The crimson plain stretched endless beneath the blood-red sky. Daniel Voss stood at the head of the formation — pipe raised, Immune All blazing like a second sun around him, Pestilence Type 3 already leaking violet-black lightning across his skin. The five summoned souls formed a perfect defensive line. Vannia and Mia flanked him, silver and white auras flaring in unison.
The Red Knight took one slow step forward.
Then he moved.
There was no wind-up. No dramatic roar. No warning flash of power.
He simply crossed the distance in a blur of red armor and drove his gauntleted fist straight into Daniel's chest with the casual force of a god ending a conversation.
The impact was silent.
No sound. No shockwave. Only absolute, surgical erasure of momentum.
Daniel's eyes widened for a fraction of a second. Immune All shattered like glass. Pestilence Type 3 recoiled violently into his veins. The pipe flew from his hands and spun away across the stone. His body left the ground, hurtling backward twenty meters before crashing hard into the cracked plain.
He did not get up.
He did not even twitch.
```
[Critical System Failure]
Immune All: Overwhelmed by Divine Narrative Authority
Pestilence Type 3: Temporarily Suppressed
Chosen-0007: Unconscious – Vital Signs Critical
Duration: Indefinite until Red Knight is removed or Pantheon intervenes
```
The five summoned souls flickered violently, their forms destabilizing as their anchor was knocked out. Elias's spear dissolved mid-swing. Reyes dropped to one knee. Mara's tablet shattered into light. Vannia's parents reached out desperately toward their daughters before fading into faint silhouettes.
Vannia screamed.
"Daniel!"
She and Mia both lunged forward, but the Red Knight raised one hand and the air itself became iron. Both sisters slammed to a halt, frozen mid-stride, unable to reach him.
The Red Knight stood exactly where he had thrown the punch, gauntlet still extended, white eyes burning behind the shattered visor. He looked down at Daniel's motionless body with something close to disappointment.
"One punch," he said, voice calm and almost bored. "That is all it ever takes when the mask of 'goodness' meets reality."
He stepped over Daniel's unconscious form, armor clanking softly against the stone.
"I told you. Humans are only honest when the system gives them power. You pretended otherwise. Now look at you — Chosen-0007, Plague Sovereign, Party Ender… lying in the dirt like every other fool who believed they could be better."
The Red Knight turned his gaze to Vannia and Mia, still held immobile by his will.
"Your friend is not dead. Not yet. I want him awake when I break the rest of you. I want him to watch what true evil looks like when it stops pretending."
He crouched slowly beside Daniel's body and tilted his helm, studying the unconscious Chosen like a scientist examining a failed experiment.
"Wake up soon, little star," the Red Knight whispered. "The Reaper Syndicate has only just begun its harvest."
The crimson sky thundered overhead as the god in red armor waited patiently for his prey to stir.
Daniel remained motionless on the cracked stone, pipe lying forgotten several meters away, the five summoned souls flickering like dying embers.
The war had not even truly started.
And the Red Knight had already ended the first round with a single punch.