A Stand In The Snow

-Pergrande, on the border with Bellum-

Having zoomed to Pergrande's border with Bellum as fast as she could go, Victoria slowed down and parked her DH-40 Centaur behind a waist-high rock roughly fifty meters behind where she intended to take a stand in the snow. The site where she intended to fight was fifty meters forward where another waist-high rock was sitting. She had come here to fight on behalf of Bellum against Pergrande, which was making aggressive moves on Bellum's border. A few weeks ago there had been reports of a few skirmishes between the two belligerent powers, but no big offensives had been launched by either side... yet.

Victoria felt the wind blow her ponytail around as she dismounted the DH-40 Centaur and covered it with a white tarp she had brought to try and conceal it. Not only had she driven the vehicle here to cover distance quickly, she had also brought it in case things went to Hell and she needed to retreat. But then she realized that there might not be a chance to retreat if things went south. The moment she had gotten off the Centaur she was fully committed to the fight. Victoria took a deep breath and made peace with that fact... she was not going anywhere until the fight was won or she was killed.

Victoria felt the wind blow on her uncovered face, took a deep breath, and thought about why she was here. She was here to fight on behalf of Bellum to fight the good fight on behalf of mages everywhere. She was also here to fight for Bellum's right to exist, a fight which reminded the brunette of her days living on the streets of Capital Crocus. The final reason Victoria was here was to settle an old score with Pergrande.

A long time ago Victoria, her friend Abigail Windstrider, and her mentor Florence Manderley had all flown to the country of Sin to track down and kill a rogue scientist who was conducting hideously unethical human experimentation in order to perfect a "super soldier" serum. Pergrande had refused to allow their helicopter to land in Pergrande for any reason, not even to get medical treatment. Ever since that day the brunette had held a deep grudge against the infamously anti-mage nation and had longed to find a way to settle the score without becoming a Dark Mage. Today she had been handed a gift-wrapped chance to get revenge for the slight, if only on a small scale. A small form of revenge against Pergrande was good enough for the vindictive Sabertooth mage, especially since she would not be branded a Dark Mage for getting it considering the circumstances.

Dressed in her all-white winter camouflage gear and wearing her Azure Armor over the white jacket, Victoria was not exactly the height of fashion. The blue armor made her stick out like a sore thumb against the snow and clashed with her clothing, but she would need the protection because she would be going up against Pergrande's forces and they were not a ragtag bunch of bandits or a mindless horde of zombies. They were part of a professional standing army and they were trained and equipped accordingly.

Victoria lifted up the white tarp covering her Centaur, set her backpack on it, and brought out her Silver Dagger, which she then secured to her left hip. She was not expecting to make very many kills with it, if any at all, but having a last-resort weapon was never a bad idea. Victoria made sure the Silver Dagger was secure, then picked up her backpack and put it back on before lowering the tarp to conceal the Centaur again. Victoria secured the backpack and took yet another deep breath to steady her nerves.

Victoria's battle plan was to take shelter behind the rock fifty meters in front of her and hold her ground for as long as she could... ideally she could hold her ground long enough for enemy forces to pull back for a few minutes and give her breathing room to plan the next step, which was either to bring out bigger firepower or to fall back to a more defensible position... wherever that was.

Or rather that was the plan... as her adoptive father was fond of saying, "No plan survives contact with the enemy."

With that in mind, Victoria brought out her Light Machine Gun to have a weapon on hand in case trouble came calling. She walked towards the waist-high rock at a brisk pace and took deep breaths until she finally reached it seven minutes later. Once she reached the rock she got on her knees and lowered the bipod of the Light Machine Gun, then carefully balanced the bipod on top of the rock so that it would have a stable firing position for her weapon. As a final measure she brought out her .44 Magnum Revolver and set it to her right in the snow so that if the Light Machine Gun overheated she would have another ranged weapon within easy reach. Once she was as ready as she would ever be Victoria took a deep breath, aimed her weapon towards the most likely approach the enemy would take, and waited for enemy forces to approach.

She knew that she was not very well-concealed behind the rock, which was not the best defensive position she could have selected. Her chestnut brown hair in a ponytail made her stand out and she had not brought a helmet to protect her head. The rock she was kneeling behind was a painfully obvious place for a firing position because of the many open lines of sight in front of it and she was sure that the enemy had already taken something like that into account when planning their incursions into Bellum's territory. Despite its many faults the rock was the only shelter she had from enemy fire and when the bullets started flying having even a little bit of shelter was better than having no shelter at all.

[Post Word Count: 1,014]
[Victoria's Word Count: 1,014/4,000]
[Total Word Count: 1,014/12,000]

@Aura @Asher Brightward

Victoria is rolling for her enemies.

The member 'Victoria Sheridan' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

"Everyone, calm down! And that's an order." Kenna's voice lowered to an almost threatening rumble as she glared at her council, effectively silencing the dozen demons currently present at her table. Some awkwardly cleared their throat, while others just stared at the table's surface. The demon queen huffed softly, shaking her head as she rose from her seat, both hands leaning unto the table. She could feel the all too familiar sting in her shoulder but chose to ignore it, her pain not even registering on her face as she continued. "Honestly, I understand your worry, especially in light of recent events, but you have to know there's little choice in my decision to go ahead and accept the Magic Council's advice." Another ripple of discontentment rippled through the demons present, more subdued this time around.

