<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><div style="text-align: center;">Day 12: Palaugrim - Luciano High Grounds (midnight)</div></span></span><br/><br/><br/>The expressions on the four generals cringed as they watched the tide of battle. What they were doing now was against the normal Pristine Knight way, as suggested by their military advisor Lance. While somewhere deep down, they do not approve of this method--killing off their opponents instead of saving them--they all knew that right now at this moment, they have little to no choice unless they wanted to throw down their swords and accept defeat. Lance had quoted that given the hastened and forceful movement of the enemy, Guilford might have already started his operation in the city. Defending this position now for a day or two was out of the question. It had to be done tonight, under the disadvantage of darkness.<br/><br/>"Move up the casters and send them to the Light! Hit them with everything you got!" Lance roared. The strategically positioned casters raised their hands forward and simultaneously launched volley after volley of Smite spells on the marauding forces from below. The waves of enemies seem endless. They had kept this up for several hours now and neither side showed no signs of backing down.<br/><br/>Krista walked over to Lance and placed a hand on his shoulder. Her expression seemed to entail she had enough. Lance turned to face her and slammed the blunt end of his spear to the ground. "I know this is hard for you Krista, but this is even harder for me too. It's like reliving the First War all over again. Do not worry about responsibility, I will shoulder them all and let Gil know that it was my decision to kill them off and not from any of you."<br/><br/>Krista's eyes began to glimmer as shallow tears formed in them. All those Sinners that could still be saved... why did it have to come to this? What good were they if they were forced to slay those that still have a chance at salvation? Regardless, she understood the situation well. If they did not result to this, they would be overrun and many of her comrades-in-arms will die. Her gaze hardened as they met Lance's eyes. She wondered just how bad the First War was for this retired knight to have no qualms in resorting to tactics such as this.<br/><br/>Sensing the question from Krista's eyes, Lance looked away, back into the onslaught down below. He took a deep breath and clenched his free hand to a fist. "You want to know what the life expectancy of an average Pristine Knight is after they graduated from the academy back then?" he asked but received no response. "Two weeks. And that is if you're lucky enough to fall under a skilled Captain."<br/><br/>"T-Two weeks?!" Krista parroted in surprise. She had expected it to be bad but not<span style="font-style: italic">that</span>bad.<br/><br/>"Yeah. We were told to save<span style="font-style: italic">everyone</span>from Sin,<span style="font-style: italic">no matter the cost</span>. That order was the reason for the short life expectancy. Knights sacrificed themselves just to save Sinners. It wasn't wrong, but it wasn't the right thing to do either. Knights died more than they could save. We couldn't choke it down."<br/><br/>"We?" she asked in confusion.<br/><br/>"Knight Commanders, Captains... the leaders couldn't keep watching their men die, I knew I couldn't..." he trailed, the painful memories dulling his words. Lance took another deep breath, "So we fought back, killed those that threatened our lives, saved only those that we can. We began to value our lives more than the oath we have taken, and that is the dark truth behind why the High Council really disbanded us."<br/><br/>Krista's doubts about Lance's methods began to see a bit of clarity. This man was not killing the enemy because he wanted to, he was just doing what he could to save their Knights. It was hard to understand given what they were taught, yet his beliefs weren't entirely unreasonable.<br/><br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">_________________________________________________________________________________</div><br/><br/><br/>Twenty squads with several casualties defended Lindenberg Pass with Abel. He didn't ask for reinforcements but was still glad that they came. He had to throw his hat off at the one who predicted his move and maybe share a drink with him later... if he survives that is. Bloodied and lightly wounded, the old knight hefted his sword back in position after bringing it down against a Pure Sinner that vaporized into white dust. Given the uneven terrain from the recent collapse, the attacks are coming from almost all angles given that the opponents were coming over a huge pile of rubble. Abel looked back at the knights who came to assist him and noted that they were getting worn out. He specifically told them that he would not be responsible for saving them should they fall into danger but was impressed at the caliber these knights fought.<br/><br/>"Suck it up! More will come over this rubble! Clerics! Heal the wounded now and fall back to the rear once done! Knights! If you're tired, switch out and take a breather! If you can still go, hold your ground and do not let them through!" he roared, sensing a new wave coming in fast from behind the rubble. "Get ready! We're gonna get some more soon!"<br/><br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">_________________________________________________________________________________</div><br/><br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><div style="text-align: center;">Day 12: Palaugrim - Luciano (midnight)</div></span></span><br/><br/><br/>"Bind it now!" Hyuga said to his female partner after one of the things were tossed to them by Vice Captain Adair. Natalia responded by immediately casting a reinforced Penance spell that effectively chained the creature to the ground. Hyuga then began preparations to cast Vindicate while Natalia picked up her weapons and covered their rear that was now showing several more of those things coming at them.<br/><br/>"Hyuga! I'll buy you as much time as I can! Hurry!" Natalia cried out and ran towards the creatures.<br/><br/>"I'm on it!" Hyuga responded. As if the pressure he felt wasn't more than enough, the intricacy of this spell pushed his abilities to the limit. He understood why they needed to keep it a secret for now, but he was more concerned if there was actually something that they could do for these poor souls.<span style="font-style: italic">I have to make sure...</span>he grilled his mind over and over while carefully preparing the spell.