"Arcane Knights are the worst!"
"Yeah!"
In the streets of Mordheim, a group of Spell Swords raised their blades to the snowy sky and began to chant.
"Arcane Knights are evil!"
"Yeah!"
"Arcane Knights are the enemy!"
"Yeah!"
"Arcane Knights go against the Emperor!"
"Yeah!"
"Arcane Knights will all die once we're done with Rossum!"
"Yeah!"
At the front of the crowd, the one egging everyone on, Wolf stood, a smirk hidden under his mask. It was too easy to create a group of bloodlusting soldiers. Too easy to point them in the direction of their next enemy.
Wolf's grip grew tighter around the handle of his sword, and he began to speak. "Soon we will invade Rossum, and we will slaughter the old monster of Yuan and bring down the sect that 'she' rules over! We will slaughter everyone in that cursed land, taking their treasure for our own, and forcing them to build monuments to our honor! They cursed us! They allowed us to rot in this hellish cold! They looked down on us! So we will devour them! We are the Emperor's blade! We are tools! Beasts! Hungry wolves that will feast on the enemy that he points to! And when Rossum falls, and we bring about the end of that terrible place, we'll turn our gaze to Esteria! We'll kill the son of Haru and bring about an end to that unholy bloodline and truly fix this world! Our story will be one of honor! Of greatness! We are forging an epic! So, I command you all to stand tall! I command you all to give it your all! We will win! We will not suffer! We will not suffer! We will not suffer!"
"We will not suffer!"
"We will not suffer!"
"We will not suffer!"
The battle that would bring Rossum to its knees was soon to begin… The Spell Swords were ready to give it their all.
Not all of them, however, were on board with this plan… Away from the crowd, in a small room, two figures stood.
"Hana." White glanced down at the kneeling girl.
"Sir?" Blank raised her head, just slightly, to look up at him. She was clothed in a long black cloak, and her mask was a skull-looking face. Before her stood White, the newest leader of her team, now that the old one was dead. He was also dressed in black, but his mask was blank with only two eyeholes carved into it, and a bamboo hat covered his head.
White stayed silent as he stared down at Blank. Spell Swords were typically named after their masks. Some would likely find it odd then. After all, he was wearing a blank mask with no design, while she wore a white skull mask.
The reason for that was simple. When Spell Swords came of age and performed the rite of marriage, they would often swap masks. In this case, his skull mask, for which he was given the name "White" because it was white, went to Blank, while he inherited her blank mask.
"Is there something you need, sir?"
"Hana, you don't have to be formal; it's just you and me." They were out of the harsh, cold land that their nation was, inside a simple wooden dojo where he trained every day.
"Sir, we're on duty and about to leave for a mission. I think it's only right we keep ourselves professional." Blank responded in a flat tone.
White let out a heavy sigh. "I don't want you to go on this mission." He said after some time.
"You don't have a choice, do you?" Blank challenged.
White shook his head. "I do not. Wolf ordered that we go into the dungeon once it arrives."
"Then that's what we'll do—"
"Hana." White cut her off. "Like Goat, you can't use a Core Mask. You're the weakest member of our team and are the most unskilled." Blank flinched, and her head bowed. "I don't want to see my wife get hurt. I don't want our son to grow up without a mother. This mission will be dangerous. You're correct, however, when you say you have to come. Wolf would never let one of us stay behind."
"So, then why did you ask me out here?"
"I have something for you." White reached into his cloak. "I had to barter with Thorn, but I got this." He pulled out a black dagger. The handle was wrapped in cloth, and the blade was forged from black steel. A dark aura seemed to seep out of the edge of it, and he carefully handed it to Blank.
"T-This is a cursed weapon?" Blank stared in shock at the ominous weapon.
"It is." White gave a soft nod. "The metal was forged from iron that was near the corpse of the Ebony Knight. It bathed in his blood and absorbed the cursed energy he gave off. The curse is weak but useful. It'll cause blindness."
Blank gripped the handle of the weapon tightly and nodded. Her arm ignited in pure mana as her energy clashed with the dark power of the knife. She had never held something like this, yet it felt right. It was like committing an act of sin to feel good.
Enchanted weapons were very, very rare, since Esteria hoarded all the elven-grade items and all the enchanters. A Circuit Core was needed to truly create good enchanted items and use them, so most enchanted items were costly, and the ones people did have were minor since a Spell Sword could only draw out one percent of its power. They typically compensated for this weakness by using special swords made to absorb mana better than others.
In rare cases, they would also use cursed blades.
