AN: We are getting closer and closer, more than you think! Since these chapters deal with a lot of characters it makes it more grueling to get them done. But I will press on and handle it like champ!
And as some of you figured out, Subaru's previous conversation about the other Lantern Corps is foreshadowing, but not entirely the way you're thinking of, or maybe it is, we'll see.
Title is once again, named after a Foreigner song.
Please ladies and gentleman, Enjoy the read, and have fun watching the SU-SU-SU-SUPER BOWL-BOWL-BOWL!
Arc Five: The World War
Chapter 26: The Damage Is Done
With the sun gracing them, Beatrice brushed back her snow white hair and stared out of the window of a local cafe. With her, Emilia sipped on some tea and watched carefully, well, more like cautiously. This was because caravans of captured prisoners were being transported to prisons, to live out their time, until the war ended.
Even with the protection given to them, people still threw empty bottles, food and more at the carriages occupying them. Many were upset having Vollachians, Kararagians or Gustekian enter their nation.
Ironically enough, there was bigger disdain for the Vollachians and Gustekian.
In Vollachia's case, this was easily because, they mounted the most casualties among the three kingdoms. Resulting in vast amounts of hatred towards them.
In Gusteko's case, it was due to antipathy, most of the war prisoners acquired were from that nation. A staggering 1 in 5 soldiers had the average of outright dropping their weapons and giving up, thus these proud people viewed them as nothing but cowards.
Beatrice had enough of the mad mob screaming to let them out, and motioned to Emilia. Emilia finished her tea and got up, both leaving their money and heading outside. They passed by Linnea Helena, who bowed to them, as her ever increasing congregation followed her, raising flags of the Red Lantern Corps, the Lugnica Crest and even the symbols of the Church itself.
A mad parade, in support of those fighting in this war.
Kadomon was wiping clean an appa, this world's version of the apple, when he noticed a nobleman and two knight knock on the door of his neighbor across from him.
When the dog beastman opened the door, he was surprised at first, but then worried. Kadomon couldn't hear anything, but when the nobleman handed him a sword draped in the flag of Lugnica..the father fell to his knees screaming, learning the fate of his treasured boy, hugging the sword.
The mother came out, a grey furred dog beastwoman...and seeing what was happening, she fainted. Luckily one of the two knights reached out and caught her before she hit the ground. All the nearby civilians and neighbors walked over to comfort them.
This was an average occurrence really, every week more people all over the country would receive the heartbreaking news of their sons, their daughters, their brothers and friends having been killed in a battle.
Kadomon even recalled how there was a single mother a few blocks away who lost two daughters and a son in a single battle in Kararagi, now she is desolate in a medical ward, refusing to do anything.
This was the state things were, and with the Royal Selection soon to end, things were getting only more sporadic. In the distance, Kadomon could see them, more men.
More men and women, in armor, mage uniforms or fully decked out in knight uniforms; reinforcements being sent to the battlefield.
All they could do was cheer them on, as they began their journey out of their homes and into the battle.
To mention it once….it has been seven months since the beginning of this war.
And the Royal Selection ends...in two weeks.
KARARAGI THEATRE
The samurai gazed, sweat dripping from their faces, under their masks. No one moved, no one did a thing...their great warrior wearing a Komuso, shinto monk garbs and a sword on the ready, by his third arm protruding from his back.
Delirante, was a similar species to the kind Kurgan of Vollachia was, yet this was unimportant, truly.
His enemy, Frederica Priestella, didn't care if he had three arms or even a thousand, she was to take him down here and now.
The marsh they found themselves in, was dead quiet, as if even nature did not want to break the tension between them...but a toad croaked and hopped into a small body of water.
Splash.
And the two charged at each other.
Frederica threw a kick, but Delirante dodged it, balancing on one leg to the side, and swinging the blade from so low. Frederica backflipped away and flung a sword construct at im, he blocked it with his sword. Trying to get the pace on her, he rapidly tossed shurikens at her, almost faster than a gun. She punched them away, skidding across the muddy floor.
Delirante then made it to her and swung his sword knocking her away, a dazzling sight.
Frederica kicked off the mud and did another kick, but as it neared him, she flexed and instead made it a knee strike, which he barely blocked with his sword.
Sparks flew everywhere.
Frederica hurled blood at him, melting the floor and allowing steam to break the air, but Delirante dodged this and struck Frederica on the back, slicing at her sixteen time. It looked like white splotches of paint, that's how fast his strikes appeared to be.
Frederica made spike constructs sprout from her back, but he zipped to the side, only to eat a mesmerizing surprise punch by Frederica, denting his Kosmosu slightly. Yet blood escaped nothelesless.
He now got a second sword out, for his left hand. His back arm and left arm now were armed with swords.
Frederica got two twin sword constructs and began trading blows with him, but with a quick and wide swing, Frederica was able to push in and land a massive stomach churning kick to his gut.
"UGHK!"
Frederica tossed the swords, making him slice them apart, but she charged, making him use his free arm to toss pellets which created smokescreen. Unable to dodge, Delirante used his free hand to use two fingers, poking roughly on her right shoulder, forearm and various other spots there.
She now realized her right arm was paralyzed.
Confused, but still concentrating, she figured her nerve points were struck at such speed and power that they have been temporarily disrupted, shutting down the connection to the brain.
Now she was fighting him one armed.
He tossed explosive shuriken, which exploded around her, distracting her enough that he was ready to swing his blade at her. She slid down and got her legs holding down on his right, using the momentum, she made him fall on his back and had every intention to snap his leg. He was still one of the best, and was actually able to slip out of it, but Frederica hopped forward and punched the side of his knee. He almost lost his balance but blocked a hammer construct, still, she made through it and landed yet another kick to his stomach and followed through with a backflip kick...which he blocked with an elbow, slamming her foot. Though the pain was immense, it was ignored.
Landing on her feet, but had her cheek cut by his sword swing, which then made her zip at him, shoulder tackling him. He tried yet another puncture attack, but she twisted herself to make his finger barely scrape by her breasts, she then grabbed his garb and used the momentum to try and shoulder toss him, but he used his free arm to balance himself on the mud and kick her across the face.
Freeing himself he swung his two swords rapidly, forcing Frederica to put up a boxer guard and block the attacks as best as she could. He then thrusted the blade making her smash through countless trees, only for Frederica to spit some blood and fly over back to him.
He sped up to meet her combat, as she skidded on the floor and launched several beams from her ring, he deflected them with his sword. She then flipped in the air, landing a massive kick, which he blocked with a sword. He then swiped his other sword and missed her...but cut half the swamp trees behind her, easily. She released a flurry of kicks, but he zipped behind her and did another set of nerve attacks on her right leg.
With her leg paralyzed, she was forced to float for the remainder of her fight.
She activated her Revenga Art, which made a beastly claw construct around her working arm. Soon they traded attacks, hoping to get the edge on the other, but it was Delirante who sliced open her back, only to eat and back kick, followed by a back of the skull headbutt to his face.
He released another massive dance of sword slices, cutting up the mud, trees and earth itself. Soldiers fled, fearing to truly get involved in this crossfire.
Frederica made it through the insanity and made it to where she could land a punch, but she missed her two massive wide hooks...leaving her open to see those two finger come straight for her face.
Inches away.
Getting closer.
No way to block it.
No way to kick it.
Think, all she could was think, think hard, think quick...and so she did the only thing she could.
CRUNCH!
SHE BIT DOWN ON HIS FINGERS, YANKING AND TEARING THEM OFF COMPLETELY.
In his moment of shock, he made an attempt to cut her down, yet her moment came, and she hurled her blood, melting the blade. Merely scraping her, she landed a massive punch with her armored arm, crushing his straw helmet, then followed with a knee to his stomach.
At this point, if one saw it, his entire abdominals were purple and blue, with specks of blood leaking through the sweat glands, a disgusting sight.
Unable to break even, he tried traditional bushido swordplay, with quick wide swings, but she ducked down and landed a karate chop to his right shoulder, fracturing it.
Using his back arm he tried impaling her, so she spun in the air, and kicked his wrist, making it swell to a hideous point.
No choice left, he had his swords shine white and he launched light based air slices at her...only to see blood and darkness close up in the barrage. He swung around, only to see her behind him and a large scorpion like tail construct on her back.
Her second Revenga Art! Unrelenting Gore!
Snapping the tail at high speed, she got his entire stomach split open, blood gushing out. Taking complete advantage, especially with the strike splitting open his helmet finally, she raced forward.
Using her good hand to grab under his chin, the tail of hers almost gently holding the back of his head...this made his head tilt back completely uncomfortably.
