What exactly was it that they were seeing?
"Formations! Get into formations! Damn it, you bastards hurry they're coming!"
"Stop! I said stop!"
Chaos was spreading all around, fear and apprehension so thick in the air that it was palpable. Monsters, so many of them that it was inconceivable that they had not been noticed sooner. It was as if they had appeared from thin air. Hell-spawns of the highest order.
They surrounded an army comprised of Southern Roble's Knights and Aristocracy who in their panic were attempting to flee in all direction. Yet could they not see? There was simply no where to run, flanked on all sides.
All that could be done was defend.
Breaking formation was surely death.
Overlooking the distant battlefield, was a castle of white, seemingly pure in the darkness of despair that flickered upon the faces of the combatants.
"W-What in the Holy Maiden's name," Tyra took a step back and tripped over her feet, landing over the ground with a thump, but no one paid attention to her. "There's a black haze over them all."
Pavel nodded his head grimly. He could recognize some of the monsters in the army before him. Wyverns, undead, golems, dragon-tooth warriors, but he could feel a chill travel down his back just from the black smoke-like film that coated them all, obscuring their features. All that could be seen was the fierceness in their slanted red eyes.
It was a tainted aura. Something that was vile and should not have had existed.
It was corrupt. An encroaching darkness.
Gemas curled his lips and enacted the prayers he'd once undergone in his youth with a small gesture of his hands. He had never really believed in the religious aspects of the Holy Kingdom, but just this once, he realized that he was dealing with something beyond his understanding. His mind momentarily went blank. It was an aspect of himself that he hated for it would surely kill him one day in the wrong situation, regardless, it didn't quite matter right now. "Poor bastards," the words left his mouth, his eyes pressing shut as the screams began echoing.
The monsters struck with a fury beyond common means. Even the weakest looking of them appeared too difficult to handle.
One side was distressed, the other side, fully intent on beginning a massacre.
Gemas had seen many things in his life, but he didn't think that he'd ever forget the scene of three men crushed into paste by the weight of a ten-foot golem, nor the popping that accompanied it.
Humans were delicate. Nothing like the robust physiques of the other races.
If one ever asked what it looked like to see a man die in such a way. One need only fill a sack with water and crush it under a rock. Yet here was the kicker, Humans weren't sacks or balloons. The chest caved in, but everything else, exploded outwards into a gory mess.
Tyra's expression paled, her eyes widening as she ran to a bush and began dry heaving. Even for her, it was too much. Worse, the wyverns soon joined the golems in the assault, swooping in from the air, catching and dropping armoured soldiers to their deaths.
"If such an army came to the North…" Pavel's voice trailed off, but it was enough to get all three of them to stiffen.
None of the three dared to move. Not know. If they were seen, then they too would surely die.
Both Pavel and Gemas were confident in taking down three or four, but against so many adversaries, there was just no way.
The army led by Nathan, Anya, and Eric, the top Aristocracy of Southern Roble was quickly deteriorating, their shouts and orders lost in the wind, but heard clearly by Pavel and Gemas who both possessed the Ranger Class.
"The true danger isn't the Golems or Wyverns, focus on the skeletal warriors! They're directly breaking our formations!"
"W-We can't last much longer."
"Cavalry, use the cavalry and try to pierce through!"
"Is there even a point? How do you expect us to charge through Golems!"
The entire army was in disorder. The common solider no longer able to distinguish which order to follow and relying instead on their base instincts. The frontline crumbled.
Pavel could watch silently no longer. "We have to go and report this," he whispered heatedly and offsetting his generally silent disposition. "The North must prepare its entire army. The South may already be lost."
Could this be what had been happening? The missing reports, the erratic movements of the South- was it all to combat some Evil re-emerging into the world? Pavel did not know.
Why did they not ask for help? Why did they not inform all of Roble?
Staring at the might of the army of monsters before him, Pavel came to his own conclusion. Even with the entire army of a united Roble, they would not be able to overcome this dark plague.
His complexion whitened rapidly. He was known by the Demi-Humans as the 'Mad-Eyed' Archer, never flinching in the face of opposition, but this was different. The enemy threatening all of Roble, their origins were undoubtably heinous. In fact, there was only one logical answer to be led towards.
An ill omen.
A premonition.
