Humility and Pride. Courage and Fear.

Rolling for my enemies

The member 'Samira Nassar' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

---

'Monster Dice' :

Appearance

What is war? It is a very simple question with very simple definitions that could easily be found in even the oldest of dictionaries. Yet, the word is more complicated than it seems to be when those very definitions are read. It is something that has always existed even before the first history books were written with motivations and reasons that differ from one thing to another. Most commonly a war is initiated due to disagreements, prejudices, land expansion, political games and agendas, and sometimes all of the above. It could be very complex, yet the simplest and most notable at the word's core is the primitive need to conquer. The tension between Pergrande and Bellum was one such example. The intricate history of the two nations and their hatred for one another being able to be defined in a more simple and almost laughable way. A different sort of mind would have hoped that the two nations would be content to be as they were. That the leaders and the people of the two countries would one day be able to see their history as a way to grow instead of using it as a reason to destroy one another. That was just idealistic folly, however. Eventually the two were always doomed to fight against one another and declare war, with the expectation that their allies would gladly come along for participation points. Even their current clash wouldn't be the last. It was just one battle in the bigger picture. One single entry for the history books. One movie in a series that was likely to become repetitive, predictable, and boring by the end. The only thing currently up in the air was the ending to it all and how the other nations would play their parts by then.

That train of thought and more were circling around the head of the mage known as Samira Nassar. As an ally to Bellum, it was expected that Fiore would answer their call for aid. There was no telling how many mages and guilds were joining the fight along the border of the two conflicting nations just from Fiore alone. Other allied nations were also likely to be present. Pergrande was most certainly doing the same. Not that they really needed the aid if certain rumors were to be true, but anything was better than nothing if they wanted a quick and decisive victory. Of course, what other nations did mattered little to Samira. What directly mattered to her was Fiore's stance. As one of the four Gods and Goddesses of Ishgar and the ten Wizard Saints, it was not surprising that the Council would send their own call for her. Ridiculous. Not surprising, yes. The minutes were even counted on how long she'd receive notice after she heard of the battles. It was still absurd that they went through with it. The war between Bellum and Pergrande was a fight for soldiers. Mages and even those of non-magical origin that were trained and experienced for such battles of conquest. Samira was not one. If she had any interest at all in taking up a uniform and being a part of a grand military unit she would have joined the Rune Knights long ago or even had traded up her Sabertooth mark for that of Dies Irae. Her preference and strength lied on dealing with matters of magical origin and on matters that existed outside the normal realm. Her cause was to protect Fiore and Ishgar from those sorts of threats. A battle between nations, while indeed significant and important, was not her motivation or reason for being.

Beyond that, there was more pounding the wall of her inner mind. An inner conflict of her own that was just as tense as the outside forces that wanted the blood of the opposing side to stain the snow capped peaks of the border. Did they intend for her to kill the soldiers of Pergrande? Of course they did. There wasn't a doubt in her mind otherwise. The mages, knights, and archpriests of the Bellum army had already given her looks and comments that made it seem as if they truly believed that their great god Arcanos had blessed her in ways only the most fortunate of mages could experience. Surely victory would be swift and easy with such a mage fighting for them! The same would be true for any of the other many powerful mages from other nations that joined the battle, most likely. Whether the Ishgarian god of magic existed or not she did not know. Other magical gods were the ones she knew to exist and they were the ones to give her power, not Arcanos. If only they had known that for the first ten years of her life she had shown no signs of being magical at all. Their opinions of her might have changed. Bellum's view of anyone without the ability to use magic was not a secret. Yet, they were counting on one that started out as such and ended up later obtaining a power level very few in the world matched. It was humorous and yet disgustingly disappointing that the country had such a view. Samira disapproved and yet out of the two they were the lesser of two evils. Would they really look down on her if she were to tell that small detail about herself? Another thing that was unknown, and on that she did not see the point to acting on the thought to find the answer.

Regardless of the views of Bellum and its fighters, what Samira did know was that the battle would be far from being too easy if the rumors of Pergrande's abilities to render magic useless and ineffective were true. As much as she detested the idea of it, using her most powerful abilities just for survival might have to be an option. The chances of survival even for them being minimal. It was yet another reason why an experienced soldier was better suited than herself. A soldier was trained to eliminate an enemy. Killing another was never off the table, and they were ready to make that decision repeatedly and deal with the effects later if they had them. Samira was not. There had only been one time she had to resort to that option and it had been so long ago that she could almost convince herself it never happened in the first place. In actuality though, a part of her wondered if it wasn't so much the act of doing what may be necessary that made her hesitate. Pergrande, while it had its beliefs and flaws, was not a nation she considered as an enemy. She had helped them in the past and even had allies there. To fight against them now would permanently break those ties, naturally, but it also felt wrong to be a part of the battle in the first place. There was also the chance that she might run into the very ones she had met and saved back then. Would that mean it was time to end the borrowed time she had given them? The Goddess of Ishgar was not ready to make that sort of decision or take such an action. After all that time and experience she had accumulated over the years she was still sheltered from that harsh part of the world's reality. Her status and title didn't make it even less pathetic. It only made it more so.

Where Samira was currently there was no fighting thus far. She and the group of Bellum mages and soldiers were high above on a mountainside, able to look down on the wider snow covered landscape below where the fighting had started. It was a sudden start, or at least appeared to be. For the two nations it was years and years worth of eagerness and tension that was finally unleashed. From the looks of it, both sides were having difficulty dealing with the other, although from a more experienced eye and observer Pergrande had the upper hand. For a nation that utilized absolutely no magic at all, they were quite powerful and had the ability to improvise in order to make up for... well weakness would have been the term she would have used but Pergrande likely did not consider a lack of magic capability to be weak. There was something a bit off though. The use of psychic abilities, mainly telekinesis, was not missed. How strange that they would make use of such a supernatural ability. Anyone else would have considered that to be magical, and even Samira herself had once had a close friend that utilized such a gift. Now Samira was sure that she had to be wary just from what she had seen in the past when psychic abilities were used in battle. Like she thought the battle would not be easy if she held back anything at all. Her eyes narrowed as she watched and the turmoil inside her grew. She was afraid. Not so much the battle or what the other side was capable of. It was finding out what she was capable of to ensure survival and victory for the side she was on.

"Ms. Nassar!" The voice of one of the Archpriests of Arcanos called as he approached. "Our forces down there need help! We need you to use your power to clear those Pergrande savages out while we make our way there to join them and prepare for the next strike! I have heard of the power of the Wizard Saints. Targeting them all from this distance should not be impossible for someone that has the eyes of Arcanos watching over them!"

The Archpriest had temporarily broken the summoner from her thoughts. She blinked and gazed at him as she came back to full reality. His words finally set in as her brain translated them from the gibberish she had previously heard while not paying attention. Samira had to resist the urge to scoff at them. He had no idea what he was demanding. "Archpriest," Samira began respectfully, "if I were to do as you suggest and use a spell capable of covering that entire area with the intent to destroy the lives of your own people would be in just as much danger as those on the side of Pergrande. I am certain that is not the result you had in mind, correct?"

The Archpriest was baffled and speechless at first. In his eagerness to destroy Pergrande he had forgotten about that fact. "R-right." Still, he frowned. His people were strong and even the Archpriests down there fighting already had powerful supportive magic that would protect them from such a spell. In theory. If the power of the Saints were to be held in such high regard then that meant even Archpriests had to come to the realization that their magic was not enough to protect against such a spell. Thankfully, they were not fighting such mages of powerful might. They were fighting just Pergrande. Unless there were mages foolish enough to side with them. Now the Archpriest's mind was rushing with uncertainty. "Please don't use that sort of magic then unless my people and allies are out of the way. We are going down now as reinforcements. May Arcanos continue to watch over you this day." With that said, the Archpriest left her there and went on to order his group. He had quickly seen that suggesting things to her was not much of an option and a waste of time. She'd do what she thought was best. The group then left entirely to join the battlefield down below. Samira stayed for a while longer.