The biggest mistake, was that Delirante had seen her rush and attempt to press his foot down to prepare to slice open her face, but her ducking motion, to get her hand out, made her dodge the strike.
It was a prime choice, for his balance to be grossly easy to topple.
With her rushing, he lost the balance needed, and using her massive strength made him fall back. And with a huge boost to her last step forward, she slammed him down, right on top of his skull.
Mud flung all over her pretty face, and so did blood, mucus and sweat. Even with the mud, it was no cushion, and his neck cracked, his skull broke piercing his brain and the brain itself shook inside bruising it.
His eyes spinning, he couldn't accurately sense that his back arm snapped like a twig from the impact. And not leaving a chance for him to do a damn thing, her scorpion tail construct stabbed through his face, leaving a huge hole where his face used to be.
Dissipating the constructs, she mused annoyingly that she couldn't see his face, truly making him mysterious. Letting him keep his title even in death.
Spitting some blood out she gazed over at the hiding soldiers...just that glare was enough for the soldiers to drop their weapons and step out of their hiding places, hands up.
THey had no desire to be slaughtered, it was pointless at this point.
She nodded, squatting down and picking up a scoop of mud and letting it drip down through the hole she made in his flesh.
"That's checkmate."
Kararagi would reel at this grueling loss.
Subaru took careful steps on this rocky slope, grass being crushed under his feet. He peered down at the city, made to be the next to be conquered. He then snapped his fingers and sure enough Nijino flew down the sky and dropped mana stones from a sack, a literal airstrike. In a display of destruction a quarter of the city was erupted in explosions, with many wooden based houses quickly catching on fire. With that as a signal, two Zeppelins flew above the mountain and began their attacks on the shocked populace.
Like that the army charged down the hills and launched their invasion. It became a grueling fight, even with the superior weapons, they face opposition from the samurai stationed there, and even some civilian males tried to help out.
In one instance, a young man strapped on a vest of mana stones and ran over to the enemy, ignoring the shots to his body, he dove under a Conquistador, and activated the stones, blowing himself and the tank up.
Nijino used her ring to pick up a section of a palace and hurl at a business market, crushing countless people, attackers or not, to death.
Subaru was ready to fly over, when one of the Zeppelins was tilting, he noticed this and could see someone was attacking it.
He hurried over, soaring in the sky and landing on the surface of the balloon. There he saw a person turning right back at him.
"Who the fuck are you?!"
"Listen well, red demon! I'm the person who brings your evil to an end!"
"You gonna answer me?"
"Very well! I am Jingo Jungle! I am 'The Unseen of the Warriors Elite'!"
He was staring a crow beastman, so rare, that many think they died off much like Onis and Giants. Their population especially dwindled through infighting amongst their tribes and participation in various seedy crimes.
Adorned on him was the kind of clothing akin to Aztec warriors, wearing pants made of jaguar pelt, and his neck adorned with unique colorful feathers, jewels and fur. Wearing a helmet made of a jaguar skull, fur still on.
Subaru could not see why such a colorful person was called unseen.
Without a moment to lose, he charged at him, Jingo tossed a spinning blade, which Subaru deflected. Jingo got close his fist glowing yellow and punched Subaru through the balloon surface, and then palm thrusted the air, shooting out bursts of mana that slammed him onto a steel pole. Just then, another person jumped into the air slamming him down with twin warhammers. Crashing through more steel beams, he landed his feet on the last one and stared death at his now second enemy.
A large man with long black hair, scruffy beard and pure red eyes, wearing armor akin to that of the mongols.
"Get ready! A skinny thing like you is out for the count! Ready? I'm sure you are ready!"
"And you asshole?!"
"Wu Tang Shaw! Ready? 'The Merciless of the Warriors Elite'! Now get ready to be sent to hell!"
Spinning the warhammer around and around, Subaru created a sphere construct around himself, blocking the hit. Subaru had it shatter and grabbed of piece of the broken construct, stabbing Wu in the leg, just for Wu to use a elbow strike to slam him back. While Subaru flew back, his back hit something, unseen, and an explosion erupted on his back sending him to slam face first with a steel beam. Subaru flew back up past the flames overtaking the blimp, he found himself facing Wu again, and created Rem's Morningstar as a construct, the two began a vicious trading of blows. Jingo tossed several bone based knives, making Subaru duck, but to get slammed away by the hammer. Subaru focused and hurled out his blood, melting the skin on Wu's face. Wu rapidly slammed his hammer on Subaru, looking almost unreal to the eye. Jingo grabbed some air into a bubble and flung it, invisible to the eye, once it got close to Subaru, his elbow touched it and the explosion rocked Subaru.
Trying to get his bearings, he got into a defensive karate stance. Jingo then tossed with all his might many invisible air bubbles, trying to trap Subaru. Taking a deep breath, Subaru flew forward, trying his best to avoid these unseen attacks.
Yet his knee hit one and the eruption of power, made him off course, making him wide open to a hammer swing...just for Subaru to smile, his eyes white, cheeks stretched in absolute ferocity. His fist clenched tightly near his ribs, he aimed and fired a beam, which shot out Wu's right eye. In agony, he swung too wide, and Subaru ducked under it, kicked his ankle, making him buckle down. The Red Lantern hopped up and created two screwdriver constructs, grabbing each one…
"AUGH?!"
Subaru drove them, deep into his ears, making him instantly deaf and woozy.
Subaru then drove his knee into his face, breaking four of his front teeth. Using one hand to raise his hammer, he then was kneed in the face again, swelling his only remaining good eye. Wu then readied his thumb, and tried to gouge out Subaru's eye in revenge. Subaru only raised his face, so that the thumb would pierce his cheek, blood spilling everywhere.
In a moment of pure merciless cunning, Subaru drooled out his blood onto Wu's face, burning him horribly...and so Subaru decided enough was enough.
"Die you bastard."
Subaru once again made the screwdriver constructs...and stabbed them into his eyesockets, then used two palm strikes to drive them deep in, all the way to the ends of the handles. One simple gurgle from Wu was all needed...to know he was dead.
Subaru leaned back...and his back got hit by an explosion. With blood oozing out of his back and hate plastered all over his expression, he unfortunately ate a drill kick by Jingo. Subaru spat out angrily, and drove in, he created a bowie knife construct and stabbed it into his leg. Jingo created an air bomb and flung at Subaru's face. He retaliated by shooting a beam at it from his ring, the resulting explosion flung them back. Jingo's feet scrapped on the steel beams and he retrieve a small axe and club, racing to face Subaru. His beak smiled as he had tossed more air bombs, relishing in the idea that Subaru would get hit by one, leaving him open to be killed.
Sure enough, Subaru was caught in the trap, and he was bombarded in explosions leaving him open and smoke covered. Jingo struck his weapons against him, trying his best to finally…..get his left arm sliced off by a construct.
"HUH?!"
"GOT YOU."
Subaru grabbed his neck, the crow beastman stared at his own stump of an arm. Seeing the buzzsaw construct dissipate and Subaru, face covered in blood...He slammed his club weapon onto Subaru face, opening a wound yes, but Subaru was not overly affected by it and simply glared ominously at him. Subaru flew through the surface of the blimp, in the corner of his eye, seeing Nijino helping in the evacuation of the crew.
He could see the blimp was nearly about to crash into the ground.
He pressed Jingo onto the surface of the ballon, flames overtaking the plummeting zeppelin. Subaru then punched him over and over again, only for Jingo to kick him off. He made a quick attempt to get Subaru into a traditional jiu jitsu toss, so Subaru had his ring fire a beam through his collarbone. Subaru did not let up and kicked him in the groin, then stomped on his ankle, snapping it. Fed up with seeing the agonized expression on Jingo's face, Subaru growled at him.
"Revenga Art 2: Hama Yumi."
With the assault rifles in hand, Subaru let him have it, spraying the bird in bullets.
But it was not enough, he fired, fired, fired, and blasted him. The warrior did nothing as his body was littered in bullets, holes where flesh was, a hideous sight for sure.
Hurling out a animalistic groan, he whacked him across the face, cracking his beak and forcing his destroyed body to tumble into the hole in the zeppelin. His corpse landed in the blaze, overtaken much like Wu and the zeppelin itself...the flames consumed them.
Subaru finally flew off the doomed zeppelin, watching as it crash landed on a cliffside, spreading flames and steam all around. Nijino having finished her rescuing, flew to Subaru.
"Subaru! A-Are you, okay?!"
"...Yup, doin' great."
He got hugged, as they stared at the city, the flags of Lugnica raised high.
It was time, yet again, to move forward.
The flames, would take care of the rest.
