WHEN THE LION FIRST ROAR

After talking to Giselle, Evelyn teleported herself to the sky some distance away from Stonewall, but still close enough for the town to be within her sight.

The noble lady turned her head back to Stonewall.

[Bara Arts, Partial Eagle Eye]

A small magic circle appeared on her eye and it allowed her to observe the burial ceremony from afar.

The lady could see the orphan was still in Hannah's embrace, crying.

Evelyn sighed.

"(Truly, this sight never fails to break my heart.)"

The Leonardo noble then flew away from the town, towards the mountain range far in the distance.

Evelyn quickly flew fast without stopping, as if she was in a hurry.

After flying for hours, Evelyn eventually arrived at the Jibril Mountain Range. It was a vast series of mountains that separated the Pison Province in the southwest and the Euphrates Province in the southeast.

Evelyn hovered over the mountains and looked over her surroundings.

"(The history records told that starting from the year 970, there was an increasing amount of cases of demonic invasion in the Euphrates Province, mainly by gargoyles and demonic wolves.)" thought Evelyn. "(This was triggered by the horde of demons forming on the northwestern border of the Empire in the Gihon Province, forcing the reigning Emperor David to mobilize most of the Imperial Army to that part of the Empire.)

She turned her gaze back to the Euphrates Province behind her.

(The Imperial Army mobilization to the northwest border led to a decrease in patrol over the eastern border of Euphrates Province from which the demonic wolves infiltrated.

"(The lack of guards over the sealed demonic grounds in Pison Province where the majority of the gargoyles in that region resided also led to the gargoyles escaping the Imperial Army barricade around Pison and migrated to the neighboring Euphrates Province.)"

[Bara Arts, Eagle Eye]

Using the spell, Evelyn observed the entire mountain range.

"(If the records were accurate, then the 22 gargoyles we encountered in Stonewall were not the only gargoyles that escaped from the Pison Province.)"

Evelyn directed her gaze to all corners of the mountains.

She detected mana activity from wherever she laid her sight on.

"(54…119…183….216…328…361…397…424…)"

Evelyn sighed at her discovery. 

"(Just as I thought. Many more are still hiding in the mountains. The ones which raided Stonewall were nothing more than scouts. The first of many waves to come.)"

She was reminded of the lives that were lost in Stonewall and how some of her soldiers were also almost killed during the extermination quest.

"(Ideally, I would take the soldiers to clear these remaining gargoyles. But, at the moment, we don't have the manpower to take them all.)" thought Evelyn. "(Nor do we have the time. The longer we take to exterminate these gargoyles, the higher the risk of the demons ended up escaping the mountains and terrorizing other places in Euphrates.)" 

Despite the large number of enemies which posed a big threat to her people, Einsof's Chosen One smiled.

"(If only we have a capable mage that could take on all these gargoyles at once and save future gargoyle invasions on Euphrates... Wait a minute, I'm a capable mage who could take on all these gargoyles!)"

She raised the Lucerna high up. The golden magic crystal on the wooden staff began to emit a loud humming sound.

"(Well, since I'm already out here, I might as well take care all of these gargoyles myself…Not to mention, being in the middle of the wilderness like this gives me the mood for a little hunt.)"

Meanwhile, back in Stonewall, the townspeople were having burial ceremony for the victims.

After all the deceased were buried, Hannah, the soldiers, and the townspeople gathered at the chapel and listened to a quick sermon given by the chapel's pastor.

"We are living in the days of grievance. The lives of our friends and families have been taken from us and returned to our Father in heaven. This sad day will definitely be remembered in our hearts for the rest of our life." said the pastor.

He continued, "But let us not dwell in grievance any longer and look ahead. For thanks to the blessing of Einsof through the act of valor of the Leonardo Barony knights, our Stonewall is still standing. Our home still exist."

The pastor then looked at the scriptures he had in his hand.

"Now, as the people of Stonewall who resided in the southwest corner of the Euphrates Province, let us read a page from the Book of Scherazard.

"There is a verse in the prophet's writing that holds special meaning for us who lives in this part of the Empire.

"May what Scherazard wrote gives us motivation to get past this terrible grief and move forward to the future."

The clergyman looked to the Holy Scripture and read a passage from the Book of Scherazard.

(Rejoice! O rejoice! You who resides by Jibril's foot. For you will be the first to bear witness of the Promised Savior. You will be the first to hear its roar.)

[Bara Arts, Nymph's Wail]

The Lucerna suddenly let out a loud shrieking voice which could be heard from anywhere in the Jibril Mountain Range, causing thousands of birds to flew away in panic.

(With the clouds on its heels, I see the Promised Savior standing brave and proud. It has a face of a fierce lion. Its mane is golden like the sun.)

After casting the sound spell, the Leonardo heiress hovered in the air as composed and confident as usual. Her golden hair was flailing around as they were swept by the cool evening breeze. 

(The roar which the Lion sounded drive out the evils concealed under Jibril's robe. The Satan's spawns reply to the Savior's call with their own voice of nightmare.) 

The spell alerted the hundreds of gargoyles hiding in the mountains, making them giving out terrifying beastly voices which disrupted the silent peace in those mountains.

(The demons reach for the heavens and seek the Savior.)

The gargoyles flapped their wings and rose to the sky.

More than 400 gargoyles bared their fangs and claws and charged towards the source of the sound: Evelyn Leonardo.

