And now the battle for the city's defense commences, As Reynold pushes forward with his advance, the crew and the monster army already have their counterattack set up, all we have to do now...is see how it all plays out...
Chapter 57
The Holy Strikeback - part 3
Feoh's Castle, the main lobby...
When the Real Traysek and Greil made it downstairs, they were met by the crew, who all had confused expressions on their faces...
"Uh...Who are you exactly...?" Inigo asked, raising an eyebrow.
The blonde elf sighed, "It's me, Traysek..." getting surprised looks from almost everyone, "I know it doesn't look or sound like me, but that's because I'm in a flawless disguise~" turning one of his eyes crimson to emphasize the point.
Recorder whistled, "That... is an impressive disguise, we almost didn't even know who you were for a second,"
"I could feel the dragon aura, just thought it was strange at first," Yuriana added.
Lucien nodded, "Same, I can always tell when you're around, but you had us fooled when you walked up,"
"Honestly, I can't sense magic so you were under the radar to me, you're dark elf down to every detail," Erik nodded impressed.
Klein frowned, looking at the other "elf" "If you're Traysek, then who's that with you?"
"My apologies, I'm not trying to be an inconvenience." the other Dark Elf replied with a smile.
The disguised dragonborn chuckled, "Believe it or not, that shy bean right there is General Greil,"
"Are you serious? That's Queen Olga's general right there...?" The former asked, surprised, "Wow...What spell did you guys use? I've never seen a disguise that perfect..."
"It's an arcane spell," Greil answered, "Only milady knows its secrets."
"I see...interesting, wonder if she's got copies," Lucien wondered going in thought.
Inigo slowly nodded, "They're nice disguises, but why are you guys in them?"
"Ah~ glad you asked, Inigo," Traysek grinned, "Given that I'm sure you've heard the noise outside, We're in them because we're going to play off this holy commander's arrogance...Especially knowing who he is..."
Recorder blinked twice, "You guys already know who it is...?" raising an eyebrow.
"Indeed," Greil sighed, massing his forehead, "Although, I wished to evade him for quite a while."
At that moment, Sylla and Rela returned with three bottles of wine.
"Hey guys! Look at what I got!" the Tarnished showed them her bottles, "And they were very cheap!"
The blonde dark elf waved them in, "Hey ladies, you guys are just in time! didn't know you both stepped out though,"
"Heya-" Sylla was about to greet them until she stopped, "Who're you?" raising an eyebrow, while Rela simply stared at him.
Traysek facepalmed, "That's right, you wouldn't know who I am right now, wouldn't you?"
"I know he doesn't look or sound like him, but that's Traysek, Sylla," Yuriana pointed out, "He had us quite fooled for a second too, the other guy next to him, is General Greil,"
Sylla concentrated for a moment before saying, "Now I get it..."
"We're in disguise right now, because we plan on lulling the enemy commander into his own false bravado," The disguised Redguard informed.
Recorder nodded, "Right, which you were about to tell about...who is it?"
Traysek sighed deep with a smile, "Okay...so get this..." a smirk forming...
Moments after he told them...
"You can't be serious..." Sylla deadpanned.
The blonde dark elf shook his head sadly, "More than you, I wished it was a joke too, but yeah...that's Rey and his borrowed forces trying to break the wall down..."
The rest of the crew had annoyed expressions, Erik being the first to voice it...
"This milkdrinker again..." The nord groaned in frustration, "Boss...I have to ask...Why haven't we killed this guy already...? We have more than enough motives to do it... Obviously, you slamming him on his head repeatedly did nothing, and Dargo and I beating on him did nothing...At this point, he's bloody asking for it!"
Inigo nodded in agreement, "I second that Erik," looking at the dark elf, "Look, my friend, all you do is say the word and he's catching an arrow from somewhere high,"
"As much as I want to agree with you both, and the thought of me taking him behind a shed and putting two in his head, may or may not have crossed my mind a time or two...or several times...It's not that simple..." Traysek sighed deeply, "And I'm sure Swain's got a punishment already in mind for that mess..."
"The master is waiting for him to commit a crime that can't be reasoned with the war." Rela stated, "Taking him out is the simplest thing, but it will leave a bitter taste in how others see you. From what I collected, he's still appreciated by some people in Erdora, as well as the other kingdoms... Once it's all gone, the master will open a contract on him and his family."
Klein saddly nodded, "As much as don't like him, they're right...We can't butcher him like that without a cause...He is going according to the rules of war...Will I agree he's an ass about it? Yes...Do I think he needs to pay for what he's doing here; absolutely...Do I believe it may possibly take DEATH for him to learn...?" he paused for a second, "Maybe, but even so..."
"Right..." Erik sighed, "He's just aggravating to deal with!"
"I couldn't agree more Erik," Traysek groaned in agreement, "With that said, we've got duplicates out there playing along...If you see any of them leave, don't follow them...they know what they're doing...our true aim is to draw him and his main forces into an ambush and take it from there..."
"Got it," The dark knight nodded, "So what will the rest of us be doing?"
"Most of you will be assisting frontlines, You, Sylla, Erik and Yuriana will be assisting them there...pick a gate and stick to it..." Turning to Inigo, "You Inigo, will be assisting the bowmen on the walls...Good luck, that's where most of the heavier fire's going..."
"They'll have to try and hit me my friend," the blue khajiit chuckled, clearing his throat at the looks he was getting, "I mean, I'll do my best to help them,"
Traysek nodded, "Right, as for you Lucien, you'll be making sure that any civilians still lingering around get to safety, you can go alone, but your best bet is to find a rescue team and stick with them..."
"You got it, boss, I'll keep my eyes around the city for any..."
"As for you, Rela..." The Dark elf paused, "Stay close and watch our backs, how you do it is up to you," he smiled...
Rela nodded before hiding in his shadow.
Traysek blinked twice after, "Okay...taking the term "sticking to one's shadow" literally there," he chuckled, "Alright, with that all settled, Greil and I are going to blend in well with the guard force with our new names, I'm Going as Taevro and he'll going under as Fenak, so if you see US while you're there, do refer to us as those...At least until this is done... until then, get your posts, We'll all meet up later... Good luck all of you" he dismissed with a smile.
"Just promise us that you'll humiliate him good this time." Sylla chuckled as she put her helm on.
The blonde dark elf laughed, "Don't worry, Sylla. When we're done with him THIS TIME, he's not going to want to come out of that shitty fortress for some time..." before heading out of the doors with Greil.
At the city gates...
Rey watched as many from the alliance outside of the city walls tried to break them down, cannons erupted in loud gunfire while Catapaults launched rocks and large quantities of heavy metal as well as flammable barrels at them...And while the flames licked at the walls, they barely did the damage, making the commander grit his teeth while the defense forces at the wall were pelting arrows at them.
"Damn! Even with everything being thrown at these walls, they don't seem to be coming down!" He shouted.
The gate opened and the first wave of enemy footmen erupted, led by Niall.
Rey went wide-eyed when he spotted him, "Damn...of course they'd send Niall first...With him out here, who knows how this will go now...Gotta think..." going into thought.
"Should have known that he's a traitor." Marquel mumbled with a venomous tone before spotting someone, "Isn't that Princess Alicia?"
Rey frowned at that, using a telescope to zoom into her, surprising him when he saw what she had on...Her new armor, while somewhat a remnant of her old armor, had major changes, no longer was it a mix of dress and armor... her torso was fully covered, with full armor leggings, save for one being shorter than the other, showing a few curves along with a halberd she was armed with. But the main thing he noticed, was that she no longer wore her usual tiara...her hair was down and it was replaced with a new smaller tiara on her head as well as a small horn sticking outside of her hair.
