Shogunate Pride

by Bluestar076

In the region of Caelum, miles away from the guild of Fairy Tail, there's a special guild made of samurais that is always ready to dive into new adventures to save their region from supernatural threats by clashing their weapons. This is their story, as a girl that controls both light and darkness joins them (SYOC Closed.)

8. The Market Hunt

Shogunate Pride Chapter 6: The Market Hunt

By Bluestar076

Hello everyone! Bluestar here with a new chapter of this lucky story! Yes, I still think that I've got lucky if I was able to start it in the first place (or at least, in the way I intended it), and I thank you all for this! But leaving this aside, today we start off the new arc which will be slightly longer than the previous two ones, especially since we're finally going to see the first true antagonistic group of this story! While Ellie was indeed a strong enemy, she was mostly an introductory enemy alongside Kabuto in the first chapter. These will be more of an effective villainous group for the main characters, much like other villainous groups we have been used to seeing in the original story. This will be their introduction and then we'll pass to the individual battles, and we'll also see the magics of the remaining members of the guild! Therefore, I think we can start the chapter! As always, I hope you enjoy it!

Note: I do not own Fairy Tail. All rights and characters belong to Hiro Mashima, A1-Pictures, and CloverWorks.

---

Chapter 6: The Market Hunt

Caelum – Plain area

That night, the sky was devoid of any type of cloud, and every single star could be seen. In a land such as Caelum, this could have been a peaceful and charming sight to witness. But for a part of the imperial army…this wasn't the case.

In one of the zones of the region near a well-known place, several explosions started to come out as a result of a small yet bloody conflict. The soldiers tried their best to push the invaders back…but these turned out to be too much even for them.

"WREAAAAH!" One of the soldiers, a big one, tried to attack them with a direct blow with his spear, but for the enemies, a single punch in the belly was needed for them to throw him away. "GAAAH!" The soldiers fell out on the ground, senseless.

"G-Gh…" Another soldier was laying down on the ground, trying to get back his spear, but one of the invaders stomped on it, breaking it in half. "D-Dammit…you miserable scoundrels…why are you doing this?!" The soldier then asked, glaring directly at them with his face soaked in blood.

Seeing the conditions that the soldier was in made the invaders laugh at him in a mocking tone. Then…one of them came closer. Despite his well-exposed muscles, the individual looked like a young boy in his twenties with short spiky dark blue hair with two short locks of hair behind his head and yellow eyes. He was wearing a jeans jacket over a white t-shirt with yellow stripes, a pair of blue long jeans, and two purple shoes. He also had a pair of white and yellow fingerless gloves on his hands and six bracelets with studs on his arm (three in each arm.

"I have to say that you guys are more persistent than I thought." He commented while looking at the wounded soldier with a grin. The other man simply looked at him from below with a spiteful stare, but this intrigued the boy only more, to the point of grabbing the soldier by his neck.

"KAH-"

"I have to say it, compared to the other law enforcement we faced in the past, you were able to put on a show. Of course, you weren't even able to lay a finger on us, but I could appreciate your effort. Too bad that it had been worthless!" The boy continued.

"Gh…I still don't understand…why are you doing all of this!? Judging by your appearance, you are part of some guild right!?" The soldier asked.

"You think we follow the rules plain and simple? Eheheh…then you surely don't know anything about us. RIGHT GUYS?" The boy said before referring to his mates, who confirmed and laughed out loud. "We're not like any regular guild out there. We are hunters. I'm sure this is enough to make you understand."

"H-Hunters-!?" The soldiers exclaim. "So, you're here for…"

"You see…that big market you were trying to defend caught our attention. And as hunters, as soon as we find out a treasure that could expand our…personal loot, we make sure to not miss the target, if you know what I mean." The boy continued.

"Grr…you're saying that you want to destroy the great market so that you can take out everything!?" The soldiers asked, getting more furious.

"Ahahah…no, I think you've misunderstood. Sure…that place has a lot of stuff…but those are not the real treasure…" The boy continued. At that moment, his grin became larger and creepier. Even his eyes became slit. "If I'm correct, there's a large tower at the center of that market, right? That is where there's what we came for."

Upon hearing that, the soldier widened his eyes in terror. He knew well what he was talking about. "What!? No! You can't! If you do that, the market itself wouldn't be able to survive!"

"I'm sorry, but it ended up getting our attention, so all you can do now is sit and watch as we get it with every means!" The boy continued, making the soldier reach his eyes.

"N-No…I…won't allow it…You won't touch the great market's…personal treasure!" The soldier tried to protest, even if he couldn't do much in his conditions…and the invader knew it well.

"Ahahahahah! Fine! Then try to dodge THIS!" With those last words, the criminal left the grip and before the soldier could reach the ground, he already delivered a powerful punch that sent him several meters away.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Much like his comrades, the soldier fell knocked out. The road was now clean.

"Heh. Soldiers…sometimes they're even more annoying than mosquitos." The boy commented.

Apostatìs – Guild Master of Chimera Tribe

At that moment, another member of the group came closer, looking at the scene with a smirk. This one was a girl with long and wavy pink hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a red tuxedo suit with a large yellow armor piece on her right arm and two long pink iron boots. She also had several roses attached to her basin for some reason.

"Well…not that it matters anymore. After all these waves, there shouldn't be anything left to block us from getting inside the market." She commented.

Ecclesias – Vice-Master of Chimera Tribe

"True enough. At least the job was easy." Apostatìs commented before turning around. "Ray-Machina! How much do we have left before reaching it?" He then asked one of the members of the guild.

Ray-Machina came closer, revealing his appearance: a man with short blonde hair, blue eyes, and spiky teeth that always held his back bent. He wore a metal armor colored in gold with blue arms and the lower body of his body seemed made of some metallic covering. The man looked at a floating digital map that flew in front of him to answer.

"Just a few kilometers. We should be able to reach the market by tomorrow, and as soon as we'll be there, there won't be anything left for those PRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRETTY BOYS!" The man said with a psychotic tone.

Ray-Machina – Member of Chimera Tribe

"Well, that's just excellent! It means that just in less than twenty-four hours, another treasure will end up in our hands. And judging by what we've heard, this might be quite the handful." Apostìtas commented while looking forward.

"Can you imagine? A great source of energy right in our hands. This could even help us in our future hunts. Just imagine the things we could do with that!" Ecclesias added. The only thought was enough to give the Master a shiver of excitement in his back.

"Ehhehehehe…In any case! It's already assured that it will end up in our hands. We already got the proof in the past of our power! With someone like us, no matter what type of defense they'll come up with, nothing can stand up against our brute force, and no treasure will remain untouched by the hands OF CHIMERA TRIBE!" Apostìtas then swore out. That speech gave the other members the right charge to do it, as they answered in a boastful roar of excitement. "COME ON, LET'S PROCEED!" With those words, the guild left, thinking they got rid of every possible danger. But that was not quite true.

A few meters away from them, a younger soldier was able to stand up again. His body was trembling, his armor was reduced to pieces and his limbs were losing a notable amount of blood. But somehow, he still had energies left to stand up. He couldn't die yet, especially after hearing that the place he was protecting was about to get in extreme danger.

"Anf…anf…anf…GH!" With all the energy he had left, he started to run towards the Great Market, making sure that those hunters couldn't see him.

"Dammit…they're aiming at the core of the market! We can't let him! I must warn the mayor! We need someone to help us!" At that moment, it all depended on him. Those few instants were precious to determine the outcome of that market for the following day. Because a ferocious rumble would have taken place.

---

The next day…

Caelum – City of Elba

Tsukuyomi was standing still, surrounded by a small group of ninja bandits that glared at her under the bright sun. It had been ten days since Tsukuyomi had accomplished her first mission in the city of Michaerya for Shogunate Pride, and even if she was still a newbie, she started to get a hand on how things worked in a guild, liking that lifestyle. Even now, she was doing her best to do her job for the guild.

"Is this supposed to be a mage? Look at her height! She's not older than twelve years!" One of the bandits said.

"If they got one like her, those guilds must be desperate in these times!"

"Who cares! LET'S GET HER!" Another bandit commanded, with all of them throwing themselves toward the girl, who had a skeptical expression on her face.

"Gee, I never thought bandits were this superficial." She commented. As soon as the bandits came closer to her, Tsukuyomi jumped high, dodging their attacks and leaving them bewildered.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?"

Tsukuyomi then started to spin while in mid-air, and as soon as she reached them, she rotated with her katana, managing to cut through five of them and land on her feet.

"GAH!"

"Who wants to be next?" The girl asked with a cold expression in her eyes. This made the bandits falter a bit, but they didn't want to let her go.

"GRRRR…GET HER!" They tried to charge at her with their weapons, but Tsukuyomi was able to dodge their attacks quickly enough to even pull out several counterattacks to get rid of them. The bandits ended up getting cuts throughout their bodies. They were not fatal enough to kill them, but they would have brought them out of combat.

"AAAAAAAH!" The last five tried to ambush her with a dive attack, but the girl infused her katana with eclipse magic and attacked them first with a circular cut.

"HM!"

"GAH!" With that, the remaining bandits got knocked out.

"And for the record…" Tsukuyomi said. "I'm twenty." With those last words, she cleaned the sword from the blood with one movement and then sheeted it. Once the brawl was over, she could take a deep breath to recover.

