Explosions erupted around him as he slumped behind a fallen tree, trying to hide from the mysterious black wyvern that was decimating the rebels. He was part of the town’s militia that was offered by that fat disgusting Mayor of his to the rebels just to keep his ass on power; they couldn’t exactly say no to him considering his rebel thugs and goons are the dominant power on this region and anyone who dared to disagree or not side with them just simply disappeared into the hideous ranks of those soulless abominations that the necromages had created. Suddenly, a fellow militiaman dove towards the fallen tree he was hiding.

“Milton! Thank the stars you’re still alive! Let’s get out of this cursed battle while we still can!” He greeted the figure adjusting itself to fit in the cover, Milton was the militia’s de facto leader due to his friendly nature and almost a century of combat experience fighting beside Lord Drakul’s army during the Armageddon war on the 3rd civilizations.

“Quiet down Edras!” Milton whispered to him as a group of Lord Balthier’s guards was blown up by one of the light arrows that the black wyvern had casted, “If the necromages hear you, they’ll kill you before you have the chance to run”

“Then, what do we do?” Edras asked

“We wait, son” Milton replied as he peered over their cover, “That rebel scum had bit more than he can chew and I doubt he will order a retreat given the losses they spent here, he couldn’t afford it if they left empty handed”

He can see the burning wreckage of once proud siege catapults now littering the battlefield, Balthier is rallying his remaining loyal dogs to press on the attack against the humans. He also saw some of his fellow militia struggling to stay alive from the constant barrage of explosions while those damned necromages kept their backline blocked and killed those who tried to retreat.

“I have a plan Edras, we rally what’s left of our militia and charge inside that human fortress” Milton said just as another explosion erupted near them

“Are you insane?! We’ll get killed by that wyvern out there” Edras exclaimed

“Do you want us to sit here and wait for death to come to us?! I noticed the human’s explosive magic is directed outside their fortress, if we took cover inside one of the human’s building then we can be safe from those magic, plus those dogs will see we are determined to fight and not execute us and turn us into their slaves” Milton replied as he pointed towards the necromages scattered way behind them trying to revive some of the abominations

“Okay, okay! You made your point” Edras replied just as the black wyvern had unleash more of those light arrows towards one of Balthier’s elite abomination giant turning it into red mist, he heard Balthier’s warcry as he the menacing demon had flapped open his wings and flew towards the human wyvern

“That’s our distraction boy! Let’s go”

-----

The stars were visible on the night sky as the moon illuminated the surrounding area with its white glow, the soft humming of helicopter blades can be heard inside the cockpit adding an air of serenity inside the AH-99 Blackfoot which is a stark contrast to the carnage they were inflicting on the ground.

“Gun’s down to a hundred and ten rounds and 3 DAGR’s left, ma’am. Shouldn’t we RTB?” Madrazo asked as he scanned the perimeter of the MOB for more clusters of contacts to engage

“Expend all your armaments 1-2, ground crew is currently facing a wave of those things at the runway. We’ll wait here till they give an all c-” Perez replied before being cut off

“Incoming!” Madrazo shouted as he saw a bright white ball on his thermal sight heading towards them

“Shit, flares! flares! flares!” Perez said as she instinctively pulled the stick back to dodge the incoming fire and flipped the flare dispenser switch on one of the panels, their bird had managed to dodge the ball of fire when suddenly a very large creature appeared in front of them.

“Aerial contact right in front of us!” Madrazo yelled before firing a burst of 20mm on the creature, the explosive rounds had seemed to halt its advance towards them but it was still flying.

“Jesus christ, that thing is huge” Perez said as she kept flying backwards to gain distance away from the enemy while keeping the blackfoot’s weapons towards the creature

“Engaging with the ASRAAM” her WSO said as the minigun burst halted, they must have ran out of ammo.

“Helios, this is Assassin 1-1. We’re engaging a large aerial contact, we could use some AA support here!”

“Fox 2!” Madrazo announced as he launched an AA missile towards the creature

“Cheetah’s are on standby, Assassin 1-1, but you’re too close to the target for them to launch their SAMs. Helios out”

“Copy that Helios” She replied as the missile had connected with the flying creature, the explosion knocked it out and it fell for a few feet before hovering back again “Hold on 1-2!”

