《Arcane Cycle》


 Chapter 0: Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (I)

    A gentle morning breeze brushes against a tall mountain in the southern side of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. That mountain has been there for countless years, and that seemingly harmless breeze doesn¡¯t possesses any threat for a single blade of grass, let alone for the grandeur of this mountain. However,if it is threatening or not is not for them to decide.


    That gentle wind which can only carry a handful of specs of dust, a couple of meters from its original position, if given enough time it can flatten the tallest and mightiest of mountains. Time, the source of life, the harbinger of death, the miracle of creation, the incarnation of destruction. Time, powerless yet almighty, intangible yet always surrounding us, finite and yet infinite at the same time.


    Since the era of the True Gods no one has been able to conquer time, yet this is a history of an individual who was able to defy the rules of those True Gods, who was able to squander the fate that had been imposed on him.


    In the mountainside of that tall mountain, known as Mount Gerlic, there¡¯s a large collection of small and tall buildings which number more than eight hundred thousand, forming a large and lively city which shares the same name with the mountain at its back.


    Gerlic City, one of the capitals of the Holy Empire of Ivalice, although not the biggest city in the entire empire, its location near a chain of mountains in the center of the Vadem continent gives it a strong tactical position for military purposes. The abundance of precious ores inside the mountains, fertile lands which can grow almost every type of seeds and herbs, and the fact that is in the way for numerous merchant routes that goes from east to west and form north to south, facilitated the fast flourishing of this city.


    The first rays of sunlight slipped past the mountains to fall upon the land giving a definite end to the night, however, it seemed that for the denizens of Gerlic City dawn came too late because the city was already bustling with activity since a couple of hours ago. Blacksmiths hammering tools and weapons in anvils, merchants yelling at top of their lungs in the streets and in the different plazas, priests spreading their preaching, farmers plowing their lands and collecting fresh vegetables, seeds, and fruits. Almost every corner of Gerlic City was lively.


    In one of the many buildings in Gerlic city there was a common bakery, there, an old woman holding a basket full of bread in her back was walking towards a counter in the outside of the building. A young attendant hurriedly received the bread basket and immediately started to sort it out. The aged woman let out a soft sigh and a proud smile covered her wrinkled face as she walked out of the bakery to inhale a bit of fresh air.


    She produced a yellow handkerchief from her apron in order to wipe out the perspiration on her forehead and at the same time turned to look towards Mount Gerlic. A look of veneration filled her eyes as she eyed a huge and imposing fortified castle that covered almost all her field of vision. Old or young, strong or weak, whoever looked at Salzem Castle would feel a sensation of safeness and reassurance.


    Salzem Castle is one of the four sacred places of the Holy Empire of Ivalice, only those individuals who have a great status within the empire or which are part of the Royal Bloodline would have the right to enter, even each guard and servant has some kind of special background.


    This castle covers one hundred and seventy thousand square kilometers of Mount Gerlic and is protected by the most powerful spell arrays, spell formations, and the most formidable Imperial Royal Guard of the whole empire, which numbers more than fifty thousand soldiers. Even if an army of ten million soldiers wants to siege Salzem Castle, they would find it extremely difficult and frustrating.


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    Salzem Castle has existed since more than ten thousand years ago and is a testimony of the hegemony of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. In its history, the stretch of the lands has been continually being pushed back and forth in many smaller conflicts with other empires, and although Salzem Castle is located in the southern border, no competent General would dare to push a military campaign through this location.


    Those who were foolish enough to be consumed by the greed of conquering the fertile lands and rich mines near Mount Gerlic and attempted to siege Salzem Castle had suffered the most disastrous and crushing defeats.


    Victory after victory, legends of Salzem Castle were spread to every corner of the known world. Some of this legends were exaggerated to the point of saying that Salzem Castle was protected by a God, and without the aid of another God, the result would be always the same.


    There was one legend in particular which everybody loved to talk about, mothers from all over the empire would recite it lovingly to their sons with their eyes shining with hope.


    During the last calamity war, the demi-humans were ruthlessly rushing a campaign from the north of the continent with an army that numbered over the hundreds of millions. The human alliance was attempting to make their last standing, but they were destined to perish against that formidable foe.


    In midst of the anguish, despair, and tiredness of those valiant soldiers who were fighting in the calamity war a miracle occurred: A paladin appeared. He was matchless in combat, had an aura of an extraordinary leader, his appearance was that of an archangel untainted by the mortal world. People spoke of him as a saint blessed by the heavens with unnatural amounts of holy power, a man chosen by mother earth to rule over the land.


    Not only he stopped the invasion single-handedly, with courage and determination, he changed the tide of the war completely to the point where humanity started retaliating and recovered part of the lands that were lost during the war.


    His name was Titor.


    After the war ended, Titor and his followers divided the lands of the Great Holy Empire and founded the Holy Empire of Ivalice. Titor was venerated like a God, and at the same time, hated and envied like a mere mortal, but those who hated him could only clench his teeth and endure their anger, no one was a match for him in this world.


    Titor ruled over the Holy Empire of Ivalice for two thousand years, and then, he vanished. Some people think he transcended the mortal realm, others that he died of age, and some people thinks he is still living within the lands he once ruled. Whether any of those statements are true or false, no one has been able to prove it.


    Although no one inherited his blood, before disappearing he left great legacies for his empire that would maintain the political and military stability after his departure, one of them known as the Order of the Exalted Paladins.

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (II)

    The blessings of the light shines upon everyone. There is no a definite way to grasp its power, people of over the land devotes to it in different ways, that includes Order of the Exalted Paladins.


    What makes the Order of the Exalted Paladins so special is that the methods, techniques, and artifacts left by Titor for exercising control over the light are extremely mysterious and powerful.


    If anyone claims that the Order of the Exalted Paladins are the second best when it comes to exercise faith over the light, no one else in any corner of the known world would dare to say that they occupy first place...


    Not far from Salzem Castle, in a street which leads to the outskirts of Gerlic City, a woman clad in a white leather armor and a blue cloak was walking at a steady pace followed by a small platoon of heavy armored guards.


    ¡°Waaaah! Aren¡¯t those Paladins from the elite guard of the Order of Exalted Paladins? Such a majestic aura!¡±


    ¡°Look over there! That is¡­ that¡­ is the Lady of White?!¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe these old bones had the privilege of seeing the Master of the Order of Exalted Paladins with his own eyes!¡±


    Each one of the heavy armored guards who were walking in an orderly fashion were wearing proudly the insignia of the Order of Exalted Paladins in their chest and cloak. They radiated a holiness that pacified the mind of any onlookers and at the same time terrified the evildoers. Each one of this Paladins was capable of slaying dozens, and even hundreds of demonic beast with little to no effort.


    However, the most eye-catching person was the woman clad in white armor. Her aura was many times more imposing than those of the elite guards behind her. Her pair of hazel colored eyes emitted an incomparable gentleness, her small cherry lips projected a smile in form of a crescent moon that made a thousand flowers to blossom with joy, her jet black hair seemed as it was painted by the careful strokes of the brush of a master painter, and her delicate white skin seemed as soft as the skin of a newborn baby.


    Even behind the not-so tight leather armor she was wearing was obvious that her figure was slender and voluptuous. The only thing that impeded many men to go crazy with lust towards her was the fact that her own aura possessed a soothing effect towards those who were much weaker than her.


    She was no other than Sile, the True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice, also known by the commoners as the Lady of White.


    While she traversed the city children and elders sometimes will offer her small gifts in exchange for a blessing, the status she had in the heart of the commoners was by no means lowers than a Pope, a Hero, or a King.


    Although attending the commoners meant that she had to stop many times and her pace towards her destiny was very slow, Sile didn¡¯t mind at all. In fact, she enjoyed sharing her time with them when she had the opportunity to do so, because as a True Paladin, her duties for the Holy Empire were endless.


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    After two hours of sharing with the commoners, she smiled apologetically and quickened her pace towards the outskirts of Gerlic City. Her destination was one of the military quarters stationed there.


    After resuming her pace, in one of the passageways of a street she had to traverse, a man clad in black armor suddenly appeared out of nowhere. His features were hidden by the shadows of the building next to him. He closed his eyes as if he was waiting for something to happen, and suddenly his eyes snapped open with a dark, yet mysterious glow lying in them. If you looked closely you could notice¡­ that his pupils didn¡¯t belong to that of a human, but resembled those of a serpent!


    Just as that mysterious man appeared, Sile seemed to notice something. She touched the back of her right hand with her left one and the corner of her eyes involuntarily twitched, then she decided to immediately change directions and quicken her pace.


    No long after, the man clad in black armor exited the passageway and looked to his right. To his surprise, that side of the street seemed pretty empty. He looked to the other side but then again, nothing was in his line of sight. He muttered confused to himself for a moment and then focused all of his attention on his ears.


    He didn¡¯t had to exert much effort until he noticed that what he was looking for wasn¡¯t in front of him, but in his back! He turned back in one go and just saw that in the other side of the passageway a platoon of heavy armored guards were¡­ jogging!


    He laughed mockingly to himself and then he started to run towards the other side of the passageway. However, instead of running he was blending himself with the shadows and reappearing many maters ahead with each step!


    After reaching the streets where the platoon of heavy armored guards were running, he moved his head sideways while trying to see what was in the front. After catching a glimpse of the blue cloak, a strange smile surfaced in his face which were no longer enveloped by the shadows, astonishingly revealing the factions of a young and handsome dark elf.


    ¡°Hey Sile, why are you evading me? I wanted to see you so badly and yet you are evading me?¡± The handsome dark elf yelled a top of his lungs playfully while jogging towards the front of the platoon.


    The members of the elite guard had long since noticed what was happening. When they heard this seemingly young dark elf yelling and treating so casual to the master of the Order of the Exalted Paladins, they could only let out hollow laughs.


    Upon hearing her name being called so casually, Sile stamped her foot and stopped in place. She glanced back and saw the figure of the dark elf in black armor approaching to her. Immediately an emotion rarely seen in her surfaced for a brief instant: anger.


    ¡°Lengsat! You lowly shadow dragon! You disappeared for two years yet you dare to come back so casually while yelling my name?¡± Sile answered with an angry tone. Those who made part of the Order knew that the only entity capable of making her angry was Lengsat, and shockingly, he was a shadow dragon!

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (III)

    ¡°Is that your way of saying hello?¡± Lengsat playfully answered. The huge pride of a powerful entity couldn¡¯t be concealed in his voice, yet his demeanor was tranquil as a pond of clear water.


    Shadow dragons, as all of the chromatic dragons, are evil creatures by nature. Their power is only matched by their pride, they are living weapons that inspire terror in the whole land. Dragons are not creatures which you want to mess with, even less with an evil one at that.


    However, a race as powerful as the chromatic dragons can¡¯t run rampart, because the world was designed to be balanced. When the chromatic dragons were born, the metallic dragons were born at the same time, as the other side of a coin. Metallic dragons are good by nature.


    And yet, nothing is absolute. Not all the chromatic dragons are evil, and not all the metallic dragons are good. Lengsat is a vivid example of this rule.


    ¡°Hmmmp.¡± Sile coldly snorted and resumed her walking.


    Lengsat sighed awkwardly and then, with a pace nor quick nor slow, jogged until he was next to Sile. Neither of the guards said anything in complaint and just continued to escort her.


    ¡°Would you at least have the finesse of telling me what happened?¡± Sile asked Lengsat when she saw that he was close enough.


    Lengsat cleared his throat and then replied with an earnest expression to the question he knew she was going to ask first, ¡°I, and every other dragon in the land, was summoned by the Northern Dragonflight, I can ignore a summon or two of some elders but not a direct summon from them.¡±


    ¡°A direct summon of the Northern Dragonflight for all the dragons?¡± Sile was momentarily stunned when she heard those words.


    The Northern Dragonflight was considered one of the biggest factions of the world. Whether be it humans, elves, beast men, orcs, or any other race, they knew that if the Northern Dragonflight would want to rule over any land, they only had the option of yielding willingly or face a complete extermination. A summon of all the dragons that made part of the Northern Dragonflight? Just how frightening was that?


    However, Sile regained immediately her wits. Is not that she was not afraid of such force, but she know the nature of the members of the Northern Dragonflight, after all, she knew one herself. ¡°Is something related with the Dragon Veins?¡± Sile asked with uncertainty.


    ¡°No, not at all.¡± Lengsat waved his hand, dismissing Sile¡¯s idea. ¡°Even I couldn¡¯t understand clearly was what all about, but if you want the recap, let¡¯s say that it was for us in order to be prepared against a formidable foe that can awaken at any time.¡±


    ¡°A formidable foe¡­¡± Sile murmured this words softly and slowly. She was trying to come up with an idea of how powerful it needed to be in order for the Northern Dragonflight to be called a formidable foe, and at the thought of it she couldn¡¯t help but inhale a mouthful of cold air.


    Since it was something that was unimaginable even for her, she stopped talking about it and the glared fiercely once again to Lengsat, ¡°And it took you two years?¡±


    ¡°Why are you glaring me like that for? It were only two years!¡± Lengsat waved both of his hand in front of his chest while plastering an innocent smile in his face.


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    ¡°¡­¡± Sile¡¯s gaze turned even fiercer, to the point of threatening. Although Lengsat was a young shadow dragon, that¡¯s only when you take into account the lifespan of a dragon. Lengsat was about two or three centuries old while Sile was just a quarter of century old. While 2 years didn¡¯t represent much for a dragon, for a human it was a lot of time.


