The knight's unconscious body fell to the earth like a falling star. Coming in white hot, the knight crashed into the callused surface of the world with a loud boom, followed by a thick grey cloud of smoke combined with dust. The sun was still smiling down at the world in its strange way, its warming smile morphed quickly into a grin of excitement reflected in the wave of great heat that followed, unabashedly consuming the world in a temporary drought. The artificial star was very happy, almost coming off as pleased at the sight or outcome of the fight, before returning to its regular despondent visage.
Lying in a crater, the knight's eyes didn't open; rather, he continued to sleep peacefully, despite his broken form. Time passed quickly for the mending body until suddenly, his eyes shot wide open.
The knight wasn't sure how long he had been lying in the trench of his creation, but it had been long enough to see the sun high into the midday sky, grinning stupidly down at him. The aching was still very present throughout his body, which had only been acknowledged by a groan of discomfort exiting the guarded mouth of the knight, followed in short by a few words, "...Why… Why does it always have to be falling…?" The normally clear voice somehow reflected his battered form perfectly. Somehow, in the last few days, he had fallen from heights taller than he had even thought possible, but those thoughts quickly dissipated from his mind as the morning's events came crashing back into his mind. He killed it. A necromancer had died to his now enchanted blade. A bitter laugh erupted from an equally scornful grin that stretched across his face. He had murdered one of his many pawns with a single blow. The sheer happiness that warmed his bruised chest was greater than even the size of the serpent that he had slain. Then a strange thought entered his mind.
'Why is my armor in such a pristine condition..?' Glancing downward at himself through the visor, the knight was confused nearly instantly by a single crucial fact: the glistening red shell around his body had somehow survived the crash landing completely, leaving it in nearly perfect condition. The only wound on the armor was around his right External Oblique area, caused by the nightmarish creature from the depths of the Underground Ocean. Shivering despite the sweltering heat, he moved to sit up, and despite his black and blue body, somehow managed to claw his way to a sitting position from his former position entrenched in the hot grey stone. He was surveying the area he crash landed in, and quickly concluded that he had fallen and shattered the plateau in a small form, but nowhere near the nearby valley that had been created from the body of the snake. Some miles west of his current position, the plateau had abruptly paused and was followed by a hill of quickly rotting meat, tan scales, and the quickly emerging porcelain white spine from said meat. Gazing over at his handy work, the grin had found itself back onto his face after it had been shattered and rebuilt as a pained grimace.
The knight beamed at the body, yet did not bother to move closer to his mark. Instead, without even noticing, the knight's hand moved to the center of his chest to pop out the dent on his side. He was going to summon the sword that had gained some form of a sentence after The Guidance had imparted his wisdom onto him, but with the fight with the minor god fresh in his mind, he was slightly wary of his blade now. That word cut through the snake with an ease that should not have been possible. Such a blade was as lethal to him now as it was to the one it was pointed at, especially with how he had been wielding it recently. Sighing, he pulled himself up from his slouched position and swiftly returned to his feet with a hunch in his shoulders; it didn't show through the armor, though.
He should've waited for the aching to subside, but he didn't want to wait. He took the first step on the cold stone desert, letting the metal rub against the adjacent plates of enhanced steel. His attention was still on the distant slope, and with every limped step, muffled groan, and twitch in his left hand, he grew closer and closer to his objective, and within the following hour, he had arrived at the quickly decomposing corpse.
The first thing he noticed was the obnoxious and nauseating scent of the corpse and accentuated by the dry heat of the desert, which made his nose wrinkle greatly. He forcefully pushed that to the back of his mind and looked on with a curious expression towards the wall of flesh in front of him. It was in a vastly worse condition than it had been when he originally saw it. There was already barely any muscle left on this section of the body, and the long ribcage of the snake was showing through in multiple places. Directly in front of him was a rib with a radius the same size as his wingspan, which only made him shiver once again.
'What terrible size this once royal creature had.' Sure, he knew this thing was gigantic, but he hadn't put much thought into it past that point, and he didn't have time to think past that in those moments. He would say that he was fighting for his life, but he really wasn't. It was more of an inevitability that one of the two would fall in those moments, not die, but lose.
Sweeping those thoughts under the rug, his eyes roamed across the body of the snake with an almost disinterested glint in his eye, that was until his eyes crossed the gaping hole in the body of the snake. It was spherical, with not a single remnant of the abomination in that space. He stared at the wound with a lick of hesitation in his shadowy face. He had not done that. Though hesitation gripped him for a shallow moment, it had been ruthless butchered, while in that very moment the knight raised his foot and began his trek to the slightly distant landmark, cultivating vague theories on what could've caused a wound like this to appear in the short time since he had fallen into the short slumber and reawakened. Deep in his thoughts, he didn't notice the green shooting star high in the light blue, cloudless sky fly far off into the distance, not that it mattered. Beside him, the once tough flesh melted in the heat, turning into a pinkish sludge, falling off the bones and cascading down into the black depths of its fellow innards, which were also melting, or even the cold, hard stone beneath the underside of the beast. But he did notice the stench of the carcass growing vastly more revolting.
