Chapter 48: Treasures of the East
Que the Intro
(Song This is War) A warning to the people (Show the people of the Empire) the Good (Tatsumi stands with Night Raid, his generals and his new army in his new attire and flag of Night raid and Golden Dragon on shared pole held aloft by its standard bearer) and the Evil (Volgoth in front over a demonic host with the Six Arch-Devil Generals in front with Valtor's shadowing form and Mark in the background and Argardon towering over the rest of the Generals along with Boreth and his inner circle scheming) This is War. (Tatsumi and Esdeath protecting Makoto and his sisters) To the soldier (Bulat wearing Incursio without the helmet and Air siting in his lap) the civilian (Angela holding Ieyasu's hand as she rallies the people in the shield) the Martyr (Budo's dead body) the Victim (Kyoko being held and comforted by Tatsumi) This is war. (Armies clashing) It's the moment of truth (Isshin's Ghost without his face mask looking at Tatsumi) and the moment to lie (Volgoth grinning at his servants) , the moment to live (Tatsumi finding resolve in a fight) and the moment to die (Soldiers dead on the ground), the moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to FIGHT! (Que battle montage) To the Right! (Spear destroying a Dwarven Automaton) To the Left! (Esdeath killing a Revolutionary Army soldier with her new sword) We will Fight to death! (Sheele taking down a target yet to be revealed) to the End of the Earth! (Eden from space) It's a Brave new World! (Tatsumi kneeling before Supreme Matriarch Maltise) From Last to the First! (Emperors showing Tatsumi's Grandfather, Father, Uncle and Makoto) To the Right! (Bulat killing a Revolutionary Army General) To the Left! (Mine Firing away) We will Fight to Death! (Tatsumi slicing an enemy in half) To the Edge of the Earth! (Eastern Lands) It's a Brave new World (Strongholds of the Giants) a Brave new world! (Dwarven capital of Karak Hammerdeep) (End battle Montague and show Melitine under shadow of Volgoth with Red sky above) A warning to the Prophet (Syura clutching a Staff of Asha) the Liar (Volgoth sitting on the Imperial Throne with Graal and Lorhish to either side of him) the Honest (Aria with her new long hair and new outfit clutching her new sword) This is War. To the Leader (Najenda in her new get up and with her new ponytail with her Desert Eagles in hand and Susanoo at her side in a battle pose) The Pariah (Esdeath in her new outfit with her hair cut short levitating ice shards) The Victor (Spear in her new Teigu Armor Valkyrie with her new Teigu Greatsword Yadviga held aloft atop a mass of dead enemies) The Messiah (Tatsumi in the Golden Emperor's Armor with wings fully aloft and his sword Michael in one Hand and his shield Enoch in the other facing off against a Argardon) THIS IS WAR! (Mangled bodies of Volgoth's victims and of enemies killed by Tatsumi, add also Koro devouring baddies as Seryu grins maniacally) It the moment of Truth (Tatsumi with Akame his mother hugging him) the moment to lie (Boreth Falkland scheming) the moment to live (Tatsumi in bed with Merraid and Akame) The moment to die (Tatsumi killing the Skaven King) the moment to Fight! (Battles) the Moment to fight! (Tatsumi and Spear side by side) The Moment to Fight! TO FIGHT! (Night Raid vs the Arch-Devil Generals) To the right (Najenda firing her desert eagles) to the Left (Susanoo destroying a blob of Revolutionary Army soldiers) We will Fight to the Death! (Falkland's two generals killed by Sayo's arrows) To the Edge of the Earth (Map of Eden showing Tatsumi's journey so far) It's a Brave new World (Tatsumi overlooking the cities of the Lizardmen) From the Last to the First (Line of the Emperors of the Empire) To the Right (Spear driving her new Teigu Greatsword thru an enemy) To the Left (Akame slicing down several Skavan at once) We will fight to the death (Tatsumi fighting Volgoth) To the Edge of the Earth (Tatsumi overlooking a city not Melitine) It's a Brave new World from the Last to the First (Line of Emperors again with Tatsumi included) It's a Brave new world! (Empire's End logo appears) (Song End)
Zarteck one week later… For Tatsumi victory had come in the first war now it was key to win the next war: The War that Mattered. The reason it was the War that mattered was because if it wasn't won all of Eden would be doomed to fall to demons and all that he fought for would be destroyed. With that in mind he needed allies, the Golden Dragon Army was large, but the demons would outnumber any force that could be mustered by his followers, what he needed was more manpower and ways to even the field.
With that in mind he'd headed to Zarteck and had plans to march east at the head of the diplomatic expedition, he'd be protected by a small army of about 600 elite professional troops and it would be augmented by the camp following with irregulars who could fight if need be; however the focus was a diplomatic mission and with this in mind he needed to keep the force small enough not to cause any unnecessary conflicts but large enough to protect the sizeable amount of diplomatic gifts and trade goods he'd be bringing along with him. "The first step in Imperial reunification is complete" Tatsumi explained to his council, his counselors were those he trusted most, his wives, but also a fair few relatives by marriage like Baldrin Gassarnel who served as his Minister for foreign affairs. "Now my loyal friends and subjects we will being step two: that step is to gather allies and resources for the War that Matters: now I've kept quiet for now about this but as I recently made known after our victory at the battle of Mount Ya'ash the real enemy is gathering his strength, we are at war for nothing less the very survival of all life on Eden itself and perhaps beyond; an enemy that our world hasn't faced in over 4000 years: Demons" Tatsumi explained, this had been made clear who exactly they'd be fighting from then on but Tatsumi hadn't elaborated on how dire the situation was and so he told them about the scale of the threat and how large the forces arranged against them were. "To put it simply in order to beat this enemy we'll need an army the likes of which our world has never seen and one drawn from all the known-lands; extinction is the price for failure and I don't intend on going quietly nor does anyone in this room, so in order to face this enemy we'll need allies, money to pay for the costs of war and reconstruction and to right the wrongs of the old Empire and the failures of my ancestors: with that in mind I've had Dorothea bring me maps and books relating to everything that we know about the lands beyond the Empire that we can reach, along with the people of these lands and the mistakes of the Old Empire which we need to set right: what we have witnessed over the past few weeks was an Empire's End, the end of an Old Empire and hopefully the start of a new one that will be better for the world, because if this new Golden Dragon Empire fails the world will fail with it: I cannot overstate how much is at stake as we are the best chance for our world's survival and how important it is not to give up because if we do then everyone on Eden dies or will wish they were dead" Tatsumi explained. "Cosmina, Dorothea: the map" Tatsumi ordered and the two empresses brought over a large map about the size of one that would usually hang on a wall and laid it out flat on the large table.
