Nathan and Airi went back to the Continent after Nanael told them about how the Swamp Witch's influence affected the land and population, especially the new Queen Claudette. Not long after they came back, a new warrior named Annelotte bumps into them I the forest, intending to overthrow the Queen with her Rebel Army. She asked them whether they are willing to join her in her ambition.
"Claudette used to be an ally of mine. I know that she won't turn on us like that unless there is someone else behind her tyranny."
"I know, but with the way she is now and the power she has over the Continent, there is no way we can find out who is responsible without stopping her first. I know how you feel about fighting someone who used to be on the same side, but stopping this corruption is the reason why you are here isn't it?"
Nathan turns to Airi. "What exactly do you think of this?"
"It sounds even worse than what the Swamp Witch has done while she was alive. Maybe we better hear more of her story before we can decide."
"Very well. Annelotte, why don't you tell us your part of the story and how everything is going so far? The more you talk, the easier it will be for us to understand the situation."
"Of course." Annelotte withdraws her demonic horse and sits down with the group.
"I was a former member of the Knight Corps of Margrave Kreutz, who is actually my father. What caused me to form an ambition to overthrow the Queen came from a tragedy when she ordered her soldiers to destroy the kingdom. I then retreated to the Elven forest where I was chased by her mercenaries until an elf named Alleyne saved me."
"Alleyne was also an ally during the war against the Swamp Witch. It has been a year since our last contact. How is she doing now?" Nathan asked.
"She is doing okay right now I think. She took me in and trained me to become a better warrior. It was after her training that I started to form an army of my own although I am currently only traveling with a few people trying to organize more members for the cause. The Rebel Army is still no match for Claudette's superior forces, especially since she gathered a new army of creatures I have never seen."
"You mean like those over there?" Airi pointed to the dead bodies of Orcs nearby.
"Correct. Even some of the former leaders who fought against the Swamp Witch has turned to the Queen's side due to her influence. Many of them, including Aldra and Elina joined the Queen."
"Even they would fall under corruption." Nathan becomes saddened after hearing that Elina joins the Queen and fears how the rest of his friends will turn out.
"I made Elina keep a promise for her to become a better person. Is it necessary to kill all of them for the sake of peace?"
"We don't have to kill them. I just want the Queen's tyrannical rule to stop."
Airi becomes concerned. "Nathan, many of our former friends and allies are scattered. It won't be as easy as last time. Do you really think you are ready for this?"
"One does not prepare completely for war Airi. There will always be something that will take us by surprise. I am only doing this so I can save my friends."
Annelotte turns to Airi. "I know that you don't like this, but that is all we can do for the moment."
"Very well. I will do this to protect my new friends." Airi summons her scythe.
"Right now the Yuit, Tarnyang, and Sainyang are waiting in the other side of the forest for me. We better get to them before the others do as they are important members of the Rebel Army."
"We better take care of what is surrounding us first." Nathan notices the Orcs surrounding them and takes out his blade.
Airi, Annelotte, and Nathan's combined skills allows them to overwhelm the Orcs with ease. As they move deeper into the forest, Nathan felt a soft object on his foot. When he looks down, he is surprised to find that the object is the stuffed cat that Nathan bought for Elina during her visit to London. As the only reminder of their friendship, Nathan takes it with him and puts it in his bag.
In another area of the forest, Legolas and Alleyne are seen fighting the rest of the Orcs, who came intending to kill the survivors. Although Legolas is more skilled as an archer, he can hold his own with a sword as he slices two Orcs coming in front. Alleyne sees herself being surrounded and does her signature tornado kick to clear the area. Legolas sees two more Orcs coming right behind her and fires an arrow at one of them to allow Alleyne to take notice and stabs the other Orc in response. Legolas sees a Uruk-hai coming towards him and dodges his strike by jumping onto a large boulder and shoots the Uruk-hai on the neck. The Uruk-hai survives the shot, but Alleyne turns him around and impales him with her spear, killing the large Orc.
"You don't fight bad at all. You have good reflexes although your sword skill definitely needs work. 82 points."
"What is with you turning everything into a lesson? Is that really necessary?" Legolas asked.
"It is just how I do things. You might as well get used to it since I often have to train members of my tribe before the genocide."
"It is no surprise that you find my sword skills lacking compared to my archery skills since I have more experience with the bow and arrow."
"Just make sure you do not waste the arrows. You might need them in case you ever get out of the forest."
"You don't have to tell me what is obvious." Legolas begins picking up the arrows stuck on the fallen Orcs.
Before they were able to continue, they were soon ambushed by undead pirates and on top of them stood a floating ship captained by Liliana followed by other floating ships. Legolas and Alleyne tries to stop them, but are heavily outnumbered.
