Valimar flew across the mountains, keeping a relatively low profile to avoid being spotted by passing airships, and after a while they were out of the Eisengard Range and it was then that their real journey began.

With Roer being the seat of the provincial government they didn't dare risk getting even close to the industrial city and flew above the height for standard airship flights. Although they were moving at hundreds of arges per hour, Rean could feel the wind on his skin in the form of a light caress, not unlike riding the orbal bike but even more more soft. He didn't have his feelings on the Divine Knight sorted out yet, was it another curse, a weapon, a tool? Whatever it was, right now it was the first moment it felt like a good thing.

"Hell of a view, huh?" The Awakener said wistfully, nodding towards the screen showing the blue sky ahead and up above, while a carpet of white fluffy clouds laid under them.

"Can't say that I mind," Toval commented, standing up behind Rean's seat.

Celine simply nodded in agreement, sleepily lying down next to the pilot's seat.

Aside from that and some other light talk the trip was silent but eventually the Bracer had to ask. "About yesterday, Rean… You wanna talk about it?"

Rean mentaly sighed. "You mean my power?"

"Well, there's that but Sara already filled me in on it when she told me you wanna be a Bracer, though seeing it is another thing altogether, but that's not what I meant."

Yeah, I know.

Toval's tone wasn't accusatory, the Bracer was simply extending a hand in case Rean needed it. "I appreciate it, Toval, really. My mom and I already had a bit of a talk about that and I'm working through it, it's not going to affect our mission."

Toval frowned at the obvious dismissal but let the subject die for the moment. There wasn't much of a rapport between the two of them and so much was going on with the kid he probably didn't even know where to begin talking about it. As it was, Toval could only hope he could open up to his friends later.

"We've been up here for a while, let's scope out the ground and see if there's a place to land and rest for a while."

Being a Bracer and having traveled much of Erebonia, Toval was knowledgeable of the country's geography and even without a map could estimate where forested areas would be, places where it would be easy to hide Valimar. That was how much of their travel proceeded, they would fly for a couple of hours then lay low for some time before taking flight again. It took slightly longer but it was certainly faster than moving on foot and Valimar managed to conserve and build up a good amount of mana when they reached the Lunaria Nature Park on the outskirts of Celdic at around 3 pm.

They descended past the forest's canopy and disappeared from view from anyone who would look down to the forest and the Ashen Knight landed, going into his usual resting stance of kneeling with a fist to the ground, and the occupants were transported back outside.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," said a slightly wobbly Toval.

Rean reflexively stretched his body, a common thing to do after sitting for long periods of time, although he realized his muscles didn't feel stiff at all, almost like he hadn't actually been sitting still for almost the whole trip. He looked at his own hand then back at Valimar and thought back again how he could feel everything the Divine Knight felt.

What is this?

"Can you sense it too, Valimar?" Said Celine.

"Indeed. The higher elements are present here."

"What, like at the old schoolhouse?" Rean asked, dismissing whatever he had in mind. "It wasn't like this back when we came during our field exercises. At least I don't think so."

"Vita did say magic knights are roaming the country," the familiar muttered thoughtfully. "Something big is going on and it's not just your human war."

"Is that a good or a bad thing?"

"A matter of perspective, Bracer Toval," said Valimar. "Danger lies ahead as monsters are spurred by a more volatile atmosphere, however the presence of higher elements allows me to draw more mana from the environment. Although my reserves are below an ideal amount at the moment, I shall be in ideal conditions to access the spirit path quicker than previously expected."

"Finally some good news. Alright, guys, let's get a move on."

"I shall wait until called," Valimar said.

"Sure. Take… care?"

[You as well, Awakener.]

With Valimar as secured as it was possible, the trio left and it didn't take long for them to find a trail that led south towards the entrance to the park. Rean might not have a sense for magic like Celine or Emma but he too could feel something strange in the air, like a veil was draped over everything that slightly distorted the environment.

The trio reached one of the main paths that would lead them out of the park, which was thankfully deserted, with the war going on Toval was right on the money when he said the park would be closed down and it wasn't exactly a strategic position to be guarded by the provincial army.

But then there came the sound of gunshots followed by a beastial roar off in the distance.

They took on defensive positions and searched for an immediate threat. There was the sound of Arts being cast, tree branches being torn, the pounding of the ground, along with guns being fired again, an orbal shotgun and something else, something weird like two pistols but...

No way!

A large tree branch was sent flying over their heads, which distracted Rean from the incoming projectile that he saw coming at him too late, hitting him in the face. Rean hit the ground and groaned before opening his eyes to a somewhat darkened view of whatever was in front of him.

The person on top of him groaned.

Wait, person, who…?

His vision adjusted as the weight lifted itself from him, first revealing a green top then a flat and taut stomach ending on a pair of denim shorts so small they should be considered underwear. The person groaned again before looking down. "What the- Rean!?"

