Everlast Online

A wave of dark magic extended from Rowan's sword, coating all that it passed in a layer of chilling frost.

All civilians, besides those who were rampaging, had been evacuated and the dire situation allowed for Rowan to perpetrate a reasonable amount of damage to the city. With this in mind, Rowan bit his tongue and made use of his strongest skill: [Regret]

Regret was an abnormal skill, born out of what was considered a 'fallen class'; classes that occurred when a regular member of a class breaks the oath said class binds them to. There are very few classes like this, meaning even fewer fallen classes.

(A/N: The most common oathbound classes are [Paladins] and [Knights] but there are others that are less common like [Warlocks] who bind themselves to a demon to gain its power or the [Prophet] class who bind themselves to a God in the same way a [Warlock] would. The consequences of breaking these bonds is far more severe though)

Rowan's class, the [Weeping Paladin], is usually born when a typical [Paladin] class fighter fails in their duty to protect others. They find that their strength is lacking and lose something or someone important to them, driving them to the depths of despair and birthing the [Weeping Paladin] class.

Most [Weeping Paladin]s drown within their sorrow and never progress past a certain point, as do most fallen classes as their increased power typically comes at a great cost, but Rowan was one of the lucky few who found new purpose - Rowan's coming in his devotion to Marquise Barview and the stability he granted to his subjects. Rowan found comfort in this and managed to surpass the sorrow of his failings and fly forward like an arrow heading towards a greater goal.

Rowan's initial attack passed through each of the 5 foes, inflicting varying damage to each. To the ant (Ant) and arachne (Spider) their speeds dropped significantly as all insectoids (A/N: I know spiders are arachnids) suffered weaknesses to intense temperature changes; for the red ogre (Ogre) and bull beastling (Bull) they slowed slightly, clearly affected by the [Freeze] debuff that Rowan's skill had inflicted, but less so than Ant and Spider; finally was the frenzied (Demon) who suffered almost no adverse effects beyond his hellfire dimming slightly.

(A/N: FYI only the 3rd person narration is calling the drugged civilians by the name in brackets as Rowan would never dehumanise them like that. I really didn't want to but felt it would be hard to track the fight without using these nicknames. Won't use them a lot, but do occasionally)

However, one thing all 5 combatants had in common was their reaction to the attack. Even without the [Freeze] debuff [Regret] inflicted, it was still an incredibly strong skill that's strength scaled based on Rowan's regret - of which there was a lot - as such each of the berserk commoners' attention was drawn to Rowan.

They did not even have the capability to consider Rowan's potential danger as they charged towards him.

1 minute. 3 minutes. Rowan thought, his eyes flicking towards first Bull & Ogre and then to Ant and Spider - roughly estimating how long he had before their [Freeze] debuff would fade. His biggest issue at the moment was Demon, the frenzied.

He appeared before any of the other assailants and attacked immediately, his fist burning with black hellfire as it descended upon Rowan. Normally fire would not pose much of a threat to Rowan as his class granted him the passive skill [Inhospitable] that reduced the effects of both heat and fire while enhancing ice related skills - but this frenzied did not wield any normal fire, but rather hellflames.

Hellfire was descended from Devil Flames and as such did not act as normal fire would, not even giving off any heat. Instead hellfire acted closer to dark magic, in that it corroded anything it touched like acid, only keeping 2 aspects that typical fire had: It general appearance as a black flame with flickers of a sickly purple light within; and its uncontrollability as it spread and corroded everything around it.

Rowan, as a somewhat seasoned knight, knew this and didn't even attempt to block the flaming punch, sidestepping the attack and brandishing his sword against the Demon's body. His attack connected as the frenzied mind was too far gone to take into account any approaching danger, but even with a direct hit Rowan's sword did minimal damage to the frenzied as their body was incredibly durable.

Turning to face the frenzied once again Rowan noticed something from the corner of his eye: A bull running at him with its horns ready to pierce through his chest. In a split second Rowan had to jump backwards in an attempt to remove himself from the monster's path, just barely avoiding a fatal hit - but Rowan had not fully escaped the danger of the attack. The bull, unable and unwilling to stop, crashed through the front of a building and taking down a load bearing was in the process; Rowan watched in horror as an entire 3 story general store began to collapse on top of him.

