Kurisutarumajishan Chapter VIII: Swordplay in Inferno

As the ground cracked, spitting out magma from its depths, a figure emerged from the gate of the fortress, a tall figure with multiple limbs organized into a halo of weapons around her, with a gap that broke the fierceness of the stature on the left side. Despite this, there was still fear and power instilled as the Demon General presented herself to her opponent.

"If you're in search of your friends you won't find them here!" She shouted, she waved an arm to her side. "As you can see, I've taken a great chunk of that fighting force, I've defeated them!"

Natsuki formed a triple barreled shotgun on her left arm, whilst her right formed a gauntlet that protected her for arm as she unsheathed the sword from her waist. Anahana had just stood up, unsheathing her monolithic sword maces, striking an assault stance, with both of her swords tucked into her.

"I see, two versus one it is" Kalliope said as she struck hers, the weapons that circled around her angled differently from each other. She eyed both of her attackers before inhaling deeply, then shouting at the top of her lungs "PREPARE YOURSELVES HUMANS! I HONOUR THIS DUEL BETWEEN SWORDSMEN! DARE TO CHEAT IN THIS BATTLE AND THOU SHALL MEET THE WRATH OF KALLIOPE TAURTURIA!"

"I don't plan to cheat, it'll be clean as a polished gun" Natsuki muttered before she charged in, her sword's blade facing the rear as she held her left arm upfront.

Anahana followed, their paths arching to the left and right respectively. Natsuki reached Kalliope first who sent a flurry of weapons from her left region towards Natsuki, who deflected them with her O Katana's blade, angling them away as she slid to Kalliope's left. Anahana followed suite as Kalliope side stepped to her right, she once again sent a flurry of weapons that collided with Anahana's which were also deflected as Anahana used the flat side of the sword to block the attack which scratched its surface.

It was a standoff between two swordsmen and a General, with both approaches failing to land a hit on the general. They reformed their stances, with the General proceeding with a defensive as Anahana and Natsuki stance for an attack.

"Impressive that neither of us has landed a proper hit against one another" She said, fixating the corona of weapons in a smooth and rhythmic fashion. Entrancing the two as they watched Kalliope switcher each of her hands' weapons making them circle around her silhouette in a perfect circle. "Two of my arms have lost, against a team of two with not the slightest idea of her Flare and Aura, a perfect balance between opponents! Don't you think so?"

Natsuki raised her left arm which prompted the Demon General to curl her weapon's blades into a shield like form before thrusting her scimitar from her right towards Natsuki, who immediately switched gears and changed her posture, dodging the weapons and maneuvering herself away from the body. As this occurred Anahana charged towards the General who directed the swirl of weapons, unfolded from their shape towards the clad black swordswoman who effectively blocked her flurry before exchanging sides with Natsuki.

"IMPRESSIVE!" The General complimented as she returned to her stature and stance. "YOU'VE EXCHANGED SIDES TWICE WITHOUT A SINGLE WOUND FROM MY WEAPONS! I am very, VERY, impressed"

"Thank you" Natsuki blandly replied.

"Such respect from a human, I bow to thee" She said as she faced her, bowing.

Anahana took her chance and swung her sword down into her spine but was deflected with Kalliope's arms who turned behind her to defend the rear, causing the General to reposition herself to face Anahana before sending her back, gaining distance.

As Kalliope turned, Natsuki once again charged with her shotgun and as she closed in she shot the ground causing the Demon General to form a shield with her right, allowing Natsuki to pass. In conjunction with this move Anahana threw her sword towards Kalliope that blocked it with another shield, but because she had focused on the sword she didn't notice Anahana who passed through her defenses and had once again, exchanged places. She tugged on a chain that ran through the air, linking itself to the hilt of the sword and thus allowing her to return it in her empty off-hand.

The General grinned as she poised to attack Natsuki, charging at her to which she responded with a duck before bluffing her with the shotgun. Natsuki unfolded her O Katana from her right arm before slashing through the Scimitar, breaking it in half.