"Fie!?"

The ground rumbled and there came another roar but much closer this time. Bursting through the trees a gigantic horned ape appeared, mad as all hell as blood dripped from various spots from its body. The beast immediately locked eyes on the two teens lying on the ground and moved in to crush them with its fists.

"Shit!" Rean quickly pushed Fie away from him while he rolled to the opposite direction.

Missing its target, the monster turned to attack Rean when a blast of space Arts from Toval hit it straight in the head, knocking it off balance.

"This thing again!?" Rean shouted as he got into his usual combat stance.

"Friend of yours?" The Bracer shot.

The ape creature recentered itself and took a glance of the new threats, or dinner, staring at it. It remembered one of them in fact, the one that cut off one of its horns, and with renewed rage lunged to beat Rean to a pulp.

Rean, Toval and Celine scrambled to avoid the creature and the raven haired one cursed his luck when he noticed he was being singled out. The monster bore countless scars across its body from its fight against Class VII months ago, it was missing fingers and a horn as well, and their encounter had ended with the beast running away in fear, but now it seemed much more feral than during their previous encounter, so that was one point to Valimar's warning. Whatever, Rean would give it the Loa Erebonius treatment and it wouldn't get up again.

Sword cut through skin and flesh, gunblades were fired and Arts and spells were cast and soon they were joined by another gun.

"Fie, are you ok- Rean!?"

"Machias!" Rean shouted as he narrowly avoided a crushing fist. "Talk later, survive now!"

With the addition of three reinforcements the raging monster was overwhelmed, which gave Rean the ideal opportunity to deal the finishing blow, slitting its throat. The ape fell down on its knees, clutching the wounded that dripped with its blood as it slowly died and Rean finished it off by plunging his sword through the monster's eye and skewering its brain.

The swordsman didn't have time to pull his sword back before feeling something tackle him from behind. "You're okay!" Fie yelled as she hugged her friend. It was the first time he had heard the girl so enthusiastic and it was really heart warming.

Machias' hand descended on his shoulder with a friendly tap. "I can't believe you're alive!"

With Fie still clinging to him, Rean turned around and pulled Machias into a hug. If Machias and Fie were okay then the others would be too, it was only logical and it helped dispel some fear from his heart. He couldn't contain his laughter. "Haha, I should be saying that, after I left you I… What have you guys been doing this whole time, actually, what are you doing here?" He looked at the actually-dead-this-time monster.

Fie and Machias proceeded to explain that they were looking for a way to get to Garrelia Fortress (or what remained of it) through the forest when they were attacked by the monster. As for what they had been doing since the last time they saw each other…

"After you were gone, we took Scarlet hostage like Laura told us to," Machias started explaining.

"Wait, she told you to do what!?"

"Yeah, I was surprised to see her playing dirty too. You're a bad influence on her," Fie giggled and so did Rean.

"Anyway," Machias continued. "It turns out that plan worked. We basically used her as a human shield and there wasn't much Crow could do to us and he actually believed it when Fie threatened to kill her if he got too close."

"Why wouldn't he believe that?" Fie asked, perplexed. "Wait, you thought I was just pretending?"

"Huh, looks like Crow cares about his real friends at least," said Rean, not even trying to hide the venom in his voice.

Oof, that took that mood down a notch, not that Machias couldn't understand Rean's feelings of betrayal. "A-anyway, we tried to flee back to Trista, if anything we could at least hole up inside the buildings, and it was then that the Courageous showed up and rained fire on Crow and he chased after the ship, I guess even a Divine Knight has to watch out for cannon fire."

"We were going to regroup at the dorms and gather supplies but then reinforcements from the Noble Alliance were approaching and we had to scramble to get away," Fie finished the explanation. "We left Scarlet knocked down by the side of the road."

"Where's everyone else?" Rean asked and unfortunately was met with Fie's signature shrug.

"We all got separated, it's harder to catch a bunch of different small groups than one single big one. Elliot's with us though, that's one of the reasons why we are trying to get to Garrelia Fortress, his dad is there with the 4th division."

Even more good news, Elliot was okay as well. "But where's he?"

"He's back at the windmill we are using as a base, trying to establish contact with the 4th on the radio."

Rean clasped his hands together. "Well, this was easier than I expected. Alright let's get a move out and uhhh I guess Toval and Celine are here too," Rean turned to his travel companions, only now realizing the two were just standing there staring at them.

"'Sup guys."

"Yes, greetings, could we get a move on before another giant ape tries to kill us all?"

Both Machias and Fie stared at the familiar. They would also have to have the conversation about the talking cat.

"Rean, I'm so glad!"

Rean responded with an "oof" as Elliot jumped to hug him. Guess I'm going to have to get used to that.

"I was so worried, we all were, there was no way to know if you would be okay or not and-"

Elliot's voice almost seemed to crack and Rean laughed. "Come on, man, you are not gonna cry on me, are ya?"

