Lucky Souls
Chapter 11: Reunion
"Please let me go, I promise I don't know anything!" A gentle voice lashed back at its tormentor, whose sun-painted blade was pressed harshly into the girl's nape, ready to slide her sword down her throat like bread across butter.
"Promises don't mean much in these parts anymore, especially not from magic folk like yourself!" The young girls captor snarled back, her armor clad hand stiffening around her sword ever tighter, she couldn't allow herself a bit of trust when it came to matters such as interrogation, nothing could be taken at face value, the subject would be probed and probed until the answers received seemed sufficient, and even if they truly didn't know anything, she had no choice but to enforce this rule.
The young mage looked downward, the cool metal of the sword clinging to her chin, she had no options but to lower herself to this little pigmy of a knight. A strict bearer of rules herself, the mage wouldn't allow callous use of her arts, and most especially not on anyone with their mind still intact.
How ironic it was, she mused, magic created only for the sole purposes of wreaking havoc and causing death and destruction, but she detested using it for these exact things. Defending herself was one thing, but outright taking a life was something she could never condone, and something she could never do.
Her eyes lazily returned to that of the pigmy knight, and she breathed deep, blinking hard several times to remove the intruders threatening to soil her eyes.
"I promise you, I know nothing of King Allant, and I know nothing of the situation in Boletaria other than what is already known to you. I traveled here with my companions to-"
"Likely story, and I promise you, that whatever you're really plotting mage, I'll get to the bottom of it. I knew that little wretch was involved in this somehow…you, knight!" The fiery little captain called to her lackey, who turned to his mistress with a formal salute. "Bring that little cretin in here; it looks like I'm not done with her after all." She spoke harshly, almost sounding a little betrayed. She had genuinely believed the young girl when she gushed to the uncaring captain about her woes, about her missing father, but it seemed to her like nothing but dribble.
Where this young commander hailed from, mages were killed on sight. The very mention of a mage could have an entire village arrested and persecuted in the belief that they were harboring one with knowledge of the dark arts, or were a practitioner themselves.
As the weeping prisoner was dragged along roughly, she could only grumble at her misfortune. Since she had set out on her journey it seemed to be one unfortunate event after the other. She thought that psychotic leather-clad warrior-woman had been the least of her worries, apparently she was very wrong.
Almost immediately after escaping the clutches of that deranged soul, she found herself surrounded by metal husks, which then apprehended her with seemingly little reason, other than that she was alive in Boletaria. Thinking about it, that probably was a little suspicious in these lands, if you were still kicking around, you probably could defend yourself, and with information like that they could stretch into any number of outlandish scenarios.
The mage was ripped from her thoughts suddenly as she was thrown harshly onto the slick stone ground, and her hands were promptly tied with rope bindings. She glanced over the squad of knights, she might be able to incapacitate them without injuring any of them grievously, but they were likely skilled in the defense of magical arts, and she'd be taken down before she could make a hasty retreat.
She resigned to her fate with a sigh; if they had actually wished to kill her they likely would've done so by now. And so she had no choice but to play the waiting game, and observe, waiting for the split second she could make a run for it.
"Hey, hey, come on, be gentle! I'm all for a little rough-play, but at least kiss me first!" A quirky yet familiar voice rung out in the mage's ears, she knew she'd heard that boisterous little squeak before; she wouldn't mistake her dearest friend's voice, and who could anyway? There wasn't a voice in the farthest reaches of the kingdom quite like hers.
"Izumi-San!" The prisoner peeped, nearly gasping as her azure-haired companion was jutted roughly next to her on the algid stone-make.
"Miyuki!" Her friend breathed back, in a tone equally as baffled. "What are you doing here? A-are you alright?" Konata probed further, her bewildered expression melting into one of joy; she had found one of her dear friends at last, alive and well, contrary to her belief with each passing moment. It seemed there was hope for them after all in this dreary wonderland.
"I'm fine, but…" Stopping herself almost on key, the mage's throat was suddenly crushed in an iron tight grip of an armored gauntlet, and before her friend could protest, the same fate befell her.
Hacking up a glob of saliva, Konata's eyes fizzled with salty tears as her larynx was compressed with an unbreakable might. Her quivering orbs met with Akira's, the puny leader of the brigade, who's cold stare ripped through her, she'd never admit it, but it almost seemed as if the diminutive little knight gave off the essence of being hurt, as though she were betrayed.
"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you miscreant! You practically oozed bad news the second I saw you, just who the hell are you anyway! And what is this I see…a mage for an ally?" Akira growled ferociously, her eyes stemming with blood vessels ready to burst. "And that's not all." The knight paused, gruffly shaking the mage to and fro. "This little bitch here just got through telling me what fate befell my comrade, Shiraishi Minoru, dead! Apparently his life was claimed by one of the king's servants, absolute tripe! The king is gone! What took his place is not befitting of a title of king, and nobody in right of mind would serve that menace!" The commander screeched, once again, the scent of betrayal clung to her words Konata noticed.
Swallowing the aching stitch in her throat, Konata's hands gently took hold of her tormentor's, releasing her death grip but an inch so she could speak.
