"Is everyone prepared?"
A unison of agreements that came in the form of a simple 'yes' responded to the saintess' question: many of them had gathered in such large numbers for the very first time, and this time, the reason for their assembly was not because they wished to perform some sermon or mass, but rather, it was something of a more serious matter...
The knights templar of the Holy Orthodoxy, who were warriors in fully plated armor and swords that've been carefully sharpened and honed to the extreme- while they were completely magickless when compared to the imperial soldiers of Neugomia, the templar knights possessed a mysterious strength in their bodies that allowed them to far surpass the strength of normal men.
They were originally a sort of defence force that served the orthodoxy's laws, a small army of knights whose only role was to defend the orthodoxy and deal with any internal threats that rose within its sects- after the kingdom was forced to become a vassalized state however, the holy paragons had been reduced to nothing more than bodyguards who would safeguard the saintess and the orthodoxy's followers from the treacheries of the Neugomian tyrants; in fact, they've nearly managed to cross blades countless times with such inhumane despots, and they would have waged a short-lived bloody conflict with them already had it not been for the agenda of peace and cooperation that was pursued by the saintess and the saints that came before her- despite the strength of their warriors, defeat was all but certain for them if they were to face the imperial might and tyranny of their conquerors.
Today, however, was a different matter entirely: today had been the first moment in years when they finally had another purpose, as the Lord Himself had proclaimed that they were about to be saved, and they'd all gathered at this very place to enact his will.
"Very well then..." the saintess spoke with an incredibly serious tone. "... When that 'blue dome of light' finally reveals its presence... We shall all move as one and drive away the imperials from our homeland once and for all..."
________________________________________
The communication channel sounded with multiple voices, as the holographic display originating from his wrist device came to life and revealed the images of his other companions, whose locations were currently faraway from where he and Whitlea were currently at.
"Are you guys done with your work as well?"
The 2 other channels, which were coming specifically from Speranza's and Thurien's locations respectively, would, almost immediately, respond in unison with voices that were a bit suppressed and weaker than usual.
"I've finished with mine, my creator. No need to worry about me."
"Yep, me too~ I sent them all to a more wonderful place~"
"Wonderful then. I had a feeling that some of you would've encountered some problems... I guess I was wrong..."
There was little that their enemies could do to stop them by this point- the only danger that could pose a threat to their goal now was the princess, who, based on the recent information they've managed to gather, had narrowly managed to avoid the destruction that claimed the stronghold she was previously stationed in due to a retreat she was made to do. How bothersome... He had hoped to at least greatly weaken her somewhat with the initial attacks, but the greatest obstacle somehow managed to survive unscathed.
It seemed that he needed to proceed with the second plan he had already formed: it was an unconventional plan that Novus believed would very unlikely be able to work, but he quickly realized that it was the most effective, and only suitable plan amongst all the others he formulated a few weeks back.
Ah well, Novus thought. If it was the only way he could 'win' this battle, then he would gladly do so without much of a fuss. The only factor that was slightly making him want to reconsider was the fact that he didn't know how exactly the princess would react the moment he chose to initiate this unique plan of his.
"By the way, Novus... I heard 'she' managed to survive... Am I right though?" Thurien asked curiously. "How are we going to deal with her...? By the way, please don't make a plan where I'm going to have to get up close to her... I'm still a bit... Shaken by my last encounter with that weird human..."
"Relax, Thurien, I'm not going to make you fight her again... Unless you want me to make you do it though? Would you like to encounter her once more?" he replied with a bit of sarcasm at the end of his words, making Thurien somewhat annoyed as the expression of 'Don't you dare' was written all over the medicae's face. "Anyway, none of you have to worry too much about her... I already have a contingency in mind, and it's actually quite simple to understand..."
"Oohhh, my creator made another plan... Would you mind telling us what it is?"
A grin formed on his face, though it wouldn't even be the slightest bit of apparent to them due to the metal helmet-part of his armor that completely concealed his smile. "You see, the princess and I have a somewhat... Close relationship when we were young..." he stated briefly. "I mean... Most of you already know about my past and all of that, right?
A unison of word-formed affirmations reached his ears, as Novus made a short series of small, nods of approval. After being with them for a while now, it was practically a given for them to have known about his past at this point, especially Whitlea, who had been the one with him for the longest amount of time out of all of them.
