Kurisutarumajishan Chapter IV: In My Travels

"The war hasn't been going well for either sides, with the bulk loss of their Earth Sphere Attack Forces as well as their Earth Sphere Defenders, they are left crippled with their industries incapable to bring their full force back, not after 300 or so years. It's been that damaging, and it just shows how much ground they've already covered prior with their military and all of it is just gone, vanished. Second Lieutenant, you're the only one remaining, our leader is gone, you're all that's left, without anyone else to lead us, an army as big as us is worth nothing.

Please… Lead us to victory, and just like your brother, we shall serve you with utmost loyalty"

"Mmm… mm.." Natsuki thought to herself, a faint voice has slipped through, and she remembered something that wasn't hers. Or so it seems like it 'Why does it seem familiar… Yet… Why doesn't it feel like it belongs to me?' She thought as she helped out with fixing the carts, she occupied her thoughts with this small pondering, as well as the pondering of strategies, and the necessary actions taken in the future.

"Are we all ready?!" Anahana shouted, asking the bunch as they took a small break. She arched her back and popped it, stretching around as well, observing them as they all fix out their equipment for their travels.

"Almost there, just need to finish these few potions" Reagan replied as she sat in the cover with Haruka who observed the chemistry contraption work, it was boiling some liquids inside the flasks as it was set in a complex structure of arms and holders with tubes hanging through and fro on some of the parts set. All in the while Reagan read a book from the archive.

"It seems that they're all reading a book about their profession" Natsuki remarked, looking at those presently reading tomes from the archives.

"Do you have one yourself?" Asked Anahana as she looked over her, her reply was simply a shaking head. "Didn't you bring that book Sir Jonathan gave you?"

"I do, but it's not mine" Natsuki replied "I don't have a book here"

"Eh? What do you mean? There should be at least one that's for you, swordsmanship, history-"

"I told you, I don't" Natsuki pressed, looking at her, Anahana blushed fairly.

"Ah- Eh- If you say so then.." Anahana sighed, scratching her head.

"We're done!" Reagan said as she finished loading extra crates onto their supply cart, she then waved a thumbs up towards Anahana who nodded. She looked at Natsuki and motioned for her to follow her to the stables.

"You've ridden a horse yeah?" Anahana asked as she unraveled the leash, she then handed it to Natsuki who took it and gave it a long stare before replying.

"Not really" She replied, after a second she immediately saddled onto the horse, without any complications.

"Ah… Huh…" Anahana muttered, doubting what she had said.

"Are you sure… That you've never rode a horse?"

"Are you doubting me?" Natsuki deadpanned.

"Ahh.. Not really" Anahana looked away and minded her own horse which she also saddled on 'That was a cute reaction from her…. Quite emotionless but whatever… hhhhhh' She thought to herself, shaking her head.

They slowly got out of the stables, the rest preparing their carts in formation, they strode into the front of the party, Anahana doing last minute checks around the carts to see if there's any damage on them. Sir Jonathan and Joseph walked beside Natsuki and her horse, and greeted her.

"Are you doing well?" Sir Jonathan asked her.

"Yes sir, I am" Natsuki said warmly, giving him a soft smile. The old man chuckles, and gave her a necklace.

"Here, have this" Sir Jonathan said "It was a gift from my daughter Erika, she's also an adventurer"

"I'm sorry to hear that.." Natsuki bowed slightly, giving her respects to the adventurer.

"Thank you.. it's fine dear… I want you to take this, as a gift from me and Joseph here" The sad adventurer was in the brink of tears once more "We have no more left to go… All that we have left to go to... is this world… Please protect us.."

"There's too much fighting… We're tired already miss" Jonathan, said as he burst into tears, comforted by the old man.

"OH BOY!" Jonathan cried as he comforted the boy, he too was crying.

Anahana had return, and had looked towards them, and so were the others. They slowly looked down asides from Anahana, who kept her calm.

