A/N: I can't believe how popular my story has become. Anyway, more Tales characters will join our heroes, some that may be familair to Yuri, Lloyd and Colette. Anyway, Luke and Tear will join our heroes during the Yayoi Arc in Generation 2. So without further ado, here is Chapter 33.

Chapter 33: Friend VS Friend: Ladius's Justice and Valeria's Reason

The woman known as Reina got Winfield surprised by her beauty and buxom body.

Jean rushed up to Reina and held her hand and exclaiming "I am so glad to see you, Lady Reina! I didn't know you're here in this world."

"Jean, it's been awhile." Reina smiled as she doesn't mind Jean's pervertness. She turned to see Ragian's Army and asked the perverted healer "Who are your new friends? Never seen them before. And where is Cute?"

Jean lowered his head despondently. "...You mean you have no idea where she is?" Reina asked in surprise and guilt. 'I shouldn't have left them back at the Dragon Priestesses' lair... Damn it!' She tighten her fist in anger.

"W-We were separated after our final bout with the Dragon Priestesses and I was looking for her in a swamp like area of Grainos. But then, a bright light appeared and engulfed me. When I woke up, I found myself in a new world and found a amulet that won't come off, no matter how hard I tried on my right arm." Jean, his head still lowered, raises his right arm to show Reina the cursed trinket of Summerill.

"You too?!" Reina covered her mouth in shock as she showed Jean her trinket of Summerill.

"Ah damn... You also wore one of Summerill's trinkets?" Jean moaned, his and his otherworldly friends and Winfield's situation got even worse.

Ladius walked up to Reina and asked before introducing himself "Excuse me, I see you have worn one of the Demon King's cursed trinkets that will give you eternal life, but at a price. My name is Ladius von Bussser Ragian, second commander of my father Leonhardt's army, Ragian's Army."

"Reina Vance. It's a pleasure. And you said I'm cursed with immortality, Ladius?" Reina eyed Ladius, the Spirit Vessel can tell she is inspecting him of being a talented and skilled swordsman.

"Yes. Right now, we need to escape from a former kingdom of mine and to think of a plan." Ladius explained.

"Ladius, forgive me for asking, but how did you know I was cursed with immortality?" Reina demanded, her hands on her hips.

Winfield waltz up to his commanding officer and placed his hand on Ladius's shoulder and told Reina "My lord here is destined to defeat Summerill and save the universe. You see... The Demon King has caused some damages to some of our friends's worlds and some of them have amnesia due to Summerill pulling them out of their worlds. He has zombies who my friend Takashi referred to as Them who were once human before Summerill cursed them and made Them part of his army. My fine beauty, if you joined our army, we can end Summerill's evil before he does any more harm." Winfield made a rose appear out of nowhere and gives it to Reina.

"Oh brother... He does that every time there is a beautiful woman..." Asuna face palmed and moaned.

"Not only that, her chest is huge..." Dita gasped in awe as she admires Reina's buxom body.

"But why isn't she embarrassed wearing clothes like that?" Tokai muttered.

"Damn... Now I wish my boobies are huge..." Chris sighed as she went to sulk somewhere.

Reina was silent about this for about 25 seconds until she asked "Will Summerill come after my world too...?"

"It's a possibility. And we got to make sure he doesn't conquer all known worlds." Ladius frowned.

"...Very well, but first, I want to test your skills." Reina unsheathed her sword, Ladius did the same.

"Ladius, we don't have time for this! We need to get out of here!" Ellis protested. But then, she eyed Ladius's motions and concluded that Reina won't join their army unless Ladius proves his worth. She smiled slightly and told Ladius "Show him the power of your father's swordsmanship."

"Wow, Ellis. That's really nice of you." Shizuka praised which made the high elf blushed.

"I-It's just I want to let Ladius do what he thinks to help people and gain allies for our army..." Ellis looked away, rather shyly.

"You're growing, Ellis. Back then, you were flustering when Sherufanir flirted with Ladius. That's a sigh of growing up." Renee placed her hand on Ellis shoulder with a kind smile.

"Y-You're right, Renee." Ellis nodded quickly.

Ladius and Reina clashed swords for about 5 minutes. In the end, Reina was impressed by Ladius's strength and skill with the sword.

"You're pretty strong, I admired that." Reina smirked as she sheathed her sword, Ladius did the same.

"Same to you. You're pretty strong for a friend of Jean." Ladius commented with a smile.

"You have remarkable strength and is very good with a sword. I feel we'll get along just fine." Reina smiled as she and Ladius shook hands.

"I concur. Welcome to our army, Reina." Ladius nodded.

"Great, we have a new busty bitch, yatta, yatta. Now can we get the hell out of here before those Grugund assholes find us?" Etna complained.

"You're so immature, Etna..." Saya frowned.

(Meanwhile, back at Grugund...)

Gilliam smirked and commented "So he finally shows his true colors. An insignificant commoner like him has no right to assume the house of a duke."

Hailzen also smirked darkly and turned to Valeria and asked "Do you understand now, General Valeria?" Valeria looked down despondently and remained silent. Hailzen frowned and said "You and the lord were close, so I understand you wish to protect him, but do not disgrace yourself."

