'The only parent I had growing up was my father.'
The sun had already begun to set past the horizon, the light of red dusk igniting the sky with flames.
That day, a stream of people dressed in black drifted slowly through the graveyards gates. Each carrying their grief in a different way. Some held each other's arms for support, others were still struggling to wipe the tears away from their eyes, and a short few struggled to ignore the pain that still lingered in their hearts.
But if you moved past them. Navigated through the forest of stone marking the resting places of the deceased, and reached its very end..
You'd find the headstone of the graveyards most recent inhabitant, and its last visitor still observing it.
'My brother's and sister's were all sad when she died, but I wasn't. How could I feel anything about a stranger I didn't know?'
Unlike many others, this particular stone was adorned in flowers, all the same elegant White lilies.
But dead in the centre, was a lonely picture of a single woman. Her features were hard to make out, her eyes were hard to read, and her expression was impossible to gauge. It was as though a massive smudge had been smeared right over her. While everyone saw a normal person, all Galahd could see was this error in the world.
"And yet, looking at you now.. why am I so greatly saddened that you're gone?"
He couldn't understand why he was feeling that way for the life of him. Every time he tried to look away, a profound amount of grief suddenly forced him to turn back. Everytime he forced himself to leave, he'd find himself returning to this very spot.
It was terribly frustrating, and yet..
"Who were you to me? Why won't anyone tell me?"
He lingered there for a long while. Even after the sun had long since set past the horizon, and the moon rose high into the sky, he stood there silently.
Eventually, he was able to leave.
And eventually, he would forget this day ever happened. He'd forget the person he couldn't remember, and he'd forget why he was ever sad in the first place.
But still, that hole would always remain.
**
The chimera queen had finally forced her way into the sealed city, along with her elite knights. Observing it's surroundings with quiet indifference, she hesitated before making her move.
A Corrupted Tyrant, as well as a pair of fallen demons. Just the queen alone could doom an entire citadel, but her two subordinates would garuntee it's fall.
"This land is nothing but a death zone... A battlefield worthy for me without doubt! Haha!"
But in the face of that dire peril, a mere sleeper openly walked forwards. His unhesistant steps tapping against the stone floor, flaunting his absolute confidence. And then there was his unusual eyes. There was no fear in them. Only excitement.
"They say that an Awakened's duty is to fight back against nightmare creatures, all in order protect to humanity."
As a legacy, it was something he was taught since young. All his training, all the hardships he went through, all of it was for that singular purpose.
"However, I disagree. It's all a convenient lie!"
He couldn't understand the concept of protecting people he had never even met. All the people he knew were strong, and could protect themselves, so such a thing didn't make sense to him.
Which is why, the reality he saw was different compared to other legacy's.
"It's the duty of the strong, to seek out the strong. What's the point of strength, if not to be used against someone worthy! Protecting humanity is a just a convenient excuse the mundane say to understand our strength. It isn't like that at all!"
Raising his hand, he aimed the red and gold staff at the towering spider. Amidst the sea of night sleepers, it had just taken note of his miniature presence as it glanced in his direction momentarily.
"I use my strength for my benefit and no one else's. People who need to be protected can eat shit and die!"
A wide, maniacal grin spread across his face.
He had been holding himself back for so long, anticipating it's arrival to his cohorts disgust. It was like trying to ignore a terrible itch.. and it only grew more painful.. more tempting to touch by the second.
But now. He could finally put it to rest.
Whether he lived or died didn't matter. He would enjoy what would happen next to his utmost, as impossible a fight as it would be. But such a thing was what he longed for, to be able to fight against impossible odds, and somehow come out the other end alive. There was a kind of thrill to be found in it that couldn't be matched with anything else. That was what he longed for.
"Our battle shall be legendary!"
Her ruby eyes then ignited, her desire to consume the mere sleeper finally taking hold.
But then, something changed in them. Something white glistened in them, which caused her to freeze.
Confused, Galahad turned his head towards the stone castle too. It was there that he noticed it as well, a tiny white light glowing right above the structure, like a lone star struggling to shine amidst the dark vacuum of space.
It was pathetic, far weaker than whatever Smile Of Heaven could've done. But it was because that it was alone, that it could be noticed so easily.
That light, the Chimera Queen recognised it.
And once she did, she let out an enraged cry. Her voice screeching like fingernails being scraped against glass, echoing across the buried city. The voice of her agony being so terrible, that it managed to knock several of the worn down buildings in her vicinity.
It was so bad, that despite being a decent distance away from the chaos, Galahad dropped his own weapon just to cover both of his ears. Even then, he still couldn't keep the horrid sound from penetrating them.
Finishing, silence quickly returned to the dark place. But it wasn't long before it was replaced with the sound of rumbling. The tyrant had begun to move.
Now completely ignoring the overly arrogant sleeper, it began to rampage its way towards the lone star in the sky, trampling all the night sleepers and buildings that stood in it's path under it's legs. But it wasn't just her, the centipede too, also sped over there with even greater speed, moving with it's countless human hands all in perfect sync with one another.
