Kurisutarumajishan Chapter XV: The Only Thing I Know For Real

"Natsuki…" Anahana muttered as she shielded Hanagura who held her daggers at the ready.

"Natsuki! Stay away from her! That's-" As Hanagura shouted towards her, she was cut off as a loud pulse of energy emanated from Natsuki, who had just charged towards this Demon General in front of her.

The Demon dodged away cleanly from the attack as Natsuki opened with an outward side slash, she was then pummeled by Horace who rearranged his left fist into a rocky hammer, sending Natsuki back some ways.

In an exhausted tone he poised himself in between the General and Natsuki, forming to large monolithic shields as he squares up. "I'm sorry… But I can't let you kill her…" Horace said, breathing heavily.

"Look at you big guy~ Quite a gentleman!" The Demon charged towards her in conjunction with the General who appeared from Natsuki's right side. "LET'S SEE HOW DURABLE YOU REAAAAALLY ARE~!!"

As she got close to Natsuki, she was immediately hit with her opponent's knee, stopping her attack almost immediately. She spat out some blood as the impact caved her stomach and within a blink of an eye Natsuki spun and kicked her away before dodging Horace's charge.

"NATSUKI!" Anahana shouted as she's about to run towards the battlefield, but before she could even slid down the slope Natsuki appeared before her and pushed her away with her forearm. "What do you think you're doing?!"

She looked at her solemnly, before answering her question. "Take Hanagura and the rest away from here, move towards the castle, dying here isn't worth it. I'll keep her away from you"

The General soon rose to her knees clutching her stomach, she was coughing up blood as she grinned, and her smile reaching ear to ear as she slowly stood up laughing.

"Quickly Anahana, please just go" She said calmly as she faced her opponents, a shocked Horace and a delighted General.

"I can see why Kalliope lost to you, I can see why Hanagura fears you" She said as she picked her weapons up. "You, you're one hell of a monster, but can you keep up with me?" She scoffed.

Natsuki has once again slid down to their level, Horace was squared his shields up once more as they both poised themselves to another charge.

"I might be one, but can you lay your hands on me?" Natsuki retorted. The Demon General smiled gleefully, and without another second, Natsuki charges first.

"COME HERE!" The General shouted as she faced her head on.

3 Days ago

As Niji wrote on her notebook, Haruko sat by Natsuki, checking her vitals once in a while as she slept in her trance.

"Anything?" Niji asked as she leaned a bit.

"No.. I can't see anything past her heart beat, her mind doesn't seem to be in pain, but she's just deep into this dream"

"You can see into their minds Haruko-san?" Niji asked, quite surprised.

"It's one of my talents.. I suppose" She replied. "Asides from being gifted with a high healing prowess, I can see or hear what people say in their minds. It was scary at first, but I managed to just not use it anymore"

"I see.. It would be useful at the moment with Natsuki, we could've learned where she's from or how she got here" Niji said quite disappointed, but understanding.

"I can't hear anything if I even tried to listen" Haruko said softly, as she started to caress Natsuki's cheek. "I still have some control over it, but as of now, my heart's locked up tight, I don't want to listen to people's deepest thoughts"

Niji nodded softly, before starting to write again.

"You know, you should try to open up.. at least, for her"

Haruko looked at Natsuki and giggled a bit.

"She might just open me up herself~"

Outside of the carriage, Anahana was training with a very enthusiastic Kiersten, as much as the sparring looked real, it was obvious both of them are holding back on each other.

"No no, when you curve yourself like that you won't be able to hit me" Kiersten lectured as he repeated her motion, then showing her the correct form. "If you want to keep that aggressive combat style you'd actually want to hit your opponent instead of the air"

"Is it me that's the problem or my swords?" Anahana asked as she wiped her brow with a towel.

"Nah, your sword's fine, it's most definitely you" Kiersten said as he sat down, shouldering his spear as he looked at Anahana's swords.

"You're definitely used to the weight of them, you know how much power to put on them and how large you want your swing to be" He added. "It's just that you think too fast"

"That's a problem?" She asked as she stretched. "Natsuki can do it though, not really sure why I can't"

Kiersten sighed as he stood up. "Well, I'm not saying you can't, it's just that you have to dial it down to let your body catch up to you is what I'm saying. Natsuki can do it properly… Somehow, I'm not sure if she had prior training or something but she's used to thinking more than you do"

"You might be right there yeah.." Anahana agreed, looking towards the carriage.

"Hey"

Anahana turns to Kiersten, his spear now on his side.

"I can feel that you want to protect the kid, and the group, but you can't do it with how you're fighting now. There are things they can do that you don't, Natsuki especially, but at the same time, there are things you can do that they can't" Kiersten explained as he twiddled the spear in his hands. "So far I can guess you've only done guerilla fights yeah? They'd stay back you'd distract them and all that, you can't do that anymore, you can't fight ahead like that without putting the weight onto your opponents on your own"

"I get where you're coming from yeah" She nodded. "We can't really do much right now with Natsuki asleep can't we?"

"Nope, absolutely nothing" Kiersten agrees as he yawned. "Best I can do is prep you to fight beside her, at least making use of your abilities more than you had before"

"Yeah, you're right" Anahana said as she yawned and stretched before poising herself with her monolith swords in a different stance. "You ready?"

Kiersten chuckled before spinning his around and poising on his preferred stance.

"They didn't call me Lightning K for nothing!"

The pair started to divulge in sparring again, the infantry within the castle has started to cheer on either side. As the sparring continued, Carter who found himself within Hanagura's office was discussing with her the news from outside.

"Seems like they're getting along well" Hanagura remarked as she smiled. "This went on better than expected"

"I didn't expect them to join forces either, but being in a losing war for them I can't help but understand their situation" Carter said as he sighed.

