Asher stepped back and let the other two knights come in while he remained behind the door.

  "It looks like we have company," Jorj said.

  Ryan and Hiro were at the back of the group.

  "How many?" Asher asked.

  "Three Padins, but they have twelve White Knights with them," Jorj said.

  "How can that many make it to the heart of the citadel!?" Said Eliza, the female knight.

  "We'll worry about that ter. They need to be dealt with before they get to the Chosen Ones. Let's go." Asher said as he looked over to Ryan and Hiro.

  "Where are you going?" Ryan asked.

  "To head off the Padins, we've got to stop those zealots before they reach you two," Asher said as he walked towards the door. Stay here and protect each other. This is the only safe spot for you right now."With that, Asher and the other three dark knights left to confront the knights of the Divine Three.

  Ryan looked at Hiro. "Are you okay?"

  Hiro, for the first time, was visibly frightened while nodding back. "Y-Yes, but I'm really worried, man... I don't want to die here."

  This was the first time Ryan had seen Hiro not put up a facade for the entire time he'd been with him. Something has shaken him to the core.

  "Don't worry, we'll make it out of here," Ryan said. Even though he felt he couldn't back that cim up. But Ryan said it to try to calm himself down as well.

  "How? How can you be so sure?" Hiro asked.

  Ryan smiled, "Because I'm not going to die here. And neither will you. We're here now, and nothing's going to change that. So it’s time to man up, I guess."

  Ryan was lying to himself and Hiro. He knew he could die right here on the spot if he didn't do something soon. And time was running out.

  "Ryan, I'm sorry about everything I put you through. When I first met you, I was jealous of you. You had everything going for you. I felt I was an imposter and acted out. I'm sorry if I ever made you uncomfortable." Hiro said as tears fell from his eyes.

  Ryan felt guiltier than he thought possible. "No, Hiro... Y-You... Let's just focus right now, man. Once we get out of this mess, we can make it up to each other. Can we make a deal?" Ryan said as he reached out his hand toward Hiro.

  Hiro grasped Ryan's hand in his own before he regained his composure. "Deal."

  After they shook hands, they started to move toward the door in order to hear what might be going on down the hallway from their room. Once they got to the doorway, Ryan and Hiro could hear the sounds of battle echoing through the citadel as the cnging of sword fighting and the screams of pain were getting closer to them. 'God! That sounded like Asher screaming... Shit's getting real.'

  Just as Ryan was about to say something to Hiro, one of their walls blew up as an elven knight came crashing through it, causing debris to fly everywhere. The poor elf crashed on the other side of their room.

  "Ah!" Screamed Hiro as he jumped.

  "Shit!" Yelled Ryan as he quickly moved to the knight.

  "Hey, talk to me? Are you al-" Ryan couldn't finish his sentence once he saw a bloody hole in the center of the chest of the deceased elf.

  'Fuck me!' Ryan was in shock upon witnessing the freshly murdered body.

  "R-Ryan look!?" Hiro pointed at the hole in the wall as he could see the White Knights staring at them.

  "My lord! We found the summoned heretics!" Yelled one of the White Knights.

  "Bring salvation to them both! Don't let them escape!" Yelled the other one.

  "Shit!" Ryan quickly turned his attention to the dead elf and started to search for anything he could use for a weapon. "Come on, come on!" Ryan yelled to himself to steady his nerves as his hand reached for the only weapon he could find on the body of the knight. Which was a bck dagger sheathed on the belt of the fallen.

  Ryan took the knife and began to ready himself for a fight as two white knights came into their room.

  "Hiro! Behind me, now!" Ryan ordered while Hiro hurried over behind him.

  Ryan squared off against the two knights.

  "After all those years, is this the best the elves can do?" One knight said mockingly.

  "Does it matter? The Three wills for their salvation, and we shall deliver it," The other knight replied.

  "Oh FUCK OFF!" Ryan said as he raised his bde up to strike down on the knights.

  Ryan's bde hit the knight's shield, and it bounced off.

  "You're going to have to do better than that, heretic! YYYAAHHH!" The knight said as he swung his sword from overhead. Ryan thought he was dead as the bde came at his head, but out of nowhere, Ryan dodged the attack on instinct and sshed the small bck bde at his attacker, but the white knight parried him with ease. Then, the knight quickly counterattacks with his pauldron, bashing it into Ryan's chest and almost breaking some of his ribs.

  "OH SHIT!" Ryan grunted. 'These guys are no joke!'

  Ryan kicked the knight in the stomach and made him back away from Ryan as he stumbled backward. "I thought you guys were supposed to be tough!" Ryan said as he charged forward.

  "Are you taking me lightly!?" The knight asked as he brought his sword down on Ryan. Ryan quickly brings his knife up to meet the knight's arm, which strikes him before he hits his target. Ryan was moving quicker than normal as he stared down the white knight before him.

  "I've never been in a life-or-death battle before in my life, and if this is the best the Divine Three has to offer, then you're screwed!" Ryan shouted as he charged the knight with his knife in hand.

  "NOOO!" screamed Hiro as the other knight attacked him while Ryan engaged with the other one. Hiro got nearly hit in the chest as the tip of the sword sshed into him, only skin deep, and fell to the ground in pain as he failed to dodge the attack.

