Kage is Kira

Now I said this will be the last chapter of the current saga, and I stand by it. But I've decided, for the sake of your eyes, to divide it into three chapters… because they're just SO DAMN COLOSSAL! I will not; cannot; pay for your glasses if you get a minus in the process of reading this chapter. I'm broke, thank you very much.

NOTE:

"Doryaaaaaaaaaa!": normal talking

"Charge!": special case

'Darn!': thoughts

GWA HA HA HA! : Giant creature speech

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!

Just to be clear on the timeline here's a summary starting with:

Battle of Archangel Bay is over, Veia and Harlbarton died, Kage was appointed the new Captain of the 7th division, but Kira fell into coma due to injury sustained.

-Three days- (it means 3 days has passed since the aforementioned events)

Veia Entombed,
Kira woke up,

Kage was declared a blacklist,
Canard, Neil, Karren and Setsuna arrived, and
Zaft's 10 Funeral Days officially started.

Bladebanes gone rogue, disobeyed orders and departed to Japan in a punitive expedition

-Three days-

Third day of the funeral period

Bladebane fleet arrived to Japan and began the long march to Archangel Fortress from the other side of the island: attacking and pillaging villages along the way

Shadowguards was established

The first secret meeting of the 'plan' between the Shadowguards, Kage and Prayer

-Three days-

Sixth day of the funeral period

Kamina, Sven and Bushido arrived

-Two days-

Eighth day of the Funeral period

Kamina's pirate brigade arrived

The Military Pledge

The restructuring of the 7th division began

-two days-

The 10 day period of Funeral days ended

-one day-

Toudou arrived with the Shiseiken

-And a day later-

The Konohagakure Massacre… as in… the current event.

Kira Yamato (Kage), Canard Pars, Mwu La Flagga, Kamina, Kyoshirou Toudou (and Asahina Shogo), and Setsuna are currently in Konohagakure

Prayer Reverie, Shadowguards (Tolle Koenig, Mirriallia Haww, Sai Argyle), Kouzuki Karren, Neil Dylandy, Shiseiken (Chiba, Senba, Urabe), Mr. Bushido, Sven Cal Payang are all in Archangel

However…

On the 5th day of the Funeral days…

Raww was no fan of late intelligence report. If there's anything more important than the three basic needs of a human body: food, sleep and sex, then for this former Hakutenkun the answer will be: information. For knowledge is power. A late Intel can cause the death of entire armies. Late Intel can change a calm and collected man into a desperate beast obsessed with survival.

So when a timely Intel came to his office this morning in his forward base in Aprillus about how an entire army of Bladebanes gone rogue by leaving their post to go on a warpath when it's still within the period of 10 Funeral days, it is understandable why the messenger left his office with a hefty sum of gold given personally by the masked man… who quickly yelled to have his war council to drop everything and convene at his office on the double.

"This is an OUTRAGE! Zaft wage no war during the time of the funeral! The Emperor had ordained it so! And so does the Codex! How could they disobey even the Codex?" An elderly fire knight banged his table.

"The Codex is a guideline, brother Etious. And being a former Bladebane, I understand how those guys feel." Another elderly Fire Knight, carrying a two handed sword signifying his status as a former Bladebane, mourned. "To many of us Bladebanes, Veia isn't just a great general. Though there are times when he's… 'like that'… most of the time he's very kind. Father-like. Yes. He's like a father to us all. When I first heard how my mentor died I…" The elder Fire knight gripped his sword tightly.

"I share your grief, brother Ignis. But that is not why I called you all here." Raww took a deep breath and declared his intentions. "Brothers and Sisters of the Fire Knights… I'm asking you to become a rogue too."

One of the Fire knights of the council dropped his teacup in total shock. Then again, everyone in the room stood in aghast upon hearing the absurd suggestion.

"A… Are you out of your mind?"

"There's only one place the Bladebanes could be going. To the lair of the 7th division, the Archangel Fortress." Raww concluded.

"One cannot attack that Fortress with only swordsman! Forget the Codex, its common sense!"

"Common sense had long since abandoned these angry hearts. And you know as well as I do, there are more ways to assemble an army that can take down a fortress." Raww explained. "But an army assembled in such way is fragile. A clever commander can bring that army down quickly, and as I had clearly stressed out to you-" Raww placed the wanted poster of Kage at the center of the table. "-our enemy is no fool."

The fire knights were unnerved at the sight of Kage's blacklist wanted poster. The number 300,000,000 bounty written on the wanted poster seems enlarged, as if reminding them all of the lives that had been lost to this one man alone. They get the message. Do not underestimate this man or you'll be sorry. "Then what are you suggesting, Brother Raww?" A female Fire knight asked.

"I will depart for Japan today with small battalion of knights and exorcists. With luck, I'll be able to land there unnoticed and before the battle itself began. But if I'm to make a guess… and usually I do make good guesses… Kage will have to personally leave the fortress in order to quell this invasion. He must."

"You still think the 7th division would accept a masked man as their captain?"

"If killing an immortal Hakutenkun does not prove that he is qualified… I don't know what is." Raww laughed bitterly. "But this is a chance. Just like all new captains, most of his men haven't fully trusted him yet and they still haven't recovered from the ordeal of the Archangel Bay. That's why he had to prove himself first to his men that he is a worthy leader. This is probably the ONLY chance to take him head on." Raww balled his fist tightly to make his point. The fire knights in the room quickly caught on to Raww's intent and nodded in approval and understanding: to attack the fortress when their leader is away. A leaderless and injured army is an army that is at its weakest condition. "When Harlbarton captained the 7th division, he formed the Juppongatana. And you all remember just how much trouble that group of extraordinary swordsmen had given us. Now if we give Kage more time… God knows what he'll turn the 7th division into."

Some Knights looked at each other, silently assessing the situation with each other. Ignis declared. "I will gather my men and departed as soon as they are assembled. We will meet you there, Brother Raww."

"My elite 300 exorcists will go with you right away, Brother Raww." Another fire knight volunteered.

"I will need some time, but we will meet you there with 1200 men."

Almost every Fire Knights in the war council raised their hands, volunteering to participate in this expedition. Raww smiled and bowed down in gratitude. "Thank. Thank you all of you."

And so it was on that very same day, Raww left Aprillus with a fleet of 20,000 Emerald Knights, 5,000 Ruby Exorcists led by 50 Fire Knights. And more will be joining him afterwards. Travelling at speed, the fleet arrived at Japan on the 7th day of the Funeral period at the evening, but Raww decided to observe the situation and ordered his fleet not to land yet. The masked Hakutenkun immediately sent scouts to spy on the situation of the Archangel Fortress. The report stated that more than half of the Juppongatana had arrived, and that there are around 2000 combat capable soldiers. Worse, the Bladebane army had decided to take a slow approach, just as Raww had predicted, by raiding every village in the way and bolster their number with mercenaries. The villagers were sent to the fortress, so there's a shortage of food occurring at the moment.

That night, more Fire knights bringing in their own reinforcements arrived and told Raww troubling news: a single battle cruiser had just arrived at the outskirts of the Archangel's perimeter. The next morning, the said ship, which Raww quickly recognized as the Pirate Ship DaiGurren, barely missed a whole fleet of Bladebane's battle barge, which proceeded to create a blockade of the surrounding waters, preventing more reinforcements to come by the sea.

Then on the next day, came the news about Kage's military pledge. An action which Raww praised as both brilliant and bold. "Ha. Very clever. He risked his life to give his men some peace of mind. To show them that he too is on the same boat and ready to die for them. He quelled the unrest from the inside, if momentarily. Now his army won't be so easy of a prey."

That night, more of his Fire knights had arrived and Raww's fleet is once again bolstered. Except that this wave of reinforcement came in with an unexpected guest amidst the cargo hold. "Nichol? You're here?" Raww was quite surprised, and by the looks of it, it appears the Fire knight who carried this unexpected cargo didn't see it coming either.

"Yes. Just myself I'm afraid. Yzak and Dearka are still my friends. I refuse to let them to walk this dangerous bridge alone."

"Then you are most welcome, Wood Knight."

The next morning, scouts reported of a small fleet just landed on shore. Raww predicted they number in 500 men or so. "They must be Toudou's men. They cannot land on the Archangel's harbor because of the blockade, so they landed there." Raww saw in the distance of the ships landed on the beach. And then he saw a black rider, followed by four other riders left. "Toudou and Shiseiken. Just additional 5 men will go and join the 7th division, but mark my words: these are 5 of the worst. And with this, the 7th division is nearing its full power, with all members of Juppongatana present and accounted for." Raww briefed his Fire Knights of the situation.

"Are you sure Kage will leave his base to quell the Bladebane attack? What if he waited there in the fortress, and bunkered down inside the Archangel to weather the attack?"

"If that be the case, than we shall join forces with the Bladebanes and together we will bring down that infernal fortress. The Funeral days officially ended yesterday. By now I believe the word has spread that we and the Bladebanes had gone rogue, and an invasionary expedition is being prepared so we don't have much time. But I still hold out to my first prediction. That Kage WILL counter the Bladebane forces HEAD on. He will not risk the Bladebane to gain a strong foothold. And remember, Kage still has to uphold his military pledge… and he has only two days left. If he did not deliver, he will have to cut off his own head. So I believe he will move out. Soon."

That day ended with a bewildering report of how the small fleet that Toudou brought just suddenly… disappeared. According to his scouts, the small fleet was initially told to stand down and wait, and made no contact to the Archangel Fort-under orders from Kage. And then they just… went dark. Raww was greatly concerned over this, though his officers tried to convince him otherwise. "These are just 500 recently recruited men, my lord. Surely whatever Kage had planned with it, we had more than enough men to stop it."

"Victory in battle is not determined by numbers. What's more, I just heard through some intelligence that Kage used 1 ship. JUST ONE ship to disable five of our battle barges! How do you explain that?" Raww barked back. The Fire knight gasped and bowed down, apologizing for his arrogance. "Nevertheless, there's some point in what you said. But just to be on the safe side: Send a scout. Kage told them to stand down and then they went dark. He's preparing them for something, and I want to know what it was."

The next morning, nearing the afternoon, as Raww had predicted, Kage led a whole group of cavalries, riding out of the gates of Archangel. When the scout reported this, Raww was overjoyed. His army had also swelled to a number of well over 100,000 men. There'll be no better time to invade. "On your feet my brothers and sisters! The time is NOW!"

The army cheered and yelled as they raised their fists to the air.

Chapter 22:

The End of the Beginning:

Rise of the Shadows - the Beginning -

Come night, Raww's army arrived right in front of the white fortress. A rain of fire became the opening salvo of their surprise attack. The soldiers of the Archangel Fortress were caught off guard when fireballs fall down on top of their very heads. The walls were also bombarded by fireballs. Tolle the Shadowguard quickly ran up the walls and avoided a fireball just barely. He quickly joined Murrue and Neil and quickly assess the situation. "Well?"

"Well…" Captain Murrue Ramias stated the obvious. "…we're terribly outnumbered."

"I hope Kage return here soon… or they won't be any fortress left to safe." Neil commented.

For outside the walls of Archangel, stood a whole army of Zaft's force; well over 100,000 strong: a sea of green armored Emerald Knights with their swords and broad shields mixed with mostly the Black and Red of the Ruby Exorcists with their skulls and torches, and led by bright orange Fire Knights. All of them are Zaft elite knights; led by none other than Raww Le Klueze, Mwu's sworn nemesis.

"Bright knights of the Ruby Exorcists! FIRE!" Raww raised his sword, and the Fire Knights led their Exorcists and launched another rain of fire upon the Archangel. Some of the biggest fireballs landed upon the great gates of Archangel. And the gates budged slightly.

The second salvo had effectively sent every soldier inside wide awake and ran out of their bunk into the now alight fortress. The other Shadowguards also joined Tolle and saw the invasion force. The night in archangel is no longer dark. Instead it's so bright, almost as if they're in broad daylight.

"That's a lot of Zaft knights." Sai gulped nervously. "But I thought we got at least 2 more days before Zaft main forces arrived!"

"Raww's clever." Prayer, who had joined the other officers, observed the attack. "This is just like how it was in Endiminion. Some of the factors that made Raww's assault so brutally effective are speed and timing. He must've learned how the Bladebane would go rogue, predicted how Kage will have to leave the base with some of his top officers, and time his attacks properly."

"How come our scouts didn't pick an army this big?" Neil nervously stared at the enormous number of Zaft knights. Prayer didn't answer but quickly yelled to all the soldiers to take cover and moved all civilians to a secure spot. In fact, some soldiers took the initiative and volunteered to remain on standby and guard the civilian bunker (mostly were those who moaned the most during their daycare time). Currently the Exorcists and the Fire Knights are doing the initial battering. The other Emerald Knights merely waited their turn and stand by. For what seemed like hours, rains of fireballs continue to hammer the walls of Archangel. All the cannon openings were sealed shut. Even the Lohengrin cannon barrels were also sealed. The soldiers were ordered by Prayer not to return fire at all, waiting patiently for the rain of fire to end, putting out the fire when it's necessary.

"They're not firing back?" One of the Fire knights looked at Raww. Raww nodded. "No. They're trying to hold this out. Stalling time, waiting for Kage to return." Raww gave sign, and the bombardment lessen somewhat. The Exorcists ready themselves for a charge.

