Fate/Lost Horizon [ Dogs of War]. Volume 1

Chapter Seventy Six [ Venture into Jupiter ]

"Let not one pass! Raise your shields, guard your fellow men!"

"The Emperor is soon to be before us!"

"Only the dead deserve rest, now stand!"

"Our land will not fall this night! Our spirits shall be glorified in the eyes of the gods!"

War. It never changes.

From the first unto the very last, men will stand and fight for a cause. From the beginning unto the end, it is a staple of mankind's history, as no matter the era, war shall stain our history. Be it right, be it wrong, the worth of the reason, the value of the cause is ultimately determined by the victor left alive as he may tell the story in his accuracy. Justice is defined by living, and revenge is hunted after by the damned, but no matter the excuse, the desire, or even the demand, no matter the reason they may give for such mass bloodshed, a cause is always given to raise men out of their warm beds and send them forth to die by a silver sword. War. It never changes, but the intertwined lies and truths given to provide its continued existence and need to stay shall always change and persist as both men and monsters alike shall never see eye to eye. No peace is created without strife, and nothing worth preserving is simply given, as nothing worth coveting is easily gained. Castle and country, wealth and prosperity, greed and malice, all are reasons to raise a sword to fight, but all have led to the loss of life. But rather than separate the right from the wrong, allow mankind to freely define their lives, and let the victor stand tall as the right of this world.

"Make way! The commander is soon to arrive! Crush their shields and charge upon their bodies, crush them under your heels! We have seen worse, we have survived greater, we are the Hounds of Britain, the mighty Dogs of War!"

In the midst of conflict, heroes and legends are born, as those who survive hardship are molded by it. Those with skill will be crowned and considered the renowned men of their time, as those with cunning and great trickery will be considered the worst to trifle with and challenge. Under the spell of chaos and calamity, the brave will stand as the way to follow as the fool shall perish, and under the spell of battle, only the strong and cunning will earn the right to live. Those with heart will persist, the men with will shall conquer as the living shall escape their expected deaths, as be it by luck or chance, skill or fated deliverance, those who see the end of conflict are often thought to be the favored. But for those who forever remain trapped in it, only in their eyes have the dead been blessed.

And so, in this land of confusion, the sick were the living, the dead were the cured, and fleeting ought to be saved lest they be plagued as well.

An empire was falling and graves were slowly filling. The cracks in the earth only were growing as the roars of wild beasts haunted the roaring night.

"Run! Please we need to reach the back gates!" Obscured by the darkness, her hurried form matched her frantic voice, as dressed in rags and dirt, she ran as the marble homes fell, the land shaking as the sounds of steel clashed against the air, and the smell of burning wood invaded their nostrils.