Heavens gate

by Touhoufanatic

They arrive on a great flaming beast, people from a world beyond heaven and the realm of the gods, from a far off place barely in the rim of known existence. They hold technology with power unheard of, and a willingness to survive never before seen on Gekai. and now, they are here to stay, regardless of what the Gods and their children will say.

7. The Adamant union - Slaughter

Authors note: Alright, it is finally here the chapter you have been waiting for, the technological pound down. It took way longer than I expected due to a number of things including POZ swapping, being laid off and job hunting, rewriting sections, and a bunch of others things, but here it is in all its glory.

Before that though, couple of points.

Would the guest reviewer calling themselves Aragorn please stop spamming the same danmachi idea in reviews of not just this story, but some of my others as well? If you want an idea done that badly, I have commissions on my Kofi. Though I will admit it's not an idea I would likely do very well with.

Next, I find it a bit interesting that the people who seem to know nothing about Rimworld are the ones commenting most heavily against the Union forces. Rimworld is not a nice place and the list of crimes against humanity one can commit, or have committed against them, are very high and often common. If you do not like the story no one is forcing you to read it, but insulting the characters from a setting you know nothing about is rather counterintuitive, yes?

Finally, some people's comments did make me think that it is possible that the currently large cast size may be worrying some people for the story's progress. The cast may seem large, but as we leave the introductory arc it will get smaller to some extent.

This did of course give me thoughts and ideas though, of what the story could be like if taken a vastly different route, so I have made a poll and put it into my profile page. Please give it a gander and give me your thoughts.

Alright, that's all to say, hope you enjoy the chapter, and if you really like my work, I do have a Kofi and , links on my profile page.

Xxxxx

"So, aside from wanting to know how we will deal with that little army of yours, I take it you have questions as well?"

"Yes, we do," Zeus spoke as he, Hestia and Hephaistos stood before Michel Vance and those that reminds of the ones he called his fellow leaders. They had been brought to a large room that reminded the gods of the Denatus hall in a way, though it was far less regal, and far more utilitarian. A stone floor, stone walls, strange glowing lights In the ceiling that provided more than enough light, and a single large table that could easily fit fifteen people. The leaders of the Adamant Union had taken seats at the table, crowding around the one side so that some few others could sit down as well, though it was not like they insisted everyone stand as at the back wall there were a number of smaller tables as well as chairs that seemed made of both metal and wood together.

The three gods had taken seat at the big table and, with some careful and quiet prodding from Hestia the Leader of the Guilds Delegation, and the High elf Riveria, had taken seats as well. Everyone else was in the midst of unstacking chairs to use themselves, as many of the Guards and adventurers had given their weapons to others to stow so that they could attend what they expected to be a very important meeting.

"I do not mean to interrupt, but is not dealing with Rakia more important to deal with first?" Riveria spoke up carefully, making Zeus grumble a bit to himself, while Hephaistos nodded.

"Yes. You sounded as if you already had a plan to defend this place. May we know what it is?"

The Leaders of the Adamant Unions seemed to look at one another, many of them seeming to almost act uninformed, while three of them seemed to almost be smiling before Michel Vance spoke up. " Well, I had hope to at least get introductions out of the way first, but if you are so worried, Deadbolt, please explain."

The man named Deadbolt, whose eyes seemed awfully strange to Everyone from Orario, got up from his seat and walked over to the wall behind Michel and, to everyone's surprise, hit it. When he did, it seemed to light up and glow, showing a map of some form that appeared made of light and colors. "Alright, one quick explanation of the slaughter that will occur in a few hours and likely for the rest of the day. This, is a map of this valley, showing both the whole of our settlement, and that tiny ass village you came from," He paused and pointed to one section of the map where the green coloring changed to brown. "This, is the tree line. When that army crosses it, we will send in a messenger to speak with them. If discussions break down, they shall retreat, and then our artillery corps will unload upon that entire army, first with HE shells, then Tox, acid and incendiary. Once the artillery is done, if the enemy insists on still fighting, all of our defensive turrets will open up on them as soon as they are in range, and all the while we will continue bombarding them from range with artillery big and small. Our shooters will also be on the battlements of the walls with all possible firepower and will use it as they please until ordered otherwise. Oh, and before I forget, the plains between here and there are littered with a variety of Landmines, so they will also have those to contend with. Simply put, there is no way those pathetic medieval warmongers will even reach the walls. Questions?"

"I did not see any catapults upon your walls, but can you really hit all the way to the forest line outside with them? Hestia asked curiously.

"Or are you perhaps referring to magical attacks when you say artillery?" Hephaistos added.

Deadbolt seemed to stare at them for a moment before chuckling, something that a couple of the other Adamant leaders did as well, though most simply looked at their compatriots with annoyance. "Well, a few of those who know magic may have spells with the right range, but they would prefer to use their powers elsewhere, and no, we don't have catapults or anything else so, archaic."

"Archaic?" The Guild delegate asked in surprise at Deadbolts choice of words.

"Yes, archaic, as in old as hell, so old, it has no place on the battlefield," Deadbolt as he hit the wall, making the map disappear before walking back to the table, though he did not sit back down. "That army, if it refuses to leave, will die. For some it will be painless and instant, but for most of them it will not be. They will die in agony, bleeding out upon the ground, choking on their own blood, or screaming as flames eat their skin and lungs. They will die, and their remains will fertilize that field."

Those from Orario were shocked by Deadbolt's words, but it was another of the Adamants leadership letting out a chuckle that caught their attention. This man looked very similar to Deadbolt, though he was more muscular looking, and had shorter hair. "You are scaring them, Bro."

"Let them be afraid," Deadbolt said with a wave of a hand as he pulled out his chair and sat back down upon it, bringing his feet up and resting them on the table to reveal the heavy black boots he wore to all. "This land is medieval; they should be used to the concept of total war."

"What you speak of sounds much more like torture, and less like war or even battle, boy," Zeus said grimly.

"If they are not prepared to die a horrible death, then they shouldn't be endangering other people lives, simple as that," Deadbolt said with a shrug. "Besides, if they are looking for mercy let them pray to whatever fake god they worship and they will see how far that gets them."

Many of the other Adamant leaders looked at Deadbolt strangely, but it was the horrified look on the Guild delegates face that really caught attention as they spoke up. "Why, would you say something like that?"

"Why wouldn't I when," Deadbolt stopped for a second before smirking. "Oh I get it, is it some local belief then? That gods exist and come to speak to people physically? Please, it's absurd, and if nothing else, insulting that uncaring gods could even exist in the first place."

"How dare you speak as such, know your place, boy," Zeus said angrily.

"While I won't say the same, why would you deny such a thing when the truth is obvious?" The Guild Delegate asked.

Deadbolt raised a brow and then chuckled as he glanced at the five at the table. "Heh, let me guess, a few of you claim to people you are, gods come down from the heavens or whatever such nonsense?"

"Deadbolt, Enough!" Michel Vance called out in clear annoyance before letting out a sigh. "Since Deadbolt has finished explaining out plans for defense, why don't we do introductions before we get any further and possibly cause any misunderstandings?"

"That may be best" Riveria answered calmly. "Would you like us to begin, or-"

"No, we are the hosts here, it is only proper we introduce ourselves first," Vance said as he stood up from his chair. I'll introduce everyone here one at a time, with their name, position, and their Xenotype," Michel Vance explained before going around the table and introducing each and every one of his fellow leaders.

Deadbolt – a Human who was called the Adamant Union's sharpshooter, the one who led training of all ranged weaponry, and the primary one who lead defensive operations.

Slayer – a Human who acted as the Unions Melee weapons training leader, and was Deadbolts brother.

Nakua – a Moyo Scientists who did not specialize his endeavors, but looked into whatever was most needed.

Kraken – a Deep Moyo Scientists who specialized in weapons development.

Slice – a Nyaron who ran the Unions Construction and urban planning jobs.

Frolic - a person who was called an android and had odd linens across their face who apparently ran the unions ranching and animal husbandry.

Belladonna – a Cartel Moyo who ran the unions Medical and Biological research initiatives.

Alraune – a strange woman who looked made of wood and plant matter, and who apparently was the leader of something called the colonies dryads.

Vance even went on to introduce the four that were not present.

Lilywhite – a Dragonian who was the leader of the Unions Farming.

Crevasse – an Android who led the Unions mining and refining operations.

Clark – The snake person that was called a Rakkle, who led the Unions Recreations and parks operations.

Fartooth – a Nyaron who alongside Deadbolt and Slayer, defended the colony with defensive constructions.

Once the admittedly simple introductions were complete Vance paused and let out a sigh before gesturing to those across the table from him. "I can see you have questions before you introduce yourselves."

"Yes, but introductions first," the Guild Representative said as he stood up. "My name is William Garanthuul, and am here as a Representative of the Orario Guild, due to the Guildmaster being unable to come himself due to preparations for a Festival in Orario," He then gestured to Riveria. "This is one of the Adventurers from Orario who came with us as a Guard, and is the highest levelled Adventurer with us, Riveria Ljos Alf of the Loki Familia."

"A Blessed, huh?" Deadbolt commented, earning a number of looks, including from Riveria herself.