"Phew. And this is done. Who know that in such a small city there could have been so many bandits? Well…not that it matters, really, as long as I can take them out. They don't seem as strong as Kabuto." She commented. And then, she noticed that something was wrong or to be more precise…someone was missing.

"…Speaking of which…where did Nobu go?" As soon as she wondered it, she could hear someone breathing heavily, followed by the noise of several footsteps. When she turned around, she was stunned to see it. "E-Eh!?"

"ANFANFANFANFANFANFANFANFANFANF!"

"GET BACK HERE, COWARD!"

"FIGHT LIKE A MAN!"

"WHERE DID ALL THAT COCKINESS GO, EH!?"

Nobuhito was getting chased by a large number of bandits, who all seemed extremely annoyed at him. The samurai himself was running as fast as he could instead of facing them and had an extremely panicked expression on his face.

"W-What are you doing!?" Tsukuyomi exclaimed.

"ANFANFANF- DON'T WORRY! IT'S ALL PART OF THE PLAN! GET OUT OF THERE!" Nobuhito shouted out.

"WHA- Eeeeeerrr…YEET!" Not knowing what to do and not knowing what he meant by that, Tsukuyomi jumped out from the spot in panic, while the other samurai mage passed it through.

"RUN AS YOU CAN! WE'RE GONNA GET YA!" One of the bandits shouted out. But right at that moment, Nobuhito turned on them with a smirk, revealing what seemed to be a button. "WHAT!?"

"Uh?" Tsukuyomi wondered.

"And…GOTCHA!" As soon as he shouted it, Nobuhito pressed the button, causing several explosions on the ground where the bandits were standing, making them hurt and fly high of at least three meters.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaah….aaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Soon enough, a rain of ninjas fell on the city, making a small pile of it.

Nobuhito looked at the pile with satisfaction. "Aaah, the old tag prank. Always works!" He commented before looking at Tsukuyomi and making a thumb. "We've got all of them, nice work!"

The girl in the kimono was still confused as she looked at the pile. "What…just happened? What were those explosions?" She asked.

"Before we engaged the bandits, I've set up a few mines right in that spot. Once I reached them, all I needed to do was to drag them here and the game was set and done! Pretty clever, uh?" Nobuhito explained.

"I see…a good thought indeed. Although…" Tsukuyomi seemed to answer in a normal way…but then she came closer and started to shout at the boy, giving him some harmless punches. "DID YOU REALIZE THAT YOU COULD HAVE ARMED ANYONE THAT COULD HAVE STEPPED THERE INCLUDING ME OR THE CIVILIANS!? YOU COULD HAVE EVEN DESTROYED A BUILDING, THAT'S MESSED UP!"

"AAAH! SORRY! I'LL BE CAREFUL NEXT TIME!" Nobuhito cried out as he got 'harmed'.

A few minutes later, the two mages were able to wrap the group of ninja bandits and deliver them to the city troops. As a reward, they got 30.000 Jewels. Once the small mission was set and done, they could make their way back to the guild.

"You were lucky the commissioner let us go for this time since there were no damages. But be careful next time!" Tsukuyomi said to the other mage while they were walking through the city.

"Eh…fine, you have a point. Though I've been lucky nothing bad happened yet with all my tricks. The troubles were others. Some of them were hilarious!" Nobuhito commented with a small smile.

The girl felt weird after hearing him answer like that. "Still…why didn't you use your magic? I mean, you were strong enough to take them on, right?" She then asked.

"Oh, that's for sure! But you see, Tsuki...my magic isn't something to use against a group that easily. To use it I need to have some favorable conditions. With a certain number of enemies, I prefer to use the brain and make them fall into my traps." Nobuhito commented.

Tsukuyomi wasn't sure what he meant by that, but she surely was curious. "Then…why don't you use your sword?" She then asked, pointing at the wakizashi sword he had attached to his basin.

"Oh, this one here?" Nobuhito asked while grabbing it. He then looked at her in silence before scratching the back of his head with a nervous smile. "Truth said…I'm not very good at using swords, although I wish I could. Unfortunately, I'm not as skilled as you or the others, and I'm still practicing a lot. Fern is giving me some tips, since he knows a bit about weapons, but for the moment…I prefer to stick with clever ways to troll the enemy and the use of my magic." He explained. "Sometimes I don't think I look like a samurai at all."

Tsukuyomi was curious about his explanation, sensing that there was something below it. But she mostly remained confused by the last thing he said. Because, looking at him, it seemed the complete opposite.

Red armor is made in an oriental style and a regular katana.

"I mean…you surely look like one." She commented.

"Well, that's not the point. Still! Even if I'm not skilled with a weapon, I surely know how to make a name out of my opponents! I'm still a mage of Shogunate Pride, after all." Nobuhito continued before striking an elegant pose with some glittering stars around him.

With that, Tsukuyomi looked at him with a skeptical face. "He's weird…" She thought.

As they continued to chat, they started to climb the mountain and reach the guild. "If it can make you feel better, I don't think of myself as an expert with swords. Sure, I know something, but I'm surely not on the levels of the likes of Cal or Revany." Tsukuyomi spoke. "Also, because I was kinda forced to start using it…"

"It's not a big deal, Tsuki! Everyone starts from somewhere!" Nobuhito told her. And in the end, while discussing it, the two samurais arrived in front of the building of the guild.

After a few days passing in there, Tsukuyomi was starting to get used to it. While at first it still seemed strange and incredible to her, now she was starting to feel relaxed and serene whenever she saw that familiar building. She could even find the courage to say it.

"Aaah…home sweet home."

"Indeed!" Nobuhito agreed as he opened the doors of the guild. The familiar sight of the hall appeared, and they could get inside it to finally relax.

They could see some of the members talking or doing something. Ren, in particular, was upside down on one of the tables with his legs crossed while maintaining balance with only his index fingers. The three Master's daughters looked at him in awe as he was doing so.

"Pretty cool, uh?" He asked with a smirk.

"It is impressive…" Tsukuyomi said while looking at it. At that moment, a familiar voice called her out.

"Tsukuyomi, we're here!" It was Rere, who was sitting at the bar counter next to Cal. Although she was odd to her, she called out for her new friend as soon as she saw her.

Tsukuyomi came closer with pleasure, also because she wanted a drink to refresh from the mission. Therefore, she sat close to the other two samurais and looked at Yukari, who was serving at the bar.

"Welcome back, Tsukuyomi! It seems that everything went fine again, eh?" The woman asked.

"Eheh, surprisingly enough for a newbie, right?" Tsukuyomi replied with a nervous laugh.

"No need to say things like this. Newbie or not, you're still giving your contribution to this guild. So, cheer up!" Yukari told her with a caring smile. It almost made the girl remind of her actual mother (the adopted one).

"Thanks, Yukari." She simply told her.

Yukari nodded and then turned around to the bottles. "What can I serve you? We have pretty much everything here." She then asked.

"Eh, nothing heavy. An ACE juice will be fine." Tsukuyomi replied. Now that she thought of it, she turned around and see Iku just where she thought she would have been.

A few seats away from them, the older woman was looking at a few glasses, each one with a different drink. After picking one, she…simply drank it, and made a goofy face. "Aaah…delicious."

Tsukuyomi looked at her, shaking a bit. "Eeck…"

"I know that feeling…" Cal told her. "So, how did it go? The mission, I mean. Had there been any troubles?" He then asked, wanting to know more.

"Nothing particular to mention. Except Nobuhito using mines to get the bandits…I still find it a bizarre choice." Tsukuyomi replied while getting the glass of juice. "Thanks, Yukari."

"Oh, I see. It's normal for it. At least he elaborates on those traps perfectly. If I were to do so, we would probably end up caught in a net." Rere commented with her usual pessimistic side.

"Well, it surely surprised me…especially considering that he took them all out without using his magic. He said something about…using it in favorable conditions, but I don't know what he means by that…" The other girl commented. At that moment, even Fern sat down at the bar to take a drink.

"The mission was about getting rid of a group of bandits, right? Then it makes sense that he didn't use it. What he said to you is the truth. If used correctly, his magic can do quite the damage." He commented. "A glass of Malibu and Cola, please."

"Is that so? Fern is an S-Class Mage…and if he says something like that then…" Hearing those words made Tsukuyomi think carefully about it. He turned around to see that Nobuhito was talking and laughing normally with both Henry and Ren. With such a carefree spirit, my curiosity kept on growing.

"Hmmm…I wonder what it is, then…although he's a bit weird…" She spoke.

"Well, he is quite the prankster and one of the many lively spirits of the guild. The title 'fool' fits him well. Although some of his ways of entertainment are…questionable." Cal commented.

"What do you mean?" Tsukuyomi asked.

"Sometimes, he comes up with weird ideas like following fat people with a saxophone…" Fern commented with a skeptical face.

"E-Eh!?" The girl with black hair didn't know what to say, imagining the scene.

Nobuhito was there in a park, following a fat person while playing a goofy melody. He simply stood around him, playing. Naturally, the man was annoyed.

"WOULD YOU STOP THAT!? PLEASE! STOP!"

"That's…messed up." That was the comment the girl could think of.

"I know right? But he even did it twice!" Rere added.

