She remembered the times when they would play together happily in elegant gardens. When they would look up to the stars of the night sky together.
When they would smile together.
But those times are over now. All Euphemia had left now were the memories, and no longer sweet memories. Now all they brought her were more and more tears.
Using one of the knives found in the house, she etched crude, rough stick-figure approximations of herself, Lelouch, and Nunnally on a nearby stretch of wall, as much as her tool and her state of mind would allow.
"All I was to you…all I ever really was to you…"
She carved a line splitting her representation from those of Lelouch and Nunnally. Picking up a vase, she hurled it at the opposing wall where it broke into pieces.
"All I ever was to you..."
Taking the knife again, she drew deep gashes through the necks of the drawings of the two vi Britannia siblings.
"All I ever was to you was a tool to be used and thrown away."
Carnage. Desolation. Death. Three words that aptly described the town that spread out before the Ashford trio.
"W-what happened here?" Sophie gasped.
"Looks like a war zone," said Milly. "Or the ghettoes, which are basically the same thing."
"A war zone," said Rivalz. "We got away from dinosaurs only to enter a war zone. Man, we just had to get the worst of luck."
Sophie could not help but feel uneasy around all this. She had seen some of the footage around Shinjuku when it broke the news a few months back, and while many of her schoolmates had been rather callous about them, she had not been. And to see something so similar in person…that was different from a screen.
But it was not done with the unpleasant sights just yet as Sophie turned around the corner of one of the ruined houses.
She paled and blanched, her hands over her mouth.
Bodies of the dead lay before her, the scars and wounds on them and the weapons nearby betraying the fact that they were the fallen of a battle, as if the state of the settlement around them wasn't enough. And like ravens, four-winged glossy black birdlike creatures flew above and fed on the flesh of the fallen, further serving only to pronounce the macabre atmosphere.
"Sophie?" A concerned Milly ran up to her friend. "Are you alright?"
"This really does not look good," said Rivalz as he came as well, only for even more shivers to travel down his spine at the sight. "This really, really does not look good."
Sophie shook her head to try and shake off her horror and nausea, but with little success. "I'm just fine, Milly," she lied.
It really was different from simply watching footage from a screen.
"No you're not," said Milly. "It's gruesome. But we have to keep moving."
Sophie nodded. "Okay. You've gone through vicious dinosaurs and lived." She took a deep breath. "You can take it Sophie. You're a strong girl. You can take it…" she thought as a repeating mental mantra to assure herself.
They mustered all the courage they could get, trying to bear the desolation around them as they went across the town. They still needed to find someone, anyone, willing to help. Still more questions they have that need to be answered…
Anna had spent her time in the prison outpost closely and patiently observing and analysing the lock of the cages, as well as how the reptilians opened them to bring in and take out the prisoners. The mechanisms of the locks themselves had not been too difficult for her to figure out, but this was by no means the major hurdle to her plan.
"The locks seem to be rather simple, owing to this being a transient holding cell," thought Anna as she summed up her deductions. "If I got the right tools I might be able to try and pick it. But with the guards watching it wouldn't be a wise thing to do just yet..."
"Figured out anything yet?" whispered Ralf.
"Yes," whispered Anna. "I think I've figured out how to open those locks. I just need something to pick it and a distraction. I can't do it with the guards there."
"We can hope that by good fortune someone's on their way to help us," whispered Ralf. "My partner was able to slip away while we were being dragged just outside of here into the forest. Hopefully he's come for help."
"I hope," thought Anna. "I don't know how much time we have left before we're taken to the horrible fates those depraved beings have in store for us…"
The slight sound of people talking caught Euphemia's attention. She got up from her rest and moved about both quickly and carefully, vigilant in her paranoia.
Taking cover against the wall beside one of the front windows, Euphemia took a peek through to see the source of the voices – a trio of teenagers walking on the street outside. There was a girl with long purple hair reaching over to her upper back and chest, and a boy with short blue hair; she knew neither of the two.
But she knew the blonde girl.
"T-that's Milly!" Euphemia's eyes widened. "How…why is she—"
It wasn't even a moment before Milly's associations came up in her thoughts. In a split second, her surprise turned to fear.
"No, no, no!" She assumed the worst. "She's with Lelouch! She has to be! He sent her here! He sent her here for me! No!"
Instinct and impulse took over as she took her gun.
"You won't take me!" screamed a feminine voice as a volley of green plasma bolts came through one of the first floor front windows and took the Ashford trio by surprise.
Having not been fired with any proper aim in the panic apparent from the tone of the voice, the shots missed to the trio's fortune as they quickly ran and took cover behind the corner of the nearest building to their right.
The shooter stopped firing after a few moments and slowly crept out of the front door to check as she kept watch with the gun aimed towards their direction. As the Ashford trio got a view of her, they could not have expected who they saw.
"T-that's Princess Euphemia!" said Milly.
"H-how is she here?" asked Rivalz. "W-wasn't she supposed to be at that special zone?"
"Why would Princess Euphemia shoot at us?" asked Sophie. "T-that's not like her!"
"I don't know," said Milly. "I'll try to talk to her."
"M-M-Milly, a-are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Rivalz apprehensively.
"I know her," said Milly. "And she knows me. Princess Euphemia was a childhood friend when I was in Pendragon. I'll try to talk to her.
"Milly?" Sophie worried.
Milly put her hand on Sophie's shoulder. "It's going to be fine. Don't worry too much. She'll listen to me."
"Wait, stop!" Milly ran quickly from her cover towards Euphemia, with Sophie quickly following out of her concern for the blonde's safety.
"Wait!" screamed Rivalz as he ran after the two lasses.
"It's me! Milly Ashford!" cried Milly. "Please don't shoot!"
She raised her hands in the air as she came to a stop a few metres from the pinkette. The other two followed suit as they arrived.
"I-I really don't like this, Milly," thought Rivalz in apprehension. "Why did you think this was a good idea…"
Euphemia kept her gun aimed at the blonde. She was pale, her eyes were wide open with fright and her mouth quivered, her body and posture shook, and her breaths were rapid and heavy. Her dress was in a rather decrepit state with the lower half of the skirt being nearly all but torn away.