Enchanted weapons required the user to have the same type as the weapon. There were seven main types. All mages fell into one of the seven types of magic. Water, Earth, Wind, Fire, Lightning, Light, and Dark. Ice, mirror, water, snow, or other forms of magic would fall into the Water type. Rocks, gems, metal, plants, wood, and other such things would be Earth. Wind had only a few, such as air, mist, force, slashing, and other such forms of magic. Fire had flame, lava, and smoke. Lightning, electricity, plasma, or energy-based magic fell into the Lightning type. Lastly, there was Light and Dark. Light had light, time, particles, and forms of life-type magic such as blood, flesh, and bone. Dark was focused on things such as shadow, gravity, and space.
Of course, there were many, many, many more types of magic, but the main point was that all forms of magic would fall into one of the seven types, and a mage could only use an enchanted item that was of the corresponding type.
Cursed items were different.
A cursed weapon simply required one thing. The user had to be stronger than the curse. Blessings and curses both defied the norms of typical magic, with curses being able to infest an item and corrupt it on a data-like level, making it "glitch" and behave as if it were magical.
When a mage touches a cursed item, the curse will attempt to cling to them and infect them as well. It takes a constant stream of mana to keep the curse at bay, and should the mage run out, the curse will activate on them. If they can keep the curse held back, then they can use the item and infect other mages with it.
This knife held a simple curse. It would make the user lose the ability to see. One slash and she could blind someone. She'd have to be careful, though. Cursed weapons didn't bond with you as an enchanted one would. They would gladly devour you the first chance they got.
"Why are you giving me this?" Blank asked.
"I think it'll help you." White held his hand out toward her, and she took it slowly, standing back up. "I just want you to live. We shouldn't suffer."
Blank gave another nod. "Yeah. Let's not suffer. Suffering means failure. Failure means death. Let's come back, for the sake of our son."
She would do it for him!
Their son was currently held in the same camp where all the children of Spell Swords were kept. If she or her husband wanted to see him, that meant they had to succeed. Failure was not an option.
"We will not suffer," White said softly, and he gripped his wife's hand.
Hana squeezed it. "We will not suffer. We will not let him suffer."
***
Present Day…
Hana's eyes weakly opened, and she stared up at the roof of the maze. Her body ached, and she could tell her mask had been ripped off her. Some sort of cloth was bound around her wrists and legs, leaving her tied up on the ground, and any weapons she had were gone.
"Oh, you're finally awake." Numbly, Hana turned her head and stared blankly at Davi Hawker—the man who beat her.
He was beaten badly, his armor spell was gone, and his flesh was covered in dozens of cuts, staining his white robes red. The eye with the burn mark was sealed shut, a nasty bruise forming around the burnt flesh, and several of his fingers were broken, slowly being snapped back into place.
He was still in a far better condition than Hana. Her jaw was nearly snapped, and most of her teeth were gone. Her face was a nasty red, with her nose being caved in, and one of her eyes had popped. Parts of her flesh were burned to a crisp, and breathing caused her lungs to fill with blood. Her body was twisted awkwardly, and her legs and arms were tied together by shadowy clothing.
The cloth had been made from Row Shadow Robes, the spell Davi used to create Olivia's witch outfit. He had used a Vow, and now the spell worked more or less as a rope that he could freely control in order to bind his enemies. It was highly durable and strong as well.
Davi was seated next to the woman, and he watched blankly as her arms tried to break free from her legs, but she was unable to break the cloth. Finally, Hana gave up. "Kill me."
Davi finished snapping all his fingers back in place and shook his head. "If I wanted you dead, don't you think I would have done that while you were unconscious?"
"You tried to kill me earlier." Hana pointed out.
"That was then; this is now."
"Are you a coward?" Hana glared up at him. "Scared to kill a woman?"
"I've killed before." Davi grabbed his nose and casually popped it back into place. "Men and women. I've seen death. I've caused death."
"So then why haven't you killed me?"
Davi shrugged. "In the heat of battle, I tried. On the battlefield, showing mercy can get you killed. I'm not stupid. The battle is over. You're alive. I could kill you, or I could let you live. I don't know… Maybe I am stupid. Sometimes I just think I like it when people get a happy ending. Killing you does nothing for me now, so there's simply no reason to take away your chance for a happy ending."
"I'll break free!" Hana retorted. "I'll use my magic, and I'll kill you!"
