Storyteller Of Zero

by Kremant

For the Isekai lovers who love seeing someone else being summoned than the other guy! Louise will perform the ritual to summon her Familiar. Only this time, the one she will summon will be someone who will cause quite the shock and surprise all around him. And the only thing he brings along... Is a Tome? Just what kind of stories are about to be unleashed upon Halkeginia?

22. SOZ-Episode 21-A Storyteller's Hell

It was midday at the City Of South Gotha, and almost all of the civilians were celebrating on every road together with the soldiers of Tristain, and being more happy than hostile with the latter ones capturing their city.

But the center of the true attention, is none other than the Storyteller Aristidis, Louise and Charlotte, with Siesta and Kirche currently missing for some reason from the group, who were waving at them while passing through, and receiving the praises and good words of both simple folks and the Tristain's soldiers for everything they have done for them.

"Give the people the food that was literally stolen from them, which is a simple matter considering my Tome and its infinite resources, a peaceful occupation of their city, and you have a proper recipe to be welcomed like the savior they were expecting for who knows how many years." Aristidis explains to his girls.

Louise looks at him somewhat confused. "All that is nice and all, but doesn't feel kind of wrong for them to do so? Tristain was their enemy not too long ago, so-"

"The ones who were leading them were rebels who have taken their once peaceful kingdom, and immediately forced this war upon them, not mentioning what has already been mentioned." He interrupts her with a serious expression as he explains. "Of course they will treat their occupants with the same respect they themselves show them. Who would not, with all that in mind?"

The pink-haired girl puts a hand on her chin in a thinking manner. "I suppose I cannot really argue with that."

Not too long after, the three stop outside of an Inn, and take their seats by a table, having been already served some tea by the workers there, as the people already present at the tables nearby watch the trio with interest and awe due to recognizing who they are.

The Storyteller is loving the constant attention, with the pride showing in his face, much to his two girls' awkwardness of the fact.

Charlotte gets his attention by moving a raised hand left and right, which he notices without issue. "What of the rest?"

Aristidis understands that she is talking about Siesta and Kirche, and shows her a kind face. "They should still be in that souvenir-search of theirs. You know how they can be when wanting to please their most favorite man in the whole world." Finishes with slight amusement and much of pride, with mostly the pink-haired girl sweat dropping at his known arrogance now.

"Will they be surely safe?" The blue-haired girl then asks, not showing concern in her face for her close friends, but actually feeling that way on the inside.

The pitch-black Storyteller brings a dismissive hand forward while amused with that concern of hers. "No need for concerns, my dear. I have issued to them nine of my relatively best bodyguards. They will be safer than the gates leading in and out of the greek underworld. And I do not see any Heracles on the enemy's side to be worried about of." Says the last one while folding his arms and shaking his head with prideful confidence.

"One of the few times I actually understand what you are talking about." Louise admits while smiling with a small sweat drop over her head, having watched at some point in the past about the story the reference he speaks of comes from, and then proceeds to change the subject as she looks at him, her expression now curious. "By the way, in a few days begins the Silver Advent Festival. Are we planning on staying here for it, or...?"

"Ah yes, your version for the new year's celebration." Aristidis understands while putting a hand on his chin, before raising the same hand and a finger to suggest his idea. "I say-"

"Aristidis, everyone!" Kirche's voice interrupts as she gets their attention to the side, and notice both her and Siesta running their way with smiles.

Once they stop before the still sitting group, Siesta proceeds with explaining their reason for their excitement. "You will not believe who we met while on our walk. My uncle and his daughter, the latter being my cousin obviously."

That gets their now full of interest attention, with the black-haired girl continuing. "He was elated when I told him about who my one and only is, but was too busy preparing his tavern to come meet you in person. Speaking of, he is opening a business in this city. Would you all like to go meet them?"

"Always up to meeting new faces, especially if they are family of my most favorite ladies." The mouthless Storyteller answers happily, his words more than pleasing to the ears of the said ladies, and then looks back and forth toward the sides at the buildings above, with the scene not really showing what he is looking at. "By the way, any issue to report, friends?"

Upon asking that, nine figures jump down from the sides and land in an acrobatic manner right behind the standing girls, consisting of anthropomorphic animals, the first being a dark-orange and clothed tiger, the second being a straw-hat-wearing crane, the third being a viper snake, the fourth being a partially-clothed golden snub-nosed monkey, the fifth being a praying mantis, and the last four being tall turtles with different colored, thin masks tied around their head, and different weapons. [Tigress, Crane, Viper, Monkey and Mantis from Kung Fu Panda, and Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo from TMNT, reporting for duty]

"Nothing of note." Tigress simply replies.

Michelangelo then as soon raises enthusiastically both fist up to the air. "Other than everything being radical, of course!"

After saying that, both he and Monkey exclaim positively as they high-five each other, to which their more serious comrades/family somewhat disapprove while shaking slowly their heads in response for that action of theirs, due to it happening during what is considered a serious mission for them, with the rest finding the said enthusiasm rather likable, as the Storyteller and his girls chuckle for the said moment.

Needless to say, Aristidis is pleased with the report. "Good to hear. Now-"

The song of Swan Lake begins to play and interrupts him that moment, causing his expression to turn neutral out of mild annoyance, before reaching with a hand behind him to grab his phone, and answers the call while putting it on his ear, as the rest understand it is the Queen, and wonder if he is needed for another mission.

(=Hello? Aristidis? I hope I am not interrupting anything.=) Henrietta says while feeling a bit awkward about.

"Not quite, but it matters not. What type of assistance are we to offer you this time, our esteemed Majesty?" He asks with a kind face.

(=As you know, we will be in a truce with Reconquista for these few days till the end of the Silver Advent Festival, after accepting their proposal about it.=) She reminds him.

The Storyteller looks upward to the side while amused at the reminder. "I still find it pitifully funny of them to do so."

(=But the General is worried about them using that as a chance to attempt a surprise attack against us, while our guard is down.=) The Queen tells him.

Aristidis understands now why the concern, and proceeds to explain as he puts his free hand upon his chest. "I will have you know that I already have some of my Tome-Personnel keeping an eye on them, so nothing they do will go unnoticed just like that, you have my word on that."

(=Oh... That changes things then.=) She responds happily after getting surprised there with the unexpected news. (=Thank you for always looking out for us, Aristidis.=)

"Never expect anything less from me." He says proudly with a nod of the head. "Anything else you might need my help with?"

(=That was all, actually.=) Henrietta admits.

The mouthless Storyteller's faces turns slightly mischievous. "Not even for the you-know-what?"

(=What?=) The Queen questions confused, before at that moment realizes the meaning behind those words, and gets awkward. (=A-Aristidis, come now, you know the tight position I am currently in- and don't you begin with your you-know-what wordings. I am serious about it not being a good time for that now.=) She whispers the last part, not wanting to let the ones currently in the room with her understand what is up.

"O-ho-f course, of course, my apologies." Aristidis replies with much of amusement, as the the rest look at each other while unsure about what the rest of the conversation is about, not easy figuring it out when hearing only one side of the said conversation, before taking a breath and putting back on his kind expression. "May you have a good day, your Majesty."

While he closes the phone and puts it back, Louise, and the rest, approach him curiously. "What were you talking about with her Highness at the end there?"

"She did something in my presence once that I found rather entertaining, which she wants to keep a secret, so I playfully teased her a bit about it." He explains with a wink and a raised finger over his mouthless area, and as Louise is about to reprimand him about it, disliking how he blatantly admitted he treated someone like her Queen and childhood friend like that, he immediately interrupts her by bringing both his hands defensively before him with a neutral expression. "She is alright with this in actuality, honest."

The pink-haired girl stays as she is for a moment, but relaxes after deciding to let this slide due to being unsure about this, but still planning to ask her Highness once she gets the chance, while the rest appear even more curious about what that secret might be.

The pitch-black Storyteller turns at both Siesta and Kirche, and folds his arms as he shows them a curious face. "Now before we visit that uncle of yours, were you in the end able to find a souvenir for me like you were planning?"

"Oh, you are going to absolutely love it, darling." Kirche answers with much of excitement while bringing both fists in front of her chest, with Siesta sharing the feeling while nodding three times in a dynamic manner. "Close your eyes and bring forth your open hands."

Aristidis does exactly as he is told without hesitation, and waits while the two girls place while off-screen something upon his hands.

"You can open them now." Siesta tells him with a big smile.

Once he does so, he is actually surprised at what he was seeing in his hands, which is a small, and very-well-done brown-wooden sculpture of himself, having his head proudly raised, holding his open Tome in one hand while his other is placed upon the chest, and with the cape on his back made in such a way as if blowing with grace in the wind.

"It's you!" The black-haired girl exclaims while throwing her hands up overexcited, with the rest of the girls approaching enough from the sides to take a look at the highly-impressive-to-them sculpture.

The redhead proceeds with explaining to him. "We were thinking all this time what would be the perfect gift for you, and then Siesta uttered dreamily at one point about how she would love to be able to make something equal or at least close to the amount of love you have given us, and then the idea came to me in an instant, remembering a Carver of wood we passed by moments ago, and suggesting the idea. We were not quite sure what to ask for at the beginning, but then thought of how highly you think of yourself, and understandably so, so what better gift than this?"

Siesta speaks next. "The Carver began immediately his work, but when he was done, he gave us the wooden sculpture free of charge, stating how the Storyteller has given his city already so much, and that it is the least he can do to show his appreciation. Wasn't that nice of him?"

"Anyway, what do you think, love?" Kirche asks him, as both of them await impatiently for his answer about how good their gift was.

The pitch-black Storyteller looks at its details for little longer, with his expression then turning pleased. "This has to be the most excellent souvenir I have ever received! I had high expectations, but you actually managed to surpass them. In short, I love it!"

"We knew you would!" The redhead says delighted, before she and the black-haired girl move to one side each, and give him in unison a kiss on the cheeks, much to his own delight.

The ninja turtle Michelangelo was about to say something at that, and possibly ruin the moment, but all of his brothers immediately shush him by covering his mouth with their hands while giving him serious looks, as Louise and Charlotte feel a bit jealous about the extra attention the others of the harem get, while also a bit frustrated about how they could do something of similar nature to be praised by him the same way as well, which makes them hate the fact they did not think of doing as much to begin with.

Not too long after, the scene cuts at a different location of the city, where our group, minus the Furious Five and the Ninja Turtles who went back to do their guarding duty from the sidelines, are seen stopping outside of a rather large tent, where Siesta's uncle establishment is.

"Here we are, Aristidis, this is the place my uncle opened his new tavern." The black-haired girl tells him as she indicates with a hand the place forth.

Aristidis folds his arms while eyeing the large tent with interest. "Quite a peculiar choice for a tavern to be an oversized tent, but if it is as good as that one Inn I went with Louise back then, then-"

He stops himself that moment as he takes careful notice of a signboard displaying the place's name right above the tent's entrance, which translates to The Tavern Of The Fascinating Fairies.

The mouthless Storyteller puts in his mind two and two together, and makes his first guess. "Fairies... Could it be-"

The scene immediately cuts to him and the rest entering the tent hastily, and much to the group's surprise, they spot close at one of the many tables none other than Scarron currently watching over his employees, which he calls fairies, along with his daughter Jessica cleaning/preparing the said tables, with Scarron wearing his known, very tight and flamboyant clothing, and Jessica being in her normal white/green full apron.

The owner of the place, along with the rest, takes notice of him and the rest, and smiles with enthusiasm. "OH, there he is! The great Noble Aristidis once again honors our line of work with his much wanted presence!" Says as his employees proceed to clap their hands happily for his said arrival.