With no other options Rowna raised his shield and activated his only defensive skill [Misplaced Aggression] right as the rubble came into contact with his shield. The skill was defensive, but only technically as it utilised the anger within its user to create a short-ranged burst of energy that would push anything near Rowan's shield away.

"AAAAHH!" Rowan screamed, only pushing through the first wall and allowing a series of furniture to fall on him. After the wardrobe crashed and shattered on his shield, Rowan was able to swing and push away the bed that fell after it.

He did not even get a breather as the wall behind Rowan burst in and crashed into his back, the red ogre having rushed through the wall with her sturdy body and let out a wrathful scream as she noticed Rowan, who had been pushed to the ground, and rushed at him ready to shatter his spine in 2.

But Rowan was not so easily beaten as he rolled to the side to evade the attack and rolled backwards to return to his feet. Stepping forward, Rowan was able to deal 3 slices worth of attacks before they were interrupted once again. Crashing out from within the rubble was a giant bull-man, similar in shape to a minotaur, but much larger in size.

Bull had gotten himself free of the rubble by transforming into his monster form and turned to find Rowan and Ogre fighting one another - he did not even consider the damage he had caused in his last wild charge before running straight at Rowan.

(A/N: Beastfolk, werebeasts and beastlings all have a hybrid form. Halfhuman, halfbeast. Werebeasts and beastlings have monster forms, basically a more bestial hybrid with massively increased strength. Only beastlings have a full animal form, it’s way stronger than a regular animal and usually larger too they’re kind of similar to zoan devil fruit users from One Piece.)

To make matters worse, black flames began to spread around the rubble and up the walls - Demon was approaching and Rowan knew that he was in the worst possible environment to fight a hellfire wielder. With so much fuel it would only be seconds before Rowan was consumed in the fire.

Using [Misplaced Aggression] the moment it came off of cooldown, Rowan was able to propel Ogre backwards so that she crashed into the charging bull. Ogre roared in pain as Bull's horns pierced into her back, but Rowan didn't spend even a moment considering his accidental win before charging back outside. He was forced to run through the hellfire, his only exit closing quickly as it became engulfed in flames.

Barrelling through the air, Rowan collapsed on the cobbled street, rolling forward as he was unable to stop himself. As he managed to pull himself to his feet he felt an intense pain in his side, looking down to find that it had caught fire and the flames were slowly spreading.

Without a moment to waste, Rowan pulled his chestplate from his body and threw it back into the fire - it was possible for him to put it out, but he was not confident in doing it fast enough while under attack from a group of superpowered civilians.

Three are in the building, the other 2 are- Rowan's thoughts were interrupted as he had to throw himself to the side as he evaded a falling string that dug into the stoney floor thanks to its acidic coating. Behind me.

As of the moment, Ant was the least of Rowan's worry - even if the [Freese] status effect were to drop, they would be the least of his worries due to ant insectoids being purely physical based while also not being exceptionally fast.

The true threats to him were the frenzied and the arachne, each boasting abilities that only take a moment to be lethal. One drop of acid or one spark of hellfire and Rowan could kiss his victory goodbye.

I have about 30 seconds before those 3 get out of the building. Rowan calculated, evading another toxic thread. I need to remove one of them from the equation.

Fighting all 5 civilians was not something Rowan was capable of, he needed to take them down one at a time, slowly lowering the chances of them attacking him all at once. Taking out the arachne as Rowan watched her run along the walls and roofs of the capital's buildings in an attempt to catch him off guard he knew she would not be easy enough to remove in 30 seconds. 

So, his sights were set on the ant insectoid. Ant was sluggishly running towards Rowan, still heavily affected by the [Freeze] debuff of Rowan's [Regret] skill; so Rowan ran to meet him, sword and shield at the read.

Fighting insectoids was both easy and hard; their weaknesses were well known, but their strength and incredibly durable carapace made killing them a tedious matter. The most used strategy was to aim for their joints and whittle them down until a fatal blow could be dealt - but unfortunately for this insectoid, Rowan was literally their worst match.