"It's been years, and the war is still going. Half of our world has fallen already from the Demons, we're part of the last defense that's been tiringly fighting against these hell spawns. We're looking at past prophecies, anything recorded to fight against the horde, nothing clear, nothing straightforward. It doesn't help that the records are messy, doesn't help that the prophecies themselves are confusing, none of them makes proper sense. The world is tearing apart, and we're running out of time, all we have is you." Anahana looked at her sternly behind her tired eyes, she was an adamant warrior who doesn't want to give up, but she's exhausted and the fire in the hearth has slowly succumbed to the lazy breeze that casts a sleeping spell on hardworking warriors.

Natsuki looked at her, taking these all in. Listening attentively. Anahana continued.

"Nothing so far has proven effective… Then we found you" She said "We heard your call, and we held out. There was nothing else to do, I want to pretend that I didn't hear your voice that day, but I did, I now believe that"

Natsuki was speechless, they heard her call, her request as she succumbed to the crystal. She was heard, it was simply this that moved her heart slightly.

"There was nothing else we could do but find you, I don't care about the Sixth or the Seventh or whatever, the Black Knight, the Elders Prophecies" She continued more "They don't make sense at all, I'll do whatever it takes to save this world either if I die from exhaustion or from the horde but right now I'm counting on you, on this bullshit prophecy to make things okay, to keep this world from succumbing to the enemy"

Everyone fell silent save for the crying men. Natsuki's purple eyes glowed magnificently and had looked directly at Anahana's. They glared at each other until Natsuki turned to the crying men, she placed her hand on both of their heads, and they looked up to see an angel smiling upon them, her purple eyes glowing brilliantly as if it has a light of its own.

"I'll do my best, I'll do what I can to help…" She said warmly "Please hold on for much longer… It'll end soon"

The men had grasped her hand tightly, and nodded.

"Yes… Yes" They muttered "I believe in you… I'm sure a lot of people will… Please be careful Natsuki-sama"

Natsuki retracted herself, and nodded at Anahana. She whistled and whipped their horses with the reigns and off they went. Natsuki was leading the party and behind her was Anahana who took a glance at her, she found her eyes and Natsuki found hers, they understood each other and nodded, forming a bond between the two.

'There's no one else but me who can do this' Natsuki thought 'That's why… That's right... No one else can suffer in this world but me, I can never let anyone suffer anymore'

She whipped her horse once more and accelerated faster, Anahana whistled and the others followed suite. Each one of them has a purpose to this war, and reasons to fuel their will to accomplish their goals. Haruko wanted to save her remaining relatives in her village in the Safe Havens, Junko wants to avenge her family's death after an incursion had broken out in their kingdom, Reagan wanted her services to be brought in the frontlines, to aid soldiers with her potions that varied in use, Fretzer although incapable of fighting himself, wanted to put his skill to good use.

And Anahana, a lot of her loved ones were slaughtered by the Demon Queen's army of Demons, her family, her friends, and most of who she had known meeting along the streets of the Kingdom, Fuhrenheim, were all dead from the incursions that washed the world into despair. She, out of all of them, have the biggest will of vengeance against the Demon Queen, nothing else has fueled her will to live than to slay the Queen herself with her swords, not until now.

Natsuki, strived to find her purpose in her world but was instead crushed and shattered. She feels no importance for her life, and the simple words parted to her by the old man was a fuel that she consumes perpetually. For all those years of neglect, rejection, and distaste for herself, has now found the smallest thing she could've hoped for.

Attention.

Fuhrenheim Kingdom | Dusk

They had arrived hours later into Fuhrenheim, who seemed to be an a more rather dire state of disrepair and damaged, Anahana surmised as the work of another incursion from the enemy as it seemed that they were building up to quite a large show of force to drive them away.

"The smell of gunpowder is fresh" Reagan remarked as Haruko took the reins. She was walking ahead of the group slightly "The bricks themselves are warm" She added as she turned to Anahana, who nodded at her.

"Let's be careful, we've gone all the way here without trouble so let's try not to make any" She ordered, they all agreed silently.