He approaches the Storyteller, who currently stays frozen in his earlier surprise for some reason, and gives him a strong and filled with much of affection hug. "You have no idea how absolutely surprised and ecstatic I was upon learning it was you the one Siesta pledged her love to!"

Jessica approaches them as well with a smile, before folding her arms. "And what a coincidence too. To imagine the man who wants me in his harem, already has my cousin Siesta in it. Now that is something."

That surprises greatly the black-haired girl. "You too cousin?"

"Hmhm." Her cousin utters positively with a nod of her head.

"... He is your uncle, you say." The now wide-eyed Aristidis asks after a short silence while turning his head toward his black-haired girl, with him still being in Scarron's hug, and being in complete disbelief about this.

Siesta smiles awkwardly at this, believing he is referring to how... Unique their uncle's appearance and behavior are in comparison to theirs. "Y-Yes."

The mouthless Storyteller turns his head forward as he now just looks at the empty space past Scarron and Jessica for the moment, with the former of the last two finally breaking the hug and unhanding him, while he could feel the pink-haired girl's intense and serious gaze upon him, with the rest of his group sweat dropping as they understand the reason for all this, and him remembering the promise he made with her to never make any flirtatious attempts on girls or women that are related with the girls in his harem.

And now he knows that because the flamboyant owner is Jessica's father, which makes Jessica Siesta's cousin, it pretty much means...

"I will have you excuse my presence for a moment?" Aristidis tells everyone with an expression filled with seemingly mild annoyance, as he turns around and normally exits through the tent of the tavern, with everyone else watching him, being confused about the reason he did so, except Louise, Charlotte and Kirche who know.

Jessica turns to the rest. "What was that about?"

Before any can answer, a strong thud, and a grunt of pain a quick moment after is heard by the side outside which draws their attention, with it repeating multiple times unceasingly.

Scarron proceeds to make his assumption at the recognition of the noise, while still appearing to be confused about it as he raises an eyebrow. "It sounds as if a wall is being struck right next to the tent. But that's weird, I don't remember any wall of any kind for meters."

Everyone, minus the employees who have to watch the tavern, step outside of the tent as well, and once reaching the spot next to it where they are hearing the thudding and grunting now more clearly, they stop as they move at the very corner to peek past it and semi-hidden, and much to their surprise they see Aristidis with an empty expression on his face and with a glass of red wine in one hand, watching a tall, muscular man with short, spiky, blond hair, who is wearing only an underwear and nothing else, tied with ropes by all four of his limbs to two wooden poles at his left and right, with a steel wall standing just a few inches behind him, while he is being beaten-up by two rabbit women, the FIRST one being a Caucasian woman of slim build, with long waist-length silver hair and bright red eyes, bunny ears above her head which are pointing downward to the side, wears what appears to be a stylized bronze armor with fur on the lower torso and with fur-covered wristbands and greaves, red war paint on her face along with a headband that has a gem set in the center and feathers on both the headband and the ears, and a red cape bulging at the shoulders with yellow edges, who is also wielding brass knuckles as she punches the guy, and the sadistic smile on her face indicating she is enjoying the beating she is giving quite a bit, and the SECOND one, and who is more serious about it, being a dark-skinned woman of athletic and well-defined build, who has red, narrow eyes with long, defined eyelashes, and straight white hair reaching her thighs with bangs that part to the left of her face, white rabbit ears pointing upwards above her head, with a small and white round tail at the rear area, and wearing a costume which consists of sleeveless white leotard with dark purple trim around her shoulders and waist, a wide yellow crescent moon design over her chest, with a single thick metal plate wrapped around her midriff, purple thigh-high boots with more plating around the heel and toe areas, making her feet appear rabbit-like, and a pair of thick, white gloves on her hands with long cuffs, sporting small triangular protrusions around their edges. [Zorzal El Caesar and Tyuule from GATE - Thus The JSDF Fought There, and Rumi Usagiyama, who is more commonly known as Mirko the Rabbit Hero from My Hero Academia]

"Why! Am I! Being! Treated! Like this?!" The disgraced prince asks Aristidis in-between the painful strikes the former is receiving by the two rabbit women, much to his obviously painful misfortune.

"Asking that, gives me more reasons to let them do as much." The pitch-black Storyteller simply answers, his expression not changing even a bit, before he takes from his wine a sip.

As they keep on watching at the whole thing with eyes wide open, the pink-haired girl turns to the rest of her group with a sweat drop. "Alright, before anyone asks, we have learned about this man's story a week or so ago- he totally deserves what he is receiving."

"B-But, why our well-mannered Aristidis is doing that all of a sudden?" The flamboyant man asks, still confused with all of this.

The redhead smiles awkwardly as she decides to be the one to explain. "It's most likely because he realized he can't have your daughter. See, some time ago Louise made him promise to never let a girl in the harem if related with one already in it. And since Siesta and Jessica are cousins, well..."

That makes Siesta, Jessica and Scarron understand now the reason of his current behavior, and pretty much the fact that this is his way of coping when it comes to situations like this.

The black-haired cousin utters a bit disappointed as she looks at the rest. "How unfortunate. To tell you the truth, lately I have been thinking to seriously ask him about letting me become part of this."

While that causes the group's unexpected surprise, what she said was caught by Aristidis's ear, with his glass of wine vanishing soon after, before he pulls back with his hands the two rabbit women, stopping the beating they were giving, which makes them look at the former confused about the reason, only for him to reach with a hand to the side, and pull from off the screen and in front of him a tall, burly man wearing commoner clothing splashed with dry blood, a burlap potato sack covering his head, which has holes for his maddening eyes to be seen through, and wielding an inactive chainsaw. [Chainsaw Man from Resident Evil Franchise]

The man with the sack looks around him in a quick manner and utterly confused of his whereabouts, but is stopped by Aristidis who moves close as he keeps on holding him by the shoulder, and getting his attention.

He then points with the finger of his free hand at Zorzal from down and up. "From the groin and up. Now. Don't look at me like a lost child- do it now!" Finishes while grabbing him by both the shoulders now and looking him straight in the eyes, making obvious the former's utter irritation, before unhanding him again.

Upon hearing that, the man quickly finds his composure, and revs his chainsaw, starting the machine's horrible, deafening buzzing noise as he slowly approaches the tied disgraced prince, with the latter in response beginning to scream out of absolute fear, and struggles hard in place in an attempt to break free from his bonds, horrified by what he understands is going to happen to him, while the slim rabbit woman is watching at this with anticipation, and the dark-skinned athletic one simply turning her back on it with her arms folded.

Just before anything happens, Louise urgently pushes her group back and behind the corner of the tent, away from what is about to take place, and then the scream of agony begins while flesh is heard being cut/rip apart from there, making everyone flinch from the terrible image it brings in their minds.

Kirche sweat drops as she looks at her group. "So lucky we are not on his bad side, am I right?"

That makes them nod multiple times in agreement, and understandable, wide-eyed relief.

Not too long after, the scene cuts to the mouthless Storyteller seated by a table along with Louise, Siesta, Charlotte, Kirche, Jessica and Scarron, enjoying their drinks and snacks provided by the establishment, and having an overall good time with the extra company of the latter two, as the employees of the tavern are taking care of the rest of the customers that have come to drink and dine as well.

And as they enjoy, Aristidis seems to have been talking about some part from one of his stories. "So, our named ex-mobster of the story went straight to his boss, begged him into sparing his uncle's life, while at the same time ensured to save the said boss's life from the threats I named, which remember that the latter never even noticed when they were about to happen, or in the ricocheting thunderbolt's case happening, not only he denied the favor that was asked of him, but also made a sexualized comment toward the former's daughter, which resulted in him acting on his fatherly instinct, and pushing his boss through a window to fall to his death."

"You've got to be kidding me- after all that?!" The pink-haired girl questions at the end in utter disbelief.

"He was to die, whatever the way was to be. His fate sealed, and nothing to truly prevent it." The blue-haired girl says, understanding that as the case, connecting it with other stories that have to do with a character's ultimate fate, which is important to the whole setting of the said story.

The mouthless Storyteller appears quite proud with her. "I SO love it when I hear of your poetic skills. It truly gives me a feeling like none other."

Charlotte smiles and blushes at that, with the other three feeling jealous, before proceeding to think of words to make fitting poetry of their own to impress, while Jessica and Scarron smile at how cute the whole scene is to them.

"Now if it isn't a surprise." A voice coming by the entrance draws their attention, and our group see the blond-haired Noble, and known classmate of the Noble ladies, Guiche, who is approaching and stopping next to them with a smile, who appears to be wearing a purple/white uniform with a rather special-looking medal pinned upon the said uniform's left-chest side.

Aristidis gets up while bringing both hands forward to indicate Guiche with some astonishment. "Look who is present after so long! How is the army treating you, Guiche? Eaten any bells for attempting to seduce a girl or two?" Asks the last one with a mischievously raised eyebrow, and both hands at his own hips, with the question causing Kirche to giggle amused for a moment upon understanding the meaning.

"What eating a bell even has to do with-" The blond Noble begins quite confused with that part, but decides to stop himself, thinking of it as one of Aristidis's complicated-knowledge-talk, and simply shows his happy smile once more. "Nevertheless, it is nice to see you all again. Well, as you can probably guess, things have been going pretty well for me."

He then proceeds with pride to pull with a hand the medal on his uniform a bit forward to make it apparent. "I even got from General Poitier himself the White Spirit Medal, for my distinguished efforts on the battlefield."

Louise, and most of the table group, is actually impressed by that. "Huh. Now that is something."

"An impressive feat indeed, if the General himself is that impressed." The pitch-black tells her with a jolly expression, and then approaches the blond Noble, putting a hand on his shoulder once right in front of him. "Proud of you making a name for yourself out there."

Guiche is a bit taken aback by the Storyteller actually complimenting him, knowing their past encounters, before smiling awkwardly at the gesture, but still being happy to be recognized as much. "Th-Thank you."

He then finds his composure and smiles normally as he looks at the filled table, while the Storyteller unhands him. "So, is there room for me to sit with you all?"

"The real question is-" Aristidis begins, and then snaps his fingers, making the orange-haired maid Cinderella to come from off-screen with a chair, which she places next to the rest of the seated group. "You have the time to spend it with our friendly company?" He asks a bit playfully, with the rest appearing to not mind Guiche's addition to their table group.

The blond Noble appreciates the friendliness he is being shown, and proceeds to take his seat among them, with Cinderella leaving the scene soon after.

His expression gets curious as he keeps his attention at Aristidis. "By the way, is it true that you and Louise, along with a group of green orcs-"

"Rode a helicopter to take proper care of most of the enemy's dragon knights as if nothing special?" The mouthless Storyteller interrupts as he guesses the question while going back on his own seat. "Exactly as you hear, if we forget the name part no one in your world has even heard of before, and you see the results around you." Says the last bit while indicating with both open arms around him at not specifically the tavern, but the very city they are present on, which officially belongs to Tristain thanks to him.

"Wow... As always your creatures and unique contraptions are terrifyingly incredible." Guiche tells him with a cold sweat, somewhat frightful about it.

"Tome creatures and contraptions/machines, thank you very much." Aristidis pompously corrects him, before taking a sip from his glass of beer.

Louise groans annoyed with a roll of her eyes as she turns to him. "Will you just cease with that Tome joke of yours?"

He turns his head at her with a raised eyebrow. "What joke?"

She growls in response with her mouth closed, now even more annoyed than before with his known antics, as the rest smile awkwardly at the two.

The pitch-black Storyteller turns with a kind expression to Guiche again. "Anyway, you pretty much know about ours, so what you say to sharing your own war-type adventures with us?"

The blond Noble happily and with signs of excitement proceeds to speak to everyone about just that. "Certainly. And you are not going to believe what I have seen! Well, you most likely will, knowing the madness in your Tome and all." Says the last part with a sweat drop and a smile while looking at the Storyteller.

