Kurisutarumajishan Chapter III: I’m Home

"We're getting close" Anahana said, she whipped her horse as it neighed and galloped faster. Behind her were the rest, flanking their blacksmith's cart.

Upon the horizon they saw the plateau ranges and proceeded to enter one of the veins. They followed a path that has been made by the researchers and the squires, signs directed them to dig sites they have entered and dug up in the maze-y veins of the Talous Region. The region is especially infamous to adventurers who seek treasure and thrill of the environment, and was known for the caves that dotted the veins of the plateau canyon walls.

The region also housed a very ancient temple known for housing the Deity of Veindeljara, the remains have been abandoned when the Deity built an island with her castle on its plains. The floating island made a new home for the Deity, leaving the old temple into ruin over time. The party soon closed in to the dig site, which was one of the temple's entrances. The party soon slowed down in the signal of Anahana, who uniformly raised her arm, her hand in a fist. As they reached the site itself they stopped and rode their steads to the makeshift stables. They dismounted their steads and approached the tent inside a dug out trench that led to the excavated entrance.

"Ah, you must be uh.. The King's escorts?" One of the archaeologists asked as he climbed out of the large trench.

"Yes, yes we are" Anahana said as they approached him. The man wore expeditionary clothing, cargo shorts and a polo with a red handkerchief tied around his neck and collar. He wore a hat that hung from its string on his neck, the man was sweating, cleaning his spectacle and placing it back on his face.

"Ah I see, very fair and wonderful ladies, I thank your service in the army" The man bowed briefly, he sprung back up and again and dusted his clothing "Anyways, my dear fellows follow me, hurry"

The man turned and dropped into the trench, they followed suite behind him. The man took a lantern and patted his assistant on his back.

"Joseph, let's go" The man said, the boy rushed to stand up, fixing his table and placing multiple paper weights. He took his own lantern and went ahead with his master, leading them inside.

"If I may pardon myself from my manners, I am Jonathan Rubedo, a master at archaeology, and the one sent by the King to be in charge of this… certain expedition" He glanced back to the girls as they nodded, and then he continued "I have been aspiring to be an archaeologist since I was a child, and to which I have accomplished it greatly, becoming a master of my own passion. I could safely and proudly say without a doubt that I have honed more skills, and discovered more information about the past than any other archaeologist in this lands, and so far in my 34 years of hard work, I have never seen this kind of artifact before"

"What is it that you found Sir Jonathan?" asked Haruko, who has become curious of the subject

"The temple as we know it is entirely undiscovered until the expedition group was drafted" Said the boy as he explained to her, looking back "And because of that reason there is much to discover from Deity Amelia's old home before she took to the skies in her floating island"

"What does this have to do with the incursions? Does it have a weapon we could use? Perhaps an artifact?" Asked Anahana, now curious about the subject.

"Well.. Not directly I suppose… We still don't know the specifics of the matter, considering that she's still in a coma" Jonathan replied solemnly, with a hint of hope in his voice.

"She?" They all asked in unison.

Jonathan glanced at them as they stopped in front of an ancient door. He glanced at the ground and at Joseph. He opened the door, revealing its contents.

The room resembled that of a hospital, with machinery all around and over. Pods that resembled hospital beds were lining the wall in uniform distances from each other. On one of the pods laid a female, the number on the plating that decorated it was covered in dust, Anahana brushed it, revealing that it was the eighth pod. Anahana stood above the girl, she had long jet black hair, and pale white skin; the girl had a tired look, small instances of dark rings below her eyes were evident. None the less, there is a girl on this ancient pod, her clothes seem to be missing and was covered in a thick blanket as the room was somehow cold.

"We inspected her belongings, though not thoroughly as to disrespect her privacy, she has not woken since the event took place and any sort of trying to wake her are unfruitful in the matter" Informed Jonathan who laid his hand after cleaning on a cloth on the woman's forehead "I see, she's not feeling any fever or illness whatsoever, she is healthy as a baby"

"That's really all we have for now miss, we can't tell you anything else" Said the boy in avid confusion "We're just as perplexed as you are" The boy took some equipment that looked like a doctors bag and a medicine box and went off. Jonathan placed a hand on her shoulder and looked over the body.

"The war is taking a toll on us. If this woman who spawned from the heavens is a sign of a small possibility of a success in this war… I have all of my bets on her" Jonathan said softly as she patted Anahana's back "If you need anything dear just call the old man. Joseph and I would study some of the artifacts we've extracted"

"Thank you, Sir Jonathan" She humbly replied. The archaeologist nodded and went off "Tanjirou, Haruko, you can join Sir Jonathan and Sir Joseph on their research outside. Make something of the artifact there that could help us"

The two nodded and went with the old man, Reagan slowly examined the room. Junko looked around too, and found the door into the main wing of the temple and examined it. Anahana stood by the woman on the bed, she cupped her hand on her cheek to see if there would be any reaction, but was surprised when she was met with warmth. She stared at her for a while, cupping her cheek and leaning into her seemingly for a kiss.