Battle of Matcha City
Lugnica Casualties: 137
Kararagi Casualties: 412
A few minutes later, Nijino left to pick up Frederica, leaving him to speak with someone.
"You really show up at the most annoying times."
"Maybe it is articulate my thoughts when you are most vulnerable to hear them?"
Julius Juukulius, still in his adornished Royal Uniform, leaned on a dead tree arms crossed.
"Well?"
"Nothing, I wish to ask if you intend for surrender?"
"Nah, not until I get my hands on Halibel...maybe then, I'll let them give up."
Subaru sat on a rock, elbows on his knees, arms hung low.
"You cannot possibly think you'll run into him, outside of the capital?"
"Nope, but if they wanted this to end, they'd hand him over."
"Unlikely."
"Then this won't stop."
"...The only thing I can truly give some advice on...is beware the Capital."
"Usually they have the most resistance right?"
"Of course, losing it would completely demolish their resolve and any chain of command would instantly fall apart."
"I heard that we're very close to the Vollachian Capital."
"And that is the place I would be most wary of."
Subaru got up slapping his knees free of any dirt.
"Suppose so."
"Even if you have done well against their armies, you can see their champions are no pushovers, whatsoever."
"I'll keep that mind."
"...Then, have a good rest Pride."
His eyes flared up when he heard that mocking nickname..but when he turned his head to yell at him, he was gone.
He stood there, itching his patched up cheek, clicking his tongue.
"I really hope I'm just losing it, gonna be pissed if I'm actually being haunted by that bastard."
The Red Lantern walked away, smoke and dust enveloping the tree.
"Can't slow down, can't take a break...cannot stop here. The damage is done, so we have to go all out, till the very end."
His ring twinkled, in his armored hands.
Several Lugnican soldiers were running for their lives, being chased by someone, something.
Once they turned the corner of a treeline, he was there, covered in blood and organs, like a necklace.
Garavito.
"Hey now, we're in the middle of a war right?!"
"P_Please…"
"SO START FIGHTING."
Garavito lunged at them, leaving only the dead 1,000 people strewn about in the forest. Making him stick out his tongue in sickening pleasure.
"Blegghhh, just beautiful!"
VOLLACHIA THEATRE
Bougatsa and his brother were laid down on the floor, raising their heads now, would just get arrows shot through their face.
The battle was intense, by far, one of the most bloody fights seen yet. The fight was for control over a city that housed a large supply of training bases for Vollachia, taking this would help cripple the military might, and truly put Vollachia on the defensive.
Hell, they would probably turn tail and focus on defending the capital.
Jolokia ran across the dirt road and slammed his battleaxe, cutting a man in half. Behind him, Sagittarius fired her Metia and took out two more. Both could see a large luxurious inn was on fire, the clashing taking place inside, sounded brutal.
Scream, shots fired, breaking windows and beastly roars.
Inside, Bertha stabbed her sword through a door, killing a hiding soldier. Midge ran across the smoke filled halls and tackled one with his shield and stabbed another one in the groin. DuPont ran over and finished him off. Looking out the window he could see that half the city, comparable to the size of San Juan, was burning to the ground.
A firestorm was consuming it, out of control.
A zeppelin fired on some mountain based bunkers, spreading destruction onto the already dying environment. The bunker soldiers then saw expert Ground Dragon riders, dodging and hurrying through their defensive attacks. Finally, one rider, practically leaning off his dragon, shoulder almost touching the ground, tossed a bag inside. It exploded, destroying the bunker and killing them easily.
As he made the rounds dodging fire from crossbow sharpshooters on treelines, it could be seen that a church and a restaurant were in the middle of a firefight.
Wind, fire, earth, yang and regular old Metia firepower, they were being traded between the two establishments.
Both sides were in a stalemate, with the injured dragged away to a safer corner to be healed.
Lisette nervously followed closely to her boss, ducking every once in awhile to avoid getting hit by something.
"This one, bandages."
One by one, she was instructed on what to give each wounded soldier they came across.
"Heal."
"O-Okay."
"Bandage."
"S-Sure."
"Pain herbs."
"F-Fine."
"...No good, dead."
She tossed a rag over his face, leaving Lisette to shake uncontrollably.
She then saw, Stanley lying on the ground, using a fallen table as cover.
"Stanley-san! Stanley-san, are you...are you…?"
He was teary eyed, hugging his sword, as he whimpered everytime a shot came through a window, muttering incomprehensibly.
"Stanley…"
"Forget him, he's lost it, c'mon!"
Dragged away, she could only watch helplessly, as his mind continued to deteriorate.
Then, with a single moment, the church was bombarded, both by the zeppelin, and Conquistador tanks that came through the burning trees, ensuring their victory.
Battle of Bilbao
Lugnica Casulaties: 1,120
Vollachian Casualties: 3,433
With all said, all done, the mop operations began as the city was cleaned free of any resistance.
The surviving civilians all shell shocked, would only stumble around as they saw entire sections of their beautiful city burnt to a smolder.
Their fair forests? A grave of burnt trees and charred bodies.
The streams? A body here and there contaminating it with their blood.
The flags, featuring the wolf, the symbol of loyalty to their emperor? Taken down and replaced by the enemies.
Homes gone, buildings toppled, and an entire stone bridge turned over.
These poor people, believing that the invasion could never reach them, had their hopes dashed and only further sunk as four zeppelins flew over head.
Jolokia entered a tent, and found Stanley sitting on a bed, gazing sadly at his sheets.
"Stanley."
"Hey boss."
"...I heard what happened, grrr."
"...I screwed up, really badly too. I told everyone I was a great fighter and all that, maybe in the end, I was just talking out of my ass."
"I think you are, but everyone has a point that their muscles do more deciding than the brain. Grrrrr, this time your brain won out."
"Can I even call that an excuse?!"
"No, not really, what's done is done. You froze, and that's it."
"...I don't want it to happen again."
"...Then don't."
He patted him on the shoulder, gave a grizzled nod and left him there, left with his own thoughts.
Juel sat on some rubble as she gazed out to the smoke rising far off in the south, another regiment probably taking a village.
Now with the takeover done, it was time for them all to use the valley between the mountains, as a means of traveling undetected. Several platoons all at once, zeppelins flying more closer to the clouds, as means of warning the others in case of sighting of the enemy. The morale was high among the men and women….
Bertha was on her Ground Dragon as they gazed up at the high mountains around them, with DuPont walking next to them.
"Nervous, Bertha?"
"Quite the contrary, I'm just marveling at the natural beauty."
"I can only see one beauty, right next to me."
"...Please, not in front of the others."
"Very cute."
"Ah, knock it off."
Blushing madly, DuPont laughed as he hurried his pace, leaving the commander to smile passionately at his back.
Midge sat on his own Ground Dragon as he took chugs out of his jog of ale. Taking a deep satisfying breath, a sign of his relaxed mood, he gave a salute to the men behind him, who cheered his attitude.
"Gotta keep the blood flowing lads! A good glass of ale will do that for you! Ahahahaha!"
Moussaka and Runther made it over to Stanley who stared out into space, knowing full well he was still reeling in his embarrassing moment.
"Stanley-san, are you-"
"-Oh, hey Moussaka, I'm alright."
"If anything is, um, bothering you…"
"...I feel like this was a trial for me, and I fucked up badly."
"R-Right."
A moment of silence intermingling with the sounds around them, men laughing, women mingling and Wolgarm growling...it was just these two.
"I don't want to mess up again."
"Well, I-I don't think you will."
"...I hope I don't. No matter what, I want to do my part, I don't to leave for home, without that much."
"I understand, good luck. I'll be rooting for you."
Both nodded, giving some acceptance to the still cloud minded soldier.
Jolokia was walking, among the soldiers...when he sniffed the air, his ears twitched and he scanned the area. His red eyes, pure blood red without a speck of white or black, searched around, above and behind, but every turn of his head also brought the other soldiers attention.
Bougatsa asked him nervously.
"Hey Jolokia-san, is-"
"-Shhhh, grrrrr, something...is watching us."
The news of the discovery spread, and everyone was on edge, cautiously staring and glaring at every direction...until it was a screaming Lisette that caught their attention.
"Wahhhh!"
"What is it?!"
"JOLOKIA-SAN! I-I saw something on the rocks over there!"
Pointing, he immediately saw something zip across the mountain side, getting everyone to arm themselves.
"Grooooar! Show yourself! Or you shall be taken down without mercy!"
Yet it zipped around again.
Everyone on edge, everyone ready to attack, everyone ready to start a huge fight.
Until, Moussaka had an idea. He reached into his pack, grabbed a hold of something and tossed it ahead. They stared at it, leaving Stanley quite perplexed.
