“What the FUCK was what!?” demanded Alissa with some bafflement, her voice breaking the involuntary vigil of silence that fell upon those who witnessed what happened just moments ago. They had just watched one of their own – one of Alissa’s party members – dissolve into light before their eyes, and she wanted to know why and how that happened.
Alissa might not be that close to Silvia, as the four Temple Guards in the party tend to keep to themselves more often than not, and the way they were so… devoted to their gods sometimes bordered on the creepy as well. It reminded her a little too much of certain people from her previous world whose entire lives seemed to revolve around their religion.
The way her whole form dissolved into particles of light like that most definitely looked… final. The sort of thing there was no coming back from. Alissa could guess that it was likely related to the skill she used earlier, the one that seemed to give Silvia a massive increase in her abilities and allowed her to turn the tables on the demons.
Because the enemies had not accounted for another figure at that level of power. They had clearly accounted for Sir Inolet, Sir Marsten, and Magus Drummond given how multiple demons were sent to occupy each of the three and keep them under control, so another figure at such a high power level was all it took to throw the demons’ plan into chaos.
Silvia’s actions had allowed Sir Inolet to break free from the demons that kept him occupied and use his devastating skills on the demon army below, which spelled the end of the battle, even if the actual fighting did not end until a while later. The demons clearly had no desire to lose more of their troops at that point and had beat a hasty retreat.
Even now, Sir Inolet and Magus Drummond were still out there wreaking havoc on the retreating demons, though neither pursued them much. They were all too aware that doing so might cause them to fall into a demon ambush instead, and kept their activities close to the fort where support would be forthcoming when needed. Meanwhile Sir Marsten stayed on the wall as he coordinated the people there to recover from the long battle.
For a while, only silence – and the distant screams of the running demons who fled before Sir Inolet and Magus Drummond – answered Alissa’s question. It was only after a short while that Maribel finally snapped out of the fugue she had been in and turned to face her.
“I’ve heard about it and read passages describing them in some history books, but this is the first time I saw something like this myself,” said Maribel. “Supposedly the Temple Guards have a skill that allows them to exchange their vitality for power, with the blessing of the gods. What Silvia had used… might well be a higher tier or evolved version of such a skill.”
“It is as Miss Maribel said,” cut in a voice from behind them. Alissa, Nadine, and Maribel turned to see that Leda had made her way from the infirmary closer to the center of the base to the wall and was climbing the last few steps. “We all received the skill Miss Maribel mentioned when we became a Temple Guard, though not everybody made much use of it. Mine had barely reached halfway up to the next tier, even after all this time.”
“Sister Silvia must be truly blessed by the Gods to have been granted such an honor and a boon,” Leda continued with that too-devout look Alissa had been wary of. “Even amongst the Temple’s records there had only been very few who were granted such a privilege to serve the Gods in such a direct manner… May their blessings fall upon us…”
Alissa did not trust herself to speak after she heard what Leda said. Even with [Weather the Storm] anchoring her emotions, she almost lost control of them for a brief moment, as she couldn’t stomach how these people – or at least the Temple Guards, since everyone else seemed halfway torn between being glad that the battle was over or being disturbed by the way it ended – looked upon the death of one of their own so nonchalantly.
In fact, from the way Leda spoke, it was almost as if they celebrated it. As if it was a privilege to give away their lives for the sake of their so-called gods. Hell, from the way Leda spoke, she was clearly envious that Silvia got such a chance and she didn’t, clearly equally willing to throw away her own life for such a “boon” from her gods.
It was something that reminded Alissa far too much of religious fanatics and extremists from her home world to be comfortable with, though she schooled her features in order to prevent that feeling from showing up on her face. Once more she was glad for the first skill she received upon her transmigration, as without [Weather the Storm] she would have likely said something that wouldn’t be taken nicely by the Temple Guards and other devout believers of the gods by this point.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Leda seemed to have taken Alissa’s silence as an invitation to preach more, but fortunately, before she could do so, Sir Marsten’s figure walked over from the other side. His old face slightly frowned as he took in the situation, but he seemed to quickly understand what was going on. That he quickly called them away before any conflict could happen proved that.
“Miss O’Connor, Fifth Princess, come with me for a bit,” said the old knight in his usual commanding tone. While both Alissa’s status as a summoned [Hero] and Nadine’s status as a Princess were higher than his own, the old knight remained the commander on the base, and as such they fell under his authority while they were helping out there. “The demons seemed to have beaten a retreat, but I’d like the rest of you to stand guard a while longer just to make sure,” he added.