"No offence, of course." He then adds a bit awkwardly and troubled.

"Absolutely none taken, please continue." Aristidis prompts as he signs him with a hand movement to proceed with his story.

Guiche continues, his hidden excitement now actually apparent. "What I saw during that day's patrol duty was unbelievable. It was... A fairy!"

That immediately catches the group's full of interest and surprise attention.

"Fairy, you say?!" Scarron questions out of great astonishment, before beginning to fantasize while feeling complimented all of a sudden. "Does that mean a cute girl like me?"

The blond Noble turns to him rather upset about the latter comparing himself with one. "No! A real fairy!"

He then finds his composure as he turns to the rest while serious-looking. "It happened when my group and I encountered an enemy force while marching from Lowscythe. When I noticed, I was already surrounded from all sides on the mountain. I was killed. I was surely inflicted a fatal wound from the fight. However, when I woke up again, my body didn't have a single scar as I then took notice of her great beauty standing before me. Her elegance healed me when I needed it most!" Exclaims dreamily the last part while in absolute astonishment.

"Thank you, fairy!" Guiche adds while getting up and looking upward with both hands clasped together as if praying his thanks.

Jessica unconvinced leans toward him with a playful smile. "Maybe you just had a dream."

That snaps him back to reality as he looks at her a bit awkwardly, understanding that his story is not believed just as he feared.

"Let us not be quick to judge anything here as one or the other." The pink-haired girl says after getting up herself with a stop-hand-sign toward her, confusing the girl as a result, and then turns to Aristidis, who at the moment was already contemplating about the information with a hand on his chin. "What do you think, Aristidis? That kind of crazy-sounding stories seems like your specialty- and don't dare act offended, you know for the most part it is true." She says the last part seriously while pointing a finger at him.

"An actual fairy, AND one that is charming to you..." The mouthless Storyteller trails off while keeping on thinking, and then looks at Guiche, as two fairies suddenly poof into existence, through glittering-like clouds, and sitting upon the former's shoulders. "Was she like the common cute type at my right, or like the one at my left?"

The FIRST one is a smallish fairy, approximately the size of a hand, slender, pear-shaped, fair-skinned, with clear, butterfly-like wings on her back, has blue eyes, shoulder-length blonde hair worn in a bun with her bangs out, and pointy elf-like ears, and wearing a green strapless dress with a miniskirt and matching slippers, and the SECOND one is a very stacked and overall, somewhat bigger fairy, who has a worn-out appearance, thick eyebrows with bags under her dark-purple eyes, carries a pipe, which she is currently smoking from, all four of her wings are somewhat torn by the bottom, has five red tattoos, located on her collarbone, right arm, right leg, back, and w*mb area, both her pointy ears are pierced with three very small rings, has green well-managed looking hair, and wears a black pair of knee-high high-heeled boots, and a black top that is extremely low-cut, with a red thong. [Tinker Bell from Peter Pan, and Aloe from Interspecies Reviewers, present for the comparison]

As everyone looks astonished at the two real fairies' existence, Guiche snaps out of his own surprise as he looks carefully at each.

"No- and certainly not like that one!" The blond Noble states, while especially disapproving of the worn-out and skimpy dressed fairy, and then taking a step back as he appears creeped-out by her. "What kind of uncute fairy even is that? And what is with that dirty look on her face? I get shivers just looking at that one."

The fairy Aloe just looks at him for a moment, before taking out her normal-sized measuring ruler with a mischievous smile. "Want me to measure your d*ck, kid?"

While almost everyone, including the fairy Tinker Bell, get shocked by the fairy's vulgar question, Guiche puts both hands over his specified area as he turns his body to the side greatly concerned. "Wh-Why?!"

Aristidis snaps his fingers, causing the two fairies to poof out of existence. "May that teach you to never offend someone's appearance. Be lucky she was only teasing, and not outright trying to humiliate you."

He then begins with a hand to rub his own chin curiously. "Still, you saying neither of them being similar to what you saw, raises questions. Could you describe that fairy of yours to us?"

"Well... She had long hair, pointy ears like that offensive one's, but without earrings and cuter, a BIG set of very nice-" The blond Noble stops before he speaks of that part, the eyes of his three female classmate already judging him, as he sweat drops upon realizing himself, before continuing while picking his next words better, he hopes. "W-Well, a good front side anyway."

The Storyteller gives him a playful look. "Must have been quite something to attract that kind of attention from you, despite her small body-size."

"Aristidis!" Louise yells at him upset, disliking his show of sudden lewdness.

"She was not small like yours! She was as tall as any normal person!" Guiche states seriously, but after a quick moment looks upward to the side with a hand on his own chin, trying to remember the past moment better. "I believe so, at least. I was lying on my back when I met her, so I'm not exactly sure if she was simply standing before me, or on top of me, in the case she was actually small, and appeared because of it like in my first thought."

Eventually he turns to them once more, while feeling a bit awkward. "I'm sorry, I can't remember in more details, not even the color of her very hair, my mind is rather blurry after that encounter for some reason."

"Most likely due to the shock of the overall experience you received that day, for if it was magic that locks memories, which I know it exists here, you would not even remember the encounter to begin with." Aristidis explains as he keeps on contemplating in the matter, before a thought snaps him out of it, and looks at him properly. "Wait, what about her wings? Were they different from those on the ones I let you set your eyes upon?"

"Oh, she had none." The blond Noble answers.

That answer causes some surprise, and most of the people of the group to raise one eyebrow each, including the pitch-black Storyteller. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Guiche states seriously assured of his answer, and then lifts his head proudly. "I wouldn't miss something that unique if they were on someone- ESPECIALLY on a beautiful lady like her."

After a bit more thinking, and according to the description he was given, Aristidis seems to have made his conclusion. "According to what you have told me, only one race matches the said description. What saved you was not a fairy. It was an elf."

His conclusion shocks everyone at the table as they all yell together "Elf?!"

The mouthless Storyteller then begins speculating as he keeps his attention on Guiche. "Although it makes no sense for one to save a human, considering the known hatred between the two races. Not to mention there is no actual benefit in their kind saving you to begin with, even if the son of a General. Either there is a separate elven group that acts secretly as allies of humanity for some reason, which is very unlikely if they are as full of pride as your books state, or there is just that one woman who is just different from the rest, one way or another. We must take into account how far from their home they are as well. Frankly, the theories are many more than I present forth, but like I once said, until I am absolutely sure, presenting them all will be nothing but a waste of time. We can investigate about it as soon as we finish with this war. I feel excited just thinking about it." He admits in the end with obvious enthusiasm as he looks upward at the very thought of uncovering this new and interesting case.

While everyone finds those two theories highly interesting, with Guiche being in utter disbelief at the very thought an elf saved him of all people, while also not knowing how to feel about it, the pink-haired girl sweat drops as she thinks of the elven fact itself. "An elf saving a human. Just when I think things cannot get any crazier than they already are."

"Is that a challenge I hear?" Aristidis asks mischievously, while at the same time appearing now to have his eyes upon the chest, specifically where his nippl*s would be.

Louise points her finger toward his face angrily. "Don't you start with me, jokester!"

"HEY... My eyes are down here." He says with his eyes expressing his great amusement.

"I HAVE MADE MY CHOICE!" She yells really upset at the continuation of his stupid-to-her joke, showing she doesn't have the appetite to partake in this, with the rest of the group then laughing amused at the whole scene.

"Hey, looks like everyone is here." A males voice once more draws everyone's attention toward the entrance, and see the blond priest Julio raising a greeting hand at them with his known, charming smile.

"And here comes Julio." The pitch-black Storyteller announces joyfully while indicating Julio with a hand toward him, as his own eyes slide back in their original position upon the face, before turning his head to Guiche. "You remember him from back then, before you leave with the rest of the guys for this war. You could say he has quite taken your place as the pretty boy of the Academy. I mean, he is much better at the flirting department than you, and is loved by many more girls as well, but whatever."

The blond Noble laughs awkwardly in response at the comment, before looking downward as he sighs defeated upon remembering how his exit turned out because of the charming priest's appearance.

~Hours Later~During The Night Outside At The Once More Snowy Forrest Of South Gotha~

The scene shows four figures walking through the snow, as more is falling calmly from the cloudy, night sky.

Sheffield who wears a dark cloak and hood over her, her General in the Albion's armor/uniform of black and purple being on the front, with two of their soldiers right behind the former, are all making their way to a certain point.

As they eventually reach their destination, her General unsheathes his sword, plunges it upon the snow-cover before them, making an opening in the snow there as he pulls his blade back as a result, and revealing part of the covered lake there.

He then turns to the approaching Sheffield. "Magistrate Sheffield, can we really use the secret measure for repelling the enemy here?"

She pulls her hood down as she stops before the newly made opening, looking at it with sinister intent. "One third of South Gotha's water supply comes from here."

As the pale woman begins taking one of her gloves off carefully by using her teeth, which many would call arousing, the man sees and recognizes the peculiar ring on her finger after she does so. "That is...!"

Sheffield moves it forward and above the lake-opening. "The Ring Of Andva-"

"Mine?" A strange voice cuts her off that moment, making the four look around them in an alarming manner, till they spot not that far from them multiple, small, bird-like figures hidden in the dark of both the night and shadows of the trees, as they all open their shiny eyes each, looking straight at the four.

The General moves himself and his sword between his liege and what he considers a threat to them, with her moving her ring back defensively, while the two soldiers behind appearing to be too bewildered to take their defensive stances.

"Stand back, Magistr-" He begins alarmed, but is immediately interrupted by the birds who instantly begin flying toward and all around them, which they can now be recognized as the Seagulls from Finding Nemo by the viewers at home, swarming them while yelling repeatedly and unceasingly "Mine!" as the group startled begins waving hands and sword around in panic of the sudden attack, and much more numbers than they anticipated.

A few seconds pass, and all of the seagulls finally fly past them and away, leaving them alone, and much to the group's confusion, having done no damage to them.

The pale woman was thinking of how strange it is, having in her mind that she was attempting to use the ring on them, but nothing happened.

She then looks with widen eyes at her finger, noticing that the Ring Of Andvari was now missing. "The ring!"

"Looking for this, m'lady?" A male's voice behind them draws hers and the General's attention, the m'lady part being told in a sarcastic tone, seeing one of their soldiers dropping dead upon the snowy field with his front, showing a stab wound at the exposed part in his back, and right behind him the Red Spy is seen standing there, from TF2 and his ski-type face-mask on, holding on one hand the bloody knife, while with the other holds the Ring Of Andvari between two of his fingers as he looks at it with prideful satisfaction, with a set of armor lying right next to him, indicating he was the second Albionian soldier all this time.

Sheffield looks at him with frustration, understanding he snatched the ring off her finger in the midst of the feathery chaos.

"A surprise to no one." The Red Spy says as he turns his attention on them. "You and your people never suspected a thing during all this time I was in your castle, and behind your very backs."

His expression then turns bored. "You have no idea how frustrating it was waiting for the order to act. I could finish this the very moment you stole it from the palace back then, but no~, the Storyteller wanted to see how things will go first." Finishes with a roll of his eyes.

That shocks the woman, for she now knows she was being watched for that long all this time, and never took notice of it once.

The General that moment attempts to cut down the cocky man in the full mask, but just when about to, the man is immediately swapped away by a fast-moving object, making the former miss, as he and Sheffield watch the man now atop a flying carpet, the Magic Carpet from Aladdin, moving at great speed high and away from their location.

"Adieu, suckers!" The Red Spy yells at them with a mocking tone, before doing his characteristic laughter as the Magic Carpet eventually flies him out of their view.