They still didn't know about Novus past life as a soldier however: despite both Thurien's and Whitlea's capabilities for reading human minds and thoughts, they had somehow still not managed to find out such an important part of his past. While the reasoning for this was unknown even to Novus himself, he was nevertheless incredibly thankful that the 2 hadn't been able to find out just yet.
After all, now was not the time for them to know: in the future, it would probably be fine to reveal this to them, but as of now? Novus felt that he was only going to get involved in some deep trouble the moment he chose to do the latter.
"Close relationship? Ah, is it because she's your older sister, my creator...? But I thought most of your family were a bunch of shit-stains?"
"Please do tell though, Novus... How are we going to use this to our advantage?"
"She's supposed to be someone incredibly strong, right dear?"
"Well, you see..." he'd finally answer. "The Neugomians have this stupid honour system about honor and duels, and we can easily exploit that..."
"How?"
"Yeah, how are we going to exploit that?"
"If I challenge her to a duel, and if I manage to win, we'll easily be able to make the remaining imperials surrender..." he continued to say. "And we're going to use my own face as an advantage... After all, she hasn't seen me for several years by this point... It would definitely be bad if she were to somehow become... Confused during our duel, right?"
"... Ahaha... You're planning to render her distraught while you fight her... How shameless, hahahaha..."
"... That's... Quite the strange plan, my creator... But, well, since it's your plan, I believe that it'll work..."
"..."
Novus then kept carrying on with mentioning his plan. "And besides, if everything else were to fail and I somehow end up getting nearly-defeated by her..." he said. "I have you 3 to follow up and deal with her if she does..."
A mixed combination of reactions would come from all 3 of them: Thurien would chuckle rather loudly, while Speranza would simply giggle lightly... Whitlea though, who was beside him and didn't need to use the communication channel to hear his words, had simply chosen to remain silent for the moment.
"... Well, as long as you remain safe during it all..." Whitlea finally spoke after remaining hushed for a while. "Try not to get hurt too much alright? We'll definitely be there to support you though if everything else fails, just like what you mentioned..."
"Don't worry..." Novus assured her. "I'll definitely try..."
________________________________________
"They're here! They're here!"
The bellowing shouts and screams of panicking, fear-stricken soldiers echoed throughout the air in a fine unison with the warning bells that kept ringing with great intensities, as the enemy forces that they'd hastily prepared for have finally arrived within their sights.
An army of steel behemoths that possessed vaguely humanoid shapes: a great many of them marched slowly towards their very walls, yet despite the sluggish speed of their march, the fear inside the hearts of the imperial soldiers slowly grew even bigger, because not only had these monsters appeared in such large numbers, but they were also most likely about to unleash the same attacks that had easily destroyed their garrisons: simultaneously however, the creatures were maneuvering themselves in terrifyingly precise, rank-like formations as their massive army surrounded every possible path and gateway the imperials could escape from, which only made their spirits tremble and slowly crumble even further as a result.
"W-why did they stop all of a sudden? Are they going to bombard us with some long-ranged attacks?"
"D-damnit all! Have those useless mages already activated that protective barrier they were supposed to cast?"
"Don't worry, they've already casted it! Don't lose hope now, you fools! We can still fight!"
From what they could also tell as the armies of metal suddenly came to a halt with their march, their numbers were most likely above even the values of 50,000 or so men- it was horrifying for the imperials of course, as the total number of their own forces were merely 5000 left, and their morale had already been greatly reduced due to the destruction of the 3, supposedly invincible fortresses that have stood for hundreds of years already.
It was going to be a long and terrible battle, they all thought to themselves all the same- a battle where they knew that victory was completely impossible, and their defeat purely inevitable...
"... Are we really going to survive this...?"
"We've lost so much of our forces to these bastards in just a few short days... How can we even put up a fight with our small numbers?"
However, something unexpected would suddenly reach their very ears all of a sudden...
"Soldiers of the empire. Heed our words." a loud, all-reaching, feminine voice that was amplified several times more than normal, boomed throughout the air they breathed in, making them shocked with how powerful it was. "We wish to perform an... Honourable duel with you lot. It is either this, or the swift destruction that is about to claim all of you."
"Our leader wishes to duel with your strongest warrior... The princess..." it continued with its near-deafening intensity.
"If your side wins, then we shall humbly concede this battle and leave this land in peace. However, if we are the ones to win, then we shall claim this land as ours... Though we will let your forces make their retreat back to your lands undisturbed."
