The attack – and the attacker – popped out of nowhere, as all the black fog in our area was blown off.

'Yay, Brün saved the day once again!' her twin exclaimed, her eyes glimmering with pride.

'Look: these Bangaas are also spear-wielders, Uhlans', I noticed.

Brünhild raised her weapon as soon as she caught her breath back:

'See ? They are the same as the other ones. These tribes don't know variety!'

'Then let's do it like Gabranth said, Irmhild concluded, advancing close to her. 'There are many of them left.'

Under the mixed sky which still clouded huge areas of the rocky battlefield with black, Irmhild stood alone on a boulder, while her sister went with the entirety of their battalion. It seemed the latter was exclusively made of Uhlans, led by Brünhild.

'Are you ready?' Green Zodiac shouted.

They all answered with a motivated cry, and rushed together into battle.

'Bravery! Cura! Esunaga! Dispelga!' Irmhild yelled, fully focused.

'Can you keep curing them alone?' I asked with a worried tone. 'I should probably stay around to give you more items.'

'No, just give them now and go! Two hi-ethers will be fine. Go stop the Garif out there!'

I had only brought one, so I added four regular ethers. Pink Zodiac nodded, cast a new Bravery spell on her sister, and went right next to her, amidst the Bangaa group. Back against back, both were panting, then tightened their grip on their weapons before charging at their opponents.

'Toxify!' Irmhild said, and black leeches of poison closed on all the fighters in front of her, some of whom have hurt her with their spears, and all of them having only a fraction of vital energy left – they fell on the rocks, vanquished.

On the Uhlan side, Brünhild was performing a technick I had not yet seen, which looked similar to the previous whirlwind. All her soldiers were running to their targets with intense physical attacks, and I understood that, as generals and individual fighters, and with such fervor in battle, only the sky could stop the Zodiac Sisters. Their armors were the only fanciful ones among the operation's participants. Different given different jobs, but tailored to look the same from afar: very short skirts and Minerva Bustiers adorned with their respective colors and strictly covering their chest, iron tassets on their thighs, couters on their elbows. The main variation was their head protection: a heavy Sallet for Brünhild, and a mystic Gaia Hat for Irmhild. I'd always wondered how they felt comfortable in a battlefield with so much skin exposed, but it seemed my compatriots knew what they were doing, and that's what mattered. No, I wasn't even sure the sky could stop them.

I ran further, and saw the other divisions managed to somehow disperse the black fog as well. Judge Zecht was flying off the handle:

'How could you let them escape? What if they reach Rumi Nisqapi? My orders were clear: they must not quit Argyllshire in any way!'

'Relax, my Lord; I give the orders now, remember? Petra sent some of her men chasing them. They'll be done shortly – applying her precious destruction methods to the letter.'

Zecht suddenly saw me and fulminated:

'They may be good at destruction, Chau-Anh, but what we need now is catching them. And the fastest division is the Sixth. But of course, they couldn't take off because their dömavän was elsewhere!'

'Apologies', I said. 'We had been separated for a while. Shall I go with them now?'

'Nay, it's too late. Petra's troop should be enough, although their probability of success is lower than the acceptable standard for such strategic task. Refugees must not be touched!'

And, as he walked further for information, I asked his dömavän:

'Since when does the head of Judge Magisters care so much about refugees?'

Her black eyes were silent. What was it? Would she consider me unworthy of her status, just like Judge Petra? Or perhaps was it that she'd linked my question exclusively to Landis's case? That "so much" wasn't necessary…

'He never was heartless, you know. Just doing the Magister job. But he did start worrying about refugees' fate much more by dint of spending time with them in Bur-Omisace. He's grown fonder of this place these past years.'

She sighed and joined him, as if it was too hard talking about the topic in his absence. I asked Lady Petra's remaining generals:

'Where is Khedar?'

'That abomination of a Garif has last been seen marching westwards, my Lord. On the way to Rumi Nisqapi in Cowichan.'

