241Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter, and providing feed backs.
Special thanks goes to Papermania from TVTrope for mentioning that I didn't give enough perspective from the queen, and made her comes off too much like a braindead strawman villain. So hopefully, this chapter explain a bit better why she's so desperate at snubbing Malty (and Naofumi by extension).
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Cross posted on AO3, for anyone who prefer that site.
The city of stormwind is still in their new enemy's hand, but bad news is pouring in from all over the world one after the other. On the following day, news came that the port of New Albion and Amiliport were both hit by a death squad, and the assailants burnt down half a dozen ships each before they were put down. Same goes for Gallia City, where their enemy sent a squad of troops hitting the biggest city of the province south of Crownland.
Two days later, news came that Faubley City, Tristan City, and Zeltoble all found themselves the sudden target of Mirror Demon's raiding parties. But compared to their civilian center, Faubley's military bases being attacked was more grim for their situation. Fort Godrick, one of Faubley's biggest military centers, and their first air force base (as named by the Whip Hero, whatever that means) were attacked by undead monsters that each carries a plagued cloud with them. They were quickly put down, but the resulting poisoned cloud shut down the military base, and more importantly Faubley's air battleships till they found ways to cleanse it, effectively grounding Faubley's air battleships. The task of a mass cleansing is made even more difficult when both the great cathedral of four heroes, and the Faubley's Hero Academy were also among the targets of the deadly undead creatures, resulting in one of the most sacred sites in Faubley being desecrated, the death of fifty students of Hero Academy and five times more wounded and plagued. Pope Lutacia of Faubley and Regent Dumbledore both stepped out and made public statement that the Mirror Demon Astaroth is the common enemy of all sentient lives of Medea, but the chance of getting Faubley reinforcements against Astaroth in light of the attacks they suffered becomes very low.
No news came from Siltvelt yet, and the phrase 'no news is good news' certainly doesn't apply to Glorious Melromarc's most ancient enemy. Since they would be hiding all the information of the damage they suffered in the hands of this new threat. In fact, they haven't made any large-scale troop movement towards Stormwind already given enough information.
Aultcray puts down all the documents and begins to pinch the bridge of his nose. The situation is getting more grim than when they are facing an incoming Wave of Catastrophe. At least Wavespawn doesn't have the ability to strategize their attack most of the time, and definitely has no way to stage attacks on anyone's infrastructure before the actual wave battle. In the long run, the Mirror Demon's continued belligerence is going to turn the entire world against him. But in the short time, it did a good job at delaying the attack and allowed him time to fortify Stormwind City he had taken over. He looks up from the messages in front of him and at Prime Minister Douglas Ibel Noches sitting across from him. His old friend is messaging his temple, no doubt feeling the same as he himself. "How is our troop movement, Douglas?"
"It became much easier once the Avatar of Alaya and the Speaker of Yggdrasil opened up the secret realm for us. Our armies no longer have to worry about being attacked in the middle of marching or more importantly, their supply line being hit. And the difficult terrain in the real world can be ignored as well since they are walking atop of Yggdrasil's branches. I estimate we would finish rallying our troops in Balafon in two days. We'll then take another day's march to Stormwind city where we'll attempt to fight the Mirror Demon and either free, or take down Spirit Tortoise from him." Lord Noches sits up from his chair to answer him. Afterwards, he picks up the tea cup in front of him and takes a deep drink. "Lord Spear Hero's children are spreading the words around in addition to all the carrier ravens we send out. The forces of the Crusader Block, Prince Joseph, Archduke Wales and all the sellswords paid by Duke Amelia are all coming towards us in Melromarc Castle. Her Grace has also used the communication crystals to send words to other nations, yet we received nothing back other than our usual allies in Isaac and Silesse. And King Ares has sent a full company of his elite Black Knights to gather at Isaac for us to command. But there's no supply support, no volunteer troops from the other major powers. Zeltoble, Shiltfreeden, Siltvelt, and especially Faubley. Unless you count the heroes' retinue who are already present. It seems like we'll be alone in our assault against the Mirror Demon and the controlled Spirit Tortoise, my liege. At least for now."
Chapter 45: Gathering Allies
"I'm no longer your liege, Douglas. I am merely Her Grace's one of many advisors just like you." Aultcray waves Lord Noches off, even if he knows the loyalty of his old friend being as steadfast as bedrock. He tries to focus on the matters at hand. "Us being alone in our fight against this new enemy is to be expected. Zeltoble's army only goes to the highest bidder, and we have no coin to spare for them at the moment. Shiltfreeden is still in turmoil with the rebellion caused by that blasted Hammer Hero. I never counted support from our ancient enemy Siltvelt in the first place. And I can never underestimate the pettiness and vindictiveness of my 'brother' enough. It's for the best. Better I go to war with an army who'll follow my command without question, than having a much larger army who can't be trusted and stab me in the back."
Douglas looks up at him, but the door to the sitting room is opened before they change any further words. A blue armored royal guard walks in and speaks with a deep voice. "The communication crystal from Faubley has lit up, Prime Minister Noches, General Aultcray. Her Majesty has summoned you both for the meeting."
