After all the visions Lauri's mind had been subjected to by the Whispering King, the Ascended's mind entered a state of clarity, a battle trance – or more aptly in Lauri's current circumstance – a battle frenzy.
Lauri appeared beside the Whispering King, a crude blade in his hands. He lashed out at the Corrupted Tyrant, the Whispering King's blade met Lauri's. Lauri disappeared, utilising [Light Dash] to appear behind the Whispering King, but the King's sword was already there, meeting Lauri's blade the moment he exited from [Light Dash].
This time, Lauri's weapon shattered under the force of the Whispering King's attack.
Lauri did not care.
Summoning another weapon, he repositioned, the Whispering King following his every movement.
Lauri's weapons shattered, again and again. Despite Lauri burning his essence and the light within his soul to raise the power of the weapons to the level of a high-tier Ascended Memory, each light construct could last no more than a couple of the Whispering King's devastating blows before shattering.
He brought a new weapon into existence the moment he lost the feeling of the weapon in his hands. They could hardly be called 'weapons'; the constructs were vague imitations of swords, axes, spears, crude shapes intended solely for death.
Lauri was not fighting to win; he was not even fighting to survive. The Captain of the Irregulars was fighting to ensure the visions that were forced into his mind by the insidious power of the Whispering King would never have the chance to come to pass.
He was fighting to protect his friends, his family, his acquaintances and those he did not even know.
But it was still not enough.
The Whispering King moved like an agent of death, each strike capable of killing a Saint.
It wielded the blade one-handed, whipping it around itself like a cyclone of steel and mist. Every strike Lauri launched was met – blocked, parried, or deflected aside before the Whispering King answered with its own attacks, each one carrying far greater speed, weight, and precision than Lauri's ever possibly could.
Despite Lauri putting his life on the line – straining his body, his Aspect to the absolute limit. He was losing; the rate at which he was burning essence would mean that before long, he would empty his Soul Core and enter essence exhaustion.
Lauri figured if the Whispering King's blade managed to land, it would effortlessly cut through [Her Aegis], so he decided it was time for a change.
"I can't see enough with this damn helmet!"
Dismissing his helmet, Lauri felt the frigid Antarctic wind rush through his hair as he moved around the Whispering King at breakneck speed.
----
Mele frowned as she watched the clash between Lauri and the Whispering King – not because of the terrifying opponent he faced, but because of the expression stretched across his face. Lauri's usual easygoing expression was gone.
In its place sat something warped, a demented smile twisting at his lips.
"So that's how he earned the alias Smiling Death."
Sansa was quiet beside her.
Her eyes wavered as she saw Lauri fighting.
He was going all out, attempting to kill the Whispering King.
Sansa felt tears well up in her eyes as she recalled what Lauri had said to her.
'I will risk my life to make sure you all make it home. That is the oath I took as your Captain, you put your trust in my hands.'
"Lauri…"
Something changed within Sansa's heart.
When she had first heard Lauri's words, she had believed them logically. He was an Ascended – a protector of humanity. Of course, he would stand and fight against the Nightmare Creatures.
But deep down, her heart had still held doubt.
Humans were cowardly by nature. When things truly became hopeless, most people abandoned others to save themselves. That was simply reality.
Yet Lauri had done the opposite.
Again and again, he had thrown himself directly into the jaws of death without hesitation, standing alone against a nightmare no one else could withstand.
He wasn't like other people.
In the middle of the harsh Antarctic night, amidst the blood, mist, and despair, Lauri burned like a guiding light that refused to go out.
And as Sansa watched him, something inside her bloomed.
It was the same kind of love she felt for Mele.
Deep. Genuine. Unwavering.
The emotion swelled within her soul so intensely that her essence reacted instinctively.
And because of that, Sansa's Awakened Ability activated.
----
Lauri felt the change.
Before, he had been burning through his essence at a ridiculous rate, but now the amount of essence he was using had lessened as his essence had suddenly grown in potency, meaning he needed to use less of it.
Despite his frenzied state, Lauri recognised what was happening.
'Sansa…'
Lauri slid a short distance away from the Whispering King.
A dozen spheres no larger than golf balls materialised around Lauri, each one radiating the condensed light and essence that comprised them.
Then Lauri moved, the spheres moving with him.
