In the realm of reality, whilst the Skoland knights were celebrating their triumph with shouts of victory:
They roared as if they had achieved a monumental victory. The corpses of the elite Axalon knights, including Guinere, were moved and cast into the city center to be burned.
Five cannons and mortars were readied, keeping watch lest there be further attacks from the Kingdom of Axalon.
"But... where are the Crafters and Lady Utopia? I see her not anywhere..." a mortar soldier asked anxiously.
"I know not either," replied another mortar soldier.
As all the corpses of the elite Axalon knights in the city center had been moved, one knight struck a piece of iron against a flint near the tinder, placed beneath the wood, to ignite the fire.
The knight struck the iron four times before successfully igniting the tinder. The flame upon the tinder began to grow, aided by the wood above it.
The fire continued to expand and consumed almost all the elite Axalon knights. The Skoland knights danced around the fire, playing an instrument they called a bagpipe.
As they revelled in dancing and singing, suddenly the fire of the pyre grew strange, beginning to swirl.
The fire rotated with great speed, like a fiery tornado. The Skoland knights who witnessed this were instantly terrified and on alert, for they believed this to be an attack from an Axalonian "person with magical talent."
For in the history of the Britta islands, only the Kingdom of Axalon employed those with magical talent for offensive purposes. Those with magical talent were considered a divine sin by the kingdoms of Skoland and Wallace.
Thus far, only seven individuals were capable of controlling magic in the Britta islands:
King Oswald of Axalon
Osnaria
Sir Plato
Lady Utopia
Dino
"The Immortal" from the Republic of Eire
Lady Renate from the Republic of Eire
The alert Skoland forces thought this was an attack by Dino the Wrathful, for he alone possessed the talent to control fire.
The fire began to dwindle, and continued to shrink. The Skolandian soldiers who saw this lowered their guard, though still gazing at the burning wood.
Then suddenly, one of the corpses of the elite Axalon knights rose, clad in burning armour. The knight's helmet and armour turned pitch black.
The Skolandian soldiers, seeing this, immediately attacked him with arrows.
The burning knight was struck by the Skolandian soldiers' arrows, but the arrows immediately incinerated, and the burning knight merely stood motionless.
Suddenly, the burning knight seized a piece of wood near his feet and immediately hurled it at the archer.
Instantly, the archer vanished, leaving only a foot and a head, accompanied by a hole in the burning building's wall behind.
All the Skoland forces witnessed this with horror. "Mo-monster! ALL OF YOU, ATTACK THAT MONSTER!" commanded one of the Skolandian troop leaders.
All the soldiers attacked the burning knight simultaneously, including the cannons. When three cannons were fired in succession, the burning knight managed to evade them with great speed.
The burning knight immediately seized a spear nearby and forthwith leaped to hurl it.
He cast the spear directly into the midst of the mortar, and instantly a giant sphere of fire exploded in its centre, detonating Aber's city center.
All the Skoland forces were thrown back and beheld the scene with horror.
The burning knight approached one of the Skolandian troop leaders. The troop leader was utterly terrified, as if his death were certain.
"P-pray forgive me," was the plea of the Skolandian troop leader.
The burning knight paid him no heed and looked at the greatsword he held. The Skolandian troop leader carried a greatsword called a flamberge greatsword.
The burning knight grasped the blade of the sword. The Skolandian troop leader immediately released the sword's hilt and fled, abandoning his sword and the knight.
The burning knight paid him no heed and immediately grasped the sword's hilt; instantly, the great sword blade became engulfed in flames.
Its fire was so bright it dazzled the Skolandian soldiers who witnessed it.
As the burning knight was walking out of the city, suddenly hundreds of undead Crafters appeared, running towards the burning knight.
The burning knight immediately plunged his sword into the ground, and instantly a wave of fire erupted. The incoming Crafters were consumed by the fiery wave and turned to ash.
As the burning knight was about to retrieve his sword again, a flying spear suddenly appeared and impaled itself before the knight.
It was Lady Utopia's black swordstaff, adorned with glistening gold motifs.
