And on the other side, during the battle between the soldier and Andrea from the Cathedral of Nilkraten…
"You are nothing but a demon, and the demon's home is hell," Andrea spoke sharply.
The soldier put on a mask over his face. The mask had only one eye drawn on it and a mouth torn in half. The soldier laughed lightly and extended his right hand forward, saying:
"And you are nothing but a whore. And a whore's home is the taverns. Tell me, was anything I said wrong?"
Andrea appeared from behind, aiming to drive her claws into the soldier's body. However, the soldier spun in front of her and dodged the strike with complete indifference, standing still.
He bent slightly downward, gathered all five of his fingers together, and struck her in the abdomen, sending her flying upwards. The soldier appeared behind her, ready to continue the assault. But a strong blow from her chest broke the attack.
Both of them descended to the ground. Andrea attacked, growling in anger, but the soldier stopped her attack with his sword. However, with a deceptive move, Andrea spun around and drove her claws into his chest, causing a deep hole and sending him crashing into a group of trees, destroying several of them.
"What do you think of that move? You may be terrifying, but you are not very smart," Andrea spoke arrogantly.
The pride that filled her face evaporated when the soldier reappeared, walking calmly while his sword was still embedded in his chest. Andrea was shocked and whispered softly:
'But what is this madness? How can he still be standing after a blow that should have certainly destroyed his chest and heart?'
"That was a great move, but I placed the sword into my chest to break the attack. It seems you are clever. That will make this fight much more entertaining," the soldier said in a terrifying tone as he pulled the sword out of his chest.
The soldier appeared in front of her and grabbed her face with great force and anger, slamming her violently into the ground. Then he continued striking her over and over until the ground caved in beneath them.
But Andrea was bleeding anger from within; her eyes turned red. She drove her claws deep into the soldier's armor on his back until he stopped moving. She grabbed his head in fury and slammed it into the ground.
Then she lifted him into the air and delivered a powerful kick, sending him hurtling toward the dense trees, causing a powerful explosion. Andrea was bleeding from her eyes as she seethed with rage.
"I don't know how this will end, but it will end with your death, amen," Andrea spoke with a determined tone and sharp features.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, Linkaten was sitting on his throne made of tree leaves, observing the battle through the shadows beneath him.
"It seems this girl is quite strong. The Cathedral of Nilkraten seems powerful for a short time, but then they explode like balloons," Linkaten spoke sarcastically, his face cold with a strange smile.
Back at the battle, while Andrea was standing in the air watching the rubble she had caused, a dark purple color suddenly appeared, rushing toward her at high speed. Andrea was shocked and quickly dodged the strike.
The soldier appeared in front of her, laughing, and stabbed her powerfully in the abdomen. Then he grabbed her head and unleashed a blast from his five fingers. The force sent her crashing down to the ground at a tremendous speed.
But the soldier did not stop there. He descended directly onto her back, causing a massive collision.
Boom… Boom… Boom.
Due to the tremendous impact, Andrea coughed up a lot of blood. The sound of bones breaking was clearly audible.
'My body… it feels like a meteor crashed into me,' Andrea muttered to herself, barely able to breathe from the pain.
The soldier vanished from above her and appeared beside her, planting his sword into the ground. He spoke in a terrifying tone:
"It seems my master is watching me, and I don't want to disappoint him. So I hope this fight lasts a little longer and is a bit more fun."
Andrea was a little frightened, as if the spark of fear was taking over her broken body. Yet she was still bleeding rage in a terrifying manner. In a mad move, while lying on the ground, she tore her own body with her claws until the claws turned into tubes carrying blood inside them.
The soldier was surprised by this strange act, tilting his head to the side. He spoke in a questioning tone:
"Does fear lead to—"
In a swift movement, Andrea rose from the ground and drove her claws into the soldier's neck. The soldier coughed up blood inside his mask, and she lifted him high into the air. He swung his sword, attempting to cut her in half, but Andrea caught the blade with her hand, laughing maniacally.
"What's wrong, you slow soldier?" Andrea spoke with terrifying madness.
Swiftly, she severed the soldier's arm, then plunged her claws into his chest and tore it open until one could see his heart.
Andrea looked madly at the heart and touched it with her claws. However, the soldier clenched his remaining fist and struck her head three times, causing her vision to blur.
"What's wrong with my vision? Why can I only see darkness?" she said in a trembling voice.
The soldier appeared directly in front of her, destroyed but alive. He swung his leg in a 180-degree arc, striking her with full force, sending her hurtling toward the ground. One of the large pillars among the trees crashed into her back.
