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"Saito" - Talking
'Louise' - Thinking/ Human-Human Telepathy
"Explosion!" - Spell
:Master: - Master/Familiar Telepathy
Chapter 31: The Battle of Tarbes, Part 2: Sic Semper Tyrannis
About One Minute Before Louise Cast Void Explosion
Albion Republic Ship Oliver Cromwell, Air Surrounding the former Location of the Village of Tarbes
'Holy Emperor' Oliver Cromwell was grinding his teeth in frustration as he watched as the strange metal dragon that had appeared out of nowhere was pursued by his hired sword. Already that strange beast had cost him over a dozen of his dragons and their riders. He'd been forced to order Wardes away from his original position where he'd have been leading the main offensive from the air in order to deal with it before it could do any more damage to his airborne forces.
'Founder, the losses today have already far exceeded even my worst predictions and that strange metallic beast certainly isn't helping things! Does the fool controlling that abomination not know how exorbitantly expensive it is to breed, rear and properly train Fire Dragons!?' the man fumed in silent frustration. 'That's not even counting getting control of the riders themselves. The sheer number of favours I had to spend to get those arrogant young pups to bow the knee to me before I finally managed to acquire the Ring of Andvari was nothing short of ridiculous. And now they can't even handle a single rider and his odd mount!? Useless, the entire lot of them!'
Fermenting a rebellion had not been an easy task. Even with the usual overly ambitious nature of the noble caste, managing to lure enough men to his banner to create the foundation of the Reconquista had been a task. Backroom deal, bribery, blackmail, hostages, threats, and even a few outright assassinations…he had done whatever it had taken to gather the forces needed to do Brimir's will. Acquiring the Ring of Andvari had simplified things a great deal, allowing him to both ensure the loyalty of even his most…questionable allies and quickly turn many more to his side. With it the necessary preparations he'd needed to fully subjugate the remaining Albion nobles had been reduced by well over eighty percent. The preparation to invade Tristain, which he'd originally thought would take at least a year or two, had taken mere months.
"Yes, finally finding the location of the Ring was truly a sign of Brimir's favour." Cromwell murmured proudly, glancing down at his right hand where the ring rested. "The times of the overindulgence of Great Brimir's watered-down descendants has come to an end and the time of those of faithful and noble blood is at hand! I will unite the world under my banner, put the corrupt and petty royals to the sword and finally rid the lands of the arrogant elves once and for all. The Holy Land will be ours as it always should have been!"
As much as he revered and worshipped the Founder Brimir, his descendants had always proven to be a grave and utter disappointment in Cromwell's perspective. Petty, weak-willed and utterly uncaring of the Founder's divine will and vision. It had been centuries since any of them had made a true attempt at reclaiming the Holy Land, too caught up in their ridiculous internal squabbles and unwilling to see their revered ancestor's will be done.
It disgusted him to his very core.
But now things would change, he stood at the ready with all of Brimir's blessings upon him. Albion had already fallen to him and soon Tristain would follow suit. In time he would claim Gallia and then Germania. With the other four nations beneath his boot heel, Romalia would have no choice but to acknowledge his divine right to rule and bend the knee as well. Then with all then nations finally united beneath his rule, they would be able to storm the Holy Land and reclaim it as Founder Brimir had always desired. The old royal families had failed in their sacred duty and would be put to the sword for their indolence and laxity, and in their place his line, the line of Holy Emperor Oliver Cromwell the Chosen Son of Brimir Himself, would rise and make the world as it should be.
The usurper of the Albionian Throne was drawn from his fantasies as a sudden, immense build-up of Willpower surged through the air around him, worse there was a hungry edge to the swell of power that was completely foreign to him and sent a shiver of atavistic fright up his spine. He'd never felt anything to close that kind of power before, who in the name of the Founder could be calling on so much Willpower at once for a single spell!?
Then a pure white void consumed his sight.
When the so-called 'Emperor' had selected the HMS Oliver Cromwell as his personal flagship he had done far more than simply rechristen it with a new name. Numerous spells had been carved into the hull to reinforce its resiliency severalfold and another was carved directly into the Windstone core that kept it in the air that automatically generated a powerful shield of winds around the ship should an attack be directed towards it. It was, by all accounts, utterly unsinkable.
So, when that infernal white light burned through the wind shield as if it were mere kindling and devoured the Windstone core in a single instant, all Cromwell could do was cower and gape in utter disbelief. As the light finally faded away, he could barely force himself to his feet, his jaw still hanging somewhere around his knees, as he looked at what had once been his proud and unstoppable invasion fleet.
"What…what kind of evil sorcery could have done this!?" he screamed in horror at the sheer devastation that had engulfed his vision. At least two of his ships were utterly and completely gone, both of them brand new ships-of-the-line. A number were already starting to fall, the last remnants of their Windstone core's magic quickly vanishing and sending the ships plummeting to the earth with no hope of surviving the impact. Several more were aflame and at least one of those was already well beyond any chance of saving, now little more than a massive fireball. The remaining few were all being forced to activate their emergency Windstone cores in order to make a controlled descent and prevent themselves from falling to the ground like stones.
The secondary cores were Albion's latest innovation in airship engineering and only available in the latest generation of military airships; the result of finally finding a way to purposefully keep one core inactive while a ship was in flight. Previous attempts at creating them had always proven fruitless, the magic produced by the primary core never failing to activate the secondary ones and the combined force of two masses of Windstone coming alive at once either ripping the ships in half or suddenly propelling the ships so high that there was no air for the crew to breathe.