A bit more time passed and the winds of the mountain side blew loudly and coldly. Samira paid it no mind. The cold was barely noticeable even in her current attire. The link with Ra was fully active and kept her warm, even if himself remained silent. In fact, all of her spirits were silent. Perhaps they were for once letting her think over matters for herself instead of adding and filling her head with their own input. She appreciated that and the silence.

Samira had come to a decision as she stood there in the snow, watching the battle progress. To get through whatever happened that day, or after, the part of her mental state that was hesitating and holding her back would have to be weakened or turned off entirely. If such a thing was even possible to do in such a short amount of time. Perhaps she could get by as she always did and just render the enemy incapable of fighting by unconsciousness or something else. If Bellum wanted them dead they could do it themselves. But was that even possible in that sort of fight?

From the viewpoints of others, Samira looked completely vulnerable and unaware of anything around her. It was what the group of soldiers from Pergrande had thought. They were merely Imperial Army Recruits on patrol looking for any small groups of Bellum's army and vantage points that would give them long range advantage. When they saw Samira they didn't know if she was of Bellum or some other nation, but they certainly knew that she wasn't with them with that get up. Of course, Pergrande did hire mages for the fight as well, but as far as they knew none of them were in that location. That meant she was an enemy, and it was best to deal with a mage by surprise than it was to ask questions and get obliterated later. It wasn't as if they were paladins that could handle even the most powerful of mages!

The six of them silently motioned to each other and prepared to fire their weapons on the lone unsuspecting mage. They'd never complete the action. Their weapons dropped and their blood soaked the white snow around them. Each of the six had been impaled by spears that shot up out of the ground. The fortunate ones died instantly, the blades having gone straight through their skulls. The others died a bit slower, the seconds of pain feeling like an eternity until they gurgled their last breath. While Samira was aware of both the patrol and what had just transpired she did not react or mind. She was used to others around her doing that act even if she herself had issues with it.

"I hope you do not think I am going to guard you all day while you stand there." The grumpy voice of Anhur, one of her spirits in his more... mortal form stated. He had made himself comfortable standing at the entrance of a small cave located on a cliff further above. If that patrol had just turned a bit they might have seen him and avoided their error, but they did not, and so he had no issue with giving them their fate. The spirit lion was one that represented one of the many gods of war. Unlike Samira the entire thing didn't bother him and he couldn't understand fully why it bothered her. The only thing with him was that he cared little about that particular battle. The state of the mortal realm's lands was the last thing he intended to fight for. He was just there on guard duty.

"No. I suppose that would be a waste of your time. And mine." Watching the battle was not what she was there for, after all.

Word Count: 2599

Enemies Defeated:
6/6 Imperial Army Recruit
0/12 Imperiall Army Officer
0/1 Imperial Guard
0/1 Imperial Paladin

I am rolling for Leona's enemies.

The member 'Leona Jarnefeldt' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

---

'Monster Dice' :

Wearing her all-white winter camouflage gear and equipped with Ses Revanche hidden in her right boot, Adaptable Armor configured in white winter camouflage pattern over her jacket, and Ranger Laser Rifle slung on her right shoulder, Leona had entered Bellum airspace almost thirty minutes ago. She flew towards the battlefield on her signature summon, the Winged Lion while being escorted by the Furies, those three winged sisters who were her strongest summons. Leona did not have time for niceties like walking to the battlefield because judging from a few reports she had read in her office the situation along the border between Bellum and Pergrande had been growing more and more tense until all-out war threatened to erupt at any moment. Since she was a Wizard Saint, Leona was all but obligated to heed the call to arms.

She had answered the call with alacrity and enthusiasm, gathering up the best of her personal gear and weapons before leaving Silver Wolf Guild Hall and heading for Bellum. However, Leona had come to fight for Bellum out of more than just the obligations attached to her honored title. Some of those reasons were noble, others less noble and more personal. Regardless of how noble or petty those reasons were, Leona had many reasons to fight today.

First of all, she was the Wizard Saint of Courage and she was going to show Pergrande that the "Wizard Saint of Courage" was not just a snappy title that was chosen on a whim. Leona would prove her courage to Pegrande, to Bellum, and to the world. She would fight Pergrande today and prove to them that whenever they threatened Bellum they would not be facing a paper tiger with a fancy title, but a battle-hardened lioness with very sharp fangs.

Second, Leona was fighting for the people of Bellum and their right to exist. Pergrande had nothing good planned for Bellum and Leona could not let the infamously anti-mage country carry out its sinister plans. She would not stand by and let harm come to people whose greatest crime was being born with magic.

Third, Leona was fighting for everyone in Earthland who had magic. A lot of people she knew stood to die if Pergrande's forces were allowed to march through Bellum unopposed and decided to not stop there. Her family, her home village, Nebdoui's allies, the guild she was entrusted to lead, Samira Nassar, and Masha all stood to die if she did not take a stand today. That could not be allowed to happen. Leona would do everything in her power to make sure that it did not happen.

From her lofty perch in the sky Leona saw signs of fighting in a mountainous area near the border where the action was reported to be taking place. Knowing that there was no time and urged the Winged Lion onward while the Furies followed close behind. Soon she would be in battle not only for the lives of others, but for her own life. Pergrande would be eager to eliminate one of Fiore's celebrated Wizard Saints and they would throw every soldier they could muster at her to make it happen. However, Leona was going to make use of her summons to draw the attention of some of the soldiers away from her and increase her chances of making it out of this battle alive.

Leona landed on a mountainside overlooking the battlefield where the fighting was taking place and motioned for the Winged Lion to stand still while the Furies took to the sky again to await her command. She felt a surge of magic power and noticed Samira Nassar standing by and wearing attire Leona had never seen her wear before. That must have meant that the Goddess of Humility meant business. Leona quickly slipped her SHG-IV Smart Glasses out of her left side pocket, put them onto her face, and powered them on so that she could spot any enemies who were trying to be clever and get the drop on her by sneaking around. She did not know exactly what kind of tools that Pergrande's soldiers had at their disposal, but she knew that they had a professional military equipped with top-of-the-line gear and weaponry and plenty of training with said gear and weaponry... Leona was not fighting ill-equipped bandits today.

The Wizard Saint took her Ranger Laser Rifle from her shoulder and looked towards an area where six soldiers in white winter gear with black vests, gas masks that completely covered their faces, and white helmets lay motionless on the snow with numerous puncture wounds from some kind of sharp objects driven through their heads and bodies. Leona winced at the sight. Samira must have already made contact with the enemy and eliminated some of their scouts. The Wizard Saint's Smart Glasses flickered to life and showed six target markers.

She saw six soldiers dressed exactly like the fallen soldiers walking in a rough echelon formation armed with sleek-looking weapons come across the bodies of their fellows. The two parties spotted each other at roughly the same time and paused in place, raising their weapons. Leona backed off and carefully aimed through the scope, began firing at the first of the men in the middle while his fellows opened up on the Wizard Saint.

Leona hit the first man in the chest once but was grazed on both pauldrons by return fire from the other five... she needed to get to cover before she was chopped to pieces by fully automatic gunfire. While the Wizard Saint dropped to the ground on her stomach The Winged Lion sprung to Leona's defense without being ordered to... he flew straight towards the soldiers with his claws extended and drew the gunfire of the soldiers away from her. Leona took advantage of the distraction to fire three more shots at the first soldier and kill him with three laser shots to the chest before Winged Lion succumbed to massed gunfire and disappeared.

Leona cursed under her breath and mentally ordered her Furies to provide another distraction. She heard them accept the command and buried her face in the snow to avoid taking a headshot this early in the fight. The five remaining soldiers were staggering their gunfire so that Leona did not have a clear shot on them... one fired a burst at her, then the next in line fired a burst, and so on. The Wizard Saint was pinned down for a full thirty-five seconds until the Furies swooped down and began harassing the soldiers with talons extended.

