“Kid! You’re with THAT Karl Franz?” Craig exclaimed but Lawrence scratched his head. Something was not adding up here.

“You’re not about to tell me THAT Karl Franz is still alive right?” Lawrence furrowed his eyebrows and the three of them looked as if Lawrence had said something sacrilegious.

“O-Of course he is alive!” Dunkirk said loudly, a look of horror on his face, whereas Leviathan seemed to be looking around as if afraid that a crossbow bolt would start flying his way.

“Lawrence, Father Karl is angel-blooded. He has the blessings of the Gods. It took two hundred years for the last one," Craig said, giving a small smile.

"Forgive him, he came from a very distant land," Craig said and Dunkirk nodded slowly, having almost seemed as if he was offended for a moment. Leviathan on the other hand, muttered a prayer as the party walked towards the route of the Altis Stronghold. The mist seemed to thicken, however, a ring that Lawrence wore glowed a gentle green, as if pushing the mist away from them.

"Can you tell me how all of you were attacked?" Lawrence asked and Dunkirk took a deep breath, before beginning his story.

"Father Karl, why are we back here? This place has nothing but... Forgive me for saying this, but this is beyond God's redemption," Paladin Ulysses said, nudging his horse to ride beside the wagon. The Father used to ride a horse but now that he got older, he has preferred the comfort of the carriage.

"There... Is something that I need... To make sure," Father Karl Franz croaked, a weak voice coming from the carriage and Paladin Ulysses gave a twitch of annoyance as he departed to join the vanguard.

Father Karl Franz, was now a shade of his former self. Though he still wore his armour to battle, he now never committed to the frontlines, barely able to stand on his own for a long time. A form of a disease that troubled herbalists was consuming him little by little.

His hair, which used to only be whitish streaks was now almost entirely consumed by white hair. His hands were now weak, with Dunkirk now having to help him hold his waterskin to feed him. Father Karl had been strangely insistent on visiting this forest after receiving a letter.

It was said the letter shook Karl so much that he coughed up blood and collapsed and once he woke up, he organized a small expedition, bringing 30 Paladins, 12 Crusaders and his squires. It was uncommon to see paladins and crusaders together as they have never gotten along. However, Father Karl Franz, old and weak he may be, was still a name that commanded respect and if the Father asked, you obeyed.

"Father, water?" Dunkirk asked and the old priest smiled, shaking his head. The entourage proceeded to enter the Forest Altis, the wagon slowly creaking its way as another squire, Timothy, who carried the sword of Father Karl drove the wagon.

The scales in the wagon suddenly dipped to one end. Dunkirk and Karl's eyes opened in alarm.

"The Scales of Evil has tipped! Be on the alert!" Dunkirk cried out and the entourage rearranged themselves.

"Surround the wagon! Protect the Father!" one of the crusaders cried out, all of them moving to line up beside the carriage.

"Fools! Spread out!" Father Karl Franz roared, surprising Dunkirk who has never seen this strength in the elderly father in a long time.

As the paladins dived aside, the Crusaders closed rank, their large round shields forming a shield wall. Timothy dismounted the carriage, drawing his own sword, his eyes darting madly from side to side as if scanning the woods for an enemy.

Dunkirk peeked from the carriage, and that was when he saw the black blot.

"There! Bats!" Dunkirk shouted and as everyone turned to look there, a loud moan was heard from all directions.

Father Karl Franz reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle full of yellow liquid and he downed it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Suddenly, he stood up and pulled his sword out of its sheath that was laid beside him.

"Shield walls all around, Crusaders! Paladins, form ranks right behind the Crusaders!" Karl Franz shouted, and many blinked in surprise at his sudden burst in energy but hurried to carry them out. As the bats swarmed downwards towards the group, Father Karl Franz held up his own holy symbol, shouting, "God shall purge all of you! Holy Fire!"

A jet of holy fire shot down from the sky, slamming into the bats, killing several of them, however, there were too many. They swarmed the ranks of the crusaders and paladins.

"Father... Karl... Franz... What a pleasure it is... To see you..."

Father Karl Franz, while fending off the bats, turned to the direction of the voice and his blood for a moment, felt as if it was turning cold. There it was... There he was...

Marquis Donovan...

"Scum! Bastard! Stay dead!" Karl shouted, making to join the Paladins in their ranks but at this point, a large horde of undead zombies and bears stormed their ranks. The bears smashed their way through the thick defences of the Crusaders and the zombies filtering through into the ranks of the Paladins. What had been an organized formation now turned into a brutal melee as the thick armour of the men held back the bites of the zombies as they continued to slice and dice their way through.

However, a single slam from a bear was enough to shatter the breastplate of a soldier, causing them to die almost instantly. The zombies also began to improvise, simply throwing themselves at the soldiers, causing them to fall and devour them on the spot.

"Consecration!" Father Karl Franz shouted as Dunkirk and Timothy joined their superior, the both of them shaking and holding their own weapons.

A jet of white light shot out from where he was, surrounding the area. At least the dead will not join the ranks of the undead.

"Come... Father Karl Franz! Show me your strength!" Marquis Donovan hissed and the Father charged at him, raising his sword basked in holy light as his two squires, brave in their own way, shouted and charged as well, with the scene of a chaotic melee between the paladins, crusaders and undead underway.