"Excuse me?"

"Your race. A Blessed," Deadbolt stated before shrugging. "Also called Elves, right?"

"I am a High Elf, yes," Riveria said carefully, sensing something strange in Deadbolts demeanor and tone.

"Deadbolt, let them finish their introductions," Vance said in a warning tone. Deadbolt just shrugged back silently. "I apologize, please continue."

"Y-yes, of course," William said with a nod. "Next, we have Zeus, Hestia, and Hephaistos, who also leads her Familia as one of the most prominent Smithing and crafting Familia in all the land. And, if it was not obvious by their presences to you, all three of them are Gods come down from Tenkai."

Silence filled the room. The leaders of the Union seemed to be giving each other strange glances, while those from Orario waited. Zeus seemed stoic, as did Hephaistos, but Hestia could tell that Hephaistos was worried by something.

"Right, so, I'm guessing you have questions of your own you are just, dying to ask?" Belladonna asked absently as she stared at something on her wrist she was tapping. It was like she was asking the question for the sake of others, and didn't care about its answer herself.

"W-we do, yes," Hestia answered, finding the strange look of the woman before her confusing, and the lead in for her question. "What exactly are some you?"

"We told you our Xenotypes already," Belladonna said in an almost exasperated tone, though it was far more mellow than that.

"Yes, but that doesn't tell us what you are," Hephaistos added. "What exactly is a Xenotype?"

"Xenotypes, also called Xenohumans, is a catchall term for those who are of different subspecies from the base species we all stem from. Humans."

"You are not Human," Zeus said bluntly as his gaze shifted at them all, but strayed onto some in specific. "Not all of you at least."

"That is correct," Belladonna stated simply. "We are Xenotypes of Human, subspecies of Human that through genetic manipulation, whether intended or not, have become isolated and different, yet still are human enough to be considered as such."

"You mean, you are all human?" Hestia asked in surprise.

"That is mostly correct," Frolic spoke up with an awkward smile. "Everyone is human or a subspecies there of except for myself and Androids like myself, as we are artificial being created and given life. Think of us like Mechanoids, but not insane nor as horrifying."

"Mechanoids?" Hephaistos asked in curiosity.

"Ah, right, Medieval. Think of us like extremely intelligent and perfectly sapient Golems."

That got Hephaistos's attention, making her eyes widen slightly as Riveria spoke up.

"You expect us to believe that you," She looked at the Moyo," And that snake person from before, are humans and not some other race completely?"

"That is correct," Belladonna answered as she finally looked up at Riveria. "where we come from, Elves, or the Blessed as they like to be called, are also merely Xenotypes of Humans. Are you saying you are not?"

"Of course not. Elves are their own race, just like the Boaz, Dwarves, and any other race."

"Heh, methinks they are confused about how biology works," Deadbolt commented with a snicker, earning a light smack upside the head by Slayer, who looked annoyed by his brothers antics.

"To turn around your own question then," Nakua spoke up as he leaned forward in his chair and looked at the three gods. "You expect us to believe that you are Gods of all things?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Zeus asked gruffly as he sat up straighter and glared at Nakua.

"I do not mean it as insult, but the idea of people being gods; it is a bit absurd, no?" Nakua asked simply. "Gods are merely created forms of worship, totems and icons to be used by those who need something in their lives to justify their actions."

"You, don't believe the Gods are real?" Riveria asked in surprise.

"It's hard to when you witness your home world die," Deadbolt said with a chuckle that silenced the room.

"What, are you talking about?" Hestia asked in fear that Hephaistos and Zeus matched.

"Hmmm, let's start this off way back then," Deadbolt said as he leaned back on his chair. "Humanity began as a species upon the planet Earth somewhere between two and seven million years ago. It took a long time, but about ten or twenty thousand or so years ago humanity finally evolved past being more animals into intelligent hunter gatherers that could be called civilizations. Many of those ancient civilizations believes in gods and over time humanity spread and made more civilization that made up their own gods, like the Greek Pantheon you three seem to be named after.

No one spoke, but Riveria noticed how the three gods had a strange look on their faces as Deadbolt spoke, as if he was revealing something long buried.

"Anyway, after many thousand years humanity learned to smelt iron, make printing presses and build computers, and as we evolved as a species, we came to an unfortunate conclusion, that being that the planet earth was dying not by our own actions surprisingly, but by its own molten core going out of whack. Humanity banded together to save itself, over three hundred years building great colony ships called arks to leave the planet, and colonize the worlds of other stars. My brother and I were among those on the final ark that bore witness to the planet cracking itself in half."

"You are taking too long," Belladonna spoke up with shake of her head. "Humanity went out into the stars, and due to the time it took to travel, and humanities innate natural talent at self-evolution, changed in some places into subspecies. Those like myself, The Moyo and its subspecies, were an intended evolution to better inhabit the primarily ocean based worlds by predecessors landed upon. While some other Xenotypes were created intentionally for other reasons or means, and not often executed with an individual's consent."

"Yeah, so basically, humanity has been in the stars for about, ooh, seven thousand years now I think?" Deadbolt asked, making Vance speak up.

"Five thousand seven hundred and twenty nine, I believe."

"Yeah."

"Wait. That is impossible," William spoke up. "Only the gods can live that long, and you do not look a day over thirty,"

"Well, Humans travel through the stars in Cryo, so we don't age while traveling," Deadbolt said matter of factly. "The last ship to leave earth got caught up in a black holes gravity well for a few thousand years, so that slowed our arrival to the proposed planet pretty majorly, and by that time the planet had been destroyed and we had to go elsewhere, eventually landing upon one of the Rimworlds. Worlds not directly under a governments control. It's why humans have two ages. Biological age, and chronological age."

"Is that why your souls look so, strange?" Zeus asked as he glared at Deadbolt and Slayer.

"Souls?" Deadbolt asked before letting out a chuckle. "Sure, old man, our souls look odd because were chronologically thousands of years old, let's go with that."

"Deadbolt, Enough," Vance said in exasperation. "To make it simple, Humanity as a whole has been through a lot, with wars, expansions, wars, Mechnaoids, insects, and all sorts of happenings in its thousands of years in space. While there have been many beliefs in gods and the like, there has never been any proof of them ever existing, and upon the Rimworld that we hailed from, Gods tended to be the primary worship of barbaric tribes and the like. So the idea that people call themselves gods is, looked down upon. If there was some way to prove such a thing scientifically to us, we would be more than happy to see it," Vance explained diplomatically as he could.

"What exactly would you need for us to prove to you that we are gods?" Hephaistos asked curiously, seeming to recover herself faster than the other two gods.

"Tissue, blood, skin, hair samples, as well as Saliva samples to start, and there are a variety of tests that could be done to-" Belladonna began to say, only to be cut off when the rooms lights suddenly changed to a dark red in color.

"What is-" Hephaistos began to ask, only to Stop as Deadbolt and Slayer got up from their seats.

"Well, looks like it's our turn to work, look forward to the show!" Deadbolt exclaimed as he and Slayer began walking toward the door.

"The light is to notify that enemies have been detected approaching the Colony," Vance explained as a number of light screens suddenly appears on three of the rooms walls, showing the streets of the colony on some, while others showed the walls and the fields beyond. Fields with the showing of movement at its edges. "Deadbolt and Slayer will lead the defense of the Adamant Union, and we will be perfectly safe here."

"And if we wish to witness this defense ourselves?" Hephaistos asked.

"Then we would ask that you do not take part and only observe, and that you have some of your own go with you as you, of course, our guests," Vance stated seriously before seeming to relax. "As said, you are safe here, and can witness the battle from here as well. Similar screens are around the colony so that everyone knows the situation."

"Just relax and do as Deadbolt said, and enjoy the show," Belladonna said with a sadistic smirk.

"You do not think that you should be ready to defend your homes yourself?" Riveria asked after a moment of silence.

"I would, if the enemy we were to fight warranted it," Vance said as he seemed surprisingly calm. "From what you have told us of these lands technology, there is no need for everyone to arm themselves for battle, only those in the self-defense and wall forces."

"Yeah, it won't be much of a fight anyway," Slice said with a shrug as they seemed almost bored.

Those From Orario were unsure of what to make by the Adamants leaderships seemingly Blaise Reponses, and could only stare at the screen for a time as they severely underestimated the words they were given.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As soon as Deadbolt and Slayer walked out of the meeting building they found themselves surrounded by two dozen Colonists, each in their choice of armor and fully kitted out and ready for combat.

"Have the Bombardiers ready to fire on my signal at the predesignated positions, and make sure every manned gun has at least two people on it on the wall and below," Deadbolt said, knowing that the ones responsible for such orders would know it.

"And have our Warcaskets ready on the wall and behind it," Slayer added as he took a tablet from someone and began tapping parts of it before handing it back.

"That too. Do we have a number from long range scanners or cameras yet?" Deadbolt asked, a colonist then handing him a tablet as they spoke.

"Not yet. The enemy forces are staying to the forest primarily and seem to have made camp a bit further back, likely using that village as a main base of operations. Should it be leveled?"

"No, our guests wouldn't like that," Deadbolt said with a shake of his head. "It's likely a forward scouting force, or perhaps a diplomatic scouting force. Have one of our diplomats, let's see . . . . .Arethusa, come to the gate."

