Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter.
Special thanks to my long time reviewer DJman248 for him criticing on how I been writing Reichnott too overwhelmingly in a negative light, which give birth to this chapter's omake.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
With the Graile garrison, particularly Captain Alderic joining them, the remaining force of the Three Heroes' Church didn't last long. Soon, their broken bodies litter the ground. Alderic stomps a fallen templar's knight with his armored foot as if crushing a fruit, as he loudly proclaims to Mein. "We have destroyed the traitors, Your Highness! What should we do next? Should we chase after that escaped church whore, and take her head for you?"
Mein takes a pause, thinking over her next moves. While having Sister Amelia's head as her personal playing thing is an amusing thought, she needs to focus on strategies that ensure Naofumi and her own survival first.
She wasn't properly taught military strategies despite being Mother's firstborn. Mother clearly doesn't want to give her means to overthrow her younger sister, especially taking account of her being almost a decade older. Still, she isn't completely clueless, as she has heard some war stories involving Father from Uncle Aldrecht when she wasn't learning magic from her tutor. It's rather ironic, that she is using knowledge she gained from Uncle Aldrecht, to swindle someone whose name sounds very similar.
"Our enemy is strong, and will likely bring reinforcements. We need to secure a means of retreat first, and plan for a long war of attrition." Mein looks up at the wall and raises her wand. Still keeping Streibough within the corner of her vision even if there's no Three Heroes' Church presence for him to defect to.
"We are going to turn our back against the traitors, my princess?" One eyebrow raises up from Alderic's brutish face. The champion of Graile is clearly not happy about the suggestion.
"The Three Heroes' Church clearly planned their acts of treason and heresy long before now, if they were able to try and assassinate me. The first princess of glorious Melromarc. Men of Graile alone will not be able to oppose them, and their traitorous allies. We need to focus on rescuing as many innocent men from their evil clutches as we can and keep them safe, till' we gather a large enough following to take our fight to the traitors!" Mein's eyes move through the fallen slaves taken by the church as she waves her arm at them. "Help your fallen brothers and sisters, noble defenders of Graile! We'll take the nearest gate first to ensure their escape route. If the flow of this battle is still with us by then, we'll leave a contingent of soldiers to ensure our escape route, while we storm the rest of those Three Heroes' Church traitors! We need to secure their supply of holy water, if we want to free our enslaved countrymen!"
"Ah, yes, of course! You heard the princess, boys!" Alderic pulls his battle ax out of the wall, and raises his weapon over his head amongst the cheers of the Graile garrison. "We fight those traitorous dogs of the church every step of the way, and free our brothers and sisters! We stand together, with our princess!"
Chapter 94: Storming the Gate
It's ironic how differently Alderic is treating her now, compared to their first meeting. And the only difference is the attire she is wearing at the time of their meeting. Oh well, she is glad for the brute being slow with wits. No doubt, she would have much more difficulties, if not an entirely different outcome if Captain Felix were the one present.
"Our Lord smiles down upon us from heaven! Our cause is just!" Brother Demetrius raises his hand up in the sky, and golden light seems to shine from above despite the sun is still below the horizon. A thin layer of shimmering sparkle remains on the Gallian soldier's body. "Go forth, and strike down the faithless heretics with the blessing of Medea's Chief God!"
"I feel strong!" "The Chief God has blessed us!" "We are going to win!" The men around Captain Alderic cheers, gaining courage from this act of miracle. Mein isn't a devoted cleric, or even a faithful. But she knows usually only someone who chose to go down the road of piety would benefit from a blessing miracle. And that's part of the reason why Balmus was considered special back in the Great War. He can bestow blessing on everyone from an entire army, regardless of their class. It seems the Romalian church acolyte has a talent for blessing miracles similar to Three Heroes' Church's Pope.
"Help your fellow men! Don't leave them behind just because they are forced into fighting you by those traitorous church whores!" Captain Alderich raises his weapon above his head as he loudly commands his fellow captains and soldiers. It seems like the brute wasn't a simple bloodthirsty thug as his demeanor first suggested.
"It's good to see you haven't forgotten the reason you joined the army, even if you wanted Lord El Bridget's approval, Young Alderich." Uranus walks up to the giant captain from the back. It seems like a former demi-human noble in hiding isn't the only one he was familiar with. Not surprising, considering his advanced age, and his former illustrious position.
"Master Uranus! You are helping Her Highness too!" The captain clearly knows the retired battle priest of Gallia city too. His face splits into a wide smile, as he drops his battleax on the ground, walks up to the elderly priest and gives him a bone-crushing hug. Mein is a little worried for the old man's health, but it seems he is built stronger than he looks to withstand Alderic's affection. "I heard what they did to Father Gordon. We'll make those heretics pay!"
In fact, once Uranus is released by Alderic, the only sign of conflict on the elderly priest's face seems to come from how he fights over the need to perpetuate Mein's 'lie' or stay honest. He settles in being truthful without directly conflicting Mein's words in the end. "Yes. I am helping Master Shield Hero, and his companions. My three heroes worshiping brothers are wrong in prosecuting one of the four Cardinal Heroes. Especially when they force the innocent into slavery."
