Larat: “Well, that could have gone much better”

Only a hundred or so men remained from the division he led to a yet another battle.

They were all exhausted from the yet ongoing war.

Elves were losing but they were not going down without a fight.

Without their king, they were weakened but not broken.

Even if they managed to win this battle, at what cost?

For elves, their new queen wanted to avenge her late father and the elven subjects were eager to do so.

A sound of screams followed by a roar caught everyone’s attention.

Larat looked in the direction of the commotion, ready to face the elves once again.

But the enemy was a strange creature, vaguely humanoid, its body covered in armor-like scales and feathers, several horns adorned its head.

It possessed four black wings; each one had black flames with blue centers floating above them. It possessed three silver crowns above its head, floating like broken halos.

Creature looked horrifically twisted, writhing in madness and rage.

“…Aaaather….”

Many tentacles extended from its back, grabbing hold of anyone nearby, absorbing their life force. Its victims were turned into lifeless, dried husks.

Dark energy was emanating from it, floating around its vicinity, draining life from all that surrounded it.

The most horrifying part was its face; it looked like a mask, a mask of a canine skeleton, and inside was another face covered in darkness. Only two piercing, flaming red eyes could be seen within the swirling blackness.

Its arms and legs ended in skeletal appendages.

It was like an utter perversion of what divinity should be.

Larat: “What the hell is that thing? An undead? No, doesn’t feel like one….”

Desire: ‘Larat, that thing is dangerous! You need to put it down right now before it kills us!’

Larat: “It’s that bad?”

Desire: ‘It’s beyond bad. I don’t know what it is, but I can sense it can destroy us both’

Larat: “Understood”

Stepping forward, Larat unsheathed his Black Blade.

Soldier: “Lord Knight of Night!”

Larat: “Men, get back! I will handle it!”

As his men retreated, Larat marched forward.

The creature he was facing was beyond any comprehension, different from any monster he had ever faced.

It was the same sensation he had felt when he faced the Sword Saint, a feeling of going against someone with overwhelming power.

Larat felt his breath grow cold. The sensation…it was suffocating.

The sheer level of power the creature possessed was ridiculous, enough to make a hero struggle to breathe from the sheer pressure it exuded.

Several of his men even ended up passing out, unable to handle the pressure.

He needed to do everything he could to lead the creature away.

“…Aaather?”

Creature looked at Larat as if asking a question before attacking, one of his hands turning into a scythe-like weapon.

Larat blocked it with his Black Blade, but the physical strength of this creature was no joke.

“Noooo….Aaather….”

The creature broke into a savage scream, swiping towards Larat with its other arm turned into a blade and its tentacles shooting towards him.

Larat took a step back to dodge the bladed arm before proceeding to cut the incoming tentacles.

The tentacles instantly grew back.

Creature jumped up into the sky and extended its wings, shooting out balls of fire and pieces of spiked tentacles.

Larat: “Wide-ranged attack?! Not good!”

Concentrating his mana upon a single location, Larat countered with a shockwave of his own, hoping his counter-attack would twist the trajectory of the fireballs and spike tentacles.

As much as he was trying to keep the creature from killing his men, some of its attacks still landed on them.

His men were running for their lives, just not fast enough.

Larat: “I wouldn’t let you!”

Black blade clashed against the enormous claws, blades, and tentacles.

Larat was being steadily pushed back.

The tentacles turned into drills and started to target Larat’s body, who managed to dodge them as they embedded themselves into the ground.

Creature manifested a bolt of lightning and threw it at Larat’s face.

Using his curse, Larat channeled his power into his jaws and managed to bite the lightning bolt; surviving the impact in the process. His curse barely managed to absorb the energy into itself.

Monster started to manifest more and more lightning bolts, but Larat was not about to let it throw another one, landing a heavy blow upon the creature’s shoulder.

But the wound was not deep enough.

Creature simply threw Larat hard enough to dislocate Larat’s left shoulder.

Not willing to give up, Larat quickly stood up and forcefully reset his shoulder. Fighting back tears, Larat swung his sword at the creature, only to have his blade blocked once again.

Larat: “I guess I have no choice but to resort to this, huh?”

Larat’s left eye turned bright blue as he activated the forbidden power within him.

He was thinking of beating the creature with only his own strength, but that idea was quickly thrown out of the window.

In order to survive, he needed to use his curse, even if he wanted to avoid using it in front of his troops. He hoped that none of them would see his mismatched eyes during this battle.

Aside from being exposed as a warlock, using his curse came at a heavy price.

The more he used it, the stronger the will of the curse became.

He may be able to control and communicate with the curse, for now, but what would happen when the will of the curse exceeds his own?

Would he turn into a soul-consuming monster just like the witches he hunted down?

But right now, he did not have the time to think of the consequences.

It was a do or die situation.

Larat’s aura became thicker and thicker, even rivaling that of the monster.

Using the new surge of power, Larat struck back, pushing the monster away by force.

But the creature did not relent, instead focusing its attacks upon Larat, using its ability to fly to give it a massive advantage, breathing an icicle based attack in Larat’s direction.

Larat: “Not only powerful, but also uses multiple elements…!”

He barely managed to jump out of the ground breaking under his feet. Apparently the monster could also use remote earth magic.

Larat: “I will not beat him on land, not while he is dominating me in air…..I need wings!”

As the very ground he was standing sank, two enormous dark blue wings manifested from Larat’s back. They were ghastly wings, looking more like twisted hands than anything else.

The manifestation was not painless as the wings broke through Larat’s back, making him bleed in the process, but Larat was not about to let the pain stop him.

It did not take him long to adjust to flying, using his newfound wings, he flew straight towards the beast, intending to slay it, once and for all.

He intended to cut the creature’s head off in a single swing, but the beast simply caught the blade in between its teeth.

Its jaws were powerful enough to pry the blade away from Larat’s grip, right before slamming its tentacles into Larat’s body.

The tentacles left deep lacerations in Larat’s chest.

Unable to maintain his wings anymore, Larat’s body fell limply on the ground.

It took all he had to control the curse and his body was its limit.

On one hand, he could release control of the curse, but there was no telling what would happen next. And there was no guarantee that his curse could beat the monster, even if it was released.

From the sound of it, even his curse was afraid of this creature, as if it was its natural enemy.

On the other hand, his curse would likely kill his remaining men, and Larat was not about to let that happen.

But after pushing his body to the limit, this was as far as he could hold on.

The beast pounced upon him, beating him bloody non-stop with its fists, again and again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Each time, Larat’s consciousness would fade and come back.

It continued on for so long that it was obvious it was a matter of moments before Larat would succumb and pass away.

Right before delivering a blow that would have surely killed Larat, the creature suddenly stopped.

“Faaaaaa”

“Wheeeeeereeeee ….iiiiis….aaaather…?”

Grabbing its own head in agony, the creature became engulfed in blue flames before it disappeared, right before defeated Larat’s eyes.

Larat: “*Breathing heavily and coughing up blood*….What the hell was that?”