"By the goddess..." He whispered, "That's definitely her, but why's she helping them...? To make up for her mistake?" with a shocked expression, "Or is she being blackmailed...?"
"I don't remember her being this strong..." Marquel sweated at how she was using the halberd.
"Me neither, it seems she's trained well with that weapon too," Rey commented, "Either way, it would be bad if we were caught by both of them before even getting in...They'll have to be heavily occupied with dealing our forces for that chance..."
"I hope that one of those two gets away already." Marquel sighed, "The sooner we get in the faster we'll conquer the city back."
Rey slowly nodded with narrow eyes on them, "Or at least enough from the gate...there's also the fact we haven't sighted the other two who are supposed to leave yet either, what's going on...?"
A thundering crash was heard as a familiar dark rider jumped into the fray, decapitating soldiers.
"That's..." Marquel began to sweat.
"Sylla..." Rey nearly growled with a scowl, "So she's here then that means..." spotting Erik, Yuriana, and Klein rushing to help her, "They're here too..."
"What do we do now?" his second asked.
The young commander hummed in thought, watching Erik smash his axe into a holy knight, before running over to Niall and Alicia, talking to them about...something, "Not sure yet...Looks like one of them is telling Niall something though, it's enough to garner the princess's attention..."
"Should we get ready to move?" Marquel asked.
Rey nodded, "Let the main force know we'll be ready to move soon, now that forces from Feoh's wall have shown up...Now the rest of the forces can start drawing them away...And since I see Yuriana down there, I think it's time for the silver axes to make their move on-"
Before he could finish, they both heard a dragon's roar, and glanced up to find a familiar armored wyvern flying around the city with its dragonborn rider, heading towards them...
"About time...Look who's here..." he sweated, watching the armored winged beast divebomb into a catapult, smashing it to pieces with a powerful slam and in the process taking out the platoon around it, rising back up to the sky.
"Let's move now!" Marquel urged, "The longer we stay, the fewer chances we get to get in!"
"Agreed," Rey concurred, "Soon they'll lead him to where we've set the trap and it won't take long for Greil to leave, let's go, gather the men!"
Marquel nodded and they both went to gather the men.
"The enemy began their moves..." a Dark Blade was hidden in the shadows, "General, they've taken the bite," she said to a communication crystal.
"Good," the disguised general replied, "Follow them and make sure that everything goes well for them."
Once Reynold assembled his men, they made their way to the aqueduct around the side of the wall, finding it to be still intact...
"Good, glad they haven't sealed this off," The young commander said, grabbing the grating cage, and yanking it out, letting his forces in, before being the last, pulling the grate closed when he entered the tunnel.
A little after they got in, they began to sink into the water as it was at their torso level.
"Get ready to hold your breath," Rey informed them, "But not for long, the way to the well from here is a short one, be prepared for anything!" as the water overtook them...
Feoh, town center well...
At the well, Rey was the first one out, checking around to ensure it was safe...
"Okay, it's clear, get up here!" Extending his hand into the well, pulling Marquel out...
In an alley, two Dark Elves were hiding.
"He's here... are you ready?" one of the two asked the other.
The blond dark elf smirked, "About time...Let's do this!"
After waiting for all the knights to be out, the two elves walked in, as they were on patrol.
"Okay, now that we're in, we have two objectives," Rey said while facing his men, "To secure the city and find the traitor Beasley, who's amongst them..."
"Ho~?" They all heard, turning to the direction of two dark elves on patrol, the blond one stepping forward...
"Looks like some rats got in, eh Fenak?" Taevro chuckled, as the holy knights drew their swords.
The other Dark Elf, Fenak, narrowed his eyes, "The general trusts us to keep this city clean, so let's make sure to get rid of them."
Rey bared his teeth, drawing his new sword, "Damn...! I thought we would've gotten in without any problems...Take them out!" he ordered.
"Make sure to leave one alive!" Marquel smirked, "We're going to need a guide."
"You humans are going nowhere!" The blond elf loudly declared, drawing his greatsword.
"I'll gladly take your head as a trophy." the other Dark Elf pulled his halberd from its sheathe.
Battle theme: FF15 caravaning into danger
When Rey and his boys charged at them, the blond dark elf unleashed a cone of wind magic at them, exploding in a violent gust, leaping at the commander.
Said commander gritted his teeth and rolled out of the way of the attempted smash with a side roll, getting back to his feet and going for a swing, getting parried, "Damn!" pushing back against the elven solder and going for a neck slice, which also got deflected when his opponent tightened his stance.
Fenak slashed one of the knights, before stomping the ground, creating a wave that threw some knights away, he then parried an attack before using his shoulder to push his attacker away.
"Go help Rey!" Marquel ordered as he charged Fenak.
The knights quickly rushed to help their commander, who got shoved back by a swing from the greatsword wielder with a gust... The first knight attempted to lunge at the elf, only to be sidestepped, and tripped by the smirking Taevro, using the butt of his sword to send him to the ground. The second knight gave an angered shout, prompting the others to charge at their opponent at the same time.
Rey struggled to stand up, checking his armor to see if he'd gotten cut, finding himself to be oddly fine, 'Looks like I shook that off just fine, looks like this new armor is coming in handy, too bad it's barely doing anything to these guys...' Gritting his teeth until he thought of something, 'Or at least...Not yet...' picking his sword back up, making his way to the distracted blonde elf guard, who was busy fighting off his men.
Fenak noticed him before pushing Marquel away, "You won't!" he then charged toward the auto-proclaimed commander.
Deciding that he's had enough of being made a fool, Rey went for a charging stab, while Taevro, cut down the next knight, unbeknownst of the other elf charging at him.
Fenak stomped the ground, causing a stele of earth to launch him toward Rey, sending the knight in a wall, "Now, your fight is with me." readying himself.
Rey groaned, staggering as he stood, looking back at the impact point on the building wall, glancing back at the elf who was waiting on him, and getting back into a stance with a glare, "Okay, then you'll be first today!" building up golden energy in his new sword and discharging powerful sword waves at Fenak, going in for a rush after.
"Hmph, pathetic." the Dark Elf struck each wave, destroying them with his weapon before charging at the knight, giving him a flurry of precise strikes that had no openings to be exploited, 'It's still early, two more minutes before that they're in place...'
Rey was put on defense, doing his best to block and/or dodge some of the rapid blows from his elven enemy...' Damnit! the longer this drags out, the more likely the minister escapes...I've got to figure out a way to get past this, or they'll ruin everything...!' leaping back from the assault.
The blond dark elf, ducked a sword swing, retaliating with a blast of concentrated winds, slicing up and blasting away the next knight, 'Just a little more time... the ambush should be ready by now...' Inner Traysek's voice mused.
A finch flew around before landing on a barrel.
'They're ready!' Fenak narrowed his eyes before stomping the ground, sending Rey to a wall, rending him unconscious, 'Considering that I stopped him last time, there's a high chance that I'll get targeted next...' he then turned and rushed to help the other Dark Elf.
Taevro gave a hard swing that knocked away Marquel, leaving a deep slice into his armor as he spotted the Fenak rejoining him.
"That didn't take long, he must've not been that good of a commander eh?" The blond smirked.
"If I try to compare him to the actual commander in this city, I'd feel like insulting commander Niall." Fenak spat with a disgusted face before turning to face Marquel, "Now, We have some questions regarding your forces..." He lifted his weapon, "One wrong answer and I'll cut you down, sending your soul to the god of Death."
The said knight looked concerned before noticing something, "L-look, you don't have to do this, l-let's just forget everything and let us go, alright?"
