Chapter 12: Puppets

She threw the ball with force towards the nearest wall; the ball made an arc and bounced back towards her hand.

Then, she threw it again, and the process started once again.

And again, and again, and again.

And again.

As a Siren, Purifier was accustomed to repetition. She had played with the ball on her hand at least 6,48x10ˆ3 times. She knew how much force she needed to get a specific arc. She knew exactly where it would land, even without using any of her five senses. She could calculate the bounce amount needed for the ball to start to wear down until it could not bounce again.

And that made that activity, every activity in fact, so boring; so utterly boring.

Everything she had done and would do was limited between specific parameters, events between those parameters would repeat themselves no matter the world she was in, and things outside them were functionally impossible; it wouldn't come to happen even with infinite repetitions.

Or that's what she believed until meeting Ritsuka Fujimaru. This human managed to hurt her to the point of making her arm useless and forced her to retreat.

"Ritsuka…"

He was an anomaly, something outside the normal parameters; the odds of him, a human, ever hurting a Siren were so abysmal that it wasn't even worth considering.

Even so, it happened, and now she had to remain in that state to be "healed."

Purifier looked towards her right arm. A black spider-like machine firmly held it between two of its "legs" while the rest of them slowly went over her arm. Some of them were fixing part of the broken bones in her arm. Others were replacing the burned skin, and another was connected directly to her muscle tissue. There was no part of her right arm that the machine couldn't reach.

She didn't feel pain while the machine went through her arm, fixing it, but she had to remain still while it worked, so the only pain she felt was not physical but out of boredom. She didn't want to stay like that. She wanted to leave the Siren base at once and go play with her friend. Her first friend after so many simulations!

But she had her orders, even if she didn't care about losing her arm at all, Zero was adamant about it, and she couldn't go against her authority.

Yet.

Soon…soon she could, but for the moment, she had to remain as her lapdog.

"Hahhh….I want to see Ritsuka again!" She groaned and shook her legs as an impatient child. "I wonder if he already took charge of Azur Lane...or if he already took one of the shipgirls."

Purifier remembered the maid pawn, Sheffield, and pictured her together with Ritsuka. At that time, he saved her; she still remembered how Ritsuka carried her in his hands.

"I wonder…what kind of face would you make once I dismember her?" A sadistic smile appeared on her face. "Would you get angry? Would you cry? Or maybe…?"

"Have you finally descended to madness, Purifier? Or were you ever sane to begin with?" A voice suddenly came from the shadows.

Purifier immediately recognized her.

"What are you doing here, Alpha?" Her tone reverted back to being whiny. "Have you come to see me suffer like this?" She pointed at her imprisoned arm.

A pair of golden eyes suddenly appeared in the shadows as a figure began to walk toward Purifier; they both looked alike. The most glaring difference was the black see-through clothes that the new Siren wore instead of Purifier pseudo-school uniform.

"Is that how you receive a fellow Siren? And here I was, thinking that you would appreciate news on your little toy." Observer Alpha commented with exaggerated dramatics.

"Did something happen with Ritsuka!?" Purifier suddenly sounded interested.

Alpha smiled but didn't say anything. Then, with a gesture of her hand, a holographic screen appeared in front of Purifier. The screen showed Fujimaru Ritsuka in the Royal Navy underground base. He was kneeling in front of Elizabeth, the Royal Navy leader.

"Ah!? Why is he kneeling!?" Purifier suddenly felt insulted for some reason.

"Don't worry, he is just faking it." Alpha commented calmly. "Seems like he wants to take control of the Royal Navy in a hard way, even though you gave him-"

"Shhh." Purifier made a silence gesture with her finger and whispered. "She is watching….she always watches, remember?"

She sees everything. She hears everything. That's what Observer Zero was to the Sirens, a gaze upon them, with eyes that never rested.

"Ah, but don't worry. Our esteemed leader is currently busy fixing the mess with the Dragon Empery; a lot of people saw them after all fufufufu." Observer Alpha smirked. "The last place she would want to see is her own base." Her eyes began to shine. "She might not even realize if one of our cubes suddenly disappeared."

Purifier's eyes opened like plates for a second, but her expression went from surprised to overjoy.

"You just want to see them die, don't you?"

"Far from it, if they ceased to exist, I wouldn't be able to collect any more data from this simulation. I only propose these because I think highly of our little test subjects." She licked her own lips. "Besides, it would be boring if your toy succeeded so easily, don't you think so?"