"A call for that was already put out, she and a few others should already be on their way."

"Well that solves that problem," Slayer muttered with a sigh. "How much of the barbed wire lines have managed to be spread over the fields so far?"

"Only the minimum so far as a few of the lower turrets and emplacements were having mechanical issues this morning," one colonist answered. "All of them are functioning perfectly fine now though."

"Small mercy."

"Please, you are worrying too much brother," Deadbolt said with a hearty chuckle. "What are these primitives going to do to us? Hack through thirty millimeters of armor with shorts words and iron tipped arrows?"

"Even a dull blade can cut flesh if it strikes right, we can't be too overconfident about this," Slayer replied.

"True, overconfidence is the most unsightly of killers after all, but I don't think it's overconfident to say this is going to be a bloodbath," Deadbolt commented as the group cameo out from a roadway to the open area around the main gate.

The Gate was a flurry of activity as dozens of people moved every which way. Some were moving crates of ammunition, others were helping others don gear and prepare weapons, while others were setting up desks and mechanical apparatus like radios upon them.

It was an interesting spread of weapons and armor technologies as well. Some people wore long dusters like Deadbolt did, while others were in full Marine armor or one of its many alternate versions. Classical Chemical round rifles stood alongside Kinetics, laser, plasma guns and energy weapons, and some people even had some of the more esoteric weapons, like shard rifles or molten cannons.

And that wasn't even taking into consideration the hulking forms of Warcaskets and their oversized weapons of destruction.

"Right, let's get up there and see what this fun-time is going to look like!" Deadbolt stated as he led the procession towards the stair, every person they passed gave a salute as he and Slayer passed, and while some looked worried or fearful, most people looked calm, or even downright giddy.

The top of the wall was even more busy than below. Turrets both automated and not were being armed, crews were checking over turrets and completing safety checks, and people were rushing all around to prepare. Dozens of tables were folded out from the walls themselves in many places allowing crews places to work. One table in particular was different from the others as no one was touching it. On it sat a large weapons case, and beside the case a small transportable communications terminal that looked far more advanced than most of the ones elsewhere.

Deadbolt waked up to it and flicked open the latches on the weapon case, revealing a masterfully crafted Weapon. A Semi-automatic 50bmg Anti-Material Rifle known throughout the Adamant Union by its name, Starpopper. It wasn't enhanced by a persona, as many of the most skilled of shooters and fighters liked, but Deadbolt merely smiled as he hefted his weapon out of the case and looked it over, marveling as he always did at the masterful craftsmanship that made the weapon so perfect for him. Satisfied with it he swung it over his back and looked out across the field. Even from the distance he could see movement by the tree's thanks to his Bionic eyes.

Movement that looked like some few people walking as a group down the road toward them.

"Looks like we've got some of them coming to speak first, how nice of them," Deadbolt said as he tuned to see Arethusa and a few other trained diplomats coming up the stairs and move toward him. "Good you are here. Our enemy is bringing in some diplomats of their own it seems. I would like you to head out and meet them on the road halfway."

"Understood. What shall our defenses be?" Arethusa asked professionally.

"Diamond will lead his squad of five Warcaskets in your defense," Deadbolt said as he turned to the communicator terminal and switched it on. "That's three close combat Warcaskets, and two heavy supports with jump jets. Should things get to the worst they will be able to grab you and get back here quick enough I should think."

"And how should I aim to direct this conversation?" Arethusa asked.

"Preferably to a nonviolent resolution," Slayer spoke up in an odd, almost defeated tone. "We'll be listening in and will be able to communicate with you should it be necessary, but we do not have high hopes for peace sadly."

"Then I shall be prepared to end the conversation quickly," Arethusa said with a sigh. "When shall I head out?"

"Now," Deadbolt said as he looked at the comms terminal and smacked its side, making its screen come to life. "I don't want them getting to close to the walls and being able to designate which defenses they might think are more dangerous or not."

"Understood. Then wish me luck."

"Don't worry; I don't think you will need it."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Darius Pearson sighed as he walked along the roadway out of the forest and toward what, even from a distance, looked like a fortress that could challenge even Orario in scale. The lack of trees, and the visible area where all the trees had once been with their stumps starkly visible, did nothing to lessen his worry either. Cutting down a forest was no simple process. It took time and effort from many people to cut the tree's, haul them out, and process the wood, not to mention storing it. From what he and the rest of the army had been told, this place was supposed to be a new town by people that came from the sky as absurd as it sounded, so to see the forest so heavily cut away made him wonder just how many people would be here, and how much resistance they would put up against them.

It had been many years since Rakia had seen a true victory, since when they lost the Crozzo's magic swords specifically, so conquering this little canyon, while minor in the grand scheme of things, would serve as a wonderful victory for Rakian Morale. The capture of not just the fabled Zeus, but of Hephaistos herself, would become a boon for Rakia, and with the right words, Ares might be even able to convince the whole of the Hephaistos Familia to serve under Rakia's banner.

The addition of claiming these, people from the sky, was merely an extra bonus.

At least, that had been what he and many others including his generals had been thinking as they traveled and arrived. No mere village could stop them, and finding the previous one had made it clear where the villagers had gone.

Yet, finding such a large wall deeper in the valley was a surprise, and had prompted Ares to decide he would give the village behind it, as well as those from Orario, a sporting chance to surrender and spare themselves any bloodshed.

And So Darius was sent out, by Ares command no less, to head over to the wall and speak with those behind it. To explain to them the foolishness of resisting Rakia's might, and of how they would be much happier under Rakia's Banner.

With him as guards were four normal Level one soldiers, as well as two level two captains like he was. He did not expect to be attacked as such a small group was obvious in its intent, but it never hurt to be careful after all.

"Darius, movement." One of the officers spoke up.

Darius stopped, making those with him stop as well as he looked ahead at the wall to try to see the movement himself. At the distance they were at he could not even make out individual people, but he could make out the entire center of the wall seeming to split open. "What in, is that the walls gate?!"

"It is huge," the officer spoke up in surprise before chuckling. "Must be made of wooden planks to be that big and not fall over without anything above to support it.

"I agree, that whole wall must be just for looks," the other officer added with a smile. "Let us keep moving.

"Very well," Darius conceded as the group began to move once more. He could not keep himself quiet though as he considered why a gate would open. "Do you think they are sending out their own to meet us?"

"To beg for their lives most likely," one of the soldiers chuckled. "None can stand before the might of Rakia. Everyone knows that."

"That is likely I suppose, but I do wonder what is the point of such a big wall," Darius said as he squinted at the wall, still unable to make out much detail aside from how dark it was. "I mean, the wood around here is not special, so why is that wall so dark?"

"Maybe they painted it to make themselves seem more dangerous," one of the soldiers suggested with a laugh, prompting the others to speak up.

"Oh yes, look at us, the big scary black wooden wall."

"Heh, they probably paint their faces and run into battle screaming like savages.

Darius could only shake his head at the banter. Something was starting to feel, off. Yes clear-cut forests tended to be quit as the birds and insects would flee, but it was somehow too quiet. He then noticed a small light in the field away from him, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "Hey, does anyone else see odd light in the field around us?"

"No, why?" one officer asked.

"I thought I saw something. Maybe it's just a blue firebug, or something like that?"

"Think we should take a look? Could be an ambush maybe?" a soldier suggested, only to get cut off by another.

"There's no one who could hide behind those stumps with how low they are cut. I mean look at them, not even a lying down Pallum could hide behind those!"

Darius looked at the stumps as they continued to walk, now noticing that the soldier was right. The stumps were cut very low to the ground, barely a foot of the stump was coming out. How would one even cut a tree that low? It had to be extremely uncomfortable to chop at a tree so low down. Yet, as he looked he noticed that the cuts on the tree's stumps were too smooth, like they had been ground down with a rasp of some kind, yet there were no woodchips on the ground near the stumps upon further staring.

"Something isn't right here," Darius finally said as he gestured to the nearest stumps. "These are too well cut, and too low cut. How did they even manage such a thing?"

"Why does it matter?" one of the officers replied. "We'll know their secrets soon enough once they fall under our banner.

"Yes but-"

"Sirs, something ahead of us!" one of the soldiers suddenly called, making all of them stop and look to where he was pointing.

Sure enough, visible over the shallow ebbs of the forest, was what looked not dissimilar from a large helmet that had the worst design sense they had ever seen. In fact, there were a few of them it seemed, moving in lockstep.

"So they did send out their own envoys," Darius concluded with a nod to himself. "Well, look alive everyone, we need to act out best before those who will soon serve under us!"

"Sir!" the soldiers said as they focused and made themselves more presentable.

As they continued to walk though, a few things began to look clearer. The wall, that at a distance hadn't looked like much, looked far sturdier as they got closer, and looked far taller than Darius had initially assumed. That, combine with the people approaching them now looking like hulking large suits of dark colored armor made him suddenly very worried about his own lack of armor.

"Sir, I don't think, they are here, to talk," one of the soldiers mumbled as they now were barely fifty feet away from the ones ahead of them and could see perfectly well that there appeared to be five massive suits of armor, three of them carrying blades that were easily over six feet tall.

