Chapter 103: Last Stand

Galen's cathedral was the main temple of the god of the sun in Phatar and, as such, no expense had been spared in its construction. In addition to a colossal central nave and vast side aisles, it had countless towers so tall they seemed to reach the sky.

Inside, sculptures, stained glass windows, paintings, and carved reliefs covered the walls, telling the history of both the kingdom and the Church of the Sun. Anyone who ventured beneath the main dome usually couldn't help but feel small.

But at that moment, no one could stop to admire the magnificence of the structure. Screams and the clash of metal on metal had already begun to echo through its corridors.

"Damn it! Is it still not working?!" The Enlightened One kicked the floor furiously.

A group of priests stood around a magic circle beneath them, but it showed no sign of activating. It looked like nothing more than another decoration in that monumental hall.

"Most Radiant One, our apologies. Something is interfering with the teleportation circle. We cannot get it to work," explained the high priest overseeing the others, his voice almost a whimper.

"I'm surrounded by incompetents!" the Enlightened One roared, clenching his fists. "You had better fix it, or we're all going to die!"

"Your Grace!"

The Enlightened One turned around to find the young woman with long black hair and amber eyes who had called out to him.

"You're… Jeanne or whatever, the adventurer who received a distinction after the last battle… What do you want? Can't you see we're busy?"

Jeanne tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword. Behind her, Darien, Sorales, and Kiel all wore tense expressions.

"I beg you, let us go out and help the people! We've been in here doing nothing throughout the entire siege!"

The Enlightened One slowly approached Jeanne. Once he stood before her, he raised a hand.

!!

The slap rang out beneath the dome.

"How dare you!"

"You bastard!"

Sorales and Kiel were about to lunge at the Enlightened One, but Darien, standing slightly ahead of them, stopped both just in time. He threw his arms out to block their way and shook his head.

"Darien!" Kiel protested. "You're seriously going to let that go?!"

Darien did not answer, but bit down hard on his lip.

Sorales, meanwhile, slowly exhaled, regaining his composure.

"Darien is right," he whispered close to Kiel's ear. "If we do anything, we could make things worse."

Kiel clenched his teeth, but knowing who they were dealing with, he had no choice but to nod.

"How many times do I have to tell you that your duty is to remain here and ensure my safety?" The Enlightened One's words felt as cold as ice. "Don't think that because you're adventurers I can't have you hanged for defying my sacred authority."

Jeanne touched her aching cheek with one hand. Her eyes welled with tears from the blow, but she did not falter.

"Your Grace, we'll do everything in our power to keep the enemy out of the cathedral! But please allow us to lead the people somewhere safe first!"

"Enough!" the Enlightened One shouted. "If you address me one more time, the only thing returning to the Tirelia Adventurers' Guild will be your tongue."

"But, Your Gra-"

"Jeanne!"

At that moment, Alaika interrupted her, stepping between Jeanne and the Enlightened One.

"I owe you my life for saving me on the battlefield." Alaika gripped her lance as dozens of paladins surrounded the members of Farbound. "Don't make me stand against you."

Jeanne took a step back, startled by the paladin's attitude.

"Alaika… but you… you were ready to give your life for Galen…"

"Of course I was," replied the last of the Four Lights of the Church of the Sun with a nod. "But Galen is more than just a city and its people. It is the manifestation of our lord Helux's majesty, and the Enlightened One, its personification."

"In other words, I am the highest priority," the Enlightened One declared, looking at Jeanne as though she were the most ignorant fool imaginable.

The adventurer lowered her head.

…

After a few moments of silence, she turned around and began to walk away.

"Have you finally learned your place?" the Enlightened One asked. Had he not been so worried about his own situation, he would have smiled disdainfully. "I heard of your exploits and granted you the honor of serving in the cathedral's last line of defense, but I suppose that's what I should have expected from a band of adventurers. You're nothing but rabble… Wait! Where do you think you're going?"

Jeanne was not returning to her position. She walked straight past it, followed by the rest of her party.

"If you try to stop us, we'll defend ourselves," Jeanne warned without looking back. "However, Your Grace, if I were you, I would save my forces for the enemy instead of using them against people who are already going out to fight for you."

"How… How dare you?!"

The Enlightened One clenched his teeth so hard they ground together. He was so furious he was about to order an attack regardless of the consequences, but the arm he had begun raising to give the signal stopped halfway.

"Ha! We got here first!"

"It would be rather strange if we hadn't. We were the only ones heading toward the cathedral, after all."

To everyone's astonishment, two figures appeared through the open doors.

One was a man wearing a sleeveless jacket that left his muscular arms completely exposed. His black hair stood up in spikes, streaked with vivid red.

The other, by contrast, was a woman wearing a fitted outfit with sleeves so long that they completely concealed her hands.

Every now and then, her light ash gray eyes struggled open, only to drift shut again moments later. Her hair was the same color, with a perfectly straight fringe across her forehead and the rest falling all the way to her knees.

"Rovena, you're such a killjoy. Have I ever told you that before?"

"Do you think I keep a list of everything you tell me?" The woman named Rovena covered a yawn with one of her long sleeves. "I don't understand why I have to be the one to finish Tortigor's job…"

"We! We have to finish the job! Why are you leaving me out?!"

"Yeah… whatever…"

"And what did you expect, anyway? Poor Tortigor is still recovering from Kamira's punishment."

Jeanne had already drawn her conclusion from the powerful, familiar presence radiating from the newcomers. Hearing Tortigor's name confirmed it.

