The night was black, and Alisson could barely see the outlines of the surrounding trees due to the lack of the moon’s light. Despite the unease of the night, it was very lively out, numerous birds filled the air with their distant calls and crickets were abundant in the canter of the night. Him and Celis, as well as that Dereleg ‘Bol figure, had been traveling in mostly silence for the better part of the day. They’d headed north, and thankfully, they were fortunate to not have run up against any cultists so far. It had been a peaceful, but ultimately anxious, day through the forest. In the past couple hours, a light fog had rolled in, it was laughable in the face of the fog Alisson had been through in the Ipithid Plain, so he didn’t worry about it, since it was so far off.

Alisson finally had the time to unpack the events that’d occurred last night. Repeating the events in his head, Alisson could still scarcely believe them, even though he had been the one to experience them firsthand. It all started with that unnerving trip through the forest, when just like now, the outlines of the trees had been but black towers on either side of him. Then without warning, came an unprecedented magic bombardment, the likes of which would’ve blown him and Celis away if even a single shell had strayed too close. The fact he was still alive could’ve been attributed purely to luck, or to the idiocy of the cultists.

That…or the misses were purposeful. The more Alisson thought along those lines, the more it chilled him; perhaps the cult had purposely used the strikes to ward him and Celis along the road and toward the city, and firmly away from the forest.

Alisson quickly abandoned the thought with a shake of his head.

After the strikes, came ambush after ambush on the roads. At first the cultists were in relatively reasonable and realistically manageable numbers. But, when their horses were charmed or perhaps hypnotized by some force and had left him and Celis behind; The number of cultists increased exponentially. Despite it only being a few hours before, Alisson doubted his own memory; black robed figures, as far as he could see in the surrounding forest and along the road, all beaming their eerie red eyes at him.

Thinking back on it now, it wasn’t really too much of an issue, even if Celis and her massive mana supply hadn’t been assisting him, he could’ve still used some of his magic imbued knives to carve a path into the city and toward their horses.

The sudden thought occurred to Alisson that the cult could’ve easily been purposely dangling the horses in front of Alisson and Celis’s faces to urge them on into the city. Alisson again promptly dismissed the thought.

Once they both reached the rooftops, it was mostly easy travelling. And then that phenomena happened, that blackout of the sky and the moon which for whatever reason had turned red. At that the time, the cultists were gone, no where to be seen. Even after seeing it happen a second time during his fight with the Maiden, Alisson still couldn’t fathom such a large disappearance of people.

People.

They definitely weren’t. After all Alisson saw, and what Dereleg ‘Bol had showed them, of that horrid insect skeleton of a cultist, Alisson could say for certain that the cultists were either all illusions or conjured familiars of some kind, perhaps they could’ve even been some sort of creature for all Alisson knew. But he didn’t exactly have the leeway to infer much about a cult he’d only seen the surface of.

Then there was that ogre-man, that had knocked down a building and ultimately was the reason for him and Celis splitting up. It looked human on a foundational view, but it was horribly deformed, expanded, and seemed to lack any soul or intelligence. It hadn’t been a hard opponent to defeat, but Alisson still ultimately ended up using one of his magic knives on it due to its size. Though after that, Alisson was met with a far harder enemy to topple.

That so-called ‘Basket Maiden’.

Her appearance was nothing out of the ordinary, and her clothing wasn’t really anything special, but her personality, her weapon, and her skill, it was almost enough to defeat Alisson, and that spoke volumes. She’d forced, not incurred, but forced, Alisson to use his Opensen. That was not something that happened unless he was fighting a superpower’s top dogs; such as Andestine’s Platinum Knights or Irinian cataphracts for instance. His Opensen was relatively weak, plain and simple. Thanks to his weak physical strength, he relied on it as a crutch to bridge the gap between himself and world-class fighters, so whenever he fought even antepenultimate enemies on the spectrum of power, he always had his Opensen, no exceptions. The fact he needed it for that Maiden, said that she was on the realm of world-class fighters. It was mostly evident from her inhuman durability, she had numerous wounds in her from Alisson’s attacks, but she didn’t falter in vigor much. She looked to be human enough, but perhaps she was an entirely different creature on the inside, just like Alisson and Celis were.

Celis and him had sustained by far more injuries yesterday alone than any other encounter. All the small cuts and slices from the cultists and their thrown knives; they weren’t the most fatal wounds the two of them had been through, but quantity-wise it had been a step up. He was glad that Celis was there to heal him, both while they were in the city and after he’d killed the Maiden and made it out. He would’ve collapsed from his wounds and general fatigue if Celis hadn’t shown up when she did. His armor was a mess thanks to the Maiden, Celis thankfully didn’t suffer such large wounds to damage her armor much, but Alisson’s steel was ripped and jarred in a few places, and his coif and aketon had taken a battering as well, though they were in much better shape than his steel plates, they’d taken the brunt of that Maiden’s scythe. Well, the armor had done its job, as well as the items he’d spent:

He had used a whopping three of his magic knives fighting the cult, a sink for his resources, but it was ultimately necessary for him to stay alive. He had used two of his explosive knives, one on the ogre-monster and one later in the day do free himself from an encirclement. Then he’d used a phosphorus knife on the Maiden which may or may not have been overkill, though Alisson didn’t exactly think the Maiden would be so dumb as to let Alisson throw a match at her while she was doused in oil. He’d been able to recover only one of the three knives he’d used; The knife no longer had a magic charge and was as good as any old throwing knife, but a throwing knife was a throwing knife. Unfortunately he hadn’t the time or safety to try to recover his other knives he’d spent in the city. That meant he had in total:

One phosphorus knife,

Six explosive knives,

And still his two smokescreen knives,

As well as one unimbued knife.

Well, in the end, Alisson was alive, and the Maiden, most likely the cult’s most powerful asset, was out of the picture.

The fact that some cult in the back country had such a power was chilling.

Well, had, she was most likely dead now.

A shiver went up Alisson’s spine when he realized just what a horrific and cruel death he’d given to the Maiden. His White Phosphorus knives were already just about one of the worst ways somebody could die to Sidonian, but add to that that he’d doused her in oil beforehand…

The Maiden’s screams echoed through his mind. He suddenly felt the urge to throw up, but thankfully a quick hand at his mouth and shake of his head both dissipated his nausea and whisked his mind away from thoughts of the Maiden.

Alisson was soft. He knew that very well. He could enact such horrific things and endow death so coldheartedly only because he didn’t think about it. For his entire life, he’d simply pushed the thoughts down deeper, and ignored them in light of the safety of his comrades and himself. He consciously knew that, and he scoffed at people who were affected by trauma; However, in recent years, Alisson had figured out where they were coming from. He himself fell into the trap more and more of recent to think about what he’d done on an emotional level, and it was not a pleasant trap to fall for. Which was all the more reason why he was so scared that Celis would one day snap from all the horrible things she’d seen, he didn’t believe she had the maturity to keep sight of herself.

He glanced at Celis in the corner of his vision, she was but a dark outline in the night. Since they’d rendezvoused earlier in the day, Alisson had picked up some sort of change in her. Perhaps her tone? The way she carried herself? Her expression? The way she kept on shooting glances at Alisson when he wasn’t looking?

He didn’t know what to think of it, just what had happened while Celis was with Dereleg ‘Bol? Unfortunately, he hadn’t heard Celis’s story. Well, he had, but it was in the presence of the very person that she’d been recalling. Alisson wasn’t stupid enough to believe that there wasn’t the possibility that Celis was hiding something from Alisson because of Dereleg ‘Bol being in earshot.

Dereleg ‘Bol. Alisson was still dubious of this orc hermit, but he was accepting of him because of the fact Dereleg ‘Bol had said that he’d be parting ways at Pūshkinskaya, which was less than a week’s travel away. Alisson was fine having this temporary companion for the time being because of his magical capabilities, it’d help in case the cult showed up again. Alisson on one hand felt inclined to trust Dereleg ‘Bol as a comrade, for he was but a simple orc, who was just as hating of humans as Alisson was. Just because someone was ‘Simple’ didn’t mean that they weren’t a charlatan though, and Alisson was still wary of Dereleg ‘Bol, because there was always the possibility of malcontent…

Well, it was added firepower that was free of charge, of course Alisson would be skeptical.

But still, Alisson felt the inclination to believe him; When Alisson asked why Dereleg ‘Bol hadn’t gone back to his home to fetch any belongings before setting out, the orc simply responded by saying that he already had all he needed, before methodically tapping his bald head. That to Alisson was something to respect.

“I’ll say it now…”

Whilst Alisson was thinking of him, Dereleg ‘Bol broke the silence of the three of them.

“I may…know these lands, but there’s a mountain range…further west of here, past that, I won’t know anything.”

Dereleg ‘Bol, who had been taking the lead until now, expressed concern. An hour ago, they’d started heading westward at a crossroads. As it was now, it was just a little more traversing until they reached Taraki land. Apparently, this mountain range Dereleg ‘Bol spoke of was the natural barrier between Evering’s State and the Taraki Kingdom from what Alisson had heard.

“So then we’ll have to go around?”

Alisson asked in response to Dereleg ‘Bol.

“Hm…”

Dereleg ‘Bol shook his head with a hum.

“No…there are many tunnels…that have been carved for the sake of merchants and trade…they go right through the mountains…The mountains are…not all that large...you see.”

Dereleg ‘Bol answered. Alisson figured that would be the case. The large mountain range that separated inner Caliphate lands from outer Caliphate lands, the Saulicid mountain range, had many such man-made tunnels for travel. Since the cult was seldom seen outside their territory, travel through Salva’kar to Tarakia was perfectly safe were one to only think of the cult. The cult’s lands stretched out all the way to the eastern coast of Aleeze, although since Aleeze was oval shaped in nature, Evering’s State was most definitely not as large in width as the Caliphate. Yet, because of it coving the Caliphate’s northern border like that, trade was funneled through Salva’kar and then to Tarakia if one wanted to trade goods from the Caliphate to the northern nations. Hence, cities like Daigoro were rich from all the traffic and countries like Salva’kar and Tarakia made fortunes on tariffs and travel taxes.