"Please, I wasn't lying! And Miyuki would never harm anyone, your friend's death was an accident I'm sure of it!" The azure knight yelled forcefully, presenting her case with as much compassion as she could, but it seemed this wasn't a trial, their defense meant nothing.
"I've had enough of this, Shiraishi may have been the most incompetent and worthless knight this brigade has ever seen, but as commander, he was my responsibility!" Akira finished with a squeak, and the two captives couldn't help but sympathize, while the hardened officer wasn't lax to show it, this Shiraishi's death seemed to affect her much deeper than she led on.
Releasing the necks of the two girls, they tumbled gracelessly to the ground in a heap, heaving up saliva and pressing at their burning eyes.
"Kill them." Akira sounded to her knights, turning heel to leave without a word, her frigid stare seemed so much farther off now, wherever she was, she just didn't have enough empathy to continue dealing with the stooges cow-toed at her boots.
"Wait, please, you have to listen!" Konata hollered, her eyes stapling themselves open in fear as Miyuki and herself were suddenly wretched harshly from behind, being held down forcefully by the faceless knights of Akira's brigade.
The otaku's green orbs flashed in every direction as her head was smashed onto the ground. She noticed the knight holding her readying his sword, preparing to pierce it through the back of her head. She felt her breathing intensify, she felt her heart rip off its strings with sheer pressure, the cold sweat envelop the back of her neck, she couldn't die here. Not like this, she mused, she had come so far! She didn't have time to be dead, not yet.
Gritting her teeth and awaiting the end, the frightened girl found it didn't come, and instead she found her entire body being lifted briskly off of the dirt and floating haphazardly through the gusting air. Her form rag-dolled against a nearby wall, slamming into it with a harsh thud, and crumpling onto the ground twice as hard, a sharp groan being the only form of communication she could muster.
Her eyes shifted upwards, and what she beheld she could not fathom, that drake! That scale-hided monstrosity had followed her! What luck she mused, the gods of fortune were surely smiling upon her this day! Never in a thousand years would the young warrior think she was actually fortunate that a mythical beast of legend was so eager to end her existence.
"It's that dragon again!" The young commander snarled, the beast had nearly killed her during their first encounter, she wouldn't allow such a shameful loss again. "To arms, men!" She chided to her underlings, who all but forgot about their prisoners and readied themselves for the battle at hand.
Pushing herself up briskly, Konata ran over to her sniveling companion, still slightly in shock at the chaos erupting around them.
"Miyuki, snap out of it! We gotta scram, now!" The warrior urged once more, pulling her bespectacled comrade to her feet and shaking her lightly, earning a quaint nod from the frightened sorceress.
The pair barely took a step before a large blade was swung in their direction, nearly lobbing off the twos head in the process. Recovering from the assault, they couldn't believe the fiery little commander still had the gall to attempt to stop them, even during such a hectic event.
"Hold it, I told you I'm not done with you yet worms!" She snarled at her escaping prisoners, only for the two to exchange glances of confusion, and then turn back to their captor with gleaming eyes, their escape was no longer in question.
"Sorry squirt, but I don't have time to be pestered by you anymore, buzz off!" Konata fearlessly roared, stomping a steel-tipped heel to the ground below her, snapping the sword below her feet upward into her hands gracefully. "Out of our way!" She commanded, bull-charging the knight and crushing her blade into her captors.
"You're making a big mistake, assaulting a knight little girl!" Akira growled ferociously, pressing downward on her hilt with all her might, causing her blade to cleanly crack through the poorly-ironed sword the otaku held and nearly break down the wielder with it.
"Little girl? You're half my size, and that's really saying something!" The azure knight snickered, clonking her opponent on the head gracefully with a light tap and pushing her to the ground. "It's been fun, but I gotta fly, catch ya later!" Konata mocked to the commander, nodding her head for Miyuki to follow suit.
Akira's rage only bubbled as she sat on the ground, feeling the quivering slab ground beneath her feet as the drake roared and challenged her elite knights. She watched pitifully as the two girls escaped, and concluded that wherever they ran, wherever they hid, she'd track them down.
"You can run to the ends of Boletaria Izumi, but I will find you! And I will kill you!" Akira erupted violently, raising her sword to the air in the oath she made to herself. "But I've got more important matters to deal with than a couple of sniveling brats…" The captain mumbled to herself, looking at the colossal air-born reptile that threatened to end her knightly career.
Coming to a breathless stop, the duo passed into the nearest room they could find, collapsing onto the floor in a heap of heaves and un-lady like coughing.
"You okay?" Konata bellowed out in between gasps, earning only a ginger nod from her gentle companion. "Good…oh boy, what a rush. Nothing like escaping a dragon-infested battleground in the morning to get the old cardio going, eh?" The otaku asked with a giggle, but her friend sure didn't show any signs of amusement, perhaps this wasn't the time.
Lazily crawling over to her friend, the warrior gently curved an arm around the mages slender neck, resting her now throbbing head on the taller girls shoulder with a light sigh.
"I'm sorry." She whispered gently, earning only a light hum and giggle from the still slightly shaken magician.
