(During Issue 12: Phobos tries to destroy Crown of Light)
Meridian.
This city tasted the wrath of Phobos a few moments ago. The King of Metamoor forced his subjects to peer into the depths of his black heart and what they saw within was pure terror. Phobos' heart is a dark abyss where every sound is an endless, ominous echo.
'Flames! They just kept on coming!' Nigel hides behind an abandoned wagon as Annihilators blasts their pyrokinetic beams. They blast their fires at random and not only to the 'Calluna' rebels but also the houses that they pass by.
"Ignitus, we need to retreat—Ugh!" Bahorel yells out from the opposite side of the street as the pyrokinetic blast almost hits him. He then hides behind an alleyway. "There's too many of them!" Earlier the 'Calluna' men stretched their forces into two flanks to defend the south, connected by alleyways. The right flank secures the Annihilators advance while the left secures the Frost's Corps attacks. Yet because of their overwhelming numbers, Nigel's men soon retreat and have to defend another line.
"We've been retreating all this time since, you brute! Help is on the way!" Nigel replies back as the Annihilators keep up the pace. He exposes himself from the alley and points his staff at the Annihilators. "Succession Discharge!" he chants as random sparks shoot from his staff.
"Arrghh!" "Urraghh!" the senseless Annihilators scream unconsciously and weirdly like wild monsters as the series of explosives abrupt and stop their attacks.
'Sixty-seven….around seventy, I guess.' Nigel estimated his kill count and hides again behind the abandoned wagon. He then also removes and tosses his large disguised cloak. "How's the left flank and the rest of the men then? I've been holding this line all by myself against the Annihilators!" he asks at Bahorel.
"We've been holding out as well! But—urgh!—we've lost almost half of the group!" he yells out as he uses his arm to cover his face from the debris falling caused by the continuous blasts of enemy fire. "We're planning a retreat! So I think you should too!"
"Flames! Fine then!" Nigel hesitantly agrees and adjusts to their plans. "Tell them to retreat and find another line that we could defend, again!"
"Yes Ignitus!" Bahorel replies and dashes along the alley and heads towards the left flank at the adjacent street
"I don't think that won't be necessary!" From behind, a hissing voice yells out. "Erebo Third Technique: Beaming Darkness!" Blasts of dark beaming energy from behind the rearguard, shoots to the incoming Annihilators
"Finally! Grantaire!" Nigel relieves as he turns around behind him and gazes at Grantaire and the rest of his rebels who comes to their aid. They hide behind improvised barricades as the red beams continue to shoot at them and get closer to Nigel's position.
"Hey Nigel!" Grantaire says as he leaps behind the wagon before the Annihilators could hit him.
"Gruul and the others?" Nigel asks.
"At the other side of the adjacent street from here, the right flank." Grantaire shoves out a piece of paper and gives it to Nigel. He then exposes his hand out only. "Third Technique: Beaming Darkness!" he chants as he blasts his magic to the Annihilators.
"What's this?" he asks as he unfolds the paper and reads.
"A message from the Atlas and his Pasture Heights from the hill" Grantaire says. "He's entrusting us to proceed northwards and siege the northern gates through the east outskirts of the city. According to Alborn, Jolras' Corps is stuck by the foothills and can't march with the bridge gone down."
"You serious? Well, if Atlas wants our enemies to reach the vulnerable Caleb's Corps, then I would likely agree to do it!" Nigel angrily replies and crosses his brow in puzzlement. He then too exposes himself from the barricade and points his staff at the enemy. "Second Technique: Dynamite Shooter!" a spark shoots and explodes on front of the opposing Annihilators and hides again.
"Such sarcasm!—I'm not sure either on what he's planning but as long as Atlas and his flag is on that hill, I'll trust him that he know what he's doing!" Grantaire says. "And I think you should too—Urgh!" Grantaire yelps as he feels a bandaged bruise.
"I thought you said you need rest from your injuries? And here you are in the brink of the crossfire!" Nigel notices his bandaged arms.
"I don't have a choice do I? I'll manage since your new legionate shared some of his mana to me!"
"Martin? What happened to him by the way? Is he alright when you left him?" Nigel asks.
Grantaire scratches behind his hood and clears his throat. "Sad to say but he's with—um, us. His actually with Gruul right now…"
"What did you say?"
(During Issue 12: Frost and his men enter the underground)
"I said let it go!"
Eric commands as the scutum line gives way to form an aisle in the middle. Ferroris, Jhaoully and the other remaining rebels push the wooden and large wagon to edge of the hill. When the wheels begin to reach the slope, the wagon then runs down the steep hill towards the enemy camp. As it goes further and further, its speed and momentum drastically increases.
