The battle, as predicted, quickly expanded to the interior of the Dark King's castle. The Hero dashes through its many halls taking down his minions who are merely trying to defend his home with swift swipes of his magic sword that has taken down numerous amounts of their allies. The time when he felt something of taking a life even when the enemy was of a race that mostly focused on ending other lives has passed.

Making some progress, the Hero would arrive at a forked hallway. A trap, he expects, as he notes how the interior looks extremely untouched as cobwebs and the smell of water in the air was any signs. He was faced with two options. Two identical doors were before him. Seeing similar things in other forts that the Dark King would occupy to toy with him, one of them leads to where he needed to go and the other was a dangerous trap that would end anyone's life if he wasn't who he was. But he didn't have time to play his games, his possible fiancee would be arriving any minute and he couldn't afford for the Dark King to know this. Especially after what happened before. That event changed her, and nobody knows why or what'll happen if it happens again.

Taking the door on the right, he dashes into the darkroom but finds it to be a trap as his body stumbles forward as the next step he took didn't go as he planned. There was no floor in the room. He couldn't determine just how deep he fell. After landing onto a ground, looking up, he could barely see the low light of the hall that he came from. But before he could look around for a way to escape, he heard a sound. He wasn't alone.

He jumps toward the nearest wall he could sense that was near him. He felt something under his boot when he stepped down. Picking it up, he instantly knew it was bones. And the texture it had indicated that it wasn't old. It was fresh. Growling began to echo in the pit.

Sensing the threat and danger, his sword began to emit a light that brightened up the entire room. The Hero was facing against a large creature with pitch-black fur. Only his sharp fangs could be visible. He knew what this was, a fitting time to get his revenge on the Dark Beast. The Dark King's pet that he often would unleash into the country where it would freely attack villages and eat whoever was unluckily in its path of destruction. The victims that he heard that was lost to the beast that made him even try to hunt it down was that of some family from his hometown. A family that he felt close to.

Thinking of the memories he had with them, he grits his teeth and looks angrily at the beast.

"You saved me the trouble of tracking you down. Your owner can wait. I'll take your head now, you monster."

He makes a dash at the beast with his sword ready for a strike, but his attack was repealed when it would lift its claw to block it. He attempts to push it through, but the monster's strength was too much to surpass and he jumps back to keep distance as he thinks of another method. But the beast didn't give him that moment to think as he charges at him with his fangs bearing its sharp points. Using his reflexibility, he jumps against the wall behind to push himself further upwards to dodge the attack, but the darkness worked it's trick and hid how tall the beast was and his legs were struck against the head of the beast and he loses his posture in the air, causing his momentum to weaken and he falls on the back of his beast. The monster jerks about to get him on, but seeing that this was the safest position, for now, he grips on the monster's dirty fur. Next was something that he didn't anticipate. The monster would rise on his hind legs and fall onto his back, the hero could do nothing to escape this and had to endure the immense weight that slams onto him into the stone floor. He could feel his bones being crushed and the air being forced out of his lungs.

The monster simply rolls off of him and further increases the fatal damage he received by swinging his leg at the hero, sending him flying into the wall, causing him to be stuck against it from the crumbling stones keeping him locked against it. His strength was completely drained so quickly and the remaining stamina he had was only good for keeping him conscious. He tried to move his body but couldn't do anything at all. The beast seemed to understand the condition his prey had and savored the moment by slowly approaching him. It leaned it's facing toward the hero, allowing him to breathe the horrid smell of spit and blood that came with it.

Just as the beast leans back and prepares to deal the final blow to the hero, something occurred that surprised both. Something shimmered into the room and illuminated everything. It was too much for both and especially the beast as he stops its attack to shield its eyes. It was the last action it would do as the shimmering thing then shifted straight down at the monster and pierced its thick body. The beast's eyes slowly lose signs of its life and slumps onto the ground with a thump. The small shock of the body moving was just enough for his body to be freed from its impact crater and he starts to fall onto the ground. He anticipates for the fall, but something catches him before he makes contact.

"Huh?"

As he sounds out his surprise, he would hear a giggle.

He turns to see that the Queen of Light was holding him in her arms. The light behind her gave her body a faint glow that was fitting for someone like her. She was the Queen of Light, the holiest and pure woman in the world. The complete opposite of the Dark King. And the one whom he had fallen in love with.

"My queen, you are already here?" He says, attempting to be louder, but the energy in his body wouldn't allow it. He holds her staff over his body and the light coming from the crystal at the center began to fall slowly onto him. She could feel it's healing properties begin to work its magic on him. Pretty soon, he was back on his feet and with all his strength back.

"That's the second time you have saved my life." He says with a sigh as he recalls how she saved him from dying out in the wild.

His comment would only cause her to giggle once more. "Don't forget the endless amounts of times that you have fought to save my own life."

"I am your champion. A champion must save their leader."

She leans slightly toward him with a smirk. "You sure there is no other reason why you do that?"

He reacts just as she expects of him by getting flustered and fidgeting around enough that his armor would clank from the movements.

"Y-yes, I won't deny such a selfish feeling from you and say that I saved you because of my love for you."

She responses with a smile and expression that others would compare to a mother gazing at their son proudly. "I see. Unfortunately, I can't answer your feeling until our work here is done. Do you think you can wait a bit longer?"

He holds his sword skyward as he makes his promise. "I will wait as long as you need me to, my queen."

"Good, because we must find the Dark King and stop his machine from being used to plunge the world into darkness."

"But this castle runs deep with halls and traps. Who knows what we will run into next."

"Not to worry, my champion. With our Ally in the Shadows, we will get to the throne room in no time."