Oh God, give me a blade to sweep aside the enemy.
And the strength. The strength to crush the gathering horde of enemies. I beseech you.
✦ ✦ ✦
I’ve got fumes for magic; my charcoal wands and fire lances are out.
“We’re good! Relax! The moat water around this southern bit is pretty tame! We’ve gotten this far, all we gotta do is put up with a bit of cold and we’re home free!” Not giving up. No way in hell I’m giving up.
“The lances! Take the empty lances and jump in! Ah! Ale barrels are fine, too! Toss out what’s inside and cling to em! No need ta panic! Just stare at the sky and float! It’ll be fine! Humans are made to float!” We’ve all got heads. If you don’t stop thinking, there’ll be new options.
“Say! Look at this. Ain’t this cool? The Mage Company, the Red Cloaks, are damned strong! We’ll hold those monsters at bay, so go enjoy a midnight swim!” Monsters, eh?
I thought I knew the yellow eyes were damned dangerous, but that Golden. She’s a cut above the rest. The hell? A storm of lightning bolts? The power’s on another level entirely! Feeling enlightened about now. The Golden exists to end the world itself. The black clouds that still cover the sky, looking arrogantly down at the world, grunting like a rock slide as it figures out how best to destroy the world. The color of death in a stewpot.
Dammit, I ain’t afraid to die. We all die someday. We live knowing that.
“Don’t worry! The elven princess is on our side! We’ll make it through! We’ll make it... We’ll make it if we can stay alive... So stay alive, dammit!” But there’s these louts I don’t want dying on me. There’s so many of them here that I can’t stand letting someone kill them. I’m not giving in. Not now, dammit.
“Hey, Odysson.”
“Eh? What is it, bandage man? Shut up and sleep. We’re short on litters and people. Wait your damned turn.”
“No, no, I’m trying to tell you, I don’t need my turn.” Just what the hell is he saying? This... Peine in the Ass, the commander of the Cliff garrison. When the Bomber Knights brought him in, he was pretty much a corpse, but this sort’s the most likely to cling to life. He can’t move his body, but he can still move his mouth.
“Fire bombs, was it? Can ya just leave me one?”
“We’re out. Also, don’t underestimate how hard flame magic is to use.”
“Aw, dammit. That sucks... was hoping to take those bloodsuckers with me for sure this time.”
“Well, that time’s gonna have to wait, buddy. You wounded need to act like wounded and just get someone to haul you off.”
“Booo.” Went to all the trouble to save his life, no way I’m gonna just let him run off and suicide bomb ’em... Not that I can tell him that.
The warzone’s fighting is coming this way. Bloody hell, too late to drag back the orderlies.
“It ain’t much of a replacement for ammo, but here, take the dagger. Use it well.”
“Keep it. I mean, do I look like I can use it? Look at me.”
“A-Ah? Well, suppose you’re right.” You telling me I have to finish this bugger off? Oh well, better that than getting eaten alive, right?
“Huh. So Odysson, your ace in the hole’s not the dagger?”
“...The hell are you on about?”
“Well, you’re clearly planning to try something. Like if you’re out of ammo, you’ll burn your blood instead.”
“Oh? They feed you some books or something? S’true, blood’s got magic in it. But it’s too raw to use without refining it. It’s not stable enough to be a medium.”
“So refined blood’s your ace, huh?”
“...You really are sharp. Yeah, this is it.” A white, smelly substance like rock salt taking up room in my pouch. Fire salt. It’s made primarily from human spleen. One of my troops, a born and bred knightly sort, pleaded for me to make it since his wounds were fatal, and so I processed and made it by my hand.
“In all honesty, I don’t think I can control it. I’m damn near out of magic... I might be able to trigger it if I threw my life into the mix.”
“So a proper suicide bomb. How cool.”
“There’s nothing cool about that, you dolt.”
“Nah, it’s cool. I’ll watch the results for you. So try your best.” Trying my best. Yeah, suppose that’s the ultimate truth. That’s what life boils down to in the end.
