Chapter 99: On the Losing Side

The scene looked like a nightmare made real.

Across the green plains of central Phatar, beneath the gray light of an overcast sky, tens of thousands of skeletons, reanimated corpses, and every kind of abomination imaginable fought against an army bearing the banners of the Church of the Sun.

But the army was not made up of soldiers alone. There were also mercenaries and adventurers from every corner of Phatar.

"Bastor!"

"I'm on it!"

At the call from Edran, leader of Hope's Compass, Bastor blocked the powerful claw swipe aimed at them.

"Why do we have to be the ones fighting this?!" Yvene cried in despair as she cast a fortification spell on Bastor.

Before them stood a gigantic quadruped with rotting skin, its body warped by bones jutting out through masses of exposed muscle.

Its head was little more than an elongated, pointed skull crowned with twisted horns, with thick veins pulsing across the flesh.

Each of its legs ended in a skeletal paw tipped with enormous claws, so long and sharp they looked capable of tearing a man apart with a single swipe.

"Why another crypt aberrant?!" Yvene wailed again.

"I don't think it helped that Bastor bragged to everyone about our experience fighting two of them!" Edran shouted as he circled the beast, slashing at its feet with his sword.

"But I said a big part of it was thanks to the party members we had with us back then, and that they're not here now!" Bastor protested as another claw swipe hit him with enough force to drive him backward, his boots dragging through the dirt.

"A big part? Nerez did everything! We're going to die here!" Yvene covered her face with both hands.

"Yvene, pay attention!" Edran shouted from a distance.

The horrible creature had lunged at Yvene with its jaws wide open.

"A... aaa... Noooooo!"

!!

But before its jaws could close on her, a magical barrier appeared between Yvene and the crypt aberrant.

"Don't worry. Everything's going to be all right."

Yvene felt herself falling in love as a handsome mage descended beside her.

The crypt aberrant wasted no time and lashed out with another powerful claw swipe. But its paw never reached its target.

With a single powerful slash, the aberrant's right paw was severed from the beast and fell lifeless to the ground.

A knight had appeared beside the creature, every bit as handsome as the mage, though there was also a certain nobility to his bearing.

"Sorales, I'm leaving her to you," the knight said to the mage, who was still protecting Yvene. "Don't use attack magic, or pieces of the monster could fall on the regular soldiers."

"Be careful, Darien," Sorales warned, adjusting his glasses. "Remember, Jeanne headed for the center of the battle, so she isn't here to support us."

"For something like this, we don't need Jeanne. It's not like it's a dragon!"

The one speaking was an athletic young man wielding a pair of daggers. He had appeared in midair directly above the crypt aberrant's head.

"Impulsive as ever, Kiel." Darien sighed at the sight of his party member, though there was no real concern on his face.

The monster tried to catch Kiel in its jaws, but he slammed them shut with a downward kick and, using the momentum, launched himself straight toward its eyes. He drove both daggers into them before springing away with another leap as the creature roared in pain.

"Thanks for the help!" Edran called, taking advantage of the opening to move into position beside Darien.

"Don't let your guard down. This is only getting started," Darien warned, his expression serious as he watched two more crypt aberrants approach.

"You're Jeanne's party, right?! Our rising star from Tirelia?!" Bastor asked as he moved closer to them. "Where is she when we need her?!"

Kiel, who had landed beside them after another leap, was the one who answered.

"See that gigantic undead dragon in the middle of the battlefield? There's your answer."

***

"Judgment!"

Leaving the human soldiers completely unharmed, a golden light swept across the battlefield, evaporating skeletons, ghouls, reanimated corpses, and many other kinds of undead without exception.

No, there was one exception.

A gigantic dragon, or rather, what remained of one, was still standing, seemingly unharmed by the attack.

Facing that colossal mass of bone and rotting flesh was a lone woman wearing armor in the blue and gold colors of the Church of the Sun. She had been the one to use the skill moments earlier.

"Lady Alaika! Please give the order to retreat! All our lines are under pressure!"

A commander approached her, his armor stained with blood, dirt, and sweat.

