As they raced across the walls, rushing to reinforce the front wall. The stench of death quickly gathered in Luka's lungs with each breath, a foul and nauseating odour that constantly reminded him of his failure.
Luka lifted onto his stirrups, mirroring Galatea's charge. Furia snorted and increased her speed, seemingly able to sense his urgency.
Da-Da-Dan!
The thunderous sound of Fura's hooves gouging the soft grasslands reverberated through the plains as she galloped at full speed. Luka closed his eyes, struggling with the wind lashing past his face.
"My Lord!" Galatea called out as the massive black wolf standing at the base of the wooden walls, smashing into them with her body.
Bang!
Each time she rammed, the walls shook, knocking the warriors above off balance.
However, that wasn't the most important thing.
"Sire, the hobgoblin! Where is it?!"
Luka scanned the battlefield full of dead goblins and knights who fell from the battlements only to be torn apart. 'Forgive me,' He couldn't help but lament each loss, wishing he could've been stronger.
But he quickly shook his head and snapped out of it.
"A-Ah... It's on the walls!"
"...A wolf below, and death above," Luka mumbled to himself, before kicking Furia's sides. The last few hundred metres would only take a matter of seconds. "Galatea!"
His shout drew the attention of the wolf.
"My Lord?"
He couldn't help but sigh.
The elegant blonde knight matched his speed, while looking completely oblivious to the weight of her armour or the intense wind. She glanced at him and smiled, which blew away his previous expectations for her skill at this juncture.
'I can rely on her more; she isn't some delicate rose facing a divine being right now.'
He pointed to the wolf, then the wall.
"I'm going up on the walls to fight that bastard, and I want you and Vaun to deal with the wolf. Can you do it?!"
Her ice-blue eyes, half hidden by the winged helmet, glistened like gemstones.
"I can, My Lord!"
"Good."
Luka snapped his head to Vaun, giving him a quick order, "Vaun, keep her safe. She's your future Lady." Ignoring Galatea's gasp, he winked at the half-elf.
He nodded and took a breath, then spanked Furia's huge rump, causing her to raise her front hooves and speed towards the wolf in an enraged rush. "I'll leave it to you then. My oh so adorable knight!"
"M-My Lord?!" Her lovely voice flowed with the wind as he bolted towards the wall.
Luka shook violently due to Furia's extreme speeds, but clamped his thighs around her shoulders while tightening his core muscles to avoid embarrassment. 'If not for boosting my strength, I'd be a mess right now.'
The wall approached second by second.
He remained focused, Oblivion trembling from the constant influx of experience and desires.
[You have Levelled up!]
[Gained 10 Bonus Attribute Points]
[Sin Energy Increased: 45 --> 55]
[The Unholy sword Oblivion has reached Level 4]
[Range of Soul Absorption: 140m (1400m in Lord's own territory)]
[Life Steal: +4%]
[Sin Regeneration: +40%]
[Swordsmanship: +2 Levels]
Luckily, the unholy sword levelled at the same rate as he did. It might become a bottleneck in the future if not. Thanks to the sudden increase in bonus attributes, he no longer focused on pure strength.
He thought matching the hobgoblin might've been cool, but he refused to let his other attributes fall behind.
[Dexterity: +3]
[Agility: +3]
[Endurace: +4]
After adjusting his attributes, Luka felt a cooling force flow through his muscles, gently squeezing and caressing them. Much different from the fiery and aggressive muscle pain when boosting strength.
The changes were instant.
He could feel his eyes grow clearer, his movements atop Furia lost their slight awkwardness, and he could move much more easily overall.
"Let's go, Furia! Hah!"
Luka snapped the reins, bringing his horse closer to the wall. He removed one foot from his stirrups and climbed onto her back, but almost fell.
"Whoa!?"
He spread his arms, trying to balance himself as the wolf quickly approached, glaring at them with its golden eyes. It didn't attack them straight away. Though it stopped ramming the wooden walls to watch Furia's approach.
"Furia, once I am on the walls, you have to run to safety!" Luka shouted, with a mouthful of wind taking his breath away. The wind felt like it doubled in speed the moment he stood, lashing and pressing against his chest as if to throw him off.
He wobbled more when trying to resist the intense inertia.
But the wall was already within his reach.
"Alright... here I go!"
"Neigh!!!"
