Author's Notes:

What's up guys! I started writing this chapter a little late in the day because life stuff. Either way, I was determined to keep my promise and get it out today, so here it is! Enjoy chapter 30!

Chapter 30: Victory is Defeat

It was bitterly cold and snow was falling heavily on the forest floor. Saito crouched on the branch of a tall tree, overlooking a massive Germanian army. He counted approximately 5,000 of them in total. Normally, with his enhanced body, he would try to take them all on. However, these soldiers carried weapons from Saito's world, albeit not very modern. Saito recognized a few of the weapons from his history books.

He identified a Type 96 Japanese Light Machine Gun, Type 89 Japanese machine gun, as well as several rifles and pistols. The army carried several crates of ammunition and explosive weapons with them. At the time, they were taking a break from their march and were making camp in the forest beneath Saito.

"Any ideas on how we can kill them, Derf?" Saito asked.

"Kill them? That's not something I thought I'd hear you say." Derf replied.

"Well, I'm a soldier now, I guess." Saito replied. "Besides, they're threatening my family. I'll do what I must to protect them."

"You're becoming manlier every day." Derf said, feeling proud of Saito.

"Never mind that." Saito replied, feeling embarrassed. "Any ideas?"

"Well, from what you've told me, there's no way you could take them head on." Derf said. "If they use explosives, perhaps you could find a way to blow them up?"

"I doubt that will kill all of them." Saito said. "That does give me an idea though. Maybe we should start a fire."

"A fire?" Derf asked.

"Yeah." Saito replied. "A forest fire. If I can steal some of those explosives and bullets, I could make a ring around this forest and start a forest fire."

"Ambitious isn't it?" Derf asked.

"Well, there isn't really much else we can do." Saito replied. "We can't bring any Gallian soldiers here to help us. It would be a bloodbath. It's up to us."

Derf was silent for a few moments. The two of them observed as the Germanians stored some of their ammunition and explosives in a large tent.

"I suppose I could get you in there." Derf said. "I should probably start preparing."

"Preparing?" Derf asked.

"The forest won't catch fire without some help." Saito said.

He got up and ran through the trees. For hours, he circled around the army, trying to find out exactly where he should place the explosives. Once he had figured out the precise area where the Germanians were resting, he went around them again, this time laying dry leaves in a circle around them. After he was finished, he went back to the tree he was watching the army from.

"Okay, Derf. Let's go." He said.

"Got it." Derf said.

Saito closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he was standing next to a large pile of wooden boxes. They each had words written on them in Germanian, which Saito couldn't read.

"We just have to take a few of these. Ten or so boxes should be enough." Saito said.

He stacked the boxes, carrying 2 in each arm and three in his tail. Once he secured them, Derf teleported him outside of the tent to a small clearing away from the soldiers. They repeated this several times until they procured about 12 boxes from the tent.

Saito set them each on piles of dry wood he had put next to trees in different points surrounding the Germanian soldiers. When they were all in place, he quickly moved between each of them, using his body heat to ignite the piles of wood they sat on.

Soon enough, the piles of wood caught fire, and Saito retreated to a safe distance. He watched as the boxes of munition exploded, showering hot material further towards the soldiers direction and setting everything ablaze. It took about thirty minutes before the fires were visible to the Germanians. Before long, the soldiers realized what was happening, as they saw a wall of orange light and smoke coming from one direction.

They're immediate reaction was to, obviously, make haste in the other direction. However, there was fire coming from all around them. The smoke had already reached their location, and had started to make some men feel sick.

The Germanians, in a panic, did what they could to stop themselves inhaling smoke. However, because of their blind state of panic, Saito managed to easily infiltrate their munitions tent again. Using a smoldering wooden stick he had brought with him, he set the tent on fire and quickly left.

Before long, the fire in the tent triggered a massive explosion, killing and injuring hundreds of men. Saito watched from afar as several men succumbed to the fire and smoke that was now bearing down on them.