"Are the Evil Deities returning?" No one answered his question.
The implications were too much to bear, and this time, there would be no Thirteen Heroes to save them all. Perhaps of the few that remained, they could suppress the resurging Evil, but there were no guarantees. The Heroes were old now, with many having already perished.
Of all places for the Evil Deities to make their reappearance, why did it have to be Roble?
Pavel thought of his family back in the North, and a bitterness nearly overwhelmed him inside. He was loyal to the Kingdom, but traitorous thoughts of forcibly relocating his family to a nearby empire were quickly filling his mind.
He wasn't the only one, as Gemas too had his wife to think about.
Solemnity filled the air with tension, Pavel shifting his weight between either foot and contemplating in silence. The Demon Gods were surely returning, and Roble's Holy Maiden, it's Valkyrie Knight that had once defended the Kingdom, was gone.
This wasn't simply an issue for Roble to face alone. Help was needed. However, there was nowhere Roble could really go.
In the age of tentative peace brought about by the Thirteen Heroes, new conflict arose. Without the pressure of a common enemy, the relations between the other Kingdoms and Empires quickly soured over territorial disputes and politics. Roble was no different.
The age of Man vs Monster had gone, but in its stead came the age of War.
With the coming return of an old enemy, it still wasn't possible to mend recent wounds so easily.
The fact was, would the other Kingdoms even believe them without seeing the situation first hand at their door steps? The era of the Evil Deities was plagued by death and ruin everywhere. There was no need for evidence to be shown to pinpoint the true adversary, but now? The other Kingdoms would not be so trusting.
The Baharuth Empire and Re-Estize Kingdom for example had been waging turf wars for years. To get them to partner up over speculation was impossible.
Pavel clenched his hands into fists, the whites of his knuckles showing before he hastily began writing on a piece of parchment. Moments later, he whistled discreetly, calling forth a rat which he tied the written paper on before sending it off to burrow through the ground.
The situation was grim. The only thing he could hope for was that the forces of Southern Roble could hold out long enough for the North to take action. The prospect was bleak, the Southern Army basically in ruins with all military order on the verge of collapse.
The sun was setting overhead as if symbolizing the coming of Dark times for the future.
A dark haze.
The return of the nefarious.
Yet in all dark, there existed light.
"Open the Gates," A voice echoed throughout, regal yet firm. "Merlin, if you can hear me, transport the injured."
The white-walled castle that had seemed so insignificant when compared to the army of monsters suddenly seemed to ignite into a blazing beacon. The gates of the castle groaned as they swung free, a garden of flowers blooming to life and moving on their own to carry the incapacitated forward.
Pavel and the others were dumbstruck. Gemas though soon reacted, grabbing both Tyra and Pavel to bolt ahead. The flowers forced the monsters to retreat, giving a small period of respite from the violence.
Gemas saw an opportunity.
Pavel understood Gemas's intentions in an instant. With the Southern Army making a mad dash towards the safety of the castle walls, it wouldn't be long before the army of monsters discovered them hiding. Death would surely come at that point so there was no other choice than forward.
Pavel gritted his teeth, and sprinted like he'd never done before. As they had been watching from a distance, they had a lot more ground to cover than the Southern Army, many monsters turning towards them.
His heart began to beat violently within his chest, his breathing gradually growing uneven, and yet there was a steady warmth growing within him. Like the touch of the sun's rays on a pleasant afternoon.
Flickering mots of golden light seemed to dance in the air, like grains of sand that seemed to be playing tricks on his eyes. He blinked, and the world returned to normal.
Ahead of them, stood a woman at the tallest point of the high wall, overlooking all.
Clad in armour, wreathed in an iridescent glow, a sword in hand.
Pavel was momentarily stunned by her beauty. It was a kind that he'd never seen in a woman before, attractive yet not forceful. Endearing, yet not enchanting.
He could look at her no longer, too focused on running that by the time that he felt an explosion go off behind him, all that he could do was stare blankly as the monsters pursing him were reduced to ashes.
It was miraculous. What would have taken him several attacks to defeat just one, had been done in the course of seconds.
He swallowed; the sound audible to his ears as he turned back to stare at the castle ahead of him.
On the way to the west, he'd long since heard of the sayings from the common people of the South. A place of refuge.
