The Duke's Passion

'This is the last one,' I thought, but that didn't hinder me from releasing the single arrow that was left in me. So far, I kept them busy as they fended off the arrows coming at them. Still, that barely made the enemies slow down. Just as I was about to toss the bow aside and join the battle once again, I gazed down at the person below. 

Even though we were all dirty, I could tell he was a commoner at a glance. My eyes landed on his wrapped shoulder, but his injury was minimal based on the blood that was leaking from his wound. 

"Your Majesty!" he was panting, hugging a few arrows like how a child embraced their toy. "I picked up some arrows for Her Majesty!" 

My jaw tightened as I motioned my fingers up. "Throw some up here." 

"Yes!" he didn't idle as he immediately toss three up, which I caught. Without a second hesitation, I pulled three arrows with the string and shot at each rebel, sneaking up behind Jaime. The latter glanced in my direction, but I ignored it and caught another two to shoot more people.

We continued with this routine and noticed some who couldn't lift their weapons, pluck the arrow from those I shot. I narrowed my eyes, seeing at least three people doing the same thing while others back them up. This slightly brought a subtle smile to my lips, an irony in this situation. 

When they collected a considerable amount of arrows, they all rushed in my direction with the arrows they had collected. As they did, they didn't look back, trusting those who were protecting them. With their determination, I kept shooting arrows as I had an 'unlimited supply.'

"Your Majesty!" the three who brought the used arrows dropped them near the one who thought of this idea, handing him a handful of arrows which he could toss to me. 

"Take a rest," I said, releasing three more arrows and downing three people at once. "You're doing a good job."

I felt their beam, but I had to focus on the battlefield. So far, we held equal ground against the rebels. Fabian was doing a good job of stopping the arrows and was now holding the front line. Letting him stand in front helped me reduce the rebels from flocking the battlefield and overwhelming our people. But because of their numbers, like ants, he couldn't stop all of them. 

If Fabian and I wanted to, we could obviously fight these people. However, I knew he was conserving his energy as much as possible. Both he and I couldn't use all our energy in here because Zero wasn't still here. Although I wasn't sure if Stefan was also here, we had to think he was already in here. 

Whatever they were doing, I didn't care now. I would fight them to death. This time, for sure, we would put an end to the matters of the past. 

"Fabian!" I shouted while in a stance to release the arrow. He didn't look back but instead, dash towards the rebels. As he did so, I shot arrows at those rebels coming from his side.

'The main problem in here is not the rebels coming...' my eyes sharpened as I let go of the arrows. 'The most troublesome of all were those shooting burning arrows from a distance.'

BOOM!

A powerful gust of wind blew past me and even threw away other people near him as Fabian deflected all the attacks that surrounded him. Even from this distance, I shivered at the killing intent emanating from our dear butler as he showed no mercy. 

In a blink of an eye, a river of red flooded his feet as he dash forth. Fabian then disappeared, reappearing above those archers to strike them. Time seemed to stop over there as Fabian stood in the middle of the rebel's base. He looked cool as he lifted his chin, showing no remorse in slashing the archers. 

"This is a war," I muttered, shooting at them, which brought them back to reality. Those people defending the estate filled the air with their roars, advancing this time. Fabian's action raised their morale. 

"We're done defending," I continued, catching more arrows with one hand. "Time to attack, Fabian."

As I said those words, I shot the arrows. The other three who were collecting the arrows were about to rush back to the battlefield but stopped when I spoke. 

"That is enough! Focus on helping those injured people. Take them back inside so they would get treated," I ordered while shooting the arrow.

"But Your Majesty!"

"No buts! I promised everyone... and their families that they would return!" I released the arrow as my tone grew solemn and firm. "Their injuries might be grave and they might not survive, but I want them to spend their last moments with their love ones."

I didn't know if this was right or wrong, but that was what I see fit. Returning their corpse to the family and giving a chance to those who were accepting the pearly gates of heaven or the scorching door of hell was what I see fit. Their families deserved to hold a funeral and bury their bodies instead of weeping for an empty grave.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" 

As I was shooting the remaining arrows, the three men who were collecting them checked those people on the battleground. They prioritized those with grave injuries whom we thought were already dead. 

"Last one," I said, pulling this last arrow while my eyes scanned who to shoot. Right now, with Fabian leading them, we were overwhelming the rebels. Despite their numbers, they were falling back.

"This is a good sign..." I trailed off as my eyes suddenly dilated, holding my breath as my entire body shook. I couldn't release the arrow as I just stood in here, frozen. The battle was still ongoing, but I caught Fabian also pause while being surrounded. Others wouldn't notice immediately, but the two of us instantly felt the sense of dread and the danger that suddenly arose.

This aura...

I slowly looked up, clenching my teeth as the light from the moon slowly reduced. A dark shroud enveloped half of Minowa.

"Darkfield..." I muttered, and I knew this darkfield was strong, impregnable, and dangerous to be in it. The tide had turned. 

"Everyone! Fall back right this instance!" I shouted through my gritted teeth.