They planned to mix in with the coming reinforcement army by disguising themselves as the soldiers of Temple and stroke the enemies hard in surprise.

However, Ethan saw Drake, his past friend, among the enemies. Drake as the commanding officer, became his target to kill.

"What ill fate you have thrown at me. Is this a test of my faith in you?" Ethan mumbled to God.

It was one thing that Ethan might have to kill his friend, another was that Drake knew his identity so he would be recognised immediately. Their sneaky plan was in danger. With the enemies approaching fast, he didn't have time to switch the role either.

He wrecked his brain for a solution. He saw one of his men wearing a scarf around the face to cover the sand dust from being breathed in. Ethan stole the idea and pulled up his shirt to mask his face. With the helmet and a mask, his face was fully covered.

Just like old times, Drake was still the big muscular man Ethan once remembered but the eyes had changed. It was no longer clear and friendly like before. It was dark, ferocious and determined. Like those of a man who had seen the reality of the world and overcame it. Ethan was familiar with those eyes. He had seen them usually in the pond, as a reflection.

Ethan noticed it too that he changed. After Leila was executed in front of his eyes, he no longer felt much feeling anymore. He would kill a person he deemed an enemy without hesitation. He had come to believe that it was his role, his reason, to be God's warrior and to re-establish the forgotten truths. Before so, he would pray for the soul to reincarnate at a better place. He did it with Drake, Jimmy, and the boys back in the day. The last time was with Leila when he killed the bandits near the gold camp. After that, he had never prayed for the souls he had slain.

The reinforcing army of the Temple entered the village in an orderly manner. Ethan and his men gave a fake welcome with their blades readied behind the back. They formed the line outside the enemies and surrounded them subtly. Ethan cleared his throat and made a hoarse voice forcefully. "Welcome, Sir Templers. We have already subdued the heretics in the village. Sir Pzeki has already been celebrating inside the inn alone. Please join him, sirs. We have a barrel of ales ready." Ethan tried to lure Drake and his colleague inside so that the enemies would not have leaders when they executed their plan. The confused enemies are the easier enemies.

Drake's colleague happily followed Ethan without any suspicion but Drake stopped in the middle and turned to a Revenant member disguising himself as the soldier of Temple. "Why is your arm on the back?" He asked sternly. "Don't you know both of your arms must be by your side?"

"Erm...Er.." The soldier couldn't answer. His arm was on the back because he was readying his axe. He trembled. And it raised more suspicions. The rest of the disguising soldiers also started to get nervous. They prepared swords and axes to engage in close combat against enemies' lances by meddling inside the ranks first. But Drake became suspected of them even before they could mix in. If the fight was to happen at that moment, they would be skewered by the lances immediately. Their eyes reached to Ethan who held the first strike.

For the first time after everything, Ethan felt hesitation in his hand. He couldn't kill his friend even though Drake was in his arm's range. Ethan believed he could talk Drake out of the false faith and save him.

"Give them a break, will you?" Ethan pretended to snap. "The boys fought the whole night and just got a rest. Let them be at ease." He told Drake who outranked him according to uniform.

It boiled a stir to Drake's colleague who seemed to be easygoing earlier. He punched Ethan in the stomach for disrespecting his superior. The strict Drake had to stop his colleague back. "It is fine, Kaul. We had that kind of time in our days too. Let's go inside." Drake pulled his colleague to the inn. Then, he noticed the windows were blocked with wooden bars so he asked the reason. Ethan played his hoarse voice and replied that the villagers did it, "Those idiots thought it would be enough to stop us, heck. Anyway, we leave it be because booze is sweeter in dim light." Ethan finally made them believe him. Drake and Kaul moved on.

Only when the two Templers finally headed toward the inn, the members of the Revenant could breathe. With a punch in the stomach, Ethan solved the crisis. While Ethan lured the Templers into the trap, the Revenants successfully closed into the inner circle of the enemies. Before he followed the Templers into the inn and shut the door, Ethan gave his men the signal.

"Go."

Within seconds, the dirt road which was painted black with the oxidized bloods of the villagers was repainted red with the bloods of zealots. Against the sudden ferocious nonstop close-quarter attacks by the Revenants, the ranks and formation of the zealots were broken instantly. Before they could drop their long lances and switch to secondary weapons, they were cut and chopped by the swift attacks of the enemies. The forces of the Temple crumbled one by one. Cries and screams soared across the village along with the clanking of metals and exchanging curses.

The ruckus outside alerted Drake and Kaul but they were already inside the trap. The door was sealed and blocked by Ethan. Cleo and Dovos encircled at the other side. Drake prepared to fight.