Purifier chuckled.

"But of course!" With a powerful move, she broke free of the spider-machine that was holding her, tearing it to shreds.

She moved her fingers as if to test her hand. And when they moved without issue, she smiled.

"You know I hate boring things."

I released a deep sigh as I stared at the materials in front of me. Then, I took a pencil from the case and started drafting one of the paper sheets; my strokes slowly began to form several concentric circles.

It had been a while, a really long time since I had tried this. Still, I wanted to believe that some muscle memory may have remained in my hand after doing this very same task countless times in the past.

Yes, I just lacked practice.

The inscriptions on the magic circles were complicated, especially when I knew almost nothing about Kabbalah in the first place. I just left my arm to remember the strokes, even if my mind didn't remember the meaning behind the symbols.

"…"

As I silently drew the symbols, a few things started to return to my memory, somethings that helped me to remember some symbols like "this one looks like an "m" or "this one it's like a "t" but shorter."

I chuckled.

"I wonder, would you hate me for mishandling your techniques like this…? No, you hated humans in the first place, right Avicebron? So the sole idea that I am using what you teach me to once again help humanity would disappoint you."

Well, he was free to call me naïve and idiot if he wanted to…if only we could speak again…

"…ah shit."

I got distracted and ended messing up the draft.

"Well, I knew it wouldn't be easy."

I scrapped the paper and took a clean one to start drafting once again.

It took about an hour and a couple of tries, but I finally got a "successful" draft that could be used as a magic circle. Now I could finally begin with the real thing.

I took a pair of scissors from my case. From my pockets, I took a few pebbles and small rocks I had gathered from the street when Sheffield and Belfast released me from Marcia's soldiers, then I sat on the floor.

"If any proper magus sees me doing this, they probably either die of shame or kill me on the spot."

Anyway, I activated my magic circuits and prepared myself to use reinforcement magecraft, not on myself this time but on the scissors. Small green lines quickly appeared on the ordinary pair of scissors, making them harder and sharper.

Then, with one of its blades, I cut my index finger.

"…"

It hurt a bit, but I managed to draw blood. And thus, I started to copy the draft on the floor using my blood.

In my understanding, a summoning circle to invoke a Servant to this world was far more significant and required more materials than just blood; thankfully, I wasn't trying to do anything as crazy as to summon a Servant.

No, I knew about my limits. That's why a small magic circle was all I needed.

I copied the draft to the best of my ability, then I took the pebbles and started smashing them with the dull part of the reinforced scissors to make them a bit smaller. If I had a mortar with me, this activity would a lot less rudimentary but whatever.

Obviously, I couldn't make the pebbles that much smaller, but their size was reduced enough for my purpose, so I moved them inside the magic circle.

I released another deep sigh and put my hand above the magic circle.

"Alright, Ritsuka, you are a Magus, and you have done this before." I breathed a few times. "Just remember all those times Avicebron passive-aggressively encouraged you. You can do this."

I closed my eyes, and his image appeared on my mind. That self-deprecating masked man repeatedly said that he was one of the worst among his class, even though he could raise Golems with just a move of his hand. He didn't need blood or a magic circle like me. Only the soil and stones around him were enough to raise an army of powerful Golems, capable of putting up a fight against Servants.

That person was my teacher, someone who could even teach Golemancy to someone as inept in magecraft as me…such an exceptional man…

At that moment, I felt something going down my cheek.

I opened my eyes, surprised.

"Ah…really? We weren't even that close…I…I am an idiot…" I quickly rubbed off the lone tear from my cheek, cursing my own weakness. "I am glad he didn't see me like this. I am sure he would be disgusted."

I tried to shake those feeling and focus on the magic circle.

I closed my eyes again and started reciting the summoning words as I imagined the pebbles taking the shape I wanted. I could feel the magical energy leaving my body and entering the soon to be a golem.

Then, I opened my eyes.

The pebbles remained motionless, just like they were before I started the ritual.

"Come on…" I patiently waited. It should have worked…it must have worked.

My patience was rewarded as the pebbles started to move a bit, then gather at one point as if they were magnetized, and finally began to take shape. A line of pebbles formed the body, while the smaller ones began to develop their wings.

A small dragonfly made of small rocks stood in the magic circle. It was no longer than my index finger, while with its wings extended was probably a bit wider than my palm.

