"Reinforce the northern wall! Send the refugees to the western area! That wall is still intact!" The rather bossy voice was heard with brutal seriousness. Many Paladins nodded with a 'Yes ma'am!' as they received the orders, quite uneasy at the seriousness of their captain.
The White Color of the 9 Colors of the Holy Kingdom, Remedios Custodio, used 100% of her brain capacity to try and make the best decisions after her sister's recovery.
After all, as much as Remedios is the Captain of the Holy Kingdom's Paladin Order, as well as its greatest power figure as 'The Holy Sword' so to speak, she was really only useful in what was combat.
When it came to combat, few could truly match up against her. It was even thought that Remedios could fight with Gazef Stronoff himself.
Sure, Remedios was still a Paladin over a warrior, and considering that Gazef Stronoff, being the Warrior Captain, someone more suited to combat against humans than Remedios, who mainly fought against monsters and Demi-Humans, Gazef would have the upper hand, but one thing does not take away from the other.
However, when it came to the strategic or academic area… Well, Remedios tended not to think about it, and leave those matters to more capable people. She was just a sword after all.
Such a thought, at the same time, made her feel ashamed. Not because of the title itself, but because of how she failed to be such a sword. After all, she was severely affected by the evil spell of that… Filthy Demon in the Demonic Invasion of Kalinsha, and after that, she fell asleep on the spot.
She finally woke up after a few hours, but the shame and humiliation of having fallen under such a curse, no matter how much even Her Holy Majesty told her it wasn't her fault... Well, it left a nasty taste in her mouth, even if she had managed to get that Demon to retreat.
If only she had held out even a little longer... She would have killed that monster once and for all... She clicked her tongue in thought, walking out of her makeshift tent.
After all, there was no time to be in the castle when Kalinsha's walls were torn down at several points, there was evil fire in different districts, and countless wounded and dead.
The surviving priests and Paladins were working overtime to deal with the fire that could only be put out by holy means, or healing the wounded as best they could, even if it was just stopping bleeding.
They hadn't been able to establish contact with other cities yet, so their supply of food, equipment, and potions was limited.
The considerable reduction in the city's population helped a little, but what didn't help was the loss of entire warehouses.
Remedios could understand the gravity of the situation a little, but again, she didn't think about it. She didn't know about administration or anything like that… So she could only sigh as she did what Her Holy Majesty told her. Or well, what her sister told her as Queen Calca's 'spokesperson' while she cried over the horrors caused by those Demons.
She clenched her fist, furious at having to force Calca… Her friend to witness such a scenario and make her suffer so much… But they couldn't rest. Not when that Demon was loose with his army. That much she understood.
"Captain!"
"What's going on?" She asked as she tentatively looked at a map made by one of her men, Gustav Montagnés, who was one of the people Remedios always relied on to deal with issues beyond just fighting or simple military tactics.
Such a map was of Kalinsha City, but with cross-outs and marks to denote, for example, all the openings in the wall, the districts completely destroyed, the partially destroyed, and the almost intact, among other things.
Just in case, Remedios had a paper on the side that said what each symbol or cross-out made by Gustav meant.
"A large army is coming from the south!"
"What!? Sound the alarm!" She shouted quickly.
Supposedly, the Demons retreated from the south… And she highly doubted that the Southern Army of the Holy Kingdom was the one approaching…
If she lost, they had no chance.
"Yes!" The Paladin said. And not long after, bells rang out throughout the city.
Remedios stepped out of her tent, grabbing her sword, Safarlisia, the Holy Blade. She couldn't fight without her sword after all.
She saw the Paladins and Priests preparing themselves, running back and forth.
She stopped a Paladin, and spoke to him.
"Inform Her Majesty and her guard to stay in the castle! Bring my sister! Her Majesty cannot di-!" Her order was interrupted when a powerful explosion was heard not far away, causing Remedios and everyone present to stop and look towards the castle.
A fireball hit one of the towers.
Another one arrived, causing a new explosion. And the tower began to fall on the makeshift camp.
"Run!" She shouted, coming out of the shock first when she saw the remains of the tower begin to fall on them.
Chaos quickly took hold, with Paladins, Priests and civilians running in terror to get away from the falling tower.
Remedios saw a child crying on a white sheet that seemed to have someone under it. An orphan, obviously.
Taking advantage of the fact that she was quite capable of carrying a load, thanks to her ideals of justice, she jumped towards the boy to get closer faster, grabbed him with one arm, and started running again.
Seconds later, the tower finished falling. The ground shook as piles of stone and bricks crushed those who were not fast enough, the weapons, the wounded and the dead, as well as tents and some houses.
Remedios, who had crouched down to cover herself from the dust and any stones, protecting the boy with her body, looked back, watching in horror as the bombardment continued, hitting the castle, houses, and the wall, as well as the improvised walls and barricades in the southern opening…
"Tsk!" She clicked her tongue, leaving the boy there, and quickly taking out Safarlisia, running towards the southern wall.
She grabbed a stunned castle soldier, and shouted at him. "Get Her Majesty out of the city! Take her to the north!"
It was the only way. Remedios would not allow Her Holy Majesty to have even one of her sacred golden hairs soiled.
"[Summon 2nd Tier Angel: Guardian Angel]!" She heard several Priests chant, summoning Guardian Angels to fight against the Demons.
"Follow me! We will protect Kalinsha from the evil Demons! For Her Holy Majesty!" Remedios roared, and the Paladins and several Priests, somewhat emboldened or doubtful, even some fearful, shouted back, beginning to follow Remedios.
Although all seemed lost, with the Captain here, the Strongest Paladin, they had confidence.
…
"This way, Lady Calca! We must get out of the pala-!" Kelart's voice was cut off by another explosion that echoed through the palace, making it shake and some dust fall.
"Y-Yes!" She said simply as she crouched down a bit, quite restless and disturbed by the explosions, along with the vibrations of the rock fragments hitting the outer walls.
Their mission right now was to get out of the palace.
And so, they were in the lower halls of Kalinsha Castle.
"No… No… No!" Kelart grunted as she tried to press the right rock, as there should be a secret passageway around here… "Aha!" She said with relief as a stone was pressed.
With the rock being dragged away, separating by a mechanism supposedly put together by the castle's builders over 100 years ago, the dark hallway welcomed the city's sewers.
It wasn't particularly elegant, but it wasn't the time to be picky.
With her [Shine] illuminating the surroundings from the magic lamp, Kelart and Calca made their way through the dirty sewers of the city, filled with blood and debris from the recent events.
Calca covered her nose at the smell, and squealed in fear at the sight of a rat running alongside her leg, but was forced to walk by Kelart, who was trying to lead the way, even though she had no idea where she was going.
The ceiling rumbled, and Kelart feared it would collapse on them…
"…W-What will happen to Remedios…?" The Holy Queen asked.
"She will be fine. She is somewhat dumb, but she is strong. At least she should be able to run away if things get bad." She lied about the last bit, just to give Calca a modicum of false relief. Still, they both knew that Remedios would never run away.
The ceiling shook again, the vibrations already putting the structure of the underground tunnels at risk, with cracks forming in the walls, which could bear less and less weight. A grate leading to the surface began to drip blood…
She ignored the sight. She had to get Calca out of the city.
Another tremor came, and Kelart watched in silence as the ceiling above her began to collapse.
A tug, however, pulled her away from the collapse, throwing her to the dirty ground, but saving her life.
"Kelart! Are you okay!?" Calca asked worriedly, bending down to help the Priestess in any way she could.
"I-I… Yes…" She blinked… Her life flashed before her eyes for a moment…
However, the temperature quickly began to rise.
"…Why is it so hot…?" She complained, frowning and looking around.
"K-Kelart…" Calca stammered as she looked at the rubble.
The Priestess continued to look where the Holy Queen was looking, and froze as she saw the rock was red hot, slowly beginning to liquefy.
"W-!?" Her cry of surprise was cut short as an explosion came from the rubble, pushing the pair of women back by the shockwave.
"GAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOHHHHH!" The roaring roar like a raging beast came from ahead, where the smoke covered it. Only the monstrous, vaguely humanoid silhouette was visible, with lots of red hot marks visible through the smoke, as well as its fire-like glowing eyes.
The beast roared as where its left arm should have been there was only a river of what looked like magma falling down, only to flap large wings behind its back, and rise up.
The pair of women watched in awe and fear as the creature disappeared. And with its absence, the magma that formed from the rubble quickly cooled, leaving only a foul smell through the sewers.
"What the…?" The Priestess had never really seen such a creature… But they were dealing with the servants of the Komodo Demon…
Calca, as if gaining some courage, stood up and approached the rubble a little hesitantly.
Kelart quickly stood up to stop her, to accompany her at least.
"... We can only go up…" The Queen muttered, noticing that the path was still blocked by the cooled magma, only leaving the not-so-high gap that led to the surface…
"... Ugh…" The Custodian sister could only grimace… They were supposed to go this way because the surface was dangerous… "[Summon 4th Tier Angel: Principality of Peace]" Using her Mana to summon her strongest Angel, as she was sure there were too many dangerous Demons up above, the creature quickly manifested from the white circle, releasing a harmonic sound as she looked at her summoner. "Take us to the surface." She ordered as she looked up.
The Principality of Peace nodded as any Angel does, offering a hand to Calca and another to Kelart.
Both of them approached the Angel, and she held them with each arm, beginning to rise.
"... Be careful, Lady Calca… I'm sure it will be dangerous…" She warned her queen.
"Y-Yes! I'm ready!" She said, decisively, although with some fear.
…
"Gah!" Remedios gasped as she received a claw blow from one of the armored and sword-wielding Demons. The blow didn't open any wounds, but it did send her flying into a building.
She had been fighting armored Demons with all her might since it all began. She even managed to cut off an arm and knock down a giant Demon, which sank into the ground. Remedios didn't know it, but the lower structure of the sewers couldn't bear so much weight and tremors from explosions, so it collapsed there.
However, she was being overwhelmed.
Remedios alone had to fight with all her might against just one of these armored Demons in order not to get hurt, therefore, the other Paladins and Priests were being easily overwhelmed.
Even the Royal Guards were no challenge for the monsters. Priests were being slaughtered by Imps, who were sneaking up behind the Guardian Angels and killing them… Paladins were crushed under the feet of the large shield-wielding Demons. Royal Guards were torn apart and devoured by Demonic Wyverns and impaled by Demons with spears.
"Yeeaaaart!" She roared once she rested a hundredth of a second against the ground, rising up and brandishing Safarlisia against the sword of a Demon who wanted to strike her.
She deflected the blow, but just doing so made her entire skeleton tremble, clicking her tongue as she ducked to avoid the spear that was headed straight for her head.
"[Strong Strike]!" She shouted, using the martial art to deliver a powerful counterattack against the Demon who deflected her weapon.
This one, in the form of a slender beast, imitating a human as a disgusting and vile creation of evil, with thick armor however, white as an insult to purity, with pieces of what seemed to be red scales, with golden details and a helmet with two large bright red horns and a kind of imitation of a crown, roared while the divine sword forced him to use his forearm as a shield.
{Infernal General PNG}
The holy weapon dug into his flesh, and collided with the hardness of his bones.
Remedios didn't stop to be surprised, but quickly pulled her sword back, tearing the flesh a little more, and kicked the Demon with all her might, while throwing herself to the side to avoid the spears coming from the Demon lancers.
"[Holy Slash]!" She roared, brandishing her sword towards the pair of lancers.
They tried to retreat, but they didn't manage to do so in time, receiving the divine slash full on and being pushed back as dark red blood flowed out of their wounds.
"[Flow Acceleration]!" Trying to ignore the fatigue that was building up in her body, she shouted the martial art, causing her senses and perception of time to increase considerably, and allowing her to react to the Demon's sword slash from before that was going straight for her neck.
Considering the superior physical strength, she ducked, avoiding the slash, and using Safarlisia and stabbing it into the monster's stomach.
Time flowed again after her senses returned to normal, and the monster growled as it backed away, clutching its stomach with one hand as it bled.
She gave Remedios a look.
"COME ON! COME AND DIE, DAMN DEMON!" She screamed as adrenaline flowed through her veins.
Her instincts made her quickly jump out of the building.
Looking back as she heard destruction and chaos, she saw a Wyvern vomit magma on it, before roaring at Remedios and flying away.
"Tch!" She clicked her tongue. The air was taken…
She didn't have much time to think about that when she saw the Demon whose arm she cut off appear with a furious roar, trying to finish her off with a punch from the sky.
Remedios reacted faster and jumped to the side, only to be forced to use another martial art.
"[Fortress]!" Her body was momentarily coated in a crystalline aura, and Remedios raised her sword.
Her breath left her from the effort as an incredible weight and force landed on her sword, forcing it down from the impact and cracking the ground beneath her.
"G-Gah…!" She gasped, seeing the Demon…
Covered in dark knight-like armor, with dark fabrics and a reddish glow from the chest, the monster with large dark and red bat wings, full of armored scales, pressed its bastard sword made of some kind of bright red energy or crystal bordered by a dark metal, against Remedios. Its gaze like reddish flames, slightly releasing a reddish smoke from them, stared at her, and its sharp teeth twisted into an almost victorious smile, as if joyful and… Villainous. His backward-twisted black horns and his sort of 'crown' made of some black feathers, acting as nothing more than decoration for his stone-skinned head, only made him look more evil. Although, well, he was a Demon.
{Infernal Hero PNG}
Remedios growled in pure disgust, frustration, anger, and effort, trying with all her might to resist the thrust of the Demon's sword. Its initial blow was mostly neutralized by the martial art, but the subsequent push was so strong… Remedios felt like she was trying to prevent the entire Kalinsha Castle from crushing her with its weight.
"[Holy Ray]!" A voice, a delicate and beautiful voice like a song, so familiar and soothing to Remedios, sounded from the side.
The Demon lost his smile, seemed to frown, and leaped to the side, avoiding the beam of divine light that hit an Imp behind the Paladin squarely, disintegrating it in the process.
The Strongest Paladin breathed a sigh of relief at being freed from the weight of the Demon's strength, but only needed a mere second's respite to return to the battle. "[Counter]!" She roared, her sword glowing with a reddish aura, as Remedios clashed her sword against the fist of the monster on the side with its arm severed.
The monster roared as his fist bounced off the sword, knocking it off balance for a moment.
At this moment, a large Angel, the Principality of Peace, quickly approached the Demon, manifesting a hammer of light in its hands and striking the Demon with it.
The Demon, recovering from being tripped by Remedios, roared as it dodged the predictable hammer with a sharp movement, and prepared to pounce on the Angel.
The creature extended a palm over the Demon, and chanted something in the legendary angelic language, something Remedios didn't really understand.
At the moment, [Harm Evil] was applied, and the Demon paused for a moment, tensing as it growled in pain.
Remedios took advantage of this to charge at the Demon, ready to finish it off.
"YEAAARRT!" She roared, her sword ready to slash. However, she was forced to stop, her instincts screaming danger. "[Fortress]-Gah!" She was barely able to cast the martial art before she received a sword strike from the Demon that nearly crushed her earlier.
She was able to block the blow with her sword, but only the blunt force damage from the knockback numbed her arms and sent her flying backwards.
"Remedios! [Heal]!" Her Holy Majesty, Lady Calca, rushed over to the trembling Paladin on the ground, casting a pain-relieving spell on the Custodio sister's body.
"[Holy Ray]!" Kelart shouted, aiming towards the Demons.
The beam of divine light shot out with holy force towards the duo.
However, the dark armored Demon moved rather quickly, grabbing the Principality of Peace by the neck, and placing it between itself and the spell, causing the Angel to screech harmoniously, but in pain as it took the damage.
It wasn't screeching from the beam, as that healed it by divine energy, it was screeching from the Demon's unshakable grip on its neck, using it as a shield against its will.
Before the Angel could cast a spell or do anything, the Demon stabbed its sword into the Angel's chest, causing it to screech as the weapon glowed, and it was enveloped in a powerful red energy like fire.
Kelart watched in horror as the Demon easily killed her summon, causing it to disappear in motes of light.
There went her strongest Angel…
She could summon another one, but… The ease with which it was eliminated…
"[Summo-]!" She was going to summon a lower-level Angel, which would at least serve as a temporary shield, however, Calca grabbed her hand.
"Let's go!" She shouted, quickly starting to pull Kelart along.
"Wha-!? Lady Calca!?" Kelart blinked.
"We can't let these Demons continue with their-!" Remedios was about to complain, but the Holy Queen interrupted again.
"I don't care! It's an order! We're leaving!" She shouted desperately.
Shock invaded the 'Twin Wings' for a moment, but the furious roar of the one-armed Demon brought them out of their stupor.
Remedios also saw the Demons she had injured earlier, the spearmen, the white-armored Demon, approaching along with the other two Demons.
There were… Too many… And Remedios was starting to get tired… Not to mention the incredible strength and speed of the dark-armored Demon.
"… Tch… As you command, Your Majesty…" Remedios growled, frustrated at not being able to do anything but run away… This… Wasn't justice… But she wouldn't disobey the Queen. Out of loyalty, trust and affection.
"[Summon 4th Tier Angel: Principality of Peace]!" Kelart shouted however, summoning the Angel again. "Buy us time!" She demanded of the Angel, and it nodded.
With a nod to the queen, the trio began to run in the opposite direction of the group of Demons, towards the north of the city…
…
The Infernal Hero, a summon of Her Majesty's Servant, crushed the weak Angel under his armored boots, watching as the motes of light scattered through the air.
He looked towards where the humans had fled.
Despite everything. Despite his mission. He was a hero. And he could tell, that this Paladin, was strong. No more than him. But strong. And she had courage.
She had determination and bravery.
"Let's give them a minute's head start." He muttered to his group.
The Demons looked at him, but did not object to a hero.
He was a hero. And as such, he respected that Paladin, who faced them all with courage and determination.
Of course, it didn't mean that he would prevent other Demons from getting in the way of the humans.
…
"Yahhh!" Remedios shouted as she swung her sword, cutting a Hellhound in half without much effort.
Armored Demons were tough to kill, but regular Demons were just flies to Remedios, no matter how tired she was.
Leading the way, clearing it for Her Majesty and her sister, Remedios cut down Demon after Demon.
After all, the city quickly became infested with them when the Paladins couldn't deal with the entirety of the invaders.
"[Holy Arrow]!" Calca shouted as she aimed as best she could, firing the tier 3 spell at an especially large Hellhound, the spell digging into its fur and making it let out a canine-like squeal of pain.
"Agh!"
"[Holy Heal]!" Kelart chanted at Remedios, healing her from a bite from some sort of… Hell Tiger? Who appeared out of nowhere, already decapitated by the Paladin.
She nodded to Kelart as the bite on her ankle and other wounds were healed, and Her Majesty's 'Holy Sword' advanced with determination.
They were going to get out of here. They would regroup with the survivors of Kalinsha, and other cities for a counteroffensive when they managed to ask for help from Re-Estize or whatever country it was.
They would definitely do it. They would make it. Remedios had no doubts. She prayed to the Great Gods the whole time without stopping. She would not stop. Even when they get out, she would thank them with all her heart.
"Shie!" A sound caught Kelart and Calca off guard, followed by a chitinous sound.
A creature like a giant scorpion, covered in red chitin plates on top, with black spikes, large pincers covered in beaks, with three pairs of small legs for what was its robust body, and with a large dark stinger that seemed to imitate the beak of a bird, appeared destroying a building with its pincers practically next to Kelart.
{Sting of the Purgatory PNG}
The arthropod quickly swung its thick, dangerous claws at Kelart.
Remedios noticed this, but even with her martial arts, she wouldn't make it in time.
The Custodio sister saw her life flash before her eyes again, her heart stopping for a second in absolute fear, but an external force pulled her away from the grip.
"CALCA!" Remedios' horrified and terrified scream confused Kelart, who fell to the ground from that push, followed by an unpleasant crunch of bones and flesh being crushed. And a scream that echoed throughout Kalinsha.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Kelart froze, quickly looking back to where she had been before, seeing Her Majesty, Lady Calca… Her friend… Caught by the legs by one of the pincers, which did not hesitate to close, crushing the flesh, bones and muscles unpleasantly.
"GRAAAAAAAHHHH!" The furious cry of Remedios, who cried while she lunged at the scorpion, with her sword raised and ready to fight.
The creature, as if threatened, threw the Queen to the side, crashing her against the edge of a wall as she screamed. And for a second, Kelart seemed to see her looking at her, while another unpleasant sound of something crunching was heard.
Calca's head, as her back hit the edge, bounced backwards by inertia, causing such a sound. And the Holy Queen fell limp, scaring some Imps who were tasting a citizen of Kalinsha.
As if they had changed their target, the small, demonic creatures left the half-eaten corpse and quickly pounced on the Calca.
Kelart could only freeze as Remedios's scream of fury could be heard in the background.
At the same time, Demons were arriving from the distance…
.
.
.
Roble Holy Kingdom
.
.
.