NOTE:
"Doryaaaaaaaaaa!": normal talking
"Charge!": special case
'Darn!': thoughts
GWA HA HA HA! : Giant creature speech
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!
Please… read and review
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At the encampments of the Pilgrims on the Sanctuary, the knights and the Junk Guild rushed in here and there, preparing for the battle that will come this afternoon. Waltfeldt and Lowe supervised the defenses of the sanctuary. Now they're turning the sanctuary citadel into a makeshift fortress. The sun had yet to risen, but they had little time. Kira predicted that the enemy army will arrive at noon. And already they can see light began to pour though small cracks of the pierced sky. Regrettably, they have no time to bask in sunlight. Kira had draw up a battle plan, and they were at awe.
"They'll never see us coming." One of the Knights smirked.
"Oh I beg to differ." Kira wasn't so optimistic. Currently his upper head as well as his entire body was covered in bandages, replacing his destroyed ninja suit. First glance, he looked like a mummy. What's left of his horribly ragged and misshapen coat was tied up to his rear arm. "Lord Ray Yuki is amongst some of the smartest commanders on earth. His planning is so meticulously complex and precise it was as if he can predict the future."
"But you study under him… you know some of his tricks… right?"
"Some… doesn't mean all. Let's just do our best, eh?"
Meanwhile, as the preparation went on, Lamia and Lacus spent most of their time in their tent, discussing something. Kira had a good idea as to what. But he has no time to ponder. Together with some knight and Junk Guild members, Kira had been going in and out of the perimeter of the Sanctuary. Going on a Genma hunt, he said. Normally most people wouldn't careless, I mean, it's Shadow we're talking about here… except the fact that the people Kira brought along… are normal knights and mercenaries. Not one of them carry Shadowforged weapon. And when they returned, the knights were deathly pale… and they carry with them buckets of black… liquid… thing…
"What… exactly is this?" One of the nervous knights gulped at the ominous liquid.
"Not important… but you guys are going make some paintwork with it." Naturally, Kira's idea was met with horrified response. "Just don't swallow any of it."
He then turned to Waltfeldt and Gino. "Chariot attacks usually supported by other types of army. But not so with Lord Yuki's chariot charge. But I highly doubt he will come to us with just one type of unit. We need spears. Long spears, twice longer than a man, thrice thicker than usual spears."
"Right! We'll get to that." But the overeager Gino paused for a moment as he digested that order. "Aaaand… who can wield something that big?"
And then, while Kira managed the preparation for the coming battle, he caught sight of Lamia, who just walked out of the tent together with her sister. She looked like someone who just got sucker punched in the face. She looked at Kira's direction and then turned her face, either out of shame or pity. And then Lacus came out, wearing a spare priest suit. As expected, she began approaching Kira again. The knights who were preparing under Kira looked at the approaching princess and noted that the princess wishes to speak with Kira in private… again. And so they wisely stay away out of the earshot. Kira too, decided to stand his ground and wait.
Not long after, Kira and Lacus stood face to face and silence reigned for some time, as if the two wanted to make sure there are no eavesdroppers. And Kira began by handing something to Lacus. "This is from Lowe."
Lacus looked at that something, and much to her delight, it's a new insulation suit, once again stylized to a samurai armor look. It's smaller and more form fitting than the previous version. It should allow her to move easier. Lacus hugged it tightly with lots of love and sugar. "Thank you!"
"I'll be sure to pass it on to Lowe." Kira chuckled. "He'll be ecstatic I'm sure."
Lacus carefully placed her new suit to her side. And then, Lacus continue their conversation with: "So… what happened to that dog?"
Kira almost fell to the ground because of that stupid opening question. "What?"
"I'm serious! What happened to that dog?" Lacus was quite adamant to know what happened to that poor dog.
"You… don't you have something else to be worried about other than some dog?"
Lacus chuckled and finally laughed.
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Meanwhile, everyone looked at how Lacus and Kira can converse so calmly, even with Lacus letting out so natural of a laughter.
"Damn… I really envy Shadow like crazy…" One of the knights moaned. "If only I'm immune…"
"Even if you're immune I doubt you'd be able to do it the way Lord Shadow can." Gino chuckled.
Everyone turned to Gino, who grinned widely. "You know something we don't Weinberg?"
"Well… I think… the reason Lacus-sama can be so open with Lord Shadow… is because Lord Shadow is giving her something that we never gave her… honesty. Sure, he's rude, he's a sadist and disrespectful, some would even say brutal. But… He was being brutally honest about it." Gino's tone was calm and composed, as if honed by experience. Personal experience. "Woman likes honesty, after all."
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"My sister took it pretty well… she only gasp twice." Lacus giggled. "Naturally, she and I decided to keep it a secret. We're not sure our empire is ready to stomach that sort of revelation." Lacus fidgeted her fingers, and then continued. "Anoo… Kira-san… …I also told her… about you."
"!" Kira's eyes twitched in response.
"I skipped several parts: your original name, your amnesia… the fact that you killed Lord Veia… who helped you escaped Terminal… some bits of your childhood history… but I get most of the important points across."
Kira is still indifferent about what Lacus had done. But in the end he brushed it off. "And?"
"Ah! D-D-Don't worry! My Sis swore to me she won't tell anyone!"
Kira chuckled. "When the time comes, she'll be sorely tempted to."
At first, Lacus blinked in confusion upon hearing that statement, but then, she frowned in sadness and all the sudden, tilted her head down. "I'm sorry."
"Again? What for?"
"My sister and I had always wanted to do our best to change the society. But all we did was worsening them one way or the other. And you paid the price… I think I finally understand why you hated Zaft and the nobility so much."
"…Lacus… this story… I told you I've never told this to anyone. Yet here I am telling it to you. And then you just told it your sister. By right I should be angry… but… I don't know… I don't feel like it." Kira smiled. For a moment, he felt something was unchained in his mind. "I don't know exactly why I told you that story when I didn't tell it to anyone… but I think… I want to believe. I want to try to put my faith in you."
"Me? But I'm a noble and you…"
"I did say I hate the nobles… but if I think about it now… Athrun's a noble, and he's my best friend… my foster brother. And you too are a noble." Kira pointed at Lacus. "I think… what I hate… what I really hate was the nobility system. Hate the crime not the person they said. George of Glenn classified the Advanced into three classes of bloodlines… but I don't think this is what he had in mind. I hate the nobles because they think they're so high and mighty, they judged people based on the blood flowing in their veins. We aren't allowed to choose what we wish to be just because fate screwed our bloodline limit? And it goes both ways… Lacus-san… you… you were only born a noble. A bird cannot choose from which nest they hatched, nor a flower can choose where they grow… what wrong have you done?" Kira paused for a moment remembering the things he had gone through for her sake. "Scratch that, you've done plenty wrong by me and your men."
Lacus went from awed… to slightly annoyed.
"But… whatever flaw you had… at the very least… you're willing to open your eyes. And you want to change things for the better." Kira smiled. "That's enough reason for me to take my chance with you. The system is still there, Lacus-san. It's creating a new me, every day. Zaft is a powder keg waiting to blow up. Kill me… and there will still be a new Kira Yamato that will take my place."
"Kira Yamato…" Lacus looked at Kira and all the sudden, the question blurted out from her mouth. "Come with us."
"What?"
"Come with us to Zaft. A man like you… a man of your stature and vision is needed in there! Come with us!"
Naturally Kira had expected that this question will come out eventually. But somehow… after everything that had happened, Kira was surprised to find that he's still tempted to accept Lacus' offer. But in the end… "No."
"Why? You want to change that country as much as I do. And I really think you can do it! Right now! In our time!"
"Truly." Kira nodded. "But… Lacus-san, you have to understand… I'm in a different position than you. You wanted to change that country from the inside. That's a noble intention… but I'm not naïve enough to be able to believe in that anymore. To believe… after everything I've been through… that the Empire can be mended with simple word… try as I might… I just… can't." Kira placed his hand over his chest. "Lady Lennore helped me. I was blessed. And for that… I will be forever grateful. Truly. But in my heart… what happened to me… call it whatever you like, but that was just another form of servitude… another form of slavery."
"Kira-s…" Lacus gasped, but she knew Kira was right. There are more people like Kira. Commoners class… are just sweet name. The brutal truth is, a portion of Zaft Empire stood atop the enslavement of the other larger half of the society.
"Make no mistake, I loved Lady Lennore. And for everything she has done, everything she has given me, I will gladly give my life to repay her kindness… but don't ask me to feel love or pity for the people of Zaft. A demon had taken root inside my heart that it would disallow me to forgive that bloated bag of rot and corruption you call the Empire of Zaft. If I'm to come to the Empire… it won't be to protect it." Kira glared angrily at Lacus. "It'll be to destroy it."
"Lady Lennore loved the Empire. So much so she did what she did… Do you not feel even a slightest tinge of regret that you will destroy the country she loved?"
"Even if there will be some regret… what Lady Lennore had done to me had nothing to do with what your country had done to me. It's not like she sent me to rot in that prison." Kira resolutely crossed his arms. "And it's not like I didn't try to forgive. You've seen how I tried… but time and again this country kept failing me. Now… you might say I shouldn't judge all of Zaft over what little I had experienced… but even if my head agree with you… my heart… just won't. Try as I might… I couldn't bring myself to love that country." That was a sign for Lacus there really isn't anything that she can say right now can sway this heart so black with wrath and anger. Realizing this, Lacus bent her head down in sorrow and start crying, much to Kira's surpise.
"Lacus-san! Wh… Why are you crying?"
"I'm… crying… for you." Lacus lifted her head slightly, showing the tears trickling down the corner of her eyes. "Because you weren't able to anymore."
Seeing the sad look in Lacus, Kira felt bad, and then he patted the girl's pink head. "Lacus… you and your sister knew the things that I've suffered, and you tried to change it. Perhaps it is fortunate that you knew it without experiencing it firsthand, like I have. Your heart hasn't been corrupted with hatred, like mine. And that gave you the strength to believe that Zaft can still be saved." Kira smiled. "Keep believing in that then. Become that which I can no longer become."
Lacus bent her head up under the weight of Kira's hand patting her head. "Kira-san…"
Kira gently ruffled her hair several times and smiled sadly. "I'm a lost cause, Lacus-san. Don't waste your tears on me."
"No." Lacus frowned under the brows of her hair.
"Eh?"
"I won't give up!" Lacus glared back at Kira with her teary eyes and barked at the top of her lungs. "You still haven't told me about WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT DOG!"
Kira's head and everyone's who heard that last out loud statement fell straight to the ground, weighted by the sheer ridiculousness of that question. Even Gino bashed his head to a rock, creating an imprint of his forehead. 'W… What the…'
"You… You… you're still asking that… you…" Kira was at a complete loss for words. Is this girl just an airhead or just playing with him? "Can't you be serious? We're talking about something incredibly important here!"
"This too is a very serious matter! This is a matter of animal protection from abuse of military equipment mishandling! As a doctor, as the previous owner of that particular military equipment, and above all: as lover of everything that is cute, I will NOT let it slide!"
Kira quickly concluded Lacus is really is just stupid and worse: she's playing with him. Time to return the favor. "Okay… I'll tell you… but you have to answer my question first. Deal?"
"Deal!"
And Kira's question is: "Why did you kiss me?"
The ground cracked as everyone who heard that question jawdropped until their jaw smashed the ground beneath them. No. this can't be true. It must be a dream. Some of them pinched their cheek so hard that it bleeds.
Lacus face was even redder than her hair. "I kissed you because… I kissed you because… because… because?" That's right. Why did she kissed him a little earlier? She was engaged with Athrun! Even though right now the said person is in prison… even though she had suspected she may not make it back home… what in God's name possessed her to do that?
"See? You can't answer that either. So, I don't need to answer about the dog." Kira smirked in triumph.
Lacus gritted her teeth in anger. "THAT'S CHEATING!"
"A deal's a deal!" Kira couldn't care less. "I won't answer that question until you can answer MY question."
This made Lacus even more furious. "I'll have you know: KISSING YOU WAS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE I'VE EVER DONE!" She shrieked. "It's the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted!"
"Likewise!" Kira barked back and jerked his thumb to his lips. "I still got the lingering sickening feeling of your lips in my moth! It's giving me Goosebumps here!"
"Goosebumps? That's all you got? I nearly had a HEART ATTACK when I tasted your saliva!" Lacus' face is red with fury now. The Knights were even more horrified when they heard how the said princess had tasted Kira's saliva. The Lady knights blushed furiously under their helmet imagining Lacus and an imaginary faced Kira do 'that', you know, THAT! "What the hell is that liquid anyway? Molten lava?"
"Molten lava?" Could it be because all that fire jutsu he performed or…
"It's so spicy I thought my mouth gonna melt!" Lacus weren't joking. After waking up from the trance and tasting the taste of leftovers of Kira's kiss, all she can taste are red hot burning sensation of chilies. She had to drink several barrels of water until the spicy feeling was washed away. Lacus roared: "I HATE SPICY!"
"Hey! Your taste isn't exactly refined either!" Kira also had some complaints of his own. Right after the kiss with Lacus, waking up, the first thing he tasted was a disgustingly overwhelming amount… of sweets. He nearly went into spasm and analeptic shock. "Are you a sweet tooth or something? How many sweets did you eat every day?"
"Wh… What's wrong with sweets?" Lacus's face flushed in slight embarrassment. Yeah, she loved sweets. But it's not like she ate them every day! She loved her teeth thank you very much!
"I HATE SWEETS!" Kira roared. "No wonder you're fat!"
There's just being snide… and there's just out of the line… and that… that's way out of the line. "Kira-sa~an…" Lacus whispered dangerously as her face darkened into a maniacal murderous insane fury.
"SHINDEEEE KUDASAAAAAAAAAIII!"
Chapter 31:
Hell's Cauldron
As the result, Lacus and Lamia were grounded into their tent. They had to do it; otherwise the two will murder one of their top most important warriors for the coming battle. Though the other knights were sorely tempted to just let Lamia do away with him already… Kira's dignity and his gentlemanly pride is all that stopped him from retaliating the potentially lethal response in kind. But in the end, Lamia, and more reluctantly Lacus, agreed to a ceasefire and 'peacefully' return to their tent, settling with a few scratches on Kira's bandaged face.
"I HATE YOU!" Lacus shrieked before she closed the tent out of sight.
