I'm rushing a little bit, sorry about it. Anyway, Marberry Shore will be in the next chapter, considering I just remembered THIS event to be happened between it. Enjoy!

Location: Randgriz Castle

"I must thank you all for your efforts in rescuing all Darcsens in Fouzen and liberating the area out of the Empire's control." Princess Cordelia praises the commanders of the squads which took part in the operation. "And we have heard of the case of Squad 422. We will lift the 'wanted' sign off you."

"Thank you very much, madam." Kurt bows respectfully.

"Pardon my rudeness, but shouldn't you call Kuro and his friends here as well? They contributed the most in this operation."

"I'm aware of it, mister Welkin. However, we have already done so before I called you. And currently Kuro is talking with miss Gassenarl right now."

Faldio: "The younger daughter of Gassenarl family, madam?"

"Yes. And it's... classified information, if you understand what I'm saying." Cordelia glances at the statue of Valkyrur on her left, and all three commander immediately understand. She then changes the subject: "I wish for the next operation to be successful, thus being the next step to the independence of Gallia."

...

"So, that's your decision?" Kuro, in his base form, leans on the balcony bar and watches the town of Randgriz, before asking the question.

"Yes. My family would surely be against it, but I'm not a little girl anymore. After the truth, I can no longer support them." Audrey has made up her mind.

"Well, you're a big girl now. The princess would be glad to hear it from you."

"... Where will you go after this?"

"Here and there. The first thing, however, is help another squad that's a bit far away from here."

"...The Federation?"

"Most of them are from Gallia. Speaking of that..." Kuro pulls out his phone and starts dialing to a certain someone. "...Hey, Claude? How has you been?"

"Nice to hear you. It's been a while." The commander of Squad E replies. "And we're fine, thanks for asking. What's the occasion?"

"We just managed to liberate Fouzen. One of the Drei Stern, Gregor, has fallen as well."

"That's great news!" Claude exclaims. "Raz will surely be happy hearing that."

"Yep. Oh, and Claude..." Kuro's tone drops the humor. "You should ask for the winter gears now. Winter is coming soon."

"...Huh?" Clearly Claude is confused. "It's just August. Winter is at least three months away." I need to clarify that, winter is from about November to around the middle of February in our country. If you are confused about it being different than in your country, then here's my explanation.

"My hometown could be sunny and raining at the same time. Preparation before time is better than to counter it, isn't it?"

"... You have a good point. But, it might be a little hard to convince the higher-ups."

"Try. It will save you, trust me."

"Well... I trust you. Thanks for telling me that. Also, do you need something?"

"... How is Riley doing?"

"Riley? She goes along well with everyone."

"What about you?" This time Kuro says it a bit teasingly.

And the undertone completely goes over Claude's head. "What do you mean?"

"...Never mind. You're just as dense as Welkin. Call you in the future." With that, Kuro turns off the call, without explaining what he meant.

"So that's the squad's leader you're going to help?" That earns Audrey a nod. "He had a point about winter..."

"General Selvaria is not the only Valkyria, you know."

"... Then why didn't you tell him so?"

"The higher-ups of Federation are fully aware of their existences. Of course, we have told Squad E about it, but to make sure no information is leaked, I need to keep my words down to an acceptable level."

"I see... Still, about the Valkyria... you still want to keep her alive?"

"The General? Yes. I know that she has killed innocents, and yes, I know she's following Maximilian so willingly. However, there's one man there that truly cares about her. Once I get the contact with him, I can make sure that Selvaria wouldn't assist the Empire anymore."

Audrey crosses her arms in front of her. "Even when you are... whatever you are, you're way too overconfident."

"It's not overconfident. I'm risking a lot in this gamble." Kuro pulls out a file from nowhere. "This is all I found from my power, about all the 'massive Ragnite accidents' in Empire and Federation. And guess what? They're all Valkyria's experiments."

Audrey widens her eyes in shock. "I have heard of those before. It's really because..."

"Mind you, they are all children." That shocks the girl even more. "And that's just power outbursts. Imagine a fully-controlled Valkyria doing so. A wrong move and everything's over."

"... What... What have you planned?"

"Note here." Gesturing Audrey to sit on a chair nearby, he takes one for himself and sits down as well. "Their power depends not only on their concentration, but also their current emotion as well. To save a Valkyria from her own destruction, we need to make sure she won't go berserk on anyone. And currently, the ONLY thing that could push Selvaria into that state, is when Maximilian throws her away. Of course, I'm not planning to use her for this war..."

"Wait." Audrey interrupts. "Let me get this one clear: You are doing this, to make sure no there's no obstacles between you and Maximilian, or it's just because you want to do so?"

"... The latter." The file in Kuro's hand disappears, replaced by a pink lotus blooming and shining brightly. "That's in my very soul, to want that everyone lives in the fairest world life could offer. It's nearly impossible, since everyone has different mindsets, different opinions. However... you, me, Darcsens, Valkyrias... we are all human. We're in the same level. We shouldn't treat others anywhere below than ourselves."