Seeing an opportunity to fight back, Leona carefully aimed her Ranger Laser Rifle and activated the Armor-Piercing Shot mode, causing the barrel to glow blood red. Leona ignored the pain in her shoulders and aimed for the chest of one of the two men still keeping Leona pinned down. She squeezed the trigger and fired a bright red shot that hit the soldier in the chest and hurt him, but it was not a kill shot. Fortunately for her he needed to reload, giving her a chance to fire two more shots to the chest that killed him and made the second soldier collapse to the snow.

Leona winced as the snow around her head was kicked up by a rain of bullets and her left shoulder was rocked by an impact... she had been hit by a round. The third soldier had to reload, so Leona steadied her aim and fired a single shot to the chest that wounded him. However, he was not killed, so he completed the reload and primed the weapon just as Leona fired two unsteady shots: the first hit him in the chest and the second only grazed his shoulder. Her left shoulder was hurting, but she had to keep fighting.

Leona ignored the rain of bullets dancing around her and fired a fourth shot that hit him in the chest and killed the third soldier. Meanwhile Megeara and Alecto continued to harass the soldiers with their talons. Tisiphone had been "killed", but judging from the gashes on their uniform sleeves the soldiers were somewhat scarred from the fight with the Furies. One of them noticed Leona was still alive and turned away from the winged summons while his fellows fired at the Furies. He aimed for her head, but Leona shot first with an Armor-Piercing Shot and hit him squarely in the chest. Leona followed up with two more shots to the chest that killed the fourth soldier.

The Wizard Saint hardly had time to breathe and raise herself to a kneeling position before the Furies were "killed" and the two soldiers turned their full attention back to Leona. However, Leona was ready for them. Ignoring the pain in her left shoulder, she steadied the Ranger Laser Rifle and aimed for the head of the man on the left. The pain and adrenaline caused her hand to wobble at the last moment and instead the shot grazed his right shoulder. The soldier on the right fired and began kicking up snow with bullets that marched towards Leona until she felt a few impacts on her abdomen.

Leona clenched her teeth and forced herself to aim carefully. She aimed at the chest of the man on the left and fired three successive shots that hit him in the chest and killed the fifth soldier. She turned her aim to the man on the right, who had just completed reloading and now turned his weapon on the blonde. Leona aimed and fired first, hitting him in the chest with an Armor-Piercing Shot followed up by three rapid normal shots. The last soldier dropped to the ground, leaving Leona bruised but elated.

She had done well with her new Ranger Laser Rifle, but she had better not get too cocky. Her left shoulder and abdomen, while having been saved from penetrating shots thanks to the Adaptable Armor, were still hurting and bruised from multiple bullet impacts. Wiping the smile from her face, Leona stood up and walked over to Samira, stopping short of her fellow Wizard Saint and taking a deep breath of cold air.

"Hey Samira. I see that you've been taking care of business before I got here." Leona commented without much emotion about the cluster of dead soldiers she had just added to. Leona then took another deep breath. She was glad she had worn her Adaptable Armor because if she had not she would be in a world of pain right now.

"What do you want to do from here? Do you want to stay and defend this area or do you want to go on the hunt for more of those soldiers?" Leona asked Samira while keeping her eyes open for more trouble. There were bound to be more Pergrande soldiers in the area who had heard the commotion and were on the way to investigate the disturbance. Leona was ready for them... she would show Pergrande that the Wizard Saint of Courage would live up to the virtue in her title and stand firm against them no matter how many soldiers were sent her way.

[Post Word Count: 1,864]
[Leona's Word Count: 1,864/4,000]

Enemies Defeated:
6/9 Imperial Army Recruits
0/8 Imperial Army Officers
0/2 Imperial Guard
0/1 Imperial Paladin- Private

The crunching of footsteps upon the snow was not missed by Samira. Even as they got closer she made no effort to react to them. They did not belong to an enemy. The magical presence that came with them was familiar. Although, there was something a bit different about it as well that she could not yet place. Perhaps it had something to do with the nearby battle. The shots had echoed along the peaks of the mountains, making them sound closer but Samira was not all too sure how close. There were battle sounds all around by that point. So, she merely waited until the source got closer. If she were wrong about the identity then Anhur would take care of it long before the person had time to do any harm towards her.

The spirit had not made any drastic movements, however. He more or less just confirmed her original theory instead. The voice of Leona confirmed it even more. "More or less." Samira answered, still staring at the battle below and not turning towards her friend. She wasn't about to go into the fact that she had been standing there for what felt like ages, fighting herself more than the enemies of Bellum. "I see that you were called here as well. That makes two of the Wizard Saints. I had wondered how many would attend and take part in this."

Leona asked what she wanted to do from there, giving only two possible answers to that question. Neither of which Samira truly wanted to do. Although, the second suggestion made her realize what was a bit different to the blonde's aura. The other Wizard Saint was ready to keep going. To fight Pergrande for whatever cause it was she believed in. Something more than just because they were enemies of Bellum. Or so Samira would have originally hoped. The word usage was a bit disturbing to her, and reminded her of another she used to know. Leona was not so far gone as that one, she was sure, but Leona was clearly no stranger to ending life.

"Hunt?" Samira murmured, followed by a soft chuckle of strange amusement. "That sounds so predatory." It was fitting actually. Leona seemed more of a predator than usual that day. That was her true combative side. Samira had never seen it if her memory was anything to go by. Their interactions rarely had fighting involved, and when it did it was against enemies that could not be taken too seriously, such as living grilled cheese sandwiches. Samira herself was not much of a hunter for people. True at one point in her history she was a member of Lamia Scale, a guild that had one of its focuses on monster hunting, that did not mean that she had turned that skillset on people. Although one could suppose that in a way Pergrande was viewed as monsters. Same for the reverse. Even Leona and herself could be categorized as monsters by someone or something. There was so much thinking going on in her head that she almost forgot to even answer the question.

"The main battle, at least at this part of the border, is below us. The Archpriests and their mages that were here have already left to join. I will send some support their way. As for what we should do, I suggest we locate the reinforcements and rid the battlefield of them before they are allowed to join in. I would hazard a guess that this would be much easier to accomplish when allies are not in the way. I believe this counts as 'hunting'." Samira turned to face Leona then, keeping her full gaze away from the soldiers Anhur had taken care of. It didn't take much effort to spot the bullet impacts on the armor. Leona was lucky that she had such protective armor, but Samira was unsure of how long it would last if the woman that was titled courage was already getting hit by the lowest ranking of enemies.

Samira reached out, her hand beginning to glow a faint celestial light as it touched the armor in one of the areas the bullets had made impact. The light gently spread, its magic and power affecting underneath it to heal the bruises Leona had obtained. It was a very minor thing, yes, but there was no telling the next time they would find peace long enough to get back to one hundred percent. At least those aches would no longer be a distraction for Leona. The light and power faded, completing its purpose. Samira moved her hand back and let it once again fall to her side. "I also suggest being more careful from this point forward. As you have seen even the weakest of Pergrande soldiers can cause trouble for the strongest of mages. You will have to use more than that weapon eventually." There was truth in what she said, but what Samira did not add on was that Leona should not have gotten hit at all. Not while she was at full strength and mobility. She wasn't sure if Leona was holding back her power to make it more of an equal playing field, or if she just wanted to try out that gun of hers. She didn't ask. Already she was planning to have to use her magic to help defend Leona and cover her, but that could only go so far. Anything could happen to break that process or even divide them.

Getting back to what had to be done, Samira focused her attention on the battle below and called forth three of her spirits; Isis, Athena, and Amaterasu. They all three appeared, their forms coming into existence after a burst of different colored magic particles. Samira instructed them to help the Bellum army down below, both in support and offensively. It was only a matter of time before the Pergrande forces down there became zero. If all went well, that is. Anhur was sent as well as a just in case measure. Samira herself did not need his guard duty any longer.

"Are you ready to start the hunt?" Samira then asked her companion, doing well to hide her thoughts and emotions about the whole thing.