'Broken buildings.. shattered stone.. they look like the work of cannons, if so.. rifled ones' Natsuki thought to herself 'You can't get much from a cannon ball… This has been done in range'

"Anahana" Reagan called, pointing towards what seemed to be a broken primitive artillery piece, there was ammo present by the box beside it, though it wasn't what Natsuki hoped to see.

"That's not it.. It's still just a lead ball.."

"Something wrong Natsuki?" Anahana asked as she heard her mumble.

"Nothing nothing" She replied 'Hm..?'

There was a glint that caught her eye, it was something circular, and it was dug deep inti the ground. One good observation gave Natsuki enough to know what that is.

'Cartridge shelling? But this world seemed to be medieval at most save for this Kingdom's castle… Do these Demons know how to build weapons like cartridge ammunition?' She thought wildly, quite perplexed at the sight of the bullet head 'Impossible… Right..? There's no way demons could use weapons like that.. More or less build it-'

Anahana raised her fist, prompting the party to stop.

"It's quiet" She remarked. Natsuki had only noticed this as well.

"It's too quiet… How about we head into the barracks?" She suggested "We might find someone there"

"We should just check just in case" Reagan supported.

"Okay then, let's move out" Anahana replied, slowly striding towards the barracks area near the Staglia.

The outer ring they had entered was seemingly desolate and devoid of life, there was not one bit of human activity and all that was left were remains of some destroyed and partially damaged houses on the small patches of villages located here. They strode towards the Northern Gates where they had left just yesterday dawn, and from the horizon, they can see the village they had defended from the incursion, though, unlike yesterday, it has been flowing dark smoke into the sky, too black, too many.

"Ana-chan" Haruko muttered as they took a stop to survey the village.

"What happened here…" Reagan asked, looking at the black belching smoke "This doesn't seem like a Demon attack…"

"We don't know that yet, let's keep going, put your gas masks on" Ordered Anahana who put on a leather skin half-mask around her face, covering up until the bridge of her nose.

"Natsuki-chan! Here!" Tanjirou called as she through a spare for her, Natsuki caught it and wore it just like the others.

"Thank you" She said softly, nodding at Tanjirou.

On Anahana's whip they then proceeded to the village to figure out what's going on. As they reached their destination, they entered along one of the stone paths laid into the streets of the city and proceeded to work their way towards the Staglia. They encountered some wounded soldiers along the streets being treated by the civilians, healers were small in numbers and some ran jumping sidewalks to tend the others, trying not to trip themselves as they ran around.

There were nothing but the wounded, and very few who had lived without wounds but were adorned in scars that covered their armour and skin. No one along the way greeted them, they were all staring somewhere far, everyone had the thousand yard stare in them, and not one flinched as they gazed on different directions. The soldiers were a different case, as they had not recognized the convoy that's passing through the streets, none had recognized that Anahana had returned.

They reached the Staglia and the barracks near them soon enough, there was a group of soldiers being tended to by mages, and some rested on their cots as they healed. Sir Talius was among the men surveying the soldiers getting healed, asking them whether they need to rest or not, his assistant alerted him of Anahana's presence.

"Sir! Commander Anahana returned!" The aid said as he patted Sir Talius' shoulder. Talius looked up, his eyes widening in relief. He immediately walked towards them as Anahana dismounted.

"ANAHANA!" Sir Talius called, approaching them

"Sir Talius! What happened here? Wha- HEY!" Anahana was suddenly hugged by the General. He was glad to see his students, his daughters safe from their journey, doing the same to the others as well, asking them if they were okay.

"Sir Talius… What happened here…" Anahana asked, shivering slightly. Natsuki took note of this.

"I…. We…. Hah…." Sir Talius collapsed to his knees, powerless to control his body from shaking.

"We were ambushed… There had been at least a solid 5 incursions from the enemy.. We sent everyone to the point that the civvies themselves took the fallen soldiers' weapons and fought alongside them.." His expression was grim, and his skin was pale as ashen snow.