The spear was deeply embedded, and then a silhouette of someone walking towards the spear emerged.
It was, indeed, the silhouette of Lady Utopia. An intimidating aura emanated from her cold porcelain mask.
Few knew Lady Utopia's true face, save for her long silver hair.
Lady Utopia held her spear, saying, "I did not lead ye, and now ye are in such disarray. Ah, well, 'tis no matter. What is important is the appearance of a unique being, namely thou, nameless burning knight."
"Submit to me and lend thy strength for the glory of King Oswald of Axalon. Make no foolish decisions."
"..." The burning knight merely stood silent, gazing at the Lady.
The burning knight immediately drew his flamberge, as if inviting the Lady to a duel.
"Truly foolish. Nay, I am the foolish one for engaging thee in speech," the Lady spoke before drawing her spear and brandishing it.
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On a scorching afternoon in the port city of Aber, a duel transpired between Lady Utopia, the Terrorizer of Axalon, and the nameless burning knight.
Most astonishingly, the burning knight possessed strength almost equal to the Lady's, forcing the Lady to draw forth her own blade, the Blood Rapier.
The Blood Rapier was a Rapier wielded solely by the Lady; it was named the Blood Rapier because it required the Lady's blood as sustenance.
When Lady Utopia desired to draw forth the Blood Rapier, she had first to draw her ordinary rapier and wound her own body.
The more of the Lady's blood the rapier drank, the greater its power became.
At this moment, the Blood Rapier's power was not yet exceedingly potent, for the Lady had used only blood from a mere scratch, yet it sufficed to repel the burning knight.
The burning knight found it difficult to parry the Lady's Blood Rapier due to its preternatural speed. This was true even though the burning knight wielded his fiery sword as his primary weapon.
The burning knight's left arm was severed by the Lady's Blood Rapier, yet the burning knight retrieved his arm and reattached it. Most astonishingly, fire suddenly erupted around his severed arm, and forthwith the arm functioned once more.
The Lady merely observed this from behind her mask and began to attack anew. Suddenly, the burning knight fashioned a flaming spear, which he created from his own fire, and immediately attacked the Lady with it.
The Lady was startled by this; she could not evade it precisely, and thus the fiery spear struck her mask.
The Lady's mask was damaged from the left eye down to the cheek, and the Lady's left cheek was slightly burned.
Most astonishingly, the Lady proved to be a woman with crimson pupils. Such red pupils were exceedingly rare.
Rumour had it that such individuals appeared only once every thousand years, for those with crimson pupils possessed the eyes of "the Immortal" from the Republic of Eire.
The Lady, realizing her mask was damaged from the fiery spear's attack, immediately shrieked and gazed at the burning knight with a vengeful fury.
The Lady screamed as if her sanity had vanished; then Sir Plato appeared from whence none knew, causing all present to faint simply by his emergence, including the Lady.
All the Skolandian soldiers who remained there, and the Lady, who had been running to attack the burning knight, fell unconscious upon Sir Plato's arrival, save for the burning knight himself.
"Most astonishing, thou didst not faint from my magic. Thou must be exceedingly mighty," Sir Plato spoke.
The burning knight merely stood silent, gazing at Sir Plato.
"Oh, forgive me, I neglected to introduce myself. My name is Sir Plato of Axalon. Who art thou, fiery knight?" Sir Plato greeted.
"G-Gui-Guinere," the fiery knight replied, stuttering.
"Very well, greetings, Sir Guinere, the fiery knight. I must now take my leave with my subordinate, Utopia. Farewell."
Having delivered his salutation, Sir Plato immediately departed the place, taking the unconscious Lady Utopia with him through a portal.
The burning knight continued his journey, whither none knew.
The Skolandian soldiers who had witnessed the entire battle awoke in the late afternoon, nearing evening, and immediately spoke of the burning knight.
They referred to him as "The Fiery Knight," and thus this rumour spread throughout the entire Kingdom of Skoland, until it was heard by a female adventurer named Zoya.
She was intrigued by this rumour and immediately set out to find where the fiery knight might be.