Tales of Revenants

Chapter 65 – Order and Peace

It wasn't Laken's consideration that Eris will go as far as forcibly taking off his mask. He believed she will draw her sword and try to cut him down, that's why he took his weapon from his back to be prepared.

The thing is that Eris completely saw the opposite; she beholds how elegant and handsome he is and she instantly fell in love the moment she gazed Laken's troubled countenance.

Eris couldn't react properly as her face turned beet-red. She remembered the primary reason why she approached Laken and mildly pinched her cheeks returning from her dizziness.

"More importantly... regarding your sword, the design and the way it was forged is quite peculiar you see. I just want to ask where did you get it." Eris asked an unavoidable inquiry.

"You are aware that I am Laken, and still wanted to hold a conversation with me? I can detach your head from where you stand right now." Laken touched her neck up to her left ear to threaten her so she'll just give up.

Instead of his actions instilling fear upon her, it resulted in a roundabout and made Eris feel rhapsodies of her youthful romantic life. She felt the squirming sensation when Laken inadvertently stirred her heart.

"No... I'm not ready yet!" Eris moaned and caused Laken an uncomfortable resentment.

"What?" Laken winced before putting his mask on.

"I mean your sword! I just wanted to ask where you got it!" Eris was suddenly pinning him down, constantly shaking his shoulders.

Laken hastily pushed her since he's got enough of her impertinent upfront, "Get away from me!" He evaded Eris right before he ran towards the next street when someone halted his advance.

A man wearing a military uniform equipped with a shotgun rifle, Laken seizes his sword when the man pinpointed the muzzle of his shotgun on his head.

Now that he remembers it, the intricate carving of an emblem on the man's rifle, his uniform created from black and red fabric; Laken won't mistake him other than part of Balakh Empire's soldiers.

His other fellow allies have reached the scene reloading their g*n upon seeing an enemy. Laken is rendered into a state of freeze or else his head will explode.

"Bring down your weapon swordsman! I repeat, bring down your weapon!" The balakhian soldiers resorted to threatening and oppression.

Laken didn't say a word or two. He casually brought his sword on the flagstone flooring.

There shouldn't be a problem for the balakhian soldiers but unfortunately, Eris was watching the whole scene from behind.

She pulled an announcement horn made out of a monster bone and she blew it with all she got.

The sound of it resonated around the town that caused the balakhian soldiers to panic a little bit.

Later the exact same horn could be heard from different directions. The trembling of the ground filled the air. All the townspeople take shelter and entered their houses.

Laken took the chance of the soldier's confusion and stomped at the hilt of his blade; it bounced off he seizes it mid-air. He skillfully swiped their shotgun rifle using his sword rendering them useless.

The moment his blade touched the skin of the balakhian soldiers, their blood was completely vaporized. They fell without being able to pull the trigger.

"Thanks, for helping. The horn was to inform my fellow valkyries that the balakhian soldiers have attacked again." Eris stated that intrigued Laken's interest.

"I must say you can explain the details later. I shall help to exterminate these impudent soldiers." Laken's wrath is at a crescendo considering the balakhian soldiers attacked him out of nowhere. He wanted to do something where he can blow off his steam.

He agreed to help in the meantime. Eris knows it was wrong to be ecstatically delighted, but a helping hand from a wanted criminal might still sound absurd, she doesn't care though.

Laken ponders why the Balakh Empire is trying to undertake the assault at the Eagleborn. The Archreverie is supporting an alliance towards Millenium Shore and Volcanyon. If ever the neighboring nations found out, it might turn into something that ignites pitted crisis.

"If you found and defeated the commander of the balakhian soldiers, they will retreat immediately. Well then good luck, I shall talk to you later!" Eris gave him a piece of advice before taking flight. She has the duty of protecting the town as valkyrie at all costs for peace.

Laken won't just idle and stand by, he sprints through streets outside the plaza with his white cape letting loose through the wind. His clanking silver armor was all his enemy could hear before he takes their life away.

He preserved a single soldier to grill him about where could be their commander is hiding, "Tell me where your commander is!" Laken threatens the soldier by strangling him enough so he can only talk on the process.