    ¡°Fine, forget it, there¡¯s no use in being angry with such a tactless and egoistical dragon.¡± Sile said somewhat grumpily, but her expression turned somewhat beautiful and a smile surfaced in her face. ¡°Nevertheless, I hope that you don¡¯t dessert on my next mission.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Said Lengsat with a surprised tone, ¡°Did I came back in a good time?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not what you think.¡± Sile looked at Lengsat, as if she knew what he meant by a good time, and shook his head gently, ¡°I¡¯m going as a scout and ambassador to the neutral tribes on the Northern Plains, I¡¯m departing tomorrow.¡±


    ¡®The great Holy Empire of Ivalice doesn¡¯t has someone else to send as the Master of the Order of Exalted Paladins in order to do a scouting mission?¡¯ Lengsat murmured softly in his heart, the suddenly recalled something, ¡°Wait, the Northern Plains? Then there is a side mission, am I wrong?¡±


    Sile nodded and her expression turned serious. ¡°This matter has been delayed a lot. I¡¯m the master of the Order only in title, since I didn¡¯t inherited the title from Master Isiurem but just with a King¡¯s decree¡­ My authority is even below of that of the elders. We are always a laughingstock in the King¡¯s Council!¡± Sile¡¯s expression turned pained at this point.


    ¡°If I could find his whereabouts, or at least know why he took the White Lotus Grail¡­ Then maybe I could restore the glory of the Order.¡± Traces of harsh feelings and conflicting emotions could be seen in Sile¡¯s eyes.


    Five years ago Isiurem Sicer, former Master of the Order of Exalted Paladins, took the White Lotus Grail, a powerful artifact left behind by Lord Titor, and disappeared from the empire without prior notice. Rumors says that he was last seen in the Northern Plains.


    A few weeks after his disappearance the Order of Exalted Paladins turned chaotic. Although Sile, as first disciple of Isiurem and one of the most powerful paladins of the order, was appointed as the new Master of the Order, that was only an appointment in title. Most of the authority and privileges that the Order had were revoked, turning them in nothing more than a military battalion.


    As paladins, no matter if their status was high or low, their loyalty was always towards their God and their king. They could only choose to endure and pray for better times. Sile hoped in her heart that she could find a solution to restore the former glory of the Order of Exalted Paladins.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I can foresee that something good will happen.¡± Lengsat patted Sile¡¯s shoulder and smiled reassuringly, however, in his heart, a storm of uneasiness was brewing. ¡®Why it had to be precisely the Northern Plains? They said it would be a few decades from now in that place, but why do I feel that Isiurem has something to do with what they said?¡¯ Lengsat shook his head and decided to ignore the matter.

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (IV)

    Two days later, after Sile made all the necessary preparations, a group of 25 persons, and a dragon, left Gerlic City unceremoniously. Their destination was the Northern Plains, a journey that could take them half a year going and returning.


    A few days later, Sile¡¯s group were traveling by small mountain path. The sound of horse hooves crunching dried autumn leaves and the occasional shrieks of terrorized wild beast was the only thing that could be heard. As for why the wild beast were shrieking in terror?


    ¡°Lengsat, get down!¡± Sile yelled towards the sky in a somewhat irritated tone.


    ¡°Why would I? The sky is MY dominion.¡± Lengsat replied with a light chuckle while diving down towards Sile, who was riding a horse. However¡­ that light chuckle in his true form, that of a shadow dragon around 15 meters long, was a totally nefarious roar for the weak minded horses and wild beast. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that they were Paladin mounts, they probably would have fled long ago.


    ¡°We are approaching and encampment, and there are citizens in there, they cannot see you like that or you will produce a huge commotion!¡± Sile yelled while biting her rosy lips with the back of her teeth in anger.


    ¡°Fine, fine¡­¡± Lengsat said calmly, and then his figure started changing and shrinking while in midair to that of a young dark elf. When he landed near Sile, his lower half mystically blended with the shadow left by her horse, allowing him to catch with the pace of Sile¡¯s group without needing to ride a mount.


    Those paladins and soldiers who were following Sile could only laugh silently in their hearts, trying not to draw her attention. Although not all of them were close to Sile, those who have seen her, especially the Paladins, instructed the rest to remain silent each time that a scene of this type played between Sile and Lengsat, after all, things like this has always happened since Sile was just a child.


    Sile¡¯s great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, a famed warrior of the western kingdoms, saved from a life threatening situation and adult shadow dragon named Lafrit.


    Lafrit made part of the Northern Dragonflight, and as a means of repayment, he promised Sile¡¯s ancestor that he would protect him and ten generations of his bloodline with his life. Sile¡¯s mother, a beautiful bard named Theresia, was the eight generation.


    Her husband was a famous Arch Mage from the Blue Rod School called Antuan. He died during the warfare with the Northern Star Academy, and after the Blue Rod School was completely flattened, Theresia was pursued, suspecting that she could have the treasures that Antuan possessed in life.


    Lafrit was already old, and he could only muster about a tenth of the power he had in his glorious days. Because his pride as a Dragon, he never requested any help from his brethren. Theresia didn¡¯t put any blame on him, she had heard many times the tales that her fathers and grandfathers had told her about how fiercely Lafrit had fought in order to fulfill his promise, and she knew that the debt of gratitude was paid many times over.


    With a broken heart, an old dragon, friends of his husband with thirst for vengeance, and any other ally she could muster, Theresia mustered her courage and headed to the Northern Star Academy, not with kind intentions.


    In the midst of a battlefield Theresia sang her last ballad, a ballad of hope and despair, a ballad of life and death, a ballad which she sang with her soul. In the midst of a battlefield, she died.


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    She didn¡¯t live long enough to see the conclusion of the battle, but she didn¡¯t regretted that. With her last breath, she commended Lafrit one last mission: To take her sole daughter to a land far away, where the peace prevailed and the flowers bloomed. She died smiling, singing for a future full of happiness for Sile, with eagerness to reunite with his husband.


    The moment the last shine vanished from Theresia¡¯s eyes, Lafrit was completely enraged, beyond mad. Burning his own life force he entered in a frenzied state, the mad roars of a dragon could be heard in the soul of each one of those who were in that battle, and would never leave the hearts of those who survived. Disregarding his own safety, he attacked savagely without caring of incoming attacks if it meant killing someone.


    Lafrit¡¯s true nature shined. For a dragon, their biggest form of glory is dying in the midst of a formidable battlefield. With his own power he tipped the scales of the battle completely and in the end, Theresia¡¯s side won. The price, his own life.


    Fatally wounded, Lafrit made a beckoning, which in turn was answered by Lengsat, his own son. He didn¡¯t need much to convince him to fulfil the last part of his promise and protect two more generations of the bloodline of that famed warrior who saved him. Although Lengsat left the shadow of the protection of his father long ago, the true bond between dragons is as strong as their pride.


    By instructions of his father, Lengsat found Sile in Carunder, the capital of the kingdom of Sergeria, one of the five western kingdoms. She was only a five years old child, and a beautiful one at that. He traveled with her towards the Holy Empire of Ivalice, a journey that lasted for almost three years.


    In the midst of their journey towards the Holy Empire of Ivalice, Lengsat sensed that Sile had an excellent affinity towards the alignment auras. Sin he is a shadow dragon, he naturally had a high affinity towards alignment auras instead of the elemental essences, and without thinking it too much, he linked his own soul with hers, awakening her hidden potential and infusing her with part of his own power.


    When Sile turned ten, she entered a second rate school of paladins. However, not much time passed until the masters of the school discovered that Sile¡¯s prowess was extremely high for her age. She was recommended to a more prestigious school where she shined once again. Then another, and another.


    At the age of twelve, she participated in the national jousts of the Holy Empire of Ivalice¡­ in the bracket for 18 to 20 years old. Many thought that whoever let her participate was crazy, until she displayed her strength which left everyone on scene completely astonished. She won easily every match without a single scratch in her armor.


    Her display called the attention of the elders of the Order of Exalted Paladins. They extended an invitation to her for joining the most elite school in the empire, which was famed as the most powerful circle of paladins in the world.


    At the age of eighteen, she became the direct disciple of the former master of the Order of Exalted Paladins, Isiurem Sicer. Two years later, her master disappeared, and the elders appointed her as the new True Paladin of the Order of Exalted Paladins.


    And now, using an scouting mission as excuse, she is looking for the whereabouts of his masters to return the confidence of the upper circles of the kingdom to the Order.

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (V)

    Sile¡¯s group travelled day and night for almost two months. Along the way, the occasionally stopped in encampments and small cities. The group increased from a 27 man platoon to a 130 man company, in which Sile was obviously the leader.


    Sile entrusted Lengsat and a couple of ordinary soldiers she trusted with the mission of gathering information regarding Isiurem, after all, that kind of tasks was definitely not suitable for paladins. The information they obtained was extremely vague and limited, but it definitely pointed towards the Northern Plains. Nevertheless, the more they neared to their destination, the more they heard about another rumor Plains that they could not help but take seriously.


    ¡°27 mid-sized tribes had disappeared without a reason, with no witnesses, no battle signs, and no clues on where they went?¡± Sile said while frowning, hearing the report of Lengsat and the soldiers. A tribe which is considered a mid-sized tribe has about two to five thousand members. The disappearance of 27 mid-sized tribes amounted to at least one hundred thousand persons!


    ¡°Yes,¡± Lengsat nodded, ¡°This strange disappearances started about one year ago, when a merchant caravan wanted to rest for a night in one of this tribes, but upon getting to the entrance they noticed there was something fishy. There was no signs of human activity.


    ¡°Maybe the reason why the king¡¯s council agreed with sending you for this mission was because some of this rumors got to their ears and they couldn¡¯t help but think this is a serious matter.¡± Lengsat said while squinting his eyes and looking a Sile, he could tell exactly what she was thinking.


    Sile bitted her cherry lips with the back of her teeth. ¡°They knew my desire of looking for my master, and the rumors of him being last seen in the Northern Plains, so I would probably wouldn¡¯t refuse a mission in this zone, but why? Why they hid information to me? Why would they tell me that this was just a scouting mission and not a serious matter as this? Do they distrust me or the Order this much? What¡¯s wrong with them! For god¡¯s sake, I¡¯m a paladin and my loyalty is with the kingdom!¡± She almost yelled while clutching the cloak near her heart. She yelled with an expression full of sorrow and pain.


    The soldiers and paladins who were watching her couldn¡¯t help but laugh bitterly. In the past two months, they enjoyed seeing the cheerful and amiable smile of Sile. She was a bright sun that dispelled the dark clouds for thousands of kilometers. They could almost feel the huge burden she had to carry on her shoulders at such young age. It was a suffocating sensation.


    Mustering his courage, one of the other soldiers sent to scout for information said in a firm tone, ¡°Lady Sile, it is said that the rest of the tribes are willing to swear loyalty to the Holy Empire in order to obtain protection, they are really afraid and are referring this as the silent catastrophe.¡±


    Sile raised her head startled for a moment. After hearing the soldier she nodded and her expression changed completely to one of complete resoluteness. ¡°Nell, Eude, Fouquet, form three fifteen man squads and go to Oakwind City, Moonvein City, and Northmill Stronghold. By the power given to me by King Eulenor IV, rally all the troops on stand-by towards Timberwood Outpost. We are going to investigate through and through this matter and put a definite end to it!¡±


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    ¡°Yes, my Lady!¡±


    ¡°Olivier, Shirlene, lead the rest of the men towards the other five border outposts near the Northern Plains. Gather all the Intel reports regarding about this matter in the fastest time possible. Send messengers to the king¡¯s council in Gerlic, Ivalice, and Lenwic cities with whatever you discover. Rendezvous with all the available troops in Timberwood Outpost after that.¡± Sile said with a commanding voice.


    ¡°Yes, my Lady!¡±


    ¡°Everyone, you have three weeks¡¯ time to complete your missions. For the glory of the Holy Empire!¡± Sile yelled a top of his lungs.


    ¡°For the glory of the Holy Empire!¡± All the soldiers replied in unison forming a thunderous echo that resounded for hundreds of meters. Their eyes were full of zeal and adoration towards Sile.


    The 130 man company started splitting and making their respective preparations under the command of the five appointed lieutenants. They were extremely experienced and didn¡¯t require much time to be ready and head to their destinations.


    ¡°Fiuuu,¡± Lengsat whistled while approaching Sile and loking around at the orderly manner in which the soldiers were acting, ¡°Your leadership levels are top notch, a few words and everybody will heed your command without the slightest complaint.¡± He raised his head to look directly at Sile. When he did, his snake-like pupils constricted and a drop of sweat rolled down his forehead. The playful look that she had in her eyes, she would only look that way when she was about to ask Lengsat for something weird.


    ¡°Lengsat, yip yip!¡± Sile charmingly said.


    ¡°What?!¡± Lengsat answered stupefied.


    ¡°I said, Lengsat, yip yip!¡± Sile answered, an enigmatic and beautiful smile on her face.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡± Lengsat stuttered while his thoughts collapsed. An instant later, a serious expression appeared on his face and he said resolutely, ¡°I¡¯m not your mount! What¡¯s with that yip yip? I¡¯m definitely not a damn mount!¡±


    ¡°I said¡­ yip yip!¡± Sile said while caressing the back of her right hand with her left one.


    Lengsat eyes constricted once again as he gnashed his teeth, to the point of almost shattering. ¡°God damn it!¡±

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (VI)

    Using the unwilling Lengsat as a mount, Sile sped off towards the central regions of the Northern Plains while the rest of the paladins and soldiers scattered in different directions in order to gather the reinforcements she requested. Whatever had the ability to make disappear a midsized tribe overnight was a force that couldn¡¯t be taken lightly, since she had the ability and the power, she would give her all in order to uncover the truth.


    It has to be said that Lengsat was fairly quick, especially at night. Since dragons doesn¡¯t need much rest when traveling and a paladin would not die for skipping a couple days of rest, much less a paladin of Sile¡¯s caliber, they covered a great distance each day. It only took them four short days to travel the distance that it would have taken the company at least one and a half month by foot.


    Sile calculated that by the noon of the sixth day they could get to one of the larger tribes that occupied this lands, the Ember-fist clan. However, by the dawn of the fifth day, something called her and Lengsat attention.