"More enemies, Captain Alderic! Those church dogs are driving our enslaved countrymen at us!" Demetrius' blessing came not a moment too soon, judging from one guard's warning. Mein pulls Streibough up by his waist as she pushes through the wall of guards to get a better look.
Sure enough, on the other side from the main street, people in rags holding cheap weaponry and makeshift shields are being pushed forward. Forced into a crowded formation with literal whips. Behind them, protected by another group of templars is none other than Sister Amelia. "Kill those faithless heretics, you useless maggots!"
"You dare to show your face again!? Insolent church whore!" The champion of Graile screams loud enough to wake up the entire fortress city. He charges forward, shaking the ground with each step of his feet like an enraged thunder lizard. "Come and get some, you traitorous dog! I'll finish the job I started!"
The fugitive princess hopes that Ken is well on his way to steal his family heirloom back from Captain Rose, as a distraction can't be louder than what Mein is currently providing. Shaking pointless musing out of her head, Mein changes the form of her star wand into that of a sword wand. Waving around a sword looks more inspiring and heroic than waving around a wand, there's no contest. "Forward, men! Follow Captain Alderic and destroy these traitors, and save your countrymen!"
The Graile garrison lets out a thunderous roar, as they charge at the Three Heroes' Church force right behind the champion of Graile. As two forces meet in the main street of the fortress city, it's clear which side is superior as the church's slave fighters evaporate like morning dew against the rising sun. The only reason the Three Heroes Church' host didn't instantly collapse is because the slaves have no choice but to fight due to their slave crest compelling them against severe pain and threat of death. And the fact that most of the Graile troops tried to take the slaves down without killing them.
But even accounting for their level, skill, and equipment difference, Alderic's soldiers would eventually tire out by the church's seemingly endless wave of slaves. Especially since they are wasting more stamina fighting the slave than normal, with them trying for non-lethal takedowns.
"Stop hiding behind your slaves and hostages, and face me like a man! You worthless church whore!" Alderic howls like a beast, as he throws his battle axe overhead at Sister Amelia. Forcing the harpy to dodge out of the way with another fearful screech. It ends up bisecting an unfortunate templar knight from head to loin instead. Losing his weapon doesn't seem to slow down the Gallian champion at all, as he pushes a path right through the slaves, punching and kicking them into unconsciousness. He actually speeds up fighting barehand, on account of a double-bladed battle axe isn't the best weapon to put someone on the ground without killing them.
Mein turns her head around to look at the Okami clan warriors. They also seemed to adopt the way of non-lethal combat, hitting the slaves with the blunt backside of their blades. It's hard to know if they are trying to follow her portrayal of them being helpful saviors of Graile people, or if they simply didn't want to anger their newfound allies in the Graile garrison force. Either way, they are at least helping her, and not pulling her legs back like Streibough.
Unfortunately, the Okami warriors clearly aren't as used to using the back of their blades as their much more lethal front edge. As their movements are much more sluggish than when they were cutting a bloody path out of the Three Heroes' Church templars with their surprise attack. Not the most precarious situation to find themselves in, probably. Since they are still much more skilled in their self-imposed handicap than their enslaved opponents. But they are still going to be tired out by their sheer number, especially since said slaves are actually trying to kill them to avoid punishment from their cleric masters.
"Everyone else stands back. Biggo and I will take points." Nagumo walks forward in a relaxed, casual manner almost as if the old man is taking a leisure stroll in a garden. Yet, he seems to suddenly jump forward to the front of their group as if through teleportation. By contrast, his much younger apprentice had to sprint forward while waving around his arms and legs in an exaggerated manner just to keep up.
Neither Nagumo, nor Biggo wear full armor like the rest of the Okami warriors. Nagumo is still in his plain tunic, while Biggo wears some kind of white shirt that opens from the chest tied down in the front by a piece of cloth belt, and a pair of deep blue pants that's baggy enough to be mistaken for a long skirt that's definitely not belong to any style native to the many different cultures that make up modern day Melromarc. Some kind of traditional cloth for Q'ten Lo people, perhaps? They certainly don't look fit for combat situations.
The slaves charge at the mundane, frail looking old man and his slightly more fit young apprentice with more enthusiasm than the fully armored and armed Okami warriors. Neither of them look that intimidating in their plain cloth, and no weapons in hand. As the slave fighters get close to Nagumo, they seem to trip over and fall on their faces or behind. Seemingly without the old man even laying a finger on them. None of them get up afterwards. Perhaps the slaves are faking their own deaths, badly, to avoid a potential punishment penalty or a savage beating from their opponent?
Compared to the old raccoon master, his younger apprentice moves much more like a human. The young demi-human moves his arms and legs, in a much less reserved way than when he was chasing after his master and only when the battle slaves are upon him to throw or trip them onto the ground. Mein wasn't a well trained hand to hand style combatant, but she can still guess that something, something Do style said by Uranus is a more defensive style.
"Nowhere left to run, you traitorous harlot!" Captain Alderic sneers down at Sister Amelia, as he finally punches and kicks his way through the wall of slaves and charges into the cleric knights of the Three Heroes' Church. He is nowhere near as 'gentle' with the clergy, as he treated his fellow Gallians. The musclebound giant actually grabs one of the templars by his feet, and starts to swing the screaming man around like a makeshift flail against his fellow church members.
