The Village.

Ludovic was flying towards them at full speed, a determined bright light coming out of his eyes.

"It's Ludovic! Kill them! Hurry!"

"We'll call for help!!!"

The Paladin turned his head and saw all around him gaps of space closing: the others had abandoned him, their energy barriers disappearing.

A year ago, Ludovic had faced a Paladin of Dhorkar, a ranked one, and won, his force rivaling a Great Paladin.

A great Paladin! He was a monster.

They didn't have the level.

He looked down briefly: the Knights of Cleppe had stopped fighting, and even the decapitated ones had come back to life.

"FUCK!" He turned back and joined the other Paladins.

Seeing him disappear, the other Cleppe members surrounded Jean, questioning him harshly.

Energy peacefully separated them from Jean, Ludovic landing next to him.

"Ah, there you are at last! 6 more months, and I wouldn't have given much for your skin!"

He looked at the surroundings:

"Ah, I see that one has already died; that reassures me; where are the others?"

"Who are you talking about?" asked Jean

"You... don't seem to remember?"

"I... What should I remember, sir?"

Ludovic's eyes' light grayed.

"It's worse than I thought," he thought aloud. "Maybe if you go back to the village quickly enough... yeah, they should be able to heal you."

"I, I'm fine." Said Jean, "I thank you for saving us." he bowed, sweats running from his face.

"You shouldn't have let the torture corrupt you more than you are... come on, hurry and self-destruct."

"N-No, I'll do anything you say as long as you let me live." he paled in fright.

"JEAN!" He shouted in rage before whispering to him, his anger half-hidden.

"This." He articulated each word. " Is. Not. Reality. Understand? You need to go back to your body."

"I-I see..."

'Pre-awakening: amplified thoughts.'

He used the longest time possible, the longest time bearable for his mind, concentring a few days of thoughts in a single second.

He transformed into a demon, removed his seals, and accumulated energy in his hands and feet, recreating impure and pure energy thousands of times, exhausting his surroundings, body, and mind.

The area's energy was ultimately used up, his body destroyed and recreated by the pressure of the impure energy stacking up, the mind so exhausted it seemed he would fall unconscious the next moment.

But a second was enough.

His pre-awakening had always ranked him low, but he knew it was the strongest, though he had chosen him from the lifetime he would gain by doing so. Combined with Nirl's Protector bonus still working, he was at his peak.

The next moment, he unleashed all the impure energy at close range on Ludovic, a Knight - who had more difficulty defending himself than a Paladin.

This energy was enough to kill even a Sacred Paladin who wasn't paying attention. His choices never seemed better than now.

He used the impure energy to project himself, strengthening himself further with the pure energy, his escape much faster than the Paladins.

A finger.

Terror flashed across Jean's face.

One finger had been enough to stop his attack, and, before he knew it,

Ludovic was stationed in front of him, stopping him with the same finger, and paralyzing him.

"You are much more corrupt than I thought... I did well to speed things up by devouring their energies. I hope we can save you; they'll take good care of you."

'Even a Saint should have been wary of it...'

Jean sank into the darkness.

The strongest Knight had become the strongest Paladin.

Ludovic searched the battlefield. The first one was dead, he already noticed the third and had the second in hand, but where was the fourth?

Well... he would have to kill all living if need be.

Ludovic transpierced Jean's body, his eyes darting as he found the link that still bound him to Alain.

Then, he crossed over to Alain's world.