Aultcray exchanged another quick glance with Douglas, and the two of them stood up in unison, as they wordlessly followed the royal guard out of the room towards the crystal room. The walk didn't take long, yet many thoughts spun in his mind. Communication crystals are as precious as they are rare, each a hundredfold more valuable than regular magic crystals thanks to their ability for allowing people to contact each other over long range. So there are only a handful of candidates from Faubley who could use it. The most likely candidates being King Egbert, or his Regent Dumbledore. Either case, they'll have to be ready to sacrifice a massive price for whatever assistant these two hungry balloons are ready to slip through their fingers. But there is at least one person who Aultcray can think of, that would give him a sigh of relief instead. As they are lead into the communication room, Aultcray sees the back of his wife first, and then he lets out the breath he's been holding as he sees whose image is reflected in the crystal. "Good to hear from you, General Ironwood."
"Likewise, General Aultcray. It's good to see you in good health after what happened to you during the Third Wave." These words could be interpreted as a sarcastic taunt coming out of most Faubley nobles. But in the military man's mouth, it is merely words of bluntness. "I'm sure you know this is no time for pleasantries so I shall not mince my words. Faubley's pride, our air battleships are mostly grounded due to the Mirror Demon's surprise attack. But we managed to save Gerald the Golden, and we could fix it by the end of the day. I shall do my best to bring you aid. The Mirror Demon's actions has proven him a prideful, and completely self-centered tyrant with no low he wouldn't step down to, and he only cares about his own victory and conquest, anyone else be damned. Such a mad fool could not be allowed to stand, let alone control as much power as he does now during the time of this world's crisis. I will do anything I can to help you bring this mad fool down."
"Your aid is appreciated." Aultcray tries to calculate the steps Ironwood would have to take to get his airship ready, and the time he would need to reach Stormwind and the estimation is not optimistic. Even if the ship flies at top speed not caring about damage to its systems, it would take three to four days from Fort Godrick to reach Stormwind. And that's the ideal situation in which Ironwood has already finished gathering all the supplies, and boarded his troops onto Gerald the Golden, only waiting for the battleship to take to the sky. He doubts the general has everything readied after such a short notice, or the other Faubley elites would allow one of their generals to run away with one of their most powerful engines of war. In the most likely case, Ironwood would be late to the assault, either there to help clean up the aftermath of the battle and help recover whatever casualties Melromarc host would sustain, or be there for a second assault if they lose their confrontation with the Mirror Demon.
"Your appreciation is too soon, old friend. I'm still trying to pry the supplies and troops I need to face something like a Guardian Beast, especially with a False Hero behind it." Ironwood lets out a sigh. The general is a military man. His back is forever straight instead of hunched over, yet there is a sign of exhaustion from him. Aultcray understands why from his personal experience growing up as a (adopted) Faubley Prince: dealing with the social elites of Faubley, especially when they know that they have something you want is more akin to a form of torture. "That being said, there are some nobles who understand the severity of the situation. I already have the full backing of House Malfoy and all of their allies. Even if they are only doing it for their precious Shield Hero."
"Something that's more likely to have you isolated in the current Faubley court. The old guards' descent from Shield Order's mage lord families are not liked, even by the shield aligned warlord families at the moment. Charles and his thugs won't openly fight the mage lord families to further erode their own influence, but expect them to be dragging their feet." If Ironwood meant to have Aultcray rest easy with the information, then he failed miserably. Just like his 'brother' no doubt has his spies in Melromarc, Aultcray also has ways (old connections) in Faubley, and he knows the discord among shield aligned Faubley nobles has only grown since he left Faubley, especially after The Great War. The saying 'Shields Unite Against the World' now feels more like a punchline to a badly told joke.
"Thankfully, House Malfoy isn't the only support I managed to gather. House De La Valliere is also backing my petition to send aid and stop the Mirror Demon as soon as possible." Aultcray does feel better this time. House De La Valliere is traditionally a Sword aligned family. But unlike most sword families, they don't continue to play house politics and let it dictate their own political moves once they graduate from Hero Academy. In fact, based on some hearsay he gathered about Duchess Karin's youngest daughter, she has taken a teaching position in Hero Academy, and is doing her best to mend the house divide between Sword and Shield order. Ironwood's next words makes Aultcray raises his eyebrow in surprise. "Even better, Lady De La Valliere has already left ahead with her husband and personal retinue to participate in your planned assault against the Spirit Tortoise."
"Karin the Heavy Wind?" Aultcray asks with slight caution in his voice. The duchess of House De La Valliere no longer commands the same presence on the battlefield as her years begin to catch up to her. She can no longer repel armies with the announcement of her name alone. And wind isn't the best element to use when their opponent is a giant moving fortress carrying a mountain on its back. But even in the worst estimation, having the world's strongest wind mage would still be helpful in suppressing whatever fodders the Mirror Demon throws at them, and allows their stronger fighters to reach the Spirit Tortoise in the first place.
