Chapter 6: Sharia, The Warmonger

Captain Grillant ran over to one of his soldiers just in time to pull them back, saving his life from a bolt of purple magic. Shoving his soldier behind him, Grillant swung his cutlass at the enemy in front of him. Seeing this, the Empire soldier raised their sword up and parried his blow. Despite being thrown slightly off balance, Grillant quickly recovered and darted back, avoiding his opponent's counterattack. With his sword down his opponent presented Grillant an opening.

Taking it Grillant darted forward, his cutlass slicing the soldier on his shoulder before he recovered. When he did recover, the soldier swung his sword at the same time Grillant did. Their blades clashed in the air, neither managing to get the upper hand even though Grillant was using two hands while the soldier only used one.

The two broke off their clash instead of continuing it and, seeing another chance, Grillant darted forward again and slashed the soldier, catching him off guard. Letting out a growl the soldier lunged forward, planning to shoulder charge Grillant. Unfortunately for him, Grillant was faster and more experienced. He darted back, avoiding the shoulder charge, and swung his sword for a counter attack. Before his sword could connect, Grillant sensed magic coming his way and pulled back. Unfortunately, it was too late and the bolt of purple magic hit him in his left shoulder, burning through his armor and searing his flesh beneath.

Grillant let out a shout of pain, briefly turning to look at the soldier who fired at him, before darting back and then around, spinning behind the soldier from before who thought he could get a lucky strike in. With a clean slash at his back, Grillant downed the soldier, though he knew that the soldier wouldn't be down for long. Hopefully the time he got would be enough.

Grillant lunged forward, his cutlass aiming towards the soldier who fired at him. Even though Grillant was quick, the enemy knew what was coming. He raised his sword up, blocking his blow, and darted forward, slipping under Grillant's guard, breaking it and quickly hitting Grillant on the top of his head with the hilt of his sword. Grillant stumbled back, dazed, and was completely open when the two soldiers attacked him at the same time, their swords digging into his flesh.

Grillant grunted in pain and lashed out, his cutlass cutting the magic-wielder across his face. With one soldier off him, Grillant was free. He quickly wasted no time and tried to guard break the other soldier. But, upon seeing the soldier's sword raised high in the air, Grillant realized his mistake. He left himself wide open.

The sword came down, digging into his left shoulder blade.

Instantly a searing pain filled Grillant's body and a surge of nausea hit him like getting hit by a cannonpult. It took all his might to submit to the pain and move. He first slashed the soldier across his stomach, causing him to loosen his grip on his sword and tilt to one side. Grillant did not waste a single moment and spun around, getting ready for a big heavy strike. The soldier, seeing this, strike out of blind panic but the power behind his sword swing, even if it caused a fresh wave of pain to fill Grillant's mind, it didn't stop Grillant's swing.

Grillant watched with grim satisfaction as his cutlass went deep into the soldier's hip, making him drop his sword. Knowing that he has won this fight Grillant felt a surge of triumph. Side-stepping past the soldier Grillant turned and spun around, slashing the soldier in his back, taking him down for good. With the soldier down on the ground Grillant raised his cutlass in the air, preparing to give the final blow, when he saw out of the corner of his eye a sword flying towards him.

Grillant ducked the swing, spun around, and slice the magic-wielder in his eyes in one clean move. The magic-wielder let out a cry of pain, his free hand cupped around his bloody eyes.

Grillant twirled around and, using the momentum of his spin, tossed his cutlass right through the magic-wielder's gut. Ignoring the glob of blood the magic-wielder spat out on Grillant's feet, Grillant took a step forward and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Then, Grillant pulled out his sword and quickly yet cleanly stabbed his cutlass through the magic-wielder's face, executing him.

With the two soldiers he was fighting dead, Grillant looked around the secondary entrance to the palace. Instant relief filled him upon seeing his twenty-four soldiers still alive, and only one Empire soldier still standing, though he wouldn't be for much longer.

