Chapter 465: Rewriting Destiny

The warning rang through the astral s.p.a.ce, causing a slight ripple across the fabric of the constructed scenery. Their eyes darted toward Arthur before turning toward the Knight of n.o.bility. The holographic image of the knight was rapidly turning black as the execution was about to descend.

"The array is breaking," the king frowned as the Knight of n.o.bility gave one last crazed grin, his outline turning into a dark, ominous humanoid. "The traitor is running away!"

"The operation has been a failure," said the Fallen Knight, his eyes turning toward the king. "King of Freda, I shall not go down without taking away what you desire the most," his voice was emotionless, unlike the usual hysteria that Arthur saw in low-level Enders.

The fallen knight was not a minion of the Enders like before, but a rank higher where he made Arthur feel threatened, similar to the one he fought against in the fortress. Then, as the transcalent blades descended from the sky, the knight disappeared.

"The traitor has fallen, it seems," the king said. "His location should be the Temple of Schelera, where you have all gathered. Therefore, my knights, destroy him."

The king commanded without a lot of confidence. The fallen beings were the most dreaded creatures of this world for two reasons: they destroyed everything they touched, and they cannot be destroyed.

"Your majesty," Arthur stood up with puzzlement. "What has the knight threatened to take from you?" those were the last words that the knight said before fleeing. Arthur could feel his original body reacting to the power of nothingness, but he wanted to know the answer.

The king turned to look at him silently as if trying to find an answer. Arthur"s body began to waver, warning that a change had occurred on the outside. "Take care, Seika," said the king before waving his hand, throwing everyone out of the array.

Arthur felt the rune locking on his consciousness disappear, and it saved him the trouble of reversing it. Then, as his consciousness returned to his body, a dust cloud and a small figure greeted him.

"I shall... fulfill... my purpose..." muttered Ai as darkness crept from the spear piercing her chest, devouring all of her body. Then, her body fell to the side to reveal the remains of the Knight of n.o.bility.

"We meet again, outsider," said the knight with half of his face had turned into a dark flame, and the rest slowly being eaten away.

Arthur threw a barrier when the knight attacked, and the darkness shied away from his rune. A change in the knight"s expression occurred as he realized that Arthur could not be killed easily.

"She tried to defend me," muttered Arthur as he pushed himself up from the chair, looking at the priestess"s body being devoured by the darkness. Her soul has left her body, and the darkness was eating away whatever lifeforce left within it.

"Ah, the annoyance?" turned the knight toward the corpse. "It did not make a difference in the end. How pathetic that she considered this to be her purpose?"

It said emotionlessly, even though the body it was occupying was being eaten away. Arthur gazed away from Ai"s corpse and looked at the fallen knight.

"Once again, we meet," he could feel the rage burning more powerfully within him. From somewhere that he did not know, memories of cities disappearing from existence surfaced, people dying as a dark cloud swallowed them. "Your plans have failed once again."

The knight was silent and what remained of his lips turned into a smirk. There were no other words said, and he slashed away using his dark spear.

The room was covered in frost in an instant before Arthur could block the incoming attack. An afterimage appeared between them, and flames exploded seconds after.

The blue fire made the darkness sizzle, but it did not harm the fallen knight in any way, only keeping him at bay. Arthur watched with confusion the newcomer, and he was confused as to why Emma would be here.

"Are you harmed, Seika?" Diana asked as she kept her arms stretched in front of them, birthing burning flames and freezing everything in their way.

Arthur snapped out of his daze as he heard her voice, and her appearance focused on the princess he knew. However, he saw his friend from long ago for a brief moment, with their identical hair and similar bodies.

"I am... not well," he grabbed his head as the image of the priestess"s corpse resurfaced in his mind. It was the first time that someone died to protect him, and it brought a crushing doubt of his importance to deserve their sacrifice.

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d," growled the princess at the knight as her eyes began morphing into blue crystals. The shards around her ears took a different color, but the change stopped when Arthur grabbed her shoulder.

"You cannot defeat him," he knew that not even Solomon or Duke Yojeen could defeat this monster. "I will handle this, Dia. Trust me," his words reached out to her, and the princess regained her calm.

"You are overestimating yourself, outsider," said the knight with a grin. "One day, I shall descend in a proper vessel. I did it before. Do you remember?"

"How do you know what happened before?" Arthur halted his steps as he squinted his eyes. "It should have yet to happen," what the knight was referring to, or the being overtaking him, was Ellen. Those events should be in the future, not the past.

"Time does not exist in the nothingness, outsider," grinned the knight. "I know the present, the past, and the future. Your race shall perish once again, and you will not have a way to run away this time. It is all meant to happen. This is the destiny of the world! Guh...!"

A hand seized the fallen knight by the throat and lifted him in the air. The golden mana around the arm devoured the darkness as Arthur glared at the knight. A rage within him wanted to tear him apart as tears appeared in his eyes.

"I am the one to write destiny," he spat with defiance, his eyes bleeding. A left arm began to form, the same as last time. "As long as I am around," he threw the fallen knight upward, making him crash into the ceiling, "life will go on."

As the fallen knight descended to the ground, Arthur punched with his left arm. The golden mana exploded to blind the world around them, and it destroyed everything in its path.

A pillar of light rose the sky, and the neighboring kingdoms could see it. Those who witnessed it could hear a distant cry from the light, which faded away with the pillar.

As sunlight slipped into the room, which now had no ceiling, Arthur and Diana stood beside the corpse of the priestess. Arthur crouched to it as countless figures appeared in the sky: knights, n.o.bles, and lords of this kingdom.

Arthur unveiled the corpse after he vanquished the darkness. This priestess looked to be in her twenties, but she gave away her life to save him. The reason that she wore a veil was that her face was scarred beyond looking human. It seems that someone removed the skin from her face, and it did not heal well. 

"So much suffering," Arthur could not imagine what this priestess had to go through.

"It was what she wanted to do," said Dia, trying to comfort him. Arthur did not answer her words. "She chose to protect you."

"No one wants to die," Arthur said with anger as he stood up and looked at the n.o.bles and the lords. "Are you enjoying the show?" he laughed at them, but none of them answered. Arthur knew they were close but chose not to step out until he destroyed the fallen knight. "Let me show you more, then."

Arthur spread his arms, one human and one not. Then, as he closed his eyes and summoned his powers, Arthur used one of the runes he obtained from the Spirits Realm.

This was the beginning of rewriting destiny.

It was the moment of revival.

His powers began to pulse throughout the land as Arthur attempted to do what he never dared to think of, revival. Finally, a rune appeared between his hands as the light covered the city, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with life.

A projection appeared in the sky as the king arrived to witness the show. Arthur had no plans of stopping because this was the only chance to use Spiritual Interference on her soul.

"If I encounter death, I shall welcome it the same way I welcomed you," she told Arthur before they parted. However, he had no plans to allow her to die for him.

"You can die however you want to, but die for yourself," he said as the rune dissolved into his left hand. Arthur crouched on the ground in a world of golden color and reached out toward the void where she died. "Come back, Ai."