This gives time for Prayer to quickly get a hold of the situation. "All forces to your posts! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is NOT a drill! BATTLE STATION!" Neil nodded to Milly and the two quickly dispersed, rallying their team of archers Kage had set them up with. Murrue went inside the fortress' walls where she found Natarle was already at standby, barking orders to her men to hurry the hell up and man the guns. Down below, Murdoch screamed louder than usual, ordering his boys to pick up their damn pants and put out the fire. The remaining Juppongatana: Sven, Bushido, and Karren quickly rallied their respective teams, just as the Shiseiken rallied Toudou's team. Yoko took over Kamina's role and rallied his team, along with the Daigurren Brigade's crew. Bushido and Karren's team took the lower ground, together with half of Neil's team. Sven and Yoko took to the walls, together with the other half of Neil's team, lead by Milly. Prayer took over the other teams whose respective leaders were currently absent with no substitute, (Setsuna's and Canard's) and put them together with his own acting as support and backup. All this happened simultaneously with little to no details from Prayer as they have been trained to do so repeatedly during their intensive training. Within minutes, every soldier had manned their posts and ready to fight, with the fire seem to provide little hindrance to their formation.

This sight unnerved Raww. He looked at his antique pocket watch and nervously smiled. "Only a little over 10 minutes, and they're already in battle station, even after all that." Nichol narrowed his eyes and was quite shocked when he saw a familiar black clad figure stood on top of the Archangel walls, with the fiery Archangel at his background. A person who looked just like Kage! Pretty soon, the other knights also caught sight of the figure and gasped in horror, recognizing the masked man from the face stitched on their collar. The unrest brought a momentary pause in the fireball barrage. Raww nodded in admiration, seeing through the ploy immediately. "Very good, Kage. Very good indeed."

"So Kage didn't leave the fortress after all?" Nichol looked at Raww, who was smiling calmly.

"No. I believe he did. Kage understand that he had to become more than just a person. He became a symbol. So even if the real person is gone, he left behind a shadow of his terror to linger on. Very clever indeed." Raww rubbed his chin in admiration, followed by another insight. "Which also means…I believe Kage had prepared some surprises for us."

"But how could he do that if he didn't know…" Nichol stopped midsentence and finished it in a realization. "…if we're coming?"

"So he anticipated that some of us will take the chance to attack his base while he was away. Very impressive. The 7th division under Harlbarton is already one thing… but under Kage it's a different animal altogether…" Raww pulled out his sword and raised it up high. "Form the line!" Raww's yell broke the Knights from their stupor and they quickly formed the line, ready to charge. "Lancers form up phalanx at front for advance!" Lancer Knights carrying spears stood forward and closed their shield, forming a phalanx. "Archers ready at the rear!" Archer Knights placed their arrows on top of their crossbows. "Saber knights lock your shields!" Knights carrying swords kept their weapon sheathed until its time and brought up their shield instead.

Prayer looked at Raww heatedly. "So it begins." Raww returned the glare to Mwu's little brother.

And without further ado, Raww brought his sword down and decreed: "CHARGE!"

Thousands of Ruby Exorcists set themselves on fire as they charged forward as they continue sending rains of fire to the fortress ahead from their torches, leaving a trail of flames behind them as they closed the distance. Following farther behind and in a slower pace, the Emerald knights followed in a tightly knit tortoise formation.

As they rushed forward, the Exorcist suddenly realized they just went pass through a white line that has been painted on the ground. Prayer took notice and yelled: "400!" At that cue, the giant Fuji made himself known by hurling a huge slab of rubble (leftovers from the previous battles) and throw them over the walls and right into the approaching army. The slab rolled over a few dozen knights to a bloody pulp upon impact. The knights were somewhat shocked when they saw the giant acted as a makeshift trebuchet. Down below, Jackie and the men of the maintenance division gathered and prepared those rubbles so that Fuji can quickly pick and throw them out. Fuji threw another rock just as the charging army went across another line. Prayer marked it and yelled. "200!" By that time, the Archer knights also noticed that they are also in range, and so they take position to shoot their arrows.

Milly lead an archery squad and yelled: "Take aim!" The archer squad pulled their arrows and took aim. The archers, following their training, synchronize their aim with Milly's. One of the soldiers under Milly commented in nervous whisper. "Careful miss Shadowguard. Those Exorcists can burn our arrows before the tip even get to them."

"Well then, thank goodness we've modified ALL our arrows." Indeed, there's something fishy about the arrow's fletchings. And then, Milly yelled: "FIRE!" Hundreds of arrows flew from the walls of Archangel. For the moment, it looked as if the arrow just barely hit the front lines of the first wave. The burning exorcists at the front merely sneered at the attack and let them come, no effort to defend or dodge the arrows whatsoever. The arrows landed upon their immolated bodies and just like what Milly's man had warned the arrows were incinerated harmlessly before they can even touch their skin.

Harmlessly… if only there are no seals for explosive tags inscribed on the arrow's fletchings-which quickly set off as soon as the fire reached the said markings.

In an instant, the first line of the Exorcists exploded in a series of gigantic conflagration. The Exorcists were fiery warriors, but as they say, too much of a good thing is as bad as having none at all. Those who were at the center of the explosion were vaporized instantly. Others who were more fortunate are now screaming in pain as their limbs were blasted out due to the explosion. The front line was instantly blocked by a giant wall of fire. Upon seeing the shocking effect these 'harmless' arrows can do, the Exorcists suddenly have second thoughts about charging up front.

On the other hand, the soldiers atop Archangel cheered at the brutal effectiveness of their new arrows against the fiery Exorcists. Milly quickly shouted: "Pipe down! Take aim!" The soldiers regained their bearings and almost clumsily take aim. "FIRE!" The second salvo was fired and they were all aimed at the back of the charging army, showing that the archers can actually shoot farther than initially assumed. So naturally, the rear portion of the charging front line was surprised when these explosive arrows landed upon them as well.

"What the? I thought we're not in range of their archers!" The shocked knight's comments were cut off as soon as the arrows exploded as well. Blowing apart everything they've punctured: ground, or human limbs. A few arrows that found their way to an Exorcist exploded into a giant inferno many times bigger than those who aren't. The knights were quick to learn that blocking the arrows with shield is also a bad idea. Even if they can prevent the arrows from piercing them, the explosion that came afterwards can still kill them. Three explosive arrows stuck on a single shield were more than sufficient to vaporize the knight who carried it. The front units were isolated: a fiery conflagration at the front. But when they tried to pull back to regain their bearings, the second salvos' multiple explosions had caused many of their knights to become injured or dead, unable to move from the spot. This hindered their attempt to retreat and regroup. Sitting ducks between a wall of fire at front and a wall of fire, armored bodies, and corpses, the trapped knights became perfect targets for Milly's archer squad and Fuji's giant rock throws. Within moments, half of the initial charging forces were already taken out.

The Fire Knights who were in command were left speechless. The death toll had already reached three digits within the first few minutes of battle. And at this rate, they're looking at FOUR digit body count in the making! "PULL BACK!" Raww yelled. "Pull the front line back!" The former Hakutenkun marched forward, pulled his sword out and swing it in a vertical arc. The flames divided to two towering walls of fire, sweeping aside all the bodies, opening up a path for the front to retreat. Milly and her men didn't expect this and gaped in shock at the breathtaking scene. This brought a precious momentary pause that allowed the front line to quickly pull back.

Tolle quickly took notice of this and yelled to his girlfriend. "MILLY! SHOOT THEM! THEY'RE REGROUPING!"

Her boyfriend's yell brought her back from her stupor and she quickly shouted for the nth time that day. "TAKE AIM!" the soldiers hurriedly placed their arrows. "FIRE!" again the salvo of explosive arrows resumed, though this time, they consumed far less victims than the previous attacks. Regardless, the Zaft army, shocked by the number casualties of their first charge, quickly retreated into the covers of the forest. And once Milly realized they're way outside the range of the archers, ordered her men to stand down and stop shooting. The soldiers cheered happily at their first victory, even Milly smiled. "Well done, all of you! Well done!"

Meanwhile, the soldiers waiting on standby inside the fortress heard the revelry at the top of the walls and they too joined in cheers. Only one person kept his reserve. Prayer gazed upon the field of battle, filled with Zaft corpses. And two large walls of fire had been erected, with corpses to fuel the fire to keep it going for the whole night. He then spoke to one of the Shiseiken. "I hope they had enough blood for one night. Send out an emissary. Tell them they can collect their dead."

Urabe nodded. "Sir, yes sir!"

0000000000000000

Meanwhile, back at Konoha…

Shiho remembered she was assigned as a scout to look for Viral, the missing Beast Water Knight. Imagine her horror when she returned and the base is in total pandemonium, where Bladebanes and Water knights fought against their own mercenaries… and they are getting hit HARD. It was obvious at this point that the Bladebane army is well and truly obliterated, whether they win or lose. What's even more shocking to her is that Yzak, the supposed leader of the said army is in some sort of a crazed state that made him a danger to both ally and foe. But then, she saw a pack of mercenaries moved away from the scene, followed shortly by another pack of Bladebanes led by Viral (who's carrying an awkward sword) followed by a very small group of riders. The three groups meet up at higher grounds, overlooking the now chaotic village and discussing the situation. Putting two to two together, Shiho quickly realized that these Bladebanes and mercenaries are either: traitors or impostors. Upon seeing the obviously dead giveaway: the ridiculous sword that 'Viral' carried, she quickly realized it's the latter. The realization led her to go on an angry solo charge towards the impostor army.

Perhaps she caught them off guard, within rapid succession; she took down the impostor Viral, and then Kyoshiro Toudou (who gave her the identity of their attackers, which is the 7th division) and finally the white haired teen with bandages all over his body, who give out quite a fight before he too went down. Now she's stuck with dealing against Mwu la Flagga, the Hawk of Endiminion and Captain of the 9th division, as well as Canard Pars, the Seven Swords; the Lieutenant of the 7th division. She gritted her teeth in anger and enacted her Hyomonken, to the shock of the warriors present. Apparently they didn't expect her to still be able to use the water sword style in this rain. Well, time to prove them wrong.

Flocks of water flowers encircle around her slender figure. Shiho screamed as petals of watery flowers burst to every direction, many fly towards the two combatants. Canard blocked the splash with his newly acquired Glamm's surface and Mwu managed to dodge them completely. However, Canard was shocked at the power of such simple water splash. They are harmless droplets of water, sure. But upon impact the water droplets hold the same power as a God damn cannon ball! For EACH droplet! The force was enough to send Canard flying off the ground and rolling about. He slammed the Glamm to the ground to stop him from rolling off the cliff. "Okay. You just went to the top of my shit-list, bitch!"

With but a flick of her sword, she quickly reformed the formation of Balsam flowers around her. And she menacingly pointed her rapier at the two opponents. Canard gritted his teeth in rage, bloodlust evident. "Stand down Mwu! She's my prey!" He announced ferociously. Mwu whistled and stand down. Canard placed the Glamm on his back and then pulled his first set of swords: a Rapier and a Chinese Jian sword. Simon had forged a whole set of new swords for Canard, and they are indeed bigger and longer than the previous set. The Chinese sword glowed red, while the rapier had a wide broad blade, with ornamental handguard covering his fist.

"RAAAAAAAAAH!" Canard roared ferociously while Shiho sent forth her petals again. Taking lesson from before, Canard jumped away from the barrage and quickly went into range for sword combat. Shiho stand ready and prepared to give her all. Her rapier clashed with Canard's. But then, Canard's red Jian thrust forward in a very fluid flowing motion more akin to Chinese sword dance than rapier fencing.

'Eh?' The thrust barely missed Shiho's cheek. And then, Canard began another onslaught anew, this time with his Chinese sword. Shiho was shocked when Canard's fighting style changed from the thrusting rapier style to that of the free flowing and dancing Chinese sword. 'This guy…!' Shiho adjusted her pace to counter the Chinese sword dance, but in the middle of adjustment, Canard's rapier thrust forward again in a straight and rigid attacks. Shiho barely blocked this one and felt a cut on her waist. And then Canard ferociously went back and forth from Chinese sword dance to Rapier fencing, sending a flurry of slashes, all of which Shiho barely dodge. 'What's with this guy? His body is like… one half is using Eastern Chinese sword dance, the other half using a western sword fencing…' "Hyomonken…!" In her struggle to get away, Shiho instantly generated a series of water flowers. "…MIZUNARI BARA!" The water flowers merged and created a long spiny whip of roses that enclosed her being in a spiral and violently spin around, whipping both of Canard's swords off his hands.

The two swords stuck on the ground, but Canard ignored it and simply pull out another pair… make that three. An oversized kukri blade on the right arm, a shotel blade on the left, and a bastard sword on his mouth. And he charged forward without pause. Shiho transformed the water rose vine whip into flowers again, and this time she spins the flowers around. "Hyomonken: Sakura no Fubuki! (Sakura snowstorm)" the flowers around Shiho froze, and then shattered into tiny razor sharp shards of ice in the shape of Sakura petals, and then spin around in a small tornado that charged forward. In response, Canard roared and executed his own technique: "Santouryuu, TATSURYUUMAKI!" The heavy rain outlined the form of three dragons appearing around Canard's swords and spin around, creating a whirlwind of fangs. The two tornados fought for dominance for a moment and the exploded. Several shards from Shiho's attacks penetrated the explosion and nicked Canard's cheek, while the vacuum fang punctured Shiho's armor, chipping it.

