Chapter 181 - Getting to RABONA
In the end, by the time that Gimli, Legolas, and Lard returned, a plan had mostly been drafted between the Agents regarding the Tekkadan help they were getting, with the final stages involving the three Abnormals' input since they were the representatives.
According to their consensus, the Tekkadan would scour the Ground Zero Regions' borders so they could determine the 'weak spots' in the Youma blockade, which had then gotten confirmed to be a thing thanks to some scouting from said Abnormals. They would have to stay out of sight though, which made it a job for more of the Elvish members of the Merc Group, who specialized in scouting with their superior eyesight, and to make sure things didn't go completely awry, Mihawk went with them since his eyesight was also considered highly effective.
Unfortunately, something became apparent and that something had been one which none of them had expected to happen. According to the results from the scout attempts, attempts which took a full day for them to gain, the blockade had much more Youma to it than they had anticipated, resulting in there being very few usable weak spots for the group to use. Of course, people like Nico, Mihawk and the Agents could have burst through the Blockade without too much issue, though it'd be a nuisance to the majority of them, if they wanted to do that then they would have to sacrifice their 'eyes and ears' which were the Tekkadan, which after some deliberation proved (something which fortunately didn't come to blows, though it could have if Nico hadn't picked up on some negotiating skills thanks to his time forming his army) to not be an action worth undertaking.
Therefore, a solution had to be made, and fortunately one did come about: an all-out spearing through the weakest spot in the Blockade that they could find, a combined assault with both Spec Ops and Abnormals fighting alongside one another. Something which sounded daunting, as well as possibly life-changing… on multiple levels, for it would signal the birth of a possibility: the possibility of Abnormals and humanity to NOT be enemies, at least all the time for conflict would always be inevitable. Therefore, if they could pull it off, then it'd be pretty much a game-changer for the future, opening up previously closed possibilities. Of course, the Abnormals had been a bit hesitant about the idea, or rather Legolas and Lard had been, whilst Gimli had quickly gotten into the ides of spearing through the enemy and 'kill stealing' from the Elves, which had finally pulled their elvish company over to their side. Thus, Lard had no choice but to accept as well, knowing how once those two wouldn't stop once they'd gotten into their competitive moods.
Thus, after a quick scouting mission by the Tekkadan, they had found a weak spot in the Blockade and managed to push through with no casualties. They'd done so by having Urthemiel separate them from the Youma by breathing an entire lane with its Primal Flames, allowing them to ride through using the flames as a makeshift barrier. Thus, the group got themselves through the blockade...
… Which led them to their current state:
Riding in the same formation as before, but with the Tekkadan forces right behind them. THEIR formation looked more like an incomplete square, like a square-shaped 'U' with the Spec Ops Agents in the middle. This would allow the Tekkadan forces to use their elvish scouts to keep a watchful eye out whilst they kept enough space between them and the Agents so that they could act quickly when necessary.
Whilst they rode across the vast plains, Nico muttered to himself whilst he rode his Cavalier and had Rebellion strapped to his back. "Does Lowee have nothing else besides snowy plains to look at? If so, then I can see why some Leanbox Nations call this Nation the plainest one of the bunch…" Part of him, after having seen Blanc, even wondered if those pervs even referred to her in that description… They'd get the hammer or the Axe if that would indeed be the case.
'OF COURSE, THEY WOULD, REMEMBER THERE'S THOSE FUCKS WHO LIKE GETTING HIT, SO ALL SHE'D BE DOING IS GIVING THEM WHAT THEY WANT!'
When Byakko said this through their link, Nico scowled internally at the images that they gave him, all the while trying to keep calm by using the humming sounds coming from his ride's engine. He could so imagine something like that happening since there were all sorts of people in the world, each unique in their ways… not that different from Abnormals, now that he thought about it. One more reason to believe that there wasn't much difference between man and monster, then, thus with that thought in mind Nico glanced on over to Legolas and Gimli who rode by his left flank. "You guys! See anything?"
"Negative, boss!" Gimli's reply turned out to be.
Though instead of a similar one like Nico had anticipated, Legolas's eyes narrowed at something in the distance, prompting the redhead to arch a brow in his direction. Seconds later though, his eyes then widened in alarm as he turned his head back to the Tekkadan leader. "Sir, I've seen a group of people Northwest of us! About 50 in number! They look to be a small convoy of Lowee civilians!" He yelled, causing the rest of the group to become wide alert as they directed their attention towards the Elf. Well, save for a few who kept their eyes forwards as well as glanced towards the direction that Legolas had said there were civilians.
True to his words, Mihawk's eyes narrowed as his hawk-like eyesight further compounded the man's statement. "The Abnormal is right, I can see them from here… and it looks like they have some unwanted guests harassing them," he informed the rest of the group, frowning as his coat fluttered behind him thanks to the generated breeze.
Each of them frowned or scowled at this, already having a good idea as to who these 'unwanted guests' were. Nico even confirmed it for himself when he looked towards the direction of the supposed convoy and managed to make out the silhouettes of some grotesque Youma shapes. 'Youma… looks like there's a lot of Awakened types there, too. Looks like there are about 80 Awakened Youma and about 500 normal ones.' The male thought to himself as he felt Rebellion rattle against his back. Not only them but Ebony and Ivory that were strapped to his waist, ready to be unleashed upon the enemy that they would be facing. "What of the surroundings? Any Youma there?"
"Doesn't look like it, sir."
After hearing that reply from the Elf, Nico hummed as a plan formed in his mind. "Alright then, we should probably try to help them out. Since this area's deep in Youma territory, we'll need to get some additional information. Perhaps these guys will have something for us." Nico suggested, to which each of the Agents pondered as well.
Though, it was Rory who offered her input on the suggestion first. "Makes sense. It would be quite a bore if we just search around without many leads. Not to distrust you Raven, my dear. But additional information will be of great use to us.
"Not to mention that searching around blindly will only end up wasting resources in the long run," Mihawk added with a frown on his lips. "I for one do not like wasting anything, ESPECIALLY time."
Katakuri nodded his head in agreement whilst Rory formulated a bloodthirsty smile on her lips, a rather… creepy giggle escaping her which sounded much more like that of a perverted old man.
Meanwhile, Raven pursed her lips behind her Mask (which she'd put on before their journey had begun). She still didn't like the thought of fighting alongside Abnormals, however, she did admit to that being a bit hypocritical of her since, well, she DID fight alongside people who could be described as such daily. "Can you identify their clothes, Ice Elf?" She then asked Legolas, who gave her a brief description of their clothing choice to his confusion, before at the end she scowled. "I was afraid of this, looks like those Civilians hail from Rabona, which means that the situation there may have been affected somehow. I concur with rescuing them for intel." She declared before her gaze fell upon the Tekkadan leader. "What do you recommend for your forces, DEATHSTROKE?"
