A cold and suffocating sense of dread wrapped around Chael’s chest the instant the knight rose again. He could already tell that this was no longer going to be like the predictable and effortless fight he had at the prayer hall.

  The way it moved was different. It didn’t seem to have the same monotony as before - not to mention the way its aura pulsed black.

  A purely instinctual fear gripped his throat, and his body acted before his mind caught up. He turned back, and his spear shot forward toward the Hollowed Choir’s throat and aimed to sever the creature’s hold over the knight.

  However, before his spear could reach it, he saw a flicker in the reflection of the knight’s armor. Chael’s heart slammed against his ribs.

  The knight’s blade was already inches from his neck.

  Too fast!

  Gritting his teeth, he abandoned the strike and dropped his momentum completely as he twisted his body downward. The deadly arc of the blade whistled over his head. It was so close he could feel the cold wind of its passing.

  His feet barely touched the ground before the knight came for him again.

  The sword slashed in a brutal and relentless storm of attacks, with each one aimed to kill, not just wound.

  Chael’s eyes flicked between a dozen reflections at once: the metal greaves, the polished vambraces, the warped curve of the chestplate…

  Each reflection showed him a fragmented glimpse of the next strike.

  But, even with his ability, he could barely keep up.

  The knight was faster. It was much more aggressive and reflexive compared to the one he had fought earlier. The difference was staggering. If the earlier knight was a patrolling guard, then this one was a hunter.

  The Hollowed Choir’s influence had twisted it into something beyond what it once was. It attacked with precision and ferocity and pressed forward without hesitation, forcing Chael onto the defensive.

  Chael parried the first blow, his spear catching the knight’s sword just in time. The impact nearly tore the weapon from his grasp. His muscles screamed, his still-broken right hand burning from the sheer force.

  It was way too fast!

  The attack patterns were the same, but the speed, the aggression and the power were nothing like before.

  Another swing came through.

  Chael barely deflected it in time and twisted his spear at the last second to redirect the blow, yet the knight didn’t falter.

  The instant its strike was blocked, it moved for another.

  Chael blocked. Again.

  Again.

  Again.

  His arms shook with the effort, and his stance tightened as he dodged the rapid succession of attacks. There was no room to counter, nor were there any openings. The knight’s movements were too precise and even more relentless.

  Chael’s teeth clenched as he pivoted, barely ducking under a ruthless diagonal slash. The air itself seemed to shudder from the force of the attack.

  If that sword so much as grazed him, he knew it wouldn’t just cut, it would eviscerate him.

  The realization sent a sharp pulse of unease through him. He was dancing with death with each cross of weapons.

  He tightened his grip on his spear, and he kept moving, not allowing himself to be distracted or be shaken by fear.

  Chael’s mind worked even faster than this relentless knight.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Every angle, every reflection, the swift movement of the knight’s armor, the flicker of its blade, the shifting of his own spear. He calculated all of it in an instant.

  He crossed weapons with the knight a few more times before he finally saw his opportunity.

  The reflections aligned perfectly, the gleam of metal revealing the knight’s next movement. Chael’s grip tightened, preparing to land his first attack.

  Then, his spear’s reflection shifted and showed a flicker of motion behind him.

  His stomach dropped.

  The Hollowed Choir’s robed figure had raised its staff.

  The pulsating blue crystal at its tip glowed with an eerie light, and cold mist curled from its surface like breath on a winter’s night.

  Chael’s body reacted before his mind could catch up, his muscles coiling in an attempt to dodge, but he was too late.

  A sharp, deafening crack split the air as jagged ice erupted from the stone beneath him and wrapped around his boots and ankles in an instant.

  Chael grimaced as he felt a cold so bitter it felt like his bones were shattering from the inside out. His leg movements were instantly sealed, trapped in the ice.

  Then Chael heard a twisted, guttural, echoing chuckle as the Hollowed Choir sneered.

  “Shit!" Chael gritted his teeth hard as the knight’s blade fell. Dodging was no longer an option since his movements were stolen.

  With a surge of instinct, he raised the shaft of his spear and angled it just right so that the force of the impact wouldn’t shatter the wood outright. The knight’s blade clashed against the reinforced shaft, the impact sending a brutal shockwave through his arms.

  Chael held firm. His fingers dug into the wood as he used every ounce of strength in his body to hold back the blade that threatened to split him in half.

  The knight pressed forward, and the deadlock intensified, the force behind its sword pushing harder, harder against both of Chael’s arms. If he weren’t a Harbinger, Chael's arms would’ve probably broken from the impact and the strain.

  Through the gleaming reflection of its weapon, Chael locked eyes with it. He saw the soulless, burning red glow of its gaze glared back at him. It’s grotesque face which was half smeared with molten scrunched in fury.

  Something boiled in Chael’s chest. It was a dark, consuming rage. The same rage he had felt when his oppressors held power over him not too long ago.

  He clenched his jaw and then slammed his forehead forward.

  A sickening crack echoed through the eerie torch-lit corridor.

  His skull collided with the knight’s face with crushing force, the impact reverberating through its body. The knight staggered back, its head jerking violently from the blow. After all, Chael had used all his Harbinger might to crush it's only exposed part.

  The knight's blade lifted from the deadlock, and Chael didn’t waste a second.

  He thrust his spear downward, and the tip shattered the ice at his feet. The frozen binds splintered, and fragments of frost scattered across the floor, but the damage had already been done. A numbing cold shot up his legs, deep into his bones, and his movements suddenly sluggish.

  "Shit…" Chael exhaled sharply, forcing himself to stay upright.

  He could hardly feel his feet because of the cold.

  The knight was already charging again.

  Chael’s breath hitched, and with what little strength he had left, he braced himself.

  Chael’s body screamed at him to move. To dodge. To block.

  To do anything but what he was about to do. Every instinct in his body told him he was about to die.

  And yet-

  He turned his back on it.

  Chael twisted his body sharply and spun sharply on his frozen, barely functioning feet, ignoring the wild hammering of his pulse.

  He then hurled his spear with everything he had, the silver tip cutting through the air in a perfect, deadly line.

  The Hollowed Choir had no time to react.

  The moment the spearhead pierced its throat, a twisted, unearthly shriek tore through the air. It was a sound so sharp and so inhuman that it felt as though the very walls of the cathedral trembled at its cry.

  Chael barely had time to process it.

  Because in that same instant-

  The knight’s blade met the hairs on the back of his nape. And stopped.

  Chael stood there, his breath shallow and his shaking, as the sword hovered against his skin, unmoving. For a single, stretched moment in time, he remained frozen as he stared at the creature now dissolving before his eyes.

  The Hollowed Choir’s body wavered, and its form broke apart like mist caught in the morning light. The moment it disappeared completely, the twisted energy holding the knight together vanished with it.

  The blade slipped from Chael’s throat, and he felt a heavy thud behind him.

  Chael didn't turn immediately. He was still shaking, and his mind was still catching up to the fact that he was alive.

  Finally, after what felt like forever, he exhaled shakily and turned his head.

  The knight lay motionless at his feet, its body lifeless once more. The crimson glow in its eyes had faded.

  For a long moment, Chael simply stared.

  His spear remained on the ground, a few feet away, and acted as the only proof of what had just happened.

  Slowly, he let out a shaky breath.

  And then - he started laughing. It was a dry, hollow laugh filled with exhaustion, disbelief, and a sharp, bitter amusement.

  That was the stupidest thing he’d ever done. But it had worked.