Fell Dragonite: Naga almighty, I'm sorry! Damn.

Lancer: We've all been waiting for you to finish the chapter!

Tychon: *trying to hide anime tears* I'm guess I'm happy that you're here again and you finished the chapter. ...N-not that I wanted to read it or anything! ...I just thought that you would want a view or two for this subpar story, that's all!

FD: Geez, if you guys are this anxious about it now, just wait until we get into the later parts. You'll fight for my head on a pike before long. Anyway…

We don't own anything.

For the last few hours, puffs of misty air escaped our lips as we travelled through the harsh Feroxi terrain, the century slowing in momentum with the snow's unrelenting fall. Many a soldier found it hard to move unabated up north, the strictly monotonous weather bearing down rather heavily as the light in the sky fell. Despite his appearance, Raven was a tough son of a bitch. There existed a small select few that could defeat the Titan of Death, save for perhaps a certain combat-addicted king whom he served.

The cold, however, was one of those few things.

"ACHOO!" For the umpteenth time, Raven wiped his face promptly, tucked underneath a coat of fur to keep warm.

"Aw, come on, Raven," I laughed. "This bit of hardship builds character. Sure, it's a bit nippy, but I figured you'd be okay with this weather."

"T-t-to be fair, milord-d," Raven began between shivers. "Xeldross in Pand-d-dora, while high in altitude, is a f-fairly warm climate, temperate a-at worst."

Unfortunately, the conditions did not change Vaike's obnoxiously loud presence. "Nippy my ass! I'm freezing mine back here!"

"And who's fault was it to NOT wear a shirt?"

This, surprisingly, served to shut the man up. "Touché."

"We're almost to Ferox anyway, so stop complaining! Got a half hour left!" I roared over the wind.

And as promised, the harsh trek was soon greeted with a crimson clad woman with familiar blonde locks and a stone castle. Sharing a handshake and a few words, the now reigning Khan gave the men and I a place for the night before heading out to the western port the next morning.

A week passed and we marched west to Port Styx, finding a boat there waiting for us, probably courtesy of Basilio. My knowledge led me to believe that the boat had to cost him quite the pretty penny, as Ferox had no boats, nor did they have any seaworthy wood to build them with. Best not to look a gift horse in the mouth though.

I take a sharp breath of the fine sea air, exhaling deeply as I felt the moist early morning breeze flow on my skin. "Okay, everyone, this is where we stop walking. From here, we're going to be sailing, so I hope you all have your sea legs," I joked before flicking a bit of hair from my face. "Get the stuff on board and we'll set sail soon." I take up two crates of food on my shoulders and walk with them onto the vessel, everyone following suit. I saw Vaike looking around, and anyone who knows him would know exactly what he was looking for. After placing down the crates on the deck carefully, a grin makes its way on my face, and a large log, into my hands.

"Damn, my sword doesn't chop this firewood easily. If only someone had an axe." Continuing the little act, I turn my head in mock surprise. "Oh, Vaike, can you help me chop some firewood?"

"Sure, man, sure. Just give me a minute." He lifted a few things in a frantic manner, and while this amused me for a bit, we had a mission to attend to. Finally after minutes of searching, Vaike found the weapon beneath a coil of rope somehow. "Keep a leash on your damn axe and get on board," I sighed exasperatedly.

I did a quick site sweep to see if anyone left anything behind, Raven helping me as well. A good five minute check was thorough enough to let us know everything had been packed. Still, I noticed the ebony-haired swordsmaster with his arms crossed and his brows knitted, caught in the clutches of his own thoughts.

"Something wrong, Raven?" I asked, moving a stray lock from my face. "You seem to be very distracted."

Raven simply sighed. "If only but a little, milord. I just have a lot of questions with this mission. One such being that how is it that Lord Chrom knew of this happening? Yes, he said he had spies there, but after the war, he'd have no reason to. They were just rebuilding their ranks. Like I said, they'd have no benefit in provoking war, not when they're this weakened."