Grillant watched as one of his soldiers, Eren, slashed the Empire soldier across his gut, bringing him to his knees. Wasting no time Eren quickly flipped his sword up and above his right hand, using his right arm as a brace as he aimed the tip of the blade at the soldier's heart. Before Eren could finish him off the soldier cut Eren's leg with his longsword and rolled out of the way of Eren's retribution.

Unfortunately for him, he didn't get far. Eren stepped forward and impaled the soldier's leg, stopping him from getting up, before twirling around, ripping his sword free, and raised his sword above his head, the tip of the blade facing the soldier. The Empire soldier raised his hand in the air, most likely asking for mercy...

....and Eren slammed his sword down through the side of his head. The Empire soldier's arm fell as he started convulsing. Undisturbed by this Eren walked forward and stepped on the dying soldier's neck, holding him still, and finished him off by plunging his sword through his head again, this time in the center.

"...Is that all of them?" Eren asked, turning to look around. Upon seeing none left, Eren let out a nervous chuckle and ran a hand through his bright orange hair.

"That's all on this side," Grillant answered him, meeting his wheat-colored eyes with a firm yet concerned stare while pointing at two large red and gold doors with his bloody cutlass, "There could be more on the other side of the doors."

Captain Grillant and his Commander, Mudan, were stationed at the secondary entrance to the palace. Mudan ordered Captain Grillant and Captain Sean to guard inside the palace while he guarded the outside. It seemed simple enough but, as it turns out, the enemy were aware of the secondary entrance and made sent two armies to take it. Compared to the one army that was stationed here, the odds that they can win are slim. Grillant knew this very well, and by now so did many of the soldiers who are under him, especially after Captain Sean died.

Still, it seems luck is on their side. Five waves and over two-hundred thousand dead. Compared to the four-hundred thousand troops under Commander Mudan's command, and the known one-million attacking, the fact that they were still standing couldn't be chalked up to anything but luck...

....and the obvious choke hold they were holding up in.

"Take the injured away, Those who are still fit enough to fight, stay here with me!" Grillant barked, knowing that, if Mudan's forces have failed, the locked doors of the secondary entrance to the palace will do little to stop the advancing armies, and that's not even mentioning the fact that Grillant only has twenty-four able soldiers left. When he looked around before he took notice right away of who can fight and who can't.

Grillant didn't turn around to see if anyone was following his orders but, by the sound of it, his soldiers were. Even in such a grim and dire situation such as this, Grillant found a smile forming on his face. Even if most of his soldiers had their helmets on, Grillant could tell they weren't wavering.

Grillant was even hopeful himself. He has trust in Commander Mudan, having seen him in combat many times. Grillant had no doubt that a Commander of the royal guards, especially Mudan, will stand and fight with everything they have, taking as much of the enemies as they could before they fall. Well, Grillant is banking on the fact that Commander Mudan won't fall.

"By the time Commander Mudan is even close to falling, I bet that the Main Army* will won by then and would be on their way to teach these soldiers a mighty good lesson in the art of war," Grillant said out loud, lifting his soldiers' spirits up even more. He even believed in the words that he said.

So, when the doors of the palace shook once, then again before opening up, Grillant was shocked to see a familiar Commander wearing light grey armor with some chainmail covering the places where the armor was lighter, blue ribbons, and a Royal Guard Spear*, squeeze through the crack in the doors with a wild and fearful look in his eyes.

"C-commander Mudan?" Grillant called, his voice small from disbelief. Commander Mudan spared him one look before he ran past him, heading up towards the stairs.

Seeing this, Captain Grillant gritted his teeth, anger and fear giving him the power to shout his Commander's name.

"MUDAN!" Grillant roared, causing Mudan to stop in his tracks and turn around. Grillant may be bloody and badly injured but the look on his face was enough to demand attention.

"What's going on-" Grillant began before he spun around, feeling bloodlust.

What he saw made his heart sink. It was just for a brief moment but he saw outside the doors. He saw the dead bodies of countless soldiers, with many of them being Kingdom soldiers. Grillant wondered why so many were slipping through the doors and now he knew why.

