ML C9, P5- "Standing Tall"

"Standing Tall" is the fifth Part of "Miracula Luxia" 's ninth Chapter- "King Of Hearts". It was released on 23.04.2020.
== Plot ==
Jared and John barely return back into the city of Formello, exausted by the adventure they had to endure. However, their troubles are far from over.
The two of them, along with everyone else in the city are forced to stand up and defend what is theirs once again when an angry Farrar launches another desperate attack at them.
However, our heroes do not have any fear in their hearts. They know that the city depends on them and that there is only one way to get out of this situation...
To fight.
== Story ==
Just as Jared wakes up from his sleep, he hears a knocking on the door.
He looks at the clock. He sees that it is 8:10 AM.
"Who could it be this early in the morning?"- He mumbles to himself.
"Go away. I'm busy."- He says.
However, the knocking doesn't stop. Slowly but surely, it gets louder.
Then louder.
And louder.
Eventually, Jared becomes unable to ignore it.
"Fine! Fine!"- He yells- "I'm coming!"
He opens the door and sees Barin.
However, he is not the usually cheery time that Jared knows. His face has a terrified expression, his fingers are trembling and sweat is gushing from his forehead.
"Is something wrong, Barin?"- Jared says when he notices that he's stressed.
Barin points at the gates not too far ahead.
"It's Farrar, sir!"- He says- "He came back! And he has a whole army ready to mow us down!"
"What?!"- Jared says- "But... but how?"
Barin sighs.
"I don't know how, sir, but now the attack has begun."
"We need your help again!"
Jared nods and climbs on one of the walls.
He grabs a bow and aims it at Farrar.
"I heard that you want to see me, Farrar."- He says.
Farrar turns around and smiles.
"Oh, Jared! Here you are! Just in time to see your city getting destroyed!"
"Don't you dare hurt those people!"- Jared yells- "If you want me, then go ahead and take me! Just leave those poor people alone!"
Farrar smirks.
"Leave them be, you say? That ain't in my vocabulary! If someone has to die, so will everyone around him!"
"My forces will destroy all of you!"
Jared sighs and aims his bow at him.
"If it is a fight you want, it is a fight that you will get!"
With that, he shoots an arrow at Farrar.
"No!"- A voice near him rings in Jared's ears.
Suddenly, a young woman takes the shot for Farrar, the arrow piercing her shoulder.
"Akari, no!"- Farrar screams and holds her in his arms.
Jared is shocked.
"Akari? No. No, no, no... "
"I... I'm so, so sorry. W-why... Why?!"
Farrar turns back to Jared, this time with a very angry look.
"You will pay for this, Kaos!"- He yells- "I'll make you pay!"
He turns to his bandits.
"Kill them all!"
The bandits nod, let out a simultaneous battle cry and charge towards the gate as Farrar and Akari flee to a safer location.
"Don't let him get away!"- John yells at the soldiers and shoots at Farrar, unable to take him down himself.
Jared sighs.
"There she goes again."- He says to himself- "Why is she doing this? Why is she trying to save this worthless worm from dying? He's the enemy and she's just doing him a favor. She's just helping him last a little longer while risking her own life."
"But I guess that it does not matter anymore. Friend or not, she is now my enemy and I will have to fight against her personally, sooner or later."
"I have to prepare. I mustn't let my pity overwhelm me or she will surely take me down!"
"Jared!"- John yells at him- "What are you doing?! They're escaping! Shoot them!"
Jared nods and aims his bow at the running Farrar.
Just as he is about to shoot him and end his life, he sees Akari again, laying unconscious in Farrar's arms.
Instead of shooting an arrow and killing both of them, he just falls to his knees, his bow falling out of his hand.
He begins to cry as he simply stares at them as they escape.
John notices this and comes to see what is happening.
"Is everything okay, my friend?"- He asks him.
Jared shakes his head.
"No. No it isn't!"- He responds- "Akari was in his arms. If I shot an arrow at him, I would kill her as well."
He turns to job and grabs him by the armor.
"I cannot do it, John!"
John nods.
"I understand. But you have to very soon. I know that she's your friend, but even friends mustn't cloud your judgement."
"I want you to remain the emotionally strong and physically capable Jared that you have always been. I want you to remain calm and collected, especially when you and Akari have to fight. Understand?"
Jared nods.
"Good. We can do this. We'll survive this nightmare, I'm sure of it."
Barin gets John's attention.
"Mr. Braveheart, the bandits are almost in!'
John spawns his energy blade and nods.
"Alright. I'm coming."- He says.
He turns to Jared.
"Stay here and come when you feel like you're ready to be the hero everyone needs, okay? Don't worry, I'll help the people while you're absent."
He jumps down and attacks the first bandits that come through.
"Sir, aren't you going to help too?"- Barin asks him.
Jared angrily looks at him, tears in his eyes.
"Leave me alone, for goodness sake!"
The young soldier is left no other choice, but to leave him where he is. He joins the Formellians in fighting against Farrar's thugs.
For a few minutes, Jared is still on his knees, contemplating about whether the choices he made so far are right or not.
"For so long, I have been fighting evil almost non-stop, vanquishing anyone who dared to disrupt the delicate peace in our world. I've protected so many people, but lost so much in doing so. I was a hero, a legend that everyone respected and looked up to. But what am I now? Now, I am just a kid who always tries to spare those who are close to him. Hesitates to kill anyone. Right now, I'm a hollowed-out shell of my former self. I am no hero and I will never be if I continue acting like this, by being a little, whiny kid."
