Warning: There will be violence.
St. Lamia has fallen.
Agni has fallen.
Atharva has fallen
Sama has fallen.
Vriksha has fallen.
Bariura's fate was unknown.
Elysian's fate was unknown.
Palmyna's fate was unknown.
This was all that was left. The La Veda Republic should be considered gone by now, but there was no one around to see for themselves and to be able to report it to the rest of the world. There were no buildings left intact, all mere shadows of what they used to be, no other life in the city, everything was destroyed. Still, we ran.
Truth to be told, I refused to have these men follow me, but they insisted. I wanted to chase down the gods who had gone after the fleeing innocents instead of saving the city since it was already doomed. Now the only thing left for us to do was to keep as many survivors as possible.
Lucius would be disappointed in me.
It hurt. It hurt everywhere. But I had to keep fighting. I knew that no one in Grand Gaia would go unscathed at this point. My equipment, which I had picked up yesterday, already felt too heavy, even for me. I had put on some sacred armour and accessories that I had found in an attempt to strengthen myself to take down more of those gods, but...
Sweet mercy, the sword and shield I held felt like they could break my arms at any moment, and my six wings, which also solidified only yesterday as I picked up my equipment, were uselessly folded against my back. It was still a miracle I could keep my crown afloat above my head. While I had no idea where it came from since it seemed to manifest with my wings, I supposed it served as a beacon to my few followers for them to know where I was, and it probably helped to let them know when it was time to retreat and save themselves as the crown would fall without my life force sustaining it.
We were only halfway through the bridge. I knew that on the other end, there would be a tower where some of our people would still be hiding. And maybe, just maybe, they could activate the Defense System in there. If the gods headed there, that would mean even fewer survivors or worse still, none. Already had so many warriors fallen, I could not bear to see any more of then go down.
Mila fell in battle after she was overwhelmed by an army of some dark gods' warriors.
Themis... Last I heard, she had gone to the Bariura Empire. I could not hope for the best, but still, I hoped she survived and went into hiding.
Atro seemed to have fallen in battle. When I found him, his fading halo looked much different from when I last saw him before that, as if he had reached a new form beyond Holy Light… If only I knew exactly what happened, but by the time I got there, he was laying on the ground lifelessly, with a dead assassin near him.
Aem... Where did he go? He was fighting together with Mila and I had charged him with protecting her since close combat was not her specialty. But when I came back, I found Mila dead and Aem missing. I sincerely hope the worst had not happened to him either...
All around us, still, there were dead warriors scattered around the bridge. Among those that stood out, I saw a young woman whose blonde hair was once neatly done up in ringlets, now a horrifying mess, her bright pink headdress torn and dead flowers surrounded her. Stab wounds covered her stomach and parts of her chest, along with multiple cuts and bruises that pockmarked her mangled body. Her armoured hand reached out towards a large lance that had a jewel on its end.
Was this the infamous Luna, whom many of my knights spoke of as a brave yet crude messiah?
I had already witnessed enough death, there was no point to shed any more tears for the fallen. I could only pray that she would rest in peace, and be reborn into a better life...
Despair was all I could feel. Then a determined part of my mind insisted not to think about it. And yet, if someone as strong and brave as her could fall in this battle, surely it would be an impossible task to defeat the gods. But no, I had to continue to be brave. Lucius had charged me with this task of defeating the gods. And with these people who still followed me to the end of the world... How could we find our last bits of strength to fight the remaining gods if we gave up now?
"Fellow knights..." I started, then paused as I saw the solemn expressions upon their faces. I couldn't stop now...
"This hero here... I believe that she did her best, like the rest of us back in the city, nay, all of us in Grand Gaia. We all fought the hardest battle for the records, and we cannot stop now. Use this for inspiration. We either come out victorious... Or die fighting!" I spoke, raising my sword to the air, hoping to rouse the group.
They responded with silence.
I tried to keep my face confident, yet I felt nothing but despair inside. Was there no hope...?
