When they noticed that the enemy was preparing themselves, Jordan raised his staff into the air and yelled out, “CHARGE!!!”

  The shadow soldiers replied with a cry of their own and began their descent down the hill. Their armor clad steps thundered across the land and the two members of Six joined in on the action, quickly rushing into battle. The two armies collided in gruesome fashion as the massive fight ensued, causing immense casualties on both sides.

  Felicity grabbed onto one of the shadow wyverns and caught a swift ride towards the Lumen and Arista forces. Jordan slammed his staff into the ground, causing a multitude of thick roots to fire up from the earth below. The green tendrils quickly made their way to the enemy forces, taking aim and attacking them with great precision. Despite his old age, he was commanding his ability with exceptional execution, not missing a single beat.

  On the opposite side of the battlefield, Felicity of Six leapt off of her shadowy ride and dove down to the group below. She unsheathed her top katana and placed the blade against her free hand in the process, cutting her palm. She then gripped the handle of her second katana with her bleeding hand and unsheathed it to reveal an opaque, deep red blade, dripping blood onto the ground below.

  A mass of soldiers rushed her, but once they entered her space, Felicity dashed around them with incredible speed and left little cuts all across their bodies. They looked confused by her seemingly pathetic attack and quickly turned around, preparing to rush her again. She glared at them as she held her hand up in a snapping position.

  With a single snap of her bloodied fingers, all of their wounds burst open and blood flew out in all directions, painting the dirt red. The mass of forty some odd soldiers collapsed to the ground, laying there completely lifeless. More soldiers sprinted to her location and she continued her assault, moving at lightning speed as she sliced her way through the swaths of soldiers. Her skill as a Blade Monarch was on full display as she effortlessly laid waste to her enemies.

  As the battle continued on, the infantry of Arista and Lumen began to realize something strange about the ethereal soldiers. Every time they slayed one of them, it would slowly reanimate and continue fighting as though it had never been cut down. Not only were the forces formidable in strength and number, but they were also seemingly unkillable. This realization caught them off guard and created confusion throughout the battlefield.

  Gradually, the summoned army began to push back the Lumen and Arista forces. The fact that they kept respawning from the void was enough to cause a temporary retreat. The same situation was occurring over at the left flank as Asiah of Three and Kaleel of Four ran through their forces alongside the legion. For the first time during this gruesome battle, Volaire could claim a small victory.

  Back at the Arista command center, the doors flew open as generals and guards rushed inside with panicked expressions.

  “Your Excellency! We have a major problem!!” The commander yelled, out of breath and sweating.

  “Well, what is it? Spit it out, I don’t have all day!” Gabriella Ramos replied, annoyed that they had entered her chamber in such a fashion.

  “The enemy has a mass of reinforcements, Ma’am! Thousands upon thousands of them!!”

  Gabriella’s eyes went wide with confusion as she sat up in her chair.

  “What!?! Where are they from? What nation is helping them!?” She asked with an expression that grew more and more angered.

  “Their affiliation is unknown. All we know is that they're more like creatures than anything else. They definitely aren’t human. They appeared out of nowhere and have been fighting alongside the Volaire military and members of Six.”

  He laid out all of the information he knew, not missing a single detail of the situation. The High Priest walked into the room, followed closely by Claudia Vandel, and wondered what the commotion was all about. He asked and after the Empress filled him in, his jaw dropped to the floor.

  “What!!?? Show me!” He commanded, needing to see for himself.

  The commander, along with some guards, escorted him outside and they went up into the watchtower. A guard handed Leo a pair of binoculars and he quickly looked into them. His heart jolted as he saw the massive amount of shadowy purple forces marching over the horizon. The iron clad soldiers, purple wolves sprinting about, shadow wyverns skating across the sky, and large golems towering in the distance had the High Priest at a complete loss for words.

  “T-This can’t be…. Why were we not made aware of this much military strength?? There's no way you could hide an army that size.” He questioned, feeling great disappointment in the current situation.

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  He handed the binoculars back to the guard and quickly gave orders to the commander.

  “Tell our men to regroup and fight harder. We can’t afford to get pushed back after coming this far. I won’t stand for it!!”

  The commander bowed his head and quickly left the watchtower, ready to give his men new directions. Claudia Vandel stepped forward and posed a question to the High Priest.

  “What will you have me do, sir?” She asked with a stoic yet curious expression.

  “Tell the Holy Core Saints to deploy and join the front lines. Since Von Melrose is out of commission at the moment, I need you to lead them. Do not disappoint me Claudia….”

  “As you command.”

  She bowed her head and vanished from the tower, leaving in an instant. Leo looked out over the horizon as he scowled, gritting his teeth with rage.

