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Introduction:

Last chapter!

Settling the Score

“And that’s the deal,” said Alexis, explaining everything that happened at the palace. “Galvin let me come back here so I could tell you all and collect my things, but I have to return quickly. I’m going to be living in the palace from now on.”

“We can’t let this stand. We have to get you out of here,” said Sophia.

“If I leave, my family will suffer and die, and then Galvin will come after all of you.”

“Then we’ll all leave and return after Seraph arrives and deposes Galvin,” Cyrilo suggested.

“That won’t work. My family is being kept under lock and key and personally guarded by Gradius until the wedding. I can’t leave them behind. If we leave, they die. If we rebel, they die. If we do anything, they die.”

“In an enclosed space, with no way to escape the heat, Gradius is unbeatable,” Aithorn muttered.

“There has to be something we can do!” Sophia tearfully exclaimed.

“There isn’t. In three days, Galvin and I are to be wed, and for the sake of all of you and my family, I must meet him at the altar.”

Sophia grasped Alexis’s hands. “I won’t let you marry him! I’ll stop this myself if I have to!”

“If you try to intervene, you’ll just end up getting you and everyone else killed. This isn’t something you can save me from. I must deal with this myself, and I need you to trust me. I love you, and if you love me too, you’ll stay out of this. I already have enough deaths on my conscience.”

She placed her knight ring on Cyrilo’s desk and left without another word, and as the door closed behind her, fresh tears poured from Sophia’s eyes. She then turned to Noah’s projection, silent throughout the exchange. “Noah, say something! There has to be a way to fix this! To put a stop to this madness!”

“My group is still too far from Colbrand to help. Besides, Alexis said to trust her, and that’s what I’ll do. She doesn’t want you involved, and if you go against her wishes, it’ll lead to nothing but tragedy. Alexis wants to bear this herself, so I will let her.”

Sophia was left stunned by his words. “You can’t be serious!” she shrieked.

“Sophia, trust me and trust Alexis. You heard her: her family is at stake, and if you do anything to fight what’s happening, they will die, as will all of you. You can’t help them or Alexis, but there are still more refugees to evacuate from Colbrand. They need you more than Alexis does. The best thing you can do is stay away.” Noah then turned to Cyrilo. “I need to speak with Elyot. Would you mind bringing the gem to him?” The scowl on Cyrilo’s face was her response.

“I’ll do it,” said Aithorn, picking up the gem and walking out of her study.

Sophia dropped to her knees, feeling like her bones had become jelly. This couldn’t be happening. Alexis was condemned to a horrible fate, and not only was she doing nothing to fight it, but Noah was arguing against helping her. Had the world been turned on its head? She didn’t know what to believe anymore.

The next three days brought a new fervor to Colbrand. Everyone was abuzz about the upcoming royal wedding, and preparations were being made as quickly as possible. Galvin was sparing no expense, continuing to drain wealth from the nobles and commoners alike to pay for the event. No one knew the details of Alexis being coerced; they were too focused on the absurdity of it all. For the controversial king to marry the woman who had called him a devil in front of the entire city was just the newest addition to the long list of outrageous events that plagued Colbrand. However, like all royal marriages, there was the hope for a sense of normality afterward, that the union could calm the climate of the nation.

At the Knight’s Sheath, Cyrilo tried to continue her plan of ferrying beastmen and refugees out of the country, but found her efforts hindered by the sudden staffing issue. Lucius was dead, Alexis was in the castle, and Sophia had gone silent since the news. She sat locked in her room, the room she and Alexis shared, staring out the window with eyes left red from crying. Just getting her to eat was a trial.

In the palace, Alexis was in much the same condition. She was locked up in a bedroom looking over the city and spent her time gazing out the window. Maids brought her whatever she needed, but it was hard to eat while she felt sick to her stomach. At the very least, Galvin wasn’t paying her any visits. Just as he had with Sophia, he wanted to build the anticipation and suspense, letting her stew in her dread.

Finally, the day arrived, and a grand festival was held in the streets to celebrate. Nobles were coming in droves to attend the ceremony, even if they were all complaining about how Galvin had screwed them. Not only were they paying for the wedding and the festival after being gouged with raised taxes, but they had yet to see a single return. All of the beastmen slaves they had been promised were used to entertain the crowds in the arena. Still, they had to attend, lest they end up being punished for disloyalty. Rumors had spread of the clergy’s demise.

After a grandiose day of celebration and debauchery, the wedding would take place in the arena at sunset, giving Galvin the audience he so craved. At the castle, Alexis spent the whole day being manhandled by the assistants charged with preparing her for the ceremony. After being rinsed, soaped, and scrubbed harder than a greasy pan, she was fitted into her wedding dress, with several women working on her hair, pancaking her with makeup, and doing her nails.

She endured the humiliation silently, thinking about what was at stake. Then, once everything was done, the maids left, and she sat in front of a mirror, staring at herself. She had finally become the pretty little doll her father always wanted her to be. The door opened behind her, and one of the last people she wanted to see entered.

“Come to wish your future daughter-in-law good luck?” she asked, speaking to Ziradith’s reflection.

Ziradith approached, sneering as always, and rested her hands on Alexis’s shoulders. “This is all your fault. Everything that has happened has all been because of you.”

“This coming from the grand architect of Uther’s current nightmare. Just like Galvin, you’re incapable of accepting fault for your actions.”

Ziradith grabbed Alexis by the hair and pulled hard. “Don’t give me any lip, you little bitch.” Alexis withstood the pain without a sound, not wanting to grant Ziradith the satisfaction. Ziradith then picked up a brush and began fixing the broken hairdo. “If you had just agreed to marry my son years ago, none of this would have happened. But no, you had to make it all about you.”

“Per your example.”

“Silence. Because you threw a fit and refused to be a good pawn, I had to settle for your pathetic cousin, leading to that catastrophe at the academy. My plan was perfect, elegant, but you blew a hole in it big enough for that fucker Noah to step in, and now it’s all a giant mess. Do you have any idea how much I’ve suffered because of you?”

“Your failures are your own, you miserable hag. You’re just as much of a plague on this country as your son. How many people have you hurt and victimized because you wanted power? How many lives have been ruined because poor little Zira could never be happy with what she had? You set all this in motion, and all the pain you’ve suffered is barely a fraction of what you deserve.”

Ziradith leaned her head over Alexis’s shoulder, staring into her eyes through the mirror.

“I don’t know what Galvin is trying to pull with this insanity, and he’s long since stopped listening to reason or telling me his plans, but I’m going to enjoy watching him crush your spirit and finally put you in your place.”

“Spoken by the wonderful mother who made him this way. Tell me something, all the times Galvin screwed up, all the times he raped and murdered innocent people, all the times he released that psychotic little laugh like everything was a game, did you see yourself in him? Did you see your own degenerate blood put on display for all the world to gawk at? Did you see your rotten reflection in his crazed eyes, realizing how much he’s like you? Or did you see your utter ineptitude as a mother, how you failed so badly as a parent as to cultivate a monster like him and let him loose on the world?”

“Say whatever you want, I have what I need.”

As the day grew late, everyone, including Alexis and Galvin, moved to the arena. They rode in an open carriage, Galvin waving to the crowds with his smarmy grin and basking in the attention, while Alexis sat with bleak eyes.

“Why aren’t you smiling? Are you picturing your little sisters getting ripped inside out by ogre cocks? Because if you don’t want that to happen, you’d better start acting like a proper trophy.”

Alexis glared at him with limitless hatred, but he just giggled, overjoyed by her suffering. She put on a fake smile and waved to the crowd like he was, all the while fighting the urge to vomit. They arrived at the arena with everyone in the city sitting in the stands. Among them were Cyrilo, Sophia, and Daniel, with Cyrilo bringing Noah’s harkonen gem so he could observe.

“Are you sure you want to be here?” Cyrilo asked Sophia.

“No matter what Alexis says, I will not let her go through this alone. The moment Galvin does anything to hurt her, I’ll kill him with my bare hands.”

“That won’t be necessary,” said Noah.

Sophia glared at him, still overcome with a sense of betrayal. The man she thought she could trust, the man she loved, telling her not to save Alexis, burned her like nothing else. How could he be so calm while this was happening?

Down in the ring, musicians played their instruments, doves and confetti were released, and bursts of magic were launched into the sky, all to entertain the crowd and give Galvin the extravagance and pageantry he loved. He stood at the altar, and beside him was the leader of the church, spared by Gradius after slaughtering his friends. The smirk on his face projected his certainty that all was right with the world. And as always, the Wassengel manacle was secured on his arm. Braziers burned throughout the arena like the final match of the tournament, and security was raised to its maximum.

