A/N It's all coming together...the Kingdom of Straelka pushing from the east, and soon the Western Nations will once again begin their push from the west alongside the Revolutionary Army and Path of Peace from the south. However there's still a LOT of story left, so don't get your hopes up just yet…khehehe. Leave a fav and I SURE AS HELL KNOW THERE ARE MORE THEN 2-3 people out there that read this story. Don't be shy! Leave a review telling me what you think my readers, I'm very interested to see what you like and other things. Do it or I'll have Kahfka hunt you down, and we all know that's a BAD idea.
Chapter 35 - The Warden and the Dragon
The familiar rush of air that came with transporting from one place to the other assaulted Rafe's ears as he emerged on his horse a few miles away from the gates of the Imperial Capital, his gaze set upon the glistening palace towering up above the rest of the city.
He kicked the sides of his hellish steed and it walked forward, the soldiers guarding the gate immediately letting him in once they recognized him as the infamous Hell's Warden. It didn't take long for him to make his way to the palace considering anyone who saw him immediately moved out of the way to avoid touching his horse.
The reactions of the Imperial Guards at the palace gates were the same as the people, the men instantly letting him pass when they recognized him. The entire capital had heard of his infamous reputation, which had earned him a spot in the history books as one of the strongest soldiers ever produced alongside Esdeath, the late GReat General Budo, and others. He held great pride in this and his nickname as "The Supreme Soldier", but as he dismounted his horse and strode up to the doors of the Imperial Palace, he realized that by deserting from the Empire...he would lose all of it. His reputation would be in tatters, and he would be proclaimed a traitor that would be killed on sight.
"Remember why you're doing this." he told himself after passing by the silent Faceless guarding the entrance.
He could remember that day like it was yesterday...the day he had proposed to Fiona. Back then he was still a soldier if the Empire, only he had yet to gain the position as Lieutenant Colonel, and she had yet to become a part of the Western Nations military. She had just gotten done training with that dragon up in the mountains, and the look on her face after he got down on a knee in order to ask of her the question every woman dreams of hearing, well, the only word he could use to describe it was priceless.
But, like fate wanted to deny them both of their special day, he was called back to the Empire to become the commander of the Surprise and Attack Division and lead them on a campaign to subjugate the Northwestern Territories. Since then, they hadn't seen one another up until now...and hearing from just how torn up she was inside about his departure...it overruled his soldier's pride and dedication to the Empire.
He entered the white marble hallway leading to the throne room doors and inhaled deeply, readying himself for those he knew were just beyond those doors. "Here goes nothing."
Rare knocked once on the doors, and a few seconds later they were opened from within by another pair of Faceless to allow him entry. The first person he saw upon stepping into the throne room was the Emperor himself, and standing right beside him was of course the Prime Minister. He looked to his left and stared directly into gaze of the Great General herself, the woman who had led to the swift downfall of the Empire's enemies all at once.
This was the first time Rafe was seeing her, and to be quite honest, he couldn't really see how she was the most feared among all off the Empire's forces. She was quite beautiful, and her eyes were perplexing in a way due to their strange appearance and the *heterochromia she possessed.
"Lieutenant Colonel? What are you doing here?" asked Jacqueline with a look of utter confusion on her face, Rafe glancing at her and growling.
"Allow me to inform you, Great General." he replied before fixating his gaze on the Emperor and bowed to show his respect. "Unfortunately, I bring bad news, your Highness."
"You may proceed." said Honest with a carefree smile, which made Rafe throw up a little in his mouth.
"The Jaegers and Night Raid were able to successfully rally the remaining forces of the Western Nations military and suppress my forces to the point of destruction. I was able to severely wound and kill some of the enemy before escaping, however, and thanks to some of my techniques I was able to avoid serious injury myself." stated Rafe with a monotone voice, the grin on Jacqueline's face soon fading away along with the Prime Minister's.
"Who did you kill?" asked Jacqueline eagerly, Rafe crossing his arms over his chest and huffing.
"The last surviving General of the Western Nations, and two members of Night Raid alongside a Jaeger with blonde hair. That was all I was able to do, Great General."
Jacqueline's cocky grin returned upon learning of the deaths of some of her enemies, and it was this time that Rafe decided to really ruin her day. He cleared his throat to recapture their attention and held his hands behind his back, the Prime Minister raising an eyebrow in anticipation.
"I also have something else to say. Sorry Prime Minister, Great General, your Highness, but after seeing how our enemies have beaten back our forces against all odds, I've determined that the flames of this Empire are close to being put out, and personally...I want to be on the winning side."
