New Alliance

       “(Ani, are you serious?!)"

       “(I am serious, Ifrit! It's high time that we find more rebel alliance instead of sitting around for a year trying to think of something. We only need more of them before either side got attacked by those time displacers. We need to find more hellhounds with prior connections to some rebel camps)."

       “(Is this you talking or that entity is trying to influence us?)"

       “(No, Ifrit, I'm fucking serious! That entity can fuck themselves for all I care! We cannot fight two, or possibly three, fights all at once!)" Anubis then leaned towards Ifrit. “(I'm not even trying to make a joke!)"

       “(Dude, I'm not even assuming that, given how things turn out between you and that entity. Now that the Three Kings are now Two Kings it won't give us more influence)."

       “(Well, do you have any idea to find more monarchs? Aside from the three of us, there is no other monarch that we can get)."

       Ifrit grunted in frustration, knowing that with the demon hunters camped in front of their city, it did not make the situation easier. Anubis and Ifrit had been arguing about their course of action. With Eshdar out of the picture (he still wanted to fight, but being a cub made him less of a threat to enemies), they needed to find a way for another fighter to fight with them.

       They wanted to find other monarchs like them since Ifrit knew there were many of them, aside from Ensalder (who was clearly an enemy), Anarim (who at that moment was conflicted about an unknown matter), and Nergora. He considered Nergora to follow them, and he accepted, but then Karkos told them that Nergora had a lot of enemies, which would surely negate any possibilities of negotiation if any lookouts saw his white fur and rang a danger bell.

       Rhynsa, while once was a formidable opponent and great sharpshooter, was stuck on a wheelchair after defeating his nemesis. Ifrit considered taking Mizarka, but Anubis, ever overprotective, refused (despite of Ifrit trying to convince him that Mizarka could be his guide). In the end, they decided that the two of them were enough.

       The next day, after talking with Karkos about the matter, Ifrit and Anubis walked through the portal for quick travel between that city and Arbal. But then, when they were wondering about Eshdar, their friend unexpectedly appeared at the Arbal side of the portal, munching on a smoked jerky.

       “(What are you doing here?)" asked Ifrit.

       Eshdar promptly spitted out the jerky and said, “(Why you ask? I can walk around all I wanted to)." He then noticed Ifrit and Anubis's equipment, and said, “(Look, guys, I know you want to protect me, but I'll be fine! Come on, we are the Three Amigos, right?)"

       “(I know, but Anarim…)"

       “(Grandpa is not even talking to you guys about this, so why not? I can take care of myself in the wild. I was a tracker by this age)."

       “(Look, Eshdar, we are not fighting anyone today. All we want to do is to negotiate)."

       “(I can do that)."

       “(Not in that body of yours)."

       “(Then who's going to do the talking, then?)"

       “(Uhm…Ifrit?)"

       “(I thought so. You can't even negotiate a price at the market. Look, what do I need to do to convince both of you to take me? And don't get started on being 'immoral' to take a child to a potential danger. We are hellhounds, not surface dwellers!)"

       Ifrit looked at Anubis, who did not turn his head. After pondering for a while, Ifrit wanted to say something to Eshdar when Anubis said, “(I want you to promise us one thing. Do not cuss)."

       “(Well, that's kind of simple)."

       “(And absolutely no f-word, or we'll tie up your mouth the rest of the journey)."

       “(Alright, fine!)"

       In the end, despite of the awkwardness, the three of them set another journey into Tragoria.

       Meanwhile, back in the tree city…

       Lidden walked towards the city gates when he saw Albreich getting out of his carriage and setting up shop. The master paladin approached him and said, “You really have it in you to exploit a business opportunity, huh? I should've thought so when you were the one submitting a proposal of a shop in forts."

       “I was going to be a trader before joining the brotherhood. My father wanted me to follow his steps. Being declared a prodigal took me a different path."

       “You have walked a different path all your life, Albreich. The brotherhood is not as tight-knitted when you were a child."

       “I can see that much, except many of you are still reluctant."

       Lidden looked back towards his squad's camp and said, “That's what indoctrination do to you."

       “Are you sure that's the right word for them?"

       “No, but they were stuck with old racist cultures we did not want to preserve. Tell me, Albreich. Is it wise for us to help the hellhounds over a matter of civil war?"

       “That civil war is going to end soon, Jim. You know your own problems, and they know their own. The only way for all of this to work out is if we have a mutual enemy."

       “Which is clearly unconnected in some ways or another," replied Lidden. “My men need more convincing than that. They believed that your side is trying to attack us and innocent civilians."

       “I am in no one side, Jim. I am freelance. I don't do my job just for one side. I still have friends from both sides, but if you think I belong with them, you're clearly mistaken."

       “Don't tell that to me. You need to convince Alex."

