<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><div style="text-align: center;">Gless - Rosetta</div></span></span><br/><br/><br/>Guilford's peaceful slumber was interrupted by a violent shaking. Purple eyes snapped open followed by a jerk out of bed after feeling another rumble. Shortly, his father's voice came yelling for him accompanied by furious knocks on his room's door.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"Gil! Rosetta's under attack!"</span><br/><br/>The words, though slightly muffled by the doors, remained audible. Under attack?! By who?! This is Gless! Bastion of the Light! Guilford didn't have the time to put on any of his gear and instead grabbed his Nirvana. His room's door flung open revealing his father who already had a weapon in hand. Gil immediately shot down his father's idea.<span style="color: #0080FF">"No. You and mother are going to lead the people to safety. Leave this to me."</span><br/><br/>"If that thing attacking us is strong enough to penetrate Gless, I'm not going to leave it alone to you!" Rannulf contested.<span style="color: #0080FF">"This isn't the words of your son father, but the words of a Seraph. Get the people safely out of Rosetta! With only me here, I can only count on you and mother. Please..."</span>he begged the man. Rannulf, despite his protests knew that his son won't change his mind. For now, he would comply and get as much of the people as he can to safety.<br/><br/>Guilford immediately ran towards the balcony and leaped off to the ground outside. For a moment he saw a portion of Rosetta in flames. He could feel a tremendous amount of taint over the burning portion of town and he immediately ran towards the source with just his sword and casual clothes. The skies were littered with holy powered carrier pigeons flying around. Majority of them headed to the Grand Cathedral and there were several that trailed Guilford, three of them to be exact. He didn't want to stop but holy powered carrier pigeons meant that they bear important messages. He skidded to a stop and allowed the birds to see their task through. Guilford's eyes widened in shock. Three towns, Gielo, Solfonn and Valthe had all been destroyed! The Pristine Knights stationed there for defense were all but annihilated!<br/><br/>Realizing the gravity of the situation, Guilford crumpled the messages and hurried off to the source of the taint. Upon arriving, he saw that same woman from Luciano with a murderous look in her eyes. She was staring at a little girl who clumsily fell to her feet running away from her. The moment the woman raised her left arm, Guilford fired a full-powered Banish at her. The woman saw the bolt coming and defended with her right arm. An explosion ensued on impact but Guilford had already snatched the young girl to safety. "Lowd G-Gifowd!" she called out and wailed, relieved that she was saved. Guilford put the little girl down in a safe distance and smiled at her.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Go on, get out of here. I'll protect you."</span>The little girl nodded and ran as fast as she could towards the other end of town.<br/><br/>Purple eyes shifted over to the cloud of smoke that was forced away with a wave of an arm. The Seraph gritted his teeth after noting just how little damage his full-powered Banish caused. He watched the woman stare at her lightly burned arm in amusement. Moments later, small clouds of black smoke circled the burns and her arm was as good as new. Hateful eyes then flicked over to the Light-infested pest before her.<span style="color: #8080FF">"You're stronger than the others. Are you what they call a Seraph?"</span><br/><br/>Having seen how little his last attack affected her, Guilford immediately drew his sword and took his stance. For some reason, his Nirvana emitted a feeling of reluctance to fight the opponent; it's glow was dimmer than normal.<span style="color: #8080FF">"Answer me!"</span>she hissed followed by a wave of her left arm towards a nearby structure. Guilford watched the structure crumble before him in surprise. This woman was definitely stronger than he first thought if she could level houses with just a wave of her arm. He could be in trouble.<span style="color: #0080FF">"What's it to you if I am a Seraph?"</span><br/><br/>The woman bowed her head. It was followed by a faint rhythmic rising and falling of her shoulders, like she was laughing in silence.<span style="color: #8080FF">"Then this should make it easy. I was looking for you; the ones who defeated my beloved!"</span><br/><br/>Beloved?<span style="color: #0080FF">"Who are y--!"