Forcing down his panic at the terrifying sight before him, Cromwell fought to regain control of his senses. He wasn't out of cards just yet; while his air fleet might have been defeated, he still had his remaining dragon wings and his army had already descended so they should have been left mostly unharmed by that monstrous attack. Using both he could at the very least buy himself enough time to transfer himself onto one of the transport ships and make a strategic withdrawal back to Albion to recoup his losses and begin rebuilding his fleet. In this game, the ruler was the king piece on the board, as long as he remained free the game would not be over.
"Order all remaining Dragon Flights to take to the sky and push the opposing air fleet back so our ships can land as safely as possible! Once all ships have landed and begin evacuating, they are to fall back and move to guard the carrier ships!" he ordered his communication officer.
"Y-Your Majesty, we can only confirm a single flight remaining!" one of the nearby officers reported quickly.
"WHHHAAAAAATTTT!?" the 'Holy Emperor' screeched like a banshee. "HOW?!"
"That…that spell sir! That burning wreck is all that is left of the Ark Royal!" the same officer answered, indicating the ship that had been turned into a fireball, "Nearly all of our remaining dragon wings were aboard her, sir! Most of the rest of our wings were either caught in the explosion itself and reduced to ashes or were killed by that…that metal dragon!"
"N-no…this…this can't….this is…!" Cromwell murmured in shock. He had burned through a large percentage of Albion's meagre remaining treasury in order to acquire and equip as many riders as possible as well as get as many ships into the air as he could. To see all of it reduced to not but ashes and debris on the wind was utterly incomprehensible.
It took a moment, but one emotion was finally able penetrate his shock…pure unceasing rage.
"WHO!? Who did this!?" he roared at his officers, demanding a target.
"A report just came in! It was a pink-haired mage riding the metal dragon along with its original rider!" one of the officers called.
"Pink…!? No, not Karin of the Heavy Wind: she's never shown anything of that level before and, whatever the hell that magic was, it was certainly no Wind spell!" Cromwell hissed, before pausing, suddenly recalling that the de Vallière family had two daughters that had inherited their mother's distinct hair colour. One was supposed to be some cowardly pacifist with a weak constitution, so likely not the culprit unless his spies and informants had all been grossly deceived. The other was Wardes' fiancé before his status as a double-agent had been revealed. A sudden flash of memory reminded him that Wardes had reported that she was also mainly responsible for almost allowing Prince Wales to flee to Tristain.
A thorn in his side that had just proven herself far more dangerous and irksome than he could have possibly imagined.
"Louise…Louise 'le Blanc' de Vallière…" he snarled out, her name finally coming to mind. "I don't know how sort of blasphemous magics you've gained or what cursed deal you struck to obtain them but you will pay for standing in the way of the Founder's will! I won't rest until you burn for this heresy you foul, meddling little chit!"
He continued to rage for several minutes more, plots upon plots for revenge burning through his mind, until his ship finally came to rest on the ground with a pronounced thump and an intense creaking sound. The sounds, plus the gentle shudder that went though the entire ship as it landed, pulled Cromwell from his raging and forced him back to the task at hand. He quickly came to a snap decision, he couldn't remain here, the HMS Oliver Cromwell was little more than a massive target for the incoming Allied Fleet and their army. He could not allow himself to be captured, he was the emperor!
"Gather my Imperial Guard at once!" he ordered his officers. "Send out signals to the remainder of the fleet, disembark and evacuate to the transport ships as quickly as possible! We might not be able to win this day, but we can at least salvage as many soldiers and sailors as we can! Send orders to the army, they are to cover our retreat for as long as they can! Have the sell-swords focused on the fronts farthest from the transports, they will buy time so we can pull back as many of our own as we can!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" the officers quickly scrambled to obey, leaving the 'Emperor' alone to scheme as his escort was gathered. He'd make his way to the rearmost transport ship and depart as soon as he had it properly secured. Trying to counter both his army and the remaining fleet assets' retreat should slow down the Allied Fleet long enough for him to escape cleanly…or so he hoped. If all else failed he could still rely on the power of the Ring of Andvari and any pursuers would quickly be turned into his servants.
"Your Majesty, the Imperial Guard has been assembled and are ready to move at your command!" one officer reported smartly.
"Excellent, we do not have time to waste." Cromwell stated, turning on his heel.
Same Time
With Former Viscount Wardes
Skies above Tarbes
The first blow that the demonic woman launched of their battle was nearly the last. The strike was so fast that it took all of Wardes' not inconsiderable skill with his swordwand to parry it in time. Even then, he could still feel his bones creak from the force of the impact. Whatever this…woman…truly was, she was dangerous; that much was certain.
"While I doubt you have any inclination to answer me, but what exactly is your relation to the Gandálfr?" Wardes asked aloud, trying to buy himself a few more moments so that he could regain feeling in his tingling arm.
"I am but one of my master's two Familiars, Emereldas the Protective Demon." the petite demoness replied, smiling darkly in amusement as she allowed him a moment to recover. It would do him no good after all. "You have been a persistent irritant to my Master since he began to become involved in this worlds affairs, I am merely here to ensure that you never bother him again."