"Send her out as soon possible. Fail to comply with this simple demand of ours, and we shall see this as a form of refusal and perform our assault immediately."
The voice would finally come to a halt, silencing its loudness as its tone no longer painfully sounded like a maddening echo that made their ears hurt a bit: on the other hand though, the higher-ranks of their army were already making their plans for what the voice had just stated, and immediately began discussing to themselves about what they should do...
"... Their leader wants to duel... With the princess?"
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
"... W-well... That was unexpected..."
...
...
"... Will we really send out the princess... Alone, at that?"
The strategists and the other, high-ranking Neugomian soldiers were assembled in one of the capital walls' many, massive, open balconies, as some of them observed the massive, teeming army of automata that surrounded the kingdom from almost every possible direction.
"... We don't have any other choice..." one of the men would utter in complete defeat. "... We have a higher chance of victory by letting the princess duel with their leader... Although, there's also the risk that they may be lying, and that they only wish to draw out the princess so they can eliminate her..."
"You're right... But still..." another would speak. "... It's the only decent shot we have at soundly defeating those monsters..."
Within Aldyth's line of thought as she remained silent all the while, a sense of confusion and caution were the only forms of emotion she was currently experiencing- why had their enemies suddenly suggested such a strange proposition in the first place?
Indeed, honourable duels were a common concept that would always occur during the countless conflicts that the empire would wage against its enemies- it had practically become a tradition for 2 enemy leaders to fight each other in a 1 versus 1 battle in order to settle a long dispute that had grinded both sides into an unending attrition.
However, there were several issues that came with this matter: the Neugomians were the ones who were losing this battle, and they didn't even know what and who their enemies truly were. Aldyth herself couldn't even tell if their enemies were truly planning to honour such a suggestion, or if they were simply making a scheme in order to eliminate her, the greatest threatening variable, from the battle.
There wasn't any other suitable option in the first place however... This duel was the only way they could hope to drive this new enemy of theirs away from the kingdom's capital, and if they were to indeed choose to stab them in the back, then Aldyth would simply have to use her terrifying power to push through such unfortunate circumstances.
"P-princess! W-wait!"
"P-please wait for a moment, your highness!"
The princess would then pick up her spear that rested on the arms of her weapons-bearer as she leapt from the impressive heights of the balcony and quickly landed upon the ground uninjured: today, she was going to accept the strange proposal that their enemies had proposed, as she was also going to try to obtain victory in order to win this battle...
________________________________________
He had made many preparations for this very event: many of the functions of his armor were currently active, with both its power source and its energy reserves being utilized to such incredible extremes, as he stood alone in the open fields between the armies of the automata that accompanied his conquest, as well as the last barrier of resistance that was still interrupting his plans.
The plan... Needless to say, consisted of many tasks that were somewhat difficult to do: first, he had to draw out the princess from the enemy forces and make it so that he had to fight her alone, and it was also the part that he had already done...
Why he even wanted to fight her alone in a 1 versus 1,you may ask?
Other than the fact that he wanted to achieve total victory by getting rid of the only remaining threat that the imperials could throw against them, there was another reason why he had chosen to do this in the first place.
A familial reason... In simple terms, Novus wanted to recruit this woman, this sister of his, to his side. After all, he knew just how secretly miserable she already was, and he quite literally had the key to convincing him to side with her. Not only that however, but the fact that she possessed this already incredible power even without magick only made him want to bring her to his side all the more so...
... On the other hand though, the second and third phases were the ones he found to be more difficult to execute: it was to trap her temporarily by activating a barrier before their fight, and to hold her in place, be it through words or by force, for only a few moments so that he could 'talk' with her- the last part was seemingly the most difficult phase, as even from just a faraway glance, Novus could tell that this supposed sister of his wasn't the type who liked to converse with people, a terrible quality which would only make talking with her vastly more difficult.
Novus was practically playing a dangerous gamble here, because in reality, he couldn't even know just how exactly the princess would react the moment she found out about his true identity: would she reject that he was her brother and continue the fight? Would she give up and listen to what he had to say? Or would he never even be able to talk to her in the first place at all?
Ah well, as long as he could hold her back for a sufficient time... There was another secret he had hidden and prepared in this battle: nanites that had a certain influence on human bodies, regardless of how durable they may be... While its effects would most likely take a great amount of time before they were finally significant, it would, nevertheless, become incredibly useful later as their duel continued to proceed...
