Photon could hear the sound of his own breath echoing through his metallic frame; the sound of his heavy armour trudging through the forest floor one he was well familiar with. Branches snapping under foot, the splattering of mud as well as the scuttling of smaller creatures (most of them that existed in the world) moving out the way of his form. It was all something he was used to since he became the one known as the {True Hero} then reaching greater heights as {The Pillar of the Knight}.
That was because that’s who he was, right?
The infallible existence that represented the world's hopes that will never falter or fall no matter what crisis he faces. It was his job to stop people from making things worse and getting people killed for pointless things. He was the one person who everyone would rely on to block Violet’s violence, parry Mother’s punishments, shrug off Munzumira’s showboating, stop Sohn-Tochters storms, put sense into the system, see through Chaos’ antics, prevent Pandora’ pandemics and judge Jeeves crimes.
That was who he was after all; he was Photon.
If he didn’t do all that, it wasn’t a matter of who would it was a matter of who could?
Just stand in front of what everyone else is scared of with a smile then deal with it in a confident manner so everybody else can feel nice and safe in relying on you some more. Did he regret becoming the hero? Not one bit as it was a request from Atlas… If there was someone he couldn’t remove it was Atlas. Still, it got tiring for him as he was no fighting manic or someone who particularly enjoyed hunting like the fox.
Lions were known as the king of all terrestrial beasts yet those who knew little about them assumed they were dangerous beasts always on the prowl. That couldn’t be further from the truth as they usually slept more than they were awake. Adult ortals tended to require 6-8 hours however it could be said that’s because they were weak… Lions were decidedly lazier so preferred to sleep in for 16-20 hours per day.
When was the last time he got to do that though?
There was always something going wrong while he had nobody to particularly rely on; there was the always smiling {Sovereign of Storms} who he was partnered with. They had their own responsibilities as {The Heavens} which already lessened the pressure from his shoulders with her battalion of {God-Slayers}. That pressure was still enough that he hoped never to face the {Demon God Leviathan} on the battlefield since he was concerned he would finally find the point where he crumbled…
Ironically the only time anyone seemed to show concern for him (asking if he was okay) was the {Demon God Empress} who was supposed to be the ‘final boss’ for heroes according to mortals.
Still; the thing that perhaps cermented his status as a hero was his least favourite thing to do.
“Make this nice and easy Jeeves; it’ll be the best for both of us hahaha!” <Photon>
Even with the helm on his head with just enemies around he couldn’t show weakness as a single crack would be all it took for the pressure to cause a fissure. What he did do though was slam his large shield into the ground while resting his iconic spear upon his shoulder. He always found it ironic that the shape ’double cross’ of the spear was ‘his’ despite it being the symbol of {The Heavens} instead. In front of him was the demonic visage of the ‘Jeeves’ that was in front of him.
Certainly didn’t look human as it’s aura of decay slowly did it’s job on the surrounding plant life except for the thorns or brambles that seemed to spread out from him. Atop his head was the crown of thorns embedding into the bleeding halo; though considering the crimson blood it seemed obvious this ‘Jeeves’ was a mere imitation. Yet wasn’t that the truth when it came to most of the ‘Jeeves’ that committed problems - the real one was far harder to deal with even if it didn’t have the same durability of the fakes.
A being that never forgot but only had 42 years to create panic would obviously come up with his own ‘solutions’.
That also meant that every 42 years or so Photon had to defeat one of these undead Jeeves while trying to leave it to others to figure out the underlying goal. Of course, sometimes he may delay his rebirth into the world causing it to be more annoying to prepare. As for what he planned to do this time? Current theory was to ‘body swap’ with Photon’s very own ‘little sister’.
As selfish as it may be… Knowing that someone was born, who wasn't one of those daft humans, to take up the title of hero filled Photon ironically with hope. Not to mention he also had his own son born which was something to feel joyous about. Yet here was the very ghost of the world's past as well as the one person he wanted to protect most but could do nothing…
Except to help shoulder the pain & responsibilities of that very man.