The Chosen One then pointed the Lucerna towards the swarm of gargoyles. Hundreds of red magic circles formed behind Evelyn.

Evelyn stared at the incoming gargoyles and gently voiced, "Hoorah…"

(It is then that the Lion of Einsof bring down the stars upon the evils.)

[Bara Arts, Rain of Fire]

The hundreds of red magic circles shot out fire projectiles unto the gargoyles. The spell rained down on the demons like countless shooting stars falling down from heaven.

(That rain of judgement strikes the evils on their path. I see their charred corpses falling from the sky the same way Satan did from Einsof's dwelling.)

Hundreds of gargoyles were hit by the fire spell Evelyn casted, sending them crashing to the ground. Many were killed instantly by the attack, some were left injured or unscathed and immediately went into hiding.

Evelyn descended to the ground, unto the surviving gargoyles.

(The evil incarnates tries to hide and escape the Lion. But nothing could flee from the Savior's sight, for the Lion is on a hunt and the demons are its preys.)

Evelyn looked around the dark valley where the gargoyles hid themselves.

"Come out, come out… There's no use in hiding... I know where you are..."

The Leonardo noble pointed the Lucerna to the patch of forest beside her and casted a spell.

[Bara Arts, Fire Lance]

Evelyn's spell sent out numerous fire projectiles into the woods, striking through the trees unto the dozens of gargoyles hiding behind them.

The gargoyles hiding on the other side of the forest tried to fly away after seeing their brethren got slain.

Evelyn planted the base of her magic staff to the ground and caused the trees around her to glow with magical aura.

Suddenly, large tree roots burst forth from the ground and extended to the sky. The roots caught the legs of the fleeing gargoyles, pulled and slammed the demons back to the ground.

(The demons tries to fight the Lion with their foul fangs and claws...) 

Seeing there was no hope of escaping, the remaining gargoyles attempted to fight back. They formed a horde and stampeded toward Evelyn with killing intent.

Evelyn pointed the Lucerna at the gargoyles and casted another spell.

[Bara Arts, Mana Bomb]

A ball of blue light formed at the tip of Lucerna. It then flew at high speed toward the charging gargoyles.

As soon as the ball made contact to one of the gargoyles, the magical ball exploded and blew the gargoyles to pieces.

(...but the Lion's own fangs and claws are sharper.)

Amongst the gargoyle remains that were sent flying from the explosion, there was a spear. It was previously attached on the back of one of the gargoyles, likely from a battle the gargoyle had previously with another opponent, and got thrown out upon Evelyn's assault.

The spear landed to the ground besides Evelyn. The noble lady smiled and sighed upon this discovery.

"Pity. You showed up after all the gargoyles are slain. Had I discovered you earlier, this hunt would've been more interesting"

Evelyn suddenly heard rustling from the trees behind her. Apparently four of the gargoyles on the other part of the forest managed to survive Evelyn's previous attack.

This brought a smile to Evelyn's face.

She unsummoned the Lucerna and grabbed the thrown spear beside her. Evelyn made her way to the last of the gargoyles in the valley.

Cornered as they were, the gargoyles had no choice but to charge back at Evelyn.

"That's it! There you go! Come at me!"

The gargoyle at the forefront jumped at Evelyn but the Leonardo heiress shifted her position and swiftly plunged the spear to the gargoyle's head, killing it instantly.

One down, three to go.

Another gargoyle tried to slash Evelyn with its claws, but Evelyn parried the attack with her spear.

The force of Evelyn's parry caused the gargoyle to become imbalanced. It created the small opening Evelyn needed to thrust her spear to the gargoyle's head.

Two down, two to go.

(It's a divine massacre. The demons have no chance against the Lion. The Savior pounce on them with its jaw and devour them as if they were one-day-old fawns.)

The third gargoyle tried charging from above, but Evelyn sent the spear flying right at it.

The gargoyle managed to dodge the spear, but Evelyn did something even more unpredictable.

[Bara Arts, Teleportation]

Evelyn teleported from her position on the ground to the sky behind the gargoyle where the launched spear was heading.

Evelyn grabbed the missed spear and sent it back to the gargoyle. Cleanly piercing the back of the gargoyle's head.

Three down, one to go.

The last gargoyle stopped in its track. The demon knew it had no chance of winning against the formidable beast in front of it.

The gargoyle then tried to flee once again.

Evelyn laughed at this sight.

"That's it! Run! Just like how you're meant to do in the face of Einsof's glory!"

Evelyn teleported right in front of the gargoyle, causing the creature to immediately change course.

(The Lion chases down the last of the evil hiding in Jibril. All while sounding its declaration of war against Satan. The proclamation which marks the beginning of our salvation's quest.)

The gargoyle ran and ran. But no matter how far the demon went, Evelyn always ended up catching up to it.

While she hunted down the last gargoyle, Evelyn made a speech.

She promoted the terrified demon as the emissary of Satan's Army and spoke to the gargoyle as if it was representing Satan himself. 

"Satan, because of your cowardice, you sealed my defeat through trickery and killed the one Einsof chose."

The gargoyle then found itself cornered on a tall cliff. The only way to escape is by flying.

"You may have won the previous battle."

The gargoyle flapped its wing and began to fly away. Evelyn clenched her spear.

"But now I have returned."

She threw her spear at the gargoyle, striking the demon right in the head, killing it instantly, sending the demon flying down like a downed fly.

"And I promise you, this time, I will hunt you down."

Four down, the rest of Satan's army to go.