The sky remained gray as more pillars of smoke rose to the skies. The sounds of gunfire, screams of people, and the explosions of magic that were absent for a good 7 hours had returned and the once beautiful garden of Buckingham Palace, now a charred mess riddled with dead bodies of unknown people.
It was a sight of utter carnage but Ashen did not care. Because right now, he's in the middle of-
"You get back here you Nitwit!!"
"Kyaaah!!"
-babysitting Rosseweisse who just happened to attempt rushing out from behind cover to help an injured person.
With an angry grunt, he grabs Rosseweisse by the collar then pulls her back behind cover.
"Do you want to get killed that badly you moronic nitwit?!"
He angrily remonstrates her while slapping her head as he did so, much to the worry of the black knights with them.
"Milord, is that not too much? We are in the middle of a battle. Fighting with each other right now would not be to our best interests!", one of the knights noted anxiously from right beside Ashen.
"I don't give a shit! This nitwit is giving me more headaches than necessary and it's pissing me off! We're in this whole damned situation because of this idiot in the first place!!", Ashen ranted vexingly and just as he had finished his words, a powerful stream of water pierced through the wall that was their cover and reduced a part of it into rubble.
"Bloody hell! That can pierce through 8-inch thick concrete?!", another knight exclaimed nervously while looking at the hole.
"See?! What did I tell you?! Letting you guys indulge this nitwit's sense of duty every fucking time led to this!! How do you suppose we fight that thing without getting hit?!", Ashen thundered accusingly.
Now, as for the events that led to their current situation, it all started from a certain act of kindness by Rosseweisse 10 minutes ago...
*****
[11 minutes before the act of kindness...]
Ashen and the knights strode across the ruined corridor of the palace paying no heed to the screams and mayhem happening all around them.
"Milord, I understand you sending the Saint away to change her clothes, but would it really matter at this point? The enemy has totally marked her and if the reports from Lothargien hold true, even if she changes clothes, she will not trick the eyes of their 'bio scanners'...", one of the knights inquired out of curiousity.
"Tsk! You idiot. It's not the scanners I'm afraid of.", Ashen stops in his tracks and faces them, "You should know by now that it isn't only humans that we'll fight."
"I have finished changing!", an excited Rosseweisse then arrives along with her escorts.
But Ashen spared no attention for her and simply pointed at her without even turning away his gaze from the other knights, "If this nitwit is any indication, then it stands to reason that creatures from the Hidden Side would be in play here and we're in England; it's chock-full of absurd creatures from the Hidden Side."
Just saying it out loud was enough to make Ashen feel anxious already.
The Hidden Side of the world is like a different dimension. It is said that it was paradise for the myths and legends of yore but a hell for those from this side or what people call the 'Face of the World'.
Since the revelation of the first Saint during the End-of-the-Century War, creatures of legend from various mythologies started reappearing again all across the world causing yet another element of chaos and confusion amongst the modern world and that is the problem that Ashen is anxious of the most.
From the Knight Anna's words, Evaline was taken by a dragon. Not a wyvern, but a dragon.
'Dragons are pretty much part of the apex of mythology here in England. Extremely powerful and most importantly, wiser than even most mythological creatures; making them a pain in the ass to deal with...when was the last time I faced one of them again? I can't recall...but it probably wasn't too good of an experience...'
Ashen thought to himself.
"You mean, other than the alleged dragon that took Lady Evaline, there are others?", the knight questioned.
"Yeah. Since we're in England and all, we would probably encounter ones from the English Mythos so it's best if most of us are knowledgeable.", he looked at the knights questionably.
"Do not worry Milord. We have continued with the tradition of reading books as part of the training of squires even after you have left.", the knights answered.
"Really? Well that's good.", Ashen felt a little relieved hearing that. At least he could trust them to know the bare minimum knowledge to get them through the battlefield without having to rely on him. The last thing he wants was an entire group of knights bumbling about not knowing what to do when they do end up facing a monster.
Satisfied, he turned around and proceeded to leave but was stopped by Rosseweisse who for some reason, was looking dissatisfied.
"Could you get out of the way Nitwit? We don't have time.", Ashen shrugged.
However, Rosseweisse continued to look at him in dissatisfaction silently causing him to pop a vein in irritation.
"If you have nothing to say, then get out of the way. Seriously, you always give me a headache at every turn.", Ashen said in exasperation but then one of the knights tapped his shoulder and whispered close to his ear,
"Milord, I think the Saint wishes you to compliment her clothes..."
"Huh? Why would I?", Ashen then steals a glance at Rosseweisse;
Her white habit has been replaced with a loose gray turtle neck shirt tucked under a pair of loose black jagger pants. Her white doll shoes were replaced with a pair of dark-gray hiking shoes. Apparently, the scapular she wore over her casual clothes from Lothargien was not present for some reason and her coif and veil seemed to be missing as well so it was the first time Ashen sees Rosseweisse's ridiculously long platinum blonde hair in person.