She stumbled as recovered herself, before flipping her view to catch Kalliope in her sights before folding the sword to her arm, away from her body at her rear. The Demon General had threw the sword before she gets her arm cut, showing that she fears the loss of another limb to Natsuki.

"I see" She muttered "WELL PLAYED HUMANS!"

She chuckled maniacally, before fixating her remaining weapons, their points facing towards both swordswomen.

"I didn't think I'd see so much of a glint of fire in the eyes of a Coalition warrior! May it so be as well a stranger from an unknown country!" She gleamed, facing her opponent with fiery eyes, aiming like a predator to its prey, in particular, Natsuki.

Both were silent, before synchronously circling her. Anahana ran with both of her swords extended away from her body, with Natsuki having the blade of her O Katana inside her arm, and her stature and posture fixed to help her balance out her weight. The Demon General observed the prey and such, gleamed with hungry eyes that sought blood to quench not the hunger for a meal, but the hunger for violence and death.

"VERY WELL!" She exclaimed extending her weapons outward, raising her leg as Shiva did so, before stomping into the ground and changing her leg, allowing for a fluid motion of her weapons to be directed into one spot.

It turns out that the unfortunate target was Anahana who had just started to turn to Kalliope's left to face her front then back again receding to the right. And as she did so, faced the flurry of the weapons that belonged to Kalliope's combined appendages, a foot placed forward stopped her momentum, with another anchoring her stature so low that any drastic change to Kalliope's movement would result with a miss, she proceeded to swing her right-handed blade and swing it around her, the blade occupying the space overhead in a flat posture to ensure no self-injuries are inflicted in the process, she soon cleared out of the hedge of weapons before sustaining her route again.

This was immediately followed by Natsuki, who had extended the O Katana away from her body, before swiping away into Kalliope's appendages. She failed to cut one or two as the Demon General, although given her size and stature, was swift enough to enact a defensive counter, Natsuki landed well on her feet before continuing with her route.

The battlefield that held the trio of warriors were displayed in large amounts of sparks, and almost rhythmic and melodical dings of the metal that formed their weapons as they clashed into one another, spewing sparks as they slid and scraped along their surfaces.

Their forms danced into one another as sparks emanated to their melody of clashing swords, the General spun around and into, thrusting and lunging away as per the song of the rhythm whilst Natsuki flew and dug low into the defenses with no luck, Anahana was too, quite rhythmic and synchronous in the dance of danger and edge, her motions, swings, and thrusts, all were heavy and powerful yet graceful. A trail of black tailing her blades as its speed was enough for the colour to leave the eyesight of the viewer.

At the hedges by the tree line observed Haruko, Tanjirou and Fretzer, as well as the Demolitioners who had been entranced by the performance of the swordswomen dancers.

"Fretzer, are you ready?" Haruko asked, glancing at the frail teenager who wore an all-black set of clothing decorated with hints of green and silver.

"Mhm" He replied softly as he wore a sleek helmet, the straps softly clicked as Fretzer adjusted them to his size. "I-I'm ready!"

"On my mark Fretzer!" Tanjirou shouted to him as she examined the battle using a monocular.

"ONE!"

Fretzer readied himself, unsheathing bagh nakh daggers that are now crossed across his chest.

"TWO!"

He dug his front foot into the ground, twisting his back leg slightly to angle him down more.

"THREE! FRETZER!"

Fretzer had already launched himself quietly, leaving a large gust of wind in his wake. He streaked across the plains towards the orchestra of weapons chiming, colliding in the air leaving a confetti of sparks within its wake. As Fretzer closed into the ensemble he was met with powerful gust of wind that met with his.

He collided into the monsoon-like force before finding himself locked with his blades colliding into another pair.

"Nuh uh~" Teased the opponent, the force revealing itself as a civilian with a menacingly curled grin. "Not today buster~!!"

The lock was imploded as the girl threw Fretzer back, recovering from the entanglement.

"Ohohoho~! Is it you~?" She sneered, holding one of her blades up on her mouth. "I can't believe it! IT IS YOU~!!"

