-18-

"Enter."

The double doors to the room opened, revealing two tough warlords who had not rested since the battle yesterday. Their hair matted against their forehead, blood oozing out from several places. They had yet to seek treatment, for there was much to tend to. Both worn out warlords stripped off their dented armor, taking seats opposite each other. King Tristan waved to a servant, who began serving glasses of wine to the visitors. Nobody spoke just yet, the king was still standing by the window, looking over his city.

"This is such a sudden change. Everyone had gone running off, leaving behind such silence… how can the great Prontera reduced to this humiliating state overnight?" the king shook his head sadly.

Larzen laid some documents on the table, taking the glass of wine. Reports have been flowing in to the two and the king, regarding the re-construction of Prontera, death of those who fought, reinforcements requested from Geffen and other miscellaneous matters. They were deprived of sleep ever since the carnage, reinforcing their current forces, burying the dead.

The fatigued king resumed his seat, taking a glass of wine in his hands.

"The four of them is at it again, huh."

"Indeed, my lord. Latest reports have been saying that Geffen had fallen, the wizard forces entirely wiped out," Smith read the reports laid out.

"Looks like getting all the cities in Rune-Midgard to work together is inevitable," Larzen added.

"Yes. I myself had scouts running to various cities to relay the danger we are all facing. However I doubt Payon would be lending us aid," the king said.

Smith drained his glass of wine.

"Why not?"

"Rumours are saying that Moonlight Flower is behind the assaults. She might be wanting to claim the town herself," Larzen explained, shuffling through the documents for the Payon news.

"Moonlight? But she was banished back to the depths of the cave a year ago!" the other warlord responded with a doubtful look.

Larzen had remembered the gruesome fight that took place exactly a year ago. He had been sent to Payon, together with a phalanx of cavalries and priests, as reinforcements to stop the demons streaming out of the cave. That fateful day Moonlight Flower came out and made an attack personally, bringing with her troops of sohee and zombies. Guards standing by the cave were killed instantly, and so no warnings were made. Payon was then under a surprise attack, most families failed to survive it, this resulting in countless deaths.

Payon's closest neighbour, Alberta, was the first to come to their aid. The blacksmiths from Alberta managed to buy the town of archers some time by stunning the demons with Mammonite. Hunters did little to weaken the growing army, let alone the archers. Being the main killing machine, the feline superior crushed many with her trademark bell attached to a stick, magic spells being her secondary means of offence.

Larzen led his troops south east, into the woods of Payon. By the time they engaged in the battle, the evening was deepening. There was massive bloodshed, from cracked skulls of the defenders to burned bodies of hunters. The odds were tipped against the blacksmith, after the hunter forces were decimated. The warlord did not even have to shout a command. Upon seeing this horrible act, the mounted knights charged ahead at the sohees.

Driven to a desperate measure, the priest began preparing to cast an impromptu Magnus Exorcimus, a dangerous spell learned only by experienced priests during late stages of their priesthood. Immense holy energy blasted around the zombies, sending all of what Moonlight gathered to death.

Temporarily distracted by the sudden explosion of energy, Moonlight was sniped at by hunters who were still alive then. The angry cat demon started forming spells, only to be interrupted by Larzen. The warlord went to engage with Moonlight in battle, while his troops travelled to the cave and cease the endless flow of demons. Moonlight began weaken as a result of mortal wounds caused by arrows, and the fact that her demons were killed by the Magnus Exorcimus. She was forced to concede, swearing that she would return some day to avenge this humiliation. With that said, she disappeared back into the cave.

"And she had to attack during these troubled times of all times!"

"Right. The Payon townsmen re-constructed it for naught, then, if she began her assault," Smith added, visualizing the damage that was probably happening now.

"This time round, that cat bitch brought with her those vampires as well. Expect one hell of a fight," Larzen reported.

The king ordered a refill of his wine.

"You mean bonguns and munaks?"

"Yes, my lord," both warlords answered in synchronized manner.

"I'm afraid Prontera can't afford to help," the king shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "I've seen the reports for myself, and our forces were greatly depleted following yesterday's battle."

Smith sighed heavily, twirling the glass of wine.

"I'd never think that Prontera would be the next town to be re-constructed."

Following Smith's remark, Larzen suddenly brightened up. Yes, it would be cumbersome to re-build the city, and it would also take a rather long time, no doubt. But during the construction process, something else could be done…

"My, lord," he said, sharing his idea excitedly. He looked at his comrade, then at the king, expecting a good response. His face lit up even more when the king nodded in satisfaction.

