*thump thump* *thump thump* *thump thump*

The heavy footfalls of our horses trampling across the ground sounded so distant to my ears. The fact I even managed to mount on in the first place was out of sheer instinct from so many rehearsed drills. Becoming a knight alone was tough, but to be able to become an Imperial Knight… one of the sworn and chosen few who would personally fight for and protect the Emperor and the Emperor alone, it required a whole new level of determination, of strength of body, and of mind.

Yet even for those of us who made it this far, whether it came from extraordinary personal determination, exceptional valor and heroism, or gifted talents… we would all eventually find ourselves at our limits. There was always a finite point we could reach, and once we reached it, we could go no further. This was true for almost each and every member of our retinue, with only one exception: Our Captain, Lieutenant Septimus.

I had been a member of our company for a long time, hell, I’m pretty sure I’m the oldest guy in this company in both time served and actual age. I even used to command it, once. When I first saw the Lieutenant, before he had achieved any rank, I absolutely hated him. Everything I tried so hard to learn, so hard to do… he picked up as if grabbing an apple off a tree. It drove me mad to watch someone so much younger than me surpass me so easily.

It made me desperate to find a way, any way possible, to become stronger. For the sake of my pride, as one of the Imperial Knights. For the sake of my pride as a father, so I could tell my children unashamed of where I had risen. For the sake of my pride as a husband, so my wife could take pride in the man she chose to marry. A foolish pride to find power. But, most of all, out of fear. Fear that I would be replaced. And then, I found it, hidden away in the vast libraries of the imperial mages. A spell so terrible that the mages sought to be rid of it, yet so powerful that they could not bring themselves to destroy it. Something of such an impact, that only someone with the influence and access of an Imperial Knight could hope to scheme of obtaining it. And… it nearly cost me everything to do it.

It was foolish of me to believe I could outsmart decades of seals and protective barriers placed, maintained and changed regularly by the Imperial Mages. I had tripped one of the alarm spells and was captured, but not before I could learn the basics of the spell I sought and committed it to memory. I was taken before a tribunal to determine my fate, and where they summoned my peers and subordinates to speak to my character before judging me. At first, none would come forward. I feared my fate was sealed, and yet, it was there that Septimus stood to speak on my behalf. He convinced the tribunal to spare my life, and I was simply stripped of my rank.

My life was saved by the man I hated. It was… ironic. And now… and now… I believe he is the only man who can help save us from our fate. No matter the cost, we need to buy enough time for him to get here. That is something I believe with all my heart.

Then… I felt a razor sharp pain scrape across my cheek.

“GOD DAMNIT MARN, SNAP OUT OF IT!”

Like a crashing wave, I felt the sound rush back in to my ears and my eyes refocused. Fucking Goblins… and we rushed right into the middle of a swarm of them. Disgusting, vile creatures frothing at the mouth… probably desperate for a taste of us. The one chasing behind us, and now the ones surrounding us… without a doubt, these beasts are working together with that Demon.

“HAAAAAAAA!” With a shout, I easily impaled one of the bastards on my lance. The mad creature… it kept trying to pull itself up my lance, and its steadily widening shaft, until it split itself in half!

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE THINGS, SERGEANT?!”

“DO I LOOK LIKE I HAVE A FUCKING CLUE TO YOU? IT’S OBVIOUS THE DEMONS DID SOMETHING WITH THEM, JUST DON’T SLOW DOWN OR WERE DONE!”

*THOOOOOOOOOOOM*

With a titanic swipe, the Colossus smashed the top of a hillside in its pursuit, and sent a hail of boulders crashing around us. It smashed through trees and goblins indiscriminately in its attempt to kill us. However, this didn’t dissuade the horde in the least… more and more kept rushing out of every nook and cranny after us, as the breathing of our horses became more and more ragged. They would leap in our way to get trampled on, their small blades cutting into our horses legs. Some managed to even grab on to our horses, biting, gnawing and scratching!

“GAAAAAAH, YOU LITTLE FUCKING BASTARD! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!”

One of the Goblins had managed to bite into Theo’s leg, his armor damaged by one of the flying rocks sent by the Colossus. He had drawn out his short sword and started stabbing the Goblin repeatedly… but it wouldn’t let go, and it wouldn’t stop biting until Theo finally managed to cleave its head off.

