S3:CH13

North Castle. Cold, but not as cold as The Frozen North. The area had volcanoes and thermal vents that made it possible for heat to go upwards, which made it perfect for humans and Durgans to have a livable life here. The problem was, life was now unlivable thanks to the new creatures that roamed the nation - zombies.

Duchess Artoria Magrin, along with her daughter, Lady Euryale Magrin stepped out of an airship after staying low to avoid detection from CSS scouts. They landed safely in a small abandoned village. Windows were broken, and the doors were kicked down. The central campfire was still running however, and blood was on one of the corpses in the dirt roads that connected each house to each other. The dead corpse had an arrow to his back.

“CSS?” Euryale asked her mother, getting her magic ready, but Artoria held her daughter’s hand, and continued to look at the arrow.

“The feathers are white. The wood isn’t made out of Vonturian Wood. Too light for it.” The Duchess said, before walking closer to the corpse. A hooded figure followed the two as they continued their journey. “You know, I thank Queen Saverine for her insistence on having you guard us, but to put it simply, we don’t need you here.”

The hooded figure did not respond.

Artoria knelt down on the dead man. No bites, no scratches, and no sign of infection. This one was killed. No sign of decomposition as well, and the blood was still crimson red, and not dry. This one was new.

A falling wooden plank rang through one of the houses. Artoria and Euryale took out their swords and got ready. It was one person, and he carried with him 2 small axes. He wore a thick fur coat, and a bear head as his hat. His beard was long and rough, with some instances of blood, highlighting from his blonde hair. His dark green eyes scorned at the two Magrins, but smiled as they saw their white skin and blonde hair. The airship nearby also gave it away of what they were. This warrior grinned, and chuckled at the three nobles.

“Bröder!” he yelled, followed by the sounds of about more than a dozen men arriving at the scene, all of their weapons drawn. Most had axes, while the other few had spears. It was now evident what happened. These were not CSS, nor zombies. These were simply bandits.

“I wouldn’t be surprised that they would take the advantage of Jericho’s arrival to loot more villages.” Artoria said. Euryale followed suit and began to prepare to extract the last remaining life essence that the dead man had. Euryale then got her sword ready as well. She knew what to do if things got sour.

The hooded figure suddenly bumped in between them, walking forward. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” Euryale said, but the hooded figure kept on walking until she finally got in front of them to take off her hood. It was Lady Anemona, of The Golden Eagle Guard.

“En annan kvinna?” said the leader of the bandits, before laughing along with his men. Euryale counted the bandits that were encircling them. It was more than a dozen indeed. Well, 15…. 18…

“I see 20.” Euryale softly told Artoria, while her mother only nodded in response. Anemona however kept on walking until the leader’s face turned from laughter to anger in mere seconds. He, along with 2 of his men began to walk forward in order to face the one armed knight. Anemona took her spear off her back, and stopped walking. She looked deeply at the leader and his two assistants, then prepared her attack.

“Bara en arm. Väldigt lätt.” one of the bandit leader’s assistants said. *Only one arm. This is easy.*

They were about to find out…

The bandit leader opened with a downward swing to Anemona’s head. Anemona immediately dashed to the side and spun to hit one of the assistants who was on the right side. The spear was parried, but she then swept her feet to his legs, which tripped him, leaving him open to more attacks. This made the bandit leader turn around and swing his right axe to the side of Anemona, but she dashed back, causing the leader to use too much power and hit his assistant to the left side. The remaining assistant rolled to the side in order to recover, which was an opening for Anemona to focus on the leader. The bandit began to swing to the right, but the GEG knight put her spear backwards. This caused the leader to open up his face, his shoulder, and his neck, which was the perfect opening for the girl to finally do the killing stab to the neck.

The spear lodged itself into the neck of the bandit leader, while Anemona looked at the leader’s assistant, while the stabbed bandit tried his best to keep on swinging his axe, while his movements were becoming slower and slower.

The assistant ran away, while the group of bandits slowly backed off, before sprinting away. Anemona then looked at the bandit leader, now taking his last 5 breaths.

“Save your mana for later. Remember what we came here for.” Anemona said, while Euryale walked to the stabbed man, and the injured assistant.

“Very well then.” Artoria said, while following her daughter, before looking at Anemona in her eyes. “It looks like I misjudged you.”

Euryale knelt down and held the leader’s head. She then used her magic to do something to the leader’s body. The body started to move, but through time, it began to spasm out of control. The injured assistant beside him saw everything, and began to crawl away, but as he reached out to grab some dirt to hold on so he could move, a giant sword smashed his wrists, causing him to scream in pain.

The bandit leader’s body slowly became older and older, while his cells deteriorated. Euryale then stood up once the body looked like a husk. Now it was time for her to finally absorb the life essence of a better source. A living one.

“Nej.” the bandit assistant said as he saw what happened to his leader. However, it was too late, Euryale had already put her hand on his back. He was done for. “NEJ! NEJ! NEJ! NEJ!”

The assistant’s body slowly deteriorated into a pale and dry body, almost as cold and hard as a rotten tree branch. In the end, the assistant stopped breathing, and his eyes stared blankly at the sky, with an expression of terror found within his face. He was dead.

“Sanamancers…” Anemona said, looking cautiously at the two Magrins. Although to Artoria, she was being an irresponsible and insolent knight who should know her place by now. She was certain that she could have taken on every single bandit earlier, by herself, and she was here acting like she was the better fighter?

“You don’t know magic, Anemona.” Artoria said, before gathering some of the wind in the area to encircle on her body. “I suppose I was wrong to assume the Karthusian Golden Eagle Guards.”

Anemona shrugged, then continued walking. “I serve the Magrins, as a knight of the GEG. I make sure that no shifter is around the family.”

Euryale shifted her eyes towards the knight, making Anemona scoff again.

“You don’t think I heard about the rumors?” the knight continued. Artoria began to clench her fists, as she watched Euryale become slightly uncomfortable about the situation.

“Enough.” she said, causing the air around her to whirl slowly, making Anemona take a deep breath. She was not going to risk this fight.

“Aye, ma’am.” Anemona replied, before turning her back to keep walking. The two magrins followed suit, but were immediately stopped once they saw a wyvern flying in the distance.

“Get down! CSS!” Artoria said, as they ran to a nearby house to hide themselves.