"What!?" Once again, Tsukuyomi tried to imagine it. The scenario was the same, only with a different man. Still…it was bizarre.

"ALL RIGHT! ENOUGH OF THAT! STOP IT!"

"W-Well…at least he's able to entertain? Somehow?" The girl tried to find a positive aspect of it, although it was hard. It wasn't even entirely bad, just…weird.

"Well, you'll soon find out that everyone here has a quirk on their own. I mean, you could see it with Rere, right?" Cal told her.

"Indeed." Tsukuyomi agreed immediately, making the other girl slam her face to the table.

"Don't make me think of it…"

"Think of what?" Fern asked.

"NOTHING!" The other three mages immediately exclaimed. They didn't forget to not tell anyone of Rere's…glitch?

"Though now that I think of it, even if I'm here I still didn't see every single one of you. This makes me curious…" Tsukuyomi then said. At that moment, Hoshiko appeared near her in a pile of smoke, scaring her. "HA!"

"Oooh? Is that so? Glad to hear that! It means that you are already in the mood of the guild!" The ninja mage commented.

"W-Well…it took me a while to do so…I'm not very used to being social…" The smaller girl commented.

"And tell me…in which one of us are you more interested at the moment?" Hoshiko asked. "Perhaps she's interested in me! I would LOVE to show my flashiness to more people!" She thought on the other hand.

"Hmm…" Tsukuyomi gave a careful look to anyone, thinking carefully. Apart from the ones she had already seen the magic, they all seemed pretty interesting people to see in action. But in the end…the answer ended up being somehow obvious.

"I would say…the Master? I won't hide the fact that he interests me, considering how you treat him." She then spoke out.

As soon as she did so, Iku, Fern, and Hoshiko all startled at the same moment and started to look elsewhere with wide white eyes.

Naturally, Tsukuyomi didn't understand why they were doing so. "Did I…say something wrong?" She asked. She was even surprised to see Iku in that condition for the first time.

"N-No! Not at all! It's just that, well…you see…" The older member tried to explain but she ended up trembling. She knew it even too well.

"Is it normal for them to act like this?" Tsukuyomi then asked her two friends.

"Yes, I think? To be honest, I didn't see the Master in action as well, ever since I joined the guild. The answer I had was pretty much the same as yours." Cal answered, feeling confused as well.

"Is that so? Then it's not common to see him fight actually…" The black-haired girl noticed.

"W-Well, it's complicated," Fern told her. And right in that moment…

"What is complicated, Fern?" Dohko suddenly appeared at Fern's side with a smile, scaring the other member.

"HA! M-Master! Did you come back? Please don't scare me like that, sir!" Fern exclaimed with a large drop of sweat on his head.

"What can I say, I took the best tricks from Hoshiko." The Guild Master jokingly replied before putting a scarf around his face, miming a ninja.

Upon hearing that, Hoshiko slightly turned around with her cheeks lightly red. "N-Now, Master, there's no need to compliment me like that."

"Just as expected from you, honey," Yukari commented before giving a small kiss on the cheek at Dohko. "Where have you been?"

"Meh. Nothing particular to be mentioned. Just a classic investigation on a cave where I ended up using my odachi." The Master answered before taking a large bag. "And while coming back I took these coca cola flavored candies." He added before eating one of them.

Upon hearing that, her three daughters and Sena ran in front of him with large smiles. "Is that so, Master? Then you surely won't mind if you give some of them to us?" The boy asked.

"Pleaaaaaase!" The three daughters added, making large puppy eyes.

Dohko looked at them in silence for a few seconds and then threw some of them. "There you go!"

"YAAAAY!" Sena and the three girls immediately started to eat them, and Dohko could turn back on the members that were sitting at the bar. "So, how's it going, newbie? Finding yourself suitable after almost two weeks you're here?" He asked.

"Why, yes! It's wonderful to stay here! I just came back from a mission with Nobuhito!" Tsukuyomi replied.

"Aaah, I see, so you went with the jokester. He's a good and clever guy! So, I'm sure you went fine with him." Dohko commented.

Considering that they almost risked a mine incident, Tsukuyomi didn't know if to agree or not, so she made a nervous smile. "Eheh…s-sure."

"Speaking of which! Have you already checked your mission register? We take records of every mission a member accomplishes, especially for those who aim to be S-Class mages." Dohko then asked.

Tsukuyomi raised her eyes, surprised. "Is that so?"

"It's on the upper floor," Yukari told her.

"Then I'll check it out!" The girl in the kimono then quickly drank her juice and went upstairs.

"Glad to see another lively person joining our ranks," Dohko commented as he watched her go upstairs. He then turned to Fern and Iku. "But seriously, what were you talking about?"

"S-She wanted to know about your magic…" Fern reluctantly answered.

"Is that so? Ahahahah! Is that why you were trembling? Come on, Fern! You know it's not that bad!" Dohko commented, finding it funny.

"You're the one to talk! You never check the damages you do, Master!" Iku retorted.

"Daddy's so cool…" Mami added while innocently eating her candy.

Cal and Rere, on the other hand, looked at the scene confused.

"M-Maybe I've got an idea of why they are so afraid. Sometimes his behavior can be creepy…" The girl commented.

In the meantime, Tsukuyomi went up and checked what they were talking about. And right close to Dohko's room, she could see it. A large board with all the members' names and the number of missions they've accomplished. The numbers were written with a brush which had to be soaked with liquid ink. There was also a small cloth that could have been used to erase the words on the board.

"There it is! I'm quite curious…" Tsukuyomi came closer. Apart from seeing her number, she wanted to see how the other members went. And the answer surprised her quite a bit.

Dohko: 789

Rokumon: 695

Iku: 669

Yori: 700

Revany: 358

Fern: 476

Hoshiko: 329

Henry: 296

Nobuhito: 201

Ren: 411

Iori: 220

Domino: 213

Cal: 189

Rere: 101

Sena: 88

Tammy: 20

Tsukuyomi: 10

If she were, to be honest, Tsukuyomi felt a bit taken aback after seeing all those large numbers and then seeing her ten at the end. "D-Damm…I feel like a cockroach…" She commented as she changed her ten into an eleven.

At that moment, Henry came closer to changing his number. "Nah! It's just that we are a productive guild, that's all! You're a new member so it's only natural! Even Tammy is on the same boat here!" He told her, pointing at Tammy.

"I may have done only twenty missions but all of them had done gloriously!" Tammy added.

"Eheh…thanks, guys…" Tsukuyomi answered, still a bit resigned.

"No problem! Now, let me-" Henry was about to change his number to 297, but right at that moment…

Splat.

As soon as he placed the brush, all the ink expanded, covering the whole number.

"…You've got to be kidding me." The cowboy mage commented. He took a deep sigh and then grabbed the cloth to clean up and rewrite the number from zero. "Speaking of which, now that I'm back, I should probably check on my horse…"

"GASP!" Tsukuyomi raised her head at that sound. "H-Horse!? Really!?" She asked.

"Yeah, his pet. He has it at the right on the ground floor." Tammy replied.

"He's probably in his barn at the moment. Wanna see it?" Henry proposed.

Tsukuyomi started to jump on the place with her eyes looking like golden stars. "YES! YES! I've always wanted to see a horse!"

"Ok, ok! It seems that you like them! Then follow me!" With those words, Henry brought Tsukuyomi to the barn, which, just like Tammy said, was on the right of the ground floor and could have been reached through a door with a horseshoe on it.

The barn itself wasn't extremely big like that of a farm, but the animal surely had a bit of space where to walk and eat. It was mostly filled with hay and had a few items like a wooden bucket, a pitchfork, and some baskets where to put vegetables.

And as soon as she entered and walked around, Tsukuyomi could hear a nitrite. She turned around and was in awe as soon as she saw it.

A tall white Pegasus was standing on a closed fence, calling for his owner.

"OH, MY GOOOOD!" Much like a small kid, Tsukuyomi was delighted to see the animal and came closer to see it. Henry in the meantime opened up the fence to make the animal walk.

"Eheh, like it? This is my good friend-" Henry was going to present him but, for some reason, Tsukuyomi called out a strange name.

"RAINBOW DASH!"

An awkward moment of silence followed.

"Uhm…no? His name is Icarus. I rescued him a while ago from a group of poachers. From that moment on, he became close to me! He can also be extremely useful!" Henry continued.

Tsukuyomi simply couldn't hold herself. "Dear…he's…beautiful…" She tried to move her hand, but the horse didn't seem pleased with that, as he looked at her crookedly.

"Uhm, actually he's not really for first encounters so he might-" Henry tried to warn her, but as soon as the girl touched the horse…this one turned around and gave her a heavy kick on the stomach.

"AGH!" The impact was pretty strong and Tsukuyomi fell to the ground.

"…Answer…" Henry concluded the phrase.

Wasted.

Since he could notice that Icarus was starting to get uncomfortable, he started to gently stroke him. "There, there, it's all right. She's a friend." He said before turning to the other samurai. "Yeah, Icarus may not be like the others who can talk to the guild, but don't let it fool you! He's pretty level-headed and a good pall once he warms up to you! I suggest practicing a bit with feeding him at least once a week."

"Y-Yeah…" Tsukuyomi still lay on the ground, spitting a bit of blood. The other samurai got a bit worried.

After that small encounter, the girl made a quick shower and then came back to the main hall of the guild, sitting next to her two friends.