"Speaking from experience?" Hanagura chuckled.

"Ahh shut up, that was long time ago" Carter coughed as he spat his drink.

"I didn't say you can't try again though" Hanagura teased.

"Well, suppose you didn't, but I can't help but focus on finishing the war. That way I can face you without worry" Carter smiled softly as he took a shot again.

"Here you are again with your words, you should've been a bard" Hanagura said as she covered her face.

"Well that wouldn't change anything anyways" Carter replied, smirking at his superior.

"Ahem… Anyways.." Hanagura gave up, Carter snickered as he watched his superior's reaction. "What of Natsuki, did Niji tell how long it'll last?"

"No, not really" Carter replied as he drank again. "Transitions are hard to predict, even if you're someone training as hard as those Demon Golems down south you never know when that'll come, some actually got sick when it hit them out of the blue"

"Well if that's the case we can't move forwards properly with her decommissioned like this can't we" Hanagura remarked. "If she can't train her power now we would just end up losing before we even started"

"I guess that's true yeah" Carter agreed, pouring himself and the General a glass. "Then again, I have this feeling her transition isn't a normal one"

"How so?" Hanagura asked as she took a sip.

"I've seen other Demons' transitions be more upfront rather than being hidden, it's obvious that you can tell what aspect of them is changing, and with Natsuki it seems related to her mind, may it be memory or her sight I'm not really sure but it's somewhere close"

"Well.. I guess we have to wait then" Hanagura sighed "Want to drink some more?"

"Yeah, why not" Carter went to the wine cabinet and got two more bottles, he then sat on one of the couches before being joined by Hanagura.

In the small confines of Horace's office, he sat there wallowing in his own self-pity as he degrades himself from making the choice that he had agreed to with this shadow Demon. He finds himself unable to think properly nor conduct his work without his attention being pulled elsewhere, may it be guilt, or affirmations to himself, he cannot stray away from the action he has done prior today.

"You seem to be agitated"

"I've made an action far worse than murder and slaughter, what do you expect me to feel?"

"Grateful of course! What other emotion should you feel knowing you saved your family from certain death-"

The room rumbled, Horace has punched down onto the floor.

"What information do you want?"

"I don't need any, I already got what I want"

"How much"

"It's a superficial commodity for me"

"…"

"Stop trying to negotiate with me, it's futile"

"I can strangle you, and you'd disappear"

"Even so, I've already called for them"

"You… You what…" Horace looked up in his room, this shadow's disembodied voice echoing with laughter.

"Did you expect me to sit here and do nothing?"

There was no reply.

"Look at your face, such a priceless reaction"

There was no reply.

"Just so you know, General Zakurello is the one arriving, thought you'd ought to know"

He smirked as Horace's expression went grim, the Demon bowed down and curled into a ball.

"I have to say, it's thanks to you that we'd be finish with this war soon enough, her detachment will arrive soon with the Feuerwerfer Company to torch this base down, it's a shame we have to move her piece so soon already but the appearance of this girl has called for her so" He shrugs before chuckling at Horace.

The Stalwart Demon was left silent, shaking softly in his place as he curled tighter.

"Mind you, the General will appear later in the evening tomorrow, by then, you must have custody of that girl, do you understand?"

There was no response.

"Hey, did you hear me?"

There was no response from Horace.

"I'd take it that you already heard me twice, I'm pretty sure you know what happens if you disobey Zakurello-sama"

He chuckled as he disappeared, his voice echoing in the lonely confines of Horace's office.

"I'm sorry… I've doomed us all…" He wimpered softly.

The Next Day

As the sun rose from the valley, the chimes of the bells inside the Roungkagare Tanaki Demon Base echoed within its sturdy walls, waking the infantry and their newly found comradery. A roll call was initiated, the infantrymen were all present. A separate roll call was initiated for the Mechanized Infantry, and a general maintenance was conducted for their vehicles.

Horace was not present.

For the rest of the day, the infantry had been busy with the allocation of supplies that had just came earlier, parts for their vehicles, rations, materials for weapon maintenance and the such. Kiersten and Anahana had started to train way earlier in the morning, and has been conducting exercises and sparring nonstop even after breakfast. Haruko and Niji stood by and slept the night in the same carriage as to conduct observations to Natsuki and to keep her in check, the only incidents that occur were a sudden burst of Natsuki's crystals protruding from her arms, Haruko was able to soothe her fortunately.

The Demolitioner Twins and Fretzer had been playing around with different mixtures of their concoctions, they've already discovered two highly flammable and highly explosive solutions in the course of their stay in the base, while Fretzer had tended to the horses in the base's stable. Tanjirou was keeping inventory of the equipment with Carter, she suggested to modify the tanks already in their base to temporarily fix some of its mechanical flaws, one of it being the turn speed of the turret and it's lack of protection, throughout the day, only three of the bunch were modified as they had already ran out of materials to fix the remaining vehicles.

It was by far a normal day of preparations for their mission, as sunny as the morning was it quickly turned into a darker gray in the noon, and a heavy downpour by the time the evening has set its place in the curtain of the night sky now peppered in white little dots as the stars twinkled in their place.

"She's starting to come too, her eyes are becoming a bit clearer now" Haruko reported as she gently opened the sleeping Natsuki's eyelids, she gave her a small pat on her head before continuing to caress her.

"Let's hope she's awake by tomorrow, the behavior we've observed so far points to her recovering soon, when that soon will be we aren't sure yet" Niji said as she closed her book and took a sigh of relief. "You're one problematic little thing are you?"

She pats Natsuki's head softly before slacking onto the wall. She looks at Haruko, who was staring at Natsuki for a while now.

"Can you hear her?" She asked.