–

The wyvern was uncontrollable, and the cold did not help in making sure that this would be a stable flight. Lady Dawn said that flying a wyvern was going to be as easy as riding the tamest dragon in all of Selyria. However, this was not a proper ride. It was like riding a giant turkey. A massive, hormonal, wrathful turkey.

“Hold still before I feed you to one of the dragons in the university!!!” Giggs said, as he was trying to steer the wyvern properly, only to see it descend violently from the sky. He was assigned to record the conflict in North Castle, but doing so was not an easy task. Well, if you consider going to a warzone by yourself, armed only with a pen, paper, and a small dagger, surrounded by shifter zombies, and CSS, he demanded in his mind that this mission had to pay extremely well. This was not something he was willing to just accept like a brisk in the park.

The wyvern began to go down… violently. Giggs felt a massive shiver down his spine as he swore that he was going to die on this day. He screamed, looking as the wyvern fought for control in the situation, and began to spiral downwards. This was the end.

A loud crash erupted on one of the wooden houses in North Castle. Perhaps he should have bought people with him, especially from the White Knights Regiment. However, this was something that already happened. This mistake cannot be changed.

—

“HEY!” A woman sounded from one of the peasants in the crowd. Pink hair, green eyes, and light skin. She was different from most of the ginger haired citizens of North Castle, but not too different for her to seem like an outcast. For the group of CSS soldiers that were taking her friend away though, it was so uncommon for them to see a group of citizens, especially durgans, having lively hair colors. “GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY FRIEND!” she shouted.

The person pulling her friend away was Uki, who was now covered in wounds and slashes, presumably from battle. They found a town that was still full of people, but what was left in their squad was something he did not want to talk about. “This person is an anomaly!” he said, trying to convince the crowd of his findings from earlier. “We have shifters trying to invade you, and infect you to become an undead!”

“How many bloody times do I have to tell you I’m not infected!” the person that Uki was holding said while struggling to break free.

“I am not a zombie! I am Lyka Wagan!!!” the girl said, before finally breaking free from the CSS Specialist’s grasp, but immediately being caught by Yudma, who was pushed by the girl with pink hair, trying to set her friend free, but was instead taken as well. Suddenly, they all saw something in the sky. It was too fast for an airship, and was too big for a ballista bolt. As the object moved close to them though, it was clear what it was.

“Bogie wyvern!!!” shouted one of the CSS members as the falling wyvern hit one of the houses nearby. A squad suddenly found it and was reported to be a dark elf which had documents coming from the Sovereign University of Vendeaux. All of them looked at Nath who then looked at them back with a stern face.

“Take them to the castle.” he said, before leaving and strolling through the walls of the newly raided castle. Many wooden furniture was burning, and the newly assaulted walls had turned into fallen debris. Much of the royal guards that were loyal enough to defend King John Loxly were dead, save for King John himself. He was beaten down, and weak, as he was too old to even fight. However, he still kept his crown on his head, refusing to even let anyone go near him. Some CSS Soldiers tried to walk up the platform of which his throne laid down, but they were either killed, or had their hands cut off. This explained the five CSS corpses that were being pulled out of the platform. The rest put their crossbows at him, ready to fire, but John Loxly did not budge, as he was willing to die fighting on his throne.

“I remember you.” the king said, while he wiped his hand off with his robe to take out the blood that spilled on it. Nath stopped, and immediately looked away, realizing who it was. “You’re that kid in Ravena, right?”

Nath did not reply, and only looked down. He motioned his hands in a circular manner, gesturing to his men to stand down. He took a deep breath, and then looked the king in the eye. King John chuckled, before coughing painfully.

“I see,” he said, clearing his throat. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…”

“I am not like Andrew.”

“Do you really think that to be the case?”

Nathaniel gripped his hands, the sounds of pressurized leather rang softly in the air around them, before the green general turned around to walk away. He passed by Uki, where he was putting green mana nullifiers on Lyka and the pink haired girl’s mouths, while also putting Giggs in one of the cells. He looked at the scenario, seeing how everything was turning out, and recalling what King John was saying. John Loxly was a former captain of The Red Blood Regiment. Although he never continued in making the Kingdom of North Castle a democratic state, it still meant that he was still loyal to the Selyrians. Nath then recalled this and realized that if this former member of the RBR did not do anything, then perhaps more Red Blood Regiment soldiers will never do anything. Perhaps no one is perfect, and this was enough for him to continue on. On the far end of the corridor was Valheim, and he was the one that made so much more change in the name of Vontur than any other Vonturian military officer could do. Maybe this mission was a step towards a new Vontur. Maybe he just needed to push further.

—

“It’s time.”

“But general, we don’t have enough potions-”

“People are dying. We cannot prepare until every peasant in the north is infected, or killed by the Committee of State Security.”

The Red Blood Regiment gathered around as some of the officers debated about the move. The Karthusian Royal Army was not going anyways, and the only help that they have is through the Black Valkyrie Regiment. They received word that the Golden Eagle Guard was not arriving, as they were still ensuring that they had enough healing potions. The Burning of Vendeaux was still fresh for everyone in Karthus, but for Kai, and the other Red Blood Regiment soldiers’ minds, the plight of the people is not something to view as mere statistics.

It was a good strategy for him as well. He knew that if they waited for far longer, the CSS would have prepared for stronger defensive measures in the area. They had paradoves that could throw molotov cocktails, VAC-equipped wyverns, and many scorpion bolts that would be a nightmare to deal with if they were properly placed. He knew that if they waited until they could refill their stock, then that would mean that the enemy would also be prepared to fight back with more weapons than before. It was a tough decision, but he needed to calculate this.

Kai walked beside him, as the crowd of Karthusians slowly grew to watch this debate. It was Karthus after all. Debates regarding strategies, politics, philosophy, or even trivial things were always a form of entertainment for them. Aida and Leon watched from afar as they were fascinated by how these people found arguments incredibly interesting. To her, it was just an argument. Chaos or fighting is not her form of entertainment. Ironic, as she was the colonel. 

“Back in Ravena, we always viewed arguments as a bad thing. It reeks of hate and anger.” Aida said, while watching the debate occur from afar. “Although I do admit, it is interesting to watch.”

“I know right?” Leon said, as he was cleaning his bow beside her. “So who’s winning?”

