The Black Knight

Xander never expected to encounter a Black Knight here, even if it was a Death Nightmare. These malevolent Ethereals were known to frequent dungeons and towers, and were seldom found roaming the Nightscape all alone.

What made Xander even more suspicious was that name—Shamura. He had a hunch that this Ethereal wasn't here out of his own free will but had been summoned to this nightmare from another realm.

However, none of that mattered right now. The Black Night was eager to trample Xander under his horse's hooves.

As the knight charged at Xander, he rolled to his left, narrowly evading the collision. This infuriated the knight even more and he turned his horse around sharply. Raising his flaming sword in the air, he fixed his eyes on the Dreamwalker.

Xander quickly scrambled back to his feet and snapped his fingers to summon a glowing white card with the image of a blindfolded young woman on it.

"Play card: Oracle's Protection!"

"Die, mortal!" The Black Knight shouted, bringing his sword down with a heavy hand.

A line of fire erupted from his flaming sword. It sliced the road in half and surged ahead, straight toward the Dreamwalker.

As the white card disappeared from Xander's hand, it conjured a protective shield around him. The flaming wall crashed into a spectral white dome. It licked the barrier with its fiery tongue, but was unable to penetrate the shield.

Grabbing his greatsword with both hands, the knight channeled more energy into it before bringing it down with a swift slicing motion. A towering wall of flames shot toward the Dreamwalker, charring the brown leaves scattered on the ground.

This time, Xander's shield failed to nullify the blow. The powerful elemental attack dealt enough damage to cause the protective barrier to fizzle out, leaving the Dreamwalker exposed once again.

Before the Black Knight could charge his sword for another attack, Xander pulled out his revolver and fired six shots in quick succession. To his great shock, the bullets barely dented the rider's armor.

"What the hell are you made of?" Xander grumbled, staring at his smoking gun.

The bullets fired from the Eyeless Watcher were lethal to most Ethereals, even heavily armored ones, but this knight barely felt a tickle.

It wasn't the first time Xander had encountered a Black Knight, but there was something wrong with this one. He seemed to have some kind of enchantment on his armor which protected him from projectiles.

"I laugh at your efforts, Dreamwalker," the Black Knight cackled in a hoarse voice. "You are destined to perish in the Nightscape."

Something about the knight's words struck Xander. The last time he had encountered a Black Knight, he sounded a lot less comprehensible. Let alone entire sentences, he couldn't even string three words together without letting out anguished groans in between.

This one however was different. Not only was he speaking in complete sentences, his voice sounded clear. It was almost as if someone else was speaking through him.

Xander put his gun away at once and summoned another card in his right hand. It had the image of a pair of seven-sided green dies on top and a newborn babe playing in a cradle under it.

"You're really frustrating, you know that?" Xander quipped, holding his card between two fingers. "Suddenly I feel like ten thousand vireks isn't adequate compensation for this."

"Silence fool! You shall perish by my hand!" the Black Knight shouted in response.

The blood-red stallion raised its front hooves as the knight pulled its smoky mane with his free hand. Neighing in pain, it charged at the Dreamwalker at lightning speed.

Xander took a deep breath and flicked his card in the air. It fluttered for a second before being engulfed in flames. A faint green aura enveloped Xander as he looked up.

The very next second, the knight rushed past Xander on his speeding steed, his flaming sword missing Xander's head by mere inches.

What followed next was another furious attempt to lob his head off, but once more the knight's blade missed him by a hair. Xander's lips curved into a sly grin as the horseman's attempts to slice him up, ended in failure over and over again.

The Dreamwalker ducked and sidestepped every attack with ease, driving the Black Knight wild with rage. In a desperate bid to crush the insolent rogue who stood in his path, he gripped his sword like a lance and tried to skewer him with its pointy tip.

"You will fall!"

"You're welcome to try," Xander mocked.

Once more Xander sidestepped the attack, causing the knight to miss his target and go charging past.

Under normal circumstances, even the most athletic Dreamwalker would never have been able to dodge a Black Knight's attack, but Xander had buffed his agility by playing the right card at the right time.

The card he had just used was 'Destiny's Child', a rare Dream Card that could be used for sharpening the user's reflexes by improving his luck. As long as the enchantment remained active, he was practically immune to all melee attacks.

By using a defensive card, Xander was just trying to buy time, and the Black Knight didn't take long to realize this. Having failed to run the Dreamwalker down, he prepared to switch to a different tactic.

Instead of charging at Xander, the Black Knight channeled his fiery energy into his blade, making its flames glow brighter. Once more, he pointed the blade skyward and prepared to unleash another flame charge at his opponent.