The blond dark elf raised an eyebrow, "Are you serious? After all of this? Wow, the bare bones of the alliance..." shaking his head, "I guess it's best to kill one and start from there, Fen,"
While this was happening, Rey had quickly regained consciousness, coughing when he awoke to two elven soldiers questioning his men, gritting his teeth and grabbing his sword, easing his way over there towards the dark haired elf, without drawing too much attention to himself...
Once he had gotten close enough, he gave a growl as he ran Fenak through the back, getting the other's attention...
"Fen!" the blond elf shouted, glancing up towards the young commander responsible once wounded man dropped to floor, "YOU!" he shouted, blasting him back with a large gust of wind.
"Guh!" Rey grunted, going into a wall once again.
The blond elf quickly hardened his guard, defending the downed soldier, glaring at the rest of the knights surrounding him, "You damned humans! Resorting to a dirty trick like that...Don't you have any honor in that sword of yours?!"
"Drop the weapon!" Marquel ordered, his polearm ready to end the fallen Dark Elf.
Taevro narrowed his eyes, glancing at Fenak who gave a subtle nod, sighing and dropping the sword with his hands up, "Alright, fine...You win... We surrender..." in a faux sullen tone.
Rey huffed, putting a hand up, ordering them to stop, "Do you mean that... Do you? After how you were tossing us around, I had this pegged ending differently!"
"Yes, I mean it, please..." The dark elf pleaded, "Whatever you need me to do, I'll do it...But let me look at his wounds...!"
The young commander thought about it, "Very well...Since things have..." looking around, "Changed here in Feoh, we need a guide to get us through the city...If you agree to that...I'll let you tend to your buddy...Deal?" he asked.
The dark elf soldier thought about it, and slowly nodded, "You have a deal...Human..."
"Tend to your man, we'll wait..." Rey said with authority, "But not too long, so...do hurry up...Lest my second gets impatient"
'Oh fuck off...'
"Y-you got it...!" Taevro agreed, quickly going over and kneeling over Fenak, "Please...tell me they're ready, Greil..." in a low whisper.
"They sent the bird, everything's ready." Fenak replied, "That's why I lowered my guard."
"Good...Then it's time for the second part of our plan..." Taevro whispered, activating the healing magic, "How's your back though... Are you really okay...?"
"It takes more than that to actually harm me." Fenak assured, "Besides, we still need to appear at their mercy, so don't completely heal it. With some luck, the Adventurer's guild would have sent him to assist in this mission."
"Let's hope so, and I'm almost done semi-healing it," Taevro assured, finishing up with the healing, leaving the wound semi-healed...
"Are you ladies done yet? or Are you both thinking about making out...?" Rey sardonically spat, getting his men to laugh with him.
"I'm done! Thank you human, for allowing me the chance," The blond elf responded with.
"Don't push it, the only reason I let you, was because you agreed to help us around the city, nothing more..." The young commander.
"Yes yes, I haven't forgotten," Taevro waved off, "Let me guess, you're looking for the prime minister, aren't you?"
Rey paused at that, raising an eyebrow, "Yeah...That's right, and judging from how you just called that out just now, I assume you know where he is, correct?"
"I...May know his whereabouts, yeah..." The blond elf started with.
"I'm sorry..."you may know...? Really..." Rey stated with a slight growl, "Your buddies life depends on you knowing, dark servant... so unless you want to carry a body back with you, you better be absolutely sure..."
"Okay yes, I know where your minister is," Taevro admitted, "He's...Actually not that far from here, protected by the rest of our troop, our general orders..."
Rey slowly nodded with a pursed lips, "Of course he would...Alright, I'm willing to bet, you two are from that post, right?"
"Yeah...That's right..."
"Now see? If you had been this cooperative...there wouldn't been a need for any of this...But regardless, I'm not one to look opportunity in the mouth, take us there, and don't let him know we're coming, I want it to be a suprise..."
'I can't wait until you see yours... toy commander...Heheheheh~' Inner Traysek laughed devilishly, 'Hohohoho! I really can't...I'm recording it too...'
Taevro nodded, "Of course, but one condition," pointing down at Fenak, "He has to come too, no exceptions, we've been friends for years, I'm sure you can relate...He's marrying my sister tomorrow..."
"Congrats...I guess...?" Rey frowned, taking a deep sigh, "Fine...He can come, but he's being watched and his weapon confiscated, understood?"
"Would have it no other way," The Blond elf agreed, helping him stand up, as two holy knights took the halberd, "Alright, let's head back, Fenak," smirking when both of them were faced away.
"This is getting easier now that we got them." Marquel laughed, "Although, why bother letting them go afterward. If we keep them alive, we can have do more than finding the prime minister, we can reclaim the city."
Rey waved him down, "Be patient, this is but only the first step, driving off the birds of prey will be harder...But for all intents and purposes, this worked out well..."
'Consider it your LAST step kiddo...' inner Traysek chuckled.
Taevro was the first ahead, "Follow us please, and do keep up,"
"Get going," Rey shot back venomously, shoving him forward...
At a warehouse...
The doors open with Taevro and Rey standing outside of it, the former nodding his head towards the inside...
"He's in here, after the battle of Feoh, our forces have been keeping him in there, thought it was best after we found his involvement with the dogs..." The blond elf explained.
Rey gave a skeptical stare, "Hmm...Are you sure he's in there...? this looks sketchy, how do I know this isn't a trap?"
"Look, believe what you want, but I'm telling you, he's in there," Taevro shot back with an unamused look, "Do you want your traitor minister or not?"
"Of course I do, it's just..." The young commander paused, looking the warehouse back over, "It's just a rather sketchy place you kept him...can't help but feel uneasy..."
"Well the people he deals with are even more, a fitting place, don't you think?" The blond elf chuckled.
"The word you're looking for is, "Ironic", and yes it is, lead the way," Rey smiled, gently pushing him in.
Marquel continued to walk, narrowing his eyes, "Something doesn't add up... Beasely isn't the kind to accept this..." he thought until they stopped, "What does it mean...?"
"Either Beasley's adapted some new tactics which if memory serves..." Rey went on with, remembering how it went the last time, "Is more likely, however the possibility of this being a trap is also up in the air, we'll see...
They were led to the center of the warehouse, where the lights shut off...
"What the hell?! what happened to the lights?!" The young commander cursed, unable to see.
There was a loud "woosh" with a large breeze hitting the knights, before the lights turned back on, with Taevro and Fenak gone...
"Hey! guys! where'd you'd two go?!" Reynold called out, getting no answer.
"Well, it would seem that it went as I said it would." Fenak walked forward with some Kletzkriegs behind him.
"Aye, that you did and to think it went that smoothly..." Taevro said, leaning against the far wall with Rela, "Then again, we're dealing with the smooth brained knight..."
Rey gritted his teeth, "What's the meaning of this?! I thought you guys were going to lead us to Beasley!"
"And why should we?" Fenak raised an eyebrow. "You believe you have some sort of power over us? I could find that amusing if it wasn't insulting."
"What?!" Rey growled, "That a lot coming from a guy who just got ran through!"
Taevro chuckled, "ooooh~ Really feeling yourself there huh? Stabbing a guy when we wasn't looking, bravo~" sarcastically clapping, "Yeah...We'd sooner get crushed in stampede before helping a hopeless commander like you, whelp..."
"Shut the hell up!" Said commander snapped, before noticing who was with him, "And YOU...I know you... You're Traysek's meat rider... What? Is your boss to afraid to face me himself...?"
"I think I heard a disgusting cockroach buzzing just now." Rela stated as she looked toward Taevro, "I feel like I'm gonna hurl for some reason."
The blond elf laughed, "Funny Rela, but that sound is more akin to a dying boar, at least cockroaches are intelligent, can't say the same for him," getting a chuckles from the kletzkreig.
