Chapter 32

The cohort knew that nothing was more dangerous than an enemy on the brink of death. With nothing to lose, humans often relinquished any sense of self-preservation and turned berserk, taking their killer with them to the grave.

Nightmare Creatures were much the same, only more terrifying.

Despite being sure that the devil's weakness lay in his sword, Sunny wasn't certain what would happen if the blade was actually broken. Hopefully, the Black Knight would just crumble into a pile of steel.

If not... it would be better to be far away when they found out.

As the shards of the black blade rained on the floor and the Stone Saint fell to one knee, a shudder ran through the devil's body. The darkness hiding in the corners of the ruined cathedral suddenly boiled and lunged forward in a wave.

But none of it reached the Black Knight, annihilated by the radiance of Changing Star's intricate white armor.

The devil froze in a twisted pose, his hands powerlessly hanging down, his back bent. The black steel of his armor was rusting. It swiftly turned dull brown, its luster gone, its once impregnable surface now corroded and brittle.

Then, he slowly and laboriously raised his head and turned it slightly to the side, as if staring at the face of the nameless goddess whose statue had overseen the dark hall of the ruined cathedral for thousands of years.

As the devil looked at the goddess, the crimson light of his eyes slowly weakened and dimmed...

...And then, suddenly, exploded into furious red flames.

The rusty armor came apart, exposing the mass of darkness hiding within. The darkness stretched its limbs and rose above the kneeling Shadow, the parts of the armor that floated in it giving the creature a vaguely humanoid shape.

Revealing its true form.

A ghostly colossus made of darkness and rusting steel towered above the taciturn monster like an omen of death, two crimson fires burning furiously in the black depths. Another flame appeared just beneath them, like a twisted mouth made from the flames of hell.

And then, a terrifying roar shook the ancient temple.

Kiyotaka saw how Sunny took a step back. He also saw how Nephis disengaged too. Looking at the Devil, he felt an unexplainable desire to finish it off. Sure, the Stone Saint was already shattering it even further since she was more or less unaffected by the darkness. Sure, if he just waited, everything might end by itself as the Knight was already on the brink of self-destruction. There was no reason to risk his life when the win was guaranteed. But Kiyotaka didn't listen to his rational self. For the first time, he went with his intuition...and attacked.

He used his own blood to form dozens of needles that flew towards the Devil. Then, he closed in himself, took his bloodsword, and augmented it with his blood. His blood burned, revealing crimson flames that were even more sinister than those of the Devil's. He activated his own tunic's enchantment to the fullest and made it as cold as possible to maintain balance as he himself burned with crimson flames. And then, he plunged the sword deep into the Devil's head.

[ You have slain Fallen Devil, Forsaken Knight ]

[ Your war spirit grows stronger ]

[ You have received a memory: Darkness Veil ]

---

Nephis was retreating when she saw crimson flames erupt and a human figure dash at the Fallen Devil.

"No!"

She saw how Kiyotaka's bloodied body became ablaze as he dove into the darkness.

"He's burning his blood to counter the True Darkness! What kind of suicide attack is that?"

She forced herself to stop and dashed after Kiyotaka, not to assist him, but to heal him immediately. Sunny, too, cursed and dashed to help Kiyotaka.

As the Fallen Devil crumbled, it was now dead. Kiyotaka swayed and then fell together with the Knight, unconscious. His skin was burnt here and there from the intense heat. It was also very pale as there wasn't much left in his blood system. As other members of the cohort closed in, Nephis immediately started healing Kiyotaka with her white flames. When she finished, she herself plumped down on the floor due to exhaustion.

Sunny observed the situation and cursed.

"Damnation! Why would that idiot do that? He always seemed the smartest of us!"

Kai and Effie came afterward with Cassie next to them. All of them silently observed the disheveled state of Kiyotaka.

They were about to try and wake him up when Stone Saint suddenly plunged its hand towards the now dead Knight's heart, retrieved four gems, and swallowed them, then disappeared into the Shadows.

Sunny blinked.

"Wait... I didn't dismiss her. What the hell is happening?"

Nephis looked at him with a perplexed expression.

"What just happened? What did she do?"

For once, Sunny didn't have to twist the truth and deceive anyone. Opening his mouth, he honestly said:

"I have no idea."

Walking over to the pile of rusty steel that remained after the devil had been destroyed, Sunny moved it around with his foot for a bit and then mumbled:

"There's no shards left. It's empty."

Changing Star remained silent for a few moments, then frowned.

Finally, she said:

"...Your Echo is very peculiar."

---

While everyone was recovering and tending to their wounds, Kiyotaka woke up. When he was asked why he did what he did, he said that it was related to his Flaw, which was technically true since his Flaw demanded to kill and flared up his bloodlust at crucial moments. Not that Kiyotaka wouldn't be able to contain it, he just decided to use it to his advantage and learn something new with the help of his flaw. Under the heavy circumstances, he gained insight into how to use his blood to augment himself further...it was by setting his blood ablaze.

With Kai telling the cohort that it was the truth, no one pressed further, and everyone left their thoughts to themselves.

Kiyotaka analyzed in his mind.

'This type of augmentation is very strong and very risky at the same time...it's better not to use it unless absolutely necessary.'

The duration of this augmentation was also very short as it required his blood as fuel. Even with the renewed blood system and attribute [Bloodborne Ascendant], there was a limit on how much blood he could use.

Next thing he looked for was the memory he received from Forsaken Knight.

Memory: [ Darkness Veil ]

Memory description: [ A lone Knight guarded its goddess's temple to the end with utmost devotion; not even corruption could alter its loyalty. He killed any living being and didn't meet any equal until he was slain by the Angel of War himself.]

Memory type: Utility

Memory rank: Ascendant

Memory tier: 4

Summoning the memory, he put it on himself. Instantly, he felt how the Veil provided natural resistance to True Darkness and also concealed him in Darkness. Unsummoning it, he thought of possible ways to use it.

'This veil is very suited for espionage and assassination activities...it would be very useful when dealing with castle guards in the future war for the throne of Bright Castle.'

---

It had been a few days since the battle. The cohort left on their way to an expedition to unravel the truth about the Forgotten Shore. Kiyotaka decided to stay in the castle. Not that he had much choice as he still had to maintain his position as Vice-Captain, and leaving with future rebels would not be very good for his record.

As he was silently gazing at the horizon from his room, someone knocked on his door. Getting up, he opened it and saw the figure of a beautiful handmaiden.

She revealed a polite smile and said,

"Vice-Captain, the Bright Lord requires your presence in the Throne Hall."