Chapter 2: Trial by Combat
This is 20th Overlord to all readers,
I finds out that The Knight have come back from the dead meaning that the Old Guard will returns as well. I will be keeping an eye on the Knight since I considers the Old Guard to be a parallel universe to the Knight, only my characters are original based than what we wanted our favorite characters to be in.
To those who will still read this and deemed me as a monster hater, I wanted to says that I takes no sides as I will be completely neutral meaning I will create another story to suited your desires or needs or anything. I wanted no one bullying me as well as I see fanfictions as what if this happens and that happens in the storylines that we love as all of us are basically making a new universe despite what KC seemingly trying to control all of us stories to be like the Marvel Loki's sacred timelines. I'm not forcing you to read this as you have the freedom to badmouth the Old Guard as much as you wanted. Even reading the Old Guard and badmouthing me. In essence, it's take a strong man to throw a punch, but it's takes a stronger man to receive that punch and keep walking.
As I'm neutral, I will be entitled to create another MGE story for you, Monster Lovers since you believed you no doubt thinks that I'm the scum of writers, authors, and editors. I will make it worthy of your expectation as I wanted to have a chance to prove I'm a good person!
To those who expecting my Odyssey's fanfic to come back from the dead, that's the sad news because I considers it to be dead because some people are badmouthing me about taking a side in the MGE section. I'm not and wanted to prove how neutral I'm truly am now!
These are my MGE Stories and the sides they will take on:
Old Guard (approaching on the Human Side)
Isekai Wars (Agreeing to disagreeing Both Side)
In another time, in another world (approaching on KC's side)
It was The Paragon's turn to check for some quest on the Guild as Volcanicus is dealing with means of transport. So, he needed to act like they knew nothing of the invasion and continue their normal routine. When he entered, the noises of the building's occupants died down and he was receiving a lot of nervous stares among the other mercenaries even though the blood he received yesterday was mostly washed away from his armor. He scoffed that these mercenaries were supposed to be harsh ones, yet fear stricken them whenever he showed himself in their presence.
As soon he passed them, his ears heard their voices hushed as they whispered faces close together in their hopes of not being heard by him. After all, the rumors of a foreigner had a reputation for killing Mamonos in great numbers and brutal efficacy among other things in daily life in Lescatie. They aren't worth his time since they had already lowered his thinking of the Midgarans based upon their whisper and rumors. After all, he wasn't someone who seek praise or glory for they don't achieve anything significantly, but cause them to act stupid. He came here to browse the billboard for the odd jobs with huge amounts until his eyes got on that piece of paper: Help Wanted: Increased Monster Sightings near Lemar Mines, needed mercenaries for protection. Reward: 2,000 Gold!
The Knight ripped the request sheet from the board before walking over to the counter; the Mercenaries nearby quickly stepped away to a safe distance in fear due to the seemingly menacing gaze. He saw the clerk take the sheet of the paper from his hand and stamp it as proof that the mission is in progress.
Before he left to start his latest attack against these pathetic monsters, he was stopped by someone calling him as he turned to face the brave lad: only to find a foolish brute.
"Hey, (hurk) you there? Yeah, you."
It doesn't take a genius to figure that the man is infected with drunkenness and wasted.
"What the fuck are you anyway, (hurk)going in our guild, wearing what the fuck you are (hurk) wearing like you own the place?"
The Drunk Fool stumbles about nonsense as Arthur isn't amused nor humorous by all of this as the mercenaries could tell he's getting angry causing them to back away further.
"What? (hurk) well, speak up you (hurk) you scary looking bastand? Why don't take off that stupid mask of yours and let me see your ulgy face of yours?"
The Paragon just stares at him as if he were a stature as the fool is making a terrible mistake.
"I (hurk) fucking take off your mas…"
Before he finished, Arthur the Paragon had enough of this nonsense as he simply punched the drunken man's face. He applied some power behind it causing the foolish drunk to be knocked out at the first punch. Once that was done, he wasted no time in founding a caravan station for transportation before departing for the Western Region.
(Couple of days later) It turns out that the request was a little outdated for a group of miners hastily fled from the mine while the others were left to their fates to the hands of the lusty Mamonos. As pitiful these men are, they are still attractible for the monster girls didn't care as they savagely stripped their pants off to rape them.
A monster-girl species known as Wurm were the cause of the entire ruckus and interrupting the mining activities capturing the miners and were having fun with them cuddling and mating with their newfound husbands: most of them had already done their depraved acts with the male miners and currently sleeping with arms holding their new husbands tight.
"S-stop! No! I have a w-wife who carrying my child"
"Then I'm your new wife right now~!" One of the Wurms slurred with a moan, "Which is better than your old wife and gives birth to better children."
"G-Gah," another unfortunate miner was held tight by another of the Wurms as she kept licking his shaft, "Noooooo!"
White fluids spewed out from his shaft as he lost the battle with pleasure, and the Wurm monster girl smiled in joy and began to lap up the white fluid. The others were busy creating their own paradise in these mines until one of them suddenly heard the sound of clanking metal footsteps on the floor. Somewhere in the caves, a Wurm popped out from the tunnels and was preparing to pounce on the mysterious male individual in hopes to have a husband for herself, only to have her head severed by the knight's sword painting the cavern floor with her blood.
The monsters slowly stopped at what they were doing as noises of steel hacking through flesh and the horrified screams of their brethren echoed throughout the tunnels. They could tell that it was coming closer and closer to where they're at based upon the sound of fighting intensifining. The Mamono's slowly dropped their newly gained husbands while the atmosphere in the mine grew tender and tender as the source of the incoming clanking sounds grew closer. Soon the source of the clanking appeared right in front of them, a figure who was covered in blood stood menacingly at an entrance of the cavern.
