Gallant POV

Watching Esta and Aisha head off, I diverted my gaze towards the bloodsucker. Charlotte the Crimson Overlord. I gave her a smirk underneath my helmet and folded my arms. Despite my helmet, she can figure out what expression I had on. She rolls her eyes, punching my shoulder. I slightly flinched at that, feeling a bit of pain from her simple gesture. Her damaged arm starts to mend itself. The blood stopped flowing out, stitching her skin back up. She motions her arm, testing it before her armor reverts back to her elegant gown. She lets out a huge sigh, dropping her shoulders.

"I am sexually frustrated." Well, that wasn't what I was expecting to hear.

"What the hell are you talking about? Aren't you always hungry?" I mocked. She did have a notorious reputation when it comes to intercourse.

"Shut up." She glares at me, pouting, "Seeing a cute elven girl and then your new master didn't really help me as much. Still, I can't believe you're alive and kicking. I thought you would be dead, little boy."

"I would have," I started, "If Dan didn't save me." Charlotte realizes the implication, frowning. I know that she was joking around, saying something that shouldn't have done any harm, but, sadly, it did.

"I'm... sorry to hear that. You have my sincerest apologies."

"You didn't know." I brushed it off, remembering how stupid it was to have the old teacher block that shot for me. My fighting buddy, my brother, my mentor, Dan was a good man. Charlotte knew about him because of our interesting past, yet she seems to be a lesbian now. Not that I have anything against it, but I really wished we-

"You alright though?" Charlotte interrupted my thoughts with her concern, "He was... I... Damn. Who did it?"

"Valarie's fanatics... It wasn't part of the plan. Apparently, they somehow caught word of our little act, joining in because Valarie was in the area. They thought that we were going to mess things up. They intervened, halting us. If guns weren't terrifying in terms of penetration power, things would have been different."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up for something you can't control." Charlotte touches my left arm. "Dan was a good man. He knew what he had to do. And as the stubborn man that he is, he would gladly protect one of his younger comrades."

"Which is what got him killed. Enough. What do you think about Aisha?" I really did not want to think about him right now. This is why I wanted to change the subject. Looking at the vampire, she stared in the direction where Esta and Aisha walked off to.

"In all honesty, she is quite strong at her 'supposed' state. As a rank three warrior, she can make any lesser or high god quake in their boots. With her chaos magic, she can definitely make a high god fear for their own life, if she does it right and depending on the situation. But overall, she still lacks the experience. She does the basic mistakes that any demigod does, not even utilizing her energies properly. What's worse, her chaos armor feeds off of her energies. Without a huge amount of mana in her, or at least some spiritual energy, she is going to be emptying her energies real quick. And without a Souleater, she will not stand a chance against a high god with a Souleater." Charlotte stated.

"I already knew this. Aisha does not have as much experience against a worthy opponent. She either fights against someone that is stupidly strong or stupidly weak." Glancing at her, I added, "You didn't do either of the two, which I'm thankful for, but I think you should have taken her a bit more seriously. I know that you wouldn't have bled or lost a chunk of your armor over a silly mistake. You indulged yourself a bit too much on surprises."

"When you become a Gate Guardian, you tend to forget about some basic stuff as well." Charlotte took the insult, shrugging her shoulders, "Besides, your comrades never told me Aisha was a CHAOS champion. Chaos. That magic is long forgotten, and Chaos, herself, is-" I gave her a puzzled look, but she skipped over her sentence. "Aisha has the potential, just need the right teachers."

"Aren't I doing a good job?" I asked.

"Nope," Charlotte explains why. "You do not utilize a lot of magical attacks along with your movements. Yes, you use a bit of it, but you don't have a lot to work with in terms of magical attacks. You use your mana to empower yourself in terms of defense or offense in the form of mana slashes or mana armor. Other than that, I haven't seen you cast a bunch of high tier spells while you engage your opponent. If we were to fight, I would have pressured you with my spells. You emphasize heavily on physical strikes. Aisha does not need to improve in that field for now. You did a good job on her forms."