In the hot silence of the flat plain, a guttural gag was quickly forming in the back of the knight's throat, nearly followed by bile from his depths. Quickly composing himself, he took many steps away from the corpse, until the smell was well out of range, before finally continuing on his journey to investigate the mortal wound.
With the abhorrent smell no longer violating his scents, he walked toward his objective with what could've been perceived as a 'pep in his step' whistling a jonty tune enjoying himself as his celebration for what would've been a career defining kill that would've made him a legend, cementing him in history forever, but this was just one of the many kills beyond human capabilities he had under his belt. It felt good. His celebration, just as it was beginning, was cut short, however, when his aching frame made itself known again.
Before, he had been nearly speed walking to his destination, but after the aching made itself known again, along with a groan slipping through his covered lips, he decided to take the scenic route. His eyes lazily looked around the stone plain with mild amounts of interest. He was more so lingering on the conversation he had had with The Guidance. There were points he understood, and others he was more than lost with. However, the warning was what was most concerning to him. The idea that something had been watching him wherever he stepped into a place the sun couldn't reach was mildly infuriating, but to a greater degree, it was quite terrifying. Who knew how long that thing had been watching him? It wasn't exactly bright at the bottom of the ocean, or had the entity of darkness found him after he escaped the withered binds of his chains and arrived on that beautiful beach? Questions clouded his mind as he outwardly continued his slow trek, mindlessly looking around the empty area.
It wasn't terribly long before he arrived at the anomalous wound in the creature's body. He paused, the unimportant theories that had plagued his mind were wiped completely as he gazed towards the wound at the same distance as he had been from the rest of the body. At the current moment, he was mentally preparing himself, or, in other words, preparing his nose for the assault from the repugnant acridness that wafted off the quickly decaying corpse. It was much harder than he had anticipated. As soon as he felt that he was ready, he gazed at the lurid cadaver and immediately felt his will was inadequate in the expedition, yet his curiosity would not be dissuaded so easily. The knight sighed and finally took the first step toward the relic.
It wasn't noticeable in the first few moments, creating a useless feeling of safety that was murdered in cold blood faster than it was created. The stench of death was not something he was foreign to. His life was framed by death, and the painting the frame held was made completely out of the blood of those he had slain; there was a reason he had made the executive decision for the royal guard's members' armors to be doused in such a vibrant red. When on said battlefield, there had always been the lurking smell of death's embrace, but this was on another level. The broiling smell was unlike anything he had the displeasure of experiencing in his very long life.
Sighing, he zoned back into the physical, steeled himself over once again, and continued his stride into the torrents of unabashed foulness. It wants a painfully long walk in reality, but with the added weight of trying to keep himself together, it was much harder than he had originally anticipated. The smell was getting worse with each passing moment as the flesh baked in a heat much greater than what the knight was feeling at that very moment. If he were paying attention to the corpse itself, he'd see bone continue to expose itself with every moment, while the meat evaporated into nothing, moments after escaping the bondage of the bones holding it. Until finally, the odor that had been plaguing him had disappeared entirely, or maybe, his nose had just achieved what felt like an impossibility in that moment: it had adapted to the smell.
Sighing once again, he let his aching body stride contentedly through the dangerous aroma that had mostly disappeared to his senses, and finally, arrived at the valley the corpse of the snake had created.
Though initially he wasn't able to see past the decomposing body due to it still being fairly well preserved, he now gazed through a vast hole in an equally empty gut painted in disgusting pinks and reds. With no more than half a thought of doubt, he grabbed hold of the nearby rib and began his descent into the creature's decayed belly. Oddly enough, while he was sliding down the interior lining of the rib he grabbed hold of, it felt far more ancient than it should have been. Low creaking was heard from the bone as the knight tumbled down the side, while a tide of dust was kicked up from the surface of said bone, as if this corpse had been laying in this position for a hundred years, though the knight didn't seem to notice, or maybe he didn't care.
Not long after, the knight announced his entrance into the belly of the beast with a bang, or rather, a boom, followed by splashes and splashes of the liquidated remains of the snake. Rays of the noon sun shone through the various holes in the cylindrical body of the snake and bathed the fleshy interior in light that it had never seen before. He landed dismissively like a pile of rocks onto the bloody floor, into a pile of himself.
If the pile of rocks could animate, it would look similar to how the knight slowly reassembled himself into the coherent form of free thoughts and ideas. Convoluted liquids of all types of organs, combined with drying blood as well as chunks from unknown places in the body, fell from his already red armor in something far removed from a waterfall, yet at the same time not so different from said waterfall.
Seeing stars, he had little time to acknowledge the vulgar smell that got infinitely worse while inside the snake, and instead stumbled into the nearby wall of light, signifying the place in which the hole had separated the twin sections of the snake's body.