The wolf-faced Knight held a torch aloft in his left hand and his sword that dripped with the blood of the slain in his right. The Mamono were utterly horrified due to the stench of blood coming from his sword and armor, which they sensed that he killed their brethren while on his way to here.
"If you were this disgusted with me, then your kind shouldn't have come here in the first place. After all, it's your fault that I killed any friends or family before standing before you!" With that, Arthur the Paragon took a step forward into the chamber.
Seemingly inexperienced twins of the invading wurms snarled in rage and pounced at the knight, intending to avenge their fallen. He used the torch like a dagger for he drove it straight into the closest wurm in the eye as his favorite weapon, the sword, gutted her like a fish. Without time of thought, he tossed the first wurm aside, but he didn't have enough time for the second for she managed to wrapped her tail around his body and started to squeeze his body as her eyes screamed murder because he slew her twin.
Before her hands could remove his helmet and show him the error of his ways, Arthur the Paragon dropped his weapons and his hands went straight of preventing that as his left hand grabbed ahold of one of her arms while the right was currently choking her neck. She was shocked as she was trying her best to save herself as she started applying steel-breaking pressure. It would have seemed to be futile since Draugr doesn't have a sense of pain that granted them a sort of superior strength over living creatures.
Eventually, Arthur the Paragon broke her neck causing her body to lose its power and he tossed the body aside. Upon reclaiming his weapon(s), the Terror Knight then stared at the other Wurms with his emotionless helmet and his menacing aura, causing them to be paralyzed in fear.
"I hated snakes the most," The Paragon said before he charged the last remaining monsters like a berserker. From then on, only the horrifying screams of the Mamono echoed throughout the tunnels. The miners just sat there on the ground with fear in their eyes, as they watched the butchery unfold as the Knight of Terror unleashed a new meaning of hell to the Wurms and the miners who called Arthur a murderer.
Once it all died down and the last monster had been slain, the Miners who had escaped the caves and were waiting outside. Noticed that the commotion inside the mine had gone silent until they heard the clanking of armor plates coming towards them. The Paragon emerged from the mine first, followed by the other missing miners. They all cheered and shouted praise at their savior.
"I can't believe you beat them all!" shouted a joyful miner. "The Wurms are overall the most aggressive of the monsters, but you've bested them all by yourself! Are you a Hero?"
"Not exactly," Arthur replied, "Just someone willing to get the job done."
With that, the Armored Draugr walked away from the miners; he left the miners in confusion. Before the Miners would resume their duties, one of them entered the chamber that most of the miners had told their fellow miners of where the Wurms had attempted to rape a lot of men. As he went in, his eyes widened in shock, staring out in horror at the amount of carnage from what the knight with the Wolf helmet had wrought. It was a bloody massacre where body parts were strewn across and most of the corpses had been hacked into pieces as if some madman had gone on a killing spree.
"Nick? By the Goddess," Suddenly, another Miner came in while covering his nose, "Damn, this looks like a slaughterhouse. What happened here?"
"Andrew… Do you think that was one of the two knights that everyone has been talking about?"
"Eh-What? You mean him we saw earlier?" Romeo raised his eyebrow, and the look on his face grew in surprise. "HE'S THAT KNIGHT OF TERROR? I guess what the people said are true... then this amount of carnage isn't like we've seen every day... ugh... this is nauseating. We'd better get back up to the surface before we have to get rid of those monster corpses."
(While The Paragon was away) After buying the horses that can run long distances and making sure they stayed near the wagon, he was on route to the marketplace to buy some herbs and food for himself since he is half alive according to his stomach. As he passed through the nearby orphanage, he heard the sound of children as he looked back to see them. He counts about seven as the last one seems to be a little girl, who is too tired to run with her friends.
"Hahahaha. Too slow. Too slow."
"Not fair! You didn't finish my counting. You cheated."
"It's not cheating, it's called using my head. You should try sometime, dumb-dumb."
"Why you! Wait for me, don't leave me behind."
As the group of children run past him, the last one bumps into the legs of Volcanicus himself as the little girl's butt sat atop of the dirty ground with a bump on her forehead. She apologized while nursing her head; only to see the intimidating figure of Volcanicus, the Giant. The little girl screamed as she stood frozen because she was too afraid to move from the intimidating gaze of a metal monster.
"Careful, young one! Running is very dangerous for the likes of you!" The Giant's deep voice and his hand reaching to get her does little to calm the little girl as she stood trembling in front of Volcanicus.
'Oh no… what… what should I do?' The little girl was thinking too hard on how to escape from the big scary man in front of her.
Before his hand could ever touch the little girl, Volcanicus stops when he hears a child behind himself, "Um, Mister. We're sorry!"
Volcanicus turned around to see that the children who ran past him were now looking at him with their scared or pleasing expression painted on their faces.
Once he looks at them, the children say either "We didn't do it on purpose" or "P-please don't eat us, Mister Giant."
Volcanicus repeatedly attempted to calm them down but like the girl, the children are easily afraid in front of the Giant Knight. From the moment he bent his knees to take a good look at the children, a boy, who is slightly older than the rest of them, is walking in front of him. He could tell that the boy was trying to act brave at this moment for his face showed guts yet his body couldn't stop trembling.
As soon as the boy in question got Volcanicus' full attention, he then brought his hands forward to what revealed to the local sweets known as candy in his hands as he tried to give it to the one who doesn't ever know what sweets are and what they taste like.
"Please don't be angry with us… you can have all our candy. Here!" the boy said as his hands trembled and the Giant of a man just looked at his hand confused about what candy was.
Before he could say anything, a female voice was heard from the back of the children, "Children, what are you doing there?"
All of the children and Volcanicus looked to see Sasha Fullmoon as she walked forward to the kids. It was a slight wonder of how long she will notice him since height isn't considered normal around these parts.