"Shut up already.." Fretzer muttered sternly, before engaging against the civilian again.

"Don't be so mean~!!" She continued "COME HERE AND PLAY WITH ME~!!"

Fretzer and his surprise opponent started to combat each other, with Fretzer leading her away from the main battle, and it so seems that it was also her plan to do so as well, meeting little resistance as he led her into the far side of the area.

The orchestra continued its melody, as the triad of musicians strummed their weapons against each other. Natsuki had come to use her shotgun more sparingly, not for reasons like the loss of ammunition or her own exhaustion.

It had come to the point that both she and Anahana had fully synchronized their attacks against Kalliope that their trajectory has become quite close with each other that shooting the weapon has become a liability to her partner. Kalliope knew this, and so intensified her use of the corona of weapons she had in her armory of a body.

In response to this, both Natsuki and Anahana had gotten faster with their switches, entangling themselves around tightly in her corners.

For someone who had just fought, Natsuki held herself quite well, exceeding the performance of an intermediate Knight, she held her ground and readied her O Katana for a clean strike. She charged into Kalliope as she swung her right region of weapons into Natsuki hoping to cut her clean in several slices.

There was nothing Natsuki can do at the moment, not a flicker of an idea to avoid the outcome, she raised her O Katana from below before attempting to slice the array of blades coming towards her. She failed with cutting anything as the array slammed into the length of her blade, pushing her back some distance before she regained her standing, Anahana took the chance to do a wild swing at the General's blindspot.

She was successful, breaking two of the weapons that was haphazardly risen to block the attack, which was followed by a strike to the abdomen using the handle from the machete. It staggered her, making her barely able to dodge the rest of the weapons thrown at her, General Kalliope switched her attention to Anahana, starting to wear her out of her endurance while blocking the swipes from Natsuki, who was trying to make General Kalliope attack her.

Anahana was launched to the side as Kalliope took her Mace and slammed it to her right side, injuring her in the process, breaking a rib as she was launched away. Natsuki was also launched as she spun around, delivering a diagonal kick that connected with her torso, sending her tumbling away.

Both grunted as they tried to stand up, Kalliope had evened out her remaining weapons around her arms, leaving the rest empty with only knuckle spikes remaining in their place. Natsuki and Anahana had managed to stand up again, breathing heavily as they catch their breath, the General did the same, though she was visibly in a more exhausted state than the two of them.

"Impressive… *gasp* Very… *gasp* Very… *gasp* Impressive…" She muttered, breathing heavily. She had trouble holding her weapons in the usual array she's been known to form, now resorting to something more easily manageable pose of weaponry.

Natsuki was the first to properly standup, her right hand holding the sword's hilt, its blade rugged and quite broken with small cracks running up into the length of the blade. Anahana followed, jamming one f her swords into the ground before poising for an attack.

As the heat slowly rose from the cracked ground, a limply standing Natsuki and a tired Anahana stood their grounds, with Natsuki swaying a bit eccentric as the sword's hilt slipped from her grasp. She seemed to be having trouble maintaining her standing.

"Natsuki.." Anahana groaned as she struggled to stand. She rose her blade before charging into Kalliope who had seemingly stopped paying attention to the battlefield.

She stopped midway of her charge, stepping backwards as the mysterious girl and Fretzer battled with their daggers flying into directed spaces. Fretzer managed to pull the girl away from the main battlefield as Fretzer directed her elsewhere.

As Anahana charged, she made a low swipe into the ground before launching herself in the air to perform a down-slice, out of nowhere, a scream echoed through the battlefield. This made the General jolt to life blocking her opponent's attack quite well before once again launching her into the ground.

"GENERAL KALLIOPE!!" The shout emanated, it was the same Itellach she had a conversation with, she was quite flushed before she was pulled by the guards, seemingly retreating.

"Farah?" The General muttered as she looked back towards the kingdom's large doors.