“Fox 2!” Her WSO announced again as he launched their final AA armament towards before she did a 180 degree turn and quickly flew away from the creature. After making some distance, she turned back to face the large hovering creature that was being hit by AA fire from the ground

“Fuck! He got some kinda of shield around him” Madrazo said as she also noticed that the large behemoth is surrounded by some sort of purple shield that was protecting it from the 35mm AA barrage

“Helios, the target is shielding itself from AA fire!”

“Well, that’s how you wanna play? Then let's play” Madrazo chuckled before locking on the creature and unleashing the remaining DAGR missiles

-----

This was the first time he brought up his shield in a fight for the last century, the last time he did brought it up was when during a fight against an elven goddess; whose arrows did a number of fatal wounds on him and his father during the Armageddon war, and to think that these mysterious humans are capable of producing similar devastating light arrows that nearly killed him was baffling to him. Did Azdarr lend her magic to these humans? It doesn’t make sense since the majority of humans worshipped Maldir, he thought to himself as more of the human’s small explosive magic hit his shield when suddenly he saw the fleeing black wyvern turn around and unleashed another of its light arrows towards him.

“Pathetic worms, do you think you could hurt me with tha-” He said with his thundering voice before the light arrow hit him and exploded, shattering his shield and expelling a molten metal that tore through his right wing. There could be no doubt that these humans possess godlike magic, he ignored the pain left by the light arrow and quickly dove towards the ground as the black wyvern unleashed another of its light arrows. To his horror, the light arrow broke off its trajectory and started following him as more of the human’s small explosive magics coming from the ground had peppered him with little to no effect. He steered left and right but no matter how hard he moved, the arrow quickly adjusted to it. The light arrow is getting closer to him and so is the ground, he mustered all of his mana and concentration to cast a large fireball towards the arrow of death that is following him. To his relief, it worked. The light arrow exploded before it reached him as it collided with the fireball, however it did little to slow his fall as he felt some of his bones breaking as his back impacted the cold hard ground

He lost consciousness for a moment before waking up surrounded by his trusted necromages as a battle rages on around him, he realized that he fell right inside the human fortress where the main battle against his loyal elite guards and humans are taking place.

“My liege! We should retreat now before the human’s wyvern returns and destroys us all!” one of the mages said as he slowly stood up from a shallow crater that his fall created, he could see his minions getting slaughtered by the human’s magic as hundreds of fallen soldiers and flesh slaves littered the ground around them, almost forming a small barrier around them

“Get yourselves and the legion back to our holdings and let the flesh slaves distract the humans, we can always get more of them.” he replied to the hooded figure before scurrying away to do his bidding. He tried to think of something to salvage from this failed assault to make all of his losses worthwhile when he saw another light arrow heading straight towards him, he tried to cast a shield around but his mana pool was already depleted from his fight with the black wyvern, he tried to dodge it but it was too late and the light arrow exploded directly in his chest.

-----

The sun was slowly coming up on the east as the cold morning air blew past their defensive line, it was almost reinvigorating like a cold shower after a long day’s work, if only the smell of the dead monsters didn’t sour it.

“Got him!” PFC Jose shouted before loading his PCML with another missile, the gun fire across their line had started to die down as the number of enemies was getting fewer by the minute

“Nomad, do you have eyes on the target?” a voice on his comms asked Kerry as he scanned the area where the large humanoid beast had fallen, smoke and dust was still lingering around it to get a clear view.

“Negative sir, smoke is still blocking my view” he replied as he wiped the sweat forming on his forehead. He looked at his squad for a brief moment, seeing most of them were tensely waiting for something to emerge from the dust cloud. He peered through his binoculars again and saw a large shadow shuffling around before unleashing a loud roar that blew away the dust cloud and nearly deafening him, the appearance of the large creature now resembles a demon lord.

“Fuck, it's still alive!” Kerry shouted before ordering his LAT guy to fire another shot at it

“Back blast clear!” Jose shouted before firing his large AT launcher, the missile flew towards the approaching demon but missed when it narrowly dodged it at the last second. The large demon-like creature is getting closer to their position. It’s glowing red eyes, sharp teeth resembling an anglerfish and long claws that can rip them apart easily are a terrifying sight to see and would surely rank as the number one cure for constipation.

