The clamor of the southern wall battle reverberated menacingly throughout Eisanyr as panic gripped the reserve forces of Kaiser and Hawkwell. With rumors of enemy infiltration within the city, rebels desperately searched for confirmation while those to the east were denied even that brief respite-- their fate already sealed by the Banner of the Claw blitzing through.

JD, Marie, Chrysta, Yuna and Erin blazed ahead with the Vanguard. While Edgar and his Storm Riders made their way towards the main western gate along with Nightingale and her Umbras.

Luther and his troops lagged far behind by about eight minutes. But as the Banner of the Claw descended into the central square a gargantuan brass cannon loomed over from atop of the main keep facing west. The barrel was at least a hundred meters long and ten meters

wide. Dread seeped through the Banner of the Claw's veins as an oppressive chill filled the air.

It was a massive brass artifact weapon of some sort mounted on the keep that was out of view unless you were inside. And it was being aimed slowly at the battle outside.

Erin's eyes widened in terror at the imposing sight before him. "What the hell is THAT?!" he shouted, panic and fear beginning to spread amongst the group.

"It MUST be the artifact weapon that uses the Thurian orbs!" Marie cried out loudly, her voice cutting through the unsettled murmur. "Listen everyone! Our priority objective is to seize that weapon and DESTROY it!"

Lem piped up nearby, his voice shaking slightly as he asked, "How the hell are we gonna destroy THAT thing?"

JD yelled back urgently as they all kept on running, desperate for any kind of hope, "Just escort Marie there and I'm SURE she can destroy it!"

"By your command!" Lem acknowledged fervently.

But as the Banner of the Claw reached the central square a chilling sight met them; a thousand Kaiser soldiers standing between them and their objective with five Aspirants leading them.

At the helm of these Aspirants was none other than Roha, the Rakari second-in-command, wearing leather armor and wielding a deadly mithril katar. His icy glare was full of vengeance as he drew his weapon and bellowed, "Its time that I've gotten my revenge for you killing my mercenary army! You have no chance here Banner of the Claw; you shall all perish this day!"

Chrysta's voice croaked as she murmured into JD's ear, "This is bad. We can't stay here, Luther will catch up to us."

"No other way around them," growled JD in reply.

 

Roha cackled loudly, taunting them cruelly as he waved his katar in the air, "You're all going to die here and I'm going to tear each of you limb from limb. Any last words?"

"Yeah!" shouted Marie defiantly, her voice ringing clear through the clearing, "Your face is more repulsive than a pile of shit!"

A boiling rage erupted on Roha's face, his cheeks turning bright red with humiliation and anger. He roared at her in a fit of fury, "Bitch! How dare you? Don't you know your place?! I'll teach you some fucking respect!"

At that moment, Roderic, Erin, Dimitri, Lem, Fiala, and Yanie exchanged glances before Roderic said to JD, "We will hold them here. You four - Chrysta, Marie, Yuna and yourself - should break through where they are weakest. Get to the weapon!"

JD protested this vehemently. "I won't leave you all to die!"

"It has been an honor working for General Arlan" replied Roderic, "But I am getting too old for this. It is time for me to join my former commander in the afterlife. Hatchets! Today is a good day to die!"

The other Hatchets shouted back in agreement, "Loyalty until death!"

Erin added with a mischievous grin on his face as he held up his late best friend's steel longsword, "And Trent will be here with us."

Marie was overwhelmed with emotion at this gesture, her voice tinged with bittersweetness as she thanked him.

Dimitri nodded in agreement,"We're not the weaklings from a year ago. We're the venerated Banner of the Claw."

Chrysta sighed audibly at these words.

Lem confidently declared, "A year ago we triumphed over the phormics and since then, our success has been unparalleled. We will not fail this time either."

Yanie's words were filled with a desperate courage as she urged the four onward, "Go now, for my sake! I'll never forgive myself if something happens to you all. Now go!"

Yuna, being new to the group, was reminded of her former allies in Fulgoar Company and their ultimate fate. She smiled at the newfound solidarity within the team and their willingness to stand up for each other.

"Banner of the Claw! Charge forth! Formation B! No Storm Riders! Erin, you have command!" bellowed JD as they stormed towards Eisanyr's keep.

Erin beamed with pride; it was his first time leading the entire Banner of the Claw but thanks to Arlan and JD he was prepared.