"This is a map of the known world of Eden, more specifically let us focus on our own continent that of Adonai, it is large and vast: and home to many different peoples and races" Dorothea explained, then drew attention to the center of the map: the Empire as it had been around the time Tatsumi had first left Karsawa. The Empire itself was by far the largest nation on the map let alone the planet and was made even larger by the fact that the Northern half of Adonai had been conquered and absorbed by the Empire; the landmass that the Empire offered was over half of the supercontinent of Adonai's land mass. (Author's note: the Northern lands cover an area about the size of Canada and Alaska combined, and this about 20% of the continent, so my fellow Earth readers let's just put this into scale, Eden is about the size of Neptune with its largest moon Eve (Eostia) being slightly larger than Earth and other two moons Adam and Able being the size of Venus, and Eden has three large supercontinents, 8 normal continents and several large island archipelagos comparable in size to Indonesia if not larger with some islands being as big as subcontinents: in short Eden is a very large planet and has large amounts of land to cover, the Empire may be the largest nation on the planet but its actual territory would only amount about 5% of Eden's total land masses, also it isn't the only world superpower on the planet however it is the most advanced and has technology few of the other nations can match also I'll add that because the planet is so large the people of the planet don't even comprehend how big it is and the only way to fully accurately chart the planet would be from orbit)
"There are a number of nations that are independent from Imperial control and while they may have been hostile in the pass to the old Empire with a New one being formed they could be possible allies even vessels, the exact strength of the demon host is unknown but if historical records are accurate and from the few surviving historical accounts there was an Empire who was based on their strength which spanned most of the known world if not far beyond and as such the amount of forces needed to maintain an Empire of that size would have to greater than anything we at the moment possess, with that in mind many allies will be needed and we have a time limit: scouts have reported that ruins from that ancient Empire are putting out strange lights and demons have been sighted, it can be theorized that some sort of nexus is at the heart of each of these ruins and that when activated they expand the range of the demons and no doubt increase the numbers that can materialize in this world and at some point they will activate enough to reach a critical mass and overwhelm everything with numbers alone" Dorothea explained then sighed as if pained.
"In order to stop their spread and by more time to gather allies and in order to do that, as much as it pains me to do so to millenniums worth of history, we must destroy any of the black stone ruins we encounter to prevent these nexi from being used, however the exact number in existence is unknown and how many they'd need to activate to cover our planet in demonic hordes is equally so, so I think we have about three months to stop this, any longer and the demonic forces will activate nexi that are out of our reach and likely reach the threshold needed to unleash doom on all of Eden, with that in mind we need to gather as many allies as we can and destroy any and all ruins we can find: they are made of an oily black stone and can be easily recognized by the fact no wildlife goes near them and plants don't grow near them; however the proper amount of explosives should be enough to destroy them or at least damage them beyond repair" Dorothea elaborated.
"With all this in mind we need to gather allies and restore fractured Imperial territory, according to Esdeath the last time when demons threatened our world and served this dark empire of the distant pass they were defeated by an alliance of all free peoples with the Dwarves, Giants and Lizardmen providing the sheer power and forces needed to defeat them, so above all else we need to restore those ancient alliances and get them on side: with their power behind the far more numerous peoples of all Adonai we'd stand a fighting chance and be able to retake Melitine, Melitine is the key to the whole plan, we need to defeat Volgoth, if he falls the entire demon force will have no leader and return to the hell from which they came" Tatsumi explained, then looked at the map. "The Eastern Kingdoms are the first allies we should court with the Dwarves that live in the East and the Nova Atlantean Commonwealth being the top priorities with them being the most advanced and powerful forces in the East, the Eastern Kingdoms are the closest to our position and from what Dorothea told me of her travels to the East have more of those black ruins than anywhere else she's been, destroying those ruins and getting the Eastern Kingdoms on side will allow us to buy crucial time and gain more allies. After we handle the East we will head towards the North, the Giants are going to be powerful and useful allies against the coming threat also there are Dwarves there as well as the Yetis who'd be keen to join our cause with Esdeath's help, then we will head west and get the Western Kingdoms and the Dwarves onside along with retaking the western provinces and driving back or hopefully killing Teketh and his army, before we lastly corner around and retake the south and get the Lizardmen on side, once we have gathered our strength and destroyed as many ruins as possible we will march on Melitine and stop Volgoth for good; this is the best path to victory and because we'll have to cover a lot of ground the entire journey we will have to quick as we are on a time limit" Tatsumi explained. "Any suggestions because this plan has been gone over by me, Najenda, and Esdeath and we agree it is the best course of action, so it will be the base on which we operate but I want to know any advice you have to make it better" Tatsumi asked.
