Exalted Blade

“...and like the Sun rising at the Dawn, Saint Rebekah held aloft her golden blade in defiance of the King of Fiends. To this day, no one knows the details of the final moments of the Battle of Fort Ende, but the fiend army never crossed the border, destroyed in place by the holy might of Kari.” - The Final Stand of Saint Rebekah; Holy Record of the Church of Kari

“Fort Dinaich, or Fort Ende as the Westrians call it, located north of Eisenstadt along the border of the Astra Line, has been rebuilt countless times throughout history. But only once was it completely destroyed; in the creatively named Battle of Fort Dinaich. Historical records differ in details but there were luckily a plethora of eyewitness accounts for nearly the entire battle and it is one of the most studied in relation to massed fiend attacks. It was undoubtable that Saint Rebekah was key to the final defense of the Fort and for the escape of so many survivors but any accounts of her defeating the Principality King of Fiends in single combat are unconfirmed at best and mythological at worst.” - Analysing the Battle of Fort Dinaich by Alejandro Ar Murin

--

“Hold them!” Rebekah shouted, her voice raw from overuse. She ducked away from the sweeping attacks of a multi-armed Exousia before bringing her sword up to bash aside its attacks. It staggered and that was all the time she needed to slash down, sword gleaming with holy magic, severing what counted as a head for the fiend. It collapsed and began dissolving into wisps of Astra but she didn’t take a moment to rest. Holy light flared along her body and down her arms as she swung her sword in a horizontal arc, releasing the built up energy in a scything ray into the advancing Kratos and Exousia. That bought her the time to take stock of the battle for a brief, critical moment.

Fort Ende was burning, the walls were breached, and she could just make out the distant figures of wounded being evacuated south. But more importantly, her left flank was buckling under a focused Exousia attack.

“CORIN! Hit the left flank now! Now! NOW!”

The speck that was Corin in the sky eviscerated the flying fiends harrying her with a wash of magical bullets. The air was still thick with fiends but she had enough space to begin gathering magic in earnest, magical arrays splaying out around her. Blue light began to wash out every color across the battlefield and the world seemed to hold its breath. Then a roar, so powerful that it shook the ground beneath her feet, and a flare of nearly blinding blue light. When Rebekah finally blinked away the spots in her eyes, the push on the left had been replaced by a seething cloud of smoke and dust.

--

“The attrition of a battle like this, against this many fiends, is inevitable. Even for Skybound or Gem ranked warriors. Even with feats of prowess that seemed more out of myths from the Divine War than something that happened nearly two hundred years ago. It’s almost hard to believe people like Corin Airheart or Malkor the Mountain Crusher could ever fall but that is just the reality of engaging a Principality. And while the truth of the account of the one survivor of Saint Rebekah’s party is oft debated, the truth of the matter is that whatever did happen at the end of the battle, it was visible for miles and no fiends survived it to pursue the survivors” - The Saint’s Party by Helga von Lurgen

--

Corin was down. She had cleared the skies, swept aside dozens of Exousia. And the Principality had swatted her from the air like an annoying insect. Malkor was down, buried somewhere under a pile of fiends that was so large that their dissolving mists had still yet to clear. At least Amelia had made it out, her healing working miracles even if her prayers went to that heretical tree goddess. She would make sure the survivors made it home.

Rebekah gingerly lowered herself down to one knee, sword point digging into the blood soaked ground to keep her balance. With the braying of fiends too fearful to come near her echoing around her, she prayed. The rote prayers that she’d scoffed at as an initiate gave her comfort…like the soothing embrace of a mother. And for a brief, eternal moment, it was like she was floating amidst the heavens, golden sunlight beckoning her to paradise.

An earth shuddering stomp snapped her back to reality, to the smoke clogged air and the King of Fiends staring down at her. But even with her serene focus shattered, she continued to pray.

“You fought well,” it said in a soothing, deep voice. “Surrender to me and become my Queen.”

Rebekah stood and pulled her sword from the mud.

“...and I shall hold my blade on high to bask in Your radiance,” she said as she raised her sword, golden light flickering along the blade. The Principality took a massive step forward to stop her.

“Grant me Your Guidance to see through falsehoods and banish the corruption,” she continued, her voice rising. Her left hand rose to join her right on the grip of her sword and she set her feet in a steady stance.

“You FOOL! You throw away all I can offer you for your witch of a goddess?!”

The King of Fiends was moments away from reaching her, the miasmatic axe in his hands raised to swing.

“And I shall render Your DIVINE JUDGEMENT!”

Rebekah’s sword fell and the world turned golden.