Battle of Italica Pt. II
Blood splattered against stone and bark as Rory somersaulted over a group of bandits, her halberd whirling menacingly as the blade launched a body across the roadway. The demigoddess' bloodlust fueling her adrenaline as she stormed another group of bandits from behind, knocking them all over as flames engulfed them before they hit the floor. She turned to see Natsu's outstretched hand lowering before shooting back up and striking a spearman in the stomach, the sorry fool doubling over in pain before being punted over to Rory. Seeing the pass, the dark haired demigoddess caught him with her weapon and sent him careening into the ground with inhuman strength.
Despite the death around her, Rory smiled in satisfaction as more and more bodies came to rush the gate. She felt her legs quiver at the sight and was ready to leap into action before a blinding light had engulfed the mass approaching them. It gave the halberd wielder pause as she had just remembered about the other defenders stationed on the ramparts, staring intently at the blonde who had put pause to her fun. Natsu, too, had stopped in his tracks from the sudden light but recovered and increased the distance between himself and the mass before another figure appeared next to him in a shimmer of gold light.
Rory starred in bewilderment at the sight of the battle ax wielding minotaur that stood side by side with Natsu, never having seen someone capable of summoning such a beast. Now it became quite an interesting development for Rory, seeing as Gray's allies were all greatly unique in their own regard. The summoner that can call upon even the most fearsome of mystic beasts all the way to the slayer of dragons, but at the moment it meant little to her as dozens of souls cried out to be freed from the confines of their meat suits. With a devilish smile, Rory obliged those poor trapped souls as she hacked her way through six bandits only jumping back when the minotaur shattered the very ground before her. She watched as the very ground broke apart and swallowed up a small group of enemies, then turning her gaze to see the creature launch a handful of enemy soldiers into the air with each swing it took.
When it came to combat with a battle ax, Rory wouldn't be outdone by a beast and resumed her massacre as a pair of fools believed that they could get the jump on her. Suffice to say, they were fatally wrong as their heads rolled off into a heap of bushes and their bodies falling to their knees before slumping over on their sides. Such freedom invigorated her far more than the common rabble that would assault weary travelers on the road, but she found it especially fun with Natsu nearby. The intense flames near drying the blood before it ever touched the floor, burnt bone drowned the heavy smell of iron and in a way, it was cleansing. The dragon slayer's flames eradicating the sin within the shells the souls possessed, allowing a more refreshing experience of sending souls away.
Then again, it was simple rhetoric she was using to explain her enjoyment to those on the wall if they ever asked. She could see the conflict in their eyes from her position, yet the blonde woman's gaze held her troubles and a hint of sadness for what Natsu was doing. No doubt pained by the work he was doing, but Rory thought he was doing the work of her god quite effectively so it mattered little to the grander schemes she had lived to acknowledge. Which brought curiosity to the halberd wielder as she had come to notice that the minotaur had yet to actually kill any of the bandits since it's appearance. Severe case of broken bones and shattered spirits were plenty, but death had yet to grace the grand battle ax as a gleaming crescent emerged from its latest swing.
Her thoughts went on towards the JSDF, her skills naturally giving her the opportunity to think freely in combat, who had been a surprising help at picking off the more cowardly bandits that had taken up archery. Including others who tried to circumvent both Natsu and herself, but she had yet to grow accustomed to the explosions their rifles created every time they fired. She thought about giving them a few targets for themselves, Rory was a generous person after all, although she was unsure if the dragon slayer would have it. While she had managed to fell a substantial number of bandits, it hadn't compared to the pink haired man as his flames stretched and consumed all as they traveled across the battlefield. She wondered where his mind was in all this, the carnage he was besieging on these bravely stupid men that seemed to fail common sensibilities of avoiding Natsu.
Rory hacked another six bandits as her mind thought about the restless soul within the dragon slayer, an internal battle for domination that intrigued her greatly. One was pure, leveled like any so-called "hero" she had come across in her centuries of travel and yet, the other soul felt out of place and above all else; false. It was akin to a roaring forest fire that wanted to consume all in its path with an inhuman hunger for chaos and destruction. Rarely had the halberd wielder encountered anything as strange as him, albeit Natsu being the second living person with two souls residing within them.
