The walls of Dalmacia castle had protective charms against magic. This prevented any magic user from blowing up the walls or breaching through them effortlessly. They were also very thick, so brute force would have had to be something beyond what's humanly possible in order to breach them. And yet, it seemed as though the Eastern army was prepared. General Vortigen himself was on the field.
Vortigen: Bring the X-bow!
Soldiers: Right away, General, Sir!
The soldiers pulled a giant bow-like device to the front and armed it with giant spear-like arrows called bolts. A group of Black wizards came before it and all casted wind spells to propel the bolts. These bolts went flying with unmeasurable speed and force, thus breaching the castle walls at several points. As the enemy forces prepared to storm the castle, they were surprised by the Dalmacian soldiers that were waiting behind the castle walls.
The Dalmacian forces were there to prevent the enemy from further breaching the castle. Atop the walls of the castle, there were several Black mages casting Ice spells that would affect large numbers of the Eastern soldiers that attempted to enter the castle through the breached areas. Dalmacian defenses were holding pretty well, and the Eastern army was suffering many losses. As the situation stalled, General Vortigen decided to deploy the new addition to the Reach's ranks: Merlin and Zeldrys.
General Vortigen: The time has come for the two of you to earn your stay. Break their line of defense. Let's see if you are as useful as you claim to be. - Vortigen said addressing the two Cabal members.
Zeldrys and Merlin went to the site of battle without saying a word to Vortigen. As they arrived at the main breach point of the castle, true horror was about to break loose.
Merlin: Endless fear and night of eternal despair... Spread among the feeble-minded of my enemies so they may resist no longer!
ENDLESS DARKNESS!! (**A Dark magic spell that inflicted blindness and fear on all targets. Normal healing spells could not cure its effects**).
As the spell hit the Dalmacian soldiers, most of them began to scream in terror. A few of them swung their blades at each other, wounding or killing allies. Things got really bad really fast for the Dalmacian defense.
As this happened, while they were turning on each other, both Zeldrys and Merlin breached the castle and started killing everyone in their way.
While this awful picture was taking place, Rachel arrived with the others in the throne room, where they were reunited with family and friends. Rachel's Teleport spell took them directly inside the throne room, and Rachel was feeling dizzy and very weak after all the effort. Kohrr held her so she didn't fall on the floor.
Dalmacian Dark Knight: Princess Rachel! Prince Richard! How did you get here? I thought it was impossible to use magic to breach the castle…
Meg: The staff Rachel holds has given her an incredible boost in power… I believe that is how she managed to negate the castle's barrier.
General Cedric: I'm glad to see you safe, brother! Sister! We could use your help!
Rachel: We came to lend our-- strength... to protect the Kingdom! All of us!
General Cedric: For now, I believe you need to rest, dear sister.
Richard: Legend... Good to see you again, my friend!
Legend: Likewise! Good to see all of you! – Legend had a big smile on his face. He then looked at Kohrr wondering who he might have been.
Rachel: Oh! This here is Kohrr. He's an ally we met-- on our quest for-- the Arsenal of Light...
General Cedric: Alright. Let's give support to our second line of defense outside. Richard. Take Alonzo and two more of your friends to help behind me. The rest of you are the last line of defense. Should we fail, your main duty will be to ensure the escape of the king and citizens down in the crypts to safety!
Richard: We will not fail.
Jean: You'll stand a better chance if I go with you.
General Cedric: Very well. Let's go!
And so, General Cedric, Richard, Alonzo, Nimrod, Kohrr, and Jean went to aid the main forces that were holding the advancement of the eastern army; while Gregg, Legend, Rachel, and Meg stayed in the throne room with a couple more knights and wizards plus the king.
As General Cedric arrived at the outer courtyard where the battle was taking place, the sight he saw was a pretty horrifying one. Most of the Dalmacian forces had already fallen. It was worse when they realized that there were only two people responsible for all of their losses: a Dark wizard and a foreign swordsman.
General Cedric rallied the surviving knights to his side and prepared an attack formation. They made a shield wall and Cedric had a spear for long-distance attacks. This was a very successful strategy against monsters and other human soldiers but against the likes of Zeldrys and Merlin... they would soon realize that it was a pointless strategy.