"Just calm down," Darius said as he stopped walking. "We'll wait here for them and see what they do. Just because they are big doesn't mean anything. And armor that large must mean they have little defenses, or are likely not even adventurers with levels."

"Right," one soldier said as they all nodded.

And they waited, though not long, the large bulking armors moved with a surprise ease and a lot less noise than Darius thought they would, and as they reached twenty five feet away they spread out to reveal there was five of them.

"Are you, envoys, or diplomats?" Came a rough and tired sounding tone from one of the armors, loud and dominating in its command for information.

"Yes, I am Darius, and I am here upon command of the great Ares himself to speak to you about what is to come."

"Oh, and what is that, I wonder?" Came a feminine voice. One of the hulks took a step back allowing a sixth person to step into view, and as soon as she did Darius felt his body twitch in fear, and could feel his comrades do the same.

The creature before looked almost human, or would if not for its odd dark greyish blue skin, the odd hornlike protrusions coming out from its black hair, and the thick almost serpent like tail that came out of its backside. It had small beasts like a woman's, and a body shape to match accented by a strange looking black dress that, for the life of him, Darius could not even guess what it was made of.

"M-monster-" one of the soldiers spoke up as he moved to draw his blade, stopping only when Darius raised an arm to his side in a silent command to halt.

"You, speak our language?" He asked nervously.

"I do, it is not difficult," the creature responded.

"But, what are you? You are not human, nor any other race I have even heard of. Meaning, you are a monster, are you not?"

"I am no more a monster than you are," the creature said as she it bowed while lifting its skirt slightly on one side. "I am a Moyo, and I am called Arethusa. I am here to speak to on Behalf of the Adamant Union about your intentions, and if, perhaps, bloodshed can be avoided."

Darius smiled, though it was a bit forced as the creatures looks put him off quite a bit. "Well, I suppose whether you are a monster or not will be up for Lord Ares to decide at a later time. This is good though, I was hoping we could end this without bloodshed, as does Lord Ares."

"That is wonderful to hear, then I suppose you will be departing?" Arethusa asked, her expression, odd. To Darius she almost seemed to be smirking, but as she was not human such a thing was not possible. She was probably just arrogant.

"Um, no," Darius said as he took a step forward to be better seen. "The only way this ends without bloodshed is this. Hand over those from Orario and the nearby village to us, and surrender yourselves to Rakia."

"You wish, for us to surrender?" Arethusa asked carefully.

"That is correct. Ares has questions and dealings with those from Orario, and both the nearby village, and your own people behind those walls will be much happier under the banner of Rakia. We can guarantee safety, security, as well as pride serving under the greatest army, and the greatest god, on all of Gekai. If you prove yourselves worth it, you may even be able to gain Falna from Lord Ares and join our great army. Does that not sound preferably to eking out meagre lives in some no name valley like tribal dwellers?"

Silence filled the space between them as Darius waited for the creature's response. He hadn't been laying it on too thick in his own opinion; in fact he was sure if they surrendered that Lord Ares would be generous and accepting, even of such strange looking creatures. He figured the creature was silent as it merely used its baser intelligence to think about what he was offering, though it couldn't be that lower of intelligence considering it spoke language.

Then, much to his surprise, the creature seemed to let out a sigh that sounded exasperated. "I see. It seems I was too hopeful, but let us hold out hope one last time before making assumptions," She said before taking a step forward herself. "The Adamant Union could never agree to such one sided, selfish and impossible demands and instead counters your offer with this. Leave the people from Orario alone, leave the nearby village, and leave this valley entirely. Failure to comply will result only in your absolute destructions at our hands."

Darius could only stare in shock at the creature and was only pulled out of his shock as one of the officers reached for his blade, prompting the soldiers to do the same.

"No, enough!" Darius roared before looking back at the creature and her hulking bodyguards. "I do not think you understand the situation here, creature. Rakia is the greatest and most powerful nation in the world, led by the God of War himself. If you do not surrender to us, we will defeat you, and most of you will die. You will not walk under our banner as willing members of Rakia but as slaves of war. Mere servants with only as many rights as our leaders choose to give you," Darius took a dep breath to calm himself further. "Now, I will say this again, in no uncertain terms this time. You will surrender to us unconditionally, or many of you will die, and you will lose. Understand?"

Arethusa let out a sigh. "What I understand, is that you are arrogant and foolish," She stated as she gripped something around her wrist and then spoke up. "Sir, as you have heard, negotiations have broken down. We are leaving."

"If you leave now, there will be no going back for you creature," Darius spoke up, hoping that one last attempt would make the creature understand just how doomed it was if it went down this path. "This is your last chance to make the right choice. Servitude is better than death after all. Trust me, I know."

Arethusa sighed while looking at Darius. "And you can trust me, when I say that everything you think this future battle will result in, is incorrect. Nothing about it will go as you plan, and no matter how big your army is, it will die. They will die by the hundreds taking bullets from across the field, they will die as explosions eat their flesh, they will die as their lungs rot from the inside, and they will die like sick animals, their flesh and blood only good to nourish the grass of these fields."

"But-"

The hulking armors suddenly brought their swords down from their shoulders, the message clear as Arethusa turned to walk away from Darius. "You may tell your leaders what I have said. Goodbye. I hope you survive this."

She then disappeared behind one of the hulking armors, and three of them began turning around and walking away. The two that remained only did so for roughly thirty seconds before placing their blades back on their shoulders and turning around as well, walking away and leaving.

" . . . . Let's head back and tell Lord Ares," Darius finally said with a heavy sigh, not sure how he was going to explain to Ares what had happened, or how arrogant that creature was.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Rather arrogant, aren't they?" Deadbolt asked as Arethusa and her guards retuned into the colony.

"Yes. I believe it may stem from their supposed size of their nation, and never having encountered anyone with technology greater than their own," Arethusa said as she followed Deadbolt in and up the stairs back onto the wall her meeting and speaking with the Rakian Delegate rook almost about an hour, but she could tell no one around the wall was impatient or even worried.

Waiting for attacks was normal after all.

"Well they will have a rude awakening then, even as you tried to-" Deadbolt was cut off by the sound of a singular explosion. He and many others instantly began looking out to the field, and it was easy to spot a spot near the far edge where there was a faint cloud of smoke, and a newly formed crater. "Heh, looks like they decided to start their attack and encountered the little minefield we set up at the forests edge.

"Is it not counterintuitive to have a minefield set u where you intend to bombard, sir?" Arethusa asked curiously.

"Less than you think. It's all about planning and the order of events. But now that the battle will start soon, I'd suggest you head back into the colony and off the wall.

"If that is what you wish, sir," Arethusa said with a nod before turning and walking down the stairs and away, leaving Deadbolt and Slayer upon the wall.

"So, you ready brother?"

"Heh, I'm more worried you will end up bored when our guns leave you and the fighters with nothing to do," Deadbolt said to his brother as he pressed down a key on the transmitter. "To all defense forces of the Adamant Union. It appears our enemies believe they can simply claim us as their property. We will prove them wrong. All forces prepare for battle and await further orders."

Another explosion rang out from the field, this time from the other side of it.

"Looks like they are wondering what is going on," Slayer Commented a he lowered a pair of binocular form his eyes and held them out to Deadbolt, who took them without an issue.

He did not need them, but with the binoculars it was easier to see the arrays hundreds of warriors, all in armor of steel and leather, with swords and spears and axes in hand. Many looked confused, afraid, and as Deadbolt looked he found a few dozen who were staring in horror at the crater merely a few meters ahead of them. "Yeah, they seem confused. But it won't last once someone reigns them in," Deadbolt said as he clicked a key on the transmitter. "Bombard forces, load High Explosive shells and prepare to fire upon grid row D through G on my order."

"D through G?"

"Too much?"

"Honestly I expected you to turn half the field into a crater filled waste, not just a quarter of it in front of them," Slayer said with a shrug as he took back the binoculars and looked through them. "Looks like they have some form of combat leaderships reigning them in. Their front line is watching for the landmines." Another bang echoed out from the field. "Or trying to at least."

"Those mines are only about the size of dinner plates and hidden among the grass, they won't find them all but . . . . . maybe we'll give them a false sense of security if them manage to find a few more?"

Slayer let out a groan. "What are you planning?"

Deadbolt looked through his rifles scope at the very slowly advancing medieval troops and smiled. "Just tell me if you see any of them do- . . . oh, they have magic it seems."

"What?" Slayer asked as he looked though the binoculars, witnessing after a couple seconds some people with staffs and robes using what definitely looked like magic to wither knock Mines out of the way, or in some small cases, bury them into the earth. An action that seemed to be spreading. "They are burying the mines."

"No," Deadbolt said with a grin as he lowered his rifle and looked to his other, pulling a small detonator out of a drawer on the table in front of him. "They are merely making this fun."

"Oh crap, you aren't."

"Oh I most certainly am!" Deadbolt declared as he pressed the detonator. For a second nothing happened, and then a chain of explosions rang out from the field, covering the Rakian armies advancing frontline in smoke and debris as their front, and many meters ahead of them was suddenly churned into fresh loose soil by both loud and muted explosions.

