"N-No...the child...the oath!" she whispered to herself.

"Haarh..." an Enmity lifted a massive blunt object above them.

"No!" she turned around and hugged the child, preparing for the end.

"Ghaak!"

In a flash, divine horizontal rays came from afar, dispersing all of the nearby threats in their way. She slowly lifted her head up, all while looking into the eyes of the little girl, and before she gazed around to see her troubles fade away. She wasted no time wondering about the disappearance of her enemies, rather than grabbing the girl by the hand and quickly leading the way back to her parent.

"Oh my god, thank you so much, Sister Knight! Thank you!" the parent hugged the trembling child, running back towards the safety of the plaza.

Dante's little sister sighed, "Ah...glad I could help...always." she whispered, panting from the rush of adrenaline.

"Little sister!" Dante dropped behind her from the rooftop. "Please tell me you're alright!"

"I'm fine. Something...took the enemies out? Was it god, perhaps?" she said.

"I don't know what it was, but I do know that you should go back with everyone. Now!"

"Wait, what are you doing here?" she gazed at Dante, "What about the Silver Lances?!"

"Kagh...took them over. They swapped from defense to offence. Hence why we're leaking Enmities and Shadowers behind..."

"What?! How did he-", Dante interrupted her.

"Don't dwell on it now! Here!" he grabbed her hand, "I'll take you back! Then I'll head to Terna but...wait. Where's Sora?!"

"She's with another group of Remedy Knights. She's trying to return everyone from the Shrine to the palace!"

Dante stuttered. "I-I...dammit! Come on! I'll drop you off to big bro and head back, there's no way I'm leaving any of you behind!"

'What about everyone else here?! I can't leave them behind!"

Dante turned his little sister around and closed in on her face.

"I'm not losing you, you got that?! We've got to go now! We're not ready like them, they've got what we don't, so stop trying to be the hero here!"

His little sister's eyes widened as she realized what was truly happening around her. Snapping out of her rush she gave in to her older brother's words and went along with him. Running through the desperate crowd with his lead she looked left and right to see the once blue sky now turned grey, as red hellfire dropped from above, taking buildings and people with it. Finally reaching the palace entrance, they were glad to finally be able to catch a breather at the sight of the defending Golden Lances.

"Here! Go back to the main hall and meet up with big bro and the king!" Dante dropped his little sister behind the back lines. "What about you?!"

Dante pulled out his sword. "I can't save you. But I still have a duty. Leadership or not." he nodded at a Golden Lance soldier.

Her eyes now wetting themselves with sorrow, she realized what was about to happen. "No...No! Don't-!" she tried to push against the soldier's grasp.

"I must...I'm sorry. But this is all I know." he turned around to face the enemy.

"Big brother! Dante!" she cried as she was taken away.

Showing nothing but bitterness to the creatures ahead, he took on his battle stance in front of the defending Golden Lances.

"First up was you. Next up is Sora and Terna!" he yelled at the monsters.

The monsters growled as they raised their weapons, sharpened body parts and opened their massive mouths filled with rows of terrifying teeth. They started their mad rush against the Allied forces.

"I'll kill you all!" Dante stepped forward, placing his blade with his left hand on his right side and preparing for his own massive assault besides the Golden Lances.

Before he could make his move, however, a flash out of nowhere appeared and cut down every single enemy in his line of sight, confusing the assaulting soldiers momentarily and Dante himself was left in awe. Not before long, the source of the flash softly descended in front of him.

Cecilia let out a long sigh, "You're undeserving of facing the sins of another, sweetie."

In full armor, the Omnipotent Blade of the Trail Blazers and Valkyrie leader had bestowed upon the struggling of her sword, as she once again faced the familiar battlefield.

"That power...mom really is-", Dante whispered as he gazed in awe.

Cecilia turned around to face everyone, "Everyone. As an executive order of the king himself, I now assume full control of the Golden Lances and Silver Lances forces. Fret not, for I will use that command to its fullest extent, to bring us to the road of victory!"

The Golden Lances instinctively bowed before her, for they were left in amazement of her true form, not letting out a single word as their training had taught them.

Dante swiftly snapped out of his awe and looked his mother in the face, "Mom! The Silver Lances!"

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

Cecilia curiously looked at Dante, "Hmm? What about them? I heard about Kagh's doings...and believe me, he's in for it now. Don't worry."

"No, that's not it! Tell them to leave the port now!"

Cecilia's eyes widened, "No..."

A massive explosion echoed throughout the city, as bits of rain seemed to be taking over the grey skies, laying some cleansing on the engulfing smog throughout the battlefield.

"No!" he looked at the port, kneeling on the ground and punching the earth, briefly shaking the ground itself.

