"Joshua, you shall lead the Seraph and descend onto Caligos Imperium whilst the other captains invade on foot. From what we know of Nox Caelum's forces, the only ones capable of fending off Deborah's attack are the Commanders or Xeros himself. In the case of a Commander, continue with the plan and target the gates. However, if The Grand General makes an appearance, then you must alert Ascalon and occupy Xeros's attention for as long as you can. Do not attempt to slay him. Prioritize your safety above all else and rejoin with the others once Ascalon arrives. Be prepared, Joshua, for this duty shall be the most perilous of all."

The Knight

———

Xeros

The situation is grim. The Grand General has never in all of his years been cornered to such a degree, and to think that Ascalon of all curs would be the cause for this humiliation...how surprising. Xeros believed the King of Polus to consider himself above the use of sabotage, but it seems that the winged rat has been hiding his true nature all along.

For what else can you call the sudden collapse of the city's barrier but a carefully crafted scheme? The core is hidden in the deepest pits of the spire protected by veteran magi and protective sorceries. To infiltrate the pit would require years of service for Xeros trusts none but the most successful of engineers to handle matters relating to the capital's security. Nobody knows of its exact location besides the higher level officers. It should have been impenetrable...yet the barrier's collapse and the prior rumbling from below states otherwise.

The more he dwells on the trickery, the more enraged he becomes. All this time Ascalon has treated him as a fool, baring his righteous facade for all to see whilst secretly harboring a more nefarious identity. It would have taken years for a saboteur to garner enough pedigree to be trusted with such a duty, a feat only made possible if Ascalon gave the order at the very start of his coronation, and it is all for this very moment where he can catch The Grand General at his most vulnerable.

Xeros is very impressed. Furious, yes, but he is impressed nonetheless over such meticulous deceit. Perhaps he has been wrong about him from the very start. Ascalon truly does deserve the title of a Ruler unlike his ancestors, but that does not mean The Grand General will allow his plans to succeed. No, it simply means he must adjust his plans accordingly. This is only a setback, not the end, and for as long as Xeros's ambition remains unfulfilled, he shall never give in to resignation.

But first, he must deal with the arrow of light descending onto the city. A sparkling pink hue swirls around the bundle of aura and a furious howl of otherworldly reverberation fills the air of the capital. It gleams a radiant shine, illuminating the grey city within its splendor as if welcoming all within its embrace, but this nation has no need for the light; it must be snuffed.

Xeros gathers a volatile discharge of red lightning and releases it directly into the face of his smoke-covered form. Flesh manifests into existence above him, gradually taking the form of a giant head, and its skull twists and malforms into a grotesque mixture of human and avian while black feathers surround every surface of the misshapen being. Large eye sockets filled with naught but darkness are burrowed into its face contorted in agony while long rows of rotted teeth spring out from its mouth. Two large protrusions of bone etch out in front of it attempting to form the appearance of a beak, but the skull's shape prevents the bones from shaping into a proper mold, causing a large opening to form in the middle.

Manifesting the corvid's appearance twice in such a short period of time is starting to take its toll on the weary Grand General, but he cannot afford to spare any droplet of power within himself.

The disfigured creature lets out an eye-piercing shriek, gradually opening its mouth and revealing a bottomless void of dusk and gloom within The Corvid's Maw. The arrow of light hurdles towards it, pressure bearing down upon all near its presence, and then disappears into the void with nary a sound. The pink hue, the trail of starlight...it all disappears into the gaping maw, torn and sundered by the shadows lurking inside until naught remains of its existence but a faint memory.

It is done. The light is smothered. However, the invasion has only just begun.

As soon as the creature fades into obscurity, a large legion of winged knights appear into view and quickly begin descending onto the city below. The Seraph...their objective is most likely to tear down the gates for the knights on the ground. Normally such a force would be a trivial matter to deal with, but it seems that whoever destroyed the core also took out the control system for the more destructive weapons. Annoyance after annoyance, tribulation after tribulation...it is as if the world itself is wishing for his death.

There exists a small boon at the very least. Turrets and lasers spring to life all throughout the citadel and begin to fire at the swarm of winged rats, blanketing the sky in wonderful displays of flame and thunder and rime. Of course, such weapons shall only hinder Polus's elite rather than slaying them outright, but it is enough as long as their advance is delayed for a few more moments.

Conjuring another body part so soon is out of the question. It takes too much aura to create a manifestation of flesh, and it would bring him great shame to use such excessive force for the extermination of these insignificant rabble. No, a mere feather is all they deserve, and all they shall receive.

Hundreds of black feathers start to form in the vicinity, blotting out the light from the waning sun above and encasing the entire capital within specks of shadow. They spin and whirl, twirling into a midnight swirl, until they transform into a razing whirlwind. With a snap of his finger, Xeros sends the umbral assault spiraling straight into the winged legion. Unlike the barrage of bullets, the feathers are not so easily avoidable, and The Grand General watches on with amusement as he witnesses the winged rats dance and desperately fly around in vain. It plunges into their armor, tearing a chunk of flesh away from their bodies until only a gaping, bloody hole is left. And if the feathers manage to tear into their wings...well, it is a joyous sight to watch them plunge to their deaths and become a stain on the city streets below.