Rey had a tickmark on his cheek, "Ha ha ha...Keep making your jokes, elf...You'll pay for leading us here!"
"I doubt that...And believe me, we haven't begun to reach the end of this punchline yet, speaking of which..." Taevro paused turning to Fenak, "Are we done, toying with this twink...?" pointing at him.
"Twink?!" Rey repeated, baring teeth.
"Yeah...Twink" Taevro shot back with, turning back around to dark elf he was speaking to, "Are we done toying with him...?"
"Since he believes that I'm weak... maybe that I should get a little more serious." Fenak looked at Rey in the eyes, "After all, we haven't finished our little duel, did we? he walked forward before stopping, "Of course, if you're afraid that you won't be able to win against me alone, you can surrender here and now."
"As if, you've already tasted my blade once, I'll fight as long as he doesn't jump in," Rey agreed, nodding his head towards the blond.
Taevro threw his hands up, "No need, I know for a fact he doesn't need the help, you might though..." with a smirk.
"Well now," Fenak smiled at Rey, unarmed and not showing any kind of defensive pose, "Feel free to begin."
Rey thought for a moment, getting into his stance, 'He's really going to take me without any weapons...? It's almost funny...and familiar...This reminds me of someone...' thinking back on his first fight against Traysek, before shaking it out of his mind, "Alright, I hope you're ready!" going for a powerful thrust.
The Dark Elf waited before the sword got near him, stepped aside, and let the knight go forward.
"Very easy to read," Fenak commented, still smiling.
"Whelp that's one..." Taevro commented, "Will he come back for a counter?" as if announcing a sports game...
Rey caught himself mid-slide, turning at Fenak with a powerful turning slash...
Said Dark Elf stepped back before waiting for an opening and kneed Rey's stomach, "I wonder who gave you such training that screams 'Hit me'."
Surprisingly, Rey went down a knee, grasping his stomach, to learn how to rebreathe, "H-How...Did you knee me past my armor...?" he panted, struggling to stand, retaking his stance, 'Let's see how you deal with this...!' Charging up his sword, rushing at the elf with a barrage of strikes.
"I wonder if this is the best you can do..." Fenak looked bored and insulted, "I thought that you'd be able to impress me with something new... but it was my mistake for having such high expectations..." he then took a step back before charging a punch, landing directly on his jaw, sending him flying further away into the distant wall.
When he crashed against it this time, he left an even bigger dent than the last wall he was flung into, slumping to the ground face down seemingly out...
"And he's down! I repeat the rookie commander is down!" Taevro cheered, as the kletzkreig applauded, "But folks, can he stand back up? Let's a give ten shall we? One! Two! Three! Four! Fiv-"
At that, the Downed commander started to spark back to life, taking even longer to get back to his feet, spitting out blood...grabbing sword.
"Hold that count folks! looks like he's still got some fight in him, but can he turn the tide...?" The blond elf announced with an eyebrow raised.
Rey glared hatefully at him, "I ain't...*Huff* Done yet...Hold...that damned bell..." he growled, "You wanna see something new...? Something different...? Fine..." turning the sword downward as it glowed and stabbed the ground with it, which caused the entire floor light up all over...
"Uh...folks uh...what the hell is this?" Taevro sweating, "Uh...H-hey buddy? Y-you can relax now, we were just playing a pra-"
The young commander gave a snarl as he harshly pushed the blade deeper, engulfing the entire room in a golden light...
From outside, a large blast of powerful holy magic fired up into the sky, visibly to everyone outside, which went on for a second until it went out...
Back in the smoking warehouse, he huffed and puffed, "How's that for new?!" he finally snapped, as the smoke started clearing.
Fenak was standing with a sphere of holy energy in his hand, giving a disappointed look, "I fought knights who could do better than... this." he sighed before adding, "If only you had something that'd legitimate your title... but we have nothing..." sighing again.
Rey had a look of both shock and horror etched on his face, "What...How's that...How?!"
When the smoke finished clearing for the rest of the room, Taevro covered his eyes with one hand while his other covered Rela's, taking them both down. "Oh...! By the Earthmother, we're not disintegrated!"
At that point, he gritted his teeth with a small sweatbead dropping, charging up energy in his sword once more, "Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" discharging a volley of holy fire from the sword, "WHY WON'T YOU FALL?!" as the blasts bounced off the elf.
Fenak sighed with a sad look, almost crying, "I had such high hopes for this fight... that I feel like I could die of boredom at any moment..."
Taevro sighed deeply, facepalming, "So, he's resorted...the desperate barrage...that usually never works...Well now..." giving Fenak a sympathetic smile, "Fen...I believe it's past his bedtime...tuck him in please..."
Tightening his hand, Fenak generated lightning and went for a punch square in the face.
In slow motion, the punch landed on Rey's jaw, sending a wave through his face. It rocketed into the same wall with ever greater force, this time with a hard crash. When the smoke cleared, he lay out in a sitting position, his eyes shadowed over.
"KO!" The blond elf cheered, as the crowd of Kletzkreig went wild with excitement, "Fenak is the winner! and with a Flawless victory to boot!" Before sadly smiling "This by far has been the saddest fight to be a referee on..."
After taking a deep breath, Fenak ordered, "Capture them... they'll be war prisoners"
As the Kletzkreig moved to secure and arrest the holy knights, Taevro yawned and stretched his arms, walking up to Fenak...
"That was...Surprisingly easy...Sorta feels like we overprepared now..." he commented.
Fenak sighed before saying, "Let's head back to the castle..."
In the frontlines...
As the battle was leaning toward the monster army's favor, a loud crash was heard, as a large shadow was hidden by smoke.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Dargo began to sweat.
Record slashed an oncoming holy knight down, before glancing in the direction, that loud crash came from, spotting a familiar centaur...
"Oh shit...Our centaur friend is back..." She gulped.
The monstrous Centaur roared before breathing black fire on everyone in front of him.
"We need to retreat..." Dargo narrowed his eyes, "Only the general, or your captain, can face him."
Recorder watched the damage it was doing, before slowly shaking her head, "As much as I want to, Dargo, the Boss and your general are tied up with dealing with their commander, in disguise, they're not going to be able to deal with him...However, we might have the advantage this time...I'm sure we weren't the only ones that heard that..." Pausing, "One's things for sure, we can't let him in the city..."
Dargo noticed that there was someone standing near the Centaur.
"Who is that?" the Dark Elf wondered out loud.
Recorder narrowed her eyes on the newcomer next to him, dressed like a merchant, "I'm not sure...But I don't think he's on our side,"
"He does seem to be taking notes... could it be..." Dargo widened his eyes.
She slowly nodded, "That's not your imagination, he's taking test notes...This is an experiment...Now who's? that's question...But either way, we'll need to bring him down...possibly without killing him, easier said than done..."
"Before doing that, we'd need to deal with that Centaur first." Dargo pointed as the mutated Centaur threw some sort of yellow flames from his eyes on all the troops, Holy Knights and Monster Army.
"I meant him, but the scientist over there can get captured too," Record concurred, pulling out two throwing knives, "Get ready, once I get his attention, We'll lure him to our other friends, increase our chances in taking him down,"
Dargo nodded before crouching and his hand hovering above the handle of his sword.
After the monstrous centaur stopped raining yellow flames on both forces, two poisoned daggers bounced of his skin in the sides, the culprit standing there holding another.
"Remember me...? We have a score to settle," Record taunted, putting the dagger away, breaking into a run from it.
The Centaur roared before charging toward her.
She did her best to keep her distance as she ran, firing shots from her ebony pistol to keep him drawn, jumping over a barricade which he smashed through, running over a squad of holy knights in the process... Record had her calling stone out as she continued to flee, activating it...