"I'm fairly certain that it's the other way around, you know!" the Fallen Noble responded with a frown. "The boy you call 'master' has been interfering in my affairs since he first came to this land."
"You mean your sealing of the pink-haired bratling's magic?" Emereldas offered with a scoff. "She is both my Master's Summoned Master and his Contracted Student, that makes your crimes against her his business. Twisting words to try and make yourself sound like the victim will avail you nothing against a demon, cretin. I have lived at least fifteen of your lifetimes already, and have dealt with those far more skilled in deception and disambiguation then you."
"I was already planning on fleeing this battlefield anyway. If you would allow it, you could more quickly return to your master's side." Wardes responded, changing tactics.
"Perhaps, but I believe my time is better spent here." the demoness replied with a cold smile.
"Why!?" he demanded in response. A Familiar's first instinct should be to protect their master, after all.
"If you'll recall, you struck my master from behind during your and your partner's attempted theft of the Staff of Destruction." the Avanta replied, her smile sharpening into something distinctly dangerous. "Kaede, my Familiar-sister, paid you back some of the pain you caused our master, but I am still owed my own pound of flesh. I am a demon after all, holding grudges is part of our nature."
"So petty." Wardes groaned. Of course, he'd be facing a vengeful woman, that was just his luck lately.
"Demons are very petty creatures; it is part and parcel with our nature to follow our desires." Emereldas shrugged, utterly unbothered, before that savage smile returned. "Though born a demon of Lust, these white wings of mine prove that I have attained the pinnacle of the demon race. Be at your ready mortal, and try not to die too quickly."
"You will find no easy prey with me this day, madam." the former Tristainian Crown Agent retorted, brandishing his own weapon and finally accepting that there would be no escaping this fight.
"You truly overestimate yourself if you believe the crude magics of this realm will avail you much against one such as I." the Avanta teased, staring down Wardes like a rabbit before a very hungry, very sadistic wolf. "Even if you had the nine lives of a cat, you'd have far too few to escape me."
"Lightning Bolt!" Wardes roared, having had enough banter and as ready to fight as he could be. His swordwand lit up before firing a large crackling blue and white bolt at the demoness.
"Magic Shield, Circle 5!" Emereldas did not even bother trying to dodge, instead lazily raising a single hand and causing a shield of red light to snap into place in front of her. The lightning spell slammed into it before dispersing over it without even managing to cause a single crack.
The sight both infuriated and terrified Wardes. The Lightning Bolt was his favourite spell, to see it dismissed so casually was…worrying to say the least.
"I'm afraid you are far out of your league, little mage." Emereldas offered, staring hungrily down at the scowling Wardes. "While I admit that you have some degree of skill and talent, you are still far beneath my own Master in both counts. You might surpass him in raw power due to the nature of the worlds you were born in, but I have seen my master wield lightning before and his precision and control of both his magic and the power it generates far exceeds your own."
Wardes grit his jaw so hard his teeth might have cracked. He was one of the best mages of his age, with only the likes of Karin of the Heavy Wind surpassing him, for someone to claim a mere boy surpassed him in skill was utterly infuriating to his (well-deserved in his own opinion) sense of pride.
"Raging Storm of Thunder!" he roared out, raising his swordwand straight up over his head. In an instant the blade erupted with pure white lightning, sending a near-dozen bolts flying directly toward the Avanta.
The demoness didn't even flinch, she simply maintained the same exact shield. The rush of lightning slammed into it like a wave crashing against a mountainside, and once again all it did was crackle harmlessly against the barrier for a moment before dispersing.
"As I said, you cannot hope to win." Emereldas offered as she smirked down at the stunned expression on Wardes' face. Just from watching his reaction, she knew that one attack had been his ace in the hole. His final trump card. And it had just proven about as effective as a water pistol (not filled with blessed water) against her.
She could taste his despair and terror in the air, and it was delicious. She so rarely got to let her…darker urges out to play around her beloved yet far-too-kind master.
And just as she had half-expected of him, the traitor quickly directed his Wind Dragon about face and flew off, fleeing as quickly as he could now that he realized just how outclassed he was. Men like Wardes were so predictable.
With an idle snap of her fingers, she vanished in a flare of fire and brimstone (unnecessary at her level, but undoubtedly theatrical and imposing) before reappearing an instant later a dozen meters ahead of the fleeing dragon and its rider. That little trick had cost her less than a thousandth of her full power, and that droplet had already regenerated by the time Wardes' noticed her appearance. She could chase this fool until his mount's heart gave out beneath him and he dropped to the earth if she so desired.
"DAMN YOU!" Wardes roared as he frantically steered his Wind Dragon away from a collision. She allowed him to do so; the poor beast hadn't exactly had a choice in who his rider would be.
"Need I remind you that I am a demon, fool. Being damned comes with the territory." she replied smugly, absently flexing her taloned hands and spreading her bat-like wings. "Now…I tire of this little game."
Then she vanished in a blur before reappearing almost directly beside Wardes, clawed hand already scything through the air towards his torso. It was only the instincts that had been honed by his years as a warrior combined with his mount's instinctive movements to get away from the dangerous creature that appeared so close to it that allowed Wardes to dodge enough to avoid those terrible talons ripping through his chest. Unfortunately, his left arm was not so fortunate.
