Into Battle We March
Disclaimer: I do not own Rosario Vampire or any part of its franchise. I would also like to thank lord of the land of fire for giving me permission to write this.
Nor do I own any part of the Skyrim franchise. I know putting up these disclaimers changes nothing but I've gotten into the habit of doing that anyway. Besides, it is a little late to stop now.
This is a sequel to The Unsealed Vampire story by lord of the land of fire and The Unsealed Vampire: Tsukune's Revenge by yours truly.
Now that I am done wasting your time with author's notes, let us move on to the main attraction.
Enjoy:
Everything was set: All the preparations had been made, the troops were assembled, the weapons had been distributed accordingly. Now, it all fell upon Tsukune's shoulders to bring this army he had been given command of all the way to Lilith's Mountain and gain victory. This would be a battle worthy of remembrance.
The Dark Lords would not be joining the assault, citing that this wasn't their fight to begin with. That was an outright lie and they all knew it. They wanted Tsukune to head the invasion so that they could showcase how capable their delegates were in dealing with matters related to monster security. Again, this was all a big publicity stunt with the teen ghoul stuck right in the middle of it.
Ura, Omote and Tsukune were quick to realize that tidbit as they marched forward through a dimensional gate that bridged the inside of the mansion with the outer perimeter of the Mountain. The second they were all massed on the other side, the fighting would begin. Their distance from HLF HQ should give them enough time to regroup and push forward with a force of a thousand strong. And if that failed... Well... It had better not fail.
They could tell that, ever since Akua breached the mansion's security, the Dark Lords had been pushing them to follow through with the plan as soon as possible. No doubt they were afraid Fairy Tale might intervene and make things harder. Ura and Omote were more than capable of handling a few dragons, add in a few Fairy Tale executives along with Kahlua and Akua and nothing could be less sure. It was imperative that the mission be completed before Fairy Tale had a chance to move in.
Why not go the safe route and cancel the operation altogether? If they did so, the repercussions would be much more severe than conducting a botched assault on the HLF. For one, they would lose face in front of the monster community as a whole, recruitment for Fairy Tale would skyrocket after something like this. They would also lose out on a clear opportunity of ridding Tsukune Aono of his mental issues. For some, mental healing meant living in a nurturing environment to help them cope with the horrors inside their head. In Tsukune's case, the most effective method would be giving him closure and showing him that he could stop whatever abominations he helped create and bash in a few heads.
He may beat himself up over how he turned his own men into monsters. However, he was quick to forget one common trait they all possessed, the members of Scythe exacerbated that very same trait which is what got them promoted: They were all rotten before they had ever even heard of the HLF. Sure, there was that core group of people who fought to get out of the Snow Village and Lilith's Mountain but they were soon replaced with an organization almost entirely composed of ex-convicts, murderers. In short, the scum of the human world looking for cheap thrills after being scouted for their viciousness.
The HLF had an open door policy. If you were human, you could join up if you wanted too and you could leave if you didn't like how things went. Mikogami was willing to bet that there wasn't a single innocent human left within their HQ. The foot soldiers might still believe in that ideal but the lieutenants and members of Scythe were in it just to maim and kill monsters. This only served as a catalyst for their malevolent intentions.
The Huang went through the gate first as they followed their appointed ghoul commander. Some held grudges for the murder of their colleagues but they understood that this took precedence over whatever grievances they may have with their current command. Tsukune and the Mokas walked in, leading the army of black suits marching with rifles and all manner of other weapons. Despite the mafia family's supposed connections, that didn't keep him from wondering how they managed to equip some of their own agents with rocket launchers.
The next to pass the gate were the Snow People, led by their Priestess. Some carried weapons, other relied on their natural claws to give them the advantage in the coming fight. All were just as determined as their leader to save their species from extinction. Truth be told, many wanted to get retribution. Since they couldn't kill Tsukune, they would make do with the ones they were to face beyond the inter-spacial gate.