"Vampires…"

"Vampire progenitors," Alaika added as she stepped up beside her.

The paladins and the members of Farbound drew their weapons as well.

"Rovena and Carthos?!" the Enlightened One exclaimed, going pale as he recognized two of the faces that had quite literally been painted into the history of the Church of the Sun. "The vampires who destroyed the army of the Enlightened One Ofolus V…"

"Rovena! We're famous!" Carthos cheered, clapping his hands.

"Why… do I have to be associated with you?" Rovena asked, covering another yawn with her sleeve halfway through the question.

"Well, I'm always late when we're summoned because I'm training in the morning, and you're always late because you oversleep, so we usually end up with the same assignments… Wait, why did that sound like a complaint?! Don't hurt my feelings!"

Their presence was so imposing that the paladins simply watched the two vampires exchange words without daring to move a muscle.

Jeanne, for her part, searched for an opening to attack. Even though the two seemed distracted by their conversation, the instincts she had developed through her experiences in Eryndea told her she would pay dearly if she attacked without a plan.

"Wha… What are you waiting for, you bunch of useless fools?!" In the end, it was the Enlightened One who finally snapped, unable to bear the tension in the air any longer. "You adventurers! Didn't you want to fight so badly?! Here's your chance! At least buy us some time until we get the magic circle working again!"

"That bastard… only when it suits him…" Kiel muttered.

"Don't get distracted," Darien warned. "One wrong move could cost us our lives."

"If those two are here, that means they aren't fighting Yvene. That's a relief," Sorales said, adjusting his glasses.

"Ha! I knew something happened that night, you bastard!" Kiel burst out, pointing a finger at him. "You're a traitor to bachelors everywhere!"

"N-no! I never said anything happened!" Sorales protested.

"You two! Could you focus on the battle that's about to begin?!" Darien scolded them in exasperation.

"It's fine. Let them blow off some steam, Darien." Jeanne, standing ahead of the others, smiled faintly but did not look back. She couldn't afford to take her eyes off the vampires.

That caution was put to the test almost immediately. The moment she finished speaking, Carthos took a few steps forward, putting everyone facing him on alert.

"Feeling a little more relaxed now? You all look so tense! It wouldn't be any fun if your weapons slipped out of your sweaty hands." The vampire shrugged with a smile. "It's just the two of us, and on top of that, it's daytime. Without our Lady Selene's light, we can't use our full power."

"You really think you're that far above us, vampire?!" Alaika scoffed. "You're nothing but abominations of the goddess of harlots and the god of carrion!"

That was when Rovena's eyes opened completely, revealing magic circles rotating around her irises.

"Honestly, I've never been particularly fond of violence, but at times like this, I can't help remembering all the villages the Church of the Sun destroyed while hunting vampires."

Carthos moved away from Rovena with a few deliberately exaggerated sidesteps.

"Ooh, scary. You made her so angry she actually woke up. She's a huge fan of their love story, after all…" Carthos shook his head, then turned his attention toward Jeanne and the rest of Farbound. "Since my partner has her sights set on the last of the Four Lights, that leaves the rest of you to me."

As he spoke, Carthos slipped on a pair of iron gauntlets, each fingertip ending in a long, razor sharp claw.

"Everyone, get ready!" Jeanne called, gripping her sword. "Don't miss even the slightest movement!"

"That's the spirit!" Carthos cheered, clearly amused. "But will it really be that easy? It might not be night, but it's the perfect time for our inherited shadow skills."

With that, he took a small step back, placing his foot on his own shadow.

"Shadow Step."

The vampire vanished instantly.

"Kiel!"

Jeanne shouted in time for the young adventurer to turn around, but too late for him to bring his daggers up against Carthos's sharp metal claws.

A powerful crack of energy rang out as Sorales's barrier once again saved the day, stopping the attack.

"Sorales, forgive me!" Kiel cried. "I think I'll fall in love with you too!"

But at that very moment, Sorales's barrier began to crack.

"I take it back! You're completely useless!" Kiel shouted, now with tears in his eyes.

"Move, Kiel!"

But Jeanne did not wait for him. Just as the barrier shattered, she slammed her shoulder into Kiel, knocking him aside, and caught Carthos's attack on her own sword.

Clang!

The impact was brutal, sending a burst of wind out around them. But the clash did not end there.

Clink Clang Clink Clink Clang Clank

Strike after strike rained down on Jeanne, her expression growing more strained with each one.

"Jeanne!" Darien cried, rushing to her aid.

But a single kick from Carthos sent Jeanne flying. She crashed into Darien, and both went tumbling to the floor.

"Come on, get up! We're only just warming up!" Carthos called, clapping his metal gauntlets together to goad them on.

Jeanne and Darien struggled back to their feet. Kiel did the same on the opposite side of Carthos.

"Where are the paladins?!" Sorales shouted. "Do they seriously expect us to fight this monster alone?!"

The question answered itself the moment he turned his head, and the color drained from his face.

Only Alaika remained standing. The rest of the paladins lay scattered across the floor, mutilated and torn apart. Some were still being devoured by an assortment of monsters, some familiar and others unlike anything Sorales had ever seen.

"My charm is a little different from Lady Munia's. Allow me to introduce my humble collection."

As the magic circles in Rovena's eyes lit up, she lazily extended her arms, her long sleeves hanging loose. Shadows pooled across the floor around her, and another dozen monsters emerged from them.

"I have absolutely no intention of being punished like Tortigor…" Rovena let out another yawn. "I'm sorry… but no one's getting out of here alive… Maybe I'm not that sorry."