The bells tolled like a death sentence.
Kael staggered through the ruined battlefield, smoke still rising from his armor. Every step was heavy, his veins still burned with the fragment's fire. He wanted nothing more than to collapse, to let the mud swallow him whole.
But the voice inside him wouldn't let him.
"Get up, Kael Arden. Do you think the world will spare you rest now? The fragment has marked you. They will come for you, every last one of them."
"Shut it" Kael muttered, wiping blood from his brow.
His sword dragged behind him, gouging the earth.
The bells grew louder. From the ridge above, armored figures appeared: the Church's Paladins.
Their silver armor gleamed in the fading sun, white cloaks fluttering in the wind. At their front rode a knight with long white hair and a golden spear, a hunter of fragments.
The spear tipped toward him.
"Kael Arden, mercenary of no house. You have taken into your body the corruption of a Dead God. By decree of the Church of Light, you are to be cleansed."
Kael laughed bitterly, though his body trembled.
"Cleanse, huh? That what you call murder these days?"
The knight's eyes narrowed.
Before Kael could raise his sword, Hades' voice slid into his mind again.
"They fear you. Strike them down. Let the fire loose. I will guide your hand..."
"No." Kael growled under his breath.
"Not yours. Not ever."
The first paladin charged. Kael's body screamed, but his rage answered for him. Golden eyes flared with streaks of black flame as he met the attack head-on. Steel clashed against steel, sparks flying, the ground cracking under their weight.
For an instant, he felt unstoppable.
The fragment surged, muscles fueled by death's fire. One swing sent the paladin crashing back.
But as quickly as it came, the power burned him hollow. His knees buckled.
The white-haired knight dismounted, spear leveled at Kael's throat.
"Pitiful. The fragment eats away at you already. Better to end this here."
Kael spat blood and raised his sword, though his arms shook. "If I'm going down... I'll drag you with me."
The knight's spear thrust forward, but a second blade intercepted it.
Sparks flew as a woman in battered Church armor landed between them, crimson scarf whipping in the wind. Her eyes flicked once toward Kael, then back to the knight.
"Enough. He's mine."
The paladins froze. Kael blinked at her through the haze of exhaustion.
"Why the hell would a paladin save me...?"
The knight's voice was cold.
"You dare defy the Light?"
The woman's grip tightened on her sword. Her voice was sharp, steady.
"I dare."
In that moment, Kael siezed the opportunity to eacape the battlefield