If Alisson remembered correctly, Tarakia actually had a ‘contract’ with Halaruth, endowing Tarakia to give a large margin of their revenue from tariffs and taxes to Halaruth. It was just one of the privileges Halaruth enjoyed from being a penultimate power surrounded by antepenultimate countries.

“What’s that up ahead?”

Alisson asked, seeing something out of the ordinary proceeding them down the road. It was a bridge made of stone. It seemed fairly old from its disrepair and the nature growing all around it. It was fairly large, so much so that the fog obscured the entrance of the bridge. Though that seemed to be more due to distance than density, so Alisson didn’t think it out of the ordinary. The bridge looked to be over a large chasm within the forest, Alisson could tell this from the lack of trees on either side of the bridge, though just like the bridge itself, he couldn’t see over this chasm due to the fog.

“Over the bridge…there are the mountains…I was talking about…”

Dereleg ‘Bol answered.

“It looks like the cult don’t maintain their public transport…”

Alisson said. The bridge looked about ready to collapse, but it didn’t faze him much. Its size indicated that a few extra horses crossing it wouldn’t change it by much. Its bulid and craft showed that it was probably built by the elves or whatever people ruled these lands before the cult had seized control.

They continued on without as much as a pause. As they neared the bridge, Alisson’s gut clenched, at first it was but a small tug, but it soon made him frown with unease. He looked about side to side and realized that the fog now obstructed the surrounding forest. Down the bridge as well, the fog hadn’t cleared up in visibility at all, or over the chasm for the matter.

It was unnatural, so was the fog’s density, that became apparent as they neared. It was not normal fog from its refusal to clear up.

“Somethings not right.”

Alisson mumbled, his eyes narrowing down the bridge.

Before Dereleg ‘Bol or even Celis could respond,

All hell broke loose.

A large, undulating, beam of blue, was the first thing to pierce the fog. It soared down the bridge right at Alisson. Alisson didn’t have the time to form a shielding spell, and he certainly didn’t have the time to evade. He could only watch as death neared in slow motion, he didn’t even have the time cringe his eyes.

However, the beam of blue, split, and washed over the three of them against some invisible spherical barrier that was a mere few feet in front of them. As the beam continued boring itself against this barrier, Alisson saw it vibrantly heat up to a hot blue from no color at all. When Alisson looked, he saw that Dereleg ‘Bol had his arm raised, it seemed that the reason Alisson was alive right now was because of the orc. The beam’s quakingly loud noise ended almost as fast as it had started. Alisson, acting on instinct, leapt off his mount, seizing the respite. He formed two Obice spells as quickly as he could and deployed them in a 270° radius before the three horses. He would’ve made three, but he hadn’t quite regenerated the mana from yesterday’s events, the two Obice spells coming to life in front of him were literally the last of his mana.

Alisson was glad he acted so quickly, because not a second after his shielding spells became corporeal, another strike came from within the fog. Across the chasm, and down the bridge, a hail of blue shards of energy came hurling at the three of them. They almost filled the air with their quantity.

Alisson, now having processed the situation for all of a second, realized the surprise attack were spells – The initial one, it was familiar. These smaller blue ones now eating away at his Obice spells, he was sure that they were the Andestine equivalent of the Pict spell.

That’s all Alisson was able to process when he saw with his own eyes that his Obice spells were no match for the sheer quantity of spells being hurled at them, and they were quickly going to disintegrate. After that, Alisson didn’t have any mana left to counterattack or form more shields, and he didn’t know where the enemy was, he would be quite literally a sitting a duck.

In the time that Alisson had bought with his spells however, Dereleg ‘Bol had dismounted, and stabbed his sword into the dirt within the middle of the three horses. The orc rose his hands into the sky, quickly chanting,

“Casto asterium manto, alaum O’raum, alaum O’raum!”

Dereleg ‘Bol said in his thick orcish tongue unfalteringly. Oddly enough, the spell’s incantation didn’t sound very orcish to Alisson. Immediately after Dereleg ‘Bol stopped his chant, a stream of blue wafted in a river-like fashion out of the hilt of Dereleg ‘Bol’s sword. The mana rose up and above all of them, until it suddenly split and formed half-spherical bubble that encompassed all of them. The sight was majestic, the protective field now surrounding Alisson pulsed with waves like the ripples of a river.

Dereleg ‘Bol had formed the spell just in time, for the Obice spells shattered like glass, and the barrage now pounded at Dereleg ‘Bol’s field of protection, the noise was akin to someone punching a thick wall of slime repeatedly. The barrage from the front quickly ended, as if reacting to this stronger barrier. From the fog and down the bridge, came rushing a dozen Andestine Platinum Knights in perfect formation. Before Alisson had time to think, the barrage of blue restarted, this time it came from the surrounding forest on either sides of them, and pounded against Dereleg ‘Bol’s shield.

Andestine. Sidonia had warned Alisson that Andestine may already be hunting down what lay in the Freigat Jungle, or even already have possession of it, so he wasn’t too surprised. But, the fact that they knew where Alisson was, the fact that they had laid this ambush – Alisson had stayed under the radar, just how in the hell had he been sniffed out?

Well, right now, it doesn’t matter.

If anything, Alisson was more used to fighting Andestine than any damned cult. It was routine, Sidonia’s known enemy, it brought a shred of relief to Alisson that he knew what the hell he was fighting.

Alisson looked to Dereleg ‘Bol quickly.

“This isn’t your fight. Leave us.”

Dereleg ‘Bol hoisted his sword on his shoulder, and with a grunt replied,

“Now it’s my fight.”

Dereleg ‘Bol spat. Alisson could hear the anger seething from his tone. Alisson sighed in relief at the orc’s steeled will. Alisson was only saying Leave us to test the orc’s fighting will – He’d rather the orc leave then be an untrusty worthy ally.

The barrage of magic slamming against the sides of the defensive field slowly died in tempo. From the fog on either side, came two Platinum Knights each, each with their hands extended, and firing the spells.

A dozen were rushing the front, and four were on either side of them. That made sixteen, a standard platoon. A platoon, of Platinum ranked knights. They most likely had forces getting behind the three of them, so, it could be even more than a platoon’s worth.

Alisson stopped himself short of blurting out formation orders. He didn’t have his 51st with him, and that realization sent a spike of shock through him when he realized just what the odds were. He clicked tongue. He could deal with a Platinum. But sixteen…?

He frowned and steeled himself immediately. Like it or not, he’d find out if he was strong enough to contend with so many high-ranking fighters. Already, on paper, this would be the toughest battle so far. One did no simply take on a Platinum rank as an afterthought. A platoon of them required, required, an even number of at least average Sidonian forces. Alisson shot a quick glance at Celis. He didn’t have the numbers, and as it stood, Celis was less than a Platinum rank. The orc, well, he’d surprised Alisson before with his magic, and with his confidence on display, perhaps he was more than a simple hermit.

“Celis. Orc. Keep those four Plats off my back. I’ll meet the dozen in front of us. This protection field is our defensive perimeter; don’t let anything breech it.”

Alisson said quickly and coolly. The field was also protecting their horses, and Alisson would bet anything that the initial Andestine strike had been to kill the mounts and seal their means of escape.

“But, Alisson-! They’ll out number you twelve to one!”

“Then it will be even fight.”

Alisson spat.

“Prove me wrong in thinking yours won’t be the same.”

With that, Alisson materialized his Opensen, drew Enhérejär, and broke into an explosive sprint through Dereleg ‘Bol’s protective field.

…

Wha-!? That’s-! That’s it!? Seriously!?

Tch! This isn’t the time to nark! Alisson’s right – now is the time to act! This is Andestine! Kill first, ask questions later! I draw my stilettos and give them a nimble twirl within my fingers.

“I’ve got the left.”

“Mm. Then I’ll take the right.”

Dereleg ‘Bol replied quickly, and we both exited the protective field, each aiming for two Platinum knights.

Two. Two, two of the second highest rank of Andestinian knight...

I, I…I can’t even kill one of them…but two, at the same time!?

I shake my head.

I’ll prove Alisson wrong! I’m stronger than I think I am! Mhm!

The Platinums don’t waste any time, and start firing off what looks to be the last of their mana to swat me away. Most Andestine knights are magic-capable, but like Alisson in the sense of being a quasi-caster. Their magic isn’t normally anything to write home about, sometimes the odd wolf in sheep’s clothes will turn up, but that’s rare. They’re swordsmen at their core.

I bob low to the right in my sprint to meet them, which puts me safely out of the way of their hastily aimed spells. Taking the respite, I scramble together a strategy as fast as I can.

I’m outmatched. They’ve got more skill, muscle, experience, and better armor. My baselards won’t do a thing against armor like that, and I’m not an expert in swung weapons, which is why I instinctually drew my stilettos, I should be able to pierce their armor with my specialty, thrusting. Their armor reminds me of Sidonian armor, since it’s so sleek and stylized, clean and intimidating with its tinged silver sheen. The both of them have a fancy sword and metal kite shield.

I have one advantage, something that I’m sure of.

They’re underestimating me. Andestine doesn’t look at an apprentice like me and scramble a platoon of Platinums, they did so in response to Alisson. These guys probably think that they’ll just swat me out of the way like a bug and keep on to their objective to flank Alisson. I’m nothing more than an afterthought.

I’ll prove them all wrong. Like with the goblins, I realized that just running in blindly without a plan is dangerous, and against two Platinums, it’s death. I’ll bite back as hard as I can, and capitalize on their underestimation. Aggression. I need to be aggressive. As much as I can. Once they realize that they underestimated me, and are set on the back foot for a second, that’s the moment the battle will be decided – Whether they redouble their efforts and take me seriously, or if I can snowball my aggression and keep the pressure until their deaths. If anything, I need them to overestimate me, so that they won’t attack me. I’m a blitzer, the only defense I have is to take the enemy’s attack and turn it into my own offensive chance. I can’t let such superior enemies even think about attacking me. I’ll be a goner. I’m not well-versed in defense, and against such veteran warriors, counterattacking would be impossible, I’d crumble eventually if I’m the one who’s set on the back foot.