"Found it"

There was a gust of wind that blew in the area. Natsuki was missing from where she had stood before, this alarmed the Demon General, as she looked around the battlefield before looking again towards the kingdom.

"I WON'T LET YOU!" She roared as she rushed to block a lunging Natsuki, who had reformed her right arm into a sharp uniform one sided blade.

Kalliope had barely caught up, swinging her mace towards Natsuki's stomach, injuring her greatly as she was launched away from the gates as it closed.

"General! I won't leave without you!" Farah yelled as the Demon Guards rushed to close the gates.

"I'm sorry Farah, we'll meet again soon… Don't worry… Okay?" Kalliope lied as she smiled towards her.

"NO! GENERAL! COME BACK TO ME!" Farah yelled helplessly before she was held back and dragged away by the guards.

Kalliope took a deep breath as she faced Natsuki, who had recovered from her fall. She was rugged, broken, it was as if her spine had broken away and crooked from the hit. Audible cracking and popping of bones emanated from her as her body corrected itself, it was horrible, even to the fierce Demon General who had took peashooter hits from her.

Natsuki had a spiky buildup of purple crystals around her abdomen where the mace had hit her, the weapons she had materialized in her arms in the form of black blue crystalline builds had glowed menacingly in contrast to the hellish landscape.

The mysterious girl took notice off the happenings with Natsuki and was visibly in shock before she repelled Fretzer's attacks with parries.

"Shit, it's started already?" She muttered before she repelled away Fretzer's flurry of lunges, thrusts and swipes. "Well, well pretty boy~ I guess your wish has been granted today~! Time to go hide now! Todalooo~"

Fretzer was hit with a roundabout kick to his cheek, stunning him before he cleanly tried to claw away at her with his bagh nakhs, only to find out that the entity had already gone. Haruko, Junko, and Reagan immediately went out to retrieve and secure Anahana while Fretzer returned to Tanjirou, before collapsing on her shoulders from mass exhaustion.

"Anahana! Are you okay?! Can you breathe?!" Haruko asked as she started to cast a healing spell.

"Bossu! You took too much from that time, you haven't fully recovered!" Reagan remarked as she started to pour some healing potions on her wounds, making Anahana grunt in pain.

"Arghhh!!" She grunted as the potions were applied, she soon sat up, ignoring Haruko's warnings and watching at the battle from the distance.

Natsuki was blocking this time, before using the shotgun as a flash before slipping away to try and to wound Kalliope, finding a weak spot to finally bring her down before being unsuccessful with wounding her. Kalliope had been blocking her attacks perfectly without haste, even seemingly reading the next attack and blocking at a different angle.

"I WON'T LET AN AMATURE DEFEAT ME! DO YOU HEAR ME GIRL?! I REFUSE TO LOSE TO THE LIKES OF YOU!" She roared as she stunned Natsuki mid-air with her knee before delivering a devastating blow to her stomach with her mace. She flew a distance from her before landing like a ragdoll onto the charred ground, making a cloud of black ash as she impacted into the burnt soil.

"NATSUKI!" Anahana shouted as she jerked forwards, trying to get away from Haruko who was trying to pin her down.

"Anahana-san! You can't yet!" Haruko pleaded, trying to pin her down. Junko and Reagan were also holding her back, worried about their leader as her body hastily tried to get out of her friends' grip.

"But Natsuki! We need to help her!" She exclaimed as she pointed helplessly at a mangled Natsuki, now ridden with the purple crystals in areas where she has been injured.

Haruko started to look away crying, followed by the two who had been stifling their cry as they watched Natsuki getting beaten heavily, she had been getting battered pretty wildly by a raging Kalliope who swung her weapons left, right, up and down in such a rapid succession.

A song softly emanated from Natsuki, who had now been dodging the attacks against her. Kalliope threw a swing at her before she was stunned by Natsuki who kneed her chest before being thrown by a kick to her abdomen.

"AAGHHH!" Kalliope grunted as she dug her feet into the ashen ground, coughing as she tried to recover herself.