The entire company chanted in unison as they ran into battle except for the Silvan Rangers who scattered into smaller units among alleyways and buildings.

The Hatchets were on the left flank while the specialty team took position on the right. The Vanguard remained in front to support both sides with its superior numbers.

Roha clenched his jaw as rage boiled inside him; "These goddamn fools!" He commanded, "Mages! Now!"

Under Roha's command, two squads of third-tier mages conjured a combined spell to form [Vermillion] which was a fifth-tier lightning storm and was sent hurtling toward Roderic and his Hatchets.

[Vermillion] exploded over the Hatchet's assault force and immediately killed fifty of the hatchets. Wounding another thirty. Even Roderic was sent to the ground.

"Roderic! No!" yelled Marie as she witnessed the Hatchets take the hit head on.

"Marie! We have to keep going!" reminded Chrysta to her adopted sister.

Marie then turned forth and prepared her own spell. This time a dark flame of hatred swelled inside her core. Marie's eyes now glowed with purple fire. Her hands held up two spells that were now also purple. A new spell that she had never cast before but she felt as if it was the right time to do so.

Mana swelled within Marie's mana lanes as she clenched her fists. Hatred and rage augmented by the demon core manifested inside her. Demonic symbols appeared along the ground where a pair of devil-like purple wings grew on her back, lifting her into the air. She launched two waves of attacks from each palm; one toward Roha and the Aspirants and another towards the enemy right formation.

Marie had used [Wrath of Ignis], a sixth-tier demonic spell, sending out massive purple tornados with streaks of blue and red flames burning around them. The tornados exploded at their targets.

The enemy's right formation was reduced to ash within seconds, the screams of men being burned alive echoing through the field. Flesh and bones melted like wax into a steaming pool of death beneath their feet. As Roha and the other three Aspirants leapt away from the blast, a fourth crumbled into dust before them.

"What WAS that!" shouted the Paladin Aspirant as he moved to heal the wounded.

"I've never seen anything like it," replied Roha in shock, "Not even from Deema."

Just then, Luther and Deema appeared from the southern edge of the square, firing spells at Marie.

"If they're taking care of that bitch," said The Gladiator Aspirant with determination, "Then I guess we'll be fine. I'm going after that commander in the middle." With newfound resolve, he and his men charged toward Erin, Lem, and Dimitri.

Luther and Deema had caught up and quickly closed the gap, unleashing a volley of powerful instant spells that ripped into the Banner of the Claw's specialty team.

JD arced his mithril longsword through the air, severing gravity spell glyphs in twain as Yuna's eyes blazed with vengeance, locked onto Deema with hatred. Marie surged forward with Chrysta and a squad of Vanguard members at her side, demolishing the enemy's right flank in a furious onslaught.

Luther's face twisted with malice as he hovered forth casting his spell, and sneered, "You must be Lord Commander Jan Derva. Impressive for a commoner."

"You won't get any further," JD warned, gritting his teeth in determination. "I'll stop you."

"What arrogance!" Luther raged, his eyes blazing. "You think you can take me? Your core is just a fifth-tier red-core. I'm beyond your reach."

Yuna stood parallel to JD only meters away from Deema. In order to keep the two enemies from advancing towards Marie and Chrysta, Yuna and JD would have to face off against Luther and Deema together.

Deema's lips curled upwards into a perverse smile as she uttered mockingly, "Another Argold? Did you know the last one imploded into little droplets?"

With conviction, Yuna declared with clear resolution, "Deema, you're going to die here today! That much I promise you."

"Shall we dance then?" asked Luther with a cruel smirk before he flung out three gravity zones that crushed a squad of nearby vanguard soldiers. "Oh my, how clumsy of me. That was meant for you JD."

The Tempest Knight desperately tried to dodge the gravity zones while at the same time cutting down glyphs targeting him specifically. All the while, Yuna used augmentation magic on herself and launched small spells onto Deema as she furiously charged forward using her staff, infusing each strike with magical energy that Deema effortlessly repelled with mana barriers.

Luther lunged forth striking into JD as mithril clashed on mithril. The power and intensity of the blows were enough to begin leaving dents in the mithril longswords that JD dual wielded.

