She slammed against the wall so hard it left a crater, then slid to the ground, fighting for consciousness. Shattered rocks showered her left side as something crashed nearby. Sharp pain grated along her broken leg as she tried to stand. She was forced to kneel, shifting her weight onto her right leg. She grimaced as her body slowly healed — a testament that her endurance was nearing its limit.
She couldn't give up. She was needed. The people of this realm — those still alive — depended on her.
The Faceless monster's roar reverberated across the broken Kingdom.
"My Lady!" A Golden Knight ran to her. His armor was battered and greasy from combat. "We have to retreat."
She looked at the Knight, her brows furrowed in desperation.
"We can't leave these people," she gritted out as she rose to her feet.
"Sun Lord Dageal has ordered the retreat, my Lady. They are heading back to the portal." His voice shook as another roar echoed through the Kingdom, followed by the screams of the dying.
She started walking, her body now healed. She would not let them die. It was her duty to save them.
∆∆∆ ∆∆∆ ∆∆∆
She's a fool. This Realm is lost. The Faceless monster can't be beaten.
He looked back at the portal, overflowing with people fleeing certain death. Sun Lord Dageal hesitated. Leaving her would make him a coward. He had already ordered the retreat, but when they saw the Sun Maiden turn back to face that monstrosity, his soldiers faltered and deliberately disobeyed. They all marched back to aid her.
The Golden Battalion was his command, not hers. He was a Sun Lord.
There was a flash of light, followed by a boom of thunder, as the Sun Maiden re-engaged the Faceless.
He took a deep breath, frustration mounting. This had never been part of the plan. They had never anticipated encountering such a foe.
Their mission was to destroy a Demon Realm discovered by the Sun Forerunners. They had traveled from portal to portal to reach that cursed place — but this… this unknown monstrosity barred their way.
A roar of thunder shook the ground. He immediately raised both hands in front of him to defend. A shockwave of fire and debris rolled over him. He extended his shield as far as it would reach to protect as many fleeing people as he could.
The blast raged like a storm and then was gone. When he lowered his steaming arms and looked around at the devastation—
He was the only one left.
All the people who hadn't crossed the portal were dead, burned. Even those he had shielded hadn't survived — they hadn't had the strength to withstand such destruction.
Such a waste of time.
They should have retreated.
Fool girl.
He turned back toward the portal, already composing his report of what had transpired. Then another flash of lightning split the air, followed by a hollow boom of thunder. He stopped in his tracks as a tremendous roar answered in challenge.
He looked back and grimaced. She was still alive. A series of lightning strikes, thunder, and defiant roars followed. From the corner of a fallen castle, survivors began to emerge — first one, then another, until a stream of refugees ran quietly toward the portal. They were escorted by around fifty Knights, their dented armor the color of rust rather than gold. This was what remained of his battalion?
Fool. If she survived this, her reputation would not.
And then one of the Golden Knights looked at him as he passed without a word. Anger, disappointment, and betrayal carved into his face. Then another passed him with the same look. Then another, and another — each walked by him with no deference to his title, his stature.
He ignored them, anger simmering in his chest. How dare they. He was a Sun Lord. In other circumstances, he would have struck them down where they stood. Burned them to ashes. He almost did — but reputation held him back.
He began walking toward the battle.
He would show them. His mind was resolute.
He would show them why he belonged to the Sun Trinite—one of the strongest Sun Lords in the empire.
He walked on with purpose. Fool girl.
∆∆∆ ∆∆∆ ∆∆∆
She struck the behemoth again and again.
She was a Maiden of the Sun.
The only one.
If she could not kill this abomination, then she would use every ounce of her being to delay it.
— To save as many lives as she could.
Her movements were now on a different level. She had fought battles before, but this was unlike anything she had ever experienced.
Her deep reservoir of endurance was gone. She was burning her life force now.
This boosted her strength a thousandfold.
She was dying.
And yet she smiled.
She remembered him…
She had never seen his tricks…
She had never seen him coming…
The memories shattered as she crashed back into the present.
She dashed and slipped through the monster's defenses, ramming her fist into its right torso. She followed swiftly, her fist striking its chin in a brutal uppercut. She leapt, hooking with her left hand before swirling clockwise, her right elbow slamming into its temple with a deafening crunch. Momentum spun her three times in a torque like a tornado before she unleashed her right knee into the same temple. She cried out — "AaaaahhhHHHH!" — as she spun once more, centering her body to maximize her spin and unleashing a terminal downward kick.
Bolts of lightning lanced from the heavens, striking where her fist, elbow, knee, and foot had landed. Thunder followed, magnifying each attack.
Right torso — right chin — left chin — left temple — left temple — LEFT TEMPLE. Lightning and thunder.
— Eighteen Sunset Combo in a Thousandfold.
The Faceless crashed headfirst to the ground, buried in a burning crater.
She waited.
She knew it would rise again.
They would dance again.
To finality. To an end.
∆∆∆ ∆∆∆ ∆∆∆
Sun Lord Dageal stood on a cliff, watching the duel in awe. Tears rolled down his face, unnoticed.
It was magnificent.
The Only One.
The Maiden of the Sun.
Burning her life away in eighteen thousand strikes.
Oh, how he yearned for an ending such as hers.
How his name would be told in stories across time and eternity.
He was one of three.
But he would do what he could.
Let the Ancient Scroll of Chronicles write his passage to the Realm of the Dead — the one who burned this world to the ground.
He reached out to his Ancient Spell and immediately felt the world resisting.
Had this been a Dark Realm, he would have shattered it to pieces.
But this was a world of the Light Race. His power was canceled by it. But it has to be done - now that he is here - he have to end it.
So he reached deeper, into his life force. His life for this Realm's death. His life against the Faceless.
And the world yielded.
The earth cracked, and flames made of water sprouted in geysers.
All he had to do now was bring down the heavens onto the earth.
"Noooo!" he heard her scream. He watched her run, blazing with speed, and leap toward him.
"Stop this at once! Or I will force you to stop!" she hissed in anger.
"Fool girl! You already know once I begin — there is no going back!"
"You will kill them all!" she cried, stepping forward, but was blocked by the shield of life force draining into the spell.
"They are already dead! You cannot save them all!" he roared. "Look at your comrades! They lie among the ruins! Dead, because you refused to withdraw!" His eyes burned with contempt. "The entire Golden Battalion — a hundred thousand of them — DEAD! Because a fool girl wanted to save a few!"
He watched her with satisfaction as her eyes widened, taking in the ruins around her.
She finally realized the cost of her decision.
"You are a fo—" His words were cut off by the roar of the Faceless as it began to rise.
He raised his hand and unleashed his Ancient Spell. Thousands of portals tore open across the sky.
And from them fell meteors the size of mountains.
"Leave now! Fall back to the portal! Live! Fight another day, fool girl!"
"Tell them… the Sun Lord Dageal fell today… and it was magnificent."
∆∆∆ ∆∆∆ ∆∆∆
The Sun Empire trembled as they lost a Sun Lord.
The story was hushed, whispered so low it barely stirred the air.