He looks at the direction where Farrar and Akari fled.
"No. John is right. I mustn't let my desire to let Akari live cloud my judgement! If she has to die, so it be. Even if the hand who takes her down has to be mine, so it be. I will do it! If it is necessary to protect the ones close to me, I am all in! I won't let my pity for her drag me down into eternal darkness! I will not!"
"Enjoy your last moments, Akari, because I won't have any mercy when we fight. I will show you my full strength, just like you will show yours. A fair fight between two sides of a coin. Get ready, because I am coming for you!"
With those thoughts brightly burning in his mind, Jared grabs his sword and his bow, jumps down from the wall and joins his friends in the battle.
Annie notices that he is back and smiles.
"Finally decided to help us again, eh?"- She says.
"Of course."- Jared responds- "I will never let my dear friends fend off a whole army of thugs by themselves."
He turns to John.
"John, I saw that energy blade of yours earlier. Could you, by any chance, give me a blade like that to fight? I want to try one out!"
John smiles and shakes his head.
"Unfortunately, I won't be able to give you any existing ones, but I will do this... "
He raises his arm, a tiny wisp of energy emanating from within his palm.
"Let me touch the blade of your sword."- He says.
Jared nods and places the blade next to the wisp of energy.
Suddenly, an earthshaking transformation happens, transforming the normal steel blade into a mighty blade, made from pure energy.
"Remember."- John tells Jared- "Each energy sword has its own element. Mine is Earth while yours is Light. However, it can also switch to a non-elemental, if you desire so."
"That's all. Go get them!"
Jared nods and grabs the sword.
"Such a powerful weapon... "- He mutters.
Annie smiles.
"Well?"- She says- "Are you ready to crush those miscreants?"
Jared nods and smiles.
"Let me at them and do not stop me!"- He responds.
With that, he charges and attacks the nearest thugs.
The thugs are taken by surprise when Jared slams his blade into the ground with an earthshaking force.
Suddenly, small motes of light form under the thugs.
They laugh, realizing how pathetic the move is.
However, this turns out to be a fatal mistake, as they don't try to get away when the real spell happens.
The motes of light grow in intensity, slowly at first, then much faster.
Finally, a huge stream of light rises from the ground and incinerates the thugs into ash.
Then, the ground closes, leaving only the ashes of the former thugs behind.
"Now that's a job well done."- Jared says and notices that a small group of thugs are about to kill one of the citizens.
He charges at them and swings his energy blade at them. Without breaking a sweat, he manages to slay a huge number of them during the initial charge. Then, he uses a special spin attack that completely destroys the rest of the miscreants, easily piercing through their bodies.
"Alright. That is it for them."- Jared says.
"Thank you, Jared."- The citizen says and flees into the inn where the other defenseless citizens are hiding.
Meanwhile, Jared and John work together to put a huge flaw in Farrar's remaining thugs, slaying a huge number of them and leaving many more to bleed out of the ground around them.
"Keep fighting, John! We've almost got them!"- Jared says.
John nods and fiercely swings his blade at the terrified men, easily killing at least twenty of them.
After about fifteen minutes, the fighting ceases as the last bandit is killed.
Everyone is quiet. They watch silently the corpses around them, amazed that they have survived this attack as well.
"Well John, we did it."- Jared says- "We defeated another wave of those fools.
John grins.
"Of course! It actually feels good taking them down!"
Jared smiles.
"It's for the good of everyone. We're actually doing the people of Avernum a favor by slaying them."
John looks at Jared, sees that he is determined once again, nods and smiles.
"Jared, I can see it here and now."- He says.
"What do you see?"
"I see that you have returned to your original, heroic self. You killed those bandits without showing even a little bit of mercy, just like every brave hero would. You stood your ground again them... and won."
"You were not afraid."
"I would never be anymore."- Jared says- "The old, weak Jared is gone. The strong Jared is finally back."
"I am ready to take all of those fools down! They will regret the day when they attacked our sacred land and mocked its good citizens!
John nods.
"And now we have to prepare to attack them ourselves. I already have a plan, so come with me and let's discuss it with everyone else."
Jared smiles.
"Yes. Let's plan this together and show the bandits that we are not afraid of them."
Soon, Jared, John, Annie, Lethal, Jim and Commander Jones enter the hall to discuss the next step of the war with the Barghans.
The step that will eventually lead to their doom.
== Trivia ==
* The words that Farrar says- "Kill them all!" are a reference to the Governor in "The Walking Dead" who says the same words when he attacks the Prison survivors (Season 4 in the TV Series, Issue 48 in the Comic Series)
* Jared's spell that he casts on a large group of bandits is inspired by a spell in the "Epic Battle Fantasy" series. It is called Judgement and it is used by Natalie the Mage throughout the series. It is a powerful Light element move that can be possibly devastating with the right setup.
* However, unlike the original Judgement, the similar spell that Jared casts is also able to incinerate the enemies hit by it into ash. This is something that the original Judgement is not able to do.
* The words that John says- "You were not afraid" are a reference to "The Walking Dead" video game where Lee Everett can (Determinantly) say the same words to Clementine.