"D-Dear lord…it still hurts." She commented, referring to what happened before.

"Got hit by the Pegasus?" Revany, who was sitting a few seats away from them asked Tsukuyomi.

"Y-Yeah…"

"At least he only kicked you. The first time I met him, he gave me a headbutt…" Rere commented.

"O-Oh…then I'm not the only one! Eheh…" Tsukuyomi said, trying to be positive.

"Everyone here got a 'personal treatment' from Icarus. But whenever you can touch him, ah…" Domino then said with a pleased face. "It's wonderful…"

"I couldn't agree less…" Tsukuyomi joined in, holding hands with her. They've also imagined flowers blooming and floating around them.

Cal, on the other hand, looked at them with a skeptical face. "Weird…"

At that moment, Dohko made a loud clap with his hands. "All right! Now that everyone is in the main hall, may I have your attention please?" He asked.

In an instant, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him, waiting for the message.

"Your formality is pretty amazing guys, but anyways! I have an important thing to say. It seems that another grand mission is waiting for us today, and we'll all have to go, probably." Dohko announced.

A small chatter started to rise, as the members of the guild discussed it among themselves.

"A mission that involves everyone? I never thought we would have done so. It must be dangerous then…" Tsukuyomi commented.

"It's a common thing. Whenever we have to face something big, we usually take more members than just four or five. Counting on all the members' powers can bring up more possibilities of victory." Iori told her.

"Samurais often unite force! Much like it happened in the War of Shiroyama over a century ago!" Ronin added.

"What is it about, Master?" Rokumon asked.

"Well, let's start with the basic stuff. We're all going to the Great Akihabara Market today!" Dohko announced.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" Everyone (except Revany) cheered up.

"Buuut for a mission." Dohko added.

"Nooooooooooooooooooo…" Everyone (except Revany) answered in a sad tone.

"But nothing forbids you to take a look and buy something!" The Master continued.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" All the members (except Revany) cheered up.

"Buuut remember to not buy too many things," Dohko added.

"Noooooooooooooooooooo…" Everyone (except Revany) replied sadly.

"Fuck, now that it was my chance!" Ren commented.

"I agree on the last thing!" Rere added.

"Hmmm…" Yori started to think off. "A market is a common place for a mission request, especially if we consider that it comes directly from Akihabara, which is the biggest one in the region. Though it would be better if we knew the circumstances. Do we have more details on the request, Master?" He then asked.

"Yes, Yori. It was one of the imperial soldiers that work in there that sent me this letter on behalf of the major." Dohko replied while showing the letter. He then opened it and gave it a quick read. According to this…" He then made a more serious stare. "The Grand Akihabara Market is under the target of someone."

Everyone flinched for a moment. Knowing their Master, they knew that this could have meant something dangerous.

"Under the target, you say? Then it means someone we have to face, right?" Cal asked.

"Something like a large group of bandits and thieves?" Tammy tried to guess.

"If it was something like that, they wouldn't have requested mass support from a guild. It's probably something…bigger." Nobuhito told her.

"Speaking of which, do we have any information that tells us about the ones who are aiming for the market?" Sena asked.

"They preferred to remain vague on the letter. Either they don't know it as well or they prefer to tell us in person. In any case, I'm sure you all know what must be done, right?" Dohko then asked.

All the members nodded and started to stand up.

"Simple and clean! A new case is on the ride! It's always good to make more people taste my drinks!" Iku answered, delighted about the mission. For the occasion, she took a drink. "Aaaah…always the best."

"Considering that all of us will have to be there, I wouldn't be surprised if we had to deal with someone like a dark guild," Ren added.

Hearing that made Tsukuyomi turn around. "Dark guild? I've heard of them…they're guilds who use their magic for their purposes and that don't follow the laws of the council, right?" She asked.

"Indeed. Up until two years ago, they were all under the command of the Balam Alliance. After the three main guilds got destroyed and the alliance was dismantled, all the dark guilds are running fast and making competition to seize power. There's a good amount of them here in Caelum." Fern answered.

"And it's up to guilds like us to take them down!" Domino added.

After hearing that, Tsukuyomi gave a closer look at her katana. This would have been her first big and serious mission. She was in the guild for a couple of days by now, and she got used to the way of living of the mages. But…right now…she was going to do something bigger to protect another place. She had a taste of that during her first mission in Michaerya, but this would have been a bigger deal. Would she have been able to?

…But after some seconds, she made up her mind. No. There wasn't time for doubts. Not again.

"Count on me as well." She spoke. "I'll probably need some tips on how to move in such a large group, but you can stay sure that I'll do my best." She added with a small smile.

"Good," Revany said from behind her, making the girl turn around. "A Clean Mind. Remember it even in this mission."

After seeing that everyone was ready to take on the quest, Dohko nodded and made a pleased smile. "Glad to see that you're willing to make these people learn their place! Very well. Once you'll be prepared, wait at the entrance of the guild. From then on, we'll start to head towards the Great Akihabara Market."

"But wait…wouldn't the guild be exposed if we all go?" Tsukuyomi then asked. Surprisingly for her, it was Yukari who answered.

"Don't worry! I'll stay here and protect this place." She said before taking out a large zanbato sword, surprising the girl that had wide eyes. "It may not look like, but I do know how to fight!"

"A-A-A-AH…T-That's a…big sword…" Tsukuyomi commented. Dohko, on the other hand, jiggled.

"Even though she's not an official member of the guild, she's a tough woman! That's why I love her!"

"Awww, come on, honey, let's not start back again!" Yukari answered, feeling pleased.

"Eugh!" The three daughters on the other hand felt a bit disgusted naturally.

And so, after making sure that the guild would have been in good hands and after getting everything they could have brought, all the members started to leave the guild. Some of them were ready in a short time, and some of them took a bit more, but in one way or another, everyone was ready. It wasn't usual to see all the members of Shogunate Pride going together towards a specific destination, but one thing was sure.

When it happened…it was always time to get serious.

The large group was able to climb down the mountain through the staircase and end up in the city.

Hoshiko was already stretching up, eager to start. "Aaaah…it has been a while since we had a group thing! Can't wait to see what this is all about! They surely won't expect my tricks!" She commented.

"A-At least you'll be able to do something. Group activities are just the worst for me…" Rere said. But Tsukuyomi wasn't really of the same opinion.

"What? You say this after what you did last time?"

"I'm working on it, ok!? It's not that easy to control! B-Besides, you don't know the details." Rere protested.

Tsukuyomi wasn't entirely sure of that, but she remembered what they'd discussed the last time. Therefore, she still wanted to give her some space. She held her hand. "Hey, in case something goes wrong, remember that I'm here this time as well, ok? What I said that time is still valid." She said with a smile.

Rere was about to have another dizziness after seeing that overwhelming sense of confidence again, but she tried to resist (also because she couldn't afford to make that bad impression again). "S-Sure! I'll watch your back as well! U-Uhm…" She spoke, trying to remain the same.

At that moment, Tsukuyomi took the chance to also grab Cal's arm. "And speaking of which, it seems that we're together this time as well! And with everyone else, too!" She said all happy.

"You like being in a group, don't you?" Cal asked, noticing her behavior.

"These are my first times. I'm trying to be as sociable as possible…" The girl left out a comment.

"Damm…I can relate this time as well." Even the boy commented.

"Well…it's better if we reach out to the Great Market as soon as possible. We don't know when this threat will attack." Fern pointed out.

"Oh, for that, I have an idea!" Rokumon suddenly spoke. Everyone turned around to see him.

"What is it?" Domino asked.

"I've recently heard that if you throw your weapon up to the sky with all your passion, this will turn into a cool mecha-ship!" The older member replied, shocking the others.

"W-What!?" Iori exclaimed.

"Yes! Take a look! HA!" To show it, Rokumon threw his katana…but nothing happened.

Everyone looked up to see if something changed. But after a few moments…the sword fell and planted itself on the ground.

Confused, Rokumon grabbed back his weapon. "N-Nothing happened…"

"I think they lied to you," Yori told him in a pretty much straight way. And as expected…

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Everyone looked confused at the scene while Revany facepalmed.

"Well, at this point we know what to do," Dohko commented.

The others understood what he was saying. Especially Iori, who started to feel uncomfortable. "Oh God…do we have to, Master? I mean, sure it's distant, but a bit of workout doesn't hurt anyone, right?" He asked, hoping to avoid that option.

"I know how you feel Iori, but the mayor seemed to be pretty much in a hurry, and we can't let the enemy reach the Great Market in time, right?" Dohko spoke.

The younger samurai knew that trying to change it was pointless. So, he sighed, waiting for the inevitable. Ronin laid a hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him.

"Come on! At least they'll surely have a window there, right?"

---

Caelum – Great Akihabara Market

The sun was already high, and the Great Market had started its business activities. All the shops and stalls already started to shout out their products to attract as many people as possible.

This was the life in the Great Akihabara Market, made of walking people, cheers, and most of all…shopping! But the civils didn't know that their life was going to be turned upside down by an imminent raid.

Outside the city, the members of Chimera Tribe were quickly approaching the market. They walked all night to reach the place faster and take the so-called treasure and make it their own.

