Ancient Coda Village

The villagers were looking with curiosity to the strange Imperial vehicles, and some people were trying to talk with the wyvern rider, when the doors of the horseless metal carriages opened, and the two boys they had sent to seek for help came out running, clearly excited.

"LUCIUS, CAIUS, YOU'RE ALREADY BACK?" The Elder said, surprised, as he thought Alnus was at least 3 or 4 hours of horse from Coda, yet they came back in about an hour.

"These new, never seen before Imperial vehicles can go much faster than any horse, and the wyvern flew ahead to ensure there was no dangers in the path."

While the boys were explaining their experience to the elder, the 12 men from the modern Saderan Imperial Army also left their vehicles.

They wore the same helmets as the regular Imperial legionaries, but covered with canvas, with a purple stripe on the base, and with a bunch of attachments and tools mounted on them that the villagers didn't understand. Their armor was black and looked like it was made of some kind of strange cloth, instead of the usual metal Lorica Segmentata used by legionaries.

Under the armor, they wore strange clothing colored with patches of different shades of green and greyish purple.

Instead of spears and pilum javelins, they held black staffs.

The only recognizable thing they had was the gladius sword, sheathed on their hips

"Hello civilians, I'm the commander of this Contubernium. These boys told us about your concern regarding the flame dragon. Do not worry, we're here to ensure you that the situation is under control. We have two former apostles, or demigods, as you may know them, helping us control the dragon. Our goal is to make him land by our base, where we can definitively keep him under control."

"I'm sorry If I'm going to sound rude, noble sir, but… we're talking about a flame dragon, a 80 meter long monster. HOW THE FUCK can we feel safe knowing that one is around? Controlling such a beast? Are you fucked up in the head? Also who are these supposed former Apostles that will help you?" the Elder said

"They are Rory Mercury and Giselle. I completely understand your concern, that's why we'll stay here with you until the operation is completed, to help you flee and stay safe if something goes wrong."

"R-Rory M-Mercury and G-Giselle? They're two of the most powerful Apostles ever… Former? Do you mean that they somehow stopped worshipping Emroy and Hardy?"

While the elder of the village and the Decanus of the Contubernium were speaking, the other soldiers went around the village to ensure everyone was ok, and also taking a look at the town.

"This is absolutely crazy. Coda in our world is a huge metropolis, inhabited by millions of people. Yet, here it's little more than a small village, with barely 2000 inhabitants." A soldier said.

"It looks very different than what they show in medieval movies, they always depict ancient towns as gray, dirty and sad. This looks like a lively place, no different than a modern little town in an underdeveloped country"

As the soldiers were patrolling the town, one of Coda's guards came running, out of breath, and was visibly scared and terrified.

"I SAW A BANDIT WARBAND COMING FROM THE SCOUT TOWER, EVERYONE, GRAB YOUR TOOLS AND WEAPONS AND GET READY TO DEFEND YOUR HOUSES!"

One of the villager women fainted upon hearing the news. The men were visibly startled.

"First the flame dragon, now bandits! The Gods have cursed us!"

"How many bandits are out there?" one man asked

"I think there's at least 200 of them!"

"Our fighting capable men are 60 at best, we're doomed!"

"There are legionaries here, they need to help us!"

"They are 12, they are too few to save us…"

"Yes, but they also have a wyvern, that alone multiplies our strength by a tenfold"

The villagers all looked to the modern Saderan soldiers, with eyes that begged for help.

"My Deus, this was just supposed to be a calming down operation, now we got involved with this mess…" one of the soldiers said

"Back in our world, Coda is a territory of Formalia, which is part of the Blue Sea Pact along with our Saderan nation. We're technically bound to defend it from terrorists and aggressors." The Decanus leading the group said.

"Let's contact HQ and ask them what to do"

Alnus Hill, Modern Saderan HQ

The small, makeshift base received a distress signal from the little expedition they had just sent to Coda to calm the locals.

"This is HQ, what is it?"

"Sir, there's a huge problem. The locals told us there's around two hundred bandits coming to raid the village. What are our orders?"

