The knight recognised that expansion of the soul anywhere.
The Knight expanded its soul like that too when it used the visage of terror, but just like what it had learned, powers are more complex than skills. What this knight was doing was a crude use of it; just releasing the power and hoping for the best. When fighting the No-End and the Enders, it learned that channelling it is a higher level of use. Focusing the power into the core of the being makes the entire process more refined.
For the Knight, this lesson had added benefits. Because the armour channelled not just the power but the void too. Making the amount of strength that the Knight could wield astonishing. With just a ten-unit void territory augmentation and just at level 115, the Knight went on to kill about seven hundred level 150 monsters. Now the Knight had 1010-units, only 10 with it now, it chose to leave the new one behind to avoid raising an alarm, it could still absorb it later. It was twice the level it was at back then; it could handle even stronger foes now.
This power Commander Campbell was trying to use still put the Knight on edge. With how the Knight itself butchered the level 119 Retcher at just level 105, it knew to not underestimate powers.
Powers are the universal bridge gab, which allow weaker being to contend with the strong or just make it easier for the strong to dispose of the weak. This is why the Knight had decided to not hold back, if this battle continued the Knight could not win without killing the Commander, and that would make asking question in the future harder.
Before Campbell could even fully activate his power, terror fell upon the world before receding to a point, like a drain. All of it concentrated on the spot the Knight was standing. Of course, the Knight had made it less potent to avoid murdering those too close. It had already judged the strength of the Commanders' armour, so it just built up enough of it to destroy it without killing the flesh-pile inside. The Knight then teleported above Campbell and delivered a decisive punch to the head. This however did not end things; the soul was still flowing out.
Campbell slowly rose up, his features visible under the broken helmet. "I was going to hold back, but because of that punch I will be giving you my all, don't just go ahead and die, you've already impressed me thus far."
Then the soul glowed and the Knights body was covered in a nearly invisible dome that was slowly shrinking around the Knight. The Knight could not teleport; it could not move. If it had to guess it would say that this, is a power over space. The space around the Knight was getting smaller and smaller.
The Knight could unleash Visage of Terror, at this level the Knight could make even better use of it, but it would kill anything within its vicinity, including the bystanders. The Knight did not trust the shield of patterns protecting them, they could never hope to contain a dreaded soul and its power. Being the more dangerous power, it could move even this space, after all the fear emanating from the Knight stumped time itself.
The Knight could also use its newfound power, but it would have to release the void to a visible level. Giving up was not a choice. So, the Knight augmented itself with the void, hoping that no-one would see, it quickly struck a crack in the dome. Then it teleported and hit the Commander with enough force to kill him, this would not, but by now the Knight had realised that this is what it would take to knock him out. Campbell collapsed, so did the dome, and his soul receded back into the confines its body.
The knight could tell that Campbell was still not efficient at using his power yet. It was sure that if he was better at using it, it could have not escape without fully exerting itself like it had today. The thing is that the Knight could see how much control Campbell had over it and with the punch, augmented by the void, and compression of its own power, to a lesser degree though, it was able to strike a crack in the less stable parts.
Then teleported out before it could mend itself. The Knight had to be quick, when using the void augmentation, it was surrounded in a halo of void darkness, the light not wanting to intrude. That made the Knight look like an ink blotch, and there was no mistaking what the void looked like.
The people did not notice either because they were silent for a couple of seconds and soon after, rang with a roaring cheer after the medic confirmed that Campbell is still alive. This meant three things; they did not see the void, they would have not been happy if the Commander had died – good thing the Knight did not kill him, they were all too stunted to believe what they had seen.
This is one of the momentous occasions that someone won this challenge. They should be mad that their protector has been defeated, but instead they were filled with joy knowing that despite the looks of the challenger, he would soon become one of their defenders.
This was even more true for this city, stuck in a perpetual cycle of destruction, the appearance of void and its prospective danger crimpling their economy. Truthfully, this is why this challenge even exists. It not only warns the foolish from not trying, but no matter the outcome things are always good. If the challenger loses, then they are reaffirmed of the strength of their protectors, and if they win, they gain a new more powerful protector as in this case. At the very least, it entertains the masses, that is, if no-one dies.
Zuri was running toward the Knight; the pattern shield has been down since the fight ended, to let the medic in to check on the Commander and treat him. She was… panicking, seems she had never even thought that the Knight had a sliver of a chance, actually no-one did.
She dragged the Knight inside the building, soon the sounds of cheering were muffled out and eventually the crowd would be ushered out. She was pulling him, but in reality, the Knight was huge, so it just followed at the pace she was pulling.
"Why did you have to go and win?"
