It was in the cold hours of the long morning that Delphine of Moria stumbled upon the village of Solna. This village wasn’t as big as Eastmarch, and there are rarely any people who ever walk around during the day. All of the windows of the houses, shops, and taverns were closed, unlike the previous village; something strange was happening around here. Delphine stopped walking on the road, and she stood there and gazed upon all of the abandoned buildings. She started to realize that something was off, and it was bizarre considering the part of the day it was.

Delphine continued to walk forward into the village, and she held onto the handle of her ebony dagger to stab anyone who would raise a weapon against her. She began to look at all of her surroundings to check and see if anyone would either come out and see anything. To her surprise, absolutely nobody came outside to live out their day or bury their dead; something was off and needed some explanation. She looked at her other direction and saw absolutely nothing but the many buildings which seemed like it was in ruins. The walls of those buildings were cracking, and a few of them were starting to fall apart; it was quite rare to see how much damage the night hordes can do to a small village.

"Everyone’s indoors. Given the number of victims, they’re all scared to death. No wonder they’re afraid to be outside," Delphine said. As she stood there, she started to see a strange man walking towards her, and he seemed to be just like the other villagers.

The man had short hair, he has white hair even though he appeared to be a young person, and he had a weird look on his face. He didn’t seem like someone who would threaten an entire village, but there was something inside him which made everyone fearful of going outside. He also didn’t look like he would hurt anybody, but Delphine knew that there is terrible darkness inside of him. Delphine’s eyes started to grow big, and she slowly began to walk even closer to the man; she was determined to finish him off.

"So you’re the one who has been causing all of this confusion. I thought you would’ve looked more monstrous," Delphine said.

"Yes. You’ve got that right. I never dreamed you would come alone. I was hoping there would be another person next to you," the man said.

"You’re out in the open. The villagers will see your true form. They’re probably watching us right now."

"Forget about it. There’s no reason to hide anymore."

As he said this, four more people began to walk towards Delphine, and they all stood beside the mysterious man. But, they all transformed themselves to become like the creatures of darkness, and they were all carrying weapons. It was no wonder that nobody who lived in the village of Solna ever came out of their homes for a whole week.

"We are the rightful rulers of this world. Humans exist to serve our kind. But lately, you seem to think you can resist us," the man said.

Four of them. That figures. This could be bad. Delphine thought.

"Hey, she’s getting ready," a demon said.

"That’s brave of you, taking on all five of us at once," another demon said.

"Five?" Delphine asked. She had no idea what that demon was talking about; she could only see four of them being with the demon-possessed man.

Then, she started to hear flapping noises and sounds of someone or something that was flying, but she couldn’t see where it was coming from. A second later, a demon with wings came down towards her, and she dodged that creature and pulled out her greatsword.

"Ebony Warrior! You are not wanted here. You are not welcome here. We shall tear your flesh open!" The demon shouted.

"Wings? So, you can fly. Come to me, and we’ll end this!" Delphine shouted.

"Die, human!"

Then, the demon flew as fast as possible towards Delphine while holding his sword, and he was ready to tear her apart. It was not common to see Demons with wings, let alone those who carried swords on their backs. Delphine easily blocks the oncoming attack with her blade, and all of the other demonic beasts started charging after her. She also pierces her sword onto the ground, and she does a front flip and lands behind one of them. But the winged beast had no fear of what would happen to him, and he would not rest until he saw the Ebony Warrior lie dead.

Then, the winged beast flew behind Delphine and kicked her onto the ground, and she slowly gets herself back up. She knew that this foe is very tricky to take down, but she dared to figure out his weak spot and take on this creature.

"I think our little game ends here. So tell me, warrior of the night, how do you choose to die?" The winged beast asked.

"If I die, it shall not be in vain. And if I am split open this night, I shall drag you down with me back to Hell!" Delphine shouted. After she said that, one of the demons stood behind her again, and he was about to cut her down with his sword.

Then, Delphine easily blocks the attack with her sword, and she stood ready to take all of the demons on before she could move forward. Delphine had massive skills and strength when it came to fighting back with the sword; she could take on as many demons as she can. She began to fight back against every single devil that stood before her as the significant wind blew in the sky. The demons did not expect to fight such a powerful foe, and all hope seemed to fade away from them. As she fought them, blood and gore started to splatter and stain the ground, the buildings, and her greatsword.

