Marie stumbled, boots scraping as she struggled to stay upright while Joseph's knees buckled, lance tip striking ground for support. Amiya collapsed completely, hands pressed against root fragments as she gasped for air.

Janus choked.

His face turned red, then purple, throat working uselessly as the pressure crushed his lungs flat. Tears streamed from his eyes as he clawed at his neck.

Soul Pressure.

Reinhard recognized the skill opened to all Second-Class Beast Masters instantly. The technique of using one's accumulated souls and magic together, sending out overwhelming waves that struck the enemies.

At the level of Second Class Beast Master, it would force weaker opponents to their knees or kill them outright through suffocation. His grimace deepened as Amiya and Janus struggled to breathe.

The pressure would kill them within seconds if nothing changed, even if they were trying to attack, which isn't possible since the pressure would break the energy apart before it fully manifests.

Reinhard's own souls and magic rushed together.

Black-blue aura burst from Reinhard's body, forming a sphere that pushed against Honor's massive presence. It was a small ball clashing and pushing against Honor's own massive sphere, but it did help create breathing room around.

Golden-white light exploded beside him. Marie's aura manifested in a small ball that also pushed back against Honor's own aura. Then a grey light erupted before a small grey orb expanded out and pushed back against Honor's own as well.

The combined resistance created a pocket of breathable air. Amiya gasped, lungs filling desperately while Janus coughed violently, color returning to his face.

Blue ripples swept from beneath Amiya's feet.

She tapped the Herald Mark and used Reinhard's Drasil Step through the shared connection. Time came to a crawl before she rushed forward through the slowed world, quickly moving behind Honor's massive form.

Amiya's eyes glowed with the same crimson-black light. She gripped the scythe with both hands, and crimson-black flames erupted along its length.

The weapon seemed to grow, expanding in her grasp until it was easily seven feet long. She pulled back, muscles tensing beneath her Seeker coat.

Then she swung upward.

The scythe cut through the ground first, tearing earth and stone before it slashed upward in a devastating arc. The blade blasted towards Honor before crashing into his body with a wave of crimson-black energy following the swing, an energy blade that extended the attack's reach.

Time returned to normal.

Honor grunted as he was sent flying, the aura he produced shattered, and blood splashed out. His massive frame actually lifted off the ground, torn banner streaming behind him as momentum carried him twenty feet before he crashed against a fallen root section.

Everyone rushed in simultaneously.

Marie's Purging Lance gathered golden-white light while Joseph's Stellar Dance prepared to erupt bone spikes. Amiya and Janus coordinated another pincer attack. Reinhard's dual swords blazed with combined power.

But then another black ring rushed out, forcing them to instantly clash with it. Their attacks shook the area for a second before the black ring shattered.

But this gave Honor time to recover and stand back up. He stood slowly, brushing dust from his black armor with almost casual motion before narrowing his amber eyes behind his wyvern helm.

"To think you all would be this much trouble." His voice carried a new edge, respect mixed with grim determination. "But to fulfill a promise I made, I will defeat you all."

"Promise with who?" Veryn shouted, desperately grasping for understanding. "Is your friend the Saint? Did Saint Lucian really ask you to do this? I don't believe it!"

"The Saint didn't." Honor's banner planted firmly against the ground, supporting his weight as he spoke. "My friend did. He asked me to help him even though it would break my morals and honor."

His twin pools of absolute blackness swept across them.

"He asked me to do it even though it would make my past self look at me in disgust. He asked me to do it even though it would dishonor those who died for me and my cause, those who followed me, and those whom I have inspired. He asked me, knowing it would stain the title of Red Priest."

Veryn trembled, hands clenching and unclenching at her sides. "Then why accept?"

"Because before being a Luminous Knight and the Red Priest..." Honor straightened to full height, presence suddenly filling the entire battlefield. "I am his friend, the one who stood up for me when no one else would. I am his friend who bled to rescue me when no others would. He's the friend who saw me as something worth taking in instead of abandoning me like everyone else."

His voice dropped to something almost soft. "Honor? Morals? Virtue? None of that means crap to me when it comes to repaying him. Because without him, I would not be here. Without him, I would have died in this forest and been forgotten like many others."

Amiya's eyes widened, breath catching. "You... you're a Precursor?"

Honor nodded slowly. "I was one of the wretched, forgotten by its people."

Amiya flinched at the words while Janus trembled, and Reinhard frowned at the implications.

Honor pointed his banner at them. "You all have morals and things you stand for. So let me ask you something… If that stood before helping the person you care about the most, would you adhere to it? Would you listen and follow it? Would you ignore that person and refuse them? Or would you throw it all away to reach out your hand to them?"

Silence instantly descended.

Reinhard grimaced as memories quickly resurfaced of the times he chose his siblings over morals.

From breaking laws without hesitation, lying to his siblings despite promising honesty, and keeping secrets that festered like wounds.

He did all of this for their sake, and all because protecting them mattered more than morals or virtue.

His grip tightened on Zenuken and Hjorleifa until his knuckles went white.

Veryn trembled, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood. "But..."

Honor shook his head. "Don't, Veryn. As my own student, you should understand my resolve, and so you should stop trying to convince me."

Honor narrowed his eyes. "Since you choose to side with Reinhard, then continue to the end. I once told you and Casseo, no matter who is in your way, whether it be me one day or even the Saint… If they come between you and the thing you want to protect, then crush them with all your might without hesitation!"

Veryn's eyes slightly widened as she gripped her grimoire tighter.

"Because if you don't and you lose what you wish to protect, then you have no right to regret and feel hate. Only despair, because you failed them."

Veryn trembled harder as tears streamed openly now, but she nodded. It was an awkward and desperate motion that acknowledged the terrible truth.

Honor's figure began to shine.

Magic erupted around him in waves that made the air itself burn. The pressure increased exponentially, as his accumulated eight thousand souls ignited, burning like funeral pyres.

Everyone's eyes widened.

The feeling of death itself spread from Honor's form, a deathly aura rising in visible waves of black and grey. His amber eyes behind the wyvern helm glowed brighter, shining like twin stars.

"The true form of burning one's souls isn't just using them." Honor's voice echoed out with something beyond human. "It's also letting the instincts of the Beast Spirit further take over while pushing down the consciousness and will inside."

Reinhard and the others trembled as goosebumps erupted across their skin, as primal terror seized their bodies. The feeling wasn't fear of battle, it was existential dread, the certainty of cessation made manifest.

Honor gripped his banner with both hands.

The torn fabric blazed with power that made reality seem thin around it.

"My Beast Spirit is called Thanatos, the Final Constant." His cloak billowed, those twilight wings spreading wide behind him, and the constellations swirled within their semi-transparent form. "And I will bring an end to you all."

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