A far cry from the elegant princess she had once appeared to be.
"What hap—" Milly was about to ask before being interrupted.
"You won't take me! You won't take me back to him!" cried Euphemia. "I'll kill you! You won't take me back to Lelouch!"
"What?" Milly asked, puzzled. "Princess Euphemia? What are you talking about?"
"P-p-princess!?" The very notion of being called by that title enraged Euphemia. "I-I am NOT a princess! I-I'll—"
"Please, don't!" Sophie spoke up and pleaded.
Euphemia aimed the rifle at Sophie.
The purple-haired lass stepped back slightly in apprehension but continued on her plea. "L-let's all just take it easy, alright? I-I don't know what exactly is going on, but we're not here to hurt you. We're not going to hurt you. We're all lost and stuck in whatever this place is. I get that you're scared, I know. We are too. But screaming and shooting one another isn't going to do anything for us. Please, just please, calm down."
Sophie's words seem to have defused the situation somewhat as Euphemia lowered her rifle down a bit.
"S-she's right," said Milly. "Let's just calm down a bit. I really don't know what you were talking about. But we're not taking you back to anyone. We can't exactly do that kind of thing here. I mean we weren't really even expecting to see you here. We're not here to harm you. Let's take a moment to cool down first, alright?"
Milly looked tense for a moment as Euphemia continued to look upon them warily, not wanting to end up on the opposing side of a plasma rifle in case she did not believe their pleas. Fortunately, although Euphemia remained wary of them, she had calmed enough to not reply with the aggressive hostility they feared.
"Very well," the pink-haired woman said in a tired tone as she went through the door, not keeping her guard down around the trio for even a moment.
"I suppose we should follow her inside," said Milly to her companions as they slowly lowered their arms down.
"S-should we really?" asked Rivalz.
"I guess so," said Sophie. "It's better than being exposed out here if you ask me."
"Yeah," said Rivalz sheepishly. "It's just that…"
"You're not scared of pink haired girls aren't you?" asked Milly.
"I'm not!" retorted Rivalz. "I mean Miya doesn't scare me."
"Oh, so you're scared of Pr— I mean Euphemia?" said Milly. "Come on Rivalz, Euphemia isn't exactly the scary type."
"She shot at us Milly," said Rivalz. "She shot at us!"
"I'm sure that's just a misunderstanding," said Milly. "I'm sure she didn't mean it. Now let's go inside."
Upon Milly's request they entered the war-scarred house, albeit a bit hesitantly for Rivalz.
The three sat down on the chairs around what looked to be the house's living room. They noticed that many of the furniture items have been arranged to form defensive walls behind the door.
Euphemia sat apart from the three, a few metres away on the staircase. She kept an eye on them vigilantly, fearing that they might turn on her at any moment.
"You two," she addressed the two Ashford students aside from Milly. "Who are you?"
"Uh, well…I'm Sophie Wood," The purple-haired lass introduced herself. "This is Rivalz Cardemonde." She gestured towards the boy. "We're students from Ashford Academy."
"Please tell us what happened," said Milly.
"Your friend," Euphemia spoke with an exhausted and bitter tone. "Your Britannian friend happened. Lelouch."
"H-hold on, what did Lelouch do?" asked Rivalz.
Euphemia said nothing.
"Geez, talk about a cold shoulder," said Rivalz.
"I don't think she's wanting to talk about it yet, Rivalz," said the blonde. "What happened must have been really hard on her. Let's give her some time."
"Yeah, okay, sure," said Rivalz.
"We're sorry if it's a bit too touchy right now," said Milly. "He can be a bit…insensitive at times, but he's not really a bad guy."
"Hmph," Euphemia turned her head down and stood up. "I need to be alone."
She walked up the staircase unto the second floor, leaving the Ashford trio behind.
"I should have never trusted that fucking snake!" Euphemia picked up a vase from its stand beside the hallway wall and threw it unto the opposite wall in rage, shattering it into a thousand pieces on impact.
This has not gone unheard by the Ashford trio downstairs. Concerned, Milly rushed upstairs in a few moments.
"What happened?" asked the blonde.
Euphemia turned towards her with a seething glare from tearful eyes. "I said I need to be alone, Britannian."
Milly, unwilling to let tensions escalate, backed away and went downstairs.
The pinkette made her way to a bedroom. She placed the weapons she carried on the side, close to reach quickly for anything she sees as a threat, and lay on the bed staring at the wall blankly.
In spite of the Ashford students' arrival, she still felt as alone as she had been.
In another part of the ruined town several reptilian soldiers had congregated around their commander in the front of a razed alley. Said commander stood significantly taller than his troops at some 195 centimetres in height, his skin was darker with a greenish tinge, and both of his arms were cybernetic with black plating. A black one-handed battle axe was holstered on his hip armour. He wore a black helmet adorned with two forward-curving horns.
"There are still human survivors," one of the reptilian soldiers reported.
"Kill them," said the commander. "We have enough prisoners. Bathe the roads with their blood."
"Yes, Lord Fansarin." The reptilian troops affirmed the command and scrambled out.
"I'll go take a look around." Rivalz stood up from his chair.
He noticed something across a nearby window. Taking a look through said window to get a better view, he saw what appeared to be three greyish humanoid lizards with black spiked light armour and wielding what looked to be some exotic sort of rifle of the same colour emerging from across the corners of the houses in the distance.
"A-are those l-lizardmen?" asked Rivalz incredulously. "Dinosaurs are one thing, but this…"
Milly stood up as well and looked through the window in disbelief. "Please tell me I'm not losing it." She still recalled the petroglyphs from the ancient chamber, but to see them in reality…
Sophie went in to check on through the window as well. "Y-you have got to be kidding me, right?"
One of the reptilians spoke with a deep, guttural voice, aiming its rifle at the window they were looking through. Quickly ducking under, Milly and Rivalz narrowly avoided being shot as red plasma bolts shot over their heads. Sophie had instead rushed to the side, pressing herself against the wall.
"They sound really evil!" said Rivalz, covering his head.
"They must be the ones from those old wall drawings," said Milly. "Unbelievable, I know. Let's move! Quickly!"