"Your highness, if I may," Xaphan rose his hand, causing most others to fall silent as he spoke. As one of her father's older vassals -one of the few that's remained loyal even after the assassination- he held quite a bit of respect among his peers and younger generations of demons. Even Kenna, who hadn’t been showing herself much on the demon’s political forefront until recently, found herself in awe for the demon’s wisdom. A man who could’ve probably taken the demon world by storm and rise as its new ruler, still pledged his loyalty to her-- in fact, he’d been one of the first to seek her out instead of the other way around, taking an oath to stand by her side like he had her father’s. When this man spoke he’d always make fair points to take into consideration. With a nod she gestured for him to speak, eyeing him curiously. "With Abraxor gone we cannot allow ourselves the chance of anything happening to you. Even when he was still with us you got gravely injured; the aether forbid something similar were to happen now no-one's there to protect you, My Queen." The fire demon continued, concern prone in his eyes. It was a painful thing to bring up, but they all knew very well that it was the truth, especially in the silence that followed. They all knew what had been lost that day.

After allowing the silence to linger for a few moments longer, Kenna shook her head. "With all due respect, Xaphan, but there's a great difference between mortal and divine forces. Unlike with Ishtar, these are mortals, magicless ones at that. Their danger level won't even be half as threatening as it would've been had they been able to wield magic." Although she knew better than to belittle humans, the demoness couldn’t help it. And if it aided her cause, why not? There was none who would hold it against her, not in this room. But much to her surprise she noticed how several shook their head, looking disappointed. It drew a sigh from her lips raising her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. “Listen, it’s… my hands are tied here. Here I may be your queen, but in Fiore I have an obligation as guild master to stand with my people. Alliances were made, and Fiore stands with Bellum in this war. Although we’re not explicitly asked to join sides, it’s expected of us to side with our allies, as per Magic Council alliances. And I can’t expect them to turn a blind eye because personal reasons dignified me to blatantly ignore their orders. Let alone that I’d stand and watch from the sidelines when my friends and the people I’m supposed to protect are fighting in this war. I’m no coward.” Kenna’s eyes stood hard, looking at each and every one of them separately, meeting their gaze and their expectations. Demons expected their leaders to be strong, and their royalty even stronger. She wouldn’t show weakness, not again. Even if she was still far from recovered, she had proven herself before them, and now it was time to prove herself to the world as well. To her guild. She’d been watching from the sidelines for far too long.
Astarte smiled softly at her young queen’s resolve and leant back in her chair, knowing Kenna wasn’t done preaching just yet. And after a lingering silence, the white-haired demoness did indeed. “If it were to ease the Council’s worries, note that unlike the previous war, this is all but personal. If anything, this is strictly business; I’ll be cautious, but because this is moreso an objective obligation, I don’t see the need for taking any risks.” Now it was the draconic demoness’ turn to speak. “Be it as it may, Your Majesty, you are our Queen. No matter how much we protest, we cannot go against your will; and if it is your will to participate in this war… then, with or without the Council’s permission, you will. And there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s just as simple as that.” Astarte shrugged, her arms carelessly crossed upon her chest. There was a satisfied smirk playing upon her lips. “I know I speak for the entire Council when I say that we’re very much against you joining the war without any of your troops though. But since it’s true that we demons cannot openly choose sides when we’re not concerned with the matter, we’ll compromise. A detachment under my command will join you to the battlefield, and will keep an eye on the development of the situation. Only when we deem you in grave danger shall we move out, sparing no time on pulling you out of said situation and away from the battle altogether. This is non-negotiable, just like your proposal.” The demoness had been one of her father’s early supporters as well, and next to Abraxor one of the strongest demon generals they held. Knowing she’d cornered Kenna with the things she’d said, the smugness of her smile only grew further.

Kenna on the other hand would’ve rolled her eyes if she could’ve. In any other situation she would’ve, but now all she could do was flash Astarte a knowing grin. “Fine. We leave at dawn, ready or not.”




Days later, Sabertooth’s guild master found herself upon a nearby hill overlooking her chosen battlefield; one of the many scenes currently dotting both Bellian and Pergrandian sceneries. The sun had barely risen above the horizon, yet already sounds of battle resonated through the chilled air. Just like that day, except this time she wasn’t leading the troops, nor standing there donned in the regalia befitting a commander’s name. Her silver armor had been replaced for a nonchalant bodice of hardened black leather, tempered by the best craftsmen her territory could offer. It was lithe, wouldn’t burn when exposed to her flames, and would make her an unseen target among many many fighters today. It was also reinforced with a numbing stimulant in her shoulder, making sure that even if her wound decided to act up, she wouldn’t be bothered by it until the end of the day. That was the price to pay for temporarily suppressing the poison engraved unto her very cells; one day of battle would mean three more she’d have to rest before her body could endure the pain again. Aether knows how long she’d be out for if she actually used large portions of her magic as well… it was a slight worry she’d have to calculate. In a way she was happy Itori wasn’t deployed on this battlefield; she knew her lover wouldn’t have allowed her to set foot near the battle if she was aware of the demon queen’s intentions. Maybe that’s why she’d opted to pick another one as far away from hers as possible, so there wouldn’t be any chances of crossing paths until after it was done.

Staring off into the sunset she could hear a pair of footsteps closing in on her from behind, Astarte awkwardly clearing her throat as she waited for Kenna to acknowledge her being there. “Honestly, Astarte…,” Kenna muttered softly, turning her head ever so slightly to look back over her shoulder. “You’d think that with the stunt you pulled during the meeting you wouldn’t be this bashful when the rest are gone.” she teased, feeling the other demoness’ glare drilling holes in her back. But it only made it all the more fun.

“Tsk, children will be children it seems, royalty or not.” Astarte clicked her tongue, joining Kenna and letting her gaze drift across the battlefield. Unlike the royal demoness, she could see every little detail happening down below; who was fighting whom, their outfits, their weapons, hell, even the freckles hiding underneath the helmets of some. Her eyes were trained for this. And maybe one day, she’d train her queen’s to do just the same. There was an agreeable silence as both just gazed, allowing the sun to grace them with her peaceful serenity before the true battle would explode.