"What's with the wagon?!" "Watch out! The wagon's approaching!" the rebels hear the confusion and fear of the approaching wagon.
"You may release it Ray…" Eric instructs.
"Aye aye captain…" Ray says as he shoots his three arrows with the burning fire on the head of its tips and descends down the hill and catches the fast wagon on time. He then quickly takes another fire arrow from the burning metal bucket and takes again another three shots and again until his fire arrows were none left on the bucket.
The fire then quickly spread out when the rebels placed the fabric cover of the wagon itself on it beforehand. Like a dropped comet, the blazing and fast wagon reaches the enemy camps. The soldiers panicky move aside to avoid it and so the fiery wagon soon raze and knock down their stationed armory and tents on the foothills.
"Quick! Put out the fire!" the soldiers yell out as chaos and panic spread throughout the camp as the fire-prone tents knocked down by the wagon , soon caught fire instantly and spreads to the next adjacent tents.
Though it may have been a rejoicing and advantageous slight victory over the enemy, they gaze quietly in awe by the frenzied shouts and the rising flames across the camp. The rebels, after the twelfth advance and retreat of the enemy, are now ever more exhausted and worn-out to fight. Supply of arrows begins to decrease in number as more and more onslaughts came persistently. Ferroris and the other rebels, the on-site bowyers, may not keep up with the archers' demands.
"It's a good thing you somehow came up with this idea." Jhaoully approaches Eric while the men rested. "Just watch their tents burn to the ground, and since the houses are made of durable stone, it won't be caught easily by the fire."
"Yet it won't be long enough when they'll take out the fire anyway. This is just a buffer to rest longer and to create a wall using these building stones and let the shield-men reinforce Rius left flank." Eric says as he and Jhaoully place a stone on top of another stone and so the other abled rebels. The scutum rebels soon move from the front lines to Rius' side of the hill.
"Yet since the eleventh attack, we have been defending our positions using our melee attacks when we ran out of arrows." Jhaoully explains when the last two attacks are defended by clubs and swords, and were almost overrun by the skilled-melee fighting soldiers. "What's the use of a stone wall then?"
"Ferroris assures me that they could still keep up with the demand of the improvised arrows." Eric grunts as he aligns the stone. "Besides, it's too show where the soldiers shouldn't mess with us when they crossed this line." Eric crookedly grins.
"You really wanted to push and continue this archery defense line, do you?" Jhaoully asks.
"The 'Pasture Heights' men are more skilled with the arrows, than their melee." Eric chuckles.
"Well, it maybe your legionate archer is the better trainer." Jhaoully jokes slightly as they place another stone.
"I guess so." Eric chuckles and notices Ray gazing the east side of the hill. He stretches his arms and back out and takes his leave. "Well, I better get going now. Make sure we finish this stone wall before we another onslaught comes."
"Yes sir." Jhaoully salutes as Eric salutes back to him.
Eric then walks Ray who still gazes far from the continuous blazing east. Along the way he takes up an abandoned long fabric and wears it upon himself to cover himself up in bothering and increasingly cold temperature and secures his hoodie to keep the warmth on his face.
"What's the situation?" Eric asks Ray.
"Well, so far so good." Ray replies and points his finger to the east. "The reunited Calluna is on their way to the northern gates as they take some secret passage to get there and avoid the enemy advances. Since they left their positions, Frost's Corps have now entered through the tunnel and soon will be washed away down to the sewers." He then points to Jolras' men's location. "Meanwhile, Meridian Fourth Corps is on the retreat as Kandor's well-trained rebels hold their ground."
"And the bad news?" Eric asks.
"The Annihilators meanwhile continue to ravage the city and the Guardians and 'your-Elyon' somehow went northward back to the palace—"
"Say what again?"
"'Your-Elyon'?"
"Not that. You said about the Guardians and Elyon going northward?" Eric asks.
"Aye, I don't even know why, but I guess it seems really important? I hope Vathek could give us some response to know what's going on." Ray explains and shuts his Farsight off.
"But if you really want the real bad news, it's actually us, Eric." Ray sighs disappointingly and turns to the rebels, the abled and injured, gather and rest around the small campfires as the atmosphere becomes to get colder as the sun begins to set out in the horizon.
"Ever since we fought them mano-a-mano, half of our fighting men are now heavily injured. Even Uilly is injured in the fight earlier, leaving Rius to command the left flank. Outnumbered and overwhelmed, if this situation continues we have to continue to fight against three to one." Eric explains.
"Couldn't Phobos just leave us alone?" Ray hesitantly says. "I mean, he has the tall castle all to himself and his men could even survey the area in a blink of an eye! Why does he need this hill anyway?"