"Sir Will is right! We must continue, for the people of La Veda!" Said a rather loud and confident voice. He sounded familiar too. Could it be..?
"Aem?"
A knight taller than the others pushed past the group and came up to me. His silver hair looked considerably duller and his broadsword no longer emitted light. His armour was stained and cracked, which made it clear that he may have gotten into a great battle before getting here... Of course, only he would want to follow me to the ends of the earth for any reason.
I felt tears in my eyes, though I quickly blinked them away. Lightly shaking my head, I then shot Aem a glare as I spoke, "Aem... You truly are a fool. Why do you follow me to your own doom? I cannot bring another great warrior down with me!"
Aem's eyes widened, before he managed a return to his default cool and calm composure.
"It is the hope of all the people to see Sir Will safely through battle with the gods. You have inspired all of us, brought everyone hope. It is only right that we serve and protect you until the very end," Aem replied simply. I was touched, but...
I opened my mouth to reply, but no words came out. I was out of words to say, no, there was nothing left to say.
It was no longer time for words, but time for action.
I could only return with a wide grin, before turning back and continuing towards the tower.
A flash of light and a sudden whoosh from behind me was all Aem responded with.
A disturbing sight was what awaited us when we reached the tower.
Debris and dead bodies lay scattered around the area, nothing but destruction's aftermath could be seen. Still, the tower stood, though it slowly crumbled, holes already dotting its diameter. The sounds of roaring and dying screams could be heard coming from the tower's higher floors.
There was still a battle going on.
We charged straight through the doorway and climbed the stairs, clearing out the remains of the gods' forces. Halfway through our journey, however, two large gods appeared. They launched their attacks simultaneously and swiftly, forcing our group to rush for cover. I dove towards a corner and hid among the debris, keeping my shield up in front of me. There was a scream, followed by weapons clattering to the floor. The destructive beams of darkness seemed to have caught someone in them...
As quickly as the beams were fired, they disappeared, and the knights charged straight at the gods before I could stop them, some already casting their spells. Still, I kept my shield up, and Aem was next to me in an instant.
"We should keep moving. The other knights shall hold off the rest of the forces. It's up to you to take down the gods at the top of the tower," Aem pushed my shield aside, clearly trying to read my reaction. I did not pay attention to that, though, as I noticed that his hair was brighter than before, some of the patterns on his armour had been changed and his sword was in a different shape.
The gods roared, easily knocking out another two knights. At this point, I was easily able to count six remaining knights, including Aem and myself, who could still fight. I quickly teleported to a god's side and slashed at its side, before barely blocking its claws with my shield. Aem then leapt out of seemingly nowhere and slammed his sword on its armoured head. He leapt back as another knight ran up to its front and landed a diagonal slash. The god swung its spiked tail, causing the knight and myself to hop back and out of its way.
Just then, I heard the cries of the other knights fighting off the other god, "Sir Will! We'll hold these ones here, please go on without us!"
The god charged towards me, and I sidestepped it, slashing at its side as it passed.
"I will not sacrifice any more- AEM!" I was cut off by Aem grabbing me by my sword arm to pull me away from the battle.
Aem kept his grip firm, and I decided against resisting him, he was right after all.
As Aem and I continued up the tower, leaving the other knights to handle the gods themselves, I looked back, unable to push aside the guilt in my heart. I was their commander, and I had just left my men to die. How could I do that?
This was as disastrous as my better judgement told me. How could I even hope to continue struggling against our inevitable doom?
No, I had to keep going... I had sworn to save the world... For the people, for all who had given their lives in this war, for Lucius...
How could I go back on my own words now?
"Sir Will?"
I snapped out of my trance and looked at Aem, "Yes?"
"Fear not, we will get through this war, and you will see to its great resolution," Aem's hand rested on my shoulder plate. Normally I would brush him off and question his odd habit of keeping close to me whenever he could in any given situation, but this time, I silently nodded.
We had to keep going.
