A/N: Here is Chapter 32 with the appearance of Reina from Queen's Blade and Queen's Gate: Spiral Chaos.
Chapter 32: Accused of Treason: The Exile Warrior
Sherufanir got out twin daggers out of nowhere and got into a battle stance with a cool smirk. "Well then, nobleman... Are you ready?" She asked filrtly.
Ladius sighed as he got into a battle stance and told the foxy woman "I won't hold back just because you're a woman."
"I see... Then I won't hold back, either." Sherufanir giggled playfully as she lunged at Ladius, disappearing in a flash.
"She's fast!" Charlotte gasped as she covered her mouth in shock.
"Ladius could be in trouble then..." Alice D. frowned as she crossed her arms.
Sherufanir reappeared behind Ladius, intending to slash him across the back. But Ladius noticed her and shouted "Double Edge!" He slashed the fox woman two times with his sword.
Sherufanir gawked as she did a back flip. "My, you're no ordinary nobleman, aren't you?" She asked, amused.
"I am a Spirit Vessel, destined to save the universe. I will not die here." Ladius told her calmly as he leaped up into the air and shouted "Rush Storm!" He first glowed with holy energy, then the energy turned green and with a angry yell, he slashed his sword vertical and a green tornado appeared around Sherufanir.
"What?!" Sherufanir gawked as the attack gave her large damage and bits of her clothing was torn apart. Jean giggled pervertly which Saya took noticed and bopped him on the head.
Sherufanir winced for a bit, before she smirked and casually told Ladius "Not bad... But now it's my turn. Raising Dance!" She danced which confused Ladius and his friends, but energy arrows appeared and flew in at Ladius, hitting him for damage.
"You're not bad for a Neocolom!" Ladius commented as he got into a battle stance.
Agarest Dictionary: Neocolom: A race of animal human hybreeds created by the goddess Deeth. They can be uncontrollable during a full moon, so watch out!
Sherufanir held her hand near her ear and taunted "What's that? You're about to give up already?"
"No. In fact... This battle is already over... Blaze Storm!" Ladius glowed in red energy and slashed vertically 10 times, Sherufanir was caught off guard by this and was knocked into a wall. She tried to stand up, holding her arm when it is bleeding, but fell down and rested, but in about 40 seconds, she recovered and sighed. "Okay, you win..."
"Now, as you have promised, lay down your weapons and surrender." Ladius ordered.
One of the rebel soldiers snarled and spitted by retorting "That woman does not speak for us! We will never surrender to you!"
Winfield chuckled nervously and said "Their response hardly comes as a surprise, but a modicum of originality would have been appreciated."
"No, you simple fools!" Sherufanir growled.
"We have enough of your so-called help! Stay out of our affairs, outsider!" The rebel soldier snarled.
"Fine, do as you wish, but without my help, this army will almost certainly slice you to shreds." Sherufanir sighed, but smirked as she added "I will not stop you, if such an end is what you seek. But listen well to my words... You are but a ragtag band of rebels. Do you stand a chance against a trained army? Were you not all prepared to cast dice with death in battle? They say they will listen to us; are the odds not better? They have said they will give us sanctuary as well. It sounds like a good deal to my ears."
"What?!" Ellis was caught off guard by this. "We said nothing about sanctuary!" She protested then added in anger "We have already put ourselves in a awkward position... This would only draw more attention."
Ladius held his hand up to stop her and told Ellis "It will be fine. In return for sanctuary, I will be able to order them to disarm."
"Of course." Sherufanir nodded with a smirk.
Ellis has an anger vein on her forehead and shouted "What gives you the right to decide something like that? I cannot believe this!"
Vira-Lorr patted Ellis on the shoulder and reassured her "Ellis, I understand how you feel, but Ladius is right."
"Think rationally. Even if we were to take them prisoner, we cannot simply take them to Grugund." Zerva added.
"Besides, how do you think we can relax with such a large enemy force?" Noire said sternly.
"Not all here have accepted this decision. It is very likely that there will be... complications. If either side feels threatened, battle will surely ensue. We must avoid such a situation at all costs." Vira-Lorr agreed.
Ellis looked down, feeling distressed. "I am aware of that. I... I just..." Ellis stuttered.
"Elly is in love with Ladius, after all, he is Leo and Fyuria's son." Neptune smiled as she placed her hands behind her head.
"Y-You know nothing about me! Y-You speak nothing but nonsense!" Ellis walked away to sulk somewhere.
Vira-Lorr sighed and scolded Neptune and Winfield "You shouldn't tease her so. She just has a strong sense of responsibility."
"We have made her angry, haven't we? I apologize." Sherufanir smirked playfully.
"Don't worry. I'm sure she understands." Renee told the fox woman. Sherufanir sniffled her and could tell Renee is no ordinary human either.
"Once we have left the mountains, we will divide our forces. Vashtor, half of them will go with you." Ladius ordered, then he turned to Sherufanir and asked her "Sherufanir, I will need you to select a delegate to accompany me."
Sherufanir bowed lightly and replied with "In that case, I will accompany you myself. Women can be more convincing than men."
Ladius was skeptic about this. "That would mean..."
"I was, after all, the one who inflicted this situation. It seems only fair that I would go. And I must admit, I have always wanted to see the castle." Sherufanir smirked.
"...Vashtor, Renee, I leave the rest in your hands." Ladius ordered.
"Understood." Vashtor acknowledged while Renee nodded.
"Then let us depart." Sherufanir grinned.
A few hours later, Ragian's Army arrived back at Grugund, Ladius and Sherufanir headed towards the castle where Valeria ran up to the Spirit Vessel, happy to see him safe.
"Ladius!" Valeria greeted, but then, she noticed Sherufanir and asked Ladius "Who is this?"