Zeldrys unsheathed his Masamune blade. Richard then arrived at the outer court with the others, and Nimrod, as he saw The Cabal and what Zeldrys was doing, he immediately knew what was about to happen.
Nimrod: That's the duo that destroyed the ninja village! Why are THEY here?!
Richard: That's Merlin... I remember him...
Nimrod: Wait! He's gonna seal your movements! Get outta there!!!!
Zeldrys: SEIGEN!
Cedric and the other knights were all immediately paralyzed.
Zeldrys: Here is a gift for the warriors that resisted to the very end. My Secret sword... DANCE OF THE SHADOW BLADES!
All the blades Zeldrys had with him turned to shadows that shot through all the paralyzed knights, including General Cedric, piercing through all their vital points. They all died instantly.
Richard: BROTHER!!!!!!
Merlin: Worry not, dear Holy Knight of Dalmacia... You will be joining him shortly. That's the kind of guy I am... sensitive about families that are torn apart... It's better if you all die together, isn't it?
Richard: That may be so... But I shall fell you both even if it is the last thing I do!!
Richard was enraged and in a blind frenzy. He charged at Merlin without a strategy and in an extremely reckless manner. Merlin opened his right palm, directing it at Richard, ready to fire an energy blast.
Jean cast Shell on him right before Merlin's blast, allowing Richard to endure it. Richard managed to pierce Merlin with his sword as he powered through his palm blast. But Merlin was unaffected. All Richard saw was the sadistic look in his eyes and that haunting crooked grin he always had.
Merlin: So much sentiment... It would be cruel of me to not allow a family reunion... in the Underworld!
Richard: Death is inevitable, indeed. But I shall not die at your hand, you monsters! Have a taste of this holy blade! Stasis Sword!
Richard used his secret Holy sword technique that made crystals of light manifest and shatter by its target. It usually paralyzed the targets it hit. But Merlin wasn't hit by the skill. He managed to dodge it.
Merlin: Not bad, Holy Knight... If you keep on practicing, you might be able to defeat me in another hundred years! Now have a taste of my magic! Embers from the Dark Dimension... show my enemy the agony of eternal flames! Blaze! - (**a Dark magic spell that hits targets with fires from the Dark Dimension. Shell offered no protection against it**)
Richard was hit by Merlin's spell and was immediately out of combat. Zeldrys had targeted Nimrod, who was flying around really fast to avoid getting hit by anything they threw at him. Jean had been channeling for a big spell to cast at Merlin while he was distracted by Richard.
Jean was a formidable warrior. When she first entered the room, she observed and analyzed what was the greatest threat to her allies. She concluded that Merlin had more range with his Dark magic, while Zeldrys was extremely dangerous with his Spell blade and secret sword techniques. She devised a strategy to remain unnoticed until she was ready to cast a spell strong enough to defeat at least one of them. She was finally ready to cast it.
Jean: Immeasurable flow of the rivers of light... Lend me your power to purify evil! HOLY! (**One of the most powerful White magic spells in existence. It is an offensive blast of pure energy and it's many times more powerful than Light Bomb. Most enemies had no defenses capable of withstanding it**).
Since Merlin was distracted, he had no way of blocking or countering the spell. It hit him in full force and hurt him badly. Kohrr then put himself in front of everyone and used his magic ability to finish him off.
Kohr: Magnitude 10
The tremors rearranged the floor and compromised the structure of the entire castle causing cave-ins. Merlin suddenly disappeared from everyone's sight after being crushed in the aftermath of Kohrr's attack. Zeldrys also was nowhere to be seen. But there was still a host of soldiers, knights, and wizards that were charging into the castle from the outside.
Jean: We managed to eliminate our greatest threats, but still... this is far from over!
Alonzo was beginning to feel like they were facing impossible odds. Nimrod was punching his way through the soldiers and wizards that were breaching the castle. Jean was exhausted after using Holy and needed to rely on Alonzo's protection. Richard was out of combat. General Cedric, Richard and Rachel's elder brother, fell at the hands of The Cabal. What hope was there for our heroes? Could this be the end of the Kingdom of Dalmacia?