“I don’t know. It seems like a close battle.”

Aida then saw that the two debaters shook hands, and the rest of the Karthusians cheered. The two archers looked puzzled, then someone appeared from one of the tents. It was Luxe, now the newest Commander of The Red Blood Regiment. “And now they’re friends again?” Aida said as she crossed her arms, still confused at what was happening.

“It’s a debate, not a fight.” Luxe spoke, as he was also listening to the argument from afar. “We Karthusians debate to find solutions. Only those who have emotional attachments to their argument feel the need to refuse when they are wrong.”

“So who won?” Leon asked.

Kai walked towards the three red soldiers, then looked at Aida. “Get the comrades ready. We are heading for North Castle alongside The Karthusian Town Watch.”

What followed was a system of constant reforms and changes to the regiment. Aida became an advisor to Kai, and Leon became the new colonel as he was more adept at leadership compared to Aida. Luxe led a new squad called the Nighthawk Squad, and more squads started to form. Leon became the head of Falcon Squad, and Steven became a commander, leading Wyvern Squad. Each squad had their leanings and specializations, but for Kai, this was a necessary change for the next battle.

—

The CSS heard from a spy that the Red Blood Regiment was now preparing to move to North Castle. Everyone was suddenly alerted and armed themselves with their crossbows and other weapons. One of them was Lecarius, who had just hanged 5 more shifters in the last 2 days. The Steel Vanguard took off the dead corpses and tossed them into a pit, which was originally a large well in the barracks, 5 kilometers away from the castle. However, the hole was so large that it could fill hundreds of shifters inside it. One of the specialists, Xu Shuan, saw this, and sensed that it would only be a matter of time before Lecarius would choose the Nortic shifters in the dungeon. He went down and unlocked the cells one at a time, before disappearing back into the new headquarters, notifying General Nathaniel of what Lecarius had been doing. However, the Vonturian general was too busy, as four paradoves arrived with a recorded message from one of his units in the frozen north.

“THIS IS SERGEANT ALVIR! WE’RE UNDER ATTACK! MULTIPLE-”

“This is Specialist Rondel!!! The Red Blood Regiment has breached the fourth camp!!! I repeat!! AGH!!!”

“This is Specialist Cora Arnon from the 3rd battalion! We’re taking heavy artillery fire from this geomancer! We are under attack!”

“This is Battalion Commander Miguel Alvarez, we received word of this new Red Blood Regiment Squad called The Wyvern Squad. Their Squad Captain has been stealing our potions and rations, and has been… wait. Sir, they’re here- no. no. WAIT!!!”

Each paradove seemed more grizzled than the other, but the message was clear. They were arriving. They did not know that they would be arriving this quickly, but even so, they still needed to act quickly.

“Get your men.” Nathaniel said, as he then walked out of the headquarters and began to order his units to arm everything in the castle. The Steel Vanguard was now ready to keep itself stationed for a possible attack, and it would all be hell when the Selyrians arrived.

—

The Red Blood Regiment arrived at North Castle. They immediately set up camps in order to prepare for the battle. The Black Valkyrie Regiment was the first to arrive, and they immediately went to work. They snuck up silently in the northern castle, and they made sure that they weren’t seen. They got the information they needed, and got the proper layout of the castle. Once they returned, they finally gave the information back to General Kai, who was eager to have it as long as they were in the plan.

“Airships on the back of the castle, while the mothership is in the southern barracks…” General Kai said, before nodding at the Black Valkyrie General in front of him. Kindred was nowhere to be found, perhaps too ashamed to even face his former comrade. However, none of it mattered to Kai now. There was a war, and if he was going to work with murderers for the sake of preserving the lives of the people, then so be it.

The Capital City of North Castle was surrounded by CSS rangers, clearing the houses of anyone that seemed infected, or if they had any sort of shifter blood in them. The durgans towered over the human vonturians, but their crossbows spoke louder than any sort of intimidation they would try. Rumor had spread that the king was captured by the Vonturians, but another rumor also stated that the king refused to kneel for the Vonturian, inspiring the people to take up arms in secret, prompting the Black Valkyrie Regiment to help them recruit more rebels to the cause. As the Red Blood Regiment arrived in the port of Karlia - the main port of North Castle, it was clear that the war was here.

“Your liberal members quit the brotherhood and decided to join our regiment. I hope this was not too much trouble for you.” Kai said to William, who was just about to turn around to keep spying on the city.

“I think it is you who should worry about that, general.” William said to Kai as he called upon his horse to ride with his fellow assassins. As some of those assassins stayed, Kai realized that these new members might be spies as well, so he had to call upon someone he knew was the biggest critic of the monarchy.

“Commander Luxe.” he said, before turning around. “Make sure to keep an eye as you lead Nighthawk Squad. This squad will be our primary spies for night missions.”

“And why me, may I ask?” Luxe said.

“I suppose your political leanings could balance out the middle ground between the Black Valkyrie Regiment that would be joining-”

“The what?”

“You heard me.” Kai said, now smirking, before walking towards him to pat his shoulder. “I wish to see if you’ve really changed, and I wish to see if they really changed. Good luck.”

—

Leon, now the Colonel of the Red Blood Regiment, crouched as he faced the cliff overlooking the capital city below. CSS Airships scanned the area, and many of them brought down ropes where specialists rappelled down in order to raid a house. Aida, now the advisor of General Kai, stood beside him, getting ready for his next move. This was the statement that they would set, if the first blood would be drawn here, the battle would now begin. The barracks were far from here, but if they played their cards right, The Steel Vanguard, who were guarding the barracks, would be too late to stop them.

“Everyone picked their targets?” Leon said, as he looked back to see his own squad - Falcon Squad.

“Aye sir.” all of them answered as they started to grip the string of the bow. Leon nodded, and began to pull his string, causing the other squad members to do the same.

