Disclaimer: I don't own Kyou Kara Maou


Stay Strong

Chapter 7: Fighting On

"You, snails, get that feet of yours to move faster!" a feminine yet strict voice shouted followed by hurried footsteps to a certain direction.

"Da-cos-cos..." Gisella's voice grew more sinister and she emitted dark aura.

"Yes, Sergeant!" the one called replied as he became a living statue.

"Get to your post now! Stop dawdling, damn it!"

"Aye, Sergeant!" the bald soldier ran as fast as he could for his life.

Not too far from there, two men with grey hair were seen to be commanding platoons of soldiers, stationing them around the castle and in parts of the town. Sometimes, few soldiers would come to them to report how things were progressing and they would nod or give more instructions to the soldiers.

In a meeting room deep into the castle, few people were gathering to devise a strategy to counteract the Harbinger's attack while protecting the Maou. Gone were Gunter's comical actions, Yozak's amusing remarks, and Conrart's confident smile. In dire situation like this, everyone was pushed hard to give out the best of their abilities.

It was hard, even for the ingenious Soukoku Daikenja, for the Harbinger had existed long before him. He had heard a little about them but it was all generic information. None of them gave any clues specifically about their skills. The only thing he could do was to make his own conclusion from whatever knowledge he had at his disposal and the way the Harbinger attempted to harm Conrart earlier.

Day turned into night with most preparations nearing completion. Putting aside their own fear of facing unknown enemy, Yuuri's loyal subjects were ready to put their life on the line for the sake of Yuuri's safety. They were determined to take back Yuuri's soul and return that cheerful face of his. With the rush of adrenaline replacing their own exhaustion, they stand guard around their King.

"Uhh..." a soft grunt was heard from the King's bed.

"Yuuri?" Wolfram who was nearest to Yuuri quickly approached him as everyone followed.

In the King's chamber were Conrart, Wolfram, Gwendal and Gunter. Murata decided to return to Shinou's Temple with Yozak and some guards in order to protect it. While it was unlikely for the Harbinger to attack Shinou's Temple, it was better safe than sorry.

"S... stop..." Yuuri spoke in a volume slightly higher that a whisper.

"T-they're..." haltingly and with much effort, Yuuri continued while his eyes remained shut tightly, "coming..."

As short as it might be, what Yuuri said has made everyone's cautiousness go up a notch. Indeed they were waiting for the time when the Harbinger would be coming, but they did not expect it to be so soon. It was fortunate that they managed to prepare everything within a short time.

"Unnh..." Yuuri tightened his grip on Wolfram's hand and shifted restlessly on his bed. He looked to be so much in pain again after he calmed down in the afternoon.

"Yuuri, hang in th-" Wolfram was cut by a loud explosion from the direction of the castle's gate.

"So it begins..." Gwendal murmured.

Immediately, Gunter and Gwendal moved out of the room to command their respective troops, while Conrart and Wolfram stayed in the room. They were to be stationed beside the Maou unless they're needed in emergency.

Soon after Gunter and Gwendal left, another series of blasts was heard with tremors following and Wolfram visibly flinched. He trusted that Gwendal and Gunter were strong men and would not be brought down so easily. However, it is the Maou's power they were battling with. Not only were their lives at stake, the castle, the country, the whole Shin Makoku was at the risk of extinction.

Few minutes passed by and the ground shook harder as anxiety saturated the air. A soldier came to report how things were progressing to Conrart. When the soldier left, Conrart turned to Wolfram who was facing him with worry. A serious look and a nod from Conrart were explaining more things that words were: they were needed in the battlefield.

"Go..."

"Yuuri! You're awake?" Wolfram was surprised that his fiancé's eyes were open albeit Yuuri did not seem fully conscious.

"You're needed... there... Go..."

"Yuuri..." standing beside Wolfram, Conrart realised how much reluctant he was to leave Yuuri's side.