"A beef jerky?"
However, in that moment, they witnessed it.
Something crawled off a boulder and headed straight for the meat, sniffing it, glaring at it, before grabbing it and chewing at it eagerly.
Jolokia was the first to step forward, the creature staring at him.
"Who are you?"
"Hmmm?"
"W-wait...I don't believe it, grrrr. You...You're a half-lizardman."
Just hearing this, all the men tried to get a good look at her, because this was truly a discovery.
Next to Oni, Crow Beastman and even Dragonoids; half Lizardmen were considered some of the rarest, if not most extinct class of demihuman out there.
On all fours, she blue scale skinned with white stripes, her glowing golden lizard like eyes gazed blankly at him. She was on all fours, arms were normal sized, while her back legs were thick raptor legs with a long sturdy tail. She had marking of red on her as well, with a stripe of it across her eyes.
Long hair, blue as well with red tips, and white right on the forehead.
Two large horns, blue with red spirals.
Around the neck was the jawline bone of a probable prey that befell this rarity.
A dazzling thing to see, especially since it was thought unheard of for a human and lizardfolk to have that kind of relationship.
But it was Midge that pointed in a embarrassed tone.
"Good grief….she's naked!"
And she was.
Wild and with little to no contact with the outside world, she was butt naked, her small, but ample breast showed off, as well as….her...bottom half, were all plain to see. Her white face glistened as she tilted her head at them, her fangs clamping down on the remaining jerky.
"Oro?"
"Good, grrr, she can speak."
"Oro?"
He squatted down and spoke softly.
"What's your name?"
"...M-Mama, named me, Callaloo."
"Callaloo...why did you follow us?"
"...Big bangs, booms, fire. Very interesting, cool! Wanted to see more."
"I see then, grrrrr, where do you live?"
"M-Mountains."
"...A cave perhaps?"
"Cave? Cave, yes!"
"...Where is your mother?"
It got quiet, as she looked away at the sky.
"Up there. Mama said that, when you go to long sleep...you go there."
"...I am sorry."
"Sorry, why?"
Standing up finally, Callaloo, was indeed short. Maybe about 5'6'', shorter than most of the other girls in their army, evern with her strong massive dinosaur legs matching her hourglass shape.
Jolokia stood up as well, showing off his massive height.
"Listen, you cannot follow us, we're in the middle of a war. Do you know what a war is?"
"War? Is it a fight?"
"Y-Yes, grrrrr, a very dangerous and chaotic one. Which is why you cannot follow us."
"...I follow you."
"No, listen, grrrrr, you aren't supposed-"
"-I follow you?"
"Agh, listen Callaloo-chan, I really think-"
"-Okay! I follow you."
"Ughhhhh, grrrrr."
Jolokia scratched his head at the smiling girl, whose fangs shined brightly in the sunlight.
Midge had his Ground Dragon make it over and thus joyfully pat Jolokia on the back.
"Bwahaha! C'mon ladie! She seems keen on coming along."
"But this dangerous, so far she is just a civilian."
"She seems to have no loyalties."
Midge decided to ask Callaloo.
"Hey lassie, you know what this country is named?"
"Uhhhh, Volvo?"
"...No dice, see?"
Jolokia grumbled as the young lizard half breed walked over, excited.
"...Ahhhhh, grrrrrr, alright, you can come along. Just please don't get in the way."
"OKAY!"
"And if things get dangerous, please run away!"
"Run? Uhhhh, okay!"
"Hahhhhh, I am too nice."
Callaloo then amazingly jumped right over….all of them...showing off her superior leaping skills and then ran through the army, meeting with Runther. Runther growled at her, to which she did as well, making Moussaka incredibly nervous. The others around them laughed wholeheartedly, and as they slowly moved along, she became a good addition to the group.
Yet Midge wondered…
"Who do you figure her parents are?"
"My best guess, grrrrr, her father was a nobody who wandered into the mountains, poor and hungry. He was given, grrrrrr, shelter into a cave by a lizard woman...eventually his sexual urges got the better of him and he mated with her. When he learned he impregnated her, he abandoned them there and it was just her and the mother. Eventually she got ill and left this poor girl alone."
"...Pretty intricate stor there, you should be a writer!"
"Nah, grrrr, can't compete with Ovidius-sama."
"Hahaha, so where do you think the father is?"
"Hell if I know, grrrrrr, hell if I cared."
Though they began moving out, with their new tag along hugging Juel. Lisette and the other ladies would begin crafting some sort of clothing for her, as many of them were uncomfortable with her, 'free spirit nature'.
And to answer the question raised, Callaloo's backstory, made up by Jolokia...was true. In fact, her father eventually became a mercenary and took up a wife and child, living a beneficial life. Until he participated in the Bloodstained Roses War, in which he met his grisly end at the hand of Rem, during the final battle…
His own wife and son, eventually died not too long ago, killed during the Meteor Strike that hit one of the Vollachian cities, starting this war.
The army found themselves marching through marshes, entire hills loomed over them. These hills were covered in tall grass, reaching the face of Jolokia, that had edges so sharp they did cut the skin of men's cheeks.
The water stunk and was hard to walk through, but they pressed on.
Callaloo was on all fours, walking through the waters, as many men kept their eyes open. And at that point they began speaking to one another, small talk.
Moussaka asked a fellow soldier a simple little question.
"Hey, what are you going to do when this is all over?"
"My girlfriend is pregnant, so I thought after the baby is born, we can have a small wedding."
"What if all of us, decide to come along?"
"Oh, well, best bring your own alcohol."
"Enough for even Midge?"
"Haha, yup, especially him."
Moussaka chuckled, right as an arrow hit his friend in the leg, erupting in an explosion that ripped it in two.
"UYGAHHH!"
"HOLY SHIT!"
Above them, it was a storm of arrows raining down upon them.
"GET DOWN! NOW!"
Those that had shields, helped themselves and their men next to them, while others dispersed, using submerged logs and even mud piles as cover, some dove into potholes in the water to escape.
It didn't save everyone, at least forty men died in the attack.
Soon the survivors jumped, or carefully stepped over the bodies of their friends and began firing into the tall grass.
Moussaka dragged his friend away, with Runther helping, using his teeth to pull on him.
"Oh god! Aw fuck!"
"Hang on, we're getting you out of here!"
He then got help by the terrified Lisette, who began applying healing lotions. Bertha raised her sword, and aimed it at the grass.
"Charge! Take their positions!"
Midge and Jolokia led some men and women to charge through the grass, even it was painful, hard to see and nerve wracking.
Jolokia sprang through the grass and walked over a small wedge, until he heard something. He crawled low and saw a small crevice in the grassy wedge...and heard clangs and whispers.
This was a bunker.
And it was possible that these entire grassy hills were filled with them.
"Bastards, grrrr.."
He reached into his side sack and pulled out a small ball of mana stones, had it light up and chucked it inside.
"Fire in the hole!"
Rubble and smoke erupted out of the explosion, and he could hear the screams inside. He looked behind himself and saw a secret opening spring up and several smoke covered men stepped out, disoriented. He charged and sliced them to pieces with his trusty battleaxe. He yelled out to anyone who could hear.
"There's bunkers! Grroooaaar! Bunkers! Shake them out! Flush them out!"
They heard, and began to work on it.
Climbing over those small bumps over the grassy hills, men ducked, crawled as they would find the grassy camouflaged doors, leading into the bunkers. They would toss rolled up balls of mana stones, erupting the insides, and would wait...wait...as the opponents would spring out of other entrances, and would be finished off by them. Always covered in steam and smoke, always screaming bloody murder.
Moussaka took out one man, and found a trench, which acted as a path between two bunkers; so he and Runther, now unmuzzled, jumped in.
One man sprang out and Runther took the chance to claw out his eye, giving Moussaka a chance to reload and fire a shot, blasting his face wide open. Runther pointed with his snout, keeping a paw out.
The trained signal that he smells more of them.
He could see ahead the entrance, and Stanley leapt down into the trench, following close.
"Let's get on top of it."
"Yeah, good idea Moussaka, don't want to be seen."
So they climbed out of the trench and walked along to get a good vantage point.
They found a pipe sticking out, probably to keep air flowing in and out bad odors out. So they rolled up a rag and filled it mana stones, giving it the energy needed, they knocked off the pipe and chucked it inside.
"Move!"
Like that, they jumped away and the hill partially exploded, but the screams heard, told another story, from within the bunker. A man climbed out of a secret hole, only to be stabbed in the face by Stanley with his long sword. Another one stumbled out soon after, and was shot in the back by Moussaka. A Vollachian crawled out of nowhere from the grass and tried to ambush them, but Runther got his fangs slammed into the back of his head, killing him.
