Chapter 361 - A Simple, Ordinary Punch

"A fate worse than death", that's what our role in Purgatory was meant to be. As knights who gave our oaths to King Arthur, swearing ourselves to him...as knights that betrayed those very vows that bound our legacy, this was our punishment. 

Subjecting us to this cruel form, it is maddening. Our thoughts converge, conflict, and gnaw at the pooled sanity we share. However, we have long since merged through the closeness of madness. 

Now, we stand eternally as a sentinel of a forgotten history; protecting the King we betrayed, a king we may never look upon with our unworthy eyes. Long since have passed the days of glory; guarding only this ruined domain from nameless faces. We're nothing but a monster now, a beast with no sentience, simply armed with our blades to cut any and all down. 

Even so, we accept this fate. If it in some way alleviates our sins, if it in some way recompenses the king, we will stand here for the rest of time. That is the proof of our undying devotion to the king, now and always. 

--These were the thoughts of the Knight of Sin as it stood in the vast, somber domain, facing off against the single intruder. 

Without any warning, it raised all of its blades, striking them down without moving a single step forward to bring the sharpness of its weapons within range of Jae-Seong. However, range was simply a formality when wielding such legendary blades. 

In response to the strikes of the mystical weapons, a howl of magical energy birthed itself near the ceiling. 

"Well, that's new." 

Reflecting off of his golden irises, the array of wild, condensed energy shined as he muttered in awe, finally moving as he sprinted around the enlarged chamber to avoid the downfall of massive pillars of roaring energy. 

Like geysers born from Hell, eruptions of destructive magical energy shot up through the ground, leaving Jae-Seong to move swiftly to avoid meeting whatever fate waited in their roaring hold. 

It was utter chaos; from above, the crimson, gold, and azure columns of energy attempted to find the otherworlder, while from below, the same attacks hunted him all the same. 

This is getting really old, really fast; I'm not one for being on the defensive--it's just not my style, Jae-Seong thought. 

"Yondung Halmoni: Still Plains," it was an incantation not spoken, but thought by Jae-Seong as he stood in the center of the chaotic chamber as from every angle, the beams of magical light closed in on him. 

But as they drew near, a subtle pulsation echoed from the smiling man's position, so gentle and devoid of malice it could be mistaken for a passing wind. With that drift of mysticism in the air, the approaching magic didn't reach him. 

In the next moment, the malicious columns of light were absent from the exuberant room of the castle without a trace, leaving a deafening silence to fill the chamber as Jae-Seong smiled, looking at the Knight of Sin who remained statuesque. 

"Still Plains," It's a tertiary spell that does nothing after being cast, but the moment it extends--it simply overrides whatever magic already exists in the room. A clean slate, a reset, whatever fits best. Pretty handy, Jae-Seong thought. 

"An impossibility. Fluke. Unreasonable. For the king." 

"Not really. In all honesty, you're just pretty weak." 

Jae-Seong taunted while waving one hand casually; his words seemed to dig beneath the armor clinging to the skin of the four-armed knight as he became quaking with rage.

"Die. Die. Die. For the king." 

"Saying it out loud won't make it any more possible. But, if you're that set on pursuing the unreachable, then have a go at it." 

His calmly spoken, yet stinging words invoked an attack from the towering, monstrous knight--though Jae-Seong vanished from the sharp edge of each of the four, swung weapons with ease. 

As the Knight of Sin slashed at the air where the otherworlder once stood, the curly-haired man dressed in only a simple, sable tank top and baggy pants appeared directly behind him with an uncaring expression written over his fair face. 

I've never considered myself much of a "mage" while in this world. I guess sometimes that can give people the wrong idea; that I'm not very adept with magic. 

That's just the problem though: I'm just way too damn good at it. Boringly so. It's no different than my time on Earth. Anything I wanted to do, I did. I became a world-class pop singer, ruling the music industry. Then, almost as a joke, I became a boxer...soon becoming an undefeated champion. It's just so damn boring. 

It was my intention to come to this place for a bit of fun, but look where that landed me...my own hubris got someone killed. 

I lost any right to have fun, Jae-Seong thought. 

"I'm an idiot, aren't I?" 

Jae-Seong spoke to himself, looking up at the dazzling chandelier of opulent crystals that hang from the gilded metal. 

"Die. Die. Die. For The King." 

