Disam couldn't think of any spell which could help him defeat such an entity, not even those from dark sorcery would do any good.
Lost and petrified with his eyes fixated on the figure few meters away from him, a towering heavily armored Paladin able to display the power of two Emperors, the life in him returned as he felt a tap on his shoulder.
Tilting his head, the very person he hoped to see stood behind him - the Gold General.
Already in armor standing behind her petrified colleague was Meia, she had expected him to be fast asleep since she had forgotten to check up on his tent when the camp was placed on high alert.
"Wait, when?" Disam involuntarily voiced out, shocked by the fact that all the knights who were literally snoring away while he left (even the sentries) were all there, in armor ready to battle.
"This was the first time he had seen them form up so quickly." He thought.
"Wait, something wasn't right. He was sure that when he first saw the Paladin, being petrified the Paladin hadn't also moved a step all this while."
"It's been there all this while?" Disam said looking at the Paladin which now stood at ease, heads down with its sword embedded in the earth, while its hands rested on the handle.
"I can see that. You should have been in shears of flesh by now." Meia teased her gaze transfixed on the figure before her.
"Hah, you bet. Good to be alive then. That Paladin, it's quite the weight." Disam warned, patting Meia's shoulder as he walked past her.
"That's no Paladin." Meia voiced audibly enough for Disam's hearing, stopping him in his tracks.
"Haha, that's a joke right, I've seen those things before. It's a damn Paladin." Disam bellowed.
"It's a Guardian."
"Huh?"
"A Transcendent Paladin." Meia added.
"...you gotta be kidding me, Meia. What's the difference - they're all Paladins!" Disam argued, not letting her have her way again with him being the wrong while she's right.
"A Paladin is a Paladin? Whether a Guardian Paladin or Warrior Paladin!"
"You're wrong, first of all there is nothing as a Guardian Paladin or Warrior Paladin."
"I was just making an example, how can an example be right."
"You see how wrong you are now, if an example is wrong then so is the thing being exampled." Meia said in her all knowledgeable and scholar-ish way, as if she was a teacher giving tutorials to a newborn tree.
"Ugh, exampled isn't even a word!"
"Oh you don't wanna go there, exampled is a ..."
"Oh seriously, she's gonna go there again!" A knight groaned, being among the ranks behind their Generals awaiting any orders.
"Did he have to press that button?" Another yawned, proclaiming the presence of the goddess of sleep.
Their arguments continued to and fro, even to the extent that the figure meters away from them could feel a sense of boredom.
Rumble!!! Rumble!!! The earth quaked throwing everyone off balance even the tree barely able to hold onto its roots for its dear life.
Minutes later, the tremor subsided as they finally got a chance to get up only to set their eyes on something much bigger than they had imagined.
Behind the Paladin or Transcendent Paladin was what one would call, an army which spoke death and spelt fear whenever it marched -an army of Paladins.
Before the group could take in what was happening, the Paladin who stood before the rest gripped the handle of the sword and pulled it out.
Boom! An explosion and burst of energy was felt as the aftershock of whatever it was, had suspended the dust in the air blocking the view while also knocking them off their feet.
Powerless, they kept on rising and falling as shockwave after shockwave kept on coming at them, it didn't do any damage yet it seemed to exhaust them gradually.
Boom!!! Another shockwave came, however Meia wasn't planning on falling down flat again this time round - she was now fed up.
"Shield!!" She called out to her knights.
A whirring sound was heard as something was flung towards them with an immense speed, piercing through the powerful wind blown by the shockwave.
Stretching out her hand to grab the object, it almost slipped through but with a slight hop, she caught hold of it and brought it down.
"Magu Rama Tukia!!!" Disam called out a spell, activating a type of forcefield around both of them.
Clang! The sound of metal kissing the earth was heard, as behind him was a shield, which bore a tree, one standing strong and firm in the midst of fire, sword and storms - the Blackwood.
In no time, another shockwave had hit, being stronger than the previous ones as it sent Disam and the other knights flying with it.
Despite the strong force field and shields before the knights.
It had been a while yet nothing had followed after the previous wave, Meia who was the only one still holding on with the shield before her, wasn't ready to even take a peek to know why it had ceased.
Though she was unwilling, the others blown to a far distance, could clearly see the Paladin which stood before its army.
This time round, it didn't have its sword down in the ground rather it was drawn out, the paladin seemingly ready to combat, already in a stance.
Under its helmet, a pair of pure white eyes could now be seen, lo and behold they were transfixed on none but Meia.
They couldn't tell whether this was good or bad, with it most likely being the latter after all that had transpired minutes ago.
Disam, having a quick reaction speed which was a norm for a mage, due to them training their agility and reactions to stimuli. After all, they weren't physically strong and were most likely to be squashed in battles. Sucking in, a good sum of air, he was about activating a spell with his mage staff, his spare which always rested in his storage root.
"Mei-!!!"Bang!! An explosion with the sound of thunder resounded, its following vibrations sweeping them off their feet, before Disam could even alter a word.
Meanwhile, still behind the shield unmoved, Meia had just felt her soul almost being pushed out of her body. Her hands and entire body felt numb from whatever vibrations hit her, being so intense that the unbreakable shield shattered into pieces before her very own eyes.
Falling over onto the ground, her ears rang with blood trickling down from her nose, the aftereffects of the vibrations evident.
"You are worthy!" A voice like thunder resounded and jolted up her insides like an electric shock. It came from the figure - the Paladin -, who stood right before her.
However, it did her evil than good as she slowly lost consciousness, the army of paladins blurring away with her eyesight.
Reaching her, the BlackWood knights all having their nose lazed with blood were too late- Meia was knocked out cold.
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