Natsuki was limply walking, the crystals receding back into her as she slowly reformed her weapons, throwing her sword away.

[~Nightmares creep while you and me repeat, This bittersweet heat is suffocating, I'm waiting and always hesitating, Kryptonite desires set my heart afire, Heart on fire, set my heart afire, yeah~]

Natsuki reformed her right hand into a shield, with a more pronounced silhouette and a wider surface at the upper portion, slimming down into its bottom edge before being divided into two sizeable prongs at the tip. The shotgun on her left arm slowly shed away as the new crystalline formation formed into her arm into a sizeable cannon.

"I took all those hits…?" She muttered to herself, she took a glance at her weapons, and noticed that they are molded as she had thought of them. 'Ah… Sazabi…'

She had turned to her front, seeing that Kalliope had been rushing over to her, swinging her left region of arms into Natsuki. She countered this by raising her shield to embrace the impact, the force of the weapons crashing into her shield as the music emanated from her head.

[~With crimson secrets and forbidden bliss, Can't stay still, don't stop the thrill, My bones crave your skin, temptation within, Mistakes ignite the silence~]

As Kalliope crashed her weapons into Natsuki's shield, Natsuki had dug her feet into the ground, a protective armour forming around her shin as she groaned. As the song dropped into an instrumental orchestra, a light shot out from the shield's tip forming a haphazard blade, Natsuki dug her other foot into the right as she angled her shield so the weapon's metal slid through. As this happened she swung at an upward angle, successfully cutting Kalliope's arms from her left side clean off of her elbows.

[~Nightmares creep while you and me repeat, This bittersweet heat is suffocating, I'm waiting and always hesitating, Kryptonite desires set my heart afire, Heart on fire, set my heart afire, yeah~]

Kalliope roared as she felt the heat of the blade pierce her arms, she stumbled back before Natsuki kicked her to gain distance, her weapons flying all over as she lost her grip from the jolt of pain.

"YOU LITTLE SHIT!" She exclaimed as she roared in pain, she took the mace in front of her, swinging it towards Natsuki who blocked it in the center of her shield before swiftly cutting it with a more pronounced blade, as she swung her blade to her right she rose her left arm, a dull ping sound emanated from the cannon followed by a gust of bluish silver smoke that exhumed out of the barrel.

[~Connect the dots straight to the start of intoxicating want. Lingering touch, these soft words whispered in the dark, Set my heart afire~]

"AGH…. HAGKK…" Kalliope spitted some blood out, slowly stepping back, before charging mindlessly, she was shot in her left shoulder, taking a big chunk of it as the purple beam made contact. The wound's flesh immediately formed small formations of a dark purple crystal, burning the exposed skin.

'No… This is not happening to me'

Natsuki kept firing at her, taking large chunks of flesh away from her body, leaving some crystalline growths in its wake. Kalliope recoiled back as she was shot, trying to hold her position, digging her heels into the charred dirt without avail.

'I refuse to let this happen… No…'

Kalliope arched herself as best as she can, narrowly avoiding a beam shot to her head, she hunched forward immediately as she recovered her stance before charging into Natsuki.

"Shit!" Natsuki muttered as she readied another shot.

Kalliope charged without hesitation, picking her axe along the way before swinging it, overhead, bringing it down on Natsuki who recoiled back, trying to avoid her attack. She won't be able to raise her shield in time as it was positioned away from her, her cannon's barrel was quite long, which gave her quite the disadvantage in close quarters combat.

"BEHOLD! THE HONORABLE KALLIOPE TARTAURIA! SHE WHO SHALL BRING UPON THE END OF THE PROPHECY OF PLAGUE! WATCH AS I END YOUR MISERABLE LIFE MY RIVAL!" Kalliope shouted as she swung the ax upon Natsuki, who, instead of dodging away, lurched forward and pierced her cannon through Kalliope's chest.

"GAWKK!" She grunted, spitting out more blood. She lost grip on her ax, the weapon flying away from them as it hit the charred soil with a dull 'chip' sound.