The musician pulled away, looking a little bashful at his behavior. "Haha, sorry."

"Just joking, I missed you too, buddy," Rean then raised his hand for a fistbump that Elliot eagerly reciprocated. Three down, seven more to go.

The windmill they were using as base seemed tidy enough for a clandestine hideout, there were some supplies, food, radio equipment, a couple of mattresses, what seemed to be a bundle of clothes and there was even an orbal stove with a pot of coffee. One might even call it cozy.

All of it was a generous contribution from Celdic's market manager, Otto, Machias explained. When the trio fled to the market town they were offered refuge in the windmill as well as any kind of supplies they required to stay there for as long as possible, including clothes. The windmill was one of many that adorned the plains around Celdic and had nothing that made it stand out and with so much going on, it was unfeasible for the provincial army to spare the men to search every single one for the sake of maybe finding any person of interest.

"Well, that's a good break at least. What's the situation in Celdic anyway?" Toval asked.

"Tense and depressing," Fie put it bluntly.

"With the war going on there's no business and the merchants have no idea what to do and the provincial army keeps 'requisitioning' supplies from them, saying Duke Albarea will reimburse them later for the war contributions," Machias all but spat as he described the abuse of power from the nobles.

"We avoid going there because we don't want to draw attention to ourselves," Elliot said. "Because of who our fathers are, Machias and I are kinda wanted by the Noble Alliance."

"Yeah, only Fie can enter the town and even then Fie had to dress- Ow!" Machias yelled and jumped back as Fie had just kicked him in the shin. "Why the hell did you do that?"

"Shut up, that's why."

That was odd, incredibly so. Rean looked around the windmill again and focused his gaze on the corner where the one of the mattresses laid down along with bundles of clothes. Fie's eyes widened when she saw her classmate move towards that direction but bit her lips, hoping his curiosity wouldn't get the best of him, surely he wouldn't-

"What the hell is this?" Rean held up a pair of brown khakis with suspenders and next to it there was a beige button-up shirt and to top it off there was a brown coco hat. It managed to look ridiculous and dreadfully boring at the same time, it was the ugliest outfit Rean had ever seen in his life, the kind some parents dressed their sons in for tacky family photos, and by the size they didn't fit on Machias or even Elliot and were more fitting to a… small…

"D-did… Fie go dis-disguised as a…"

"As a little boy yeah," Elliot finished Rean's sentence and the three boys started to cackle, which earned a kick to the shins each from the former jaeger. Meanwhile, Toval stifled a laughter to not intrude on the very tender moment the classmates were sharing.

With their lower limbs sufficiently bruised the boys' goofing off died out and they went about continuing to discuss their business over a cup of coffee Machias had brewed. Unsurprisingly, a military checkpoint guarded the highways to Trista and Bareahard. On the bright side, other Thors students like Becky and Rosine were in town. The former was safe with her family while the latter disguised herself as a sister of the church and many times she had been the one to bring supplies to the windmill along with father Zirbel.

They had settled themselves pretty well within that month, all things considered, and when they got info that the 4th armored division was where Garrelia Fortress used to be they had made plans to meet with or at least contact them.

"But that's enough about us, what about you? Where have you been this whole time? And where's that knight thing you and Emma were on about?" Fie asked.

Rean ran his hand through his hair. "Where do I even begin… Can we shelve this for later, at least until we get with the 4th? I feel like that's more of a priority."

Machias sighed, Elliot and Fie shrugged. Rean had a point, although it felt like he was dodging the subject. Well, it's not like he could avoid it forever so for the moment they let it slide.

The excursion into Lunaria Parked proved itself more trouble than it was worth it, while they had managed to deal with the gorilla monster, Fie and Machias explained that it was not the first enraged monster they had found there and it was quite troublesome to navigate the forest because of them. Meanwhile, Elliot explained that even though their radio was working fine, they simply couldn't get in touch with his father, with Fie suggesting that the provincial army had some sort of jamming device. After some back and forth, Toval suggested they head to the Twin Dragons Bridge to get a better picture of what they head to deal with

Fie, Elliot and Machias got their gear ready, just the bare necessities they could carry on a small backpack each, and left a message for Rosine explaining that they were leaving, as to not worry the girl and the people of Celdic that had helped them so far. With that done, they were off.

The group was standing on a cliff looking over the Twin Dragons Bridge, which was of course packed with Kreuzen's provincial army. Fie handed Rean a pair of binoculars and he scoped out the area ahead of them. Soldiers, armored cars, tanks and panzer soldats guarded the bridge as if it was the most important fortification in the Empire, and to keep the 4th division cut off from the rest of the army it might as well be.

There was no way they could get past the armed forces stationed there and Elliot's radio was useless, getting closer actually made the signal worse and gave credence to Fie's theory they were jamming signals.