Anahana was held her shoulders and gathered her composure.

"Sir… Tell us what happened" Junko told as she also took part in comforting her former teacher.

The aid suggested to go into the General's tent, they agreed to the notion and helped Sir Talius up, the aid then escorted them to the tent where they parked and strung the reins to their horses by the fences beside it.

The former teacher had appropriately fixed himself and calmed down. He faced his former students and smiled, thanking them for worrying about him.

"Thank you… Sorry about that… I was just.. Overwhelmed…" He worryingly said, he cleared his throat before continuing.

"When you had left, we were met with 5 continuous incursions from the enemy, they were relentless with their attacks and at some point, had used brute force to bring the walls down themselves but they had failed to do so.." He cleared his throat again, drinking a glass of water as he read the reports he gave, shuffling the papers as he tries to find a certain document. "Ah.. There it is, here. On the fourth incursion, instead of the usual footmen and golems, a horn had sounded in the distance. The archers had made out a firing line of what seemed to be cannons fully made from metal with several moving parts that seemed to aid with it's accuracy"

Natsuki was quite shocked, and listened in closely.

"The cannons were repeatedly fired for the duration of 5 hours, with the succeeding minutes given to the foot soldiers that decimated half of the troops that were waiting for the grunts to pass through the gates. Some were even directly shot at from the gates" Sir Talius gave around the report, letting his squadron read it.

"What… There's no cannon as of yet that is able to do that!" Tanjirou protested herself, exclaiming the preposterous experience "There's not one nation that can accurately provide that kind of artillery fire!"

"We had thought so too but it seems that the Demon army does hold firepower like this, whatever we do we can't produce arms similar to that as of now" Sir Talius explained "They're skilled with the weapon, more so than our cannon men I'd say so myself"

"Artillery fire capable of burning their targets.." Anahana muttered "They're getting more aggressive by the time.."

"Indeed… What happened to your trip to Talous? Has the archeologists found something that can aid us?" Sir Talius asked as he leaned forward.

"Ah.. About that, Natsuki" Anahana called, the party gave way to Natsuki, who stood in the middle of them all.

Sir Talius stood up as he met Natsuki, who bowed casually in respect. The General greeted the same, quite perplexed at the sight of her.

"Who is this…" Sir Talius asked, his voice shaking. The rest were quite confused at his reaction.

"This, is Yuriko Natsuki. The archeologists found her preserved perfectly in the Temple Of Amethyst's pods.." Anahana introduced "Natsuki, this is Sir Talius Aberdale, he's the trainer and teacher for most of us in our party"

"Nice to meet you Sir Talius" Natsuki warmly greeted with an expressionless canvas.

"N-Nice to meet you.. Natsuki…" Sir Talius shakily said "I'm sorry but can't all of you see her Flare?!"

They looked at Natsuki who stood still, even Natsuki herself checked herself. The rest are quite confused, though Reagan and Anahana remarked about it as well.

"Natsuki…" She muttered.

"That's…" Reagan muttered under her breath, stepping away.

"Hm? What's wrong..?" Natsuki asked.

"Your aura… It's showing" He replied worryingly at her.

"Ah… Sorry.. I didn't mean to scare you" Natsuki apologized softly as she bowed, the Flare that filled their side of the room soon dissipated.

"Mmm? I guess Junko, Fretzer and me can't see Flares still" Remarked Haruko puzzlingly.

"I-I can s-see them faintly.. but not so much.. though I did feel the surroundings get heavy.." Fretzer shyly commented. He was right though, for a brief moment the air around them was heavy.

"But isn't Fretzer an Assassin Class?" Sir Talius asked "He should have seen it more than any of you for that matter"

"I-I would?" Fretzer didn't entirely knew the extent of his class, though despite this he is phenomenal when he needs to use them in the field.

"Does Natsuki filter her Flare to certain Classes?" Anahana asked, she looked at Natsuki who shrugged.