"Yada yada!" She muttered to herself blushing "What am I doing?!"

She glanced at her, not knowing what to do before she picked one of the boxes and placing it beside her. She sat and contemplated on what to do, what to think. She knows she feels tired, exhausted of war, her ears now dislike the shouting and the sounds of ringing cannons, demons crushing down on the armies, clattering armour, swords clashing. She placed her hand on the side of the pod, whilst her other held her forehead.

In the background, Reagan and Junko were exploring around the room, they inspected the whole area as they went further into the wing. They noticed nothing than the uniformity of the area. It wasn't abandoned in a rush at all, in fact. There was no sign of struggle and urgency, it was as if they all left on their own, letting this building rot and buried under the stone and rock that now sat on it.

"Hey Reagan" Junko said softly

"Mm? Yeah?" Reagan replied, glancing at her friend.

"Who do you think is she?" Junko asked, glancing back. Reagan stopped on her tracks to think.

"She felt like a Deity, but if she were she would've been bigger yes? Though.. It's strange whenever the first thought I have thinking about that person on the bed I'd always end up with the idea of her being a Deity" Reagan muttered to Junko, who nodded.

"I would agree on that" Said she "She seems like an ordinary person to me in all honesty"

"Right.." Reagan started to think as they walked.

"We should go back, we've walked a bit too far" Junko advised as she turned back to the entrance, Reagan nodded and followed, still in his mind palace searching for answers and ideas.

As Anahana pondered on her seat, clouded with her thoughts, a warm touch fell on her hand. She looked up to see that the girl had awakened, and was sleepily looking at her, then around her.

"Where am I..?" Her grip tightened on Anahana's hand, who stared at her, and pondered about this warmth that showered her.

"Wh-Who are you…?" She asked as she covered her, wrapping her in the cloth that covered her body. The girl was slowly recovering her bearings, holding her head as she recalled what had happened.

"I.. I was running… Then I slipped.." She muttered aloud, Anahana stood up and held her close, letting her lean on Anahana as she recalled whilst being comforted. "Then I saw.. I saw this thing.."

The archaeologist arrived along with Tanjiro and Haruko as well as the assistant who brought writing materials. Joseph started to write what the girl roughly said after, whilst Jonathan gave her food and a drink to rejuvenate the girl.

"What did you see girl? Can you describe it to us?" Jonathan ushered her, Anahana looked at her softly, stroking her back as the girl thought.

"Can you tell us what it is?" She said softly, the girl looked at her and nodded.

"It was a… A prism of sorts… It was a brilliant shade of purple.. And… It was so warm…" She recalled, unconsciously raising her hand. When she realized it she placed it back down slowly.

"I see… I see I see I see…" Jonathan muttered as he stood straight, stroking his goatee as he went into deep thought.

"What is it sir? Is there something wrong with what she said?"

The old man snapped his fingers in enthusiasm, shaking his head.

"No no, she's right. That's the mode of well… "Abduction" per say that Deity Amelia chose" Said the Archaeologist "Let me explain, but first. Let's clothe our dear friend from another world here"

Anahana took a spare of her clothes and helped the girl dressed as she was still in a daze. As she was clothing her she asked her name.

"My name… Natsuki…" She replied, softly blushing "Yuriko.. Natsuki"

Anahana blushed, her heart picking the pace.

"Nice to meet you Natsuki-tan, my name is Tatsuriko Anahana~" She smiled, warmly. The girl nodded and clings to Anahana as the archaeologists ushered them to join him. They followed the old man through the corridors until they've reached the library in the heart of the temple. As the archaeologist excitedly open the doors, revealing a library so ornate with purple gems and murals, untouched by dust and dirt, the books pristine and well-kept over the years. The archaeologists looked around and slipped a book off the shelf, and started to flip through, he motioned for the assistant to help, he seemed to know the specific book he motioned for, and started to search for it.

Everyone looked around, bewildered by the spectacle of this chamber, a great contrast between the abandonment that lingered in the halls.

"Woah… These are potion books.." Reagan muttered as she skimmed through some of them with Junko.

"They're so detailed… All of them are…" Junko remarked as she read the hard bound books.

"Look! Ana-chan! It's a healer's book! It has all of the spells and types of staffs you can use!" Haruko remarked excitedly.