I instinctually start forming spells. I’ve only regenerated about a third of my mana from yesterday. I can either unleash all my spells at once, or use them sparingly throughout the battle when I need them within my swordplay. Neither sounds good. They might be surprised by a large barrage, but after that, nothing more would come, and they’d surely realize that I’d be out of mana. Sparingly using mana would just make them scoff at me for the most part, such weak spells to complement swordplay is just that, a complement. I think I’ll spilt my mana in two, prep half my mana in an initial barrage, and then use the rest of it in another large barrage the second they repel me, so that I can keep the pressure on and really try to scare them into thinking I’m stronger.

Ha, fake it till you make it right?

As I near, I jump into an animal-like lunge with a single stiletto.

As I neared the knight that was closest to me when I choose to lunge, I realized that he was indeed moving his shield to block my thrust, and his sword to immediately slam down on my back. A counterattack like that is easily recognized, but that doesn’t mean it won’t literally swat me away into the ground with power like that. If anything, the Platinum probably has enough strength to chop me in half were it not for my armor.

My lunge had been aimed at his abdomen, such a committed attack isn’t easy to pull out of. The Platinum, seeing this, decided to launch such a counterattack, confident that there was no way that I wasn’t going anywhere but where he predicted. Too bad for him, that I know all of that. I twist my body upright and slam a foot forward, it digs into the dirt, slowing me down considerably. Now in a more manageable speed, I tilt my body forward again, and let my remaining momentum carry me the last leg whilst pushing off to the right of the knight with my foot. Essentially, my path of became nearly perpendicular within a split second. My ankle came this close to twisting, but thankfully it didn’t.

The Platinum swung his sword at me, but its chase was too slow and far too late to catch up with me. I deftly slipped behind the knight, killing the last of my momentum by grabbing onto the bottom of his helmet with my right hand. My left hand swings up and around the other side of the knight’s body. Normally, from such a distance and with so little speed, there was no way my stiletto would pierce a Platinum’s armor. However…

I jerk the knight’s helmet up with my right hand just as my left stiletto neared his collar. My stiletto then plunged itself into the man’s unguarded throat.

Well, unguarded is an overstatement, he has mail and gambeson – I can feel it – But up so far by the neck, where the helmet is expected to defend, its quite lacking, and my stiletto manages pierces the scant protection. I hear the man gurgle, but I also hear a much more pressing noise – The whiz of the second knight’s sword, aiming too dice my right hand off before I can redouble.

Normally, I’d retreat back whilst throwing the dying knight at his comrade, but I don’t want to retreat as I said earlier. I’ll use the knight as a shield instead of a distraction then-!

I push forward, and huddle my body against the knight I just inflicted a mortal wound on. I hear and feel the second knight’s sword impact on his comrade’s armor without much affect. He’d been swinging for my arm which had been wrapped around the knight’s body when I stabbed his throat. I rush forward with the now falling first knight, using him as cover until I’m perpendicular with the second knight. I give the heavy body a curt shove toward the second knight whilst preparing to attack, hoping that the knight would be bewildered and that I could just kill him right then and there.

But alas, it seemed the second knight wasn’t playing any games as the first one had. With his shield, he pushed aside his comrades body, and prepared to swing a at me. Seeing his steeled intent, I prep my first barrage of magic. I raise my hands, and let loose a few dozen Pict spells straight into the knight. Though, the knight raised his shield immediately when he saw my raised arms, and managed to block the burst of magic with his shield. The Pict spells did little more than dent his shield and create smoke.

The knight walked forward whilst blocking my spells with his shield, and bashed away the last spell in the volley as he opened himself up to attack me, raising his sword arm point blank to me. On impulse, I bring my stilettos to bare to block his strike. When our blades met, I was forced to concede immediately due to the sheer power of the knight, I tilted my blades and let his sword slide off and continue its path of whizzing by right in front of me. I seize on the opportunity of being so close, and try to jam a stiletto into the knight’s neck; though his shield races for me and before I know it the wind is knocked out of me as I’m sent off my feet and through the air from his shield bash.

I’m just barely able to stay on my feet as I stumble back. When I get my bearings, the knight fills my vision, terrifyingly fast, and is already point blank, swinging for me again. I narrowly avoid his strike with a panicked jump to the side. The ground explodes in the cloud of dirt as his sword clearly missed me. He still doesn’t let off, and rushes at me immediately after, prepping a horizontal swing, about to bisect me from kidney to kidney.

I land just in time from my evasive jump to bob low, the knight’s sword soared right over my head. Itching for a counterattack, I-!?

Wait-! Again!?

The knight redoubles his attack, and steps toward me swing his diagonally at me. I’m just barely able to bring my stilettos to deflect it safely away from my body. Sparks flew as our weapons met. He attacked a couple more times with immense speed, and it brought me to the limit, just barely managing to survive with block after block.

Eventually, his attacks slowed. Desperate, I closed the gap, and like a wild animal, with no rhyme or reason, I struck his chest plate with one of my stilettos. It did little more than bounce off. I evaded another strike and was about to try attacking the knight’s head when-

An orange, magical spear, passed by right in between our abdomens from the side. It caused me to back off in a panic, but not the knight. He seized on my disorderly a retreat, and a blade came dicing through my gut. A wave of pain flew through me, and the only thought I had was to retreat even more. I only took one more step back when the knight raised a leg and swept me off my feet. Being off balance and completely overwhelmed, I fell to ground with a heavy thud. My eyes cringed in pain from my gut, I opened them whilst lifting myself up.

I saw the knight’s sword come crashing down, and it pierced my stomach, tearing through my armor with a horrible noise. I screamed out in pain. The knight rose his sword up and thrusted down a second time, and my scream was choked out by an insurmountable quantity of pain. I could only lay twitching on the ground with wide eyes, clutching my abdomen with a hand.

The knight rose his sword out of me and gave the blade a flare, and my blood splattered across the dirt near my face. Although I consciously didn’t think about it, my hand was glowing a faint blue.

After a moment, I hear footsteps from the direction that orange magic spear had come from. It was a summoner from the looks of it, and by her side was a Platinum knight with blood stained down his chest from his throat, though he was on his feet. That summoner must’ve healed him…his armor probably did more than I thought…

Wait-! I know her! That’s! That’s the summoner girl from Qutrya and Foksly-!

My thoughts were interrupted by the mage. She slammed the tip of her staff into the side of my head. Compared to the knight’s sword it was laughable, but it made me dizzy and the blunt trauma stopped any conscious thought that was left in me.

The summoner girl shoved the other end of her staff at my face, its tip was glowing with a spell.

“...I failed you…master…”

I mumbled in a delirium before the summoner’s spell was fired.

…

It had only been but a few seconds into the fight and Alisson already had numerous wounds. He hadn’t managed to kill a single knight, and for the first few precious seconds, he’d severely lost out on the ‘lukewarmness’ of the fight. Usually one could use the enemy’s laxness to take few out before anyone even knew what was happening, but these Platinum Knights…One was a handful but a dozen?

All of them had each other’s backs and overlapping fields of protection, Alisson’s aggressiveness had been successfully countered time after time. He had no mana, and his Opensen was doing its job…but at this rate, he’d have to expose Enhérejär to Andestine. As of Sidonian records, no living being who was not a Sidonian should even know of Enhérejär, much less it’s special abilities. He’d been reluctant to use it since Andestine was the kind of enemy to leave an entire platoon of their best to die whilst one ran away with valuable info. They had the manpower to do such a thing.

Alisson weaved around a knight, and kicked them in the back, sending them straight into one of his comrades. Alisson of course didn’t have the leeway to capitalize on their stun, as another three knights now swung at him, from his left and right, and his back. The Platinum’s were of another caliber, one where Alisson couldn’t ignore and negate their attacks. They were serious, and one good blow good take Alisson out of the fight. He couldn’t go and use his tails for any half-assed attacks, though they were useful in a pinch or against lower opponents, these Platinums were fully expecting and able to deal with his Opensen. Alisson backpedaled, and that safely put him out of the path of the knights on his left and right. He rose Enhérejär over his shoulder, and caught the last knight’s sword in a coulé(1). Enhérejär slid along the knight’s blade as Alisson retreated, all the way into the knight’s neck, or at least, from what Alisson felt. He hadn't been looking. There was a great deal someone could know about an opponent simply by catching their blade, one could extrapolate quite drastically.

Alisson didn’t have the time to confirm his kill because another two knights were on him immediately and he was forced to concede and retreat out of the way. Their swings were all explosively fast and trimmed to perfection, it was like Alisson was fighting fellow Sidonians. That’s how it felt to fight actually competent fighters. Remembering this, Alisson once more worried for his apprentice. He’d hesitated in the beginning of the fight, and had managed to push his trepidation away, but again the fear assaulted him that his apprentice would perish. It’d been only half a minute, yet Alisson was too caught up in trying to stay alive to glance at the rest of the battle of Dereleg ‘Bol or Celis. After parrying duo of attacks from a single knight side to side with Enhérejär, he leapt back a great deal for some leeway. Although the knight’s hastened to pursue and not let him recuperate, Alisson had a split second to avert his gaze from the enemy.

Dereleg ‘Bol. He was in a blade lock with a single Platinum. The other he’d been fighting was on the ground, vapor rising from his armor from the heat of spells.

He was fine, for now.

Alisson looked the other way. When he saw Celis, he squinted his eyes, not believing the overall picture. It was when he looked closer, and saw the blade impaled in her stomach, and heard her convulsing yelp that he realized she as in trouble.