The sound of the gunfire outside immediately snapped Euphemia to full alert. She took her weapons and quickly took cover beside the window to find the reptilians shooting at one of the first floor windows.
She aimed her rifle at the closest reptilian and fired. Her plasma bolts hit it on its side causing it to drop its gun, and a few more shortly after finished it off.
The other two reptilians aimed their fire on her. Euphemia pulled herself behind the windowside wall to avoid the shots.
"Block the door!" screamed Milly.
Taking the chance while the remaining two reptilians were occupied, the trio rushed to move as much furniture they can get unto the front door to obstruct it.
Meanwhile, just outside another reptilian had been successfully gunned down as Euphemia fired on it from above.
Once they have gotten enough obstacles unto the door, the Ashford trio huddled into a corner covered by a table laid on its side.
"I want to go home!" cried Rivalz.
"We all do!" cried Milly. "But easier said than done!"
Euphemia fired another volley of blasts, but the last reptilian rolled out of the way in time to dodge and return fire. She grit her teeth as she pulled back to evade. Firing again, she finally hit the reptilian in the head and neck, killing it.
Exhaling deeply, she allowed herself to slump unto the wall. "What were those things?" she wondered.
Upon realising that the assault had stopped, the Ashford trio stood up and looked around. They saw all three of the reptilians dead over on the street and a neighbouring house's yard.
But their moment of calm lasted for but a few moments. Rivalz' eyes widened as he picked up yet more bad news through the window.
A wave of about twenty more reptilians had come into view, as well as a darker, cybernetically-enhanced one wearing a horned helmet who appeared to be their leader.
"Oh fuck," he cursed. "There's more of them!"
The incoming wave of hostiles had caught Euphemia's notice as well. She took her rifle and again took position by the windowside.
"Surround them!" commanded Fansarin. As his troops scrambled to do exactly that, a twin-barrelled gun emerged from his left arm and extended over his wrists. With a deep growl, he aimed at Euphemia through the window as she tried to aim, and fired a rapid burst of red plasma.
Euphemia narrowly avoided being hit by Fansarin's shots as she quickly pulled back behind the windowside wall, her breaths heavy at the close call.
After taking a moment to compose herself she returned fire, but Fansarin dodged and fired back. One of his shots tore a hole through her sleeve and nearly hit the skin of her left arm as she pulled herself back.
"We have to go get out of here," said Milly. "I'll go get Euphemia, you two run out the back door. We'll follow behind you."
"R-right!" Sophie and Rivalz nodded.
Another close call from Fansarin's gunfire along with the other reptilian gunners. Euphemia found herself pinned down, barely able to return fire.
She gritted her teeth in at her predicament. "Damn it, there's too many of them…"
Out of a sudden, Milly had burst open the door and rushed inside a hurry.
"What is it now?!" asked Euphemia.
"We need to get out of here!" exclaimed Milly. "I don't think you can take them all. Let's—"
"Milly!" cried Rivalz as he rushed in with Sophie just behind, their faces pale. "We're surrounded from all sides! We're trapped!"
"Trapped?!" Milly exclaimed fearfully. "This can't be good. Is there anything we can do?"
"I-I don't know!" cried Rivalz.
"Do any of you have any guns?" asked Euphemia.
"No," said Milly, shaking her head as did Rivalz and Sophie.
"Take anything you can use as a weapon," said Euphemia. "If I can kill enough of them to create an opening, we run."
"Right," the Ashford trio nodded.
Rushing downstairs as fast as they could, the three students frantically went through the house to find anything they could use to defend themselves. Milly picked up a cleaver, Sophie a large metal candlestand, and Rivalz a wrench. The two Student Council members also took out their pepper spray cans.
They gathered in front of the staircase, placing the same table they had hid behind earlier in front of them for added protection.
A pang of fright travelled up their spines as the black blade of a reptilian's axe broke through the wooden front door, accompanied by the deep growl of its wielder from outside. This was followed by yet more axe strikes, one after another. The Ashford trio shivered as the reptilian outside hacked away on the door. They couldn't do much but watch and wait as wood splintered and broke against the axe blade.
It was like a scene straight out of a horror movie.
"We're goners…we're going to die," whimpered Rivalz.
In spite of the cover and elevation advantage her position gave her, the number of the reptilians continued to keep Euphemia on a continual uphill battle as she tried to exchange fire with her bestial foes.
The situation only worsened as yet more hostiles arrived.
A black mechanical biped, around four or so metres tall, that could be perhaps vaguely described as a futuristic gunship's fuselage atop legs that resembled and moved like those of a theropod, marched into the fray. It fired its main gun mounted underneath its front end, the powerful red plasma projectile blasting through the brick wall of one of the house's corners at the top of its first storey.
"There's too much of them for me," thought Euphemia. "I really am going to die today after all. At least I'll die fighting. I refuse to be helpless to my last breath."
In spite of the bleak fate that seemed to be in store for her, she went and fired at the reptilians again. She hit one of them in the arm and forced it to drop its weapon, but another nearby returned fire, forcing her to quickly slip back behind her cover, narrowly avoiding a shot close to her shoulder.
The battlewalker prepared to fire another shot as it crossed through an intersection and the ruins of two houses, aiming at none other than the window Euphemia was taking cover from.
Fortunately, that shot was not to come. From its left an Allosaurus rushed in from an alley between the ruins and leapt atop it. The force from the nine-metre theropod's leap and weight combined took the unprepared walker completely off-balance, sending it crashing onto the ground rightward.
What stood out about this dinosaur, unlike the other ones she had seen so far, was that it was clad with segmented plates of armour atop its back to halfway over its tail and rib-like armour over its underbelly, coloured teal with a darker shade on the trims. The skin that was exposed showed a brownish body that graded to a light beige on its underbelly and tail tip, broken by a series of darker stripes and spots. Its head was adorned by a pair of teal horned crests.
Before the other reptilians could react to the theropod's ambush, what seemed to be a barrage of teal-coloured fireballs came into view hurling out through the corner of the intersection. They exploded on impact in bursts of flame, taking out two of the reptilians.
