Chapter
5 – End of the Journey
Evander always told me to make time
for rest and not be all about business despite the importance of my job like how
many politicians, bishops, and businessmen are. He said it would spoil my soul
and upset God since He taught us to rest and not rush things. Perhaps, my time
with David will be full of rest, and if he does try getting secrets out of me,
I’ll make sure his efforts are in vain. I do hope it will go well since I have
particular feelings for him. Will he like me back in the same way that I like him?
My high elf father from Oron and my
mother from Polypus loved each other despite being from different races and the
stigma of half-breeds in certain cultures, especially that of the high elves. Evander
and his allies didn’t mind me being of mixed race. In fact, it was one of the
reasons why he welcomed me into his ranks. Only those of mixed race can use the
magic and abilities of both races, so I guess it was obvious that he would be
interested in my abilities. Part of me also wondered if it was part of his plan
since my father and mother were already his allies. Nevertheless, his kindness
and vision to help the world is what keeps me fighting for him and I hope that
David will return my feelings to him when I reveal them on our date.
For now, I should focus on business
as we overlook Constantinople from a vantage point with our allies in the St.
Dismas group and legions of orcs and knights of Canis. Ahead of us is an army
that seems to be twice our number with ratmen, beastmen, and traitors from
other races that stand between us and the gates of the city. On the various
skyscrapers and tall churches are the abominations with tree-like bodies with
more ratmen being formed from them and on the largest church is Vicar Sylvatic.
He obviously wants us to attack first so he can show off the strength of his
army, but his pride and confidence in this army of scum and abominations will
fail him.
“It looks like we won’t be able to
strike in the shadows much during this battle,” David says to Rota.
“That’s fine with me. I’ll fight with
my bare teeth if it means that the Vicar dies today,” he says.
The rest of the St. Dismas group
agree to fight with us though they will all be in the back and mostly fight in
the city. Our party gathers together to formulate a plan for ourselves while
the orcs and knights of Canis prepare themselves to act as our distraction.
“Marcel will form their white sun
fireball with the rest of the white flame knights to thin out the army before
we attack. From there, Saanvi will conjure an ice elephant to act as our battering
ram and then the big guy, Hossam, and Lieselotte will be our next battering ram
as we make our way through the church the Vicar is in,” David says.
“And where will you be?” Lieselotte
asks.
“I’ll mask our advance with dark
fog and spew acid from my hands to take care of long-ranged targets you and
Hossam can’t along with Saanvi who will be doing the same with her magic. What
do you think?”
“I think it’s a good plan,” Hossam
says.
“It’s simple but effective. I like
it,” Marcel says.
“Well, if you think so, then I guess
I have to agree,” Lieselotte admits.
“I’d like to add that I can
teleport us just in case we get overwhelmed though I will need to catch my
breath for a minute or two before I can be of use again,” Saanvi says.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to
that. Now, are we ready to bring God’s justice to this corrupted vicar?”
We all yell in agreement and then
act in accordance with our plan. The white flame knights of Canis create their
huge fireball and melt a majority of our enemies defending the gates of
Constantinople even as the enemy fires its canons at us. While this is
happening the orcs and knights of Canis charge at the city’s gates and we
charge on an icy elephant I’ve conjured. David uses his dark fog to mask our
advance, which throws off the aim of the canons that nearly hit us. Thankfully,
we can make it to the gates and bust through them as we charge through the
city.
Above us, we see that the
abominations are quickly creating more ratmen much to their detriment as their
bodies begin falling apart since they can’t regenerate fast enough to keep up with
the rate at which they are reproducing soldiers. Seeing that we are going to be
overwhelmed, I use my high elf magic to blind the ratmen before teleporting us
close to the church the Vicar is at with my magic from Polypus. This causes the
icy elephant to slowly begin to fall apart, but it manages to stay together
until it breaks apart as we bust through the doors of the church. David carries
me in his arms as he and the rest of the party leap from the broken elephant.
