"Boss, you said that the next stop would have been the capital!" A boy shouted as he stretched over a bed, clearly bored out of his mind, while three other children were around a table, two girls and a boy.
"Yeah Seshi, we'll get there when we get there, we still have less than 10 thousand troops, and I hoped for twenty thousand." Subaru explained as he had a piece of paper in his hands, writing letters all over it, with the help of Priscilla and Yorna.
"This fool is annoying for sure, do we really have to keep him with us?" Priscilla stated as she glared at Cecilus, who was laying in bed, Subaru sighed.
"Boss, as the leading actor I can't just sit around and do nothing, I need to shine!" Cecilus remarked as he stood up from the bed, Subaru sighed and looked at him in the eyes.
"You want to be the brighter star of this show, right?" "Yes!" "But how can you be the brightest star, if there's nothing else to compare you with?" Subaru explained as Cecilus remained silent, he then sighed and put his head on the pillow.
"Oh, so you actually manage to shut him up." Priscilla looked at Cecilus as Subaru went back to studying, he tried to read the letters as Yorna giggled.
"Do not under-estimate Subaru, he is someone full of surprises, he will always have some ideas, even to fight off boredom." Yorna spoke with a tone that didn't belong to a girl, letting out her true age.
"And yet here I am, bored to no end! Such a waste of time." Cecilus shouted with an annoyed face, Subaru sighed again and turned around.
"Go check who's awake, and play hide and seek." "Hide and seek?" Cecilus tilted his head, even Yorna and Priscilla were listening.
"Oh, you've never played it before? Damn, your lives are without joy, anyway, a bunch of people hide within 60 seconds or so, one searches for them, within ten minutes, if you don't find all of them, you lose." Subaru explained as Cecilus listened, he then smiled and without saying anything rushed out of the room.
"Well, what were we saying?" Subaru asked while Priscilla and Yorna were teaching him how to read properly, they were in Aceryck, where some people joined their cause, and the pleiades stocked up on food, while getting some rest.
"Continue writing those words, after that, try to read some simple books." Priscilla gave him a book filled with stories. Subaru started only a few days ago, but he was already improving a lot.
"You are a fast learner, aren't you?" Yorna looked at the two somewhat getting along, and how Subaru was quick in learning things, even things like cleaning and such.
"Everyone told me that back home." Subaru was simply looking at the book, starting to read the simple texts in there, he didn't really mind the stories, just trying to understand them was enough.
"Not only when studying, but with magic too, at first you struggled a lot, but the moment you got the hold of it you created two new spells." Yorna smiled as she patted his head. She did give off that motherly love, even if her body didn't match her behavior.
"Well, you told me yin magic was space time manipulation, and if you all don't even recognise how stupidly powerful that is, it's not my problem." Subaru gave a cocky smile as he read the book, Yorna and Priscilla were confused at his remark, he just continued to read his book.
Time passed as he quickly read the stories, he noticed one in particular, who he was familiar with, just from hearing about it.
"The witch of envy, what's the deal with her?" Subaru asked while surprising both of them, Priscilla sighed and bore a serious expression on her face.
"The witch, a half elf who consumed half of the World in shadows, her name is Satella, and it's said she had silver hair, she cannot comprehend human language." Yorna explained with a heavy tone and piercing eyes, Subaru shrugged as he looked at her, not scared one bit.
"I wonder if she's a joke like Regulus or if she is actually that powerful." Subaru commented in a neutral tone while surprising both Yorna and Priscilla, the two looked at him.
"Regulus?" "Who's that?" The two asked simultaneously, not even questioning the sheer bravery or stupidity for speaking those words.
"Ahh, the sin archbishop of greed, me Seshi and Hal killed him a while ago, he was powerful, but once I figured out how to beat him he was a complete joke." Subaru leaned his head on his arm, Priscilla and Yorna were surprised, Yorna had her mouth open in shock, while Priscilla had her fan in front of her mouth.
"The sin archbishop of greed, he killed Kurgan before, the strongest in Vollachia, and destroyed Garkla, for you to kill such an opponent." Yorna commented, impressed, and she smiled at Subaru.
