Carl
Eyes widening at the charging slash, Gaige also knew his shield would not hold up against a slash from that monstrous weapon. A bash from the knight's shoulder was enough to annihilate the man's Solar Aegis after all. He released the prayer, the shield dropping. Despite Kaaze's seeming upperhand, Gaige tilted his head to the knight's left, his eyes glancing in the direction as well. Gaige—toying with life and death—using his mana reinforcement, jumped up and back, reaching a vertical of two meters. Kaaze would have to swing his sword at a downwards angled to get a good swing on the hero, making it even easier to dodge the attack with a jump.

By this point, Kaaze could likely sense Gaige's mana flare up upon the usage of telekinesis. And at the moment he leapt, **His mana flared**. An enormous piece of debris from the collapsed pillar was flung at the knight as he swung. His glance to the knight's left from before had been a warning—**A taunt**. From the interaction before, Gaige had determined that a hit utilizing both his physical and telekinetic strength was enough to send the knight reeling. Therefore, he reached a conclusion that an attack using only telekinesis alongside an object of reasonable size would be enough to at least _stagger_ Kaaze.

_ _
"I'd watch out, Kaaze. Wouldn't want to get hit by that myself." Gaige continued taunting the knight, his respectful persona fading in exchange for his natural attitude. The debris hurtled towards Kaaze, Gaige now landing, still in range of the halberd, but having avoided the horizontal slash of the weapon; Gaige's eyes also seemed to be scanning Kaaze's body, pausing at every vulnerability in his defenses. Although the rubble would likely stagger the knight, if only slightly, Kaaze would notice the impact of the rubble was **Significantly weaker** Than his previous assault of physical and telekinetic strength. If his plan were to work and Kaaze became staggered, he'd use this another as opportunity to build distance between the two—still being unable to safely pass by him to retrieve _Okaarum_. Unfortunately, the hero was beginning to reach the **End of the room**. He wouldn't be able to create distance much longer.

As the battle ensued in the distance, the bandit saw something unseen to the knight, Kaaze. From the pillars, **Gaige** Dashed out, grasping _Okaarum_ from in front of the staircase. Though, Gaige was also currently combatting Kaaze at the same time. 

**There were two Gaiges—the one in front of Kuouo a clone.**

The clone glanced at Kuouo, taking notice of his presence; he did not interact with him however, turning his attention to the real Gaige who—using his eyes and head—signaled him to move back into obscurity behind the pillars. The clone vanished from sight again, moving back to the pillars and beginning to approach the battlefield from _behind_ Kaaze, the stone columns being cover.
Jane
The behemoth, despite Gaige's **Telekinetic pressure,** Was still able to manuever themselves *And* The giant halberd to Kuouo's disbelief. Their weighted foot boomed with each step towards Gaige, causing his fur to stand on end.

```It's no good if Gaige gets anywhere``` *```close```* ```to that guy. If he's not careful, he's gonna get either smashed like a bug or cut like butter!```

Suddenly, something changed - The offensive gravity on the knight was evidently released in an instant as the tension between them and the ground released, causing them to lose balance. Kuo smirked, Okaarum's first form thrusting towards the knight's stomach.

```Daheh, I shoulda known better... Of course, fighters like us got more than one trick up our sleeves.```

The sheer impact of dragon bone into the giant's armor unleashed a powerful gust of air pressure - wind flew over the knight and behind the pillar from which the bandit observed the battle, amazing him with Gaige's battle strength. The gargantuan fell to one knee and using their halberd to support them.

```Wow, even with THAT the guy is still standin'. That's crazy.. A strike that strong would at least knock somebody out if not kill them. Would I even have a chance against a guy like this? I'd need to use every trick in the book and THEN some. Even if I managed to topple him over, the guy's nearly in full control of his weight. Even if probably he can't dodge, I imagine he'd pick himself up pretty quickly.```

*```fix
"𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘: 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉, 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕."```*

*```fix
"𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐀 𝐄𝐙𝐔𝐄𝐊"```*

Kuouo's attention is snatched by Gaige's opponent marking the second act of their battle. The bandit was unable to tell that telekinesis was dispelled, but something definitely caught his attention...

