Knights Deployed

The Brazier's fire had already been extinguished and the Relic Wardens were dead, which could only mean one thing.

"The barrier has been broken?" They widened their eyes.

"How is this possible?" Doyle looked at the Brazier in horror.

Normally, if an enemy attacked the barrier, the Relic Wardens would strengthen the defense by pouring more of their essence in the Brazier. After the barrier was broken, the spheres which made up the barrier would attack the enemy. If the Relics Warden didn't use their essence to generate the spheres once more, only then would the Brazier's flames go out.

But to their surprise, the Relic Wardens didn't even get a chance to strengthen the barrier because they didn't feel any enemy attacking.

"The barrier was destroyed in one attack?" They felt goosebumps all over their bodies.

Not only was the barrier broken in one attack, even the Relic Wardens, who would be relatively safe normally, were dead from that attack. Thinking so made the hair on their body stand at it's ends.

"M-Maybe the enemy died from the Brazier's attack?" Doyle chattered, sweat forming on his forehead.

"No! I'm sure such a strong enemy won't die from it's attack." Vine clenched his teeth. "We have to move, now!" He looked at Anson and swiftly exited the building. "Doyle, gather everyone here and hide yourselves." He shouted as he left. Doyle moved frantically to alert his colleagues.

As soon as Vine and Anson left the building, their head turned towards the entrance of Arcturus. When they saw the figure in the sky, they both widened their eyes and their blood ran cold. They could never forget that horrifying figure which looked like a monster.

"The Saint..." Anson murmured.

The Saint of Mayhem was entering Arcturus from the sky, looking the same as when they last saw him. 

"Move!" Vine shouted as he dragged Anson with him towards the office building. As soon as Vine saw the lunatized Saint, he felt the control he had over his body slipping away. Biting down on his lip so hard that blood flowed out, he was able to regain his composure.

'Why is he here so early! He was supposed to reach here after 5 days!' He clenched his teeth as he ran.

After reaching the office building, he could see Thorn and the others were already outside, giving orders to the knights. Although they were trying to be as orderly as possible, the grounds was in chaos due to the sudden attack that the knights were unprepared for.

"Thorn!" Vine ran towards his brother who was busy in controlling the chaos. Thorn turned around and relief washed over his face when he saw it was Vine who called him.

"Brother, you're here" Thorn let out a sigh. "What happened? Wasn't the Brazier activated?" He asked in confusion.

"Yes it was but..." Vine looked horrified. "It went off in one attack..."

"What!?" Thorn cried out. Noticing that attracted the attention of knights, he calmed down. "But the Saint of Mayhem was not so powerful that he could destroy the amplified Brazier in one attack..." He contemplated.

"That's not important right now." Vine broke Thorn's train of thought. "What's the status?" 

"The Saint has summoned some kind of magma monsters to attack the city." Thorn collected himself. "We're preparing to deploy the knights." Thorn pointed towards the grounds.

The knights were divided into three divisions and seven groups.

The first division was of Marshall Buck with three groups of knights. One group of knights belonged to him and two other belonged to Night Leader Lonz and Roe who belonged in his divison.

The second division was Commander Anson's with one group. As he hadn't appointed new Night Leaders after Asa and Price, his group was thrice as big as others.

The third division was Commander Thorn's with three groups. One group belonged to Edana and the other to Vine, who both belonged in his division.

"I've appointed Lonz to barricade the high-level." Thorn spoke. "By keeping Marshall Buck and Night Leader Roe here for backup, I want to send Edana and Commander Anson to the low-level due to the population of his group, but I don't think that'll be effective."

He looked at Vine. "What do you suggest?"

"Hmm. What about us?" Vine asked.

"We'll stay in the mid-level too. We'll just send our groups of knights with Lonz. We can command the knights if there are sudden changes." 

Vine looked at Thorn impressed. His allocation of knights were good, but there were some changes that Vine recommended. "Commander Anson will stay in the mid-level, but send one third of his knights with Lonz. Roe will secure one third of Mid-level from the east and Commander Anson will secure the rest."

"Marshall Buck will stay here as a backup, until then, he will protect the church." He looked at Thorn. "You stay here to command the knights according to the changes in the city. Your Knights will protect the Sacred Order grounds."

"I'll go to the low-level with Edana." Vine finished.

"You'll go with Edana?" Thorn looked confused. "But I need your suggestions to command the knights properly."

"You're doing good even without me brother." Vine smiled at Thorn and patted his shoulder. "I'm sure you'll continue to do so."

Thorn smiled and nodded. They turned towards the knights and explained everything they had decided. As the attack had already begun, they quickly deployed the knights to go and protect the people. "MOVE!"

The second battle with the Saint had begun.