"The younger Lady De La Valliere, Louise of Zero." Aultcray feels his heart beat slightly faster for this information. The image of Ironwood's face remains neutral, but he's fairly sure the Faubley general has intentionally misled them on purpose. Yes, having the world's most powerful meta-mage (someone whose affinity was the essence of magic itself) would be a huge boon in their coming battle. And her action certainly fits both her explosive personality, and Faubley's mess of a court. Neither King Egbert, nor Regent Dumbledore has power over the youngest De La Valliere sister due to her being a powerful meta-mage. This allows her to ignore their individual political whims once in a while, and it seems like she's ready to use her unspoken privilege in this grim situation.
"Our thanks goes to Lady De La Valliere. And your effort in doing the right thing too, General Ironwood." His queen speaks for all of them, and gives a half bow to Ironwood. His queen might be a bit of a fan for the theatrics, but Aultcray can tell she's doing this action truthfully this time. Ironwood is no doubt facing a lot of pressure from his own nation in his attempt to push immediate support to repel the Mirror Demon.
"Think nothing of it. It's all for the survival of our world." Ironwood returns his queen's half bow with a slightly more inclined body. These words might be empty from a common Faubley noble, General Ironwood, a pure and stern military man, is speaking them with complete sincerity. "I shall no longer waste your time, and mine own. I'm sure there is plenty to do before you launch your attack at this false hero invader. We shall toast together if we successfully repel the enemy to our world, or meet together at the feet of our lord's throne if we fail."
His queen looks back at Aultcray as the Faubley General cuts off his communication. She didn't bother to keep her usual, dignified queenly mask, and showed her anxiety and worry. For a brief time, Aultcray could see the young, lost princess at the end of The Great War once again. "Be honest with me, Aultcray. Do you think we can win this coming war? Our enemy controls one of the four Guardian Beasts, and they have already killed the Sword Hero and the Storm Aspect. He also has the ability to continuously replenish his army and his supplies from another world. Is this a foe Melromarc could withstand alone?"
"It's hard to say with how little we truly know of this Mirror Demon. Even the Cardinal Heroes have admitted our only informant, another supposed false hero from another world, is being uncooperative and not revealing everything to us. But judging from his way of operation so far, we can tell a few things. Douglas, bring me the map." Aultcray orders his friend out of instinct, before suddenly remembering as Melromarc's prime minister, his old friend now outranks him. Yet Marquis Noches makes no complaint, or delay as he quickly takes a map from the nearby shelf, and spreads it onto a table. Aultcray and his queen walk over, as he begins to point his fingers at all the locations the Mirror Demon has hit so far. "All the major cities that have food, weapons, and armor stockpiles in our nation have been hit so far. Faubley, slightly less so. But their capital, and their biggest military fortress with their airships that have their best war engines for fighting outside of their border - the Zeltoble Defense Alliance, from the three major cities of Zeltoble, Restov, and Dalaran. We don't know where Siltvelt had been hit since they refused to share information with us, but I think we can hazard a guess. And Shiltfreeden is destroying itself just fine with their civil war between the rebels and the loyalists... We can see a pattern of the Mirror Demon's hit. He is someone who throws out suicide attack squads, and plague carrying undead to hit his opponent's major supply points. Someone who cares not for the morality of his actions, or the survivability of his own troops, only maximizing the damage he could cause towards everyone who doesn't immediately bow down to him."
"What about their Hero Academy of Faubley? This target doesn't seem to follow the convention of the Mirror Demon's other targets." His queen narrows her eyes, and points her finger at one specific area of the map. Aultcray knows it well. Not too far from the city of Tristan, on the open grass field where it stood a large, walled castle with five towers. The Hero Academy of Faubley, the highest education institution of Medea that contributed to the training of countless past heroes. It's also where he met his old friend Aldrecht among others. Someone who he shared a much greater connection than Faubley's royal family that adopted him. Aultcray thought he had made his farewell with that part of his life, especially after the death of his younger sister, and old friend Aldrecht. But to his surprise, he can't help but dig the nail of his fingers into his palm when he imagines the cloud of poison now permeating the academy's ground. "Attacking the students of Hero Academy makes sense as a long term plan. Since a few of them might become future Star Heroes, or hold high positions in the guilds or the court. But for now, they are all inexperienced children who shouldn't stand on the battlefield."
"Admittedly. That I can not explain from the Mirror Demon's actions so far. Perhaps he has some specific reason for attacking the Hero Academy that's deeply personal to him. Regardless, I think my theory holds enough weight. Our enemy is someone who has no low he's unwilling to stoop down to, no action too heinous for him to commit. All in the name of serving his most immediate purposes and goals. And for now, it seems to be taking over our world." Aultcray casts a brief look at his queen, and finds her nodding. "To face a foe like that, the most important thing is for us to stand united and trust in each other."