"This library… What's in all of these books?" Anahana asked, sitting Natsuki on one of the chairs tucked in the chairs, pulling them out for her.

"These my child is a library of the world. Everything and anything that you need to know is here, if you know where to look" Replied by Jonathan, holding a book and walking towards them. "Here, Miss Natsuki. Does this look familiar?"

The picture depicted a prism structure, coloured in a very wonderful shade of purple, seemingly irradiating from the pages.

"Yes.. It's this one" Natsuki pulled the book towards her, reading it.

"Sir, what is this" Anahana asked, leaning close to Natsuki to also read it.

"This" The old man said, tapping on the page "This is supposed to be the main form of transportation of the Deity of Amethyst, and according to this tome it was fervently used to set down waypoints for the goddess to travel among worlds though it's unsure if it enables the Deity to cross into other timelines"

"Do you mean that Natsuki came from another world?" Anahana asked, stroking Natsuki's back as she read the tome.

"Yes, although it is uncertain why there was one in full access to the society, it might have been a freshly spawned gateway" Jonathan joined, as he held a few other books "Deity Amelia must have something planned for her like him"

"Hmm maybe so.. we need more information, I want you Joseph my boy to retrieve our beds and our supplies, we shall sleep here until we uncover more" Jonathan said in a hurry, everyone gathered around Natsuki, their eyes sparkling.

"Ah, they're my teammates" Anahana softly introduces Natsuki, giving off a warm vibe to her.

Natsuki looked around, the girls waving at her irradiating in a friendly demeanor. Natsuki examined her hands subtly and glanced at all of them.

"M-my name.. Is Yuriko Natsuki.." She whispered, smiling softly towards the crowd.

"UWAAAAAAA~" The girl's exclaimed, they crowded closer and started to talk to Natsuki, getting to know her more.

"Are you a Deity?" Asked Junko.

"No no! She has the aura of a mage!" Reagan countered.

"Maybe she's a swordswoman, or a berserker like Anahana-san" Tanjiro guessed, holding her chin in a thinking pose.

"Maybe she's a Deity of Healers!" Excitedly called Haruko, clapping cutely.

They soon started talking to Natsuki as Anahana stroked Natuki's back to calm her. Jonathan looked up to the crowd with a puzzled look, eyeing Natsuki as he read a tome on his hands, Anahana approached him, he closed the tome and approached too.

"Sir Jonathan" Anahana called, trying to glance at the tome "Any troubles?"

"No no.. Not at the uh.. Not at the moment no…" He hesitantly replied, keeping short glances at Natsuki, he then ushered Anahana to one of the aisle, keeping an eye on Natsuki. "You see *opens the tome to the page he read* Here.. Read this"

Anahana took the tome and read it slowly.

"You think she's-"Anahana said, discontinuing it, glancing back towards Natsuki.

"Yes, I believe she's the 6th, the only one of two to survive" Sir Jonathan said gloomily "She is one of 8, and only one of two that were successful"

"Has she been experimented on-" Anahana asked in a burst of anxiety.

"Not really in the traditional sense, although she has kept a keen watch on our little Natsuki" Sir Jonathan muttered in a troubled tone. "Although she has been exposed to a special Amethyst that came from the Deity's personal batch. One that gives power to the beholder"

The archaeologists then explains it further, flipping the pages of the tome in Anahana's hands.

"The crystal, on her chest. That's the Amethyst of the Deity Amelia, the special Amethyst, the writer of this log calls "The Bestowed". From the looks of it, and what has been recorded there were only two who exhibit extreme compatibility with the crystal… However…"

"The 7th was undisclosed… There's no such details about him other than his progression.." Anahana continued, as she read through the tome.

"Exactly, although the this tome details of these two as ordained holy warriors of the Deity of Amethyst and the Deity of Emeralds for an unknown purpose" Jonathan then read the tome taking it from Anahana. "It such of great importance to note, the Prophecy brought upon the Deity of Amethyst, The time for rebellion has come, to unchain the worlds brought upon the by the accursed Deity King, to free the worlds from his tyranny, and such, I have given no chance but to release my arsenal, to which upon the doom of the Accursed Deity shall fall upon."

Anahana fell silent, pondered about what it had meant.

"The world of the Deity, is ruled by one, and it seems that the current holder of this position has abused their power that has caused a rebellion" Jonathan explained, closing the book.

"Is this why.. You know.." Anahana whispered.

"I think so… And I hope that whoever that 7th warrior is.. is managing to hold the oppressors" Jonathan remarked "I'll have Joseph search up on this mysterious Seventh, for now however, the Sixth is our concern"

Joseph walked up to them and whispered among the two others.

