Chapter 23: After the Battle

Vito narrowly avoided the lancer’s strike. He parried the next strike and dashed forward. The lancer easily kicked him backward and knocked him to the ground to finish him off. Vito quickly rolled out of the way and narrowly avoided a wind attack. “Wind Sickle!” A curved blade of wind nearly took Vito’s head off.

“Fury Blade!” Vito countered with his jagged blade of magic.

“Wind Sickle!” The two attacks collided in the air and exploded on impact.

“Raging Whirlwind!” The lancer spun his weapon in the air, kicking up a strong tornado around him.

Delwyn leaped high into the air, a crimson aura cloaking her body and sword. She held her sword with a reverse grip with both hands before her and descended into the heart of the tornado. “Fatal Dive.” Though her magic blunted her attack, the lancer still fell after her sword struck his shoulder.

The winds died down as Delwyn joined Vito. “Who knew frontier villages could be so exciting?” Sarcasm and frustration dripped from every word she spoke.

He saw two arrows fly at them. Vito pushed Delwyn aside and deflected the arrows with his sword. He whistled and aimed in the direction the arrows came from. Kaelyn released a volley of weakened explosive arrows and knocked an archer off a roof while doing minimal damage to the roof itself.

Vito and Delwyn intercepted the shield-bearer, whose shield was almost as tall as himself. They swung glowing swords to stop his advance. The shield-bearer brushed off their strikes and charged through them to fight Greye.

“Earthen Barrage!” Stone spikes flew out of the ground in all directions around the shield-bearer. Vito and Delwyn deflected whatever they couldn’t safely avoid.

Delwyn empowered herself and leaped high in the air. “Titan’s Impact!” A magic aura cloaked her blade and tripled it in size as she swung downward. A crater formed at the shield-bearer’s feet as he blocked her attack.

“Earthen Shell!” Sharp spikes erupted about the shield-bearer, forcing Delwyn to leap out of the way before she was impaled. Their opponent defended himself only for a moment until he broke free of his confines. “Earthen Lance!” Large stone spikes, twice the size of a person, shot forth from the ground.

Vito noticed Iris behind him, prompting him to engage directly rather than avoid as Delwyn had. “Brave Blade!” He split the stone into three and halted its advance.

Delwyn landed on top of their enemy’s shield and blew a playful kiss, distracting him long enough for Vito to make his move. Vito sped behind him and slashed the back of the shield-bearer’s knees, causing him to buckle. A swift kick knocked him off balance, allowing Delwyn to deliver a mighty kick that sent the adventurer flying. The shield-bearer groaned in pain as he landed on his back.

“Titan’s Impact!” Delwyn launched another attack. The shield-bearer tried in vain to defend himself again. A much larger crater formed at the impact point, proof of Delwyn’s victory.

Greye evenly matched Zelkan’s strikes despite being a few levels lower. He ducked below a severe horizontal strike and countered with a mighty elbow charge to knock Zelkan away. “Fury Blade!” He unleashed a shockwave that tore the ground asunder and sent his foe crashing into an empty nearby house.

Iris used healing magic on Vito, Delwyn, and Greye while Parsifal conjured magic chains to bind and restrain the Lion’s Vanguard. Vito sighed as the pain was replaced by a warm glow that filled his every cell. Galien raced back to the group and was visibly disappointed that he missed the battle. “I can’t believe I missed everything.”

“Relax,” Kaelyn patted his shoulder. “You got the villagers to safety. That was just as important as defeating these guys.”

Iris retrieved Vito’s knife and returned it to him. “You looked very dashing, like a great knight.”

Vito chuckled and sheathed his weapons. “Thanks. You saved me once again.” Iris smiled sweetly in response.

“Hey, I’ll drag them to the guard tower. Vito, you grab their equipment,” Galien announced.

“Sure.” Vito smiled at Iris before stepping away from her to help his brother. He would rather have stayed and talked with Iris, but duty called. She seemed disappointed as well.

“Stop!” Greye commanded. Something alarmed him. “Cast a barrier spell, as powerful as you can make it!” Alarmed, Iris and Parsifal formed a barrier around the group while Greye ran to Galien. Vito scanned the area, and he felt an undeniable killing intent from afar.

“Phereus Step,” Lightning sparked around Greye’s body as he moved thirty feet in less than an instant. Vito could barely track his movements with Scan. He wrapped his arms around Galien as a hail of silver arrows rained down.

“Greye!” Vito ran at his father and brother, unafraid of the arrows.

Delwyn grabbed his arm and stopped his advance. He couldn’t free himself from her firm grip. Her angry and devastated expression matched his, but leaving the barrier’s protection meant death. Iris and Parsifal struggled to keep it in place as the magic arrows beat against it.

Greye held his son close as the arrows pierced his body. His body sparked with lightning and raw magic, but not even these shields could protect him. However, they were more than enough to ensure that the arrows couldn’t harm Galien. He heard Vito’s voice and looked to the boy. He could only give a weak smile to the boy he found in the forest.

Parsifal and Iris struggled to maintain the barrier. Each merciless arrow caused cracks that Iris repaired as best she could.

Vito looked around at the chaos and became desperate. “Ivalis! Do something! You brought me here for a reason, right?!” He called to the heavens. His comrades looked at him with surprise and confusion. “You wanted me to find them, didn’t you? Surely it wasn’t just for this.”

The volley finally stopped. The ground was littered with hundreds of arrows. They stabbed into houses, windows, and poles; nothing was spared. Galien’s evacuation spared the people who would have perished under the onslaught.

Parsifal and Iris dropped the barrier. Vito broke free and raced to his family. “Greye! Galien!”

Galien propped his weakened father up and desperately looked at Vito. Parsifal used magic to remove the arrows from his friend gently. “Lay him back so Iris and I can tend to him.” Galien did as he was told while Parsifal and Iris kneeled on either side of Greye.

Vito could tell that Greye wouldn’t survive. He used Scan on the arrows, and it could only tell him that wounds caused by the arrows resisted magic.

Galien sat beside his father and took his hand. “Please hang on. They’ll heal you.” Iris and Parsifal struggled to keep him breathing.

Greye smiled and weakly gripped his son’s hand. “Be kind, strong, and honorable. Protect our family as they protect you.”

Vito recalled his own death and wondered if the pain he felt was similar to his father’s. “Everything will be fine. We’ll find the archers, and whoever sent them, and ensure they’ll never harm another soul in this world,” he promised. “We’ll protect the guild and make them stronger. No one will cross us ever again.”

Greye looked at him. “Thank you, my son.”

A pang of guilt struck Vito’s stomach. He always hated keeping his secrets, and seeing his father slip away made him speak. “I was born in another world,” he decided to confess everything. “I died defending my fiancée, Rosa, from assassins. Ivalis brought me here because she said I died too early. I think she made sure you would find me, but I have no idea why. At this point, I don’t give a damn about her reasons.” Anger and resentment were clear in his voice. “If you find yourself in my world, find the DeCapios of Sicily. They take care of family no matter what.”

They looked at him with shock, but Greye seemed unfazed. He simply smiled, as though he already knew. Vito watched him struggle to speak, but Greye’s life had ebbed away. He smiled in contentment as his eyes closed one last time.