"SHIT. As if the dragon wasn't already a problem. And is going to be here in 5 hours. We cannot leave those people to themselves, but without knowing more about the situation we also cannot you engage them unless they attack first. Send in the battle wyvern to make visual identification of the supposed threat and have it send the photos to us in the base."

Modern Saderan Soldiers POV

"We have orders from HQ to scramble the wyvern. Quick, let's do it."

The rider ran to his animal, climbed on its back, and closed the canopy, then gave command to the creature to take flight.

The villagers were all busy running around, arming themselves with pitchforks, axes, sticks and similar makeshift weapons, while the wyvern was climbing up in the air.

"Hey you, from what direction are these bandits coming from?" one soldier asked to the scout from earlier.

"They're coming from north. They were fast marching in a big formation when I spotted them. What are you going to do? Is the Imperial Legion going to send us further reinforcements?"

"We'll see… Wyvern Unit WY-1, the threat is located north from here. Search for a formation of armed people." The soldier said, speaking in his communication device."

"…Copy that, I think I already spotted them. Big formation of men wearing dark uniforms and armed with melee weaponry currently heading for Coda. Expected arrival time: 10 minutes." Answered the rider.

"W-woah… amazing… d-did you just talk with the wyvern rider through that little box? Your magic is more powerful than what I expected… maybe we're not completely fucked!" the city scout said.

Modern Saderan HQ POV

The monitoring team in the base received the photos from the wyvern. The men were clearly threatening and armed and judging from the carts they brought with them it was obvious that their goal was to sack Coda.

"How is this possible? It's been only 2/3 days we came here and there's already two crises we need to deal with!" A member of the monitoring team said.

"They are already very close to Coda. We're allied with Formalia, the owners of Coda, in our world. Technically we already have the international law justification to authorize measures taken against this threat." The Centurion of the base said.

"There's no more time to think, we need to take a decision now" the monitor team soldier said.

"The contubernia we sent is risking being destroyed itself if those bandits come there and start slaughtering, if we don't give them permission to act."

"They are 12 men against 200 armed insurgents, and we have no way to send them help quickly."

"Excuse me if I interfere, but I think I could make it in time, and do something about it" Rory Mercury said.

"How? It took around an hour for the vehicles we sent to go there, and you're on foot and alone"

"Ever since the Gate opened, I regained the supernatural powers I had in my youth. I used to be able to run at hundreds of kilometers an hour, and being able to destroy entire armies on my own. Maybe my sight alone would discourage the bandits from attacking."

"…I have no other choice but trusting you, Ms. Mercury. I'm authorizing you to try going there, and I'll send permission to the men in Coda to start an anti-terrorism operation to defend and evacuate the civilians living in the city."

Bandit POV

Earlier that day, the bandit leader saw a once in a lifetime opportunity. His gang was the biggest in the region, their manpower rivaled that of a small fief lord, but he never had real lands to rule over, just a small local criminal market. He usually made money with raids, protection rackets and drug smuggling. But now that the Flame Dragon was around and there was confusion and chaos everywhere in the area, the village of Coda had left open and vulnerable. His plan was to launch an assault to subjugate Coda, and then force Count Colt Formal to recognize him as the liege lord of Coda.

His contacts told him there were no Imperial legionaries in close range and that the only resistance would have been from scared villagers with impromptu weapons. That's why he was very confused when he spotted an Imperial wyvern flying over his marching formation.

It was a strange wyvern too, it had a strange armor and a glass covering the pilot, who had no lance in his hand.

"Boss, that wyvern cannot attack us. The rider has no weapon. It's circling over us for like 10 minutes, if it wanted to attack, it would have already done it. Let's launch the assault anyway, I don't see other Imperials defending the town." One of his commanders told him

"From here I can see 12 men wearing Imperial helmets assembling to face us, with the village's militia behind them. Too few to stop us, no matter how trained they are, we're 247, we can win with numbers alone."

The bandit leader smirked.

"Hhm... That's right. Emroy, God of War and Death will be with us. Let's consider this attack an offering to him. MEN, ATTACK THE VILLAGE!" he ordered.

His army was a mix of defectors from former national armies, mercenaries and simple bloodthirsty psychopaths, murderers, and rapists. What they lacked in discipline, they made up with sheer brutality and ferocity in combat, plus he also had some wizards, archers and sorcerers that could provide support to his melee fighters.

