The Dread Knight's Rage-Chapter 124: The Horsemen Armed

Nila’s body slowly returned to normal as she shivered.

Her mother couldn’t possibly have been alive... could she?

"W-What’s in the box?!" She whirled around, hoping it might have been some sort of clue.

Solomon also reverted to his human body.

Standing in the middle of his siblings, he cracked open the lid of the ornate box and stared inside.

Nestled beside each other were four necklaces. Each one had an initial carved beneath it to indicate who it was for.

Taped to the underside of the lid was a note. On it was the most beautiful handwriting that Solomon had ever seen.

With these, you lay them to rest. And know that you are their last hope to write the great wrongs.

Solomon’s siblings all returned to normal as they crowded around the box.

Nila picked up the necklace above her initial. It was a gaudy thing of gold and burgundy. It looked more like something her aunt would wear rather than a warrior like her.

Still, she put it on. At the very least, it matched her clothes.

"..." She gave her necklace a small poke. "Nothing is happening."

"M-Maybe we all have to put them on..?" Dakota suggested.

Her idea seemed plausible enough that the others were at the very least willing to test it.

Even Everett came along once Dakota gave him a pleading look that he could not so easily ignore.

But nothing happened until Solomon’s finger brushed against the necklace that was meant for him.

Almost immediately, his head was thrown back, and his eyes shone like orange candles.

A choking sound escaped Solomon’s throat.

His siblings could see a glow rising from his stomach. It crept up his midsection to his chest and eventually his throat.

He let out a final gag, and a glowing orange orb leapt past his lips.

He wiped his mouth of bile just as the orb split apart. Four streams of energy flowed from the sphere and struck the necklaces of the siblings.

Raizel was forced to cover his eyes again as a blinding light shone from their bodies.

"Are you guys all... Right?"

Nila looked down at her hands. They were covered in beautifully made black gauntlets with a rose gold finish.

Her thigh-high greaves were made of the same material. Around her waist, rose-gold chains held her belt and a deep red burgundy skirt in place.

A single pauldron sat on her right shoulder. A black barb curled from the smooth metal.

She touched it with a single finger and gasped when that was enough to draw blood.

But when her finger healed in only a few seconds, she nearly fell over from the shock.

"Impossible.."

When Nila heard her distorted voice, she realized that she was wearing a mask.

Upon removing it, she marveled at the simple crimson faceplate with a trio of sharpened points at the top. It almost resembled a crown.

There were no eye holes in the mask, and yet Nila could see through it just fine.

She ran her fingers over the cool metal, marveling at the craftsmanship.

’Did my mother... really have a hand in making this..?’

As she contemplated that very real possibility, she heard a thunk come from her feet.

When she looked down, she found three items waiting for her.

The largest was a saddle and battle armor, made from the same material as her current outfit.

As she imagined Scorn in the armor, she had to resist the urge to jump up and down.

On opposite sides of the saddle were two weapons. A bladed whip, and a bone short sword with a wicked edge and red glow.

Nila was almost stunned speechless.

"This.. this..."

Dakota was in a similar predicament.

The armor she’d received was a ghastly dark purple color. Unlike Nila’s, hers had more material and wasn’t quite as form-fitting.

Her leg armor was a dark silver color, with beast-like digits on the toes.

Unlike Nila, her mask did have eye sockets. Through them, the glow of her purple eyes illuminated the night.

Floating beside her was a weapon she had never seen before. An ominous black scythe with a shining amethyst blade.

"This... this is nuts..!"

Everett’s appearance was a bit more gaudy than his sisters’.

His armor appeared as an eye-catching blue and gold battlerobe. The mask he wore was complete with ritualistic etchings that, for some reason, Dakota and Nila could read perfectly.

But what had truly hypnotized Everett more than anything was the blue, crystal longsword lying at his feet beside a saddle and armor.

They were, without a doubt, the most beautiful things he had ever seen in his life.

"Solomon!"

The group snapped out of their fascination with their new toys when they heard Raizel’s yell.

Solomon was on the ground, his palms pressed against the stone, and a river of sweat running from his forehead.

The black liquid that usually remained dormant inside his body was starting to go berserk.

He groaned painfully as his insides turned against themselves. His siblings were horrified to witness him bash his head against the ground in an attempt to control himself.

"S-SOLOMON!"

Dakota didn’t even feel herself move. She simply rushed to embrace Solomon to stop him from hurting himself.

It was strange to see a girl who was only 5’6 try to hold back a seven-foot grown man from smashing his head against the ground.

Her action inspired her other siblings to move as one. They also grabbed onto their older brother in an attempt to stop him from injuring himself.

Solomon groaned breathlessly as his body was wracked with agony.

His temperature began to skyrocket.

Orange magma poured from his eyes without warning.

His armor appeared over his body all at once, but it was wrong.

The metal was so hot that it was turning red. Solomon’s siblings could no longer hold onto him without risk of burning themselves.

Solomon’s armor began to melt. He swallowed the urge to scream into the night through sheer force of will.

Solomon’s armor did not just melt. It reshaped itself while on his body. The metal only cooled when it was done changing.

As steam rolled off his armor, his siblings took further steps back and allowed him to stand on two feet.

"Are you... okay?"

"You look..."

"Shiny." Nila whistled.

Disaster’s armor was fearsome and designed for intimidation as well as ill omens. Striking terror was it’s greatest function.

The new armor was different. Noble, rather than menacing.

It’s black metal was smoother. Glossier too.

Gold trimmings outlined his belt, bracers, and his helmet. Like Nila, he had a pauldron sitting on his left shoulder. One that depicted the golden head of a bull with glowing eyes.

Along his chestplate, a subtle red finish was woven between his abs and around his pecs. It matched the color of the deep red fabric hanging from the skull belt around his waist.

The horns on his helmet were noticeably smaller than before. But the four weapons hovering around him more than made up for it.

A beautiful greatsword. A righteous spear. A powerful hammer and an infernal axe.

As Solomon tried to get his bearings, he heard a loud thunk come from his feet.

When he looked down, he found a saddle and armor that could only have been for one particular entity.

"...Bansha is going to be quite jealous."