209 Dawn of a new gambi

It was finally the fated day.

Ashley met with Ellie in her room and was surprised to find Lilith in there as well. The scene reminded her of the times Evlin would usually cry on the red-haired girl's arms due to the stress of their travels.

"Good morning..." Ashley said followed by shifting to a more serious tone, "it's time."

The three women changed their clothes and headed towards another room to eat breakfast. The food tasted delicious, but they didn't know if it was because it was actually good, or if it was because this might be the last thing some of them might ever get to eat.

They soon got the news that Gustav had arrived and that it was time for Marcus to make his grand speech, which made Ellie tilt her head for a moment.

"Speech...?"

"Before going into battle... It's important to hear some encouraging words so the fighters will be more motivated to pursue victory, instead of just fighting without caring about living or dying and ending up not giving one-hundred percent in battle" Lilith explained.

"Oh... Did my aunt ever gave such speeches to you guys when you went into battle?"

"Not really, she would often just shout 'I'm going to punch his face!!' or something" Lilith replied while trying to do a poor imitation of Evlin's voice and raising her fist, which made Ellie almost burst into laughter.

She was feeling much better now after letting out all her worries last night. Venting is surprisingly helpful.

"I'm kinda looking forward to this... I probably could use a little motivation myself..." Ellie admitted.

Ellie was wearing a hooded jacket drenched in purple and light-brown pants while armed with silver greaves for her legs. She decided to keep most of her armor focused on her lower half in case she needed to boost her running speed. She didn't want to make the same mistake with Flora again.

People would sometimes stare at her missing hand, which would serve to lower the girl's spirits, as an eternal reminder for her to think extra hard before she acts. Ellie felt annoyed since she actually believed she did pretty well against the forest demon overall, but apparently, it still wasn't enough to get out unscratched. 

Once they left the temple they spotted their allies outside and a massive crowd of mages, half of them wearing white robes with red details, East followers, Ellie assumed, while the other half had no united dressing code at all. They were most likely members of Ashley's guild.

Ellie approached Joseph and Claire among the crowd. She still hadn't gotten used to seeing them dressed as members of the temple. Detra and Leona were also there waiting.

They were all making a huge circle on the grass with Marcus in the middle wearing his usual blue shirt but this time also added with a few pieces of silver armor.

"Whoa... The more things change..." Ashley whispered. Ellie heard that and tilted her head but Ashley just gestured her not to mind it too much.

The crowd went silent once one of the followers that were by Marcus' side raised his hand.

Marcus gave the crowd a long look and began to feel the pressure on his shoulders. He then spotted Ellie smiling at him while holding Lilith's hand and she began to silently whisper the words 'you can do it!'

The lad smiled as he was reminded of the time he and Evlin were facing the demon leader and she forced him to shout 'we can do it' to get fired up for battle.

He took a deep breath and finally began his speech.

"Many of you are probably wondering why you are all here right now... Thinking about how you could be safely at home and away from this nonsense... Away from a fight that has nothing to do with you..."

"Is he trying to get them to leave...?" Ellie whispered.

"Ellie, please," Ashley said.

"Sorry..."

"One week ago, my friends and I were challenged by a girl... She was someone who was looking for an opponent to please her desire for a good fight... Over the years she challenged many, and she killed many... It eventually became our turn to stand against her... and we sadly failed... And as a result... We lost a couple of friends..."

The troops began to look confused. They didn't know what they were supposed to feel.

"This is the world we live in..." Marcus continued, "A world where people can attack anyone, hurt anyone, and take away our loved ones... All under the excuse of 'I felt like doing it' and nothing more...

We live in a world where power exists in the hands of children... People that think just because they can do something, that they have the right to do it... A world of bullies..."

Marcus took another deep breath and continued.

"But that's not the world my father believed in...

My father was probably the biggest children of them all... But he was never a bully... He respected people... He loved watching others growing and fulfilling their dreams... He loved seeing humanity's growth and becoming even better versions of themselves with each passing day..."

Lilith began to whisper this time, "how does Marcus know all that?"

Detra came closer and replied, "because that's what I told him his father was like... That's how I always saw him..."

"He was a hero... Not because of his blessing, not because of his power as the living weapon, but because he knew what was most important... He knew how to be human... To care about others, and to fight for their sake... This man that could destroy anything he wanted with a mere swing of his hands never dared to raise his weapon against innocents... Because he believed in a better future... He believed in us... That we could be better...