Canard snarled ever more viciously and took off the bastard sword from his mouth, and then unsheathed his katana out. Now he wielded four swords all at once, with each sword is being held by two fingers. Shiho was somewhat dumbfounded. She had heard of a swordsman who can do something like that but… "Will you be able to firmly hold your swords with just your fingers?"

To answer that question, Canard showed the Katana and the Kukri in his fingers. For a moment he smirked and playfully flexed them to taunt her. But then veins popped on his fingers as his muscle bulged and in a blink, he swung both swords in a vertical arc. The rain outlined something flies out of the tip of their blade, something sharp that split the air. It went past Shiho, missing her head by millimeters and hit a giant rock which happened to be there. Shiho's eyes widened in shock and she turned around to find the rock was cut to pieces. Canard had just sent two waves of Kamaitachi with his swords just by using the strength of his fingers. "No need to worry me over your fucking sleep princess." And with that, Canard took the initiative and attacked again. This time, he's using four sword styles all at once. Even though they were being wielded by one man, who's using only his fingers, Shiho was surprised to note just how different the movement of each individual swords. She was supposed to be only fighting one man, but now she felt like she's being ganged upon by 4 men, using 4 different sword styles.

'First, I need to take out at least one sword!' With that in mind, Shiho decided to focus on the one giving her the most trouble at the moment, the Shotel and its annoying curving blade that had gone through her defenses multiple times. Shiho thrust her Rapier directly towards the fingers that were holding the shotel. But to her surprise, the Katana-Kukri duo stopped her thrust and held it tight like a chopstick. Canard smirked and swung the Shotel-Bastard duo upward. Shiho barely blocked the slash with her large shoulder armor, but it knocked her off her feet, sending her rolling away creating a distance between the two fighters. Canard continued his onslaught and threw the Kukri blade in a spin as a projectile. Shiho quickly brought her rapier up to block the throw. But at the critical moment, she didn't expect Canard to also brought the katana down in a vertical slash, and hit her rapier the same time the Kukri blade made contact. The additional force messed up her timing and brought her to her knees. Again she struggled to hold the sword, but she finally parried the katana and the kukri to her side and moved away.

Canard quickly made way to his swords and wield them as well. Now Shiho stare incredulously at a swordsman wielding no less than SIX different swords. All of them are being held by his fingers. Seeing just how brutally effective Canard had used the first four swords, Shiho cast aside all notions of ridiculous. 'This guy is Canard Pars, the Seven Sword; the lieutenant of the 7th division with a bounty of 100,000,000 and the second strongest man in Juppongatana. If you don't take him seriously, prepare to die.' Shiho looked around and noticed the other members of Juppongatana are also coming to. Apparently she didn't beat them as hard she should've. This leaves her with but one option.

Canard showcased his swords in preparation for his next assault. "Let's dance." At this point, instead of getting slower, Canard's movement is actually getting faster. In a mixture of various circular slashing, sweeping movements and strong multiple thrusts, Shiho was quick to learn the painful way not to block this trio blade swing. She blocked a Jian-Katana-Kukri trio. The Jian brought up her defense; the Katana slash through and break it, and the Kukri slashed her shoulder. The same rule applies for the other hand. 'In the end though… he's only using three swords at once…' As if reading her mind, Canard grinned sadistically and then, before the unbelieving eyes of Shiho, Canard placed all SIX of his sword in a Battoujutsu motion. "Rokutouryuu (Six swords style): KUJAKU SENKOU (Peacock Flash)!" He rapidly spins twice before slashing all six of his swords at godlike speed. Shiho brought up her balsam flowers in time, and she quickly cast: "Hyomonken: Tsurara-Tsubaki! (Icicle Camellia)" A large camellia made of icicles erupted from where she stood, its many petals effectively created layers after layers of protection. Canard's six swords Battoujutsu managed to break through them until it stopped upon reaching the core. The ice camellia peel away its petals to reveal Shiho, who managed to block all six of Canard's swords, if only barely. But not only that, she managed to actually pin all six swords underneath her arm pit.

"Ooookay… and what do you want to fucking accomplish? Stink my swords?"

Shiho grinned. "No. Just… to make you stop moving." The girl painfully raised her rapier. That's when Canard realized there are hundreds of water Balsam flowers hanging by the air above them. And not just Canard and Shiho. Even Mwu and the other Juppongatana are targets as well.

"Double-U – Tee - Ef…" Canard spelled.

"Ougi: Housenka Shigure (Balsam Rain)!" and the balsam flowers fall down upon the earth like a rain of meteors, and upon impact, their splash explosively turned into icicle blasts that obliterate everything in a wide 360 degree area. The cliff turned into a scene of a localized frozen Hell. Silence followed, except the panting from Shiho who fell to her knees, thoroughly exhausted. She looked round and saw no one around but the normal alliance soldiers who looked at her with pure terror. They should be easy to deal with compared to the bigshots. "That's about it… right?"

"YA CRAZY BITCH!" Canard's scream made her heart literally skipped a beat. A pile of ice shook and then shattered as Canard drilled his way out using his six swords. Several shards of ice were lodged to his shoulder. But the ferocious man paid it no heed.

Shiho's eyes twitched incredulously: 'Did he actually deflect every single one of my Balsam raindrops?'

Following, a block of ice was cut in a square as Setsuna and Toudou burst out. Next to them, Kamina drilled through another block of ice and crawled out together with Mwu closely behind. Kamina, in particular, was in a really bad mood. "The next time you two ninja freaks want to pull someone into the ground, could you at least WARN US?" Kamina was referring to Toudou (who was an Orb Samurai) and Mwu.

Mwu sighed and groaned sarcastically. "Gee thanks Mwu, you just saved my life from death by flowery meteor rain of doom.' Can't you at least be grateful a little!"

Shiho nearly fall into despair. That was her best… her absolute best move… and none of the ranking officers were killed or even wounded? This isn't funny even for a joke!

"I hope you still got another one of those fucking move, Fucking-Rapier-woman. Cause' I'm just getting started!" Canard threw all six of his swords and they all landed around Shiho and Canard, encircling them at the center of a ring of swords. Shiho was somewhat unnerved. Each of these 6 swords suddenly began to emanate an aura of danger; it was as if it was merely sealed up until now when they left Canard's hands. The Lieutenant also pulled out his last, biggest sword: the Glamm. Canard readied the Zweihander before him and announced: "Mugen-Ittouryuu! (Infinite One Sword style)"

Shiho Hahnenfuss angrily gritted her teeth and generated another field of Balsam flowers around her, and pointed her rapier angrily at her enemies. But before they can begin again…

A voice through the rain caught everyone's attention. "…I left you guys alone for five minutes and already you're having this much trouble?" Kage appeared out of nowhere atop his mount. Upon seeing the black clad devil, Shiho lost her cool as well. Ignoring Canard altogether, she sent a hail of water petals straight at Kage. The shinobi quickly realized those petals are nothing to laugh at. And so: "TETSUGA TENSHOU!" The white energy wave and the watery petals collided and exploded in one massive shockwave that momentarily pushed away all raindrops. Mwu and Canard were also slightly pushed back by the said explosion. Kage and Aile budged slightly and tensed up, but otherwise unfazed. Shiho instinctively defended herself upon the blast and closed her eyes. But as the rain fall again, she looked at her opponent and gasped. Kage seem perfectly okay and he didn't even move an inch – heck – he didn't even bother getting down from his horse!

Canard snarled. "Now, Boss, that's not very nice. She's my fucking prey! We don't take other people's prey!"

"Well fine. But uh… for her…. I'm the prey. Doesn't that work for both sides?" Canard spit, and Kage merely shook his head. He then turned to Shiho. "I must say I'm impressed. I thought other than Yzak there's no one else who can pull feats like this."

Shiho frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"You don't know? Hyomonken's weakness. Why do you think your brethren had so much trouble handling a bunch mercenaries and bandits?" Kage chuckled as he looked at his handiwork that is the chaos of Konohagakure. Shiho also looked at the village and only now did she realize that her fellow Water Knights couldn't use their Hyomonken for some reason. "I noticed it first when I fought Yzak the first time, in the forest. You remember?"

Shiho remembered back in the forest where Kage went berserk and nearly killed Yzak and Dearka. "What of it?"

Kage looked at Shiho. "If I recall correctly… I took control of his water… send it right back at him. If Hyomonken is truly the sword of water… why didn't he just… took control of it and send it right back at me as well?" Shiho was still contemplating Kage's explanation while the Shinobi continued. "That was my first clue. The second clue was when I killed Goud Veia. Again I used the same method."

Upon hearing the name of her master, Shiho glared at the master's murderer in rage. Already her signature watery flowers began to form and floated around her. The raindrops falling on her did little to hamper her skills, unlike her brethren.

Kage realized a fight might be imminent and so he got down from Aile while he continued to explain. "I used… the water from the very sea he's been using to procure water for his Hyomonken." Kage sent Aile away to a safe distance. "…and yet… when I sent that water dragon at him… his multiple personality disorder, his death wish, and his momentary severe injuries… those were not the only thing that prevented him from stopping me draining his immortality. If he truly was the master of Hyomonken, why didn't he just stop that water dragon and blast it back at me? So here's my conclusion." Kage rested his hand on his katana and unveiled his grand conclusion. "Hyomonken can only manipulate static water."

Shiho tilted her head in surprise. Apparently she didn't even realize this herself. To her, her Hyomonken is at the normal level… she simply manipulates whatever water she finds. Rain, lake… to her they seem the same. She simply added a little adjustment in controlling rain. It seems so… normal thing to do. Or so she claimed. Yzak did state otherwise…

The other Juppongatana also nodded in realization. In this heavy rain, no water is static. Even the puddle that was formed will be disturbed by the ripples caused by the raindrops. A good martial art requires a strong foundation. And if water is the foundation of Hyomonken, then watery constructs of the Hyomonken became fragile when the foundation itself is unstable. That's why the Hyomonken of the Water Knights malfunctioned in this heavy rain.

"Or at least… that's what I thought. Until I see you." Now, it's Kage's turn to glare at Shiho. "Until I remembered Veia procured water from the constantly moving ocean. So I kinda figured… even if beginners cannot manipulate moving water… an expert… or a master level can probably do so, provided they have sufficient strength, will, and skill to pull it out. Being Veia's closest student… I thought only Yzak Joule was able to do so." Kage looked at the berserk Yzak. Knowing the boy's temper, Kage had purposefully saved his life to attack the boy's pride. Being saved by their own enemy is a big enough insult to send a prideful man like Yzak to go near mad with rage. Thus, Yzak was put in the wrong state of mind, disallowing him to take control of the situation and aid his brethren-even attacked them, worsening the chaos. "I guess my miss is that I ignored the possibility of another master-level Water knight. Such as yourself." At this, Kage tilted his head to Shiho.

Shiho gritted her teeth angrily. Just to send her senpai into rage… just so that he can utilize Yzak's strength in such a dishonorable way… "You… How could you…! Senpai… Sir Yzak even thought to duel honorably against you! Do you have any idea what he had sacrificed? How could you!"

"Tell that to someone who cares. I'm not a swordsman, young lady. I'm an assassin." Kage's tone was once again emotionless and his eyes seem dark and lifeless. "And don't talk to me about honor when you and your precious senpai attacked and dragged innocent civilians into this. Spare me your self-righteous speech of honor and sacrifice. You are no better than Goud Veia. He admitted himself that he was a selfish bastard who killed every warrior he fought just because he had a death wish." Kage pointed at the rampaging Yzak to make his point. "But Lord Veia did not become a slave to his anger. And at least he could not control his savagery that is Goud! And in this respect, your precious Sir Yzak's actions are worse off."

Shiho looked again at Yzak down there and she had to regrettably admit: Kage was right. She no longer saw the honorable and proud Water Knight Yzak Joule who led their brethren here in the name of honor. All she saw, to her horror, is a monster that indiscriminately attacked everyone on sight. Blinded by rage, fueled by bloodlust, driven by insanity. "Sir… Yzak…" She can feel tears falling from her eyes, seeing just how deeply her senpai had fallen from grace.

Kage sighed and signaled Canard to end the fight for today. Canard reluctantly did so and put back the Glamm to his back. The Shinobi gave a few instructions and a few moments later some of the soldiers brought Viral, all tied and gagged and placed him for everyone to see.

Shiho looked at Viral in shock. The beast knight is still struggling and growling to break free of his bond. In particular, the beastman seem to focus his anger on a certain pirate boss who wears his armor.

"Release him." Kage instructed. The soldiers unbound Viral's arms, letting the beastman did the rest himself. Everyone pointed their weapons and closed in on the two hostile knights, just in case they intend to do anything funny. But Kage raised his hands and the line of spears faltered slightly. "Fight us and we all die here… or stay alive… and take your chance with your Sir Yzak. See if you can calm him down."

Viral looked at Kage and then to Shiho, leaving the decision to her. Shiho assessed the situation, and then, reluctantly, made her choice as she sheathed back her rapier. Viral nodded and went along. But he gave one glare to Kamina and growled. "This isn't over."

The beat up Kamina simply smirked widely.

Canard fiercely looked at Shiho and impolitely gave her the bird. "Be seein you again, Fucking-rapier-girl."

Shiho does not react beyond an annoyed and disgusted look. The two water knights joined the lone scout who was with Shiho and then quickly made their way back to rescue the chaotic base.