"Not that I disagree with your assessment this time. But it's still a task easier said than done. Especially with someone like Prince Joseph, or Duke Amelia... maybe even Duke Arvis. All of them have their own plan on how they want this nation to be. And they are not the same as my own, even if they don't directly conflict with my own vision." The body of his queen slowly slides down backwards, until she falls into a chair, with her body seemingly seeping into the back of the chair like a blob of mud. "We are almost completely isolated from the other nations, facing the invasion of a false hero from another world while the Wave of Catastrophe is still going on. And we can't even fully trust in the other high nobles of our nation. So I ask you again, Aultcray. Do you think we can win this coming war?"
Aultcray looks up at his queen once again, perhaps a little more intense than he meant. He knows why she is showing signs of despair at their situation. As their nation is standing at the crossroad of destruction. Much more than when the other nations were ready to launch an unified crusade at them for his own stupidly paranoid decision to summon all four heroes, and his unfair treatment of the Shield Hero. The only reason they didn't was because they didn't trust each other, and weren't ready to flip the board of the game, an action the Mirror Demon is more than willing to do.
"There is no battle with guaranteed chance of victory. Going into one with such reassurance is usually the quickest way to find defeat due to one's arrogance leading to making fatal mistakes. I know it well. I made this mistake recently." After wordlessly staring at his queen and wife for a while, he finally opens his mouth. "All I can say is this: We have a chance to win. Prince Joseph, Duke Amelia and Duke Arvis. All of them can be ambitious, greedy, and selfish. But none of them are stupid. And the Mirror Demon, in his shortsightedness for immediate result, has shown our high lords that they can no longer afford to hold back their power and wealth if they want to survive. But we have a more important question to ask right now, my queen. Do you trust our nobles back, even if some of them are your political competitors, or enemies? And equally as important. Do you still trust me after my own paranoia and stupidity had nearly brought our family, and our nation to ruin? Because you, as our leader, can not afford to be indecisive, nor can you afford to show hesitation in a crisis like this. The upcoming will be as brutal as it will be difficult. And all of us will be pushed to our limit. If you have doubt in our commanding ability, we will not be able to achieve victory."
His queen didn't immediately answer him back. Aultcray takes it as a good sign. If she would easily cast away all her doubt after his recent mess up, it would only show that there's no weight and conviction to her answer. After a while, she finally answers like she had put down a tremendous weight from her body. "I do believe in you, and the other high ranking nobles. You made your recent mistakes because of paranoia caused by what you went through during The Great War, and you only wanted to protect our family. And you are right in that the Mirror Demon is now the biggest, and most immediate threat to everyone in our nation. I will not interfere with any battle decisions you, and any of your sub commanders make in the coming battle."
"Very well. Then I want Malty to be with me during the battle." As Aultcray expected, the temperature in the room suddenly drops as soon as he makes his request. He knows that his queen doesn't want any chance to pass the throne to their first daughter. For fearing that their similarity would once again bring the nation to the brink of ruin. Sadly, she seems to be as blind to their daughter's growth as he was to the current Shield Hero's genuine benevolence. "The Mirror Demon won't be the end of our tribulations, but a beginning. Have you not heard back from your Shadow's reports? Outer gods are sending their champions into our world. The Devil of Another World has descended into our world himself. And worse - they are not here to invade us, but to send us warnings and aiding us. This should be taken as a sign that The Burning Legion the Shield Hero brought up isn't a fantasy, or fabrication. As Malty and Melty's parents, we need to stand in front of them if our world is being invaded by countless legions of demons. But what comes afterwards? Do you think we'll be both standing after this? Our children need to know how to take care of themselves, and how to lead whatever remains of our people. And how to make war with them is sadly a necessity. Or would you prefer I take Melty, who is only a few summers over ten, onto the battlefield with me?"
"Make no mistake, Aultcray. I do not like this arrangement. But I see the wisdom in your decision. Very well. Malty will be allowed to follow you as one of your aids and observe how you lead the army. She shall merely act as an observer, and have no right to command any of the troops." Aultcray knows this is as much leniency his queen will allow him regarding their elder daughter, and he has no problem accepting what his queen is asked. Malty has no real experience commanding large legion battles. Giving her the right to order armies around would be the fastest way to completely disrupt their chain of command. Turn even perfect victories into crushing defeats. Hopefully she will learn some valuable lessons in the coming battle if they manage to achieve victory... and survive if the Mirror Demon triumphs over them. He'll have to give Captain Lotherigan an order to look after his daughter's safety.
Yet... there is something else that's on his mind regarding their eldest daughter. And more specifically, the unfair way his queen has been treating Malty. He really should keep his mouth shut and his voice quiet. Especially after his colossal blunder with the Three Heroes' Church. But he feels the need to get it out of his chest regardless, so he does. "Tell me, Mirellia. Is the way you continuously trying to snub Malty, and the Shield Hero by extension truly needed? I know, I made the same mistake. And I am ashamed to admit that I let my own paranoia get the best of me. Yet, you are repeating the same mistake I did for a different reason. I understood why you opened fire on Dread Pirate Robert's ship when they returned. Since they forget to put on the white flag of parlay after their first attack crippled House Amelia's fleet, and you assumed that they are making a second attack. But instead of explaining your reasoning, you tried to block Malty and the Shield Hero's attempt to induce the pirates into indentured service to work off their crimes. Something the two of us have been doing to promising criminals since the end of The Great War. And I know you did it, because you didn't want Malty to grow in power. Is having our elder daughter growing powerful enough to protect herself from Egbert forcing her into being his wife a bad thing in your opinion?"
