[King Frankia's Square, Monoceros Keep, 25th of Before Witching, 426 2:39 PM]

In the heart of the fortress city, the crowds had gathered to celebrate the joyous season of the year. The colorful and elegant decorations were seen on the city streets and the establishments everywhere. A giant pine tree was confidently standing as it was dressed with elegant decors and trimmings. Some people had gone to the booths, stores, and cafès.

The audience and the eventgoers spectated and listened at the white haired operatic Elandric singer who was performing on stage. Finally, she ended her song and bowed as the people applauded her.

Vavrinec, Valeera, and Talos were keeping an eye of the crowd coming and going. The other members of the Paladin Knights were at the concert of Winona Sinclair who were monitoring the scene. The Foranean police and some members of the Army kept roaming and guarding around the venue, making sure the people were safe.

Vavrinec continued to keep an observant eye on the crowd for any possible threats, " Still clear here. "

" We'd better split up for any infiltrators, " Talos reminded. " They can be anywhere in this place. "

" Aye, " Valeera nodded.

" Okay, " Vavrinec said before going to check the other areas of the concert.

Then, he spotted a little blonde girl with a pink bow tie ribbon on her head. She was wearing thick winter clothes. She was carrying a stuffed brown bear in her arms and curiously looking at him.

" Are you alright? Where are your parents at? " Vavrinec asked her with concern.

" Oui, monsieur, " she shyly nodded and pointed at them from a distance.

Just then, he spotted a blonde man in his early forties along with his wife who was talking to the first lady and the head of state. They were about to congratulate the Elandric operatic singer as the little girl curiously looked at him.

" Monsieur? " she called your attention. " Are you okay? "

" I'm fine, just focusing on my job, " Vavrinec sincerely smiled and said to the little girl before pointing twoard the blonde man and his wife. " Are those your parents? "

" Ah, oui! " she nodded. " My father is the vice president. His name is Timèo Marcreau. Then, the other man is the Foranean president, Zacharie Pasteur. "

The dark haired Syrvanian Paladin Knight got surprised and realised that a random little girl happened to be a daughter of a Foranean official. She curiously tilted her head and waited for his response. Also, he saw a dark haired Monoceros Keep mayor and his purple haired wife who hosted the event in King Frankia square.

" Your father is the vice president? Wouldn't he normally have guard protecting him and his family? " Vavrinec asked with concern.

" Ah, we have them surrounding us, " she smiled and pointed at the suited men.

" Madeline! " a female voice called her. " A qui parles-tu? (Who are you talking to? ) "

" Ah, Màman! " Madeline wryly grinned.

" Is this your daughter, ma'am? " Vavrinec asked the woman.

A longer blonde bespectacled woman approached her daughter and held her hands. She sighed and turned to Vavrinec. Madeline nervously grinned at her mother who sternly glared at her.

" Oui, monsieur. Jè suis dèsolè. (Yes, sir. I'm sorry.), " she nodded. " My daughter is a very curious and brave one. "

" It's fine. I'm with the Paladin Knights. I was worried your daughter and without guards, " Vavrinec said.

" Thank you for approaching her, monsieur...What's your name? "

" Vavrinec Svoboda, " he answered.

" Ravi de vous rencontrer, Monsieur Svoboda. (It's nice to meet you, Monsieur Svoboda.) " she said and held her daughter's hand. " My name is Julia Lorraine Picard-Marcreau, wife of Vice President Timèo Marcreau and a history professor from University of Foranea. "

" It's good to meet you both. Does the Vice President normally go to concerts? It's risky with all the Umbral Cults activities that happened recently, " Vavrinec said with concern.

" It's my daughter, Madeline who insisted us to see the concert of mademoiselle Sinclair aside from seeing the festival. My husband and I are just invited by President Pasteur and his wife, and then Mayor Fernal, " Julia replied and heatedly glared at her daughter.

" Màman..." Madeline sighed to her embarassment.