The following additions took about an hour to hammer out: Tatsumi also gave orders to retake and restore imperial lands by diplomacy at first and if necessary force: however the former was the focus and Tatsumi had a good deal of capital to spend with his recent victories so even if he wasn't at a given location his name had enough merit to convince people to join him without being there.
After the meeting Tatsumi went about gathering his party for the journey eastward, Nymeria and her friend Alyssa were necessary for diplomacy with the Tsuwangdani, his inner circle were also a guarantee as were his protectors but he wanted to select a few more people, as much as he wanted to take all those he cared for with him it was necessary to have some of his friends and lovers to stay in the Empire and act as his representatives to help rally the Empire to his banner and to that he had to leave behind those who had gravitas and skill with diplomacy: these included generals such as Lydia and Natsuhi but also included closer friends like Bulat and lovers like Pais and Roxanna in addition to his relatives like his mother Akame and sister Nessa, even Makoto would have to stay as he was perhaps his greatest representative being the former Emperor. So with that in mind he choose the following from his harem to accompany him: Naomi for her Teigu and her smarts, Sayo because of their longstanding friendship and because she'd insist on following him wherever he went, Clementine for the same reasons, Chelsea because she was extremely persuasive and very good with words thus making her a prime diplomate, Leone due to her prowess, Gin for her sword smarts, Tsukushi for comfort along with her marksmanship, and lastly Cassandra due to her eastern heritage and ties in the east that may have some aid with speaking with Easterners that were of the same race as her. Mine would have to stay to help with diplomacy as would Lilianna for the same reason.
But five women were key to his plan, Dorothea for her knowledge of the world, which was second to none in the Empire, she also brought along Mimi and Cosmina for support, and would be needed to guide his way. Najenda for her inspiring words and ability to rally even the most stubborn people to his side, and Esdeath for her unrivaled skills as a military commander and they ability to intimidate some people that may otherwise refuse to aid him: it was a matter of diplomatic balance between respect and fear, between the two he considered respect to be the best option as it made more friends but fear had its merits and if he couldn't be respected fear was an option he'd use because he had to if nothing else though it would be less fear of him and more fear of Esdeath. Then there was Spear his protector and closest comforter who'd never leave his side and would be along with Seryu in charge of his security which would include all three of his bodyguard units (The Four Rakshasa Champions, Elite Seven and Three Sacred Swords) which would always be at his side. And of course, lastly there was his Angel, Aria who he was determined to have at his side wherever he went and who gave him that endless reserve of will and resolve to soldier on even when faced with the worst of hardships.
Planning out his next moves required him to think and best way Tatsumi could think was by training himself to be better and as such he headed to the training grounds where on his way to the melee grounds he found Sayo and Remus practicing their archery and unfortunately for the practice targets with their Teigu bows. Remus's Teigu bow as brand new and a recent addition to her arsenal: the bow was called L'Arc Qui Ne Faut which had an endless supply of energy arrows like Icarus but could fire multiple homing shots at the same time. It had belonged to the Revolutionary Army General Nuge, an overconfident military commander who rushed into battle when his subordinates begged him not to and who had led the RA forces in Malaquo. Nuge had died a rather ignominious death as during the battle of Kalaqui woods he had been killed by a rather lucky goblin archer that shot him in the back of his head during the start of that particular three-way fight. Remus had bonded with and taken his bow after the fight. Despite his training her in the art of the sword which was made as a defensive tactic she was a far more deadly and skilled archer giving Sayo a run for her money. "Hello, my lovely wives" Tatsumi greeted, Sayo and Remus turned to face him.
"Hello Tatsumi-kun" Sayo greeted and ran over to kiss him, she wore a white and black Gi for her archery training and looked cute as ever and even more so with her new hairstyle of two large buns on either side of her head beneath the ears, she sported her butterfly pendent as normal but she now wore a silver and pearl crown on her forehead as part of her new title of Empress. Remus was dressed similarly to Sayo, but she wore hair in a solitary pony-tail similar to Seryu's and her Gi was yellow green like her eyes, and her crown was made of gold and adorned with sapphires instead of pearls.
"Hi Tatsumi!" Remus shouted and put away her bow and hugged him and began kissing him affectionately on his cheek.
"Hey, do you two mind sparing with me? I'm in need of a couple of sparing partners and you two could always use some more skill with the sword" Tatsumi replied.
"Oh, gladly Tatsumi, you know how much I love practicing with you, speaking of swords you think you could after practice give me and Remus time with your other sword" Sayo replied seductively and kissed him on the cheek.
"Gladly it will be good to kill time while waiting for the expedition to get ready for the march east" Tatsumi replied.
"I'm looking forward to it, you know when we first left our village I never expected to get this far, hard to believe a few months ago we were just normal country-folk and now look at us, you an Emperor and me one of your many Empresses about to journey to lands we never dreamed of visiting, trust me if my little brother had suggested this would be what would happen to us if we left Karsawa I'd have laughed all the way to Melitine" Sayo replied
"I know, you really though don't need to rub it into Ieyasu that you're older then him, you told me its only by three minutes" Tatsumi replied.
"Please Tatsu-bunny, Ieyasu acts younger than he is and will always be my little brother because of his immaturity. Speaking of he's got the easy job, keep Angela and Melitine safe, that giant shield does most of the work for him and he gets to spend his time goofing off and banging Angela: I'm jealous" Sayo replied adding in Esdeath's nickname for him as Sayo loved using it openly now that Ieyasu was nowhere to overhear it and out of affection for Esdeath.