"Come." I commanded in mind, and the golem-insect quickly flew toward my open hand.

I smiled.

"One day Avicebron, one day I'll be able to command an army just like you." I said as I inspected my creation. "But for now, this is good enough."

I left my room and began to walk towards the exit.

The dragonfly-golem was self-sufficient, which meant it will protect its "life" from any potential danger. Still, aside from that, it needed my orders for almost everything. I needed to be as specific as possible. That's why if I wanted it to reach its destination, I had to make sure it has as few obstacles in its path as possible.

For that reason, I decided to go back to the surface for a bit; hopefully, the Queen and her servants wouldn't mind it.

Or that was the plan until I saw something unexpected in my path.

There was a man in front of one of the barracks' door, a soldier most probably. He seemed to be about to enter his room.

I mentally ordered my golem to enter inside my clothes and called him out.

"Hey." I began to approach him.

"Huh?" The man turned around and gave me a confused expression. "Who are you? I don't remember seeing you in the base before..." He seemed to be a bit tense.

"Make sense. I just arrived a few hours ago." I extended my hand. "Fujimaru Ritsuka, a pleasure."

"Fujimaru…Ritsuka?" He quickly adopted a rigid position and made a military salute. "I am sorry, Commander! I didn't recognize you!" He shouted for some reason.

"Eh….that's okay? As I say, I just arrived at the base." I retracted my hand since it didn't seem like he was going to shake it. "Your name?"

"I am Private Johnson, Sir!" He shouted again.

I grimaced.

"You know, you don't have to be so tense. I just wanted to talk a bit."

"Sir! As the Commander appointed by the Queen, this is the least amount of respect I can show, Sir!"

"…"

Really, I understood what he meant, but it was a bit excessive. After all, "Commander" was pretty much an arbitrary title given to me. I was just some random dude with almost zero military experience...I had another type of experience, but that was beside the point.

Also, "the Commander appointed by the Queen"…he meant this Elizabeth, right? Then why was he, a human, following her?"

As I asked those questions in my head, I noticed that Johnson seemed frozen in that military salute.

"Huh…you can rest, soldier?"

"Yes, sir."

I said that, and the man finally abandoned his stiff position and adopted a more normal one. Also, he wasn't shouting anymore.

Good.

"You see, Johnson, I was wondering if you can help me with something."

"I'll do my best, sir."

"Well, I was wondering how many…human soldiers are in this base. When I arrived, I was under the impression that there was none, but Edinburg said something about "recruits" and now I see you here."

"Sadly, we aren't that many; most of the regiment still doesn't recognize the Queen's authority. The loyal ones must be around twenty."

Eh…? Recognize the Queen's authority? What was this guy talking about…?

"And….you are one of them?"

"Of course!" He began to shout again. "I too was blinded by the government lies at first, but I understood everything once her Majesty gave me the honor of speaking with me directly: Queen Elizabeth the first is the real monarch of this country!"

"I…see." I couldn't see my own face, but I could bet I was too weirded out.

Was this guy crazy? Why was he talking such nonsense? He totally seems to believe those words. It was like they brainwashed him….

…

No…it couldn't be.

Maybe they actually brainwashed him?

"Hey, Johnson…can I ask you a few more-"

"Master?" I suddenly heard a voice from behind, and I didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Belfast." I greeted her with a small nod while doing my best to hide my surprise.

What a convenient timing for you to appear right now.

"I thought you were already in bed, Master."

"Couldn't sleep." I quickly lied. "I wanted to take some fresh air, and I met Johnson here."

"Head maid." Johnson also greeted Belfast with a similar salute he had given me before.

"Unfortunately, all doors to the outside are locked at night, Master." She spoke to me, paying no mind to Johnson. "However, if you really want to go, I can go search for the keys."

"That would be great, thanks, Belfast." I turned to the soldier. "I'll be taking my leave now; we can continue this conversation later."

"Anytime, sir." He gave me the same salute as before and entered his room.

And so I left with Belfast, with more questions bouncing around my head than proper answers.

We didn't speak much until we left the subway station. The sky was still covered by the azure mantle of the night, and not a soul could be seen around us.

"Still pretty much empty, huh?"

"There are still a couple of hours before sunrise, Master."

"Seems like it." I raised my head and looked toward the night skies.