"Sir Jonathan, Miss Ana… It seems that The Bestowed upon Ms. Natsuki" He said with some hint of urgency. "She has entered the development stage of the crystal, she's currently in her weakest although despite this… She's stronger than known Tier 4 Mages and Swordsmen"

"What…" They both said in unison.

"She's impeccably powerful even in her low level, she doesn't follow this world's power scale" Joseph said, whispering.

"I see…" Jonathan pondered "Anahana *holds her shoulders firmly* It is your job to not let Natsuki fall in the hands of the Demon Queen"

"Y-yes sir" Anahana replied, a stern look plastered in her canvas.

"Good, good, good…" Jonathan muttered "From here on out I'll be aiding you in your journeys, I'll keep proceeding you information if I ever find any. Do you understand the grave nature of your mission Anahana-san?"

Anahana, glanced down towards the floor. Her heart racing in anxiety, keeping calm she looked back.

"Yes… I understood… I'll.. Do my best no matter what Sir Jonathan" Anahana assured "Don't worry…"

"I see… This concludes the mission you have here right now, I'll prepare the sword Joseph and I found in the temple and provide it to Natsuki" Jonathan left the two in the aisle and went off towards the crowd standing from a distance as they chat with a nervous Natsuki. "Tanjirou-san, I'd like you to accompany me for a bit"

"Sure thing Sir Jonathan!" Tanjirou broke from the crowd, and followed him.

Anahana emerged from the aisle and smiled at Natsuki.

"You seem to be having fun" Anahana remarked as she ruffled her hair "Gotten to know everyone?"

"Y-Yeah.. They taught me a lot" She muttered softly "Th-They're very nice to me.."

"Hahaha~ I see then, we're mostly done here guys, so we'll be packing our things up" Anahana told the lot, helping Natsuki with her baggage, aiding her as she stood up.

"Let's go" She said softly to Natsuki, who clung to her as she stood, her legs shaking.

The rest of them followed suite, and reached the camp where they repacked their bags into their horse saddles and the carts.

The region soon was engulfed in a sandstorm, their horses neighed on the stables and their parked carts rattled. The trench was filling up with sand, as they reached the med bay, they saw Joseph hauling some equipment and boxes inside, and they opted to help him, running to his aid.

"I'll go seal the stables up!" Anahana shouted, slowly letting Natsuki sit on a pod. She raced outside to take one of the tarps and covered the whole shed with it, nailing it on the floor as she covered her face from the sandstorm. She looked at the distance, the feeling of a prying eye radiated from every direction, she looked around, and founding that atop the ridge the site is inside in was a faint silhouette of a figure, looming over them. The feeling soon became hostile, she froze in place, looking at the figure as her hand slowly reached for her blades on her hips, she stared intently, her hand gripping on the hilt. Junko fetched her, coming out of the temple and calling out to her, waving.

"Ana-chan! Let's go inside!" She shouted, her goggles down on her eyes as well as her hood up. Anahana looked at her swiftly before looking back, the figure no more.

"I'll be there hold on!" She shouted as she ran back to the trench, she slid down and fell on her feet, dusting the sand off as they hurry inside.

"What took you so long? And why were you staring at that ridge?" Junko asked as she took off the hood and goggles, Anahana took a while to reply.

"Nothing nothing, I thought I heard something" She replied reluctantly, giving a frightened glance towards Junko.

"If you say so An-Chan, just tell us if there's any problem" Junko said as she ran ahead, helping with arranging the boxes. She took a glance at Natsuki who was helping with moving the desks and the lamps. Anahana soon helped along, unpacking some of the boxes for them and helping Joseph arrange the papers.

"Oh dearie me" said the old archaeologist, rushing to the door and closes it "You fellows alright?"

"Fine sir, we're all fine" Junko replied cheerily, fixing the built tents of the archeologists on the floor by the pods. The old man peeked outside, and closed the door again.

"Well it seems that all of you would be staying for the night, the sandstorm has gotten quite worse for today. Joseph didn't we had that weather forecast from our forecaster? Has he come back?" Jonathan asked, a puzzled look displayed on his face.

"N-no I haven't seen him since this morning" Joseph replied, stuttering as he fixes the paperwork. "Maybe he stayed with the other camps"

"Mm… Maybe so yeah, hope that bloke is alright" Jonathan disregarded returning to his other duties.

"Camps? There's more than this one?" Reagan asked, curious.