"It would probably be best to use containment. We can form a blockade with my Tekkadan forces and scatter the weaker Youma to them, letting them take them out rather easily. We Spec Ops can deal with the bigger fish, though don't worry. My forces can handle Awakened Youma just fine in case some of those trying to make a break for it." Nico responded, glancing over and looking towards their Abnormal comrades, his lone uncovered eye silently asking if that would be fine with them. Both Gimli and Legolas nodded in return, prompting the redhead to look to the rest of the Tekkadan forces and relaying his orders to them. He also added backup orders to them in case of varying situations coming to pass like surprise attacks or other such developments, with the Elves taking the task of shooting down Youma with their Archery skills. Meanwhile, the Dwarves were to focus on mobility and provide a safer platform for the Elves to shoot from. As for scouting and observing, that task befell the Airborne Urthemiel who flew hundreds of meters above them.
Multiple shouts of agreement filled Nico's mind thanks to the SHINGAN Ring, prompting a nod of confirmation from him before he turned and did the same to his fellow Agents. "All the troops are aware of the Plans, and Urthemiel got scout duty. Anything else that needs discussing?" he asked, getting shakes of the head from the rest.
Thus, with their tasks designated to them, the group quickly advanced towards the Civilians with their weapons at the ready.
Various roars, shrieks, and inhuman caws filled the air as the Yoma Hordes closed in on the screaming civilians, having been chasing them down for a while now. To be fair, they COULD have just ripped them to shreds much earlier than this, but they had wanted to 'play' with their food a little bit first, get some decent entertainment from their pathetic, sniveling forms that reminded them of headless chickens. But right now, the time for games had passed, so they intended to surround the civilians from that city (none of them bothered to remember which, the act of 'playing' with their food was just that much fun) to cut off their escape routes, then utterly rip them to shreds in one glorious banquet of delicious innards. Though, admittingly about 20% of those civilians had already been 'served' as an appetizer beforehand when they had been tossed aside by the rest to keep their supplies from dwindling.
Every man for themselves, one could say…
But then, just as the Yoma surrounded and prepared to devour the helpless citizens who consisted mostly of men, women, and children…
FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!
A lone flying figure swooped in from above, looking like they were riding atop some kind of motorcycle which then split in two, forming two flaming chainsaws out of its wheels that the figure slammed into the ground, then used to cut through their ranks to form a line. The figure didn't waste any time when stopping at the rear end of the encircled Civilians, for the figure then turned and both halves of the motorcycle erupted into insidious black and red flames. Flames in which the figure used to slam into the ground and release them in the form of a large wave, similar to a tidal wave crashing into the shores, which resulted in a big portion of the Yoma encirclement being incinerated into ashes.
"Are you all alright?"
The figure asked them, putting the two halves back together as the civilians saw him in his full form at last. The long black coat, the red hair, and the sole piercing blue eye shone with a brightly intimidating presence which ended up making the majority of the civilians uncomfortable… that is, until one of them, a middle-aged man, noticed something about him which made his eyes widen in realization. "Um, pardon me sir, but are by any chance… DEATHSTROKE?"
Nico nodded his head before he dismissed Cavaliere and drew his Ebony and Ivory from his waist. "Yeah, now get behind me and we'll take care of your Youma issue." He urged, getting a running start before jumping over the crowd, each of them raising their heads to see him pulling a constant spinning maneuver whilst rapidly shooting out streams of bullets… right into the heads of the incoming frenzied Yoma.
Almost immediately afterward did a flurry of actions follow suit, with the Yoma breaking into a mad sprint towards where Nico landed as the civilians did as he had instructed them, allowing him to land on his spot and continue firing. At the same time, Nico saw his comrades jump over on their rides and land beside him, sliding along the snow-covered grounds and making huge waves of the stuff which blew back the first onslaught… temporarily, that is. Each of the Agents then dismounted off their rides before wordlessly jumping into the fray, ignoring the multitude of bikes circling them whilst keeping a fair distance away from the battle.
Seeing the incoming fight, Nico could only grin as he held Ebony and Ivory out, eagerness shining in his unmasked eye as he darted into the fray as well. 'Ahhhhh, it's so GOOD to be in the thick of it, again!' the boy exclaimed mentally, running through the lines and repeatedly shredding through his opponents with hails of gunfire. He only used normal bullets though, as well as restricted himself to shooting the heads of the more intelligent Yoma to try and send them out towards his Tekkadan forces… something which the male managed to do quite well, considering how small pockets of them began to flee in massive panic from his barrage and the rest of the battle only to be shot down dead by his Ice Elves.
There was a REASON why they liked archery instead of just guns.
'IT'D ONLY BE BETTER IF WE COULD JUST USE OUR KAGUNE ON THESE ASSHOLES, JUST LIKE I HOPED WE WOULD!'
'You are a bit too whiny, Byakko… but I share your sentiments.' Nico mentally replied before bending himself backward to avoid two claw swipes which would have sliced his head off (he could have just regenerated from that but it was a reflex more than anything), before sausage flipping over another set of claws… all four Youma that had attacked him than receiving dozens of bullet holes across their forms, mostly in their chest and head areas.
As he landed, the male looked up and noticed a rather obese-looking, humanoid Awakened Yoma with a single tooth and one deformed, yellow, and spotted eye. From its back protruded two large Tendrils which looked like human intestines that lunged down at him to try and spear him. However, the male slid on beneath it and stood up behind it, quickly hopping onto its head and shooting the Tendrils off at their base. Outraged, the Awakened Yoma tried to grab at him with its large fists, only for Nico to quickly shoot it several times in the head before shooting off its arms and finally jumping off it, aiming both guns downwards and peppering it with Baala's.
By the time he landed, the whole thing had been reduced to pretty much a smoldering pile of mush.
Over on another section of the battlefield, Rory grinned and giggled like a madwoman as she constantly hacked and slashed away with her Emroy, the weapon shredding through Yoma flesh with practiced ease as she constantly tore away at her enemies like an infamous berserker. "Ufufufufufufufufu Ufufufufufufufufu!" She giggled constantly, each one giving this hauntingly serene feeling which would have worked wonders… if it were in the night and the moonlight shone down on her. Sadly, this time was the afternoon, so no dice, though this didn't stop her from ruthlessly butchering every Yoma she saw, with those who tried to flee getting shot down by the surrounding Tekkadan forces. She DID idly note on how one of the larger Awakened Yoma had tried to break their encirclement only to be mercilessly turned into humanoid porcupines via elvish arrows, then gunned down by the Dwarves with their Shotguns, ones which looked to be of decent quality which could only have come from better resources and facilities.