"Ah, there she is..."
Novus could see the approaching visage of the figure that was slowly coming closer to him- it was his 'older sister'... The princess, whose body was equipped with a thin, medieval-esque battle armor as she wielded her signature silver spear with her left hand...
He had to admit, she did indeed look just like him... She was supposed to be her sibling after all, or at least, the relative of this body that didn't belong to him from the very beginning: from what he could see, the princess had long, red hair that poured out from the back of her small helmet, as her cold, green-iris eyes gave a cold, deathly glare that shot back towards his own.
Most importantly however, she was practically radiating that sense of incredible danger all throughout her body, and it made Novus feel a bit uneasy as she gradually got closer to him...
Maybe he had, once again, chosen a wrong decision? Well, he wouldn't be able to back out now anyway...
"Alright... I wanted to talk to you for a bit, but... I take it that you're not the type who talks, huh?" Novus spoke audibly as she finally came to a dangerously close proximity to him. "I guess I really do have to stop you from moving a bit first... Thurien, activate the barrier!"
"...?"
The nanomachines his allies had quietly scattered quickly did their work, and almost immediately, thick, nigh-impermeable collectives of cyan formations where not even light could pass through, formed a dome-shaped structure that encapsulated them in the space they were already in, and Thurien, the one who had mainly caused this barrier to form, made sure that it wouldn't break so easily- the barrier was quite literally a thousand times harder than the likes of steel, and it was thick enough so that it would take a while to break the moment its durability began to falter in its sole duty.
Quickly however, upon seeing the trap she had suddenly fallen into, an expression of light, cold anger would form on Aldyth's beautiful face, as she then made a powerful leap from the ground she stood on and began charging towards Novus head on with her spear in hand.
STABB!!!!
"????"
As the spear pierced into what was supposed to be Novus' chest, not even a single trace of blood came from his supposedly wounded body, as Aldyth merely passed through his figure as if he were a ghost.
What the hell... The princess thought. What sort of trickery was this? Had he casted some form of illusionary magick on her amidst their fight? How shameless, this opponent of hers had been doing one cowardly trick after another... Was this not supposed to be an honourable duel where the winner would fairly decide the victory between their battle? Where even was this man's true body, and did he truly come here to duel with her in the first place?
"That was a hologram, you battle-junkie."
A series of blinding lights that came with defeaning sounds erupted near Aldyth's body, and she became disorientated for only a single second: such a cowardly attack meant nothing to her senses, as she had already endured far worse things in her exceedingly miserable life, and this much pain meant nothing to her.
BLAMM!!!
She quickly figured out where his true body was, and it was at a direction that was to her far left: as she phased through the fake body of her enemy and was now speeding towards the ground, the princess made precise, graceful movements by rapidly stabbing her spear into the ground as she maneuvered her body around its thin, silver structure in a twisting movement that seemed like an acrobatic twirl: this quickly allowed her to propel herself back into the air, and now she was once more about to plunge the tip of her spear into Novus' body.
BOOMMM!!!
Yet another cowardly trick, Aldyth silently fumed within her thoughts- a thick fog of grey air exploded out of nowhere and enveloped her opponent in a smokescreen, making her next strike miss its mark as she rapidly came close to his body. How annoying... Does this bastard see their duel as merely a joke?
As she made a terrible landing on the ground, Aldyth quickly stood up and twisted her spear in powerful spinning motions, driving away the smog that hid her opponent from her view as she then prepared for another attack; this time though, the princess had chosen a different method of attack that wouldn't immediately involve her making a charge.
THUUDDD!!!
She drove her right foot into the ground, making the earth beneath her shatter as fragments of rocky material rose up into the air due to her incredible force: Aldyth then moved and thrusted her spear at a speed that appeared faster than what Novus' eyes could perceive, propelling the pieces of stone towards him in speeds that were faster than even the bullets of his gun-weapons.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
The automatic-reactionary reflexes of his suit moved faster than Novus' mind could process, as the armor automatically pulled out the sword concealed within his armor and rapidly cut through the pieces of speeding debris, preventing all of them from hitting its user and inflicting any form of damage...
However, within this significant time frame where Novus' armor moved instinctively, Aldyth used this opportunity to instantly get close to him with her terrifying agility.
[Long-Ranged Weapons Activated.]