Suddenly two soldiers rushed through the doors, both of them being Kingdom soldiers. Going off their purple shields and cape the two were officers. Like Mudan fear was written all over their face.

As the two ran past Grillant another two soldiers ran through the door, or tried to at least. One of them was killed before they even reached the crack and the one who did couldn't squeeze through in time and met his end when a sword impaled him through his back.

Grillant braced himself, seeing the Empire soldiers who killed the two fleeing ready to break through the door. Yet, before they did one of them was stabbed in the head with a royal guard spear. Another soldier came through the door, though she suffered from a sword slash from the one Empire soldier she didn't kill. She was dressed exactly like Commander Mudan except for the helmet, which meant she was another royal guard. Grillant recognized her as Officer Norse.

"Close the door!" Officer Norse shouted, snapping Grillant and his soldiers out of their daze.

Soldiers rushed to the doors and closed it it time for one of them to place another metal bar in-between the door handles. Before Grillant could run over to see if he can provide any help, he heard his Commander speak behind him.

"Fifty-two against me and three others. We never stood a chance."

Grillant spun around to say something but he was too late. Commander Mudan was already halfway up the stairs and, by the looks of it, he wasn't coming back.

"Commander Mudan! Where is he?"

Grillant let out a sigh and turned around, looking at Norse look around the room wildly.

"If I answer that question, will you run away?" Grillant asked, crossing his arms before walking up to her.

Officer Norse looked him up and down before meeting his eyes. Grillant could see fear in them but also a resolve.

"I-I won't lie, I am thinking about running away. But, before I choose to or not I have to drag that Commander of ours back down here for his cowardly behavior. He's the most skilled warrior here yet he let others do the dirty work, running away from every combat situation unless he had no choice, letting the others die!"

Grillant was silent for a while, studying the furious expression on Norse's face. When he did speak, he first wiped off some spit that flew from Norse's mouth. Seeing that, Norse's eyes widened in shock. Even if she is angry and a royal guard, Captain Grillant is still of a higher rank than her.

"Don't worry, Officer. Just don't try to force him. He may be a...coward, but he is still a Commander, and Commanders are never to be taken lightly," Grillant warned, putting a hand on Norse's shoulder.

Norse nodded once and, upon seeing it, Grillant pointed towards the stairs. With another nod Norse ran up the stairs, chasing after Commander Mudan.

"Well, soldiers," Grillant spoke up, getting the few remaining soldiers' attention, "I won't lie. We are outnumbered two to one so, that means each of you are going to have to take two soldiers at once. Are you ready?"

Before he could get a response the metal bar that was holding the doors shut broke in two. Seeing as there was no thumping against the doors, magic must have been used to break it. Instantly the soldiers left, even the two from outside, got into combat stances. Grillant felt sweat run down his forehead and his limbs were trembling. He knew he will die in this fight. Yet, for the sake of his soldiers and the Kingdom, he will not turn tail.

The doors slowly opened and an Empire solder ran out...

....but they didn't get far when a sword stabbed them through the back and lifted them into the air. As the doors opened further, Grillant saw a second surprise, this one once again playing with his emotions.

Lying in fresh pools of blood were the bodies of fifty Empire soldiers. Well, fifty-one since the one who was impaled just died. The last remaining Empire soldier, a Captain like Grillant, was being lifted up in the air through their chin where black armored fingers were piercing through, coming out the Captain's mouth. The fingers were clawed at each end which immediately set off red flags in Grillant's head, though he doesn't know why.

Standing in front of the doorway, pinning the Captain against the wall with one hand through the Captain's chin, was someone that resembled a knight but Grillant knew, without a doubt, that they were far from it. Their armor was heavy and black in color with gold highlights, their armor covering every part of their body. Falling from their back was a black cape with red and gold highlights, their cape not moving much despite the harsh wind outside.