"Well yeah, the temple is huge, and it takes more than two men to uncover whatever is down here" Joseph replied "The guards had set up on the tops of the plateaus to keep an eye on us. They'd even set cannons there too"

'So maybe that's a knight then… No… it felt extremely inhuman…' Anahana thought to herself 'What in the fuck was that thing'

Natsuki approached her, and tugged her shirt.

"Mm?" Anahana responded, looking at her.

"We fixed the beds… You should rest…" She muttered, shyly glancing at Anahana and the floor.

"Ah, thank you Natsuki, you should rest too" Anahana replied, making her a bed out of some few blankets from the crates.

"Th-thank you" She replied, sitting on the blankets.

The crew inside the medical bay started to share stories, to ideas about the purpose of the temple, to what Natsuki is meant to be in this whole cycle of events. They chatted and bonded as they went into the afternoon, they ate a scrumptious mea in the evening as Jonathan started to tell stories of his adventures in Veindeljara. They laughed and chatted through the lukewarm night of the Talous Region.

On the top of the plateau camped the soldiers, setting a low fire covered in a heat resistant blanket.

"Forecaster, aren't you supposed to be back at the camp?" Asked one of the Knights as he gestured to a puzzled man in white robes.

"Yeah.. although I wish to observe the phenomena more under your protection" The Forecaster replied.

The Knight nodded and response and offered him some hot food, to which the Forecaster accepted and took a bite off. He glanced behind him, taking one last look at the purple vortex some miles away. Back in the temple, the mages, Anahana and Natsuki, and the two archaeologists started to read books from the library, as they do a rumble occurred which Jonathan dismissed.

"It must be those sandworms up there, the Knights had been combatting the creature since we've got here, distracting them from the temple" Jonathan explained, glancing on the ceiling and brushing off the sands away from his clothing. He then turned to Natsuki, who was reading the book she was introduced earlier. "So Natsuki, how have you been feeling?"

"Less dizzy.. the medicine is working" She replied shyly.

"Do you feel anything else dear?" Jonathan followed, leaning a bit forward, stroking his beard.

"Well.. I feel like I belong here… But at the same time.. I feel out of place" Natsuki looked down, a wave of emotion flowing down through her.

"You did just appear a few hours ago, don't worry my dear, I trust that these accomplices of yours will become your family in this world" The old man reassured as he chuckled "Well, I presume the General would explain everything once she gets to the castle yes?" He turned to Anahana, who nodded.

"Most likely, no one told me who to approach afterwards" Anahana replied. "Should I have asked?"

"Mmm.. No no, though why wouldn't they tell the courier but tell the client" Jonathan muttered, he glanced at Joseph who shrugged, Jonathan nodded then "Remind me when our messenger comes back Joseph alright?"

"Yes sir" Joseph said as he arranged their documents.

Defending Camp | Squad 40E

"Shouldn't you go back with the adventurers?" one of the Knights said, handing a mage a hot dish.

"I know… I need more time to study this phenomena" He replied as her took a bite on the food. "This might be connected with the mysterious woman we found down there"

"If you say so" The Knight replied, eating his dish.

The Forecaster Mage looked behind him, some kilometers away from the camp were a large whirlpool that emanated a purple glow. In the middle of that whirlpool were hundreds of sandworms trying to break the barrier protecting an entity inside.

"Our world is slowly falling apart huh" The Knight said as he glanced at the vortex. The Forecaster glanced at him, sweating a bit.

"Do you think that other world is still alive? You know, if there's that other world" The Knight said as he chuckled.

"I-I admire your calmness of the situation commander" The Forecaster said, nodding nervously.

"You got it wrong haha. I'm fucking terrified as shit" The Knight replied, chuckling to himself, the Forecaster noticed the Knight's hand shaking as he held his empty plate.

"We're all scared.. at something and everything" The Forecaster muttered aloud.

"You got that right mm" The Knight agreed as he drunk the mead "Ahh"

The Knight stood from the stool and washed his plate on their makeshift wash basin. He came back soon with a cigar and gave one to the Forecaster, who promptly obliged to the offer. As they puffed, the Knight motioned for one of the Knights.

"Hey Eddie, do me a favour and recon the perimeter of that vortex, come back tomorrow morning with Intel" The Knight ordered as he drank more mead, Eddie stood up and saluted.

"Yes sir!" He shouted as he took one of the steads tied on a makeshift stable, the horse neighed as it ran towards the direction of the spiraling purple vortex.

"Eh.." The Forecaster was a bit surprised.

"Easier to know what to expect tomorrow" The Knight replied as he stood up and stretched.