Their leader in particular, Apostatìs, was flying with two dragon-like wings to reach the destination in less time. He was looking forward with a large devious grin as he kept on flying. "Just a matter of minutes by now! Prepare to tremble, Akihabara!"

CIUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUF!

In the meantime, a locomotive of the Kabula line reached the market's station. As soon as it stopped, the doors started to open up, letting the passengers either go in or go out of the train.

"Attention to all passengers. We have reached the Great Akihabara Market. The train will part again in twenty minutes. Thank you for traveling with us."

Among the people that came out of the train, seventeen of them stood out for their unique looks. As soon as they jumped out, they looked up, ready to go inside the market itself.

Dohko looked up at the sun and took a deep breath. "Aaah. It surely has been a while since I've been here! And the weather is always nice!" He commented before turning around. "How are you feeling guys?" He asked.

"WE'RE OK, MASTER!" The other members of Shogunate Pride promptly answered, showing their composure towards the Master…except one.

"Euuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh…" With all of his forces, Iori got out of the train and crawled to reach the others, feeling extremely weak and with a pale face. "E-Every time is a living nightmare…" He commented.

"Come on…it's all over now…" Ronin told him while trying to comfort him with some pats on the back.

"Is he all right?" Tsukuyomi asked, confused.

"Yeah, yeah! Don't worry! It's a…natural reaction. Whenever he goes in a means of transport, he has a terrible sense of nausea." Domino told her.

Tsukuyomi felt a bit puzzled by that and looked at the boy with a drop of sweat near her head. "I-Is that so?"

After Iori could feel a bit better, the group could leave the station, and Tsukuyomi could see it. The Great Akihabara Market in all of its splendor. "Woah…"

The market was in every way an effective city with a gigantic quantity of shops and stands with tents that were pretty much everywhere and that could sell mostly everything someone could have imagined. Food, clothes, drinks, gadgets, spells, weapons decorations…everything that could have been bought was there. The buildings mixed up incredibly with all the stores, making them look like stores themselves (considering that most of the inhabitants were naturally sellers). And at the center of the market, stood what seemed to be a modern cybernetic tower, which looked like the symbol of the market itself.

Tsukuyomi was caught by surprise at such a sight, alongside Cal. "A-And here I thought that Michaerya was big!"

"You're not used that much to big places, are you?" Yori asked.

"N-Not really! My village was an ant in comparison…" The girl replied.

"I see. In that case, it's only natural. The Great Akihabara Market is one of the biggest cities in the region of Caelum, second only to the capital itself. If you're not that used to such large areas, it's better if you keep your eyes open and don't get lost. And…well…try not to spend too much. Like that guy." Yori continued while pointing at Ren, who already had a delighted face.

"Aah! Look at all this stuff! I can only imagine all the great purchases I could do!" The other mage said as he looked around.

The girl in the kimono didn't know what to think of him yet. After that discussion she had with him a few days earlier, she could say that he had something more, but seeing him acting that way made her think that…yeah, he was weird.

"So, how do we proceed, Master?" Nobuhito then asked.

"Naturally, we'll search out for the mayor's office first to know how to proceed. Considering that we've arrived from the station, the office is on the complete opposite side. So, you can take a look around. But don't take too much time and remember to not spend too much." Dohko answered.

"Take a look around?" Tsukuyomi asked while she did so. "Well…all these stalls and shops do seem interesting…" She commented.

"HEY! Don't forget what I told you a few days ago! Always remember to save your money for extreme resources!" Rere promptly told her.

"C-Come on, I don't think a little purchase or two will cause me anything…" The other girl said with a skeptical face.

"Yes, it can! Especially if you deal with clever people! Like my old archnemesis Morshu…" Rere added, looking up with a serious stare, looking like she had to face a deadly enemy.

"Who's that again?" Tsukuyomi asked

"The merchant she frequents to get her equipment. Whenever she tries to lower the price, Morshu always finds a way to refute her." Iori explained. Knowing Rere's opinions, everything was clearer.

"I'LL BEAT THAT GREEDY BALL SOMEDAY!" Rere shouted out of frustration.

With that said, the guild members started to head towards the mayor's office, but not without looking around. With so many things, it was hard to go straight without laying an eye on the stalls, and soon enough, some of the members were able to find some place of their own.

Iku stopped at an alcoholic stall, looking back and forward at all the drinks that were exposed, undecided on which one to pick. Her eyes rolled from left to right several times. "Hmmmmmmmmmmm…they all seem good…it's hard to pick one."

The seller looked at her with a nervous smile and a drop of sweat near his head. "U-Uhm…how about you take a glass of each one? It could help you!" He proposed, seeing her like that.

"You know what? You're right!" The samurai mage replied. And with that, she opened all the bottles and drank all of them at once like it was nothing, shocking the seller.

"AH! W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

"IKU STOP!" Rokumon shouted while witnessing the scene.

"AAAAAH! I WAS RIGHT! THEY'RE ALL DELICIOUS!" Iku said all happy while keeping on drinking.

Revany stopped by a library, looking at her favorite genre: adventure. Considering the vastity of the place, she hoped to find a book to take away and read during her free time. Her attention was brought to one new book, especially after looking at the author.

Escape from the Ninja Monastery – By Lucy Heartfilia

"Hm? Did she make another one already?" Revany wondered as she took the book. After looking at it for a couple of seconds, she brought it to the reception and bought it. "Well, good to know. This author is always convincing." She commented.

Yori and Sena preferred to look at items that were more antiquated such as decorations, porcelain, and even old vinyl.

The young mage took up a small porcelain statue representing a karakasa. "Aah! This one is cute! Do you think it would fit, Yori?" He asked.

"Pretty enough, considering your magic." The older mage answered. "I was more intrigued by this disc. Sounds of the nature – wood edition." Filled enough with curiosity, Yori tried out the vinyl on a record player. Soon enough the audio started.

"Right now, it's in front of me…a gigantic monster two meters high…"

A poorly pitched growl followed that phrase, making both mages raise an eyebrow confused.

Hoshiko, in the meantime, looked at a clothes shop feeling in awe of the dresses that were exposed. Her attention was particularly brought up by a jacket made out of white fur. Looking at it made her star-shaped eyes sparkle.

"Flashyyyyyyyyyy!" She exclaimed before grabbing the jacket. "Aaah…look at the beauty of the design and the softness of the fur…maybe if I wore this…boys would find me cuter…"

"Hoshiko? What are you doing?" At that moment, Nobuhito came by and saw her. Hearing her friend made the other mage startle and hide the jacket on her back.

"AH! N-Nobuhito?" She then coughed a bit and tried to retain her serious expression. "Nothing, what do you expect I was doing? I'm not suspect, you are suspect!" She exclaimed, pointing at him.

The other samurai was a bit confused but he let it be. "Ok, it's just her having her usual mood swings. Everything normal." He thought.

Henry and Tammy in the meantime were trying a target practice with awards. Tammy had the bow in her hands and after a few seconds of aim…she shot the arrow, making a perfect center.

"Ahahah! Well done, miss!" The seller commented.

"That was pretty great, Tammy!" Henry added.

Hearing those compliments made Tammy have a smug smile on her face. "Eheheh! This is my talent, after all!"

"Come on! Let me give it a try!" Curious enough, Henry decided to take the bow and shoot an arrow as well, wanting to see his result. And as soon as he shot the arrow…this one missed the target and started to bounce around.

"AGH!" Someone's shout could be heard a few steps away from them, making the two samurais look at each other in awkward silence.

"…Eheh…whoops?" Henry commented.

"…I guess you could say…that was a lucky shot," Tammy added, playing on Henry's nick.

Patum pss….

The other samurai looked at her with a skeptical face.

In the meantime, Dohko and Iori were in a plushie store, with the latter finding it odd for his Master to go in a place like this. After looking at the products, he decided to take a huge teddy bear. "This one will go."

"Aw, that's cute, Master! Getting a present for your daughters?" Iori asked.

"What? No, this one is for me!" Dohko answered.

The answer left out the other mage displaced. "Wait…what-?"

"Sometimes I need a bit of softness when I sleep. This one is perfect. But now that you make me think of it, I might take something for them as well." Dohko explained while holding the plushie tightly.

Iori simply didn't know what to say, even though he was used to seeing his Master being quite an ambiguous person.

"You know, a plushie for me wouldn't be that bad, Iori!" Ronin said with a smile.

"Would you promise not to break it like the others?" Iori asked, knowing his exceed friend even too much.

By hearing that, Ronin thought of the mountain of plushie corpses in his room and started to laugh nervously. "What? Noooo! I don't know what you're talking about!"

Meanwhile, Tsukuyomi and Cal looked up at a small weapon stall, getting surprised by what was exposed. "Wow…look at this…" The girl commented.

Cal took a scimitar and gave it a careful look. "These weapons have a surprising quality for a simple stall rather than a workshop." He commented.

"You could tell?" The girl asked, curious.

"Well, I've worked with swords back at home before I joined the guild. So, I know a bit of them." The boy replied.

"Really? Is your blade a work of yours as well?" Tsukuyomi asked.

After hearing that question, Cal remained stood still for a couple of seconds and then turned around. "I'd…rather not talk about it."

"Oh, sorry…" Tsukuyomi felt she touched a nerve, so she stopped herself. At that moment the two of them could hear some noises and they could spot Fern buying a good amount of weapons.