A hand found its way to my chin. "Come to think of it, you do have a point. This just doesn't seem right."

"Still, it is a mission that must be carried out." Raven put out his arm to make way for me to the boat. "Lead the way, milord."

I made my way onto the boat Mei Ling following next under my retainer's care. The chatter of men drowned out the crashing waves on the dock, and with a single shot of wind from my fingertips, the rope was cut and we were on our way.

I looked up into the sky. After about half a day, there were no rain clouds-or any clouds for that matter-in the afternoon sky, the late summer sun beginning its slow curving descent. The slight wobble that came with the waves was quite soothing.

Well, for most of us.

Out of the hundred of us, only truly a handful had fallen to the clutches of seasickness, their stomachs turning over and letting loose their contents over the edge of the boat. But it wasn't none of my business as I was making the crow's nest the king's nest. Stretching my arms above and behind my head, I tucked my headband over my eyes and tried to get a little bit of a nap. I yawned, more so out of boredom than fatigue, definitely feeling more mellow than I have in years perhaps.

Well, until Raven killed it a few minutes into my cat nap. "Milord!" he called from the deck down below.

"Oh, good Naga, what?" I asked. "Better be good 'cause I was just in the middle of something."

"A report from western Ferox."

I nodded, wiping at the imaginary dust on my pants. "That's good enough. What is it?"

"It's been issued by Khan Basilio," he said as I jumped down from the crow's nest. "For you."

I took the note from the shorter man, flipping it open.

I'm not sure how far you are, probably just left the port. I just thought you'd need to know that this task isn't any joke. This Plegian woman not only has a lot of muscle behind her, but our spies in the south have figured out that they've mobilized and started sailing just as quickly as you have, if not before. They left the Plegian coast thirty-six hours ago, better hurry.

-Basilio

I gripped the paper with the strength of a vice. "Damn it... I can't catch a break, can I?"

"What isn't good, Your Lordliness?" Donnel asked, overhearing my breathy curse.

"We're behind a day. They're already ahead of us," I growled, walking past the village boy and pacing closer to the stern end of the vessel. "Sailing will probably take us weeks to get there, and we won't make it in time. But with a bit of wind magic and some creativity, crossing to Valm will probably take us only a day or two. I'll start us off, and you might want to hold onto something or brace yourselves so you're not going overboard."

Doubt filled the boat in the form of tilted heads and questions, all of which Raven promptly replied with a "trust milord", others just did what they were told with little more than a half-convinced shrug. "Now then, let's get on with it, shall we?"

Within my palm, small wisps of pale green swirled and twisted violently before gathering itself into one solidarity. The small roars from the magical construct ended instantly once I crushed it in my hand and punched outward towards the sails.

"Arcwind!" The once controlled zephyr, now a wild torrent pushing at the cloth and threatened to tear the sail from its hooks, carried the vessel forward at a speed that belied its size, causing some of the soldiers to fall back. "I told you guys to brace yourselves. This is going to be a bumpy ride! Whoo-hoo!"

During our travel the shifts were rotated regularly, not only to maintain going at a constant rate, but also so that no one was burning themselves out. We were moving a lot faster than expected, because by only a little over a day, possibly twenty five hours, Valm Harbor came into view. I stood at the bow, looking off in the distance. "See that, everyone? Valm Harbor straight ahead. We'll dock soon, and remember. We're in foreign territory, so be ready for anything. Get your gear on." The Valm coastline continued to grow and grow until finally the boat was wrangled in and softly hit solid stone. Once we docked a short while after, we got the horses off, placing all of the non-battle gear in the carriages behind three of them. The bulk of the horses were for battle, so only five other horses were available for carriages carrying people. Speaking of which, the port was not of any grand appearance whatsoever, though it still had to take the second place medal in that department compared to Ferox. Valm Harbor was a beach that led into a stone-paved landing, filled with crates and carts of various material, not much there to catch the eye of travellers.

I sighed with amusement at the fact that the single stone dock that stretched out to the waters too deep for man to walk was in perfect elevation with the ship's deck, which made it leagues easier to unload everything and simply walk straight onto the dock.

