"Any luck on your side?" Geoffrey asked as John let go of his spear, landing on the castle walls.
Shaking his head, John replied, "It seems like both sides have become resolute in taking this to the end."
"Then there is only one thing left to do," Geoffrey said, and in an instant, he teleported himself, Edward, and John to the back gates of the eternal city, where the last of the evacuees were leaving.
"Henry, get the soldiers to leave as well. There's no need for them to be here. In the battle tomorrow morning, they'll be doing nothing but throwing their lives away. It's better for them to stay alive and keep the people safe until they get to the Great Forest," John instructed as he walked up to Henry, who nodded and immediately conveyed the message to the soldiers.
"I can assume that negotiations have ceased then, sir?" William asked, standing next to John.
"The negotiations never got a chance to start. Forget that. Once you're done with the evacuation, you and Henry should get some good booze and meet me, Geoffrey, and Edward at the front gates... We might as well spend what time we have left making merry," John replied with a bitter smile, patting William on the back before walking over to Geoffrey and Edward, and then they were teleported to the front gates, right before the battlefield where the final battle would take place in a few hours.
Stepping a little forward from where Geoffrey had teleported them, John inhaled deeply, spreading his arms apart, embracing the fact that his time had come, before falling back on his back.
"You know I have no good memories in this city," John said, and Geoffrey and Edward sat down beside him.
"Of course, we know that. You've told us the story of your time here plenty of times, you dumb fool," Edward said, gazing up at the night sky.
Laughing out loud at Edward's retort, John spoke, "Hahaha, I guess that's true, but let me recount it one last time... so that perhaps if there is a heaven or rather hell, which is where most of us will likely end up, I don't forget... at least not the parts that matter." A wide smile graced his face.
"After my mother died... right in my arms when I was 11 years old, it felt like my world had crumbled around me. At the time, I merely thought she was sick, but only later did I find out she was murdered by the Empress." A sad smile covered John's face. "Back then, I resented my father, or rather, the Emperor as I called him. I never quite felt accepted here, perhaps because of my common bloodline. Anyway, I had begged him to help me heal my mother... he always refused my cries for help." John's eyes closed, and a teardrop fell from his right eye.
"It was much later, after the civil war, and my second brother became Emperor, that I found out how much Father had wanted to help me. But my mother had asked him not to... turns out she knew that if she survived the poison, the nobles that my brothers led would target me." John let out a dry laugh as he wiped the tears away.
"Hah, perhaps it was instinct back then, or my foolish belief that I had been abandoned by my father, that I enrolled in the Southern Army academy, far away from the Empress and the nobles who would target me in this city." John continued, "To this day, I do not know why the Empress thought then to believe that I was a threat to her children's reign as the next Emperors... I was never even a part of the race, after all... all I was, was technically on the racetrack... perhaps if I had been born different or perhaps at that time had I shown promise, I could have made her fears come true... perhaps this day would never have come." John said as a loud shout came from behind them.
"Is the Commander once more talking about his 'perhaps's'?" Henry shouted, carrying a bag full of wine and whiskey with him, and behind him was William, bringing as much beer as he could carry.
"Yep, he is at it again, that damned sob story of his. Fuck, I've heard it so many times I've grown fucking insensitive to it," Edward replied.
"Boooooze!" Geoffrey shouted, and in a blink, he teleported Henry and William next to them, distributing glasses while John got off the ground and sat with his legs crossed. The circle was complete, surrounded by a plethora of alcohol, both inside and outside..
"Come on, Commander, give us a toast, one that we can drink to all night," Edward said with a boisterous laugh, picking up a cup of whiskey. Following his lead, the others raised their glasses, urging John to offer a toast to face their fate.
Picking up his glass, John spoke, "I do not know what tomorrow holds for us. I do not know whether I will live to see another day or die on the battlefield. But I do know one thing for sure, there are no other people I would spend my time with tonight. So, tomorrow, whether we live or we die, WE WILL FIGHT, AND WE WILL KILL!" John shouted at the top of his lungs, clinking his glass with the rest.