"Guys! that centaur I was telling you about is back and stronger!" ducking from an attempted swing from it, throwing a knife back at it, "I'm bringing him towards you all now, get ready for a fight!" diving over a gout of black fire he spat at her, heading towards the other side of the wall...
At the Vanguard, Erik, Yuriana, Klein and Sylla, joined by Zephyr, were fighting back droves of Samurai who had tried to invade from that entry, the dark knight ducking from a beheading swing from one of them, returning the favor with a flail smash to side of his helmet, giving a downward final swing killing him.
"You guys all got that call right?" He asked them.
Erik shoved back a ronin with a harsh bash, giving a harsh calf hack with his gun-ax, taking off the leg of his opponent sending him down, with the nord finishing with a gunshot from it, "Yeah! Recorder's got something following her, a monster centaur I believe? she mentioned him before, hope she leads him here!" swinging his ax into the neck of a holy knight, ripping it out.
"Assuming she leads him in the right direction!" Yuriana added, harshly slamming the hammer into the helmet of an oncoming samurai.
Zephyr exchanged some attacks with a Naginata samurai before gusting him to a wall with enough force that he died on impact, "What?" she turned to the others.
"I'm hoping to see it soon." Sylla commented, "Maybe that it'll be a challenge."
A few minutes after, and she appears from around the corner, dive rolling from an attempted smash from the chasing centaur...
Klein looked up, spotting her heading towards them, "Guys, she's here and she's brought company alright, hoo boy..."
Erik frowned as he watched the massive centaur run down both holy knights and monster forces going after her, "I see a centaur, going to assume that's him,"
"Gods he's big...and I mean in size," Yuriana gasped, watching how mad in the face he was, "And he seems to be crazy too...What's wrong with him?"
"Mutation..." Zephyr scowled, "Must be related to someone known as the Doctor."
"As the who-now?" Erik asked with a furrowed brow, "How come we've never heard of this..."Doctor" until now?"
Yuriana took a stance, "Erik we'll have to worry about that later, here they come now!"
Once the centaur closed in on Recorder, he tried to grab her, only to miss when she weaved and jumped out of the way, tossing a smoke bomb at him, blinding him and anyone caught in it...
The Centaur roared, creating a familiar effect, clearing the smoke, that some members of the crew remembered as it killed a lot of soldiers of both camps.
Recorder landed next to Erik and Yuriana, huffing out of breath...
Battle theme: Chrono Trigger- Boss 1 ost
"D-damn! That roar is a lot like Clear skies, didn't think he'd be able to do that," She panted.
"Neither did we! Glad you made it here though," Klein greeted, watching the Centaur near them, "Heads up!"
Erik quickly went for the interception, cutting him off with his shield and holding him at bay, gritting his teeth, "Damn it...Bastards heavy...! Yuri!" he called out, being pushed back.
Wasting no time at all, Yuriana moved in with a blow wound up from her hammer, gave a hard swing, knocking back the mutated Centaur with a heavy hit, sending him sliding back slightly.
The Centaur winded up before breathing a heavy load of black flames.
"Everyone move!" Record screamed, as the entire crew all ran and jumped to the sides, evading the powerful flames, that ended up crashing against the wall, severely scortching it.
When he slammed down, a wave of burning blood erupted and headed toward them.
Erik looked up from his cover to find a massive tidal wave of blood growing twice to the size of the city walls, "Uh, guys? Look up..."
Recorder broke into a cold sweat, "I...Don't remember him being able to do that before..."
"He didn't do that last time...This is new?!" Yuriana asked with a look of shock as it towered them.
Klein had a look of horror, "Oh...Not good, that's enough to blanket the entire city...Everyone brace!" grabbing a shield as the wave of blood neared them.
Instead of feeling all that blood, the all saw it being stopped by Sylla's gravity magic.
"E-Everyone go inside!" she gritted her teeth, "I can't hold on for much longer!"
The members of the crew as well as a few monster forces did just that, Erik being the last one there...
"What about you?!" he asked, "How are you getting out of that?"
"Don't worry about me and go!" feeling that she's about to be overwhelmed.
The nord sighed deeply, shaking his head, "Fine, but don't die! I don't want to be the one to tell him...!" fleeing with the others towards the walls, heading through the gates.
Sylla smirked as she let the blood fall on her, "Me and death are old friends..." blood exploding from her and her body turned into dust.
The entire tidal wave fell over, drenching the nearly the entire field in scorching blood...Those that were unlucky enough to remain out in the open, when coated in the blood, had the same reaction as Sylla did, minus turning to ash, leaving bloody messes of both Holy Knights and monster soldiers.
The crew members who hid behind the large walls, came back out with the remnants of the monster force, finding the carnage before them...
"By the gods, that one attack..." Erik gasped, looking around at the corpses, some were alive but in severe agony with large bleeding holes in different parts of their bodies...
Klein whistled, "Glad we weren't caught in that, that would've been nasty..." he winced.
Recorder huffed, "Yeah, but look what it's done...So many weren't as luck as we were,"
"where's Sylla? Wasn't she holding up that blood wave? Please tell me she made it out," Yuriana asked, concerned.
Erik simply shook his head with his eyes closed, "I...Don't think she made it out of that..."
"Gods..." Yuri responded with, sadly sighing, "Who's gonna break the news after then...?"
Record was about to answer until the roar of the centaur got their attention, "We'll have to figure that out, after dealing with him...Here's hoping Dargo's done on his end..."
There was a shining burst of light as Sylla reappeared, "Seems like that trick still works..." she walked forward, "You're still alive, huh?"
The Nord nodded, "Yeah we are and-" his eyes went wide at the familiar tone as the rest of theirs did, turning around, "-By the gods, how are you alive right now...? I saw you go out, gruesomely..."
The Tarnished laughed and said, "I'm a Tarnished, which means that I can get back to life at the last Site of Grace that I've visited. Besides, dying of Bloodloss isn't new to me, and the pain is quite fast... Deathblight on the other hand..." she then shuddered, "Painful even after getting back to life."
Recorder sweatdropped, "I can imagine...It sounds painful enough," shuddering with her.
"Still, if that's what you meant about your Grace, that's impressive..." Yuriana added in.
Klein nodded, "I agree, but what's the plan with dealing with him?" He asked nodding his head towards the Rampaging Centaur, "So far, normal attacks don't hurt him...Atleast individually..."
"I remember you being able to hurt him with that hammer of yours Yuri, if that's the case...Then it's going to take a massive impact to bring him down..." thinking on something, :I have an idea...Try hitting him again, Yuri, and this time..." looking at Zephyr, "Try picking him up with your winds once she does, and lift him high, the fall from that alone should be enough to weaken him enough for Recorder to finish this, If not, Sylla, can hold him down with gravity ensuring that..."
"That's if he doesn't have something to counter it." Sylla stated, "Now, he knows that Yuri can hurt him. And if I have to guess, that's why he used both Godslayer and Blood Flames."
The nord thought on that, "Good point...Do you have something better in mind?"
Sylla sighed as she said, "I don't know... with something that we can't predict, we must be on our guards..."
"That's obvious, but we still need a plan," Erik responded with, sighing.
Klein looked at the legs of the centaur, an idea coming up, "Looking at his legs, gives me an idea, but it's risky..."
"What's the idea? Sounds like you've got something in mind there," Yuri asked with an eyebrow raised.
"I just might..." The dark knight answered, narrowing his eyes on the monstrous centaur, "There are some terrain that normal horses can't run on, because of the damage and pain it'll cause their hooves...Willing to bet, it's the same for Centaurs too..." going into thought, "If we can get him to some uneven ground, or just a rocky plain, that plan of yours might just work, even if he resorts to those attacks again..."