"Well if that's the case.. How much do you know about Miss Natsuki's powers Anahana?" Sir Talius has recovered from his breakdown, and has started to return to his normal state.

"Not much I'm afraid" She replied straightforwardly "Though, from the performance she did just earlier she's able to succeed even Galahad"

"GALAHAD?!" Sir Talius exclaimed "Impossible! Galahad has been the kingdom's Hero since the incursion! There's no way someone can be as powerful as him!"

"I don't think this is her exerting any force either... She may have been using her regular powers at the moment" Anahana remarked.

"Yeah! She was able to singlehandedly defeat a squadron of Demons earlier!" Haruko said excitedly, like a little girl recounting something awesome she had seen not so long today "Even Ana-chan was too slow for her!"

"What…" Sir Talius looked at his student, who nodded "That's… If that's the case…"

"Then she might be more powerful than she seems" Anahana finished his sentence, Sir Talius agreed, nodding towards her.

"I see.. I see.." Sir Talius muttered "I remember reading something from the Elder Mage's library, it came from the Black Knight but I can't recall what it said"

He looked at Natsuki, now seemingly invested to research her past.

"Do you know anything about your powers?" He asked.

"No, nothing at the moment gives me an idea on how to use them"

"What about conjuring items? Or releasing something using mana?"

"I.. recently made my arm into a crystallized cannon.. It didn't feel like it took any mana from me, as for anything else I don't really know yet"

"She made a beam of light appear when she turned that arm of hers into a cannon thing, at least, that's what I think I saw.."

"And nothing felt out of the ordinary?" Sir Talius pressed.

"Mm-mm" Natsuki replied, shaking her head "Nothing at all.. It felt ticklish but that's it"

Sir Talius straightened himself up, still looking at Natsuki like a reference board, a paper with details plastered on a human body. He was examining evidence, living evidence.

"What… Were the colour of crystals that formed?" Sir Talius asked slowly, Anahana took note of this question.

"Purple, like amethyst, and black like black sand glass or.. obsidian" She replied, unsure of herself.

"I see…" Sir Talius muttered, he sat down again and dwindled in his thoughts, succumbing to an endless train of ideas and strings attaching to facts like that of a corkboard evidence display. He cleared his throat and addressed Anahana's party.

"You're dismissed for now, I'll provide you a map of your next mission as well as some evidence of anything pertaining to our friend here. For now I'd like Tanjirou to help around with the locals and the soldiers with repairing their weapons, the smiths had already setup shop by the area where the bakery stood" Sir Talius issued as he stood up "It's been a splendid experience meeting you Miss Natsuki, you have got to be the most interesting persona I've ever met in my lifetime, though as for now I'd like Anahana to keep you safe and unharmed, may be teach you about finding out your powers"

"Yes sir" Anahana agreed, nodding.

"Good, for now I'll need to get the documents for the next mission, as well as evidence or anything that might relate to her" Sir Talius assured "Mmm.. what else.. I'd suggest to get yourself ready, we night get another visit from the devil himself…"

They greeted Sir Talius goodbye as most of exited the tent, Natsuki waited for Anahana, who asked one last thing from the General.

"Where's General Gladius and the SARC Knights?" She asked "I haven't seen them since we entered"

"Ah.. He's been sent to the frontlines besides the other armies, I'm sure… That he'll be fine" He assured doubtingly "He was sent shortly after you left the kingdom, brought a battalion's worth of men that's why we're shorthanded here."

"I see then, Natsuki, let's go" Anahana held Natsuki's hand, she blushed fairly "Thank you Sir Talius, we'll wait for you by the broken park"

"Mhm, will do Ana-chan"

They exited the tent, realizing she held Natsuki's hand she let go and apologized. Natsuki chuckled slightly before returning to her normal emotionless display. She looked at one of the craters and found large fragments embedded on the ground, another seemed like another bullet from a cartridge shell like the one she found earlier.

"Mm? Something wrong?" Anahana asked.

"Nothing really, why do you ask"

"You've been mostly emotionless, just wanted to know if my partner is okay" Anahana said as she patted her back.

