Sternbright POV

It was the morning of the seventh day. Elion was being quiet, too quiet.

"Maybe today the Black Castle will surrender. Even if they surrender we will still crush them. Argon has no mercy for those who resist us."

The idiot prince was at it again, but for once I sort of agreed with him. I could see no way for Elion to recover from the current situation no matter how many tricks the Red one has. Though I couldn't avoid a feeling of worry. There was this feeling as if something was going to happen; whether they surrendered or not I couldn't be sure. I know the Red Tower Master is not the kind of enemy who folds. The smell of blood saturated the air as the wind blew. Elion's flag tattered and beaten rolled with the wind, but not a single soldier could be found at the top of the castle wall.

"What are you planning Lizard Lord? What are you planning?"

I had an uneasy feeling, but the prince had no such instinct at all.

"Let's start the battle! It's time to crush the Black Castle once and for all!"

"RAGHHHHHHH!" Soldiers screamed.

Something is fishy here. The pit in my stomach was getting even more uncomfortable now. As our soldiers made it to the wall, something happened. The Castle wall exploded.

"What?!" The foolish prince screamed in horror.

Flames erupted from the epicenter of the castle wall and shot toward me. He was coming.

Darien POV

"Everyone follow the plan! Give them all the support you can! Earth mages, the moment the wall is destroyed, start building a new one! Today we have our final battle!" Victor gave a speech as everyone prepared for what would most likely be a suicide mission. The explosive crystals and the charms that were remaining were all gathered together and piled in the deep ridge that now existed in the wall. A small group of mages began gathering all of their mana, their job was to make the explosion even larger. A single scout hid at the top of the wall giving hand singles. He watched Argon's movements through an arrowslit that remained intact on the Eastern wall. His hand moved up and down. Argon was coming. Closing my eyes I felt for the mana around me. I had a general idea of where the mud lord was through the scout, but a precise location was hard to come by unless I looked myself. I tried to feel out his mana in the crowd of people that made up his entourage.

"EXPLOSIVES READY!"

I found him.

"3! 2! 1!"

I cast Flame Pillar directly behind the explosion. I focused as much force as I could muster at Sternbright before moving. Flames erupted underneath my feet as I jettisoned across the smoldering wall and debris. My knights were right behind me. The Mudlord looked surprised, but I could see his expression change to a smile. "I never would have thought you'd actually come here, Salamander!" His hands clapped together, and an enormous gray wall shot forth from the ground and surrounded him. "I'll make us a path!" Fire condensed itself in my right and left hands before I shot two flame pillars at 45 degree angles to my left and right. "I call upon the Great Spirit of fire! Manifest the Salamander, breathe into him your life and breathe out the spirit's flames! Salamander!" I couldn't be conservative! I couldn't be scared! A white salamander formed above my damaged right hand. As the white-hot flames blasted into the gray wall, they concentrated into a condensed point. Eli yelled, "He's moved underground!" I focused my perception trying to get an idea of where he was. "To our left, Lord!" With the remaining mana left in the spell, the Salamander itself dove from me and chased after Sternbright from my perception. It quickly dove into a certain spot and exploded! He shot out from the ground after coughing. "COUGH! Tricky lizard! COUGH!"