    ¡°That¡­ Is that an army?¡± Sile exclaimed, she was watching atop Legnsat¡¯s back towards the horizon and she could see a huge number of indistinct figures moving slowly. She focused her gaze and she began to frown, ¡°No, they are too disordered to be an army, but it seems like a lot of people from here¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an exodus,¡± Said Lengsat in a deep voice, ¡°I can smell their fear from here, they are just ordinary people.¡±


    Sile¡¯s expression turned grave, ¡°Could it be that another tribe disappeared?¡±


    ¡°How the hell should I know?¡± Growled Lengsat, then he changed to a mischievous tone, ¡°Should I go and ask?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it, unless you want to be a random tribe¡¯s dinner,¡± Said Sile after letting out a soft sigh. ¡°Remain over here, I¡¯m going to check it out.¡±


    Lengsat was flying at an altitude of at least two thousand meters, however Sile decisively launched herself from her back. While diving towards the ground head first, for some unknown reason her hair didn¡¯t get messy at all, in fact, it seemed as is only a gentle breeze was caressing carefully her hair, quite contradictory with the speed of her body.


    She continued her free fall for some time until she noticed that she was close enough to the ground, then she caressed the shoulder guard of her armor and she produced a glowing feather. After that, she closed her eyes in concentration and crushed the feather inside her palm while using a tiny amount of light aura, causing it to become increasingly brighter.


    The light from the feather seeped form from her clenched hand until her whole hand was glowing with that bright light. After she considered that she poured enough of her aura, she made a throwing motion and released the glowing ball of light to the air.


    The light quickly scattered and the feather disappeared into nothingness. For a moment it seemed that Sile actually wasted her time producing the feather and infusing her aura into it, however, a little bit later the wind around Sile started to be gentler and gentler, her cloak started to flutter less and less and her body started to fall slower and slower, until she was being carried like a leaf in the wind, she resembled a wind fairy drifted by a morning spring breeze.


    *Tap*


    Moments later she carefully touched the ground, landing as graceful as a fawn after making a tiny leap. She smiled contently and shook off the non-existing dust from her armor.


    Sile looked up and noticed that Lengsat was circling around her high in the air, and when he noticed that she landed perfectly he made a detour towards a small hill that was in another direction.


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    *Sigh.*


    Sile inhaled and exhaled deeply. She closed her hazel eyes briefly and when she opened them, a resolute look appeared in them. She searched near her neck for a necklace. She caressed the chain of the necklace until she found a trinket depicting a shield and a lightning bolt. It was her holy symbol.


    She held the holy symbol and poured once again her light aura, and then she yelled with a commanding tone, ¡°Summon holy mount!¡±


    Not long after, a majestic looking armored warhorse with fur as white as the winter snow and an imposing, yet gentle, demeanor showed up galloping towards her. This warhorse was one full head taller than an ordinary horse, and radiated a vigorous feeling as if you could travel until the ends of the earth without stopping.


    Sile waited until the armored white horse was near and then mounted it with one leap. Then she caressed the crest of the white horse and patted the armor near the shoulder, ¡°Good boy,¡± She exclaimed charmingly, an affectionate look in her eyes, ¡°You already know where I want to go, right?¡±


    *Whiny.*


    *Snort.*


    The armored white horse neighed gently and then let out a soft snort while balancing his head up and down.


    ¡°Perfect then, let¡¯s go!¡± Sile let out a soft chuckle and then urged the horse.


    *Tabdak, tabdak, tabdak, tabdak.*


    The horse started galloping at top speed towards the direction where Sile saw the group of what seemed to be a tribe. Although it was wearing a full armor, a heavy one at that, and carrying a person in its back, the speed it displayed was on par with a horse bred exclusively for speed, even a bit faster. The characteristics of a holy mount far surpassed any other mount by a huge margin.


    On top of that, Sile was capable of summoning an even better mount, a celestial mount. However, the fact that she could maintain the armored warhorse while using just a tiny portion of her aura, the fact that she considered too flamboyant to ride a unicorn, and the fact that this warhorse was her first mount, made it so that she summoned the armored warhorse the most.


    Although she saw some blurry figures on the horizon, that was when she was at an altitude of almost two thousand meters, so the distance between where she landed and where those blurry figures were was not a small one. It took her nearly one hour to get near them.


    The most she neared the more she noticed that this seemingly exodus was a huge one, from the looks of it, there were at least fifty thousand persons traveling together, and most of them were civilians.


    ¡°Halt.¡± Upon seeing Sile approaching, a couple of guards that were on the vanguard of the group approached and one of them yelled at her, ¡°No foreigners are permitted on this caravan.¡± Said the guard decisively, however, he felt an inexplicable pressure coming from Sile. Two of the five guards who approached had their hands near the quivers on their backs, ready to swiftly load an arrow on their bows in case that something unexpected happens.


    ¡°I¡¯m Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice, master of the Order of Exalted Paladins. I wish to see the ones who are leading this caravan.¡± Sile said and then smiled gently, not a trace of arrogance in her face upon telling them her identity.


    However, even if she was not arrogant about it, the guards couldn¡¯t help but open wide their mouths with both incredulity, terror, and fervor at the same time.

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (VII)

    After an awkward moment of silence, Sile procured a medallion from a tiny bag strapped in her waist and then took the lead to speak again, ¡°This is the proof of my identity, may I ask you to help me transmitting my message?¡± Imbuing the medallion with Light aura, she tossed it gently to the guard who yelled at her.


    The guards were startled awake by this action of Sile, and the one leading them hurriedly tried to catch the medallion Sile just tossed at them and looked at it in a stupefied manner. Upon seeing that he didn¡¯t plan to move, one of his companions hurriedly tugged his armor and signaled with his eyes to do something. Startled awake once again he hurriedly nodded his head like a chick eating corn, ¡°Right¡­ right away madam.¡±


    The guard hurried over the caravan which was moving slowly while Sile waited there patiently in top of her majestic warhorse. She was about five hundred meters away of the main body of the huge caravan and she could see patrols moving here and there in the distance. Some of them even approached with curiosity upon seeing the figure of a stunning woman seated in a beautiful armored white horse.


    Not much time passed and there were over twenty to thirty guards agglomerated near Sile whispering among themselves in hushed tones. Every time someone arrived they would ask who she was and someone would answer that she was the master of the Order of Exalted Paladins, then the one who asked will look towards Sile with astonishment, and sometimes disdain.


    About half an hour later, the guard who took Sile¡¯s medallion approached again, leading an armored middle aged man, whom exuded a more threatening aura than the average person, but had a gentle smile on his face. This was clearly one of the elite guards of the caravan.


    The elite guard inspected Sile carefully and his gaze flickered for a moment. He could clearly sense a light aura exuding from Sile, but it was too deep for him to comprehend. Leading someone so powerful from unknown origin towards the elders was a dangerous, yet foolish thing to do, yet the sensation that Sile gave was one of someone who was capable of flipping a mountain, yet incapable of harming the most minuscule of the lifeforms.


    After pondering for a moment, he spoke with a calm tone, ¡°Sile, right?¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡± Sile nodded, however, hearing the plain way in which the guard addressed her made her frown inwardly. She obviously gave a proof of her identity, does that mean that she was not known in this lands?


    ¡°Follow me.¡± The elite guard said while waving his hand and turning around towards the caravan once again. Sile dismounted and dismissed her warhorse and immediately followed the elite guard.


    After silently following the guard deep into the caravan for about three minutes Sile couldn¡¯t contain her curiosity, ¡°Mr. Guard, could you enlighten me with your name?¡±


    ¡°Ferros.¡± Answered the elite guard plainly.


    Sile smiled upon hearing his name, ¡°Oh, Mr. Ferros, that¡¯s a strong name. I know that I came uninvited and I may have only a tiny idea of why are you in a sort of exodus, but could you tell me what¡¯s happening?¡±


    Ferros suddenly stopped in his tracks and gave Sile a deep look. ¡°You said you only have a tiny idea of what¡¯s happening? Aren¡¯t you an important figure of the empire to the south? Not only you came late but you have no idea of the extermination of the Northern Plains?¡±


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    Sile was immediately stunned by Ferro¡¯s words. ¡®Extermination of the Northern Plains?¡¯ She screamed inwardly, ¡°What do you mean by extermination? I heard about some tribes disappearing but nothing about an extermination.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Ferros exclaimed, his tone full of sarcasm, then he resumed his pace. Sile immediately resumed her pace too and walked at his pace by his side. Ferros pondered for a moment and then said in a low tone of voice, ¡°Let me tell you this on behalf of you being so young, otherwise you will only embarrass yourself in front of the elders. You said something about some tribe disappearing, right? Well, you are half correct, what you see are the only known survivors of the Northern Plains extermination.¡±


    Sile¡¯s pupils immediately contracted to the size of a needle, and involuntarily looked to her left and her right. Although the quantity of people in this caravan was huge, if you compare it to the size of the Northern plains it was laughable. There were no more than one hundred thousand people in here, while in the past the population of the Northern Plains was calculated to be around ten millions. Furthermore, she could feel that there were few kind gazes on those who she saw.


    ¡°The second piece of advice,¡± Resumed Ferros, ¡°Is that a lot of people will show hostility or at least indifference towards your status, just like your people didn¡¯t answered our pleas for help. Whatever you came to do here, have that in mind.¡±


    Sile remained silent walking at Ferros¡¯ side. Her heart and her mind were in disarray, she constantly clenched her fist and bitted her lips. The ¡°little¡± information that Ferros gave her was shocking to the extreme, and she didn¡¯t understood how it was possible for her Empire to hide so much information to her about the subject.


    ¡°This way,¡± after a few more minutes Ferros pointed to the door of a lavish carriage.


    Sile nodded and proceeded forward to the slow moving carriage. Upon getting close to the door of the carriage, another guard stopped her with a solemn expression, ¡°Your weapons,¡± Said the guard.


    Sile was taken aback for a moment. Although she heard what Ferros said about being prepared to be treated poorly, she have never heard of a king asking a paladin to give their weapons, let alone the elders of some tribes.


    ¡°Cut it out.¡± Seeing Sile a bit stunned, Ferros shook his head and then said to the guard near the entrance of the carriage, ¡°There¡¯s already so much trouble upon us and you want to enrage whatever God is worshiping this paladin?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Said Sile while smiling at Ferros, then immediately her cloak fluttered and she produced a hammer and a short sword. From afar neither of them seemed remarkable, however there was a pulsating and potent light aura emanating from them. ¡°This are the only weapons which I carry, you can search me for more if you want.¡±


    ¡°If you say these are your only weapons, then these are your only weapons, just go inside,¡± The guard near the door said, his eye twitching while feeling the deadly stare Ferros was throwing at him.

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (VIII)

    After stepping in a pair of wooden stair, Sile moved aside a white veil that was covering the entrance of the door of the carriage and went inside. The interior of the carriage was neatly arranged, and there were two rows of chairs facing each other. There were a total of five figures inside the carriage, the one whom caught the most of Sile¡¯s attention was a bald and old man with huge eyebrows and a hunchback. He was wearing a purple robe and holding a cedar cane in his hands. He was sitting in the right row and next to him was a woman which appeared to be in her thirties and her factions resembled a little those of the bald man, there was obviously some sort of familiar connection between them.


    In the left side, the other three persons were two men and a woman whom had ordinary appearances but were wearing luxurious clothes. There was an air of arrogance in each one of their gazes that was difficult to hide.


    Upon seeing Sile, the woman in which was next to the old man signaled her to sit in the only seat available, which was the one next to her. Sile nodded and sat down unceremoniously.


    ¡°Greetings traveler, this old one heard you requested to see us, may I know how can I help you?¡± The old man in purple robes took the lead to speak while seeing that Sile was already comfortable.


    ¡°I¡¯m Sile, an emissary from the Holy Empire of Ivalice, I came to this lands in order to do a scouting mission, however in my journey I found that there were serious problems in this lands, I¡¯m the one who wish to know how I can help all of you.¡± Sile said in the most humble of the tones with her head lowered and her fist in her heart


    ¡°Scouting mission? You came here for a scouting mission?! What kind of joke is that?!¡± The woman which was seated in front of Sile angrily reprimanded, ¡°We have sent innumerable messengers asking for help but none of them ever returned with good news! Even your little empire must know that something fishy was happening in this lands, yet you were turtled up and didn¡¯t help us, and now they only send a puny soldier?¡±


    Sile¡¯s mouth gently twitched, but before she was able to reply, another one immediately continued the verbal assault, ¡°Did you think that you can just come now to help us for a pair of day, and then bask in the glory of having helped the last tribes of the Northern Plains to escape the calamity? Go away!¡±


    ¡°We have already set for a destination and we are working with our hands to save ourselves by our own means, we don¡¯t need the help of the empire!¡± The other man spoke.


    The three elders in front of Sile continued the verbal assault without letting her say half a word. The old man in purple robes just smiled with an enigmatic expression, while the woman in her thirties next to him tried to calm the other party but to no avail.


    Sile¡¯s mind was reeling. Although she was an orphan, at Lengsat¡¯s side she didn¡¯t suffer any hardship. You could say that she was somewhat spoiled, not to the point where she would look down at someone else, but no one ever dared to look down at her. Since child she walked on the path of the righteous, and everybody would look at her with sparkling eyes. To be verbally abused by some unknown people she didn¡¯t even knew, this was her first time, and she was reaching her limit.


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    She bit her bottom lip with her pearly white teeth countless times but those three elders just never stopped talking trash. She tried to calm her mind but even the breathing and the heartbeat of each of those elders resonated in her mind as if they were the sound of thunderclaps in midst of a fierce storm, and their voices were like the roaring of ten thousand demons.