I was finally outside. However, Belfast was right beside me, and I couldn't let her see the golem; she might start asking questions that I didn't want to answer.

"So what were you doing at this time of the night? Your kind still needs to sleep, right?"

"We do, but not as much as humans." She smiled. "Besides, it's a maid's duty to wake up her Master with a smile."

"Is that so? Then would you wake me up like that tomorrow?"

"Yes, I was also planning on serving breakfast, but sadly I am still unfamiliar with your preferences, Master."

"I am not picky; a pair of toasts and a tea is enough to get me through the day."

"What kind of tea?"

"Huh, to be honest, most of them feel the same to me. Any recommendation?"

"Earl Grey is my personal favorite."

"Let's go with that then; if you recommend it, I may as well try it."

"Very well, I shall wake you up in the morning with breakfast ready. Is seven o'clock a good time? "

"Seven? Isn't it a bit too early? Considering I am not going to work."

"If I let you oversleep, I will be spoiling you too much, Master."

"Huh, please let me rest for at least another hour. I am not sure when I will manage to fall asleep tonight…"

Wait, what was this small talk? Focus Ritsuka, remember why you came here: I needed to send the Golem to its destination, and she shouldn't see it. There must be a way to distract her, so she doesn't notice…

Ah.

"By the way, Belfast, you were actually following me before, right?" I asked that question as if I was asking for the weather. Maybe a direct attack would throw her off.

Silence, I received no answer for a solid minute.

"I was." But when I did receive it, the answer sounded unexpectedly truthful.

I turned to look at her with a curious look, only to find her wearing a serious expression. She wasn't fooling around.

"Queen's orders?" I continued.

"Yes. I was ordered not to leave you alone in case you left your room."

"I see, in other words, the Queen doesn't trust me."

"On the contrary, she fully trusts you." The maid assured. "She sees in you a champion, someone capable of leading the Royal Navy against the Sirens." She closed her eyes as if thinking for a second, only to open them again."And because of that, she fears losing you."

"Fears losing me…? So that's why she tried to knight me so hurriedly."

"Indeed. In this short time, you have become quite precious to her."

"…"

I felt like she was just enamored with the idea of a human capable of fighting toe to toe with a Sirens, which was really far from the truth. I was sure that misunderstanding would cost me dearly in the future.

"Thank you for telling me, but I have to be honest." I stared at her. "I am a bit surprised that you decided to trust me with this information."

"I have resolved not to lie to you again, Master." She stared back, with conviction. "I won't make the same mistake twice."

So she was still thinking about that time…

"I told you already, we were both at fault."I was actually beginning to feel guilty for mistreating her in our first proper encounter."You should forget about that already."

"For a maid to lie to her Master, it's inexcusable." She shook her head. "I still feel deeply ashamed for past behavior, Master."

…

"…Well, in that case, you can just turn the lie into a truth. Everything would be solved that way."

"What do you mean?"

"You invited me a few drinks after I "found" your earring, right? So…Is that offer still on the table?"

Belfast blinked.

"Are you asking me on a date, Master?"

"You don't have to call it a date if you don't want to….maybe just two people trying to make up with each other?"

"I…" She seemed hesitant.

"Ah, just to make it clear, you don't have to accept just to keep me content." I quickly added. "There is a lot to do here, and the last thing I want is-"

"No." She interrupted me. "I certainly wouldn't mind going on a date with you Master, I don't know much about the outside world after all. There are a lot of places I want to visit."

"I guess you couldn't go outside that much before." A mocking smile suddenly appeared on my face. "But now I make the rules, huh?"

She released a small chuckle.

"That's right, we wouldn't have any problem going outside now that you are our Commander." She lowered her gaze a little. "Sadly, the base is currently in turmoil..."

"I know we can't possibly do it right now, but maybe when things began to lay low a bit…Maybe we can try and see how it goes?"

She nodded.

"It's a promise, then."

"Indeed, let's go on a date once the situation calms down."

"I would be honored to accompany you, Master."

Our gazes met, my blue eyes meeting his grayish ones. A slight blush filled her cheeks, and a small smile spread across her beautiful face.

Maybe I was getting carried away; perhaps I was just being deceived by how pretty she was. Heck, maybe the Queen herself had planned all this to have me even more on her hands.

But really, at that moment, I wanted nothing more than to trust the maid in front of me.

