We're getting into a major battle in this chapter. I took inspiration for the battle from Warriors Orochi 3, which wasn't easy. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, or Overlord.
Spirit Tracks Chapter 41: The Battle in the Ruins
Things finally started to pick up after a few weeks of silence. The Beastman Coalition had been formed, made up mostly of ape men, rabbit men, the mole-like quagoa, the rat-like armat, and of course the bafolk. They had just reached the ruins on the outskirts of the Holy Kingdom, only to be met by the combined might of the Joestar team and Momonga's faction. Already the majority of the fighting was kept at the southern end of the ruins, when the sounds of train whistles could be heard. Up on a nearby hill Barbro looked through a telescope and frowned. "One of the first armies out and it's Enri Emmot's Stand, Seven Nation Army."
"That's the girl who was able to decimate the armed forces I left you with, yes?," Boullope asked. Barbro nodded. "If I had to estimate, I'd say it's power would make it effectively the third most powerful army in the entire realm. Small in number but with all the power of a stone roller in motion, or one of the locomotives that run along the Spirit Tracks. Speaking from experience, those goblins are not to be underestimated." "Even more considering the armed forces supporting them," Yaldabaoth noted, "The Baharuth army, the Re-Estize royal guard, an army of lizardmen..."
He grimaced. "And it looks like the dwarves have also thrown in their lot with some of their munitions. Their black powder weapons hold tremendous destructive power." Meanwhile, the United Armies where making their advancement. "Charge down the eastern side to where George and Momonga are staging!," Gazef called out, "Take out any enemy that gets in your way!" As Climb was slicing his way through the beastmen forces, he felt a pain in his gut and looked to see an armat had struck through the underside of his mythril armor.
The armat was smug at first, until he felt his skull give way under a deadly blow from Climb. He had slammed the hilt of his sword into the armat's forehead, empowered by Living on a Prayer's strength boost. "Do those wounds heal?," Brain asked, having killed a few beastmen of his own. "After a bit," Climb admitted, "I still feel the pain though." Brain shrugged as he smiled. "Probably for the best. If you're not feeling pain, you're not alive." He then spotted a few ape men approached. "Hybrid Theory!" Brain focused his Stand's power and sliced the air a few times, the martial arts created from them dicing the ape men to ribbons.
"We're nearing Lord Joestar and Lord Momonga," Climb noted. Brain smirked. "No need to be so formal, kid. You were given an official royal title of your own due to heroic actions during the Battle of Katze Plains." Climb had nearly been trampled by one of the goat monsters created by Bellriver's Stand, only for his own Stand to give him the power to lift the creature off of him by just the hoof and slay it in one blow to its neck. Much of that strength had been from adrenaline and worn off, but he had still gained much strength in the aftermath and saved the entire unit he was with.
Before long the United Forces had reached George and Momonga's teams, right as the bulk of the Beastman Coalition advanced with its cavalry forces. The goblin longbowmen were quick to strike down the cavalrymen. "This is our opening," George said. He looked toward Gazef. "Keep them occupied as much as possible! We'll get inside the temple!" As the Joestar group headed off for the other side of the tracks that led to the Desert Temple, the United Forces moved to the main staging area in the center of the ruins.
"The enemy main camp is behind the stone doors at the edge of the ruins!," Momonga noted. "Move the dwarven cannons into position!," Gazef called out, "All units, move to clear out the central area! Give them room to maneuver!" The river running through the field near the ruin started running red with the wounded, the dying, and the dead. The United Forces were overwhelming, but the Beastman Coalition was no slouch, managing to get in a few dozen kills of their own. Barbro and his allies watched the battle from their position.
"We made sure to evacuate our servants within the temple, yes?," Barbro asked. "Of course," Yaldabaoth replied, "You made it clear their usefulness had not yet passed. But I'm a little confused. You already have a copy of them recorded into your own Stand. So why not let them be returned?" "For hostage negotiation," Boullope explained, "There's no way to remove the spores from Kelvin's cells once they've been implanted, but they don't know that. We can make offers in exchange for one hostage plus the means to cure them. Essentially getting something for nothing."
As Jotaro had Star Platinum help load the dwarven cannon, he suddenly sneezed. "Something wrong?," Nimble asked. "I wonder if someone was referring to me just now," Jotaro muttered. "It's just a sneeze," Nimble pointed out, "And there's a lot of dust and powder here." Jotaro shrugged. "Well maybe. But I'm Japanese by birth, and there's an old Japanese legend that whenever you experience an unexplained sneeze it's because someone is speaking about you somewhere." Regardless of the minor incident, the cannon was loaded without further delay, then fired on the stone doors.
The doors cracked but stayed standing. "They've been well weakened," Nimble noted, "A bit more of a push should break them down." "Allow me," Jotaro offered, "Star Platinum has enough physical strength to shatter diamond with little effort. Cracked stone doors won't be a problem." Star Platinum approached the doors and proceeded to attack rapidly. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Within seconds the doors gave way, the stone shards damaging the beastmen warriors behind them.
Nimble chuckled. "I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. George does something similar using Tusk." He turned his attention to the other armies. "All forces, the ruins are open! Move in and clear them out!" By now it was clear that some demons, likely from Yaldabaoth's tribe, were also fighting alongside the beastmen. As the allied armies pushed their way through the ruins, a message arrived at the main camp from Imina. "There's something wrong in the Desert Temple," Ramposa said as he read the note, "Unlike in the other four temples, there are no additional guards between the entrance and the magic well."
Momonga frowned. "That has terrible implications. What could Barbro and Boullope be planning?' "A hostage attempt," Jircniv suggested, "He doesn't know that we know about the vampire spores or that we have someone capable of safely removing them. He could use a hostage crisis to sue for peace on his terms, letting him gain power, in exchange for some random cure that obviously won't work." He leaned back. "He knows we're close to restoring the Spirit Tracks in full and the war here could be over within the next few days. He's getting desperate, it seems."
So yeah. For the last dungeon we'll be skipping straight to the boss. That way we're not spending six chapters in the same location. Read and review.