Before his eyes, the ranks of the silver-armored Templars seemed to stretch out forever. There was really no other reason to call them Templars other than their armor. Ae and the others had no clue what their order was really called, or who it was that first suggested they use the name “Templars” for them. But it fit them very well. They fought with a zeal that was difficult to explain. In the Citadel, they all seemed lifeless and artificial, but here on the battlefield they took on a vigor that made them indistinguishable from true zealots. Maybe they weren’t artificial after all?

In the distance, across the blasted and desolate plains, a shadow approached. It was like black smoke and stretched just as wide as the ranks of the Templars. Within the smoke, blasts of fire were visible and flashes of light illuminated the blackness occasionally.

There were several places on the battlefield that the group has named. The Blasted Forest on the right flank was a place littered by branchless, dead trees. The first dozen or so times, they tried to hold that flank until they realized that the left flank was the problem.

Events didn’t transpire the same way they always do. Things affected the progression of the battle, but there seemed to be a certainty in the entire affair—an event that happens no matter what they do. They called this event “The Convergence”. In this battle, the left flank always falls at which point the center is overwhelmed and they are all killed. Most of them die before this point, but those that make it that far report that a Tyrant is responsible for their eventual doom.

There were many classes of enemies, and this time, the names weren’t their own invention. Asivos described the enemies they would face in this battle: Distortions were the weakest, the foot soldiers. Echoes were the next type, and vastly stronger than Distortions. The creatures they called Shadows were Echoes. Then there were the Subjugators, the officers of the enemy. Finally, the Tyrant was their leader.

Ae was powerful enough to fight a Subjugator if he didn’t get killed by the Shadows. The Shadows weren’t that powerful, however their sneak attacks were devastating and the primary cause of Ae’s demise.

Fara stood at his side. She wore her mask upon which was the symbol of an empty circle struck through by a horizontal line. They didn’t know what the symbols meant or represented, however they understood that they can leave the Citadel only with their masks on.

When they joined Asivos, they had given up their mortal existence. If they were to speak their mortal names, or show their mortal face outside the Citadel, they would die a gruesome death—punished by the Heavens. They all wondered what their existence was then, if they were not mortal anymore nor part of the world.

“Ae, I will go ahead and move towards Desolation Hill. You stay behind, like last time, and help the Templars hold the line,” Fara said.

Ae nodded.

Fara departed towards Desolation Hill.

Desolation Hill was a place that the enemy liked to capture so that they can deploy their archers against the left flank. It was not a critical part of the Templars’ defence strategy, but the Subjugator that attacks the hill was worth a lot of essence and internal energy to those who slayed him.

In fact, Ae’s group did not have a strategy to win this battle. Their strategy was to acquire as much resources as they could, so that they can move closer to the power that would allow them to win the battle. None of them actually believed that defeating the Tyrant would end this battle, because a second army follows the first one. They’ve never seen the second army up close, but they did see it in the distance. However, the Subjugator was worth quite a lot of internal energy, therefore, the Tyrant must be worth even more. This was their objective: Slay the Tyrant.

Finally, the armies of silver and the armies of black clashed in close quarters. The enemy rained arrows upon both their own troops and the Templars; they did not care about friendly fire.

Ae used his [Enhanced Movement] skill from the [Enlightened Sword] perk to cross the distance and join the battle. The [Enhanced Movement] skill allowed him to propel himself forward with great agility and power, seemingly defying gravity at times. It didn’t feel any different than jumping forward as a mortal, yet the difference in outcome was like day and night.

He glided over the ground, hovering in the air like a leaf carried on the wind. He was as swift as quicksilver and made it to the Templar ranks in the span of a dozen breaths. He drew the sword from his side and with that motion, he struck down the first Distortion he came upon, the blade neatly cleaving it into two parts.

The enemy looked humanoid in most cases. Most of them were men and women in black, leather armor, but this was not the case for all of them. There were creatures made out of black stone, and others that were empty suits of diabolical armor. They seemed disorganized compared to the Templars, simply charging the lines with no sense of self preservation. Most of them ran into the silver pikes the Templars held, and then continued to defy death as they impaled themselves further and further in an attempt to swipe at the Templars with the wicked axes and curved swords.

There was no end to them.

Ae sprung forward once more, into the enemy lines and with a single swipe of his sword, he felled two Distortions. They were not worth much, and gave no Essence, but they were easy to defeat. A hundred of them were worth about as much as one Echo.

Then Ae caught a glimpse of one. It wasn’t a Shadow, but the towering hulk of a humanoid creature could be nothing else. It had a certain aura to it that Ae instantly recognized to belong to an Echo. They were enlightened creatures, capable of magic; inferior to Ae’s at least.

Heavenly Lightning

Ae extended his hand forward, and focused the Lightning Energy in his body towards his fingertips. With a deafening hum, a bolt of lightning shot from his fingers and speared through a Distortion before striking the Echo. The lightning bolt deflected off the Echo and carved into the ground next to it, before it curved upwards and shot into the sky, more like a beam than an actual bolt of lightning.

Ae jumped forward, pressing the attack. He raised his sword high as he glided over the rocky terrain, and then slashed downwards when he reached his attack range.

The Echo defended with its sword, parrying the blade. But that was all that it was capable of; the moment their swords collided, the Echo lost its sword and only means of attack and protection.

Ae struck once more, and this time, black blood sprayed into the air, and the Echo fell to the ground. Silver smoke burst from its lifeless form and flowed into Ae’s mask.

Ae took a deep breath, ignoring the notifications of his gains from that battle. His personal goal was the Subjugator, not a relatively worthless Echo.

He turned, wiping the blood from his sword off his black cloak, and looked into the distance. Desolation Hill was starting to get overrun by the enemy. The Templars held the crown of the hill, but the enemy pushed forward, despite the heavy resistance. Ae could not see Fara from this distance either.

Ae looked towards the lines of Templars and concluded that they would hold the line. His presence here was no longer required.

I must go to Desolation Hill.

Just as he was finishing the thought, he heard a crack behind him, and a presence like a guillotine over his neck sent shivers down his spine.

He turned on the spot, bringing his sword down like an executioner’s axe and, to no surprise, found a man concealed by shadowy smoke. Sparks flew off their swords as the Shadow parried the attack and took a step back from the force of the impact.

Ae launched himself forward, striking the Shadow with his shoulder and sending the Shadow sprawling to the ground.

Heavenly Lightning

Lightning discharged from Ae’s fingers and drilled a hole into the Shadow’s chest, causing it to transform into silver mist a moment afterwards.

Damnit, what is Mao doing? He is supposed to keep them off me.

A Templar rushed to Ae’s side, and hastily bowed, seemingly unconcerned by the myriad of enemies surrounding the two.

“My Lord, our right flank is about to fall. We require immediate assistance.”

“The right flank? That’s imp—“ Ae cut himself off. After all, the idea of the Convergence was not a certainty, merely an observation. However, the enemy attacking the right flank instead of the left flank was a new development.

Ae looked towards Desolation Hill, and then nodded to the Templar.

“I shall head to the Blasted Forest. Find Fara and tell her that she is holding that hill by herself.”

The Templar saluted with a fist over his heart. “Yes, my Lord.”