"Eh.. Partner?" Natsuki repeated, confused.

"Yeah, for now I'll teach you some basics, maybe have Reagan and Junko teach you as well" Anahana said as she looked at the party who had been sharing potions to the soldiers and civvies in their area.

"I see.." Natsuki muttered, watching them pass potions to the denizens and the army "Say.. You're quite handsome for a girl"

"EH? Where did that come from?!" Anahana replied flustered, her tomboy shell being broken into with such force from an emotionless girl "What the fuck do you mean 'handsome'??"

"Mmm, nothing never mind" Natsuki muttered as she silently looked down on the ground "Just rambling"

Anahana looked at her confused and flustered.

"I don't think I am you know? I don't think anyone likes me anyways" She mumbled, still flustered.

"Mm? Ask one of those guys over there, they've been shooting glances at you since we stood here" Natsuki replied casually as she pointed at a group of guys.

"Eh- What- Why are we even talking about this?" She was flustering more, getting embarrassed.

"Studying you.. I guess.." Natsuki mumbled, looking away. "Dunno, I just found you interesting"

"Interesting?" Anahana repeated "Didn't you have friends back at home?"

"No… I didn't" Natsuki replied straightforwardly "If you start saying that there must be someone.. No, There really wasn't… Not anymore"

"I see" Anahana replied softly, she sighed deeply "I'm sorry.."

"It's fine" Natsuki said, strangely warm "I need to move forward.. and face… This problem"

The two were silent, watching as men and women strolled past them with baskets of towels and water and jugs of water. The sun was at high noon, and they were still silent, keeping their thoughts to themselves.

"If you want to finish this war.. Don't go alone" Anahana said out of the blue, glancing at her as her head leaned forwards a bit to her front.

"Mm?" Natsuki mumbled as she glanced at her, looking directly at her glistening red eyes.

"If you want to finish this war, leaving our party here so they'll be safe… Bring me with you" Anahana repeated clearly for her "Okay?"

Natsuki looked at her, her expression was soft and gentle than before. She smiled at her, and it hit Anahana differently.

"Sure then" She agreed "If you can catch up with me~"

"Ehhh~ Challenging me now eyy~?" Anahana smiled "You're talking to this Kingdom's best warrior mate, you can't just challenge me like that!"

"Eh? Really now? Last time I saw you were too slow~" Natsuki teased as she stretched.

"Hahaha, you're getting cocky now eh~?" Anahana remarked "You're changing, slightly.. I like that"

"Thanks.. I never really gotten a chance to grow back home" Natsuki replied, smiling warmly at her.

"Well, glad I can make you grow" Anahana patted her shoulder, chuckling.

Sir Talius was with the others sneaking behind one of the tents mischievously watching the pair.

"Would ya look at that~" He teased at the others.

"I'm glad to see Natsuki-chan being happy like that, when we found her she was really confused and scared" Haruko remarked.

"Well if you're someone who just got transported from somewhere or had just woken up, well, it's a natural thing to be confused and scared" Reagan commented, giving a relieved expression.

"She's starting to get used to her surroundings, that's always a good thing, right Sir Talius?" Junko remarked as she looked at Sir Talius, who nodded approvingly.

"Mhm, that's right. Natsuki isn't just a weapon summoned from somewhere by the Deity. She's human too and maybe like us right now, she must've been having a hard time back at her own world" He added, he then glanced at the two again before he took the attention of his fellow bystanders.

"Let's leave them alone for now, go take some rest, you guys helped around a lot"

They stretched and cheered as Sir Talius led them to one of the tents.

"Finally! I can sleep well for a bit!" Regan remarked "It's getting to hot working out on the sun!"

"Let's go to the cart, I'll prepare some food for us, let's go!" Told Junko excitedly, her mouth, watering as she fantasized about food.

They all soon agreed to have some snacks and hopped back to where their carts were parked over. Sir Talius remained and over-watched they started to tease each other.