But soon another hole sprung out of the floor and a crazed, bloody soldier had something in his hand and was prepared to chuck it. But Stanley sliced his back open, making him drop it.
It was a fully charged red mana stone.
Seeing that Moussaka was distracted reloading his rod, Stanley screamed, but went unheard, so he ran and he shoved him.
The stone exploded and Stanley was sent flying.
"STANLEY-SAN!"
He crawled, then sprinted to him, as he dragged him from the tall grass.
"OH FUCK! AW FUCK! SHIT! AUUGGGGH!"
"HANG ON! PLEASE! JUST-YOU'LL BE FINE!"
Stanley grabbed his face in complete agony, only to let it go...and horrify Moussaka.
"Oh no…"
"MOUSSAKA! MOUSSAKA! I CAN'T FUCKING SEE! OHH FUCK! FUCK! I CAN'T SEE!"
The flesh on his face burned, large sections of it, melted over his eyes...making him effectively blind. His hands, were chunred black, probably in an attempt to block his face from the impact, even if tiny pebbles were embedded into his face, causing massive bleeding.
"Moussaka! Ohg fuck! Oh fuck! I'm gonna die!"
"No! No, you're okay! You're-"
As he hugged to comfort him, he saw a Conquistador, off in the distance where they started their ascent...aiming slowly at them.
Bougatsa could see what was happening and tried to run to his brother, but Jolokia tackled him to the ground, trying to prevent more deaths.
"No! BRO! LITTLE BRO! GET OUT OF THERE!"
"GROOOAR! GET AWAY FROM THE BUNKER!"
Moussaka instantly saw the danger and proceeded to drag the weeping and inpained Stanley.
"RUNTHER! HELP ME PULL HIM!"
Runther nodded and helped by using his teeth to clamp onto his armor and pull, they both pulled as hard as they could.
"Hang on, we have to get out here!"
"Augghh, ohhhh fuuuuck!"
"C'mon, C'mon, we have to go!"
Now all of them could see the tank's main cannon was glowing brightly.
Jolokia, feared the worst, and could do only what he could.
"FOR FUCK'S SAKE! GET AWAY THE BUNKER!"
As the cannon fired, they had gotten far away enough that impact only made the three roll down the hill. Landing harshly, but safely, they were catching their breath, when an actual secret rock door opened beside Moussaka, watching in terror as a Vollachian soldier crawled out. They locked eyes, as Stanley used his hand to search around.
"Moussaka? Moussaka!? MOUSSAKA?! OH GOD PLEASE ANSWER ME!"
Moussaka could not.
He ran for his Metia Rod, which rolled away a few feet away, but the soldier tackled him, and they got into a wrestling tussle. The Vollachian overpowered him, and began chocking him, but Rutnher bit his shoulder, giving the chance he needed. Breaking free, he stormed over to the Rod, but turned to see Runther get sliced in the face.
"RUNTHER!"
He aimed his rod, nice and ready.
"DON'T TOUCH MY FRIEND!"
He fired, shooting him through the spine, letting Runther finish him off, but there was no time to relax. As he reloaded his Metia Rod, another soldier ran out, sword drawn, kicking Runther in his bloody face. After sending the Ma-Beast rolling away, he charged at Moussaka.
"FOR THE EMPIRE!"
The young brother couldn't focus on his injured friend, screaming blindly for him, but more so at the determination within this opponent's eyes. He fell on his back and fired, the shot going through his collarbone, making him fall on top of him.
He reacted, and Moussaka pulled out a small dagger and stabbed him in the neck...just in time to see the final moments of this...12 year old's life.
"A kid...it's just a fucking kid."
He pulled out his dagger and looked away. His friend, still screaming...
"MOUSSAKA?! MOUSSAKA!? MOUSSAKA! MOUSSAKA?!"
Now snapping out of his stupor, he rolled over to hug Stanley's head.
"It's okay, It's okay, It's okay...I'm okay."
He could then hear orders as he saw men climb over hills and systematically flush out Vollachians out of their bunkers, killing them with extreme prejudice.
Over and over he could hear his own people scream and cry out…
"DEATH TO THE VOLLACHIANS! KILL THEM ALL! DIE YOU VOLLKER FUCKS! GO TO HELL!"
Moussaka hugged the exhausted and injured Stanley, Runther stumbling over, resting his tired self on the ground, guarding his master.
Moussaka watched as their female mage blasted a stream of fire magic from her hands and right into a gunport of another secret bunker...filling it with flames...flames shot up from different sections of the ground, close to and away from the bunker.
"DON'T ATTACK! LET THEM BURN!"
She yelled that, the first thing he ever heard from that girl, a shame her voice was soft like rain.
From the bunker, and those holes, entrances...hell sprang out.
Bodies, completely engulfed in flames, screaming, hollering, letting out inhuman noises as they tried desperately to get away. From the bunker, they poured out like a landslide...but there was no pity, no mercy...they all just watched as they ran around like an injured cockroach, running around aimlessly.
They watched, these wet grasses could not catch on fire.
They watched, people screaming for their mothers and families.
They watched, the deaths of the men and women that killed their friends.
They watched, not a single one giving them a mercy kill….
It was the way it was.
Thirty minutes later, and with mop operations under way, Moussaka sat on some grass, with Runther laying close by asleep.
Jolokia walked over and saw him.
"Are you alright?"
"...Stanley and my other friend?"
"They are in no condition to fight, they will be sent back to the Capital, for healing, Grrrrrr."
"...Okay."
"Well?"
"...Why don't they just surrender?"
He said this misty eyed, frustrated.
Jolokia let out a sympathetic breath, getting ever so closer.
"Because they are Vollkers, as far as I can tell, they're like rats."
"Rats?"
"...We can only win, by killing every single one of them, one by one…"
"Rats, huh?"
"...Just rats."
Jolokia patted him on the shoulder and walked off, but still gave some advice.
"Don't let it get to you, grrrr. You'll get broken by it."
"...Okay."
But he stopped dead in his tracks by DuPont.
"Grrrrr, can I help you?"
"...As of this moment, I am the current commander of the Golden division."
"What? But Midge-dono is commander."
Hearing this, everyone who wasn't injured stood up and gathered to hear the rest.
"Well?"
"...During the fight...a soldier got killed and he dropped his fully loaded Rod...the captain still got him good, but he fired still…"
"...No."
"COMMANDER MIDGE URE IS DEAD."
Like a rock hitting a person's chest, everyone gasped in destroyed sadness. Not a moment later, men carried a stretcher, and on it, Midge Ure was laid there, his eyes closed...a hole in his neck.
Some men fell to their knees, other simply cried.
Bertha teared up, covering her mouth.
DuPont nodded sadly.
Bougatsa slammed his helmet into the ground in depressed anger.
Callaloo lowered her head.
Lisette was bawling, no one could blame her.
Moussaka bit his lips as his eyes leaked water.
Jolokia's eyes got watery, but he shook his head, for he could not look weak. Instead, he saluted him.
DuPont, made his first orders.
"Ten minutes we move out! Those are our orders...just get some rest."
He walked away, but no one else moved...they couldn't.
"Jolo?"
"...Callaloo?"
"Did he go?"
"...He went to the sky."
"Don't worry, Mama, will be nice to him."
"...I hope so."
Battle of Porto Swamps
Lugnica Casualties: 157
Vollachia Casualties: 347
Not even a few hours later, they found themselves clashing at the edge of a town.
As Jolokia punched out a guard, he heard many of his own men scream. A giant hand waved through the platoons, swatting them away. Standing tall, metallic skin and glowing green eyes, this armored giant, began walking towards them all.
The Vollachians cheered.
"Gallipoli! Gallipoli! Gallipoli!"
Indeed, the warrior Gallipoli, who became a temporary substitute God General, replacing the deceased Absinthe.
Even with his own moniker, of God General, Jolokia was stumped. He could possibly defeat this massive foe, but he wondered if he could effectively get out of it without losing a limb or such in the fight.
Well, it didn't matter, as Gallipoli was about to slam his palm down...something shot through his neck, blasting it apart. With blood pouring down like a waterfall onto these soldiers, he began to fall forward. Now dead, his massive body broke apart and a short feeble looking young man, not even a full grown adult, fell onto a roof, smashed into pieces.
The red light, flew down and stretched his muscles a bit.
"Not even worth putting out my sword."
"Yeah...Yeah…"
Jolokia roared.
"YYYYEAAAAAAHHHH!"
They all cheered the arrival of a Red Lantern; the Sword Demon, Wilhelm Van Astrea.
