How strange it was, for a part of this godforsaken ruin to be abundant with magical energy. At least, that was what the stalwart militant seemed to be feeling. “How come I never felt this before?” Was this power hiding behind the wall all along, a trace of Heinrich’s power, or could this be a tendril of the harsh curse dominating Glast Heim? “Hel, it’s so dark here I can’t see a damned dust mite. I really should have waited for Leda so she can cast Ruwach.” but as soon as she said it, she bit it back. “Bad idea.” Heinrich may be a man(?) who had passed his prime, but dealing with immortals was dangerous, because they were especially crafty and spry. Putting Leda –and Dastal, even though his presence still sets her off on the inside- in front of Heinrich was a danger she just wasn’t willing to risk. The former guard of the mad king had an arsenal of holy magics the likes of which no one else had seen, and all of it capable of effective decimation. The Archbishop wouldn’t stand a chance, and Dastal would only survive on an estimate of five minutes.
As for her, maybe 1 minute, at most.
“Sir Heinrich! Come out and show yourself!” she hollered as loudly as she could, confident that no monster would follow her with this much inhuman mana. No reason to be itching for a fight nor to be afraid, after all. “There’s no point for you to use pawns anymore for an invalidated contract. Just tell me the truth about what happened to the piece of Ymir’s Heart.” Okay, so she knew already what happened to it with the Dead Man’s Valkyrie, but something within her kept nagging how it still wasn’t the whole truth of the fragmented story. How was it stolen in the battle of the undead?
In return, a challenger rose up to her rousing, the tired voice echoing through the dark halls. Seirin gave chase to where the sound was coming from, faster and faster that she didn’t care her shoes were already louder than the voice as she listened and tried to locate the source by sound. “I’m sorry…I’m sorry…” she heard, but the Royal Guard seriously doubted it was for her, but then the next one was definitely at her way. “It was because of rogue, disobedient elements like you that my king died.”
“You’re wrong, Sir Heinrich! You’re so horribly mistaken,” she retorted, though she knew he wasn’t even listening. Quick in her continuous reproach, she sought to bring him out of hiding via provocation. “Schmitz von Walter is a tyrant king, a crazy fool who sought the impossible and doomed his family as pariahs for a second time,” she tried to say with as much conviction as she can, though she doubted the veracity of that claim herself since half of it were hypotheses she pulled out of the air. “He used unholy rituals to attain the forbidden and ruined his city because it attracted the power of Dead Man’s Valkyrie. Of course,” here was the clincher “you probably know something about it since you’ve been living for so long it’s inhuman; or maybe you weren’t even human to begin with, hmm?”
No answer came. Stalling for a moment in waiting for a response, the Royal Guard then kept running, but her accusatory inquiry was never answered and now she couldn’t try to locate where he was.
After a minute, she continued on, laying a hand on her stomach and inhaling the musty air. “It’s probably around or past noon now. Why else would I feel hungry? Lunch will have to wait, I guess.”
It didn’t take long for her running in the darkness to eventually cause a mishap, and a loose footing caused her to fall. Sucking a breath in and ignoring the pain after muttering “Heal”, Seirin stood up and looked around, the hallway illuminated dimly with the eternal twilight from outside coming in through small cracks. “Where am I?” Looking up, she watched through the cracks on the ceiling and saw some of the static blue-gray clouds. Then something caught her eye, a vague torso-like shape which she looked at then down to right before where she stood.
Below her there was an elevated footing, a pedestal, and on it was a granite statue, towering over so high the top reached into the blackness untouched by the light. She couldn’t really distinguish any features, but she knelt over the pedestal on seeing an engraving and dusted it with her gauntlets. “What’s this?” The writing seemed to be an epithet, and she took off her right gauntlet and closed her eyes, tracing the letters with her touch. It was not a language she could interpret, but its stone cold silence spoke to her in a way she understood. What did those words mean?
‘This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.’
The Royal Guard retracted her hand immediately. A voice having reverberated in her ears through the halls. “Who said that?” In an unholy cursed place, she never expected to hear such mellifluous gentleness. “It’s probably a side effect of the curse or leftover mana from here”, Seirin disregarded just as quickly; there were more pressing matters at hand. And yet…
~…
“The union of two peoples. This child will be far fairer than even Kvasir himself!”
“He will be the one to inherit the legacy of light.”
“Your Majesty…it is with great regret…that I deliver news that His Highness the prince…has-”
“AGH!” Shaking herself out of the strange reverie, the Royal Guard touched the inscription again, feeling around it until her hand suddenly felt a loose edge then pressed at something. The inscription crumbled, and a secret compartment opened. Putting her hand in, she grasped at what was inside and pulled out a scroll. It wasn’t bad like a worn-out scroll normally would be, but it still was yellowing and crumbling. Unrolling it, she saw it was on ancient language, one she helped in studying in her service to the Church but barely deciphered. “Paracletos? This is…a spell scroll, isn’t it? I’ve never heard of this spell before. Better take it back to the Sanctuary for analysis.” The rest of the scroll was either crumbled away or too faded to decipher.
Storing the scroll into the space between her shield and her back, Seirin pushed the compartment back before fastening her gauntlet back on her hand and ran towards where Heinrich’s voice last echoed, leaving the statue one more brief glance. “Focus, Leid. This is far more important than some strange voice and a strange scroll.”
“It was hidden here safely, long ago, but the Dead Man’s Valkyrie stole it, after subduing and poisoning my comrade, Gerhard. He was a good man; he didn’t deserve such a fate.” Heinrich’s voice echoed yet again, this time in a different direction yet louder. His tone was ridden with coldness, but there was some faint regret there.
“Gerhard?” She remembered the translucent image of the knight in the magic circle from awhile ago, “ah.” So that was his name. Suddenly, she could feel a sharp surge of energy, and knew then she was getting closer to Heinrich. The cracks overhead were getting bigger and wider, showing a brighter, yet more sinister surrounding. The bluish twilight was now gone, replaced with yellowish colors, only, it didn’t bring the feeling of warmth, but age, ruin, defeat. The walls on the side were cracked, and she looked around, wary of anything that could jump out. Her fears were exact when a Raydric Archer’s arrow whizzed by and barely missed. She quickly ended it by making a cross with her spear that illuminated, “Holy Cross,” and the dark-enchanted armor fell to bits and faded back to wherever it should be. “I see now. These victims would never receive peace as long as the curse is intact; Glast Heim would never be free until someone actually frees it. All the adventurers that came here, they didn’t care. They just wanted experience and to plunder forgotten treasures.”
But what was the curse?
A thought came to the militant.“Could it be?” Seirin’s eyes widened as she entertained the possibility, wracking it, prodding it, toying with it in her head. Concentrating, she tried to remember again the contents of the Rune Royal Family Book, and then the memorial dungeon. “Is it possible? I’m just grasping at straws, but an immortal’s grudge?” Could Heinrich’s misguided loyalty be the true curse of Glast Heim? Or was it the Dead Man’s Valkyrie and her own reasons that bound these souls to a merciless non-life as initially thought? Or were they only threads that interconnected to an even bigger problem? Seirin intended to find out, “for all the souls, I’ll help them find rest with God’s wisdom.” She tried again to speak out, her determination and inquisitive perspective renewed, “Heinrich! Have you been living so long just to have your revenge on Dead Man’s Valkyrie? Answer me.”
He answered, just as she hoped he would. “Even if I did, I could not.” Heinrich paused, his voice reverberating in the widening halls as he continued more perturbed this time, “a few hundred years ago I came to Prontera after I learned that there was a piece of the heart hidden beneath the city. I was sure that history would repeat itself again, and Himmelmez would come after the prize she wanted.”