"GYAAAAAAAAAHH!" the former Crown Agent screamed in agony as his left arm was severed just above the elbow; the limb spiralling through the air in front of his face for a brief moment before it sailed off, falling down towards the ground. Blood erupted from the stump, but Wardes still had enough sense to quickly seal the wound with a flash of fire from his trembling swordwand. The quick action likely saved his life but the pain was so severe that, even with all his experience, he nearly passed out. It was only his strength of will and the knowledge that, if he lost consciousness now, he would likely never awaken again that kept him on his feet and glaring in cold fury at the demonic bitch that had just literally disarmed him.
"My, my…bravo I should say. I applaud the effort at least." Emereldas offered, absently flicking his blood off her fingers as she regarded her prey with the barest hint of surprise inflecting her tone. "It has been quite a long time since a mortal managed to avoid my claws. You have sharp instincts, for a human anyway."
"How dare you…" Wardes choked out, pain and fury making speech difficult.
"Oh please, what I have inflicted on you is a mere pittance compared to the wrongs you've committed in your life, churl. I can smell the sins rolling off you like a pungent reek, your damnation is your own fault no one else's." the demoness scoffed "Now I do believe I have wasted enough time on-!"
She was suddenly cut off as a massive boulder the size of a good-sized cottage suddenly slammed into her side at breakneck speeds, courtesy of one Matilda de Sachsen-Gotha and her massive earth golem. However, the moment that its throw was complete, the golem began to collapse and its creator fell into the ground, sinking beneath the soil and vanishing from the battlefield.
Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and having a finely tuned sense of self-preservation, Wardes used the distraction turn his Wind Dragon about again and speed away from the battlefield, the throbbing pain of his cauterized arm his only company.
As for Emereldas, her impromptu flight via boulder came to an abrupt halt a moment later as she overcame her momentary surprise and utterly disintegrated the large hunk of rock with a flex of her demonic power. Still, that sucker punch had actually managed to hurt her a bit; black, acidic blood was hissing in the air as it bled softly from a small cut on her forehead and one of her arms was now covered in scuffs and bruises from where the boulder had initially impacted her side.
As an Avanta, no matter her previous species, her physical body had an immense natural resistance to nearly all forms of non-magical attacks. That boulder itself, while undoubtedly formed by magic, had no magic infusing or enhancing it and thus had just barely managed to meet and surpass the minimum threshold needed to actually harm her. Though even then, the wounds were all considerably minor.
"Hmmm, so it appears your woman has some sense of loyalty, Wardes. How admirable, if completely undeserved." Emereldas muttered in annoyance as she pulsed demonic energy across her body, her wounds healing almost instantly. She was about to pursue her target when she felt her master's call. It was actually a call meant for her Familiar-sister, but the connection they shared with their master let her feel him call to her as well as sense her depart his side, leaving him momentarily unprotected save for the plebeians that also inhabited this world. That left Emereldas with a choice she was not fond of making, to go and ensure that her master remained properly protected or to continue to hunt down the fool who had wronged him.
Her master's safety meant far more to her than the life of a roach like Wardes, so it was an easy choice to make
With an annoyed growl she cast a spell to send her next words to the wretched man's ears. "Well, you certainly are a lucky one, aren't you? I suppose you will get to live a bit longer now, though you had best pray that you never cross paths with my master again or a missing arm will be the least of your concerns!"
Her piece said, she disappeared once more to watch over her master.
With Saito
A Short Time Earlier, Aboard the Zero Fighter
"Derf, are you sure Louise is alright?" the Onmyōji asked in concern as his petit Master/Student slumbered helplessly in his lap. It made piloting the fighter slightly more difficult, but not to a tremendous degree.
"No worries there, partner. The lass just used up all of her Willpower…or magic as you prefer to call it." the living sword assured him. "With it being cooped up and restrained within her for so long, I'm guessing all that power she's got much went a bit wild when she called up that spell of hers."
Saito nodded in absent agreement. While by no means sapient or even truly sentient, magic was still the closest thing there was to a truly living energy and it liked to be used. Any magic user had an instinctive desire to use their powers in some way, even for the most routine and basic day-to-day tasks. Louise's magic had been stoppered by Brimir's Alignment Binding for most of her life, and that was not even counting the additional restrictions Wizel's Wondrous Cage had created for over a year before Old Osmond had removed it. For a mage as innately powerful as Louise, with all of that magic just yearning to be unleashed for so long, her instincts had likely been kicked into overdrive and she poured every drop she could spare in her first true Halkaginian-style spell, leaving her drained and unconscious from over expenditure.
Even in his world, it wasn't uncommon for mages to put too much power into their spells and accidentally knock themselves out, either during particularly difficult trials or when they were first practising with a new spell. Saito already knew a spell that could get her back up and running again in short order, but couldn't cast it within the tight confines of the cockpit, nor was it safe to use while in motion. They'd need to land first, then he could see to getting his little Master back on her feet.
"Gotta say, I didn't think that I'd ever feel this clean again." Derflinger offered, sighing slightly in contentment.
"You're clean now?" Saito asked, blinking slightly as he prepared to bring the Reisen down for a landing.
"Aye, all that rust on my blade was a visible sign of how incomplete yer and the missy's bond was." the living blade offered with an unhappy grumble. "Had you two stopped being so stubborn about each other, I'd have been back at my best long ago. I only just recalled it after the missy's magic was freed. Bet that particular restriction was part of the magic that was put into me by whoever first gave me life."