"Ah, sorry, Master, Her Majesty is calling me." However, that moment ended as soon as it started, as Belfast put her hand on her ear as if trying to hear something.

"Her Majesty." She spoke not to me but to the person speaking on her head. "Understood, we'll go right away." They must have finished talking because she looked at me again. "Her Majesty is calling for us. Something urgent came up."

"Urgent? Did she give you the details?"

"No, she just said we need to hurry." Belfast turned to go back to the base. "Let's go, Master."

"Right." I began to follow her but stopped as she went downstairs to enter the subway station."So much for distracting her."

I had no idea what just happened. I was supposed to distract her, not ask for a date…Maybe I subconsciously liked her more than I expected.

I deeply sighed.

Thank god Elizabeth called; otherwise, I wouldn't be able to do this.

I ordered the dragonfly-golem to come out of my clothes and quickly gave it orders.

"Fly to the tower with the giant clock and search for the blonde man who wears white. He will understand once he sees you; don't let anyone else discover you until then."

And like that, the golem flapped its rock wings and flew towards the night sky.

I hated the idea of having to rely on him again, but I needed all the help I could get. If I was going to survive, I had to play all the cards I had been dealt with.

When we arrived at the Command Room, the place was a mess.

Around ten people sat in front of various computers, watching their screens and smashing their keyboards in multiple degrees of nervousness while shouting things to each other. There was an enormous screen on the wall that showed a map of the United Kingdom territory with a red dot on the south part of the country, near where the River Thames connects with the ocean.

"Your Majesty! Bel and Master Commander have arrived!" Edinburgh announced our arrival to the Queen, who was sat on a big chair a bit apart from the computer machinery, Warspite by her side.

"What's the situation?" Belfast quickly asked.

Warspite looked at us with a grim expression.

"A fleet of Sirens is heading towards our coasts as we speak; we have calculated that they'll reach the land in a 2 or 3 hours or so." Warspite frowned. "But that's not all. They aren't just normal Sirens."

"Not normal?"

"The machine's readings tell us that it's not the first time we have encounter one of these Sirens." The Queen continued talking, looking at me directly. "I am sure you are familiar with this one, Fujimaru."

"No…could it be?"

"Purifier." Answered Sheffield, who I just realized was also in the room. Her gaze was deep into the red dot in the screen. "She is back."

"Purifier…!" Remembering her was enough to form a knot in my throat.

"We must intercept them before they can reach the land. Belfast, Sheffield, are you two ready to depart?"

"With all due respect, Lady Warspite." Sheffield interceded."If it's really that Siren, "Purifier," then the both of us won't be enough. We all need to face her to have a chance."

"We can send Edinburgh too, but you know I can't leave Her Majesty's side, Sheffield."

"We'll have fewer chances if we don't make a joint attack. " Sheffield didn't back down. "That Siren can't be taken lightly."

"Is that true, Fujimaru?" The Queen asked for my opinion.

I didn't answer immediately, thinking carefully about my answer.

"It's difficult to say. I know firsthand that she is certainly strong even while holding back. On the other hand, I don't know the extent of Belfast's abilities." I gave a quick look to Sheffield. "That being said, I trust Sheffield's judgment. She was the one who fought her more directly after all."

"I see." Elizabeth seemed mediated my answer. "You should go, Warspite."

"Eh? Your Majesty?"

"I'll be fine. The Sirens takes priority over my safety."

I wanted to ask why she couldn't also go, being a weapon like the rest of them, but decided to remain silent.

"Besides, Ritsuka is here. He will protect me from any danger!"

Silence. The Queen declared such a ridiculous thing with extreme confidence.

What.

"Your Majesty….that's…" I tried to speak.

"It's a shame that you can't show your abilities in a battle on the sea, but that doesn't mean you can't protect me while I am on land!" Her words hit me like a heavyweight on my back. "Isn't that right, Ritsuka, my future knight?"

How much blind faith does this girl have in me!? She hadn't even seen me fight!

"Y-yes, you Majesty, I'll do my best." I lowered my head, more to hide the expression of bewilderment on my face than to show loyalty. Also, to hide from the thunderstruck gaze that Warspite was likely giving me.

"There you go; you are free to accompany the maids, Warspite."

"But…your Majesty…"

"It's an order, Warspite."

"Understood…your Majesty."

"Good, now depart at once! Even with your speed, it would take a few hours to reach the Thames!"