"You can try," Davi admitted. He reached into his cloak, and Hana's eyes went wide when she saw him pull out her cursed knife. "I took all your weapons, though." He toyed with the knife, his mana blocking the curse as it tried to reach him. "I'm in a better condition than you are, and you have no weapons. I'd beat you again. If it comes to it, I'd kill you if I have to, but chances are, if I knock you out again, I'll tie you back up, and we'll have this conversation for a second time."
Hana stared up at him. "So, then what will you do with me?"
Davi gave another shrug. "I'll throw you in the woods somewhere and let you go once my group is far enough away. You can fend for yourself and find your way back home."
"You're a fool."
"And you're a loser." Davi eventually tossed the knife into his vault. "The winner decides how things go, and the loser obeys. I beat you, so that is that." Hana's glare didn't go away, and he met her stare dead on. "Let me ask you something. Why do you want to die so badly?"
"Of course I don't want to die." Hana sneered. "If given the chance, I'll kill you in a heartbeat and be done with you. That said, if I lose, then I should be killed. I failed; therefore, I shall suffer."
"People lose. Things like that happen—"
"You don't understand!" Hana hissed out. "Do you have any idea how good you have it? Do you know that your land is blessed? Many people dream of living the lives your kind have! The people of Esteria are fat cattle who get to live a good life! Mordheim isn't like your land! It is a hellhole! A place of great evil! We serve a man who is as cruel as a demon! The second coming of the Ebony Knight himself! He is despair made into the shape of a person, and he commits sin as easily as a human sucks in air! We are weapons! Tools! Mere beasts! Our only job is to serve that old monster and ensure he gets what he wants! Should we fail, then death is forced upon us! I failed! So kill me!"
Davi frowned as he listened to her speech. "You're right. I don't understand. That way of thinking isn't what my Mordheim was like."
"Your Mordheim?"
"Nothing. It doesn't matter." Davi shook his head. "If your place is that bad, then don't go back home. I can free you, and you can escape—"
"Do you think it would be that easy?" Hana gave a bitter grin. "Why don't more people escape Mordheim? It's because if they are unable to punish us, then they'll target our families. If they find out that I lost to you, then my son is… It is better that I die."
Davi openly frowned now, and a bit of anger filled his gaze. "What? That's horrible. You're saying that they'll take their revenge out on your family?"
"Yes. My son, my mother, my father, my siblings, and even my friends. If you cannot be punished, then one of them must. For dying in battle, the punishment will be minor. They'll kill either my mother or my father. It is sad, but I can live with that. Should I survive, and they suspect I tried to escape the cause, they'll kill my son! It won't be a quick death either! So don't you see!" Hana's tone changed into a pleading one now. "Kill me!"
Davi's teeth gritted, and he stood up. "You can fake your death."
"Ha! Idiot! You know your own king has ways to check on his precious Knights. His mana flows through your blood. Do you not think the Emperor, a twisted monster like him, wouldn't do the same? They know if we're alive or not."
Davi felt his anger start to grow as he heard her speak. It didn't sound fair. She was doomed down this path from the moment she was born. He hated that. People should be free. They should be allowed to get a happy ending. Why couldn't the lives people live be better?
Why couldn't real life be like the novels, where there is a happy ending for all?
It wasn't the fact that she had to die or that he would be the one to kill her. Death was something he was used to, and if it came down to his life or hers, he'd pick himself each time. What angered him was the hopelessness of this situation. He had to take her life; otherwise, her entire family would suffer.
There was no happy ending. Only pain, and he had to pick which painful path to follow. He hated it. He hated the Emperor for being so cruel. He hated this world for having not even a shred of innocence.
Davi shook his head. "If you're here, then that means this dungeon is connected to your land, right?"
"Yes?"
"We can go save your family. We'll march into Mordheim, find them, then leave for Esteria. Everyone wins that way."
Hana actually laughed. She laughed harder than she ever had before. It was such a stupid suggestion. Even Davi knew such an outcome would not happen. It was impossible.
Hana smiled. "You are an idiot." Then she used a spell. "Row Wood Claws." Davi was caught off guard as jagged wood suddenly flowed over her hands and feet, creating bladed claws that tore through her bindings. She was on her feet in an instant, her injured body jumping toward him.
"Row Shadow Vault." Davi drew his sword and—
Hana grabbed the blade and pulled it forward. Red spilled down her body as the sword rammed into her chest. Davi didn't look shocked. He twisted and stepped forward, shoving the blade in deeper and piercing her heart.