The chaotic noises of swords clashing and magical explosions continued to sound all around us. It was the usual cacophony of war, though now, the more I heard it, the less hopeful I felt.
Then the Archangels attacked, the fluttering of wings giving them away to us.
While their attacks crashed against my shield, Aem masterfully deflected them with his sword. He swung his massive blade around and knocked out the angels, while I slammed one with my shield, and slashed at a few more. An entire horde of Skeleton Lords were there too, though they did little more than slow us down.
Before I could say anything, Aem had already charged straight at them, ever so valiantly fighting them off. I joined him, teleporting and gliding around as I attacked the aerial gods. It was a rule of warfare to eliminate the enemy commanding forces, it was a rule I would take to my grave.
I sliced one by its neck, stabbed through another several times, and spun in the air, my sword pointing outwards. Light poured from my sword as I created a small Light cyclone to blast the fiends around us. Aem slammed his sword into another god, and I could hear its bones crack and shatter into fragments.
"Sworn Bond!" Aem had cast a spell, it seemed. A harsh light enveloped the area, and it exploded on every single enemy around us, completely disintegrating them with a flaring blast of energy. As soon as the light cleared out, there was a moment of peace, as I then felt a strangely refreshing aura that seemed to reduce the pain of my injuries.
We quickly began to make our way towards the top of the tower again, we had wasted too much time with their cannon fodder.
Before we could move even ten paces, however, yet another wave of gods and monsters filled the path before us.
How many gods were there? The two of us had cut many of them apart, and still, they came in an endless horde. As we surveyed the horde before us, I could not help but focus on those that had great Dark magic coming off them in waves…
"I'll hold them off. You must continue to the top of the tower, Sir Will," Aem said, the solemn expression in his eyes betraying his calm stance.
"I will do no such thing without you around," I was already dead set on clearing the horde with a comrade.
I dove towards a god, driving my sword into its head. With a savage twist, I then kicked off it, using my wings to help propel me away.
Then a great yet swift movement distorted the air around me.
"WILL!" Aem thundered, his voice echoing across the hallway.
Time seemed to slow down as I turned in the direction of Aem's voice, and my eyes widened at him dashing towards me at an unfathomable speed. His left hand was outstretched, while his right dragged his broadsword along. Bright blue lightning streamed from his hair and sword, brighter than I had ever seen throughout this war.
What really stood out, however, was the look of sheer horror on his face.
I started to step out of the way, while Aem swung his sword once more. I was not fast enough, though, forcing Aem to lower his stance in a brief moment to push me away.
It was a fatal mistake.
A dark blade pierced through him, a sizzling stream of blood bursting out of his abdomen. Shadows burst out of the blade as they wrapped Aem in a crushing grip, drawing a loud and pained cry from him.
That was all it took for me to snap. I furiously spun and slashed at the god who had attempted to kill me, all the while screaming, now having injured my last ally...
... And my last friend.
This god was made of pure shadows, as its incorporeal form simply vanished as my sword seemingly sliced at air. Still, I kept slashing at it, hoping to vanquish it. It wrenched its blade out of Aem's chest, and attempted to strike back at me.
I would not go down just like that. There was no way I would let the war end like this, not like this.
I parried the blow, forcing the god to back up and try for another overhead swing, which I caught again with my blade, then pushed the god off. It then brought up a clawed limb that radiated Dark magic before trying to push it towards me. I quickly brought up my shield and forcefully bashed it back, quickly flourishing my blade into a defensive stance as I readied myself for its next move.
I had less than a second to respond as its 'arm' reached towards me.
I slashed its limb right off, quickly bashing it with my shield, knocking its blade out of its other hand. Its enraged roar was deafening, so I silenced it with a series of quick jabs before slamming down my blade with great force. Satisfied, I then pulled my sword out with the force of one swing from the legendary Mariudeth.
And then I stabbed it again, it helped to be sure it was dead.
"Sir... Will..."