He lowered his body, tightening the muscles in his legs and clenching his stomach to force more and more sin energy into his thighs.
The moment Furia jumped to avoid a rock, he leapt.
Fwoosh!
A force pushed down on him as he flew through the air, the distant wall instantly coming close as he thrust his left hand out, grabbing the sharp spike with a tight grip.
BANG!
He slammed against the wall, sending a jolt of pain through his left side. A throbbing ache lingered for a few seconds, but he grit his teeth and endured. Then flung himself onto the battlements using all his strength.
Tap!
"Gigigik?!"
Upon landing, he was rushed by a goblin holding a rusty spear.
Luka leaned back to avoid the dirty tip.
It brushed past his ear, cutting a few strands free as he stepped into the goblin's range and sliced the goblin's abdomen from right hip to left lung with Oblivion.
[You have Slain...]
The rush of Sin devoured from the goblin refreshed Luka's body and mind as he scanned the wall for more enemies.
"Hm?"
However, to his surprise, the knights and hunters remained intact, fighting desperately against the ten or so goblins who climbed the walls.
Luka gripped Oblivion and dashed towards them, the creak of the battlements comforting as he struck the goblins from behind.
It was a massacre.
He allowed Oblivion to enjoy his fill of desires before grabbing a knight by the shoulder.
"Where is Gerard, where is the hobgoblin?"
The knight's face paled almost instantly before he pointed to the opening below the main battlement, "The Knight Captain... he... to save us all, he dragged that monster down to the ground, but..."
Pah!
Luka slapped the knight's cheek.
It was clear to anyone that the knight was on the brink of collapse; without this to wake him up and divert his attention and emotions, he would die for sure. "Knight, do not worry, be at ease, for I shall support the Captain with all I have."
"A-Ah... My lord... I...."
"Do not dwell, we are all but men in a world of monsters."
The knight's cheek became red as he clenched his teeth, "My Lord, forgive me for my pathetic display!"
"No, you've done well, honourable knight." Luka patted the knight's pauldrons and turned away while giving him another bit of advice.
"Support the hunters on the walls. They are new to this kind of situation."
"Y-Yes, M'Lord!"
Luka dashed through the knights, ignoring the goblins still fighting and came to the main entrance while huffing the cold air.
Below, he saw a sight of devastation.
"Gerarrd!"
The old knight held a bent, old kite shield above his head with one arm, while impaling the hobgoblin's abdomen with his sword. But the shocking sight was the massive hobgoblin, almost double the height of a normal goblin, with a body of pure muscle.
It held a massive rock club with a single hand.
All the surrounding wood lay shattered on the floor.
What shocked Luka the most was that he almost destroyed the beams supporting the battlements.
"Guhehehe, pathetic old knight!" The goblin spoke in broken but human language. "Give up, you cannot win this fight! I will enjoy destroying your pathetic villages, then ravish your precious granddaughter!"
"You fiend!"
Gerard twisted his blade and dragged it free, creating a crescent arc of blue blood.
"No one may speak of my dear Galatea like that!"
'This bastard.'
Luka stood above them on the battlement while gritting his teeth; the goblin's words set a fuse within his chest aflame.
[Warning!]
[Host's Desires for Wrath have exceeded Oblivion's current limits!]
[Divinity Override Initiated…]
'Shut up.'
He swiped away the flashing red screens while holding Oblivion so tight his palms tore and bled, Luka's face twisted as unsightly emotions welled up in his chest.
'Galatea...'
That body full of scars, that even divine blessings couldn't heal...
A heart so shrivelled and cold it took a decade to even reach the surface...
Her tears which fell to the ground because he couldn't understand...
The meaning of her last words, before setting off on that day...
The tightness in his chest, the memories of her suffering all came together, and things he didn't understand as an angel... he now understood.
"Galatea wanted my comfort, my protection." In a strange sort of trance, Luka whispered in a distorted, twisted voice. "She needed me, saught me desperately, and I just stood there, like a clueless fool." It could never be called a human's voice.
Yet even though he let her down, countless times because of his clueless, dense self. She still sacrificed herself for him.
Overwhelmed by emotions, the world became pitch black.
[Warning!]
[Wrath Threshold Exceeded]
[Corruption +100 (Temporary)]
[Divinity Compromised]
[State Transition: Descent – Aspect of Wrath]