" Madeline, your papa is calling us. We'd better go. "

" May Mother Photis keep you safe. It was nice meeting you, " he smiled at Julia.

" Merci beaucoup, Monsieur Svoboda. " the history professor smiled back at the Syrvanian Paladin Knight.

Vavrinec returned to patrolling for any suspicious activity at the concert and sighed, " It looks clear so far. "

Suddenly, he noticed some dark trenchcoated men walking around the crowd and found them very suspicious. He turned to Valeera and Talos who were tailing at the trenchcoated men. Vavrinec followed one of them as soon as possible and continued following the dark trenchcoated man readying his Void Magic for a possible fight. Then, he accidentally bumped a strange looking middle aged Chergarian man in a pink suit who was holding a suitcase who fell down into ground and mumbled, brushing off dirt.

" You dummkopf! Watch where you are going, ja?! " he angrily yelled.

" My apologies, sir. I'm just doing simple patrolling of the perimeter, " Vavrinec said with reassurance.

" You'd better watch where you are going next time! "

Vavrinec nodded at the Chergarian man, " I will. "

The Chergarian man heavily sighed and left. Suddenly, it was the Foranean president's speech when you heard from a distance. You were looking for the trenchcoated men which you and the other companions were following. Vavrinec quickly looked for any of the trenchcoated men.

" Where are they? " he thought.

The people applauded the Head of State's speech and loudly cheered. Suddenly, one of the trenchcoated men casted a spell of explosion with his fingertips.

KABOOOOOOM!!!

The extravagant and joyous event turned into a sudden terror and chaos in a matter of seconds. The crowd rushed away into safety.

The politicians and their families were being brought away into safety, except for the President Zacharie Pasteur who was shot in the head and fell into the ground. With a Foranean Military background, Vice President Timèo Marcreau and Monoceros Keep Mayor Gladius Fernal took out their guns, targeting the trenchcoated terrorists. A sniper targeted the two fighting politicians. The vice president looked from behind and instantly pushed the mayor away into safety. Suddenly, he received multiple shots on the head and the chest. Julia and Madeline wept in horror and grief, seeing the head of the family being killed.

Vavrinec witnessed the sudden death of the other official which reminded him of the Skolgva incident and some series of the Syrvanian Army invasion in Hetland.

" Da hàje (Damn it)! " Varvrinec quickly casted a void suppressor grenade at the attackers.

One of the trenchcoated men dodged from his attack and instantly shapeshifted into a copy of him. Then, he evilly grinned and pointed his pistol at you. Valeera and Talos looked from a distance and saw the two Vavrinecs in the midst of chaos. They exchanged glances and wondered which one was the real Vavrinec.

" Ty dumayesh, shcho zmozhesh yikh vryatuvaty, soldate? (You think you can save them, soldier?) " the clone Vavrinec scoffed in Eseran.

" I will save them and stop you, Phooka! " Vavrinec angrily said.

" Go ahead, make us! Besides, I can 'rule' the country and demote myself as the new 'vice president,' " the Eseran phooka morphed into a Foranean President and gave him an evil grin, snapping his fingers and walking away.

Varvrinec quickly threw an orb to create a wall of burning void light to prevent the Eseran Phooka. The Eseran phooka as the false Foranean President instantly rushed away. Suddenly, the trenchcoated men surrounded him. Some of them dragged Valeera and Talos, bringing to Vavrinec. They seemed to be immuned to the void radiance magic.

" Enough of this! " Varvrinec with all his strength threw a barrage of Void Greataxes toward the attackers that created a void explosion on impact.

Valeera casted Holy Fireball to the other trenchcoated men. The attacks from the two Paladin Knights were being blown away. The others were found bleeding, but some of them morphed into werewolves.

" Damn it, what on Iliad?! " Talos took out his pistol and exclaimed in disbelief. " Seriously?! Werewolves in broad afternoon daylight?! You gotta be kidding me?! "

" I'm afraid that they are more immuned and stronger than the other enemies, " Valeera remarked.