The Priestess always had been a curious demigoddess of sorts, even if the shattering of bones and reaping the souls around her would lead others to think otherwise. Even in the midst of battle, with pools of blood soaking the very ground beneath her feet, did her curiosity wander towards the dragon slayer and his non present comrade the ice mage. Two beings new to her world; both having another soul residing within them and yet still different when it came to how each reacted to their host. Gray's soul was not as pure as Natsu's; filled with self-hate, sadness, but interestingly enough shining with hope all the while the false soul was like a guide by his side. Natsu's on the other hand wanted control, unbridled destruction and was fighting to break free, so Rory truly wondered how it would all play out in the future. In the meantime, she refocused her efforts in freeing the souls of the stupid and allowed a simple thought about the dragon slayer to float away as he sent another body hurdling her way.
As for Natsu, the dragon slayer tried his best to keep his mind in the here and now as he tore through the armor, shields and blades that stood in his way with every step he took. The horror on their faces were marred by the firelight surrounding them as his flames had spread to the trees and grass. It was easy to snuff out if he so willed it, but it stopped the bastards from hiding from his wrath. His anger flared when the first storm of enemies ran at him with sadistic smiles, ones that remained even when they died before his might and Rory's blade. He hated this world, hated what was done to his people, hated the fact that he was wasting time running around this damn world with no sense of direction as to where the civilians were. Everyone and everything were pissing him off; Gray, the city, Erza, the Princess and the assholes before him trying to get in the city.
"And you want it all to burn away..."
For a brief moment, Natsu froze at the all too familiar voice he heard in his head and a part of him dreaded to ever hear it again. He wasn't afraid of it per se, but it drew concern as it would mean that he was losing it and the last thing he wasn't going to let go of was his sanity. The dragon slayer lost himself once before with Alvarez and a part of him again during the assault of Crocus, so he'd be damned to let himself go again here of all places. His fist unconsciously tightened on the throat he wasn't aware of grabbing before flinging the now limp body at a bandit prepared to throw an ax at him. Natsu's mind had wandered long enough that his body was automatically defending itself on instinct from the threats coming into the close range of him, but it surprised him to see that his flames weren't surrounding his body.
"Let your emotions run wild, let your passion burn those who defy you to ash"
Natsu shook his head clear of his thoughts and the voice, trying his best to focus on the battle at hand as Taurus defended him from a pair of arrows coming at him. He nodded his thanks to the spirit before launching himself into the thick of it once again, his feet aflame as he allowed his magic to explode around him. Three blades came at him at once when the bandits recovered and, in an instant, Natsu swiftly dodged each one before sending their wielders through the air and the unfortunate one into a tree. He heard the cries of pain and death not so far away from him and watched as a giant ax crush a bandit before Rory used the momentum to front flip straight over the body.
Once on her feet, she rushed at a bandit with the spear point of her ax straight through the heart and lifted his body high above as his blood traveled down to the handle. A sinister smile spread across her face as her eyes seemed to glow with murderous intent, her gaze landing on Natsu before she deftly twirled her weapon with the body flying through the air. It landed right at his feet and for the first time since he started fighting, the dragon slayer actually saw fear in their eyes. The sadistic smiles were disappearing right in front of them, many being replaced by anguish as his flames lashed out at his enemies and seeing the extent of their fighting with a trail of bodies spanning from where he first landed. Now at the end did they understand the real nightmare they had entered as Natsu lit his fists in flames, gaining the opportunity to welcome them to their demise.
Though he wouldn't do it alone.
Fast on his feet, the dragon slayer charged headlong through a mass of bandits to get to Rory and the demigoddess seemed to have understood what he was trying to do as she outstretched her hand to him. Grasping her small hand in his, Natsu planted his feet as he helped launch the demigoddess across the battlefield where a bulk of the bandit forces were idling on standby, chasing after her as she soared. Natsu used body after body as a springboard to traverse the many enemies around him, smashing faces into stone, tree and dirt as he passed with impressive speed that made it out as if he wasn't even there in the first place. Though the congestion of bodies became too thick to get through soon enough and quickly summoned his magic to his fists.
"Fire Dragon's Claw!" He cleaved his way through, the force of his attack making a clearing for him and those wise enough tried for dear life to get out of his path as he zoomed through.
It wasn't until he had to launch another attack that he realized the magic arrows helping clear out the bandits that weren't in his immediate area that his fire magic could affect and gave a mental thanks to Lucy for having his back. The celestial spirit mage on the other hand was very much frayed with the overwhelming odds, even with Natsu and the deadly Rory on their side.
