Chapter 332: For Honor

The knight moved first.

Its massive sword rose with shocking ease, the broad slab of metal lifting over its shoulder before coming down toward Yenna with enough force to make the air groan.

Yenna slipped aside.

The blade missed her by less than a foot and struck the street.

The result was not a crack.

The entire road tore open.

Cobblestones erupted from the ground in a violent wave. The impact split the street beneath the sword, sending a jagged fracture racing toward the nearby buildings. Several weakened walls trembled, then collapsed inward as dust and chunks of old masonry poured into the square. The torchlight buckled beneath the blast of displaced air, and Kael had to brace his feet to keep loose stone from knocking him backward.

His lips curled down in surprise.

Unlike the Blind Armatures, this thing did not rely only on a weapon fused to its body. Unlike the Golem, it was not dangerous because of regeneration and overwhelming mass.

This knight simply packed a ridiculous punch.

Kael had fought powerful creatures before. The Basilisk of Getava had been strong enough to turn a mistake into death. The Ifrit on the first floor had carried the kind of destructive force to level a whole city, expected from a boss monster. Those were creatures meant to stand above the ordinary dangers of their floors.

This knight felt close to them.

And here, it was apparently an everyday mob guarding a street.

"That’s absurd," Kael muttered.

The knight pulled its sword free from the shattered road.

Yenna was already moving.

She lunged straight toward it, curved blade held low beside her body. The knight reacted instantly. Its greatsword rose from the ruined cobblestone in a sharp ascending cut, meeting Yenna’s approach before she could enter its guard.

Steel collided.

Kael expected Yenna to be thrown back.

Instead, she turned her wrist.

She did not confront strength with strength. Her saber met the rising greatsword at an angle, edge sliding across the larger blade rather than stopping it directly. The knight’s weapon scraped along the curve of hers, its tremendous power redirected past her shoulder.

The greatsword continued upward.

Yenna stepped through the opening it created. Her saber swung sideways and upward.

A dazzling red line crossed the knight’s neck.

The helmet separated cleanly from the body.

For one brief moment, the enormous armored figure remained standing, its greatsword still held above it. Then the severed head struck the ground with a heavy clang, rolling once before stopping against a broken cobblestone.

The body followed.

Blackness crawled over the fallen armor.

The darkness of Vanitas climbed the corpse like living smoke, slipping through the cuts, seams, and ruined neck. The massive body sank into the broken street as though the road had become a depthless marsh. Armor, sword, and corpse disappeared beneath the surface until nothing remained except fresh cracks and a dark stain that faded almost immediately.

The second knight moved.

It stepped away from its watching position and raised its sword.

The tip pointed directly at Kael.

Yenna turned, red hair settling behind her. "I’ll take him on."

Kael looked from her to the knight.

"Doesn’t look like he’d like that," he said. "He pointed at me."

"These are really strong knights, Kael. They punish mistakes."

"Trust me," Kael replied, handing his torch toward the edge of the safe light. "If it’s about punishing mistakes, I know better."

He walked into the square.

The knight watched him approach.

Then, to Kael’s surprise, it lowered its weapon.

The enormous sword struck the ground point-first. The knight released the hilt, leaving the blade standing upright in the shattered street. It took one step away from it, raised both armored hands, and settled into a boxing stance.

Kael stopped.

"Wow, buddy," he said. "Why aren’t you using your weapon?"

"Like I said before," Yenna answered from behind him, "it’s an honorable knight. It won’t fight an unarmed person with a weapon. Unless you use magic, it won’t use its sword."

Kael looked down at his gauntlets.

Metal covered his hands and forearms, but the runes within them still pulsed quietly with power. Fire waited. Heft remained ready. Execrate and Exploit Weakness could turn the fight into something far shorter and much crueler.

He pressed them off one after another.

The runic pressure faded.

Only steel, flesh, and the strength he had built into his body.

Kael smiled.

"I like this guy."

He slammed both fists together.

The clang rolled across the square.

Then he raised his hands and took a boxing stance of his own.

The knight advanced.

Kael met it halfway.

The first punch came from the knight’s left side, a straight armored fist aimed directly at Kael’s face. Kael tilted his head, letting the gauntlet pass beside his cheek, then answered with a short strike toward the ribs.

The knight twisted.

Kael’s fist scraped across armor instead of landing cleanly.

A second punch came immediately.

Kael ducked beneath it, shifted to the outside, and threw a hook toward the knight’s jaw. The knight leaned back just enough to avoid the worst of it, then stepped forward with a blow toward Kael’s stomach.

Kael caught the movement from the shoulder.

He turned aside.

The fist clipped his ribs rather than striking the center.

The force still shoved him several steps across the broken road.

Kael planted his foot and stopped.

The knight did not chase recklessly.

It returned to its stance.

"So you actually know what you’re doing," Kael said.

The visor remained silent.

They moved again.

Kael bobbed beneath a wide hook, weaved past a second, and drove two punches into the knight’s side. Armor dented beneath the first. The second landed on nearly the same place and deepened the damage.

The knight answered with an uppercut.

Kael leaned away, but not far enough.

The armored fist clipped his chin and rattled his skull.

His vision flashed white for an instant.

The blow was hard.

Very hard.

But Kael had suffered worse. The Fist King had struck him with blows that made unconsciousness feel merciful. He had been punched, slapped, crushed, burned, buried, and used as a demonstration for techniques no sane training hall would allow.

Compared to those memories, the knight’s fist was almost refreshing.

Kael grinned.

The knight punched him again.

This one landed squarely against his cheek.

At the same moment, Kael’s right fist crashed into the knight’s helmet.

Both heads snapped sideways.