"A bit.. I can hear screaming and something else but, there's something" She replied. "Poor thing, she must've had a bad childhood"

"I see, she must be having a hard time wherever she's dreaming right now" She said as she looked solemnly towards Natsuki.

"I admire her bravery, she's gone this far long and she hasn't given up yet" Haruko remarked smiling warmly at her. "She's such a precious little thing, I can't understand why she's been treated like that.. those shouting, they said something unpleasant but I couldn't understand it, but I felt Natsuki's pain"

"It's the normal in life unfortunately" Niji said as she watched Natsuki, fixing her glasses on the bridge of her nose. "I've been through that before, it wasn't pleasant"

"Niiji-san.." Haruko muttered as she looked at her.

"A lot of the Demons in my childhood just hated me, I didn't know what I did but they just kept throwing things at me, kept pushing me away farther from the group" Niji continued, smiling solemnly as she caressed Natsuki's cheek with her finger. "It continued for so long that I was the only one that's been indifferent in our village, rumors that I was a Bad Blood was circulating too because I was too quiet, I started to talk to people but they shunned me, calling me a Slaver Demon or a Corrupted Blood"

"That's quite harsh Niji-san.." Haruko said softly.

"It was, but I couldn't stop it, because nobody else would too" She slowly wiped some tears off her eyes. "One of the reasons why I joined General Hana's group was because of how she treated her soldiers, they were all like family to her, Carter, Horace, Kiersten.. I felt like I belonged somewhere.."

There was silence, and understanding silence, the bond of those who never felt loved grew stronger as the seconds passed, they looked over towards Natsuki who slept ever so calmly in her bed and smiled. A silent vow was delivered, and with the whistles of the wind it was agreed upon.

The door of the office area opened, followed it was Hanagura who with a simple nod had grabbed the attention of most in the courtyard. She looked around her and nodded once again, seemingly satisfied, Carter came around and whispered something to the General's ear.

"Leave them be, they'll have plenty of time to talk afterwards, but do inform Anahana-san later" She said as she looked towards Haruko and Niji, who had sat at the edge of the carriage.

She cleared her throat before speaking, everyone was intently looking at her, their ears perked in attention.

"I think it's fair to assume that everyone is notified of our mission to breach the Rouheingera Arloua Castle? If not then I'll provide a short reminder" She procured her left hand from behind her, holding several pages she and Carter had written concerning their mission details. "With the allegiance towards the Human Adventurer Cell 'Neo Zeon' now established, as well as a firm commonality of our goals, we, the Demons under the Roungkagare Tanaki Forward Operations Base will operate a siege towards the Royalty's castle grounds and subdue The Crown"

She paused for a moment, looking at the crowd who nodded at each other, she glanced behind her by the door and nodded towards someone behind her before continuing.

"This operation will costs us our blood, what we are about to commence is treason of the highest order, a mutiny towards Her Majesty. I've stated this much when you have joined into my ranks, you know as much the state of our world, the state of our home, the decay that we ourselves have been guilty of committing. I'm glad to report to you all an opportunity to enact our dream, and.. if you may present yourself, please do."

Hanagura set herself aside, the doorway now clear of obstruction to the crowd. A Demoness showed from behind the wall, and as she did the audience was quite in shock.

"Is that Farah-san? The right hand to General Kalliope?"

"She's going to help us? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Hey be quiet, she might hear us"

"Someone told me she's experimented on her General's victims"

"Is that so?"

The crowd burst into murmurs, and before long they fell silent as Farah stood in front of them. She glanced towards Hanagura who nodded at her before bowing.

"My name is Farah Louvre" She announced stiffly. "I'll be in your care from now on"

"That's quite an impressive surprise" Niji muttered.

"Why is that so?" Haruko asked as she watched the ensemble.

"You see" Niji said as she looked at Natsuki. "Ms Farah had rumors around her that she was in a relationship with the Knight Hunter Kalliope, the same one Natsuki-san killed some days ago"

Haruko's eyes widened in disbelief.

"We took her in not too long ago when you fought Kalliope, in fact, we have some of her force's remnants here, even some of the machines over there were hers at one point, that is, until Natsuki blew her up completely"

"I see…" Haruko muttered. "I'm quite worried now"

"Same here, the fact that Hanagura managed to convince her otherwise is something else" Niji fixed her glasses on her nose bridge, pausing for a bit. "Though despite internal tensions, she's now become a valuable piece to our cause"

She took out one of her notebooks and started to write frivolously. As she does so, Farah caught Haruko's gaze and walked towards her, excusing herself out of the crowd as Hanagura followed, the infantrymen soon went back to their workings though, still surprised that Farah has now joined them.

"Ah-" Haruko squeaked as she stood up, dropping herself from the carriage. She bowed as Farah got close to them.

"Please.. don't bow.." Farah said softly.

"I- I'm sorry…" Haruko said in a panic, Niji took notice and has proceeded to watch.

"It's fine, I've come to accept my loss, and of course, the situation we have found ourselves in" Farah replied, smiling.

"I see... Um.. Pardon for my leader's absence, she's currently training at the moment" Haruko said, motioning to the sparring arena to their left. "I'll be happy to converse with you in her stead"

"If that's the case, it's fine then, we'll have a discussion later anyways" Farah nodded. "Oh and please, let's drop the formalities, I want all of us to move on from our previous engagement, Kalliope would've said so"

Haruko nods at her, smiling as she held Farah's hand and shook it. "Of course, thank you Farah-san"

Farah smiled back before glancing at Hanagura who stepped aside to let her go back inside.

"I'm sorry if I hid her away from you guys then, she was having a hard time taking things in, I've talked to her last night with Carter to persuade her to join us, it's a good thing Kalliope treated her well or we'd have to deal with a prisoner" Hanagura said as she looked at Farah. "What we only need is Natsuki to wake up, and we're all set to start our journey"

"Niji and I had been observing her since, she's doing well and might wake up tomorrow if she perseveres" Haruko reported, Niji nodded with her.