“Missed! Reloading!” Jose shouted as the previous sporadic gunfire started to pick up again as soldiers on his squad and the others had started unloading their magazines on the charging creature. Kerry’s heartbeat started to pick up as the monstrous creature is nearing their position, he was thinking what orders will he give when it finally reach them when suddenly he heard a loud cannon shot behind him that made his ears ring for a few seconds before an explosion engulfed the demon that was getting uncomfortably close to them and was knocked back for a few meters

“Whoah! Cavalry’s here baby!” Martinez shouted happily as Kerry looked behind him and saw a hulking metal beast, it was a Slammer, he noticed the added ERA and a 50 cal. CROWS on top of it and deduced that it must be the M2A4 UP variant of the Slammer. He turn back to see the bloodied creature trying to stand up when the tank fired another round which tore it’s left arm, it let out a scream of agony as it stumbled on the dead bodies trying desperately to flee the battle before the tank fired an APFSDS round on its back which pierced it effortlessly and left a large hole the exposed its innards to the outside elements. The demon stopped on its track before falling down to the ground unmoving, a couple of cheers erupted on the battle line.

“Yeah stay the fuck down demon!” One of the soldiers shouted

“Parry that you filthy casual!” Another soldier shouted as Kerry breathe a sigh of relief as he slumped down behind the hastily place sandbag barrier and pull a pack of cigarette from his vest, he’d never thought that he picked up a smoking habit but after what he’d been through on his deployment on Altis and Stratis, it was the only thing that calm his nerves after a battle. After a minute of respite, his radio came to life.

“To all callsigns this is Crossroads, we got word that the enemy forces are pulling back. We’re tasked with retaking the entrance and establishing a solid defense line. Alpha, Bravo and Charlie team will take point and secure checkpoint alpha, Sierra and Paladin will provide armor support while Echo and Nomad team will sweep the buildings. The rest of you will stay here as reserves. Any questions?” Colonel Armstrong broadcasted on their frequency, Kerry stood up as he finished his cigarette, he was waiting for any of the squad leaders to raise a question but none did “Then let's get a move on!”

-----

There were 6 of them hiding in what looks like a library of some sorts, the fighting outside had died down and he could hear the humans and their beasts roaming outside the building they were hiding. He was hoping that they could sneak past them and escape unnoticed but the 3 injured men that he’d managed to save on the battlefield would make it almost impossible.

“Milton! What do we do now?” Edras whispered to him as he heard heavy footsteps entering the building. He was trying to think of something that wouldn’t rely on the human’s kindness to spare them, especially after the army he’s technically a part of had just assaulted their fortress. He looked at the injured men, all fearing for their lives as the heavy footsteps and shouting of the humans were closing in their hiding space.

“Drop your swords and raise your arms, men” He sighed, there was no way out of this situation. He can only pray that these humans are merciful to their enemies, there was some hesitation at first but they quickly followed his order as they could hear humans right outside the door. Milton looked at one of the injured men, his left arm is barely attached to his shoulder and pieces of metal are embedded in his pale, undead face. He was holding a necklace of Lady Sabina while uttering a prayer of guidance which something they could use in this dire situation.

The door opened and a bright light had shone over the nervous corpses, a nervous young man wearing bulky clothing had entered the room and quickly raised his staff against them.

“G-get your hands up!” The nervous soldier shouted in which he and his men quickly abided, “Sarge! We got some of those things surrendering here!”

After a few seconds more of the humans entered the room with their staff drawn, he even saw a woman soldier among them which is highly unusual considering most human armies don't employ women soldiers and even those who tend to separate them into their own respective branch. But what caught him off guard was the human’s reaction towards them, their faces are either scared or confused. A tense moment passed before another figure entered the room.

“What the hell” The figure muttered as he also stared at them dumbfoundedly

“We surrender humans, you have bested the rebel army that we’re not part of and I only wish that you spare my men” Milton said as he assured the anxious humans around him, he feared that any type of movement they’d make might make the humans hostile. Their leader seemed to calm down as he lowered his black staff and reverted to a passive posture; the other soldiers lowered their weapons slightly while keeping their aggressive stance towards them.