“Fire at will.” Leon said, before a hail of arrows shot out of the sky and into the garrison near the capital city. Some of the CSS officers saw the large chunk of miniature javelins hurling towards them, but it was too late. When the arrows rained down from the sky, all of the rangers in the walls died, prompting some of the more armored people to ring the large bell. However, they realized that even if they did, they would all meet their deaths here. One of the surviving CSS soldiers was Zanloleth Extervus, who had just seen his fellow soldiers take several arrows around him, due to the Red Blood Regiment, causing him to grip his hand into a fist. He immediately was tasked to ring the bell for reinforcements, but he saw the army from afar. The gray grass that covered the fields outside of the capital, flooded with maroon all over, like a tidal wave of blood. He realized that even if he would ring the bell, he was done for. But what was he here for if that was the case? He wanted to save lives for the republic. But all that training went towards this moment. Conquering a neutral nation, while seeing death himself waiting for his young body at the age of 17. He realized that his life as a soldier would now be immediately stopped, at just 17, due to this pointless war. The clenched fists of his slowly faded, and he started to walk back. It was too late anyways, even if he completed his task, he would be…

4 large boulders hitting the bell, not only ringing it, but also destroying it, creating a deafening ring around the area. He turned to his right to see a group of Red Blood Regiment soldiers, less organized than the rest, began to throw fireballs and rocks at the wall, decimating it second by second. He had heard of this before. It was them. They were the ones he heard from the paradoves that came from the camps.

“ON ME WYVERN SQUAD YEAAAHHHH!!!!” Commander Steven said, while being covered in cuts and burns all over his body. He loved his injuries, and he loved it especially when he was in critical condition, because if he were to have these injuries, he would qualify as an injured person, making the medics not hesitate in giving him healing potions. And he especially loved the feeling of his body being healed by the potion. It was… intoxicating… maybe even addicting.

Wyvern Squad was now leading the charge, and they simply pushed through the garrison, like a gigantic grizzly bear angry at its prey, they tore the area to shreds, leaving nothing but rubble and dust. It was very chaotic and at times, imprecise, but once they destroyed the garrison, they had no difficulty in pushing through the city. The people cheered, as they heard of the reputation of The Red Blood Regiment, but once they destroyed the city gates, and some of the houses, their faces of awe turned into caution.

“WYVERN SQUAD, HALT!” General Kai arrived, stopping Steven as the rest of his squad stood by. He then motioned his hand to Luxe, who now nodded at the Black Valkyrie Regiment, and The Nighthawk Squad to pick out the escaping CSS soldiers from the fight. All of them jumped from roof to roof, as the fear in the CSS soldiers’ faces turned into a pale look of death. 

“Ensure that the people of North Castle are safe, and protect them in the Town Square.” General Kai told Steven, as the commander looked a bit disappointed. He wanted more fights, and more opportunities to develop injuries, but now he was only tasked with guarding the people. Perhaps it was enjoyable as well seeing the people safe, but he wanted battles. “The city is still infested with zombies in some areas. Nighthawk squad is not equipped to take those things down.”

Steven smiled. They would search and rescue citizens, but there would still be fights. However, he realized that he should be more careful now. One bite from the zombies, and it would be over. He looked around to find one of his squad members from the mage division. “Do we still have potions left?”

The medic looked at her back, then her eyes widened in fear. Steven used them all.

Wyvern Squad pushed through house to house, rescuing the civilians and putting them in a safer place in the town square. The zombies were everywhere, but Nighthawk Squad acted as a distraction to lure them to certain areas where they would avoid as many people as they could. Wyvern Squad would then go in to rescue them, and put them in the Town Square. Falcon Squad would pick off the zombies with their bows, while Dragon Squad, led by Captain William, would protect the civilians in the town square should there be an attack coming from the CSS. The process was quick and full of haste, making the people feel comfortable. As more and more people turned to safety, the zombies started to disappear one by one.

“Wait.” Luxe said, making all of his squad members, except for the BVR, stop. Something was off. He, along with his other squad members have been jumping from the rooftops for quite some times now. Indeed, they have picked off many CSS rangers in the streets and alleys, but there seems to be no sign of the zombies. No groans, no growls, and no other loud noises from afar. Not even a scream. It would be impossible that Jericho did not go to North Castle, as they did fight off some stragglers in some of the key areas, but it was strange that…

A rumbling sound soon erupted from afar.

The archers continued to fire as they saw the 3rd wave. This time, it was filled with Durgans. Dragon Squad immediately went to defend the streets, but these were durgans. Very powerful creatures, stronger than mere humans. They sprinted through the cobblestone walls and rammed through the shields of Dragon Squad. General Kai saw this and immediately helped Dragon Squad by burning the zombies to the ground. He was not willing to kill anyone, but they were already dead, so it made it more bearable to do what needed to be done. 

A gust of flame erupted from the general’s hands, turning into a massive net of blaze that encapsulated the zombies, turning their skin into burnt crisps of flesh and bone. He then ordered Dragon Squad to relocate the people to a different area where Falcon Squad resided for reconnaissance. It was a rural area just outside the walls of the city of North Castle. It may not be full of walls, but it was high ground, and had trees to create tents for. With the knowledge of The Red Blood Regiment in creating houses and other things, due to them being peasants in their other lives, they knew how to make these without any effort. Well, specifically the Ravenians of course, as the Karthusian peasants knew more about medicine, which would be perfect in preserving the lives of the people of this nation.

Dragon Squad immediately rushed to help the people and led them to the streets, fighting zombies in some of the areas and making sure that the people ran safely. Commander Anno took control of the charge, and slashed as many zombies as possible with his sword. Oliver followed suit and rode alongside Anno in order to watch his back. After many of Dragon Squad left the scene along with the people, what was left was Wyvern Squad on the town square, Nighthawk Squad on the roof, and Falcon Squad in the houses. Kai saw his glowing veins, and it was reaching to his wrist. He had to be careful now.

The zombies stopped coming, and they sensed that the creatures shifted their direction towards the southwest. The Red Blood Regiment and Black Valkyrie Regiment felt confused, and looked towards the direction of where the sounds were coming from. Birds soon arrived from the sky, and it made Nighthawk Squad and Falcon Squad smile. “It took them a while to come.” Leon said, while reloading 55 arrows back to his quiver, given to him by logistical members of Falcon Squad.

As the zombies rushed in to devour all of The Red Blood Regiment, Steven used his Geomancy Magic to slam the zombies with the house walls, smashing them before they could even reach the commander. Jericho’s eyes widened, but immediately turned into a glare. He turned around, then smirked, as a loud siren emitted from afar.

“I thought my creatures would be enough!” Jericho shouted, before walking backwards. “But I suppose my plan still worked with all of you being stuck here.”