"You must like them if you took some of these!" The seller commented.

"Let's just say that they are a part of my work," Fern replied.

"What is he doing with all those weapons?" Tsukuyomi wondered.

"It has to do with his battle style. Maybe you'll see it soon. Although, yeah…at first, it's a bit weird to see." Cal told her. At that moment, Dohko came closer.

"Are you done?" He asked, making them turn around. "We're close by. The mayor's office is just a few steps ahead."

At that moment, Ren turned around sorry. "Ah, dammit! Now that I found an interesting store!" He exclaimed.

Yori came closer to check it out and could notice that it was a money rollout. With a skeptical face, he grabbed Ren by his scarf and dragged him along. "Let's go."

"AGH!"

And in the end, the group was able to reach it: The mayor's office, a two-floor building with the symbol of Caelum standing at the top. As soon as they entered and explained the situation, two imperial guards guided them directly to the main study. As soon as they entered…they could see a man looking from outside a window in an imposing way.

"Is that him?" Ren asked.

"It seems so…" Fern replied. The members of the guild simply looked at him carefully.

In the end, Dohko decided to speak out. "We're the mages of Shogunate Pride. We're here after hearing your request, mayor."

"Ah, I see…so you've come at last…good…" The mayor finally spoke out and started to slowly turn around.

The mages were eager to see his appearance, but when they did so…they felt weird. "Uh?"

The mayor was a tall yet chubby figure with large arms and legs wearing a formal suit. His head was bald yet he had bushy grey moustaches and was wearing a pair of spiral glasses.

"I'm so glad you came! Seeing you here soothes me!" He spoke with a goofy voice.

"Is…is that him? I don't know why, but his appearance seems…familiar." Revany thought.

The mayor came closer and looked at each one of the guild's mages. "And I see that you are looking good! Just what it takes to help us for what's going to happen."

"Speaking of that, we came here after hearing about your request, but the letter was quite vague. What seems to be the problem?" Henry fairly asked.

"Yes, I wasn't really that explicit in the letter due to the agitation and because I didn't know if you would have come. Now that you're here I can explain the situation more clearly." The mayor replied before sitting back in his chair. The mages came closer to listen better.

"As you probably know, this is the greatest commercial place in all of the region of Caelum. Most of the economic entries come from right here and every single person that works in this place contributes to making the place live on. But the most important thing that makes everything possible is situated in the tower that stands at the center of the market." The mayor started to explain.

"And what is it?" Ren asked.

Upon hearing the question, the mayor turned around and looked at the tower. From that spot, it could have been seen from a perfect angle. "A simple globe made of pure ethernano energy. It is placed at the center of the tower and sends electric energy throughout the market. You could say it's our powerhouse. We are one of the first places in Earthland that started to use electric equipment to improve businesses and every client's purchases and as of today, it is something indispensable for the market to work correctly. Over 50 years ago, this place got hit and almost struck down by a huge hurricane that wiped away almost everything and it seemed that it was on the brink of its end. But then, a brilliant scientist that was specialized in electric magic proposed a complete reconstruction and renovation of the great market. Following that purpose, he built the tower you see today, and through his magic…he was able to generate a small yet effective globe of energy that through its connection to the tower, it was able to deliver electricity to all the machinery and the houses of the market. As of today, losing it would put all businesses to a halt."

"So, it's an essential resource. Then the reason why you called is because of this?" Hoshiko then asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. Right last night, a wounded soldier came here and warned me about an imminent attack. It was his last message before passing away. Someone is aiming to appropriate the globe." The mayor continued.

"And who is it?" Cal asked.

The mayor started to tremble after that question. The sole thought of those people made him get a lot of anxiety. "A-According to the soldier's words…we're getting attacked by those evildoers of Chimera Tribe."

They didn't know who they were, but hearing that name made all the members of Shogunate Pride assume a deadly serious expression on their faces. Now they knew what type of mission that was.

"So, Ren's thought was right. We're talking about another guild…" Tsukuyomi thought.

"Who are they?" Dohko asked.

"Chimera Tribe is a guild just like yours, but you could describe it as a dark one, as they usually ignore the rules of the Magic Council. They're all powerful mages but if we were to be more precise…the most adequate term for them would be…hunters." The mayor continued.

"Hunters?" Iku asked.

"Yes. Throughout the years, they were known for stealing and getting their hands on every type of treasure through brute force, trying to get rid of every type of enemy they stepped on. Many important treasures of Earthland disappeared because of them. Many people tried to stop them, but they were all crushed down by their strength." The mayor replied.

"And now they're aiming for the globe?" Sena asked.

The mayor lowered his head in regret. "I never thought of it, but considering how it was made and the incredible quantity of energy it can hold, the globe would make a perfect treasure for someone. And they realized it. The tower was built up to defend it properly, but I'm afraid that won't be enough for them."

A moment of silence followed the answer. Even the imperial soldiers that were there lowered their heads. Tsukuyomi could see a familiar reaction to those of Michaerya.

And then…Dohko made a small smile. "Well…that's why we're here, right?"

"Uh?" The mayor raised his head again.

"Through your words and your sincerity, we could understand that this is an extremely important thing for you people. And while it is common to see all of us move together, it's never a good thing for our enemies. Our guild has a long experience with criminals of this type, and we all know what is their end. Right, guys?" Dohko continued, asking for approval from the other members.

"YES, MASTER!" Everyone else answered with a firm tone, even those that were less secure.

"Mister Mayor, you can stay sure that this city is in good hands," Rokumon spoke.

"True! And it's always a pleasure for me to test my transformations to someone else, eh eh!" Sena added.

"We'll do our best, you can stay sure of it!" Tsukuyomi concluded with a small smile.

The mayor was a bit moved by this scene. "I know I'm asking too much but…it warms my heart to see that you are willing to help…"

"Don't even mention it. That's what guilds are for, right? Plus, such is the path of the samurai, a continuous path of battles." Dohko replied.

"Still…I need to thank you. I'll find a way to repay-" The mayor wanted to express his gratitude, but right at that moment…

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A large explosion could be heard from outside, making everything rumble.

"WOAAAAH! W-WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" Tammy exclaimed.

"This rumbling isn't normal!" Henry commented.

"AAAAH! CAREFUL!" Rere ended up falling on Tsukuyomi, while Revany went to look from the window, and gritted her teeth to see what caused the explosion.

"It seems that we were too late…" She commented.

"Uh?!" All members looked at her and right at that moment, a girl entered the office. She had long black hair and blue eyes and was dressing a black outfit.

"DAD!"

"Merida!" The mayor called her out as soon as he saw her.

"THEY ATTACKED THE WALL FROM THE SOUTHERN SIDE!" Merida shouted out, alarming everyone in the room.

"WHAT!?" Without hesitation, the mayor looked up at the window, alongside the members of Shogunate Pride, although they've ended up all mashed up. "MMMF!"

From there, they could see a huge pile of smoke coming from the giant wall that was surrounding the city, which was full of cracks.

"That blast greatly damaged the wall! Another one and it could fall!" Fern said, noticing the damages.

"Are they already using all of their men!?" Nobuhito asked.

At that moment, to see it better, Tammy activated her magic, which allowed her to have a better sight of the overall area. And right there, she could see him: A boy with dragon-like wings flying above the walls with his hands smoking.

"No! It's not an army! It's a single man!" She warned, shocking the others.

"What!?"

And just as she said, right above the southern wall, Apostatìs was getting ready to open up the road. He let out a deep breath followed by a creepy laugh. "And now…once again…the hunts begin." With those words, he started to gather as much air as possible…and then…

"WREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He released a gigantic white beam that soon obliterated a large part of the southern wall, and pieces started to fall, making loud thuds. As soon as he finished, several armed men started to make their way, with the young Master to lead them.

"ATTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!"

The men answered with the same emphasis and roared out war cries and laughs as they charged. Among them stood Ecclesias, who looked around satisfied while holding a red rose in her hands. "Marvelous. Let's give this market a taste of our graceful power." With those words, several notable figures among the guild started to run and scatter in several parts while she and Apostatìs headed toward the main tower.

"Oh no! They're all here!" Domino exclaimed.

"THIS IS BAD! AT THIS RATE THE MARKET WILL BE REDUCED TO ASHES IN LESS THAN TEN MINUTES!" The mayor shouted out, starting to panic.

"Calm down! We'll stop them!" Dohko told him before turning on his members. "Ok, guys! We weren't expecting an assault of such levels, but it's nothing that can be fixed! We're going straight into action, are you ready?"

"Ready any time!" Rokumon promptly replied.

"I'm it!" Domino added.

"I can assault them as well!" Hoshiko got in.

"Give orders, Master," Revany concluded.

"Perfect. Let's head outside!" Dohko ordered.

"Merida! Go with them! They'll need a guide on how to move!" The mayor then told his daughter.

"But father, are you sure? You'll be alone!" The girl exclaimed.

"Don't worry! I'm not that easy to kill, I can run fast! Trust me, help Shogunate Pride!" The mayor stood still on his choice with a smile. The two imperial guards that were there came closer to support his choice.

"Ok…" Freya then turned around and followed the mages, with the mayor looking from the window a bit worried.

"It's a race against time by now…please, make the market survive, Shogunate Pride!"

