Ria wasn’t born evil, nor did she want to join the Thalion Cultist under normal means. She had lived as a village girl on the outskirts, and she lived quite a normal and peaceful life. Her life was great and peaceful before a monster in the form of a Count came and destroyed her life. Her parents were killed but through that sacrifice, she managed to run away before it was too late.
With hatred embedded deep inside her heart and a desire for revenge, she vowed to do anything as long as she could kill the Count. However, the resources and capabilities of a former village girl are limited, and any half-assed attempts would just get her killed.
Therefore, she needed the strength of organizations, but ordinary organizations wouldn’t do. None of them would be willing to kill the Count, even if they have the capabilities to do so. Yet on her own, she didn’t have power therefore she decided to the Thalion Cultists who had the capability and desire to kill the Count.
She was quite a talented swordsman and was rising in the ranks. Despite being only 3 months in the organization, she already became one of the leaders of the lower ranked and is going to be promoted again very soon.
Then when she heard of the plan to kill Crown Prince Wilhelm, she immediately joined the plan thinking it was going to be an easy promotion, the plan was perfect and it was a chance to witness the first incident that would make the Heinberg Empire fall.
‘But this! It's not a part of the plan!’
Ria gritted her teeth. Currently, they are in a standoff between the Crown Prince’s group and her group. The plan had gone to shit, and she at least needed to defend the Middle Crystal if they wanted to have a chance of turning the situation around.
‘If the fight goes on for longer, it will be better for us. As long as I hold on, reinforcements might come and the crystal will give us more power. Then we will be able to slowly win with our numbers.’
Even now, Ria and the rest of the Cultists are steadily accumulating the Demonic Energy given by the Middle Crystal. The energy stored for many years is not going to be little, and even if the ritual failed, as long as they could kill the prince, it would be considered a success even if the city isn't destroyed.
The image of the lifeless body of many people came to mind, both men and women. Each of them had a bright future and would’ve lived a good life had they not been killed. Ria gritted her teeth.
‘No, I can’t think like that!’
It’s fine even if they died, as long as she could kill The Count.
‘Right, as long as I can get revenge!’
Just then, Crown Prince Wilhelm, who appeared to have finished making a plan, walked forward. Ria didn't know what plan they were making, but she didn't intend to let her guard down. At least she didn’t intend to.
“Heya, Ria. Isn't it exhausting having to start from the bottom just to have a chance to kill a mere Count? I know you dislike the empire and all, but the one at fault is the Count, right? I will kill him if you just join my side~. “ His tone was playful but his words are not.
Ria flinched. The Crown Prince knew her name and not just her name.
“...How did you know about my past?”
“I will tell you if you join my side! It's far better than being on those dirty cultists' side, you know?”
His remarks made the other cultists look at her, though they didn't understand what the hell was going on. The offer of betrayal caught their attention, and just like any other organization, they are sensitive towards potential traitors.
The problem is that this is in the middle of the battlefield. Taking their sight off their opponent is a fatal mistake, even if it's just for a split second, and amongst Wilhelm’s group there is a certain monstrous assassin that can take advantage of the situation.
“Kwakk!”
As she was thinking, she could hear a screaming sound coming from the back. The Thalion Priests faced a tall, short-haired woman wielding two daggers, Purple Aura burst from her daggers as she ripped apart the Priests in her way. The Priests tried to retaliate, but it was rendered useless due to Natasha’s speed.
‘It was only a few seconds, so how did she get there!?’
As the Thalion Group was flustered, the Crown Prince's group also initiated an attack, moving in a straight line towards the statue.
“Damn it! Just get to formation and try to kill them! Target the prince!”
The priests, which was her greatest combat power, are being killed effortlessly. Now she had no choice but to personally jump to the battlefield to try to kill the prince.
She unsheathed her sword and used Demonic Energy to enhance her body as she rushed towards Wilhelm’s group, currently slicing away at the knights.
***
‘I didn't expect to meet her here.’