Finally, the music changed, and a set of doors opened at the edge of the ring. Alexis stepped out, looking stunning in her white gown and veil, holding a bouquet. However, her beauty was dimmed by her misery. She looked at Galvin at the altar, and past him, to the other end of the ring. Her family was there, bound in chains held by Gradius, ready to be executed if she deviated from the plan. She slowly approached the altar, feeling more like she was stepping up to the gallows. She stood before Galvin and the nervous priest, feeling all eyes in the arena on her.

The priest began to speak. “Almighty gods above, bless us this day, upon the union of this man and this woman!”

And so, he went through the marriage boilerplate, and Galvin, typically impatient and demanding, stood with a silent grin. As always, he savored the anticipation, soaking in the despair on Alexis’s face as she counted down to the exchange of vows. Up in the stands, Sophia was trying to be brave, hoping that Alexis would look up at her and she could offer her some measure of comfort, but all she wanted to do was stare at her feet and hold her stomach, feeling sick with dread. This couldn’t be happening, after everything they had been through. She kept looking at Noah, silently begging him to do something. He was just an illusion, but she prayed with all of her heart that he would prove himself the man she needed him to be.

“King Galvin Herald, do you forswear to accept this woman as your wife?”

“I do,” he said with a malicious smirk.

“And Lady Alexis Veres, do you take this man to be your husband?”

Alexis looked over to her family, gripped by terror. She gazed at her father, speaking with only her eyes. ‘Are you happy now? You finally get what you always wanted,’ she silently asked. Meeting her gaze, hearing that accusation echo through his soul, he looked away in shame.

“I do,” she then said softly.

“Then here, by the witness of the gods and our fellow servants, I unite thee as husband and wife.”

Alexis dared one last look around the arena, finally spotting Noah and the others. Cyrilo looked like she wanted to chew her nails off, the same with Daniel, and Sophia was on the verge of tears. It pained her to see her like that, knowing exactly how it felt, having sat where she had back at the academy, forced to watch her one true love getting crushed under Galvin’s thumb.

Then she spotted Noah, and though the distance between them was vast, she saw him, of all things, smiling. It was similar to Galvin’s smirk, the smile of anticipation, but unlike Galvin, he wasn’t mocking her. Instead, there was encouragement in his eyes, and she could imagine what he was saying so clearly that he might as well have whispered it in her ear.

‘Show me. Show me the spark that caught my eye the day we met. Show me the destiny of promise I saw back then. Show me destiny fulfilled.’

As Galvin lifted her veil, Alexis finally smiled. The instinct she had suppressed for the past three days could no longer be contained.

“Ready, my blushing bride?” Galvin sneered.

“I’m ready.”

Alexis then dropped her bouquet, yanked out the pin holding her hair together, and stabbed Galvin in the eye. He staggered back, howling in pain, but Alexis gave him no time to recover and rained attacks down upon him. Her white dress billowing, she hammered him with punches and kicks, all while the crowd panicked in shock. On cue, Elyot jumped into the ring and aimed his hand at Galvin. A series of blue magic circles appeared around him, courtesy of knowledge given to him from Noah’s angel encounter, and the manacle on Galvin’s arm fell off. Soldiers and knights rushed into the ring to apprehend Alexis and Elyot, but were knocked off their feet by a barrage of exploding arrows from Aithorn.

“TRAITORS AND WEAKLINGS!” Gradius howled, about to go on a rampage.

His fury was interrupted by Berholm sprinting towards him, the elderly dwarf zooming like a cannonball before jumping into the air and punching Gradius in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground. Even with his armor, such a hit couldn’t be easily shaken off. Elyot then cast an earth spell, and the ground beneath Gradius opened up like a pair of jaws, swallowing him and dropping the executioner down into its earthen gullet.

Throughout the arena, knights and soldiers of the rival factions fought each other, one side aiming to intervene and save Galvin, while the other side was letting Alexis have her way. As all this was going on, the audience was panicking, trying to make sense of what was going on, with Alexis continuing to beat Galvin to within an inch of his life, unleashing years of pent-up hatred and resentment.

“You wanted to know why I wouldn’t do anything to save Alexis from this wedding, why I told you not to do anything to save her,” Noah said to Sophia. “It’s because she didn’t need to be saved. She can handle Galvin on her own. That said, I wanted to make sure to clear the board of everyone and everything that would get in the way of their bloody divorce, so I reached out to Aithorn and Elyot. I doubt she knew or even assumed they would be ready to assist her, but regardless, she could only play the martyr for so long before her true self burst forth. I couldn’t tell you because you’re both under surveillance. If you sat here with anything other than a look of abject hopelessness, it would give away Alexis’s real intentions, even if she didn’t know what they were.”

Down below, Galvin staggered back, his face a bruised and bloody mess. Alexis paused the beating to catch her breath. “What’s wrong, Galvin? I thought you liked it rough!”

But to her surprise, he laughed and yanked the hairpin out of his eye. “I don’t know why I expected anything different from you. A mouthy, disobedient, nasty whore who doesn’t know her place! You need to be put down like the rabid bitch you are!”

“I know my place, Galvin; it’s me standing with my heel on your throat. This is the only way it could ever end between us.”

“You really think it’ll be that easy?!” Galvin then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a Profane parasite. “My new friends gave me this so I could kill Noah, but I suppose you’ll be good practice!” He applied it to his neck, and the parasite woke up, feasting on his blood and replacing it with venom. Galvin’s skin and veins darkened as unholy power swept through him. “Bit of a shame, really! I wanted to violate you as my final act as a human!”

Galvin could use both water and earth spells, and now black ooze was rising up from the ground like oil as his magic was corrupted, soon to fill the ring. Seeing this, Alexis turned away from Galvin and ran towards her family, grabbing a soldier’s dropped sword. Gradius was out of the way, but Berholm was busy fighting off another knight. Reaching them, she coated her sword in mana and began breaking their chains.

“You all need to get as far away from this place as possible.”

“Alexis, I—” her father began.

“Silence. I did this for them, not for you. You disowned me, remember?”

“Yes, my greatest mistake,” he murmured.

Hearing him, Alexis paused and then resumed breaking the chains. “Hurry up and get out of the city.”

Once her family was free, she sent them running out of the ring, and not a moment too soon, as Galvin’s tar was spreading across the ground. In the center of the bubbling mess, Galvin was ripping his hair out and laughing like a madman. Alexis climbed out of the ring, perching herself on the wall surrounding it with the stands behind her clearing of spectators.

“I’m shocked, Galvin! You actually managed to find a new low!” Alexis taunted, brandishing her sword. “The last time we fought was on Knight’s Day at the academy. I remember knocking you out again and again, but the administrators kept letting you stay. This time, there is no one to save you from me.”

“Try it, bitch!” he laughed while swinging his arms.

Tendrils of black muck were launched towards her like striking snakes, and she dodged and beheaded them with her sword as though they were the real thing. However, the muck continued to expand and grow like a fungus, and she was forced to escape, lest she be ensnared.

“Alexis!” Sophia exclaimed, running towards her.

“Sophia, don’t!” Alexis shouted, trying to ward her off.

Sophia reached her as another tendril from Galvin lunged for them, but Sophia shoved her way past Alexis and held out her hand, projecting a burst of holy mana. The tendril collided against it like a shield and was reduced to ash.

Sophia turned to Alexis and kissed her. “I should slap you instead for shutting me out like that… yet again.”

“I love you too. Now get out of here; it’s too dangerous.”

“No, we finish this together.” Sophia then handed Alexis her knight ring. “Because we’re in this together.”

Alexis smiled and kissed her. “Fine, but at least hang back.”

“Not just yet.” She then held up her palm to Alexis. “Blessing of Advanced Thought! Blessing of Agility! Blessing of Stamina! Blessing of Strength! Blessing of Resilience!”

Power surged through Alexis as Sophia granted her every boost she could, enhancing her reflexes, speed, fortitude, and magic. A volley of tendrils was hurtling towards the two of them, but Galvin, laughing at the thought of them being devoured by the darkness, lost his grin as the apparitions were eviscerated, reduced to mist by the onslaught of enchanted arrows Alexis was firing, courtesy of her knight bow. Alexis took off in a sprint, running around the ring with her white dress billowing and her legs moving with inhuman speed.

Galvin screamed in frustration and launched globs of muck from the ground around him, trying to take her down, but not only was she moving too fast to be hit, she was shooting arrows like bullets from a machine gun, conjuring the bolts straight from her ring and imbuing them with enough explosive mana to raise them to Aithorn’s level. They hit Galvin and the ground around him, exploding like mortar rounds.