They shot ahead like streaks of light, converging on the Whispering King from multiple angles at once. The Tyrant's sword blurred through the air, shattering several of the spheres before Lauri had even closed the distance, bursts of light exploding apart around its body.
But despite its monstrous speed, even the Whispering King could not destroy all of them.
Activating [Light Dash], Lauri became a streak of light flashing around the Whispering King from every direction. His spheres moved alongside him in perfect coordination, darting through the air to pressure the Tyrant's defence and create openings for his attacks.
Again and again, Lauri slipped through narrow gaps in the King's guard. The crude weapons he wielded struck its armour repeatedly, the spheres hammered into the Tyrant alongside him, forcing it to constantly adjust beneath the relentless assault.
But even with all of that, the attacks only left scratches.
Thin marks carved across the ancient armour that had endured countless battles long before Lauri had ever been born.
This was to be expected, as despite all the effort Lauri put into creating his weapons, they could never be stronger than the Ascended essence that created them; the light only serving to raise the power of the weapon to a high-tier Memory. And an Ascended Memory had no chance of piercing the defences of something of the Corrupted Rank.
Had Lauri been wielding [Hailrend] – his one and only Transcendent weapon – this fight may have been different. But the cutlass made of mystical dark-ice was still within Lauri's Soul Sea, recovering from the damage the Whispering King had dealt to it after the King pulled the cutlass from the side of its steed.
With a roar, Lauri swung his leg, connecting with the side of the Whispering King's head.
The worst mistake Lauri had made since the Antarctic Campaign had begun.
The Whispering King grabbed Lauri's leg by his ankle, and before Lauri could react, it moved, slamming Lauri into the ground on his back with all its might. The ground shattered as Lauri's body was slammed into it, despite Lauri managing to activate the enchantments of [Her Aegis] and [Partitioner's Relief] to lessen the impact; it still sent fractures all across the surface of [Her Aegis].
Just as Lauri was coming to terms with the blow, the Whispering King raised Lauri into the air again and brought him face down into the ground on the opposite side.
The impact was devastating; [Her Aegis] was moments away from shattering. Lauri would need to dismiss it, but he had no time to act on this thought as the Whispering King began to raise Lauri into the air for a third time, intending to slam him into the ground once more.
Lauri managed to activate [Light Dash], slipping loose of the Whispering King's grip. He travelled a short distance before rematerialising. Lauri's momentum from being swung by the Whispering King was still acting on his body, causing Lauri to fly through the air, bounce across the ground a few times, before he crashed into the ground one final time.
Lauri felt a daze wash over his mind.
Slowly picking himself up, he clutched his head.
'Wh- Where am I?'
"Captain!"
Lauri looked up, seeing Sansa and Mele; one of the girls had just called out to him.
They were close, too close.
'Why did they come? I told them to stay away… No, they didn't come to save me, I've just been thrown across the battlefield and wound up close to the Rhino…'
[Your Memory has been destroyed.]
Lauri froze as he saw blue sparks come off his body. [Her Aegis] had been destroyed.
But before Lauri could process this, he heard Sansa's voice.
"Captain! Look out!"
Lauri turned his head just in time to see the Whispering King's blade thrusting toward his heart.
A silver blur cutting through the air with absolute certainty behind it.
Lauri's mind was still recovering from the shock of being slammed into the ground, slowing his ability to react.
Then something crashed into him from the side.
The force pushed him away from the killing strike and sent him tumbling across the frozen ground. Snow was scattered beneath his body as he skidded uncontrollably, pain exploding through his battered muscles before he finally came to a stop several metres away.
For a brief second, Lauri couldn't understand what had happened.
Then he looked back toward the Whispering King – and his entire body froze.
Danse stood where Lauri had been, or rather, he was barely still standing at all.
The Whispering King's sword had pierced completely through his chest.
The long ancient blade protruded from Danse's back in a spray of blood, crimson pouring down the metal as the strike tore clean through flesh, armour, and bone alike. Blood dripped steadily onto the ice beneath him while the Tyrant's clawed hand remained calmly wrapped around the hilt, as though impaling an Awakened human was no different than cutting down any other obstacle in its path.
Danse's body trembled weakly around the blade.
Slowly, painfully, he raised his head to look up at the Whispering King and smiled.
It was small. Weak and bloodied.
But it was still a smile.
