Maria and Gil were the first to wake and waited for their friends in the council room. Once everyone was gathered, four groups were formed, each responsible for wiping out one enemy fort. Tiffany, Sarah, and Bleak would command an army of gargoyles and attack the camp west of Tempestas. Conall, Atticus, and the Elven Riders will attack the one in the east. Nova and Euryale would take a force of four hundred dragonoids and attack the enemy to the north. Jaco and Gabe would also command an equal number of dragonoids and obliterate the enemy encampment to the south. Lastly, Volpes would accompany Gil and Maria as they made their way to the bulk of the enemy's forces, where the chief enemy post was. After Nova and Euryale were done with their assigned duty, they would dart to Gil's and Maria's side. Jaco had reported that the Templars were not among the enemy, but that was not a guarantee. They may choose to ambush like their leader, Tressa, did. If they did, Nova and Euryale were delegated to eliminate them so Maria and Gil could absorb all the souls of those she was about to kill.
Maria and Andromeda erected a new barrier to trap all the souls of the deceased within their nation with Gil's help as the others departed. This was now possible inside Tempestas, as Klain had reproduced Hakata's necklace successfully. As such, the anti-quantum barrier had no effect on them. After they were done, Gil would fly to Nova to signal the barrier's completion. Nova and Euryale would begin their attack first, and Gil would absorb the souls of all the dead. Then, Gil would fly to another group, and the process would repeat until all four camps were destroyed. Maria would be waiting at the central enemy installation, where she would receive all the souls Gil absorbed. Then, after wiping out the chief enemy fortification, they would distribute the power of the souls from those they killed equally. In this arrangement, Maria would obtain more souls than Gil, exactly twenty-two thousand more. This extra strength was what Maria hoped would bring her much closer to Gil's power. Maria could not solely rely on Gil, and as such, needed to become powerful enough to defeat tough opponents. On a personal level, Maria wanted the power to be by Gil's side in battle. She wished to fight alongside him, not cower behind him when someone stronger than her showed up.
The magical barrier Maria, Gil, and Andromeda set up was as big as the one the mages from the Holy Sentinel Church set up. Andromeda wiped the sweat off her forehead. Gil and Maria had supplied her with quanta, but she had used nearly all of what she had. "The barrier you requested is complete, Lady Maria. All the souls should remain here even if the anti-quantum barrier is destroyed."
Maria nodded. "Good. You should get some rest, Andromeda. Everything is now in place. Gil, go absorb the souls of those who went against us and bring them to me. I'll meet you at the main enemy camp." Gil nodded and flew off, and Maria did the same, going in another direction as Andromeda waved.
When Nova saw Gil hovering above him, he and Euryale began their assault. The gargoyles under their command ambushed the enemy with a surprise attack out of trees and bushes. The opposition was in disarray and could not muster a combined force. The gargoyles inflicted mass casualties that accumulated rapidly. Holy Sentinel Church soldiers fell by the hundreds. Nova and Euryale only worsened that, effortlessly slicing down soldiers with their swords. By the time the enemy got their act together, three-fourths of their original force was dead.
As the fighting went on, Gil tried to figure out how to absorb a soul. It was his first time doing so, after all, and neither Maria nor Andromeda could offer him meaningful information. Gil was increasingly anxious, as he only had moments to absorb the soul before it mixed with the quanta in the air and became lost to the environment. Gil thought that he could acquire the souls if he took in all the quanta in the area, which he did.
His hypothesis turned out to be correct. Gil felt something unusual about the quanta he was absorbing. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before, and it filled him with various emotions. He saw glimpses of the memories of the fallen Vasea soldiers and started to cry. Even though Vasea and the Holy Sentinel Church wanted him and Maria dead, Gil could bear no resentment for the people they used to accomplish their goals. While some were utterly despicable, many of them had a family, loved ones, and a life outside the battlefield. They knew they could die but still fought anyway, believing the war was for a just cause. In that sense, they were no different than Gil. He also thought he was fighting for a righteous cause and to protect those he cherished. The joys, worries, and fears presented in the memories he witnessed hardened his heart. He resolved to abide by Maria's orders and absorb every soul he could while also making an internal promise to repent for his "sins." To do so, he would destroy Vasea and the Holy Sentinel Church, as well as the Stellan government, all three of which he was keen to now eradicate from existence. Once he became powerful enough, he would not let others be used as pawns by a few elites who only cared about themselves. This war would knock off one target off his list, and if he had to kill those he thought did nothing wrong or were just ignorant, then so be it.
