NOTE: This is a reworking of the original fight, which was first uploaded as a fan-made Death Battle. In the interest of preserving the content without conflicts with the new format, the research elements have been forgone in favor of just including the battle. Please enjoy!
Location: Hall of Heroes
The Hall of Heroes was always an enjoyable place to be, were you to ask its regulars. With drinks, sports, and fun to be had amidst the jolly music, there was no other place in the afterlife heroes of legend would rather spend eternity.
That was the humble opinion of Sir Daniel Fortesque, anyway. He sat at the bar of the establishment, sipping a drink as the sounds of a massive arm-wrestling match behind him drowned out the music from the band. Recent victories in the world of the living had left him famished for relaxation, so the hero of Gallowmere had retreated to the Hall to kick back with his fellow warriors.
However, because the other heroes were all so absorbed in their competition at the tables behind him, Daniel was the only one who took notice of a strange force that sent the entryway creaking open. He hopped off his stool and grabbed his sword as he made his way over, peering out to see a small child ghost, barely knee-high compared to the knight, in front of the doors.
Sir Daniel: *muffled* Oh, hello! What brings you to the Hall of Heroes?
The specter said nothing for a moment before it shivered frightfully as if recalling a bad dream.
Child: …T-there’s a monster… I-it took my mommy and my daddy…
Daniel was shocked! Zarok, back already? It was entirely possible. Or perhaps it was some new entity?
Sir Daniel: *muffled* Oh, gosh… You stay in here; I’ll go hunt that beast down.
He ushered the soul inside the doors for safety and closed it behind him. Drawing his Magic Sword and Silver Shield for good measure, he made his way down the staircase and arrived at the lower level. Assuming caution in case the monster was anywhere in the vicinity, Dan stepped out the doors slowly and set off.
After a good bit of walking, Dan arrived at the nearest village, planning to ask locals if they had seen any terrible beast like the child had. But as he entered the limits of the village, he felt a cold shiver run down his spine. There was no noise. No children playing, no adults conversing, not even a zombie groaning. There was only silence that hung in the air.
Courage driving his every step, he explored further. Vending stands and toys were littered through the street, making it apparent there had been people here recently. But there was something else on the ground that got Dan’s attention, and it was something much more ominous than the silence.
Crouching down, Dan stared analytically at the small pool of blood staining the brick road. It was still fresh, which only made Sir Daniel feel even more uneasy. Looking up a little, he noticed a trail of red dots of blood leading from the pool and into a nearby house. It was starting to become night, so the trail was a bit hard to see, but Dan stood back up and followed it nonetheless. Maybe he would find whatever had caused this.
The drips led him to the open entryway to a small house. The door was smashed down, and just inside Daniel saw a sword, stained red with blood, laying on the ground. The trail he was following continued past him into the darkness, and as he stepped over the blade into the shadows, Dan couldn’t help but feel as if something was watching him.
Sir Daniel: *muffled* I can’t see anything in here… Where’s the lantern…?
As he spoke, a blue light flashed to life behind him, lighting up the room. Dan sighed thankfully, thinking nothing of it at first.
Sir Daniel: *muffled* Phew, much better. Now-
He cut himself short in a muffled cry of shock as the light revealed what the trail had led him to: a horribly mangled corpse of an adult man, his blood spattered all over the walls of the room. Slashes and cuts were littered across his body, the top of his head split in two like a watermelon. His one eye ogling the whites of the corpse’s, Dan took a step backward and bumped into something. He froze in place, eye wide open in fear.
Two blue eyes glowed in the dimness of the blue light behind him, and a raspy breathing noise cut the silence.
Krul: …What do we have here…?
Dan felt two strong hands grasp his shoulders and fling him back. He went tumbling out the door he had entered from, his metal armor clanging as it scraped over the bricks of the street. Reacting fast, Dan sprung to his feet and grabbed his Magic Sword and Silver Shield again, as they’d escaped his grasp for a moment after being thrown. The monster he’d been hunting stepped from the darkness of the door and into the fading light, sun setting in the distance.
Sir Daniel: *muffled* W-what are you…!?
Krul’s lips curled into a demented grin, Hellrazor still sparking with a dark blue aura.