His flesh was eviscerated, and his limbs were mangled with black blood pouring from the wounds, but howling in fury, he retaliated with a tidal wave of tar. Alexis jumped high into the air as the wave hit the wall around the ring and washed across the stands. The arena was still far from evacuated, and numerous people stuck in the stands were swallowed by the muck. The flesh melted off their bones as if they were devoured by Scyler’s slimes.

Realizing the severity of the situation, the knights and soldiers, preoccupied with fighting each other just moments ago, sprang into action to get the people out of the arena. Those who specialized in warrior and monk magic focused on guiding them to the exits, while mages like Elyot erected magic barriers to try and slow the expanse. Alexis continued raining exploding arrows upon Galvin and his unholy clay, chipping away at the expanding mass. Each time Galvin was hit, muck would flow from the wounds and imitate new flesh and limbs.

“That’s a good look for you, Galvin!” she shouted. “You finally look like the disgusting toxic mess you truly are! Now everyone can see just how ugly you are on the inside!”

“I’ll kill you all! If I can’t have this city, I’ll devour it! I’ll devour this whole world and anyone who dares defy me! I am the one true king, blessed by the gods and—”

He was cut off as he lurched forward, vomiting muck onto the ground in an endless stream, unable to stop himself. His powers were going out of control, and muck was expelled from every orifice, plus his wounds, and expanding like foam, swallowing him up. Elyot, Aithorn, Cyrilo, and every other magic user available were launching everything they had into the expanding mass, but it was growing faster than it could be destroyed.

“Fall back! Everyone, fall back! We can’t contain it!” Elyot shouted.

Alexis and the others were forced to retreat, dashing through the arena corridors while being pursued by the expanding muck. They made it outside, though many people didn’t, ending up swallowed by Galvin’s evil. The area around the arena was flooded with civilians, not knowing what to do or where to go. Were they safe? Or was there nowhere safe to go? They then screamed in terror as the muck, having filled the entire arena, began to overflow and pour down the sides, while tentacles reached out of the top, looking for more people to devour. Profane energy was strengthened by madness, hatred, and other negative emotions, and Galvin had enough negativity to swallow the entire world.

“Noah, isn’t this what happened with Kaisen?” Sophia asked worriedly, holding the harkonen gem.

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t worry about it,” he said before his projection vanished.

“Noah? Noah?!” Sophia shrieked, shaking the gem and trying to get him back as the tentacles lunged for her and the rest of the citizens.

She and everyone else then looked up as a beam of holy energy shot over their heads and obliterated the tentacles. A scream of agony was released from deep within the muck, and a single word echoed.

“SERRAAAAAAPH!” Galvin howled.

All eyes were turned to the source of the blast, where Noah’s group stood, and Seraph, wrapped in a brilliant aura of light, had his hand outstretched. Shannon and the horses were all wearing unusual blankets, almost resembling cavalry armor made of cloth, but what made it unique was the runic in***********ions, the same ones Noah used to make his anti-paladin cloak. It gave Shannon and the horses physical boosts, granting them greater speed, strength, and stamina when supplied with holy energy, which, thanks to Seraph and his restored powers, allowed them to reach Colbrand ahead of schedule. The crowds parted to let them pass, all eyes glued to the luminous Seraph, and immediately, a chant began to boom.

“To the king!”

“To the king!”

“To the king!”

Seraph gazed at the arena, and the muck overflowing as Galvin recovered from the attack. “I wish I could have spoken to you one last time, Brother, but I see it was not meant to be. Now I must take responsibility as the last of our family and put an end to you.”

“Not so fast,” said Alexis. “Today is my wedding day, and I won’t let you steal my thunder.”

Seraph gave a mournful smile. “Then let me be so kind as to clear a path for you. Consider it my apology for our duel at the academy.”

“Fair enough. Sir Elyot, Madam Cyrilo, can you get us up there?”

“Leave it to us, dear,” Cyrilo said as she pulled out her grimoire. She and Elyot cast earth spells, causing pillars of stone and floating boulders to rise up and form a path to the top of the arena.

“Let’s go!” Alexis shouted, running and jumping from pillar to pillar. Seraph followed her, the two moving with augmented physical abilities thanks to holy magic.

A furious scream erupted from the arena, and massive muck tendrils surged towards the two warriors, trying to keep them at bay. Seraph and Alexis countered with holy blasts and exploding arrows, annihilating the conjurations, but there were too many to stop. They were forced to leap as the pillars beneath their feet were destroyed by the hurled muck, but their way was cleared, courtesy of arrows from Aithorn. Continuing to scream from within the toxic mountain, Galvin turned his attention to the crowds, bombarding them with blasts of muck, but the knights and mages stepped forward and threw up every barrier and hurled every spell they could conjure, protecting the people and holding Galvin’s evil at bay. The citizens could only watch in shock and awe as countless spells exploded over their heads.

Finally, Seraph and Alexis reached the very top of the arena, looking out across a lake of bubbling evil. “Get ready, and try not to look directly at me.” Seraph then clasped his hands together and roared at the top of his lungs, dredging up his power until he was burning with an impenetrable aura of holy flames. All the muck exposed to his light was instantly incinerated, with black fire streaming across the surface.

Seraph then leaped towards the middle of the arena, and a massive crater instantly opened up as the muck was destroyed, unable to exist within his presence. He fell, his light banishing the muck and pushing it to the sides like clay on a spinning wheel being shaped into a pot. The arena, overflowing with Galvin’s evil, became a swirling maelstrom as Seraph cleared the way for Alexis, who jumped after him. The two landed in the ring, and before them, they could see Galvin, struggling to endure being in Seraph’s light with the muck being burned off his body as quickly as it was created.

“Seraph, you traitor!” he shrieked.

“You betrayed me first, Galvin. You betrayed all of us long ago. I love you, Brother. I always have and always will, but this is the end.”

Alexis sprinted towards Galvin with her sword in hand. “Say goodbye!”

“No! Stay away!”

Galvin tried to ward her off by flinging more muck, but Seraph cleared the way again, and Alexis got in close. “Till death do us part!” she shouted as she swung her blade, beheading Galvin and killing the parasite on his neck.

She then jumped to the side, and Seraph unleashed every last bit of magic he had, annihilating Galvin so that what happened in Welindar couldn’t repeat itself. Galvin and every trace of him was annihilated, and all the remaining muck was reduced to wisps of black clouds. The nightmare was finally over.

As Alexis and Seraph left the arena, they were met by the deafening cheers of all of Colbrand. Everyone who had survived the evacuation was waiting for them, tens of thousands of people celebrating their victory. They returned to Noah and the others, where Sophia threw her arms around Alexis and wildly kissed her.

“How do you feel?” Noah asked Seraph.

Seraph sighed. “Heavy. For all of his faults, all of his evil, Galvin was my brother and my best friend. I don’t know if he ever was truly there for me, but now I can’t help but feel… alone. Still, I also feel liberated. Our family has been purged of his wickedness, as has my soul. My path to redemption now seems much less steep.”

“Hold onto that hope. You’ll need your courage at your coronation.”

“So, is it over?” Aithorn asked.

“Not just yet. We still have to worry about— Oh, never mind.” All eyes were turned to the arrival of Holmes, approaching with Ziradith in shackles. “Hey there, sweet cheeks.”

“I caught her trying to escape once the fighting started,” Holmes said.

“There is no running away, Ziradith. It’s time for you to own up to your crimes,” said Noah. “No more tricks, no more plans, you’re done. No matter what card you have to play, Uther will forever be out of your reach.”

“Mark my words, you son of a bitch,” she hissed through gritted teeth, “this is far from over. I will have my revenge on you, on this entire country, if it’s the last thing I do. I swear this to every god and devil who can hear me. You will all suffer for this. I WILL DESTROY THIS WORLD!”

“You should have learned your lesson after your tryst on my stage,” said Cyrilo. “Nothing awaits you in this city but defeat. Now….” She then trailed off, putting her hands on her stomach like she was sick, with her feline ears twitching frantically.

“Madam Cyrilo, is something wrong?” Alexis asked.

“I don’t know, something just feels—”

All around them, animals were acting up. Horses were rearing back on their hind legs, dogs were barking, birds suddenly filling the sky, and all the beastmen in the crowds, including Shannon, were panicking.

“My Lord, something is wrong! Terribly wrong!”

Then, the ground began to tremble. “Earthquake?” Alexis asked.

But Noah, his heart dropping into his stomach, knew better. “No, it’s a dungeon crab!”