"Capture her alive! We can use her as leverage-"
"Get down!" Someone suddenly jumps behind Mein's back before she finishes her order. She's pushed hard onto the ground. Her ears ring, first from her hard landing, then the booming sound coming from the gate and the screams all around her. The princess blinks her eyes, trying to understand what's happening as she's yanked back to her feet again as she's being pulled back towards the back alley. That's when she finally noticed how there's suddenly a lot more bodies lying on the street than the slaves in rags.
Many of the Graile garrison soldiers that have joined her merry little revolution are now cold corpses on the ground. Their bodies resemble more of the porcupine monsters with how many arrows, or bolts stuck in them, or skewed together by long ballista bolts. The princess sets her eyes away from the ground and towards the gate in the distance, and notices how there's a line of siege ballistas lined up towards them, and scorpio bolt throwers behind them. Above on the wall, archers with their knocked bows continue firing upon them even as Captain Alderic's surviving men scramble around to find cover.
That's when she had the chilling realization that she and the forces she managed to rally together had been lured into a trap. Sister Amelia, her escort and the slave legion under their command was a bait, to line up Captain Alderic's men into the wide open main street, wide open for the picking by all the siege engines and the archers on the wall.
Across from her, Oersted is dragging Streibough back into the alley. A dozen arrow shafts visible on the young knight's back. It makes the fugitive princess realize Naofumi probably looks similar if he shielded her with his own body.
"Turning traitor now, Alderic? That's about what I expected from you." A nasal voice that sounds carries its way over. It sounds all too pleased, considering how he just murdered a lot of men who were still his comrade in arms a few moments ago, and many of the citizens he was sworn to protect. "This is exactly like our very first sandbox wargame, isn't it? You charge headfirst into a trap thinking you'll smash through it with your strength. And I completely annihilated you with my siege engines."
Siege engines… the damage caused by them are more fixed compared to more primitive built weapons due to the mechanical complexity obliterating the user's stats amplification bonus. They wouldn't have been very effective if used against the elite troops, like the one father brought to fight the Third Wave. But the troops following Captain Alderic… and her were not elite troops. They are city garrisons, mostly serving as city defenders to hold the wall or keep the order against civilians. Auxiliary troops at best in an active war. For them to be hit by siege engines in the open is devastating.
And the slaves who aren't trained, or properly armored suffered even worse fate. Most of them instantly died. A few lucky, or perhaps unlucky ones still twitch on the ground, letting out squeaky grunt of agony. Left behind to suffer a much slower death.
"FELIX! YOU RAT BASTARD~!" Alderic throws away the long dead templar knight in his hand. A little more than a bloody piece of meat sack by this point. His eyes bloodshot from anger. Sister Amelia is nowhere to be found again. Likely also ran into the back alley in the confusion to avoid the onslaught. Captain Felix may be her ally, but the ballista bolt and arrows certainly won't avoid her simply due to her status. "You would kill your own brothers in arms, and the innocent Graile people just to lick the Three Heroes' Church's boots?!"
"These deaths are on your hands, not mine, you stupid primate!" Captain Felix sneers back at Captain Alderic as he waves his hand down. A new wave of arrows is released by the archers manning the wall. "If you had a brain, you would realize you were the traitor here!"
"You would raise arms against your own countrymen, and your princess? You traitor?!" Mein flails around in Naofumi grasp, as she screams back at the wormy Gallian captain.
"You are not Princess Malty, Witch! I see right through your lies!" Captain Felix turns his face towards her direction and turns his nose up. "The real Princess Malty was sheltered by King Aultcray in the capital. And even if some unsavory type of the church had made an attempt on her life, she would run to one of the lords residing in the capital for help, not to the Shield Demon who her father detests! Fire!"
The soldiers have evidently finished reloading their siege ballistas, and scorpio bolt throws. With the mechanical clanks, large wooden ballista bolts as thick as a man's waist shoots right down the main streets, while steel tipped bolts and arrows rain down from the sky. Ready to take away more lives of both soldiers, and slaves.
"[Barrier]." Uranus holds his hand up, erecting a golden wall of light. It cracks, and shatters against the assault of Captain Felix' siege engines, but slows the ammunition enough to save many lives. One of the siege ballista bolts nearly pierced right through the elderly priest's chest, but Captain Alderic managed to punch it away at the last second. The balding priest asks the Gallian captain with indignation on his face. "What has happened to you, Young Felix? You should have put your mind into saving more lives, not on how to kill your fellow men."
"Master Uranus? You got caught in this revolt too?" The blonde man blinks his eyes in confusion, clearly knowing the elderly priest personally. It makes Mein briefly wonder if he would realize he's been used by the Three Heroes' Church, before the wormy man shakes his head and looks back at Uranus with disgust. "I don't know how you were deceived by the Shield Demon and his pet witch. But if you turn traitor too, the only salvation I can offer you is death! Fire!"
"[Barrier]!" Naofumi waves his hand this time, but instead of the barrier appearing in front of their group, he erected his miracle wall right in front of the siege engines. With a cacophony of teeth grindingly painful noise, many of the ballista bolts end up badly dislodged, and jammed right in their respective siege engines. Not all of them, but at least a third of the siege ballistas are now badly damaged thanks to the Shield Hero's quick thinking, and action.
