The Stormveil army had lost. Everyone knew it.
Noble private troops—the bulk of their forces—collapsed where they stood. The remaining elites, leaderless, fell like butchered livestock under the Tarnished's blades. Each slaughter scraped raw against Godrick's nerves. He bit his lips bloody.
Rain plastered his hair to his face, revealing the grotesque twist of his features.
"Damned Tarnished!" Spittle flew from his cracked lips. "Plotting against me. And those worthless scouts—failed to take the fortress, then let themselves be ambushed at night." Introspection wasn't his strength. The blame belonged to everyone else.
Useless subordinates. Slack scouts. That meddling Tarnished rallying troops at the worst moment. Without their interference, he'd still have a hundred knights at his back.
"Damn it. Damn it. Damn it—" His great axe cleaved through a tree trunk. Wood splintered. Only then did he pause, gasping.
Fingers clawed at his breastplate. The black-keyed stake came free with a wet suck. Scarlet Rot festered around the wound, pus mingling with rain. His vision swam.
Behind his back, his hand closed around slender shafts. Purple arrows. He lifted them into the dim light.
Trina's Sleep Arrows?
Memory flashed—a Roundtable Hold hero called 'Arrow of Deep Sleep.' His grip crushed the arrows to splinters.
Despicable. Unconscionable. Scarlet Rot gnawing his flesh, sleep toxins in his veins—how was he to fight multiple Tarnished champions? Fleeing had been his only option.
"Treat the wound first. Then back to Stormveil." His voice rasped. "Once I'm behind those walls, none of them will—"
Hooves.
The sound drilled through the downpour. His head jerked up.
A black horse emerged atop the ridge. Its rider—black robes, silver mask, cross-shaped spear—gazed down at him.
"You." Godrick's voice curdled.
"Your Highness." Throne's tone could've frozen lava. "Abandoning your troops? Violating the Seventeen Prohibitions and Fifty-Four Executions I just enacted?"
No shame. Just cold disdain as he drained a Flask of Wondrous Physick.
Godrick's axe twitched. He'd planned to gut this upstart later, but the absurd accusation stalled him.
Clip-clop. Clip-clop.
Hooves became thunder as the warhorse charged.
"Routed! Rear guard butchering vanguard! Army in tatters!" Throne's shout ripped through the storm. "Your head will answer for this!"
Mid-sentence, Torrent surged forward.
Steel shrieked.
Axe met spear.
The impact launched Godrick backward. He parried, half-laughing, half-snarling. "Madman! I am a demigod!"
"Military law makes equals of us all." Throne adjusted his grip. "You die first. Then I'll commit suicide to atone."
A spear-twist sent Godrick's crown tumbling.
As he rolled, two halberds behind him hacked down like circular saws.
Boom! Torrent's charge left a crater where Godrick had stood. The warhorse pivoted, performing a series of precise leaps.
Throne heard the whoosh too late.
Crescent slashes—meters long—razored through the space he'd just occupied.
"You rigid bastard!" Godrick spat. "I was going to kill you anyway!"
Godrick's rage burned white-hot. This worthless worm hadn't covered the retreat—instead, he'd galloped straight into danger spouting nonsense. Six grafted arms snapped forward. Magic erupted from his fingertips like artillery fire. Comet Azur after Comet Azur tore through the air, carving smoking trenches in the mud. The spectral horse outpaced destruction.
Trees shattered in its wake. Wood splintered. A thunderous collapse echoed through the forest.
"Good horse." Throne ran calloused fingers along Torrent's damp neck. The steed tossed its head with pride.
Demigods were demigods for a reason. Even the weakest among them could crush mortal champions like grapes beneath a bootheel. That innate power—that unfair, god-given advantage—made lesser men gnash their teeth.
The Roundtable's poison had done its work. Not just in Godrick's veins, but in his mind. Crushing defeat. Relentless pursuers. And now this nuisance wouldn't stop yapping about protocol.
"Get lost!" Godrick's roar shook leaves from branches. "I'll forget this insolence! Stay, and we both die when they arrive!"
Throne's crimes? A bad tactical suggestion. A fixation on rules mid-catastrophe.
He nudged Torrent's ribs. Melina materialized beside them, silent.
