The Blood of the Kings.
The Knights on the battlefield screamed as the blade tore through their armor. Blood sprayed right across the person's face, as he tore through their armor, the knight screaming as he stopped, and the person holding the knight shoved the corpse aside without a glance.
Another rushed at him, full of desperation as he wanted to kill the person with rage. " Go to hell, you monster," Roared the person.
The person with a face full of blood didn't wait as he dropped his knife low and drew his gun in one swift motion.One shot—sharp, clean.
The person took a white handkerchief from his pocket, wiping the blood from his face.
The others circled him now, six in total, shields raised, swords trembling.
"Poor little guys, circling me thinking they can kill me," The person said, wiping all of his face, voice rough and cold. " I'll tell you, I won't even remember your useless names."
A knight lunged. The person sidestepped easily, catching the attacker's wrist mid-swing and snapping it with a sharp twist. The man howled, dropping his sword, and the person drove his blade up under the knight's chin, straight into the brain.
The body dropped like a sack of meat.
Gunfire barked again—two quick flashes. Another knight spun away, clutching his throat,and another fell face-first, gurgling blood.
Steel hissed behind him. Riven spun, parried a clumsy blow, and smashed his gun across the attacker's jaw. Teeth flew.Without hesitation, Riven drove his blade into the knight's gut and shoved him backward.
The last two hesitated, their courage bleeding out into the dirt.
The person turned towards them with the knife full of their former comrade's blood. His eyes, cold and unblinking, gazed onto them.
One dropped his shield and turned to flee.
Stupid.
The person fired once, the bullet tearing through the man's spine. He dropped instantly, twitching.
The final knight fell to his knees, tossing down his weapon.
"Mercy!" he begged, voice cracking. "Please—mercy!"
The person stared for a long moment, as if considering. He even lowered his gun slightly.For a heartbeat, the knight's eyes filled with desperate hope.
Riven smiled.
It was not a kind smile.
"You should've have thought before coming here."
He rammed the blade straight into the knight's chest. Felt the ribs crack. Watched the light die in the man's eyes.
Silence fell across the battlefield. Smoke curled over broken bodies. Blood soaked into the dirt like rain.
Above them, the king's banners fluttered weakly in the choking air.
Riven wiped his blood clean with a dead man's cloak.
He was turning to leave when the slow, deliberate sound of clapping echoed across the field.
From the mist, a giant figure emerged—armor blackened by soot, crimson cloak dragging like a wound behind him. Plumes on his helm hung torn and bloodied.
The Knight Commander.
"You must be the murderer of the knights they warned me about," the Commander said, voice like grinding stone. His sword, thick and runed, gleamed with death. "I will break all your bones today and then kill you"
The person just smiled.
The Knight Commander didn't waste words.He charged, sword swinging in a brutal arc.
The person sidestepped, fast and low, and hurled a grenade at the Commander's feet.
Boom—Smoke and dust blasted into the air.The Commander staggered but kept moving, roaring like a beast.
Steel clashed against steel.The Commander's swings were heavy, brutal, designed to crush.
But the person he was facing was faster.
He ducked under a wide slash, drawing his knife across the Commander's thigh as he passed, the knife slicing deep through the blackened armor.
The Commander howled, spinning and slashing wildly.
The person weaved through the strikes, movements sharp and surgical.He smashed the butt of his gun into the Commander's helmet, denting the steel with a crack.Before the man could recover, the person kicked him hard in the ribs, sending him stumbling backward.
Blood leaked from under the armor now.The Commander breathed in ragged gasps.
Desperation fueled him.He lunged one last time, a brutal overhead strike meant to split the person in half.
The person didn't flinch.
He stepped inside the swing, grabbed the Commander's arm mid-strike, twisted it with brutal precision—A snap echoed.The sword fell from the Knight Commander's ruined hand.
The person shoved him backward, leveled the gun point-blank at his chest, and fired once.
The Commander crashed to his knees, blood bubbling from his mouth.
He looked up, coughing, broken.
"W-who..."Blood spilled from his lips."Who are you...?"
Riven crouched low, grabbing the man's chin so he couldn't look away.
He leaned in, voice a quiet rasp, a final judgment.
"Riven Cael."
The light in the Commander's eyes flickered—and died.
Riven rose, wiping blood from his blade once more.
Smoke swallowed the battlefield.Behind him, the king's banners burned.