    ¡°PIPE DOWN!¡± Yelled Sile suddenly, ¡°For the love of god, shut your mouths!¡± The three elders were surprised by the explosive reactions of Sile, they tried to get angry and yell back at her, but this time Sile wouldn¡¯t let them go easily, ¡°I came here from far away and I had no idea that the situation was so dire. I don¡¯t care if you resent me, or the empire, or the Mother Nature, or any God for afflicting you with such burden, but I came here to offer my help, and in the name of the power that King Eulenor IV granted me, the help that the Holy Empire of Ivalice!¡±


    If you don¡¯t want my help, then I¡¯ll be on my way right now, however, if you need a helping hand, I swear an oath as a servant of the God of Balance Elidris that I will put my life on the line in order to solve your ordeal!¡±


    An awkward silence suddenly enveloped the carriage. The faces of the three elders were unsightly, they wanted to retort but any of them could find the right words. Before any of them could speak, it was the purple robed old man who broke the silence with some claps, ¡°My, my, such dignity and such character at a young age, you are definitely worthy of being the Lady of White whom I have heard that just recently turned to be the master of the Order of Exalted Paladins.¡± The purple robed old man said with a wide smile plastered on his face, ¡°Forgive my manners just now, my name is Fagul, I¡¯m the current leader of this caravan, and as you may know, we are just a small group that are trying to get out of this god¡¯s forsaken land.¡±


    The purple robed old man named Fagul started to make brief introductions of her niece and the other three elder of the caravan. Although they wore disgruntled expressions, they didn¡¯t interrupt Fagul while he was speaking.


    Fagul started narrating the event which lead them to start migrating desperately, and why they had no choice but to do it until now.


    ¡°It started two years ago, mysterious people started appearing in different tribes disguised as merchants. No one suspected anything about them then, and even if something like that happens once again I wouldn¡¯t suspect anything at all.¡±


    ¡°One year later this merchants occupied important spots in all of the small and medium sized tribes, and even in the larger tribes and clans. Unknowingly, they started to influence the daily life of everyone, it was as if everybody was under the effect of some sort of spell.¡±

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (IX)

    Fagul continued his narration trying to give all details possible to Sile. Sometimes her niece, or one of the other elders would mention something and then Fagul would resume. Sile¡¯s expression changed several times while hearing the narration of the events.


    Those mysterious merchants possessed some kind of power to entrance the masses. In order to not provoke a huge reaction, they started making their moves on small tribes. Once other tribes saw what was happening, those merchants coerced them in order to remain silent.


    Those who tried to resist disappeared mysteriously, very few of those who were sent in order to ask for help returned, and those who did, returned with empty hands. The situation was dire, but somehow, those mysterious merchants were capable of preventing the information from being leaked. The masses were entranced and those with power could only sit and watch helplessly.


    Merchant caravans started to be more and more uncommon, and those who travelled by these lands seemed to be totally unaware of what was happening.


    Two months ago, Fagul and her niece where in their residences discussing some matters, when they suddenly noticed a black glow enveloping the whole city. The next instant, he remembers being in the middle of nowhere marching alongside all of the tribesmen, and in front of them three of those mysterious merchants were fighting against a fierce golden ape.


    Each time one of those mysterious merchants was injured, more and more people seemed to regain their senses. They didn¡¯t saw clearly the fight, but that golden ape only rested until the last of the three merchants was beat into a meat pulp. After that, he glanced at the tribes and after roaring it went away.


    When they regained their senses almost everybody was scared witless. Everybody seemed to have remembered how strange their own behavior was in the past year. They started to panic, however, Fagul used his faculties as leader to come up with a plan, it wasn¡¯t too brilliant, but it was the only thing they could do.


    After confirming their own location, near the border of the Northern Plains with Blade¡¯s Edge pass, they started a journey back to those scattered and abandoned tribes in order to scavenge for things to help such a large group to migrate towards the south.


    In the way back they only found signs of another tribe, which were the one of the three elders in front of Sile. They narrated that something similar happened to them, and that after something killed those merchants they regained their mental freedom.


    Together they formed a group of about one hundred thousand of what they called the survivors of the Northern Plains calamity, and have been traveling for two months in order to reach the border of the Holy Empire of Ivalice and stablish themselves there.


    When Sile heard the description of those merchants, the way in which they attacked, their manners, their appearances, Sile could not associate it clearly to the doings of a specific race. Mindflayer or vampires could charm people in mass and even disguise as humans, but the former would kill them on spot, and the later could not tolerate the daylight.


    ¡°Could it be¡­ a demonic race?¡± Sile said softly in her heart, trying her best to understand the current situation.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.The initial hostility of the three elders towards Sile turned into indifference in no time, then into a more neutral treatment, and at the end they were even friendly with her. Sile¡¯s charisma was unparalleled, it is very hard, even someone that holds a grudge against her, not to get to be somewhat charmed by her.


    ¡°There¡¯s a fortress to the southeast big enough to shelter your people. You can count on me to put a definite end to this, I¡¯ll march towards Blade¡¯s Edge Pass with an army and find whatever is threatening the peace of this lands.¡± Sile said with a resolute tone. Fagul, his niece, and the three other elders nodded in acknowledgement of her plan.


    Sile got out of the carriage and let out a long sigh, there were conflicting emotions in her heart and an uneasiness that she couldn¡¯t dispel no matter what. She stayed in the caravan for three days and two nights. Now the caravan was heading towards the fortress Sile told them, following a safe path she told the elders. Sile found that Ferros was a retired warrior and right now was one of the leaders of the militia of the caravan.


    After saying her farewells, she summoned her warhorse once again and left the caravan, speeding towards Lengsat¡¯s location.


    Lengsat was waiting for Sile near a small pond deep in the woods. When she got close to him, she noticed Lengsat was talking with two robust golden furred apes, and the moment Lengsat noticed her, he immediately dismissed them.


    Lengsat looked at Sile and Sile looked back at him.


    ¡°How bad is it?¡± Asked Sile straightforwardly.


    ¡°They are trying to awake someone. Whoever requires millions of souls in order to be awakened... You get the idea.¡± Said Lengsat calmly.


    Sile¡¯s face turned extremely solemn, ¡°Are they¡­ dead?¡± Asked her with great difficulty.


    ¡°No.¡± Replied Lengsat shaking his head, ¡°According to them, whatever they are doing requires to refine the human souls very carefully. They started abducting people about two years ago, but they didn¡¯t abduct more than ten thousand in a month. However¡­¡± Lengsat stopped for a moment and said each successive word very carefully, ¡°Two months ago they decided to rush for no apparent reason and abducted everyone who they could abduct, and killed those who they couldn¡¯t.¡±


    Sile¡¯s face turned extremely pale. Her mind was filled with a loud roaring, those words said by Lengsat, and the way he said them, only meant one thing!


    ¡°Someone from the Holy Empire of Ivalice warned them about your arrival to the Northern Plains.¡± Said Lengsat calmly, watching attentively Sile¡¯s reaction.


    Sile lowered her head and clenched tightly her fists. She closed her eyes and then compared what Lengsat told her to what she heard from the elders, and everything fitted just perfectly. The lack of information, the rush to abduct people, whoever was behind this had deep connections inside the empire.


    She was loyal to an empire which was plagued by the corruption!

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (X)

    ¡°That¡¯s why they didn¡¯t let me come for so long towards the Northern Plains? They knew there was something going on here and they did the utmost to hide it!¡± Sile¡¯s face and voice were filled with anger, but it wasn¡¯t an ordinary anger, it was an anger filled with pain and sorrow, pain of being betrayed, and an indescribable sorrow of a bitter truth that was forming in her heart, but she was reluctant to believe it.


    ¡°Who are they? What kind of demons are capable of treating human life so poorly?¡± Sile turned once more towards Lengsat and asked urgently.


    ¡°Heh,¡± Lengsat smiled as he had heard a good joke, ¡°You just said it, they are demons, or more exactly, demonkins.¡±


    Sile¡¯s mouth was agape for a moment, her eyes filled with disbelieve, ¡°Half-demons? How is it possible for they to appear so suddenly and at this scale?¡±


    ¡°No idea,¡± Lengsat shrugged his shoulders, ¡°If I have to guess, it should be that they were hiding their presence since long ago. They desire the domination of the human race, but since they were few in numbers they could only remain silent¡­ Until they met a leader who rallied them.¡± Lengsat looked directly at Sile¡¯s eyes once again, an enigmatic smile appearing in his face.


    Being watched by the smiling Lengsat, Sile felt the urge to give him a good beating. She inhaled a big mouthful of air and then exhaled it slowly, then turned to look at the pond of clear water. The pupil of her hazel eyes dilated slightly, as if she wasn¡¯t looking directly at the pond, but reminiscing her past, ¡°I¡¯m not that naive, I know to read the clues.¡±


    ¡°Do you have what it takes if you have to deal the final blow?¡± Lengsat said while walking until he stood at Sile¡¯s side.


    Sile remained silent for a long time, looking at the pond, yet not looking at it.


    The spot in which Sile stood was completely tranquil an undisturbed. Suddenly, a gentle breeze formed from inside the forest, shaking a weak leaf from a tree, then it drifted slowly towards the pond. The moment the leaf touched the surface of the pond, a small ripple spread in all directions, and at the same time that Sile¡¯s eyes were filled with determination, ¡°A forbidden ritual that may need a powerful artifact as medium, a race full of hate towards humanity, and countless innocent souls. No matter how you see this, nothing good can come from it.¡±


    Sile looked at Lengsat with a complicated expression, and then she said, ¡°If you asked me the same question three months ago, I would have treated you like a crazy, and I would have told you that it was impossible that he, out of all people in the world, could be implicated in something like that. I would have defended his honor even if I had to bet my life!¡±


    ¡°However, every piece of information fits perfectly¡­ It can only be one person, of that I¡¯m sure.¡± Sile closed her eyes and her tone of voice turned more solemn, ¡°I am a paladin, even if I have a title such as the True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice, even if I swore loyalty towards the empire, my first benefactor is God, and my first priority is humanity! Whoever is a threat to humanity, even if it¡¯s him¡­ even if it¡¯s him¡­¡± Sile seemed as if the following words were the most difficult task in the worlds for her in order to let them out of her rosy lips.


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    Sile clenched his teeth and her fist trembled slightly near her heart, which was beating furiously. A look of extreme resolve appeared on her delicate face, ¡°Even if it¡¯s him, he must be stopped!¡± Her voice was full of conviction and resoluteness.


    ¡°Well said, Sile.¡± Lengsat said, his mouth curving upwards, forming a beaming smile, ¡°This will be by a long shot the hardest mission you have faced.¡± Lengsat walked towards the pond and bended his body in order to pick a handful of dirt from the ground, then he straightened his posture, turned towards Sile and continued, ¡°Not only that, whatever they were doing, they are now doing it in a rush.¡± Lengsat paused and then the dirt in his hand started flowing little by little towards the ground. ¡°Time is scarce, you must hurry and rally your troops.¡±


    Sile nodded immediately, every moment she wasted, countless lives were lost. However, a moment later she discovered a hidden meaning behind Lengsat¡¯s words. She looked at her, a glint of anger appearing in her eyes, ¡°Wait a minute, I must hurry and rally my troops? Don¡¯t you mean we must hurry?¡±


    ¡°Haha, of course not, I meant what I meant.¡± Lengsat said laughing.


    ¡°You lowly dragon! You are leaving me alone again? Get out of my way and don¡¯t dare to return!¡± Sile had an expression full of indignation.


    ¡°Hahahahaha.¡± Lengsat laughed uproariously, annoying Sile even more, ¡°I left you at Salzem because you were tempering your sword, training yourself, I knew you would be safe behind the doors of that castle. However, this time is different.¡± Lengsat approached Sile and patted her head, ¡°What we are facing is not a threat against the humanity, but for all the living things, or do you think that the demonkins will be happy after conquering the human kingdoms?¡±


    Sile looked at Lengsat and her heart started to relax. He has always been the pillar of her existence, she knew it was impossible for him to abandon her in such a critical moment, ¡°You mean¡­?¡± Sile said looking at Lengsat, trying once again to comprehend his words.


    ¡°An enemy capable of abducting almost ten million persons is a formidable foe. I don¡¯t think you are capable of assembling an army strong enough to successfully siege them, and even if you are capable, it will take too much time, which of course, there isn¡¯t.¡± Lengsat explained to Sile and she, hearing his words, could only smile bitterly.


    ¡°But you must rally enough troops and lay a siege on Blade¡¯s Edge pass no matter what,¡± continued Lengsat, ¡°Even if you are not enough to completely dominate them, you must be enough to slow them down and buy some time for me to bring reinforcements!¡± Lengsat said with confidence, playing with Sile¡¯s hair.


    ¡°Do you mean¡­?¡± Sile said, looking at Lengsat with eyes full of zeal and hope.


    ¡°Just trust me on this one, he won¡¯t know what was what hit him.¡± Lengsat said full of confidence, a confidence of his own power.

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (XI)

    Sile parted ways with Lengsat with a promise in her heart and the resolve of stopping a calamity. She headed with all her might towards the border fortress and outposts of the Holy Empire of Ivalice, rallying all the troops available and issuing a distress signal of an imminent war.


    Now that she was aware that there were traitors inside the empire, she noticed that there were people that deliberately tried to make things difficult for her in order to slow her campaign towards Blade¡¯s Edge Pass. However, she was well aware of what to do, using her overbearing authority as a general under direct command of the king, she jailed all of those who dared to contradict her orders.


    She knew that she would probably be stripped of her power and punished severely after finishing the matters with the demonkins, but she couldn¡¯t be bothered with that right now.


    She knew that the distress signal will probably be hidden by those traitors inside of the empire, but even if there was a small chance that someone answered the call, she will cling in that ray of hope.


    She knew that she was being selfish, but that selfishness of her represented countless innocent lives that could be saved.


    However, in midst of the chaos something unexpectedly good happened. All of the border citizen and guards were descendants of those brave warriors that participated in the great calamity war ten thousand years ago. Although many generations have passed, the desire to fight for the peace of the land and the blind faith in Titor was deeply ingrained in their hearts.


    They knew that something fishy was going on in the Northern Plains, but they had no idea what was that something. After the survivors arrived at Mag¡¯ul Fortress, word spread of the mass abducting, and then they heard Sile¡¯s call to arms. Sile was a True Paladin, and a True Paladin could be considered as the person most close to the legacy of Titor. Thousands upon thousands of soldiers, mercenaries, retired veterans, and even those that made part of the militia of the caravan of survivors that Fagul was leading, disregarded their superior¡¯s orders and answered her call and headed towards Timberwood outpost.