"You want an uneven ground?" Sylla asked.
Klein nodded, frowning, "Yeah...But that's gonna be hard with how even the plains are around the city, unless you've got something for that," raising an eyebrow at her.
Sylla cracked her neck as she walked forward, "Step back... this won't be pretty." gravitational magic increasing around her.
The others got back, as her magic began to crackle and draw up the ground...
She lunged up, spinning, before landing next to the Centaur, deforming the landscape and generated a powerful earthquake.
The ground shook violently for a bit, causing both Alliance forces and Monster forces along with the crew and centaur to all stumble...The centaur even more so...
"Looks like that did it," Klein grinned, turning to Erik, "Alright Erik, time for you and me to draw it's attention,"
Erik nodded, drawing back out his shield, "You got it! let's go!" rushing out of the walls with him, beating on his shield, getting the centaur's attention, "Hey! over here big guy!" clanging the ax against the shield, "You don't look so big, come and get me!" hardening his stance.
The Centaur roared as his muscles increased, his skin turning black, and horns erupting from his body.
"He... he looks like an Omen now," Sylla mumbled before getting a breath of sick yellow flames on her.
Yuriana furrowed her brow, "Looks like he's hardened his defense But... what all have they done to this guy...?" charging her hammer with mystic energy.
"Not sure, but here he comes!" Recorder shouted, watching build up a charge.
Instead of charging right away, he build up gravitational energy before charging toward the group.
"Watch out!" Zephyr created a multiple-layered barrier made of wind to protect the others.
When he collided with the barrier, the impact nearly blew them away due to the gathered gravity magic, shaking the ground... Only a thin layer remained on wind wall with the centaur slightly dazed.
Recorder who had been knocked over, struggled to stand back up, "D-damn! that would've been a game-ender for sure..."
"No kidding, but looks like that also had an effect, he looks dazed, now's the time!" Erik Shouted, going for a hard shield bash, as Klein rushed from the side...
The Centaur's eyes snapped open before that an explosion of black flames occurred from him.
The force from that blew both of them away, scorched by the black flames... Yuri, now in her beserk state, closed in with a blow wound up, hammer full of mystic energy and eyes aglow, going for upper swing while giving a yell as her muscles bulged, Connecting the blow to the torso of the centaur, feeling the flames licking at her, as she sent him upwards, leaving a massive shockwave as she did, "Go for it Zephyr...!" batting flames off her arms.
Concentrating so much as her arms began to inflate and blood began to come out of her ears, eyes and nose, "I... must... do it!" sending him further in the sky.
Now high in the air, the wind pressure died down, and the monstrous Centaur came falling, crashing hard to the ground, leaving behind a large dirt cloud...
Once it cleared, the centaur was down for the count, huffing as it laid...
Theme ends...
Erik and Klein had recovered, the nord with a singed right cheek armor, and while Klein's armor was charred and crumbling, rejoining the group who was over the downed brute...
Slow clapping was heard as someone was approaching them, "Bravo, Bravo! What an exciting experiment it was! I must thank you for your help."
the group tiredly turned to the source of the voice, finding a holy officer applauding them, the nord narrowing his eyes...
"Oh yeah? And who are you supposed to be? From the looks of it, I'd assume you're an officer," Erik said, with a suspicious stare.
Klein frowned at him, "He is...But he's not an officer I recognize..." narrowing his eyes.
"He's not?" Recorder asked, getting a headshake in confirmation.
"What is your business here, "officer"...? Are you connected to this...?" Yuriana asked, motioning her head towards downed centaur.
"If you want to use a name for me, you can use Officer Frowl," the officer replied, smiling, "From what I see, one of you has a divine weapon, and he unfortunately lacked the intellect to use gravity to take you out. Things that must be added..."
"That way of talking... you're not a soldier..." Zephyr stated, too tired to even move.
Erik caught her before she fell, "Easy there, Wild flower~ You've done plenty today..." in a calming voice, directing his attention back on the holy knight, "And as for you..."Officer frowl" If that's really your name, that centaur was an experiment of yours...? What all did you guys do to him?"
"A thing here, another one there." the officer replied, "Now, as much as I'd love to talk academics with you, I have more things to attend." walking toward the fallen Centaur.
Klein went wide-eyed, "Hey! where do you think you're go-" he went to say, but...
"What are you going to do, try to hit me?" the officer asked, laughing, "I'm giving this one chance to go and recover, so don't be stupid and waste it."
The dark knight stopped, looking back at the others, finding most of them to be winded, Erik nodding in confirmation... Eventually, Klein sighed in defeat, standing back as the officer made it over to the centaur...
"Now then, I bid you adieu." the officer disappeared with the Centaur using some statics.
"If only we knew where they went..." Zephyr panted, "I have a feeling that next time we see that Centaur, he's gonna be far more stronger than now..."
"That's why I left a mark on him." Sylla walked forward.
Recorder sighed in relief, putting her swords away, "Hopefully, we'll be ready for him by then...Now, I'm just wondering if Dargo took down the other guy, I'm sure there's been plenty of time..."
Klein put away his flail, "Was it really wise letting him go...? He's got our fighting methods now too,"
"It's...okay, Klein..." Erik assured, "We've already won, there was no point in starting another fight, especially as worn down as we are...Getting him off the battlefield was the point, either we do it or they do it..."
Yuri gave the dark knight a pat on his shoulder, "Besides...We would've either captured or killed him anyway... If they want him back, they can have him for now...Next time he shows, we won't give him the opportunity...Especially if the boss or General Greil fights him with us..."
"The problem would be if they also get a sight at their fighting styles." Sylla pointed, "We need to find wherever they're doing these experiments, and shut it down for good."
Record thought on something, "I wonder...could they be connected...? This guy we fought and those other two soldiers that gave me and dargo a hard time in the feoh battle...? Something was wrong with them too..."
"How so?" Sylla asked.
"The best way to describe it...It felt like we were fighting empty shells or puppets...They gave no reaction to being cut, and was also able to use other magic besides holy..." Recorder explained, "I fought a storm user and he fought an earth user...We had to use more extreme methods to take them down. We were asked to bring them back for study after..."
"Humans have little, in not any, kind of connection to the elements as they don't pray to the gods of this world." Zephyr pointed out, "It should be impossible for them to get access to this kind of magic."
Record slowly nodded, "And yet, they were using it like a member of the kletzkrieg, it was like fighting one of you...although not as strong, they had enough power to do damage..."
Yuriana thought about it too, "Come to think about it, some of the soldiers that came in for war-injuries, one in particular with burns...Mentioned that he killed a weird soldier like that too, apparently, that knight could channel flames...Also gave no reaction to being cut either...Strange..."
"We need to check this with Traysek," Sylla stated, "Since I marked the Centaur, we have the ability to find where he is... but we can't move without him knowing..." she then stayed silent for a little while, "And there's no telling what we'll find there..."
Erik went for his call stone, "Right, one second..." activating the stone, "Boss this is Erik, calling in! You there?"
"Yeah, I am...and you're just in time, I was about to call you all myself since we wrapped up here!" Traysek's voice rang, "Bringing the others in on this..."
"I saw a large blood wave while evacuating civilians... what in the world was that?!" Lucien's voice chimed in next.
"And what was that shaking...? I had a hard time standing on the wall because of it," Inigo added in.
"That's why we're calling. We... Met Recorder's centaur "Friend" Gave us more than a bit of go," The Nord explained.
"Shit...! Again? What was he doing here?" The dragonborn asked, "And how are you all holding up after that?"
"I believe that it was because someone was experimenting on him." Sylla replied, "But there's one thing for sure... one of those that are experimenting on him... is from the Lands Between..."