       “Yes, about Alex…. I've never seen him so brash before. I know he attacked those three hellhounds due to impulse, but I thought he was a clear-headed person who likes to know…." Albreich then realized something. “Is it Maya? Where is she?"

       “Maya…was possessed by the demons and left our brotherhood…after killing three paladins."

       “Even Maya? This is worse than I thought. I thought she was a Valkyrie."

       “Valkyries, paladins, both are still susceptible to demonic possession if the demon is strong enough. Problem is…unlike those we knew before, she seemed composed and all of the sudden became an even more skilled warrior, at least what witnesses said to me."

       “Isn't she always a strong warrior?"

       “In my eyes, she still has more potential in development. But, ah, I think I've kept you long enough from you opening your store. I can see Alex approaching you."

       Lidden walked away with a solemn face, replaced by Alex who came to Albreich looking like he disapproved of Albreich coming to him. He tried not to make contact with Albreich, and considering what the white-haired man had heard from his former mentor, he knew that Alex's uneasiness around him was justified.

       “Alex, I'm sorry about your wife," said Albreich trying to reach his hand to his old friend, but the paladin shoved his hand away.

       “Yeah, you just knew it now from Lidden, didn't you? Al, both of us loved the same woman and I know you still care for her. Why weren't you there when it happened?"

       “How could I possibly know? When did it happen?"

       “It happened just a week ago, Al! I know you were in Dusdolf when it happened. Why didn't you come to Fort Solana! Is that charm of you out of juice or what?!"

       “Alex, I know you are mad about this matter, but I can't be everywhere at the same time. Also, I thought your fort is heavily fortified and protected with five layers of Bird Cage barrier."

       Alex stopped and looked away, causing Albreich to become uneasy. He then asked, “Alex, did something happened in Fort Solana I did not know?"

       “Yeah, now that you think of it, when Maya was possessed, Fort Solana was in the middle of renovating. We need to turn the Bird Cage off so no one will not lose a hand." He then became surprised. “Was there…a mole inside the fort?"

       “You know the fort better than I do, Alex. That cannot be the case. Lidden would not accept outsiders into a fort standing in the middle of a magical ley lines full of dark energy. Why do anyone even bother building a fort there anyway?"

       “But that still does not answer my question. Why does a Valkyrie as strong as Maya could be possessed?"

       “If my knowledge on demonic hierarchy is correct, a paladin or Valkyrie in a level like us would need a fifth to seventh layer demon to make contact. But if she was possessed that easily, then…"

       There was a sudden sensation of danger from the both of them and Alex pulled his sword out. They both feel the dark energy coming from the middle of the camp. It was nauseating and strong enough to cause every other paladin near them to be aware of it.

       “Alex…"

       “I know."

       Alex muttered some incantation and he opened his eyes, seeing black and white. He then could see one particular person with a black soul in it, indicating that he was possessed.

       “What?! But it can't be! Just what happened to the brotherhood's proud anti-possession charm?!"

       “It's those deep hell bastards. Get Lidden. I'll go in and…"

       “No, keep those demons out of this!" exclaimed Alex. “The last thing we need now is confusion of threats! Besides, we have five prodigals here, including you. Stay and fight! I assume you still have Gewehr Flaut?"

       “It takes time to materialize it. I'm out of touch."

       “That's the problem if you choose a light weapon! Take your time, but hurry!"

       Albreich got ready to mutter some incantation as Alex stood guard in front of him. All of the sudden, an attack came towards them in the form of dark blades, which lodged to the land in front of them and corrupted it. Alex hit it with a white bolt, but he did not get to see some other arrows coming towards him. He only realized it when it hit a shield, in which it was quickly eaten by the darkness property of the arrow. It quickly shattered and reformed again.

       “As always, I can trust your defense," said Alex smiling.

***

       At another side of the continent, the Three Kings reached an occupied town, where they were quickly greeted with cold stare from the hellhounds in the town. It was reasonable, given how two were recognizable monarchs and they were basically enemies. Yet, they did not want to attack them since they clearly came with minimal weapon and was not trying to attack them.

       Ifrit stopped in the middle of the street and shouted, “(We demand an audience with the leader of this town!)"

       There was no response, but then one of them walked out and shouted, “(Eat lead, fuckers!)" and shot some bullets towards them. Anubis walked in front of the group and used a new ability to change the bullet's trajectory so it moved away from vital parts, yet one of them still grazed his arm.

       “(We come in peace! Lower your weapons! We only want to meet with your leader!)"

       “(You are not welcome here, monarchs! Get out of this city before we do it for you!)"

       “(We do not need to fight!)"

       But it was a futile attempt as the cold stare became a blind rage riot as they threw rocks towards them. Some even tried to attack them directly, but the three of them stood in place and did their best to defend themselves.

       “(See? It needs more than that clichéd situation to convince them!)"

       “(No comment! Just focus on defending!)"