"WHAT?!" Captain Felix nearly jumps back at this surprise, at how Naofumi managed to take out his most threatening siege engines. The captain isn't the only one shocked at how the Shield Hero has apparently figured out an almost offensive use of a defensive miracle spell. The attention of the guards under his command all looked at the damaged ballistas, even the archers on the wall forgot to keep firing their arrows. The wormy captain kicks at one of the guards beside him. "Don't stand around, you imbeciles! Get the engines fixed! And cut that barrier down with your weapon! Keep firing at the rebels and traitors, you useless fools!"
The soldiers are shaken out of their stunned stupor by the command of their captain. Battle engineers quickly start to reload their siege engine again, while guards equipt with melee weapons run to the front and start hacking at Naofumi's barrier. The archers on the wall resume raining arrows down on the street.
"Close your distance NOW and smash their siege engines!" The Shield Hero didn't simply shout command and let everyone else die for him. No. Despite not having his actual shield and having a dozen arrows and bolts sticking out of his back, he runs out of his hiding place first and starts barreling towards the gate. Seemingly inspired by his bravery, Alderic's remaining forces regroup, and rushes towards the gate screaming murder at their former comrades for both metaphorically and literally shooting them in the back.
"Use your ice magic on their siege engine! Freeze them!" Mein waves her hand around, and slaps Streibough on the shoulder. Lady Sheffield's apprentice bristles like a wet cat, but follows her instruction. He brings his sun staff forward, as a silver gust blows through the ranks of Captain Felix. Frost begins to cover the wormy captain's soldiers, and his remaining siege engines are locked up by shards of diamond like icicles.
As for the princess herself, she switches the star wand into another form. This one is shaped like a red cobra coiling around a piece of wood. One could almost mistake it for the wand's variance of Naofumi's [Chimera Viper Shield]. But from the description, Mein gets the impression it was unlocked by a snake monster with fire affinity. Likely from Mara Gobi desert.
[Fire Snake Wand] Lv 40. It's one of the forms with the highest level restriction she has access to. But the reason she picked this one to use as her primary offensive wand is due to its ability to enhance one's control of fire magic. Something she will desperately need for what she's about to pull. "You don't believe I'm the first princess of glorious Melromarc? Do you think some common fire witch can accomplish what I do at my age? Behold! [Fiendfyre]!"
Despite the name seems to suggest, the high level fire spell Fiendfyre isn't the most destructive spell available in the element's arsenal. At least not in terms of its scale of devastation. There's a reason why the term 'forbidden magic' was invented. And while apprentice fire mages certainly won't be walking around casting Fiendfyre, it's not 'forbidden' for most mages either. It's most well known in the fire mage circle for two of its characteristics.
The first is its versatility coupled with its unrelenting nature to cause damage till there is nothing left. Fire elements, by their nature, tend to destroy anything and everything in their path till there is nothing left to consume. But for a master fire mage, a Fiendfyre spell can be shaped, almost as if it's something more corporeal like a bundle of clay, rather than an uncontrollable ball of incandescent plasma.
As for the second characteristic… is the spell's fickleness. A fire mage who tries to cast [Fiendfyre] without a good mastery of the element would quickly lose control of the spell, and might very easily be consumed by its effect through magical feedback.
She hopes that her practice since adventuring with the Shield Hero, enhanced by the star wand would give her enough control to at least aim this spell at her enemies.
For a brief moment, fires waving on top of the torches, or dancing inside the brazier begin to twirl as if resisting her call. But they quickly fly into the sky, and assemble into the shape of… the majestic image of Houou, the guardian beast was what she was aiming for. But it looks more like the pudgy form of a certain gluttonous devil bird in the end. It'll have to do.
The giant, fat bird made of fire lets out an angry chirp, as it descends down on the wall, where clusters of archers were standing. They clearly didn't expect to be stabbed in the back themselves. And even if they did, they apparently have no fire or water mages with them who can cancel out her spell. What can mere mortals do against a foe that can't be killed by castle forged steel weapons. Absolute chaos reigns on the Graile wall as soldiers get burnt alive, or jump down from the wall for a quicker, and less painful death. Those who were far enough from the firebird begin to trample over each other in a desperate attempt to run away from the spell.
"HA! What were you saying, Felix? You puny little shit!" Captain Alderic barks out laughing. Drinking in the pain and suffering of his former comrade in arms… and enjoying their misfortune as much as Felix did moments ago. It seems like as much as they hated each other, these two were more alike than unlike.
Laughing and taunting his fellow captain isn't the only thing the champion did. He charges forward, easily overtaking the Shield Hero when the barrier comes down. The brute leaps over Naofumi's light barrier just as it shattered, he picks up a broken siege bolt at his feet and begins to wildly swing it around like an oversize great club, smashing siege engines and men alike to pieces. "Did you think war in real life would go exactly like a sandbox wargame? I have the will of our Chief God, and the magic of our princess on my side! Try to think your way out of this one, you filthy traitor! Or better yet, come and face your death, you spineless rat!"