Pausing her killing when a shadow loomed over her, Rory turned and bore witness to a large Awakened Yoma shaped like a Spider… but with two heads with twice the fangs, longer fangs too, and multiple whip-like appendages protruding out of its main body. Each of its many eyes hissed angrily at the small girl, who just smirked in eagerness and bloodlust. "My, what a cute little thing you are…" she complimented as she hopped backward, avoiding a stab from the Spider Yoma's right leg. She had slashed at it in the split second that she'd dodged, but the creature's reflexes proved impressive when it lifted it's leg back upwards to dodge it. "And a quick one, too… how about you and I dance the dance of death, what say you, my dear?"
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
The screeched through its multiple mouths at Rory in response, it's whips seemingly elongating themselves like Tendrils to lunge at her… but from multiple different angles. They came at her from above, the left, right, and behind, which made Rory realize that it wanted to force her into a close combat-type scenario. 'Well, I do apologize then little one…' she thought as she jumped forwards, avoiding the appendages and then stabbed Emroy's rear end into the ground, halting her before the could bite down onto the space it had thought she'd ended up. '...but I'm the one who decides whether or not to come in close.'
She then swung Emroy for an overhead smash, but a flicker of movement behind the creature made her take a pause… only for Rory to quickly roll to the side so she could avoid a long Stinger-like protrusion from the creature's butt that tried to impale her. It didn't stop there though as it moved in a wild, almost frenzied state of movements as it constantly stabbed away at her, resembling a constant stream of Gatling Gun bullets. In Rory's eyes, it moved fast enough to simulate the illusion of many stingers coming down to impale her instead of one…
So she simply adjusted her Emroy a bit so she could parry each stab with its shaft, a surprising feat considering how small the stinger's tip was. Eventually, she pulled a feint move by looking like she wanted to move forwards prompting the Stinger to stab there, but instead, she moved sideways into it's left side, a blind spot she'd noticed that it had. Thus, Rory performed a single side swing with her Emroy, intending to bisect the whole of its body… only for the Spider-shaped Yoma to tuck its legs in and roll away from the swing which made her pout rather childishly. "How rude… when I only wanted to reward you…" she whined. Although internally she'd analyzed this reaction like a supercomputer. 'Hmmm, so this one must have had previous experiences with fighters going after its legs, then...That'll be an annoying one…' Rory thought to herself as she twirled Emroy above her head…
Before throwing it forwards like a spinning wheel. 'Then I guess a frontal assault is the best option for me.'
The spinning weapon spun so fast that it looked less like a Halberd and more like a freaking spinning disk as it sailed towards the Yoma, which quickly noticed it thanks to its many eyes before it forms began to shudder. The reason for this soon became apparent when, instantly, several appendages burst out from the areas beside the two heads, shaping themselves into two large, pincer-like limbs that the Spider-like Yoma used to try and catch the spinning weapon.
Though… it failed, and as such, the weapon's blade embedded itself right into one of the two heads, causing the spider-shaped Yoma to screech in agony, slipping and falling to the ground whilst flailing its various appendages about in some form of an attempt to form a defensive barrier against a further aggressive stance… one which Rory promptly ignored as she landed on top of its head with various scratches and lacerations formed across her body thanks to the flailing limbs. Some of them looked like they were spewing streams of thick, crimson blood down her body… though Rory didn't look like she minded at all, if anything she looked delighted.
"Awwww, you look hurt, little one… Don't worry, though." she began as every drop of blood began to recede into her various injuries, as if some kind of force drew it all back in whilst those of her injuries which WEREN'T bleeding simply closed up by themselves. By the time she'd reached forth and grasped her Halberd's shaft then yanked it forcefully out of the destroyed head, Rory's body had already completely healed itself save for the slight tears on her clothes before she simply sliced off the various whips the Spider-shaped Yoma had, earning more shrieks. "I'll make sure…" Finally, she brought Emroy down on the second head, silencing the creature's screams permanently. "Your departure to the underworld is fitting for a monster like you."
On another front, Katakuri stood with his arms crossed in front of him, his eyes being closed. He looked to be quite calm and composed… considering how he looked to be surrounded by a bunch of Yoma, mostly the common class though there were several hulking monstrosities reminiscent of Bears as well as golems among them as well, easily towering over him in terms of size. If anything, what surrounded him resembled less like an army and more a twisted amalgamation of flesh, fangs, claws, and Tendrils.
"SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"..."
After a few moments, loud shrieks came from the various Yoma as they burst forth, breaking into mad sprints towards their enemy with some even jumping to launch their finger-Tendrils at his vital areas with the intent of skewering him, immobilizing him so they could hear his screams whilst they feasted upon his innards…
That is, that was what they THOUGHT would happen.
"...So damn noisy."
SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-!
… But fantasy wasn't the same as reality, a fact which got proven when Katakuri quickly reacted… and by quickly that meant that his arms became a flurry of motion which none of the Yoma could have tracked. This motion ended with him holding… what looked to be some sort of Trident-like weapon, with its three prongs tightly together. The middle prong was a full spear-shape, while the two on the sides looked to take the form of half-blades. It looked more like a Leanbox weapon if one were to think about its appearance, but that wasn't too important at the moment… for once that flurry of motion had passed every Yoma around him suddenly split into many different pieces that fell to the ground, lifeless. Even the Awakened Yoma hadn't been a match for his movements, prompting the Spec Ops Agent to furrow his brows briefly… before moving on to the next part of the battlefield with his right hand clenched tightly around his Trident. "It's time we sample some sweets… Mogura." he mumbled under his breath, which sounded even quieter thanks to his Scarf, lightly shaking his Trident which he had coined as 'Mogura'.
Arima wasn't even having a hard time, since he just kept slicing and dicing like he was the Grim Reaper incarnate, pretty much showcasing why he had been given the 'Reaper' title in the first place just as Nico and Rory were.
Over on Mihawk's side… well, to call it cataclysmic level chaos would be an understatement as he tore through his opponents similar to Rory, but had more technique and poise than her and more like Katakuri. Yoma, Awakened Yoma, it made no difference in his eyes… eyes which resembled the hawk that he was named after whilst everything around him got registered under one name: prey.
And the Hawk was BUILT to hunt its prey down.
