The Sun God's Paladin

Rodenaus looked at the Griffin with darkness in his eyes. He hadn't fought in a very long time, but it seems that he must draw blood once more.

He slowly approached it while drawing upon his enchanted sword, the Griffin too seemed to raise it's guard. It's wings unfolded, its talons gleamed, but it also was clearly a bit rusty from being chained for decades, yet somehow it was just as lethal.

Before they engaged, Rodenaus muttered a prayer:

"Lord, shine thine light upon me. Let my soul burn unextinguished, as the sun can never be extinguished."

He rushed forwards, and so did the griffin as it burst forth with the air shaking behind it. Rodenaus quickly raised his blade, while the Griffin swung its dark right claw at him.

The two blades clashed briefly, causing sparks to fly with the sheer force the two put behind it. For a brief moment they seemed equal, but then Rodenaus was suddenly pushed back.

With it's left claw, the Griffin aimed to gouge out Rodenaus's side, but he quickly stepped back, watching as the arm swung right in front of him.

An inexperienced warrior would take another step back to regain their bearings, but Rodenaus was no mere warrior. He was of the Sun God knights, a legion of warriors who directly served the most powerful god.

Rodenaus raised his weapon, grabbing onto it with both hands, before slamming it down with near perfect form.

"Tch."

The sword managed to cleave through the griffins flesh, cutting it all the way down to its bone before quickly jolting to a pause. Taking that chance, the Griffin then sweeped at it him with its right claw once more, letting it easily rip through the left shoulder guards of Rodenaus's armour.

The Knight quickly took several steps back, as blood seeped through his new wound. He could still use his right arm, but with far less efficiency.

If it was in the past, then one strike would've been enough to cut its arm clean off. But although he didn't want to admit it, the darkness of these caverns had taken its toll on him. He was but a dying flame of the inferno that he used to be before.

However, Nero who watched in the back, was greatly amazed from the battle taking place in front of him. He could see it, the hundreds of thousands of hours that Rodenaus had spent practicing that one strike, as well as the unyielding ferocity of the Griffin. 

Rodenaus fought not just for revenge against The King, but his desire to see the sun again, while the Griffin fought for its pride, and not just as the strange Guardian that wanted to keep them trapped here.

It was all so..

"...beautiful."

It was a strange feeling. Although he wasn't directly engaged, he could feel it emanating from the two of them. The passion for battle.

He wanted to taste it too. Even if it was only brief, he wanted to feel it too.

Nero's left foot shifted forward, while his right foot planted itself even more firmly in the ground. His centre of gravity shifted, as he raised the butt of his spear towards the air, while facing its tip at an angle from the ground.

Rodenaus's head tilted back a little to check on Nero, but was surprised to see the stance he had taken.

"Boy..."

It was one suitable for a thrust. Just one single powerful thrust with all of his weight behind it.

The Griffin seeing Rodenaus's attention slip for just a second, raised open all of its 4 pure white wings. Then with just a single flap of each of them, a storm feathers was sent hurtling towards him.

Despite how light and delicate they looked, each and every single one of them carried the sharpness and potency of a blade that could through even steel.

Rodenaus was a little late to react, as by the time he had swung his sword to deflect swaths of them, several others had already pierced his torso and legs, causing him to stagger.

Yet he pushed through. With monstrous dexterity and perseverance, he forced his body to continue moving. His sword flashed like lightning, moving so fast that Nero's eyes could no longer track it, nevertheless the rain of feathers should've been even faster.

Each strike was precise, blades of steel meeting the quills of feathers, in a furious dance of defiance. His movements blurred, his form shifting and splitting, leaving behind ghostly afterimages that shimmered in the air.

It was like seeing dozens of knights fighting in unison, each reflection of his speed carving a path through the deadly hail. Splintered feathers fell in heaps at his feet, their deadly momentum robbed by his unyielding blade. The caverns echoed with the sharp ring of steel, as the old knight withstood the horrible tide.

Nero on the other hand, wasn't faring to well himself. He was positioned behind Rodenaus which prevented most of the feathers from reaching him, but every now and then he would suffer a small cuts on either his hands, thighs, and even his cheeks and ears.

But despite the cuts he suffered, he held his position, and gazed at the two fighters like a hawk.

The Griffin then leaped back at Rodenaus while flapping its wings for an extra boost. The cave ceiling was too low for it fly, otherwise it would've just stalked the sky and continued to rain feathers down on them forever.

Going outside wasn't an option either, as there was something out their that would wipe them all out if he lingered too long.

The only way it would kill the two of them, was to finish of Rodenaus, and then go for Nero afterwards.

And so it pranced forwards while swiping at Rodenaus with its still healthy right claw. The knight quickly raised his sword to defend from it, but then the Griffin rised on its hind legs as it leaned over with its head, and sunk its beak into Rodenaus's injured shoulder.

Of course, this caused him an undesirable amount of pain. He should've expected the beast to fight like one too despite its intelligence.

But Rodenaus did not concede.

"Lord, shine thine light upon me."

Throughout this entire fight, the Griffin had never felt that its life was at risk. But right now, as Rodenaus muttered the prayer of his god, it felt something it hadn't experienced in a long while.

Fear.

"Let my soul burn unextinguished, as the sun can never be extinguished."

It was akin to a cornered animal baring its fangs in a mad fury. Despite how injured it was, it's leathilty had increased by over 100x times. That was what the Griffin felt in this exact moment.

"Let my heart beat with feverance, as your passion encompasses all."

It tried to withdraw, it took back it's beak from Rodenaus's shoulder, and withdrew its right talon from his sword, but Rodenaus reached out and grabbed the beasts injured left arm.

"Let my hands move with innovation, as you guide me into your creation."

Rodenaus dropped his sword, and moved in further with his left hand as he forcefully grabbed onto the beasts right, with out daring to let go.

The Griffin reached out its beak in an attempt to bite his head off.

"And let my body be a weapon of your judgement, a conduit for your destruction!"

It was too late.

Unearthly white fire then erupted from all around Sir Rodenaus's body, devouring both him and the Griffin.

The beast shrieked, feeling the flesh and bones of its arms melt while it struggled to break free, but the hungry flames then spread to it too, burning away its feathers, muscles, and wings.

The whole thing was wrapped in those flames, transforming into a beautiful dying angel that cried its death woes. A melody that a hunter would adore.

"I AM SIR RODENAUS, THE PALADIN OF THE SUN GOD KNIGHTS! PERISH HERE AND NOW, FOUL BEAST!"

It wasn't just the Griffin that suffered from these flames though, as even Rodenaus felt his own body being burned by them. These flames did not belong to him, and thus they devoured him too as he released their wrath unto his enemy.

But the Griffin was tenacious, despite how damaged it's body was, despite the fire that continued to gnaw away at it, it forcefully released its right claw from Rodenaus's grip, and whacked it right against his side, watching his body ragdoll away as it crashed into the caves walls.

Rodenaus was a vessel for flames that his body couldn't handle, while the Griffin naturally had a much better constitution than the human before it, and so it fared them better despite not being their wielder.

The Griffin won.

It had beaten a foe despite it's prayers and powers which it had been lent by a God.

It felt joy, it felt pride, it felt ecstasy at being able to fight again after so long!

Yet the last thing it saw, was the the tip of a spear piercing through its shining yellow eye, and then eventually it's brain.

[You have slain an Ascended devil, Erlking's agent.]