The Dread Knight's Rage

Raizel blinked his eyes repeatedly.

His vision was slightly blurry. He knew Yari had said he’d need rest after coming back, but the state he was in was just abysmal. His entire body felt like it was being held down with lead boxes.

Raizel wasn’t nervous just yet. He famously did his best work whenever he felt like shit... Aside from that time he died, that is.

He drew his sword from it’s scabbard with a satisfying ring.

Before he stepped into his natural stance, he placed the pooch on the ground and allowed her to scamper to safety.

Surprisingly, she gave him a very concerned look and did not leave immediately.

"Ah, don’t make a big deal out of it, beastie. I’m pretty sure I’ve got enough in the old ticker to do... something."

His vision slowly improving, Raizel could finally get a better grasp of what was taking place. Though he was admittedly a bit lost on who all of the new faces were.

When his eyes settled on the large, blue woman in the room, he had to pace himself before he said something rude.

"That’s... you, right, Miss Xu..? You’re looking... Healthy?"

Fury sneered.

Turning away before he got bit, Raizel’s eyes settled on the Dean.

"Oh. Found the bad guy. Don’t suppose you’re going to just stay still and let me poke you with this thing, are ya?" Raizel held up his sword with a questionable look.

Raidis was painfully unamused.

"Arrogant little rodent... You cannot possibly grasp the weight of your insignificance in my eyes."

"I can’t really grasp my weight at all, actually." Raizel grabbed the taut flesh of his stomach. "I guess you could say... I’ve been fluctuating just a tiny bit... It is like... What’s that thing girls get that makes them gain weight?"

Liora tilted her head from her floating chair. "A... Hormonal imbalance?"

"Yes, that’s it, thank you, girl, I don’t know!" Raizel clapped. "Still trying to wake myself up, I guess."

The Dean stared at Raizel rather hard. His infuriating cadence was definitely something new, but the aura he exuded was something that Raidis couldn’t help but find familiar.

And the longer he stared at him, the worse his feeling of deja vu became. Until eventually, his mind had slipped another silhouette over that of the young man’s.

"You...You are the spirit inside the armor..!"

Raizel lowered his posture into his natural stance. "No idea what you mean."

The dean was hardly fooled. In fact, he was even more enraged by Raizel’s poor and deliberate attempt to deny what he already knew to be true.

"...Fine then. If you will not confess the truth in earnest, then you will do so screaming!"

Raidis was so unbelievably fast that it was almost daunting. He was upon Raizel in a fraction of the time it took him to blink.

The calloused pads of his fingers were millimeters away from Raizel’s neck.

But there came a second rush of wind, and Raizel was somehow given enough time to leap backward and get some distance.

There was a singular thunk sound in the room.

Everyone’s eyes were glued to the severed arm sitting between Raidis and Abel. As well as the thick, purple substance that now coated Abel’s sword.

Raidis’ voice was a deathly whisper.

"My old friend... What are you doing..?"

Abel held up his hand. "Wait, just... wait."

The old man glanced behind him.

"That stance... How do you know it, boy...?"

Raizel grinned sheepishly as an answer. Abel’s suspicion was only heightened.

The boy was certainly of the right ethnicity. The only question marks that made it difficult to tell were his more uncommon features.

His ghastly white hair. His skin with an olive hue.

Those two traits alone should have been enough to disprove him. But that stance said otherwise.

There was only one way left for him to check for sure.

"...Comfort does not make better people. It makes softer ones."

The young man shuffled his weight nervously.

"...The Destruction swordsmen are not revered because we worship suffering." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

""We are revered because we survive it and ascend into the extraordinary.""

Abel slowly lowered his sword. Seeing him lose all of his fighting spirit, Raizel’s stance became slightly relaxed as well.

"I always did hate that little creed... And they all wondered why we were all born with an arrogance problem."

Abel’s mouth fell open. His grip loosened enough for his sword to slip right out of his fingers and clatter against the ground.

"You... Name yourself...!"

Raizel rolled his eyes.

"I really do despise all of that formality... I am Raizel Olethros. Unfortunate offspring of Zadkiel Olethros. Honored son of Amanda McClain... Caretaker of my brother’s stupid mutt."

Bansha tried to bite Raizel’s ankles for his comments. He succeeded in keeping her at bay using only the scabbard of his sword.

Abel trembled. "You... I’m... H-How did you-"

"You can have your reunion later!"

Raidis picked his arm back up and stuck it on without any change in expression. "We’ll take the boy with us! He can tell us what he knows once we have-"

"...No."

"...Excuse me...?"

Abel’s sword flew back into his hand, then pressed against Raidis’ neck in an instant. "Yiu won’t touch him."

"Abel..!"

"I’m done. I’m out. Our deal is terminated."

Raidis looked as though he was going to physically implode. A violet underglow shone beneath the layers of his skin, giving his entire body an ominous pressure.

"You... dare.. turn your back on me...? AFTER EVERYTHING I’VE DONE FOR YOU!? AFTER YOUR FAMILY TURNED AGAINST YOU! AFTER YOUR OWN BROTHER TOOK YOUR SON TO RAISE AS HIS OWN!? AFTER THEY KILLED LUMINUS, CALLED YOU A TRAITOR TO YOUR KIND-"

"Don’t you dare mention her! This isn’t about her!"

"YOU THUNDERING FOOL!"

Raidis’ voice was so loud and so powerful that it caused the already destroyed room to collapse even further. Cracks spread along the ground underneath the dean’s feet, nearly causing the entire floor to sink into itself.

Raidis grabbed Abel by the throat. In response, Abel pressed his sword directly into the Dean’s carotid. Blood began to flow in concerning amounts.

"Don’t let the arrival of one little descendant make you forget why we’re doing this, you foolish old human! We can get them back! My daughter, your love, they can both draw breath again!"

Despite being an old man, before this moment, Abel had never looked so weak in his entire life.

It was almost as if he had aged ten years since the start of this conversation. His eyes were bloodshot. His pulse was thready, and his hair was matted with his own sweat.

Despite everything that clearly seemed to be plaguing him internally, Abel continued to stand his ground, even if he himself sounded unsure.

"I... I...I won’t fight my blood. Not for you. Not for anyone." Resolve flashed in the old man’s eyes. "We’re too old for this, Raidis...We have to let the past-"

"Don’t." Raidis’ voice was a deathly growl. Even when he was yelling, he didn’t sound nearly as terrifying as he did now.

He tightened his grip on Abel’s neck, almost as if he were trying to strangle him.

But he must have known something like that wouldn’t work. Because the only thing he hurled at him were threats.

"...Know this, Abel Olethros. I will get what I want in one capacity for another. I hope you understand what you are forsaking by nullifying our partnership. And I pray you remember... I always have more than one way to get what I want."