A True Holy Kingdom.
The hope to be found in despair.
The order of the entire army was beyond control from the moment the gates of the white-walled castle were opened. Knights were inadvertently trampling over each other in their bid to seek safety and no amount of shouting would change anything. The army of monsters was right at their heels, refusing to let up their assault.
Anya and Eric were included in the people making their way to safety.
Nathan watched the proceedings silently, taking note of the way that the members of the Eight Fingers were the first to take off like startled rabbits. As for himself, he was too busy staring at the individuals that appeared in front of him to care about anything else.
"Father," Elanor Hubert called out softly, running forward into a hug.
Near Elanor was a certain mage that was smiling craftily from ear to ear. From the looks of the magic seals sprouting from the man's staff, it became clear that he was the man that was willing the flowers to transport the injured.
The man named 'Merlin' that had been called out earlier.
"So, you are the perpetrator of this entire incident," Merlin said offhandedly towards Nathan. "Your dealing with a criminal syndicate weren't exactly as hidden as you believed them to be. The information your daughter personally discovered is tantamount of that."
Elanor flinched when Merlin brought her up, she was trying to make as much distance from him as possible. Merlin scoffed, but didn't say anything else as he and Nathan made eye contact.
From the moment that Merlin had left, he wasn't exactly just hiding away from a certain guardian of the Land of Shadows, but conducting his own investigation. Despite being a natural womanizer, he still had his priorities and duties that he wouldn't just shirk off without reason.
Threats to his 'home base' existed in the category of 'needed to be handled,' therefore he acted at his discretion. Regardless, it seemed as if the matter was already taken care of by Agravain so he'd just do what was needed of him to end everything sooner.
Nathan simply nodded at Merlin's words. "If I had any other choice, I would not have brought civil conflict to the South. More than that, this Evil is perhaps the world's retribution for my actions."
Nathan looked solemnly at the army of monsters that Medea had created.
The smile on Merlin's face twitched for a moment, but no one noticed in the chaos.
"Yes, well, we best be going." Merlin avoided the matter and directly began aiding the Southern Army through the walls of Camelot. Flowers sprung at his every step, healing both the injured and stabilizing the panic in the air.
Meanwhile, the monsters would just barely miss their attacks as they pursued.
Within moments, everyone had taken shelter inside Camelot.
"Close the Gates."
With a single order, the gates shut closed, and yet the air of gloom had not lifted. Many of the survivors doubted that the walls would even hold at all. The enemies were too fierce and beyond their ability to combat.
Anya and Eric had mixed feelings as they stared up at Arturia's figure in the distance. They had been enemies literally just hours ago, and in their time of need, the enemy had chosen to save them.
They could not understand the kind of compassion and integrity that they'd just witnessed.
For the common soldier though, the reaction wasn't as complicated. They dropped down to their knees in gratitude, some traumatized by the violence that they'd just experienced and muttering incoherently.
Rather than grow displeased or show any contempt, Arturia remained staring steadfastly forward, her other Knights silently moving to stand by her side.
Lancelot of the Lake.
Gawain of the Sun.
Tristan Knight of Sorrow.
Galahad the Shield Bearer.
Agravain the Stalwart.
Bedivere the Faithful.
Mordred the Betrayer.
And lastly, Shirou.
Ordered in line, the presence they gave off was indescribable.
For Tyra, Pavel, Gemas, Nathan, Anya, Eric, and everyone else who'd not seen such a sight before, they were speechless. It was not fear in the faces of Arturia and the others, but neutrality. It was as if the monsters before them were nothing more than low-leveled creations.
From the corner of Arturia's eyes, she glanced at Shirou, but she didn't say anything and turned to stare back at the enemy instead.
Under the eyes of all, Lancelot and the others directly jumped down over the walls to engage the enemy as Shirou and Tristan began firing shot after shot from their bows.
The twang of steel and the tremor of distant explosions rocked the area.
It was the Assault of the Bosses of YGDRASIL's Holy Kingdom of Camelot; a level of power that none in Roble had ever seen, and in the midst of it all, was the sight that moved people the most.
It was not the scene of a wall of flames engulfing the enemy, or the sheer splendor of the swordsmanship Lancelot, Bedivere, Agravain, Mordred, and Galahad displayed, but something that meant far more to the hearts of the people of Roble.