The white-haired demoness smiled dearly when she suddenly noticed soft flashes within herself. Through the link of Sabertooth’s guild tattoos she could sense the others of Sabertooth lingering. One of her most powerful members was stirring on her right, far below among the tents, while another did so too, more to the left. She could only guess them to be Victoria; her magical pressure undeniably present even from this far away. And one of the new members Gaia had been doting on… Asher, whom she mostly recognised through the soft chill running up her spine as a result of his peculiar magic. Knowing they were here as well only strengthened her resolve to actually participate, to show what she was truly capable of.

“Astarte,” she started, allowing a brief pause so she was sure she had the draconic demon’s attention. “I won’t do anything reckless. I promise.” Kenna ushered softly, her voice almost reminiscing as she closed her eyes, the flashes of the battle past that had scarred her coming to life before her very eyes. There was a soft quiver as a single scene kept replaying in the back of her head; Abraxor being cut down so she could escape. Not wounded or hurt, but downright obliterated. His very soul essence erased from existence. Even after all this time, it was still a hard pill to swallow. Astarte, noticing the subtle shiver in her posture, gently squeezed her shoulder. “I know, Aelyn… We both know you wouldn’t put his memory to shame by being bold and making those mistakes again. Let his sacrifice be your strength, my child.”

A soft nod followed as she inhaled deeply, letting the scent of dawn overtake her… and the scent of something else. Her eyes opened slowly as she sighed, irked that she was being disturbed this early. “Don’t bother, humans,your scent already gave you away.” Her voice was all but pleased, both demons turning to face the four figures arising from the thicket behind them, the barrels of their guns aimed at the twosome, earning them another sigh, this time from Astarte. “I doubt they’ll be worth the effort.” she muttered underneath her breath, only to get a shrug in return, and a reply in an equally hushed tone. “Well, they’re my problem now, I guess.”

“Gentlemen, it pains me to say this, but… I don’t take prisoners.” Crimson eyes peered at them in the most unamused, cold way possible as she spoke those words, waiting for the very moment they’d open fire. Mentally counting down the moment their fingers would jerk around the trigger and hail metallic rain upon her… if the metal would ever reach her in time to harm her. A split-second later the first salvo went off, but the demoness had already taken refuge far below their initial aim. Astarte had taken to the skies, immediately taking flight until she was out of the shooters’ range, while Kenna had ducked low, far more than crouching she was nearly laying flat on the floor, hand outstretched rapidly heating up the area underneath. Frosted ground would yield for the cheer heat she sent through its veins, dodging and touching the floor as she went without allowing them time to aim properly; annoying them so that their wariness was only partially focused on the magic she was performing. Every spot she touched the ground had molten into a small puddle of lava, merely the size of her palm, until the entire area was dotted with a least a few dozen of those. When their magazines emptied and they swiftly took to refill them, she moved, slamming her full palm unto the ground. In the blink of an eye the area surrounding the four spying Pergrandians had shifted from solid earth to liquid fire, large enough to deny them the hope of jumping to the edge of the gradually growing pool of lava. Screams erupted as they sunk further in, up to their knees, but not much further, their pain apparent. She rose to her feet again, looking them over as they suffered. It was a cruel way to go, with no form of release safe for the slow one time would bring, unless she helped them across. She’d meant what she said however; letting them live would be akin to keeping them prisoner. And she was all but going to do that. With a twist of her hand a fire pillar erupted from the pool, silencing the poor unfortunate souls that had dared creep up on her before the battle. She felt no remorse as the flames died down, only leaving smoldering heaps to be devoured by the molten earth she’d created. A click of her heel and all the warmth dissipated, leaving the lava to harden in an instant.


Safety precaution.


She wasn’t going to stumble and create more victims than necessary, especially not from her side. Only those that crossed her would come to feel the literal burnt of their mistake.


And unlike last time, there would be no mercy.



Wordcount: 2343 of 4000


Casualties:
Imperial Army Recruit x 0/6 -> 0 of 2
Imperial Army Officer x 4/14 -> 2 of 7
Imperial Guard 0/1 -> 0 of 1

The member 'Aura' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

The member 'Asher Brightward' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

Victoria sat crouched behind the one piece of solid cover she could find and waited for Pergrandian soldiers to come through and march into range of her waiting Light Machine Gun. She did not have long to wait because a group of soldiers who were not from Bellum came marching her way. Most of them wore modern uniforms and carried modern weapons, but two of them wore old-fashioned apparel. One of them was clad in an outfit so unusual that the brunette could not tell whether it was metallic, cloth, or a mix of both while the other was clad in a gray and black outfit with a face-obscuring hood. Victoria took a deep breath and waited until the mass of soldiers was within 100 meters of her, holding her fire and waiting until they got just a bit closer.

She could not afford to let them get too close because their numbers could easily dislodge her from her precarious defensive position, but she did not want to start firing from too far away because she needed to wipe out as many of them in her opening attack as she could. Surprise attacks only worked once, after all. She needed to make her opening volley count and kill as many of the soldiers as she could. The brunette held her breath and aimed at one of the dozen soldiers in white uniforms with black vests and gas masks wielding sleek submachine guns approaching her position. Behind them marched eight soldiers in all-black armor with helmets that covered their faces and carried sleek-looking assault rifles. The two soldiers in different clothing brought up the rear.

Victoria held her aim until they were within eighty meters of her. She took a deep breath and realized that she needed more firepower than what her Light Machine Gun could bring to the table, at least for the opening volley. She quickly dispelled her .44 Magnum Revolver and brought out her Grenade Launcher, the very weapon she had tried to avoid using against living people but the very weapon which necessity compelled her to use. Victoria's hands trembled as she readied a high-explosive grenade in the launcher.

Her stomach was already churning at the thought of what she was about to do with it.

Victoria took one last breath, then aimed the Grenade Launcher at the front rank of soldiers and held her breath.

There was no turning back now.

