The attack on the capital erupted with fury. The members of the terrorist group called the Eye of the Midnight Sun attacked with a vengeance only found through decades of built-up hate. The one known as Rades was first on the scene. He spent a lot of time preparing his zombies for the attack, and they were ready to feast. Already the first row of buildings was on fire. Soon, the entire kingdom would burn, or so was their goal.
Inside the magic knight's headquarters, notice of the attack had just come out, which was the shock needed to stop the pointless bickering among the two squad captains present. Almost immediately, all the magic knights were out the door and engaging the army invading the streets.
in the eastern district, a stone colossus was wading its way through the sea of undead. On top was Sol Marron, and on the ground was captain Charlotte. maybe a bit of extra destruction happened, but they easily handled the foes in front of them.
Directly in front of the capital, Noelle stood next to captain Fuegoleon, discussing what strange enemies had come for them this time. They had never seen zombies before, so it was a new enemy they didn't know much about.
In the western district, Yuno was figuring this out the hard way. The attacks of his fellow Golden Dawn members only pushed back the wave, but they didn't stop moving. Yuno simply used his magic to keep pushing them back. Well, until the leaders showed their faces.
Running out on the street was Asta, who just chased off a man threatening to kill a little girl of 6 years. He had built up quite the hate for Clover, and had no qualms about taking it out on a little girl that had nothing to do with her ancestors. Following this, Asta kept searching for more enemies, which eventually led to him fighting alongside the Crimson Lion's captain.
In the central district stood an up-and-coming magic knight by the name of Leopold vermillion. He's an ambitious young knight, seeking to surpass his wildly talented older siblings. He's dedicated to say the least. With him is a fellow royal knight in Noelle Silva. The two were facing down the endless horde of undead. Leopold was still unable to figure out what to do against them. Eventually, he said that he had enough. "If they can't die, I'll just have to destroy them. Flame magic, Spiral Flames."
The flames shot out of his hands and actually managed to burn some zombies to a crisp. Those ones didn't move again. So, outright destruction does work. Should be easy enough for the other magic knights to handle as well, thought Leopold. He simply kept running forward into the horde until he found his brother also engaged in a furious duel. Without thinking, he shot his spiral flames at the closest zombie, pushing it back while Fuegoleon's more powerful fire ripped them apart.
"Leo, I can handle the ones over here, you should go elsewhere."
"The fight's here, right? I saw one of the leaders come this way. There should be others coming too. I'm fighting at your side, brother."
"Very well then, just remember to keep a cool head and stay safe."
Cool Head? Stay safe? That's unlikely. There's people out here that need saving. Leo isn't the kind of person to simply leave them without that help. He has a goal, to be the strongest mage out there. What could he possibly do if he can't defeat a few criminals. Leopold ignored that request and stayed to fight.
Elsewhere, more people were entering the same area the Vermillion brothers were fighting in. First was Asta, who was still following Rades' trail. Behind him were Lucy and Noelle, who met up during the chaos. With his signature scream, Asta jumped into the chaotic fight.
"Ah Asta, my new rival, you've come to the defense as well?"
"Of course, I'm not gonna let these freaks get away with attacking innocents."
"As I expected."
With a furious swing, anti-magic coated the zombies and caused them to fall to the ground instantly, the dark powers reanimating them standing no chance to the nullification. it didn't take long before the three had taken out all the zombies.
"Damn it, where'd he go off too," Asta said.
"Who?"
"There was a mage here, the one behind the zombies. He ran off after attacking a few kids. That coward!"
Leopold couldn't help but be amazed at what Asta could do. With just a sword and no magic, he brute-forced his way through the entire horde, leaving behind a pile of redead corpses. He couldn't fall behind to his new rival.
"Well, we should be after him. Is everyone else handling the zombies fine?"
"I think so, didn't seem like they caused much trouble, and we got enough magic knights here."
"Hey Asta, do you know if the rest of the black bulls are here. Pretty much our entire squad is here, so you may be able to get reinforcements from them."
"No it's just me and Noelle here today, I don't know how to call them."
"Aren't all magic knights supposed to carry a communicator? You know what, never mind that, I don't think we'll get reinforcements, we'll just have to do this ourselves."
"Not completely on your own," A voice called out. The rivals and captain turned around to find Lucy and Mimosa having just arrived. "We're fighting too. Especially since I can't make contact with my squad."
"Wait you can't?" Leopold and Fuegoleon asked.