"This is..." Ladius started to say, but Sherufanir interrupted him by saying "I am Sherufanir. We were in danger of being captive when Ladius showed up and helped us. We came with him at his kind request." The fox woman smirked.
"Oh..." Valeria glared at Sherufanir.
Ladius decided to break the ice by telling Valeria "Valeria, could you take her to my villa?"
"Why me?" Valeria turned to Ladius with a surprised look.
Ladius simply said "She may be needed as evidence."
Valeria recoiled in shock and gasped "Then... you are assisting a criminal!" Then she stated sourly "If she was one of the rebels, she should be locked away in a cell!"
Ladius reassured her with "We stopped the rebellion without incident. I do not wish to fan flames that have all but died out. Any severe punishment of this woman would only put our neighbors on edge. I will speak with her alone, if and when it is necessary, we will record her testimony. So please, for now, do as I ask."
Valeria was conflicted by this. "If you insist..." Then Valeria puffed her cheeks in anger and retorted with "But I will not cover for you!"
Sherufanir giggled as she responded with "Thank you." Valeria said nothing as she glared at the fox woman.
Ladius turned to Sherufanir and said "Sherufanir, I will talk with you later." Then Ladius turned to Valeria and told her "Valeria, when I return, I would ask your company for some training."
"Return quickly." Valeria said those only words to Ladius. Ladius nodded as he entered the castle, Valeria turned to glare at Sherufanir and told her sharply "I am only doing this for Ladius. If you try anything, I will not hesitate on running you through." She warned.
Sherufanir was unfazed by this and smirked again by saying "I am quite aware of that." Valeria remained silent as she continued to glare at the fox woman. She finally say "This way." And Valeria lead Sherufanir to Ladius's villa.
Ladius came into the throne room and did his family's salute and said to his superior officers "I have something to say about the recent movement of the rebel forces."
Hailzen frowned and told Ladius "I have something, to ask of you first, milord. I am sure it is a baseless rumor, but I have heard that you were... giving orders to the rebels."
Ladius was caught off guard by this and retorted with "What!? This is poor humor, Hailzen. Surely you do not believe such tripe!"
"Calm yourself, milord." Hailzen calmed Ladius down, then added with venom "Of course I do not believe it. However, then it is true that at least some of the rebels are now under your control."
Ladius reasoned with "You of all people should understand why."
"I may, but there are others who do not. They believe your victory was too complete; that this could not have been solved without bloodshed. Surely you can understand how some might feel this way?"
Gilliam stepped forward and told Ladius coldly "I am sorry, but I must ask that you allow me to place you under arrest for the time being." Gilliam motioned some guards to aim their weapons at Ladius. "We do not believe you are guilty, of course, but we must appear to be taking these allegations seriously." Ladius remained silent as the guards escorted him to the dungeon.
Later that night, Ladius was sitting in his cell, his father's sword beside him. Suddenly, he heard some footsteps and looked out the window in his celldoor to see Sherufanir with some cell keys.
"Sherufanir, what are you doing here?! Where is Valeria?!" He demanded, shocked to see the fox woman here.
"She has left to protest your punishment." Sherufanir told him.
"Protest? Why would she...?" Ladius pondered this in his cell. Just then, Sherufanir unlocked his cell.
"She has her reasons, I am sure. Shall we leave?" Sherufanir smiled.
Ladius shook his head no and told her "No, I will stay here. I will not further my disgrace by escaping."
"Whatever are you talking about? Val told me..." Ladius interrupted Sherufanir and retorted with "Val?! I do not believe she allowed you to address that way..."
"Ah, well, she did object at first, but eventually she gave in. They always do." Sherufanir told him seriously.
Ladius blushed a hint of red and muttered "O-Oh..."
"As I was saying, according to Val, it seems they will be sending an army to take your lands." Sherufanir explained.
"What?! That is impossible!" Ladius protested.
"Is it? They have all the justification they need. ...And it seems you are not well-liked by those who hold power." Sherufanir told him calmly.
"Be that as it may, they would never dare send an army into my demesne!" Ladius gritted his teeth.
"Would that I could agree with you, but it seems Val herself will be leading the army." Sherufanir added.
"Valeria?" Ladius blinked.
"Troublesome, isn't it? The two of you may be friends, but unfortunately orders must trump friendship. So, as I said, we must leave quickly." Sherufanir told him.
"But I..." Ladius seems conflicted by this.
"If you do not return, there will be no one to protect your House. Will you turn from that responsibility?" Sherufanir questioned him.
"I... I cannot do that." Ladius looked down despondently.
"Then cease your insufferable whimpering and move!" Sherufanir ordered as she and Ladius escaped from the cells.
Outside that night, Ellis, Renee and the rest of Ladius's friends were waiting for Ladius. Ladius ran up to his friends.
"Ladius-kun, you're okay!" Charlotte gasped happily.
"Those Grungund jerks! We were almost captured and taken to the dungeon and we have to fight our way out!" Aria fumed.
"I'm sorry for troubling you all. We need to leave and head to House Busser's Estate." Ladius reminded everyone.
"Okay. We better move." Ellis nodded.
As the party with their army were walking down the road, Jean noticing someone walking up to them.
She has blond hair, is almost exclusively adorned in armor with a distinct breastplate that gives her protection and immunity to certain demonic attacks. On her right arm and neck is a series of long brown straps wrapped around her that dangle about freely. For added protection, she carries a full-arm, armored gauntlet on her left arm with a buckler mounted on it. She has a metal headband on her head and on her right arm is a bracelet of dark color.
Jean immediately recognized her. "L-Lady Reina!"
To be continued...
Next chapter: Friend VS Friend: Ladius's Justice and Valeria's Reasons