The Succubi weren't far behind. Wings and razor sharp nails at the ready, they would provide aerial support for the other two groups as well as make up the bunk of the close quarter combat division of the assaulting army. Sadly, they were deprived of the use of their charming spell, there was too high of a possibility for allies to get caught in the spell. If even a fraction of the humans they had to fight were committed to their cause enough so that they were susceptible to resist the effects of a charm trance, that would spell disaster if the surrounding monsters were charmed into a vegetative state. The risks were too high for such a delicate operation.
Though Tsukune would never in a million years have qualified this as a delicate mission: How much tact could you need to bash in a few hundred skulls? That didn't take into account the likely fact that dragon skulls would be joining the pile. And let's not forget Fairy Tale operative skulls. Yes, Tsukune Aono was very pessimistic about beating Fairy Tale to Lilith's Mountain.
After all, the possibility of facing Akua was the sole reason for why he had to endure the Body Modification Technique Touhou Fuhai inflicted upon him in the first place. When was the last Fate gave him a break? Would Akua kick his ass into the next century? Most probably. He just needed to hold her off long enough for his two soon to be blood mates to not get overwhelmed by the sheer number of foes ganging up on them. Honestly, he hoped this kind of thing wouldn't turn into such a common thing as to have it become pillow talk between himself and Moka. Which one? Both, as a matter of fact. Though he was more inclined to believe that Inner Moka would make that into a topic of discussion regardless of how things went.
The other side of the gate was as barren as he remembered it. A giant mountain standing out in the middle of an endless stretch of rocky landscape. Hard to imagine that such a sight was visible anywhere near the usually green terrain that constituted Japan. They were on an oversized chain of islands for crying out loud! Deserts don't belong in a country with so many fields. Tsukune sighed again, that was magic for you. Seriously, why did he let this bother him anymore?
It took a few moments for the entire force to make it to other side. Once everyone had passed and was accounted for, there was still the off chance of a last minute desertion, they were ready to set off towards the stronghold that was the mountain that towered in the distance. They had to be an easy five kilometers away, yet it did not diminish the stronghold's capacity to dwarf your own size in comparison. And the bustling energy the Huang force was sensing from way out there was nothing to sneeze at either.
Oddly enough, that aura seemed to increase in strength as time went on. For those with vampire-grade sensory abilities, it was easy to discern the cause for that sensation. The power was not growing, it was nearing their position. It wasn't long before several dots in the sky were spotted. The dots were constantly growing in numbers as the most recent ones came closer.
It looked like the dragons had beaten the humans to the intruding army and were on their way to assess the threat. From the crowd that was gathering in the clear blue sky, Tsukune estimated they were ready for a serious brawl. He then felt a huge pressure surge pop up next to him, it was so powerful that it almost knocked him back a few feet.
The Mokas stood ready for war, their seals clutched in their hands and their eyes slitted with a mad need for bloodshed and carnage. As you would expect, the number of dots somehow doubled after that impressive show of power the two just put on. Maybe throwing out their trump card into the open so early in the fight had been a miscalculation.
It hardly mattered now, what was done was done. All they could do now was stand ready and give it their all. Unless they had a death wish, in which case they could turn around and run as fast as possible, all the while praying they would somehow outrun an angry mob of powerful dragons chasing after them and speeding through the sky at speeds far superior to what they could hope to outrun. None took that idiotic option, which either meant they were very smart for realizing there was no running away, or very dumb for not being able to understand that they would be dinner for these bloodthirsty beasts under normal circumstances.
However, normal circumstances didn't include two extremely powerful vampires warming for an all out massacre. What could he say? Tsukune was slow to adapt to new concepts, fighting alongside two S-class super-vampires who put average vampires to shame didn't feel all that common yet. Again, he hoped it would never end up being so commonplace as to feel normal. He was not planning on thinking of this kind of showdown as just "another day at the office".