" Werewolves could only transform in a full moon. How is this possible?! " Vavrinec said in disbelief.

" Unless, someone had enhanced us through Umbral magic, " a middle aged Tallish man wearing dark glasses walked over to them and evilly grinned. " Seems we have some wannabe heroes. Did really think you could stop us? "

" You're Sigurd Nystrom, I take it? " the elven lady Paladin Knight angrily spat, pointing her Morn Blade to him. " My uncle and his friends have to meet you anytime soon! "

" Is that suppose to intimidate me?! It ain't really working that well. Surrender now and maybe you could walking away being talking animals by the hand of Kasius and not be enslaved by the Umbral for all eternity. If you don't, you'll perished like the rest of these poor people and be turned into undead," Sigurd explained and shrugged.

" We won't surrender, you damned fool! " Talos heatedly replied and pointed his pistol. " We should be saying that, not you! "

Vavrinec and Valeera stood in defense and readied themselves to take their attacks. They looked around as the police and the other members of the Paladin Knights and Dread Wolves were taking the civilians away.

" Perish like the rest then! " Sigurd laughed before dropping his axe and transforming into a werewolf.

" Not this time! " Valeera used her Morn Blade, casting Glaring Beam and blinding Sigurd and his werewolves.

Sigurd yelped as he was blinded by the Morn Blade, " Fools! Attack! "

The werewolves readied themselves to strike the three Paladin Knights. Suddenly, Vavrinec and his companions felt a sudden intensity 6.8 earthquake magnitude. Their mutated opponents felt nauseous and dizzy in that sudden shock. Then, in a span of five to ten minutes, there were moderate intensity aftershocks. The evil trenchcoated men and the werewolves became more disoriented than before and toppled down from their positions.

Arriving from sprinting the rest of the way, the Elven Ranger raised his bow, and fired off two shots, then another each racing for their respective targets." Werewolves...Today you'll learn the Dread Wolves are the true hunters of the forest! "

The two of the werewolves were fallen down as they were struck by the arrows. A Chergarian geomancer in a trenchcoat, suit, and hat appeared beside the elven ranger. He was wearing a mechanic goggles covering his eyes, a scarf wrapping around his neck, and a pair of gloves. He was responsible for that sudden earthquake.

" Ja, how is it like to be toppled down on the ground and humble yourselves for justice? " he added.

" You two! You are nothing, but some menaces! " Sigurd angrily spat at Ivo and Christopher and managed to stand up along with the others. " Now, tell us, where is your Great Blue Knight?! "

" None need to know basis, you ain't finding out, " Christopher's hand charged with silver energy, then he hurled a blast of silver light at the Werewolf.

" Agh! Everyone, attack! " Sigurd got blinded and summoned the others.

Ivo calculated the possible attacks and some danger spots for the civilians to avoid before he would cast a spell.

" Christopher, let's do what we have done in the training, " he turned to the elven ranger.

" I've gained a volume of new tricks, Ivo, " Christopher's eyes shined brightly, and unleashed a first volley of white light bolts, at the Werewolves again.

" Ja, Me too, it's time to do some combination of geomancy and engineering, " Ivo nodded and casted a spell of calculated earth spikes to trap the trenchcoated men and werewolves like a contained cage.

" I'm joining with you, Uncle, Ivo, " Valeera replied.

" Are they from the Dread Wolves Tribe? " Vavrinec asked.

" Yes, they are, " Talos answered and held his pistol.

The other attackers dashed towards the two as Valeera, Vavrinec, and Talos confronted the other werewolves. The white light bolts from Christopher made them stunned and zapped.

Valeera casted Holy Fireball to strike and burn the werewolves. The others got burned and ran away. Vavrinec casted levitation using void spells and made them hovered about the ground. The assailants couldn't make their feet back on the street. Then, Talos shot the escapees as the bullets pierced into their legs and made them wounded. Sigurd didn't like what he was seeing and angrily gritted his teeth and looked at Hans.