'Isn't that… precisely the place Judge Zecht said they must not reach under any circumstance?'

'Why, yes, my Lord… But as you can see, Lord Zecht hasn't given us orders yet.'

What kind of division was this? I hadn't realized Petra was obstinate on military protocol to that extent.

'You, the Elenventh Division troops stationed here: follow me to chase them', I ordered.

'We will not, my Lord – we can only obey Judge Petra or her boss.'

I wasn't used to my authority being contested and for a short while, felt like screaming my anger out in the air. I walked to the west and, fortunately, met my own battalion, just as several Garifs stormed in the area.

I dispatched in relevant corners the ranged soldiers and the Shikari, fighters with hunter-like equipment who made Lady Drace's division's reputation. The Shikari flew more than they ran, inflicting damage in the Garifs they came across as the Archers and Machinists were bombing their reserve with arrows and bullets. A few other soldiers were using white magic and measure weapons to heal and continuously regenerate the group. The latter ones had to risk their lives next to the Shikaris' continuous hits, and some of them were put KO in the process; that's where I played my part, reviving them with Phoenix Downs. The healing group and myself were standing on each side of the ranged soldiers, slightly at the front given our tactical mission.

'Look, my Lord! They are using Dark Motes!'

I guessed they were called the Dark Masks for a reason.

'Fine. Let us allow them to taste these.'

I took 10 White Fangs out and went to the front with two Archers, until we could throw them at once at our opponents, who were performing powerful physical technicks to also deal a lot of damage in a short time. But items being faster than technicks meant the Fangs' damage was dealt first, and the Garif group, that was already overpowered by the Sixth, collapsed on the ground, with no one around to revive them.

As I was devising the next step, a huge acclamation rose from my battalion.

'You have been incredibly effective, my Lord!' a Machinist stated.

'I… I did not do anything. This victory is yours.'

'Come on! Don't be overly modest, Lord Gabranth!' a White Mage said with a smile, while healing some of the injured members. 'Lady Drace has been waiting for a while for such an intervention from you in the field. I bet she'll be delighted when she hears of it!'

'Er… We have not returned yet. Are you all set? Let us find the Dark Masks leaders. If we're quick enough, we'll catch them on the driest path, which is the one on the right.'

As we were hurrying up there, a very young Shikari, probably a new army joiner of 18, asked me:

'Why do Garif people stay in dry areas?'

'Because they fear the storms. Argyllshire ones must be dreadful for their safety, since Lightning is their elemental weakness. Stop.'

Everyone lent an ear around, and we finally heard her:

'Who's coming to disturb us? I smell the Humes' necrotized fragrance. Honorable Counselor, what say you? Our Garif brothers and sisters have not caught up with us yet. Could it mean…?'

'Yes', the grandpa's voice replied, 'they have probably fallen to our foes, my granddaughter. Those we have in front of us must be the toughest of them all.'

Khedar's face, covered with a black mask like all her allies, was likely fuming.

Toughest? Sixth? That's not exactly how we were described as – beginning with myself – but provided we played our part, it was probably the most convenient opinion they could have of us at that moment.

'Filthy Humes! Greedy Humes ! Trashy Humes! Y'all shall perish!'

Khedar was actually fuming, with ardent clouds escaping her massive body, and I understood she was probably behind the 'fog' part of the phenomenon we had witnessed earlier. Then the 'dark' part…

'Attention!'

A general of mine had seen the item too late; several members of the battalion, precisely among the weakest ones to elemental magic, were hurt by the Dark Motes.

'Your wittiness has always been the best among our tribal force, honorable Counselor!' Khedar said in her voice, which was deeper and scarier than all her allies, and still with increasing fury audible behind her mask.

I chose that moment to bolt out of my division's side and join the other one, back facing Valendia continent's far west, and head facing Khedar's.

'Hm? The reeking Humes' leader bars our advance?'

'I am not the expedition's leader', I said. 'They are slightly behind.'