Alisson’s mind surged immediately, like a tsunami a dozen thoughts crashed into his conscious. The thought of the knights mere meters in front of Alisson was promptly forgotten about in Alisson’s head as his mind focused solely on how to save his apprentice.

What do I do!? I can’t use any spells, I have no mana! Should I use my magic knives? No, the radius of any of them would hurt Celis as well, and anything not point blank wouldn’t affect a Platinum Knight…Everything of mine that Andestine knows about is useless…

He was able to think of all of that, before he noticed the magician standing right over Celis. Her presence was so laughable and unimposing that Alisson had barely seen her. It was when he saw that the tip of her staff was glowing that his impassivity for the magician vaporized; her staff, was pointed directly at Celis.

He had but a few seconds. A few seconds to save his apprentice. In that time, he could only execute one action. One action, that were it to prove null, would mean the end of Celis; no take backs. He had to eliminate two opponents from across the battlefield within seconds, using nothing more than himself. For all he knew, his apprentice could already be on the path to death from her blood loss alone.

To say Alisson thought quickly was an understatement.

That mage had to go first; she was of most danger to Celis at that point in time. Then the Platinum, though they were a much tougher opponent in terms to take out of action. How could Alisson tie both the mage and the Platinum up? From across the field? Enhérejär wasn’t normally used against strong enemies on it’s own, only when the people it was being used against were physically lacking in defense or strength was when he could entrust his weapon to autonomously act. The Platinums were encased within amazing armor, there was nothing Enhérejär could do against them. Even if he set Enhérejär on trying to break or twist a limb of one of the knights, they had the strength to just yank Enhérejär off without much fuss.

The mage girl though…

If she was with Andestine…the Platinum would have to intervene to save his comrade magician…

Alisson would have the time to close the gap unopposed, hopefully.

Let’s make that surely.

So, revving Enhérejär back with both of his hands,  and his tails sifting their way into his cloak, Alisson had his plan, all in the time it took for the knight’s in front of him to take but a single step, and for the mage’s staff to intensify in luminosity only slightly.

He leaned forward, and, putting his entire body into it, threw Enhérejär toward the magician girl.

He was thankful Enhérejär could prop itself up, so that such a long throw would even be possible for someone of Alisson’s stature. By the time Enhérejär reached its target through, it’d be flying off its own power almost entirely, and it’d lack the speed to do any real damage; it wouldn’t even be able to cut through unguarded flesh. Though, that was not Alisson’s intention.

Alisson launched off his front foot, following behind his blade. His tails withdrew from his cloak, three knives. One tail had two, and the other had one. The tail with two chucked them at the knights rushing Alisson without any real power, since it was already caught up in holding two blades. The other tossed its knife high into the sky.

A second later, two things happened.

The two knives that had been lazily chucked at the pursuing knights detonated in a large cloud of black smoke. It would do little more than halt and disorientate them for a moment, but that was all that Alisson wanted to accomplish.

Secondly, the knife tossed into the air also detonated, though not with a thundering explosion or with black smoke; but with a hissing rush of a cloud of white smoke. Soon, it would cover the entire battlefield in a simple smokescreen.

It had been but two seconds and Alisson was already about halfway to his apprentice. It was then, that time ran out. The magician fired her spell, directly, at Celis. There was but a meter between the end of her staff and Celis’s face, there was no escape. For a brief moment, Alisson thought that that was end of Celis. And it would have been all Alisson’s fault, for expecting her to live through those Platinums; he had been the one that ordered her to die.

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The next occurrence both brought relief to Alisson, and at the same time made him click his tongue in disappointment. Another one of his powers were exposed to Andestine to save Celis.

Enhérejär, that was but a foot away from the magician at the time of the spell being fired, split in two. A smaller chunk flew down and toward Celis. It flew to Celis, alongside the fired spell, and then around the staff and back to the magician girl herself. The spell, followed. Enhérejär had acted on its own will, and saved Celis. It had used its magic redirection. Alisson was glad, but now Andestine knew, knew not only of his magic redirection, but about Enhérejär’s autonomy, and also the smoke knives and the explosion knives. With Opensen used, his full hand was quite literally laid bare. If Alisson didn’t kill every last Andestinian in the area – Which was turning out to be more and more impossible with every passing second – Then they would know all of his aces.

Alisson stuffed that thought, and continued toward his apprentice in his explosive bolt.

The mage girl rose her hands to her face, smartly letting go of her staff. The long drooping sleeves of her robes covered her face, and the spell that had been redirected splashed across her upper body as she stumbled backwards onto the ground.

The chunk of Enhérejär that retained its course chased the magician to the ground, and wrapped itself around the girl’s throat, Enhérejär was hoping to either choke the magician out or snap her neck. The magician was relatively unaffected from the spell, her robes were probably resistant to magic. The Platinum rank that was nearby was about to sheath his weapon to help magician girl, but when he noticed Alisson approach, the knight turned to face him instead.

Perfect.

Both of them weren’t focused on his apprentice, the task at hand was cleared. Now, Alisson had the objective of either nabbing up his apprentice and fleeing, under the eye of a Platinum rank, or clearing the area, and attempting to hold onto battlefield control. The smoke would give him an ounce of breathing room from the rest of the Andestine forces, so Alisson decided to hedge his bets, and try to deal with the Platinum. The magician girl wouldn’t be hard to deal with afterwards.

Alisson, only a few meters from the knight now, drew a throwing knife from his cloak with each of his hands. They would have to do in Enhérejär’s stead for the time being. He wouldn’t be killing the knight anytime soon with the tiny throwing knives, but it was better than nothing. The knight, as all the other Platinum ranks had, remained on the defensive, and rose his shield, preparing for Alisson’s attack. Alisson wasn’t going to pierce the shield anytime soon, and neither did he want to get diced in two by a powerful counterattack, so Alisson didn’t leap into a committed lunge as per norm.

Instead, he grabbed onto the knight’s shield, and forcefully pulled it aside. The knight was bewildered and at first Alisson managed to pull the shield away, though the knight quickly pushed back on Alisson, easily out powering him as his sword raced for Alisson. Alisson didn’t worry about the sword, still with a hand on the knight’s shield, he pushed the shield the opposite way that he’d initially pulled. The knight wasn’t expecting this, and his shield arm went crashing into his sword arm. Alisson spotted an undefended part of the knight, his right armpit, and so Alisson stabbed his free hand up under the knight’s shoulder.

The strike pierced, though did little. Alisson broke off immediately, and deftly slipped around the knight in the confusion. Alisson extended his left arm and opened his hand as he slipped around the knight.

Enhérejär seemed to know exactly what Alisson wanted, and so broke off from wrestling the magician girl’s throat. Enhérejär floated up and quickly formed into Alisson’s open hand. By the time Alisson was at the front of the knight again, Enhérejär had only the time to form a less-than-sturdy hilt, and the blade was simply a floating amalgamation of sharp slivers that vaguely outlined a straight blade.

It would suffice.

Alisson slammed his right wrist right into the knight’s armored jugular. The surprise and speed of the forceful strike made the knight fall back off a foot. Alisson twisted his body and followed his right arm with his left, and impaled the knight through the neck with the non-intact Enhérejär. The ‘blade’ just barely managed to pierce the knight’s armor, if only by a little. The surrounding slivers of Enhérejär surged into the breach in the knight’s neck protection, and visibly pulled apart the hole to make it larger as more and more of Enhérejär shot into the knight and directly into his arteries. Alisson gave Enhérejär a firm twist, and he heard a subtle crack of perhaps one of the knight’s vertebrae snapping in two. The knight was very much dead. Alisson pulled Enhérejär out with a flare as the knight hit the ground with a heavy thud.

Enhérejär visibly shifted to make small funnels and ramps, so that the blood of the knight could more easily run down and off the blade. It seemed as though Enhérejär was breathing crimson.

The smokescreen by this point surrounded Alisson, though he could still see both Celis and the magician on the ground. To his relief, he saw a blue glow emanating from Celis’s hand. Her eyes were wide and she stared directly up, and not at Alisson. Alisson ignored the magician girl for the time being and knelt to his apprentice.

“Celis.” He shook her shoulders. “Snap out of it.”

Her face suddenly redoubled in a second wind and she stared at Alisson dumbfounded. He could understand her surprise, not five seconds ago was she on the brink of death.

“Keep healing yourself, you’ll be fine.”

Celis looked down to her stomach, which was soaked in blood, and was in disbelief for some reason when she saw that she was casting a healing spell.

“The fight isn’t over yet. Get back on your feet.”

He said. The wound she’d suffered was mortal. She should by all accounts have been barely able to move. Though Alisson knew full well that his apprentice was not a meek little girl; she was a Sidonian, those wounds were nothing a little healing and adrenaline couldn’t help her push through.

He extended his hand to Celis, and she grabbed hold of it and pulled herself up with him.

Alisson suddenly heard numerous explosions sound very nearby, it was probably Dereleg ‘Bol fighting by the protective field. They couldn’t let the Andestinians kill their horses and cripple their means of transport, that’s why Alisson had told everyone to fight around the protective field in the first place. But, Alisson had gone and broken formation by saving his apprentice, and now the horses were exposed. Ideally, Celis and him could get the horses, make a hole with a magic barrage, and escape. The only problem was, Alisson would’ve done just that in the beginning were it not for the fact that there was a chokepoint forward, the bridge, and cult lands behind them. They could run all they wanted, but Alisson knew Andestine.

All the way up in these lands, it was almost guaranteed that this punitive force was here solely for Alisson. It was very unlikely this was some patrol they just ran into, the fact they set up an ambush didn’t help for coincidence either. The knights were probably ready to chase him all the way to hell and back; and Alisson rather they not follow him all the way into the Freigat Jungle, where they could potentially gain insight on Alisson’s mission. Alisson wanted to halt them here. The easiest way to do that, was to considerably weaken the Andestinians, and hopefully force them to pull back or to slow their pace for a while. That would give Alisson the time to throw them off his trail, at least hopefully. But evidently, the battle was not going the way he’d hoped.

