BLOOD! It was what came out of the mouth of Tarantil who, turning his gaze, could see himself overcome and surrounded by knights. Liria turned her gaze to the baleful figure of Rosinante that twisted the sword in the king of yesteryear. Then Rosinante began to praise Liria saying:
Our champion has done it, he has broken the guard of this infernal beast!
But soon he approached Liria's cheek and whispered:
"And to think that the crawling orphan of the church would betray us this way, I knew it was a dishonor for you to wear this relic and the armor of the HOLY CHURCH, our inquisition doesn't need trash like you!"
The old man knew perfectly well the identity of the young warrior maiden, however, he did not let the other knights know, and added to it he shouted
STAND ASIDE YOUNG KNIGHT, IT'S TIME TO END ALL THIS AND RECLAIM THE CONCEPT!
Liria's pupils dilated when she heard "CONCEPT" because she immediately thought how was it possible that Rosinante knew what that artifact was? He had just arrived at that place and much less should he know something that is not even registered in the church books.
Tarantil fell to her knees muttering her daughter's name Ane...Anette...I'm sorry, I can't hold it in much longer! And she immediately looked at Liria with anguish and guilt.
Rosinante with a smile from ear to ear that made him look repulsive in silence approached his mouth to the ear of the king saying with a whisper: "she can no longer hear you my king".
Then taking the sword out of his body, he prepared with a powerful blow to decapitate him.
...CLANCK...! It resounded like the clanking of metal on stone, making half of the blade of Rosinante's sword fly off, leaving Tarantil's neck intact.
A blowing sound like wind trapped deep in a hole was heard, this came from Tarantil, who began to clutch his chest tightly, turning his eyes green as he looked at Rosinante with a defiant gaze.
KILL HIM NOW! Rosinante shouted with an immense terror drawn on her face while Liria in an outburst of her emotions ran in front of everyone thinking to herself "WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING" while holding her shield. But Tarantil's hand held her tightly by the shoulder telling her IT'S TOO LATE! throwing her with great power far away from the place.
A scream like a great roar was what the king let out as he was mercilessly pierced again and again by the knights. Blood, crunching bones and shattered organs everywhere was what was in a grotesque scene where the knights were dyed red in a desperate attempt to annihilate Tarantil, several of them began to laugh madly because they found absurd what was happening in that place, and their sanity seemed to have expired to see how the look of the old king was still alive after having destroyed his entire body. BUT ALL WAS IN FAILURE! Soon the entrails and limbs began to burn in a green fire that gave off a dark aura accompanied by a baleful smell. Everyone horrified by what they were witnessing could not move, and then they felt it. The ground began to tremble and from the hole in the king's chest a thick blood accompanied by darkness emerged, leaving everyone enveloped in it. It looked like a swamp and in it began to emerge a horde of cadaverous abominations, and among them an amalgam of bodies screaming and sobbing with multiple voices moaning in constant agony. Its immense snake-like length covered the place quickly and began to wipe out the knights by emerging and hiding in the thick fog.
Everyone began to run in panic as they did not even know where they were going, trying to fight the corpses and in vain trying to elude that creature, all orchestrated by the crunching of bones throughout the fortress and the screams that became deafening. More and more aberrant creatures were steadily emerging from the miasma, tearing the knights apart in a slaughter that soon reduced the church's numbers in a colossal way. Rosinante began to fight, and despite being an old man, his place in the church was well deserved for his great strength.
Liria ran back to the place shouting to Rosinante, WE MUST REACH HIM!
But the old man, far from wanting to prevent the few remaining knights from dying, proceeded to make an onslaught attack, piercing allies and enemies alike and fleeing towards the path.
HE HAS ABANDONED US! shouted some as they were cut to pieces in the darkness. Liria along with others tried to form a formation to fight on all sides, with difficulty she raised her shield producing a faint light that seemed to be consumed by the darkness.
Little by little they gathered as a single unit that with their spears and swords pierced every creature that tried to approach.
In the darkness Tarantil screamed with sobs of pain while articulating a few words Flee... hu-y-e, he'll go for... you... anymore... I can't... con-tro-lar-l-o-s!
Without warning the mist cleared away revealing Tarantil's miserable appearance being consumed by darkness as he held the concept in his hands, he looked at Liria guiltily as tears fell from his eyes.
DON'T DO IT TARANTIL! Liria shouted as she ran with all her might in his direction, but in front of her stood the amalgam of serpentine corpses opening their jaws ready to devour him.
It was then when all movement stopped instantly, neither the knights nor the monsters could move, Liria fell to the ground and remained completely motionless in front of the creature that seemed to have stopped on the spot as well.
A wind blew... a gust so strong that the sky and all the ruins were cleared, it was not just any wind because that darkness that had not been cleared at all, was cleared in a single moment.
...TOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG...! ...TOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG...!
...TOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNGGNNNGGGGGGGGG...!
A deep and enveloping sound that seemed to come from all directions was heard in the place, and in the clear sky an immense shadow was drawn that seemed to appear out of nowhere, its size increased again and again over the great fortress covering it completely.