Bursting out of the door of the ruined house to the right of the alley the Allosaurus ambushed from was a burly Neanderthal man with long black hair of shoulder length, wielding a metallic spear. His armour was pretty light, consisting of a bronze-coloured left shoulderplate secured to a brown leathery underpad held by straps across his otherwise bare chest and back, bronze-coloured plated metal armour over his left arm, a brown leathery belt and tasset over dark brown pants, and bronze-coloured armoured boots. All in all, the outfit somewhat resembled that of a barbarian or a gladiator.
Charging unto the battle with a fierce cry, he quickly skewered the abdomen of the first reptilian he came across.
At the same time from around the corner of the intersection, a relatively petite, androgynous person with teal-green neck-length hair charged in. They wore a dark green cloak around their neck that reached slightly past their hips with a collar around the back of their head, a light teal robe that reached halfway down the thighs with darker teal trims, a cuirass worn over the chest and upper back and a brown belt around the waist, thigh-high black stocking and brown boots. They held a staff that looked to be of an ivory colour, adorned with three prongs curving inward on its front end with a teal glow suspended in the middle between them.
The spellcaster fired rapid bolts of cyan-coloured fire from their staff as they entered the fray, scoring hits on two reptilians in their quick entrance.
"Huh?" thought Euphemia in mild astonishment as she observed the battle whilst firing on the reptilians closest to her from her cover. While her vantage point didn't give her the most detailed view, it still was apparent to her. She was however forced to pull away from the windowside by reptilian fire before she could think much about it.
While the apparent help of the newcomers should have made her feel at least a bit relieved, she still bore no knowledge of their allegiances or intents, nothing aside from being enemies to the reptilians. They were her foe's foe, but if they were to be friendly remained to be seen.
Meanwhile the Allosaurus leapt off the fallen machine and ripped open the cockpit by its hatch, took out the pilot in its jaws and threw the reptilian unto the air before catching it on its jaws as it fell, biting with full force before shaking it a few times and hurling its corpse into the ruins of a house to the right.
Turning towards the rest of the reptilians, the theropod charged as the gunners attempted to fire upon it in vain, sending two of them flying with a swing of its neck and head as it moved to bite a sword-wielding reptilian that attempted to rush in, before slamming it forcefully unto the pavement. Throwing the broken corpse away, the allosaur roared loudly and rushed towards the rest of the reptilians.
The three Ashford students backed up shivering unto each other and against the steps of the staircase as the front door by now had a huge gaping hole from the repeated axe strikes from the vicious reptilian assailant, now clearly seen through.
In spite of her fear, Milly tried to keep her head clear enough to think about the possible strategies they could use in their position.
"We're trapped here. Euphemia told us to use anything at hand as a weapon," thought the blonde. She held her pepper spray can at her right hand steadily, also eyeing the one Rivalz held. "Rivalz, get ready."
Sticking its head through the hole, the reptilian roared at the Ashford trio before pulling back for a powerful strike from the warhammer of another reptilian to shatter all but the hinges and edges of the already weakened door. The hammer-wielding reptilian rushed in first followed by the axe-wielding one.
"Spray!" cried Milly.
She and Rivalz sprayed the irritants unto the first incoming reptilian, causing it to stop and stumble back flailing its hammer around as it roared from the pain. The trio attempted to run upstairs, but a piece of broken furniture hurled right on the staircase just ahead of them, narrowly missing, by the other reptilian made them stop and turn back on impulse.
Finding that the axe-wielder had closed in the gap on them, Milly tried to use her pepper spray once more, however the reptilian spun around quickly to avoid being hit on its face. She yelped as the reptilian's tail struck her in its spin and knocked her unto the ground.
"MILLY!" Sophie quickly went to her friend's aid, smacking the reptilian unto its face with the candlestick with a leftward swing before the creature could strike the downed girl down. She quickly followed it up with a rightward swing again to its head before it could recover, sending it stumbling back.
"You alright?" asked Rivalz as he helped Milly up.
"Yeah," said Milly. "Look out!"
Milly quickly dragged Rivalz and moved quickly to avoid the swing of the irritated hammer-wielding reptilian she had sprayed at earlier. It then kept on charging and swinging its hammer at them, forcing the two to keep moving. This unfortunately prevented them from coming to their friend's aid.
"Get off my friends you—" Sophie's third swing was parried by the reptilian's axe.
Before she could respond, the reptilian gripped her by her right arm and quickly threw her unto the ground.
Time seemed to slow down for her as the reptilian prepared to swing its axe, the strike that would end her life.
A strike that was fortunately not to come.
A sharp blade ran through the reptilian's right arm, causing it to drop its axe and roar in pain. The blade withdrew to be immediately followed up by a powerful, fatal slash unto the back of its neck. The reptilian crumpled down and fell to reveal Sophie's saviour.
A young woman with long brown hair reaching down to her thighs and blue eyes. She wore a red scarf over her neck, light plated armour consisting of a cuirass, shoulderplates, vambraces, and chausses, white with golden trims, worn over a magenta top accompanied by a skirt of the same colour along with brown gloves and a belt. On her right hand she carried an arming sword, the weapon she had used to slay the reptilian.
The woman offered her left hand to Sophie to help her up. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," said Sophie. "Thanks."
Meanwhile the hammer-wielding reptilian had chased Milly and Rivalz unto the kitchen, smashing nearly anything in front wildly in an attempt to make up for its irritation-impaired eyesight and smell. Unfortunately the room was small enough for the reptilian to corner the two students.
But before it could strike a blow on either of them, the reptilian was yanked backwards through its tail by what appeared to be a burly green bald man with boar-like ears and a pair of small tusks protruding from his mouth. He was dressed in brown leathery straps over his chest attached to a central circular metallic plate, a brown shoulderplate over his right, a belt and tasset of the same colour, dark brown pants, leathery lower leg bands and boots.
Using what appeared to be some sort of futuristic large metal bludgeon, he smashed the reptilian's skull in before throwing it out through the open back door he had obviously come in through.
He turned his attention to the two still-terrified students.
"You cool guys?" His imposing physique, standing at two metres and 16 centimetres from foot to head, would have made expectations of a similarly imposing and deep voice. But instead his voice was soft-spoken and rather higher in pitch than one would expect.