Natsuki's arm began to actively reform, the cannon becoming scaly and spiky, its point jutting outwards. The formation vibrated and moved, each individual scale seemed to grow as it "bloomed" and its form subsiding into her arm as it reached the rear of the arm. The scales kept moving in such a blooming motion, rising at a peak as it moved in an epicenter in the arm before subsiding down as the scale reached the end.

Kalliope was struggling to breath, struggling to get the weapon away from her chest. Her thoughts in a wildfire of panic and disbelief as she gasped for air.

'No… This can't… be'

She struggled more but failed, the cannon started to emanate an ear splitting noise as the formation of scaly petals moved rapidly in their blooming motion, before stopping at the peak of the noise and firing. The shot sent shockwaves everywhere as the light from the weapon engulfed both Natsuki and Kalliope.

There was silence.

After a few minutes of the wind dancing violently, and the leaves rustling in a noisy manner, everyone had regained sight of Natsuki who held her standing and posture the way she had entered it as she pierced Kalliope. Her left arm outstretched, with her forearm in a beautiful sharp array of petal like scales, surrounded by a halo of diamond shards that shone purple, with her right arm curled closed into her bicep, the shield protecting a great deal of her body with her fist touching her chest.

She was smoking, and so was the land in front of her. Her cell was left speechless, their breath taken away from the wild performance displayed by Natsuki.

"What… What was that…" Reagan muttered as her legs gave in, plopping her into the charred grass.

"That light… Wasn't that the same light…" Junko said, her eyes widened at Natsuki.

Anahana looked at them, then to her right, Haruko, Tanjirou, Fretzer, were expressing the same shock in their faces, mouth agape and wide eyed. She slowly looked at Natsuki, who had showed signs of movement, her body faintly showing signs of breathing.

Anahana stood up slowly, grunting as her wounds ached I each movement she took. Haruko mouthed Anahana's name but no sound came out, limply grabbing her tattered and burned coat but falling to the ground instead. She slowly walked to Natsuki, her legs buckling as she limped to her.

"N-Natsuki…" She called out softly, raising her hand and placing it on her shoulder. "…"

She was audibly huffing, taking deep breaths as she slowly relaxed, lowering her arms and leaning into Anahana who caught her. She laid her on her shoulder gently, before looking at the damage she had done using that weapon. There was a large slope that was etched through the plains, lava spewed and fountained out of the larger cracks that now formed in, slowly moving down the carved slope.

Anahana turned to the castle, the front walls now had a clean circular cut, with its burnt, melted edges crumbling slowly, until it finally gave in. The fortress walls of the Tangkagare Rouheri Demon base had fallen, revealing inside the base of the gigantic tower that poked atop the now crumbling walls. It too had a hole burned through the structure. It shook, gurgled, and the metal whined before it collapsed in and of itself, being swallowed whole by the hole that it had dug through since its construction.

Dust flew everywhere, Anahana covered herself and Natsuki as the air blew on them, before dissipating, clearing the air.

The rest had followed, running towards the two worryingly.

"Anahana! Are you both okay?!" Haruko exclaimed as she approached them, checking on both Natsuki and Anahana, inspecting them for injuries.

"I'm fine.. I'm slowly recovering thanks to you" Anahana replied softly as she smiled at Haruko. "Natsuki's tired is all"

"Natsuki..." Haruko muttered as she looked at her, her hand on her forehead.

"That wasn't normal Anahana-san" Reagan said shakily, wearing a nervous grin as she and Junko were a step away from them.

"No, no it wasn't" She agreed.

"N-Na-Na-N-Natsuki-chan hasn't had the ch-ch-chance t-to train properly yet" Junko said, shakily ike her partner was.

"No.. She hasn't" Anahana agreed as well.

"Well then how could she have done something like that?!" Tanjirou said. Glancing at everyone for answers.

The two shrugged, they weren't known for strength potions, and in fact, were uneducated on how to concoct one. Haruko was strictly a healer, and had known no strengthening spells since her encounter with the Temple's library, which she uses to study about supporting spells.