The Royal Guard followed, trying to place his location but her she felt a spike of pain in her head in one sudden go. She nursed her head against her hand while another foreordinate vision came to her. It was her dream, the one she described to Leda. She saw Randgris, but this was different. A shadow had been lifted from one of the ten, not that it made a difference. There was a hideous black catsuit with yellow frills, a belt made from a spine’s vertebrate, and a wicked smile. The same woman she saw awhile ago during the time fluctuation. Again, the eleven came at her all at once and struck her down. “Ahhg!” Collapsed, she leaned and supported herself back up on the wall and tried to focus. “Hi-Himmelmez. Lisa Kahn Himmelmez, yes, that was the Dead Man’s Valkyrie. But what in Hel was that? Why now?”
Heinrich still continued while the Royal Guard struggled to recover, and then another pause, followed by the sound of metal clashing against stone. “However when that time came I was indisposed fighting the undead near the vault, much to my regret. That heartless monster did not appear but a blonde woman came instead, and she did something, I could not remember. After I came to, weeks had passed. I heard rumors of a child with red spiky hair and an Assassin having disposed of Himmelmez and her accursed Dark Whisper during my incapacity. My revenge could no longer be completed,” the former aide relented, before raising his sword and pointing it at the intruder’s neck.
Just a step away from him, the Royal Guard glared from beneath her eyeshield, her spear pointed right at his abdomen, challenging and locked in a stalemate. Finally, after chasing his echo, she found her way into the churchyard of Glast Heim. Looking at him now, he was no longer the middle-aged man she saw at the castle once on her envoy mission. What stood before her was a very beautiful man, fortuitous, regal, and commanding, with long locks of light bluenette hair, grayish eyes, splendid in white and gold. And yet her awe was superseded by her condemning fury. “What had it been all for? Using Sir Doug as a tool to kill me? Murdering Sir von Shedough? Why the unholy mirror and the book in the room?”
Before she could even ask anymore questions, an aura of dread filled her, and Heinrich stared in amazement at her; no, what was behind her. “My king…”
What?!
Heinrich was looking in awe and what looked like happiness, while Seirin doubled back and watched in horror as a dark circle of shadows formed on the floor, then a triangle. She was so repulsed and dismayed that she stepped further and further away, right into Heinrich’s grasp. Her eyes widened in horror as she watched, her neck on a chokehold as he held a small dagger up her jugular. “Guh! Let go! Let go of me! Sir Heinrich, this isn’t right!”
Dark tendrils grew out from the lines before forming into a dark ball mid-air, and finally a shadow with a hexadecagram. Trapped by Heinrich, the Royal Guard stared on frozen in apprehension and disgust.
Heinrich approached the shadow, embracing it with his other arm, but not seeming to be affected by it. For her part, Seirin felt ill by just being near such an unholy preternatural being. It didn’t take long for the outline to materialize. Three skulls with horns on the center, a dark cape, a torso that’s impossible to be alive by human standards, it was a manifestation of Dark Lord. Heinrich smiled in nostalgic happiness and bowed, still holding his captive by the neck. “My king, just say the word, and I will execute this treasonous soldier for you.”
“So the book was true.” Her theory now had credence. Every legend had a basis of truth, and this was it. King Schmitz wanted the taboo, and most likely used a powerful tool like the piece of Ymir’s Heart to get it, but it backfired with great consequences, and that influx of power that required so many human sacrifices attracted Himmelmez. Now he was only a deathless, corrupted copy of the Dark Lord. The pieces of the puzzle have started to come together, at last. The dark mirror in Heinrich’s room must’ have been the same mirror described in the Rune Royal Family Book, and served as a communication medium to the infernal.
The once-king demon lord didn’t even make a sound, but it may have used a psychic or spiritual link to Heinrich. The other immortal looked pained, as if finally realizing a sad truth. His hold on her loosened until he let go, turned back and walked, passing her and coldly saying, “It looks like you have a problem to take care of. If you manage to kill that monster, then follow after me and we’ll end this once and for all.”
“What?” Seirin asked, rubbing her neck from the sore hold and near asphyxiation.
“I refuse to believe that demonic creature was my king. I was blinded by my hope to realize he was no longer here, and that is not him,” the former captain supplied after a short pause “But I will not give up. There’s another way to bring him back, and it would require all the trapped souls here in Glast Heim. Try to stop me if you can.”
“Require…” she shifted her gaze from the evil creature to the bluenette, “a sacrifice? You plan to sacrifice all the tormented souls of Glast Heim?!” He did not answer back. Her gaze followed Heinrich as he walked into the central part of the churchyard, disappearing into the grounds below with a bright beam of blue light. The Royal Guard let out a string of curses as the Dark Lord summoned powers of its projections, 3 Dark Illusions before she could even evade and follow the former captain of the guards. Damn! A boss monster with a formidable mob and she was all alone only running on red potions, but, “bring it!”
The malevolent demon swung its arms at her, and she managed to block both with her spear and shield. First she had to dispose of the Dark Illusions before dealing with Dark Lord. She leaped back and thrust her Hallowed Long Horn forward, but was quickly repelled as she hissed in pain from the burns her body sustained. The undead demon lord used Fire Wall on her! The Dark Illusions lunged forward, starting to corner her.
She was already losing and the fight had yet only begun. Sighing, Seirin prepared and stood her ground, unwillingly invoking the spell she detested most, “King’s Grace!” preventing damage towards her and healing her topical injuries. It only lasted so short however, that as soon as it ended, one of the Dark Illusions that cornered her struck her, sending a large bleeding gash down her left arm before she could get away. “Faen!”
Undeterred, the Royal Guard broke the top of a red potion bottle by scratching it against the wall and drank its contents before throwing it in the direction of the mob. She nursed her arm as it bled heavily, blood flowing than trickling in drops over her skin. The searing pain made her want to scream, shout, and snarl, but knew she had to save it for later, or else she may lose more than an arm. “Damn. Keep it together, Seirin Leiden. You’ve handled worse than this.” However, her injury had forced her to divest her shield, unable to hold it up due to strain and blood loss. How could she turn the tide in her favor? Compared to how her brother defeated Naght Seiger, the Dark Lord’s melee counterpart, this should be easier. She’s already defeated him twice, but the first had been with an ally, and the second was merely an illusion like this should be. Did Heinrich’s presence or magic make it stronger somehow?
The Dark Lord approached closer and soon flaming meteors fell from the sky as he commanded. His target was smack dab in the middle of Meteor Storm, angry and defiant. The mortal was challenging him, him, the undead demon king from the Realm of Fiends, to slay her. Look at her; she was absolutely teeming with life. Even with a grave injury, her life force was so strong he could already taste it from the air. The stubborn will to live mortal adventurers were known to have were formidable, and surely, that would make them all the more delicious for his feast when he destroys and remakes this pathetic human realm for his brethren. She would make a fine appetizer to the bone and her soul a mindless minion for his army.
It didn’t take long to utilize a makeshift strategy, and she used herself as bait. After all, she was a living being and demon lord or not, he was still undead and therefore craved life. Suffering immense damage however had caused her health to fall drastically. “Damn, this just has to work. God, give me providence and wisdom to live another day.” With no other choice, she once again leaped back, putting herself out of the Dark Illusions’ and Dark Lord’s attack range for a short while and smashing another red potion bottle to drink before casting Heal on herself, trying to limit the amount of mana usage to just barely stop the bleeding of her arm.