The friendly impression he gave calmed the nervousness of the two students.
"Yeah," said Rivalz, feeling relieved that he wasn't hostile. "Thanks for the save."
"W-who and what are you?" asked Milly, trying to make sense of the man in front of her.
"Name's Krog," the green man introduced. "I'm an orc. I'm big and green as you can see."
"A-an actual orc?" asked Rivalz.
"Yeah," said Krog. "Never seen an orc before?"
"As a matter of fact, no," said Milly. "Just what and where did we get ourselves into!?"
Outside, the reptilians had been reduced to half their original numbers, overwhelmed by the efforts of Euphemia and the newcomers, the Allosaurus having been by far the greatest contributor.
In contrast, Fansarin was overpowering the Neanderthal warrior in a melee clash. Thrusts of the spear parried by the reptilian commander's axe, or dodged by the surprising agility and mobility of the cybernetic reptilian despite his considerable size advantage. Managing to grab the warrior by his neck, the reptilian threw him unto the ground.
Before he could land a finishing blow, the teal-haired spellcaster launched a firebolt at him. Dodging the first one, he raised his left arm as if using a buckler and projected a translucent red deflector shield over his left arm, akin to the Britannians' Blaze Luminous shields, blocking a second firebolt with it.
The Allosaurus turned its attention towards the reptilian commander as he attempted to rush towards the caster, easily evading their projectiles or blocking them with his shield. The theropod charged in, forcing Fansarin to evade its lunge.
The reptilian commander roared at the theropod and began to run. "Reptilians, retreat!"
The remaining reptilians fled upon his order. The Allosaurus roared at the retreating foes as if to signal triumphance.
Milly, Rivalz, and Krog had gathered along with Sophie and the female warrior in the living room as the Ashford students picked up their backpacks. The Neanderthal warrior and the teal-haired caster came in just after finishing their battle outside.
The former had green eyes and stood a couple of centimetres taller than Sophie, but his stocky build made him rather imposing for his height. The latter had golden eyes, a single cowlick standing up atop their hair, and was pretty small in stature, some twenty centimetres shorter than Rivalz. But the fact that they must had been in the battle outside and survived told the students that they were not to be underestimated in spite of their appearance.
"We drove them off," said the warrior. "Is everyone good?"
"Yeah, we're fine," said Sophie.
"Who are you?" asked Euphemia from the stairs, eyeing the visitors with uncertainty and caution, a ready grip on her rifle.
"Well then, let's get the introductions under way," said the orc. "I'm Krog. Nice to meet you."
"Dame Suzanne Starvale of Freasia," the female warrior introduced herself.
"I am S'pir," the Neanderthal warrior introduced himself.
"I'm Rumie Willow," the petite teal-haired caster introduced themself.
"Well, I'm Milly Ashford," Milly introduced herself to the newcomers. "And these are my friends Rivalz Cardemonde and Sophie Wood." She gestured towards her schoolmates as she introduced them. "We're students from Ashford Academy."
"Ashford Academy?" asked Rumie.
"It's our school," said Rivalz.
"Pink hair lady," Krog turned his attention back to the pinkette who continued to stand cautiously at a distance. "What's your name?"
"Euphemia," the pinkette answered simply. "And what do you intend to do with us?"
"They just saved us," Sophie told her.
"We were passing by and saw those lizards shooting at this house," said Krog. "Thought we could go in, check out and lend a hand."
"And how do I know that's not a ruse?" asked Euphemia with scepticism. "I do not intend to be stabbed in the back or be taken as a hostage."
"If they were here to kill us," said Milly. "They'd either just let those lizards have us, or they'd be doing it now. And I don't think those lizards care for hostages either."
"Lady Ashford's correct," said S'pir.
"Yeah we don't do that kind of thing," said Krog.
Euphemia thought for a couple of seconds silently before conceding. "Very well."
"Let's go outside," said Rumie. "There's someone we have yet to introduce."
Euphemia, the Ashford trio, and the newcomers walked out of the house at Rumie's request. The Ashford students collectively yelped and stepped back in fright at the sight of the Allosaurus walking nearby.
"This is Fang," S'pir introduced the theropod. "My partner."
"I-it's not going to eat us, isn't it?" asked Rivalz anxiously.
"Don't worry, she's quite friendly," said Rumie as they walked towards Fang, who stopped by their side.
"That's a freaking dinosaur," said Rivalz. "A big meat-eating dinosaur…"
"She only tears apart enemies," said S'pir. "She won't bite."
"I-I'm still not so sure about that," said Rivalz.
"Not used to working with dinosaurs?" asked Krog.
"No, not really." Milly along with her fellow students shook their heads.
"What is this place?" asked Euphemia.
"Ah, not from around here aren't you?" replied S'pir. "We're in the southern region of Freasia. This is, or I should say was, the town of Helven."
The Ashford trio was puzzled and surprised. Euphemia meanwhile raised an eyebrow slightly and took careful note of the answer in her head.
"Looks like we really aren't in Area 11 anymore," thought Milly. "And just what were those things?"
"Reptilians," said Suzanne. "Murderous tyrannical bastards. Vile creatures that enslave and destroy anything they touch."
"Um, if you guys don't mind…can we go with you?" asked Rivalz.
"Rivalz, are you sure?" asked Milly.
"I ain't hanging out here after what just happened," said Rivalz. "Even if the dino there's a bit scary."
"Very well. I suggest picking up some weapons, you're going to need them where we're going," said S'pir. "You can take them from the fallen. They won't be needing them anymore."
"Looting from the dead isn't exactly something I'm entirely comfortable with," said Milly. "But you've got a point. Let's get some weapons before we go."
"Right." Sophie and Rivalz acknowledged.
"How about you, Euphemia?" asked Milly.
"It's not safe to continue staying here," said Euphemia. "I don't know much about these people. But they don't seem to be hostile. We're in territory utterly unfamiliar to us. Following the locals would be the wise choice."
"Mm-hm." Milly and the other two Ashford students went out to collect their weapons.
Milly took a two-barrelled gun resembling a stockless pistol-grip shotgun along with a dagger, while Sophie took a two-handed battleaxe along with a buckler and Rivalz a rifle.