When the battle began, she was very much not happy with the dragon slayer's gung-ho attitude of dropping straight into the mass of enemies down below. Sure, Rory joined him on the ground to fight, but the enemy was practically at the gate and surrounding them. Those two had been so zeroed in on attacking what was in front of them that they weren't aware of the fact that the bandits encircled them and tried to climb the walls. Lucy nearly leapt out of her skin when a bandit had managed to get on the rampart, but was swiftly shot off by Kurokawa who had noticed the blonde's yelp of surprise. That was when she had enough of the demigoddess and Natsu's obliviousness and summoned Taurus to assist them on keeping the enemy away from the gate.
For the most part, it was all fine and controlled with her in her Sagittarius Dress shooting at the enemy alongside the JSDF, but concern had begun to wash over her when she noticed Natsu was slowing down and his movements lost his usual flare. Then he just shoots off into the horde with Rory and leaving Taurus as the last defender on the ground, which gave her a personal fright of having her spirit be overwhelmed by the bandits. Without a second thought, Lucy quickly went for her key ring a pulled out two more spirits for help.
"Open Gates of the Archer and Lion!" Two bursts of shimmering light appeared flanking Lucy and the JSDF were surprised to see a man dressed in a horse costume and another in a more elegant suit as he adjusted his tie.
"Ready to serve, Miss Lucy!" Sagittarius saluted to Lucy who was about to respond when Loke swiftly pulled her close to him in order to avoid an arrow heading her way.
"Glad you called on me, Beautiful. Take care of that archer that dared to hit Lucy, Sagittarius." Loke ordered as he regrettably released Lucy, himself none too happy to have his contract keeper in the midst of a war.
"With pleasure!" The centaur spirit said determinedly as any respectable spirit in Lucy's care would do everything in their power to keep their master safe, especially from the ruffians the archer's eyes were scanning for his future shots.
"So, what's the situation we're in now?" Loke asked as he surveyed the battlefield, Taurus doing his best to fight off the mobs coming at him and their new friends dealing as much damage as they can from above.
"Natsu decided to take on the rest of the army over there!" Lucy exclaimed, pointing towards a large pillar of flame that sprang up as it moved towards a new direction. "When we still have to deal with what's left between him and us."
"I'm assuming we're going to get down and dirty now, huh?" Loke rhetorically asked as he scooped up Lucy in a princess carry and jumped off from the ramparts.
Of course the blonde wanted a little more warning before he did something so reckless, but she would leave her complaints for later and was just glad that Sagittarius was already aware of his advantage by staying above the battle. Loke always took the initiative, but at times Lucy wished he would listen before rushing into things so readily just like this time.
"Their numbers are thinning so we've just got to hold out a bit longer. Star Dress: Taurus Form!" Lucy was then engulfed in light before her outfit changed to match Tauras' style.
"Why that one?" Loke whined which Lucy was pretty amazed by in their current predicament, but then again, he was always steps ahead of simple opponents given that he kicked three different bandits off their feet. "You look so much better in my form's dress."
"Because what we need right now is more strength here, and Taurus has been going at this alone for nearly half an hour!" Lucy claimed as she pulled out her Fleuve d'étoiles, the whip shimmering with magic power as it let out a crack with one fluid motion. "Now let's show them how a celestial spirit mage and her spirits really fight!"
Lucy launched her whip at a nearby bandit, ensnaring her target as she pulled him in and began spinning her whip above her head. The bandit became her improvised flail as she struck five enemies rushing her in a single blow, releasing her captured enemy in the process and snapping her whip off to another enemy. The blonde did her best to fend off anyone that came to face her, Taurus at her flank to protect her when it was too much and Loke's ferocity would make sure that if she ever really got into any danger then she would be saved in a matter of seconds. Her trust in her spirits was all she needed to know that even if she was in the midst of a bloodbath, she'd make it out on top. Luckily for her, Taurus was a strong defender too so she had more maneuverability to attack the enemies that were more open and it came at the sight of a group of soldiers erecting those useless tower shields.