"That's great news, keep an eye on her still just in case, I'll have Carter talk to Anahana in a bit after some discussions with Farah"

"Alright, thank you.. Hanagura-san" Haruko thanked as she bowed. "You're really kind, and I'm grateful we have met you, all of us do"

Hanagura bowed as well, before leaving to the office. Niji retracted back into the carriage after she had lifted Haruko back in, Hanagura had returned to her office with Farah to discuss more about their mission, and Carter had gone to the training grounds to inform Anahana of the meeting with the General.

The sky was encrusted with flashy pearly whites, a sprinkle of vanilla over a sea of blueberry among a vast expanse of space. Decorated serenely by the bright white moon that illuminated the valley's greater expanse and not long after serenity slept on the lands below the wind turns against the fortress' inhabitants, the bellowing fire has broken out into a frenzy of gluttony.

Horace has started a fire.

"EVERYONE! STAY AWAY FROM THE MAIN BUILDING! DON'T GET NEAR IT!" Hanagura warded as she took Farah outside, Carter had opened the exit, pulling them out just in time as the fire ridden roof collapsed onto the floor. What remained of the structure was a large black silhouette of Horace, visibly disturbed as he held onto a book that glowed red with magick gates emanating from its cover.

"Horace…" Hanagura muttered as she watched the large Demon turn towards them after he had crushed the book from his forearms shifting into a shield. "What have you done…"

"HORACE! WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS BROTHER?" Kiersten shouted from behind him, Anahana had stood beside him also at the ready.

The monster didn't reply, he stood silent as he turned to his voice, then turned his head towards the carriage where Haruko and Niji watched in horror and shock.

"The girl…" Horace mutters to himself, before poising himself to attack, the large shields that were his forearms a while ago had grown large spires of sharp stone and crystal, the giant now grunts as he prepares his charge.

"NATSUKI! WHERE IS SHE?!" Niji shouted as Haruko waited for her to exit the carriage.

"HARUKO! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Anahana followed, about to bolt straight through the burning field of what was the office building for the Generals.

Haruko, now taking Niji's had thrusted her out of the carriage just as Horace charged towards them, his momentum broke the ground and the foundations from the force of his massive stature being propelled through the air. Haruko found her life flashing before her eyes, in a reflexive spur of the moment decision, she pulled down on Niji's arm and threw her aside.

"HARUKO!" Niji shouted. She was met with Haruko's sweet smile as she accepted her fate.

And as she stood there, a gust of wind and a crackling sound emanated from her left to where Horace was just charging from. And in his place was a figure she had come to identify as her key. Natsuki. She held a large weapon made out of her misty black crystal, and from her stance, she had just swung the enormous weapon to her left.

Natsuki let go of the weapon, it quickly cracked and broke down into dust as she left it where it was. An air of relief and shock sent everyone in a cathartic sigh as if a portion of their soul had exited their bodies. She slowly walked up to Kiersten and Anahana who had their backs turned to her eyeing Horace who they watched was thrown down onto what was the training grounds.

As the fire spread the walls started to collapse as the thick wooden beams were consumed by the famished fire Horace had ignited using a spell book, from the now collapsed walls a figure had emerged from the shadows of the forest. Horace, who had lost a great chunk of his shield had stood up grunting, slowly backing off with his face down.

The figure stood in her sadistic elegance as she, now confronted by Natsuki, taunted her, and within a heartbeat the pair now found themselves tangled in a bladed dance. Anahana, watched as she charged forwards without worry, she looked towards Kiersten and Hanagura, both in shock and in confusion, looking at her for an answer of sorts.

"FUCK!" She shouted in indignant confusion, as she slammed her foot down, she sheathed her blades and faced Hanagura. "We go… Now!"

"Roger, Kiersten, lead the others away we're moving towards the castle now!" Hanagura ordered Kiersten as she herself walked towards what remained of their courtyard.

"But General… Horace is-" Kiersten was cut off before he could finish his worries.

"HORACE IS GONE!" She shouted, it was the first time she had broken her calm demeanor, she paused and looked away. "He's gone… That's not our family anymore…"

There was a pause between the two, Anahana walked past them and rallied her group, making sure they were alright.

"Carter, lead them away from here now, I'll stay behind with Hanagura and Farah" Anahana said as she quickly untied their horses from the stable.

"Will do" He said without hesitation, as he mounts his steed he looked towards Anahana once more and gave her a salute.

Anahana looks towards Niji, Haruko and the twins who were just about to leave.

"Haruko, go lead them for me alright?" She said as she held her arm.

"You're not coming with us…?" She mutters worryingly.

Anahana shook her head. "I need to protect Hanagura and Farah, right now they're the only ones that can lead us to our goal. If we lose them, we're back to square one"

"Boss.." Reagan mutters. "But without you what can we do?"

"Don't worry you two.." She comes towards them and embraces the twins, hugging them tightly. "We didn't have to worry then we got separated, we can't worry now"

"This is different Anahana… Can't you tell the difference from then and now?" Haruko reasoned as she held her hand. "We can all go together! Can't we?!"

She shook her head, she hears another horse neighing and knew that Hanagura was ready to go. She looked towards them and saw Hanagura mentioned for her to hurry.

"Listen, all of you, if we join you, there's a chance they'll give chase"

Natsuki's attacks had started to become more aggressive, using her beam sabers to both block and attack Horace and Zakurello.

"They won't let any of us live if they catch up, these Demons are traitors now, and they're just as deep in the grave as we are. No matter what happens, if you stop seeing us following you, they've given chase"

The intensity of Natsuki's counters to Horace has started to reveal to her his weaknesses, she has started to aggressively aim towards them as Zakurello gets blocked and parried away.

