Chapter Two "Royal Guard Captain"

Shirou Emiya observed the horse riders from the top of the tallest building that Carne Village had. From his vintage point, he could easily see up to three kilometers. He could see up to twenty kilometers with the leisurely use of magic.

"These soldiers are equipped even better than the soldiers disguised as bandits that attacked Carne Village yesterday," Shirou mused when he saw the equipment of the incoming horse riders.

The soldiers disguising themselves as bandits from yesterday had been head and shoulder above the ordinary professional soldier. They were elites. These soldiers he was looking at were at a level higher than the bandits. These were battle-hardened veterans with years of soldiering under their belt. Not only was it reflected in their equipment, but their strict discipline show through their uniform and never-changing military formation.

He observed the horse riders like a hawk, but Shirou never found any suggestion that they meant any harm. His instincts seemed to agree with his, but he continued to watch in case his assumption was proven wrong. Even when they were within a hundred meters, the incoming group showed no signs of hostility and carefully entered the village, and into the village square, where Shirou was.

Although they were wary of him, they were still more or less able to neatly arrange themselves below Shirou. From within their ranks, a single man emerged and dismounted.

The man that had dismounted looked like the leader as the horse riders seemed to defer to him, and he had an air of authority that came only through natural talent or experience. He was a rugged looking man, no doubt a warrior that was highly adept in physical combat from his tall and muscular build. Not just a commander, but he was also a highly accomplished fighter. A level completely different from the soldiers he commanded. His equipment also showed a similar difference as his soldiers wore equipment made out of enchanted steel and leather while he wore leather made out of magical beasts and adamantium.

He slowly surveyed his surroundings, looking Shirou. He looked around for quite some time. But upon realizing that the other party remained motionless, he suddenly pierced Shirou with his sharp eyes. Even while being he was stared at with such fierce eyes, Shirou remained calm and unmoving. The kind of pressure that the man before his was nothing compared to the countless gazes of even more scarier and stronger foes that Shirou had endured.

"I am the Royal Guard Captain of the Kingdom of Re-Estize, Gazef Strolonoff. Under orders from the king, I have come with a punitive force to fight against the knights of the Empire and have been patrolling around various villages." His deep, smooth voice resounded in the square.

"That is very strange… why would the captain of the Royal Guard be here in Carne Village? The Royal Guard had only one duty and that was to ensure the safety of royalty. Very strange…" Shirou muttered in bafflement.

Shirou found the situation baffling. The Captain of the Royal Guards was normally expected close by of the royalty that they were supposed to protect. It made no sense for Gazef to leave the royal family that he was supposed to guard. Unless…

"Captain, please excuse me for being blunt, but why would you the Captain of the Royal Guards leave your charge unprotected? That seems suspicions to me."

The horse riders took offense in Shirou's words and were about show his what they had in their minds when Gazef gestured to his soldiers to remain silent.

"I understand your skepticism. The king spent me for two reasons. The first reason is that he knows very well that commoners despise nobility and royalty. He wanted someone that you, commoners, would trust because I am a commoner myself. The second reason was because he wanted to show how serious he was in protecting his subjects by sending me."

He nodded his head in understanding. While he had been assuming the very same reasons that was completely different from knowing if it was factual. The serious look that Gazef was giving him told Shirou that he was telling the truth.

"Well…" Shirou trailed off as he thought of what to say. "Unfortunately, you were a day late. These knights you were talking of have already raided of this village, but we were able to drive them off. Though it came with a heavy price as you can still see signs of the battle that we were unable to erase yet."

The horse riders seemed impressed by what they were being told and began to survey the rest of the village with amazed look.

"I hate to be rude, but I must ask where are the villagers? I see no one save for yourself." Gazef asked in wary tone. He saw Shirou not respond to his questions, but decided to take another route. "Can we find somewhere to sit together, and would it be possible for you to recount the details of this raid? If you don't mind, the hour grows late, and I wish to rest inside the village…"

"I understand. Then shall we proceed to my home?" Shirou answered as he pointed towards the small house that the villagers had graciously provided him for saving them, and he just jumped up from his vintage point.

Most people would have been frightened at the sight of a man jumping down to land several meters down onto the ground. A drop that would've easily broken bones. That was how the horse riders felt like when they saw Shirou jump down from the roof of the building. They frantically rushed in an attempt to catch him. Several of the horse riders continued to sprint at their fastest, but soon stopped in their tracks when they saw the height in which it would be impossible to catch him. Some of the horse riders fall onto their knees and began to lament at their inability to stop Shirou fall.