JD felt an explosion of strength and speed as Yuna channeled her augmentation magic onto him as well. But he turned and saw Yuna shudder from Deema's attack, barely managing to dodge the blow. Adrenaline surged through JD as he narrowly evaded a strike from Luther and clung tightly to his mithri longswords.

"Thanks Yuna!" JD shouted, readying himself for the next bout.

"Do what you can," she gasped, getting back up onto her feet again. "Even if we don't make it out alive, our mission here isn't over until Marie destroys that artifact weapon."

"Agreed," JD said with determination, steeling himself for Luther's next barrage of attacks.

 

At the Banner of the Claw's left formation, a bloodied one-eyed Roderic slowly stood back up. Holding only his right war ax. "Where's my other war ax?" wondered Roderic as the battle raged on around him.

Roderic finally found it before him but something was off. He was somehow still holding his other war ax with his left arm. But it was on the ground. The adrenaline had kept Roderic from feeling that his left arm had been severed from the attack earlier.

A sizable unit of Hatchets had also been obliterated into bits around him. Roderic wiped the blood from his face with his right forearm and looked forward to seeing the last remaining seventy Hatchets engaging the enemy with a demonic fervor fueled by the loss of their comrades.

Roderic murmured to himself, "We really are going to die today..."

Afterwards, the mortally wounded Hatchet Commander ran forth with his right war axe raised. Prepared to take down as many as he could.

Marie and Chrysta made it to the top of the keep walls using an ice ramp spell crafted by Chrysta. On the battlements they encountered an eight man Kaiser crossbow unit which were no match for Marie's destructive [Wrath of Ignis] spell. They exploded into piles of limbs or ashes.

The pathway was now cleared of most obstacles, the Embercaller and Coldheart made their way along the battlements toward the artifact weapon.

 

The battle at the western gate of Eisanyr blazed in a hellish rage, smoke billowed from countless blasts and the clang of steel filled the air.

Edgar and his Storm Riders roared through the street with unstoppable fury, smashing through any Hawkwell soldiers they encountered. Death followed in their wake as Nightingale and her Umbras leapt from rooftop to rooftop, killing any sentries and patrols along the way.

Finally they reached the front gate where a sizable force of a thousand Kaiser Elites guarded it, unaware of the Banner of the Claw's strike team. Edgar raised his visor to survey the situation before him as he could hear the sound of destruction outside the gates.

Nightingale landed next to him with shimmering eyes, "Move through them and keep them occupied while my Umbras take control of the gatehouse and raise the gates."

Edgar's voice was laced with dread as he spoke, "There's only thirty of you, will you be able to hold until the joint army arrives?"

"We'll fight for dear life," Nightingale answered without hesitation, her blue eyes burning with resolve. "Our small numbers are our strength in close quarters."

Closing his visor with a decisive click, Edgar replied, "Very well then. I shall leave it to you all to open the gate. Good luck."

"For Master Arlan!" yelled Nightingale as she rushed off into the shadows.

Edgar roared back at his men, his words radiating with aggression. "Everyone! Follow me into the enemy formation! We will show them why we are called Storm Riders!"

The two hundred and fifty cavaliers rallied in unison with their battlecry, "To storm's end!"

With one mighty surge they charged forth in search of victory; never forgetting Arlan's immortal words 'live forever' resounding in their hearts.

The Storm Riders advanced with relentless ferocity, smashing into the ill-prepared Kaiser Elite army of a thousand medium shock troopers. The force of the impact flung bodies through the air as over one hundred and fifty were instantly killed in the initial clash.

Meanwhile, from high above, several Umbras sprang off their vantage points and flew across the battlefield like arrows, landing at the gatehouse's wall where they began to scramble up to its roof.

The Umbras descended upon the enemy with a hunger for blood. They were a force of nature, unstoppable in their mission to cause chaos. With every swing of their blades, life was snuffed out from throats slit and crossbow bolts piercing flesh. Unbeknownst to the enemy, Nightingale and her faithful Umbras were quietly staging an assault on the gatehouse from the top floor down.

Nightingale twirled through the air with her short swords at the ready, sounding out a chorus of screams as they met their mark and unleashed cascades of sticky red liquid across the room. Her three Panthers emerged from the shadows to play their part in blocking any who thought they could strike at her vulnerable sides.