</span>He couldn't even finish his words. The next thing he knew was that the woman was out of his sight and he was sent crashing through a door of a nearby house. The next thing he felt was a sharp pain in his left cheek followed by the taste of blood in his mouth. He was dazed but picked himself up and spat out the blood. He saw in his shaky vision that the woman was now standing where he last stood and was looking at him with those murderous eyes. This was the first time in a long while that he had felt extreme intent to kill, even from those who were the likes of Lillith. Guilford squinted at the sight of the woman waving her arm towards his direction. Reacting quickly, the Seraph dashed out of the door he crashed through, barely avoiding getting buried beneath rubble.<br/><br/>He tumbled from his dive to a stop but again the woman was no longer in his periphery. Having boosted his focus several levels, Guilford could now faintly tell where she was. The Seraph skillfully positioned his sword defensively to his right. A loud<span style="font-style: italic">clang!</span>echoed and he was again sent skidding a couple meters away from his original position. He could feel his sword-arm going numb from the force of the impact and his entire body shaking from having absorbed such a blow. He saw the woman now lowering the leg she used to kick him with. Shaking off the unnecessary thoughts, Guilford began to cast his Providence, this time on maximum power. He added several layers of Prayer and a field of Repent which expanded to its maximum radius. This should help him track her movements. He didn't want to have to fight this alone but knew he has to, the people of Rosetta was right behind him.<br/><br/>The woman irked at the feeling of Guilford's Light fizzling beneath her feet. She paid it no mind and instead looked at the Seraph amused.<span style="color: #8080FF">"Getting serious aren't we? That's right, you should be. It wouldn't be fun killing you if you're not at your best."</span>said the woman and beckoned for him to come.<br/><br/>Despite the numbness in his right arm, Guilford lunged forward. There won't be a third time this woman would get the jump on him. Surrounded by a fierce white light, Guilford opened with an overhead slash. The woman simply blocked his blade's edge with her arm that now had a faint dark purple glow protecting it. He was powering his sword down but the woman was doing well keeping his attack steady. He withdrew his sword and followed up with a series of slashes that the woman either gracefully parried, or cleanly avoided. Realizing he was getting nowhere, Guilford switched gears. It had become an extremely hostile exchange of blows between the two that rocked Rosetta's broken serenity.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">____________________________________________________________________________________</div><br/><br/>Having taken care of getting most of the people out to safety, the Rosenwulf pair stopped in their tracks. The amount of holy power that was previously being put off in the distance began to wane rapidly. It alerted both Rannulf and Karrie who were overseeing the town's evacuation. With a worried look on her face, Karrie turned to her husband. "Dear, go to our son! I can handle this from here!" she cried out, hiding the tears that she wouldn't allow to fall. The rest of the townsfolk had been gathered as well as any stragglers that were left behind inside some houses. Rannulf looked at the people and then his wife followed by a nod. He was about to dash off when the sound of a horse's trots stopped him in his tracks. An old man wearing white armor dismounted the steed, blocked his path and looked at Rannulf.<br/><br/>"Don't go. No matter how skilled you are with the sword, this one is out of your league Rannulf!"<br/><br/>"Abel?! What do you mean?! If that's the case then it's all the more reason I should go! My son is fighting that thing!" Rannulf roared and brashly pushed the knight that was stopping him.<br/><br/>Abel grabbed the man's arm and pulled him back, landing a fierce glare on Rannulf's eyes. "All the more reason for you not to go! He's buying you time to escape! Do not think for a second that Guilford would fight that thing just for the heck of it! Your son is not stupid! He has to fight it because his family and the people are still here! I will go to him! Just get out here!"<br/><br/>A momentary silence enveloped the two men but Rannulf finally agreed, harshly pulling his held arm back to his sides. "Abel. Don't you dare let my son die! Him and the other one are our only hope. There aren't too many people specifically chosen by the Light these days."