"We're sorry, Ms. Fullmoon. We're just trying to apologize to mister here."
Sasha looked at the children with a stern and disapproving expression before she caught sight on Volcanicus as her face forgo the stern expression for a frightened look. From looking her face, it signal the children to quickly run and hide at the back of Sasha as she tried to shield from what she thinks as the Giant's wrath is upon her.
"L-listen, here, y-you. I beg of you, they're only children. They didn't mean to incur your wrath. So, I beg of you…"
"It is alright now," Volcanicus finally have a chance to say something as he sort of slouching to have an eye-to-eye with the woman as the little girl joined her friends in a rush.
"If you have heard about those rumors about me and my friend, they hold some merit even though the rumors don't hold a candle to what we do…" What he has said has given more reason for Sasha and the kids more afraid of him.
"Be as it may, we only killed the monsters that haunt in the night, so you children could live a better tomorrow. Besides, I have my own standards and killing defenseless little children and their caretaker isn't one of them," upon saying that, Sasha and the kids eased up, but still tense at the Giant Knight.
"P-please, I apologized to them. They are just being children… um… my apologies but what is your…"
Before Sasha finished the question, Volcanicus beat her to it, "Volcanicus. Just Volcanicus, at your service, my lady. After all, children may be troublesome, but they aren't worth my wrath."
Sasha and the kids now have no reason to fear him as the nun was about to lead back to the orphanage.
"Wait a moment!"
Sasha and the kids then stop at Volcanicus' command as he walks to the oldest boy as he crouches down to his level.
"What is your name, son?"
The eldest child then stood there trembling but firm as he introduced himself, "M-my name is Ralph, mister. I… I… S-sorry for…"
It was there Volcanicus held out his fist to the boy, "No reason to be scary of me, Ralph. Just punch my fist…"
The boy just looked at him funny before he did what Volcanicus asked, "Where I come from, bumping a single fist of one to the other means many things to a lot of people differently. However in this case, I'm recognizing you for standing your ground despite the fear. Be proud of that Young Ralph for you have the means of protecting the ones you love within your group. May the memories of your parents guide you into becoming a great man, Ralph. And you as well, children."
Ralph smiled at the praise as all of the children are no longer afraid of Volcanicus while Sasha looked at the scene with a smile as he finds the scene kind of adorable although she still finds it unsettling due to the height. They wave their goodbyes at the Giant as they run to the orphanage leaving Sasha to be alone with Volcanicus.
"Goodbye, Miss Fullmoon. You have done an excellent job at raising the children you have there," Volcanicus said as his compliments make Sasha blushed as she smiled gratefully.
Sasha waved goodbye at Volcanicus as he continued walking until he was out of her sight. From that moment, she reflected on her thoughts on the now-named Volanicus. She knew that he is strong and somewhat a veteran of his own caliber as the people outside the city walls spoke off. It was shocking that he was taller than the tallest person in the city itself or anyone she had met in her years as a hero as well as wearing armor with what might be considered to be monsters of old age skulls. She smiled sadly after hearing that he turned down the offer which was requested by Willmarina Noscrim on behalf of the Order and yet, the Order of the Chief God is too stubborn to acknowledge this due to its corruption and tended to ignore his refusal.
She sighed in pity and was aware that the Order has eyes on him due to the spreading rumors and worst of all that he has no Mana, which is impossible and he shouldn't be alive without it. His entire being may be in danger once the Order learned about his nature and there is no doubt that they might experiment with him for their own use. The Warrior Nun clasped her hands and prayed that nothing harm shall happen to him.
(Near the Borders of Lescatie) Unknown to the natives of Lescatie, there was a camp full of mamonos: some were carrying their provisions while others were preparing their armors and weapons for Druella, the Fourth Princess of the Demon Lord and the Mastermind who will bring Lescatie, the city of heroes, into a part of the expanding Demon Realm.
Itha, the Ogre in charge of the Vanguard Company, looked at the overall map of Lescatie before glancing towards her utmost trusted subordinates, a Dhampir and a Hellhound.
"How is the morale of our troops, Ida?" Itha asked towards the Hellhound.
"Unlike the troops of two years back, the morale is still strong as ever," Ida said with a smile and determined eyes closed, "It has been two years since the rumors have frightened off the first volunteers.
Indeed, two years have passed since several outposts were made in an attempt to scout behind Lescatie's borders for reconnaissance on any weaknesses they can find in the so-called safest place of the Order. But unfortunately since the complete and utter destruction of an amazon tribe, the mentioned outposts they have made for the upcoming invasion were destroyed with too few survivors made it back to the Demon Realm. The survivors indicate that two men, the Knight of Terror and the Giant themselves were the cause of the damage.
Hearing such stories that they possessed abilities that aren't fitted for normal humans or even heroes and with a tenacity of brutally murdered their oppentents. Even there were tales that they possessed magic to satisfy their bloodlust. The strongest tales that frightened off about 85% of the invasion force a year and a few months back to straight up abandon their Princess in the matter of her need was the fact that the strongest succubuses can't melt their hearts as they too earned their place with Hel.
Itha scoffs as she already disgrard it as mere nonsense and cursed them the day they left the Fourth Born. That day forced Druella to postponed the invasion for two fucking years as Itha and those loyal to Druella needed to recruited mamanos that were too desperate in their life without men or mamanos that serving their time in Demon Realm prisons to fill in the gap. I meant for real, the humans were meant to fear them and this single story from the other side had taken turns on its heels against us as if the Order has its own monsters judging from eyewitnesses. What a joke!
"I see, that's good since no other rumors were mentioned about these Knights," Itha scoffs before turning to the Dhampir, "Sandra, have our scouts returned?"
