The view from the second-largest gate was devoid of any humans in the distance. On the road leading out and in from the Monster Capital there were still many obvious signs of the large Monster Army having previously traveled through on it. The large plot of land that had been used as a refugee camp and then as a congregation spot for the hastily constructed Monster Army was barren and flat with paths around evenly spaced-out plots where had been raised the temporary tents.
Had the light been different from the homogeneous light-gray diffuse that found its way through the thickening clouds then the abandoned plot would have looked like the it was meant for farming with the feet-carved paths being that of irrigation fields.
"I still think that it would have been better had you given us your one-way barrier magic instead."
Cter abandoned her search for where Idyll had set up her cooking station to help the refugees to answer Kry's question. "The one-way barrier magic operates on different logic than what you and Kurant know as barricade magic," she explained to the First Monster Mage busy with raising up a thick shimmer that grew on the outside of the city walls like dense ivy, reaching above and curving inwards like the shape of King Asgore's shoulder plates placed over the wall.
"Giving you the barricade magic that Sund originally developed by himself allowed me to act more shallower on your souls, and then I forced it into barrier magic. You already had an idea of what barricade was and how it felt when Sund used it, so connecting it to that was the better choice, I felt." Cter squinted at the white of the solidifying barrier magic. "Feel now too, as well."
Kry's folded furrow looked like lines of soot on his forehead in the increasingly harsh light from the barrier magic. "One-way barrier magic would allow us to easier counter the attack rather than have it be blocked from this side as well," he argued back while massaging his left wrist. "This tells the humans that we are not set to return their aggression back at them but instead that our intent is to hold out against their attack instead."
He kicked with his toes against the barrier magic like he would the wheel on a carriage. "And while that is what we are planning to do it would be better if they expected the other. That way they might be more cautious in their approach compared to knowing that we won't return their attack with as much ferocity. The more we can keep the humans in the dark about what they are getting themselves into the better our chances of forcing a long siege."
Seems like he managed to sleep well. Or at least, not too badly as he could have been. Granted, Cter only met him maybe two hours or so after Kurant left to wake him up, so she was not talking to Kry just after he had woken up and was assuredly in some sweat from sobering up to again not having King Asgore's presence within him.
Cter could tell that Kry was struggling with what she had changed inside his soul, and that she could showed that his was reacting differently than Kurant's. His immediate reaction to having Cter giving him his barrier magic was because it had lost King Asgore's presence once before, she had concluded when alone at the rampart.
It was the only way she could explain that him and Kurant had such vastly different reactions. Translated into the Soul Rainbow it meant that their souls had different colors, perhaps? Did Cter feel that it was different enough when she was in their souls with her magic?
Oh if only she would have paid attention to that it wouldn't have occupied her head for the entirety of the time she was alone on the ramparts.
"You really should be resting, Cter."
She nodded while massaging the root of her nose. "I know." She couldn't though as there were things she wanted to hear from Kry before the human army decided that it was time to attack. It was also a good idea to be close to Kry with him beginning to surround Jarasevo with barrier magic. With him and Kurant covering the flanks it gave Cter a small-enough area to protect that she had the choice to make the protective barrier facing the humans head on thick enough to be assuredly safe from any siege engine they could create.
In theory, that was.
Not even the strongest Royal Guard wielding the largest hammer in the armory with an influx of strength magic made a dent in her barrier magic when they tested it months before. Her one-way barrier magic was the same deal too, but monsters swinging large hammers was nothing compared to large rocks flung from a large distance. Aajja proved as much when he destroyed the bridge with the help of his subordinates.
There was a lot of trust that Cter put in her magic, the most trust she had ever put in it. Not just when given to Kry and Kurant, but trust in that the magic she herself could use would be powerful enough. The humans feared her magic enough to negotiate her out of the Final Battle, so just seeing her standing alone to face the human attackers on Jarasevo would count for something, no?
It sure would if she saw just one standing against an entire siege to defend the attacked city.
"There's a loose cobble there so lift your feet a bit higher while you're thinking so that you don't trip"
She did so, grazing the loose cobble with the heel of her boot and loosening it fully out its place. Nothing a quick application of dark blue magic could fix and put back, but that it still was struck loose told more than necessary. "There is a lot on my mind," Cter admitted like when she was a child and got caught with her hand in the cookie jar where Romrom was storing sewing equipment.
"Can't help but run through the worst-case scenarios in my head each time I see something change in both the city and with the humans in the distance."
"Just goes to show that you're taking this with the gravitas that the situation affords," replied Kry after raising a wave of barrier magic against the outside of the city walls like crashing water and then solidifying it as if freezing it with ice magic. It did not look as smooth and deliberate as his previous section, and it took quite a lot out of him, but in just one quick, wide swoop of magic he had covered as much as what took him a while to focus and construct smoothly.
He had to catch his breath with a heavy lean against the raised wall on the rampart, holding up his glasses with a stopping finger on the bridge of his nose. "It's good that you do." He seated himself between two parapets, leaning forward. "Still though, you need rest before the humans attack. I'm asking you in as many ways as possible, Cter."