```fix
"𝐎𝐄𝐙𝐔𝐄𝐊"... ```
It was only the second time he's seen the spell in use, but it seemed so familiar. He glanced at the singed fur on his shoulder, noting that his former opponent was able to scorch something that's flame resistant. Although the clash of fire-engulfed blades were only for a moment, he felt a clear difference in which he could only describe as...

```It's like my fire is what firebenders used in Avatar and these knights use the sun warrior technique — Y'know, pure fire taught from the last two dragons in the world. But more importantly it feels like...```

He glanced at *Infernium,* A dagger he's grown to love but it certainly wasn't as powerful as George's *Excalibur* From before. During the Syyth battle, for a mere ten minutes he was granted flames as hot as the sun. It burned pure yet powerful, all in exchange for a 'Hero's Journey' which in reality, took only minutes to complete... But inside the dagger's quest, it probably took at least six months. He was unsure if they were the same, but they were certainly similar.

...
Victor
The knight sensed the oncoming attack, yet would continue in his assault against Gaige, nonetheless. Kaaze's initial tactic of charging him down and smiting him before he could perform another tricky, coordinated counterattack would persist even despite the fact that he knew he would be struck from behind. Raw force backed by accents of skill was the core of Kaaze's combat-style, and, even if it would spell his own doom, he would not turn back on the nature of his own being. Perhaps it was as straightforward as stubbornness, or perhaps it was as simple as his naivete in the belief that he could endure even the strongest of attacks; yet, no matter how one looked at his approach, in the heat of the moment, it was a frightening display of the warrior's unmoved duty, honor, and sheer force of will.

***```diff
- SLAM! -```***

The telekinetically-manipulated mass of stony rubble from the pillar harshly struck the back of Kaaze's torso, hammering him forwards and shifting him heavily off-balance. Its weakened nature in comparison to Gaige's former attack would leave less visible damage on the surface of Kaaze's golden armor,** Yet would nonetheless knock him forwards and interrupt his charging, forwards slash,** Forcing the knight into a single, wavering stumble forwards, rendering him incapable of building striking-speed within the halberd's momentous form. 
_ _

The knight, with his posture disrupted, stooped forwards in the brief moment of his stagger to stare Gaige directly in the eyes from beyond his solar shield, before the latter had begun to once again build distance between the two. Then, and there, those crimson eyes, peering, were filled not with any form of emotion, but rather the frightening, unadulterated animus to *Exterminate.* While the knight was, for a single moment, rendered incapable of directly attacking Gaige, he wordlessly communicated his persisting will to *Keep on fighting,* And a harrowing intent to *Kill his opponent.* His body may have been scathed, but his spirit remained adamant.

Gaige had — or so it was apparent to Kaaze — backed himself into a corner, with minimal space left to retreat from the immense reach of the knight's halberd. With the exception of especially abnormal movements, he would soon be rendered incapable of dodging wide, sweeping motions, and would be forced to face the halberd's might straight-on — that is to say, he would be *Crushed.* 
_ _

Kaaze's crimson-red eyes pierce the battlefield, and the embers that engulf his left hand explode into violent flame, as he two-handedly grasped his bronze halberd with mighty intent. A deathly aura engulfed the knight's towering, armored frame, and the atmosphere about himself ruptured into a chaotic haze of heat, the crimson aspect of Solar Purity's ***Individuality*** Tangibly manifesting into a heated flame that consumed the ground around Kaaze. Now, forcing Gaige to face him head-on, Kaaze **Charges forth with the entirety of his might, utilizing the entirety of his body to swing the halberd in a counter-clockwise motion mid-charge, releasing an unbelievably wide halfcircle-arced horizontal swing that cleared the entirety of the distance between the knight and Gaige,** And additionally covered such an absurd amount of horizontal distance that it denied him the opportunity to dodge left or right. **Gaige would be forced to find an unforeseen, unique way to dodge, or to take the crushing blow head-on.** Needless to say, were he to fail an attempt at either of the two options set before him, he would *Perish;* His entire upper body would be separated from his lower body with ease.
Carl
The hero had reached the end of the line. With only around a meter and a half of distance between him and the wall, Gaige's only options were to blitz past the knight, or continue his defense. The crimson red eyes from the abyss of Kaaze's helmet stared at him and he stared back. As he watched the knight prepare what would be the deciding attack of this battle, Gaige held both his hands out, reciting the prayer yet again, "_Veie Ezuek._" The effulgent solar shield manifested once more in front of the hero, mana practically radiating from man's body.

With a whisper, the man spoke, "And so, we've reached the climax." His eyes glanced to the right and back, the knight beginning his indomitable charge. As Kaaze's body twisted to move into the sweeping slash, Gaige reacted, shifting his solar shield directly towards the halberd's blade. It felt as if time stopped in this deciding moment of the legendary battle. And then, time resumed for all as the two collided.


***PING***


A gale vortex erupted as the halberd and shield met each other, a colossal deadlock of offense and defense beginning. Gaige's teeth gritted against each other as he maintained the resplendent Solar Aegis against Kaaze's unrelenting power. Gaige's eyes glanced to the knight's side, the hero's gaze returning to his shield immediately after.

**CRRRRRRKKKK...**

The shield had begun to crack under the might of the halberd—Kaaze appearing to be the eventual winner of the deadlock. **Strangely, the knight could feel his strength diminishing though, a sharp pain piercing him below his right armpit and throughout his chest.** If the knight were to gaze down, **A bloodied spear could be seen protruding from under his left armpit.** With his diminished strength, Gaige successfully pushed back against the halberd, the mighty weapon slamming against the floor. The knight would find it nigh impossible to lift his halberd again with his **Lethal injury**.

When the knight inevitably turned to face his aggressor, he would be met with the same man he'd been fighting: **The clone of Gaige.** During the time in which Gaige was obscured by dust, he had created a clone of himself to grab _Okaarum_ from behind the knight. To ensure the knight's focus did not switch to the staircase, Gaige approached from the opposite side, gaining Kaaze's attention. After the clone had acquired _Okaarum_, it waited from the pillars for an opportunity to arise. The moment Gaige successfully halted the halberd was that opportunity, the clone rushing in and piercing the knight with the spear—an opening in his armor allowing for it to easily puncture Kaaze.

The clone was recalled, Gaige staring the knight in his crimson eyes with heavy breaths, "The fight's over. You've lost, Kaaze." He gazed at the knight's fatal injury, "I had hoped we'd be able to chat without it coming to this, but I deemed it impossible. And so, Kaaze... I wish for you to impart whatever knowledge you have regarding the _Sun of Reversion_ onto me before your death." Gaige purposefully had ordered his clone only to fatally wound the knight—not immediately kill him—for this very reason. Gaige awaited the knight's choice on the matter of revealing knowledge to the hero.

**The battle had concluded, Gaige being the victor.**
Victor
—So he spoke. Distinctly, he had exchanged the word 'intruder' for the word 'hero'; indeed, as a warrior, he allowed himself to acknowledge Gaige. The warrior Kaaze steels himself, straightening his posture with the assistance of his halberd in his right hand. Contracting his refined muscular structure, he, for a short while, stops up the ceaseless flow of blood from his lethal wound. He had bought himself some time to speak, yet, he would inevitably succumb to what was the deciding blow.

