(3° person POV)

In the Holy Wall, at it’s top, the Sword of God looks behind once again, to the realm of living, feeling several divine presences appearing.

(Sword of God): “This divine power… how many artifacts have appeared at the same time?”

The Sword of God frowned her beautiful face. She looked back to the Black Lands. Undead walking around in a certain distance of the Wall, where it’s light ends on the black forest. Down below, her powerful eyes, she can see a new team of paladins going out for training in the forest by exterminating undeads.

In front of her, a sword is on a pedestal, the sword that she spends most of time holding, guarding the wall, and the origin of the title Sword of God. She returned to her position, holding the sword, ignoring the curiosity of searching for the source of divine power.

Cassandra, the Sword of God, is an instrument of God. His will is her will, and she only moves when ordered by God Himself. Not even the pope, the highest authority of the church, can order her around, something that she deeply wishes to do.

she won’t move until she hears her God’s voice.

(Cassandra’s POV)

I hold the sword once again, His blessing flowing through my body. I wearily look back to the Black Lands, my eternal duty until I hear from Him. As I look to the Black Lands, I again remember what brought me to this.

When I was a child, two hundred years ago, I went with my parents to the church to be blessed by god, and I was chosen by Him to be His Sword when the Monster King was causing havoc on the world.

I never was a girl for adventures, but the sacred duty had chosen me, and I had no option. After that, I never laid down my sword again. No foe was match for me, and no duty was hard enough for me to fail.

I briefly look to my feet, to the grass on the top of the Holy Wall. A hundred and fifty years ago, God ordered me to stab my sword in the ground in front of the Black Lands to stop it’s spreading. By His power, the Great Holy Wall was risen from the ground, and the grass and soil from that day is still growing healthy atop the Wall.

The paladins call this the Sacred Garden, what remains from the Old Kingdom of Phalacia, that was destroyed by the Dark King a long time ago. His palace is still near the sea, deep in the Black Lands.

I was there once, and there I fought the Crimson Queen, as she is called in the paladin order. Her true name is unknown, but she is a powerful vampire that lives on the Bone Palace, the palace of the Dark King that corrupted this place.

The reason for me to stay here is the Crimson Queen. If I didn’t have the order to keep an eye on her, I could have just leave my sword here. However, I can’t leave her alone, the Crimson Queen doesn’t come out of the palace, where the blessing of God doesn’t reach.

So, we are in a stalemate until now. She never leaves the palace, and I never leave the Wall. And standing here, I could reflect everything about my life.

I’m been feeling thin recently. I feel… old. I’m tired of living. When I made my journey to destroy the Monster King, I had companions, and even someone that I loved. Before I could confess, the battle with the Monster King took all of them from me.

I had more friends, but I lost all of them when fighting against my foes. No, I had only one left. Faux, an archer that I had come to love. But… I didn’t really know him, and he thirsted for power. I only discovered that far too late, when he was corrupted in his search, and I had to put him down with tears and blood.

And now, here I am, a tired warrior, waiting for the end of the world, guarding against a foe that will also wait until the end, as she is free to move in the Black Lands, and do as she please, different form me, who has to stay here, standing guard forever.

The Great Holy Wall isn’t just blocking here, on the connection with the peninsula. It creates a massive barrier around the whole peninsula, even on the sky. The only way to pass is right over the wall or go through the gates that we use for incursions, when I try to invade the Bone Palace.

However, something worries me. Recently, I felt the descend of a god on the mortal realm. Although the pope will deny it, there are other gods beside our God, the God of Light… or goddess, I should say, Lustra, which the human kingdom was named after.

Her name isn’t used much, as woman are generally seen as inferior to men among humans, and during the eras, her name was less used, and it is said that she is a genderless god, thus she is the God of Light, not Lustra, the Goddess of Light anymore.

She said to me that it doesn’t matter what they call her, praying to her, even if it’s not her name, stills nurture her. Because of her blessing, I can feel divine power, including of other gods. The new presence of a god worries me, as the last time one descended in history, the Great Desert of Groth, the God of Fire.

Lustra ignored that presence, not telling me anything. Even now, as these artifacts come to our realm, she says nothing. Artifacts, or divine artifacts, as these are, are rare, and can only be made by gods. What I just felt… were at least three artifacts. Maybe a fourth, but it’s presence is obscure, which leave me to the impression that the fourth is a dark artifact, something dangerous from a dark god.

I look to the decorated blade in front of me. This sword was given to me by Lustra to create this wall. Sword of God means that I’m the instrument of her wrath and will, not literally a sword. After all, my main weapon is a hammer, like almost every paladin.

Suddenly, I feel something that I didn’t think that I would feel near the Wall. It’s her presence, the Crimson queen’s presence! Just behind the Wall, on the way of the living kingdoms! A silvery Warhammer appears on my hands, and I jump directly from the wall as the voice of Lustra rings in my head:

(Lustra): “Follow her!”

I fall heavily on the ground, causing a crater. The gats behind me are open for some reason, and the Crimson Queen is waiting for me. Her black clothes hugging her perfect body, dangerous revealing and sensual. Around her waist, a black whip with red veins.

Her black straight hair tied in a ponytail. Her beautiful face with a smile full of scorn, revealing her fangs. Her crimson eyes glowing with power.

(Crimson Queen): “Oh my, the Sword of God. Came here to smite me?”

I lowered my hammer.

(Cassandra): “Fighting a projection is useless. I fell right in your bait.”

(Crimson Princess): “Yes. I’m already far from here. I finally figured a trick to avoid your goddesses eyes for a limited time.”

(Cassandra): “But why right now?”

(Crimson Princess): “You felt it, didn’t you? A god descended in this realm, and I’ve bee looking for a husband that’s more powerful than I am. After all, I’m the last of my lineage, and to have children with a god would make my lineage unbelievably strong.”

(Cassandra): “That’s your objective? A child?”

I say with scorn. She smiles to me, saying:

(Crimson Princess): “And what is the order of your goddess? Destroy me, like before? Smite me? Or something else?”

No, the order was follow her… she waves at me, her image disappearing in red mist. As she vanishes, a paladin squad approaches from the gate.

(paladin commander): “Saint!”

(Cassandra): “Close the gate! The Crimson princess has escaped!”

(paladin commander): “WHAT?! We need to gather the holy army!”

(Cassandra): “No! God has spoken! Keep guard on the Wall, I will take the Crimson Princess by myself!”

(paladin commander): “If god said, we must follow! Close the gates! Return to your posts!”

He said, turning back together with the other paladins. After all, the paladins do not respond to the pope, they respond directly to me, although he can make requests to us. I know that he has spies, but I haven’t rooted them out yet.

Squeezing my hammer’s handle, I start walking in the direction of the forest ahead. I wonder what I will lose this time.