I spat at the god's fading corpse, no longer concerned about my knightly chivalry that I had been keeping up for the whole war. Long had the time passed by for pointless etiquette. In a war, all one had to do was to stay alive.
Perhaps my mind was filled with rage, and no longer able to reason.
"... Will..." It was a strained whisper that I barely heard.
I turned towards the source of the voice. Aem laid on the floor, his blood darkened by the god's poison, along with the rest of him being completely dull. No longer did his sword glow, and neither did his eyes as he struggled to speak.
As he spoke, I wanted to stop him at first, but for some reason, something told me not to.
"You brought hope... for us... all... Please... end... this..."
It faded to a whisper as he closed his eyes for the final time.
I fell to my knees by his side, bowing my head.
I did not stop the tears that flowed from my eyes, nor did I stop my own cries of anguish.
Another soul with a broken dream had fallen, and surely it was all my fault.
I slowly walked up to the top floor, looking at the sun rising into the sky. The light that poured through the window... It had such an uplifting energy about it, being able to warm one's heart and illuminate our worlds. It brought hope. I could still turn this war around and save Grand Gaia...
No, it was doomed.
The gods, four of them, all turned to look at me. I was probably a terrible mess, already covered in cuts, bruises and having taken a bloodbath. Still, I forced myself to lift my sword and shield, even though I was already too tired to fight. Not like I had a choice.
"Oh, how pitiful of you... You humans really could've just accepted your fate in the first place... But no, you all chose to create your own suffering..." One of the gods spoke in a mocking tone, its mask-like face contorting into a toothy grin.
I stepped forward and pointed my sword at it, glaring it down.
I thought it was right...
Another god spoke in a raspy voice, "Humans are strange creatures indeed. They wouldn't have had to suffer if they never resisted us."
"That's because we wanted to continue to live! Not all of us are sinners!" I yelled.
It was right. It would have been so much easier to have simply given up from the start.
The gods burst into laughter.
"Pathetic humans, always so entitled. Even for their pointless lives, after all the death and destruction they caused, still they expected our mercy," A god with spikes and leaves covering its serpentine body floated down and stared at me.
That's right... Who are we humans to expect everything to go our way?
"There are good humans, and there are bad humans. Why couldn't you have just spared the innocent people and only judged the wrong-doers?" I asked, still carefully watching them. The snake-like god's eyes felt like it was looking into my soul...
Nobody is right.
"Because there is an unlimited supply of these fools. Time and again, we have given you warnings to quit seeking our godly powers, to not be so ungrateful to everything that the world has already provided you. Humanity never learns, and they never will."
We were all fools.
I wanted to continue arguing, but as I thought about it... The gods were right. None of us would ever have had to die such painful deaths if we never even fought back in this war... I lowered my guard, and loosened my grip on my sword...
A god suddenly twitched; I barely caught it through corner of my eye, and I quickly raised my shield in its direction.
Had I been an instant too slow, I would have been struck down.
Damn you, you should have just surrendered.
The impact jarred my arm, but I had to ignore it as the others began to take flight, two of them aiming some kind of magic attacks at me. I dodged one, and blocked the other with my shield's countermagic.
"Tch, I thought you already had him!" One god's raspy voice commented.
"I thought it was done! You saw how easily he fell for it! His mind was already filled with that delicious despair!" The snake-like god shot back, before swooping around me. I quickly turned to follow it, though it was difficult keeping an eye on all four gods at the same time. They then went out of the windows and into the sky, out of my reach.
Six wings unfurled, and I took off instantaneously, blowing up some dust and bits of rubble as I leapt from the tower and after the gods. While I have only tried to take flight about four times, already I had to force myself to master the power of flight on the go. I had no time to train, so even now, I held doubts about my fate in the air.
The whistling winds around me made me shiver, and I could only flap my wings harder as I tried to stay aloft.
The gods, the abominations that levitated around me, all scattered once more, their aerial formation surrounding me. I swallowed, knowing that the odds were well against me.
