Confetti burst from the target, the myriad of colours almost like a firework in the twilight sky as the audience cheered in amazement. The archer, whose shot hit the target, quickly rode off, allowing the next archer to take their turn once the targets were replaced.

But as the next archer rode forward and the audience watched with intense interest, Kōro observed silently as he smoked from his buyōkiseru; thinking back to the days of his youth as he tasted the foreign marijuana.

Since that day, the world he once knew had changed. And since that day the old scars never left him, including the one that brought him here. Though the scars were barely noticeable now.

The crowd began to watch with intense interest while the archer landed their arrows, each shot causing more confetti to burst. But at the last target, the archer missed and therefore failed to win the event.

Soon war would be upon them, and therefore they would need divine favour. Which was why they were having the Yabusame near the city today, though today the event didn't feel quite right somehow. As though something was wrong; but as to what he couldn't figure out, which made him concerned.

Maybe it was due to his half-brother not participating today. But then again, that was before Kōro even knew he had a brother. Before the misdeeds of his father were known.

That, however, was the past. His brother Tokkuri was now a lord, second only to him, and constantly busy with his duties. And his father was now forever resting within the catacombs of the mountain, just like the rest of the Kurogane bloodline.

A familiar aroma began to envelop his senses, the sweet yet calming scent of fragrance gently overpowering the smell of marijuana. Turning towards the scent, Kōro saw before him a pale woman with two of his guards beside her. Neither one said a word while the two guards bowed respectfully before they walked backwards, leaving them in private.

"Why are you still here? You know I cannot give you what you want," uttered Kōro to his wife.

Masumi gave him a gentle smile, a sense of peace washing over him as she sat next to him, "Why do you not send me away so that I may never be seen again? You know I would obey without question."

Kōro smiled as he turned to watch the people cheer in excitement; wrapping his hand gently over Masumi's soft hand, he said, "Because I have made a promise."

(-)

Four lords gathered at the temple of the heavens, the capital of the Suijin clan. Each being the representative and leader of the unified clans of the east, west, north, and south territories. Normally if they were to have gathered it would have been more on trade or some form of common politics, but today it was different. Today they had all unified against one common enemy, to accomplish one single goal. The fall of the Kurogane clan.

At the front of the table was Lady Suijin Karaokami of the west; who was known far and wide as the wisest, oldest, and most powerful Ryu in Zipangu. Indeed, there was a time she was once called Zipangu's strongest being. With her eyes barely open while fanning herself, and her mouth covered by her hiogi fan, she was the first to speak, "I assume we have all gathered now, yes?"

Lord Mozō Shitora, the warlord of the south, spoke up, his arms folded as he sat next to the table, "Yes, and soon those Kurogane bastards will finally be gone."

Meanwhile, Lord Kogazen Masato, noble merchant of the east, drank greedily from his foreign chalice; its skeleton face giving a dead glare at everyone as he finished drinking and agreed with Shitora, "Indeed, and thanks to our friends beyond the sea, we finally have some technological upper hand against them."

"Must we really kill them all? Can we not end this peacefully like the royal makai barbarians?" Interrupted Lady Ō-Inari Akkeko, the mistress kitsune-tsuki of the north; her kimono leaving very little to the imagination as she laid on the floor. whether she was trying to lay there seductively or was just lazy, none could tell for certain.

Shitora suddenly unfolded his arms and slammed the table with his armoured fist; The impatience in his voice was clear as day as he spoke, "Those monsters don't deserve to live!"

With the faint look of greed on his serious face, Masato nodded as he replied, "Though that is a tad bit over the top, yes. we must not let one Kurogane live. After all, every one of us has made the same deal with the T.F.U. to get those 'firearms' of theirs."

Closing their fan, and clearing their throat, Karaokami moved the conversation past the current topic, "Perhaps we should move to war plans, yes?" All of the Lords silently nodded, "Then perhaps we should begin with the basics of our plans. Is there anyone who is willing to perhaps suggest a potential strategy?"

"I have plenty of Kunoichi tribes underneath me. Perhaps I could get some of them to scout our foes, and maybe even take out their leader," spoke up Akkeko, a gleam of mischief and lust in her eyes now that she was actually giving attention to the meeting.

Karoakami tightened her grip around her hiogi fan, a nerve obviously having been struck, "Neither you nor your kunoichi would be able to...' convert him'."

"What do you mean? He is just a man after all. It only makes sense that he would fall for the love of a mamono." Chuckled Akkeko.

The winds grew heavier as the lights began to dim, causing everyone to become silent in both words and thought. Everyone then started to hold their breath as Karokami tried hard to not crush her fan, and slowly placed it down on the table. Then the Ryu opened her eyes all the way for the first time since before the lords knew her. And this is what made them afraid, not the winds or the dimming lights.

No, it was those... 'eyes'. Those empty sockets with nothing but veiny, pulsating red lumps of flesh with no signs of pupils, or anything that could even be remotely described as eyes. In fact, the closest thing they looked like were thumping, repulsive-looking hearts as she spoke, "Let my eyes be a warning sign, if you or your kunoichi so try to get near him."

Then with a disgusting and fleshy sound, Karoakami squinted her eyes back to the way they were, hiding their true nature for everyone's sake. And all the while the winds began to calm down as Karoakami picked her fan back up and cleared her throat once more, "Besides, only one Kunoichi has ever successfully claimed a high ranked member of the Kurogane clan, and they are currently overseas. So, any other ideas?"

Shitora quickly recovered from the shock and spoke up, "I say we take our forces straight to Fort Torii. If we conquer that, then their morale will crumble and their military strength will be weakened."

Shaking his head Misato replied, "That is suicide. You know that not one invader has yet to even get so much as a single pebble on those walls, especially with the horsed devil of the wind watching over it."