The power that surged within Gil's body after he saw those flashes confirmed to him that he had absorbed the souls of the fallen. After Nova and Euryale had dealt with the entire army, he took in the remaining souls, watching Nova and Euryale head to Maria with their troops.
Gil came to Sarah, who alerted her mother and Bleak. He watched them attack the enemy head-on. Bleak shielded Tiffany and her daughter from harm, and the two, in turn, slashed any that charged at Bleak. It was a perfect display of solidarity, and the sentinels on the opposing side were shocked. Why were a demon and two sentinels working in tandem? They should be at each other's throats, not cooperating as a team. One soldier tried to turn Sarah and Tiffany against Bleak by "reminding them of their heritage," but the two swiftly killed him.
Gil was impressed by Sarah's leadership. She and Bleak complemented each other really well. Their troops decimated the enemy, who struggled to outmaneuver them. Sarah had divided the four hundred gargoyles she was assigned into ten regiments, half of which she gave to Bleak. They were able to command independently without getting in the way of the other. Then, there was Sarah and Bleak themselves. Sarah may be weaker than Alyyiah, but she was no pushover. She was more skilled in combat and magic. This was perfectly demonstrated when she single-handedly mowed down at least four hundred soldiers using a combination of spears and spells. Bleak was an impenetrable defense who crushed under his massive shield anyone who tried to take him on. He also had similar powers to his father. Tentacles appeared from his back, wrapping around and constricting to death those who were unfortunate to get entangled in them. Tiffany was strong but fell quite behind her eldest daughter. Regardless, she did remarkably well, cutting her way past a line of enemy troops.
The enemy tried to retreat, but Sarah created a hundred golden spears, all of which exploded on impact, killing thousands of soldiers. Bleak and Tiffany finished the rest off. After Gil absorbed all the souls of the dead, he waved to Tiffany and Bleak before flying off.
Gabe and his men floated in the air while Jaco and his squadron of dragonoids observed the enemy camp from the canopies of trees. When Gil arrived and ordered them to commence the attack, Gabe was the first to strike. He and his men dove into enemy ranks, who were unprepared to fight back. Before the enemy could organize, Jaco and his men appeared from the shadows, chopping down anyone they encountered on the opposing side. Gil noted that this was the quickest victory that was achieved in the day. No other group he watched had crushed an enemy encampment so speedily. Gil did his part, absorbing all the souls he could, and bid Jaco and Gabe well.
The last group was composed of Atticus and Conall, the latter of whom was in charge of the Elven Riders. Conall had brought with him four hundred of his best troops, including Ryan, Isabelle, Travis, and Clover. The four of them served as his generals and took a portion of the soldiers to command. The second Gil came into view, they launched their advance. The enemy noticed them and went into formation. Their infantry charged at the Elven Riders while the mages cast spells in the rear to support them.
Atticus viewed the mages as a thorn to his side. They could heal the injured, which could prolong the battle. This led him to break their lines first. Atticus ran past soldiers as he sliced his way through enemy blocks, eventually reaching a formation of mages, which collapsed at the sight of an Oni.
Conall and his four generals dealt with the infantry. They enclosed the enemy within their ranks to prevent a single soldier from escaping and slaughtered them all, although they suffered some injuries. Regardless, Gil was glad that nobody on his side had died so far and absorbed all the quanta in the area. Then, Maria commanded everyone except Gil and Nova's group to fall back to Tempestas and guard it. With the four enemy camps annihilated, it was apt to attack the main force and capture Vasea's King. Maria would be needing his services later.