0000000000000000

Back to Archangel…

In the forest… nearing dawn…

The Zaft knights retreated into the forest after the unexpectedly disastrous failure of their first charge. The knights had set up camp in the middle of the forest. At the main camp, Raww and his war council convene.

"I just had a head count, 245 Emerald knights and 127 Exorcists died… at least. A few more hundreds are currently incapacitated due to severe burns."

"At least?" A fire knight carrying a flaming hammer knocked the butt of his hammer to demand clearer answer. "What do you mean at least?"

"It could be more. Remember, some of them didn't just explode… they were vaporized. There aren't much left of them to know for sure." The Fire knight added sorrowfully.

Raww looked at the now fully memorized map of Archangel Area. How many times now have he come here? "How many?"

"Sir?" Every fire knight looked at the masked man.

"I mean… how many times now have we fought against the 7th division?" Raww turn to see his councils. "And every time we did, it's always the same routine: they use their cannons as the edge of the sword; once we engage them up close… they're cannon fodders at best. And now… they didn't even fire their fearsome cannons not even once… They killed hundreds of us… and all they get is… what? A couple blisters on their fingers for shooting too many arrows?"

"Don't tell me you're getting cold feet, Raww."

"On the contrary my brothers and sisters… to me this provides clarity of purpose: WE. MUST. DEFEAT. Them. NOW!" Raww banged the table to make his point. The Fire knights in the room gasped in surprise. They didn't expect that their defeat today made such an impression on the seasoned commander. "If you're asking me if I am afraid, then yes. The answer is I am afraid. I'll be a fool if I'm not. Especially after what I've seen today. Kage had only led the 7th division for around 2 weeks… and I saw his army today… they're still undisciplined. Excitable. Clumsy. They still have so many flaws. And we lost what usually took hours in minutes to this yet undisciplined army."

The Fire knights looked at each other, as they somehow beginning to understand their leader's fear.

Raww concluded. "Even with this… disastrous casualties… I'm not afraid of what they are now. I'm afraid of what they'll become. Those brave 372 brave warriors are but the firsts… of many that will fall, if… we fail to finish this. Here and now!"

00000000

In the Archangel Fortress itself…

A public meeting between all seated officers and some representative soldiers is taking place in the Captain's office.

Milly tore a paper to pieces and toss it into the fire. "That's… one down. Two more to go."

Prayer nodded and looked at the other two Shadowguards. Each was holding a black letter. Kage had predicted that in his absence, the enemy will try to attack them. And so, he left behind three letters, each contains a strategy. The first had already been used: the explosive tag arrows and the wall of fire strategy. Under Kage's instruction, this strategy is to be opened when the enemy came in surprise, before the soldiers can prepare. And it's bloody effective so far. The shower of explosive arrows had created a huge wall of fire. And it'll burn till tomorrow afternoon… if they can keep it alight. With that much fire, only the most foolhardy Knights would dare to rush through it. The Exorcists is also a bad idea. They could just shoot them again with the same arrows and blow them up even more, strengthening the fire.

"Well, this gives us time to prepare more properly this time." Prayer looked at the map of Archangel's defenses. "And as good as Kage's strategies might be… let's not be too reliant on it. They are for desperate and unexpected times."

The officers looked at the acting captain questioningly. Tolle decided to explain. "Kage maybe a genius. He had made anticipation for this attack, but that doesn't mean he made plans for every situation. The first plan was supposed to be used during the opening of the battle. In the case that the enemy really did came and we were unprepared." Then he raised the second letter. "The second letter is to be opened when we ran out of ammos for the cannons."

Murrue and Natarle shrugged. That boy had predicted that far?

"And the third letter? What does it say?" Karren looked at Sai, the last Shadowguard.

"We… well… we have to try so that we won't get to this one." Sai replied as he lifted the letter. "Only open when the first and the second have already been done, and the enemy is still coming. Only open… when the wall is breached."

"So… Kage had prepared these strategies for very few and very specific situations." Neil nodded. In other words, they cannot rely on these strategies. They had to rely on their own. "So… what is our situation?"

"We can't use the cannons." Natarle opened. And already some color was drained off the soldiers' faces. "I just had a count… We don't have enough ammo to go on. They'll besiege us for sure. And that can last for days. Maybe weeks. As it is, if we blast away as we usually did, we'd run out of ammo in two days. We must only use it only in the direst of situations. And… Lohengrin is off limits too."

At this, everyone gasped.

Prayer step forward and explained. "Murdock claimed he found something. A fatal flaw. A damage that went ignored for years for being considered insignificant… But after heavy use in the last few days… he had to make a total fix of the Lohengrin. Both cannons. I think it'll be out of commission for a long time."

At this point the soldiers began to panic. The cannons have always been their greatest edge against the Advanced. And now all of them are out of the question? They began to yell and fight among themselves. Some demanded they run, the other think they should fight on. Tolle groaned at the incessant arguments and slammed his fist to the table. "EVERYBODY SIMMER DOWN!" The ruckus stopped. "It's no big of a fuss! As long as we're careful with our ammo, we can still win!"

"You're one to talk!" One of the soldiers yelled. "You're a Shadowguard! Kage trained you, didn't he?"

"And as I recall… we've trained you, didn't we?" That shut the soldier up. "How many times did you fire your precious cannons last night? Hm?" Tolle made a 0 with his fingers. "Zero. Zilch. We didn't fire even a single shot… and we beat them back, didn't WE?"

"That's because instead of them catching us by surprise, it is we who caught them by surprise." Bushido explained. "This one believed the enemy did not expect us to pull that sort of tricks."

"That's because in the past… the 7th division has also been looked down upon by our enemies." Neil pointed this out, and perhaps not so surprisingly, smiled. "That… is an advantage."

"How so?" Karren frowned.

Prayer pointed out easily. "Pride. We will fight soldier. We will fight with everything we have. Because we want to survive. We fight for our lives. But to them… killing a dozen of us won't get them any recognition. After all, in their eyes, without our cannons, we're just farmers with glorified pitchforks who were a dime a dozen. As a result… their pride will disallow them to fight with everything they have. They'll be the laughing stock of their fellow comrades if they do."

Karren also smirked, finally seeing things in brighter perspective. "In short, you're telling us that they're all glory hounds. That we're not just going to attack their bodies… we're attacking their pride as well."

"The first blow has been made." Sai followed. "We killed hundreds of them with bows and arrows. That wounded their pride greatly… and now they'll want revenge for that."

"Heart filled with wounded pride. Pride is key to disaster. Pride is path to downfall." The ever silent Sven spoke, but his emotionless words officially allayed the soldier's fears.

"Well… here's a little addition to the good news. These strategies were meant to buy time." Prayer explained. "Kage has a plan. I cannot go into detail to the what or which… but the way I see it… it'll bring us out of this tough spot. But only when he returns. So the way I see it… we really need just to hold out until he returned."

"You mean IF he returns." Balsam added.

Prayer death-glared at the said soldier and growled angrily, and confidently: "HE. WILL. RETURN!"

0000000000000000

In the early morning,

In Konohagakure…

By now the rain had subsided.

The village of Konoha is in ruins. Bodies littered the ground. Mercenaries, bandits, knights. Piling atop another on the soaked ground…both drenched by rain and human blood.

Upon entering the battlefield, Shiho and Viral quickly routed every mercenary who dared to get in their way and rushed to Yzak. Together with Dearka, they managed to restrain the berserk knight. Taking momentary command, Shiho led the other knights to bunker down in their command base. After a while, coupled with a little slap and punches, Yzak was back on his feet and sane. Taking control of the remaining Bladebanes and Water Knights, they pushed back the mercenaries. But the Bladebanes, having been so angry of their losses and the presumed betrayal, showed no quarter, slaughtered everyone, spare no one, even when the rain subsided and they gained a clearer view of their enemies. Eventually, come morning and the Water Knights and the Bladebanes stood victorious. But it's a pyrrhic victory.

They marched from Zaft with 20,000 Bladebanes and 500 Water Knights. Now, that number has been reduced to a few dozen Bladebanes and a handful of Knights, Shiho and Yzak included. All of them were wounded and weary. Yzak sit tiredly, bare-chested, his arm and shoulder were being bandaged and still trickling with blood. Dearka fare a little better with only some small bruises on his arm, while Viral was pressing a bandage over his injured right eye. Shiho is probably the only one who wasn't injured-much. Regardless… all their top ranking knights are down. If the enemy attacked now, they're far from ready. And then, from the distance, came a sight that nearly sends Yzak into another murderous rage, if it were not for his injuries.

Kage and his cavalry strike force arrived and calmly approached them from every direction. The village of Konoha was completely surrounded in a circle, with the Bladebane army in the middle, trapped and nowhere to go. In normal situation, if only they weren't injured and exhausted, even getting surrounded in such a way by 5000 men wouldn't scare them, much less… a few hundred men? Yzak looked again and quickly get a quick count of Kage's army. '3-400 horsemen?' Yzak couldn't believe this. They were tricked by an army 1/50th their size? Kage's Strike force continued to close the distance, and the Bladebanes instinctively back away until eventually, they were huddled up back to back inside the ruins of their base, surrounded in an enclosed circle by four hundred 7th division horsemen, pointing their spears at them.

Kage gazed through the crowd of the Bladebanes and saw Yzak. Their eyes met and this time, even though there's anger in Yzak's eyes, there's also sanity and rationality. Kage smiled at this behind his mask. "Well done, Young lady. You saved him." Shiho simply glared angrier at Kage, not accepting his praise one bit. Kage get down from his horse while carrying a long package in his hand and then he began to walk towards the Bladebane huddle.

Three Bladebanes were overcome with rage and charged forward. But they were still injured, and their opponent is the man who had defeated their master. Within seconds, Kage knocked the first one down with a whack of his long package, kicked the second one off the ground, and the third one was out for the count after an elbow to the neck. The three lying unconscious on the wet ground, but not dead. The other Bladebanes had contemplated to go forth, but they start having second thoughts. One side they wanted to avenge their master, the other side, they just survived a battle of life and death and not so keen to enter another… especially when the odds are against them. Now that they get a look at the enemy's army, its members weren't just normal a dime a dozen soldiers either: Toudou, Kamina, Canard Pars, an unknown bandaged soldier… and there's even the infamous Mwu la Flagga! All are bigshots! Even if they can defeat Kage… then what?

Kage chuckled at their indecisiveness. "I'm just here to finish things with one Yzak Joule. So if you're sending more half dead people for me to beat up, I can wait."

The Bladebanes looked at each other and then to Yzak. The silver haired boy grunted and struggled to grab his weapon. Shiho protested and try to stop him from going. But the boy refused to listen and marched out the crowd. The boy quickly walked and stood in front of Kage. His breathing was paced and heavy as his chest humped up and down; both due to his injuries and his rage. In direct contrast, Kage was calm and composed. Seemingly unaffected by the fact that the boy in front of him is itching to rip him apart, and he is within sword range. Yzak contemplated to say something but Kage spoke his mind for him.

"If I tell you…" Kage started. "That I rescued you because I want you to live… because I will not allow anyone else to kill you… because I want to fight you too. In better circumstances: on even ground, in an honorable duel. Would that answer be far more acceptable to your ego?"

Yzak was about to angrily retort but Kage quickly jammed his mouth with his hand and pushed the boy down until his head hit the ground. The Bladebanes initially respond in anger and was about to charge forward, but the Alliance soldiers quickly closed the distance even further and pointed their weapons at them menacingly, telling them to stand down. The Bladebanes stopped and continued to observe the situation.

"Shush. Don't… speak." Kage symbolized the silence by placing two fingers over his masked mouth. "Just shut up… and let your heart do the answering. Answer this… were we so different? You and I?"

Yzak glared angrily at Kage, but the shinobi pay the glare no heed as he knew Yzak was listening. "We are the same. We both cared for our master… just as how our master cared for us. Harlbarton was my master… Veia was yours. Your master killed mine… and I killed your master." Upon the mentioning of that fact, again Yzak struggled to get up but Kage gently held firm and keep him in on the ground. "Ultimately… we've both lost our source of guidance. Our mentor. So how did we end up so different? Yes. I did say we were the same. Now… I stood together with my master's other students… leading them, as my master did…" Kage looked at the soldiers of the 7th division. They ARE Harlbarton's students. In one way or another. "…and you lead your master's students. And yet… the conclusion… is like this. I stood victorious. You stood over certain doom. How did we end up so different? Don't answer me. Ask that to yourself, and let your heart do the answering." Kage let go, allowing Yzak to get back on his feet. But Yzak still looked at him angrily, still with that bloodlust. Still with that thirst for vengeance.

Kage waited for a few moments. Hoping those eyes will mellow a bit with rationality.

"So what of it?" Yzak spat. "You the victor? I… the doomed one? So what OF IT! That doesn't mean I will stop fighting you! Or what? Are you telling me that if our position is reversed you will beg for your life like a shameless dog?"

"Yes I will." And this answer really caught Yzak off guard. Kage then began kneeling on his feet, put his hand on his back as if they were being tied, banged his head like a man begging, and start yelling like a madman. "I SURRENDER! I GIVE UP! JUST LET ME LIVE AND I WILL SERVE YOU! I WILL CONQUER THE WORLD FOR YOU! I WILL LICK YOUR BOOTS, CALL YOU MY GRANDUNCLE, AND KNEEL BEFORE YOU THREE TIMES EVERYTIME I SEE YOU! I'M JUST A SHAMELESS, GOOD FOR NOTHING BEAST THAT NEEDS BEATING! JUST LET ME LIVE!"

