Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 306: Death knight

Chapter 306: Death knight

Silence reigned in the throne room as the group scrutinized the armored figure with the latter doing roughly the same.

After an uncomfortable amount of time had passed, Alex inquired. "Does anyone understand what he just said?"

"Not at all." Victoria awkwardly confessed with Ana hesitantly replying.

"I think he is welcoming us."

Glancing at her, Alex inquired. "How do you know that?"

"Well, the language is quite similar to..."

"Gaia." Alejandro finished in Ana’s stead, his expression revealing himself to be in deep thought.

"... Yeah."

"Gaia?... Isn’t that the language of your people?"

Slowly nodding, Alejandro replied. "Indeed, it is."

"What are the odds," Alex muttered.

He’d already surmised that the BeastMen borrowed quite a lot from the Elven society, from their architecture to their deity and now, even language.

Just how much had they borrowed to build what they had now?... It piqued Alex’s curiosity but that was it as he glanced at Alejandro.

"I believe you should take point with this one," Alex remarked.

Taking a bold step forward, Alejandro stood at the forefront as he remarked in broken Fel. "Who you and why bring us here?"

"What did he just say?" Alex inquired with a frown, finding Alejandro’s words to be similar to the incomprehensible ones spoken by the armored figure.

Ana gasped. "Oh my gosh."

"What?"

"I now know why what the Elves are saying sounds like Gaia."

Before she could explain though, Alejandro remarked in Razan. "Because Gaia is a borrowed language. My ancestors merged Razan with a language they had excavated from an ancient civilization. That language was referred to as Fel."

"Now it all makes sense," Alex muttered, quite satisfied with having his curiosity sated.

Meanwhile, the armored figure finally replied. "My identity is of no consequence to your party and what led you here is unimportant. The only thing that matters is if you are ready."

"Ready?... For what?" Alejandro inquired with a frown.

"To prove yourself."

With those words, the armored figure reached for his spear and pulled it out of the ground before rising to his feet, revealing his full stature to be around 7ft.

Towering over Alex and co, the armored figure pointed his spear at them and beckoned. "Come, defeat me and you shall have the last piece. Die and your efforts shall be in vain."

"He wants us to fight him." Alejandro relayed back to the others with Alex snorting.

"We can see that, we may not understand the language but gestures are universal."

"Do we fight?"

"Do we have a choice?"

Alejandro shifted his attention to the armored figure who brandished his spear in response.

"... Perhaps not."

"Then let’s get this over with."

"Agreed."

Boom

The armored figure moved instantly, his giant physique breaking the laws of physics to move at speeds surpassing that of sound.

Thankfully, Ana reacted quickest as she unleashed a time-dilation field around the party, causing the armored figure to slow down, his spear looming dangerously over Alejandro.

"Aiming for the strongest first, hmm?" Alejandro muttered with a grin as he covered his fist with lava and struck the armored figure without hesitation.

Bang

The force was powerful, the result immediate.

The armored figure was sent flying, only stopping after he’d slammed into the stairs leading to his throne.

His purple eyes flickered for a moment, almost as though he were surprised by what had happened but this deterred him not as he got back to his feet and once again, brandished his blade.

"Alejandro, Ana, you guys take point. I and Victoria will provide backup."

"Understood."

"..." Alejandro didn’t bother with a response as he coated his other arm with lava and then once his body was covered in molten rock, he charged forward.

The armored figure charged as well with both meeting in the middle.

Boom

As a crater formed at their feet, courtesy of the brute force wielded by the two, none took the liberty to stop and instead went ahead to deliver several more blows in quick succession to beat down the other party.

It was safe to say that for a moment, both were equally matched... Until Ana struck her first blow.

The armored figure suddenly froze with a creak escaping portions of his armor as it bent in horrendous ways.

However, unlike the elven priest from earlier, he didn’t turn to dust which caused Ana to furrow her brows.

The only reason her temporal erasure wouldn’t work was if the person in question no longer felt the passage of time, for example, Platadoris.

Almost as though he sensed her thoughts, the armored figure spoke. "I am already dead, lost to the passage of time. All that remains is a death knight that betrayed his master, a shadow of my former self."

And with that, several barbed vines lashed at Ana causing her to shift her attention, though this was unnecessary as... pa... Alex or rather, Charlotte came to her aid.

Her swordplay was swift and with each stroke, a vine was cut down only to be replaced by yet another.

Freed from the temporal lock, the armored figure once again traded blows with Alejandro, this time, his movements more fluid than before causing Alejandro to switch tactics as well.

Within seconds, the armored figure was brought to his knees, his armor bent out of shape by Alejandro’s sweltering fists.

"You..."

"Entropy is a concept that can be embodied with enough endurance. Do not think you are the only one with tricks." With those words, Alejandro swung his fist and punched the armored figure into the ground before proceeding to deliver several more blows to the helmet, only stopping once it was flatter than a blacksmith’s anvil.

Spitting to the side, Alejandro watched as purple mist escaped the pummeled armor to form yet another purple gem.

He reached down and upon touching it, was transported to an old memory.

His vision was blurred by sweltering heat and his lungs were filled with smoke, eliciting coughs from his delicate frame.

Watching as the elven crowds hurled curses at the body he was in while throwing stones, he found himself uttering but a single sentence.

"I don’t want to die."