"I'M YOUR ENEMY YOU FUCKING RAT! FACE ME!" She shouted as she growled.

"If we lose our footing now then we lose our one chance at spearheading this goddamn monster, you know this as much as I do"

"I do…"

"Then go, meet up with Carter, we'll follow"

"But-"

"Haruko!"

Haruko pursed her lips as Anahana held her shoulders tightly.

"Go... We won't have much time…"

"Don't worry Anahana, I'll protect her I promise" Niji said as she took the driver side of the carriage.

"Thank you Niji, I'll leave her to you" Anahana said as she hugged Haruko tightly before leaving for Hanagura's carriage.

The convoy had now exited the fallen base, Haruko and Niji's group had caught up with Carter's convoy, Hanagura and Anahana had exited as well but had kept their distance a far ways as to not let the enemy detect the main group.

"How did this happen…" Hanagura muttered to herself.

"We got infiltrated in less than a week, how have we not fucking have seen shit?!" Kiersten angrily he shifted himself to guard their rear.

"We might've been infiltrated by The Crown's assassins.. they're the best assassin class Demons within The Demon Queen's arsenal" Farah suggested. "Which means they've already caught wind of what your friend can do"

"That's fucking insane, we would've known something about it, something off or some god fucking sign!" Anahana grunted as she unsheathed one of her swords.

"That's the thing, we couldn't, we don't even know if they actually existed" Hanagura added.

"But the fact that we're in this situation confirms that" Farah scoffed. "They were already ahead of us by quite a large margin"

"Horace… Why would he betray us…" Kiersten mutters, clutching his spear tightly.

"I don't know…" Hanagura responded, gritting her teeth. "Let's not think about it right now, let's focus on leaving this fucking place before we all fucking die"

"What about your friend Anahana-san? Are we leaving her just like that?" Farah asked, she noticed that Anahana had gripped her sword too tightly, and was visibly vexed.

"She said to run ahead, I think she knows what she's doing" She simply replied.

Horace watched as the trail of lantern light was slowly snuffed out as the convoy of carriages and vehicles escaped away into the forest, he was caught off guard by Natsuki who pierced his elbow.

"AGHHH!" He grunted as he shoved her away, Natsuki recovered her stepping by kicking down onto Zakurello's left shoulder, dislocating it.

"I may have underestimated you" She said as she smiled and relocated her shoulder. "I can't believe that there's someone that can actually go on par against me"

Natsuki poised herself into an elegant stance, her beam sabers pointing downwards to the side as she keeps both Horace and Zakurello within her line of sight.

"General…" Horace huffed as he regained his shield. He looked towards the disappearing convoy but his worries of them escaping was shrugged off.

"Let them go, we have what we want right here" Zakurello growled as she threatened Horace with a crown of scimitars. "My dear I'm sure you understand that this is your end yes?"

Natsuki shook of the dirt off her armour, the shoulder pauldrons moving in an expressive manner as it wiggled slightly to dust off the dirt that coated its misty black sheen.

"You think you can end me?" Natsuki mocked as she moved lankily, almost laughing at the thought of it. "You haven't seen everything yet, no no.. not yet at all"

"Kchkkk! YOU DARE MOCK ME HUMAN?" Zakurello shouted in a fit of rage. "YOU HAVEN'T SEEN WHAT I'M CAPABLE EITHER YOU MEAT SACK!"

"COME HERE!" Natsuki shouted back, her head now encased in a helm fashioned similarly to look like the Qubeley.

Both warriors had begun to charge at each other, blades extended to the full length of their arms. Horace backed off and went off to a different approach, and as he did, Zakurello and Natsuki had collided, with Zakurello losing two of her scimitars her secondary limbs utilized while Natsuki managed to dodge away from Zakurello's slashes.

[~ Memories broken, the truth goes unspoken I've even forgotten my name~]

Natsuki twisted herself to conduct another head on collision with Zakurello, she unignited her beam sabers and poised herself to a full 180 degree range. As she got close enough to her liking, she swung her left foot forwards and planted it solidly onto the ground, showering her opponent in dirt before lunging her whole torso forwards as she ignited her blades and opened her attack with a slash.

[~I don't know the season or what is the reason I'm standing here holding my blade~]

Zakurello barely dodged her opponents opening attack, leaving her gauntlets burnt and melted onto her skin. She ran away, giving distance as she unsheathed spare blades from her holsters to replace those she had missed, she then slowed herself down for a while before she halted abruptly, she swung her left arm in a crescent motion downwards onto her aggressive opponent's tracks. It ignited into a fiery blaze along with the bulk of her arm creating an inferno that used her skin as an exhaust. Natsuki managed to block her counter and retracted, back stepping into a tree then circling it before she attacks once more using her body's momentum to deliver heavy slashes and swings onto Zakurello.

[~A desolate place (place). Without any trace (trace)~]

In an effort to escape Natsuki, Zakurello grabbed a tree trunk as she dodges Natsuki's rapid and heavy slashing, managing to have her cut the tree in a swing and guided it's collapse onto her opponent, but was unfortunate as Natsuki had ignited her thrusters just in time to miss the obstacle falling. This gave Zakurello plenty of time to think for a strategy and distance away from her pursuer.

"I'm not the only one with brains here!" She gleefully muttered to herself. "This might be the shining light I'm looking for!"

[~It's only the cold wind I feel. It's me that I spite as I stand up and fight. The only thing I know for real~]

As she continues to run, she hears audible whirring, it was an unfamiliar sound, she took note of one, then two, then four, and immediately there were no fewer than a dozen of these whirring emanating from every direction. She sheathed the weapon on her left hand and ignited it, her arm now blazing in a fiery red, and as she turned around to check where her opponent was she was surprised that she was already that close to her, now performing a downwards strike onto Zakurello.