Yzak was completely at lost. As it is, he's more horrified than angry at this point. He had hoped that if he had won, he might bear witness to this scene, and may relish on it. Yet he never expected to see it like this when the man groveling down here is the victor and he is the loser. And there are no lies in Kage's pretend incessant begging and screaming. He's doing it as if his life was at his whim. Soon the terror abated and again replaced with anger. "You shameless bastard! Why… Why is our master had to be defeated by a shameless bastard like you? You… you…" and he finally exploded: "WHY DO YOU KEEP MOCKING THE PRIDE OF OUR MASTER?"

At this, Kage stop kneeling and rose up slowly. His purple eyes meet again with Yzak, and the silver haired boy was quick to note the anger that flared in those cold eyes. "Pride this… pride that… even after all this… you're still spouting those meaningless words…?" Kage quickly get back on his feet. "En garde."

"Eh?"

"Same old bullshit. You're not gonna listen to words." Kage angrily signaled his men to make some room for a fight. "You want a Duel; I'll give you a Duel."

The two men then assume their dueling stance. Yzak readied his sword. Kage pulled out Shiki and then placed it upside down, holding it elegantly by its pommel. The stance confused those who had never seen it before. "Soar in your throne between Heaven and Hell… Kurenai Shiki." Kage dropped the katana gently and then it fall like a drop of water in the lake and dispersed into thousands and thousands of red feathers, enclosing Kage's figure in a storm of red. Once the whirlwind subsided, Kage was clad in red overcoat with four extensions seemingly composed of feathers and wings with a pair of detached long sleeves. The exact same appearance he used to battle Veia. Kage raised the package he's been carrying, the package dissolved, revealing its content.

Every Bladebane and Water Knights gasped. Prized sacred relic of the Water Knights and the Sapphire Bladebane: the Regalia of Water: Hyomaen.

"You… where did you…" Yzak growled angrily.

"I won it fair and square. If you want it… take it from me the same way I took it from Goud Veia. Rip it off my hands. If you can." Kage unsheathed the Regalia and swing it down. And suddenly everyone feel an oppressive feeling emanating from the Nodachi. Everyone suddenly feel their weapons are but useless branches of wood. Fortunately for Yzak, he was holding Ryujinzan, a super weapon. Made by mortals… but… better than none at all.

"HRAAAAAAH!" Yzak lunged forward in a thrust. Kage merely swing the Nodachi to the side and knocked Yzak off course by a few meters.

"By my count… this is the third time we fight." Indeed. The first time they fought was in the forest. Yzak mopped the floor with Kage's ass. Due to some… unexplainable circumstances, he won. The second time, they fought to a draw. And now the third… well… Yzak roared again and attacked. Alas, his injuries prevented him from doing any decent attacks. Most of which Kage easily dodged without any effort. "I wish I could call it that… if only you were in your prime." Kage purposefully hit Yzak at his injuries to make his point, earning him a groan.

"ArgH!" Yzak staggered and fell to his knees. Before he can regain his form, he found himself at Kage's feet. Yzak quickly tried to get up, but Kage mercilessly smacked his face with Hyomaen's sheath. "So for the record… this is not a duel. This is bullying." Kage flickered and landed on Yzak's chest and stomp on his chest hard. "GAH!" Yzak cough up blood.

The Bladebanes and the Water knights gritted their teeth. They all wanted to help. But the cavalries is on standby and would've gutted them where they stand, and so they stay.

Yzak crawled back up, unwilling to give up. Deviant till the end. Kage sighed as he shouldered the nodachi. "Tell me. What good is your pride when you are dead?"

This seemingly struck a nerve on Yzak's heart. That's the second time someone said that to him. The first was a mercenary Mayor, and now his mortal sworn enemy? Yzak grunted and charged again, raising his sword. Kage boringly blocked the simple overhead slash with one hand, while the other hand find itself to Yzak's collar, and yank him close and hard before giving the boy a good headbutt. Yzak fell on his back and a small booklet fell from his pocket. Kage picked it up and glanced through it. A condensed copy of the Codex.

"The Codex. Zaft knights lived and breathed through this stuff." Kage tossed it back to Yzak. "Every Advanced kid knew that George of Glenn, the greatest Crimson Emperor who led his people through the Darkest Times personally wrote that book. Both Natural and Advanced literate experts considered it a perfect masterpiece."

The knights and the alliance soldiers nodded. It's a public knowledge after all.

"But did you guys know that George of Glenn… is a lifelong illiterate?"

THAT is not public knowledge. So naturally, everyone's jaw hung at this.

"Wha… What nonsense…!"

"It's a fact that I've confirmed personally a long time ago after a lot of research and with some help from a scholar friend. But it's also a fact that George of Glenn did write the codex. So peace of mind and don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Kage continued. "Put yourself in his position for one moment. A person, who couldn't read much less write a word all his life, wrote such a perfect book of law. He probably would've been the laughing stock of the intellectuals of his time. But he persevered and lived on with the shameful moniker of a lifelong illiterate… and he became the Emperor… and today… you shove that codex in front of every person who prided themselves a self respecting master of literature… who now dares to laugh at him and call him illiterate?"

The other knights stood in silence at this. The message was blatantly clear: die in vain in the name of honor and pride… or live through your shame to accomplish more in the future. Kage is trying to pound those choices into them. They all looked at Yzak, who seem rather stunned-given the fact he's the one who caught that message the loudest… and the clearest. Now Yzak's mind is in a complete turmoil. What Kage had said truly swayed him in ways he couldn't imagine. He just couldn't believe how much he's tempted to just put down his Ryujinzan and surrender, survive today so that he can have his revenge another day. But a part of him screamed back. Haven't you made up your mind? I did, but this and that are different! What happened to your resolve? My resolve is strong! I still want to avenge master Veia! What have you sacrificed to get this far? A lot. Too many, in fact. AREN'T YOU READY TO DIE?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Yzak mental chaos was too much. He screamed insanely and rushed at Kage. This time, Yzak ignored everything. He ignored the teachings, he ignored the basic of swordsmanship, the chivalry and whatshits; he forgets about everything he knew and starts fighting barbarically like a savage madman.

Kage was caught by surprise and used Hyomaen to parry Yzak's strikes with quite a difficulty. Until at last, the berserk knight was at the peak of his desperation and managed to pin Kage to the ground. "You are conflicted aren't you? Who wouldn't be?" Kage pushed Yzak back, but the crazed boy quickly rushed back. "I imagine your pride had been pushing you forward all this time. Honor and dignity. You uphold them as you receive your title. You strive to become the perfect knight. A bloody thorny road that scars you as your pride pushed you forward, and you've endured it!" Kage blocked another attack. "My God how have you endured it! But you forget who you are. Whatever reasons you have when you begin your journey, you have become truly lost! I know this!" Yzak's eyes looked at Kage, almost… pleadingly. Begging him not to say it. Not to say the words he knew is truth. But Kage say it anyway: "Because I'm just like that too. In your heart… you knew we are the same. Deep down inside… in your heart you agree with everything I've said. But how can you turn back after everything you've done? After so long of a trip, so much blood and tears you have spilt, and then you realized you've made a big mistake? Who can go back to where we started? But you know this to be untrue. I know. Indeed we've already get this far, BUT we haven't gone too far… we just haven't get there yet. The question is not whether you can… but would you go back?"

"I'm ready to die for this." Yzak spat, his eyes filled with vestiges of insanity and desperation. "Are you?"

And Kage replied resolutely, with the faces of his friends in his mind: "No. No, I'm not. Because I have something to accomplish by continue living. But I'm not afraid to die, if I have to."

Yzak roared and slashed furiously. The slash managed to hit Kage's shoulder and blood sprayed out of the fresh wound. Kage grunted and grab hold of his bleeding shoulder. Yzak, weirdly enough, didn't continue, as if waiting. Kage looked at his shoulder and then to the stunned Yzak. "So that's the lasts of your pride? Your lack of fear to death?"

Yzak didn't answer. But his eyes are clearly still in complete chaos, as is his mind. Conflicted between the truth and idealism. Kage felt like he's seen this before. Yes. Now he see what makes Yzak, Veia's favorite: this is a young Veia in the making. The crossroad towards the tragedy of a man torn between his own self and his ideals. "Fine. Let me set you free." Yzak watched as Kage assumed a very familiar one sword Battoujutsu stance. "Hyomonken-Ura-Ougi…"

Every Water Knight and Bladebane who heard the name felt their heart stopped. Kage was no longer there. They're seeing their own master in a different outfit!

"MIKAZUCHI NO KODOMO!" Kage/Veia split into three carbon copies of himself. A strike from below, another strike from the sky, and the other strike across the ground. Three consecutive super godspeed slash from three angle. Three long and deep craters appeared simultaneously around the dumbfounded Yzak, creating a triangle.

Kage sheathed the Nodachi back. Yzak's eyes still widened in total shock. Then slowly, his pupil began to turn and delicately, he traced the three long craters around him, searching for flaws or errors… anything that will differentiate it with Veia's. They're still scorching hot, and the slashing marks were smooth and flawless, showing how fast the sword's slash was. It was a perfect Ougi. He had seen it only once. But he'll never forget it.

"The Ura Ougi of Hyomonken. It is mastered by performing all three main branch moves of hyomonken - Tsurara Mai, Mizunari Hebi, Tenchu Senshi – all at the same time." Kage/Veia explained.

As Yzak observed the after effects of the Mikazuchi, his eyes finally landed… upon the eyes of his dead master. He was so shocked by this, Yzak shrieked and fell on his back, panting. But after a better observation, he realized it wasn't his master. It was Kage. The black clad man then moved closer towards him, Yzak, completely terrified, backed away, but before he can get far, Kage placed his hand on Yzak's mouth and looked at him, eye to eye.

"Are you afraid now, Yzak Joule?" Kage can feel the boy's lips trembling in his palm. "Don't answer. Let your heart do the talking. Answer it truthfully. Answer with that God-damn heart of yours who hasn't gone completely black!"

And his heart answers truthfully.

"I see. You are afraid of death. So much for your resolve." This time, Yzak did not try to retort or try to speak back. Good. That's the sign that whatever Kage will say next will definitely gets taken in. "You… wanted to fight me… to get revenge for your master… but Yzak… face it. I'm not his student. Yet the last words he spoke to me were not the words of anger or hate. He didn't die a warrior. He died a teacher. He died, as he tried to teach me something important. To be honest with you… I'm not sure I understand completely what he was trying to teach me. But I do my best to understand what little he had taught me. And what of you?" Yzak could not stop these words from flooding in into his mind.

"Having fought him in battle I knew this… and so did you… your master gets what he deserve… for all his flaws and for all his achievements… he had it coming. Yet above all, he gets what he wanted. He died a happy man, left nothing behind, hold no grudges to no one. He did not ask for tribute or songs of valor… he recognized himself for the monster that he is. He is content to be remembered and forgotten as such. Why is it you, whom he deemed the closest student, his favored… cannot see this?" Yzak's eyes widened. But not with horror, but with clarity. Every word that Kage spoke is the truth. "Nay. You see it. Better than anyone. Better than me. Half of your master's soul had become a monster… an affront to everything he stood for. And that he's slowly, irreversibly turning into that monster-completely. And you wanted… you wanted to free him of his suffering. And so you trained harder than anyone… become better than anyone… you wished… that for your master's pride… that if the devil should take his life, let that devil be your sword. Alas, it was not all meant to be. The devil was my sword. And so you raged. Not for your master's pride… but your own. And I'm sorry for this… I do feel sorry for you. To be cheated by fate. It seems so unfair."

Everyone held their breath and waited. Kage continued. "You don't realize it? Nay. Somewhere along the line; you realized it. You realized you've waged this 'crusade'… not for your master but for yourself. Did you regret it? Yes. Yes you have. You regretted it. But you refuse to pull back. You keep lying to yourself this is for your master. But you realized that it was your own ego. You sent all those mercenaries… all the innocents who died. All the lives you've ruined. You've agonized over it. I know you have. And the worst of it… last night… all those whom you called brothers… those who trusted you… those who followed you… tonight they died meaninglessly. They depend on you… when their need was dire… and you raged over something that doesn't really matter. You realized that tonight instead of defending your master's name, you've sullied it with the blood of your own brethren. Yzak Joule…"

All the Bladebanes awaited the grand verdict…

"…how many times are you going to lie to yourself?"

That was the last stroke, Yzak Joule snapped, collapsed, and cried. He cried like he never before. In despair, in anger to himself, in sorrow, in realization for all the stupidity he's done, all the wrongs he's done… he cried. For all the trust he had betrayed, he cried. He cried and cried, wailing, screaming in anguish, rolling in the dirt like a baby. Everything he learned; everything he stood up for… everything his master had taught him… he smeared it in the mud… and for what? It wasn't just his name… it's his master's name… it's all that's left of him. How could he forget that? His cries went on and on, echoing in the midst of the ruins. Until at last, his cries reduced to sobs and gasps, and the man curled to the ground, bathed in mud. Kage looked at the boy with pity. He turned and saw Shiho amidst the Bladebane, and nodded. Shiho quickly went to her senpai's side and cover him with his cape, if only to warm his body.