<br/><br/>Abel returned a determined look. "I know Rannulf, I know. I will protect them both even if it costs me my life." he promised and charged to the direction of the fierce fighting leaving a hopeful Karrie and Rannulf behind.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">____________________________________________________________________________________</div><br/><br/><br/>He was losing. If the cuts and bruises that now covered him weren't evidence enough, perhaps his broken left arm was? How about the several ribs he managed to crack? Or his swollen left eye that was rendered useless? What about his crushed right leg? Regardless, he needed to keep her busy. By now, the carrier pigeons no doubt made it to Caleta where the Grand Cathedral was, and a force of knights have surely been mobilized and are on their way here. He needed to keep her busy in a way. Well, not exactly the way he was planning but at least his mind was still working. Guilford felt continuous blows landing on him everywhere. The woman was on top of him pounding away. She did say something about granting him a slow death yet he couldn't feel anything anymore. He didn't want to admit it but she was strong, and there was nothing even he could do about it. He didn't even have the strength to groan in pain! No, he wasn't losing, he already lost, but he has to keep fighting.<br/><br/><span style="color: #8080FF">"Is this all you got?! Disappointing! I expected more from a Seraph! How weak can you get!? I'm only at half power and you're already out of fight? Ridiculous! How could you have defeated my beloved at this level?!"</span><br/><br/>She grabbed a battered, bloodied, and broken Guilford by the neck and lifted him up in the air, watching the man choke from her death grip. Murderous eyes looked at a glimmer of purple beneath the swollen ones Guilford had. She thought she was kind enough to restructure his face but was disgusted by the fire in his eyes. He was still fighting, in his own way. Her gaze moved to the man's right hand that still tightly gripped a broken sword. It annoyed her to no end. She yanked the broken sword that already lost its glow and was about to slit Guilford's throat with the remainder of the blade when she felt something hit her really hard from the side. She flicked her gaze to the left even as she was punted through a wall and saw white armor.<br/><br/>Abel's eyes turned to his left and saw the once proud knight, a Seraph, beaten to a pulp. He immediately checked on his former subordinate for a pulse and sighed in relief as he felt it. Without second thought, Abel used his healing spell on Guilford. He wasn't as skilled as some in this field but knew that if he doesn't do something soon, Guilford will die. Then a thought crossed his mind, perhaps he should let him die. With Eve walking around, this man would definitely need to learn everything he lacks to prepare him for the tough road ahead. He was in the middle of concentrating his power when the woman crawled out of the rubble, eyes burning intensely with rage. She attacked immediately but Abel simply raised his right hand in her direction. The woman felt herself hit something ridiculously hard but saw nothing in front of her. She tried again but no matter how fast or how strong she came at the two knights, she was always stopped by that invisible barrier.<br/><br/>"I assume you don't recognize me, Eve?"<br/><br/>Abel's voice stopped Eve's struggles against his barrier. She didn't recognize the man but that voice! That loathsome voice of the one who sealed her away! So he was still alive? This wrinkled old man was what became of him? Still, his power is the same as before. If he's here, things are already out of her control. She tensed as the man turned to look at her with a death stare.<br/><br/>"I'm really angry right now Eve. You just killed my former subordinate." He grumbled, eyes shooting a look at the mess that was the Seraph. Abel then returned his death stare at Eve. "I hope you're ready to feel my wrath." he said calmly.<br/><br/><span style="color: #8080FF">"You should be worried about <span style="font-style: italic">my</span> wrath!"</span>Eve threatened back, glancing over the motionless Seraph she killed and smirked in satisfaction. For now that should do.<br/><br/>"Really? Seeing how you're having difficulty with the lowest level of my barrier simply means you are not at full power. In this case, I am. If I caught you here first, you'd be cursing the day you were let out into this world again."<br/><br/>He was calm, yet Eve could tell that his threats were not empty. This man's power is not to be taken lightly. She backed away, cursing beneath her breath as she began to channel her gate spell.<span style="color: #8080FF">"This is not over Abel! I will come for the life of the other Seraph! I will make them pay! I'll make you all pay!"