Maria's leading concern was the Templars. The elite force of holy knights could change the tide of this battle, which was currently in Maria's favor. Either they were resting at the chief enemy entrenchment, or they were en route to Tempestas. If her nation was taken from her, the war would be over. If the Templars did plan to invade Tempestas, Maria would have to pull back to deal with them. This would allow Vasea's army to retreat or even join the Templars. With the anti-quantum barrier destroyed, Maria could finally mobilize her entire army. She decreed Nova have the whole of the military on standby. Even if the Templars were an elite force, their numbers stood at one thousand men. Even they would have difficulty fighting against Tempestas's army, which numbered at three hundred thousand, comprised of mainly leprechauns and gargoyles.
As such, that resolved one part of the problem. If the Templars were among the joint forces of Vasea, Vargrave, Roma, Hyria, and Meron, then she wasn't so sure. She could have Nova and Euryale take their troops and engage them along with Volpes, but she wasn't convinced her group could win. Maria did not doubt her side, but she had no information on the Templars other than their strength. On top of that, she knew it was likely this elite force would be carrying apparition equipment, which would further complicate things. Klain was still working hard on a countermeasure, so Maria still had no defense against them. Even Gil may not be powerful enough, and then there was the fact she planned to exterminate the entire opposition. It would be difficult to do that with the Templars in the way, and Maria hoped she would not face them in this war.
Vasea's King, Edward III, and an archbishop of the Holy Sentinel Church, Dwight, settled in their camp. They were pleased with the news that Todo had given them. Tempestas had a strong military, one that would ordinarily be able to overpower theirs. However, with the anti-quantum barrier in place, they had been paralyzed. The military could not leave the city, and even better, they were too weak to fight back. If Todo got through with only two hundred men, then this war was a decisive victory for them.
However, Edward III did not let his guard down. As a province of Aurora, demon emperor Sun may back Tempestas. Even though Tenebris despised the Vasea Empire, many demons were suspicious of Tempestas. Edward took advantage of this by portraying the Queen of that nation as a lewd vampire that assaulted his men and turned sentinels into her sex slaves. He had tokened this war as one to be righteous and that as a colony of Stella and a protector of sentinels, Vasea had a right to invade Tempestas. Their Queen had made the first transgression, and Vasea was merely defending itself and its people. If so, Aurora would not get involved, lest it wanted to be dragged into the war. Edward could just paint Sun as a scared tyrant whose actions demonstrate that he is hiding the truth from the world - that Maria was making sentinels her dolls. While no demon would believe it, plenty of sentinels would, especially back at home. The Stellan government would authorize its military to join the fray, which would spell doom for Sun, as even he was not powerful enough to stop them. This would all occur under the subtext of "protecting the distinguished sentinel race from harm." Once Tempestas was occupied, false evidence would be created to galvanize native Stellans, who would come here in a zeal to protect their race. Other nations in Tenebris would doubt Tempestas, if not disavow them, and Aurora's international reputation would plummet. Then, Vasea would attack them next, with Stella's military behind them. However, Sun could still send his forces to aid Tempestas, and that would be problematic. They were still a formidable force, one that was to be reckoned with.
But Sun's military would be the only military capable of fighting unless they freed Tempestas from the anti-quantum barrier. A secret unit was sent to prevent that, which consisted of thirty thousand men. Edward was aware that Tempestas's spies were watching him, thanks to his magic advisor, Ramen. He had a smokescreen devised so the regiment could sneak out the previous night undetected. Their only goal was to deter Aurora for as long as they could, for Edward III was confident he could take Tempestas. After receiving word from an aide that his hidden soldiers had reached Aurora, Edward III ordered Faris, the army lieutenant, to ready the army. After a brief conversation with the Kings of Vargrave, Hyria, Roma, and Meron, he stepped out of his tent, assured of his triumph.
As Edward III came into Maria's vision, she could not help but smile. She wondered what face he would make when she massacred his army in retaliation. She looked forward to meeting with the man that made her appear a desperate harlot on television. Then, she saw a man who fitted Sarah's description of Todo, and she broke into a malicious grin, licking her lips. She looked forward to meeting that man as well.