“Martinez, Jose. Check them for weapons. Sarah, check their wounded and see what you can do for them” Their leader said before two of the soldiers slowly approached them and patted them down for hidden daggers. After kicking their discarded weapons on their side, the female soldier approached his wounded men and began checking their injuries.

“Crossroads, this is Nomad. We’ve got some of those things surrendering to us sir, please advise over” Milton overheard the human leader talking as he pressed something in his ear, he guessed that the man is a psychic - capable of talking to others over a distance without seeing them. It was a rare trait for an officer in an army to possess.

“Copy that, Crossroads. Sarah, can they walk?” The man asked the female soldier that was putting some kind of bandage over one of the wounds of his men, “ummm, I guess?”

“Sir, can you walk?” The woman asked one of his men she’d been tending with which surprised him and his fellow militiamen, they were expecting to be beaten up and dragged to a cell the moment they’re disarmed but instead they’re now being addressed like knights and barons.

“Yes, Milady. I can walk just fine” His men answered after which he heard a short giggle from one of the soldiers which was quickly suppressed by the hush of the female warrior.

“Good, get them outside and wait for the MP’s to arrive. Jose secure those weapons, Martinez do a final sweep on the building, the rest of you escort them out” The human’s leader said before they were lead out of the room

As they walked down the bland hallway of the building, Milton was thinking that there is something wrong with how they were treated by these mysterious humans. We’re they being treated nice so that they won’t put up any resistance against them when they finally execute them? But if they want to kill them, then why put up a facade? They have powerful magic that can easily kill them from a long distance and not to mention that they just wasted valuable medical supplies on a non-fatal injury; everyone knows that the only way to kill their kind is either severing or destroying their heads or stabbing their hearts, not unlike humans who are more fragile and require delicate care whenever they are wounded.

The morning sun greeted them as they step out of the building, He saw the aftermath of the battle, to say that a battle took place would be an understatement it was more like a massacre as hundreds of dead flesh slaves, large abominations, necromages and burning siege weapons had littered the area. Men in similar dirt patterned clothes are patrolling the area and occasionally giving them a curious glance that he almost felt like an exotic animal in a circus, he also saw large metal beasts and more of those black wyverns circling high above the sky. After a couple of moments a large metal carriage stopped near them as men wearing black armbands with the letters “MP” written on it and wielding a much shorter black staff had disembarked behind the metal carriage and approached them.

“Hand them over, we still got 5 more buildings to clear” The human leading their group said as the men with armbands had put some kind of flexible restraints on their hands

“Are we gonna be executed?” Milton asked bluntly, he just wants the truth from them, the last thing he wants to do is to overthink himself to death before his execution, most of the humans wearing the black armband had shot him a bewildered look before one of them answered his question

“What? No, you’re just gonna be detained for the time being till the higher ups sort this out” The man said as they were ushered on the back of the metal carriage, his answer had brought him some sense of relief for the time being but he is still wary of their true motives for sparing him and his men without humiliation.

-----

He was standing beside a window outside the command room, he was admiring the beautiful sunrise while sipping a nice cup of joe; it must have been the third one he had at that morning, he’d barely got an hour of sleep before he got called to deal with the developing situation they’re facing now. He was contemplating the events that happened in the past hours when Major Hanlon approached him.

“Sir, checkpoint Alpha had been retaken by elements of the 111th” The major reported

“And the enemy forces?” He asked as he took one last sip on his tumbler

“Retreating in disarray” Hanlon replied just as a low flying Blackfoot has passed by the command center

“Good, what’s the situation with the comms? Have we re-established contact with anyone in the outside world?” Collins asked as he leaned back the window and faced the major

“Negative sir, I think it’s safe to say that we’re cut-off from everyone” The major sighed as the yellow sunlight pierced through the glass and bathed them with its warm glow, he can’t help but sigh too. He picked up is radio from his holster and changed its frequency before keying it

“Crossroads, This Godfather, do you copy? Over”

“This is Crossroads, go ahead”

“Crossroads, can you establish a defensive line outside and around the perimeter of the MOB?”

