Aren lunged forward with immense speed toward the dark beast with glowing eyes and horns that stuck out of its helmet.
The beast growled, then quickly disposed of Faye's body by throwing it into the wall, letting it collide to leave a mess. It then drew its large dual blades at Aren.
It put one over the other, blocking Aren's blow with both his feet, which aimed at its head.
His feet thudded against the cold metallic blades, the sharp sound reverberating through the entire building like a haunting echo.
The beast tightened its grip around both blades in its arms. It then deflected Aren by moving its swords forward, sending Aren flying back through the open gate and into the room.
Aren hit the floor a dozen meters away and rolled awkwardly, his robe covered in dust.
As soon as he raised his head, the monster was already behind him, aiming to decapitate him.
'Agh!' He grunted.
Aren placed his palms on the floor and ducked. Quickly, he raised both feet to the hanging blade above him and knocked it back, trying to make the monster stumble.
It worked, for only a second. However, another sword came flying at him from the other direction.
Taking notice, he used the momentum built up in his hand and threw his body upwards, spinning in the air to gain footing once more.
"How am I supposed to handle two blades without a weapon?"
His anger and frustration only grew as a result of what happened to Faye. He felt disgusted, like he just wanted to vomit.
Aren collapsed on the ground, then stood back on his feet in a whiff.
The beast in front of him grabbed its sword, then, in agonizingly slow pace, shifted its gaze to Aren, who looked like a fly in comparison.
Aren curled his hands, ready to fight with his fists against a beast that held two strong blades in both arms.
It looked down upon him before turning its chunky body, exposing its back covered in armor to him.
Aren's eyes widened.
As he finally got a moment of peace, he recognized where he was. It was a throneroom dimly lit with torches hung on the ancient walls.
In the distance where the beast was heading, a golden throne sat as if waiting for a ruler to sit on it.
He saw celestial writings with colors like the starry sky on the back of the monster. Everything made sense now.
'A Crowned Maggot!?'
A strong monster that ranked higher than even the Wretched Glutton. Only now he realized he was fighting the Warden of the Needle.
Aren gritted his teeth aggressively.
Behind the throne that sat at the top of a small staircase, there was a gate enveloped in darkness where the Warden was heading.
It wasn't even going to fight Aren, as he was simply too weak. A Warden would not waste time with weaklings.
He furrowed his brows. He wasn't going to let go of the murderer of Faye so easily. Not even if the sun were to rise!
In an instant, he ran forward to the slow Warden.
He increased the force on his arms and focused on ending him with one single blow.
As he did that, the chains around him wrapped around his arm like a snake, making their way to his palm. Crude in appearance, they extended even further to cover his entire fist.
As he finally neared the beast disrespecting him, he let a loud groan before throwing his fist forward with all the power he could muster.
Normally, it wouldn't even go through the Warden's defense. But the chains had helped significantly.
His fist emerged in iron chains struck, cracking through the armor, revealing a deeply burned scar on its back. The Warden growled loudly as it fell on its stomach.
The clang of its armor reverberated in Aren's mind. He fixed his gaze on the struggling Warden, his brows furrowing with determination.
Clenching his jaw, he raised his fist once more and hit on the Warden's weak spot.
Again, and again, and again until his fist was embedded deep into its back.
Letting out every bit of his built-up frustration from being helpless against the girl from the Order to now, losing both Kellen and Faye.
The chain grew stronger as it slowly began to burn through Aren's hand, but at that point, he couldn't care anymore.
He didn't care if it was working. He didn't care if it killed him. Every strike was a curse. Against the Order, against Helmond, against fate itself.
Purple liquid splattered across his face and robe as he kept striking it with the chains, embedding them deeper.
He kept punching with no remorse, rage overtaking his thoughts. Eventually, he couldn't do as much as move a muscle due to the sheer exhaustion.
Exhaling and inhaling, he sat next to the bloody mess he had caused.
The chilling wind howled through the ancient, dimly lit room, gnawing at his skin like a thousand icy fingers.
'I'm sorry.' He thought as guilt surfaced within him like nothing before. If he had only taken the matter more seriously, none of this would've happened.
He would still have had Faye. One of the only people who ever truly trusted him.
He did what he could to avenge her. He achieved the bare minimum for her, yet it left him with a terrible feeling.
Aren frowned as he raised his hand, which burned with pain from the chains. He gazed at it deeply before letting it drop back down to the concrete floor.
Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he had completed his task, a sharp metallic pressure pressed against his temple from behind, freezing him in place.
He lifted his head slightly, his eyes twitching relentlessly. His heart thundered in his chest, a wild rhythm that felt more intense than ever before.
Before he could do anything, the bullet shot straight through his head.