"So…your creator not only imbued with intelligence and sentience, but also somehow managed to link you and your enchantments to the Gandálfr runes enough that you'd self-repair as soon as you were in the hands of Void Mage and Familiar with a fully completed bond?" Saito asked, an eyebrow rising in reluctant admiration. "Well damn, whoever made you certainly outstrips any Halkaginian Mage I've encountered in terms of magical puissance. Even the enchanters in my world would have had trouble pulling off something that complex."
"Darn tootin' partner." Derf answered with a bit of smugness, before letting out a tired sigh. "Afraid I still don't know exactly who that was though…"
"I'm sure it'll come back to you in time." the onmyōji offered absently as he finally brought his plane to the ground. He managed to taxi the Reisen as close to the command tent as he dared before cutting the engines. As he disembarked, soldiers of the Allied Forces cautiously approached to investigate the 'metal dragon.'
"Halt and identify yourself!" one man bearing a Mantle of Nobility demanded as Saito carried Louise down the ladder of the Zero Fighter.
"Professor Saito Hiraga of the Tristain Academy of Magic and Familiar of Louise de Vallière." Saito replied calmly as he set foot back onto solid ground and gently shifting his cargo back into his arms. "I'm here to report to Her Majesty regarding the current status of my Master here. Ah, there she is now."
Indeed, the newly crowned queen, wearing some rather stylish and fetching armour, was advancing towards them at a brisk walk, flanked by a troupe of her Musketeers. The look of abject relief, swiftly followed by worry when she noticed Louise's state, on the beautiful young Queen's face was oddly heartwarming for Saito. It was good to know that she and Louise were truly as close as they appeared.
"You Majesty." Saito offered a slight bow, as much as he could while carrying Louise. "It is good to see you hale and healthy again."
"It is a wonderful surprise to see you as well, Professor Saito. I am gladdened to see that our last parting was not the final one." the burgundy-haired royal replied, offering him a small smile but her eyes never leaving her sister in all but blood. "Might I ask what is wrong with the Crown Princess of Tristain?"
That announcement took him momentarily off his guard, but he was able to keep his surprise off his face.
"I'm afraid that she expended all of the 'Willpower' that has been sealed within her for the last fifteen years when she invoked that 'Void Explosion' spell, milady." he explained. "She is merely unconscious from the overly taxing her reserves. With no treatment she would awaken again fit and hardy, albeit hungry, within a day and a night. I even have a spell that should hasten her recovery with your permission and given a suitable location to perform it."
"To the command tent then. You may work your magic there." Henrietta directed firmly, the command in her voice unmistakable.
"By your command, Your Majesty." Saito bowed his head. His brow rose ever so slightly as a few of the musketeers moved to flank him as well, but he put it down to Louise's new status as Crown Princess. The Musketeer Unit were the official bodyguards of the Tristainian Royal Family, meaning that Louise would now fall under their aegis as well.
The trip to the command ten was short, going far faster than Saito would have thought possible, and Louise was quickly settled down on to a collapsible camp bed. Several of Saito's talisman floated over her in a pentagram formation, glowing a deep purple in colour as they drew in ambient magic and gently channelled it into Louise to help speed up her recovery.
"That should do it." the onmyōji declared with a nod. "As long as the spell is not disturbed, Louise should be back on her feet within a few hours. For even a normal Halkaginian it would be less than an hour, but my Master's immense magical capacity means it will take a bit longer."
"Given that her single spell has devastated the enemy fleet, I doubt that anyone will argue against her deserving some rest, let alone her status as a powerful mage in her own right." Henrietta's smile was somewhat vicious as she gently stroked her childhood friend's hair. "I just wish that there was some way to ensure that Cromwell does not manage to slip back to Albion, but I do not doubt that treasonous viper of a man will try and put his entire army in between us and him just to ensure his escape."
Saito frowned, before rising to his feet and quickly stepping slightly outside the tent. There, with the eyes of most of the tent's occupants now on him, he raised a single arm. "Come forth and serve me, abiding by the contract, Gin'yoku!" he commanded, exerting a small portion of his magical reserves. In a flash the Ginki was standing before him, now armed with a daishō sheathed at her hip, a tetsubō slung over her shoulder and even an old fashioned tanegashima/hinawajū (matchlock rifle) held easily at rest against her side. Knowing her mother Byakuren's habit for collecting weapons across all the ages, he honestly wouldn't be surprised to find that it was one of Oda Nobunaga's original production line.
"Upon your summons, I am here, my Aruji." the Silver Oni who was his Prime Superior Demon offered as she knelt at her Master's feet. "You have but to command me and I shall see the task done with all of my might."
"Gin'yoku, there is a man on this battlefield known as Oliver Cromwell. He is the master holding the leash of the one called Wardes who cowardly attacked and humiliated me in battle." Saito stated gravely. "He carries an artefact stolen from a Great Elemental of Water, the Ring of Andvari. It should be a beacon to your senses."
"As you say, Aruji. Even from here, I can practically taste its magic in the air." the Ginki nodded.
"Excellent, hunt down this malfeasant and capture him." the onmyōji ordered bluntly, much to the shock of those around him. "Take care, the ring possesses the ability to control humans and I do not know if that particular power could extend to an Oni Princess like yourself. Remove his arm if you must in order to remove that threat before you capture him. Do everything that you can to ensure that he survives though, he has many crimes against not only myself but those who I call friends and allies that he must be made to answer to."