"It's alright, Izumi-San. I know you didn't mean for any of this to happen, I don't blame you." She cheerfully reprimanded, placing a tender kiss onto the shorter girls forehead, earning a few childish giggles of perversion from the otaku.
"Awesome, I just got kissed by a bombshell meganekko didn't I? This day just gets better and better!" Konata mewled, allowing herself to drop backwards and squirm on the floor in her delight.
Breathing in deeply, Konata sat up slowly; she could allow her mind to rest for the first time in days. Miyuki was safe, she was safe! She knew her friends wouldn't allow themselves defeat so easily, this demon-ridden land couldn't stop these girls; she knew the others were alright.
"Have you seen Tsukasa? Or Kagami?" The bluenette asked as brightly and hopefully as she could, but the downtrodden face of her companion didn't give her the answers she sought. Heaving another heavy sigh, she stood to her feet; she couldn't allow herself to get down. The twins were fine, she knew they were, her tsundere wouldn't allow any two-bit demon to stay her rage, and Tsukasa well…she was tougher than she looked.
"They're fine, I know they are." The moe-mage urged gently, earning a nervous chuckle from her usually brave and tough friend. Miyuki knew the twins could handle themselves, surely, but for Konata, who believed this to be nothing but a big mess she had thrown her friends into the middle of, she knew that if anything would befall her friends, she could never forgive herself.
As the bellow of the drake erupted throughout the castle halls once more, causing a light earthquake to shudder around the girls, Miyuki knew they needed to continue their hasty retreat, and quickly. She knew the knights would keep it distracted just long enough, and while she felt terrible using them as bait, they knew they had no choice.
"Come on Izumi-San, we need to go." Miyuki advised, offering her delicate hand to her groveling companion, who took it with a stern nod, she had no time for this. The longer she sat around, the longer her friends were in danger, and that was something she just couldn't abide.
Where they were in the labyrinth of a castle, they sure didn't know. The palace was less of a palace and more of a country. As the duo climbed staircase after staircase, they eventually found themselves on the apex of the untamable castle walls, barring out the world around them, this castle truly was impenetrable.
In its prime, it must've been the fear of the known world. While Boletaria was long vanquished by the colorless fog before she was born, Konata's father would often tell of the kingdom's brilliance. Its beauty was unparalleled, from its rolling snow-peaked mountains, to its grassy fields laden with spring bloom, to its dense and lush forest inhabited with wildlife most spectacular.
The kingdom was not only renowned for its beauty, but its might. While a friendly nation to its neighbors, Boletaria had come under siege many times from those wishing to drink from its cup of power, who wished to claim the golden land for their own.
To say these nations were utterly wiped out would be an understatement, to say that anyone who dared challenge the might of Boletaria and succeeded would be a lie. Under the rule of it's just and kind king, Allant the twelfth, Boletaria was nation to be loved, respected, and feared.
As the bluenette looked now at what had become of this nation, it's scorched wastelands prime with stubs of ancient trees and carcasses of humans and beast alike, it's very mountains torn and cragged asunder by some foul magic to be sure, it's skies darkened with musty and unforgiving clouds as black as any hell.
Would a king renowned for his kindness, a man whose very feet were worshipped by his people for his unparallel generosity and good nature, would such a man really be capable of destruction and death on such unfathomable scales?
As her friend gently probed her out of her silent trance, Konata only mused that such questions weren't worth asking, what was done was done, and whether or not this kingdom was once beautiful, whether or not its king was once kind and just, these things were not so anymore.
Feeling a burst of wind behind her, the bluenette couldn't help as she bellowed out a groan, she was all too used to sudden gusts of sharp air by now, and it only meant one thing.
Far to the sky the duo noticed the drake, still making its rounds around the castle, but this time luckily, it didn't seem aware of the girls' presence.
"Guess those knights couldn't hold it off after all…" Konata grumbled, looking to Miyuki and noticing her abysmal expression at the comment. "B-But, I'm sure they're fine, yeah? That little squirt is pretty tough; she saved me from that dragon you know, twice in fact!" The azure knight reassured, knowing all too well that in the short company she shared with the fiery commander, she wouldn't allow herself such an unworthy death.
"We should continue before it catches wind of our presence." Miyuki muttered gently, and with that the two decided they'd better keep it moving. Staying in one place too long seemed to attract trouble of a most foul and otherworldly nature.
Konata had accomplished what she set out to do, all missions were on hold until her friends were safe, but the one thing the Monumental and the blinded-maiden had neglected to inform her about, was how she went about getting back to the Nexus.
She remembered unfortunately, how she had gotten there the first time, but wondered if those same rules would apply. But how could she die? She was dead wasn't she? The Monumental was quite vague when it explained the limbo she found her life at the center of, neither living nor dead, simply trapped in between the two.
Can dead people even die, she wondered? She knew she could definitely still feel pain, so perhaps she was still alive after all, but either way, she wouldn't attempt anything dangerous in an effort to find out if that's how one returned to the nexus, dying a second time wasn't exactly something she wished to experience.
She thought of questioning Miyuki about any knowledge pertaining to her situation, but knew her inquiries would be met with nothing but blank stares and confusion.