By the time it reached mid to late afternoon, all of the Yoma had been ruthlessly butchered, reduced to nothing more than a pile of shredded body parts scattered across the crimson-colored snow, with the various Agents standing at different parts of the plain whilst being drenched in the blood of their slain enemies. Some of them looked to be more drenched than others though, with the least drenched being Katakuri who found a small pile of bodies and dismembered limbs to sit down on, and the most… well, it had to be the most twisted and berserker-prone of them all.
"Haaaahhhh… man, getting into fights always felt like something I'd enjoy…" a drenched Nico commented with an almost euphoric sigh escaping him as he sat atop a rather large pile of bodies and dismembered limbs. Something which he found rather ironic as evidenced by the smirk on his lips, considering his kill count across his entire Spec Ops Career was MUCH larger than this. He looked down at the bodies for a moment, his gaze starting to turn into something else, it practically swam with the predatory urge to devour the tasty 'treats' around him until Nico shook his head to clear his head, forcing those desires back for the meantime… though that did result in a feeling of loss inside of his gut. 'Haaaah, what would have been better would have been if I could have slaughtered these guys on my own, then rake in ALL the spoils…' the boy thought wistfully before he glanced to the side upon hearing someone coming up to him.
That, someone, turned out to be Rory, who was somewhat similar to him in terms of being drenched but compared to him she looked rather clean. She stood before the abundance of dismembered Yoma parts, eyes gazing with an impressed looking glint whilst a matching whistle erupted forth from her mouth. "My, what a ferocious beast we have with us…" she remarked, glancing down at the pile of dismembered Yoma beneath him. She did this for a brief second thought, choosing to then focus back on him. "You must not be well-liked by the stiff upper lips within the higher-ups if they've ever seen this. Kill count aside, it would be best to regroup with the others now. We're starting to question the citizens on what they're doing way out here and with a horde of Yoma sniffing their tails." she told him, prompting Nico to nod in agreement and acknowledgment before he jumped off the pile. Up in the air, he flipped and did multiple parkour stunts to get a majority of the blood off his clothes. When they got launched off him, the blood droplets fell onto Rory, however, the woman simply swirled her Emroy above her head like a helicopter blade, dispersing the droplets away from her form. By the time the male landed before her, the majority of the blood he'd been drenched in had mostly been dealt with, although it wouldn't beat getting a nice hot bath…
Maybe he could get one when they reached Rabona, although Nico wouldn't hold his breath.
Once that was done, the two of them headed back to the other Agents, who stood before three of the Villagers who looked to be representatives for them. One was an old-looking elder, the one on his left being a middle-aged lady and the one on his right looked to be some kind of muscular dude in his late twenties. Approaching them and joining with their companions, Nico and Rory nodded to Mihawk, Arima, and Katakuri who nodded in turn before they all focused their gazes on the three representatives.
One of them, the female rep, nodded her head in gratitude, a matching expression on her face. "Thank you Spec Ops Agents, for arriving when you did." she started, glancing at the remaining citizens. Most of them were women and children with the male ratio being… well, barely there. "As you can see, we cannot fight back with what we have with us, so if you hadn't shown up when you did those damn fucks would be having our roasted innards for lunch."
"That would be the most likely outcome, yes," Mihawk stated, nodding his head as he recalled a few times when he'd seen… the aftermath of such a scene. It wasn't pretty, which caused his hawk-like eyes to narrow into an almost blade-like gaze. "Which makes me question your intentions on being out here in the first place. You're pretty far from RABONA, after all."
This time, the elder of the trio spoke up when he heard the last part of Mihawk's sentence. "You figured that out, huh? Well, we are wearing clothes from our hometown, so that'd make sense…" he mused with a wistful look, before shaking his head and returning his look to a serious and grim one. "Unfortunately, RABONA wasn't the safest place for us, not anymore."
Katakuri spoke next, although what expression he did make none of them could figure out thanks to it being mostly hidden by his scarf. Their research on him had shown that he had been quite... hostile, towards those who tried to remove his scarf by force, even outright threatened those who simply ASKED him about the Scarf. The lesson here: don't talk about the Scarf. "Your tone implies that something happened at Rabona. What happened?" he questioned, though his rough tone made it sound more like a demand than an attempt at gathering information.
Though, Katakuri's blunt and direct mannerisms didn't seem like much of a problem for the muscular man who gave him the answer instead of the elder, who had jumped slightly with a lightly flustered look forming on his face. "Yoma, that's what. A whole goddamn army of them, numbering in the thousands. Got a couple of hundred Awakened ones too. They've got the city surrounded last we saw, and we had been sent out for our safety through a hidden passageway beneath the city." he explained, before his gaze locked onto that of Raven's through her white Mask. "Your comrades are helping with the city's defense, though I'm not sure how long they'll be able to hold out against their numbers."
"I see…" The said warrior-like woman remarked thoughtfully, cupping her chin with her thumb and index finger. "Must have happened after I left for reinforcements, then…" she muttered under her breath before clicking her tongue in annoyance. Regarding the attack, sure she felt more than a little irritated that this had happened after she had left, but it got mitigated by the fact that Lucy would be there helping boost the defenses whilst using her powers to limit the effectiveness of the enemy army. Though, part of her still worried nonetheless since her powers were the most effective when she was in Leanbox Territory, and it wasn't like she could do much herself without risking her cover so there was that. Nico wasn't the issue, but the rest of them were. "Where will you be going?"
An answer came from the woman's mouth as the Elder left to start reorganizing the citizens. "We're headed to another settlement that's nearby, we've heard that it's been doing pretty well for defense and its welcoming refugees," she explained.
'Ah, she must be talking about MONOLITH… That's the closest settlement I can think of. It's quite an old city, about 300 or so years old but it's still holding up reasonably well against Yoma incursions from what I've heard…' Nico thought to himself, lips pursed behind his mask whilst he had been staying silent and listening to the conversation. From what he could gather from what had been provided, he theorized that the town being attacked by Yoma just couldn't have been a coincidence. He thought about this due to how the army attacked with such huge numbers, remembering how in past battles there weren't NEARLY as many Yoma, save for more important occasions. Occasions such as when Lady White Heart's main stronghold got attacked, or one such attack on Easton Point where Theta had taken to residing in a lot of the time these last few weeks to organize search and rescue operations. Nico believed the civilians being sent to MONOLITH may have been his idea too, as he might have been notified by scouting parties in the area (the guy had a WIDE communication network, Nico knew this from past experiences). What did RABONA have then that could warrant such a strike force from the Yoma?
Well, the possibility of their origins being unraveled to the enemy might be a good candidate.