With a running start, Lucy charged the cowering group as Sagittarius provided cover fire for her and with one quick motion, she delivered a devastating Lucy Stomp. It was a new move she came up to use in her current Star Dress that allowed her to stomp the ground with enough force that the shockwave by itself could send most of her enemies into the air. The bandits in the vicinity that had witnessed their allies soaring through the air turned to face the minotaur that did it, but instead saw a blonde scantily clad woman standing there with a satisfied expression. Of all things to happen with Rory the Reaper, the man whose flames could burn to the bone and the minotaur, their pride was being shattered as they were being defeated by a woman. As they were preparing to charge at her and prove that they were not to be trifled with, a brilliant light appeared behind them.
At the center of that light, a man in odd garments stood there fixing the cloth around his sleeves as his unruly hair hid his face. The first bandit to make a move in defiance was met with a fist of light that sent him careening into the ground and as more came to attack the more light he began to emanate. One would charge head on, the orange haired man would knock them out with a single punch, another got behind him and a swift kick put him down faster than an arrow released from a bow. Many of those around him began to grow worried as the unruly haired man began to glow brighter and brighter until it was too late for any of them to do anything. The orange haired man raised an open palm to the night sky as the light began to concentrate there, before he sealed it into a fist and slammed it into the ground.
An explosion of light illuminated a vast area of the battlefield as dozens of bandits laid defeated on the ground with some holding onto their visors crying out in pain. The numbers for the enemy ranks had thinned greatly at this point and their reinforcements were caught off thanks to Natsu and Rory. Everyone felt a sense of ease engulf them, as if they could breathe easier now without the looming threat of being overrun at the forefront of their minds.
The JSDF were grateful to have had the FEF in this battle, having witnessed the mass of soldiers and knowing that they didn't have the necessary amount of munitions to keep them at bay for long. Most of the squad had gone through their fourth magazine by the time Rory and Natsu had decided to run off on their own, becoming a bit antsy at the idea of having to fight at close quarters. Not to mention that some had managed to get close enough to scale the walls and make their way up to the ramparts. Thanks to Lucy calling upon her allies did they managed to keep them a good distance from the walls, plus the archer she had called on was a boon in his effectiveness on taking on both greater rangers and grouped enemies.
Kuwahara was most surprised when it concerned the blonde woman, obviously he wouldn't condone a young woman to wear what she had on into such conflict, but was otherwise impressed by her bravery to face both blade and shield with her fists and a whip made out of light. There was also the fact that she had greater strength than anyone he had ever known in his life, but he let it get chalked up to her being from another world. More than that, he held respect for the trust she had for her summoned allies who he still couldn't fathom their great differences yet. One was an actual mystical beast; another was dressed in a horse costume and the last was just a well-dressed young man that had, surprisingly, no dirt or stains on his suit.
"These youngsters sure are on a different level than the one's at home." The old soldier thought to himself until he noticed a flare rise into the air off into the distance, only remembering that the pink haired young man shot it for a reason.
All of the sudden, a blue blur passed them like a bullet as it rose into the air off towards the flare with great speed. He turned to look below him to see the elf girl and mage girl both shocked with the recent development as well. Kuwahara quickly summarized that the blue cat was the one that went off to assist his partner and debated for a moment if he should have notified the blonde woman about her partner's cat flying off. He decided against it as he reloaded his rifle to help deal with what was left of the bandits before seeing an all too familiar red streak launch into the sky before curving at an angle. The old soldier remembered what the pink haired young man did to the dragon with that attack, so he wondered what it would do now that it was changed for a more area of effect attack.
Needless to say, a massive explosion followed soon after the very tip of the red streak touched down onto the surface as the blast force was felt mere seconds later. What the JSDF hadn't expected, aside from the dragon slayer being as effective as a missile, was that the blue cat came flying back with Rory in his paws. Though it seemed he was a little frazzled as he came closer to the ramparts, possibly having to pick up the demigoddess before his friend torched the earth behind him. He set the gothic lolita down before settling himself into Lelei's arms, caressing the singed fur of his tail while Tuka went in search of water for him. The old soldier had to admit that the cat had guts to go out into enemy lines like that, though with how much they had to deal with at the south gate, Kuwahara wondered about the situation at the east gate since Miss Scarlet herself went to assist them.
Pina gripped the railing in defeated anger, she could not believe that she had been this blindsided to their strategy. They were soldiers trained by the Empire, their tactics were all the same up to this point and yet she had not foreseen the large-scale assault on the east gate. How could this have happened; she had been trained in military tactics by the best generals they had and still she would fail without so much as a proper fight. Norma's dead because she had failed to equate the magic casters interfering with her defenses' arrows and the influx of soldiers bearing down on the ramparts. He was a good man and now he was dead because of her failure as a leader; Pina believed they could hold the gates and that her Rose Order would make it on time, but her hopes were being reduced to cinders before her.
