Boom!

A blinding beam of light left Sylvester's palms. It boomed like lightning falling from the sky, covering everything around him, as its warmth erased the dreadful coldness.

He strategically removed the solid shield of light around him and sent the beam straight toward the Shadow Knight. But he knew not if it struck him or not, as he could only see whiteness all around.

But he didn't try to maintain the beam for too long. Finally, after three seconds, he stopped and brought back the shield around his body. Then he looked for the sign of the Shadow Knight to see if the beam did any harm.

Shh...

"Did he get hurt?" Sylvester noticed the form of the Shadow Knight a distance away, appearing to have become translucent for some reason, but it was gaining its previous denseness.

"What is he made of?" Sylvester wondered as it was clear now that the thing was not a human with a cloak on. This was truly a ghost or something like that.

Boom!

The Shadow Knight soon attacked him again, but this time the shield didn't break in one go. But on the third strike, it did. Then on the second strike, it broke, and after a few moments, the Shadow Knight seemed to have returned to its previous strength.

'So I can not kill it by just harming it. What even is this thing?'

But finding out about what this thing was came later. First, it was about his survival. The only boon he had was light, the power that had helped him since he was born. Of all the bad luck, he was lucky for this one blessing.

He tried to maintain his body, keeping it from going into extreme exhaustion by letting the crystals help him. Then, when he felt he could not hold the shield for long, he again used the Wrath of Heaven.

♫You god-forsaken creature of vileness

Burn in the warmth of my brightness...♫

Boom!

The streak of light once again hit the creature and pushed it back hundreds of metres away. This time Sylvester maintained the beam for five seconds. Once done, he quickly ate the Solarium crystals to get back some energy. Then, he formed the shield around himself again.

This time he got nearly half an hour of relaxing time while the Shadow Knight returned to its past full strength and once again started its menacing strikes on the shield.

Again and again.

Time and time again.

Sylvester repeated the process of buying himself some time to relax. But in his mind, he knew his life had changed that night--for the worse, sadly. Damned, he was now--immensely.

Crack!

The shield cracked again, and he prepared to strike the light beam. At least he was thankful for his past hardships as he had become much more efficient with his magic utilisation now.

But sadly, in front of absolute strength, no amount of techniques can help.

...

A distance away, the remaining platoon and the rest roamed to find Sylvester under the command of Lady Aurora. They didn't know how far Sylvester had gone or if he had gone somewhere else after his initial jump.

All they could do was hope that they'd find him quick. But sadly, none of them could fly. Nor did the trees help them in looking far away.

Silently, they gritted their teeth and ran fast.

'How long will this keep happening? Why can't he even afford a little moment of peace? Hasn't he suffered enough? Why does Solis keep testing him? Why does Solis keep punishing him?" Sir Dolorem wondered in silence, ignoring the weighty presence on his shoulder that he shrugged off as the guardian angel.

Woosh!

"What was that?" Felix stopped and questioned.

Woosh!They could hear an echo ringing around them. But from the sound, it was clear it was very far away, and it was hard to understand which direction it was.

"Let's split!" Felix suggested.

Lady Aurora vetoed the suggestion instantly. "That's asking for death. If not the Shadow Knight, then some other creature of the night will kill you. We can't afford to separate right now. Just keep moving in the direction Sylvester flew off to first."

"Agreed." Sir Dolorem interjected.

Felix gritted his teeth and continued to run along them.

Seeing him, Gabriel came to his side and asked. "What's with the attitude? You're not helping anyone by being annoying."

Felix knew Gabriel was right. "I'm angry. Sylvester has to be the unluckiest fucker in the world. Everything messed up happens with him. Every time someone attacks us, it's to kill him. I see him in strain, man. Look at his bloody eyes, they seem hollow. I don't want that... it feels as if... the more we're growing, the less human we're becoming."

He was loud enough for all to hear, and they couldn't help but feel the same, not for Sylvester but for themselves. It was true that the more they grew up, the less happy they felt. Even if the faith was the best place to be, it didn't help them with their personal life that much.

"We didn't choose this path," Gabriel replied. "We are born with a role and die while trying to fulfil it. Fate is universal and unique to all--we can run away all we want, but it will catch up. So we can just accept it and live."

Felix didn't reply and moved in silence. He never says it aloud, but Sylvester was the only best friend he had in his whole life. Since he was young, all he knew was his strict father and a hoard of trainers ready to inflict all kinds of pain on him to make his body strong.

'I didn't live all those years to become a damsel in distress for you to save me every time, Max. We're meant to fight side by side... as brothers.'

"We're close!" Lady Aurora boomed suddenly and halted their speedy chase.

Everyone felt it. The area had suddenly become colder than before. The trees were frozen, and no other noise was coming from the forest.

As they started to walk forward, they felt a certain suppression on their bodies.

Thud!

One of the weakest Knights from the platoon fell down, frozen like before.

Thud!

Then another one fell.

Seeing this, Lady Aurora decided to stop for now. "We need to plan this carefully. All of the platoon members will stay. Sir Dolorem, you come with me... you too, Priest Gabriel. And you, Priest Felix, you care for these platoon members."