"I see… If you say so" The Forecaster muttered, strengthening his determination, he know held a small leather bound notebook he'd been writing forecasts in, for the past few hundreds of pages he's only written things related to the vortex. The Forecaster shifted on his seat and faced the vortex that occupied the horizon. He took out a large retractable telescope and settled it in front of him in a stand and lowered it to his height. He started to scribble down on his book, recording the anomalies that's occurring around the vortex.

Excavated Entrance | Medical Station

Everyone was fast asleep, snoring subtly as they slept away in their blankets, lit by the small bon fire that stood in the middle of the room. The adventurer stat on his blankets, fiddling around with the bonfire, throwing another stick to the fuel.

"Can't sleep?" He gently said, looking at Anahana who also sat up, rubbing her eyes. She nodded in response. "Something troubling your mind?"

"It's just that… I'm growing tired of this war…" Anahana replied, sighing inn exasperation. "I can't focus properly… I've lost the collective will to fight…"

"I see…" Sir Jonathan muttered as he put more wood in the kindling. "It's a normal thing that happens, don't worry. You'll soon find the reason to protect again"

"What if I don't? Would I just be unable to protect everyone?"

"You'll find it, you'll find a way for yourself to encourage you to fight again, to fuel the need to protect everyone"

"…"

"I don't know what's happening to you, neither to our other-worldly traveler here, but whatever it is the both of you are entwined in some way, both of you have this… aura…"

"…"

"Whatever this is… Whatever the role of you I this.. Certain unfortunate events. It means something to the both of you, if you can't find yourself now, then you might find yourself in your journey to the Demon Queen. At some point you will, how long will it take… Well… it's up to you how long you'll let it go on for"

Anahana fell silent, retreating to her thoughts.

"I'm sure you'll make the right decisions, you'll make a few mistakes, and you'll learn from them. So don't worry, you'll do fantastic in this mission. M'kay?" Sir Jonathan assured as he went over to Anahana and pats her shoulder. "Believe in yourself, you can do this"

Sir Jonathan grunted as he stood up, he then walked over to the entrance and inspected it. Anahana was lost to her thoughts, placing her hand over her heart, feeling it beating a marathon then slowing down to a pace. She caresses her wrist in a manner that calms her, a bracelet shone as she took off her glove on her right hand, it was a neatly decorated chain of ruby and amethyst, she held it as she calmed down. She slowly descended into her blanket, still worried, slowly succumbing to the night.

Temple Ruin's, Deity of Amethyst, Morning

"It's morning lassies, come one wake up" Jonathan alarmed as he walked past the girls, who slowly woke up from their slumber.

"Mmmm mmm…" Moaned a good few of them. Anahana woke up fairly easily, rubbing her eyes.

The breeze was cold during the night time, and the winds howled as it passed through the Talous' winding pathways which were once rivers of high depth filled with life at some point in the past. As the weather rolled into different temperatures, the trees danced softly in the wind. They started to help around, clearing the sand away from the entrance, as well as fixing the supplies and the equipment the archeologists carried with them.

It was a beautiful morning, as if there was no war that has been occurring. Anahana stretched outside, her bones popping she did so, everyone else was working along inside, reading some documents and discussing things about them. Natsuki woke up later, and as she did, she sat up, her movement quite lanky and loose, like a doll had just been given life and had only moved just now. Her eyes glowed a brilliant purple than the day before, and was shining brightly, she glanced around, her hand on her right eye seemingly out of pain, Natsuki inspected her clothing, and it was neatly made and folded although a bit wrinkly as she slept on it. She strokes her shirt and fixes it neatly, she sat on her futon quite lankily, with seemingly loose joints, she slowly stands up, now getting the hang of moving again, she slowly walks outside and climbs up the trench, she walked past Anahana and went a bit more forward.

Like Anahana she started to stretch, though she seemed to be preparing to do something. As she finished she looked up in the sky to see the sun shining brightly upon her, she covered her face from the sun and took a look around her.

"She must be getting used to her body again, after all she slept for a long time in that pill" Anahana muttered "Hey Nat-"

'What-'

Anahana found herself frozen in place, she went cold, and nervous, feeling a bit disrespectful to the person in front of her. Natsuki was looking behind her, her left eye glowing with magnificence as she stared through Anahana who was at a loss for words, she had the feeling of awe and royalty flush through her entire being, a constant feeling of reverence and power washing all over her as Natsuki stood before her in all of her glory.

'What is this- What's this feeling-' Anahana thought to herself 'She's transformed from what she was last night!'

Natsuki looked in front into the deserts, Anahana managing to unfreeze herself from that trance and took a step back. She held her head as a wave of nausea wrapped around her head for a short while, she then felt light and at ease, loosening her tenses as she then was now filled with wondering thoughts pondering about who this mysterious girl this is.