Nathan and the others lowered their heads, Vincent, and Duke Berferd looking up with a glint in their eyes. Even the soldiers and Knights, traumatized by the monster's attacks grew quiet.
"It can't be," Pavel exclaimed in a silent whisper, shoulders trembling in agitation. He had to report this. It was of the utmost importance.
Tyra herself could hardly get a word out of her mouth while Gemas stared on blankly.
Arturia remained where she had been from the start, her hands gradually moving to wield her sword, the mantle over her shoulders billowing in the wind. "Camelot will not fall. These walls will not be breached not so long as I stand before you."
At Agravain's insistence, an emblem was stealthily embroidered onto the lining of Arturia's back armour. The symbol of Roble's ruling Monarchy taken in the fashion of Roble's National Hero out in full display.
It was the Crest of the Holy Kingdom, the Valkyrie of Roble: A Holy Sword lined with wings on either side that formed a hilt.
Arturia unclasped the thread of her mantle around her neck, letting it fall silently behind her as she gathered her energy into an attack. Lancelot and the others could deal with the monsters just fine with enough time, but in order to alleviate the worries she had seen in the eyes of the people of Roble, she would give them a source of comfort.
That, and to quell all future conflict. For a world that no longer needed Heroes.
She glanced at Shirou once again, the image of him standing by her side for a lifetime without worrying about anything else filling her mind.
It was her goal.
Something that she couldn't understand, but desperately wanted on a subconscious level. Her eyes closed tightly; a breath exhaled.
She'd waited long enough.
The thought appeared in her head, lost in the heat of the moment.
She opened her eyes and released her magical energy.
In her hands was an item known in YGDRASIL as a World Item with the ability to utterly ruin the balance of the game itself. Modified by Shirou, it looked identical to the weapon Arturia wielded in life as King Arthur.
It was the sword granted to her by the Lady of the Lake.
Excalibur.
In game, it had the ability to wipe out any and all obstacles before it, nullifying buffs, revival, and resist death effects with a single swing, and yet, now it seemed different.
An invisible pressure descended outwards, like a gale of wind that softly blew everything back in over a hundred-meter radius.
Shirou stiffened, the grip he had on his bow slackening in shock and grief.
Light began to converge, forming mottled speckles that Pavel had once believed to be a trick to his eyes.
This wasn't a function of Excalibur the World Item. Shirou knew this by heart, yet to all others, the scene was mesmerizing.
To carry hopes and dreams upon a single sword and remain steadfast to one's convictions, it did not matter of the past present and future circumstance. It was a light that all would stop and witness for its glory and meaning alone.
Promised Victory in battle.
The Holy Sword that carved a path through the invasion of the Saxons in the British Isles.
The energy formed a tower that reached forth towards the heavens, banishing the dark.
North or South Roble, it didn't matter anymore in this instance within the eyes of those present. There was only Roble to be seen carried on the shoulders of the Valkyrie who suddenly reappeared. Their faith and beliefs ignited as many made up their minds on a certain decision.
Shirou however was different. He watched silently; weapons left entirely forgotten.
Arturia positioned a leg forward, shifting her weight while the sword in her hand shone with a divine luster.
Her expression.
Her disposition.
All was captured in the hearts of the people in a single instance.
"Excalibur!"
The sword was swung, a name invoked as the world was dyed with a blinding gold radiance that encompassed all. Bathed in its aura, the monsters that stood before it and even the land itself was blown out of existence.
The clouds in the sky themselves seemed to have had parted.
Standing alone amidst the silence, Arturia sheathed her sword, standing with both her hands clasped over the pommel. "You are safe," she said with confidence, voice clear.
She turned around, a smile tugging on her lips as she made her first formal greeting with a nod of her head.
"Welcome, to the Holy Kingdom of Camelot."
Calca shot up onto her feet far faster than what she had intended, nearly tripping in her sudden action, but not caring nonetheless. "What did you just say?" She asked again to verify.
"A mass migration is occurring to the South," Kelart Custodio was reading off from a report that she held in her hands, her brows furrowed incomprehensively. "The majority of them are just commoners, but even some high-standing nobles are included in the list."
