3 Chapter 3: What God wills

Keith Rosestride experienced hell.

An indistinguishable sweet burning fragrance filled the air, accompanied by a charcoal smell. No matter what direction he looked at, charred corpses and fire saturated the landscape.

Forcing himself to look forward, something broke inside of him. His wife tried to protect their daughter by using her own body as a shield but it simply wasn't enough.

A roar in the sky brought him back to reality, noticing a figure flying away from the scene.

"Why?" The man repeatedly asked that question out loud, getting louder and louder every time until his screams were all that could be heard

Swiftly knocking Pekora's hammer to the side with the back of his fist, Keith used that moment of carelessness to yank her hair forward and ram her face against his knee.

After staggering for a moment Pekora sprung her legs backward to get on top of him, holding his arm in place thanks to the grip to her hair.

At the same time Flare and Noel attacked from opposite sides, keeping their guard up. Ignoring the knight, Keith aimed his gun at Flare with his remaining hand, prompting Noel to shield her with her two handed broadsword.

"You're very obstinate pE-!" Pekora was thrown at the other two before she could finish that sentence, which was a feint for the soldier to take a straight jab at Noel that nearly connected had she not ducked to catch her rabbit friend.

"You know I'm almost annoyed at how much fight is left in you lot" Keith said, checking the magazine of his firearm. "I suppose you're not enough of an aberration for it to take full effect."

"That magecraft you're using, are you saying certain conditions make it more effective?" Noel speculated, keeping her friends behind. "... The less human-like they are?"

The man chuckled, "Not a bad guess, maybe you're not the complete imbecile I thought you for after that little speech about justice" He said. "the collective consciousness of humanity is a powerful thing, the Rosestride family seeked to understand its effects on the world. Coming to this world or even entering a human settlement you must have felt a debilitating effect, didn't you?"

Flare and pekora's eyes shot up, as if they had remembered something, while Noel looked puzzled.

"It's not strong enough to do much damage, but my magic allows me to amplify it considerably." Closing the conversation there, Keith dashed to the side, taking cover behind a concrete barrier.

Grabbing an assault rifle from a dead MILF soldier, he opened fire forcing the group to retreat since it was almost impossible for Noel to deflect that many bullets.

"Peko-chan is a short range attacker so I guess it comes down to the two of us" Said Flare in between ragged breaths, pulling out her bow. "What's the plan?"

Taking a deep lungful of air, Noel took a moment to think.

'Guns are a nuisance, how come the humans of this world turned to such cowards?'

'That's irrelevant right now, you have to remember what the other girls taught you about them.'

-

"I can't say I don't understand how you feel, but sometimes one's gotta get with the times" Said an enthusiastic Miko, bringing up the glasses she brought precisely for this lesson.

"It's not like we're gonna force you to use them, but you should at least know what to do if faced with an opponent who does." Added Botan, playing around with a grenade.

"Humans have become more efficient at killing each other thanks to Choe Museon's accidental discovery of gunpowder, thus close quarters combat has become for the most part obsolete" Said Roboco, who overheard the conversation as she was doing self-maintenance.

Fidgeting with the gun she handed, Noel aimed at the practice dummy in front of her, failing all her shots.

"This just doesn't feel right" She said, setting it down on a table beside her. "But I think I get the idea, learning a weapon's strengths and limitations is something every knight should do."

-

'I recognize the two weapons he's used so far. That small gun is a glock, which carries 17 rounds, of which he's used 14 already.'

'Then there's that automatic assault rifle, I can't tell which specific model it is, but it looks similar to an ak-47 which holds 30 so I'll assume it's alike. I recall that specific soldier shot 9, and this guy shot 16.'

'If he runs out of ammo there's plenty of guns on the battlefield, but the nearest body is 15 meters away from him.'

"I'm gonna need some backline support" She said, summoning her mace while keeping the sword. "Think you can keep me alive Fu-tan?"