No sooner were the words spoken than the trembling increased, with huge slabs of rock rising into the air and buildings collapsing as their foundations were undone. Behind them, the entire arena cracked as the ground rose underneath it. Everyone turned and ran as fast as they could, but few could escape on foot. The entire city was being shaken apart, with streets and buildings around the arena being lifted into the air atop glaciers of fractured bedrock. As the ground continued to destabilize, countless people, civilians and warriors, were swallowed up by the earth.

Every magic user in the crowd did what they could to protect themselves and whoever they could save, with Elyot and Cyrilo summoning floating rocks to try and get everyone to safety, but they were being split up by the chaos. Noah was riding on Shannon’s back as she galloped away from the epicenter, Valia was using her speed and balancing magic to keep from falling into any deep fissures, and Bojena was using bursts of air to rocket her off the ground as she looked for a safe place to perch, but in every direction, the city was turning to rubble.

Finally, the arena was completely demolished as a mountain of shredded earth rose up beneath it. Huge chunks of rock were hurled into the sky and rained down upon Colbrand, pulverizing buildings like cinderblocks dropped on cardboard boxes. The wave of earth expanded in all directions like a splash in a pond, snatching people up and grinding them into paste by the thousands.

Eventually, the rumbling stopped, and the earth settled. Where once the arena had stood, the swirled shell of a dungeon crab now reached for the sky. A third of the city had been destroyed by its ascent, another third utterly leveled by the waves of debris that rained down, and the rest had crumbled from the earthquake, with few structures still standing. As for the lives lost, it was safe to say that Welindar’s fate had not been averted. The rising earth buried most of the city’s population, their liquified bodies turning the dirt into mud.

Noah and Shannon walked through the wreckage, the two of them bruised and bloody. They had escaped the worst of the destruction, but at the last second, Shannon tripped up and fell, and the two of them were pelted with debris. Compared to everyone else, they got off lucky. All around them were shredded buildings and an ocean of rubble. The few survivors wandered like ghosts, shell-shocked by everything that had happened. Throughout this desert of death, screams of pain and wails of grief echoed, with people begging for help or cursing the gods.

“Valia!” Noah and Shannon hollered. “Valia!”

“Over here!”

They rushed to the source of the voice, though it was coming out from under the roof of a collapsed house. Just as they began to dig through the rubble, the roof was lifted off the ground and tossed aside, courtesy of Valia. “Glad to see you two made….” Valia fell silent as she looked across the moonlit devastation. Her mouth hung open as a lone tear rolled down her cheek.

“We don’t have time to weep, look!” Noah exclaimed, pointing to the dungeon crab, where countless shapes poured out of the opening at the top.

“Are those dungeon beasts, like from your stories?” Shannon asked.

“No, they’re fiends! That’s the mobile Profane base! They’ve been operating out of a dungeon crab all this time!”

“Noah, there’s an entire army coming out of there!” Valia gasped.

“They knew exactly when and where to hit us. Finding everyone will have to wait.”

Noah then clapped his hands together and gathered up every drop of mana he had, just as Seraph had done, then spread it in every direction, trying to cover as much ground as he could and reach as many survivors as possible. It took all his strength and was possible only thanks to his projection training.

“Everyone who can fight, on your feet! A Profane army is attacking! Don’t waste time on the wounded and noncombatants! Retreat and regroup at the palace, or else we’re all dead!” he shouted with his mana, trying to convey the message to every survivor within his reach.

Those who heard his announcement felt their spirits wither as their eyes were drawn to the dungeon crab and the horde of unholy monsters. More than just fiends, countless ghouls were among the ranks, humans without magic but given parasites anyway. They raced through the debris, their noses following the scent of blood and their ears catching screams of anguish and frantic breaths. The dead would be fed on later; what they wanted to feast upon were the survivors.

Civilians and military, narrowly escaping death from the earthquake, limped as fast as they could to safety, but were easily chased down by the superior predators. Children crying for their parents, parents wailing over the corpses of their children, and the scores of maimed and injured howling in agony from their wounds, drew the beasts with their voices and were promptly silenced.

Survivors left pinned under rubble and debris, who thanked their rescuers moments ago for trying to dig them out, screamed and cursed at them as they gave up to flee, as well as all those who ran past them. Those trapped souls made for quick prey, and desperately tried to hide under the very rubble that entombed them to escape death. The horrific chorus of malicious snarls and agonizing screams echoed across the wasteland, with the moon and stars glimmering indifferently above.

As the Profane army streamed out of the dungeon crab, Scyler and Tysinger stepped out. “Ah, it’s so beautiful,” Scyler hummed blissfully. “Curcio was so worried about a Wassengel counterattack if we did this, but it was worth the risk just for this view.”

“Still, I would advise you to remain inside, sir. You still aren’t fully healed, and no one is allowed to kill you but me,” said Tysinger.

“Yes, yes, you’ve made your objections known, but how could you possibly expect me to sit this out? Besides, now’s your chance to finally strike me down and prove yourself as the superior blade-user.”

“My victory would be meaningless if you aren’t at 100%, nor would I swing my blade with anything less than total respect. I can wait. I have all the time in the world.” Tysinger looked across the field of destruction, counting the desperate battles between the survivors and the Profane army. “More survived than I expected. Hopefully, there are some worthy adversaries down below.”

“There is only one you need to concern yourself with. Bring me the Wandering Spirit, dead or alive.”

“And the rest?”

“Let nature take its course.” Scyler then lost his smile, sensing something in the air. “What is that?”

Down below, Noah and Valia rode on Shannon’s back as she galloped towards the palace. Countless other people were running in the same direction, but the Profane were in pursuit. Looking to the side, Noah saw the unmistakable explosions of Aithorn’s lightning.

“Shannon! Over there!”

She raced over as fiends surrounded the bloody elf warrior. Both Noah and Valia jumped off Shannon’s saddle and joined the fight. Noah, dual-wielding two Carthace blades, hacked and slashed through the fiends as if they were made of bubbles while Valia sent severed heads flying. The fiends consisted of two types: semi-transformed beastmen with monstrous features but upright bodies, and fully-transformed beastmen, taking on hulking animalistic forms and running on all fours. Regardless, all were slaughtered, and after clearing out the rabble, Noah and Valia faced Aithorn.

“Glad to see you made it,” said Valia.

“Did you see Seraph or anyone from the Knight’s Sheath?” Noah asked.

“I sent them running ahead while I bought them some time. They were all alive, but Seraph suffered a nasty headwound and was unconscious.” Aithorn looked around. “Is this what it was like in Welindar? Having to fight monsters like this every day?”

“While you were sipping tea here in Colbrand, we were fighting for our lives,” said Noah. Then the ground began to shake.

“Oh God, what could it be now? Another dungeon crab?” Valia cursed.

Near the base of the dungeon crab, a massive jet of fire erupted from the ground like a volcano. Mana spread across the battlefield, hot as molten iron and filled with bloodlust. Snarling with each movement, Gradius climbed to the surface, shooting flames from gaps in his armor. He looked out across the devastation, seeing the fiends rampaging through the destroyed city, and released a mad howl while swinging his axe.

“PROFANE! PROFANE IN MY CITY! I’LL KILL YOU! I’LL KILL YOU ALL!”

Upon his scream, a massive explosion surged from him in all directions, and every agent of the Profane within five hundred meters was reduced to ash instantly. He then released a focused fire blast from his helmet that whipped across the battlefield. Any fiend, no matter how powerful, was bisected by the blast, if not automatically disintegrated. Gradius was mowing them down like grass, and the Profane army, sensing this new threat, all converged on him. He threatened their leaders and was too powerful to be allowed to live. He had to be dealt with immediately, but all their fury, bloodlust, and killing intent were reflected right back at them.

Every fiend and ghoul within fifty feet of Gradius immediately burst into flames simply from the temperature of the air. Their hair burned, their flesh blistered, and their eyes and blood boiled. Those that could not bear the pain, left rolling on the ground that burned like a frying pan, were eviscerated by his blast. The stronger Profane got in just close enough to be butchered by his axe, while those few able to land a hit found their claws turning to ash upon contact with his armor. More and more fiends were swarming around Gradius, but their bolstered ranks increased his fury and power. Soon, every swing of his axe launched blades of flame that ripped through the earth like giant plows, and all the combustible material within the surrounding area was on fire.

“Looks like the mad beast is good for something after all,” said Aithorn.

“He’s drawing their attention, let’s move!” said Noah.