(Word Count: 1047
Samira Total: 3646)

Samira Enemies Defeated:
6/6 Imperial Army Recruit
0/12 Imperiall Army Officer
0/1 Imperial Guard
0/1 Imperial Paladin

Leona was still riding the adrenaline rush from fighting the men in white when Samira spoke to her in a voice as calm as Leona's was when the blonde had addressed her. Maybe "calm" was the wrong word for it. "Apprehensive" might be more fitting, but the blonde did not have any problem with that. Not everyone was as eager for battle as she was.

"Yeah, Samira. I was called to help too. And I'm not sure how many of the other Wizard Saints would participate in this expedition." Leona confirmed that she too had been called to help Bellum in its hour of need. Leona had answered the call because she was the Wizard Saint of Courage and for her to refuse the call would do a great disservice to her title. She also answered the call because it was the right thing to do. She could not stand by and let Pergrande march all over Bellum either figuratively or literally.

Leona took a breath of cold air and let the wind blow her hair about as she tried to calm down enough to think rationally.

The Wizard Saint had just had her first taste of battle with an enemy that had more advanced equipment and better training than she was used to dealing with and the experience had made her a bit apprehensive. The last time she had been in Desierto some bandits had started arming themselves with bolt-action and semi-automatic rifles, but her home village's militia was similarly armed, so while combat had become more dangerous it was still manageable. However, Pergrande's soldiers were armed with fully automatic weapons that were so advanced that they were far more dangerous than anything Leona had encountered to date... other than that "new breed" vampire in the Cursed Lands and the pirate Captain Hector Espada.

It was easy to talk of courage when most of one's opponents were mostly equipped with melee weapons and were loosely organized, but it was a different matter when one's adversaries were members of a professional standing army supplied with the latest and greatest equipment and were rigorously trained in how to use it. Samira seemed to be slightly amused by Leona's question about a "hunt" for Pergrande's forces in the area and noted how "predatory" it made Leona sound. It was appropriate terminology for a lioness to use, but right now was not the time for clever wordplay. Leona refrained from smiling because this was no game... people had already died and more would die today.

"Maybe "hunt" is a poor choice of words for what we're about to do. It makes this whole business sound like a hobby, something to do when you're tired of surfing the Lacrimanet or watching television." Leona conceded to her esteemed colleague. Even if the war was being fought for a good cause like the preservation of Bellum's right to exist, war was still harsh and involved taking some lives to save others. Leona had long ago gotten accustomed to taking life when she had started fighting against the Crimson Sashes at the age of twelve to both stay alive and to keep Nebdoui from getting wiped out. Leona was used to fighting to stay alive, so much so that sometimes she forgot that others had not been born into the circumstances she was.

"Maybe I should have said "search for" instead of "hunt", but you get the idea. We're not gonna win this by sitting back and waiting for the enemy to come to us. If we look for them first we have a better chance of getting to fight on our terms instead of them getting to dictate where we fight." Leona rephrased her comment to Samira and explained why she wanted to go searching for Pergrande's forces instead of waiting to be found by the enemy. Leona looked around her and saw no natural cover for her to hide behind, which was another reason she wanted to get moving. If the Wizard Saints took the initiative maybe they could fight somewhere with some cover for the blonde to hide behind so that she did not get shot up again like she had during the previous fight. Speaking of which, Samira had healed Leona and warned her to be more cautious because the enemies she had fought were the lowest-ranking soldiers and their firepower could still give Wizard Saints a hard time if they were not careful. Leona's armor and summons had saved her from an untimely death, as did heaping doses of luck.

Next time she might not be so lucky as to run into low-ranking soldiers. Next time she might be going up against soldiers who were both better armed and better trained than their predecessors. Standing out in the open and shooting at them was a surefire way to get sent to an early grave.

"I'll be more careful during the next fight, Samira. I haven't faced firepower like that before... in the past the worst I've been up against was bolt-action rifles and semi-automatic rifles. I had no idea that modern weapons could fire so fast. I'm lucky that I thought far enough ahead to wear my Adaptable Armor or I'd be a lot worse off than just having physical bruises and bruised pride." Leona told Samira. The Wizard Saint of Courage had not performed at her best earlier because this was her first time going up against enemies with automatic weapons that could fire at speeds Leona never knew were possible. She also had no cover to take shelter behind, so she figured that the best thing for her to do was stand and fight while using her summons as distractions instead of wasting time looking for cover that did not exist and getting shot in the back for her trouble.

"I'm also not used to this weapon yet, Samira. I've used a semi-automatic carbine that fired bullets a couple of times before, but I've never used a laser rifle until today. That's a big transition for me." Leona explained part of the reason for her underwhelming performance, slightly raising her right hand and with it the Ranger Laser Rifle so that Samira could see it. That was no excuse for the poor showing earlier, but she wanted to assure Samira that the Wizard Saint of Courage was not so reckless that she did not see the value of solid cover and evasive maneuvers. At least Leona was smart enough to wear armor and bring a laser rifle as her primary weapon instead of her usual Silver Longsword. Trying to get within sword range of soldiers with automatic weapons would be a foolish venture for Leona. The best-case scenario was that she managed to kill a group of soldiers but took a lot of hits and was left so badly wounded that she would be at death's door... the worst-case scenario would be that she died in a hail of gunfire without landing any hits in return.

"I got it a few weeks ago from an old client of mine, but I've been keeping it under wraps because I didn't want anyone to get warning that I had a laser rifle. Now the cat's out of the bag, so to speak. I know it's not a smart idea to go into battle with an untested weapon, but sometimes the best weapon is one your enemy doesn't see coming." Leona explained a little about where she had gotten her Ranger Laser Rifle and why she had not used it until now. She was sure that Samira would not be happy to hear that, but Leona would bear Samira's displeasure because the surprise had been maintained until today. Now that the element of surprise was lost word would get out that the Wizard Saint of Courage was now packing a laser rifle, but that was fine. She would just need to be smarter about fighting from here on out.

Speaking of fights, the stand-and-fight approach Leona had used had worked for her first encounter with Pergrande's soldiers, but Leona would need to find a better way of fighting the next enemies she encountered because all of them would not be as easily dispatched as the soldiers in white were. Leona would need to use her speed and mobility to her advantage instead of standing out in the open relying on her armor, summons, and just plain luck to save her from being cut to pieces by automatic gunfire. With that in mind, Leona set her Ranger Laser Rifle down, raised her hands to the sky, and mentally summoned both Sky Champion Rafale and the Furies to her side. The faithful summons appeared before Leona, who lowered her hands and faced them.

She mentally ordered them to take to the sky and await her instructions. All four of them nodded and took off almost immediately. Now that she had summoned her faithful summons again and they had gotten airborne Leona picked her rifle back up and turned to Samira.

"I'm ready to begin our search for enemy forces whenever you're ready, Samira." Leona said to Samira, making sure to use language that sounded a little less casual so that Samira did not get the impression that her companion was having fun at the expense of other people's lives. This fight was a serious endeavor and was one that should not be trivialized by making it sound like a game. Leona took a deep breath and looked around her for more enemy soldiers. So far the coast was clear, but soon she would be back in the action, so she would need to be focused on the task at hand. The wind picked up and rustled Leona's hair again as she took a few calming breaths and waited for Samira to take the lead.

It felt like the calm before the storm.