"Not... enough... time..." Yuuri's voice sounded like a pleading for both Conrart and Wolfram to go.

"Alright... Hang in there, Yuuri!" Wolfram decided finally and gave a light squeeze on Yuuri's hand.

"We will be back soon," Conrart concluded as he put his hand on Yuuri's shoulder.

"Yes..." Yuuri responded and with that, Conrart and Wolfram left the room.

Unknown to them, Yuuri has not finished speaking...

"Thank you so much... everyone... Goodbye..."


Judging from the tremors and the number of explosions they heard, Conrart and Wolfram expected that they would be greeted with a mess of rubbles once they were near the battlefield. Surprisingly, the whole castle was still intact. None of the walls was damaged and nothing in sight was destroyed. They started to wonder what happened to cause such great impact to the ground.

Reaching the castle gate, something worse came into their view. Countless soldiers lay on the ground unconscious and strangely unscratched. Running into Gwendal's and Gunter's side, they found out that both of them, kneeling on the floor, were so worn out.

"What happened?" Conrart asked.

"Forbidden... majutsu..." Gunter answered as his breath came in short pants.

"They did not attack us physically, but they absorbed our maryoku," Gwendal completed as his personal guard helped him to stand up.

"So our majutsu are rendered meaningless to them," Gunter told the two who just arrived while trying hard to stand on his feet again.

"Meanwhile, we found out where the crystal ball is," Gunter pointed forward, towards the centre of formation of dark figures attacking their castle.

True enough, there were not many of opponents attacking them. The Harbinger was not even a quarter of Shin Makoku's army – which most were already knocked out. In the centre of their formation, there was a small round object glowing scarlet. It seemed to be their source of power and it was shining brighter.

"Ah, here goes another one," Gunter commented as he extended his arms.

Within seconds, there was another blast right in front of their eyes and the moment it ended, Gunter's knees buckled.

"Gunter!" Conrart caught him before he fell and sat him down slowly.

"We've been creating barrier to prevent them from absorbing anymore maryoku, but it's useless. We can't keep going on like this," Gwendal explained the current situation to Conrart and Wolfram.

"That means, we need to get to the centre and seize that crystal," Wolfram said, "And since majutsu would not work, we need to physically get there and take it."

All eyes were directed on Conrart as he decided, "I'll go there."

"But-" Gunter was about to object when Conrart gazed deeply into Gunter's eyes, with an unwavering determination that brought him back alive from the Battle of Arnold.

"I'm not going there alone. I will need your help to create barrier around me," Conrart stated firmly.

"Alright, we will protect you," Wolfram suddenly showed his trust in his brother, the one he used to try to ignore but have not been able to do so, "Be careful."

"I will. Thank you, Wolfram," though Conrart was overjoyed that Wolfram displayed his care, he was in no situation to express it. He has an important task and dangerous as well to retrieve the crystal ball containing Yuuri's soul.

"Now, let's get going," he said finally before unsheathing his sword.

"Alright, everyone, concentrate your maryoku to Lord Weller! Protect him at all cost!" Wolfram commanded his soldiers who were highly proficient in majutsu, handpicked by him.

Conrart, together with a few of his personal guard stepped forward, getting ready to infiltrate deep into the enemy's ranks. Conrart would stand right in front and his guards on his sides. Conrart's objective was only to get the crystal ball while his guards would protect him from incoming attacks. Meanwhile, Wolfram and his army would create barrier surrounding all of them.

"Onward!" Conrart signalled as he charged forward.

"All ye spirits affiliated with flame obey this distinguished mazoku who hath slain the Soushu!" Wolfram cast his fire barrier around Conrart.

Dark figures moved to attack Conrart's group. Aside from the binding spell they used on Conrart earlier, their swordsmanship was not so strong actually. If Conrart was to fight with them solely using swords, surely he would obtain an easy win. It was the majutsu that made winning against them difficult.