"I've tried contacting everyone, even an emergency request straight to the captain. Nothing is working. We really need captain Vangeance to help out here. I'll come along unless we can call our squad out here. Let's get moving, I think I saw that mage head south towards the gates."
The five started heading south, and indeed it didn't take long to come across Rades. He was already resurrecting more zombies from the innocents he killed, and was standing over yet another little kid. The Vermillion brothers shot a quick burst of fire, taking out all the zombies and shielding the little girl.
"What's up magic knights? Have I killed too many Clover bastards yet? Well I'm not done, not until this kingdom doesn't exist. My hate carries on. Now, I summon thee, my great creation. Come forth, number 2, Alfred." How do you like this one, go get them Alfred!"
Asta wasted no time and charged straight ahead, but was met with a blast of lightning from the sky. This time, the zombie could fly and use devastating lightning. No matter how much Asta attacked, he couldn't land a shot on the flying target.
"Ha. How's that. Your antimagic doesn't matter if you can't hit your target. What are you going to do now?"
The answer was that he didn't need to do anything. Fuegoleon stepped in and disintegrated the zombie in one hit.
"I'm sorry Asta, but I had to interfere with your fight. You couldn't have won on your own. There's a reason magic knights always fight in teams. This is exactly that reason."
Rades spoke up again, "How did you do that. No matter, I won't lose to any magic knights, I still have my number one zombie left. Come forth, Carl!"
"Wow you're annoying to deal with. How many of those does he have?" Asta muttered. He was already tired from the past battles, but he had to keep going.
Fuegoleon, meanwhile, was eyeing the newest zombie in front of him. Shouldn't be much trouble, he thought. "Brother, are you doing fine?"
"Yeah, I got even more help here, we already took down everything here, coming over now," Leo responded.
Fuegoleon turned to face the creation and fired even stronger blasts of magic that had the area glowing for a minute. When the smoke settled, only a pile of ashes marked where the strongest zombie had stood. Leo had showed up at this point too, followed by Lucy and Mimosa. Rades was immediately put under bindings, and with him taken out, the zombies across the city fell apart and stopped fighting. Fuegoleon turned to Rades and demanded, "Now then, you're going to explain exactly what you're trying to do here. It's too organized for terrorists, but not enough to seriously be a threat to taking the capital."
"How do I put this. Do I really need any reason other than hating the Clover kingdom. You know, I was a magic knight once. No matter how strong I was, they never let me forget that I was a commoner and they kicked me out. How could they? I was the strongest of them, in a world where magic is everything, and they still kicked me out. They tried to banish me from the kingdom altogether. Damn nobles. Why shouldn't I pay back a kingdom that's done me this much wrong?"
Fuegoleon seemed ready to respond, but Lucy stepped in before he could start.
"Is that your best excuse? No really, you were mistreated, which is bad, so you decided to take it out on a bunch of civilians who had nothing to do with it. You didn't even stop for a minute to consider they're also commoners like yourself, going through the same things you are. How many of then tried to burn down the capital? Just you. Stop deluding yourself, you have no reason to be here. Now, this 'eye of the midnight sun' group you're a part of. What about them?"
"Hahaha, it's really simple isn't it. We came for you, Fuegoleon!"
"Say what?"
"Now, Valtos!"
Fuegoleon tried to respond, but Valtos, the other Eye of the Midnight Sun mage, was already in action. He teleported in front of the group, touched Fuegoleon's arm, and just as fast both of them disappeared.
"What did you do with him?" Leo demanded.
"Oh we just got what we wanted, so we won. As for the fire dude, well, we won't be fighting as a magic knight any longer."
"You'll pay for that!" Leo shouted. In his outrage, he prepared a spell to fire at Rades, who was already in bindings and completely defeated. Only Lucy stepping in to grab his arm stopped him from taking the shot.
"Damn it Leo, remember your brother's warning. We have to stay calm at times like this."
"Yeah, sure," Leo responded. However, internally, he was anything but calm. His older siblings, no matter how far away they were in terms of power levels, they were anything but that in familial love. Fuegoleon did so much for him, seeing him get taken away really hurt his own morale. Was this not what he trained for, to be able to stand with his brother in their time of need. Now, he was captured, and Leo could do nothing about it. Why did he have to be so weak, he kept thinking. I have to prove myself right now. "We'll leave him here with the others. Let's go to the gates, the other attackers should be there."