Stringing her bow Flare simply nodded with a slightly nervous smile.

The instant Noel left her hiding spot, she flung her mace towards the enemy's cover, blowing it to pieces.

Without any layer of protection, Keith rolled around and opened fire with his gun to semi-automatic so he can focus on each individual shot. That in turn allowed her to block the bullets.

5, 4, 3, 2 , 1.

Once the rifle was out of ammunition he tossed it aside, pulling out the handgun. For that instant he was defenseless, without a second thought Flare sniped him right in the chest, lodging straight through with a fire coated arrow.

Keith knew he was at a disadvantage, the knight was only a few steps away from reaching him, but he knew exactly what her priorities were.

With a quick draw he shot the remaining three bullets in his handgun towards the elf as a smoke grenade was thrown at his feet. Noel was only able to block the last one, but the other two went past her.

Trusting that flare would be okay she changed course towards the possible direction that soldier would take now that he was disarmed.

"Don't forget about me peko!" Coming into the smoke, Pekora slammed her hammer sideways so he couldn't deflect it like before. But somehow, it didn't connect with anything.

Discerning a harsh wheeze she squinted her eyes to see through the fumes, eventually finding the source of it.

Noel doubled over after receiving a gut punch that took the air out of her lung, and in one fluid motion Keith executed a powerful spinning axe kick that slammed her face straight into the ground.

"Thought you had me all figured out, huh?" Making no effort to hide the grin on his face, he rubbed his foot against the back of her head. "I'm starting to lose faith in you here."

"GET OFF HER RIGHT THIS INSTANT" Yelled a frenzied Flare, aiming to batter him without a plan in mind.

Thrown into a similar situation, he was going to jump back to avoid their attacks but something was holding him in place. Noel clasped his foot with both hands, face still planted on the floor.

"You're persistent, I'll give you that." Similar to how a prisoner could use their ball chain as a weapon, Keith rammed Noel's body against pekora, sending both of them back.

Noticing Flare right behind, he forced her to block an incoming elbow strike with both hands, which severely cracked her gauntlets.

"That makes no sense, your magic might make us weaker but that doesn't explain why you're so ridiculously strong for a mere human" Growled an increasingly angrier Flare.

"If you think I'm using some sort of reinforcement magic you're sorely mistaken, those filthy mages are just as disgusting as you." The man's eyes turned to her, but something was wrong. They were gray, just like someone possessed by the void.

"That's quite hypocritical of you peko" Said Pekora, lending her shoulder to a disoriented Noel whose face was all bruised.

"The mages in my family were just a bunch of outliers, my using their research is simply a means to an end." He said. "It is much more significant than that, I heard his voice and heeded to his call."

"His call?" Asked Noel, skeptical about what his next words would be.

"It was God! The lord spoke to a simple man of the cloth such as myself and entrusted me with the mission of aiding him in your extermination" Keith started cackling like a deranged lunatic. "Thanks to his blessing I can get rid of you."

Those words baffled the pointy eared woman. She had known her girlfriend from before being sent to this era, and as such knew very well of her chivalric order's pious discipline.

"...How dare someone who's gone astray sully the name of our lord?" Said Noel in a pique. "You're no follower, what you are is a heretic who needs to be dealt with."

"The words of an idealistic paladin are meaningless, if you won't see the error of your ways then die along with those who goad the children of God" He said mockingly.

"You don't-" Pekora tried to interject, but Noel extended her hand as if to tell her to stop.

"It would be insulting to stain my blade on someone like you" Tossing her sword aside, Noel got into a fighting stance. "I refuse to fight you as a knight, get ready."

"I guess that makes both of us failures at what we're supposed to uphold" Keith followed suit, the other two staying away as they knew not to intervene.

Both of them darted toward each other, Keith opening with a straight jab again, while Noel used a roundhouse kick. Both attacks were parried, but Keith knew her objective was to get him off his feet to grapple.