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But there is one little rat that manages to catch Xeros's eye. It is a rat he has never seen before, but the way it soars throughout the sky and effortlessly deflects his feathers reminds him of an old enemy now gone from this world. However, unlike the golden armor she donned, this pest bares a mail of white and silver. Their wings shine with a crystalline transparency, and a faint hue of rainbow occasionally pulses across the wingspan

What intrigues him the most is how puny the little knight is. The Seraph is tiny, small...almost as if they are a child, but there is no denying the air of authority and menace leaking out from their exterior. That must be the leader of the winged legion. A new Throne, perhaps? A replacement for Lorelai? Well, all in due time. He must enjoy this precious moment of respite while he can; the day is still long.

Eventually, the winged swarm manages to break through the defensive line, albeit not without dwindling in number. None are unscathed except for their leader, yet an impassioned vigor remains set within their eyes. How annoying.

They begin to disperse and fly towards the gates. Xeros would normally give chase, but his instinct warns against it; the knight before him is meticulously watching his every move, gazing upon him as if they are analyzing a wild animal. They unsheathe a thin rapier, eyes never breaking contact with The Grand General's, before playfully greeting him with a childish wave.

"Hello! You must be Xeros, am I correct?" the knight asks with the voice of a young boy. "Well, I can't really tell since you're all...wispy. Definitely did not know you could do that, but I think it's a real good luck on you!"

Xeros doesn't bother with replying and attempts to pierce his neck with a talon from behind, but the moment it manifests into view, the boy suddenly lunges at him with frightening speed and almost pierces him straight through the heart. Xeros dodges just in time and prepares to retaliate, but the boy stops his assault and retreats back into the distance, resuming his carefree facade.

"Surprises aren't really nice, y'know?" he chides with a wag of the finger. "Before we try to kill each other, how about we introduce ourselves? I'm Joshua, captain of The Order of the Seraph. Nice to meet you Mr. Xeros, uh, well I assume you're Xeros. Are you really not going to answer me?"

Again, Xeros doesn't respond and sends a barrage of feathers at him. Joshua sighs and dances around the whirlwind effortlessly, lazily dodging the assault and once again lunging straight at him. This time, however, Xeros manages to catch him by surprise and traps his rapier in a miniature manifestation of The Corvid's Maw, but when the Grand General attempts to pierce his body once more, the talon simply passes through without any resistance or contact. It is as if he's just stabbing the air, yet the knight captain is right in front of him.

The boy's image suddenly disappears, and a quick thrust almost impales the side of Xeros's abdomen from out of nowhere. He attempts to grab onto the outstretched arm, but once again it merely passes through the body without any contact. Could this be an illusion? Impossible, the thrust would have certainly pierced him if it managed to land, so then just what is this mirage before him?

The boy reappears in the distance and lets out an annoyed huff. "I've been trying to be nice this whole time, but all I get in return is silence and a whole lot of nothing. All I asked was one question, is that so hard to answer? Huh? Honestly, you people are just so stiff."

Why is the knight captain so focused on Xeros's identity? There must be a reason, there is always a reason, and that playful tone of his is but a method of deceit, a way to lower one's guard.

"Well, if you're going to talk, I guess I'll just speak enough for the both of us then," he says with a shrug. "Sooo, how's your day been? I mean, besides this whole attack of course..."

There is also something...unnatural about his appearance. Xeros doesn't fully understand it, but it's as if the boy is not a living being. His body is right there in front of him, but he occupies no physical space.

"...and this really isn't personal, y'know? We just want to be left alone is all, but you people keep intruding on our territory for some reason..."

Sound is coming from his mouth, but it enters his ears from a different direction.

"...I get it, you don't really have a choice since The Grand General's all scary and everything, but do you really want to live like that for the rest of your life? Come on, this is the perfect opportunity for you to break free..."

And with every second that passes, the prickling sensation on Xeros's neck is gradually moving to the back of his throat. This is a premonition. This is a warning.

"...if you just join us, we promise that we'll help you start a new life back in Polus. It'll be fun! We have music, we have entertainment, and we have some really good taverns..."

Those wings of his and that rainbow of light...it gives off a strange glimmer. Hypnotic, enchanting, and abnormal. For some reason, he doesn't want to take his eyes away from that peculiar glow.

Ah, Xeros understands now. The unnatural presence, the sound, the prickling on his neck, and most importantly those rapturous wings...he understands everything now. To think such a power would belong to someone of Polus, how lamentful. The Grand General would love to have someone of Joshua's calibur by his side, but unfortunately the games must end here.

"...and Ascalon's a real good guy. He's super kind and always makes sure to listen to the people no matter how busy he..."

Xeros raises his hand to his right eye and discreetly injects the red lightning into the socket, manifesting The Corvid's Eye in a nearby building and hiding it from view.

"...huh? What's with that sass? I don't know what they're telling you over here, but Ascalon really is a nice person, you'll see! If you would just help us out..."

Hoh, there he is. As expected, Xeros has been under Joshua's spell from the very beginning.

"...come on now. I can hear you chuckling beneath your breath-"

Xeros quickly fires a bolt of red lightning behind him. It hits an invisible presence, stunning them in place, and for the first time since the beginning of their encounter, Xeros finally pierces the body of the real Joshua.

The fake disappears from sight and the knight captain's real body comes into view, hands shaking as he grabs onto the bloodied talon impaling his stomach.

"H-Hahah," he mutters. "S-Sorry everybody, guess I was too careless."