Death Over Submission

Gallahan walked past Kaelsa and noticed his presence. Kaelsa immediately regained his composure and stood tall in front of Gallahan, his head held high as he looked the commander in the eyes.

"Ah, Kaelsa. What brings you here?" Gallahan asked, surprised to see Kaelsa inside the keep.

"The first captain urged me to request your presence outside," Kaelsa replied calmly.

'Randal? What must he need me for?' Gallahan nodded and followed Kaelsa who led the way, wondering what matter had made the first captain to request his presence so urgently.

"Do you know where Commander Pendragon is, my lord?" despite the urgency, Kaelsa asked calmly as they walked through the hallway.

Gallahan furrowed his brow in thought, trying to remember the last time he saw Varus, but he couldn't recall where he last saw him.

"I'm afraid I do not know," Gallahan replied with a hint of concern in his voice. "Have you searched his office and the barracks? He may be there attending to his duties."

Kaelsa nodded, "I have searched those areas, my lord, but to no avail."

...

"KYAAK!"

The atmosphere on the surface of the dungeon was tense. The knights were clad in full steel, standing outside with their weapons ready. As they waited for Wald to emerge, they could hear the screams of their fellow knights echoing up from the depths of the dungeon, sending chills down their spines.

"By the grace of God, how many knights have we already sent?" asked one of the Dreadmoore knight sergeants, his voice trembled slightly as he spoke.

The knight that was besides him replied, "More than thirty, sir. I believe it is more than enough number of men to subdue a person like him."

The screams continued for what seemed like an eternity, until it eventually faded away into an eerie silence. The knights were left standing there outside, with bated breath, wondering what had happened down there.

Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed up from the darkness of the dungeon. The sound of the heavy footstep resounded a loud thud as a figure slowly emerged from the darkness of the dungeon. The knights tensed up, grasping the hild of theirs weapons and shields even tighter.

'Just a single person... right?' one of the knights in front thought to himself.

As the figure finally emerged from the shadows, the knights were taken aback. It was Wald, panting heavily and covered in small wounds, but still alive.

'But... Is that man really a person?'

Wald stumbled forward as he went out of the dungeon gate, clearly exhausted and wounded. The knights looked at him with awe and fear, wondering how he had managed to survive against such overwhelming odds.

Everyone held their weapons up and got to defensive stance, over hundreds of knights were ready to attack.

"By the grace of God," the sergeant knight muttered under his breath. "He's still alive."

"..."

Randal took a step forward, catching the attention of the knights. His armor clad in iron armor and visor, took a step forward and raised his sword, pointing it at Wald. "You monster..." he growled.

Wald's lip curled in a sneer as he stepped forward. The knights raised their weapons in response. Without hesitating, Wald hurled himself at the closest knight with insane speed, his palm smashing the knight's head into the grass ground.

Wald looked around, searching for a weapon that suited his forte. Something heavy and destructive. He knew that he wouldn't last long without one.

The other knights let out a roar as they charged forward, their weapons scraping against Wald's skin as they fought with ferocity. But like moths to a flame, the knights crashed and sprawled as Wald's fists moved like batting ram, hitting them to the ground with monstrous force.

But despite his raw strength, Wald was still outnumbered, and the knights began to surround him. With each blow they landed, Wald grunted and staggered. He had no choice but to block their attacks with his arms and bare hands.

As Wald fought on, the knights realized with growing horror that they were no match for him. His movements were too quick and his strength was too overwhelming. It seemed as if this wasn't enough to stop him.

"Shoot!" one of the knights shouted, and several arrows were shot towards Wald. But they aimed to subdue, not to kill, purposely missing his vital points.

Despite the barrage of arrows that pierced his body, it wasn't enough to weaken Wald. He kept charging again towards the knights who surrounded him, his brute strength still intact.

Seeing an opportunity, Randal rushed towards Wald, his sword and shield held tightly in his hands. Wald stood firmly in front of him, as if he was ready to take on Randal face-to-face.

!

Swish!

"Kuuk..."

With a single swing of his sword, Wald's arm was deeply wounded. The blade lacerated his skin, deep enough to make his arm bleed.

'A weapon...! Just anything heavy and destructive...!' Wald gritted his teeth as he frantically looked around for something to use as a weapon, but nothing caught his eye. Taking a few steps back, Wald decides to just follow his instincts.

'Curses! Whatever!'

With great force, he hauled the knight's body that laid on the grass towards him and used it as a makeshift weapon to strike Randal.

Thud!

Randal was surprised but he managed raise his shield on time to block Wald's attack. Although blocked, the force behind it was too great and it sent him flying back a few steps. The impact was so strong that Randal felt his entire body vibrate.

Wald gave him no time to regain his composure and quickly followed up with a vicious kick. The sound of Wald's bare foot hitting Randal's shield resounded as a loud thud that easily pushed him back once again.