Rafe couldn't help but laugh on the inside at how quickly the expressions of all three of them changed with his statement, especially Jacqueline. Her eyes widened in shock and he thought he saw a slight twitch from her left eye, which only made the feeling that much more enjoyable.
"W-What did you just say?" she asked with a stutter, Rafe looking at her with a wolfish grin before turning to walk back towards the throne room doors.
"You heard me. I'm leaving the Empire. Simple as that."
"If you walk out through that door, you will be a traitor to the Empire, and I will personally torture you to the point you'll be begging me to kill you." snarled Jacqueline in a low tone while also giving off a fraction of her killer intent.
Rafe stopped his outstretched hand an inch away from the door handle and froze up, the Great General, the Emperor, and Honest all staring at him intensely. He slowly turned his head around and glared at Jacqueline with one eye, his grin completely gone and replaced with a dark scowl.
"Walk out through this door...and I'll be considered your enemy, huh?" he asked before, all of a sudden, he let loose such a huge amount of killer intent and power it utterly blew away the two Faceless on either side of him and actually pushed back Jacqueline several feet. "Do you really think that scares me!?"
A small ring of black fire had now appeared at the feet of the Lieutenant Colonel, Jacqueline gritting her teeth and bracing herself against his power. She knew that Rafe was strong, he wouldn't have earned himself the position as commander of the Surprise and Attack Division as well as the nicknames "Hell's Warden" and "Supreme Soldier" if he wasn't, but what she was feeling right now was something beyond her expectations. His strength was almost on the same level as Esdeath when she fights seriously, and now that she was seeing it firsthand...she couldn't help but get excited at the idea of fighting him herself.
"I have obtained a multitude of injuries, both minor and life-threatening, during the course of my tenure as the Hellraiser's commander, and through those ordeals I have learned to ignore the feeling of pain." proclaimed Rafe with authority in his voice while pointing directly Jacqueline. "Know this, Great General, I won't be so easy to kill. Get too close to me...and I'll burn that pretty little face of yours."
Jacqueline growled as Rafe exited the throne room and, not wanting to let him escape, she sprinted after him with a bone rod already protruding out of her hand and threw open the doors. The Lieutenant Colonel, however, was already gone, the only sign of his departure being the black flame portal that vanished a split second after she entered the marble chamber.
"Oh well, it's not a total loss…" thought Jacqueline when she withdrew her blade back into her arm. "Kahfka...make them pay."
- New Kannath -
The people of the Western Nations, upon learning of the defection of the Hell's Warden and the Hellraisers from the Imperial Military, let out a collective sigh of relief now that they didn't have to worry about the threat Hræsvelgr posed to their cities. Kaminari, once he felt that the state of the people he had come to love and watch over as the benevolent and peace-loving being had returned to normal, departed from the capital with a round of goodbyes to his new friends.
"Now that the Western Nations have been freed from the Empire's control, what's our next step?" asked Run when the Jaegers met with Night Raid, the Chairman and Kagetane.
"For starters we need to get a message to our friend, the Princess of Straelka, who's leading her army from the east towards the capital, informing her of the situation here." said Esdeath as she crossed her arms and sat back in her seat next to Tatsumi.
"We'll also have to get a message to the Revolutionary Army as well. After that, we coordinate a plan to push on the capital from three fronts just like before." added in Najenda with a glance at Kagetane and the Chairman.
"We'll send out messengers at once. In the meantime, you can stay here in the capital until you all have to leave, if you have to." replied the Chairman while Kagetane stood up and excused himself to carry out his orders.
Not even a second passed by from the General leaving the room when the door was flung open again and the spy from earlier poked his head in, a huge smile on his face.
"The Lieutenant Colonel just got back from the capital, and, well, things are getting interesting outside."
Tatsumi and Esdeath looked at one another in confusion before they stood up with Wave, Run and Chelsea to go see for themselves what the spy meant by "interesting".
"This sounds like fun, anyone else want to come with?" asked Leone while stretching her arms.
After her question, Akame and Maya were the only ones that decided to go with her since Najenda was going to stay and help the Chairman and other surviving political figures, with Arthur assisting her, Lubbock was going to create a web of threads around the perimeter of the Parliament building with Cross Tail, and Mine was going to spend some time cleaning and giving Pumpkin some maintenance.
They were able to catch up with Tatsumi, Esdeath and the others as they left the Parliament Building and quickly made their way to the outskirts of New Kannath, catching a glimpse of two figures standing just a few meters away from the farthest building.
"There they are, it's Fiona and Rafe." said Wave with the pointing of a finger, the large group coming to a halt a couple of meters away.