</span><br/><br/>"You better hope I don't find you first."<br/><br/>Eve stepped through the gate of darkness she created and vanished from Rosetta, leaving no traces of her tainted presence. As much as he would have wanted to finish her off, the old knight knew he didn't have the luxury of time. Abel then focused on Guilford. He continued taking care of those he could but sighed at the sight of broken bones and mangled flesh. This was not his specialty. He would have to take her to Cora if he wanted Guilford to make a full recovery in the least amount of time possible.<br/><br/>"You idiot. You should have fully opened the Gates to the Divine Realm right from the start!" he scolded and carefully carried Guilford in his arms.<span style="color: #0080FF">"So..rry...Cap..ta..in.."</span>the Seraph mumbled weakly before passing out.<br/><br/>Abel met Guilford's parents on his way back to his steed and couldn't afford to look at Lady Karrie who was crying her heart out. Rannulf was grinding his teeth in anger but was thankful that Abel got there in the nick of time. Had he not delayed the old knight, maybe Guilford wouldn't look so...beaten...like he was now.<br/><br/>"I should get going before a regiment of knights arrive here. They would probably take him back to Caleta in the Grand Cathedral where nobody could help him recover faster. I know a friend of his who specializes in healing. I will take your son to her."<br/><br/>"How...long will it take?" Karrie asked, still muffling a few sobs that escaped her now and then.<br/><br/>"It's a day and a half worth of travel from Rosetta to their place. They wanted to be far from the High Council as possible. Do not worry Lady Karrie, I will do what I can for your son while we make the trip. He would probably need three days under his friend's care. However, before I leave, I have something to ask of you."<br/><br/>"Anything!" Karrie immediately answered back.<br/><br/>"I need both of you to lie. Today, Guilford the Seraph, your son, died protecting this town." Abel stated firmly.<br/><br/>"W-What?! What do you mean Abel?!" Rannulf once again was in protest.<br/><br/>"The one your son was fighting is Eve. I'm sure you're familiar with the name."<br/><br/>Rannulf and Karrie dreaded upon the mention of Eve. "I see you haven't forgotten. Rannulf, if Eve is walking this earth, that could only mean that the time draws near." Abel continued. Rannulf was now pacing back and forth before the old knight. "The God of Sin... will rise again." he added and Abel simply nodded in agreement. "One of the two reasons why your son and the other Seraph was able to defeat the God of Sin is because I have succeeded in sealing half of his power before the final battle. That half is Eve..." Abel trailed. Glancing over a worried Rannulf that was still pacing back and forth before him. "A-And the other is...?" Karrie asked. Abel looked at her and answered, "The other is because the Divine Light has intervened and chosen your son and Lethe to be its champions. It's also the reason why your son and the other Seraph, unlike regular knights, holds such vast command over the power of the Light. Although these two still don't know how to tap into their latent power."<br/><br/>"Are you planning to train my son?" Rannulf inquired, his pacing slowly coming to a halt. Abel nodded. "I was once chosen by the Divine Light as well, but I have already fulfilled the task I was asked to do, to raise champions for it. My command over this power will fade after I have imparted the knowledge to both the champions the Divine Light picked. It's time to pass the baton over to the new generation."<br/><br/>"What of the other Seraph? Shouldn't you teach both of them at the same time?" Rannulf asked again. Abel hesitated to answer. "That was supposed to be the plan but Lethe is a special case. She is not as fortunate as your son in her life. I don't quite know how she would take it if she was to learn of the hidden truth."<br/><br/>It took a moment of quiet before Rannulf could say anything but finally gave in. "I understand. Then please take care of our son Abel. We'll leave him in your care." Rannulf agreed and hugged the still crying Karrie.<br/><br/>"Then take this..." Abel paused and handed over Guilford's broken Nirvana. "Give this to the knight regiment that will come and let them know what we agreed upon. Guilford used Divine Magic and sacrificed his body to force Eve to retreat, this is what happened here, understood?"<br/><br/>The Rosenwulfs nodded and took the two pieces of the broken sword. The two watched the old knight ride out of town in a hurry. For now, their son is dead.