His heart ached with sorrow, regret, and pain as he watched the men dying in front of him from something he caused. As he heard the panicked screams of the thousands of men caught within the fire, tears began to flow from his eyes.

However, as much as he wanted to, he could not leave because he had to make sure that the army would not be a threat to Gallia anymore. For several hours, he watched, hearing the screams of men burning and suffocating.

"You shouldn't have to see this, Partner…" Derf said, seeing the expression of sadness on Saito's face.

"I have to." Saito said. "I have friends and family to protect."

"How long will the fire keep burning?" Derf asked.

"There will be a heavy storm coming in this direction." Saito replied, still sounding depressed. "It will rain enough for the humidity in the air to go up, so the fire wont spread. This place is also in a valley. The rains will bring flooding to the area, which should put it out by tomorrow night."

"You planned all of this out, huh?" Derf replied.

"Yeah." Saito said, closing his eyes. At this point, Derf couldn't hear or see anything that was going on where the Germanians had camped and were now burning. With his heightened senses, however, Saito could hear, see, and smell everything that was happening vividly. He could even taste the smoke in the air.

They waited there for several hours until eventually, just as Saito had predicted, the two of them could see heavy rain cloud coming over the valley. Before long, a downpour began. For another several hours, it rained heavily without letting up. Through the harsh rain and cold, Saito remained perched on the branch of his tree, waiting for the rain to go away.

Throughout the next day, it continued to rain until finally, when darkness had fallen, the clouds dispersed. The fire had completely gone away, leaving only a few smoldering sticks and some smoke in the air.

In the blink of an eye, Saito went down to where the enemy soldiers were. As soon as he arrived, he collapsed from a sensory overload. Several burnt, disfigured, charred bodies lay on the ground, smoldering. The sound of sizzling flesh was clear in his ears. But perhaps worst of all was the smell. He could smell several terrible things in the air, from burning humans to gunpowder.

However, he at least managed to confirm that the army was no longer a threat, as they all seemed to be dead. With his mission over, he prepared to leave. However, before he did, he went to each body he could find and took the badges from them that identified their names. He put all of the badges into a large cloth sack, then departed from the foul area, making his way to Lutéce to report his successful mission to Charlotte and Josette.

Somewhere in the vast wilderness of the Kingdom of Elves

Sasha and Louise sat in some dark woods around a campfire. Sasha had spent the past few days forcing Louise to do various forms of exercise, from lifting heavy objects to running long distances. Because of doing all of these things without a break, she was in a lot of pain.

However, her own pain wasn't what was on her mind. Throughout her training, all she could think of was Saito's well being. It was the first time since they were engaged that she had been away from him for so long. To make matters worse, she was well aware that he was fighting a war, so for all she knew, he might have been dead already.

"Worrying about his well being is a good thing." Sasha suddenly said. "It gives you a reason to keep going."

"I don't feel like I'm getting any stronger." Louise said, feeling discouraged.

"You are." Sasha replied. "You'll see it in due course."

"When will you teach me to control void magic?" Louise asked her.

"Once your body is ready for it." Sasha replied. "When that is will depend on how hard you want to protect those who are close to you."

"I want to protect them more than anything!" Louise declared, rather impulsively.

"Well then, it will not be very long." Sasha said, slightly smiling. "As long as you remain resolute in what you believe, you will be ready before you know it."

"Thank you." Louise said. After a few moments, another question popped into her head.

"Ms. Sasha, may I ask you a few questions?" Louise asked.

"Ask as many as you wish. I will answer them as best as I can." Sasha replied.

"Well, I wanted to know about your sons. Where are they?" She asked.

"My sons are in the human world." Sasha replied, looking at the night sky. "No human is aware of who they really are."

"Why do they not help in the war, then?" Louise asked.

"They want to help, but they have not the influence in the world that they used to." Sasha said. "Because of my son's status as half human and half Elf, they believed that humans should govern themselves rather than them, who were only half human. So, they relinquished their powers and disappeared into the world, appointing human heirs to the thrones."