--From behind the spaced out man, the amalgamate knight dashed forth with each of its weapons reared back, trailing with a howling, malicious mysticism. 

However, in the moment that existed between the meeting of blades and the flesh of a human, Jae-Seong turned back, looking straight at the incoming knight with his golden irises that held no remorse--in fact, the opposite. 

An abundance of malice laid there in those eyes; a wave of blackness overtook the radiant sheen momentarily as a boundless bloodlust oozed off of Jae-Seong's self. 

Sensing this was enough for the Knight of Sin to prematurely stop his attack, driving his boot against the marble floor with a resounding crack to halt his speedy maneuver before jumping back, all in one movement. 

Jae-Seong rolled his shoulders without any recognition of his opponent, who kept a cautious distance from the man. 

Ren Nakamura, it's fair to say, I owe you my life. Even if it's just until we reach the victory line of this realm, I will assist you with everything I have--that's a promise, from one otherworlder to another, Jae-Seong thought, so let me prove myself. 

Raising a single fist in front of his chest, he smiled as his silver necklace swayed, lifting his arm higher as his muscles tightened and bulkened--straining with visible veins as a stream of violent wind spiraled around his limb. 

"If you want to just stand there and watch, be my guess. But, if you want to give me your best shot--I'll meet you halfway." 

Jae-Seong spoke to the statuesque knight who remained a safe distance from the otherworlder. His words seemed to fall with meaning onto the Knight of Sin's ears as the sentinel paused for a few seconds before raising all four of its arms, gathering a spectrum of magical energy around itself. 

"That's more like it. I know knights like you prefer to die in battle. Honor and all of that jazz," Jae-Seong smiled, "In that case, I won't hold anything out on you; it's nothing fancy, but I'll throw a punch with all of my might...It's about time I finally show off what it means to be a "Heavenly King", right?" 

Wordlessly, the four-armed sentinel accepted this challenge by broadening its stance, sending a tremor through the royal domain as the mixture of crimson, azure, sable, and golden lights surrounded him with a miraculous display. 

Well, even if I just call it a "punch", there's only been two people to survive it: Doraku and that beastly general, Jae-Seong thought. 

In the moment it took to initially raise his fist, the preparations for his attack were already complete; it was simply a formality that he waited for the maddened sentinel to prepare his own assault. 

The very moment the Knight of Sin carved his set of immaculate weapons through the air, carrying in their path a blight itself with bountiful energy clinging to the steel, Jae-Seong threw his fist in response. 

It would be impossible to keep up with; the perfect form of Jae-Seong straight right punch. Surpassing the limitations of flesh, space distorted around his callused fist as his knuckles became the very instrument of destruction. 

From the knight's four-set swing, the colorful energies mixed and combined into a radiant, potent tunnel of eradication that charged towards the otherworlder. 

--As quick as the mystical energy was born, it was erased; overwhelmed by the simple thrust of Jae-Seong's wind-coated fist, the heavenly mixture of magical energy was parted, resulting in the flooring being carved apart as the wind wickedly cracked and boomed. 

Not very knightly of you, is that? Jae-Seong thought. 

Mixed in the assault, the Knight of Sin had thrown in a volley of unseen blades, but they were simply discarded by the passing winds of Jae-Seong's blow. 

"A simple punch," a term unrecognizable when witnessing the natural disaster that followed in its wake; the resulting winds gripped the very foundation of the tertiary spell's domain, violently shaking it. To any unfortunate enough to ever find themselves in the vicinity of the Heavenly King's "simple punch", their eardrums would likely rupture volatilely--if not the rest of their body; this was a fact Jae-Seong knew well, a fact that normally restrained this showing of power around his comrades. 

Traveling forward without hindrance, the wind from the thrown punch met the sentinel harshly--meeting its destination with a shock wave that decimated the tertiary magic, allowing the walls to close back in. 

Standing in the center of the chamber returned to its normal size, Jae-Seong lowered his fist as he looked at the state of his opponent, who was slumped against the desolated, marble wall that had been cratered in. 

"You were pretty strong after all, knight." 

Jae-Seong spoke calmly, though it was unlikely his words met any listening ears as the Knight of Sin was obliterated; dead on impact. 

From every slight opening of the dented and caved-in armor the knight wore, blood poured out, though the knight's grip didn't falter from his weapons, even in death.