Moving past that, we pushed further west across the Valmese continent, and it was little doubt that we were in Chon'sin the moment we docked. Such proof would be the landscape itself. The trees were unlike anything one could see in Ylisse, the cool green colour of the dense Ylissean forest was replaced in favour of the vibrant fluttering pink of the sakura trees that took root all over Chon'sin.

A beautiful sight to behold, truly, but now wasn't necessarily a time for admiring the scenery. We continued our march up a plateau, rosy petals raining down on a soft flutter before we made it to an open space underneath the canopy. One thing that caught my eye was that there was a fire pit nearby, in the middle of said opening, in fact.

Campsite, it must have been. Had to say, it was a novel idea to set up a camp here, and so adhering to this thought, I followed suit.

Once we all set up camp, I got to fishing with Mei Ling. Being high up on the plateau meant I had to ride the bear back down to the dock, or at least close by to make the catch needed. Bringing back an entire net's worth, I'd say one large blackfin for every two or three men we had. We roasted it over the fire, and what a filling meal it was, certainly adding some kick to a rather bland diet of rations; stale bread and dried game meat. But hey, unlike most of my squad, I wasn't complaining.

Narrator PoV

Gone was the brightness of day as the veil of night fell over the Chon'sinese lands. The camp was navigable only by the grace of the torches the bordered the site and the beams of moonlight that poked their way through the canopy of rose.

Soft steps could be heard as the gentle swordsmaster strolled around the perimeter of the camp, keeping watch as his lord lay sleeping in his tent. An eyebrow twitched as an obnoxious snore broke through the night silence, without a doubt originating from Vaike's tent.

"Wake up the entire camp, why don't you?" Raven sighed, shaking his head. Despite his current disdain, he hadn't much against the fighter, rather he was one of the few who saw him as more than simply a braggart with the ability to swing an axe. He chalked that up to his unique ability to read people. His gaze eventually finding its way skyward, he stared at what few stars he could with the cover of petals above him.

The swordsmaster was fidgeting with something in hands, not his blade, but something else of metallic make. A flute, one that had been given to him by his mother on his sixteenth birthday. He hadn't much time to practice as of late, as he'd been on the road for a long while and his patrols demanded far more attention back in Ylisse, where many of their camp locations were out in the open. Adding on his conflicted thoughts on the task at hand, he threw caution to the wind and put the instrument to his lips.

(Play If I Were a Bird from Code Geass)

A calm whistle started off what could only be described as a beautiful thing that could lull even the angriest person to hold a content and serene spirit. The instrument was played with expert precision, his fingers danced along the piece of metal, as if they were a troupe of ten performing their routine out of complete improvisation. Even the caster himself was soothed by his own spell, as he had not noticed a demure pinkette with a knack for dancing take her seat on a nearby stump to observe the man's lovely song.

A light applause caused the swordsmaster to jump out of his skin and stop playing. "Oh, I-I'm sorry," Olivia sputtered, her usual blush creeping across her cheeks. "I just thought it was a lovely song to wake up to."

"My apologies for waking you, Miss Rince," Raven replied with his trademark smile.

"Miss Rince, that's my mother…" The dancer couldn't help but giggle at Raven's nature, so kind, so respectful and so formal. "Call me Olivia."

"Right," he laughed. "Olivia."

A dainty hand reached up to one of the low hanging branches, gently stroking the soft petals. "You… p-play the flute so well, I've never heard anyone so expertly wield one."

"Well, my mother always made sure to instill within me some of the finer arts, being close to the royal family and all."

Raven blew a stray hair from his face before continuing with a laugh leading his words. "Ironic, considering milord's lack of higher upbringing, but with all he's gone through, it's more than acceptable."

"Speaking of which, what exactly happened to him?" the dancer asked as she stood up, folding an imaginary crease in her pants. "He's not like most kings or nobility I've come across."