"And what we're doing isn't easy? Besides you get to bang me whenever you feel inclined to" Tatsumi joked, Sayo laughed slapped him playfully on his rump then stopped herself.
"If you think we got the easy task I worry that you may have hit your head heard when I wasn't looking" Sayo replied, Tatsumi hugged her.
"I know it's going to be a hard task but remember why we're doing it: it's for us all, I'm not just saving the world because I'm the hero I'm doing it for those I love and those I'm sworn to protect; but ultimately to make sure that everyone who has died because of me not being there for the Empire and who has died because of pointless killing and Volgoth's tyranny didn't die in vain: I want to change our world for the better, I always said there is always good in people and I want to bring that good to forefront of everyone on Eden, to do things that everyone can be happy for and that I can be the person I need to be" Tatsumi explained.
"You know you shouldn't aspire to be something you don't want to be, be who you want to be Tatsumi, your choices are your own and don't let other people decide them for you" Sayo replied, Tatsumi kissed her.
"Sayo I want to be the one who changes our world for the better, for my children to live in peace and for the evils that have ravaged our world for centuries to be put to an end, if not for good to be pushed to a point where if they happen it will be something that incites outrage and is surprise rather than being just the way the world works: to change our world for the better and to allow myself and everyone else to be at peace and hopefully never have to kill again" Tatsumi explained.
"And that is why I love you Tatsumi, you care so much for other people that you're willing to do the right thing for the right reasons even when it's not the most practical thing to do, and more importantly you don't let others turn you into what you don't want to be" Sayo replied and kissed him romantically.
"Hey what about me?" Remus replied interrupting the kiss. "Don't I get a kiss too?" Remus replied, both of them chuckled and Tatsumi let go of Sayo and kissed Remus in kind, she blushed cherry red.
"Don't think I forgot about you Remus, now let's practice, I love you both equally but if the power of love was enough to win every battle we'd have already stopped Volgoth and have peace, at the end of the day it will be decided by whoever prepared the most and that caution will win the day" Tatsumi replied and the three of them went to the sparing grounds picked up practice blades and began practicing, none of them went easy on the other and it was two versus one. Sayo was easily though the weak link in this sparing fight and it scared Tatsumi, the fact that the person who had been with him the longest and who he had loved from childhood was so vulnerable if backed into melee alarmed him greatly and he resolved to train her to be as great as him if not better so that if the unthinkable in a fight were to happen and somebody managed to close the distance Sayo would make them regret it. With that in mind Tatsumi made sure during the spar to focus on Sayo and keep Remus at a distance, this was both a practical and tactical move, Remus was by far the superior swordswoman having been trained by him for longer and trained in use of the sword during her membership in the Group of Terror and had been raised as a fighter where Sayo had learned merely what was needed for life in the Empire, granted while Night Raid training and missions had ironed out a LOT of Sayo's flaws as a warrior they didn't cover all her bases and Tatsumi wanted to make sure that she along with everyone he loved and cared for was prepared for the worst.
"Sayo's sword counters favor her left hand, but she doesn't counter as well with her right which means I'll attack there" Tatsumi thought and launched a flurry of blows that disarmed Sayo before turning to deal with Remus. "Sayo! Your guard is too focused on your dominant hand, if someone closes the distance they can go right for that gap in your defense" Tatsumi remarked then engaged Remus fully, that fight took way longer as Remus was very much a prodigy with the blade and was coming into her own with regards to it and was fast becoming the best of his Sacred Swords in a melee, to a point where they were even. Until Tatsumi decided to break out a technique he hadn't taught her yet and easily disarmed her. "You're getting extremely good Remus, you really gave me a good run, but I haven't taught you all I know and even I don't know all could know about swordplay, trust me though you are a prodigy and soon I'll run out of stuff to teach you" Tatsumi explained.
"What about me?" Sayo asked.
"You I have a lot to teach, I know you're the best archer I know but I don't want to take the chance of some lucky enemy closing the distance" Tatsumi replied.
"Please I'll just fly away" Sayo joked.
"Take this seriously, I know most enemies you kill will be ones you've fired at from above but I've learned that neglecting ANYTHING with regards to fighting is liability that anyone who is shrewd enough to exploit that weakness will do so: besides would you rather I teach you or have Esdeath teach you" Tatsumi replied, Sayo frowned.
"Fine you win, you're being overcautious though" Sayo replied.
"I've learned that you can't just throw caution to the wind and expect to come out alive and I can't be everywhere to protect everyone I love at the same time, no I need to be sure every one of you is on par with or better than me when it comes to a fight so Sayo you'll be learning from me everything I've learned from Spear, Esdeath, Merraid- everyone who's taught me how to fight, you'll learn all the stuff they taught me and I'm not going to let up until you and everyone else who follows me into danger knows how to fight as well as me or any of the others who've instructed me" Tatsumi replied, Sayo chuckled.
"Hey no need to give me a monologue Tatsumi-kun, I was just kidding; now let's continue our sparring and afterwards I think you, me and Remus should go somewhere and relax, I heard from Lydia that there some interesting sights to see here in Zarteck and I'd love to see some of the ones you've saw win you first came here if you know what I mean?" Sayo replied, Tatsumi smiled, Sayo readied her practice blade. "Alright now show me how you really fight!" Sayo shouted and charged and thus their sparring resumed. They sparred for a good 20 more minutes before someone else decided to interject herself into that sparring session. " Ahc!" Tatsumi grunted as he parried a sword strike from another practice blade that had come at him from the rear.