"THE FEELING'S MUTUAL!" Kira roared back to the tent doors.
One thing of comfort for the knights, Kira and Lacus still HATE one another. With passion.
Or at least… that's what most people see…
Kira took a deep breath and observed the surroundings.
"My Lord?" Kira turned around and saw Gino down there. "Everything has been prepared as you ordered."
"Hm." Kira merely nodded. The plan is ready. Everything that needs be done has been done. He had used every last bit of his intelligence and experience for this fight. The die is cast, and now all he can do is wait and see what fate had in store for them.
"You… you don't seem pretty confident my lord?"
Kira laughed. "We're about to fight the man who taught me almost everything I know. Chances are, he already knew most of the things I'm about to do." Kira hissed a deep breath. "How are the others?"
"We put the injured in a fortified location on the elevated ground of the sanctuary, together with Lady Lacus and Lamia. The demons will have to fight through us to get to them."
Kira nodded. "Fortunately for us, your concern for their safety is at a minimum."
"Oh?"
"Well… Lord Yuki will definitely kill us first. Demon or not, if there are still remnants of himself in there… he will not lower himself to attack defenseless women or harm the injured. He will kill us first… and then be done with them afterwards."
And then he continued to gaze through the surrounding area. It's still dark. But everything grew clearer by the second. The sun must be rising. The first light of sun this land will receive in decades. All thanks to the Rejuvenation that rip apart the unnatural black sky. Meanwhile, in his hands, he can feel Shiki is absorbing his chakra bit by bit, and likewise, he can clearly see Shiki is regenerating, chip by chip. She's quickly returning to her original colors and gleam. By the time the battle began, she should be in full power. Kira sighed and prepared his mind and mettle. But his concentration was slightly disturbed when he winced from the blood trickled from the small cut on his cheek. Courtesy of Lacus' surprisingly sharp nail scratch.
'Damn… her nails are pretty sharp…' Kira rubbed the small scar on his cheek. Fortunately, it doesn't look like it's going to be a problem. Kira suspect it'll heal sometime soon in the middle of the battle.
Seeing the small scar and remembering the way Kira and Lacus interact so naturally, Gino chuckled. "You know… I wasn't always a man of the cloth." Gino suddenly started.
"?" Kira turned to Gino.
"I was a noble. But… I guess I'm what you would call… a rogue?"
"Rogue?"
"I was wild. Some say I'm adventurous and eccentric, other say I'm just rebellious… thing is… I just love doing things out of the norm… pissing off my parents to no end, and I'm having a great time of my life doing it."
"Nothing new there…" Athrun and Kira had their share of wildness. The bills coming from the destruction they caused had earned them more than a few detentions and spanks in the ass.
"Yeah… well… but… my… wildness had reached certain levels that my parents deemed… intolerable."
"What do you mean?"
"I dabble in the slums, trudging through trash mountains just to pluck out stiff, dressed up in ragged and dirty clothings just so that I can mingle in the common folk… sometimes I even went home dead drunk or just beaten the crap out of me when I went into some brawl… they were merely pissed off at that. But… the finishing blow… was what can happen to every guy… a girl."
Kira twitched.
"She… was Japanese. A Natural. A serf in our home. But she… she had this… flame…" Gino chuckled mischievously, remembering something embarrassing. "She would not have being treated like a doll. Anybody dares, she kicked their asses. Mine included." Gino winced and rubbed his ass. That kick was something he'll never forget anytime soon.
Kira chuckled.
"In retrospect… she and I… well… we didn't exactly get off on a flying start… to be honest she had little option in the matter… I mean… how many handsome guy she can pick on when she's a serf right? But… I did not force her. Before long… I… I kinda lost count how many times our wild escapades gone out of control. And sometimes I think she thought that I was just playing with her and then toss her away when I'm done. But… I was serious. Very serious. And I've been trying to convince her that I want to spend my life with her."
"I take it your parents… aren't so keen of the idea of their son marrying a serf?"
"If you can call them parents." Gino groaned. "I'm not their son. Every day is just… status this, title, sermons… all the bullshit. All they care about is their rank, their prestige, their standing in high class society, etc, etc. I'm not the only son. They have others to replace me, I'm an investment. If I turned out to be a loss, they'll cut me out, move on to the next son, and so forth." At this, Gino's smile vanished into a dark look. "It was summer. She and I had been going on for half a year. I bought a ring, had my own work… set up a small but quiet house off shore for our home. I was ready to ask her hand in marriage."
Kira wanted to ask the result, but already he can see the answer from Gino's look.
"I get rejected." Gino chuckled. "She… was gone. Not a word of goodbye… not even a letter." But then, his expression returned back to his usual cheerful face, albeit now it's a little depressed. "That was… that was 4 years ago. I left my family 2 years later. Joined the Exorcists… and life goes on. I got over it!" Gino went face to face with Shadow and grinned widely. But for Kira… that smile seems painful to watch.
"…alright. Stop right there, Gino." Kira can't stand it anymore. Watching Gino smiling and calmly explaining something like that without flinching… Kira somehow can tell… his heart must be bleeding. And yet he tried as hard as he could to put such a cheerful façade. But the subtle facial twitches on his eyes may not be visible to others, but to him… he might as well have been sobbing. He can even see through someone like Lacus. Gino's façade look amateurish by comparison. "And stop telling me you're okay. Because you are not. And don't try to lie to me. Your lover was murdered by your parents. They are murderers. They would rather kill rather than to see their son married a serf. Isn't that what happened?"
Having been found out, Gino dropped all façade of cheeriness and assume a very dark look. "A finger. That's all I found of her. A finger. My parents denied everything but I know it's them. I looked everywhere like a madman throughout the city. Running around till my feet bleeds, screamed her name until my throat choke blood in the streets… no one even give a damn when a serf were ripped apart to pieces… and those bastards of a family can actually eat and laugh about it…" Gino gripped his pickaxe so tight it might break (they may actually will, given his Zoan heritage). It was as if he wanted to plant the pickaxe on the heads of his parents. "I returned… not sure how I live on day by day."
"Why not just leave?"
"If that place hurts you so much… why not just leave? Leave Zaft altogether. Go somewhere else. Away from all that and start fresh." Kira noted his own experience. After Lennore died and he managed to escape Terminal, Kira tried to forget those horrible memories by living as far away as possible from Zaft. It worked… to a certain extent and for a while…
Gino frowned and smiled sadly. "Good question. That question is the reason it took me 2 years to come up with the decision to leave my family… but how can I leave Zaft? I'm an Advanced. That place is my home. And that's my people too. I'm an advanced. Personal feeling aside, I have to protect my kind." Gino smiled. But that smile instantly faded when he saw Kira glared at him. Demanding the truth. Gino chuckled and mumbled a sad reply. "…when she's gone… I've lost the reason to leave."
Kira sighed. So… even the children of the nobility system are as much as a victim as he is. "And? The morale of this story?"
"Well… my indecision and inability to come clean with my feelings for her… and when I finally wish to make it official… she was taken from me." Gino chose his words carefully. "Well… the morale is… never miss up a good chance I guess. If you miss it… you might not get a second chance… some girls don't come up every dynasty. You miss it and you're just going to regret it."
Unfortunately, Kira didn't really understand what Gino REALLY meant. It's just… how did a horrific tragedy suddenly turn into a dating guide advice? He just don't get it. At least… that's what a few seconds of bewildered silence needed by a confused Kira to digest his words told Gino. "…good… advice… I'll keep that in mind." Kira nodded nonchalantly.
Gino had to fight an urge to sweat drop as he knew Kira didn't understand a word he said. How thick can you get? So he resolve to just slapped his own face.
But then, they don't have time to press the issue. The sun finally rises, and it shone upon the land through the holes in the sky. That being said, now there's a second light that bathe the sanctuary… the god blessed natural sunlight.
At the same time, the last chip on Shiki closed up. "Right." Sheathing the blade in preparation for the coming conflict, Kira rose up to his feet. "It's time."
In the distance they can see Genmas marching up towards the sanctuary, surrounding the spot from every direction. There are undeads of various varieties: Knights, Hostess, Hulks, Tyrants… no Hunters. Outside, a vast army of thousands and thousands of Genmas were standing at the ready. Knights, normal and evolved, all rose up and stand ready. The Hulks grunted and growled amidst the thousands of their smaller brethren. The ground shook with every step of the gargantuan Tyrant. The enormous titans continue to spill the army of undead from its guts while packs of Archer Hostesses scurried to their positions on high ground that is the tyrants' back.
Yet in a show of surprising discipline, the Genma army formed up groups, 5 regiments in total, each the strength of a 1000 Undead in all their variety. They all line up in a rectangular formation. Behind the massed army of Undead, stood another regiment of 1000.
But it's something new. Forget the bulging Hulks or the gigantic Tyrants or even the larger than life Babylon. This is quite possible the deadliest Genma ever: Knights… bearing the somewhat similar suit with the Exorcists… but something is different. Their Exorcists' armor have been padded greatly and; frankly; masterfully reinforced with salvaged pieces of armors of other types of other dead knights that had come here before: heavy padded armor of the Legionnaires, scriptures and talismans of the Magus, torch shoulder pads of the Exorcists, etc, etc. What little chink it had left was merged with magma and volcanic stones, dripping with lava, stapled with armored plates. Their armor is like a mixture of steel and elemental construct, specifically volcano. In sense, they're more elemental than just mere undead. Because of the varying degree of alteration, no one knight is the same with the other. The only similarity they have is the fact that there's not a trace of living human in there and their supposedly blood red armor were charred partially ash black… such was the problem… when they're all completely on fire. The said flame looked as if they are burning from inside out. Worse, the flame is burning in an unnatural color of evil sickly purplish red fire. These Knights… these Infernal Knights looked a walking humanoid volcano!
And if that's not horrible enough, they're all riding CHARIOTS in groups of two: one rider, one fighter. Drawn by two horses, slightly smaller than Lord Yuki's enormous horses but still larger than normal horses. What's more, the horses too were bone and armor construct, made of volcanic red hot rocks that formed their flesh. Their armor also bear the torch and skull design of the exorcists. These chariots are completely of solid burning steel: the horse, the car and even the rider were all ironclads.
Seeing this, Kira frowned nervously. "Well… we're supposed to burn them… so how are we supposed to do that when they're already on fire?"
"Oi… those armor designs… I think I've seen them before in history books…" Gino paled at the sight of these new burning knights.
"You should be if you're an Exorcist." Waltfeldt joined the discussion. "They're the first generation Exorcists and Fire Knights. Look at their personal heraldry emblems… the skulls on their armors… Fire Fist Portgas D. Ace, Sabo the Explosion Regent, Purgatory Priest Hao… those are legendary Exorcists of great renown!"
Now that Kira observed them more carefully, He also noticed several insignia. Particularly, there are those with emblems of the Zala family… "…and there are also exorcists from Lady Lennore's personal retinues! And many other from various pilgrimages throughout the 70 years of tradition…"
"Oi… so we're fighting against our own seniors?" Gino gulped. In different circumstances, this might actually be… interesting? "And there are… 1000 of them!?"
And then, from the ranks of the burning knights at the rear, a group of knights break off and marched across the giant army. It was the Lifeless Lord, accompanied by his retinue: three of them. A pair is riding a chariot, the other one, the lone one, was riding a… carriage, with wheels of fire, pulled by a burning cat.
The pair on the chariot, one is wearing the weirdest knight attire they've ever seen. The layered armor covered his shoulders, arms and legs… The one on his right covered his entire shoulder all the way down to his arm with scaly design, but his left shoulder only cover the upper shoulder. The left rear arm was left bare, showing a tattoo: A, S (but it was crossed-apparently a misspell), C, and E. They bear the torch design of the Exorcists. But these layered armors framed his pale corpselike chest, which was left bare. At the center of the chest and most of its abdomen, it seems there used to be a giant hole around it. But now, the flesh has been replaced with volcanic magma stones, creating a scaly black abdomen, stapled together with iron armor plates which grew brighter and hotter as it approached its chest area. Beating at the center of his chest, where his heart once lay, is a burning fireball, the source of the heat. But if the fact that he wore no chest piece is weird… the fact that he wore a cowboy hat is an even more bizarre addition to a knight's attire. The cowboy knight wear a set of beads around his neck, and another set on his hat, with a pair of goggles attached to it (one with the picture of smiling, the other with frowning). Lastly, on his back there is a tattoo of his personal heraldry: a skull wearing his ridiculous cowboy hat, with its top on fire, and a cross bone on its back. He didn't seem to bring any weapon at all.
The other one on the chariot, standing together with the first knight, in stark contrast, is dressed in a regal coat with gold trimming, just like a noble… but it was ragged and withered. Torn and burnt here and there, filled with battle scars, and reinforced with armor. And he also wore a scarf on his neck. Underneath the cape, he donned a full set of armor and the said armor was made entirely of magma and steel plates. Like the first knight though, this one also did not wear a helmet. Instead, he wore a high top hat, with a pair of hexagonal goggles strapped on it! His personal heraldry is placed on the back of his cape: an upright cross of bone, with a regally stylized S right on top of it. The Knight is carrying a staff on his hand, and contrary to what most people perceive, he seem to be the driver of the said chariot.
The last one… is even less like a knight. He looked a lot more… like a priest… specifically, an Onmyouji. The man looked like a boy with a very long hair, past his waist. His priestly garb is strikingly similar with Lacus, but it was for male, and its short sleeve covered a part of his upper arm. But there's also something else. Over his Onmyouji garb he wear something that looked similar with… an American Indian Poncho, decorated with tribal markings. And beneath all the baggy clothing, he wore a pair gauntlets and greaves. What's more, it was reinforced with several armor piece of Japanese design, mixed with some of the Exorcist' theme of skulls and torch. His personal heraldry was strapped everywhere, in various parts of his clothes: his gauntlets, his shoes, his poncho, even the back of his onmyouji clothes. It was that of a star of five elements. The Gouyousei. Like the Lifeless Lord, he rode alone. But his ride is a carriage, complete with a canopy, wheels of flame, and it was being pulled by a two tailed Cat. Its paws were made of flame, as do the stripes adorning its fur. Thing is, lesser demons rose up wherever his carriage passed, and he doesn't seem to be controlling the cat, the cat simply knew where its master needs to go.
The four knights walked out of the lines of their army and waited right at the center of the battlefield between the two forces.