The warband started running towards the village of Coda, screaming wildly and flailing their weapons around, when suddenly, the wyvern swooped down from the sky, its wings nearly closed, opened it's mouth, and emitted an explosive jet of white hot flames, the temperature was so high it melted metal armor pieces even before making direct contact, they engulfed a good part of the rear guard of the fighting formation.

"WHAT THE FUCK, HOW IS THAT WYVERN ABLE TO SPIT FIRE? I THOUGHT ONLY DRAGONS AND DRAKES COULD SPIT FLAMES! MEN, SCATTER, KEEP CHARGING. WIZARDS, ARCHERS, TARGET THAT BEAST!"

One of the mages, a former Sage from Rondel, started casting a magical targeting spell, pointing his staff at the wyvern. Multiple layers of circles of light appeared around the shaft, and he started chanting the spell, then released it, emitting a meteor-like ball of magic energy that followed the wyvern in the sky.

"Hah! That'll get him!" The bandit leader thought, but just before the spell could connect, the wyvern emitted a series of what looked like small balls of blinding light that fell behind it like shooting stars, and the powerful Sage-rank spell hit them instead of the designated target.

"WHA- ATTACK IT AGAIN, THE SPELL FAILED, ARCHERS, SUPPORT THE MAGE!"

The wyvern turned around for a second pass: it was clearly trying to take the archers head on.

"Pfft, what a fool, he's just giving a better angle for my archers to hit him" the bandit leader thought.

The archers released their volleys, one after another, as the wyvern was approaching. The arrows flew fast in the azure of the sky, but when they impacted the wyvern, instead of piercing its flesh, they were deflected or exploded just few centimeters away from the animal. Every time they impacted; a very feeble field of energy could be seen around the silhouette of the wyvern.

By now, the archers were panicking, and tried to run away, but as they turned their back, the wyvern was close enough to emit its terrible jets of fire, melting and reducing to ash their bodies.

He already lost around 60 men in the matters of few seconds, but at least his other warriors were now close to the town and could attack. He doubted the wyvern would provide air support inside the town, as it could risk setting it on fire.

The bandit leader hopes were shattered when about 600 meters from the village, a loud cracking sound could be heard, and the charging warriors started falling dead for no apparent reason.

Modern Saderan Soldiers POV

HQ had given them permission to engage the bandits to ensure the safety of the civilians. It was being considered an anti-insurgency operation.

"Close air support actions starting now!" the wyvern pilot said in his communication device, as he dived on the formation of armed men under him.

There were two little holes under the glass canopy that let the wyvern's bridles inside the cockpit, letting him control the creature. He carefully lined up the bandits on his crosshair, then pulled them, causing his steed to spit flames.

It wasn't his first-time incinerating enemies, he once served the International Peacekeeping Forces during the Rondelian Civil War, and he used to provide air support with his wyvern against lightly armed insurgents.

The pilot watched, as the flames engulfed and obliterated his targets.

As he was turning his mount in the sky for the second attack run, the alarm in his cockpit went off: a seeking missile or a spell was targeting him. He pushed the button of the countermeasures, releasing flares and chaffs, evading the attack and successfully attacked from the sky a second time.

Meanwhile, his comrades on the ground had found the perfect killing field: the bandits were charging on an open field leading to the village and were easy targets for the rifles.

"Decanus Kowanus Zorzal, do we fire?" a legionary asked to his leader.

"Not yet, wait until they're about 600 meters from here, we can't waste a single bullet, the Decanus said, as he unfolded the tripod of his gun, and positioned himself in a prone position. His men were taking cover behind close trees or in nearby buildings.

"Wait a second… wait a second… NOW! FIRE AT WILL!"

The Saderan main battle rifle, the Sclopetus-CH5, wasn't an extraordinary gun by any means. It shot 6.5mm bullets, the standard caliber for Blue Sea Pact militaries, and could also be magic fed by the user's own magicka, to shoot bullets of pure magical energy. It was a reliable and powerful weapon.

When the soldiers opened fire, the village militia got startled, they weren't expecting the sound of the guns being so loud.

