The plan was simple: take the most direct route from the mansion to the capital. The challenge was keeping the cultists from stopping them. They have already repelled the cultists back a few times during night. The cultists withdrew after their failed attempts at burning down the mansion, but the mansion itself was now heavily damaged. Forschner looked out the window and saw the results of the skirmishes. Few dozens of dead cultists littered the mansion garden. All dressed in purplish robes and armed with daggers, these cultists bore close resemblance to the heretics that he had fought against for many years. Some, he had heard, were capable of using sorcery.
"It is a great view," the commissar joked, "The garden looks more impressive than ever."
"Try not to joke like that, Sir Commissar Forschner," Rem scolded him, appearing from behind the unaware commissar.
"Do not correct me again," the commissar snapped at her.
Rem simply lowered her head in politeness.
"And a simple 'Sir' or commissar is fine. You need not to call me 'Sir Commissar Forschner'. I am not of noble blood," he added, toning down his voice.
"Understood, Sir Forschner," said Rem.
The commissar sighed, "Not 'Sir Forschner', just 'Sir' or 'Commissar'."
"Understood, sir," Rem answered, bowing her head again.
"Leave the poor girl alone, Forschner," Emilia scolded him. Beatrice snickered, walking beside her.
The commissar lowered his head, "My apologizes, Lady Emilia."
Rem smiled with her head lowered, but the commissar pretended not to notice.
"The carriage is ready," said Rem, "All the necessary supplies are loaded. We must leave immediately before the Witch Cult strikes again."
"I will remain to guard this mansion," stated Beatrice, "You can escape while I distract them, I suppose."
"You're not coming with us?" Emilia asked in surprise.
"I have a duty to protect this mansion and the Library," Beatrice explained, "I will not leave this mansion, I suppose."
"Regardless, you must get out of here, Lady Emilia," Rem reminded her.
Emilia made a bitter face. Beatrice returned a cold shoulder.
"I don't want your pity, brat!" Beatrice yelled, puffing her cheeks like a child.
The commissar grabbed his lasgun and ran another functions check. The others turned their attention to the commissar's bizarre movements and watched him curiously. The commissar gave them a strange look.
"Are we staying here or not, Lady Emilia?" asked the commissar, finishing his checks, "If you wish to stay at this mansion, we can barricade here and hold them off. I do not mind which you choose as long as I am allowed to slaughter these cultists."
Emilia gave the commissar a disapproving look. She was too kind for her own good, poor trait for a person of her position, but that was not his concern.
The commissar began walking towards the exit, and everyone except Beatrice made their way downstairs towards the carriage. Emilia turned around at the door to take one last look at Beatrice. Beatrice turned her head to avoid her eyes, feigning annoyance. Emilia said goodbye and left the mansion.
"I did as you said, Bubby, but you are too careful, I suppose," Beatrice whispered, standing alone with a lonely expression.
The three ran up to the carriage which was driven by a lizard like beast. The commissar felt slightly uneasy at the sight of a strange beast but decided to quietly board the carriage anyway. Rem sat on the coachman's seat. Emilia sat in the far inside while the commissar sat in the outside with his lasgun ready to fire.
"Onward, Rem!" the commissar ordered.
Rem snapped the whip and the lizard beast began to dash. Despite being animal driven, the carriage moved at an incredible speed.
"Sir! Over there, in the woods!" Rem called out.
The commissar turned to find men in robes hiding in the treeline. He turned his lasgun to full auto at low power and unleashed its fury upon the cultists. The concentrated blast of charged laser burned through clothes and flesh alike. Despite the speed at which the carriage was moving, the lasgun's rapid fire setting allowed the commissar to fire a hail of lasers towards his target without worrying too much about accuracy.
A group of cultists raised their arms towards the carriage and fired a bright ball of flame. Rem held her hand out and shouted a spell of sort, forming a ward to protect the carriage. The initial blast was shielded by the maid's spell, but the maid suffered from a serious burn on her arm. The maid ground her teeth from pain. With the second blast incoming, the commissar pulled the maid from her seat into the carriage. The blast sent the carriage back, tearing the lizard beast into pieces. The commissar shielded the two from the blast with his coat, which was flame and blast resistant to a degree. With the carriage down, Rem jumped out from the wreckage with her flail in hand.
