A warm breeze passed by a party of three. It was noon, and the heat made the three perspire. They were in the middle of Geffen's defense against an orc invasion. It was too bright for the darkness that was going on in Geffen's heart. The defense force of Geffen was sandwiched between monsters coming out of Geffen Tower and orcs invading from outside. It has been declared that the Orcs have declared war on man, and now, even adventurers were conscripted to fight. The three of them are our friends, Lilitia, Satoshi, and Glass. Lilitia being a priestess, Satoshi a hunter, and Glass, although originally aiming to be a wizard, is now a sage. Aldric has been reported to being Killed in Action in a previous engagement with the orcs in Izlude. The group received the news moments before the orc invasion of Geffen, and now they continue to fight.
Satoshi, spamming Double Strafe and laying down traps like all the traditional hunters do, was well to do on his own, but he had to buy time for Glass. She had long casting times, but the effects of her spells were worth the trouble. Lilitia was casting buffs and healing Satoshi and Glass if they needed it. Her role hasn't changed much, but her job change made her skills better. She also can now take the offensive when fighting undead or unholy creatures.
Soon, they would thin down the orcs around them, then they'd have to shift their focus on the monsters heading out of Geffen Tower. Lilitia had no problem dealing with them as she was specialized in dealing with the undead. But they all had their limits, and they have been fighting since morning. There was word that there'd be support from Prontera, but they have yet to be found. Many members of Geffen's defense force are mages, considering that the mage's guild has their HQ in Geffen, so elemental attacks were plenty and the defense force can hold off against ghosts and similar monsters, but against the brute orcs, they had to conscript their swordsmen friends.
"Where are the reinforcements from Prontera!" yelled Satoshi.
"They should be coming any time soon!" Lilitia replied, healing Satoshi. In the distance, the sound of metal hitting metal could be heard, as well as the sounds of marching.
"They're here! The crusaders are here!" screamed one of the mages.
The three turned to look at the incoming crusaders, who were marching in perfect formation, their shields ready, and they were heading into Geffen. A hand full of them detached from the main body to fight the orcs that were outside, and the rest continued into Geffen. They inspired the defense force, for the crusaders were known as benevolent people, who matched white magic and swordsmanship together. It was true, and the crusaders were often times feared during the War of Emperium, for they were really hard to take down. An analogy for the crusaders was that they were brick walls that could hit back really hard. This was true as well. Overall, the presence of the crusaders increased Geffen's defense force's morale, and they walked in with an atmosphere that seemed like they brought Prontera's glory with them.
"Finally..." commented Glass, who plopped down on the ground and lay back.
"You know, I like mature women who lie down on the ground," Satoshi said.
"I thought you liked Priestesses with white hair?" Lilitia demanded with an air of superiority.
"Well... I like them too..." Satoshi said, slipping out of his situation.
As the three took a rest, a female crusader went to them and healed each one, and gave them plenty of grape juice, which they happily drank. With their SP restored, they felt like they could take another wave of monsters. However, they saw that the crusaders were moping up the orc invation pretty well. The protectors of the weak and the helpless, the crusaders, they did their part. When the three thought that they could finally rest, they were surrounded by wraiths and a Hellion revenant. The wraiths closed in, and Satoshi used his fire arrows to be able to hit them, while Lilitia casted Holy Light on the wraiths approaching her way. Glass did her Area of Effect spells to wipe off the wraiths in one fell swoop, but as they defeated a wraith, two more come to replace it. The three found themselves surrounded, and their backs pressed against each other.
"Lilitia, before anything happens... I know your panties are white," Satoshi said. Lilitia blushed brightly despite the situation, "And you, Glass, I know it's black."
"Will you shut up...? We're going to die if we don't do anything you know..." Glass said.
"Grand...!" someone yelled. The three turned their heads to look at the person.
"...Cross!" a white light took the form of a cross on the ground and vanquished the wraiths surrounding the three. Lilitia, Satoshi and Glass looked in awe of this holy power.
"Devotion!" the another person yelled, and the three were surrounded in what seemed to be protective little bubbles. When the Hellion Revenant did it's dark version of the Grand Cross, there was no damage done upon the three. Instead, they were directed to the caster. Lilitia was familiar with this skill, and she knew a crusader was helping them, but she did not know if it was Amaya again.
The two crusaders charged into the battle, attacking the Hellion Revenant. The female one stopped a few paces before casting Holy Cross on the Revenant, while the male threw his shield at the Revenant like a boomerang. Since the male was closer, the boomerang hit first. The Revenant defended against the shield, which came back to the male crusader's hand, then the Revenant failed to see the incoming Holy Cross, so it was hit with it and was defeated. The two crusaders stood for a moment, their backs to the three, as they watched if any more threats arose. Fortunately, the Crusader Regiment had done it's role and supported Geffen's defense force. No more threats were present.
"Um... Who are you?" asked Lilitia. The female crusader turned around.
"Hey, big sis!" She said.
"Kata!" Lilitia exclaimed. She did not know how Kata had gotten her second job change so quickly, but she was glad she did.
