"As promised, I will take my men and withdraw," Hevana said calmly, her voice carrying a quiet authority.
The remaining soldiers behind her stared at her as if she had suddenly sprouted multiple heads. She looked completely different; they had never once seen her without her massive, divine armor—or without the other Holy Paladins to back her up. Stripped of her heavy silver plating, she looked considerably smaller, her golden hair completely scattered and caked with dark dirt and ash from the earlier battle.
"Is everyone accounted for?" Hevana asked the group of guys gathered behind her.
"Yes, Commander," a man replied—the exact same vanguard leader whose entire crew Areia had utterly demolished on the mountain peak earlier.
"What on earth is going on?" Cyra whispered to Haki as she quietly approached the edge of the courtyard, her eyes darting between the two parties.
"It seems the fight is officially over," Haki replied softly.
"No, I mean... that much is obvious," Cyra murmured back, narrowing her eyes. "But look at Areia and that holy girl. Doesn't the commander seem incredibly weary or something?"
"I refuse to accept this!" Carl suddenly roared from the back of the group. He forcefully pushed himself away from the gathered crowd, his face contorted into a mask of pure, unadulterated fury. "How can you all just accept this?!" he yelled angrily, his voice cracking. "We had a job to do! A strict mission!"
"The Commander has made her decision. Or, if that didn't properly sink into your thick skull, the Holy Paladin has made an official statement—so you will obey," the large man, Ret, growled defensively. "Disobedience to the Utopian crown shall not be tolerated."
Carl flinched a little at the direct mention of her holy rank. Of course, he knew the rules of the church already, but his mind was completely overwhelmed by blinding rage. "Like hell! You mindless buffoons! You all know the exact amount of horrific punishment we will face if we desert our mission! Paladin or not, she won't suffer nearly as much as we low-ranking soldiers will! Besides... we are letting that absolute devil walk free!"
The conflicted looks on the faces of the men told everyone in the courtyard exactly what they needed to know. They all shared similar, terrified thoughts about the church's wrath, but only Carl was reckless enough to voice it out loud. Well, everyone except the larger vanguard man.
"Look, Carl..." the man began, trying to de-escalate him.
"It is enough, Ret," Hevana said calmly. The large man went dead silent instantly and bowed his head in deep respect.
The golden-haired girl walked forward slowly, her remaining iron boots scraping softly against the frost-bitten soil. She came to a halt directly in front of Carl, her striking winter-blue eyes locking onto his with an unblinking, dangerous coldness.
"Feel free to do what you must," she said simply.
Carl yelled instantly, his survival instincts panicking as he leaped backward to create distance. In a flash, he tore open the ancient scroll in his hands and faced the Paladin. "I'll seal everyone's core right here, and then I'll finally get my revenge!"
Seeing the threat, Cyra and Veronica instinctively made a move to step forward, but a synchronized, subtle gesture from both Haki and Areia stopped them in their tracks.
The ancient scroll glowed violently, exploding with a blinding, catastrophic white light that instantly enveloped the entire castle grounds. Seizing the distraction, Carl moved like a supersonic blur and charged straight at Hevana's exposed, unarmored chest.
"Gravity of the Devout!!!"
BOOM.
Carl was flattened into the earth instantly. Before his strike could even come close, the entire courtyard was plunged into a suffocating, immense gravitational pressure so dense and terrifying it could easily crush diamonds. The bedrock beneath his body shattered into microscopic dust as he was pinned hopelessly to the floor, unable to even lift his chin.
"Remember who it was that saved you and took you in," Hevana said slowly, her voice carrying a deep, heavy resonance as she stood directly over Carl's pinned body. "Remember who it was that pulled you from your broken world."
"A world that devil destroyed!" Carl yelled, his voice muffled by the suffocating bedrock as the underwhelming pressure forced his face into the dirt, making him completely unable to lift his head. "My friends are dead, Commander! I can't just let her walk free!"
"Noted," she responded softly, her winter-blue eyes closing for a brief moment. "I truly get how you feel, Carl. But look at the facts. All of you could come at me at once, and you wouldn't be able to pluck a single strand of hair from my head. Yet, I was completely reduced to this state from fighting just one of the people standing here. Would you, or any of your men, have fared any better?" she asked, her gaze drifting slowly over the vanguard soldiers.
