Death With Honor

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Hassan nodded in satisfaction as he watched Hecate and Belial deal with the lizards with ruthless efficiency.

Hecate wasn't letting a single beast reach the shore, while Belial rained destruction from above. The two worked in perfect sync, her control over water and temperature combined with his lightning made them a terrifying duo. Their aspects weren't just powerful. They had synergy, flowing into each other like weapons forged for the same war.

But now... it was time for the real threat to arrive.

The sea rumbled.

A massive shadow loomed beneath the waves before a grotesque form broke the surface. The devil had arrived.

It was gargantuan, its jaws oozed sizzling acid into the ocean, and noxious gas curled from its flaring nostrils. Its reptilian eyes, the color of scorched earth, gleamed with malice as they scanned the battlefield. Pale, ivory claws scraped at the water's edge, and its massive tail lashed in agitation, sending waves crashing outward.

For a moment, the Devil did nothing.

After Hecate's relentless assault had thwarted its flames and acidic bile. The corrupted behemoth hesitated, as if calculating its next move. Its malformed eyes narrowed, and a low, guttural growl bubbled from its throat.

It was thinking. And then, it acted.

Turning away from the main conflict, the Devil began to swim toward the western edge of the battlefield, taking the bait Hassan had carefully laid.

It was a risky move for the creature, at least. By moving west, it would distance itself from the spawn it commanded, severing the overwhelming force of numbers that had protected it. But it had no other option. Its long-range attacks had been neutralized, and from afar, Hassan's blows would be impossible to counter. To fight effectively, it had to close the distance.

But that decision… would cost it.

As the reptilian horror neared the shore, lightning rained down from above. The bolts seared its scaled flesh, sending ripples of pain through its massive frame but it was a corrupted Devil. The lightning of an Awakened human was little more than an inconvenience, a flicker of irritation across its hardened nerves.

It snarled, ignoring Belial entirely as it lumbered forward, eyes locked on its true target which was Hassan.

The oppressive, regal aura radiating from the black knight marked him as the greatest threat on the battlefield. Even a creature as twisted as the Devil could feel it in its marrow. Hassan was not to be taken lightly.

And yet, Hassan only spared the beast a single, disinterested glance.

Rank? Class? Irrelevant.

Let it come.

What could a mere lizard hope to achieve… against the Duke of the Underworld?

Hassan said nothing. He simply raised his staff and shifted into a battle stance. In that moment, he was no longer the commander of an army. He was a warrior entering the fray.

"Come, beast… One of us will fall here. Though it hardly matters who."

His voice was quiet, solemn yet behind his helmet, a flicker of joy could be heard. His crimson eyes burned with raw focus and unshakable resolve.

"Death with honor."

In a flash, his staff transformed into a massive polearm. With a roar of movement, he slashed downward.

A thin line of blackness tore through the air, slicing across the corrupted Devil from point-blank range. The cut traced a perfect path from the creature's head down to its tail, the darkness trailing behind like a scar of the underworld itself.

But the injury wasn't deep.

The difference in their ranks remained. The blow, while precise and furious, had not reached the depths needed to bring down such a monstrosity.

Yet Hassan stood tall, undeterred.

Because while strength was measured in rank…

Will was forged in battle.

And then, the battle officially began.

Hassan leapt back, narrowly avoiding the torrent of acidic bile that erupted from the Devil's throat, melting everything in its path. The shoreline behind him hissed and sizzled, swallowed by thick, green smoke rising toward the heavens.

The Corrupted Devil was powerful, far too powerful.

It inhaled deeply, as if drawing the very air from the atmosphere itself. Then, with a thunderous roar, it unleashed a wave of scorching flames that swept across the beach, incinerating everything in its path.

Hassan raised towering walls of darkness in defense, pure blackness surging up to meet the inferno but it was futile. The flames devoured the darkness with ease, forcing him to dodge instead, slipping past the burning tide with calculated grace.