"This is…" Gino looked at Waltfeldt.
"Yes… the protocol. Before any battle, officers from each respective side must offer terms." Waltfeldt explained. "This is the most fundamental code of knighthood. A protocol… and it must be respected. I guess even being dead is not an excuse for not being civil."
Kira frowned underneath his mask.
"Shall we meet them?"
Kira merely nodded in silence.
Soon, Lowe, Waltfeldt, Gino and Kira walked towards the waiting Undead knights.
"Ray Yuki, Lifeless Lord, Former Grand Knightmaster." Yuki reintroduced himself.
"Portgas D. Ace. Inferno Knight." The knight with a cowboy hat tapped his hat.
"Sabo, the same." The Nobleman drop down his hat and bowed.
"Asakura Hao, Purgatory Priest." The Undead Onmyouji merely bowed slightly.
"Andrew Waltfeldt, Desert Tiger, Hakutenkun."
"Lowe Guile, Junk Guild Chief."
"G…Gino Weinberg, R-Ruby Exorcist." Gino gulped nervously. A meeting between such powerful beings. Seeing he's but a humble Exorcist, he felt slightly out of place.
Only Kira didn't say a word. But finally, he spoke: "Shadow… Assassin."
Waltfeldt and Lowe was somewhat taken back by such an awkward title. Humble… and scary at the same time.
The Lifeless Lord and the Inferno Knights didn't bat an eye and they could hardly care less. Yuki nodded and began explaining his terms: "Here are my terms. Muster all your combatants, all your battle capable warriors… look to your defenses and prepare to fight as you have never before. Your injured… your women… put them somewhere safe, and I swear, unless they choose to involve themselves in this battle, none shall lay a finger on them." Yuki named his terms. "If you survive for one day, I promise… I will let them go, all shall be escorted safely to the sea. But if you are defeated… and you probably will… you will join our ranks in your death… and so will they."
The Living looked at each other at such terms. 400 vs 5-no-6000? No matter how they looked at the odds, the latter term seems more probable. Art of war states: One cavalry equals the strength of ten foot soldier; One chariot equals the strength of ten cavalries. And they see before them, the enemy has like… a 1000 chariot drawn knights… backed up with 5000 undeads of various kinds… facing this kind of odd… Lowe looked at Waltfeldt, and the Desert tiger didn't seem to have anything smart to say. Waltfeldt looked at Gino, and he's also at loss. Gino looked at Shadow, and Shadow looked back at them questioningly.
"Don't you guys have anything to say?"
"Aah…" Waltfeldt's lips nervously parted. "Well… that's very… generous of you… Yuki…"
"It's best if you fight with your mind unburdened. That will increase the chance of you surviving."
"More gloating I see."
Everyone's eyes, living and the dead, turned to Kira.
Kira darkly and coldly glared at the Lifeless Lord. "…If we survive one day… you say? We'll see about that… assuming you guys can even last for one day."
Every living soul within earshot jawdropped in horror. Did he just spat back at the Lifeless Lord?
"Are you trying to talk us down?"
"No. I'm naming my terms because I think you guys get the wrong idea." Kira growled murderously. "I did not come here to survive. I did not come here to talk, negotiate or bargain with you all…" Kira roared: "I came here to DESTROY you all." And finally, a declaration: "And I will do so… in ONE day!"
Gino, Lowe, and Waltfedt who had never seen Kira performed his military pledge before had their mouth opened in aghast. The army of pilgrims, who heard the roar and the subsequent declaration, nearly dropped their weapons in shock. NEARLY.
"This is MY terms." His booming voice was seeped with whispers of death. It was as if anyone who hear his words will die. "If any of your undead army still stands after the sun sets… I will personally come to you and offer up my neck on the very same evening!" Kira barked, not caring just how terrified the other listeners had become. "And there are no ifs or buts in my terms. Either we kill you and live… or we'll take you all with us!"
Lowe looked as if he's about to swoon any second now. Waltfeldt had heard various kinds of death threats before and he thought he had heard them all. He thought wrong. Gino just couldn't believe the balls of this guy. He's still sane right? Or… did he just turn back to total wacko again?
Kira looked at the other horrified commanders and nonchalantly added: "You guys got anything else to say?"
They dumbly shook their heads.
Kira turned back to the indifferent Inferno Knights. "That's all from us."
Yuki looked at Kira's glaring eyes. There's no fear in there. This is not a mere jargon or chest pounding to allay fear. That was a warning. He'll slaughter them all, and he can do it. Thus, Yuki merely nodded and turn his chariot around, returning back to his army, followed by his retinues.
Likewise, Kira also had nothing else to say and turn around. The other three officers suddenly found their soul again and quickly followed Kira back to their army.
"O… oi… Shadow… I've heard jargons and chest pounding before… but don't you think you're a bit too… rash?" Kira's declaration had really rattled Waltfedlt so much that even he found himself stuttering uncontrollably.
"I'm serious." Kira barked without stopping. "If we don't beat them all while the sun is still out, we might as well stretch our necks and hang ourselves."
"Look me in the eye and tell me we can do this."
"We can do this? No. Of course not. WE WILL DO THIS!" As requested, Kira instantly turned around and glared back to all of them with such ferocity; it unnerved everyone, even the frustrated Waltfeldt. His eyes are lifelessly cold and ruthless. Gino, who was talking with a very different Kira until a moment ago had a hard time swallowing the fact that these two personalities are in fact one and the same. "Now come on. The battle is about to begin."
And with that, the commanders from both sides of the battle returned back to their respective armies.
The Genma army is composed of 5 regiments each the strength of 1000, and one regiment Inferno Knights at the back. That's 6000 in number. Three regiments formed up the center with one regiment for each flank. And then the 1000 chariots of the Burning Inferno Knights remained at the rear to protect the command.
In the face of all this, the Pilgrims, led by Waltfeldt… MARCHED STRAIGHT FROM THE FRONT. No cover, no strategy, they just marched forward out in the open. Their formation is extremely dense, tightly packed and it's small (at least when you compare them to the significantly larger army of Genma). Judging by the size of the formation, it couldn't number more than 200 knights.
Lacus gulped behind the mask of her new insulation suit as she looked upon all this.
And so the battle of Junius began.
The Lifeless Lord looked at that tiny group of Living ones. One of the Inferno Knight, Ace, grunted flatly. "Are they mental?"
"Not if I know my boy. Which I do, by the way." Ray retorted back. "Something's off about them. Let's try something. First regiment, Archers!"
Upon hearing the command from their master, the Archer Hostesses of the first battalion at the fore-frontline marched forward ahead of the melee knights. In an orderly fashion, one archer parched on each of the Hostesses plucked out arrow and pull it before they let loose all at once. The thing is…
The arrows were either blocked with shields from the knights… or they just went completely off target at random direction.
Ignoring the awkward shot, the archers atop the hostess took turns and fired their arrows in rapid succession. But once again, like before, their arrows are practically only flying in the same direction without aim or accuracy. The arrows managed to rain down upon the pilgrims due to sheer number. And for the Knights of Zaft, arrows like that are easy to block and intercept and defend.
"What's wrong with our archers? Can't they see the enemy's right in front of them?" Sabo blinked.
That's when Ray noticed something. The Knights and the Mercenaries… their armor… are painted in a familiar black color… the color of Genma's blood. A slight tinge of pride swelled up in the Lifeless' Lord's supposedly emotionless heart. 'That's clever, boy… very clever…'
"This is a juice… made from grinded flayed off Genma flesh and blood… let's call it Genma Essence Juice…" Kira raised a bucket filled with black liquid. "…and you guys are going to paint and coat your armor with this blood."
Naturally, Kira's idea was welcomed with a ceremonious horrified roar of "WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?"
"No way!" "This is family heirloom!" "Are you insane?"
"Guys! This is just like the case with Shadowforged Weapons!"
"No, no, no! This is a different matter entirely." One of the knights protested. "With the Shadowforged weapon, you used your blood, that; we can still tolerate. But this is Genma flesh and blood juice! If that enter our system we'll turn into Genma!"
"And what good will it does?" Another asked.
To this, Kira has the answer. "Remember the case when I baited Lacus-san to Babylon?" Kira jerked his thumb to Lacus, who clearly still remember that horrifying experience. "These Genmas are sensitive to sound AND smell. Sound… well… we'll be fighting a battle, with all the clamors everywhere, swords clashing, shields banging… they're practically deaf. They'll be relying on smell to track us. We put this… we stink like them… and they won't know where to aim."
And now, the knights who had gave out their armors to be… Blackblooded… as they would resentfully called the process… are enjoying the benefits of what Kira had predicted. Their armor stink, no mistake. But that stink is what protected them at the moment. The Archers couldn't 'see' them clearly. Yes, their eyes can see there's something in front of them. But they are used to the eternally dark environment and this is DAY time. The rejuvenation had ripped apart the veil of darkness covering the land, and the light shone through, brightening the sky… something the Genma's sight couldn't stand. The knight positioned themselves right beneath a crack of sunlight bathing atop them. The Inferno Knights can see them just fine, being more human than the others… but for a low level genma like them… everything is visually off color and a jumbled mass. And now with the Genma stink emanating from the pilgrims… the pilgrims looked like a blurring mirage engulfed in black mist. The smell of the living mixed with the smell of the dead. It's chaos to their senses.
"It's good that it works… but it stinks…" One of the knights moaned as they tucked the gas mask underneath their helmets. The Mercenaries were also wearing a mish mash of armors taken from the Genma's they've flayed during their Genma Hunt. And since they originally belonged to the Genmas in the first place… they already stink of Genma. To prevent any particles of the Genma blood to enter their system through respiration, everyone put on gas masks-provided by Lowe- on their mouths and also bandaged their bodies tightly. Regrettably that doesn't make the air less foul. "And if you think about it, we're practically wearing an armor of corpses!"
"It's better to wear one than become one…" Another Exorcist gulped. The heresy of desecrating the corpses of their brethren… May the Gods forgive them for this. "Now what?"
"We wait…" Waltfeldt also wear a cobbled up Blackblood armor plates crudely put together. Regrettably, it was not designed to properly house his prodigious built, hence the wearers visible discomfort.
"Well… Achers obviously won't work against those shields… should we try blow em up?" Hao looked at Ray.
"Let's try that… in the mean time, prepare the Knights of the first regiment. Get them ready to charge and engage."
Following the command, the Achers stopped firing and instead, the Hostesses' stomach began to bulge.
"Baby Grenade incoming!"
In unison, the Hostess fired their explosive children, filling the air with bloated sacks of explosives. Like the arrows, they were unguided and random. As the result, some of them collided midair, causing multiple midair chain explosions. Regardless, some managed to get through, and headed straight towards the pilgrims. But then came the first line of defense, the 50 exorcists, coupled with several Junk Guild mercenary who knew Fire Jutsu. In unison, they shot a spray of fire to the sky, creating a firewall that incinerate and blow up all explosives that were flying their way. Some babies landed on the ground, but they were completely confused as they just can't pick any target. At lost, and with nothing to track, they finally exploded on their own.
For a moment, the battlefield was filled with explosions and craters caused by the grenades exploding haphazardly.
"Ranged weapons are out. Looks like we had to go toe to toe after all." Ace cracked his fist.
"We're looking at a huge casualty for the first regiment. Thanks to that Shadowforged Weapons…" Sabo commented. "Heck, they may manage to survive this unscathed!"
"The First Regiment is expendable. We'll wear them out with wave after wave!" Hao declared.
But Yuki didn't think so.
"A long time ago, there's a place called Thermopylae. It means the Hot Gates. 300 brave Spartan warriors face off against a Persian army of a million men. For 3 days the Spartans made the Persian pay so dearly, they lost all taste for battle, and were defeated soon after." Yuki, when he was alive, speak in a lecture. His two diminutive students stood by and listened. "Pop quiz. What did Leonidas use to achieve that?"
Kira eagerly raised his hand just a second faster than Athrun. And with that he eagerly gave the answer:
"They use the funneling terrain of the Hot Gates…" The Lifeless Lord saw the pilgrims began to move. Predictably enough, the pilgrims, still in that tortoise formation, start moving back towards the Sanctuary. Yuki quickly scanned the landscape, searching for any area that one can use to funnel armies. And he found the said terrain: the elevated entrance towards the Sanctuary. It's a narrow slope, and halfway the road it's surrounded by cliff face. It's a perfect narrow corridor. With that, Yuki signaled the order: "ALL Archers, ALL regiments! BOMBARD THE SANCTUARY!"
The Inferno knights looked at the Lifeless Lord in surprise. Just then, the Archer Hostess redirected their aim towards the sanctuary. Unlike the blurry pilgrims, the Sanctuary is as clear as day to them. And they are more than eager to direct all attack towards it. In a salvo, the sky was filled with hundreds of explosive heading straight towards the sanctuary.
Waltfeldt gasped in shock, seeing the direction of the explosives, now knowing that the enemy knew their plan. "Oh shit…"
Soon, the Sanctuary was showered with a rain of explosive. The Baby Grenade that hit the Sanctuary light were obviously vaporized instantly before they could even explode, others who collided with the cliff of the sanctuary elevated ground exploded, taking a chunk of the mound. The mound where the sanctuary stand was flayed bit by bit with each explosion. Fortunately, with the protection of the holy light, the Sanctuary remained inviolate and there are in no danger of collapsing. But the true goal of this bombardment was not to destroy the sanctuary.
"Hurry up! Retreat to the pathway before…!"
But it was too late. With another salvo, the narrow corridor of the pathway leading to the sanctuary finally collapsed completely, robbing the pilgrims a good spot to defend themselves, and so they stopped right before the collapsed slope.
Waltfeldt growled with a nervous smile. "Damn! We should've known that won't work!" the pilgrims turned around and, as expected, the First Regiment of the Genma knight came upon them. "Well? Plan B."
And just like that the tortoise formation switched… into the arrow formation. And the pilgrims charged straight forward, with the Exorcists, now completely ablaze in white fire at the front. The tightly packed pilgrims charged forward straight into the said army.
Upon seeing this, the veteran Exorcists in Yuki's ranks blinked. "White fire? I've never heard of that before!"
"Don't underestimate these children." Yuki tucked his head. "According to the information from the Doppelganger, they're carrying a very special type of weapon called Shadowforged weapon. It's a weapon with a very special property that can kill Genma. When used together with the Exorcist' Fire Jacket technique… they get the white flame jacket. Not to mention they cleverly coated their armor in the blood of our knights… the Blackblood Armor… this tactics are a true revolution of the standard outdated tactics that you used to do." Yuki was referring to the first generation Exorcists like Hao.
Hao merely shrugged his head. "They're still foot soldier. And they're barely half the number of one of our regiment. We'll mow through them like grass." Hao gave the signal and the first regiment also rushed forward in a wall like formation. They split up with the army at the center slowed down and the flanks speed up. The formation looked like a giant mouth intending to swallow the tiny arrow whole.
The arrow kept pushing forward while the enemy's center slowed down. They intend to engulf the pilgrims from their flanks while the center will hold out the melee rush from the center… the Wall of fiery shield with the ablaze black blades is right in front of them. They're quite out of range but they are coming in fast… until surprisingly…
The black blades extended out of the wall of fire and skewered or slashed through several Genma knights all at once, turning them to dust.
"What?"
The Shadowforged weapon was tied to a long pole; twice as tall as Waltfeldt (which would make it like… 4 times taller than a man) and it's also very thick, with three spears tied together to form a single pole. It was more akin to a blade tipped battering ram rather than a spear. It took 3 men to lift it and ram it forward. The charging pilgrims had kept the giant spears concealed beneath the wall of shields, the exorcists at the forefront had merely held the weapon in such a way so that the enemy misjudged the true effective range of the Shadowforged weapons, thinking it was just short range melee weapons (or mid range, as in the case for actual spear type Shadowforged blades). Upon reaching point blank range, the great spears were pushed from the back with incredible force by three people, and the blade extended forward. No shield can handle that kind of battering force.
The knights roared as the arrow formation suddenly gained an extended fang. The arrow pierced through all the way to the center of the First Regiment, and then they swiftly transformed back to the dome like tortoise formation and with the long great spears still extended out, they began to spin around, slashing any Genma that came in range, effectively wrecking havoc in the middle of the First Regiment.
"Whoa… they ain't bad…" Ace nodded. "Impressive piercing power. I guess Zaft haven't been slacking off even after we're gone."
"We've never ran out of practice, Lord Ace." Yuki replied solemnly. "And it's not just the piercing power of the arrow formation…" Just then, Yuki's raven returned to his shoulder, relaying new information to its master. "They have more than doubled the number of Shadowforged weapons."
"Doubled?"
Back in the camp, the soldier struggled… to squeeze Kira's blood out of the cloth of Lacus' tent. Not only that, the blood splattered on Lacus' clothes, the blood from the surgery… every last drop of it were gathered in any way possible. The result, they managed to gather practically 1 liter of Kira's blood put in a bucket. Seeing his own blackened blood, Kira felt a bit nauseous. "…was it really that bad?"
"Operating you gave the word blood bath a whole new meaning!" Lacus groaned. God, she stinks of blood! She'll probably remain like this for some time in the foreseeable future until the next time she took a real bath!
"But… I think… this is not enough… right?"
Lacus looked in horror to Kira. "Oh no! Don't you dare…"
Too late, Kira had slit his hand once again and poured his blood into the bucket. "Lowe… light the fire. You got work to do."
"Oh lord…"
The second batch of Shadowforge weapons, unlike the first, did not receive the light of purification, but Kira theorized it had gained the same effect with the light of the rejuvenated sanctuary, seeing the fact that it was done inside the perimeters of the sanctuary. Thusly, they gained a new 40 set of Shadowforged Weapons. 20 were given to the Emerald Knights (not Exorcists) but the other 20 were given to Junk Guild.
"I don't care how, make sure Orb gets it." Kira pointed at Lowe and eyed him meaningfully.
"You got it Pardner!" Lowe saluted.
But for now, all 70 Shadowforged weapons are being used to devastating effect against the undead army. Every Genma that came close to the circular phalanx was stabbed and then cut to ribbons. Just then, two groups of Genma knights came carrying a chain equipped with several spiked cylinder on it. They swing it several times and then charged forward, parallel to each group, stretching the spiked chains, intending to ram it on the dome Tortoise formation to tear it apart. Seeing this, the dome stopped spinning and the knights inside steadied themselves. The chain rammed against the wall of shields and tear through the shield… but then they stopped and stuck right there. The Genma's enormous strength only managed to make the dome budge slightly. The Genma knights fell on their back when the chains were snagged on the dome.
The living Knights inside the dome gasp and pant nervously, but, god damn they were glad they managed to survive that. Behind the first layer of shield, there's another layer of shield. Traditionally, all knights carried their Kite shield on their left arm. When they locked their shields together to form the Tortoise Phalanx, the shield was used to protect half of themselves on the right side, and half of the their fellow knights on the left. But Kira gave them a new idea: one knight will stand directly behind them, heck, hug them from behind if necessary, and slide their shield holding left arm through the front one's armpit. That way, there will be 2 layers of shield, one behind the other. Even better, the right arm did not hold weapon, but reach out and sling over the shoulder of the knight on his right and grab on tight. Not only this to strengthen the defense and unit cohesion, it is also to split the strength needed to handle any incoming blow. Right behind the two men layer defense, the Exorcists and knights holding the Shadowforged weapon spear stood ready, their overly long weapons extended out, supported by the shoulders of the interlocked human wall before them, the spears extended out from what little chink available on the wall of shields. However, this cause the shield to be smaller and the people inside are cramped, make no mistake… they're slower and difficult to move as well… but it was tougher and sturdier. Not even a genma's 10 times normal human strength can faze it. And thus created the interlocked, double layered Twin Shell Tortoise Formation.
"Isn't that Tortoise Formation? What did they do to it?" Sabo blinked several times.
"No… that's not your usual Tortoise formation…" Yuki frowned beneath his helmet.
"Whatever it is, it's cutting the First regiment apart. They better stay the hell away from it."
The Lifeless Lord nodded, and thus the mental command was sent. The remaining Genma Knights of the first Regiment back away from that spinning whirlwind of death. But then, something echoed from the confines of that Dome. A high pitched ringing sound. All the Inferno knights and the Lifeless Lord grunted upon hearing the sound. "This sound?"
Inside the confines of the Twin Shell Tortoise, Waltfeldt flicked his finger and again hit the tuning fork Kira gave him, generating a high pitched sound that drove the Genma to frenzy. Fortunately, the other Regiments were far enough from the sound of the tuning fork and Yuki's control over them remained strong. But the First Regiment had it point blank. The Genma Knights forgo all discipline and reverted back to animalistic instincts. They roared and screeched angrily as they lunged themselves in a suicidal rush towards the spinning blades, ignoring the mental command from Yuki. Within moments, the first Regiment is no more, reduced to but few confused knights, which was dealt with soon enough with a few quick burst of white fire from the Exorcist. When finally the enemy threat has been neutralized, the circular Twin Shell Tortoise formation stopped spinning, the interlocked kite shields were marred even further with fresh black blood from the skewered Genma, who turned to dust soon after.
If the Inferno Knights still have emotion, they'll be gaping in awe at the sight. 400 living knights destroyed an army of 1000… without any casualties.
But Kira's words on their meeting before battle ring out in their ears… and they ring out in Yuki's ears the hardest:
"I did not come here to survive. I did not come here to talk, negotiate or bargain with you all…"
Suddenly, something began to swell in Yuki's supposedly emotionless heart.
"I came here to DESTROY you all."
The mask made it impossible to see but…
"And I will do so… in ONE day!"
Something very similar to a smile forms up on Yuki's lips. "He really is going to do it." The Inferno Knights looked at the Lifeless Lord. "And he wasn't bragging… he said so because he REALLY CAN do it."
"How did they disrupt your command?" Hao looked at Yuki, demanding answer.
"Apparently it has something to do with a sound they emit just now. I will strengthen my control over them, made the knights more efficient and less easier to fell under outside sway. But that also means I have to use most of my efforts to do so. I won't be able to take a direct action in this battle. I'll leave the rest to you my lieutenants." Yuki tucked his head down. 'And this might be what Kira had intended all along… if so… it's working.' A red gleam glowed underneath the visor of his helmet. The same glow burst out from the eyes of the remaining knights. "Now we send three regiments."
With the speed of a thought, the second, third and forth regiment marched forward. The Knights looked at the incoming army and gulped. They've been debriefed by Kira on what to do, and they've been told that this will happen. Still… seeing these odds, one can't help to fight the urge of flooding one's pants.
"Form arrow formation. We'll take them out one at a time." Waltfeldt instructed.
The knights once again took the arrow formation. And they charged head on to the second regiment, right in front of them. But before contact, they were welcomed with a familiar formation. Just moments before the arrow hit the wall, the wall back away and break apart to small groups, dispersing and avoiding the arrow's destructive charge.
"Oh no… not this formation again."
And once again, the arrow formation found themselves surrounded at the center of a halo. The third and forth regiment opened up, allowing the archers to march out and thus began the concentrated rain of arrows from the flanks. But this time, the pilgrims were ready. "Stretch out! Stretch out!" The single arrow formation split into two, one led by Waltfeldt, and the other, led by Lowe. The Halo began to stretch to compensate the spreading of enemy forces at the center.
Yuki embraced a thought. "Archers push forward, Hulk reinforce the circle, force them back to the center, do not let the halo broke."
"Archers? Hulks? Shouldn't we send knights?" Sabo look at his indifferent colleagues.
"Hao… get ready, it's your turn soon."
"Right you are. Matamune, put me down."
Archer Hostess climbed up the hulks as the bloated monstrosities lumbered forward as fast as their bulk can carry them. And by God, they really ARE fast. Not as fast as a knight on horseback, but faster than men running. Not a moment too soon, the Hulks had covered the distance and reinforce the encirclement with their bulk. The arrows from the archers, coupled with a few grenades finally pushed the pilgrims back, earning a few kills, forcing them to retreat and reverted back to the tortoise formation. Worse off, the two tortoise formations were forced to merge back into a single group, still trapped in that encirclement, returning them to square one. The knights were hard pressed to defend let alone counter attack, and they have no archers so they can't shoot back.
"AAAAAAAHH!" An arrow managed to find its way through a chink of the formation and pierced a knight by the shoulder. Not fatal, but still… "Gg… G…" and the Knight began to change as he was assaulted by a high fever. Gino quickly took action. He removed the arrow and planted his sickle on the wound. Effectively creating a larger wound, but the effect of the Shadowforged weapon burned the wound, cauterizing it on the spot. But for the victim, his arm gone numb and he HAD to squeal loudly. How else would you react when your blood veins and arteries suddenly gone up in flames?
"Haa… haa…" The knight gasped and panted as he checked his pulse. It's beating, and he's alive for the moment. "Thank you…"
Gino smirked. "Let's just hope the healing is permanent eh?"
"But… we're getting pushed here… what now?" Lowe looked to Waltfeldt.
"Pull back!" Waltfeldt grunted… and smirked. "As planned."
The pilgrims began to retreat, just as discussed. The encirclement followed them, keeping them in the center without letting up not even for a second…
And then, it happened.
The Sanctuary suddenly exploded, unleashing a wave of purifying light. The Purification.
"What the…" The Knights gasped as the light engulfed them all. Living and the dead. In an instant, the Genma Knights that encircled them were purified and turned to dust without so much as a squeal, whereas the humans were left untouched. In a flash of bright light, the Second regiment and the archers and Hulks were destroyed, leaving behind empty suits of armors and weapons. A large area in a massive radius around the 4th Sanctuary was silently swept clean by the purification. And… silence.
The knights were still a bit confused as to what just happened. It's not like everyone was told the whole plan. Until one of them decided to break the silence and asked: "What just happened?"
"The Purification happened." Waltfeldt smirked.
Kira's left hand is glowing. "Here Lacus." Kira pressed his palm on Lacus' chest and the princess gasped as she felt something enormous just went inside her being.
"What did you do to me?" Lacus suspiciously looked at Kira… and gasped when she find his left eye is a yellow beast slit.
"What we just did for you." Kira's voice echoed slightly with Jorm's voice. "I just gave you enough spiritual energy to synchronize with this sanctuary."
"I thought we agreed NOT to do it again?"
"I've reinforced it… but that doesn't mean we can't use a Purification or two."
Inside the sanctuary, Lacus, tired as hell, but satisfied, walked out of the citadel and smiled triumphantly to her sister as she gave her a corny thumb up.
"So… technically… you're saying we're bait to attract the genmas into the proximity of the purification?" The knights gasped. "Why weren't we told anything about this?"
"Well… we figured you'll be pissed off if we tell you." Gino smiled broadly.
"To fool your enemy you have to start by fooling your friends." Waltfeldt also smiled innocently.
The knights looked at each other and they can only groan exasperatedly. They got scared for nothing… sheesh…
"Let's go back and figure out a way to climb that-WHOA!" Waltfeldt had just turned his gaze to the sanctuary when he saw a giant red demon appeared right in front of the sanctuary.
The injured and wounded knights left behind in the sanctuary also paled with fright when they saw the said red demon suddenly descended upon them as soon as the purification was over. The demon was mostly humanoid in shape, with glowing green eyes, and fiery black slits as pupils. It has a pair of branching long horns extending out of the sides of the head. The said head has no mouth or nose, but its shape is unmistakably similar to that of a human, albeit with an elongated neck and he's hunched in posture, with broad shoulders. Its arms were long and thick, halfway down of its forearm were made of magma, each adorned with 5 claws, also made of magma, with lava dripping. The demon was also composed of magma from waist down to its legs. An enormous fiery tail extended out of its hunched back, its tip is fiery and made of fire. The creature was semi transparent and completely red but it has several black tribal markings decorating its well toned and muscular body. Floating silently before the pillar of light, inside the gigantic fire demon, right at its heart, stood a person. Hao.
"You guys seriously think we'll fall for that?" Hao stood emotionlessly as he crossed his armored gauntlet arms over his chest. "How small."
As if on cue, on the battlefield, Tyrants burst out of the ground… but they were half dead (AN: …well… they're undead… but injured halfway to death but… AAAAHHH! You get the point!). And then, they began disgorging troops into the battlefield once again. Specifically, the brunt of the third and forth regiment, along with the unscathed fifth regiment and the final Inferno Knights regiments. The Tyrants died soon after and turned to dust, but not before they restored the 3rd and 4th regiment back to full strength by pulling out the reserve of evolved knights and archers. Regrettably for the Genmas, the Hulks cannot be replaced. Now only the Hulks from the fifth regiment were left.
And suddenly everything went back to square one.
"But… how…" One of the knights gasped.
"Using the Sanctuary to blow up Genmas as they approached up close is the oldest trick in the book for the pilgrims." Hao explained. "Naturally, we senior Fire Knights, Exorcists and Priests knew this. We've done this before… and now… as Undeads… we know full well how to deal with it."
Lamia gaped. "Just now… you mean… you dig your way in? I thought purification engulfed everything!"
Hao tucked his head and nodded. "It did. Purification reached all the way to even underground. And the Tyrants took the entire brunt of it, as we hid in their bowels."
"The Purification always took shape in a blinding bright light." Yuki muttered. "And that momentary blindness is your undoing. When I sent hulks and archers to attack, I used the hulks' bulk and size to close the other troops from view. I retracted them into the tyrants, and when the bright light occurred, I used the light as cover while I have them dig underground as deep as they can and take shelter. Unfortunately the size of the purification is larger than I anticipated, hence our loss of the Tyrants… but now that they've used it once, it's unlikely they'll use it again. If we can silence their deadliest weapon, the Purification… sacrificing 1 more regiment and most of our heavy units is quite cheap."
"And even if that was not the case, why do you think I'm here?" Hao readied himself menacingly as the demonic being moved following his movements. He eyed the downed Lacus with hungry eyes. He can see a faint trace of blue energy coursing through her soul. She's the priestess no mistake. Took her and they won't be able to do the purification again. But Hao also scanned the battlefield, searching for one more target of high priority. As expected, he found him.
Kira, still bandaged from head to toe, is standing exhausted right next to the sanctuary door. Hao scanned the man and found very little to no spiritual energy. The man was spent. What's more, he can see Kira was limping and his bandages were stained with blood. His blood. He still hadn't recovered from his injuries as well as the usage of his blood to create the new batch of Shadowforge Weapons. He won't be a problem.
Lamia laughed nervously. "You're an Undead! You can't pass through the sanctuary!"
"Wrong again, princess." And all the sudden, the red demon's arm easily went through the perimeter and take hold of Lacus. Much to the shock and horror of everyone, especially Lamia. "Indeed, Undead like me can never pass through the perimeter of the sanctuary." Hao tightened his grip, and the red demon's arm also coiled tighter around Lacus' squirming figure. "But my Shikigami… the Spirit of Fire… is NOT an undead." Indeed. Hao was the only one who did not take cover during the purification. Shielded by the Spirit of Fire's thick spiritual flesh, he managed to simply endure through the wave of light of the Purification.
"S… SHIKIGAMI?" Lacus looked at S.O.F.'s giant claw and how it's completely a physical object. On par with Kira's Torii in terms of tangibility, and several hundred times of higher class due to its monstrous size. How much spiritual energy Hao possess that he can physically manifest something this huge? "Y… You're a seimei-class Onmyouji!"
"I suppose so, little miko." Hao retracted S.O.F.'s arm and yanked Lacus out of the sanctuary. "Come. Yuki has some use for you."
"DON'T YOU DARE YOU MONSTER!" Lamia hysterically ran out of the perimeter, jumped up and yelled. "ICE FREEZE BREAK!"
The air between Hao and Lamia turned to a powerful hail that went straight to Hao. Wherever Lamia's voice rippled, everything froze and shattered.
"So small."
Hao merely blinked at the icy carnage before him and everything before him instantaneously combust, Lamia included. "KYAAAAAA!"
"LAMIA!" Lacus shrieked, but it was too late and before she can do anything to help her little sister, the S.O.F. took flight and flew away from the sanctuary, with Lacus in its hand.
The knights below can only stare helplessly as the Spirit of Fire fly back towards the enemy army and landed right in front of the waiting Yuki. S.O.F. merely dropped the princess right in front of Yuki before disappearing and Hao gently landed on his materializing carriage, pulled by Matamune. Yuki descended and took hold of Lacus by her throat. He questioningly looked at Hao. "Kira?"
"Out of the picture. He's too wounded to take action."
"I see… so he's in there… a perfect position to monitor the battle…" Yuki looked at the elevated ground of the Sanctuary. He knew Kira all too well. He's a good strategist, but he's far better as a warrior. He arranged his plans with himself down there, in the fight, changing the game as needed. If Kira was injured enough to the point that he wasn't able to directly participate in battle… that means they're fighting pre-planned moves based on guesses and foresights. Normally, it has little flexibility and adaptation if the situation change to unforeseen circumstances. This is a game of seeing ahead of the game. Waltfeldt's good. But his protégé can do better in his sleep. Pre planned instructions… and it had cost him two full regiments and most of his heavy units with only 400 knights… with little to no casualty from the other side as well.
A feeling that has been welling up in his inexistent heart finally came in full view. It's pride. His student is fighting him, and he's doing very well. 'He remembered… everything I've taught him… very good Kira… very good.' If only he wasn't injured, he'll be fighting for his life here…
"But we've cut off the Sanctuary entrance. He's trapped. He won't be able to communicate his findings to his army."
Somehow, Yuki wasn't so sure. "No… Kira has a pet bird. He can use that to send message." Yuki looked at his demonic raven that is his pelt. "Brera Sterne, wake up."
The demon raven unhooked itself from Yuki and descended down, transforming into a man with a short messy pale green hair, and a hairpin placed on the left side of his hair, and he also has red eyes. Age wise, he's about the same age with Gino. His armor is form fitting, covered his entire being and mostly reddish purple in color. A pair of Slivers from his collar armor covered both of his cheeks. The armor also has several black feather decorations around its collar and shoulder pads, as well as some parts of the said armor. Just like his raven form, the armor also has several eyes, fully functioning.
"Brera, look to the skies and if you notice any green bird… crush him and bring him to me."
Brera nodded and then he took the sky, turning into a raven as he did.
Yuki nodded and then he returned to his chariot and placed the unconscious Lacus on his throne. And then, the Throne sprang to live, tentacles bursting out and engulf her, fusing with her insulation suit, practically locking her in place. When that was done, he turned around and shoved his hand forward. "ALL REGIMENTS! CRUSH THEM!"
And with that the remaining regiments of the Genma army go on a full attack. Like an evil black flood, the undead army swept across the plain. They break formation and gathered together in one mass army. They no longer felt the need to do any military maneuvers, just… overwhelm everything by sheer numbers.
The pilgrims stand firm. This is it. Their last stand.
…not that they weren't prepared for it though…
Waltfeldt glanced at Lowe and give him a look. Lowe nodded and knelt down, arranging something at break neck speed. The army descended upon them… the ground beneath the pilgrims tremble louder and louder the closer they get. And just when everything seems hopeless, Lowe yelled: "It's done!"
Everyone looked at Lowe's latest creation: a cobbled up giant crossbow. More like a ballista than a normal crossbow. "Alright, put in the ammo!" And the ammo is a battering Shadowforged spear. They placed it on the crossbow string, Waltfeldt held the bow from below as to keep it steady, and Lowe, with the help of Kisato and Liam, pulled the large strings. Once the string had reached maximum tension… Gino light up the sword of the spear.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Waltfeldt roared and Lowe let go.
The spear shot up through the battlefield with the force of a cannonball and pierced through across the incoming undead army, nailing (and subsequently purifying) multiple Genma undeads. When it landed, the fiery projectile ignited the carefully planted explosive tags buried beneath it. Resulting in a gigantic conflagration of white flame that destroyed the surrounding Genma to dust. Worse, it set out a chain reaction, and before long, multiple explosions occurred on the battlefield, and the ground rumbled with each explosion. Hundreds of Genmas were destroyed with each explosion, and it's unlikely to be stopping any time soon.
"CHAAARGE!" As if ignoring the series of explosions occurring allover the now hazardous battlefield, the knights charged into the fray. A mine exploded right next to them, and none of them blinked.
Back before then, when Kira first gathered them all on the first briefing of their plan meeting…
"Alrighty. Now listen up, the lot of you. Before we even start, we have 13 hours before they arrived. I want you to remember and memorize this."
Kisato and Liam helped Kira distributing a map to the knights.
"I want you to live and breathe with that stuff. Memorize every inch of that map."
"What are these red dots my lord?"
"Bombs." Kira stated simply while Lowe showcased a pack of explosive tags. "Bombs with enough explosive power to level a city block. Each."
"But… there are so many…" Truth is… it's like looking at a strawberry skin. Only this time the seeds are red. Everyone gulped. "And… we're supposed to run away from it… right?"
"Well it's the killbox… this is where people go to die." Kira smirked evilly. "And that's where you'll be going."
Everyone's face turned white with fright as Kira laughed evilly and Torii landed on his shoulder.
The same Torii that is now leading the Pilgrims through the field of explosive carnage. Torii's job: to lead them safely across this field of deathtrap. The pilgrim's job, slaughter any Genma who was fortunate enough to escape the macabre of explosions but unfortunate enough to be in their way.
"But… this is a disgrace…" One of the Knights mourned. "Try as I might, I can't memorize all of it… but this bird can… (sob)."
"Yeah, well… swallow your pride for the moment, knight. We have no other choice… now follow the bird!" Waltfeldt pointed at Torii as the green bird fly towards an incoming Genma knights when it suddenly make a sharp turn to the left. The knights, sticking to the plan followed Torii and turned left. A second later, the place where the Genma Knights stood suddenly exploded in a gigantic pillar of white fire. Seeing that, some of the knights who previously doubted Torii's memory were grateful for the little bird.
To Torii, memorizing a map full of explosives is a cinch. Heck, he's been helping his master memorizing roads since he was a toddler. He's used to noting the smallest detail, made it a landmark. Compared to the mazelike cityscape, this should be easy-
His thoughts were cut short when a black blur suddenly zoomed past him, momentarily disorienting him. "Torii?" Torii looked up and saw a black demonic raven.
"One little bird located… commence transformation to half beast mode." The black and red raven that is Brera descended, and midway, he transformed into a half human half raven hybrid. First he became humanoid in shape, his upper body portion is a raven, wearing his red purple armor, his arms remained as claws, as do his legs. His wings enlarged on his back, his head remained a raven's head, with small portion of its head were of Brera's hair color, and he also don his hairpin. "Crush the little bird. Take him to master."
Brera quickly descended and went straight towards the helpless Torii.
And then suddenly, something went in between Brera and Torii and clawed demonic raven zoan full by the chest, knocking him back. Brera quickly recovered to see the culprit. Gino, also in his half beast form smirked. "Why don't you pick somebody your own size?"
In his half beast form, Gino looked somewhat similar with Brera, albeit with broader and more muscular shoulder. His arms turned to claws, wielding his signature twin pickaxe with his hands, whilst his wings moved to his back and enlarged to accommodate his larger mass. His head is that of an eagle, but it has his distinctive twin blonde braids. His legs also turned to that of an eagle claw. Parts of his armors had also shifted to provide protection to this form as well; his shoulder armor covered his wings, his gauntlet covered his forearm. 'I'm sorry I doubted you lord Shadow…'
"This strategy is called the Invisible Gates of Hades. As you will undoubtedly begin to grasp, yes, the explosive map showed you a literal labyrinth. There are many roads, many intersections, but there will only be one path of safety. Whosoever did not walk the path in the correct order and misstep by a single millimeter will get fried. Is that clear?"
"Yes, my Lord!"
"Now Gino. You're an avian Zoan?"
"Yes." Gino nodded.
"In that case, you won't be with the main pilgrim group when they traverse the maze. I have a special task for you."
"Yes! Whatever you asked of me, I will do so!" For a moment, Gino's chest is swelling with pride.
"You will protect my bird."
Silence as everyone look at the mummified Shinobi with horror and disbelief. Some specifically looked at 'the bird'.
"…I'm sorry?"
"I mean… I want you to become Torii's bodyguard in the sky! And that's after you ignite the bombs!" Kira showed Torii to everyone, allaying their initial confusion, adding more confusion to the fray. "You said he was a cool bird."
"My lord I must protest!" Gino blared in protest. Why must he become a bodyguard of a bird?
Kira clearly expected this will happen. "Do you trust me Gino?"
"I…" Gino stopped before he can protest further. And then he answered. "You've saved our lives time and again… I will trust you with my life."
"Good. Know this: Torii saved my life. By extension, he saved your lives as well. And for that I will entrust my life to this bird. So you should trust him too." Kira motioned Torii, and the bird flew to Gino's hand. Gino felt somewhat awkward when the said bird rested on his hand. But the bird stood with a dignified posture, once again earning Gino's awe. He really looked like an imposing small eagle.
"V… Very well…" Gino grunted. So he had to stay behind and look after a bird…
"Just because I asked you to take care of my bird doesn't mean that you'll be staying out of battle, Gino." As if reading his mind, Kira barked, earning a surprised look from Gino. "On the contrary, you two will be heading straight into the heart of hell. I entrusted you with one of my oldest friends… that's because Torii will have a vitally important task in the battle ahead. And so do you. Regrettably I won't be able to do it, so I will entrust it to you. So no matter what happens, you don't let him out of your sight. Can you do it, Gino?"
"I… Y… yes. Yes! My lord!" Gino stood ready.
"Good. Now let me tell you something else…"
Gino grinned widely in his half human half eagle form. 'Vitally important task… guiding the pilgrims through a field of explosive death trap laden invisible labyrinth where a single wrong turn is death… that is important alright…' Down there, as Gino watched the sea of white flames appearing with each series of explosions, the wall of flames created a narrow pathway… a labyrinth. Problem is these narrow pathways are walled by an invisible wall of explosive. You won't know if you reach a dead end or when you're supposed to turn to a different direction, because there's no wall to show you that you're supposed to turn around, stop, or change direction. You'll never get out of this infernal invisible maze alive not unless you're fireproof… or you've memorized where's it's going to blow up, when it's going to blow up, and where it won't blow up. And even knowing that is no guarantee. You have to know where you need to go. Now he understood why the maze was called the Invisible Gates of Hades. It's a one way trip to Hades if you don't know where to go. And only Torii, Kira's oldest friend, that can discern and guide them to safety. If this bird fell, so will his brethren. "Sorry… but I'm this bird's bodyguard, so to speak." Gino readied his pickaxes.
"Disturbance. You're in the way. Die!" A demonic blade burst out of Brera's palm. Without further ado, the Demonic Raven Zoan charged towards Gino, who blocked his attack with his pickaxes.
"Well ain't this interesting? A fellow avian type Zoan!" Gino grunted nervously under the pressure. Zoan's brute force plus Genma strength never equates a good thing. "Go little birdie! Lead my brethren to safety!"
Torii nodded and quickly flew away, returning to his task at hand.
Brera's undead brute strength proofed too much for Gino, and with a swing he was tossed down into the sea of white flames. Brera fully expected his opposition will simply burn to death, so he quickly returned to his mission and scanned the surroundings to search for his priority target. And he must do so quickly. All this white fires are hazardous to Genma.
Suddenly a flaming pickaxe flew straight towards him and nearly cleaved one of his wings. Brera turned around and saw Gino rising out of the flames, unscathed and unharmed, catching his Pickaxe as it spin back to its thrower.
"You…"
Kira asked an exorcist to light his sword. He did so, and his entire being also ignited soon after. But he was not harmed. "The unique property of the white flame of Shadowforge weapons… as I came to learn… is that they will not harm the first igniter… but…" Kira demonstrated this by igniting a paper with the white flame. At first the white flame seem like didn't do anything, but after prolonged exposure, the paper burn in a normal yellow and orange flames. So it's just like any other flames. "Which means… when it start burning, there's going to be so much fire, you guys will have to run from it."
"Didn't we light ourselves en-masse a little earlier? But we didn't burn each other…"
"No, we light ourselves simultaneously. We're all the first igniter." One of the Exorcist corrected his friend. "What the hey? We exorcists are fireproof! We eat fire for breakfast!"
"Too much of a good thing will kill you." Kira sternly warned them. "And it's not like I've never burned an Exorcist to death."
The Exorcists gulped. How they missed Shadow's sadistic jokes… which eerily doesn't sound like a joke.
"But that point aside, please remember that you have other knights with you. Ones who are not as fireproof as you." Kira pointed at the normal Emerald knight. "Your job is not to burn your enemies to death. The maze will do that. Your job is to protect your comrades from being burned until you all reached the safe zone. Remember that." Kira nodded and then he pointed at Gino. "Remember Gino. You HAVE to be the one who first ignite the shadowforge blade. It HAS to be YOUR flame. Understand?"
"I ignited this flame… so I own it… and they won't hurt me." Gino grinned sarcastically. "Which is why he picked me for the job." Gino now fully understand, and respect, the role Kira had entrusted him with. "Because I'm the only one who can fly unscathed in this inferno; which is more than I can say for you, Mr. Raven." Now it's Gino's turn to charge and rammed the Raven head on. The brute strength of Gino in his half beast form is astounding, but the sparks of white flame from his immolated body is another thing entirely.
Brera was forced to fly back when several spots of his being where the sparks fell turned to ash.
Meanwhile, with the skies clear, Torii easily guided the knights through the maze, where the Pilgrims easily destroyed all panicking demons in their way. In fact, genmas suddenly became the least of their worries. Lowe watched in horror as their way back are rapidly closing, engulfed in white flame. See, the flame truly burns everything. But even worse for them, the flame feeds on the Genma to fuel its fire… and the problem is, the very ground itself is also Genma. "Aahh… little birdie… I would appreciate it if you can just be a little faster if you get my meaning!"
The Exorcists now understood the point of Kira's orders. Flames are unpredictable. Even Kira, in all his genius, can't predict every burst of flame, every spark that may jumped out of the firewall that is forming around them. It's up to them to protect their brethren from being burned.
God knows how long the pilgrims traversed that maze, but finally, they can see in the distance a clearing, surrounded by flame. First glance, it looked like a dead end. But Torii stopped here. And so did the flame. Everyone quickly realized, the end of the maze is in sight. With that they quickened their pace. Even more-so when the pathway behind them is closing in… fast.
"HURRY UP!" Panicking, Lowe roared his lungs out as the pathway right behind him were engulfed in flames. They don't have much time left!
They quickly ran as fast as their feet can carry them. The pathway behind Lowe is closing in one after the other. Just as they were a foot away from the goal, a Hulk, completely ablaze from head to toe burst in and stood in their way.
"OUT OF MY WAY!" Lowe's panic had reached boiling point, he quickly engulfed his Gerbera into the wall of flame, igniting it. "HIKEN! HOMURA DAMA!" The Hulk was cut into two, and the separated pieces exploded soon after. The path in front is clear, the path behind is closing. "RUUN!" And with the final sprint, the pilgrims finally managed to jump into the clearing, just as the entrance to the said clearing was closed shut by a wave of white flame.
The goal of the Invisible Gates of Hades is not to get out of the inferno maze… but to reach a spot. A certain spot where the fire won't reach and there are no explosives. And they have to do so in the limited time before the fire engulf even the pathway of the maze itself. And this is it. This is the so called safe spot.
The pilgrims don't have time to celebrate as they watched all the carnage occurring around them in awe and horror. A literal sea of white and red flames, engulfing everything in sight. Genmas of various varieties instinctively shrieking, wailing in pain as the flames engulfed them and mercilessly turned them to dust. Larger Genmas such as the Hulk took more time, but eventually they too can only trash around for a few seconds before they returned to ashes. Several more explosions occurred every now and then, further enlarging the flames. The searing heat was barely tolerable, but even worse for them, is the choking smell of burning flesh. The knights probably wouldn't be able (or rather… wouldn't want to) breathe if not for their gas mask preventing that Heaven affronting stench from reaching their olfactory system.
Fortunately, this brutal assault on their senses will only last momentarily. The flames began to die down. Already they can see the white ash covered land. The white flame had completely scoured every Genma in vicinity, even the ground itself, which they know were composed of mangled fused living corpses, were burnt out clean. Everyone had just found their breath again when the next sight truly crushed their spirit.
Waltfeldt's eyes widened in horror. Waiting for them in the outer edges of the flame, were the still intact regiment of the Inferno Knights.
But they don't number in 1000…
Or… 2000…
But a full army of 5000 Inferno Knights, all are borne on chariots, standing by in deathly silence, waiting for the white flame to die down. Which will be so… in just an hour or less. Being surrounded in fire, the Pilgrims really can't go anywhere but to wait for their impending doom.
"W… When did so many came?"
"They must've reinforced their numbers when we're in that maze…"
"Hey… did Shadow made any plans for this?" Waltfeldt looked at the stupefied Lowe. He can already see the answer.
"No. He didn't."
00000000000000
Some time later… the fire began to expire to just a few small patches. But the Inferno Knights still waited. They're about to go into full charge, and they patiently waiting until the coast is absolutely clear of obstruction.
Lacus stirred and finally opened her eyes to find herself sitting on a demonic throne, staring to a black marble floor. She raised her head and looked at her surroundings. She can see the plain of white ash before her, some parts of it are still engulfed in flames. But they are rapidly dying out. The pilgrims stood in the middle atop a mound, right at their enemies' very doorstep. Their exhilarating romp through a field of inferno had 'accidentally' bring them right there. Lacus groaned and tried to stand up, but something chained her back.
"Do not move, Princess."
Lacus jerked her head upward and saw the Lifeless Lord's back, as he's still overseeing the battlefield.
"I do not remove your insulation suit. As my sources told me, you need them."
Lacus blinked yet again behind the visor of her helmet. Flat and ruthless tone aside, this demon is quite polite.
"We Genmas are not as thoughtless as you think." The Lifeless Lord crossed his arms at his chest and remain standing, looking at her. His eyes were cold and lifeless as befitting his title. But strangely enough, Lacus felt absolutely no hostility directed towards her. "You're confused? Well, I have my reasons… And I also cannot have you running around. Hence your… predicament."
Lacus looked at herself and then realized that her suit has been fused to the chair… if only the entire backside. This completely prevented her from getting up. Fortunately, the throne, or the Lifeless Lord, was considerate enough to not lock her hands as well. Lacus struggled to get up, but she finally stopped. Not because she gave up, but because she didn't want to damage the precious suit any further than this. She looked at the situation on the battlefield and quickly understood the situation. "Hiding your army eh? That's… cheating…"
"Warfare and martial arts… is based on deception. Appear weak when you are strong, appear strong when you are weak. When you want to fight you must not show that you want to fight-"
"Sun Tzu, Art of War." Lacus muttered.
"Correct." Yuki sighed. "I never intended to defeat the best Pilgrim Knights since the pilgrimage of Lady Lennore with massed up forces of mindless undead. I will do it with my crack troops… the red ironclad Inferno Knights… this is the best way to honor one of my best protégé's effort… an effort that had made your friends survived this long."
"Honor… That's surprising… I did not expect you to value us that high."
The Lifeless Lord tilted his head. "Make no mistake, Princess. I still see you as a morsel to be eaten. You're just like a piece of meat waiting on the silver platter."
"Then why not just eat me right away?" Lacus fearlessly retorted. But this is not a request, this is a sarcastic defiance. Earlier on, she may see getting eaten by a Genma as an interesting prospect, but now, she's deviant. She refused to get killed or relinquish her life so easily. "Why you wish to wait? Your… lesser brethren would just eat me straight on… actually… you're far more lucid than I thought possible from a Genma."
Yuki merely groaned. "You've dissected an evolved Knight before yes? So you know they are created from amalgamated corpses. Do you know how they came into being?"
Lacus had an idea as to how, but the thought unnerved her and she shook her head.
"When the human turned into a Genma, their soul completely lost their minds. Completely overwhelmed by this… instinctive desire to feed on human flesh. They wanted to recover some part of their humanity that was lost when they became a demon. And they think consuming humans are the way to go."
Lacus winced in horror. She was right. Those evolved knights resulted from knights cannibalizing their fellow Genmas.
"Genmas in deeper circles seldom found any fresh meat that reached their lair. We starved to death but we didn't die. We parched by thirst, but we can't quench it. We are not among the living and so we cannot die but neither are we dead. When that happens… they grew desperate enough to prey upon each other. We EAT each other." The Lifeless Lord made a menacing jaw clenching motion with his hand. "When these Genmas get eaten they remain alive, even when they became part of the eater's flesh. When that happened, consciousness and minds rose up, merging, fusing… creating a turbulent mental whirlwind of madness. This… is what happened to Hulks. Rampaging monstrosities who could barely think. But at times… there are personalities with egos so strong… that they cannot be submerged. They rose to prominence… and gain control of the other minds. This created a consciousness. Crude, and lack of enough intelligence to perform speech… but capable of receiving orders from higher command and act strategically. This affects the physical form as well. That is the Evolved Knights and Tyrants. That is the Inferno Knights. And that is me."
"So… I'm talking to a personality right now? The ego of a single person… that took some qualities of the other mentalities, but ultimately… one human mind? One Ray Yuki the Knightmaster?"
The Lifeless Lord nodded. "An oversimplification… but quite so."
Lacus' eyes twitched in deep thought. All these years… everyone thought the Genmas are mindless monsters, driven only by the instinct to kill. But here she is, engaging a conversation with a Genma in so lucid of a fashion. All those Hunters… and Knights… the people's minds inside it are still there! Still conscious! They are not only alive but also mentally capable. "If that's true…"
"I know what you're going to say… but my answer is no. You cannot help us. And we cannot help you either. You must understand princess. We are puppets to the strings of the demons that inhabit us. This is all I could do to keep me away from harming you… but it's still there… the instinct… the drive… the thirst for your blood, the hunger for your flesh…" Yuki menacingly extended his clawed arm forward towards Lacus. "When it starts… there's no stopping it… our sanity will be wrenched away from us… leaving only the desire to kill… and the demons will use everything in their… our… employ to kill our prey."
And then, in a sudden departure from his initially cold attitude, the Lifeless Lord marched towards Lacus' prison throne and slammed his hands around the throne's armrest. Yuki glared directly to the visors of Lacus' helmet. His eyes filled with… hunger…
"The reason I was able to keep you alive because the demons that controlled me seem to have a taste for theatrics and gourmand. It considers human flesh, seasoned with the sight of a massacre of one's loved ones… are the greatest delicacy. Particularly if it's a woman, it will defile you first, turn you, and defile you again before finally ate you. You're an ingredient princess. An ingredient that this demon wished to cook."
Despite the horrifying future in front her, Lacus was undaunted and her eyes remained as calm as ever. Instead, she muttered a firm encouragement. "And you're telling me there's nothing left of the great Knightmaster Ray Yuki I've read so much about in history book? To be taken down by mere hunger and thirst? Are you so petty and tiny of a person?"
The Lifeless Lord was somewhat taken back by the sheer fearlessness of this princess as he slowly rose away from the Princess. For a moment, the Lifeless Lord looked like he was contemplating what Lacus had just said, but finally, he shook his head and turned his back to Lacus. "It's too late for that, princess. They own our lives, the demons. We are no more different than the armor they wear, the weapon they wield, the shield they carry… we are… objects."
"Now watch as your friends die before you." And with that, Yuki was done talking. But, perhaps moved by Lacus' words of encouragement, his humanity fight back to give these brave pilgrims some act of mercy: "Hao, when this is over in our victory… burn the knights left on the sanctuary. Burn every last one of the pilgrims. Don't even left behind their souls to be taken by the demons."
Hao nodded. "I guess they're not worthy as an addition to our army, are they?"
"On the contrary." Yuki frowned. He can feel the demons inside him are protesting angrily. Warriors of these calibers are just what the demons wanted: more powerful beings to serve their dark will in their deaths. But no. Considering everything that has been happening… the idea of his adoptive son as an Undead is the last thing that Yuki will allow. "They're far TOO valuable."
"RUUUUN!" The Inferno knights looked at the screamer. That being… Lacus. "RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! GO TO THE SANCTUARY! GOOOO!" She shrieked almost hysterically.
Luckily the wind carried her voice all the way to Waltfeldt. "Run? Where can we run from this…?" And then suddenly something slapped him by the head. He looked up and saw Torii angrily flapping his wings. The Hakutenkun could've sworn he saw the bird signaled him to go to the sanctuary. "But… little birdie…"
"Toriii!" Torii chirped loudly and motioned towards the sanctuary.
Waltfeldt looked at the sanctuary, and then to Lacus, bound on Yuki's chariot throne. That scream… that doesn't sound like the sound of the princess who have given up. Did she know something they don't? "TO THE SANCTUARY!"
Looking at the Hakutenkun, the despairing Pilgrims woke up from their stupor, and all the sudden, their feet began to move. From a walk, then to a sprint… and finally into a desperate run for their lives towards the Sanctuary.
Meanwhile, the flames finally died down completely. And the Pilgrims were no longer on the mound. They've taken a head start and ran towards the Sanctuary, for whatever protection it may grant them. But it's not like they can go far. Trudging through the maze, they've gone way too far from the sanctuary. Even with the initial gain, even if they no longer had to dodge explosives and they only need to run straight… the Inferno Knights will be allover them before they can cover halfway the journey there.
"This has been an interesting battle… but this is it." Yuki lifted his hand. Now, all his Lieutenants, Ace, Sabo, Hao and several other Inferno Knights mounted on their ironclad chariots in preparation to personally enter the battlefield. And the Lifeless Lord brought down his final command. "CHARGE!"
The burning chariots zoomed across the battlefield, leaving a trail of black flame spitting demonic images behind them. The armored ironclad chariots shook the very ground as they march onward. Lacus can feel the throne she sat on trembled as the Inferno Knights run past the Meteor Chariot, going straight towards the doomed pilgrims.
"Haa… Haaa… Haa…" The Pilgrims ran with all their might. There's just no way they can survive this. And yet they still run anyway. Through the sound of the rumbling galloping chariots, they can still barely hear Lacus' faint scream.
"RUUUN! RUN! DON'T FIGHT! JUST RUUUN!" Lacus yelled and screamed. Her scream was such, even Yuki found it awkward. And after sometime, Lacus stop screaming and bent her head down seemingly in resignation, her bangs covering her eyes behind her helmet.
Meanwhile, the ground beneath the escaping pilgrims began to tremble as the Inferno knights are nearing their prey. But then…
"3…"
In the sky, Gino is still locked in battle with Brera when he noticed something's off. The trembling grew unnaturally louder and louder.
"2…"
The demons were just a stone throw's away. And the ground shook violently. The tremor had nothing to do with the stomping of the chariots and Doomchargers.
"1…"
The ground cracked menacingly in several spot…
"And… Presto."
And the earth literally collapsed right under the Genmas' feet. An explosion of dust bursting out from the ground as gigantic pillars of dust erupted, towering over the battlefield in a height rivaling that of the sanctuary mound, and the earth snapped to pieces as they suddenly… crumbled.
"Did the ground just…"
"Disappeared…?"
In an instant, the open plain suddenly turned into a chasm as the ground collapsed and shattered to pieces to down under, and the Genma army of thousands were plunged straight into a maw of dark abyss as they were engulfed by the titanic dust cloud. A Pilgrim managed to jump just in time when the ground left his feet, caught by Waltfeldt and Lowe who pulled him up to safety soon after. A mountain of dust and ash burst forth from the gaping chasm.
For a while, the dust obscured the view. But moments later, the dust began to settle and everyone can now see clearly of what becomes of the plain. Where there used to be a open plain, now there's a gigantic hole in the center of the plain. The Pilgrims looked at the new landscape and wondered what just happened. Within seconds, the Lifeless Lord's army of thousand were reduced to… well… just himself.
If the Lifeless Lord still has one shred of emotion left, he would be screaming shocked murder at the sight of his army disappearing in a flash to the abyss in one breath. And even that would've been an understatement.
Meanwhile, down there at the bottom of the pit, the Inferno knights naturally survived the deep plunge. But their chariots were completely blasted to smithereens. Some even had their bodies broken and brutally splintered. But it was barely over for them. The ground rumbled yet again as pebbles began to jump up and down. The Inferno knights looked at the darkness in front of them, facing the direction of the sanctuary. And all the sudden… a shower of water sprinkles was the only warning they have… as a gigantic tidal wave suddenly appeared out of the darkness and instantly flooded them all. And it's not just normal water… given the fact that: 1. it's glowing. 2. It didn't just douse their flames… it also turned them to dust!
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Seeing all this, even the supposedly emotionless Lifeless Lord found himself confused and he can only uttered a single incomplete word of "Wha…?"
"Hu…"
Yuki looked at the trembling Lacus.
"Huahahaha… HAHAHA! AHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!" Lacus finally snapped and laughed maniacally. "Well… what do you know? It worked pretty well." Lacus removed her helmet and revealed a sadistic smile.
"You? You did this?"
"And you walk right into it." Lacus stopped chuckling, and now her eyes were shining in an uncharacteristically cold ruthless gaze. The Lifeless Lord looked back and forth from Lacus and then to the instantly reappearing chasm. The amalgamated mind of this demon began to try to piece things together of how things could become like this. How a girl could can mastermind all this. The Lord looked at the Princess… and noticed something.
Her eyes… are purple.
The Lord narrowed his eyes. He remembered seeing the Princess eyes up close, and they are blue. Then he began tracking his memories, the visage and details of all the important opposition, and it hit him: Kira. He looked at the princess… no… the ninja in form of the Princess before him. "You…!"
Kira, still in Lacus' form, smiled sinisterly.
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Back in the sanctuary, the 'Kira' among the pilgrims removed his bandages and revealed herself to be none other than Lacus. And she was calming Lamia, who wasn't told anything about the switch. "Sorry, Lamia-chan… but we need you to act convincingly." Lacus laughed nervously at her hyperventilating sister. 'But I can't believe it. Everything is proceeding exactly as he had foreseen down to the last detail… what on earth is going on in that head of his?' Lacus looked at the citadel she purified moments ago.
She was quite sure the lake of the sanctuary had become a whirlpool at this point. The water is currently being sucked into that one hole Kira had blasted at the side wall inside the lake. A hole which is connected to the chasm, hence the water flowed there… flooding the pitfall, destroying all the Inferno Knight at the bottom of the pit. At the same time, it also decreased the level of water significantly. And NOT just this sanctuary. But all 7 sanctuaries throughout the continent. The 7 lakes of the Sanctuary are connected to one another deep underground. So when one had a hole in the well's wall and get sucked in… the waters from all 7 lake would get sucked in as well… hence, the decrease in the water level, adjusting until the lakes are of the same level again.
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The pilgrims stared wide eyed at the giant crevice before them which is rapidly filled with water. Even Gino and Brera stopped fighting to observe this ungodly act of terraforming.
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The Lord looked at the unveiling and he began to grasped the picture, albeit still in pieces. "What on earth just happened?"
"Hell's cauldron was opened. That's what happened." Kira replied with a smirk.
"Hell's cauldron?"
"Several times now, I saw Genmas unburrowed themselves from the ground. Especially when that tyrant of yours can burrow and unburrow themselves so quickly, as shown during the purification." Kira began explaining. Lacus beautiful voice began to distort to Kira's voice. "When that happened, it occurred to me that the Genmas had made a tunnel network underneath the ground to speed their way. So this plain was supported and held together by mishmashing and fused corpses at the top crust… but underneath the remaining crust of genuine earth… there are a network of tunnels… the foundation of the ground which everyone's standing on is practically a Swiss cheese." Kira tapped the ground several times, remembering the time he spent, trudging through the tunnels when they go out Genma hunting for the Genma juice, planting explosive tags on key structures. "So all I need to do is infiltrate the tunnels, plant several explosives into several key support structures underneath… blow it up with some over the top pyrotechnic… coupled with the massive weight of your armies… and you get yourself a nice pitfall."
"And the Hades Gate maze? The Purification? What was all that for?"
"Oh, those two? It was just a little bit of fun really. Distractions. The lot of them. I highly suspected you've would've foreseen and therefore avoid ALL that. I'm counting on it actually." At this time, Kira had reverted back to his normal form. "No. I'm not stupid enough to try fighting you in formations nor to attempt to use an outdated technique to outwit you… the first generations of exorcists and other veteran knights through the ages… who had clearly done so more than once. Not when I only have 400 men at my disposal. The Invisible Gates of Hades were only a distraction see… all those fires… the true purpose is to destroy the upper crust of Genma soil… weakening it… but more importantly, they were there just to lit up the fuse… fuse that will blow up all the explosions I've set up in the support structure of the tunnel network underneath this battlefield. The explosions and the fires above was just to mask the sound of deep rumbling of the explosion setting off underground. When the foundations are gone… the Pilgrims… and then your knights… were walking on a fragile thin crust of land. It was okay when the pilgrims passed it… but…"
"But when my heavily armored Inferno knights passed through it… the ground collapsed under their sheer weight…" Yuki nodded.
"Didn't expect you to have reinforcements… but that's like increasing the weight fivefold… I guess that's what you would call blessing in disguise."
The Lifeless Lord looked at the water flooding and destroying his army. "But the water? Where did you… unless…"
"That? I dug a small hole that connect the tunnel network to the sanctuary, then plant some explosive that blasted a chunk of the Sanctuary's well's wall, making it paper thin. The water pressure and the shock of the earth being torn apart did the rest, and the weight of the water burst through it, flooding the pit. Now they're getting a nice, proper bath… of holy water." Kira smirked in satisfaction.
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The battlefield became really quiet. The only sound that can be heard was the distinct sound of water flowing into the pitfall, flooding and destroying all the Inferno knights trapped down there. With that said, Kira's clear voice was somewhat magnified by the total silence… and they were carried away by the wind…
Gino who heard everything from the sky gaped in horror. 'Whoever said this guy's scary when he's insane must be joking…' "He's infinitely scarier when sane…"
One of the knights amidst the pilgrims was trembling head to toe. "My Lord… today I made a vow… for once and for all… I will never become the enemy of Lord Shadow… If that was to be my fate I might just as well stretch my neck and let him behead me where I stand." 'Because how on earth can we defeat him? A man who can design all this?' And not just him. Every pilgrim was quaking in their boots, scared shitless at the prospect of having a man like this as your enemy.
Waltfeldt understood the horror that his subordinate felt all too well, for he couldn't help to not feel a cold chill of fear coruscating through his spine. With just 400 men, he was able to defeat an army of 10,000 undead… and they have little to no losses! He knew the boy was a genius… but this is beyond anything he had ever imagined.
And then, the ground suddenly rumbled again.
"What now?"
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"Even so… doing something like this, desecrating the Sanctuary Lake… you practically destroyed it… if word of this ever get out… the Empire will be furious."
"Like I give a flying fuck what they think." Kira growled. "Just for your information… the Priestess of this Pilgrimage once tried to destroy the Pilgrimage Tradition, having a wonderful idea of killing herself, unleashing a bio bomb that would make this island completely inaccessible for the foreseeable future. That was a marvelous idea, except the fact it would kill me along the way… otherwise… I would've killed her myself."
The human part of Yuki that still remained couldn't help to feel something, hearing such a blatant declaration of hatred for the empire from his own adoptive son. "…is there something wrong with the way we raised you… never imagined you'll turn into… this."
"Oh I assure you… you and Lady Lennore did an excellent job. But the one thing you two failed to teach me is loyalty and love for the empire." Kira sighed. "I mean you tried… I didn't take."
"Pity." Lord Ray pulled out his sword. "And Hao? How did you trick him into capturing you… instead of the Princess?"
"Asakura Hao… a renowned Seimei class onmyouji, said to rival the first seimei, Abe no Seimei." Kira nodded. "I highly doubt you had seen Purification as too big of a threat. Even if I had performed the sanctuary I highly certain that you will be able to avoid it. So how to gain your attention and made you think… that our purification… is a threat? So all I had to do… is strengthen the purification itself." Kira lifted his left arm, remembering when he gave Lacus that enormous amount of Spiritual energy, courtesy of Jorm. "I do know Onmyouji has a way to see one's spiritual energy. I gave a lot of it to Lacus… she used it up for the stronger than normal purification. Thusly, even if the purification still failed to do any proper damage… it would still make an impression."
"Enough impression… to bait me… to try to silence the purification by taking out the priestess out of the equation… which is going as you had planned. The Purification will usually carry a trace of the priestess' spiritual energy… Hao recognized the energy, and tracked it to its source, searching for those who had them. Lacus performed the purification using the spiritual energy that you've given her… she used it all up, while you, being the true source, still have some remaining. And for good measure you disguise yourself as the princess… fooling Hao into taking you here…" Yuki finally get the full picture. He had been read from square one. From the beginning Kira had known every action he will take: sacrificing the first regiment to test the enemy, using the second to surround him, using Tyrants to escape the purification… and finally, the secret reinforcements of Inferno Knights he had prepared… nothing escapes his prediction. But one thing doesn't really clicked in. "But… by letting Hao kidnapped you here, I fail to see the purpose of this action other than putting you under my mercy… which I no longer have."
"Well… you'll be surprised to know that… right now… I'm not your match." Kira pulled out a… a light grey haro, with one red eye of the left, Lea. But it's… smaller… about one half smaller than Lacus' normal Haros. "I'm a beacon. A target."
Yuki looked at the small haro with confusion. "Beacon?"
At the same time, back to the pilgrims…
Torii also dropped something on top of Waltfeldt.
"Hm?" Waltfeldt looked at the small ball and picked up. It's a grey haro. Identical in size and shape with the one Kira currently held in his hand, with a red eye on the right, Rea. "What?"
"TORIII!" Torii chirped as loud as he can, signaling Lacus on the sanctuary.
Hearing the chirp, Lacus was reminded on the last conversation she and Kira had, right after Kira transferred the spiritual energy to her.
"Mind if I ask you one thing?"
"Yes?"
"How did you switch Shiki right under my nose?" Kia looked at Lacus.
"I don't see how it's important right now?"
"I beg to differ." Kira lifted the Katana. "I'll have you know… you have made a VERY bad impression to Shiki. She'll be delighted, as she told me, to taste your blood on the edge of her blade. But… she described the feeling of when she was kidnapped by you as a… an exhilarating plunge… and that she, in fact… had remained in my keeping until I left the perimeters of the sanctuary. I kinda understand that part for the choice of timing." Kira shrugged. "When someone walked out from Heaven to hell… there's a… crushing feeling of loss. You kinda expected that the feeling of loss I will feel when the theft occurred will be masked by the feeling of loss I feel when I walked out of the sanctuary… but my bond with Shiki was deeper, hence how I begin suspecting of the theft. Which leaves only one question…" Kira glared at Lacus. "How. Did. You. Do. It?"
Lacus sighed and then chortled playfully. "What will you give me in return?"