Euphemia meanwhile took a good look over the corpses of the slain reptilians. She curiously noted the rather peculiar colour of the blood that spilt from them, green rather than red. "Hmm…"
She thought back on her battle against the reptilians, the arrival of their battlewalker, and of hostile giant dinosaurs that she was sure roamed the wilderness around. She decided that she couldn't take any chances of coming up underequipped against such foes and went and took a belt full of can-shaped grenades from a few nearby corpses.
"We're ready," said Sophie as the trio came back to the group.
They noticed Rumie holding their staff over a few wounds located on a sitting Fang's thigh where the reptilians managed to score hits on her. The staff emitted a cyan glow and, to the Ashford students' amazement, the wounds were being mended.
"That's all better now," said Rumie with a smile as they finished.
"I need some details on our destination," said Euphemia. "Where exactly are we going? What sort of mission were you taking when you found us?"
"Well, there's a nasty prison camp by those lizards some ways north of here," said Krog. "We're going to bust some friends out of there. Now if everyone's ready, let's better get going."
The group ventured out of the town and into the woods. Fang lead the way following scents the reptilians must have left behind. Euphemia had opted to maintain some distance between her and the others at the back of the group. The Ashford trio however walked close with the warriors.
Rivalz had been initially apprehensive of Fang, and admittedly he still was a bit, but he also had to admit that the Allosaurus' presence had also been a boon as she was quick to ward away a small group of Dakotaraptor that attempted to stalk the group.
"At least that dino's on our side…" thought the blue-haired boy.
The sight of Rumie healing Fang's leg stuck in Milly's mind. It was something that she had thought was reserved for fantasy. But what they did…that was very real.
"So, Rumie…how did you do that thing?" asked Milly. "You know, what you did on that dino's leg? That was amazing!"
"Oh," said Rumie. "I used a healing spell."
"Spell?" Milly beamed. "As in…magic?"
"Well, yes," said Rumie. "I'm an apprentice mage from Mounmarry Academy."
"A magic school?" asked Milly excitedly. "So, like, I can actually learn how to do magic there?"
"Well, if you have the aptitude and the will to do it," said Rumie. "You can. And it's not really just a magic school, they teach a lot of other stuff. Magic is just what I do best at. I'm no good with swords and axes."
"I can!?" Milly began to daydream.
"Speaking of schools," said Suzanne, snapping Milly back into attention. "You're the head of this Ashford Academy, right?"
"Well, not really," said Milly. "It's my grandpa who runs the school."
"Oh, I see," said Suzanne. "What is it like in there?"
"It's pretty fun," said Sophie. "There are a lot of parties, and some pretty nice people to meet with."
"That's right," said Milly proudly. "And I'm the one who arranges those parties."
"Yeah, she's a real party girl in there," said Rivalz. "Although I have to admit that some of them got a little bit crazy."
"Not as crazy as this place though…" he mentally added.
"Well, sometimes you need to enjoy a little bit of crazy," said Milly. "Living life to the fullest and all that."
"I'd have liked to see them myself," said Krog. "Could use a nice time to lay back after this job is done."
"Hey, Prin— Euphemia, you haven't been talking this whole time," addressed Milly. "Join in on the conversation."
"No," said Euphemia bluntly.
"Geez," Milly sighed. "I really wonder what's gotten into you lately..."
The prison camp was located in a valley between two ridges to its north and south. The group hid in the foliage and stone ruins atop the south ridge overlooking the camp.
"So this is it I must assume?" asked Euphemia, having taken a position from behind a ruined wall atop a cliff. Even from this vantage point it reminded her of the concentration camps used by dictatorial regimes of history. She could see several prisoners being mistreated and tortured by the reptilians within its walls.
It disgusted her to look at.
"Yeah," said Krog.
"Seems like a tough one for our little group," said Suzanne. "We'll need to try and find some weaknesses."
Euphemia eyed the camp carefully as much as she could. It consisted of an outer perimeter wall constructed out of logs surrounding several dark tents and what looked to be three large metallic cages, all guarded by reptilian troops. She could see several prisoners locked up inside, including a glimpse of a girl with long fluffy iliac hair on the rightmost cage. What looked to be five sleek and black vaguely caterpillar-shaped vehicles, perhaps transports of some kind, as well as three battlewalkers, were parked inside. There were two entrances from the west and southeast closely guarded by gun nests.
It was clear that rushing in blindly was tantamount to suicide.
"Any ideas on how we could crack this thing?" asked Krog.
"Many of those prisoners are soldiers and warriors," said S'pir. "If we could somehow get them to the armoury in the camp, they'd be a great help to us."
"We'd need to distract the guards and break them out from here somehow for that," said Euphemia.
"Yeah, that's going to be quite hard to do," said Krog. "What's your idea?"
"If we go on the offensive, they will have the advantage of their fortifications," said Euphemia. "So we draw them to us. They have no idea we're here, so we can use the element of surprise to our advantage. They will spread their forces to search for us. Once they have sufficiently scattered, if they have not found us yet, we use our elevation advantage and open fire on the ones downhill. When they come here, we use the ruins and trees for cover."
"Don't rush in until their numbers get thin," she continued. "Those of us with ranged weapons will fire first, close-ranged fighters should go on standby and hide until they get close."
"Sounds like a risky strategy," said S'pir. "But, as you said, it is preferable to the alternative."
"Do we have anything to set traps with?" asked Euphemia. "I think that could help our chances."
"I've got a bunch of bombs right here," said Krog, placing down a brown satchel. "High explosives and concussion pulse. Remotely detonated."
"That would do," said Euphemia. "We should set those up around us. Once they've got us surrounded in sufficient concentration, we detonate them. That should clear out much of their offensive force."
"Got it," said Krog. "I and little Rumie here will set them up."
"Right." Rumie nodded.
The two went out to set the explosives amongst the forest in the paths deemed likely for the reptilians to go through.
"I suppose we'd just be hiding behind all of you," said Milly. "Keeping our weapons ready in case they get too close."
"I suppose that's wise." Suzanne drew a twin-barrelled pistol-like gun holstered on her belt. "I'll stay close to you."