[Post Word Count: 1,648]
[Leona's Word Count: 3,512/4,000]

Enemies Defeated:
6/9 Imperial Army Recruits
0/8 Imperial Army Officers
0/2 Imperial Guard
0/1 Imperial Paladin- Private

Leona did not really have to explain her choice of words to her, but it was appreciated. Regardless of the poor wording the logic was there and sound, and Samira agreed with it partly. So long as they were prepared for the possibility of being ambushed they could rightly stand a good chance of winning the fight. Easily even if Pergrande kept sending the same sort of soldiers on patrol. Samira had no interest in doing that, however. She wanted to go further and take out the sort that were not being used on the frontlines just yet. There were likely more dangerous ones among that group of reinforcements just waiting to join the main battle and turn the tide if necessary. That is, if what Samira had seen of the battle below was anything to go by. Pergrande would surely have much more of those elite psychics on standby. Unless they were foolish. A part of Samira believed that they were fools after having declared war on practically the entirety of the magical world when attacking Bellum. Its allies, such as Fiore, would answer the call and attempt to send the very best of mages and power to help. Did Pergrande truly believe they had a chance at besting that kind of power? How bothersome. Either they really were fools or Samira was right to be cautious concerning the rumors. There was only one way to find out though. Well two if she just tossed Leona out there to see and test the anti-magic prowess of the invading army, but perhaps her own powers were better suited for that test. It was a strange sort of comfort that battled her currently plagued over thinking mind. If they could render her magic useless then they wouldn't die from even her strongest spells. They'd survive.

"You are not the only one that has not gone up against that sort of firepower before from a weapon such as that. I am more used to dealing with the magical variety. We should be grateful that so far their weapons have not been made well enough to pierce through armor such as yours." Now just how powerful would they be up against magical shields? Samira didn't possess the same sort of armor as Leona. In fact, even the one armor spell she had was mostly magical in composition. It would be like wearing absolutely nothing if her shields were useless. Another test that would have to be done. One that could have a grim fate coming along as a result.

The weapon Leona carried got Samira's attention once the former started to speak of it and show it off. Samira knew almost nothing of guns except for what she had seen. Knowing the difference between the ones Leona spoke of was, at that point, impossible. All Samira could do was nod to signify some small matter of understanding. It was a new weapon, possibly more powerful than what Leona was used to, and as such it needed a bit more practice in use before she could fully master it. Despite what Leona might have assumed with her being unhappy about it, Samira didn't show displeasure from what had been told to her. The timing of the war wasn't exactly meant to be in their favor. It also made it better in the fact that it was a single firearm and not a nuke.... as far as she could guess with her limited knowledge. "As long as it does not explode or do much worse to backfire on us I am certain that it will be fine even untested. At least those that have seen you with it are either an ally or dead. It will still be a surprise for the enemy." Provided that there were no other lookouts and scouts watching from elsewhere, of course. In a way Samira didn't consider it to be too surprising. Pergrande probably excelled at dealing with enemy fire from standard weapons. Then again, how many mages did they run into that packed that sort of weapon? Leona's plan could still work. Still, there were so many uncertainties and what ifs already that day. Samira did not like that.

After Leona had stated that she was ready that was all that needed to be done to get going and move on. Of course, once it happened there was still the matter of how they were going to safely find the enemy's idle reinforcements. They were too out in the open to search on foot. With all the cliffs and caves they were solid targets for long range fire or ambush. Samira didn't exactly have a true way of traveling underground while knowing what's on the surface. She had spirits for that but that did not exactly solve the issue of herself and Leona's well being. Even using Janus' portals would give them away before they could make the first move against the trigger happy Pergrande soldiers. That left making an air assault, of which both she and Leona were capable of doing, with the latter excelling at that due to her power over the wind and her summons. Again, they'd be noticeable targets, but maybe if they were quick enough they could make it work. Under the cover of a storm, of course.

Making her own preparations, Samira began to use portions of her magic power to put up her defenses to protect both herself and Leona. Two small glowing symbols that resembled hieroglyphs and radiated energy also appeared on her forehead and could be seen as the passing wind blew through her bangs. While she wasn't prepared to use her most powerful spells, she didn't want to leave too much to chance. In her opinion, what she had going should be enough. At least for now. Whatever god Pergrande believed in had better have mercy on their souls if they forced her to use anything more drastic because she was sure that in the end she would not.

Samira set her eyes on Leona again as she slowly walked over towards the cliff's edge. "I am of the opinion that searching on foot will have more problems than we would care to deal with. We are both able to travel and search while airborne and it will give us a better view of everything around us. The only issue is that we too can be seen. I will have a summon make a storm to cover our presence. We must act quickly after that. It will not hide us for long before they realize it is of magical nature." She didn't ask for Leona's advice or her opinion. Quite frankly, they were running out of time to be spent dawdling, and since Leona had not taken the lead she could only assume that the Wizard Saint of Courage was waiting for Samira to make the move forward. If it had been a less dangerous scenario she would have commented her thoughts on how that seemed backwards, but she supposed that was something to be amused by after the day was done. After she had gotten over everything that had transpired and what would transpire soon after. If that were at all possible.

The "Goddess" faced the cliffside fully now, once again staring emotionless at the surroundings regardless of how she felt inside. "Kukulkan, I require your aid." Her voice was forcefully covered in a commanding tone despite the word choice seeming more of a request. There was no time to deal with the feathered serpent's usual rebellious attitude that day.

"Heh, just because we're not yelling inside your skull like usual doesn't mean we can't hear what you're thinking. I already know the plan." The deep but also strangely feminine voice of the spirit replied seemingly from nowhere. Spirit particles began to appear, swirling with the wind and even seeming to take it over. The shape of a very large winged serpent was formed and in a quick flash of light the spirit was summoned fully, curled around the two mages and taking up pretty much the entire cliffside with her body's length. Along with Kukulkan came two others that she had called forth as soon as she was summoned. The avatars of Quetzalcoatl and Qʼuqʼumatz, their forms being in the form of wind that could be seen, soared in the air above and worked to create a windstorm that darkened the sky and made the snow swirl at rapid speeds to blind anyone trying to see within and into the affected area. Only Samira and her allies would be unaffected, so long as they remained near enough to Kukulkan, who was able to control the winds around herself even within the storm. They would be able to fly and see fine for the most part. What they couldn't see she surely could.

"You can choose to either ride on Kukulkan or find your own way." Samira told Leona, facing her again as she walked over towards the lying serpent and hopped on the scaly back near the spirit's head. She ignored the agitated hisses that came immediately after. Kuku disliked being used as a sort of travel mount, but even she had to tolerate it and agree that it was the best option to travel and see through the storm. Samira had many ways to fly, but none were as perfect for the situation as she. "I imagine your own summons carrying you would be far more comfortable and trustworthy."

After Leona had made her choice, Kukulkan would give her large wings a flap and take off, sending a powerful blast of wind all around her. The slicing wind blast cut through parts of the mountain side it had touched. The surfaces crumbled and broke apart in a mix of large and small chunks. The most interesting thing was that there apparently was a group of long range scouts, technically officers within Pergrande's ranks, hiding nearby. Unfortunately for them, they weren't exactly prepared for that storm or the spirit's abilities. The razor wind blast cut right through their cover and continued along right through their bodies as well. Of those that survived, the falling rocks of the mountain crushed them before they could get out of the way, finishing them off. They probably should have fired upon the two mages when they had the chance, but after seeing their lower ranking soldiers meet such fates they were trying to be cautious. Apparently being too cautious could backfire greatly. A lesson they learned too late. Hopefully the two mages fair better there.

(Word Count: 1765
Samira Total: 5411)

4000 used for Event
New WC: 1411

Samira Enemies Defeated:
6/6 Imperial Army Recruit
4/12 Imperial Army Officer
0/1 Imperial Guard
0/1 Imperial Paladin

"I've been shot at by guns that fire actual physical bullets a few times before today, Samira. One time I was shot in the left shoulder by a pirate captain wielding a flintlock pistol built into his sword. Another time a slaver gang attacked my village and they were carrying mostly semi-automatic rifles. I got grazed by those once and grazed by a slaver leader carrying a revolver twice... if I remember correctly. Either way I've been shot at before, but not by fully automatic weapons like those soldiers had." Leona gave Samira a brief description of her experiences being in the line of fire. Samira had expressed gratitude for the fact that Leona's armor stood up to the bullets of Pergrande's soldiers and the blonde nodded in agreement. If she had not been wearing armor she would have likely been shredded by the automatic weapon fire of the soldiers in white long before Samira could aid her. Leona's death would have been a great propaganda victory for Pergrande because they would be able to claim they had killed one of the celebrated Wizard Saints. Leona would do her best not to let that happen, if only out of spite for Pergrande.