Andrea spat blood from her mouth; her eye was bleeding too. She moved her claws and cut the pillar in half, falling to the ground with a part of the pillar lodged in her chest. She was breathing very slowly.
The soldier descended to the ground. His right hand was severed, his chest was ripped open, and his neck was bleeding profusely.
The soldier touched the blood flowing from his neck and laughed quietly. Andrea was glaring at him with hatred and a clear intent to kill, despite her severe injuries.
"What a beautiful play. I haven't killed in a long time, and now I'm fighting someone strong who truly deserves death. It's been a very long time," the soldier said eerily, placing his five fingers on his mask.
He continued:
"Targeting my heart was a brilliant move, but haven't you thought before? Why did I place the sword inside my chest? I'm nothing but a killing machine without a soul."
The soldier thrust his hand into his own chest and ripped out his heart while laughing like a madman. Andrea was stunned by this bizarre, insane act.
'What is this creature? Is he immortal or what? Was he just pretending all along to enjoy the fight? How terrifying,' Andrea thought in fear, grabbing the pillar and pulling it out of her back with a muted scream, causing more blood to gush out.
The soldier appeared in front of her at incredible speed. He spoke strangely, and suddenly his severed hand reattached to his body. All the injuries he had sustained were completely healed.
He bent slightly forward, holding his heart in front of Andrea, and said in a frightening tone:
"This thing controls humans. But am I really human if I can move without it? Because this thing is what makes a human helpless and unable to fight back."
He crushed the heart with all his strength, making it explode before Andrea's eyes, then continued:
"Fear, hatred, murder, death—all these things I crushed long ago. I told you before, even my master, I could crush him too. Even if I'm just a puppet he moves as he wishes, I can cut the strings."
On the other side, Lankaten was listening and watching the madness of his soldier with a wide smile on his face.
Meanwhile, Andrea couldn't even stand. She could only watch the soldier's insanity.
'Am I going to die? But my little girl… who will be there for her? I'm going to die at the hands of a terrifying soldier who fears nothing. The annoying part is that he was toying with me from the very beginning, like I was just a puppet to him,' Andrea bit her lip so hard in anger that she bled like a fountain.
She stood up in pure rage and moved her claws toward the soldier in one final attack, striking him with a flurry of blows, but he dodged them with incredible speed until he caught her hand and said quickly:
"Your little girl will be safe. We are not cowards who kill children. Amen."
And with swift precision, he cut off her hand. Andrea looked at her severed hand as blood streamed from her eyes, but she didn't stop. Instead, she screamed in anger, but the soldier grabbed her jaw forcefully and spoke sharply:
"Screaming won't make things any better."
Then, with fury and strength, he broke her jaw. Andrea was left suspended in the air — her hand cut off, her jaw broken. The soldier approached her and placed his sword against her neck, saying:
"You are strong and terrifying, and you possess many dreadful abilities. But do you know what's even scarier? Facing something you can do absolutely nothing against."
And with the end of his words, he swiftly cut off her head. Before it could fall to the ground, he caught it with his hand and crushed it with both hands.
"I hope you enjoyed the fight… and that the puppeteer enjoyed it too," the soldier said in a calm tone, as hot purple air escaped from under his mask.
Without delay, the soldier disappeared from the ruined forest, leaving Andrea's corpse lying on the ground. He reappeared above the shadow pit in front of Lankaten, bowing silently.
"I liked how you toyed with her… but more importantly, the puppeteer liked it even more," Lankaten spoke very quietly with a wide smile.
The soldier began to slowly sink into the shadow pit, saying his final words:
"Let me fight more… and if you don't, I'll fight you myself."
Lankaten smiled widely. Then, the soldier completely vanished into the pit, and Lankaten destroyed the chair made of tree leaves.
Lankaten stood silently, gazing toward the gate leading to the Clown's Cemetery, when he heard a sound coming from between the trees. He partially turned around and saw Klentin — his arm broken, and his other severed hand slowly regrowing.
Lankaten walked toward Klentin, placing his hand on his shoulder and saying:
"Looks like it was a tough battle."
The two walked together toward the cemetery. Klentin gave a sad smile and said:
"It was a strong battle… but I was on the losing side."
Lankaten was surprised and asked in confusion:
"But if you lost the battle, why didn't he kill you?"
Klentin spoke in an exhausted tone:
"He received a call from a lady. Seems like luck saved me from death. And you, what happened in your battle?"
Lankaten smiled as he looked toward the gate and said:
"I cut off her head and crushed it calmly with both hands."
And Lankaten continued:
"Now, rest a little until we reach the Clown's Cemetery. Because there… a great massacre will happen."