Their helmet had a visor on the lower half where the mouth would be, two holes on each side of their black visor. On top of their head was a crest with two black spikes, the one closest to the back of her head being smaller than the one in front, and the holes where their eyes would see from was pitch black, hiding even the briefest glimpse. However, even if their eyes were hidden Grillant knew they were looking at him. The stare he was getting wasn't friendly yet not hostile either, though it was definitely cold...cold and calculating.

Then, the stranger spoke.

"Ready to give it your all, huh?"

Grillant flinched upon hearing the voice. The stranger was definitely a female but her voice sounded young, like she was a young teen. Yet, despite how young she sounded Grillant could detect that her voice was rather emotionless. In fact, the question that she asked sounded more like an insult than an actual question.

Before Grillant could respond the stranger flicked the wrist that was holding her blade, tearing it out from the dead body that was still on it, and shoved the blade all the way to the hilt with one hand through the soldier she was pinning, impaling him through his chest, through the heavy magic-reinforced door, and even through the heavily reinforced stone bricks of the palace, all within two seconds. All with ease.

Ripping out her hand from the dead soldier's jaw, ripping it into two pieces in the process, the stranger turned and ripped her sword out of the wall, tearing through the stone, door, and body alike and stood facing Grillant and his soldiers. Despite being smaller than Grillant, she somehow took up the entire doorway.

"...I came up here," The stranger spoke once again, causing the tension in the air to increase, "to see how the defense of the palace was since my army had already taken care of our enemies. I'm glad I did."

"So you're with us?" Eren asked, almost causing Grillant and probably a lot of other soldiers to turn and snap on him.

The stranger shifted their stance, her glare causing Eren to look away, before answering.

"Yes, I am. Sharia, the Black Commander of the Kingdom, at your service," The stranger greeted. Grillant had no doubt that this stranger, Sharia, was a Commander. However, there was just something about her that screamed at Grillant to stay as far away from her as possible.

"Where is your Commander?" Sharia asked, causing any relief the soldiers felt to disappear. Everyone started looking at each other, no one wanting to be the one to tell her.

....

....

....

"Nothing?" Sharia asked with a small sigh, "Then you are all now under my command. Anyone who wants to say otherwise can go out there and fend for yourselves."

No one dared to say otherwise, causing Sharia to nod.

"Good. Now, you," Sharia said, pointing towards Grillant with her free bloody hand, "As the last Captain here, you are in charge of these soldiers. Take them into the room behind you. That is where you'll make your last stand."

Sharia walked past the soldiers, her soldiers, and stopped at the stairs leading up.

"I shall guard the throne room, which is up these stairs. If you see any soldiers carrying riches, then that means I am dead or something happened. In that case leave and join up with the main army and inform them of what happened. They will help you out...hopefully."

Silence set in after her words. Grillant, in all his years of fighting, has never met someone who could speak with such authority without the tiniest hint of arrogance in their voice. Her orders were simply that. They just simply were.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Sharia asked, turning her head to look at her new soldiers, "The enemies won't be long."

Her words caused her soldiers to panic and, in no time at all, they ran towards the room behind them which was a large dining area, carrying the injured with. Before Grillant himself went into the room, he looked back at Sharia. Perhaps sensing his gaze Sharia turned and looked at him too. They held each other's gaze and, to Grillant's surprise, Sharia was the first to break away, turning and swiftly walking up the stairs. For some reason, Grillant found himself wishing her luck.

........

Captain Grillant knew the sun would be long gone by the time the battle was over. It lasted nearly two whole days of fighting but, finally, it seems that the attack on the secondary entrance to the palace has ended. Though Grillant doubted the fighting had truly stopped. Even downstairs he could hear the faint sound of fighting coming upstairs. After he made sure that none of his soldiers needed immediate help he opened the doors to the room he was stationed in and ran up the stairs. Already he could tell that the Commander, Sharia, wasn't being overconfident. On the stairs were the bodies of Empire soldiers who have succumbed to their wounds, most missing limbs or having very serious gut-slashes with their guts showing, and Grillant knows for sure that Commander Mudan's spear, while sharp, can't make these kinds of cuts.