Natsuki turned around and smiled at her, she looks as if she's almost giggling.

"Natsuki…" Anahana muttered as she approached her slowly.

As she was about to ask her something, a horse neighed some distance from them, Anahana had the inherent ability Focus which she honed in all of her battles and looked at the direction of the noise.

"Nats, did you hear-" She broke off and was surprised, Natsuki was looking at the exact direction of that noise just like her. She understood that Natsuki isn't normal, but she didn't know that she had focus as powerful as hers.

"He's almost here" Natsuki softly said, her voice mature and smooth, Anahana looked at her and then to the galloping noise. Anahana was once again surprised that Natsuki was able to identify the number of people incoming towards her, she looked at the horseman and it seemed to be of Fuhrenheim origin based on the colour of cloth wrapped around under its armour.

"How did you know it was one person?" Anahana asked as she waved at the rider, who waved back in response.

"There was one breath, two if you include the horse" Natsuki replied calmly, lacking in emotion.

"Wooahh there" Anahana said as she held the reins "Fretzer?! What happened to you? Where did you go, we were trying to find you yesterday but we can't see you?"

The boy was huffing and puffing, Natsuki fetched him some water and he immediately drank it.

"HHAHHHHH!! HHAHHH!!" He panted as he collapsed on his knees. "Ana-san… hahhh.. the demons… the demons…"

"The demons? What happened to the kingdom? Hey, come one Fretzer!" Anahana shouted as she shook him.

"Something's coming, a lot of them" Natsuki remarked as she inspected the horizons

"What do you mean Natsuki? Fretzer come on!" Anahana was shaking an unconscious Fretzer wildly, Jonathan and his assistant Joseph too had got out, they then went on to tend to the boy.

"What's happened here?" Jonathan asked as he checked the unconscious Fretzer.

"Something's coming, it might be an army" Anahana replied "We're not sure at the moment-"

"Anahana-san! Your sword!" Natsuki exclaimed as she unsheathed one of them and rushed to the front.

In a blink of an eye she sliced through a large boulder which hit the sides of the canyon wall. Jonathan, Joseph, and Anahana were shocked at her swift cut through the large rock, she examined the boulder halves from her position and were surprised at state of the rocks she had just hit.

"They're smooth…" She muttered.

"My my, you're quite right" Agreed the adventurer "I'll get the sword for Natsuki whilst you two cover for us, I'll have the mages go up to your aid as well, is that understood? Joseph?"

Both nodded, Joseph readied his grip on Fretzer, and Anahana readied her remaining weapon.

"Natsuki, throw me my sword once you got yours" Anahana said as she prepared for combat.

"Mhm!" Natsuki replied, putting on a stance as well 'How do I know this stance..?'

"GO!" Exclaimed the adventurer as both girls rushed into a two part defense, the adventurers carrying Fretzer off the field.

"Here they come" Natsuki informed, and just then a large boulder was once again thrown into the air and was sliced apart by the two swordswomen.

"They have catapults?!" Anahana exclaimed as she fixed her posture.

"They're heavily armed, I'm guessing they need to reload the catapult longer because they're moving"

"Most likely" Anahana was tense, gripping her sword tightly.

"They're about to fire soon, slice it down for me" Natsuki passed her the great sword as she turned around.

"NATSUKI! CATCH!" Reagan shouted as she threw the sword with it's scabbard. Natsuki caught it and immediately posed into a stance before charging through as the first signs of the demons were showing, dust was thrown everywhere as the demons charged as well along with the boulder that Natsuki told Anahana to cut.

"KILL THEM ALLL!!" One demon shouted, but was silenced shortly after as Natsuki had sliced him merely in half. She followed with a spin, mutilating more demons, Natsuki hopped backwards, and incoming swings brought forth by the demons started to intensify immediately, they were seasoned warriors and were no ordinary fodder. The kept on swinging but Natsuki had dodged all of them parrying them with her sword, a beautifully crafted katana with its cut edge blazing purple, a hilt of silver shone through as well as the intricate details of the cloth handle were visible.

She broke the group and scattered them, they started to stand up on by one, and growled at her like wild animals. "NATSUKI!" Anahana shouted as she ran forwards, already cutting the boulder earlier, she threw her sword which was squarely caught by one of the demons that was about to tackle her from the flank, it penetrated through and stopping as it hit the hand guards. The demons were about to deliver a large blow towards Natsuki who sheathed her katana and held prepared her stance, the demons laughed in chorus as multiple weapons fell upon her.