Calca and Kelart were within a private room located within the Capital of Northern Roble inside the Queen's castle. Calca had been siting on a velvet chair at the center of the room while Kelart had been reading adjacent from the red-carpet that extended towards the chair.
The room much resembled a reception hall and it was where Calca discussed the formal matters of the Kingdom.
As both Kelart and Calca thought to themselves in silence, Remedios quietly entered the room, closed the door behind her, and stood off to the side.
"Any luck?" Kelart asked, raising her head up from the reports that she was browsing through.
"No," Remedios responded curtly. "The matters of the south are being held so confidential that even the commoners don't dare reveal what had occurred. It's as if they fear that the North we'll launch a civil war."
Calca pursed her lips, her feet carrying her back and forth as she began pacing. "What of Gemas and Pavel, and the involvement of the Eight Fingers?" She asked.
She had full confidence in Pavel and Gemas. Pavel because he was part of the Nine Colours and Gemas due to the circumstance regarding the man's past. Gemas had once been part of the Eight Fingers before he had defected and helped remove the Eight Fingers presence in the North. If anyone could spot the presence of the Eight Fingers, it was Gemas.
"About that," Kelart spoke up before sifting through the papers in her hands to pull out a particular sheet. "Pavel has already sent a report in, but it's hard to understand."
Kelart revealed the contents of the paper in her hand consisting of scraggily lines that were hardly legible. "He wrote hastily, almost as if he was in a rush or in a precarious situation. The few words that stand out are 'War,' 'Monsters,' 'Gather Army,' and," Kelart paused, her expression solemn. "Evil Deities."
Tension immediately filled the air. Neither of the three women in the room had been alive in the era of the Evil Deities, but even till the present day, their influence could still be seen in the lands.
Calca swallowed down her nervousness, keenly feeling the gravity of the situation for what it was. Pavel was loyal, he would not needlessly give out false information, and therefore, she could not ignore what he was trying to tell her.
"What else does it say?" Calca asked, trying her best to keep her voice stable.
Remedios for her part was tightly clutching the hilt of her Holy Sword in agitation.
News of the Evil Deities was not something that could be taken lightly.
Kelart shook her head. "It doesn't say much else. All I have left to look at are the reports from the other spies that aren't quite sure of the situation either. At this point, it would probably be for the best if my sister and I made a personal trip."
Calca didn't answer, but she nodded her consent after Remedios reassured her of their safety.
Both Kelart and Remedios were prodigies in their fields. They would not be killed off so easily.
As Kelart continued reading the reports, a knock was soon registered on the door.
"Come in," Calca called out.
A man from the secret intelligence organization walked in to hand out a letter, bowed, and then promptly left. Of course, Calca's lip twitched in frustration when it seemed like the man had the wrong idea about her having Remedios and Kelart together as private company.
The rumours would only proliferate further. Her dream of getting married to a gentle husband was getting further and further away. Truthfully, she was already sulking, and if not for the direness of the situation, she would have had tried to devise a means with Kelart and Remedios to fix her reputation as a pure Lady instead of fret over dangers to the kingdom.
"Hmmm," Kelart hummed in thought just moments after the man had left. She then opened the letter in her hand and quickly browsed through it under Calca and Remedios's gaze.
Kelart startled in surprise moments later, her eye brows raising. "It says Pavel returned to Northern Roble three days ago. This is great news." She passed the letter for the others to read. In the end it was still just a notice with nothing substantial.
"Call for Pavel, I need the information verified directly from his mouth," Calca promptly took action. She didn't know why Gemas hadn't turned in his report yet, but right now it didn't matter. The need to know what was happening in the south was only increasing by the day and Pavel was already around.
Remedios quickly left on Calca's instruction, but came back just as quickly.
She had a troubled expression.
"About Pavel," Remedios frowned, eyes narrowed. "He's already gone. The informant who met with him said that Pavel retired upon his return and has since filed to take his family to the South. I say 'filed,' but Pavel already forcibly took his family away including his daughter Neia Baraja who was studying to become a Paladin under my command. At this point, we can't get in contact with him."
Calca blinked her eyes, while slowly registering what she'd just been told. They were talking about Pavel, right? Loyal Pavel?
He left without even offering a formal appearance?
"Huh?" Was the only sound that Calca could make in her befuddlement.