I could just get on Valimar and tear through all of them, nobody would see it coming, but… Rean looked down on the bridge, specifically to the small dots walking back and forth. People. No, not like that. Besides, I should keep Valimar on hold until strictly necessary, I can't risk forcing their hands.

As they observed and discussed plans, Elliot started saying something but then stopped himself, although the others easily caught wind of it.

"What is it?" Asked Fie.

"Ah, it's nothing, I just had a dumb idea it's all."

"Out with it, Elliot, we ain't got all day," said Rean.

"Uh well, the last time I went to Garrelia Fortress with my dad before our field exercises was by train through the Transcontinental Railroad, so I was thinking, what if we just… used the tracks to get there?" The redhead offered with a weak smile then hung his head. "I know, it's stupid."

"No, keep going, what else?"

Surprised that they would even consider the absurd plan, he continued, explaining that the tracks split up in a secondary railroad used to transport supplies to Garrelia Fortress.

"I doubt we can just walk through the track passing the base though," Machias pointed out.

Fie took the binoculars from Rean and looked at the railroad entrance to the base. Even from afar she could get a fair estimate of the soldiers' patrol routines and could extrapolate how things would be inside the base, if the provincial army used the same textbook patrol methods, which of course they did. Fie didn't believe in Aidios, actually she never thought about if she believed or not, but if She was real She was smiling at them that day because a freight train was just arriving at the fortress.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do…"

Doubling back and cutting through the chain link fence and following the railroad was the easy part. Sneaking behind the railways' side guards to avoid being seen from the bridge on the other side was a breeze. Getting inside the base, hopping on a freight car carrying a panzer soldat and hiding under the canvas that covered the giant suit of armor, waiting for the train to move, then jumping out of it once they reached the point where the railroad split? Now that was difficult. But with Fie leading the way they pulled through. It helped that Toval was more than familiar with sneaking secretly into places (not very Bracer-like they thought), Rean was physically fit enough and Celine was a cat, but Machias and Elliot could use some practice.

"Ow!"

"I told you to tuck and roll," Fie said to Machias as he rubbed his head.

"I did that and still hit my head."

"Lucky you, could've snapped your neck instead."

Rean smiled at the banter. "Man, I missed this."

Unfortunately it wasn't the best place for playful bickering, who knew what might end up surprising them, so they quickly picked up the pace towards Garrelia Fortress.

Time passed as they rushed along the empty road and it was impossible to shake off the eerie atmosphere around them. "A country at war has a different air about it," Fie told them. "Every moment of peace is just the silence before the storm when the next shot is fired."

It was oddly poetic coming from the ex-jaeger.

"Also, we are being watched," said Toval.

"Yeah, that too."

"W-what?" Elliot stopped dead on his tracks, hesitantly looking up the cliffs around them. The others followed suit, establishing a perimeter around the musician.

"Yeah, I had a feeling before we even crossed the bridge. Elliot, try calling the 4th for backup," Rean said as he unsheathed his sword. The other emulated his actions and got ready for battle. "Alright, whoever you are, show yourselves!"

"Aw man, and here I thought we were doing such a good job being sneaky," a voice lamented, easygoing as it could be, there was no way the person actually cared about having their presence made. In fact, Rean and the others surmised they only noticed their pursuers because they were allowed to.

"This is a good spot to end this little charade," the second voice, a heavy baritone, followed up.

Recognizing the voices, Fie audibly gasped. "Xeno! Leo! Show your faces here right now!"

The two figures appeared from the cliffs and jumped down on the road. The first, a tall, lanky one with a calm smile armed with a hefty sniper rifle was ahead of them and blocked their way ahead. The second one, a burly giant of a man carrying an even bigger mechanical arm, appeared behind them and cut off their potential escape.

"Oof, made the princess mad," the tall one said. "But hey, Fie, look how much you've grown!"

"Damn right I'm mad. You guys left me after the boss died and I don't hear from you for over a year then suddenly you're attacking Heimdallr. What the fuck is going on?"

The burly one shook his head and tisked. "Such language. What have they been teaching you at that school?"

"Told ya leaving her with the Purple Lightning was a bad idea, Leo."

"Xeno!" Fie yelled, mad as all Gehenna.

From their talk it didn't take a genius to figure out these were Fie's former comrades in arms from her Zephyr days, making them recall the vision Vita Clotilde showed them of the attack on Heimdallr and the sight of both men coming out of the panzer soldats on Dreichels Plaza.

"So Zephyr's back together to work for the Noble Alliance?" Toval shot out the question, gripping his orbment with one hand and his stun rod on the other as he looked around for any more hostiles.

"Nah, just the two of us."

"We received a very generous proposal from our backers."

"You let us come all the way over here, are you letting us pass or…?" Rean eyed the one he identified as Leo and exchanged a look with Toval. From his combat link with Fie, he could sense her intentions as well.

"We didn't want any provincials annoying us while we… talk," Xeno readied his rifle.