"Bwahahhahahaa, words to die by, you old bastard," Edward said, gulping down his whiskey.
"To death!" Geoffrey cheered, pouring himself another glass.
"Fuck the dragons!" Henry shouted, pouring himself a glass as well.
"And the titans too... fuck them all!" William exclaimed, drinking straight from a bottle of wine, catching everyone off guard. They had never seen the man act this way; after all, he was what one would call a stickler for rules and proper manners.
"What? A dead man can't act freely?" William retorted, prompting a laugh from everyone around him.
"The bastard's right, we're dead men, hahahaha!" John shouted and laughed heartily.
The drinking went on for the next 5 hours, and only an hour remained until dawn when the horns of battle would sound. At this point, the only ones left awake were John and his best friend, Geoffrey.
With two glasses of whiskey in his hands, Geoffrey walked up to John, who had a sad look while gazing at the stars. "You still can't get her out of your mind, can you?"
"You know me well, my friend... It's hard to forget one's first and only love... You know, the first time I met her was at the party of my 10th birthday. It was a small celebration, and she was only there because she was with the envoys of the Elven Confederation... I don't know what happened to me back then, but I was enamored by her beauty and cute behavior... We met for the second time when my father announced my engagement with some random noble from the Maritona Confederation. This party was huge... At that time, I had already become a renowned general, and as the prince of the empire celebrated his engagement, guests from all over the continent were invited, even though the times had grown turbulent." John said, turning to look at Geoffrey for a moment who silently drank his whiskey.
"Only after I enrolled in the academy did our love flourish... but ahhh, I never got the chance to profess it to her. We both knew I loved her, and she loved me... I just was too much of a coward, I suppose," John finished speaking and drank his last glass of whiskey.
"You were always good at everything, you know, but you never managed to make yourself happy... If somehow you manage to live after this... try to change yourself for once," Geoffrey said, getting up and patting John on the back.
"Get up, all of you, ready yourselves, and meet me here in an hour... It is time," John said as he walked back into the city.
"I suppose this will be the last time the world will see the great god of war in action," Edward said, opening his eyes and looking at John's back.
An hour later, John, Geoffrey, Edward, Henry, and William, armed with their weapons, stood at the center of the battlefield. On each side was an enemy: the one hundred thousand strong army of the dragons on their right, and the one hundred thousand strong army of the titans on their left. In the middle of it all stood the 5 men who would fight them all.
"MEN!" John shouted at his comrades, who turned to look at him, "TODAY IS PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND, NO, THE WORLD AS WE SEE IT. TWO GRAND ARMIES OF TWO OF THE MOST ANCIENT RACES ON THE PLANET, ONES THAT HAVE PREVIOUSLY CLASHED WITH THE GODS THEMSELVES, ARE ABOUT TO COLLIDE. AND WE HOLD A MONUMENTAL TASK TO KEEP THEM AT BAY AND REDUCE THEIR NUMBERS ENOUGH THAT THE IMPACTS OF THEIR CLASH DO NOT BRING DOWN THE ENTIRETY OF THE ARNOS CONTINENT. THERE IS NO HOPE FOR REINFORCEMENTS TO ARRIVE; THIS IS ALL THERE IS, US FIVE VERSUS TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND MONSTERS. SO TODAY, WE EITHER KILL OR WE DIE. VAE VICTIS!"
As he finished his words, the horns of war on both sides blew, and the armies of the dragons and titans began to march.
"VAE VICTIS!" the others shouted as John proceeded to give out his orders.
"Edward and I will take care of the dragon front. Geoffrey, I know you are a bad matchup against dragons, so I want you, Henry, and William to keep the titans in control. I will only say this once, try to live as long as you can," John said, looking at the faces of his comrades for a moment as they nodded resolutely. He threw his spear towards the marching dragon army, jumping up high and catching it in the air. Following behind him was Edward with his gigantic red greatsword.
"Let's do this, shall we?" Edward said before, stabbing his great sword on the ground, letting out a mouthful of steam and speaking, "Ascension final stage - lion hybrid form."