Something unexpected happened next. Instead of outright shooting out beams of fire and ice at them, one of the dragons came down from the sky and landed right in front of Tsukune. They wanted to talk? That was not something he planned for. Perhaps this could avoid a whole lot of bloodshed on both sides.
He recognized the dragon who came to address him, too. Of all the vengeful dragons, why did it have to be him? Alalokdilon's rage was palpable, seeing an army march against him and his brethren must not have been a pleasant sight. Maybe the situation was still salvageable.
True to dragon traditions of salutations, Tsukune immediately bowed his head with his hands rigidly stuck to his sides. Showing enough politeness would grant him a few moments to speak with the winged monster, it was amazing how much importance they attached to speech and etiquette. Why go the extra mile when it was clear Alalokdilon wished to speak with the intruders? He was bringing an army to conquer their home, the elder dragon would likely have decided to just scorch them all on the spot if he didn't like what his human acquaintance had to say.
"Greetings, Alalokdilon." His tone was as respectful as it had always been. Unfortunately, he quickly came to understand that the dragon leader was running out of patience. "I understand that this may look bad but please give me a chance to explain." The loud roar that emanated from the dragon was signaling that it was his turn to talk.
"What is the meaning of this, jul? Explain to us why our sworn paal, our sworn foes, march behind you as though you led them." The snarl that ensued was definitely a bad sign. He had to try and reason with them. If the dragons could be persuaded to back off, then the death toll would be reduced greatly.
"The HLF has begun attacking innocent people. We are here to make sure they can harm no other monsters. Surely you can understand the need for them to be stopped?" He paid those words no heed and growled once more. Comparing them to other, less powerful monsters was a big mistake. In their eyes, it was like diminishing their own importance, but that was not the main source of his anger.
"You failed to answer, jul. Explain to us why our paal march behind you. And why we should not simply ag all! Could this mean you have turned on your own? Hin arrogant and treacherous actions..." He paused, sensing the vampires next to the target of his rage. His slit eyes widened ever so slightly as he examined the familiar beings.
Any chance there may have had for peace had been instantly overshadowed by a primal desire for dragons to demonstrate their superiority versus their arch-rivals: the vampires. For a brief moment, the world seemed to have been frozen in place as Alalokdilon and Inner Moka tried to stare down one another.
In a flash, Tsukune saw his hopes for a peaceful resolutions turn to nothingness as a great gust of icy cold winds came out of the elder dragon's mouth. It was aimed straight at Inner Moka. Fortunately, her position was a little off to the side, none of the soldiers had been caught in the aftermath of the beam. As for Ura herself, once the localized blizzard faded, it revealed an empty frozen crater. She was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, Tsukune heard a battle cry and the previously unaccounted for Moka appeared next to him, urging him and the bunk of the army to make a run for the mountain and confront the HLF there. Just as that happened, Outer Moka, in a brilliant display of bravado, charged the leader of the dragons and threw a punch to it's head that sent the outmatched beast to the ground with a cry of pain. The other dragons responded to the cries of their leader and fired at the army. A small group stayed behind with the Mokas as Tsukune and the rest that hadn't been blown away by the counter made a run for it. They knew this wasn't their fight.
The ghoul glanced back at his beloveds as they teamed up to stop an oncoming blast that nearly connected with the boy's turned back. His staring proved upsetting for the girls as they reissued Inner Moka's earlier command. "Go!" They yelled out in unison as they ran into the thick of the brawl, blood spattered and pained roars echoed as dragon after dragon went up to face them and fell practically immediately thereafter.
With this amount of chaos going on in the outer perimeter of their headquarters, there was no way they wouldn't be ready for an imminent attack now. That knowledge did nothing to deter him and those that got through, approximately three quarters of the original force, from pushing on. He lost track of the position of the other leaders, the adrenaline rush from surviving so many blasts was currently blocking out all things not directly related to getting him to Lilith's Mountain.
From there on, he would breach the Inner City, fight his way to the main building, and confront the Scythe member in charge of the HlF. Though he wasn't certain, he had a pretty good idea of who the leader was. In all fairness, it was in no way a difficult thing to guess, he imagined it was the one he promoted to being his second-in-command a little before he came up missing.