" Why don't you set another explosive, Leanan Sidhe?! " the Tallish werewolf heatedly yelled.

" Ja, I did! I scared those dummkopfen away earlier! " Hans argued.

" I mean, right now! "

" Oh..." the Chergarian Leanan Sidhe nodded and looked at the five defenders. " Just like what we did in those puny towns, ja? "

Holding out his hand, Christopher coventrated on his newer abilities." Harnessing the very power of my mother's gift, has evolved in new ways!" He soon unleashed a jetstream of white flames from his palm." Torrent of silver flame!"

Sigurd instantly dodged from Christopher's flames. Hans created another wall from the ground to block the silver flame.

" Was?! (What?!) " Ivo gasped in shock and saw the destructive geomancer's trick.

" Hallo, Herr Fischer, " Hans grinned evilly and greeted him. " It looks like your puny freunden are trying to be heroes, but they aren't. How about we do some special treatment to teach you all a lesson, ja oder nein?! "

" Nein! Niemals! (No! Never!) "

" Chergarians, I thought they sided with the Hettic forces, but..." Vavrinec muttered in shock.

" It seems you have lot to discover, Vavrinec, " Talos sternly spoke.

The werewolves from the contained earth spike cell instantly dismantled and broke them into the rubbles and rock fragments. They all surrounded the five defenders. Sigurd looked at Hans as the Leanan Sidhe nodded. Christopher and the others were like their prey.

" So, would you dare to take us down, mages?! " the Tallish werewolf darkly chuckled. " Not even, the Blue Knight can save and support your exploits against us! "

Suddenly, a struck of bluish-white lightning appeared and zapped one of the werewolves. Then, a phooka police officer pointed his pistol to Sigurd from a distance.

" Checkmate..." Tier instantly spoke to the werewolf from behind. Just beside the police officer, the Blue Knight appeared and also held a pistol.

Sigurd looked at the other two from behind and turned to the five defenders, ranting in Tallish," Dere idioter! Hvordan kan du enkelt komme til å true meg på denne måten?! (You fools! How can you easily get to threaten me like this?!) "

" He just said, 'Checkmate', " the Blue Knight sternly spoke.

" Checkmate this! " Hans angrily yelled as he threw down a very powerful volcanic lightning strike at the Blue Knight and his allies. The Chergarian Leanan Sidhe then manipulated the metal from different directions and turning it into body armor for himself and Sigurd.

Ivo and the others got subdued by his opponents, receiving the strike coming from Hans. They all got stricken down.

The armored Sigurd laughed at the subdued Blue knight and his allies, " Defeated by a simple lightning strike, you're so weak! "

" We won't let you get away..." the Blue Knight angrily mumbled and stood up.

Sigurd continued to laugh before moving his attention," Let's go, Hans! We still have a lot of chaos and destruction to cause! "

" Ja, " Hans muttered and also laughed. " I have no use for such dummkopfen like them! "

" Sigurd, don't you dare...." Christopher sternly spoke as he was being aided by the Blue Knight.

" Remember, Maria Angela Von Kolff-Friedrich?! Your younger half-sister! " Ivo added and also stood up. " She hopes to be reunited with you, Nystrom! "

" What do you mean about what I want?! Kasius made more than I was meant to be! He'll do the same for the rest of you! Especially for Nirvana! She was very weak when I captured her, but Kasius will make her stronger! " Sigurd angrily yelled.

" Your sister, Angela...you left her when she was young..." Ivo calmly continued. " She asked you to surrender. Please...you need to get out of that delusion. "

" Don't listen to that bastard of an engineer! He's trying to trick you! " Hans yelled at Sigurd.

" Sigurd, Ivo's right. I understand you have done horrendous crimes, " Christopher backed-up Ivo. " We asked you to surrender and reunite with your sister. You have a nephew and niece in the Dread Wolves Tribe. Those children need to see their uncle before it's too late. "

" You'll just end up regretting your life until your last breath..." the Blue Knight sternly interjected.