Xander saw the attack coming from a mile away and quickly pulled out his revolver. By this time, its ammunition had been replenished, and it was ready to be fired again.

Before the knight could cleave the air with his sword again, Xander unleashed a volley of bullets at the Ethereal. This time, however, his shots were aimed a little lower.

All six bullets hit the stallion in the head, causing it to neigh in pain and throw the Black Knight off its back.

Without a rider on its back, the wounded beast ran wild and disappeared into the distance, leaving the Black Knight to fend for himself.

Now that the knight no longer had the advantage of being mounted, it evened the playing field. However, his enchanted armor and flaming sword still gave him a slight upper hand.

Channeling energy to the tip of his greatsword, the knight thrust it into the cracked ground. The whole area around him slowly turned red as the cracks filled with lava. As he pulled out his blade, its flames died out, but its edge remained sharp as ever.

Sweat dripped from Xander's forehead as the heat scorched his skin, making his throat run dry. The Black Knight rushed at him, holding his greatsword with both hands.

Xander somehow managed to duck under the first slash, but the second blow sliced through his shirt, leaving a deep gash on his belly. The knight was about to end it with a final heavy attack when Xander unloaded his revolver in the knight's face, blinding him momentarily.

Clutching his bleeding stomach, Xander backed away to safety. He tried to use his amulet again, but its magic energy hadn't been completely replenished yet. All it managed to do was dull his pain.

As the knight gradually recovered his vision, he narrowed his eyes on his target and took off his damaged helmet. Underneath it lay a hideous gray face with smoldering red eyes and pale blue lips.

Pointing his sword at the Dreamwalker, the Black Knight parted his lips to speak. "You shouldn't have interfered. This nightmare will be your final resting place."

"We'll see about that."

Xander slowly put his gun away and snapped his fingers once more to summon the penultimate card in his set. It was a bright white card with glowing blue edges and images of tiny snowflakes on it.

With a quick flick of his right wrist, Xander held his card face up and whispered in a dark, dreary voice, "Play card: Arctic Kiss."

As soon as the card was activated, Xander's fingers began to glow white, and he felt a bitter chill creep up his spine. His pupils flashed white for a second, and his palms turned cold.

Stretching his arms apart, Xander stared right back at the Black Knight. "Come on now. Let's see how tough you are!"

Blood continued oozing out of Xander's wounded belly. It trickled down his jeans and kept dripping onto his shoes. He looked miserable and in terrible pain, but he wasn't ready to just lie down and accept defeat.

"Why don't you give up, Dreamwalker? What keeps you going?" the Black Knight asked in his raspy voice.

Xander grinned and replied, "Ten thousand vireks is a lot of money. I can't die without claiming my reward."

"You shall perish for your greed!" The Black Knight thundered and charged at him.

Pointing his open palms at the ground, Xander channeled all his magic energy into his fingertips. "It's my turn now!" he shouted, freezing the ground.

A cold breeze pushed the Black Knight back as the Dreamwalker continued pooling more energy into his palms. Soon, the whole ground was covered in a thick sheet of ice that sealed all the cracks and turned the lava bubbling inside to black rock.

As the cold cut through the Black Knight's armor, his movements became sluggish, and he found it difficult to balance himself on the slippery ground.

"Chill out, douchebag!" Xander exclaimed aloud, bringing his cupped palms together and releasing a burst of cold energy.

Within seconds, the knight's feet froze solid, and he was forced to stop in his tracks. Temperatures around him kept dropping rapidly, chilling his skin. The blood boiling inside his veins froze, and the flames in his eyes dimmed down.

As the chilling wind picked up speed, the Black Knight tried to raise his greatsword to break the ice, but his arms froze in the air. The cold spread throughout his body, covering his plate armor in a thin sheet of frost, and turning him into an ice sculpture.

Seeing the knight immobilized, Xander eventually put his hands down and caught his breath. Casting the cold spell had taken a toll on his wounded body. He barely had any strength left to keep going.

With trembling fingers, Xander reached for his revolver. His hand kept shaking as he tried to aim at the frozen Ethereal, but he somehow managed to steady it with his spare arm.

A single shot to the chest was all it took to shatter the ice sculpture to pieces.

[Black Knight defeated!]

[Objective completed: Cleanse the Nightscape!]

[1500 exp gained.]

[Accumulated exp: 500/3000.]

[Level Up!]

[One Skill Point acquired!]

[90 Nightmare Shards obtained!]

[5 Nightmare Coins obtained!]