Inside the apartment block, there was carnage. The building had been heavily damaged by the fighting, apartments sitting ripped open, gutted like fish. The tide of scavenger class beasts had been beaten back, mostly dead, a few stragglers remaining. A good chunk of the prey had been taken care of too. No squires were dead, one—severely injured—had been ordered to retreat by the Starry Knight. But so far, they had been rather lucky.
As the last stage begun, the final tier of beasts came through the portal. The two knights glanced at one another. One or two predators was common, three or four happened with pack beasts, and five had been heard of in very rare situations, but there were eight stood there in front of them. Perhaps it was the nature of the vermin themselves, hunting in large groups, or maybe they had just been unlucky, and the portal had opened onto multiple groups in close proximity. Whatever the case, the two of them now had an opportunity to gain honour, or death.
Wasting no time, the Starry Knight attacked first. He had peppered the first predator with several holes in its stomach before it had even raised an arm. Another leapt forward with its powerful hind legs, attempting to crush the attacker, but the knight deftly evaded. The first rodent predator let out a shriek, its body full of holes, it entered a sort of frenetic rampage.
The Knight of the Haunting Veil bashed her shield into another's head, crushing its eye socket. Then flung her mace at another who tried to ambush her from behind. But alas, for all the damage they were inflicting, they were still facing eight very dangerous opponents. Their affinity was an alteration type that, when used, it would sharpen their fangs and claws, making them even more dangerous.
The Starry Knight had been preserving his essence, wishing to keep his spirit resistance as high as possible, but as they were being surrounded, he was becoming increasingly aware of the need to thin the herd. After all, his speed focus worked best in large open areas with lots of space to accelerate, not cramped apartments full of debris. He applied the active effect of his spirit weapon, electrifying the tip, tapping three of the creatures in rapid succession. This did no real damage, save for a few scorch marks, but each were momentarily stunned, allowing him just enough time to prepare a powerful lunge, pushing the point through the chest and into the heart of the one in front of him.
And finally, one was dead. A fast claw swung for his face, and choosing between the stuck blade and his own head, the Starry Knight moved away quickly from the downed opponent and pulled the dagger from his belt.
"One down," he said.
The Knight of the Haunting Veil was fending off several herself and, when the opportunity arose, she focused her own attacks on one she had bashed around the head several times already, eventually splitting its skull.
"One a piece," she grunted.
Throughout this process, her own armour had taken many strikes and slashes, and though she was bruised underneath, her own affinity paired well against creatures who were fast, but not especially powerful. After all, she could ignore many of their attacks, retaliating in a momentary lull when she had the space to lash out. Their claws were not particularly effective against her predator-tier armour, but she still had to be careful to not be overwhelmed. Her face and neck had minimal protection after all, so she would have to protect those area more often than not with her shield, or ability if all else failed.
Starry Knight was doing his best to slash at another giant yellow rodent, slashing at its joints, and significantly reducing its manoeuvrability. It was taking longer than he expected though, striking, or perhaps going to, but being forced to avoid an attack coming from another beast. However, eventually, he was able to slow down his target dramatically, allowing him to overwhelm it with sufficient speed to strike it down without being struck back. This time, the blade of the dagger was forced into the muscular neck, carving out a thick piece of jugular.
Though the Knight of Haunting Veil was desperate to take out another one, evening things up, the overwhelming number of attacks she was taking served to pin her down. It was certainly painful, and in truth, her spirit essence was beginning to drain a little from blocking attacks that would occasionally get through her defences. However, she had a few more tricks up her sleeve. She shouted over to her fellow knight: "You ready?"
"Yes!" he screamed, fending off a couple slashes.
She quickly activated her mask, and all the beasts carelessly went for her in an uncontrollable outburst of fight or flight. Starry Knight was able to pick off another one that he had been battling with, stabbing it several times in the same spot in the creature's thick back and eventually severing the spinal cord. The wound was fatal, but the dagger had cracked in the process. He made a quick roll and pried his precious rapier loose from the dead corpse that held it firm.
The younger knight, now surrounded by opponents wanting to fight in close proximity, was turtled up. Eventually, though, whilst activating her hardening throughout all the exposed areas, she was able to swing her shield in a wide arc and knock an opponent flying. With that, she deactivated the veil. "I'm running low," she said.
"Me too," he replied.
It would be difficult for either of them to fight off four more predators without their physical enhancements. Still, despite doing less damage, she was perhaps in the better position of the two. Wearing a large protective armour, she could use only a thin layer of hardening, blocking only those blows that would be critical. He could try to use his essence to flea, but doing so would leave him with none left, unable to fight, essentially a death sentence for the rest of their squad when she eventually fell to their attacks. She knew what had to be done.
"Reinforcements!" she shouted.
Four of the eleven remaining squires quickly entered the battle scene. One was instantly killed, another maimed, but the reduction in pressure had allowed her enough space to smash another skull in. "Three to go," she cried. But then, something terrible had happened. She knew he was running low, but Starry Knight's essence had failed him at the last moment, making him too slow to dodge an attack which sliced through his arm. The beast had activated its sharpening ability, slicing through it like a hot knife through butter. The arm was held in place by strands of the ornate spirit armour.
"Get him to—" she struggled.
A tail smacked across her helmet. She had activated her ability in time, but instead of bracing, she had been caught with her mouth open. Her teeth felt a little looser, but she had no time to acknowledge this, as the maimed squire who had just entered had his throat ripped out. Three others arrived and now five of them faced the one beast, punishing it for killing their companion. Meanwhile, she and Starry Knight fought one each on her own.
He had to defend better; she had to move faster. It was a cruel irony. She swung her shield, but the rodent sunk its fangs into it. She released the shield and grabbed its throat, trying to hold it in place while she swung her mace at it, but it broke free of her grasp. She was frantic and desperate. Behind her was a wail. As she turned, she could see that Starry Knight had been disembowelled by a claw. He was bent over, attempting to hold his intestines in. She headbutt the creature in front of her, again and again, activating her hardening as she did so, using up the last remnants of her spirit essence, till she heard her helmet or the beast's skull crack. It swayed and stepped backward. She quickly followed it up with the mace, finally killing it.
She charged and tackled the beast who had been fighting Starry Knight, who laid on the floor, his intestines hanging out, like cold tripe. She picked up Starry Knight's dagger from the ground and forced it under the chin of the beast, and twisted, till it gurgled no more.
Thankfully, she had no need to kill the last predator; her essence was completely spent, but the squires had dealt with it. This would be a first for them. She lurched forwards and looked at the quiet face in front of her, the kind eyes that comforted but demanded respect. For nine years she had fought with him, side by side. He was closer to a father to her than her real one.
One knight and two squires. This was a truly terrible day for their section. It would take a year or two to get to its former strength, if they were lucky. The streets would not be as safe.
She lifted his dagger with a silent gravity. The others did the same and they all echoed the same refrain: "They were the Swords in the darkness."