BOOOM
A loud sound was heard from the outside, Priscilla and Yorna stood up, Subaru instead remained calm.
"Hey, that's a new record for Seshi, he managed to not blow things up for 20 minutes." Subaru exclaimed without any worries, he calmly walked to the window, opened it during the chilly night, and took a deep breath.
"CECILUS, STOP RIGHT NOW." Subaru shouted and his voice rang powerful, Cecilus, who was running at immense speeds, he immediately turned around and flung himself to Subaru.
"What's the matter boss? I was just trying to find them!" Cecilus spoke with a smile, Subaru looked at him in the eyes and smiled with anger.
"You do not blow up their hiding spot, you find them without damaging the city, otherwise it's too easy." Subaru explained as he already looked at the buildings Cecilus destroyed, he sighed and jumped down the building.
"Hey guys, we have stuff to repair." Subaru talked out loud, and a few members of Pleiades walked up to him, all of them seemed to be builders.
"We were already on it, boss." "We already were restoring the roads of this city, dammit!" "At least Cecilus is strong." A few workers walked towards the destroyed houses, they sang together and they quickly brought the needed objects.
"Cecilus, you help them too." "Aww, but boss! That's lame! Why would the star actor do these jobs?" Cecilus spoke annoyed, he was trying to sneak away from him, but Subaru caught him.
"What? You're too weak to bring them the materials?" Subaru teased him while pointing a finger at him, laughing and repeating "weak". "No, I'm the strongest here!" Cecilus then walked with the builders and picked up a big pack of bricks, while rushing to the destroyed buildings.
"Other than that boy, it's impressive how quickly your builders work." "Indeed mother, they seem to never grow tired, and they are far stronger than normal workers." Two girls spoke from behind him, Yorna and Priscilla were overlooking the groups in front of them, wherever they went, the pleiades also built roads and repaired buildings in less than a day, something that normally required far more time.
"Yeah, I dunno why they're so strong, but making roads everywhere will simplify movement later on, a great empire of the past became great through roads." Subaru explained, mother and child looked at the members of Pleiades.
"To keep so many people connected, I wonder how that's possible." Yorna stroked her chin as she wondered the strange connection she felt, the magic in the air was nothing short of a miracle.
Time passed, after only two days Pleiades was ready to depart, Aceryck was completely repaired, with stone roads, and new buildings too, this was thanks to the great physical prowess of the Pleiades, and the already experienced members. Subaru too added a few ideas of his own to speed up the processes.
The pleiades began to shake the ground once more, their numbers increased day after day, they slowly made their way to the various cities nearby, and with Subaru wielding the yang sword, many more joined his cause, they marched towards the capital, Subaru leading the band.
The army was in the fields, slowly, they were approaching Pendleton domains, where Priscilla lived with her husband, the place was filled with hills, Subaru walked with a fast pace.
"Disperse!" Suddenly Subaru shouted at the top of his lungs, the army didn't question his decision, but complied immediately, Priscilla, who was next to him murmured under her voice "So you realized it." And ran with him ahead, with Cecilus and a group of a hundred members, Subaru then gave other orders.
"Group 2 and 4, run in the middle! Group 7 and 8, run to the North!" Subaru gave orders which were heard by everyone, thanks to the powerful voice coming from the child, and the way Pleiades shared orders, with several people being assigned to hear the orders and shout it once more.
Yorna looked at Subaru, the cheerful child was no longer there, instead, his eyes held the flames of war within them, his orders seemed absolute, and his confidence was shared with everyone else, truly worthy of the title of child of war.
"Everyone, get down!"
As soon as everyone got away, explosions were heard, Subaru's orders made sure no one was injured, all of this happened in less than a single minute.
"Regroup! Defensive positions! Shields upfront!" Another order, the pleiades, while not composed of warriors, still had learned to work as one, and they made a wall of metal shields.
And once more.
"WE ARE THE STRONGEST!"
"THE STRONGEST! THE STRONGEST! THE STRONGEST!"
"WE ARE INVINCIBLE!"
"INVINCIBLE! INVINCIBLE! INVINCIBLE!"
"OH, INEVITABLE FATE."
"BRING IT ON! BRING IT ON! BRING IT ON!"