"Well, see," Raven began with a sigh. "Milord was more or less orphaned as a child, both parents killed by the hand of Cecil J. Gangrel."

"The Mad King?"

"The very same." Raven put away his instrument before continuing. "He was very young, and his subjects blamed him for all. Aside from my family and a select few close to the house family, he was subject to violence and hatred from his own people."

"That's terrible."

"Alas, that was only the half of it. He'd endured it all until one night where a man tried to assassinate the poor child. Much to the house's sadness and grief, he left his country that night and hasn't returned since. His was a life of a nomad from that point forward, and vengeance was his fuel."

Olivia's face wilted into a frown. "I see. Such an experience would change anyone."

Raven looked up to the sparkling sky. "Any lesser man would have broken. Gone insane. But not my king."

"Chalk it up to immense willpower, I suppose."

"Or unparalleled bullheadedness," Raven laughed. "Still, it's that same bullheaded conviction of his that had pulled him through such perils."

Another sigh escaped his mouth. "The Gallos have been serving the royal house for decades, and my father liked the king and queen very much, so he figured as his last deed to the two, he would lead the country until it came for Lord Eric to rule again."

"And if I had to guess, you left to find him," Olivia guessed.

Raven nodded as he walked closer to her. "Yes, and what better time than at the rising action of his quest? I believe it wasn't too long before I met...you…"

Olivia jumped at Raven's sudden mood change, not used to the usually gentle-smiling swordsmaster wearing a remorseful frown. "W-what's wrong, Raven?! Did I… did I say something wrong?"

"Not at all," he said as he tried to put on a forced smile, which the demure dancer saw right through. "Anyway, we should make it back to camp."

"No," she replied with her rare confidence. "Not until you tell me what's wrong."

A groan unceremoniously escaped Raven's mouth. "Do you remember meeting the Shepherds and I in the midmire of Plegia?"

Olivia tapped her chin in thought. "Yes, amongst a path of corpses. Not a single sign of combat from any of them except for one person who was nearly covered from head to toe in splattered blood."

This time, Raven put on a sad smile, as if he expected her to finish his following question. "And guess who that blood spattered warrior was?"

"You killed so many men by yourself?" she asked before seeing the man before her tremble.

"I killed so many UNWILLING men. Men who didn't want to fight for their evil king anymore. They… they wanted peace and I didn't do anything except murder them in cold hard rage! In that moment, I became something I despised above all else, a reflection of the evils that forced Eric out of his halidom, nothing but vengeance and hatred!"

His tears all but ceased once he felt himself in a hold. Warm and tender, he felt nearly all of his sadness and pain dissipate instantly.

"It's okay," Olivia cooed, patting his head and stroking his dark silky hair. "Our emotions get the better of us, I'm well aware of that. The point being that I know you'd never even think of hurting innocent or unwilling people with your head on straight. But above all else…" She moved his face to face her own. "Your actions when you aren't in your best state of mind are not what define you. You're not a bad person because you had a bad day. You're Raven: the man who never ceases to make people happy, the man who the town children adore because he's so kind. The man who's loyalty is rivalled by none. That's who you are in my eyes."

A small twinkle of surprise shone in the swordsman's eyes before they softened, met with a thankful and gentle smile gracing his features. Olivia, on the other hand, realized what she said and began to blush a little.

Her blush tripled in intensity once she realized how close they were from each other, their faces just inches apart. She didn't know why, as if some force had been pushing her head from behind, but she had been slowly inching towards the swordsmaster's face. "Raven, I…"

A sudden twang met Raven's ear. "Get down!"

Raven tugged hard on Olivia's shoulder and pulled her out of the way, an arrow missing her head by just a hairsbreadth and embedding itself in a tree past them. Certainly a close call, and just so it didn't happen again, Raven traced the angle of the arrow's trajectory back to the source, and indeed, he found a lone archer hiding in the canopy, the figure taking off in the opposite direction.

"Wait here," Raven commanded before taking off in pursuit of the sniper.