We all... are the living weapon's gambit!

We are the ones that will make his dream of a better world, a more peaceful world, come true. A world where the weak doesn't need to suffer for being weak! A world where the strong doesn't destroy just because they're strong.

We will build a world where people fight not to oppress!! But to create!! We will build a better tomorrow!!" Marcus shouted while raising his fist, the crowd following up by screaming as well.

Marcus then lowered his arm and started to speak with a serious tone again.

"You also probably heard about Evlin... the crossbow mage... She believed in the same dream as my father... No one probably ever represented his dream better than her... She lived her life trying to be free from the oppression of the world... Everyone tried to tell her who she should be, what she should do... And every single time she rejected and declared that she would create her own path, not giving a damn what anyone would say...

She's one of us! She's a dreamer! She's a fighter! And she needs us now!! She was the last one to face this girl and ended up falling by her hands as well... She was punished for trying to live her life the way she wanted... She was punished for trying to be free... For trying to search for happiness...

Do we want to keep living in a world like this!!?? A world where freedom gets taken away from you by those who treat it as a joke!!??"

Marcus used his blessing to create a sword and raised his arm again.

"I ask you today!! Help me change this world!! Help me fight this injustice!! Let's keep the dreams of those who believe in a better tomorrow alive!!! And defeat those who dare try to steal freedom from the innocents!!

Let us fight for what really matters!!!

Let's fight for our own future!!

Do not believe in me!! Do not believe in my father!! Do not believe in heroes!

Believe in the dream!!! Believe in what heroes fight for!!

Believe in a better future for this world!!! For our world!!! Believe in yourselves!!"

The crowd cheered loudly while raising their weapons and filling the sky with several different kinds of spells as if they releasing fireworks.

Ellie looked to her left and to her right and could see it in their faces. They all were about to march into war, a war that she helped to start, but they didn't look depressed or hopeless, they looked like they were feeling more alive than ever before.

She began to wonder, would she be able to create this same kind of mood if she had tried to make a speech herself. The only thing in her mind was to save her family. Where did Marcus take this whole thing of fighting for a better future?

Lilith grabbed her shoulder and talked in her ear, "Ellie, how does he look right now?"

Ellie looked at Marcus and watched as he continued to radiate excitement among the crowd.

"Like a true hero..." she replied.

"I'm so glad!!" Lilith commented while whipping some tears from her face.

"Lilith? What's wrong??"

"Sorry, sorry... But this boy... I was so worried about him... The things he went through... The things he had to deal with... I'm just so glad that he turned out well... I'm so glad that we did a good job with his son!!" Lilith commented.

Ellie then finally understood, Lilith all this time had been secretly worried about being in charge of taking care of Marcus, of taking care of the son of Marceus.

Realizing how much the lad had grown must have felt like an immense relief for her.

Ellie looked to the other side and realized that Detra was trying to cover her face to hide her own tears. Was she proud of the boy that became a man as well? Or was she still feeling guilty over having damaged the boy's path so much?

The young girl didn't know, but she knew one thing, seeing Marcus out there like that, screaming out loud what he believed in and showing he had no indecision in his heart, made Ellie herself solidify her resolve.

Ellie pulled Lilith's sleeve and brought her ear closer, "Lilith... I'm going to win!! I'm going to win, and bring my family home!!"

Lilith just smiled.

"And if I have to drag Mia with me, then so be it!!" Ellie added.

"Is that so?" Lilith wondered.

"Is that so!"

Part 2

Mia was sitting on a throne made of diamonds created by her while she watched the sun rising on the horizon. Her fire wings were hidden so she could conserve her energy for the battle. 

Kuncker came closer and, just like always, began to look for a good angle to take a nice picture.

"Whoa... This light is just killing it!! I need to take as many of these as I can..." he commented.

"Will you be joining us, Knucker?" Mia asked while resting her cheek on her fist and supporting her elbow on her throne's arm with her legs crossed.

"No way... Today I'm just the spectator... This is your show, little red-riding-hood... Just try to give me some good moments to photograph!! I don't want to miss a single thing!!" he replied.

"If you say so..." Mia whispered.

She then looked at a portal appearing in the middle of the air in the distance and slowly growing larger and larger, revealing an immense crowd of people on the other side of it.

She gazed at her surroundings and analyzed her army composed of several monsters, demons, spirits, red diamond golems, and possessed citizens carrying pieces of the channeling tree.

The red woman just smirked and whispered, "let's get this party started!"