Krul: That matters not… Now, let us see if you can release me…
Without even hesitating Krul flung himself at Daniel, arms outstretched in a flaming blue light. Protecting himself, Daniel flung his shield up to block the strike. He felt the full force behind Krul’s Dead Man’s Rush slam against his defensive weapon, intercepting the strike. Krul continued to hammer his fists against the shield, savagely pursuing the enemy it was guarding. Daniel, realizing his opponent was not going to let up, timed a shove against one of Krul’s strikes, sending him staggering backward.
Seeing an opportunity to strike, Daniel lunged forward with an overhead sword swing. Krul dashed out of the way in the nick of time, narrowly avoiding the edge of the blade, but Daniel pursued him with more sword swings. After whiffing several swings due to Krul’s dodging, he finally managed to land one on the side of his head, sending Krul sprawling to the ground. Daniel leaped high into the air and thrust his sword downward, aiming to drive his blade through Krul’s chest, but Krul leaped up to intercept and swatted him out of the air. Daniel recovered from a rough landing just in time to fling his shield in harm’s way once again as Krul charged in to continue his onslaught, his rotted fists pounding the silver plating.
Realizing his shield wouldn’t hold against this barrage of attacks, Daniel grunted and dashed forward, pinning Krul against the face of his shield just as he was about to deliver another strike. Sir Daniel sprinted with all his might and smashed Krul into the outer wall of the house the blood trail went into, the foundation splintering and cracking upon impact. The point of Hellrazor’s blade sank into the flimsy wood, wedging the Viking in place.
As Krul struggled to pry himself away from the wall, Dan swung his sword wildly through the air, slashing into Krul’s rotten skin and muscle. In a gross spray, pungent blue blood erupted from the wounds. A hollow groan escaping Krul’s empty throat, the undead Viking rammed his head into Sir Daniel’s, his helmet shielding him from recoil damage. Dan stumbled back and Krul yanked Hellrazor from his chest entirely, holding it in a proper swordfighting position. Daniel lifted his sword into the air and charged again.
Sir Daniel: *muffled* Have at you!
Magic Sword clashed against unholy sword as Dan struck from above and Krul swiftly parried. Dancing around each other nimbly, the undead warriors dueled with their blades amidst the wreckage Krul had brought upon the village. After several clashes between their blades, Krul shoved Dan backward, tripping him on a stray brick, and Dan staggered, managing to keep his footing. Reacting as fast as he could to Krul’s incoming sword slash, Dan flung his shield in the way of the attack.
Thud. The first swing hit his shield with immense power, the vibrations rattling his bones.
Thud. Another swing. Dan wondered, how was this zombie man fighting with such power? His body was deteriorated such that it seemed his wrist would snap off at the slightest-
THUD. When the third swing impacted the Silver Shield, Dan heard the sound of metal splintering and fracturing. From the backside of his shield, he saw the large, obvious cracks forming in the center. His eyes widened and he prepared his sword to hastily take its place in defending him.
Krul: Haah!
As Krul brought Hellrazor down once more with the intent to shatter the silver shield, it was suddenly brought away and the edge of Krul’s cursed blade was parried away by Dan’s sword. Then Dan brought his foot up and planted it over the festering would where Hellrazor would have slept, sending Krul sprawling back onto the ground. Hellrazor clattered to the ground, having slipped from his grasp, but when Krul stood slowly it quivered and sprang up, its binding curse flinging it back into the hole in his chest. Krul briefly gasped with what he could only assume was pain and grinned evilly at Dan.
Sir Daniel: *muffled* What’re you smiling about?
Krul’s glowing eyes shifted up to gaze at something above Sir Daniel’s head. He craned his neck to see it, and he could see a blue skull apparition encircled by eight small azure flames surrounding it hovering over his head. Eight stacks of Weakness.
Krul: Be emptied.
Krul swung his arms down as Hellrazor lit with blue. A magic Hellrazor clone appeared over Sir Daniel and drove down at him powerfully. Daniel, surprised, flung his shield up, only to have the powerful Spectral Smite shatter it in his hands and chop through his shoulder, severing his arm. Dan cried with muffled pain and Krul gave a hollow laugh, health replenished from the vampiric effect of Spectral Smite.