At first, he didn't recognize her, but after looking closer and seeing the heterochromia eyes, of red and blue as well as the long gray hair, he recognized her immediately
An ordinary player wouldn't find Ria important. She was one of the candidates for the Apostle Of Wrath replacement but she didn't manage to get to that position because of Gaius. She managed to grow and become a high-ranked cultist, but that was it. She was nothing special.
However, the veterans who completed a hidden event relating to her would say otherwise. If you complete the event successfully, you will be able to convert her to your side and transform her into one of the strongest allies. If it was that version of herself, then this fight would be troublesome but…
‘For now, she is not that threatening, though she is still stronger than the other cultists. With that said, I have an easy way to deal with her.’
Wilhelm thought as he parried the sword of a cultist. He had already told his teammates not to kill Ria, and instead capture her, but it was difficult. They are currently charging straight toward the statue while cutting through countless cultists that lunged at them, including Ria.
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Although Natasha had killed all the priests, and is currently ravaging the battlefield from the back. They are still in big trouble because of the numbers. They had to rush towards the basement to destroy the crystal as fast as possible before anyone died.
The thousands of cultists lunged at Wilhelm’s group and Wilhelm himself, their blood stared splattering everywhere, a nick of the blade made a small cut into Wilhelm’s arm. Small wounds started to gradually appear, and his breath became rougher and rougher as he tore apart at the cultists using his sword while blasting Chirpy’s [Wind Blades] towards every enemy he saw.
The other knights all started to become even more exhausted as they breathed roughly, sweat covering their entire body. Iris didn't show a dominating presence like before due to her trying to save up mana, as she wordlessly sliced through the Cultists. Wilhelm could see the group getting closer to the statue in the middle, and shouted.
“Just a bit more and we will arrive! Hold on!”
“You think I will let you, dirty bastard!?”
A sword came from the crowds of cultists as it aimed at Wilhelm’s neck. He lightly tapped the sword to redirect it before kicking the figure in front of him.
“Urgh.” The black robed Ria flew and rolled on the ground before she stood up and screamed while coughing out blood.
“How dare you trick us!”
“I don’t want to hear that from a murderer of a child. How did it feel? Slitting the throat of that 8-year-old village girl?”
Wilhelm smiled as he said it, but Ria's face turned pale and sick, her stomach churned as her hands trembled. He easily found an opening, and dashed forward before punching her, making her roll on the ground again.
“You damned!”
“‘Please don't kill me’, don’t you remember the figure of the girl crying and begging for mercy to you? Yet you still killed her anyway, gosh, doesn’t this make you the same as the noble you once hated? She was a purely innocent child who wouldn’t have gotten killed if not for your self-justified reason.”
“Urgh, AGHHH! Damn you!”
Ria’s stomach twisted even further, like wringing out a drenched towel as she let out a scream as if to drown Wilhelm’s words, she charged towards Wilhelm, fueled with anger, she sent out a flurry of sword swings towards Wilhelm, her sword was strengthened to the fullest with Demonic Energy, yet it was too sloppy, unrefined, and created too many openings.
Wilhelm put his sword in his scabbard as he proceeded to wield it like a club, he effortlessly dodged each and every swings of Ria’s while counterattacking. Ria’s head was smacked, then her arms, her liver, and finally her solar plexus was stabbed as she flew away, puking with tears and bloodshot eyes. She looked extremely miserable, yet Wilhelm didn’t stop talking.
“You deluded yourself into thinking this is all for a great cause, but is it really? Kill 100 citizens for a chance to kill the Count and go up the ladder, kill 1000, then eventually 10000. Oh shit! Now you killed more than the Count. “
“...Stop it.”
“Geez, at this point might as well call you the Count 2.0 no? Shit, now you became the one you hated the most, then now what should you do? Ah, i know why dont you ki-!”
“Aghh!”
Ria clawed at her head and then started banging her head onto the ground. Guilt gnawed at her mind, the images of every person she had killed for her ‘revenge’. She knew it was self-justified, yet she still does it anyway, which in turn created even more guilt. The spiral of guilt grew day by day until she began hearing voices that resented her, that mocked her self-justification. The voices grew and grew as it made Ria more insane.
“What are you doing Ria!?”
