Vera watched as the twelve warriors continued riding forward, towards the plateau that lead to her cave. On this plateau, a battle was waged between the twelve and the remaining army of the alliance. This battle was remembered by Vera, not because of the massacre that occurred, but because of the events that took place during that massacre. There was a reason that Vera made her home in the mountains that separated the known world and the world of legends and myths. Dragons were known to be the mightiest of creatures, but many thought of them as nothing more than myth for a long time. When the continents united, many different creatures and races emerged. The entrances to many different realms were also opened, one such realm was the fairy forest, another was the entrances to the different underworlds, but there was one realm that was deemed too dangerous to allow to exist without a warden. The many races sent scouts into the unknown realm, however, only one returned. On the verge of death, he only gave one word of advice, to make sure none went into the realm and to not allow anything to exit.
Many wanted to venture into the realm, but others wanted to heed the warning, resulting in a nonstop debate. Vera and her dragon kin stopped the debate by stating that they would act as wardens of the entrances to the northern realm. None could oppose the dragon race, so the decision was begrudgingly agreed too. The dragons were curious and, obsessed with any kind of wealth, wanted to see what came from the northern realm. However, all that awaited them was disappointment, as nothing ever ventured out from the northern realm. Despite this, Vera and her brethren maintained their vigilance, because despite their curiosity, they had a feeling that whatever would venture out from there, would be dangerous. As time passed, the threat from the north seemed to be nothing more than a dying man's delusions, however, it was this day that Vera finally saw what it was that her brethren had long awaited to see.
Vera watched as the twelve knights extinguished the lives of the alliance army with ease. The smell of blood and searing flesh, the sights of soot, snow, and bodies could be witnessed, and the sound of spells, clashing weapons, and the screams of men could be heard throughout the mountain. King Leon was the first to notice something strange from across the battlefield, opposite him and his knights. A strange cavalry began to cut their way through the alliance army, bodies could be seen flying through the air, some dismembered savagely on either side of the cavalry. That was when Leon saw what it was that was causing that, it was some strange beasts, at the time they had no name, but would later be called werewolves. The cavalry were then identified to be another strange hybrid, the torsos of humans atop the bodies of horses, what Leon realized were called centaurs in the ancient stories he would read about in his library. A smile then began forming on his face, "If you have a half decent strategist, then I'm guessing these are nothing more than a skirmisher unit, so there should be more to follow to pretty soon." He dislodged his spear from the soldier at his feet, "I have a feeling this will get pretty interesting, I hope that you all don't disappoint me." He made his way to his horse and proceeded to make his way towards the oncoming forces.
His knights quickly noticed that their king was riding toward the cavalry on the other side of the plateau, which they noticed shortly before he began to ride forward. They all mounted their horses and quickly made their way to his side, cutting down any soldier who stood in their path. The army had already been routed by this point, so many soldiers began to run away when they noticed that the twelve were no longer interested in killing them. Vera watched from the top of her mountain, shocked at the sight of the new of creatures that had emerged. She quickly realized that they were denizens from the northern realm. Only two species were seen at the moment, however, Vera could feel the mana of other lifeforms from deeper in the mountain range. Vera began to think that Leon had underestimated the strength of his opponent. There was no way that his twelve could take on the full might of what was awaiting them. She then felt a large amount of mana coming from the road that Leon took to get there. She quickly looked towards where the mana signatures were coming from and was shocked at what she saw.
"Victoria Lancelot, Roland Kay, and Saint Rebecca Gawain, let's test these wolf men. Alexander Le Fay Pendragon, you lead the rest and see what that cavalry is made of. Do not take these new threats lightly, we know nothing of their combat abilities. Keep that in mind. Rebecca will go with me on the right side, Victoria and Roland will take the left." The twelve then separated into their respective groups, continuing their charge forwards. The wolf men were savagely tearing apart all who stood in their way, however, this was detrimental to the side that Victoria and Roland attacked. Victoria grabbed her sword that was strapped to her horse, before lifting the sword up and impaling her hand. The werewolves quickly spotted Victoria and leaped forward with great speed, easily bringing down her horse. Victoria jumped off the horse and into the crowd of wolves, spinning in the air, spreading the blood through the air and into the blood that covered the ground.
"No time for anything fancy." Victoria then closed her fist, causing all the blood that was surrounding her to form into blades that shot directly towards her before stopping and forming a protective sphere around her. She could hear the thuds of bodies hitting the snowy ground outside of her sphere, but there was still the sound of a large multitude of werewolves tearing at the sphere, attempting to break through. Victoria summoned a blood sword into her left hand, before taking a deep breath, but just as she was about to finish her mental preparations, she began to hear the sound bowstrings being snapped and the thud of the arrows hitting her shield. One after another, but she didn't realize that they were only hitting a single point, resulting in an arrow managing to break through her shield and passing straight through her chest. The sphere fell apart like a bubble being popped and Victoria fell to the ground, followed by the werewolves beginning to swarm her body.