He dashed over and began his slaughtering. No matter who, Wilhelm ran at top speed, skipping steps even, to slice, dice and carve enemies to death. He even flew into the air and activated…
"Revenga Art 2: Crimson Emperor."
With both hands he held a gigantic sword construct three times bigger than his body. A sharp weapon, looking similar to a humongous cleaver. Using his strength and a mighty yell he slammed it down, killing a whole platoon. He dissipated it and flung several throwing knife constructs...when someone punched one to pieces. Stepping out of the pile of corpses, was a dark skinned man, muscular, in half armor, needing none for his upper body.
Because his arms were made of steel.
"I see, one of the God Generals, I presume?"
"Yeah, Moguro Hagane is the name I was rewarded with at my birth."
"Moguro? Ah, I see then, the eighth general."
"Do not think my number simply dictates my strength Astrea, I more than capable of handling you...alone. You hear me?!"
He yelled at someone behind him, and sure enough, popping out of tree was Hyena Beastman.
It was Number Six, Groovy Gamlet.
Not just that, three more people showed up as well. Wilhelm narrowed his eyes as he unsheathed his sword.
The Number Five, Goz Raflon.
The Number Four, Chisha Gold.
These two men arrived as well, with a Leopard Beastman, who wore clothing akin to a high level War Monk from Fire Emblem.
Goz, a gruff looking man with a sword wound to his stern face, gripped his Broadsword, and readied his spike covered shield. His bright green eyes glared at Wilhelm, his short brown hair with streaks of white rustled with a small breeze.
Chisha drew a sword as his tied back black hair matched his dark brown eyes and black light armor, he looked bored, as if he had no desire to even be there.
The Beastman with them, was their Roswaal, their Magrave...their Virtuoso Sorcerer, Quarry Bay.
The Leopard gripped his fists, as magic swirled around his hands.
"Wow! Wil-Wil is having fun~!"
Out of the sky, she came, and put them all on high alert.
The Red Lantern, The Sunlight Terror, Mimi Pearlbaton.
She sat on Wilhelm's shoulder as kicked her legs playfully.
"They look pretty tough, but are we seriously wasting our time, with them?"
"We have our duties Mimi-chan, and outright breaking the spirits of our enemies is key to winning."
"So killing these guys will...ummmmm?"
"Hahhh, it will break their will to fight."
"Oh! Scare to surrender, huh?!"
"Yes."
"Okay~! Mimi is gonna help!"
Groovy walked ahead and cracked his knuckles, the belts all over his body reminded them of Ovidius, without a doubt. Yet they held countless weapons, swords, axes, spears, you name it.
He chuckled,as a hyena would, drawing his sword against-
"Hey, Mimi wants to play with you~!"
"Oh shit!"
He guarded her strike with her club, before she hurled out the blood within her, melting off his right ear.
"Yeow!"
"Hey, c'mon~! C'mon! Play along!"
Mimi created a spinning top construct, which grew to be three times her small size, spinning rapidly with Groovy only being able to block it.
Goz and Maguro charged, the steel human wielding a large battleaxe with one hand.
Wilhelm let out...a small groan, annoyed at all this.
He rushed forward, trading sword strikes with Goz, before putting up a shield construct to block the axe. Moguro punched the construct to pieces, and spun in the air, landing a kick against Wilhelm's forearm.
Goz swung that sword like a toy and did masterful spins and slashes...none of which actually hit Wilhelm. But Wilhelm saw a moment, a perfect one.
He ducked underneath, the swing of the axe and put out a fist. Moguro caught it in his palm and sneered at Wilhelm.
Quarry tried to get involved, but some men in the village began firing at him, catching his attention.
Moguro sneered at Wilhelm.
"Think you can beat me in Martial Arts, how absurd-"
"-If one does not strategize, even in the heat of battle...THEY WILL ALWAYS BE MADE INTO A FOOL."
His fist shined...the fist he threw, was the same hand his ring was on. And so, it fired a beam, melting away Moguro's entire arm, even going as far as the steel and boiling blood, covering his face, burning him horribly.
"GUAHHHH!"
"Too slow!"
With his mouth wide open, Wilhelm thrusted one of his swords through it, killing him instantly.
Goz stared shocked...then flew into a rage and his sword glew, a bright radiant white. He swung it, and Wilhelm knee slided underneath it, watching as the slash launched out cutting through entire trees, houses and finally destroyed a hill. Wilhelm got into a leaping stance, one sword, and a spear construct in each hand.
Goz had yellow beams fire from his eyes, which Wilhelm cut through with his sword, the resulting broken beams destroyed the floor.
Wilhelm flew, stabbing Goz in the neck, and impaling the spear into his right leg. He spun in the air and kicked Goz in the jaw, creating a kitchen knife construct and stabbing it into his stomach, at least four times rapidly.
Goz kneed him away and flew into a charging headbutt, which made Wilhelm lose his balance. Goz got into a position to kill him with a upward sword strike...but a red blade went through his neck wound.
"You made me bleed, I commend you Goz Raflon, be proud with your death."
Wilhelm activated his Revenga Art, making his sword construct stretch, just to bend and twist wildly, catching him off guard.
Goz grabbed Wilhelm's face...and his strength waned...until he let go and slumped onto his knees. Arms weak, eyes closed, blood falling….the warrior went down.
Chisha slumped over and fell on his behind, completely terrified. Truth be told, even with his strength and title...he was a shrewd man. He only joined his country's army in order to escape his own poverty, and in the end, ended up being a God General, yet he had no patriotism for his own nation, he only sought to protect himself.
Yet, it was when he saw Wilhelm, that his heart skipped beats and he was in a total panic.
Meanwhile, Groovy was using a halberd and cutlass to attack Mimi, using the superior speed he was born with.
Still not enough.
Mimi toyed with him, as she made a tennis racket construct and giggled as she tried to slap him with it, almost matching his bone slamming speed.
He twirled with the weapons striking twice...only to see Mimi using a large sword construct to block the blows. She then created a pogo stick constuct and kicked it.
It bounced off and she grabbed it, changing the end of it into a spike and slamming it forward, slcing open his shoulder. As he chartged again, she stomped the ground.
"DONA!"
A wave of earth magic sprung out of the ground, forcing Groovy to jump up; and get tangled in chain constructs. He was then pulled up and watched as Mimi opened a Blood Portal...he struggled and bit onto the chains, but nothing could be done in freeing himself.
When he made his fangs bit off one chain...he noticed the absence of light, once they went through.
And the cold.
"What the hell?"
"Sorry~! But Mimi wants to play with the magic cat more! Hehehehe! So I'm gonna have to leave ya here. No hard feelings...you were just too boring."
She slammed him, onto an aimlessly floating asteroid, breaking the chain constructs.
Yes, they were both in outer space. He could see the world itself, far away, yet it looked only a few miles away.
"Buh Bye!"
She flew away, as Groovy grabbed his chest, and screamed, but nothing came out, as his throat was now frozen. Making a face so stretched in pain and terror, eyes completely white, devoid of light...it was one of those sights, anyone would be haunted by.
And that would be his grave, till the end of time.
Mimi flew down from the sky, making Chisha tremble almost laughably.
"Mimi-chan, you have returned?"
"Yup! I sent woof woof guy up into the stars!"
"I see, you flung him into outer space. Interesting, had he been a more capable opponent, he'd been able to dodge such an attack, or at least return from those reaches unharmed. It's for the best, good work."
"Does that mean I can get a snack?!"
"As soon as we take care of the rest."
"Ooooookay~!"
Mimi grinned and Wilhelm aimed his sword at Chisha, as it was now-
"I SURRENDER!"
"...!? HUH?!"
He tossed away his sword, and got on his hands and knees...begging.
"Spare my life! Please!"
Everyone was stunned beyond belief, the Vollachians were pretty much floored by this and the Lugnicans were just confused.
A warrior, known for his strength and experience...gave up without putting up a fight.
"I have knowledge of the Capital, of the main castle and all its specifications! I have valuable info! So you have to take me alive, right?! Capturing a living God General will make you all look good, right?! Ummm, ahhh, come on! Just-"
Punched on the back of the head, his face slammed into the ground, cracking the dirt apart. Callaloo breathed heavily as she shook her fist. Jolokia walked over as well.
"We grew tired of his prattling, grrrrrr."
"Good work Jolokia-san."
"Thank you, Wilhelm-sama...what shall we do with him?"
Glaring at him, for a moment, he came to rightful conclusion.
"Let's try giving into his pleas, capture him and let him give us the information we need."
"Very well, he might be useful in that regard."
"More so than a warrior."
"Grrrrr. Right."