Krul: Now, you will be- AUGH!
Suddenly Krul was smacked in the face repeatedly by Sir Daniel, who had picked up his arm and battered his enemy with it. Leaving Krul dazed from the unexpected beating, he attached it back onto his body.
Sir Daniel: *muffled* It’ll take more than that to stop me!
Dan reached into his inventory and pulled out his Hammer, replacing his sword with the blunt weapon. He wound up and delivered a solid slam to the side of Krul’s head, sending the Viking flying away. Daniel wasn’t finished with this fight yet, and he intended to show just what he was made of. His skull twisted into a smirk as Krul groaned and got up slowly.
Sir Daniel: *muffled* Now you’ll see what I’m capable of, fiend!
Krul growled fiercely and charged once more, Daniel doing the same. As Krul swung his arms out to attack his enemy, Dan slipped out of the way and brought the hammer down on Krul’s helmet, sending him to the ground in a painful-sounding crunch as his rotten jaw splintered against the cobblestone street. Krul rolled out the way in time to avoid the hammer coming down where his head had been just moments before and he rose to his feet, charging in and impacting against Daniel’s chest with another Dead Man’s Rush.
Daniel swung his hammer furiously after recovering from being struck with such force, but no matter where he hit Krul he didn’t seem to even flinch, the health barrier protecting Krul from taking damage. He grinned as he rained further blows upon Daniel, denting his armor in several places. The health Krul had lost since Spectral Smite quickly recovered up over the course of the beatdown, and with it, Krul found the strength to hit his enemy harder. With a firmly clenched fist, he drove a hole into Sir Daniel’s chest armor, and he clenched both his fists together to bring them down on Daniel’s skull.
But then a bolt of electricity shot into Hellrazor’s metallic being, electrocuting Krul as a result and sending him staggering backward with a groan of suffering, his aged flesh searing from the heat of the attack. He looked up to see Daniel wielding some electric current in his hands, a smirk appearing on his face.
Sir Daniel: *muffled* Let’s see how you fare against these weapons!
Daniel pulled out a large number of throwing daggers and began to fling them at Krul. The first few embedded themselves in Krul’s body, scoring his flesh with stab wounds, however, Krul withdrew Hellrazor again to block the following daggers, a light ting sound resonating as they bounced off the much larger blade harmlessly.
The ranged assault didn’t stop there, however. Withdrawing his daggers in exchange for his Crossbow, Daniel trained it on his enemy and fired, fast-flying arrows rocketing towards Krul. Although Krul was able to parry most of them away, there were a few here and there that slipped through the cracks in his defenses, the tips of the arrows sticking in Krul’s body. Realizing this could turn badly for him if it continued, Krul forced himself to ignore the pain of the arrows as he rushed an unsuspecting Dan, landing a few gracious blows before landing a half-powered Spectral Smite to recover his health.
Dan shoved him away and withdrew his Magic Longbow, firing a few magic-enhanced shots in succession. The power behind them sent Krul reeling back, and Dan mounted his head on the Dan-Hand, crawling up to Krul and unleashing a paralyzing gas that stuck Krul in place. Dan’s skull returned to his head, and suddenly there was a rip in Krul’s chest as one of Dan’s spears lodged itself in the hole of his abdomen, sharing the space with Hellrazor. Krul fell to one knee, grunting heavily as fresh pain jumped through him, and Daniel walked up with yet another spear in hand.
Sir Daniel: *muffled* Now to finish you, vile beast!
Gallowmere’s hero lifted the weapon to drive it down into Krul’s neck, but as he plunged it downwards Krul flung his head up and the tip of the spear deflected off of Hellrazor. Krul proceeded to grab the spear’s shaft and redirect its momentum upward, the point driving through the bottom of Daniel’s jaw and emerging from the top. Dan froze and fell to his knees, and Krul grinned evilly.
Krul: Great fool… you were no challenge. What chance did you stand against me…?
Krul got to his feet and ripped the spear from his chest cavity, dropping the blood-soaked weapon before Daniel’s body. He turned and began to leave, but something occurred to him and he froze.