The Whispering King stared down at him silently for a brief moment before tightening its grip on the sword's hilt. Its arm began to move, the blade clearly about to tear upward through Danse's shoulder and split him apart completely.
But before it could – something struck the Tyrant.
A force slammed violently through the Whispering King's torso. Its armour warped inward with a deafening metallic shriek, ancient metal bent under the impact as the attack burst through its back. There was no blood, only a violent plume of cyan mist exploding outward behind the Tyrant as the force tore directly through its body.
The Whispering King staggered backwards, its hand releasing the sword as it reeled from the force of the reflected strike.
Seeing Danse take such a brutal wound had torn Lauri from his state of battle frenzy.
The Whispering King was still recovering from the blow, staggering to the side slightly.
Lauri turned about to call out orders – only to find his team was already moving.
Vick was at Danse's side, her threads already weaving desperately through the wound as she reached for the sword embedded in his chest. With a sharp motion, she pulled it free, her threads immediately surging into motion as she tried to stabilise the devastating damage.
Lucky arrived moments later, dropping to his knees by Danse's side, to offer his own luck. Trying to tip the outcome – trying to buy time against death itself.
And unseen by Lauri – something else happened.
Sansa's Awakened Ability activated. The sight of Danse sacrificing his own body in order to not just save Lauri's life, but also wound the Whispering King had struck something deep within her.
Danse would be fine…
'I hope.'
Lauri whipped his head back toward the Whispering King.
Light flickered violently around him.
The radiance around Lauri condensed and hardened, fused into massive links of chains – each one was forged from the searing golden brilliance, heavy with raw essence.
The long chains surged outward from his position, coiling around the Whispering King's body.
The chains looped around the Whispering King's arms, pinning them to its body like an iron vice. More loops wrapped around its legs, binding the Tyrant's stance, constricting its movements link by link as Lauri forced more chains into existence.
The chains tightened further with every passing moment, each link compressing with crushing force.
Then came the final step.
The chains extended downward, at their ends, nails manifested before plunging into the frozen earth. Anchoring themselves into the ground, ice and stone shattered beneath the impact. The earth cracked outward in jagged lines as the anchors drove themselves deep into the ground, rooting the chains in place and locking the Whispering King down completely.
Lauri glared at the Whispering King as blue sparks began to form around [Hailrend]. Despite the weapon still being damaged, Lauri was willing to risk it all if it meant killing the King.
'I need something… something I can use to tip the scale. How am I supposed to kill a Corrupted Tyrant by myself? If only I had a Tyrant of my own to throw at it – now that would be something.'
As [Hailrend] finished forming in Lauri's hand, he realised something. And that realisation made him feel like a complete idiot.
A very dumb, very forgetful idiot.
'Oh my Dead Gods… am I dumb? Am I stupid? How could I possibly forget?'
A torrent of blue sparks began to gather beside him
"They're never going to let me live this down…"
Lauri's attention snapped back to his foe just in time to see the Whispering King move.
It took a single step forward.
The chains wrapped around its legs strained for a moment – then snapped apart like brittle wire. The nails anchoring it to the frozen ground were torn free with brutal force; the ground was ripped open beneath the strain.
Then the Whispering King raised its arms.
The chains around its arms held for only an instant longer before they, too, shattered under its strength. Links of light broke apart mid-air, dissolving into sparks as the Tyrant regained its full range of motion.
The Whispering King raised its hand.
The Whispering King raised its hand, a slim stream of mist appeared from its palm and connected with something behind Lauri's head.
He heard Katrina shout.
"Grab that thing!"
Lauri twisted around – and saw Sansa throwing herself toward the Whispering King's sword.
But the weapon moved before she could reach it. The sword lifted from the ground on its own, drawn along the path of mist as if an invisible chain had hooked it. Reaching the Whispering King's hand, it settled into its grip as though it had never been dropped at all.
Lauri grit his teeth.
'Just my luck, it can recall its sword… No matter, because I'm not fighting this thing alone anymore.'
The torrent of blue sparks beside him finally took shape.
It was the form of a beast most vile.
Its fur hung in ragged clumps, matted and torn open in places where thick streams of blood and pus seeped freely through the gaps. The liquid was too congealed to properly drip, instead leaking in slow, viscous threads, as though the creature's body couldn't decide where it ended and the rot began.
Lauri roared, pointing [Hailrend] at the Whispering King.
"Festering Alpha! Kill that thing!"