Interlude 4 - Eternal, Perennial, Invincible
There was a lot of work for Kujou Sara to do.
The longer she spent in Tenryou Castle, the more she realised how corrupt her father was. Now she had to spend time reverting all of her fathers deeds and hunting down all who took part in this corruption.
Because of this, she wasn't able to accompany Lady Lohefalter to hunt down the rogue demigod Kunikuzushi, so she gave her chief retainer, Takasaka Izumi, command of her retinue with orders to clear out the factory and capture the Harbinger.
A messenger came to her with a letter, stamped with the lotus seal. That is the Kamisato kamon. Indeed, the siblings had left back for their lands after the ceremony was over, but for them to contact her so quickly?
Sara was under no assumptions that the Kamisato liked her, for she nearly brought down their clan. The contents of this letter must be of grave importance. She broke the seal and unfurled the parchment.
It was a request for reinforcements. Many Thunder Sakura in Kamisato lands were rotting away, and there were reports of rifthounds sighted in their lands. This endemic was widespread across northern Narukami Island, from Hasu to Araumi.
Rifthounds.
Kujou Sara grimaced. Rifthounds were great beasts originating from the Dark Sea. During the Cataclysm, they tore open the fabric of reality to allow the monsters of the Dark Sea into Inazuma. This was not just a bad omen, but a possible prelude to war.
It was nothing they couldn't handle. Unlike their mainland counterparts, Inazuma sat on the border of the Dark Sea. Iron and blood was carved into their histories.
Sara wrote an order to mobilise the 1st Division. They will clear out the rifthounds, and the Yashiro Commission will handle the healing of the Thunder Sakuras.
And yet still, this was not such an issue to be taken lightly. For even the rifthounds must come from somewhere. The closest island to the Dark Sea was Tsurumi Island, an uninhabited island past the Sea of Fog in the south.
Or at least, it is reported to be uninhabited. Like Sangonomiya, Tsurumi wasn't truly part of Inazuma. The natives there have a different history, culture, language, and religion. Even disregarding the treacherous Sea of Fog, sending an expeditionary force there may not be in their best interest, as the chance of hostile natives were high.
After all, during the Seirai War, the Shogunate killed their god. If the Tsurumians were anything like the Watatsumians, they would not have forgotten yet.
Nevertheless, when she opened another letter, one that was a request to demobilise the army, she denied it. Lady Mona may be right, another war with the Dark Sea was on the horizon.
She could only hope Lady Sangonomiya wins her war in Enkanomiya as well. The Abyss was an indomitable enemy, as the premier martial clan of Inazuma, the Kujou knew this too well.
…
Hope? Sara scoffed, what did hope have to do with war? If she wanted the Sangonomiya to win their war, then she best ensured it, for it would not be preferential for the Abyss to suddenly appear behind them while they were fighting the Dark Sea.
She wrote a letter, sealed it with her personal kamon, tied it to a raven's leg, and let it go.
Sara leaned back, it was a good day to one-up her rival.
Sangonomiya sorceries bloomed in the night of Enkanomiya, burning away the void.
The realm beneath was embroiled in war, tens of thousands of men fought against the silent soldiers of the Abyss. In the distance, the Three Towers rose from the ground like lighthouses, if lighthouses burned a black fire and sucked in light instead.
"Rise. Roll. Sweep!" Sangonomiya Kokomi chanted. A great wave of shimmering water rose from the depths and crashed into the Abyssals, washing them over the side of the island.
Kokomi gasped, sweat dripping down her face. For it has been four hours since she had rest.
The Dainichi Mikoshi was under siege. Endless tides of Abyssals crashed against the wards inlaid into the island. They were unlike any she had seen before, clad in armour black as night. They fought with no formations, no strategy, but made it all up in sheer ferocity and savagery.
The silent warriors of the Abyss unnerved her and her men. But they had a duty to hold their ground.
Kokomi watched as another kujira was shot down by several ballistae. Bolts of violet tore through the kujira's rotting flesh, ripping it apart. She watched as several Abyssals fell to their deaths, hopefully.
The kujira was a name given to these massive cursed beasts by the Watatsumi Army. They were dead Enkanomiyan whales, their corpses empty of organs. The Abyssals had filled them to the brim with their soldiers and reanimated the whales, sending them floating over to Mikoshi Island as troop carriers.
Once they reach Mikoshi Island, they would explode, spraying corrosive pus and infected flesh everywhere. Then, the soldiers inside would come pouring out. Several had landed before they learnt their lesson.
Now, the ballistae officers had orders to immediately target any coming their way.
An explosion flashed overhead, the Abyssals were also launching orbs of black flame over the gap, trying to destroy the Dainichi Mikoshi. Thankfully, the wards were constructed by the best of her magi, they would not let them fall.
If there was a silver lining in their situation, it was that supplies were not an issue.
With the help of the Shogunate Army, they had secured the Serpent's Bowels before fighting through the Narrows. Just yesterday, they had managed to capture the northwestern Void Tower, and relight it. With that, a steady stream of materiel and supplies were arriving via the Bowels and the Narrows.