Leona gave a brief smile when Samira mentioned her armor.

"It's funny that you mentioned my armor, Samira. The armor I'm wearing was given to me by the same person who gave me the laser rifle I'm holding. The armor was custom-made for me, which is why it's so protective." Leona informed Samira. The blonde had larger proportions than the average mage, in particular a large chest. It was hard to find armor that fit her body, but in creating the Adaptable Armor Mister Burke had went the extra mile to craft armor that was custom-made for the Wizard Saint so that it was a perfect fit for her. It had been made with the best materials and the best protective plates available, meaning that Leona had good protection from anything short of specialist anti-armor spells, weapons, and ammunition. Speaking of weapons, Samira had been surprisingly calm about Leona's admission that the Ranger Laser Rifle was a new weapon that had not been tested until today.

Samira stated that she was fine with it just as long as the laser rifle did not explode on them or backfire in another way while Leona was using it. Leona could agree with that. As long as her new Ranger Laser Rifle did not decide to explode in her hand or malfunction at a critical time, Leona could bear the risk of trying a new weapon on the battlefield because the laser rifle leveled the playing field for her.

Not having to dash through automatic gunfire to attack enemies was a big benefit and perhaps the most important benefit of the Ranger Laser Rifle. Another important benefit was that the laser rifle saved Leona a lot of magic power, magic power that she could use to call upon her summons or use for the most powerful spells of Wind Strike Magic. A third benefit to the weapon was that the Ranger Laser Rifle had an Armor-Piercing Shot option that allowed her to take on armored opponents like Pergrande's soldiers.

"I'm pretty sure that the person who gave me this weapon wouldn't deliberately set me up with a weapon that'd explode on me. Not on purpose, anyway." Leona informed Samira. Mister Burke had been a good employer to Leona ever since the time she and Althea Eventide of Fairy Tail had retrieved a book that belonged to his family after ninjas had stolen it. He had rewarded Leona with a cuirass that had been custom-made for her and a few weeks before the border conflicts started he had sent her the Ranger Laser Rifle. She was glad to have it because the moment she received the call to arms Leona pulled it out of its box and took it with her instead of her old standby the Silver Longsword. Leaving her Silver Longsword behind was a tough choice, but the laser rifle had already paid for itself when she took down the first batch of soldiers without having to get close to them.

Leona scanned her surroundings for Pergrande soldiers trying to be stealthy and listened to Samira opine that conducting the search on foot would be problematic. Samira proposed that they go airborne because that would cover a lot more ground a lot more quickly than traveling on foot. However, using air travel would make them visible to Pergrande's forces, so Samira proposed that they travel under cover of a storm that she would summon. The Wizard Saint saw that Samira was not in a mood for debate after the teal-haired Goddess made the entirely reasonable point that they had to act quickly.

"OK, I agree with your approach. Let's travel by air. And I'll arrange for my own air transport. Once I'm on Winged Lion's back I'll follow behind you." Leona deferred to the Goddess of Humility and informed the latter of what she was going to do. She then watched Samira summon a very large winged serpent named "Kukulkan" and speak to it in a commanding tone. Leona could tell that her esteemed colleague meant business, so the Wizard Saint of Courage acted quickly to arrange transport for herself. In the meantime Samira walked over to the winged serpent and climbed onto its scaly back, settling near its head.

Samira then summoned two more creatures that generated the protective storm that Samira promised to create as cover for their departure. They whipped up quite the storm that promised to be excellent cover for their departure, but Leona would need to act quickly and summon Winged Lion before Samira took off. Leona faced away from Samira so that she would have enough room to call in the summon.

Leona dispelled Rafale and set down the Ranger Laser Rifle, then raised her hands and summoned Winged Lion for transport. Winged Lion appeared in front of her none the worse for wear and not bearing a grudge against her for being shot by the Pergrande soldiers while acting in her defense. Leona was grateful for that as she scooped up her laser rifle and hopped onto Winged Lion's back before slinging the rifle across her body so that it would not be accidentally dropped in flight or accidentally go off and shoot her summon if unexpected turbulence jarred Leona's hand and her finger was still on the trigger.

"Winged Lion, follow that winged serpent!" Leona commanded her summon and pointed towards Kukulkan. She climbed on board just in time because Kukulkan gave a mighty flap of its wings that caused a lot of damage to the immediate area and blew Leona's hair about as well as Winged Lion's mane. The powerful wind also had the unintended benefit of sending a few Pergrande army scouts plummeting to the ground many meters below. As someone with an intense fear of heights, imagining what those soldiers saw on their way to the ground made Leona feel very woozy. Leona unconsciously clung tight to Winged Lion.

"It will be done." Winged Lion said. He flapped his wings and took off, quickly gaining altitude and following Samira's winged summon. When they had gained altitude Leona informed the Furies about the change of plan and instructed them to follow a short distance behind her. They acknowledged their mistress' commands and soon formed an airborne escort for the two airborne mages, following a short distance behind Leona and standing ready to go on the attack the moment Leona commanded it. It was not like Samira or Kukulkan really needed an escort, but having an air escort was never a bad idea in case the enemy sent up their own flyers or the intended landing zone was swarming with enemy forces and they needed to be dealt with quickly.

Leona followed a short distance behind Samira and kept her eyes on the teal-haired mage. She was following Samira's lead and would land when Samira did. She was confident that the Goddess of Humility would take them exactly where they needed to go.

[Post Word Count: 1,362]
[Leona's Word Count: 4,874/4,000]

Enemies Defeated:
6/9 Imperial Army Recruits
0/8 Imperial Army Officers
0/2 Imperial Guard
0/1 Imperial Paladin- Private

As the flying serpent flew into the storm, Samira contemplated on what to do next. The issue of Leona's laser rifle had long been put to the far side of her mind. If the same person truly made both the protective armor and the untested weapon then there was little to worry about and she could fully place confidence in Leona's trust of that person's abilities. If anyone on their side was to be injured it wouldn't be because of that weapon malfunctioning.

The serpent's movement was swift, easily twisting and moving through the winds and storm clouds. Although, she did ensure that her movement was slower than usual to ensure that the winged lion would not be left behind and therefore safer in the lesser winds around her. Neither summoner or spirit knew of his capabilities with speed or flight and it was best to not test it right then, else it could end with the slicing winds injuring him and his rider in more ways than one. The same care and thought also extended to the furies. Their little airbourne scout party would remain complete throughout the short journey, completely safe and undisturbed. It was rather strange that Pergrande had not thought of mages being in the sky, waiting to strike down or head back to report any findings. Surely the powerful nation had the capabilities to prepare for that strategy, yet the current scenario said otherwise. It was all the more advantageous to the pair of mages and their summons than Samira could have originally hoped for.

Samira held on tightly to the serpent, daring to lean from side to side to get better looks of their surroundings. With how many times she had ridden the serpent before she had no fear of falling off. If falling to her death is what the spirit would allow it would have happened a long time ago. She squinted her verdant gaze as if that would make it easier to see through the winds and clouds. It was much easier than it was for anyone below the clouds, yes, thanks in part to Kulkulkan controlling the air around her, but it was still difficult to make anything out even then. The mountain peaks provided a lot of coverage for any group trying to remain hidden, and Samira did not see masses of black uniforms contrasting against the white snow and ice.

"Nothing yet. I assumed their reinforcements would be closer at this point," she told the spirit below her as she straightened herself and became content that she wouldn't find anything that way. There was nothing there to spot with her normal human eyes. She saw no reason to amplify her eyesight by taking on the powers of an aspect. Not when Kukulkan could do the same thing and spoke of such immediately after her comment.