Steven, now being weak, tried to stand up, seeing his glowing veins now on his neck. He then realized that his body was covered in rubble, and that Nighthawk Squad was gone. It was only Falcon Squad and Wyvern Squad that was left, and Steven’s comrades saw him all helpless. They ran towards him in order to help,  but before they could reach him, a loud rumbling began to occur from afar.

Heaps of armored men adorned in Vonturian Darksteel charged at the Squad, all with their poleaxes and swords ready to slaughter the democrats. Steven yelled for his members to run, but due to his efforts, Wyvern Squad would never leave his side. Instead, they charged back, straight to the battle, and straight to the danger, similar to what Steven was always doing. The difference was, they were now out of healing potions. Several arrows from the sky emerged and fell down the squad, and a chorus of pain erupted from the mouths of his comrades, including him, as one crossbow bolt hit his stomach. He tried to push the rocks that covered him, but they were simply too heavy for his small manaborn body. The battle ensued, and blood spilled all over Steven, as he saw his comrades die in front of him. Wyvern Squad was unpredictable and chaotic, so they put up a very good fight against The Steel Vanguard, but they were simply unarmored. The CSS Battalion did have a hard time trying to hit them, or even scare them, but at the end of the day, they were the ones who had the armor. 

Valheim felt the glory as he cheered while riding his wyvern towards the mothership. It was the one raining arrows through the battlefield. As he arrived, he saw that The other Steel Vanguard knights were busy throwing out Lecarius’s flammable gas into the houses of North Castle. They cheered, as they saw the numbers of The Red Blood Regiment dwindle. Valheim smirked and began to walk towards the ballista area of the Mothership. “It’s time.” he said, smiling.

Aida and Leon then began to quickly arm their bows along with Falcon Squad in order to give support to Steven. “Remember to always aim for their helmet holes.” Aida said, before smirking at Leon. “But I doubt you will.”

Leon scoffed and laughed with Aida. “Just see how I will beat you by a large margin.”

The two archers counted their kills with each of their shots. Aida was fully focused, but made sure that Leon was annoyed by her constant beating of his score. Leon was adamant about beating Aida, and playfully said words like “grandma Aida.” in order to tick her off, but none of it went through her. The two were so focused with their battle that the other archers of Falcon Squad started to stop firing and just gave their arrows, upon realizing that the two always managed to pass through the armor of The Steel Vanguard. They looked in awe and shock, as they saw both of them just killing the fascists so quickly. 

A swarm of large 2 meter arrows rained down from the sky. It hit the roofs, destroying them completely, exposing Falcon Squad hiding from the houses. Aida and Leon saw that the mothership was here, and now had to come up with a new plan. With them stopping in their shooting, Wyvern Squad noticed a stronger push from The Steel Vanguard. The ones at the front felt their stomachs stabbed, and their heads cut off. The ones at the back saw their comrades die in front of them, and the ones in the middle could not do anything but realized that they could not escape, as they were now going to be the next one in the slaughter of the Darksteel Knights. Steven saw the carnage and tried his best to push the rocks away from him, but it was simply too heavy for him. All he could do was watch and scream, as his men kept on being massacred in front of him. The last of the Wyvern Squad members heard his yell, and ignorantly thought that he wasn’t using his Geomancy powers, without realizing that his glowing veins were now on his neck.

Leon saw the battle unfolding, and ordered the rest of Falcon Squad to fire while he ran to help Steven up. Aida followed, but as she turned around to look for Leon, he was already with Steven trying to throw all the boulders away from him. “You suicidal maniac.” Leon said, while throwing all the rocks away from him. More arrows rained down, and Leon did not care, as he continued to keep taking out the rocks from the tiefling. Aida saw that the mothership was reloading its ballista bolts, and she began to sprint to the two. With the final rocks finally being taken out, Steven finally had the chance to drink his final healing potion. He looked at his body and saw that he had one of his closest calls yet. An arrow to the stomach, broken legs, and a heavily bruised right arm. 

“I am… Steven Skullacia. I am the wildest of this regiment.” Steven said, before drinking the last healing potion of The Red Blood Regiment. The potion immediately circulated through his body, repairing his cells rapidly. The pleasure of the healing factor spiked as the last drops were finally sipped, and he felt all his injuries reverse with the last of the liquid finally gone from the flask. He sighed in relief, but immediately saw the massacre in front of him. He immediately stood up and grabbed his sword to try to fight, but before he could even charge forward, he saw another swarm of arrows.

“LEON! STEVEN! GET OUT OF THERE!” Aida yelled, as she sprinted to the two, looking up at the sky, and feeling the panic rise between them. The ballista bolts were 2 meters, and this was not something they could easily brush off. These destroyed roofs, and annihilated armies. As the sky turned darker due to the shade of the countless bolts in the sky falling down the 2 armies, Aida kept running, about to pass beside a house wall and finally reaching the two Red Blood officers who were about to stand up.

But it was too late…

The bolts fell down, like a rain of steel hitting the armies whether it was from The Red Blood Regiment, or The Steel Vanguard. Aida covered her face to protect herself from the shards and shrapnel that came from the broken bolts hitting the ground, and as the bolts rained down, the ground shook like thunder. Steven was sure he was dead, but when the commander opened his eyes, all he could see was the opposite. A ballista bolt had grazed near him, and he chuckled, realizing how lucky he was. Wyvern Squad however, was not. Upon realizing this, he looked around to see his surroundings.

Aida was recovering. Falcon Squad was now retreating. Some Falcon Squad members were… screaming. Looking back at Aida…. She was… screaming as well.

Then it hit him, when he looked to his side, he saw Leon. He was struggling, screaming horribly due to the pain caused by a ballista bolt, lodged deep into his spine and digging deep into the cobblestone road. Aida rushed to try to fix the situation, but it was useless. Leon kept trying to move, but everytime he tried to even move his body, he felt the pain from his back and into his nape. His spine was broken, and the darksteel arrow that was rubbing against it was like a saw on the bone. Falcon Squad retreated to regroup with Dragon Squad, while Aida kept trying to cut the steel arrow with her dagger.

Leon screamed even more. “STOP! STOP! IT HURTS!” he shouted, before grabbing his bow and looking up to see Theadosia flying towards him.

“Theadosia!!! Can you do anything!? Please!!!” Aida screamed frantically as she grabbed Theadosia to make her do her Sanamancy magic.