"He wants us manipulate and control us completely and not let us know what they're doing." Eric explains and crosses his arms. "Since we took the hill, we're off to equal grounds like a chess game, what matter is now is how we play the pieces across board."
"So are we near checkmate, captain?" Ray amusingly asks in chess reference. "We've only burned and stale their knights and bishops." He gazes down the continuing blaze of the enemy camp.
"We've gotten and survived checkmates for almost twelve times without our counter-attacks taken-off!" Eric replies and chuckles "I just hope when they did drive us back down to the foothills, we've accomplished our objectives and it's too late for the enemy to maneuver their pieces around."
"Atlas! Raymondus!" The Vanguards turn their heads around to the call and sees the injured and crippled Jehan running towards them.
"Looks like you've been chased by a monster." Ray says. "How's down below?"
"News from Vathek and Jolras." Jehan huffs out and lends out two folded papers to Eric. "Both good and bad news, I'm afraid."
"That doesn't seem so convincing." Ray replies as he too reads from Eric's open letters.
"Vathek just announces Alborn as overall head Caleb's Corps while the Guardians with her highness must fight off Phobos himself to retrieve the Crown of Light." Jehan says.
"So that's why the Guardians and 'your-Elyon' move out from the underground earlier. " Ray comments on the letter.
"'Your-Elyon'? Is that some kind of another title?" Jehan asks confusingly.
"Don't mind him—'Lyndon Corps?'" Eric asks suddenly as he surprisingly notices his real surname at the back of the paper written by a familiar handwriting, from Vathek.
"That's the name of our forces on the hilltop ever since news reaches out about us defending this hill. Do you know what 'Lyndon' means?" Jehan asks.
Eric stays bashfully silent for a while as and scratches his hood in confusion. He then feels an elbow bump beside him. "Why do you get all the credit? Shouldn't it be Lyndon-Bartholomew Corps?" Ray whispers in an envious yet jokingly tone.
"O-Oh shut it, I never wanted this…" Eric shyly hesitates as he switches the papers. "Lyndon is s-some kind of name I-I guess. But I think it's proper if they still call as the 'Pasture Heights'" he explains to Jehan.
"Yes Atlas…" Jehan replies.
"And Jolras?" Ray changes the subject as he reads on the next message.
"To start off, the engineers have now completed the bridge and maybe within the next few minute Jolras' Corps will be starting to position themselves first by the crossing and they'll make their move."
"That's good news and what's the other?—No way!" Ray suddenly squints his eyes anxiously as he grabs onto the paper and reads the rest of the text.
"I can't believe it too as well but Jolras is heavily wounded, from the battle against the Fourth Corps."
(During Issue 12: Frost and his men enter the underground)
"I can't believe you're here Martin!" Nigel irritatingly says to Martin.
Soon as the 'Calluna' men were complete and reunited, they left their as rearguard, to the east outskirts near the city walls. They pass-by the shadowy narrow alleys in between the tall stone structures. Its narrowness causes them to march along the pathways into two lines.
"Isn't it amazing to be here!" Martin happily exclaims in his disguise and wanders around him ever since he comes out from the underground. "I mean look around you! I'm in another world! More aliens in a fantasy world! Pinch me Nige—Ignitus! I must be dreaming!"
"And it's a bad timing too! We're in a middle of a war!" Nigel scolds out angrily. He then sternly gawks at the men behind him, especially Bahorel. The rebels quickly jerk and feel the tense pressure from his haunting appearance, especially from his intense glare though his bangs cover and shadow the side of his face. "You should've left him at least at the undergrounds where he could be safe!"
"B-But—h-he forced us too!" the six-foot large Lesgle stutters in fear. "H-He forcefully said he w-wanted to discover our world w-world s-so…umm—!"
"Why did you—Never mind!" Nigel clasps his hand to his face and stressfully grunts in disappointment and frustration."Aren't you scared of anything to all these chaos around you?" He asks to Martin. In amidst of the chaos are the distant screams, yells and blasts from the scenic battle.
Martin lowers his head in fear but speaks up. "I g-guess, I was bit of a r-rush. I just w-wanted to muster and experience everything I wanted to know. This is a b-big chance for me t-to step up y-you know—umm…" he explains and sarcastically grins.
"Yet who's going to protect you?" Nigel asks sternly. "No offense Martin, but you may be a bothersome in our mission."
"Ignitus" Grantaire calls out to his name who overhears their conversation. "I'll be responsible for this young man's safety. I won't be much of use to this mission anyway due to my injuries."
"But—"
"I heard that he is in a test trial, am I right? This is his chance to experience it more." Grantaire reassures. "He's a brave friend you have there."
Nigel sighs and rests his shoulders down. He sees Martin who shrugs his shoulders and awkwardly smiles. "Fine…" Nigel relieves.