"This rodent is as good as captured, Aruji." Gin'yoku looked up at him solemnly. "On my honour as your Familiar, I shall not rest until he has been caught and brought before you. Shall I retrieve this ring as well?"
"Do so. I have given my word to the Great Water Elemental of Lagdorian Lake that I will do all I can to recover it and see it returned to its rightful owner." the Japanese mage agreed with a nod. "Now, go forth!"
Without another word, Gin'yoku vanished, leaving only Saito able to perceive his ever-loyal Familiar bursting into motion as she vanished through the lines toward her prey.
"Professor Saito…was that a wise move?" Henrietta couldn't help but ask.
"Were we unaware of the Ring of Andvari and its powers, then no it would not have been." Saito stated calmly. "As we know exactly what it is capable of and as Emereldas is still available to come to her aide should need be, Kaede will be more than capable of capturing Cromwell without extensive risk."
"I hope she return unharmed then." the Queen of Tristain offered with a relieved sigh.
"From all we've learned of this Cromwell's abilities without the ring to bolster him, I'm more worried that he won't even be able to give Kaede a decent fight. She'll mope endlessly if that happens." Saito replied with a chuckle. "Oni are nearly all battle-fanatics in some way, shape, or form and Kaede is no exception. I'll have to reward her properly for putting up with such weak prey should her opponents prove to be no challenge for her."
The Musketeers who were listening in on the conversation couldn't help but sweatdrop at the battle happy nature of the strange, silver-skinned woman.
With Gin'yoku
Speeding across the battlefield, weaving around and sometimes simply leaping over the foolish humans who couldn't hope to perceive her thanks to the Silver Oni Fade Inheritance, Gin'yoku was the happiest she had been in quite some time. Her beloved Master had chosen to stay in this strange world so reminiscent of the Sengoku Jidai where he was already being considered among the wise, the powerful and the mighty.
Somewhere that he would be safe from the foolish war that the Imperial Ministry and the Heichi Kuroboshi had been waging for centuries. Where he would not be seen as merely another disposable pawn that could easily be sacrificed and replaced.
And even better, he had entrusted her with the task of hunting down the man who commanded the honourless cur known as Wardes. She was unworthy of such a great honour, but she honestly hoped that the louse would put enough of a fight that she'd be rewarded by her Aruji with more head pats.
Moving at speeds that would have left trained Olympian athletes weeping in utter envy, she swiftly found herself among the crashed (and still burning in some cases) wrecks that had once been a fairly impressive air fleet. The taste of powerful, though strangely muted, water magic was thick in the air here, and she quickly honed in on where it was originating from.
'My Aruji was indeed wise to send me to hunt this cretin, the coward is already attempting to flee towards the rear of the fleet.' Kaede thought, frowning in distaste. What manner of ruler simply fled from a battle he had himself provoked?
Tch, there was no comprehending the minds of such craven fools.
Speeding up, she leapt atop the mast of the nearest ship and locked her eyes onto her target. The blonde-haired man, dressed in a set of robes far too ostentatious for a battlefield, bearing the Ring of Andvari on his right hand was at the centre of a largish unit of both mages and warriors. She could taste their scents in the air, and the powerful scent of water magic emanating from each of them was proof enough that they were all under the ring's mind-controlling effect. To be robbed of you will so thoroughly, death would honestly be a mercy for these fools.
For a human mage, even one as skilled as her dear Aruji, this would perhaps be a hard nut to crack on their own. For the sole child of Byakuren and Kurotama it would prove to be nothing more than a bit of exercise.
Raising her tanegashima, one of her mother's gifts upon her maturation, the Ginki sighted down the barrel. It had been modified extensively over the years since her mother had first acquired it by a friend of hers, a Bronze Oni blacksmith, to not only be rifled but to also be breech-loading and fire 'modern' bullets. It was, technically, now a one-shot, bolt-action rifle and was far superior to any of the other firearms this world had to offer.
Lining up a shot, Kaede lightly caressed the trigger.
BANG!
In an instant, the bullet screamed across the distance between her and her target, the helmed head of the apparent leader of the guard unit (as evidenced by his fancier armour and helmet plume), before impacting right at the centre. The bullet easily pierced through the wrought steel helmet and sent the man tumbling to the ground with the rattling crash of a man in full armour collapsing dead to the ground.
Naturally, the idiot usurper started screaming orders to his guards to protect him even as he recoiled away from the corpse that had moments ago been one of his loyal puppets. The Silver Oni merely sneered in distaste as she reloaded her weapon with another bullet from her hip pouch. This was no leader, simply a craven little manipulator like those accursed spider Yōkai, always trying to entrap those stronger than them with their words and webs so they didn't have to get their own hands dirty.
Snapping her tanegashima back up, she snipped at the guard that seemed to be trying to re-establish some order among his fellows, sending him crashing to the ground with equal ease as the fist and throwing the rest into even greater chaos. The lack (from their perspective) of any nearby enemies armed with muskets or arquebuses must have been seriously confusing the guards of the so-called 'emperor' and they were currently doing little more than milling about, looking like they were doing a great deal but not actually accomplishing anything of substance.
"Disgraceful. They should have focused on getting their principal to cover as quickly as possible before trying to launch a counterattack." Kaede scoffed in complete disgust, her pride as a warrior and a bodyguard being insulted by the utter lack of ability she was seeing. "Either these fools are even lower in ability than I had first thought or the ring's magic must be affecting them worse than most."