"Uh, you know Lilywhite hates it when you do that soil."

"She'll get over it," Deadbolt claimed a he pressed the transmitter again. "Artillery, Rolling Barrage Grid rows D through G over the next three minutes. Turn the ground to mire."

On Deadbolts command the sounds of artillery began to ring out from behind them deep in the colony. Like a rhythmic thumping of a drum, one after another the crisp cracking sounds of the guns filled the colony, and bare seconds later the explosions from the field began to echo out in kind. All of the shots were completely out of range to hit the enemy, striking the fields far in front of them, but as the barrage continues the fields became a pock marked sheet of craters that even the best trench fighter would have trouble dealing with.

After the minutes that, so some would have felt much longer, the sound of shells firing and exploding down range ceased, and both Deadbolt and slayer looked across the field with their scopes and binoculars, an act they both knew many on the wall were likely mimicking. Through them they could see terrified soldiers looking on in horror, and their leadership yelling and commanding them forward. It barely took a minute before their forces began to move forward into the cratered earth likely thinking that that was all they had to worry about.

"Artillery, Load Tox and Acid Gas shells at your preference. Prepare to Barrage Grid area's C through G, on my mark," Deadbolt stated darkly with a grin.

"A Bit cruel, don't you think?" Slayer asked, knowing just how terrifying both Tox and Acidic gasses could be on people without full body protection and gasmasks.

"Just because you don't like prolonging suffering in melee, doesn't mean I think the same in ranged," Deadbolt grinned. "They were given a chance, so now they get to see the result of their hubris."

"Yeah well, they are almost two thirds through the craters. Huh, they make good time. Some of them seem pretty agile."

"Not agile enough," Deadbolt said as he pressed a button. "Artillery, Weapons free. Fire for effect!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Volrtora Hieghner did not like how the battle was going. Before even getting close to the strange walls his forces had to get past strange exploding discs that could, with difficulty, be found among the grasses and stumps of the field between them and their foe. Then the field exploded, and the sound of thuds and more random explosions tore apart the ground before them. It had taken some work, but he managed to convince his forces that the enemy likely was trying to merely scare them with such inaccurate barrages.

And as a captain of the Ares Familia, of the army of Rakia, his words were listened to and his men were storming foreword as fast as their Falna enhanced legs could move them.

It wasn't easy either. The terribly aimed explosions, though he did not know what magic conjured them, had ruined the terrain before them and made any kind of charge a chore. The upturned earth was soft, and the broken pieces of stumps and roots that littered it made it hard to move as well.

Yet they made progress. They were fleet of foot, and his words to his men seemed to ring true as no more explosions had occurred. They were strange, but it seemed their arrogant enemy had nothing else to dissuade them. All they needed to do was reached the walls and breach them with the few magic sword they kept for such a purpose and then they would-

Volrtora stopped his thoughts as he heard another distant cracking noise, just as had occurred before the badly aimed explosions had occurred. He could see that many of his people heard the noise as well, so he made the best call he could.

"Get down, protect yourself from their explosions!" He commanded as he knelt down against the side of a crater, his shield in front of him to protect him from whatever the explosions could bring.

He did not have to wait long as a chain of explosions, both distant and close bled out all around. And as soon as they stopped he climbed out of the crater to command his men.

"Ah, it burns, it burns!"

"Ah, I gah, Blegh!"

"Ah, my eyes, I can't, ah!"

Volrtora was shocked into a frozen state by what he saw ahead of him. Clouds of both dark and bright green smoke or mist of some kind, and the men in the clouds suffering. One appeared to have his very skin seeming to peel even as his armor corroded, while another seemed to be kneeling on the ground and grabbing at his throat, seemingly choking as, much to his own horror, blood seemed to seep out of the man eyes and nose before he fell backward to the ground lifeless.

"What horror is this?" Volrtora asked in disgust as he noticed some of the clouds seeming to drift around. The soldier nearby were trying to move around them.

And then he heard another chain of dull cracks from a distance.

"Get down, protect yourself! Use wind and water spells, do not breath the smoke!" he managed to yell just before expulsions rang out all across the field. The explosions were very spread out, many of them landing nowhere near their armies forces, yet each seemed to belch out a cloud of smoke all the same.

Clouds that were drifting all over along the light winds of the way.

"Captain, fall back!"

Volrtora looked to see one of his men a bit to his side, taking steps back from the oncoming smokes, fear and horror filling the man's eyes. "No, gather around those with protective magic. To my side, now. In the name of my lord, let the winds guide and protect me from the fire of my enemies ire, Ventus Testudo!" reacting to his words, a sphere of winds formed around Volrtora and a few of his nearest men, pushing away the smokes and allowing them safety.

"Sir, we can't fight this, it is like fire and poisons all at once!" a soldier called as he grabbed at his own arm, holding a shred of cloth against it, and doing little to hide the blistering burn on his arm, the likes of which Volrtora had never seen before.

"No, we have to push forward, they cannot possibly fire such spells upon us closer to their own city, they would risk hitting themselves,"

"But sir, I- I don't want to die like that!" Another soldier screamed in terror, his eyes looking upon a nearby man who's body laid against the ground, blood still looking like it was flowing out of his mouth and ears and eyes in equal measure, while just a bit further was a man who looked like his entire breastplate had melted into his backside, his face still contorted into one of unequaled suffering.

"It's not, no one should die in such agony. I'd rather be ripped in half by a Minotaur than go down like that!" Another said in horror as another explosions rang out near them, the sphere of wind being the only thing to protect them.

"We push forward unless we are ordered otherwise, stay within my spell and I will-"

"RETRAT! FALL BACK TO THE FOREST!" Suddenly rang out a deafening voice than anyone in Rakia would recognize.

"Sir, our king,-"

"I know, fall back I will protect us from the smokes, so move and-" Volrtora began to say.

Right up until one of the explosions pierce though his air shield and exploded right atop them.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"They appear to be retreating," Slayer commented, his eyes seemingly glued to his binoculars, yet doing little to hide his discomfort over what was occurring outside of the walls.

"Yes, rather sad actually, I figured they would keep trying for a bit longer," Deadbolt said with a shrug as he pressed the transmitter again. "Artillery, hold fire and disengage acid and Tox shell delivery. Prepare for Incendiary bombardment upon Grid Rows A and B in fifteen minutes upon my command."

"Uh, that'd hit the forest," Slayer said in concern. "Like, only the forest."

His words only made Deadbolt smile. "Yeah, and it'll light it up like a fireplace too!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Stop this. You have to stop this!" Hestia declared as she looked at Commander Vance in utter horror. Every strange rectangle of light was showing different angle of the battle outside. Some few of the screens showed the walls, while other showed the artillery base within the colony. Most however were showing the field of battle. And with the Adamant Unions surveillance technology, it was not merely from long distance. Many of the screens showed the forest line, or even were zoomed in in some angles showing just how horrific an effect the weapons the Union used was having on Rakia's soldiers.

The adventurers in the room looked sick, or even fearful, while the guild envoy looked horrified, and the gods, disgusted.

Commander Vance merely turned his chair from one of the screen back towards the table, his gaze landing on Hestia. "Stop what? Defending our people and their homes? Defending you?"

"Killing those poor children in such a horrific way!" Hestia nearly screamed, looking like she was about to cry.

"You heard Arethusa's words to them," Belladonna spoke up with a grin. "They had their chance to back off, and now they will suffer the consequences."

"Consequences? I've never seen such horrible methods of warfare before," Hephaistos said angrily. "Your people do nothing but use those strange catapults, and people die by the dozens upon dozens without even endangering yourselves. How can you even call it a battle?"

"Precisely," Vance said simply. "This is not a battle, this is a slaughter. Why should we endanger the lives of our own people, just to give those fools the type of battle they would prefer?" Vance asked before shaking his head. "We could easily man each and every gun upon the wall, arm everyone capable of fighting, dig trenches in the dirt, and use our own, personal weapons upon them, but why waste the effort and energy when our artillery systems seem to be doing a perfectly fine job. Why should we endanger our own people lives, when this will remove a problem, with far less issue?"

"Less issue? You are poisoning people to death!" Zeus declared inn rage as he stood up from his chair. "Those warriors, those adventurers, are choking to death and melting in a field, far from any true enemy! That is not a death fit for anything!"

"That is nothing," Belladonna said as she took something out of her pocket and placed it on the table, creating a cone of light that began to show complicated images. Tox weapons and Acidic clouds are barely scratching the surface of what our technology is capable. And barely even the beginning of what Deadbolt has planned."

"You mean, he has worse planned?" William asked nervously.

"Of course he does," Nakua stated with a sigh. "Why do you think he did everything in an order that makes them retreat back into the forest rather than closer to our guns?"

The sounds of the artillery firing once more dragged everyone's attention to the screens just in time to watch explosions strike the forest itself. This made it clear that the artillery had further range than had previously been shown, and as each explosions bloomed into flowers of flame that ignite the trees and undergrowth, it also made Deadbolts intention very clear.

"That, he plans to burn the whole forest down? Hestia asked in horror. "But why, that will destroy the entire habitat of the animals and hurt the village and-"

"Will burn Rakia's army as well," Hephaistos said grimly. "Do you not think that is going too far?"