Raven took to the trees, moving silently as the night itself as not a single branch creaked beneath his weight. He could definitely see that the sniper had some agility and a head start, but Raven's superior speed closed the distance before Raven was right behind the attempted killer. "Going somewhere?"

Without warning, he grabbed the man around his neck with his arm, putting on intense pressure with the chokehold. "Besides hell?" In a split second, Raven drew Uramasa and slit the person's exposed throat, letting him bleed out before dropping his body.

What shocked him most was when the body landed on the ground, Raven took sight of the back piece of the sniper's tunic: six eyes connected by a pair of lines that intersected and crossed one another at the base.

"Damn and blast it!" Call it a gut feeling or whatever have you, but something told Raven to just take a look further east and see where the now dead soldier tried to flee to. Upon making it to the open cliff, he saw finally what it is that they were sent for.

Many a tent and torch decorated the dock below, with several ships lining the coast. The campsite was extensive, stretching from one side of the harbour to the other.

"They've already arrived..." Raven rushed back to where he left Olivia, told her what he saw, and got back to camp as quickly as possible. Weaving through the camp, he found his lord's tent. Normally, Raven would have had the respect to knock or something, but damn respect when the situation called for urgency. So the retainer burst open the tent and began moving Eric, trying to wake him up.

The king did stir, eliciting a string of curses from Raven as he'd forgotten his lord was such a heavy sleeper. If it had to come to it, Raven would wake him up the only way he knew how.

A sharp knocking sound reverberated through the tent just as the blue blood shot up, his head held in pain. "Gawdsdammit!"

"Apologies, milord, but your pain can wait. This is urgent."

"How urgent?" Eric asked, now a little more concerned than annoyed.

"The mercenary band we've been tailing has made the dock, not even a quarter day's march from us," Raven said with nary a hint of hesitation.

Eric's eyes widened instantly. "Get everyone up, pack up the tents and let's go. We haven't much time to waste, we must make our way to Kan'to as quickly as possible."

Eric PoV

A half-tired camp full of soldiers made the way to Kan'to by daybreak, arriving at the front gates of the city. The guards stood in front of us, wary of the group and I as they gave what I dubbed "The Frederick Sneer", though very few could pull it off like the great knight himself.

"Halt! What is your business here?" one of the guards demanded.

"We're a travelling band of merch-oh, fuck it, I need to speak to Say'ri. Business."

"We cannot grant an unknown man access to our city, let alone our nation's princess!"

"You're right, except I'm not a stranger, asshats."

The two guards eyed each other before they shared a hearty laugh, much to the confusion of all the Ylissean troops. "Only one man has the stones and lacks the wit to speak to us such a way!"

"Go on right ahead, Pandora," the second guard breathed out before opening the gates and letting us in.

The troops were in awe from what they saw around them. Many of them uttered phrases that attributed to the beauty of the Chon'sinese capital. And it was. I remember last time I was here, the dancing petals of cherry blossoms in the air, the exotic architecture. I spent much of my life with Chon'sinese influence, and to this day it's had a profound impact on my life and tastes. All of the structures paled in comparison, however, to one large building that stood tall, wide, and glorious, its dark maroon exterior marking itself as the centrepiece of Kan'to. "That must be Suzaku Castle," I said to myself. "Seems like they did some renovations."

Once we arrived at the palace doors, I turned to my troops before knocking. "Okay, we're going inside Suzaku Castle, and I want all of you to conduct yourselves in a proper and poised manner. If all else fails, do as I do."

I enter the palace, and I see a rather large man, about three inches taller than myself, wearing hakama pants and cotton gi, covered by lacquered plated armour. "Can I help you, sir?" he asks with a gruff voice and decently thick Chon'sinese accent.

"What's up? I need to speak to Say'ri, Lu'bei." A loud and thunderous boom sounded and every single one of the Ylissean forces face faulted, leaving Raven alone to simply sweatdrop at my demeanour.

"How dare you commit such disrespect?! That is Lady S-" He stopped midway, partially due to me addressing him by name and addressing Say'ri with no title. A second was all he took to peruse my face, I suppose once he saw the brand, he knew who I was as he began to chuckle heartily.