Afterward, the demon-possessed man also started to be fearful of the Ebony Warrior, and all of the demons which he controlled were already dead. Delphine walks up to the man, and she was keen on either ending his life or letting him walk away just to die another day.

"I see now. I thought it was strange that five demons needed to hunt in a pack. But weak ones need others like them to lick their wounds," Delphine said.

"That wench. A mere human defeated an entire pack of demons," the man said. Before he could say anything else, Delphine runs up to him and cleaves him in two, and the demon-possessed man could not move any longer.

Then, he turned to Delphine and said to her, "You will never defeat us all, Ebony Warrior. You will go down a path of which you will never escape. Be certain of that."

And so, the demon-possessed man takes one last breath and dies on the blood-soaked ground along with his pack of demons. Then, Delphine looks up to the sky, and she saw the winged demon flying away to

end up someplace else. The beast had so much difficultly to drift away from his enemy, and not even he could believe that a single person defeated all of his comrades. Even the master whom he served was slain from the Ebony Warrior, and he knew he had to make it somehow out alive. Delphine simply stood there and watched the demon fly away from her as the hot wind continued to breeze.

Then, a whole fit of rage and strength started to enter Delphine’s mind and soul, and she knew she had to kill the winged demon one way or another. Her eye color began to be red, and she started to have thick vertical slit pupils in her eyes as she stared at the demon. Her veins began to appear, and a lot of muscle tension began to build onto her shoulders as she held her sword. She could not control the power within herself, and she understood that she needed to have this power to keep moving. This was a dark power that whoever wields it will slowly become like the demons, and they would be cursed to walk the world forever.

Delphine aimed her sword at the chest of the flying beast, who was now about a hundred feet off the ground. Again, there was nothing that Delphine could do to control the darkness within herself, but she remained focused. The winged demon was so keen on trying to rush as fast as possible, but little did he know that he would meet an unpleasant end. Delphine had so much hate and fury against all of the creatures of the night, and she understood why they all must die. She takes a gigantic step forward, and it seemed as if the entire earth shook, and the stones broke open.

Then, she throws her greatsword up into the sky, and she watches it fly in the air to pierce the winged demon in his heart. The sword sings high, the tip of the blade is pointed at the demon’s flesh, and the darkness within Delphine has not vanished. The Crissaegrim stabs the beast on the center of his chest, and he began to let out a scream that was so painful and so intense. He pukes out so much blood, all of his gore started to rain down, and he no longer had the strength to fly. Then, he began to fall all the way down to the world, with his blood staining the floor and Delphine’s sword stuck to his chest.

There was absolutely nothing he could do to save himself because the sword also went through his wings. The winged demon lands onto the ground with a thud, and he was dead a second later; he died along with both his master and his comrades. It could be a lifetime of anguish and tragedy to be bound to the darkness, and one’s fate would be sealed if he pledged his soul to lead Satan’s armies. Delphine stood there and stared at the demon corpse and wanted to make sure it was dead. Delphine wipes away some of the blood that was sprinkled onto her face, and she began to refer back to the first demon she has ever killed.

It was a decade ago when she took on the role of demon hunting, and she always walked away unscathed from a battle. Delphine walks over to the demon corpse and pulls the sword out, and her greatsword is stained with demonic blood. She puts the sword back to her sheath, and she looks at all of the other demons that she killed. Suddenly, a man came out of his house and saw all the corpses of the demons that lie dead on the ground.

"My work is done," Delphine said.

"You’d... you’d like a reward, I suppose?" The villager asked.

"You don’t owe me anything. You were in need. I helped," she answered.

"And they call some adventurers heartless. Say they won’t lift a finger without pay."

"I should get going. There are many things that I must do alone. You are needed here in your city."

Then, Delphine leaves the man to his business as more people begin to walk out of their homes and see her walking out of the village. Delphine worries about nothing else as she walked away from the town of Solna, and she continued her path on the long, dark road. Meanwhile, Simon was walking north on the long, dark road and did not look the other way as the day went on. As he walked, the wind was strong and severe; he could not stop following the big footprints that Delphine left behind. He was breathing very slowly, and he could not stop himself from the countless hours of walking north.

There was something inside of him that forced Simon to follow the Ebony Warrior, but it was tough for him to come to an understanding. Suddenly, he found himself stumbling down to the earth, and he found his legs losing strength. And so, he decides to lay back and stare at the sun shining down upon his face; he started to believe that he lost all hope in trying to find Delphine. Suddenly, Delphine began to stroll towards Simon without him noticing, and she began to feel bad. She couldn’t just leave him out here to die, and she knew she’d be a fool if she left the young hunter to rot.