"it is too far," Zeus added. "It's utterly monstrous."

"Sometimes Deadbolt goes too far," Vance agreed with a nod. "But not in this case. Honestly, this is not even half of the horrors he could commit to sending towards our enemies. He's being generous because of their technological level being below our own."

"Generous? You call this generous?" Zeus asked, his anger not lessening whatsoever. "The families of those adventurers will not even have bodies, or even tickets left of them to mourn!"

"I'm confused," Slice the Nyaron spoke up, his catlike ears twitching a bit as if to garner attention. "Is that army not the one you ran away from? Are they not your enemies? Why do you care about them when they wished to capture and seemingly enslave you and yours?"

"The only gods who could not feel horrified at such a sight would be evil gods," Zeus stated darkly.

"Your horror is merely because you have not seen such weapons," Belladonna said simply.

"And you still have not answered Slice's question," Vance spoke up. "Why do you care how they die, when they are your foes who aimed to enslave you?"

"It isn't proper, that is why!" Zeus declared. "A warrior should meet a warrior's death, and adventurers are no different, if they are to die it should be from old age after retiring, against the monsters of the dungeon, or in other rarer cases, against another adventurer. Too kill people in such a horrific and disconnected way is-"

"You are afraid," Vance said, cutting Zeus off and making all of the ones from Orario stare at him in shock.

"What did you just say?" Zeus asked.

"I said, you are afraid," Vance said as he got up from his chair. "I do not believe the idea of you being, gods or whatnot, but it is clear to me, that you were once a leader, and that at least one of your fellows there is a leader of some sort of organization. These, Familia you mentioned I presume. I know that you have not explained much about them, but judging from the way you speak they would not be dissimilar from mercenary companies on the Rimworlds, and that makes this situation clear to me. You are afraid, of change. Of thing changing from the way you like them. You and all these other Familia, like that one flailing out in the fields, all likely follow some nonsensical set of rules you have ingrained into everyone's heads, and the fact that we do not follow them, do not fight by your rules, makes you angry. It makes you afraid."

Zeus glared at Vance for a mere second before baring his teeth as he spoke. "You, have no right. You, have no idea what I have seen and done in my long life. You know nothing about me to make such a-"

"And you, know little to nothing of us as well," Vance stated, clearly uncaring about Zeus's clear anger. "We have told you more about ourselves than you have told us of yourselves, yet we have told you so very little. You sit here in safety while we use our resources, our technology, our manpower, to defend not just ourselves, but you and yours as well against a foe you ran away from, yet you act all high and mighty while claiming the way we do things is wrong? That our means are horrible?" Vance turned back to the table and planted his hands on it, glaring at the Gods with such a gaze that Hestia leaned back in her chair in fear, and Hephaistos found her breath stolen for but a moment. His eyes were like they were filled with all the evil in the world. "You have, no idea what horrors can be committed by human hands, have no idea the atrocities we have witnessed and undone. While you sit here in safety behind our walls, you have no right to complain about the methods we use to defend ourselves. And the next time you do, will be the last time within these walls."

"You dare threaten us?" Zeus demanded.

"No. the next time you complain about our methods, or act like you have a say in them, will be the moment we ask you politely to leave," Vance said as he sat down in his chair, the tension disappearing as he rolled his shoulders. "The threats will come after if you refuse to leave in such a situation."

No one from Orario spoke. The three gods were a mix of furious, worried and concerned, while William looked utterly flabbergasted by the way Vance spoke to Gods. Riveria on the other hand was worried for entirely different reasons. These were a people with access to weapons that were as powerful as high tier magic and had no regard for how they used them. They were also people that did not believe in the gods. They could become very dangerous depending upon what their long term intentions were.

Riveria glanced to Shakti by the wall who gave her an understanding nod. They both knew they would have very long talks with their gods in the near future, and that those talks would likely change things in Orario to an extent not seen in decades.

"Ah, the fires are going out," Kraken, one of the Adamant Unions Moyo, said as he looked at one of the screens with interest.

"They, are using wind and water magic, and a few other I would guess to extinguish the flames," Riveria noted, recognizing some of the spells being used.

"How nice for them," Vance said in a tone that almost sounded amused. "Now we will see how they act next."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Father, this has to stop!" Marius Victrix Rakia, son to the King of Rakia, and Vice commander of the Ares Familia said seriously to his father as he stood outside a tent and looked upon his father, who he had just managed to catch before he went within.

"We cannot stop now," Martinus Rakia, the foolish King of Rakia, declared seriously toward his son. "These heathens fight unjustly, and it is up to us, the Ares Familia, to bring them in and put them in their place. This is no longer a mere conquest; this is a crusade against villainy!"

Marius fumed and shook his head. "Are you even listening to yourself father? We have lost hundreds of soldiers, possibly thousands, and have so many wounded we do not have space to treat them all! Almost half of the entire army is either dead and gone, or unable to fight from their wounds, this is not tenable, we have to retreat and sue for-"

"Enough!" Martinus snapped. "I will not hear such weakness as you even suggesting that the Great Ares Familia, that Rakia, has to retreat from battle again. No. Never again shall we retreat, and once we deal with these peoples, we will prove to the world, with renewed resolve, that Rakia and Lord Ares are a power fit to rule!"

"You, are a fool," Marius said in disgust as he took a step back from his father. "Too many people have died for this idiocy, and I've told both of you too many times already that this has to stop. If you won't, then you can die alone. I am returning to Rakia, and I am taking my men with me."

"You will not leave Marius, not when we are so close to victory," Martinus stated with a smile. "Your men will be pivotal to what is to come after all!"

"No father, they won't. I've already told my men to pack up. We're leaving within the hour. I will see you in Rakia to punish me as you see fit then. If you survive that long."

"Marius, do not do this. You know what will happen if-"

"Let him go," Came a voice from the tent as Marius walked away. Martinus paused for a moment before sighing and stepping into the tent, Finding his God Ares sitting on a well-crafted chair in his full armor, a goblet of wine in one hand and a map upon the table beside him. "He will understand when we return triumphant and make him realize his mistakes."

"I know my lord, but for my own son to have so little faith, it sickens me."

"Don't worry, he will come around to understand soon enough, after all," Ares said as he got up from his chair and slammed the goblet onto the table, almost spilling the wine within onto the map. "This has gone on long enough. I shall personally lead our next attack and break through that wall myself!"

"Yes, I am sure you could my lord, but I do have a suggestion, if I might be so bold?"

"And that is?"

"These heathens do not understand combat, or righteousness. But I doubt even they do not understand chivalry and proper decorum. What if we challenge their best to a duel, with the winner claiming victory over this battle. Too many have been lost, I will grudgingly admit, and such an option could stop any more loss of life, and may make them easier to control when we win and they see our true prowess."

Ares seemed to think to himself before smiling. "Yes, that is perfect, and it will allow us both to show off our martial prowess for all to see! An Excellent idea! Let us prepare for this, the duel that will end this war!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Haaaaaaah, I do hate the waiting part of these defenses," Slayer mumbled as he sat in a chair and stared up at the sky, now darkening as it neared late afternoon.

"It's a part of every siege, you should be used to this," Deadbolt replied to his brother as he cracked his neck and looked out over the field of devastation and to the mostly burnt down skeleton of a forest. "I am actually a bit impressed honestly."

"What?"

"Well, minefields, artillery bombing, poison and acidic gas, incendiaries, I figured a low tech medieval army would have given up and ran home to their mommies already," Deadbolt said with a chuckle.

"Well, maybe they are just slow to leave?"

"Maybe. The scouts we sent out into the upper mountains to watch them sent a report a while ago saying that a small contingent of their forces seemed to be packing up and leaving, but there are not even a thousand of them."

"So, what are you thinking? Rebellious officer maybe?"

"It's possible, but I think its morel likely a contingent of scouts of their own, or possibly a logistics branch leaving to return to their home to gather more supplies."

"So prepping for a longer siege than what they thought. . . yeah, I could see medievals thinking that. They would have no way to know that our hydroponics means they could never hope to starve us out. Any siege tactics they could come up with are useless."

"Yes, but I don't want to give them the feeling of success, So I'm thinking it might be time to unveil just how far our guns can reach," Deadbolt said with a grin.

"Well, the guys on Artillery should've rotated out now, and that would cripple them if their logistic supply train gets bombarded," Slayer agreed before suddenly looking toward Deadbolt. "Wait, what shells are you thinking of using?"

"Well . . . I was considering hitting them with the Antigrain shells. We don't have many in stock, but it would only take one or two good hits to wipe out the whole group and-"

*KSSSHHHHKKK* Both brothers were cut off as the transmitter let out a static filled gurgle. "Deadbolt sir, come in."

"Yeah I'm here," Deadbolt said as he flicked a switch on the transmitter. "This is, Chameleon, right?"

"Yes sir."

"Cool, got it in one. So what's up? Our little invading army finally turning tail and fleeing?"

"The . . . . opposite actually, sir."

". . . Just how much opposite are we talking here?" Deadbolt asked as he slung his rifle into hand and looked through its scope at the forest. Despite the lack of foliage it was impossible to see much with the valley starting to darken.