Since when had his enemy’s armor been golden?
Krul whirled around in surprise to see Daniel rip the spear from his skull, the magic of the Super Armor bringing life back to him. Dan stood with a grin, his skull healing magically.
Sir Daniel: *muffled* I’ve got plenty of tricks left!
Dropping the spear, Dan assembled the Dankenstein around him, becoming taller and beefier than before. He beat his fists together challengingly.
Sir Daniel: *muffled* Come at me, if you dare!
Krul snarled and lunged forward, engaging in physical combat with the Dankenstein. His strikes to its chest seemed ineffective as Dan just laughed and grazed Krul’s cheeks with punches, landing an uppercut to send Krul into the air. He leaped up and grabbed Krul’s leg, aiming to throw him down to the ground, but Krul noticed that the limbs were attached with stitches, and assuming them to be weak spots he slashed with Hellrazor. The arm came off cleanly and Krul fell to the ground harshly, kicking the disembodied appendage aside. Dan landed with surprise at the removal of his suit’s arm and had no time to dodge as Krul seized his chance to lop off the rest of the Dankenstein’s limbs, rendering it useless.
Krul brought Hellrazor back up to attempt a finishing blow but was met with an intense surge of lightning as Sir Daniel leaped from the shell of the useless Dankenstein. The current of electricity poured into Krul consistently, his flesh burning and searing as a result. Dan relinquished the last of his electric ammo with a powerful blast to send Krul flying, and he dug into his inventory to take out his strongest weapon: the Anubis Stone.
Sir Daniel: *muffled* This will finish it!
Upon Sir Daniel’s command, a legion of zombies rose from the ground, brainless moans and groans arising from the crowd of dead. Daniel pointed towards Krul, whose body was still littered with burns and scorches from the lightning Daniel had cast.
Sir Daniel: *muffled* Attack, men!
The miniature army let out a battle cry and shambled towards Krul rapidly. Krul grunted and ripped Hellrazor free of its tomb once more and roared loudly as he charged into the midst of the crowd, slashing wildly at the beings Daniel had brought forth from the grave. Blueish-gray blood that was rotted from centuries of decomposition splattered from the chops that Krul inflicted on them, but there were so many of them crowded around him at once. When he went to chop another one in half, one he’d sliced at the waist reached out and grabbed his ankle, causing him to fall.
Krul struggled to rise to his feet but the rain of blows from all directions was overwhelming. Strikes from above pelted his back like undead hail, and pain jolted to life in his mostly-dead body, more than he normally felt. He was almost tempted to lay down and welcome the pain, the punishment, the agony. At the very least it was something he could feel without his still heart. Beyond the sea of attacking soldiers, Sir Daniel had assumed a victory and was dancing merrily.
But then there was Hellrazor, its curse jolting his body and instilling a new mindset into him. He’d been through worse than this; to lay down and die would not work. It would never work. There was no hope for him, no escape. No solace from this eternal nightmare he called existence.
Krul: Ha haaaah… ha ha haa… you fight for what does not exist…
From outside the dogpile of zombie soldiers, Sir Daniel stopped his victory dance and turned when he heard Krul’s voice echo from the depths of the swarm.
Sir Daniel: *muffled* Eh?
Forcing strength to come to him through Hellrazor’s magic, Krul drew his arm back, holding Hellrazor by the hilt.
Krul: You fight for goodness… for the light… when THERE IS NONE!
Krul threw Hellrazor out with huge force, using From Hell’s Heart. The pained moans of several of Daniel’s men resonated from decomposed throats as the cursed sword tore through them, emerging from the swath of zombies with its cyan steel caked in rotten blood. It froze before Sir Daniel as it began its return path.
Sir Daniel: *muffled* By the royal family…!
Hellrazor flew back towards Krul, but Krul would not allow it to return to his chest just yet. He sprung up and jumped over the blade, and as it missed its mark it mowed through more of Sir Daniel’s forces. Krul, as he sprinted around as fast as his legs would move, roared in rage while Hellrazor chased him down, cutting through soldier after soldier.