"What's your play?" Throne asked.
She stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "What do you want from me?"
"Your choice. Just don't get in the way."
He didn't wait for her reply. Spurs bit flesh. Torrent surged forward as Throne bellowed:
"Maintaining discipline is Lord Isshin's sacred charge! This knight shirks nothing!"
Godrick nearly choked on his own fury. The great axe trembled in his grip. First, he'd split this fool sternum to pelvis. Then he'd feed the pieces to the grafted.
Hoofbeats. Again.
The staff rose. Arms tensed.
Torrent exploded from the treeline, a blue streak hurtling down the slope. Mud geysered under its hooves. Godrick stood waist-deep in the creek, silent. The staff flared.
Comet Azur. Glintstone Phalanx.
Light beams carved the air. Spectral swords materialized in their wake. No living thing could penetrate that killing field.
The glow painted Throne's face stark white. A plan crystallized.
Godrick's grafting had evolved. No more crude dragon-head attachments. Raya Lucaria's sorcery had refined his monstrosity.
"Teacher's gifts are appreciated."
Blue magic rippled around Throne's outstretched hand. Torrent plunged into the barrage without hesitation.
"Die, imbecile!"
Spells detonated. A dust cloud mushroomed skyward. Godrick's laughter boomed across the hollow.
The axe rose.
Steel shrieked.
A spear screamed toward his face, striking the golden axe in a shower of sparks.
Due to the momentum of the horse, the force of this thrown spear was immense, shearing through flesh as it grazed Godrick's shoulder. Blood arced. Pain detonated behind his eyes.
Through the settling dust, Torrent emerged unscathed. The knight's blade flashed free. Man and beast moved as one—a single killing thrust aimed at Godrick's heart.
Metal screamed.
Clang!!
Giving Godrick no time to charge up, this sword struck the middle of the golden great axe. Throne felt a stinging pain in his wrist. Borrowing the momentum of the Spirit Steed, he actually pushed Godrick back several meters. But this person was truly worthy of being a demigod, managing to block such a heavy, crushing force. His ankles sank into the mud, the power rising from his waist. "Get out!"
This force lifted the warhorse itself. Godrick twisted his waist and turned, two halberds sweeping across with heavy power. The curtain of rain was sliced into a line, and raindrops splashed onto Throne's face. Without him saying a word, Torrent had already leaped several meters backward, letting the two cold lights sweep past his eyes. The Spirit Steed leaped several meters at a time.
As if they shared a single mind, the moment the hooves touched the mud, it leaped back like a catapult start. Bang! The front hooves kicked hard into Godrick's chest, causing the demigod to plow two trails several meters long into the ground. A 'rumbling' flash of lightning vanished in an instant, illuminating the rearing warhorse and the knight with his long blade held high. Dragon Slash!
Unleashing a storm combat art with the power of a dragon, a sword energy several meters long fell overhead. Godrick's pupils constricted sharply as the limb holding the tower shield blocked above his head. Clang!!! The white shockwave cleared the raindrops within several meters. The ground was too soft, and Godrick's shins simply sank into the earth.
Such great strength, stronger than any of my knights. This person has been hiding his strength! He seemed to understand something, but he saw Throne raise his left hand. A beam of light half a meter thick rapidly enlarged in his eyes. Carian Piercer! Bang! The ground suddenly exploded with a wave of mud.
Godrick, who should have been stuck deep in the mud, was thrown several meters away by the impact, causing the Piercer to hit nothing but air. Throne took a closer look and couldn't help but let out a soft exclamation. He finally saw Godrick's last arm. It was a huge Lobster-headed Puppet, entirely black, connected to his back by a thick, sturdy arm like that of a Troll.
The carapace, shining like steel, indicated that this was the king of the lobsters. "I have to admit, you finally grafted the right thing. Torrent!" Without him needing to say it, the Spirit Steed had already leaped quickly to the side, and then a rolling water jet several meters thick grazed past. Throne saw Godrick holding his great axe level, his voice even more urgent. "Retreat again!"