  Ryan looked back as he noticed Hiro lying on the ground with a bloody arm and chest.

  "HIRO!" Ryan yelled as he was distracted by Hiro and wanted to help but the knight he was fighting had a different idea and tried to strike Ryan while his focus was off him.

  *Swing!*

  “GUH!”

  Ryan let out a grunt as the knight's bde just missed hitting him deep in his right arm. The wound was bleeding slightly from being grazed by the bde, which caused Ryan to drop his dagger. Without missing a beat, the White Knight continued to press the attack.

  Ryan swung his left arm towards the knight as he blocked his sword arm from striking Ryan and punched him in the face with his right hand.

  The knight stumbled back, but Ryan quickly followed up with an elbow strike to the side of his head. With his attacker stunned, Ryan ran over to his dagger and scooped it up in a second.

  And as fast as Ryan could, he summoned enough mana to use Dark Earthly Bde on the bde of his dagger and aimed for the unaware White Knight that was attacking Hiro.

  The knight saw the bde coming his way and turned to try to parry the attack.

  However, the attack was not what he expected as Ryan’s bde warped around his shield and went straight for his face.

  As he felt the dagger stabbing through his right eye socket. The White Knight was in shock. "H-How?" Was all he could say before his vision faded to bck as he fell to the ground.

  "NO, Markus! I swear I’ll send you to the Three, you heretic!" The Divine Knight screamed as he aimed for Ryan with his sword.

  Ryan moved with ease as the knight's bde looked like it nearly hit Ryan's throat but missed, thanks to him getting a new surge in speed. Ryan was faster now because of the new mana absorbing in his body from killing the knight.

  "Y-You piece of shit!" Ryan said as he kicked the knight in the stomach and sent him flying across the room.

  "I’ll be the one to deliver you to the Three! You fucking tool!" Ryan said with all the fury in his body as he prepared to use Dark Earthly Bde against this knight that wounded him while Ryan’s body began to emit the Dark Aura of the Goddess.

  "You've become a monster," The knight replied as he jumped back and used his sword to block Ryan's attack.

  "Sir Cudius, we underestimated their champion! I need your aid!" The knight yelled out as if he was speaking to God.

  Ryan took a deep breath before he charged at the knight with his dagger in hand. And just when Ryan was about to strike the knight with his dagger. A blinding light came out of nowhere and knocked Ryan back 20 feet into the stone wall.

  "Urgh! What the fuck!" Ryan groaned as he reached down to touch the spot where the Lighting struck him.

  He felt a tingle and his entire body went numb then felt heat run through his veins from the first White Knight's mana being absorbed. As Ryan's body was being healed by it.

  "Ryan, are you okay!?" Hiro came running up to Ryan with worry in his eyes.

  Ryan noticed a small cut on the side of his own cheek that was already starting to heal as his skin started repairing itself. He also felt refreshed and energized as well. ‘Well, I guess taking in mana isn’t all bad.’ Ryan thought.

  "I think I'm good?" Ryan answered as he looked to see what the cause of that blinding light was. And it didn't take too long to find out what it was or who it was.

  Standing there next to the white knight was a monster of a man standing around 7 feet tall, wearing a full suit of silver pte mail, having a broadsword as big as Cloud's Buster sword, and radiating a white aura. This guy is the spitting image of a virtuous padin. His armor was so bright it almost hurt Ryan's retinas, like staring into the sun.

  "So this heretic refuses to be saved?" Sir Cudius asked with a stoic voice.

  "Correct, my lord, they are corrupted and refuse to be saved." Said the White Knight, whose name was Captain Sharleth.

  "Well, they have earned the Divine Three's full wrath now," Sir Cudius said as he turned to face Ryan and Hiro.

  "Then I'll purge them both," Sir Cudius said as he looked at Ryan and Hiro with a stern look.

  Ryan tried using his Dark Earthly Bde but the dagger disintegrated when it came in contact with the white aura of the padin.

  "Huh!? What the fuck!?" Ryan yelled with anger. He cursed himself for not realizing that the padin's aura would cause his weapon to break.

  Sir Cudius readied his broadsword, preparing to strike at Ryan and Hiro.

  "I'm sorry,y Hiro..... I don't think we're getting out of this one," Ryan whispered, looking down to the ground.

  "Hey, Ryan! You can still save me! Can’t… you?" Hiro yelled as if he could change the outcome by willing it, but with the st bit of strength he had, he grabbed Ryan's arm and pulled him close as he realized that they were going to die. At that moment, Hiro knew what he had to do.

  "No!... I'll save you!" Hiro said as his eyes and orb on his neckce began to glow.

  "You will not escape the Three's justice!" Sir Cudius said as he brought his sword down on them.

  Ryan watched helplessly as the sword came closer to them, but the strange thing was that time seemed to slow down right before the bde struck them. That's when Ryan felt his body getting pulled in a simir gravity warp. It was the same feeling Ryan had when he first came to this world.

  Ryan closed his eyes as he felt his body flying in the wrap tunnel and into the dark, smokey void. He felt his hand grab Hiro's glowing red hand as he pulled him towards a bright light.

  And then everything went bck.