This also led Nico to believe that there may be some form of the organization behind the Yoma, further supported by the Awakened Yoma having enough intelligence to form tactics like blockading an entire region of Lowee… something which Nico found VERY suspicious in and of itself. It was like they knew EXACTLY when they were coming, and judging from the blockade's buildup that he'd had Urthemiel ook over, Nico believed that it hadn't been there for very long.
However, these were merely ideas formed based on past evidence and considering what the civilians had explained, the redhead believed that they didn't know the full story. Civilians usually weren't that knowledgeable of such things, unlike those who govern the military and were experienced with similar matters, meaning that they would need to go to Rabona for more information. He'd make sure to inform the others of his various theories along the way though, since in his opinion since they had more experiences in situations than him due to them being his seniors, his fellow Agents could have a better understanding and their ideas as to what's going on here.
A while later, the group had concluded their business with the citizens who continued on their way although Nico had told Urthemiel through their link to keep an eye on them from above and make sure that they got to MONOLITH safely before regrouping with them. What had surprised the redhead though, was the citizen's reception to the Abnormals within the Tekkadan, as apparently they didn't show any hostility both outwardly and inwardly, a thing he'd confirmed by looking for negative emotions and reading their minds with the SHINGAN ring. Turned out, when he had asked one why they weren't uncomfortable around them, was simply due to them being terrorized so much by the Yoma that they LIKED the Abnormals company… that, and they'd heard of the Tekkadan's reputation of destroying large masses of Yoma daily, something which Nico found much more believable.
Still, it proved to be quite the experience for his Tekkadan forces, especially Lard and Legolas who became… quite popular with the now single mothers and young children, the former for reasons Nico wasn't sure he even WANTED to know and the latter due to them probably having had much of the bias against Abnormals ingrained into them as their past generations. The next generation was always going to be influenced by the older one, that was just how things worked in all forms of life.
Although, whilst the group continued on their journey, Nico had made it a point to share his theories with the other Agents after requesting to know what they thought about the whole thing.
Arima had maintained silence on the matter, seemingly uninterested.
Rory had found the ideas fascinating yet understandable, injecting the possibility that perhaps the enemy may not necessarily be after just one person when attacking RABONA if there was such an organization leading them. She'd reasoned that RABONA was HUGE support for the resistance war efforts, as well as a source of hope similar to that of the Basilicom, so it could be possible that the enemy wanted to raze it to the ground for more of a morale boost to their side and downplay theirs in the meantime. Nico had to concede that to be a possibility indeed, although he wasn't completely sure about the idea.
Mihawk simply didn't give a care, just told them to keep an eye on the paths they were taking and that was that. To the redhead, he supposed this fit the man's personality quite well, considering that he had hawk-like traits, and Hawks usually focused solely on their prey when hunting, ignoring everything else. Seemed like Mihawk had a similar mentality when it came to their missions, and anything else was determined to be not important by association. That's what the redhead felt anyways whilst observing and analyzing the guy's quirks, ticks as well as his choice of words, and he felt pretty sure that he'd gotten a somewhat accurate description of the man.
Out of all of them, however, Katakuri had been the one who had been the MOST conversational, in that he too had been thinking about this situation and what it meant for their objectives. He'd considered that due to the long journey they had gone through, they would likely need to rest a bit when they got to RABONA therefore defeating the Yoma horde wasn't something that they could ignore. Furthermore, he had similar theories in his mind to Nico's, with one difference being that he felt it was for CERTAIN that the target of the invasion had to be their lead to discover the base. In his mind, he believed that the enemy was someone who would go to great lengths to keep the secrecy of the Yoma alive, or rather the secrets ABOUT them, since prolonging that would continue to make Lady White Heart and the Resistance nervous about making any big moves against them, leading to this organization acting freely for longer.
But yeah, looked like Nico and Katakuri had been of a similar mindset there… well, he guessed that made sense, since he and that large dude shared one thing in common, Nico felt:
They were BOTH predators.
"Look, I can see RABONA in the distance…!"
"Ugh, looks like things were as bad as we thought…"
"Hmmm, looks like a lot of lost souls require some offering to the goddess of death…"
"Rory, calm yourself until we at least get inside."
After a long journey, Nico, the Tekkadan, and the other Spec Ops Agents all finally arrived at RABONA, having stopped by a hill overlooking the entire battleground. Now, each of them had their expectations of what they might have seen upon arriving, most of them believing that they'd be entering the middle of a warzone overrun by vicious masses of claws and fangs… they weren't wrong. No, this was the state of the city that they'd found it in, but much more than that. The city looked to be mostly on fire, with multiple holes surrounding what looked to be a large fortress wall. Smoke rose from significantly large buildings that looked to be burning down, whilst the city's imminent vicinity looked to be one large mass of Yoma.
From their vantage point, however, they could see multiple signs that there were still fighters inside, signs such as large vines and plant life scattered throughout the walls that looked like they were made to reinforce defensive lines, as well as form makeshift fortress defenses like cannons, ballista, etc. Even more modern things like turrets made from plants on top of buildings, ones which were currently bombarding the enemy ranks with large projectiles, projectiles which Nico and all those who had good eyesight saw were simply solidified liquid into the shape of large boulders.
'That has to be Lucy's handiwork…' Nico thought to himself whilst glancing at Raven, noting how her expression remained hidden by her Mask although he could sense quite a bit of malice building up inside of her. Understandable, at least in his eyes, but he believed the others wouldn't understand unless she let them in on her secret themselves. Something which he believed she wouldn't do unless necessary. He then looked back to the battlefield beneath them, not being able to see any signs of Ivan or Aiden's presence either, something which proved concerning to him. "Alright then, looks like we have a BUNCH of nasty critters on our hands. Any suggestions for a plan?"
"Did the scouts you sent out once we left those civilians to manage to glean who is in charge of this force? Or at least those handing out orders to the weaker Yoma?" Katakuri responded, glancing down at the boy from atop his large gangster-like Motorcycle. To glean some early intelligence, Nico had suggested sending a small detachment of his Tekkadan forces out to the City ahead of them so they could glean some kind of idea about what they would be facing. Ideally, they wanted to know how such a large force was being operated so they could dismantle it much easier. It had been an agreed plan with all of them, and thus Nico had sent one out.
Speaking of which, the redhead responded with "Yeah, they came back but the info they got was a bit sketchy. According to them, the awakened Yoma is acting like generals directing the troops and ordering strategies, all that jazz… but, the one giving these orders to the Awakened was nowhere to be seen. Meaning that we may never be able to just dismantle and repel the army from RABONA." After explaining this, Nico furrowed his brows as he looked the enemy encampment over. "We COULD prioritize striking down the Awakened Yoma with hit and run tactics, using my Tekkadan forces as the spearheads that slay them whilst we all act as artillery, mass bombarding them and creating a distraction they could use. My men are well versed in such methods of combat." He explained.