"Machias, cover for Elliot," Rean didn't have to say it, but he knew his voice would help his friend center himself. "Really? Two seasoned jaegers wanna have a fight with four highschoolers, a B-rank Bracer and a cat?"

"Seriously, man, you have to bring up my rank?"

Xeno guffawed. "When you put it like that it sounds really unfair! What do you think, Leo?"

"I agree. So let's try to hold back," in a speed that seemed impossible for a man that big, Leo crouched then lept in the air with a raised fist, his mechanical gauntlet whirring loudly as the stake on its center pulled back inside the contraption.

Immediately, Toval cast two barriers of Adamantine Shield that enveloped their tight circle, followed by a third one by Machias while Elliot boosted their physical strength before going back to try to call his father.

When the Zephyr jaeger reached his target a simple pull of the trigger in his weapon shot the pike out in a devastating punch that felt as if Aidios Herself had struck down the earth from up in the heavens. The impact shook the bodies of Rean and his companions and the barriers of amberl energy Toval set up shattered and exploded outward, which led to Leo being pushed back, giving Rean and Toval an opening to initiate their attack. Meanwhile, Celine stayed with Elliot and Machias.

Behind them, Fie made a beeline to confront Xeno by herself, going straight to him but then shooting left. A second later a concussion mine blew up on the spot she previously was.

"Aw, come on, I had that one pretty well hidden. Are you trying to make me lose the title of Trap Master?"

"It always sucked anyway," Fie shot back, throwing two flashbangs at the man and forcing him to backaway. "Behemoth is a much cooler name."

"Aha! I always knew Fie had taste!" Leonidas laughed before blocking a strike from Rean with his mechanical arm, pushing the swordsman back then turning to attack Toval but getting smacked in the face by spheres of goldia energy.

"Are you kidding me?" Xeno trained his aim on the young girl as she zig zagged across the field in his direction. One low impact shot to the knee would hurt like hell but not cripple her. "What even is a behemoth anyway? Is that a type of monster? I never saw one, I call bull-" A burst of buckshot interrupted Xeno as it shattered his own protective barrier and he had to immediately cast another one before Machia fired another shot, which in turn didn't give him time to deal with Fie coming at him with a drop kick to the face.

"You're making us argue about who you like the most! That's so dirty!" The Trap Master cried out as he recovered from the attack, rubbing his face that now sported the markings of the soles of Fie's sneakers. He then scrambled for a smoke grenade that immediately covered his surroundings, Fie included. The ex-jaeger was sent flying away from the cloud of smoke a second later.

Leo drove his fist into the ground, sending a shock wave that cracked the terrain and unbalanced Rean and Toval. The swordsman however recovered in no time and using the Gale form rushed his opponent with a series of fast strikes. Despite his size, the jaeger was incredibly agile and managed to keep up with Rean, who for his part kept his distance.

"Is it really just the two of you?"

Leo raised an eyebrow at the odd question and the slight edge on the boy's voice. "What is that supposed to mean," the jaeger once again blocked an incoming attack and countered with a roundhouse kick that Rean barely avoided.

"You heard me. Did you send a jaeger squad on a mission to kidnap Princess Alfin for Duke Albarea?"

"Rean, calm down," Toval said with concern.

Now Leonidas was really curious and took on a more defensive stance, deciding to not attack for the moment. "Zephyr has disbanded and everyone went their own way, some joined other corps, some retired. Xeno and I did not send anyone on a mission and we do not have authority over the other corps working for the Noble Alliance."

Rean took stock of his enemy, he didn't seem to be lying and had no reason to as far as he knew, but then who knew with this supposed family of Fie who was fighting her now. He thought of asking about his sister but figured he wouldn't get an answer anyway.

"What is this about, if I may ask," it was an oddly polite question all things considered.

On instinct, Rean wanted to attack again but the complete lack of hostility coming from the jaeger was disconcerting. Still, he kept on the defensive against the man but took heed to Toval's words, getting worked up because of every jaeger on his way wasn't a good idea.

"Listen, what's the point of this, exactly? Are you supposed to be protecting this area or something? Did you… come here to take Fie back?"

The young girl stiffened upon hearing Rean's words, not exactly sure what she felt at the prospect.

Leonidas once again took stock of the swordsman in front of him. Ready to fight but not looking for it, but at the same time he looked at him with a strange glint in his eye. "Fie can choose her own path. As we said, we just wanted to have a chat."

"Yeah, we just wanted to know if little Fie was alright," Xeno said from the other side of their battlefield.

"Oh I'm doing great," Fie sarcastically spat as she rubbed her face, right where Xeno had hit her with the butt of his rifle moments prior.

Xeno sighed and lowered his guard. "Look, for now we're here to teach the provincials how to pilot the panzer soldats and provide some support and decided to follow you guys when we saw you back there, simple as that. We don't really care if you get to your friend's at the 4th division or not."