"Most have returned with success by interrupting their supply lines and silencing the human border guards before bringing them here," the Dhampir smiled for a while before it turned a frown, "However, all but two and they were led by Aneko and Izumi."
"What happened?" Itha said while raising her brow.
"They were tasked to track down the Knights under the order of the Fourth Born herself to get rid of the ones that deters the invasion," Sandra explained before her expression turned grim, "However, they managed to find the Giant and the Terror Knight, but upon return; Izumi was the only one who came back."
"Only one? How?" Itha shockly asked since she knew that Izumi was a student under Aneko's teaching since the latter was a legend of her own right. After all, Aneko was the only veteran Kunoichi who allowed her students to take Aneko's target for their own husband while she remained single to the very end.
"Her entire group was killed in cold blood," The Dhampir said while swallowing a gulp through her throat, "She was only spared upon the Giant's request as the Knight told her the message for us."
"Then what does this knight say?" Ida asked curiously.
"For us to leave them otherwise they will kill any of us who are willing to pursue them," Sandra summarized what Izumi told her.
Itha and Ida felt unease bloom within them at those words regardless of the summarization. So, these men weren't rumors at all; they had killed kunoichi including a living legend of Aneko's right without sweat. Itha also immediately shrugged those thoughts for she will avenge Aneko. Then again, Itha was disappointed and angry at Izumi for she had heard Izumi left the camp to return to her homeland.
'What a coward she is,' Itha grunts, 'They are still inside Lescatie, after all. However, with strength in numbers and a tactic known divide and conquer, that Terror Knight shall have my troops as his wives as I shall keep the big one as my pet.'
"And there's more!"
"More?"
Both Itha and Ida looked at Sandra to continue Izumi's words but she seemed to be quite uncomfortable about it.
"Well, spit it out! What is it that you are about to tell us?"
Sandra fidgeted at the notion, as if she was nervous about something, "I… I don't know if I should say this without offending the Fourth Born but… but…"
Sandra then take a deep breath and then let out what she is about to say, "Only the Knight of Terror call Princess Druella a… a… a… bitch in front of Izumi."
Silence emerged once Sandra finished with the summary of the message from Izumi as both Itha and Ida have shocked expressions on their faces at what Sandra just said while she just hides in shame at what she just said.
However, while Ida still had the shocked expression of hers, Itha is now fuming at what she just heard, 'That… BASTARD! I shall made him a husband of the entire army while I made his mind goes crazy with our torture sessions. I swear that I will make that knight suffer for such disrespect toward the Fourth Born!'
"Captain Itha!"
The Ogre turned around and saw a Demonic Imp who yelped in fear at seeing Itha's face looking pissed off. It was a messenger carrying the Seal of the Royal Makai, thus saluting to the Orge Captain.
"T-t-the F-fourth Born has made her move! We shall march under twilight, ma'am!"
At this moment, the gray-skinned Ogre smiled. Now it's their time to move into human territory as ordered by the Fourth Princess of the Royal Makai. Thousands of monsters with corrupted humans as their reinforcement marched in formations through the Human-Demon borders as flying Mamanos flew overhead.
On the nearby human borders, several Lescatian partrols widened their eyes as they were caught off-guard by the vanguard of the Demonic Army. Being attacked by various forms of monsters helps anyone outside of combat know full well that the Monsters have just started an invasion on Lescatie.
"S-sound the horns!" screamed a hero who recently slaying a minotaur as he caught sight of someone who hides from the battle, "It's a full-scale invasion!"
The young man did as the hero told him so before a hellhound got him as nearby watch towers heard the blowing of a horn also blew their horns; warning nearby settlements and outposts of the invasion. It was a chain reaction for more horns blowing, carrying the message to all of Lescatie.
"Captain! Above you!" One of the patrolmen warned her superior as the Captain heard a dreaded bird-like shriek. He felt claws on both of his shoulders and was pinned down as he heard his men groaned and some even begged.
Then, he heard giggles made from behind him as he spun around, he saw a Harpie smiling down at him who then spoke in a sultry voice, "From now on, you are my husband~!"
On that night, muffled screams and groans mixed with pleasured moans filled the night skies.
(City of Lescatie) A few days had passed since the invasion had begun as the Demonic Army marched through the borders. Refugees filled the city streets after their small towns and villages in the surrounding regions were burned down and pillaged by the monstrous invasion. Most of the refugees staged riots in protest for more food before they were beaten or killed by city guards. The Order then sent their clergymen to set up stages and started preaching for the Chief God to ease the panicking masses. Turns out that it wasn't enough to calm the situation.
Observing from one of many of the city's alleyways, Arthur the Paragon, who recently came back from his mission, and Volcanicus as the former leant against the wall with arms crossed and the latter just sit against the wall as they watch these events. Volcanicus watched the people with pity as Arthur the Paragon watched them like they're foolish to fight amongst themselves when their sworn enemy is waiting outside their walls. All the while, the city was being thrown into civil disorder and chaos erupted as the monster invasion came closer and closer to the capital. The Paragon could care less about the situation around him as himself and Volcanicus waited for the invasion to happen so they would use the chaos to escape the mamonos since the entire city was in a complete lockdown while the lescatian soldiers were gathering themselves on the walls and the Mercenary Guild had been forced to close down after the Order hired as many mercenaries as possible to protect the city. Everything is already in turmoil among the citizens of Lescatie and its leadership.
Arthur stood back up as Volcanicus saw him getting ready to leave, Volcanicus followed suit as he took a right turn around the corner. Suddenly out of nowhere, a person bumped into Volcanicus causing the said person to fall flat to the ground.
"O-oh! S-sorry! I was just-"
"It's alright," Volcanicus said as he helps the person before he sees a familiar face, "It is nice to see you again, Miss. Fullmoon."