Then, Delphine picks him up from the ground and carries him as she continued walking on the road with the strong wind.

You’re very strange. Don’t be afraid of me. Simon heard Delphine say.

Simon was lying down, and he started to remember the first conversation he had with Delphine and kept it inside of him.

That’s none of your concern. If I told you, you would never believe me. I may be the Ebony Warrior... but in my heart, I’m just a hunter, nothing more. He also remembered that saying.

Then, Simon opens his eyes and checked all of his surroundings to see if anything wrong has happened to him. He notices that he’s on a bed inside what seems to be a hotel room; he has been asleep for quite some time. He didn’t know how long he has been sleeping, and he couldn’t comprehend anything that has come to pass. The room itself was clean, and the bed was very comfortable to lay on; the furniture was as if it was brand new. Simon had nothing to say to himself for a good while as he looked all over the place to see if something terrible would come through the walls.

"What’s this place? Where am I?" He asked himself.

Then, the Innkeeper opened the door and went inside the room with breakfast in his hands with some bread.

"Oh, you’re awake. You were almost dead. You were lucky to be rescued," the innkeeper said.

"What do you mean?" Simon asked. As he was busy wandering wherever he was, the innkeeper places the tray of food onto Simon’s lap.

"Eat up. You haven’t eaten in days, have you? It’s a miracle you made it across the wasteland with so few provisions."

"Well... I haven’t. But where am I?"

"You’re in my inn. The inn at Ermac village. You’ve been sleeping since yesterday."

A few seconds later, Simon’s stomach started growling while looking at the food; he knew he couldn’t make it through another day without food.

"You must be hungry. Go on, dig in," the innkeeper said.

"Oh, but I don’t have any money. I can’t even pay you for this room," Simon said.

"Don’t worry about money. Your food and lodging have already been paid for."

"What?"

"By a warrior with black armor."

"You mean... her? Do you mean Delphine, the Ebony Warrior? How did you let her in?"

"Don’t know. She didn’t say, and I didn’t ask. Still, what a sight. A warrior who walks in the night walked into the village carrying a half-dead body. She brought you here to the inn, put you in a bed, and paid for your food and lodging."

Simon started to imagine that Delphine wasn’t just an ordinary warrior who walked alone; she was like a caretaker who wanted to make sure that a person she cared for is alright.

"So, where is she now?" Simon asked.

"I don’t know. She probably has already gone to another city, and probably might not be needing you at the moment," the innkeeper answered. Then, Simon slowly gets himself up from the bed and stretches his arms for a bit, and he looks at the window for a few seconds.

"I’m sorry! I have to get going! Thanks for everything!" Simon said.

"Hey, wait! Aren’t you going to eat?" The innkeeper asked. Then, Simon didn’t hesitate nor refuse the innkeeper’s offer, and he started to eat as much as he can.

"Hey, hey! Slow down, or you’ll choke," the innkeeper said.

"Thanks for the food! Goodbye!" Simon said.

"Uh, sure. Take care."

And so, Simon gathered all of his belongings and ran out the door, and he quickly exited the inn as a few people watched him. As he made it outside, it was filled with people who walked everywhere and carried on with the day. He looked to his left and right to find the Ebony Warrior, but it was impossible with so many people in his way. The people of this village were reticent and unconcerned about many things as Simon continued walking in front of them. He didn’t care that much either, for the only thing he had in mind was to find Delphine of Moria.

Simon lived a life of which he received nothing in return, and he has always been a hunter who hunted both beasts and demons. Then, he started to believe that Delphine was standing before him as he could never forget such a person who proved to be a warrior worthy of being feared.

Don’t be afraid of me. Simon noticed her voice.

As he continued walking, Simon could feel like he was hearing her soothing voice and could never forget what she said to him.

Delphine. My name is Delphine. But many people seem to forget what my name is. He heard her voice again.

Delphine’s very presence could not leave the sight of the young hunter; even though they just met, Simon could not let himself forget anything about her.

I’m just a lone wanderer on the face of the earth, and I hunt the creatures of darkness. He noticed her voice yet again.

For the first time in his whole life, he met someone who seemed essential to him, and he believes that she could be the one who will free humanity from tyranny.

Next Chapter: Chapter 7: A Chosen Follower