One of her subordinates shouted at her, but she dismissed it as she kept on mumbling I'm sorry like a crazy person. Even Wilhelm himself was a bit surprised.
‘...Damn, she is in a far worse mental state than I thought. Thank god I didn't continue saying might as well kill yourself. She might really do that…But it’s fortunate that her guilt is big. It will be easier to make her go on the repentance route this way.’
Wilhelm felt a bit bad for his harsh words trained by online games. However, this was a battlefield and he had to use any and every card in his hands to survive. Wilhelm dashed toward Ria before manifesting a Holy Energy enhanced chain from his spatial storage. The golden chain immediately wrapped itself around Ria, constricting her.
Ria didn’t resist, her hollow eyes had no energy, and she looked like she had no desire to even live. Wilhelm then started to carry her like luggage. Now that she is taken care of, he had to quickly get to the statue and finish the damned battle so that everyone survives. The knights who are of the same mind, manifested their Aura and immediately created a path toward the statue, and as the group reached the statue they heard a shout from one of the cultists.
“Just try to go in to the statue! If you go inside, we will take the chance to kill all the surrounding citizens!”
Everyone in the group flinched. Most citizens would already be dead or evacuated by now, but on the a slight chance that some haven’t evacuated…They would really kill them.
“All of you, stay here, only me and Iris shall go underground to the Middle Crystal.”
“But, Your Highness-”
“Shut up and do as I say. We can’t let any more casualties take place. Many citizens have died already. I have a plan and I will not die down there,” Wilhelm said to the knights. He also said another thing. “With that said, you guys also shouldn’t die. Value your own lives first and foremost. It’s an order.”
The Imperial Knights reluctantly agreed to Wilhelm’s order, while the Felles Knights also agreed because Iris was not saying anything, which meant a silent agreement. Wilhelm then manifested a bag from his spatial storage and threw the bag of healing potions toward a knight, there were only 2 or 3 left but it will still be useful.
The knights then formed a circle formation as if to protect the statue. Wilhelm snooped around and finally found a magic circle engraved on the statue. The way to open the statue is either to destroy it or use a verification method. It seemed easy to destroy the statue, but the highest spells of Thalion protected it, and it is the worst thing to do currently since it would drain both energy and mana.
Fortunately, the latter option is possible. Wilhelm grabbed something out from his spatial bag. It was the Butler’s arm that he had sliced and brought with him. The only ones that can go inside are the butler and the Count since they both are the higher-ranking Cultists and therefore this arm will work as identification.
Wilhelm stuck the arm towards the circle, and the statue opened for a moment.
“Stop them!!” The cultist shouted and the other cultists tried to pounce on Wilhelm, but the knights stopped them with a barrage of attacks.
The statue soon opened by moving itself sideways. Below the statue is a big square hole with ladders attached to the walls. Wilhelm and Iris went inside, and Wilhelm deactivated the magic by sticking the hand to the magic circle inside the big square hole. The statue then slowly back to its original position.
“How the hell did this not get noticed by the people? It's a moving statue in the middle of the city.” Wilhelm asked not to anyone particularly, but Iris answered.
“I sense some kind of illusion magic and sound-blocking spells being cast when the statue moved. Though it has been weakened since currently, the majority of the power is used for the Cultists.”
“Makes sense.”
Wilhelm and Iris talked as they rushed down the ladders. After all, if they took their time here, the majority of the people outside might get killed.
‘Though I'm not confident in rushing through this damned hole. What else can we do?’
“By the way, you never told me what monsters are inside here.”
“...The monsters that are here are-”
After they went to the bottom of the ladder, Wilhelm could see a big tunnel. The problem is, it's not just the tunnels that they could see. On both sides of the tunnel, there were tons of stone statues resembling demons on pedestals. All of them had wings and were the exact same replica as each other. The statues themselves were small, but there were a lot of them.
Iris stiffened up, and all the statues' eyes glimmered. They had detected intruders that were not their masters as the previously unmoving statues began to unfurl their wings and move.
“Gargoyles, a shit bunch of them.”
Wilhelm’s words marked the start of another battle.