"What-" She muttered to herself in shock just as she shielded herself with both arms, the beam cutting through her gauntlet and melting them completely off.

[~There will be blood (blood) shed (shed). The man in the mirror nods his head~]

Following the downward strike was a lunge thrust with Natsuki's right beam saber, Zakurello shielded herself once again with her burning left arm as the strikes continued from thrusts to slashes to strikes.

"HAHAHAHAHA~! HOW RELENTLESS~!! PARDON ME TARTAURIUS-SAMA BUT THIS ONE'S MY MEAL~!!" Zakurello shouted in an orgasmic tone, she starts to retaliate but has found herself in a difficult situation where she has been pushed away quite a distance. But as Natsuki was about to perform another lunge thrust Horace has appeared on her left in a blind charge, instead of dodging she twists her body to the left so her right beam saber would take the ensuing action, and as Horace has gotten close enough, Natsuki shoved the beam saber with just enough force to break through its thick crust before turning the output into overdrive.

She stepped away and hovered a few ways just as the beam saber exploded from the overbearing pressure,

"MY ARM! GAHHHHH I LOST MY ARM!!" Horace shouted as he held his now exploded left arm with his right still in its shield form, the giant beast was wailing like a child in deep agony, and rightfully so.

"That's fucking insane" Zakurello mutters to herself. "She completely stopped that buffoons' charge to stick that weapon into his armour, her bones should be fucking pulverized by now"

As Zakurello thought of the absurdity of her opponents actions were, she immediately dodged back, doing multiple somersaults before being it by a projectile and stumbling to a tree.

"What was that?!" She shouted as she held her side. "That motherfucker has more than a sword and an aggression, perfect, fucking perfect~"

She ignited her left arm once more as it was snuffed out during her fall before placing it on her wound, cauterizing the blood. Before long she found her opponent once again in an elegant stance, noticing a formation grow out of Natsuki's right hand she immediately knew what she was facing.

"Hahahahaha…"

Zakurello unsheathed her other scimitar, and once again ignited it, she tucks her secondary pair of arms into her frame while still carrying the spare blades. She thrusted her blades in front of her as she curved her body forwards.

"How quaint is it to find another monster like me?"

The fire of her left arm has become a more prominent conflagration, with the fire reaching up onto Zakurello's shoulder.

"You and I might not be so different afterall~!"

"Let's see about that" Natsuki replied as she charged immediately after.

[~The only one (one) left (left). Will ride upon the dragon's back. Because the mountains don't give back what they take~]

The two once again collided with Natsuki's blade crossing with Zakurello's, now interlocked in this show of force, Natsuki thrusted her knee into her stomach with a force powerful enough to lift her into the air, it was immediately followed by a side kick with which the shin connected perfectly to Zakurello's side, launching the Demon General into a slew of trees like a ragdoll until she hit a tree trunk straight onto her spine, temporarily stunning her.

"GAHLKKK!!" She vomited out blood as she stood up, she managed to dodge yet another kick as it hit and broke the same tree she got stunned in. With a flush of adrenaline she started to do a flurry of slashes, dodging attacks from her opponent's beam weaponry and attempting to hit her armour with her enflamed left arm.

In a notion of surprise Horace charges again and manages to discombobulate Natsuki who recovered just as quickly as she was dazed, Zakurello was almost hit by the enormous Demon and took the time to shout at him.

"STAY OUT OF MY WAY YOU DEFORMED MONGREL! THE HUMAN IS MY PREY!" Zakurello shouted in a fit of rage as she was about to lunge at Natsuki, who had dodged her opponent's movement, and before long, thrust another knee onto her torso, and repeating the same maneuver.

"GAHHLLKKK!!" Zakurello grunted as she hit a large rock and broke through it, staggering the General onto the ground, though, recovering herself just as quick as her opponent. She wiped the blood off her mouth as she readied herself once more, this time, Zakurello aims to attack Natsuki head on using one of her signature attacks.

Charging through the woods without much hesitation she reaches Natsuki close enough to make her stumble, her first cross swing had missed, but has disoriented Natsuki in trying to recover her stance, another cross swing was engaged with her secondary set of limbs which merely scratched Natsuki's armour.

As meaningless the results were, it was enough for Zakurello to thrust her left scimitar into her opponents arm.

"I HAVE YOU~!" She announced, keeping her position, she held her right scimitar and plunged into Natsuki's right arm as well.

"AGHHHHH!" Natsuki screamed as she held her upper arm in pain, it was not a tug of war and Zakurello was winning.

[~Losing my identity. Wondering, "Have I gone insane?"`]

Natsuki in a fit of adrenaline rush pulled herself on her elbow, gritting her teeth and grunting as she pulled her arm away from Zakurello's lock.

She manages to completely bisect her elbow away from the scimitar lock Zakurello induced her in and in doing so she hovered back to provide distance away from her opponent, however, Zakurello was not about to let that happen.

[~To find the truth in front of me I must climb this mountain range~]

"OH NO SWEETIE~! I WON'T LET YOU GO~!!" She shouted as she ripped the severed arm to pieces before immediately charging her opponent, the emphasis of her stance now was to puncture her foe with the burning Scimitar and engulf her from the inside.

But as she was about to perform the finishing move on her opponent, she was instead faced with a charging one armed Natsuki with a glaring beam saber on her left hand.

"YOU!"

[~Looking downward from this deadly height and never realizing why I fight~]

Natsuki readied her weapon by slanting it to her right side in a downward angle, allowing her to fully utilize the full range of her swing easily.

"ORAAAAAAAAAA!" Natsuki screamed at the top of her lungs as she repeated the same maneuver she had started with. She twisted her body to the right side and as she closed the gap between her and Zakurello she planted her foot down onto the dirt in a way that her heel dug deep into the ground, in response to this, Zakurello once tried to back off as quickly as she could, her secondary limbs protecting her torso and body.

