Chapter 5: The Syirum Girl
The party were almost to Mimas. However, Renee sniffled something that made her twitch her nose a bit. It stung her nostrils yet she didn't cover her mouth; she persevered through the unpleasant sensation. She frowned.
"... I smell a fire..." she muttered.
The others stopped and looked at her in concern.
Borgnine was as emotionless as ever. "She is right. Fire is coming from Mimas."
Vira-Lorr placed her hands on her hips. "Just as I predicted. I would advise we head over there now."
"Right! We must hurry!" Leo shouted.
Everyone nodded in agreement and hurried over to Mimas. When they got there, almost all of them looked on in horror as they saw houses on fire and corpses on the ground. Blood was splattered everywhere.
"Gridamas' vanguard has made it this far?!" Leo gasped as he tightened his fist.
"Damn it... This war is worse than I thought..." Yuri frowned as he looked around. Seeing an endless stretch of dead bodies with their blood pouring out of their wounds, his hand clenched the grip of his sword.
"How could they...?" Kirito breathed.
"B-B-B-But is this game supposed to be like almost full of bunnies and happiness?!" Neptune stuttered as she began trembling.
"Neptune, this isn't a game! This is serious war! What Gridamas did... was unforgivable! Damn them straight to hell!" Noire growled as she punched the ground.
"Stay back, comrades," Leo advised as he unsheathed his sword.
"What arrogance! How, like a man, to think you will defeat them alone. The foolish pride of yours will be your undoing." Vira-Lorr frowned. "A mere human is hardly my equal on the battlefield. Look to your own safety before you concern yourself with others..."
"I... I will fight too!" Ellis spoke up.
"Ellis, this is war," Leo protested.
"I know! That is why I must fight! I can run and hide, but that doesn't mean I'll be safe. Borgnine is here and so are you, Leo and Renee," Ellis reasoned as she looked at Leo with an unfaltering gaze.
"...Very well." Leo turned to Renee and Borgnine. "Can I count on you two to protect Ellis?"
"Of course." Borgnine nodded.
"I'll make sure she doesn't get seriously hurt," Renee answered, folding her arms.
"Let us finish this!" Leo shouted as he and his friends charged into battle.
Further on, six soldiers were throwing torches at some houses. One of them looked to their left and saw Leo and the gang with almost all their weapons drawn. However, he immediately focused on Leo.
"Is that... Golden Leo?!" The first soldier rubbed his eyes to make sure his eyes weren't fooling him.
"That can't be! Lord Melchior said he died in battle!" A second Gridamas soldier gasped before he was struck down by Leo.
The five remaining soldiers drew their blades at the former general. "Prepare to die, traitor!" one of them growled.
"You won't get that chance to kill him!" Kirito shouted as he unsheathed his twin swords and slashed the second soldier to death.
"Here I come!" Neptune bragged as she leaped up into the air and killed the third soldier with a jumping slash.
"Impulse!" Ellis shouted as she summoned rays of light which hit the fourth soldier before Yuri finished him off by decapitating him. Gushes of blood came out of the hole where his head used to be as the body fell to the ground.
The last soldier stammered as the heroes pointed their weapons at him. "Y-You'll regret this, Golden Leo!" He swore as he ran past them in fear.
"Golden Leo... Nice title, dood," Prinny commented.
Ed raised his hand. "Question, Leo... How did you get the title of Golden Leo?"
"That..." Leo smiled as he pointed to the tip of his sword with a smile, "is because of the golden tip of my sword. It once belonged to my father before I inherited it. This sword has helped me win many battles." Leo looked back at the soldiers, no longer smiling. "But right now, let's focus on the soldiers first."
"Right." Everyone nodded as they charged into battle once more.
A short distance away, a girl with silver grey hair, long pointy ears, revealing black clothes and twin daggers strapped to her side was kneeling. She was surrounded by six soldiers lead by a vanguard captain.
The vanguard captain smirked as he walked a little towards the girl. "You have spirit, scum. I'll give you that."
The girl panted heavily before growling. "You... you will pay for this!"
"Heh, I doubt that. I'll make short work of you." The vanguard captain smirked again as he unsheathed his sword.
"Shit!" The girl spat as she closed her eyes and waited for her demise.
"Hold, soldier!" Leo shouted as he and his friends appeared.
"What the?! Golden Leo?!" The vanguard captain spluttered, surprised by the suddenness of their appearance, especially Leonhardt's. "What are you doing here? And how are you still alive?!" The vanguard captain barked as he pointed his sword at Leo and his friends.
"Golden Leo?" the girl repeated quietly to herself, glancing at the former general with unfamiliarity.