Shirou landed with a muted thud. He smirked as he saw the looks of disbelief and amazement that the horse riders held when they saw the individual that they had thought they had failed to save land on the ground with not as much as a scratch. A normal man would've broken every bone in their lower body from the drop, but Shirou wasn't normal but any definition.

Who is this man? He is too calm, despite having a large group of soldiers before him. That drop off the top of the roof could've killed him, and he showed not the slightest fear of death nor injury. Gazef wondered. "Who are you?"

"Shirou Emiya. Hero of this village." Shirou replied as he bowed dramatically. "Please follow me, and I will answer all your questions." Shirou said as he began walking towards his home.

The horse riders were about to demand that Shirou answer their commander when Gazef silenced them with a gesture to remain quiet.

"Rest. We may have to leave in a hurry later. The Empire's knights could be raiding another village as we speak. I need to talk to the man to get some information. We will move when I am finished." Gazef spoke in authoritarian voice.

"Of course, sir!" Gazef's troops shouted.

"Now what could this Shirou Emiya tell me." Gazef wondered as he followed Shirou.

- O -

"Thou shalt devote thine faith to God." A calm, quiet voice began to recite a prayer from a holy book.

Everyone prayed. It was a simplified prayer to their god. A solemn reminder for what they fought for. Who and what they were. Executors and protectors of their religion. They remembered that what they did, no matter how bad, was not for selfish reasons of their own, but for the greater good. Their staunch and profound belief their god was the reason why they gave everything for the Slane Theocracy, and to Six Gods. That was the reason they were able to carry out callous acts without feeling sinful. After the prayer ended, everyone's eyes became as cold as ice.

The captain of the Sunlight Scripture, Nigan Goodrich Luin sighed in soft exhale As he watched the men around him. He saw the looks that were all too familiar to him. They were all in their battle state. Physically and mentally prepared to do whatever was necessary to ensure the success of the mission. With the success of his task within his grasp, Nigan felt at ease in his heart.

"Next time… I should ask the other teams for help and push the responsibility onto them." Nigan complained to himself.

"That's right, our expertise is extermination after all, not assassinations of powerful individuals."

"Well this might be a good training exercise for us. If we can work together to bring down someone of Gazef Strolonoff's caliber than we can easily take down even the strongest demi-humans and non-humans alive."

Nigan considered his current assignment as a waste of resources and time. Humanity was greatly disadvantaged when compared to the other races such as demi-human and non-human races. Many races had greater physical capabilities than humans from strength, speed, agility, resilience and senses to physical traits such as long life, immortality and regenerations that humans didn't possess. Gazef Strolonoff was a rare example where a human broke through the innate advantages that the other races possessed and a powerful asset in the protection of humanity. Eliminating Gazef was not a wise decision, but he had his orders.

"... Do we have the ability to get rid of him?"

Nigan didn't laugh at his subordinate's anxiety. The target was the Royal Guard Captain of the Kingdom, Gazef Strolonoff. One of the most powerful humans alive in the present. He was figure that was just below the standards that were held for legendary heroes that were went down in history. Alone, he was worth the strength of a battalion of ordinary human soldiers. A challenging mission assignment that was greater than any of he and his company of soldiers had ever tried. This would be their greatest challenge.

"There won't be any problems. Right now, he is far from any reinforcements. Without those reinforcements, killing him should take no effort at all… No, if it wasn't for this great opportunity, there would be no way to defeat him."

His subordinates nodded his head. The Sunlight Scripture had collected information on Gazef's every strength and weakness for years. They were not ordinary soldiers, but hardened battle veterans. Only the finest human soldiers were able to join the Sunlight Scripture. Gazef strength's could be countered through teamwork, and with teamwork exploit his weaknesses.

"Commence."

- O -

Shirou and Gazef had nearly managed to make it Shirou's home when a horseman hastily galloped to them on horseback. Panting heavily, he had saluted to Gazef.

"Captain! There is a lot of dust kicking up in the distance. What do you want us to do?!"

"Tell the rest of the troops to get immediately ready." Gazef ordered.

The horseman saluted and traveled by horseback to relay to his comrades. While the brief exchange happened between Gazef and the horseman, Shirou didn't remain idle. The moment he heard the mentioning of dust, he jumped into the air and landed to the nearest rooftop.

"That is an impressive number of mages." Shirou muttered as he observed from the dust that was being kicked up near the perimeter of Carne Village.

"Mages? What makes you say that it is mages?" Gazef asked curiously.

"The movement of the dust is unnatural. It is too controlled. While dust storms aren't too common here, they are rather tame compared to the amount of dust kicked elsewhere like in an arid landscape. There is too much dust being kicked up into the air for it to be natural. We live in farmlands surrounded by forests. Not a desert. Also, if it had been created through artificial means without the aid of magic like mass cavalry than no matter how skilled they are in creating a dust storm, I should be able to see even one with my exceptional eyesight." Shirou explained. "Gazef-san, you are dealing with mages or priests, about a company strong."