There was silence on the other end for a second, "Like that other Tarnished I've heard about... Gideon... Gods... From what he did back at that inquisitor's fort with scarlet rot, I can believe he's involved..." Traysek hummed.
"Were any of you atleast able to do damage to him?" Inigo's voice asked.
"Yeah, I gave him a hard enough blow to send him upwards, saw a few things fall of him too...Then again, I wasn't exactly gentle..." Yuri chuckled nervously.
"Hmm, if that's the case, then there might be a way we can figure out what's been done to this centaur," Lucien hummed, "See if you can grab a sample, Blood, tissue, horns if he had them or even hoof leavings will be enough... it'll take a bit of time, but I should be able to find out what all they've done to him..."
Recorder nodded, "You got it! We'll check this area good for any, but don't be surprised if we can't find anything in all this gravel..."
"Also how did things go on your end, boss? Did you have any success wrangling their commander?" Klein asked.
"Oh it went more than well," Traysek laughed, "He fell into our trap so easily... It almost feels overestimated him...We're at the castle now, where he and his men have been detained as war prisoners...What about you all, how's the battle going?"
Erik looked beyond the gate, finding the alliance soldiers that survived, fleeing, "It seems they're fleeing from the vanguard, I guess after we sent away their secret weapon, they took that time to skedaddle..." he answered, "What about the rest of the gates?"
"I'm at the south gate, and like there, the Geofu's forces and the samurai have also fled, our archery force was to fight them off for now..." Inigo said, "Not to mention I put a few well-placed arrows into their war machines..."
"The same could also be said for the north and east gates, I'm flying around on the mechmount to get an overview and it seems the forces there have driven them off..." Lucien added in.
"Then the battle is won..." Traysek said with a hint of satisfaction, "Meet us back at the castle, and don't forget those samples, getting a feeling they'll come in handy..."
"Wait! Don't touch them if you spot them." Sylla narrowed her eyes, "If that thing is part Omen then... anything from him has to be cursed..."
"Wait what?! What's this about "Omens" what curse do they carry?" Traysek asked with a slightly worried tone.
"Omens are born cursed by the Primordials." Sylla answered, "A curse so powerful that it transcends bloodlines and roots itself in families. Back in the Lands Between, if an Omen was born, his horns must be removed at birth to be accepted in the surface, otherwise, they're sent in the Sewers of the capitals to live for all eternity."
"A bloodline effecting curse...I See..." Traysek paused for a second, "Well, after being hit once by one of your realm's afflictions already, that's not something take a chance with...Sorry Lucien, until we figure out how to bypass it, there will be no samples..."
"Uh...That's fine actually, I heard bloodline afflicting curse, I-Uh...Don't need that happening, not at all!" The imperial responded with a shiver in his voice, "But it is fascinating how a curse like that came to be...Sounds painful..."
"Anyway, you all best get back here, trust me, you're not gonna wanna miss what happens next~" The Dragonborn chuckled.
"Ooooo~ I smell dramaaaa~" Lucien sang on the line, "Shall we get snacks~?"
"Definitely my friends, can't be a show without," Inigo added in, "But since you're grabbing snacks, shall I grab the the drinks?"
Traysek chuckled at the end of the line, "Hehe, Hilarious~ I'll see you all back here..."
Erik's stone went dark after, putting it away "Whelp you all heard the man, time to head to the castle," The nord yawned, glancing at Zephyr, "And time to get you somewhere to rest, you really went overboard there, huh...?" with a tired smile.
At that moment, Dargo was walking back, not looking happy.
They spotted him approaching, taking note of his expression as Recorder gave a sympathetic smile...
"You look...pissed...What happened...?" She asked, concerned.
"I had him cornered, but he managed to kill himself using some sort of chemicals." Dargo answered, "Thankfully, I managed to get this from him."
"Is that-?" Zephyr gasped, getting a nod from the other Dark Elf.
"You got his test notes...Good, that's way better than a sample," Recorder smiled, "And with that, we might just get some answers on what their plans are...and who it all involves...Hopefully," with a sigh, "We weren't as lucky, we had the centaur down, but some strange holy officer came afterward and teleported him away..."
Yuriana put her hammer away, "That said, We're heading back to the castle, Our boss and your general wrapped up things on their end with the enemy "commander" says we're in for a show,"
"You don't seem to grasp the importance of that book, do you?" Zephyr shook her head.
"They're outworlders, they couldn't have heard of the Traveler's Books." Dargo replied.
Erik frowned at that, "I've never heard of these, "Traveler's books" but you can fill us in while we're on the way or when we're there, because there's no telling who's still around,"
"Still... how did they get their hands on a pair...?" Zephyr mumbled.
Meanwhile, at the alliance camp near Ur...
Back at the camp where the other commanders were, they had just received the news on how the reclamation went...
"So, that kid failed like we thought, huh?" The second officer sighed, "And what's more... They managed to repel our newest weapon..."
The first old officer was silent, had his eyes closed, and arms crossed.
"I knew that the brat wouldn't do a thing." the Samurai commander spat, "Thankfully, those are only Ronins that were hired by a Shinobi under Lord Miwa, which means that Inspector Shiki won't be suspected."
The third officer shook his head, "I wouldn't be too hard on him there, from the reports, it seems the monster army pulled a fast one on him, I think the dark queen's magic might've been involved...Because from some of the survivors, when they had General Greil surrounded, he shattered like glass...If that's the case, we'll have to do something about her..."
"Where's Officer Frowl..." the first officer spoke, dead tone and eyes looking down.
The officers stopped and got to thinking about it...
"We... have yet to see him... I know he went to ensure things would go smoothly but..." The second officer started with, "He went dark as soon as the battle started..."
"Order the troops to retreat to Ur." the first officer ordered, "I'm going to see if what I'm thinking is true..." he then walked out of the camp.
Once the first officer left the tent, the second officer sighed deeply...
"By all the gods in this world..." He grumbled, "I wonder what's going on in that head of his..."
"To be fair, sir," The third knight interjected, "That guy "Frowl" did come off...weird, and I mean weird as a homeless man getting a handjob from the best girl at the brothel... Whatever's going on...I'm willing to bet he had something to do with us failing too, especially if he let that commander get nabbed...Almost makes you think what he went there for, doesn't it?"
A messenger rushed in, "I have an urgent message from Lord Stannos! Volt's forces have failed!"
The commanders and officers were surprised by the revelation...
"What? He failed too? What the hell happened?!" The second officer swore.
The third officer scoffed, "Whelp that's two failures today...But for someone like Volt to fail on an errand like this...It's strange..."
During Feoh's defense...
Near Saudric, a village formerly under the Luvenlis family, Hicks, sent by Volt to deal with the new residents of the Luvenlis territories, waited for the scout he sent to come back.
"Bro," one of the Dogs with him spoke up, "You sure that we don't need Volt with us? I mean, I know that you're good and all, but this place gives me the creeps."
Hicks sighed, nodding in agreement, "As much as I agree with ya, the boss has hands full trying to wrangle the brothers, I'm here to ensure that we get the job done no matter how..." looking around, "Creepy it is...We just need to wait for that scout to return...But it is taking awhile..."
At that moment, the scout returned, running, "Shit! That was too close!"
The scout leader spotted him out of breath, "Hey! I was wondering what took you...? What's going on and why are you out of breath?"
After taking a deep breath, the scout began to talk, "After I went in, I tried to blend in, trying to feel the vibe... but I was quickly discovered. I had to hide from some sort of undead Holy Knight and some of our boys. I also found three things that are of concern; two are skeletal boatmen that are roaming the streets, and the third is some sort of warrior that has a lion head."
Hicks nearly paled at the mentioning of undead, "Oh shit...Really...? Damn...That would explain what happened to our men, Dammit...! And the worst part is that we don't have anything to deal with them currently..." gritting his teeth.