Reserving the outlandish interrogations to her own mind, the otaku could've sworn she heard some rather antagonizing calls coming from below. And allowing herself to gently lean over the side of the castle wall, she saw a small legion of brothers in arms, led by the squirt captain.
She smirked silently to herself, knowing they'd be alright at any rate, that little harpy wouldn't allow her rag-tag band of gremlins to go down to some flying chicken with scales.
Her smile was washed away as she noticed they weren't out of the fire yet though, their troubles had only begun. A spear the size of a tree trunk suddenly exploded out of the large opening before the knights, literally tearing several of the knights to ribbons, from the girls' height, it appeared as though they were popped like tomatoes.
Before the duo had a chance to pass a second glance at the scene, another of the large spears suddenly ejected its way from the castle's hull, but this time it launched itself directly upwards in their direction, and the bluenette wretched herself from her frozen state with but seconds to spare, tackling the sorceress to the ground and sending them both rolling into the collapsing roof.
"Ah crap, you're kidding me!" Konata cried out, feeling her entire body slip and slide down the collapsing wall, only for a firm grasp to suddenly clasp over her fragile hand, yanking upwards with all its might.
"Hold on…" Miyuki muttered gently, squinting her eyes and gritting her teeth mightily, she summoned as much strength as she could, but it was no use. She felt the ground slowly begin disintegrating behind her, and without warning the stable stone-make underneath her feet suddenly gave way, sending the duo plummeting hundreds of feet to the ground.
"Crap, crap, crap! Miyuki do something!" The azure knight squealed, wrapping herself around her friend mid-air like a bear on a tree.
"Don't worry, I just need to…" The mage croaked to herself as she attempted in vain to center herself, but she didn't have the time. There were plenty of things she could think of to save them, but none of them she could calm her mind enough for. Without a confident, and able mind, magic of any variety, be it sorcery, or clerical arts, couldn't be performed.
This was the great irony of the art, as such a rule would demand the mind be stable in any given situation, and in any situation where magic would need to be used, the mind is anything but stable.
But the sorceress Miyuki was anything but a feeble student, she was well versed and well trained in the dark arts, and she knew better than to lose her cool in a situation such as this.
She had a special ritual reserved for such times, it could calm her in even the most hectic of situations, it would allow her to breathe, and not stifle and gasp, it would allow her to dream, and not be tormented by nightmares. It would allow her to live, without the constant dread of death looming not far behind.
Her eyes jerked and shuttered slightly as she allowed herself to be taken, taken to a place far away from her troubles, a utopia where she knew nothing but peace.
Her orbs flashed open once more, but she was no longer in Boletaria. Her death was no longer imminent, her mind, no longer in pain.
What she saw was the only thing she ever desired, the only thing she ever cared about, the only thing she ever needed in her simple and inconsequential existence. Her friends, with their gentle smiles and hearty laughs that she cherished so. Her home, a destitute cesspit of crime and poverty to the rest of the world, but her own personal garden of Eden. And her mentor, long since vanished from her life, the only one she could ever claim as family.
With a confident smirk her trance was no more, and the grey and dreary pallet of Boletaria washed over her senses once more.
A thrust of the hand was all it took, and like a passing breeze the girls' vertical descent was suddenly abated with a screeching halt, and their limp bodies hung delicately mere inches above the slab-stone ground.
Releasing her hold over their frames, Miyuki unclenched her wretched fist, allowing the duo to plop gently onto the dusty ground.
Slowly standing with a spurt of giggles, Konata couldn't contain her exhilaration any longer, hopping up and down and slapping her friend on the back harshly over and over.
"That was amazing, Miyuki! Absolutely amazing! How do you maintain your grace and beauty and yet be such a bad-ass as well? I just don't understand, maybe if I did I'd have a body like yours, able to kick somebody's face in while still lookin' fine." Her friend peeped at her shamelessly, giving her rump and bosom a gentle tap and squeeze as she spoke.
Usually Miyuki would make a light fuss about such perverted antics, but that spell had really taken it out of her. She had never attempted levitation spells before, the sheer energy it drained from you almost made them nigh useless, except in said situations such as these.
Feeling the light tinge of flightiness wash over her, she could only shudder as she felt the slick droop of fresh blood leak from her nose, and before long, a slight trickle ejected from her mouth as well. It seems the damage sustained from her spell was not external, but within.
The mage wasn't one to make others worry, especially her dear friends, and so gracelessly smeared the goopy excrement onto her sleeve and turned tail to face her praising friend, who continued to childishly revere her as a hero.
The bluenette's praise was halted with a low-toned whooping sound that echoed throughout the area, the duo were not alone in this new pit they found themselves trapped in.
Abruptly a large spasm took place below their feet, the very earth seemed as if it was about to collapse in upon itself. Would they be so unlucky as to experience a second cave-in?
The vibrating sensations Miyuki noticed, seemed to stem not from below but above. And following her gaze ever higher, she beheld a most alien sight.
The spectacle seemed to be something straight from a children's book, the mysterious enigma that lurked in the dark that the hero's must face, but what author in their right of mind would allow such a horrifying looking beast to be beheld by children?