Kage sighed and content to be done for today. Just then, he felt the nodachi in his hand pulsed. 'Is this okay?' The nodachi pulsed again. Kage nodded. He sheathed the Regalia and then stabbed it right in front of the sorrowful Yzak. "As it is, Yzak Joule… you and I are on the same boat. Sometimes, even I don't know what I'm fighting for and to what end am I doing this. So I'm not worthy enough to tell you what you should do now. But if you managed to find you answer to rise again… when you do rise again… I'll be waiting. I'll always be waiting. This time come at me straight up, and proudly. We'll have our third match proper then." Kage gave the sign and every soldier stand down and start break ranks, leaving the Bladebanes alone.

"Shouldn't we kill them?" Canard whispered. "Just in case they're gonna stir up some more trouble later?"

"I thought we agreed not to take other people's prey?" Kage looked at Canard.

The lieutenant chuckled and shook his head.

And so the 400 Alliance soldiers rode out of the decimated village victorious, leaving what's left of the Bladebanes and Water Knights unharmed. They quickly rushed their horse back to Archangel, eager to tell their comrades what a wild night they were having. But upon nearing the forest of Archangel they saw banners.

"Those are…" And the 400 men were alarmed when they saw a whole army of Zaft knights were waiting for them. They were at least 2000 of them.

A fire knight carrying a large two handed sword rode out ahead of the army. "We've been waiting for you, Black Devil. I suppose this is all that's left of your army after engaging a battle with my Bladebane brethren?" The Fire Knight, Ignis readied himself.

The soldiers began to panic. Everyone was completely taken by surprise. They thought the worst is over and they're home free easily. Who would've thought an ambusher squad will also get ambushed?

Kage, smirked sarcastically behind his mask. 'Out of the boiling pot into a frying pan… sigh…'

Who indeed.

0000000000000000

Back to Archangel…

Raww had begun the second wave of attack towards the Fortress.

This time, the Emerald Knights marched first, and they're carrying a larger, heavier shield, almost twice the normal size. They also lined tightly, creating a boxy turtle like formation. This way, the arrows had a harder time to get through. Worse, they also brought their own archers and returned fire every now and then.

"Well?" Milly grunted as another one of her men was shot dead by the neck, and another missed her by millimeters, earning the shooter a litany of profanity from a very angry Tolle ("GRAAAARGH! THAT'S MY GIRLFRIEND, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"). The Soldiers had to restrain the boy else he'll jump from the walls in rage.

"It's ready. Much will depend on your accuracy and timing." Prayer explained.

"Okay. Ready missy?" Neil asked for a normal bow and arrow.

"Okay."

"Remember. You must know where your arrow will go before you set them loose. Not after." Lockon began to take aim. As do Milly. The first arrow was set loose by Neil. The arrow seems to hit nothing. But then, a trail of fire emerged from where the flaming arrow landed, and they quickly slither and slipped under the wall of shields of one of the grouped Knights. Moments after the fire trail slither in, the knights exploded into brilliant bloody mess.

"What?" One of the Fire Knights gasped.

Another arrow was shot by Milly. Same routine. This time the knights, in panic, break ranks mere moments before the fire trail exploded-for whatever good that will do them. Soon, Milly and Lockon increased their rate of fire, and fire trails snaking about the battlefield on the path of Fish oil, exploding the stockpiles of gunpowder prepared at the end of the path, buried right beneath the knights' feet. The knights quickly back away, but Neil prepared a little something: he fired another flaming arrow to a certain spot, and in an instant, a series of explosions occurred all over the battlefield, sending shrapnel of shattered glass and other razor sharp objects to every direction. The retreating Knights who were unfortunately caught in the main explosion were naturally burned. But even those who seem to be outside range of the explosion were ripped to shreds by the shrapnel.

Shocked by the Alliance use of mines, the Zaft knights retreated for the morning.

At the afternoon they're back. This time, they tried a new method: by having the Exorcist, under heavy protection, to scorch the ground before the main army move forward to clear out any mines. Once a path has been cleared, they quickly marched forward with the same turtle formation. Milly told the soldiers not to fire arrows to conserve their ammo.

Instead, Sai suggested: don't bother setting the fish oil on fire, spray it to them as it is! Thus, the fish oils were loaded into small pots, plugged with a flaming cloth (creating a makeshift Molotov cocktail) and the soldiers throw it at the Knights. The explosion is no big deal. But the blast sent the pieces of the container everywhere. Not as massive or dangerous as the previous shrapnel mine, but the shards can still get through the chinks and openings of the armor, earning a few casualties or some injuries.

Regardless, some groups of knights managed to persevere through the gauntlet of explosions and arrows, while shooting some of their own arrows, earning quite a few casualties, and they managed to bring up a ladder. Upon seeing that, Tolle yelled for the soldiers to prepare for melee combat. Meanwhile, Sai quickly retreated to inner fortress and fetch something from the storage. Down below, several knights managed to shoot some anchor arrows up, and with it, they began to pull the ladder up. Lockon saw one was nearing the walls and aimed at a very specific target: the rope that pulls the ladder up. The sniper took aim and fired. As expected, the arrow strike the target, and the rope was cut, and the ladder, barely brought up halfway, fall backwards, crushing all the knights hanging by it, as well as the knights below it. But there are several ladders, and unfortunately, Lockon couldn't shoot them all.

Some ladders latched onto the walls and Knights began to climb up and pour in. But then, one knight paused when he saw Kage (Tolle) welcomed him in the face. The pause proved invaluable, as the Kage was able to gut him by the head and then send his body falling to collapse upon the other knights down below. The knights that poured in began to engage in close combat with the soldiers. As expected, when it comes to direct physical combat, the soldiers of the 7th division were outmatched. Quite a few fell by the Knights' swords. But then, a knight suddenly found his head blown off. Yoko quickly reloaded her musket, and 3 seconds later, she already scored another headshot. Sven swing around his pair of claymores, and the blade dislocate itself into sections, creating a pair of chain sword whips, each swirl around a knight's head, and the white haired man brutally yanked the two heads off their respective shoulders. Prayer appeared clad in the weapons Simon had provided him: a pair of round shields with razor sharp edges, and a pair of twin double headed lance. Prayer roared and trample forward like an unstoppable dreadnought, plowing through scores of knights, stabbing, crushing, mowing all the knights on top of the wall and occasionally send some of them falling to their doom. Tolle's skills had been thoroughly honed. Intensive trainings from Kira and Mwu, coupled with his experience in battling mercenaries at Kage's side, the boy has come a long way from needing his friends to gang up just to beat a single knight. Tolle began flicker from one spot to another, scoring one kill after another, it became obvious that average Emerald knights were no longer a match-and the Shadowguard had half convinced the Knights that he is truly the real Kage.

Milly had a bright idea to aim one of her explosive arrows at the base of the ladder. The arrow exploded and taken out about half of the ladder with it. The ladder losing support, and slide down to a fall, along with the knights mounted on it. Each knights wear a suit of armor, totaled, they weigh roughly about 240 pounds (shield and weapon not included). So when something that heavy fall, even from low altitude, it won't end with just an "Ouch."

"Nice call, my student!" Neil gave the girl a thumb up. And he instructed the other archers to do the same if they are not occupied.

Murrue and Natarle decided to use the opening ports of the cannons every now and then as a hole for the soldiers to attack the ladders from the middle and then swiftly returned to cover. Karren led her squad and they popped out of the opening and attacked the enemy with spears and sometimes arrows. A knight angrily tried to gut the girl, but Karren growled and caught the sword with her claw before crushing it to pieces. "There's a reason they call me Sword Breaker, you know." And with the same claw, Karren grasped the knight's head and ripped his head out along with the spinal column. She tossed the head away before she clawed the ladder to pieces, sending yet another bunch of knights to fall to their deaths. Bushido and his men remain on standby before the grand gates.

More ladders were coming, but then Sai returned from his errand carrying…

"What's with this paste?"

"You'll see." Sai quickly took a jar, just as a knight had reached the top of the ladder; Sai sprayed the paste unto him. The knight growled angrily and quickly attempted to climb up, but quickly realized that he can't. The goo had literally glued him to the ladder.

"HEY! GET YOUR ASS UP!" Because the knight at top couldn't climb up, the knights below couldn't climb either.

"Grh… GRHHH! I… CAN'T! I'm STUCK!" The knights struggled to break free from the sticky paste, but his arms were glued to the ladder, and it won't budge.

"Fuji, you mind?" Sai presented the honor to Fuji.

"By your leave." Fuji grinned and then, with just one of his massive hand, he began pushing the ladder back.

"W… No! No! NOOO!" The glued knight couldn't do anything as the ladder began to dangerously tilt backward.

"Yes. Yes. Yes." Fuji giggled as he pushed the ladder down, and just like that, the ladder fell and crushed the knights on it, as well as the knights it fell unto.

Soon, the other soldiers began to copy this method and then one by one, every ladder that was latched onto the walls were brought down in such way by Fuji.

After the nth ladder fell, Raww had had enough of the mounting casualties due to ladders falling and called the troops back.

Come evening, and the last Zaft offensive attempt for the day, the knights no longer rely on ladders. Instead, they decided to focus all their strength on the main Grand gates of Archangel, trying to bust through it. The knights merged their shields forming a single metal clad column that slowly but surely pushed forward towards the main gate. The other Knights peppered the soldiers with their own arrows to suppress the archers. Unfortunately due to Archangel's tall walls, the arrows weren't so effective. Within the center of the formation were the Exorcists, assembling a battering ram with a spiky ramming head. Knowing this, Prayer ordered Bushido and Karren to double the soldiers on the ground, right before the gates in the event of the breach.

Senba, inspired by Sai's unique glue bomb, took the initiative to go to the kitchen and returned with stockpiles of powdered pepper. His Shiseiken friends knew Senba was a chef, but even they were a bit at lost. "Senba… what are those peppers for?" Urabe scratched his head in confusion. "What, you want to spice them to death?"

Senba answered with a demonstration. He threw a barrelful of pepper to the knight's faces. The microscopic and spicy peppers penetrated the shields and visors of their helmet and into their eyes, causing immense hurting and tearing up. That and the sneezing that followed was murder for knights in armor. In literal sense, as sneezing knights break ranks, making them easy targets for soldiers to bash their heads with rocks and rubbles.

"HAaa-cHOO! AA… AAA… AAA-Gk!" A knight had just about to sneeze when a rock crushed his face dead.

Milly and Neil led the archers on top to shower the column at center with explosive arrows from both sides. Many arrows bounced off the wall of shields and exploded randomly. But some of the arrows that did got through exploded with the force of a dozen fire crackers tied together; enough explosive power to blow off a man's limb or two. The archers were instructed to target the Exorcists at the center, knowing a single explosive arrow in there will cause massive damage. But alas, the knights knew this as well and protected the Exorcists at the center with everything they have, even with their bodies if they must.

Eventually, the battering ram is complete, and the Exorcists pushed it forward out of the cover and charged towards the gates.

Prayer quickly yelled: "BRACE THE GATE!"

The soldiers at the gate quickly hold on to the grand gate. All of its articulate decoration aside, The Archangel Grand gate is a thick slab of solid steel, fortified multiple times, as well as reinforced with steel braces. But even that does not make this gate infallible. And so care still needed to protect this gate from falling. The battering ram came fast and finally collided with great force that rattle the gates to its joints. The soldiers were pushed back by the shock, but they quickly braced the gates again. The Exorcists and the Knights pulled back to regain their momentum, and then brought the ram forward again, battering the gate again and again. Meanwhile, the other knights quickly spread out and flanked the battering ram, shielding them from attacks from the side. Milly groaned as her archers simply cannot penetrate those defenses, even with the exploding arrows.

A great roar caught everyone's attention. It was Fuji, who had bundled up a large stony pillar and wielded it like a spear. The giant roared and slammed the pillar towards the battering ram from above. The exorcists ran away in terror upon seeing the giant pillar falling from the sky. The battering ram was crushed to bits upon impact. The ground shakes as the pillar crashed into the ground, sending a couple of knights falling to the dirt on their backs.

An annoyed fire knight groaned at another failure. "I had just about enough of that giant… where the hell did they recruit that guy anyway?"

"From the hands of the brightest and sickest mind of our empire's own scientist, if sources are to be believed." Raww replied jovially. "But… you're right. That giant is an annoyance." The former Hakutenkun unsheathed his sword, and then the torches flared up to unnatural sizes. "Attendite me, flammis inferni. Mehercule contractus novem, veni et ostendam me ira tua, et mundus INEXORABILIS subvertitur igni. Nullam ut inflammabit inimicos meos morte animas eorum in frigore*!" The flames gathered together. The soldiers and the knights stared in shock as a giant mass of flames gathered at the rear, momentarily stopping the battle that evening. 9 giant balls of fire, composed of masses of skulls made of hell's flame arose, its flicker of flames form the images of the screaming souls of the eternally damned. "Lucifer Spiritus!" Raww sweep his sword.

The flaming hellish fireballs snaking through the air and went straight towards Fuji. The giant quickly raised the pillar he used earlier as a spear and held it up as a shield. 4 out of 9 collided with the pillars and destroyed it to burnt rubbles. The remaining five slither pass the fragments of the pillars and collided with Fuji full force. Two find its way to his head while the other three barraged his body. Fuji screamed as his face was hit by a series of infernal explosions. Worse, like a living creature, the flames began to crawl and burn other parts of his body.

