Before Glafandal stood a knight almost fully covered in armor from neck to toe. He was only missing his helmet and on his back was fastened an immense sword.

He was a proud knight who had seen better days as he had spent most of his life fighting and was now a weathered hero rather than a young and headstrong soldier.

Gone were the days of his youthful and handsome appearance, which had been replaced by a scarred and roughly featured complexion.

Sir Herbert had become a temple knight at the young age of fifteen. He had started as a squire and eventually rose to become a powerful temple knight.

As a loyal temple knight, he never questioned his superior’s orders. He had completed many missions without ever needing to question or second guess. However, he was having difficulty wrapping his head around the mission he had currently been assigned.

Sir Herbert was among the greatest of the temple knights and he had been in command of these two hundred temple knights for a long time. In all his years, this was the strangest mission he had ever been given.

He had been ordered by the leader of his faith himself, so there was no question on where his orders came from and the instructions given were extremely simple.

Sir Herbert was to escort this strange being, Glafandal, and follow all of his orders without question. Whatever Glafandal ordered him to do, he was to complete without question.

Despite the simplicity of the mission, Sir Herbert was finding it to be the most difficult mission he had ever been ordered to fulfill.

“Ugh, disgusting humans. Every time I look at you it makes me sick. Your dirty, you smell disgusting, you might as well as be swine. The day I finish this mission and return home can’t come soon enough.” Said Glafandal disdainfully as he lounged on a cushioned seat while using one of the temple knights as a footstool.

The “footstool” was one of Sir Herbert’s direct subordinates and a good friend who he had served beside for more than ten years. Sir Herbert’s face wrinkled in frustration, but there was nothing he could do other than curse Glafandal in his mind.

“My lord, I don’t understand what exactly we are doing here. If we are here to help the Kingdom of Jaspel conquer La’gun, why is it that we have yet to participate in the siege? My men are growing restless.” Said Sir Herbert as respectfully as he could despite his anger.

“Hmph, as if I have to provide you an answer. Your purpose here is to follow my will. You are my slave, you will do as I say. That is about the only thing you humans are good for.”

Sir Herbert’s brow creased, but he once again put down his inner anger.

‘This is a test, a test. I must prove my faith. Don’t let anger cloud my judgement’ He thought inwardly, repeating his words as if they were a prayer or a mantra.

“I understand my lord, but perhaps you could humor me. Consider it a mercy…” Sir Herbert said in an almost pleading voice.

He needed something, anything, to retain his sanity at this point. He couldn’t bring himself to believe that the Pope he had served his entire life would send him on a pointless mission.

He was also instructed that Glafandal was an emissary of Mystra, the Divinity herself. Although he was beginning to have some doubts much to his regret.

Glafandal eyed Sir Herbert lazily and then shrugged.

“I suppose I no longer need to keep it a secret from you as he will arrive today and my powers are just about accustomed to the laws of this fragment. The reason why we haven’t aided these fools in their siege is because that isn’t truly our mission. Also, I hadn’t yet acclimated to the dimensional laws in this realm yet. My powers were being suppressed, otherwise I wouldn’t need any of you useless humans. I could have easily slaughtered everyone here and completed my mission as soon as I stepped foot in this shithole you call a world.”

After sipping from his wine glass, Glafandal kicked the temple knight he was using as a footstool and stood. Sir Herbert could only grimace and feel guilt for what his friend was going through.

He also had no idea what Glafandal was talking about. None of what he had said made sense to him.

“My lord, if we aren’t here to aid the Kingdom of Jaspel, then what exactly is the magic formation we have been constructing around the area?” Asked Sir Herbert.

Glafandal was about to reply angrily but loud shouting from outside the tent caused him to smile wickedly.

“Go see what’s going on outside!” Commanded Glafandal.

Sir Herbert promptly made his way outside the tent and returned within a few minutes.

“My lord, there appears to be a large army of Demihumans approaching from the rear!” Shouted Sir Herbert, unable to keep his calm any longer.

Sir Herbert was a veteran of the wars fought against the Demonkin, so a large army of Demihumans wasn’t as much of a shock to him as it was to the Jaspelian and Quijon armies.

However, the fact that such a large army of Demihumans was here in the north at this moment was a surprise to him and he was visibly shaken.

“Good. Go and get your men ready, it is time. You are to help the Jaspelian and Quijon army hold back the Demihumans as long as possible. I still need some time until I can use my full powers. You are to tell the knights supporting the formation to remain in their positions until the formation is activated. Hurry, go!”

Sir Herbert no longer hesitated now that he had a clear objective and was about to leave the tent to assemble his knights when he was abruptly stopped by Glafandal who grabbed his shoulder.

“One more thing Sir Herbert. I don’t care the cost, you must buy me time. Even if that means you must sacrifice your life, do you understand?” Glafandal said with a cold glint in his eye.

Sir Herbert shuddered, “Understood.”

‘What other choice do I have?’ He sighed and made his way out of the tent without voicing his thoughts.

His once determined and comely visage bore a grim and grisly expression

“Halt!” Fayde shouted towards his rear, calling a stop to the army of Demihumans behind him.