The putrid abnormality could only be described as a bearish ball of tar, secreting goopy unknown substances from the inner mass, which externally beheld naught but an array of golden shields, each plastered with the seal of Boletaria. In between each defensive point, a tipped spear with the girth of a tree trunk, it seemed that in this respect, the creature was almost like a fortress, constantly in battle formation.
Scholarly in her own right, Miyuki had read of this battle formation before, it was an ancient battle stratagem, used by armies who knew that numbers were not on their side, and therefore defensive tactics would have to be of the essence. They called this ancient technique, a phalanx, where a wall of shields would be placed in front of a line of spears, allowing the warriors in the back to assault while those in the front defended.
The tar-like phalanx suddenly drooped incautiously from the musty walls, allowing itself to plop clumsily to the ground with a squishy and grotesque thud.
"You've gotta me kiddin' me…" Konata breathed out, dismissing her blade from its sheathe and taking a hardened battle stance, distinguishing Miyuki out of the corner of her eye taking a stance not unlike hers, but with a strange catalyst clasped gently in her palm. "What's that?" The otaku questioned thoughtfully, earning a brooding smile from her companion.
"A gift from a friend." Miyuki prudently exclaimed, a heart-warming smile wrought across her tender face, she knew she'd use the gift well, she wouldn't allow misusing it, such a thing would be a disservice to the man who bequeathed it to her with his dying breath.
Shrugging off her friends comment without probing further, the azure knight trained her gaze on the matter at hand, the bulbous sack of puss and weaponry that threatened to snuff them out.
"Izumi!" A shrill voice suddenly erupted, and the otaku could only smirk at the call of the harpy commander, she'd rather have the little lioness at her side during such an encounter anyway.
"Akira! Hey, just in time! I thought you were gonna let us have all the fun!" Konata cheered back confidently, eyeing the captain and her brigade slowly surround the muck-beast.
"As if you little cretin! Why don't you stand back before you hurt yourself? Let the professionals handle this!" Akira boisterously cackled, thumping her tower-shield on the ground several times and earning a series of snickers and hoots from her loyal followers.
"Funny, I was about to say the same!" The bluenette mocked back, but the captain took little amusement in the back and forth jabs, she had a job to do, she truly had no time to waste on the snarky little half-wit she found herself at odds with.
"Enough, show these cretins what the Kogami brigade is made of!" Akira broadcasted as animatedly as possible, and if Konata didn't know any better, she could've sworn the young knight resembled the heroes of the many books she gorged herself in so often at home.
Akira wasted no time in charging the gelatinous mess of a creature, swiping her ironed blade to and fro in vain, hoping somewhere beneath all the goop was something that could be harmed.
Her blade was suddenly sucked from her hand into the formless ooze, and a duo of spears were swiftly jabbed in her direction, but the expansive shielding offered by her thick tower shield saved her expertly, as it so often did.
The brigade swung their weapons at the beast as well, only to have them engulfed into its pit and promptly have the enormous bayonets heaved in their direction, skewering some of the less fortunate knights, and sending the others flying in every direction from the sheer force of the wind during the lighting quick strikes.
"Come on, we need to help them!" Konata encouraged to her friend, strengthening her resolve the best she could as she charged the heaving blob head on, followed closely by her magical ally.
She began with a downward slice, followed by a horizontal slash, a light hop backwards, leading into a thrusting jab! She recalled the workings of the blade as the steel cleanly slid through the gaping holes it made in the ooze beast.
What little she knew of the blade, she learned from her father, what he knew and where he had learned it, was a mystery. He had taught his daughter that any weapon, no matter how powerful, is useless and powerless in the hands of an unskilled wielder. The weapon was only the catalyst of your might, but the will needed to usher said might was something one had to do on their own.
Of course, properly swordplay was important; technique and balance were required in both offensive and defensive stances, even a skilled warrior could be cut down by a poorly skilled and sloppily-formed assailant if one mistake was made.
Your weapon was there to make up for your faults in battle he had told her, if you were short and stubby, perhaps a longer weapon like a spear, if you were tall and lanky, a shorter weapon like a dagger might be more suited to your tastes. You had to find the perfect balance, your weapon had to become an extension of you, sewn into your hands like patchwork, it had to feel as if without it clasped valiantly in your sweaty and burnt palms, you were naked.
The azure knight finished her swordplay with a twirling slash, cleaning dissecting a large glob of the beast and sending it tumbling in an aimless direction. She couldn't help but allow a shameless grin to envelop her face as the glistening tar shown beautifully on her blade, and her emerald eyes to gaze at the writhing lob of fleshy paste several meters behind her.
She watched as it wriggled within itself for a moment before slowly slumping upwards, and as if from nowhere, a glinting copper shield and a mighty lance were thrust from its ooze. Even surprising herself with her thoughtfulness on the sight, she found it akin to that of the myth surrounding worms, being that if the worm were somehow bifurcated into separate parts, each part would grow into another worm.
"That's probably not good." The warrior maiden breathed out with another mighty swing of her blade, disconnecting another slab of goop and sending it off in another aimless direction to multiply as it seems the miniature phalanxes did. As she watched the mini phalanx, she couldn't help but notice in the heat of battle, one of Akira's bumbling knights stumbled into a nearby torch, causing it to engulf the mini-ooze creature in a furnace of pain, sizzling it into a fine murky paste on the ground.
