"Wake up!" Mason had tried to lift the helmet, but it was strapped tight, and he couldn't get it unlatched. Instead, he banged on the chest plate, hoping that would wake the knight from his slumber. "Wake up, man!"
Kai jerked up with a gasp and looked around in confusion. His head spun from the blow; though, aside from a minor dent in his helmet, his armor remained largely intact.
"You alright?"
"Y-yeah…" Kai wavered as he rose, trying to keep his balance, and was surprised to find Lightgrave still clasped tightly in his hand. "How long was I—"
"Less than a minute."
"Bastard!" the ogre roared, pulling the spear out of his eye and pressing his thumb into the shaft, snapping it with one hand. "I'm gonna kill you!"
The paladin tried to take a step forward but stumbled and would have fallen if it weren't for Mason holding him up. He tried not to think about how scared he was, how he had lost consciousness, and how his life was at risk. Vira was keeping the witch busy, buying him time to defeat the ogre and get everyone out. If he failed, if either of them failed, they would all die anyway. Oddly, he found solace in that thought. He had to fight. There was simply no other way.
"I'm sorry," Mason said. "I wish I could do more to help you."
Kai looked at him. "Nah," he let out a long breath and regained his balance. "You've done enough." He took a few steps forward, without his friend's help, and stood alone before the giant. "Leave the rest to me," he gave him a thumbs up, then crouched into his combat stance, his sword flaring with radiance.
The giant leaned forward to stand on all three, then rose as Kai dashed forward, lifting both hands up as far back as he could, fingers locked. "Die!" he screamed and smote down on top of the Oathless with all his strength.
Kai staggered to a stop, sweat beading down his brow, and dodged backward at the last second.
The giant's combined fists smashed into the ground, sending cracks spreading through the floor.
The Oathless crouched to keep his balance, then sprung up, jumping over the giant's fists and lifting his sword over his head. His feet landed on the clasped fists, and his blade plunged into the giant's bald forehead, causing a spurt of blood to spray from the wound, showering the paladin with red.
As he slid his blade out of the large slit in the giant's head, and tangled brain matter came spilling out, causing him to shudder and turn, averting his gaze. He skipped off the giant's fists, and the corpse flashed with violet light behind him, becoming human again.
Mason stared at him in awe as the paladin hung his sword and faced the crowd. "The way is clear," he said, then turned to Mason. "Get them out of here before more come to stop us."
More?! His eyes went wide with panic, and he turned to everyone, waving them out after him. "Come on! Let's get out of here! Hurry!"
The crowd rose quickly and swarmed out, skirting at a safe distance around the blood-stained golden paladin.
"What about you?" Mason asked.
"I'll be out last—wanna make sure no one is left behind."
The man nodded. "Thank you," he said, and went out of the convention center's double doors.
Kai stood motionless, watching the others flee.
He spotted Gabriel roll Catherine out, and they exchanged a nod of acknowledgment.
Then, he saw Rin—limping and bloody.
"Rin," he stepped in front of her. "Where is Nekoko?"
She startled, frightened by the bloodied paladin who somehow knew her name, then frowned as he mentioned the VTuber. "She-she is still inside; some guy in black armor broke into the studio and refused to let her leave. Tom tried to fight him, but…" She shut her eyes.
Kai grimaced. "Were they still there when you left?"
"Yes… I'm sorry, there was nothing I could—"
He brushed past her. "Just get out of here," he said, and made his way against the current of the fleeing crowd toward the West Wing.
For this plan to work, we'll need to split up, Vira had said. I will keep her busy, while you clear the exit and get everyone out of here.
But you can't defeat her, he had protested. Not on your own.
We don't need to defeat her. Without the sacrifice, her plan would fail—and that's all that matters.
Vira…
Don't worry about me, she forced a smile. Just clear the exit, get people out, and get yourself out. When it's all over, I'll see you outside.
