Just as they spotted Haddock bringing a group of strangers among them, Wizarding units and civil guards were struggling to evacuate the district residents while exterminating the undead.
"Your Honour, Grand Magus!" A wizard approached them. He saw Donar Crimsonmane presented with him. "You bring Lord Donar? And who are these juveniles?"
"I will explain everything. Please gather the rest of the mages!"
Inside the ravaged room of what was once a grocer, the wizards gathered. The Vice Grand Magus, Strongbark, was also present at the meeting. His eyes glared at Alicia, who was standing behind Donar.
"Without diminishing my respect," Strongbark somewhat bowed to Donar, "Why do you bring this Crimsonmane girl, Haddock? Do not tell me she is going to help us!"
Haddock did not answer him, but one could tell how excited his countenance was.
Strongbark went dumbfounded. "This kid is going to help us? I thought I was the heartless one."
"She won't fight in the front line, Barthie," said Haddock. "I gave up the Arcane ball to her—"
"YOU DO WHAT?"
"Oh, you heard me well. Regardless, The Divine will appoint her to be the wielder of its power. She is the best we have to bless others with Arcane."
"Ascetic's Whisper, of course." Strongbark clapped his forehead while shaking his head. "Would it not occur to you to ask for the help of Roman Celestian monks, who are recognised by Arcane as well, instead of her?" The mages whispered to their fellow about the Grand Magus' decision. An air of doubt enveloped the forlorn shop.
"We cannot wait for another eternity for the monks to come aiding us. I know well you are still reluctant to the girl you consider 'blasphemer of the mystic arts." The Grand Magus then rested his hands on the table. "But your treatment is unfair. The magistrates of the Magisterium were full of malice because of a teenage girl who couldn't magic obtained the greatest power in the universe. They forgot Arcane is not earned. It is a grace. Arcane itself chooses Alicia as its true user. Not those judges who rot in the ground, not Barthie, not every single one of you… not even me. Who cares if she is not a true witch? So what if she's not? Do you doubt the Divine will? Would you rather have your family become the flesh-eating fleshes than ally with a pure Arcane user?"
They were all silent.
"DOES THE AVATAR OF KHAOS HAVE MORE FAITH IN HIS IDOL THAN ALL OF YOU?"
"Our life and death are only to unite with the Silent Divine!" They all cried in harmony.
"Then throw away your vile thoughts, damn it! Rejoice, for the Silent Divine provides its boon to Camelot. Receive its blessing!"
Those who initially muttered in uncertainty, cheering on the Grand Magus' encouraging speech (except Bartholomew. He always stayed with his bitter face all the time). Alicia held her emotions back when Haddock gave her a slight nod. Perhaps it was time for her to retract the words that the Grand Magus was an incompetent freak.
Bartholomew Strongbark spoke up once again. "So, what do you have in mind?"
"Alicia shall provide you the small blessings from the pure Arcane. The civil guards outside shall receive it, too," uttered Haddock. "Use that divine gift to swiftly repulse the army of the dead."
Haddock slowly rotated his wand, releasing a large amount of golden stardust, forming a map for their current battle.
"We must press them until they are cornered at the necropolis of Oldcastle hill, where they belong." Haddock magnified the location of the graveyard in question. "Agosh has installed for himself the three dimension-ripping totems to raise the dead, even opening a pathway for the restless from the realm of Hades to the mortal world. Alicia, I assign you with your family and friends to destroy those totems with your power while I and the rest shall distract Agosh Grendi's attention. Solely concentrate on destroying the totems until they are one with the earth. Do not let that mad mage shift your focus!"
"Then when will we purify him?" asked Alicia.
"After you're done destroying the totems. Wait for us to take down the mage. Your time will come after Agosh is sealed," replied Haddock. "I think that is all. If any of you have questions, now is the time."
All troops undertook their duty.
Haddock shouted their shibboleth, "May the Silent Divine Silence grant Eternal Peace to us all!"
They let out the same cry and then went out to help the civil guards, who were busy crushing the fierce skulls.
Bartholomew walked past Alicia, saying, "That mad Grand Magus is influenced by your mother to believe in you. So you better don't jeopardize this mission!"
"I-I'll try my best!" Alicia still seemed afraid of the big black mage. She answered her while looking down.
They were waiting for the girl to bless them. It was surely odd that the people who once scorned her now depended their life and death on the girl. Alicia could not hold her grudge anymore, for, at the time, they shared a common adversary.
"You hear that, Orb? They believe in us," Alicia said softly to the ball. "Give them your strength; help us defeat that vile necromancer!"