"Oh my. How cute, seeing a couple of elves trying to stop my army of undead pirates. I knew that following a trail of dead bodies would lead me somewhere and there it is."
Legolas and Alleyne soon find themselves overwhelmed as more and more come to fight.
Airi, Nathan, and Annelotte, however, noticed her ship from a distance, causing them to become more cautious.
"What is with the floating ship?" Nathan asked Annelotte.
"It's Liliana, one of the Swamp Witch's former servants. When they arrive somewhere, it means they want something from the area. We better go stop her."
The three proceed to catch up to the ship with Annelotte summoning her demonic horse, Ambrosius, while Airi follows by flying, as Nathan travels by jumping from tree to tree in a very similar style to a ninja.
Meanwhile, Yuit is seen outside of the tree line with Tarnyang, Sainyang, and her wind-up automaton, Vante. She has apparently lost her patience as she waits for Annelotte to come back to them.
"Geez, how long will big brother make us wait until she comes back?"
"It can't be helped since recruiting members actually takes time. She recruited us mostly by acting alone since our presence often caused suspicion." Tarnyang explained.
"I don't think that is the case. Look over there." Sainyang points to the ships she could see from the hill they are standing on.
"Big brother is in trouble. We better go before something happens to her." Yuit rides on Vante and speed off with Sainyang and Tarnyang following.
It doesn't take long before Annelotte, Nathan, and Airi catches up to the ships, but finds an injured Alleyne in the process.
"Alleyne!" Nathan comes after her and picks her up.
"Come on, wake up." Nathan shakes her a little and Alleyne finally opens her eyes.
"Nathan. It has been a while."
"Never mind that right now. What happened here?"
Alleyne points to the ship that is just about to leave. "They took an ally of mine. He is in there."
"Airi, summon your spirits and get him out of there."
"Understood." Airi calls out about a dozen of her spirits and commands them to raid the ship for a certain individual.
The spirits obey and begin flying towards the ship. Before they can even get there, however, Liliana summons her phantom crewmembers to take out their crossbows, easily taking down the spirits.
"Impossible. Objects can't touch something if they are intangible." Airi protested.
"Her crew members are all phantoms. They can touch both the dead and the living." Annelotte explained.
"Now then, kill them all." Liliana orders her crewmembers as they keep firing from their crossbows.
Nathan draws his blade and easily cuts the arrows that were aiming at him as Annelotte does the same. Airi blocks them by spinning her scythe like a wheel to deflect the arrows.
Liliana grows visibly frustrated. "All right, that's it. Aim the cannons and fire."
Her crewmembers moved one of the cannons within the groups direction, but before they can fire, Vante starts firing her guns on the crew members, disabling some of them, preventing the cannon from being fired. Yuit currently rides on Vante as Sainyang and Tarnyang sneak into the ship.
"Yuit!" Annelotte called.
"Hey big brother. Do you honestly think you can have all the fun without us?"
"Sorry, but we have bigger things to deal with right now."
Nathan and Airi becomes confused by how Yuit addresses Annelotte.
"Big brother?" Nathan mentioned.
"It is an old habit of Yuit's since she says I spoiled her like a big brother even though I am a girl. I know that sounds weird, but you will get used to it."
"I see." Airi also finds their relationship to be unnatural.
Yuit takes notice of Nathan, Airi, and Alleyne. "So are those your new recruits?"
"I will introduce all of them later. Right now we have to rescue my Instructor's comrade, who is being held in Liliana's ship."
"Sainyang and Tarnyang are in the ship right now, but they should have gotten out by now. Vante, carry the people who can't fly to the ship. We'll go rescue the elf, but you better explain yourself once this is over."
As promised, Vante carried Annelotte and Nathan to the ship while Yuit was riding on it. Airi follows behind using levitation. Liliana attempts to stop their advance, but Vante shoots down their attempts using the guns built within her arm, taking out some of her crewmembers.
"Was this machine made from the same technology as the guns during the war against the Swamp Witch?"
"You got it right boy. When a new weapon was introduced, I wanted to find out what more I could make using them and that is when Vante is born, which is the automaton that is carrying you."
Once they successfully infiltrate the ship, they created barricades on the doors to prevent Liliana from coming in, much to her frustration. Once they head further in, they see the sisters fighting some of Liliana's crewmembers and notices Annelotte.
"Well if it isn't Annelotte as well as the new recruits. The elf is inside the door behind us. Get him out of there while we hold down the guards." Tarnyang said as she continues to fight.
When they get inside the door, they were shocked to see that Legolas was merely meditating and unafraid.