"Big bro, don't be a downer, show your face," Kata said to her companion. The male crusader turned around.
"Hey there, guys. It's been a while." Qtronix said, sheathing his sword. Kata and his capes fluttered as a cool breeze went by.
"Qtronix? Is that really you?" Glass inquired, standing up and observing every feature of Qtronix. Comically, a sweatdrop appeared by the side of Qtronix's head.
"Yes, Glass. It's really me."
"You've grown more... mature! And what did they do to my poor baby... What's this scar on your cheek?" Glass said, suddenly becoming doting on Qtronix.
"It's a reminder of what I've gone through to become a crusader. Kata here managed to skip all ten years of training since Amaya trained her herself."
"Amaya? Kata?" Glass and Satoshi questioned.
"Ah, yes. You two haven't met them yet. Anyway, this is Kata," Qtronix said, putting an arm around Kata's shoulders. "Lilitia and I took care of her since she was still a novice."
"Oh really? So you two got to play 'house' while we were away?" Satoshi said, almost in a teasing tone.
"Kind of. That's when we met Amaya. Oh right. Amaya is a crusader as well. She saved us from a deadly encounter in the woods on the way to Payon," Lilitia said.
"I still can't believe all that was two years ago, though," Qtronix said.
"I know. You've gotten taller too," Lilitia commented. Qtronix was as tall as Aldric back when he was still alive.
Qtronix and Kata went to the captain and asked if they were allowed to resume adventuring. Seeing no problem with it, the captain agreed and the two went off to join the party. Lilitia was happy that Kata grew up to be a mature girl so quickly, and Satoshi was wondering if Kata was available, and Qtronix was relaying the tips to beauty that he overheard from Amaya when she was telling Lilitia and Kata to Glass. It was a nice new beginning, but it wasn't all that they could wish for. Glass and Satoshi had to separate for they had different goals, and Kata, Qtronix, and Lilitia were left alone. And to top it off, they didn't know where to go. Luckily, a crusader came running towards Qtronix.
"It's an emergency, Captain!" the crusader addressed Qtronix.
"What is it?" Qtronix inquired.
"Alberta! Alberta is overrun by undead monsters!"
"Is the regiment headed there?"
"No sir, the regiment is returning to Prontera. There's no way we can move the Crusader Regiment across the sea to get to Alberta before it gets turned into an unholy place!"
"Alright. Leave it to us, we'll get there," Qtronix assured the crusader.
"We're going to Alberta, then?" Lilitia asked.
"Of course we are!" Qtronix exclaimed.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Kata mentioned.
The three set sail to Alberta, and from the sea, they could see the chaos in Alberta. Smoke rose as fires raged through the town, and one could hear fighting going on as the guards and adventurers defend the city. Qtronix got off the boat first, and had his shield up ready to defend. He was right to do so, as fourteen raydric archers shot at the incoming group. Qtronix charged at the raydric and started to fight them, and Kata stayed back to defend Lilitia. Lilitia casted Magnus Exorscimus on a big group of undead and dealt with them quickly. They pushed their way into the heart of Alberta and defeated the undead that they encountered.
"Damn! There's no end to them!" Qtronix complained as he used Shield Boomerang to deal with three undead monsters.
"Big bro! I'm too tired..." Kata said as she dropped her shield. She fell to her knees and panted heavily.
"Kata!" Qtronix moved in front of Kata just in time to block an attack from an Orc Zombie. Qtronix slashed the zombie and defeated it.
Lilitia casted buffs on Kata and Qtronix to prolong their ability to fight, but Kata was just too tired to even lift her heavy sword, much less her shield. A monster sneaked up and attacked Lilitia, but Qtronix casted Devotion on both Lilitia and Kata. The bad part is that many monsters were attacking both girls at the moment, and Qtronix was left to endure all the attacks. He fell to a knee, but kept his knees up.
"Damn it..." Qtronix cursed. No matter how many times Lilitia healed him, there was just too many of them around.
Qtronix took a chance. He stopped Devotion and immediately performed Grand Cross, eliminating all of the enemies nearby, however it took a toll on his already battered body and he fell to all fours. He struggled, but he stood back up. Lilitia was surprised at his insane tolerance to pain, and she started to admire him after that. Qtronix jogged over to Kata who was still catching her breath. A minotaur appeared right by Qtronix and Kata, seemingly summoned by one of the undead forces. It swung it's massive hammer down towards Qtronix and Kata, but Qtronix placed his shield at his back, then placed his hands by Kata's side to prop himself up. He smiled at Kata.
"Don't worry... I'm here," He said, but when the impact occured with the minotaur's hammer, Qtronix winced.
After the impact, Qtronix raised himself up from Kata and he used Shield Boomerang to make sure there weren't any monsters near Lilitia, then casted Holy Cross on the Minotaur. He managed to defeat the minotaur, and it seemed like the town of Alberta has repelled the undead. However, among the blazes, Lilitia saw a figure that seemed like it was watching, and Lilitia blinked, then the figure was gone. She was sure it was a Dark Illusion, one of the henchmen of the Dark Lord.