"Not bad for watching your back" Shastavi commented Tatsumi turned to face her then sidestepped Sayo's attack and parried a blow from Remus with his left-hand blade.
"I've had the habit of doing so Shastavi, long before I ever had a bodyguard" Tatsumi replied then disarmed both Sayo and Remus. "Timeout" Tatsumi ordered, all three stood ready, Tatsumi waited for them to relax their stances. "Sayo, Remus, you two are done for now, Shastavi I want to see what you are capable off one on one against a fighter of equal skill, I've seen your fights with the traitors but they didn't have any real skilled Blademasters or troops; nope what I want to see is how you preform of someone who shares your fighting style, in short me your husband and Emperor, the one you are sworn to protect and if you can fight as good as if not better than me you'll fulfill that duty perfectly" Tatsumi replied.
"I'm up for that, you've got no idea what I'm capable of and if you think my father is formidable as an opponent let's just say he taught me everything I know and then some" Shastavi replied then grabbed Remus's practice sword and gave no room for hesitation, Tatsumi had to move quickly to counter her strike. One sword locked his left blade and he used his right to counter her other blade, the two swords clashed and a whirlwind of blows happened; every second strikes hit and ferocious ones at that, both combatants did so at speeds that Sayo and Remus quickly noted that they couldn't tell who was faster let alone who had the advantage. This indecisive bought continued for a good while as neither Tatsumi or Shastavi could break the other's guard and both only grinned as they both knew that this was very, very tight. It kept going like this for a few more minutes when Tatsumi decided to change style into that favored by Sheele and the Sorrowful Ones, which while it confused Shastavi didn't hamper her defense and she adapted to change rather quickly. Tatsumi then changed styles again, this time using Oarburgh swordplay techniques for duel blade wielding, again Shastavi adapted her defense and Tatsumi had to change once more as Shastavi had become an immovable opponent something that he hadn't really encountered outside of his spars with Esdeath and Kurome: and it kept getting more frustrating.
"I've studied many fighting styles from a young age, I had to Tatsumi in order to survive and have my father think I was worth keeping, you think your life has been hard mine has been harder" Shastavi remarked, Tatsumi then adjusted his plan and let her attack him, it was a bold feint and Tatsumi used it as a way of leveraging her defense against her, this allowed him to study her blade technique for weaknesses and found just one; minor but there and adjusted his style again but only this time he didn't use any style he had learned but one he had created himself in that moment and on the fly and this technique was designed with one thing in mind turning his opponent's offense into his defense. With this adjustment to his style the fight nearly turned to his favor but Shastavi still held him back but this time the defense was weakened and with a series of swift counter strikes he disarmed her of one blade and used his spare blade to pin her by the hair into the wall mat as he disarmed her of the other weapon, pinning her down with his body wait. "I- I yield" Shastavi replied, Tatsumi kissed her on the lips.
"That's for giving me the hardest fight I've had since I fought Honest, also for showing me that you indeed are able to protect yourself and me with full ability" Tatsumi explained.
"Oh really?" Shastavi replied and began to wrestle with him, this was a mistake as Tatsumi had a good deal more body strength applied against her at the moment and she got for her efforts her right arm pinned behind her shoulder while her left arm was pinned to the ground. "Damn, you- you are way overprepared" Shastavi replied.
"When you train with Sheele you tend to learn to expect the unexpected and to expect the expected to masquerade as unexpected, also for the wrestling moves I learned that from Gin, you're not the only person who is trained in the Elite Seven's fighting style here" Tatsumi replied, Shastavi grinned sticking her tongue out at him.
"Please you think I didn't know that; still though that was impressive, and you are the only person who's managed to beat me fair and square in a spar, well that wasn't my father" Shastavi replied.
"I'm not him, speaking of Teketh I'd appreciate you training me how to face him so that when we do end up running into him in the West, we'll be ready to give him the takedown he deserves" Tatsumi explained.
"Gladly, now I want in on what happens next now that you're done sparing for the day" Shastavi replied.
"Alright, I guess we can have a foursome" Tatsumi replied, the sweat on his brow flowed and he wiped it off.
Shortly… Tatsumi's first instinct after the sparring was to immediately get cleaned up: Zarteck had a number of natural springs that served for both private and public bathhouses and spas, but that wasn't what he had in mind, no the governor's palace which had been given to him as temporary dwelling had its own spring and that was both rumored to have the best water for baths as it had certain minerals that helped strengthen body and tend to injuries. The first question Tatsumi asked every time he arrived in a location is where was the best hot spring in the area, as per his normal habits of bathing and- using them for more secluded engagements, he had taken the hot springs near Night Raid HQ for granted but fortunately throughout the Empire large amounts of these geothermal wonders were available for his personal use.
The spring in question Tatsumi found himself in had been worked with to form a private bathing room and the tub for it was comparable to the kind of pool he was used to with his old stomping grounds near Melitine. His Wives laid the towels aside an helped him remove his attire then each other with their clothing, Tatsumi laid back in the side of the pool on.
"Relax, Tatsumi-kun, let us take of you" Sayo said seductively and in soothing voice before allowing him to rest his head on her breast and begin drinking, Remus and Shastavi tended to his groin, the erection Tatsumi had worked up was rather large and begged for attention; Shastavi began sucking the tip while Remus tended to his balls; Sayo moaned as Tatsumi drank from her right breast and fondled her left with his right hand as his left rested on her ample rump. The blowjobs bellow continued until Sayo steered his length into her rectum and she pushed him flat, Shastavi mounted Tatsumi's face and moaned as Tatsumi instinctively worked her tongue. Remus felling neglected returned to licking Tatsumi's balls, while Shastavi took a good look at Sayo.