She sounded frustrated. "Do you know how much work you just gave me? The knight Bachelor was there so I can't just dismiss this as just an event. The officials will have my head; I did officiate this match. What will the headquarters even say? I held a challenge during a crisis as dangerous as strange activity happening in the darkness, and the worst part is that the challenger actually won.
She kept rambling on and on about how much more work has to be done. She gave the Knight a room for visiting official and told it to wait, after a day and a half she finally came to the Knight with the last thing that needs to be done.
The Knight had won its challenge, officiated a bunch of papers and met some of the officials, took the test to assess the knowledge of protocol – making it reminisce about the first ten level this information had given the Knight, Folisha was sure one great help – tomorrow would be the last thing. For now, the Knight was in the room looking around. There were intricate carvings on the walls, some decorations, some patterns.
With the flick of a switch the lights would come on, but the Knight preferred this darkness, not as comforting as the void but it will do. There was a bed, chair, mirror, and a place to rest armour and weapons, there was even a bathing room. The Knight needed none, no need to sleep, cannot unequip, and the rotting body could not be cleaned, the Knight has been using Tyun's sense manipulation to mask the smell.
The chair was just insulting, the Knight could fit on it, but it could not compare to the throne of bones the Knight had. Placing it down after pulling it from the inventory, the Knight sat on it. The paralysing effect was still there, but the Knight was so strong now that it did not paralyse it, it still liked it used to though. The Knight used to use it to mimic sleep, by using it to relieve its body of movement, but now it was just useless.
'I guess strength has its own downfalls, interesting.'
The fire, soul shaped flame, on the feather glowed, "So, boss, why are you with the humans?"
"Finally speaking are we, you have been quiet since we came to this city."
"It's just that my relationship with humans isn't quite the best, and I saw that you have everything under control."
"Well, until you explain the real reason you're following me, I do not have much to share. A wise Yiril, once told me that information is not cheap, and to me, one who thrives on it, it's even more valuable."
After that, Mugaw just made simple observations and then eventually went silent again.
The Knight had a grander vision of time, so the night just passed in the blink of an eye, right before the door opened the Knight had already put the chair back into the inventory, not wanting to look even worse than it already did, abusing Tyun's skill too much could drive the targets insane. Zuri walked in calm as ever; she had become stale after the whole situation had calmed down. She looked up with her exhausted expression.
'Would you look at that, he's still wearing his armour, does it even come off? The bed is still done, I would say that he just woke up early, but I would say he didn't even go to bed, maybe the armour is just that comfortable, must be custom. Or he just likes sleeping on the floor in his armour. It would be creepy if he just stood there the whole night, right?'
"Follow me. The Banneret is waiting for you."
They walked down the hallway and entered a larger room, resembling an office, not really, more like a war council room, only one person was in it though. She had a vermillion set of armour, making the Knight wonder about the armour of the knights that it had seen.
Some wore white armour, some tainted silver, come had their own design, but they followed a similar trend, actually the ones on patrol all had the same type on. But this one was like a statement, its vibrant colour, black pattern accents, fitted to have almost no easily exposed spots. It looked impractical but the Knight could tell that she was strong enough to move it around with ease.
Zuri bowed and walked out. The Banneret took off her helmet, deep navy blue flowed from it, her hair was striking that way. She walked closer to the Knight and the Knight finally heard what it had been anticipating.
You have encountered a level 345 human, Banneret Vice. Type-Knight.
'I guess it was a good idea to not come in swinging after all.'
She raised her hand and shook his. "My gosh, I never thought you would be exactly like Zuri's description. Forgive me if I ask but why do you have a soul that deep, burning on your plume."
The Knight had not thought about it much, but Mugaw is a soul, so people could not see him burning on the feather, but it seems like those as strong as the Banneret were able. "Oh, ignore it, it's just the soul of a being that decided to follow me even in death."
"You're a spirit user?"
"No, I just killed it and now it won't leave, I could eradicate it at any time should it bother you."
"Not at all, it's just curios, this sprit looks to be above level 100, that speaks volumes about your strength, and makes your feat of defeating a Commander, an easier pill to swallow. In any case, why now? If you are this strong, why did you wait until now? You could have come to apply for the knighthood during try-outs, or even tried out earlier?
In an actual challenge, where one is pitted against a knight, but Zuri had the funny idea to make you fight a Commander, so I apologise for any inconveniences. I wouldn't want you to think that she was trying to bully you, she's just on edge, the whole city, because of the darkness covering half of it during nightfall."
The Knight looked at her as she bowed slightly, apologising for the Knight being pitted against a Commander right off the bet, "I did not mind the challenge. Truly I do not think that a normal knight would be a fair assessment of my capabilities."
"What I'm hearing is that you want a proper assessment, how about taking me on?"