As he ran toward the studio backstage, a thought nagged at him. Their plan had already succeeded. The people were out, and Vira had managed to keep Hexaphalia busy, preventing her from completing the spell and intervening in Kai's fight against the giant. All they had to do now was leave and wait for backup.
But he wouldn't leave without Nekoko, and the witch probably knew that. She knew that she might fail and had decided that if she did, she would take the fairy godmother and the Oathless down with her.
I'm walking into a trap, he concluded, but didn't stop running.
***
The witch frowned, sensing the magic that transformed her human familiar into a giant dissipating with his death.
Vira smiled through her tears. "He did it," she let out a cathartic chuckle. "He saved everyone."
The dragon growled. "Should I go stop them?"
Hexaphalia sighed. "No, most of them are already out the door. There's no point." She grabbed hold of the fairy's wings and began to pull.
Vira gasped at the sudden pain. "No! Stop! Please!" She flailed her arms and legs, trying to flap her wings, but the witch's grip wouldn't give and her foot pushed hard into the fairy's back.
"It's time," the witch grunted with effort, her muscles burning, as Vira's screams grew louder and louder. "For plan B." She gave a sudden, forceful jerk with her arms.
And the fairy's wings snapped.
***
Kai burst into the studio.
Nekoko sat on the floor at the end of the room, Tom lying wounded in her lap, and towering above them was the black-clad knight.
"Finally," he turned to face the paladin, a mace in his right hand and a kite shield, with two sharp prongs at its edge, strapped to his left arm. "I thought you'd never show."
The Oathless crouched into his combat stance. "Let them go!"
"You are in no position to make demands," the black-plated knight held the sharp edges of his shield to Nekoko's throat. "Drop your weapon and surrender, or the fatty dies."
Kai met the woman's terrified gaze. Her eyes were puffy and red, her glasses cracked, and her lips bloody. Drop my weapon? He scowled. More like shove it through your skull!
"Drop it," the knight moved his shield closer, the sharp ends of the shield poking the girl's neck, forcing her to lean back against the wall. "Now!"
Kai grunted in frustration and dropped Lightgrave to the floor.
"Good," he said, and the Oathless heard the smile under his black helmet. "Now slide it over to me."
"Come get it, asshole!" The Oathless flipped him off.
"Do it, or I'll—"
"Hurt either of them, and I'll pick it back up and shove it through your skull!" It felt good to say that out loud, and it seemed to shut up the black knight too, but it didn't get either of them anywhere. Get out, he reminded himself. All we need to do is get out. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
It didn't really work.
"We strafe," he said. "Go around the room; I go one way, you the other, until we trade places."
The knight hesitated, then pulled his shield away. Slowly, they began circling each other, their gazes locked, in case either of them tried something stupid. Kai knew he had a disadvantage, being unarmed, but he still had his armor, and that wasn't nothing.
"How bad is he?" he asked as he got closer to Nekoko.
"Got it bad in my ribs," Tom answered, his voice hoarse.
"Can you walk?"
"Yeah, I think so," he tried to rise to his feet, Nekoko helping him. "It just hurts like hell," he winced, holding his chest.
"Nekoko, can you walk?"
She startled when the blood-stained, gold-plated paladin called her name, then nodded.
She hasn't said a word. He noted. She must be terrified. His heart ached for her. "When I give the signal, we bolt, understand?" he asked as he reached them. "I'll distract him. You two get out of here. The entryway is clear, just run, got it?"
"Yeah," Tom said, and Nekoko nodded.
Chuckling, the black knight kicked Lightgrave further away to the exit and turned to face the Oathless. "Eva told me to give you a chance to surrender, make amends for betraying her. She said that if you did, she would consider taking you back," he held his shield forward and crouched, readying for a charge. "But I have no intention of sharing her with a traitor like you!" He rushed the paladin.
"Go, now!" Kai yelled and dashed to meet the black knight.
They collided in the middle, the knight bashing his shield into the paladin, knocking him rolling to the ground.