Forschner shook off the debris around him, only to find Emilia lying still. He quickly put his finger under her nose to check if she was breathing, which she was. Relieved, he crawled out from the wreckage and pulled Emilia out. The cultists began to surround them. The commissar raised his lasgun and fired repeatedly. The laser cut down the incoming cultist, blowing off limbs and leaving fist sized holes upon contact. Once the threat has been neutralized, the commissar turned his sight towards Rem.
Rem was agile and powerful. She jumped into the air and came down upon the cultists like a bullet charged with hatred. Each swing of the flail tore apart the cultists who were unfortunate enough to be hit. Some cultists attempted to throw their blades at her, but the commissar shot them down before they could. The road soaked red with cultist blood as the two continued to slay the men in purple robes.
Emilia opened her eyes to find herself lying behind a wrecked carriage. She quickly regained her senses and prepared for battle. But upon seeing the shredded cultists, she felt slightly sick. She still raised her arm to cast an ice spell, but the commissar stopped her hand.
"Lady Emilia," he said, "You stay behind cover. Rem and I will get rid of these vermin. Do not use your tricks if uncalled for."
Emilia made a stern expression, but she nodded in agreement. The commissar then jumped back into combat, charging towards the cultists attacking Rem. Rem had already suffered from two stab wounds from the cultists' daggers. Another cultist struck her from behind, thrusting his blade into her shoulder. Rem froze in place. She eyes suddenly turned wild as she shattered the head of her attacker. The commissar halted in his tracks and watched as a strange miasma surrounded the maid. She began giggling hysterically as she blindly swung her flail. She charged straight into the crowd of cultists, bashing them into the ground. Their blood and guts spew up as the maid ripped them to shreds and crushed their skulls. A bright red horn grew from atop her forehead as the light around her became ominous. She let out a terrifying roar and charged into the remaining cultists, smashing them into pieces.
Realizing that the maid was not being her usual self, Forschner yelled to get her attention, "Rem! I am impressed that you slay these heretics with such zeal, but you slay like a berserk madman. Has the rage consumed you?"
Rem looked back at the commissar with lifeless eyes, a sight that made the commissar withdraw his step. He raised his guard and slowly approached her.
"Rem? Is that still yourself?" he asked, pointing his lasgun.
Suddenly, she flung her steel ball towards the commissar. He jumped out of the way in the nick of time and raised his weapons at her.
"Hold on!" someone screamed, "Don't kill her."
A hail of ice fell around the furious maid as she roared and tried to break free. The commissar looked around in confusion, trying to find the source of the voice. Besides him, a small feline like creature floated around.
"By the Emperor! What is that thing?" he screamed.
"I am not a bad guy, Forschner," the creature said, "You will need to stop Rem. She is going berserk, if you haven't noticed already."
Aside from the unholy creature floating around, another thing caught the commissar's eyes. Emilia was holding her arm out; it seemed that she cast the spell. Forschner frowned at Emilia in disappointment. Emilia kept her ground as if to say she did the right thing.
"Hey!" said the cheerful floating feline, "If you get distracted, the oni will rip you to pieces. Lia's magic can only hold her for so long."
"Do not speak to me, Warp spawn!" Forschner yelled, keeping his weapon pointed at the rabid maid.
"I figured you'd say something like that," it said.
"Forschner, Puck is my Artificial Spirit. He is here to help." said Emilia.
"Artificial, huh?" Forschner repeated, observing the strange creature. He remembered the creating familiars with the appearance of cherub and birds. This creature seemed, however, too intelligent for a machine spirit. He was skeptical but decided to focus on the pressing issue at hand.
"What has drove Rem to such frenzy?" Forschner asked Emilia.
"Rem is an oni. She is a... an abhuman," Puck answered instead, "They can go berserk like that when their horns manifest but can't control their powers. But there is a way to get her back to normal."
