Way of the Knights

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"Everyone! This is the last stretch! Once we take down the Imp Overlord the rest of these little buggers will flee! Put your back on to it!"

"Ooohhhhh!"

Amidst the raging battlefield, the courageous spirit of the fighters blazed as they summoned their strongest attacks in order to end the battle as quickly as possible. The Guardian of Tartarus was the one who's leading the charge against the Imp Overlord - the biggest devil there is currently. He might look like a toddler in front of it, but he surely wasn't losing out on each clash.

The Guardian wanted to end this siege as soon as possible. He knew that the longer this continues, the casualties on their side will pile up and he didn't want any unnecessary deaths specially knowing that he could something about it. 

The Guardian was backed by some of the older disciples, they are either protecting him or healing any injuries on his body as he fought. Some of them could even boost the guardian's strength just be being near him. Of course, this disciples weren't that idle as they too have their own battles. They were picking off some of the stronger and bigger Imps in order to prevent them from assisting the Imp Overlord. 

With everyone's hard work, the number of devils sieging Tartarus were drastically lowered. No one had the chance to count just how many imps were released from their prison but what matters is that, there are fewer of them now. 

Raven still continued sniping in a rapid fire manner. While some of his teammates as well as people from other units had dismounted the construct due to them running low on energy, Raven's reserves were still plenty and he's not running out of it anytime soon. 

Due to this, Raven was gradually noticed by more people. At first they were confused as to why he's being so reckless, but after observing how none of his shots missed, some of them felt dazzled. Some were even doubting him, thinking that this shouldn't be his first time using this kind of construct and many were starting to wonder who he was. 

In spite of this, Raven didn't care. His mind was focused and his aim was to earn as much merit points as possible by taking advantage of this event. Opinions of the others doesn't matter. 

'I wonder how many Merit Points I accumulated so far? I should ask how much Merit Points Imps gives me. They should have an conversion list or something right?' 

Raven's thoughts were mostly focused on this and he was completely unaware of the strange stares he was receiving. 

*ROOOOAAAARRR!*

Everyone was rudely startled by a long and furious howl of the Imp Overlord. It even caused Raven to pause momentarily and check the situation up ahead. 

From what he saw, it seems that the big buy was seriously pissed off. It had numerous cuts and bruises all over its body. Black blood covered parts of its body, couple with its intimidating eyes which turned completely red from rage, the Imp Overlord was akin to something born from a nightmare.

Judging from how it looks, the Imp Overlord should be on its last legs. This should be its last ditch effort to trample what's in front of it, in hopes of escaping from Mount Olympus. 

"Will they be fine?" Some disciples asked, feeling unnerved and nervous for the people who were dealing with the Imp Overlord.

Some discussed to themselves as their attention involuntarily focused on the battle against the big guy.

As for those who were actually fighting it, their expressions turned a bit sour as they saw the last ditch effort of the Imp Overlord to take them down. It was completely enraged. Its aura spiked sharper as it was literally burning its lifespan to convert it into battle strength in hopes of escaping this place. 

Moments after it started burning its lifespan, the Imp Overlord moved. It was swift and fierce, even the Guardian was caught off-guard, barely being able to deflect its attack. This situation caused the Guardian's face to turn ugly.

This was one of the reason's why he wanted to end the battle against this thing as quickly as possible. As the one task to guard Tartarus, the Guardian has treated this place as its own home. With how long he's been here, this isn't the first time he faced with hoards of devils. In a sense, he's even numb to it by now. 

See, the thing about the Guardian of Tartarus is that, he's a unique life form. His body was forged by using a brick on each floor of the Devil Emperor's Pagoda and his soul was created by harvesting the last living organism that persisted since the corruption of this land. By using these tools, one of the founders created him and had him as the guardian of Tartarus. 

Due to his body being connected to the Devil Emperor's Pagoda, he's the first one to know when an Eruption is going to happen and which floor its going to be. His strength will automatically change in order to face the Overlords on whatever floor it is that escaped from their prison. However even if that's the case, each Overlords has their own trump cards and one can't just expect him to posses all of them, so he's bound to be in danger too. 

Needless to say, the Guardians existence is extremely crucial to the sect. Therefore many disciples had nothing but respect for this guy and will help in defending the place.

The Guardian eventually snapped out of its daze and became serious. Things just got real dangerous right now and if he wants himself and the disciples behind him to survive, he had to make sure to grasp all the chance to take this large oaf down. 

Even though the Imp Overlord had a boost in strength just now, it is burning its own life force to do so, which means that it won't last long. All he needed to do was to endure as long he could until the Imp Overlord runs out of fumes, once that moment arrives, they could finally finish it off. 

Giant spiked club versus giant spiked club. The guardian and the Imp Overlord repeatedly clashed weapons in a blink of an eye with the imp taking the initiative and the Guardian barely defending himself.

It was without a doubt that the Imp Overlord also received a strength boost, the Guardian could feel his arms giving in from each clash, even his knees was starting the buckle. The disciples behind him tried to assist him to their outmost abilities but they could only do so much, specially when they also have their hands full. 

The Guardian did its best to defend and evade the Imp Overlord's attacks. Gritting his teeth and getting impatient since the imp wasn't showing any kind of opening, weakness or exhaustion. It was also mortifying to know that many disciples were watching the battle right now and seeing him being mauled down by the enemy.

As time passed by, things got incredibly hairy. The Guardian still can't see any signs of weakness and his body was just about ready to give in. With the numerous injuries he was enduring, it caused him to momentarily lose focus.

"Watch out!"

One slip and immediately, his life was in danger. By the time that his focus returned, the spiked club of the Imp Overlord was literally just inches away from his face. The Guardian tried his best to defend but he too knew that it was useless.

That's until…

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

Three loud shots echoed across the battlefield, causing everyone's body to be shook. To the Guardian's surprise, the spiked club completely missed him, landing right next to him causing a small part of the ground to cave in. 

When he woke up from his stupor, he could see the Imp Overlord down in one knee and was profusely screeching while covering its left eye which was bleeding profusely. 

The Guardian unconsciously looked back only to see an aqua-marine haired guy wearing a Siege Defense Construct aiming at the furious and severely injured Imp Overlord. 

Under his watch, the arms of the construct lit up once more and fired two more shots. The Guarding watched as the projectiles accurately pierced the Imp Overlord's right eye while the other shot landed on its right shoulder joint, causing its right arm to fell limp on its side. 

"Finish it Big Guy." 

Those words fell onto the Guardian's ears, causing him to tap onto the last fumes of his strength. With an enraged roar, he picked up not only his own spiked club but also the other one. Holding one club on each arm, he began ruthlessly pummeling the Imp Overlord. Releasing the pent up frustrations from the earlier beatings he received and returning it back two fold. 

The Guardian only stopped when he saw that each limb of the Imp Overlord was reduced into a gross lump of flesh.. He let out a relieved and exhausted sigh before looking up and releasing the loudest roar he could muster before losing consciousness.