"I like what I see" Shastavi teased seductively, Sayo to her surprise kissed her.
"You think I don't" Sayo joked and the two made out as Tatsumi did his work, things got heated as Remus tired of both of the two and pushed them both off to take Tatsumi for herself.
"Oh Tatsumi!" Remus moaned and made out like mad with him as she felt him pierce her folds. Tatsumi was perturbed by Remus's sudden actions but noted that Sayo and Shastavi seemed to be too focused on each other to note Remus had just single-handed pushed both of them off of Tatsumi and the two were quite happy to play with each other while Tatsumi gave Remus the whole works, diving into the water with her and going a good seven rounds before pumping her full of baby batter and she passed out. "Man, Remus needs to work on her endurance" Tatsumi thought, but didn't have time to rest as Shastavi swam over to him.
"Fuck me" she commanded in no uncertain terms; Tatsumi noted Sayo was laying back in the water grinning half dazed. Tatsumi obliged it had been a while since his favorite of the new Elite Seven his sword sheathed in her and he would be doing a LOT more of this with her as she was going to prove a constant companion in the days ahead: he was planning out ideas for interacting with the other two Elite Seven girls who had been assigned to the group by Esdeath: Osaka and Hiromi but that could be done whenever he felt like it. For now, the only thing on his mind was boning Shastavi and as soon as he was done with boning her Sayo. Speaking of he found her breasts pressing against his back and head on his shoulder as she kissed his neck and nibbled his ear in a playful kissing manner.
"Tatsumi" Shastavi moaned, her eyes began to roll forward in bliss as Tatsumi moaned in orgasm, impregnating her, before sucking her breasts as he resumed giving it to her.
When done with Shastavi Sayo had her turn and while he wanted to limit the number of rounds due to Sayo being pregnant, Sayo just didn't care and gave him twice as many rounds as Remus before yielding out.
An hour later…
"Your majesty!" a messenger shouted from behind the door.
"Yes" Tatsumi answered lazily as he was way too comfortable with the three-woman snug against him in the warm water.
"The preparations are ready; Empress Aria awaits you and the three Empresses accompanying you" the messenger replied, Tatsumi yawned.
"I'll be there shortly, 20 minutes tops, I must redress and make myself decent" Tatsumi replied.
"Very well, Empress Akame will be waiting for you outside this room to escort you there" the Messenger replied.
"I'll take it from here" Akame replied, Tatsumi got out of the water, dried off and as soon as he and his wives had finished that the four of them redressed looking great and professional afterward.
"How do I look?" Tatsumi asked.
"Like you've just had a full spa treatment, you smell like peaches" Akame commented.
"Peach scented Shampoo; part of the treatment" Shastavi commented and Akame escorted them to gathering point, Tatsumi was impressed by the dedication and grandeur of this procession, one that was meant to show of the wealth of the Empire but its power also; Tatsumi had been persuaded to take an extra 400 people with this expedition and it showed, this procession looked like a trading expedition but also to a degree a well-armed and secure one as the Empire's Finest soldiers had been gathered for the escort. Tatsumi climbed up onto a large palanquin which was pulled by a pair of Earth Dragons, though to call it a palanquin was a disservice as it was the size of a small house with room him and his empresses to live and sleep in along with layers of protection; the only drawback was that it didn't allow much for him to see out of apart from couple of small windows made of bullet-proof glass.
With him on board he didn't have much time to examine the surroundings when shouts were heard, and he had to brace himself as this caravan began moving. Dorothea found him shortly, dressed in a regal turquoise and orange Tudor gown with a crown of fine silver in her hair alongside her signature ribbon she looked like an Empress ought to and carried herself with a noble bearing she hadn't used before. "Ah Tatsumi isn't it wonderful, adventure awaits us in lands untraveled by most people in the Empire, in fact most wouldn't believe they existed, and in such accommodations, why I haven't traveled in a palanquin for 300 years now" Dorothea replied.
"Indeed- 300 years?! Dorothea how old are you?" Tatsumi asked.
"957, and still young, a side effect of Absordex, it has the ability to prolong a person's life-span and youth for as long as its wielder choose to, but there is a price, blood of living creatures are required, for me that is a large amount of pigs but the occasional robber and cutthroat have sustained my youth: I have many fields of research Tatsumi but my most sustained pursuit is a quest for immortality, I strive to understand Teigus to understand Absordex and by extension its ability to prolong indefinitely the life-span of its user and reverse engineer the ability but in a manner that doesn't require the killing of other living things and to make the effect permanent, essentially immortality, the most however I've done is figure out ways to prolong the human life-span and cures to wipe out numerous diseases to extend it further, but yet to attain true immortality" Dorothea replied.
"How is it no one notices how long you've been around" Tatsumi asked then noted her laugh.
"Tatsumi human ignorance and stupidity is as limitless as time and the universe itself, but to tell the truth the true reason people don't notice is a mixture of apathy and the fact people assume that I'm one in a long line of nobles, well I am but my family line died out years ago during the Great Plague of 1038IC, but true to point most people don't care about my age or me in general, the reason I'm alive today is that throughout the centuries the Empire had offered support to my research and once the bureaucratic grants came in I was forgotten in the rest of the Bureaucracy and afterwards no one noticed little old me; but you don't let my age distract you from me, you know who I am" Dorothea replied.
"I do, I just couldn't bear to leave you behind when I die" Tatsumi replied.