There was no other choice, as much as she wanted to alleviate the pain with full healing; if she kept on the defensive, she’d soon run out of mana and be forced to battle melee. She had to figure out what made this incarnation stronger than usual, and cut off the source, but how? Did it even get stronger, or did she just become weaker due to her long periods of slacking around in the Sanctuary without training?
Her reprieve was cut short when she sensed the demon lord’s malicious air approach. Ducking from the falling debris as he cut the wall she rested on, Seirin readied her weapon and shield, “Grand Cross!” A cross illuminated from the ground and burst hallowed light. The Dark Illusions were kept at bay as she felt her life draining and her body tearing itself apart from the inside with the holy spell. More lacerations appeared on her legs and her head felt as though it was breaking right down to the skull, the abundance of mana seeping strength and health from her body even as Dark Lord used Dark Blessing on her and also stole from her life. Quickly consuming the last of her red potions as the cross began to fade, the Royal Guard switched from her Hallowed Long Horn to Imperial Spear, striking the ground before her and drawing a cross. “Overbrand!”
The Dark Illusions were soon dispersed back into nothingness, but that still left the Dark Lord. The undead demon king may have taken some damage, but clearly he was still far from being beaten, barely even using up his own dark mana. She had to step it up, or else. Switching back to her Hallowed Long Horn, Seirin raised the spear shouting “Spear Quicken!” and struck the Dark Lord repeatedly. If she didn’t hurry he’d recover and summon his illusions again. Sadly, the Royal Guard knew she was outmatched, especially with a stronger copy than usual. Thrusting her spear forward, she used Vanishing Point and another Overbrand in an attempt to knock him back, but missed. To add to her horror, he summoned another trio of Dark Illusions. Fortunately, they were quicker to fall this time as she threw her shield “Rapid Smiting!” and it ricocheted. However, “how long can I hold against him on my own? Damn.”
Dark Lord laughed in sadistic glee and pride, and so mimicked human speech even as another magic circle spun below and meteors started to fall from the sky again. “Human, you are a fool to think to go against me, the greatest demon from the Realm of Fiends, but I can respect how long you lasted against me. Become my servant, and I shall make you the general of my army when I conquer Midgard, or die.”
Running out of mana and ailing in health with vicious injuries, the mortal knelt down before him on one knee, fist to the ground and head bowed. His sinister laugh echoed throughout the entire churchyard, before stopping when he felt the sharp weapon ram through him. “Did you really think I will kneel down and worship you? I’m no one but God’s servant! You’re a weak demon and a worthless abomination.” Filled with courageous vigor, Seirin repeatedly rammed her spear through Dark Lord faster and faster, sacrificing a bit of her life each time to strengthen the impact. It was the Martyr’s Reckoning.
Still far from defeat, the Dark Lord teleported to another part of the grounds, but through a stroke of luck, the militant latched her spear onto him and was taken along. They were then surrounded by tombstones as she struck and drew another cross, a repeat Overbrand. “I am not going to die like this and I am definitely not going to be some demon’s pawn. Moon Slasher!”, she spun her spear like a baton over her head, using the spell to cull a fresh batch of Dark Illusions. Charging again at Dark Lord, she hissed and bore all the pain as more meteors fell from above and cut a luminous cross right across the demon lord’s torso. “Holy Cross!” Seirin pushed the length of her spear against him, much to no avail. “Damn you! Why can’t you just stay undead in the Realm of Fiends where you belong? What’s so desirable about Midgard? Did you really go so far as to want to be a demon to become immortal and conquer everything, Your Majesty?” That last question was trying to reach out to the person within.
“That’s it!” An idea struck her then. Truly, a demon could not be reasoned with, but this copy had a base, a human base. If she could appeal to the possibility of any humanity left within the dark incarnation, she may be able to defeat the Dark Lord from within. Names have power; it was the identity of a soul until their departure from their earthly life. “Schmitz! Schmitz von Walter! Listen to me, Schmitz von Walter! I, a servant of God, am calling for you,” she invoked, taking care not to speak her own name lest the demon lord use it against her while continuously parrying his attacks, “Come out of there, Schmitz von Walter.” She was rewarded with a knock back and a pain to her gut. “Urgh…”
Speaking his name had been ineffective; Seirin discovered this as Dark Lord used his power and brought more Dark Illusions by his side. “Damn!” Dark Lord did not respond, and the Mad King Schmitz’s humanity was truly lost. “I still have one ace up my armor, demon. My deus-ex-machina.”
If she could not make him remember his name, then she would use the name of God. She raised her spear, and thrusting forward dodging the Dark Illusions, pierced the demon lord’s abdomen as with all her might directed it upwards to his chest. Successful in the execution, Seirin followed it with a shorter lower right slash to the throat between the necks of the conjoined heads, then another just below the previous line. Finishing her attack, she dragged and maneuvered the Hallowed Long Horn’s edge right back to the bottom of the first laceration.
~…
A gray book tied with a thin red ribbon was in his hands. Seirin then took it from Cal’s hold and felt warmth come from the book. “It’s a rare spell book I found in a treasure chest from Kafragarten. I have a feeling that you might find it useful more than me. I don’t know if it’s light or dark in nature, and I can’t read the Hel out of it, so no guarantees. If you’re interested, I’ll loan it to you for a week and if you want it you have to pay me, deal?”
Runes weren’t just exclusive to Rune Knights, though she doubted they would ever encounter this kind of knowledge in their lifetime. Finally finished carving, the ᚨ was embedded into Dark Lord and mustering all her strength, invoked on a proto-spell she read from the book, panting as her energy drained faster, “God on high, grant me victory against my foes!” After finishing the invocation of Odin’s ancient rune, she drew a cross on it that illuminated along with the rune. “Jeg ber degTi Prego/Quaeso Runo di Ansuz, hear my plight, Holy Cross!”
The Dark Illusions that were closely approaching faded as a loud, thundering roar shook the entire city. Taking her spear back, Seirin pierced the ground and drew one more cross as Dark Lord screamed and writhed from the unexpected turn of events. “Overbrand!”
The spell was the same as always, but her invocation of the knowledge from the Secret of Rune was enough to turn the tide. The knock back of the skill was ineffective, but the pierce damage along with her spear quicken had been a tremendous aid. Dark Lord’s screams were not as horrible or earth shattering. For a moment, the Royal Guard felt beside herself, hopeful that even if it was the scream of pain and defeat, it seemed more human than undead demon; and maybe, just maybe, she had ended the Mad King Schmitz’s reign of terror on Glast Heim after 470 years.
Exhausted, Seirin fell to her knees, and in front of her were a dusty Old Purple Box, a dead skull, a coif, and a dagger she could not identify. Folding her arms, the Royal Guard clutching her stomach as her head bowed to the ground and her mouth vomited blood in copious amounts. “Ugh! Ahhh…guh…” Her gums bled as she spat out from the hematemesis attack, but felt her strength come back enough that the first thing she said was, “haah…Heal.” The urge to vomit stopped and she felt her body recover slowly. She wiped the blood from her mouth with her gauntlet, panting. “Ahhh…damn, if I had fought him before my ‘retirement’, I’d have definitely lost hands down. For the glory of God!” Exclaiming and feeling fresh from her victory, she pumped her fist to the air and helped herself up after a while.
God had been gracious in willing her to live another day after this. Now all she had to do was…she turned to the central part of the churchyard, where once a wooden platform there was now was a pit that leads to darkness underground. “This isn’t over yet, not by a long shot. I’m coming after you, Sir Heinrich. Prepare yourself.”
