God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

In the court of the Head Priests, there are six paragons who are granted the power to serve the incarnation of Balangol;

The Lord, the Guardian, the Seer, the Songstress, the Keeper, and the Fool.

The Lord is the symbol of authority, the Guardian is the spear and the shield. The Seer is the eyes that see all, and the Songstress is the muse of death, with divine melodies that lead to the grave. The Keeper is the hammer and anvil.

But the Fool...

The Fool is a Fool. A being entangled in the threats of fate, made to dance like a puppet in a divine comedy played out by the gods.

However, the fool is also a special, rare card that can be dealt. Despite looking like all the others, it is also special. And if used in the right moment, then the tide of any battle could turn.

Duke Blackwater stared into empty space for a moment.

Then, a smile appeared on his face behind the mask. He turned to Kaelin who sat lazily on the ground with intrigue on his eyes as he observed the unfolding battle.

"Kaelin, we should have an easier time bringing Arltzwalt down."

Kaelin raised a brow, "How so?"

As the Lord explained to his champion, a grin spread across his face.

Kaelin sighed then shook his head,

"You truly never get tired of pulling these underhand crap, do you? Still, I bet their expressions must be priceless."

He stood up and stretched. His joints popped and crackled.

He turned around to stare at Seisha who was busy humming softly, gently caressing the fur of the beast she rested on.

"Seisha, call the rest of the Aether Beasts. Let's end this as soon as possible. If the Golden Dragon's will is who I think it is then this will be enough of a greeting for him."

The Songstress seemed surprised,

"You mean... Even that one?"

A grin spread across his face as he gazed down, staring right at a black haired individual sitting at the rear of the army in the gorge recovering from the extraordinary feat he had just accomplished.

"Of course I do. I said all of them, didn't I?"

Seisha seemed to hesitate,

"I apologize, but I don't think I have enough control over that thing."

She placed a hand on her cheek and sighed,

"I don't think I'll be able to rein it in if I lose control. Plus, we have a lot of men down there. If I lose control, they might die."

Kaelin shrugged, "If they die, it's their own fault. I won't blame you at all."

The darkness in his eyes smoldered,

"Besides, Gilead is down there. He should be able to handle it."

Cain, whose eyes were closed suddenly snapped them open, his gaze travelling far into the distance.

His eyes narrowed.

There, beyond the slope leading into the gorge, he could see them.

A group of individuals staring down on them, observing as though the chaos had nothing to do with them.

Cain grinned and pointed.

"Oh... He's noticed us." The Lord said with a chuckle.

Kaelin shrugged. He stared back at Cain, his eyes filled with mirth and hatred,

"Fate is unbreakable, and the stream of time is unyielding. To think we'd meet again like this, Ashur!"

The sand beneath his feet turned turbulent, rising to the sky. A deep darkness seeped out of his right hand, tainting the rising sand with their blackness and enveloping him with the thick scent of decay and death.

Meanwhile, Cain stayed motionless for a while, simply staring into the distance.

He had recovered more than enough. It was time to rejoin the battle.

***

Stabbing the top of his spear into the ground, Blaze kicked off the ground. His body spun in a full revolution with the spear in the ground as the axis. Carrying the force of his motion, his heel slammed into Gilead's shield.

However, the Guardian of the Head Priests was immovable, like a wall built by dwarves. Blocking Blaze's kick, he calmly slashed diagonally with his sword at Blaze who was currently defenseless and in an awkward position.

However, Blaze was not the only person he was fighting against.

Stan stood in front of him as well, his body and saber covered in glowing runes.

With a grunt, he brought his weapon down as well. The resulting clash forced him to take a few steps back.

Li was already moving behind Gilead.

His pupils were like pinheads as he threw out three punches aimed at vital spots in the span of a fraction of a second.

The shield in Gilead's arm broke apart. The separated parts moved just in time, blocking Li's blows just in time.

Gilead responded accordingly, the edge of his blade already moving towards Li's neck.

Leaning back, Li managed to dodge the first slash, but Gilead slightly shifted his center of gravity, pulling his sword back and lunging forward, slamming his elbow into Li's solar plexus.

Li flew backwards, then crumpled down to the ground.

Clicking his tongue, Blaze pulled his spear out of the ground and stabbed forward.

However, every one was either blocked or parried. He combined random cuts and sweeps with his thrusts, trying to throw the Guardian of the Head Priests off.

However, it was as though Gilead could see through every move he made.

As they continued to move, their speed continue to climb and the friction between their clashing weapons rose even more so.