The Oathless recovered quickly, and caught a glimpse of Nekoko aiding Tom limp toward the exit. Just keep him busy until they are out, he thought. Then bail. He lunged at the knight, his gauntlet-ed fist crashing harmlessly against the thick metal of the kite-shield.
The black knight retaliated, swinging his mace at the Oathless side, hitting hard and drawing a scream out of him, causing the golden plate to bend in. Falling to his knees, Kai gritted his teeth through the pain and tried to rise, but a kick to the head sent him back to the ground, rolling.
"I honestly don't get it," the knight stomped his foot on top of the Oathless's chest, pinning him to the ground.
"Gugh!" he grunted and made a quick glance at the exit. Tom was already past the door, but Nekoko paused at the threshold, looking back at him, then down at the discarded sword at her feet.
"Why would you simp for that ugly fatty," the knight chuckled. "When you could have been with a goddess like Eva instead?"
Nekoko looked up again, catching the Oathless's gaze, her face set in a scowl. She kicked the sword, sending it sliding across the floor. Kai stretched his hand toward it, but the knight noticed and quickly landed his other foot on the blade, catching it just out of the Oathless's reach. The paladin clenched a fist, frustrated by the loss of this opportunity, but soon found a new target for his rage.
With his legs spread wide, the knight's crotch made an easy target.
"Nice try, simp," he said. "But you'd have to—Bhuugh!" He staggered back as the Oathless's jab connected, and both the paladin and the sword were released from under the knight's weight.
Kai rolled over Lightgrave, and rose to his feet, blade in hand. "Simping?" He scowled under his helmet and fell into his combat stance, bearing through the pain still pulsating at his side. Then, he charged with a swing, his blade radiant with the power of his conviction. "It's called kindness, you dumb-fuck!"
The black knight screamed as Lightgrave bit into his shield, cutting a slit into its metal and piercing through to his pauldron. In a panic, he lifted the mace for an attack, but Kai shoulder-bashed him, forcing him back and drawing the sword away, blood coating its tip.
"And like you are one to talk anyway," the Oathless swung again, and the knight lifted his mace to block. The blade cut cleanly through the shaft, decapitating the mace's head, and slashed through plate mail, opening a gash in the knight's chest. "Abandoning all of your morals for a nice piece of ass."
Back against the wall, the knight trembled, dropping his headless mace and hiding behind his cracked shield.
"I can't think of anything more pathetic than that," Kai said, holding his sword primed for another strike and glancing at the door one last time. Nekoko was gone. He relaxed a bit, and when he looked back at the black-clad knight, he saw him for what he truly was: a lost, terrified, bleeding young man. "But…" his tone softened. "I know exactly how you feel."
The young man slid down the wall until he was crouching on his knees, holding on to the open wound at his chest. By the muffled whimpers and moans coming from under his helmet, Kai could tell he was crying.
"I never wanted to hurt anyone, and I still don't. Reject Hexaphalia—or Eva—whatever you call her… and get out of here. There must be paramedics outside by now; they could help you. You can put all this behind you, go back to your old life."
"To my 'old life'?" he cried. "To the misery? The loneliness? Eva was the best thing that ever happened to me; to return to a life without her… I am better off dead."
Kai lowered his blade. If things were different… if I didn't have Vira… I could have ended up just like him. He thought. "I understand… believe me, I do, and I wish I had answers, but the truth is… I haven't figured it all out myself yet. I think… if you know who you are, and who you want to be… if you can find something to believe in, and are willing to fight for… if you meet people you can be yourself around, without worries… then maybe… the misery, the loneliness… they don't go away, but… they become bearable… and life becomes worth it."
The young man looked up at the paladin and let out a nervous, bitter laugh. "Was that meant to be inspiring?"
The Oathless clicked his tongue. "Fine, stay here and die in a pool of your own blood; see if I care." He turned on his heel, wincing at the pain in his side, and left.