“If I were you I wouldn’t have come here photon, you may end up getting hurt~!” <Jeeves>
The beserk creature dashed forward with a flash while swinging that derelict stone blade to attempt cutting Photon in half. Such a simple move was hardly enough to surprise the knight who didn’t step back to take the blow but charged forward with his shield held in front of him in the typical {Shield Bash}. A simple shield art that turned defence into a knockback that challenged the opponent to see if they could stand their ground; only one person had ever managed to do that against Photon.
However this ‘Jeeves’ was no Violet.
Having the shield meet the bony structure of the undead monster sent it flying backwards before it’s blade could show it’s impressive cutting power - sometimes the best defence was a good offence afterall! The nightmare of death found itself forcedit to slam its heavy blade into the ground just to prevent itself from being sent too far away. Letting its blade upturn the earth into a murky mist to slow down its backwards momentum. Afterall it had learned a long time ago giving Photon more space just played to his advantage.
Bringing his spear off his shoulder Photon took a simple stance as golden holy light filled the large blade on the end, thrusting it forward as sparks rained off the light. It took a mere second for the pillar of purifying light & lightning to penetrate the wall of dirt but the monster wasn’t so easy to damage as it simply batted the attack away with its own weapon. The attack was followed moments later by the holy thunder which was left behind due to the speed of the weapon art.
“The day you manage to hurt me is the day I hang up my shield; then again I doubt a wall which can support my shield exists!” <Photon>
A bellowing laugh carried through the forest as Photon didn’t even bother capitalising on the space between them; slowly walking towards the ‘Jeeves’. Though it looked like this it was fully intentional as he still prioritised spacing. This wasn’t space between him & ‘Jeeves’ though but instead between this battle & the little hero. He wasn’t looking down on the girl; he saw her eyes when walking by her. He was confident she would become someone great however she wasn’t ready yet.
It was his job as her senior to take care of this mess so she could grow up safely!
His body began to glow with the exact same light as his weapon once did - holy lightning sparking from his muscles under the armour - as he leaned forward with his spear reeling back ready for another attack.
“[True Hero - Holy Light Charge]!” <Photon>
With that his entire body entirely broke apart into motes of light that charged forth towards the trouble maker who attempted to swing his blade at the hero's charge. A heavy *CLANG* made it clear this failed as instead the spear punctured through the ‘Jeeves’ in spite of that the monstrosity wasn’t lucky enough to have it end with the ‘pin prick’. Photon’s heroic charge continued at near light speeds that betrayed his bulky appearance - with ‘Jeeves’ weapon prevented from moving - he sent the evil creature through tree after tree to increase the distance more and more. If Eel were here she may notice this was closer to the forest she fought with the {Giant Green Lizard} than it was to her current location.
Finally finding this distance offering a bit more freedom he decided to finish this up.
“[True Hero - Holy Judgement]!” <Photon>
With that a bright flash occurred as a pillar of light crashed down from above causing the being to let out an inhuman scream. His attack formed a double cross as soon the thunderous sound echoed out except far louder than it was for his previous attack. The monster was heavily damaged but the Hero was sure it wasn’t dead as the attack let up - Photon’s response was to lift up his metal boot to kick the monster off his weapon and onto the floor.
“I’m still feeling pretty healthy Jeeves; what about you?” <Photon>
A laugh comparable to the roar of a beast followed his question. At this point the monster's blood seeped from its body causing licks of purple flame to rise from its wounds while that iconic executioner's blade slammed into the ground once more. This time it wasn’t in order to resist the power of Photon but instead the pull of gravity as it’s murderous aura flowed out of his body. This was a sight Photon had felt thousands upon millions maybe upon billions of times already though so such an aura hardly scared the knight; it didn’t even make him tense.
“Feeling peachy jehehe~!” <’Jeeves’>
It appeared after that devastating combo even ‘Jeeves’ was struggling to stand though Photon’s natural affinities did help with this - even as it spoke smoke poured from its internals along with its voice. That voice was far from what should come from a human but this ‘Jeeves’ hardly looked like one in its current form anyway. Well, after receiving Photon’s beating, it would be hard to look human unless you had outrageous defences like Violet & Mother… Or Photon himself. I wasn’t like this form of Jeeves particularly had low defences but rather this also made it clear that despite what some thought Photon wasn’t just a walking punching bag.
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