Meanwhile, Valtos was sitting on a roof in front of the gate of the city, feeling pleased at having completed the mission. The getaway for Rades would be tough, as would finishing up with the rest of these damn knights, but he could handle it. The rest would come for him, so he steeled up his resolve for a fight.
Indeed that happened. Lucy, Leo, and Noelle arrived at the front of the city, which seemed eerily quiet. No one noticed the man on a roof.
"Hey, isn't there supposed to be enemies here?" Noelle asked.
"There should be, I know there were other mages sighted here," Lucy said. "But where are they?"
That question didn't take long to answer, as a sign of magic appeared in the middle of the street. A spatial portal appeared, and it ejected a truly terrifying sight. There was Fuegoleon Vermillion, captain of the Crimson Lion kings, one of the strongest living mages, unconscious and disarmed. He was quite literally disarmed, as his right shoulder had a gaping wound spilling large amounts of blood. There was no right arm or hand in sight, the limb was cut clean off.
"FUEGOLEON!" Leo cried out in grief. There was his older brother, his mentor, fatally injured. How was that possible, he thought. There's no way. There's no way! Leo couldn't help but reminisce on the training sessions we would have with his brother, or how relaxed he was in the bathhouses afterwards. He was completely oblivious to the fight that just started to brew up around him. More of his could be injured and he wouldn't even notice it happened. He could only stare with blank eyes at the scene in front of him. What now? In the end, there was only one thought on Leopold's mind. Revenge. He would pay back those who took his beloved brother from him with a righteous fury.
Without thinking, he summoned some fire and held it to his forehead. He remembered what his brother told him about the Vermillion mark. It was an ancient tradition that members of the house would place a burn mark on their forehead when making an oath. The mark would serve as a reminder of the oath made, and would only be removed once the terms were complete. This was the time to make it. "I swear in accordance with our traditions that I will avenge my brother Fuegoleon. I will destroy those who dared to harm him, and welcome my brother when he wakes up as a grown and powerful man. This I swear." And he placed the mark on his forehead, the dark red diamond would be the reminder of this oath, and now was the time to live up to it. With renewed fury, Leopold stood tall against the new attackers Valtos and Sally, fire coating his arms as he prepared to attack. "I will DESTROY you all!" he screamed.
The battle started with a fury. Leopold shot straight at his attackers without a care in the world, just hoping to do as much damage as he can. Valtos attempted to teleport but was caught being too slow and took a direct spiral flames. He was pushed back and clearly hurt, but still up. Leo felt a sharp pain at his back, and turned to see another enemy mage shooting needles at him. He quickly got away, but had already taken one hit and was losing blood. Not good, he thought. I need to be even stronger. More power. "More power!" He screamed, and the fire exploded all around him. the support mages all couldn't defend against the storm, and got taken out. Only two were left, but they were both tough. Flame creation magic, ring of fire! he called out. This spell created a ring around him, protecting him from close range attacks while allowing him to get closer. He advanced on Sally this time, and attacked with yet another spiral flames. Sally simply summoned a sticky salamander and took the hit no problem.
"Well aren't you interesting, I'll have to dissect you later."
"Shut up," he grumbled. he was in no mood to talk. Instead, he continued on his fury march. Attack after attack failed to reach it's target, as Valtos's spatial or Sally's gel absorbed every hit, and Leo was tiring out fast. That needle left a bleeding would that hadn't stopped yet, and the pain was getting sharper. He had to keep going on.
"We have what we came for, let's leave already," Valtos said.
"No, I wanna play with him more," Sally responded.
"Don't be an idiot. We already broke Rades away, we just gotta get out of here and we'll have won. He's clearly weakened, just finish him off already Sally."
"Come on, you know it's not that easy."
The bickering continued a while longer, unheard by any other than the two. The fight kept dragging on, but Leo's rage could only go so far.
At the same time, Lucy was with Noelle, tending over Fuegoleon and trying to keep him alive. Lucy summoned her phoenix spirit, who was glad to be used outside a fight for once. When it came to healing, he truly shined. The wound was covered up in no time, and his grimoire stabilized. Of course, the man wasn't anywhere close to being awake, but as long as he didn't die, it was fine. Lucy left Noelle behind to guard Fuegoleon while she ran up to help Leo.
"Leo, can you hear me, you need to calm down and think it out. That was you brother's lesson, remember. You can't beat them with just rage."
