Gar had no choice but to care for his brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law. They suffered quite a bit after having their arms broken by the man. They were okay and their injuries were not going to be as serious as the shadow that had been shot down by the monster.

Gar had done his best but she was hit right in the liver. Not even the first-aid training he had done was aiding the risk. He couldn’t even bring the shadow away from the house. He had to make do with the help of the older servant.

“Shadows of the Blessed Maiden,” he thought. “They are supposed to be inhumane in their own rights, but he just dead-eyed shot one like it was nothing. If he’s so deadly with his fists, I shudder to think if he had used that pistol to kill.”

“Sir Gar,” the older servant said calmly. “It seems the sword of Zachariah is not responding. It should be able to summon the healing. It has been silenced.”

“Caron,” Gar said. “Have you called for help?”

“I have called for assistance. But I shudder, Sir Gar.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Shadows of the Maiden are her beloved daughters as well. If she’s writhing here in the ground then it won’t be long until her grace would arrive here.”

Gar was confused for a second. He then heard the sound of air breaking. He felt the oppressing energy pressing down the house of Cheery. The portraits of his great ancestors shuddered as a figure descended from the sky. The sky that has been pouring down the city of Alician was dried up at the sight of this figure. Within a blink of an eye, a gust of wind came and shattered every glass in the house of Cheery.

The figure of the blessed maiden appeared before Gar. Her aura bursting with power as the four elements that have accompanied her after the death of elemental heroes orbited for a second before melting on her skin. She stood in front of the shadow without her veil.

Gar and Caron were awed by the appearance of the blessed maiden. She was a woman of her prime and despite her age, she was still as young and her figure was something that women would die for to have. But it was not just the appearance that awed them. It was the seething fury that was with her. Fury that was burning with fire yet it was also cold enough to make them feel cold.

“Lady Ciara!” Caron knelled on one knee and bowed his head. He signaled Gar and Gar followed.

“What happened here?” she said coldly.

The room froze for a second before it was melted back by her breath.

“I—” Caron was about to speak when he was silenced by the gaze of the blessed maiden.

“I can smell the remains of a heinous power. I see. Could it be that you encountered the new monster lurking my city?”

Gar took a step forward, “It was my fault, milady. I didn’t think that he would have come after me.”

“Are you part of House Cheery?”

“Yes, milady.”

“I see. So tell me, what happened here?”

Gar recounted the events of when the monster slaughtered the districts until to the part where they tried ambushing him. Gar could see that Lady Ciara was calm for the most part until he recounted how the monster brought down her granddaughters so easily. He stammered on his speech and he trembled. His heart pounded so badly he could barely breathe as rage comes swelling from Lady Ciara.

“It seems that this time it is a humanoid enemy that uses the ability of rare shadow trekker. But I can smell such heinous power around this room. And you, I see that there traces of that monster’s power on you.”

She pointed her palm and Gar was wrapped in a milky glow. Gar could feel his body lighten up. She took her hands back and grasp something in the air.

“I have rid of you of the traces of that monster. He will not be able to track.”

“Thank you, milady,” he said.

“It is no problem. It is my duty to keep you all safe. As the Protector of this city, it seems that I cannot let this monster go, after all, what kind of a person would I be if I just let those who hurt my family go? That’s why I will show you my sincerity, and in the name of those who have lived and died, and for the will that has been carried the day I became the War Maiden that fends off the darkness. I, Ciara, the Chosen of the Bleak, Heralded by the Three Ladies of Fate, the carrier of the War Maiden’s will, and bearer of the Four Elementals, I shall purge the monster with my utmost sincerity.”

The air she grasped transformed into a cold multicolored blade. It then turned into a concentrated blade of light that buzzed and simmered the air. Gar and Caron could not help but take a few steps back away from such malevolent blade.

She sauntered away from the house and pointed the blade to the sky.

“Hear me, my blade of Salvatore, strike with impunity, and punish the wicked who harms those who I adore!”

The blade turned into a singular bolt of lightning that cleaved the clouds and revealed the scorning sun. The whole city of Alician trembled as the blade made of the elementals strike one of the districts. The blade homed into its target and by the time the rain returned. There was silence.

The whole city turned their eyes into the district where the bolt of elemental lightning was cast down upon. Everyone knew of the cold blade that only strikes the enemy. Once that blade strikes then the one targeted by it could only pray for salvation.

Gar could still hear the loud boom. He saw Ciara, the War Maiden, stand with her eyes cloudy. The cold blade on her hand vanishes as she turned her sights back to the House of Cheery.

“It is done,” she announced with confidence. “The monster should be no more.”