Alissa and Nadine followed Sir Marsten as he led them down the wall and towards the command tent at the center of the fort. The demons had attacked before the central keep could be built, so they had been relying only on the outer walls to fight them off, which definitely made things a bit harder for them. As they walked, Sir Marsten suddenly spoke to them with a low voice.
“Don’t speak too loud in case you get overheard, but something like this… sadly isn’t a new occurence,” he told the two quietly as they walked. “I’ve fought alongside a contingent of Temple Guards during the last war, and they had the same… zeal about them. They burned their lives for more power a bit too willingly back then as well.”
“Now, I can’t really disparage their sacrifice, as they did save many of us at the cost of their own lives back then, much like what happened here,” he continued. “Our defenses were crumbling when the lass did her thing and turned the tables. Had she not done that, we might well be retreating through the valley by now, with the Kingdom’s first meaningful victory over many generations negated. So by sacrificing her life, she might well have saved many thousands of lives, both directly and indirectly.”
“Logically, I know and understand that much,” replied Alissa after churning her thoughts for a while. She had to bite back a couple more heated remarks as she realized that the old knight was not to blame for what Silvia had apparently decided on her own. “It just… bugged me to see someone so willing to throw away their life like that, even when it was done in order to save others. I’m sorry if that makes no sense to you people, the world I come from is just… very different.”
“Believe me when I say that some of us here also found it rather disturbing, even when we owe our lives to those who did so,” replied the old knight with a shake of his head. “I’ve never been that devout myself as a person, could never get the people who’d throw away their everything for the sake of the gods. Most of us older knights are the same way, actually. It’s why the temple never really liked us.”
“But yeah, as you might guess, it’s best to keep such opinions away from the ears of those affiliated with the Temple in general. They don’t take too kindly to people doubting things. Honestly it’s one thing where the King and us see eye to eye, that people who got in deep with the Temple often get disturbingly fanatical,” he added. “Of course, if some of them ask, you didn’t hear that from me, all right?”
“It doesn’t help that the current Head Priest is a cousin twice removed of my father’s,” added Nadine quietly from the side. “I’m not certain whether there’s any truth to the rumors, but there have been worries amongst the nobles that the Temple might plan to try to aim for the throne and do away with separation of the state and the temple.”
“Could he actually do that?” asked Alissa with some surprise at what Nadine told her.
“It would require my father, all my uncles and aunts, as well as all of their children dying off, but in that case he’d be next in line of the throne, yeah,” replied Nadine solemnly. “For what it’s worth I don’t think the Head Priest had any such ambitions. He’s… much like most others who joined the Temple. The Gods are their everything to them.”
“For what it might be worth, though, Alissa, I’m not sure I’m in a position to critique the decision Silvia chose either,” admitted Nadine. “What she did saved most of our lives at the cost of her own, in the end, and while I don’t like the idea of sacrificing others just to save myself… sometimes the situation at hand gives us no other option. At least we know that Silvia did it all willingly.”
“It’s what this damned war forced us to,” grumbled Sir Marsten under his breath, though still loudly enough for Alissa and Nadine to hear. The old knight clearly wasn’t all too comfortable with what just happened, though his role as the overall commander forced him to look beyond that and consider the bigger picture. “That Silvia lass was no older than some of my granddaughters. That someone that young had to die while us old bastards live on bothers me like you wouldn’t believe.”
“I do believe and understand you, Sir,” said Alissa in a somber attempt at reassuring the old knight. Unlike what stories loved to portray, things were a lot more complicated in Ephemera, with multiple factions all aiming for their own interests even when they were supposed to be on the same side. Sometimes it was both heartening and frustrating to see that people never change even with an extinction-level threat in their faces. “So what are we going to do now?”
“For now, Miss O’Connor? We rest. We recuperate and regain our lost strength after the long battle, and prepare ourselves for the next ones to come,” said Sir Marsten with a long-suffering sigh. The old knight looked tired and older than he used to look in that moment of weakness, though he soon inhaled and reassumed the posture of a proud knight like he usually did. “We treat our wounded, bury our dead, and count the enemy dead while we’re at it.”
“I know that the lass did a number on the demons back there and killed at least a few of their fourth tiers, though I didn’t get too good a look since I was far away,” he added. “I just hope that she at least turned her life into a worthwhile trade and took a bunch of them down with her.”