All the survivors continued moving to the palace, but the closer they got, the more they realized that it had little protection to offer. Much of the palace had collapsed in the earthquake, the defensive walls included, but still, everyone huddled behind them in the hopes that they would be kept safe. There were few knights and soldiers, and most of them were wounded.

“Alexis! Sophia!” Noah called out.

“We’re here!” he heard.

He, Valia, Shannon, and Aithorn worked their way through the crowd, finding the Knight’s Sheath crew grouped around Seraph, with Sophia almost finished healing him.

“I’m glad to see you all made it.”

“With what’s coming, maybe it would have been better to die in the earthquake,” said Cyrilo.

His wound mended, Seraph sat up with a groan. “Ugh, what happened?”

“The Profane are attacking the city, using a dungeon crab for their base. Everything has been destroyed, and almost everyone is dead.”

“Destroyed? Dead?” Seraph gasped.

“What do we do?” Alexis asked.

“Everyone, listen up!” Noah shouted, drawing all the survivors’ attention and augmenting his voice with mana. “That army will swarm us any minute, so we need to move fast! Everyone who can still fight, rally with me in front of the palace! All civilians and wounded, head to the docks and get on anything that will float! Move out to sea until you can’t see smoke, and at first light, sail for Vandheim! Now get going!” Since he was the only one giving orders, everyone instinctively obeyed, and his magic made it hard to refuse him.

Noah, Valia, Shannon, Seraph, the Knight’s Sheath group, and every able-bodied knight and soldier marched out in front of the palace, looking across the field of leveled buildings to the oncoming army of Profane beasts. Gradius was still keeping half of their forces occupied, but the rest followed their hunger and the smell of living prey. There were just a few hundred defenders available, and the enemy army numbered in the thousands, but regardless of the odds, they had to fight, if only to give the civilians time to escape.

Noah switched out his coat for his anti-paladin cloak and drank a healing and mana potion. “Seraph, can you give me a charge?”

Seraph placed his hand on Noah’s shoulder and released a mighty pulse of holy energy, charging up the cloak and imbuing Noah with a full-body monk enhancement. “There, you’re good.”

“Thanks. Everyone, listen up! I’m going to race ahead and pierce the enemy formation. Once I’m significantly surrounded and far enough from all of you, I’ll use my magic to stun them! Try to hold them at bay as long as you can until I lay them out!”

“Noah, this is too reckless,” said Valia.

“Stuff like this is only reckless when fools and weaklings do it. I’m a professional.”

Noah then took a step forward, and in an instant, he was gone, sprinting towards the enemy army with cheetah-like speed while wielding his Carthace blades. Seeing him approach, the fiends on the frontline all pounced as one and piled on him, only to realize he wasn’t really there. The real Noah, hidden from their senses, dove into their ranks while hacking and slashing like a food processor. Severed limbs and heads were tossed into the air, bifurcated torsos hit the ground, and endless toxic blood was sprayed as both fluid and mist.

Using his cloak, he could fight faster and carve deeper than ever before, killing multiple fiends every second, and thanks to his invisibility, none of them could even detect him. They could only watch as their allies were ripped into bloody chunks as if stepping on landmines, before death claimed them as well. Even if he wasn’t invisible, they could never hope to catch him. He sprinted through their ranks, with every Profane in his reach reduced to a splatter.

All of the warriors hanging back were in awe of the carnage. True, Noah was invisible and surrounded by fiends, but they could see the blood and body parts flying, hear the anguished screams and death rattles, and smell the path of destruction moving rapidly as he zoomed through the monster army like a fish through water. Everyone briefly felt a glimmer of hope, relieved that this mighty warrior was helping them. Still, he could not stop them all, and more fiends were charging towards the palace. All the fighters were nervous, feeling the terror they experienced the day they were saved by the Wassengel.

“Everyone, hit them with everything you have!” Aithorn ordered before launching a glowing arrow. Every mage and archer obeyed his command, unleashing their entire arsenal of magic and projectiles into the oncoming Profane wave. Most of their attacks did little more than make the fiends and ghouls stagger, but any who fell ended up tripping those behind them and slowing the advance. It was a small difference, but a difference none the less.

Finally, Noah reached a decent spot and conjured a bottle of monster repellent, spraying it all around him. The fiends, catching a whiff of the olfactory poison, squealed in horror and disgust and fled. For what Noah was about to do, he needed an extra layer of protection. He then released his invisibility and conjured his summoning grimoire.

He flipped to his new favorite page and cast the magic, with a colossal illusory basilisk appearing behind him. Back at the palace, everyone who was there on Knight’s Day, everyone who opposed Noah and met his wrath, were now cheering. They knew precisely what that monster could do, and looked forward to seeing it unleashed upon their enemies.

The illusory basilisk opened its jaws and released a piercing scream at maximum volume, with Noah doing his best to keep the faux sound from reaching the defenders. Upon hearing the oscillating shriek, the fiends and ghouls went lame as Noah’s mana attacked their ears and minds. Their bodies seized up, no longer obeying their commands, and their thoughts were erased by soul-shredding agony. No level of pain tolerance could shield them from this paralyzing torture.

The defenders, about to be overrun by the swarm, watched as the rampaging monsters collapsed, unable to move when subjected to such agony. They could faintly hear the basilisk’s scream as Noah’s mana leaked past his control, making his former victims shudder from the memories. Noah kept the scream going for ten seconds, then released the spell. He had held back compared to Knight’s Day, hoping to avoid magical whiplash, but he still staggered in pain and disorientation. Not all of the fiends between Noah and the defenders had been stunned, with a buffer of the unaffected beasts still baring down on them, but after being galvanized by Noah’s actions, everyone was ready to fight. Seeing the basilisk vanish, Aithorn switched his bow for his spear.

“Attack!” he shouted.

Everyone charged into the horde, racing to vanquish the unaffected fiends so they could start slaughtering the ones that were stunned. There was no telling how long they would stay down, so they had to work fast.

“Stabbing won’t kill them!” Valia shouted. “Either behead or dismember them!”

Aithorn ripped through the fiends with his lightning-wrapped spear. Valia separated head from neck with rapid, elegant slashes. Shannon crushed their skulls under her hooves. Bojena sliced the fiends into pieces with her wind rings. Alexis rained enchanted arrows upon their ranks. Sophia used healing magic to dismantle their unholy flesh at the near-cellular level. Berholm pulverized their bodies with martial arts. Daniel disoriented them with sharp cords of his repaired guitar. Elyot bombarded them with elemental volleys. Cyrilo fried them with holy magic from her grimoire. Seraph annihilated line after line of fiends with hammer strikes and divine blasts.

Every warrior holding the line fought with everything they had, driven to punish these monsters for destroying their home. Once they finished eliminating the unaffected fiends, then they started mopping up the stunned beasts. Mages with wide-area spells rained death and destruction upon their foes, while severing slices and decapitating strikes made sure the monsters that had fallen would never rise again.

Everyone was battling their hardest, and at the head of the pack was Noah, slicing and dicing with his Carthace blades. As the defenders finished slaying the stunned fiends, Noah again dove into the enemy ranks, slaughtering every monster that stood before him. Upon arriving at a decent spot, he again summoned the basilisk and laid waste to the Profane army with its scream, and thus the cycle repeated itself. Things were going well, but after the third scream, Noah sensed a familiar foe zooming towards him with incredible speed. He exchanged his Carthace blades for his knight sword, just in time to block a slash from Tysinger, only this time, he withstood the force.

“Wandering Spirit, so we meet again.”

“Tysinger, it’s been a while. Valia told me about your offer to make her a ghoul instead of me. I must say, your philandering breaks my heart. Was I simply a cute little number for you to fool around with?”

“That offer has expired. The only thing I’ll turn you into is a corpse.”

The two then separated, only to go at it again, their swords moving and colliding at breakneck speeds. For anyone watching, their bodies were indiscernible blurs, with every collision of their blades producing sparks, not from metal sheering off from the impacts, but from flashes of mana, making it look like they were being swarmed by a hundred fireflies flashing their bioluminescence. Aithorn and Valia, the only two warriors with eyes capable of following what was going on, both momentarily paused, left awestruck by the exchange. The level of swordplay being shown here was nothing short of legendary.

Having fought Tysinger before, Valia understood the skill and power needed to match him, the inhuman level of battle ability required to counter his Profane might and expert swordsmanship. Looking at Noah now, it was like she was seeing his true form, as if he had discarded his mortal coil and was displaying his full power. Thanks to his cloak, he was no longer restrained by human limits. He could now fight as he wanted to, his body able to properly follow his will.