"Your Majesty, we need to send more reinforcements to the barricade!" Hamilton informed as the civilians had entered combat, the final line of defense before Italica would be lost.
"There are none left to send!" Pina cried in anguish as she watched the residents of Italica bravely, but ultimately fruitlessly, fighting off the enemy. "If only my knights had come..."
The Princess watched as the remaining defenders fall one after the other, swarmed by blades or pierced by spears as bandits continued to pour in droves through the opened gate. She could hear their cries of anguish, those who called out to their families before being silenced and others that questioned where the Men in Green were. Pina knew the answer to that; they had been overrun by now as the flames from the south were of any indication of that and that this was their final stand. The empowered roar of the largest bandit shifted her attention as he led the attack, his spiked ball flail carving through every civilian in his path with some crashing into the bulwarks from the force of the strike.
Grey was still off fighting on the ramparts to have come to their aid, but Pina knew that even he would struggle to fend off the massive fiend before he too perished. A part of her wanted to cry in utter defeat as her own pride had costed Italica its freedom, wishing she had taken heed of the armored woman's concern about their enemy. The Princess had to accept the horrible truth of it all and tried to mentally prepare herself for her final stand once the bulwarks fell to the bandits. At best, she and any remaining civilians could hold them off long enough for Hamilton to escape with the Countess and hopefully meet up with her Rose Order. If this was her end, then Pina would go down like a true knight and not like one of her father's decorations.
A sudden flash of bright light diverted her attention into the sky as a figure descended rapidly into the more congested area of enemy forces that had entered the gate. All eyes were drawn towards the woman that had appeared from the very sky, her intricate armor gleaming in the light of the flames as her skirt settled. Her eyes were piercing as she took in the battlefield before her, an ethereal glow surrounding her hands as blades manifested within them. She leveled one towards the massive fiend in challenge as her blade like wings expanded and in response, the hulking bandit unleashed a horrendous bellow as he charged her. He swung at her, flail approaching at a great speed and yet she remained motionless.
The scraping of metal rang out as the chain had encircled her blade, the flail falling onto the ground shortly after with a thud not far from her feet. In an instant she closed the distance between them, crescents of light were all that could be seen from the woman's swings at the towering bandit before she stood behind him with both blades at her side. A moment had passed before the very armor the fiend had worn fell apart in sliced pieces then falling limp without another sound. Stunned silence ensued as all had witnessed the woman defeat one of the strongest foes in mere seconds before readying themselves as she turned to face them once again.
Her dazzling crimson hair flowed in the nightly breeze and Pina had come to realize that it was Scarlet as she once again pointed her blade to the group of bandits before her. This time, however, they raised their shields in turtle formation for maximum defense with their spears jutting out from the open crevasses. Scarlet steeled her gaze as her body shone brightly and she emerged in a new armor that caused Pina to hold her breath in shock. A dark, spiked armor stood before the bandit turtle that was armed with a massive spiked mace that seemed far too heavy for any woman to so easily wield. Scarlet took her stance as the mace rose into the sky and charged with unforeseen speed, Pina swearing to have seen her eye glow a blood red that shined against her shadowed face.
The Third Princess bore witness to Scarlet utterly destroying the turtle formation with a single strike as her spiked mace both shattered shields and sent assailants flying. With her momentum, she launched a series of kicks at her opponents so devastating that they refused to stand up once again. Another swing of her mace launched a band into the wall, the resounding clang of armor echoing all around with some even sounding like shatters. A bright flash came once again and Scarlet was back in the armor she had arrived in, the skirt billowing as she moved effortlessly between the groups of enemies. She would trade strikes with parries, lunges of spears with a simple side step and sword clashes with finesse and prowess. Most times even surrounded or outnumbered, but Pina could tell she wasn't the least bit worried of the numbers coming at her and her eyes were always calculating with focused precision. Each strike she made had a purpose, every step she made ensured dominance against her opponent and not once had she let her foes come near the bulwarks.