       But before the problem became uncontrollable, a voice shouted, “(Stop!)". It was a female voice. The fight stopped and they all got away from the street as a lone black-furred, red striped hellhound came towards them.

       “(What is your business in this town? We had enough of your killings and we don't want to see that here.)"

       “(Lady, do we even have that much weapon to fight you?)" said Eshdar with a provoking tone. Ifrit and Anubis quickly shut him up.

       “(You even carry a young prince with you? If that is not the definition of 'fucked up' then I don't know what is)."

       Ifrit stood silently in front of her, causing uneasiness to the rest of the hellhound. It was as if there was no one brave enough to walk in front of her like that, and a hellhound who stood in front of her was like a death wish for them. At least that was what Anubis thought.

       “(We are not here to harm you)," said Ifrit slowly while staring to the female hellhound. The hellhounds were still not convinced with his claim.

       “(I know you, Ifrit Schelkz. You don't need weapons, but anything you can get can become a weapon. How are we supposed to be sure that you do not intend to harm us?)"

       “(We don't have time for this, lady)," said Eshdar shoving Ifrit aside. “(We need you to cooperate with us. If don't, well, let's just say you are doomed to fight those unknowns alone. You want proof, well I give you a frickin' proof!)"

       Eshdar pulled out an amulet and made the female hellhound surprised. She quickly said, “(Where did you get that?!)"

       “(I got it from the hound himself. Tyrall is kind enough to help me negotiate)."

       The female hellhound took the amulet and saw the contents inside. It was not defiled in any way, and nothing was taken, except an addition of a small parchment detailing the camp and its leader.

       “(Based on that, I guess it's safe to assume that you know Tyrall Bhane personally, and we know he's one of the most influential rebel leaders out there. We are ready to help you if you want to, Iridel Matrenis)."

       “(You've earned a small trust from me, young prince)," said Iridel while throwing the amulet back. “(But how can we be sure if Tyrall was not killed?)"

       “(Well, about that…)"

       Eshdar pulled out a rolled paper and gave it to Iridel, when she opened it, there were words which said:

       “(Iridel, I figured that sending the Three Kings would not convince you easily. There is a danger lurking around the corner. My camp was destroyed by them, and Arbal, the supporter's base of operations, was attacked by a rogue splinter group. I need to know that you are safe, and Arbal needs more people to defense. I hope you can stop the nonsense and join us to fight a mutual enemy. Regards, Tyrall Bhane)."

       “(So, this is Bhane's handwriting, alright)," said Iridiel. “(I think it's legitimate, but…well, alright. We still haven't forgiven you for killing our group, so we are working for Bhane, not for you)."

       “(That's fine. We are leaving, anyway)."

       Without waiting for Iridel to talk anymore, the three of them turned around and walked away from the town. The rebels had no intention to attack them, while Iridel was contemplating on the piece of paper given to her, and the amulet.

       After they got out of the town, Ifrit turned towards Eshdar and said, “(Is that what you called 'negotiating'?)"

       “(What? It's easier to be blunt than being too polite and causing more suspicions)," said Eshdar while whistling. “(Besides, those things are genuine)."

       “(But how did you get those from Tyrall that fast?)"

       “(Well, Tyrall was planning to go there and talk to them himself, but he knew those people would think he's a traitor. He had an idea of recruiting the Three Kings because they would respect and fear the three of us)."

       “(I haven't known that guy that much myself. We should get to know each other more often. Well, that's one, how about…)"

       Ifrit's speech was cut short when a hellhound was panting as he ran towards them in his top speed. He was wheezing, trying to catch some breath, but he couldn't and he weakly fell to the ground.

       Ifrit saw his clothes and deduced something.

       “(You're Rhynsa's personal guard, right? What's the hurry?)"

       “(The…tree city…)"

       “(Why? What happened at the tree city?)"

       “(It's…being attacked…)"

       The three of them said, “(What?!)" at the same time. Eshdar became so worked out that he said, “(Hey! What's going on there! Come on, tell us!)"

       “(There's…a possessed human…destroying the hunter's camp. But it was not…from any layers…)"

       “(Not from any layers?)"

       Anubis quickly took a glance around and exclaimed, “Wherever you are, get the hell here!"

       A voice then came to Anubis.

       “It seems some of the fool's…minions…have finally found a way to get to your settlement," said the entity's voice. “What a timing, as you lesser being would say. Anubis Caropus, why are you shouting at us and trying to find us if there is an immediate danger?"

       Anubis grunted and ran towards Arbal. The entity just sighed and said, “Lesser beings…they claim to have knowledge but they keep asking questions."

***

       “How did he got the reinforcement?!"

       “I think they have been planning for all of this to happen. I think Maya was also possessed by the same being."

       “What is that thing?!"

