"What the hell was that!?" Amelia shouted.
"NOOOOO PLEASE!!! STAY BACK! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH-" a bloody scream was heard followed by a loud crunching sound.
"KILL IT! SHOOT IT WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!!! KEEP IT AWAY FROM THE WALL!!!" Another voice screamed from atop the rampart.
Then I saw it.
The Black Ooze spread over the top of the rampart as a massive creature that looked like a dark shifting blob covered in eyes, mouths and tentacles, climbed over the wall.
It sat atop the wall and grabbed several soldiers. Throwing them all screaming into it's mouths and chewing them up.
Several of the guards vomited at the sight and everyone backed away.
"WHAT IN THE DIVINE REALM IS THAT THING!?" Amelia shouted.
"THE REASON WE'RE HERE, DUMBASS!" I screamed at her.
"What'd you say!? Are you the cause of-"
"SHUT UP! WE'RE HERE TO STOP IT!" I continued.
"..." Amelia was silent.
"Let's call a truce! If you still want us dead after we deal with this thing, we can pick up where we left off!" I said.
"Agreed. MEN! THESE ALBATROSS SOLDIERS ARE YOUR ALLIES FOR NOW! I ORDER YOU TO FOCUS ON THAT MONSTER!" Amelia barked.
"YOU HEARD HER, MEN, WE'RE ALLIES! FOCUS ON THE MONSTER!" Sir Gordon shouted.
"Isabella, you seriously need to get behind me. I'll protect you!" I said as I placed my hand in her shoulder.
She glared at me.
"Ugh...Mizik... You don't understand at all, do you?" She said.
"Maybe you don't understand! I'm trying to prevent a repeat of last time!" I said angrily.
"If you two could stop, FOR FIVE MINUTES, I'll let you continue when the monster is dead!" Amelia shouted.
"Shut up!"
"Shut up!"
We spoke in unison.
The monster collapsed the wall with its size and large insect legs sprouted from all sides. The creature picked itself up and began slowly walking towards us.
Its eyes fixed on Isabella.
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!
"GRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
"ISABELLA!!! BEHIND ME!" I shouted.
"Ugh...you're such an idiot sometimes... I really didn't want to resort to this, but I guess we have no choice..." Isabella said.
The monster trampeled several of the Kalsan soldiers and picked up others along the way. It ate whatever it picked up and began spitting huge globs of Black Ooze on the ground around it.
"Isabella!?" I said as she stepped forward.
She reached into her inventory and pulled out Bravery.
Wait...
"I told you, time and time again, but I have no choice now. My beloved doesn't think I can protect him anymore, so I have to prove him wrong," Isabella said.
"What are you doing!? Put that away! We need it to-"
"Be quiet, Mizik! Let me protect you. YOU'RE MORE IMPORTANT TO ME THAN SOME STUPID SWORD!" Isabella screamed as she unsheathed Bravery.
The broken blade reformed instantly to it's original silver sheen and the pink runes blazed forth.
Moments later, the runes changed slightly and power erupted from Isabella.
"What the-" Amelia said as she stared at Isabella.
I saw Isabella read something on her status menu.
"Very well...BRAVERY! I COMMAND YOU! BE THE SHIELD THAT PROTECTS THE OVERSEER!" Isabella shouted.
[Bravery...my Vanguard. My shield. I approve of this wielder.]
So that's why...
[I need no shield other than Bravery.]
She brought her adamantine shield up as the monster reached her.
Her shield glowed with a strange light and so did the arm holding it.
The monster formed one of it's tentacles into a large round mace and brought it down on Isabella.
"NO! ISABELLA!" I screamed.
There was an incredible impact...and an obscenely loud clang. It sent shock waves outwards and cracked the ground...
But once the dust cleared, there she was...
Shield raised and completely unharmed.
She had perfectly blocked the attack.
"I hate these disgusting monsters," she said.
Isabella swung Bravery at an angle and severed the tentacle clean from the monster's body.
"KRREEEEEEEEE!!!!"
The monster screeched loudly and stomped on Isabella several times to no avail. As it did, she seemed to be distracted by her status menu.
"This should do..." She said.
I could hardly believe my eyes.
Isabella stuck her sword straight out to her side and it extended just as I had seen it before with Arvild.
"SUNLIGHT BLADE!" She slashed horizontally and cleanly severed several of the beast's legs, causing it to topple over.
Isabella jumped back and avoided the creature.
"MIZIK! ATTACK IT!" She shouted.
I shook my head and readied Vengeance.
I charged forward and slashed the creature several times with my sword to remove the tentacles.
More of them began sprouting as I tried to remove them and soon, I was under attack.
I saw one out of the corner of my eye and heard a loud, solid impact.
"Geez, Mizik! Why can't you just trust me?" Isabella said.
"I'm...I'm sorry! I trust you!" I said.
She smiled at me as several more of the tentacles impacted her shield.
"BLAST NOVA!" She shouted.
Her shield exploded outwards and blew away the tentacles.
I could almost swear that she seemed a lot stronger than Arvild was...
"Sword enchant! I shouted.
Golden threads extended from my hand into my sword and cloaked Vengeance in a white light.
"Shield enchant!" Isabella said.
I watched several golden threads connect to her shield after she spoke.
"FULL MOON SLASH!" I called and sliced several of the tentacles into pieces.
They burned into ashes as soon as my blade impacted them. The ones that made contact with Isabella's shield did the same.
Somehow, I needed to get on top of this thing... I looked up and felt Isabella tap my shoulder.
I glanced over to her and she smiled as she raised her shield.
I understand...but I don't like it...
Moments later, I was standing on top of her shield as she stood below it.
"SHIELD BASH!" She shouted.
I jumped just as I felt her execute the attack and was sent flying high into the air above the monster.
Several tentacles shot towards me and I began falling back down, but they were easily destroyed.
As soon as I had an opening, I aimed my sword at the top of the monster.
"VANGUARD STRIKE!!!" I shouted.
I shot down with both the skill and the force of gravity aiding me. I pierced directly through the creature's hide and straight into its core.
As soon as the core shattered, the entire thing exploded around me into ashes.
A few moments later, the entire thing had collapsed and disappeared.
I was left covered in ashes and slightly annoyed as a result. But despite everything...
This was one of the happiest moments of my life.
My Isabella.
My wonderful sweet Isabella, the woman of my dreams who had been doomed to die a tragic death...
...was now a legendary sword wielder just like myself.
As soon as the smoke cleared, I dusted myself off and ran over to her.
"Isabella! I'm-"
She threw her arms around me and smiled.
"Apology accepted. Just make sure you stay behind me from now on, okay?" She said. "And perhaps...you'd like a bath...?" She said as she looked me up and down.
"Excuse me...but I'd like a word with you two about what just happened," Amelia said as she approached us.
"I'm sure you do. But first, are you still planning to kill us?" I asked.
"I don't think I would dream of trying after seeing that display. I'm not about to fight two magic sword users at the same time. Speaking of which...Mizik, which sword is that? I don't think I've seen that one before..."
"Vengeance."
"So it does exist then. I have a lot of questions for you, but first I think you'd appreciate getting cleaned up. You may use our facilities for such purposes. We will allow you to rest here for tonight. Do not worry, our truce still stands," Amelia said.
"Then we will go wash ourselves. After that, we can have a discussion with you," Isabella said.