Pina stared in awe of the woman fighting below her, barely registering the screams coming from the ramparts as bandits had begun to fall off at a rapid rate. She went in search of Grey who clashed swords with one bandit while a hand twisted another's arm to drop his blade, but she was shocked once she continued to scan the rest of the wall. The young girl who had arrived with Scarlet's group was on the ramparts fighting bandits alongside one white haired cat girl at her back. The dark-haired teen was wielding wind magic to defend herself against the blades that came at her, but also used it in retaliation once she caught her bearings. The cat girl on the other hand was a skilled hand to hand combatant, using her agility to dodge attacks effortlessly and disarming her foes with ease as her tail proved to be a formidable appendage for stealth strikes and distractions.
Above all that the two showed, it was the way they fought in tandem that had surprised Pina the most as each move was made with the other in mind. A leg sweep made by the cat girl caused the dark-haired teen to deliver a jumping high kick and a stunning strike that barreled the teen's opponent behind her was met with the cat girl's elbow to his face. Most impressive of all was the usage of the cat girl's back to help the teen, back flip kick her opponent and that of the cat girl's in a single motion. They traded places in the middle of combat, but had no trouble easing themselves back into the fight. It boggled Pina's mind at how well one of Scarlet's people and one of the cat people fought in sync, as if they've been together for years to accomplish such a feat with great success.
The Third Princess was ready to concede defeat and her timely demise not ten minutes ago and now, now she dared to hope that they could pull a victory out of the jaws of defeat. Her thoughts snapped away when a challenging cry of a woman's came barreling through a nearby alleyway as one of the Men in Green came into view. She, of course, was not one of the men but her ferocity went unmatched as she plunged the dagger tip of her staff into a bandit and explosions began to rattle off into his body. Pulling it out again, the petite woman continued her blazing assault with every enemy that came her way as she nimbly dodged blade attacks and using her staff to block incoming attacks. Pina had grown a bit confused at the woman's shocked expression when her staff had fallen apart before she focused once again on the battle, pulling a small weapon from her sided that seemed to be as effective as her staff.
She heard Hamilton exclaim in shock at how the tables had turned so quickly thanks to the arrival of these four women, but the Princess grew weary when the petite one was changing out a small rectangle back into her small weapon and a bandit was approaching from behind her. Luckily, Scarlet had showed up and cut them down to size just in time and Pina could tell the petite woman was thankful for the save. More explosions sounded off from the same alleyway and a part of Pina was exploding with joy at the sight of Itami and another one of the Men in Green at his side. If three of them had arrived to assist them, then by some great miracle did they manage to defend the south gate against the enemy and her daring hope was beginning to bloom.
Erza flipped another of the larger bandits effortlessly over her blade, his body crashing with a massive thud onto the floor where Kuribayashi quickly finished him off. The crimson haired mage hadn't thought of the possibility that the JSDF would come along with her to the east gate, but was pleasantly surprised when the petite chestnut-haired woman came charging in with her own battle cry into the melee. A tad reckless for Erza's taste, but she was more or less used to people being reckless around her so it came off more as a familiar occurrence than anything else. A crowd of bandits tried to secure an area for themselves when they suddenly exploded before her very eyes and quickly saw that the petite soldier was chucking some sort of explosives at them.
The requip mage rushed to her side to stop a bandit that was approaching her from behind, effectively slicing his sword to bits before kicking him into the bulwarks, Kuribayashi in turn shooting at an enemy coming at them from the front.
"Thanks for the save." The petite soldier said appreciatively as she continued to fire off rounds at any bandit charging at her.
"Your welcome and I'm very impressed by your fighting ability, even without your rifle you are a force to be reckoned with. Care to wield one of my blades?" Erza knew she broke her rifle and her pistol would barely have enough ammo to use, so it made sense for her to arm a fine warrior like Kuribayashi.
"Thanks for the offer, but I don't think I've trained enough with swords to really use one like you can." She replied, a comradery smirk lighting up her face that Erza replied with an acknowledging smile of her own.
"Then would you allow me to train you when we have the opportunity?" Erza offered and as she parried a blade away, kneeing her opponent in the stomach and knocking him back with the flat of her blade, was met with a hearty laugh.
"We get out of this in one piece and I get some leave time, I'll take you up on that offer!" Kuribayashi cheerily said as she blocked a dull sword with her broken rifle, pumping the bandit with lead soon after.
