Monster Knight

Standing on the platform which was entirely made of gold, Cedric was having a hard time walking on the platform. It was slippery as some golden liquid was flowing over the platform. His surroundings were filled with a pleasant but strong fragrance which made him feel energetic.

The light that filled the surrounding was also special, It wasn't harmful in any way but made him feel peaceful.

' This is mana everywhere, it's abnormal, I have never felt a mana like this before.'

Everything around him was made out of pure mana including the pillars, the lights, and the liquid flowing over the floor.

Cedric walked towards the pillars, following them but halfway through the path he felt something. The roof above his head was slowly coming down to crush him.

' When did that happen?'

[ So you have finally come to your senses?]

' What do you mean?'

[ You were walking without care, I was right to think that something was wrong with you. The surroundings are filled with mana and for a normal person like you, it's not even easy to stay sane here.]

' There's just too much mana for anyone to handle.'

[ And you were confident about doing it by yourself.]

" I can, I can, I can!" Cedric started to shout and repeat the same thing.

[ Alright, fine.]

This time Cedric walked carefully, the golden path covered a long distance. With every step, his head becomes heavier and heavier but he didn't stop.

Thump Thump Thump!

Suddenly he heard something coming toward him, it was so fast that Cedric didn't have the chance to even react properly. However, just before the upcoming attack was going to split his body in half with his dagger he blocked the attack.

The Attack sent him flying and his mana-infused daggers were shattered. Standing in front of him was a creature in golden knight armor.

" Intruder, You are not allowed to move any further." The knight spoke.

Cedric was surprised to hear the creature speaking, and even thought that it was a human but the creature was not human at all. It was clear from its body structure, he was double the size of a normal human, there were horns over his and bat-like wings on his back.

" What are you?"

" I am the guardian of the golden dragon. You have come too far, you are not allowed to walk any further than this. My lord is benevolent, chivalrous, and prideful, so we are not allowed to torment a weaker being. We are giving you the last chance to choose, Leave or die!"

" I would rather die," Cedric spoke as he coughed blood.

" So weak, and so stupid."

" You can kill me, I am not afraid of death but I will not turn away," Cedric spoke.

[ Hey, you are an ant in front of this monster. Let me use your body, we would win.]

" No, I can win so shut up."

" Did you just tell me to shut up?" The knight spoke in a cold voice and stabbed the ground with the sword.

" Yes, you should shut up as well. You and everyone, nobody, is allowed to get in my way. If you want to fight, then fight me, try to kill me but I am not stopping here. I am going to get the Golden Dragon Heart, and with that, I will become invincible."

" You...You insolent fool." The knight was completely enraged and then ran toward Cedric again to swing his long sword and kill him with one strike.

However this time, he was prepared, and Cedric dodged the incoming attack. This made his enemy angrier, and Cedric kept dodging the attack.

' Something's weird.' The knight thought, his movements were slower.

[ How...?]

Both the voice in his head and the knight were surprised. Cedric was able to fight on equal footing with the Knight that was leagues above him when it came to strength.

" As I thought you are just a B rank," Cedric spoke.

The knight felt heavier with every second but still kept fighting. Unable to find any reason as to why this was happening he used whatever strength he could gather within himself and fought.

Slowly the knight started to stagger until finally, everything was over as the monster knight fell.

[ What did you do?]

" Shut up–"

Before the voice could answer anything Cedric too fell on the ground because of using too much mana to defeat the enemy.

*****

Sitting on this throne, the mysterious being had a very irritated face. He was getting furious and more annoyed, every time Cedric would tell him to shut up whenever he tried to speak to him.

Despite this, he was still curious about many things. He was sure that Cedric would lose but he didn't, even if the boy also fell unconscious, he wasn't dead.

Cedric successfully defeated the enemy and proved him wrong.

[ Why does the boy act like this?]

[ Is that Paranoid about everything and everyone?]

The being used his powers to look at the memories of his previous life. Soon, he saw several moments of Cedric's past life playing out.

People who offered him a helping hand but later betrayed him, every person he had trusted had some motive behind being nice to him. They would either make use of him or try to kill him for no reason.

[ I understand now, I need to look at all of your memories so that I can understand you. I want to help you because now I believe that you are the most suitable candidate to become my apostle no matter how annoying you are.]

*****

When Cedric opened his eyes he felt someone dragging him, and soon he found out who that person was. It was the monster Knight who he had fought and won against but at the cost of him draining himself of mana.

He didn't struggle, fearing that the knight might try to kill him if he shows any sign of waking up but suddenly the knight stopped in its track.

" How did you win against me?" He asked.

Kicking him and rolling back he stood in a defensive position.

" Fear not, I don't want to kill you anymore."

" Why would I believe that?"

" Because if I could I would have, are you that dumb?" The Monster knight spoke in a sarcastic tone.

[ I don't doubt that may be the case with you.] The mysterious voice added.

" I want to know the answer." The monster knight asked again.

" Figure out yourself, If only I had a little bit more mana left then you would have already been gone."

" I see, so you don't plan to tell me but I think that my master knows what you did which is why he invited you for an audience."

" Your master?"

" Yeah, the mighty golden dragon, the lord of the hidden dungeon."