He knew very little about her past apart from her name: Ayano Sato. She showed up at the Mountain a few days after word had begun to spread and signed on the dotted line. After that, she had acquired a reputation for enjoying her kills a little more than she should. That very reputation was what drew Tsukune and his alter-ego to promote her. Since then, she only seemed to become more transfixed with murdering monsters as she rose through the ranks and begun being groomed for managerial positions. He really wasn't looking forward to seeing her.
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Ayano pouted as she saw the dragons getting decimated on one of the many screens in front of her. Typical monsters, always ruining human toys, now where was she supposed to find guard dogs that were as well trained as they were? Couldn't they take a hint and lie down while she killed them off? Despite her irritation, she couldn't stay mad at the prospect of murdering so many monsters in a single day. If anything, it was making her tremble with anticipation, such a fun job.
And the one to whom she owed this dream come true was running towards the complex with a huge invading force of monsters at his command. How irresponsible, she left him to his own devices for a few weeks and he turns traitor. When they got him back, she would have to thoroughly discipline him to make sure such a thing never happened. If this were anyone else they were talking about, she would not have hesitated to make a proper example of him and string up his corpse for all to see. Speaking of which, they would really have to take down Hiseki's body soon, the smell was starting to get to her.
All in all, this was perfect timing, there would be no shortage of people to torture and string up once this was over. It was impossible to keep Tsukune Aono out of headquarters if he tried to get in but the boys didn't have to worry their pretty little heads about stupid little details like that. Besides, it had been so long since she got to take out her torture toys, one or two grunts at the wrong place at the wrong time would quench her need for blood beautifully.
Incredible, it's only been ten minutes since she learned he was alive and he was already back to helping her nurture her talent for chaos. In no uncertain terms, he was the best boss ever. No, boss didn't do him enough credit, his schizophrenic behavior inspired her to do great and horrible things, he was her mentor. How dare that happy go lucky squad of monsters try and take him away from her.
Also, who do those two vampires think they are, fighting dragons like that. She saw the way they were looking at him, how dare they try and seduce him. If any murderous woman had a right to bed him, it was her, plain and simple. She would be sure to knock out any memory he had of those two vampires out of him while she reeducated him.
She squealed in delight after hearing a large explosion, signaling that the inner perimeter of the Mountain had been breached. He was coming for her, and it looked like he was planning on killing her himself. Oh what fun! Should she put on some makeup, perhaps something black? Should she dress down a little for the occasion? Nothing said "I'm happy to see you" like showing a little skin. As it were, her coat wouldn't do this meeting justice.
Sadly, a grunt decided he would try and show off how concerned he was with command and try and give her a few pointers. Must have been a newbie for thinking that was the way to go to get promoted. "Ma'am, the perimeter has been compromised. We need to get you to safety." He sounded genuinely worried, pretty good acting.
She sighed before she turned her chair to the grunt behind her and got up. Without warning, she brought out a shotgun she had been concealing beneath her desk and pointed it at the newbie's skull. He didn't even have the time to comprehend what was happening before she pulled the trigger and murdered him in cold blood.
She couldn't help but giggle as she saw parts of his brain splatter the wall along with his blood and parts of his skull that hadn't been annihilated by the shotgun blast, it was fun to be her. On a side note, she did like that shade of color on the walls. After this, they should get the whole office repainted in that color.
She giggle and skipped on out of her office, leaving the officers to clean up the mess. So long as she was in their vicinity, they didn't dare do anything that might risk upsetting her. To boot, she was clinically insane, so any little thing that didn't meet her fancy was susceptible of getting someone shot or dismembered on the spot. As for her likely target, it could be any number of people. This time, it turned out to be the offender. Sometimes, she would just kill a passerby and let the offender off with a smile and a heartfelt goodbye.
