“I. Fucking. Hate. Wyverns!” Candice yelled, wielding a bloodied blade in her hand. The beheaded creature plummeted by her side.
“A Jinga,” Spencer muttered while standing up.
“I’m not a Jinga!” she cried out, short of breath.
Spencer glanced at the rider’s head, and then at the dead beast. This thing was surely a Fallen One, and she took it down with ease while I was being cooked. He looked at the many flying riders still wreaking havoc. These fuckers killed Ventor, that’s why she wouldn’t respond to my call. Is there any way to deal with them efficiently?
An explosion caught his attention. Several riders were close to breaching into the castle, but a shield of light surrounding the entire fortress stopped them in midair. Were you expecting rookies, Bob?
He turned towards Candice. “Hey, do you want to help me bring down some of these pesky flyers?”
Candice’s eyes were soaked in blood. “Like hell I would! I only killed this one because it was getting on my way!”
“Oh, don’t be like that. We’re all on the same boat right now.” Spencer approached her, patting her shoulder.
Candice stepped back, growling. “Next time you touch me you’ll lose your arm!”
A smirk formed on Spencer’s lips. “Minor Transmog, Icarus Blessing,” he chanted. A pair of translucent, bright feathered wings sprouted from Candice’s back.
“What are you—?” Candice stuttered, feeling an air current surrounding her. “D-don’t you dare—”
“You'll also need this! Wind Crafting!” Spencer reached out both of his arms. While Candice desperately launched herself towards him, a swirl of wind blasted from Spencer’s palms, stopping and sending her flying upwards before she could reach him. “I promise to reward you once the battle ends, Not-Jinga!”
“I’ll come back for you, mage! You’ll pay for this!”
Spencer laughed out loud while commanding the gale to take Candice towards the first target. The girl prepared for the inevitable as she got closer to the flying beast. She put all her weight towards her blade and swung it down powerfully, the carried momentum made her spin. Instants later, Spencer watched as both rider and wyvern were cut in half. “Holy shit, it worked! Let’s get another one!”
“Spencer, where are you?!” Boldo yelled through the Crownet.
“Getting rid of these flying pests! Why are you asking?” The sound of an approaching person made Spencer turn to his right. An agitated Boldo ran to his side, sweat covering his wrinkled forehead.
“We have a situation...” He said panting while handing Spencer a pair of binoculars. “You’ll know it when you see it.”
He took the device and looked around for a bit, before noticing a large concentration of mana on the hills, now completely defenseless due to the destruction of the turrets. “Oh, for the love of...” He activated his crowband and then shouted at his wrist. “Doves—I mean, Paladins! Several mages are aligning for a summon! Something big is coming!”
“Did he call us Doves?” Hortace asked, chuckling.
“He did!” Thomas answered. “Where are the targets?”
“Roger that,” Sir Joseph responded, his horse galloping full speed. I have them. He exhaled, rushing to the foot of the hills. In the distance, he could see a group of mages surrounded by bodyguards, each carrying a large shield to repel any threat. The mages at the center were chanting in harmony, steadily increasing the size of a summoning circle above them.
Joseph only needed to travel 300 feet to reach his new objective, but the army of undead stood on its way. “Light Art, Holy Dome!" He jumped from his horse, blade in hand, and pierced the ground. A large, bright shockwave burst from the crack, expanding and incinerating every foe in the proximity. The shielded elite group did not flinch, keeping their position, displaying only minor damage on their skin and armor. Fallen Ones, he thought while approaching.
“Well, well, well. Look at what we have here,” one of the undead spoke, lowering his shield to show itself.
“Is this the boss talking?” Joseph asked, frowning, strolling towards them.
“I knew the holy knights of Valcreim were something else,” the voice came from a different fiend, an undead woman.
“Are we that famous?”
“Of course,” a lifeless old man followed. “Your bravery and gallant armor are known throughout the continent. I may say there are no other warriors in the whole world more deserving of the ‘White Knights’ title than you. What’s your name, soldier?”
Joseph sneered. “You sound like you traveled all the way here just for us.”
“Oh, you are just a bonus I will gain from all of this,” a fourth corpse said, chuckling.
Joseph kept walking and stopped 10 feet away from them. I'm inside their Death Zone, the outermost distance for someone to kill and be killed. He exhaled. “You know. You would sound more menacing if you looked me in the eye instead of through your puppets, Heretic. You are hiding nearby, aren’t you?”