Fang moved closer to the main group into a position ready to ambush. It was rather surprising to the Ashford students, Rivalz especially, just how quietly she went through the foliage easily maintaining cover from the reptilian camp guards in spite of her size. Not like in the movies where large theropods shook the ground with each step.
"I'll initiate." Euphemia aimed her rifle towards a group of reptilian guards within the camp, a few metres away from the prisoner cages.
"I'll go for the gun nests," Rumie readied their staff, the end glowing teal as they prepared a spell. Suzanne and Krog took their positions ready to strike as well.
Euphemia fired with a quick burst, killing one of the reptilians and sending the others into alert.
"Huh?" The sudden ambush in front of their cage caught Anna's attention amongst the other prisoners.
"About time," said Ralf, feeling confidence and relief. He went through his belt's pouches and took out a small pocket knife, discreetly handing it to Anna. "Here."
"I suppose this could do." The lilac-haired girl took the knife. She watched the reptilians as they scrambled out in search for their hidden attacker. "This may just be the distraction I need."
Keeping an eye out for any nearby reptilians, Anna went to pick the lock carefully.
Euphemia and the others watched and waited as the reptilians went out from both gates into the surrounding forest to search for their group. Her sudden and brief strike had left no clear indicator of their group's location.
It was going according to plan.
They were scattering to cover more ground. Less concentration of force. And when they would strike, it would be easier to start thinning their numbers.
Several of them were now close enough. It was time to strike.
"Now!"
At her signal Euphemia, along with Suzanne and Krog who used his bludgeon as a rifle, opened fire on the hostiles downhill and the remaining ones within the camp itself. Rumie released a fireball they had been charging up towards one of the gun nests on the southeast entrance to take it out before joining the others in the assault.
Using the cover provided by the ruins they had entrenched themselves in, the ensuing battle had so far gone in their favour. But now that their position had been revealed, the reptilians from further away closed in toward them.
And then as the hostiles had come close enough it had been time for the melee fighters to come in. S'pir and Fang burst out from hiding, with the latter biting down on a reptilian and throwing it with great force against a nearby tree as the former ran his spear through another's throat.
Suzanne fired a yellow plasma bolt from her gun at a reptilian's head as it got within a few metres from her position. "I know this isn't your fight, but you might want to help at least a little. Shoot any of those lizards that move," she told the Ashford students.
"A-alright," Milly and Rivalz nodded. They took their guns, with Milly taking out her pepper spray on her left hand, and fired at the closest reptilians from behind their cover as Sophie kept her axe ready.
"Look out!" cried Suzanne as a sword-wielding reptilian stalked in close to the Ashford trio.
Sophie turned around to find the reptilian rushing towards her and barely had time to bring up her axe to defend herself. Milly sprayed on the hostile just in time to stop its strike, followed up by Sophie swinging her axe across its chest twice before ensuring a kill with a swing across its neck.
Another blade-wielding reptilian attempted to rush at Euphemia, however she caught it in its attempt and fired a burst of plasma unto its side and upper leg to stop it in its tracks and disable it while she pulled out one of her swords. She plunged the blade through its throat before kicking its corpse down.
After tense moments, looking over around vigilantly to avoid detection, Anna had succeeded in unlocking the cage.
"Yes!" thought the scientist. "Now we need to get out of here!"
"Follow me!" Ralf signalled to his fellow freed prisoners as they began their escape. "We need to get to the armoury!"
Anna took a glance at the reptilian corpse from the initial attack. Rushing out with the rest of the prisoners, she knew she needed something to defend herself with here. She made a dash as fast as she could for the fallen reptilian.
"This way!" Ralf led the prisoners towards the reptilians' armoury.
The reptilian forces, with two battlewalkers sent into the fray, had then concentrated in their assault around the group, having them pinned down within the ruins.
"They're getting pretty thick out there," said Krog. "We might have bitten off more than we can chew."
"Now's the time!" Euphemia threw a couple of grenades at one of the battlewalkers, knocking it back and staggering it. "Detonate the bombs!"
"I agree!" Rumie charged up a fireball and launched it into the other battlewalker, staggering it as well. "The detonator!"
"Got it— Agh!" A shot grazed Krog's arm, causing him to drop the detonator. He was forced to take cover behind a wall as red plasma bolts zipped by between him and the device. "Oh fiddlesticks…"
Quickly, Euphemia fired upon the attacking reptilians to take them out and took the detonator.
"I got it!" cried the pinkette. "Stand back!"
"Everyone, get back!" cried Suzanne.
"Right!" S'pir rushed back to the cover of the ruins along with Fang.
Euphemia pressed the detonator. A cacophony of explosions tore through the forest around them and consumed the marauding reptilian force.
Anna fired her newly-acquired rifle at the locks of the other two cages to bust them open, freeing their prisoners. She opened fire at an incoming reptilian guard and rushed as fast as she could towards Ralf and the rest of the prisoners, many of which had already armed themselves and engaged the remaining guards.
"This is…so violent," she thought. "But there is no other choice…these monsters know no compassion…"
She turned towards a nearby hill in response to several rumbling and booming noises to see many explosions erupting through the forest, plumes of smoke and dust flying into the air. "Huh?"
Ralf, having found and recovered his one-handed axe and shield in the armoury, was locked in battle against the guards. He blocked a reptilian's blade with his shield and countered with a bash, stunning the reptilian for a moment enough for him to swing his axe at its torso and towards its neck to finish it.
Anna ran towards her companion. "What was that?"
"To be honest I don't know," said Ralf. "Those lizards destroyed my communicator. But I like to think our help just made quite an impression."
"I'd hope," said Anna. "But I can't help but worry."
When the dust settled the majority of the reptilian force had been wiped out. Their two battlewalkers now but mangled wrecks. Soon enough, the remaining reptilians still in the fight had begun to back away with the tide of this battle not in their favour.
Euphemia's plan had been working just as she said it would.
"Looks like they're retreating back to the camp!" Krog smashed a reptilian's face with his bludgeon before firing a green plasma bolt at another. "Let's keep at it!"
Euphemia caught sight of the cages in the camp to find them open with the captives out and fighting the guards within. "The camp!"