Welp... here they come. Damned dirty bastards, coming specifically to go after the helpless, despite the fact the fighting’s continuing all around us. Yellow-eyed vampires. Damn. Scores of em, to boot.
“A’ight! Leave this place to me, the Sorcerer Odysson! Now, all of ya, hop into the moat! Help each other out and float! And make sure you live!”
“Oh, no need to worry about me. I’ll probably die if I get into the water, anyway... Huh?” Eh, what the hell is it? When the yammerer goes quiet it sets off all sorts of bells in my head.
Are there enemies coming from the moat, too... Huh?
Cavalry.
Based on the equipment they look like the reinforcements from the Cliffs, but... the hell’s up with the colors? Black, lit on the inside in a burning red, with little flames on the surface, almost like burning coal.
There’s another. Two more. Damn, more of them. One after another. What the hell are these guys? Where are they coming from? There shouldn’t be anyone but civilians and wounded around here... just people the army needs to spend its entire force to evacuate... Ah, got it. So that’s what’s going on.
Yup, there she is.
Kuroi.
Mounted on a burning horse, black hair flowing... Whoa, her eyes are something else. Burning for real now, eh? Overflowing with magic. Magic the color of molten metal. A gaze of intense anger. A hotter, deeper, intense anger.
So the silent ember cavalry are basically you, aren’t they? Yeah, makes sense thinking about them as burning coal. They’re like your two eyes. Holding flames in the depths of mineral blacks. Eyes that don’t let the enemy go once they find them.
Which means... yeah, figured. The cavalry charge. A red, burning cavalry charge with a hundred troopers. They blast aside the yellow eyes. Well, they’re getting counterattacked, a few of them are falling, but they’ve wiped out the enemy.
Wait, no, that’s not it. That’s not what’s happening. The fallen knights disappear once... and then reappear. They manifest again next to Kuroi. Burning a bright shade of red, they revive each time, fighting to wipe out the enemies at the end of Kuroi’s glare. So that’s them. They’re the ones.
The Undying Legions from the holy book.
Damn, that’s ridiculous. That’s the only word that works. Ridiculous. No, words don’t do this justice at all.
Kuroi. Oh Kuroi.
You’re going back into battle, leading three hundred undying cavalry troopers. You’ve gone from being a single, overwhelming warrior, to leading an entire overwhelming company. Of your own.
With the heat of humanity’s anger... and the depth of humanity’s sorrow in your eyes.
“Gentlemen... impressive. Such impressive fighting.” The captain’s smiling. Smiling as he smiles, his lips are quivering.
“...Looks like it’s not your turn yet.”
“Looking forward to it. No way I’m not getting back into battle.”
“No doubt. To join those ranks, you’re gonna have to be able to fight.”
“What a life. To have both a great reason to live and a great reason to die.” Yeah, no argument there, bud.
Since there’s no need to give up living, and no need to have death end your hopes. A life where you can cry and laugh. A purpose for being born.
Oh. Kuroi’s advancing.
Surrounded by the mockery of the long-ears, oppressed by them, it’s an awful place. Hemmed in by the arrogance of the yellow-eyes, abused for fun, this is a cruel place. This cruel, ruthless battlefield that is like a miniature of this awful world.
You charge straight in without hesitation. No pause, not a glance back. For the people who are still fighting. For the people who call out for help. As the leader of humanity. As the Apostle of God.
Go get ’em Kuroi.
No... I’ll pray to you, God.
The girl that serves you... she’s still young. She doesn’t get that there are alternatives to taking every damned thing seriously. She’s too dedicated. Too naïve.
Please, don’t sacrifice her.
If it’s for Kuroi, I... no, we, will die a thousand deaths. We’ll happily serve as fodder and fuel, and if you’ll make us undying, we’ll fight for eternity.
So, please... protect Kuroi.
Please. Deus Ex.