A short distance away, Roland was using a short sword and staff to fight against the horde of beasts. While they weren't hard for him to kill with magic, they were fast and ferocious, which caused Roland to have to aim his spells carefully. Roland wasn't a master combatant like Leon or many of the other knights of the round table, but he knew what it took to battle enemies that fought on nothing but instinct. The beasts surrounded him and swarmed their enemies, however, Roland was sorcerer of the highest caliber and was well versed in all magic types. While fighting with his sword and staff, he would chant his next spell, while simultaneously enchanting the air around him with magic words to act as traps. Fire burst forwards from his staff, incinerating any that stood in the direction of the blast, a werewolf would leap at his exposed back, only to be sliced in half by a wind spell that had been set earlier. Multiple began to attack at once, only for spikes of ice to shoot up from the ground to impale them. Magic words had been written into the ground by Roland's feet as he fought, causing the beasts to begin to grow more desperate.
Just as the beasts thought that they had figured out a way to attack in the middle of a chant, he switched up his incantations, uttering only a single word, "Sword." With a single movement of his staff, five heads popped up into the air, removed from their bodies by a single wind blade emanating from his staff. He then began generate his red aura while beginning his preparations for the next spell, "Unsealing use of origin magic, complete. Magic circle has received offering of blood, confirmed. Preparations have been completed, activate magic circle." The fighting had caused him to have to move around the battlefield in many directions, but what the werewolves couldn't possibly know, was that he was luring them so that he could lay down a magic circle while also laying down symbols and words with the blood that he spilled. Unfortunately for the remaining werewolves surrounding him, they were all standing within the magic circle that activated a spell invented by and meticulously crafted by Roland himself. The fact that he would use this spell was evidence that he was fighting at full power, but also meant that the enemies the twelve were fighting were dangerous. The magic circle began to emanate the same red aura as Roland, however, a black aura of flame erupted and began to mix with the red aura, causing the color of the magic circle to do the same.
The werewolves started to panic and began to charge at Roland, who had seemingly let his guard down, however, they were stopped by a magic shield that fully encompassed him. Roland wasn't an expressive individual, in fact, when compared to the knights of the round table, he was almost emotionless. There were rare exceptions to this, of course, these exceptions were remembered by all and those exceptions served as a reminder as to why Roland was acknowledged by Merlin himself. One such exception occurred within that magic circle, his smile and lifeless eyes would one day be replicated by Leanna, however, unlike Leanna, the sheer intensity of his aura was noticeable by everyone on the mountain. Roland then held out his hand and began to recite an incantation. "Guardian of the gates of life and death, the magic goddess who has bestowed upon me her blessing, I offer thee the blood of my enemies in the form of this circle. Bestow your blessing upon my words of magic; death, life, gate, and control. I shall show you beasts despair, then you shall see salvation, only for it to be ripped away without a care. Experience this a thousand fold, so that thy hearts and mind crumble and fold. Witness the death dealers I control, the lives of you beasts shall pay their toll. Come to me now and feast upon your prey, so it shall be done, open now, Gate of the Chosen Son of Hecate!"
Nearby, werewolves were impaled into the sky by red spikes. Victoria then stood, her armor was destroyed and she was heavily injured, however, her scarlet eyes were now glowing and emitting an ominous aura. No aura surrounded her, instead it was only blood vapor that rose around her. Her injuries began to close up and the blood that was spilling down from those that were impaled began to converge onto Victoria, creating an ominous red armor. Several blood swords then began to form and float behind her in a formation that resembled the outstretched wings of a dragon. The sight of Victoria was enough to instill fear in even the mightiest of beings, so when the werewolves laid their eyes upon her, their first instinct was to run. With nothing more than the snap of her fingers, most of the surviving enemies that had surrounded her, all fell to the ground with red swords in their hearts. The remaining enemies that weren't killed, were all frozen in place, unable to make their bodies move. The red mist that was covering the battlefield like a dense fog had made it impossible for anyone that Victoria deemed an enemy to move.
Across the battlefield, Leon and Rebecca could feel the magic coming from both Roland and Victoria, causing them both to look towards the disturbance. Unknown to them, the feeling had caused most of the combatants to do the same. The sight of a red fog was seen amidst the snow, while the radius wasn't enough to reach the centaurs, it was still enough to cover most of the left flank. As they looked upon the red fog, a blast of intertwined black and red magic shot into the sky. It quickly dissipated, however, the noises that came after its appearance shook the opposing army to their core. The sounds made Leon realize that the beasts that Rebecca and him were fighting may have been more human than they had initially thought. For the noises that came from that direction, were screams of pain and agony, followed by pleading and begging, then cries for help, ultimately ending with sounds of their deaths.
