Way of the Knights

---

'Oh, it looks like it can't maintain it's act anymore.' Vendrick muttered after hearing the way the beast roared at him.

What followed next made everything clear that the creature was done with games already. 

The emaciated hound like creature released a horrifying howl that caused its devious aura to explode. The darkness shroud became thicker and more resilient, devouring all the light away. Vendrick's elements and the hound's darkness were competing in supremacy. 

Vendrick also saw the changes happening to the hound. It was using it's life force to over-compensate. It's as if time was being rewound for the hound. It's previously thin and emaciated body was gradually filling up with tightly packed muscles and a tough hide. Its fur grew longer and became more lustrous in addition to its claws growing sharper and longer.. 

The mane on it's neck really made it look like a lion but this man grew longer too and traced its spine, all the way to it's tail, much like that of a horse's. 

It's size grew larger too and its aura became even more dangerous compared to last time. 

Despite the empowered darkness around them, Vendrick could see the hound clearly this time. It stood in front of him like a towering menace, looking down on his while drooling. Its crimson colored eyes had nothing but contempt, anger and hunger in them. 

"I will eat you!!!" The hound howled loudly, causing the abyss to shake from the sound vibrations. 

"Oh, done with all the pretenses I suppose." Vendrick commented as he gripped his spear tighter. "Might as well, about damn time we finish this."

After saying that, Vendrick began transforming as well. 

Scales appeared on his body, his eyes turned into slits and his limbs turned into claws. An equally overpowering and benevolent aura of a God Beast erupted from his body. The momentum it possess didn't lose out on that of the hound's.

A pair of wings unfolded from his back, he has a tail to. The moment his transformation began, the very fabric of laws were being influenced by him. 

The sheer density of his domineering aura curbed the aggressiveness of the darkness around him. His presence struck fear to everything, and yes that includes the very 'god' that's in front if him right now.

"Ah, much better." Vendrick smiled, his entire being was radiating with fighting spirit. "Prepare yourself Buddy. I don't about you but the idea of beating-up a 'God' makes me feel excited. I'm afraid I won't be able to hold back."

*Boom!!*

Vendrick wasted no time at all. He shot forward, breaking the speed barrier, and threw a mean right hook at the face of the hound, sending it crashing to the side. 

The Hound felt like its brain got shook by that punch, but it didn't have time to tarry in its thoughts since Vendrick is rushing this way again. 

The hound lifted its paws and pressed it down, wanting to smack Vendrick down to no avail. In addition to being fast, Vendrick's reflexes are similarly unnatural. With his spear covered in flame and lightning, he flew like a comet and slammed on the hound's body. 

The hound let out a whimper. It got his hard, additionally, its in pain thanks to the elements wrecking havoc inside its body. 

It tried to shuttle through space to gain some ground and distance but Vendrick was one step ahead. He sealed the space in the abyss, effectively crippling the hound's favorite method of running away. When the hound tried to pause time, it found out that it couldn't as well since Vendrick countered that as well. 

And unlike Vendrick who can wield numerous Laws like its the extension if his hands, the God Hound can only use darkness since its the only that its born with. 

The hound tried to retaliate against Vendrick's relentless assault but since most of its tools were effective countered, it could only match-up at on same platform as Vendrick which is a physical and elemental battle, something Vendrick undoubtedly has an upper hand. 

Don't be mistaken, the God Hound was strong. It's an Ascended Demonic Beast, even if its specialty didn't lie on its physique, it definitely wouldn't be their weakest point. The hound possess a physical strength that could level mountains and overturn the seas. It's just that its current opponent can do that too and better...

Vendrick's relentless assault pushed the Hound closer to the pit of despair. He was too fast and too strong, he clearly knows how to use his strength properly and his combat sense was extraordinary as well. 

On the contrary, the hound had been trapped here for God knows how long. Aside from its perpetual hunger and its consuming anger, it's senses were dulled greatly. There had been too many times that the hound needed to rely on its intelligence only to lure creatures in so that it could eat them. 

From time to time, there will be idiots who will fall for its scheme or turn extremely confident upon seeing its base form, allowing the hound to easily manipulate them and become food for it. 

The Hound never faced anyone like Vendrick. This small human, who's supposed to be weaker than Demonic Beasts and should only serve as food for them, is now overpowering it, overpowering a God. How was this even possible. 

"Man, I could do this all day." Vendrick said as he dashed around in super sonic speeds, striking every inch of the hound's body, causing it to feel extreme pain.

No matter how hard the hound tried to gain some space, Vendrick mercilessly trampled on every change it saw. The Hound was on the verge of despair. At this point, its plainly obvious that Vendrick was just playing around. 

The defeat of the hound was already certain the moment he jumped down here. That only became even more obvious when he revealed his true form. 

The Hound was desperate, it tried to use more of its longevity to heal up its wounds but just as soon as they disappeared, Vendrick would just give it a new one. 

In about three hours of non-stop onslaught, Vendrick forced the beast to use at least 50,000 years worth of lifespan just to cure its wounds. The scarier part is that, Vendrick never showed any signs of stopping nor exhaustion.

"Hmm, you know what? This is starting to get old." Vendrick muttered as he still continued beating-up the God Hound. 

The hound let out a whimper. It's entire body was drenched in its own blood. It could feel death coming closer. Despite that, it was still trying to fight back even when everything was useless. 

Its control over darkness weakened severely as well, this is mostly due to the injuries it sustained. 

"Well, time to be on your way then." 

The beast heard Vendrick sigh. It then felt that he was gathering a huge amount of energy, something that made its eyes widen. It couldn't understand how in the world did this human still have this much energy after three hours of non-stop assault? 

How can that little body of his handle this much energy in the first place? 

Still, this is no time to stop and think. The hound felt a great crisis looming over it. It's like the scythe of death was pressing down on its neck. A consuming fear took over its body and the God Hound started scrambling to the walls. 

It summoned the last bits of its energy and began scaling the walls in desperation. It didn't want to die. 

Seeing this, Vendrick just sighed. The hound was consumed by so much fear that it legitimately forgot about the shackles which rudely pulled it back to reality. 

There is no escape for the hound...

"Curse this damn chains!!! Curse you, Human!!!" The Hound roared in defiance and unwillingness. 

"Curse all you want, Buddy. It's not going to change the outcome of this event." 

"NOOOO!!!"

"Yes." Vendrick whispered as he pointed his spear above the clouds and channeled the mightiest and densest Lightning Strike he could muster. 

Bright Light swallowed the hound, illuminating the entire abyss. The impact of the strike shook the entire Central Continent, in fact the impact was felt all the way to the other continents as well. 

The God Hound was reduced to ashes by the lightning. All traces of its existence got erased, never to be seen ever again. 

With the death of the beast, the Mouth of the Abyss started crumbling down as well. Vendrick flew out before he became buried down there. He floated in the air, watched as the Central Continent fiercely shook. 

The land started changing under his gaze, the dark clouds disappeared and first few rays of sunshine graced the land, melting away the rot and decay that poisoned the soil. It will take some time before the continent becomes habitable but that's not really something that he needed to worry about. 

Vendrick closed his eyes and saw the slate within his consciousness. It flashed with a brilliant glow, signifying that he fulfilled his mission. 

"My work here is done." Raven muttered. 

His gaze shifted and looked towards the man who just appeared in his consciousness and was staring at him. 

"The rest is up to you."