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Rotten Justice
Chapter 24: Divine Ashen Wind

Chapter 24: Divine Ashen Wind

Another trench line gets charged down by the knights, there aren't many trenches left for the men to fall back to. Lieutenants get beheaded by headhunters, and their sergeants are attempting to salvage an unsalvageable situation. AT emplacements work overtime trying to pierce the numerous defenses of the advancing knights, who shout "For honor!" as they destroy the reloading guns. The Order of Melthazar for their part are obsessed with honor, and find that these anti-magic cultists using powerful ranged weaponry without a speck of magic to be a heresy of the greatest order. The men seem almost terrified to die at range to the guns, aiming to close the distance as fast as possible. This tactic is proving effective enough, as the bayonets of The Lost are pathetic compared to the proper melee weapons used by the knightly order.

That is, until a light shines on the battlefield previously darkened by the smoke of war, has the sun finally broken through the clouds to gaze upon its disappointing subjects below? Men look up for a moment as the light seems more intense than usual, the knightly order shooting quick prayers to their god, the divine light. A god closely related to all light sources that they so zealously fight for. More importantly, a god with significant power worthy of one of the core worlds. The prayers of the knights don't get heard.

The Lost in the meantime shy away from the light, not for a lack of believing in it, but because the shade is rather important if you are looking to hit a target at distance. No prayer to the light is offered by any of The Lost, if they ever had a god, he abandoned them when they forgot about him. They wouldn't exactly blame such a god either, they have fought against religion for their entire lives. Some religions seemed benevolent, some of them seemed malicious, yet they have never faced a religious sect as powerful as this one. It wasn't their first time fighting a foe much stronger than them, but any commanders could see the writing on the walls that these religious assholes would be their last.

At least until a figure reveals herself at the center of the light, at first the knights believe it to be an angel coming to personally deliver victory over the heathens to them, their mission here exists in part because of the existence of a [Mythic] class angel after all. While The Lost all have fear in their eyes at the silhouette of an angel, they only know of one being that fits that description on the planet, and she knows no mercy. The light decreases, and the knights get a good look at the [Seraphim], her multiple wings are dark, darker than that of a demon. Her gaze upon them is one of arrogant hatred, and everything about her is the picture-perfect example of evil in their eyes.

"B-Blasphemy! False idol!" Yells one of the knights, and at his words the knights ready for the oncoming onslaught.

Justitia simply blasts the one who called her a false idol with concentrated light, he is cooked alive in his suits as enough light come through the visor to do so. The suit of armor collapses to the ground, containing only ash to stream out of the joints as it falls apart. The judgement she brings is not false, and she is no mere idol. The vanguard of the order in the area launches their attacks at the [Seraphim], but their attacks prove ineffective as they are overextended after charging multiple trench lines. Justitia flies through the hordes of knights with her plasma cutter, turning the overstretched fools into clouds of ash and glowing metal. She isn't particularly good with a blade, but she doesn't need to be when she is faster than the knights by a large margin, and her blade cuts through everything without discriminating.

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A flare of magic is sent skyward by one of the knights, and it doesn't take long for Justitia's rampage to be interrupted by a paladin of higher standing. The paladin still avoids Justitia's blade, clearly not confident it won't cut through everything he has like it did to his subordinates. He does however, manage to match her in speed, and outmatches her in skill. Every strike is dodged, and retorted with a hit on Justitia's barrier, his blade doesn't find purchase, as he's using light against light, but its finding infinitely more purchase than Justitia's blade is. Justitia is no fool, and sees the way her fight with the paladin commander is going. She casts multiple illusions of light of herself, and withdraws from the paladin commander while making herself invisible. Leading the commander away using the illusions, she quickly cleans up the remaining paladins in the trenches, and turns back to the commander.

He has managed to banish the illusions, and a team of more elite knights has joined him. The men cautiously step forward, as Justitia lands in a small open area. She sheathes her weapons, both the scales and the plasma cutter. The commander approaches her with a look of hatred on his face.

"Monster, you killed many of my men, yet you stand here looking to parley. What makes you think I should entertain your offer, and not cut off your blasphemous head?" The commander exudes emotions of wrath directed at Justitia, all as she intended to happen.

"Your emotions blind you commander, had you done the slightest bit of research into me or this world, you would know I wouldn't be here to parley." The commander manages to look a bit confused through his well-decorated helmet, before looking around in all directions, trying to see a trap.

The trap makes itself heard in the form of a whistling noise, the knights instinctively work together to raise a barrier to block the artillery shell, and for a moment the commander looks arrogant again. She was buying time for the magicless humans to help her? Is she that desperate? Yet, before the artillery shell makes impact with the barrier, an intense amount of light magic gets infused into it during its travel. The resulting explosion almost instantly breaks the barrier, and knocks all the knights on their asses. The commander slashes at the unarmed Justitia, trying to stop her plan from bearing fruit.

His blade passes through Justitia, and he realizes it was simply another illusion. High in the sky, the light returns, and aims itself squarely at the reformed Lost lines. Machine gun emplacements, and parapets are manned by skeleton crews of the decimated, but determined lines. The guns begin to glow with light, but none of the men care for the light. All they see is their hatred for the enemy.

The paladin commander calls for a hasty retreat, which rapidly turns into a rout as enchanted lead hails on their lines. Justitia isn't powerful enough to enchant every gun at the same time, but she is more than powerful enough to enchant the places that need it the most. The remaining tanks crush the knights under their unyielding treads, while artillery shreds the retreating forces. Many commanding officers are killed as well, as the snipers that were in hiding start dropping the knights. Justitia would normally have a hard time finding out who needs an enchantment, but wrath is very present on this battlefield, she can see when someone sees their enemy because of it.

As the battle ends, The Lost begin to loot the fallen, and Justitia retreats from the battlefield more tired than ever. Neither side caring much for the other, who they used to hate so much.