As her General keeps on looking all surprised at the direction the Spy fled to, he woman looks down both defeated, and absolutely frustrated, seeing the failure here, specifically, as her insulting her dear King's good name.

The kingdom of Albion is of no importance at this point, but just this loss is important enough to bring unforgivable shame her way. "Damn it..."

"Hey there!" Another voice draws hers and the General's attention to the side, and see a man covered in a thick, dirty-brown cloak and hood, goggles with thick, black glass, and brown, surgical mask covering his face. "The lady of Reconquista's Albion I presume?"

She looks at him curiously, as the General alarmed moves his sword toward the stranger in white.

The cloaked man moves his hands in front of him in a defensive manner. "Whoa there, big fella. I am not here to cause you more trouble than that smart-a*s Storyteller already did. I simply want to make some business with your lady. Honest."

The way he said that, makes Sheffield understand this man is not supporting their overpowered enemy, but still she needs to be careful in the case this is a trap of some kind.

She signs with a hand at her General to lower his sword, which he does with some hesitation. "Who are you?"

The stranger puts both hands at the front of his cloak and pulls them a bit forward in a casual manner. "My name is of no importance! But I have a deal you will definitely want to consider. As you can probably guess by my get-up, I am a man of research. And that is definitely where I excel at!"

The woman finds the cloaked man very suspicious, but decides to go with and ask him. "What kind of deal?"

"Glad you asked!" The cloaked man says happily as he walks past them, and stops before the deceased soldier. "You could say I've made something that can cause quite the devastating damage upon your foes here."

He then kicks the dead man on the shoulder hard enough to bring him on his back.

The General takes offence to seeing the body of one of his fallen men being treated with such disrespect, but is stopped once more by his liege, who signs him with a hand to do so like before.

The stranger reaches with a hand inside his cloak, and pulls out a closed glass-vial with a greenish substance inside. "Feast your eyes upon this creation."

After saying that, he opens the vial, and splashes its substance all over the body with a single movement.

And upon contact, the body was sizzling as if cooked in oil, and in a matter of seconds, it melted slowly everything upon the body but the skeleton itself, shocking the General, and causing quite the surprise and great impression to Sheffield.

The cloaked man throws the now empty vial away as he turns to them. "And that's what happens to anybody it touches. If it could melt the bones too, it would be a VERY good body-disposal method. In any case, I have a big load of that stuff ready to be thrown upon the city you try to win back, and I'm willing to give you the freedom to use it as soon as possible. And free of charge!"

"Wha-?" The General begins, but his greater shock about what the man plans to do, prevents him from finishing that line.

Sheffield raises an eyebrow, unsure of the cloaked man's motives. "And for what reason offer us such a generous deal with nothing to gain?"

"As I said, I'm a researcher." The stranger repeats with two hands upon his own chest as he is about to explain further. "And what I have shown you is a work-in-progress. So, what better gain to receive, than witnessing how effective my said work is at a large scale?"

He then pulls out of his cloak with a hand as he approaches her a metallic box with a red button on it. "All you have to do is press this red bit, and watch the results upon the city."

The woman looks at him for a moment longer, before deciding to reach with her hand carefully the device, smiling sinisterly while doing so.

She will at least gain something herself from all of this.

~Meanwhile~Back At The New Tavern Of South Gotha~

The Tavern back in the city was even at this late hour as lively as it could be, filled with people who are currently cheering and partying like there is no tomorrow under the simple music it provides for them all.

Our main group is also still present, minus Scarron and Jessica who went back to work normally due to the increase of customers, with Julio and Guiche cheering while seated together with four of the employees, and adequately drunk, Kirche and Siesta dancing upon the table, and with Aristidis watching them while he has a somewhat embarrassed Louise and a far less embarrassed Charlotte around his arms, and upon his knees, as all of them enjoy a good time with the same care everyone shows at the moment.

The clearing of a throat next to them catches the said group's attention, as they stop what they were doing to notice the Red Spy standing upon the flying Carpet, as he holds toward the Storyteller the Ring Of Andvari. "Storyteller and ladies?"

"Ah, thank you, friend, much appreciated." Aristidis says gratefully as he extends a hand toward him to receive it.

Those who recognize it, except Guiche and the four employees who have no idea what is this about, are immediately surprised greatly.

"Isn't that the Ring Of Andvari?! The one that was stolen from the Lagdorian Lake, and later from the Palace of Tristania?" The pink-haired girl questions as she tries to make sense of this being all of a sudden back in their possession, with the Red Spy currently stepping off the Magic Carpet, as it itself straightens up normally as soon.

"Precisely, my adorableness." The mouthless Storyteller answers positively, with her being that close to actually slap him out of anger for calling her names in front of others, and continues proudly. "He was patiently watching the one who stole it for a long time, and with the right timing presenting itself, he took care of things as a professional should. And speaking of taking care of things like one-"

He stops himself there as he gently moves the pink-haired and blue-haired girls off him as he gets up himself, moves the Ring Of Andvari to the side with the hand that holds it while Rev Runner from Lunatics makes his incredibly fast appearance next to him by that said side, much to everyone's startled surprise, with the former then handing him the ring, which the humanoid bird takes, and gives the former a salute, before leaving as soon using his unimaginable speed, most definitely to deliver it straight to the Lagdorian Lake, with the former then beginning to walk toward the exit while taking out from behind him his Tome to open at a specific page, with the Alpha rune on his forehead revealing itself as it then shows its powerful light, making his group understand that he is summoning something beyond his current capabilities, which frankly concerns them due to having been given no context as to the reason for this.

Louise, Siesta, Kirche, Charlotte, the Spy, the Magic Carpet, along with Julio and Guiche who are curious about the whole case, run after him, and once they are all outside, they stop as they notice him looking up to the snowy sky, while the rune ceases slowly its glowing, and once they do so themselves, that is when they all notice a gigantic, round object falling from the darkened sky, just before it explodes while still high, much to the other's further surprise, releasing a large quantity of green liquid, enough to cover the city.

But before it gets the chance to reach halfway the said city, it stops in place while glowing brightly for a moment, changes to the color red, and moves at unimaginable speed together at one point and straight inside a golden goblet that the Storyteller now holds in his other hand, his expression looking unfazed the entire time.

The group just looks at him utterly confused, as he just begins to drink from the said goblet.

"What was all that about?!" Guiche eventually questions, frustrated with the one who obviously knows but takes his sweet time to answer.

That moment, a light above and behind them draws their attention, with the Storyteller turning with them as he keeps on drinking, and much to their awe, they see levitating down from the air, like a god descending upon the earth, a glowing, tall, muscular, blue-skinned man, with no signs of body-hair or hair at all, his eyes a mix of white and blue, with no visible pupils, on his forehead has a stylized image of a hydrogen atom, and wears only a black thong to cover his lower privates. [Doctor Manhattan from Watchmen, dressed, even in a sense, properly]

"I reshaped the molecules in the acid, transforming the once harmful substance into regular, warm red wine, as instructed." The blue godlike man says after landing properly in front of them.

While the group appears especially surprised with the crazy feat they have just heard, Aristidis has just finished his long sip, with much of the wine somehow still visible in his golden goblet. "Now at the right temperature thanks to the frozen weather. Always grateful of your much needed assistance, my omnipotent friend."

Louise realizes something much to her now wide-eyed surprise, and turns to Aristidis. "Wait, acid he said?!"

"And quite a strong one." He explains as he looks at her with a somewhat more serious expression. "It was going to fall as rain upon the entire city, melting everything and everyone it would come in direct contact with. A last moment plan of Reconquista, according to the scouts whom I am in constant communication with."

"Reconquista?!" The pink-haired girl questions, upset at how their enemy dared to break their ceasefire treaty her Highness so graciously accepted, but then a fact confuses her. "Wait, how did they get their hands onto something so dangerous? And how did it reach the middle of the city without anyone's notice?!"

"There appears to be a possibly new player in this chessboard that is this war." The pitch-black Storyteller answers as he puts his goblet magically through his Tome, his words confusing everyone as they look at each other, before pulling out a sack of gold coins, tossing it at the Spy, which he catches with ease, and then turning to Doctor Manhattan. "Doctor Manhattan, excluding the Red Spy and Magic Carpet who are to pay for the tavern's services, and Guiche who is not really needed to come at the following, teleport our group straight to Queen Henrietta's-"

"Aristidis?" Julio interrupts him, drawing attention on him, as he appears to have been looking for some time now at the blue godlike man. "I know this might be a strange question of me to ask now of all times, but could the man you just summoned be... A god?" He asks a bit overwhelmed, feeling somehow like that said person's aura and appearance is indeed what could be considered as much.

"No, I am not a god." Doctor Manhattan begins as he turns to him. "I am a being with extraordinary powers, gained through a scientific accident. I possess an understanding of the universe that far exceeds that of a regular human, and this may lead some to perceive me as god-like. However, I do not consider myself a deity, as my abilities are based on scientific principles rather than divine intervention."

"And despite his body being utterly destroyed in the process, death was unable to take him, or prevent him from pulling himself together, reforming into the being you see today in front of you." Aristidis adds. "He could call himself an actual deity, and it will be one of the few times I will accept it as the truest of facts."

"Wow..." The blond priest trails off even more amazed than before, for he has just heard once more of something never to be known before.

He was always hearing from the church how Brimir was the pinnacle of everything magic stands for, and so on.

To imagine anyone earning powers close or beyond that of the Founder himself accidentally, and in a way he can understand as it having no connection to any power that could be considered in this world as divine no less, is the epitomy of incredible, unbelievable, rule-breaking luck.

Julio smiles a bit amused, for he imagines the shock upon Pope Vittorio's face once informing him of that one too. Aristidis will never cease with the collection of extraordinary people he possesses.

~In The Meantime, Back Into The Location Outside Of The City~

Sheffield, her General, and the stranger in the thick and dirty-brown cloak were watching from the distance toward the sky, where they witnessed the acid plan's failure.

"Well, this was a big waste of time." The stranger expresses with a seemingly bored expression, before starting to walk toward the woods with a raised goodbye hand-sign. "Back to the planning table- see you next time, miss."

Before anything is said by the General, the cloaked man vanished from sight the moment he went between two of the snowy forest's trees, catching him by surprise.

The pale woman looks at the vanishing act for a moment longer, unfazed of it, before turning her attention with a sinister smile toward the sky they were watching the last minutes.

She remembers that brief light just above the trees, coming from the city below, before the stranger's acid was neutralized, as she can understand.

Sheffield knows the Storyteller must have been forced to use the power of his unique rune to stop this.

Her sources were clear about how his rune works.

He can now only do that much till he can use it again.

The results of what is to come will please King Joseph for sure.

~Not Too Long After~At The Barracks' Main Building And Current Queen's Stay~

The scene shows Aristidis, Louise, Siesta, Charlotte, Kirche, Doctor Manhattan, and Julio, all together before her Highness Henrietta, the Musketeer Captain Agnes, and General Poitiers, with the former having already informed them of the situation.

The Queen puts a hand close to her mouth, shocked with the report. "They truly attempted such a thing during our treaty?"

The Storyteller nods. "Yes. And not only they were planning to attack with an adequate force as soon as the Ring or the acid did its deed, who they were forced to retreat the moment the plan's failure was realized, but after further investigation from my Tome-Spies, I learned that they are assembling an army of approximately seventy thousand in number, which at the beginning were planning to march straight to Lowscythe in an attempt to recapture the Military Port, and of course ensure your end in the scenario you were able to retreat there after they recaptured South Gotha. It is pretty much the remainder of their army, so that is quite the desperate move they are pulling."

General Poitiers tightens one of his fists out of anger. "Those cowardly rats, of course they would."

