The fog began to cover the land, covering it in a blanket of thick clouds as Gael carried Petre on his back. This all felt familiar to Gael as he walked, his knees covered by tall grass. Gael could not help but get a strange sense of this field as if something was supposed to be here, and yet was not.

Having wandered to watch the end of all things in his world, Gael should be used to this. This place in general seemed familiar to him, or maybe it was just the fog reminding him of a story he once heard. The journey of an undead who journeyed to find the cure to the curse and succeeded, before suddenly disappearing. There were rumours that people saw them, or an undead wearing a crown, wandering the world yet unaffected by the curse. But they probably were not true considering how Gael never encountered that figure in his journeys.

Though Gael had to admit, the story was a favourite of his. It once gave him the will to make it through a couple of ages. The very idea gave other undead hope and will to move in the next few ages after it began to be told, and that Gael admired. To succeed in their quest, spread hope, give the will to live, and leave down a legacy as a champion. A hero.

And what did Gael have as his legacy? A legacy of genocide, grief, and pain. He may have succeeded in his quest, but it changes nothing.

Suddenly, Gael heard the sound of bone being crushed before stopping. Then slowly, the giant looked down to see his foot atop the remains of a skull. It was then that Gael started to notice more of the bodies. Most of them were just barely sticking out of the dirt, a skull here, an arm there. It was like he was walking on a graveyard or the remains of a battlefield.

"Seem's were getting close," Muttered Petre.

"Close to what?" Asked Gael.

"The border to the Kurogane clan's territory."

After the brief exchange of words, Gael tightened his grip around his greatsword. He did not know for certain what to expect once they arrived, and he had to be prepared for anything. Though what he did not expect was what appeared shortly afterwards.

It was like a clearing or at least as close as you could get to one in this field. The grass was still tall but did not reach all the way up to his knees. And Gael could faintly make out the remains of old buildings, which were now mostly overgrown with flora and other plant life. It was like nature itself was trying to erase this place.

Gael felt Petre pat him on the back and say, "Let's wait out the fog here. There are countless traps all over the Kurogane border and this fog will be the death of us."

Complying, Gael looked for a place to put Petre down. After a few moments, Gael placed Petre near what he figured to be the remains of an old statue. Though as to what the statue was, Gael could not tell, for the statue was nothing now but a pile of rubble with a stone hilt of a blade sticking out from it. "What happened here?" Asked Gael, sitting beside Petre before pulling out the bottle of wine and handing it to him.

Petre opened the bottle and took a small sip before putting it down, "A war, or specifically, a rebellion," Petre began to look around the desolate village, an expression of nostalgia on his face, "I remember when this village was alive during one of my trips with..." Petre suddenly stopped, his look of nostalgia gone, "Anyway, to answer your question. A long time ago a rebellion formed within the Kurogane clan. And for the first time, the clan almost lost a war, especially near the end when the other clans assisted the rebels."

"What happened?" Asked Gael

"The Kurogane clan over the years had grown weak, even more so when a Kunoichi managed to capture their leader. and ran off with him. They were nowhere near the days of their prime. And because of that the Kurogane clan in the war with rebels almost lost all their territory in the war. However, somehow the Kurogane clan gained a new leader. And that new leader held a counter-attack so devastating towards the rebels and opposing clans, that it was like the Kurogane clan had been thrown straight back into their prime.

Petre's expression went to grief, as though he had seen those events take place himself in person, "So many died in that war. So many cities and towns were turned into nothing but rubble. This village was no different."

"I see."

A small smile formed on Petre's face as he put the bottle of wine aside. Gael could tell he was up to something with the grin, "Say, how about we play a game?"

Game? The sort of thing for children? The last time he ever played any sort of game was with his fair lady. Considering Peter was far different from his lady, Gael had no clue specifically what Peter had in mind, "What sort of game?"

"How about..." Petre reached down into his pockets, searching through them until he pulled out a block of water. However, Gael soon realized they were cards as Petre slightly separated the cards before saying, "Well not that, the cards have too much water damage from all those dives..." The man then put the cards aside as he then searched his pockets more. However this time he seemed to have found nothing. So instead he stopped, thought for a moment, and said, "I know. How about we do this. You ask me questions and try to figure out what I'm thinking, while I can only answer yes and no questions?"

Gael realized what game this was. He remembered playing it with his lady a long long time ago. It brought a faint smile on his face as he put his blade aside. It wouldn't hurt to play this game, after all, they probably had a while to wait anyway, "Very well, Is it... small?"

"Hmmm, Nope," replied Petre

Gael glanced toward his sword, "Is it heavy?"