"I have you cornered. Lay down your arms and leave this place. I do not want pointless bloodshed," Leo calmly ordered.
"Fine words coming from a man who betrayed his country! After your supposed death, the army changed. To disobey an order now means the death sentence! Your betrayal brought this upon us!" the vanguard captain growled.
"Lies! Leo had nothing to do with that!" Ellis vouched for Leo.
Leo held up his hand to stop Ellis. "No, Ellis. He is right. I must take responsibility for my actions."
"But—" Ellis started to protest but Leo pointed his sword at the vanguard soldier.
Suddenly, Renee, Neptune and Noire stopped glaring at the captain. While everyone else still focused harshly on the soldier, the three girls had their attention diverted elsewhere.
Ellis noticed. "Renee, Neptune, Noire, is something wrong?"
Ellis went unanswered. Firstly, Renee got out her pendant. "Power Pendant, Metamorphosis!" she shouted, causing a rainbow-colored light to engulf her.
)When it cleared, Renee was wearing a purple outfit consisting of a short shirt that left the top of her chest and stomach bare, the latter of which was marked by a symmetrical tattoo of two wolf silhouettes. She also wore a pair of flared shorts, knee-high boots, garters around her biceps and left thigh and a choker with a golden charm. In her hand, still confined by the bracelet she wore, she held a light purple stick with a golden bar running perpendicular to it, creating the shape of a cross. This revealing outfit would have been the most eye-catching aspect of her if it weren't for her wolf ears and tail.
"Whoa..." Leo gasped.
"Wow, Renee! I didn't know you can do that!" Ellis beamed excitedly.
Neptune and Noire closed their eyes. Their bodies glowed and a column of light surrounded each of them and shot up to the heavens. A moment afterwards, the light dispersed. Neptune and Noire remained but with vastly different forms.
Shocking, Neptune had become taller and her body grew to the shape of a more mature woman completely opposite the childish girl she replaced. Neptune's hair had become a dark purple worn in very long twintail braids complete with bangs that framed her face. Her hairclips became small black dome pieces with a glowing blue X on each of them. Instead of a white hoodie, she wore a black and purple bodysuit that left the tops of her thighs and the middle of her chest exposed. Her eyes had changed to a refractive sky blue with white irises on the edge of a white circle.
Noire, in her new form, had similar irises but with green eyes and her hair had become pure white. Like Neptune, she also wore a skintight bodysuit, only hers was grey and black with the shoulders and the middle of her chest and cleavage exposed.
"W-What tricky is this?!" The vanguard captain growled. He turned to his men and thrust his sword towards the travelling group. "Kill them all!"
"No you don't! Silver Slash!" Renee's attack slammed into the ground, killing two soldiers.
"Bring it on. What you Gridamas scumbags did was unforgivable. Noire!" Neptune called, her voice deeper than it was before.
"Right! Let's see who can kill them the fastest!" Neptune and Noire flew past two more soldiers, killing them.
"Tiger Blade!" Yuri shouted as he slashed the fifth soldier to death with an upward strike.
The last soldier was about to kill Ellis but Borgnine got in the way and punched him in the face. Vira-Lorr cast an earth spell which impaled the soldier to death.
Leo and the captain were clashing. The captain managed to get in a quick few slashes to Leo but Leo countered with slashes of his own. Yuri charged in to help Leo, but the captain slashed him in the chest. To the captain and Yuri's shock, Yuri's wound instantly healed.
'What the hell? My wound just healed in a second! I wonder why...' Yuri thought before he slashed the captain five times with his sword.
The captain growled before he charged at Renee and tried to slash her but she was faster; a whip of purple energy extended from the end of her handle and, with a flick of her wrist, wrapped around the captain's ankle. Using both hands, she hurled him to the ground with immense force.
"Way to go, Renee, dood!" Prinny cheered as he charged at the captain and slashed him eight times with his daggers.
"You little demon!" The captain growled as he was about to strike Prinny down but Ed got in the way with his bladed metal arm. He and the captain pushed against each other. For a moment, the captain managed to make Edward lean back. However, with a loud 'AAAARGH!', Edward successfully shoved the captain back onto the ground.
The captain held his arm in pain. Suddenly, Leo started glowing with white energy, making the captain take his focus off his arm. "W-Wha...?" he breathed.
With an angry yell that spread far and wide, Leo slammed his sword down on the ground, creating a powerful shockwave that hit the captain dead on. The captain was launched into a house that then crumbled, burying the soldier beneath its remains.
Dyshana smiled herself as Leo's friends looked at him in awe and admiration.
"Leo... is this the power of Dyshana?" Renee asked with a small smile. Leo gave her a grin and a thumbs up. Renee smiled again and blushed slightly.
