Wrought King of Iron

Chapter 37: Black Knight Strout (I)

~Shiki Tohno~

All I could see before me was an obstacle. A barrier preventing me from reaching my goal.

Covered in darkness, as if he were one with the night itself, stood before me a demon. A vampire both lacking in life and understanding of the value of life.

'You are the one? The being my liege loathes more than anything ever before?'
In his deeply unsettling voice, he stated his murderous intentions.

I gripped my knife tightly, and replied,
'I guess so. She certainly sounded like she wanted me specifically terminated. And as her lapdog, that means your task is to be the harbinger of death; my death, right? Sorry to say, but the only one dying here will be you, unless you move out of the way.'

He pushed his arm into the air- no, into some sort of abyss, likely magical in nature. When his arm regressed, out it came, clenching the same sword he had thrown right at the beginning.

'Your existence is a stain on the legacy of the moon, and so as long as you are alive, my lord will not rest. She will never be satisfied until you disappear, and I have no qualms performing the role of a dog, and hunt you to the ends of the earth if I have to. Death is your only end. You cannot run, and you cannot win.' 

I stared into the abyss, and the abyss stared back.
'I, Rizo-Waal Strout, as an emissary of hell, am your final destination.' 

'Black Knight Strout. I'll show you...'
I focused my eyes on him.
'...What it means to kill.'

He vanished. His steps so great with force, resonated in the air. The thundering of his footsteps was supposed to alert me to his location. But it was a distraction. After all, he must have been faster than sound itself. Listening to the clanking of his armour would mean I would be chasing his after-image.

There was no time nor freedom for me to even try to destroy the lights. If I moved, I would die.

He ran around the room, though not following a pattern. Rather, with erratic and unpredictable movement, leaping off the walls and ceiling, but carefully so not as to damage the lights which served to boost his momentum.

I couldn't follow him exactly. My speed was always super-human, but his was far greater than mine. His sword propelled him to greater speeds than I could dream of. My eyes couldn't fully register his movement, merely seeing a faint blur where there was an absence of light he had erased.

This is bad. Where will he strike from?
From my right? Left? From above? Or will he challenge me straight on? Think Shiki! I'm facing the light. He is using that to his advantage. Meaning...

...He'll strike from the shadows!
'Behind me!'

I reacted the moment he tried to attack, turning around to meet his blade mid-strike. He swung horizontally at my chest, trying to cleave me in two. My knife deflected his blade and I didn't take the full brunt of his blow, though what I did receive was incomparable to any other foe I'd fought before.

Damn, I missed!

His armour was so dark that I had a difficult time making out where I could strike his blade to 'kill it'. I was sure I had hit close to a line of death, but I ultimately missed the mark.

Pushing on with my own assault, I aimed for his sword , because I knew he would be fast enough to deflect any oncoming blows, and if I disarmed him I would be at an advantage.

I tried to aim for points of death, or slash at the lines, but it felt like I was guessing. I couldn't properly make out where they were, and even if I were about to hit them, his sword didn't seem to stay still enough for me to hit the points I wanted to.