It didn't take him long to track down where Sharia was fighting. Like she had said, she was in the throne room. The sounds of clashing blades helped too. After a brief glance at the amount of bodies that lay before the throne room doors, Grillant pushed them open. Inside he saw a mess of blood and metal. Standing in the middle of this mess was Sharia. In front of her are what Grillant assumed were the two Commanders of the Empire army attacking them.

One of the Commanders lunged forward, her Iscar* moving faster than Grillant could track. Yet, despite its speed Sharia saw right through it and swung her sword in the same position, pushing the Commander's sword down while her own went through and nailed her across her chest. Sharia quickly followed up with her attack by raking her claws across the Commander's eyes, causing her to stumble back. Seeing an opportunity Sharia raised her sword over her head to deliver the final blow. The other Commander wasn't just going to let that happen.

He rushed forward, his Tipulaun* at the ready to hit her. Sharia could handle the pain and pull through, taking down the Commander before she could recover, but she'd rather not get hit. Well, that and her plan already involved the other Commander. She wasn't someone who was new to the concept of two on one.

Sharia waited until the last moment and spun around, darting to the right and swung her sword, catching the other Commander on his hip. Grillant felt the urge to start clapping. The feint Sharia had just done was beautiful and graceful as it was deadly.

Sharia changed her target as the other Commander got out of her daze. Sharia quickly swung her sword, planning to quickly attack her before she got to her senses fully. Yet, much to Grillant's surprise the Commander parried Sharia's attack, leaving her open enough for her to shoot the crossbow on her wrist. The bolt hit Sharia on her chest but didn't seem to do much. The only sign that Sharia felt the bolt was the small grunt.

Sharia spun around and switched her sword to her left hand and held above her head, like she was about to stab down with it. The male Commander saw this and got ready to parry Sharia's attack, only the attack never happened. Instead Sharia jumped back, avoiding the swing of the iscar. She had managed to cover a lot of ground in that single jump, so much that Grillant wondered how much the armor she wears actually weighs.

The three Commanders stared at each other before charging, only Sharia moved faster than even the female assassin. She closed the gap to the male Commander within an instant and swung her blade, catching him across his gut. Using her momentum Sharia spun around and sweeped her target off his feet before spinning around again, this time her blade ready to plunge into her target's head. Sensing the danger the Commander rolled out of the way, just narrowly avoiding Sharia's sword. Not bothered or distracted by her miss Sharia spun around once again, her sword winded back and aiming at the assassin Commander. Before she could cut her head off the assassin jumped forward and kicked Sharia, causing her to stumble back, though she quickly recovered her footing.

The assassin raised her sword up in the air for a follow up attack but was instead caught by surprise when Sharia was on her. Sharia's sword slashed her once, causing the arm she had her sword in to go limp, then again across her chest, then again across her gut, disemboweling the Commander. Then, following the movement she had, Sharia spun around, her hands around the hilt of her sword, and plunged the blade deep into the Commander's chest, finishing her off.

Knowing there is no time to Execute* the Commander, Sharia punched her off her blade and spun around, weapon at the ready. The last remaining Commander managed to get up by then and now stood facing Sharia alone.

The two stood facing each other for a while, neither making a move. Then, Sharia moved, only it wasn't one of attack. She instead swung her sword around in her right hand, holding it by the hilt while the blade faced upwards, and did some kind of gesture with her left hand. Seeing this the Empire Commander spun his sword around, only the blade was pointing down, and nodded. It was a simple sign of respect between two warriors, even if one of them is about to be killed by the other.

Then the fight began. After they went back into their battle stances Sharia attacked first, closing the gap between the two within an instant. Her first attack missed as the Commander dodged out of the way, slicing her on her hip as he went. However, that was it. The Empire Commander never stood a chance.

Sharia spun around, grabbing her sword by the blade, and hit the Commander with the hilt of her weapon, causing him to stumble. Using that opening Sharia plunged her sword deep into his hip and slashed his left knee with her free hand, causing him to kneel. Once he was in a kneeling position Sharia spun around, ripping her sword out and backhanding him in his face, causing him to fall to the ground where Sharia finished him off by stabbing him through his heart. After taking her sword out Sharia executed the Commander by stabbing him through his head.