May some cosmic entity have mercy on her soul for what was about to happen.

Victoria raised up to her feet and began firing the high-explosive grenades, doing her best to plop them in between groups of white-clad soldiers for the best effect. After firing off all six grenades in the cylinder she ducked behind the rock and narrowly missed getting ventilated by a lot of return fire from the soldiers who had survived the Grenade Launcher assault. She heard the grenades go off and dispelled the Grenade Launcher, then summoned her .44 Magnum Revolver and slapped it back onto its place in the snow before grabbing the grip of the Light Machine Gun, aiming it at some of the advancing soldiers, and opening fire as bullets danced around the rock, PINGed off of the top of the rock a lot closer to her than she would like, and whistled past her ears, narrowly missing her head.

Victoria sighted a soldier in white charging towards her and opened up, hitting him with fifteen rounds in the chest and killing him. The four surviving soldiers in white pressed their attack while four of the black-clad soldiers followed to support them. Ignoring the bullets flying her way, the brunette held her ground and fired her Light Machine Gun in a prolonged burst of thirty-five rounds, cutting down a second soldier in white and a third who was following close behind him. Victoria adjusted her aim right and fired another lengthy burst of seventeen rounds to kill a third soldier in white before jumping back when a bullet from the last soldier in white hit the the top of the rock and grazed her left sidelock, causing strands of chestnut brown hair to fall to the snow.

That was a close shave.

An angered Victoria turned her weapon to him and held down the trigger, hitting him with twenty rounds to the chest and dropping him to the snow. The celebration would have to wait because the four soldiers in black were closing in on her and their rifle bullets were flying too close to her head for comfort. Victoria aimed at the first soldier in black and opened up with the remaining rounds in her weapon, killing him with a sustained burst to the chest. The Light Machine Gun clicked on empty, so Victoria ducked down behind the rock and grabbed up her .44 Magnum Revolver while the three soldiers in black continued to run towards her.

As soon as she felt the grip touch her right had she took the pistol into a two-handed grip and brought it up, aiming at the head of the closest soldier in black. She fired an Armor-Piercing Round at his head and it punched through, hurting the man but not badly enough to kill him with a single shot. Victoria's jaw dropped so low that it scraped the rock she was hiding behind.

What the Hell was that helmet made of?

Standing her ground, Victoria aimed and fired a second Armor-Piercing Round to his head, dropping him with the second shot that punched through the helmet. The two soldiers behind him had reloaded and were aiming at her, so she needed to act fast. Victoria aimed at the soldier on the left and fired two Armor-Piercing Rounds in rapid succession, killing him before she was forced to take shelter behind the rock again as the four soldiers in black who had hung back opened up on her to cover their remaining comrade.

Victoria heard the soldier get closer and closer, so she waited until the firing subsided before popping up and aiming for his head. She fired two more Armor-Piercing Rounds and dropped him before having to take cover again. She set aside the revolver and quickly thought about what weapon to use to clear out the remaining soldiers in black. The Grenade Launcher came to mind, so she dispelled the revolver and brought out the Grenade Launcher again.

She primed a grenade in the newly reloaded weapon, then popped up and sprayed the area with all six grenades while being shot at by assault rifles. She ducked down to avoid getting shredded and heard the grenades go off. Dispelling the Grenade Launcher, Victoria brought out the .44 Magnum Revolver again and looked for targets, finding two badly wounded soldiers in black who were charging towards her like they were not bleeding from numerous shrapnel wounds in their legs and arms.

The incredulous brunette raised her revolver and fired two Armor-Piercing Rounds at the head of the first soldier, killing him. Bullets whizzed by her head and she felt her right sidelock fall away as a bullet passed through it before she aimed at the head of the last soldier in black and fired two Armor-Piercing Shots that killed him, killing the last of the soldiers in black. Now that all of the gun-wielding soldiers were dead, Victoria dared to stand up to look for more targets. She soon wished she had not.

Seven of the soldiers in white were lying dead on the snow with a combination of shrapnel wounds, missing legs, and even the occasional missing arm. Blood and small blast craters liberally coating the snow from where she had fired her Grenade Launcher at them in her opening volley. Two of the soldiers in black she had fired grenades at later in the fight were dead and missing their legs; one was missing both legs and an arm. The brunette's stomach began to turn flips and she had to fight the urge to throw up on the spot. She was regretting doing what she did, but she had to do it to survive the Pergrandian onslaught.

If they had had grenade launchers of their own, they would have had no reservations about blasting her into a crimson mist.

Victoria had done what needed to be done to give herself a fighting chance against numerically superior opposition.

She did not have long to pity herself because the soldier in the odd armor blinked over her to her with speed too fast for her to even try to keep up with and swung her sword at the surprised brunette. Victoria ducked under the sword and fired an Armor-Piercing Round at the soldier's chest only for it to flatten against the armor without doing much damage. The soldier only smirked at her in response.

Victoria frowned and fired another shot at the soldier, grazing their arm before taking a kick to the face that made her tumble backwards. She landed on her stomach and was kicked with a forceful blow to the stomach that sent her flying back a full meter. Victoria groaned and landed on the snow, dropping her revolver. The soldier blinked over to her and kicked the handgun far away, leaving Victoria without a weapon.

The brunette hopped to her feet, activated her special ability to power up her spells, and saw the gunmetal gray outline around her body. The soldier ran towards her and Victoria stood her ground, aiming and firing a Beam Cannon at the soldier's chest. Victoria watched the golden beam connect and hurt the soldier some, but not nearly enough to stop their charge. The surprised brunette yelped as the soldier closed with her and slashed with their sword, cutting Victoria's Azure Armor across the stomach but otherwise inflicting little harm on the brunette.