The scout began to scratch a lot of parts in his body, "Damn it, there's something that's giving me an itch. Ever since I got out of there, I felt weird everywhere."
The scout leader and his man slowly backed away, "Look... if you caught something, you need to let us know before we take you back..."
"I... I don't know! That place's very weird." the scout began to scratch his body like a madman as some black roots began to appear on his body.
Hicks and his men all began to back up even more watching the madly scratching man...
"What...What is that coming out of you...?" He asked in a shaken tone.
"I don't know!" the scout replied, "No matter what I took to cure it, it wouldn't stop!"
"Hicks, what do we do?" Another black dog asked, "If nothing's curing him then..."
The scout captain slowly nodded, "I'm trying to figure that out... What the hell did you come in contact with before coming here?"
"I don't know!" the scout napped, scratching so hard that he was tearing some of his skin off, "It won't stop!" more dark roots emerged from him before finding himself impaled by one of the roots that extended to the ground and lifted him.
Hicks and his men all gasped at the way he died, watching him lifelessly from the root...
"Holy shit...!" A black dog scout swore, "You all saw that right?"
"Hard not to, what the fuck...?" The scout leader uttered in horror, "Is that what all happened to the others before us...?"
"This is bad...Hicks, what the fuck are we gonna do?!" Another scout asked, "If that happened to him..."
He shook off his fear...slightly..."It's pretty obvious, we're getting the hell out of here! Whatever happened to him, I don't want it happening to us! Before we do...Who's got a recording stone? Volt's not gonna believe this shit...!"
"You're Black Dogs, aren't you." a soft feminine voice sounded behind them.
Hicks and others turned around, finding a Hildegard armed with her great axe, staring intently at them...
"That's right! but who are you?" He asked, looking her up and down, "My oh my~ you're definitely not bad to look at~ What's a babe like you doing in a place like this~?" with a smirk.
She gave them a disgusted look and said, "Ew, I'd rather lay with a Misbegotten than think of someone like you."
"Not sure what that is, but I'm going to assume you're the one responsible for...This?" Hicks responded, motioning to the dead man, still smirking, "I have to say, that's some deadly magic...Never seen it before, what's your name, gorgeous?" with a wink.
"Why should I answer you?" she asked, "You're not even worth the air."
Hicks and his boys chuckled at that, the former slowly nodding...
"Ohohoho~ She's got fangs and venom boys!" The scout captain laughed, "I like that! I do, Fine, since we're leaving anyway, you don't have to tell me...I'll tell you mine...The name's Hicks~ scouting captain of the Kuroinu, please do remember it~" he said, pulling out a warp crystal, "Because next time we meet...You will be screaming it~"
And activated it, warping them all away...
"So these Black Dogs really want to get in a war with me, huh?" Hildegard took a deep breath as a giant skeletal bird with a set of black ethereal wings landed near her, "I want to have the forces ready, the war machines lined up, and march them toward the city... that's where they are."
The skeletal bird screeched before disappearing in white and black flames.
Meanwhile, at the Bernadus estate...
A worker was in the fields when he saw Volt approaching, smirking and confident, and accompanied by an army of both Holy Knights and Black Dogs.
"I-I need to warn the masters." he rushed inside.
The black dog leader took a deep breath, "It's been too long since I've set foot here...Time to see if these boys are willing to agree..."
Dark Elves guards looked at the approaching men and narrowed their eyes.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" one of the guards asked.
Volt frowned at the new guards, "Huh, I don't remember you all from last time...But we're old acquaintances of the former lord here, we wanted to speak to his sons...Offer our condolences for their loss,"
"With an entire army? I doubt it." another guard stated, his arms crossed, "Besides, we were ordered to let no one pass."
The black dog leader sighed, "That is a shame...I had hoped to avoid getting violent, but we NEED to speak with them, and not in the mood to be stopped," as black dogs and holy knights drew their weapons, "The easy way or the hard way, boys, what's it going to be...?" with a smirk.
The Dark Elves raised an eyebrow and got their weapons out; each of the blades appeared to be so sharp that light reflected to an intense level.
"Guess that you're suicidal." a third guard said as elemental energy began to emit from them.
Volt drew out his greatsword, "We won't be the ones dying here, I'll turn you into sliced cheese!"
"Wait!" A voice called out, getting them to calm down, the brothers both approached, looking clearly annoyed by Volt's presence...
When they reached the black dogs and holy knights, the older brother shook his head at the mercenary king...
"Well well well, the mutt's come crawling here, has he?" Talen said with venom, "What do you want, dog? I see you've brought an army, both of your men and holy knights...But what for I wonder...?" narrowing his eyes.
"You know why." Volt smirked, "You have cut ties with Ur if I remember what was told to me."
The younger brother folded his arms, "Yeah? And what of it? They considered us fools and idiots, we're not going to align ourselves with people that think less of us..." with a scowl.
"We know why you're here, you're here to see if you could get the same deal with us, as you had with Father, correct?" Talen assumed with an eyebrow raised.
"He was smart to accept, but what about you." Volt twirled his sword, "If you want to keep the family alive, you'd better accept. After all, it's for your own good."
Both brothers seemingly looked worried, glancing at each other, before they started snickering, bursting out into full-out laughter, the guards joining them...
"Hohoho! That's so damn funny" Talen chuckled, "Okay, Someone's delusional, I want to let you in on something...Just because our father agreed with you, does not mean, we're inclined to..." drawing his sword, with lighting quick speed.
"We're not him, and we do NOT respect you..." Jalen added in, "Especially after everything we found out about your partnership with father in his journals...You being here, is already a fucking insult..." he growled, "No...Deal...We're never putting our people through that again..." with narrowed eyes, sword already out, and up to Volt's neck, "This is last chance... leave peacefully, or we'll all turn you and your men into fertilizer for next season's crops!"
"Heh, you think yourselves smart and tough?" Volt laughed as he pushed the sword away, "I have an army. But you, you only have a handful of men."
Talen sighed, "You mean only the men you can see...? You're not smart yourself, showing up in hostile territory and assuming you've got us figured out," nodding at his brother, who snapped his fingers...
A rain of arrows descended on Volt's forces, killing a good half of them.
Kin was fast enough to generate a shield around him and Volt, "Looks like... we miscalculated the situation here..."
"I'll just-" Volt was about to rush toward them but was stopped by Kin.
"We don't have the advantage now," Kin generated a magical circle, "Let's go back, we can come here once we have enough help."
Volt growled as they teleported away with the rest of the surviving men.
The younger brother scoffed, "Typical...Soon as it gets tough, he bails..." shaking his head, "Should we report this to Swain, bro?"
"Yeah, would be smart to," The eldest brother admitted, "Along with his holy allies..." turning to the guards, "Thank you for keeping him at bay, but double security...I feel this won't be the last time we see them..."
"Should we send more men to protect the villages?" the first guard asked.
Jalen nodded, "That would be for the best...Make sure they didn't camp out there somewhere...And if you do find them, slash first, ask questions later..."
"I'll see if we can get some Minotaurs and Centaurs to help in strengthening the security around the territories." the guard replied as he walked away to make the call.
The brothers watched him walk off to do that very thing, the older bro facing the guards and workers, "Go ahead and go back positions, everyone... We're going to make sure that doesn't happen again," turning around to his brother, "Jalen, we have a call to make..." heading back.
"Yeah, we do...Can't wait until they hear this one," he chuckled, following him...
End chapter...
And so concludes the reclamation battle for Feoh, but what's in store for Reynold, now that he's been detained...? Is he in for a world of pain...? or will mercy be spared upon him...? until then everyone... :)