Aghast at this sudden course of events, Sir Daniel used the Anubis Shield to pump more life back into his falling forces, draining his own strength further. By the time he could exhaust himself no further, he’d only managed to fully heal a small group of his men. Krul, on the other hand, could feel himself fully regenerating thanks to how much health Hellrazor was stealing from Sir Daniel’s men. Once enough had fallen to satisfy Krul he stopped in his tracks, surrounded by the motionless bodies of dozens of zombies, and Hellrazor penetrated him again with a sickening noise of rotten flesh tearing.
Krul: Ahhhgh… Haahahahaaaaah…
Sir Daniel stood horrified, his own health exhausted from fruitlessly patching up his men. He collapsed to one knee and rested a bit, propping himself up by the Anubis Stone as Krul finished off the last remaining zombie soldiers on his own.
Krul: You have been insufficient… I will find one stronger than you. But first…
Krul charged with a mighty bellow, and Sir Daniel flung the Anubis Stone up to protect himself in an act of instinctive self-preservation. His eye widened in fear as he saw Krul’s hands grip the outer edges of the artifact, and with a loud shriek of tearing metal, the artifact split into two as Krul pried it apart.
Sir Daniel retreated backward, dropping the broken halves of the Anubis Stone, and withdrew his Woden’s Brand, his most powerful sword. What other choice did he have left? His ranged weapons were depleted, all his other gear had proven ineffective, and even his Super Armor was wasted. And running was out of the question for a hero such as himself! All he could do was hope to put this horrid monster down with what he had left.
Sir Daniel: *muffled* A hero never backs down! I will fight you with every ounce of strength I have! I’ll show you!!
An ominous laugh shambled forth from Krul’s hollow, pierced chest. He could feel how weak his opponent was, health stolen from the remaining soldiers pumping through his walking corpse of a body. All he had to do was finish this, and he could be off to seek something greater, stronger, something that could bring his misery to its much-desired close.
Krul: This is over.
Humoring his enemy despite his knowledge of the end being near, Krul withdrew Hellrazor one final time and held it before him, a cruel grin on his withered face.
Krul: But if you would like to go down swinging… I will oblige you.
And they clashed for one final time, Woden’s Brand clashing with Hellrazor repeatedly as Daniel struggled for the upper hand. He swung and swung at the enemy undead, but he could find no openings to strike at, no flaws to exploit. All he saw was killing intent in Krul’s eerie blue orbs, a twisted grin on his face as he was clearly overpowering Dan.
Then, with one fateful swing of his vile blade, Krul slammed Hellrazor into the Woden’s Brand so hard it splintered Dan’s skeletal wrist. Dan gave a muffled cry and his grip on the sword loosened, sending it scattering away from him. Dan clutched his injured wrist and stumbled away from Krul fearfully, but Krul laughed hollowly and shambled after him slowly. He decided he would toy with his prey.
Dan’s one eye never left Krul’s laughing form, crawling away as fast as he could after tripping over the curb. He crawled backward into the same house he’d wandered into to begin with, his armor scraping against the dried trail of blood that led to the disfigured man’s corpse. He hit a wall and stared up in horror at the glowing eyes of Krul, which after he shut the door were all the hero of Gallowmere could see in the darkness. For a moment, the glowing eyes and their slight hum were all Daniel could hear. But then, Krul spoke one last time.
Krul: Now you find permanent rest…
Hellrazor blazed to life with Shadows Empower Me’s dark blue flaming aura, and in a single, smooth action, Krul drove the point of his hellish blade through Daniel’s chest just like how it went into his so many centuries ago. Daniel gave a muffled shriek of pain, but Krul wasted no time in violently ripping the blade upwards, tearing through not only Dan’s armor, but his chest, spine, and climatically his skull. Dan’s singular eye rolled out of the now lifeless head and rolled towards Krul’s foot, which he abruptly raised and brought down on the eye, smashing it.
Krul: …The rest that I will never find…
With a dismissive grunt, Krul jammed Hellrazor back into its gaping chest sheath and turned, exiting the house where Sir Daniel’s corpse lay still. It was time to search for something stronger. Maybe one day he’d find something to end his curse. Not today, though, it would seem. With no departing glance back to his latest victim, the undead wraith set off, leaving the town quiet and haunted by the atmosphere of death.