Aultcray's peripheral vision notified him that his friend Lord Noches had quietly excused himself from the room, leaving him alone with his queen.
"You are dodging the main problem with your hatred for your adopted brother, and trying to distract my mind with an external threat, Aultcray. Don't tell me you are unaware of what's been going on with the nobles of our own land." His queen didn't follow his line of questioning. Instead, she pointed out a very real problem that's quietly festering beneath their land. "All of them are casting their support between my two daughters. Melty has more open support, because she is my appointed heir and because Malty renounced her royal status and accepted her role as the Shield Hero's slave. But those who knew they have very little influence in the upper most social circles are slowly rallying behind Malty. Don't tell me that you are unaware of Lady Eclair's growing rapport with Malty, or that Count Winchester has appointed his son into the Shield Hero's retinue. Even Consevatie, one of my own faction has ordered his younger daughter to get close to Malty as an insurance. Or how all four Cardinal Heroes, Melty's protector included, all have a very positive relationship with Malty. Not to mention Melty's own naivety at seeing her elder sister more as family than a potential rival. If I don't put a stop to Malty's growing influence, there will be a divide in our nation, possibly a civil war even if we triumph over this supposed Burning Legion."
"I admit your fear isn't entirely unfounded, my queen. But you seem to have based your worst fear of Malty based on your own past, and your regret. On how your own ambition blinded you towards your own family, wanting to take control of this nation from your mother, and your elder sister. By force if needed. You have to be aware that Malty takes after you a lot, but she isn't you." Aultcray places one of his hands over his queen's. Her hand twitches, like she's trying to break away, but settles down after a few short moments. "And you are being too hard on yourself. I don't think you're a hopeless case who only ascended to the throne because your action caused the death of your mother and sister, like you believe yourself. If that were the case, I would not have married you after The Great War and you would have taken Duke Arvis as your husband. You made mistakes in life like I did. But you wanted to do what's right in your own way. Why aren't you willing to believe Malty could do the same, and that she could learn from our past mistakes and be better than us?"
"This discussion is moot at this point. We need to fight, and triumph over this Mirror Demon, and The Burning Legion that's behind the Wave of Catastrophe. For now, the overall stability of our nation takes precedent. We shall discuss our daughters if all of us survive in the end." Mirellia's tone didn't leave any room for discussion, and Aultcray knows that their conversation is over... for now. He begrudgingly agrees that his queen has a point, even if he still thinks she's making a mistake for not being more open and trusting towards her daughters (yes, Melty included). But she is right about one thing. At the moment, the threat of the Mirror Demon is the most important, and immediate problem they need to deal with.
Eclair feels nothing but dread as she sits on the fallow field outside of Balafon village, waiting for the arrival of Alaya's messengers to arrive. She didn't witness the aftermath of the Mirror Demon's attacks, since the two-faced coward didn't send any of his lackeys at her. A fact that she can only lament now that she has arrived at Balafon village. Quite a number of the four heroes' retinue members paid for her mistake with their lives. If only she didn't force all the retinues to march as hard as she did to the point that people have been falling and then left behind by the main force, or she had allowed everyone proper rest when she began noticing the problem. But she had assumed that their enemy can't easily get over Griffin's Spine mountain range, and that her forces were safe in their march.
She hears someone's metal boots walking towards her, but she doesn't dare to look and see who is coming. On the one hand, she doesn't want to face anyone while she's sulking about her latest mistake. But the one person she especially doesn't want to see would be her lieutenant Winchester. She wonders how will she face the son of Count Winchester when she has failed to change his gruff attitude towards the other retinue members... yet now she's the one who got them killed. The person wordlessly sits down besides her, and Eclair instantly knows it's not Sir Cardin. The boy is as loud as he is rough, and he would be making much more noises besides her even if he doesn't gloat about her mistake. She looks to the side, and notices the bright red hair, similar to friend Malty. Not orange. And she quickly recognizes the man as Sir Bright Leopold, the former Centurion of House Amelia.
"You feel lost and regretful. Maybe even hating yourself for not being better. I know, because I did the exact same thing as you did when I was first promoted to a Centurion." Bright's face is completely neutral, reminding Eclair of the Shield Hero's companion Kyubey. His voice also carries no emotion... on the surface. Yet, Eclair could feel something underneath his cool exterior. "My first task was to clear out a bandit group nested deep in the mountain range between Gallia and Romalia. And I had commanded one hundred of House Amelia's men-at-arms and the same number of sellswords. I thought it would have been an easy task... till the bandit used their knowledge of the terrain against me. They threw down boulders and logs while our group was stretched into a thin line trying to climb up the mountain to their base, cutting our forces into three groups. We were able to fight them off... but only thanks to a mage from the sellswords who used her magic to clear out the blocked mountain road. And only half of my men, and the sellswords walked away from the battle. And I... instead of thanking her, I blamed her for my own mistake. I accused her for hiding her power till the last moment, and causing the death of all the fighters on our side. Because I didn't want to face my own mistakes, and because I was jealous of the power she had. I still haven't apologized for my behavior."