-
Leda was dragging Dastal by the arm, trying to get him to move faster. Their, well, her friend was all alone in a cursed city filled with the undead and vengeful spirits. ‘She should’ve gone with us. No, we should’ve gone with her. What would I tell Yura and Miria if she’s dead? Ugh, I hope we’re not too late. We should’ve been helping her from the start instead of going our separate ways.’ The Archbishop was feeling restless, pulling at her Ranger lover as they navigated through the narrow aisles of the Glast Heim St. Abbey. “Judex!” She cast the holy spell against the Evil Druid, not appreciating the interruption. “Come on, Das. She’s just right over the other side of that wall. That woman said so.”
The Ranger stared at her with as much incredulity he can convey from his blank eyes. “You’re not really taking the word of a stranger, are you? Have you forgotten where we are? We’re in Glast F-”
Leda sneezed from the cold.
“-ing Heim, Glast Motherf-”
She coughed too because it was strangely cold.
“-ing Heim! For all you know, she could’ve been a ghost or a banshee who’s trying to lure us into a trap after Seirin ratted us out. I bet she’s planning to eat us alive with her zombie hoard. I say we leave.” Dastal tried to pull back and go in the other direction with her, but nearly screamed when he felt Leda’s nails clutch onto his skin. “Okay, okay! We’re going to find her dead body and pay for her burial. I’m currently Warg-less because it’s making me run out of mana quickly, so let’s hurry up. Happy?”
She rolled her eyes in response, before pulling him along to enter the crack on the wall with her. “Come on, and no! Do you always have to wish the worst for her? You two used to be friends, and she’s my friend too. When this is all over I’m gonna make sure the two of you sort out your issues. I couldn’t even invite her to our wedding! When this is all over, I am so asking her to be our child’s godmother.”
“Our chil-…you’re pregnant?!” Dastal stopped dead in his tracks right before he entered the crack, his mouth open and feet glued to the ground.
Leda realized the repercussions of what she just said and let go of his arm, red-faced and mouth wide open as his, stuttering with a strangled, embarrassed choke, “N-No! I-I mean not right now. If I was pregnant, do you think I’d be carrying sanitary pads whenever we go to Endless Tower to collect your loots? Or, you know, kicking undead butt?” She pulled him towards her and they walked down slowly on the distorted slopes of the churchyard’s walls, before stopping and pointing excitedly at the wooden platform in the center below. “Look, there she is!”
As the Archsbishop claimed, Seirin was right on the middle platform, resting on a wooden railing and just staring at the far dark ceiling, as though trying to make up her mind about something.
Eager, Leda ran to her friend, with Dastal following right behind, albeit slower and less enthusiastic. However, the blonde appeared not to be aware of them as she suddenly jumped and disappeared into the pit below. Leda stopped, gazing into the blackness of the pit before looking back to her lover.
“No, no way, not in this life. You see this?” He lifted his bow and struck an arrow on the wooden frame of the pit’s entrance and said doubtfully, “this has never been here before. I’m telling you, it’s a trap. I’m a Ranger so I should know. We should get out of here now. I got the boots and crystals. Now come on, she can take care of herseeeeee-” He never got to finish the sentence as he fell into the darkness with her holding tight onto his arm.
-
Seirin felt for the cavern walls with her right hand, having taken off her gauntlet yet again. This particular corridor, though dark, seemed to be monster free. The wall was flat and smooth, “there’s no way this is natural. There was outside intervention to construct this passage.” Her footsteps were level rather than descending, but she couldn’t be sure. “This way doesn’t seem to lead into the culverts or the underground caves. So where are you taking me, Sir Heinrich?” she muttered.
Her wandering was interrupted when she heard a couple of footsteps behind her. They sounded rather heavy. Perhaps some Raydrics followed this path. She turned and pointed her spear forward, ready to charge, before a familiar voice made her put it down. “Oh, thank God. It’s really you! You’re alive and well. See, Das? I told you she’s alive. Quit dragging your feet and get over here already.” Out of the darkness with a faint blue glow, the Archbishop came out, casting another Ruwach to illuminate their way.
“Leda? Dastal? What are you both doing here?” Sure she was happy they were fine and she was the one who asked for their help in the first place, but the danger was more than they anticipated. “You guys need to turn back, like, right now.” The risks were higher and the rewards non-existent.
“What are you talking about? Girl, you’re crazy if you think we’re gonna abandon you at a time like this, and- Oh my God! What happened?” Though the luminosity of the Ruwach was limited and tinted blue, she immediately took hold of both Seirin’s arms, noticing a slight swelled and discolored patch of raw skin running down from her left shoulder to the middle of her forearm. Before the Royal Guard could even speak, Leda used Increase AGI and High Heal on her, before topping it with a Renovatio and Coluseo Heal on all of them. “Don’t ever, ever worry us like that again, okay?”
“Speak for yourself,” Dastal huffed, hands crossed and blowing raspberries in disregard. He straightened up the moment his lover glared at him. “What?”
“Oh, nothing. Anyway, we’re not leaving you to handle this alone, Seirin. We both came here for a reason. After we finished our time trip, someone told us that we would find you here and we should help you. We won’t ditch that easily. We may be ex-guildies but we’re still friends,” she glared at Dastal, who had his mouth open ready to rebut but closed it again, before turning back to the younger girl and casting a High Heal on her “give us more credit than that.”
“Alright, if this is what God wants, then God gets. At least I’m not going at this alone,” Seirin took Leda’s hands into her own and gave them an affectionate squeeze “both of you, thank you. Yes, even you, Dastal,” she said flatly and stared at him with a deadpan countenance before turning back to the clergywoman “but how did you two find me? Glast Heim is big and there weren’t any recognized shortcuts between the chivalry and abbey. Was it one of Professor Hugin’s assistants or something?”
“Or something.” The Archbishop shook her head, holding Seirin’s cold hands with her own. She was smiling, excited in what she was about to share. “And no, I don’t think so. She was a tall woman with long chestnut hair and prussian blue eyes. Her skin was so fair, much fairer than yours if that’s possible; she looked like she was actually glowing. I actually thought she might be a ghost or angel. Oh, she was so pretty, Seirin.”
“Wait, wait, what are you talking about?” The Royal Guard tried to think about this, letting her friend’s words sink in. Long chestnut hair? Prussian blue eyes? Angelic appearance? Could it be the valkyrie Sandra? No, it couldn’t be. Sandra had flaxen blonde hair and gray eyes. She tried to think of any tall women she met in the past as well as whom she could remember from her dreams that had those features. Was it a ghost, the ghost of her dear departed mother? Hsui’s brown hair did have to come from somewhere, but though she recalled the warmth of her mother’s honey-caramel colored hands (far from the fair rosy tone Seirin herself had), for the life of her she couldn’t remember the woman’s facial features, let alone the hair. Not only that, but there was no reason for her dead mother, bless her soul, to appear now of all times, especially after all the harrowing dangers she’d been on before.
Stumped, Seirin led the way and accepted it as an unusual coincidence. All the while walking, she struck a conversation, looking back at the two as Leda illuminated the way with Ruwach at the narrowing clearly man-made passage. “You do know I already allowed you to call me ‘Leid’, right? Because we’re friends.”
“I’m used to ‘Seirin’ more. Both are your names anyway, right?” Leda responded, looking around in awe at the new unexplored passageway while Dastal kept his guard up with his bow and arrows at the ready.