"... You are no longer human."

"That doesn't deny the fact that I started as one."

"... I will hold my judgment, for now."

Kuro nods. Then, his phone rings up again. "Hello?"

Location: Randgriz city

"Calamity Raven is in the city." Uni warns, as she hides herself in one of the dark alleys. Her gun's on her shoulder, as she's speaking through the earpiece to Kuro.

"Do you need assistants?"

"I don't think so. We can deal with it." To make point for the matter, K-Sha pulls the bolts of her submachine guns.

"You're using the shock bullets, right?"

"Of course."

"Very well then. Begin the operation." With that, Kuro cuts the radio short.

"Alright. Let's go." Uni says to K-Sha while putting a suppressor on her gun.

"Roger."

...

"Is anyone in their positions yet?" Captain Dahau asks one of his soldiers.

"There are a couple more that haven't reported back yet. Should we commence the attack?" The Scout responds, then asks his leader for the green light.

"Not yet. Until we're in the right position, would we start. We can't risk hurting the civilians because of some stray bullets."

"Roger!" The soldier salutes before he returns back to his work.

Lydia asks the leader of Calamity Raven: "Do you think they just took a scenic road? I mean, most of them aren't from Gallia..."

"We're in a mission, and they know it." Dahau counters. He then looks around for a few seconds before saying: "Strange. The city of Randgriz is too empty."

"Shouldn't it be? Most of the forces are ordered to head to Naggiar already." Lydia replies back.

"Could be. But then again, Gallian Headquarters is full of idiots. They took the bait quite easily..."

"SIR!" The Scout from before returns and speaks up in panic: "The troops from the side are being attacked!"

"What?" Dahau asks back in confusion. He then orders: "Just eliminate the guards. Don't tell me you're afraid of doing?"

"But sir! They're just two girls!"

"What? Are you kidding me?" Lydia shouts this time. "You're beaten up by two girls? Don't you notice how weird it sounds..."

"Wait." Dahau interrupts the sub-commander. He then asks the Scout: "Have you confirmed who they are?"

"Sir! One of them is the mercenary of the Militia! The other just joined in the fight against us in Dillsburg Bridge!"

"I see... how many have fallen so far?" If that's the case, then their casualties must be high already.

"...None, sir." Earning looks of disbelief from the commanders, the soldier quickly explains: "They're not using lethal-bullets! One of our soldiers managed to report back before he got shot, but we could still hear him stuttering, and the others have confirmed as well!"

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous! How did they even find us out that fast?" Lydia grunts. "Dahau, what's your plan?"

"...If they're here, then it must mean the other mercenary is around as well. Begin the operation."

"Roger!"

Location: Randgriz Castle

"Are those gun fires?" The commanders of the squads look out of the castle after they leave the main ceremony room. "Randgriz is being attacked?"

"It must be Calamity Raven." Kurt grits his teeth. "Only they would be daring enough to do so while the main forces are in Naggiar."

Faldio: "Then we should gather our squads and..."

"There's no need." The trio turns to see Kuro and Audrey walking towards them. "Uni and K-Sha are intercepting and interrupting their advances already. We just have to wait and gather the paralyzed soldiers and throw them into jail."

Kurt is not happy about it. "I know those two are strong, but two against a well-trained squad is..."

"Did you forget about ricochet bullets?" Kuro pulls out his revolver and shoots at the wall to his right. A barrier of sort stops the bullet from damaging the wall, and the bullet bounces off it and heads to the roof, but then bounces again as another glyph shows up. After a few times, the bullet heads straight to Kuro's head, but he has already predicted the shot and caught the bullet with his hand. "I don't need to be on the battlefield to help them fighting. I'm their eyes in these cases."

Both Welkin and Faldio shake their heads disapprovingly, as the former asks: "But still, it's better to have someone watching their backs, and protecting the civilians, right?"

"If you think it's necessary, then I won't stop you then." Kuro shrugs.

Faldio: "It's our duty, Kuro. Welkin, Thirteen, let's move out."

"Let's go." Kurt and Welkin agree, as the three start heading out to gather their squads.

Audrey then walks to Cordelia and asks: "Can I have a word with you, Your Highness?"

Cordelia nods. "Of course." She then says her goodbye to Kuro before the girls retreat back into the ceremony room.

"Hm..." Tapping into the earpiece, Kuro calls for the girls: "Heads up, girls. Squad 1, Squad 7 and Squad 422 are on their way. Do you think you could slow down a bit?"

Location: Randgriz city

"Unless you... you would just turn their real bullets into BB, huh?" Uni retreats further inside the roof she's currently standing in as the Calamity Raven's shocktroopers focus their fires on her. "Fine then." She then changes the channel to call K-Sha: "You heard that?"

