The quarry was a scarred battlefield, its stone blackened and cracked, the air thick with sulfur and the coppery tang of blood.
The high demon's roars still echoed from the chasm, a low, menacing growl that set Elshua's teeth on edge, even as the Lion Hearts Knight Order caught their breath.
Dust swirled in the pale morning light, clinging to the knights' silver and gold armor, their lion crests dulled but unbowed.
Elshua stood on the cliff's edge, his golden hair matted with sweat, his bare foot throbbing against the jagged rocks.
His cloak, singed at the hem, hung heavy on his small frame, and his golden eyes burned with exhaustion and resolve. The demon was trapped—for now—but its voice, thick with hunger for his divine energy, promised no respite.
The knights, bloodied and battered, leaned on their swords, their faces etched with grim determination as they watched the chasm, where flames flickered like a caged beast, casting eerie shadows on the jagged walls.
Caelan's arm encircled Elshua's waist, his grip firm, almost desperate, as he pulled him back from the cliff's edge.
The paladin's curls were plastered to his forehead, his armor dented and streaked with soot, but his blue eyes blazed with relief and frustration.
"Your Holiness, what were you thinking?" he said, his voice low but trembling, a rare fracture in his usual composure.
He turned Elshua to face him, his hands sliding to the boy's shoulders, then back to his waist, as if afraid to let go.
"You promised to stay close, to stay safe. Running to the chasm, drawing that thing's attention—do you know how reckless that was?"
His words were sharp, but his tone was soft, laced with worry, and his thumbs brushed Elshua's sides, a gentle, unconscious gesture that spoke of care more than reprimand.
Elshua's chest tightened, Caelan's concern striking deeper than the demon's taunts.
He'd seen the paladin's fear in the battle, the way he'd thrown himself between Elshua and the demon's claws, and now it spilled out in this fleeting moment of calm.
"I'm sorry," Elshua said, his voice hoarse, letting a trace of Jun's sincerity slip through.
"I had to do something, Caelan. It's after me. I couldn't just hide and let it hurts everyone."
He met Caelan's gaze, his golden eyes steady despite the exhaustion dragging at him, the weight of his role as the Spark pressing harder with every heartbeat.
Caelan's expression softened, his frustration melting into something warmer. He sighed, pulling Elshua into a gentle hug, his chin resting on the boy's head.
"You're too brave for your own good, Your Holiness," he murmured, his voice muffled against Elshua's hair.
"I swore to protect you, but you keep making it hard."
He chuckled, a shaky sound, and tightened his hold, his warmth a stark contrast to the quarry's chill.
"Just… don't scare me like that again, alright? My heart can't take it."
His tone was half-teasing, half-pleading, and Elshua felt a flush of guilt, mixed with a quiet comfort.
Caelan's devotion, touchy as it was, was a lifeline, and Elshua leaned into the hug, letting himself draw strength from it, the coarse wool of his cloak scratching softly against Caelan's armor.
"...Alright," he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'll try."
Caelan pulled back, ruffling Elshua's hair with a boyish grin, his worry easing but not gone.
He fished another dried apricot from his leather pouch, pressing it into Elshua's hand with a hopeful look, the fruit's faint sweetness a small reminder of the paladin's care.
Elshua took it, rolling it between his fingers, the simple gesture grounding him as the quarry's dust settled around them.
The moment shattered as a deafening crack split the air, the ground lurching beneath their feet, pebbles skittering across the stone.
The chasm erupted, flames surging like a furnace, and the high demon clawed its way free, its obsidian hide rippling with molten veins that pulsed like living fire.
Its eyes blazed brighter, no longer amused but enraged, its maw twisted in a snarl, revealing jagged teeth that gleamed like blackened steel.
"Enough of your games, mortals," it growled, its voice a thunderclap that sent knights stumbling, their boots slipping on the dust-slick ground.
"You dare cage me like a beast? I am a god!"
Its claws raked the quarry floor, sending shards of stone flying, and its flames flared, a wall of heat that scorched the air, wilting the sparse grass clinging to the cliffs.
"And you, Spark," it hissed, its gaze locking onto Elshua, "your light will be mine, no matter the cost."
Elshua's heart lurched, the demon's fury a palpable force, its hunger for his divine energy a claw tightening around his chest.