Alisson stepped toward the magician on the ground. He lifted Enhérejär up. She desperately squirmed back, but it was in vain. As Alisson thrust down into the girl’s collarbone, he recognized her face. It was hazy in his memory, but he was quite sure of it, the girl was the summoner from Foksly and Qutrya. Which meant there was that Hero nearby. The girl started bellowing in pain, tears forming at her eyes. Alisson made sure to watch her hands were she to form a spell in retaliation as he lifted Enhérejär out of her and prepared to thrust again.

Alisson heard thundering footsteps, headed straight for him. Alisson immediately stepped back and rose Enhérejär defensibly up by his body and he managed to catch the blade of someone who’d ran through the smoke to them. The force behind the sword was immense, and it almost knocked Enhérejär out of Alisson’s hands. Alisson immediately stepped back when he heard another pair of footsteps and with barely a second to recognize the threat, he managed to evade another sword. There were two of them, and Alisson didn’t need to look hard to recognize them. One was the same Hero from Foksly, he’d be a simple matter. The other was the real threat, covered head to toe in cerulean armor, a Diamond Knight stood in the flesh before Alisson.

“Arciel!”

The Hero shouted, and the summoner seemed to be casting a healing spell on herself.

“I’ll be,” She coughed, “…fine!”

With that, she grabbed her staff of the ground, and casted what seemed to be a flight spell on herself. She rose into the air and disappeared, the smoke obstructing her. The mage wouldn’t be a threat with the smoke obscuring them, so Alisson didn’t worry about it.

In this smoke, we’re isolated – We can kill their commander!

“Celis, listen to my orders. We’ll have to work together. In and out – We’ll switch targets on my word. Do you think you can handle that?”

Alisson asked in Sidonian with Enhérejär at the ready.

“I won’t do much to the Diamond, but I’ll try.”

She replied, and took her hand off her stomach, she flourished two stilettos with her hands. Healing didn’t work that fast…Celis still had an open wound.

Celis understood that her only chance against the Diamond was defense, good. He hoped by alternating, he could confuse and surprise the enemy. The smoke would dissipate quickly, they had a limited time before that mage and the rest of the force could intervene.

Alisson took the lead, and surged toward the Diamond. Celis was close behind, correctly targeting the Hero.

As soon as Alisson was locked in combat with the Diamond, it was a straight up brawl. No tricks would work on a Diamond, Enhérejär splitting itself would do little. Swordplay and footwork was all that was on display, nothing fancy, just straight dueling. Both the Hero and the Diamond used two-handed swords, though the Diamond’s sword was far skinnier and faster, and the Hero’s sword was more like a large cleaver.

Feint, disengage, circular-parry(2), retreat, lunge, flèche(3), feint, retreat…

It went on and on. Alisson’s rapier was well suited to such gentlemanly-like fighting, but the two-handed sword the Diamond was using was lagging behind in speed, though the Diamond made up for it in sheer strength. It was evident that the Diamond was buying time; and why shouldn’t he, for he had reinforcements and ample endurance; Whereas Alisson’s entire body was sore from fatigue, of both the battle and of yesterday.

“Now!”

Alisson spat out and promptly ran passed the knight in the blur toward the Hero. He leapt up with a lunge at the Hero as Celis passed under him. The two of them crossed paths, and seamlessly switched opponents. Alisson hadn’t been watching his apprentice, and he was half expecting to see the Hero dead, but he wasn’t even wounded. Either Celis was far weaker than he’d thought, or the Hero had gotten stronger as well…

Well, it didn’t help. Alisson’s switching-lunge impacted cleanly on the Hero’s waist, and pierced, drawing blood. The Hero retaliated with a large swing that Alisson easily evaded by stepping back.

When Alisson did step back, he saw that the smoke was dissipating. Time had run out, already.

“Shepard! Clear the way!”

Alisson heard the summoner, whom Alisson had heard the Hero call ‘Arciel’, shout from the sky. He locked his gaze onto her. She was about to fire a spell, evident from her glowing staff. Alisson smirked. Just what they needed. He’d already demonstrated his power, but it looked like they hadn’t figured it out yet…

“Celis! Get back!”

Celis disengaged from the Diamond immediately, he didn’t give chase and it seemed barely anything had happened between the two. Then, the spell was fired. A beam of undulating blue came soaring through the wispy smoke from the sky.

Alisson waited for the right moment, and then-

…

Yeah, I could hear you speak. I know that you were gonna do this. I probably should have told Freudlin, it passed my mind in the heat of the moment though. Universal translation is really something you can take for granted. I raise my sword at Alisson. Me, Kana and Freudlin were waiting in the rear as reserves. I may or may not have disobeyed orders in breaking formation to save Arciel, in other words, save myself. Kana went to fight the orc and support the main force, but Freudlin chased after me cursing. Here we are. We've got the bastard right in our sights.

Alright you little…

“Shepard! Clear the way!”

I hear Arciel shout from behind me. I quickly step to the side knowing Arciel’s intent.

“Celis! Get back!”

A large beam of blue roars past my side.

It crashed into Alisson and his apprentice and vaporized them instantly.

Or at least, should’ve. He stepped to the side, and with a twirl like a ballerina and a flick of his rapier, the spell followed in his blade’s wake.

The blood drained out of my face when Arciel’s spell came hurling back toward us. More specifically, toward Freudlin. There wasn’t any time to evade. The Reysarke spell crashed right into him. I raised my hands to protect my face, and a shockwave of heat splashed over me. My armor became as hot as a boiling pot within a single second.

As soon as I thought I was going to start melting, the intense heat suddenly vanished. I reluctantly lowered my hands and cracked open my eyes. My armor was singed and smoke wisped up from some of my armor’s gaps; though over all, my armor had done it’s job, and I was barely affected on the inside – Apart from feeling like a bowl of soup.

Freudlin in front of me though, was a far different story. As opposed to my singed armor, his was charred grey, I could barely make out the cerulean sheen. Smoke rose from every surface of his armor, and he stood deathly still. After a second, his lifeless body toppled over with a heavy thud.

I rushed forward, taking a defensive position in front of Freudlin.

“Commander!”

Arciel shouted as she touched down behind me to administer healing.

“What the hell was that Arciel!?”

I shouted.

“I, I have no idea! I’ve never seen something like that before!”

Well, at least I know it wasn’t on purpose on Arciel’s part. From the movement of Alisson, it looked to be an intended motion…reflecting a spell…what the fuck. I frown, my eyes twitching in anger. My body is screaming at me,

Just let me at ‘em boss!

And kick his ass, but, I know better.

Alisson and his apprentice seemed like they were going to attack, when suddenly a large quake resonated throughout the battlefield. It was like an earthquake, and I struggled to stay on my feet. Then, I saw it, an explosion over the tree line. It was humongous, and very far way, though it still caused large rumble from its power.

What the hell…? Before I can question it, more and more similar quakes suddenly start sounding, and explosions appear over the tree line. Falling to my knees from all the shaking, I glance up at the sky, to see what looks like blots of white; soaring, right for us.

“Magic artillery! Get down! Get down!”

Arciel shouted.

Magic artillery? Like those cannons at Nerenton? Firing at us?

Alisson and his apprentice, as if not paying any mind to the bombardment, break off of us, and head to the other side of the battlefield where the rest of the knights were. When I looked over at them through the wisps of smoke from the now disappearing smokescreen, I can see that their rushing toward us as well. They must have seen Freudlin’s condition, and if this is really a magic artillery strike, I guess it’s better to hide under one umbrella. As the ‘shells’ continue to rain in the area, the Platinum ranks approach in a hurry and form a circular shield wall within seconds, Kana included. They dropped off two of their wounded in the center of the circle. Without a shield though, she joined the rest of us in the middle. All in all, ten knights are on their feet; taking into consideration our injured, we’ve lost four Platinum Knight’s so far. It’s all only been a few minutes…but already four of such strong knights have been killed.

“Commander!”

One of senior Platinum Knights shout in a panic.

“He’s alive, for now!”

Arciel replied, also shouting so that everyone could hear her over the noise of the incoming shells.

“This strike! Did we call it in!?” Kana asked loudly over the explosions.

“No! It’s not ours!”

The senior Platinum replied.

“Tch-! It’s the Sidonians’! They could have an entire army up here for all we know!”

That’s…a terrifying thought.

“No-! Look! They’re hiding too!”

Kana said, and I peeked over the Platinum Ranks’ shield wall. Indeed, Alisson, his apprentice, and the orc, were under their protective field that’d been cast by the orc in the beginning of the battle. They were all on their mounts…

“They’re going to run-!”

I spat in anger.

“Through the barrage? They’ll be blown up – It’s suicide!”

One of the Platinums retorted, but Arciel took my words seriously, and looked up from healing Freudlin to reach for her staff.

“If they try, I’ll blow up the bridge.” Arciel said, with one hand thumbing her staff and the other on Freudlin.

As I was staring at the Sidonians from over the shield wall, cringing my eyes whenever a bright flash of a magic strike exploded, I saw movement in the tree line on either side of the road. I thought my vision was acting up. Then I really knew my sight was failing me when in my peripheral vision, I could see the moon, and it was red. The moon hadn’t been out for the entire night, and I didn’t see it rise anytime up until now…I’m really tripping, aren’t I?

The moon quickly became the least of my worries.

Out of the tree line, came a swarm of black robed people. They all had bright red dots from holes in their conical hoods.

“Shit! It’s the cult!”

One of the Platinums exclaimed. Arciel warned me that they might show up. But, there’s so many of them…it has to be some sort of illusion.

I stared, mouth wide open, at the thousands of black robed cultists inundating the area and obscuring our vision of the tree line and even of the road. I could see them as far as the fog, so there could be even more of them. The magic bombardment by now had cooled down and halted, to everyone’s relief.

“Well, at least it wasn’t the Sidonians that were firing at us…”

Arciel mumbled.

“What do we do, Miss Arcielvitzi?”