The war cry filled the sky, and an army of earth dragon riders charged from the hills, all of them were surprised by the standing army in front of them, the warcry was an announcement of their defeat.
"Bow formation! Charge!" Subaru ordered once more, the pleiades held spears in one hand, shields in the other, they charged the coming cavalry, but before they could meet them in battle.
The shields and spears already stopped the charge of the enemy, and as the dragons stopped, from behind the shields, fighters with all kinds of weapons jumped over them, striking down the soldiers, the shields then raised from the ground, and walked towards the enemy.
"Halibel, Cecilus! Take care of the cannons!" "Yes!" The two fighters ran to the place where the projectiles came from, there were a total of ten cannons, all hidden from sight, and dispersed among the hills, but the strongest of Pleiades defeated the one using them in a flash.
"Soldiers of Vollachia, surrender, and your life will be spared!" Subaru shouted as he looked at all the soldiers on the ground, they were quickly stripped of their weapons, pleiades let out a victory scream, the battle ended in a few minutes.
"Is everyone alright?" Subaru asked as he looked around, he inspected the field, and saw something he feared.
"Boss? Is everyone else alright?" A man lying on the ground, a member of pleiades, filled with wounds, he was not the only one, with him, other twenty people.
"Yes, everyone is fine!" Subaru rushed to these men, they were all grouped together, none of them could be saved.
"I'll save you, don't worry, I'll-" Subaru interrupted his phrase midway through, his eyes teared up, and he punched the ground, again and again.
"Boss, don't worry, we all accepted this, we knew we were risking our lives." One of the soldiers said, Priscilla looked at this scene, same as Serena, they both understood another reason for why this group was so united. Subaru cried for each one of their deaths, and they all accepted to risk their lives for such a kind leader, who valued them more than anything.
"They all protected their comrades from the blast." Halibel commented, as he stood next to Subaru, who looked at each one of them.
"Why do I have this power, and I still can't save them?" Subaru murmured in a thin voice, as he cried, one of the soldiers stood up, filled with wounds, and cleaned his tears, he was smiling.
"Subaru, I'm happy I could fight alongside you, and witness your glory with my very own eyes." The soldier spoke, he kneeled down, in sign of respect, with him, all of the soldiers.
"WE ARE THE STRONGEST!" The dying soldiers shouted with all their might, and in tears, their comrades answered.
"THE STRONGEST! THE STRONGEST! THE STRONGEST!" Even while dying, the soldiers reignited the flame that belonged to Pleiades.
"WE ARE INVINCIBLE!" This was not something new to Pleiades, a kind of ritual, Subaru felt a strange heat from within him, the one he felt as he led them to battle.
"INVINCIBLE! INVINCIBLE! INVINCIBLE!"
"OH, INEVITABLE FATE." And as they let out one final breath, the flames of war within the Pleiades were reignited, with anger, grief, and wrath.
"BRING IT ON! BRING IT ON! BRING IT ON!"
Subaru continued to march towards the capital, he arrived at a river, separating the western part of Vollachia to the center, where Lupugana waited for him, he remembered his fallen comrades, they buried them, so not one of them would be forgotten.
"We camp at the bridge, me and a small group will head towards Garkla to get their help, Cecilus and Halibel, make sure no one gets past that bridge, Yorna, you'll head to Chaosflame and get as many fighters as you can, we'll meet at the capital in ten days." Subaru ordered as they marched to the bridge, he looked at it, he stopped the army.
"Go check if there's someone there, I feel like this might be a trap." Subaru ordered Halibel to move ahead, he immediately disappeared and Subaru waited.
"You are learning fast, brother, I expect no less from mine divine self's kin." Priscilla smiled as she looked at Subaru, he stared at her in annoyance.
"Thanks for the compliment, little sis." Subaru disregarded her as he looked at the bridge, time passed and nothing happened.
Subaru had a different expression from before, he remained cheerful, but his hatred increased by the day, then, an explosion was heard, and the bridge they were meant to cross was destroyed, everyone turned towards it, and Halibel appeared next to Subaru.
"So, I guess it was filled with explosives." Subaru commented as he looked at Halibel, with the kiseru in hand, smoking with an extremely annoyed look.
