Jackal Among Snakes

Chapter 647: Battle of Gold and Silver

Orion’s blade plunged between the gap in the silver armor’s knee. Unlike the indomitability he’d felt colliding with his foe’s shield, what he stabbed… he was certain it was flesh and bone, not metal and power. He was certain it was not skin—rather, it felt ominously like scales beneath that carapace of metal. Orion had no time to verify this, as his opponent raised his blade and thrust it down.

Rather than his head, Orion managed to swerve out of the way enough the resulting blast of light cut into the edge of his neck and shoulder. He felt his grip weaken as the interconnected parts of his body slackened. With fear overriding his distaste, he called upon that which he’d been suppressing; the blessings bestowed to him by the false pantheon of Vasquer. He froze his fingers around his shield and sword, tumbled down a pit created by the knight’s menacing attacks, then faced the silver knight once again.

The silver knight stood far above Orion, the two suns making him shine like a holy crusader. Down below, Orion’s breath was heavy, and his golden armor with its black surcoat had already lost much of its luster. He appeared naught more than a rabid dog before a king. The knight prepared a simple horizontal slash that seemed impossible to dodge… yet again, fear removed Orion’s inhibition. He conjured wind beneath him, launching himself above the slash of light to meet his opponent above.

The silver knight parried Orion’s swing with his shield as if he’d expected such a charge, and Orion’s blade flew wildly away, bringing his arm flailing with it. He knew he was exposed. When he thought the second swing was sure to come, the knight turned. Rook, god of deception and subterfuge, lunged again. The silver knight blocked him once, but it was only an illusion—his true form came from the side. In response to that attack, the knight responded with equal subtlety—he jutted the pommel of his blade out, and a quick burst of light nailed the deity in the chest. Spirits bursting from his wound, Rook backed away.

Orion lunged forth, wrapping both his arms around the silver knight’s blade arm. He tried to bend it, break it, using the full might of his body. He and the knight were of equal size, and seemingly equal strength. He sent lightning and fire coursing out of his body, damaging himself in the process… but this demon had to die, no matter the cost.

The knight’s shield repeatedly bashed into Orion’s body as he wrestled it. The shield, fortunately, was of far weaker prowess than that blade. Still, it was like a hammer wielded by his own hand pounding into him, wearing him down. No matter how hard he grappled the knight, his arm did not wield—indeed, as time passed, Orion found himself losing the contest of strength. Finally, the knight managed to get into an advantageous position, and twisted his body to pick Orion up off the ground. He slammed him down, and Orion felt his breath leave his lungs. Despite the pain, he clung stubbornly to that sword arm. After another failed attempt to get his arm free, the knight pulled his shield back, and slammed it straight into Orion’s visor.

The metal of Orion’s helmet folded inward, blinding him—or perhaps his eyes had been crushed. Orion still clung tightly until a terrible force slammed into the knight, pulling him free of Orion’s grip and sending both of them tumbling in some unknown direction.

When his world stopped spinning, Orion grasped his helmet awkwardly while still clinging to his sword and shield and wrenched the thing free. It brought him great pain, but sight returned to him when the metal came off his skin. His long black hair started to whip wildly about in this tempest of battle.

that moment. Durran, in particular, stood his own against any attacks that came toward Orion, combatting it with strength and magic in equal measure. As his vision blurred, recovering from the blow to his eyes, he saw the mark of powerful magic on the

danced in to employ the ungodly strength of that unnatural body of his. His arms were like those of a mantis, compressing the strength of a hundred men down to a single sharp point to pierce that

beyond his form. His strength and speed were far beyond what

fight, the silver knight had been fighting hundreds of others, each seeking to dismember him

from Royal Road; report any instances of

same as they did, but he ignored it. Finally feeling well enough to do so, he rose, and rushed back toward the carnage he felt was his destiny. This crumbling wasteland proved nightmarish to navigate, doubly so when Raven and Durran both struggled valiantly against this silver knight. He found himself dodging wayward gashes of light far too often,

his opportunity to rejoin the fight not from a lull in the battle, but from a tragedy. Durra overextended, perhaps due to being unused to his newfound power. The silver knight managed to catch him in the leg. From the middle of his thigh downward, all below severed in less than half a second. Durran yelled in agony and collapsed. Just as Durran had done for him, Orion rushed

tackle. The beam of light veered away, piercing the earth. Raven opportunistically attacked from behind, and when the knight tried to defend with his shield, Orion grappled his arm with all the strength he could. His

A great crescent slash erupted toward Raven, but the ancient being was ready. He vanished, carried away by spirits, only to reappear next to Durran. Taking the wounded

slowed for me

to see a display of weakness, to see a sign of their foe faltering… yet just like any other, the blow stopped once it met that shield. It ended as meagerly as if it had been a child’s attack with a wooden sword. Then, the knight of silver swung his sword of light upward in retaliation. Law’s mighty weapon exploded backward, barely

himself possessed vigilance to such a degree he could never be ambushed. As Orion saw the silver knight move, slowed by Law’s domain, he realized this foe could only be dealt with up close. Metal and flesh folded

blood did

him to flee. The knight possessed no such vigilance toward him—he took a stance, his