Tysinger was left shocked by this increase in Noah’s speed and strength. His physical abilities were all augmented, but more than that, his mastery over them was absolute, as if he had lived all his life with this superhuman speed and strength. This was a man accustomed to extreme levels of combat. It was taking everything he had to keep from getting sliced, and no matter what he tried, he could not slip past Noah’s guard or overwhelm his evasiveness. It was euphoric, the kind of battle he had always dreamed of, a battle requiring every ounce of his strength and focus. He previously thought Valia Zodiac was the greatest opponent he’d ever faced, the only opponent who could fulfill his deepest desires, but truly, it was Noah who gave him the experience he craved.

“Seraph! Hit me!” Noah shouted, feeling his cloak starting to run low on power. Seraph momentarily paused his battle to blast Noah with a holy beam, charging him back up. “That’s better.”

“Bah! You’re still relying on cheap parlor tricks!” Tysinger scoffed as he leaped back to open some space. He raised his katana, wrapping the serrated blade in bloody mana before swinging it. “Sanguine Wrath!” A devastating wave of mana was unleashed, carving through everything in its path. Noah sidestepped out of the way and sprayed Tysinger with mana bullets.

“Maybe, but they get the job done.”

Tysinger, left momentarily paralyzed by the bullets, tried to raise his sword to block a cleave from Noah, but he lacked the strength to hold him back, and Noah’s sword ripped through his torso, gouging him from collarbone to hip.

“Your sword!” Tysinger gagged in pain.

“I gave it some minor modifications, imbuing it with the holy element using residue left behind by a dead angel. Since I’m not a paladin, I can’t fire off any ranged attacks or wrap it in aura, but it’s just strong enough to make your wounds more painful and difficult to heal.”

Regardless of the injury, Tysinger switched his sword to his other hand and went on the offensive, slashing at Noah with all the speed he could muster. Noah fended him off with one hand while using his other hand to riddle Tysinger with bullets. Tysinger, remembering their debilitating effects, did his best to dodge, but now Noah was faster, and the ghoul was struggling to keep out of the line of fire. No matter what he did, how he dodged, blocked, or attacked, Noah was still getting him with both bullet and blade. He was receiving countless wounds, each exceedingly painful and taking much more time and mana to heal. If this kept up, his death was inevitable.

However, the tide began to turn. Tysinger could sense Noah again slowing down as his cloak ran low on power. Without another blast from Seraph, he’d once again be stuck fighting like any other human, and at the moment, Seraph had no time or energy to spare. The fiends were forcing the defenders back. Without Noah’s basilisk to paralyze the Profane army, they were advancing and whittling away at Uther’s forces. Seraph was more than holding his own against the unholy monsters, but one by one, the weakest and most tired fighters were being picked off. Tysinger just had to hold out a little longer, and victory would be his. However, Noah was aware of this and acted accordingly.

Surprising Tysinger, Noah tossed his sword at him. This was not a precise throw meant to wound him, more like a gentle lob. Tysinger deflected the blade and saw Noah charging towards him with a pair of knives, but at the last second, he realized his eyes were deceiving him, and his spiritual senses detected Noah’s killing intent coming from behind. He felt something round pressed to his back, like the rim of a bowl. In actually, it was one of the parabolic mirrors Noah used to charge his tralt jewels with sunlight, and his last fully charged jewel was already in position. Instead of absorbing sunlight, he unleashed it all in a single moment, and the parabolic mirror focused it into a beam that burned straight through Tysinger’s chest and left a hole the size of a dinner plate.

Tysinger, now missing his heart, most of his lungs, and a large portion of his spine, collapsed. Even as a ghoul, he could not remain standing after receiving such a wound. His eyes were hollow, but Noah still wanted to confirm the kill. However, as he reached for his sword, the ghouls seized Tysinger and carried him away. Before he could give chase, Noah heard something: silence, or to say, a reduction in the deafening thunder of battle. The explosions and roaring fires from Gradius had gone quiet, and looking towards the dungeon crab, he couldn’t see any sign of the juggernaut fighting. Had he been defeated?

The answer came in the form of a wave of destruction surging from the base of the dungeon crab, a storm of black blades that eviscerated everything in their path, human and Profane alike. It carved a path through the demon horde, mowed down several of the scant few defenders still remaining, and obliterated a portion of the castle. Now, with a road leading straight to the heart of the battle, Scyler wasted no time making his way over. He appeared before Noah and the last stand in the blink of an eye, smiling just as before, with the fiend army waiting for him to give the order.

“Ah, the fall of Uther. Originally, I had planned on chipping away at your territory, one town at a time. I’d force all you two-legged livestock to corral yourselves in this city and let you wallow in terror for a while, then set loose my army to feed and feed until their bellies burst. However, after discovering we were made a fool of by the Liege, you could say I had a change of heart. I decided to exterminate you without warning, giving you no time to say your prayers, get your affairs in order, or prepare yourselves for the end. Tell me, how am I doing? Did our sudden arrival scare you the way I wanted?”

No one could answer, left silent by fear and fatigue. Against the combined might of Scyler and the Profane army, the battle was hopeless. Even if Noah and all the best fighters combined their strength and somehow managed to defeat Scyler, they’d still be overrun and slaughtered by the fiends. This was far from Noah’s first no-win situation, and they were called that for a reason. But then Noah’s eyes were drawn to the sky.

“Speaking of sudden arrivals.”

Everyone else followed his gaze, even Scyler, who immediately lost his smile. “No,” he said to the streak of light hurtling towards Colbrand.

As it approached, more streaks of light filled the sky, separating from the original, and proceeded to rain down on Colbrand like a carpet bombing. Hundreds of meteorites of holy energy bombarded the fiend army, slaughtering the Profane ranks without any way to dodge or hide. Tarnas, riding the wind on wings of light, landed nearby, with countless people cheering. The supreme knight, the world’s greatest paladin, Light’s Emissary—Adwith Tarnas had joined the fray.

“Northern Uther is now Profane-free. Time to deal with the south,” he growled.

“Ah, Adwith Tarnas. Talk about poor timing. While you were galivanting around, I’ve been destroying your city and slaughtering your people.”

Tarnas drew his sword and pointed it at Scyler. “You’re right; I have a bad habit of always being late. I’m cursed with an endless stream of people needing my help, always standing between me and my goal, but as long as nobody kills you before I do, I am never truly too late to the fight. Colbrand may have fallen, but unlike you, Uther will live on!”

The two enemies faced each other, Tarnas wrapped in light with Scyler surrounded by a storm of blades. With nothing less to say, they tackled each other, moving so fast that it was like bullets colliding. Tarnas was slashing at Scyler, his light-wrapped sword carving through the ghoul’s automatic defenses like he was hacking through brush, when all of Noah and Valia’s attacks had failed. Scyler was countering with slashes of his own, bombarding Tarnas with his blades, only for them to be disintegrated by Tarnas’s radiating light. It was taking all of Scyler’s resilience just to be this close to Tarnas without bursting into flames, like fighting the angel all over again. However, though his blades were being destroyed, they were leaving their mark, with the scratches on Tarnas’s armor growing in number every second.

Tarnas swung at Scyler with a diagonal chop, but Scyler jumped back, and Tarnas pursued, now launching a blast ahead of him. Scyler dodged and countered with a honed blade, sharper and more powerful than the others. It slashed Tarnas’s face, narrowly missing his eye, but Tarnas leaned forward and swung his sword once more, this time managing to rip Scyler open with a fresh wound while his own healed.

Scyler slashed the ground, setting off an explosion underneath that knocked Tarnas back. Scyler didn’t let the opportunity go to waste and rained blades upon Tarnas, stabbing and slashing. Tarnas shielded himself with a blast of light, then launched himself towards Scyler with his wings. His downward slash ripped through Scyler’s defenses, and granted that opening, Tarnas crouched, widening his stance and building his strength before swinging his arm like a battering ram and punching Scyler in the stomach, lifting him off his feet while setting off an explosion of light in his hand.

Scyler had an ample amount of blood expelled from his mouth, as well as all of his breath, but as his flesh disintegrated, he sprang into action, using his blades to carve out the afflicted section of his torso, just like how he sliced off his own flesh to escape Noah’s monster repellent. Connected to his lower body by just his spine, Scyler leaned forward and touched Tarnas’s stomach. Beneath his skin, a dozen blades ripped through his intestines, making Tarnas similarly vomit blood.

Through dark and holy magic, the two mighty fighters healed their wounds and tackled each other once more. With wings of light and darkness, they launched themselves into the air, colliding repeatedly and producing shockwaves that slammed down on everyone. Scyler flew backwards, trying to keep some distance while continuing to overwhelm Tarnas with endless blades.