Leo turned to the girl he and his friends saved. Leo walked up to her and kneeled. "Are you hurt?"
The girl slapped Leo's hand. "Don't touch me, you filthy Gridamas dog!" she shouted.
"Hey! We were only trying to help! You'd be dead if not for Leo!" Ellis shouted.
"Yeah! What she said!" Noire added.
"I don't recall asking for your help!" the girl shouted back even more angrily.
"Enough!" Vira-Lorr called, killing the furious air then and there. When silence returned, she spoke calmly once more. "We expect nothing in return for saving your life but you could at least tell us your name."
The girl was silent. "... Fyuria..."
Vira-Lorr frowned. "You look like a syrium, but what are you fighting for? For revenge? Or simply out of anger? I know your chieftain. I warned him of this invasion, but the man is too stubborn. He will fight even a losing battle, the fool! Were it not for his pigheadedness, he could have escaped."
"Be silent! What do you know anyway?!" Fyuria shouted.
Vira-Lorr smirked. "Not much. Memories begin to fade as years go by, you know." Then she frowned once more. "But I do know the pain of being hunted far better than you."
Fyuria remained silent. She hung her head and kept her gaze to the ground.
Dyshana stepped forward. "Have you finished talking? It's dangerous here. We must leave, and soon."
Leo nodded. "You speak the truth. The rest of the army cannot be far behind." Leo looked behind him.
"Fyuria, you will come with us," Dyshana told her stoically.
Fyuria puffed her cheeks. "And what makes you think that?"
"Idiot! You think you can take on an entire army?! Don't throw away your life!" Noire shouted.
"Leonhardt will need all the strength he can find to fight Gridamas," said Dyshana.
Fyuria blinked. The anger in her face faded slightly as she looked at Leo. "Is that supposed to be a joke? You mean to say that Golden Leo, the hero of Gridamas, is a traitor?" She gritted her teeth. "Your humor is in poor taste, old woman. The boy is deceiving you!"
Vira-Lorr smirked. "You think he would fight and kill his own people simply to deceive the people of the Frontier? People have done strange and look at the people Leo is friends with having strange clothes and abilities, but aren't you selling him a little short?"
"Yes! Leo saved me when I was about to be killed by Gridamas!" Ellis vouched for Leo.
"You would have been dead now if Leo hadn't showned up. Think about it! If Leo is bad as you say he is, then why would he fight his own people?" Renee scolded Fyuria.
"Is that not reason enough to entrust him with your life once again?" Dyshana asked.
Fyuria was silent as she pondered this.
"I supposed syriums are strong fighters," Vira-Lorr sighed.
"And there's strength in numbers as they say," Kirito added with a small smile.
"Yeah. The more people we have, the stronger we get in team work." Ed grinned as he placed his hands behind his head.
"Leonhardt has been charged with fighting the forces of darkness and sealing them away. While Leonhardt's battle with Gridamas is a personal one... the forces of darkness are behind these incursions into the Frontier and threaten to engulf the universe in darkness. They cannot be taken lightly," Dyshana stated.
"Hmm... I had no idea that Gridamas had joined forces with beasts controlled by evil gods." Vira-Lorr placed her little finger on her chin.
"The cocoon of darkness that threatens to envelop this land is not yet complete. It needs allies," the mysterious woman told the seer.
Leo nodded. "Those forces of darkness must be taken seriously. When I fought one of their leaders, I felt a strange power. The beasts are trouble enough but the dark generals have a power far greater than that of mere humans." The former general tightened his fist.
"If they regain their strength they once had during their war with the ancient gods, then the universe is doomed," Renee summarized.
"I have sworn to seal away this darkness even if the doing of it should cost me my life. But before the darkness is dealt with, there is something else that must be done," Leo said.
"Gridamas must be stopped at all costs. We can't let them take any more lives..." Yuri growled.
"And you think you are the one to stop them?" Fyuria asked skeptically.
"Not alone. If you join me, you will likely face greater danger. If you say you cannot trust me, then I will say no more. But promise me one thing. Do not be foolish and attempt to fight them on your own." Leo smiled warrmly at the syrium. She blushed and looked away.
Borgnine looked at the direction he was facing. "The stench of evil grows stronger. We must hurry."
"What about the villagers?" Neptune asked.
"There is a town called Puteaux to the north," Vira-Lorr stated.
Leo smiled. "Then we shall lead them there."
Renee turned to Fyuria. "We won't force you to join us but we can't leave you here. At least come with us," the wolf girl requested.
Fyuria looked at the ground, maintaining her silence. Finally, she looked up and nodded. "But only as far as Puteux."
To be continued...
Next chapter: The Undead that Serves Evil