A chaotic battle was happening at Calot. Despite the dark night skies, black smoke kept on rising up, covering the pristine environnt with its suffocating scents.
An hour had passed since they managed to trample and break through the inner gate. Now, the undead swarm the entire courtyard, while the knights' struggles beco more difficult.
The sounds of clashing blades rang all around the place, accompanied with shouts as the knights gave their all to defend the castle against the thousands of undead. They have been fighting for the whole night, yet the sea of undead soldiers did not seem to dwindle.
From the relentless assault of undead tearing, biting, scratching and pushing its way inside, the outer gate of the castle has been broken, the forr majestic walls trampled under the feet of rotting creatures that could no longer be called human.
To make things worse, a half dozen monsters made of rged flesh have taken over the gates. If the appearance of the undead was already unsettling, the monsters were worse. They moved while making unintelligible noises, no one could tell if it was due to pain or they were roaring.
Only three thousand tired and wounded knights still stood, intent to see their last stand guarding the three final gates.
"More fire! More fire!"
Shouts of orders could be heard amidst the chaos, as the knights ran back and forth carrying torches, oil and firewood. During the battle, they discovered the monsters were affected by fire, so all the knights were focused on gathering everything they could to burn the gates and repel them.
The fire made from the remains of the walls did affect the creatures a bit, however, the sea of undead hordes pushed on each other, finally breaking through the fire blockades.
"We cannot hold them anymore!" One of the knights stared at the undead creatures and ordered. "Let us retreat from the southern gate!"
The knight was Percival, also known as one of the golden knights from Iceni.
"No! King Arthur has ordered us to hold the gates!"
"With all due respect, Sir Gawain! Tell us where the king is right now! For all we know, Arthur may have left us all here!"
For a mont, Sir Gawain's expression changed to an enraged glare, but he swallowed his emotions and said instead. "Sir Percival, I advise you to watch your tone! We must believe the king will return!"
Sir Gawain fully defended Arthur, but among the surviving golden knights, only Sir Yvain truly trusted the words. anwhile, Sir Galahad from the Detae Kingdom has also harbored his doubts, but chose to not voice them.
Although wounds and fatigue were a problem, the scariest part of the unending battle was the steadily decreasing morale of the knights. The situation was exacerbated by the fact that King Arthur, their symbol of hope, has disappeared and hasn't been seen for quite a while.
"Please, sir! There is no way we could hold it anymore! We should make another stand at Calot City!"
Other golden knights started to show their support towards Percival's suggestion. After all, it was a very reasonable tactic. Among the golden knights, not everyone ca for Arthur, they ca to defend the people, the land, and their knights.
Afterall, Arthur was not their king.
Bammmmm!!
At the sa ti, the northern fire blockade finally crumbled under the relentless assault of the enemies. As a result, the undead has started to pour into the inner court.
Watching the knights being massacred, Sir Gawain was unable to stay silent and he tried to bolster the morale of the knights again.
"Please believe in Arthur, for he will co!" Those were the last words Gawain said, before he jumped down from the wall and led his best fighters to the northern gate.
Seeing the act made Percival and Galahad hesitate.
Yvain was deeply wounded, a huge gash running from his shoulder down to his stomach. He didn't hesitate and pulled a piece of his clothes, bandaged his wound and grabbed his blood stained sword.
"Why are you doing this, Yvain?! He is not even your king!"
Yvain sighed at the other knights', took a deep breath and said. "I am just following where my sword leads to. Now it tells to fight."
Just like Gawain, Yvain once again took his blade and used his strength to defend the gate.
Galahad was torn. On one hand, he had been saved by Arthur before, thus he was indebted to the young Logress king. However, it was not enough for him to lead his n to death. He wished for a mont to have Yvain's confidence or Gawain's belief, as he and Percival had no wish to die without reason.
As if the fates itself answered his prayer, the two saw a knight riding a horse approaching from the southern hills. It was a single knight, with the rising sun illuminating his back creating a silhouette of a man on a horse raising a sword.
The mont the two knights saw the sword from afar, their hearts beat fast despite not recognizing its form.
Both Percival and Galahad were stunned, as the figure riding down the southern hill hundreds of other knights followed from the direction of the golden gleam.
When the figure ca closer, they saw that it was no other than King Arthur, followed by sir Bors and Dagonet the two Gangani golden knights.
As Arthur's horse ran closer and the clop of horse hooves beca louder, finally, they saw it.
The young king carried a shimring sword on his arm, its crystalline body reflecting the golden light of the morning sun. Gems embedded on its handle and surfaces created a rainbow light, srizing most of the knights nearby.
Every single golden knight was familiar with the sword, as they had the chance to grasp it during their golden knight ceremony.
"That is… the sword of the divine… Excalibur!"
No words could express the excitent they felt, but seeing the sword wielded by Arthur revitalized their spirit and burned their hearts with courage. Without realizing it, both Galahad and Percival's doubts had dispersed, as they pulled out their swords.
"Fight!"
There was no doubt in their hearts that they would erge victorious from this grueling battle.
All four golden knights fought valiantly against the abominations with a power they didn't know they had, their courage ensuring the undead horde was finally pushed back from the inner court.
As they scream their small victory, the sound of a battle horn could be heard from the east. With it, hundreds… No, thousands of warriors gathered, raised their weapons, and charged towards the Calot Castle.
They were the Danes, the tribes from across the sea who promised to hold back their offense for half a day.
The half day ceasefire had co to an end and it was ti for them to resu their battle against Britain once more.
Or at least, that was what everyone assud. The knights' eyes widened as the Danes moved towards the sea of undead and started slaughtering them one by one. The Danes' barbarians had co to their aid.
Not many could see it, but amongst the barbarians, two won rode along the Danes' tribe leaders. One was Luna Quintin, riding a majestic red horse and next to her was Gwenneth, Logress' new queen.
More than one thousand reinforcents ca with Arthur from the south and five thousand barbarians from the east ca to their aid in the battle.
It was as if the morning sun ca to bring hope to the battlefield, it was such an amazing sight.? The knights charging out of the castle join up for what they knew as the Calot final battle.
All sights were focused on Arthur as he passed through one of the flesh monsters. With one swing of the legendary blade, the undying monster was split in two, both halves burning with white fire as its remains were disintegrated.
However, Arthur didn't stop at the castle as he kept on charging and mowing enemies in his way.. The only thing on his mind was reaching the northern battlefield, where Ery was.
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