Though, what he worried the most about was how this was possibly the largest force the Tekkadan had fought on Gamindustri, meaning that there was a huge chance this operation could backfire and cause them to suffer heavy losses. His forces prided themselves on their speed and mobility, something which he reflected in himself since Nico had seen himself as a pretty fast motherfucker, but still to overestimate one's abilities would be a massive flaw that could endanger not just oneself but those who put their lives in their care.
"Have you thought of outfitting them with better technology, DEATHSTROKE?" Rory questioned, frowning as she began clueing in on his concerns. "Surely you could stand to give them more of a versatile arsenal, so in that way, you can diversify your tactics."
Nico nodded in response to this. "I would, but multiple problems have presented themselves, resources being one of them. Another is that there have been times where we've stolen some of the enemy techs but have been unable to even ATTEMPT to reverse engineer it due to the complexity of it being too much for us at the moment. Additionally, we have enough issues maintaining supplies by hunting Yoma and raiding their settlements, so the fact that we've gotten this far is a stroke of damn luck if you ask me." he explained, the Tekkadan forces around them nodding their heads in agreement.
Rory had to note that these forces seem somewhat… close, to their leader, for him to say these things out loud without fear of dropping their morale. It was like they had known him for years instead of months, something which perplexed her a little.
After surveying the army and noting some things in his mind, Katakuri looked to Mihawk and some of the Ice Elves. "You lot, what do your enhanced eyes see about the army's composition?"
"Looks like what DEATHSTROKE said was right." Legolas answered, frowning."The enemy's command structure seems to have a hierarchy, but I can't see who's at the top. Odds are, they're using some kind of long-range communication to prevent their identities being discovered, I would wager."
After hearing this, Raven then spoke up, having formulated a battle plan in her mind that she now began explaining to the group. "If you ask me, I'd say we should just catch them by surprise in a pincer assault, squeeze through their lines so we can split their forces in half. That way, we can launch one big strike large enough to destroy a good chunk of their army," she explained, glancing over with a meaningful gaze towards the redhead.
Said redhead's eyes soon widened by a small fraction before settling back to normal, a look of understanding as he slightly lowered his head in Raven's direction, showing her that he'd gotten the message. "That sounds like a good strategy, and with their weaponry, it'll be easier to split the army that way…" the Spanish swordsman explained further, directing his gaze towards the largest member of their group.
With a sharp nod from Katakuri, Nico pretty much took that as him receiving the go-ahead as he activated his SHINGAN Ring to inform the troops of the plan...
If there was one thing which Lucy disliked a lot, almost as much as she disliked the Leanbox nobility to the point where she'd howl in laughter if she saw one being castrated regardless of them being a man or woman, then it was siege-like operations like these when she had to use her powers to defend strongholds on another Nation's soil. If it were Leanbox then she wouldn't have any issue, but using her nature powers outside the Land she'd hailed from was NEVER a fun experience. It always felt a 1000 times more difficult to form and manipulate plant life to her will, as well as taking longer and the results… well, they couldn't even BEGIN to be compared to her creations back in her home nation.
However, this had been what she had been forced into doing to defend RABONA from the siege that had begun taking place. One which had come right out of nowhere during the crack of dawn this morning, causing mass panic throughout the town since every citizen within its walls had much experience with these kinds of attacks. Instantly, the city's defense had been put on high alert with access to the place being cut off and Guards being assigned to their posts, all of them under the leadership of some General whom she didn't bother learning the name of. If there was one thing she had to hand it to the Lowee Military for, it would be that they knew how to hustle when the time came for them to do so. She, Aiden and Ivan had also taken part in the defense, she remaining in the middle of the city so she could use her Nature powers to repair the city's walls whenever they got damaged, as well as construct her variants of artillery so she could fire back at the enemy like she were a living mortar.
She didn't want to expose her HDD Form to the humans here, though, knowing that if they realized that a Goddess other than White Heart was helping them would result in what few Shares White Heart had left to dwindle even further. She'd claimed to simply be an advanced Mage when some had asked though, just to be on the safe side… that and Raven would skin her alive if normal humans found out about her.
Initially, things didn't go that bad at first since her actions provided a measure of defense and offense for the city, especially against enemy air attacks which had come in the forms of some winged Yoma, normal AND Awakened. She'd taken them out with clouds of Spores launched from her plant defenses, making sure they couldn't get near the Guards atop the walls who kept bombarding the Yoma army with their rifles and gun emplacements built across the walls. It had been initially only the weaker Yoma that had tried breaching the walls, launching those extendable fingers of theirs which Lucy had countered by expanding her powers and forming makeshift barricades for the soldiers to shoot out of, a barricade made from many interwoven vines.
Whilst she had been the defense of the city, Aiden kept flying on overhead and providing air cover, dealing with both ranged projectiles as well as any additional flying forces. He'd also had the side job of trying to find out who is leading the force, but apparently with how many Awakened Yoma were amongst them directing the large army like it were simply a bunch of small groups altogether, properly identifying their chain of command proved nigh impossible. Thus, they had to stick to mostly lucky attempts to bombard them with guns and artillery…
Which had been when things all went wrong.
It had happened near-instantly, with several large flying-type Yoma which somewhat reminded Lucy of some more… primitive Abnormals such as Pterodactyls and Tyrannosaurus Rexes, burst out from seemingly out of nowhere within their ranks, taking the whole city by storm. No matter how many shots landed on these creatures, either from the Gun emplacements or Lucy's plant-based weaponry, it didn't seem like they had any effect on the damn things. Those Pterodactyl-type Yoma struck first, launching countless smaller normal Yoma from seemingly its entire body like it were some aircraft carrier, sending them down onto the reinforced walls… only, for the 'aircraft' to behave like suicide bombers and slam into key areas of the City's defense. This resulted in them exploding in gory masses, the explosions being enough to pretty much obliterate about 60 to 75% of the City's defenses in one blow, with 20% of the Defenders being wrecked beyond salvation.
Worse, was how those dinosaur-shaped Yoma had managed to ram themselves into the walls to the point where some areas, which had been weakened by the literal suicide bombers, had completely collapsed which buried those who didn't make it out in time under the rubble, a further 5% according to her mental calculations. This led to two things happening: One, for the Yoma to storm inside the city and engage the Guards inside, there being few civilians left since most had been put in the underground shelters at this point with those who couldn't fit inside being sent to MONOLITH thorough a secret passageway with an escort detail attached to assure their safety. The second thing that happened, was for the general to pull a dick move and suddenly vanish from the battlefield, something which Lucy had found out when one of her plants told her through her ability to communicate with her flora, that the man had been seen going inside a cabin near the battlefield and… well, the sound of a gunshot pretty much indicated what had followed.