“I-I.. I can’t… His bones are broken. I cannot heal since that requires Carnomancy…”

“Please!” Aida said, now with her eyes becoming more reflective as it gained more tears. 

“Aida I’m trying… but without a healing potion… I can’t..”

Aida stopped, then walked back in horror as she saw Leon looking at her, scared and helpless, trying to get out of the bolt but painfully regretting it, as each movement sent so much pain throughout his body. But, after hearing what Theadosia said, he realized that this was the end for him. He looked around the battle and saw that The Steel Vanguard were still throwing the flammable gas canisters on the city. He then looked to Aida.

“What… is your score… again?” Leon said.

“W-what?” Aida replied, shocked by everything.

“Aida… what’s your score?”

Aida felt a sting in her heart, and she knew she had to accept it. “Fifty..fif-fifty seven..” she said, before her tears started to fall down.

Leon scoffed, then smiled. “Mine is… the same…” he said, before grabbing his arrow from his back, as he groaned in pain even more. Aida moved closer, but Leon immediately stopped her. “It’s alright!” he said, before breathing heavily. As his blood drained down to the bolt, he looked at Aida, and said “Light this arrow.”

Aida put her hand up slowly, before saying “Ignis Scintilla” to the arrowhead, making it burn in fire. Leon looked at the falling canisters on the mothership, he took a deep breath, before coughing. Aida held his shoulder, but Leon simply yanked her back away, before aiming at the canister that was just about to be thrown. When it was let go, he let go along with it. As the arrow sailed to its destination, Leon held his breath, looking at the arrow for as much as he could. His vision started to blur, and his hearing started to fade away, he used all his strength to keep hanging on, to keep himself alive. When his arrow hit the canister, it exploded in flames, before erupting upwards to the mothership. As the other canisters were also there, the flames snaked up and kept creating a chain reaction until the entire interior of the ship was full of fire. Valheim was near the edge of the mothership, and was in time to call his Wyvern. Yudma and Red ran to their wyverns and were lucky enough to immediately jump away. Uki was lucky enough to escape, along with the others, and while he had burns all over his body, the shock of the event was not going to easily go away. Valheim looked back, feeling distraught from all the chaos, as he returned to the castle.

“257…” Leon said, before smiling at Aida.

Aida hugged him, crying in tears. “I’m sorry.” she said, while trying to still hold the bolt, as if there was still a chance of breaking it here and now. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s…alright.” he said, before he started to cry as well. “Thank… you…”

As Aida wept, Theadosia started to pull Aida from Leon and told her that they had to go. Steven could not move due to the guilt he felt, and it was evident that Wyvern Squad was now so small in numbers that it had to retreat. The Steel Vanguard charged forward, passing by Leon’s skewered body as they sprinted forwards to the castle to regroup with The CSS. The Red Blood Regiment and The Clan of Aeryth then moved to the new camp in order to regroup. Everything felt like a flash, but there was no time to stand idly. They had to attack by the morning while the CSS lost its mothership. It was now, or they would have to pay dearly with a reinforced CSS.

—

Everyone in the camp rested, and it was filled with peasants. Everyone was working, and also preparing for the attack for the morning. The Black Valkyrie Regiment was sent to infiltrate the castle, as they heard that Steven was captured. The COA was busy building the houses for the people, as well as Dragon Squad, while Nighthawk Squad patrolled the outer areas of the camp. Falcon Squad tried to move, but without their leader, they could not function as well as they wanted to. They were too demoralized anyways. It was similar to Wyvern Squad as well, but to them, it was worse, as they had no other men besides a couple of survivors. 

In the castle, Lecarius burst in laughter after hearing how The Red Blood Regiment was destroyed in the battle of the town square. The soldier described how they were so soft that they could easily impenetrate their ranks. As Lecarius drank as much as he wanted, he then walked out of the drinking party and into the castle grounds. Before he left, he saw Valheim yelling and punching a broken wooden door, angry at the events that happened recently.

Lecarius chuckled, “Soft man.” he said, before hopping into his airship and moving to the barracks to see his pit.

When he arrived, there was something different in the area… that was what he felt. He looked around to see that some torches were taken off. He looked to his right to see some of his Steel Vanguards knights dead, and before he knew it, he saw another knight jump to slash him. He dodged, and stepped back, only to see that there were two other women who were going to attack him.

It was Artoria, and Euryale Magrin, along with Anemona from the Golden Eagle Guard, sent by Queen Saverine in order to avenge Karthus.

“I recognize that armor.” Lecarius said to Anemona, who was wearing a lighter variant of The Golden Eagle Guard’s armor. “Tell your ant scum of a general that I said hello.”

Anemona rushed to him in anger, and Lecarius kicked her stomach causing her to fall back. Artoria swung sidewards to his left, and he immediately ducked to sweep the duchess’s legs. Artoria was quicker however and jumped to the air in order to land a downward slash, but Lecarius was quick to see this and raised his sword to parry Artoria. Euryale looked to her left and saw that the other Steel Vanguard Knights arrived, and this prompted her to control the trees around her to create sharp wooden spears to pierce through the helmet holes of the Steel Vanguard. However, these were knights that had Green Mana Nullifiers, so she had to be extremely precise in throwing the wooden shards into the holes. 

For each soldier that got near her, Lecarius lost his footing and fell back, only to see Anemona jumping up in order to stab his stomach. Lecarius used his shield to block it, then rolled to the side in order to stand up and attack Anemona. Artoria finally saw an opening, as Lecarius was looking away from her, focusing on Anemona. She then looked to her right and saw that Euryale was about to be massacred by The Steel Vanguard. She looked back to Anemona who was now being choked by Lecarius, and was about to throw his halberd somewhere else. Artoria thought of the choice on her hand at the moment and looked closely. Lecarius had his halberd now up, and he got ready to finally throw it.

There was no time now. This was for Karthus.

Artoria sprinted as quick as she could with her sword at hand, stabbing through the back armor of Lecarius, ignoring the darksteel armor he had, due to her Dwarven Steel blade piercing through. The halberd was thrown, and Anemona was let go. Artoria looked to where he threw the halberd, and saw that it hit Euryale in the stomach. Artoria’s daughter walked back into the well, as she saw the countless Steel Vanguards finally arriving towards her. She fell down the pit, along with the countless shifter and innocent peasant corpses inside of it.