The Umbra's flooded in from the rooftop stairs, each determined to carry out Nightingale's orders: "Kill the remaining Kaisers below and we shall hold the first floor. Panthers, open the gate and join us below!"

"Affirmative!" roared the Umbras as they surged down below with violence.

 

Outside, Duke Louis was in the thick of battle alongside Lord Commander Jermaine. They were at the center Vanguard and were hoping to see the gate open. They had already demolished the Kaiser center but a Hawkwell General was still somewhere out there in the battlefield stopping any advantage they gained.

But as things seemed bleak, something tipped the scales in their favor. It was the sound of the Western gate opening. The Banner of the Claw had succeeded in their mission.

"My liege, are you seeing this?" asked Lord Commander Jermaine.

"Aye, I am," answered Duke Louis, "Order all units to press forth! Send the reserves!"

"But what of that Hawkwell General?" asked Jermaine.

"I will personally find this Hawkwell General and slay him myself. He'll retreat his forces inside if he's smart."

 

As the Western gate opened, hundreds of Kaiser Elites turned to take back the gatehouse. Edgar and the Storm Riders had been using hit and run tactics to harass, but the Kaiser Elites were no longer going to fight them.

"Storm Riders! Trident Formation!" barked Edgar as he changed into three small wedge formations.

The first forty Kaiser Elites entered the gatehouse with no signs of life until a slight metallic flicker from nearby shadows revealed hidden Umbras in each corner, ready to ambush their adversaries. Bolts and throwing knives flew through the air, cutting down Kaiser Elites with either maiming or fatal hits before they even had time to cry out in alarm.

Nightingale then leapt forth with ten other Umbras from their hiding places and viciously attacked, cutting through their opponents' ranks. But more and more Kaiser Elites kept flooding in from outside, until one Umbra was caught off guard and stabbed through his chest by three axes; his severed head landing on the floor with a sickening thud. The battle escalated into a violent clash of steel and screams that echoed outside as the Storm Riders crashed through enemy lines.

The Hawkwell-Kaiser joint army scrambled back into the city, a mad stampede of desperation and fear as Edgar watched. But then Hawkwell Crossbowmen began to fire bolts into the Storm Riders, causing tremendous carnage and wiping out nearly forty riders in an instant.

 

Duke Louis and the Reeve-Stonemar force followed close behind, not wanting to give them any opportunity for respite. Lord Commander Jermaine was quickly tasked to reinforce the gatehouse while Duke Stonemar and Count Daxton and Count Emile gave chase to enemy units on the north side.

"Daxton!" shouted Emile, "No enemies must be allowed to regroup here! Secure all routes between Duke Cole and Commander Ragnar!"

"Aye!" came his reply.

"Emile!" barked Duke Louis as he rode by, "I will sally forth to stay on the main force's tail. Commander Ragnar will see to the south side of the city."

"Aye, good luck brother and may Numen protect you!" acknowledged Count Emile.

"Same to you, my younger brother," replied Duke Louis with pride.

But then a familiar voice called out from behind: "Count Emile!" It was Nicolas Stonemar, ready for battle.

Emile nodded, looking at him intensely, "Seek out the Banner of the Claw. Reinforce them if you find them - they'll likely be at the keep."

Nicolas replied with a somber nod before leading his unit of seven-hundred men forward.

 

Marie and Chrysta raced towards the ancient weapon, their hearts pounding in their chests as they sensed an immense pressure unfold around them.

An eerily familiar voice that seemed to flow like a river of molten steel spoke from behind them. "The Embercaller and the Coldheart." They both spun around to see Duke Osmund Kaiser, hovering with gravity magic just meters away.

"Are you here to witness the ultimate spectacle?" he said, his eyes narrowing into thin, black slits.

"Surrender or be burnt down," Marie spat out in defiance.

Duke Osmund smiled sardonically; "You are quite powerful, possessing one of my demon cores I see. But there is something you don’t know about it...."

Before he could finish speaking however, Chrysta had already fired three ice blades at him, and Marie quickly unleashed her [Wrath of Ignis] in accompaniment. To their shock, the spells were absorbed into the duke's body without harm.

"Let me finish kindly," Duke Osmund continued nonchalantly, brushing some dust off his dark green trimmed armor with grace and poise. "These demon cores have a contract with me. I am able to command those who have absorbed a demon core." His gaze was now fixed onto Chrysta. "Marie, Kill her."