    In two weeks a miracle happened. The army Sile assembled numbered over three hundred thousand people, and there were even more people answering her call with the passing of the days. Although this was an impressive number, Sile knew that this was far from enough, and not only that, she couldn¡¯t wait more. The journey to Blade¡¯s Edge Pass would be at least three weeks, if she wanted to save some lives, she had to start moving the army now.


    Sile picked up the fastest and strongest of those who were already gathered and made an advance army. She left behind their most loyal subordinates at charge of leading the second and third waves of soldiers towards Blade¡¯s Edge Pass.


    The second wave will be composed of the siege weapons and will depart four days after her. The third wave will be composed of all of those who answered her call and could get moving ten days after she parted with the first wave.


    Moving siege weapons was obviously a hard and slow task, however, with the aid of mages the task was ten times easier. The times she gave to the second and third wave were no arbitrary numbers, they were meticulously planned in order to give them just enough time for both of the waves to arrive at the same time, fifteen days after her arrival at Blade¡¯s Edge Pass.


    And so, an army of two hundred thousand soldiers parted from the outskirts of Timberwood outpost on a fateful day. They traveled day and night, almost without rest. Although an army of this size wouldn¡¯t pass unnoticed, the fact was that there wasn¡¯t anyone to notice them. There was no signs of human activity wherever they passed in the Northern Plains. Instead of being demoralized and fearful by this, every soldier felt their blood boil, and their hands were itching with the anticipation of gripping their weapons and slicing the throats of those who dared to treat the lives of the citizens of the tribes of the Northern Plains as resources they could gather whenever they felt the need to.


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    Three weeks later they were at Blade¡¯s Edge Pass, searching for the place in which the demonkins where keeping captive the habitants of the Northern Plains, but an encampment huge enough to have millions of prisoners was never heard of, much less seen. After searching for three days with no signs of finding any clue, Sile was starting to become restless, however, she knew that it would not be simple matter to find them.


    On the night of the fourth day, Sile¡¯s army was resting in improvised encampments to rest for the night while there were some scouting parties looking for that elusive fortress. Sile was trying to figure out a plan when suddenly a figure approached her tent, ¡°Lady Sile, may I have a word with you?¡± Said the gentle voice of a young maiden while half kneeling and bowing deeply towards Sile.


    ¡°Rise Sasha, there¡¯s no need for such formalities with me.¡± Replied Sile with an equally gentle tone. Upon seeing Sasha stand up, she continued, ¡°Did you find something?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± Replied Sasha, ¡°A wizard specialized in divination casted a powerful augury magic and found a zone which didn¡¯t resonate properly to his magic, as if something or someone is blocking it.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Sile¡¯s eyes immediately lit up, ¡°Is he capable of pinpointing the location?¡± Asked Sile with a tone of urgency.


    Sasha nodded.


    ¡°Bring me to him immediately! That was just what I needed.¡± Without wasting any time, Sile donned her cloak and followed Sasha.


    After meeting the wizard, he indeed signaled Sile the general location where he sensed that his magic was less effective. Sile closed his eyes for several minutes and concentrated deeply, his senses drifted towards that area, where she felt a repulsive force too.


    Sile opened her eyes and started to walk towards a clear area. Sasha and the wizard tailed her with puzzled expressions. Sile tossed his cloak to one side and reached her holy symbol depicting a shield and a lightning in the trinket of her necklace. A powerful light aura started to congregate around her, visible to the naked eye. It started as tiny specs of brilliant light swirling around her, and in a moment turned into a huge vortex of tens of meters in height.


    The huge pillar of light attracted the curiosity of many people who turned to look towards Sile, and her minds trembled inwardly, yet they were filled with excitement at the same time. Knowing and witnessing how powerful a True Paladin was were two different concepts.


    Upon seeing the congregation of such powerful light aura, all of those who had an affinity towards it felt the urge of kneeling immediately. As those sensitive towards the light aura kneeled, the rest of the army, out of respect, kneeled one after another, forming a huge reaction. Soon, the whole army was kneeling towards the vortex of light, looking at the direction in which Sile was.


    Sile released the grip of her holy symbol, which started to float in front of her chest, pulsating with a heart palpitating aura. Her eyes snapped open, shinning with a dazzling light even brighter than the vortex around her. The appearance of Sile changed to that of a Saint which descended from the heavens, and the aura she radiated was pure to the extreme.


    ¡°Elidris, God of balance, I call upon thee!¡± Sile yelled, a booming voice filled with dignity resonating in the whole crowd, ¡°Bestow upon me the favor of revealing my enemy, in order to bring your judgement upon them!¡± Each word resonated in the hearts and minds of everyone present, each word more powerful than the previous one. The ground started to quake slightly, and then the vortex of light surrounding Sile congealed in a ball of light which shot towards the heavens.


    Upon witnessing this scene, some soldiers in the army had tears rolling down his cheeks, some of them were trembling inwardly, there were numerous reactions to Sile¡¯s demonstration of her faith. This was the power of a True Paladin!

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (XII)

    The ball of light reached the clouds, and then it transformed in numerous spiraling rays of light which lit brightly the night sky. After a brief moment, the light rays directed where she previously felt that there was some sort of repulsive force at an incredible speed. The location was a towering mountain at least two thousand meters tall, that is almost the height of Mount Gerlic.


    The rays of lights exploded, creating ripples in the air visible to the naked eye. Although this could be considered a large scale attack, it didn¡¯t possessed a destructive aura, instead, it had the power of dispelling illusion and breaking barriers.


    The air around the towering mountain started to distort and convulse with each successive ray of light that exploded near it. Cracks started to form in the air, and suddenly, as if a giant glass screen was broken, the scenery which depicted the tall mountain shattered in tens of millions of illusory pieces.


    The moment the real scenery which was behind the illusion was revealed, not even Sile could hide an expression of extreme astonishment, and even fear. There was no mountain, however, there was something huge obstructing their vision. If you called that a tower, then nothing else in the world could be considered a tower. If you called that a fortress, then even Salzem castle had to be called from now on a house.


    The imposing structure did not reach the previous height that the illusory mountain had, but it was at least half its size. Just the imposing wall that was at least forty meters in height, who knows how tick, and that spanned at least two kilometers in both sides was enough to make the scalps of everybody present to go numb.


    Sile caught her holy symbol and clenched her fist tightly. She didn¡¯t have time to hesitate and to tremble in fear, a paladin would always be valiant even at the moment of its death! She closed her eyes for a brief instant, and at the next moment an incredible resolve appeared once again in her eyes which then turned in an aura that pacified the minds of everyone. ¡°This is the enemy of humanity,¡± Sile yelled, turning to look at the army which were raising to their feet one by one, ¡°This is not a war between two kingdoms to see who has the right to govern over some lands, this is a battle for our own survival!¡±


    ¡°Retreating now means forfeiting our own lives, and the lives of all our loved ones, retreating now means the annihilation of the world as we know it, retreating now is a fate worse than death itself!¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t be certain of whether we will succeed or not, but if we retreat, we are doomed to fail! If the gods wants us to perish and let the demons to take over the world, we still have to fight until the bitter end! But if there is a tiny strand of hope for us, we will definitely grasp it and bet our lives on obtaining the victory right here right now, on this battlefield!¡±


    ¡°We are not an army fighting behind the banner of the Holy Empire of Ivalice, we are the humankind¡­ fighting¡­ for our freedom!¡± These last worlds were yelled by Sile with a fervent tone, they were uttered from her soul.


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    ¡°FOR OUR FREEDOM!¡± The whole army roared in unison, a roar that reached the heavens.


    The hesitation and fear were erased completely from the heart of each and every soldier. They instantly started to organize themselves in brigades, battalions, and companies in an extremely orderly fashion, the sight of two hundred thousand elite soldiers was extremely astonishing.


    Without waiting anymore, they started to march towards that seemingly impenetrable towering fortress, with the hope that a miracle would occur. Additionally, Sile sent a group of messengers to relay the information of the location of the enemy¡¯s base.


    After marching for three hours, they were two kilometers away from the demonkin¡¯s fortress, each step further magnified the majesty of that fortress by several fold. Two hundred thousand elite soldiers was definitely a sight to behold, but in front of a fortress of this caliber, they seemed extremely lacking.


    It was obvious that at this point the guards of the fortress should have noticed them long ago. After stablishing a vanguard point for the army, Sile saw a pair of figures calmly marching towards them. Her eyes flickered for a moment, and then she summoned her warhorse and sped off haste in order to meet them.


    The two figures and Sile met at a halfway point from the fortress and the army, they stopped until there was a distance about ten meters of each other. The ones who came from the fortress were wearing hooded robes and it was impossible to see their faces clearly.


    Upon stopping in front of each other, there was a momentarily silence, as if each one was seizing the other party¡¯s strength. ¡°Who do you think you are in order to break our illusion barrier and intruder in our territory like a bunch of idiots in a circus? Are all of you tired of living?¡± Said one of the hooded figures with a hoarse voice filled with a tone of arrogance and contempt.


    ¡°Who am I?¡± Answered Sile, looking towards the one who spoke. She remained silent for an instant and then her gaze turned towards the second figure, her eyes had a complicated expression for an instant while she remembered the question Lengsat asked her before parting ways, ¡®Do you have what it takes if you have to deal the final blow?¡¯, She silently answered once again the question in her heart, and then her voice was filled with dignity, ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask him who I am?¡± Sile said while pointing in an accusatory manner at the second figure, ¡°Because I¡¯m pretty sure you haven¡¯t forgotten me, Isiurem Sicer, or should I still call you master Isiurem?¡±

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (XIII)

    ¡°What does she mean, Lord Sicer?¡± Asked the one who spoke first to the second robed man.


    The second robed man remained silent for a moment, then started talking in a very calm tone, ¡°I must say¡­ I am impressed. You discovered that I would be here, yet you dared to come? It¡¯s a shame your visit wouldn¡¯t be under other circumstances, otherwise you would have been a powerful addition to our lines, a very powerful demoness indeed.¡± His hoarse voice contained a tone of arrogance and contempt.


    Sile gripped the reins of her warhorse tightly and stared expressionless at the two robed figures. The voice of the one who spoke just now was very familiar to her, although his aura seemed somewhat sinister right now, compared to the gentle aura that he radiated before, causing her to have some doubts about the identity of that robed figure, now that he spoke there was no mistake about her judgement on his identity.


    ¡°So, you really know her?¡± Asked again the one who spoke initially.


    ¡°She is just a lowly paladin form Ivalice whom I took fancy to recruit, but I couldn¡¯t.¡± Said Isiurem, his tone full of arrogance. ¡®Was it not for that damnable dragon, I would have succeeded¡­¡¯ He thought to himself, anger filling his heart, however, he didn¡¯t let that emotion to surface in his actions, instead, he maintained the same arrogant tone, ¡°So my dear, dear disciple, what do you plan on doing with that tiny army of yours? If you surrender willingly to us, I can promise you to forget that this ever happened and I will spare your lives.¡±


    Sile listened to Isiurem¡¯s monologue silently, a sense of indignation an anger building up in her heart. The one in front of her was her missing master, yet it was not. She wanted to believe that maybe he was somehow forced by something, but looking at his demeanor and the way his companion addressed him, it was obvious that he had a high position within the demonkins. Perhaps her master never existed, but the worry she felt in her heart because of his sudden disappearance was real. Seeing the memories of her lawful role model being shattered in front of her was very hard to accept.


    ¡°Do you really think I came here to hear you say such nonsensical words? I don¡¯t know how you did to deceive a whole nation in order to steal the White Lotus Grail so smoothly, but don¡¯t even think that I would follow half a step in your wicked path!¡± Sile said with resolve, she knew that she couldn¡¯t afford to be softhearted right now.


    The robed figure whom spoke first tried to rebuke Sile, however, Isiurem raised his hand and signaled him to remain silent. He looked directly at Sile¡¯s eyes, and then his lips curled up in a smile as if he was just seeing a seven years old kid struggling in a fight with a burly adult, ¡°Tch, tch, Don¡¯t you know your limits? Your puny army isn¡¯t enough to siege a tiny Salzem castle, and you dare to be disrespectful in front of a citadel many times stronger? I¡¯m giving you a chance to redeem your mistakes, but if you wish to die, don¡¯t blame me for being impolite.¡±


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    Sile steeled her heart. A fist tightly clenched neared her chest, and the look of her eyes turned completely solemn. Her gaze was fixed on Isiurem, whose factions she could not see because of the tick robes. A hatred started to form in her heart, although paladins would normally suppress such emotions, there were times in which they would be allowed to hate.


    ¡°Light shine upon the lands¡­¡± Sile started to recite in a firm tone, her voice was like the voice of the heavens. The moment Isiurem heard Sile¡¯s words, his pupils contracted abruptly.


    ¡°The light bless you during daylight, but never abandons you during nighttime.¡± An imposing aura surged forth from Sile, and her voice reverberated like thunder across the lands.


    ¡°May its judgement of fall upon me, for it will fall upon those who oppose me!¡± These words were nothing less than the oath of the paladin.


    ¡°You¡­ foolish witch!¡± Isiurem retorted back, this time the anger in his voice was quite obvious. A paladin recites the oath when they are blessed by the light for the first time, creating an unbreakable bond with it. Reciting it once again meant only one thing... a death sentence! In exchange for a paladin¡¯s life, the light would lay judgement upon his enemy. If found guilty, then the light accomplish the paladin¡¯s wish and kill his mortal foe! It was the extinction of a light in exchange for the banishment of the darkness.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think that I would fall for something like that!¡± Isiurem yelled madly and then his aura surged, competing against Sile¡¯s aura.


    Sile smiled upon seeing Isiurem¡¯s actions, her eyes still containing a holy aura. ¡°So, you are conscious of your own wicked soul and are afraid of punishment? Interesting.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Isiurem looked at Sile and noticed something for the first time. Although her words were a bit taunting, he wasn¡¯t bothered by it. What bothered him is that should a paladin use that forbidden skill [Light Extinction, Darkness Banishment], he was completely sure that he could overpower the light¡¯s trial, and that paladin would have thrown his life in vain. However, just in front of him, Although Sile haven¡¯t recited the last line of the paladin¡¯s oath, a demeanor as tranquil as a pond of water was reflected in her face and even in her aura! It seemed as if she wanted to use such a powerful skill, she didn¡¯t have to pay any price, and in his reasoning, there was only one way that something like that could happen.