"FUJI! JUMP INTO THE OCEAN!" The giant need not to be told twice, he hurled himself into the sea behind the fortress and doused the hellfire in a loud hiss. Fuji will survive, but he's now out for the count.

Murrue and Natarle quickly took charge of the situation. They quickly ordered the cannons to be prepared and the gun ports to be opened. Within moments, the dreaded Gottfried cannons of the Archangel fortress finally breathes fire again, and spit their steely loads. The Knights setup was prepared under the assumption that the soldiers cannot fire their cannons. And so they are ill equipped for the opposition. The cannonballs smashed through their shields and pulverized them to a bloody pulp. Zaft casualty doubled within moments after the cannons start firing again.

The knights were quickly routed, and that was the sign for Raww to call off today's offensive.

And so the first day ended.

0000000000000000

That night…

The Zaft encampments were filled with knights who were worst off today than they did yesterday. Yesterday night their casualty was within the range of hundreds, today more than a thousand knights were dead or incapacitated. In the sick bay tent, dozens of injured and dying knights strewn across ground, groaning, screaming in pain, while the surgeons frantically tried their best to answer all calls for medical attention. Within the officers' tent, the only one who can stay calm is Raww. The rest of the other Fire Knights of his war council were in a state uproar and debate. The council was divided into two: those who vote to retreat, and those who vote to fight on.

"THEY'RE JUST FARMERS WITH PITCHFORKS AND ROCKS!" A knight roared.

"Well those farmers just butchered thousands of us in one day! And they are more than farmers now. Kage had made them into something different entirely; we must pull back for a moment and rethink our strategies!"

"Flee? Like whipped dog? I should've sentenced you to death by flogging for inciting the men to give up!"

"Our men's morale is already weak! Heck, they're ready to sail home now!"

"Or maybe you're just a coward!"

"I LOST MY ENTIRE SQUAD THANKS TO THAT BATTERING RAM FIASCO, DAMN YOU!"

Soon War Councils were at each other's throat and were reaching for their weapons. Fortunately, before things can escalate any further, Raww calm things down with a loud stab of his sword at the center of the table. Every Knight in the room stopped on their tracks and looked at Raww. First, the masked man addressed those who vote to return home. "If we return home now, we lost all credibility. We've only besieged Archangel for 2 days, and suffered thousands of casualties. And yet the 7th division can beat us back so easily. We'll be the laughing stock of every member of Zaft military forces. And putting that aside: we can no longer go back. We are condemned already. But I will not hear any protest. I've given you a chance to back away. You came here of your own volition, knowing full well of the risk. So I don't want to hear anymore of retreat. We've closed that door a long time ago."

The knights who advocated surrender back away, ashamed of themselves. Next, Raww addressed the Knights who advocate continuing the fight. "While I do not support a retreat, to continue to fight as we did today is the epitome of stupidity. You continue to think them as farmers with pitchfork. There's some truth in what you said: put aside all the additional skills Kage had put into them, they are still farmers. But I've seen a farmer who pulled out a spear from his own gut to defend a dying cow. This is not some hired gun. This is a man defending their home. And a man like that is more powerful than 10 hired soldiers. And as you all may know on the various times we have to defend our borders, that strength is substantial. Only this time, we are on the receiving end of the very power we used to defend our Empire. We know what it's like to defend our home to the last man. These men are the same, even though they are our enemies. You cannot ask them to fight any less than you. What you can do is do not underestimate them, lest our men paid the price."

And so the knights who advocate for attack also withdraw their demands in silence. Raww looked at the members of the meeting and noted satisfyingly that they have calmed down. "I've sent Brother Ignis and 2000 knights to intercept Kage. With luck, the Bladebanes would've battered Kage enough that Ignis can delay him long enough."

"Delay him? Brother Raww… how could you look down upon me?" The council looked at Ignis who just entered the tent, bloodied and bruised. "Although… I had to admit Kage do live up to his name." And the fire knight collapsed to his knees to the shock of everyone in the council.

"Brother Ignis!" the knights scurried to their fallen brother's aid. Ignis regale his tale. "The battle was ferocious. Kage, aided by Mwu La Flagga proved as terrifying as thousands of enemies. But in the end, when his defeat is inevitable, Kage stood his ground and allowed Mwu and what's left of his men to escape. We fought to see whom the fate favors… and the fate favors me."

"By the Gods, Ignis. You should be in the infirmary!" One of the Fire Knights gulped at the horrendous injuries that Ignis suffered; it would've killed a normal knight outright.

"Yes. I think I should… but… Brother Raww… Here… here… take this." Ignis passed over a package. Raww looked at it and a smile formed, he looked at Ignis as if asking if this is real. Ignis merely apologize. "Unfortunately, it has been mutilated beyond recognition."

"And Mwu La Flagga? What of him?"

"He escaped. Along with some of the soldiers. I sent a squad to look for them, but…" Ignis coughed some more blood.

"Alright, say no more. To the infirmary with you."

"Brother Raww… make it good." As soon as Ignis was out of sight, Raww grimaced.

His brothers, who were rejoicing, were particularly confused at this. "What's wrong Brother Raww? You should be rejoicing, our enemy is now officially leaderless!"

"Mourn with me brothers. Brother Ignis is dead. That man was an impostor." Raww simply stated, to the shock of his brethren.

"How did you know? He was carrying Ignis' sword."

"His blood. Ignis Von Vulkensang. The bloodline limit of the Vulkensang family is that their blood is lava. And it'll combust upon exposure to the air. If he's truly bleeding, he should be in flames, not bloodbathed. And that sword is indeed Ignis's which is why I knew right away that Ignis is dead."

"THEN-!" The knights were particularly shocked. If Raww knew that man was an impostor, why did he…?

"Because I will use their own traps against them." Raww stated simply. "I knew not of what their end goal… not yet… We do know now that there's a possibility that Kage is still alive, but I will not let them make a fool of me any further. Send a scout and find out what REALLY happened to Ignis' men. Nichol." The young Wood knight appeared out of his invisibility. "Keep a watch on that… 'Ignis'. Don't let him knew that I knew. And tell him that he's discharged from this battle due to severe injuries." Nichol nodded and then quickly conceal himself again.

The Fire Knights also nodded in a salute.

At the same time, in Archangel…

Fuji was being attended to by every doctor in the fortress. The giant had severe burns allover his body and his face. "I'll be fine… by the morning…"

"No you won't. You just got burned by Hellfire. The hottest flame in the world that can even vaporize water and melt rocks. Luckily you jumped quickly into a large body of water aka the sea, otherwise there won't be much left of you." Prayer sighed. "You'll be okay. But as for the fight itself… you can't participate anymore."

Fuji coughed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You did well." Prayer tapped Fuji's leg several times in assurance. Then he turned to Murrue and Natarle, who was about to tell him about their munitions reserve.

"To put it bluntly… we only have half of our ammo reserve left. If they come again like they did yesterday, we're spent." Natarle sum it up in a statement.

"We've also checked the status of the Lohengrin cannon with Murdoch… still no dice." Murrue added mournfully.

"Then we can't rely on cannons anymore." Tolle stated. "We'll fight them with everything. EVERYTHING we got!"

That night, the soldiers of Archangel pull an all nighters on creating something… really big.

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Dawn of the second day…

This time, the Zaft knights intend to use every trick they have in their disposal: the Exorcists send nonstop barrages of fireballs; the Emerald knights began the same routine of using the ladder. While a large column composed of mass of shields charged forward, a flaming battering ram at the center.

Likewise, the same routine, the soldiers unleash a hailstorm of explosive arrows, and in addition to dropping rocks. Problem is, unlike before, Fuji was no longer there to back them up. And so, the knights were able to push forward a lot faster than yesterday. In no time at all, ladders had already been set up. Learning the lesson from yesterday, the knights aimed at the much lower cannon port. The cannon ports were being covered with wooden board. They can just hack away at those planks to get in. Awkwardly, the soldiers did very little to stop the knights from going up. With little to no resistance the Knights eagerly raced to the top of the ladder. Once they get upon the said wooden plank however, they saw a soldier emerging from behind the wooden plank, raising an axe. The knight gasped and closed his eyes, preparing to be hacked.

SNAP

They opened their eyes and suddenly realized the soldier didn't cut him. He simply cut a rope that tied the wooden plank… to the Archangel walls. Everywhere the soldiers appeared and hacked down a rope just as the knights reached the closed opening. The wooden boards began to tremble, losing support as the knights on top of them stumbled. And then, another group of 4 soldiers appeared behind the wooden plank, carrying a portable battering ram. Simultaneously, everywhere on the wall, the soldiers pushed the wooden board with the ram, pushing the board, the ladders hanging by them, and thus the knights climbing those ladders, down. The knights below scurry away as the wooden wall collapsed on top of them. Many knights at the front were crushed or killed either by pieces of the wood, or the falling ladders, or the falling knights, or both, or all of them.

"That's a dirty trick! Pull the ladder up again! This time that's the real wall!"

And again the same routine, they again placed the ladder one by one towards the gun opening. But when they get to the opening, the knights gasped as they were welcomed… with a BATTERING RAM, pushed by at least 4 people, to the face. The battering ram smashed through the knight and knocked the ladders off. The other knights gasped. "What the Hell…" As it turns out, every gun port was guarded by a battering ram as well. Every time a knight managed to get into a gun port, a battering ram team stood ready and smashed them down. The soldiers also take turns in case the previous team is already tired or injured. Also, there are gun ports that weren't guarded by battering rams. For those fortunate holes… are guarded by captain, lieutenants, or high seated elite soldiers of the Juppongatana or Shadowguards. To enter is certain death to all normal knights.

The Fire knights looked incredulously at just how effective the strategy works. Raww get this uncomfortable feeling upon seeing this absurd scene. "This looks like… a reverse whack-a-mole…"

Meanwhile, Zaft knight's own battering ram team weren't doing so well either. Forget about the rain of exploding arrows from the top. They're too heavily protected for the arrows to get through anyway. The problem is the grand gates of Archangel are too thick and too heavily fortified, and no matter how many times they battered it, the gates just won't budge. Just then, a familiar archer stood on the surface of the walls of Archangel.

"I guess I had to thank those Shadowguards and Kage for teaching me this wall walking trick…" Milly and the other archers quickly provide cover for the expert sniper. Lockon grinned ear to ear as he prepared his third type of arrow… which also happens to be his deadliest arrow. "The first arrow, Destroyer, has a blunt and heavy lead arrowhead, with a hollow center-it has incredible speed and destructive power. The second type, Bender, focus on accuracy and unpredictable arrow path… here's the third type of arrow: Reaper." Neil pulled out an arrow-spear that is half as long as his other Arrow-spear, but it looked like the stuff of nightmares: in addition of it having multiple spiraling fletching, the arrowhead itself is a four forking scythes that point forward, and the surface of the arrow handle were riddled with barbs and scythes. "Reaper focused on Piercing power, intended to rip everything, even armored troops to shreds… unfortunately…" Lockon gritted his teeth as veins popping around his right arm while he prepared an array of string using his leg as the bow. He placed the Reaper and pulled it to firing position, very, very slowly, signifying the difficulty of the act. Veins popping at the corner of Neils' eyes. "…because this monster's arrowhead oscillates violently and tremble when being fired, they are ridiculously hard to aim… even with my skills, I can only shoot this guy accurately at 40-50 meters at best…" Milly noted that even the act of putting the demonic arrow into shooting position had already made her archery teacher sweating buckets. "…so the most important thing is to wait calmly… and remember… you have all the time in the world. All the time you need."

The archers of Zaft realized that the Flying Sword of the Juppongatana currently sticking up on the wall is up to no good. And so they began to concentrate their fire on Lockon. But with a barrage of arrows from Milly's team, that task was harder than it should have. Until finally, Lockon was ready and he let loose the Reaper. Upon release, as Lockon had explained, the Reaper's arrowhead began to oscillate violently. The momentum from the trembling was carried over to the rest of the arrow body, causing it to spin violently. The Reaper arrow pierced through layers after layers of shields protecting the battering ram, went through it, and even ripped through the battering ram itself! The arrow landed on the ground. But then, sparks began to lit up, and like all other arrows, the Reaper's fletching had also been modified to have explosive tags.

The battering ram exploded from inside out, killing all the Exorcists at the center of the explosion and the massive chain reaction that occurred afterwards generated a gigantic conflagration that burn and kill every knights in nearby vicinity.

"I had enough! I'm going!" A large fire knight wielding a flaming hammer, Ragnos Aurochia charged into the battle.

Raww didn't try to stop him. But one of the Fire knights commented. "I don't understand. I saw with my own eyes that Kage had left the fortress with a whole squad. So how come there's still so many soldiers in the fortress?"

"He did leave them… but I think he left with but a fraction of the total army."

"He left with a small number to counter an army of hundreds of thousands?"

"Victory in battle… is not decided by numbers alone. You should know that already." Raww's thoughts again fly to the impostor Ignis in his camp. 'Ignis set off with 2000 men, and yet he was killed, and there's no sign of his army everywhere… I thought it was sufficient… Kage should at least have only at least 1,000 soldiers when he first set off… thus… I calculated there should be only about 1,500 men in the fortress right now…' Raww looked at the proceeding of the attacks. 'We've been hammering them for hours and they still continued to fight… Kage did well in training their stamina.'