Most people would be wondering how did Shirou know all that information, and why he was so sure about his statement. Shirou had encountered such a tactic repeated countless times. He had been both on the sides involving the use of dust storms for offensive capabilities and defending from such tactic. It would be foolish to say that he was only depending on experience alone. He also used other methods of to confirm his statement.

Smell. His nose, which was his natural form of sensory magical detection, picked up several scents. Scents that described what sort of magic that mage used. Shirou picked up the smell of incense, normally associated with magic that had tied with religions. Shirou counted about a company strong with the number of magical scents he could detect. That was the information that he was able to gather through nose alone.

Just to eliminate the possibility of deception, Shirou also used a very neat trick he had picked up. He temporary altered his vision to adopt the same abilities of that of an infrared camera. No matter how well the mages would weave magic to fool his eyes, they couldn't prepare foil his altered sight if they didn't even know about the concept of thermal imaging. The mages lit up ever more brighter than the average human because in their use of magic, their Magic Circuits was producing more body heat than normal humans as a byproduct of their use of magic.

Gazef didn't debate the information that was being provided to him. He didn't doubt the man for a second. His instincts told him that he was being truthful. The way he carried himself and spoke showed that the man was unlikely to be lying. Instead, he focused on gathering information for the upcoming battle. The Royal Guard Captain needed every scrap of information before the upcoming battle. Every small about of information he could gather meant an increased chance of survival of his soldiers and himself, ultimately victory.

"What else do you see?" Gazef asked after relaying the information that Shirou had provided to him.

Shirou in his natural state had the exceptional vision that surpassed most people, but the aid of magic he could transform his eyes into organic telescopes. She enhanced his eyesight to discern anything he could about the approaching group. Subtle budges in their clothing suggested objects like potions and hidden magical tools. The various weapons they held in their hand did not look anything noteworthy, but Shirou could see thanks to the passive abilities of Unlimited Blade Works that were well crafted and made from fine materials.

"You are facing elite mages. From their behavior and equipment, they are all superior to your troops, and inferior to yourself."

Gazef raised a brow, but otherwise didn't ask how he had managed to get such information. He did look at Shirou with a curious look that prompted his to speak whatever else he had been able to gather.

"The mages are not alone. They have some sort creature backing them up. They look like armored angels."

"Are you sure?" Gazef asked as he began to archive the information that had been provided to him and think up of ways to best utilize them.

"I bet my life."

The Royal Guard Captain remained silent.

Angels. Angels were Magical Beings summoned from another realm and many people believed that they were God's envoys, especially the people of the Slane Theocracy. Although there was no way to prove whether or not Angels were envoys of God, the Kingdom still claimed these Angels were merely Magical Beings. And even though the debate regarding Angels was one of the biggest reasons for conflict between the Kingdom and the Theocracy, Gazef didn't really care whether Angels were envoys of gods or not; all he cared about was their combat prowess. To Gazef's knowledge, Angels were stronger in comparison to other Magical Beings summoned with the same tier of magic. They had special abilities and could even use magic themselves. All in all, he considered them to be troublesome opponents.

Gazef, who was analyzing the thorny situation, forcibly relaxed his shoulder muscles. Although he appeared calm and collected on the surface, in his heart he felt very anxious and wrathful. The odds were stack against him. His troops numbered as few two platoons. He had on purposely kept the number of troops with him to a minimum. The reason was simple. More people meant it took more time to travel. A larger group also meant being more easily detected. The bandits that he had been dispatched to deal with might escape if they were able to see him coming before he could deal with them. The two platoon of soldiers that he had chosen to accompany were not just any regular soldiers. All of his troops were handpicked for their ability and experience. Those who had accompanied him were the best of best.

He had confidence in his soldiers, but he had to look at the reality of the situation. His platoon soldiers had the ability to defeat ten normal soldiers on their own, but that convention held against poorly equipped conscripts and poorly trained soldiers. Not against elite mages. He had only five mages amongst his troops. Three of them battle mages and two of them healers. He also had a few archers amongst his troops, but a bulk of his troops were armed with melee weapons. Not only was the enemy had the range advantage, but also numbers.

"Is that a Holy Angel? It looks like one, but... why would a such a similar looking magical being appear... Is it because of a summoning spell? And if that's the case...?"

Gazef shifted his gaze toward the muttering Shirou and inquired with a sliver of hope.

"Emiya-san, you seem to know more about the angels than I do myself. Is there any information that you could provide?"

There was no response, but Gazef could perceive Shirou's general mood.