With most of their siege engines disabled or destroyed, and Mein's spell wreaking havoc on their archer formation, the soldiers under Captain Felix begin to falter. Some even turn tail and run. The blonde captain visibly grinds his teeth, clearly dismayed at how fast things fall apart for him. But to his credit, he steps forward wielding his spear against Alderic rather than instantly run away like Sister Amelia. "Hold your ground! Don't let the rebels pass! I have one more trick planned - they haven't won yet!"
Two captains met in the middle of the street right before the gate. Alderic crushed forward, wildly swinging his makeshift great club while Felix dodges and waves, stabbing at the much larger man when there's an opening. The soldiers on both sides clear an impromptu dueling ring for the two longtime rivals, as they too clash in front of Graile's city gate.
Mein feels her chest grow tighter, something seems to be hammering at her chest from the inside even as the flow of battle swings back to favor her side. [Fiendfyre] was not a forbidden spell like [Super Nova], but it's continued use is still too taxing on her heart and she can't keep control of her spell for much longer. Knowing she's at her limit, she wills her big firebird construct to let out one last chirp on the wall, as she crushes it into a large group of archers, finally letting her firebird splatter out on the ground.
Dark spots begin to fill the vision of the princess, her knees grow weaker as she falls forward. She feels someone grab hold of her, and wonder who it was. But she can still barely make sense of what's going on around her. Only a whirlwind of black and white color, noises she can't make sense of. She feels someone carrying her from both sides, till she eventually lays down against a wall where her sense slowly return.
"..ey, you okay there?" Mein blinks her eyes, and realizes it's Minami kneeling in front of her. Wasn't the last priestess of Okami hiding with the non-combatants back in the tunnel, or at least in the back alley? The princess looks around, and sees a bunch of demi-humans around her that's most definitely not in armor or holding weapons. The warriors standing around them, cutting down any enemy who tries to approach their old and young.
Either the Okami clan remnants thought the revolution had succeeded and came out prematurely, or they thought the rebel side was making one final push for the gate, and this is their last chance to escape their prison.
"The Shield Demon's pet fire witch has fallen! True sons of Gallia, rally around me and kill the traitors and rebels!" "Avenge your princess and take back our city with me! My brothers! Don't be fooled by the liar and rat who'd give orders to shoot you in the back!" In front of the gate, Both captains clearly realize now is the crucial moment to decide the battle as they scream out last rounds of rallying cries for their respective sides.
Naofumi and Oersted are both at the front. Knocking people down with the mimic balloon shields, or cutting them down with a good old fashioned arming sword. Even the priest Uranus is at the front, throwing people away into walls with his miracles, and… where is that little shit Streibough?
Mein turns her head left and right, fighting through the sense of nausea to look for the one who has the most suspicion to be a spy working with the Three Heroes' Church. Sure enough, she spots him behind all the fighting men, apparently trying to skip his way down a sidestreet into the back alley. She points her finger at the straw boy's retreating form. "Get him!"
Biggo runs toward the mage trying to sneak away. He grabs Streibough by the back of his collar and swings the apprentice of Sheffield around. Throwing him bodily across the street till the little shit landed face down in a heap in front of Mein. The princess can't help but smirk down at the mudblood. "Going… somewhere, Mr. Streibough?"
"Yeah! I'm hiding away from the brutes and thugs before your demi-human boy toy decides to throw me right in the open!" Streibough climbs back up with both his hands and feet. He glares venomously at Mein. "You thought casting that ice spell you told me to was easy? I used up all my mana! I'm a glorified archery target out here!"
"I'm sure you'll manage. Aren't you the disciple of Lady Sheffield?" Mein snorts back at Streibough. The battle to take the gate is completely out of her hand now with her heart acting up. Win or loss, she'll have to settle for tormenting the straw boy as she waits for the battle to conclude. The glare of Streibough intensifies, but something else catches her attention.
From the far side of the main street, another group of soldiers ran north towards the gate, towards them. Unfortunately, it seems like they are running out of time to break through the gate. The non-combatant demi-human around her panics, some of them run back into the alleyway, others slowly back away towards the gate where the fighting is still happening, yet others simply fall on their behind due to fear. The dozen or so warriors staying with the civilians steps forward, their demon-like faceplate looking extra grim against the inevitability.
Captain Felix lets out a triumphant laugh as he dodges away from another one of Captain Alderic's clumsy swings. "HAHA! My reinforcements are finally here! They'll kill the Shield Demon and his pet animals. I'll be remembered as a hero of Graile while you die as an animal- what the hell?!"
It takes Mein a few more moments to understand why Captain Felix went mute after his shocked exclamation. The Graile guards running towards them have their weapons drawn, yes. But they aren't coming in with orderly formation, and more like a herd of animals being chased after by a pack of predators. Their faces twisted with fear, as body parts and blood seem to fly into the night air like a geyser.
They are definitely being chased after by something. And whatever it was, it's more monster than man. All of sudden, Mein isn't sure if that's a good thing for them either.
"It's Big Brother! He must have recovered our sacred artifact!" By contrast, Minami is ecstatic as she suddenly wraps her fingers around Mein's hands and squeezes hard.