The inner machinations of the otakus mind clicked into place, and she turned tail to face the only one she knew could blow stuff up in a series of fire-related spells and sorceries.
"Miyuki! Torch the little ones, we'll handle this big bastard, alright!" She cooed to her companion, who gave an affirmative with a thumbs up.
Miyuki separated herself from the heat of battle, slowly dropping to her knees steadily, and firmly place her hands onto the oily ground beneath her.
She couldn't help but grunt slightly as she felt the pulsating veins on her forehead and wrists wriggle beneath her creamy skin, ready to burst from pressure. She knew this would take it out of her, she had used far too much magic on one day for her own tastes, and this would be the coup de grace for her performance if she wasn't careful.
Expending her power in bursts was the key, and feeling her pulse suddenly stop on cue, her eyes flashed closed violently, and her palms writhed in pain as a large surge of frothing flame exploded from them, hurling two chains of fire in separate directions.
Each tendril of flame collapsed onto several of the mini-phalanxes that attempted to assault the knights who were preoccupying themselves with the host creature, cooking them to a sound crisp and ending their mortifying and brief existences.
"I thought I told you to leave this to the professionals!" Akira reprimanded the duo mightily, only to suddenly have a tentacle-like protrusion wrap itself around her leg and whip her to and fro mid-air.
"Ha! I've read enough eroge to know where this is going! But seriously, Miyuki, save her!" Konata commanded with a laugh, her friend still placed in her magical trance, but allowing herself an affirmative nod.
Another series of broiling tendrils erupted from the ground, wrapping themselves around the budding branches of the phalanx and melting them into a bubbling mess, freeing the magenta-haired knight within their sticky grasp, sending her tiny frame falling to the ground with a crunching thud.
Still slicing away at the mass of tar, Konata barely noticed that several of the massive spears were readying themselves to staple the young captain to the floor, and she had no time to lose to one up that little she-devil one last time.
"Miyuki! Cast a spell underneath me, rocket me across this sucker!" Konata huffed with a heave of her blade once more, almost hearing her friend battle herself in her own mind over the foolishness of such an endeavor, but knowing she'd make it so anyways.
Without warning, an eruption of smoke and flame ripped its way out of the cragged ground and rocketed the young warrior clear into the air, blasting her in an arc over the sludge demon and sending her crashing directly in front of the out of commission commander.
Tightly rolling into a ball was all Konata could do to take the brunt of the crash, but she could still feel her bones bruise and twang with each crash and roll, and standing up she couldn't help but shudder from the jittering pain erupting through her system at that moment.
Shaking the pain from her timid frame, the otaku sliced her blade horizontally as far as her miniscule arm-reach could manage, but it was more than enough to lob off the steep-tipped points of the rigid spears and save the life of the young captain.
Turning to Akira with a confident smirk, the bluenette hoisted the girl up by her arms, noticing the crimson blush that had enveloped the face of the little warrior.
"Don't think this changes anything." Akira grumbled thanklessly, scooping up a random sword at her feet and bowing it at the demon.
"How cute! You even have trouble thanking people; you've got yandere written all over you!" The otaku squealed in delight, only for the knight to callously step onto her tender foot with an iron stomp of her metal boot.
"Don't mock me damn it! I could have you arrested for such a thing!" Akira growled relentlessly, earning a confused grin from her would-be ally.
"What happened to killing me? I thought you made it pretty clear next time we met I'd be dead." Konata cooed back, recovering from the sudden and violent outburst that had nearly been the end for her poor toes.
"I…shut up damn you! I've got more pressing matters to attend to than to argue with the likes of you!" The captain growled, turning her attention towards her battle-stricken knights, putting on the most confident and commanding face she could. "All of you listen to me! Have that mage light your weapons aflame, this beast sizzles like ice before it!" Akira instructed to her underlings, earning nods of recognition from the faceless knights.
Making their way over to the trance induced sorceress, each one nearly heaved at the thought of allowing her to live a second longer, or even worse, allowing the little cur to assist in any matters pertaining to them, but their commander's word was law, and they feared her far more than they feared any practitioner of the dark arts.
Each knight placed his or her weapon in the mages hands, and one by one, the blades, spears, and battle axes were lit aflame, causing the expertly crafted weaponry to glow a dull red in the hands of their wielders.
"Heh, not bad squirt!" Konata joked; rubbing her hand carelessly on the captain's head, another close encounter of the toe-kind was likely at hand if she kept up the incessant mocking.
"Have your mage direct her flames at the host of the beast, see if she can't blow it apart, separate all the smaller ones from the host!" Akira directed uncaringly, realizing the little blue-haired cretin wouldn't exactly let up with her snarky comments, and deciding to just roll with the punches.
"Right! Miyuki, you heard the squirt! Blast this thing into oblivion!" The azure-haired knight hooted excitedly, watching as her magical friend's entire form began to glow a dull orange. "Oh man, you might wanna back up a bit." Konata motioned to the captain, who instructed the same of her knights, the group allowing Miyuki enough space to work without getting in the way.