"For whatever aid you provide, I can guarantee you a reward. I promise you on my honor as the Royal Guard Captain that I will speak on your behalf to the King personally that you are rewarded."

"… I cannot speak for the villagers. I am not one of them." Shirou replied. "I also cannot provide more information. They could turn out to be false. I don't want to provide you with the wrong information, leading you to believe in assumptions that could lead to the deaths of your troops and yourself."

"I sense a but…" Gazef asked.

"I can provide some level of support."

"What kind of support would that be?"

"Don't be alarmed," said Shirou as he walked towards Gazef and pressed his hand on the shoulder of the warrior.

Gazef Stronoff's head jerked back in surprise. The man let out an alarmed grunt when his eyes and ears began to hurt. He immediately closed his eyes and tried to plug his earsIt wasn't just his sight or hearing that seemed to feel significantly different. His body felt lighter and invigorated. His surprise didn't last too long as his body began to slowly adjust and he recovered his composure.

"My sight and hearing are sharper. My body feels lighter and I have boundless energy. Are you responsible for that?" Gazef asked.

"I have sharpened your senses and increased your physical capabilities." Shirou replied. "This is all the support I can provide for now. I have nearly two hundred villagers that I need to escort to safety from the mages."

"The villagers come first before myself and my troops. We swore an oath to protect the citizens of the Re-estize Kingdom," Gazef agreed. "My troops and I will be grateful if you can do what you did to me."

"Gather your men then. I will buff their stats."

- O -

The horse's excitement reverberated from its trotting hooves. Generations after generations of breeding and a lifetime of training had forged them into a living weapon of war. It was within their blood and sole purpose in life to carry their rider to battle. They were about to enter the fray of battle and prove their purpose.

The riders shared a different sentiment. While they too were soldiers that had trained to become their sword and shield of their kingdom, they were not without fear. Unlike the warhorses that knew only one existence and that was to fight, the riders were human beings. They knew life outside of battle. Despite the fear of deaths they had, it was not surpassed by their urge of vengeance and righteous fury. The enemy that they were about to fight was ones that would choose to slaughter their fellow citizens of the Re-Estize Kingdom. As the sword and shield of their people, they would stop whoever sought to kill innocent and harmless farmers.

"We need to break through the encirclement around this village. Our only goal is to bait the mages away from Carne Village. After that, we shall fight the mages without having to worry about the safety of the villagers, who are safe from the crossfire." Gazef shouted to his troops.

Upon hearing the fierce replies behind him, Gazef furrowed his brows. How many of them will survive the battle? Even if he decided to jump into danger, these men would still follow him willingly. Gazef wanted to apologize to his subordinates for dragging them into this, but after turning his head and looking at their faces, he swallowed his words. The expression of the soldiers behind him showed that they were ready to follow Gazef to hell under any circumstances. His subordinates knew very well what dangers lay ahead.

"Don't worry about it, Captain!"

"Yeah, we came here by our own volition. We swore to fight alongside Captain!"

"Let us protect our country, both the people and our comrades!"

There was nothing left to say.

"Charge! Tear them into pieces!" Gazef roared.

"Ohhhhhhhhhh!" His troops roared in response.

Gazef spurred his horse forward, his subordinates following his example. The speed of the warhorses left indents on the hard ground and created the booming of thunder in the background. The roars of the riders banished their emotions and made them thought of only bringing destruction down upon the enemy.

The mounted Gazef picked up his bow and nocked an arrow. Hours upon hours of archery practice on horseback yielded the steady aim that allowed him to level his bow towards his intended target despite fact that he was firing an arrow on the unsteady and ever moving back of a horse.

He released the arrow and it failed to hit Gazef's intended target, the head of a mage, because an armored angel intercepted the arrow, the blocked projectile glancing off the breastplate of the armored angel.

"Pah! Futile as expected." Gazef said in disappointment.

Just like signaling the start of the battle, the enemy mages began started retaliating with magic to Gazef's shot.

Suddenly, his steed neighed loudly. Seizing the reins, Gazef leaned back and brought his body close to the saddle as possible. Gazef coiled up the muscles of his leg. He looked up then jumped off his horse.

His body was launched into the air and Gazef unsheathed his sword from his hip. The sword sailed through the air and bite into a sword that had been on its path to cut the mid-air Gazef. Adamantium forged metal bit through the Holy Angel's magic sword. Tempered and hardened adamantium struggled against the magically enhanced metal until the adamantium won, cutting clean through the magical metal.

The sword strike of the Kingdom's strongest swordsman had enough power cleave a man apart with one strike. However, the Holy Angel didn't die even though it suffered heavy damage from the hit. Blood sprayed into the air, but it continued to stand.