"Why, you. If it isn't the little scamp!" Taking me off guard, he got me in a one-armed headlock. "But you're not so little anymore! You've grown into a big man now!" he laughed out again before violently ruffling my hair.

"Hey, stop that!" I protested, my voice falling on deaf ears. "Not the hair ruffle, man..."

"Where have you been? You haven't been around here for ages," he asked before letting me free.

"I joined the Shepherds of Ylisse nearly a year ago," I said, fixing my hair. "Not important. Is Say'ri here? It's kind of urgent."

"Of course. Follow me." Taking the lead, Lu'bei took us to the throne room, just a little bit further down the main hallway. "Lady Say'ri! You have visitors," he said before hearing a firm "Enter." Not too long after, the dark oaken doors parted with an audible creak, and standing in front of the throne was a woman my age, a face of soft features framed by dark flowing hair. She wore an lacquer-armoured lavender gi of some sort with a long tailing robe-like bottom portion of black colour, along with sandals that came with light leg armour as well. She had two blades fashioned at her sides and donned a pure white headband.

And unlike Lu'bei, Say'ri recognized me instantly. "Eric, could that be you?!" she asked in a shocked tone, walking towards me. I put a hand at the back of my head. "Yep. Same old me."

She raised a brow. "Same old you in what manner? You grew by at least a foot and a half from the time I saw you last! And you were finally relieved of that awkward stage you were in when you hadn't much muscle to your name."

"It wasn't that bad," I sulked, much to the entertainment of the Ylissean witnesses.

"I defeated you in a challenge of strength when we were both twelve."

"Wrestling barely counts as a test of strength purely," I retorted. "But let us catch up later. We need to hold council, and fast."

"And why is that?"

"The threat that is coming to Kan'to, that's what. A force of ten thousand troops, and Lord Chrom of Ylisse caught wind of this. That's why we're here, to join forces and defeat them before things get worse."

Say'ri clicked her tongue. "Ah yes, I see. Lu'bei, send the Ylisseans to the garrison and make it back here with the Royal Court advisors."

"What a reunion this is," I sighed.

I sat at a table with Raven standing at my side, and joining me at the table were Say'ri, Lu'bei, and several other councilmen and councilwomen that I didn't know by name. Say'ri was at the head of the table, and I sat on the left side, Lu'bei on the right of her.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence and tense feeling, one decided to break the ice. "What is it that you called us here for, Lady Say'ri?" one of them asked, a stout, yet deep-voiced gentleman.

"It is about a threat that plans to hit Chon'sin, apparently they come from the eastern continent of Ylisse," she answered.

"This is a no mere bandit group or band of mercs, they dub themselves the Reaping Cloth," I finished. "My retainer had an encounter with one of them last night. One of their assassins wore a uniform with the Grimleal mark emblazoned on it. The encounter ended up having him find their camp, only half a day's march east of here, if they've started their day by now. Did you send scouts?"

Say'ri nodded. "Yes, and hopefully we can find something of use to formulate a plan to-"

A soldier with armour similar to the flying troops in Ylisse barged through the door, so I assumed that he was one of the scouts. "Lady Say'ri, Sir Lu'bei! I have dire news!" he said.

"What is it?"

"The... The enemy is larger than we thought."

Everyone blanched except for Raven and myself, an exasperated sigh in its place. "How?! It shouldn't have grown much larger since we sent the request overseas!" Say'ri shouted.

Raven and I both caught that last statement, our eyes making contact with one another. 'So it was her that brought us here, not Chrom's spies,' I said to Raven silently.

'I knew it was odd that Chon'sin would request for troops despite having their own to defeat this menace anyway.' Placing a hand on my shoulder, he shook his head. 'Best to keep quiet for now, milord, we need to figure out the ulterior motive behind it.'

'Right.' With that inner conversation finished, we turned our attention back to the news.

"How much larger is this threat?" Lu'bei asked.