The senior Platinum asked anxiously, eyeing the incoming cultists. Now that Freudlin was out of commission, the command ladder dictated Arciel was in charge. Mostly because she was a noble and that nobody thought Freudlin would actually be out of the fight.

“Form a perimeter-! They’re no match for us, don’t be intimidated by their numbers. We need to keep our wounded safe, so we can’t leave this position.”

Arciel ordered.

“Break!”

All ten of the knights exploded outwards to meet the surrounding cultists. Both sides clashed, and the knights were pitifully outnumbered. But, they mowed down the cultists one after another…it looks like the cultists individually aren’t a problem. It’s the lot of them though that’s the problem. Like this, we can’t chase down Alisson…but…it looks like the Sidonians have been engaged by the cult too; they’re locked down just like us. That orc mage though, he might have the mana to clear a path for them, we can’t sit idle.

I lift my sword up.

“I’m going to Alisson, I’ll keep them busy.”

I spat out angrily. Alisson’s avoided me this entire battle, and I’m seriously starting to get pissed off.

“Right behind you.”

Kana said. I nodded to her. We both looked to Arciel for permission, and she hesitantly nodded.

“…Go put pressure on them then. Hopefully, we can fend off the cult and keep on wearing Alisson down.”

My thoughts exactly. So, Arciel staying behind to heal and act as a reserve, me and Kana prepare to swim through the ‘ocean’. Kana’s nimble, she can handle it. Me? I’ll just barge right through them with my heavy armor. Alisson’s in my sight. I kill him, it’s mission accomplished. The thought of such a feat is dangling like a carrot in front of my eyes.

…

After Alisson had redirected the summoner’s spell at the Diamond Rank, Celis and him were about to finish them off when the artillery barrage came. At first Alisson was confused and scared, until he realized why it seemed so familiar, and both Celis and him knew exactly what was going to happen next; the cult would turn up. They couldn’t exactly try to fight Andestine amongst a bombardment and then through a swarm of cultists…So Alisson’s first idea was to get back to Dereleg ‘Bol. With his wide range powerful spells, and his protective field, they’d have many more options. That, and Alisson didn’t exactly want to find out the cult had suddenly improved the accuracy of their cannons since the last time they’d met.

When Celis and him broke off to Dereleg ‘Bol, Alisson could barely sprint for his life. The tire was just too great, he was pushing his body far past its limit by fighting back to back the cult and now Andestine, and perhaps the cult again after that. His apprentice was in modestly better shape than him, mostly because she hadn’t fought the cult as much as him and had got a break with Dereleg ‘Bol.

When they were rendezvousing with Dereleg ‘Bol, Celis and him ran right past the also regrouping Platinum Knights. It was a surreal experience on the battlefield, when a third party enters, and the two original sides suddenly don’t pay any mind to each other in the face of an oddball or greater threat.

Once they reached Dereleg ‘Bol, Alisson was glad to see the mounts were still alright, and protective field was still intact, barely. Dereleg ‘Bol seemed out of breath.

“Orc. What’s your status?”

Alisson asked as he stared down bundle of Andestine forces a ways off through the undulating walls of the protective field.

“I have…taken some scratches, but, I am fine. Though…I am…running low, on mana.”

Talking so slowly whilst in combat, Alisson was about to insult the orc when he realized that the reason for his slowness was probably because the orc was not a native speaker of the language. Dereleg ‘Bol being low on mana however, was a problem; both because of Andestine and the cult.

“…Here.”

Dereleg ‘Bol placed an open hand on both Alisson’s and Celis’s shoulders, with a blue light emanating from them.

“Alisson.”

Celis suddenly said.

“This our chance. To escape.”

Alisson stared at Celis. He then gave a glance to the Andestine forces. After a moment, he sighed in resignation.

“I suppose these aren’t favorable conditions to fight Andestine in…We’re wounded, out of mana, and tired.”

Alisson tightened his fist with an angry scowl.

“This wasn’t a battle we should’ve had any trouble with-!”

He said angrily through his teeth.

“Circumstance, and context…is a large factor in achievement.”

Dereleg ‘Bol said coolly behind him. Alisson quickly calmed his temper, and nodded in agreement.

“Alright. Let’s take this chance then.”

“Are you really planning, to go out…in this rain?”

Dereleg ‘Bol asked quizzically.

“We both know the cult doesn’t hit directly with their artillery, we’ll be fine without an umbrella.”

Dereleg ‘Bol hummed in amusement. The three of them quickly mounted up.

“Alright…three…two…”

Alisson’s countdown to their break trailed off when he saw a wave emerge from the surrounding tree line. He was about to ignore the cult, until he saw them emerge from the fog over the bridge in a massive contingent, blocking the path Alisson was going to use. The cult had arrived.

“…Son of a bitch.”

Alisson muttered angrily. To get over the bridge, they’d have to clear a path. To do that, Dereleg ‘Bol’s spells were in order. The only problem was…his spells, or any wide area ones for that matter, would most likely collapse that rickety bridge.

“There’s more bridges, over this chasm…we can use those.”

Dereleg ‘Bol said quickly as the cultists engulfed the protective field, slamming against it relentlessly with their bodies. It was like they were pounding on thick glass.

“The barrier…will not hold for long.”

“Alright then. As soon as it falls, launch off a barrage, I’ll use a few of my explosive knives, we should be able to-”

Before Alisson could finish, a blur rose from the cultist swarm. It was a girl with red hair clad in a black gambeson. She slammed her massive sword against the top of the protective field, and it audibly cracked in response. Before Alisson could act, another enemy came crashing through the cultists. It was that Hero, he came barging through them, literally sending cultists soaring with a single shove of his shoulder. He, slammed right against the field, and with that, the protective spell, shattered. It must have been in a weaker state then Alisson had thought.

The Hero came right for Alisson, and he was about to dice the stallion in half before Alisson deftly slipped off it and managed to raise Enhérejär in time. The strike sent Alisson flying off his feet straight into the horde of cultists. Alisson managed to clear some of them with Enhérejär splitting itself and piercing multiple cultists at once, but the majority of cultists in Alisson’s vision were handled by the Hero. He came chasing Alisson, swatting a dozen cultist away with a single slice; bisecting half of them and sending the rest soaring over the other cultists.

Alisson just barely had the time to get to his feet before the Hero sent another swing directly at Alisson. Alisson managed to evade it with relative ease, but his tire was getting in his way. He thrust back with Enhérejär in his evasion. The Hero didn’t withdraw to block, parry, or even evade; The Hero attacked once more. Alisson could either continue his attack, and be diced in two, or play it safe. The Hero either didn’t intend such a cornering, or perhaps he’d gotten better.

Well, there was no way Alisson was going to lose to such an inexperienced fighter.

Alisson backed off and the sword’s tip passed an inch away from Alisson’s chest. Alisson shoved the Hero’s sword further along away along its path while closing the distance in coulé with Enhérejär. Enhérejär’s tip was surging for the Hero’s face; with his weapon blocked out(4), and the distance closing rapidly, the battle was already over.

Alisson’s eyes widened, in both pain, and surprise. The wind had been knocked out of him, and it felt like his ribcage had been shattered. The Hero’s other hand, he’d punched Alisson. It was only slightly absorbed by Alisson’s armor; it hurt like hell, a punch from such a strong individual. The unexpected attack sent Alisson a ways back, unconditionally retreating from his perfect attack. The Hero didn’t stop there, and he continued forward into the backpedaling Alisson.

A needle of pain stabbed straight into Alisson’s shoulder from behind. It was a cultist, he was so wrapped up that Alisson almost forgot that they were surrounded by the cult. Another few knives impacted on his backside, and he cringed in pain. He didn’t want to, but he have to turn his back on the Hero to clear the cult a good bit. Knowing that the Hero would obviously take advantage of this, Alisson decided to turn this curse into an ample ploy.

Alisson turned away, dicing half a dozen cultists with Enhérejär as it split into numerous long needle thin blades in response to Alisson’s thrust. As Alisson heard the sword whizzing toward him from behind, he bobbed low and jumped back. It was a risky movement, but it paid off. He surprised the Hero completely, and passed right under his arms as he swung his sword. Unfortunately, Enhérejär was split from its earlier attack and it’d take a second to reform, so, Alisson flipped Enhérejär within his fingers. Enhérejär understood his intentions, and disconnected the elongated needles from the pommel of the blade for mobility. With the hilt of Enhérejär in his hand, Alisson thrusted upward into the Hero’s undefended armpit, Enhérejär quickly forming a sharp edge on the other side of its hilt.

It did little to the Hero as a whole, so Alisson jammed the hilt further into the Hero and twisted it as he sidestepped further behind the Hero.

The Hero didn’t exactly appreciate having his enemy behind him, he was turning with a large swing to swat Alisson away. Alisson had slipped behind the Hero’s right side, and the Hero was turning left to attack Alisson in an attempt to meet his movement; it was the right call, but Alisson could use it to again slip behind the Hero and attack.

Alisson pulled Enhérejär out of the Hero’s right armpit, and swung his hand wielding Enhérejär all the way around himself and right into the Hero’s left armpit. The Hero’s swing came, and Alisson managed to follow in his strike wake, bobbing under the Hero’s counterattack. They were point blank, so when Alisson stood up to his full height, the Hero’s chest was an ich in front of him. Alisson immediately took the opportunity, and, with Enhérejär still in the Hero’s left armpit, Alisson tightened his left fist and punched the Hero dead in the nose.

The Hero had used both his arms for his counterattack, and as such he couldn’t punch Alisson away as he’d done last time. Alisson took this in stride, and was easily able to pull Enhérejär out of the Hero and slip behind him one last time before retreating a few meters. Enhérejär reunited with its needle-thin extremities, but before they reformed into a normal rapier, Alisson turned and cut down six more cultists with the needle formations.