"For the Kingdom!" Gazef roared as he landed onto the ground and charged forward.

Gazef glared at the angel, who escaped with a piercing gaze. Even though the opponent was severely injured, it was still full of fighting spirit, trying to find a gap in Gazef's defences. Noticing an opportunity, the Angel brandished his flame-red sword.

"Too late." Gazef whispered.

His blade started to shimmer with light. In the eyes of the Kingdom's Royal Guard Captain, the Angel's movements were too slow. Gazef's sword moved. This attack was a lot more powerful than the blow before, so Gazef'his sword cut easily through the Angel's body, armor and flesh with ease.

Suffering devastating damage, the body of the Angel slowly melted into the air as motes of light and disappeared. Shining brightly, the wings scattered and disappeared, creating a fascinating dream-like scene. If not for the desperate blood-filled situation, Gazef would have definitely admired it. But right now he was not in that kind of carefree mood.

A wry smile formed. None of his troops had fallen. It was no surprise. His soldiers were veterans. They had years of experience and had been handpicked by him for their ability. Each one of them were able to take down a squad of soldiers by themselves. Working together they strengths grew by several fold. He saw several of them taking down angels without any causalities.

The wiry smile transformed into a grim one. Gazef saw it. The once ninety or so angels had been reduced to less than half in a matter of seconds under the teamwork of Gazef's troops. So quickly that Gazef had been sure for a moment that the battle was going to end in their victory. That was until the angels received reinforcements.

"...Damn it." Gazef cursed.

The mages that his forces were dealing with were not ordinary ones. Summoning such a powerful summon such as an angel was no easy task. Most mages would be exhausted from summoning an angel. Elite mages might be able to do it while being winded somewhat, but the mages that Gazef saw didn't show even a sweat from doing such a thing. That meant even amongst elite mages, they were very powerful. Dozens of very powerful elite mages.

"I should be thankful to Emiya-san for helping us out by what he called by 'buffing.' If it wasn't for that then several of my soldiers would have been hurt already…" Gazef mused as he sighed in relief for even the smallest advantages.

Gazef calmly counted the number of enemies around him. Shirou Emiya had told him that the enemy consisted or seventy or so mages. The number of mages that were constantly summoning angels to replenish the angels killed by his troops confirmed that most, if not all, the mages that had previously encircled the village were now fighting his troops. With that the encirclement around the village should be gone.

"I hope everyone got out of the encirclement safely…" Gazef said in satisficed tone, having been able to save the lives of the villagers.

A smirk grew when the screams came from the enemy mages, who were no longer summoning angels and fighting for their lives. The sound of galloping horses confirmed that his plan had worked. Gazef turned to see that reserve of his soldiers that he had held back were finally acting as planned. They had managed to flank the enemy mages and catch them with the element of surprise.

"Form up on me!" Gazef roared.

Those who did not regroup at Gazef's position took up various roles. Many of the soldiers armed with close range weapons took up the role of the rearguard to protect the flank of their charging comrades and to distract the angels. The three battlemages and archers provided covering fire. The healers tended to the wounded.

"Charge!" Gazef roared as he sprinted towards the enemy with his troops that formed up on his position following his lead.

Wave after wave of magic shot them. Some of Gazef's soldiers were picked off from a distance, but a majority of them were charging were unscathed or received a wound that only slowed them down. Only three of Gazef's troops went down and it had been a result of a disabling wound, not death that stopped him.

I need to thank Shirou Emiya if I survive this. Gazef thought as was within the last stretch of distance before coming into weapon's reach of the mages.

The slaughter of the enemy mages seemed inevitable until a large chunk of the charging soldiers simply froze in place or collapsed. Gazef saw from the corner of his eyes when his surroundings lit up with a myriad of lights. He didn't doubt that those froze up or collapsed were due to magic. His experience against mages told him that his troops that were not functioning normally a victim of some sort of magic that wrought paralysis. Those who were unaffected like him continued to charge only to smash into an invisible barrier.

Having halted the charge, the enemy mages surrounded Gazef and his troops. When they were in position, magic rained down upon them.

Gazef couldn't bear watching their inevitable demise. He hardened his heart as he heard the screaming of his soldiers and cast his sight straight ahead.

His target was the enemy commander. A mage that he had seen giving orders to the enemy mages. Gazef wouldn't have known who had been the enemy commander had he not careful observed who had been handing out the orders as the enemy commander was indistinguishable from the rest of the enemy mages in their black robes.

More than thirty Angels blocked Gazef's charge. He wasn't happy seeing his opponent strengthening their defense. His calm demeanor broke as anger flooded every fiber of his being. He would save the troops he could and avenge those he couldn't.