```fix
"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑼𝒌𝒖𝒆'𝒔 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒌𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒇𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚'𝒔 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒖𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝑨𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓𝒔."

"...𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈'𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒐𝒍."```

The warrior takes a deep breath. It was a struggle to hold in the pour of blood within his body, yet one of his determination could do so for a period of time beyond that of any typical living being. Kaaze was dutiful, and dutiful unto death. If he acknowledged Gaige, and agreed to teach him that which he knew of the Sun of Reversion, *Death would simply have to wait.*
_ _

```fix
"𝑻𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆, 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍, 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝑮𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝑼𝒌𝒖𝒆, 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑭𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒓."

"𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔, 𝒚𝒆𝒕, 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖."

"𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 — 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝑮𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔' 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑲𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒐𝒍 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝑨𝒂𝒛𝒌𝒖𝒆."

"𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒚𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑷𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚."```
_ _

```fix
"𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒆, 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚. 𝑪𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒍𝒚, 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅: 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝑨𝒓𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒂, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑲𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒐𝒍."

"𝑻𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚. 𝑷𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆'𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆."

"𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑻𝒐 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝑮𝒂𝒕𝒆."

"𝑺𝒆𝒆𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚; 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑷𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚; 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝑸𝑼𝑬𝑻𝑨𝑨 𝑬𝒁𝑼𝑬𝑲. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏; 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝑸𝑶𝑸𝑸𝑬𝑰𝑽𝑼𝑬 𝑬𝒁𝑼𝑬𝑲."```
Carl
With his heavy breaths, he watched as the knight fell to a kneel. A sigh of relief mixed in with his overexertion, an immense amount of mana having been used to withstand Kaaze's halberd. Yet, Kaaze continued to surprise the hero; even with his fatal wound, the knight still spoke without the slightest glimmer of pain. `Would I have lost in a truly head-on battle...? I suppose my divinity had remained sheathed from Kaaze.` He thought to himself in awe at the knight's strength, `I don't need to worry myself with it.`

Capable of now looking Kaaze in the eyes without having to tilt his head up, he listened with respect to the knight. In truth, he did not wish to taunt the knight during the battle, but such is his nature in combat—the taunts contributing to his plan. He was surprised as well when the knight agreed to unveil the knowledge he held. Gaige stood firmly, his stamina returning to him slowly.