Ducking under her side, Keith dashed past Noel who was under the impression that he was trying to get behind her.

Picking up her mace, he sloppily slashed it across, which Noel gladly took upon by the handle. However what he was after was getting a hold of her arm, ramming his opposite elbow against Noel's already damaged face.

"You might want to take back what you said, you don't seem to have much experience without a weapon" Keeping his guard up, Keith taunted her.

"I don't want to hear from an old man, you remind me of the king I served under and he was a royal pain"

"Is this really the time peko?" Asked an incredulous Pekora.

Flare only sighed, why did she have to fall for an idiot?

No further words were needed as they got up close and personal again, ceaselessly exchanging blow after blow.

-

It's believed by some people that there is no better way to bond than through combat, that is not referring to lover quarrels but rather to actual combat. Mutual understanding to some degree is possible with the raw passion and closeness that comes with fighting.

The Rosestride family was prone to unfortunate encounters with the supernatural that always lead to tragedy, two of those disasters in particular stood out to Keith.

The first happened hundreds of years ago, the Rosestrides were a prosperous Italian family with ties to the Vatican, regardless of what that might imply for its time.

During one of their celebrations, there was an abrupt volcanic eruption nearby. It didn't reach them, but the cause behind it did.

Towering over in the sky with an imposing 30 feet tall, was a fuming dragon with razor sharp teeth and claws. Scales colored multiple shades of purple and a long reptilian tail. It took notice of the gathering and ravaged the area with its scalding flames. Heavy casualties were suffered, as the only survivors of that family were those not present at the moment.

Their branch of the family tree was not very relevant prior to that tragedy, but there weren't many to take over.

Despite many arguments with his parents Keith planned to become a member of the church, in a chapel nearby he met the woman he would eventually come to start a family of his own with.

She accompanied their kid to the outskirts of the city for a friend's birthday party. Keith was running late but he promised to be there.

However, a looming feeling of dread washed over him. He didn't understand what it meant, but something was telling him to hurry.

A ferocious roar in the distance cemented his worst fears.

And so, Keith Rosetride experienced hell.

He didn't get to see what was behind such a horrifying sight, but that story passed down from hundreds of years ago were all that came to mind.

'This family is cursed'

After experiencing it first hand, Keith finally acknowledged what the rest of his family came to realize as well.

'No matter what we do, mishap is all that awaits us'

The grieving man turned to faith hoping it would cleanse his soul, dedicated to shine a light in other people's lives. He was approached by many who were in support of his efforts, but one of them did so with different intentions.

A MILF operative learned of his family's misfortune and explained the purpose of that organization he belonged to, but Keith was doubtful.

Despite his sorrow and misery he did not wish harm, much less total extermination to any and all supernatural creatures. His faith forbade such thoughts, but reluctantly he agreed to join the base set up in Italy, though he refused to bring harm to anyone.

When MILF went to war with Hololive every soldier available was to be deployed in China immediately, but he was among the few who did not go.

Reviewing the live footage after their defeat was sickening, how could anyone remorselessly shed so much bloodshed and still claim to have a conscience? Those lowly beasts made a fool out of MILF, but this wouldn't be the last they would see of it.

While overseeing the remnants plot their revival, Keith heard a voice that made him panic.

He recognized it, if God has a voice meant to reach human ears it would be exactly like that.

God was weeping at the pitiful sight of his massacred children, that cannot be allowed to continue. The time of judgement hath come, we will reclaim our rightful place in this world with the lord's help.

…

Those were just short, rapid flashes of his life. Of course, there was no way for Noel to truly be able to see them. But she could feel the emotions behind those memories, they told her everything she needed to know.

Something had been bothering her for a while and now she had a clearer picture, this soldier was missing something vital. The intent to kill was there, but even without hesitation his demeanor and attacks show he's not truly committed to it, perhaps it has something to do with the void?

Whether or not the man reached a similar outcome was unimportant, time was of the essence.

