The Goddess' Druid

(Chapter 16) Battlefield

Arthur dismounted his horse after Hendrickson allowed him to come into the kingdom. Guinevere looked at the druid ahead of them and scowled, before she put her hand on the hilt of her sword. Her gut told her to be on guard, and she always trusted her gut. She also was always right to do so, just like now, when Hendrickson hit Arthur head on, sending him flying. Guinevere unsheathed her sword and blocked the attacks from the other two knights. "You know, this really isn't the time to attack me." She advised, seeing a trough of water close by. She used her magic to command the water to wrap the two knights in bindings made of water, levitating them in the air. She then looked back at Arthur, who now had Meliodas in front of his injured body. The boy sat up and apologized for not being able to hold his own very well. Guinevere, worried for the boy, lost focus, and was attacked by the knights. They left her covered in shallow scratches, with a few deep gashes here and there. The mage with the young king and the celestial snapped her fingers and put the girl in a Perfect Cube, protecting her as she watched the fight. Guinevere looked up at the woman, smiling softly, before she canceled the Perfect Cube as a white cat walked up. Guinevere smiled and then was picked up by Arthur as her eyelids started to close, her body weakened from the blood loss she was going through. Arcadia transformed back into herself as she saw Hendrickson turn to fight Gilthunder, who had made it clear that he wasn't with him and Vivian. Arcadia healed the two and then saw Margaret falling from the tower she fell from, and called out to the mage as she slowed the fall of the lavender haired princess. Arcadia caught Margaret and then watched as Meliodas got hit by the attacks of Hendrickson and Vivian. She carefully handed the girl to Gilthunder before jumping to Meliodas' side, sword brandished as a new helmet she had adorned her head. She had a breastplate with the symbol of the Goddess Race on it, made of purified iron from the Druids of Istar. Her face was hidden, so no one could see her, but Meliodas could tell that she'd rather die than do this. She used her light to form a barrier around her blade, glaring as Hendrickson launched at her. She had his sword blade between her fingers before she snapped it into multiple pieces and then struck, giving him a gash on his arm. "Whoever you are, you must be pretty weak, or you just held back when you hit me. Whichever one, you certainly made a mistake fighting me." He said, getting out his shortsword and then stabbing her in the side. She fell to her knees as Hendrickson continued to attack her, holding up her hands to shield her neck. She couldn't attack him all out, it would kill him, so she retreated. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she got up and ran to a relatively safe space where he wouldn't find her. She then ran to find others so she could help them, running into Howzer and King as Gowther kept Guila close to him and then introduced himself to the people present who didn't know who he was. He then attacked Dreyfus and trapped him in an illusion, before the Holy Knight stabbed the pink haired male in the chest. He then fell to his knees and grabbed his head, groaning in pain. Arcadia watched as King fought Helbram, using only a little of his power as she limped over to Diane. She hadn't pushed herself much in some time, but she still trained. However, she had no mana to contribute to the battle, and would be deadweight if she joined the battle. Arcadia sat down on Diane's thigh and laid back as Zeal popped out from between her and the ground. He ran over to Arcadia and asked if she was alright, standing on Diane's leg as he leaned over her. "Are you alright?" He asked, causing the girl to smile. "I assume you're Zeal?" She asked, causing the boy to nod. "Goodness, you look so much like Dale, it's near scary. I'm fine, but I'm so exhausted, and I'm out of mana." She explained, causing the boy to nod as he sat beside her. She then saw Chastiefol transform into Pollen Garden, covering the three in a force field of green healing magic as the plant vines beat at the field. She felt her injuries heal as she regained her strength little by little. "Well then, not bad, Fairy King." She said, taking off her helmet as she saw King land. Zeal hid again and Arcadia jumped down, mentally slapping herself for not using 'Purify' on Hendrickson earlier now that she was thinking properly. She walked up to King and helped him up, holding her hand up and healing him. "Consider that as part of me helping you out." She said, sensing chaos starting to happen as demons appeared out of nowhere. No, not demons, these were the New Generation Holy Knights, and they were everywhere. Arcadia ran to where the most chaos was happening, aiming for the bulb things in the mutant demons as she carefully hit those and freed the New Generation knights, before sensing Ban taking the bulb things out of many at once. So that's how he's doing things, alright. She thought to herself, before she saw Ban take out the last of the New Generation, Jericho, as he threw her onto the ground and then joined Hawk, Elizabeth, Meliodas, and the others, as they all stood staring at Hendrickson. Arcadia noticed that Hendrickson looked different, with a chest plate of darkness and one of his irises being midnight black. He laughed maniacally as he hit Meliodas and Gilthunder before he spoke to Vivian. "He can't run from you if he's a corpse, now can he?" He asked sarcastically, as Vivian cried along with Margaret. Arcadia watched as Hendrickson grabbed Elizabeth and then flew off, before Meliodas asked Hawk to go to where the white haired druid was. A few minutes later, she saw Hendrickson fly to where the Dark Magic Facility was located, and unfurled her white wings before launching herself at Vivian, who was about to try to cast a spell, knocking the mage out and then flying off into the sky as she went to help the others. When she got to the field, she was shocked to see Elizabeth, her own magic active, as she healed everyone on the field while glaring at Hendrickson, who had transformed into something she barely recognized as human. Everyone started attacking Meliodas, with Arcadia understanding why almost immediately. She sent a small blast of light at him, causing him to smirk as she smiled sadly at her lover. Her and Hendrickson's eyes locked, and she mouthed one last 'I love you' to him, causing his eyes to widen as he saw Meliodas use Revenge Counter and hit him full force, making him disintegrate into nothing. Well, almost nothing. All that was left was an arm, but it grew wings, flew up to where the research tower was, and then flew West. When all was said and done, Arcadia finally allowed herself to be weak as she saw Elizabeth hug Meliodas, and fell to her knees as tears started to roll down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry I couldn't save you, Hendrickson." She whispered to herself, before she felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Merlin. Arcadia stood up and hugged the golden eyed female, having missed the woman for a while now. She hugged her back, knowing that the platinum haired woman needed comfort. "There's no need to cry, Arcadia." She said, trying her best to comfort the female as Hawk spoke to everyone, sitting on Elizabeth's shoulder. Bartra saw Arcadia and sighed, having always treated the girl like family ever since he saw her hugging a then ten year old Elizabeth after she had been told that she had had a nightmare. Bartra put a hand on top of Arcadia's head and nodded to her, as if to give his sympathy. After Arcadia stopped crying, he turned to see the knights all on their knees, asking for the harshest sentence he could give. "My sentence is this: you will serve this kingdom without a day off for the rest of your time serving in the Holy Knight Corps. You will not rest until this kingdom is safe." He said, causing many protests, but in the end, they all agreed. They then helped bury the dead and hold vigils for them, before everyone went back to the kingdom to rest and heal for the time being.