Gil had flown next to Maria and offered his hand. She took it and felt a wave of quanta flow into her body. "So, with twenty-two thousand souls, I'm just as powerful as you now, huh?"
"Yeah," Gil answered. "Since I was twice as strong as you, that would mean that my power is the equivalent of forty-four thousand souls."
"Yes. Soon, we'll become even more powerful. Right now, the enemy here numbers at one hundred and ninety thousand. We'll each get ninety-five thousand souls if we split it up equally. Hopefully, that should be enough for us to evolve. If not, then we can only bet on the leftovers."
"Leftovers?" Maria pointed towards a large group of soldiers who were in disorder. Individuals frantically ran to the enemy camp and spoke with Todo and Edward III. Maria was amused by how quickly the smiles disappeared from their faces. "You see, Vasea's King actually sent a clandestine army of thirty thousand mercenaries to attack Aurora. They were hired by Vargrave, Roma, Hyria, and Meron. Their main goal was to deter Aurora from giving military aid to us. However, they were unaware that I had asked Sun not to get involved in this conflict and that the anti-quantum barrier surrounding Tempestas had been destroyed. I ordered Conall to attack them with half of the Elven Rider's forces, or about fifty thousand leprechauns. It would seem that they have forced this group of mercenaries to retreat. Now, we have even more souls for the taking."
"I see. Is that why you sent Jaco, Gabe, Atticus, Conall, and the rest back to Tempestas?"
"Yes, Gil. Jaco had informed me of the mercenaries, and I let them walk up to Aurora. I didn't want them to think anything was wrong until after they were attacked by our side. But, I thought it better to let them come here. We can add them to our great farm of souls and gain even more quanta. I did order for them not to be killed, so the added bonus in souls should be thirty thousand."
"So, if we kill all of them and split the souls equally, we'll each receive the power of one hundred and ten thousand souls. That's two point five times the power I have right now," Gil clenched his fist. "I can't even imagine the amount of quantum we'll gain."
"Yes, we will indeed become powerful, hopefully enough for us to evolve."
Sweat trickled down the head of Edward III. The anti-quantum barrier surrounding Tempestas had been destroyed? Their entire military was also on standby? When he had asked about Aurora and Sun, the mercenaries had nothing to report, indicating that Sun may have chosen to not get involved in this war. If so, then that would mean Tempestas's army had somehow escaped from the anti-quantum barrier and destroyed the four posts set up by soldiers from the Holy Sentinel Church. Everything had been turned upside down, and now it was he who was on the losing side. But there still was hope. Even if he lost, he would not be killed. Stella and the Holy Sentinel Church would consider that a grave offense. He may lose his entire military, but Stella could send their own army to finish the job. Or, the Holy Sentinel Church would bring in the Templars, who were busy in another conflict. If only the minor nations of Eastern Tenebris hadn't gone against him! But no matter. If the worst came to pass, he could use his position as Vasea's King to negotiate peace at the very least. It would give him needed time to persuade the Holy Sentinel Church to commission the Templars to Vasea's defense. Also, he would wait for Tressa to fully recover and have the Holy Sentinel Church mandate "The Sacred Blade" to protect him. It was not over yet.
Or so he thought.
Edward III felt an overwhelming bearing. It was similar to Tressa's, yet it was more violent and agitated. His fear climaxed, and his eyes scanned the area around him. He had no doubt that the enemy was upon him. Judging from what he felt, two individuals, each with enough power to smash everyone on his side to bits, were near the vicinity. A soldier shouted as he pointed towards the sky, and Edward III saw them.
While his men were confused that there were children above them, Edward III knew from instinct their identities. The enchanting young girl with bat-like wings and an adorable black gown was the vampire that presided as Tempestas's Queen, the so-called Maria. The one who he had disparaged as a whore on television. The boy to her right was a pulsar and a powerful one. He possessed more quanta than even Tressa, and that gave him away. He was the King of Tempestas, Gil Asphodel.
Pure terror sunk into Edward III's bones as Gil and Maria peered down at him, slyly grinning.