God of Knight

Chapter 2 - Blood at the Abyss

“Finally, that madwoman is dead. Now no one will bother us anymore!” said The Demon Fang.

“I will never forgive you three!” Kazan laid Aira down and rose, his eyes bloodshot. “You forced me to do this!”

“Oh, so you want revenge? Remember, it wasn’t her I wanted to kill—it was you! It’s her own fault for getting in the way of my machete!” said The Bloodthirsty Demon.

Their gazes flicked to his empty hands. All three raised their weapons again.

Ki ran along the machete, sickle, and sword. They charged together.

“Soul-Sucking Blood Machete!”

“The Death Reaper Demon’s Sickle!”

“The Fangs That Pounce on Prey!”

Their blades converged. Before the edges reached him, red spread across Kazan’s skin.

He planted his feet in the mud, hands open, and turned toward the machete.

“The Demon King’s Body!”

His skin darkened to the red of exposed flesh. He stepped into the attack with his bare hands.

“The Demon King of Hell’s Footstep!”

Kazan caught the machete before it could complete its arc. He twisted it out of the eldest demon’s grip, then folded the metal between his palms.

“No…! My machete…!” The Bloodthirsty Demon reached for the ruined blade as its crumpled pieces fell into the mud.

The sickle and sword stopped short. Their wielders stared at what remained of their brother’s weapon.

“Why are you two just standing there? Hurry and attack—finish him!” shouted The Bloodthirsty Demon, his face filled with frustration.

The two exchanged a glance. Kazan crossed the distance before either could retreat.

“His Ki is rising—this must be from the Book of the Demons of Hell!” The Demon Fang tightened both hands around his sword. “He’s already mastered it!”

“Since he won’t spare our lives, our only option is to fight him and put everything at stake,” said The Death Reaper Demon. He raised his sickle, and The Demon Fang raised his sword.

The sickle hooked toward Kazan’s wrist while the sword cut across his flank. He knocked one aside and twisted away from the other, forcing them to turn with him.

The Bloodthirsty Demon closed in with his fists. A punch checked Kazan’s retreat, and the other two weapons found their openings.

Blood ran down Kazan’s side. His three techniques had not broken their combined assault; staying between all three would only finish him.

“Soul-Sucking Demon King!”

He sprang past the sickle with his body-lightening technique and clamped a hand around the Death Reaper Demon’s head.

“Little brother!”

“Second brother!”

The other two recoiled. Their second brother’s feet scraped the mud beneath Kazan’s grip.

The Death Reaper Demon swung his sickle backward. Before its edge could reach Kazan, pressure crushed his skull and his sight went black.

Kazan let the dead man fall and snatched the sickle from his slackening hand.

The Demon King’s Body had driven up his speed and Ki, but maintaining it was draining what strength he had left.

The Demon Fang’s sword had opened his abdomen. Every movement drew more blood from the wound.

He shifted the sickle into position. Steel and speed would have to keep them away from his injured side.

“Let’s keep going!” said Kazan, hiding his weakness.

“Incredible! So that’s the book’s power?” The Bloodthirsty Demon edged behind his remaining brother. “I never thought you’d master it. But I’ll still take it from you!” His palm struck the Demon Fang’s back.

The Demon Fang stumbled forward, driven straight into Kazan’s reach.

His mouth opened, but the sickle was already moving. His eldest brother had left him no room to dodge.

Kazan’s sickle cut through him. The Demon Fang fell in two pieces, his eyes still open.

The eldest demon lunged behind his falling brother, his fist drawn back.

“Death Blow!”

The punch drove into Kazan’s wounded abdomen and hurled him against a tree. His sickle flew from his hand and lodged among the branches overhead.

“Now die!” Fists hammered Kazan against the trunk. He curled over his torn abdomen, coughing blood between the blows.

“Hahaha! Where’s all that knowledge now? Show me!” Another blow slammed Kazan’s shoulder into the tree; its branches shuddered above them.

“The Book of the Demons of Hell belongs to me—I should be the one to possess it because I’m the eldest disciple, not you, the outcast!”

The eldest demon drew back his right fist. Ki gathered over his knuckles as Kazan struggled to lift his head.

“Death Blow!”

He put all his Ki into the punch and drove it toward Kazan’s chest, watching nothing but his target.

CRACK!

A branch gave way overhead. The dislodged sickle fell, its curved blade striking the Bloodthirsty Demon’s neck from behind. His fist stopped a few centimeters short of Kazan’s chest.

The eldest demon collapsed into the mud and lay still. Kazan slid down the tree, then dragged himself toward Aira.

With the battle over, the rain stopped. Only the last few drops could be heard falling.

Kazan remembered the bottle of clear liquid Aira had given him. He took it out and poured the contents into his mouth.

The liquid was bitter, then sour. He swallowed and waited. His wounds still hurt.

A cough bent him double. He spat fresh blood and pressed his hand against the wound in his abdomen.

He managed a faint smile. Aira’s experiments often failed, so he had little hope for the liquid he had just drunk.

“Aira, you were willing to die to protect me. Now you don’t have to worry anymore, because soon Hell will reunite the five of us!” said Kazan as he held Aira’s hand.

Smoke curled from his body. Beneath his blood-soaked clothes, the open wound began closing and the damage from the punches slowly healed.

Kazan felt none of that. A crushing pressure gripped his bones.

Even though he was on the verge of losing consciousness, he could hear countless horses’ hooves.

He faintly heard one of the newcomers speak.

“Hey, look—there’s a little kid’s body next to this woman’s corpse!” said the voice.

The words confused him. No one had brought a small child to the fight.

Then he lost consciousness, no longer knowing whether he was dead or alive.