Chapter 21: Selfless

Outside the gate, Ash, Nanashi, Sophie, Julie, and Magical Roe were still alive, along with a thousand comrades. The ten thousand Chess that closed in on them were dead, but another 8000 were closing in on them, and all of them were exhausted.

Suddenly, the dead warriors before them, both of Chess and Cross Guard, rose to face them. (1.) "Oh, shit." Nanashi groaned. Julie turned to look back at the gate guarding the throne room: "That must mean that our allies forced them into a corner for them to unleash their ultimate weapon... Victory is near, so let's fight till they kick Halloween's arse!" Julie snarled.

"Moon Fall!" Ash yelled. The wave of blades ripped through the zombies. Ash proceeded to use Split Part, and, activating four ordinary Scythe Weapon Arms, rushed among the Zombies, tearing through their ranks. Of course, his hands held two of the Scythes and his feet held the other two, so both halves of his body could fight.

"Electric Eye!" Nanshi yelled, blasting the undead ranks with his lightning. Sophie used her Guardian Arm: Screaming Roc, and the bird proceeded to fly above the undead ranks and, by merely flapping its wings, rip them apart with huge versions of the wind slashes of Sophie's own Sonic Blade. Flying in a circular motion, Screaming Roc succeeded in causing a giant tornado that ripped through their lines. (2.)

Julie used her own Weapon Arm: Searing Bow, whose Arrows could rip through waves of the undead. So as Julie and Sophie stood behind their comrades, hitting their enemies from either afar or with a Guardian, Nanashi stood before the pair and defended them with his long range electrical attacks, and Ash and Magical Roe engaged the undead directly. Roe had his own special Nature Arm: Firey Juggle, that let him juggle and toss balls of flame at his opponents. After all, Roe was quite a talented clown.

The fireballs from Firey Juggle happened to explode on contact when they touched a zombie, so dozens of them went down in flames. The five heroes defending their comrades inside continued to bring down hundreds of these zombies. The thousand Cross Guards beside them also fought bravely...

But the zombies were not only at Reginleif.

The Keklon Plains, with the freshly buried graves, burst with zombie troops, and thus the Cross Guards stationed there had problems... Lestava itself had several freshly dug graves rise and attack. Luberia Fortress, with the fallen bodies of the Luberians, soon found that these freshly dug bodies rose to destroy the inhabitants of the fort.

But her majesty Snow witnessed a terrible scene. From the graves of the Chess Pieces at Lestava, Eileen, Marco, and several of those fallen Chess emerged! From the mass grave of Peta's victims at Luberia Fortress, these fallen Luberians arose as new undead warriors. The Cross Guards who gave their lives in the Second War Games rose again to torment the reformed band of Cross Guards throughout the world as well. The Tree of Life was much more powerful than anyone could have imagined.

Tears came to Ash's eyes: "All those who died in any of the Three Wars are back... As the undead... Look at our forces! We're taking casualties as if we were pill-bugs getting crushed by someone's foot. We're doomed..."

"We must fight on!" Julie drew the Searing Bow. Sophie grabbed the Sonic Blade, too, and spoke: "I can't leave this post, but I can slash any zombie who tries to get near us!"

Nanashi's hands glowed with his lightning. "If we die today, we die as heroes!" He cried.

Magical Roe, however, was badly wounded from his attacks on the Chess. He tossed the deactivated Firey Juggle Arm over to Ash, who by then had the scythes in his hands broken from stabbing into too many zombies. "Take this Arm, Ash... I've been badly wounded..." Roe spoke.

Nanashi rushed forward: "Roe! You've taken too much damage! You'd better get back!"

Magical Roe turned to him with sad eyes: "I don't care anymore... I owe everyone for having served the Chess for so long. Alan should have killed me back at Lestava, but since he spared me, it is my duty to fight as a Cross Guard. I've failed to destroy the enemy, and when a defeated general cannot retreat, what does he do? He dies to ensure that his comrades can continue fighting without him being a burden to them... Farwell, comrades. Fight for Mar Heaven... Ash, you might have just joined the Cross Guard, but lead our comrades in my place..."

"Roe, don't be an idiot!" Nanashi yelled.

"Weapon Arm: Blade Ball! Farewell, everyone." Magical Roe sadly got onto the Blade Ball, and though he was badly wounded, the Cross Guard rode the ball into the horde of undead enemy troops...

"Roe!" They yelled, but they received no answer.

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Howling Demon ripped a hole through the lines of the Cross Guards of Lestava. Undine could do little to stop Eileen's body.

Fugi and the other Chess commanders who perished during the Battle of the Keklon plains returned to punish their Cross foes, and killed many of them.

The war raged thoughout Mar Heaven, as the fallen bodies of Cross Guards that were buried in their hometowns rose to destroy them. All of the dead were now weapons for the Chess Pieces to ensure their victory. Almost no town was safe from this Third War. Even the Caldean Sorcerers in Caldea were revived, and proceeded to lay seige to their former homeland with their magic...

Selfless heroes died in the tens of thousands as they tried to hold off the dead. Thankfully, their bodies were not revived by the Tree of Life, and their souls could rest in peace knowing that they were not tainted like their comrades who fell long ago.

In the Reginleif throne room itself, these top Knights were giving our heroes problems, and knowing that the dead were revived, Gaira shed tears as he attacked Weasel's zombie: "That bastard has done this to Mar Heaven... His final weapon will destroy everything we hoped to accomplish... Our previous victories are purposeless now that all those who died are ransacking everything! We must prevail!..."

Meanwhile, the duels in the two Arenas were still going on, and everything now rested on Alan's shoulders... Once Halloween left this world, everyone would be saved...

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1. In that context, Cross Guard includes Luberia.

2. This is a fantasy setting. Tornadoes normally cannot be created under such circumstances. (Just to leave a disclaimer that I'm not trying to go against meteorology.)