"A creature like that is sanctioned? Forget it. How do we bring her back?" he asked impatiently, watching Rem struggling her way out of the cage of ice. Another hail of ice came down, reinforcing the cage. The maid slowly tore away the cage that bound her despite the constant barrage of ice.
"Strike her horn," said Puck, "A good solid strike should knock her back to herself."
"Shall I blast it off?"
"Nope," answered Puck. "That would be dangerous for her. Your mission is to hit it as hard as you can. Like 'Iyyyah!'" he said, making a swing motion.
A flail came hurling down on the commissar as Puck spoke.
"Holy Terra!" shouted Forschner, jumping out of the way. He glared at Puck, who made an apologetic shrug. He turned his attention to Rem's horn, too small of a target for an accurate strike. It would be much easier and safer to simply put the berserker down. Afterall, berserkers were more or less heretics.
"Cage her again, Lady Emilia," commanded Forschner, despite his better judgement, "Then I may be able to strike her horn."
Rem swung again, flinging her flail back and sending it forward towards the man in black coat. The commissar failed to step out of the way this time, taking the flail to his carapace armour. He flew back few dozen paces and tumbled on the ground.
"Forschner!" Emilia screamed.
Rem turned her attention towards the female in white, dragging her flail back. Puck readied his stance. Before Puck or Emilia had a chance to act, the commissar stood up, shaking off his damage, and charged towards the berserking maid with his power cutlass in hand. Rem turned in surprise and swung her flail once more, but the commissar slashed away her weapon, leaving only the chains in her tiny hand.
Taking advantage of the moment, Emilia and Puck both cast a spell, causing a hail of ice to trap the maid in place again. She screamed in madness as she tried to free herself. The commissar charged up to her, raising his blade. In a single motion, he struck her horn with the pommel of his weapon. With a loud thud, Rem's horn vanished, and the maid collapsed where she stood. The ice cage crumbled as she fell to the ground.
The commissar stepped back in relief while Emilia and Puck smiled. Forschner looked back at Emilia.
"Why do you smile so, Lady Emilia?" he asked, out of breathe.
"For nothing, Forschner" she answered.
The commissar simply stood there, confused for a moment, then he picked up the lasgun that was on the ground and immediately took aim.
"Do not let your guard down yet," he said, "The heretics return."
Emilia realized that more cultists were beginning to gather around them. The commissar began to fire at the incoming cultists. The cultists flew back as the charged laser hit them. Even still, the other cultists advanced. Emilia ran up and stood beside the commissar, ready to cast another spell.
Then, a carriage suddenly appeared from the other side of the road. An old man jumped out from the coachman's seat. In a flash, the old man stood between two headless cultists with a sword in hand. Emilia's eyes grew in surprise.
"Is that Lady Emilia, nya?" said a feminine voice.
Behind the old man, a beautiful felinid stepped out of the carriage. The felinid yelled at the stunned Emilia and commissar.
"Hurry up and get aboard the carriage, nya!"
"Who in the Emperor's name is that?" asked the commissar.
"That's Felix, one of the Royal Guards. I wonder why he is here?" Emilia said curiously.
"He? The felinid?" the commissar asked.
"Ferris will explain it later; nyow get in!" Felix ordered, waving them in.
The commissar fired off a few blasts into the crowd of cultists and threw Rem over his shoulder. He gestured Emilia to board the carriage first as he continued to fire into the distance. Once Emilia was aboard, he handed Rem to Felix and held on to the carriage by the handle on the side.
"Brace yourselves!" the old man shouted as he positioned himself back on the coachman's seat. He cracked his whip and the lizard beast began to dash off.
The commissar continued to shoot at the cultists while still hanging to the side of the carriage until he could see no more cultists; only then, he decided take a seat inside. He joined the group in the middle of their conversation.
"So, it's happening then," Emilia said with a serious expression.
"That's right, Lady Emilia, nya!" Felix said with a cheerful smile, "The royal selection is being held at the capital."