“EURYALE NO!” Artoria shouted, before taking her sword out of Lecarius’s back and swung towards his neck in order to finally execute him, but with his last bit of strength, Lecarius blocked it with his shield, pulverizing it as it made contact with the Magrin sword. Anemona stabbed Lecarius’s stomach, making the commander groan, and she grabbed the one armed woman on her shoulder, and whispered…

“Death will not end me.”

Lecarius walked back in front of the pit and laughed as blood seeped out of his mouth. “Your Sanamancer of a daughter was a waste, Duchess.” he said, as more of The Steel Vanguard Knights came to aid him.

A thud from below shook the ground above, making the commander feel puzzled. The Knights looked around to see the source, then they heard countless groans from below. Artoria felt the bittersweet determination she had left. 

“Perhaps it is true, Commander, that death will not end you.” Artoria said as she sheathed her sword in front of a dying Lecarius. Another thud erupted, now shaking the barracks. The knights walked back in fear, until the realization hit them. It was from below the ground… from the pit.

“Perhaps the undead could do that job for you.” Artoria said, before walking back. An explosion of corpses flooding out of the pit erupted, creating rabid undead creatures that overwhelmed the knights. Above them was Euryale, who had her eyes glowing in green, while her veins crawled up from her elbow to her arm in a very quick way. The undead creatures rammed through the ranks, biting off the armor from the knights and killing them after eating them. Lecarius became overwhelmed and fell into the pit he himself created, as creatures of the undead swarmed him as he fell down, never returning again, only hearing his screams of pain and agony.

Euryale’s injuries started to heal, but the countless revivals of the corpses reached their limit. Her glowing veins finally arrived at her eye, and she fell down the floor, shaking due to convulsions and shock. It had arrived towards her. She was suffering from Sorcerer’s Syndrome. Artoria could only watch as her daughter felt the most painful experience that a mage could feel. She couldn’t help but make the tough decision.

“Put her out of her misery.” Artoria said, looking away from Euryale.

“What?” Anemona said.

“You heard me.”

Anemona walked back, before looking at the Duchess. “I can’t… I…” her words escaped her mouth, before looking at Euryale. “I cannot kill a member of The Magrin Family… I-I took an oath.”

Artoria took a deep breath. She walked away, then stopped. She then looked to the side, before speaking, “She is not a Magrin.”

Anemona’s eyes widened. The rumors were true, and it was confirmed right in front of her eyes. She grabbed her spear and got ready, before looking at Artoria. This complicated a lot of things even further, but she guessed that this was only the start.

She plunged her spear deep into the neck of Euryale, instantly stopping the pain from the young lady. She now killed someone who she viewed was a proper noble, but she also discovered that they both had leverage over each other now.

—

It was midnight. Specialist Amuro of the CSS prepared himself along with Uki, who had just witnessed the mothership fall from the sky. Red and Yudma waited patiently, as they both seemed to hide the pain coming from the burns that they received. Vivian tended to their wounds as quickly as possible, while Red tried his best to be calm in the situation. When the rations came, he immediately gulped everything. The grubs, the chocolate, and even the ‘bark rations’ that were concentrated meat, as hard as a wooden branch. When they looked up however, it all felt unreal.

Sudden attacks from the Black Valkyrie Regiment came as they jumped from the walls and into the towers. A battle ensued, but it just seemed that no one was screaming or signaling their comrades that the enemy was here. Blades went to the hearts of the CSS soldiers, while everyone from the walls felt terrified of everything that was happening in the scene. Vivian, Yudma, Red, and Uki all ran away from the walls, as they tried to regroup into the first outpost in the castle grounds.

All of the guards there however… were dead.

The four specialists then dashed to the second outpost. But again, they were dead. When Uki looked closely, he saw that most of the Black Valkyrie Regiment was focused on one area.

They were focusing on the Castle’s dungeon…

In a quick and immediate manner, Uki shifted into his giant spider form, before dashing towards the entrance towards the dungeon. He realized that The Black Valkyrie Regiment was trying to find Steven, and that they were here to not let the CSS be organized for something.

“Keep your eyes open! The Red Blood Regiment might be nearby!” Yudma shouted, while still groaning in pain due to his injuries. Red followed, and tried to keep up. However, his injuries were too much to bear. Yudma ended up putting Red’s arms on his shoulder , as he dragged him towards the main castle building.

Arrows flew from all over the castle, and they had to move quickly. Yudma ended up with an arrow on his back, but he kept moving. Once they were in the castle, they collapsed on the floor, to be seen by Specialist Yoshi.

“The BVR… is here….” Yudma said, before taking his breath. Yoshi felt shocked, and immediately ran to notify Nathaniel. When he got to the headquarters however, he was stunned by the new order coming from Nath himself.

“We’re leaving.” the general said.

—

The Black Valkyrie Regiment had successfully killed a lot of the guards near the dungeon, as they were instructed by General William himself. As they got near the dungeon, they were stopped. A massive spider guarded the entrance, and it was not letting anyone in. They needed knights for this if they had a proper chance in defeating this monster. The other BVR assassins failed to kill it, and paid with their lives. Commander Kindred used his bow, but all of it was useless for this giant creature.

Soon, an army of CSS soldiers came down after Yoshi’s report to Nathaniel. If they ever needed to rescue Steven, now was the time. Some assassins decided to flee, but some tried desperately to keep charging, only to be met with a gruesome end by either the arrows of the Vonturians, or the fangs of Uki.

As the sun rose up, everyone was exhausted, but because the CSS did not rest for this day, the Selyrian Alliance knew that they would be prepared. The peasants of North Castle rallied, and decided to join The Red Blood Regiment’s assault on the castle. Some of them created siege equipment, but most of it fell short as they had no time. The siege was happening now, and they would not be able to create trebuchets or catapults. When the Selyrians got ready. The CSS was already moving to their airships in order to retreat. The Red Blood Regiment charged forward as arrows from Falcon Squad rained down inside the walls. Dragon Squad rushed into the main gate, while the Black Valkyrie Regiment pushed through the western entrance of the castle.