"Then what do you suggest?" Grunted Shitora.

Misato took another sip from his chalice before making his own proposition, "Simple, we block them off from what little trade they have with those religious barbarians, and prevent them from getting any other resources as possible while slowly killing them off. A battle of attrition of you will, except its only one side that is in danger of running out of food and water."

"Hmmm... yes, this can work," Mumbled Karoakami, "How about this. Lord Mozō Shitora, you will attack the fort while Lord Kogazen Masato drains our enemy of their resources and Lady Ō-Inari Akkeko will gain information while taking care of... minor targets. This will be our first step."

Shitora gave a doubtful look at the ryu, "And what will you be doing?"

Karoakami gave a slight chuckle, "I will give each of you support with my own forces while doing a few hit and run attacks. Remember, the stone must be eroded before the waters can push it aside."

(-)

One step at a time, that was what Petre kept telling himself. For a whole day, they had been traveling on foot with very little rest, and in fact, the giant didn't even seem to show any signs of needing a break.

The only real positive to this was that they had made a good bit of ground. Of course, Petre didn't mind traveling this far with so little rest, but he'd soon have to get a drink. For gods' sakes, he was sweating down a storm.

Granted, he could merely ask Gael for a place to stop for a little bit, but there was a problem with that. Gael at this point already knew the general direction to where he wanted to go, which meant there was no need for his help any further. And with that meant Gael could just leave him here.

Though yes, Gael had yet to leave him or betray him in any way, he just couldn't get himself to ask. Petre already had enough trust-related experiences for his gut to just not simply be fine with something like this.

Gael's footsteps began slowing down a little to Petre's relief, "Why do mamono act the way they do?" asked Gael out of nowhere.

That question confused Petre for a second as he wiped some sweat off his brow, "Most people should already know all this, but ok. Uhh, where to start... Well, mamono used to be regular monsters that attacked and killed everything in sight save for their own kind. But they need a leader, who they are all somehow connected to, in other words, a demon lord. Without them, they'd all kill themselves. But one day a succubus took the throne and they all became what we see today, the mamono. Does that pretty much sum it up?"

"Has this not ever happened before?"

"Nope," Petre stated blatantly, "A succubus is not supposed to be able to take the throne. But she got some help."

Gael now slowed even further and gave Petre a look of curiosity, or at least from what he could tell, "Who?"

"A hero of the Order sided with her. He wanted peace between the two factions, so he did what he thought was best. And... here we are."

Nothing was said after that, no questions or anything save for Gael walking a little slower. Though Petre couldn't help but feel uneven; as though something wasn't stirring well with him. Maybe he was just seeing things, but he swore he could see something in the trees, and in the water. Humanoid but not mamono, however, he only saw them a second or two. So he wasn't able to get a good look.

Were they real? Wait no, what was he thinking? They were just shadows playing a joke on his mind, nothing more. Nothing more at all, he must really be exhausted or something. He is sweating a lot now after all.

"Who are the Order?" Asked Gael, suddenly drawing Petre away from his thoughts.

Instead of immediately answering though, Petre quickly glanced back to see there was actually no one there, "Uh, the Order? They are... religious followers of the chief god. Save for mamono they are... 'tolerant' of most species but most of them are c-corrupt... save for a few tha-t-t is."

Petre stopped, a burning sensation slowly beginning to swell within his gut. Gael as well stopped and asked, "Are you alright?"

Shivering as if in a freezing winter, Petre shrugged off Gael's question quickly. "I'm...I'm fine... I just-... maybe we should go somewhere to rest. I just need a short break from all... from all of this. The travel I mean."

Gael now completely stopped before asking, "How far are we from this... Kurogane clan?"

"About...uhh... I think we're almost halfway towards a village of the Suijin clan. Then the next stop will be the Kurogane clan's border. So r-relatively not... not far."

At that Gael walked towards the side of the path they were going before placing his greatsword up against a tree, "You should rest, I will stay to keep watch and get a fire going."

"Thanks," Spoke Petre in a tired voice before sitting down next to a nearby tree exhausted. And all the while, Gael did not let go of the crate. Instead, he started to head towards the woods, which Petre assumed to get some firewood.

This put a slight cramp into his plan of getting more wine. But either way, he would just need to wait for Gael to get 'lost in thought'. And when that happens, he'll try to get another dose of the wine from the crate. He had done it once before, and he would do it again.

There was one fear he had though. There was only one bottle of wine left, and taking small doses as rationing would only last him so long. And If he failed to get any more divine wine, then nothing good would soon follow.

(A/N)

Tbh this chapter originally had way more in it, but I realized some of it was not necessary or overused while some of it I realized was better off for later. So yeah, that's why this chapter is relatively shorter compared to the more recent ones.

Also for the comment about the guns.

1. In MGE guns are not all too common, at least from what I have gathered. In fact (At least for the mamono) magitek guns only became a somewhat major thing when Lescete fell (Obviously this fanfic has altered from the canon timeline where Lescete falls, so this changes how the world advances). And from what I have gotten, it is a relatively new invention/rediscovery for them. Granted they are starting to make decent progress according to the creator of MGE.

2. As for the statement on the interview. I do not know where it is (I'd be a help if I knew what SB stood for, same as well for who Mole is.) and I have been unable to find it. However I have discovered that cannons already exist, at least for the Order, but not on the whole being able to deflect bullets. And honestly, I take that with a grain of salt considering if the skilled solder can do that, then arrows would be useless as well. So from now for the future chapters, and if I ever rewrite this fanfic in some way, I will make sure the cannons are included.

Sorry for the nerd out thing there, just wanted to get that aside.