Despite what Lucius's first impression of the Morning Star fortress could have led him to believe, the fortress wasn't completely built in a combination of Greek and Roman architecture. Those architectural styles were reserved only for the sacral objects, and the place in which Lucius emerged out of the portal was actually the courtyard of the church built inside the mountain itself. The rest of the fortress, i.e., its fortifications, were built in a combination of European architectural styles from mediaeval times onward. One thing was all present, though, and those were the bright types of building materials used to further signify that this is the fortress of light and not the fortress of darkness.
"What is this?" asked Lucius, pointing at a big metal object while they walked on the battlements.
There were many of those objects placed all along the battlements. Lucius guessed that they were some kind of weapon, though he wasn't sure how exactly they worked since he had never seen anything like that before. They were esentially big and long metal pipes.
"Lightcannons. They are one of our mightiest weapons for taking down bigger demons, or demons in general. To operate them, three angels are needed. The first two put their hands on the lightcannon, and then they focus and send their light inside the lightcannon, where a big blessed crystal is located. This blessed crystal then further empowers the light they sent into it and reflects it through the opening with such speed that it's basically a projectile of pure, holy light that literally removes the weaker demons from existence and severely damages the tougher ones. The job of the third angel is to aim." explained Nicholas while gesturing and showing the parts of the lightcannon.
"That sounds effective." commented Lucius, intrigued by this tool of war.
"Yes, but as you can imagine, it's a bit slow to reload, and when the hordes of hell start to pour out of the darkness, time is of the essence, and even if we could reload it three times as fast, it wouldn't be enough to blast them all out of the sky. That's why there exist different and improved variations of the lightcannon, but here we sadly have to be content with the simplest one. It's a bit clunky and slow, but when you don't have a Hell Purger to back you up with his incredible power, you have to work with what you have." Nicholas explained with a grin on his face, which tried to hide his frustration.
"I'm not sure I fully understand. Shouldn't you be equipped with the best tools Elysium has to offer? You are literally the core of our defence, and if this fortress falls, the demons would gain a foothold that would allow them to continue their conquest into Elysium itself. I'm genuinely surprised that making sure that this fortress is basically impenetrable isn't the top priority of the Council." said Lucius, thinking aloud.
"You are both right and wrong at the same time. On the one hand, we are not fighting a defensive war, Lucius. We are actively trying to defeat as many demons as we can and push them as far away from humans as possible. This takes resources. A lot of resources. This is why we get so little here. In a way, both angels and demons have realised that ultimate victory is not a possibility that is achievable purely by fighting between ourselves, because that way we risk total annihilation. Instead, you could say that this war is broken down into a lot of smaller wars and battles, and the main goal of each side is to eliminate the stronger members of the opposite side. As a Hell Purger, you know this better than anyone else. Without the head, the whole body collapses, and there are many heads on each side, if you get what I'm saying, and I'm sure you do. But on the other hand, this way of thinking made the Council more and more ignorant of the state of our main defence against the demons. They simply count on the fact that even if the demons suddenly decide to do something as crazy and reckless as trying to conquer Elysium itself and not one of many of its bigger and even more numerous smaller outposts, they will simply relocate their main forces and easily push the demons out of our territory. Don't think that the demons are any better when it comes to such problems, but there is one key difference between us and them, and that's what is causing my troubles. You see, barely a day passes here without the demons launching a surprise attack on the fortress. It can be at any time of day or night; it doesn't matter because there is no form for the demons. These are not big attacks, mind you. Their goal is not to conquer this fortress or even to siege it. No. They just suddenly arrive out of the darkness, do some damage, and then go back—if there are any of them left to go back, that is. But even when we wipe them all out, do you think that discourages the next wave? Not at all. If anything, it makes them even more bloodthirsty because they are then trying to avenge their fallen comrades. Be as it may, they are constantly attacking like this, more than they ever had. My guess is that they are disguising their scouting efforts into attacks, trying to find a weakness in the fortress, but I could be wrong. Maybe they are literally attacking out of sheer boredom. Who knows? Anyway, their behaviour made me worried, and I went on to express my worries to the council and ask for reinforcements and better equipment. What do you think I accomplished with that?"
"Well, judging by the presence of these old lightcannons, nothing?" guessed Lucius.
"Exactly. They said that they will appropriately react as soon as something that would pose a real threat to Elysium happens, but other than that, they refused to send me reinforcements, stating that I already have the most soldiers out of all the fortresses on the border and that they can't spare any new equipment because everything is being sent to the front, where the losses are big and constant. No matter how much I tried to explain and argue, they remained adamant in their decision, and I went back with empty hands and a head full of worries. You are a commander, they said. You are used to that sort of stuff, they said. If you cannot endure the stress, resign and let someone else take your place, they said. Well, they are right. I am a commander, and I am used to that sort of stuff, and I would rather die than resign, but God help me if I'm not getting too old for this job. When I was younger, it was all a lot easier. I accepted the sacrifices of war far more easily, and I was focused on completing my objectives at any cost; otherwise, I felt like all those sacrifices were for nothing. Now it's a completely different story. I'm trapped here, in this fortress, without appropriate force to defend it, forced to endure the stress of constant danger and to watch the young folk die and get replaced, and then die again and get replaced again.... This place should be so well guarded that the demons shouldn't dare appear in front of it without a force so big they could roll over Elysium in a day, but here we are..." Nicholas finished his story with a bit of despair, disappointment, and anger in his voice.
"So, what can I do to help? Should I go talk to the council on your behalf, or should I stay here and help fend off those attacks?" asked Lucius.
"Neither, Lucius. The Council won't listen. When they decide something, they rarely change their opinion. As for staying here, that really isn't necessary. We can deal with the demons for now. You are a Hell Purger, not a guard, Lucius. It makes no sense for you to twiddle your thumbs here and wait for the moment when the demons will attack, because they will simply never stop attacking. You would end up here for all eternity. In other words, your skills and power would be wasted here. There are far more pressing matters for a young Hell Purger to attend to than to guard a border. Many nasty and powerful demons are waiting for you to remove them from existence, and in that way, you would help both me and Elysium far more than helping me directly."
Lucius was silent, but after a bit of thinking, he had to agree. He wanted to help Nicholas, but there was really no direct way to do it. He was not yet that powerful to go on the other side and eliminate the commander of the demon's fortress in the hope of discouraging them from further attacks for a little bit. There was simply nothing for him to do here but wish Nicholas luck and go on his merry way. What a disappointment.
After he talked with Nicholas for some more and unsucessfully tried to come up with some other plans to help him, Lucius and Nicholas took a stroll to the top of the fortress, where Lucius arrived. They wished each other the best in their efforts, and then Nicholas opened a portal for Lucius to return to his master. But then something started to happen. They both sensed it even before the bells started to ring at the battlements. They both turned around and witnessed a terrible image. Out of the darkness, hundreds of demons were pouring out, riding on various winged creatures, headed straight towards the fortress! Should Lucius stay and help defend the fortress or go back and go on another, more important mission? Nicholas turned around and looked Lucius in the eyes, and a faint smile appeared on his face. He knew what Lucius was thinking about.
"It's your choice, Hell Purger. You can leave... Or you can show me what you're made of." he said and rushed to the battlements.
Lucius didn't waste time. It was a quick choice. His lightsword appeared in his hands, and the portal behind him closed as he started to run after Nicholas.