Not too long after, a dark silhouette seems to break through the wave of Gallians running for their lives like a battering ram through a colored glass window. Neither the Graile soldiers' well toned muscles, or their armors made of castle forged steel over cured monster leather offered them any protection as their body tore apart like wet paper. And the single creature that's been chasing down hundredth of men stops right in front of Mein and Minami.
There is still a trace of Ken in the creature. Mostly in his dark, tight cloth wrapped around his body. His brown, short, and well groomed hair is now a free flowing golden mane reaching all the way to his shoulders. Despite his face now seemingly covered in shadow, Mein can still see how his previous human-like face is now elongated into the snot of a canine creature, with long teeth growing out of his maw. His fingers, especially nails, have also grown longer, yet there's no sense of fragility in them, and they look more like natural weapons of some apex predator. His voice also sounds more coarse, guttery. Like the growl of an animal compared to his deep, smooth voice from before. "I see you did well for yourself, Minami."
"I didn't do anything. It's Miss Me- it's Princess Malty here. Turning those mean humans against each other." Minami quickly catches her mistake as she looks around, clearly worried that some human soldiers fighting on their side overheard her. "Help us break through the gates, Big Brother Ken!"
"That's what I'm here for. Stay back and stay safe, Minami." Ken transforms into a gust of wind after giving his little sister one last warning. He charges head first into Captain Felix's men, sending blood and limbs flying freely.
"The gods have abandoned us! RUN!" With what should have been their reinforcements turning into an unstoppable monster slaughtering them, the morale of the men fighting under Captain Felix breaks apart. They turn around and run back into the darkness, some falling down halfway, and then proceed to flee on their hands and feet as if a single pair of legs isn't enough to carry them.
"HA! You lost, Felix." With his victory assured, Alderic sneers down at his long-time rival and gloats. He gives his makeshift great club in his hand a few shakes. "You know. This is exactly like our first sparring match after Lord El Bridget brought us to Graile. Only this time, you aren't walking out of an infirmary. I'll make sure I actually finish my job this time."
"Then I'll make my final stand here, and take you to death with me, you stupid brute!" Felix spats right back at Alderic, as he thrust his spear towards the larger captain with all his strength. A bad move, perhaps made due to his despair induced lack of judgment. Considering Alderic was clearly the one with superior strength, Felix's final, desperate attack didn't do anything other than gifting his spear right into Alderic's hand.
Alderic tears the spear right out of Felix's grasp, throws it ahead, and picks the much smaller captain up by his neck. Ignoring the other man punching and kicking at him. "Time to die, Felix."
"Choke on it, Alderic!" Felix looks like he wants to spit in Alderic's face as his final act of defiance. But before he managed to do that, the much larger captain brought his makeshift great club down, and completely crushed the smaller captain's head like a berry.
With Felix's death, what remained of his men quickly gets slaughtered, or scurries into the shadow like the deserters before them. Naofumi looks around, and runs over to her. "Princess Malty. Is your heart acting up again?"
Funny enough, he managed to remember her 'fake' identity better than his own. Maybe the Shield Hero is putting extra mind into keeping their stories consistent. But the worry on his face is clearly not fake. "I'm alright. Sir Shield Hero. I won't drop dead on you, as long as I don't use any more of my spells."
"We have achieved victory over our foes! My princess!" On the other hand, Alderic's loud voice makes both Naofumi and Mein look over at the champion. The brutish giant picks up Captain Felix's spear, and uses it to skewer the fallen captain's body through, holding it like some kind of macabran banner. "What's your next command to us?"
"We are undone, if we achieve another 'victory' like this." Mein looks around. Of the garrison who followed Alderic and her, there's barely half left after the battle at the gate. "Secure the gate and ensure our escape route. We'll save as many of your enslaved countrymen as possible from the traitorous Three Heroes' Church. And you'll take them with you, and hide in the wild. Causing the traitors mischief when you can while I go around the country rallying anyone still loyal to my parents to my cause."
"As you command, my princess!" The champion of Graile slams his fist over his heart as he turns to his subordinates. "Take over the gatehouse and open the gate! Gather up our fallen countrymen! We'll protect them from the evil clutch of traitors and heretics till our queen's return!"
The captain's surviving followers and subordinates quickly split up and got to work. Some enter the gatehouse preparing to open it up and let the enslaved people escape from Graile. Others go around, gathering and nursing the subdued slaves to prepare them for their exodus.
Amongst all of this, Naofumi helps Mein back to her feet as they slowly walk their way towards the northern gate of Graile. To think, after three days of hiding inside a catacomb, they will finally leave this wretched prisoner of a city and continue on their journey to evade capture from the Three Heroes' Church. All it took was completely exposing their whereabouts to their enemy, and inciting a revolt like the Bow Hero near the heart of Gallia.
"Captain Alderic? We see an army coming from the north." The warning above the wall makes Mein's heart tighten once again. She silently hoped that whoever was coming would either be friendly, or dumb enough to be swayed by her words. Because they are really not in the condition to start another battle with a fresh army. "They fly the banner of House El Bridget."
"Lord El Bridget, or one of his children?" The thuggish captain raises one of his eyebrows at the news. But then his face split into a big smile once again. "My lord must have heard what happened to Graile, and sent aid for us to topple the heretics and traitors! Open the gate and welcome them, men! No, let me meet them!"