It's hopeless, and maybe, just maybe, I should fold my wings right now and fall...
Before I could think any further, the gods have already reared back, with one of then charging straight towards me first. I quickly banked towards my left, before ascending a few meters, towards another of the gods. My sword was poised for the strike, and I slashed once, twice, and a third time, all of then cutting through the empty air. The god's tail left my view as it circled around me.
With a grunt, I spun around again, only to barely block the snake-like god's head as it rammed into my shield. Had I been an instant late, I would have already fallen out of the sky. The force of the crash sent me flying back, and I barely caught myself, my numbingly aching wings already sending waves of pain through my back. I knew I was straining myself beyond reason, but still...
If I could defeat these gods and save the world, it would be worth it. Worth all the pain everyone went through in this war. We all lost enough, gained nothing in return, and that was unfair.
I will never give up, I cannot give up.
The drive lasted only for a few seconds, but it was more than enough to give me the strength to lunge at the god, and I willed myself to vanish, to my thoughts focusing on the spot behind the god, to willing myself to re-appear again.
It all happened in an instant, and I drove my serrated sword into the god's back, then forcefully dragged it across, creating a deep wound. Before it could turn around to attack me once again, I fell out of the way, swooping back to dodge the other gods' ranged attacks.
A blast of magic curved in its path while most of the others went straight. As I sensed that it was from a Dark elemental, I quickly steered out of the way...
... And I was then slammed from the side by a god wielding a javelin. It quickly twirled it around, readying it for a stab, to which I then used the force of the first impact to spin out if the way. The abomination before me switched its attack to a swing instead, which I then instinctively blocked with my shield once again, already used to the familiar feeling of my left arm taking the brunt of the impact.
I only tightened my grip on the shield.
I raised my sword in the air, channeling my mana into it, the jewels and blade shining brightly with Light magic.
"Ishtar Burn!"
White flames burst forth, spreading all around me. The brilliant radius expanded in an instant, turning into powerful explosions of Light. If it was not for my caster's immunity, I myself would have been blinded by my own spell.
The gods hissed with pain, the burning light taking its effect on them.
As soon as the Light barrage cleared out, the battle continued, as I went back to avoiding the gods' attacks while missing most of my own.
Just as I brought up my sword arm to land an attack, searing pain ripped across my back, drawing a pained scream. I quickly forced myself to bite it down, knowing better than to show weakness to the gods.
Of course, I was already too late, as my wings faltered and I fell away.
Their sneering faces frightened me.
They knew I was doomed.
I cannot give up.
I spread my wings once again, and that was when I could feel that at least one of them was injured. Though I hovered unsteadily in the air, I had no choice but to instead use my wings to propel myself towards the gods.
I would launch quick and reckless attacks. I was nowhere near good enough at air battle to be able to fight like I usually did on the ground.
A quick strike and it sent a god flying back, and I made a sharp turn again, flashing past another before spinning around to hit another that was trying to come up from behind me.
Little did I expect it to block my attack and shove my sword aside. With the force of a giant's stomp, it slammed my sword arm and I was left faltering in the air. Before I could recover, the god brought out its sword...
I barely dodged it, my armour somehow pierced by it as I took a blow from the side. Even as I bled, and even as it hurt, I silenced my cries of pain.
"Look at you humans. Only you would still struggle to live on ever so wretchedly, no matter how much you suffered. Only your species would bring upon themselves more harm even when they are already unable to take any more. Why is that so?" A god thought aloud, its voice ringing in my head via telepathy.
Ignoring the creature, I focused on the empty air between the gods, and in the next instant, I was where I wanted to be.
I launched towards the god, aiming for a jab at what looked like its 'core'...
I was too slow.
I missed, flying past its strangely-shaped form, frantically beating my wings to slow down and change direction, though the sudden gale that rushed around me hindered my attempts.
Of course, any wise opponent would know that was a fantastic time to strike.