"They are there. I can see the heat of their bodies." The serpent's words slithered smoothly. Her tone even sounded as if she were amused. Kukulkan was rarely amused. Her normal agitated and pissed off mood had switched to be more pleasant. Who wouldn't be in a good mood when they were about to face such a foe? Not because they were worthy of her attention but because they were arrogant typical humans. She was not unaware of their psychic abilities. The bind with her summoner tells all with nothing to hide. But, those psychic abilities were laughable to the spirit. They needed more than that if their goal was to overcome and eliminate the mage world. Pergrande would never even make it past Bellum like that. "They can't hide that without magic. Not when those powers of theirs are so weak that they cannot camouflage themselves properly. They're lunch to beasts like me, and they don't even know it." The feathered serpent snickered. If serpents could snicker. She made it work. For once, Samira couldn't see a reason to scold Kuku for the idea of eating people. They were, after all, the enemy. Her grip on the spirit tightened further. There wasn't much time left before she too would have to do what must be done. The Pergrande army was going to do the same without hesitation. Already had done so even.

Samira took a deep breath, inhaling the chilled air. It did little to bring her comfort, but it did strengthen her resolve enough to give another command. "Take us to them, Kuku."

"I already planned to." Once again the serpent's words were coated in amusement. This time enjoying the fact her summoner was finally willing to let go of all that emotional morality baggage and just do what needed to be done herself. It had been so long since her hands had gotten dirty. Everyone else, friend and spirit alike, were too busy doing it all for her that they didn't get around to demanding that she grow up and do it herself. Of course, Kuku was often outnumbered with her viewpoints. Most of the spirits preferred the babysitting method, else their pure summoner darken just a bit. It was no wonder her dark serpent cousin had to force himself free every now and then just so Samira's darker abilities would not fade away from lack of use.

The serpent changed course, veering to the right. Straight to where she had seen the heated bodies of the small army making their way closer to join the main battle. There were probably more elsewhere, else the largest nation in Ishgar would have had the most pitifully sized army imaginable, but that one she had her sights on would do for the pair of mages for now. It was just large enough to test their abilities against Pergrande. Maybe. Kukulkan couldn't actually tell. They could have all been the weakest among the army for all she knew. The humans down there didn't give off magical signatures for her to sense and humans all looked the same to her, especially when they all decide to wear the same outfits.

"The storm will end soon." Kukulkan reminded Samira after having sensed the presence of Quetzalcoatl and Qʼuqʼumatz weakening. Getting there and unleashing a surprise ambush was of no concern to the serpent. They'd make it. They were pretty much right there. The fault with timing was if there was a plan or not. There wasn't a whole lot of time to reflect actions and consequences.

"Yes, I know." Samira could feel the strength of the spirits begin to fade away as well. The winds were also becoming less harsh. She wasn't worried about that, though. The plan was to just have to storm cover their movement so they wouldn't be shot at. Below them and through the openings in the clouds she could see a decently sized force. Nothing major, of course, but it would really give Pergrande an edge if they made it to the main fight in that area. Samira could tell by the uniforms what abilities she could expect after having observed the battle earlier, and the ones down there now would be challenging on their own and more so if left to join forces with their other units.

The small army was marching their way across the snow and along paths that led around the mountainous terrain. There were some hidden, snipers and scouts that stayed behind or went ahead to cover their group. Kukulkan had no trouble seeing them. For now though, they were not of Samira's concern. She wanted to try just one time to see if she could just... stop the army. The less lethal way. Just one time. It was all she needed to be convinced that it was impossible for her to do. She didn't care if Bellum took prisoners of war or not. She didn't care if, when the soldiers got free, they retreated back to their homeland quite alive and ready to come back for the next fight. As long as she tried to do it her normal way a part of her conscience would be clear. The other part of her conscience would be content that their cover wouldn't be completely broken by trying if it failed.

Determined to go through with her test, Samira reached out her hand and aimed it towards the ground where the Pergrande soldiers were. A pale blue and bright white spark of energy appeared and pulsed, growing rapidly and spreading to cover the army. It seemed to have worked at first. The frontline weaker soldiers became transparent and stopped moving, having been immobilized as their spirits were partially transported to another dimension. Once the spell hit the multiple paladins in the group the result changed. The spell simply dissolved, even freeing the ones that had been trapped by it. She should have expected that to occur. The same thing had happened in the fight she had observed. A part of her was just hoping there were limitations to it, such as just working on the more offensive oriented spells. Clearly Pergrande thought of the immobilizing sort as well. That didn't  leave much hope for the other assortment of spells, specifically her shielding spells.

Samira sighed in defeat. The facts were there. She'd now have to do much more than she really wanted to. The soldiers were now on alert, but because of how the spell was done they couldn't tell exactly where it had come from. It was of no consequence either way. Samira went on to the next spell. With the same hand, she moved it upwards, as if calling for something to rise. A golden glow swirled around it as she did so, and with her motion a large obelisk burst through the ground, going through mountainous rock as if it were not even there to be in the way. The obelisk kept rising, creating a tremor that shook the peaks, and stopped when it reached the height of one hundred feet. The very tip of the obelisk glowed brightly and the scattering soldiers only had seconds before it fired a laser beam that circled in a large area around its base. The energy laser itself was harmless as the Pergrande soldiers in the way found out. Some had even begun laughing, both in relief and because their pride was telling them that their own protective measures protected them from such a weak trick. They were wrong to assume so.

The energy laser had merely traced the boundary of its more lethal side. The comfort of the Pergrande soldiers ended very quickly. Just as their nerves began to calm down the area inside the traced boundary exploded with energy that had been coursing inside the obelisk. The normal soldiers within had no chance. Their armor was not suited for the power that blasted right through and destroyed their existence. Most of the bodies were even disintegrated before the mind and soul they belonged to could even process what happened. Only two of those that were in the obelisk's boundaries remained, barely even phased by the blast they were just hit by. The differences in armor protection was obvious. Very unfortunate for the numerous typical soldier within Pergrande's ranks. Of course, there were still quite a bit more of them left to deal with too. At least many were cleared out, giving Leona some opportunity to make her own move before the storm's cover disappeared completely and their presence spotted.

(Word Count: 1904
Samira Total: 3315)

Samira Enemies Defeated:
6/6 Imperial Army Recruit
12/12 Imperial Army Officer
0/1 Imperial Guard
0/1 Imperial Paladin

From her safe and lofty perch on Winged Lion's back Leona watched an impressive display of power as Samira cleared the way from the air with a spell that paralyzed some of the soldiers momentarily, then followed up with a second spell. The second spell was a fancy spell that involved a golden glow on the ground that an obelisk came out of and rose to an impressive height. It then shot out a laser that circled around its base but did not do anything, something that caused Leona to tilt her head in confusion. It was an impressive-looking spell, but what exactly did it do?

She got her answer moments later when the area that the obelisk's laser had traced exploded and killed most of the soldiers caught in it, disintegrating them as if they were not even wearing armor. All except two of them, that was. The two survivors looked to be a cut above the average Pergrandian soldier and were perhaps the best their country had to offer. Samira had done her part to keep the presence of two Wizard Saints secret a little while longer. Now it was time for Leona to do her part.

She telepathically ordered Winged Lion to land and for the Furies to remain where they were. Winged Lion silently descended straight down and landed, where Leona disembarked and slung the laser rifle from across her body to her right hand. She then dispelled Winged Lion to avoid him giving away her position until she was ready to attack. Leona backed up four meters from her landing point and took a quiet breath before raising the laser rifle to her shoulder.

The Smart Glasses picked up eleven target markers in a loose formation about thirty meters away from her and Leona activated the Armor-Piercing Shot mode of the Ranger Laser Rifle to enable her to punch through the armor of the incoming soldiers and take them down quickly. With eleven soldiers confronting her this time she would need to take them down as quickly as possible to minimize the chances of getting hit and wounded at a bad time.

