The Beast

Angelo makes his way down the red carpet throne room. The King has requested an audience for the one who slayed the Beast threatening the city. As he reaches the steps up to the throne, Angelo kneels before the King with reverence. The King retrieves the ceremonial sword from his royal guard and begins the knighting ritual, an honor reserved for those recognized as true heroes.

"What do you make of this?" the seer asks.
"I don't know: seems like a good guy." the Captain observes.
"We'll see."

Angelo is at his wit's end. Skeletal soldiers, fiends, and more vicious creatures surround the warrior. He grows fatigued; but, one-by-one, Angelo slays all that oppose him with his trusty claymore. The massive Beast in the distance towers over the city walls, calling in more creatures to ravage the city. Angelo finds a break in the encirclement and fires a blast of force through the ranks, annihilating his enemies. Path cleared, he dashes over to the Beast, which has broken through the city wall.

"Did you catch the Exhibition Match today?" the seer wonders.
"Yeah, I did! It was pretty gruesome!"
"I thought it could've used more cowbell."
"I know, right? When they released all those bovines into the arena, it didn't quite resonate as I had hoped."

Dawn breaks over the horizon as citizens evacuate out of the capital. Angelo introduces himself to the fleeing citizens, but most are too afraid to stop and talk. Those that did stop describe a Beast approaching the capital, so they're all gathering their loved ones and fleeing to the next safest city. Angelo takes this information and approaches the gates of the capital, pushing through the crowd of citizens to gain a breakaway into the streets. A distant roar echoes throughout the land, terrifying the citizens into a mad rush. The guards rush to their defensive positions, ready to intercept the approaching threat.

"Did you see who won?" the seer wonders.
"No, I missed that part. Some lady next to me wouldn't shut up about her son, and I wanted to throttle her." The Captain makes a choking gesture.
"Tough break... It's gonna be the elf this year."
"Of courrrrse it's the elf... *sigh* There goes my fight money."

A warrior clad in gloriously black platemail exits the tavern in the dead of night, where a thief takes notice and follows, watching him leave town into the city outskirts. Seizing the moment, the thief sneaks up, takes her dagger and tries to plunge it between the crevices around his neck; but the warrior evades the attack and catches her in a vicious embrace. The thief is disarmed and struggles to escape as the grip tightens harder and harder around her. Then suddenly, a snap, and the thief goes limp. The warrior drops the body on the ground and silently continues in the direction of the capital.

"What do you got against elves?" the seer challenges.
"I'll admit they have an elegance about them, but they're no fun to watch in a fight."
"How so?"
"They just always resort to kiting!" The Captain seems frustrated by the thought.
"Well what's wrong with that?"
"Don't get me started. Just don't."
"Alright alright, sheesh."

In a room dimly lit with candles, a robed man kneels before a circle of runes, chanting ominous tones. He bites the tip of his finger and uses the flowing blood to scribe symbols onto the circle. Soon, a dark fiend appears before the man, followed by an unintelligible exchange of whispers. The fiend flashes a sinister smile across his face and envelopes its summoner with a swirling vortex of arcane energy, granting the man powers unknown. Suddenly, the candlelight winks out, leaving the room pitch black. Before long, the candles reignite to reveal a warrior clad in armor where the summoner once knelt, the mark of the Beast glowing bright on his back before fading into nothing. The fiend and the runic circle are gone, and the warrior leaves the room, claymore in hand.

"We've got it," the seer confirms. "We can return him now."
"Keep that on record."
"You wanna go see how tomorrow's match plays out?"
"If it means not sitting next to that lady again, you bet your ass I do."

The Captain and seer remove Angelo's restraints from the table and take him back to the jailhouse.