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Novus drew out the literal big guns, as he revealed the massive, high-caliber gun stored by his power-suit and began emptying its clip using his free, left hand, firing repeatedly at Aldyth's charging figure without stopping. As expected though, the princess would nonchalantly block all of them with her silver spear, and the limited few that did manage to successfully hit her body failed to even penetrate through her skin.
SWOOSHHH!!!!
Aldyth focused her incoming attack on his long-ranged weapon first, as the blade of her spear tore and ripped through the massive gun that Novus brought out, destroying it immediately as it quickly ceased with firing its ammunition. Without wasting time any further, she would then rapidly deliver a deadly thrust from her spear, a fatal attack that was aimed directly at Novus' neck...
CLAANNGGG!!!
He managed to parry that killing blow using his sword, though because of the power that came from her murderous thrust, Novus was violently knocked back to the ground due to the knockback. Despite having the appearance of a normal woman, the princess was indeed a monster of abnormal physical strength, and she was definitely someone that Novus wouldn't be able to fight directly without the clever trickery he kept resorting to.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
When her slim figure descended onto the ground and quickly rushed towards him, everything just became even more chaotic, at least for Novus- the thrusts from her spear were incredibly quick and precise, as the advanced functions of his suit were the only reason why he had even managed to last this long. After all, from what his eyes could see, Aldyth's movements with her silverine weapon appeared as literal blurs before his very eyes.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The flow of her movements connected with each other in a perfect, repetitive and synchronized manner, not even allowing him a single moment of respite nor counterattack as she easily forced him on the defensive due to her unrelentingness.
It had become quite obvious though, as even Novus was able to realize it as their duel kept being prolonged- in a grinding, attritional fight like this, especially against such a monster of incredible physical prowess, Novus would eventually lose handily to her bothersome might, even with all the powerful enhancements and unique functions that his armour provided to him.
"..."
The princess' movements would then suddenly come to a grinding halt, making Novus stop with his movements as well in order to carefully observe what she was about to do next. And from what he could see, even though she was remaining perfectly still, Novus felt his instinct kick in with a sense of danger, as if the princess was about unleash an incredibly dangerous form of attack.
"Fuck this." he cursed, paying heed to the ominous feeling that had formed in his heart as he began making his own preparations. "Stealth mode, activate!"
He had to flee there, as there was no point in letting their moment of melee drag out for too long, because not only was it was apparent that she was vastly, physically stronger than her, but it was already obvious by now that she was charging up for some unknown form of attack: Novus then activated the invisibility functions of his armor, rendering him invisible from most human senses as he quickly faded away from her line of sight and began to widen their distance between them in anticipation for the attack she was about to commence.
SWOOOSSHHHHH!!!!
It took only 4 seconds for her to charge up that dreadful attack: with a single, concentrated thrust from her spear, Aldyth produced a powerful, gust of wind that speeded faster than the likes of sound towards the location where Novus was previously in- as the terrible wave of air missed him however, it would instead hit part of the cyan barrier that trapped them both, easily tearing through its durable structure while leaving a gaping hole that led out to the sky.
What a vile coward, Aldyth screamed internally. This bastard had been performing one dirty tactic after another, and the new trick he had pulled off just now began to infuriate her to no end. This fool... He really did only see their feud as a joke... How preposterous, she thought, did the countless times when he could have died from her attacks meant nothing to him at all?
Truthfully, however, his invisibility to her senses didn't matter in the first place. Years of honed instinct had sharpened the princess' ability to detect undetectable targets that were as sly and untraceable as this coward before her right now...
She then prepared to hurl her silverine weapon into the air... And before Novus could finally manage to safely get away from her range...
SWOOSHHH!!!!
"FUCKK!"
The crazy woman hurled her spear towards his invisible body and somehow managed to hit him on his left shoulder. Simultaneously though, Novus would also be sent hurtling towards the ground, making both a powerful thud and an immense dust cloud as his armored, yet wounded self collided with the earth beneath.
...
________________________________________
"They've captured the princess!"
"Quick! We must rescue her! We can't let her be taken!"
"Are you brain-dead, you moron?! How are we going to charge outside and save the princess without getting slaughtered by that massive army outside?!"
As the dome-shaped barrier of blue light engulfed the battle-space where Novus and the princess duked it out in, the imperial soldiers began panicking uncontrollably, as they couldn't even see through the impermeable borders of the structure that had suddenly formed in front of them, fully preventing them from seeing just what exactly was transpiring inside.