And with a burning passion that surpasses reason, she performs the slash followed by a knee thrust and a kick, sending the Demon General a distance away from her. This gave Natsuki a much needed break, even if it would be a short one, as the fight hasn't concluded yet. Natsuki, leaned on a tree to recover her breath and energy, knowing that her opponent wouldn't stand for a while.

The Convoy

Haruko shivers as they and what remained of the infantry travelled down a beaten path in the middle of the valley, with the occasional crossing of the river that had claimed several of their heavy weaponry to the point they had to abandon their chassis and recover the firearm instead.

"I wonder if Natsuki is doing fine..." Haruko mutters as she closed her cloak onto herself.

"She threw Horace away like he was a small rock" Nijii said calmly, patting her back. "If anything, she'll be able to handle General Zakurello fine, she'll have a hard time adapting but I believe she can learn how to defend herself"

"You may be right there.. but there's a part of me that worries about how she's going about confronting our enemy.." Haruko added, reminiscing the times where Natsuki was injured multiple times. "I didn't even need to heal her... She was just moving on her even if her bones break.."

"I understand that.. now that you mentioned it to me I feel the same worry as you do.." Nijii agreed as she warmed her palms with her breath. "Let's just hope right now that her transformation would allow her to stand her ground more than she had prior, alright?"

Haruko nodded in agreement, she looked behind her to see the twins ready for action, and she had not seen them wear their coveted masks that made them a well-known image in the battlefield. The twins noticed her gaze and smiled at her.

"Don't worry Haruko-san, we'll do our best to protect you so don't worry alright?" Reagan cheered as she gave a thumbs up.

"You know we're very capable of keeping you safe right?" Junko giggled cutely.

Haruko smiled warmly at them, she emanated a large aura of onee-san onto the carriage, affecting also Nijii. "Please be careful you too, alright?"

"YES~!" They both cheered.

Nijii noticed a solemn look behind Haruko's warm smile, she took note of it, and held it close to her as much as her books were to her. A promise.

At the rear end of the convoy, Hanagura's carriage had been keeping distance for the past few minutes, both Anahana and Kiersten had been looking for signs that an ambush may happen, it did not help the fact that the surroundings they have found themselves in were filled with thick flora, just enough to hide an ambush along the beaten trail.

"Anything?" Hanagura muttered as she too surveyed the area.

"Nothing at all, it's suspiciously cold though" Anahana replied, closing her cloak more.

"I don't hear or see anything either" Kiersten said in a low voice. "Nothing's been following us either, or else I would've seen it already"

"You won't be able to sense them, those assassins" Farah said in a shaky tone. "Not especially if we're moving"

Immediately after she said this one of their armoured vehicles exploded, followed by one of the infantry carriages, the shouts of Demons being impaled echoed within the forest as one by one the convoy was being shot by something within the darkness.

"ALL UNITS HALT THE CONVOY" Hanagura exclaimed as she rode the carriage into the middle of the now scattered convoy. "ASSUME DEFENSIVE POSITIONS! ARCHERS!"

Those who carried a machine crossbow had turned over one of the fallen carriages to turn into shields, the swordsmen infantry took their time to flip over one of the now damaged tank in their fleet in an effort to provide more cover.

"Does anyone see the attacker?!" Kiersten shouted. A chorus of Demons replying with the negative didn't assure the Commander. "We're out blind here General what do we do?"

"Archers! Keep an eye out for the shooter! They have to be near us!"

A shot whirred away missing the coup, hitting a tree, the Demons recoiled as they repositioned themselves away from the open. Nijii and Tanjirou who had not been hit had drove theirs into a ditch big enough to cover for their whole carriages.

"What's happening Nijii-san?" Haruko asked as she moved to the back of the carriage, helping the twins with their equipment.

"I'm not sure but our foe is definitely a sharpshooter" She replied as she recoiled from one of the shots exploding near them. "I won't know for sure what's attacking us if I don't get to see our enemy"

Haruko sat to think for a moment, the Twins now ready for their orders, and an idea came to her.

"Tanjirou-chan!" Haruko shouted as she waved to the carriage in front of them, she peeped her head out from her driver's seat and waved back.

"What is it?!" She shouted as she ran towards them.

"Tanny, we need to see where the attacker is coming from, can you command the armour to do that?" Haruko suggested.

"Neither any of us knows where they are and you want to-" Tanjirou stopped for a second before realizing what Haruko wanted to do. "You're smart lassie now eh? I'll do that yeah!"

"Great! Reagan, Junko take Tanny to Hanagura-san and tell her the plan, Tanny, I want you to find the projectile the enemy is using and give it to Nijii"

"Will do" Tanjirou nodded, she knocked on the carriage wall to signal to the Twins that they're going, they positioned themselves onto the ramp that they had slid into for cover and laid on their stomachs.

"You two ready?" Tanjirou asked, looking at the twins with her, they both gave her a thumbs up. "Alright at the count of three… One… two.. THREE!"

The twins threw one of their concoctions at the general direction of the attacks, as the glass vials broke smoke emanated from the mixture as it rose into the air creating a smoke screen. The trio ran towards the ensemble of broken carriages and shaking Demons and slid into one of the upturned carriages, they soon found themselves low crawling to reach the General.

"Tanjirou-chan? What are you doing here?!" Anahana said as she watched them crawl, she recoiled as a shot just went through in between her and Hanagura's cover, breaking the carriage in half.

"SHIT!" Kiersten exclaimed as he scooted back with Anahana in front of him.

"You alright?" She asked as he unsheathed her swords.

"Yeah I'm okay! Fuck me!" He exclaimed as he held his chest.