"The other three Lights have already been defeated! Who is going to stand between the Lich King and Galen if I retreat too?!"

!!

As she spoke, the dragon unleashed its poisonous breath, but in a display of superhuman power, Alaika managed to hold it back by spinning her lance.

"But the other Lights aren't dead!" the officer insisted. "If the Four Lights defend Galen while we wait for reinforcements from the royal army, there'll still be a chance!"

!!

But the dragon gave them no time to talk. With a powerful roar, it unleashed an enormous sphere of energy that crashed down on them.

"AAAAgghhhh!"

Alaika survived the explosion, though the blast drove her into the ground. The officer was not so fortunate and, like the undead before him, was evaporated on the spot.

"Damn it!" the paladin of the Church of the Sun cursed, staring at what remained of her comrade.

All she could do was watch as the enormous jaws closed in on her.

"I finally made it!"

But the dragon's jaws never reached her. At the young woman's shout, the beast's head was slammed into the ground, throwing up a cloud of dirt around it.

By the time the dust cleared, the dragon was no longer moving, and a figure stood atop it, only to leap down moments later and land on her feet in front of Alaika.

"Dead dragons really are quite a bit weaker than living ones, after all!"

The newcomer held out a hand to Alaika, who took it gratefully.

"That was an impressive display of skill. I've never seen a dragon fall that easily, dead or not..." Alaika remarked as she got back to her feet.

"Normally it's much more complicated, but I managed it because it was focusing almost all its attention on an opponent as powerful as you. (The rest is thanks to the sword the goddess who summoned me to this world gave me.)" The newcomer flicked the blood from her blade with a quick motion and sheathed it. "Ah, sorry! Where are my manners? My name is Jeanne. My party and I accepted a quest to rescue Alaika, the Fourth Light of the Church of the Sun."

"Rescue me?"

"Apparently, the Church of the Sun has given up on this area and wants to concentrate its defenses at Galen."

Alaika looked toward the spot where her officer had been and closed her eyes for a few seconds in prayer.

"All right. I'll give the order to retreat."

"Oh, leaving so soon?"

!!

A man had appeared floating above them, his long hair falling down his back.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the newcomer said with a deep bow in midair. "My name is Tortigor. Like Lady Alaika, I also happen to be the fourth, though in my case, that means the fourth vampire progenitor. I have some business with her, so I would appreciate it if you did not leave just yet."

Alaika readied her lance to defend herself, but Jeanne placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Lady Alaika, I know you did not use your full strength against the undead dragon, but we cannot waste time here. My party and the soldiers are in more danger with every passing moment. If a vampire progenitor has arrived, that means vampire soldiers are flanking us as we speak."

Alaika let out a heavy sigh at Jeanne's words, then nodded.

"To tell the truth, I do not see how you will be able to refuse my invitation," Tortigor remarked with a smile as he descended in front of them. "I can be quite persistent when I set my mind to it."

"Actually, it is pretty easy." Jeanne smiled as well and revealed a small gleaming sphere, no larger than a pearl, in her palm. "Lady Alaika, give the order."

Alaika raised her lance, and it gave off a small flash of light. At once, horns in the distance sounded the order to retreat.

"That's..." Tortigor murmured, staring at the pearl in Jeanne's hand.

!!

But the pearl began to glow and erupted into a pillar of light.

When the light vanished, both women were gone with it.

"Kamira isn't going to like hearing how this turned out..." The vampire progenitor shrugged with a carefree smile. "Well, to tell the truth, I've never been one to enjoy chasing retreating enemies."

Tortigor started walking, whistling with his hands in his pockets.

"Damn vampire, spawn of Nereziel and his whore Selene!"

Behind him, a soldier lunged with his sword aimed at Tortigor's neck.

But the soldier had taken only a few steps before his headless body collapsed to the ground.

"Humans grow more insolent by the day..."

The vampire kept walking without looking back once.

***

Night had already fallen over Dorttel, the capital of Phatar, and moonlight alone illuminated the colossal bridge connecting it to the mainland.