As the sorceress felt her pulse fade once more, she knew this spell would take it out of her. She had never attempted to release this much excess magical power with one strike, and she was slightly apprehensive about it. Every time magic was used, the host performing said sorceries had to expunge some of their life force and mold it into a raw power, which using their body as the catalyst, could be used in all manner of ways.
Miyuki knew allowing her body to take the full force of the spell would surely kill her, without a doubt it would, and so she aimed the double-helix wand the brave knight Minoru had given her at the gaping maw of the Phalanx, ready to send it back to whatever hell it was spawned from.
Her pulse suddenly sped up again, thump after thump, her heart thrashing around in her chest as she attempted to channel most of the power into the catalyst in her hands. Would it be enough? She could pray it would, because as she felt a slight trickle of blood gurgle out of her ears, she knew she couldn't turn back now.
Without warning the crystal wand in her hands suddenly shattered into a thousand glistening shards, slicing her hands to bits as a globe of fire the size of an elephant erupted from the magical device, slamming harshly into the Phalanx and literally blowing it apart, sending hundreds of mini-phalanxes flying every which way, sticking to the walls, crashing into one another and right into the trap laid by the knights.
"Now!" Their commander ordered, lighting her own blade aflame and charging the legion of squishy demons, her loyal and brave brigade at her back.
Konata couldn't help but wish to join them, she felt that itch, her adrenaline coursing through her young veins, she couldn't deny she felt alive in the heat of battle, when her life and the lives of others were on the line, she had never felt so alive.
But her gaze drifted to Miyuki, collapsed into an exhausted heap on the ground, no longer conscious from the toll the spell had placed upon her. The bluenette was no fool, she knew of the detrimental effects the soul arts had on the body, and she could only silently thank her friend as she approached her sleeping form.
Tenderly she removed a convenient cloth from her chest pocket, dabbing it at the leaking facial orifices of her dear friend, cleaning the fresh blood that threatened to gloss over her beautiful face.
"Thanks Miyuki, but…you didn't have to go that far! Ya damn near killed us too." Konata chuckled, gently lifting her friends head and cradling it on her lap, watching as Akira and her knights did a little cleanup work on the remaining shuffling little ooze-piles.
Looking downward at her cradled friend, Konata could only gently shake her head with a light sigh. Her friends were willing to damn themselves and follow her into this mess, and she repays them like this, having them fight for their very lives, 'til they collapse with exhaustion, to further her needs.
"What right do I even have?" Konata questioned herself with a somewhat melancholy smirk, hearing the iron clomp of Akira slowly making her way over to the resting pair of girls.
"While I feel it is my solemn duty as a knight to a kingless nation to cut the two of you down right here and now, I find I cannot after your intervention, we would have surely died without your assistance." Akira ended on a whisper, sheathing her blade with a click and kneeling down to the sleeping mage. "Will she live?" The captain wondered hopefully, earning a steady nod from the otaku.
"Yeah, Miyuki's a tough gal. God wouldn't let a fine pair like this die at such a ripe age anyway; he'll wait 'til she sags a little." Konata playfully prodded, pressing her palms into the slowly rising orbs on her friends lightly heaving chest.
On that note, the commander turned back to her knights as they hacked the final few phalanx bits into smoldering chunks, raising a hand into the air as a motion to follow her.
"Finish up quickly! We have to move out, I want to be at the inner palace by sundown maggots, do you hear me!" Akira roared violently, the gentle personality that had over-taken her but a second go vanishing in a tirade of screeches.
Noticing the bluenette balance the mage twice her size on her petite shoulders and slowly wobble to her feet, Akira couldn't help but sympathize in their pathetic state. Perhaps the two miscreant wanderers weren't such bad folk, but her oath as a knight still outweighed any affection she felt for the two.
"Do know that if I ever see you again, I won't hesitate, next time we meet your lives are forfeit." The puny knight apathetically claimed, her steely gaze meeting Konata's and locking to it.
"Heh, I'd be insulted if you didn't." The azure knight confidently proclaimed with a bow, turning to the whipping sound of wind at her back, noticing an enigmatic golden glow beginning to form in the air from seemingly nothing. "But that'll have to wait, looks my ride decided to pick me up after all." She whispered as she turned to face it, feeling her body slowly but surely fade from the plane of existence she knew so well, and sizzle into fulminations of dust and sparks.
Turning tail at the most unusual zipping sound, the knight Akira couldn't help but rub her chin in frustration, the duo of criminals were gone, naught but a smoking onyx ground where they had stood.
"What the he…? Where'd they go?"
"Welcome back." That grotesquely familiar voice rung out in Konata's ears as she slowly became aware of her surroundings, feeling her body return from whatever plane of existence it had just found itself in, returning to the world she damned every time she opened her eyes.
Her gaze was met slowly with that of the blinded maiden's, it seemed that the calculating little prophet could be trusted to some measure, she had after all, led her directly to Miyuki with little trouble.
"Yeah, hugs all around. I 'spose I should be thanking you, but I won't. Not until I have Kagami and Tsukasa back." Konata groaned with a sigh as she slowly lowered her still sleeping friend to the cold ground, feeling a twang in her ear as the maiden let out a most unnerving chuckle.