"Despite everything else-" Aristidis continues. "They are still planning to march their army toward this location as soon as their troops are gathered and ready."

He then proceeds to put a hand on his own chin while walking from side to side as he contemplates carefully about the said case. "Their attack can be repelled without difficulty at all, but a lot of weird situations are happening lately, so playing smart is the best option."

The pitch-black Storyteller stops, and looks at the Queen. "Take an adequate number of troops, and head for Lowscythe in order to ensure your safety, your Majesty. I will handle the rest myself."

Henrietta just looks at him for a few seconds, before her expression turns serious, and shakes her head in a negative manner. "I am sorry, Aristidis, but I cannot just-"

"As much as I like your spirit and willpower in the face of adversity, along with your great dedication to the people who need you, I will ask you not to disagree with me on this one." He interrupts her as he appears rather serious about this, causing almost everyone's surprise due to not really being used to seeing him take such situations seriously. "There is always the possibility what happened back at the Academy Of Magic to happen again at the very last moment here, resulting in actually important loss of life, varying on the circumstances of the moment it occurs. And I will prefer it better to not have you doom yourself and everyone of importance here, by facing a large army I failed to stop, because of my wrong judgment."

The Queen now sees his reason of worry, with her being touched by his concern for her, yet frustrated by what is expected of her, but eventually calms herself as she looks forward again, and nods her head with understanding. "Very well. I will respect your wish and leave this place for my safety, Aristidis. But please, ensure of your own safety as well." She tells him with both her hands now clasped together, showing her concern for the Storyteller.

Aristidis for a second chuckles at that amused, only to then put a hand upon his chest, with his face as pompous as it can be. "Your Majesty, I am literally the last person you need to concern yourself with his safety, and that should be more than a fact by now."

That brings a smile upon Henrietta's face, her concerns now lessened due to knowing him well enough to trust his words, as the rest sweat drop while smiling awkwardly at his known arrogance.

Louise smiles at her childhood friend. "Just like he said, let nothing worry you about this, your Highness. We will ensure Reconquista will not even reach this city, so much Lowscythe, and show them why they should never break a treaty."

"You are going with her Majesty's escape party." The still serious Storyteller tells to Louise all of a sudden as he turns to her, earning him everyone's utter confusion, minus Doctor Manhattan's, and then looks at the rest of his girls. "That includes the rest of you, ladies."

The pink-haired girl turns to him while greatly upset by what he said. "Why?! I can handle an army by myself if there is a real need for it- you said so yourself once, and I have seen it by myself during our training sessions too! Why suddenly-"

Before she can complete, the Storyteller interrupts her by grabbing her shoulders with incredible speed while leaning forward, staring at her with the most serious expression ever to show, both startling her greatly, and troubling her due to not understanding the reason that is yet to be explained.

Aristidis begins. "Louise. What I will present to them, is not like the silly-looking, yet still dangerous opponents you faced during your training. It will be much, MUCH different. I will make them fear and despair the very concept of war. Make them witness true horror, Louise."

"I will bring them pain like none other. Force them to face foes they could never even fathom as something more than the stuff of nightmares." He continues. "Some of the Drukhari that traumatized you with their actions through the screen, I might bring to make quick yet suffering work of them, Louise."

That last one horrifies the pink-haired girl greatly. Everything he said so far was a shock for sure, and for the rest as well, but the Drukhari bit made her wide-eyed shock so much worse because of her past trauma.

"I will bring hell itself upon the very battlefield they will dare stand upon. Do you understand now why I want you all away from all that?" The pitch-black Storyteller asks after finishing his explanation.

Louise looks downward at the moment conflicted about what she should do after hearing all that.

"I will let you think about it carefully while I am out there planning for the coming massacre." He tells her after patting her once upon the shoulder with the hand that was holding it, before unhanding her while straightening himself up normally, and takes a few steps away from the rest, toward the nearest window. "Doctor Manhattan will bring you to my location after a certain amount of time has passed, which I believe adequate for that kind of decision-making. I will see you then."

"What of the man responsible for letting the enemy launch the acid on his behalf?" Charlotte decides to ask him while still present.

"Yeah, any clue about him?" Kirche asks him as well curious.

Aristidis keeps his attention toward the window before him. "I have a guess about who that one might have been, especially after quickly consulting with Doctor Manhattan about it as the latter was taking care of the acid not too long ago, but I need to be absolutely sure before I begin pointing fingers. Careful investigations from my Tome-Personnel are in order once our work here is over."

After finishing, he teleports himself away, possibly straight to the location he was talking about.

The rest look at Louise, who is still standing where she is while conflicted, as the ones closer to her feel concerned for their friend.

Siesta and the rest of her friends approach, drawing her attention as she somewhat snaps out of it. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yes." She answers with a somewhat awkward smile, wanting to reassure everyone she is not as troubled as she looks.

The blue-haired girl steps forward. "After hearing everything he said, what do you think the best option will be?"

When asked that, Louise looks once more downward, thinking about it carefully, and a bit more calmly, considering whether she should do as she was told, or join him in the battlefield like she was planning to.

~Hours Later During Midday~At A Snowy Field Between South Gotha And Londinium~

The scene moves to Aristidis, who is seen at the top of a hill, viewing the great, flat, woodless and covered with snow area in front of him, with his open Tome in one hand, which he looks at for a moment, before turning a page, and then viewing once more the field forth, preparing for the battle that is to take place here.

After a few more seconds, Doctor Manhattan together with Louise, Siesta, Charlotte and Kirche teleport some steps behind the Storyteller, drawing his attention as they do so.

"I see you are here, says captain obvious me." Aristidis says, his attention mostly at Louise, and his expression neutral and a bit bored as he seemingly knows what is coming next.

Louise steps forward determinedly. "Aristidis. I have made my decision. And I am not going to just let you do this on your own. I know I can be quite frightened by some of the horrible monstrosities existing inside your Tome, but letting my fears cloud both my good judgment and feelings, is far worse."

She then immediately lifts a hand before her, signing the cease of any interruption-type of attempts as she now smiles boldly. "And do not try to talk me out of this, for I am going nowhere, and you better accept the fact that I am here to stay and help you in whatever way needed, you pitch-black worrywart. That goes for the rest as well, in case it was not clear enough."

The girls behind her nod in agreement, supporting their friend's decision.

The mouthless Storyteller stays as he is for a moment, before closing his Tome and putting it behind him.

He puts both palms of his hands together while relaxing his face. "All I have done thus far, was so I can ensure your safety, and happiness. If that is what you want, then so be it. I will not talk you into stopping yourself from helping me." Finishes with a kind expression, and his arms open into a hug-invitation.

The pink-haired girl smiles at how accepting he is, just like she hoped he will be, and moves fast straight into him, hugging, with Siesta, Kirche and Charlotte moving in as well, turning it into a group-hug.

Aristidis pull himself a bit back while not breaking the hug, drawing full attention on him, his face now joyous. "And you know what? Once all this is over with, let us have ourselves a proper orgy!"

Louise in response pushes herself back while showing her upset face, and breaking the group-hug in the process, with the rest simply blushing with surprise at his sudden and lewd suggestion. "Aristidis!"

"I meant chocolate ice-cream." He says with a raised eyebrow as he pulls with a hand from below, and from off the screen, a round box of SCANDAL Chocolate Orgy type ice-cream, and showing at the image place upon it a chocolate ball mixed with hardened chocolate pieces.

They all look at it for a moment, with the pink-haired girl then sweat dropping, as the rest smile awkwardly at the misunderstanding, while the blue-haired girl facepalms herself about what she considers a bad joke. "Tell me you just made that up for the joke."

"Nope, it is indeed a thing. People really love playing with words." The pitch-black Storyteller responds a bit amused with the fact, before tossing the ice-cream box along with a spoon straight in the blue-haired girl's hands, who catches them without issue as she then proceeds to open it and eat the content as soon, much to mostly Siesta's and Kirche's mild jealousy.

He then looks at the pink-haired girl again, both hands behind his back. "But before everything else, my dear charmer you, I will need you to do something for me by using that Magic Book of yours."

Without minding him giving her those silly-sounding namings of his, Louise reaches with a hand for her skirt's pocket, and takes out the Small Magic Book, with an eager expression now being obvious on her face. "What page?"

"The last one." Aristidis answers.

"Oh- I know the spell on that one! The Empowering Of The Tome it is called if I remember correctly." She realizes enthusiastically while opening her book and showing him the said page. "The one you told me that can give you an additional, tremendous amount of magic to use for your summons, and only to be used when absolutely necessary. I always wondered why we never used it even at the few times during the past where you had little magic to use."

His face turns mischievous. "Time to witness the reason."

The mouthless Storyteller takes a few steps back, and once done, he folds his arms, standing there and waiting for her.

The pink-haired girl takes that as her cue to begin, and after a bit of focus while lifting his free hand and one of her fingers up, she brings it forward to point at him with determination, causing a great, swirling beam in the colors of pink and violet from her fingertip to quickly burst forth, and envelope the Storyteller's body with its magical energy, which causes the rest of the group to utter with amazement at the beautiful-to-them spectacle.

After a few more seconds, the beam weakens and ceases, with the energy enveloping Aristidis dissipating at a slower rate as he inhales deeply while moving his hands from below and then close to his face, seemingly taking in the feeling of the said energy for that moment, before beginning to walk toward her.

Louise smiles enthusiastically, but when she is about to speak, her entire being suddenly feels incredibly weak, barely struggling to remain standing, before falling unconscious there, much to the girls' surprise, but being caught by the Storyteller's hands before she even reaches halfway the snowy ground, along with her small book.

As the rest, minus Doctor Manhattan, wonder what in the world just happened, Aristidis brings the unconscious girl in a proper princess position-type upon his arms. "The spell indeed does as it says in the page, minus the part about exhausting all of the caster's current magic amount in order to do so. Frankly, the result was rather obvious to see."

He then looks at the group, his face showing himself feeling somewhat bad for this action. "I hope you all understand why this move of mine was necessary. I just cannot allow her to go through another trauma like the last time. History has shown more than one times repeating itself, even if in different ways. The result pretty much the same every time, when failing to see it before already too late."

The pitch-black Storyteller approaches the group, who were a bit conflicted with the whole situation, while also unsure if they should say anything about it, and gives the sleeping Louise along with her magic book onto Kirche's hands, with his expression then turning serious. "The same goes for you all as well. My heart will not be able to handle seeing you scarred for life, especially knowing it happened because of me. Am I on the wrong for wanting such a thing?"

The girls look at each other for a short moment, before they turn their attention on him again with a sweat drop on their heads, the redhead being the one to say the following. "We understand, Aristidis. To be absolutely honest with you, we expected you will not just let her do this. We just didn't expect you to do it in such a way."

Aristidis sweat drops as he looks at the unconscious girl. "I have a lot of apologies to give and a lot more amends to make for her by the end of this, that is for sure."

He turns his attention back at the rest, serious-looking once more. "Anyway, I will have Doctor Manhattan send you straight to Lowscythe, along with an adequate number of my Tome-Personnel to both keep you company, and protect you. When Louise wakes up and possibly realizes what happened, try to keep her calm, so she may not do anything rush."

"We will." The blue-haired girl tells him while nodding her head along her two close friends. "Be back soon."

The mouthless Storyteller brings a hand up in a farewell-type of manner, and soon after the four girls are teleported through the power of Doctor Manhattan to their destination.

After doing that, he turns to the Storyteller. "They have all safely reached Lowscythe. I also believe your strategy for the following battle must be completed now."

"Yes it is, my friend in blue. Only one thing, though." Aristidis begins, before turning appropriately toward the place that will be the battlefield, and raising both arms overhead, wide apart and somewhat curved inward. "Should I keep my arms raised like this in order to appear more mystical in the enemy's eyes, or should I use the T-Pose for the memes and to assert dominance- what do you think?" Asks while T-Posing.

