The man continued to walk further upwards towards the origin of the stream, looking for anything. He was lost with no direction to go or find a way out of the forest. As he walked around, the trees swayed as if welcoming him into the forest. He followed the directions where the trees led him.
Following them deep inside, the man arrived in the denser part of the forest. Not a single moonlight escaped the trees and blessed the land. Far away, a single tree shimmered with a faint glimmer. There was something special about that tree; it was the only one shining with a little glimmer amid the pitch-black darkness.
He slowly made his way towards the tree, carefully taking each step, and placing his feet forward. The ground was wetter and colder than he imagined as he walked; his feet slowly submerged into the water until his knees were submerged. He arrived next to the tree.
He touched the glimmering tree to feel a sudden jolt run through his body. A message appeared in his mind, ‘Please help me! Guide the destined one to make a decision.’ With that, the connection was cut, and he fell back on the ground as his hips touched the cold water.
“Destined one? Who?” The man was confused, but as he looked back towards the tree, a path had been cleared, and the light had been restored. It was the only way out he could see. He stood back up and followed the path.
The denser forest became thinner, and the man found himself in an open field surrounded by white flowers as far as the eyes could see. In the distance, a young woman ran in rags, with humans in fully dawned armour chasing her. Each step she took lifted lilies in the air, shining with the splendour of moonlight.
The ethereal scene was only broken by the cries of the helpless girl. Just by taking a glimpse at her, the man knew this girl was the ‘destined one.’ He rushed forward with all his strength towards her. The girl, running desperately, looked over towards the man rushing towards her, tears streaming slowly from her eyes.
‘Is this the end of me? Even after trying to do everything right for this world?’
She didn’t stop. She tried to run even harder, even if blood was leaking from her feet. The knights following her slowed down a little to assess the man running over. The look on his face was emotionless, but they all felt threatened by him.
“Everyone! Ready for battle!” The knight leading the group shouted as he pulled out his sword. They all stopped in their advance and readied themselves for the attack. The man also clenched his body; an unknown power burst forth inside his body, increasing his power and speed.
Meanwhile, the girl didn’t stop running; she kept on running as far away from them as she could.
He arrived next to the knight captain, who was shocked at how fast this man had become. He used his hand to block the strike the man was about to launch. Everyone else seemed to have frozen from shock, unable to understand how a man could move this fast. The man clenched his fist so hard that the bones creaked. As he threw his fist against the guard the knight captain had put, to everyone’s surprise, the punch went through the armour and struck the chest of the knight captain, sending him flying far away as he rolled on the ground.
Everyone was a little terrified as they looked at the captain, who was now incapacitated. They took a step back in terror, looking at the crimson-haired, half-naked man as another demon from the cursed forest.
But as the man took another step forward, the lifeless body of the knight captain exploded with energy. The terrified knights suddenly knelt in awe, and they bowed and shouted, “It’s a miracle of Lord Apostle! He has blessed Captain Khursher! This is the power of our faith!”
The man could see the power ‘faith’ had made all of their fear go away, and they were brimming with power. The one who had collapsed slowly rose to his feet as he licked the blood dripping from his mouth.
He looked at the man smiled menacingly and said, “Well, good punch, I underestimated you.” Then he grabbed the sword that lay on the ground beside him and shouted, “LORD! Bless me with power! To KILL this blasphemer who didn’t bow in the presence of your power.”
An aura enveloped the knight captain as he removed each piece of armour. Then he looked at the man who sent him flying and dashed towards him, holding his sword.
The man clenched his fist, waiting for the man to arrive with his sword, his heart beating crazily, eyes focused on the blade, and his body ready for anything.
The knight captain arrived close with a dash. The man leaned back; the sword missed by a few inches, but the captain didn’t stop. He thrust his blade towards him once more. The man dodged to the left as the blade went past him. Once more, he clenched his fist and threw it into the guts of the captain, making him stumble as the sword fell from his arms. He wobbled a little back before falling on his back, clenching his guts.
A large amount of blood spilt from his mouth as he lay on the ground; he fell unconscious. The man looked over the rest of the knights who pulled out their swords and jumped at him altogether.
Each one was a trained professional knight, but as they swung their swords towards him, he found an opening to save himself. Not a single one was able to even touch him. He threw his first punch towards the knight closest to him, sending him flying, as his chest bones caved in, killing him instantly.
Then slowly, each one of the knights was slain without much problem. After the man was done killing them, he looked at the knight captain who was breathing weakly. He walked next to him and used his foot to crush the neck of the knight captain, killing him instantly.
The man looked towards the girl, who was nowhere to be seen, but the lilies were swaying in one direction as if telling him to go there. So he followed the path guiding him towards the other side of the hill.