This time, General William joined the battle, along with his lover, Thomas, from the COA. No one knew about this yet, but through their constant company together, some of the BVR Assassins speculated their relationship, However, that was not what was important now, as they finally got to the western entrance and into the castle grounds where the dungeon was near. Uki looked closely, as his eyes felt heavy and weak. Burned, bruised, and tired from his injuries and not sleeping, he wanted to surrender. However, seeing what the Selyrians did to them, it fueled him to keep going. That was until Thomas walked to his vicinity, glaring at him as he tried his best to guard the dungeon. He then shifted back to his human form.

“Uki.” Thomas said.

“Thomas.” Uki replied.

“You are a traitor to your own kind.”

“And you, to the cause.”

Thomas ran forwards, overpowering him easily with his shifter strength and agility. Uki however, had the experience of war on his side. He defended himself as quickly as he could, but Thomas was too quick. A cut erupted on his arm, and he rolled back for cover. Thomas then saw that he was beginning to be weak, and decided to stop fighting. “And here I was, thinking you would put up a better fight.” Thomas said.

Uki realized that The Red Blood Regiment was closing in on him. He dashed back, being chased by Thomas. William wanted to follow them, in order to protect Thomas, but he realized that there was still a mission in order to assassinate Nathaniel while the battle was raging. Uki jumped onto the castle walls, and Thomas followed him quickly after.

“You know you cannot run now, Uki.” Thomas said, while cleaning his zweihander. Uki did not answer, and instead, led on with his strikes and swings. Thomas dodged it, smiling as the desperate attempts of the traitor failed. He even made fun of him for his training as it was as if he became weak after joining the CSS. When Uki went for a leg sweep, Thomas then countered with a sweep to his head in order to finally execute him. Uki saw this, and moved his head back, but the blade was too long and it instead hit his chest, creating a horizontal line in his body. He realized that even if he tried fighting Thomas in his stronger state, he was still one of the best scouts of The Red Blood Regiment, and one of the best soldiers of The Clan of Aeryth. And now, he was going to beat him.

“I suppose things have ended now. Goodbye.” Thomas said, now putting his zweihander down and preparing for an overhead strike. He charged towards Uki and leapt to the air with his warsword up in his head. Uki saw the run, the leap, and the strike. He calculated it in his weakened state. And in a split second, he moved.

Uki thrusted his sword forward, stabbing Thomas in the heart before he could strike Uki. Thomas faltered, and let go of the zweihander. William looked from afar, and realized what happened. When he saw that Thomas had been stabbed, he went out of his flank and ran towards his lover. “THOMAS!” he screamed.

“GENERAL! NO!” Commander Chiron said, before his mouth was covered by Kindred. They still had a mission to do, and they needed to do it.

Uki was too weak to even fight in this state. William transformed into his wolf form and sprinted towards the CSS Specialist. When William transformed back into his human form, his rage took over. He took out his sword and struck Uki with his hatred. Uki couldn’t keep up anymore, and when he tried to parry, he only felt the immense strength that the general had. 55 cuts littered his body, but luckily, he protected his head and heart. However, William had had enough. He did a roundhouse kick to Uki, and sent him off the walls, falling into a cliff nearby and into the sea. A silent splash was seen from afar, and William panted heavily. When he realized what he had done, it was already too late.

“There you are.” General Nathaniel said beside him, aiming his Crossbow Pistol towards his head. A loud crack came from William’s head, before he fell to the battle below, as Nathaniel and Valheim walked to their airships. When Kindred, Chiron, Zen, and Requiem saw the incident, they were shocked to see their general dead. But they realized what happened. William compromised the team, enabling him to flank and reposition. They failed their mission.

“YUDMA! RED! GET TO THE AIRSHIP NOW!” Vivian said, trying to pull the orc from his weakened body. He was losing blood, while Red stared blankly into the air, dead. She saw Uki fall down from the walls, and now, Yudma was the only one she had left. “Please Yudma…”

She cried, trying to keep him moving, but her strength was not enough to pull an orc his size. As arrows came towards their position, She had no choice but to let go. Crying as she ran, she boarded one of the airships, as the rest of the CSS were left behind to fight for what’s left of the castle.

Suddenly, a rumbling started to occur again, but this time, General Kai knew what it was.

“Signal a retreat.” General Kai said to Commander Luxe, who looked at him while puzzled.

“What? Why? We all have them on the run, we cannot go back now.” Luxe said, but Kai only looked at the fleeing airships from afar.

“We cannot stay in the castle and be sandwiched, we have to get them to our terms.”

Luxe looked closely, before nodding. “Since it’s an order, sir.” he said, before ordering the peasants to blow the horn of retreat. The Red Blood Regiment followed, while some still continued to fight. As they ran back however, they saw that a lot of the remaining CSS soldiers were rushing towards them. They continued to run away, and as The CSS got out of the castle, they saw that Jericho and his zombies had returned. Commander Bucket saw the battle between the CSS and the zombies, and he developed an idea.

He charged forward, ignoring the arrows of the CSS as he charged straight towards Jericho along with his battle axe. Jericho was too late to anticipate this and tried to block his head. However, Bucket was not aiming for his head.

He aimed for his legs.

With a massive and heavy swing, Jericho’s right leg was cut clean, while Bucket’s axe got stuck at the left leg. He did not care, and immediately dragged his body while pulling his axe to keep up with the Red Blood Regiment.

As The CSS and the zombies fought, both of their numbers dwindled as they kept on trying to chase The Red Blood Regiment. When they arrived near the camp, that’s when Nighthawk Squad finally flanked and took out the remaining CSS soldiers. Jericho was the last one alive in the battle, and he was surrounded by The people of North Castle, and The Red Blood Regiment. That’s when Gold and Jericho looked at each others’ eyes.

“Kill him!!!” A Nortic peasant said, while the rest of the citizens cheered in a mob. Gold was put forward, and he held his axe, thinking twice about the situation.

“Go on then.” Jericho said, looking at The Clan of Aeryth staring him down. “Show him how you have always done it…. Your majest-”

A sudden strike came from Gold, as his Dwarven Steel axe struck Jericho’s neck, spilling out blood. The Nortic peasants cheered, but the Clan of Aeryth were silent.

Gold panted heavily, trying to calm himself down, and this made Kai think what this meant.

They may have won the battle, but there was something Kindred never told about Gold…

The battle was won. They would go home. For the Clan of Aeryth however, this has raised more questions.