The Paladin strides over the hill, executioner’s axe in hand.
It started to rain a somber shower, like the very world itself felt pain.
Their kin did not feel sympathy, only a strong survival instinct followed by a calm and regretful analysis of the mistakes that had triggered the survival instinct in first place.
If they ended up with a not continue ending and actually being hit to death, they ignored death and saw it as necessary, dying with the conscience that for that to happen, it was because they were weak enough to allow it in the first place and that a stronger being would replace themselves.
Part of why humans were weak was because they were not the same, due to the fact of particularly not being created solely to slay. They would enter in a catharsis mode that rendered them mostly useless, shaking and tears rolling down their face as a clear indicator of what was happening. It was no wonder why fellow humans always attempted to hide those - they were a sign of, at the moment, being helpless. He could never understand why humans liked to bring those at the moment of their death, instead of the stoic acceptation of how nature worked.
All demons had an amount of own conciousness by default. This justified the talk of the devil on demons straying from their path while still furthering the wills of Mithras, as if it happened with recurrence and was a common fact. The detachment from his masters, however, allowed him to borrow more of will of their own themselves. And, by fact, free will was something the humans were known for.
And with the borrowing of free will, he also borrowed those unexplicable parts of human nature he could in a flash comprehend. A human was not made to die, dying was a consequence. The end of all their wills, not being solely reputed for fight, was something to mourn over. It was also no shame to show weakness at death, because at death was where nothing had to be hidden, where a person was at their weakest. And they used this weakest moment for the last seeing of those they convived alongside the most, mourning over the bounds they had to each other or even the bounds they have imagined to their destiny.
When he had gained humanlike intellect, he would never think that they would also adquire humanlike thought.
“I guerdon you your soul. Be in peace.”
The demon tightened their lace around you, the sound of mourning following yours under their mask, the mask they removed and threw away shortly after. It would be of no use now.
Her eyes are directly focused onto the Paladin as they fill with rage and sorrow. Rationality is not even an option anymore.
“So…you want an innocent girl and her friend who want to save you from an oncoming threat dead?! I had been betrayed, trampled, stolen from, and enslaved and yet you want me dead?! Perhaps you deserve to die at the hands of your former allies as you yourselves are brainwashed in righteous do goodery that does not exist. I promise you this, my body might fade away, but I will still be around! It will be an honor to curse you all, to show you your mistakes and play them all over in your minds driving you to the edge of insanity! And the look on your faces will sweeten up the deal! I shall be reborn as the Queen of Madness! YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!”
She starts to struggle against her bonds very aggressively as she shrieks.
The demon is crying in fear.
The girl had become aggressive.
How quickly the tide turns!
With an unyielding assurance, the Paladin takes a step forward.
Then another.
…Then another.
Then another.
They blink a single time in response. A silent acceptance of their last poisonous breath on this earth.
He lets the girl go with the struggle, sitting now down in the wet ground while hugging their own legs.
“It won’t work. Hope is lost” He says softly in look to Marian.
As soon as her bonds disappear, she utters two words underneath her breath.
“Good riddance.”
She dashes towards the Paladin with her fists closed as if ready to punch her straight in the face.
With a solemn expression, they drop their weapon in respect.
“They will remember you.”
The Paladin says while adopting a defensive stance, their eyes burning bright through the storm.
He looks behind the tree to see what happened with the sound of metal clinging and the dialogue line, the face with a strange mixture of fire and ashes instead of humanlike features still crying when it was not even supported to.
Marian continues to run with no sign of stopping as she pulls her right arm back aiming for the woman’s face.
At the moment Marian gets close enough to the Paladin’s face, she pushes her right arm forward towards it.
He watches the battle with the recently acquired sadness, only staring blankly both figures.
The Paladin grabs Marian’s right arm with their own in response, stopping her with a kick directly to her stomach.
Marian falls back with a grunt, but she’s not willing to give up just yet. She aims for the stomach this time ready to make impact with it.
Taking a partial hit, the Paladin counters with a haymaker to the side of Marian’s head.
Once again, Marian falls, but this time, she feels more disoriented due to the massive trauma directed at her head.
“Y-You… cannot… stop him…. with weak ass moves like that!”
She stands up and dashes to direct a kick towards the Paladin’s knees.
The Paladin takes the initiative, stopping the kick from fully registering with a headbutt.