Hykezatt protested with "A moment, lords. This must be a mistake. I cannot believe Ladifour would betray us in such a way. I beg you to reconsider, and request an official investigation into this matter."

Gilliam frowned and told Hykezatt "The time for that has passed. Ladifour himself has admitted his part in the recent actions of the rebel forces."

Another noble named Messina gasped and started to say "But that's-"

Hailzen interrupted him with "He has taken the rebel forces, as well as his own army, and is on the run. You still refuse to see the truth?"

Messina lowered his head despondently and muttered "Will this mean the end of House Busser?"

"Fortunately, there are other relatives who can take control of House Busser. While he may have inherited the family estate, thankfully he has no blood ties. In fact, why not simply say that Ladifour never inherited the estate in the first place?" Hailzen suggested dark;y.

"We cannot twist the truth. The people would never allow it." Hykezatt slams his fists down on the table in frustration.

"The people are not concerned with the actions of the government. Their only concern is their daily lives. Is Ladifour, perhaps, of common stock? I do not believe he was conceived out of wedlock, per se, but... In any case, I shall leave Ladifour's punishment up to you, Valeria." Hailzen stated darkly.

"You mean for me to kill Ladius... I mean Ladifour?" Valeria asked quietly, fearful for what may happen if she and Ladius met in battle.

"No, no. Of course not. If he accepts his punishment and serves his time, he shall earn back his place in House Busser. The previous duke, the late Lord Howell, was often led astray by a sad story. In all likelihood, Ladifour, too, has been duped by some nefarious individual. Ladifour has his own explanation, I am sure, so we will not order you to harm him. His fate will be in your hands." Hailzen explained with a tone of darkness.

Valeria was silent for about 30 seconds until she nodded and replied "Very well. I will see that he receives a moderate punishment."

Hailzen smiled a smile that only evil dictators and wicked stepfathers would be proud of. "Excellent."

(A few hours later at Nagigahara...)

Vashtor tensed as he turned to his direction and said "They have arrived."

Winfield frowned and muttered "And somewhat sooner than I expected."

Ellis sighed and muttered "I told you this was a poor decision."

"The time for regrets has passed. Now that they have arrived, perhaps we should heed her advice and fall back to Fensarril." Vira-Lorr suggested. A while ago, Ladius after his escape told his friends about Sherafanir advising them to head to her home country for assistance, but Ladius wanted to protect his foster father's home, so he put that option as a last resort.

"You would take the advice of a woman who gives her opinion as though it is a holy commandment and then leaves?" Ellis fumed.

"Ellis, she was an outsider to begin with. What do you expect?" Renee calmed her down.

Ellis looked into Renee's eyes and muttered "You do have a point..."

Ladius was in thought and muttered "I cannot help but wonder if we have done the right thing..."

Zerva reassured him by saying "Perhaps yes, perhaps no, but we have made our bed. Now we must lie in it. All we can do now is move forward." Ladius was silent, but he understands and nods slowly.

Suddenly, riding on horseback is Valeria. And she is not too happy to see him.

"Ladius! How could you be so foolish?!" Valeria scolded.

"Idiot! Ladius hasn't done anything wrong! He told you that!" Ling frowned as she got into a battle stance.

"I only did what was necessary." Ladius added calmly.

"Yeah, and you're the bad guys, locking Laddy up for no reason whatsoever!" Neptune vouched for Ladius as she, Noire and Vert transformed after her speech.

"Not only that, you brought an army to his home." Kohta frowned as he got out his gun and pointed it at some of the Grugund soldiers who are not part of Ladius's army.

"The reason matters not. A lord who would abandon his people to lead an army is no lord. If you can prove your innocence, lay down your weapons and return with me for a public trial."

"I'm afraid we can't do that. Even if we did, no one will believe us." Kat frowned as Dusty stood beside her, ready for battle.

"I will vouch for Ladius. That way-" Ladius stopped Valeria in the middle of her speech.

"Enough, Valeria. I knew it would come to this, sooner or later. I have a destiny. I must fulfill that destiny, even if it means I must give up everything else." Ladius gripped his hand on his sword.

"What sort of nonsense is this? I do not understand." Valeria frowned.

"Don't you get it? Ladius... is destined to save the universe!" Meia got out her Dread gun and pointed it at some of Valeria's troops.

"Let us go, Valeria. We do not want to fight you..." Renee transformed and got into a battle stance.

That only made Valeria frown deeper. "You would have me allow you to escape? How do you propose I explain that? If you refuse to obey my orders, then I will bring you to the council by force. Do you still insist on leaving?" Valeria snarled.

"I do." Ladius told her firmly.

"Very well... Then you shall henceforth be my enemy! To leave this battlefield, you must defeat me!" Valeria screamed as she leaped up from her horse and got out her spear lurged forward at Ladius. He dodged it and got ready for battle.

Soon, both armies charged at one another. Friend vs friend, can Valeria come to her senses about the true evil in her kingdom?

To be continued...

Next chapter: The Priestess, Swordswoman, Arrogant Duke, Half-Elf and Determined Dwarf

A/N: It's about damn time I update. Well, next chapter will be the second part of the Ladius vs Valeria battle and continue on from there. See you then.