A gentle response by Orb, too. A sign that it agreed to the wielder's request. As Alicia and Orb synchronised, ley lines emerged from Orb as a power source, connecting everyone present. Wizards with their wands, civil guards with their rifles, Nadine with her crossbow, and Gilmore, still with his empty hand. They all felt a moment of ecstasy. Their entire bodies and weapons glowed a beautiful blue. No weight burdened them, and their beings felt fresh. Optimism has risen. They are ready to recoup their land from the invaders from Hades.
Just before the fight, Gilmore realised he did not bring anything, unlike Nadine. "Hauld yer horses, Ah dinnae have a weapon. Nadine, gimme yer knife."
"Are you mad? Go ask the wizards over there!"
Gilmore smacked his lips. He re-entered the ramshackle shop earlier and came out with a round-headed hammer—the common apparatus for the throwing sport at the highland games.
"Could you bring yon scout knife you touted a lot next time?"
"No need, Nadine! With intuition and teaching fae my Da, Ah kin caw anything into a weapon, even this round hammer!" Gilmore said with a big, proud smile.
The talk between Nadine and Gilmore was cut short when hundreds of roars pierced their ears.
A swarm of diverse corpses clamored while rushing towards the warriors, who were mistaken for prey. Too bad they should have been more discerning than that.
Aloud, Haddock shouted:
"RETURN THEM TO HADES!"
With war cries reverberating throughout Eidyn, the hovering wizards with wands showered them with the Arcane volley. Even those flying undead could not escape their magic spells. It was effortless indeed, for the walking carcasses became ashes in a blink of an eye, unlike before when they would not die until their bodies were utterly crushed without a trace. The undead only needed one exposure to Arcane to make it vanish. Civil guards did not want to lose from their magic peers either. They searched for corpses in every corner, then killed them without mercy like they were carrying out genocide. A fair, justified genocide. Even their gun blows were absolute lethal! Donar and Leith also flew through the air, slaughtering all the living dead, while Gilmore and Nadine, with an elite unit of wizards, led Alicia to the Oldcastle cemetery.
Gilmore was resembling a fairytale knight swinging his hammer. He even was complacent and went ahead of the other units just to throw a blow at the corpses' skulls. Nadine and Alicia joined in shooting the zombies, who suddenly jumped from the building to pounce on them. Nadine did not even need arrows anymore since there were small blue Arcane rounds that could alter shape into arrows and never ran out.
"You know, with your power, we can do this together, over and over," said Nadine.
"This is fun! My adrenaline is racing! Ah cannae stop Alica, help!" shouted Gilmore, as he often hammered the poor bodies as if crushing stones. Either he was joking or really asking for help.
"It's a wee of fun fighting with you pals, perhaps," said Alicia. "But I don't want this to happen again! You know how tiring it is to get the Orb's power out for you!"
Gilmore became more and more violent as he spun his hammer on the spot and crushed the undead's jaw before it soared as high as it could. And because Arcane was flowing through that blunt weapon, it released a shock wave that covered a large radius, turning the lifeless creeps into splatters of rotten flesh! Unfortunately, the wave affected the humans as well, making them fall and disrupting the battle formation. An aftereffect that wasted a lucky token, for it was not as severe as what the undead experienced.
The personnel glanced at the puerile Big Yin.
"GILMORE!" scolded his two best friends.
"S-sorry. I'll take my hammer."
Gilmore immediately stretched out his hand, hoping the round hammer would return to his stout hand. Nothing ever came but more walking cadavers!
"Haw, how come didnae my hammer come? It should be possible with Arcane power, should it not?" Gilmore asked, confused.
"Who said Arcane could make you like that?" Nadine is still busy shooting Arcane from her crossbow.
"You're not 'Donar' with Mjöllnir, Gilmore! Stop messing about!" This time, Alicia expressed her annoyance. The girl suddenly warned him again, "GILMORE, WATCH OUT!"
Two strange double-headed zombies with raucous noise approached the man. They appeared to be gnarly and almost skinless. With bloodied teeth, they intended to rip Gilmore's nose and cheeks out. Startled, Gilmore shrieked while pushing them away with his glowing blue fists. The deformed, mutated corpses were abruptly flung far away and hit the abandoned black carriage. The two exploded and littered the shiny carriage with a mass of blackened, mushy carrion organs.
"I see noo, Arcane gave me super powers! Yasss!"
Nadine replied, "Och, glad you're understand now, bampot! But don't get excited just yet. There's aye a lot ahead!"
"But Ah dinnae wantae lose my beloved hammer. Alicia, Nadine, escort me tae git it!"
"UGH, GILMORE, YER A SCUNNER!" Alicia raged.
Fierce battles between humans and undead continued throughout the city until they succeeded in pushing the death army closer to the Oldcastle hill cemetery. []