"No!! Run Chrysta!" yelled Marie in desperation, as she prepared for the worst.

Chrysta was rooted to the spot in terror as she watched Marie's eyes turn green and her body move without her control. She knew that her [Wrath of Ignis] would be thrown at her adopted sister against her will, leaving Chrysta only a few steps towards escape before an invisible, low-level [Gravity Well] held her captive.

Duke Osmund's voice echoed through the air with a chilling power as he declared, "Understand this: I won't have her kill you just yet. I want you both to witness the power that I command with this Interitas Cannon that I've built! Your people were foolish enough to gather so closely that I can easily wipe them out."

"What... Do you mean... you command… demon core recipients…?!" Marie choked, still trying to fight his control over her body.

"Well you see here," Duke Osmund answered matter-of-factly, rising towards the wall overlooking the city. "House Rainhall, House Beaumont, and even House Hawkwell; all under my control against their will."

"Iris... Hawkwell too?" asked Marie.

"Even Iris Hawkwell — though it wasn't me who killed her. Ironically it was Arlan. She protested the war and didn't want to fight in it," His voice came closer as he finished speaking, "Now come."

Duke Osmund raised a hand to still Chrysta and Marie as they watched the Interitas Cannon's aim point, his gaze hard. "The demons left behind powerful weapons and artifacts when they fought their little war centuries ago. I have now stumbled across the Interitas Cannon, and you are lucky enough to witness it in action."

Qorinth moved forward, placing the Thurian Orb on the control panel, where he meticulously touched a series of glyphs and channeled his own mana into the cannon chamber.

Chrysta screamed out for him to stop but Duke Osmund remained resolute - "No."

The Archmage hit the final glyph with confidence and a beam of dense mana shot forth from the mighty cannon, twice as high as its ten meter frame. Two-hundred meters wide, it struck deep into the North side of Duke Osmund's city; not stopping for the walls and continued far into the forest beyond.

Both sides were caught in the blast. Chrysta and Marie could barely process what they were seeing, such was its magnitude.

 

As Luther stood at the entrance of the Eisanyr Keep, he saw the Interitas cannon fire with a dark grin on his face.

"JD, look!" Yuna shouted.

The battle paused as everyone turned to see a blue beam of light shoot over the north side of town. The high-density mana had a radius of at least one hundred meters, and it flew through without facing any resistance. No blasts or explosions could be seen--it was as if it didn't touch anything.

But JD knew the truth: everything within its reach had been obliterated.

"What in Numen's grace?!" JD gasped.

 

Duke Cole was locked in a desperate battle with a Hawkwell Aspirant when suddenly, Count Daxton appeared from behind and struck his sword through the Aspirant.

"You have my gratitude, Count Daxton," Duke Cole said as he slashed at the enemy.

"Of course, Duke Cole," answered Daxton, "This fight seems more winnable than I had anticipated; with luck, our losses will be far less than we anticipated."

"I agree," nodded Duke Cole.

But before they could continue their attack, another voice called out to them: "Count Daxton and Duke Cole! Head south, quickly! Our brothers are losing men!"

It was Count Emile, who had come to relieve them.

"Ah, brother. Do you need us to head south?" asked Daxton.

Count Emile explained that the Banner of the Claw was taking heavy losses and needed relief.

Before anyone could answer, all heads turned towards a blue light coming toward them from the Eisanyr keep. "My loves," murmured Count Emile as he thought of Katalina and his wife Vivia, "I'm sor--"

 

One hour west of Eisanyr, the Royal Army was marching through the widened Vine Fork road. King Richard was leading the charge with his half of the Royal Army while Grand Marshal Dink Rorschach stayed a few hundred meters behind on the south flank.

"Sire! Look!" yelled a forward scout.

"What is it?" asked King Richard, "There's no way the enemy could possibly be out-"

Grand Marshal Dink could barely follow the blue light as it streaked across the sky like an arrow with deadly intent, missing him and his soldiers by only twenty meters. His heart pounded in his chest as he watched the beam fade, taking with it all that lay within its path – including King Richard and the other half of the Royal Army. All that remained were smoldering ash, melted rock, and dirt at the edge of where they had just been standing.

It was almost as if a spell had been cast to snuff out their very existence.

"King Richard," uttered Dink with sorrow, "He's... He's... dead."