"But you are working for the Noble Alliance," said Rean.

"Yes, we are," Leonidas replied.

"And if they order you to fight us you will."

"If you oppose them and our employers see fit to do so, we will."

"Alright, good to know."

What a strange line of questioning, Leonidas thought, especially when the black haired kid started to sheath his sword. He was so bewildered he almost missed the large shadow forming under him.

The mercenary turned around and for a moment got ready to defy this new threat but quickly thought better of it when he saw the figure of the Ashen Knight aboved him, dropping down to the ground. Leonidas jumped back and almost tripped as Rean dashed past him and jumped up, transformed into energy and entered the Divine Knight.

"This 'talk' is over," Rean said, threateningly stomping the ground next to Leonidas.

Xeno whistled. "Wew, what a trick! He almost had ya, Leo!"

"Indeed," the muscular jaeger said as he dusted himself off. "And I do agree, it's time we made our exit."

"Aww, but I wanna see what the Ashen Knight is capable of."

"Unfortunately, I don't think our allies will give us much of a choice in the matter," Leonidas pointed behind Valimar at a group of panzer soldats fast approaching in the distance.

Hesitantly, Rean turned his back to the jaegers and observed the incoming threat, immediately assuming the unarmed style of the Eight Blades. The magic knight was a savage creature with no real technique to its wild swings meant to overwhelm its opponents, but soldats piloted by humans knew discipline and tactics, representing a much more dangerous type of threat.

The damage to Valimar's arm was still there but it seemed to have diminished a bit, although if he made a mistake… And what about his friends, with the jaegers still there could he protect them and fight the soldats at the same time?

Fortunately for Rean that last problem solved itself when Xeno and Leonidas started to walk away towards the incoming platoon.

"What are you two doing!?" The voice came from one of the soldats, which judging by the badge painted on its arm, meant it was piloted by an officer. "You two were supposed to accompany us on this operation, your disappearance has cost us precious time!"

"We had more important business to attend to," Leonidas replied.

"What business could be more important than your damned job!? And now you are walking away?" The officer raised his soldat's sword arm towards the Ashen Knight and the other individuals standing on the road. "Apprehend these people immediately, they are wanted by the Noble Alliance!"

"Nah, you do it," Xeno waved off the order. "You got the big bad soldats, right? We were just paid to teach you to pilot those. Hey, make your teachers proud!" The jaeger then turned around back to the Class VII students. "And Fie, see ya some other time!"

"Until we meet again, little Fie."

And with that, Leonidas and Xeno disappeared from the scene behind the hulking suits of armor.

"Wait!" The former jaeger stopped herself when she noticed Valimar was behind her and the approaching soldats stood ever closer, Fie hadn't even realized when she started to move away from her friends.

"Do you miss your corps?"

"Sure, but I think I like it here more, I don't think I'd want to go back even if Zephyr showed up to pick me up."

Looking behind her, Machias and Elliot looked at her with surprise and she imagined Rean had a similar expression too. Regret and shame filled Fie's mind as she returned to her friends' side. Xeno and Leon could take care of themselves until they met again, other people needed her now.

The provincial officer huffed but quickly regained his composure. He might as well let the jaegers go, the apprehension of the Ashen Knight was the job for the mighty provincial army after all. Yes, he would be the one who led the attack that captured that most valuable of targets, before it could even turn into a real threat to the Noble Alliance. Indeed, he might even get-

The officer's world was turned upside down, quite literally, when Valimar rushed him and put him down with a shoulder throw. Still holding on to the soldat's arm, Valimar twisted it and ripped off the metallic limb and took hold of the gigantic sword it held.

"Still feeling kind of stiff. Is it the damage?"

[Negative.]

"Lack of mana?"

[Negative.]

"What is the problem then?"

[Synchronicity levels are suboptimal.]

That concerned Rean but he didn't have time for that as the remaining soldats were still capable of combat. The sword Valimar was wielding was heavy and a far cry from his tachi but it would have to do, there was no other option.

One of the remaining enemy soldats, a gunner, fired its rifle at Valimar and made itself Rean's priority target. Using the flat of the heavy blade as a shield, Rean pushed forward, taking care to cover the still mending damage on the Divine Knight's shoulder. Valimar getting shot hurt but not as much as he imagined getting his own body fired upon.

The other soldat, also armed with a sword, came at Rean and he had to block the attack with his own weapon. Rean was pretty sure he could've simply dodged the attack, Valimar was limber enough and he had space, but he didn't feel confident with the way the controls were behaving. Rean pushed the attacking soldat back and countered with a kick that knocked it back, then continued on his aim to take down the shooter.

The enormous rifle was turned to pieces and soon Rean incapacited both enemy soldats by destroying the sensors of one and a leg and an arm of the other. The provincial soldiers swore and cursed but incapable of continuing to fight they surrendered. The battle seemed to be over when five more soldats appeared coming from the direction of the Twin Dragons Bridge.