"WHAT??" Anahana exclaimed as she flushed red.

"What? Isn't it true?" Natsuki chuckled as she smugly looked at her.

"NO IT ISN'T!!!" Anahana was trying to tackle Natsuki without avail, she was still chuckling as Ana helplessly pouted on her side, arms still in pouncing figure.

"Don't tell me that you're this adorable" Natsuki wheezed "No freaking way~!"

The two remained bickering at each other playfully, before they soon stopped to take a breath. Natsuki, was obviously still chuckling.

"I can't believe that our Berserker is a softie like this" She warmly smiled, her voice drifting as she noticed Anahana's expression.

"They always told me that I'm weak because I'm naturally a soft person" She said, looking up, her sot lips curling into a small smile. "They'd tell me to quit this job before shit hits the fan"

"Mhm mhm.." Natsuki hummed as she listened.

"They'd always keep me safe.. Even though it's just the small things, even to the point of trying to draft me into the Royale Guards" She continued, her voice now low.

As Natsuki was about to say something, she stopped.

[I know exactly how that feels]

"How have you been then, after all that?" She asked instead.

"Well, I showed them what's up" Anahana chuckled "You know, proved them wrong of course"

"I envy you.." Natsuki whispered "I never had the dedication to pull that off…"

"Mmm? Did you say something?" Anahana asked, glancing at her.

"Nothing-" Natsuki froze in place as she heard faint whistling overhead.

She looked around frantically, and could say that the whistling was never on the ground where it felt like it's coming from. But from somewhere they won't consider checking.

Natsuki was running down the road, frantically looking everywhere where there's people. They neared the village's gates as the whistling grew immensely louder. She stops, and locks eyes with a girl in blonde hair, she was dressed in a housemaid's attire, with a white blouse and blue apron, with frills, wearing the usual navy blue, a seemingly normal girl passing by the middle of the road towards an old couple who had been calling her.

Natsuki's eyes widened, her body shivered and hardened, instead of barreling forward she turned back, jumping towards Anahana who's stomach had caught Natsuki's forearm that was thrusted into her. Anahana recoiled back as she caught the full weight of Natsuki.

As they took their step back, an explosion erupted followed a loud crash of concrete and stone. Dust flew everywhere and everyone was effectively incapacitated, and fatally wounded, as the smoke and debris stopped forming and falling, Natsuki coughed as she sat up in pain, her legs and back feeling the heatwave that emanated from the explosion.

"Hey.. [cough cough] Natsuki…" Anahana called as she too sat up, almost spared from the pain Natsuki had just endured. "Are.. [Cough] You okay? Nats?"

Natsuki had glared at the crater that laid the tattered dress and bloodied mess of the girl she had locked eyes on.

"Nats.. Hey… [Cough cough]" Anahana slowly sat as her body felt a small wave of pain as if she was pushed by a 6'0 tall person. Which she was.

"That girl…" Natsuki muttered "She smiled…?"

"Girl.."? Anahana repeated as she held her shoulder, Natsuki helped her up "What girl..?"

Natsuki eyed the crater again, Anahana followed her gaze and was gagging slightly as she saw pieces of flesh by the crater walls.

'That's definitely High-Explosive' Natsuki thought 'I wasn't imagining it wrong. That's High-Explosive'

"Everybody! Get away from here now! The guards will lead you to the castle inside please keep moving!" Anahana shouted in the background, she took incentive and rallied the civvies away from the site.

'That's a high caliber… To do that kind of explosion' She continued thinking, standing in place as she intently glared at the decently large crater a few feet away from her 'I've seen mortar fire from videos on Itube… This isn't a mortar… This must be an artillery piece...'

Anahana continued the evacuation, limping as she went, holding her side as she took several glances on Natsuki.

"She must've sensed something, this isn't right" She mutters to herself "Natsuki!"

'No… That's it… Maybe-' She turned to look at Anahana, before hearing another whistle, then two, then a few more.