But soon they all scattered when magic beams fired down upon them, destroying half the town.
"Cretens! This horrid display is unbefitting of our great nation!"
Quarry floated there, his hands glowing...having killed an entire regiment. Bougatsa fired, but he made a barrier which blocked it.
"Simple child's play! I am the greatest magic practitioner in this entire country, OUTBEATING THAT MEASLY MATHERS BY PLATEU'S REACH!"
He raised his hand and spoke incantations...and soon the sky turned dark and cloudy, raining lightning bolts down and attacking everything. Demolishing, burning, it was not holding up for a second.
Jolokia grabbed Callaloo and ran for it, Bouygatsa and his brother ducked under a bolt.
But Mimi flew through the proceeding attacks, and clashed with a mana sword Quarry made. Quarry spoke another incantation and made butterflies fly out at her, which Mimi responded by puking out her blood...revealing that these insects would explode in contact with anything it touched...turning the sky into a spectacle of flames.
Quarry then flew down and aimed his palm.
"Al Sidoria!"
This slowed down Mimi...but he was hit in the back by a throwing axe.
"Gahhh!"
Callaloo then took the opportunity to slice at his back, which he avoided in a spin around; only to get his attention back to Mimi who aimed her palm and fired a purple ring of magic. He fired a bird made of fire which collided with the attack, exploding the ground.
Quarry then fired a swirling stream of acidic water which carved the land hideously, but Wilhelm ended up being next to him and sliced off his right hand, before spin kicking him.
Quarry fired a large black beam from his mouth, which Wilhelm ran under and slid his feet across from him. Jolokia spun elbowed the back of Quarry's head, before Callaloo ran with all her might and dashed...biting off his right calf, before slamming him in a spin, with her tail.
Raising himself, he could see Wilhelm, Jolokia and Callaloo running at him…
So he smiled, teeth missing and eyes bloodshot, copious amounts of blood leaking out of a wound atop his left eye.
Aiming his palm, he uttered incantations at rapid speed until finally-
"AL SHAMAK!"
Darkness enveloped them, and they disappeared.
The others stared in complete despair and horror, as they all seemed to simply vanish from the face of the Earth.
"Ahahaha! Ohohoho! Behold the power of a long forgotten Yin Spell, even the other mages from throughout the world can not recall or fathom it!"
Juel, usually quiet and stoic...yelled.
"WHAT DID YOU DO!?"
"Oh pretty, soon to be dead Lugnican, I have sent them to another dimension! I do not know what that means, but I recall it being another form of saying 'realm'! Yes! They are trapped forever in another dimension!"
He gloated, but quickly noticed, Mimi was still floating in the air...talking into a conversing mirror.
"Okey dokey! All set~!"
A blood portal opened above her, and out floated Ovidius and Beatrice. Beatrice's brown eyes lit up slightly and nodded.
"It is Al Shamak, I suppose."
"Can you fix it?"
"Nothing a noble lady like me, can't handle."
She waved her hand forward, and spoke a similar incantation.
"Al Shamak."
The blackness sprung out of the nothingness again, and Quarry rushed backwards...only to get sliced open by a now free Wilhelm. It was girly, one could could see his bones and organs, still in place but plain to see.
He tried to do something, however Jolokia jumped out and landed a devastating superman punch, knocking out all the rest of his fangs...before Callaloo leaped at incredible speed, dashing so fast she left a small sonic boom.
His eyes widened, as Callaloo bit his neck open.
He gurgled before Wilhelm and Jolokia chopped him into three solid pieces.
….THEN THE LUGNICANS CHEERED!
Exhausted, delirious, but they celebrated.
The Vollachians, dropped their weapons, completely drained of morale. Ovidius and Beatrice floated down and observed their surroundings. Though she leaned on his shoulder, which he helped her out with, and it would be a long time, years even, before she could use that spell again.
"Looks like things are going well all things considering."
"Ovidius-sama, rest assured we are moving as fast as humanly possibly, it will be done, GRRRR!"
"Oh no worries about that, we just came back from checking on something."
"And that'd be?"
"We firebombed some islands several miles to the west of here, it was successful."
He made a peace sign as Wilhelm interjected.
"And the civilians?"
"Most escaped on rafts, which we luckily captured with our steamboats, we're sending them to the camps near the Sanctuary."
"And what of the islands?"
"We put out the fires on each of them, and an archipelago. We're going to use them begin docking our sea based weaponry, build some medical wards, and hell, put some of my beautiful cannons to begin bombarding the Capital."
"Hopefully this will help minimize our losses."
"True, true."
Beatrice then squatted down and picked at some grass.
"Either way, we should let the soldiers rest for a bit, I suppose. They'll need it for what comes next."
Jolokia raised his brows.
"Are we really that close, grr?!"
"Naturally, I suppose. We'll recommend that you all get four days of rest, get your bearings in order. We'll have extra weapons and the like ready to meet up with you, and then begin the final march to the Capital, I suppose. We'll inform the other platoons and commanders as well."
"I can understand the rest period, but it makes even me anxious...how close are we again?"
"A commander that doesn't keep track of their route? How annoying, I suppose."
"S-sorry."
She sighed, but understood full well the exhaustion they faced.
"Very close, all things considered."
Ovidius made his own grim, but also hopeful interjection.
"After your rest period, if going by the trajectory you and the other commanders are going, at the same top speed, you will reach it. You will all reach an appropriate distance outside the Capital, IN ONE WEEK."
While turly shocking news to hear, Jolokia could only stay firm at the knowledge given.
"This will be it then, grrrrr."
"Indeed, we've been getting info from the other platoons and divisions that they've been finding entire towns and even cities completely abandoned."
"Most likely they've all fled to the Capital."
"...This will not be easy Jolokia-san, a staggering amount of yours and their men, are going to die."
"I'm prepared."
"I hope you are."
From the forests, emerged a certain giant beast.
Carolus Rex.
He ran frward and Mimi flew to him, she hugged his face, as he playfully tried to shake her off.
"They get along very well, grrrrr."
Wilhelm nodded.
"Indeed, they like to tease each other, but work together swimmingly, both were even responsible for taking out two camps in a single day."
"Amazing."
"Both of them, will have to put that dual expertise to use soon."
He said this grimly, but still watched as Mimi patted Carolus on the head, which made him growl happily.
Soon after speaking pleasantries with each other, the Red Lanterns and their accompaniments left, leaving the soldiers alone to handle their own thing.
"Callaloo, you did good, thank you, grrrrr."
"Good?"
"Yes."
"Aha! Yay!"
She hugged him, refusing to let go, leaving him perplexed in some ways and troubled in others.
They would soon face it, soon enough, the final battle against the Vollachian Empire, their strongest warriors and the people who would fight to the bitter end.
But for now, it was time for rest...and…
"We seriously need to get you clothes, grrrrrrrrrr."
"Huh?"
A question mark appeared over this innocent girl's head.
Battle of Canton Village
Lugnican Casualties: 713
Vollachian Casualties: 700
Firebombing of Fortress Islands
Lugnica Casualties: 0
Vollachian Casualties: 1210
Vollachian Injuries: 1408 (mostly second degree burns)
GUSTEKO THEATRE
Reinhard looked back, sadly, at the young man, maybe only sixteen years old. He laid in the snow, eyes closed, snow slowly covering him, he had only died a few moments ago.
This was a grueling battlefield, the snow, the sneak attacks and the constant lack of food and supplies made soldiers in their army; either toughen up quickly, or die slowly.
Anyone could see, that the survivors of this campaign, would have bright futures ahead of them.
Reinhard moved through the snow, unaffected by it, meeting with Genau as they looked down the cliffside.
A mass grave.
Earlier, having killed an entire platoon of Gusteko soldiers and many mages among them, they would leave them here, covered by the snow.
Attero jumped off a boulder growling.
"He's sssssaying that there is sssssome activity ahead."
"Let us see then."
They ran up some rocky hills and could see it.
An entire army, numbering 100,000 and among them, powerful warriors.
Glancing behind them, they could see their exhausted, malnourished soldiers struggling to keep up.
"We can't let them get engaged."
"Reinhard, you, mysssself and Attero have to do thissss oursssselves."
"Concurrently, I agree on this."
The three stood there, as they formulated a plan of attack.
"Genau, which do you wish to attack?"
"...Me and Attero will take on the army, you handle thosssse obviousssss Ssssquadron memberssss!"
"...Very well, be safe."
"Exactly."
The three charged. Reinhard ran at top speed, while Genau ran for a bit, opened a Blood Portal, before flying through space, using chain constructs to hook onto a meteor and opening one again. Flying through he crashed the meteor onto the middle of the army and killed a ridiculous amount.