I said, "Sternbright, I have honor, but if you wish to play hide and seek I can force your hand if I just move slightly to the left!" The Imperial Prince was only a few hundred meters to our left, and for some reason had yet to move from his position. "That damn idiot! Fine Northwood!" Spears manifested by the dozens and then hundreds as they shot at me and my knights from all directions. "Earth wall!" "Ice wall!" Both of my knights got together and put their spells together to defend against the assault. The remaining bronze knights and mages started casting spells our way, but the 10 Black Knights joining us put all of their strength into defending our position. There was little chance of us being able to maintain our position for much longer. This battle never could have been a long one. "Sternbright, I wanted to save this spell for the Emperor if he ever showed his face, but today I'll be using it on you! Give me some time!" I focused my man inward. Barely half of my mana remained. This spell would leave me with just barely enough mana to wipe my ass, so I had to make this work. "Salamander! Condense yourself for me this day!" The small white salamander appeared again above my right hand before rolling itself into a ball and tightening into a sphere. "Lengthen your reach as a spear to cut down those who stop my path!" A flaming white spear glowing with tremendous power manifested. I grabbed it with my burning hand. "Sharpen your fangs that I may reach the heavens with your fury! Manifest your rage! Fang of the Salamander!" I hooked my whole body and focused my intention on the spear. Sternbright was standing in front of the Prince's direction as he had already used every defensive spell he could muster. "Oh earth, that grants protection to all living beings! Mountains unmovable! Earth unshakeable! Provide for me the defense of the heavens themselves! Gray Fortress!" A mountain seemed to wrap around him as he placed his very being into the shield. I threw the spear. It traveled at a speed that couldn't be tracked with the eyes as it hit the wall of earth. There was zero resistance as it melted through everything in its path. The spear went through Sternbright before going through a dozen soldiers and eventually the prince himself. The Imperial prince seemed to have lost an arm, but Sternbright was left with a massive crater in his chest.

The damn stubborn bastard didn't die without doing anything, however. He met my spear with one of his own. A spear came towards me stronger than anything he had cast at this point, and I had no mana to defend against it. Elijah rushed forward and stood in front of me, "Lord!" He cast three walls of earth in front of me showing me for the first time a triple cast from a knight. The spear hit with a sickening bang. Tobias screamed, "ICE WALL!" I watched as Elijah was pierced with a spear through his stomach. "ELI!" Argon had already begun moving when Eli fell to the ground. "ELI!" I got on my knees and checked on his wound. It was deep running through multiple organs. His guts were hanging out of his abdomen. There were only three healers in Elion that would be able to manage this wound, and none of them were here. "Shit!" I poured all of the healing potions I had on the wound. Tobias went mad with rage. "AHH!" I could hear his pain-filled screech as he cast magic and swung his sword wildly around us. With but a whisper Elijah said, "Lord, leave. You have to go. COUGH COUGH. You have to go." Blood seeped from his mouth, but the grip he held on my hand was still firm. In a short period, we would be surrounded and die.

"TOBIAS! GET READY! WE MAKE A PATH!"

"BUT LORD!"

"We can get our revenge another day!" I picked up Elijah from the ground despite his protests. "A lord never leaves behind his men. If he does he doesn't deserve to call himself a lord! Tobias path!"

"YES!"

With tears running down his cheek Tobias ran forward. I had enough mana to cast a dozen 2nd circle spells or one 3rd circle spell, I chose more magic. I increased my speed by stacking multiple movements spells together. My back felt warm as I carried Elijah on my back. To my left and right, Black Knights fell while guarding me. It forced me to push myself more than I ever did before. My legs were sore and heavy, and my breath was going out more than it was coming in. I could cover this distance instantly before, but now every step had to be calculated. Thirty seconds to the Castle walls seemed like an eternity.

Elijah's shallow breathing grew heavier and heavier on my mind.

"GET UP THE WALLS!"

Mages and knights were prepared for our arrival and were bombarding the enemy as we climbed the ladders prepared beforehand. My back felt cold. When I made it to the top of the castle I screamed, "HEALER! NOW!" We rushed Elijah to the castle's keep. Three healers saw him. "Lord, he's gone." "Check his wounds!" "It's too late." Those words sunk in like a ship sinking into the deep. "Is that so." I sat down next to Elijah and meditated. All I could think to do was prepare for the next battle. I knew from experience I could not focus on his death, otherwise, I would be lost in the mire and be unable to come out of it. "NOOOO!" Tobias screamed and cried falling to his knees. They were like brothers. In the end, I couldn't completely suppress my emotions as my face grew wet from sadness. I told one of the healers that remained, "Tell Winthrop to hold the castle for three more hours, and I will return."