Under the star-filled night sky, the luminescent glow of the moon cast an eerie silver light down on Arthur and Aziel as they continued their journey, but there was a marked difference in their demeanor compared to their daylight travels. A palpable wariness had settled into their steps, and the conversations that had passed between them earlier had given way to tense silence.
To Arthur's knowledge, the Field of Roses harbored only one true threat during daylight hours—the Reaper that wandered its expanse as an eternal guardian. But nightfall changed everything. When darkness descended, it brought with it the Nightreavers.
Arthur knew little about these creatures—only that they were of the Tainted rank, sometimes flew in packs, and possessed slightly more intelligence than the Grimhounds. For reasons unknown, they avoided sunlight with an almost desperate aversion, making the night hours particularly treacherous.
They walked side by side through the darkness, Arthur constantly scanning their surroundings. His Dark Sense ability was in full effect now, extending his awareness to detect any movement within a twenty-five-foot radius. Every rustle of dead roses, every shift in the night air registered in his heightened perception.
Beside him, Aziel's behavior stood in stark contrast to Arthur's vigilance. Instead of maintaining alert focus, the lightning wielder was... humming? Arthur glanced over to find his companion gazing up at the stars with casual interest, as though they were on a leisurely night time stroll rather than traversing a realm of mortal danger.
Aziel yawned dramatically, stretching his arms above his head. "Ugh, I'm so bored... I hope we get attacked soon."
Arthur's eyes widened in disbelief, anger flaring across his features. "You hope we get attacked!?" he nearly shouted, momentarily forgetting the wisdom of keeping quiet in this place. "What's wrong with you?!"
Aziel turned to Arthur with a nonchalant expression, shrugging his shoulders as though the question had an obvious answer. "Didn't you hear me? I'm bored."
Arthur closed his eyes and sighed deeply, struggling to maintain his composure. 'This guy's insane... I'm traveling with an insane person.' Second thoughts about his decision to leave with Aziel began to surface in his mind.
But in that precise moment of doubt, Arthur felt it—a disturbance in the darkness behind them. His eyes snapped open wide, all internal complaints forgotten as survival instinct took over.
"BEHIND!" he yelled to Aziel, simultaneously summoning his soul sword. The blade materialized in his hand, darkness coalescing into solid form with a soft hum of energy.
Aziel's lips curled into a smirk as they both pivoted to face the threat. Three winged silhouettes dove toward them from the night sky, their elongated bodies cutting through the air with predatory grace.
"Nightreavers!" Arthur shouted, terror evident in his voice as he recognized the creatures of the night.
Aziel's smirk faltered slightly as he glanced at Arthur. "Nightreavers?"
"It's what I named them," Arthur replied quickly, readying his stance for combat.
Aziel chuckled, seemingly amused even in the face of danger. "That name sucks."
Without wasting another breath, he manifested his spear in a crackling cloud of lightning. The weapon appeared in his hand—a shaft of pure energy that solidified into a sleek, deadly instrument. In one fluid motion, Aziel took a step forward, every muscle in his body flexing with concentrated power.
He launched the spear with such tremendous force that Arthur could barely track its trajectory. The weapon soared through the air at impossible speed, leaving a trail of electric blue light in its wake. Arthur's Dark Sense barely registered it passing through his field of awareness.
The targeted Nightreaver had no chance to evade. The spear pierced straight through its wing and continued through its body, exiting the other side in a spray of dark ichor. The spectral weapon disappeared in a flash of light, its purpose fulfilled, as the creature released a bone-chilling screech and came tumbling toward the ground in an uncontrolled spiral.
Meanwhile, another Nightreaver closed the distance to Aziel with frightening speed. Its maw gaped wide, rows of needle-like teeth gleaming in the moonlight, poised to take his head clean off his shoulders.
But Aziel did not flinch. He did not cower or retreat.
He smiled.
Lightning sparked off his body in brilliant arcs as he stepped forward to meet the attack head-on. With impeccable timing, he grabbed both sides of the monster's jaws, arresting its momentum before those deadly teeth could reach him. His muscles strained against the creature's formidable strength, veins standing out prominently along his arms and neck.
Aziel's smile transformed into something else—something feral and disturbing that sent a chill down Arthur's spine despite the immediate danger. There was a hungry excitement in his eyes that bordered on madness.
With a primal shout, Aziel channeled electricity through his hands directly into the Nightreaver's body. The creature screeched in agony as lightning coursed through it, its muscles spasming uncontrollably. The momentary weakness was all Aziel needed.
In a display of raw physical power, he lifted the entire Nightreaver—a creature easily twice his size—high above his head. With a roar of exertion, he hurled it across the field with such force that it created a furrow in the dead roses where it crashed, sliding several yards before coming to a stop.
Arthur stood transfixed, watching Aziel with astonishment and a growing sense of inadequacy. 'He's so strong,' he thought, unable to reconcile that they were supposedly both the same rank—both newly chosen. The gap in their abilities seemed impossibly vast.
As much as Arthur wanted to continue observing Aziel's astonishing performance as he engaged the two downed Nightreavers, his Dark Sense flared with urgent warning. The third Nightreaver had changed targets, diving toward Arthur with tremendous speed, its talons extended and jaws open in a silent scream of hunger.
Time seemed to slow as Arthur readied his sword, knowing he had only seconds to prove whether he too could survive in this realm of nightmares. His muscles tensed, darkness gathering around his blade as he prepared to meet the creature's charge with everything he had.