Suzanne looked towards the camp in response. "The prisoners! They broke out! They've armed themselves!"
"Huh?" said S'pir. "Then this battle's as good as ours! Push onward!"
"You hear that, slimy lizards!?" taunted Krog. "You're all finished up here now!"
The group pushed onward downhill, and soon they were able to attack the southeast entrance. The reptilians had their final battlewalker, armed with a rapid-fire autocannon, on guard alongside the remaining gun nest. Rumie focused all their effort to project a cyan glowing translucent shield to hold off the hail of plasma in order to allow the others to attack.
Euphemia successfully got fatal shots on the reptilian gunner, taking out the remaining nest. Meanwhile Suzanne drew the battlewalker's fire to dodge it while closing in, and with a powerful stroke of her sword dealt considerable damage to its ankle joint.
Fang lunged in, downing the battlewalker and tearing out the pilot.
After the group broke in the conclusion of the battle was now close and inevitable. The surviving reptilians retreated with two of their transports, leaving the camp to the freed prisoners. Ralf and Anna met up with the main group close to the middle of the camp.
"I didn't think you had that in you, Euphemia," said Milly. "I had to admit that you'd be the last person I'd go to for battle strategies. I suppose in the end you're still Cornelia's—"
"No." Euphemia silenced Milly with a harsh glare. "I am NOT her sister. Do not dare to associate me with Britannian royalty."
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that sore spot from earlier," said Milly. "She's really sensitive about being called a princess. But she's still not telling us why."
"Looks like you came just in time," said Ralf towards Krog.
"Good to see you still in once piece brother," said the orc. "Got a bit rough but we made it."
Fang roared into the sky in triumph. Anna stepped back wide-eyed in apprehension from the sight of the Allosaurus.
"Don't be scared, lady," said Spir. "That's Fang, my partner."
"A-alright," said Anna, still unsure. Her attention then turned towards the tall pinkette in a torn, decrepit white and lilac dress. "Wait, Princess Euphemia?"
Euphemia flew into a rage upon being addressed by that title. "I AM NOT A PRINCESS!"
"Take it easy." Sophie stepped in. "I'm sure she didn't mean to."
"She nearly went nuclear on us earlier for that," Milly told Anna. "Let's just not call her a princess, alright?"
"Yeah, let's not start fights amongst each other here," said Krog.
"Right." Anna nodded. She turned towards Euphemia. "Sorry. I-I didn't mean to offend you. I just wasn't expecting to see you here. I've heard all about you. About your Special Zone in Japan. What happened?"
"Lelouch happened," said Euphemia, having simmered down but with a bitter tone.
"Yeah, that's what she told us too," said Rivalz. "But she didn't tell us anything else."
Wishing to leave that particular issue behind for now, Milly introduced herself, Sophie, and Rivalz to the two.
"I'm Ralf," the man introduced himself to Euphemia and the Ashford students. "And this is Anna Clement." He gestured towards the lilac-haired girl. "She's the one who got us free while you were all fighting outside. She's got a mind sharper than a sword behind her pretty face."
All eyes turned towards the lilac-haired scientist.
"That was you?" questioned Euphemia.
"I just did what I can to help," said Anna.
"And you did," said Suzanne. "You've done a great deal for us and all these people around. You have our thanks, Lady Anna."
"Eh, it's just Anna," said the scientist.
"I see," said Suzanne. She, Krog, Rumie, and S'pir then introduced themselves to the lilac-haired lass.
"If you don't mind us asking," said Sophie. "Do you know anywhere called Tokyo or Area 11? We really need to get back."
"Huh? Area 11? Tokyo?" Suzanne was puzzled. "I've never heard of such places."
"Do any of you know anything about a Holy Britannian Empire?" asked Milly.
"No." Suzanne shook her head, as did Krog, Ralf, S'pir, and Rumie.
"Do you know anything about any wormhole generators?" asked Anna. "Let's just say…I'm not from around here."
"So are we." said Euphemia. "We don't really know where we are. I need all the information I can get."
"Yeah," concurred Rivalz. "We really need to get back home."
"Well, there are legends recorded about ancient gateways capable of traversing even different worlds," said Suzanne. "But I do not know much about them. But I do know someone who I'm sure knows a lot more."
"And who would that be?" asked Euphemia. "Go on."
"Lady Avinta von Sonnenblume," said Suzanne. "She's the most renowned scholar and researcher in Freasia, curator to the Great Library in our capital city of Silvania to the north past the mountains. I'm sure she'd be the most capable of answering your questions."
"Then that'd be where we are to go next," said Euphemia.
"Well, seeing as you're all not from around here apparently," said Krog. "You might need a guide."
"I'll be going as well," said Ralf. "I have a daughter worried about me back home."
"We'll take things from here," said Suzanne. "Best of luck!"
Euphemia, Anna, the three Ashford students, Krog, and Ralf made their way to and took one of the black caterpillar-like vehicles that had been left behind by the reptilians in their retreat. The vehicle powered on, hovered over the ground, left the camp complex and went northward into the woods on the way to the capital.
There awaits, they hoped, answers to their still burning questions…
And there we have it. More about the general setting elements are introduced in this chapter and all the isekai'ed five main cast members have now finally been brought together.
As well as advanced technology and tamed battle dinosaurs, the arts of magic are also in play. As introduced in this chapter, magic can be used to generate projectiles and shields and to heal wounds. There will be more uses introduced later on. The extent and limitations of the magic system will be explored further on with two of the main cast members so far planned to learn to harness and utilise it, one to adopt it as their primary tool while the other to use it as a secondary alongside their primary arsenal.
Rumie's outfit is roughly similar to Megumin's from Konosuba but with a teal colour scheme, a cuirass worn over the robe, and no witch hat or bandage leg wrappings.
Krog was inspired by Korg from the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the same contrast between his hulking, heavy physique and his soft-spoken, friendly voice and demeanour, as well as a similar outfit and weapon.
Fansarin is named after a villain from the game AdventureQuest, who also happens to be a humanoid reptilian (Drakel) and a cyborg.
My chapters really are taking a turn for the longer. This chapter was originally planned to continue through the story further, but it soon got too long – at more than 10,000 words – and thus needed to be cut.