"Zen uses a lot of magical attacks in his fighting style. Sadly, he's not here. I knew that Aisha would need more teachers to expand on her fighting style. I didn't know that she can utilize her chaos powers. Yet I am trying to figure out how she was able to unlock it though."

"It must be because of her [Defeat Inheritor] skill." General X appears before us, having two soldiers walk behind her. Both are female soldiers who revealed themselves during the fight against the crazy fanatics fighting against Caesar's army. The one with long white hair has an eyepatch over her right eye, holding two swords in her hand. Her armor is coated with blood, the blood still dripping off of it. The other girl has two giant guns in her hand with long blonde hair. She has a dark duster on, ammo belts strapped across her chest. The bloody female noticed Charlotte, smiling at her.

"Ohhhhhhh, it's Charlotte. Can I fight her?"

"No," General X answered, "We did not come here for a fight. Besides, Charlotte is an ally of ours, even if she isn't on our side. We came here to check up on things and chat a bit. Excuse my two subordinates who are with me. They are just here as a company."

"Ah, General X. How are you? Still making a mess of things on Valarie's end?"

"You know it." General X glanced at me, "So where's the princess?"

"She's safe. She fought against Charlotte and revealed her powers." I shook my head, "But you're telling me that she acquired her magic through the [Defeat Inheritor]?"

"Ah, no one told you about HOW it was possible, right? You knew that Aisha needed to be cursed for this to work, but you weren't told the exact details. Understandable, given the fact that a bunch of people would die for such information. Then again, it's not that easy. Regardless, Aisha acquired her ACTUAL chaos magic by gaining something of good and evil. I don't know what exactly, so you'll have to bother her for those details. Valarie told me some vague idea of how it worked. The one who could give you a lot more information would be Amelia."

"So Valarie finally repaid her debt to her old-time lover? That's good to hear." Charlotte was in the dark about what happened with Aisha's mom, but I guess I can fill her in on the details later.

"Yeah. Moving on, Aisha will get some training from me soon enough. I have been watching her, and she really needs to avoid or stop making the same basic mistakes like most demigods or gods. If she plans to enter the Pillars of Gluttony, she can't half-ass her way through it. Her opponents will show no mercy, let alone give her any sort of rest. They will use anything to their advantage, and the girl needs to work on her survival in a lot of ways. Foraging, tracking, hunting, the basic actions one need to do out in the wilderness." General X made a good point. I feel like I neglected that sort of training. As a sheltered princess, she will have no experience in such things. The Pillar of Gluttony will push her to such dire straits. There will be no comfort in such a place.

"Why not have us do the work instead?" asked the girl with guns, "You don't have to do this General-"

"I am doing this because you fools might push her a bit too far. Besides, you lot have other work to attend to. Just because there's some cute princess in sight doesn't mean you can slack off. Or try to flirt with her."

"Blah, I'm not into that General. I just want to fight-"

"Which is why you're not a good candidate either. Jeez, I'm stuck with warmongers." General X shakes her head, hearing the two soldiers mutter, "But you're one as well."

"So what are you going to be teaching her?" I asked.

"I am going to be teaching her how to use her mana or chi armor properly, how to use the minimal amount of energies to do effective damage against her opponent, how to improve her survivability or her chances against someone who is two or three times stronger than her, and some other things. She also needs to use every ability she has on hand compared to holding it back. She cannot figure out what to do exactly, going to abilities that she is familiar with. Or abilities that can be used for the right situation. Sure, that can be useful, but at the same time, Aisha needs to use everything to push her opponent. Yes, save the big tricks for later, but even the useless ones can play a key factor in tipping the scales. I also need to pound the fact that her [Defeat Inheritor] is very useful. She should hunt down the various monsters around here to gain more skills, techniques, and perks. The more the merrier." General X looks at the two of us, "I just came by to tell you that I will help your leader with training and see how's everything. Since the princess isn't in a dying state, I will be returning-"

"We got an issue." said the girl with guns, "Aisha is surrounded by Imperials."