Leo completely ignored the request and kept fighting like how he did before. It was a bit easier now that Lucy had joined in to allow him a 1v1 fight. He still couldn't land a finishing blow, though.
It was around this time that a newcomer had joined the battlefield. He was dressed in the same robes the other enemies wore, but he radiated power. In his hand was a four-leaf clover grimoire.
"Master, what are you doing here?" Valtos asked.
"I could not bear watching my followers be unable to escape after doing so well. I'll clean up the fighting. You there, royal. How do you answer to your kingdom's crimes. Is it the same way your brother did? With denial of wrongdoing?"
"Of course I deny it. Did you harm my brother?"
"Yes, I did. It was necessary for our grand plan."
"Then I have to take you out right here. I made an oath to avenge my brother, and I'm not going to let him down ever again, do you hear me!"
"Leo stop this now, you can't fight him. Calm down right now!" Lucy shouted in desperation. She knew that fighting someone that far out of your league when you're not in your best mental shape couldn't end well. He was so similar to Natsu here, charging headfirst at any enemy who harmed his family. Even Natsu lost some battles, especially when he wasn't thinking with a clear goal. Leo was too clouded by hate and vengeance to fight effectively, and Lucy rushed in with her whip to stop what she knew was the inevitable conclusion.
Light magic, Light swords of conviction
The sharp blasts of light were too fast for Leo to get around, and his headfirst attack was stopped as he found more holes going through his body. He collapsed onto one knee, unable to stand anymore.
"Do you not get it, the Clover kingdom must repent for its sins, and that starts by exterminating the corrupt royalty. Let it be known that Licht of the Eye of the Midnight Sun has started this uprising today. Light magic, Holy light sword" Licht grasped the sword of light, and at an impossible speed, shot forward and buried it straight into Leopold's chest.
"This is our revenge against those who have wronged us. The royals of the Clover kingdom will be the first to face our wrath."
Another person stood up to face him. It was Lucy. "He did nothing wrong. You're blaming him for what his ancestors may have done. I won't stand for that. I want justice in the Clover kingdom and your movement isn't it. As far as I'm concerned, you hurt my friends. I can't allow that to stand." Grand Celestial magic, Urano Metria. The explosion of magic rocked the city walls, and the sky looked like it was falling. Bursts of light took the shape of the stars and crashed all around Lucy, shredding the defenses of her enemies. When the dust cleared. Valtos and Sally were knocked out cold, and the buildings around her were nothing but rubble. Only Licht stayed standing, and he quickly gathered his unconscious followers and left. The capital was finally safe. Lucy ran back and looked at Leo. He still had a light sword impaling him straight through the chest, and Lucy knew there was little hope. All she could do was comfort him in his final moments.
Leopold's mind was running faster than ever before. How could he have failed here. He needed to do take action and he did. It didn't do anything. His thoughts were already slowing down as he heard muffled shouts from Lucy standing in front of him now, screaming in outrage. Somehow, she managed to calm herself down forcefully, though she was still clearly mad. Right, that's what he was missing, a calm mind. Fuegoleon had taught him that lesson how many times? He couldn't learn it. How could he learn it seeing his brother lying on the ground dying? No loving family member could look at that and not feel the dark thoughts of revenge. Well, might as well learn how to be calm now. For once, he was able to look past thoughts of revenge and calm down, and his heartrate dropped. Fine, he thought. I have to accept the results of today. I'll be back later, I don't just quit when facing difficulty. I'll see you again, brother.
With those thoughts fulling his mind, he fell into a peaceful sleep. He would never wake again.
AN:
Okay, that was a chapter. I went really far off from the standard writing style I've used, with reasons.
First off, you may notice I use a different naming scheme on the chapter title here. No point in numbering a one-off POV, and yes, I took inspiration from a song of ice and fire in using that style. This chapter is also entirely in 3rd person, which I used to create disconnect between the POV character and the reader. Unlike every other chapter of this story, you're not really getting a character study. Instead, 3rd person lets me focus more on interactions between characters, as well as let me write what's going on when the POV character is knocked out.
Now, the elephant in the room. Yeah, I killed off Leopold. I did so for a few reasons. It shows that there are serious consequences for mistakes, it drives the plot forward, gives Lucy a real reason to hate the Eye of the Midnight sun while making them more threatening villains, and it's painful on Lucy who watches since she saw him so similarly to Natsu.
Next chapter will deal with the aftermath, and also be highly emotional.