THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR

"Kriekk!!" The Longinus man pushes a strangled voice as he is hit from behind by Stephan. "You cowardly bastard!!" Although the hit didn't do a lot of damage because of the Longinus gear, he still looks like he felt it. 

He jumps to the side to dodge the next attack but then it is Willhem who was completely forgotten until now that acts. He Stabs right through the chest of the guy and a crystal pops out together with the tip of his rapier. Blood doesn't dirty the blade though.

"You cowards!! All of you!!" 

While he runs away again, I hear an explosion. The soldiers have managed to destroy the pillar. All the bravado this guy did was for nothing then? Did he just underestimated us or was he truly sure he could win?

He gets pinned down to the ground by Stephan then Willhem pierces through his head with the rapier. That was a very hard hit. Willhem seems to be striking with more power than before. He is putting way more effort into it now.. 

The last crystal comes out and the guy turns to ashes. That's one pillar down. The dome becomes a bit brighter.

"You guys were fast." 

"We cannot afford to waste too much time here after all." 

Stephan stands back up and his men come back. One of them is already breathing with difficulty. The priest who is behind me, together with K'nor, doesn't look too good as well. K'nor still looks fine though.

"We should hurry. Let us head to the next pillar."

"Yes, sir!" 

***

On our way to the second pillar, the number of Longinus is decreasing. The second pillar we are heading to is in the opposite direction of the main army. I think that must be why there isn't as much Longinus around here.

"Stephan, is there any other team that has that device?" 

"No, Star of Mercuria. My team is the only one. I simply volunteered to test it since it was just a prototype." 

"I see." 

"We are reaching the second pillar. Let's hurry up before everyone gets completely drained of his power." 

His men already look pretty worn out though. We have tried to limit the fights and push forward as much as possible but even with that, they are already showing clear signs of fatigue and lack of Angas. 

"Kriekk!!" 

A lot of Longinus greet us when we stop near the pillar location and the fight becomes fierce in a matter of seconds. But I can feel it. Among them, there is a Longinus with two crystals once again. But he is trying to blend in with the others as we are fighting. I keep track of him and right when he is about to attack a soldier…

"Fireball." I attempt a hidden bullet once again. This time, I think my timing is better.

The soldier jumps back to evade my fireball while the Longinus I am aiming for stays in place. He must think he can cut through the fireball.

"Kriek!" Weird enough, he receives both the fireball and the bullet and starts burning a little. Was he not trying to fend off the fireball then?

In any case, it seems it is a sloin that is slightly bigger than the normal ones. 

"And here I got excited for nothing." I use Disperse and deal with that Longinus quickly. I really thought they would be stronger than this. 

Soon after, there is an explosion. The guys have managed to destroy the second pillar while fighting the Longinus. That's rather impressive considering they were really tired. The dome once again becomes brighter and we can even see the sun now. It is nothing more than a halo now covering the place. I can also feel my body being more relaxed, more at ease now.

Willhem and I clean up whatever is left of the Longinus while the soldiers are regrouping. Then we go to them and most of them look sick and tired. Even though the dome's influence has diminished, they won't be able to continue. 

"Sir, I don't think my men can continue. What do you propos-"

Before Stephan can finish his question, a weird sound resounds. A 'gong' sound, like the one you could make by striking a large piece of metal with a piece of wood. Then the second dome becomes brighter. Of course, it couldn't have been that easy, right? 

"You guys should escape." We aren't far from the first dome so even if they exit on the opposite side of the main's army, they should be able to join them back quickly. "They are coming. A lot of them." 

There are so many Longinus heading towards us that there is no need to count. We wouldn't be able to fight them even if we were in top condition.

"What about you?" 

"He can fly so he will be okay. Let's get out here first and wait for the dome to fade completely." Thank you for your trust Willhem.

"Woof!!" K'nor who has smelled the Longinus getting closer signals everyone and they all leave. Meanwhile, I fly above their head and suck on a crystal then I accelerate by using Lightning Angas and head for the last pillar. 

"Kriek!!" 

"Kriekk!"

"Follow him!!" 

Among the Longinus, I hear men's voices as well. Most of the Longinus that came out of the second dome start following me and when I reach the last pillar, there is an army closing in on me. 

"You have finally come. I have been-"

At the pillar, I find a man sitting on a tree's stump near the pillar. There are also four prators with him. All of them are looking at me without making a sound. The man starts blabbering about things I don't need to know so I shoot the pillars with bullets. He manages to block three of them but the rest hit the pillar and destroy the pillar.

The rest of the halo fades and the sunlight finally enters the place. Now, we can go further in.