Eclair closed her eyes, so she could better listen to Bright's story. The former Centurion isn't a bard, or a good storyteller. His lack of enunciation makes his story sounds more like someone giving a battle's aftermath report. But Eclair didn't mind. She was trained as a knight, someone who is expected to lead in battles. Bright's lack of emotion makes it better for her to reconstruct the battle he had against the bandit in her mind. And she can easily 'see' in her head that a group of warriors, desperately fighting for their lives when they are stuck between a solid mountain cliff, and an abyssal drop into the bottom as arrows, logs and stones rain down on them. She doesn't know what to say back to the former centurion. After staying quiet for a few moments, she finally finds her voice again. "At least you learnt from the experience."
"I thought I did. But I clearly didn't. When you were force marching the heroes retinue, I could have said something to you. Using my past experience as a lesson. But I didn't. Like you, I also thought we were safe from our enemy, and others paid the price for our decisions." Bright stays quiet for a few moments, till he holds something towards Eclair in his hand. She turns to look, and sees a pile of coins. All of them were scratched with some kind of knife, or maybe dagger. With initials carved into them. "A Romalian soldier's tradition. Engrave out our initials onto a coin, and keep them together when we march to battle. Those who survive, will inherit the name, fortune... and dreams of those who were lost."
Eclair finds herself unable to say anything once again. After staying still for a few more moments, she reaches into her own money pouch for a coin, and pulls out her dagger from the side of her boot, and begins to carve her own initial onto the coin.
Priests with both the golden icon of the four, and the golden triangle of the three quickly walk in, and out of Melromarc royal family's personal chapel inside their castle. They don't dare to run, fearing they might collide into one another, or showing disrespect when they are trying to commune with a god. But they are still walking as fast as their legs can carry themselves, for the queen's tight schedule. They need to conduct a commune ritual with a god, observe a duel between the Spear Hero and the foreign Book Hero, and then interrogate said Book Hero for any valuable information regarding the Mirror Demon.
The sight is almost nostalgic to Aultcray, since it's the same place where he originally summoned all four Cardinal Heroes. Of course, a lot of people who were standing by him are no longer in the land of the living. Vicar Lowrance has succumbed to his lung ailment. Biscas died fighting the four Cardinal Heroes to push them above their limit. And the faith of the three heroes, while still existing, is now a shadow of its former self under his queen's edict: Both the faith militant and the inquisitors had been disbanded, and every single knight templars had went through a thorough interrogation to see if they have committed any crimes, or acts against the original principle of their faith. Those who failed had all been pushed into the penal legion to serve out their sentences. The number of vicars for the Three Heroes' Church has also been shrunk down from twelve to two: Cromwell, and Duncan, the former leader of the inquisitors.
If both Lawrence and Biscas are still alive, they would no doubt agree with his queen's reform. To expunge the corrupted, the greedy, and the lazy parasites out of the Three Heroes' Church, and have the faith return to its root of warrior priests who protect their fellow men with their trained body, and their faith to the gods. Outside the chapel's door, Vicar Vittorio of Four Heroes' Church and Arch Vicar Logarius of the Three Heroes' Church are waiting for them. Logarius is the one stepping up to them, as he bows his head. "The preparation for the commune ritual with Sir Graham's goddess has finished, your grace. We can begin at any time."
"And the precaution, in case the champion of the outer goddess was lying? I doubt even most worshippers of malicious, evil outer gods would openly admit their gods' true alignment... although I can see some of your contingencies already." His queen looks at the wall of the chapel. Aultcray follows the direction of her sight, and sees warriors dressed in leather armor are holding themselves onto the side of the walls. He recognizes some of their faces, and the way they carry themselves. The demi-human children are inducted into the Three Heroes' Church's service, those who have talent for stealth, and were tasked by Biscas for works that can't be seen in broad daylight. While technically they are also part of the church's War Pig slave legion, most people tend to refer to them as Pope Balmus' personal Angels of Death.
"All the remaining Knight Templars have been stationed within, and outside the chapel, ready to fight at a moment's notice. So do our lord's redeemers... and those who are strong enough but are still restricted in the penal legion. We understand the possible danger of communion with an outer god, even if the ritual is supposedly only for communication purposes." Logarius holds his hands in a prayer gesture, while he keeps his head down.
"All of them will be joined by the Astartes of the Four Heroes' Church. Those who just arrived from Romalia to reinforce us in the coming battle." Vicar Vittorio quietly informs. Aultcray turns his head to look behind the Romalian vicar, and sees around a hundred men wearing the armor with the golden icon emblem of the four heroes. All of their eyes glowing with blue shimmer.