Everyone looked at the sky astonished while a huge bastion hid the moonlight moving slowly to the piercing sound of a huge bell.
In an instant Liria saw a flash of light like a bolt of lightning that fell in front of her, something minimal like a flicker, she turned her gaze and saw something that appeared to be a spear thrust into the beast.
Liria could barely react by instinct, covering herself with her shield when a column of lightning fell from the bastion towards that place, burning all the monsters and sending the knights flying in all directions and taking the lives of many in the process.
Barely resisting the impact, his blurred vision could see a figure holding the spear upside down, soon it descended to the ground, his black armor looked burned and a large mane of hair flowed down to his waist from the top of his helmet.
...! AGH!... ¡NO... ¡NO... ¡NO... EVIL-CURSED... YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND RIGHT, DON'T TRY TO STOP ME... NO... YOU WON'T STOP ME! Tarantil shouted frantically as he introduced the concept into his body stabbing his chest.
At that instant everyone felt it, as if it was a shockwave that came out of the king's body, followed by a column of dark power so powerful that it began to expand sweeping everything in its path.
HYAN! shouted Liria.
But it was all over in an instant, a bloody gauntlet and a blackened heart leapt into her sight. The knight had torn out Tarantil's heart along with the shard. With a jerk he removed the emerald shard and left the heart in its place. An act of mercy? It was hard to tell.
The old king felt warmth, as if his daughter was embracing him in her last moments, he began to stretch out his hands as if he wanted to hold something, but he could not reach out to touch anything.
That dark knight pulled out his fist making it fall; however, it did not touch the ground because Liria came to support him.
But far from finishing, Liria watched in horror as the dark knight directed his attack towards the neck of the dying man and intervened in the act with his shield saying ENOUGH!
Silence fell, while the dark knight did not move at all. Liria left the old man dying on the ground and stood in front of him, thinking it would be the last thing he would do because he was sweating and trembling enough for his opponent to see him clearly, despite this he rushed with all his strength for the neck of who seemed to be static.
But this with a slight movement of his head dodged the attack, however, Liria with her precision managed to touch the helmet snatching it in the process.
Liria was filled with astonishment, as a head of hair peeked out from that dark appearance, its color purple and extended down to her buttocks. A sharp, piercing, lightning-colored gaze accompanied by pointed ears and dark skin.
YOU WEREN'T GOING TO KEEP ATTACKING ME, THIEF?
He said while raising his sword spear aiming at Liria, but... oh surprise... he buried his weapon on the head of the destroyed monster. Instantly it disappeared moving like lightning impacting against the shield which strangely made it recoil abruptly.
His blows were strong, but the girl felt that there was something else, that didn't seem to be his full strength, was he holding back? she thought while blocking each blow that was repelled as a counter attack, and what's more WHY WASN'T HE USING HIS WEAPON!
"LIRIA...LIRIA...SHE IS NOT YOUR ENEMY" the young knight heard in his head as his arms grew more and more numb as he endured the punishment without being able to counterattack even with a thrust.
THE GAMES ARE OVER! shouted the elf while with a quick movement she pulled off Liria's helmet leaving the other knights who were still alive surprised.
The girl was exposed, only a few in the church knew that she wore the holy armor that only men of the grand inquisition could wear. But that did not daunt her one bit, both penetrating gazes crossed each other. Liria placed her shield on her back and wielded the sword with both hands raising it above her head, while her opponent wielded his weapon showing a little defiant posture, this made the girl a little angry.
HERE I GO! she shouted while in her trajectory she gave off a blinding light, however, in the blink of an eye she felt how they rested on her shoulder. Technique, speed, strength, everything was crushing, this was what he felt as he saw his sword split in half.
While Liria lay on her knees, and without strength to continue and defend Tarantil, from the corner of my eye I could see how, step by step, she approached the old man.
STOP!
Liria said, but a silence accompanied by the creaking of the scorched armor as she walked was her answer.
The elf displayed fragment of concept in her hand as if it were a trinket and closing her fist a small flash of green light was seen and directed at the great bastion in the sky.
"IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO FULFILL YOUR OATH KING TARANTIL, NOW CLEAR YOUR NAME BY OFFERING YOUR LIFE AS PAYMENT FOR YOUR TREACHERY."
His spear laden with pulverizing power supported in his two hands he flaunted his claim, for more than an executioner it seemed as if a judge had passed sentence by directing his attack on the dying old man.
But something removed Tarantil from that attack causing him to miss and producing a large crater as a result.
I FEAR THAT EVEN THIS TITERE HAS NOT COMPLIED WITH HIS MISSION! Said a deep voice while a hand held the old man dragging him into the darkness, but she would not give up so easily as she threw her spear through one of the giant hands, leaving it on the ground.
Her spear pierced through the big arm completely undoing it. He then began to walk towards Liria, but when he was about to touch her, his body began to disappear as if it were sand to the sound of:
...TOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG...! ...TOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG...!
...TOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNGGNNNGGGGGGGGG...!