CH12: The Siege of Kyoto II

The purple mist approached Yasaka threateningly, despite being an inanimate object from Georg. Marisa scowled, completely out of range to even escape with Yasaka.

As the purple mist finally engulfed Yasaka, she burst into blue flames, leaving nothing but thin air. Seals and talismans attached to her flopped onto the ground uselessly, no longer in effect.

"What!?"

Georg's eyes widened in utter shock.

"Superhuman [Soaring En no Ozunu]!"

From the front of the shrine burst another nine-tailed fox. She crashed into Georg, defense lowered from the complete surprise of Yasaka literally disappearing, but not into his mist.

He grunted in pain, forced backwards as someone literally spun in a wheel against him. The human mage coughed out blood as the tails slapped against his face over and over. Ribs cracked and he could practically feel the internal bleeding happening inside until his attacker felt fit to bounce off of him and land gracefully in front of Patchouli. Georg meanwhile, laid on the ground flat, looking utterly pathetic compared to the scholarly look he gave off earlier. His spectacles were broken, and mage gown and gakuran were completely torn apart in various places from being struck.

She wore a white dress with purple cuffs and a collar. Down the middle of her dress was a blue tabard with white prints, white and blue footwear, along with a pink two tailed hat that covered her fox ears. However, her outfit did nothing to hide the nine, golden, fox tails behind her back.

"R-Ran!?" Marisa shouted. "How the hell!? What're ya' doin' here!?"

Cao Cao's eyes narrowed at the newcomer. "I get it now. Whoever I was fighting was an illusion all this time. So real that I couldn't tell the difference. I should've known when I struck whatever it was, it shimmered. I thought it was a trick of the eye or your Senjutsu blocking some of my attacks, but it was my spear disrupting the illusion. Very, very clever."

Ran Yakumo, Shikigami of the Sage of Gensokyo, scoffed.

"Of course. Your opponent was a nine-tailed fox. You should've known how famous we are for our tricks and illusions."

"What…" Georg coughed as he lifted his head, barely able to get his words out. "Doesn't make sense was how you were able to make Cao Cao's attacks real and solid against your illusion. No mere illusion can do that."

"I don't believe I have to tell you that." Ran coldly replied. "You're outnumbered now. Give up."

Each member of the Hero Faction glared at her defiantly, but made no move to counterattack immediately.

"Marisa." Ran called out.

"Y-Yeah?" The witch sputtered, shocked that Ran was here of all places.

"This man, Georg, has a barrier around the shrine, surrounded by his mists. You're one of the only ones here capable of breaking it without setup required. He's weakened considerably, so his mist outside the barrier is disappearing. Can you do it?" Ran asked politely, still keeping her eye on the combatants.

"Easily. I didn't know there was a barrier, but I can take it down, no sweat." Marisa confidently stated.

"It's not fun to leave me out, but I admit, it was interesting seeing what two nine-tailed foxes could do together against Longinus level Sacred Gears." A more familiar voice came from inside the shrine.

"Yasaka! You're okay!" Marisa breathed an enormous sigh of relief while floating into the air.

"Of course. Don't you know? Foxes are masters of illusions. With two, we can deceive anyone." Yasaka mischievously smiled before turning towards the humans. "How did it feel to be attacking nothing but constructs of our making?

Cao Cao and Perseus leapt near Georg to protect him as the human mage slowly took out a vial and poured it onto his wounds. Within seconds, the attack dealt by Ran was completely healed.

"It's not over yet. I won't be humiliated like this!" Georg snarled, raising his mist in front of him to have two people emerge from it.

"Siegfried! Jeanne! Come!"

As if on cue, a blonde haired swordswoman and an exorcist drew their swords.

"Heh, we're back for round two. That's alright. I didn't want to go back empty handed with a defeat." Siegfried commented, already prepared by revealing his balance breaker.

"What happened out there Sieg, Jeanne? Where's Connlan?" Cao Cao asked, looking at the cuts on Siegfried's exorcist coat.

Siegfried shrugged nonchalantly. "The youkai outside were stronger than I thought. I'll admit that we didn't stand a chance against them once they brought out someone stronger. I've already used my phoenix tear, so I'm fine. Jeanne wasn't hurt much. As for Connlan, I don't know. We left him against one of the crow tengu."

"Comet [Blazing Star]!"

Marisa interrupted, shouting out her attack as a yellow trail burst from the tail end of her broom. A yellow aura began surrounding her, covering her entire figure and expanding outwards. She started further from the barrier, before accelerating at her highest speed possible. The outline she gave indeed, gave the impression of the declared attack, a blazing star racing through the night sky. Despite the intense heat and light surrounding her figure, it caused her no harm as she crashed right into the barrier.

A purple barrier popped into view like invisible glass as the high speed comet collided into it. The barrier under such pressure was completely unable to repel Marisa's charge and shattered into pieces.

"That's going to put us on a time limit Cao Cao. We can't stay here for long or we'll be completely surrounded. I don't have enough time to set up another barrier quickly." Georg informed him, stepping into the middle of the formation of his allies.

Siegfried immediately activated his Sacred Gear Balance Breaker, creating his four extra silver limbs, each holding a demonic sword. "Cao Cao, what's our plan?

"We don't have much time, but as long as we get either the purple haired magician or Yasaka, our objective will be completed. Georg will focus on defending us while the rest will blitz our way to them. We'll use everything we have in one last attempt." Cao Cao analyzed, looking at Yasaka and her allies closely.

"They're still gonna fight?" Marisa asked, taking an aerial position above Patchouli.

"But the quality of their powers are strong for humans. Those swords that Siegfried has are not ordinary swords at all." Ran espoused. "Each of them have special abilities, but without seeing them, I cannot say for sure. We need only to defend Yasaka-sama and Patchouli-san, and the likelihood they will target both is less than 23%. Based on current knowledge, Yasaka-sama has a 42% chance be targeted while Patchouli-san has a 47% chance to be targeted."

"That's kinda even. It's a four on five against us." Marisa trailed off, hakkero in hand ready with another spell at her lips.

"We aren't without allies, Marisa-san. " Yasaka smiled, standing confidently. "Azusa! Reveal yourself now!" Yasaka ordered as crow tengu leapt out of the trees, taking into the skies and completely surrounding the remaining Hero Faction members. "Don't let these humans escape and press our advantage!"

Cao Cao frowned as the tides turned against his group.

"Harass them as they approach us, but protect yourselves first and foremost." Yasaka ordered as she prepared fox fire on her hands and feet.

"The plan doesn't change. We charge forward." Cao Cao remained determined, dropping into a ready stance. "Siegfried, you and I will lead the way. Jeanne, Perseus, Georg, keep us from getting flanked from behind."

"Sure, sure."

Siegfried ran in first, side by side with Cao Cao as they rushed towards the Gensokyo and Youkai team. From behind, Perseus, Georg, and Jeanne followed in formation.

Azusa came in first from behind, swiping at Georg from behind with a wakizashi. Perseus parried her sword with his shield and slashed at her. However, Azusa's air mobility allowed her to propel herself backwards as another of her subordinates moved in to claw at him. He sidestepped and pulled back to allow Jeanne to take his place and stab the tengu. However, another tengu intervened and knocked the rapier out of the way with their dive before maneuvering out of the way.

From the front, Yasaka let loose a surge of fox fire towards their attackers while Ran clapped her hands together, nine-tails pointed at the humans.

"Fox Tanuki Youkai Laser!"

Each tip of her brilliant, golden tails shone white before firing thin lasers at them. As soon as one left, another formed and launched, similar to a gatling gun spewing bullets with no care for aim besides pointing in the general direction.

Siegfried leapt in front of the group.

"Dainslef!" He plunged his sword into the ground, creating huge pillars of ice from the ground. Ice met fire and laser, melting in an instant as he pushed more of his power to create more pillars to fend off the assault.

Meanwhile, Cao Cao pushed forward, twirling his spear to either deflect Ran's attack or sidestep Yasaka's fires with deft agility.

"Fire Metal Sign [Saint Elmo's Pillar]!"

The magician of the Scarlet Devil also joined in the attack, launching spheres of fire towards the ground, causing massive pillars of fire conversely to Siegfried's pillars of ice.

"Balmung!"

Siegfried's back arm cut through the air, launching wind slashes that slashed Patchouli's attack in half.

"Stream lasers!" Marisa intervened, forming several lasers next to her and hurling them.

However, they missed as Siegfried and Cao Cao both avoided her attack with almost seemingly little effort. Perseus then jumped in front, aiming his shield towards them.

"Aegis Mineralization!"

A beam of light from the head on his shield collided against Marisa's laser, exploding in midair as he too, joined the front line with his allies.

"Princess Tenko –Illusion-"

The humans saw more than heard Ran murmur, though nothing visually had occurred in front of them.

"Another illusion!" Cao Cao warned, though now that he was close enough to attack, he could not hold back lest the Youkais and Gensokyo residents fight back. "It's not ready, but I have no choice! Balance Breaker! Polar Night Longinus Chakravartin!"

"Magic Sign [Stardust Reverie]!"

Marisa let loose a spray of multi-colored stars, not meant to damage and more for distraction and information. In the onslaught of such a dense attack by Marisa still, Cao Cao would be forced to unveil his abilities.

"Maniratana Sphere!" Cao Cao called forth a gold, light fueled halo behind him, along with a non-distinct white orb. The orb then shone brilliantly and one of several of Marisa's signature attack was redirected right back.

"Water Sign [Jellyfish Princess]!" Patchouli countered quickly, forming an enormous bubble over the group to absorb Marisa's deflected attack.

The stars collided against the bubble harmlessly, splashing into it before dissipating into motes of small blue light.

"That bubble won't do anything against Nothung!" Siegfried arrogantly stated, dashing ahead to slash the bubble apart. To his surprise, the bubble held however.

He could visibly see Patchouli give a cold smile before raising her hand into the air, grimoire floating with pages fluttering.

"Sun Moon Sign [Royal Diamond Ring]!"

An enormous yellow ring flashed into existence behind her group just as the bubble protecting them was lowered. The halo, much more massive than Cao Cao's, then began spinning rapidly while humming. From the edges of it, yellow lasers emerged from the ring, thin at first before quickly expanding into it's supposed maximum size.

Georg quickly stepped in, raising an ice barrier to defend his team, unable to pull his defensive mist, Dimension Lost, forward as it was too busy defending his allies in the rear from Azusa's group.

"Grrk!" He grimaced from the intense heat, his icy barrier melting almost in an instant as he kept rebuilding it against the lasers.

He would not be able to hold. By his calculations, he'd only last for another 2 seconds before the strength of Patchouli's magic would overwhelm his raised defenses.

Two seconds was all Siegfried and Cao Cao needed.

"You're ours! Strongest of the Demonic Swords, Gram, now!" Siegfried leapt into the air, fully intending to cleave Patchouli apart.

He was so close! He was within striking distance of this powerful magician! For all her magical strength, she should've been defeated at the first sign of a forced melee!

Patchouli's figure completely disappeared into thin air, leaving behind only a static.

Unable to stop his momentum, Siegfried was utterly shocked when instead of hitting nothing, he struck something invisible.

Whatever he hit emerged into his view, revealing Ran Yakumo coldly smiling at him, firmly and almost effortlessly holding him back.

"Kokkuri-san's Contract."

Her tails stretched and began lunging towards him as if having minds of their own. Siegfried attempted to leap back in order to prevent himself from being stabbed.

However, they came at him too quickly and his six swords could not feasibly deflect nine tails. Each one felt stronger than the material of his own swords, let alone his own superhuman strength.

Three of her tails stabbed through him and he grunted in pain. They didn't hit vital spots with one being on one of his arms and two on his stomach and shoulder, but they were painful nonetheless.

Ran began glowing, an orange intimidating aura forming around her as the visage of an enormous nine-tailed fox came into view behind her. Its fierce eyes seemed alive and he could've sworn it growled, judging him as it leaped forward majestically to engulf his entire being.

"Siegfried!" Cao Cao shouted in alarm. "Assaratana!"

The orb behind him glowed again and rushed to Siegfried, winking Siegfried out of existence before he was overcome by Ran's trap, just barely saving his ally. Danger senses warned him of someone flanking him from the sides. He swung his longinus at seemingly nothing, yet it collided against something solid, pushing him back.

Yasaka materialized, hands and arms glowing with fox fire, eyes intense with the full desire to kill him.

Making a snap judgment, he poured all his strength to push Yasaka back.

"Assaratana!" He repeated his previous skill, teleporting him and his group to safer refuge at the base stairs of the shrine.

"So this is the power of two nine-tailed foxes…" Georg whispered, fear finally beginning to creep into his voice. "This might be the time for a retreat. One was bad enough, but with two magicians on their own territory, and two nine-tailed foxes, I don't think we can win Cao Cao. We're running low on phoenix tears and we're down three members, Leonardo, Connlan, and Heracles."

Cao Cao remained silent for a while before acknowledging his second-in-command with a nod.

"This battle is lost. We'll be retreating." Cao Cao declared unhappily, laying his spear casually back on his shoulder as the halo and orb next to him faded. "Victory is your's, Youkai Faction. We didn't think there'd be two nine-tailed foxes. Though, isn't that strange? You may be secretive, but power from people like you should've been discovered much sooner."

He pointedly looked at Ran, Patchouli, and Marisa who all gave him varying expressions of either coldness or confidence against him.

"We're leaving everyone. We can't afford to lose too many of us here." Cao Cao concluded as his various team responded with various manners of facial features.

Siegfried frowned, but nodded his head in agreement as did Jeanne. Georg looked relieved while Perseus huffed a sigh of relief.

And with that, Georg's Dimension Lost mist engulfed the five of them and they disappeared into the night, nowhere to be seen.

Marisa floated back down slowly next to Patchouli, jumping off her broom and onto the remains of the shrine grounds.

"Phew, we won." She exhaled as Patchouli narrowed her eyes on her.

"That was obvious. Do you have anything else intelligent to say?"

The witch raised her hand in surrender. "Whoa, geez. Yer' in real mood, aren't cha?"

Patchouli didn't answer at first before replying. "I apologize Marisa. You didn't deserve that. This night has been hectic beyond belief."

"It's no big deal. It's been a big night for all of us." Marisa gave a disarming grin which Patchouli faintly smiled back to.

"Indeed. Well done everyone." Ran interjected, congratulating each of combatants. "This Hero Faction was much stronger than we expected. Their names are familiar to me, being descendants of heroes of time long past, though two of them were wielding weapons that should not exist."

"Nothung, Dainslef, Gram, Balmung. Each of these are demon swords. While I am not very well versed with them, they command considerable strength." Yasaka added, elegantly walking towards them. 'That's not even to mention the spear of Longinus."

"It's a real doozy. That spear was really somethin'." Marisa commented before turning towards Ran. "Anyway, why're you here Ran? Aya and Patchouli called us back, but I thought you were busy helpin' Yukari with the migration." She questioned, curious as to why someone like Ran was here in the first place.

"Yukari-sama is having Chen and Kasen-sama take care of it at the moment. Kasen-sama is also one of the other Sages of Gensokyo after all." Ran answered. "When Yukari-sama heard that the Youkai Faction was being attacked, she requested that I work together with Yasaka-sama on repelling them."

"And you couldn't tell us your plan?" Patchouli huffed, annoyed at being left out.

"Yukari-sama requested that I keep details of my intervention secret until needed." Ran replied, giving an apologizing look to both the magicians. "I'm very sorry, but it was her orders."

"Whatever. Meddlin' at the right time is Yukari's whole shtick anyway." Marisa huffed grouchily. "We won, and I guess that's all that matters. Let's clean up the rest of the Hero Faction in the main city and finish this."

xXx

Naoki grit his teeth as the Oni used his iron club to destroy several more houses. Collateral damage was rampant, but not unexpected from a foe of this caliber. There was a reason that Onis were considered the bosses of the tengu for such a long time before they left to the Underworld. He didn't expect to have to fight one at all, but loathe he'd be to shirk his duty now.

They'd gotten some good hits in and one of his soldiers had managed to stab the Oni in its eye, but the durability of an Oni was legendary amongst youkai. Even blinded, it still stood standing. Still, it looked to be on its last vestiges of strength.

He took a deep breath, centering himself as he prepared to unleash his move.

"Captain Naoki! Now!"

The captain of the White Wolf Tengu leapt into the air, bastard sword raised overhead.

"Super Life Risking Strike!"

In the corner of his eye, he could hear his comrades sniggering at him.

"What a lame sounding attack… As expected of Captain Naoki."

"He couldn't come up with something better…?"

"It's too easy to make fun of him."

His temples throbbed from instant irritation which he poured into his attack.

"Damn you! Shut up!" He glared at his compatriots. "And you! Die!"

He cleaved the Oni down the middle from the head to the feet. The Oni growled in pain from the frustration fueled attack and fell backwards. It crashed into the street, unmoving and eventually, fading away into nothingness.

Naoki looked to the others. While they had made fun of him before, they were still fighting off the Hero Faction in various areas. His side was winning, though he noted several of them throwing down flasks of purple mist, disappearing.

"Some manner of escape device?"

At this point, the battle became exceedingly one-sided for him. His forces now outnumbered the invading units and they began surrounding them. It was now only a matter of time before they won, or the Hero Faction fully retreated. For now, he would look around inner Kyoto to find any stragglers. As he began roaming, his guard still up in case there were ambushes, he spotted a man struggling to get up.

Dressed in a gakuran, which seemed to be a running theme with these people, he was clearly trying to reach into it to pull something. Initial impressions gave the sense that the man was extremely injured. Based on the jerky and very slow movements he had, it was even possible that his bones were broken. Similarly to others, he pulled out another vial of purple mist.

Naoki rushed over and placed his sword under the man's neck.

"Don't even think about it. Move an inch, and your life will be mine."

He froze, sunglasses covering his scared eyes at the bastard sword wielded effortlessly.

Naoki flicked the vial out of the man's hand and into the air. He then slashed upwards, unleashing a sword wave at it and shattering it.

The purple mist spread out, but was nowhere near large or close enough to now cover this enemy to allow him to escape.

"Yo! Naoki!" A voice called from above.

"Naoki-san."

Both Aya and Alice flew over to him and landed, looking at the rubble around him first before looking at the injured figure.

"Ahh, it's the guy I beat up pretty badly earlier. Eh… Connlan I think?" Aya scratched her head as if trying to remember the name of the insect she crushed.

"Yes. Connlan, Aya." Alice huffed in irritation at her antics. "It looks like the fight is over. Aya and I have cleaned up the remnants of the forces that we found in the city."

"What about the shrine?" Naoki inquired, looking over at the place in question.

"The mist is gone and the barrier that was keeping us out has disappeared. Our preparations from inside must've gone well." Alice gave a small smile. "From what I can see, we've won."

"Let us conduct another search throughout the area in case there are any left. Once we are done, we may reconvene at the shrine with Yasaka-sama to speak of our findings."

Both the millennium old tengu and puppeteer agreed, walking off together towards a direction while he went the other way. The city had been damaged, but at the very least, the youkai residents had been evacuated somewhere else. Many of them could already fit in amongst the humans as inanimate objects, or take human guises to better disguise themselves. There would be lots of temporary construction to make for residents and the night had yet to be over, but the worst of it was over for now.

xXx

Somehow, or even miraculously, the majority of the shrine had been kept intact. Meanwhile, the grounds and the immediately surrounding area had been utterly wrecked. Nonetheless, the entire Gensokyo team barring Reisen, along with Yasaka, Azusa, and Naoki had wanted to hold a debriefing with everyone as the major combatants. Each of them sat down on a cushion in a meeting room, looking grim despite the victory they had.

"Damage to the outer city is not irreparable, but it will take a considerable amount of time to fix." Naoki explained. "Living quarters and many shops have been destroyed."

Yasaka nodded. "Thank you Naoki. Azusa, any word on our spy?"

Azusa shook her head sadly. "Sorry Yasaka-sama. With the short amount of time we had, we couldn't find out whoever it was, if there was any. With how strong Dimension Lost is though, it wouldn't be unexpected for it to get through our barrier. It's a Longinus tier Sacred Gear after all."

"It is no concern. I was hoping if there was a spy, they'd reveal themselves to allow the Hero Faction through. We'll have to be on guard in the future." Yasaka smilled as Azusa bowed respectfully.

The Youkai Faction's leader turned to the Gensokyo team. "Let's start with the major threats that we discovered instead. Who would like to speak first?"

"I'd like to start Yasaka-sama." Ran raised her hand politely first. "The one named Siegfried. His powers were much stronger than I would expect a human to have. If I were to guess, based off what I've seen and felt, Siegfried's power is to double his strength for each arm he created when he activated his Sacred Gear, Twice Critical. His Balance Breaker, Chaos Edge Asura Ravage gave him four new arms in his back. In other words, because he has four new arms, he would have sixteen times the strength of a human." Ran explained, causing the others to look to both Alice and Ran in explanation.

"That would explain why he was able to cut apart my dolls so easily. Sixteen times the strength of a human wouldn't even be considered human anymore." Alice nodded, processing the power of the opponent she faced. "He was much faster than an average human as well."

"Based off observation, each of the swords he wielded were demonic swords of the highest tier. Against the average youkai, he would be considered one of the highest threats." Ran concluded with her hyper intelligence that allowed her to be Yukari's most trusted Shikigami.

"Naoki, Azusa. Please compile reports for each of these members to pass out to our standing forces. Leave a copy for the Gensokyo task force as well." Yasaka ordered.

The both of them nodded their heads silently.

"Then I'd like to talk about Georg and Cao Cao." Patchouli cut in. "Georg's Sacred Gear, Dimension Lost, doesn't appear to have any offensive capabilities. It can not only capture people within the mist, but seemingly teleport people from one mist to the next. Attacks that enter it disappear and I speculate that he simply redirects it to another safe area. As a defensive tool, it's on par with Suika's mist with some weaknesses."

"Another Longinus level Sacred Gear…" Yasaka murmured. "This so called Hero Faction is a force to be reckoned with."

"Georg himself is an excellent spellcaster. He knows the numerous disciplines of magic and his casting time is adequate. However, he overly relies on his Dimension Lost. Attacks that his mist cannot cover or that he cannot see, prevent Dimension Lost from sufficiently defending him." Patchouli stated slowly, allowing everyone to process the information. "As for Cao Cao, his spear is the Spear of Longinus, the spear that pierced Jesus Christ. It holds an incredible amount of holy magic, able to shoot light power. The wielder itself is extremely proficient with it and can even be called peak human strength. I do not believe he has fully mastered the spear given his statements about it being incomplete, but it also contains different powers. One of them being able to teleport whomever he chooses as long as the orb touches them. The other was able to redirect attacks entirely."

Marisa lowered her witch hat over her face embarrassingly. "I didn't think he'd be able to do that, okay?"

Patchouli paid her no heed. "Regardless, he's a very dangerous opponent."

"Yes. I coated my arms and legs with Senjutsu in order to prevent the holy attribute of it from damaging me, but I could still feel it through the Senjutsu. It's a weapon without compare." Yasaka supplemented, recalling and wincing when she traded blows with Cao Cao.

"Sounds like you got the stronger opponents then." Suika remarked, taking a swig of her gourd. "I only really took out the dragon that Alice was fighting. It wasn't even that tough. I donut it after a few punches. After that, I was gonna take on the Oni they had, but the tengu over there didn't want me to interfere, so I let 'em. Looked like he had it in control anyway."

"I did." Naoki almost puffed his chest in pride. "But the boy who summoned it. Leonardo, I believe his name was. Annihilation Maker is the only Sacred Gear I can think of that can summon monsters like that so quickly. Luckily, Aya-san interfered with further attempts to create another beast."

"Hehe." Aya scratched her head in slight embarrassment. "Well, he was just a kid. Other than summoning, he didn't look like a really big deal. He needed the others to protect him. I took on another guy that we took prisoner, Connlan. He was pretty weak overall. He had powers over shadow that let him control attacks from it, but it's range is bad and just slow. I didn't hear what his Sacred Gear was though."

"When it comes to you Aya, everything looks slow."Suika jested as Aya laughed.

"Lastly was my other opponent, Jeanne." Alice interrupted. "If Siegfried was power over speed, then Jeanne would be speed over power. She looked more fragile and I was able to keep her at bay, but she summoned a dragon. If it was just her and her dragon, I likely could have taken them on and won. Not that any of them were slow by any means, but each of their durability for humans were strong. The dragon emanated holy power as well, which is more effective against youkai. If I had to compare, Siegfried was the bigger threat."

Each member remained silent as the information was taken in.

"What could they want the power of the leylines for?" Patchouli inquired. "Wanting power is usually backed by a purpose. They wouldn't fight a battle they had a distinct chance of losing without some kind of overreaching goal."

"Who knows?" Suika shrugged indifferently. "But pickin' a fight with the Youkai Faction means pickin' a fight with all of us."

"But the Hero Faction is just one aspect of the Khaos Brigade. Could it be possible that they will attack us as well?" Alice asked, turning towards Azusa.

The Kyoto tengu shrugged her shoulder in surrender. "Not sure. I stole information from the Grigori about them. The Grigori aren't affiliated with them, so I think they're looking for the Khaos Brigade too. Just getting this was hard enough."

"We only need to protect ourselves long enough for the citizens who would like to transition to Gensokyo do so. Everyone has done a phenomenal job." Yasaka comforted, smiling at her subordinates. "We will need to determine how to prevent the Hero Faction from entering so freely again, even if we've beaten them back for now. Considering we have enough information regarding the three major factions along with the Gensokyo scouting team in Kuoh to keep an eye on the surrounding area, I believe we can allocate more to finding out about this Khaos Brigade."

"We can have our Kuoh team look for more information about the Khaos Brigade. I guess our relationship with the devils might work out pretty well!" Marisa commented, placing her arms behind her head.

"Make no mistake, I'm concerned about your contact with the devils. It may work out in our favor this time, but I would like actions like this to at least have my consideration. It is I who has to handle the politicking after all." Yasaka crossed her arms unhappily.

"Sorry, sorry. We'll be more careful!" Suika apologized, laughing boisterously almost disregarding Yasaka's admonishment.

Still, Yasaka considered as the other emissaries of Gensokyo chastised Suika and Marisa, the Khaos Brigade was a real threat. If members of the Hero Faction were that powerful, what did other factions within Khaos Brigade have? Was the Hero Faction even the weakest? The strongest? The information regarding them was still so incomplete.

"Since everyone is here, there was something that I wanted to say before I forget. We were way too busy with preparations for the attack on us, so it wasn't relevant at the time, but it is now." Azusa took a more serious tone as she gained everyone's attention. "Information about the Khaos Brigade wasn't all I stole from the Grigori. My scouts and I found out that someone in the Grigori has been making moves against the church. I'm not really sure who, but it doesn't sound like the higher ups in the Grigori are aware of whoever it is."

"What do you mean? Speak plainly Azusa." Naoki pushed, brooking no nonsense in his tone.

"Some of the guards and exorcists in the church were killed and they stole some real powerful swords. But there was one repeating word on the reports I stole." Azusa explained, a frown marring her youthful face. "Excalibur."

"Excalibur? The sword of King Arthur Pendragon?" Patchouli questioned, looking for confirmation.

"That's right. My scouts tracked them, since it's kinda hard to miss holy energy moving through our territory for us. They're here in Japan and moving to Kuoh, actually."

"In legend, the sword of King Arthur was given back to the Lady of the Lake. Was this not the case?" Patchouli queried, cocking a curious eyebrow.

"That's the official case. In reality, the sword got broken into pieces and reforged into weaker swords that the Church now uses. They aren't anywhere near as powerful as the demonic swords Siegfried used, but still noteworthy enough to cause problems." Azusa answered, handing a stolen report to Yasaka.

"But that would restart hostilities between the three major factions. Kuoh is owned by the devils at the moment. Regardless if blame gets placed on the Grigori or the Church, if the devils find out the Excalibur fragments are in Kuoh, that would benefit nobody. What is the point of all this?" Naoki argued, unable to find a reason for these aggressive subterfuge.

"Regardless of the why, we cannot allow the three factions to fall into war. We are already weak enough as it is with our declining faith. Should war restart, we may end up in the crossfire. The monkey youkai and many of the tsukomogami have already finished migrating into Gensokyo. While we may be able to defend ourselves adequately for a time with the assistance of the Gensokyo Team, we would be hard pressed to survive against the likes of the Satans." Yasaka added, placing a hand under her chin to think of a solution. "I'd like to have the Kuoh Team…"

Marisa snickered childishly at their title.

"Protect Kuoh for now and the devils by extension. We need to prevent the possibility of war breaking out, or we may end up consumed by it. If any complications arise, contact me."

The nine-tailed fox shrine maiden didn't glare as she was too dignified to, but she came as close so it as possible towards Suika and Marisa.

"Alright, okay. We will!" Suika appeased, raising her hands in a surrendering fashion. "Only needed to hear it once ya' know."

Yasaka pointedly ignored that. "While you can protect them and still gather any information you can find on the Khaos Brigade, I'd like to reiterate that you keep any associations between us hidden. In the case war does break out, our land will be one of the first to be attacked for the powerful leylines of Kyoto if one wanted dominion over Japan. If a faction of humans was willing to enter our territory, it's not a far thought that the others would seek to target us for power."

"Big job huh? Yeah, we'll do our best." Marisa gave an enthusiastic thumbs up.

"Then I will trust you with that." Yasaka became appeased. "How you handle it will be up to you."

"We'll let Reisen know when we get back." Suika mentioned more to the magicians and Aya moreso than the others.

"Now, unfortunately, reconstructing the damage dealt to the inner shrine and inner Kyoto will take a while and I will have to direct it." Yasaka sighed tiredly before turning her gaze over to the Gensokyo residents. "Before we turn in, there is one more thing I'd like to say."

Several of them looked at each other, silently asking if they knew what she was talking about. Others met her eyes, awaiting her response.

"I thank you for your assistance. Had it not been for you, the emissaries of Gensokyo, I may have been lost to the Hero Faction." Yasaka respectfully bowed, as did Azusa and Naoki.

"That is quite alright." Ran bowed back politely. "You have fulfilled your end of the bargain of helping your citizens migrate over to Gensokyo. It is our agreement that we will protect you until that time ends."

"Yeah, no need ta' be so stiff." Suika beamed.

"Still, I'd like to express my gratitude." Yasaka insisted, raising her head. "I will continue doing what I can in Kyoto to keep the migration steady."

"Alice and I will continue working with Yasaka on disconnecting the leylines from her." Patchouli supplemented, unable to help smile ever so slightly.

"That's right, so leave Kyoto to Patchouli and I." Alice interjected as well. "Aya will serve as a nice bodyguard for us."

"Hey! If you want a bodyguard, just have Suika around." Aya argued, pouting her lips insultingly. "But yeah. Leave things to us around here. Keep world war three from breaking out, and we should have things wrapped up within…whenever the magicians finish."

"And Connlan. What are our plans involving him?" Alice asked.

"The Youkai Faction will imprison and interrogate him. Let us handle it for now." Yasaka answered, smiling at the others though they guessed she didn't have anything pleasant in mind for him.

"Think we've got our business all wrapped up then. Seems like a good place ta' stop." Suika speaking up, beaming once again at the camaraderie. "Us two plus Reisen will keep an eye out for whoever's movin' around in Kuoh. We'll head back tomorrow morning! Anybody up fer' drinking tonight?"

Several of the group groaned at Suika as she brought out her sake gourd, pointedly looking at Yasaka for permission.

xXx

"Connlan's interrogation huh? That sounds ominous." Marisa stated, arms around the back of her head as Alice walked her back to the train station.

The next morning had already passed into the afternoon. Guard rotations were implemented immediately to allow everyone adequate rest. Suika and Aya remained vigilant, and while many were asleep, just as many were alert as well in case of attack. The night had passed with no further incident.

"If I recall, Reisen and Remilia were the ones who handled the interrogations for us if they weren't already fighting." Alice pondered her memories. "Both of them weren't ones I would expect to interrogate."

Marisa shrugged. "Me neither. Patchy told me that Remi just threw whoever they got at Flan if they were way more resistant. Reisen, I'm not really sure what. Probably somethin' to go with her power over waves and insanity."

"That does sound effective, if rather crude." Her fellow magician commented. "Those years fighting during the Lunarian Invasion… They were more eventful than my years in Makai."

"Eventful, eh?" Marisa murmured, looking up at the sky wistfully. "Yeah, yer' right… Those times were tough..."

"Marisa?" Alice's tone was concerned for her immediately.

"I…" Marisa sputtered for a sec before shaking her head. "No, I'm fine Alice."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah… I think so." Marisa gave a wry smile back. "It's been almost a year since then huh? You've helped me a ton Alice. Can't ever pay you back for that."

Alice shook her head. "There's nothing to pay back Marisa. You're my friend, and I simply wanted to help you."

"Real charmer now, eh Alice?" Marisa nudged Alice with her elbow, smirking. "Anyway, I just wanted to throw that out there. You've been through a lot for me."

"It's alright Marisa. You're my closest friend…" Alice trailed off as she smiled softly.

"Not sure if I'm over the entire thing." Marisa truthfully stated. "But I'll do my best. Ya' help me a ton Alice, so I won't let ya' down either. We'll save Gensokyo and Reimu together."

"We will." Alice nodded, hugging Marisa before letting the latter float into the air on her broom. "Take care of yourself Marisa."

"See ya' Alice. It was great to see ya' again." Marisa waved good-bye. "Hold the fort down for us."

Alice nodded, letting Marisa take off into the sky back to Kuoh waiting until Marisa was completely out of sight before turning back to the city. Suika was still asleep back at the inner shrine, though she imagined that Suika would simply disperse back into mist soon. Almost as if the attack hadn't happened, proceedings within the Youkai Faction continued barring the repairs needed to the infrastructure around Inner Kyoto. Aya was off with Azusa on a scouting run again for movements on whoever this rogue agent within the Grigori was. Patchouli was back with Yasaka to remove the leylines.

Alice's battle senses warned her though. Another battle would be occurring soon. Where would it be? When was it? She didn't know, but her instincts told her that it would not be long before conflict would be inevitable. This wasn't the end of the attacks they would have to suffer on their way to save Gensokyo.