Under the shade of a tree, looking in the distance, a person shivered at the question, and yet, smiled.
“Sorry to disappoint you,” a dead body spoke again, staring at Joseph with its hollow, icy-blue eyes, “I’m just one of his Death Commanders. You can call me The Red Scourge.”
“What did he say?!” Rhino yelled from inside his tower, clenching his fists, baffled. “All this chaos and death has been brought down by a mere minion?!” The anger and frustration in his voice made his restless soldiers exchange worried looks, speechless. They were all thinking the same.
Joseph remained calm, hearing Thomas through his crow-band, “Hang on! I’ll be there in a minute, brother!”
The dead mage’s spell was almost done, and Joseph had no more time to hesitate. He licked his lips. “Since we are getting friendly already, would it be too much to ask you to stop this?”
The dead around him spoke all at once. “Don’t you think it’s too late for that?”
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Joseph sighed. “Didn’t hurt to try... Minor Wind Boost, Haste!”
Focused and with a fierce calmness, he rushed to the shielded guards, jumping at the last second, aiming to decapitate the closest mage. His attack was stopped by an oncoming lance, which he deflected by sheer reflex. Warriors were hiding behind the shielders. The white knight landed among them, being quickly surrounded. He pierced the field of grass below him with the tip of his sword and thrust.
“Holy Dome!” he quick-casted. The pain traveled through his muscles like a terrible cramp. Blade and spear-wielding undead were inches away from reaching the knight, but a shockwave of light emanated from his body, purifying the closest decomposing enemies into dust, leaving only their armor and weapons on the ground. Others were pushed back, with their skin melting away slowly, and one of the summoning mages fell on her knees. Now!
Enduring the pain with all his might, he jumped and chopped the mage’s head, swinging his sword and slashing another one as he landed on the ground, leaving only three mages left.
The decaying, lance-wielding warriors who survived his spell of light desperately threw themselves at him. He deflected the first two assailants, but a third assault managed to pierce his back armor. He froze up for a moment, before realizing it had barely reached his skin. He turned and decimated the attacker, and directed himself towards the third mage when a shield wielder knocked him down. Mud and blood covering his face, Joseph squinted, barely recognizing the silhouette of the shielded enemy approaching him, aiming to crush his head.
“Stand up, Joseph!” Paladin Thomas showed up in the distance, piercing the shielder's skull with an ice stalagmite. The creature would not stop his movement, but it was considerably slowed down.
Joseph managed to get away, while quick-casting again: “Valor!” His muscles swelled up, and adrenaline ran through his veins like liquid fire. The strain of recklessly using magic felt like cold needles piercing through his body. A deceased warrior tried to strike the aching paladin using his shield, but Joseph stopped him in his tracks with one hand. The undead desperately tried to push him forward, with his feet slipping in the mud.
“Rest in peace, all of you!” Joseph cried, invigorated by his Valor spell. “Ultimate, A Kingdom for Justice!”
With one swing of his sword, he split the ground. A burst of fierce, powerful energy came from it, ravaging two remaining mages. The slash was so violent that a third of their bodies disintegrated immediately upon contact.
Only one mage remained. Thomas locked onto her and took the first chance he saw to launch one of his ice javelins, impaling her body. He looked above him. The floating summoning circle remained active, but its energy was fluctuating, blinking almost into nothingness.
“We made it!” He approached the downed mage, preparing to finish her off.
“Fine, I’ll have to do it myself...” the impaled undead said before Thomas cut her head off.
After hearing those words, Joseph felt chills running through his spine. His instinct made him turn his gaze upon the top of the hills, where he could see a large silhouette observing them from a safe distance.
“Just needs a little push,” Joseph heard the voice come from a male fallen warrior buried in the mud with only his mouth visible. In an instant, the summoning circle got brighter and burned in a purple shade, abruptly growing several times its size, letting in two monstrous feet.
“Oh, for the love of Artheos!” Thomas yelled exasperated, unable to avoid an oncoming, enormous tail, and was launched several feet away.
Joseph tried to get out of the way, but something down the mud was pulling him down. The buried undead grabbing him by his feet and cape spoke to him. “You truly are outstanding, my beloved white knight. You’ll make a fine addition to my collection. I’ll make a magnificent Fallen One out of you...”