Their moment of camaraderie was short-lived, however, as the earth trembled and shook, small rocks falling from the cavern ceiling. “Ah, faen,” Seirin knew that time was running and not on their side, for her, for her friends, and for all the souls trapped in Glast Heim. She grabbed for Leda’s arm with her right hand and Dastal’s with the other, explaining what had happened in the present during their trip to the past and her ordeal with the inhuman Heinrich. Leda obliged with party buff spells while Dastal used Wind Walker; the Royal Guard then dashed forward with her escorts in hand.
-
“Wait, stop. Seirin, do you feel that?” Leda stopped dead right on her feet, putting a finger on her lips telling the other two to be silent. She closed her eyes, and folded her hands together in contemplative prayer.
Truth be told, the militant noticed it a lot sooner than when Leda brought attention to it, and she’d been steadily slowing down as a precaution and so as not to alert her friends (though the clergywoman noticed it anyway). For his part, Dastal was confused as to what his lover was talking about. Nothing but silence from the Archbishop, Seirin knew Leda was trying to feel, to meditate. She, too, could feel it.
Like the first time in the hidden passageway to the churchyard, there was an abundance of mana in their surroundings, but unlike then when she was unsure, this was active mana, using itself up without replenishing, yet it was still plentiful, like a faucet making use of a reservoir. It brought into question again whether the magical energy was brought on by Heinrich’s intervention, or merely undiscovered for years. It was magic so powerful it kept the mana of Glast Heim’s curse at bay; a separate jurisdiction on its own. “We’re possibly in a place in Glast Heim where the undead can’t enter,” she warned, turning back to Leda who was still trying to feel with prayer “be careful and don’t use Ruwach or anything from here on out. The lesser the visibility and mana consumed, the better. We want to keep the element of surprise against Heinrich.”
After the light of the holy spell faded, a small dim brightness led at the end of the trail, apparently an ornate but old corridor, and they followed the light. Exiting out of the threshold, the trio found themselves walking an aisle and climbing a stairway. Around them was not the twilight grayness of Glast Heim, but the colors akin to sunset, fires, and lava. At the top of the elevated floor were columns that reached high and a niche. Inside it was a sculpture of a very beautiful womanly body, but anything above the neck seemed far too damaged. Sure, the place was quite a sight and the fact that it was mostly intact inside the forgotten capital was an awe to behold. Had it not been for one thing though, “Where’s Heinrich?” She half-expected the immortal royal aide to just jump out of nowhere and strike them by surprise, but knew that even if he wasn’t exactly conventional, Heinrich seemed the type to follow honorable rules on duels to the death.
“I need a better vantage point. Wait here,” Seirin instructed, stepping up on the dais placed before the niche. She looked down and saw that the middle of the dais was a circle, “What on earth…?” The pedestal was different from the surroundings, too modern and metallic, like the technology of Schwarzwald. From there she could see what seemed to be sooty short circuit burns and, “the signs of a struggle?” But if it really was a machine that was a later addition to this place, it’s likely inoperable and non-lethal now; someone had to have been here recently in the secret area. “Heinrich…no, it couldn’t be.” Traps were not his way, and neither was technology. She would have to report this finding to Father Bamph after whatever this mission is turning out to be had been dealt with. Still, this was where the passage led and this was where Heinrich would definitely end up. She motioned for them to come closer and said, “be careful, and stay close. Heinrich’s near, but I just don’t know where.”
Her question was soon answered when she heard the slow, even steps from the corridor they just came from. Out of the shadows came Heinrich, no longer in his white garb, but donning a resplendent Royal Guard armor of yellow and white gold, the likes of which have never been seen on any other.
“Heinrich!” Seirin jumped down and broke into a dash down the stairs. Before either of her friends could come forward with their weapons ready, she pushed them back with her hands, using the momentum to thrust herself forward and clash with the immortal. She didn’t use her Long Horn or Imperial Spear, but instead a sword at her disposal, the Holy Avenger, upgraded over its limit nine times over, pushing her weight forward as he blocked her with his own blade. “Both of you, keep your distance! It’s not safe,” she shouted “Leda, don’t use offensive spells and stick to defense. Dastal, you’re an Archer-class, ‘nuff said.” The prong of the holy sword nearly broke off but the Royal Guard quickly withdrew and leaped back, switching her weapon of choice back to her Imperial Spear.
The two scattered from the Royal Guards as they clashed against each other. Trying to get through to him, Seirin rebuked her opponent aggresively, “What are you planning to do with all those souls, Heinrich? What are you aiming for? Schmitz von Walter is dead! He’s been dead for 470 years, and now without a reasonable doubt he’s truly dead. Stop this!” One look at his eyes, however, and she knew that her words were only nonsense to him. Heinrich was a man who would follow his king and friend to the depths of Hel. “Fair enough,” she grunted resignedly, “I’ll end you and send your soul together with your beloved king to Hel.”
Successfully pushing his younger foe back, Heinrich raised his sword, ready to strike and matching hit for hit. “You, you’re under the garb of the Royal Guard. You should be bound to the contract serving our king! How are you able to defy me?” He leaned forward, a reversal of roles as he put his weight on and she tried not to stagger. The immortal Royal Guard took his shield and planted it on the ground before unleashing a massive wave of holy magical energy to the ground. All at once the floor illuminated and multiple Grand Crosses erupted.
The searing heat of the holy light was too much, and Seirin hissed in pain from the luminous energy trying to penetrate into her sbody.“I-I don’t have anything to explain to you. I’m a militant of the Church and God’s servant; I serve no country and no man!” A whimper and groans of pain from behind her stopped her from the debate, forcing her to maneuvered their weapons in a complete deadlock, giving her enough time to look back for a second in worry. Relieved to see that they were still okay and holding their own, Seirin felt the warmth of Leda’s Coluseo Heal calm her fatigue, but she still worried for the two. As of right now, both her friends were as useful as wet socks when it came to firepower. Dastal would only be a distraction and land minor damage at best. His white-wing gear was currently unsuited for high-end boss battles, especially one of Heinrich’s caliber. Leda’s offensive skills were all holy, which Heinrich would be immune against and even benefit from. The Royal Guard would rather kill herself ten thousand times over than let her friends do melee battle against Heinrich. Encouraged by the will for their survival, she felt adrenaline rush through her veins as she pushed Heinrich back with her own spear. “I brought them into this, and on God’s will, I’ll bring them out alive!”
Unfortunately, her lack of foresight would cost her. While keeping Heinrich’s sword at an impasse to attack with her spear and shield, he used his own shield to toss against her. “Smite!” before a large cross fell from above and struck her head, five times, a more powerful and heavier personalized variation of Gloria Domini. The severe blunt trauma inflicted upon her had incapacitated her to immobility; her health and mana dropping to dangerously low levels that if she ever gets hit one more time, she would be knocked out cold, or worse, die.
Fighting to keep her consciousness even with her dangerously low health, Seirin turned her back quickly and spoke weakly, “Sacrifice!” on Leda and Dastal, the former staring in abject horror while the latter glared at Heinrich, using himself as a barrier between the immortal royal aide and his lover as magical leylines formed between the three.
Instead of the awaited coup de grâce as she expected, Heinrich grabbed Seirin by the arm. “Uhng…” she struggled to get free, but was too frail to do so. She could only follow with her feet walking involuntarily on the cold stone floor. Both Dastal and Leda stepped in to free her, but his Arrow Storm barely scratched anything, while Leda bestowed Pneuma on her lover and attempted to attack Heinrich with her Empowered Mace of Judgment, but both were just effectively knocked back.