He spurred his horse on and approached the enemy army arrayed before him in a calm manner. There was still quite a distance between the two armies, but he could sense the uncertainty and anxiousness of the Jaspelian and Quijon army.

Behind them was the majestic capital of La’gun which Fayde was seeing for the very first time.

It’s walls still proudly stood despite the urgency by which the kingdoms of Jaspel and Quijon had exerted in their attempts to bring them down.

A chaotic scene was playing out atop the walls as the defending soldiers gawked and pointed towards the Demihuman army in the distance.

To them, this was either a source of good fortune or of doom to come. It was unclear to them if the Demihuman army was here to bring them aid or to cause their destruction.

This was a sight that they would never imagine to see and so, some deluded themselves with hopeful expectation.

Of course, none of this mattered to Fayde and their considerations were not even a fleeting thought in his mind. He only calmly looked upon his enemy and the city in the distance with an almost sentimental feeling.

‘I’m getting a little emotional here.. Hehe. I never thought I would be able to feel something like this. Riding on my horse before an army of thousands… should I lift my sword and yell charge?’ Fayde couldn’t help but chuckle to himself.

“No, I should take this a bit more seriously..” Fayde muttered and then turned his head to glance at his wives who were watching him with looks of concern.

‘Don’t look at me like that’ Fayde thought with a self-deprecating smile.

“If I can alleviate some of the burden, it’s better that way. I don’t want to see those that have come to rely on me die or suffer unnecessarily. Perhaps this isn’t the way of a ruler…. Well, I’m just a regular guy, at least it’s how I see myself.” Fayde mumbled before turning his gaze back upon the enemy army.

Fayde dismounted and walked a short way from his horse before calling upon the power of the ‘Void’. His body ignited in foreboding black flames that seemed to tear the very fabric of reality in the space that surrounded him.

He didn’t halt his steps, and what appeared to be a vicious and unpredictable human shaped flame, approached the enemy lines with a determined bearing.

This scene caused the Human soldiers to gasp in shock for they had never seen anything like it. The Jaspelian and Quijon officers attempted to settle the nerves of those under them but even they couldn’t help but be struck with fear and anxiousness.

They were unsettled, the dark and dreadful flames that burned around Fayde sent shivers down their spines and even though they were quite some distance from him, they could almost feel the unnatural heat emanating from them.

Fayde’s body rose, his feet no longer fitted upon the ground and as his body floated higher, a gentle calm spread across the windswept ground. It was the calm before the storm and only the sound of Fayde’s wildly fluttering flames whispered in his ears.

Every eye rigidly followed his rising form, they watched in horror and trepidation.

Fayde surveyed the enemy before him from his vantage point. He gave off the appearance of a prudent god passing judgement.

“I am loathe to kill… but it is already too late. I’m no innocent and unfortunately, you all stand in my way.”

He pointed his hand downward towards the enemy lines and the air began to fluctuate violently until an extreme pressure built.

A dense beam of black flames sped outwards from Fayde’s palm at the speed of light. Where it landed, the earth erupted in flames and those struck died without ever knowing the cause of their death.

Fayde’s ‘Void Beam’ was a continuous stream of dark energy that he swept through the enemy lines causing mass destruction and death. Even Fayde was awed by its power and a brief moment of weakness caused his power to flutter rapidly and fade out as he lost his concentration.

He had to hold back the urge to vomit after seeing the destruction his power had caused. Over a thousand men dead in just mere moments. What remained of their corpses mangled and unrecognizable and soon even those parts which remained were soon consumed by dark flames.

Many of the Demihuman warrior’s faces turned pale when they saw the destruction caused by Fayde’s powerful magic. Some even felt pity for the Humans who had died without even a corpse to remember them.

The Jaspelian and Quijon forces erupted in panic and chaos. The horses of the cavalry threw their riders and ran in fear and many soldiers threw their weapons to the ground hoping to escape from Fayde’s wrath.

Fayde hesitated while watching the chaos below. He was more greatly affected than he thought he would be from the destruction he caused. He had resolved himself to take this burden on alone and it wasn’t as if he had deluded himself into thinking that he could win this battle peacefully or without death.

However, imagining something in one's mind was not quite the same as experiencing it with one's eyes. Killing monsters had never affected him so much.

While Fayde found himself lost in thought for that brief moment, he suddenly realized a solid formation of soldiers approaching from the enemy lines. These were soldiers fully clad in iron and carrying large shimmering tower shields with clear magical properties.

A slight pressure could be felt originating from the formation and a magical aura surrounded them. Fayde had never seen soldiers such as these, but he had heard that a force of temple knights had arrived to aid the Jaspelian army from the Empire. He assumed these must be them.

Fayde was surprised by their discipline and seeming lack of fear despite the power his magic had wrought on the enemy.

At their head, leading the formation, stood a lone knight. Fayde couldn’t see his appearance for he wore a helmet and was fully covered in armor, but he was larger than the other soldiers and he carried an immense sword over his shoulder.

The knight walked confidently and without fear. It wasn’t as if the man was incapable of feeling fear, it was just that he had resolved himself to die.