Chapter 25: Assault on Pleuron: Driven by Madness

The gang took a ship across Fuvelmill Lake with half their army since Leo, being the strategic tactician he is, told the other half to meet them at the Gridamas capital through the other route. It was then some interesting conversations took place on the ship.

Yuri was looking at the lake's water on the ship's deck. Ellis walked up to him.

"Mister Lowell, I see you're enjoying the lake's waters." Ellis figured with a cheery smile.

"Hm?" Yuri noticed Ellis and smiled slightly at her. "Oh, hello Ellis. Yeah, I'm enjoying the view on the deck. It's been awhile since I enjoyed such pretty good sights."

"I see." Ellis nodded as she joined Yuri on seeing the view. It was then, Ellis asked a question about Yuri's past. "Hey Mister Lowell, have you remembered anything about your past?"

"..." Yuri closed his eyes and pondered about his past. Ever since he arrived in Agarest, he has lost almost all of his memories and is stuck with one of Summerill's cursed trinkets. But then, like a jump start in a car, Yuri remembered a bit of his past.

"Ya know, Ellis... You reminded me of Estelle." Yuri smiled slightly while closing his eyes.

"Estelle? Who's that, Mister Lowell?" Ellis looked at the former knight in confusion, eyebrows raised.

"A friend I traveled with in my world. We were supposed to do something, but then, the rest is a blur. She is a princess of a kingdom I disliked because of its corrupted knights and noblemen, but she's nothing like them. She's naive like you. No offense or anything." Yuri gazed at the clouds.

"None taken. Is this Estelle a nice girl?" Ellis adverted her gaze to Yuri.

"Yeah. She can use magic without the help of a blastia." Yuri chuckled slightly as he sees fish jump out of the water.

Ellis was even more confused. Blastia? What is that? "Um... What is a blastia?" Ellis asked finally.

"Well, let's see if I can remember... A blastia are items that helped with every day life and also battle, like my blastia for instance." Yuri showed the high elf the bracelet like item on his arm. "This blastia helps me use my artes, though there is something I need to do about the blastia in my world. Now thanks to Summerill, I can't remember, but like Dyshana said, it will come back to me as I travel with Leo and his oddball group of friends." Yuri smirked as he returned to cloud seeing.

"Mister Lowell... At first, you were against traveling with Leo, Renee and the others, but I think you're starting to enjoy traveling with us." Ellis smiled brightly.

"Yeah... You may be right. Leo may be a former general and acts like a knight, but he does things that noble and just knights do. I still hate the word knight, but Leo is a good leader... and I admired that." Yuri closed his eyes and smiled softly.

(Renee's POV)

During our travels together, Fyuria and Luana have put aside their differences and become best friends finally. To me, it was a relief since I have to intervene whenever they argue. Still, I couldn't help but notice Fyuria hanging out with Leo and holding his hand. Did something happen last night when they were at Fuvelmill Lake's north coast? But that's beside the point. During the ship ride, I heard moaning of pleasure in Fyuria's room.

(Normal POV)

Renee eavesdrop on the doorway. She could hear Fyuria moaning things like "Oh yes... That right there... Ah, it feels good... Ack! No, not there!"

"What the...?" Renee looked downward in thought and surprise. Without a moment too soon, Renee kicked the door opened and shouted "Alright, what's going- Nani?!" the wolf Mew Mew gawked as she sees Luana massaging Fyuria's back, both of them looked at Renee.

"Oh! Hello Renee. I was giving Fyuria a massage, you see." Luana closed her eyes and smiled.

"I... I thought Fyuria was having... you know..." Renee was at a lost of words as a huge sweat drop appeared behind her head.

"Oh, well, Luana was massaging places that make me tingle." Fyuria reassured the wolf Mew Mew. "And I have to say, Luana is a damn good expert at massaging. Wanna have her massage your back, Renee?"

"I'll pass..." Renee sighed as she calmly closed the door in front of her and left with a shade of red.

(Renee's POV)

Talk about an embarrassing event! Still, it was nice of Fyuria to accept Luana's offer of her massages. I won't let my gullibility get the best of me again. That was rather odd of me to be so gullible like that. We're almost to our location, but little did we know that we'll find something rather shocking...

(Normal POV, Pleuron)

Braham was kneeing in shame in the Pleuron War Room with Melchior looking at him in disappointment.

"This is quite the blunder you've made, Marquis Braham." Melchior said sternly, his arms crossed.

"The fault here was not mine! That accursed Largen is to blame! Had I not been distracted by his betrayal, those Rigulus dogs would never got the better of me." Braham tried to reason by making an excuse.

Melchior was not buying it. "Your excuses do not alter the fact that you lost. Lord Hertzfeldt would be in tears. I am returning to Gridamas to receive sanction from His Majesty. I will, of course, be taking my army." Melchior smirked darkly.

"What?!" Braham gawked. "What will happen to Pleuron? Even a fool could see that it will be our enemy's next target!"