From above, he retaliated. Dark arrows rained down, piercing the beast's hide. Each one exploded on contact, blooming like black flowers across its scaled body.

And yet… it stood, unharmed.

Hassan's eyes narrowed beneath his helmet. With each clash, he understood more of the Devil's terrifying arsenal. Acidic bile. Command over lesser nightmares. Flame breath…

And now, he saw its last, most insidious ability.

The creature's scales, though damaged, regenerated rapidly. As if its very hide was an armor that could repair itself, reforming seconds after impact.

Not to mention, it was of Corrupted rank. Its reserves of essence far exceeded Hassan's. That was why, after just half an hour, Hassan found himself growing exhausted. It was clear that a battle of attrition would end in his defeat.

But Hassan was a master of war.

There is always a path to victory. No matter how hopeless the situation may seem, if you refuse to despair and give everything you have then you just might prevail.

And Hassan had already seen that path.

So he stopped focusing on the Devil and turned his attention to its minions. With precise, brutal efficiency, he began cutting them down, reducing their numbers while activating Gluttony to absorb their souls. He recycled them, distilling the corrupted essence into purified soul energy.

That way, he could rapidly recover and return to the fight against the Devil with renewed strength.

"Let's finish this duel..."

The deep voice echoed from behind his helmet as darkness poured from Hassan like liquid shadow, spilling across the battlefield and rising into a dome that swallowed the Devil whole, effectively cutting it off from its minions.

Still, the Corrupted horror was more powerful than him. That was why Hassan had no choice but to end the fight quickly before it shattered the barrier and escaped.

Raising his staff, the obsidian edges bent like the limbs of a longbow. Without hesitation, Hassan unleashed a relentless barrage, raining dark arrows upon the Devil from a distance.

But the harrowing monster wasn't a fool. It opened its massive maw and unleashed a torrent of flames, illuminating the dome of darkness in a blazing attempt to pierce the shroud and reveal its surroundings, even if its body was ravaged by Hassan's insidious arrows.

Hassan tilted his head slightly, a spark of intrigue flickering in his crimson eyes.

"So, you're not just a mindless beast... That's even better."

With the darkness reinforcing his body and mending his wounds, Hassan's attacks became sharper, faster and more precise. Each shot struck true, each strike digging deeper into the Devil's thick, armored scales. But despite the precision and fury behind every blow, the truth was clear:

This battle was already lost.

It didn't matter that Hassan was the greater warrior, or that his arsenal was more refined, his skill more honed. The Devil was simply superior. For every fatal wound Hassan inflicted, the beast regenerated it with ease. His attacks, no matter how devastating, couldn't outpace the abomination's monstrous healing.

That was why Hassan was now losing.

He dropped to one knee, clutching his staff tightly as ruby dust began to seep from its obsidian body. His armor was corroding, melting under the acidic onslaught and soon, it would reach his flesh, or rather stone. His left shoulder was already scorched, the burn still smoldering.

His body began to heal again, darkness weaving across his wounds like loyal serpents. But before the recovery could complete, the Devil let out a guttural roar that shook the air.

Its eyes gleamed with malice as it charged, abandoning defense and launching a mindless assault. While the beast could regenerate, it still felt pain and that pain now fueled its frenzy.

Hassan narrowly avoided the attack, reading the lizard's blind fury as an opening to end it. But he made a fatal miscalculation.

In the next moment, the barrier shattered.

A deafening crack tore through the dark as the Sanctuary of Darkness collapsed.

The Devil had faked its rage.

It wasn't mindless, it was calculating. It had pretended to lose control, masking its intent behind fury, all to lure Hassan into dropping his guard... and buy the precious moment it needed to break free.

The battlefield was thrown into chaos as the Devil escaped.

Soldiers who had just begun to slaughter its minions looked up only to be met by the towering abomination. In the next moment, all those within its reach melted like wax under flame, their screams drowned by the hiss of dissolving flesh.