The gods all saw their opportunity, hurtling towards me at a dangerous speed, their weapons drawn and their spells at the ready, while all I could do was flail around in a panic. My mind worked frantically, considering any remaining options -or lack thereof- at the speed of light.
"Why won't you just surrender?" The gods cackled.
I barely avoided them, and screamed as one of them bit down on one of my wings, blood bursting out of the wound and soaking the once gold feathers red. I felt my eyes water from the all the pain I felt, but still I willed myself to hold it back. I was doomed to fall, and fast. I did not need any more insult to injury at that point.
What else could I do? There was no other choice...
There was one, but...
If it worked, it would boost my life-absorb rate, which was how I healed myself throughout the battle. However, I was always particularly slow at recovering, and somehow, I felt that it would be pointless...
I knew that my mana reserve was still too low for me to be able to use my ultimate spell effectively. I knew that without enough mana, it was going to consume my life force instead. And I knew I was going to take its damage without enough mana to grant myself immunity from it.
And I knew, it was not ready.
Falling out of the way from the oncoming gods, I raised my sword once more, quickly forcing mana into it. My sword arm shook, already too weak to deliver any hard blows.
I focused my mind on the incantations for the spell, mouthing them or muttered, I had no idea if it was audible. With my eyes closed, I drained myself of whatever mana I had left...
Light poured forth from my sword, surrounding me once more. It stung.
And I screamed.
"AVALON!"
My last mistake was made, as the blinding light burst through the sky, the rays ripped through the gods, what little strength I had left me.
I fell, no longer able to resist gravity and death's call.
I was unsure if the wind had simply deafened me or my spell was perfectly ineffective, but I was certain that I heard no dying cries from the gods.
Damn it all, it was futile.
I kept my thoughts far from the fast approaching tower, forcing myself to forget that I was even falling.
I could not move.
Everything hurt... It was a slow, extremely painful torture that I had no hope of escaping. All I could taste was blood, and and I could hear was my own laboured breathing.
And all I saw was ruin.
Was I... Dead?
As I laid there, completely paralysed from the fall and the sustained injuries, through the blur, a brilliant light shone down. In the midst of the pale green light beams, a being materialised.
First, it formed a large humanoid shape, then gold armour plates and spikes were formed over its blue and purple body. The light continued to take shape and clear out after each part was formed, though its "head" still continued to be enveloped in light the whole time. Its arms extended, revealing the long red claws on its hands. A purple feathery robe formed at its waist, extending all the down to its feet, the same length as its pale hair.
A pair of multi-coloured wings then unfurled from its back, when combined with the gold halo on its back gave the appearance of a high angel.
As I tried to look closer, I realised that the abomination did not have a face at all, but rather, it seemed to be hollow, with light pouring forth from where its face was supposed to be.
The ball of light that was its face shone straight towards me.
For a moment, the creature simply floated in place.
The light from its head remained fixated on me.
As everything remained still, I tried to observe everything around me. Every breath I took hurt, I felt nauseous, and the numbing pain kept me from making even the slightest movement. I could only shift my field of vision, barely able to see beyond whatever was in front of me.
Lucius, save me... I prayed silently, willing for all the pain to end.
The abomination, which I figured was a god after I barely sensed the different type of magic it had from humans, floated closer to me, its large form obscuring everything but its face.
The light was shone directly in my face.
"You... Holy Guard... Have done your part..."
The voice from the creature sounded strangely familiar...
"You... No longer have any purpose..." The abomination spoke slowly.
The light then gradually faded to a pale green, and it grew ever brighter...
My eyes burned. Still, when I tried to close them, I could still see the light. It was all I could see. Even the darkness that threatened to cover my vision earlier was long gone, replaced only with the light.
It only served to amplify the pain.
No matter how much I willed for it to stop, it was an endless torture, lasting for eternity.
Lucius, why did you give me the order when all was already lost?
A sudden burst of pain shot through my chest.
And everything disappeared into darkness.
Author's Note: Special thanks to a friend who helped beta read this.
Cover art is by me.
Thanks for reading!