Melchior smirked darkly again by reassuring the Marquis "Fear not. I have a army give to me by the Dark Knight."

Braham was skeptic about this. "You would call that an army?!"

"You are in command, Marquis Braham. I will leave you with two regiments. That should be enough, yes?" Melchior smirked, amused by Braham's reaction.

"Shit...!" Braham cursed.

"We have the numbers, but the Dark Knight's army is only meant to slow them. Decreasing their number should be sufficient, yes? Might makes right, as you would do well to remember. I charge you with defending Pleuron. Try not to fail His Majesty again." Melchior warned, then he remembered something. "Ah... One last thing. The Dark Knight bade me to give this to you." The Gridamas general got out a dark bracelet.

Braham eyed it suspiciously. "What is this?"

"Some sort of amulet, it appears. He said it would be best if you kept it on you during battle. Farewell." Melchior saluted as he left for Gridamas, leaving Braham to eye the bracelet. For some strange reason, this bracelet beckons him to put it on. He couldn't ignore the voices in his head to put it on, so he did put it on. A dark aura appeared around the Marquis.

(Back to Leo and the gang)

Kohta and Jak were eyeing the road to Pleuron, so far so good. Daxter however, has bad vibes coming from Pleuron.

"Maybe this isn't a good idea, Jak and fat guy! Maybe these Gridamas guys are waiting for us so they can ambush us! I'm starting to doubt Leo's leadership skills." Daxter gulped, feeling uneasy about this trip to Leo's former home.

"Cool it, Dax. Leo has gotten us out of jams before and he knows this world far better than any of us do. So we got to help him end the war." Jak told him as he stood up and walked back to the others.

"Yeah. And who knows if we'll encounter the Dark Knight. I'm almost eager to fight him." Kohta reassured the Ottsel.

"Yeah, but do you see how powerful that Dark Knight guy was?! Hell, I bet even Jak's Dark Form won't land a scratch on him!" Daxter shouted, arms up in the air, frustrated that he's going to do more dangerous stuff.

"Dark Form?" Kohta asked, arching a eyebrow.

"Nothin." Daxter changed the subject.

After Jak, Daxter and Kohta gave their report to Leo, they finally arrived at Pleuron, only to find something shocking.

The party and their army were shocked to see orcs, goblins and zombies laying waste to the city.

"I had heard of orcs and goblins here, but this!" Winfield gritted his teeth in fury as he sees the monsters and zombies killing innocent people and destroying their homes.

"They amounted to little in battle, but I confess they were more than expected." Luana nodded with a serious look.

Takashi, his friends and Shizuka noticed one of the zombie minions of Summerill which to their surprise that they know one of them.

She has reddish-brown hair which she keeps in a loose ponytail with long strands hanging down in front of each ear. Her eyes are light brown and she wears glasses. She has a full figure with large breasts. She is also wielding one of the Demon King's many swords. She was raising her sword above a little boy and girl as they hugged each other in fright, a evil crazed grin on her pale skin.

"You bastard!" Lloyd shouted in anger as he unsheathed his swords and charged at the zombie woman, slashing her across the chest.

"Lloyd, wait!" Rei tried to stop him, but her words have fallen on deaf ears.

Snaring angrily, the zombie woman charged at Lloyd, but the twin swordsman shouted "Demon Fang!" He launched a energy slash at the zombie woman's head, slicing it off, the zombie woman's expression was full of shock and pain as her head rolled down, before it began burning along with her body, when it stopped, only the glasses on her skull and clothes on her headless skeleton remained.

Takashi ran up to the kids and shouted to them "Get to safety! We'll take care of these beasts!" The children nodded slowly before they ran off to safety along with the rest of the villagers.

Takashi turned to the remains of the zombie woman and muttered despondently "Hayashi-sensei..."

That caught Lloyd's attention and he bowed lightly in apology "I'm sorry... I didn't know she was one of your teachers in your world..." He apologized.

Takashi shook his head with a small smile and replied with "Don't be. She was waiting to be free from Summerill's control and she can rest in peace now she is freed."

Vira-Lorr stared at the carnage with a frown and muttered "How strange, that someone managed to control them."

Fyuria's eyes widen in shock. "What manner of monsters are these?! They are not normal orcs and goblins!"

"What they are matters little. If they can act together as an army, we will be easily outnumbered. Hold your ground! Do not let them get the upper hand!" Leo ordered, almost everyone nodded in agreement as they got out their weapons.

Dyshana stepped forward and said without any emotion "Aim for the garvel."

"Miss Dyshana. What is a... garvel?" Clank asked her, his thirst for knowledge on what this thing is.

"The goblins are led by the orcs and the orcs are lead by the garvel. Tell me, how do you defeat a superior force?" Dyshana smirked with no emotion again.

"Eliminate the enemy leader, of course." Winfield smiled, getting what Dyshana is talking about.

"Then eliminate the garvel. The army will lose its coordinating and fall apart. The zombie minions of Summerill will die without a leader to control them." Dyshana added.