"I will, I will," Cter agreed. "It's just that..." She conjured up a simple chair behind her for her to sink down into. Her head turned briefly towards the barracks on the other side of the city where Kurant was sleeping. Was hopefully sleeping, to be more exact. "I know that you have put aside your feelings on the matter for the sake of being the replacement Sir Gerson for the Royal Guards and me and Kurant, but seeing you this casual about having your magic fundamentally changed makes me uneasy."
Cter's thumbs folded over each other impatiently in her combined fist. "Especially so since I was the one that fundamentally changed it. I know exactly what has changed in your soul. I know exactly how invasive things have changed for you." A few scratches on Cter's forehead filled the following silence. "You had an initial reaction that I felt...well...not comfortable with, but I felt was correct, at least. Same with Kurant even though she wasn't directly feeling it. She knew that it was there and she knew that it should scare her that it was there, but you, you're..."
Kry followed the flails of Cter's hand against the sections of barrier magic he had raised along the city walls. Their shimmer was easily visible and their presence had started to be noticed among the Royal Guards that were shoring up the insides of the walls with positioning that would allow for projectile magic to be cast should it be necessary.
The barrier magic they were beginning to awe towards was there so that their shoring up wouldn't be necessary, but idle worry spread easily like uncontrollable fire, especially among the tinder of frightened monsters waiting for an attack from a rogue contingency of the human army. Giving them something to do was important for morale, and if they stared in awe then that would only increase it. The monsters needed hope, and that was what the Monster Mages would bring.
"You're correct in me doing everything I can to be the replacement Sir Gerson," nodded Kry while his eyes still rested on the Royal Guards that were waving in more to come and look. "It is what I have to be." Some that gathered around were civilian monsters too, walking up with widened eyes that only had them blinking tears.
"Someone that all the Royal Guards know without hesitation that what I say is from the highest military position present. That does not mean that I outrank either you or Kurant, but during warfare there is seldom time for more than voice to be heard when it comes to orders given. I hope that neither you or Kurant are upset with me taking command, but if you two are I too hope that you keep that until after this siege is over."
Cter was certainly not one to take command so from her there were no objections. Same with Kurant, for she would have said something already about it if she had. "You are the best choice for this so you won't hear any words arguing the contrary from me," said Cter while hopping her chair closer to where Kry sat so that she could sink down in it more tiredly without being noticed by the gathering crowd down below. "If anything I'd be arguing in your favor as best as I can should any objections arise."
"No barrier magic to keep them quiet?" Kry joked with a snicker.
"Best to save that for the humans," replied Cter with a tilted look up the foam-frozen section of barrier magic Kry had done last. "Do you have to keep much focus on keeping them steady and present, by the way? When I gave you this I was not sure if I should add some of my crystal magic to the mix as it would muddle between it feeling like Sund and it feeling like me. Some of it has slipped through though, I can tell. Probably for the better that it slipped through without me thinking of it."
The First Monster Mage rubbed his right hand against his white-glowing fingers on his sleeve. "Well it certainly is different," he told with little emotion. "I can feel that it has replaced King Asgore, but not in a way that has it feeling the same as his presence and magic. It is a bit like I'm writing but it is not the same language that the pen paints on the parchment. I know it is a different language that I have not read before, but it is still legible to me."
Legible in the sense that his handwriting improved because he no longer had King Asgore with him or legible in the sense that…
Oh golly, Cter really was tired, wasn't she?
"Now, now, no need to be so dramatic over that analogy," Kry chastised with a harsh narrow of his eyes that seemed to drain some of the luster from his glasses' golden rim. Cter released the pinch on her forehead and shook her head. "It wasn't that tortuous, surely?"
"No, no." A few continuous shakes followed from the Fourth Monster Mage along with a small sigh. "Just..." She quelled a yawn that tried to sneak in with the sigh. "I'm starting to feel a bit of the tiredness you and Kurant have insisted upon that I harbor." Not even a splash of icy, magical fog on her face helped. "Quite a lot of it, if I'm going to be honest."
Since he already knew that fully, Kry craned up his neck to look at the gathered crowd which had reached into a group large enough that he would have to address it sooner rather than later. "The barracks have plenty of beds," he relayed to Cter while his focus remained on the crowd of monsters. "Some of which are even possible to sleep in, so you should be able to find one without much searching. Maybe try and feel around for which one has the least aura around it?"
Cter nodded to where Kry was looking. "They seem to be gathering up quite the gathering about the barrier magic." From the tone of their murmuring voices Cter could hear that there was hope among them. It was nice to hear. "Perhaps you can in a way surpass Sir Gerson by talking to them directly? I'm sure he is planning on doing that for the Final Battle, but the Royal Guards stationed here at the city walls haven't really seen Sir Gerson ever since their initial training, I'm guessing. The commoners even less."
"Without King Asgore I won't be much for speeches." Kry scoffed. "With him I wasn't much for it either." He inhaled through his strong nose. "Would you believe me if I told you that me stepping up at the Noitaidarr Trial frightened me more than the prospect of losing King Asgore's presence in my soul?"
To be honest? "No, I can't have that make sense for me, sorry." Cter didn't feel that in the slightest.