She ran towards her and as she did formed a shield on her right arm. She slid on the gravel path and raised her barrier. She then shouted an order at the soldiers who had stood there in watch.

"TAKE COVER!" She shouted as a volley of explosions erupted on the village floor, peppering the land in black craters. The soldiers did and posed a protective barrier upon themselves with the help of a mage as well as the swordsmen wielding shields to commit to a defensive formation, and as they did the volley continued for another few seconds before the barrage stopped briefly.

Outside of the gates and the protective Staglion Wall that protected the village, were an artillery battalion of Demons, with a clean formation of grunts at the rear were formed, the demons manning the cannons hurriedly changed the magazines of the cannons heavy as they were, and cocked the bolt handle back, arming the weapon.

"Wait for my signal!" A female Demon roared, she was huge, if anything, she's as tall as Natsuki, or a bit more. She was a very eye-catching Demon not only because of her muscular build but of her lack of armour, but most strikingly, her eight arms.

"READY!" She shouted, raising her left arm. The Demons checked their weapons, and roared with glee as they gave a nod or a thumbs up at their leader.

"AIM!" She shouted next, raising her right arm. The demons cackled and roared with excitement as their machinery roared and slowly aimed upwards once more, the demons formed at the back were laughing and roaring as if to show that they had already won.

"FIRE!" She shouted finally, raising and throwing her second set of arms forward. The tanks, who had their cannons rolled in an angle, had started a barrage, with the next shell leaving the cannon a solid seven seconds after the first, and landing once more inside the walls where the village lay protected, or so they thought.

The volley's impact shook the inside, and the soldiers had started to fall in numbers slowly. Natsuki was keeping the men in their places, and had ordered for their cannons to fire. They did so and the cannon balls shot were scattered and random, hitting nowhere close to the Eight-Armed Demon's location.

The demon scoffed, chuckling, she glanced around the army she had formed, watching the demons on the tanks reload the cannons. The tank themselves were no more simplified as a small metal platform with a revving engine at the rear and the crew of 3 Demons, two manning the cannon and one at the driver's seat controlling everything else, it didn't have protection, other than a thick sheet of armour cresting the cannon itself, able to withstand a few cannon ball shells from the enemy.

"Very useful contraptions" She muttered approvingly "General Seraheim is crafted with such machinery, I can see why she prefers these as her weapons of choice"

She looked back at the walls and the gate and motioned for one of the formed demons to march towards the base, which they obliged pushing each other as they rushed towards the gates.

The Demon General nodded, and glanced at her remaining troop.

"Have the next salvo ready" She ordered to her underlings, they started to crank the cannons upwards at an angle once more. "With this we crack their walls open!" She grinned as her eyes glowed of victory, her demons cackled mischievously as they lowered their barrels, now aiming for the sturdy walls that previous incursions had failed to break into.

The General of the Demon Army raised her arms wide outward, each holding a weapon with golden intricates strewn on them. She laughed as her weapons glimmered under the sun, professing her victory to her army.

"WATCH MY MEN! WATCH AS WE BARE THE CASTLE TO ITS KNEES! WATCH AS THEIR WALLS OF CONCRETE FALL FROM OUR WEAPONS!" She shouted fanatically, addressing her men who were enriched with her morale "I THE HONOURABLE GENERAL KALLIOPE TAURTURIA! HAVE BROUGHT YOU FORTH INTO THIS VERY HOUR! WE HAVE FOUGHT FOR DOMINATION FOR MUCH LONGER! WE SHALL END THIS WAR WITH THE FALL OF THE KINGDOM OF MAN!"

The demons roared and cackled into a frenzy chanting their General's name in unison, raising their spears and claws high into the air as they chanted, and turning into a chorus of roaring demons that asserted their dominance over their battle as the heir to the victory in a never-ending war.

"MEN! FIRE THE CANNONS!" The order followed a brief deafening volley of the cannons firing in unison towards the wall of the village cell, with cheering roars and thunderous growls of the demons behind her, the shells fell into the great walls of the that divided them from the village inside.