The immortal former captain walked up the steps, dragging the near-death woman and threw her on the pedestal she stood on awhile ago. All at once, a yellow glow emitted from the dais and entrapped Seirin inside a yellow spherical energy field. The leylines of Sacrifice were severed and effectively dispelled. “Someone told me that this contraption could be used to bring back someone from the other side. All it would take would be a woman who is absolutely overflowing with life. All the souls of Glast Heim would gather here and try to take your body, but I have faith in my king. His fortitude and strength is so great he would have your body and return to life. All you have to do is accept him into yourself, not that you’d have a choice,” he threatened before turning from her and lifting his sword, directed at the pair “I will spare your comrades if you accept him.”
“What in Hel does that even mean?!” In terms of power, Dastal and Leda were far more expandable and stronger than her. But she couldn’t bother with the semantics. For all the few strength she had remaining, Seirin screeched as her throat ached and banged her fists on the sphere from inside, “You’re mad; not insane, nonsensical mad, but you’re cold, inhumane mad! You’re holding my friends’ lives hostage, and you expect me to give up my own life for something that’s impossible from the start?”
She tried reasoning with him, bargaining, all the things she learned when it came to hostage negotiation, but for all her tactical prowess, she couldn’t keep calm in a situation when innocent lives (like her friends) were involved; after all, she worked best alone. “Whoever told you such crock is a liar! They’re lies! The mortal dead, once completely dead, can’t be brought back to life; any half-witted Acolyte would know that. Even the Resurrection spell of the Priest-classes has limits and rules that obey that limitation. And let’s say you do succeed, what would happen to the souls of Glast Heim?” His cold silence told her all that she needed to know, the fingers of her gauntlet trying to scratch at the forcefield. “LET ME GO! AHHH!”
“They would try to take your life, fail, and be ultimately destroyed. I would use their mana to anchor my king’s soul to your body. There’s a very small chance of success, but when working for the royal families, I came across something that would help bring back the true king of Midgard.” He took something out of his armor. His captive couldn’t see what it was at first, but a large amount of mana surged from what he was holding, and soon green runes floated by.
“That is-!” It was a piece of Ymir’s Heart! The divine artifact fragment was no bigger than the head of a pin, but despite its size, it was of formidable power, and with it, his distorted resurrection ritual would be mostly successful, although she certainly didn’t think it would bring Schmitz back. For the life of her, she couldn’t even begin to fathom what will happen if he completed this false ritual. Not only would all the other souls of Glast Heim perish to non-existence, but King Schmitz’s soul, which still lingered due to Glast Heim’s curse, would as well. She tried to scream, “who gave that to you? What’s this ritual really about, Heinrich?” she screamed, dropping all formality as she screeched higher and higher “Heinrich! Heinrich, damn it! Let me go, damn you!” but knew it fell flat against his insensate reasoning. Was it a dark cult who worshiped the demon lord? No, it can’t be. That possibility was crushed due to the presence of the heart piece alone. The Dark Lord’s power waned because of the life of Midgard, and since the Heart of Ymir is what nourishes the world as the peak and source of all life energy for Midgard, it’s just plain unfeasible. If this ritual really was one for resurrection, then it would definitely work, but to resurrect what? Certainly not the Dark Lord, never mind King Schmitz, so who?
Heinrich held it up as she watched him place the stone right before her, just outside the circle. He watched her extend her hand to reach for it, but the mysterious energy confined her. He lifted his sword yet again to make her know his threat isn’t just hot air. “Better make your decision now, before I use your comrades to force you.”
“Bastard! Bikkju-son! Coward!” Screaming in anger as a dark mist entered from the corridor while he walked away from her towards her escorts. She knocked with her enclosed fists against the barrier and shouted to the two, “Run away! Run away now!” to no avail. All at once she felt a sharp pain in her heart and a pressure building up within her, but she refused to let it overtake her, trying to keep it at bay while she struggled to convey to them to get away quickly to the point of even tracing the words with her finger on the energy field.
Leda and Dastal however, didn’t have much luck. Their only exit was flooding with malicious undead souls deprived for centuries and to their other side was an immortal man willing to kill them for the sake of a long-dead person. “Babe, I could really use some buffs right now, so if you don’t mind, MOVE IT!” Dastal launched a set of arrows upwards as Heinrich approached them. “ARROW STORM!”
“I’m trying, honey!” she grabbed at his shoulders and glared before turning, “Seirin, just wait for us! We’re coming to help you.” Leda shouted over to the trapped girl, buffing her lover and herself with multiple holy spells. “Okay, what do we do? I can take care of the undead, but we can’t target a holy magic user. It’s useless!” The Archbishop used Pneuma over herself and her husband. “Get your Warg; maybe it could help.”
“Just keep using spells! Keep the undead away; I’ll take care of pretty-boy over there.” Dastal ran forward and slung each arrow to his bow and fired, while she obeyed and ran to the corridor entrance, shouting to the heavens and casting Magnus Exorcismus. ‘Tch, what do I do? The arrows are useless. These are my best oridecon arrows yet, but nothing can hurt this guy except arrows of shadow. Damn, and I’m running low on those too. I guess I have no choice.’ Cornered into fighting for their lives, the Ranger switched his arrow types and launched ten arrows of shadow above Heinrich.
On the pedestal, the helpless Royal Guard closed her eyes beneath her helm and kept her mouth in a thin line. Within herself, she was having a life-threatening struggle for her spirit. Her body was in serious pain, and if she didn’t find respite soon, it would just either stop out of shock or be completely taken over by whoever it actually is the ritual was trying to resurrect. “Please, let me go. I don’t…I don’t want to die like this,” she panted, clutching at her aching chest.
‘Why don’t you just accept me? Your suffering will end. You are a very beautiful girl, pleasing to my eyes, absolutely brimming with a beautiful soul and so full of life, though you deny yourself this, why?’
“God?” This beautiful voice, she realized she heard it before. It was the same one that spoke when she read that undecipherable inscription on the statue. But now it seemed to be very different yet the same. Underlying malice was in there, far more dangerous than the dream with Randgris and Himmelmez, and though she could not understand how she sensed this, something within her resonated, it was so tempting to surrender. It’s been so long since she felt warm and secure and cared for. Maybe whoever is speaking is a benevolent being and she was just misunderstanding. Could it be God granting mercy and she was just too tired from her missions and trials of faith?
‘No, human, I am far more benevolent and truer than that being you call your god. I am the one who all life comes from. The greatness of the earth lies within me. Accept me, and when I remake this world in my image, there will be no more suffering and sin. I will restore you to life and you will become my handmaiden in paradise.’
“No, it can’t be. There’s no one better than Odin. You’re not him. What kind of benevolent deity would address their creation by their race than a name?” What was it…no, she –Seirin recognized the entity as being feminine now- planning to do? The promises were sweet but she could still sense the underlying malice; it bothered her. Such pretty words were tricky when interpreted in many different ways. How is ‘remaking the world’ possible? Start up another conflict? Decimate humans and destroy their legacy? “You’re wrong. Whatever you’re saying and planning to do is wrong. I can feel it.” Feeling lightheaded, Seirin stopped struggling and leaned back to try to regain what little energy she could and felt her consciousness drift, but wouldn’t give up. “Who are you, really?”
‘Despicable human filth! You dare to defy me?! You are all alike! You take and take and take and are never satisfied with what was given to you, even when I looked after you all, you steal what is not yours. I will remake this world where all other life is equal, gods and demons, where no human exists to stir conflict. Give me your body, human. You only borrowed it from the earth, and to earth you shall return it!’