Mind-controlling magic always had some kind of negative side-effect on those it was cast upon; slowing thoughts, blunting instincts, and generally slowing the mind in one or more ways. It was the reason that no one had ever truly accomplished anything with an army of mind-controlled slaves, even the greatest warrior would eventually be brought down with their mind and will numbed and slowed by the magics controlling them. It was magic useful for quickly amassing disposable pawns and other such throwaways, not for ensuring the loyalty of one's elite troops.
With another sniff of distaste, the Ginki tapped her tanegashima onto a silver bracelet that blended near seamlessly with the skin of her left arm. In an instant the rifle vanished, stored away within the magic of the bracelet. It had been her father's gift for reaching adulthood, personally enchanted by his own hands and forged from the finest and purest silver he could acquire. It could literally store an entire castle's worth of supplies and only she (or her Master) could access the contents. The fact that her Aruji could also access its magic had ben her father's way of (very begrudgingly) accepting her and her Master's relationship.
"Hmm, the guards seem panicked enough for the moment…time to bring this to an end." Kaede whispered aloud as she drew both swords from her daishō, the katana in her right hand and the wakizashi in her left. Her mother had been drilling her hard in the use of a variety of weapons since she had remastered the sabre. It helped that all she really needed to do was take the new length and position of her horn into account, since she had already long-mastered most weapons thanks to her White Oni Inheritance.
Leaping off the mast, Kaede shot toward her target like an arrow, swords drawn back and ready to strike. Her Oni blood was singing red hot in her veins and demanding the death of her enemies, but she forced those instincts down firmly. Her Master had ordered that the enemy leader be brought to him alive so that he could face justice for his crimes. Her Aruji's will mattered far more to her than mere bloodlust, so the fool would live a little longer.
But she was not above extracting a measure of vengeance against the one who held the leash of the man who had disgraced her Master so with his cowardice.
"…find them you fools!" Cromwell was practically shrieking in a mix of fury and terror as she touched down lightly mere inches in front of him, her eyes immediately locking onto his right hand, where the scent of water magic was emanating so strongly that it was practically drowning her with its mere presence. How could this fool be using such a powerful artefact without suffering any repercussions? On her and her Master's original world, any item of power such as this always had some negative kickback to counterbalance its incredible power.
Dismissing the question as both irrelevant and inconsequential for the moment, Kaede slashed out with both of her swords and did as she had intended since her beloved Master had so kindly put the option onto the table.
With a single swing she cut off Oliver Cromwell's right hand.
The man shrieked like a frightened child as blood erupted from the stump of his wrist. The limb itself fell to the ground with a soft thumb, before Kaede used the split second that every guard was wasting staring at her sudden appearance (really, it had to be the ring, this fool couldn't be stupid enough to select men this incompetent as his personal guard) to absently kick the hand into the air with one foot before catching it by a single finger between two of her own before quickly storing it in her bracelet. Then, with an annoyed growl at the continued incompetence of her foes, she readjusted her grip on her swords before surging forward and starting combat herself.
To give the soldiers some credit, they rallied quickly enough once combat had truly begun and tried to launch a counterattack, trying to use their superior numbers to lock her down for their mages to bury in spell fire. It was a…decent attempt, but utterly worthless in the end. They were like children attempting to fight a master. Speed, power, and experience, she simply and utterly outclassed them in all three categories. Each swing of her blades striking with impeccable precision to cut through gaps in armour and into the vulnerable flesh beneath. A single backhand from one of her mighty arms could send an armoured man flying through the air. Each spell and blade that came towards her was expertly dodged or blocked with inhuman speed and control.
In a matter of minutes, the last of the soldiers fell to the ground, the Silver Oni completely untouched by the brief moments of utter carnage.
"M-Mo-Monster…!" Cromwell wheezed out, face ashen in terror (and a bit of blood loss) as he clutched at the stump of his right wrist.
"My thanks, the insults of an enemy are nothing but praise to a warrior's ears." Kaede replied with a toothy smirk down at the cowering whelp. "Now then, do hold still. I can't have you bleeding out before I present you to my Master."
Absently swiping her wakizashi free of any lingering blood, she re-sheathed it at her hip before pointing a single finger at the man. A small orb of silver fire the size of a grape formed on the tip of it before shooting forward towards the stump. The little craven was too stupefied to even try to move, so it hit the stump perfectly; causing the stench of scorched human flesh to quickly fill the air along with Cromwell's renewed screams of pain.
All Oni had access to 'Onibi' or 'Ogre Fire' as it would be called in English. It was usually a fairly weak power, more useful for cooking meat or maybe as distraction than as an actual combat ability. Only Oni sorcerers like her father Kurotama, or those who became Kijo or Onibaba, could truly master their flames, capable of strengthening their Onibi to the point that it could rival dragon fire in strength.
For Kaede, her ascension to the rank of an Oni Princess had made her flames strong enough to be able to cauterize a wound but little else. Useful, but again not much good for combat. Truthfully, among all of the innate talents she had as an Oni, her fire ability had always been the that she had favoured the least since it was rarely of any use.
