The Knight's Judgment

The word of my arrival and the defeat of one of the demon queen's generals spread like wild fire throughout the kingdom of Argentia and any neighbouring cities and towns.

Sitting on the throne, Princess Anna let out a sigh standing before her was me, cleaned of most of the blood and beside her the head knight staring daggers at me, but I paid her no mind. Priestesses, knights, maids and other servants stood by waiting for any of the princess's command.

The princess cleared her throat, gathering the attention of everyone in the throne room.

"Now then, I believe that the first other of business we should address is the hero's introduction to the people" Princess Anna started, "People are eager to meet the hero that defeated one of the five generals in the demon queen's army since news of it broke out and I suppose-"

"Forgive me princess" The head knight interrupted, eyeing me up and down skeptical of my origins "But I do not believe that a lowly brute such as he could be the hero from the prophecy. It foretold a noble knight, righteous and just with a heart of gold, not a barbarian that could leave such an atrocious mess in his wake"

"As uncouth as he may be, he had saved me from a grim fate" The princess explained, defending me.

"Be that as it may, the methods he used are barbaric and the Sin Eater, as he calls himself, are not written I the prophecy, that aside I highly doubt that this lowly man is a knight to begin with" pride emanated from the female knight's smug face despite the helmet covering it.

"That's where you are wrong, miss" I decided to answer "My name is Scourge."

The knight fixed up her posture and stared at me wide eyed.

"I was blessed by the angel Ariel, I possess strength and speed not that of mere mortals." I let out a small chuckle "This demon queen you speak about I assured you is nothing more than a stepping stone for me to stomp on"

The small crowd present in the throne room erupted in whispers.

The female knight stared silently at me, her hands angrily balled into a fist.

"Oh dear..." The Princess commented in a whisper, worried for the knight's well being

"Very well then I shall test his strength to see if he be worthy of such outrageous claims!" The female knight boldly announced, removing her helmet revealing a beautiful young maiden of noble descent, her long flowing blonde hair gently falling to her back with some graceful landing on her shoulders, glistening her fair skin like that of fine white porcelain...gentle and elegant, her green eyes shimmering like emerald jewels, her beauty rivalled that of the princess's. She held her head high with pride.

"I am Lady Astoria Zuberg, the eldest daughter of the Zuberg noble household and I hereby challenge thee to a duel!"