2. A Sin's Curse

On that day, Hans and his forces were surrounding the area where the amassing cult hides. At first it looked like a large bulge of land, but it was actually a hidden lair. A trapdoor was hidden and covered with grass, even a random local could not see if he wasn't looking thoroughly.

"We await your command sire." said the general.

Hans gave the orders, "Open that door and check if there's any threats!" and his soldiers happily followed it.

When the opened the trapdoor, they could only see stairs descending down to the darkness. So they lit up there torches and descended down the stairs, they kept descending down until they realized that the lair is much deeper than they thought. After that, they come upon a room on which they were greeted with eerie silence.

A cowardly soldier said, "Sire! This lair may be empty we should go back—"

"Silence! We have not confirmed it yet, so we must continue!" said Hans as they went deeper into the lair.

As they walked further, they could hear sinister chantings from a distance. So they kept going with their swords in hand. Then they arrived at a large room with an odd statue on the middle, a group of purple hooded men surrounded the statue while chanting, one of them approached the statue and said, "Oh lord of darkness! Give us your blessings! Give us power to widen the spread of the Lavenders!"

Hans and his men were confused, "Lavender? What does that do to them?" they asked themselves.

The man continued to bargain with the odd statue while holding a rusty knife, "Give us your blessings to destroy the ones that get in our way! And we promise you, my lord! We will give you all of the dark souls we receive, all the dark souls of my fallen allies, and I will even give you my soul!" then he suddenly stabbed himself with the rusty knife. He died embracing the statue, while the others watched his attempt.

After that, a soldier whispered to Hans,  "Sire, we should attack now! Those men, they're distracted! We must attack now!"

But Hans replied, "No... He's alive."

And the man did come back to life. He stood up not knowing pain, his skin also turned pale. "See brothers!? Our Lord is true! Our Lord gave me life! He gave me power! He gave me his Blessing! Now slay the ones who are behind those walls!" he shouted as he pointed his finger to the exact wall where Hans and his men were hiding.

The members of the cult charged towards them, pulling out their weapons from the robes and sleeves. Hans had no choice, but to fight to the death.

"Alright men! Kill them all!" Hans shouted as they charge back. It was a gruesome battle, but the battle was on Hans' favor. After minutes of fighting, Hans confronted the resurrected man. He pulled out his majestic sword and said to him, "You've got guts starting this cult!" then he shouted, "Feral Justice!" and all of a sudden his sword glew. "So, do you want to see how my Blessing, Feral Justice, would smite you down?"

The resurrected man replied, "Don't test me! I have already named my Blessing! and we, Lavenders, do not bow to the likes of you!"

Name: Brother Shmeck

Age: ???

Title: The Believer

There's not much to say to Brother Shmeck, he was a farmer until he heard of the cult. After he joined, he became one of the loyal Brothers of the cult.

"Deathly Dusk!" shouted Brother Shmeck, then his rusty knife transformed into a long dagger sharp dagger. "Come at me, Hans the Bold!"

Hans replied, "I'm warning you to surrender or perish!"

"NEVER!"

Then the two clashed with their Blessings active. Hans fought good, but Brother Shmeck simply dodges and attacks when there's an opening. One time, Brother Shmeck attempted to stab Hans, luckily Hans blocked his attack with his sword. Then all of a sudden, Shmeck was stabbed by something he couldn't see right in the shoulder, the exact spot where he planned to stab Hans.

Shmeck was surprised, then Hans said to him, "Feral Justice, anything you attack that I managed to block with my sword will affect you instead of me! It is simply the greatest countering weapon! That is the ability of my Blessed Weapon!"

Shmeck covered the bleeding wound with his hand, He smirked, "It's not the greatest! It's only second to the best! My Blessed weapon is greater, the greatest counter weapon!" he screamed in anger and rushed towards Hans, but Hans swiped him with his sword. Then Shmeck's body was cut in half.

"I don't think so." said Hans.

Both half of Shmeck's body fell into the ground, gushing big amounts of blood. Even though his body was half, he could still speak. So he said, "Y-Y-Yes... It-it is...! I-It... Mi-Might t-take time... But... IT HAS DECIDED YOUR FATE! DEATHLY DUSK! KILL THIS FOOL! USE HI— GAH! SLAY HIM BY CALLING UPON HIS— GAH!" and after he uttered those words, blood burst out from his mouth. He was dead, but his dagger suddenly flew and stabbed Han's back. Then a small dark stream entered his body until he pulled the dagger out.

"How dare he! Attempting a final attack!? At least it did nothing." said Hans.

A few hours later, it was already nighttime, Hans was waiting outside while his stab wound was being healed. Then the general and his soldiers came out, some were wounded and a few died.

"Sire, All members of this cult did not surrender, instead they attacked us. Which means that all have been executed." said the general.

Hans smiled and replied, "We won't be hearing about this cult anytime soon, so burn all the bodies and get back to the palace!"

"Yes, your majesty!" And so they did what they were ordered.

Meanwhile, back at the palace courtyard. Samuel was wandering around the yard looking at the stars, until he met upon a man wearing a dark metal armor. He was standing on the corner, where no light could spot him. Samuel could not make out his face because the man was wearing a black hood.

Samuel stood back and asked, "Can I help you, mister?"

Then the man slowly walked towards him. At the time, the man was five times taller than Samuel. When the man got close enough, he crouched and said with a very deep voice, "Your the Prince... Samuel...? Isn't it...? I am glad to meet... You..."

"Uhh... Okay."

"I'm the Dark One's Assassin... And I'm here... To kill the one... With the crown..."

"Wh-What!?"

"Of course... Not today... Since Darkness ordered me... To be patient... So... While I'm here... I'll be talking... About you..." Samuel stood further back, but he was already against the wall. "The Dark One... Has ordered me... To put upon a mark... On one... of the princes... And I have chosen... You...!"

"Umm... That's nice, I guess... But I have to go!" Samuel tried to get out, but the man grabbed his head and pulled Samuel even closer to him.

"I am not finished...! Now... Follow my orders... young prince... Once you kill a living creature... Using your fist... Or weapon... That fist... That weapon will slowly be consumed... By Darkness...  Why...? You might ask... Well it's none... Of your business...!" then the man poked at Samuel's chest, and suddenly his heart beated rapidly by fear. "When I'm close by... Your heart will beat rapidly... So I suggest you not to interfere with me..."

After that, he lets go of Samuel. And Samuel immediately ran away shouting, "Guards!"

But the man only stood there on the shadows. He said "Remember this name... For this name will be your most feared... I am... Sin!" as he slowly faded into the darkness.

—To Be Continued—