"Out of the way!" Gazef roared, furiously. "Sixfold Slash of Light."

Gazef created rapid flashes. With one move he hit six enemies. Nothing was able to stop the hit. It happened simply too quickly. Even if anyone of the six enemies had been able to intercept the attacks, the momentum behind Gazef's adamantium blade would ensure nothing would stop it. Those hit were cleaved into halves, which became dissipating balls of light.

The rest of the angels gasped in of surprise, several of the enemy mages even began to fear for their lives. Those of Gazef's troops who could move their mouth cheered.

The angels were able to recover from their surprise and set forth to eliminate Gazef.

One of them swung at Gazef with a red flaming sword. Just when the angel was about to hit him with its sword, Gazef dodged and disappeared with a blur. Before the angel even had the chance to swing its sword, it already suffered Gazef's sword strike. The transformed the angel into a ball of light.

Gazef's attack did not end there.

"Aaaaarrrrrrrrrhhhhhhh!" Gazef roared defiantly.

All the angels moved together in unison. Some went to melee and others supported from a distance. They worked flawlessly. Most foes would be overwhelmed by such teamwork, but Gazef was no ordinary foe.

Gazef was like water. Strikes and shots that were armed at him either glanced off his adamantium armor or parried away with his adamantium blade. He moved in a blur. Devastation like lightning was left in his wake as he took several angels. Sometimes he took several down with a single blow.

Like a miraculous scene, Gazef's stubborn resistance creates a trace of hope of winning for his soldiers. Those who had been paralyzed or frozen into place suddenly found the will to break through the magic that had been cast over their body. Gazef's troops roared triumphantly at defeating the magic that had bound them and charged at the mages.

The moment Gazef's troops had fallen victim to magic and had been surrounded was when the enemy mages had dropped their guard. Instead, assured that they could kill their defenceless victims anytime, they had instead decided to observe the spectacular death that would have come from Gazef fighting against thirty angels. When they suddenly saw Gazef's troops breaking the magic that had bound them and charged at them was when they realized their folly.

"How exciting. Just as I thought, Gazef Strlonoff. You do indeed live up to your name as the Kingdom's strongest swordsman. It's a shame that we must slay a powerful human such as yourself, but orders are orders… Let's end this."

It was like the enemy mages had cast an illusion for Gazef's troops to look at. The enemy mages that had moments ago seemed of panicking disappeared like a mist. In their place were veteran mages that were able to compose their emotions within heartbeats. The shouting of their commander triggered the sudden change that Gazef's troops were unprepared for.

"Not looking good." Gazef muttered in a worried tone as he finished the last of the angels.

The valiantly charge that his soldiers had been leading seemed to disperse. Their charging continued but filled with anxiety and fear. The change in their emotions was further accelerated when they saw their fellow comrades fall down as they were hit by magic.

"Summon more angels to replace the ones that have been slain! Let none of the Kingdom's soldiers live to tell this story. That Gazef Stronoff was slain, but no one would know what truly happened to him besides his killers!"

More angels were summoned to replenish the angels that had been defeated by Gazef or his troops. For every bright materialization of an angel, more fear was stuck into the hearts of Gazef's troops. It was only when the summoning ceased did Gazef's troops continued fighting because they knew that if they gave off then there was only death awaiting them. Still there were some that simply gave up and collapsed onto the knees, allowing the mages or angels to easily finish them off.

Gazef paid no attention to more angels appearing than beside keep track of his surroundings. There was no point being scared by the arrival of further angels. He could only think about fighting to survive. It was to fight or die. There was no time to think and feel.

In an effort to rally his troops morale, Gazef began raining down a flurry of attacks.

"Six Fold Slash of Light. Six Fold Slash of Light! Six Fold Slash of Light! Six Fold Slash of Light!" Gazef roared releasing his most powerful attack one after another.

He slaughter the angels faster than they could be resummoned by the mages, and even went onto the offensive to strike down several mages in an attempt to reduce the number of angels that could be brought back.

"Cease fire!"

"What?" Gazef muttered in confusion as he saw the enemy commander order his troops to stop attacking.

Relief spread to the precious few of Gazef's troops that remained. It felt like a gigantic burden had been released from them. Even if they got to live for a second more, it felt so refreshing and relieving at the fact they were still alive. Being alive felt like the greatest experience in that moment.

"Doesn't matter how many of you come! Your angels are no big deal!" Gazef roared in a taunting tone.

Angels and mages took offense at Gazef's words and were about to slay him, despite the cease-fire order of their commander.

"Don't mind him! He is angry for all of his dead comrades."