"The twins? Why, then I should think you'll be showering me with praise rather soon, they're just about to arrive." The maiden abstrusely asserted, waving her hand in the first aimless direction she turned in, and in said direction, a bubbling golden aura suddenly made its presence known.
"What…?" The azure knight whispered harshly, confusedly glazing her eyes over the spectacle and beholding several forms make themselves known from the crack in space time.
The first was that of a tall young woman, probably around her age, her body was nubile and toned in all the right places, and upon her head a dusty mop of golden locks. The next intruder from another dimension was a shorter girl; her skin glazed a dark tan, and her dull yellow eyes gleaming with exhaustion. The final girl to escape the wafting light was none other than Tsukasa, dirty, a little injured the otaku noticed by the holding of a battered arm, but safe and sound.
"Tsukasa!" Konata suddenly blurted out, running over to her timid friend and crushing her in a mighty bear hug, to say that the younger twin was confused would be an understatement.
"Kona-Chan? What are you…? " The younger Hiiragi could only babble out incoherently between the storm of giggles and squeals coming from her blue-haired friend, still wrapped around her tightly.
Before Konata could continue her blithe ruckus, a sharp whistling suddenly rung throughout her ears, and turning tail, an equally shapeless and radiating golden aura made itself known, the bluenette couldn't contain her excitement as her face furrowed into a wily curl, she knew what was coming next.
Space and time cracked the air slightly, and who stepped out of the light first she couldn't discern. The figure was a tall and lanky woman, beautiful in her own right yet somewhat sloppy looking, her long golden hair was tied into a long thin pony-tail, and her body was clad in a fierce looking leather outfit. The final infiltrator into their dimension was none other than the woman who made Konata's heart throb, the one who made her feel so lowly, so human at the very sound of her name.
"Kagamin!" The azure knight cried out, feeling a lump swell in her throat as she charged head long at the girl, crushing her head into the older Hiiragi's neck and sending the two toppling over onto the hard ground with a thud.
"Konata!" Kagami breathed out with a confused laugh, taking hold of the girl's shoulders and shaking her gently. "Where were you? A-Are you okay, what happened!" The tsundere questioned lightly, her smile only growing more as she looked around her, noticing not only Miyuki, but her sister as well! What good fortune had she found herself in? Had she died and gone to heaven? Was this even real?
"You…" A voice suddenly rang out amongst the group, coming from the tanned skin woman standing near Tsukasa, her gaze directed at the pony-tailed assassin across the room, who at first squinted her eyes, but she too quickly took on a defensive and steely gaze.
Before anything could be said, the assassin suddenly wretched a blade from her coat, hurling it in the direction of the fanged girl, but missing by a large margin in her weakened state.
"You've gotten sloppy, granny!" She heartily growled, removing her spear and pointing it at the assassin with a wink.
"You shut your damn mouth…!" The attacker hissed, dropping to a knee and holding her throbbing arm, it seems she had lost far more blood than she anticipated from that rogue arrow that struck her so harshly.
"Hey, isn't that…" Another voice rang out, this time extending from the nubile archer with the mopped haircut, and she couldn't even begin to hide her rage as she noticed a clump of tender pink hair on the ground, extending from a sleeping mage. She knew this mage, she couldn't ever forget that face, not in a thousand years could she forget it.
The darkened archer suddenly removed an arrow from her quiver and lobbed it without a thought at the dreaming sorceress, only for the threatening bolt to be taken in brunt by a gust of wind and magic workings, it seemed the 'sleeping' mage had awoken, and not a moment too soon.
"I…why are you…a-attacking me…?" Miyuki coughed out softly, still attempting to get her bearings and catch her breath, just where was she?
Pulling herself from her tsundere's arms, Konata stood with a gruff and a yell, grabbing everyone's attention before things began to spiral even further out of control.
"Just what the heck is goin' on here!" The otaku moaned in frustration, looking back and forth between the confused faces of the crowd, half of them steeling death gazes in one another's directions.
"My, my, how interesting…" The blinded maiden spoke to herself wickedly, turning to leave with a shrug as the rambling group figured themselves out amongst one another, she didn't feel it was her place to intrude on these seemingly personal matters.
At the sound of arguing and yelling, the maiden could only lightly sigh and grip at her now aching chest, lazily coasting her gaze to the forever climbing staircases that aimlessly crossed one another haphazardly.
"Sojiro, these are the saviors of this world?"
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Part I End…
Author's Note: Greetings readers I no longer have, it is I, your god king. This story wasn't updated for a very long time as you may have noticed…blame college is all I can say. Last fall when Dark Souls came out I suddenly had the urge to write again, but found there wasn't any time. Well guess what? I got FIRED! Yes, that's right, fired, I'm now unemployed. Not only that, I graduated Jr. College and can finally go to a REAL college. However, this won't be for several months, and as such, I literally have nothing to do in the mean time. Because my friends have lives, jobs, girlfriends, and I have none of this shit, I'll be glad to serenade you once again and lead you into a false sense of security. Come with me once more, as I lead you into my world of terrible writing. This time, I'm here to stay!