The Adrift Oath

Chapter XXVI: Sorrow & Regret

As they pushed the black gates open, all three of them could see the interior of a huge room, and most importantly, that damned core shining like a diamond in the back of that room

But what really caught their attention, was the giant knight that was sitting down by the throne of the crystal, black miasma came out of the vision ports of his helmet while the rest of his armor was as evil as one could think of, metal spikes came out of his pauldrons while his helmets had two metal horns and the vision port was two diagonal openings merging into one in the middle of the helmet and then going down from there, although through the vision ports all was black, it almost seemed like no man was inside that cursed armor

"So we need to defeat that I assume" Yuna said, unsheathing her blade while the other two followed closely as the gates behind them closed down promptly

"Well, no way out I guess" Fae said as she held her sword tightly, the room illuminated by green fires from the torches spread around

Suddenly, a wheezing breath was taken from that armor, and that voice reverbed within the hearts of the three companions as it alone could be described as evil

Two green eyes formed out of seemingly pure magick energy appeared within the vision ports of the helmet while the giant knight slowly stood up, his sheer size alone was three times of Fae

"De...fend..." His voice shook their hearts while that black fog slowly came out of his helmet, the giant knight grabbed the two-handed mace that was next to him, and with the way he grabbed it, the group knew they were in for war

"You focus on the crystal Fae!" Yuna exclaimed as she then vanished to appear in front of the cursed knight

Although one thing was wrong, she didn't hear anything from either Fae or Claude when she faced the knight, turning her head over her shoulder her eyes widen and her lips parted away as the only people she saw behind her, were her men that died with her in Yokohama

The rain poured down on Yuna while her feet were planted deep into the mud, she was back in that moment, but as she turned forward, she wasn't facing that silver-haired red-eyed knight of the past that she spared on that cursed day, no, she was facing the same damned knight that she and Fae found, it was all wrong

"Aa...hahaha..." His laugh reverbed and echoed within her heart, although Yuna was still unafraid as ever, even if her mind was warped and her senses felt diluted, if not stolen

It was as if he has given Yuna the ultimate challenge, locking her very soul inside a death realm of the past for them to duel in, and nobody could ever intervene

He instantly raised his giant mace in the air while Yuna widened her eyes, and then he smashed it on the dirt to shatter even the ancient stone under both of them

Although lucky for Yuna, she had quick footwork that enabled her to slide between the giant knight's legs

Standing now behind him, Yuna took the time to channel a slice that was deflected by the sheer solidity of the metal

Grunting to the failure at hand, Yuna stepped back while The cursed knight dislodged his mace from the broken stone to face the ghostly woman again

But this time, his strike was far quicker for one it's size as he swung his mace horizontally all of a sudden, catching Yuna off her guard as she was still confused by the sudden blast from the past

The only thing she could do was raise her blade to defend her, but the sheer strength of the strike sent her rolling within the mud

Letting out a grunt, Yuna stabbed her blade into the mud to help her get up, if this was history repeating itself then it didn't make sense, for she had beaten that Aralian knight in that cursed duel