'Oh?' Khedar said. 'You mean those who have died?'

'They…'

Died? Judge Zecht? And hell, even Petra, Chau-Anh and the Zodiac Sisters? Khedar was bluffing.

'They are all alive, and will join me soon', I retorted in all confidence.

'Heh', the old Garif said. 'This young one is hopeful.'

'What are you planning to do if we spoke the truth? What if my honorable grandfather sent more of your soldiers to oblivion thanks to our Dark magic?'

I gulped, looked left and right. Nor daring to stop my helmet where my troops were, I sensed with great relief, out of the corner of my view, that they were casting Cura and reinforcement spells. Then I raised both arms and voice to announce:

'Your path to the border ends here. I shall find the means to stop you, be it on my own.'

Khedar clenched her fists, turned to my comrades, then let out a horrendous Screech. I nodded at one of the generals who was shaking while waiting for my orders. "Please stay calm and wait."

'Aero Motes?' she said, louder than ever. 'Are you seriously thinking you can scratch me with such ridiculously weak magic?'

What she didn't realize was that it was not a single Aero Mote. I liked doing things ten by ten.

'10 Motes! Beware, Khedar!' her grandfather shouted.

She tried to dance away from the Motes but several ones hit their target. She put a knee on the ground, catching part of a rock formation with her big hand to avert falling.

'Khedar!'

'It is alright, honorable Counselor.'

I walked to him:

'You should tell your granddaughter to surrender.'

Not only didn't he answer me, but it was Khedar who did, after eloquent silence:

'So you… you call me a female?'

'Your gender is irrelevant to the situation. Until proven otherwise, I shall take your words seriously. The most intolerable disclosure is your plan to take the Empire down and murder all citizens of Hume race.'

But Khedar seemed to have an unplanned moment of happiness:

'He didn't call me a male! He didn't call me a male, even if he wants to arrest me! Listen, honorable grandfather!'

'Stay focused, Khedar. Our noble project for Ivalice is not worth crumpling for a moment of carelessness.'

'Your project of mass murder ought not to exist', I repeated.

My arms were still raised on both sides. I knew for a fact that anything Khedar said had to be carefully weighed before taking it for truth.

'Why are you so keen on standing on our way?' the old Garif asked.

'I am… I am protecting my homeland. I shall not allow violence and murder to invade her streets again.'

'Your… homeland?' Khedar said. 'Oh… You are a Landisite. That poor republic that fell to the insatiability of Humes.'

'You attacked it before they did…'

Killing my father in the process.

'… and your methods are not much better.'

'How dare you compare us to the wasted race!' she said, hitting me with a Lunge.

'More hits, Khedar! More, more!' the old Garif was screaming.

'Take that! I certainly could finish you off with another technick of mine…'

Her voice sounded more and more distant, while I hadn't moved by an inch. My belly and chest just hurt too much for me to stay alert.

'… but I prefer offering you a bargain, for you look slightly more respectable than the others. How about you let us pass, do not tell your friends, and we don't attack Landis in exchange? We shall cross Cowichan, move past Landis province, and assemble a group among the Seeq tribe settling in the lands north of the Ordalian continent. Only then will we attack Rozarria, and free Ordalia from the hairy Humes ruling them.'

The Rozarrians' body hair was nothing compared to the Garif fur, but I deemed it the wrong moment for such a remark. Khedar concluded:

'You Archadians hate the Rozarrian Empire, and have been desperately looking for a way to purify it – now you have it in front of you. That surely sounds fair, does it not?'

At that moment, all I needed was rest. But I was in the midst of a war and had to take decisions, ones dealing with situations I provoked myself in particular. Why… How could I stay standing… Well, that much was certain: Khedar was bluffing again. And even if she wasn't, her goal was to "deliver Archadia from Humes" sooner or later.

'This border is your final… destination…', I retorted, my feet barely holding my weight up.

'Look at yourself! Does it seem like you can negotiate?'