"What are we going to do then?! The princess is our only hope against these monsters, and we literally just fucking lost her to these bastards!"
"We'll just have to fight and die then!"
"You crazy fuck! I don't want to die! Emperor, save me!"
Their morale fell into a complete disarray now, as the soldiers fell into a chaotic discourse of arguments and shouting, all of which would ultimately be unable to achieve anything significant: their higher-ups, on the other hand, who had remained within the safety of the city wall's interior, could only watch in despair from the balcony that provided them a decent view outside, as they too began panicking and squabbling uselessly among themselves.
"Send out the men! We have to do everything we can to save her!"
"Are you blind?! Do you not see the massive army of golems outside that's waiting for the duel to finish? Our men will get wiped out the moment they get out of the gates!"
"They broke their honour first, in the first place! They trapped and captured her even though it was supposed to be an honourable duel!"
"What does honour have to do with the fact that we'll instantly get slaughtered if we come outside, you moron?!"
A hundred voices would all voice out their suggestions and arguments, refuting and negating each other's statements in an endless cycle of uselessness, as they ultimately achieved nothing in their futile bickering, all while time continued to pass by without a pause.
Suddenly however, a brief, yet powerful, feminine voice of authority would drown out all their squabbles, as their eyes immediately shifted their attention towards her very figure.
"Your reign of tyranny over us is over, you men of the empire." it was the saintess, whose presence was being accompanied by several armored knights that had their swords drawn and pointed towards them. "You've lost your power, including the one you once had over us... Surrender, and we shall try to be merciful with you as much as we can afterwards..."
"You bitch!!! You dare?! Now, of all times?!"
"You scheming vixen! How did you get past the guards?! You just had to strike us at our weakest, did you?!"
Hearing their immediately-negative reactions, Adelaide would simply sigh as she covered her face- as expected, these people weren't going to listen to her in the peaceful way, even though she had brought her own fair share of force to intimidate them with...
Ah well, she thought... Perhaps violence is indeed a necessary venture sometimes...
"Sigh... Malfor... You know what to do..." the saintess signalled to one of her armored knights. "... Please make it quick while you do it though... You know how much I loathe it whenever blood is being shed..."
Malfor nodded in response, as a cold, unflinching expression formed on his face while he drew out his sword. "I understand, saintess... I shall do so at once..."
SLAASHHH!!!
"W-what?! Y-you bastard...!"
"... T-they really killed one of us..."
"You damn barbarians!!!"
Malfor casually approached the nearest imperial, as his blade began glowing with a harmonous, golden light. He would then swerve his sword and cut him down with a single strike, killing the poor man instantly as he scattered his blood throughout the floor: now then... After all of that, surely these stubborn, prideful bastards of the empire were finally willing to listen to her demands?
... If not however, then Malfor would simply have to cut down another one of them until they finally choose to cave in and submit to their wishes: while it would seem cruel, it was something that the people of the orthodoxy have seen as ultimately necessary, because what the very act of rebellion that they were doing could easily get all of them killed in the process, which was why the saintess and her knights had chosen to perform a surgical strike upon the figureheads of their enemy in order make their revolution conclude quickly.
"Like I said... It's over now, for all of you..." the saintess spoke rather sternly, emphasizing an incredible seriousness with every word she spoke. "Comply with what we want, and not only shall we promise to not harm you any further, but we will also let you return to the lands your empire with all of your remaining men afterwards..."
They would hesitate for a moment, not wanting to relent and submit to the desires of this woman they viewed as inferior- however, the will of not wanting to die and end up like their fellow who had been brutally cut down proved to be stronger as they eventually chose to comply with her single demand.
"F-fine... What do you people want?"
"Y-yeah... What did you and your men come here for anyway? And could you just please tell us right away..."
"What we want is simple." the saintess uttered. "Order all your men to stand down, lay down their arms and open the gates. We didn't want to risk losing too much men, so I took the time to find where you fools were hiding at..."
"..."
"..."
"So, what will it be, gentlemen?" Malfor added as he drew his blood stained sword once more, preparing to cut down another imperial officer who had unfortunately managed to become his target. "Will you comply, or will I have to cut down another one of you lot?"
"... We'll comply... We'll comply..." they uttered, finally surrendering to their wishes without putting up much of a fight anymore. "We'll tell our men to surrender and stand down... Just... Give us a few moments, please..."