness.

A desire to fill in that void, to be with her, to protect her filled him, without a second thought. He chose her. She was the one no doubt.

And since then he had become Leane’s knight of oath. He would die to protect her and would never let any harm come to her– even though he had seen her go from that gentle innocent little elf to a vicious and merciless pontifex.

He still stayed regardless. She needs him.

She needs him, this was the time, the time to show her, to show her how much he would do to sacrifice her.

With this level of danger, Pieter knew for sure that he can’t defeat whatever that thing is without suffering any major damage. He looked forward to the expression on her face.

‘Will she cry for me?’

Perhaps if he died, she would be devastated. If it would take his death to bring back the innocent little elf he once knew he didn’t mind. That was how much he cared about her.

He would never allow any harm whatsoever to come to her.

He grabbed his sword and broke through the window, flying outside the library, which was several heights away from the ground.

Finally, he saw what it was, a blackbird, so big that it covered the rays of the sun.

He frowned immediately and spun, blowing a loud whistle with his mouth while he maintained his momentum in the air with this swift spin.

As he ended the spin and began to fall, a black-winged horse swept underneath him and carried him back to the sky. Rising high to the level of the bird.

‘What is that? What is it doing here?’

He wondered as he slowly reached the level of the bird before he could now finally see the man standing on it.

So flawless in all of his poise. Standing with his hand in his pockets. His glare was so rigid and serious, emanating a dignified presence, one that made him want to request a name.

A feeling of just wanting to respect someone because of how they carried themselves.

“Who are you?”

He asked, infusing dust energy into his voice such that despite the distance and wind between the two, his words clearly reached Raith and he wasn’t even shouting.

‘Impressive’

Raith found it amazing, but he couldn’t do anything. He also didn’t feel any obligation to answer this man on a flying horse.

He could detect several presence in the building but one stood out. Very pure and abundant.

Raith squinted his eyes at the area.

“Noir”

Wham!!

The wyvern dashed past Pieter and his horse, its speed leaving his eyes widened.

“How?” His voice trembled but he was quick to reassemble himself. If that man gets to his pontifex before anything, it was the end for him.

The black horse flew after the wyvern, its wings tearing through the wind and almost the sound barrier of the atmosphere but even that was not enough, the death wyvern wasn’t even flapping its wings, and yet the horse was already drooling, its speed reached a peak real fast but that peak was not half enough to catch up with the wyvern.

Seeing that his horse might drop soon, Pieter leaped off it, shooting straight into the air, and unsheathed his sword as he flew.

He swung its tip towards his back and shouted.

“Eruption! Burn!!”

A blast of spectrum dust energy shut out of his blade towards the sky, enormous, like a jet propeller, he darted forward as the wyvern was about to crash into the part of the glass building, he zapped to Raith’s side in that instance, swinging his sword an arc towards his side aimed at cutting Raith’s head off.

Shatter

The glass broke as Noir broke into it with ease, several knights could be seen surrounding the pontifex– the building crashed as Noir raised his long neck and head.

‘Shit, I missed it?’ 𝙚𝙙𝙤𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝒎

Pieter hated the fact that he didn’t get it at once, he had never had to pull his sword twice on someone.

‘This guy, his presence is not a fluke.’

Pieter knew now that the kind of magnifying presence that he felt from Raith was a really big deal.

“Who are you? How dare you attack the pontifex?”

Raith touched his neck and looked at his hand, there was a little blood on it.

“Tch, this guy cut me… his speed was impressive. The knight of Oath Pieter.”

Raith knew him, this was after all the same temple where he got selected as the hero of the death archon. He had always seen that hollow and empty face that everybody revered. A lot of people that wanted to be a knight of oath respected him the most.

He has heard of his strength, a man that cuts everything and everyone down with one strike. He has never had to pull his sword twice, even his hand-to-hand combat was the best of the best. He could render someone a cripple in just a few seconds.

“Your reputation proceeds you.”

Raith cleaned the small cut on his neck and walked closer.

“Who are you?”

“Should I be disappointed? You don’t remember me, I’m sure I stood out considering how the entire empire was pointing hands at me and stoning me for being a failure, a taboo after being named a hero of the archon of death.”

Pieter’s eyes widened.

“How?”

He found this situation utterly disturbing, this was the one thing that has caused a recent argument between him and Leane, and yet it has caught up with them, her ugly decisions had caught up with them and come to bite back at them.

“Honestly, I did not come here to fight. Depending on how this conversation goes, no one might have to die, no one would suffer… and everything will end peacefully.”

Pieter gulped and stood at ease, but his hand was still tightly clenching his sword.

Raith turned his face to the elven pontifex.

“I have a few questions for you. Pontifex of Alachra.”

“Speak” Her voice was almost shaking but it still exuded an excellent level of elegance.

“Did Fel choose me? Or did you render me to Fel? No, how much of it is true? Tell me how much of it is a lie. What the hell are you pontifices keeping from the rest of the world?”