Ant throughout a punch, colliding with Rowan's shield before he pushed it forward to knock them off balance; with a clear shot, Rowan activated another of his skills, [Icey Blade Aura]. This was not actually a class skill, but a skill that was gifted to Rowan by the Marquise a while back. It had excellent synergy with Rowan's [Weeping Paladin] class that dealt heavily in ice based attacks.

A chilling mist gathered around Rowan's blade as he brought it down, not only deepening the [Freeze] debuff on the ant, but also shattering through the joint holding ant's arm together as the sword made direct contact with an unprotected part of the ant's body.

"SKREEEEEE!" They let out a horrific scream as blue blood sprayed all over the streets, but Rowan did not let up as [Icey Blade Aura] was a skill that would remain in action for a full minute - not that Rown had that long.

I'm sorry... But this must be done. A silent tear dropped as Rowan continued his assault on the ant, evading the occasional toxic thread (that sometimes worked in his favour as none of the drugged civilians had anyway to coordinate) while counting down the seconds before the remaining 3 enemies burst out of the collapsed building and restarted their attack - assuming Bull and Ogre aren't tearing each other apart after Bull injured Ogre.

Ant laid on the ground, blue blood pooling beneath them as frost grew along their carapace. It would only take one more hit, Rowan driving his sword through Ant's head, to finish him off - and with not a moment to spare, Rowan did.

"I'm sorry this has happened to you." He mumbled as he evaded yet another toxic thread and debris flew outward onto the street as Demon, Bull and Ogre showed themselves once again.

The only benefit to the Blizz was that the civilians had become exceptionally stupid. Not only were their attacks monotonous and repetitive, but Ogre and Bull were brawling right at this moment, covered in the hellish flames of the frenzied.

That'll make things easier... Rowan realised, feeling he probably should have attempted that earlier. The [Freeze] debuff had worn off Bull and Ogre by now and each of their strikes upon each other caused the ground to shake ever so slightly, making Rowan's approach even harder.

Once within range, Rowan made use of another skill. The power of [Paladin's Tears], a beam of frigid water, shot out from the tip of Rowan's sword and pierced into Ogre's back, further exciting the wound she had taken from Bull. She let out another roar and attempted to turn to face Rowan, only for Bull to regain her attention by crashing into her in his bull form; this sent her flying through the street, crashing into yet another building, but thankfully not bringing it down.

Looking over, Rowan saw blood gushing from the she-ogre's head, a dull look in her eyes as she made no attempt to get back up to her feet.

That's 2 down. Rowan thought with a melancholic smile, not wanting for his enemies to meet such fates, but given no choice.

A flickering memory runs through Rowan's mind. Smoke rising from the tops of thatched cottages, blood running along streets, powder raining from the sky and tears falling. Rowan shakes it away, but his momentary distraction had cost him: A web of acid cut into his arm and his sword clattered to the floor.

"AAAAAH!" Rowan screamed, pain running through his body. 

Rowan didn't have much time to think, his screaming attracting the attention of the frenzied and bull beastling who had lost interest in him. With that limited time, Rowan threw away his shield and replaced it with his sword, feeling unsteady as he made use of his non-dominant hand.

Bull charged as he always did and Rowan met the charge, sprinting forward with vigour. Moments before they would collide, Rowan jumped into the air and as he flew above the rampaging bull, he made use of his best skill: [Regret] once again.

Black energy burst from his sword, pushing the bull into the ground, completely destroying the momentum it had built. Frost and destruction rippled through the epicentre of the attack.

The force of the attack projected Rowan through the air until he collapsed to the ground, rolling along the street.

Rowan had managed to beat 3 of his enemies, but now only the strongest 2 remained - ironically that included a 10 year old little girl.

Hellfire flashed to life around Rowan, just barely missing him as he pushed off the ground once again. The frenzied pushes through the flames, screaming in rage as he charged right towards Rowan. The demon was an enemy he had been avoiding, as opposed to Spider who had simply remained out of range; but now he had no choice but to face him head on with only 1 good arm.