They would have topped her by now, if they weren't so afraid that they would die soon after. There was a reason why she was Reaper's favorite. The late commander twisted her into a spitting image of himself. Looking into her eyes was like staring at those two red orbs filled with sadism and insanity. How had he managed to make her like this? Rumors circulated, some said she arrived like this and simply required a little push. Others said that she ended up on his torture chair and her reeducation was what molded her into this, from there would have come her love for all things sharp, pointy and that caused harm.
That wasn't important right now. If Commander Sato was giddy enough to start skipping, that meant the rest of the force could expect to fight a bloody conflict today. If it wasn't as bloody as she would have hoped, Ayano would be sure to even the odds by killing a few of her men here and there. Beneath that soft and youthful exterior, complete with black hair, emerald eyes and ruby colored lips was possibly Reaper's very reincarnation, waiting to reemerge and destroy the world for fun. No matter what happened, you could be sure that these officers would never turn their backs on Ayano. Then again, that was mostly for fear of being stabbed when they weren't looking.
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Tsukune had just made it into the inner perimeter of the Mountain. The obstacle course part of their mission having been concluded, watching for claymore mines and dodging dragon blasts being considered obstacles, they were now free to press on and start the real fighting within the hollowed out mountain they had just blown into.
The boys came packed with everything, and that involved several tons of explosives that had been set all along the Mountain so as to blow a big enough hole to let the entire force pass without a hitch. Going through the main entrance would have made them the perfect targets for the Mountain's defenses. Passing through here, though more flashy, permitted them to all go in without having to line themselves up one behind the other and getting shot at as they marched in rows.
The HLF forces present within the Mountain flooded to secure the outer entrance that had just been blown into. Thus began the fighting part. Shards of ice, bullets and torn off nails flew in all directions. As for Tsukune he did his best to support his troops with some well placed blood shots whenever he could line up one.
For the most part, the battle was going perfectly well. The two had engaged and the monsters had the benefit of both a diverse team and the newest in high tech equipment. Rocket launchers took out a nest of snipers located on the far corner of the entrance plaza. They were holed up in a half-torn down building that serve as an ideal hiding spot until the missiles did away with them.
Tsukune couldn't help but notice that they hadn't progressed very much when it came to rebuilding the residential districts of the Mountain. The must've given up on restoring it at all, preferring to kill off other population centers instead of constructing for the future. That would never have happened on his watch.
Honestly, it was a miracle none of the boys recognized him. Sure, they were in the midst of fighting off an enemy but they could pay a little more attention to their surroundings. Namely, notice who as firing bullets that blew up at them. What had he trained them to do, after all? How could they hope to bring about worldwide anarchy and make this world fun if they insisted on acting like the paragons of idiocy and... Oh dear, he really needed to get this mission over with, and fast.
No, wait, someone did recognize him in the distance. In fact, she started waving enthusiastically as she directed her excited gaze at him. Ayano always did act a little childish during assignments, this was no exception. And most of the time, that didn't bode well for those going up against her. She then decided, she would run away and turn a corner, could she have gotten smart and noticed her people were being overrun?
Not a chance, she was just calling in one of her favorite toys: a full squad of restored panzer tanks obtained after another inspirational day over at HLF Intel. He barely had time to duck out of the way with his improved speed and reflexes before the guns fired off a punishing volley of fire. That alone halted the assault force for a few seconds, sending them scurrying for the nearest cover they could find..
The rockets fire off shot after shot after shot at the tanks now rolling right to their position. The reinforced padding for the tank armor turned out to have been a great investment. Still, it couldn't handle the wait of this many missiles tearing apart it's outer layers and, eventually, they managed to wipe out the tank squad.
Not willing to find out what other dirty tricks Ayano Sato had up her sleeve, Tsukune started running to the center of operations within the Mountain, his troops covered him every time they could. Though they were making good progress, resistance was becoming increasingly more difficult to deal with as they seemed to be better organizing their own men as the initial shock of being attacked wore off.