Leon looked towards the knights that were facing the centaurs, of the eight that rode against them, only three had managed to stay atop their horses. The others had been injured by the centaurs superior speed and mobility. Their warriors were well trained and the weapons they wielded were just as well made as some of the magic weapons in Camelot. Their centaur archers ran around the entire battlefield firing their arrows with such precision that they were able to pierce the armor of his knights. If this continued, Leon knew it would no doubt lead to the deaths of his knights. Leon could hear the sound of horses approaching from the path leading to their location, meaning that reinforcements would be able to help his knights, however, he knew that the other side also had reinforcements. It seemed that a long drawn out battle would be inevitable. Leon decided to allow Victoria and Roland to rampage as they saw fit, but he wanted to make sure that there would be no interruptions. The blood fog seemed to continue to spread in all directions. As Leon began to think of a plan, he heard the sound of a roar, followed by the feeling of intense heat above him.
The fire began to consume all of the surrounding enemies, before finally setting the blood fog alight. The centaurs began to fire their arrows upwards at a now airborne Vera, thinking that the flames had killed everyone struck by it. The centaur warriors began to charge at the eight knights, all of whom began to gather all of their magic, causing a whirlpool of snow and magic to swirl around them. As the centaurs grew closer, a blood red figure emerged from the flames, a flaming red sword in her hands. She rode atop a horse covered in black cloth, though it was clear that this horse was nothing more than bones. There was no longer anything resembling the old Victoria, her armor had been completely replaced and the magic that surrounded her was so thick that it would more than likely suffocate weaker beings. The sight of Victoria alone wasn't enough to frighten the centaur warriors, however, what emerged from the flames behind her was more than enough.
Twenty riders wearing black rags over gnarled and decrepit armor, wielding weapons of shadow rode forth. What remained of the bodies they devoured were dragged behind their horses. Attempting to look upon the faces that lay beneath their helms was enough for five of the centaurs to cower in fear. The centaurs, not wanting to dishonor themselves with retreat, charged forward into the enemies whom they outnumbered. Unfortunately for them, there was still one that hadn't emerged from the flames. To wield dragon fire was to be considered the pinnacle of magic, only a few had ever accomplished such a feat. The dragon flames infused with the magic essence of a blood knight was considered to be impossible because of the conflicting energies that needed to be weaved together to control it. Only a child chosen by the goddess of magic herself would be able to control such energies. Roland was one such child, chosen to be one of her children and personally granted him her blood through a ceremony called the Bonding of Blood and Soul.
The massive dragon fire that lit up Victoria's blood began to condense into liquid flames that shot forward and rendered any it touched into ash before Roland spread it behind the enemy, cutting off their escape. With the full might of their magic unleashed, the remaining knights charged forward and battled the remaining centaur warriors. The centaur archers continued firing their arrows towards Vera who weaved through the sky. Leon remained vigilant despite the odds being in their favor. In actuality, the fact that no new enemies emerged made Leon nervous. What few werewolves remained, were easily slain by Rebecca and her cross shaped lance. With Leon's reinforcements closing in, this battle would easily come to an end and he would be able to plan a defense against whatever was on the way.
Vera flew through the air, using her flames to burn away the remaining forces of centaurs. She often looked towards the knights and the battle that they were having. It was obvious to her that these creatures that came from the northern realm were a threat. If it wasn't because of how powerful the knights were, these creatures would have already been on their way to the mainland. After so many years of waiting to see what came from the northern realm, she had finally seen what mythical creatures were waiting beyond those mountains. She had only one thought, she had to destroy the path to the northern realm. It was the only thing she could think of. The centaurs were beings that could wipe out any country's cavalry. The werewolves were so savage that they could rip apart soldiers one by one. Whatever came after these beings would surely be even worse. Her intrigue with Leon was also something that influenced her subconsciously. She turned her body towards the mountain and began to charge towards the top of the mountain. She readied a massive amount of magic within her body as flames began to rise up to her mouth.
Leon stood beside Rebecca and watched the massacre of the centaurs. Victoria was leading the wraith-like warriors and was fighting just as savagely. With each kill, their bodies were drained of blood, leaving nothing behind but husks. The wraiths themselves were ethereal and seemed to consume the enemies they attacked. Leon didn't make any commands, as the result he saw unfolding before him was more than satisfactory, though he wasn't looking forward to calming Victoria. As he began to walk towards her, he felt a surge of magic. He saw Vera heading to the mountain top that was deeper in the mountains. He hoped that the surge of magic he felt was from her, but he could tell that it wasn't. It was magic that he had felt only two times in his life. It was the old blood of the church. Leon's grip on his spear tightened. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Rebecca was the next to feel the presence approaching. What was something like this doing here? Her thoughts were jumbled and her body began to feel cold. Leon looked up towards Vera, knowing what was about to happen to her.