Tarnas raised his hand towards Scyler. “Lumendori’s Gaze!”

Several golden magic circles appeared around him, all firing beams of light at Scyler. Scyler retreated, zooming across the sky to escape the blasts carving through the destroyed city and eviscerating the Profane mob. He countered with a barrage of blades, putting in enough power to slice through aura and steel and repeatedly lacerate the mighty paladin. With his wounds healing, Tarnas took off after Scyler, the two leaving trails of explosions across the sky.

Blasts of light fell upon the landscape, blossoming into explosions that lit up the night, while massive ribbons of darkness, slithering through the air like serpents, tore the earth asunder and opened fissures that were filled by the sea. The longer the fight went on, the more intense it was becoming. It wouldn’t be long before the entire geography of the area was changed.

Everyone should have been terrified of being reduced to ash by Tarnas’s blasts or carved into tiny pieces by Scyler’s blades, but they were all too awestruck by the scene before them. So much power was being released, so much destruction wrought by these two supreme beings. Light’s Emissary and the leader of the Profane, how could any of them compare to these demigods and the limitless energy they seemed to wield? The one most amazed was Seraph, now truly understanding the role he was expected to fill.

Tarnas was doing well, holding his own against Scyler, but most of his armor had already been stripped away by Scyler’s blades, and his blood was filling the air around him as fresh wounds were inflicted just as fast as old wounds sealed. Meanwhile, Scyler was once again burned from head to toe, simply for his proximity to Tarnas, but he wasn’t weakening or slowing down.

Light and darkness, they collided again and again, each time shaking the earth. The fight was neck and neck until Scyler managed a decisive hit. It was pure luck, but he severed Tarnas’s right arm and his wing. Scyler bombarded Tarnas with more slashing blades as he fell from the sky. Tarnas landed among the rubble of the arena, leaving Scyler floating in victory.

“No!” Seraph screamed at the sight, with everyone else feeling their hope dying.

Noah then took off in a sprint, running towards Scyler while firing twin phantom machine guns. “Tarnas is too strong to be taken out that easily! Everyone, we have to buy him time to heal! Hit Scyler with everything you have left!”

Fueled by desperation, everyone with long-range magic and weapons chased after him, pouring every last drop of mana into this final stand. Scyler, elevated above the ruined city, nearly fell out of the sky from the strike of Noah’s bullets. His automatic defenses weren’t working like before. All the hits he had received from Tarnas had weakened him, leaving him susceptible to damage.

“Wandering Spirit, you no longer interest me. Now, I simply need you to die.”

He took aim at Noah, but before he could attack, an arrow from Alexis pierced his palm and destroyed his entire hand. He hissed in pain, surprised by both its intensity and how his wound wasn’t healing as it was supposed to. More spells and arrows were flying towards him, but he fended them off and dodged what he could, then countered with raining blades that shredded the earth and anyone they came in contact with.

The sky then lit up as Aithorn summoned his Divine Winged Snake, soaring over the city. Without a thunderstorm to help build the charge, it was much weaker than it was on Kisara Island, but there was still a glimmer of fear in Scyler’s eyes as it lunged for him. Aithorn’s spear shot towards Scyler, but he grabbed it with his remaining hand before it could impale him and unleash its charge.

Guiding it with all of his remaining strength, Aithorn had the lightning apparition push Scyler across the sky, with him fighting back as if trying to resist being swallowed by a real giant snake. With a demonic howl, he swung his arm with his missing hand and launched the most powerful blade he could, slicing Aithorn’s spear down the middle, and continuing to do the same to the entire Divine Winged Snake, splitting it in two.

Exhausted and burned by Aithorn’s lightning, Scyler dropped out of the sky. As soon as he touched down, a pillar of water rose up and swallowed him, courtesy of Cyrilo. It formed a twisting sphere, spinning Scyler around as fast as possible to keep him from gaining his bearings. Regardless of the disorientation, Scyler released an omnidirectional burst of blades, ripping open the sphere and allowing him to escape. However, before he could catch his breath, he was caught in the shadow of two massive stone hands, formed by Opal. They slammed down onto him with crushing weight, only to be shattered by his mighty strength and a dark explosion.

As dust filled the air, Noah circled Scyler while bombarding him with flashbangs, leaving him disoriented. In that moment of weakness, Berholm, his abilities augmented by Sophia’s blessing, zoomed over and delivered a mighty kick to the side of Scyler’s head, bypassing his defenses and snapping his neck. Scyler was sent flying by the blow, before being hit in the air by Bojena’s Tempest Hammer.

Scyler was devoured by a continuous explosion of shredding wind, and Elyot joined in with his most powerful fire spell. Bojena’s wind fueled the flames, producing a twisting inferno capable of melting steel. Valia, her body protected from the flames with magic, jumped into the fray in a move that would have been suicidal for anyone else. Within the inferno, she gathered all of her mana into her blade and slashed Scyler across the chest, nearly slicing him in half.

As the flames finally withered, Scyler hit the ground, charred and barely held together. Daniel hit him with a continuous sharp cord, paralyzing him with music just as he had with Bella. With the Profane leader pinned, everyone unleashed everything they had left. Arrows, spells, and mana bullets bombarded him from all angles, taking away what little air of superiority he had left, and leaving just frustration.

“Annoying flies!”

He stomped the ground, unleashing all of his power into the earth and setting off an explosion that hurled dirt and bedrock into the air, and sent everyone flying like ragdolls. Those who survived the explosion still had to contend with the painful landing. Everyone, Noah included, was left grounded by the attack, struggling to stay conscious.

“Minions, time to finish the job! Kill them all!”

All the fiends throughout Colbrand, those who had managed to survive Tarnas’s onslaught, howled in delight and swarmed to feast on their prey, with reinforcements pouring out of the top of the dungeon crab. However, they were stopped by a sudden earthquake rumbling throughout the land, coming from the ocean. Scyler and all of the fiends’ blood ran cold as a maelstrom began to churn out beyond the harbor. All of the escaped civilians, having fled onto ships, were just barely far enough to keep from being swallowed by the current. From the dark depths arose the Wassengel, a glittering blue gem radiating power.

“No,” Scyler gasped. He then turned around, sensing a familiar presence. Tarnas was standing behind him, bloody and bruised, but intact. He had reattached his severed arm, and upon it, he wore Galvin’s manacle. Noah, and the few others still alive and awake, were at a loss for words. Was it possible? Did Tarnas really have royal blood? Tarnas smirked and pointed his thumb back at the dungeon crab.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Scyler shouted, but it was too late.

The Wassengel pulled up water from the sea, absorbed it, compressed it at the molecular level, and fired it in a beam straight at the dungeon crab. The blast was weaker than the one used to kill the army from Welindar, but the beam striking the side of the dungeon crab still released a shockwave close in power to an atomic bomb. It swept across the devastated city, sending rubble and debris skyward, with the remaining survivors scrambling for cover while the fiends were sent flying like tumbleweeds in a tornado. Noah, ducking under a piece of bedrock, covered his ears as a deafening wave of steam and water vapor washed across the landscape like a tsunami, giving him numerous unpleasant flashbacks.

Soon, the blast settled, and Noah and the others came out of hiding. They gazed at the destruction of the Wassengel, in all its magnificence. The shell of the dungeon crab, strong enough to withstand the heat and pressure of the planet’s interior, was bested, with the entire upper portion of the Profane base wholly annihilated and its powdered wreckage scattered for miles behind it. The innards of the base could be seen, the Enochian architecture somehow restored and refurbished, but now ruined. Several portions were even glowing red-hot from the friction of the blast.

The only fighters still standing were Tarnas and Scyler, and that wouldn’t be the case for long. “You destroyed my home, demon, so I destroyed yours. Now, I’m going to end this.” Tarnas removed his knight ring and put on a different one from a string around his neck, imbued with an enhancement gem like Noah’s to increase its carrying capacity. He then pressed his palms together. “Light’s Emissary,” he cast.

A brilliant light shined from his body, illuminating the landscape and leaving Scyler hissing in pain as he tried to shield himself. Nobody could see, and no matter how they covered their eyes, the light bore through. Within moments, it faded, and everyone looked and gasped. Tarnas was floating above the battlefield with his wings of light once more, but that wasn’t all. The original steel armor he had lost to Scyler was replaced with a new golden set, ornate and magnificent, leaving no part of his body exposed, even Tarnas’s face. Just from a glance, Noah knew it was not made of any kind of physical matter. It was as if Lumendori himself had taken the very essence of holy light and forged it to create this armor.

“This is the true power of Light’s Emissary. Even with all of my training and strength, I can only endure it for a short amount of time, so I’ll be quick.”