"You tell me how, or I will let Shiki tear you apart in your own tent." Kira cracked his knuckles and menacingly showed Shiki. He has no time for jokes.
"Oh. Okay." Lacus feigned horror. "Hold on to this." Lacus placed Lea on Kira's hand while holding Rea in her hand. And then, she introduced another Haro, brown bronze in color. "This… is Lera." And then Lacus began swaying left and right. "Haroharoha Roharo… Haro-haro warp!" Lera opened her mouth in response.
And all the sudden, Kira was sucked into Lea, and Lacus was sucked into Rea. The twin haros opened their mouth, and a pair of beams fly out from their mouths to Lera, who reflected it into the opposite sides, all in one heartbeat, and then Kira was standing right where Lacus was standing earlier, and vice versa. Technically… they just switched. (AN: the same principle of satellite phone sending transmission… only they send people this time… you know.) "There. Satisfied?"
"Oh very." Kira's eyes gleaming with mischievousness. "Just one more question… how far is the effective range of this spell?"
"Haroharoha Roharo… Haro-haro warp!" Lacus cast the spell once again.
Waltfeldt was sucked into Rea, and likewise, Kira was sucked into Lea. The back of the fused samurai suit was forcibly torn off as the rest were carried along with the wearer as he was sucked into the small haro. Lea and Rea respectively sent a pair of beams towards Lera, who was floating above the battlefield. Like a satellite, Lera relayed back the beams to the receivers, that being the opposite sides of the senders, Lea to Rea, Rea to Lea, instantaneously. And then, Kira appeared out of Rea, right before the shocked pilgrims, still wearing the busted Samurai insulation suit, while on the other end, Lea spit Waltfeldt out on the Meteor's throne, much to his shock.
Yuki stared dumbfounded as his protégé got replaced with Andrew Waltfeldt, the Desert Tiger. But the person in question seems to be as confused he is. "Excuse me… Yuki… could you… could you please tell me what just happened? That Kid didn't tell me anything…"
Yuki had to dumbly rub his chin and explained short: "Ummm… short version? I just got suckered by my protégé into fighting you."
"Oh. I see." And with that, Waltfeldt sent a bone crushing punch straight to Yuki that sent the Knightmaster flying off his chariot.
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Kira tore off a piece of cloth and use it to cover his face as he also cast off the insulation suit.
"Lord Shadow! What…" The knights were confused out of their wits when their Hakutenkun was suddenly sucked into their princess' toy and then spit out their benefactor in exchange. At this point, they were too confused to be surprised of anything.
"Explanation can wait." Kira quickly readied himself for battle and pulled out Shiki. Likewise, Lowe also pulled out Gerbera. And then, the ground rumbled again.
Lowe looked at Kira in horror. "What is this? Another one of your ploys?"
"No… just some knights that doesn't seem to know when to die."
Suddenly, a massive demonic arm made of lava dripping magma burst out of the crevice and sank its claws to the ground. With that leverage, the glowing Spirit of Fire pulled itself out of the crevice, more fiery, and angry, than ever. Its initially blank green eyes showed a ferocious monstrous black slit at the center while its mouthless face dissolved, revealing an open mouth filled with rows of razor sharp teeth of varying sizes and lengths. On its shoulders, Ace and Sabo stood at the ready while Hao floating calmly at the heart of his massive Shikigami. All of them survived the flash flood of the sanctuary water by hiding in the bowels of the Spirit of Fire, which, as Hao noted earlier, is immune to the purifying effects of the Sanctuary.
The shadows behind the onlookers lengthened to a blur as the gigantic flaming demonic being stood taller and taller over them. As if on cue, a flaming man bird crash landed near Kira. Gino quickly help himself up as he looked at the opposition in the sky, where Brera menacingly glared at the pilgrims. In his hand, there's a peculiar looking katana that strangely resemble…
"Shiki?" Kira blinked.
"I had him." Gino squawked angrily. "But then he used the remnants of the Doppelganger from before… and it turned into an exact replica of your Shiki, Lord Shadow."
"Okay." Kira tapped the Exorcists at the shoulder for doing so well, so far. "Good job Gino. I'll take it from here."
Kira, Gino and Lowe looked up just as Ace and Sabo jumped down from their spot, with the S.O.F. quickly followed in tow.
"Let's DO THIS!" Lowe roared.
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Sengoku Period:
The Founding of Orb Part 1
After the disastrous defeat of the Imperial Navy after the Japanese' breakthrough, the mortal ministers of the Empire, broken and humiliated, bowed before the Oni emperor asking for help to smite back the enemy. They get an even bigger insult to their injury when they found out the Empire had decided to even humble themselves and broker a deal with the Samurais. The Emperor, impressed upon seeing the power displayed by the Samurais and quickly recognized weary souls in need of something to fight for. A cause worthy of their service. In return for resources that the people of Japan needed badly, the Tokugawa government will provide the Empire with the service of the samurais. The blockade of the Empire Naval fleet is now being systematically pulled back, replaced with Japanese navy, which rapidly expanded thanks to the virtually unlimited resources poured in by the Empire, under direct supervision by the Emperor himself, but only until the damage of the Sengoku period was recovered. After which, the Emperor dictate they must earn their keep. A notion that the proud hearted Samurais accepted. After all, they refuse to be under the pity or mercy of some other foreign power.
And so the Japan Island remained in isolation, albeit for an entirely different purpose. The whole Japan is, in a sense, an island sized barrack, specifically geared towards the 'production' of the infamous Samurai warriors. Several ports remained open for trade with foreign countries, but foreign visitors are initially disallowed to leave those cities, under the threat of death. With little unique resources that they can offer to the rest of the world, Japan can only offer one commodity: their battle tested veteran warriors. Under the logic of the Samurais are a 'commodity' (in literal sense), the ability to support and feed these Samurais became a measurement of one's wealth. And thus only those who can afford to hold vast lands to plant crops in order to provide the food for their warriors can gathered them together to flock under one Shogunate and employ Samurais' services. Thus, during that time, the Japan's aristocracies are Shogun Warlords, who happened to rule large fiefdom… and shrewd Land Owners.
The Shinobis, on the other hand, having divided themselves into clans and villages, had also developed a system where they employ their services to the highest bidder, and some Samurais roam outside the borders of the land of the rising sun as mercenary for hire. Turns out, hiring Samurais and Shinobis became the rage throughout the world. But the Samurais' pride differentiated them with the local mercenaries. Monetary gain is not always the main reason for these Samurais to serve their masters. Sometimes it's for honor, sometimes for personal quest. It's not uncommon to hear stories of how a Samurai turned his back on his master when he felt his personal honor was stained or a samurai fought for their master to the death just for a measly spoonful of rice. Whatever their motives, the Samurais and Shinobis are used for various purposes: hired muscle, spies, dirty wet-work, bodyguards (these samurais are known as Yojimbo), or sometimes symbol of status. It's not even uncommon when an entire Shogunate offered up their service. Suddenly, Shogunates can be found everywhere, both in Japan and in other countries. Samurais and their Katanas suddenly became an everyday sight.
At first, this brought prosperity to the people of Japan, uplifting them from a small downtrodden country into a prospering nation. However, over time, several Shoguns began to feel disgruntled and undermined. For their part, they began to see that with the meddling of the White Emperor, the Supreme Shogun had become nothing more but a puppet ruler. Worse for them, the Shoguns also began to lose power. Where they once were rulers, now they became nothing more but mercenary lords. Their honor suddenly had price tags. Several Samurai Shogunates began to rise up in protest, preparing for a rebellion in secret. One side, the Shogunates who wished to restore the previous order, where they still rule as the true masters of the country. But on the opposition, there also those who refused to return to the time of the Shogunate rule. They've seen how the rule of the warlords is what led the Japanese into constant self destructive war. Japan had recovered all thanks to benevolence of the Emperor, and these progressive minded people felt Japan under the Emperor's rule is better than the rule of warlords. Combine this with people who are dissatisfied with the rule of the current Supreme Shogun, both sides are equal in power. But at this point, the Samurais has been spread allover the world. Worse off, they are far more powerful when one compared them to their predecessor during the Sengoku period. So when the war finally erupted, it erupted in a worldwide scale, and it was far more destructive than anything that precedes it. Countries were torn apart in a battle between superhumans, with the entire planet, in land, sea, and even air became the battleground.
Gratefully, the war was shorter than the Sengoku period. In a single generation, the war was ended, with the defeat of the Shoguns. This saw the end of the Tokugawa period, the destruction of most of the existing Shogunates inland and overseas, and the replacement of the government to that ruled by the Emperor with the Meiji Restoration. When the civil war was finally over, the isolation of Japan was also ended. Everyone can now enter or leave Japan as easily as a traveler moving from one nation to another. But the world has been scarred by the terror of the Samurais, and they become an unwelcome sight in most parts of the world. Samurais were prosecuted and systematically hunted down, one by one (literally, since an army of them were pretty impossible to deal with… at the time… and even now).
However, this is occurring exactly as the Emperor had foreseen. The Emperor had never planned to reduce the Samurais into muscles for hire. No, he had greater plans for these fierce warriors. The war had culled their numbers, reducing to but a little select few. And these few are survivors. They are strong and wise enough to elude the prosecution of the Samurais. The Emperor then gathered for himself 7 small Shogunates and 5 Shinobi minor clans. A deal was made between the two. None knows what sort of deal was struck, of what had been exchanged, but it was known that in return to whatever the Emperor had given them, the 7 Shogunates and 5 Shinobi clans declared absolute loyalty to the Emperor. And they became his personal army and retinue. Not long after, the Emperor decided to withdraw from the ruling of his empire completely, and fade away from all knowledge. He resolved to spend his years living a life of wandering, together with his new retinues. Meanwhile, the age of Samurais, in the public eye, has finally come to an end. And these warriors are now considered urban legend at best, mythological nonsense at worst. Though in reality, nothing can be further from the truth. For the longest period of time, away from the public eye, the first 12, the last of the Samurais and Shinobis, followed the Emperor, wandering from place to place, forever in hiding and mimicry. The Emperor's incredible powers coupled with the Shinobis' expertise in stealth ensured none can perceive them even when they're standing right in front of them. Legend began to abound across the world of the Secret Wandering of an invisible army. But none can proof whether this army really exist, and that legend simply… fade away.
The Emperor's secret wandering took the last samurais into a journey across the entire breadth of the Great Empire, to the farthest reaches of the world: To the brightest parts of the earth… and even the darkest depths of the most infinitesimal dark corner. Even in peaceful empires, conflicts still arise. Lords who get too much power and attempted a dangerous coup. A massive horde of invading savage bandits and corsairs. The Samurais and Shinobis were sent to secretly deal with the worst that normal law enforcement unit can't handle. Or sometimes, in several cases, to deal with the law enforcer themselves, if they have become horrifyingly corrupt. All this was dealt with in deathly silence and stealthy efficiency.
Meanwhile, as the world changes around them, they are scarcely ever aware of the Samurai's existence. As they journey onward their numbers also began to grow. The Samurais became ever more grizzled; the Shinobis skills were further honed and improved with each battle they endured. Junior Bushis had long since proven themselves in battle and they have been promoted to Samurais. Samurais had advanced to an even higher rank. Genins had become veteran Jounins. These people have also grown wise enough to not rely completely on Samurais and Shinobis. They've learned to swallow their pride by letting several outdated tradition to vanish, at the same time, they began accepting new ideas, radical concepts, developing new skills to combat different threats such as the spiritual way of the Onmyoji and Ashigaru's gun slinging. The Emperor, either purposefully, or unexpectedly, also pitted his samurais with the best warriors from other parts of the world if only to enrich their experience. Trading shots with the speedy Mongolian Mounted Archers-later snipers, surviving a rain of shells from the Russian Super-Tanks, and commence a friendly but fierce mass brawls with the Scandinavian berserkers, to name a few. The result, just as the Emperor had hoped: they have come to learn that one don't have to be Japanese or possess the Curse of Izanami to make a good samurai. And so, unlike their isolationist predecessors, they are more than welcome when other people of different race wish to become part of their army and learn the Bushido or the Nindo.
They also came across several of their fellow kin who survived the samurai hunt in exile, the Kabukimonos, Rounins, even the mighty Yamabushis and Sages. Some of them were content to stay the way they are, others were interested to join this increasingly large crowd of their fellow kinsman. The small wandering army that once began with 7 minor Shogunates and 5 small Shinobi sects suddenly became a massive military multinational force that can rival any army in the world. Over time, the army had also produced Samurais who are not actual Japanese, and yet they had proven time and again that they've earned the name and proudly called themselves Samurai. Once he saw that his final creation's strength is on the sure self sustaining path of reaching their intended purpose without his guidance, the Emperor finally realized it is time for him to truly depart these lands.
At that point, the White Emperor was officially the last Oni remaining in the world. From the very beginning, he had foreseen that the time of the eternal Onis were ending. The age of mortals has arrived. However, fearing what would become of their mortal progeny when they left, the Emperor also foresaw that a dark era of unending war and constant turmoil is coming. As the Emperor had mournfully learn, humans are just as capable of great acts of courage and righteousness, as they are capable of great horror and devilry that could rival even the demons. With the Onis are on a slow but sure path of extinction, it is up to humans to deal with the future threats. Who then will protect humanity from the unending darkness that will surely come in the future, near and far? That's where these Last Samurais came in. They are the Emperor's final creation and gift to mankind. Before he finally depart this world, never to be seen again, the Emperor gave the Samurai one last order, which is the culmination of everything he worked for: to fight and live for themselves. To do what they feel to be right, and uphold it to the very end with the same fervor they used to defend their honor. A very cryptic last order, but the Emperor, with all his wisdom and complex preplanning, is unlikely to leave such order lightly. And time will prove him right.
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I didn't pick Brera Sterne (Macross Frontier) and Gino Weinberg (Code Geass) at random. Both had the same voice actor (seiyuu) with Kira. I think it's pretty interesting (one from Advanced, one from Genma… still looking for one from Naturals and Orb …maybe… snicker… snicker, snicker…).
The Inferno Knights' role is like Death Knights from the Warcraft. Except that if the Death Knights are ice themed ((cough)LichKing(cough)), Inferno Knights are fire themed.
And I think you guys should understand now, the Samurais are the Gundams of this series. (duh) That's why I depicted the Samurais to be so powerful here.
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