"Loud and clear." Her Gold Form's weapon shoots out three grenades towards the group of shoulder, and the grenades immediately blow up the moment they touch the ground, blasting the Calamity Ravens off the ground and shocking them in the process. Once the current threat is gone, K-Sha asks back: "So we wait?"

"Maybe we should head to the main gate. Who knows if they decide to ignore us and head straight there?"

"You have a point."

...

"Sir! Gallia troops are closing in!" One of the Calamity Raven reports to Dahau. "We also spotted Nameless's uniforms among them as well!"

"In the middle of Gallia troops? Are you sure?" Dahau asks back in disbelief.

"Sir, no offend, but you said it yourself before that, ONLY Nameless wears those uniform."

Lydia: "Does that matter anymore? We have to retreat now!"

"You should. I don't think you want to be caught now, do you?" The trio turn to find who just said that, and see Kuro sitting on a wooden crate with his legs crossed and his sword sheathed and ready in his left hand. Lydia and the soldier raise their guns up immediately and shoot at him, only for him to deflect every single shot before re-sheathe the sword once the last bullet is out. "Don't bother shooting me."

"So, you already knew about our plans to infiltrate Randgriz." Dahau deduces the situation. "Did Nameless tell you about us?"

"Does that matter now? Aren't you on the run now?" Gathering thunder in his right hand, Kuro asks back. "I won't chase you down. However, if Gallian manages to get you, then don't blame me."

"Why do you think we would..." Kuro then shots the thunder in his hand into the sky, interrupting Lydia as black clouds start appearing on the sky. "What the hell? You can create thunder?"

"Kinda. Let's see what Random Number God could hit." Kuro jumps off the crate... just in time for a thunder strike to hit the box, making it explode behind Kuro, causing him to stagger a bit before turning back. He immediately shouts to the sky: "Hey! Don't troll me like that!"

"Sir, we need to leave now!" The soldier shouts, gaining the commanders' attention.

"Right..." Dahau focuses on Kuro for a few more seconds before starting to leave...

"One last moment, Dahau." He stops for a second when Kuro calls him back. "I admire your purpose, but not your method. As long as you keep using violence for the independence of the Darcsens, then we're still enemies."

"... You're the same as we are, using violence as well." Dahau replies back.

Kuro shrugs. "Because you used it first."

With the exchange done, Calamity Raven members quickly pull as many paralyzed soldiers as possible with them and escape Randgriz before Gallian could catch them.

...

"Defeated by two girls and a guy. This is not what I'm expecting!" Lydia grunts at their lost. "And that's when they didn't use anything dangerous at all!"

"With the fight in Dillsburg, it's not surprising at all." Dahau calmly replies towards Lydia's frustration. "But, to mess with nature itself? It's not something a normal human could do."

"... Do you think that he's a Valkyria? It's impossible, you know."

"The ones giving us the information haven't said anything about him being one, so I don't think it's the case. Still, he FOUGHT Selvaria, so he's dangerous to us... But, this event could draw some attentions from Naggiar."

"I would agree. However, with those mercenaries seemingly knowing our moves, would it be the case?"

"... And the fact Nameless is fighting alongside Gallian Military... something is wrong here. We must have gotten some details missed."

"Nevertheless, let's just go back for now. We will think a new plan later."

Time skip

Location: Randgriz Castle

"We still have a lot of work in finding the traitors in our midst." Cordelia notes. "But we can't afford to get Randgriz unattended like today. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Since Calamity Raven is still out there, Nameless should be tasked to trace them down... and try to get them out of our hair." Kuro suggests.

Kurt disagrees: "His ambition is too great to be talked down, Kuro. We need to prove him that we could help the Darcsens without violence, which would go against his belief."

Welkin agrees: "Also, many people still believed that the Valkyrias are the superiors, and Darcsens are still at fault."

"Then... could I leave that matter to you, Faldio? Maybe the ruins in Barious could give us something more about the time before, then..."

"I would send them to Irene Ellet so she could post it on anywhere she could, since she has quite a good reputation." Faldio understands Kuro's plan. "Public announcement from the most neutral source of community. I see what you're doing."

"Neutrality at its finest."

"However, the Yggdist Cardinal, Gennaro Borgia, would not be pleased at what you would find." Audrey warns. "While I have seen it, I decided not to tell him yet, and he is a person who would do anything to shut us down."

"... Speaking of that, Audrey, have you, uh... renounced, or something..."

"Not yet, mister Kuro. While many of his lines are for his ambitions only, I could see some rights in them."

"Suit yourself then."

Welkin then asks Cordelia: "Your Highness, when would you show yourself to the world?"

"After this war. I believe it to be the best time to do so."

"Then it's settled then. We will separate from here. Let's end this war as soon as possible."

Chapter 14 end!

I was expecting it to be longer... but hey, it's a small infiltration. Can't have many actions in a small period of time.

For now, that's it. Let's see what the future could hold.