"Tanjirou you have a plan? You wouldn't have gotten here with the twins if it weren't for that!" Anahana asked as she peeked through, she quickly retracted as a projectile whizzed through and broke more of Anahana's cover.

"It's Haruka's idea, if we're able to triangulate the attacker's position using the tanks we might be able to locate them!" Tanjirou relayed, laying very low to the ground beside Hanagura.

"That doesn't sound bad, want to try it Anahana-kun?" Hanagura chuckled as she looked towards Anahana.

"It's better than nothing, let's do it" She agreed.

"Tell us the plan then Tanjirou-san" Hanagura said as she grinned.

In the dark shadows of the forest a Mage overlooks the scene, the convoy in its distress as the Mage fires multiple shots towards the overturned carriages, she smiles in delight as she hears the screaming of confused Demons.

"To think this mechanation has enhanced my abilities, this is such a delightful invention~!" She smiles as she pulls the trigger, a magic gate forms at the end of her rifle's barrel before shooting a bone white bullet. She watched as it hit one of the trees, exploding upon impact and causing it to fall, the tank behind it and it's crew panicked as it backed the vehicle off into a rock, dislodging one of it's tracks in the process.

"ARE YOU OKAY OVER THERE?!" Tanjirou shouted towards the crew as she looked back.

"WE'RE FINE COMMANDER! WE BROKE THE TRACK!" They shouted back.

"DON'T PEEK, STAY IN COVER!" She shouted towards them as she looks at Hanagura and nodded.

"Alright, by my mark we go" She notified Anahana and Kiersten who nodded at her.

"One…"

"Two…"

Tanjirou fixes herself as she readies herself for a marathon.

"THREE! GO! GO!" Hanagura shouted.

Anahana and Kiersten immediately jumped out of the cover and ran towards the general direction of their shooter, their weapons slashing air as they try to deflect them away. Hanagura ran towards the immobilized tank, hopping onto the cannon followed by the tank's loader who helped her lodge a shell into the breach of the gun, she operated it and had it face in the general direction of the shooter and pulled the trigger.

The cannon exploded and the barrel recoiled, the shell flying into the dark of the night between trees and the flora around them.

"FIRE THE CANNONS!" Tanjirou shouted as she fired lit a torch and rose it, proceeding to point it towards the direction Hanagura just shot at.

"Shit" The Mage mutters as she watched the first shell land beside her. "You little twerp, you won't be alive to see the sun rise!"

As she aimed her shot and fired, Tanjirou ran from her position towards one of the tanks, her bullet hit her directly on the thigh. Tanjirou slammed herself onto the tracks of the tank she had ran to and from the impact the torch she had lit had been snuffed.

There was a moment of silence, the click and clacking of the Mage's rifle sounded as she took out a shell casing and replaced it with a new one from her magazine.

"How annoying, her thigh wasn't my target" She mutters, as she hones in on her target, a symphony of loud booming, followed by a chorus of bright light flashes emanated from her opponents, the Mage's eyes widened as she jumped off her perch, falling into the ground as a cacophony of tank shells crashed around her. Rock, dirt and debris were ran about creating clouds of smoke as the Mage hid in a well-placed indent on the ground from one of the earlier shellings. She turned around to see the mountain collapsing onto her.

"TANJIROU!" Anahana shouted as she ran back, the Twins aided her escape with a smokescreen while Kiersten and Carter now stood guard behind tree trunks.

"TANJIROU! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?! WHERE DID YOU GET HIT?!" She panicked as she patted her down, one of the Demon infantry lit a lantern and placed it close to them.

"Fuck that hurts more than I expected it to be… Arghh!" She grunted as she held her thigh tightly.

Hanagura got off the tank, and left its crew to repair it, she ran towards where Anahana was, inspecting the damage.

"You lying son of a bitch" Hanagura said as she chuckled. "I thought you were going to use me as bait"

"Kinda worked eh?" Tanjirou grinned as she gritted her teeth. "This was the worst idea I've had so far, I couldn't let the General be the bait of all people though"

"As much as you ordering me to run into that tank and fire the first shot I think I get why you did it like that" Hanagura said as she had Tanjirou grip her arm tightly. "You sly motherfucker you"

"How would you know if it worked?" Anahana said as she tended to her friend's wound.

"You're a fucking dumbass Ana, I've worked with archers and crossbow sharpshooters, and they usually chat about how they fought through forest areas" She explained as she grunted. "They'd actually shoot at multiple areas to freeze their target… Mnghhh.. Let's hoped it worked in our favour and our target hasn't moved yet"

Haruko and Nijii soon arrived, finding their comrade on the ground in agony.

"Tanjirou! I told you to not be reckless!" Haruko scolded as she immediately went to heal her.

"I'm still alive so it's fine, what's important is you get the bullet out of my thigh, it's getting fucking itchy… AGH FUCK!" She shouted, as Haruko slowly took the bullet out.

"This penetration wound…" Nijii mutters.

"I thought it looked familiar" Hanagura added as she glanced at Nijii.

"We need to kill her, now, having her follow us would be a death sentence" She said in a panicked tone, it didn't help as she saw the bullet, both her and Hanagura widened her eyes as they immediately knew the owner of the bullet.

"Ayamega… Farguin…"

Back in the debris site, Ayamega's four arms shot through the ground, pulling herself out of the dirt and retrieving her weapon. Her semi-skeletal body was revealed as the cloak she had used had tattered and fallen off, revealing her shiny metallic bones and her pale skin under the moonlight, her purple eyes glowed with rage and hunger. She held her right eye and swished her long hair back, grinning in annoyance as she watched the camp's light die out.

"It was a mistake to turn your back to The Crown Hanagura-chan~"

"Death's long coveted mistress has arrived~!"