Mein feels like kicking herself. Or more to the point, kicking the dumb champion for his lack of caution. But with her fabricated story, there's no reason for Captain Alderic to suspect anything. She gives Naofumi a nudge on the arm and points her chin towards Nagumo. The Shield Hero seems to understand what she's trying to say as he guides her over to the old raccoon demi-human. "Gather your people together, I have a bad feeling about this."
"Very well." Nagumo looks over at how casually Alderic walks out of the gate of Graile.
"My lady! We have vanquished the traitorous Three Heroes' Church, and Felix who betrayed your family! Are you here to lead us in taking back Graile from the heretics?" From her angle, Mein can't get a good look at the leader of House El Bridget's army. But judging from the way Alderic speaks, it's one of his daughters. "M-my lady?! Why!"
With that final question, the head of Captain Alderic, Champion of Graile falls off its shoulder. Blood spills out of his freshly opened stump on his neck as his body falls onto the ground like his longtime rival not too long ago.
Omake: Reunion of the Loyal Knight
Eclair feels her arm tiring. It feels like she's been hacking away at rotten flesh for the entire day, when it's likely only an hour or two at most. It wasn't that different from her return to her ancestral home less than a month ago, least of all the putrid smell. But the fact that the undead creatures are relentlessly pressing against the line of her fellow fighters, not giving them a moment of rest and reprieve makes it even harder than the battle she had working alongside the Shield Hero.
The knight turned mercenary is glad for three things. Her quest with the Shield Hero has trained her nose, or perhaps her mind to ignore the stench to the point it barely bothers her. The runic bronze sword that holds her ancestor's spirit, which seems to make the holy fire burn even brighter. And Lucatiel, her sworn protector and undead knight who doesn't tire like she does.
From her left side, Lucatiel blocks away another swipe from the undead, saving her life for the umpteenth time since the start of this battle. She hopes the heroes can successfully kill the undead thunder lizard, because her group wouldn't be able to hold their ground and keep the undead horde with them for much longer.
"The dead are relentless, Lord Steward. You need to fall back and be prepared to retreat if our line falters!" About fifty paces to her right. Lord Nash is arguing with Uncle Reichnott even while they fight for their lives.
As always, Uncle Reichnott wasn't exceptional in his martial skills. He fights much like the standard arming sword in his hand, unexceptional in every way except being just good enough to be reliable in the most mundane situation. The situation he got himself caught in this time is not mundane, and much like Eclair herself, he'd have died multiple times already if it wasn't for Lord Nash and Lord Graithos besides him.
"NO! I will not abandon my men!" Uncle Reichnott hacks his sword in a horizontal slash. Lodging his blade in the neck of a shambler, which he takes two good yanks to cut through and pulls his blad free. "Lord Graithos was right. This happened because I couldn't stop the Bitch Lord on my own. The most I can do is stand with my men while they risk their lives!"
"LOOK OUT!" Lord Nash Neverwinter takes a step forward, intercepting the attack of another shambler who seeks to strike Uncle Reichnott down while he's over extended. The Midgardian lord's two handed greatsword, drenched in the corrosive, putrid blood of the dead snaps on strike, and he is struck down in Uncle Reichnott's place. A large spot of black blood dying over his silver armor.
"Lord Nash! NO!" Uncle Reichnott throws himself on the downed Lord Neverwinter as the dead shambler tries to strike them down. Eclair feels time seems to slow down as her heart furiously beats inside her chest. No, Uncle Reichnott can't die here. Cute was too young to be left without her father.
Perhaps it's once again thanks to her ancestor's spirit inside her sword. But the last heir of House Seaetto feels her connection with the Chief God's divine sphere was never close at this moment as a golden lightning bolt forms inside her free hand. She tosses it forward, striking the undead creature down before it has a chance to further endanger Uncle Reichnott, or Lord Nash.
"Get Lord Neverwinter back!" Three of the red coated inquisitors band together. Their swords alight with white holy fire much like Eclair's own as they charge ahead as one, forcing the dead back from Lord Nash while people pull the wounded lord away from danger.
"Getting tired already? Well, whatever. Least you aren't a spineless coward like that Yesold bitch." Lord Graithos spit on the ground as he holds his black, titanite battle axe up. A loud crack sounds like thunder strikes on the ground, as his body seemingly grows three times tall. The general avatar steps forward, shaking the ground with each step he takes as he cleaves through the horde of dead around him, ignoring their strikes on his enhanced body. He wouldn't be able to maintain this form for too long, hopefully the heroes are able to destroy the undead thunder lizard before Lord Graithos falls. Because otherwise, a lot of the fighters gathered to take back Rabier County would die.
"To me, Luca! We need to protect Lord Reichnott!" Eclair gives a rallying cry to her faithful undead protector. Lucatiel wordlessly follows her as they cut their way through the dead towards the center of their line where the lords are desperately fighting for their lives. The addition of two knights who have control of holy fire help them, but only barely. And soon, Lord Graithos shrinks down to his original size, panting on the ground exhausted while holding his battle ax for support. His life is saved when Lord Ascart releases a flurry of wind blades, cutting the undead creatures around him to pieces.
