Chương 1: Chapter 1: The Cruel Knight
Princess Isalene knew that heading towards the arena without her family was something her father wouldn't want. She did have some Royal Guards with her but she knew her father would still be mad. Normally, she would never do anything to make her father mad. She loved her father. He cared for her and gave her a lot of freedom. But, to Isalene, this was something she decided to handle herself. The problem she has? She has to choose a new personal guard after her last one died. She has been holding it off for a long time and now, her parents were forcing her to choose one. She has seen the knights her father presented her and the list he has made, Sure, he told her that she can choose anyone, even someone outside the list if she wishes, but he makes it sound like she should choose from the top of the list. That was mainly due to the showing of the knights. She had seen all of them fight but it seems like the ones at the top were either to...glamorous and cheery or were clearly fighting rookies.
She doesn't know why the local knights that would make girls squeal made her disgusted. It was just, something about them that Isalene couldn't put into words. She did admit she found a few of them handsome but she didn't feel like she would be comfortable around them. Besides, she already has someone she likes.
The reason she decided to come here today was to see what the knights on the list were like outside of royal eyes. She wasn't announcing herself or anything so they wouldn't know she was here and try to suck up to her. She was currently watching a group of knights just hanging out talking after a fight. She saw four of the knights on her list there and two mercenaries there as well. She recognized the short brown hair but tall mercenary with the red armor and green shirt as Red Cross and the black heavily armored knight with a halbert and short black hair and goatee as Drake. She had missed the fight but, judging from the corpses on the ground, it was a fight to the death. The princess didn't quite know how to feel about that. These people had just killed other people yet were having a good old time celebrating.
Isalene never liked blood or gore. She knew that war and fights were often full of it yet she could never watch it. That was why during the trials, it was a competition where no one died. Now that the knights were outside of the competition, she could see their true nature and how they handle others' lives. Despite their attitude now, Isalene could see that they didn't do anything to the fallen. It seems they have some respect for their opponents. Then again, this could be Isalene just trying to make an excuse for them...and herself.
The arena horn sounded and the knights left the ring while the clean-up crew arrived. After they got done, the crowd settled down and the announcer began talking.
"For the next match, it is a one on three! The mysterious Cruel Knight faces off against the crowd favorite, Ellen Spear, the old yet still kicking, Dorean, and the Greatblade Ivan!"
Isalene cringed at the names. She could never get the name shouting or the fancy titles. She liked the Cruel Knight's name. It was simple and to the point yet left much to be feared. Then again, with a name like that, Isalene wasn't sure they wanted to meet him. Still, even though she knew that she was about to witness a fight to the death, Isalene couldn't help but keep looking. One of the knights mentioned was on the list, and he was pretty high up there too. What he was doing fighting in the arena after he was told not to is beyond Isalene. She figured he must be confident that he would win any fight and not be injured to affect his chance at winning. If Isalene remembers correctly, his name was Ellen Flangboy, which means he must be Ellen Spear. Well, Isalene knows he is cause he could see his family's crest next to this name and he looked the same as he did when he was fighting in the competition. Well kept yet not attractive short pale blond yellow hair and a smug look on his face. In his hand was a tall metal spear. He wore silver and purple armor that was heavy on the chest and shoulder pads but light everywhere else, besides the knees and feet.
Before Isalene could get a good look at the other two, her eyes were drawn to their opponent, the Cruel Knight. They wore black armor covering all of their skin with highlights of gold and some red. They wore a black cape with the same design the armor has. The cape is torn at the end from what must have been constant use in battle, even if the armor itself didn't look badly damaged. The armor on their hands ended in wicked curves, making him appear to have claws. That was probably their purpose. The last impressive part of them was the large silver and golden colored greatsword. It looked ridged and heavy yet the knight was casually swinging the greatsword around with one hand.
When the knights were close to being in the center of the ring, they all took stances, well, the Cruel Knight didn't. They stopped waving their sword around and stood facing them like they weren't even worried. Judging from the mouths moving from the two knights who didn't have helmets on, they were insulting the Cruel Knight. The knight didn't seem to care one bit and instead just looked around until the knight looked up to around where Isalene was. Isalene squinted, trying to see if the knight was actually looking at her. She was surprised when they nodded at her, telling Isalene that they indeed were looking at her.
When the announcer started the fight, Ellen struck first, his spear moving at what seemed to Isalene, a blur. His opponent did not flinch or jump back but simply grabbed the spear before it hit him. Ellen tried to wrestle it out of his hands but it wouldn't budge. The others moved in, striking the knight on both sides. However, before they could hit him, the Cruel Knight shoved the end of Ellen's spear right into his gut and quickly ducked down while shoving Ellen to their right...