"So the garvel must be that tremendous creature over there. The larger they are, the easier they are to shoot!" Winfield grinned as he and other gunslingers got their guns ready.

Luana spotted someone and told the others to halt "Hey, wait a sec!"

It was Braham who was laughing manically as the goblins, orcs and zombies killed many people. "Kill them! Kill! Those who betray Gridamas shall die!" Braham grinned manically.

"Is that Marquis Braham?!" Leo's eyes widen in shock.

Fyuria tensed as she got into a battle stance. "Something is wrong... His behavior is strange."

"He does not fight like he did before..." Zerva stated, arms crossed.

Dyshana remained mysteriously and said calmly "He is nothing but a puppet now... His strings pulled by the forces of darkness..."

"So... Summeril has a hand in Braham's behavior?" Renee turned to the mysterious woman for answers.

"He has a magical talisman like Renee and the otherworlders are wearing and similar to the Bracelet of the Covenant Winfield is wearing. In other words, he is wearing one of Summerill's trinkets. The Marquis's, however, is of lower quality. Nonetheless, even a poor talisman such as his endows him with power beyond that of mortal men. He is unlike any foe you have ever faced. Be on your guard." Dyshana advised.

"Hold... is this madness also Renee's, Winfield and the others' fate?" Fyuria asked in concern. She can see that her otherworldly friends who wore Summerill's trinkets and Winfield looking gloomy that they will someday go mad and become the Demon King's slaves.

Dyshana nodded slowly and told her "But I do not know when. It will depend on their spirits and the powers of the trinkets and Bracelet's original owners. One thing I do know, however, is that if Summerill is not killed or the trinkets and Bracelet are removed, they will share the same fate as Marquis Braham." The otherworlders were silent as they sense fear creeping up in them at the thought of going mad someday.

"We will speak of this later." Leo advised, trying to encouraged his friends. "Focus on the garvel and Marquis Braham! Ignore the rest and once the two leaders are dead, the orcs and goblins will fall apart and the zombies will die off!" He ordered.

"Leave that..." Jak gritted his teeth angrily as purple sparks appeared around his body. "TO ME!" Jak roared as his skin turns pale purple and his hair white which surprised everyone except for Daxter, Dyshana, Vira-Lorr Ratchet and Clank, implying the three of Jak's friends have seen this form before.

"Let them have it, Jak!" Daxter grinned heroically as Jak's new form charged through the orcs, goblins and zombies, slicing them up int he process, Leo, Renee, Borgnine, Yuri, Ed and Ellis charged at both Braham and the garvel.

Borgnine landed a punch on the garvel's face, which flung it towards a building. The garvel got back up and charged at Borgnine and the two were locked in a fist fight.

"Prepare to die, Golden Leo!" Braham shouted in anger, foam at the mouth as he and Leo clashed swords. Leo got Braham with a upper slash across the chest, but Braham slashed Leo across the chest.

Yuri was next as he shouted "Destructive Field!" He slams his sword down, resulting in a explosion which knocked Braham back.

Braham snarled as he charged at Ed who blocked every slash with his metal arm. They were locked in a deadlock with Braham overpowering Ed, but the short tempered young man yelled "ARGGGGHHHHHH!" and pushed him back with all his might and stabbed Braham in the chest. Ellis casts a fire spell on Braha, slinging his clothes.

Renee transformed and was joined by Neptune, Noire and Vert in their HDD forms.

"Alright, Braham. You're going to pay for killing those innocent people!" Neptune shouted, slashing her sword on the ground to make a point.

"Let's try to combine our attacks together to kill him." Renee suggested.

"Sounds good enough for me." Noire grinned deviously.

"If it means to avenge the people of this village, then count me in!" Vert nodded.

"Neptune Break!

"Infinite Slash!"

"Spiral Break!"

"Silver Slash!"

"W-What the hell?!" Braham gritted his teeth in fear as Neptune slashed through him repeatedly in the speed of light, followed by Noire who did the same thing, next by Vert who drilled him. Renee flicked her whip around Braham and hurled him into the sky.

"Leo!" Renee called out to him.

Leo nodded and shouted "Howling Blade!" Glowing with holy energy, Leo screamed out a battle cry and slashed towards Braham.

Braham gasped in shock and fear as the attack hit him dead on, obliterating him in the process.

Borgnine was almost done with the garvel. His fists glowed with green energy, in a instance, he shouted "Broken Knuckles!" He grabs the garvel, threw him in the air, leaped up with amazing height and grabs the garvel again and slams it into the ground with such force that a crater was formed, the garvel was splattered into itty bitty pieces upon impact.

Upon seeing their leaders dead, the orcs and goblins retreated while the zombies kneed over and died, their bodies burned upon the lack of leaders or death by Leo's friends.

The battle is far from over and there is still Melchior and the Dark Knight to deal with!

To be continued...

Next chapter: Finding Your Soul Mate: Hot Spring Mishaps and Questions: Generation 1

A/N: We're getting close to the end of Generation 1, folks. After that, it is time for Generation 2.