"Woah! That's AMAZING! Such a powerful magic attack! AVE IMPERATOR AVE LEGIO!" the commander of Coda's militia shouted enthusiastically.

In few seconds, thousands of bullets from 12 soldiers filled the air, and the charging bandits started falling dead left and right, and they kept shooting until the targets were about 50 meters of distance.

"THROW THE PLUMBATA GRENADES!" The Decanus ordered.

The Plumbata grenade was a little oval shaped grenade with stabilizing fins on the back, letting it fly further and more accurately.

The soldiers tossed their explosives, and the bandits raised their shields, thinking the grenades were just kinetical impact weapons. When they detonated, they eviscerated the entire formation, sending shrapnel everywhere, shredding the bandit's faces and exposed limbs.

By that point, the engagement was won, the bandits were running away terrorized and battered, some were on their knees with their arms raised, showing surrender.

"BOYS, LET'S GET THEM NOW, LET'S SLAUGHTER THEM ALL!" The commander of Coda's militia said.

"No, stay there, don't move a finger. Executing surrendered combatants is a war crime." Decanus Kowanus said.

"We'll arrest them, and we'll ask HQ what to do with them." He added.

"Arrest them? They are bandits, murderers, and rapists, they don't deserve justice. War crimes? There are no rules in war, war is hell."

"Then they will receive their rightful punition once they're jailed. Besides, how do we distinguish themselves from these murderers if we cold bloodedly slaughter surrendered enemies?"

"Well… actually, that's a good point… Besides, you outrank me I suppose. Take the prisoners with you and bring them to your commanders. For once, I'm truly proud of living under the Empire. Thank you and your men very much for saving our town today."

"No problem citizen, but we're not from the Empire. We're from Sadera. Not the Sadera you know, from another one, that is on another world."

"This is too complicated for me… you're dressed like a legionary, and speak a language similar to Imperial, that's close enough for me."

While the two men were speaking, swift footsteps were heard, and a fast silhouette was spotted arriving in the town at full speed.

The mysterious figure stopped and nearly lost its balance. She was a short teen girl with jet black hair, wearing the same kind of bulletproof armor as the modern Saderan soldiers over a white t-shirt and a skirt, and was wielding a huge halberd with a snake decoration on it.

While panting, and holding her hands on her chest, the girl spoke: "…SHIT! I wasn't fast enough; I'm not used to these powers anymore…"

She looked at the remains of the bandit army.

"…poor souls, maybe if I managed to come here earlier, this massacre could have been prevented… Well, at least it's them and not the civilians..."

"Oh, Ms. Mercury, glad you're here. It's not your fault. Actually, it's impressive you managed to use your magic to run fast enough to cross in 10 minutes the distance that a car does in 1 hour." The Decanus said.

The militia leader dropped his weapon and kowtowed, as did the other villagers around him.

"…R-Rory Mercury… It's an honor to have you here… T-thank you and your master Emroy for the support you gave these legionaries in the battle."

"Emroy? Oh, that's right. This world is in the past. That vermin is still around. FUCK HIM!"

"WHAT? Apostle of Emroy, how can you insult your master?"

"I'm not the Rory you know. It's difficult to explain, but I come from another world, a parallel dimension. In my world, I destroyed the physical form of Emroy and helped the world get rid of him and the other Gods influence."

"Another world? It's the same thing the Decanus told me!"

But as they were speaking, and the soldiers were arresting the bandits, another figure was spotted running at impossible speeds on the former battlefield, cutting down the few remaining fleeing bandits, laughing maniacally. The dark silhouette was jumping around the field, cutting people in half with a giant halberd.

The Saderan soldiers immediately pointed their guns to the newcomer.

"WHAAAAAT? IMPERIAL SOLDIERS POINTING THEIR WEAPONS TO THE APOSTLE OF EMROOOY? I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO BEND THE KNEE AND WORSHIP ME INSTEAD!"

To be continued

Answering to comments:

For'Sleep 3rd: i was actually planning to make Japan and Modern Sadera interact since the beginning, though it will be at a more advanced part of the narration, I want to build up the story first

dayanII and javierjannmerick: Thank you for your kind words, glad you enjoy my story :)