Scyler howled in rebellion and launched a storm of blades at Tarnas, as powerful as he could make them, but unlike Tarnas’s regular armor, Scyler’s attacks couldn’t even touch it, let alone scratch it. At the moment, he was in a completely different league. Tarnas held out his hand, and from his ring, he conjured a massive hammer, with a shaft taller than he was and a head the size of a barrel. It was no ordinary hammer, and not just because of its size. The material, the craftsmanship, and the holy power radiating from it—this was clearly an Enochian weapon, supremely powerful, even among other weapons of the age. It was the only weapon truly worthy to be wielded by Light’s Emissary, and vice versa.

“The light beckons you, demon. You cannot flee.”

“No, I refuse to die like this!” Scyler roared, charging up every last drop of unholy power he had left.

“May you be embraced by the serenity of the divine. Lumendori’s Gavel!”

He swooped down, raising the hammer above his head, just as Scyler unleashed everything he had in one final attack. The light swept away the darkness and Tarnas brought down his hammer upon the Profane leader. There was a blinding flash and an explosion that seemed to shake the country itself, with holy light swallowing the entire destroyed city and disintegrating every last fiend and ghoul. Finally, the radiance faded, and the battle was over.

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The following day brought despair and exhaustion. For the victors of the battle, there was no time to rest, if it could even be called a victory. Only a fraction of the knighthood remained, including Aithorn, Elyot, Tarnas, and Valia, but almost everyone else in the Order was lost to the earthquake or the Profane. Countless people were also missing and presumed dead, both enemies and allies who had yet to be accounted for.

Under the light of the sun, the destruction of Colbrand was clear to see. Almost nothing was left standing, and beneath all the rubble were the slain citizens, tens of thousands swallowed by the earth. The race was on to look for survivors in the wreckage, and while earth magic certainly helped, it could not bring back the dead, and there were many. The Knight’s Sheath had suffered the same fate as every other building, reduced to charred wreckage like before, now dampened with the tears of Cyrilo, Alexis, and Sophia, mourning all of their friends. Aside from Daniel, they were all that remained of the Knight’s Sheath. Everyone else was dead, courtesans and refugees alike.

Where the arena once stood, there was only a crater. After the battle, the Profane base, still functioning, burrowed back into the ground. Their leader had been slain, their army laid to waste, but their dream, their nightmare, endured. There were still questions to be answered, but they would have to wait. Noah and everyone else were too busy looking for survivors and scavenging anything of use or worth.

As noon approached, Noah stopped his work to take a break. Digging for survivors never got easier, no matter what world he was in. It was always exhausting, and the summer sun wasn’t making things easier.

“Hey,” said Alexis, approaching.

“Hey,” he said. “I see you changed out of your wedding dress. You were beautiful in it.”

“Well, after that battle, it was so filthy that it just looked ridiculous. That’s why I hate wearing white. You can always see the dirt. Anyway, there is a meeting going on at the palace.”

“Anything to get me out of more work.”

The two of them walked side-by-side through the sea of destruction.

“So, how’s your family doing? I heard they made it through, thanks to Berholm.”

“There is nothing for me to say to my father, but I intend to speak with my mother and siblings. That said, I have no desire to go back home, even after this.”

“I figured you wouldn’t.”

“I know they’re alive, and they know I’m alive. As long as they’re safe, that’s good enough for me. Maybe someday we’ll reunite again, but the time will come when it’s ready.”

“That’s good.”

“Sophia told me that you forbade her from interfering with the wedding. You said I didn’t need to be saved. Did you figure that too?”

“As soon as you told us about the wedding, my immediate thought was, ‘She’s going to meet him at the altar and stab him in the eye.’ I know you too well. I knew you would initially play the shield, sacrificing yourself for the good of others, even if it meant suffering Galvin’s cruelty, but at the last second, your true self would emerge; the sword, unable to withstand being held in bondage, and you’d do something violent and extreme.

You would throw caution to the wind, gambling everything on Galvin’s threat of annihilation being a bluff, and kill him once and for all. After that, it was simply a matter of making sure Elyot was ready to deal with the Wassengel manacle.”

“When you put it like that, I sound terrible. Gods, I can’t believe I put everyone at risk like that.”

“Well, considering what happened immediately after, I’d say your actions aren’t worth fretting over. Besides, you fulfilled my expectations wonderfully.”

“You really had that much faith in me?”

“From the day we met.”

“Well, I’ve decided on something, something I want you to do for me.”

“What’s that?”

“Take me on an adventure. I’m sick of Colbrand, of being stationary. I want to see forests and mountains, to see what’s on the other side of the horizon. I want to be on the road, to camp beneath the stars. You said you didn’t invite me and Sophia on your quest because you knew how I felt about Valia and how Sophia felt about you. I’m grateful for that, for your consideration, but you and I are friends, Noah. I want to travel with you, to fight alongside you, to laugh and argue with you, to create stories with you. I’m not going to live my life avoiding you because I’m afraid of screwing things up with Sophia. So, wherever you go after this, whether it’s to find Valia’s brother or hunt the Profane, I’m coming with you, and I’m bringing Sophia, so we can have fun like friends should. If that causes problems, we’ll just have to fix them.”

“I’d like that.”

They arrived at the palace, where the survivors of Colbrand were being sheltered in the wreckage. The throne room was partially caved in, and everyone was waiting. However, someone stood out, though stood was not quite the word. It was Tarnas, sitting on the throne with the royal crown upon his head.

“Well, looks like we’re finally going to get to the bottom of this,” said Noah. “I hope you haven’t already told everyone everything, because I hate explaining things more than once and making others do it too.”

Tarnas took a deep breath. “I lost my parents when I was young and knew little of their lineage, but my predecessor as Light’s Emissary said that they were part of the royal family, though he was never entirely sure. When I came here, I kept it secret, because I knew that if I revealed the truth, countless people would push to make me king, something I absolutely had to avoid. I didn’t want to burden the kingdom with a battle of succession, especially since I couldn’t confirm my bloodline. Without proof, I’d just be a liar, when all I wanted was to serve as a knight faithful to King Leonard.

When Galvin rose to power, I considered taking the Wassengel manacle by force and wearing it myself, but if I was wrong about being royal blood, and I tried to remove the manacle incorrectly, the Wassengel might kill us all, and I couldn’t take that risk. Then, while I was healing in the wreckage of the arena, I found the manacle and decided it was as good a time as any to determine my lineage. Seraph and I are related by blood, hence our resemblance, but we are not father and son.”

“I can also guess why you’re sitting on the throne instead of Seraph.”

“We talked it over and agreed that I’m not ready to be king,” said Seraph. “I still need to see and experience more, and keep fighting to build my powers further. After that battle, no one in the country would dare refuse Tarnas’s claim to the throne. He’s earned the people’s respect and will be a far more capable ruler than I. Besides, though Colbrand has been destroyed, this area has far too many advantages to simply be abandoned.”

We’re going to rebuild,” said Berholm, “with the people living under Sir— King Adwith’s and the Wassengel’s protection until Seraph is ready to take the throne.”

“Noah, I get the sense that you won’t stick around, so wherever it is you plan on going, I’d like you to take Seraph with you and help him grow stronger,” said Tarnas.

“A sound strategy. I’ll stay for a bit to help, but I’m planning on going to Vandheim. We need to get the dwarves on the same page regarding the Profane, and I’m sure there are other things there worth looking into.”

“I like the sound of that,” said Valia. “Shannon, I hope you don’t mind climbing mountains.”

“Well, I’m from the horse tribe, not the mountain goat tribe, but I’ll follow wherever you lead.”

“I’ve also decided to go with him,” said Alexis. “Sophia, you in?”

Sophia, standing next to Madam Cyrilo, grinned from ear to ear. “Yes! Yes! A thousand times, yes!”

“Then Daniel and I will come too,” said Cyrilo.

“Are you sure? You don’t want to stay and help?”

“I’ve already had enough rebuilding for a good while. I don’t have it in me to do it again, at least not yet. There is nothing tying me to this ocean of debris… no reason for me to stay. Besides, I have eternal youth. I might as well use it for all it’s worth.”

“Berholm and I will remain here and help get Colbrand back on its feet, and keep order in Uther maintained,” said Aithorn. “Who knows, perhaps this could be for the best. After everything that’s happened, perhaps what this city needs most is a clean slate.”

“Hear, hear,” said Elyot, adjusting his glasses.

“All right, we have a plan,” said Noah. “Onward to Vandheim.”

Next book will be in January. Thanks for reading!

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