"Olbart and Chisa Gold, they had like twenty tricks up their sleeves." Subaru lit up his kiseru with the yang sword fire, Priscilla smirked as he looked at him.
"Guess we'll have to rebuild the bridge, guys! Is someone good with bridges?" Subaru shouted as he looked at his army, no one answered, complete silence.
"Welp, we'll figure it out on the way, guys! Start building a boat for Yorna and co., me Halibel and a few others will go to Garkla to see if someone wants to join! Gustav, can I leave you with the repair of the bridge and Cecilus?"
"Of course, Subaru." Gustav answered as Subaru walked towards Serena.
"Can you bring us to the other side?" Subaru asked the scorching lady, she thought about this boy, not even a few days ago, he was the manifestation of war itself, possessing a boy filled with kindness, yet, with the power to consume the world, and now he was like a kid asking for a favor.
"Of course, Balleroy, Miles!" She shouted as two flying dragons descended from the sky, two people riding them, one older than the other.
"Yes, miss?" The two landed next to her, both had the same clothes. Subaru noticed how the young one had a strange light in his eyes, even if he had a laid back attitude.
"Bring whoever he asks to the other side of the river." Serena commanded the two, they quickly flew away and took a flying carriage, where they could welcome few people aboard.
Subaru called all the people he needed, so Priscilla, Yorna, Halibel, Hian, Idra and Weitz, his companions.
They quickly entered the flying carriage, they crossed the river and landed, nothing was said during the small ride, everyone felt a strange aura around them. They started walking towards Garkla, where they would have asked for their support.
With them, another ten girls followed them, all were extremely beautiful, and all looked at Subaru with respect.
They were wandering on the campaigns, next to them were hills with trees, on the other side the river they just crossed.
"Subaru, smile." Yorna suddenly spoke up surprising everyone, Subaru stared at her in confusion.
"What are you saying?" Subaru asked in a trembling voice she knew this wasn't the first time this happened, yet each time someone died, Subaru would blame himself.
"That's what they wish, they don't want to see their leader saddened by their deaths, all of the Pleiades decided to join you, because you're the best leader they could ask for." Yorna spoke up to Subaru, getting close to him and trapping him in a hug.
"Someone caring, strong willed, and thoughtful of each one of them, you treated them like friends, family even, and they decided that they would help you, even if the price was their own life." Yorna continued her speech, Subaru shed tears in the hug.
"Brother, many wouldn't even grieve the deaths of their soldiers, but if you truly care for them, you have to move on, and fight." Priscilla spoke as she looked at the boy, everyone remained silent as Subaru got out of the hug, cleaned his tears, and gave them his usual smile.
"Let's go, we have an empire to conquer." Subaru spoke as he walked with pride, he surpassed all of them, and they followed him with a smile.
The group continued going towards Garkla in the North, until eventually they took the main road, where they met a carriage with two people inside, a boy and a girl, both with blonde hair.
"Why are you all on foot? Wouldn't it be better to use a carriage?" The boy asked the group, as they were heading north, Subaru looked at them.
"Wait, are you two Flop and Medium?" Subaru asked as he looked at them, he spoke with Serena about the two.
"Uh? You know us?" Medium asked surprised Subaru smiled at the two and got closer, the rest looked confused.
"Yes! Serena told me a lot about you two!"
"You know Serena?" Flop asked with a smile, he got down from the carriage and smiled at the boy.
"Yes, she really is a great person! She is helping me a lot, you know?" Subaru commented with a smile.
"Yes, she really is, oh, right, what's your name?" Medium asked as she got down from the carriage.
"Oh! Right, I'm Natsuki Subaru, pleased to meet you!" He spoke with a smile as the two immediately reacted, Medium took two swords in hand and Flop glared at him.
"Aren't you the one that kidnapped her? The child of war?" Flop shouted in anger, Subaru then looked at the two confused.
"Oh, right. Funny story, we actually lied about it so she can join us at the last moment, she is helping our cause!" Subaru smiled at the two, they tried to believe the opposite, but by the way he spoke, they could tell he wasn't lying. Flop sighed and Medium sheathed her blades.
