Way of the Knights

---

The Hag - Amalia screeched in sheer fury and indignation. 

It didn't even take her seconds for her to revert to her original form which is that of an overgrown insect. All reason was gone from her head the moment she saw the charred corpse of her youngest still smoking on the tip of this young man's spear. 

Her voice was piercingly loud that it could make someone ears bleed. Her body instantly bloated and contorted into different shapes and sizes, making for a hair-raising scene. Her bones creaked loudly, her eyes with crimson red, her aura and sheer anger she was emanating was stifling but it didn't have much effect of Vendrick. 

Under his gaze, she shed her Hag skin and revealed her true form. Thick jet black carapace covered majority of her body which looked like a centipede, her head was that of an ant, with antennas and all. She has two pairs of moth wings, her legs were akin to sharp daggers that dug through the soil, and her entire being was emanating viscous curses and hexes. 

A foul stench immediately filled the room, and the moment Amalia finished transforming, she attacked Vendrick. 

Their clash caused the underground network to collapse, this however didn't faze Amalia due to her thick carapace protecting her body, she continued her rampage, not even a second did she let him out of her sights. 

Vendrick stared back at her, but not out of admiration that's for sure. He was studying her as their battle rages on. Just like Amalia, he couldn't care less about the underground network collapsing. Thanks to his sharp senses and his perverted strength, he managed to deflect the Hag's attack despite the chaos ensuing around them. 

Each blows they exchanged were heavy and severe. Sparks appeared whenever her arms and his spear clashed. Amalia was larger than she was and the number of her legs can overwhelm Vendrick but he didn't. 

Maybe it's because of her mood, but Amalia's instincts reverted back to its animalistic state. She's no different from a strong Demonic Beast now, the only thing she got is her size, speed and her toughness that's all. As for her intelligence, well she threw that out of the window the moment she reverted back to her true form. 

This isn't to say that the battle became easier. Vendrick never forgotten that he's fighting against a Hag. The amount of curses and hexes she's emanating poses danger to him despite him releasing lightning and thunder. He can prevent it from infecting him but one slip is all she needs for him to be riddled of curses and hexes. If that happens, Vendrick might as well kill himself with his own hands. 

The curses and hexes on her body were like poisons or venoms. Handling her should be done in a careful manner since one small mishap will produce undesirable effects. This is why Vendrick's taking his time. 

He's defending himself and studying the noticeable habits that the Hag was displayed as they fight. He didn't mind a prolonged battle. He has the stamina and endurance to last anyways. And with those plus his close inspection of the Hag, he'll have the chance of launching a counter attack. 

Their battle caused the collapse of the underground network completely but it didn't stop and took them above the surface. Vendrick mostly retreated and defended himself while the Hag was hot on his trails, flashing her sharp legs at him. 

As they clashed, Vendrick noticed a movement inside the Hag's body thanks to his ocular technique. From the path its taking, he predicted her next move which made him jump high up in the air. 

It turns out that his prediction was sound. Jumping above, he managed to avoid being drenched in acidic and probably highly toxic spit of the Hag, but that doesn't stop there. The spit she was releasing was a long stream and she moved her head to follow where he was at. 

Vendrick pushed his soles and evade it again but turning into a bolt of lightning. While in that form, he also shot out numerous lightning pythons to attack the Hag. It had some effect but very minimal, it didn't hurt her but it managed to shave a good chunk of curses and hexes on her body. 

The Hag eventually realized that her spit wasn't effective against him so she stopped. She shrieked loudly and all of a sudden, her sharp legs dislodged from her body and turned into projectiles that chased after Vendrick. 

Vendrick was surprised but he managed to keep his cool and evaded the projectiles by turning into a bolt of lightning, however they were tracking his movements pretty closely so it pressured him even more. 

To counter this, Vendrick brandished his spear and sent several lightning streaking towards the projectiles. Unlike the Hag's body, the legs were more fragile and his counter attack was enough to neutralize them. However, it would seem that it's no use since when he looked back at the Hag, her legs had already re-grown. 

Vendrick didn't panic though, he remain calm and assessed his position as the Hag relentlessly chased him down. 

The sounds of their clash caused this part of the wilderness to tremble. Out of fear, most of the demonic beasts nearby fled deeper into the forest, away from the clash since they could tell that it getting caught up in their fight would spell death to them. 

Time passed and Vendrick was pretty certain that he knew all the habits of the Hag so far. Well, she's absurdly strong due to her physique, her carapace was thick and sturdy, it can endure some serious stress. She's also showing no signs of fatigue but the same could also be said to her patience. She's recklessly strong. She destroyed everything she touches, her mind was so consumed with anger that she didn't even realize that she destroyed her own base by herself. 

Thanks to that however, her powers dwindled by a lot. She destroyed her shrine that boosts her power so it's only natural. Aside from that, all she could really do is to hit him as hard as she could, spit acidic and toxic liquid from her mouth, move really fast and fly to certain extent. That's about it.

After compiling information he needed about his enemy, Vendrick decided to end this fuss. 

*Roar!!*

That roar didn't come from his mouth. It was just a side-effect of him revealing his Dragonborn form. 

Scaled emerged from his skin, covering most of his body all the way to his face. His eyes turned into slits and the aura of an apex predator washed over the wilderness and released a mighty suppression to those who were in range. 

Amalia's instincts screamed danger. If her pupils could constrict due to shock, it probably had by now. Her mind lagged for a bit the moment she bore the full burnt of that predatory aura. A deep-seated fear emerged from the depths of her heart, causing her to be rooted in place with fear.

As she stared at the pupils of young man, she couldn't help but have images of a mighty God Beast staring down at her. 

She had felt this somewhere before. She didn't have many encounters with that entity but every single time, it was the same no matter how much she became stronger. This sensation of being looked down by like a useless pest was not a strange feeling to her. 

What she couldn't believe is that, how in the world did this young man able to struck such fear from emerging from her heart like that entity did? 

Unfortunately, she didn't have much time to think about such things because she just realized that Vendrick just disappeared from her vision. 

His disappearance was followed by a soul searing pain coursing through her entire body. Amalia had never been in such pain before. It was both physical and spiritual. 

Snakes of lightning covered her from head to toe, they ignored the thickness of her carapace and penetrated deep to her soul causing her to writhe in pain. It didn't show signs of ending too. 

She struggled to keep her consciousness up but she only saw that she's now writhing on the ground while Vendrick stood not too far from her, staring her down like the pest she is. 

There were no trace od any compassion nor pity on his face. Only coldness. He mercilessly struck down his spear which was covered with more lightning and thunder, causing it to smite Amalia one more time. 

The pain she felt increased by two-fold, and just like before, any resistance failed. It didn't show signs of ending. Not at all...

"Hey, you guys should have built a Coven right? Can you tell me where it is?" 

Amalia was dumbfounded despite her writhing in pain. She couldn't believe that he actually expects her from betraying her sister now.

"G-g-go to hell!" Amalia's teeth were clattering due to lightning shock, causing her struggle in her reply. 

"Whatever..." Vendrick murmured, "It's not like I was expecting that to work anyway. I'll do it myself then." 

With his palms covered with lightning, Vendrick shoved his hand on Amalia's head pulled her soul out.