“AGH!” The Royal Guard clutched at her chest, a feeling of intense burning erupting and suffocating her. “Help! God, help me now!” She felt the overwhelming heat erupt, pain and despair all rolling into one. And then, silence.
‘...’
The dim blackness of her vision exploded into an infinitely blinding white as she fell over inside the sphere.
‘No. This is not your battle to fight; not yet. I will take care of this.’
“Uhn...what’s…?” The feeling of pain within her chest intensified, but now, somehow it gave her strength to stand. And so she did, albeit weakly and staggering by the legs.
‘Go. I’ve given you enough strength to aid you halfway. Use your spear and crush this prison, but leave the piece here. It will be crucial to undo the curse of this place. Take it only after the land is finally purified, then leave, for you are standing on holy ground.’
Words could barely escape her, but this time she didn’t resist and obeyed, taking her Imperial Spear and with great force, thrust it down on what she stood on and caused the barrier to deactivate. “What…who…who was that?” It was the same voice, authoritative and stern, and yet this one had the genteel likeness of honey at the same time, free of malice unlike seconds ago. It sounded like the same voice; no, it definitely was the same voice, so why did it threaten to kill her, and then help her after? “God, I must be getting worse. I really hope I’m not schizophrenic or something.”
‘Do it. You must hasten. I can only do this for so long.’
Obedient, Seirin finally ran forward with all her might to a collapsed Dastal and injured Leda, using Heal on them. She rammed her shield and used Smite at Heinrich who was about to strike the two, before shouting “Heal!” upon herself. After doing so, she cleared the immediate perimeter with Moon Slasher as the Archbishop broke a blue gemstone and resurrected Dastal. She sent another surge of holy mana to the two, leylines connecting through Sacrifice. “Sorry I couldn’t be much help before, but I’m here now. What about Heinrich?” she asked, putting herself in front of her friend -and Dastal who still doesn’t count- and aiming her spear at the immortal retainer.
“We’ve worn him down by a fifth, but he’s still holding back. If we injure him and reduce his strength and health to lower amounts, he’d use stronger skills to kill us,” Leda explained, healing herself quickly and then all of them “it’s like our first battle with Surt. Do you really think we could defeat him?” Casting Epiclesis right behind them, Leda’s magic had let a holy tree grow and gave the trio strength until they were completely rejuvenated.
“I believe we can. I’ve been far through worse. I don’t know how you guys have been doing after I left, but with a name like ‘Deadbeats’ I can only imagine,” Seirin impishly jabbed despite her fatigue. To the Royal Guard’s right, Leda held her Empowered Mace of Judgement, and to the left, Dastal prepared his remaining arrows of shadow and wolf flute. The militant gave both the clear to attack, brandishing her spear and shield, her gauntlets off. “Okay guys, triad formation. There’s still an astronomically high chance we’ll lose, but God willing, we’ll all walk out of here alive today or so help me, I’ll take Heinrich with me to Hel and rip him a new one.”
Leda rebuffed the floods of undead monsters, demons, and souls, “ADORAMUS!” and at once, a Dark Priest that was closely approaching disintegrated from the beam of light that shined from the heavens. “SANCTUARY!” The monsters perished as light erupted from the ground and came into contact with the walls of holy energy, nourishing their source with health and life. She struck a Raydric Archer that wandered to close to her with her mace. “Rest in peace, o poor souls, and find solace in the afterlife. MAGNUS EXORCISMUS!” More light erupted from the ground as she struck the armor of the Raydric Archer again and it fell apart, followed by a Dark Frame thru smashing the mirror in, and using said frame as a trebuchet to launch herself at an Abysmal Knight and pummeling it right in the face with her heavy mace. “Jævla Hel yeah!” she pumped into the air, withdrawing when the Royal Guard and Ranger looked at her with a mix of amusement and disbelief at her swearing. “Uh…oops?”
Dastal used Wind Walker to hasten his movements, running to Heinrich as erratic and disorganized as he possibly could. He blew on his flute and from the high walls jumped his ever faithful Warg. He immediately mounted the blue beast, and pointed forward to the immortal while scratching its ears. “Warg Strike!” The Warg obeyed as Dastal hung on and clutched the fur tight. Leaping into the air, the blue wolf landed on Heinrich and swiped its claws across and gnashed its teeth, eager for a fight and causing some damage against the white gold armor and staining it with the victim’s blood. The Ranger hopped down and prepared another ten arrows of shadow on his bow, commanding, “Warg Bite! Make it deep, boy!” Obediently, the Warg bit down on Heinrich, causing more injuries before leaping away back to its master’s side. Dastal launched his arrows above the inhuman man and used Arrow Storm.
The attacks however, were not as effective as anticipated. Though Leda was able to drive back the more aggressive undead with holy spells, more were flooding in and the dark mist was starting to stretch across the floor and the air. Heinrich merely healed himself and swung his sword high before another wave of holy energy erupted from the floor and struck the three of them. They were losing, and only fared against the former general a further tenth of his life and strength.
Seirin was quick to step forward, blocking the way between Heinrich and her escorts. Suddenly, she looked back and urgently said, “Leda, come here and cast High Heal on me.”
“No way!” Dastal blocked the way, refusing to let the Archbishop come into danger.
Leda moved his arm aside, assuring him that the Royal Guard would be there, “she’d keep me safe. That’s the way she is, always charging head first in front of us so we wouldn’t have to. You keep forgetting that when she was with us, she made impossible decisions but her failures have always been low. We can trust her to keep me safe.”
He didn’t want to, but relented on remembering the moments the Royal Guard really did make strategies with the least amount of casualties, grumbling and nodding his consent. He had to admit, though her strategies didn’t yield the most profitable nor promising results, they spared him from costly expenses like apothecary bills and funeral plans.
Leda cast High Heal about the same time that the other planted her shield on the ground and used Shield Reflect. The Archbishop felt the holy mana dissipate into the air, and saw four green starry orbs float and fly past Seirin before stopping. Her eyes widened in awe as the Royal Guard looked as though she was in meditation, humming as the lights flew back into the shield, seeming to be absorbed, before raising it above her head and green beams poured forth like a fountain of holy energy, healing the two women and Dastal with exhilarating life as much as Epiclesis and even extending further at only half the mana used. “What was that? Seirin, that was…wow.”
“Thanks. It’s ‘Reflect Heal’, and I’ll be happy to explain it to you later after we defeat Heinrich.” From under her helm, her eyes narrowed with a steely gaze at the last living survivor of Glast Heim. The man(?) was clearly no demon, but neither was he of the divine. She had to remember that. Could he be a ghost just attaching himself to a body? Maybe only ghost weapons would work against him, but they didn’t have the gear for it. Deciding to throw the battle to the winds of fate, she charged forward, her spear against his sword yet again.
“Woman, what was that? I have never seen such skill before, one that even cooperates with others. You would’ve made an excellent Royal Guard, and yet you defy every principle. Why do you refuse to serve your rightful lords and masters?” Heinrich asked calmly, touching the mantle of his shield as it began to glow, a sudden burst of holy energy encircling him from the ground. They were both aware of the Defending Aura, and he merely accepted the reduced damage the girl’s spear inflicted upon him.