Grillant could only stare in awe and wonder. He has never seen someone fight like that before. Not only did Sharia take on two Commanders at once and defeat them while being barely injured, she did it without losing her breath. As Grillant was taking this in, Sharia spoke.

"Tell me, Captain Grillant. Do you know what these two Commanders are called?"

It as a simple question and Grillant knew she wasn't talking about their names. She was talking about their class and, as a Captain, that is something he should know. Yet Grillant was only taught the classes once by his Commander and that was back when he was just an Officer.

"No, Commander Sharia. I do not," Grillant responded with a shake of his head. He felt ashamed and guilty that he didn't know.

"No matter," Sharia said with a sigh, freeing her sword and resting it on her shoulder blades, "The assassin was a Murus Defender* and the vanguard was a Domini*. I think the Murus Defender's name was Martha."

With that said in a dismissive tone, Sharia turned around. Grillant didn't know what she was facing until he saw three Empire soldiers were still alive and standing. Sharia watched them before she beckoned them forward. After a couple of seconds of hesitation, the soldiers charged. Sharia didn't wait for them to come towards her and swung her weapon, the hilt opening up. Out came a black halbert and scythe on a black staff, the weapon design familiar to Grillant. The scythe cleaved one soldier in half right away and, before the soldiers could take advantage of Sharia's long weapon, she spun around and recovered her weapon and sliced right through a soldier's head with the sword end with a simple thrust.

Now there was only one soldier left and, seeing how easily everyone else was killed, the last soldier started to tremble uncontrollably before freezing. She took a deep breath then tossed her shield at Sharia. Sharia blocked it with the staff of her extended blade, curious about the tactic. She quickly found out why when she saw he lone soldier lunging forward. Captain Grillant praised the soldier for having guts. He had a feeling the soldier knows she can't win.

Sharia waited and instead of killing the soldier outright she simply dodged all her strikes, waiting and watching. When the soldier lunged forward again Sharia sidestepped her, causing the soldier to stumble. Before she could recover Sharia ended the fight quickly by grabbing the soldier and punched her in the gut, hard. The soldier fell down, still conscious but in no condition to fight.

Sharia's sword went back to normal with a clicking sound, Grillant assuming she pressed a button, and she pointed her sword at the soldier. Her eyes met the soldier's and they stayed like that for a while before Sharia let out a sigh and helped the soldier up. The soldier was clearly confused but still wary by this simple act.

"I must say, unlike the other soldiers, you actually put up a good fight," Sharia said as she walked around the soldier, studying her, "especially considering the fact that your mind was clouded by fear."

Sharia stopped pacing around the soldier and stood in front of her. Now that the fighting seemed to have end Grillant could see that Sharia was only two to three inches taller than the soldier, and the soldier looked quite young.

"This battle, either we win or lose, will be a bloodbath," Sharia pointed out, pointing with her thumb out the window before continuing, "Join me, and I'll show you a way to increase your odds of survival. To become a warrior many will consider a threat."

Captain Grillant and the soldier were stunned by Sharia's offer. While what she is doing isn't treason, it seems unreasonable during a time like this. Yet, undisturbed by this Sharia walked over to the soldier's shield and picked it up before, using the claws her armor has, scratched a symbol on the shield. Once done she tossed the shield back at the soldier and even kicked over her sword as well.

"If you decide to follow through, take the path under the bridge to the right of the palace. The path should be clear but, if not, fight your way through. If you see soldiers with this symbol, those are mine. Show them your shield and they'll accept you. If you want to continue fighting then go and die on the battlefield. As of right now though, you are no longer my concern."

With those words Sharia turned around to face Grillant, paying the soldier no mind anymore. The soldier looked down at her shield for a bit before running through the doors behind the throne, that one leading to the outside. Seeing this Grillant took a few angry steps forward.