He tuned into the knight's plethora of information, taking note of many statements Kaaze made. `These are the followers of Ukue then. That answers my question as to if these knights are the betrayers the note spoke of. Suppose not.` The talk of a mysterious _silver knight_ interested the hero as well. Was this knight stronger than Kaaze? Gaige—at his current strength—struggled to handle Kaaze's relentless offense. A stronger foe would prove to be a massive challenge for the hero. _Especially one who has achieved mastery over Sol prayers._

_ _
The knight stated what he had assumed: the Sun of Reversion was a prayer of intense power, and even his current prowess with it was greatly lacking. `I'm missing half of the prayers... The ones that Kaaze used against me.` The hero contained within him the prayers of _Unity_, but lacked the prayers of _Disparity_, according to Kaaze. He indeed understood the basic principle of the _Arue Arcana_, but had not considered that knowing the second half of the prayers would strengthen the the other half. If he wished to utilize the _Sun of Reversion_ to its full extent, he'd have to learn the _Sun of Purity_.

"Hm... Very well, Kaaze. Your information won't go to waste in my journey." The hero spoke, walking to the knight's right side, where the base of _Okaarum_ rested, the spear still impaling Kaaze. The knight hadn't offered to teach the prayer to Gaige nor did he offer insight in a location to find the _Sun of Purity_. The hero assumed Kaaze had no information on where to learn the prayer, and with his current state—it'd not be possible for Kaaze to teach the hero the prayer either way.

Gaige wrapped the fingers of his right hand around the shaft of the spear, "You fought well, Kaaze. One of the strongest opponents I've faced in my quest so far. Goodbye though, _Knight of Sol_, Kaaze." The man respectfully complimented the warrior, violently removing the dragon bone spear from his chest. A look of sorrow could be seen on the face of Gaige after finishing Kaaze off. It was a shame he had to kill such a strong warrior, but it was what the knight sought: a battle to the death.

_Okaarum_ was recalled, Gaige approaching the staircase which Kaaze once guarded. **His next destination would be continuing up the tower.**
Victor
With the spear removed, even the knight's active stopping-up of the bloodflow could no longer persist, and so did the ever-flowing stream of blood continue. The spear had struck critically, and had inflicted irreparable damage to even the mighty warrior's body, torn apart from the inside. Even as it is painfully wrested from his body, opening a wound more grotesque than the first, the knight did not give so much as a forced exhale of pain. He was entirely calm, composed, and stalwart, even in the face of extreme pain and death, his face hidden beneath his helm emotionless, as he slowly closes his eyes.

```fix
"𝑯𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒛𝒆𝒓."
"𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆, 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑨𝒂𝒛𝒌𝒖𝒆."
"𝑴𝒂𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒌, 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑼𝒌𝒖𝒆."
"𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏, 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝑬𝒊𝒌𝒐𝒌𝒖𝒆."```

The blood poured and poured, trickling across the resplendent, golden surface of Kaaze's armor. He lifts his weakened left arm, grasping his halberd with the last of his might, and plants it into the ground before him, his hands still steadily gripped upon its shaft. The warrior takes a deep breath in, prepared to speak the last words he ever shall, in his centuries-long life. And indeed, they were words of rejoice.







```fix
"𝑻𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆."```







The last of the crimson his body had to spare drains from his body, and his life fades away. 

His body does not weakly go limp, yet rather persists in strength. Kaaze's body remained upright in a kneel, his hands enduring in their grip about his loyal halberd. A testament to his ever-persistent will, and his adamant, immovable nature, even in death.
Sarah
For the two who travelled down — Josh and Cumhall — they would be greeted with a most peculiar sight. Shortly after their descent, they would be greeted with the sight of the bandit who they had seen descend the staircase: Kuouo, who seemed to be overlooking something off in the distance. 

Were they to copy Kuouo's own gaze, they would spot what could only be described as a battlefield — of a battle past, yet still a battlefield nonetheless — the once-sanctified room before them littered with rubble, destruction, and even blood, though the latter one was located only at the foot of a perished combatant. *A massive knight, over 250cm in height and of an incredible physique overlayed by thick, golden armor, remained in a kneel, surrounded by a pool of its own blood.* It appeared to already be dead, likely owed to the only other person present within the room: the cloaked figure of a man who had already begun his departure from the room. Likely before they could even speak to the man, **He had already left, ascending the stairs at an accelerated speed, leaving them only a slim chance to catch up to or even question him.**

Aside from the combat-scene set before them, the room was quite interesting, in-it-of-itself. Several pillars stood tall within the room, nearing its exterior borders, with several, stony coffins laid at the base of each pillar. Aside from the pillars and coffins, however, and disregarding the fight, there was **Nothing quite of interest within the room, and apparently no way to go further down.**
Carl
A figure—almost a blur—rushed past Cumhall and Josh, the staircase's wide nature allowing him to slip by easily. He was here to gain power for his _quest_, not interact with a bunch of mercenaries. Either way, they were hired by _Odysseus Corp_, a company that likely branded Gaige as an enemy after witnessing the teleporter activate unannounced.