As Vera began to open her mouth to unleash the magic she had stored, but a figure appeared in front of her with a magic circle. Before Vera could react, an explosion of magic caused her to be blown away. Her body then crashed into the ground, her wings being injured in the attack. Her body couldn't move, the pain her body was feeling was unlike anything she had felt before. It was even worse than when she fought the old gods. She was unable to move in her current state. Using the old magic of the gods, she began to mold her mana, transforming her body. She had hoped that condensing her body to that of the humans would grant herself better control of her magic. The pain she felt in her wings began to slowly disappear and her body began to glow brightly, the shape of her dragon body slowly changed. The wings disappeared and her scales transformed into a red version of Rebecca's saint raiments. She had only ever transformed once before, so the feeling was still unusual for her. As she was getting acquainted with her new body, her eyes saw the being that put her in her current state. Another magic circle was created and fired at Vera. She attempted to ready a barrier, but it was clear that it would arrive before she finished it.
The magic grew closer before it exploded in front of Vera. She closed her eyes, waiting to feel the pain of the explosion once again, but it never came. She opened her eyes and saw a figure standing in front of her, sword raised in front of him. The results of the attack were divided to the left and right of Vera. He had cut the magic apart. He turned his head, allowing Vera to see the face of the one protecting her. She recognized him as the king she had been watching all this time. However, he seemed different. He looked away and at the being before them. It was flying in the air with a single wing that looked like an angel's wing and the other was in the shape of a duke rank demon. From Leon's view, he was shaped like a giant with a height of eight feet. He carried a sword of flames that burned blue. After seeing what attacked Vera, Leon finally spoke. "What are you doing here?"
The being cocked his head to the side as if he didn't understand Leon's words. It was obvious that he was analyzing Leon and his sword. Vera was confused at what she was seeing, she had battled many different beings, but she had never seen anything like what was before them. She clumsily rose to her feet. After gaining her bearings, she finally spoke to Leon. "What is that thing? I haven't seen anything like him, nor have I ever been injured to such an extent. Though it seems like you have an idea." Leon turned his head towards Vera. She saw the seriousness in his eyes as he finally spoke.
"That thing is an abomination, a being that should not be. The greatest weapon, as well as the greatest shame, of the newly founded Holy Empire. They are supposed to be locked away by the church, yet this thing is standing before me now. They are the result of the mixing of angels and demons. Many called them giants, but their true name, is Nephilim." Leon tightened his grip on his sword, before sticking the sword into the ground. "In order to battle such a being, I guess I'll need to go all out." A smirk appeared on his face. "Are you ready partner?" Vera then heard another voice call out to the king. It was an angelic voice, though it also sounded ethereal.
"Of course, shall I release all seals? This foe appears to be worthy." The voice spoke in a slightly monotone fashion.
"Yes, all seals are to be broken. Including my eyes."
"Very well, releasing seals one through five, seal designated Revelation, released. Excalibur seals are to be released upon activation. Seal designated Lady of the Lake, released." Leon stood holding the sword in place as a strange force began to emanate from his body. The air around him seemed to grow heavy, the ground below him breaking into pieces because of the pressure that he gave off. At first Vera thought it was his magic power, however, she didn't feel any magic coming from his body. Only his sword contained magic and it was currently dormant in the ground. No, the pressure he was giving off was simply his own strength. The only thing that Vera couldn't notice at the moment was Leon's eyes, which were now gold, though the iris seemed to change shape, resembling a tree in the middle and a clock along the edges. Ulrich lifted Excalibur out of the ground and into the air, an intense silver aura flowed out of the blade. For a moment, Vera thought she saw a beautiful silver haired woman standing next to Leon holding the blade in the air with him. The aura swirled around him and the blade. The smirk on Leon's face had now disappeared.
"I made a mistake last time I fought one of your kind. I won't make the same mistake this time." The nephilim appeared to notice the change in Leon and flew higher into the air and even readied a large magic circle. "I, Leon Pendragon, king of Camelot, shall plunge my sword into your heart and send your soul back to whatever god created you, afterwards, I'll find and kill him too. Nephilim, demons, angels, gods, there isn't a being alive that my sword can't kill and there isn't a being that can escape my eyes. Come nephilim, show me what power your flaming sword wields." Leon looked at the nephilim in the air. His eyes concentrated for a moment, before a smirk once again appeared on his face. He readied himself into a battle stance. Leon then leaped up with his sword at the ready. "Let's go, Viviane."