---

"This way!" Once outside, Freya went on surpassing the samurais to show them the way.

"Anf! Anf! Slow down! She's fast!" Rere commented.

"Her house is getting destroyed, what's your excuse, sir?" Fern asked her.

After a bit, the girl led the mages to what seemed to be a perfect crossroad. "We may not be at the center, but from here, it's easier to move around the market starting from here!" The mayor's daughter informed them.

Tsukuyomi could look around and see the damages that they were causing, alongside the civilians and the sellers that were running away.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"

"RUUUUUUUUUUUUN!"

"They're not hesitating! We need to move quickly!" Tsukuyomi called out.

"Sure do, Tsuki!" Dohko replied before turning on Freya. "Freya! Is the entrance to the main tower easy?" He asked.

"It's highly guarded, but if you explain to the guards the situation, they'll let you pass. The globe is right at the center of the tower. It will be a bit messy to reach since the tower is full of rooms." Freya explained.

"Good! Their strongest members are probably heading over there while they leave the lesser members to let the city defenseless. We need someone that can counter them. Rokumon, you're in! Head to the tower!" Dohko then started to deliver the proper moves.

"Got it, leave it to me!" Rokumon was about to head out, but before he could move, he could see a heavy metal object fall right in front of him. "AH!"

"What's that?" Ren asked. Everyone then looked up and could see what seemed to be a whirlwind of metal objects floating around and falling everywhere with violence.

"Dammit! They're trying to destroy the market even from above!" Cal exclaimed.

"I'll take care of it! I know how to deal with high enemies!" Tammy said, offering herself.

"Are you sure?" Tsukuyomi asked.

"Eheh, no problem! You'll soon rely on a senpai like me!" Tammy answered back with a wink and a star.

"Now don't exaggerate…" Fern told her with a skeptical face.

"Still, you got it! We're counting on you, Tammy!" Dohko told her, making the girl nod and start to climb up to reach out the attack.

"I'll go to the tower, then…for real this time!" Rokumon then warned.

"Let me follow you! You may need some backup!" Iori offered with Ronin flying close to him.

"No problem, you can follow me. Merida, it's better if you go with us as well." Rokumon replied, referring to the girl. "I'm sure you know the tower better than us."

"O-Ok…" Freya wasn't entirely sure.

"N-Now, we don't bite…" Iori told her, seeing that she was a bit nervous.

"Maybe I do!" Ronin jokingly said.

"Ronin!"

With that said, Rokumon, Iori, and Meirda started to go as well.

At that moment, the remaining members could see something big digging around, messing up all the stalls.

"Oh, you got to be kidding me, they're attacking from even underground!? They're making sure to wreck this place!" Hoshiko commented.

"I'll chase it! Go without me!" Wanting to take the initiative, Iku started to chase the underground enemy.

"Just don't make things even worse!" Fern told her before turning on the others. "Well, sirs, I think there won't be any added problems from now on. We can scatter up regularly."

"Indeed! Well then, back to us…We need to check in every part of the market, it is clear that they're making sure that no one interferes with their hunt. We'll scatter through the various cardinal points and free the market while Rokumon and Iori deal with the tower." The Guild Master explained before turning around. "Fern, Sena, Nobuhito! You'll go to East!"

"Ok!" Fern answered.

"Oh, so you want me to entertain them? Roger that!" Nobuhito added.

"Leave it to us!" Sena concluded.

"Revany, Domino, Ren, Hoshiko, you'll head to the north." Dohko continued.

"Very well! Ready, big girl?" Ren asked Domino, who high-fives the girl.

"You'd bet!"

Revany simply equipped her mask and followed them. "You can count on me."

Hoshiko made a pose. "Time to surprise someone once again!"

"Cal, Rere, Tsukuyomi, you'll go to West." The Master continued.

"Ah, it looks like we're together again!" Tsukuyomi said to the other two.

"S-Somehow…" Rere commented.

"That's fine by me! I got pretty well last time." Cal added. "But what are you going to do, Master?" He then asked.

Dohko smirked and put his hand on his odachi. "I'll wander around and clean off the city where I can." He replied.

At that moment, they could hear another loud noise, and by turning around, the guild members could see the bandits approaching the market by the large hole left by the destruction of the southern wall.

"We're inside!"

"Let's get them!"

"They've got through!" Tsukuyomi exclaimed.

"With this number, they could slow us!" Call added. But then…he could see that Yori started to slowly approach them. "Uh? Yori-Shishou?"

"I'll take care of them." Yori simply spoke as he kept on moving while laying a hand on his sword.

"A-Are you serious!? Have you seen how many of them there are!?" Tsukuyomi asked. But that question made Dohko laugh. "Uh?"

"Trust me, when it comes to Yori, the number isn't an issue. I suppose that I can leave the South to you, then, old friend?" He spoke.

"Heh. Sure, do! I've wanted to stretch my muscles a bit, anyways." Yori commented.

By looking at him, Henry made a small smile. "You know, I wouldn't want to lose such a show. That's why I'll follow you. I'm sure a little help won't bother you." He spoke as he started to follow him.

"You know me, Lucky. Every type of help is appreciated. Plus, your speed could help a lot." Yori replied.

"That's what I wanted to hear!" The other samurai answered back.

"Well, you've heard them! We can all go now. We don't have much time! Show these guys what it means to mess with a samurai!" Dohko concluded. The answer was the one he expected to hear.

"YES, MASTER!"

"Then good luck to everyone!" Domino said to the others.

"Eeeeh! Knowing us, we won't need it!" Ren commented.

"Then let's move!" Tsukuyomi concluded.

"YES!" And with those words, all the groups started to scatter in the designated cardinal points. From then on, they would have scattered more to make sure that every single zone of the market would have been checked by at least a guild member…leaving Henry and Yori alone.

The two mages stared at the huge army as they started to approach them. As they kept on going, the bandits that were attached to Chimera Tribe could see them better.

"Who are those guys!?"

"Do they think they can take on us by themselves!?"

"HA! What a bunch of idiots! Come on let's show them their mistake!"

"YES!" Feeling more charged, they all started to take on their heavy weapons. But not even this scared the two mages.

"If you allow, I'll take the front line. You can take care of the rest without problems, right?" Henry asked the friend.

"Go ahead. This would make things easier for me." Yori replied.

That answer made the samurai smirk. "Well then…let's have fun." He simply spoke as he turned around towards the horde of soldiers. He had the hand ready on his weapon, a special katana that made him skilled enough to take them on. The boy didn't take his eyes off them. He stood still…waiting for the perfect movement.

"Does that idiot want to die!?"

"He's not moving!"

"We'll give him what he wants!"

And just as they got faster…the sun was in the perfect spot. That was the signal.

Henry smirked as he grabbed his hat and threw it up. After that…he dashed forward.

"Uh!?" The bandits could see the mage go at high speed against them, managing to get rid of a few of them in a row. "What the!?"

Henry raised his head and smirked. "And I've just started!" He said as he took out his trusted katana. "Jabberwock – Fourth Style -Ataru!" The magic of his sword made Ataru increase all of his senses including speed, stamina, and strength, and as such, he started to attack the bandits that surrounded him in unpredictable ways. They could only see as his weapon slashed through their bodies, knocking them out. One of them tried to smack him down with a heavy sword, but thanks to the technique, Henry was able to block it and even counter it with a parry attack. He then started to jump from one enemy to another, knocking them out with heavy kicks. The samurai mage was lightning, flipping on the enemies like a pinball.

"H-How does he do that!? We can't move!"

"Don't lose focus! Let's surround him! GRAAAAAAH!" Getting more frustrated, the bandits tried to surround him and jump over him in an attempt to block completely his movements. But Henry knew how to answer to that, as he landed on the ground in the middle.

"Jabberwock – Third Style – Soresu!" With outstanding speed, Henry started to block every attack and defend himself with absolute precision. "HEAAAAH!" He then started to spin with his sword to be free from the bandits, which started to fly away. He then raised his head and looked at them with a smirk. "Wanna try?" He asked one of them.

"NO NO NO NO NO!" The bandit shouted out. But it was already too late. With a clean and precise sequence of sword attacks, he made himself a road out of the bandits, wiping them away.

"AH!"

"Jabberwock – Fifth Style – Shien & Djem So!" Henry applied a technique that made him improve his sword skills and jumped among the enemies, surprising them with swift movements. The boy then held his sword backward and started to make three swipes, one on the left, one on the right, and one up. These swipes blasted away the bandits.

One of the bandits was getting tired of it and aimed at the samurai with a bazooka. "GRR! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!" He exclaimed. But just as he was about to shoot.

"Hey, aren't you forgetting someone?"

"Uh!?" As soon as he turned around, he could see Yori in front of him, who proceeded to smack him down with a heavy karate chop. "GAAAH!"

The tall samurai then grabbed his sword and started to dash as well against the bandits. His attacks were heavy, precise, and powerful, and most bandits ended up on the ground with just one single shot.

"I've got you!" One of the bandits tried to attack him from behind, but to his horror, he could see Yori's sword's back open up to reveal a second blade. "What-!? GAH!" The bandit ended up getting stabbed in the shoulder, and the samurai could proceed to attack.

Yori didn't take a break and continued to attack. But the bandits kept on answering and started to wound him in some parts of his body. "We're getting him! Keep going!"