"It will have to do. Very well, let us not waste anymore time, and start the communion ritual with Sir Graham's goddess." His queen nods her head once, and then waves away both Arch Vicar Logarius and Vicar Vittorio. When Sir Graham first revealed that he was the champion of an outer goddess, the first instinct of his and his queen was to take the Gallian knight into custody. Throw him into a dungeon to rot, if not immediately cutting off his head. All outer gods are potential future enemies to their own pantheon, even if they aren't strictly malicious, or evil gods. Leaving an outer god's champion running around among them is a potential walking disaster even if he isn't actively doing anything bad simply considering how his action could indirectly weaken people's faith in their own pantheon.
But then the Spirit Tortoise broke through its seal thanks to an actual invading foreign False Hero, and he was one of the members who the heroes brought along to fight the controlled guardian beast. And he acted like a loyal fighter of their own world, even using the miracle of his own goddess to fight the devils from another world, and the invading false heroes. It could be simply an act to win over their trust before starting an invasion for his own goddess. But the act also revealed some crucial information to everyone in the capital.
Their own pantheon didn't do anything. The Chief God, his fellow gods, and angels not even their heroic spirit servants descended down from heaven to fight the believer of an outer god, devils from another world, or even the invading false hero that's controlling one of their four Guardian Beasts. As an elite of their society, Aultcray was allowed to know more than the common unenlightened masses. That the Chief God and his pantheon isn't as benevolent to the people they reign over as the church preaches. But as a noble, a general, and later a king, he knows how much damage it would cause to a leader's legitimacy when they do nothing as his regime gets repeatedly challenged. Disregard the slim chance that the Chief God somehow completely lost his mind, this would suggest two reasons. Either he doesn't want to do anything to prove his claim of rulership to Medea, or he can not do anything. Neither suggestion bode well for all the mortals living on Medea.
If the Chief God doesn't want to help them, what caused him to completely turn his back on the mortals? Does he have a more urgent crisis that requires his attention more than what's been happening on Medea? Does he have another world that he considers to be more valuable than the world of Medea? Or has the situation for Medea gotten so dire, the Chief God decided that they aren't worth saving anymore? And if their lord wants to send aid to them but can't... What could have stopped him? As mortals, they know nothing about it. The Avatar of Alaya is their best lead since she is an earthbound demi-god. The closest living mortal to true divinity. Plus she is a companion to the Speaker of Yggdrasil, an oracle who has limited perception into the divine realm. But neither of them know what's truly been happening in the divine realm for sure. And this Sir Graham does provide another lead into someone who resides in the divine realm, even if the information they get from him might be lies.
"Do we still have no success at communion with our own pantheon?" Aultcray looks at Arch Vicar Logarius, the scarred former preacher simply shakes his head. He turns to Vittorio next. "What about the main branch of the Four Heroes' Church in Faubley? Surely they would try to commune with the pantheon once the heroes revealed the existence of this Burning Legion?"
"All attempts at making communion with our lord and his gods have failed. Not even when they tried to commune with The Lady." The Romalian Vicar slowly shakes his head. Chief God has never been the most sociable gods of their pantheon, and the priests who try to ask for divine guidance would usually turn to one of The Three Ladies. But for them to not answer back, it must mean that their pantheon has left them to rot, or they are too busy dealing with an even greater threat. "We'll have to contact Sir Graham's goddess, and hope for the best. He promised that his lady is a dignified, and compassionate goddess. And words of doubt shouldn't come from a man of faith such as myself, but..."
"Men of faith are rarely objective when it comes to the god they worship." Aultcray finishes Vittorio's sentence for him. "Regardless, his ritual might be the most tangible method for us to find some answers, even if we'll be better off without knowing. But I doubt even an outer god invasion could make our situation worse. What of you, Shield Hero? I heard you heroes have another hero from the same world as the Mirror Demon alongside you? Supposedly because you were both trying to defeat our newest enemy?"
"Kyo says the fucker was his enemy back in his own world - The world of Malach. They were both rulers of their own nation, and Kyo's nation got destroyed because of what the Mirror Demon did." The Shield Hero turns his head to look at the Book Hero, his eyes narrowed, lips pursed in a way that shows disapproval. The one he calls Kyo simply shrugs his shoulders. "But he wasn't very forthcoming about our new enemy till Zylden and Bed-chan got him. Supposedly, our enemy is named Astaroth, and he invaded Kyo's world just like ours, killed the original Mirror Hero and stole the weapon. He's now trying to take over both worlds. He's a master at using dimension magic, and the mirror weapon makes him more powerful even if this world limits his dimensional power."
"Concerning... but not that surprising. This Astaroth doesn't appear to be that different from The Seven False Heroes. I suppose I will ask more about him after the ritual is complete." Aultcray nods his head, as they walks towards the opened door of the chapel. Both of his daughters are already inside, looking at the altar with reservation in their eyes. Melty's eyes are darting all over the room, looking at everything with curiosity. Malty, on the other hand, has her attention divided between two people in the room. The bespectacled Book Hero, who supposedly came from the same world as the Mirror Demon who has now taken over Stormwind. He also happens to have his sight focused on the Gallion knight who will be the main conductor of the following god communion ritual. Who also happens to be the other person his elder daughter is looking at.
