The Walpurgisknight

The howling wind filled Medrauta’s ears as she scanned her surroundings, her eyes narrowing as she recognized the mysterious black liquid that coated the tower’s battlements. It seemed the viscous substance that had been slathered all over the base of the tower’s exterior reached all the way to the top as well. Aside from that and the very obvious massive black orb that hovered a few dozen feet above her head, Medrauta could spot no obvious threats.

Although the knight had expected winds to be rougher at this altitude, the speed at which they raced through the air was clearly abnormal. At the very least, the source wasn’t difficult to deduce thanks to the movements of the globe above them. While its surface appeared perfectly smooth from afar, Medrauta could tell that wasn’t the case now that she was directly below it.

The surface of the orb bore an appearance similar to a gargantuan ball of living yarn. Like thousands of black worms clustered together in one revolting mass, the countless threads of black mana that formed the ball writhed and pulsed, wriggling against one another rapidly as each thread raced the others around its circumference, a phenomenon that was no doubt causing the violent winds atop the tower.

“Seems like there wasn’t anyone waiting for us after all,” Viviane murmured as she stepped beside Medrauta once her knight signaled that it was safe. She winced as the gale bit into her cheeks, causing her to shield one side of her face with an arm.

“...Yeah. Maybe Amelia just didn’t expect anyone to make it up here or something.” Medrauta said, turning her gaze upward. Although the sphere of black mana had looked pretty small from a distance, it was absolutely enormous up close. If she focused, the knight could even see faint black-red pulses of mana emanating from it that sustained the witchspawn below.

Viviane nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. “At the very least, that makes our job easier. Let’s get this over with quickly, Medrauta!”

With a flourish, Viviane pointed her hand in Medrauta’s direction, bestowing her Crest upon the knight in a brilliant flash of silver light. Almost as if it could sense the newfound danger that Medrauta and Viviane represented, the orb briefly released a low humming sound before a bolt of black-red mana forked toward the pair.

In response, Medrauta swept her blade across the air, cutting through the bolt with ease as she leapt upward and raised her sword, preparing to cut the massive globe in half with a powerful downward slash. Despite its size, Medrauta’s Crest-enhanced strength would be more than enough to completely halve a sphere made of something as insubstantial as mana. Again, the orb hummed in response, but it was too late.

“Haaah!” Medrauta brought her sword down with a mighty swing, the sheer force of her attack generating a burst of air powerful enough to still the surrounding gale for several seconds.

After issuing her attack, Medrauta landed in front of Viviane, shielding her lady from the possibility of retaliation should the sphere somehow remain intact after receiving such a powerful blow. For a moment, it seemed as if the globe of black mana would hold strong, but a thin line of silver soon appeared on its surface seconds later.

The line rapidly expanded from the place where Medrauta had struck, causing jagged cracks to spread across the entirety of the sphere before it unraveled violently, scattering threads of black mana through the air. Viviane flinched at the sudden explosion, causing Medrauta to whirl around rapidly, wrapping her arms around the noblewoman.

“The witchspawn...!” Viviane exclaimed once the explosion of black mana dissipated into the air. Below the tower, the witchspawn had completely halted in their movements despite the sun continuing to peek over the horizon. In fact, some of the larger varieties had even begun disintegrating thanks to the lack of mana maintaining their bodies.

“It’s not over yet.” Medrauta said, her voice grim. Unlike Viviane, the knight hadn’t excitedly peered over the battlements after the last remnants of Amelia’s orb disappeared. Instead, her gaze remained fixed on the air above them.

Where the orb once hovered was now a single crystal shard glowing an ominous red. Pointed at both ends, the crystal took the form of a rhombus, its pitch-black coloration so dark and unnatural that it seemed more like it was a fragment of the night sky than a mere stone. Bright red mana covered its obsidian surface, pulsing intermittently as sparks of energy flew through the air and arced toward the ground where Medrauta and Viviane stood.

Medrauta remained standing in front of her lady, raising her sword protectively as she shielded Viviane with her body. However, the sparks of crimson energy were not targeting the pair. Rather, they struck the stones several feet away, increasing in frequency and quantity with each passing second. The intensity of the sparks were alarming enough for Medrauta to slowly begin inching toward the edge of the tower, ready to leap off with Viviane in tow should they be suddenly buffeted by another explosion.

Before she could make a decision, the sound of something brittle shattering rang through the air. Several small black shards fell from the air, clattering onto the stones in front of the knight. Recognizing them as fragments of the crystal that had been hovering above her mere seconds ago, Medrauta instead turned her attention to where the red sparks of mana had gathered.