"Kuuhk..." Randal's chest burned, and his stomach churned, spewing some blood as he stumbled backwards. The sheer force of Wald's strike had cracked the surface of his wooden shield.

'Dirty cur! How dare this...!" Randa retreated a few steps to catch his breath. In a moment of desperation, Randal lost his reason and hurled his shield at Wald, hoping to distract him.

Wald instinctively raised his arms to shield his face, leaving his body momentarily exposed. Seizing the opportunity, Randal charged forward with his blade facing forward. He planned to thrust it into Wald's mid riff before quickly maneuvering behind him to strike at his Achilles.

Randal's eyes widened as his eyes met with Wald's, a smile performing at his lips. As he drew near his range, Wald reached out and grabbed Randal by the shoulders with a crushing grip.

"GAAH!" Randal cried out in agony, struggling to draw breath as Wald's tight grasp threatened to dent his pauldron.

Randal wailed in pain as he gasped for air while Wald tightened his grip. His grasp was too tight that it threatened to dent Randal's pauldron.

His face contorted with seething anger as he threw a barrage of punches on Randal's stomach.

"Help the captain!" one of the knights bellowed.

The knights that surrounded immediately rushed forward, swords drawn and ready to engage Wald. However, before they could get too close, Wald held Randal's limp body mid air and hurled it in their direction. The knights stumbled back, caught off guard.

As they regained their footing, they rushed to Randal's side and quickly checked for a pulse. Relief washed over them as they felt the faint beating of his heart. Despite the severe injuries he had sustained, his body was battered to the point that his life was threatened with death if not immediately treated.

Mikail stood from the distance, watching as Wald massacred the first captain of Dreadmoore. He was in deep thought, shocked as he realized how strong Wald was.

'Sigfred... went par against this guy in his full state...?'

Wald was no arrogant pushover. His potential really lived up to his appearance and personality.

The wounds that was still healing and the wounds that he took at this exact moment still wasn't enough to weaken Wald. The knights now focused on defense, hoping to exhaust the beast who was obliterating their ranks with ease.

Wald gasped as a noose was flung around his neck and tightened with a knot, enough for ten men that held the leverage to try and pull him down to his knees.

"Commander!" one of the Winthrope knight shouted with relief, seeing the third commander appear. But his face was seething in anger. It had been so long since they've seen him that mad.

Without wasting any time, Gallahan hurled himself forward with insane speed, brandishing his longsword.

Wald swung his arm, but Gallahan quickly dodges and thrusted his blade into Wald's left foot, causing him to wail in agony.

"HAA! HAAA!"

Wald's arms flailed wildly in an attempt to strike back, but he was unable to take a step forward because the blade was stuck in the grass, pinning him in place.

Gallahan took a step back, watching Wald writhe in pain. But before Wald could pull the blade out, the rope around his neck tightened as Gallahan stepped on it, causing him to kneel and struggle.

"Kaaakyak...!" Wald choked as the rope tightened even more.

The knights stood there in silence, afraid to make a single noise or at least move without an order.

No... Rather, no one seemed to be bold enough to step up and speak.

The tense silence was shattered by a sudden voice. "...You'll kill him, Commander," spoke the voice.

All heads turned to see Mikail, who stood behind them as he watched the scene.

Gallahan took a deep sigh and lifts his foot, "You're right... It is my emotion got better this time, didn't it?"

Wald gasped for breath as the rope around his neck loosened slightly. After a minute of unrelenting force, Wald's stamina finally deterred as he struggled to draw in air.

To think that subduing a single man would result to this carnage. Over thirty knights laid scattered around on the grass, their weapons discarded and some of their bodies broken.

Wald remained on his knees, panting heavily and drenched in his own blood. The surviving knights warily regarded him, unsure if he was about to launch another attack.

Gallahan turned his attention back to Wald, who was now scrambling on the ground. "You are hopeless, Schneider," he remarked.

"Heh, am I really?" Wald replied, his voice cold and unyielding. With a fierce determination, he seized a broken spear from a nearby guard who lay motionless on the ground.

The tense silence was broken by a question from Wallace. "What are you doing, Wald?"

With a cruel smirk, Wald responded with mockery in his voice. "I have already had my fill of entertainment... If ye believe ye can detain me and extract information from me, ye have gravely erred!"

As his last resort, Wald took the broken spear in his trembling hands, and plunged its jagged blade deep into his own throat, tearing through flesh and bone.

Gallahan's eyes widened. "This wretch...!"

As his body quivered in pain, Wald quickly pulled the spear out of his neck, blood gushing forth from the wound. His weakened form collapsed onto the grass, and his blood seeped into the soil beneath him.

Wald chose death over submission.

The sound of his own blood gurgling and splattering filled the silence as his lifeless gaze fixed on Gallahan. With a mocking smile on his lips, he whispered his final word.

"Amen..."