Cromwell's eyes rolled back into his head after a moment or two of screaming as he finally fainted from the pain of having his wound being seared shut, the amount of blood he had already lost from losing his hand, and the sheer shock of watching his 'elite' Imperial Guard being cut down to a man in just a few moments by a single female creature.
As his body slumped bonelessly to the ground, the Ginki gave him another disgruntled look before sighing. Now she was going to have to carry the dead weight back across the battlefield; which was always an awkward act no matter how strong you were.
Wonderful.
Minutes Later
With Saito
The black-haired Onmyōji looked up sharply from his conversation with the Queen and Lord Rupert de Rhine, a sharp smile suddenly spreading across his lips.
"Professor Saito?" Henrietta blinked in surprise at his sudden distraction.
"Gin'yoku has just succeeded in her mission and is now returning here at her best speed." Saito explained. "I would suggest you have a group of the Musketeer Guard and some Albionian soldiers ready to arrest the usurper and mastermind behind Prince Wales' assassination."
The Queen sucked in a sharp breath at that and quickly turned to nod toward Agnès, who in turn began to rapidly issue orders to her subordinates. Lord Rupert did the same, ordering a group of his personal subordinates to be at the ready. A moment later their preparation proved fruitful as Kaede reappeared just outside the command tent with a blonde-haired man thrown casually over her shoulder. She quickly and unceremoniously dropped her package onto the ground, revealing the unconscious form of 'Holy Emperor' Oliver Cromwell, minus his right hand.
"By the Founder!" Rupert swore in shock before a vicious smile spread across his lips. "Arrest him, lads and lasses! Get that pile of shit somewhere secure and make sure he stays alive! The bastard has a lot to answer for and I for one have no intention of letting him take the easy way out!"
In a trice, Cromwell was bound hand and foot and swiftly dragged away to be imprisoned; guarded around the clock by zealous Loyalist Albionians and members of the Musketeer Guard. He would wake up to find himself imprisoned with no degree of the luxury he thought he deserved, as befitted the mastermind behind a regicide.
"Professor Saito, your Familiar has just done us a great boon." Rupert offered with feeling. "We can now see that Prince Wales receives the justice that he is due. All of Loyal Albion owes you a great debt."
"Indeed." Henrietta agreed with a firm nod of her head. "I cannot speak for Loyalist Albion, but I personally intend to pen a Writ of Ennoblement for your deeds this day as soon as we return to Tristain. None will be able to argue that you have done an immense service to Tristain in general and the Crown in particular."
That honestly took Saito by surprise. "I…do you think that is wise given my circumstance? I'm sure that you are already going to face at least some opposition for making Louise your Heir, ennobling her Familiar will only make it worse."
"Given that I have the full backing of the House of Vallière, and a solid block of Royalist Nobility, the rest can mewl and whine as much as they desire. They have no means of arguing against either appointment." Henrietta stated with a hard look in her eyes. "Most of those who will complain the loudest are those that are either quietly in favour of Reconquista's goals or are merely squawking in fear of losing some of their privileges. Nobles should be true to their oaths of Fealty and act in a Noble manner. Those that have offered nothing to the build-up of the current war have no right to argue against the results, and I personally think Tristain needs some new blood to shake things up a bit. Now, I need to know whether you would be willing to accept it?"
The young onmyōji (technically a rogue onmyōji now) paused to consider. Closing his eyes, he connected to his Familiars via his summoning tattoos. :Emereldas, Gin'yoku; what do you two think? Should I accept a title of nobility?:
:Of course, my Master. Even if the title is as minor as that of a Chevalier, being a noble will grant you both greater protection and authority than remaining a commoner ever could.: Emereldas offered at once, her voice lilting but serious over their bond. :You've chosen to make this world your home, Master. Might as well ensure you have the power to do right by it. The duties and problems you might have to deal with as a noble could be annoying, but nothing beyond your ability to handle.:
:I agree with the temptress, Aruji.: Gin'yoku agreed, her physical form still standing stoically by his side even as she communicated silently with him. :More than that, Queen Henrietta has already proven herself a more noble and worthy liege lady than the Ministry has ever done in the past. This is for the best so accept, Aruji.:
"Hmm." Saito chuckled slightly as he reopened his eyes. "It seems that both of my darling Familiars are very much for the idea. I would be honoured to accept, Your Majesty. Though I believe I should wait for my Master/Student to awaken and run things by her before I give a final answer. It would be most impolite otherwise considering how this will affect her as well."
"Naturally." Henrietta agreed with a smile. "While I believe that I can accurately guess at her opinion, but as you say, Louise deserves to have the chance to make it for herself."
Precious few people had respected her decisions in the past. Louise had been forced to bow to the will of others all her life. Hardly unexpected since she was only coming up on her sixteenth birthday, but her opinion had rarely been given any weight in the process of making any decision before now. By waiting to talk his possible appointment as a noble with her, Saito was showing her more respect than more than a few of her peers, and even her oldest sister Éléonore, had ever shown her.
'Yes. He is suited to stand at Louise's side.' Louise's childhood friend thought happily.
As the discussion inside of the tent turned to the inevitable clean-up operation and preparations that would be needed to invade Albion and root out the members of Reconquista that Cromwell hadn't placed under the power of the Ring of Andvari (which Gin'yoku had already handed over to her Master), they were unaware of a black bird with a purple rune on its chest watching them carefully from the shadows in the tent's ceiling.
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Next Chapter: Chevalier Saito de Hiraga des Ornières
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