Hana felt her throat fill with blood, and it came spilling out of her mouth and down her chin. "L-Listen up." Her mana turned off, the claws fading away. "S-Since you won. I'll give you a piece of advice. Humans don't get happy endings just because they're good. If you want something, it requires the strength to make it. I'm stronger than you were in this moment. With that power that I had, I picked my own ending. You don't get to pick an ending for me because you're not strong enough. You can't save people without power. You can't find happiness without fighting for it. Keep that in mind." Hana closed her eyes, her legs starting to give out. "Everyone is the main character in their own story. Everyone has their own goal and endpoint that they want to reach. Next time, be strong. Strong enough to create the outcome that you want."
The blade was ripped out of her as she fell back. Davi caught her before she crashed into the floor, and he gently lowered her. All life left her, and Davi stayed still as he silently stared at her corpse.
Life was rarely fair.
Davi took a spare cloak out of his vault and draped it over her body. He said a silent prayer and then began to walk away. "Sorry, I couldn't do more for you. In the next life, I hope you have a happier tale. Goodbye."
Killing humans was never fun. He never enjoyed it. It was something that happened a lot, sadly. Everyone had a story. Hers had just ended. His would keep going.
That was life.
***
"Row Psychic Cutter!"
Green and pink energy swirled in the air and launched itself out of the black flame-like aura that covered White. Ken and Olivia both dodged to the side, the slash tearing into one of the floating blocks and splitting it perfectly in two. White stood several meters away and was already readying a new spell as the two girls tried to approach.
"Row Psychic-Wood Spear!" From his energy, jagged wooden spikes formed in the air, spinning so fast they twisted the air. They launched forward at breakneck speeds. Olivia swung her scythe up just in time, narrowly blocking hers, but the force of the attack shoved her back and knocked her off her feet. As for Ken, a hole was blasted through her as the spear tore through her right as she neared White.
Ken slipped on her own blood but still swung her fist out as hard as she could. She could no longer go crazy with her flames because Olivia was nearby, so she had to hold the heat back, and her fierce strikes had dropped in power and speed, allowing White to easily avoid them.
White side-stepped the punch and used the same spell as before on her. "Row Pschic-Wood Tree." He announced, and Ken felt her body freeze up as jagged spikes erupted from inside her body. White lifted his sword and brought it down, planning to split her head in two this time, to ensure her death, but before he could, Olivia was back at Ken's side and blocked the strike with her scythe.
To White's shock, her weapon wasn't split in two, the scythe somehow blocking his blade. Olivia was able to deflect the strike and shoved him back with all her might. She took another swing at him, but White easily blocked her this time.
Unlike Ken, he simply couldn't take Olivia out, as his Tree spell required injecting her with his mana. He had done this to Ken early on in the fight due to all the life-threatening injuries she absorbed, and so it was easy for him to transform his own mana that was in her into the wood mana he used for his tree spell. Olivia hadn't been infected yet, however, and so he'd have to deal with her the old-fashioned way.
White descended upon her with both his blades. Her scythe was powerful, able to block his strikes, but she was a total novice. He easily tore past her guard and sliced into her side.
"Row Blood Shield!"
As soon as White's blade made contact with Olivia's stomach, her shield spell activated just in time to deflect the strike. Her body shook, and she felt her blood loss begin to hit her. That was now her second spell since her first had been used to make her scythe. She would have to finish this in one shot.
White went for the swing again, and he smacked the blood shield, which had formed in the air, out of the way. Before his blade could slice into Olivia, Ken crashed forward, having burnt all the spikes out of her body, and she smashed her fist into his blade, deflecting it by force.
"Row Flame Bolt!" Ken's foot then fired up, and she rammed her knee into White's stomach hard enough to crack his ribs, but that only made his anger rise.
"Vil Psychic Giant!"
Behind White, his construct appeared, the massive energy form striking out. It swung its sword down but missed both girls. Despite that, its force was great, and Ken and Olivia were flung back. Several of the cubes began to fall from the sky, smashing into the ground around the battlefield. Olivia was nearly crushed, but she narrowly rolled out of the way.
The construct then vanished, and White nearly dropped to his knees but barely caught himself. His vision started to blur, and he felt a pain in his head. Using so many spells was finally beginning to have a serious toll on him. He would have to end this fight as soon as he could. That meant the weakest link needed to go.
Using Mana Step, White appeared directly in front of the downed Olivia. She hadn't managed to get to her feet yet, and he swung both his swords down at her. Olivia hastily raised her scythe, but White hit her as hard as he could, slamming all of his weight onto her and using Mana Strike. The resulting blow nearly shattered Olivia's arms and smashed her further into the ground. Her scythe dropped down, and this time she wasn't able to raise her guard in time as White struck out again.