"Oi. One quick question Nitwit...", something bugged Ashen when he looked at her properly and so proceeded to inquire her.
Rosseweisse simply looked at him disapprovingly but nevertheless nodded in affirmation of the 'request'.
"Your hair is ridiculously long. It reaches until your ass. I never got to see it clearly when I stripped you back in Lothargien since you refused to remove your damned coif, but...how the hell did that long hair even fit in your stuffy coif?"
Everyone and even Rosseweisse was taken aback by the question causing them to stare at Ashen in disbelief.
Noticing their stares, Ashen sighed. It seemed that he just made things more confusing for some reason so he decides to just forget about it and move on.
"No use letting this go on. Nevermind. Let's go!"
So he urges them all to move on but the rest of them could only follow his figure silently as he walked through the corridor headed for for the exit in their confusion.
[5 minutes before the act of kindness...]
Ashen and his group exit the palace and pass through the now charred garden of Buckingham palace and onto the ruined driveway.
Looking at the horizon, they could see the clouds of smoke had multiplied greatly and the sounds of battle intensified and echoed from almost all directions.
"This is...well...more or less as expected.", Ashen remarked, "But where the hell did that dragon fly off to?", he continued looking at the skies expecting something out of place to help him find a clue as to where his daughter was taken.
"Milord, do you have any idea where to start looking?", one of the knights asked.
"What kind of dumbass question is that ? Of course I don't know. Tracking a dragon in a newly ruined city is harder than it actually is.", Ashen answered. As he had said, the city of London was now a total mess compared to yesterday and at this point in time, it was dangerous for any one to be running around lest they get themselves hit and killed by a rogue bullet or magic or get eaten by a rampaging monster.
With that thought, he suddenly remembers that Rosseweisse-the epitome of naivety and airheaded-ness, was with them whom he seriously needs to actually warn again about being overly airheaded in this situation, "Hey, Nitwit. We are in a battlefield right now so you better stick close to me or else-what the hell are you doing?!"
As soon as he was warning her, he sees her approach an obviously suspicious looking man who is blatantly just acting injured.
"Eh? I am merely providing aid to those who need it. Do not worry Mr. Ashen, I will not use my Privilege until we rescue Lady Evali-"
"Get away from that bastard right this instant! Knight Captain!", Ashen demanded while ordering a knight to secure her.
However, when he saw the pretentious man smile, he knew he was too late and in the next moment, something huge burst out from the ground right behind the man and accompanied by a mighty roar.
"Knights! Cast stone-based barrier magic immediately! Make it as thick as you possibly can!!"
He issued command and the knights immediately obeyed.
"Mother Earth, protect us with your grace and shield us from all harm, Earth Wall!", the knights chanted in unison.
The ground rumbled and soon, a very thick wall of stone-or to be precise, concrete, that was 20 meters high, rose up to shield them. Ashen quickly went over the other side and pulled Rosseweisse away much to her reluctance and then threw her to the knight standing by the side of the wall who caught her and then returned behind the wall. After that, Ashen stabbed the pretentious man in the throat and then left him to drown in his own blood before returning to the other side of the wall in a hurry.
At the other side of the wall...
"What is your problem Mr. Ashen?! I could still help that man! Gah!", Rosseweisse receives a head chop from Ashen who angrily remonstrated her,
"Just as I was about to warn you, you put yourself in immediate danger! You nitwit!", he chops her head again, "At least learn the difference between enemy and ally you fucking idiot!"
"But the man needed my help! It is my duty as Saint to help ALL those in need-Guh!", Rosseweisse is hit on the head again.
"Your duty means shit if you're dead! Now shut up and just stay-"
"GRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!"
An ear-splitting roar thundered from the other side of the wall.
It did not sound like the roar of a single creature nor was it the sound of a dragon. But the quake-like rumbling caused by its movement indicated that it was definitely larger than the palace.
Ashen took a quick glance through the side of the wall and was shocked to see whatever it was that burst out of the ground. In his shock, he hid back behind the wall and was sweating nervously.
"Milord. What is it?", the knight nearest to him asked.
Ashen did not know what kind of face he was making right now, but he was sure it wasn't a reassuring one because he could sense the sudden uneasiness of the knights as they looked at him. Not that he can help it, what he saw was that shocking afterall.
"Just to be sure, isn't summoning creatures from the Hidden Side limited only to their places of origin?", he asks.
The knights looked at each other and then back to him and then nodded.
"Okay then. Come here.", he then grabs the knight nearest to him and then pulls them over to look over the side of the wall and just as he expected, he felt the knight tremble under their armor.
Satisfied by their reaction, then pulls him back in and then faces the other knights,
"Someone then please explain to me how the fuck did a freaking Hydra from Greece get here without you noticing?!"
And just as he exclaimed, three heads looked over the wall and roared.