"Drop your sword and let us talk, Drake." Ethan talked to his friend before the blood was spilled. He tried to negotiate. "You are surrounded. Outnumbered. Your men are in tattered. Drake, lower your sword and let's talk. There is so much I have to say to you."

Drake chuckled after hearing his friend's voice for the first time after a long time. "Captain Ethanial? I see. I do suspect that you may be in Revenant, the evil organisation of heretics when I heard that there is a devil spawn with a strong divination spell. You always excel at it. And I was right. You actually are here."

"So, you came here to meet me. That's good. You must be aching to talk too." Ethan replied.

Kaul was appalled by how his colleague and Drake knew each other. He didn't think it was a coincidence that he was also inside an enemy's trap. He believed Drake betrayed him. Kaul looked around and saw an opening in encirclement at his right side. A window was opened and there was no one outside. With Dovos who had a big Warhammer in front of him, Kaul was sure that he could escape through the window before Dovos could swing. If he reached outside, Kaul could reorganise his dismayed troops and counter-attack before hidden Revenant troops in the forest reached the village.

Without planning any further, Kaul ditched Drake and saved his own life. He sprinted toward the window. Dovos and Cleo chased after Kaul but Kaul reached his destination first just as he expected. Kaul turned to the side and curled up to fit the window. Then, he jumped outside without looking back at his colleague once. It all happened in an instant. Kaul escaped from the trap. Or so he thought.

Right before Kaul's body passed through the window frame, an enchanted wooden shield appeared and blocked the window. The head and shoulder hit the shield hard and bounced back inside. In a daze, Kaul dropped to the floor and counted the stars.

"Tch* idiot. Fu*king dumbass." Drake swore at Kaul in frustration. They had a chance to fight if they fought together but Kaul ditched him before assessing the actual situation and was then tied up by Cleo and Dovos. Embarrassed and furious, Drake attacked Ethan first.

"Traps and schemes. Suit with you, captain. I guess a dishonoured betrayer who left his men to die has no morals to uphold. You have descended to even wearing a dead man uniform to trick your opponents. Pathetic." Drake lunged at Ethan. The cold steel blade scratched Ethan in the arm but missed the vital. "Divine spark." Drake conjured. A shot of lightning appeared from his left hand and flew toward Ethan. But Ethan was faster. As soon as he saw Drake's hand move, he crouched and dodged the spark. Ethan returned a fireball at Drake's feet which Drake evaded by jumping backward. The ball of fire splattered in pieces on the floor and dissipated as there was nothing to catch on.

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"Drake! Let's talk first. There are so many things you need to know."

"No. I don't. I won't listen to any excuse from the filthy traitor. Divination!" Drake leapt to Ethan as he roared like a lion. His blade hit the roof but it cut through the floor of the second floor like cutting water.

Ethan found out Drake was also confident in divination spells so he accepted the challenge. "Fine. Let's see whose blessing is stronger. Yours Mordu' or Mine." Ethan swang his sword from the feet to the roof. The two divine reinforced blades met in the middle like a lion and a rhino.

Both felt the vibrations in their palms like it was an earthquake. They gritted their fingers hard not to lose grip. It was a showdown of both strength and dedication to their beliefs. For half a minute, they glared at each other testing strength and kicking nerves.

"For a worshipper of a demon, your divine spell is quite strong. You must be heeding to a Devil."

"Or you are weak because your lord Mordu' isn't the real son of God."

"Blasphemy."

"No. It is the truth. All these monsters? They are his creation. He pitted his saplings against us humans and pretended to be the saviour of humanity. He is a narcissistic psychopath. My mother died because of him. His make-up laws killed Leila. All this suffering was his doing. And I am going to right all those things."

Ethan explained everything to Drake. Ethan wanted Drake to understand that he had been following the wrong idol. He believed Drake would come to light as Drake had always been an upright person.

Drake scoffed at Ethan.

"You are going to right everything? So, you think you are it? Winning a few fights must have built the wrong confidence in you, captain. But know this. In the eye of the Lord, you are an insect he let run wild for a while. All of you will be stomped right at the moment you think you have achieved. So, don't play god, captain. It is a dangerous game. It will only cause pain to you and everyone around you. You can't win. This fanatic play of yours will be crushed instantly when Mordu' steps up himself."

What Drake said angers Ethan. He thought he could talk to Drake. He thought Drake would listen. But it turned out Drake was just like any other blind fool. "I will show you that I will win."

Ethan stepped back ending the deadlock. He launched a fireball at Drake which Drake neutralised with an ice shield. He collected the vapour from the surrounding air to form it. Blasted by the fireball, the icy shield melted forming a puddle on the floor. With the flat of the blade, Drake splashed the water toward Ethan. As droplets reached near, they turned into ice missiles by the cold blast from Drake. A few hit Ethan but they were only some scratches as Ethan managed to deflect most.