"Status."

[Mana levels are adequate. Synchronicity levels are still suboptimal. Minor damage has been suffered and repair efforts of previous instances have suffered a setback.]

One lucky shot had hit Valimar on the left shoulder, the same where the damage left by Crow was, and it hurt Rean like hell, and now more soldats were coming. Rean felt like he could take on them, it would be hard, but the real problem was if they got past him as his friends were still there, watching and even cheering him on.

Not the best time to be supportive, guys. You should be running away.

Rean stood ready to take on the incoming menace when blasts of cannon fire howled from behind him and hit the Noble Alliance's forces, forcing them to a defensive position. Looking back, he saw a tank squad bearing the Imperial Army colors. It seemed that Elliot had managed to contact his father.

With the appearance from the 4th Armored Division, seeming to back up the Ashen Knight, and the capture of three of their soldiers, one of them an officer, the Noble Alliance forces retreated for the moment. Apparently this had been part of a secondary attack attempting to catch the 4th by surprise while they engaged in battle in another position, however the Kreuzen army had ended up underestimating the Imperial Army's capabilities and were thoroughly beaten and when Elliot contacted them they promptly moved to their position.

After some brief greetings, which included General Olaf Caig jumping out of his tank to hug his son and gush about how he missed his "baby boy" in front of his men, and the introduction of Valimar, along with an explanation that no, they shouldn't be aiming their guns at Rean, they moved back to Garrelia Fortress' proving grounds along with their prisoners and captured soldats, where the 4th Division had established their base of operations.

The view of what remained of the former military base was enough to make someone dizzy. The gargantuan structure of rock, steel and concrete they had seen a couple of months ago was completely gone and the idea that there was something out there that could do that in a single strike was nothing short of terrifying

"It's like someone took a giant ice cream scoop to the whole thing", said Fie and it was a fair assessment of things. It was no wonder that the government had gone in full panic mode that day but now that was completely forgotten. Stranger still was the sight of the city of Crossbell on the other side, enveloped by a blue dome.

"Is that what they used to destroy the fortress?" Rean said, not really expecting any answers.

"So far that has been the main theory," a feminine voice called from behind the group as they gawked at the destruction. They turned around and were greeted with the sight of Captain Claire of the RMP, looking as calm and composed as ever. "Greetings, Class VII. It's good to see that some of you are well."

The RMP captain guided them to a tend that was being used as a command center. There, along with General Craig, they explained the current situation to the students. The 4th Armored Division was stuck in there, what remained of their forces after the attack on the fortress couldn't get past the Twin Dragons Bridge and they had little contact with the rest of the army.

The Imperial Government had been caught by surprise as the Noble Alliance moved faster than they could've anticipated, the mobilization caused by the attack on Garrelia Fortress was the perfect moment to strike.

"Wait, does that mean they knew it was going to happen?" Asked Elliot.

"Most likely, either through the ILF alliance with the Calvardian terrorists that attacked Orchis Towers months ago or through their Ouroboros association," Claire replied. "We scrambled to defend Erebonia from an external threat, not an internal one. We were aware of some of the Noble Alliance's plans, of course, and were working to deal with them, but our methods proved to be too subtle I suppose, maybe we should have just put a bullet on the heads of the leaders of the Great Houses first…" As the police officer spoke, she raised her voice without noticing and made to hit the table they were sitting around on but stopped herself. It seemed things were bad enough to crack the maiden's ice. "My apologies."

"It's fine, captain. It's a stressful situation all around, I myself put a few dents on the steel desk at my tent," General Craig said.

The captain simply nodded and directed her gaze to the Class VII students in there. "I was there when C… When Crow shot the chancellor. I looked him in the face mere seconds after it happened," the hurt and the sense of failure were clear on Claire's voice. "He had been a person of interest for a while, that's why he was placed in Class VII halfway through the year, so we could better keep an eye on him, and even after Roer our suspicions about him been involved with the ILF weren't completely discarded but he ended up being placed as a lower priority target."

The Icy Maiden's words were heavy, it was clear that the woman put the blame on herself for not acting sooner. For Class VII it served to make them feel like chumps for being so utterly fooled, especially for Rean, whose mind tried to remember if there was something he had missed about all the times he spent with Crow, or was it in front of him the whole time and Rean was really just a gullible idiot?

"I'm very sorry all of you had to be involved in this."

Not like it made a difference but the sentiment was appreciated, Rean thought. It would be unfair to dump any of his anger at the situation at Captain Claire, she wasn't at fault.

The conversation then moved to what Fie's group had been doing before moving to Rean's side. The escape, waking up, explaining what he knew about Valimar, Celine (General Craig did an honest to Aidios spit take when she spoke), meeting his family, Toval and the princess, and then there was the attack on Ymir.