"No, sorry," Said Petre, making Gael try to figure out what was both average height or larger yet not heavy.

"Is it..." The two went on this for a while. Both taking turns, both enjoying the peace and quiet. And for Gael, it was the first time for countless eons he wasn't worried about anything.

(-)

The sun began to set; the shining orb slowly sank into the distant mountain as the light and warmth it provided started to fade. And in turn, darkness began to set as the moon took its place amongst the stars. And underneath the moon-watched heavens, snow gently drifted down to the fog-covered land below. Meanwhile, hidden within the fog was Fort Torii; its walls standing strong as the banner of Kurogane flapped in the wind. But besides the Kurogane clan's banner, the Hacchiman banner stood as well; the Demon of Irons' face grinning from side to side upon the banner's crest.

Opposite to Fort Toriii, hidden by the cloak of the fog, the army of Mozō Shitora marched silently. Every ashigaru held their muskets close as they marched in the first, accompanied by mages to guard them, and by other ashigaru who protected the flanks of the army with their yari spears. In the middle, countless cannoneers stayed close to their assigned cannons, ready to jump at a moment's notice to follow commands. And finally, in the far back, Samurai, a few old man-powered trebuchets, mages, and Lord Mozō Shitora with his commanders.

Also while the main force marched forward, Lord Shitora had also made sure to have some of his men set up more of the catapults and cannons on the nearby mountain above the fort.

They were all careful not to make a sound. Because if they even made a single loud clang of metal, then it would not be long before they'd be torn to shreds by the ever-watchful defenders of Fort Torii. And, despite how close they believed they were, they did not fire. No, they could not risk this. They had to get as close as they possibly could for the best results. So slowly they marched.

This fog was a miracle for the army of Mozō Shitora. Whether the fog was a miracle, some other form of outside help, or just a pure coincidence, it did not matter. For this fog was the perfect covering for them. Shitora would use this to its fullest extent, here and now.

Then Lord Mozō Shitora raised his hand, giving a silent command to the army to stop. And immediately the command was done; each of the soldiers idle like cold stone statues. Then as if his palm was a blade about to chop, Shitora brought his hand down harshly. Their next command was a simple command, fire.

Like bursts of magic, the cannons erupted and flew above the army and straight into the mist; the sound of metal hitting sound and men screaming in pain brought music to Shitora's ears. But he could not gloat for long. Quickly Shitora turned to the mages and yelled his next command, "MAGES!"

On command, the mages behind Shitora formed a walled barrier directly in front of the Mozō army, and the mages near the front formed a barrier around the infantry. Shitora was only a few seconds off in the command, for right before the barriers went up, a volley of arrows came flooding back at them in retaliation before they formed their own barrier in front of his army's.

There were so many of those arrows... if he could even call them that. They were the size of spears, and as thick as the iron balls they fired. And they came so fast that they cleared out and blew away the nearby fog before the Mozō barrier formed to stop them. However a few managed to get past the barrier before it came up and they practically rammed into multiple rows of infantry, managing to kill a small few mages in the process.

Already, from just one volley, Shitora's infantry was having trouble recuperating from the attack. The barrier his mages formed around them would give them time, but nonetheless, they could not afford to let the enemy land too many of their arrows. That alone, however, would be difficult. For already the main barrier they had set up had countless arrows stuck within it with their tips barely sticking out of the other side.

Looking towards the fort, the fog now cleared by the arrows, he saw it. Its walls were carved in the mountain itself, each stone purposefully placed in position. Its gate was of solid iron, and the buildings which laid atop the wall itself were made of the same iron. Not a single part of it looked to be burnable.

Meanwhile, standing atop the wall, were countless men clad head-to-toe in armour crafted from divine black-steel armour. Each standing tall with enormous bows, which were as tall as them, in hand like giant statues of metal. And upon their hips, large quivers held the abnormally-shaped arrows.

The only damage Shitora could see upon the fort was a few craters and a couple of bodies laying on the wall; obviously having been struck by cannonballs to have caused their demise.

Shitora did not wait any longer. Drawing his sword and pointing it towards the defenders, Shitora shouted, "FIRE"

Again following his commands, the cannons took aim and fired as the defenders fired their own volley. The two opposing projectiles were like swords, clashing in between the two barriers with sparks and explosions of light. Chunk by chunk, minute by minute, the barriers of both sides began to crack and wane; the mages of both armies growing progressively weary.

But eventually, the mages of either side could no longer take any more, and both barriers shattered simultaneously. The great arrows that were stuck in the barrier fell straight down on the ground and the coming volley arrows were about to rain down on the infantry. However, Shitora expected this, which was why he had the additional barrier formed atop them. And it did as he planned, blocking the volley of arrows. Though only by a hair as one of the tips of the arrows almost reached through and touched the nose of one of the ashigaru.