"What was that for!" Grillant asked, trying his best not to shout. Sharia cocked her head, seemingly amused.

"That was a simple mercy for a warrior," Sharia replied. Being so close to her Grillant did tower over her but he knew that Sharia could kill him within an instant. Size doesn't really matter if one has skill.

"What if she goes and attacks our soldiers? What if she doesn't join your army?" Grillant asked before stopping himself. What was he doing? What's done is done and, going by her attitude, nothing Grillant says will get through to her.

"Then that is what she chooses," Sharia responded, studying her claws before walking over to a nearby pillar and sharpening them on it, "Besides, she won't be able to turn the tide of war. If she does, then bravo to her."

At that, Sharia started giggling like a little kid, finding what she said funny. Grillant really did start to wonder what age Sharia is. To him, she was a complete enigma. The only clue he has to her is her attitude and fighting style, which remind him of stories he heard about Warbringers, girls who wield giant weapons and fight just for the hell of it, giggling as they slaughtered anyone in their path. Looking at her more closely, while Sharia is definitely not wearing any shrine-like outfit, she may have been one. Then again, he never heard of a Warbringer going rouge. It goes against their entire belief.

"And, if she does decide to join us, then we will have a powerful soldier who may very well grow up to be a Commander one day," Sharia pointed out the obvious, the one argument that Grillant didn't want to consider but did anyway, "Besides, we need better Commanders. I had to already take care of one of our own."

Grillant felt a cold shiver run through his back.

"What do you mean?" He asked, fearing the answer.

"If you are hinting that I committed treason, then I already have," Sharia responded, pointing her sword at a body in the farthest corner of the room. Grillant ran over and froze when he recognized the butchered corpse. It was Commander Mulan and, directly next to him was Norse. Both were dead.

"A coward he was. He got what he deserved, don't you think?" Sharia asked, a slight chuckle to her voice.

Grillant didn't know what to think about this. He knew Sharia saved him and the palace, at least for now, but she also committed treason and allowed an enemy soldier to escape. She may have even killed Norse, who was his friend.

Not deciding on what to do he decided to get up and look at her. Instead of standing where she was before, she was now looking outside the windows, her sword on her shoulder. For some reason, the sight was captivating. Interested, Captain Grillant walked up to her and saw the view she was seeing. From this angle it looked like the city below the palace below was untouched, with only a few fires here and there. In other words, things looked peaceful...

....Pleasant even.

"Besides, without good soldiers, we won't be able to have a view like this now, would we?" Sharia asked without turning her head.

Grillant didn't answer her question. She was right, he knew it, yet he couldn't help but think the way she was going about it was wrong.

After that, Sharia and Grillant returned back to the other soldiers and, after a bit of time has past, news came that the battle was won. Captain Grillant was promoted, his new position being a Captain serving under Commander Sharia. As it turns out, the soldier did end up joining her ranks and in no time she became a Captain beside him. This day marked the beginning of what made Grillant the person he is today. It was also at the end of the day that he learned of Sharia's other name.

Sharia The Warmonger.

Executions: In the field of battle Commanders can be revived from death by healers using magic. However, an execution, while time consuming, damages the body to the point where it will be extremely hard to just bring the Commander back without proper concentration, which is risky and consumes too much mana. That is why most people stab their opponent through the head or kill their opponent in brutal, fast, yet efficient ways.

Iscar: A large single-handed sword used by Murus Defenders.

Tipulaun: A sword resembling a flamberge sword. Used by Domini from the Empire Factions and is their most famous weapon.

Murus Defenders: These ninja-like assassin Commanders are best at attacking and defending walls. They use their large Crusain Bows for long distance, their iscar swords and mini-crossbow for mid-to-close distance, and martial arts and gadgets for close distance and sabotage...or for escaping.

Domini: The vanguard of the Empire Factions, recognizable for their silk cloth outfits, tough armor underneath, skills with their longsword called the Tipulaun, and rather warmonger-like behavior. They are highly skilled and never to be underestimated.