"You would not, upon your death I'll cease to use Absordex, what use is there in living forever when you can't share it with the one you love most" Dorothea replied. "Anyway you've distracted me for long enough, lets discuss business; first off I've confirmed without a shadow of a doubt you've gotten me pregnant, so congratulations, second we must review our course; I've taken the liberty of planning out the expedition for you, my knowledge of this region is extensive as I've traveled here during my many archeological expeditions and other research projects, as such I've selected a path that will take two weeks to traverse, as for the way back I've already prepared two contingency plans for that endeavor, but one of those is dependent on your skills as a diplomat, the other is just in case you fail in that task, but I have faith in you" Dorothea explained then pointed at about twelve major kingdoms and twice that many minors ones that would be best suited to join his cause.
"First stop will be the closest eastern neighbor of the Empire the Kingdom of Ambi: it's a humid place but rather open, the people of it are largely peaceful but they have warred with the Empire in the past as part of coalitions but not on their own, their King Porus is reasonable sort and renowned for being a good diplomat, so expect him to be an easy ally to gain, I recommend in order to secure alliances marriage pacts with local Rajs, Kings, Khans and Lords that would be sympathetic to your cause, the chief prize is the Supreme Matriarch Maltise of the Tsuwangdani, Alyssa and Nymeria have already gone ahead to speak with her and I predict a 95% chance she accepts your offer, she is an extremely powerful ally to have as her kingdom is one of the largest in the East. However above all else there are two rather important allies that you need to court above all the others: the Eastern Dwarves and the Nova Atlantean Commonwealth; they are the most advanced peoples in the east and aren't challenged by their neighbors out of respect for their technological superiority: they will be the hardest to convince, the Nova Atlanteans are notoriously isolationist it comes of some cataclysm that destroyed the Old Atlantean Empire: I'm not sure about the specifics as the records from that time period are lost to the ages, the Dwarves may have some but I doubt it as the force from the cataclysm was enough to collapse the vaults of several of the Eastern Karaks in aftermath; however some records MAY have survived and if they did I will wager a room of gold that they wouldn't share those records with any outsider" Dorothea explained.
"Thanks for explaining" Tatsumi replied.
"You're welcome and now I will begin your education on eastern customs, history and cultures; you'll need this information and you've nothing better to do as we journey east" Dorothea replied and began to elaborate on their history for the next three hours, along with having him read books she had brought along on the subject several of which she wrote herself. To most people this would have been a dull and boring process but Tatsumi was not most people, he loved finding out information of any kind, but especially that of things that most people wouldn't even consider looking or asking about, this usually meant history in all forms and the various practices across the world. As such he took to Dorothea's lessons like a duck to water and by the time they crossed the border of Harmene River which marked the bounds of the Empire and the East he had absorbed a large amount of information, and by the time they arrived at their first destination the Kingdom of Ambi he had learned all Dorothea had to teach him.
To the people of Ambi seeing an expedition of the Empire in such a manner was unusual for those of the current generation, a number of off and on wars had occurred between them and the Empire which had ended in status quo treaties in which neither side gained anything and took a population dent in the process. However, to see Imperials marching in such a dignified manner and carrying large amounts of goods and a royal procession gave them the clear message that the Imperials this time were there with good intent and desired friendly relations.
That in mind when they arrived at the border city of Hakshalla, emissaries from the king of Ambi bid them welcome and invited them to his capital in hopes of fruitful negotiations. Tatsumi informed them that they had the same intentions and was glad to hear that the king was willing to be reasonable and negotiate, he also informed them that he was a new ruler and that any deals they could negotiate would be to mutual benefit and informed them of his victory over the Revolutionary Army as a warning that while he may be new to his job he wasn't a stranger to war or going to be taken advantage of, he expected him and the King to treat each other with equal respect for the others achievements and station.
The following three days were spent journeying to Taxilla the capital of Ambi where King Porus welcomed them with open arms, the negotiations between the two monarchs took about two more days but by the end of it pacts had been negotiated along with an alliance against the demons who had been sighted in local ruins in Ambi and were an obvious threat, Tatsumi then with the aid of the king's forces and explosives destroyed all black stone ruins in Ambi, the charges were enough to collapse the structures and destroy any trace of the ruins, the Blackstone faded out of reality when shattered as whatever magic tethered it to their world was broken. After this brief two-day campaign King Porus had Tatsumi wed two of his daughters named Khalia and Beshava in turn annexation was made into the Empire with promises given to King Porus for fair trade deals and that he was allowed to retain his throne and royal style.
After the acquisition of Ambi, the Imperial expedition moved onto the Hamva steppes where a number of semi nomadic peoples, that were composed of humans, hobgoblins, four armed humans and Centaurs were locked in struggles and conflicts, the largest of these particular warlord khanates was ruled by the Great Centaur Khagan Olerius Stormhoof, this warlord ruled over a number of centaur khans but also some non-centaur warlords who allied with him for protection from their rivals, other Khans and Warchiefs held sway too and two minor kingdoms of settled people were eager to join Tatsumi in exchange for aid against a militant and aggressive khan who had enforced hard tributes on them, this khan, who was named Vagoi and was human, was also disliked by a number of lesser warlords who eagerly joined Tatsumi at the prospect of money and land along with retribution against this rival khan.
The Battle of Shandra-Gurpar followed and Tatsumi lead an army of about 4000 nomads, 2000 Ambi allies, along with 3000 allies from the two city states and 2000 imperials against this warlord who had near equal numbers. However Tatsumi had chosen the ground for the sight well as the ground was firm on high hills but mud had shaken the valley, Tatsumi then had his nomad allies dismount and fight on foot while setting up sharpened stakes and caltrops made of stone in the muddy plains below in addition to setting up mantraps which were large holes covered by tarps that were filled with sharpened stakes and thorns.