Storm Dance—
A violent tornado rose up. Mud and rain were all shredded to pieces, just like a blender sweeping across the earth. As the pale storm dissipated, Godrick caught his breath, his face full of confusion. How did this bastard know I was going to use Storm Dance??? Throne didn't have the habit of explaining. He rode Torrent and charged back again.
Godrick, however, laughed in extreme rage, ignoring several winding glintstone stars flying towards him, his eyes fixed dead on that Spirit Steed. This horse was too annoying. Not only was it fast, but it also seemed to have intelligence, able to sense danger every time and let the knight dodge. Bang! Bang! Bang!
The stars were blocked by the tower shield, and two of them even struck Godrick's chest, causing his golden armor to shatter even more severely. But he used his powerful demigod body to tank the magic, grabbed his axe, and unleashed a horizontal slash. Storm Blade! This strike came quite fast. It depended on whether this horse could ignore the laws of physics and stop instantly.
However, Torrent did not stop, charging head-on against the great axe that could have sliced him into ten pieces, and then—
Whoosh! The great axe swept past, only stirring up a few azure particles. Godrick's eyes widened, revealing an expression as if he had seen a ghost. Throne put away Torrent, but his whole body was thrown out by the momentum. Like a great bird, he flew in front of Godrick.
Seeing the raised tower shield, he twisted his long blade. Secret Sword: Starlight Piercer! In an instant, he bypassed the impregnable defense and appeared behind Godrick. The suddenly elongated blade stabbed from behind into the demigod's body. Pfft. The sword was fast, so fast that one couldn't feel the pain. The sword was sharp, instantly melting through his breastplate.
But that wasn't the most important thing. Godrick stiffened in place for a full second before being awakened by the stinging pain, turning his head back in disbelief. "It's... you!?" This swordsmanship stirred up painful memories, and it was an experience he would never forget in his lifetime. A nameless swordsman had blocked his escape route.
Even though he was humble and weak, he had dragged the fight out until the Valkyrie arrived, turning him into the laughingstock of the entire The Lands Between. Clatter—
The great axe, halberds, and staff attacked together. The storm instantly buried Throne's body, but a few specks of starlight flashed, and the black-clad swordsman appeared in the distance again.
He stood in the stream, his long blade pointing diagonally, letting the rain carry the demigod's blood away. "Since you already know, I won't pretend anymore." Throne slowly raised his hand, took off his silver mask, and revealed a face that was both familiar and strange to Godrick. Back in Stormveil, Throne hadn't been hiding his face.
It was this very countenance that had blocked him outside the city. Wet black hair stuck to his forehead. Throne looked at Godrick, whose pupils had constricted sharply, and greeted him with a smile. "It's been ten years, Godrick. After so long, you should have washed your neck clean, right?"
Although Throne was smiling, his greeting was filled with horror. Godrick knew the inside story of the whole affair and understood what the Witch and the swordsman meant. And the latter—
Hadn't he been confirmed dead? How could he appear before him so openly, and even become a Tarnished? "This is impossible!" He swung his great axe fiercely and roared: "You are already dead!
You cannot appear again!" "Then do you think I am a ghost?" Godrick was speechless for a moment. Ghosts in The Lands Between were common things, and of course, they couldn't deceive his eyes. But after the shock, he suddenly discovered a problem. This person was very important. If he killed him, or captured him alive, the Two Fingers and Morgott would definitely reward him. Then wouldn't I...
Be able to make a comeback? "No matter what you are." Godrick leaned down, narrowed his mismatched eyes, and assumed a sprinting posture, "I will tear you to shreds!" The killing intent was chilling. At the very least, Throne had never seen a demigod so furious and intent on killing. He took a deep breath—
"Then come!" After speaking, Throne took the initiative to meet him.
This time, he did not summon the Spirit Steed, but his steps were much more nimble than Godrick's. In this muddy ground amidst the rain, the heavier you were, the more you were at a disadvantage. Furthermore, Throne had been fighting while riding Torrent and hadn't consumed any stamina.
In fact, what he was best at wasn't just hacking people, but hacking people under the most favorable circumstances. The advantages that were negligible on ordinary days were now revealed. The great axe swept over Throne's head, missing by only a second from severing his skull. Godrick's body fully extended, looking like a spider baring its fangs and brandishing its claws.