Fiona noticed them and gave them all a wave while Rafe saluted them, typical of his soldier-like attitude and appearance, before returning his attention to Fiona and grinning when they joined in on their conversation.
"So how was it?" asked Leone, Rafe chuckling a little.
"I have to say, it was one of the more enjoyable things I've done outside of battle. The look on the Prime Minister's face was priceless." he replied, the lioness smirking at the small victory of ruining the fat politician's day.
"What about Jacqueline? How did she react?"
"Hehe, it was about the same, but you should've heard what she said."
Rafe went through the entire meeting with Jacqueline and the Prime Minister, and when he got to the part about him being told by the Great General he would be tortured by the sadist if he walked out through the throne room doors, they all got a kick at how he responded to her. Hearing of their enemy's displeasure with one of their top soldiers openly deserting before them and the Emperor himself definitely brought smiles to their faces.
"But...now that I'm here for good, there's just one last thing I need to know." asked Rafe as he focused directly on Fiona, who's smile wavered somewhat.
"What is it?" she asked, Rafe's grin widening.
He pointed to her sword hanging from her waist and looked into her eyes, "We never really found out which of us was the stronger fighter. What do you say, Fiona? Want to finally answer that question once and for all?"
Fiona, after registering what he had asked of, rolled her eyes and let out a heavy sigh while she placed a hand on Kaminari's hilt. "Really?"
"Yeah, and of course it's not gonna be to the death. Let's just keep it simple and use our strongest techniques. Whomever is still standing after the dust settles is declared the winner. Does that sound acceptable?" said Rafe with an eyebrow cocked upwards.
"If it will finally satisfy some desire of yours, then yes. And are we gonna have to hold back or..?"
Rafe had already begun walking in reverse with a grin still plastered on his face in the middle of her question, and just from his posture and expression she could already guess what his answer was going to be. When he was a good distance away he crossed his arms over his chest and chuckled, a slight breeze blowing across the ground in between the two.
"No limits whatsoever. We can go all out." he said before running a hand through his hair nervously laughing. "Just try not to kill me."
"Same goes to you."
Tatsumi and Esdeath retreated from the immediate area with the other spectators, and as an extra precautionary Chelsea was at the ready with the satchel full of Solomon's Phoenix blood. In the course of leaving Solomon and Camilla they had barely made a dent in the supply of the Jaeger's miracle blood, so in case the fight between Rafe and Fiona got a little too carried away and one of them did get seriously injured, they could be healed almost instantaneously.
"Now...before we begin...there's something you need to know about my Teigu. You see, that long chainsaw you've seen me primarily use...that is not the true form of Amaterasu."
"It isn't?" asked Fiona warily as Rafe brought both of his hands up and dropped his grin. "Then what is it exactly?"
"Amaterasu is the black fire I control itself, a flame so enormously hot and powerful it can literally eat away anything it touches...even other flames." the Lieutenant Colonel explained while summoning several orbs of black fire that floated behind him in a circle with one in the center. "To claim this Teigu, I had to endure the pain of its flame for seven days and nights until it finally extinguished itself. Thanks to a certain alchemist I was able to regain the flesh I had lost to Amaterasu, but as a result of letting it do so the flames touched my heart and branded it with a seal that allows me to willingly manifest and control the black flames."
With the snap of his fingers the ring of fire solidified into a solid obsidian-like disk, and upon its completion Rafe closed his eyes and, much to the surprise of Fiona, began to remove his overcoat and other articles of clothing. He tossed every piece into a pile at his feet after removing it, which grew larger and larger with each passing second until he reached the fatigue uniform all of his soldiers wore.
He peeled it off and when he threw it away, everyone in attendance for the eventual dual was flabbergasted by what was revealed by the removal of the uniform. As expected of a soldier, Rafe's upper body was toned and well built, the fruits of his labor and work in the Imperial Military broadcasted through the rippling muscles he possessed. What had shocked his observers was that covering pretty much ninety percent of his skin were all sorts of scars and marks from battles he had participated in, with the most prominent being the scar that stood out from all the rest. Located directly above his heart was a wicked-looking scar darker in color then the rest, and just from that alone Fiona knew that this was the mark that Amaterasu had left behind after he had endured the deadly flames in order to claim the Teigu as his own.
He let out a deep breath and clenched his fists, his eyes opening and bringing yet another surprise to his opponent. Rafe's normally greenish-blue eyes had transformed into a dark purple color with white irises, and only after blinking once did tears of pure blood trickle down his left cheek from the strain of his bloodshot eyes.