But the darkness posed no problem. The city's gates closed at sunset, and no one could enter the city built on a lake so vast it almost looked like a sea.

That, at least, was the intention.

In one of the most spacious and lavishly decorated rooms in the royal castle, a knight clad in black and red armor reminiscent of Empress Mireia's colors waited patiently, his gaze fixed on the balcony.

He did not have to wait long.

As the balcony doors opened on their own, letting in the night breeze, the knight removed his helmet to greet his guest.

"I see you are already prepared for battle. Always so impatient, Prince Valerius."

The man who had entered the prince's chambers through the balcony looked considerably older, with graying hair, a pointed mustache, and a neatly trimmed goatee. What stood out most, however, was the golden monocle over his right eye.

"Unlike the rest of you, I don't have all eternity," the prince replied with a faint smile, though his expression soon turned serious again. "Sabador Lazalos, I thought your kind wasn't prone to rash decisions. I could never get you to act before. Why the change of heart?"

Sabador walked with his hands behind his back and his posture perfectly upright, like a living embodiment of the nobility of ages past. He made his way toward the hearth, where a fire warmed the room.

"The twins believed the god of death had no greater plans for Phatar, so they had limited themselves to hindering the sun's influence at the moon's request," Sabador explained, adjusting his monocle. "But the situation has changed. Not only have you been blessed by our god, but..."

"Kayrus Odentis," Valerius said, guessing what Sabador meant. "To think I would see with my own eyes the last brave man to resist the Cult of Light."

"The Cult of Light, or rather, the Church of the Sun, has spent all these years denigrating our god's name, while the empire does not ban a single temple," Sabador continued, turning toward the prince. "It seems Nereziel has grown tired of the insults."

"But Sabador, Helux is unlikely to stand idly by when he sees his main bastion being taken from him," Valerius pointed out. "Can the vampires' patron gods stand against him?"

Sabador removed his monocle and cleaned it with a silk handkerchief before putting it back in place.

"It is true that the twins carry the blood of the moon and death, and thanks to the vampires' worship, they have risen to divine status as our patron gods. But the god of the sun is on another level. I cannot say for certain what the future will bring."

Valerius nodded, and after a moment, he put his helmet back on.

"I will leave for the front this very night. Publicly, I will feign support for the Church of the Sun while leading the royal troops away from the battlefields. The excuse will be escorting the refugees to safe areas. Not that that's a bad thing in itself; after all, the more subjects left to incorporate into the empire, the better."

Sabador approached him and held out one hand, palm up. A small ring set with a crescent-shaped jewel rested on it.

"The knowledge of how to make these rings was a gift from Selene," the first vampire progenitor explained as he offered it to the prince.

"From the goddess of the moon?" Valerius asked as he accepted the gift.

Sabador nodded. "If you let the moonlight reflect off it, you will be able to communicate with us much more easily."

"Already tired of our little meetings?" Valerius joked with a smile.

"It seems we have a great deal of work ahead of us," Sabador replied as he began walking toward the balcony. "For now, we will continue supporting Kayrus's advance. We will keep you informed, Prince Valerius."

The crown prince and the first vampire progenitor, both descendants of Phatar's first king, exchanged one last look before going their separate ways.

***

That same night, in a small candlelit room at an inn in Tirelia.

"I lost again... I think it's about time you two went to bed."

Nerez let the cards in his hand drop and leaned back against the headboard.

Ily, sitting at the foot of the bed, got visibly worked up at that.

"Ah! Lord Nereziel! Don't give up so soon! (I still haven't figured out how to turn this into a strip game!)"

"Ily is using spatial magic to swap out the cards in her hand! I'm sure of it!" Cerys exclaimed from where she knelt beside the bed.

"That accusation doesn't make any sense, Cerys!" Ily protested. For some time now, the visiare had been calling her simply Cerys, even in private.

"Then why do I lose so fast?!" the redhead complained, climbing onto the bed to plant herself in front of Ily.

"If your face didn't give away every card you draw, you'd have a better chance," Nerez chided her, pinching her cheeks from behind. "Now both of you get down before we have to replace the bed!"