The brunette aimed and fired another Beam Cannon at them, connecting with the torso a second time and doing just as much damage as the first shot had, which was not very much. The soldier smirked at her again and swung the sword at her neck, causing the brunette to duck to avoid losing her head. She ducked and aimed high with the next Beam Cannon, aiming at the throat. She fired and the target ducked under it, then popped up and aimed a kick at her face.

Victoria blocked it with her arms, then rolled to dodged a downward chop of the sword. She avoided the blade and fired another Beam Cannon at the target's head, grazing their cheek and drawing a look of surprise from the soldier, a look that soon turned to an angry expression. If Victoria did not kill her opponent fast, she was going to have a very bad day. She looked to her right and spotted the revolver that had been kicked aside.

With no time to lose, Victoria formed a Grenade in her hand and lobbed it at the soldier's face, running for the revolver shortly after throwing it. The soldier smirked and swung the flat side of their sword like a bat, knocking aside the grenade like it were a baseball and causing it to explode harmlessly far from the target. About the time the Grenade went off Victoria reached her revolver, scooped it up, and spun around in one fluid motion, firing an Armor-Piercing Shot at the soldier's head using a one-handed grip. The shot hit the target squarely between the eyes and the soldier dropped their sword and wobbled for a moment before toppling sideways and falling to the snow, where they began to bleed profusely from their head wound.

Victoria had won the duel!

The brunette smiled as she turned to face the last enemy soldier, the soldier in black and gray with the hood. Now that all the gun-wielding soldiers were dead along with that really fast knight it was just her and the last surviving Pergrandian soldier in the group. Victoria was liking her chances, but she had better not get too cocky. There had to be a reason the last soldier had stood back and waited instead of jumping into the fray earlier in the fight. The fight with them would likely be the main event of this adrenaline-soaked skirmish with Pergrande's soldiers.

[Post Word Count: 2,048]
[Victoria's Word Count: 3,062/4,000]

Victoria's Enemies Defeated:
12/12 Imperial Army Recruits
8/8 Imperial Army Officers
1/1 Imperial Guard
0/1 Imperial Paladin - Private

Fire erupted in the middle of the blazing battlefield, meters high for all to see, a blazing wall of crimson flame riding across the scorched earth, sending a dozen of soldiers astray as they tried to flee the devouring flames’ grasp. Kenna cared little about the consequences as it were; war was not for the weak of mind, and if one wasn’t prepared to kill… then they shouldn’t be on a battlefield in the first place. During the Divine War she participated in she’d made the mistake of allowing her opponents to live, to merely scare them straight out of their wits. To break their morale and send them running. She’d been peaceful like that once, hoping to show them demons weren’t all about violence and murder. However that kindness had turned itself upon her not soon after, costing her more than she’d been willing to pay. And now, she would no longer make that mistake. She’d embraced the destructiveness of her nature, of her blood. Her life before that of others. The men and women gathered here today had been ready to die, and to be fair? It needed a whole lot less effort to outright end their lives than to knock them unconscious. Which meant she’d only have to do just that and thin the herds before retreating. Blitz attacks in the middle of their ranks, where she could harm no allied soldiers or friendly mages but only the enemy; spread fear among the recruits by flaunting her fire-veined black horns and crimson eyes, allowing fire to erupt from all sides at once. Those who’d stand against her would pity themselves to have joined the army; or to have been indoctrinated in doing so. But her violent approach had already shown to be effective; six recruits and their respective commanding officers had ganged up on her, hoping to overpower her with cheer numbers. It only made her laugh, somewhat manic at that, the smile trying to suppress the subtle stings of pain already seeping through the enchantment that was supposed to numb her pain.

Zanbato hung loosely within her hand, the six feet sword menacing by its own regard, only strengthened the image of her power as she rose the sword up high. She directed a wicked smile at one of the soldiers, who instinctively backed away at the sharp canines sneaking past her lips. She wasn’t normally like this, but sowing fear would aid her further attempts to advance through their line of defense. They’d make mistakes when afraid; especially the recruits would. Their two commanding officers however… no, they could see through it. Already hardened by the blood of war, the violence and scars it left on the mind and soul. Scars that would never heal unless embraced and used to their own advantage. Against her… if they ever managed to overcome all of it. Sadly for them, they wouldn’t be able to tell the tale. Blue fire sparked from her fingers, engulfing the sword as it rapidly grew in size, rising far above the field of battle. Azure flames licked at the skies, eager to devour whatever was in their way once released. Her foot twisted, strong but lithe, and the hulking blade of fire came crashing down, mowing several off their feet and setting them ablaze. Following up almost instinctively, Kenna moved into close quarters, piercing through one of the army officers’ chest. She could feel the man slump against her, breath rasping as she pushed him back off her blade, only to take down two more of his recruits before his body hit the ground. Yet her gaze never faltered as she pressed on. Her giant blade of blue flame had taken out two recruits and their commanding officer, only leaving the last of the supposed gang to tremble in fear at seeing their comrades and superiors die so easily. Crimson eyes looked at them ever so curiously, wondering what their next move would be. Would they run? Flee the field of battle altogether and be branded traitors, deserters at best? Or would the man up and face her in an attempt to avenge their fallen comrades?