It was done playing, its earlier taunts replaced by a lethal focus that made the air feel heavier.
The skitterbeasts, emboldened, swarmed from the shadows, their mandibles clicking in a frantic chorus, their spindly legs churning the dust.
Caelan shoved Elshua behind him, his sword glowing with divine light, its faint hum a small defiance against the demon's roar.
"Lion Hearts, to formation!" he shouted, his voice cutting through the panic.
"Archers, cliffs! Swordsmen, hold the line!"
The knights scrambled, their armor clanking, but the demon's power was overwhelming, its presence a suffocating weight that pressed against Elshua's skin.
Mara's archers loosed their arrows, the blessed steel glinting as they arced through the air, sizzling as they struck the demon's hide, but it barely flinched, its regeneration outpacing the damage, the wounds closing with a sickly crackle.
The swordsmen locked shields, their formation a wall of metal, but the demon's claws tore through, sending knights sprawling, their blood pooling in the dust, staining the stone a deep crimson.
Elshua's hands trembled, his skills stretched to their limit. "Shield!" he called, casting the golden barrier on Laren, who was fending off a skitterbeast's claws, its venomous tail lashing.
The barrier held for ten seconds, deflecting a strike with a metallic clang, but Laren staggered, his shield dented, his freckled face pale with strain.
"Heal!"
Elshua shouted, targeting a knight with a gashed leg, the golden light knitting the wound enough for him to stand, but the cooldowns were agonizing, each second a gamble as more knights fell.
The demon's flames surged, a wave of fire that scorched the quarry's edge, forcing the knights back, their armor steaming in the heat.
Caelan fought at the front, his sword slashing the demon's leg, but the blade barely scratched its hide, the blessed steel sizzling without cutting deep.
"Roooaaar!" the demon roared, its eyes burning into Elshua, their furnace-like glow seeming to pierce his soul.
"That light... It calls to me, pure and unbroken. Surrender it, and I'll let your dogs live."
Its voice was a twisted promise, dripping with malice, and Elshua's fear spiked, his divine energy—the Spark—making him a target he couldn't escape.
"Keep fighting!"
Caelan yelled, dodging a claw that gouged the ground, sending a spray of gravel into the air. His healing light flared, mending a burn on his arm, the glow flickering as his own strength waned.
"Your Holiness, stay back!"
But Elshua couldn't, not when the knights were falling, their ranks thinning under the demon's relentless onslaught, their cries of pain echoing off the cliffs.
He cast "Shield!" on Mara, her barrier deflecting a skitterbeast as she nocked another arrow, her sharp eyes narrowing with focus, but the demon's attention was unrelenting, its claws scaling the cliff toward him, each step shaking the ground.
Desperation clawed at Elshua's chest, the knights' cries ringing in his ears, a cacophony of courage and pain.
The demon was a force of nature, its power dwarfing their blades and blessings, its hide like iron, its flames a furnace that seemed to draw strength from their resistance. He needed to do more, to give them a chance to survive.
As Caelan took a claw to the shoulder, blood spraying across his armor, Elshua's heart surged with a fierce, unfamiliar energy—a spark igniting within him, bright and unyielding.
A golden pulse flared in his vision, and the system pinged, a window appearing:
⟪System Notification: New Skill Awakened!⟫
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Skill: Courage (Buff)
Description: Imbues allies within a 20-meter radius with enhanced strength and resilience, increasing their attack and defense by 20% for 30 seconds. Cooldown: 60 seconds.
Cost: Significant divine energy.
༺═════════════════༻
⟪System Updating.....⟫
⟪Completed: Showing the host's new windows information⟫
༺═════════════════༻
Character: Elshua (Saint of Aeloria)
Title: Spark of Aeloria
Status: Divine Energy (Critical: 10% remaining)
Health: Stable (Minor cuts, exhaustion)
Level: 1
Affiliation: Lion Hearts Knight Order (Allied)
Role: Support (Divine Caster)
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Skills:
- Healing (Support): Heals one ally's wounds, restoring moderate health. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Cost: Low divine energy.
- Shield (Support): Grants one ally a protective barrier, absorbing one attack. Duration: 10 seconds. Cooldown: 10 seconds. Cost: Low divine energy.