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">_________________________________________________________________________________</div><br/><br/>"Gugh!" Vlad grunted after stopping four scythes with his shield. "If it's not obvious," he paused and powered the scythes down followed by a wide swing of his sword that sent his attackers sprawling. "we're backing up your squad!"<br/><br/>This cross-dresser wasn't really the person they were expecting to come over but they weren't complaining. This guy was fast, strong, reliable, and incredibly annoying. Nevertheless, it was good to have him on their side, that much was a welcomed fact. Georg leaped to the air and slashed down two of the things followed by an overly wide sweep of his large sword upon landing. He effectively cut off the legs of more coming at him from the front giving them a little breathing room.<br/><br/>"We're here to cut off the head of the snake. Master Guilford's covert op." he informed the newcomer.<br/><br/>Joaquim effectively used his sword to disarm several of the creatures followed by a merciless strike that caused several limbs to flop on the ground. He yanked one of the creatures with his free hand and hurled it towards more of them grouped at the other side toppling them like bowling pins. To finish his salvo, he launched simultaneous bolts of Banish at the toppled group to give them a taste of the Light.<br/><br/>"Seeing that you're here could only mean you're after the same thing. Let's just work together to keep them off our Captains as much as we could." he said and dashed off to fight new arrivals.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">_________________________________________________________________________________</div><br/><br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF"><span style="font-style: italic">What in the world is she thinking?!</span></span>he thought to himself as he felt her reject his<span style="font-style: italic">Providence</span>. Guilford took the time to recover and a little more to observe. It was quite a while since the two of them actually fought together like this, given the long span of time, the memories took a little longer to recall. Keen purple eyes resigned themselves to understanding his partner. Guilford noted the way she was swinging her sword, it was filled with desperation, a touch of frustration, guilt, even uncertainty, all masked in a facade of calm. What could drive her normally beautiful and composed swordplay to end up in such a... he shoved the thought away at the sight of an opening.<br/><br/>Charging in with much more fervor than he normally would, Guilford opened his attack sequence with a powerful roundhouse kick that was easily dodged by the blonde ducking low. He followed up with a wide uppercut with the same ferocity that was avoided with a sway back. Good, it was to force some distance. As soon as his fist reached the peak of his punch, Guilford spun around and channeled Banish bolts in both hands and fired two at the opponent before lunging forward. The blonde responded by slashing the two bolts aside but was left wide open for a strike. Putting all his weight to one punch, Guilford let his fist fly. The male Seraph was so sure he would hit but was surprised when the other stopped his punch with one hand just inches before her face. Bi-colored eyes stared back at him unimpressed.<br/><br/><span style="color: #40FFFF">"That all you got?"</span><br/><br/>Realizing he was in danger, Guilford tried to pull his arm back but the solid grip from the woman prevented him from doing so. His eyes widened but gritted his teeth when the woman raised her dark sword and slashed at him. Even with the protection of his<span style="font-style: italic">Providence</span>, he felt a searing pain from his left shoulder all the way down to the bottom of his right rib. How could she be this powerful? Or could it be the heavy taint in the air weakening them? All the thoughts he had seemed pointless at the face of death. The cut was deep and the next thing he knew, a<span style="font-style: italic">clang</span>of metal sounded as his chest plate fell to the ground when he staggered back. Purple eyes saw the blonde raise her sword again and the smile she had as she brought it down on him again for the finishing strike.<br/><br/><span style="color: silver">"Gil!"</span><br/><br/>The moment his eyes flicked to the right at the call of his name, Guilford saw a familiar sea blue sparkle spinning his way, his chance at life. Trusting his partner's meticulous nature, Guilford held out his right hand anticipating that the sword's hilt will land exactly in his palm. Purple eyes turning fierce once more, Guilford poured as much of his holy power as he can to his left hand and caught the enemy's dark sword. A loud<span style="font-style: italic">clang!</span>resounded followed by a violent fizzle as the opposing elements clashed between his hand and the dark blade. It was the blonde's turn for her bi-colored eyes to widen after realizing her attack was stopped. Her eyes flicked over to the male Seraph's right hand when she noticed an object coming to its grip. Dread filled her at the sight of the Seraph's glowing sword.<br/><br/>She tried to back away but Guilford held her dark blade in place, despite it cutting through his gauntlet and wounding his left hand.<span style="color: #0080FF">"What's wrong?"</span>Ignoring the pain in his chest, Guilford mustered every bit of strength he had left and diverted the rest of his holy power to his Nirvana. The sword's gentle glow increased and the sudden high level of holy concentration on its blade blasted the taint away in a large radius around it. Guilford immediately slashed upward before the blonde could think of letting go of her own sword.<br/><br/>No, he didn't have the habit of severing limbs. He just didn't have the time to aim well. He had wanted to end the fight but the sight of their opponent staggering back simply meant he failed. The blonde sacrificed her sword-arm to mitigate the possible damage she would have taken. She fell to one knee while keeping scornful eyes on Guilford. The dismembered limb dissipated into white dust along with the dark sword. Sticking the blade of his sword to the cobble ground, Guilford used it to keep himself up (if you can call being down on both knees that) in anticipation of a retaliation. For some reason, he couldn't feel his legs anymore. When the Seraph looked down, he saw a pool of his own blood forming beneath him, followed by the same red substance coming out of his mouth.<br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">"My Light...I didn't think...it was...this bad..."</span>he heaved, pulling his bloody left hand over the gaping wound and beginning to cast Healing. He prayed he had enough power to at least stop the bleeding and hopefully close the wound. The fight was not over, he needed to stay in it.