    The other figure seemed to notice it too, and his gaze was filled with a murderous intent. The aura that Sile was giving was that¡­ of a Paragon!

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (XIV)

    This is a world filled with innumerable creatures and countless races. Measuring the strength of one thing in terms of other is something extremely complicated, however, be it a Dragon, a Chimaera, a Dwarf, an Elf, or a Human, there are qualitative changes that are perceptible when one becomes stronger.


    When someone is born, be it a monster or a human-like race, their strength is classified as being in ¡°whatever its race is¡± realm. In case of a human child, they are considered of being in the Human Realm, in case of a Kobold, they are considered of being in the Kobold Realm.


    Some race are innately more powerful than others, which means that some realms are weaker than others. However, nature, or whoever created the universe, is infinitely wise. Those seemingly weaker races has their strong points too. Be it wisdom, intelligence, faster growth rate, faster reproduction rate, there is some kind of balance that tied all the known world together in a perpetual equilibrium.


    However, there are wolfs that are destined to be more than mere wolfs, and there are humans that are destined to break the boundary of the human realm. In the case of a monster, it is often referred as evolution or upgrade. A Wolf powerful enough could break the boundary of the strength of the Wolf Realm and become a Dire Wolf, and then it can dream with becoming a Fiendish Wolf, an Ogre Wolf, or even an almighty Lesser Fenrir.


    A Dire Wolf or a Fiendish Wolf aren¡¯t merely bigger and stronger subspecies of the Wolf family. It¡¯s a change on the fundamental level of the Wolf, it stops being a Wolf to be something else. It¡¯s a mysterious change that originates from the soul.


    In the cases of human-like and most of the demi-human races, something as mysterious as the evolution doesn¡¯t exist. A human remains human for its entire life, same with the other races. However, they can become stronger, they can break the boundaries of the strength limited by their respective realms. This is possible by treading a Heroic Path.


    A warrior can execute more powerful techniques and have a strength that far surpasses an ordinary human, a cleric can feel more vividly the call of its God, and a wizard can control the surrounding elements on a far larger scale. The difference between someone that has reached the boundaries of their realm and someone that has just begun treading a Heroic Path is not that huge, in fact, there can be certain individuals far stronger than those who are treading Heroic Paths, but the possibilities of the one who has unlocked his Heroic path are just boundless.


    For example, a Wizard apprentice who has reached the boundaries of the human realm may be able to guide the elements and perform minor tricks, often called cantrips, and minor magic. He could create minor fireballs the size of a fist, and fire deadly elemental arrows. A Heroic Wizard, often referred as just Wizard, could potentially cast huge fireballs, create walls of ice tens of meters in length, and even perform ritual that could change the weather of an entire city. The problem is, that is a boundary, not something they get by unlocking their Heroic Path. In order to summon an ice wall they need the knowledge of how to use the elements to create such magic, they need the guidance of someone else.


    Because some humans can carry five times their weight, or run for hours nonstop, it doesn¡¯t mean that all humans can. Because someone unlocked its Heroic Path, that doesn¡¯t mean that it is stronger than an average human if he doesn¡¯t know how to transcend his past limits.


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    The Heroic Path is a mysterious state of the mind that lets you break the boundaries of your realm, but there are a limit to the powers you can attain as a Hero. There are physical limits that can¡¯t be broken. A human, no matter how strong, can¡¯t get to the point in which he could lift a mountain by sheer strength.


    The maximum input which every class can display, be it speed, dominion over elements, strength, endurance, wisdom, etc., are dictated by the boundaries of the Heroic Realm. Then again, the Heroic Realm isn¡¯t an absolute limit to the capabilities of someone.


    Going one step further, in order to break the boundaries of the Heroic Realm, ones has to¡­ tread a Paragon Path!


    In order to become a Hero, one needs the Will to be one. Although it isn¡¯t an easy task, it isn¡¯t an extraordinary difficult one. Many people can find and tread a Heroic Path on their own, many can inherit and follow their master¡¯s path.


    In order to become a Paragon, having the Will to be one is insufficient. Also, it is not something that you can easily inherit from someone else. To start treading a Paragon Path you need to hear its calling, you must be destined to break the boundaries of the Heroic Realm, a Paragon Path chooses a Hero in order to transform him in an almighty Paragon, not the other way around.


    Breaking the boundaries of the Mortal Realm and becoming a hero means a qualitative upgrade on the physique, letting you attain higher heights. Breaking the boundaries of the Heroic Realm and becoming a Paragon means a qualitative upgrade on one¡¯s soul, letting you change your destiny.


    If you just became a Hero, some extremely powerful Mortals are a threat for you. However, if you became a Paragon, is highly unlikely that any Hero could match you.


    A spell that costs a Paladin¡¯s life, for a Paragon is just child¡¯s play, Sile could cast it whenever she wished without risking her life.


    Sile, as a True Paladin blessed by the light, was destined to become a Paragon sooner or later, it is a fact that no one in the Holy Empire of Ivalice would dare to doubt. But being a Paragon at the age of 25 is something unheard of.


    Isiurem has witnessed Sile¡¯s talent first hand, however, even this rate of progress surprised him. Being so young and yet so powerful, meant that maybe she could become¡­.


    ¡°I underestimated you, but you are overestimating your abilities. I will dye the ground with the red of your blood. Let me show you true despair.¡± Isiurem Sicer said with a tone of disdain. He was shocked in his heart, but he didn¡¯t let that emotion surface in his voice. He took a final glance at Sile and then turned towards the citadel and commanded his horse to move.


    Sile watched his former master depart silently, a look of melancholy in her eyes. ¡®Life is sacred, protecting it is my wish.¡¯ She murmured inwardly. That was the last line of the paladin oath.

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (XV)

    After ¡°discussing¡± terms with the enemy, Sile returned to the army with a promise of freeing the survivors that the demonkins captured in her heart. She knew that her current forces were far from enough to be a threat to that imposing citadel, but if she just camp there and stares at the wall while waiting for reinforcements, many lives will be lost.


    She needed to at least create some sort of distraction in order to disrupt whatever they are doing inside those walls. The moment she neared the citadel, she could hear the plea in her heart of innumerable voices that were praying to the gods in order to be rescued. Those demonkins were not just slaughtering them, it seemed that they were holding them captive for some reason.


    Without losing much time, after discussing strategies with the highest ranked officers of the army, they decided the course of action they would take during the siege. Eighteen divisions of ten to twelve thousand soldiers were formed from the original two hundred thousand man army, taking specific emplacements alongside the wall.


    Each division was evenly distributed with experts to fulfill all the necessary rolls: ranged attacks, melee attacks, defense, and support. There were only four of the eighteen divisions that were slightly different. Three of these four were division that had men that specialized purely on support and fast speed.


    The final different division was the one that was in charge of Sile. It had fewer men than the rest, only about four thousand, and all of them were cherry-picked by Sile herself to fulfill very specific rolls.


    Her division settled near the center of the army, setting up a huge tent that could accommodate about one hundred persons. Outside the tent numerous spell formations were deployed by some wizards and the rest of her group remained vigilant guarding that tent with a very tight protection.


    Similar scenes of huge tents being set up could be seen in some of the other divisions. With Sile¡¯s division at the center, seven division at her right, seven at her left, and three divisions that could move freely, the sound of the war bugles could be heard, declaring the start of the siege.


    On the other side, Isiurem had long ago since he took defensive measures. Countless defensive spells radiated an oppressive aura and an astonishing amount of archers occupied the top of the walls of the demonkin citadel.


    From afar it is nearly impossible to tell the difference from a demonkin and a human. The more impure ones would have more demonic characteristics that they could not normally suppress, as horns, claws, fangs, etc., but the purer ones would only have to distinct characteristics: Their eyes are pitch black with no pupils, and they have a tattoo in some part of their body that represents the demon with which they made pact.


    Shockingly, all of the archers in the top of the walls didn¡¯t show signs of demonification, all of them had pure demonkin blood. They stared down with disdain, ready to taste the blood of any human bold enough to get near their shooting range.


    However, the scene they were waiting to unfold never happened. After the sound of the war bugles, not a single soldier of the human army took one step forward. Instead, elemental essences started to madly coalesce around them, and numerous rays of bright colors could be seen everywhere.


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    Huge elementals of the fire, wind, water, and earth attributes started to being summoned, and threatening spells were ready to be shot in any instant. Those who didn¡¯t have affinity with the spells had bows in their hands charged with elemental power provided by those who were of the support roll. Being at one and a half kilometers from the wall, it was obvious that they were out of range and couldn¡¯t fire such arrows, nevertheless they knew that the first stage of their siege consisted purely in ranged attacks without risking a single hair of the men of the army, so if holding a bow and arrow was useless right now, brandishing a sword was even more useless.


    A huge number of elementals and some bizarre creatures were commanded and started running towards the walls of the citadel, after which a torrent of majestic spells was released.


    The demonkins which were watching in their posts laughed with even more disdain, using summoned creatures and long range spells was like wanting to take down a steel wall by throwing soft mud to it. When the elementals approached, a torrent of arrows and some spells was thrown to them, destroying the vast majority.


    Some of the spells fired from the human side were destroyed in midair by an equivalent spell fired from the demonkin side, and some of them just collided against the magical barrier, but they couldn¡¯t create the slightest ripple in it.


    Thus, a magical battle started. When an elemental summon was taken down, another one would appear and take its spot. When a spell was successfully casted, a new one was beginning to take shape.


    The knowledge Sile had about demonkins was limited, nevertheless, she knew some key things that were crucial when she decided the strategy of the siege. Demonkins had low affinity with the elemental essences, instead, they are naturally gifted with a dominion over the dark aura. Although there are powerful dark spells, the range of the dark aura and light aura based spells is not as large and threatening as the elemental essence based spells.


    Although Sile was clear than in order to use this as a true advantage in something like a siege their numbers were far from enough, she was clear that this was the best she could right now, and it was far better than suiciding against those majestic walls of the citadel.


    With the guidance of some sages that were highly knowledgeable when it came to barriers, the spells and elementals were always aimed to the seemingly weak points of the defenses of the demonkin citadel.


    It has to be said that the citadel was enormous, and the price to set up and maintain active a barrier that could cover its entirety was very high. In order to lower the energy consumption, they will weaken the power of the barrier on the sides which were not being under attack, but doing so would create small ripples in the barrier which the sages will immediately notice.


    Having it fully active was out of the question against such small army, but activating and deactivating it was even more stressing and costly.


    Seven days passed and they were still employing the same tactic. The demonkins were truly furious and were throwing taunting words and curses to the human army.

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (XVI)

    In a room at the top of one imposing tower of the demonkin citadel were five figures looking down upon the land. Two of them were Isiurem Sicer and the black robed man whom Sile met before starting the siege. They were standing looking towards the battlefield while the other three were kneeling behind them, yet they exuded a sinister and powerful intimidating aura. They were clearly elites upon the demonkin ranks.


    ¡°Milord, they haven¡¯t shown the slightest interest in advancing. They clearly know that operating a barrier of such magnitude should be very costly, and they employ tactics in order to force us to have it fully activated almost all the time. Even if we have it fully activated, then they will use focus attacks on the weak points, upon operating the energy of the barrier to reinforce that point, then they will disperse their attacks and attack the weak points created by the ripples of focusing the energy of the barrier.¡± One of the kneeling demonkins said with a stern voice full of hatred. ¡°For some reason they seem to have a method to continuously assault us with elemental magic.¡±


    ¡°Greater elemental stones,¡± Said the standing black robed man next to Isiurem with a calm tone, ¡°Although highly valuable, they are not that rare in the Holy Empire of Ivalice, it seems that she made some preparations.¡±


    The greater elemental stones are a type of mineral that have absorbed elemental essences for thousands or even tens of thousands of years. When it is set up in some specialized spell circles, it can release the accumulated elemental essences and reinvigorate those who were continuously using them. In other words, it allows wizards to fire spells almost nonstop, only taking short breaks to recuperate their spent energy.


    ¡°We have mobilized thirty percent of the squad in charge of refining the demon salve from the prisoners, at this rate we would have to mobilize a bit more of them, or use the demon salve¡­¡± Other of the kneeling demonkin said.


    The demon salve is something that few demonkins versed in magic know how to refine. It absorbs the life force of a living being into a viscous ectoplasm that contains pure demonic energy. Although refining demon salve from living beings doesn¡¯t kill them right away, it greatly reduces its lifespan and harms the soul. However, repeated refining from a single individual is obviously lethal.


    ¡°Preposterous! Simply preposterous.¡± Rebuked Isiurem in a very mad tone, ¡°She thinks she can just stand at the door of the citadel and do as she pleases from a safe spot? I¡¯ll teach her that there¡¯s no such a thing as a safe spot!¡±


    Isiurem stared towards the horizon where he could see the warfare unfolding, he squinted his eyes and recollected his thoughts, ¡°Send a one million men battalion as vanguard. Drive them near the walls and then crush them with the archers stationed there.¡± Isiurem¡¯s tone was completely somber and full of hatred, ¡°We have enough prisoners, there¡¯s no need to leave any of them alive.¡±


    ¡°Yes, milord.¡± The trio of kneeling demonkins said in unison and then blended with the shadows, disappearing in an instant from the room.


    The two remaining figures stood shoulder to shoulder in silence for a long while. ¡°Remember the true purpose of the troops stationed here, now that the citadel has been discovered you cannot afford to have heavy casualties until we reach the next step of the plan, or else...¡± The black robed man next to Isiurem warned him, a hint of a threatening tone in his voice.