"Oh! Volcanicus, I-I never expected to meet you here," Sasha replied, flabbergasted while widening her eyes in surprise before making an apologizing bow, "Pardon me for not being cautious enough!"
Before Volcanicus could ask about the children, The Paragon interrupts, "Who is she?"
Sasha left out a surprised yelp as she turns around to face Arthur himself as he just stands there staring at his partner interacting with a servant of their Goddess for he wonders how Volcanicus knew this woman.
Upon seeing the (disguised) Draugr, Sasha felt a chill up her spine as she gulped in what felt like fear. Granted, she felt like this at the first sighting of Volcanicus and the other one due to the fact that they lacked mana with some blood on their weapons and armor from time to time. Her first meeting with Volcanicus had placed a sense of newfound trust in the giant mercenary, yet her first meeting with Arthur the Paragon gave her more reason to be afraid of him as he stands before her menancely.
Ignoring the dread within Sasha, Volcanicus says in her place, "Arthur, this is Sasha Fullmoon. She is the nun who dedicated her life to watching over the children of the orphanage we passed by. We met while you were away protecting the miners of the Lemar Mines."
Despite being in the presence of the Draugr, the warrior nun acted politely, "Hello Arthur, it's nice of meeting…"
Sadly, the Paragon rudely interrupted, "Don't say my name so casually, Nun!"
Hearing that hateful tone, Sasha believes she has done something terribly wrong as she begins to repeat her bowing and saying "I'm sorry, sorry, sorry…"
"No need for apologizing, Arthur doesn't trust people very easily," Sasha looks up to see Volcanicus waving his hand dismissively before asking. "So, are things going well for you?"
"The children are alright, but I am worried." The former heroine looked down with a saddened expression. "Everyone is afraid due to the monster's invasion, and no one is going out of the city."
"It seems we're stuck in here like caged birds." The Paragon cupped his fingers up the chin section of his helmet in thought. "The leaders in Lescatie are incompetent to let such an invasion happen."
"I... see... umm... Volcanicus, I would like to talk about something alone." Sasha clasped both of her hands, clenching them together. "Since you are not a bad person after all, no matter what the rumors that have been told. Will... you still trust me?"
That got the duo attention as Volcanicus stood sliently still and the Knight of Terror tilted his head. Trust her? Seems like she's willing to reveal one of her secrets to him regardless of the curiosity of . Ash slowly turned his helmet's visor down to the Warrior Nun and looked at her suspiciously until he asked.
"What trust would I be holding for you?"
"There is something I would like to show you." She explained with a solemn and guilt-ridden look. "Something that I've been keeping away from the Order."
Now, this is turning interesting for the Armored Draugr because he has reasons to hate the Order more during the city lockdock. Although, only Volcanicus (rarely) interacted with Sasha for the past few days since the invasion began. All he had done was to help her out around the slum district by carrying out her heavy groceries for the orphans. But now, he was unsure about it upon her additional request.
Instead of Volcanicus, Arthur speaks to the nun, "Lead the way!"
The sun was setting as every corner of the slums started to turn dark as they followed the warrior nun through the alleyways of the slums that led towards the orphanage. Once they arrived, the young children were overjoyed to see Sasha return and some older boys came to see Arthur the Paragon and Volcanicus as the former standing at Sasha's right while Volcanicus had to bend like a man with a cane.
"Look! It's Volcanicus and the monster knight!"
"Whoa! He came back with his… friend!"
"His helmet truly looks like a monster… and it looks AWESOME! Can I wear them, please?"
"He-he scares me."
Arthur the Paragon looked around as Volcanicus and himself were swarmed by children all over, awed at their appearance while some were scared at seeing The Paragon in his full glory as Sasha nervously giggled before hushing the children away from the visitor.
"Pardon me, the children were excited to see the rumored Heroes," the warrior nun attempted to smile as her hands fidgeted against each other at the gaze of The Paragon.
"I see," Arthur uttered as he saw Volcanicus seemingly playing around the children that surrounded him, "They seem pretty optimistic in a situation like this. There's nothing wrong with that…."
As the Children were playing outside, Sasha led the two unnatural mercenaries to a small church; they followed her through the hallways and scanned the surroundings. Everything was clean, and the floor was well polished. Looking around, he saw artistic depictions on the glass windows, which show the Hero Saints and Monsters fighting each other during the Old Age before turning his head to see the Altar of the Chief God in front of him. It showed a massive cross of gold with angelic wings in the back. The color of the golden cross oddly resembles the cross of Roion, their God. It would appear that the Chief God has no sense of creativity as she took Roion's symbol as a means of insults towards the Prison World, but they shrugged that thought off and continued walking.
Sasha walked over to the curtain hanging by the wall with a small table in front. She moved them aside before pressing a brick to open a secret door to a passage leading downstairs. She stopped and turned to the Battle-Borns with a pleading look.
"Before we enter, please understand," She said until Volcanicus slowly nodded as The Paragon just looked at her, "Now come."
The Nun stepped in first before Volcanicus followed suit and Arthur had his hand on his sword as he cautiously followed in.
Sasha grabbed a candle nearby before going downstairs. Once they reached the underground basement, Volcanicus raised his eyebrow in surprise as Arthur unsheathed his blade out of sight and silently for his views on Sasha was crushed before there were major improvements.
"These children... are the reason I wanted to show you."
They were met with a small group of young Mamono who were cautiously looking at him. A young orge mamono hid behind Sasha while looking to the Paragon with her eyes full of fear for he emitted an aura of foreboding dread.
"I had established an orphanage that is deep within the forest and brought them here after they announced the lockdown of the city," Sasha explained with a saddened expression as she picked up the helpless young orge and cradled the child in her arms. "I don't want to leave them behind..."