  Claudia Vandel (Age 29 - 12,950rlvl) made her way to an all white and gold tent not too far from the main command center. Outside of it was a banner donning a golden crest of a square crystal surrounded by wings. This was the symbol for the Holy Core Saint Order, Lumen’s elite group of Vestas.

  All seven members were incredibly powerful and had immense control over their manifests. Led by Von Melrose, the Holy Core Saints answered only to the High Priest and handled any command he gave them. Outside of extreme and desperate cases, the Holy Core Saints were rarely called upon. However, when they were summoned, their actions were swift and precise. Many within the nation referred to them as the Seven Saints of Lumen, infinitely blessed by the Core of Alaira.

  Claudia stepped inside of the tent and five individuals immediately looked in her direction before standing from their seats. They placed their right hands on their chests and bowed, showing the utmost respect to her.

  “At ease... We'll be deploying shortly.” She said with a cold and stoic cadence.

  The Knights stopped their greeting as they stood next to each other in a line. From right to left, the members present were Cassandra Graves (12,600rlvl), Byron Devault (11,900rlvl), Riegard Monroe (12,300rlvl), Trevor Falmon (11,700rlvl), & Simone Lathom (12,000rlvl).

  Their armor was lightly plated with white and silver metals, shining brightly in the light. The trim that traveled all around their gloves and chest piece was a deep gold, accenting perfectly with the rest of their gear. The Holy Core Saints looked nothing short of extraordinary and the pressure from their Core Energy added even more to their presence.

  “Vice-Captain Vandel, if you're the one giving our orders, I assume Commander Melrose fell in battle?” Byron asked with a curious tone.

  Claudia looked over and gave a short nod, confirming his suspicions.

  “Yes, Von Melrose and Varric Clover were defeated by Azhane Belouis. However, they succeeded in their mission and are still among the living. Their bodies were retrieved and they're currently undergoing medical treatment.” She replied, crossing her arms as she let out a slight sigh of relief.

  “That's good to hear, but if they were successful, why are we deploying?” Cassandra asked, brushing her dark red hair to the side.

  “It seems that the enemy had another card to play and it’s become quite troublesome. High Priest Vaux’Hallah wants us on the front lines to find and eliminate whatever the source is for this new threat."

  As Claudia finished her response, Trevor Falmon smirked and chuckled.

  “Were our soldiers so weak that they couldn’t push through Volaire’s pathetic little army? And now we need to dirty our hands with whatever they couldn’t handle. Tch, what a joke.” He remarked, finding this situation to be quite annoying.

  The other Knights rolled their eyes at his disrespectful comment, not accepting his line of thinking. Claudia shot an icy glare at her subordinate, her eyes appearing like crystals as blue as the ocean. Shivers went down Trevor’s spine once his gaze met hers.

  “Those ‘weak’ soldiers of ours have risked their lives for our nation and you dare sully their names? Say something else stupid like that again and I'll end your life right here, right now. Do I make myself clear?”

  Her presence in that moment was terrifying and Trevor immediately nodded before bowing his head to Claudia, apologizing and regretting his comment. The tension in the room was sky high until Claudia redirected the conversation.

  “Anyways… Prepare yourselves for battle, we leave in twenty minutes…”

  She turned around and walked out of the tent, not saying another word.

  *SMACK* “Ow!!” Trevor yelled, rubbing the back of his head.

  “Are you insane?? Why would you even open your mouth like that in the presence of Vice Captain Vandel? Idiot!” Simone remarked with an angered and annoyed expression, shocked he would step out of line like that.

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. Sometimes I just can’t help myself, sorry…” Trevor replied with a half smile, still rubbing his head.

  “You’re lucky she only let you off with a warning. The Vice Captain has done much worse to past members of the Order.” Byron added, shaking his head at Trevor’s stupidity.

  “Hmm, maybe she likes me, heh heh heh. I wouldn’t mind marrying into the Vandel family, I'd be rich!”

  Trevor smirked as he licked his lips creepily.

  “Ew, so gross…”

  Cassandra glared at Trevor with disgust, wishing he would just stop already.

  “Pfft, I don’t think you’d ever have a chance with that. You would be like a worm to that family, useless and unaccepted.” Riegard quietly added, finally giving his thoughts on the current conversation.

  "Tell me about it. Hell, Claudia's father treats them more like soldiers than family members. All the wealth in the world wouldn't make a miserable life like that appealing." Cassandra concluded.

  “Alright, time to get serious. Let’s take care of this threat so our forces can move forward again. We’ve wasted enough time..” Byron said as he gathered his things.

  “Yeah, let’s crush them! Heh heh!” Trevor added with a fire in his eye.

  The rest of the team agreed and after a brief moment of preparation, they headed out of the tent to meet up with Claudia. They gave her an assured nod and the Holy Core Saints mobilized towards the battlefield.