"...she can handle herself-"

"The problem is King Len is helping her out." General X's face broke out of her calm expression. Letting out a growl, she turns her head towards the gunner.

"What?!"

"King Len has revealed himself with his elite troopers-" Worried, I was going to head in her direction. The General stops me, motioning for the two elites.

"You two get a head start. I will come in a bit." Nodding, the two elites teleport from their spot. General X starts to curse up a storm, growling at the sudden appearance of the hero king. "What the hell is he doing, revealing himself like that? And his elite soldiers!?"

"Is he trying to impress Aisha?" The General nods her head at my inquiry.

"Most likely... The man came out of nowhere to help her. He even revealed his elite troopers to help Aisha out. Against those Imperials, he does not need such troopers against fodder. His only reason is to show off, but Aisha will not understand those soldiers purpose other than their firepower. He is trying to do something. The damn king has his eyes on Aisha. That's bad."

"Maybe," Charlotte interrupts the General by adding her input, "King Len is trying to impress Aisha, but if you are trying to say that he might target her right now for what she is, I doubt it. King Len used to work with Valarie, Brynhild, and Amelia, right?" General X and I nod our heads, "Then he knows better. What he might try to do is impress her and toss out some sort of deal."

"Deal? What for?" Why would King Len go out of his way to do that? General X seems to realize something.

"Are you saying that he wants some sort of alliance? Does he want to be on good terms with her? Doesn't he want Aisha for-"

"Yes, an alliance or a present to show goodwill towards Aisha. Like you, he has a very good network and spies. He must have been keeping his eye on her ever since she stepped foot in Zezrious- Heck, he might know a lot more than you think. Who knows? I do know that he would have witnessed our little battle from earlier. Anyone who walks away from me will be placed on his watchlist. And he should know that Aisha has chaos magic now."

"An alliance? Present? For what? I don't get this." I admit I cannot understand his motives. It seems pretty one-sided unless he wants Aisha to help him out with something later. I definitely need to talk to Aisha about this. If King Len makes a deal with her, I need to warn her about it. She is still an innocent girl in this huge world. Understanding my concerns, the two girls just shake their heads.

"No clue. He might ask the princess on her magical powers like how she acquired them, but if he doesn't push her, that means he's not interested in forgotten magic. But then it would also bring up another question to why he wants her. And if he doesn't want her for his nefarious ends, what is the point of his act? I have no information other than what I have already told you, Gallant." General X stated, "However, I will make sure Aisha is safe against that madman."

"I guess I can do something as well. I will have to talk to some higher-ups and ask for a temporary leave from my position." Charlotte added.

"You're getting out of here? Who-"

"With the Crusade, I do have the ability to leave my position for the time being. Just need to ask and tell them what I plan to do. This Crusade is kind of important in many ways. Zezrious is a very important city. Since our forces are here, we do want to appeal to King Len and have him join our side. Don't look at me like that, I still play for the dark side. Have to contribute in some way." There was a serious expression on her face as she turns to me. The words that came out of her mouth made my body freeze up and my mind coming to a blank. "There is another reason to why I am doing this. Gallant, they're here. The Death Knights are here."

If I was surprised at this, General X was shocked as well. She frowns, saying, "You're kidding?" Charlotte shakes her head.

"I saw them. They are trying to mask their presence, but I know that a dangerous group is close by. Heck, if I am right, their LEADER is here." I can feel my body quake from her words. No, she can't be here. Not now! She was the one who killed their former Imperator. She was one the one who destroyed their faction, made them run from their lands. I did not move, thinking about the endless reasons to why the cursed leader was here. She must have hunted them down because of their remaining loyalty to their previous Imperator. Her soldiers did not kill Nero, the second-in-command, along with Titan, the prodigy. Or maybe she came down here to- No. She couldn't read the future, can she? Shaken by this sudden news, I could only muster my resolve and look at Charlotte with newfound loyalty.