Volcanicus said nothing as The Paragon slowly moved closer and closer to the Warrior Nun, but they waited for Sasha to continue.
"And of course... this is my secret... my sin that I can never atone for," Sasha spoke, with a regretful smile, "This is why I need to gain your trust. Because of this, my actions from the past have led me to these children and now it is my responsibility to take care of them."
"Let me guess, you wanted us to take care of these children because you've turned your back on your people…" Arthur the Paragon said with such venom as Volcanicus also took a weapon out in plain sight causing the children to be afraid as the Warrior Nun gulped in fear.
"You disgust me!" Arthur the Paragon said before his hands took hold of his sword and prepared a vertical slash to cut a traitor and the ogre child in half. It would have been if it wasn't the fact that Volcanicus used his hammer to block the slash. Sasha and the monster children back up greatly as the Draugr was trying to kill them as Volcanicus just saved her from being killed.
"WHAT!?" Arthur the Paragon uttered in surprise and shock at his partner defending the traitorous bitch in holy clothing and her slutty underlings. Before he could question him, Volcanicus used the momentum to disable him and put some distance between themselves with the swipes of his hammer. The helmet protected the armored Draugr from the blunt force of the hammer as the blow caused him to swift around while he balanced himself with his armored boots stomped in the ground with his arms spread out like a bird.
The body of The Paragon remained in that position for a few moments as Arthur huff and puff at this sudden betrayal. Volcanicus turned around to face Sasha and the children as he sees a pair of young were sheeps that are no older than three years old as the older mamanos tried to act brave to protect Sasha and their more helpless kins. He motioned to them to stay there until he resolved the issue at hand.
"You too…" Volcanicus turns around to face his ally who looked greatly pissed based on his eye seemingly glowing as Arthur slowly walked to him with his clenched fist and a shield at the ready, "I would never have thought to be possible that one of us would betray all of humanity… much less than our God."
The Armored Giant merely stands his ground as he only wields a hammer for he doesn't want to beat up his partner, merely to reason with him, "Our enemies should be the ones who have tasted combat!"
"Are you sure you wanted to defend them? They're mamanos; they enslaved men and boys with their bodies, brainwashed women into becoming them, and they're a plague upon this world."
"They're children… innocent and naive to the ways of how the world truly works. They can be taught and we shouldn't just kill them for the families they're born into."
"Well, well, well. The Savage with a heart of gold! You shouldn't let emotions cloud your judgment. I strongly advise you to see them for what they really are in my eyes; parasites that need to be plagued from the face of the world. Besides if you win, then what you intend to do with the likes of them" Arthur said as he now awaits for Volcanicus to reply.
"Sasha exposed this secret to us mercenaries with good reason while she kept it from friends or family. No doubt, she was planning to hire us to get all her children out of here…"
"How are you supposed to achieve that?" Arthur interrupts since both himself and Volcanicus can fight their way out of the city regardless of soldiers of the Order or the Monster Sluts, but fighting each other is a different story altogether.
"I propose a trial by combat… whoever wins decides the fate of Sasha and the orphans."
"Trial by combat… often ends in death!" Arthur casually says as he frightened Sasha and the monster girls with her because one of them will be killed and if Arthur wins, then they are as good as dead. Unknown to them, Arthur the Paragon was actually acting since both are considered to be undead as he was wise to keep their status a secret among the audience even though they will be dead soon. But, that doesn't mean that he would beat some sense into the Giant Barbarian about showing mercy to enemies is an outdated concept.
Silence filled the room as Volcanicus and Arthur faced each other off as they had taken combat positions and waited for the other to make their move. Running on patient thin, The Paragon launched his shield at the wall to his right causing Volcanicus' attention to be on the shield as Arthur throw the shield that the perfect spot that can redirection the shield toward Volcanicus.
Since the metal of Volcanicus armor and Arthur's shield were made from metals of the prison realm, it would have slash off Volcanicus' arm and pierced into his torso if Volcanicus didn't block it with his hammer. Arthur wasted no time in approaching Volcanicus' exposed side and punching a certain spot at Volcanicus' leg, forcing the latter to kneel. From there, Arthur's only weapons that only damaged the armor or cripple Volcanicus without revealing their species are his fists and delivers quick jabs to the sides of Volcanicus' helmet causing his helmet to slightly bent from the pressures.
To gain momentum, Volcanicus tried to swipe his opponent away while Paragon jumped back to avoid the strike. However, the swipe turns out to trick as soon as Arthur comes into arm's range, Volcanicus used the same hand that tried to swipe him away suddenly grabbed Arthur's shoulder and practically dragged the Paragon into the wall; creating multiple collisions to the wall as he repeating driving Arthur's head to the wall. Unfazed by this, Arthur sends a punch to the arm holding him; on the spot where a nerve that controlled the hand's grip.
This caused Arthur to be free of the hold as he once more continued his assaults with renewed caution and accuracy. Volcanicus isn't very effective since he is fighting The Paragon in enclosed space and the latter is taking full advantage of the former's size. Arthur is giving no pause as he rapidly strikes his opponent's legs, the sides of the torso, and shoulders.
Once more, Volcanicus is on his knees as he starts to swing his hammer more wildly for The Paragon is striking vital motion functions creating pain of movement for the Giant. In one decisive moment, Volcanicus pushed his hammer forward to hit Arthur, but he dodge at the very second. Before the armored giant could do anything, The Paragon grabbed ahold Volcanicus' weapon arm or more specifically: the back of his weapon hand. After that, he punches the fingers holding the hammer with enough force to break the bones of a living person causing Volcanicus' fingers becomes numb, dropping the war-hammer. Once the hammer gets the ground, Arthur delivers an uppercut strong enough for Volcanicus just fall to the ground as his helmet was almost off, exposing only the chin and the mouth.