Li and Stan jointed the battle.

Gilead calmly analyzed his opponents as they fought;

'The tall, bulky one's saber grows in size, extending his range. The weight behind his attacks are also more than enough to keep me on my toes, making sure to not allow any of his attacks to land on my shield.'

His eyes narrowed,

'Besides the weight of his weapon, there is also some strange energy coursing through his weapon and body that counters the power that keeps the parts of the Divine Shield together.'

He parried another wild slash from Stan and blocked Blaze's spear thrust with his shield. Like a crafty serpent, the head of the spear changed directions suddenly, going for a cutting sweep.

Gilead's eyes widened as he abruptly killed his speed and leaned backwards, narrowly avoiding the dangerous spearhead

'The shorter green haired one on the other hand is like an assassin, weaving through the attacks of the other two trying to land an attack on me. His defenses aren't as strong, but he hits like a train.'

As those thoughts passed through his mind, he realized he had no visibility of the smaller green haired one.

Which meant...

His shield moved again, blocking two of the three attacks Li launched from behind him.

Gritting his teeth from the pain caused by the punch that landed, he stabbed his sword into the ground and swung his fist backwards.

Li crossed his arms to block, but he was launched backwards.

'Fuck! This bastard is strong!'

Li gritted his teeth as he collided with the sand. The feeling of danger had yet to dissipated still as the masked sword wielding bastard pulled his sword out of the sand and dashed towards him in a split second.

He had identified the weakest link.

'If I take care of this one first, dealing with the other two will be easier.'

"Crap!" Li exclaimed.

He immediately realized Gilead's intentions as did the other two.

Stan and Blaze immediately dashed forward as well, their weapons swinging towards Gilead.

He dodged both smoothly then swung down on Li.

Pressure built up on his fists, and Li punched down into the sand.

His body was launched into the sky and a cloud of sand rose alongside him.

'Smaet.' Gilead thought to himself.

'But not smart enough.'

Blinding with sand might have been enough to stop others, but not him.

He put strength into his legs and he launched himself up.

He quickly broke through the cloud of dust, reaching Li half a breath later.

Li's pupils shrunk,

'This bastard!'

His feet suddenly kicked against empty space and he suddenly changed directions.

A grin appeared on his face.

Suddenly, the situation had changed. Gilead was slashing empty space as Li closed in on him.

A predatory light flashed in his eyes,

"Got too greedy, huh."

The elements of wind and fire rapidly gathered and condensed into his fists. The air condensed more and more, until it became liquid. Then the flames ignited it.

It was as though Li had grasped a small star in his fists.

"Sun God's Wrath: Pulse Plasma!"

As his fist came crashing down, the star exploded.

The force sent Gilead crashing down into the ground with a loud boom. A huge amount of sand was displaced, forming a large dust cloud.

A second later, Li landed on the ground, wafts of steam rising from his skin. He clicked his tongue,

"Tch! I really didn't want to use that technique."

Stan wiped the sweat off his forehead,

"But that certainly was enough to do him in."

He grinned at Li,

"You've definitely become stronger, haven't you..."

Li snorted, "Whatever. Let's go find–"

"Careful!" Blaze suddenly yelled.

Li didn't even have the time to turn around. The feeling of danger enveloped him just a second too late.

There was a loud crack, then his body was sent flying.

"Li!" Stan yelled, his eyes widened.

The sky above their heads rumbled and a bolt of golden lightning fell, breaking the cloud of dust apart.

There was a small crater in the ground, and The Guardian of the Head Priests stood there, not even a speck of dust on his suit of armor.

He shifted his neck slightly, causing it to pop,

"That hurt, you bastard."

Meanwhile, Li coughed up a mouthful of blood as he getting sat up.

He winced in pain,

'He definitely got one of my ribs.'

Standing there with golden lightning crackling around him, Gilead spoke, a slight tremble in his voice,

"Well done. That was beautifully done, although it did hurt quite a bit. Rejoice, you three. You've managed to pique my interest, so I will now introduce myself."

Another bolt of golden lightning descended from the sky, enveloping him like a cloak. Li's eyes widened as the danger he sensed climbed even more, until every nerve in his body screamed for him to run as fasr as possible.

"Son of a bitch..." He grumbled as he rose to his feet.

"Close enough, but not quite. My name is Gilead, the Guardian of the Head Priests of Balangol."

The tip of his sword was pointed forward, ready to drink blood.

His eyes were as cold as the steel he wielded,

"But just for today, you can refer to me as your Executioner."

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