The only silver lining was that the frenzied seemed to have also taken some damage - likely after accidentally harming the other 2 civilians inside the building and starting a 3 way scuffle.

Under threat of imminent death - from hellfire and acid - Rowan charged right in, making use of one of the skills he was not too fond of: [Blood Money]. 

Like many other skills in the [Weeping Paladin] class tree, it was a skill that did not rely entirely on stats and skill levels, but instead on the number of others Rowan has killed. Bloody water materialised along Rowan's blade, slowly decreasing in temperature until what remained was hardly the chivalrous sword of a capital knight - icy spikes of blood jutted from the side of the sword, a chaotic and evil nature emanating from the structure; emitting the presence of a warlord that has traversed many battlefields. 

The reason Rowan was not fond of the skill was its side effect, bringing up small and fleeting memories of people he's killed - and within those memories there was one that he desperately didn't want to see, but there was no other way for him to take down the frenzied without use of this skills.

The distance was closed between the 2 in an instant, Rowan was cleared from any attack from Spider as she was still producing another web in order to attack, and his enemy stood tall with black flames flaring violently across his entire body.

Upon contact, purple blood flowed from multiple holes, gathering further around Rowan's sword that bore a closer resemblance to a morning star - empowering the attack further - as Rowan's strength ripped through the left side of the frenzied. The [Bleed] status effect took to the frenzied immediately and it fell to the ground like decaying titan, hellfire extinguishing across the street only moments later: He had died.

There's one left. Rowan thought, letting out his fourth prayer as he lamented what had to be done.

The malignant arachne glared at him with unfocused eyes as she let loose another toxic web, Rowan activating a skill he knew would make or break this fight. With [Blood Money] deactivated, Rowan had pierced his blade into the ground and activated a skill. The skill coating his only good arm in a powerful energy, Rowan knew the only way to finish this would be if he could drag the arachne from the buildings it was attacking from, but he did not have the mobility to jump up and get close to her - all that left was to drag her down.

Rowan's skill [Relentless Grip] massively empowered a single arm, usually used for throwing or pulling as he was doing now - but he did not know if it was capable of protecting him from the acid of a malignant arachne whose race had particularly potent toxins.

But in an instant the rope made contact with Rowan's hand, and he briefly sighed in relief as he felt little more than a stinging pain. With his fears passed, Rowan pulled with all his might. Spider screamed as she flew through the air, crashing into the street below; she attempted to retreat back to higher ground, but Rowan's attack was relentless and instant, beginning the moment she touched down and not stopping for a moment.

Cuts began to gather along the girl's body as to many it would seem that Rowan was charging into the fight with no mercy at all, but to the trained eye that was clearly not the case. Rowan's cuts were shallow, they were noticeably weaker than when he faced the other 4 enemies and worst of all his eyes were red and his vision was blurred - tears welling up within them.

Every single attack and his mind played tricks on him, images of the worst moment of his life back to back as he tried his hardest to push through it.

Though his attacks weren't his at their most dangerous the malignant arachne race was not very well suited to melee combat and soon enough the arachne was down to her final moments, one more attack and she would be finished as Rowan gained a clear paths towards her neck - one that would end the nightmare in an instant.

His sword swung through the air, but rather than blood, it was tears that fell to the ground.

"I-I can't..." He muttered through his weeping, and in that instant the arachne seemed to recognise her enemies mercy, the fighting stopped and the girl looked at her executioner's sorrowful eyes...

Only to stab him through the stomach, acidic venom coating her claw and beginning to corrode Rowan away from the inside.

The knight fell onto his back, moments away from his death as the arachne approached to finish him off.

And as told by many who had experienced similar instances and lived, his life began to flash before his eyes. His life as a knight, his life as a wanderer and worst of all, his life as a villager...

CassReyes

Hey, thanks for reading.

Another chapter away from the main protagonist, but I plan on a few of these during the arc so I hope I made Rowan interesting and the rest of the chapters I have of him as well.

Look forward to the rest of the arc as I believe the ending is rather fun.

And sorry to keep promoting, but check out my patreon where the chapter was uploaded 3 days in advance for payed members :)