"Kagh...you bastard..." Cecilia gritted her teeth, "Golden Lances. Burst forth! Hurry to the port and see what fire your surviving brothers-in-arms are under! Widened positions. All innocents are to be pushed to the back lines and into safety. I will take the rest of the backlines' enemies myself. Move at once!"

The Golden Lances swiftly slammed their lances down and assumed the commanded positions, with no words or flinching. They immediately began their slow and methodical advancement towards the port, leaving behind Cecilia and a crumpling Dante in front of the palace.

"Sweetie...please. Before it all, just please, take-", she extended her right arm.

"Back off!" he slapped Cecilia's hand away.

Cecilia gazed at Dante once again, this time with nothing but sorrow and sadness inside her, but much to the circumstances she was used to, she refused to show any emotion like she always did.

"Look what I did! Look! They're dead! Kagh took them over and led them to the place I commanded was tactically destroyed! He was right...all I ever did was try to fail and act like I succeeded! He was right...all of them were right! I should have never done any of this! I should have never been born!" he got up and ran away from Cecilia.

Cecilia could only gaze at Dante as he ran to build distance, not from the battlefield, but from her. She was left alone in the middle of the battlefield, with only one thing at her hand. A beautiful-looking amulet that she took from their home. Before she could give it to him, the one thing that he had so far received as the only meaningful present to him...he ran away.

Her dwelling came to an abrupt end as a massive monster raised itself from behind her, challenging the height of the city gates that raised itself from behind her. Spikes made out of Obsulyte ran along its entire body as its massive deadly claws reflected the faint sense of death on its surrounding targets. Cecilia simply stood there. Still looking down at the artefact in her hand. No movement. No sounds. The monster raised its massive claw, preparing to strike her down. She didn't flinch, nor make a move again.

"Grhoah!"

The monster's roar echoed on the horizon as it descended its claw. But before it could even reach the middle of its motion, there it happened again. Divine rays of light descended from in front of it, piercing its chest and stomach, forcing a louder groan from it, as it turned its assaulting move into a strong grasp on its stomach, kneeling from the pain. Its face now mere centimeters away from Cecilia, she still kept on looking at the amulet, as she slowly raised her left hand and pressed it against the monster's face.

"I promise you. You and every single one of your friends will get a share of the most lucrative real estate in hell. And I will make sure that by downfall, you are all there to stare at each other. Disappear."

A massive spike rose from the ground, piercing the monster from its chin, all the way out of the top of its head, before a massive blast of energy from Cecilia's hand destroyed every last bit of the monster's body in an instant. In what remained after her attack, only bits of bone marrow and burned Obsulyte-infused skin stuck to her hand's gauntlet. She turned around to face the castle gates, shaking off the remains of the monster and putting the amulet away, looking forward.

"Took you long enough. Thought you upped and ran like some others." Cecilia said.

"Captain, please. I couldn't do such a thing, you know that!" Viola giggled as she dropped down from the top of the gates, approaching Cecilia, "Besides. This bow and arrow are to be used for cleansing evil, no? These guys look pretty evil to me!" Cecilia smugged, "They're evil alright. And I will make sure they're nothing by the time this is over."

Viola sighed, "Captain. Let's not let rage drive you again. Take a breath and calm yourself down. Please..."

Cecilia listened to Viola's words of advice and took a long breath. "Right...we can't ponder much longer."

"Yeap. What's the plan?!" Viola excitedly said.

"I'll take every single piece of shit that penetrated the Silver Lances barrier due to Kagh's impudent command by myself."

Viola sighed, "Captain...the rage."

"Oh, this isn't rage. This is the plan. And in my eyes, the most important task will be left up to you." "Oh, really?" Viola looked at Cecilia with all her faith.

"Chase after Dante. Please...keep him safe. You and I both know what he means to me and this world. So Viola-", she was interrupted.

"Don't worry Cecilia. On my word as a Valkyrie. Nothing will happen to him. The other two are inside with Frederick and Sisi. They're assisting on the escape route for the king and the princess. So no worries there."

"Understood. Let's do this...once again." Cecilia flicked her left arm down, summoning the Wing Of Aether.

Viola giggled, "No reason to tell you to stay safe. Must extend that wish to the enemy for them to have a chance! But in all seriousness. Be careful Captain. This looks like...that day."

"And we will stop it, this time. Right here, before that era begins again. Full speed ahead!"

Cecilia dashed forward, aiming to take care of the flooding monsters in the back lines, as Viola took off after Dante. They both knew very well what the end results of that day could hint towards. And both of them were about to do whatever was necessary in their powers to tip the scales towards the world's favor...