"They try to kill Aisha, Golem and I will die defending her. Even if we are against all odds, we are ready for it." There was no fear in my voice as I uttered my proclamation. General X closed her eyes, letting out a sigh.

"If you do bump into this Death Knight, I will intervene as well. IF I am still around. The moment I am gone, my elites will do their best to help you out, but I got a feeling that they will not do well against these elite Death Knight. From what I was able to gather, they're not the easy bunch to mess around with. By the time the Crusade kicks in, Aisha should be able to survive against them for a while. Hopefully. I cannot let our alliance die, and I would want to keep as many older Black Knights alive as possible."

"This is why I am going to be leaving my post temporary," Charlotte gave a sad smile to me, "I wouldn't want one of my old friends to die on me. You already told me why these Death Knights chased after you, but they should just let it go now. They have already dealt a good blow to your home. There is no point in hunting you down anymore."

"And that would be a fatal mistake." General X took out a pistol, fiddling with its top, "Revenge is such a nasty thing. It devours your entire soul until you cleanse it with blood or damnation. They damned you, so make sure to damned them by twofold or more. Then the cycle repeats itself, making it an endless game until one side annihilates the other. I have no clue why this Death Knight leader wants to flesh out your flame, erase the Black Knight entirely, but she must have been damned by your people eons ago."

"Which is why I will make sure that we protect our new Imperator from such hatred. It wasn't her fault for what our previous leader did." I repeated my conviction to protect Aisha from this new danger.

"I will take my leave now. I need to prepare several things in case the Death Knights approach Aisha. You should prepare yourself as well. Till next time." General X bows and walks away. After a few seconds, she teleports from our sights.

"Still stuck in a child's body though. Jeez, she is such a warmonger." Charlotte commented.

"As long as she's on my side, I don't care." I remarked, "By the way, what's with your painful expression earlier? You don't really consider me as a friend?"

"You hurt me," Charlotte turned, showing another frown, "You know that I would be troubled by your death. Even if you were to die for Aisha, I would not accept such a thing." I blinked a couple times at her declaration, troubled by her...

"You loved me?" No, she couldn't have... Or did she?

"I still do." She admits, turning away a bit. "Don't you recall our first time meeting each other? The times you helped me in my time of need. The things you did for me... Who wouldn't fall for you after that?"

I decided to reminisce on the past, thinking about those moments. Charlotte and I bumped into each other on a dark night where I was trying to talk some sense to my teacher. The topic was... dirty. In a way, I think the two of us were bickering about what is better, boobs or ass? It was an intense conversation, leading to shouting and screaming. Obviously, society wouldn't want to hear such a perverted topic in public, but it was the two of us. Or so we thought. Due to our loud bickering, we caught the attention of a naked vampire being pursued by a bunch of hunters. Seeing the naked vampire woman, we immediately defended her, despite the justifications or reasons to why she was being attacked. I think I was the first one to move, striking them down with no hesitation. Dan just followed me, wiping them out with ease.

That vampire we saved was Charlotte Lunar Bloodthorn.

Yet the two of us ignored her and continued our earlier debate. Confused by our nonchalant attitude, she questioned our reaction. As men, we would have been ogling at her naked form, but we restrained ourselves in the best way possible. By focusing on some small stupid little thing like our previous question. Boobs or butt?

We were not going to stop for this vampire. We weren't going to ask her why they chased her, why was she naked, and all the generic questions anyone would say. No, we just moved on, ignoring her completely. We entertained her question with our short answers, but we just moved on without addressing her. It must have been a big deal for the vampire since she tagged along with us. Somewhere along the way, Charlotte obtained some clothes to cover herself up, but let's just say that we left a very... weird impression on her. She tailed us for a good two hours, hearing our nonsense. Being fed up with it, she actually attacked us. I remember the time that she laughed a heel at Dan's head before she leaped onto me, slamming my head into the ground. And guess what we said to her when she was trying to murder us for ignoring her.

We complimented her and kept calling her cute.

