After a year and a half of preparations, we marched towards the border, ready for the incoming war. The Leonhart troop itself has over a thousand of knights. We had all steeled our hearts and determined to obtain victory. Besides us, there's also The Royal Army, Duchy of Foxeshire's knightage, Duchy of Hawkstone's knightage, Viscounty of Everglen's knightage, Earldom Thornbury's knightage, Barony of Oakhill's knightage and lastly, Viscounty of Silverwood's knightage.
The total number of the troops had almost reached 10,000 in number. There's also the paid mercenaries and healers tailing closely by the rear. Our camp was set up a few miles away from the border as the safe zone.
"Remember, follow the formation that we had discussed on before. We will use the natural terrain to ambush the enemies. Hawkstone will attack from the South, through the valley. Thornbury will block their way of escape," the General, Marquess of Leonhart speaks.
"After the first line is cleared, The Royal Army will march straight to their main troops. Oakhill and Everglen will stay behind and guard our camp. Foxeshire will be providing support to the Royal Army from the North," the Vice-General, Sir Alexander Edgar added.
"Finally, the Leonhart and Silverwood will march through towards their base. The other knights who had their stations cleared, move forward."
Those were the plans. However, reality was far harder than plan.
"AGHHHHHHH!" A knight clashed his sword with the other.
"KEUGHHH—!" Grunts of pain filled the space. Someone got stabbed from behind while the other mourn for their comrades' death.
How long has it been? A month? Maybe two? I swung my sword for as long as I am awake. The war felt as if it was never-ending. What about Catherine? I hadn't seen her for a while. She kept on avoiding me whenever we saw each other back at the camp. Is she injured?
"DIE!" The knight in front of me raised his sword menacingly.
It was a quick swing, maybe he is a wind attribute. Catherine wanted to be one back then. Avoiding his attack, I instantly infused my sword with mana, causing a fire-like ether to surround it. The blade roared as it slashed through the air, cutting through his neck.
The head rolled on the ground before finally stopping at my feet. The smell of blood had assimilated with me that I've become numb to it. The eyes were open, he must've been just as desperate to live. After shutting his eyelids, my gaze fell on my wrist. The bracelet that Catherine gifted me was there, the one thing that kept me sane. Something felt wrong back then. Whenever she scratched her right ear, it always meant that she was hiding something. As if to prove me right, I sensed something off in the nearby forest.
*I'd know what it was even from miles away,* I thought.
"REPORT THIS! A DEMON HAS BEEN SPOTTED!" A voice shouted. All the other knights halted from the news.
Feeling terribly uneasy, I dashed into the forest for as fast as I could. The only thing in my mind was to reach the sun before the others took it away from me. I ran desperately, as if the ground was nonexistent. The bushes rustled as I crashed through it, twigs snapped yet my attention remained to one.
*The so called demon might be—"
As expected, it was a very familiar face. The eyes that made me feels like I am staring into the abyss itself. A rampaging shadow was shrouding her just like before. The only difference was that its size had grown exponentially since the last time. Purple veins were visible on her hands and neck. I'm sure there's more under the armour where I couldn't see. Catherine's hands now resembled that of a claw, one she stretched out like a wild animal protecting itself from hunters.
"Catherine, stop it!" I pleaded, trying to approach her.
Just after taking a few steps closer, the unconscious Catherine threw dozens of her shadow blades in my direction. Her face was scrunched up furiously as she bared her teeth vengefully. My sword clashed with the shooting blades as I avoided the other. While parring the second wave away, one had managed to slash my thigh.
"Catherine! Come to your senses!" I continued on, just to end up in vain.
*BAAANGGG!*
Hundreds of attacks were thrown towards her from multiple directions. The knights that were already at the scene from the moment of her awakening had surrounded the place. Both our knights and the enemy's knights aimed at Catherine in unity, as if they had agreed to work together for the time being. In the eyes of anyone, a dark attribute is the biggest foe that must be taken down at sight. Nevertheless, only a few of the attacks managed to land a damage on Catherine.
*CRACKLE*
The trees around got caught up in flames from the previous attacks by the fire attributes. The strong gust of wind from the wind attributes had caused the dust to float up in the air, adding on to the miserable sight of black smoke. The originally levelled ground had either spiked up or cracked from the earth attributes' skills.
*No….think, I have to make out something. What can I do now?!*
I watched exasperatedly as Catherine exchanged blows with them. Her powers ran rampant and killed half of the opponent in the blink of an eye. Her shadow blades were raining the range around her, preventing anyone from getting closer. While she got distracted, I approached her from behind stealthily. The blades were pouring even harder when I got closer but I didn't hesitate. Once she's in my reach, I immediately extended my arm towards her.
"Let's go back…" I muttered. "Let's run away from here."
Just before I could graze her, Catherine turned around. Her face was still emanating anger and hatred, as if scorning the whole world.
*Yes, the world deserves to be scorned, especially by you,* I thought.
Instead of accepting my embrace, Catherine swung her bare hand with enormous strength. The force converged into her sharp claws, one that could pierce through anything in its way. It would've been nice if this is only our childhood fist fight.
*KEUHEUK—*
I coughed up and saw the red fluid splattered onto her face.