A maryoku blast was directed at Conrart and as it came in contact with Wolfram's barrier, the barrier vanished. To be able to defeat Wolfram's majutsu – one of the most dangerous in Shin Makoku – in a single blow was remarkable. Fortunately, as soon as Wolfram's fire barrier gone, an earth barrier was cast upon Conrart; Gwendal was really fast to act.

Conrart continued to advance forward with the sickeningly red crystal ball in sight. He understood well that he could not waste his comrades' maryoku because it would endanger their lives. He needed to get the crystal ball fast before more attacks were aimed at him. Glancing to his sides, his soldiers were still having the upper hand in terms of skills. However, insistent weak attacks would eventually tire them out. Conrart needed to get the crystal ball real fast as a bad omen started to loom in his heart.

Few steps nearer to the centre of the enemies, their attacks became harsher and more frequent. Within seconds, Gwendal's barrier was blown into nothing and before any of them could react to cast another barrier, another blast was approaching right before Conrart's eyes.

'Is this the end?' a question flashed on Conrart's mind as a rush of memories of the past came into him. His eyes widened at the immense power of his very own godson coming right to him.

'Yuuri...'

"CONRART!" desperate yell echoed in the castle ground before everything was engulfed in a blinding white of silence.

It took a while before the light vanished and people's eyes adjusted to the darker environment to realise what happened. Gwendal, Gunter, and Wolfram instantly got to their feet after being knocked down by the impact of the last explosion. They anxiously searched for the one important person that they did not wish to lose for the second time.

"Ah... there..." Wolfram pointed forward to the familiar blue sphere in the middle of the enemy's ranks.

"Could it be..?" Gwendal muttered.

"Impossible!" Gunter gasped as he looked behind him to their castle.

There stood the enormous shadow of their Maou, firm on the ground, protecting his people.

"Do thee crave for power so much to forsake the lives of another?" a deep voice rumbled in the sky, "Do thee dare to harm those I hath sworn to protect?"

"I did not intend to shed blood, but thou leave me with no choice," the Maou sounded even more dangerous and with one gesture, he roared, "Judgement!"

A dozen of water serpents appeared and swiftly rushed in the air towards the Harbinger. Soon they were all captured in a large water sphere which seemed to suffocate all of them.

Watching the men struggled, the Maou spoke, "For even god hath mercy, I shall grant thou a second chance. Live a righteous life and atone for all thy sins."

With that the Harbinger were released from their bind and they disappeared without leaving a trail.

"Conrart!" Wolfram was the first to snap out of the shock from the sudden appearance of the Maou.

In the middle of the now empty ground, the blue sphere was still there, keeping Conrart and his soldiers unharmed.

"I hath sworn to protect Shin Makoku and its people. For this is the reason of my existence," the Maou said before he also disappeared, "This is my gratitude for all the brave warriors of Shin Makoku."

A snow-like substance rained down from the sky, restoring the soldiers' strength. One by one, they were awake and immediately moving like there was not any war a moment ago. Without anyone realising, they had fought all night long. It was already at the crack of dawn and the tiny glitters in the air was so beautiful, like the diamond dust in winter.

"This is... Heika's power," Gunter opened his palm to feel the minute warm spheres seeping through his hands, recovering his drained maryoku.

As much as he wanted to let out a relieved smile, Gunter felt something was still amiss even when the enemy had gone.

"Conrart! How is the crystal ball?" Gwendal asked as he along with Wolfram, Gunter and some soldiers ran towards the group in front.

Resting on one knee, Conrart picked what sparkling remnants on the ground.

"It breaks..." was a quiet answer heard.


Hello!

Firstly, I AM SO SORRY for the extremely late update! :( But here it is another development of the story. Hope you like it!

Thank you jayfeather63! You're my first loyal reviewer! Help me again with my other stories in the future, kay!

Next chapter should conclude everything in this story, so keep on reading! Please review this one too! :)

Time to write now... See you!