"Are you sure?" Yori asked. He then spread his arms and released all the power of the blasts he took, unleashing his magic. "FURUKAUNTA – VANISH!" The countermagic spread out in the entire area instead of just one point.

"WHAT THE-!? GAAAAAAAAAAH!" Not knowing what was waiting for them, a large number of bandits got wiped away by the powerful magic, leaving a lot of knocked-out bodies on the ground.

The remaining ones started to get terrified by the two mages. "T-They're too strong!"

"Whom the hell called out these guys!?"

"This is too much! I'm out of here!"

"RETREAT!"

The bandits tried to escape, but Henry locked his eyes on them. "Oh, no you won't!" With those words, he took out a second weapon, a large lasso, which he made rotate and then threw against them. The lasso grabbed the bandits in no time.

"OH, COME O- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH" The bandits felt their bodies wrapped up and started to spin around, moved by Henry's large rope.

"Aaaaaaand…HERE COMES THE HOME RUN!" Henry then threw the bandits at Yori, who was ready to attack them.

"HAH!" With one heavy blow of the sword, the remaining bandits flew away in the distance.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…"

As soon as they finished, Henry's hat fell back down, and he could grab it and put it on his head. "Ahah! Did you see that?" Henry asked after looking at them.

To confirm it, Yori looked around and could see all the mountains of bandits they knocked out. "Yeah, we did a pretty much big job over here."

"Even if it's only the beginning, I hope this can help the others to get some extra time!" The other samurai commented. "I knew I could rely on you, big boy!"

"Don't even mention it. If anything, it's me that should thank-" Yori was about to answer, but he widened his eyes as soon as he saw something alarming. "HENRY! GET OUT OF THERE!"

"Uh?" Henry didn't notice in time that he got hit by a large purple energy blast that made him fly a few meters away. "GAAAAAAAAH!"

"HENRY!" Yori called out for his friend while getting ready for any other surprise.

Henry felt the attack but thanks to the sword, he was able to land on his feet. Still, his body had a few burns. "Ngh…dammit, I wasn't expecting it!" He said before standing on guard with the katana. "It seems we have more company."

The two samurai mages looked at the pile of dust in front of them, from which a silhouette could be seen.

The figure came out of the dust, revealing himself as a young man with short blonde hair and blue eyes (with a flock of hair in his front). He was wearing what seemed to be a militaristic uniform with some badges on it, a scarf around his neck, a pair of black gloves, and two black shoes. The most peculiar thing about him was the weapon he was carrying in his right hand: a long red lance.

"Well, well…I knew that guilds are always around the corner, but considering how we've moved, I didn't expect to see one of them being an actual bother. Oh well…" This figure said while coming closer. "Nothing that I can't fix."

Sinclair – Member of Chimera Tribe

"This one seems like a big fish…" Henry commented with a serious tone.

"You must be one of them, correct?" Yori asked.

To answer, the mage made a small bow. "The name's Sinclair, gentlemen. And as the one assigned to the southern sector of the market, I couldn't afford to notice the trouble you were giving to our men. Though I have to congratulate you, it's not something anyone can make."

"Should I take it as a compliment?" Henry asked with a bit of a challenging tone.

"Take it as you prefer. It won't make that of a difference." Sinclair replied before making his lance rotate. "After all, it will be the last thing someone will tell you before death."

"Ah, I see…" Henry replied.

"Judging by the blast he threw before…this one is surely among the strongest ones…" Yori observed.

"Indeed. But don't worry about it. I'll take care of him, Yori. Go help the others." Henry then spoke up.

"Uh? Are you sure?" The other mage asked.

"Absolutely. Considering that he attacked me, I want to give something right back to him. Plus, we can't waste more time. With you around, the possibilities of defeating them can increase." Henry replied before turning to him with a smile. "Don't worry, I may be lucky but I know how to get out of situations."

Yori looked at him in silence for a few seconds and then nodded. "I can't say you're wrong. I'll be going then. Good luck!" With those words, he started to leave.

"Thanks, man! I'll surely need it!" Henry replied before looking back at the enemy while holding the sword tightly.

Sinclair seemed genuinely surprised by that act. "So, you're willing to sacrifice yourself for victory? Yeah…I like that. That's surely an honorable feat. May I know your name?" He then asked.

"Henry Luminol! Also known as Blade Blitzer, a proud mage of Shogunate Pride." Henry promptly answered.

"Henry…I could see how you moved against the others with that sword. I suppose you're a holder mage. Well, that's fine with me! I'm the same but with this lance. So how about we find out which one is the most skilled?" Sinclair then asked with a smirk.

"The oldest dilemma of the world! Can't wait to find out, Sinclair!" Henry promptly replied. With that, the two mages were ready to take the perfect moment to strike…in a classic duel.

---

In the meantime, Just as assigned, Tsukuyomi, Rere, and Cal headed to the West side of the market, cleaning up the road from every bandit they could see.

"We're getting rid of them, but how do we know how long will it takes?" Rere asked the others while attacking some bandits with her tanto blades.

Tsukuyomi cut one of the bandits with the katana infused with eclipse energy before turning around and answering. "One thing is for sure, as long as those headed towards the tower won't be dealt with, they'll just keep on coming! We just need to resist until then!"

"There's no problem with that!" Cal added while attacking as well. "Rokumon and Iori know their stuff, they'll make out of it!"

"Still…how do we proceed exactly? I know that we're just supposed to fight but…are we going to just move randomly?" Rere then asked.

That question made the trio silent for a few seconds.

"…Probably yes," Tsukuyomi replied.

"Oh…" Rere spoke feeling dull.

Cal then looked around and noticed that there was a road that brought to a plateau and pointed it. "Maybe from up there we'll get a better sight of the zone, what do you say?"

The two girls nodded and followed him. Thanks to the three's speed, they could reach the plateau in a short time, but just as they reached a notable height…something heavy suddenly came up from above, hitting the ground with a violent impact and making it crumble.

"WOAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The three mages tried to maintain their balance, even if it was hard. Cal was able to stay solid, but the same couldn't be said for the two girls, whose ground crumbled in pieces right under their feet.

"WUAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

In the end, the two of them ended up falling. Panicked, Cal reached out to the cliff. "TSUKUYOMI! RERE!"

"DON'T WORRY! WE'RE FINE SOMEHOW!" Rere shouted out from below. The two of them ended up falling pretty badly, but they were able to survive.

"BE CAREFUL! THAT WASN'T A NORMAL FALL! SOMEONE ATTACKED US!" Tsukuyomi added.

"What?" Cal wondered what that could have meant, but he didn't need any further answers. He could feel a disturbing presence right behind him that made him turn around while holding his sword tightly. "Who's there!?"

From the pile of dust, a large figure could be seen standing up. "Aaah…it seems that someone was able to hold on tight. That's fine by me, I just wanted to have a bit of fun!" The individual spoke. With just one arm movement he was able to wipe out the dust and reveal his appearance: A big and obese figure with grey skin, a bald head, and a black beard wearing a black heavy jacket. "You must be a mage from some guild! Well, whoever you may be, I can assure you that you won't have an easy life pretty boy, because you had the bad luck of getting in the way of me, Sterling!"

Sterling – Member of Chimera Tribe

Even if for someone else, that would have seemed a bit of a ridiculous look, Cal started to sweat and prepared to assume his typical apathetic expression. He could sense that this wasn't like the people of Chimera Tribe he fought up until now.

"This won't be an easy battle…I can feel it…"

Apostatìs in the meantime was flying toward the central tower, ready to get his hands on the globe, but as he lowered his head down, he could see something. "Uh?"

From up there, he could spot all the mages of Shogunate Pride scattered throughout the market, fighting against his men. "Mages? Do they come from a guild? But most importantly…are they trying to fight against us?" He wondered.

But instead of getting worried or annoyed…he formed a large smirk. "AHAH! Very well! If you think you can stop us then be our guests! You'll see what happens if you mess with our hunt! GET READY TO SEE THE FEROCITY CHIMERA TRIBE IS KNOWN FOR!"

---

And I think we can stop here for now! Even if it took a while to make it, I'm pretty satisfied with what came out in the end. True, there was less action and more characters in-depth and chill scenes, but that's also something I've wanted to put in some slice-of-life moments while trying to give space to all characters, although I wasn't able to do it with everyone (I'm sorry Domino, you'll get more in the next chapters - -"). And I've also tried to give a fair amount of space even to the antagonists, as this is their introductory chapter! Although we didn't see much, they'll get a lot of moments in the next chapters, since we'll see the fulcrum of this story, the major battles. I gave a small preview with Henry and Yori, it was wonderful to write that small rumble scene! This can also be considered a bit symbolic as a chapter since it's the first piece of work I use with the help of Grammarly! Even if I'm B1 in English, I could see a pile of mistakes I made, but hopefully, this will improve my future work!

But as always, I leave the last word to you! Did you like the chapter? What are your first impressions of this first antagonistic faction? Did you like seeing the members being themselves and showing a bit of their personalities? What do you expect from the fights that will occur? As always, let me know with your reviews, your opinion is important!

Next, I'll work on chapter 22 of Digimon Adventure 04, so it might take a while again for the next chapter, but I'll try to shorten the wait, considering that this story is getting more important to me, I have your backs! From Bluestar here, arrivederci!