Charlotte was so red, we couldn't contain our own laughter. Dan kept calling her cute while I attacked her with compliments. Every action she dished out on us, I used to my advantage. Charlotte, losing her front and steam, gave up on her attempts to kill us. Once she opened up to us, we decided to talk to her. We did include her in our previous question to which was important- boobs or ass? After that, she tagged along with us, asking about who we were, what we do, and etc. We didn't hide anything, telling her anything she wanted to know. Even some personal or military topics that we wouldn't just give out easily, but we did. Charlotte felt the need to tell us everything about her, but we stopped her on multiple occasions. We told her we didn't really care unless she wanted to tell us. There was no need to go out of her way to tell us her own personal information when she wasn't comfortable.

She came back with us as we stopped by one of our outposts, feeling welcomed by a bunch of strangers.

From there on out, Charlotte stuck with Dan and me for a long time. A hundred years? I lost count, but she came with us during our missions, making it lively. Sure, Dan and I would always banter back and forth, but Charlotte gave us more excitement to us. One time, Dan said he would have asked her hand in marriage, but the old geezer was shoved into the ground. Charlotte was blushing the entire day though, surprised that a mortal had the nerve to ask her such a thing. By hanging out with her, we both understood her personalities, and her likes and dislikes without telling us. Observation is an important tool every now and then. Charlotte did not tell us all of her secrets, and we wouldn't force her to.

Eventually, our happy travels came to an end when we stumbled upon one of the many towns under our protection. The Death Knights were showing themselves, becoming a threat to the people under our protection. We realized the dire situation, understanding that this new faction wanted blood. The first villages and towns that fell to them were wiped out. Massacred. No survivors. When we were sent to protect this one village, my party did not say a word. We didn't say anything, no cheers or jokes There was a deadly silence that kept a lot of emotions in place. Arriving at the site, the place was attacked by the Death Knights, seeing those fiends slaughter innocent people. Even the children were targets to this massacre. We charged in there, but Charlotte was the one who revealed a lot of her powers. She displayed her prowess, revealing a side that stunned me in a lot of ways. She didn't just kill those Death Knights, she slaughtered them. I knew a vampire was vicious in their own right, but Charlotte opened my eyes to what her kind can truly do. She transcended beyond most of my expectations, making their bodies explode or tore them to shreds with her bare hands. I was a bit frightened by this, but I knew better. She was a friend, is a friend. I should not let her sudden anger label her as a monster. She had a dark secret, a terrible past that made enter into such a frenzy. Dan, being the secret wise man that he is, knew something was up, but never told me about it. He just said to me that when the time comes, she'll tell you.

By the time we wiped out the Death Knights, Charlotte came up to me and told me everything. She told Dan as well since he was behind me, but she hugged me, crying into my chest. At the time, I was just... empty. I could not say anything, unable to relate to her terrible, terrible past. There was no way for me to even say anything about her actions, but I did not shy away from her. I was still young, unable to understand a lot of things, but I know that Charlotte was no monster. She did what she had to do, but she could not find anyone who would open up to her. Everyone saw her as a monster. Those she trusted scorned her the moment she told the truth. And worse, she had to kill them. She felt guilty, pained at the truths she kept away from us, from the Black Knights. because we did so much for her. We treated her normally, we didn't even judge her or question her. We just accepted her as if she was a family member. And this ate at her conscious, but she was so happy. She would never forget the day where she just bumped into us. She was grateful for all of it...

And honestly, I loved her a lot more than I thought. At the time, I hugged her so tightly, wanting to tell her those three words. I really wanted to, but I knew better. She had a goal, and I wanted her to live. There was no need for her to be caught up in our mess. A war that will surely end our faction.

Dan and I knew that Charlotte would have fought with them. For them. And they didn't want that. They had a quick plan that was half-truth and a lie. The Death Knights had some way of gaining some intel, and they think that the dark side has some of their agents planted inside of them. Expressing the importance of finding these agents, we persuaded Charlotte to pursue them. I also pointed out some other things that she could dig up if she went to their side. She might be able to gain information about certain intel that could lead a hint to her secret enemies. At first, she didn't want to, but she slowly accepted this task. We told her not to come back until she could take care of them and gained information for her ordeal. We said our farewells, and we never saw her again.