Distracted the front army turned around, only to begin being attacked by Attero. He swiped at them with his paws, and gouging them with his tail.
A warrior leaped into the air and tried to skewer him with a spiked halberd, only for Attero's tail to smash his head in, his body falling gracelessly onto the snow. Attero roared as he saw in the distance, the snow debris grow.
Emerging from the snow, was Genau, now in his Juggernaut form.
He smashed and stomped, his aura keeping him safe from harm from their feeble weapons.
Squish. He stomped them apart.
Splat. He smacked his tail on top of them.
Crunch. He bit into the men, even if they tried turning tail.
Slam. Again and again.
Slam. He would not stop.
Slam. Nothing would stop this frenzy.
Slam! Bash! Crunch! Chew! Squish! Thump! Snap!
He wouldn't stop even for a second.
This was no fight, it was a massacre.
Reinhard ran across the snow, facing the warriors who stood there, readying themselves, edging their nerves in facing the Sword Saint.
A more stout man readied a machete in one hand, and a pike in another.
"The Weeping Savior", Bonin Octavio.
Another man readied his hook blades and had small spirits float around himself, one for fire and two for earth magic. His eyes glowing red.
"The Overseer of Light", Fitzgerald Bianchi Trudeau.
A woman with a buzzed haircut for her pink hair and slit eyes, holding a bo staff and wearing a quite outrageous skimpy outfit.
"The Voice of Enlightenment", Maria Di Firenze.
Bonin got teary eyed as he was the first to charge.
"It pains me that we are forced to kill such a noble being."
Reinhard ignored him.
"Once we kill you and those beasts, we will be forced to attack your kingdom! So many of your friends and loves will have to be slain!? How tragic!"
Reinhard now had his attention.
He dashed forward and Bonin began striking with incredible daunting speed, almost looking as if he was attacking with multiple limbs, at least that would be what a normal person would see.
"WHY DO YOU RESIST?! I SHALL END YOU AND SEND TO OD LAGUNA FOR A CHANCE AT ETERNAL PEACE!"
Only for Reinhard to pass through the attacks and grab his head, with a twist of his wrists, and stomp of his left leg; HE BROKE HIS NECK, twisting it until his head was backwards.
Tossing aside his body, he stole his machete and charged.
Fitzgerald aimed his palm and beams fired out at Reinhard, littering the entire area in small meteors, only for Reinhard to appear appear behind him, his eyes glowing bright blue, leaving a streak of light where he traveled from. Eerie was barely a way to describe how it looked. He used his hook blades to swing back and attack, only for Reinhard to slice off his left arm and kick him in the face, sending him flying away.
Rolling away on the snow, far away from Reinhard, he picked himself up, missing all his front teeth, nose bent and a huge swell and crack on his forehead, to match a nasty bump on his temple.
Only to notice too late that Attero was right behind him, growling.
He spun back to fire again, but Attero slid across the ground and impaled him through the stomach with his tail. Bringing him closer, he ate his face clean off, leaving only his skull left. Attero tossed his body away and joined in Genau's massacre.
Reinhard had his machete glow bright blue as he charged, Maria did as well...only to scream.
"KYAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Releasing a humongous sonic scream, which slammed Reinhard into the ground. She then had her bo staff raised, and then slam down, creating a humongous crater where Reinhard was.
Genau returned to his normal size, taking on the completely panicked soldiers as they tried their best to defend themselves, Genau created sword constructs which sliced limbs off, puked his viscous blood which burned and melted dozens and had had earth spikes spring out of the ground impaling men through the neck, crouch and chest.
At this point, Genau was so covered in blood and flesh, he was having trouble seeing, no matter how much he shook his head. Those that tried to run away, were surprised by Attero who made it around the devastation and began attacking the deserters. Even biting on a general's neck and shaking him around like a pet's toy, before his body snapped off.
Genau then saw a man magnetically levitate all the sword, spears, shields and fling them at his opponent. Genau zipped, dashed and skipped past them.
"LOVELY! Lovely little thing, they call me Torso! I need you to know my name before I eat ya up, my little friend! So Lovely!"
He then pushed his Metia belt which fired swirling beams at Genau….only for Genau to fly up past all this nonsense and activate-
"Revenga Art 1! Overkill!"
He rocketed down, slicing the man into sixteen pieces, before making his way forward and completely slicing over a hundred men clean in half. Deactivating it, he went back to work, personally seeing to their deaths.
Reinhard got up, only to be slammed down by another sonic scream, and then with masterful work she hit him again and again with her staff. But when she aimed for his chin, hoping to knock him out, he ducked to the side, and sliced upward.
Her arm, barely hanging on, made her furious, she tried screaming again...only for Reinhard to use his thumb to stab the side of her neck. Completely crushing her voice box. He then followed with a twisting elbow strike, breaking her jaw, making it hideously hang on the side. Still keeping his thumb in place, he shifted his hip and after quickly tossing away the crumbling machete, he grabbed her shirt.
A perfect judo toss, flinging her away, and over a few rocks. Before she could truly get back up to fight-
"Grrrrrr…"
She turned around and found them, the Wolgarm they had brought along, drooling at the sight of her.
A quick swing of her staff, only killed one, as the others jumped her, tearing her into pieces. In a gruesome scene, some bit her leg, others her shoulder, and they pulled, ripping her body apart.
Reinhard looked away in disgust, wiping away some blood from his forehead.
Genau and Attero sniffed through the absolutely ludicrous amount of corpses they had left behind.
Indeed, they defeated every last one of the 100,000 men in this army. Any survivors would be promptly finished off.
When Reinhard walked over the piles and piles of corpses, he found Genau so completely covered in red, he looked frightening.
"I see things went well here."
"Better, all thingsssss considering."
"Right."
He nodded but all three noticed, and raised their brows when they saw it.
Another army, at half the size, there, stopped dead in their tracks.
All of them, just stared at the graveyard of men in front of them, horror unbound.
Genau growled, blood seeping out of his mouth.
Reinhard retrieved a sword from the ground and gripped it tightly with one hand.
Attero snarled at them.
And.
In a mass example of what they were up against.
All 50,000 men….dropped their weapons.
The largest surrender the war would see so far.
All three breathed a long, tired breath.
After watching the large army being marched to the prisoner camps near the border, Genau rolled in the snow, hoping it would help in getting him clean.
The men feasted, on some bears Genau and Attero helped tracked down, Reinhard sat on a rock, contemplating quietly.
One thing he felt guilt over, mauled over, was the fear in those prisoners eyes when they looked at him. A warrior meant to protect, now truly feared like a monster.
And all the Sword Saint could do, was stare coldly at a snow covered Gusteko corpse, blanketed in white...and the castle which was far off in the distance.
One month was the set time for invasion of their Capital.
Saransk Tundra Massacre
100,000 Guseko Soldiers killed.
50,000 captured.
LUGNICA
A week later...
Linnea Helena had her congregation gather in their temple in the capital as the preyed.
But also rejoiced.
"Our brothers and sisters have sacrificed so much, yet have succeeded in so many trials. They conquered the heretics and their leaders! We are so close to victory! So pray! Pray and let them know you wish glory upon them!"
She then smiled so cutely, it was scary.
"And let us pray...for our new king."
In fact, it had been two weeks since the end of the Royal Selection.
Staring at the news buleltin board at the city square, informing the public on the obvious results of the Selection, she bit her lips. Bit of blood trickled down her chin.
"How despicable."
Crusch Karsten cursed the results.
The results that were surely STOLEN from her...
In the Royal Castle, the knights bowed, the Council bowed, as their king entered her domain.
Now she walked to her throne, with a sword upon her hip, and a white robe, so long, it dragged onto the floor as she walked.
Now settling herself, she sat on the throne.
"What shall be our task?"
The Royal Guard, then locked eyes with his master.
"What is it you ask of us, KING EMILIA?"
With the sun gracing her, Emilia sat there, now with a glorious crown atop her short hair, and loomed her sight down upon them. Wearing a dark purple dress, with a red flower necklace, and Puck sitting on her lap.
"Let us begin preparations, for the approaching victory in this war."
TO BE CONTINUED…
AN: Alas, we are beginning the character purge, not everyone is going to make it to the end of this war in one piece, I can assure you that.
Callaloo gets her name from the song by Jimmy Buffett from his album "Don't Stop the Carnival", it's a catchy happy song, which I think matches her well.
And if she was voiced, it would obviously be, Rie Kugimiya, voice of Taiga from Toradora and Happy from Fairy Tail.
All hail the half-elf king!
Next time: CHAPTER 27 "Moment of Truth", see ya then!