At seeing the end of this trial, Sasha and the monster children were beyond petrified for they are truly scared that Arthur the Paragon, who is shorter than Volcanicus, managed to beat the giant with just his fists and a shield. The older children held the toddlers close to them and gathered around the warrior nun for Arthur isn't the one they were hoping to win because he wanted to kill them. Sasha doubts that she can protect her and the children from Arthur who has proven himself a highly capable fighter.
Almost suddenly, Arthur turns his sight from the fallen giant to frighten the crowd as he glared at them. The toddlers felt pure hatred directed at the group for they started to cry in fear as the children went on their knees as their body shook with fear if one can't see their eyes full of fear. Sasha Fullmoon was the only one still standing, just barely as her legs shook like an earth-shake. It was a few moments of being stared in absolute horror before the aura of dread suddenly disappeared in an instant.
They breathe out in relief as Arthur the Paragon shifted his sight from the residents to the warhammer on the ground. He bent down to grab a hold of the warhammer with two hands and picked up Volcanicus with a slight bother of weight. Nevertheless he stands near Volcanicus as Arthur lifts the warhammer up ready to smash Volcanicus' head into mush according to the eyes of a captive audience.
It was that time when Volcanicus became conscious as his vision returned to take in the sight of The Paragon looking down at him with his own warhammer high above the latter's head. Once he was fully conscious, he heard the Paragon, "It's nothing personal!"
Arthur was about to smash the hammer into his face when suddenly, everyone present felt the underground rumble for a while. Then came the sound of thousands of pounding footsteps as Arthur the Paragon cocked his head to hear the sounds of horns and shouting from outside while Volcanicus smile for Sasha's saving grace had finally begun.
Now knowing what is happening, the infamous knight of terror slowly lowered and dropped the warhammer as he only says, "Crap!"
"It would have seem that the situation have evolved," Volcanicus says as he slowly get up with his helmet completely cover his face while he watched the frustrated Arthur that the invasion have happened a lot sooner than he could have predicted.
"It would seem like that," Arthur relancant agreed; now that he needs Volcanicus' cooperation now more than ever. Even in his undead state, Arthur the Paragon is a highly skilled weapon-master and being a Draugr boosted his physical capabilities to match the strength of inhuman creatures, but being stabbed to death by the very ones he once called his friends proved that he's infallible like all living creatures. He has doubts that these sluts could successfully defeat him, but he has never been in a city surrounded by its enemy on all sides.
"Listen, I know that what we are doing is vital for our peoples and we've been fighting side-by-side for two years now, but this revelation changes everything."
"Volcanicus, these vermin won't resist their instinct to supplant humanity to help them end! To what end? All for the sake of creating this 'free-love' paradise… tsk… What a helpless goal and utter waste of time! I know that better than anyone else!"
"And I fully agree on that end-goal since life is a lot bigger and complicated. The same goes to Sasha's taboo as it proves that monster girls can be reeducated on how the world works and this requires our Lord's judgment."
"What are you talking about Volcanicus? You lose the trial and by all rights, their lives are forfeit…"
"Even so, the Reclamation needed all of us and I won't be a part of it if you not just spare them but allow these children and their care-taker into safe lands."
After hearing that statement, Arthur the Paragon slowly observes the situation he found himself in order to make the decision. At one hand, these are Midgara's monsters and they are known for their lust for men and will do anything in their power of brainwashing, kidnapping, enslaving, and raping men, even little boys and corrupting women or girls of any ages. To him, any leader that doesn't fulfill a promise of any kind to their lands within 5 years or beyond doesn't deserve to be one and the promise that hasn't borne any fruit in a 1000+ years time frame made the current Demon Lord the most pathetic in his book. So, it's pretty natural for Arthur to commit all-out genocide against these weaklings to prevent a slow extinction of the entire human race.
On the other hand, their "Chief God" revived the souls of the dead and chose the selected few of the living for reasons known only to Him. Sure, there are delities who revive the dead in Midgara is common, but the Prison Realm God only revive their souls of warriors long dead to fight the greater evil that will invade Midgara… that the chosen undead are the ones to start the Reclamation… to prepare for the worse and hope for the best! Despite a sense of betrayal, He can't deny that Roion revived the Armored Giant other than betrayed the Lodmicians for a monster sympathizer and her little band of mamono harlots-in-training. After all, Roion did revive them to fulfill their roles instead of the thousands of fallen warriors still waiting at the Tower.
In the end, Arthur the Paragon clenched his free hand into a fist before turning around and walking to the only way in or out of the underground basement. However, before he fully went out of sight, Arthur says without turning to face Volcanicus or the group, "These children will be your responsibility and yours alone, Volcanicus. But, if I finds out that these children rape a male or that bitch turned into a monster, I will give them the judgement they rightly deserves!"
The refugees waiting outside the city walls poured into the main city gates like a flood. Soldiers of the city tried to organize the refugees into a semblance of order, but fear reigned supreme as many trample others. Volcanicus and Sasha quickly exited from the secret room before closing the passageway behind them.
"Sasha, get the children into the Church while we find a secure route," he said as the Nun hestibly nodded, "Stay here…"
He stopped mid-sentence as Arthur the Paragon opened the door of the Church's entrance; the trio saw a group of Order clergymen and armed guards standing right in front of them. Sasha gasped in terror as she saw the badge on their robes that depict the insignia of the Order's Inquisition Branch.
"The… the Inquisition? Here?" She whispered silently in horror.
An old clergyman stepped forwards as he pulled out a scroll. He made a small cough before reading out loud the inscription, "Sasha Fullmoon…"
She gulped upon hearing her name while Arthur remained indifferent to his standing and the Armored Giant, still battered, could tell that there's going to be a fight.