-

Stepping back after losing track of how long they've been going at it, a bruised Noel panted heavily.

The equally wounded man in front of her needed help, there had to be something she could do.

"Both of you tag in!" Awaiting Noel's orders Flare and Pekora jumped in to allow her a moment of respite.

Thrusting her hammer into the floor Pekora slid across the pole to kick him, while Flare rose from underneath with an uppercut.

The elf's punch was easily dodged, but what he didn't expect was for the rabbit to twist her body midair to unlodge her mallet and slam it into his shoulder, forcing him to kneel.

Before she could land, Keith grabbed her by the throat and repeatedly jabbed her face until Flare forced him to let go by casting a medium sized fireball from her fragmented gauntlets.

"That's unsightly for a princess, get up" She admonished, getting Pekora back on her feet.

"Pain peko…" Was all the poor girl could say in response.

Noel had seemingly disappeared out of sight, but a soaring breeze made him look up at her falling from the sky, sword in hand.

-

'Even though I said I would not fight him as a knight, he does not deserve this fate'

Shirogane Noel hesitated to take the enemy's life, but why?

'The humans of this world may be foolish, but hope has not been abandoned. Throughout their history there were always exceptional people who fought to make things better with or without support of the masses'

'Bad people don't need to die, no one needs to die'

'Humanity strives to reach the ideals of knightship better than we ever could'

'But can I really achieve such an outcome? Have I ever tried to live up to that which I admire?'

'If I don't stop him not only will my friends die but he will continue to suffer as well'

'We knights are nothing more than tools for our kingdom, I don't deserve to wield the holy sword that every soldier past, present, and future look up to'

For a brief moment she reminisced the image of a young girl crushed under horrified and disgusted stares as she triumphantly held up a shining golden sword.

'I don't know if this is why you accepted me, but don't give out on me now, Excalibur!'

-

With a steeled heart Noel brought down her sword, torso cleaved in half as his body violently banged against the ground, sending debris flying all over as it formed a crater.

"...mi" he groggily muttered while laying down, clutching onto the bright, sizzling sword as the gray eyes and aura started to dissipate.

"Huh?"

"Naomi, that was my daughter's name. You said I remind you of your king, well you also remind me of her" with a swift kick to the stomach Noel stumbled back, barely avoiding spikes of the same material leaving Keith's body that would have certainly pierced her. "I suggest you finish me off now, this deceitful entity doesn't seem too happy about the outcome"

Attempting to get back up, Noel fell again. Everyone had been running on fumes for a while, and the moment they breathed a sigh of relief all that energy left their battered bodies.

Pointing her sword forward to maintain some distance, she braced for an attack that never came.

A blood red array of magical runes sprout from underneath Keith, evoking many decaying arms that clawed and teared his skin. The void's influence tried to leave its host but the summoned creatures latched onto it and guzzled both of them into the depths of the underworld.

"I'm sorry" Noel lamented.

"Don't be, this is well deserved. Had I met someone like you maybe this would not have happened." And with that, he was gone. No proof Keith Rosestride had been there at all remained.

Turning around to face her friends, the knight flopped down.

"We should have known the great boing boing Rushia would be around to save our rear" Trying to laugh just caused her to grasp her sides from the pain.

"Think ya could've done that before!!!?" Screamed Pekora.

No reply.

"Let it be, we'll see her later anyways" Said Flare. "The idea that I'll get to nurse Noe-chan back to health will keep me going for the duration of this war."

"By the way are you doing okay? You didn't actually manage to dodge those bullets peko" Recalled Pekora, making Noel jolt back on her feet as if nothing was wrong to check her beloved's injuries.

"It hurt a lot but cauterizing the wounds with fire seemed like a good idea at the time" She said rubbing her abdomen.

Setting both of her dumbass genmates on her shoulders like sacks of potatoes, Noel set out to base where they would take some much needed r&r.