"Fiona, not many have had the opportunity to witness my Trump Card, the one true reason why I am known as Hell's Warden. Consider yourself lucky!" announced Rafe with a grin as he clapped his palms together and inhaled. "As the Warden of Hell, I command you to open! Gate of Hell!"
An enormous amount of power exploded out from Rafe when he finished speaking, the shockwave and winds he created forcing Fiona to brace herself and wait for them to die down so she could see properly. When a few moments passed Rafe lowered his hands and exhaled slowly, the air behind him distorting and warping just like before when he had teleported himself to the Imperial Capital.
"Those portals again...are they actually his Trump Card?" thought Fiona with a confused expression when a few of the familiar pitch black ripples manifested behind Rafe.
The Lieutenant Colonel's grin widened ever so slightly and suddenly, without warning, dozens upon dozens of the same portals appeared, a literal wall taking shape behind him that stretched high into the sky and cast a dark glow onto the ground. Fiona started to feel nervous when from each ripple emerged every single weapon known to mankind, ranging from swords to lances to even axes. What was even scarier was that these weapons were made entirely out of the black flames of Amaterasu, so not only would they easily cut flesh...they would burn it as well.
"I won't be holding back, Fiona! Be careful!"
In an instant the battle began with Rafe launching several weapons from their ripples, the spears and swords flying at her as fast as bullets. Fiona darted to the right and she growled when they struck the ground and detonated in a brilliant fireball that emanated such heat she had to cover her face.
"I can't let one of those hit me, let alone get close to me. The only way for me to beat Rafe is to move constantly and get in close enough to use my strongest technique." she told herself, which happened in less then a second since she had to avoid another barrage of flaming weapons.
Rafe swept his hand to the right and a row of portals materialized in the air close to Fiona, the ninja changing the direction of her retreat when they too began to unleash a barrage weapons that tracked her like heat-seeking missiles.
To get some of the bothersome projectiles off her back she stabbed her sword into the earth and stopped on a dime, the sky instantly darkening when several storm clouds appeared above.
"Thunder Gate!" she proclaimed, Rafe squinting his eyes when the two massive lightning bolts came down from the sky and vaporized every single weapon that was in the immediate radius around her.
To follow up with her attack Fiona removed Kaminari from the dirt and aimed it up towards the storm clouds, Rafe raising an eyebrow out of curiosity for the reason why.
"Supreme Voltage!"
A third bolt of lightning shot out from the center of the storm and struck Fiona directly, her hair instantly standing on end as overwhelming amounts of electricity that would normally kill a human coursed through her veins and supercharged her muscles beyond their limits. When the lightning faded away her hair remained in its feral-like state and she sheathed her blade, small sparks dancing across her fingertips transferring over to the hilt.
"She must be getting ready to use her strongest technique. I know that during our brief skirmish in the mountains that she needs to get in close to use it, so all I must do is keep her at bay with my Trump Card." thought Rafe with a slight grin before he reorganized the positions of his portals with the snap of a finger, several ripples closing and reopening all around Fiona to completely encircle her.
With the seemingly overwhelming odds surrounding her, Fiona chuckled a little under her breath and tightened her grip on Kaminari. She was pouring every last ounce of her energy into this technique, the pride and joy of her arsenal. It had taken many months of blood, sweat and tears to master her Teigu, and an extra two weeks of non-stop training on the highest peak of the Tyrann Mountains during raging storms. Lightning had been consistently coming down from the heavens every second around her, and finally, on the twelfth day, with the last ounce of strength she possessed, she drew Kaminari from its sheath with such speed that when a sole flash of lightning appeared before her...she literally cleaved it in two.
"This ends now!"
Fiona kicked up a cloud of dirt when she darted straight for Rafe, the weapons he had launched at her striking the piece of earth where she had been standing and erupting in a ball of fire. Left and right she leaped a rolled to avoid every single attack the Lieutenant Colonel threw at her, and when he compensated by doubling the amount of portals and fire gates, she began to create several shadow clones of herself that zipped and darted this way and that to confuse and disorientate him.
Rafe brought his hand down and a grouping of portals appeared in the air a few inches above the ground, several axes rising up and rocking back a few inches before rocketing at Fiona from almost point blank range. Two of her shadow clones dove in front of their path and took the blow for her while she leaped over the explosion and bounded for him against all odds.
"If I can't deter you from reaching me...then I will meet you head on!" bellowed Rafe when he held an arm back and created a portal within the hole of the ring floating behind him, his hand dipping into its black depths and grasping some unknown object.
He pulled out a massive sword made of black fire and took a single step forward while he brought his arm back around the swipe at Fiona when she drew near, the female ninja seeing this and modifying her strategy mid-step.