"I knew that help would arrived sooner or later, but what took so long?" Legolas asked.
"You could have escaped yourself while we were fighting the guards." Nathan becomes a little irritated.
"I couldn't hear what was going on and it was impossible for me to escape from the inside."
"Anyway, I had Airi plant charges in all of the ships. We better go before they blow up."
Once Liliana and her crew were able to open the door, there was no one inside. Liliana loses her temper and things get worse when the chargers started lighting up. Everyone watches from the outside as all of Liliana's ships are being destroyed by explosive charges as well as most of her crewmembers as the ships starts to drop down.
"By the way Nathan, I didn't see you pack those charges in your bag. When did you do that?"
"I knew that my small pistols wouldn't be enough so I packed a little more with me while you were shopping."
Legolas notices the injured Alleyne and rushes to her. The group also follows and decides to stay until Alleyne is well enough to be on her own again. When Alleyne wakes up, she sees Yuit talking to Nathan and Airi while Annelotte explains what happened while Legolas watches them.
"What? You two were the ones who lead the army against the Swamp Witch? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Yuit complained.
"We couldn't tell you because we were on a mission to save a life. That always comes first." Nathan said.
Yuit turns to Legolas. "So those creatures found throughout the forest are Orcs correct?"
"Yes. Apparently, the survivors of the last battle have found a new leader here otherwise they wouldn't have left. I can already see how much their presence has influenced the land. With the exception of Alleyne, her entire tribe was killed by these creatures and we can't allow the same thing to happen anywhere else."
Nathan turns to Annelotte. "Is this really your entire group?"
"We have more, but they are currently at base working for the Rebel Army so they can't be here. The true Rebellion has not begun yet. What we are right now is just something to fight back with."
"I see that everyone is getting along well despite having just met." Alleyne crawls towards the group's circle.
"Instructor! You are okay!" Annelotte yells out of relief.
"It's been a while since we have first met hasn't it?"
"Only about a few weeks."
"Instructor? Are you saying that Annelotte used to be a former student of yours? What happened to Nowa?" Airi asked.
"Nowa and I parted ways so that she can learn to be on her own. Annelotte was my most recent student I took in after finding her injured and trained her in how to become a better fighter."
"A lot has happened since our last adventure, but it will be something we have to get used to." Nathan pointed out
"How are your injuries? That was some hit you took back there." Legolas asked.
"It's getting better. By the next day I should be able to handle my own before all of you leave to face the new threat."
"You aren't going to help us Instructor?"
"The Orcs used some kind of spell to prevent me from leaving the forest. I don't really know how, but it appears that they still have a little bit of the Swamp Witch's magic."
"Her influence is still present in the Continent. I wouldn't be surprise if we were to find a part of her to, based on what Nanael told Airi and I back in my home world. We only gave ourselves a few weeks before we have to return so all of us better move quickly to stop the threat. As for Alleyne, the Swamp Witch's magic is powerful, but not unbreakable. Airi, do you still have some your Holy Milk left?"
Airi takes out the bottle still half-full. "Indeed. Adding the right amount will be enough to break the curse."
"So Instructor, will you join us?" Annelotte asked again.
"Those creature killed my entire tribe and left me to die alone. I still have unfinished business with them so release me from my curse. I will join you in overthrowing the Queen with the purpose of destroying whoever is behind this corruption."
Airi pours a little bit of the Holy Milk on to Alleyne and everyone sees the spell being released. At the same time, she notices Nathan carrying the stuffed cat he bought for Elina.
"It was saddening to hear that some of our friends have fallen under corruption and that cat is your only reminder isn't it?"
"I want to make them remember what we've been through. I want them to know that they don't have to do this. Like I said before, I didn't make any friends when I was back in London. Every friend I made here is very important to me. I want to help them no matter what. I will not rest until I put an end to this."
Nathan's worries soon became anger. This makes Airi worry herself as she knows that his anger might turn to bloodlust until he calms down.
"Please calm yourself Nathan. I know you are angry about how much has changed, but I promise you that we will help them like we did last time and this time you are not traveling alone."
Nathan calms down and smiles at Airi after realizing what she is trying to do. "Thanks Airi. You are right. Last time I was mostly on my own and this time I have new friends and allies to back me up. With all of us focusing on one goal, we will succeed.
In the meantime, Liliana wakes up from the wreckage and crawls her self out of it with a few of her surviving crewmembers following. Seeing that all of her ships were destroyed, she throws a tantrum.
"How dare they destroy my ships? Once I see them again, I will make sure they pay!" Liliana keeps comically stomping on a piece of the wreckage out of spite and anger as the rest of her crew watches her awkwardly.