Acid dripped from devils jagged maw as it released a triumphant roar, satisfied with the carnage it had wrought.

But then a sound rang out behind it.

A loud, metallic clang, echoing across the bloodstained battlefield like the toll of a gong.

The Devil turned, eyes narrowing only to see Hassan.

Despite his wounds, despite the battered state of his armor, he rose with grim defiance. His one hand gripping a dark shield, the other a spear. He struck the shield again with his weapon, the ringing cry cutting through the air like a battle hymn.

Without a word, he began to walk toward the Devil, the heavy thud of his boots beating against the earth in time with the pounding of war drums.

With a bestial roar, the devil lunged at him but Hassan didn't avoid its dark maw. Instead, he raised his shield and jumped straight in.

The creature blinked, momentarily stunned, then began coughing violently, trying to vomit him back out.

But Hassan had already raised walls of darkness inside its mouth, sealing off airflow to its lungs. Its fangs were held back by dark tendrils, just long enough to keep him from being shredded.

This was something he had learned from his lord. When cornered, Klaus always resorted to the most insane tactics to win. Hassan had often scolded him for that recklessness that sometimes bordered on madness. But now...

Am I becoming like him...? No. This is the only way.

Giving himself a firm, reassuring nod, he cast one last glance around the devil's maw and dove down its throat.

The devil's body was filled with corrosive acid, yet a thin, transparent membrane protected its flesh from being dissolved.

Hassan knew he didn't stand a chance in head-on combat but from the inside… that was a different matter.

A crimson light ignited behind his visor.

And than devil let out a tortured roar as jagged spikes of darkness tore through its body. It coughed up acid violently, its tongue, throat, fangs, and even parts of its internal flesh melting away.

In a wild frenzy, it rampaged through its surroundings, destroying everything in sight. its own minions, soldiers, even the landscape itself. Cliffs along the shore began to crumble, and flames erupted from its throat, scorching the sand below and vaporising the water. It clearly intended to take everyone down with it.

But then final, razor-sharp spike pierced through its skull.

The beast froze… then collapsed, its massive body twitching before falling still.

The Corrupted Devil was finally defeated, just like that.

From the devil's shattered body, a giant spinning saw of darkness emerged, cutting through its flesh and carving a path for the Darkest Knight.

Hassan emerged, his armor almost melted beneath the green acid, ruby dust flowing from his wounds like a crimson river.

He stumbled, falling to one knee, but forced himself to stand, leaning heavily on his staff. Then, he let out a fearsome battle cry, announcing his hard-won victory.

From above, a brilliant phoenix descended. Her golden wings caught the sunlight breaking through clouds like a beacon of hope after a long, dark journey.

Hemera immediately rushed to Hassan's side, landing gracefully to envelop him in soft, azure-gold flames. But despite the gentle blaze, the flames couldn't heal him.

Hassan spared the young phoenix a glance and spoke in his usual deep voice.

"It's of no use, child. I was born from the darkness of the Underworld, and you from the radiance of the Heavens. Our elements are opposites, they clash. That's why you cannot heal me."

Hemera looked up at the towering knight, about to speak, but then noticed Hassan losing consciousness while still standing. Slowly, he dissolved into a dark mist and returned to Klaus's spirit sea.

The only way for him to survive was the bizarre cosmos within Klaus's inner world, where atoms collapse, stars die, and space-time swirls in endless chaos.

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Okay, I know some of you might want chapters where characters talk, rest, and just vibe. maybe with a bit of comedy and a wholesome atmosphere. But I can't help it, guys! Writing fight scenes is just too much fun. Seriously, I'm addicted to them.

So, how was Hassan? Hah! My boy is going wild out there in the middle of war. But for now, he's out of the picture. Klaus will have to keep the war going with his other spirits until Hassan recovers and that might take a while.

And lol, this fight isn't even over yet. The Tyrant is still alive, hahaha.

That's all for now! Enjoy, fellas!

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