Death's Door

That much Larat knew as an undeniable fact.

After he lost his father, uncle, and the entire village to a ma.s.sacre at the hands of demons, there was nothing left in his heart but the desire for revenge.

So, Larat joined the kingdom"s army at the age of eleven. Since they were short on soldiers, the recruitment age was lowered up to ten years old. Even though he knew he was likely to get killed, Larat did not care.

All he wanted was to get stronger, strong enough to kill that Demon Lord with his own hands.

Sadly, all his efforts were for naught.

Over the six long years, he only managed to advance from a squire to a level of a knight. No matter how hard he trained, the level of a hero seemed to be an unreachable peak.

But, he had a mentor, a woman by the name of Temis, who would always encourage him to become stronger.

One day, their troops were ambushed by demons, and they were left fighting for their lives before backup could arrive.

But they were hopelessly outcla.s.sed by the demons.

Larat could only helplessly watch as his mentor"s sword shattered in two before she was killed.

His comrades fell one after another, until only Larat remained.

With one broken arm, several broken ribs, and a twisted leg, he kept swinging his spear at the incoming demons.

His resolve was to fight till his last breath.

Yet, death never came.

A single hero arrived just in the nick of time.

Clad in golden and white armor, wind running through his long golden hair, he was like a hero from fairy tales come to life.

That was the day Larat met the man who would later become known as the Knight of Light.

* * *

Larat: "Why am I so weak?"

His hands were trembling.

On the ground lay the pieces of a sword that once belonged to his beloved mentor, now it was nothing more than sc.r.a.ps of metal.

His entire platoon was annihilated, just like that.

The only reason he did not meet the same fate was because a high tier Holy Knight stepped in and took care of all the demons all by himself.

It was unbelievable.

That one man was more powerful than an army.

Far more powerful.

And all the sacrifices his comrades and mentor had made seemed to be meaningless by comparison.

When Larat returned to the base of the Holy Order, he asked his superiors of the ident.i.ty of the mysterious Holy Knight.

The answer infuriated him to no end.

Turns out this Leon Revilles was not only a High Tier Holy Knight but someone who was going to become a Hero level warrior very soon.

To make the matters worse, Leon was a year younger than Larat, who was already seventeen. Apparently Leon managed to rise to the level of a High tier Holy Knight within three years after joining the Kingdom"s army.

Meanwhile, Larat stayed at the low bottom level of a Knight for six years. The contrast was just too jarring.

In Larat"s eyes, the sole reason for such a difference was the fact that Leon possessed a blessing, a gift given by a deity, while Larat never received one.

And not just any blessing, the one Leon received was by far the most powerful one, because it was given to him by the King of G.o.ds, no less.

Larat: "IT IS NOT FAIR!"

He specifically chose a place where he could cry his heart out loud, without being seen or heard by anyone. Naturally, it meant over a lake in the middle of the night.

The moon was shining rather brightly.

Larat: "What am I lacking, huh? Am I just not good enough? Tell me, d.a.m.n it!"

He hit his reflection in water before throwing his own sword as hard as he could into the lake. He knew it was stupid, but his emotions overtook him.
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Breathing heavily, Larat collapsed on his knees. The broken sword of his mentor was the only thing left.

At this rate, he was never going to get stronger, and the revenge he sought would never become reality.

He had lost.

Larat: "Who is there! Show yourself!"

But there was none around.

As soon as Larat looked into the reflection on the surface of the lake, illuminated by the glow of the moon, he saw a ghastly amorphous form, vaguely resembling a humanoid, but made entirely out of darkness.

In the reflection, it was standing right next to him.

Alarmed, Larat looked around, but there still was none there.

That creature was only visible upon the reflection.

Larat: "Who are you? What are you?"

Larat: "What do you mean?"

Larat: "What do you want from me?"

The mysterious shadow continued.

Larat: "What is the price?"

Larat: "You said you were a fragment, but of whom? Who is the real you?"

Larat: "Never heard of him"

Larat thought for a moment, and he arrived at a conclusion.

Larat: "I do"

He had nothing left to lose.

For a moment, Larat felt a cold sensation, almost like a woman"s lip biting on his ear. Then a cold sensation spread across his entire body.

A moment of sharp pain before it vanished into nothingness.

Desire:

As he looked back at his reflection, Larat noticed that his right eye was glowing with bright blue light in contrast to his normal brown eye.

Then, the pain resumed, the seed of sin was now trying to take over Larat"s body.

With sheer willpower, Larat managed to make the pain subside, taking control over the sin.

The Supremacy was overwhelming, so much power that Larat felt that if he let his guard even for one moment, it would be over.

Taking the broken sword into his hands, Larat proceeded to swing it downwards with all the might he could muster.

Powered by his supremacy, his slash momentarily split the entire lake in two, before the water turned back to normal shortly after.

He could tell, the power the Supremacy gave him was real.

Before, he could not even unleash a flying slash, a requirement to become a Holy Knight, let alone with a broken sword.

But now, for the price of letting a monster reside within his soul, he obtained a key to unimaginable power.

Desire: