The Fall of Fort Arkius

I gathered all the members of the Nightmare Assembly. We all met at Fort Illia. We sat around at the meeting room and came up with a plan.

"We shall split into two separate groups. Zain you will lead the second group." I said.

"Right." Zain nodded.

"Everyone else can choose who they want to go with." I said.

Everyone chose which group they wanted to join. I looked at the list and nodded.

"My group is Saya, Miyuna, Kotome, Victoria, Vivi, Zofia, Adriesta, Sazuka, and Su Yi." I said.

"My group is Kielazar, Mother, Kanon, Lloyd, Lelita, Izumi, Julia, and Kudan." Zain said.

"Now that we got our teams, we should head off to Uphelia. We all should meet there, there is one left path and one right path to Uphelia. We shall each take a path." I said. "I'll take the right path."

"Then I shall take the left path." Zain said.

We all nodded and prepared to set out. I stayed in the room with Zain for a bit and he walked towards me. I looked at him and smiled.

"You better come back alive.." I poked his nose.

"Likewise." Zain smiled and chuckled.

I quickly kissed his lips and walked out of the room. He followed and we got on our horses. We all rode off towards the paths leading towards Uphelia.

Zain and his group took the left path as intended and rode towards the first base of Uphelia, Fort Arkius.

"Fort Arkius has one commander. His name is Erik and he is an assassin. Do you know him Zain?" Izumi asked.

"Yeah, he is a commander who isn't one to be underestimated." Zain nodded.

"Brother! Look!" Kanon pointed up.

They all looked up and saw some dark entity circling the castle of Uphelia. They were all shocked and didn't know what it was.

"That sh*t looks pretty serious.." Kudan said.

"Yeah..I don't want to near that, my skin could peel off like a banana." Lelita sighed.

"Let's all focus people. We will find out what that is when the time comes." Zain said.

Lina smiled and looked at Zain then ahead. She heard a voice behind them.

"Wait for me!" A girl said.

They all looked back and saw Elulu riding on a horse. Zain looked at her dumbfounded.

"Elulu! Why are you here? You should be back home!" Zain said.

"But I wanna help Mr. Zain!" Elulu puffed her cheeks.

Zain sighed and ruffled his own hair. Lina smiled and looked at him.

"Come on, let her join. Extra help won't hurt anyone." Lina said.

"Alright..alright. You're lucky I'm not Stella...she would've told you to go back home very harshly." Zain said.

"That's true." Kielazar said.

They all made it to Fort Arkius. Erik was standing outside and his cloak flowed in the wind. Zain and his group stopped and got off their horses.

"Zain. This is as far as you go. A traitor like you doesn't stand a chance against the army in Uphelia." Erik said.

"You're not gonna stop me. You haven't beaten me in the past, you aren't gonna beat me now. Unlike you, I have a reason to fight for Arcania and a reason to live." Zain glared.

"Reason to fight and live? Ha..your reason is Stella I'm assuming? She's only using you all as pawns." Erik said.

Zain opened his hand and red lightning surged and formed his Phantom Weapon, Phantom Excalibur. He saw the rest of Erik's faction of Holy Order come out.

"I don't appreciate you talking about my fiance like she's this extremely evil demon. Stella is not like Zephyr." Zain said and red aura surged from his eye.

"Hmph. Troops! Kill them all!" Erik commanded.

Lelita looked around and saw a small puddle of water. Izumi summoned her bow and got ready for combat. The Holy Order charged at them. Zain pointed and his group charged into battle. Kielazar swiftly took out many enemies and summoned a second sword and began dual wielding. His fighting style was identical to Victoria's style. Kudan slashed through multiple members of the Holy Order and his back touched Julia's.

"How you holding up Kudan?" Julia asked.

"Could be better. These Holy Order members aren't sh*t compared to the fools we fought back at home." Kudan said.

"I figured you'd say that. Keep it up." Julia dashed off back into battle.

Elulu swung her hammer wildly with her eyes closed. The Holy Order members weren't even trying to get close to her. Elulu screamed and swung her hammer more. Everyone looked at her. Zain opened his mouth and Lina held up her hand. Elulu opened her eyes and blushed.

"Oh..ehehe.." She looked embarrassed.

"This is why a blacksmith shouldn't be on the battlefield..especially one at her age.." Zain said.

"Focus on your battle!" Erik yelled and slashed.

Zain dodged Erik and elbowed his stomach then kicked him away. Kanon went to help Zain. Zain looked at Kanon and nodded then she nodded back to him. They dashed to Erik and Zain threw down a smoke bomb. Kanon jumped out of the smoke and slashed down. Erik blocked the slash and slid back. Zain appeared in front of Erik and slashed. Erik parried the attack and Kanon jumped off Zain's back and summersaulted into a downward slash. She clashed with Erik and yelled.

"They have perfect synergy.." Lelita said, drowning some of the Holy Order members.

Lloyd transformed back into his normal form and his demon horn vanished. He watched Zain and Kanon's teamwork and smiled. Lina was pleased with what she saw. A Holy Order member tried to sneak attack Lina then Lina's angel wing blocked the strike. Lina looked back with a smile and her eyes closed.

"Oh my...you caught me by surprise there.." Lina said and her aura surged then she slashed and cut the person's throat. She opened her eyes and looked back at Zain and Kanon.

"Kanon!" Zain said.

"On it!" She slid under Zain's legs and kicked upwards, knocking Erik into the sky.

Zain jumped up and punched Erik down. Erik coughed as he bounced off the ground and Kanon stabbed his heart and yelled. Erik crashed to the ground and choked. Kanon stood up and looked at Zain then smiled.

"Zain's family is more than they seem.." Kielazar said.

"Lina used to work with Stella's mother. Stella's mother taught Lina the Grand Assassin Techniques and Lina taught it to her children." Lloyd said.

"Who was Stella's mom? Did anyone know her name?" Kielazar asked.

"I am not to speak upon that." Lloyd said. "Only Stella can tell you."

Kielazar nodded and looked around the battlefield and Zain walked to his group.

"We only need to take down the Commander. Without a commander the Holy Order can not fight. They are retreating right now." Zain pointed.

They watched and nodded. Zain got back on his horse and everyone one else followed him. They headed towards their next destination.

Meanwhile in Uphelia...

"Haido...can you hear me?" A woman asked.

Haido opened his eyes slowly and sat up. He looked at the woman behind the window then looked around.

"Where am I?" Haido asked.

"Uphelia Lab. We managed to recover your body and revive you." She said.

"Who are you?" Haido asked.

"I am Lisseth, one of the commanders of the Holy Order. Come, you should stretch your legs a bit." Lisseth opened the door for Haido.

Haido got up and walked out the room he was being held in. He looked around and everything was new to him. Lisseth looked at him and smiled. Haido looked at her and nodded. They walked around the castle for a bit and Haido remembered me and his eyes glowed.

"When can I fight again? I want to settle the score with someone." Haido said.

"Technically you can fight today, but your body will get tired too quickly as it is. I just need to run a few more tests, and you'll be fully ready to fight within three days." Lisseth said.

"Fine by me.." Haido said.