The sky was covered in thick fog. He could hear the screams everywhere. Blood dulled his senses.

“Duck!” Fez shouted. He pulled Nolan down. “Fucking idiot, don’t stand there!”

The two ran across the battlefield, using the piles of bodies as shields. It took three days to turn to the sands of oasis into a battlefield. Monsters were strewn across the fields of sand. The guardsmen of throes were maintaining a shield formation along with the maidens of throes.

“Goddamn it!” Fez shouted. “Where the fuck are they? We already sent a rider to call for help? The Wizards are going to be dried up by them! Fuck, what are you looking like that, Nolan? Shit, you weak bastard, this isn’t the time to be a coward!”

“We have to go back for Sir Mac,” Nolan said without a tone.

“Fuck that!” Fez shouted. “Do you want to dishonor him? Nolan, you are my friend, and I hate to stab you now! Fuck off with that shit, you are a guardsman of throes! Let us move!”

The two fought their way through a horde of enemies. Fez blocked their way while Nolan attacked from the top. He made use of his practiced acrobat abilities to get a better advantage.

“Fez! Nolan! Come and join the ranks, now!” Sir Gil demanded.

Fez and Nolan joined the ranks and held on the shields.

“Push you bastards!” Sir Gil shouted. “Don’t fucking be scared by these monsters, don’t disappoint King Gideon! You fools aren’t going to plead for mercy. These monsters aren’t going to show you any mercy! Survive and fight for another day! Do not live forever you bastards!”

“I said push!” Fez bit his lip. Nolan planted his foot down, eyes bulging as he pushes forward.

“Incoming magic arrows!”

“Duck!”

“Sir! The maiden of throes is advancing!”

“Let them!”

The chaos confused Nolan. He stayed banded with the shield wall. He stood shoulder to shoulder with his soldiers while watching the rest attack the enemy with their swords and magic.

“Nolan, you doing okay?” Fez said.

“I am, barely.”

“Have you seen Ton?”

“That guy? He should be around. No fucking way that maniac would die so easily.”

“...”

“Push you bastards!” Sir Girl shouted, decapitating a monster with his sword. “We have to wait for the goddamn sun you fools! Hold on and survive until the light shines! Do not falter! Do not give in! Never even think of stepping away from the shield wall and letting the bastards inside our city! So I tell you fuckers now! Push goddamn it!”

The shield wall pushed back the horde. The guardsman of throes killed wonderfully along with the sword maiden of the throes. They were adept at using magic that the seemingly hopeless fight was nothing. All they had to do was wait for the sun to come and they will win. The monsters hated the sun. It was their natural enemy and none of them would dare to walk brazenly under the sun.

But the sun never came.

“Stand still!” Sir Gil said. “Fight back! Do not be pushed back, you cowards!”

“Nolan!” Fez shouted, dragging Nolan away from the shield wall. “Shit! Your armor’s a wreck, you have to remove it now!”

Nolan blankly nodded. “I can still fight!”

“Make him fucking rest, Fez!” shouted a voice.

“He’s hurt, and we can’t have someone die on the shield wall now!”

The battle continued while Nolan watched unable to do anything. He saw Ton run to the shield wall, he was missing an eye, but he stood with them, their backs as strong as the barbicans that kept the walls of the Oasis City strong.

“I can fight!” Nolan said, his shoulders were pushed down.

“Sit still, soldier. We can’t let you back out there for now.”

Nolan gritted his teeth. He took the time to stand instead. He defended the healers while the rest blocked the path of the enemies. He was no great fighter or a chosen one. All he had was the training and the beating that the people around him gave to him. Courage? He only inherited their courage and formed it into his own. He abandoned that feeling of being special already. All he wanted was to fight for the bastards that took care of him.

“The horde’s increasing!”

“We’ll be moving, let us walk the path of bleakness, my brothers and sisters, for this is the only way for us,” a voice said.

“Bleak Walkers?” Sir Gil said. His eyes focused on the cloaked men and women who marched with their blades. Their sigil-marked eyes glowed solemnly within the dark. They fought like devils and died like cornered dogs. Their bleak march paved a way of blood for the guardsman of throes and the maidens of throes.

Only one Bleak Walker was left and his name was Castro, and by the time he died, the shield wall was crushed by a giant, the guardsman of throes were pushed back, and was forced to fight surrounded by the enemies. It was only when the eastern part of the shield wall broke that six bright figures appeared out of nowhere. Nolan saw it clear how they were led by the Burnt Woman he felled in love with. She was even more dazzling as she leads the party of six to the enemies.

Six Elemental Heroes followed the War Maiden. He didn’t know and why they were blessed with powers at that single moment. Were they blessed by God? Were the desperate cries of the wounded reached the God of Hope? Or was it the despair that kindled the fire that was waiting to be lit?

It didn’t matter to those who fought that day. When the sun didn’t rise from the east, as usual, a new sun rose from the depths of the battlefield, and the hated one became the hope for all. She stood with the Six Elemental Heroes while Nolan the nobody, healed his wounds, tied his bandages, and went with his friends to bury the dead and pay respects to the dead who died for them.