Journey of a Knight (Interactive)

Warrior Chapter 28

You choose the most convenient way to avenge your family. You toss the tome at the ground and walk towards the skull. The whispers are getting louder and hysterical. "Come! Come closer!" It says. You crouch down and examine the skull, you notice a dark crystal that resembles a black amethyst inside one of the eye sockets. It seems that's what the whispers are emanating from. You reach out for the crystal, and upon touching it, you are enveloped by a dark vision. You see yourself driving your sword into Duke Melios. His cry in agony sounds like a sweet melody to your ear. A surge of euphoria courses through your vein like a torrent. Your heart is pounding and your breathing starts to race. Driven by fury and vengeance, you clench onto the crystal and focus on the intention of getting out of this fetid hole. You can't wait any longer to kill that bastard Duke Melios. A stream of evil laughter strikes your ear as it starts to vibrate and the dark mist begins to seep out from it and solidify into a pair of hideous claws around your palm. With haste, you climb out of the hole with your claws. You're outside, but the searing vengeance still burns violently within you. You feel a heavy urge of slashing someone with your claws. You frantically look around for prey, and you catch the sight of the faithful mule patiently waiting for your return. You walk towards it with a predatory and bestial stare. Upon noticing you, the mule looks back at you, with its pointy ears, twitchy nose, and big adorable big eyes. Suddenly, the malevolent intention is all but evaporated. The sudden onset of emptiness confuses you. What has got into you and how did that happen? The ever-burning rage is now replaced by trepidation. You shake your head rapidly as if someone has poured a bucket of water over it. You stare at your claws as you tremble in fear, the claws slowly disintegrate back into the mist. You suspect that the crystal is corrupting your sanity and you need to stay vigilant at all cost. Driven by curiosity, you intend to find out the origin of the demon. You drag your mule into the wood so that you won't get ambushed by another sinkhole, as the Blessen River nearby may already have been eroded the soil around it such that it's unable to hold any additional weight.

You sit down and stare at the black crystal. Eventually, a dark vision encompasses you. More than 200 years ago, there used to be a village here in the valley. The villagers live a quiet, peaceful, and isolated life. Until a warlord marches his army nearby, the village suffers great calamity. Its valuables plundered, its women violated, and its habitants are brutally silent. Before withdrawing his army, the warlord ordered the village to be razed to the ground. The villages' hatred towards the warlord and his soldiers are so substantial, it sublime from their dead body and consolidated into a man-eating demon. Standing at 2 meters tall, it has an elongated reptilian skull, sinister sharp claws, a slithering tail, and is covered with scales.

After several decades, Grand Master Knight Gennous found its hiding ground, the exact spot where you find his remain. He kneels down and recites his prayer, the demon watches from a nearby bush and whisper all sorts of vile spell trying to scare away the Grand Master Knight. But the Grand Master Knight remains determined and doesn't budge at the insidious trickery, instead, gleaming white mist seep out from every pore from the Grand Master Knight and form a barrier around him. The infuriated demon hisses violently at the Grand Master Knight before spring forward from the bush and pounces at him. The demon hits the barrier but it's bounced back several paces away. The impact shatters the barrier but a new barrier is immediately form around the Grand Master Knight.

The demon pacing left and right, staring down at the Grand Master Knight while hissing and screeching in agitation. Sinister green mist oozes out from its body and forms a ring of gas around it. Abruptly, the ring burst outward and burn anything it touches. The woods, the shrub, instantly erupt into an inferno while the vile ring of gas rampage across the battlefield. The ground where the gas spreads across is burning violently with columns of smoke rising. As the ring hits the Gennous' gleaming barrier, a loud clang thunder out, deflecting the corrosive gas away from the Knight and dissipate.