Gazef glared at the man with the scar on his face. If he could just kill that commander, it would be possible to reverse the situation. There were several problems were he couldn't just charge in and slay the enemy commander. The first thing was that he was the only thing separating the deaths of the last of his troops. If he decided to take down the enemy commander than the last of his troops would be sentenced to death.

He contemplated the notion of sacrificing his soldiers. Even if he continued to prevent the angels and the mages from slaying the last of his soldiers, eventually he would become exhausted and the only one stopping the deaths of his troops would go down with them, fallen victim to exhaustion. Simply defending his troops would only delay the inevitable. As a commander, he had made hard choices to sacrifice his soldiers to achieve victory

He had done it in the past and he could do it again, but with a guilty consciousness.

"What does the Slane Theocracy have anything to do with raiding the border villages of the Re-Estize Kingdom? My country has done nothing to offend the Slane Theocracy in recent times!" Gazef shouted, prodding for information.

"It is true that the Re-Estize Kingdom has done nothing to offend my country, but my given task to slay you was due to politics."

"Bloody nobles." Gazef cursed.

"Indeed, it because of the nobility of your country that hates you for your status as a commoner that they have paid handsomely for your deposal."

He made his choice. His current situation was beyond just him. It was about what he embodied. The country he served, the Re-Estize Kingdom, were a feudal nation with those with titles with the most power. He was powerful symbol as the only commoner to ever reach the outstanding position as Captain of the Royal Guards, a position that was normally reserved only for nobility and having the personal connection to royalty, that he represented the symbol of commoners being able to gain power for themselves. If he died than commoners of Re-Estize Kingdom would lose their hero and have their future dreams of gaining power become dashed.

He, Gazef Stronoff, couldn't die, not in the current battle. With a solemn heart, he made the decision. Sharp eyes looked at his only target, Gazef began to sprint.

The gasps of horror soon were silenced as the angels and mages rained death on the last of Gazef's troops.

Gazef hardened his heart and ignored the deaths of the last of his troops. He focused on his immediate surroundings as angels continuously thrust and slashed with their magical weapons at him. Dodge or parry and counter. Dodge or parry. Counter. That was all that went on as he continued his charge at the enemy commander as he left a wave of slaughter in his wake.

The slaughter of angels that had chosen to engage Gazef in melee combat in an attempt to stop him quickly came to a halt when he suddenly felt something ram into his stomach. He stopped and turned. His eyes tracked the direction where he had been hit and he saw a mage had been involved.

He gasped in surprise when he felt another blow to his stomach. Gazef didn't doubt for a moment that the second blow would have been equivalent to sword being thrust into his abdomen had it not been for his adamantium armor. When he looked down to inspect his armor, he found only the slightest indent.

I didn't see anything hitting me, so it must be some sort of hard-to-detect or invisible attack. Gazef hypothesized.

Even if it was an invisible attack, Gazef could deal with them. He had reached the stage where he could deal with dozens of projectiles flying towards him by either dodging or blocking. As long as the invisible magic spells casted at him didn't number in the hundreds, Gazef was confident that he could react and dodge.

"A-hak!" Gazef muttered as he began to cough up blood.

Gazef's throat couldn't stand the taste of blood, causing him to spit out a mouthful of it.

The taste of iron coming from his throat made Gazef cough out a mouthful of blood. He swore for cursing himself. He wasn't dealing with ordinary mages, but elite ones. There was also the fact that he was dealing more than seventy so mages. If each one was able to fire even a dozen invisible magic spells each than that would easily make up a total of invisible magic attacks in the hundreds.

In an instant, he had been overwhelmed with invisible magic attacks from all directions. A flood from every direction had been basically what had struck him. There had been no way he could have dodged or blocked the magic attacks.

The manner in which he was struck wasn't what unsettled Gazef. It was how quickly he had been struck without being able to react after falling victim to two invisible magic attacks prior. He had to be extra cautious to prevent further attacks.

He grimaced when he inspected his wounds through the amount of pain he was feeling. While his adamantium armor had been able to disperse a great deal about of the invisible magic attacks on his body, it had not been enough. Gazef knew that he had least fractured a rib.

When he looked around him, his grimace worsened. While he had slaughtered dozens of angels already, it meant nothing when they were resummoned. All of his fighting had been useless as he had not dented the enemy fighting strength, beside for the few mages that had been able to wound or kill. The enemy mages showed no sign of exhaustion.

Breathless, Gazef's sword hand was trembling as if his intensely fatigued body was whispering into his ears, telling him to lie down and rest.

"You have fought valiantly but it is time to end this. Angels, finish him off."

Even if Gazef wanted to catch his breath, after listening to the orders of their commander the Angels attacked mercilessly one after another.