"Yes, your Majesty!" Repeated every maid and Warspite in the room. However, no matter how much I tried to ignore it, I could still felt the penetrating gaze of Warspite. It's like she was saying, "If you fail, I'll be the one to personally kill you."

Hopefully, my abilities wouldn't be needed this time.

Not an hour had passed when I realized how wrong that thought was. A strident alarm began to sound in the command room.

"More Sirens?" Asked the Queen to one of the people behind the computers.

"No, you Majesty, it's….here, we are getting attacked!"

"What!?"

A video appeared on the screen. It showed the entrance of the tunnels. About twenty people dressed in black assault uniform were attempting to destroy the metal door with a ram.

"The military?"

Were those Marcia's forces? Did they realize she never reached her destination?

"It's the Admiral. He made his move before us." I could see an expression of anger on Elizabeth's face. "But to think they would dare to attack us now when our forces are dealing with the Sirens!"

At that moment, one of the men in black noticed the camera on the wall, and for a split of a second, he stared at it.

Then he raised his rifle and shot it, the image, lost.

"How dare they….!?" Elizabeth looked more frustrated than she had ever been to before. "We won't stand idle as the admiral assault our base!" She stood up, hitting her scepter on the floor with force. "Ritsuka, take our soldiers and show them the meaning of messing with the Royal Navy!"

Of course, I had to be the one to do it.

"Yes, your Majesty…." I figured any excuse like I had no experience in commanding an armed squad would fly over her head, so I just resigned myself to my fate.

There was another thing that bothered me though…

Would I have to kill any of those men?

A magus was not an all-powerful entity. We were just humans who possess magic circuits. Yes, "humans" that's the keyword. We weren't weapons of mass destruction capable of winning wars by ourselves. I should make that clear to Elizabeth once this situation was resolved.

We took cover in the barracks; I was with Johnson in one of the rooms while the rest of the soldiers occupied the adjoining rooms.

As the defender side, we had a few advantages. First, the nature of the terrain; there was only one path, the front, where the enemy could come from, so the possibility of an ambush was almost null. Also, being in a subterranean tunnel means that they couldn't use explosives unless they want to risk being buried alive.

"Do you see anything, Your Majesty?" I spoke using my communicator.

"Not yet. Everything is quiet."

Another advantage was the cameras on the wall, the Command Room could alert us at the exact moment the Admiral's forces got in range; we didn't need to continually open the doors of the rooms to see them and could remain hidden to ambush them.

And the last advantage we had over them was ...this. I put a hand on Lord Camelot as I strengthened my grip. When it came to defense, I was probably invincible as long as the enemy didn't catch me from behind. I was nowhere near the level of Leonidas or Mashu, though; a lost bullet to the head could still kill me in an instant. Even with all these advantages, I was still human; I could die in a blink.

But I won't. I promised Mashu that I would survive, that the life she saved wasn't for nothing.

There was no way that I would die here.

"…! Ritsuka, they are coming!" The Queen spoke in my ear.

I made a sign to Johnson, telling him to alert the others and prepare himself, then I crouched beside the closed door, ready to open it at the right time. The plan was to stun them with a flash grenade and attack while they were blinded.

"It's my life or theirs….it's my life or theirs." I kept repeating that in my head. If I held back even a bit, people on my side would get killed; this situation is no different from before, in Chaldea. Those soldiers are no different from the Goetia. If they have to die so that I continue living, then it's not even a choice. It's my life or theirs…my life or theirs…

"Ritsuka!?"

"Elizabeth?" Apparently, I was unresponsive for a few seconds, so deep in my thoughts.

"Did you not hear me!? I order you to retreat!"

"What!? Why?"

"They aren't human soldiers, they are…!"

Suddenly, the door of the room was broken down, and a figure appeared in the portal.

That woman wore a black and white maid uniform, similar to the one Belfast wore but with a shorter skirt. Her pale hair was also short, not even reaching her shoulder, and the gaze of her red eyes was devoid of any emotion.

She was looking at me, but it didn't look like she recognized me as another being. It was like being watched by a robot.

"Freeze!"

Before I could react, I heard Johnson pointing his rifle at the maid.

It was over before he could pull the trigger; the maid pounced on him in a blink of an eye. First, she destroyed his gun with her bare hands, and with a solid punch to the guts, he was knocked out.