"As our suspicions of your actions were confirmed by one of our agents under the jurisdiction of the Order. We have come to arrest you," the old clergyman spoke, while his lips formed a wicked smile, "The reason for your crimes is committing heresy and treason for sheltering monsters right under our noses that ultimately offended the Chief God!"
Those words struck Sasha to the core as once more her knees felt weak and she fell to the ground. The children looked up to the Inquisition and their guards with fear and confusion. Some kids stood in defiance in an urge to protect their big sister. The situation was getting worse until two of the Order guards armed with spears stepped forwards to apprehend the traitorous Heroine, but then came to a halt by the Giant, in full standing, who stepped into their path holding his war ax and the pole this time as he threateningly them to step back. The Warrior Nun looked up to Volcanicus in shock and fear as she knew that he was in a bad shape after the duel with The Paragon and he was still standing with a desire to fight the Order as well.
"W-what is the meaning of this?!" The Order Guard raised their spears as they pointed towards the biggest man they've ever seen, "Are you with that traitor?!"
"Not quite… but I have enough of your absurdity and you will certainly use the fact that I was here. You were trying to recruit us," Volcanicus replied with a cold voice as he sees through their act while sending shivers through the spines of anyone who heard him.
"Woman," Arthur said, getting Sasha's attention as he grabbed the door and was ready to close. "Ensure your children remain in the building until we deal with this!"
Sasha was silent until she shook off her negative thoughts away and gave him a quick silent nod before gathering the children back inside the building. Arthur closes the door as he rejoins Volcanicus' side with a cruel heavy-bladed dagger as they give each other a look.
The old clergyman was infuriated that these men before him, a servant of the Divine Chief God, dared to raise their hand against the Faithful of the Order!
"Kill them and seize that traitor priestess!" Upon hearing his order, the Order Guards rushed forwards with their spears raised.
"Fools!" The Paragon muttered out loud as Volcanicus swung his pole aside causing the spears out of their hands. Arthur grabbed one of the guards and used his dagger to plunge into his neck as he punched the guard to the ground one or two times until most of the flesh and bone of the neck were torn off. The other guard like the clergymen was stunned by the ferocuty of the Terror Knight as he did not react in time before Volcanicus behead him with the swing of his war ax. The Clergymen stood back in horror to see the duo have their attention on them.
The clergymen raised their swords and rushed them as they let out their fanatical warcry, hoping to send them to the dark pits of Hel. That proved to be a poor strategy as the priests quickly put them down with their weapons leaving the last clergyman to fall back in horror at The Paragon who grabbed a spear from a fallen guard.
He looked up to the Paragon as the latter had his foot pinning down the clergyman with his newly acquired spear ready to pop an eye, "The Chief God will surely strike you down for this!"
"Good, I've been waiting to slain a Valkyrie or two!" With that, Arthur strikes him down as the spear goes through the brain and out the skull. The Clergyman didn't have a chance to scream in pain and agony to the Paragon's disappointment.
This prelude of the battle ahead was gone as the Giant went out of his way of throwing the bodies out of sight before they noticed something. They heard screaming from above and saw Harpies and other flying Mamonos flying above the city walls as archers and mages tried to put them down with arrows or magic while some were grabbed and carried off as they screamed for help.
The siege is getting more intense as the window of escape is closing fast!
After hearing complete silence, Sasha slowly opened the door to see if Volcanicus is alright, but was confused of where the clergymen are since there are no sight of them until she saw the blood on the duo's weapons. She covered her mouth with teary eyes as she have an idea of what happened to them.
She was about to send them a prayer before she heard Volcanicus, "We have to move NOW! Tell them if they can walk, we don't stop until we leave this forsaken place, otherwise I carry them!"
The Warrior Nun nodded before sending a quick prayer and organizing the orphans of human and monster to get their most important belongings and followed the duo out of the city.
With this chapter, I would considers this fanfic as an AU to the Newtypeauthor346's Knight as it sort of following the same path just with inspired OCs instead of known characters. I also incorporate elements from Wattpad's star wars crossover version of the Knight since neither sides (Order and the Royal Makai) doesn't have the long list of pros. Sure, the most of the monsters in MGE are quite a looker in my eyes, but I wouldn't side with them completely because of corruption their "lover" into an incubus and shaping your looks into their ideal man. It's kind of counterpointing that these monster girls don't care about how you look or behave like, but they will change how you look and change a human man into an incubus. That and the fact that most of these monster girls have a sort of superior about them. you know the kind that I'm doing this for your good or I'm way better than any human woman.
Also, why does the Demon Lord needed to gathered the energy to change the whole system just for making her paradise for a thousand years. I meant that it would have make perfect sense if she change a little there and here in the world's rules to ensure that male monsters or human can be borne out of monster mothers instead of coleecting the energy for a 1000+ years. It's smell very fishy to me that's all.
By the way, this chapter also differs Arthur and Volcanicus more on how they tackle fighting monster girls; Arthur will slaughter anyone who sided against humanity as a whole regardless of being human themselves or little children and Volcanicus is my Durotan of the story as he only do battle if the oppentent attacks him in any way. As for the fight, it was inspired all MCU fights between Captain America and Iron Man as I would have ended in a standstill or Volcanicus' favor. But, Volcanicus is bigger than the door meaning he will have extremelydifficult of fighting someone in limited space, so the victory goes to Arthur.
For future references, whenever Arthur the Paragon isn't around Volcanicus, you will "read" him in his deep voice. Hope you like this chapter and have the greastest (winter) happy holidays!
Expected the Next Chapters on what?:
A Chapter on Taimanin Asagi fanfic
Next Chapter of Age of Freedom
Next Chapter of Isekai Wars