"Is this all, captain?" Drake mocked but Ethan replied with a sweet smile and one closing eye. "No. This is."

Ethan raised his sword in the air and conjured, "Luminus!"

Rays of blinding white light appeared from the blade and instantly illuminated the dim dining hall. The light was so dashing that those people fighting outside could see a few white rays escaping through the small gaps between the wooden bars under the bright morning sun.

Drake raised his defence as soon as he noticed Ethan was attacking by using the blinding light as cover. He heard the water splash as Ethan stepped on the puddle so he turned to it and braced for impact.

"Divination!!" Both shouted.

For the second time, the two divinity blades clashed. However this time, Drake felt no resistance at his sword at all. With his eyes closed, Drake could only feel a warm steel by his neck. When his eyes were adjusted to the light, he saw Ethan with another side of his eyes closed in front of him. His blade was cut clean as if it was paper while Ethan's dashing blade was at his neck. Ethan pointed out that his divinity was stronger because of the blessing from the true God.

"See," Said Ethan, "I ain't playing game. With this white blade, I shall defeat your false lord and bring truth and light back to this society." Ethan claimed.

Drake chuckled at Ethan's claim. "God. What is it to you, captain? Is it some kind of being that stands for truth and righteousness? That when God walks on earth, flowers will bloom and crops will ripe. Is such fantasy your belief? Look around you, captain. What did your God and belief bring to this village? Nothing but pain and death. The Twin River Island. Gone. The Northern Mountain tribe? Destroyed after your mess. The Gods do not bring truth, captain. They force the truth. And we live with it. Peacefully. We don't challenge it. Peasants don't care who sits on the purple throne or who the gods they pray to." Drake talked about his point of view.

Cleo, Igüan and Dovos heard the conversation and listened to it quietly, lost in their thoughts. Cleo relived the day when the citizens of Midlake didn't care while her father was being dethroned. Igüan worried that what Drake about his northern tribe being destroyed was true. Dovos remembered the smiles of the stable boy before the boy became a lifeless body in the pile. Their throat turned dried.

At that moment, the only person who didn't waver was Ethan. He furiously punched a dining table near him breaking it in half. "Damnit, Drake. You call that living peacefully? People are killed day and night by the monsters. Created by that man. Yet that bastard and the Temple shamelessly call themselves the saviours. They rape the bride on the forth of the wedding and call it a 'blessing' in the name of Mordu'. They open gambling houses and suck the people until dry, calling it 'fate'. They ban any outside healers, calling them witchcraft or sorcery so they can monopolize. They say it is a donation to god but they won't hesitate to punish if one doesn't submit. They teach people to be humble and giving yet their greed finds no end. The Society is corroded and the Temple is the cause. They are leading the people to ruin. We must remove it before beyond repair." Said Ethan in anger. His eyes were fuming. He turned to Drake in disappointment. "So when did you become so pathetic? We are the warriors. We swore to be the shields of society and protectors of people even if it cost our lives. Sure, more people may be hurt in the process. The Temple and Mordu' will show their wrath, flexing all their powers so that no one will dare to question them again. But isn't that all the more reason to destroy them? Such evil should never have become the idol of humanity in the first place."

Ethan saw Drake's eyes change after his speech. Drake was still the man Ethan believed. Affectionately he hugged his friend, only to find that blood was oozing a lot from Drake's leg for a while. He didn't see it in the dark earlier. When he shattered Drake's blade, a piece flew inside Drake's leg and cut the femoral vessels. Drake slipped away from Ethan's grip and collapsed.

"Drake. Drake! Don't fall asleep." Ethan shouted hoping his friend could stay with him until Mr.Elba came to help. "We have a very great healer so don't give up. Stay with me." He kept talking to his friend.

Drake smiled. "Hey, captain. Forgive me for punching you back then at that tavern. I was furious at myself for using my friends for my escape. I didn't want to admit it so I blamed you instead."

"No. It was my fault. I shouldn't have left you all."

"You did what you had to, captain. You saved that girl and succeeded in our mission as a warrior should do. By the way, did you hear that girl, Leila? She is..." With the little strength he had left, he tried to tell Ethan that Leila was still alive. During his service in Temple at Goldfield's castle as a captain guard, one of his colleagues stationed at the dungeon told him about a strange beautiful girl in captivity by the Duke. He tried to relay the message to Ethan.

However, before Drake could finish, Mr.Elba came into the room and put him to sleep with an anaesthetic gas for surgery.