Both fighters stumbled.

Then both returned to their stance.

Yenna stared at them.

The technical exchange lasted for another few moments. Footwork. Feints. Tight guards. Kael reading the knight’s shoulders and hips while the knight adjusted to the rhythm of his counters.

Then the fight began to deteriorate.

The knight drove a fist into Kael’s ribs.

Kael answered by punching the dented side of its armor.

The knight struck his shoulder.

Kael headbutted its visor.

Metal rang against bone.

The knight grabbed Kael around the waist and tried to throw him. Kael lowered his center of gravity, hooked one leg around the knight’s, and turned the grapple into a brutal tumble that sent both of them crashing through a pile of broken cobblestones.

They rolled apart.

Rose.

Charged again.

A fist struck Kael’s chest.

Kael’s gauntlet slammed into the knight’s jaw.

The knight caught him by the arm and pulled him into a knee. Kael absorbed it, grabbed the knight around the torso, lifted with raw strength, and slammed the armored body into the ground.

Stone broke beneath it.

The knight rolled before Kael could mount it and dragged him down by one leg. Kael fell, kicked it away, then climbed back to his feet with a laugh.

There was no elegance left.

No careful exchange.

No clean martial pattern.

Just punches to ribs, fists crashing into armor, headbutts, grapples, elbows, shoulder checks, and throws that ended with one or both of them embedded in the street.

Yenna’s frustration grew with every exchange.

Kael could end it.

She knew that.

One rune could tip the battle immediately. Heft would turn a punch into a siege weapon. Fire would pour through the damaged armor. Execrate and Exploit Weakness would show him exactly where to strike.

The knight could also retrieve its sword.

Neither did.

Some strange pride had settled between the two of them. An agreement without speech. The knight had abandoned its weapon because Kael had none. Kael had switched off his runes because the knight had offered him a contest of physical strength.

Now both were determined to finish it with their fists, no matter how barbaric the fight became.

Yenna watched Kael take another armored fist to the face, then return one hard enough to twist the knight’s helmet.

"This is idiotic," she said.

The honey badger emerged from her hair. "They appear to be enjoying themselves."

"That makes it worse."

Kael caught the knight’s arm, dragged it closer, and struck it twice in the damaged ribs. The knight shoved him back, followed with a punch to the mouth, then seized his shoulders and drove its helmet into his forehead.

Kael staggered.

Blood ran from his lip.

His smile widened.

"Good one."

The knight said nothing.

Yet something in the way it raised its fists felt like an answer.

They collided one final time.

Both threw at once.

Kael’s fist struck the knight’s faceplate.

The knight’s armored hand slammed into Kael’s cheek.

The impact cracked through the square.

Kael’s head whipped sideways, his feet dragging a short line through the dust. The knight swayed, helmet dented inward, body struggling to remain upright.

For a moment, it succeeded.

Then its knees struck the ground.

Its arms dropped.

The great armored figure remained kneeling for half a breath before falling forward onto the ruined street.

Kael stood still, breathing harder than he expected.

He waited.

No notification appeared.

No kill confirmation.

No reward.

He stepped closer and looked down at the knight.

Unconscious, or whatever counted as unconscious for a creature like this.

Yenna approached, sword resting against her shoulder. "You knocked it out."

"Looks like it."

"You’re not finishing him?"

Kael glanced toward the sword planted in the street, then at the beaten knight lying beneath it.

"He’s not a threat."

"That has never stopped most climbers."

Kael turned away.

"Also," he said, "it’s dishonorable to kill someone who can’t fight back."

The moment he took a step, a notification appeared.

[Honorable]

[You have increased affinity toward beings that possess honor.]

Kael stopped.

Then smiled.

Yenna looked at the window reflected faintly in his eyes. "What did you get?"

"Something fitting."

Kael retrieved his torch, rolled his bruised shoulder, and started toward the nearby beacon.

The lantern was not far now.

Without the two knights blocking the route, they crossed the remaining streets without another fight. Blue light appeared ahead between two narrow buildings, its glow cutting through Sector Three’s disciplined darkness. Kael stepped into the safe zone first, and the pressure of Vanitas eased around him.

The lantern registered beneath his map.

He had already surpassed the requirement to leave long ago.

Now he had nothing else keeping him here.

Yenna entered the safe zone behind him.

For a few moments, they stood without speaking.

Then she looked toward the lantern.

"This is it, then."

Kael looked at her. "Just a small separation."

"How high are you pushing?"

"All the way to the top."

There was no uncertainty in the answer.

Yenna studied him, perhaps wondering whether it was confidence or insanity. By now, she had likely realized it was usually both.

"Do you remember everything I told you?"

"Memorized," Kael said. "If I ever leave again, I go and find your sister. You don’t have to worry."

For the first time since he had met her, Yenna’s eyes trembled.

The change was small. Almost nothing compared to the fury she carried into battle or the cold focus she used while being hunted. But Kael saw it. The hard edges around her expression weakened, and something she had been holding back since Torrac revealed Kael could return to Earth threatened to rise.

Kael immediately lifted one hand.

"You’re not going to start crying on me, are you? I can’t handle tears."

Yenna looked away for a moment.

"No, I’m not."

"Good."

"I’m just..." She paused, swallowed, then forced the words through. "Really thankful. Really."

Kael’s humor softened.

"But you can’t tell my sister where I am," Yenna continued. "Not the Tower of the Dead. Not that I’m alive here. Nothing."

"Trust me, I won’t. That would kill us both." Kael rested one gauntleted hand against his side. "The Tower isn’t a fan of its secrets spreading."

Yenna looked back at him.

"But I’ll act as her guardian," Kael said. "Until you can do it yourself."