“We can Godfather but that’ll take at least a day's work, and half of my division to do it” Armstrong replied after a couple seconds

“Then do it Colonel. The MP’s will handle internal security and will deal with the bodies”

“Copy that Godfather, Crossroads out” The colonel replied over the radio before Collins holstered his radio again

“Major, have your men conduct the cleanup operations, the 111th will takeover perimeter security and defense as of now” He ordered to Hanlon just as a small group of officers left the command room

“Yes sir, I’ll see to it that it will be done” Hanlon replied before heading back inside the command room.

“Hey, you there. Could you get me a refill?”

-----

The amount of work that stockpiled on his table seems endless even though he spent his entire night trying to address the numerous problems his kingdom was facing, he’d never got the chance to fully focus on things such as food, industry and political sections of his kingdom ever since his brother and his lackeys started a civil war to overthrow him from the throne. He stood up and went to the balcony of his bedroom to get some fresh air when he heard the sweet voice of his childhood friend

“Is there something bothering you, my love?” A pale, petite woman wearing a black leather armor asked him as he leaned on the balcony’s stone railing

“Nothing, it's just… I’m worried for the future of our kingdom; we have problems with the harvest this season, the Aevum Empire is demanding some kind of compensation for the trade caravans that had been raided, and my brother’s rebellion in the southern region.” King Drakul sighed as he looked towards his small capital city, “We’re just facing too much at the moment, and I fear that the council might remove me from power if I didn’t resolve our kingdom’s predicament”

“They won’t dare my love, you’re the reason why this kingdom still exists to this day.” The pale woman affirmed him as she pulled back her hood revealing her beautiful face and long white hair, “We can weather these upcoming storms as we always do, and don’t worry about your brother. My spies are making huge progress on tracking him down, and once they do, i’ll send in my team to eliminate him forever”

“I just wished we could’ve reasoned with him, Lenore. He would’ve been a great addition to our army” Drakul said as Lenore approached beside him

“I wished we could have, my dear” Lenore replied as she hugged him tight, her warm embrace melting away his stress from his job and reminding him what he’s fighting for. If only they could remain in this position for an eternity...

“Your Highness! We have received a communique at the southern fort regarding a rebel offensi-'' A rotting man wearing an official’s uniform had entered the room, he stopped mid sentence when he saw the King and the head of the Zorenth spy ring are having an intimate moment in the balcony, “Oh, Madam Lenore. Your highness please forgive me for my intrusion but we have an urgent situation developing in the southern region regarding the rebels''

“It’s okay, Gresham“ Lenore said as she let go of Drakul and raised her hood again

“What’s happening with the rebels?” Drakul asked his right hand man

“They had launched an attack on the town of Bredon and had killed hundreds of people before chasing the fleeing survivors that had sought refuge on our southern fort. General Boros had requested additional reinforcement, your highness” Gresham explained

“Are you sure this communique is true Gresham? My spies had reported yesterday that they shouldn’t be ready for an offensive in at least two seasons” Lenore asked

“Yes Madam, the message was sent from General Boros personal telepathy officer”

“Send the word to the army to mobilize and send reinforcements to our southern hold, and inform captain Lazarus that I’ll be joining the frontlines and have his men prepare to depart by noon” Drakul ordered as he picked up a couple scrolls and books from his table

“Yes my liege, thy will be done” Gresham replied before leaving the two alone

“Are you sure about this my love? My men can take care of your brother, you don’t need to face him in combat personally” Lenore asked as she held Drakul’s cold hand

“Yes dear, and besides my human friend once said “A leader leads by example”. How can I lead our kingdom to glory if I can’t quell a rebellion in our lands” Drakul assured her as he tightened his grip on her soft hands

“Just be careful, will you? I don’t want to lose you”

“I’ll be fine, dear” Drakul replied as he caressed Lenore’s cheek

“You have the support of my clan, I’ll see if I can convince my elder to lend some of our artifacts to aid you in battle” Lenore said as she let’s go of his hands and straightened the sleeves of her leather armor

“That would be great, my love” Drakul replied as he straightened his robes and picked up a bag that Lenore made for him back when they were just kids.

“Now I must go and prepare for the journey ahead, my love. I’ll see you soon” Drakul said as he kissed Lenore on the cheeks

“May Byron guide you to victory my dear”