That meant the Abyssal armies were attempting to cross from the Evernight Temple and the Serpent's Heart. If it weren't for the fact that the islands create natural bottlenecks, they would already be dead.
A great conch was blown, its howl heard across the battlefield. That signalled the end of the hour. Below, the armies on the frontline retreated, and the armies in reserve took their place. Not a gap was created, Kokomi thought in satisfaction.
This was the strategy they had come up with. The Abyss was tireless, thus they must fight tirelessly as well. Every two hours, the horn was blown, and the frontliners and reservists would swap positions. After two hours, the reservists would be rested once more, and be ready to head back to the frontline.
To aid in this strategy, several camps were raised. These camps were unique, these special runes inlaid to their foundations to help reinvigorate anyone inside. Still, they were not foolproof. Men still needed sleep, this strategy could at best only prolong the fight.
Kokomi noticed a great wyrm made of darkness attempting to cross the gap. She bet it has Abyssal troops inside it as well. Whoever is commanding the armies of the Abyss wasn't an idiot, they must've realised the kujira were getting them nowhere.
"Congeal. Shine. Burn!"
A great orb of white light rose into the air and exploded. Kokomi hastily shielded her eyes from her own spell, lest she be blinded. Waves of purity lashed across the battlefield, burning the wyrm away.
As she had suspected, she saw hundreds of soldiers fall from where the wyrm once was. Descending into the void below.
Kokomi would've collapsed from exhaustion, if it weren't for one of her handmaidens, A Yuna, she recognised.
"You need to rest, Your Excellency!"
She paid the Yuna no heed, and stabilised herself. On shaky legs, she watched in horror as dozens more wyrms emerge from the dark fog.
Hundreds of Watatsumi ballistae shot at them, but the bolts did nothing more than scar the Abyssal beasts.
She couldn't possibly destroy them all alone, but her magi were still sustaining the wards. Without them, the wards would fall under the constant barrage of Abyssal catapults.
…Constant?
"Yuna, how long has it been since the Abyss shot at us with catapults?"
The retainer paused, as if counting.
"25 minutes, miss."
25 minutes. The catapults should be firing at a rate of one volley per ten minutes, as they had been for the last six hours.
"Messenger!"
"Yes, my lady!"
"Go tell Ryuku to stop sustaining the wards. They must destroy those wyrms!"
"Tell Lady Ryuku and her magi to stop sustaining the wards and focus on the wyrms. Understood, my lady!"
He dashed off. Kokomi breathed out.
This was a gamble, that the Abyss had to stop their bombardment to create the wyrms. But at this rate, this was a gamble she had to take.
Below, streams of lights tore into the wyrms just as they were about to land on Mikoshi Island as the Sangonomiya magi plied their trade.
Kokomi held her breath.
In the distance, two dozen new orbs of black flame were launched into her air. She flinched, she had lost her gamble. She could see Ryuku's magi rush back to the Dainichi Mikoshi to hold onto the wards again, but they wouldn't make it in time.
As Kokomi braced herself for the impact, violet bolts of lightning suddenly fell from above and struck the projectiles with pinpoint accuracy. It came from behind her.
Kokomi scrambled around the tower with her heart in her throat, her retainers close behind her. As she got a good view of the Narrows, she could've wept tears of relief.
Thousands of men were crossing the gap between the Narrows and Mikoshi Island. They marched on a translucent purple bridge, stepping with confidence in the magic holding them aloft. Their banners rose high, the prancing fox of the Hakushin, the oni mask of the Mikoshi, the diving crow of the Sasayuri, the black-headed wolf of the Hakui.
Reinforcements have come, and they came in the form of the greatest youkai clans of Inazuma.
As the youkai clans joined the fray, flocks of midnight crows were diving into the Abyssal army, they were huge, each the size of a man grown. They tore into the enemy, they lifted them into the air with their great talons and dropped them into the void below.
Several Hakushin transformed into great many-tailed foxes. Kitsune grow a tail every 100 years, some of them had two tails, others had five. Three of them were kyuubi - nine-tailed foxes, and they were living histories of Inazuma. From their maws spat lightning and flame, and Abyss fell beneath them.
Oni berserkers crashed into the Abyssal horde with no care for their own safety. Each the height of two men and just as wide, they waded into the swarm as if they were at the beach. Each swing of their swords and clubs threw dozens of Abyssals in the air.
And the wolves of the Hakui, long time rivals of the Hakushin, now fought side by side with them. They darted beneath the feet of the great foxes, leaping onto unsuspecting Abyssals and tearing them apart with razor sharp teeth and claws.
And hundreds more, too many youkai to count. There were chochinbi, byakko, enenra, furaribi, gashadokuro, they were countless in their numbers, unmatched in their ferocity, unrivalled in their sorceries.
Slowly, they began pushing the Abyss back.
Kokomi personally blew the conch shell. One, two, three times.
Forwards.
Forwards until you are dead! Like the rising tide, all the forces of Watatsumi joined their allies in their push for victory.
Kokomi blew the fourth time. Its haunting echo reverberated across the battlefield, its meaning clear.
Not one step back!