First he would dodge, then pierce it through the side with his sword. He would use his tough armor to block the attack of the next Angel swooping down from the sky.

Although Gazef wanted to retaliate, there were just too many attacks. He could only block or dodge. There was no time for him to slay his attackers when he was merely holding onto his own life. The accumulated fatigue sapped his strength. In a moment of carelessness he nearly crumbled to his knees after taking the right step as he blocked a blow from an angel.

The angels capitalized in Gazef's moment of weakness. They swarmed him en mass with their weapons aimed at drawing blood.

Gazef didn't have time to defend himself with his blade. He was being attacked from too many directions at once, maybe when he wasn't exhausted then he could have gotten out, but he didn't have the time or energy. A bold risk had to be taken. Tugging his head into his chest, he covered his head as much as he could with his arms and dive-rolled.

Weapons were negated in their ability to wound as it collided into adamantium armor. The lucky few hits had connected were glancing blows, the result of Gazef's thick skull - literally. Gazef was no ordinary man. He was a superhuman when it came to his body. He had the strength of several men, and to support that strength was unbelievable high bone density or his muscles alone would destroy his skeleton if his body hadn't adapted to match his superhuman strength. His skull was stronger than most mortals, and aiding to the deflection of the angels weapons were the curved structure of the skull.

Anything that came in his way was smashed aside as he barrel rolled through the attacking angels that surrounded him.

When he landed on the ground and stood up, his eyes swapped heavily as he used all the remaining strength in his body to maintain his balance. His trained hand trembled nonstop. He couldn't even lift the sword grasped in his hand. All of his strength had burned away from the fighting and he swore that he was running on fumes. But, he still wouldn't give up. Grinding his teeth, he let out a sharp growling sound.

Gazef was not afraid of death. He had already taken countless lives himself, so he was mentally prepared to face the same ending on the battlefield. However, he could not accept this current situation. To attack so many villages, to murder unarmed, innocent villagers just to lure him into a trap. He absolutely couldn't let himself die with the shame of being unable to avenge those who had died as a bait to lure him, but most of all he couldn't tolerate his own powerlessness.

"GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME—!" Gazef roared from the very bottom of his lungs.

Feeling the awe-inspiring presence of a man who shouldn't even have enough strength left to take a single step, the Angels could not help but fall back. They who were spirits and immortal to anything short of specialized magic couldn't help but fear that animalistic human.

"Hu-—! Hu-—!" Gazef huffed after the exhaustive roaring.

The simple act of standing made it hard for him to breathe, his consciousness was fuzzy and his whole body felt as if it was buried under a thick layer of mud. But he couldn't rest, the moment he did everything would be over. Furthermore, even with this amount of pain, it could not be said that he would be able to understand the pain of the villagers who died.

"I am the Royal Guard Captain of the Kingdom! For my beloved Kingdom, and to protect this Kingdom's people! How could I possibly lose to you scum who had tarnished this Kingdom's name───!"

He was man that would slay the mages and angels before him. It was his duty as the protector, and avenger of those slain to utterly erase the men and women that sought to simply kill countless people and destroy entire villages just to lure him out. So the only thing he could do is to defeat the enemy in front of him to his utmost ability. Wanting to protect the future of the people of the Kingdom. He only thought about remove the threat to his beloved country.

"...It's because you keep on saying such nonsense, that you'll die in this place. Gazef Strolonoff."

Gazef glared at the enemy commander, as he listened to his enemy's ridiculing words.

"If you had just chosen to abandon the villagers in the frontier, then it wouldn't have ended like this. It's impossible for you to be unaware that your life alone is worth more than the lives of a thousand peasants. If you really loved your country, you would have abandoned these villagers."

"You and I…. will never… see eye to eye!"

"What good can you do with your current body? Stop needlessly struggling and lie down like a good boy. I shall have some pity on you and grant you a painless death."

"If you really… think that I can no longer act, then why don't you… come over here and cut off my head? With me looking like this… it should be really easy right?"

"... Well, looks like you're all talk. If you still want to fight, do you actually believe you have any chance of winning?"

Gazef simply stared ahead, his trembling hand holding onto his sword. Hazily looking at the enemy in front of him, not even caring about the restless Angels surrounding him.

"... What a waste of time. How foolish. Once I kill you, those surviving villagers will be up next. Everything that you did up till now only served to prolong their suffering."

"Heh, Heh…. Hehehe…."

Gazef had a smile across his face.

"...What's so funny?"

"...I will not die before taking you all down with me!"

"... Angels, kill Gazef Strolonoff."

With that cold command, countless wings began to move. As Gazef mustered the last of his strength and ran forward with the determination to face death, he heard a voice that sent chills down his spine.

"Twist my core, Caladbolg!"

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