'Damn, coward…'
This had been Lucy's sole thought on the matter amidst the swirling storm of chaotic rage inside of her. Like Raven, Lucy herself disliked cowardice, she disliked it a LOT, so seeing this guy take the easy way out instead of sticking by his men left a real sour taste in her mouth. Nevertheless, the situation took priority, so Lucy had to assume command herself since the second in command had also been killed during a previous attack, which these people were cool with due to… well, let's just say that those two had been dicks and leave it at that. In any case, ever since that had happened, Lucy had taken full control over the task of defending this city until Raven would arrive with reinforcements, whereas Aiden and Ivan did two things together:
The former pulled off a daring kamikaze move and had slammed himself directly into the flying Pterodactyl-Yoma, blowing it apart from the inside out with his abilities which not only resulted in its destruction via mass gory explosion but for Aiden to render himself out of commission for the rest of the fight. Lucy would have berated him for such a reckless move, but considering how apparently there seemed to be some sort of connection between it and it's 'bombers' which resulted in those it had fired simply dying without exploding, she couldn't be mad at him too much.
As for Ivan, he'd pulled off a Nico-inspired move by going in solo and pretty much blasting/hacking away at the various Tyrannosaurus Rex-like Yoma to kingdom come, howling like one of those ancient tribes during Leanbox's infancy all those years ago. She did recall one time hearing him gleefully state how he'd wanted to do something like that once in his life, screaming Leeroy Jenkins (something which he'd also done in this suicide run) all the while. Unfortunately, whilst he had managed to succeed in his risky as hell endeavor, the last enemy managed to sneak attack his ass before it's death, smacking him with a good hit and knocking him unconscious with various injuries adorned on his person. It had been a good thing some of her creations had been nearby, so she had managed to encase him in her Vines and put him in a cocoon which had gotten filled with healing liquids, a similar case being done for Aiden too.
Though that also meant that she couldn't rely on them for the remainder of the battle, and worse she had to juggle attacking, defending, and repairing the defenses all on her lonesome now. Add in the stress of controlling her powers outside of her home Nation… and yeah, one could say it wasn't a good day to be her.
'Ugh, I hope to Goddess as ironic as that sounds, that Ravey managed to get some reinforcements and is on her way…' Lucy thought in pain as she grimaced, then commenced hissing as she felt various impacts on her Vines sprawled across the walls, as well as the screams of the Guards down below who were being besieged by Yoma. She'd hurried some Vines to their defense, even imbued several areas with spores which would confuse the Yoma into killing one another, but at this point, she felt like she had about 40% of her power left. 'Cause the way things are going, looks like this city might fall before lunchtime.'
…
…
…
…
…
VRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM!
As things began to get even WORSE for the defenders of RABONA, and Lucy began to fear the worst is about to come true, everyone's eyes widened when they heard the telltale signs of a BUNCH of motorcycle engines hitting it full throttle. Whilst the Guards looked around for any signs of the sound's source, only Lucy managed to find it due to her high vantage point:
Not one, but TWO long lines of what looked to be Motorcycles, driving down towards the sides of the Yoma army at high speeds, though in her eyes she saw them not just as Motorcycles but more like the hounds of hell, ready to claim their victims and drag them back into eternal torment. 'What the? Where did… ah!' Lucy began to think until her eyes widened when she noticed a familiar rider in front of one of the lines, driving next to someone who made a grin so wide that it threatened to tear her face in half form, her eyes twinkling with much-needed relief. 'Ah, it's Nicky-dear! Looks like the rumors were true about him founding his mercenary band...!' she thought, shock and awe flowing through her as she eyed the various Dwarven and Elvish beings riding atop the Motorcycles. Not only that, but she could see multiple other people whom she believed were Spec Ops Agents… and strong ones too, considering their demeanors. 'Hmmm, I'd say upper echelon tier, if I were to gauge their strength…' Lucy thought critically, a bunch of ideas forming in her head about why these kinds of guys were with her man.
She could only IMAGINE what went through the Guards heads if and once they're able to see them through. Meh, she'd take whatever help she could get at this point, though there were bonus points to be awarded since it was quite possibly some of the best help Raven could have gained.
From what she could see, it would appear that Nico, Raven, and a gothic lolita girl were on one side, the male in the front with the two girls at his side. As for the other side, it looked like a big guy rode up in the front, with a Spanish-looking man to his left and a guy in a grey coat with white hair on his right. Though the Abnormals behind them looked to be listening not to them, a pair of Dwarves close behind the Agents, one being more warrior-like and the other being a bit of an elderly sort.
What was that about? Lucy couldn't help but wonder about that.
Meanwhile, the Yoma army screeched and cawed at the approaching focus, a flurry of activity resonating throughout their many ranks as portions of them started to form various battle lines, making ready their hands to launch in tendril-like forms. From a bird's eye view, it looked somewhat like a semicircular formation meant to launch attacks from multiple angles… not like Nico or the other Agents would let that happen though. Behind the front lines, additional Yoma did similar motions in case the first lines fell whilst the Awakened Yoma went and launched varying forms of projectiles at the approaching enemy.
On the redhead's side, Nico noticed the projectiles coming, his unmasked Eye narrowing briefly before he sprung into action in the following split second. 'Hmph!' the redhead thought. He acted by pulling out Ebony and Ivory, twirling them by their trigger guards a few times before gripping their hilts and holding them out in front of him in a V-like formation… before proceeding to rapidly fire his Baala's at each projectile, treating both weapons like they were fully automatic rifles. Combined with his excellent eyesight and how he also conjured a bunch of PHANTOM BLADES around him to launch at the front lines, and Nico managed to provide a simple distraction for the Yoma to deal with (judging by the various explosions he'd heard, looked like Katakuri and the others had done similar). Upon activating the SHINGAN Ring, Nico yelled out throughout the minds of his Tekkadan forces. 'All units, you know the Drill! RIP AND TEAR UNTIL IT IS DONE!'
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!"
A collective howl escaped his forces in response to his words as they finally collided with the enemy Yoma, shredding through their likes like two pincers digging into the body of their prey. Elves prioritized the left sides whilst Dwarves kept to firing their Shotguns to the opposite, resulting in the Yoma quickly backing away from them lest they got shredded to bits by either Arrows or dwarven gunfire. Some of the normal Yoma did indeed try to shoot them down from afar by launching their finger Tendrils, even the Awakened Yoma tried to pepper their forces with projectiles… though, that was a part of Nico's role in this as well as Raven, Rory, and the other Agents who each proceeded to defend their troops in their unique ways.