The men's faces instantly shifted into expressions of utmost unease and dread. They glanced at one another, then down at the shattered earth, unable to meet her gaze as Hevana stared at them slowly.
"I think not," she said softly. She placed her fair hands confidently on her hips, her posture regal despite the dirt caking her clothes. "Do not be afraid. I fully plan to bear the entire brunt of the church's wrath myself. You all are my men, and like a certain crazy woman told me a few hours ago, a commander is supposed to bear the brunt of her men's actions. And to be absolutely precise, you all are just following my direct commands. It is a solemn vow. The church won't lay a single hand on you."
"But, Your Holiness... wouldn't that be too much for you to carry alone? I mean, we could easily—" Ret began, his large frame shifting anxiously.
"I am a Holy Paladin," she shrugged, casually tossing her golden hair back over her bare shoulders with an air of effortless confidence. "I highly doubt whatever the church can throw at me will actually amount to much."
Her words seemed to do the absolute trick. For some reason, whether it was because of the natural ease she brought with her presence or the soothing aura of her lingering divinity, everyone in the courtyard was suddenly washed with a profound sense of peace. All of them—even their previous enemies—felt the tension drain from the air.
Except Carl, of course.
"Ret, knock Carl out," Hevana commanded smoothly.
"As you wish, Commander," the large man said. He stepped forward, his heavy boots crunching on the gravel as he approached the boy still pinned hopelessly to the ground.
"Commander, I beg you to reconsider! Commander!!! HEVANA!!!" Carl roared, his voice cracking with mad desperation.
The girl visibly flinched the exact millisecond she heard her name escape his lips. It didn't mean anything inherently bad, but she so rarely ever heard her actual name used among her men or anyone else in the realm. She was always addressed formally as "Commander" or "Paladin."
That was new, she thought silently as Ret's heavy hand descended, and Carl was swiftly put to sleep, his frantic shouting cutting off into total silence.
With the internal matter settled, Hevana approached Queen Veronica and offered a polite, deeply respectful bow. "I am truly sorry for the immense trouble I have caused your kingdom. No excuses involved."
"It's quite alright. My people weren't severely hurt, thanks entirely to your careful planning. My daughter here can fully confirm that," Veronica smiled warmly, her silver tail giving a relaxed flick.
"To be perfectly frank, I originally came to this world in the hopes of extending Antrea's sentence," Hevana explained, raising her head to look at the group. "Normally, a Holy Paladin wouldn't be sent on a low-ranking enforcement mission like this. But I took a lot of unique factors into play. Antrea was significantly stronger than most paladins, and from the detailed tales Carl told us, she has a circle of friends with multiple incredibly strong allies. Of course, Areia was his primary worry, and I can clearly see why now... but I wasn't actually sent here because of her, or anyone I can currently see in this yard. Is there one of you who is currently missing?"
"You mean Dan?" Cyra asked, stepping forward with her brow furrowed.
Hevana went completely silent for a long, heavy moment. "He was the exact troublesome individual that made my argument all the more valid to the high council," she sighed, rubbing her temples. "Thankfully, he isn't here. But make no mistake... someone else will come. Someone who doesn't carry my personal warrior code or thoughts. Someone who wouldn't think twice about mercilessly killing anyone helping her. I would highly advise that you guys take Antrea and completely avoid crowded places for a while."
She rose to her full height, her winter-blue eyes turning serious once more. "Of course, Areia can comfortably dispatch any Paladin I know... but still, the catastrophic area damage that naturally comes with a fight of that scale cannot be overlooked."
"Oh, I'm so glad you think so highly of me," Areia's voice murmured as she appeared instantly right beside her.
Hevana flinched violently, her survival instincts spiking as she leaped backward in a total panic, her hand frantically grabbing the hilt of her sheathed sword. As she looked up and realized everyone in the courtyard was staring at her sudden, deeply un-paladin-like behavior, her face flushed a brilliant, crimson red.
She cleared her throat loudly, trying to salvage her dignity. "Well... do your best to prepare," she said in a wild hurry, backing away. "Anyway, I'll be off!"
"Come on, just a little hug!" Areia laughed playfully, immediately bolting straight toward her with open arms.
"HELP CALL HER OFF!!!" Hevana yelled in a pure, unadulterated panic, completely abandoning her regal composure as she ran in frantic circles around the courtyard, with a grinning, white-haired Areia hot on her heels.