With how she was seeing things now, she doubted it would be the latter. “Fire Dragon’s glare.” she whispered underneath her breath, her fire essence filling her eyes to the point they were glowing, edged flames escaping through the corner of her eyes. She knew they wouldn’t be able to withstand the trembling of their hearts if she gazed at them like this; although she did moreso to opt them to flee. First she’d let them cower in fear, stricken and paralysed by her very gaze. She could hear one of them whisper “demon”, and it cracked her up. “Why yes, of course I am! How nice of you to notice~” she mocked the man, who suddenly found his voice long enough for him to yell at her from the top of his lungs. “Even if all those Bellian dogs have decided to sell their souls to devils and demons, Pergrande will free the world of your filth! Just you see, magic can only do so much against machines!” Yet he had not expected for Kenna to turn pensive, actually bothering to give his words some thought as she casually walked closer, making sure to draw out each and every step as she let her aura burn freely. The unbridled heat would be unbearable if she got too close, but that was exactly why she was doing it. Had the man not insulted her he might’ve actually lived. But now? He’d only soured the demon queen’s mood by doing so. “Filth, eh…? Well, filth does what filth do, right? But don’t worry, I won’t dirty my blade on your puny corpse…”

There was confusion in his eyes as he stared into her hard, crimson eyes, glaring ice and ice-cold. With a loud bang Zanbato was thrust into the ground, the blade still protruding a good four feet above the ground even though it was wedged in tightly. The movement restriction would wear out soon, but she was counting on it. For the soldier, bolstered by his own words, to lash out at her and try to strike her. Yet she would strike first. The moment he felt his limbs give way against the invisible restriction he lunged, a close hooking with the back of his gun, aimed straight for her jaw. She took the hit but didn’t budge, cold eyes flicking from the gun back to the recruit before her palm came up, connecting firmly with the man’s chin. Another hit. A solid fist wedged firmly between his ribs, an obvious dent visible that all but bode well for the man’s future. He gasped for breath, desperately so as his knees buckled. A thud as his body hit the floor, the man squirming like a fish on dry land. His companion fell back, dropping his weapon and trying to claw his way away from her. Kenna huffed, turning her back and picking Zanbato back up. They weren’t worth her time anymore. A coward and a life-long cripple-- if the man survived.

Maybe the slightest hint of mercy she’d allow this day.







Wordcount: 1205 || 3548 of 4000

Casualties:
Imperial Army Recruits x 6/6 -> 2 of 2
Imperial Army Officer x 6/14 -> 3 of 7
Imperial Guard 0/1 -> 0 of 1

Staring down the last Pergrandian soldier left standing, Victoria was feeling confident about her chances of winning. The last soldier was a silver-haired chick in black and gray clothing wearing a hood over her face and looking at Victoria. While both combatants might have been female, that changed absolutely nothing. Victoria was going to take the Pergrandian soldier down and she was going to walk away from this border clash. She would return to the Red Dragon Inn and down some shots of vodka at a personal victory party for surviving everything Pergrande could throw at her.

There was no need for one-liners or fancy speeches. Both young women knew what was at stake here. A cold wind blew and rustled both Victoria's ponytail and the Pergrandian soldier's hood. Victoria took a deep breath and quickly raised her revolver in a two-handed grip and took careful aim. She was going to aim for the head and fire an Armor-Piercing Round that would take the enemy down in a single shot.

Victoria fired the Armor-Piercing Round and the young woman effortlessly dodged it. She then responded by folding her arms over her chest and the guns of the fallen soldiers began to levitate along with Victoria's own Light Machine Gun. The brunette's eyes widened as the weapons turned in unison to point their barrels at her. With no time to waste on trying to dispel her own weapon, this was a very good time to run before she was turned into Swiss Cheese by the submachine guns, assault rifles, and her own Light Machine Gun.

Victoria immediately spun around and began to run for her life in a zig-zag pattern to throw off the aim of the guns as much as she could. While she was running she was cursing under her breath about the lack of cover in this terrain. Victoria zigged, zagged, slowed down at random, and did everything she could to avoid getting lead poisoning, but due to the sheer number of weapons firing at her her armor inevitably took a few hits. She felt the pauldrons of her armor be grazed at least four times and at least three rounds slam into the back of her armor, but by some miracle they did not punch through.

Victoria continued to run until she was thirty meters away from her starting position, but she knew that she could not keep running forever. She had to end this fight before she was too tired to fight back. Once she saw the weapons reloading Victoria spun around, aimed at the head of the female soldier, and fired an Armor-Piercing Round that grazed her right cheek. The grazing wound must have been enough to cause her to lose control of the weapons because they tumbled from the sky and fell to the ground, but that one wound was not enough to take her out of the fight.

The soldier began to run towards Victoria and the brunette began to fire Armor-Piercing Rounds at the soldier to try and bring the Pergrandian soldier down before she could close the distance. They hit the soldier's chest, but thanks to the latter's incredibly tough armor they had little effect. The brunette was able to fire only three shots before the soldier closed with her and knocked the barrel of the revolver aside with the back of her left hand, causing Victoria to miss what would have been a headshot using an Armor-Piercing Round had she had a second more to pull the trigger. Victoria stepped back and aimed for the head again, but the soldier punched her in the chest and sent the brunette staggering back half a meter.

Undeterred by the blow thanks to her Azure Armor absorbing some of the impact, Victoria tossed the revolver aside and put her hands together for a Beam Cannon that she fired at the enemy. She hit their chest and the beam did no real damage. The enemy's eyes met Victoria's and the soldier smirked at Victoria. Victoria's response was to frown and use her magic to form a pair of Brass Knuckles on her right hand, then slug the smirking soldier in the face. To their credit the soldier did not stagger, but only put the back of their right hand to their lip and glared at Victoria, who stepped back just in time to avoid a fist to her face.

Victoria quickly took another step back and drew the Silver Dagger on her left hip. Since her Beam Cannon spell was not doing any appreciable damage to the enemy, the brunette would just have to use physical weapons if she wanted to end this fight. The soldier strode towards Victoria and the brunette led off with a Derringer shot with her left hand, but the soldier simply leaned left and avoided the shot. They continued to stride towards the brunette and soon reached her.

The female soldier performed a sweep kick that the brunette jumped over and Victoria replied with a slash across the face, cutting the Pergrandian across the left cheek. Now she had a slash wound on the left side of her face to match the bullet graze wound to her right cheek. The soldier was not amused and swung at Victoria with their right fist, missing the brunette's face by mere inches. Victoria sidestepped to the right to avoid a one-two punch combo from the soldier and felt her right boot step on the grip of her revolver.