Of all things to come of the recent days, Erza hadn't expected for members of the JSDF to grow on her but there was the proof fighting behind her. The requip mage heard shots rang out as a few bodies fell from the ramparts and watched as Itami and one of his men emerge from an alleyway. With this many reinforcement, taking back the east gate just became a lot easier in comparison to how the situation was when she first arrived with Wendy and Carla. The bandit numbers were still high, but the influx was waning down now that they were fighting back much harder, although the ramparts weren't in their control and the gate was still opened to allow more in. Erza would've closed it by now, but the bulwarks were being overrun and the safety of the citizens took priority at that moment as they were more vulnerable if they had fallen and the enemy spilled into the city.
The requip mage had soon noticed that she and Kuribayashi were surrounded on all sides, the petite soldier trying to reload her pistol as she came back to back with Erza. Dawn had been breaking at this point and the requip mage had noted that not once had she needed to use any of her spells since she joined the melee. Though Erza knew it was high time to start using them, one of her more classic ones involving her Heaven's Wheel armor coming into her mind.
"Circle Sword!" A ring of swords appeared suddenly around Erza and Kuribayashi, the tips pointing dangerously at the bandits as the armored woman raised her sword into the air. "Dance, My Blades!"
In an instant, the ring of swords began to spin rapidly around them before shooting off in every direction, disarming and defeating a number of their foes as each blade seemed to ricochet after ever strike. The requip mage had caught sight of Kuribayashi's awe as the blades continued to bounce from target to target before returning to form the protective ring around them, sending them back to her pocket dimension when the immediate danger had passed. The chestnut haired woman made a face of unbelievability at the sight of swords moving with the likes of having minds of their own, trying to fathom the idea that Erza had complete control over them at once.
Kuribayashi was about to comment a bit more on the matter when an almost familiar whirring sound grew louder and louder, closely followed by an incoming whistle. Before she realized what the sound was, a large explosion rocked the outer region beyond the wall as pained cries filled the air. Gunfire quickly followed after as the JSDF soldier watched Iroquois make sweeps across the outer wall and Cobra's unleash their payload on javelin launchers on the towers, causing her to smile at seeing her people showing up to the party. She could hear the positioning movements, callouts and quips her fellow soldiers were making over her radio and was glad that they'll deal with clearing out what was left outside of the gate.
Not a moment later did Kuribayashi had thought about it, a blue crystal-like wall erected itself into the entryway of the wall, stopping those fleeing into Italica in their tracks as they were soon cut down by the gun crews. It was then that the similar substance exploded outwardly behind enemy lines, sending bandits flying into the air as the silhouette of a man could be seen through the smoke fighting off bandits left and right. Dual wielding blades himself, he defended and attacked his enemies at the same time before he was left as the last man standing once the smoke cleared out. Kuribayashi saw dark armor first, glistening in the morning light as the man began stepping forward until her eyes landed on a familiar insignia on his pauldron and finally on the dark raven hair that swayed with the early breeze.
"Did someone call the cavalry?"
Above them, Pina watched with bated breath as steal Pegasus came down upon the bandits attacking Italica, launching powerful spells that wiped away dozens in a single blast. She could see men riding them, wielding staves similar to those of Itami and his people with marksmanship rivaling even the most experienced archer. These people, the JSDF, were people not to be trifled with and Pina feared that a greater demise would await them all if they were to tread on this giant. What caught her eye, aside from the flying metal in the air, was the new comer at the entrance of the gate that had been crystalized in order to seal it. He carried himself confidently, his dark hair wild and unruly although the insignia on his pauldron was identical to that of Scarlet's.
He was familiar with them, the way the shorter woman had regarded him with a simple eye roll but Scarlet held the look of gratefulness at his sudden appearance. Though now Pina could see everything was coming together in her mind, especially for the fact that she had only ever heard tales of women with such battle prowess in legends.
"Princess, if I may be transparent, I wholeheartedly believe that Scarlet may very well be the War Maiden the rumors had been talking about." The knight had her suspicions when the crimson haired woman had joined the fight, but after all that she displayed, it was proof enough for Hamilton to believe it.
"I'm inclined to believe that as well and if that's the case, we need to prepare immediately after the battle is won." Pina replied as she had yet to remove her gaze from the armored, dark haired new comer.
"Prepare for what, My Princess?" Hamilton was at a loss as it wasn't clear as to what the Princess was alluding to, until she pointed a finger at the dark haired man.
"For him, for the Foolish Prince."