- Courage (Buff, New): Imbues allies within a 20-meter radius with enhanced strength and resilience, increasing attack and defense by 20% for 30 seconds. Cooldown: 60 seconds. Cost: Significant divine energy.
༺═════════════════༻
༺═════════════════༻
Objective Progress: Contain the High Demon with the Lion Hearts Knight Order (Incomplete).
༺═════════════════༻
⟪Note: The Spark of Aeloria shines brightest in despair. Your new skill has turned the tide, but your divine energy is nearly depleted. Protect your allies and find a way to end the demon, Saint Elshua.⟫
Elshua's breath hitched at the continuous notification, but the new skill a lifeline in the chaos.
"Courage!" he shouted, his voice cracking as he unleashed the power, the effort making his knees tremble.
A golden wave radiated from him, washing over the knights, their armor gleaming as their movements sharpened, their blades striking with newfound force.
Caelan's sword carved a shallow gash in the demon's leg, the wound steaming but not closing instantly, and Mara's arrows sank deeper, one piercing its shoulder with a sizzle that drew a snarl.
The swordsmen pushed forward, their shields holding against the demon's claws, their blades biting into its hide, the Courage buff giving them an edge they hadn't had before.
But Elshua swayed, his vision blurring, the skill draining his divine energy to a flickering ember, his body trembling with the cost, his breath coming in shallow gasps.
The demon roared, its flames flaring in defiance, a inferno that lit the quarry in a hellish glow.
"Your light was dimming, Spark!" it snarled.
Its claws shattering a knight's shield, blood spraying across the stone, the knight's cry cut short.
"I will have it all!"
It lunged, its focus on Elshua unwavering, a predator scenting weakened prey, and Caelan shoved him aside, the demon's claw grazing Elshua's cloak, tearing the fabric with a screech.
"Heal!"
Elshua cast on Caelan, the golden light faint but enough to close the paladin's shoulder wound, though the effort made his head spin.
His divine energy was nearly gone, each skill a gamble he could barely afford, his body feeling like it was unraveling.
"Caelan, the chasm again!"
Elshua yelled, his voice hoarse, spotting the narrow chasm where they'd trapped the demon before, its jagged walls a faint hope.
"We can pin it!"
Caelan nodded, shouting orders, his voice raw but steady, and the knights shifted, baiting the demon with feints and arrows, their movements bolstered by the lingering Courage buff.
Elshua cast "Shield!" on Laren, the barrier flaring as a skitterbeast lunged, then "Courage!" again for everyone.
The golden wave surging despite the cost, leaving him dizzy, his knees buckling, his hand grasping Caelan's arm for support.
Mara's arrows blinded the demon's other eye, eliciting a howl that shook the cliffs, and the knights drove it toward the chasm, their blades and holy water weakening its hide, the blessed steel sizzling against its molten veins.
The demon's claws scrabbled, its flames dimming slightly, but its power was still terrifying, a force that refused to yield.
"You cannot stop me, Spark," it hissed, its voice a venomous promise, its blinded eyes somehow still tracking Elshua's light.
"Your light is mine."
It lunged, nearly reaching him, but Caelan's sword struck its arm, the Courage buff making the blow bite deep, drawing a trickle of ichor that steamed on the ground.
The knights pushed, rocks crumbling into the chasm, and the demon slid, trapped once more, its roars shaking the earth, its claws scraping the stone in futile rage.
Caelan pulled Elshua back, his grip bruising, his breath ragged.
"It's not dead, Your Holiness," he panted, blood and sweat streaking his face, his curls matted with dust.
"We're barely holding it."
Elshua nodded, his vision swimming, the system's warning clear: his divine energy was nearly gone, and the demon's hunger was unyielding.
The knights regrouped, their crests flickering in the dust, their faces pale but resolute, and Elshua leaned against Caelan, his warmth a fragile anchor in the storm.
The battle wasn't over, and the Spark of Aeloria would have to find a way to burn brighter to end it, even as his strength flickered like a dying candle.
---
Author: Here's the terms for the confused souls ; )
•Aeloria – The Goddess of the novel's Requiem of the Fallen.
•Spark=Saint (MC's role)
•Skittlebeasts – type of ground monster