Victoria was thinking about using it to end the fight, but before she could snag it she saw it being pulled out from under her foot by the soldier, who was going to try and inflict an ironic death on Victoria by using the brunette's own revolver against her. The brunette, having remembered what had happened the last time the soldier had levitated a weapon and having gotten over the shock of the technique being used against her, quickly dispelled the revolver before it could be used against her. The sight of the revolver suddenly disappearing caught the soldier off guard, but only for a moment. The enemy began to step forward with a flurry of punches aimed at the brunette's face and torso.

Victoria quickly wiped her Silver Dagger on the snow and put it away, then crouched and rolled past the soldier just before she could be kicked. Victoria popped up, spun around, and was greeted with a punch to the face that sent her staggering back half a meter. The Sabertooth mage responded by calling upon her revolver for a second time and drawing her Silver Dagger again, holding it in her left hand while holding the revolver in her right hand. Victoria had to step back to avoid another flurry of punches and tried to get a good aim on the soldier, but the hooded soldier was way too close to carefully aim the revolver for the headshot that would end the fight.

Victoria continued to dodge the punches mixed with an occasional kick aimed at the kneecaps until she decided to take a chance that could end the fight in her favor. She would intentionally take a punch, then throw her dagger at the soldier as a distraction. Once the dagger was thrown Victoria would take a one-handed quick shot with the revolver aimed at the soldier's forehead. if she succeeded in that she could win the fight. If she failed she would likely take a lot of punishment before she got another chance to fight back.

Victoria intentionally took a punch to the chest and staggered back a full meter, then righted herself, spun the dagger around in her left hand to grip the blade with her thumb and forefinger, and threw it at the soldier. Since Victoria was right-handed and had never thrown a knife before even though her adopted father Lawrence had demonstrated the technique to her, the throw was weak and not very accurate. The soldier easily knocked the slow-moving blade aside with her left hand and smirked at Victoria for trying such a flashy and amateur move, but the brunette quickly raised the revolver in her right hand and fired an Armor-Piercing Round that hit the soldier between the eyes. The distraction had worked!

The soldier only had enough time to reach up and feel the wound in their forehead before they fell backwards and landed on the snow, where they began to bleed out. Victoria smiled at the fallen soldier. Victoria had won!

The brunette left the soldier lying dead in the snow and picked up her Silver Dagger from the snow where it had landed after being knocked aside. She then began to walk towards the rock that had served as her ambush spot for the opening attack of the battle. Once she got to it after a four-minute walk she dispelled her Light Machine Gun, then stepped right of the rock and surveyed the carnage she had caused.

The soldiers who had been caught in Grenade Launcher grenade blasts were still lying on the snow and the sight of them missing arms and legs still made the brunette sick. However, the grenade barrage had done its job and had helped her survive a situation where she was badly outnumbered by taking a lot of Pergrandian soldiers out early in the fight. That powerful opening attack allowed Victoria to save her energy and magic power for the later stages of the battle, thus allowing her to go the distance with Pergrande's heavy hitters and come out on top. Whatever moral cost she would pay for blasting the soldiers with high-explosive grenades was well worth paying for the victory the tactic had brought her.

Victoria took a deep breath and started to relax. She had stopped the Pergrandian soldiers cold and had taken more than a few hits in return, but the pain was worth it. Victoria had gotten a little revenge on Pergrande and had fought the good fight on behalf of Bellum.

Victoria could not wait to go back to the Red Dragon Inn and get some drinks. Tonight she was going to drink until she drained at least one bottle of vodka, if not two. After all the fighting she had done she had more than earned the right to a little victory celebration.

[Post Word Count: 1,724]
[Victoria's Word Count: 4,786/4,000]

Victoria's Enemies Defeated:
12/12 Imperial Army Recruits
8/8 Imperial Army Officers
1/1 Imperial Guard
1/1 Imperial Paladin - Private

It had only taken about ten minutes for the demoness to be surrounded once more, from all sides at once by more hooded figures she could by now discern as being commanding officers in the Pergandian army. Not the top brass, but by far a lot better than the usual recruits. A whole lot smarter than them, less foul-mouthed and by far a lot less scared of demons as they made eye-contact. Honestly, she was fairly certain these recruits would piss their pants and start running at the sight of her by now, but their braver counterparts surely did the job with keeping the men from falling back in fear. Albeit… she didn't quite care. The recruits weren't being sent her way-- looks like these officers had taken the hint of her trying to break morale with overly cruel tactics, but instead had decided to surround them herself. A batch of 8 once more circled around her; varying distances away from her and seemingly coordinated by another person out there, out of her sight… but not out of hearing. "I'm sorry gentlemen, but alas, I don't have time to play with you today. We, well, I have a battle to win, after all!" The demoness smiled, summoning a wall of flames to whirl around her. The rain of metallic bullets that were cast upon her couldn't withstand the cheer heat and pressure folded within the tornado around her, either melting or flicking the bullets up into the air the moment they hit the fire. And with every hit another color added to the batch, faster every time. Blue fire. Green fire. Orange. Yellow. Purple. Until every other color possibly known to man had gathered within her flames. Colors fire wasn't supposed to have by natural means. But they were hers, a technique she’d remembered out of nowhere, like it had always been part of her. Slamming her fists together Kenna pulled the fires closer to her body and propelled herself up into the air boosted by the fire, maiming the officers one by one like a stack of dominos. When she touched ground again the fires dispersed, four of the eight surrounding her still remaining conscious; not purposely, but this technique hardened her fire into something solid, something blunt, if so to say. The ones that remained standing - or rather, scrambling back unto their feet- had jumped out of the way of her trajectory in time. And that little detail, where they had to abandon their weapon in order to get low enough for her to miss, had been their saving grace. But now they stood before the fire slayer unarmed, slightly anxious about the wild look in her eyes.