For a healer mage, it takes at least 20 years of practice to achieve such a feat, to be able to strengthen someone who has not experienced proper combat, let alone had their first-hand experience against someone as powerful as Kalliope, to be able to shoot out something that devastating in a matter of days.

The world of Veindeljara has built its measuring system to properly categorize people who have Auras and Flares. It spanned from Tier I through VI, with the sixth being recorded and documented as the most powerful. Most of those in the Council of Magia, the organization made out of Elder Mages from the different countries are at best Tier IV and V, with the oldest members not even reaching the sixth level.

The Old Council however, were the only ones recorded to have such scope of power, with most of them reaching the last Tier. In contrast to this, the Demon Queen, had been recorded to show powers that categorize her as a Tier VI, although there were some rumors that she has powers exceeding such value. Kalliope Tartauria was recorded to be Tier IV, which was above the normal human generals who were documented to be Tiers II or III, with regular soldiers being Tier I at the very best.

The measuring system was not perfect, with less understanding of why there's only six tiers to the measurement, and not exceeding that value at all. This was explained by an explorer who had been studying such document with those created by the Old Council, as well as those of old who provided proof to the matter, reaching to the conclusion that the process of trying to ascend one level (level one to two) were tedious and needed a lot of time, effort and experience to achieve.

To this small group of adventurers, seeing that someone they had just met without prior experience to combat, neither had been documented at any Tier level, to perform this 'well' against a Tier IV Demon General and surviving, was a baffling show of force and power.

"We had not seen her practice outside of normal stretches and exercises!" Tanjirou exclaimed. "How… How the fuck could anyone have done that in such a short amount of time?!"

"I don't know! I have no idea what's happening right now!" Anahana shouted, voicing her confusion

"We don't know anything right now!" She took a deep breath, as she then exclaimed her emotion to the situation. "Neither all of us have been this prepared for whatever the fuck this mission was supposed to be"

"No… We aren't" Tanjirou replied.

Everyone looked away from Anahana, she sighed as she nodded at Haruko, who helped carried Natsuki on their shoulders. Fretzer came running, behind him were some knights with the insignia of Fuhrenheim in their sash.

"Everyone! The Gladius Company got to us!" Fretzer exclaimed as he got close to the group.

"Gladius Company?" Anahana repeated "Where is the General?"

"The General and the Company had retreated when we encountered the fortification…" His words slowly faded as he glanced towards the fortress, now in rubble. "I… Uh… I will inform the General of this matter… The fortification… Is gone?"

The now confused soldier walked to his colleague who agreed, he stepped forward to explain the rest.

"Pardon my uh.. accomplice (looks back at him as he ran towards the woods). The fortification had launched it's defenses against us, over one hundred or so demons have attacked our company when we passed it. It held us back, so we had to go retreat into the woods, the General told us to scatter, and we did, what's left of us is about… What, fifty men?" He explained as he glanced at the fortress and to them.

"Fifty men? What happened to the others that scattered?" Tanjirou asked.

"I don't know- Gone, lost in the woods or something. We never saw them again" He replied quite straightforwardly "Uhm.. our encounter with that Demon General… About 70 or more was gone from our Company… I can't believe that a cell of six could defeat it in their first try…"

The knight earlier had come jogging back, holding a thumb's up in the air as he approached the group.

"He's telling us it's okay to go" The knight with the group said, he motioned for them to move with him "Come on, let's get you guys to the General"

They followed the group after they had saddled up, forming into a small convoy as the knight led them to the camp. Haruko had had Natsuki in Junko and Reagan's cart, taking care of her body that lacked the wounds she had received earlier, restoring Natsuki's energy to normal.

They reached the encampment that the company had made for shelter. On the way here she questioned why they hadn't been able to move anywhere, not even so find their missing troops, as they entered the small encampment their question was answered, with mats and tent holdings turned into cots and or blankets that kept the wounded in check.