The sparks had coalesced into a circular shape on the floor, glowing with a faint red light that made Medrauta give it a wide berth as she slowly began shuffling herself and Viviane back to the stairway they’d come from. While jumping down was still an option especially after the knight noticed that the black goop covering the tower’s exterior was now gone, Medrauta wanted to take a safer route if possible.

Vmmm!

“W-What the hell is that!?” Medrauta exclaimed, pausing mid-step as she stared at the circle. It had expanded to nearly twice its size, firing off arcs of crimson energy that crackled through the air like lightning. Despite its sudden growth, it was still relatively small and wasn’t even close to encroaching on Medrauta or Viviane’s position.

However, it wasn’t the circle itself that Medrauta was worried about. Rather, it was what was coming out of the circle. An ominous figure clad in full armor rose slowly from the circle, the rapidly intensifying sparks of mana preventing Medrauta from approaching.

Twin horns adorned the mysterious figure’s helmet, the visor shaped in the form of a skull. They emerged fully from the circle, towering over Medrauta menacingly. Despite the thick suit of pitch-black plate that covered their body, their large and powerful build marked them unmistakably as a knight.

In their right hand, the figure wielded an immense greatsword made from the same stygian steel as their armor, the void-like blade devouring what little light was left of the setting sun. An armored phantom of pure black, the only hint of color that the armored knight bore laid in the hilt of their weapon, a bright red crystal adorning its pommel. It pulsed with an eerie light, one that Medrauta immediately recognized as the glow of dark mana. There was no doubt that they had been sent here to restore the sphere.

Medrauta’s grip around her sword tightened while Viviane unslung her bow, nocking an arrow to its string in preparation for the inevitable combat. Medrauta in particular eyed the new arrival with nervous caution, knowing that it would be difficult to defend both herself and Viviane if the armored menace chose to unleash a wide-range attack in the relatively small area of the tower’s top.

The armored knight glared at the pair through the eye slits of their horned skull helmet, glowing red eyes flickering fearsomely as they hefted their massive blade and pointed it at Medrauta in an overtly hostile movement. The silver-haired knight’s muscles tensed preemptively, expecting an attack of some sort.

She wasn’t a second too soon.

Black-red mana gathered at the tip of the black-clad knight’s sword, firing a deadly bolt of concentrated energy at Medrauta with alarming speed only to be neutralized by a swift slash from the silver-haired knight.

In response, the armored knight clutched the hilt of their blade, pushing it forward while Medrauta had yet to recover from her parry. Driving their sword forward with incredible speed, not even Medrauta would be able to defend against the rapid rush.

“Not on my watch!” Viviane shouted, sighting her target and releasing her arrow with unfathomable speed and precision. The arrow flashed across the air, burying itself in one of the armored knight’s narrow eye slits and interrupting their charge as they stumbled backward in surprise.

“Thanks, Vivi.” Medrauta said, not daring to turn her attention away from the black-clad knight. The silver-haired knight now eyed her opponent with even more caution than before, knowing that she would’ve likely been skewered by their charge had it not been interrupted by Viviane’s expert shot.

While even a knight would’ve been screaming in pain from having an arrow pierce their eye, the armored knight didn’t so much as utter a single grunt. Instead, they reached up and tore the arrow from their skull, throwing the bloodied projectile onto the stones beneath them. They assumed a stance, preparing for Medrauta’s counterattack as the silver-haired knight advanced carefully.

Medrauta’s sword arm moved almost automatically as she unloaded a rapid sequence of cuts and thrusts against her opponent, the countless years of training allowing her body to move without her conscious input. Despite her blistering assault, the armored knight seemed to be keeping up with her effortlessly.

Shit! Medrauta panicked as her opponent’s parry slammed hard against her sword, knocking it aside and leaving her open to a devastating counterattack. However, instead of following up on their advantage, the armored knight merely shifted their stance as if they were anticipating a follow-up attack from Medrauta.

The act unnerved the silver-haired knight not only because of the sudden passivity that her aggressive opponent now exhibited, but also because of a strange sense of familiarity that she could feel from the armored warrior’s newly adopted stance.

“Who the hell are you?”

There was a heavy pause before the black-clad knight replied, their clearly masculine voice coarse and gravelly like the rasp of a corpse unwilling to go quietly into the grave.

“...I am the Walpurgisknight.”