Alisson was able to do all this before the Hero had turned to face Alisson. So, they both sat for a moment, Enhérejär clicking back to its default shape. A stream of blood flowed from the Hero’s nose, and he wiped it away whilst eying Alisson. The Hero’s eyes were twitching in anger, and he had an angry scowl at Alisson, visibly infuriated with him.

Alisson and Hero were both about to attack each other when suddenly, the red-haired girl from earlier came crashing against the Hero. She was quickly followed up by Celis. Celis stabbed upward right into the girl’s stomach with a baselard before leaping over the red-haired girl with a mesmerizing horizontal twirl through the air. Celis landed and grabbed onto the red-haired girl from behind. With a baselard, she started a large slice from the girl’s left shoulder all the way to her throat.

The Hero, being right next to them, swung at Celis and she was forced to stop her slice short before it could reach the girl’s throat for the killing blow. Celis slipped behind the Hero, attacking him with both her baselards in a sidestep, though it did little against his armor. Celis followed her momentum, and took up position next to Alisson, flourishing her blades in a trained stance.

Alisson was a little amazed, but pushed the thoughts out of his head. He took in the current situation for what it was.

Two skilled fighters were before them, one was wounded and was having trouble standing, and the other was relatively fine thanks to their vigor and tough armor. Celis had switched weapons to her stilettoes in light of the heavily armored Hero. His apprentice looked to be wounded from the red-haired girl, and so was Alisson from that devastating punch. Alisson also felt the tears of the earlier wounds of the battle, still howling in pain at him. He was tired, and Alisson also felt the wounds from yesterday, though they weren’t real, they were but phantom remains from the healing process; so Alisson convinced himself that he was in much better shape than he thought through his sputtering and burning body. They were surrounded by cultists, they weren’t much of an issue though they might turn out to be, and they needed to be watched. Alisson could see a new protective field forming behind the Hero and the red-haired girl from over the mass of cultists; it seemed Dereleg ‘Bol was tied down holding off the cult and protecting the mounts.

Alisson wanted to close his eyes and rest his body, but that was a null thought in the middle of all this carnage.

“I’m sorry Shepard…that apprentice is a lot more of a handful than I thought…”

The red-haired girl said to the Hero through her teeth, evidently in pain.

“…Alright then. I’ll get you out of here.”

The Hero said, and suddenly grabbed onto the girl as if she were a sack of potatoes with a single hand.

“Hey-!? What are you doing-!?”

The Hero ignored the girl, and suddenly broke into a sprint, straight toward Alisson and Celis. The two of them instantly sank further into their stances prepared to meet whatever the Hero was trying to do. He raised the red-haired girl over his head, like he was about to smash her down onto Alisson and Celis. The Hero fell forward, and put his entire body into it – He threw the red-haired girl. She was as tall as Alisson, and looked relatively light, so when someone took into account the strength of a Hero, it was easy to see why she went flying over the cultist mass. If Alisson remembered correctly, the direction the Hero had thrown her was where the Platinum knights were fending off the cult.

The Hero followed up his throw, and swung his sword down onto both Alisson and Celis. That was a real threat, so Celis and him sprung in action to counterattack the Hero. Alisson sidestepped to the left, and Celis sidestepped to the right. They both symmetrically dodged the Hero, and thrusted at his backside, Alisson with Enhérejär, and Celis with her stilettos. The attacks pierced slightly into the armor, but didn’t draw blood.

The Hero swung his sword around in a large motion with one hand, cutting down some surrounding cultists as he brought it toward Alisson and Celis. The blade came from Celis’s side, she leapt over in another mesmerizing midair twirl reminiscent of Alisson’s own maneuvers. Alisson didn’t have the strength for such a fancy evasion, so he simply bobbed under the blade. The Hero’s fist followed his blade, but this time Alisson was ready and managed to avoid it.

Celis continued her futile attacks against the Hero’s thick armor and acted as more a distraction than a real threat to the Hero. Alisson attacked far less than his apprentice, both because he was tired and because he only attacked when he knew he could do some damage. Though evidently, his arms were soon but limp hunks at his side, and they had a dangerous paucity of strength; Alisson’s attacks did little against the Hero’s tough armor, and he wasn’t nearly fast enough to attack the Hero’s exposed face. As the battle dragged on, all three of them having to clear cultists after every clash, Alisson felt his strength drain and drain, and his attacks did less and less to the Hero. Alisson’s movements became sluggish, and he could barely think under his exhaustion within all of the couple minutes that they’d fought. It then all came to a head.

The Hero swung at Alisson. It was an attack of above average speed, but it was nothing Alisson couldn’t handle. He dodged it easily, but the Hero redoubled and sent a kick at Alisson. Alisson was locked onto the kick, and although it was simple action to dodge it, it sued all of Alisson’s mind. The Hero swung again, during his kick.

However, by the time Alisson even saw the Hero’s sword, it was already in his abdomen.

…

Alright! We’re wearing him down – I can feel it!

Compared to the rest of the battle, this is so much easier than fighting those Platinum knights! This guys soooo slow! I can avoid everything, and I only have to keep watch when he tries to use his offhand or his incredible Hero-strength to his advantage.

I feel on fire! Like nothing can stop me!

And, fighting alongside Alisson, not only are we completely overwhelming the Hero, but Alisson’s got my back!

It’s a big turn around from when I thought I was going to die against those Platinum knights, but I’ll take it in stride!

Hell, it’s even a little fun to fight like this. I guess the only frustrating things are the cult that we have to keep watch of literally every other attack, and the fact that the Hero has such tough armor – We can’t do a thing to him! But, against opponents like that, you really have to just wear them down, and create the opportunity that can lead to one good blow.

Though, I’ve noticed that Alisson isn’t really attacking as much as I am. Mm… must be because he’s waiting for the right moments. I’ll keep on the pressure, and my master will land the decisive finishing blow!

As I finish up some ‘house cleaning’ – Clearing the cultists – and I turn back over to Alisson and the Hero. A swing was coming for Alisson, so I closed in to support him. Alisson dodged the swing before dodging a follow up kick by a dangerously small margin. The hero then sent another swing for Alisson. Alisson started to move out of the way, and I didn’t think anything of it. Until I realized just how slow Alisson was moving, and right after that, within the blink of an eye, the Hero’s sword slammed into Alisson’s body. I saw a spray of blood from Alisson as the Hero’s sword knocked him straight into the ground and sent him rolling into the cultist horde.

In the heat of the moment, I didn’t comprehend what had happened until I saw the Hero barge through some cultists, and raise his sword over Alisson. That sight knocked some sense into me, and I rushed toward the Hero. His back was turned to me, so I had the perfect chance to strike his neck. I leapt up, committing to an attack when the Hero turned to me with a swing to swat me away. I was half expecting the Hero’s response, and I managed to drop my altitude and deflect his sword, weaving around his body and placing myself firmly in between Alisson and the Hero.

I didn’t have time to try to analyze what was happening, the Hero started attacking me immediately, and I barely managed to parry him away a few times. As the Hero’s attacks intensified, the thought at the back of my head was growing larger and larger,

Why isn’t Alisson getting up!

Eventually, standing still and blocking a far stronger force showed its weakness, an attack eventually made it through, and I was forced to backpedal out of the way. In the process, I didn’t see the Hero’s fist until it came crashing into my gut. I stumbled back, gasping for breath, but still on my feet. The Hero cursed in anger at me, and threw another trifecta of swings at me with his sword. It was when I managed to parry them all away that his anger seemed to reach it’s peak.

“You’re in the way!”

He howled at me, and a swing came from my left. It was so fast that it wasn’t possible to parry, so I had to raise both my stilettos up to meet it. When the Hero’s sword connected, it felt as though my arms were jolted so far back into my body that they were broken. My defense caved immediately, and the Hero’s sword pushed my stilettos all the way against my body, until I was sent off my feet toward Dereleg ‘Bol’s protective field. Going so fast, and without Dereleg ‘Bol’s knowledge, the field didn’t let me in, and my body slammed against the outside of it. I coughed up a mouthful of blood from my terror filled face.

A cultist was about to stab me straight in the head with a knife when Dereleg ‘Bol, from within the protective barrier, pulled me into safety, immediately casting healing spells on me.

“No-! Alisson!”

I tried to wiggle out of Dereleg ‘Bol’s grip but he wouldn’t budge.

I was forced to watch. Watch the Hero raise his sword over Alisson, and impale his chest. All of a sudden Alisson, who had hazy and clouded eyes, was jolted to life. He squirmed and yelped in pain, seeing the Hero’s sword impaling him right in front of his eyes. The Hero raised his foot, and kicked in one of Alisson’s knees. I heard an audible crunch, even from so far away.

Eventually, I stopped trying to struggle against Dereleg ‘Bol, and I just sat, my eyes wide at the sight. The Hero rose his sword out of Alisson, and prepared to impale him again.

He was interrupted. A dozen magic missiles shot toward the Hero’s direction from Dereleg ‘Bol. Eight of them cleared the path of cultists, and the remaining four impacted on the Hero, forcing him to raise his sword and hands to protect his face.

“Go!”

Dereleg ‘Bol said suddenly, and he let go of me. My body felt in much better condition from his healing, so, I got hold of my stilettos, and like dart, surged to Alisson. It was when I was running toward him that I heard something that had been going on for the past few seconds. It sounds like rolling thunder, it started over by where the Platinum knights were, but it continued, and by the time I was running to Alisson, it was right on top of me. It was a barrage of explosions, like the kind from Alisson’s throwing knives. There were two paths that were carving through the cultists on either side of me, and directly after they passed, a numerous many more explosions sounded above me. Though these sounded with familiar hissing, and soon, a smokescreen was forming in the area.