"I believe it will not matter whichever you decide to use. Simply witnessing the one they know as Storyteller, will be more than enough to cause both fear and awe." Doctor Manhattan simply answers.

"Hm. You are not wrong." The pitch-black Storyteller says, and then breaks his stance as he picks from behind himself the Tome. "And actually, thinking about it better, what kind of Storyteller will I be if I do not make obvious the object I tell the stories from, for all to see? Simply silly of me."

Aristidis opens his Tome, keeps it with one hand before him, and moves the free arm outward to the side, as if ready with an air of glory to recite. "Yes, this is it. A proper stance for a proper Storyteller." Says satisfied.

He sets his eyes once more at the snowy field in front of him, his expression now devoid of emotion, as he thinks of what is to come. "Let us see how you react to them."

~A Few Hours Later~Late In The Afternoon~

The sun is halfway to setting completely, and the soldiers of Reconquista's Albion are marching through the snowy field, their destination South Gotha, and later Lowscythe.

An army of seventy thousand, consisting of lightly equipped foot soldiers, dragon knights and knights-on-foot, green-skinned trolls of giant proportions with clubs for weapons, and who were chained by soldiers in order to keep them under much needed control and in line, archers, mages of both Noble heritage and not, and many large cannons, all ready for the battles ahead.

They are also the only army remaining.

If they lose at any point, it will mean the end of their efforts, along with Albion being taken under the rule of their enemies. So in short, failure is not an option.

As they keep on marching, the General notes how clear the weather ahead is, glad that no snowstorm will impede the army's movement forth.

While on the move, he notices something ahead upon a hill, as the sun completely sets, leaving the two red and blue moons to take its place in the now night sky, and to light the ground beneath.

"Ha~lt!" The General yells to his men, stopping them where they stand, with them all then seeing at the distance what draw the former's attention as well.

His luxurious, pitch-black like his skin, and twinkling cape was flowing elegantly toward one side by the calm wind, with the very-well-known and open Tome being hold on by one of his hands, as the eyes of the mouthless being gazes upon them all, with an air of seriousness, and authority surrounding him, and keeping the stance mentioned above till this moment.

Majestic, yet ominous like the night sky itself in their eyes.

The blue, human-looking, glowing man next to him was no different. Standing there like a true god figure.

Most of the soldiers were feeling frightened by the presence, for they know the one they are dealing with here is no joke, nor the beings he can summon through his Tome.

The General grits his teeth from frustration, before proceeding to bark at his men to calm down.

He has a large army at his disposal, and strongly believes there is no way in hell that even a being like the Storyteller can beat that.

He shouldn't be able to.

In the meantime, the scene moves to Aristidis, who simply keeps on watching at the army standing in the distance.

"So, are we gonna do this or what?" A male voice behind the Storyteller draws his attention as he turns his head toward the source, and there sees standing next to Doctor Manhattan a tall, smiling man, of over two meters in height, with large muscles, sternly chiseled features with eyes that give off a dazzling glow, burning red hair and beard, and wearing bronze armor, with cuffs and greaves with white-furred fringes, that leaves his arms and thighs unprotected, a thick red mantle with a fluffy white fur collar. [Iskandar from the Anime Fate, present and ready]

Aristidis's expression turns proud. "I have come as prepared as I should be."

He turns his head forward again. "Are you prepared for this yourself, Great Alexander?"

That makes Iskandar sweat drop as he proceeds to scratch with a finger part of one of his cheeks out of mild awkwardness. "Now, you know my name nowadays is-"

"Do not start with me about that different-yet-same-name-due-to-age foolishness again." The Storyteller interrupts him with a roll the eyes while he keeping his attention forward, with his expression then turning proud. "You are, and always will be Alexander in my eyes. Conqueror of conquerors, pride of Hellas, and I will hear opposition about it from neither you, nor anybody else."

The King of Conquerors just looks at him for a moment, before smiling contented with what he has been told. "Understood."

And after that, Iskandar's expression turns excitedly determined, as energies immediately begin surrounding him in a powerful, violent manner, causing the enemy army to be highly alarmed, due to the wind which all that incredible force causes, reaches them even till the point they stand on, despite the great distance.

Through him soon after, a powerful, blinding light begins building up around the King of Conquerors, with it exploding as he fully activates his Noble Phantasm, Ionioi Hetairoi.

But, instead of everyone within range being engulfed by the light, and transported into the Reality Marble as intended, the snowy ground beneath everyone's feet simply lights up for a second, before at the next it reforms into a seemingly endless dessert, with an army of approximately forty thousand soldiers of mostly ancient greek nationality, mixed with people of different nations from the ancient times like persians, appear right behind the trio, along with Iskandar's sleek and powerful black steed Bucephalus.

The soldiers of Reconquista's Albion look all around them shocked and perplexed at both the once cold and snowy area transforming into a relatively hot dessert just like that, relatively because the night remains, and the out of nowhere army now standing in their way.

Aristidis puts his free hand upon his own chin curiously. "So, the Reality Marble does not work exactly in the way intended here. Interesting."

He then looks at his Tome, seeing the great amount of his magic, which he used to call Iskandar himself earlier, before turning to the blue godlike man. "Doctor Manhattan."

Doctor Manhattan lifts a hand toward him, letting energy flow from himself to Aristidis, outlining the latter for a moment with the said energy.

The pitch-black Storyteller turns his attention back in his Tome, seeing the magical amount now at its current maximum, and causing his expression to turn mischievously pleased a short moment later. "Now if it is not this a metaphorically true hack in the system."

And just like he guessed/hoped it will go.

Aristidis's expression returns to that of neutrality as he takes a few steps forward, and taking the stance from before once more, looking at the enemy army forward, with them slowly turning their attention back at him.

")Rebels of Albion!(" He begins with a voice booming enough to make each enemy soldier and higher-up to think for a moment that he is standing right next to them. ")This is only but a small taste of my power! You should know of the one standing in your way, who despite the warnings, you still decided to come and face. I am Aristidis Aristadis O Ellin Tis Ellas. The one you better know as Storyteller. And my terms are as simple as they can be for humans like you. I am a merciful and thoughtful existence. Accept your defeat, disband your army, and return back to your houses so you may live under the peace I have promised your world to receive.("

Some of the enemy soldiers look at each other, many of them considering the offer, but also unsure if they should, because it will mean betraying their goals.

")But if you dare take a step forward, a step showing your want to continue this meaningless war, you are REALLY not going to like what happens next.(" The Storyteller continues, his face now menacingly emotionless as he draws full attention back at him. ")You will not simply face the people standing behind me. There will be monsters coming for you. Nightmares out of your worst dreams and yet-to-be-discovered ones. Angels and demons, who will not hesitate to put you down, be it for a quick end, or for a far worse fate, no matter how good or bad you have been in your life till now. Horrors from every and all universes, and multiverses, whose very appearance can even prove more than enough to end you with simply one look! Noble and savage beasts, ready to ravage you in different and ALL ways! I will show you the worst face of existence itself!(" Yells the last ones with enough seriousness and aggression to scare his enemies.

And considering how many of them flinch in response to his threats, to the very last one mostly, it is rather effective.

Aristidis relaxes his face, with much of his seriousness still obvious. ")So do a favor to yourselves, and leave while you are still able to. But, oppose me and everything I safeguard any further, and you will never see your families, houses, or any good life you had so far again. Make your choice.("

The enemy soldiers begin to chatter loudly among themselves, as anxiety and a great deal of fear taking over them slowly, with some of the things said by them being either that of indecisiveness, or the fact they do not want to die for any number of personal reasons.

"Sile~nce!" The Reconquista's General yells loudly enough to be heard by all, drawing attention on him, before turning to point a finger at the Storyteller upon the distanced hill of sand. "That being before you is nothing but a liar! You have all heard the reports! He is weaker than he wants you to believe! Not to mention our plan last night weakening him even more! Whatever he has left, will not be enough to hold our great army back! We will be the ones to defeat the supposedly powerful Storyteller, and earn ourselves the glory we so deserve!"

The General's speech was more than enough to bring the courage back to his soldiers, as they all exclaim with much of determination, ready to face anything that might come their way.

"Line up the cannons!" He then orders, with the soldiers handling the cannons proceeding with the process to do as ordered.

But as they were doing that, being close to properly line their big-sized cannons, something begins pushing the first cannon off its personal carriage and toward the other, and the said other to the next, and so on, startling/scaring the crew as they barely avoid a gigantic, serpentine-shaped thing, which is made-out of stone and some type of brownish fur, swimming through/below the sand while quickly pushing away all of the cannons on the way with its bodyand or head, they cannot be sure which is which, and even breaking some of them in the process, either due to hitting them at their most vulnerable spots, or simply from smashing to one another while pushed against each. [The Tenth Colossus, also known as Dirge, from Shadow Of The Colossus]

When finishing its job, the giant serpentine submerges itself completely under the sand while swimming away, with the soldiers and higher-ups having their eyes wide open, shocked with what they have just witnessed.

As the scene moves back to the mouthless Storyteller, he puts a hand over his forehead while sighing from disappointment.

He moves his arm then back to its original position to the side, and gazes upon the enemy army once more. ")Very well then. If that is how you want things to go, so be it. Just remember... you have been bloody warned.(" He says the last one with wide open eyes and a menacing air.

[The following contains both a great deal of graphic violence, not that such a warning is needed, and a great number of unique participants. Except vague and quick description for each, as to not end up confused in the detailing chaos their overall appearance might and will bring in the following moments of this episode]

Iskandar soon after gets upon his horse, and unsheathes his sword, and raises it as he looks back at his men. "Phalanx formation!"

Upon receiving the order, mainly the hoplites move quickly and orderly past their king, the Storyteller, and Doctor Manhattan, and after reaching an adequate distance, they put their large shields tightly close to each other, and extend their long spears forward, forming the famous Macedonian Phalanx, the men ready to defend the ones standing behind them.

The Reconquista General grits his teeth frustrated, before taking his sword out to point toward the opposing army of forty thousand. "Our enemy still has less men than we do to defeat us! Show them the might of Albion!"

The Albionian army advances quickly forward with a loud warcry in response to the order, forgetting for a moment the beast dwelling inside the sand, and willing to face the enemy forth.

The dragon knights atop their red dragons fly through the air much faster than the rest advance upon the ground below, and about to reach half the way to properly facing the enemy.

And as soon as they reach the said distance, a great beam in the colors of white, mostly, and black comes from the side like a blade, cutting through most of the group in a single, near-instantaneous swipe, either killing the ones it touched along with their dragons or gravely wounding them, with the area it passed through strongly exploding a second after, devastating the remainder of them, killing most of them on the spot, and the force of the said explosion pushing the rest harshly down upon the dessert's floor.

All the men stop upon witnessing their dragon knights being destroyed like that, and then notice standing all of a sudden right in front of the phalanx the one responsible for the attack that occurred.

A massive, gray colored dragon with dark crystals lining its entire body and four wings, the Darkeater Midir himself from Dark Souls 3, who after finishing with its attack, lets out a powerful roar which resembles the sound of a thunderstrike, striking fear into the hearts of the enemy, especially since nobody has ever seen a dragon of such size before.

Then is when a music begins to play through the field of battle from everywhere, the source unknown, and making the enemy understand of something highly unpleasant about to occur. [The music is Strength Of A Thousand Men from Two Steps From Hell]

That is when, once the men blink once while facing forward, just as soon they see charging straight to them a new, out of nowhere army, comprising of a multitude of savage-looking races and monsters that clash against them, as each of the said races scream their different warcry at the same time.

