Gates of Penance-Chapter 18: Saved by the bell

Nacht and everyone in the platform was now submerged in darkness. However, the darkness was not absolute like it had been in the dark forest. An enlightened would still be able to navigate albeit with some difficulty. Nevertheless, it gave him a unique advantage. After all, his traits were uniquely suited towards this type of situation. Even the vertigo effect of the sinner’s ability no longer affected him, most likely because the sinner could no longer see him.

The sinner that had been dashing towards him before, finally reached him. He aimed his short sword towards him, hoping for a quick end to the fight. But before he could be gutted, Nacht parried the daunting blow and planted his feet. He felt the momentum carry from the balls of his feet, up his leg, through his torso, out of his arm and into his saber as he tried to counterattack the opponents blunder.

This was one of the lessons that Nacht had to relearn when wielding a weapon. He knew that the force from a strike mainly came from the legs of one’s body before travelling to his fist. He knew how to maneuver his body and he knew this concept well. Even so, after practicing with a sword, he had to learn how to channel the force to his sword instead of his fist, and he had to do it well.

Alister had pointed him in the right direction but there was only so much he could learn with a limited amount of time. However, Nacht believed that his swordmanship would improve by leaps and bounds in the crucible. This was due to the fact that training could only get him so far. After all, one needed experience to learn how to fight. He had gotten himself into many street brawls in District Nine which eventually led to him learning the basics, but now it was time for some more practical experience. His limited training was helpful but it clearly wasn’t enough. This fact was proven only a moment later.

’Oh come on!’ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

He had caught his opponent off guard, having glimpsed both the confusion and shock off the sinner’s face. He assumed the former was due to the fact that the sinner was having trouble seeing him while the latter was because he wasn’t expecting him to parry his attack so efficiently. In the end though it was all for naught since his own counter attack had been evaded, but only partially. A red line now coloured the sinner’s cheek as he grimaced slightly.

Then a subtle dim light suddenly exuded from the sinner’s back.

’Not good.’

Nacht heard a sudden bang before he felt his ears ring and light dominate his eyes. He shielded his eyes from the sudden burst of light before he could be blinded permanately. Now that he no longer knew where the sinner was, his heart began to beat quicker and his palms became sweaty.

’Where is he?’

Nacht assumed that the sinner was still in front of him and that he should stay grounded but his instincts were screaming at him to move! He gritted his teeth unsure of which decision he should make. Although In the end, it seemed that he didn’t have to make a choice. Nacht heard a loud cry, coming from behind him. Quickly spinning around, he noticed that the sinner had almost killed him! He had his sword pointed at his neck before it slipped from his grip and he began to claw at his face. Eventually, the sinner lost his footing and toppled over the edge of the platform.

Nacht exhaled in disbelief.

’Saved by the bell... or should I say by Alister... again.’

Turning back around, he noticed that the platform had returned to its former state and began exuding light again. At the opposite edge of the platform another sinner’s body was laying motionless at Alister’s feet. He seemed to be mostly unharmed besides a few scratches, but the same couldn’t be said for the other two sinners he had faced off against. One was missing an arm and breathing heavily, while the other had small wounds all over his battered body.

"Is that all you’ve got? I must say, I am greatly disappointed you couldn’t put up even a decent fight."

One of the other two sinners spat blood as her body began to quiver in either pain or fear, Nacht couldn’t tell. The sinner that had been speaking earlier no longer had a smile on his face.

Alister sighed.

"Well, it was fun while it lasted."

Alister closed the distance and ended the fight right then and there. Slowly, Nacht made his way over to Alister.

"What’s with the long face, Nacht? Shouldn’t you be happy I saved you back there?"

Nacht simply shrugged.

"Thanks."

He tried not to show on his face, but he was deeply troubled by how weak he was compared to Alister. This wasn’t the first time that Alister had saved him, hopefully it was the last.

While Nacht was thinking about his own shortcomings, he felt a sudden pressure being to assault his body, coercing him down towards the next platform. Unlike the white halls, the dark expanse seemed to have a different method of forcing them into the right direction. The longer he stood on the platform, the more the pressure increased, which made Nacht feel even more uncomfortable in turn. Alister didn’t seem to be affected, but upon a closer look, he noticed a small hitch in his shoulders.

Nacht spoke in a half annoyed, half exhausted tone.

"Let’s get going."

Alister simply nodded as he jumped down to the next platform.

They continued moving from platform to platform until they reached a crack in the darkness similar to the one they had seen at the entrance. Nacht was a little hesitant to leave the dark expanse since he didn’t know what was on the other side, but the pressure assaulting him forced him to continue on anyway. Nacht followed after Alister and went through to the other side.