I didn’t what was responsible for the explosions or the smoke, so I pushed it out of my head like so many other things and continued to what was important in the moment. I neared the Hero and kicked him straight in the side, sending him stumbling into some cultists. The smokescreen that’d I’d pushed out of my head was forming extremely quickly, to the point where the Hero was almost no longer visible to me. I took it in stride, and grabbed onto Alisson. I was going to drag him when I suddenly felt a surge of strength; I had the sudden thought to simply lift him up for sake of speed. I grabbed under his knees and his back, and…he’s a lot lighter than I thought…

I stood up and started to hoof it to the protective field, my body already tiring and my grip slipping from Alisson’s body. The Hero, though, wasn’t going to let me escape so easily. I saw him out of the corner of my eye, he was being wrestled by a dozen cultists. The Hero unleashed one last swing in an attempt to halt me. However, Enhérejär, that had been on the ground next to Alisson, suddenly rose up and bent around the Hero’s sword, blocking it. The strike halted, Enhérejär flew toward me and latched itself around my shoulders. I didn’t question it. The Hero, who was barely visible thanks to the smoke, was about to break through the cultists that were holding him down when two, small, brown, what looked to be wooden, slips, bounced harmlessly off his armor. They looked to have come from the sky, from my direction.

Well, harmless as they seemed,

They detonated in the following moment, with the same explosive force as those explosions from earlier. The Hero was engulfed in the explosion and disappeared from my view.

The Hero, and thus the explosions, were relatively close to me when they detonated, and the force sent me off my feet, and I stumbled into the protective field before falling to the ground forward. The explosion’s smoke and the smoke of the smokescreen wrapped itself around Dereleg ‘Bol’s protective field. After I got my bearings and got to my knees, Alisson on the ground before me, Dereleg ‘Bol quickly knelt down by me and Alisson.

“This is bad. He is losing too much blood.”

Dereleg ‘Bol said quickly, though it was hard to understand him through his rushed and more orc-like speech. Speaking like that, he sounds mad, even though he isn’t.

Suddenly, a brown figure dropped into my vision from above. It was clad in a brown cloak, and upon not recognizing them, I reached for my stilettos, only to find that in my hand was Enhérejär for whatever reason, as if it had shoved itself into my grip. I didn’t question it for the time being, and revved back Enhérejär.

“Woah! So on edge sou!”

Within a second I knew who it was. They pulled off their hood to reveal a familiar kitsune with large ears and long orangey hair with her beamingly devious red eyes.

“Tsuhara!”

I exclaim in confusion.

“Mm. You seem to be in a bit of a thing here, so I’ll make this quick.”

She shoved into my hands a small box.

“I was meant to give this to you, but you moved faster than expected and it didn’t arrive until you’d left sou.”

Tsuhara looked to the orc.

“I didn’t think you’d team up with an orc, but thanks for letting me in.”

“Hmph. You weren’t human, and you weren’t with the cult, so I had the hunch you were friendly.”

Dereleg ‘Bol responded.

“Well, I need to get going – You don’t how annoying it was to get through Salva‘kar and then all the way here! I only found you because of the big artillery strike-! I thought you guys would be crazy enough to be wrapped up like this and it looks like I was right.”

“Well. Now is a better time than ever. The smoke will mask our escape from those knights.”

Dereleg ‘Bol said, and stood away from Alisson.

“But, but, Alisson is-”

“He can wait. We need to get out of here, it’ll be a simple matter to heal him afterwards, don’t worry.”

Dereleg ‘Bol responded, and I glanced down at Alisson hesitantly. It was evident he’d fallen unconscious from pain. Tsuhara’s eyes sharpened and she flourished a handful of wooden slips, the same that I’d seen explode next to the Hero.

“The bridge is clear, for now. My spells may not be enough to clear out a path to it. Fox.”

Dereleg ‘Bol eyed Tsuhara.

“Leave it to me sou! I’m known for my parting gifts!”

With that, she slipped her hood on and leapt out of the protective field into the smoke. I reluctantly followed along with Dereleg ‘Bol’s plan in light of Alisson being out of commission for the time being. It feels weird taking orders from somebody who’s not Alisson. I could either mount Alisson on his stallion, and tie him down to prevent him from falling off, or I could mount him with me.

I choose the ladder, obviously. Out of fear of him falling off without my knowledge mostly. After again shocking myself by being able to lift Alisson, Enhérejär wrapped itself around my abdomen and Alisson’s, fastening us together like some sort of seatbelt. I’m really starting to question Enhérejär, but, for the time being, among a swath of other things, adrenaline and discipline makes me not think about it.

On his mark, Dereleg ‘Bol dropped the protective field, and launched off a few spells into the smoke. They blew away the few cultists I did see, and most likely many more that I couldn’t. Following Dereleg ‘Bol’s spells, a swath of explosions followed, similar to the ones I’d heard earlier. With all that firepower laid down to clear our path, we set off in a brisk gallop. I led Alisson’s stallion with my free hand whilst my other wrapped around Alisson and grasped my mare’s rein. The entire time, I couldn’t help but notice the exorbitant amount of blood that was flowing over my arm from Alisson.

…

This day just gets worse and worse. Amongst my frantic healing of the 153rd, we got bombed. At first, I thought it was the cult again, but the explosions were much smaller and less powerful than the artillery shells earlier. Man…I never wanna be on the receiving end of a fire mission ever again…

Then a smokescreen formed, I think it’s from Alisson, judging by how earlier he’d made one with one of his knives. For why, I don’t know. I have hunch though; they might be trying to escape – I can’t see them with this smoke and the cultists aren’t making things easier.

“Hey!”

…Am I hearing things?

“Hey! Arciel!”

A voice called from the fog. Yep. That was Shepard. My summon, that threw Kana at us when she was, you know, wounded! Seriously! I had to spend mana on healing those bruises that were result of that throw! What a blockhead!

Well, he came right to me, and isn’t fighting the Sidonians, so he must have something important to say.

Sure enough, the formation of Platinum Knights part for a moment to let Shepard into our rudimentary safe zone from the cult where the injured are.

“They’re escaping! I almost killed that bastard! You can chase them down – They’re going down the bridge!”

I sigh.

“I’m low on mana, I only have the energy for three more strikes, that’s nothing for them – And what if Alisson reflects my spells like before?”

Shepard scowled at me.

“Stop arguing and just go! Use some mana to cast flight spells on some of our forces to take with you then.”

Thinking about it, that’s more plausible.

“…Fine then.”

Shepard was way to heavy with his Hero armor, and Kana was still a bit wounded, so I didn’t wanna risk it, contradictory to her pleas that she was fine. Freudlin was conscious, but could barely move, it’s not plausible for him to be flying with me and then fighting. So, in the end, I sacrificed a Reysarke spell’s worth of mana on two heavy duty flight spells for two Platinum Knights who volunteered and who were relatively uninjured. Their weight was just a little too much, so the both of them had to strip off their helmets and gauntlets, but it worked alright.

So, me and two knights soared into the sky and out of the smoke. We could see the Sidonians crossing the stone bridge a ways away. As much as I’d want to fire and collapse the bridge, it was already too late for that, as they were basically on the other side. Me and the knights flew through high in the air in pursuit of the three horses.

…

Crap-! They're chasing us!

High up in the sky behind us, we have unexpected company. That summoner, and two Platinum Knights. Alisson is out of commission, Dereleg ‘Bol is low on mana, I have no mana, and I don’t stand a chance against their experience; we can’t fight them. We can’t reflect the summoner’s spells since Alisson isn’t here either. Well, maybe Enhérejär can do that on its own but I doubt that.

“We’re coming up on the tunnel through the mountains!”

Dereleg ‘Bol said, and it was even harder to understand his words due to how orcish he sounded. Indeed, I saw what he was talking about. Before us is a large mountain range that I was unable to see due to the fog of the night earlier, but the fog’s cleared up since then and I can see the mountains. Like Dereleg ‘Bol said, they’re not the largest mountains, but they still have man-made tunnels through them.

Just a little more-! I can see the tunnel ahead of us! If we can just make it in-! Andestine won’t be able to chase us through with their flight spells!

We were only a few seconds away from the entrance of the tunnel when I heard the roar of a spell. I was lucky to be ahead of Dereleg ‘Bol, that was for sure. I was just passing into the tunnel when a blue beam crashed into the lip of the tunnel. Dereleg ‘Bol’s horse neighed hectically, and halted, right before the tunnel, not wanting to be vaporized by the spell. He cursed at it to move. I halted the mare and stallion and looked back at Dereleg ‘Bol as the entrance started to cave in. Through the falling rocks, I saw two Platinum knights land right behind Dereleg ‘Bol. I saw Dereleg ‘Bol turn, and prepare spells,

And that was it. I couldn’t see him. It was pitch black in the tunnel, but I continued to stare where I last saw Dereleg ‘Bol for a long moment.

I finally said to myself,

“…He’s…He’s gone…”

And pushed the thought out of my head when I remembered Alisson’s condition. With Dereleg ‘Bol gone, he can’t heal Alisson…it’s all on me now…I hope what mana I do have will be enough but…there’s only so much healing I can do…

For now, I need to get Alisson to safety. Think later.

***

1. Coulé. An attack or feint that slides along the opponent's blade. See also, Glissade, Glisé, and Graze, which are similar:

> Glissade (In fencing) is the term more generally used with the intent of disarming. The term is also used in dance, music, and skiing all with different meanings.

> Glisé is an archaic term, meaning the same thing as Coulé.

> Graze is the more common and mainstream term, like; Two blades grazing against each other. Though it is not specifically used only for the fencing purpose.

2. Circle-Parry. A parry that moves in a circle to end up in the same position in which it started. A circle-parry usually traps(See 4.) an attack coming in a different line.

3. Flèche. A maneuver wherein the fencer crosses their rear leg in front of the front leg and ‘falls’ forward toward the opponent into a sprint. It’s used to overwhelm or surprise an opponent at close range, and close distance at long range. Combined with a lunge, it’s one of the fastest motions in fencing short of trained lunge.

4. Blocking or trapping ‘out’ a blade. A term referring to how an opponent’s blade may be kept at a distance or away from the fencer with the fencer’s blade. This can be applied in any line, and it most useful when blocking out an opponents blade into their non-dominant lane – I.E forcing them to cross their armed hand over their chest.