"Alright then, wanna join us? You're heading to the North, right?" Flop asked as he pointed at the carriage, Subaru nodded and the group went in the carriage.
"Yes, we're going to Garkla to get them on our side!" Subaru explained smiling, they started their ride and enjoyed the scenery.
"So Flop, do you wanna join Pleiades?" Subaru asked with a smile, Medium and Flop looked at each other and nodded.
"If Serena has joined you, then we'll follow you as well." Flop answered and Subaru smiled, the group chatted during the carriage, with Subaru catching on with his studies, and Halibel talking with the two, soon enough they reached Garkla, and they entered inside.
"Alright, Yorna, Priscilla, I'll see you at the throne room!" Subaru waved at the two who walked away and went towards Chaosflame, they bought a ground dragon and departed immediately. The rest entered the city.
"So this is Garkla, alright, Where's the main building?" Subaru asked as he looked around, his comrades were all around him, Halibel was covered by a mantle, while the others didn't have problems.
"I guess it's the biggest one, I suggest we go to whoever is the leader and we speak to him." Halibel had his kiseru in hand as he looked around the city, the group headed to the most important looking building.
"Nah, nevermind, just throw me on top of a building and I'll speak with the inhabitants." Subaru then with the help of Halibel went on top of a building, and he started speaking.
"Citizen of Garkla! A few years ago, this city was destroyed by a sin archbishop of the witch cult, and here, eight arms Kurgan lost his life, many of you probably still remember that event." Subaru started his speech, many people heard him and paid attention to him, and he remembered that painful moment.
"You despise that day, you hate the man to cause all of this, and the humiliation felt in those times." Subaru continued as the ten girls he brought joined him, the people were getting worked up, angry at this boy remembering that event.
"Regulus Corneas, sin archbishop of greed, has been defeated." Subaru spoke loudly but with calmness, silence reigned in the city.
"YESSS!" A loud cry was shared by all, the people who still remembered that day cried of joy, but among them someone spoke.
"Who confirms that he has died?" A man shouted among the crowd, doubt started to take life, but one of the girls spoke up.
"In front of our very eyes, the present here, Natsuki Subaru, the child of war, has ended the life of Regulus Corneas." As it was revealed who this boy was, the people were shocked, and a powerful noble of the city walked towards him.
"This still could be a plan of yours." He shouted, Subaru then jumped down the building and landed without a sound, walked Towards the noble, and a flash of light engulfed him.
"What the?" "Look here." Subaru showed a strange object to the noble, who saw his own face.
"This object can capture a moment in time and store it, and if you look here, you can see a certain moment." Subaru changed the picture, the noble looked, and saw the child in the picture, stabbing the heart of a familiar face.
"So you actually did it." The noble spoke, he was quite old, and the memory of Regulus was on his mind.
"The child of war has slayed the sin archbishop!" The noble shouted as the crowd cheered, Subaru smiled and was welcomed in the city.
A party was held, cheering for the Revenge and the victory of the child of war, and during the festival, Subaru spoke up.
"Citizen of Garkla, as you know, I am currently going against this empire, many of you are loyal to the emperor, but even I have a claim to the throne!" Subaru took out the yang sword, the noble was surprised, and bowed to him.
"If you wish to join me, I will welcome you with open arms! Join me, and we shall change this empire!" Subaru ended his speech, and many of the citizens stood up, and bowed to him, a total of 3000 people joined him. They departed in a week, where they joined the rest of the army, who already finished building the bridge and even built a part of the road.
"Wow, you guys were quick!" Subaru commented as he looked at the bridge, it wasn't that great, and it surely wouldn't last decades, but for being built in a week, it was a great job.
"Yes, Subaru, sadly, we had to go through trial and error, once we meet someone specialized we shall repair it." Gustav explained as the army passed through the bridge, the two groups united, and the army grew even more, with other people joining on the road, the total number was twenty thousand.
"Boss, boss! I've fought off all the enemies! My performance was incredible." Cecilus smiled as he looked at the new people, they were all welcomed with open arms, and with their arrival, the Pleiades marched towards the capital, shaking the earth, with a blue lighting announcing their arrival.