"Catherine…" I said with great difficulty,"….you punched a bit too hard there…"
The strength seeped out of my body. Her fist had passed through my stomach, all the way back without mercy. The pain was tremendous. My heart was beating so fast to keep up with the blood loss as my vision got a bit blurry. Through the inconsistent sight, I could still make out the knights dashing towards us, wanting to cut off Catherine's neck. Once they raised their swords, I used my remaining strength to turn our position around. One of the sword had cut off a part of my right ear while the other slashed my back open.
"KEUGHH—" I grunted in pain. The sharp sensation tearing through my flesh was torturous.
"Hey, are you crazy?! Why are protecting that demon?!" The shocked knight yelled, retreating a few steps back.
"She's….not a demon…" I said, wrapping my arms around her tightly.
Thankfully Catherine had stopped attacking. I could even hear her quiet pleas as she struggled to regain her consciousness. "Lucius…I don't want to kill anymore...I-I can't control it…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…." she said.
Hearing her devastated voice, I shook my head slightly. "It's alright…it's not your fault..."
Catherine was crying. Seems like the rainy days had returned. What should I do? I don't want her to be in pain.
Suddenly, another voice echoed through the air. It was one of the Royal Army. "KILL HER!" he shouted. "She had finally stopped attacking so what are you all gawking at?! Just kill that boy, too!"
The knights that hesitated before began to move forward from his voice. The reluctant steps soon gained its momentum and they all rushed in as one. Roars of the men filled the air, sabatons clanking as it kicked off the ground. With one final effort, I tightened my embrace around Catherine and accepted our fate.
Or so I thought.
Since a while ago, I actually had been feeling rather tingly near my heart. It's an unnatural yet pleasant sensation. I had decided to ignore it for as long as I could but now, it's creeping out of me. It's something new, something powerful.
Exactly before the knights reached us, a power bursted out of my heart. Radiant light shone from it, surrounding my whole being with gentle warmth.
*SHAAAAAA….*
"W-what is that?!" The knights retreated at the unexpected scene.
"A light attribute? How could it be in such a massive amount?" The other knight spoke as he lowered his sword.
All of the knights there stood still with an astonished look, as if they saw the descend of an angel itself. Parting my eyes open, I gazed down at Catherine. The shadows around her had been consumed by the light, leaving the injured Catherine on her own. The hole on my stomach was being filled again, making it look as if nothing had ever happened . Even the wounds from the previous attacks had been mended and my right ear got restored.
Catherine was writhing in pain. She is a dark attribute, after all. It must've felt like she got burnt all over. After a while, she laid still in my arms, completely unconscious. Letting out a sigh of relief, I carried her up carefully before walking away from the bloody ground.
*I need to hide her,* I thought.
"H-Hey, where are you going?" The knight that slashed my ear asked.
"….I'll kill her somewhere else. Didn't all of you saw my attribute?" I answered calmly.
"Liar! He protected that demon back then!" A young knight shouted from behind the other.
"You have to kill her in front of us!" An enemy knight demanded.
After receiving so many objections, I stopped on my track before carefully setting Catherine down under an oak tree.
"Good! Kill her, quick!"
Once I turned back at them, quite the mixed gazes were seen. Some were still in awe, some were looking at me suspiciously while some glared grudgingly at Catherine for killing their comrades. But one thing was for sure, they all want her dead.
Raising my hand, I compressed my light mana into a sphere. Watching it slowly grow into the brightest ball of light ever seen. I could feel the anticipation rising from the audience, silently wishing for it to end quicker. My gaze then fell on the unconscious Catherine.
*….How I hope that the world could accept you….* I muttered bitterly before throwing the light sphere.
*BOOOOM!* A loud explosion shook the space.
*…..accept you as I did," I continued.
A blinding light was emitted from the sphere, causing all visions to be distorted except mine. I instantly took the chance and killed every single one of the knights present. Their screams sounded horrific. Some were still covering their eyes while some were already mindlessly swinging their swords, not being able to discern anything. Soon enough, the voices died down as they lost the battle.
The sphere was only meant to produce a flash, I don't want to hurt Catherine by using an excessive attack.
*SLASHHH!*
Blood splattered from the last man standing. No one should know about this. Since it's war, people won't find it odd that they were killed, either. Fortunately, knights from both Kingdoms were here. It'll look like they were fighting among themselves.
*I have to find somewhere safe for her.*
Scooping Catherine up into my arms again, I began to move deeper into forest in order to get away from the others. Catherine had received a few injuries that needed to be tended to as soon as possible. The forest soon changed into a rocky terrain when I reached the base of a mountain. After confirming that there were no one nearby, I tried to heal her with my newly found light attribute. Since light attributes were known for its healing ability, there should be no issue at all. However, her wounds began to get even worse. It was a sight that I dreaded the most through out the war.
"You can't heal her with a light mana," a voice interrupted.
I instantly got on guard, reaching for my sword and swung it at them. The sword stopped right at the throat of the unknown when I finally recognised him. Dark eyes with a slim figure. He stood still, raising both hands in surrender.
"I don't mean harm," he said.
"….Andrew?"