"We may begin the ritual anytime, Your Grace." Cromwell immediately runs up to his queen, a shamelessly flattering smile plastered all over his face. Behind him, the Gallion knight isn't paying any attention to them, and has his eyes staring at all the tribute placed on the altar. Unlike a summon, a communion ritual should only call down an image, an illusion of their target. Which means two things: First, there would be a lot less sacrifice for the ritual to go through. But of course, as they are trying to commune with a goddess, the tribute is much greater than the hero summoning ritual. Porcelain with well-decorated markings, or gem encrusted golden pots, bowls, cups... all of them either contain wine, or clear water. If the ritual is successful, then the Gallian knight didn't lie about his goddess' affinity. A divine being can be deceitful in many things, especially when their domain contains elements of untruth. But they can not fake what tribute is needed when it comes to their rituals.
"You may begin. Arch Vicar Logarius, Vicar Vittorio... and Sir Graham." His queen gives the order. Cromwell quickly steps behind her, while the leader of Three Heroes' Church and Four Heroes' Church both walk toward the altar, standing on the left and right side of the Gallian knight respectively. Both of them settle into a prayer stance, and begin to chant a holy litany that doesn't serve any specific purpose, or call down a specific god's miracle. But serves to blur the line between mortal and divine realm. And as the only (known) worshiper of this outer goddess, it's Sir Graham's role to conduct the ritual that would allow everyone to commune with his patron.
"The most noble, most compassionate, and wisest Aqua. Goddess of water, purity and healing. Your champion calls out for your guidance, to lead us through this grim time, and all the catastrophes." As the Gallian knight offers his praise to his goddess, the wine which had been sitting quietly in the golden containers begins to fight against the effect of gravity and slowly rises into the air. Droplet after droplet, they seemingly disappear in the empty space above the altar. As the last container empties its wine, the water from the porcelain containers begin to slowly evaporate into mist. Instead of disappearing into nothing, these white steam begin to gather in the middle of the chapel hall, slowly turning into the image of a woman that looks slightly younger than Malty. She has very light, blue colored hair tied into a single tail behind her head by a dark blue, bead shaped hairpin. And her cloth shares the same color with her hair ornament. But speaking of her clothing of choice... her skirt is dangerously low, and is threatening to not hide anything. Her shoulder and armpit is also exposed between her shirt and long glove. Sir Graham's goddess is very far from what Aultcray expects a being of divinity (especially one whose domain supposedly includes purity) would dress, and reminds him more of a harlot.
Was he simply being too deviant with his aged mind, or is there something wrong with this supposedly noble and compassionate goddess?
The Goddess' eyes wanders around, looking like she's either sleep walking, or half drunk. She turns around, even floating into the wall for a brief moment. That happens to be the second advantage of a communion ritual compared to a summoning ritual. Since their target only sends an image of themselves over, there's less chance for them to cause any damage to the world. But for a being of divinity, even this could be too dangerous for mortals. Thankfully, she seems to notice Sir Graham after aimlessly wandering around like a fly for a brief moment. She opens her mouth, but lets out a hiccup instead of any words at first. "Oh, it's you, Kyoya. Where are the others-"
The aloof (and gods forgive him, not very brightly looking) goddess takes a brief pause. Seemingly remembered something as she slaps her own head. "Oh, right. Silly me. You are my only champion left in this world. The others are all dead."
End Note:
Yet another chapter where the main cast barely made any appearance. I'm not sure if this will become more and more common as story goes on, but my aspiration had always been writing a political/war drama set in RotSH's world since I think the highly cynical tone of the story would fit such a story much better than the wishfulfillment power fantasy Alenko wrote. Hopefully this chapter give away some needed answers so far.
Astaroth continued to send out his troops to raid wherever he can find weakness. Melromarc is alone in facing Astaroth so far (because the social elites from RotSH's world is nothing if not petty, self-serving, and short sighted), but there are those who are competent at their job realizing they need to work together to survive. Poor Eclair is now faced with more trauma of her action leading to the death of those she commands. And we get to see how Kyoya became useless goddess' champion: He wasn't her choice. He's just the only one lucky enough to survive to this point.
For anyone who might be remotedly interested, Bright's story of leading his own army to death was what canonically happened in his game in 'The Legend of Fay Realm 2' (which was, once again. A prequel to the 1st game). Although obviously he wasn't fighting a group of bandits, but an opposing power of his nation when he got ambushed. The whole carving names onto coin to let those who survive till the end of the campaign carrying over the glory, wealth, and dream of those died in the war is also something from Bright's game. It's actually a hidden subplot to get Set (his original name pronouce more like 'Seg') back into the party. I thought it was a bit of nice world building from a game otherwise light on the culture of the game world, I included it in this story.