    Isiurem formed a fist with his right hand and clenched it tightly, ¡°Sir Jad, rest assured that I would not allow this incident to scale to something bigger, I will carry our Master¡¯s designs on schedule.¡±


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    ¡°Excellent.¡± Jad revealed a supercilious smile, ¡°I¡¯ll be busy finishing the preparations to open the Infernal Gate, don¡¯t disappoint me, or more specifically, don¡¯t disappoint Master¡­ Nosgoth¡­¡± Jad walked slowly towards the exit of the room while muttering the last words in a barely audible tone, then he let out a sinister laugh.


    *Bang*


    Isiurem punched heavily a nearby wall, making the whole tower tremble, ¡°I will tear you to pieces one of this days, Jad, just you wait!¡± He said while gnashing his teeth in anger.


    After finishing the preparations, the three demonkins returned to the room of the tower in which Isiurem was to report that they finished the preparations. Twenty units composed of fifty thousand demonkins each were ready to battle.


    Isiurem issued the final order and the gates were opened, revealing an astonishing and threatening number of soldiers that were flooding out from the citadel like water from a broken dam.


    Many of the soldiers from the human side felt their scalp tingling upon witnessing such scene. Each time they thought that they were badly outnumbered, even more and more people poured out from the gates.


    However, it was at this moment that and instinct deeply engraved in the souls of each soldiers flared up replacing the fear they should be feeling upon being outnumbered 5:1, hatred. Demonic and half-demonic species are the natural enemy of the humanity and vice-versa. The world is so big, yet it isn¡¯t big enough to have humans and demons in it at the same time!


    They were told and they were already aware of what kind of enemy they were facing, however, they didn¡¯t had the chance to see it clearly before because the archers on the wall were clearly far away. Now that they could see the enemy more clearly, even if they were badly outnumbered, they had the urge to rip them to shreds!


    Obviously they were not the only ones, the demonkins were laughing and looking at the human army with disdain, as if they were wolves that are about to be released in midst a flock of sheep.


    Both armies stared at the other and each one set up their formations. The human army ceased with the long distance attack strategy and all the wizards were clearly focusing on quickly recovering in order to be ready for combat. The sound of war horns and war bugles suddenly filled the air.


    ¡°Surround them and spare none. Kill them all!¡± Frantic war cries were heard from the demonkin side as wave after wave of demonkins started to madly rush towards the human army.


    ¡°Cease fire and hold your grounds!¡± Generals from the human army started to give orders as the army grouped tightly together.


    The demonkins continued their rush, their speed was quite something to behold. They reached the five hundred meter mark and now were in the range of the marksman from the human army. Strangely enough, no single arrow was fired.


    ¡°Hold!¡± Upon seeing that the hands of some bowmen were itching to fire the arrows, the higher ups had to remind again and again everybody to just wait patiently.


    The demonkins had used some deflective magic in order to receive the rain of arrows and minimize the damage on the first lines, upon seeing that no arrow came, they just laughed with even more disdain and a thick killing intent overflowed from their eyes.

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (XVII)

    The distance between both armies shrunk to less than two hundred meters, the clash of the front lines would happen at any instant. Knights and warriors held their shields and spears tightly, looking with bloodshot eyes to the incoming demonkins. Although the demonkins were doing a frontal assault, at the same time a number of them were running towards spots at the left and right side of the human army. With the numbers the demonkins had, encircling them was not a big deal.


    One hundred fifty meters¡­ One hundred meters¡­ Eighty meters¡­


    When the distance was about to shrunk to fifty meters, four thick pillars of light exploded from four spots inside the lines of the human army. The origin of the pillars of light were the huge tents that were placed in the heart of four of the divisions. All the nearby light aura surged frantically towards those tents, tearing them to pieces in the blink of an eye.


    Beneath the tents were revealed a huge spell circle engraved with celestial symbols, in the center of which ten paladins and clerics were seated cross legged meditating. Smaller circles that were surrounding the tent interlocked with the huge spell circle forming a magnificent spell array. Each of the smaller outer circles poured an absurd amount of energy to the main celestial spell circle.


    The eyes of the meditating clerics and paladins snapped open, filled with a mysterious glow that contained the power of light, a light that would bring judgement upon the land. They started to recite a powerful chant in celestial tongue, making the glyphs and runes of the spell circle to start to shine and emit a powerful aura.


    It was at this instant that the first line of the human army clashed with the demonkins, a tiny portion of the demonkins were slightly distracted by the development in the heart of the human army, and in a moment of carelessness suffered fatal injuries. The more seasoned soldiers could only spit with derision at how pitiful those who got distracted were.


    The sound of steel clashing with steel, and the display of numerous martial abilities filled the scenery. The human army defended their position with a heavy priority in the defense, retreating a few steps when necessary and holding the ground when possible, minimizing their number of casualties.


    Not much time passed and huge figures started to materialize from each of the spell circles. The pressure those figures exuded far surpassed that of the elementals that the wizards used to attack by a far margin.


    Each one had a towering height of ten meters, and had immaculate angelic, yet robust, appearances. A white full plate armor enveloped the entirety of their bodies from shoulder to toes, in which there were engraved the same celestial glyphs and runes of the spell circle, giving it a sense of indestructibility.


    Their faces were expressionless, yet dignified, and on top of their heads was a golden halo that emanated a purifying light. In their left hands they held a great spear, which was slightly larger than them, and in their right hand they were holding a huge round shield that had a single rune engraved in the center of it. In ancient celestial language, that rune represents an unyielding spirit.


    This entities were known as Celestial Guardians. Their will to protect is unmatched. They were so powerful that in order to summon one required the combined effort of several practitioners of the holy arts, and the amount of time they could be summoned was limited.


    However, even if you met all the requirements, being entities from a different plane, normally you could only summon them with a fraction of their original power, but this four Celestial Guardians weren¡¯t ordinarily summoned, and clearly retained almost all of their original power upon materializing outside of the Celestial Realm.


    ¡°Hmp, to be able to summon four Celestial Guardians with their full strength, I have to acknowledge that there are capable people in your ranks, witch.¡± Isiurem softly snorted and murmured upon seeing the four towering figures from his position and feeling the aura they emanated, ¡°However, it is wishful thinking if you believe that just four pitiful Celestial Guardians are enough to preserve your lives¡­¡± He exclaimed, revealing a vicious grin, full of maliciousness and anticipation.


    The Celestial Guardians immediately moved towards the front ranks, and with their aid, the human army secured their foothold. Each wave of their shields could deflect one thousand arrows, swords, and spells, while each thrust of their spears would impale dozens of demonkins, burning them with the light of judgement.


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    Although it was clear that their offensive capabilities were not as good as their defensive ones, they allowed the rest of the first line of defense to focus a little bit more on the offense, exerting more and more pressure on the demonkin lines.


    However, the demonkins were not incapable soldiers. Not only they stood on their ground, flickering lights of summoning circles started to appear everywhere between their ranks. Multiple hideous beast that had no eyes, a formless mouth, a black and slimy body, and only two legs, filled the battleground with their mad roars. They started to drag their bodies in order to move, leaving a trail of a black substance that corroded the essence of the earth they stepped on.


    This creatures were known as Shadow Devourers. Although far from comparable to the power of a Celestial Guardian, a single summoning circle could spawn tens, and even hundreds of them.


    It clearly was a taunt directed towards the human army, should they remain on the defensive side, the Shadow Devourers will outnumber them sooner or later. In order to avoid a calamity, they had to press forward and close the summoning circles, but pressing forward meant that they had to face a direct confrontation with the demonkins while being outnumbered, tactic which will lead to heavy casualties, casualties which they could not afford.


    Upon witnessing this scene, the human army could only clench their jaws and still endure on their positions. They knew that a single summoning circle of shadow devourers could lead to the calamity of a city, let alone hundreds or even a thousand of summoning circles.


    They tightened their defenses and gave their all to fend off the combined attack of demonkins and shadow devourers, but after a couple of hours of continuous defense the front line was showing signs of breaking apart.


    ¡°Hahahahaha.¡± Isiurem laughed complacently from the room at the top of the tower, ¡°It¡¯s time for your demise!¡± His expression was twisted and the tone of voice was filled with malice, it was hard to believe that Isiurem was formerly a paladin.


    ¡°Send three hundred thousand more soldiers, let¡¯s finish this farce qu¡­¡± He was about to finish issuing an order to the three subordinates behind him when he had to pause his speech. He focused his senses towards a tent that was in the center of the human army and his pupils constricted to the size of a needle hole. ¡°Impossible!¡± He muttered, disbelieve written all over his face.


    Although Isiurem had no means of knowing, that was the tent in which Sile was currently meditating. She was in the center of an even more magnificent spell circle than those which summoned the celestial guardians. Her eyes snapped open.


    Torrential amounts of light aura surged forming a huge vortex that lit up the spell circle. However, instead from originating from auxiliary spell circles, the light aura originated from a jewel Sile was holding between her hands.


    ¡°Light, guide me!¡± Sile yelled, provoking a huge chain reaction from all the glyphs, runes, and every nook and line of the spell circle in which she was standing.


    The land quaked and the clouds churned. Sile¡¯s hands trembled and her face paled, but her eyes were filled with an unwavering will. She focused her senses and let out a howl filled with power. A pillar of blinding light descended from the heavens and a kneeling figure was barely visible within.


    When the light dispersed, the figure slowly stood upright. It was slightly shorter than the Celestial Guardians, and didn¡¯t even had a halo. His armor was golden and filled with celestial patterns, but it didn¡¯t seem as robust, nor impressive, as the armors that the Celestial Guardians were wearing. However, for some reason, a terrible threatening feeling will surge in the hearts of whoever looked at that figure.


    The celestial being slowly opened his eyes, and only a golden glow could be seen. It opened its mouth an uttered a single word that shook the souls of every single person on the battlefield.


    ¡°Vengeance¡­¡±

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (XVIII)

    In the legacies left by Titor, there''s a certain technique that even in a place full of geniuses like the Order of Exalted Paladins, few of the elite members are able to learn it, and even fewer are capable of achieve complete mastery. This technique is called Heaven''s Slash. Said skill has a terrific power capable of overturning the land, and obviously requires a high amount of light aura in order to be cast just once, so much that upon being used, the one who casted it would have to rest for about a week in order to recover its light aura no matter how many miraculous medicines he tries to use.


    The idea behind Heaven''s Slash is to call upon a certain celestial entity for a brief period of time, borrowing a fraction of its power and unleashing it in a single strike. The Heaven''s Slash preserves the intent of the celestial entity whose power is being borrowed, boosting the power of the strike when unleashed with the intent of punishing an evil spirit or someone with a wicked heart.


    That celestial entity is known as a Heavenly Slayer, the same celestial entity that Sile just summoned.


    The four Celestial Guardians summoned by the group of paladins and clerics corresponds to the mid ranks of Heaven''s Soldiers, while a Heavenly Slayer makes part of the low ranks of Heaven''s Judges. Nevertheless, the difference in power between a Heaven Soldier and a Heaven Judge is simply too vast, even if it''s a low ranked one. A full powered Heavenly Slayer could stand his ground against one thousand Celestial Guardians without being defeated.


    However, even if a Heavenly Slayer is many times more powerful than a Celestial Guardian, there''s a fundamental flaw in trying to summon one for combat. Unlike any summon of the soldier rank that would obey its summoner if their motive is pure, those of the judge rank has their own mindset, and will act according to their own will, not the summoner''s.


    Heaven''s Judges are haughty and extremely prideful, if they consider that they were summoned in a conflict which isn''t worth of their time, they will not move a single finger. In some extreme cases, they can even raise their weapons against the one who summoned them, judging them to have dark hearts. There were numerous records of armies losing a war because they tried to take the easy route by summoning a Heaven''s or Hell''s Judge and then the summoned creature would turn against themselves.


    Although Sile''s idea was not original because there were already records of people who extrapolated the Heaven''s Slash towards a summon of a Heavenly Slayer, the number people and the number of times a Heavenly Slayer has being summoned since the calamity war could be counted with one hand. Even if it''s a low ranked judge, is a fairly powerful one with high requirements for its summon, so much that with the help of the jewel that Sile was holding, she could only manifest about a fifth of its power.


    Sile knew of the implications of summoning something as powerful as the Heavenly Slayer, it was undoubtedly a double-edged move, she was even being a little too naive. The whole army was being constantly pressed by the demonkins and by sheer numbers she knew that it was only a matter of time before the formations started to collapse and the whole army was wiped away, if the Heavenly Slayer caused even the tiniest of struggles from the inside of the formations, they would undoubtedly die.


    However, she was confident in the choice she made in summoning the Heavenly Slayer. The basis for her confidence is that judge ranked Celestials are natural demon hunters... and just in front of her there''s a whole army of half demons!


    The Heavenly Slayer made a grasping motion in front of him and a bright pillar of light materialized out of nowhere. The pillar of light started to rotate and condense in the form of a gigantic twin bladed sword, each blade possessing a menacing length of six meters.


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    The moment the Heavenly Slayer finally gripped its weapon, a strand of its aura was released enveloping the whole battlefield. Upon sensing its aura, humans, demonkins, and even the brainless shadow devourer felt a opressive aura that instilled fear in their hearts, this was an aura of a being that was about to bring his judgement upon them!


    The faces of the demonkin army couldn''t help but turning grave. Although that tiny human army was proving to be as resilient as a cockroach, they were just delaying their own deaths, they were far from being a real threat. With enough time and the aid of the shadow devourers they could wipe them easily without much effort, even if they were being backed up by four Celestial Guardians. However, the aura emanating from the Heavenly Slayer clearly told them that a calamity was about to fall upon them.


    "Maintain the ranks! Assume defensive formations!"


    "Fifth to the eleventh regimen, focus your fire on the new summon!"


    The demonkin generals were no fools. They could feel the power emanating from the Heavenly Slayer, but they knew that a summon of that caliber could not be maintained for a prolonged period of time, and the fact that it was summoned only until now meant that it was probably a delaying tactic. If they retreated now, not only the demonkin army would suffer heavy casualties, they would need a lot of time to launch a second wave of attacks, time they didn''t have right now.


    "Vengeance..."