A shrug loosened Kry's shoulders. "A bit of hyperbole, I admit." He did not retract it though. "But that I said it should be enough to show how much it frightens me, no?"
That Cter could agree on, yes. "I can see where you're coming from when you put it like that." She motioned towards Kry's sleeve. "Moot point at the moment though since it is the inverse order."
"Guess so," the First Monster Mage mused with a stare into his right palm from which bright glow cast shadows from the rim of his glasses. "At least the humans aren't being coy about who it is that is the attacker and who is the defender this time. The Noitaidarr Trial with them acting the defendants and the war with them pointing to the Cooperative Connection as well as the fusions as reasons that us monsters have been pulling the magical wool over their eyes which they aim to burn away without the slightest thought to making a shirt from shearing the wool."
Cter nodded along even though her tiredness had her losing herself in the metaphor halfway through. "Agreed," she said.
"But you're right in that I should at least let them know that I've noticed them noticing the barrier magic."
It took a long second of Cter mouthing a repeat of Kry's sentence before she understood what he said. By that point Kry had stood up and brushed himself clean with a few swipes on his purple robe. As he walked up closer to the inner edge of the rampart there were shouts of his name from below. They were joyous and surprised, enough so that Kry straightened his robe as well before clearing his throat with a few small coughs into his fist.
"People of Jarasevo," he began as almost everyone did, but the added flick of his wrist upwards like he was about to reach for a candle on a shelf above him was of his own making. "I ask of your bravery. I ask of your hope." His raised hand swept behind him. "It is that which will keep these barriers strong against the humans that have betrayed the agreement we came to terms with. The magic of us Monster Mages depends on your auras. Keeping you strong and safe necessitates that you all believe and have hope in the Royal Guard. Not just us Monster Mages, but the monsters in armor stood next to you."
Cter didn't have to see to know how the reaction was with the monsters. The elatedness rose from below the rampart like smoke, shimmering in the harsh light of the barrier magic that lit Kry from behind. That harsh light made the tension of the one hand he had bent behind his back bright and obvious for Cter. He was sinking his nails into his thumb hard and deep, but it seemed to be working for him.
"Jarasevo will never fall while the Royal Guard still stands! Jarasevo will never surrender for as long as a single monster still stands with their magic in hand! Have hope! Have bravery! And give it all for the defense of not only the Monster Capital, but for Monster Country as well!"
Roars from both voice and magic raised high and mighty from the streets that Kry spoke towards. He raised his right arm high, covered in focused swirls of barrier magic. "Forever!"
"And always!"
The joint shout from below had Kry opening his raised hand, letting out from his palm a quickly growing handle which expanded to reach above his height as he slammed its end down into the rampart with a melodic clang. Three prongs grew from the upper end, with two growing out the sides and a third between them.
It was King Asgore's trident, formed out of barrier magic, glowing as white as a monster soul. "We stand together as one against those that force their will upon us. Monsterkind will endure! Monsterkind will stand tall in victory!"
Another roar, stronger than before, had the hair on Cter's right arm standing up. It was from the bottom of the soul of every monster there, touched by Kry's words and brandished aura which he made shine, but which he did not share with the monsters. It was a display, same as the trident he made, of his connection to King Asgore.
However though, that connection was not with him no longer, so he had to make it himself. The trident of barrier magic he held in his hand and stood with a straight back besides was for show. A brilliant and promising show.
It was good.
He did good.
"They will share that with every monster they come across," said Cter with a smile at Kry's return to her. "You gave them hope during all of this, Kry."
The thankful nods were slightly held back by Kry massaging his lumbar. "I probably shouldn't have bowed as deeply as I did," came a retrospective regret. "You wouldn't mind?"
Cter didn't. To boot she did not bring up the fact that Kry was asking for help for his human body directly after making an inspiring case that the monsters would never lay down their weapons and magic against the humans. It was something Cter had to shake away from her head before she could focus on applying the healing magic Kry was asking for. "Should be good now," she said after applying a bit more than necessary just in case.
"Same for the commoners as well," Kry added with a proud look through the gap between his glasses and his smiling cheek. "They needed it." He nodded. "They need us." And stopped. "However, you need some sleep before that." His smile followed his turn to Cter. "You healed my rear rather than my lumbar, so I can tell even more now that you need some."
Oh God…
Cter ought to find the worst bed in the barracks and drag the oldest blanket she can find over her for that…
"I'll be fine for the rest of the barrier magic I need to raise, Cter." The First Monster Mage looked down the slight curve of the rampart of the city walls with a steadying breath through his strong nose. "With this last section I have come to realize that function is more important than form. I have decided it." He tapped his trident like a gavel. "And so it shall be."
How much he was joking about it Cter was too tired to tell. "And so it shall be," she repeated after a difficult quell of another yawn. "Don't tap for your decision that I have to sleep," she then halted Kry with his trident beginning to raise again. "I'm going."
"That you are," Kry agreed. "I'll let some of the flying Royal Guards know that you need quick transport."
"Hopefully not too quick after all the bravery you gave them."
Kry chuckled. "Well, we can hope for hopefully not."
That they could, yes.
"Thanks to you."