Nico - pepper all projectiles coming his way with almost monstrous levels of accuracy with Ebony and Ivory's Baala's.
Raven - Constantly freezing each projectile with cool vapor.
Rory - kept flinging her Emroy into their paths like it were a boomerang.
Mihawk, launching shockwaves with his sword swings that deflected the ranged attacks into their comrades.
Arima - kept shooting lightning out of what looked to be a lance of sorts that had come out of his briefcase.
Katakuri - swinging his spear so fast that his arm remained almost imperceivable to the naked eye resulting in many slashes that the Yoma couldn't see coming,
Oh, and as an added extra, Lucy aided them with the various weapons she'd constructed from her powers, launching seeds that spewed gas clouds filled with those confusion-Esque spores. Thinned out their numbers a little bit more, even though the frantic shrieks of the awakened Yoma controlling the Army's advances.
In seemingly no time at all, the two lines of Nico's Tekkadan forces met in the middle, crossing together before the various Spec Ops Agents all glanced at one another. It seemed as though in that one moment, an entire discussion passed through them, with just the slightest downward head tilts from them to showcase their acknowledgment before they continued, riding along and further splitting the Yoma army in half. None of them needed to say anything, not one not even the Tekkadan soldiers either since they held a HUGE level of confidence in their Leader having a plan.
'...Nico. He's back.'
Upon hearing his Demon Persona's voice when he and his forces had almost completed their little maneuver, Nico couldn't help but cackle internally whilst outwardly a bloodthirsty smile formed on his lips. 'Good. Tell him these words, Biko: give the outer Yoma army absolute HELL.'
'Already did.'
Just as Nico thought this, his smile turned into a downright DEMONIC grin under his Mask, when a loud, draconic roar filled the air. Glancing to the source, everyone spotted a growing silhouette descend from the clouds like an angel about to grace the battlefield with its presence… only for it to turn out to be something on the opposite side of the spectrum as Urthemiel made his presence known, howling in anger with his snout sporting many flickering flames inside which sent the various Awakened Yoma into a panicking spiral.
That had been the strategy these guys had been going for since the start of this little pincer assault, suggested by Raven and acknowledged by Nico along with the Tekkadan and the other Agents: To cut the enemy in half so that a large portion of it would be separated from the rest, similar to wrapping one's arms around the spoils after winning a card game or something along those lines. That way, once Urthemiel returned to them from his previous task of escorting the villagers (something which had gone smoothly thanks to his interference in multiple Yoma attacks, according to Biko who had requested the status report on that task), he would have a NICE bunch of targets to roast with its control over flames.
Something which he showed in the following seconds when Urthemiel opened his mouth and breathed out a MASSIVE stream of Primal Flames. This stream smashed onto the ground in the middle of the Yoma Army that had been cut off from the rest, filling the air with their shrieks, howls, and pained roars as they got burned to the point where not even ashes would remain. The flames didn't stop there though as they rapidly expanded like a quickly growing puddle of water, spreading out throughout the entire battlefield whilst being spurned on by Urthemiel as the Archdemon soared over them, raining death from above. Every wingbeat felt like a sonic boom given how fast it was, even kept on firing long fiery beams from his wings akin to how Aiden launched his own, and whenever an Awakened Yoma tried to launch its' Tendrils at him, the Archdemon would just cover itself in flames to incinerate them before they could even get CLOSE to piercing through his strong hide.
Whilst that happened, Nico watched with glee at the sight before he decided to focus on the rest of the army. Since half was now being taken care of by his Archdemon, Nico believed that they should sort out the rest of them, something which the other Agents agreed on since, aside from Raven, they all rode RIGHT into battle with the other half of the enemy, filling the skies with their cries of agony whilst sending their souls to the grim reaper. 'Really, those guys can be worse than me...' the male couldn't help but think, shaking his head with an amused chuckle. He figured this to be one of the privileges of being one of the 'strong' in the Spec Ops Ranks, making him feel a little envious inside.
'Though...'
He then glanced at Raven, who had remained by his side which wasn't something he'd be complaining about, but upon feeling out her emotions Nico almost found himself being FLOORED by the gradually rising amount within her. 'Okay, now THAT is worrying. After everything is settled, I'll get to the bottom of this, even if she hates me for it...' he thought to himself, worry blossoming within his chest for his companion.
However, he put those thoughts aside for now, the impending slaughter of the enemy bringing a strong feeling of comfort to him. 'Alright, boys!' Nico called out, using his SHINGAN Ring to communicate with the Tekkadan, as well as Raven. 'Can't let those guys hog all the fun, now can we?! Circle around and form the arrow formation, we're going inside the city! Slaughter all Yoma you find!' he mentally ordered, hearing a loud chorus of bloodthirsty cheers from his men which REALLY got him all excited for the feast of blood that will follow. Both battle lines then circled back, proceeding to regroup and reshape their formation into one which resembled an arrowhead, all the while the sounds of dying Yoma filled their ears thanks to both Urthemiel AND the other Agents taking names. This time, instead of using his Satanic Treasure, once everyone had gotten to their posts, Nico shouted the following words at the top of his lungs whilst raising Rebellion in his right hand (both Ebony and Ivory back on his waist) to the skies. "ALRIGHT THEN, RIP AND TEAR, BOYS!"
"URAAAAAH!"
Chapter end!
Here we go, boys and girls if girls read this. A new OEG chapter! Sorry for the lack of releases, I've been moving quite slowly recently in terms of writing, plus I'm helping other authors with their works too which takes up a portion of my time. Not to mention I've started getting into Azur Lane despite my gripes with things like it and Honkai not having proper male characters. If there was a chance that I could play as one of those in these games, you bet your ass I would play them. I relate more to guys than girls, honestly.
But enough of that, here we have the journey to Rabona mostly, with a bit of characterization for the other Agents as well as a first-hand showcasing of how a Spec Ops Mission with those of the upper Echelons is like. I feel like I got the point across with them alright, that they are like literal forces of nature when it comes to wiping enemies out, plus there seems to be something going on with Raven too. Wonder what that's all about?
In any case, hope you like the chapter, and thanks to everyone who has been reviewing my story. I know that it's quite the large one, and the chapters likely have made people cringe with the errors in spelling and stuff, but thank you all regardless for sticking with me to this point.
Look forward to the next chapter, and...
PEACE OUT!