       “All the hellhounds told me is that they are fighting the basis of a being's fear. They don't have any name, just the Unknown."

       The paladins were fighting against a sudden invasion of an unknown enemy. It was as if they were fighting against a horde of the undead, as their enemy rose from the land around them and started attacking them in a rotting state. Some had practically become a living skeleton.

       While the enemy did not give any sense of threat to the group of paladins, the one controlling them was. They could see that it was a human with extraordinary magic power that could negate even the paladin's magical armor.

       They were trying to halt the progress of the living dead into the tree city, but whatever they did was useless. The corpses were also imbued with magic, and they could bypass the shield. The hellhounds by the walls were frantically trying to hold the attackers at bay, but despite of being maimed or even decapitated, they still went on.

       What made it worse was the paladin's stubbornness on the situation. Despite of the city's genuine offer of help, the paladins refused the help from the city with the reason of confusion of targets. This did not only cause tension with the hunters, but also made the hellhounds in the city distrusted them even more.

       Karkos tried to find a way to talk to the leader of the paladins, going by the name Lidden, but he was in the middle of the fight. Anarim, despite of troubled of something only he knew, was trying to stop as many corpses as possible.

       “(Do you have one good reason why we have a rainforest city surrounded by peat bogs?)" said Anarim while shooting three skeletons at once. “(On nature's viewpoint, that's one total bullshit right there)."

       “(I'll explain after everything's over)," said Karkos. “(Right now, we need to hold back until…)"

       All of the sudden a familiar catsith came out of the portal from the middle of the city, followed by Ifrit who was pushing Rhynsa's wheelchair, with him on tow.

       “(Have I ever told you how ridiculous this is if someday someone decided to write these shit?)" said Ifrit to Rhynsa.

       “(I say somebody's going to get lead between their eyes. Ifrit, get me to the second tower on the gate)."

       “(Left or right?)"
       “(Either way is fine. Just get me there!)"

       “(Well, we have a problem, Rhynsa. I'm not strong enough to get you up there)."

       “I can help you," said Kghron. He quickly lifted Rhynsa's wheelchair and quickly jumped, high enough that he leaped to a bridge between two trees, which was normally two-stories tall.

       Ifrit just looked at them and said, “(Wow. Azgal never did that before)."

       Rhynsa finally reached the top of the two towers in no time. He quickly set up the rifle he had been carrying on the wheelchair and get out of the wheelchair, letting himself fall to the floor. His prone position, plus his paraplegia, somehow helped him stabilize his shooting even more. The loss of control to his lower half not only make him more focus, he was practically not moving when he shoot, compared to when he did the same thing when he still could use his legs. One problem was, if he wanted to move, he needed someone to carry him away.

       “Rhynsa, I can be your spotter. I know a little of a human's sharpshooting technique…"
       “Don't worry, Kghron, I know what I am doing. Also, do not underestimate my eyes."

       Rhynsa could see at least two miles without any scopes. Also, with his bat heritage, he could also use echolocation to determine an object's proximity. What he needed was wind direction.

       “What do you want to kill?"

       “Not what. Who. I need to find the possessed paladin who used this high-level necromancy."

       “And what are you going to do to get through that shield? That shield is imbued with anti-demon white magic."

       “Well, I have a way to counter that and kill that possessed man once and for all."

       Rhynsa took his bag and pulled out at least 6 high-caliber bullets out of it and loaded it into the sniper rifle, which was bigger than the one he usually had. Kghron noticed this and said, “I saw the bullet you used to threaten me, but I've never seen this one."

       “It's a holy armor-piercing bullet," replied Rhynsa. “I loaded the bullet with crystallized holy water which have a different property than those paladins usually used for shields, right under the coating. When it touched the shield, it would dissolve the white magic property. This bullet is far more special than normal cluster bullets because it won't stop dead on impact. If I combine it with my ability, we can get the possessed in no time."

       “Is this the same weapon that could simultaneously kill the host and the demon?"
       “I upgraded it from the one I used before. Since I'm a demon myself, I can't coat the holy water myself, so I asked someone who also have knowledge with bullets who is not a demon. I can only order 6, however. These special bullets are like a work of art itself. It's so delicate and took a long time to produce."

       “I see. You do have a good sense of your arsenal, Rhynsa."

       “Thanks for the compliment. Now…where the hell are you?"

       Rhynsa looked through his scope and quickly found the source of the problem. There was a paladin who emitted black aura from the middle of the shield, and was surrounded by a group of undead. The bat-hound then judged the distance, wind direction and power, and the capability of his rifle. It was the same rifle which defeated Artios back in Arbal, which gave it a strong kick and a long distance. He had a high-caliber bullet. The shield which separated him and the target was fairly thick to hold back the undead.

       Rhynsa then looked at the target again and said, “Whatever happens, it's worth the shot." He pulled the trigger, then the bullet went away.