Orcs, Uruks and Olog-Hai from Lord Of The Rings, Orcs from World Of Warcraft, Orks from Warhammer 40k, and Meridianites Soldiers from W.I.T.C.H. slash, chop, and shoot upon the middle of the Albionian line, while making a relatively quick work of the surprised/shocked enemy soldiers in front of them.

At the right side of the frontal line, the Albionian soldiers are forced to face the Doomknight and leader of Shadowscythe Sepulchure from Adventure Quest World, including the original Franchise, the towering Dark Lord Sauron from Lord Of The Rings, accompanied by his nine black-cloaked Nazgul, which the Witch King part of, the famous and most powerful Lich King from World Of Warcraft, who is better Lich King than Arthas after all, with the army of the undead following them, which consists of the ones the first and the latter possess, with the swings of the weapons of the three main leaders and villains being more than enough to fling groups and groups of enemies away like ragdolls, scaring many into retreating upon witnessing their comrade's fate.

At the left side of the frontal line, the Albionian are currently facing something they immediately run away from, for they are attacked by the laser-shooting and pepper pot-shaped Daleks from Doctor Who, while screaming in their famously aggressive tone over and over "EXTERMINATE", who are also accompanied by the carriage-sized Metal Stingray Swarm from the same Franchise, flying after them to devour the enemy, both teams working together and making short work of the retreating line.

At the right and left flanks of the Albionian army soon gets swarmed by the terrifying monstrosities that are the Tyranids from Warhammer 40k, the Flood from Halo, the Zergs from Starcraft, the Hive from Destiny, and the Xenomorphs from Alien, who they can hardly even run away from, before being turned into a quick, chopped snack. The giant trolls of Albion are able to put up somewhat of a fight, but the numbers and ferocity of their more savage foes prove too much even for them, with one of the said trolls even ending up being decapitated with ease by a Hive Tyrant of the Tyranids.

And as if that was not horrible enough for the enemy, other people and monsters appear out of nowhere between their ranks.

The big skeletal creature that is the Death Rite Bird from Elden Ring is seen currently pecking relentlessly through one of the unfortunate soldiers, while others around are being chased by the many, different monstrosities of Caelid.

The massive Gaping Dragon from Dark Souls uses its wide open, gigantic vertical maw that poses as its rib cage, to rear back, before leaping straight into a large group of running soldiers, who it shreds and turns into its meal upon landing.

From The Calipso Protocol, the large, mutant monster that was once Captain Ferris is currently, and sadistically twisting a screaming-in-agony-soldier in his big hands, before ripping him in half with ease, as other mutants from the same Franchise are brutalizing other soldiers they got their hands/appendages on.

A few of the Albionian soldiers are put to the ground, stripped of their armor, clothing, and legs, before they are stripped of their own skin in an expertly quick fashion by Lizardmen Warriors from Fear And Hunger, which results in agonizing screams from the victims, as another group of soldiers face the terrifying crow-headed Crow Mailer, who outmatches them while literally decapitating people with a single peck of his powerful beak, with others being run over by the hulking monster with the ridiculously long and vertical, gaping maw that is the Moonless Guard, some others being chomped or stomped by the T-Rex-Dinosaur-Looking Greater Blight, not to mention the entity made-out of flesh and wood, that is like a combination of a textile spinning wheel and woman, that is Skin Granny, looking at all with her psychotic smile as it eagerly flexes its fingers, right before with a quick movement of the arm coming from over the head grasps one of their faces, and ripping it off as soon, the soldier screaming from the horrible pain as he falls down and barely grasping his now exposed, bleeding exterior while passing away, with the Skin Granny then trying-out the new face upon hers for a moment, as the rest of the soldiers just stand there horrified and frozen from shock, only for the entity to discard it to rip the face of the next one to do the same, and continuing doing so while the Albionian soldiers try to run for their lives from all those horrors.

And while everything else keep on happening, through the air soars a colossal presence in the colors of white and gold, with wings being of gold too, The Colossus Galio from League Of Legends, till he reaches a point filled with enemy soldiers to fall upon them with a powerful land, as his feet and arms strike the sandy ground there, causing many to be crushed beneath him, with others being pushed back by the forceful impact happening close to them, with the enemies around watching with awe and terror the living statue of a colossus lifting itself into a standing position, while some enemy mages find their courage enough to cast different spells against him, only for them to fail even scratching/affecting him, before soon after he proceeds with crushing the bulk of enemies in front of him with a powerful punch.

The different colossi from Shadow Of The Colossus, at least the ones that can walk or fly above the sandy ground who are not Phalanx, wreck havoc like the rest within the ranks of the Reconquista's army, with the Minotaur-looking Valus, Barba, Argus, the knight-looking Gaius, the horse-looking Phaedra, and the bull-looking Quadratus smashing and stomping on the smaller enemies using their own weapons, fists, and feet, with the latter two mainly stomping due to them being a horse and a bull, the bird of prey-looking and flying Avion diving to strike a great number of enemies away with its large wingspan, as the gecko-looking Kuromori, the tortoise-looking Basaran, and the priest/mage-looking and tallest of them all Malus shoot their dangerous electric projectiles at any soldiers they see, with the latter's being a big number of hits each time due to its projectiles' explosive capabilities, while the smaller variation that is the lion-dog-looking Celosia, but still somewhat bigger than the average human, is currently having trouble dealing with an Albionian mage who discovered how the small Colossus is afraid of the fire, only for the said mage to be tackled harshly away by Cenobia, a similar-looking but more ferocious Colossus, with Dirge jumping from beneath the sand to devour any soldier caught on the Serpentine-Colossus's way.

As another scene shows the skeletal robots that is the Terminators, from the franchise with the similar name, who are raining hell upon the battlefield from above with their guns while carried by attack helicopters, five drop pods fall from the sky, with one of them being different and bigger than the rest, the Gunner, the Driller, the Engineer, and the Scout from Deep Rock Galactic, wearing different colored suits and cosmetics, along with a Space Marine from Warhammer 40k of the green-colored Salamanders, with the Dwarfs starting to fire their weapons first all around them while yelling "Rock And Stone" in unison.

The Gunner with his minigun shredding the enemy with ease, the Engineer having thrown his Shredder Swarm Grenade to unleash the floating, and small mechanical menaces to cause some serious damage and having already built his two turrets to shoot at people in their line of sight, with the Scout shooting from his advanced crossbow a bolt at the ground in the middle of an enemy group, with them who face him a bit confused as to how he missed them like that, before they feel a sudden, great cold, which turns the people around it into ice statues, with some breaking to pieces on the spot.

The Driller himself was using his personal flamethrower, setting people on slow burning fire as they scream in agony, only for them to be incinerated to ash by a different, more intense source that came from behind and next of the Dwarf, with him turning to see it was the Salamander Space Marine's large and double-barreled Multi-Melta, with the said Dwarf looking astonished at it after witnessing the results, before walking before the Space Marine to ask for a temporary weapon exchange.

At another part of the battlefield, the Reconquista troops there cannot catch a break either, having to deal with monsters, beasts, and incredible humanoids from Age Of Mythology, as terrible Cyclops, Minotaurs, and Heka Gigantes are clobbering and throwing/launching soldiers away and high into the air like paper planes, it to mention what the other units do to them.

At one point, an enemy soldier is able to strike a fatal blow with his spear at an Atlantean Automaton, resulting in the robot/golem swordsman to turn into pieces upon the sandy ground, with the former appearing a bit surprised because of it, before smiling cockily at his accomplishment, before suddenly six more Automatons like it run next to the defeated one, kneel down and use their hammers on it in a cartoonistic-type of a quick manner, and get up along with the once fallen Automaton, having repaired it from all damage, and facing the Albionian soldier before them, whose eyes widen from shock upon witnessing that, before he is decapitated the next moment by one of their blades.

In the meantime, another Albionian soldier receives an magic spear of light-blue energy through the chest, before falling down dead to show the one responsible being the blue female with the shark teeth and smile Undyne from Undertale, in her Undying form, while not to far from her, comes into view the blue-skinned, muscly man with the exposed, yellowish skull that is Skeletor from He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe, as he uses his staff to incinerate another unfortunate soldier.

"Ngahhh!" Undyne yells as she turns toward the other way while throwing her spear up to the air, before the group of enemy soldiers that were currently running from her gets skewered by a rain of her suddenly multiplied magic spear.

Skeletor moves next to her, gaining her attention as she creates another magic spear for herself, and he appears offended. "Was that noice you just uttered a pathetic attempt to copy me, you fish for brains? If you have the need to do it, at least do it right. Myah!" He exclaims at the end while turning the other way to incinerate with his magic another enemy soldier.

The humanoid fish in the black armor simply rolls her eyes while turning to aim her magic spear toward her next opponents. "Whatever, Papyrus-Lookalike."

She is about to throw the said spear at a running group, but a green lightning bolt beats her to it, turning her targets to charred corpses, before turning her head to see the one responsible being a tall, skeletal man, who wears a black/red cloak with a hood covering most of his head, with two yellow horns in the shape of lightning bolts upon the said hood, with modern-looking black shoes on his feet, Lord Hater himself from Wander Over Yonder, who then begins laughing at his accomplishment.

"Tremble before the might and amazing power of LO~RD HATE~R!" He exclaims with much of glee and arrogance, as he proceeds to run past the two while shooting more greenish lightning bolts from his hands at the enemy soldiers around, with a large group of short creatures with eyeballs for heads, dressed in black/red uniforms, and a single lightning bolt upon their helmets, his minions which are the Watchdogs and their Commander Peepers, following after him with laser pistols, shooting at all enemies around as well, while yelling repeatedly "Hate's great! Best villain!"

Undyne with a raised eyebrow looks at Skeletor while pointing a thumb at the running Lord Hater. "A cousin of yours?"

He turns his head at her slightly, once more offended. "Not even as a joke, you sea-stinking racist."

While all that pandemonium is happening, they are not few the Albionian soldiers who try their hardest to run away with their lives, and escape from the horrors the Storyteller has unleashed upon them.

But this cowardly attempt of their will prove too, to be for naught.

For those who try to run away from the right side, they are met with the terrible, flying swarm of the blackish, four-winged Kryll from Gears Of War, who like a vile fog of darkness swarm the fleeing soldiers, and chomping them like a school of flying piranhas, without even bones being left behind in the few seconds it took them to devour the men.

For those who try to escape from the left side, they are met with a body of water that contains every deep horror possible, the unsuspecting men who in their blinding desperation try to swim across, some immediately bitten in half by jaws, with one or two inflicted by the famous Shark from Jaws, gulped whole, or in some cases even being grabbed by giant tentacles within the part of the water they were about to jump in, not to mention other ways the men end up suffering through inside the deed, dark blue, before their inevitable death.

And as for those who try to retreat back toward the way of Londinium, they are met with a large group of the gigantic sand worms that are the Sandwhales from Serious Sam, who come out of the sand right beneath the Albionian soldiers' feet to gulp them whole.

Escaping... Is not an option.

The scene cuts at the very back of the battlefield and straight to the Reconquista General, as he just sits there upon his horse, watching with wide open eyes of shock at the hellish chaos before him, as he comes to an understanding.

This is not a battle.

Not even a slaughter.

This is nothing but a cruel joke against everything they know!

A few seconds after making that thought, a pterodactyl quickly comes out of nowhere from above, snatches him with its clawed feet of his horse, and carries him away to cause him an off-screen death, with his horse becoming startled enough to run away after that.

The scene then cuts within a random part of the chaotic event, where an Albionian soldier tries desperately to run away from the monster that is chasing him, the enormous slime spider that is the Individer from Rogue Galaxy, as he makes his way through the empty spaces while witnessing all around him his comrades' varying deaths they received, and receiving.