That final part was harrowing, especially when it came to Baron Schwarzer getting shot and the kidnapping of Rean's sister and Princess Alfin, and everyone offered words of support, although the dubious fate of the jaegers raised a couple of eyebrows. "We took care of them," Rean had offhandedly explained and Toval decided to not elaborate on it for the kid's sake.

Next, some words detailing their next steps were exchanged before General Craig's adjutant entered the tent announcing that dinner would be served soon.

"Ah, excellent, you kids must be starving. Luckily, we maintained a secondary storage building filled with the same food served at Garrelia Fortress and it was left completely intact from the attack!"

"That's… great, dad."

Elliot's words were followed up by a loud thud as Fie slammed her head against the table.

It was the middle of the night and Rean sat on the edge of the crater left by Crossbell's weapon, feet dangling in the air, as he watched the luminous barrier's azure glow over the city.

"Can't sleep either?" Said Fie as she approached and sat next to him.

"Yeah, it's hard to really sleep when you realize we could be attacked at any second."

For a moment the duo sat there in silence, gazing at the city of Crossbell over the horizon. Neither could deny it was almost beautiful to look at, were it not for the fact it was framed by the remains of Garrelia Fortress.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Fie broke the silence, looking down at her feet with slight embarrassment. "When I almost went after Xeno and Leo and left you guys behind."

"It's alright, Fie. You said they are your family, right?"

The girl shook her head. "But you guys are my family now too and even after what I said to you back in the festival about not going back I still didn't think twice about it. I should know better than to just abandon my squad during a combat situation like that."

"It's okay, Fie," Rean reassured her calmly, raising his hand and patting the girl on the head. "We can say a lot of things until some situation catches up to us and we don't know how to react. Family… can make us do crazy stuff like that sometimes."

Fie smiled softly and with a sample size of two instances found out that Rean patted her head just like the boss used to and didn't protest to it, though that was a bit of information she would take to her grave.

"Yeah, family can do that to you," at her words Rean dropped his hand from the top of her head realizing where this was going. It was the real reason why he couldn't sleep. "Everybody back there noticed how you talked about those jaegers that attacked your home, even Elliot and Machias I think."

A deep exhale was all the acknowledgement he gave to her words. He would rather avoid that conversation all together.

"You know, back when we had that pool party at school, Machias asked me how I felt about killing that terrorist in Heimdallr."

That statement broke Rean out of his mood as he looked at the girl with incredulity. "At the pool party?"

"Yeah, talk about a buzz kill. Anyway, I just told him I was fine because I already had experience with it, being a jaeger and all that, and that I would be the one giving this kind of pep talk to one of you eventually, and don't take it in the wrong way, Rean, but I always felt it you would be the first one."

"Yeah, I guess it makes sense."

"You or Elliot, actually."

"What? Why him?"

"I dunno, life can be ironic like that sometimes."

Rean wouldn't call that exactly ironic, more like tragic, but the nonchalance in Fie's voice made him laugh. She was trying to lighten the mood and damn that girl she was succeeding.

"So, you wanna talk about what happened?"

He swallowed with a dry throat and proceeded to fill in the details of what happened that day, and for her part Fie silently listened. She was perfect for it, Rean found out, as Fie wasn't the judgemental type and despite her seemingly distant expression, he could tell she was paying heed to every word of his.

"And how do you feel about it?" She finally said when his tale ended.

"I'm not sure how to feel, to be honest," Rean said as a slightly stinging sensation made him rub his eyes. "I want to feel bad about it but then I think back on them pointing their guns at my mom and my dad lying on the ground and I can't really bring myself to feel that way. Pretty messed up, huh?"

Fie shook her head. "It would be messed up if you liked it. You were protecting your family and did what you had to, sometimes it's like that."

Her answer was a far cry from what his mother had told him back before leaving Ymir. Blunt and practical was how Fie saw things and this could not be any different, he appreciated it as she spoke from experience.

"There's a war going on, people are dying on both sides and we're in the middle of it. I guess that's just the reality of it."

Fie agreed and nodded in response, although she knew Rean was talking to himself as he tried to rationalize his feelings.

"And if it's bothering you so much it means you do feel bad about killing those jaegers," the girl got up on a quick hop and looked down to see Rean still staring at Crossbell's direction with unfocused eyes. This kind of conversation was harder than she thought it would be, she realized. All she could do was hope Rean could internalize her words for now but she couldn't bear to see her friend still looking so down on himself, she had to do something drastic to cheer him up. "You're still a good guy, Rean," she said, reaching down and patting his head.

"What the-"

His befuddled expression made a mischievous grin grow on the younger girl's face. "You like that, huh? I gotta let Laura know."

"Har har, very funny," it was funny and he was grinning, but it didn't stop Rean from getting payback and ruffling Fie's already messy head of hair and making her giggle. "Thanks for talking to me, Fie."

"Anytime."