Tatsumi, Esdeath and the others were glued on both opponents when they got within a couple of feet of one another, the leading edge of Rafe's sword coming ever closer to Fiona's right shoulder while her hand remained around the hilt of Kaminari. With the longer reach of his blade Rafe knew he could hit Fiona before she could reach him, but when he felt like his victory was assured, Fiona's body flickered and she covered the short gap between them in the blink of an eye...which meant the reach and lethality of his weapon was negated.
"Shit!"
"Ultimate Art: Raikiri!"
Fiona unsheathed Kaminari and slashed at Rafe's gut with the white-hot blade, the sword cutting through his midsection near his right hip and exiting his body out of the opposite hip. Nothing happened at first, but as soon as the Teigu left his flesh, a devastating shockwave exploded out from the duo followed by a blinding light and enormous heat surge that made the Jaegers and members of Night Raid watching rear back a little.
"Such overwhelming power...and it was all from a single blade swing?" thought Akame when the light vanished, revealing Fiona and Rafe standing mere inches apart from one another.
As soon as Fiona sheathed her blade, she caught Rafe when he almost collapsed to his knees at the huge gash in his side that had been created from her blade. The skin had charred over from the heat from the attack, and one glance at the landscape behind him revealed the sudden release of all of the stored up electricity had done the same thing to the land as it did to him. The ground was charred black in a wide arc that stretched for several hundred meters, with small pockets of steam rising up from the dirt in certain areas along the scar.
"Damn...you hit hard for a girl…" snickered Rafe with a heavy cough, his taunt making Fiona roll her eyes as she lifted him back to his feet.
"What am I going to do with you…?"
At that moment Tatsumi and Esdeath came to their side alongside Wave, Chelsea, Akame, Leone and Maya. Chelsea already had an opened bottle of Solomon's blood in her hand, but when she went to give it to Rafe he held a hand up and shook his head.
"Don't, I'll be fine. If I let a wound heal through other means beside the natural way, it'll damage my pride." he said with a weak smile, the Jaeger glancing back at Tatsumi with a raised eyebrow.
He shrugged and she put the cork back in the bottle before returning it to its brethren within the satchel, Rafe tapping Fiona on the shoulder to tell her he was able to stand with his own strength.
"You do realize I held back on that technique, right?" stated Fiona as they started to head back towards the capital, the Lieutenant Colonel paling a little.
"That was from you holding back?"
"Well duh, of course it was. I didn't want to kill you."
"What happens when you go full-power?" asked Wave somewhat nervously.
"Usually the person struck with the technique disintegrates instantaneously." replied Fiona happily, the others just staring at her with looks of shock.
"Okay then...good to know."
They returned to the capital and after saying goodbye for now, Fiona took Rafe to the hospital where he was admitted and thanks to the skilled doctors, he had the scarred skin removed so that the wound could begin to heal itself on its own. When the patches and medical tape had been wrapped around his midsection to cover up the gash, Fiona handed him his clothes so he could begin to put them back on.
"So you really can't feel that?" asked Fiona when, even after making movements that would normally cause someone with an injury such as his to wince and groan, Rafe finished slipping on his overcoat.
"Not a thing. I told you I don't feel pain any more, and you saw for yourself how many scars I've received." replied Rafe with a chuckle as they left his room and eventually the hospital itself.
"Well I hope the scar that I gave you will be your last. I don't want to lose you again."
Rafe stopped his feet and looked at Fiona, his heart tightening up in his chest a little because of how she worded the sentence and from the expression she had on her face after she lowered her face mask. Instantly he was reminded of the situation the pair shared between one another as a result of the revolution...and it was in those few seconds of realization that he now had a new reason to stay alive.
"Fiona, don't worry about that. If you haven't realized by now, It's going to take a lot to kill me. I'm not leaving your side any time soon, and once this damned revolution is over with...I will marry you. I promise." he said while wrapping an arm around her shoulder and bringing her in close, which caused Fiona's cheeks to become bright red.
He made them turn an even darker shade of red when he planted a kiss on the side of her cheek and squeezed her arm as they made their way back towards the Parliament Building to finalize the plans for the return of the Western Nations to the revolution. However, they had no clue about the figure watching them from afar with a devilish smile on her face as the wind blew her long flowing white hair.
"So...the Lieutenant Colonel defected alongside his entire division..." thought Kahfka with a giggle. "But first…"
He turned her head ever so slightly to the right and spotted her first two victims, who were patrolling the outskirts of the city in case any other unwanted visitors from the Empire were to arrive at the now freed Western Nations.
"It's time to have some fun."