Joseph clenched his teeth. The tax on his muscles and stamina for using such a heavy amount of magic in such a short time was immense. He tried to pull away from the creature holding onto him, but he could not manage to free himself. Gathering the last of his strength, he severed the arms chaining him down, when a gigantic shadow obscured his vision. Looking up, he found the recently summoned monster. Red shiny scales, a huge scaly belly, and an elongated neck. It had no wings but its massive size and humongous roar could be seen and heard from Valheim’s castle.
“An Elder Dragon,” Joseph muttered, unable to move, as the creature lifted one of its gigantic feet over him.
“Outta the way!” someone yelled at him.
Joseph could do nothing to avoid being pushed a hundred feet away, safe from the dragon's gigantic claw. When he finally landed on his back, he watched as the Elder Dragon channeled a burst of red energy on its snout before firing it with tremendous force towards Valheim’s wall.
In an instant, it melted a section of the barrier, splitting the colossal structure in two. Helpless against such an abrupt and powerful attack, half of Valcreim’s mages were now gone forever.
Joseph swallowed hard but was distracted by the sound of someone sobbing on his chest.
“You idiot! Where you trying to kill yourself back there?!” Candice whimpered, scratching Joseph’s breastplate with her black claws. Spencer’s magic wings slowly faded from her back.
“Hi,” Joseph half-smiled. “Thanks, Candice.” He patted her head while she sobbed. “You’ve saved me again...” he whispered, watching the cloudy sky. How many lives were lost in that sole attack?
“Hey,” Paladin Thomas muttered through the Crownet, apparently wounded. “I-I t-think it’s time.”
“I thought you wanted to handle this without bothering him,” Joseph replied.
“Oh, shut up! Are you ready?”
“Ready... Grand Calling, St. Sebastian, Artheos’ Apostle,” Thomas and the other three holy knights chanted together.
A pillar of light pierced the clouds, illuminating the dragon and a knight could be seen falling from the sky’s ray, straight towards the immense dragon. At an incredible speed, and with a stern, peaceful look on his face, he struck the beast, chopping its head with his bare palm. The gleaming from his platinum full armor could be visible from the wall, and with his landing, he unleashed a shockwave that purified every undead in the proximity and blew away part of Joseph’s hair.
Before the Paladin could even react, the newcomer was already reaching out to him, speaking with a thunderous voice. “Stand up, soldier of God.”
Joseph rose with newfound strength, feeling that Sebastian’s aura was enough to heal his minor injuries. “Thank you, sir. St. Sebastian.”
Candice stepped back, hiding her fangs. Something was unnerving about the man’s presence. His eyes were completely white, and she grew restless at the sight of his immaculate hands and armor, which did not fit the bloody mess left behind him.
“Lord Artheos’s kindness brought me here, to serve with you for ten minutes,” Sebastian explained, looking at his surroundings. “I hope I can be of help,” he said, turning back.
“Holy eminence, please!” Joseph's voice cracked. “This bloodshed was done by one of The Heretic’s men. He was right here just a moment ago.”
Sebastian closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. “I can’t feel any evil energy nearby, he must have fled just after summoning the dragon. It is paramount to find the culprit, but let’s help our comrades first, shall we?” After nodding to both Joseph and Candice, Sebastian stretched his arms, channeling. “Major Familiar Calling, Steeds of Heaven.”
Five stallions with translucent blue bodies materialized at his command. Sebastian got on the bigger one, and without any spoken order, the string of horses ran towards the castle’s walls, purifying every undead in their path.
There was a bittersweet taste in Joseph’s palate.
“Do you think he’ll come back?” Candice asked, snorting. “The one responsible for all of this?” She looked at her surroundings, finding only death and decay.
Joseph exhaled heavily. “Yes. He’ll try to finish the job.”
“Wherever we go, it will be the same.” Candice scratched her back, even though she knew the wings were gone, she still felt something sprouting from it. Damn wizard. She observed at the distance as the Holy Man was already taking control of the battlefield. She noticed Joseph frowning. “Are you hurt?”
Joseph answered with his eyes fixated on the wall. “The gods gave every one of us a second chance, Candice. To once again live in peace and atone for our past sins. But foolish humans like Bob wasted it as soon as they stepped on this land.”
Candice noticed Joseph’s fists shaking and his jaw tensing. Doubt crept into her mind. Was she the same as The Heretic, for not making amends for all the horrible things she did in her past life? “One day, I’ll cut Bob’s throat for you. Just you wait,” she said sternly, looking for his eyes.
“You’ll have to beat me to it.”