They succeeded in cutting Tsukune off from the main force and pining him down in an abandoned building's first floor along with a handful of monsters to help him out. There was one Tsukune, six Snow Women, ten Huang guards and seven Succubi in all. And as far as they could tell by the firing rate, they were being shot at by about fifty different men at the very least.
The first real barrage of gun fire wiped out five monsters that hadn't taken good enough cover. Blood sprayed all over as Tsukune desperately attempted to shot a few shots to disperse the assailants. Alas, more and more troops came to make sure the pinned down monsters would not escape. The old divide and conquer strategy was in play here.
That didn't stop him from trying to get a reprieve and fire a shot every chance he got. Of course, more bad news was on the way, he had used up a lot of blood and his shots were becoming increasingly unsteady as he poured more of his own life force into fending off the HLF soldiers. He would have to stop soon or he would end up unconscious in the middle of the battle. This situation was going from bad to worse.
The stall behind which he took cover wasn't holding up well either. A bullet was able to pass through it and hit him in the shoulder, causing him to lose even more blood. As for the others that were holed up with him, they weren't going to last long at this rate. Half of them died within the first fifteen minutes of the standoff, and more were joining the ranks of the dead on the battlefield as time went on.
But then, something unexpected happened. The forces that had them pinned down were retreated under the pressure of another assault. How was this possible? He was almost certain that the rest of the army was still holding the entrance plaza. Could they have gotten further into the city? Had the HLF been sloppy in defending that area? Did they barricade themselves in a more defensible position?
Uncertainty was gaining him until he saw one of those who pushed off the HLF come closer to the once besieged shop. There was no doubt, the HLF was being pushed back. A true miracle had occurred, never had he been happier to see reinforcements show up than at that point. He even left safety to greet and thank them. Yet, just as all good things came to an end, so too did his relief at the present situation.
These monsters weren't with him. The coalition army didn't show up with matching uniforms. Also, the monster standing before him in his true form wasn't part of any species he had seen back at the mansion. He certainly was not with either Mizore of Kurumu, the fact that he was a male monster proved that point beyond the shadow of a doubt. What was his purpose here?
Tsukune's eyes drifted down to the insignia sown onto his uniform and consequently widened at the realization. These weren't reinforcements, they were Fairy Tale troops. What better time was there than right after he had had that realization for the Fairy Tale trooper to finally comprehend who was coming out of the besieged building.
Eyes gleaming with the prospect of a well-deserved promotion and a huge raise in pay, he loaded up his weapon and began to fire at Tsukune who had already turned tail and was running back into the small shop to find a place to avoid the bullets soaring right behind him. Thanks to his increased abilities, he was able to find a decent spot to protect himself despite being slowed down by a bullet lodged in his shoulder.
It was painful as hell but he guessed he would survive with little more than a flesh wound if he otherwise made it out of this tight spot. More came to assist the lone soldier and fired off clip after clip into the shop. Pretty soon, the only man left alive within the confines of said shop was Tsukune himself, the rest hadn't been as lucky as he was. If you can call being in this predicament a lucky break.
The sheer number of bullets prevented him from raising his head for even a split second, for fear that one of them might line up a good shot and kill him on the spot. Thus, he was forced to duck this out and hope they would run out of ammunition before they got him. He would wait them out by trying to remove the bullet comfortably nested in a crack it created in his bones.
He went through the painful process as they kept on firing. His attention had since been so entirely focused on removing the foreigner object in his body he nearly didn't pay attention to the odd sound of relative silence that now hung over him like a bad omen. He could still hear the sounds of battle in the distance but no one was shooting at him for the moment.
He looked up from where he had ducked to see a pile of Fairy Tale corpses litter the street out in front. Had he not known better, he would have assumed that his soldiers found his location. Naturally, he soon pushed that option out of his head as his worst fear came to realize itself before his very eyes. Kahlua Shuzen was trying her best to wipe off the dust from her dress as best she could and soon caught sight of him.
Why him of all people?