I didn't waste that opportunity he had created for me. I hit the floor with my legs, and with the speed and power my reinforced legs gave me, I attacked the maid from behind with the shield.

But I was blocked with just a move of her arm.

So strong!

"But it's not enough!" A reddish energy ball appeared on my free hand, and before the maid could react, I shot a gandr. The curse hit her, which made her stumble and lose her stability. No longer could she stop my charge.

"Ahhhh!" I put all my force on the shield and pushed her back until she collided with the wall with a loud noise, cracks appeared on it.

She tried to push me back, but I trapped her between the wall and the shield. I had the upper hand.

"Who are you!? How did you know when to attack!? Who is giving you information!?" I asked.

But the response I got was something unexpected.

"Damage sustained. Non-human enemy confirmed." She spoke with an emotionless tone.

"What?"

Before I could understand what she meant by that, I felt a force pulling me from behind, and then I was thrown away.

"Arrgh!"

I hit a wall with my back, it hurt like hell.

The moment I took a look at my surroundings, I noticed the bodies of the rest of the soldiers, all of them were lying motionless on the floor, and the culprit was the woman that had thrown me.

"Another one!?"

She was also a maid, her uniform was a bit more covered than the first woman, but it had a hole in the lower middle part of the chest for some reason. She looked reasonably similar to the other maid, aside from the hair being a bit more bluish and longer.

The one thing that was exactly the same, though, were those red eyes and the same dead gaze she gave me.

I quickly got up and put distance between us.

The enemy maids slowly exited the room and stood up, just looking at me.

"Non-lethal protocol: lifted."Both of them said at the same time as they extended their hands. A pair of swords, one silver and black colored, while the other, steel and golden, materialized on their hands from thin air.

If there was any doubt that they were the same as Belfast and the rest, then it was gone.

"…!" I took Lord Camelot with both hands as I stepped back.

This was bad. I thought I could face one of them with some difficulty, but two was another story.

At that moment, one of them pounced at me, her sword raised.

I quickly defended with the shield, and our weapons meet with a "clank." Thankfully, the recoil of her charge sent her a few steps back. However, I could no longer see the other maid with her.

"…!" I instinctively moved my left hand to my back while turning my body a bit.

Then I felt pain.

I had managed to block the other maid's slash from behind with my reinforced arm, but I had not emerged unscathed from that encounter. The blood of my arm ran down the steel of her sword.

"…!"

The situation was grim. I was trapped between the two maids. If I moved Lord Camelot to defend myself, the maid in front of me could attack me quickly.

"What are you two doing!?"

A scream suddenly resounded in the tunnel, and for a split of a second, the maid attacking me took her blood eyes from me to spot the source of the voice.

That's all I needed.

Ignoring the pain, I quickly grabbed the maid's sword by the blade and move it to the side just to hit her directly with the Lord Camelot.

The maid tried to block, but it was too late, and I sent her a few meters away.

I quickly turned back at the other maid, waiting for an attack, but it never came. She was fighting with someone else.

Steel met steel, and I could see sparks flying as the two swordswomen face each other.

"Warspite! "

It was the Queen's knight, Warspite, she had come back!

"Fujimaru!" She separated from the maid and approached me, still pointing her weapon at her."I knew I couldn't leave you alone with Her Majesty."

"Honestly, I don't freaking care why you are back." I put my back towards her, to see the maid that I had hit slowly coming back towards me. "You saved my life."

"Don't start celebrating too early." She took her sword with both hands. "Their swordsmanship is nothing to be dismissed. They may even rival my own."

"Wait, do you know them!?"

"Yes...They are Light Cruisers of the Royal Navy... Royal maid Sirius…and Royal maid Dido, the best swordswomen in our faction after me.

END OF CHAPTER 12

AN: Don't have much to say about this chapter, in fact, I wanted to read what you all think because spoiler: I liked writing it quite a lot.

In another order of things, I wanted to comment that this story is actually the most followed Azur Lane crossover on the site, a fact that blows my mind. I don't usually pay much attention to that because at the end of the day follows are just numbers (and I know quite a bit of fics with thousand of follows that aren't that good) but it is still a nice milestone.

So yeah, thank you for reading.

Ah, and since I won't release a chapter until...mid January maybe? I wanted to wish you all a good Christmas for those who celebrate it and a good New Years. Maybe this horrible 2020 disappear in oblivion.

Seriously, die 2020.

See you on next chapter.