"I see. So did you ask them to bring Saito here?" Louise replied.

"No. They brought him here of their own free will. I had no knowledge of your fiancé's existence until he arrived here." Sasha said. "Now, what are your other questions?"

"Um…your relationship with Brimir…" Louise said, timidly.

"He was an evil man who deceived me." Sasha said, sounding very angry, yet calm.

"Do you…hate humans because of him?" Louise asked.

"For a long time, I never trusted humans." Sasha replied. "However, with age, I realized that not every human is like he was, so I have become neutral. I judge a person not by their race, but by who they are inside. It's wisdom that took a long time to come to me because of how scarred I was from what Brimir did."

"Thanks for telling me those things. I know it must be hard to think about." Louise said.

"It's good to have someone to tell them to." Sasha said, smiling at Louise slightly more than before. "Tell me. What is Saito's relationship with Gandalfr?"

"With Gandalfr?" Louise asked. "I suppose they are on good terms."

"So you've seen him?" Sasha asked.

"Yeah. He's friendly." Louise said.

Sasha smiled brightly now, looking back at the star filled sky. "He always had a soft spot for cute people like you."

"I assume you got to know him?" Louise asked.

"Yes." Sasha said. "It took a long time for him to finally get past threatening me to holding an actual conversation, but we eventually became friends."

"Sasha, I have one more question." Louise said, as another thought crossed her mind.

"What is it, Louise?" Sasha asked. It was the first time she actually called Louise by her name, which made Louise feel a little happy.

"Saito merged with the Gandalfr from this world." Louise began. "Will that…affect the baby?"

"Perhaps the baby will be different, but I see no reason for any harm to come to it." Sasha replied. "It will be more than two years before it is born, so now is not the time to worry."

"I see…" Louise said, rubbing her stomach.

"Let's continue training." Sasha said, standing up. She obviously wanted to distract Louise from her thoughts. She pointed at a mountain in the distance. It was at least 30 kilometers away. "Run to that mountain and back with 48 hours."

"What?! That's impossible!" Louise said.

"Your fiancé can do it in less than an hour if he goes slowly." Sasha said. "If you want to stand by his side, I suggest you start bringing your time down."

Rather angrily, Louise complied and began the long journey to the mountain. As she watched Louise run away, Sasha sat down and looked up at the sky with a smile.

"Your wife is catching up to you, Saito. You better be alive to meet her." She said.

In Lutéce

Saito arrived inside the Gallian royal palace. Begrudgingly, he made his way to Charlotte and Josette's throne room, ready to deliver his report. When he walked into the room, both of the sisters seemed unusually happy, which made Saito feel unsettled.

"Welcome back!" They said. "How went your mission?"

"My mission was successful. The army is destroyed." Saito said with a hint of sadness lingering in his voice. "How went the battle in the east?"

"We were successful in driving them back. We have taken quite a substantial amount of our land back." Josette said. "We have also recovered several of the enemy's weapons from the battlefield."

"Nice work." Saito said. "I'll have a company go to where I encountered the army and recover their weapons."

"I will have the army prepare to be sent to your destination." Josette said.

"One more thing." Saito replied. He put the bag of identification badges on the ground. "I'd like you to keep these somewhere safe. Just until the war ends, then I'll take care of it."

"Very well." Josette replied, having a guard take the bag to a vault.

"Thank you for you work in helping Gallia." Charlotte said. "We'll make sure to reward you when we win the war."

"Thank you very much, Queen Charlotte." Saito said. "Sorry to ask, but why do you two seem unusually happy?"

"We received a visitor today. That is all." Josette said.

"I see." Saito replied, although he wasn't satisfied with that answer. "How is Tiffa doing?"

"She is currently with our mages learning about how to summon a familiar." Charlotte said.

"And what about Romalia?" Saito asked.

"They have agreed to help us fight. The Pope will be visiting us within the week." Josette replied

"Good." Saito said. "Pardon me, but would you mind if I rested for some time?"