Indeed, the soldiers in the fortress began to feel the benefits of wearing Kage's weight suit 24/7. Now that they've taken them off, everything (like the battering ram) feels lighter, and they get exhausted less quickly. Just then, a ladder landed right on their port. As before, they prepared to shove the battering ram to the knight's face. Once a knight showed the tip of his head, the soldiers yelled a battle cry and charged forward with their ram. To their shock, the battering ram instantly stopped upon impact, and the four soldiers stumbled forward due to the sudden halt. One of the soldiers looked at the ram… and noticed it was floating off the ground. Upon second observation, the ram wasn't floating either; the head was being held by a person… with one hand. The Knight's hand sank into the Battering ram's steel head, as cracks and burning veins began to appear all across the ram, until fire bursting out of them.

"NUOAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Swinging the flaming battering ram with one hand, Ragnos made his presence known by sweeping the ram horizontally, mowing down all unfortunate soldiers in its path to bloody pulp. Prayer quickly noticed a Fire Knight had entered the wall. "We have a breach!"

In the breached area, Ragnos now rampaged with his hammer, smashing and burning every soldier that gets in his way, as well causing massive damage. A whole group of soldiers were bashed away with their bodies in shreds as they try to gang up on him. A soldier screamed and landed a double kick on his chest, but the giant of a fire knight merely ignore a kick to his chest like it was a bug bite. The soldier fell on his back, and Ragnos mercilessly stomped him by the chest. A soldier came charging from the side and the Knight grabbed him by the head. The two captured soldiers were burned to crisp within moments. Ragnos roared beastly amidst the small sea of flames that he created: "I AM RAGNOS AUROCHIA! FIRE KNIGHT OF THE HOUSE OF AUROCH! FACE ME AND KNOW THE MEANING OF DESPAIR!"

As he roared these words, something fast and sharp suddenly cut him by the cheek.

"My? This one missed your neck? Forgive this one's incompetence."

Ragnos looked at his challenger. A warrior, whose face was covered in an Oni mask, wearing a straw-hat and draped in a cape with Sakura decoration, stepped forward. The cape is also covered in Samurai shoulder armor of matching Oni-like designs.

"A seated officer? State your name, Challenger!"

"This one goes by the name of Mr. Bushido." Bushido bowed in a traditional Japanese manner. "Juppongatana 9th seat, of the Destruction Sword."

"A ninth seat? Bah! A small fry! I have no interest in swatting down a dozen of you! Bring me someone with more mettle!" Ragnos slammed his fist against his armored chest.

Bushido simply stands ready and pulled out an oddly shaped sword. It wickedly curved like a scimitar, but upon closer observation, the black blade are more distinct to that of a katana, hence matching his Japanese theme. "Please decide whether or not this one a small fry after this." Bushido's one hand assumed the stance of prayer, chanting Buddhist scriptures while his other hand slammed the blade to the floor. The blade generated a small afterimage, right before it stabbed the floor. A shockwave emanated upon impact, and the floor beneath Ragnos was suddenly destroyed and crumbled to dust. The giant fire Knight was caught by surprise and lost his balance. Seeing his chance, Bushido swiped the sword upward, and sent a torrent of crumbled dust and sharp slabs of the floor towards Ragnos, who was forcibly ejected out of the wall from the same way he came in and also knocked away his helmet, revealing a balding tattooed black skinned man.

Ragnos roared as he landed on his back, crushing several knights beneath him. Amazingly, the Fire Knight is still alive. He roared angrily and quickly got back on his feet. Realizing his opponent lives still, Bushido jumped and slide down the crumbled wall and gently landed before the fallen knight.

Ragnos growled as he saw Bushido calmly approach him. "I see… so even the 9th seat was actually this strong? Then I can accept somewhat of how you guys were able to hold out this long." As he said this, Ragnos feature turn more beast-like: his nose turned to snout, horns growing from his head, and his feet turned into an actual hoof. A bull.

"A Zoan-type bloodline, Mammal class: Auroch (AN: an ancestor of modern day bulls and cattle). This will be a battle this one will not take lightly." Bushido placed his sword in a simple traditional Japanese kendo stance.

"GOOD! RAAAAAAAAAAAGHH!" The half bull half human stomped his way towards the masked man, spinning his hammer at top. At the same time, Bushido cried and charged forward. The two attacks clashed, sparks of fire flies, the combatants went through one another. Bushido grunted as he felt his ribcage has just been smashed by a cannonball. Ragnos gasped as one of his horns were cut down, his armor's collar was cut, and so is his hammer. The two combatants turned around and faced each other.

Ragnos roared and charged again, swinging his broken hammer wildly. Bushido knew the enemy's strength far outstrip his own, and so he was careful not to let the enemy land a hit. Unfortunately, he was too focused on Ragnos' hammer; the knight suddenly closed the distance and bashed him with a backhand slap. The slap disoriented Bushido for a few moments. This give a chance for Ragnos to sling his hammer over Bushido's back and then he start pushing the swordsman's back against his chest, trying to crush him from the back. Bushido groaned in pain as his ribcage start giving out cracking sound. "Grrrhh…" Finally he balled his palm into a fist, and then. "Namu…san!" He brought down his fist. The said fist trembled, creating an afterimage moments before it landed on Ragnos shoulder. Upon impact, the shoulder armor turned to dust and Ragnos roared in pain. He let go of Bushido as the masked man quickly scurried to his sword, Ragnos continued to yell in pain. His shoulder bone felt like it's in pieces. Bushido had almost regained his sword when he turned to face an outraged Ragnos again, who's angrily swinging his hammer before bringing it down to his head. Fortunately, Bushido switched to a discarded shield at the last second. The hammer gone through the shield, but it was stopped only millimeters away from his masked face. Ragnos growled awkwardly for a moment as his hammer was stuck on the shield… and then suddenly the shield was torn apart and Bushido charged forward, roaring.

A single strike landed, and Bushido sheathed back his blade. The startled Ragnos stood transfixed as his hammer, now completely destroyed to a stump, fell from his hand. His eyes stare blankly; Ragnos turned back to his human form and took a few staggered steps forward. Blood poured out from a gigantic cut appeared across his chest and back. "Your name… again… swordsman?"

"Mr. Bushido. The Destruction Sword."

Ragnos smiled as blood poured out from the corner of his lips. "Fitting title…" and Ragnos Aurochia breathed his last and fell dead, though he remained standing.

Victorious, Bushido sighed in relief, but he himself was in no better state as he spit a blood clot to the dirt. But the other knights angrily charged forward towards Bushido to avenge their fallen lord. Bushido looked left and right, gritted his teeth angrily realizing there's no escape. And so, raising his arm, Bushido slammed his sword to the ground. This time, there are multiple afterimages around his blade just before it struck the ground. The earth split apart in an instant, creating massive fissures all around him. A gigantic destructive shockwave rippled across a small section of the battlefield in a 180 degree radius, with Bushido as the epicenter. The ground rolled and cracked while its fissures swallowed scores and scores of knights caught in it as if they're hapless pebbles in the face of a storm of obliteration.

Upon seeing the ripples of destruction, the knights were terrified and quickly stay away from the masked man. The Fire Knights' eyes who looked at the devastation caused by one single blade stab twitched uncontrollably in disbelief. "And they call us an army of monsters and freaks…"

That was yet another sign for Raww to quickly order a retreat.

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Fed up with the mounting level of casualties, the afternoon passed without any offensive attempt from the Zaft forces, giving the soldiers of Archangel a chance for a much needed rest.

"Un…freaking…believable." A fire knight declared exasperatedly as he read the report of today's headcount. The Fire Knights in the war council seem to have lost all their taste for battle, even the ones who were so heated up to fight yesterday. How can they not? This one morning alone, they've lost more men than they did in yesterday's three offensive attempts combined: over 2000 knights and one Fire knight all killed in one morning!

Raww also had other things in his mind. He whispered to Nichol, whom he knew was nearby. "What of… that 'Ignis'?"

"Well… he did nothing, Sire." Nichol dropped his invisibility veil as he stood behind Raww, and reported as it is.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I had my eye on him at all times, use this Blitz Armature to conceal my presence; I followed him everywhere even when he's asleep or go to take a leak or whatever. He did absolutely nothing. He kept acting as if he's still injured and all that, acting as if his cover hasn't been blown, but he did nothing. He made no contact with anyone… he didn't even try to."

'That means he already did something. He's a sleeper cell. Waiting for something… but what?' Raww's train of thought was cut when he began to hear uproar from outside. The dispirited Fire knights rushed out of their tents and gaped in surprise.

The source of the commotion comes from the sight of rows and rows of new knights entering the base. But these knights are different than the normal Emerald Knights or the flaming Exorcists. They are mostly dressed in grey, with ridiculously thick, multi-layered full armor, and many parts are adorned with bolts and spikes. But even more imposing, was their large stature: about 1.5 times taller than normal knights. All members of these heavily armored knights seem either to have a long hair, beard, or both; some of these facial hairs extended out of the openings of their helmets, such as their beard jutting from beneath the helmet or braided hair from the back or both. They're all carrying large, seemingly unwieldy weapons: most of the them carry large war-hammers as long as themselves and the hammerhead is as big as a man's chest, while some carry morning star or enormous swords that looked more like huge slabs of iron, etc. But one uniform equipment they all carry is a large and thick rectangular shield carried on their back, almost as tall as themselves. These shields bear the crest of a hammer and an anvil, adorned with chains. A crest many knights were quick to recognize:

"Forge Corps Legion." Raww declared and bowed down. "Always a pleasure to welcome the forge masters of the Corps."

A Corps Legionnaire, seemingly the leader, yet awkwardly appeared to be the smallest of the group, carrying a halberd, a hammer, a sword and the Corps shield at his back, approached the masked knight. The man further differentiates himself with the rest of the Corps legion for not wearing any helmet and his disarrayed light brown hair is short and loose. "Courtney Hieronymus. Forge Corps Centurion. At your service, Lord Raww." Introducing himself, Courtney bowed down.

The arrival of their artillery expert units brought great joy to the other knights. But Raww merely smiled solemnly. "Are you here to escort me into custody, Lord Hieronymus?"

The festivities ended when Courtney merely stated coldly: "Yes." The knights then remembered that they are in deviance of the law: they waged war during the time of the funeral. An act that disobeyed an order from the royal court. And that is a crime punishable by death. But Courtney pulled out an official letter, signed and sealed by the High Council. "By order of the High Council, Senior Fire Knight Raww le Klueze is to cease all actions and withdraw from command immediately and subject himself to disciplinary action, under the crime of treason. He is to be detained into custody, under the threat of death if he resist, and await judgment from the high court. In short, Lord Klueze… you are under arrest."

Raww smiled calmly, seemingly undaunted by this, unlike his panicking subordinates.

But Courtney quickly chuckled in mischief. "Well… that was the official order. The order however, as you all have heard, does not state the specifics regarding when or where should I detain you. So the way I see it, I think we can wait… until… say…" the Centurion looked at the White fortress of Archangel in the distance. "…until we brought that fortress down… I guess." Courtney smiled innocently.

At this, the knights felt like they can breathe again. The Forge Corps can also be heard giggling behind their helmets, laughing at their brethren's terrified faces. It was all a well planned joke.

Raww also sighed coolly in relief. "Welcome, then."

And with this, the tense atmosphere that enveloped them all officially crumbled, and the knights flocked in to warmly welcome their ironclad brethren. Courtney and Raww also share a brotherly embrace. "Good to see you again Old friend."

"Don't you 'old friend' me, you fox!" Courtney jokingly stated. "I'm still upset of the fact you stole one of my best Legionnaire!"

"In my defense, my involvement was merely giving Athrun a nudge out of the door." Raww laughed.

"Yeah, sure you are." Courtney sarcastically noted, knowing just how big of a 'nudge' a fox like Raww can give. He was smiling cheerfully regardless as he said this. But, his smile turned sour soon after. "But don't get me wrong, Raww. I'm not joking about the letter either. When this is over, I WILL arrest you."

"I understand." Raww nodded understandingly. "Worry not, I won't resist."

In Archangel Fortress…

The heavy use of the explosive arrows began to take its toll. Prayer and Tolle stood in front of the gun port that was breached by Ragnos this morning while Neil and Milly gave their report.

"It was inevitable." Neil explained. "Normally, when an archer fired an arrow, on the aftermath of the battle we can go and collect them back. Most of the time, 60 percent of all arrows shot in a battle can be salvaged this way… but with these explosive arrows… you shoot them, either you miss or hit a bullseye, once they've exploded, they're gone."

Milly followed. "We salvaged some of the arrows used by the enemy but…"

Prayer nodded exasperatedly. Their situation looks gloomier and gloomier. "And how are the men?"

"Dispirited? I supposed that is the word. They knew about the dwindling ammunition. But they can still hold on. Any longer than this though I…" Karren paused as something irked her again.

Prayer noticed the hanging statement and turned to Karren, asking her to go on with a look.

Karren finally stated. "It's Balsam. He's at it again, and he's beginning to gain on the man."

Tolle growled in disgust. "You know what? I had enough of that asshole! I ought to put a foot up his ass and-"

"Leave it." Prayer sternly stated. "We don't have time for that." He pointed at something emerging from the distance. The officers turned and saw towering structures emerging from the forest.

"Are those…" Neil gulped in pure terror. Oh no. It'll be a miracle if they can survive this one unscathed…

"We better get ready… we're in for one wild night."

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To be continued