And all the ash and residual smoke. That didn't help either.

"Their whole army is packing up their gear, but they seemed to be moving toward the colony. All of them. Including their leaders, who appear to be upon horses and leading the whole procession."

"A Final stand, maybe?" Slayer suggested helpfully.

"It is possible, but they appear to have prepared a white flag."

"That doesn't make sense," Deadbolt muttered as he lowered his rifle, and his gaze. "You would not move your whole army forward to surrender; you would send them away and send an envoy. Especially since we don't have them surrounded," He said before smirking. "They want to parley, and use it as a way to bring their army closer to the walls, so that when we refuse to surrender to him again, they can just charge at us."

"Orders sir?" chameleon asked as the sound of rustling leaves came through the transmitter. "I have both of their leaders in my sights if I am correct about who they are. I could end them right now."

"hmm, tempting but no, hold your fire. As much as you want to add Kingslayer to your achievements, I have a better idea that will make sure these people do not become a problem again after this. Maintain watch."

"Understood sir. Chameleon out."

"What are you planning?" Slayer asked curiously.

"it's simple, they want to get close to the wall, we let them," Deadbolt said as he pressed the transmitter. "To All defense forces. Scouts reveal the enemy will advance on us in force under the guise of parley. All turrets are to be manned in preparation for utter annihilation via perforation. Repeat. All turret systems are to be manned for annihilation via perforation."

"Well, looked like I should get those of us with swords ready for if they have enough bodies to get through all the bullets," Slayer said as he got up and stretched. Keep me posted if you need to. I'm going to go rally my troops."

"No problem," Deadbolt said as he took out a map of the walls and unrolled it on the table, looking over the positon of every turret, from simple small machine gun turrets to the fortified autocannon turrets, and even the quartet of dreaded Ultra Heavy Autocannons that they had built outside the walls at the ends and flanking the main gate.

Even throngs of Mechanoids wouldn't be able to surpass such volleys of fire.

And the medieval army of Rakia would be no different once they made their intentions clear.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Adamant Union had dealt with some huge forces of enemies in the past. Armies of hundreds of tribal cannibals. Man-eating packs of rabbits in the thousands, swarms of bugs and armies of Mechanoids with so many their numbers were uncountable.

The Army of Rakia was not as large as some, but it was large, easily in the many thousands still, and it was impressive as the army stood before the walls of the Adamant Union in perfect lines and rows. Yet even as impressive as it was, few upon the Adamant Unions walls were impressed in the individuals of the army before them. Swords and shields, spears and axes, plate and chain armor, and in some few cases mere robes of cloth was the common gear among the soldiers below. Some wore less armor than others, drastically less in some cases, but most looked like they were extras to a fantasy vid and it did not impress many. Their armors looked to be made of iron and steel, their weapons much of the same, and everyone knew a single AP round from even the most basic hunting rifle would penetrate their armors.

And considering the caliber of most of the turrets, everyone figured they knew how this was going to go down.

Deadbolt was standing right beside the main gate, watching with a small communicator in his ear, ready to give the command to undo the lives of thousands. He watched as the pair of horses slowly made their way down the middle of the army, one of them holding the flag, while the other walked ahead of it, marking its orange haired rider as likely the leader of the army. Both horsemen stopped just shy of passing the first closest ranks of their army, and the one with orange hair, and gaudy red armor it looked like, then took a step forward and spoke, his voice traveling impressively far.

"Heathens who sit behind a wall and refuse to fight like warriors; I am Ares, God of War and Ruler of the Nation of Rakia. Though clearly misguided, you have proven yourselves powerful, and as I do not wish to see too many of yours die as you have done to my own, I shall grant you a chance to repent and earn back a modicum of respect from me. Send down your greatest fighter, and my general the King of Rakia, shall duel them to end this foolish conflict. And when you lose and know who your betters are, we can finally move forward with educating you in the ways of war and battle, as it should be waged by honorable warriors!"

Deadbolt could feel the animosity on the wall increase in barely a second. Dozens upon dozens of defenders who were armed with their choices of rifles to support those manning or operating turrets all had their weapons raised toward the self-proclaimed god in barely a second. Yet they knew their places and orders and did not shoot, allowing Deadbolt to take a step onto the Gate itself, and snapped his fingers, turning on a couple of lights that were nearby and illuminating himself to those below. It was a risky move, but considering the man bellows words, he felt it was safe to return the favor.

"A God, huh? A foolish notion, used by those who need an invisible guide to hold their hand while they commit atrocities. I am Deadbolt, one of the Adamant Unions many leaders. Your envoy was told our answer to whether we would surrender to you, and I have personally given the punishment for your hubris. And now, because you clearly are losing, you come here and demand a single duel to end this as if you can demand such a thing by some sort of, misguided divine right?"

"Of course, I am Ares, God of War, it is well within my right to demand such a trial by combat!" Ares answered without pause. "Now, as you understand, come down here and we may end this like honorable warriors. Or do you admit to being craven weaklings who cannot fight with a blade as is meant to be?"

Deadbolt opened his mouth to respond but was cut off as a heavy droning thud noise came from the gate before it began to slowly slide open. He took a few steps back and looked over the back of the gate and smiled, then stepped forward to be seen once more. "Oh, we shall accept your challenge in earnest, but it will not be I who cuts your champion down, but my Brother. He seemed to be a bit anxious from having to wait while I pound your pathetic army into dust, so I guess now is a good time for him to blow off some steam. Do try to last longer than ten seconds against my Brother, the greatest blade master of the Adamant Union, Slayer!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ares watched as the gates to the admittedly very impressive walls slowly ground open. As close as they were he could tell that the wall, while not as tall as Orario's, was just as sturdy looking. It didn't seem to be made of stone either, and the gate that was sliding open didn't seem to be made of wood or stone, almost looking like it was a giant ingot of metal.

Such a thing was of course absurd though, so he instead focused on the gate, specifically the figure walking through its dark opening. A minute later he could see the one who as coming out to meet them, and he found himself feeling let down.

This was not a man of herculean build, or dashing good looks as he expected, but a man who looked rather average. Short brown hair, green eyes. He was hearing a long coat that hid most of his body, and the man looked utterly annoyed as he walked out and then finally stopped just a few meters out of the gate, allowing it to start slowly, and loudly, close behind him.

The man let out a sigh as the gat behind him closed, sounding tired, as if speaking was a pain. "I wish Deadbolt hadn't built me up like that."

"Not as powerful as the one up there made you out to be?" Ares asked in worry.

"No, I'm our Blademaster, I just don't like going around and acting like I'm superhuman," 'the man said as he took a few more steps forward so the light from the walls could fully illuminate him, revealing his coat to be a strange dark blue in color. "So, am I killing the self-proclaimed god first, or his general? And, which of you is which anyway?"

"You will fight me, Barbarian," Martinus declared as he slammed the flag he was carrying into the dirt and go off his horse. "I am Martinus Rakia, King of Rakia and Commander of the Ares Familia under Ares, God of War himself," Martinus smiled as he unhooked his cape from his armor and drew his sword from its sheathe. "Do you have anything to say before I end your miserable life?"

"Two things, sorry, three," Slayer said as he cracked his neck and began unbuttoning his long jacket. "First, my brother was the one commanding the artillery offensive against you, so don't go blaming me for that. Second, if anyone see's your people moving to interrupt this duel, they will be shot. And third, I shall ask you a similar but important question. Is this duel to first blood, or to the death?"

"Hah, you ask that as if you have a chance," Martinus said as he took a few steps forward and smiled.

"I see, very well, I take it you are ready then?" Slayer asked as he let his coat fall off him, revealing himself to be wearing black pants with strange bulky sections to them, and a sleeveless shirt. What made Martinus and Ares widen their eyes though was the fact that Slayers arms were covered in a dark steely metal color. It wasn't that he looked to be wearing armor, but that his arms were the color of metal with strange faintly blue glowing spots and lines across them.

"Of course I am ready, are you?" Martinus asked. "Your arms look sickly what is on them?"

"Nothing is on them," Slayer said as he stretched his arm side to side, showing they had just as much movement range, if not more, than anyone else arms despite their strange looks. "They are Advanced Bionics, Replacements as I lost my arms to a Megaspider during an infestation clearing many years ago."

"Hmph, so you have some moderate experience I guess. Well, let's hope you replacements are as good as proper flesh and blood. . . .Where are your weapons? Or do you intend to fight me barehanded?"

"My weapons are here," Slayer said as he reached behind himself and slid forward on his belt a pair of sheathes. One was small, barely two feet long and appeared to be made of metal of some kind, whitish in color, while the other was even smaller, looking barely large enough to hold a knife, yet has the handle of a full sized longsword coming out of it. One that had a strange slight curve to the handle that looked out of place. "As for which I fight you with. . . I suppose I could fight you barehanded, but it would be unfair-"

"Yes, that it wou-"

"-for you," Slayer said as, in a sudden burst of speed he lunged forward and swung his first out towards Martinus.

Martinus, moved his blade in the way figuring it would make the fool back up and out of such a stupid attack. Instead his hand hit the edge of Martinus's blade and pushed it back with more force than Martinus had ever felt on the blade before, sending it flying right out of his hand to the dirt, and leaving him wide open.