It was fucking madness, hell in the form of damnable goblins!

“There is a canyon entrance ahead! We should be able to make it out of the horde there, and with some luck and the storm’s cover, we can throw these berserk bastards and that stone monster off our tail!”

I could hear it, a glimmer of hope in the Sergeant’s voice. Sure, making it into the canyon would bring us somewhere too small for the Colossus to follow. Even with the storm clouds moving in overhead and the woods on the other side, we might escape. But I can tell. Our horses are nearly done, between the effects of the haste spell coming due and the injuries from the goblins, they probably wouldn’t make it far past the exit of the canyon. There, the Colossus will surely find us. Escape… at least together… is impossible. However…

If I am going to die anyways…

“Roger that, sir! Keep to the front, and I will keep the Goblins off our rear!”

I pulled in behind their horse, following them closely.

Theo has already been injured, it would make sense for me to help. Hell, the Sergeant was probably willing to try whatever he could to see we would all make it out alive. He probably realized the same as I did, that we are no match at all, even for a weakened Demon Lord. To even consider that this is what he is capable of, so soon after having been flung here by the most powerful holy attack I have ever seen… it makes my skin crawl to imagine what could have already happened to our world if he was at full strength.

No matter what, someone needs to make it back and to report this. This monster needs to be found, it needs to be exterminated… before we lose everything.

Slicing through the last goblins in our path, we broke through their ranks. I slowed my horse down, its desperate gasps for air sounded almost chilling. Instead of entering the canyon, I instead began to charge towards the nearest entrance wall.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the Sergeant turn to look at me, his desperate, hopeful smile quickly turned to shock.

“Sergeant, tell them all, please… tell them, and tell my family, that I died with honor serving our Empire!”

“GOD DAMNIT MARN, WHAT ARE YOU-“

“GRAND IMPACT!”

Gathering what mana I had left, I concentrated it into a strike on the canyon wall. Cracks rapidly scaled up the sides of the cliff face, before shattered rocks came crashing and tumbling down in a landslide, sealing off the entrance to the canyon.

That final charge caused my horse to finally give out, the poor creature collapsing from exhausting.

I was hardly in any better shape. My breathing was completely ragged, and my vision was growing blurry from blood loss.

Heh. What a shitty way to die.

*Thoom* *Thoom* *Thoom.*

It hardly took any time at all for that Colossus to finish catching up to me. They truly had no regard for their own… each footfall crushed countless number of their fellow creatures… not that they seemed to care that they were being stepped on.

However, regardless of if it had anything to say… I was not in the mood to try and listen. Nor would I wait for it to make its move.

“My blood is my life, my blood is my being. My blood is my power, and my blood is the housing of my soul.”

My heart is beating furiously, but I have to focus. I MUST focus.

“To sacrifice blood is to sacrifice life, to sacrifice everything you ever were…”

Ignore the wind, ignore the rain…

“to sacrifice everything you are…”

Ignore the screams and howls of the horde descending upon you…

“to sacrifice everything you ever will be…”

And the reverberating impacts of the approaching Colossus, as my blood steadily flows into my lance…

“In this moment, I choose to give up everything for my Emperor, for my Family, for my Friends…”

I can feel my body rapidly growing colder, my skin shriveling, my hairs graying and aging at an inconceivable rate… but I have to keep focus.

“and for the World! I sacrifice everything for this one moment!”

My voice is shaking… and aging too… my memories… are quiet. Everything is quiet, except for one thing. The last thing I must do, all that is left of me, my mind, my soul.

“ULTIMA TENSEI!”

Intense, extreme power! A sudden burst of energy rushed into Marn’s lance, focusing the absolute potential of his being into this one very moment. The absolute value of the entirety of his life, gathered for just one purpose.

With a determined, final heave, Marn launched his devastating lance towards the Colossus, unable to slow its incredible momentum from its rapid advance. The air twisted and convulsed as it flew forward, ever faster, ever stronger… cutting a massive, gaping hole through the side of the Stone monstrosity.

There was no reaction as the Colossus bellowed in agony, barely able to hold itself together.

As his aged body slumped onto the floor, not a single thought passed through his mind. Nothing was left of his mind to process the villagers, wargs and ogres swarming out of the woodwork, frothing at the mouth. All of them rushing to the husk of his body, empty of mind, empty of soul, empty of being…