" Enough of your tricks! " Hans angrily yelled as he prepare for another volcanic lightning strike. Sigurd transformed back into his human form and grab Hans's hand to stop him. " Save your strength for next time."

Hans ceased his attack before moving his attention to Sigurd. " Was (What)?! They're trying to mess with us. We need to finish them off! "

" It ain't worth it. They're weak anyways, " Sigurd said as he tried to hide his conflicted mind and walk away.

" Sigurd..." Valeera called his attention. " We asked you to..."

Vavrinec sat up and looked at the elven lady paladin knight, sighing. Hans heavily sighed before turning his attention to the Blue Knight and his allies.

" Consider yourself lucky, " He said and walked away with Sigurd undoing the metal armor on both of them in the process.

The Blue Knight was remaining to stand-up, but his companions noticed that his armor was about to wear off anytime soon. He fell into his knees into the ground, starting to feel such intense strike from Hans. Christopher and Ivo, aided him to stand up and noticed a slight crack on his helmet.

" We're just going to let them walk away?! " Vavrinec said in disbelief.

" We won't..." Tier angrily muttered and stood up.

" We're all injured and need to regain our strength for next time, " Ivo added.

" It seems Father Agapov's right..." the armored one weakly spoke. " These enemies are too difficult to trifle with. "

Vavrinec heavily sighed, " Seems his vision came out as true. "

Ivo nodded, " Ja."

" The President and Vice President of Foranea is dead. I failed to protect them as a Paladin Knight! If I stood with them. They could've been still alive now, " Vavrinec angrily said with sadness.

Sparking flames from his finger tips, Christopher wiped them away and shook his head, " Regardless of injuries, we'll hunt him down later and finish those Brutes."

" I'll need to access the crime scene. The government will be in shambles now. Me and my commanding officers will need to discuss what to do next, " Tier heavily sighed.

" The Paladin Knights are coming to aid you guys, " Talos weakly reminded.

The Blue Knight's helmet fell off, revealing his true identity and starting to fall unconscious onto the ground. Vavrinec got surprised to see the man behind the helmet mask.

" Thank you, Talos. I pray to Photis that civilians of Foranea will hold for a while longer. So we can finally those monsters." the phooka police officer said before turning his attention to the Blue Knight as his helmet came off and fell unconscious. " Bon sang! (Damn it!) "

" Verdammt! " Ivo muttered in shock covering him.

" Dr. Montmartre?! He's the Blue Knight?! " Vavrinec said with surprise.

Ivo sighed and slowly nodded, " Ja. "

" Why didn't he tell me?! " the Syrvanian Paladin Knight asked in disbelief.

" Not everyone is suppose to know the Blue Knight's true identity. Plus, we didn't think you should know yet, " the Chergarian geomancer and mechanic explained.

" I'm your ally though. You could've still told me."

" You're right. I'm sorry everything just happened so fast, " Ivo said to Vavrinec.

Vavrinec sighed with sadness, " I should be the one apologizing. I failed to protect the President and Vice President. I also failed to protect of all you from those Umbral fiends."

" He must have been tired after all, " Valeera replied and pointed out. " I'm afraid the Blue Knight armor needs to be fixed. " She looked at Vavrinec and replied, " I understand why you kept blaming yourself from what's happening, but that doesn't mean you'll give up. "

" You're right. I just wish we could've done more, " he humbly said to Valeera.

" There's another way, " she replied. " We need to tell his wife first and bring him into the Dread Wolves Tribe Village. The people around here might find out who he is. "

" While we're at the Dread Wolves Village, I'll fix up the Blue Knight's armor for the next battle ahead, " Ivo said to Valeera.

" Of course. Hurry, we have to take him away from anyone, " she reminded.

(RP with BjornGamR27 and Knightfall077 with their characters)