Lord Of The Lost

The Death Knight roared!

With a deafening neigh, the Skeleton Pegasus spread its massive, bony wings and launched itself into the night. Like a blazing meteor, it streaked toward the Black Forest, unwavering in its charge.

Moonlight Village

The small enclave that stood defiantly against the wilderness was less than a hundred miles from the Black Forest, its very existence a challenge to the darkness.

Now, the villagers looked on in horror as the monstrous figure loomed in the distance, an abomination too vast and incomprehensible to describe.

Fear etched itself into every face.

It was as if the nightmare of ten years ago had returned.

At the village's edge, a tattered scarecrow came to life, letting out an eerie, magical screech. It flailed its straw arms, channeling its power to shield the wheat fields from the encroaching evil, standing like a lone sentinel against the abyss.

In the heart of the village, the dilapidated church still bore the scars of the last disaster. Its walls were crumbling, unrepaired for a decade.

Inside, the sallow-faced priest knelt before the Moon Goddess's statue, his prayers a desperate plea. The faint glow of the statue grew stronger, its light merging with the bright moonlight that now enveloped the village like a protective veil.

Beneath the broken wall of the church, a gray-haired old beggar stirred. He opened his weathered eyes and gazed at the towering monstrosity in the distance.

Beside him, a small wolf-dog growled, its face contorted with feral rage. The creature's muscles twitched violently, and two grotesque lumps swelled on its shoulders, as if something monstrous were about to emerge.

"Easy now... easy..." the old beggar muttered, pulling the wolf-dog into his arms. He stroked its trembling body, calming it. Then, as if nothing in the world mattered, he turned over and drifted back to sleep.

---

The banner atop Helka's spear, adorned with the symbol of a crown intertwined with a spear, fluttered in the still air.

Then the war wind began to blow.

The flag came alive, snapping and crackling as the wind swirled around the King's Third Guard.

The four sacred traits of the Knight's Path awakened within them:

- [Charge]: Their speed and mass multiplied their power.

- [Endurance]: Their stamina surged, making them unstoppable in battle.

- [Fearless]: Their resolve became unshakable, immune to fear and despair.

- [Declaration]: As their actions aligned with their code of honor, their strength grew exponentially.

Helka's voice roared across the battlefield, clear and commanding.

"The King's Third Guard! The Knight Guard! Speak your code! What is your declaration?"

The knights responded as one, their voices thundering like a storm.

"I am the knight who guards the king's power!"

"We carve new frontiers! We expand the kingdom's glory!"

"I am the King's shield! I am the King's spear!"

"The King's enemies are our enemies! The King's allies are our allies!"

"We fight for the King's power! We fight for the King's honor! We fight for loyalty and glory!"

Then, their voices rose to a unified battle cry:

"We, the Knights of the King's Throne, declare:

We fight for the King! We shall never betray! We shall never retreat!

No matter where we stand! No matter if we live or die!

This banner is our command! When the King calls, we will return!

This promise endures from life to death, until the end of all things!"

---

The banner bearing the symbol of the crown and spear soared higher, carried by the rising wind, a beacon of defiance.

The knights stood unshaken, their resolute voices scattering the spiritual corruption of the monstrous flesh before them.

Under the blazing moonlight, their honor burned brighter than ever.

It was as if an invisible force swelled within the flag, lifting it high into the sky, its brilliant red fabric blazing like fire.

In that moment, the flag radiated an immense golden light, a wave of power so strong it engulfed the knights below. The light outshone even the silvery glow of the distorted moon above, casting the battlefield in a divine radiance.

Helka raised the flag high and roared, "This is the battle for kingship!"

The knights answered in unison, their voices like thunder.

"Yes! Yes!"

Helka swung the flag again. "This is a battle to quell rebellion!"

"Yes! Yes!"

With one final, resounding cry, he declared, "This is a battle for honor!"

The knights' response shook the heavens.

"Yes! Yes!"

Their warhorses reared, neighing in fierce unity as if they, too, carried the weight of the declaration.

---

As the Black Forest seethed with chaos, its monstrous riot spilling over into the wilderness, the distorted moonlight above grew unstable, flickering like a dying star. The border town, trembling on the brink of annihilation, seemed doomed.

But in the golden glow of the flag's power, the true nature of the King's Third Guard was revealed.

The knights' forms shimmered, becoming translucent, ghostly yet radiant. They were not ordinary soldiers, but the pure spirits of knights long dead, their loyalty eternal.

Bound by their declarations in life and death, they stood united, carrying the weight of their oaths into eternity.

---

From the depths of the Black Forest, the earth itself erupted.

The ground tore apart, a festering wound spreading like a vile infection. The fissure widened, its edges crawling with writhing flesh-like tentacles, squirming and twisting in futile rage, unable to bridge the gap.