"DIE HUMAN! DIEEEE!!" Shouted the one of the demons as it gleefully watched his arms fall from their sockets, followed by his head falling down into the ground. The same happened to the other the demons as well as the large catapult cart they had been pulling, the demon in charge was partially hit but had charged towards her regardless, it's large maw open to welcome her to his stomach, Natsuki took her time to swiss the demon into pieces. She cleaned the blade on her elbow, wiping it on her sleeve.

Anahana retrieved her sword and annihilated one of the demons that managed to survive. The mages who had just gotten out, were frozen at the sight of dead demons, they were at awe, and they had not cast a single spell during the battle.

"Natsuki… You.. You okay?" Anahana asked as she was about to touch her shoulder. Natsuki shoved her away and twirled with her katana out, and suddenly, five demons that were invisible had appeared, decapitated from their stomachs.

"Natsuki…" Anahana muttered "What… I…. What…"

She was in deep confusion, the change of attitude from Natsuki had surprised her and everyone else, the kind shy girl last night was now a cold-hearted killer. They had not anticipated this, neither they had thought that Natsuki would have this level of power within her and had underestimated her greatly, Anahana understood now what the old man had said, and so did the old man realize what he said to Anahana.

Natsuki approached her and raised out her hand, Anahana accepted and had her aid in standing up, still looking at her in avid surprise.

"Are you okay..? Ana-san?" Natsuki asked softly, yet still matured. She nodded and brushed off the dust from her clothes.

A whizzing object passed by the middle of them, then another caught by her sword, she then proceeded to raise her left arm. Purple and transparent crystals formed around it and formed what seemed to be a crude representation of an arm cannon, the barrel emitted a faint purple laser like light that was aimed at the small demon who had shot the arrow, and from there a large deafening noise can be heard like a gunshot from a naval cannon had erupted from her. The demon was eviscerated, it's guts rained down for a short while in its small area, and although it wasn't near the ground, the corpses below her were scorched slightly, smoking and embers flashing softly as they went, super-heated from the blast.

"That was incredible…" Jonathan remarked "Wonderful… Incredible… This power… We now hold the means of defeating the demons, the Demon Queen herself… such… ahh…."

The old man had started to cry, he was tended to by Haruka and Joseph who calmed him down, but the old man was crying.

"After all these years… finally… with my own eyes I can see salvation from this wretched world" He muttered as he cried. Anahana had glanced over them, and then at Natsuki, who stared at her left hand.

"Did you plan it all out?" She asked curiously.

"No.. I had to make guesses" Natsuki replied intelligently "I had to test somethings to see if they work"

"Like that thing you just used now?" Anahana followed in.

"Yeah.. I'll have to come up with names on them soon, so we won't be confused in the future- Ah.. Eh..?" Natsuki looked at Anahana who was chuckling softly, she smiled softly at her, making her blush.

"Nothing nothing haha~" Anahana chuckled "You just reminded of me when I became a warrior"

Natsuki flushed, and now embarrassed looked down. Anahana nudged her and patted her shoulder softly.

"Hey now, you did great, come on they must be worried about us" Anahana said as she went back to the group.

"Yeah.. coming" Natsuki replied as she jogged to catch up with Anahana. They reached the group soon enough and Natsuki was immediately pelted with questions from the excited mages and Tanjirou.

"YOU WERE SO COOL NATSUKI-CHAN~!!" Exclaimed Haruko jumping around.

"YOU KILLED THEM SO FAST IT WAS LIKE LIGHTNING!" Reagan remarked as her eyes twinkled at her.

"YOU'RE AMAZING NATSUKI-CHAN! We never knew you with this powerful~!!" Junko too, clutching Natsuki's hand.

"That blade work was amazing! I was sure you could defeat the kingdom's best swordsman!" Boasted Tanjirou who has eyes sparkling for another reason.

"Ah… Th-thank you guys.." Natsuki shyly replied.

"Not even a sweat broken, good job Natsuki~" Complimented Anahana who grazed her hand along Natsuki's forehead. Nats blushed red in an instant, leading to some teasing 'wooooees' from the group.

"You… dear girl" Jonathan said as he sobbed, bowind down into the dirt. "Are this world's salvation… This may not be your fight… nor your world to begin with… but I implore you! Please save us from this hell!!"

"Sir Jonathan!" Cried Joseph who held the old man's back and stroked him gently as he sobbed, he bowed too, pleading as well "Please… help us… We have no more families to go back to and homes to return… The wrath of the Demon Queen will not stop from expanding unless she's defeated, or until she brings us to extinction…"

Everyone started to tear up, except Natsuki, who kneeled and held the two men's head, she closed her eyes and said with confidence and assurance.

"Don't worry, I've come now… I'm here now.."

"Thank you for holding on for me"