To his surprise, the soldier removed his black military gloves as he revealed the mark of an eye on his hands.

"We have no leader... the world shall soon return to zero..." He was not acting because someone ordered him nor of his own will, rather he was forced to attack the town because the Midnight Pentagram has set another victim.

His allies have surrounded Laken before he could react. In the slight second of motion where the soldiers pulled the trigger of their shotgun rifle, a mob of undead knights has arisen from the surface and caught the impact before the bullets could blow up Laken's armor.

"Aqua Geyser!" A familiar voice chanted a magic spell to get the balakhian soldiers in a torrent of water. Alisa and Luciella have arrived at the scene to help Laken from his battle.

"Thanks a bunch, had not you two interfered, I would have died." Laken is back on his feet.

"Save the thanks for later, the balakhian soldiers are all over the town, what should we do?" Alisa urged Laken about their next move.

"We'll help the town get rid of their enemy first. What about Xenon and Eirisse?" Laken gave the command. He also asked Eirisse's condition who was in the east district.

"Xenon came to her aid. The valkyries and other adventurers are helping also." Alisa replied while reading her necromantic grimoire's pages on her head.

"Make sure to capture one alive. Alisa covers from behind and Luciella, acts as the mid-range mage," Laken gave the signal of battle position.

"I will do what I can!" Luciella sure is fired up. They commenced their unexpected quest of defending the Eagleborn Town.

Alisa gestured runic symbols through the air and chanted her necromancy spell, "Death won't hinder the living, from bone to existence, arise my loyal servant! Summon Undead: Skeletal Knight!"

The exact same kind of ironclad skeletons that manifested from dust which helped Laken earlier has appeared right before them.

Summon Undead is a special magic spell of the art of necromancy that can essentially reanimate the dead when it's still living. Alisa summoned the corpses of the knights from the past that died a long time ago to accept her command.

"Four of you, help the townsfolk and eliminate the balakhian soldiers, two of you, follow us and cover our backline."  Alisa undoubtedly grasps how to command them as an independent entity.

The battle has commenced, Alisa and Luciella did as what they were told. Laken dashed through the volley of bullets swiftly blocking them using his sword, delivering a painless sensation of death over his unfortunate enemies.

Alisa's skeleton summons are quite tough as well considering they are empowered by dark magic affinity. No bullet could break their impregnable cooperation when they fight side by side.

The valkyries did their job without any casualty. With the help of Laken's party, the numbers of the balakhian soldiers dwindled down to the point they commenced to retreat on their own accord.

"Where is your actual body?" Laken questions after he beats the last of them.

"Left it on our room with undead assassins as guards," Alisa touched one of the summon's core. Her physical body remains on the inn.

Undead assassins are a type of necromancer's summon in which it can hide from one's shadow. They can perform covert tactics, which is useful for hiding their identity and seeking useful information.

She used her servants to protect her material form. Each undead summon has a magic circle of dark energy to constitute the reanimation of the dead; meaning the skills when they are alive won't deteriorate when summoned.

Things got hefty, Alisa commanded one of her undead heralds to pass the message to Xenon and Eirisse when she felt a surge of malefic energy. She did not foresee it was more grave than she thought.

"Preposterous! My undead knight was completely vaporized. A higher caliber of bullets couldn't even penetrate the bones of my summons, so how come?" Alisa perceives that one of her undead knights are defeated by some unknown foe.

Her necromantic ability comes with the gift of perception, being able to detect the current status of her undead summons. She can also identify if the ties of her summons have been cut off.

Later they heard the massive explosion coming from the plaza, Xenon and Eirisse also witnessed the discharge of the smog up to the sky-high.

"I can also sense it... such an amount of darkness is accumulating. We must help the townsfolk!" Luciella's determined even if she's under the pressure of fear.

"Alright, let's go and save the town!" Laken declared with fervor.

They are now headed towards the plaza. The party had to check the strange malefic flow of magic that's wreaking havoc, disrupting Eagleborn's order and peace.