While running, the Individer attempts to catch him by jumping at him, but misses upon its very close landing, resulting in the impact of it launching him away, with him yelling while at it, and when the soldier clumsily lands upon the sandy ground again, he gets up as quickly as he can to run again, only to bump onto something large that causes him to fall down onto his back, and when he looks up, he sees that what he bumped into was Gleam Eyes, the gigantic, blue-skinned, anthropomorphic goat-themed demonic monster from Sword Art Online, as it sets its blue-white eyes upon the now even more horrified soldier, before the large beast raises its equally massive blade over its own head with malicious intent.

The scene then cuts higher and away as the strike happens, which results in the soldier being launched away instead of killed, causing him to be thrown away from the heat of battle, and land clumsily, and somewhat more harshly, upon the sandy ground in a calmer location.

After a moment of getting over his shock, he sits up where he is, with the first thing he notices is himself being not too far from the back of the Macedonian Phalanx line.

"So!" A familiar voice behind the soldier draws his immediate attention as he turn while still seated, his eyes widening upon seeing/understanding he is in the presence of the Storyteller himself, the latter still in the same stance he was all this time, with Doctor Manhattan, and Iskandar upon his own horse standing next to the one who summoned them. "Tell me, soldier. How does it feel facing a power beyond your very imagination, and one who is the pinnacle of most creations?"

Upon being asked that, the Albionian soldier looks at him for a long moment.

And as he does so, while using this calm chance to find his composure after what he went through, he considers what the man standing before him is. A being that like a god has appeared before the humans, and picked the side his summoner belonged to.

He considers everything that is happening because of him. The horrible fates his nightmarish servants inflict upon the Albionian side.

He considers how things would have been if it was not for him.

The soldier tightens his fists, and grits his teeth, thinking of how unfair this war has been because the one in front of him exists, as the frustration he feels gets worse and worse, till he eventually can't hold himself back anymore, picks with a hand his fallen sword tightly, which said sword was conveniently placed upon his fall at the sandy ground next to him, and with a warcry that represents all of the anger he feels right now, gets up and rushes forth with murderous intent toward Aristidis.

But before he can even reach that close, the soldier is immediately gulped whole on the spot by a mouth coming from above, which belongs to the incredibly big and naga-looking Lord Cedric from W.I.T.C.H, who does so with a really fast and downward bend of the body, and straightening himself up normally again just as fast.

"Understandable. I would feel the very same way too." Aristidis simply admits as an answer to the soldier's attempt, despite the fact the latter is now a goner.

He then looks at the blue godlike man. "Doctor, my next dosage, please. The Drukhari and more are yet to appear, and are required if I want this event to be proper." Says the last part with a calm yet menacing expression.

After being told that, Doctor Manhattan raises his hand toward Aristidis like before, giving him more power to use for the next horror-induced summonings.

~Meanwhile, At The Military Port Of Lowscythe~

The scene cuts inside a room in the castle of Lowscythe, where Louise slowly open her eyes, having awakened from her sleep.

As she moves her head left and right, she notices her friends Siesta, Charlotte, Kirche, and even her childhood friend and Queen Henrietta, who smile at her relieved as soon as she opens her eyes, with Agnes also being here as her Highness's known protection, along with the fact she is lying inside a bed.

The maid Cinderella is also present close by.

"Louise! I am so glad nothing happened to you, and that you are in good health." Henrietta tells her while proceeding with hugging her out of relief.

As the pink-haired girl looks at her childhood friend and then around, she can't help but be confused. "What is going on? Where are we? Were we not by Aristidis's side, ready to face the enemy?"

The Queen unhands her, as everyone else sweat drop while trying to think of the best way to tell her what exactly happened.

"Well, you see... Aristidis, kind of... Took advantage of the spell you casted as a way to force you into not participating in the fight." Kirche eventually explains.

Louise brings into her mind the moment she casted the spell he suggested, with her eyes widening upon realizing what he did there.

And she obviously did not like that one bit. "That dirty trickster!"

The pink-haired girl jumps off the bed, as everyone back off a bit with their hands raised as if wanting to prevent her from doing anything rush, before taking the small book from inside her skirt's pocket in her hand. "I will not have this! He will accept my help, whether he likes it or not!"

"Louise, wait- don't!" Henrietta tries to stop her, only for her childhood friend to teleport away from where she was.

With her not going far, as the next scene shows her just past outside of the building's window, before gravity takes ahold of the girl to move her down as she yells highly troubled.

Thankfully, right at the place she was to fall, there stands Hulk who takes notice of her, and catches her right on time with ease.

He looks at her as she takes notices him, along with the fact she did not end up on the hard ground. "Hulk caught little girl."

Louise looks ahead, toward the way Aristidis most likely is, while the rest of the concerned group run quickly downstairs till they reach and open the entrance next to the former two, being highly confused about her failed attempt.

"Why didn't it-" She begins, before stopping herself, proceeding to get off Hulk's hands, and open/check her book's teleportation spell, which she planned to use in order to reach him in an instant like in her training, but then sees something at the corner of the page that shocks her more than anything she went through before.

The magical amount... It was zero, and not increasing at all.

The rest who approch her see what got her so shocked, with shock and great concern filling them as well upon remembering what they were told about what might happen if the magical amount reaches zero.

Charlotte turns to Cinderella. "Cinderella?"

As everyone else turns to her as well, the orange-haired maid already had two finger at the side of her own head, communicating telepathically with Aristidis, and then looks at them with a sweat drop. "The Storyteller is thankfully alive, but..."

~A Few Seconds Before~At The Known Battlefield~

The scene shows the Storyteller gazing upon the ongoing slaughter that is still happening on the battlefield, and the awful fates that are bestowed onto the few soldiers of Reconquista that remain.

He takes a look at his open Tome, and sees the small number of the magical amount he is left with after his newest summonings.

"Dangerously low, but what am I even afraid of at this point?" Aristidis says quietly to himself, and while keeping his eyes on the said Tome, he proceeds to say the following to Doctor Manhattan. "Doctor, I do believe the enemy needs more reasons of regret for their actions. Demons from Berserk will surely do the trick, will they not? Give me more-"

Before he can complete, the magical amount reaches that moment zero, causing his eyes to widen from shock, and the next second to lose all power in his body, falling face-down onto the sandy ground, with Iskandar and Lord Cedric turning toward him both confused and concerned.

"Oh, so that is what happens when it reaches zero." The mouthless Storyteller understands while in his current, uncomfortable position, with Iskandar in the meantime getting off his horse to crouch next to the former and help him for now to sit up, while the said former as he is getting up, shows to have a mildly annoyed expression on his face. "Also, this is what I get for getting carried away with my power, and not thinking the Louise-spell-casting-possibility. Truly lucky to still be alive right now, friends."

After finishing that, suddenly at a high point upon the dark sky and above the very center of the battlefield, an explosion occurs, drawing everyone's attention, and causing them to stop what they were doing, as a black hole quickly forms up there in the place the explosion occurred, becoming relatively quickly larger and larger in size, and beginning to suck with enough power to pull everyone/everything toward its center, starting with the ones at the very middle, with the ones around that point starting to be pulled toward it as well the larger its area of effect becomes, as all caught by its unbreakable pull, both friends and foes, flail uselessly about while it happens, unable to escape, while the rest at the lower parts watch the ones reaching too close to it being swiftly, abnormally, and painfully distorted into a singular, thin line of themselves as they are moved along the swirling pattern of the black hole, before turning into nothing when fully passing through its center.

While still out of the said area of effect, Aristidis's eyes widen with shock at the sight of it, with Iskandar and Lord Cedric being the same way, understanding very well the catastrophe that comes with it.

"To the horse! All troops, tactical retreat!" He commands with a great deal of concern, the first at Iskandar, and the second at everyone else, with the King Of Conquerors in response carrying him, along with the Tome, and putting him quickly upon his horse, as he himself is in the process of getting on it as well, and with the giant Naga-looking man slithering away as the army of hoplites, and the rest within the said army, run right behind him.

While Iskandar commands his horse to begin galloping toward the way of the retreating party, trying to safely distance themselves from the black hole's pulling range, the paralyzed Storyteller looks back at Doctor Manhattan, who all this time calmly looks at him. "Doctor Manhattan, neutralize the hole!"

The blue godlike man just keeps on looking at him galloping away, neither responding in any way, nor following the order, surprising greatly the Storyteller.

Then, the horse slowly stops moving forward almost abruptly, as both Aristidis and Iskandar see it being pulled off the sandy ground, with Lord Cedric and Iskandar's army being forced off the said ground in the same fashion, with the very former two being dismounted soon after by the expanding power of the black hole, as the entirety of the battlefield is now officially being pulled toward it.

All seems lost, as all everyone can do, is watch being delivered to their end.

"I have no mouth, but I will scream anyway." Aristidis says as he fully understands how f*cked he is, and proceeds to scream like Mufasa from The Lion King, before the said character's death, as the camera stays at same place for the moment, while watching him gaining more distance from it as the black hole pulls him closer and closer to itself, along with the rest.

While halfway there, a strong white light begins being emitted at the center of the black hole, with the Storyteller stopping with his screaming upon noticing it, and with the said light feeling to him as if a large amount of energy is gathered there for something big. "Oh great, it gets worse. Hopefully I survive this just like-"

Before he can even complete, the light at the center along with the black hole explode with powerful and violent force, scattering everything and everyone all around, its booming sound reaching the far reaches of Halkeginia.

~Back At Lowscythe~

The scene cuts back to the main group, who have just heard the booming noice at the far distance.

"What was that?" Siesta questions, confused like the rest about the nature of it.

"Louise." Cinderella begins as she draws attention on her, a hand of hers placed upon her own chest, her expression filled with a strange mix of uncomfortableness and concern. "I don't feel so good."

As soon as she says that, her entire being turns into dust particles from the lower parts till the top, which fly away as if pushed by the wind, and shocking everyone watching.

Next they witness the same happening to Hulk, with him raising his arms up as he lets out a loud roar of hopelessness echoing through the city, just before he too turns to nothing but dust in the wind.

And they are not the only, as a more panoramic scene shows every person and guard summoned by the Storyteller, vanishing in the same way, startling and greatly concerning the simple folk around who witness all that.

The pink-haired girl along with the rest of her group who watch all of his people vanishing like that, can understand that this can only mean one thing, as the former brings both hands, and book, upon her chest out of the shocking realization that comes crushing straight into them all.

Aristidis... Is gone.

And taking into consideration what happened after that spell-casting of hers not too long ago, and what that caused, Louise can only hold herself responsible for his death.

Understanding that as the truth, she loses consciousness, and falls down sidewardly upon the ground, with the rest noticing while with great concern crouch next to her, yelling her name over and over as they try to wake her up.

~At An Unknown Location Deep In A Forest Of The South Gotha Region, And Close To Westwood Village~

Deep inside a thick forest in the dark of the night, a girl in her sixteens is seen walking through, with blond, long hair, and quite the big chest, dressed in green colored tunic, white leggings, and a thick, also white hat.

She is also seen carrying a basket on one arm, with the content covered by a cloth, either being something she gathered from the forest itself, or from the nearby village, but that is just details, along with a small, lit lantern she holds with her other hand.

"Miss." A voice suddenly behind calls for her, making her flinch and utter startled in place there, before turning around slowly to see who it is as she hopes it is no danger, only for her eyes to widen from surprise once she looks.

It was the black-cloaked Kremant, who was holding in his hands the pitch-black Aristidis, the latter being unconscious, and his lower half melting slowly, most of his two legs no longer there to be seen, with the former's expression being a mix of calmness and concern. "Will you help my poor boy?"

{To Be Continued}