When the Khan's army arrived, they eagerly charged their largely shock cavalry based army at the fortified position. This proved very fatal for them: the caltrops and stakes along with concealed mantraps wreaked havoc on the cavalry mangling the horses of their enemies and stopping the charge in its tracks, the numbers were then thinned further by barrages of ranged fire, arrows, bolts and bullets felled riders and mounts by the hundreds and finished those who had been wounded, the most deadly were the longbowmen of Ambi who were deadly archers with a special longbow that when anchored in the ground allowed for deadly precision shots that rarely missed. The enemy army routed after the Khan was felled by one of these longbowmen, and the survivors surrendered on mass hoping for a merciful fate. That fate came when Tatsumi offered them a place in his army in exchange for oaths of loyalty and vassalage to the Empire. After this victory Tatsumi's agents discovered that another kingdom that of Sagommora had been using its money and influence to throw the various warlords and Khans along with the two cities states of Samaryana and Hakonni into conflicts to curtail the power, with this information Tatsumi managed to unify a number of the lesser tribes and rally the two city states to his side against this threat and called upon King Porus for war.
This war known as the war of the Golden Raj was a rather brief affair, the king of Sagommora used his money to hire a large mercenary army to spare the lives of his own subjects which were not so numerous due to a blight and famine that had hit the region, the money however was large enough to hire over 200,000 soldiers. The war became brief however when Tatsumi brought up Imperial wealth and bought the largest captains off and over to his side in addition to offers of land and treasure from Sagommora once it was made an Imperial province, this was enough to turn over 170,000 mercenaries against their employer with the remainder falling in with the turncoats after their leaders were assassinated by Night Raid strike teams. The Kingdom was turned defenseless and in a panic, uprisings occurred as lesser princes and Rajs turned to Tatsumi's side in hopes of maintaining their lands, those who didn't join were killed outright and their territory given to mercenary captains. The war itself lasted only two days as within the two days the King of Sagommora was assassinated and his successor knelt before the Emperor's army as a new Imperial vassal.
In the aftermath of this conflict other rulers choose to ally with the new power that was rising, the Great Centaur Khagan sent his daughter Addalla to negotiate with the Emperor and was wed to him in alliance in exchange for the maintaining of his status which Tatsumi granted. The wedding night was- well quite the spectacle and Addalla was fun to ride literally, however her hooves did a number on him and he woke up the next morning feeling extremely sore. With this alliance other rulers followed suit, negotiating annexation and marriages between their daughters and the young Emperor, while at the same time destroying eastern ruins that were of demonic origins. Volgoth's champion in the area Xana was rather annoyed by the developments and informed Volgoth of the new developments.
These developments were noticed by other powers too as Tatsumi moved further along his route more rulers paid homage, tribute and bent the knee to him. Eventually he came to the grand Karaks of the Dwarves in the Atalinai-Vagai mountains which the dwarves called the Karakii-Ivoki-Magzuth, which translated as the Copper Mountains for their massive deposits of that metal. The Dwarves however were very wary of him: the wariness came from a distrust of Imperials that had been well earned, specifically by the Silverblood Clan, a large clan that had lived in the Empire but had been driven out after the War of the Mad Emperor, the other two clans the Copperheads and Stonehelms were more trusting as they had not been wronged by the Empire but still treated Tatsumi with a good deal of suspicion. Out of the gate annexation was off the cards as was war, but treaties could still be made, and the Dwarves were keen to do so when Tatsumi informed them of the changes in the Empire and the threat of the demons. The Dwarves had long memories, and lived long lives, some of the oldest Longbeards had been around during the days of the Blackstone Empire which was called by them Vagna-Rukar-Umbaraki: which translated to the Wicked Domain of Traitors.
The negotiations took longer and Tatsumi spent another week hammering out the details, the most annoying point was that the Silverbloods wanted their old holds in the Empire back, some of which had become inhabited by humans and had become major cities in their own right. Tatsumi agreed but on the condition that any current residents in those holds that held Imperial citizenship be allowed to live there and that the Silverblood Clan would have to agree to become vassals of the Empire in good standing but with more autonomy then most. The Silverblood King Fundin V Silverblood agreed to these terms and wed his daughter Kema as part of the deal. The Eastern Kings followed suit but were not vassals and pledged to become military allies. As a result of these treaties Dwarven weaponry and armor along with their lesser automatons and runework equipment were allowed to be sold, however Teigus and their more advanced technology, weaponry, machines and vehicles along with greater Runic constructions were held back, those required the High King's approval and Tatsumi had not yet earned that favor, he did however have to earn the favor of the two Eastern Clans which required him to attack two large kingdoms who had warred in the past with Dwarves. During this time Tatsumi allied with Tsuwangdani and Supreme Matriarch Maltise whose beauty was fair above all of her race and who eagerly agreed to an alliance and annexation in addition to pledging the forces of the largest eastern kingdom to him. With these newfound allies the remaining kingdoms bent the knee, the two larger nations repaid the Dwarves and returned stolen relics and treasures to the Dwarves.
But all these acquisitions paled before the last and that of the Nova Atlantean Commonwealth that dwelled in the Atlantean Archipelago off the eastern coast and that requires a chapter in itself so join me in this next chapter for the story of the Atlantean war where Tatsumi and this ancient remnant of a fallen empire fight against ancient evils and the forces of Volgoth Ugor and concludes Tatsumi's eastern adventures. Note that what has been told so far is an abridgement of the events that occurred, an extensive account would require a novel of its own and I may cover it more in the future but now let us move on to the next chapter.