"Exponentially so, sir. Their numbers... They've increased tenfold, sir."

"Tenfold?!" the swordswoman shrieked. "But that would mean that they are one hundred thousand strong! Even including the Ylissean aid, we're little more than five thousand!"

"Such a magnitude of troops they have over us," Lu'bei began. "The odds are all but against us. That's twenty-to-one, we can't face them in a straight fight, we'll be slaughtered."

An idea popped into my mind. "Or can we?" I asked with a wicked grin before taking out a charcoal pencil. The council looked at me like I grew a second head. "What does their army look like in terms of ranks?" I asked the messenger.

"They have a large amount of infantry, I'd say the bulk of it is. A small portion of it is mages and archers, but their cavalry is outright pathetic. The remaining scraps is in their cavalry."

"Interesting...!" I turned to the council and took out a map of Chon'sin, placing it on the table before us. "There's a large clearing where from they're coming from, they have to cross. That's where we will be standing in this position." I made sure to circle the clearing to start of the demonstration of my tactic. I drew out our ranks on the far end closest to Kan'to while the enemy was on the opposite end, approaching.

"What is this?" Lu'bei inquired.

"It's something I like to call "double envelopment". We have our cavalry rout theirs swiftly as possible to prevent our soldiers from being taken down on the flanks, so each cavalryman we have will have to be paired with some archer or mage of some sort." I drew out a pair of of units representing the cavalry on each tail end of the formation. "The key in this step is keeping a good fraction of our infantry and distance attackers on the flanks, ready to pounce at a moment's notice. Their infantry comes rushing in, so we need to get them to charge the front curved area by provocation. Heavily armoured units, along with myself, will be there at the very front. We let them push us back until they move down to a certain extent."

At this point, I have drawn out lines moving some of our troops on the side to close in. "From there, a signal is given and we close in the sides with the infantry on the flanks, attacking from three directions. Once the enemy's cavalry is done, our own will return to box them in.

Once I finished, the charcoal lines were in place to describe everything perfectly. "And once that happens, there's no escape for them. We send our entirety of our force to crush theirs."

"But what about their ranged offensive, such as their mages and archers?" a deep voice questioned me.

"That's the beauty of it. They can't try anything, not without risking killing more of their men. And when the time is right, I'll ride to pick off the rest and face their leader."

"Remarkable!" Say'ri said. "I think this plan will work. What say you, Lu'bei?"

He groomed his beard. "It's a risky plan, but we have no other. Besides, what's life without risks?"

"I hope you both have faith in it, because as the commander of the Chon'sinese military, you're running this maneuver, Lu'bei," I added.

"Wait, what?! Why can't you run it? You know it better than I."

"Because I'll be in battle, distracted by the fight. Say'ri will probably be fighting too, and you're a tactician yourself. You have good timing, so you'll know when to spring the trap. Now let's get going!"

"You're crazy," the first councilman huffed.

I turned my gaze to him at the sound of his voice. I could sense the shiver going down his spine once I cracked a wicked grin. "Damn straight I'm crazy."

Later that day, perhaps mid afternoon, even, me, Say'ri and the five thousand of us stood in the open field of Pi Gua, waiting for the onslaught of one hundred thousand making their way towards us. The setting had the occasional tree cluster aside from the open field of green, I took advantage of this by setting my bear down beside of of them. Our men were divided into three groups, each led by me, Say'ri, and Raven. Say'ri took the left wing, Raven the right, and I the centre.

Some of the our forces were hesitant. Not me. I was relishing every second of it. Not that wartime is ever good, but I missed this. A great fight. Better than being cooped up in an office all day, like Chrom.

Immediately, my mind jumps to the fact that Alice leads this all. I wanted to fight and end her myself, so naturally I'd leave the fray to confront her. Raven wouldn't accept anything else than to join me, and Vaike wanted a good fight just as much, so I'd all but conceded and let their wishes be fulfilled.