"Row Flame Bolt!" Ken came crashing in again and flung herself between him and Olivia. She planned to take his strike head-on and hit him back, but he expected her to do something like this.
"Row Psychic-Wood Tree." For the third time, his spell erupted inside of her, the wooden spikes locking her limbs in place and stopping her from striking him back. Now that she was stuck in place, he ignited his blades in mana and spun. He'd tear right through her and Olivia in one go.
Olivia managed to get to her knees and swung her scythe out, still behind Ken. To White's shock, Olivia stabbed through Ken before he did! Her scythe jammed through Ken's side and stomach and struck out toward him. White managed to halt his strike and stepped back as the scythe kept coming! It twisted and bent, looking like some sort of snake as it rammed all the way through Ken and tried to slice up at him.
He was just out of its reach and was about to use a Mana Step to appear behind Olivia so he could hack through her and Ken now that they were even closer together, but before he could muster up the energy, the fight came to an end.
"Row Blood Bolt!"
White felt a sharp pain, suddenly caught off guard as the scythe he avoided blasted out a beam of sharp, piercing blood, which connected with his left shoulder and blew his arm clean off. His defense had considerably dropped due to readying a Mana Step, leaving him vulnerable.
The scythe of blood melted and turned into a puddle, and that freed Ken, who surged forward. The wooden spikes snapped and shattered and tore her up even more, but she fought through the pain and slammed her fist directly into White's face, shattering what was left of his mask. He tried to bring up his defense hastily, but Ken didn't give him any mercy.
"Vil Flame Bolt!" She blasted him directly in the head as hard as she could, igniting his upper half in fire, and the force of the attack sent him flying back. He rammed into the ground and rolled across it, his broken body gushing out smoke as the fire tried to devour him. Ken dropped to her knees, panting, and Olivia was also sprawled out, doing her best not to vomit. "You stabbed through me!" Ken looked back at Olivia with wide eyes.
Olivia weakly giggled. "I—I thought you could heal."
"I can! Getting stabbed still sucks though!" Ken shook her head. "Row Flame Feel." Her fire coated both her and Olivia, healing them. For her, it closed the jagged holes she had around her body and repaired her damaged organs. For Olivia, her bruises faded, and she regained enough blood to cast two more spells.
Sadly, Olivia knew that it wouldn't matter all that much, since she was in her Polymorph state, so when it wore off, she'd go back to being out of mana and blood. At least she could stand now.
"I learned that from Davi." Olivia stood back up and offered her hand out to Ken.
"What do you mean?" Ken looked at the hand and almost reached for it, but then turned her nose up at it and stood up on her own. She was reaching the limit of her own mana after so many spells, so she was glad the fighting was done, as she doubted she'd be able to last much longer.
"He sliced through me once to hit this guy," Olivia explained. "He knew he could heal me when he did it. I had a similar thought. Sorry if it was a bad move."
Ken shook her head. "Nah. Maybe if the guy dodged, I would have been pissed, but it worked. We're both still alive." She glanced over at the smoking remains of the man they had defeated. "I'm a little shocked, though. I took you for the innocent type. Didn't think you'd be so ruthless as to kill him, little snake."
Olivia frowned at Ken's words, and she also glanced in the direction of the man's body. "It's not like I enjoyed it. I don't want to kill a person. I'd rather have fought a monster. Still, it was him or us." Her hand clenched into a tight fist. "I don't want anyone I care about to ever die again. If anyone tries to hurt my friends or family, I'll kill them. I won't show any mercy."
Ken's smile faded. In all the excitement, she had almost forgotten what Olivia had recently gone through. "Right." She let out a sigh and rubbed her head. Her tail swished back and forth as she took a moment to think. "Let's head out of here."
"Yeah. By the way?" Olivia gave Ken an odd look. "Did you become a mutant?"
"Is there an issue if I did?"
"No? But those ears are cute. Can I touch them?"
"No!"
"Please?"
"No!"
"Please?"
"...Okay."
White weakly stared up at the roof. He could feel his life fading away. He was dying. He was bleeding out and burning away at the same time. He only had a little bit longer.
He thought of his wife and his son in his final moments. Boton was young. Still practically a baby. He hated the idea of leaving his son alone in this world, but he hated the thought of his son suffering even more.
White felt his resolve steel, and he closed his eyes, his mana starting to surge. Ken froze when she sensed it, and she spun around as White's aura turned back on.
"Stop!"
White took a deep breath, and his mana reached its peak. "He will not suffer!"
White created a Vow.