"By all means. You've earned it." Charlotte said. "But before you do, we would like you to meet our guest."

She pointed behind Saito. When he turned around, he was greeted by two familiar faces. Agnes and Henrietta.

In Vindobona

Albrecht sat at a table with three Generals. They were discussing the recent Gallian victory in eastern Gallia. As they spoke a messenger came into the door.

"Sir! I have news!" He said.

"Speak." Albrecht said.

"The company of soldiers from Tristain who were to attack Lutéce has been destroyed!" The messenger said.

"What?! How is that possible?!" Albrecht said.

"One of the soldiers who escaped the attack was flown here to the palace. I thought you may wish to speak with him." The messenger replied.

"Send him in. Immediately." Albrecht said, angrily stirring the wine in his cup.

After waiting for a few moments, a man was brought into the room in a wheel chair. He had severe burn wounds to his body and neck. His wounds were so gruesome, that the three Generals who sat at the table had to look away.

"State your name." Albrecht said.

"Heinrich Koffman." The man said, weakly.

"Please explain to me what happened." Albrecht said, politely.

"Yes, sir." Koffman said. "We marched through the Gallian forest for about three days, making our way to Lutéce. We were ahead of schedule, so our commanding officers allowed us to rest in the woods. That night, as we talked to each other and ate some dinner, we caught the smell of smoke in the air. Soon enough, the smoke became very thick and we could see flames coming through the trees. We decided to gather our things and run, but there was fire in every direction, as if someone had placed a ring of fire around us."

"So this forest fire was not of natural causes…" Albrecht said.

Koffman shook his head. "No sir. Soon enough, a lot of our men were burning or had collapsed from suffocation. I was one of the ones who succumbed to the smoke. When I woke up, I had burns all over my body. I tried to crawl, but then I heard footsteps. I remained completely still. Didn't make a sound. I felt like my heart even stopped. I felt someone walk past me. When I could see them in front of me, they were…"

"They were what?" Albrecht asked.

"They were not human." Koffman said, making sure he emphasized how serious he was.

"What did they look like?" Albrecht asked.

"They had black hair and glowing orange eyes. Had really long fangs in its mouth too. It also had a uh…a long, glowing, orange tail and it carried a sword on its back. When it was holding the sword, some writing on its left hand started to glow. The sword had a white blade with strange writing carved into it. It started taking our identification badges away, then it left in the blink of an eye. It moved faster than any dragon I've ever seen. When it was gone, I crawled around, looking for survivors. Of the entire company, only two of us survived. I dragged him all the way to the border of the Tristain territory. We were picked up by medics when we got there."

"So it's him." Albrecht said to himself.

"Sir?" Koffman said, confused by what he could have meant.

"Never mind. You have provided an excellent service to your nation. I will make sure you are highly rewarded for your heroism." Albrecht said, patting Koffman's shoulder. "For now, please go and rest in the medical ward of the palace."

"Thank you, sir." Koffman said, as he was wheeled away to the infirmary.

When he was gone, Albrecht then ordered all but one of the Generals in the room to leave. The one who remained was a tall, dark skinned man with dark red hair. He had a glossy, dark red beard and a handlebar mustache of the same color.

"Your daughter failed." Albrecht said when the room was empty.

Kirche's father said nothing out of fear.

"You are very lucky that we've been having success, otherwise I would have both of your heads. Leave this room." Albrecht said, his calm voice filled with rage.

"Yes, sir." General Zerbst said, leaving the room soon afterwards.

He thought rapidly as he hurridly made his way out of the palace. Albrecht seemed unbelievably livid, so he was not sure if he would keep to his word, sparing him and his daughter. With that thought in mind, he immediately got into a carriage, determined to find his daughter and hide her away from Albrecht.

Author's Notes:

Wow, I barely made the deadline today. I should really get into the habit of writing earlier in the day than 6 pm. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Another one will be out tomorrow! Send a review or pm to me with thoughts about this chapter and future ones! Thanks for reading, guys! See you next time!