My inner thoughts gradually fade as I begin to hear the rumbling sound of countless footsteps trudging over the plateau that led into Pi Gua. "Get into position, everyone! This will be a battle for the history books!"

Once I said that, the Reaping Cloth that threatened Chon'sin stood before us, many a figure looming over the slight peak. The scout certainly wasn't joking around when it came down to numbers, though this did nothing to slow our starting momentum. The battle had just begun.

For the first time in a while, I had a shield in hand, placing it in front of me to protect myself as I attacked with my sword. The thunderstorm of boots rumbled the battleground as their forces continued straight for us, and not once did they try to break their formation. Perfect.

Their might soon came down upon me and my squad, but the iron wall that was the front line and I did not receive any damage as the plan continued to unfold, every slow step back making a noticeable difference. The large amount of infantry thought they had this fight on lockdown once they started making casualties.

Until Lu'bei made the call.

BOOOOM!

A loud fireball burst in the sky, following it came what the Reaping Cloth could only recognize as their greatest downfall. Their vulnerable flanks were attacked, and they were trapped within the deadly square.

The double envelopement was tearing the Reaping Cloth's ranks apart easier than, well… cloth. My strategy caused chaos, and I'm guessing that Alice knew this.

I could imagine her ire.

Or better yet, I could go see it myself.

I called Mei Ling over with a whistle, and once she made it to the main battleground, I jumped out of the fray and hopped onto her saddle, Vaike's weight making itself known behind me.

"Hyah!" I spurred on the mammal eastward where I saw the blonde Plegian woman, charging her way at top speed, but it was before long that Raven made it beside me, sprinting with his arms behind him.

"Oh, Raven! You made it!" I laughed.

"Amusing, milord," Raven sighed, not willing to put up with my bullshit, to which I laughed heartily. "Now, where is this woman we're here to dispatch?"

"Hey, hey. As much as I would love to, we have to capture her. Killing her is not an option." I tugged on the reigns to turn Mei Ling to the left a little. "Speak of the devil, the bitch is up ahead."

Alice was within eyesight on her horse, watching her men get slaughtered. Target in sight now, I urged the bear to speed up while Raven, on the other hand, ditched running in favour for flying. A boom sounded as Raven zoomed through the air, a trail of pale green following his form as he flew. Wind magic, no doubt.

I had no doubt in my mind that she saw me, as she turned her horse around and tried taking off in the opposite direction. "Oh, no you don't!" I shouted, urging Mei Ling to pick up the pace once more. Gradually, we inch closer and closer until I make it side by side with her.

Balance is key here, I thought to myself.

I stand up on the bear's back and get myself righted for only a second before jumping off to kick Alice off of her horse. Crashing to the ground, her horse runs off and leaves her in her dust.

"Naga almighty, woman," I sighed as I sent Mei Ling away in the opposite direction. "Can't I enjoy at least a month without you trying to fuck it up?"

Panting her fatigue away, she raised her head and rested her hands on her knees. Her eyes shifted to both sides of my form, no doubt she took in that Vaike and Raven were allied against her.

A mirthy chuckle escaped her lips. "Well, well, handsome. Didn't expect to see you here."

With a slight impact of her fists, the brass knuckles she wore crackled and sparked furiously with blue electricity. "I hope our reunion doesn't become too reVOLTing."

I mentally and almost physically winced. "That was bad, even for my tastes."

FD: *dodge* Hey! What are *dodges again* you… *spins* STOP THROWING SHIT, I SAID I WAS SORRY!

Tychon: How could you leave us hanging like that?! We were worried sick!

FD: Deadpool, help!

Deadpool: *sitting in corner* …..happy place. That DEMON can't get you in your happy place….

FD: Dammit. Look, I won't take that long to write the next chapter hopefully, okay?! I've just been doing a lot of planning in the future!

Lancer: Well, it better be good. I don't see him calming down anytime soon.

Tychon: You promise?

FD: As best I can.

Tychon: …..fine.

FD: Alright then. Dragons out.

Lancer: Dragons out?

FD: Yeah, after my namesake.