Switching hastily from her Imperial Spear to a dagger she had been hiding, she was watching from the corner of her eyeshield Dastal about to fire a set of oridecon arrows, finally exhausting his supply of arrows of shadow. Not a very effective projectile with the Defending Aura, but she would distract Heinrich. Anything was worth a shot at this point, pun intended. “Have you actually been outside of Rune-Midgard?” she tried to mock as convincingly as she could despite her body wanting to give out, “you must have, considering how much of an ambitious monster the Mad King Schmitz must’ve been.” Her mockery of his old friend, however, didn’t even faze the former captain, but she expected that of his character. He kept himself unruffled, cold, and calculated. At least, that’s what she thought, but felt a sudden increase in pressure as he pushed his sword down against her dagger, before the blade finally broke. Left unarmed, she nestled her shield at her back and took her Imperial Spear with her left hand and rammed forward with her own body. Frantic for survival, the Royal Guard took him by the neck with her right hand and successively pushed him back up the stairs and cornering him to the pedestal he trapped her on moments before. The piece of the heart laying there fell into the circle from the impact of Heinrich’s collision.
The heart piece lit up and glowed, releasing another round of green runes that encircled it before a beam of light came and pierced Heinrich from the back, just below the left breast.
When it was all done, the piece fell back dormant to the pedestal, now the size of a thumb’s nail. Before her still strangled in her hand was Heinrich, now with shorter hair and gray-white, facial hair and signs of aging on his face while his armor looked older and worn down. This was his true form, or rather the form of the body that Heinrich had as the middle-aged man she met. “So, that’s your secret. Who would’ve thought how far the Mad King Schmitz would go for power and immortality.” Taking in a deep breath, “I’m sorry” she tightened her hold on his neck and stabbed him right in the chest, blood spilling and staining her spear as it came out of his back to the other side on the niche. “I’m against killing unless it’s towards demons or undead, but for going against the natural order and God’s laws, in addition to crimes against humanity, your life is forfeit.” With passing regret in her eyes supressed, she repeatedly stabbed at him, even as he weakened and blood came out of his mouth. She did this again and again, using both Cannon Spear and Banishing Point, until the now older man’s strength and health was reduced to a fortieth fraction of his peak.
Victory would not come so easy however, and she was eventually pushed off. “Shield Press!” Heinrich stood up, holding his wound before putting his sword forward at her and casting Heal on himself.
Collapsed on the floor from being knocked away, she stood up, leaping back down the stairs, grabbing her shield back and standing beside her companions, who had been fighting off the undead and mist of misguided souls while she dealt with the immortal. Heinrich had been considerably weakened, and with his source of youth and most probably his overpowered skills taken away, he could be a less dangerous opponent, but Seirin seriously doubted it. When cornered, the enemy is usually at its fiercest instead. “Now I know what you are,” she said, looking at Heinrich as he tried to keep himself steady “you’re just a ghost. Whether a static existence or someone who was once a man, you’re just a ghost now. You got your immortality and enhanced holy spells from a piece of Ymir’s Heart in your chest. I don’t know if that body is your original or merely someone else’s possessed corpse, and right now I think it’s irrelevant. Leda!” she looked back to her friend and extended her hand “can you make holy water here on such short notice? I kinda need it right-”
Before she could even finish her sentence, she caught a bottle of holy water with her hand. “I always pack extras, I have even more after you told us you needed help for a quest here at Glast Heim,” the Archbishop grinned and went back to whacking restless spirits.
“Thanks.” The Royal Guard took the ceremonial water carefully and poured it all over her left hand. Dastal was about to protest the waste of resource, but before he could, she fled to the direction of an incoming Abysmal Knight and its Khalitzburg hoard, disposing of them quickly with another Spear Quicken for speed and Overbrand.
Before the monster faded back to its spiritual form, Seirin did the unthinkable. She leaped over the dark horse’s muzzle and grabbed for the undead knight’s sword, the Blade Lost in Darkness, with her left hand. From beneath her helm, she closed her eyes, feeling the pain of the curse sting and break at her, trying to burn her hand off due to the exposure of the holy water. It was only a temporary protection before the unholy fires from the dark realms evaporate the holy water. She had to hurry. Running towards Heinrich, she tossed her shield towards him in an angle, the Shield Boomerang. He was able to deflect the attack, as expected, but was unprepared as the Royal Guard leapt up the stairs and launched herself with the last step, bringing down the Blade Lost in Darkness upon him. It was a successful jab, and his left hip was cut with a scratch. She didn’t know if the curse would affect him, but it would certainly weaken a man who relied on holy magic severely. She threw the sword up into the air as it spun, taking her Hallowed Long Horn and this time piercing his jugular and then ramming him with her shield. The Blade fell back down as she fixed her spear behind her back and grabbed the sword, this time cutting him across his shoulder and destroying that part of the armor and wounding him again.
It was a dance to the death, one that would make any Dancer-classer jealous and fearful at the same time. Whoever was leading at the end would be victorious, and the follow of the dance, dead. Neither would relent, and Heinrich remarked on this, “Aren’t you a little too feminine to be leading me to death?”
“Sex has nothing to do with being a servant of God.”
The holy water was starting to dispel, so with one last hit, she threw down the blade before it faded back to darkness. Heinrich pulled his sword on her and swung back in retaliation, but she ducked in time, letting him miss before she punched him with her left hand and forcing him to lose balance with a kick to his knee. She began to circle him, like a predator, before striking him with her Imperial Spear which he successfully deflected. With hastened speed, she switched to her Long Horn and moved faster around him, blocking and hitting with her shield and spears while he parried with his own. The “immortal” man(?) had been reduced to a thirtieth of his strength and vitality. It truly was a dance of death, and she was the lead. With a sway of her hips and the rhythmic steps of her shoes, she thrust her holy spear on the ground and drew a cross, knocking him back to the pedestal. Before he could fall, Seirin ran behind him, and with all her strength, pierced the back of his chest and pinned the Imperial spear to the ground once it came out of him.
“It’s over.” Once she said that, Seirin did something unexpected and walked away with the immobile Heinrich glaring at her. She called on the Ranger, “Dastal, get up here!” removing her Dip Schmidt Helm with her eyes closed, refusing to look.
“What?” Dastal got up, followed closely by his lover who was casting Magnus Exorcismus consistently as the malicious wave of spirits fluctuated in stronger than ever.
“End him.”
“What? He’s your kill. You came here to settle this,” The Ranger looked at her, a little bewildered, not that she could tell with his blank eyes “but if you want me to kill him, fine then.” He stepped forward and followed closely by his Warg, mounted the blue beast and went to the last survivor of Glast Heim.
~October 6, 999
Before he could inflict the killing blow, Seirin turned to him and chuckled, “That’s the way we always were anyway. I’d provide the distraction and you’ll be the MVP.” using the term applied by the General Ministry for boss-monster killers. “You know my rule, I don’t kill anything unless it’s demons or undead. Why would it be any different now?”
He replied with his own grunt and proceeded to take the MVP title. Closing her ears with her hands, Seirin tried to block out the sounds of pain, and the ending of a life, even if it had been a hostile and dangerous opponent. Deaths did not come easy, but they were a necessity. Heinrich had been 470 years long due to die.
The deed was done, and she came close to the corpse of the once heroic first Royal Guard, taking his hands and folding it over his chest, “God almighty, Lady Hel, give this man his due judgment and all the souls here repose.” She whispered closer in the dead man’s ear as she held his hands, “even if you’re gone, enough Royal Guards exist now to continue the tradition. Let their path never waver from God.” She could’ve sworn that in his death, he smiled.
Looking up above the wide cracks on the ceiling, she saw stars and the half moon up in the sky. For the first time in centuries, Glast Heim had a clear night sky and the restful sound of crickets.
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