Yet here we are. Some hundreds of years later, we are united by my new leader who happened to fight against her. At first, I thought it wasn't the same Charlotte, but it is. And I guess I have mixed feelings about it. The moment she told me her truth and the fact that Dan died, the moment General X was gone from our sight, tears strolled down her face. Unlike her brave bravado, her notorious reputation, all that she is, she is still the same vampire I met from back then. Pulling her into a hug, she tries to escape my embrace.

"Y-You two tricked me! I... I would have fought with you! Y-You idiots!" Charlotte confessed her hidden pain from her departure, "You know how hard it was! H-How hard it was for me to cope with the fact that you were killed?! I... You were like my family! Yet you let me live! Why!? I could have-"

"You weren't ready for it... and you wouldn't have stopped it. We are knights. We ignore the code that most knights follow. Protect our liege only? No, we are Black Knights because we sacrifice ourselves for the greater good. Yes, we will die for our leader, for our king, but we will die for the queen if we had one. We will die for the people, the innocent, for the children- our code isn't restricted to our leader alone. We will selflessly do what we must for the greater good. And you, as a potential lover, friend, and comrade, could not be doomed like the rest of us. I would have confessed to you before you left, but that would have given you a reason to stay with us. I could not do that, Charlotte. Look at you now... You're a beautiful vampire who has evolved from her youth. And I am glad that I could see you again." Silence looms between us until I feel a smack against my head, falling on the ground.

Getting on top of me, Charlotte grabs me by the shoulder, crying.

"You idiot! Now I have to be afraid again!" Her body is shaking, the tears landing on my armor, "I DON'T want to lose you! I can't lose you! The fact that Dan is dead now hurts me! I was able to cope with it because I THOUGHT you were both dead! And here you are, standing before me! The man that I was madly in love with, standing right here! Do you understand that I can't- I will go crazy if you were to die! You mean that much to me!"

"Didn't you move on beautiful?" I tried to play it off, but she punches me hard in the chest.

"It doesn't mean shit when you're the first one I fell in love with! Why..." She lays her head on my chest, sobbing madly at the painful realization, "Why does fate have to be so cruel?" I did not move, letting out my own defeated sigh. This definitely left a sour mood in me. I was glad to meet Charlotte, but now, I will shatter her. Charlotte can fend for herself, no doubt about it. She told me about her sin, what she did to stop her own family from selling themselves to the divine beings. She had a crush on her childhood friend, but she was forced to kill her because she could not have any survivor in her own party. No one must know about her cursed blood. Dan and I made sure no one else knew about this truth, bringing it with us into our graves. I knew how important her status was, not telling Valarie or anyone else about it. Not even Nero or Aisha. It is Charlotte's secret, so she will say it when she plans to. There was a reason to why her family has such an idea though. It might be because of their own greed, but SOMEONE had to plant such an idea. It could have been anyone, maybe a divine being, but it was a good reason for Charlotte to leave our side during that time.

Yet here we are, in each other's embrace one more. With her sudden news about the Death Knight leader being here, she knows that things aren't going to go out well. Not for me. I thought that Charlotte would have dumped her old feelings for me, moved on, but I was wrong. Charlotte still loves me. She will always love me because I had a special place in her heart. I should have been careful when I was young. This would have had a bad effect on her, but I, too, was madly in love with her. There was no way not to be. A charming vampire who joked around with an old man and a young idiot, a girl who was perverted or more so than Dan, and so many other quirks that made us cherish the lonely Charlotte. I bet you would have been overjoyed at Charlotte, right Dan? She has grown up in so many ways. I wrap my arms around the vampire, rubbing her back.

"You just can't let go of me, can't you? Maybe that's why I was single for a long time. Let's just enjoy this moment... We can worry about the details later. I..." I whispered one sentence to her, feeling her arms wrap around me tightly.

I am such an ass.