Felix just glared into Lady Aurora's eyes in bloodshot fury. He wasn't going to sit there. That was not negotiable.

Lady Aurora sighed and nodded. "Fine, come along then. The rest of you, move a few metres back and prepare for a medical camp here. We don't know what Archpriest Sylvester's condition is, but he will at least be exhausted if he's alive. So be prepared to transfuse blood if necessary."

After that, the four headed deeper into the forest. The closer they got, the colder the climate became--the more the pressure they felt on themselves. They felt as if they were moving in an ocean and going deeper and deeper into it.

"Ugh!" At one point, Gabriel grunted while pushing himself.

Lady Aurora looked back and noticed the men were struggling to move forward. Even Felix, albeit with his rageful movements, couldn't ignore the pressure.

She looked forward and noticed a bright oscillating light. 'We're not far away... but to stand against the Shadow Knight. It's impossible for these three... even me."

"Stop! I will go ahead now. You three stay here and prepare to-"

"I'm not stopping! I will go on." Felix barked.

She looked at him deadpan. "Then what? Become a burden to Sylvester? You can't even move here. How will you fight that thing? Look over there. You can see the light. That means Sylvester is fighting it somehow."

Felix gritted his teeth and clenched the hilt of his sword. "I hate this weakness!"

"Then get stronger. But right now, think from your brain, not muscles. Now, give me some more light and Solarium crystals. It'll be hard to fight it, but I will try to reach Sylvester and heal him if he's hurt." She planned.

Sir Dolorem didn't doubt her and handed the whole bag. "I will be indebted to you, Lady Aurora. Archpriest Sylvester is important to many people--and the future of the faith."

She didn't reply and moved toward the blinking lights. But even she couldn't go fast after arriving at the last stretch. However, she could now see the scenes in front of her, beyond the treeline in the empty circle of burnt land.

​ Sylvester was defending himself against the attacks of the Shadow Knight.

Boom!

And, every few minutes, he would send out a beam of light so strong it would push the Shadow Knight back hard and burn the trees in a straight line in the path.

She rubbed her eyes repeatedly because she couldn't believe the scene. The Shadow Knight was a dreadful entity that not even her father, the Lord inquisitor, could shrug off. And here he was, Sylvester, albeit struggling, pushing the mysterious creature away and also... harming it?

'W-What is he? His light...'

Her eyes shone with the light from Sylvester's moves. He appeared like the sun in the dark night. 'His light magic is strong enough to be tangible?'

But soon, she forced herself out of her trance-like state and shouted. "Sylvester! Take this!"

She knew Sylvester was doing a much better job fighting than she could ever do. So she decided to throw the bag full of crystals at him.

However, she noticed Sylvester was not even looking at her. Instead, he was looking in a different direction, towards the ground.

"What are you doing, Chonky? Go back! This is dangerous!"

Aurora heard Sylvester shouting as if addressing someone. But there was nobody. 'Is he hallucinating?'

"Meow!"

She frantically looked around to find the origin of the cat's cry. But, again, she couldn't find it. 'Am I hallucinating?'

Boom!

Sylvester once again sent out a beam of light from his palm, blinding her eyes and pushing the Shadow Knight away. In that blindness, she just silently prayed that Sylvester could keep this until the morning.

'Is this what you wanted me to learn, father? Perseverance?' She wondered.

...

"Chonky! What in the hell were you thinking?"

Sylvester used the Wrath of Heaven and threw Shadow Knight away. Then he leapt to pick Miraj and bring him into the shield, to safety. The furry boy couldn't walk, so he was slowly dragging himself toward Sylvester on his belly.

"Maxy! I will protect you!" Miraj meowed and hugged him around the neck with his little paws.

Sylvester patted his back too. "Are you hurt?"

"No. I feel better. I can move here... Ah! Let me vomit!... Uwaa..."

Miraj quickly threw up two bags full of Solarium and Light crystals. This was the last batch they had left, ignoring the one Lady Aurora threw.

He chuckled tiredly and wiped the sweat from his head. He was tired and frustrated. His back pained him, and he felt sore all over his body. But his heart felt full from Miraj's worry-filled complaints.

"Why did you leave me?"

He caressed his head. "Chonky, I didn't know how the fight would turn out to be. I didn't want to risk your life."

Bam!

"And it begins again." The Shadow Knight started attacking again. But this time, Sylvester had dozens of more crystals.

So he didn't feel as strained and calmly fended off all the attacks. Though his eyes were becoming heavy slowly, it was not solarium exhaustion--just mental exhaustion.

He needed to keep this going until the sun came out. So he just looked at the sky and prayed. "Come on, Solis... show your pretty face quickly now."

Booom!

He repeated the Wrath of Heavens for the sixth time, a maddening number for sure. With that, he felt something in his body. It felt as if the heat was rising all over him, and his cells were trying to revolt and break apart. He felt his arms and feet going numb.

He quickly realised that this was a blessing that came at ill timing. It could very well prove to be his doom--and turn this light shield into his tomb.

'I-I... am I about to rank up? Fuck! Not now... I can't...!''

_______________________

GT = 1 Bonus chapter.

Super Gift = 1 Bonus chapter.

APE TOGETHER STRONG!