She could see their eyes constantly flickering back towards their weapons, calculating distance, speed, the chance of attacks they could expect if they were to dive towards said weapons, all coming to the same conclusion. They wouldn’t make it unless someone distracted her. But unlike their bravado earlier, none seemed ready to take that burden upon them, and to be the sacrifice. The demon queen could almost smell their doubt, the fear to lose their lives. And it made all the more bold. Too bold, in fact. “Very well then,” she said, suddenly lowering her guard, almost leisurely leaning back. “You have five seconds. Show me who’s faster.” They looked confused, even moreso when the woman just started counting down.

“Five…”

“Four…

“Three…”

Still they didn’t move, although one was edging towards trying, torn by the indecisiveness of their comrades. Something she’d hoped for; her cruelty earlier had made sure these soldiers wouldn’t take her up on such a generous offer, while in fact she’d actually allow them to go for their guns. After all, she wasn’t that much of a monster…

“Two…”

Yet this mind-fuckery was only possible because of old, bad habits; those years raised among and by Rune Knights -in another life-, by a foster father that knew how to legally use even the dirtiest of tricks. Yes, she knew. And yes, she used them, even now.

“One.”

“Heh. Time’s up.” She smiled, twisting her hand so her index was pointing up at the sky; the first one to look up finally realised what had happened. Dark clouds had parted to reveal a blazing ball of fire descending. Slow at first, but gradually picking up in speed, and aiming for their general area. Even if they ran now, they wouldn’t be able to dodge unless they could fly. The demoness however, could. Fire burst from her back, two large flames shaping like wings before carrying her away, the demoness trying her very best at keeping her facial expressions in check as a piercing pain shot through her chest. The poison was spreading again now she was overusing her magic again. It was still too soon. The gigantic ball of fire came raining down, crashing into the ground, engulfing the remaining officers in its radius as an explosion followed, leaving a large crater in its wake. With a hiss she managed to stay up in the air long enough to stay out of the impact’s range, and stumbled as she landed again, gripping her shoulder with most-visible pain tugging at her facial strings.

However, among the smoldering earth she was not alone. A lone soldier walked up on her, sword in hand, smaller than the one she had, but still large for mortal means. The demoness straightened immediately, just in time to narrowly miss the sword’s edge trying to separate her head from her shoulders as the soldier bridged the gap between them in the blink of an eye. Kenna gasped as a crescent beam of energy followed in the sword’s wake, propelling herself away from the danger. Crashing down hard she barely had the time before the female soldier blinked towards her again, her hand extended towards the woman’s abdomen as a blast of concentrated fire energy shot forth from it. Although it didn’t seem to bother the woman much, it did manage to push her back enough for the demoness to get back up on her feet, Zanbato materialising in her hand. Her hands were still tingling as she sent a second blast towards the Imperial Guard, only to find her cutting the beam in half as if it were nothing. Her eyes flicked back and forth between the woman and her blade and cursed, having finally connected the dots.

Magic wouldn’t work here. Not as long as that woman was still armed. And it seemed that Kenna’s realisation added the Guard’s bravado. With her eyes still pinned on her opponent the demoness engulfed herself in a red blazing aura, sustained wounds and fatigue healing so she could fight her at equal footing. Using magic here wouldn’t give her an advantage at all… so she’d have to use her sword. They eyed each other down, waiting, contemplating, for the other to make the first move and strike; yet the demoness knew that if the Imperial Guard made that first move, there’d be no way she’d be able to read her movements. Not at this point. What she could do however was to try and sense her with another sense entirely; something she knew she'd be able to depend upon more than her eyes. Her hearing. With her eyes closed Kenna started filtering out all the sounds around her, safe for the wind and the Imperial Guard. The wind shifted as the Guard moved, sword ready to impale the demoness when she countered, slamming the dull edge of her sword into the Guard's side, moving her trajectory. A step and sudden whistling, and she knew how the Guard had found her footing again, trying to strike again. There was a subtle change in the whistling sound of her attack; the crescent edge following in its wake. She ducked, one knee bent while the other allowed her to go low; a lock of hair came undone as the sharp edge ran through a few strands, but soon enough the dull sound of iron connecting to bone resonated. Her sword was turned around, blade down and pummel up as she jabbed it in the Guard's face, leaving a slight gash on her nose. Kenna glared as the Pergrandian tried to lash out again, countering the strike by hitting the woman's wrist. It only moved a little bit, but it created enough opening for Kenna to strike again. Black runes etched themselves upon her arm, swirling up her arm in a circular pattern, as if it were a snake climbing her arm. The start of her oldest technique; the Corrupted Fist. It was strong, and most of all, meant to kill, as it unleashed far more power than her other spells. When it connected she could feel how the Guard's body was molding around the shape of her fist, twisting to try and accommodate the powerful impact until she heard its most signature sound; that of breaking bones, and then the sound of the very earth breaking apart as her enemy was driven into it. She didn't even need to open her eyes to feel the life slipping from her foe, but she did so anyway, if only to grant the Guard a proper death with her sword in hand. But that was all there was to it. There was a loud sigh as Kenna called out towards no-one in particular, knowing Astarte was nearby and would hear her speak. "I think that's enough fighting for today… to be honest, I'm not sure how much longer I can last with it spreading again, either." she hissed as a sharp pain shot through her arm and shoulder, leaving her gasping for breath in an attempt to regain her bearing. "Urf… Let's just go." she replied, gripping her arm as she started moving again, back towards the main camp.







Wordcount: 1648 || 5196 of 4000

Casualties:
Imperial Army Recruits x 6/6 -> 2 of 2
Imperial Army Officer x 8/14 -> 7 of 7
Imperial Guard 1/1 -> 1 of 1