"Yes, we will put this into action right away. Moreover, it would be sooner or later that Lord of Death starts another attack on us."

Smith then hammered the table enthusiastically, laughing away when he envisioned the Lord of Death and the three other demonic knights struggling upon their attack on Prontera.

"Yes! It shall be done!"

-

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This parting was rather hard for Pay to take it. He knew this time round that the dangers were not a child's play, supposedly the four grew stronger each coming day. It seems Moonlight Flower had similar intensions, but at a smaller scale. He thought back to the days when he was still a novice, training himself hard on a regular basis to promote to an archer.

Those days were exactly the period where Moonlight first struck. His mother tugged at his hand to flee the demon-strewn town, when dawn broke. Usually when such attacks occurred, the guards posted at the cave would give warnings for the townsmen to evacuate. Apparently, they became the first hapless victims of the cat demon. And that was how he lost his father, one of the well-known hunters back then, fighting valiantly for the town.

A survivor of that incident once told him that his father was a hero, for he died sacrificing himself to a large mob of sohees surrounding his friend. After peace was restored, his mother still remained downcast, grieving over his father's death. In the midst of his contemplations, he realized that he was still traversing the thick woods of Payon. The night has fallen, but his trained eyes allowed him to see just as well as day. For some reason, his falcon felt uncomfortable as he neared his home, the "mad" falcon screeching after every short pause. This sign began to confirm his suspicions, the hunter having a gut feeling that an attack was already underway.

The starry night was a beautiful sight, yet the tall, looming trees obliterated the stars. Unknown dangers lurked about the dark woods, hissing of a snake or crunching footsteps of a willow was occasionally heard. But Pay cared little about them, his first priority was the safety of his town. Secondly, these dangers in the woods were considered peanuts to him, since he was inarguably a skillful full-fletched hunter. Seeing a pale light shining on the open fields just ahead of him, his anxiety increased as he would soon know if the rumours were true. He crossed the thick bush, and out to the open fields. His worse fears were realized, however, when he heard a din and saw smoke coming from a conflagration.

What astounded him further was that, Tien and the huntress who talked with him yesterday were battling a score of bonguns just within the entrance. Pay ran forward as he unslung his Arbalest, fitting an oridecon arrow to shoot off a sohee creeping up behind Elemire. The sohee's hair stopped fluttering, then the undead woman's body fell limb. Elemire turned around, finding the dead sohee lying at her feet. The huntress then realized that someone had saved her from the stealth attack, and that someone was Pay. She smiled at him, then continued getting her Ballista to work, felling more sohees crowding the bridge leading to the entrance.

Pay's "mad" falcon began screeching at a higher crescendo, swooping down to bite off the yellow talisman pasted on a munak's hat, then pecked her eyes out. Pay took over from there, letting fly another arrow at the female vampire's heart. The Arbalest bowstring hummed for a long time, as Pay's fingers worked furiously to diminish the demons crowding the bridge, preventing any helpers to enter.

The hunter was forced to watch in awe as Tien began transforming into a critical state. His pupils glowed an unholy green, the skin on his body darkened into a deep red. Small streaks of lightning crackled over and around his muscular frame, the monk now an undisputed fighter. The Kaiser Knuckles he wore became spiked, punching holes into the demons. Roaring in rage, he smashed his fist into a bongun, the force cleanly looping off the head. Each blow sent demons falling over the bridge and down the river, clearing the bridge for access into the town.

The one-man wrecking machine facilitated the other defenders. But his aim was not to clear the demons. He wanted to seek out Moonlight herself. Tien punched his way through scores of demons, eventually bringing him to his burning home. Recognizing the Chinese style renovations of his house and a statue of a dragon by the stairs, he jumped into the raging flames, wishing that nobody was trapped in it. Unfortunately for him, he stepped on a hand. The monk leaped over a burning beam, and recognized the man lying dead. He was burned alive. The half charred body belonged to his father.

"Father!" Tien screamed, his eyes glowingan even horrific green."Father!"

Tien quickly pulled the body of the senior monk out of the house, deciding that he would give him a proper burial after this battle. The question was, he did not even know if he could survive this ordeal, for the second round of attack by Moonlight and her stronger forces made things rather pessimistic.