Helka's voice boomed over the chaos, filled with unyielding authority. "Iris! Cut the connection! Sever the earth! Leave no way out!"

At the edge of the ruined battlefield, where the ground trembled underfoot, spirit particles surged upward like fireflies.

From the fragments of her essence, the complete soul of a giant wolf took shape.

"Grandma! Grandma!" Sophia's cries echoed, her voice breaking with despair. Tears streamed down her face, her grief an unbearable weight. She had already lost so much that night, too much.

The giant wolf's soul turned toward her, its eyes soft and gentle, radiating love and solace.

Then, with quiet resolve, the wolf turned away.

Her soul began to fragment, disintegrating into a cascade of shimmering light.

The rain of soul energy poured onto the battlefield, igniting with explosive force.

BOOM!

The earth shook violently, the tremors far beyond anything natural. The land cracked and split open, as though a mighty hand had torn it apart.

A massive, bottomless rift formed, stretching across the battlefield like a scar of destruction.

The vile tentacles writhed madly at one edge of the fissure, unable to reach the other side.

---

Helka threw his head back and laughed, a wild, victorious sound.

With the flag raised high above him, its golden light burning ever brighter, he stood as a beacon of defiance against the darkness.

Behind him, the two silver knights held Mott in their iron grip.

Mott, the once-mighty Wolf Lord, now seemed small and pitiful, his roars of defiance drowned out by the howling winds of war. His despair hung heavy in the air as he struggled uselessly against his fate.

The knights of the King's Guard began their march once more, their unified voices shaking the earth as they chanted the Knight's Code.

"We fight for the King! We fight for honor! We do not retreat! We do not betray!"

---

Their procession, glowing like the chariot of a sun god, surged forward.

They rolled like thunder across the fractured battlefield, their formation unbroken, their resolve unwavering.

Courageously, they charged into the heart of the darkness, where only chaos and calamity awaited.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

The Knight Guard emerged from the shadows of the Black Forest, their steel-clad presence like a force of nature.

Helka, fierce and unyielding, brought down Wolf Lord Mort.

Ten knights of the Royal Guard unleashed their fury, cutting down every werewolf that dared to oppose them.

But their victory was fleeting. Chaos erupted in the Black Forest.

Iris, in an act of ultimate sacrifice, offered her very soul. With a scream that tore through the heavens, she split the earth apart.

A massive rift was born, hundreds of meters wide, stretching for miles beyond sight. A natural barrier, a warning to those who would challenge the kingdom's borders.

"Banish the Black Forest to the wild lands!" they decreed. "Let it never defile our kingdom again."

The Knight Guards stood tall, their oath ringing out as their banners fluttered in defiance. A golden light radiated from their very souls, illuminating the chasm.

And then they rose; walking into the air, their formation majestic and unbroken.

A radiant golden bridge appeared over the rift, shimmering like a divine pathway. The knights moved as one, their square formation like a flying halberd slicing through the sky.

Wolf Lord Mort was hurled down into the chasm like a living bomb. His shadowy form shattered and twisted, consumed by the darkness of the void. But the abyss did not devour him easily, it convulsed, bloated with the vile essence it had swallowed.

Seizing the moment, the knights charged.

Their attack was a whirlwind, cutting through Mort's towering shadow like a blade through thunderclouds.

The monstrosity fell, its severed half smashing into the earth with a deafening roar. Blood gushed from the wound, an unholy torrent that painted the battlefield red.

It was no ordinary battle. It was a war that echoed of gods clashing in the heavens, a conflict that could tear worlds apart.

From the chasm's edge, the knights pressed forward, relentless as a storm. Their golden light burned bright, their attacks swift and devastating, like meteors striking the earth.

Helka's spear flag tore through the air, rallying the knights to charge again and again. Their movements were like a lightning storm; an unstoppable force, carving through the enemy with precision and ferocity.

Each strike was a dance of death, their golden glows trailing behind them like fireflies in the night. Blood and shadow splattered, raining down in a storm of chaos.

But the Black Forest held more horrors. In its darkest corners, new battles raged.

The Death Knight drove the spreading corruption back, forcing it to retreat to the forest's heart. With every clash, he pushed the darkness further away from the lands of the kingdom.

Yet, amidst the carnage, Sofia stood still. She could not bear to look at the battle any longer.

Her gaze was fixed on Iris's sacrifice.

The air shimmered with the remnants of Iris's soul, brilliant and ethereal. Sofia's hands reached out, desperate to catch the fragments of light drifting down like snowflakes.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't grasp them. The soul's glow seemed just beyond reach, separated by an invisible barrier, a world apart.

She fell to her knees, her cries of despair echoing in the chaos. Tears streamed down her face as she watched Iris's light vanish, melting into the earth like fleeting stardust.

Her heart shattered.

And behind her, the battle raged on, shaking the earth and roaring into the void, as if the world itself was crying out in agony.