“Ereth!”

  Adra rushed towards Ereth with great haste, a small dagger tightly gripped in hand. Maintaining the perspective of an idle observer was no longer an option. Though the difference in destructive power between herself and the black knight differed greatly, she could not afford to lose a rarity of talent such as Ereth.

  No — that explanation didn’t tell the whole story. While she did indeed view the boy as a means to an end, her selfishness did not imply a lack of moral agency. Perhaps it was a bit of her impulsivity slipping through her rationalist persona, but Adra couldn’t bring herself to sit idly by as an innocent person’s life was at risk.

  She clumsily stumbled down the minor sand dune. Her body folded forward, nearly giving way to her accumulated momentum. After a few moments of awkward tumbling, she arrived at the base of the dune.

  “The fuck do you think you’re doing, freak! Get away from him!”

  Despite her desperate plea, the black knight hadn’t paid her threats any mind. His hand remained steady, unwavering and unyielding.

  “Adra,” Ereth said with an authoritative tone. “I’ve got this handled, so don’t worry about me, alright?”

  “How can you expect me to accept that?”

  “I don’t need you to — all I need is your trust, just this once.”

  “...”

  With a pained expression, Adra slowly lowered her blade.

  “Don’t make me regret this, dumbass.”

  Ereth met her pained expression with a cheerful expression of his own. The boy was certain that, no matter what, his life would not meet its end, and the black knight took note of this quirk.

  “You aren’t a coward at the very least, but do you think bravery alone can overcome me?”

  “Of course not. Who said bravery was all I had to offer?”

  The black knight sniggered, “Interesting…very well. Then allow me to lay out the terms of the offer.”

  He lowered his weapon and stabbed the sand underfoot, causing the blade to stand at a crooked angle. The man in black then performed an unorthodox technique. He clenched his left hand into a fist while lowering his central mass. His veins and muscles bulged and tensed like springs under compression. It was as though he were literally ‘charging’ a heavy attack in a video game.

  This, of course, was completely opposed to any proper fighting technique or form. Concepts such as the chain of the body, positioning, balance, and proactive defense were entirely disregarded in favor of raw aggression.

  “One hit,” the black knight said. “Take one hit, and I’ll join your motley crew.”

  “And if I lose?”

  “A foolish question. I shall claim your life and continue upon my path.”

  “Hahaha! That’s great!”

  Ereth took a deep breath, steadying his mind as he entered a state of deep concentration. Out of a show of honesty and pride, he had no intentions of defending himself against the attack. He would not step back or twist his face to minimize the damage, as those were the tactics of cowards.

  He adopted a position resembling a horse stance, his fists gripped tightly in a supinated orientation, yet his legs were far closer together than any ordinary horse stance — about shoulder-width apart.

  “What are you waiting for?” Ereth said with a confident expression, “Come at me.”

  In an instant, the tension released. The black knight’s fist carved a massive arc through the air, akin to a farmer’s scythe cutting down wheat. Yet it could not be considered an exceptionally difficult strike to perform. The strike could best be described as an unstoppable hammer, capable of crushing anything in its deadly arc.

  His fist sunk into Ereth’s right cheek. The impact tore through the flesh of his cheek, the spiked gauntlets sinking deeply into his gums and teeth. Ereth’s head cocked backwards, yet his feet had hardly left the ground.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Further. Further. He was pushed back even further, his feet sinking into the sand. Despite the force of the blow, Ereth remained headstrong, tightening his muscles to their maximum extent. The pain was unbearable, like smoldering hot lava dripping across his flesh.

  Half of his face was swollen, bloodied, or completely blown off. Any ordinary person would have passed out from the pain alone, yet Ereth could hardly be called ordinary by any metric.

  Ereth let out the deep breath he had been holding in since the beginning of the exchange, releasing the tension in his body. For the first time, Ereth had nearly lost consciousness at the hands of another foe in this world.

  “Oh…?” The black knight looked at Ereth with a skeptical mien.

  “That…was nothing!” He proclaimed, his face still mutilated.

  In an act of sheer elation, the black knight raised his hand to his eyes, failing to suppress his howling laughter.

  “Hahaha…hahahAHAHAHAH! So those words weren’t all delusions after all! Hilarious! A clown you are indeed! You are an interesting one, Ereth.”

  “Now if…you don’t mind…how about you join us?” Ereth said, his speech troubled by his damaged face.

  “Yes, I know. I will indeed join your fairytale crew. However, I have some conditions.”

  “Pray tell…”

  “For one, I shall not change. My path remains the same, no matter my affiliation. I will slaughter all evil without exception. Secondly, I reserve my right to cut you down the moment you falter as a leader. I refuse to bow before anyone, especially those weaker than myself. Lastly, you must embody righteousness in every way, never straying from the path of the hero. If you truly are the Immortal Sword Saint, such conditions are surely child’s play, no?”

  “Yeah, I’ve…got it. But that isn’t…all there is to the clause. There is still one more issue. What is your name?”

  “...”

  A thick cloud of emotions obscured the man’s heart, leaving his mind in a muddled and confused state. He was still reluctant to share his name, not out of any fault on Ereth’s end, but because even his own origin endlessly eluded him. The singular point, the thread that bound his existence to this world, as tentative and infinitely fragile, its twine threatening to snap in two at any moment

  However, that did not mean that the man was a true void. Remnants of another time, another life, had arisen the surface, though fragmentary and nonsensical.

  “You truly are a ██████ child, █b█████. How many times do I have to tell you to do it right?”

  The memories stung far more painfully than any blade, fist, or weapon of mass destruction.

  “Yo, █b████s! Sorry I’m late today, but ███████ had to work really hard today.”

  “The only reason you were born was to carry out the ███. Nothing more. Remember your place, filth.”

  With time, the muddled mess had formed a clearer picture, though only a fraction of his true self would emerge from the waters.

  “You cannot escape without Ab██x█s. The threads of fate have long since bound us together. Even I cannot cut such a ███”

  “Abr█xas…you alone are the key of ████, the one that shall free us from the threads of ██████. The path before you shall be riddled with pain and sorrow, yet it is from the death of ██ █████ that our journey shall reach its conclusion.”

  “I will always love you, my beloved Abraxas.”

  The memories were distinct, yet devoid of context. Even the voices from that distant time had appeared distorted and malformed. As such, he was unable to discern who exactly was speaking at any given moment, yet there was one truth, an ultimate truth, that the black knight could grasp and never let go of.

  “My name…is Abraxas.”