He smiles and winks at me as he does so much like a storybook hero. I could’ve
leaped by myself but wanted this to happen because I need to conserve my
strength for more important matters.
David defends me while I catch my
breath and the other three clear the enemies around us. Once I do, I use my
high elf magic to melt the ratmen with beams of light and impale and freeze
them with Polypus ice magic. David conjures more dark fog to mask our movements
so he can enter it to dodge attacks and quickly traverse to places to get rid
of ranged foes. Hossam, Lieselotte, and Marcel carve through the many ratmen around
them and despite appearing to wade through tides of enemies, they manage to
dispel them as they charge up the steps of the church as we all make it to the
very top where Vicar Sylvatic continues to create ratmen.
“My reign will not end here! Tremble
in fear for you face God’s chosen one!” the Vicar says.
Using all of our abilities and
skills together, we begin our final attack against the Vicar. Marcel, Hossam,
and Lieselotte carve through the ratmen around him and those that he produces
while David and I attack him from a distance. David melts him and his spawn
with his acids while I use the magic from both of my bloodlines to wear him
down. By the end of our assault, the Vicar is unable to produce any more ratmen
and is nothing more than a blob of flesh clothed in his tattered papal
clothing. Even so, he lives on and tries to fight us with his papal scythe that
he can barely swing. Each one of us then attacks him with our own attacks to
finally finish him off and bring an end to his miserable life.
“You can’t…you can’t kill God’s
chosen…I…I…St. Peter, intercede for me…” Vicar Sylvatic says in his final
words.
“Was he asking for St. Peter to help
save his soul or to help him continue fighting?” Marcel asks.
“Regardless, we must pray for his
soul,” Hossam says as he clasps his hands together.
“Pray? For trash like him?”
Lieselotte says.
“Sin makes us trash like him and he
is a Pope, so we must pray for his soul,” David says as he prays.
“Tch. Fine.”
We all pray for the Vicar’s soul
and those who died today. After we’re done, we look at what’s happening below
us. From this height, I see the armies of orcs and knights of Canis finishing
off the Vicar’s forces and chasing them away from the city. While my friends catch
their breaths and congratulate one another on a job well done, I charge my
teleportation spell and then cast it, which saps most of my strength. Evander,
several mages from Polypus and Ordon, and a seemingly normal human woman with red and black hair
appear on the roof. Everyone in my party is surprised to see this except for
David. The mages and high elves use their magic to teleport the Vicar’s body away before teleporting to the other abominations and teleporting them away as well.
“Well done, all of you,” Evander
says. “You’ve secured a future for the Church and humanity through your heroic
deeds. I hope the bishops reward you enough so that you can live in peace for
the rest of your lives.”
“What are you planning to do with
the Vicar’s body and the bodies of the abominations, Evander?” David asks.
“It’s just research to create
medicine, to repair tissue at a rapid rate, I assure you. Is this the man you
are so fond of, Saanvi?”
“He is,” I admit.
“David, I know you wish to learn
more, so you will in your future work with Saanvi. I’ll contact you when that
day happens.”
“I look forward to it.”
“I’ve…we’ve also arranged a day to
be together. Just the two of us,” I say.
“Ah, so you’re an even better man than
it seems, David. Do ensure you don’t break Saanvi’s heart like you did with
Viktoria’s?”
“I’ll try not to,” David says with
a cocky smile.
After the battle and we head back to the Vatican to report our success, we are celebrated as heroes along with those in the St. Dismas group and the orcs and knights of Canis. Bernhard begins to colonize Eastern Europe claiming Constantinople and giving its brother nation, Canis, some of the land as well much to the dismay of the Church and other kingdoms. Hossam is now a guard at the Vatican while Marcel and Lieselotte have settled down for a bit to raise a family. Meanwhile, David and I are on our first date, or at least what I want to be a date. He offers me his hand with a smile that I take with a smile of my own as we begin our day together, the first of many more to come.
The End
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