And just as it looks like there's no hope left, a white glow from the distance suddenly blinds everyone. Eclair has no idea what happened, so she keeps on wildly swinging her sword around until she feels Lucatiel's hand pressing down on her shoulder, telling her that there is no more threat around.
The young knight lets her tired arm fall by her side, and she nearly falls face first into the dirt. Once again, she is rescued by her faithful undead protector as Lucatiel holds her still. She feels her vision and hearing slowly return, and slowly realizes what feels like an endless legion of shambling corpses coming at them have all fallen on the ground. Becoming harmless, mundane dead bodies not controlled by evil magic. Around her, those who survived the battle against the undead begin to loudly cheer.
"You saved the life of Lord Neverwinter and my life, young knight. You deserve a just reward for such action. My vault isn't exactly overflowing right now, but I'll make sure to have enough funds set aside for your heroic deeds." After the clean up, Eclair and Lucatiel are brought into Uncle Reichnott's personal tent, having an audience with Father's right hand man who might as well have been her actual uncle growing up. Thankfully, she's been away from home long enough thanks to being fostered by Queen Mirellia to not reveal her real identity with her voice. "Tell me. Who is the lady or lord you serve? I don't know how much my words weigh after my series of blunders… but a recommendation from me is the least I can offer you."
"Eclea of Port Harp. Milord. I… am not a real knight. Only a sellsword who follows the way of the cleansing light of our Chief God." The knight thinks back on the angry words of the bandit girl she met on her journey with the Shield Hero, and the first princess. And how she supposedly suffered and lost her home. "As for a monetary reward… the Wave of Catastrophe is still ongoing, milord. Please, set aside the funds you have to help the people who are less fortunate than me, and can't provide for themselves."
"Eclea… of Port Harp? Your name reminded me of the daughter of my old friend. May the Chief God cherish both of their souls." Uncle Reichnott's words make Eclair's face burn up. She… really didn't put enough thought into her fake identity.
"Err… yes. My parents named me after Lord Uther's daughter. I can only hope I eventually live up to his example."
"Speaking of that, if you haven't been officially knighted and only follow the path of the Chief God's cleansing light. I can knight you myself." Uncle Reichnott's suggestion makes Eclair's face twitch underneath her black iron pot helmet. To be knighted again, by her father's right hand who is completely unaware of her true identity… would she be forced to take off her helmet, and reveal her real identity to Uncle Reichnott? He means well, but since she is technically still a criminal, would she be handed back to the King once Uncle Reichnott realizes who she really is?
Thankfully, a guard enters the tent before they reach that point. "My lord, the three heroes have returned. They brought a large dragon egg with them."
Three Heroes, not four?
"Is that so? I'm sorry, Eclea of Port Harp. I'm afraid knighting you might have to wait till we can examine what the three heroes have brought with them." Uncle Reichnott rises up from his high chair. He is at least courteous enough to pull both Eclair, and Lucatiel up himself before he exits his tent.
Sure enough, the heroes and their fellow companions carefully carry an egg as tall as a fully grown man with them. "Careful. You don't want to smash Zilla's last child."
"What are we going to name him? You got any ideas, Ren?" After a girl with dog ears put some dried hay on the ground as a cushion, the Spear Hero slowly sets the egg down on the ground with the rest of their group and asks the Sword Hero.
The young, dark haired man tilts his head sideways, clearly thinking over his options. "Gon."
For some reason, a small pygmy dragon on his shoulder blows out a cloud of ember as large as its body. Looking almost… indignant for some reason.
Eclair looks around their group, trying to search for familiar faces she's been traveling for multiple weeks with. But as the guard implied earlier, the Shield Hero or anyone of his companions are nowhere to be found around his fellow heroes. She hoped nothing bad happened to them. With how the Shield Hero acted on their journey, surely he would have lent a hand to this crisis if he was able to?
"Should we even talk about what name to give to a newborn dino, when Naofumi is prosecuted like a criminal and is forced to go on the run?" It takes much longer for the Bow Hero's words to fully register in Eclair's head, after he spoke it out loud.
The Shield Hero… prosecuted as a criminal. And forced… on the run?
"What?"
End Note:
So, Malty's little revolt quickly turned very bloody. And they managed to pull through by the skin of their teeth from trap they got into, and then the end of this chapter happened.
Funny enough, originally I planned to have Alderic live. But then I realized there's not much I can do with his character even if he doesn't get killed off. And have him killing his long time comrade/nemesis, only to get immediately killed by the daughter of the lord who took him in feels like a much more fitting (and decisive) end to him.
As alluded to by the beginning Author's note. Most of the omake of this chapter happens to be inspired by DJman's critique of my earlier chapter. My portrayal of Reichnott is mostly inspired by Lord Harrewmont from Dragon Age Origin. Who is a genuinely well meaning and noble... well, noble. But at the same time, he is also a (to put things in the most diplomatically way possible) no dick washed out old fuckup who shouldn't be anywhere near actual power because he's just THAT INCOMPETENT.
Well. Eclair is now somewhat informed on what happened to Naofumi thanks to the three weapon heroes. Also spoilers, next chapter will feature an omake showing what Yatsuhashi is currently up to.