"ALL FIRE, NOW!" Roared Shitora, thrusting his katana in the air forward.

Immediately, the cannons reloaded and fired another volley. But this time the cannons had help, for the ashigaru aimed their muskets at the defenders and fired at them.

More craters formed in the wall as the cannonballs ran into it, and most of the shots fired by the ashigaru did not pierce the Black-steel armour. However, a few musket shots were lucky and went into the eye sockets of the soldiers, killing a few as a couple of cannons managed to claim the lives of some of the defenders as well.

Shitora smiled, they were doing it! But...something felt off. Suddenly Shitora saw it, a great arrow flying high above the clouds like a bird of prey before swooping down and turning to destroy an entire row of cannons right when they fired; causing all of the cannons to explode as the arrow tore through them and killing countless men in the process.

Then from the mount side to their flank, countless Hacchiman and Kurogane Samurai charged down toward them. "Tell the yari armed Ashigaru to get defensive formations in front of the charging cavalry, and tell the back lines of the musket ashigaru to reform being the yaris and fire on those Samurai! Have a few of the cannons and catapults provide support! NOW!" Yelled Shitora to one of his nearby commanders, who quickly relaid the order.

His men were quick to follow commands and formed their lines in front of the charging cavalry, who were midway at this point. As the horsemen got closer the musket ashigaru fired their rounds on them. Just like those on the wall, the bullets were not able to pierce the armour, however, they were not useless. A few of the bullets hit the legs of horses, causing them to topple and crush their masters, and some managed to hit the eyes. However, the few cannons and catapults who refocused on the charging samurai managed to tear a hole through their ranks.

However, the charging force did not slow down and soon met headfirst into the yari armed ashigaru, whose spears almost did nothing to stop the hammer of men as they started cutting through Shitora's forces. The army of Shitora's morale began to waver beyond saving.

Suddenly the same kind of arrow flew back into the arrow and began going straight through the barrels of the cannons and into the man-made catapult; killing even more men and causing more havoc. But then one more arrow came rushing down and destroyed the barrier that protected the musket armed ashigaru at the front.

The arrows that were stuck in the barrier now fell to the ground, but as they fell, a loud ringing began to erupt. And then just like that, the entire few front rows of men in front of the fort were sent flying; bursts of energy erupting from each of the arrows killing them.

One of his nearby commanders rode to him quickly shouting, "SIRE, WE NEED TO LE-" Suddenly a great arrow flew straight down and through the commander and his horse, killing both and leaving them as a pile of mush. With chaos all around him, Shitora looked toward where the great arrow came from before realizing who shot that arrow.

Countless bodies of his men laid dead on the nearby mountain, the cannons and catapults torn apart.

And on the nearby mountain top, sitting upon an armoured steed of unnatural size, was a lone figure that held a great bow in one hand. Hanging around his neck and down his back was a furry-white cape atop black-steel samurai armour that was painted dark red. His helmet and mask were like that of a demon, golden horns attached to the helmet, and a black-steel mask with the snarling face of a White-bearded demon.

This was no ordinary man. This was the defender of Fort Torii, the bane of the enemies of the Kurogane clan, and half-brother of Kurogane Koro. This was Hacchiman Tokuri, the horse demon of the wind. And both him and Shitora were locking glares at each other, both with their eyes filled with hate for each other.

The war was only beginning.

Meanwhile, in the distance, Lord Kogazen Masato watched silently through a gold decorated binocular. Seems the forces he sent to keep Hachiman Tokkurri away from the Mozō clan's attack on Fort Tori seemed to have failed before the battle even began; Leaving Shitora and his forces in a situation nearly impossible for them to win. Oh well, mercenary soldiers were expendable, replaceable. He could just always buy more of them.

Masato Heard the sound of footsteps behind him. Turning, the Lord saw it was his personal favourite Ochimusha. Her head bowed as the faint glimmer of sunlight shone on her pale skin. Speaking up with respect, the Ochimusha said, "My lord, it is time for your appointment with the Council of the T.F.U."

The Lord smiled as he looked at her, one of his followers he thought he sent to die long ago until the day they remet. Thankfully she knew nothing of his plans at the time, and now she was far more useful to him. Whether they were things in combat, affairs, or his own personal pleasures, "Thank you. Tell our friends I will be with them shortly."

(A/N)

I still don't know how or if I am doing fight scenes properly, especially with large scale fights. IDK, what do you guys think?

Hopefully, I will get the hang of fight scenes (If I haven't already) by the end of this current arc.