The Gladius Company was deployed with 600 men in tow minus the carriages and such that they had bought. Out of the 600 that came out, 340 of them had died, which was a far cry from what the knight reported, of the 260 that remained, approximately 70 of them had either been lost or captured during the escape, with the remaining 190 men either heavily injured, moderately injured, or missing a limb.

"What the fuck…" Anahana muttered as she looked around the camp, there was only pain to be seen here.

"General! The adventurer cell arrived!" One of the knights called as he opened one of the tents, revealing a table and a map of the area with makeshift tokens that built the elements of the board symbolizing their force and the Demons.

"Anahana!" He called as he approached the halted convoy.

"General… What happened…" She asked solemnly, her tone grave as she glanced once more towards the wounded.

"Come to the tent, we'll tell you everything.." He said, motioning to their makeshift planning room.

Anahana dropped down, and followed behind. Natsuki had given Reagan the responsibility of Natsuki, letting her heal with her potions as she herself will eaves drop with the explanation, being technically the second in command.

She positioned herself by the entrance of the tent which was unguarded, and listened in.

The Gallstrum trail | Road to Roungkagare Tanaki Demon Base

As the fight turned into a heated battle, the occupants of the base retracted, retreating towards the base rearside of theirs. The convoy was protected by mechanized wagons, well, to their description it's what it is. The wagons were the same types that were used against Fuhrenheim's walls, and the ones that Natsuki had ogled as she had met them and their capabilities first-hand.

The wagons, called Panzerwagens (PW, in identification) flanked the convoy's bow and stern, with most of the cargo wagons (Guterwagen's, also mechanized) were tuna canned in the middle. Farah, the Itellach Demon, took charge of the fleet, directing the directions they took as they rode the trail towards the Roungkagare Tanaki.

"You there, are we getting close?" She asked one of the crewmen on the Panzerwagen in front of them.

"Yes commander! The castle is getting close as we speak!" The Demon replied.

"Good! Keep our speed, and once we get closer we fire that yellow flare" She ordered, the Demon nodded as he readied the signal flare.

The convoy graveled through trail, going out into the open as the gates opened before them. The fleet entered, and was then directed towards the military camp where the General in control of this base welcomed them.

"General" Farah said, saluting to her superior.

"Farah, it's nice to meet you again.. I heard what happened at Tangkagare Rouheri, I'm hoping that everything is alright with Kalliope.." The General said, saluting back.

"I trust in the Honoured General that she will be defeated, and that once safe we're able to go back into our own base to continue operations" Farah replied sternly.

The General nodded, and looked towards what remained of Kalliope's forces.

"I, General Hanagura Gargia, will be your superior officer until further notice, this team will respond only to my heed and my orders" She said, looking at the crowd charismatically.

"YES GENERAL!" They shouted in a choir, saluting to their new commanding officer.

"Very well, Farah, see me in my office, we'll discuss the data you've collected" Hanagura said as she led Farah to her quarters.

"I'll dispatch a scouting team tomorrow that way we'll know if our dear General is okay, I don't think it's wise to send one now" She assured Farah, patting her shoulder.

"Th-Thank you General Gargia…" Farah replied, blushing.

"Just Hanagura is fine Farah, we're all friends here" Hanagura chuckled patting her back.

Kalliope, you're strong, you've showed me and the others how much destruction you're capable off. You can win this right? I trust that you can, but why can I already smell your scent in the afterlife.

I, Hanagura will ensure that our village doesn't fall in the same fate as those wasted in the Queen's hellfire.. Please live for us..

Hanagura opened the door to her quarters, letting Farah in and closing it behind. Her eyes angled sharply, her heart beating nervously at the thought of Kalliope losing, she trembled and shook, quickly getting ahold her desk's corner, before sitting down slowly on her chair. She motioned for Farah to do the same, and she did, she fixed her clothing and sat uniformly on her seat. Hanagura stared at her desktop for a while, her fingers locked in each other as her chin sat in her hands, she shot a stern glance at Farah, who looked down. She settled back into her chair, before tapping the desk.

"Tell me everything that happened"