....right in the way of Greatsword Ivan's strike. His sword sliced Ellen deeply in his left shoulder, causing him to let out a shout of pain before falling to one knee. Giving the other two no time to get ready, the Cruel Knight was on Dorean in a second, stabbing him in his gut with his large sword. He lifted Dorean up in the air before swinging him away like a ragdoll, the process causing Dorean to be cut in half. He quickly turned around and blocked a strike from Ivan. He elbowed Ivan which caused him to stagger. Once he staggered, it was all over. The Cruel Knight quickly sliced open his throat with his claws. But he wasn't done. Avoiding a desperate strike from both Ellen and Ivan, the Cruel Knight cut off Ivan's left leg before walking towards his head and stabbed it. It wasn't a stab. No. He put his sword down so he can stab him through the top of his head. When he ripped his sword free, most of Ivan's head and neck were destroyed.
Ellen let out a cry of terror and Isalene thinks he started begging for his life. The Cruel Knight just walled up to him and hit him with the hilt of his sword. Isalene could tell that he held back on that swing yet it still caused Ellen's jaw to break. Isalene could hear the crack even from up where she is. Ellen started to crawl away while still presumably begging for his life. The Cruel Knight bent down and grabbed Ellen's head harshly and by the looks of it, whispered something to him. Ellen's eyes went wide and he gave the knight a shocked look. However, before he could say anything, the Cruel Knight swiftly stood up and decapitated him in one swift move.
"What an amazing performance by Cruel Knight! As expected, the trio couldn't put up much of a fight. But luckily, that was just the warmup. We still have plenty planned ahead so don't leave yet!"
The Cruel Knight lazily rested their blade on their shoulders behind their head and started walking back towards the metal gate where the fighters were held. Just before he went in, he stopped and turned around...and looked up. Isalene knew he was looking straight at her. However, instead of anything happening, the knight just spun back around and walked through the open gate. Isalene didn't see hostility in the look but couldn't help but shudder anyway. If it wasn't obvious, Isalene was a peace-loving princess. She couldn't get violence. To her, it was a disgusting thing and she couldn't help but get sick when she overheard people talking about how they gut someone or how they kept weapons of the ones they have slain. Yet, right now, she was strangely finding herself attracted to that knight.
'How could someone be so cruel? So casual about killing?'
Isalene wanted to know. So, she stayed to watch the rest of the event. She got to see more of Cruel Knight. She got to see his cruelty up close. One time he stabbed someone and ran them into the wall. However, instead of finishing them off, he let them go and took a couple of steps back to give them time to recover all while telling them, at least that what Isalene assumed because of his gestures, to continue the fight. To those who are skilled, he kept on giving them a chance to fight again. To those who were weak or begging for their life, or cocky yet had no skill to prove it, he gave them no chance and often finished them in a brutal way. One time he leaped in the air and pounced on a knight, his sword stabbing him harshly in the gut. Afterward, he stabbed him multiple times and ripped out his heart. Another time, after he beat someone badly, he went behind them and punched through their chest. When the man fell dead, he shrugged in a way that suggested he was enjoying this. In fact, Isalene was positive the knight was enjoying this. Every now and then, the knight would look up at the crowd or at Isalene. Every time, Isalene felt that it didn't have any hostility or disdain in it. It was just a simple look of interest. Still, Isalene couldn't help but shiver when the gaze lands on her.
It was nearing the end of the event when Isalene saw that the Cruel Knight's weapon isn't as simple as it first seemed. In fact, Isalene has never seen anything like it. It was during the event where two to four teams of knights fought each other while trying to defend certain points. It was during these events that Isalene also saw another trait of the knight. He would help teammates who fought hard and wouldn't help the ones that were weak.
Near the end of a round, his team has been almost all but killed and the enemy was making sure he'd join them. During the bloody fight, Isalene saw the hilt of Cruel Knight's sword open up, and out came a black hilt with a sharp blade at the end. The sword had now transformed into a scythe-halbert mix, and a strong one too. The new hilt was made out of black metal, probably Orbsan Ore, a rare but extremely durable black metal sought out by many. It was a slaughter from there. Once he had killed everyone, the sword went back to normal. It was clear that there was much more to the knight than Isalene had first thought. She couldn't help but think what other secrets the knight was hiding.
By the time the event ended, Isalene had made up her mind. She has to find out about that knight. She can't help the curiosity bugging her. So, she must find out about Cruel Knight, no matter what.
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