The Reason I Continue to Stand

As the voice heard the boy's reply, lights as bright as a thousand suns fell on the body lying on the ground with white hair, and with a voice full of affection and warmth, the sultry voice echoed in the vicinity.

- Very well, boy, from today onwards, you are my champion

Sklirós Dun Paladin, I grant you the name Abel until we win or when I fall; you will live from battlefield to battlefield. Never to rest, but to endure grief and sorrow greater than any man before you

I will guide you to where you must go. I will give you the tools you need. But the strength to continue will be yours alone.

By my power, Elpída Xin Amore shall know no sorrow nor endure no suffering. Instead, she will be blessed to live a life of warmth and happiness. The day you decide you can endure no longer will be the day your precious friend relinquishes her life to me.

In my name, this covenant will stand. On my honor, this pledge will endure. In my strength, this vow shall last till the day our blades break or our enemies fall.

Now rise, my brave warrior, for the reason you stand, you are not allowed to fall. Arise, my shield, for you have no time to lose, nor do you have the time to break. Arise and struggle against Fate, against Time, against the Universe -

Awaking from the intense emotions the dream gave, Abel tried to stand up, but the beasts started stomping their feet and smashing their claws and paws on him. He was forced to stay on the ground.

'Well, that was useless; good thing my body is tough. I haven't been flattened like a pancake yet. Even if I woke up, I would still die at this rate. I need to act fast.'

The Kinetic Energy dissipated as the cores of the boxes in his shoulders were damaged. The armor he wore shattered as it broke into millions of pieces. His [Demon of War] was dispelled while his armor shattered.

As the black-haired shielder lay on the ground being stomped by demonic beasts, he remembered his foster father's words to him back when he was a child. It was when he was severely bruised from a brawl with the neighborhood kids.

Orphans were bullied for being thrown away by their parents when the young Sklirós saw the bullies ganging up on his only friend. So he fought all 10 of them until they broke most of his bones.

When his guardian, the orphanage's caretaker, tended to his wounds, he cried out to his substitute father figure.

"Why did our parents give us away?!  What did we even do wrong for them to hate us and throw us away?! We never wanted any of this!"

The old man sat beside the bed; he held the young boy's hands and calmly said.

"My child, no one in this world is worthless; every bird in the air or mouse on the ground has a purpose. This I know very well. Even as a toddler, you have been prone to heroics. You are my pride who carries with you the salvation of this universe."

Unable to understand what the elder was saying, the young child pouted and tried to wiggle his limbs, only to stop when the pain in his entire frame assaulted him. Seeing the pained expression of his young, adopted son, the elder continued to speak.

"Remember Sklirós; you have a mission entrusted to you; you are to guard ####### no matter what happens."

Annoyed by the Elder's answer, the young child complained.

"Why do I even need to do that? All she does is act like a princess; I hate her! She was the reason I got beaten up, and she isn't even here!"

Amused at the intensity of longing in the young child's voice, the elder instead said.

"Do not worry. You will have all the time in the world to be with ######, for now, recite the orphanage's motto to me."

Knowing that the elder would pester him endlessly, Sklirós knew the quickest way to end his suffering was to do what the elder wanted. He was made to recite the damn motto 12 times a day, every day since he could talk. He was sick of it as he had been repeating it non-stop for over ten years.

He even wondered why the hell was there was an orphanage with only two kids in it, given a motto that sounded like something recited by knights. This old man was crazy; however, as if by condition reflex, he shouted in his loudest voice, even on the sick bed without an intact bone in his body.

"Paladins never fall, Paladins never die, Paladins forever rise again!"

Finding the young child's recitation pleasing, the elder lovingly stroked his head as he said.

"Remember, my son; this is who you are, who you were, and who you will always be. You are a Paladin, the shield to stop the apocalypse."

Awakening from his short respite, Abel felt his entire body go numb from pain. The only parts of his armor still with him were his full-faced helmet with half of his broken horn and the stake on his right that already looked like a broken nail. His body was trampled by the numerous beasts congregating in the middle looking for him.

'Thanks, Old man; I guess that chant was perfect for me.'

His remaining armor was utterly destroyed, and his bones broke from the weight of the demonic tide. Abel slammed his head to the ground as he shouted.

"Shielder skill: [Rebound]! Mode [Storm Dive]"

As his helmet and the remaining horn glowed red, the ground exploded. He was sent flying backward and landed back first on the leg of a beast. The said beast looked like a hippopotamus with a scorpion's tail on its back; It was uneasy due to the impact it felt on its leg but ignored it as it ran around the horde. As the shielder saw the monster's reaction, he found himself chuckling.

"Guess I'm even less than a fly, Thanks, whatever the hell you are, at least I am standing." 

Abel impaled his right arm into the monster's leg as he hanged on for dear life. Then, he heard the rest of the Beowolves shouting inside his helmet. There were so many that the shielder didn't know who to focus on. So, he just answered quickly.

"I am alright; continue with the plan."

Voices erupted, asking a multitude of questions until Cain's voice overpowered everyone as he said.

"GET OUT OF THERE, ABEL! YOUR BATTLE SUIT IS TOO DAMAGED! IF WE CAST OUR SKILLS, YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE THE IMPACT!"

Hearing the always cool captain lose his calm as he roared over the Fenrir network, he chucked as he said in the coldest voice he could muster.

"I will not repeat myself; I will not die here. I can only maintain my skill for another couple of minutes. Herd them all and annihilate them. I will endure it. I am a Paladin; Paladins will never fall."

- My dear paladin, the time to declare your oath to me has come. I release the restriction on your 1-Star skill. From this point on, any Force you will earn and steal will be used to strengthen it alone. You shall no longer gain any wish or ability even if you become a celestial.

Chant with me. The dawn of your legend has arrived. -

Hearing the angelic voice, Abel converged the energy from [Rebound] to his legs and stomped upward from the spot he was hanging from. The force was so strong that Abel's legs exploded like watermelons. His body was catapulted to an incredible height. He looked at the sun in excitement. As his blood began to boil, he began to chant.

*************

Rewinding a few minutes, Jin and Cain charged towards the flanks, and El started strafing the vanguard of the horde. As they fell, they flattened and pierced any monster around them; the succeeding impacts smashed and maimed the beasts that still survived.

The demonic beasts were pushed back by exaggerated weapons; those that did not charge after Abel all turned around at the sight of the sizeable 15-meter stone lances in the air and the damage they caused to the front most of the horde.

At the same time, Jin arrived at the east side of the horde and activated his skill [Wind Rider]. He created fifteen 50-meter-long wind cannons that bombarded the monsters at the eastern edge of the menagerie.

The wind cannons began shooting highly compressed violet balls of air that explode upon impact. The demonic monsters hit immediately exploded into pieces; the ones that survived all saw the swirling vortexes of purple energy shooting at them and began to turn back.

Cain arrived at the west side and unsheathed his blade as he used [Faster than light] and sliced apart the monsters at the western edges. The demons started dying in large numbers, unable to mount any response. Those who felt their lives were in danger started running east; if you included the ones who followed Abel earlier, the entire west side was running east.

As the three sides converged towards the middle, the rear guard of the horde didn't know that the charge had been halted. Thus anarchy prevailed in the center as all four sides started hitting each other in absolute chaos as they assembled in the center.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Proofread By: Pearl_Wang

Edited By: WorthyAdversary