His disoriented form quickly came back to its senses as he finally stepped foot into the light. Though he had previously been bathing in a lake of light in a similar vein to this moment, it felt far brighter in this moment than it had previously. The nameless knight took a few moments to allow his eyes to readjust to the intensely illuminated place before once again continuing his voyage to land.
In the clearing, the rugged valley walls were painted an ugly dark crimson, with lumps of flesh, bone, and pieces of deflated organs pinned to the ragged interior. Contrasting the lurid sight of the valley walls was the surface, which despite being covered in thick, oozing blood, held a place virgin from the gore. A single perfect circle encompassed the center of the clearing, free of the red that painted this entire section of the world. The grey stone was not present in the circle, instead, a deep black stone made up both what was and wasn't underneath the ankle-deep puddle of bodily fluids.
In the center of the circle was a single gleaming sword, embedded deeply in the slate. Its silvery blade gleamed happily in the sun, prideful beams of light as if welcoming the knight to draw closer. The knight, however, was hesitant in that matter. He stood in the ankle-deep sludge with great amounts of disgust, yet he managed to keep his entire being focused on the object of his grandest curiosity.
Taking a step forward, the knight entered the blinding light and watched as a faint steam began to roll off his armor. Continuing forward, his large frame quickly made its full resistance in the clearing while the thick layer of gunk rolled off his body and the shell around and became nothing more than a hit of red in faint whispers of the migrating winds. He continued to take plunges into the gooey liquid, letting it splash upward around his strong legs, painting them, then instantaneously being turned into a mist in the clearing. After a few more steps, the knight found himself on dry land, with a completely dry body.
With the viscous liquid no longer assaulting his senses, he noticed the malodorousness carried from the other half of the serpent's remains by the wind, but a few moments later. It was horrid. He would've tried to prepare himself, but it was too late; he had no time to try and kill his own sense of smell, and because of that, he tripped over his own feet and before he knew it, he collided with the extremely hot black stone in the barren circle face first. A moan of discomfort wormed its way out of his main orifice as he lay in the same position, motionless. He couldn't even be annoyed at the fact that this kept on happening, as his mind was focused entirely on the blinding smell. His stomach churned ominously, before suddenly, an invading force fought its way back up through his esophagus. For a few minutes, all the knight did was bite back the rebellion, with the victory ultimately going to him, though even after that, he remained perfectly still.
Sighing for the umteenth time, he rolled onto his back and looked up at the sky with a strange sense of mirth dancing behind the visor. He couldn't be bothered by the highly lethal blade within arm's reach; all he knew was that he needed a break. Getting thrown around like a rag doll was the norm, and could not allow that.
Tossing himself, he was now facing toward the sky, still lying without a care in the world. It was a pleasant sight. The blue sea above him was calming, and seemed to destroy any existence of the terrible smell that was laying siege to his nose and winning. Bubbling and hissing was something that his ears began to pick up on. From the bubbling and hissing emerged pillars of hazy red mist that dissipated entirely under the cruel sun's mighty rays of decomposing light. It was quite the entertaining sight, to say the least. Not only was the body of the snake quickly being broken down until only bone remained, but even the stench lurking in all crevices of the dead colossus was eviscerated by the heat of the sun, somehow cleansing the odor slowly. The knight didn't seem to notice the invisible massacre on the same thing that massacred his nose, but instead elected to smile pleasantly while basking in the cool heat of the midday desert sun. Despite the same sunlight burning away the essence of the serpent into little more than particles in the atmosphere, it felt sweltering against the red protection for sure, but nowhere near the heat level it would've taken to break it down in such a fast time.
'Strange… At least something out here isn't trying to kill me.' That in itself was strange, since he had escaped his confinement, the knight continued to find himself in the foremost awkward and dangerous situations, all of which grew in intensity from the last. Yet for every moment of pandemonium, there was an equal–if not greater–moment of serenity; just like the current one. His life post-imprisonment was looking more like a pendulum, with only the extremes of each making themselves known. It was odd. During those times, his life was not so dissimilar to what it was being made out to be currently. He was either resting and protecting her, or he had been on the front lines trying to quell the growing demonic presence throughout the continent. It was a hectic lifestyle, yet somehow he managed the stress of it all. There was a stark difference in his twin lives that coalesced into a chaotic mess that had kept him from what he truly wanted. With that thought, the knight's mood shifted. The harmonic feelings of longing for the past and happiness for this very moment merged into a single melting pot of raging hot depression. He would never see her in the flesh ever again. Those shifty eyes that lit up brilliantly when the sun danced on them, the freckled caramel skin, and the cheeky grin that was a sun of its own. Thinking about her hurt more than any physical wound, disoriented him more than any scene, and shook him more than speaking to any being that existed outside of existence. It was hard. He was truly alone.
'And just like that… my mood has been torn up and sewn back together in the completely incorrect way…' He couldn't even bring himself to sigh; he was already out of those. Instead, with a little difficulty, he clawed his way to an upright position and swiftly found himself back on to his full stalky height.
'Perhaps seeing what's up with Rising Tide could make the melancholy wash away.' His wishful thinking was just that, wishful thinking.