To that, all Galahad could do was scream,
"Don't run away from me you coward! Come back and face me!"
But the queen didn't listen. It had already lost interest in the sleeper.
Instead, something else had answered his call.
A large shadow loomed right overhead, as something of great size fell out the sky. Right before it crushed him, Galahad quickly collected his staff, and dashed out of the way.
Then right where he had stood, the object that the large shadow belonged to crashed down on that spot, completely flattening the street and blowing a powerful gust of wind that knocked him right off his feet.
His heart was racing, his blood was pumping with anticipation. The battle hadn't even started yet, but he could already tell that this foe would prove to be quite fearsome.
"So you all aren't cowards after all! The Tyrant can come later, face me!"
Once the dust began to settle, a creature with a hard Azure carapace was revealed. It's large, dark eyes bulging on either side of its head like miniature black jewels, while delicate antennae twitched as if tasting invisible scents.
It was fearsome and impressive in appearance, the kind of foe that Galahad dreamt of facing.
But taking a further look at it, disappointment washed over him like a tide.
The beetle, it was upside down.
"..."
Stuck on its back, it appeared to struggle to turn itself over. Screeching as its surprisingly tiny legs continued to wiggle away in the air. It even tried to use it's own momentum while rocking frantically, in a way flip back over itself.
But no matter what it did, it simply couldn't turn. It's body was too wide for it to use it's own weight, it's legs were too petite and limited in motion. It was stuck, unable to move nor even attack.
"..."
With hope completely sucked out of him, Galahad sunk onto his knees while watching the creature with an indignant expression. His disappointment was immeasurable, his urge to do battle was completely killed.
As he did, the beetles mandibles spread apart with a sharp, deliberate motion, revealing the dark depths of its maw beneath its armoured face.
It seemed to tense, it's antennae flicking forward, and then a narrow jet of vivid green liquid burst outward, hissing through the air in a fine stream. Heading straight towards the still dazed sleeper.
Right before it hit, a piece of shattered metal flew in his direction, quickly ramming into him as it pushed him aside.
At the same time the green liquid sped past him, its tiny droplets scattering in every direction, some even landing on the metal parts of his armour. Not too long after they did, it immediately began to dissolve into a drippy liquid.
Panicking, Galahad quickly dismissed it before backing away from the blue giant. His face paled as he stared at the thing, still struggling to turn over yet still exuding it's murderous intent to kill him.
He had almost died, and in such a stupid way too. He wanted to laugh, but struggled to do even that.
More concerningly, he looked back at the piece of metal that flew into him earlier. Then turned towards the dark street that it appeared to have been thrown from.
Seeing a familiar figure stepping out of the darkness, his hopeless eyes reignited as he called out,
"Grumpy!"
A young boy stepped forwads, wearing clan Valors signature black armour, but with a more modest appearance. He regarded him with quiet indifference before demanding in a stern yet quiet tone.
It was Anvil of Valor, and already he seemed too intolerant.
"Where are the others."
He didn't even take the time think before answering,
"Hell if I know."
Anvil sighed, not bothering to hide his vexation. He looked towards the upside down beetle, it's size almost taking up the entire width of the street before looking back at the clueless sleeper.
With his quick and calculating mind, he already formed a rough gist of the situation.
The Queen must've thrown the beetle in hopes of crushing him quickly, but it didn't pay too much attention to how it did it. While Galahad ended up surviving, the nightmare creature had landed on its back by accident. Either way, there was no point in fighting it.
He ordered,
"Come, we're leaving."
Staying out here any longer was too risky. He too had seen the small star in the sky all the way from the stone gates, so he figured Epsilon must've done something rash.
'If he can escape from a tyrant, then he was more capable than I thought.'
But his chances looked grim. They weren't the only threats even, the Night sleepers, although quite slowly, were beginning to wake up. He most likely wasn't going to make it, so he had to grab everyone else and escape with that chance.
However,
"No, I wanna fight!"
Galahad stood firmly, already having made his chocie. Anvil had anticipated the decision already, but hearing it just made him want to abandon him on the spot.
Leaving behind a sleeper of his calibre, wasn't an option though. He was too useful to abandon, and too strong to ignore.
"Fight what? It's on its back, it won't be able to fight you anytime soon. Forget about that thing and let's go."
Grumbling like a child, he turned his back on Anvil while covering his ears. Right as he did, an idea of pure genius came to him.
"I know! I'll just flip it back over myself!"
Picking his staff back up, he started to walk over towards the beetle. The closer he got, the more he realized the difference in size between the two of them.
But to that, all he said was,
"Help me move this thing, it looks heavy!"
Anvil sighed. His patience had already reached it's limit.
Taking light steps behind the unguarded legacy, he raised his blade. And right when he was just an arm's reach away, he brought it down with great force, amplified with the power of his Aspect.