What hurt Pablo the most was to lose this kingdom.
"Light will always shine on Pleast Kingdom!" Pablo raised his sword. An immense glow burst from his body, spreading like a lighthouse cutting through the pitch black sky.
Just by witnessing the strongest light magic from the strongest paladin of the kingdom, desperate knights were invigorated. Civilians who had given up before had a glimpse of hope reignited in their eyes.
However, Pablo, who was casting this magic, knew well that there was no hope for this kingdom anymore.
"I hate light!!! DIE!!" King Althem slashed his devil sword, once. The light magic Pablo had cast with every ounce of his strength was split in half and dissipated. The side effect of the forbidden weapon that could cut through anything had taken sanity away from Pleast's righteous king.
"This kingdom needs you." Pablo pounced towards King Althem. His wrist was severed along with rune blade Zertyr, torn like paper by that single stroke from the king. Pablo's only way to stop him was by not allowing the devil sword to be swung again.
The only blade that could have stopped the invasion of 8 arcane tower archmages now bared its fang at the people of this kingdom instead.
Pablo gritted his teeth and fought over the devil sword with his king on the ground, aware there was no room for mistake. This wasn't the first time he had wrestled with the king, but having a blade that could end his life at any moment — or face public execution for treason — made it another thing entirely. It didn't take long before he seized it from the lethargic Althem.
Even Pablo, who had been through countless wars and fought 7 days and nights without rest before, nearly fainted the moment he got hold of the devil sword. "It was meant for me by duty from the start." Pablo raised the devil sword, with even more respect now for how much his king had endured for so long — and still scrambled to take it back with powerless hands.
Pablo clenched his left hand and wrapped armament light around it. "Please, hold on a little longer." He swung the sword out into the battlefield once again.
Five archmages were still wreaking havoc on Pleast. Quicksand swallowed the center of the palace area. Meteors fell into the city one after another. Hordes of venomous insects hunted every life they could find. The aching pain of losing his right hand and the screeching sounds of those clinging to life in this living hell were all that held Pablo's consciousness together against the headache of being soul-sucked into the devil blade.
Pablo cut through everything and saved every person of Pleast along his way to each archmage, but he never slowed down, never turned his head to any voice calling him. He wished he could, but time was running out. The 4 light magic circles orbiting his arm, suppressing the dark energy of the devil blade, were getting corrupted. Their pristine white color from decades of cultivation was turning purple and half into black.
The war that should have been a complete annihilation had turned its tide around. Cut after cut, archmage after archmage, Pablo overexerted his magic channel until all his magic circles were cracking.
The last archmage alive cast a series of void gates. "Hmm... Destroying your own arcane circuit just to briefly wield that nefarious blade? Your resolve does exceed your reputation, Lord Pablo Gaius."
Two of those infinite gravity void gates would have been enough to fold this kingdom inward to nothing, but Pablo cut down every one of them. "You've all betrayed the love and respect of our people. Every life you took, every future you stole, every drop of blood shed on this land — why commit such heavy sin you shall repent for until the end of time?" He approached the last archmage survivor, cutting through every void gate and obstacle pulled up by their gravity.
As Pablo laid the blade before the archmage's neck, all 4 of his orbiting magic circles shattered as the black particles consumed and overtook them all. Nothing could stop him from ending this war except his own restraint. Pablo needed to know why the 8 most powerful mages on the continent had gathered and brought this calamity upon the kingdom he served.
Despite his worn-out state, Pablo's gaze was so determined it shook the archmage to the core. The archmage replied in the same calm manner. "I'm not the first archmage you've asked. So how much have you learned from those before me?"
So calm it boiled Pablo's blood. "Don't test my patience — spill everything!!" Pablo drove the devil sword into the archmage's shoulder, barely suppressing his rage for what they had done to his people.
"Arghhh!!... hahahaaa." The archmage squealed at the top of his lungs before laughing faintly and beginning to weep. Then he moved his body so the devil blade passed through his heart. "Omni blesses us... There's actually someone capable of stopping this atrocity... But this is just the start. Our mother earth is crying for help. We only—" splashh
Before the archmage could finish, his body exploded like a firework of blood as a blinding light radiated and materialized into a humanoid figure. A voice as clear as a heavenly bell rang out. "That's my part! ...oops, maybe I went a little too far." As the light dimmed, a stunning glowing lady appeared, levitating above the ground. She prayed briefly for the remains scattered across the battlefield, then glared down at Pablo. "Greetings, the overcomer of the quickening. You're c—" something Pablo failed to catch in his current state. Despite not knowing whether an enemy or ally stood before him, the familiar warmth of that light magic unconsciously made Pablo let his guard down. His orbiting magic circles shattered as the black particles from the devil sword drew them in and completely devoured them. Losing one's own arcane circuit brought a crippling headache crashing down on him. He let go of the devil sword and fell over it.