    The Heavenly Slayer spoke again and then took three steps forward. This time his tone was full of killing intent, it clearly identified the demonkins as its enemy, and it was eager to slaughter them. One moment ago, it was behind Sile, near the center of the human army. One moment later, he was in the middle of the demonkin army. With a few steps it traversed a thousand meters!


    No one could follow such speed with the naked eyes, let alone take defensive measures!


    The Heavenly Slayer raised its twin bladed sword and executed three sword attacks in the midst of all the unprepared demonkins and shadow devourers. The swing of those blades seemed to be completely ordinary attacks, there wasn''t any fancy light beams or explosions that accompanied the attacks. However, how could the attack of such a powerful entity be ordinary?


    *Thud, thud, thud.*


    The sound of hundreds of stones hitting the floor filled the area around the Heavenly Slayer. By the time everybody finally reacted and looked at the new position that the Heavenly Slayer was occupying, the fear they felt previously because its aura intensified by tenfold. In a ten meter radius, all the shadow devourers were sliced in half and all the demonkins were... beheaded! No exception! Those weren''t stones hitting the floor, it was the sounds of at least three hundred demonkin heads falling from their shoulders!


    Everyone was looking dumbfounded at the scene. Each second seemed to be an eterniy, but it only took about five of those eternities for someone in the demokin side to yell "RUN!", followed by hundreds and then thousands of the same cries. The demonkins were fierce by nature, but even if they were several times more fierce, they knew that staying in the same battlefield with the Heavenly Slayer was a suicidal act! Even if they will be punished or even executed later for fleeing from the battlefield, they still had a tiny chance to preserve their lives, while staying here meant certain death!

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (XIX)

    The Heavenly Slayer started a fierce rampage. It unleashed a barrage of powerful skills in the midst of the demonkin army, killing thousands of them with each wave of his dual bladed sword, they could do almost nothing in order to defend themselves. It wasn''t that they didn''t have the means to retaliate, but this was a foe they were unprepared to face. You don''t use a catapult to kill a mosquito, but who could have imagined that the human army that they viewed as insects could bring something so fierce that they were now desperately running for their lives?


    Although the Heavenly Slayer was only one entity and in normal circumstances it could at most support a portion of the army while the demonkins could outnumber the rest of the fronts, its sheer power and unmatchable speed let it travel from one side of the battlefield to the other unhindered, leaving behind corpses littered everywhere. The control that Sile had over the actions of the Heavenly Slayer were very limited, she could only try to persuade it to attack certain spots on the battlefield while preventing it from raising its blade against the human army and no more. Since not all demonkins were on retreat, she would aim for those who were still clashing with the army, in order to prevent more loses in her side.


    The demonkins felt helpless. The four Celestial Guardians were bones hard to chew, high defensive power but with very limited offensive capabilities. They were confident that sooner or later one of them would fall from the accumulated assaults, and what followed was the slaughter of the whole human army. The Heavenly Slayer completely tipped the balance of the fight. While they were trying to take down the Celestial Guardians in front of them, they had now to watch out at their own backs in order to avoid fatal attacks.


    The demonkin generals thought at first that the Heavenly Slayer would only be summoned for a couple of seconds, two or three minutes at most, but they miscalculated. Two hours passed by and the Heavenly Slayer had wiped more than one hundred thousand demonkins while closing all of the shadow devourer''s summoning circles and preventing new ones from opening. Although they had received some reinforcements, they didn''t have a quick method to take down the Celestial Guardians and then there was nothing they could do since they couldn''t predict how much more the Heavenly Slayer would remain summoned, the idea of it being summoned permanently crossed their minds and they went almost insane. They started a full retreat.


    The human army didn''t gave chase, instead, they changed to long-range weaponry and started firing arrows and bolts that were charged with a special spell: Turn earth to swamp. Those arrows were almost harmless in terms of damage, and the spell could only create a four square meters area of swamp that would last for about 10 minutes, nothing too flashy. However, when tens of thousands of those arrows and bolts are fired at the same time against a retreating army, that harmless spell transformed the terrain into a purgatory, with the Heavenly Slayer as the executioner that could reap their souls with a wave of its blade.


    The demonkins let out a string of curses and could only helplessly watch as their retreat was slowed substantially. It was obvious that this was a trap laid very carefully by the humans and they fell for it face first, almost a third of the first wave of demonkins perished by this point and they hadn''t finished their retreat!


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    *Cough* *Cough*


    Sile coughed a mouthful of blood and fell to one knee, almost collapsing on the ground. The light wich surrounded the spell circle in which she was standing started to diminish dramatically, it seemed as if it would collapse in any given second. Simultaneously, the power of the attacks of the Heavenly Slayer decreased substantially giving some breath to the demonkins to retreat further and even launch some counter attacks.


    The burden of casting Heaven''s Slash which only used a tiny portion of the power of the Heavenly Slayer was huge, to maintain the Heavenly Slayer summoned for an extended period of time the price she would have to pay was unimaginable. She clenched her teeth and wiped the traces of blood from the corner of her lips and then tossed to one side the jewel she was holding previously, which shattered immediately when it felt to the floor. Moments ago, when Sile took out that jewel, it was filled to the brim with a boundless and majestic light aura, but now it was completely sucked dry.


    "I have... just a little more... not sure.. if it''s enough time..." Sile murmured panting. She then searched in a pouch near her belt and produced an identical jewel to the one she used as catalyst to summon the Heavenly Slayer, however, the radiance this one possessed was lacking compared with the first one. "To fill... one Emperor Jewel... it took me almost two years... I never had enough time... to finish filling a second jewel..." Sile said while standing up slowly, "If I have to... trade my life... to pay for the sins... of my master..." She gripped tightly the jewel in her hands, so tightly that blood started flowing drop by drop, "If my life it''s the price, so be it!"


    The light of the spell circle stabilized and Sile once again started pouring more light aura to her summon, but it goes without saying that this time the Heavenly Slayer wasn''t at the peak of his power. Nevertheless, it was something that couldn''t be underestimated.


    Isiurem was still watching with a cold gleam in his eyes, a muruderous aura was surrounding him. "Release five abominations." He said with a calm voice, a calmness that carried a heavy killing intent.


    The three figures that were behind Isiurem trembled at the same time, looks of astonishment and horror in their faces. "Sir," One of them said hastily, "Without opening the Infernal Gate, we will not be able to control them, and they would go berserk!"


    "Although our loses are heavy," Said another one, "Even if they are ten times heavier, they can not compare to the price we have to pay to recapture one abomnation, let alone five!"


    *Swish* *Swish* *Splurt*


    Before the third one had time to speak, he opened his eyes wide and shut his mouth immediately. With two swift motions, Isiurem beheaded the other two of his companions without giving them the slightest chance to retaliate! Isiurem looked at the last one directly in the eyes and then he pointed slowly the tip of the sword at his neck. "What? Do you feel like lecturing me about how to manage this citadel too?" Isiurem said with a menacing tone.


    "No... sir." The remaining of the three soldiers answered trying to hide his fear... and his anger.


    "Then go and release five abominations into the batttlefield!" Isiurem said retrieving the sword from the neck of the soldier, then he turned around and looked outside, "Sile, I wanted to kill you, but now, I will show you true despair!"

 Sile, True Paladin of the Holy Empire of Ivalice. (XX)

    Both armies distanced themselves and changed to mid and long ranged weapons. The only creature attacking relentlessly at short-range was the Heavenly slayer.


    From the two hundred thousand elite soldiers that Sile brought, at least thirty thousand were critically injured or dead and fifty thousand more were moderately injured. Although the injuries of the rest could be considered light, it would be hard to find someone among all the army who was not tired right now. Not only they were attacking relentlessly an almost impenetrable fortress, they were badly outnumbered, they were in an open terrain with almost no options for defense. Had the troops Sile brought not been the best of the border armies, they would haven been wiped since the first day.


    Although every soldier of the human army was a veteran soldier and they knew that in the midst of a huge scale battle it was normal for hundreds, or even thousands of them dying in a single exchange, although all of them were ready for sacrificing their lives on the battlefield for a greater good, the moment the demonkin army gave them some space they couldn''t help but sighing in relief, they knew that after a retreat it would take some time for any army to reorganize and launch another wave of attacks, even if they were in the front door of a demonkin citadel and could die at any given moment, being able to rest for some time after the first direct clash with the demonkin army was a huge deal and released a lot of the pressure and stress they had.


    However...


    *Thump... Thump... Thump...*


    *ROAAAAAAAR*


    All of a sudden the land started to throb slightly and mad roars akin of hungry beasts started to resonate loudly on the battlefield. Normally, something like that would not be a big deal, the real problem was that the army was still a couple of kilometers apart from the walls of the demonkin citadel, and the volume of the roars could be heard very vividly, but the most disturbing thing was the mini quakes that could be felt from the foots. The sound could be faked or just amplified by magic, but what kind of beast could make the ground quake slightly from such a distance?


    *BANG*


    *Crack crack crack*


    The roars started to intensify and the walls of the citadel started to tremble. The expressions of everyone turned serious and an ominous feeling filled the atmosphere. Normally only those with affinity towards the light or darkness could feel if there was a change in the auras of their surroundings, however, the thickness of the dark aura that was being emitted from the citadel was so high that everyone could feel it.


    A sense of grave crisis was born on Sile''s heart. She had the bad feeling that whatever was making such ruckus behind those walls was comparable in power with the Heavenly Slayer. She knew that there was an even worst possibility, but she didn''t even dare to think about it. She tightened the grip on the second nearly exhausted jewel on her hands and then shouted with a resolute voice, "Full defensive formations! Focus on retreating the injured soldiers from the front lines! Those who are able to assist in pouring power to the summoning circles of the Celestial Guardians do so! Whatever comes from those walls, we will persevere!"


    "Yes, my Lady!"


    The soldiers started to move immediately and as a well-built windmill, all of the pieces orderly worked and assumed their respective positions. While the roars and pounds grew even louder, they noticed that the demonkins were assuming some weird formations.


    The quaking and the roars stopped for a moment but none of the soldiers felt relieved, on the contrary, they couldn''t help but becoming more tense. A deathly silence filled the battlefield for a few moments which was interrupted by the sound of the main gate of the citadel opening slowly. Although that door was opened previously when part of the demonkin army poured out from the citadel, the pressure the human army felt this time because the opening of those gates was on a total different level.


    *Creack creack creack.... BANG*


    The door was fully opened revealing five enormous carriages, each one carrying an enormous cage, the smaller one had at least a height of ten meters. The size was astonishing by itself, but the killing aura that came from those cages was terrifying. Although whatever was inside of those cages was no longer roaring madly, the low growls they were emitting clearly stated that if they were to be let loose, they would start a carnage!


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    *UUIIIIIIIIIIIIIII*


    One of the cages was opened and the thing that was inside let out a loud shriek, then it started running towards the human army without hesitation. It was a twelve meters tall boar with a monstrous frame. It''s muscles were bulging and wriggling abnormally, as if there were thousand of huge worms beneath its pitch black skin. There were stitches all over its body that prevented the rotted and decaying flesh from falling apart. A viscous foul liquid seeped from the pores of its body. The eyes of that hellish boar were dyed with the color of blood. There was foam all over its mouth and its nostrils were fuming a black mist, if you looked very closely you could notice that there was some sort of fire burning inside his throat. Its left tusk was broken, yet the right tusk seemed as if it didn''t belong to the boar. In fact, the boar was so bizarre that it seemed that most of its body didn''t belong originally to it.


    Without hesitation the Heavenly Slayer moved to intercept the charging boar. It unleashed a variety of divine abilities trying to take down the boar from far away but the liquid that covered the body of the boar transformed in a mist that was capable of repelling the attacks of the Heavenly Slayer. Sensing the hostility of the Heavenly Slayer, the boar let out another enraged roar and rushed towards it. The Heavenly Slayer positioned the blade in front of him in a way that he was going to use the own force of the boar''s charge to impale it.


    However, to the astonishment of all the onlookers, when the blade made contact with the boar''s skin it actually bounced off. The Heavenly Slayer was incapable of damaging the boar!


    The Heavenly Slayer received a hit from the boar''s charge and was sent spinning backwards. It only took an instant for it to recover and charge again against the boar. Although it wasn''t able to damage the boar easily, the boar wasn''t able to damage it either. The fight between the Heavenly Slayer and that boar caused the land to quake and the sky to dim. They were actually evenly matched in terms of strength!


    Everybody was so focused on the fight between those two titans that they forgot an important detail for a moment: there were another four cages! It was only the sound of those cages opening that woke up everybody from their stupor. The roars and shrieks of another four hellish beasts filled the battlefield. An almost twenty meters tall ape, a fifteen meters tall rhinoceros, a sixteen meters long bat, and a thirty meters long earthworm were released. Although their general appearances were that of an ape, a rhinoceros, a bat, and an earthworm, each one was as bizarre as the boar, their muscles were abnormally huge, their skin was pitch black, they were covered in stitches, and that viscous foul liquid that transformed in a black mist covered them.


    Sile was inwardly shaken when she saw that the Heavenly Slayer could at most match evenly with the boar. If it was as its peak condition, maybe it would have the upper hand right now, but even then it would probably take a huge deal of time to kill that monstrous boar. However, she wasn''t even sure if she could sustain the summon of the Heavenly Slayer long enough for it to beat the boar when she was in her peak condition, let alone now that her second Emperor Jewel was almost empty. Sile was intrepid and fearless, she wouldn''t hesitate to put herself in danger if it was needed for whatever mission she needed to accomplish. She really wouldn''t hesitate if it would ensure or increase the success rate of a noble cause, let alone a mission that could determine the fate of an entire race. However, she knew that there was a fine line between courage and stupidity that should never be crossed, and staying here to fight against five creatures with a power comparable to the Heavenly Slayer didn''t require courage but extreme stupidity.


    "Retreat! Everybody retreat!" Sile commanded without hesitation


    Isiurem Sicer was looking from its tower with an evil smile at the developments on the battlefield, he laughed coldly and murmured in a sinister tone, "Do you think I would let you escape after delivering yourself at my doorstep? Hahahahaha."