In the next second pain blossomed in his stomach and Martinus found himself kneeling on the ground vacating the contents of his stomach onto the ground.

"Huh, I expected a bit better, but we can call that my victory if you would like?" Slayer asked with a light sigh as he turned around and walked away from Martinus back to where he had initially been standing. "If you want to continue though, go pick up your sword."

Martinus let out a cough and looked up at slayer in confusion. No person could punch that hard. The only way they could even come close, was if they were an adventurer of a higher level, and he knew these people were not adventurers. They had no Falna. But, how had he managed to hit him in the stomach so hard?

He shook his head and got up to his feet, walking over to where his sword was and picking it up, eyes going wide as he noticed a large fist shaped imprint into the edge of the blade.

"Are you alright?" Ares asked quietly as Martinus walked back over and faced Slayer. "Perhaps I-"

"No my lord, as much as you would enjoy defeating such a fool, I cannot allow him to sully your blade. I was just surprised by his speed, that is all," Martinus claimed as he pointed at Slayer. "That was a neat trick, but a duel is a battle of skill and prowess with a blade. Draw yours."

"Very well," Slayer said as he reached for the shorter sheath and withdrew his blade. Only it was not a dagger that he drew, but a handle that as he drew it seemed to form a misty, almost ghostly looking bright green blade that seemed to make a noise somewhere between a whispered wail and crackling flames in the distance. The blade was curved heavily, and its strange coloration, along with the noise, was unnerving to look at. Slayer then looked at Martinus, his expression one of Cool professionalism. "Malice, my own Persona Wraithblade. Now drawn, it will not let me sheathe it until it draws blood and ends a life. So I will do you a favor and make your end as painless as I can."

"What?" Martinus asked in confusion. "You speak as if your blade is a thinking creature."

"It is. It holds a mind and Soul, which is why we call a Persona Weapon," Slayer said as he held the blade to his side and started slowly walking toward Martinus. "It whispers its desire to kill into my mind, and its desire will not be denied when drawn. Please prepare yourself for your afterlife."

"It is you, who shall die today!" Martinus proclaimed as he rushed forward and swung his blade deftly at Slayer.

Slayer stepped back and dodged the swing, then the next, then the next. Each swing was easily dodged, as if he knew exactly how it was coming toward him.

"Stop moving, fight me like a warrior!" Martinus growled in anger.

Slayer simply sighed as he swung his own blade at Martinus's own, striking the tip. Only there was no resistance, leading Martinus blade to keep going towards Slyer, only to then be blocked by his arm, clashing against it with a clatter like steel on steel.

"Hah, your arm guards you from my blade? Impossible!" Martinus said as he took a step back and scowled at Slayer, who looked utterly unimpressed.

"Hah, I knew this would happen."

"What?"

"Look at your blade."

Martinus blinked as he did as Slayer said, his eyes going wide as he noticed that the top few inches of his blade including its tip, was completely missing. "What? Where is-"

"On the ground there," Slayer said as he pointed to the ground where the tip sat on the dirt.

"What, how did you,-" Martinus began to say as Slayer lunged at him. Martinus swung his blade to block slayers and watched as his blade hit it, and went through.

"No!" Ares yelled in horror as he watched the flaming green blade pass through Martinus's sword, his armor and his body. The blade came through him at an angle from his waist up to just below his opposite armpit. His body did not part or fly away. He simply stood there for a second before his upper torso fell forward due to the weight of what remained of the sword in his hand, crashing to the ground and revealing the obvious cauterization burns bisecting his body alongside the smell of burning flesh. Ares could only stare in shock for a minute before looking at slayer who looked simply unimpressed. "You, what did you-"

"I cut him," Slayer said with a shrug. "A Wraithblade produces a stream of ionized plasma. Without appropriate armor that can diffuse the heat, it simply burns away what is in front of it in a very narrow margin. Hence, cutting him right in half," Slayer said with a sigh. "I was hoping that since you guys had magic it'd give you some kind of protection, but I guess not."

"You, you didn't even-"

"What, give him a chance?" Slayer interrupted in an insulted tone. "Why do you think I punched him? Why do you think Deadbolt gave you chances to back off? Why do you think Arethusa gave you warnings and a chance to leave? We've given you chances, given you warnings. Yet you keep pushing, keep acting like you are unbeatable," Slayer did something to his green blade, making the blade disappear and allowing him to sheath it as he looked straight at Ares. "So enough is enough. You've lost. Leave now, or I kill you, and then my brother will order our men, and everyone in this field that follows you, will die."

"You, you think you can make demands of the god of war?!" Ares yelled as he drew his sword, a brilliant longsword with a jeweled handle, hilt and pommel, and a blade of rose and gold, and pointed it at Slayer.

"I would think a self-proclaimed god would know when they are beaten," slayer said with a sigh as he pulled out his shorter blade, a perfectly straight blade of silver crystal that seemed surrounded by a white aura of pale light. "Mercy, my other Persona blade, a Monosword, capable of cutting near anything. It will not kill, so do not make me use on you, for it will only let me embarrass you," Slayer claimed as he held the short blade in a reverse grip in his left hand.

"Do not talk down to a god you dog!" Ares yelled in rage as he rushed toward Slayer with superhuman speed.

Luckily, Slayer was used to dealing with such speeds, and his Bionics allowed him just as much. With a duck of his body and a swing of his blade he caught Ares blade with his own, cutting it in half with no resistance whatsoever. Stepping to the side he pulled the blade back, allowing it to be caught on Ares Armour and cutting a long deep cut down the side of his plate armor, and only his place armor. Then, rolling behind Ares as he swung at him with what remained of his blade, he let it slide through Ares left ankle.

The whole clash between them took barely two seconds, but in it, Ares found himself drop to the ground in pain. Pain that gave Slayer the short second to get to his feet and point his blade at Ares. "Look, I don't really like embarrassing people in combat, I don't even like combat like many others do, it is just a means to protect people. So please surrender."

"Never you-" Ares stopped as he tried to stand up, only for the bleeding stump that was his leg to hit the dirt and cause him more pain that he could easily recall ever feeling. He looked at the sword in his hands. His one of a kind masterpiece of Crozzo make. Not a magic sword, but so skillfully made there was none like it. It was in two pieces, the cut along it making it look like a piece of shattered steel rather than a perfect blade worthy of being wielded by the god of war.

"A Shame, but very well."

Ares looked up in time to see slayer swing his short white blade lazily through the air, cutting the sharp tip of what remained of his blade right off, it landing on the ground in front of him. And in that moment, as Slayer drew Malice from its sheathe and lit the baleful green blade, Ares knew he had made a mistake.

He knew he had been used by Ishtar, he had just hoped to use her intentions to strengthen himself more than what she would gain. He knew his people had suffered greatly trying to even approach this place, but he thought they could win for, after all, he was Ares, and Rakia was invincible. He knew that Marius had been right, but he figured his own prowess would win the day. As these realizations passed through his mind, Ares opened his mouth to speak, but found the words would not come and came to one last realization.

Even though as a God he could not die, the way the man before him looked down on him, not with hatred, or anger, or disgust, but with disappointment and contempt, made him realize he was feeling something he had long thought himself unable to feel.

Fear.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Ares screamed in pain as Slayer thrust the green wispy blade into his chest. And then, to everyone horror, shock, and disbelief, Ares turned into a column of Lights that seemed to ascend into the sky, disappearing and leaving nothing behind of his body aside from the broken sword on the ground.

"There, it is done!" Slayer called out, his voice echoing across the field as if amplified by some unseen means. "Your leaders are dead, and unless you surrender, you will be too!" Slayer could see many before him that looked ready to do just that, but as he looked he could also see many others that looked filled with rage and anger and hate. If they yelled or charged, his brother would give the order to kill them all. "Please, for the sake of those who no longer have the will to fight, just drop your weapons. Now."

"NEVER YOU MON – " one large man roared as he drew hi blade and took a step forward.

He was cut off when the telling crack of a rifle made the man's head explode, and a second later Deadbolt's tone rang across the field.

"All Hands, Weapons free!"

Slayer instantly turned on one heel and dashed at the gate. He was close enough to it that no guns would be targeting him directly, but one could never be too safe. And a mere second after he began dashing, crossing almost five meters, the guns all opened fire.

Small caliber rifle rounds, machine grounds, 30mm autocannon rounds, and even larger rounds all the way up to 128mm began roaring from barrels and searing into the fields. Some sounded like simple chains of pops, sharp cracks, and long hisses, while others sounded like loud bangs, broken screams and long unbroken chains of crackling hate.

Slayer reached the gate and turned around to witness the torrential beams of tracer rounds sailing out and into uncountable human forms. He always hated seeing such volleys, and he hated being near them even when he had a shield belt on his person to protect from such. He could see the forms of medieval soldiers falling to the ground in agony, could see their skulls being cracked open like underride coconuts, and could see streams of blood blooming out of bodies like fountains as they fell with silent screams on their faces.

Slayer hated gun volleys, but he understood their effectiveness in annihilating their enemies.

He would just need some time cuddling with Slice for the next few nights to drown out the screams and images.