Leona quickly lowered the laser rifle, summoned Sky Champion Rafale and ordered him to go airborne, and picked the weapon back up before telepathically ordering the Furies to prepare for a group attack on her enemies. The Wizard Saint aimed at where she believed the chest of one of the target markers to be, held her breath, and got a momentary glimpse of the target that was just clear enough for her to get a visual. Leona led the hapless soldier in white for a few seconds more, then fired an Armor-Piercing Shot that hit him squarely in the chest and followed up with three more shots that dropped the first of the three soldiers in white.

The other soldiers wasted no time in opening up with their weapons, sending a dense cloud of lead her way. Leona turned around and executed a Zephyr Dash to put an additional seventy-five meters between her and the soldiers while they were firing into the storm with respectable accuracy, but it was not quite enough to hit her. Leona turned around and aimed for the second soldier in white, firing an Armor-Piercing Shot at his chest followed by three more rapid shots that killed the second soldier in white. Leona dropped to her stomach to avoid the fusillade aimed in her approximate direction and quickly aimed at the third and final soldier in white.

Leona fired an Armor-Piercing Shot that hit the soldier in the chest and followed with three rapid-fire shots that killed him. Now all she had to do was get rid of the eight soldiers in black and she would have survived this encounter. When she looked towards them she noticed that the target markers had broken up into groups of two and they were taking positions where they could focus fire on her without catching each other in the line of fire. Four of the men were hanging back to provide suppressing fire while four of them slowly advanced while firing in Leona's general direction.

The soldiers in black were pretty smart... they must have been higher-ranking soldiers who had been issued better equipment and had been given better training for them to make smart decisions like that on the fly. Leona could admire them later. She needed to take care of them now before they could actually hit her.

Leona took a quiet breath and aimed for the chest of one of the soldiers in black, a bold one leading the others into the storm. Leona fired an Armor-Piercing Shot that hit his chest and followed up with three shots to the chest. The first soldier remained on his feet and began to raise his rifle when Leona fired two more shots into his chest, finally bringing him down. The remaining three soldiers instantly opened up on Leona's position.

The Wizard Saint telepathically ordered her summons to dive to the attack and waited for them to arrive while firing back the best she could. Two of the soldiers reloaded while one fired on Leona to keep her down. Her summons arrived just as the two soldiers in black finished reloading and aimed at Leona.

Leona watched Sky Champion Rafale swing his energy blade at the right shoulder of the second soldier and hurt him badly before zooming away while the Furies dove down and began attacking the other two while they called to their comrades for support. The Wizard Saint got to her feet and began to fire on the soldier Rafale had hit while the green-clad summon was busy zooming away to set up for another pass on the enemies. The distraction would not last too long under massed gunfire, so Leona had better act fast.

She stood up and led off with an Armor-Piercing Shot that hit the wounded soldier in the chest and fired off five more shots that brought him down, then turned towards a third soldier who was still busy fending off the Furies raking him with their talons before flying away. She fired an Armor-Piercing Shot that hit him in the left shoulder and then followed up with five more shots to his shoulder and body that took him down just as he turned to face her. The fourth soldier with scratches on his arms had already turned and managed to raise his weapon at Leona before the Wizard Saint fired an Armor-Piercing Shot that hit him in the chest.

He did not flinch as quickly aimed and began to fire. Leona quickly ducked just in time to hear the bullets whiz by her head before he suddenly stopped firing. She popped back up and saw the soldier's head tumble from his neck and plop onto the snow thanks to a timely decapitating strike from Rafale... Rafale zoomed by him just before the other four soldiers entered the area and began firing on the summons.

Rafale hurriedly banked left and zoomed towards the four newly arrived soldiers while the Furies followed suit, but the four summons did not hold up long under gunfire. They vanished into thin air from the disciplined gunfire directed at them, leaving Leona alone against the soldiers. Leona had to think fast.

She quickly slung her laser rifle across her body, powered up with Gale Force, and then dropped to a knee and slammed her right fist into the snow to use Storm Impact to generate momentary cover for her next move. The soldiers ignored the spell that had been fired well out of range of them and raised their weapons while laughing at her as the dome of snow drifted down. They were pretty sure they were about to get an easy kill from a desperate mage who had panicked and used her last-ditch spell too soon, but Leona had lured them into range of her best crowd control spell. She quickly thrust her hands out to her sides and spun rapidly, making five full revolutions before a silver tornado emanated from her position and hit the four remaining soldiers in a show of Wind Strike Magic's power. Her Silver Tempest spell had found its targets and they had been badly hurt by the powerful spell, but they were still on their feet and she needed to finish them off quickly.

Leona darted twenty-five meters to the right with a short Zephyr Dash and narrowly avoided their return fire. She quickly took her laser rifle off of her body and aimed at the soldier on the far right, who was busy reloading his weapon. Leona fired an Armor-Piercing Shot that hit him in the chest and killed him. She adjusted her aim left and fired another Armor-Piercing Shot that hit the second soldier in the chest and killed him just as he finished the reload and aimed his rifle at her.

The last two soldiers had already raised their weapons and were firing at Leona. She quickly dropped to a knee and fired a third Armor-Piercing Shot at his chest, killing him. The last soldier quickly adjusted his aim and fired at Leona, but an Armor-Piercing Shot to his chest killed him and ended the encounter in Leona's favor.

Leona examined herself and saw that the last soldier in black had grazed the top of her left shoulder with four of his rounds, gouging furrows into the armor. One round had had also come dangerously close to grazing her neck and left a furrow where it had passed perilously close to that vital area. If she had been any slower in taking him down she might have taken some rifle rounds to the head or to her throat.

Leona took a deep breath and relaxed a little. While she had not gotten out without a hit, she had taken just grazing hits that did not even impact her armor. She wondered how many more soldiers she would have to take down before this battle was over. In between her Wind Strike Magic, her faithful summons, her Gale Force ability that powered up her spells, and her Ranger Laser Rifle, Leona was well-equipped to take on any Pergrandian soldiers who crossed her path.

[Post Word Count: 1,712]
[Leona's Word Count: 6,586/4,000]

Enemies Defeated:
9/9 Imperial Army Recruits
8/8 Imperial Army Officers
0/2 Imperial Guard
0/1 Imperial Paladin- Private

After the obelisk had done its work in eliminating some of the soldiers from the battlefield Samira watched from where she was as Leona made her landing. Making a landing for herself she thought would ruin what the Wizard Saint had in mind and so she thought it best to remain hovering in the air upon her serpent summon. It didn't take long for Leona to get started on attacking the Pergrande forces with her laser rifle and tactics. Samira didn't really understand those types of weapons. Her knowledge was mostly on what her spirits used, which was also what she used. Traditional weapons rather than the modern day firearms. Still, it looked as if even though she was outnumbered a bit, Leona had the upper hand. As she should. Leona was one of the most powerful mages in the world. It would take more than a tiny portion of Pergrande's forces to do her and the wind summons in. It was with that logic that Samira did not yet feel the need to come to Leona's aid. There were other matters on her mind.

The fact that Samira had to end the lives of those soldiers was very unfortunate. It was not the result that she wanted to end up with. Strangely, she thought that she would feel more guilt about doing it after having hesitated for so long, but there was none. Just disappointment and pity for those unfortunate stubborn soldiers. If they had not had the means of making her original immobilization spell useless she would not have had to resort to a more lethal spell. Even though it was one of her weaker ones it was still enough to destroy them, and yet still they did not turn around and run. Retreat. Surrender. Anything to save their own lives and that of their comrades. Pergrande would continue fighting until no one was left. Truly unfortunate. How could anyone feel guilty when up against such denial? Pergrande needed a message sent to them, and it was clear that it needed to be a harsh one. To have to pity one of the greatest nations in Ishgar was ridiculous.

Samira sighed in growing disappointment. Not just for the Pergrande soldiers but also for herself. Having spent so much time around Kaori way back when had more influence on her own persona that she did not fully realize until right then. That woman never hesitated to kill enemies and never seemed to show any kind of guilt or remorse for doing it. Now that she was put in that situation she didn't feel much for them either. Or maybe she had always been like that. It was hard to tell right then. Only doing an exercise exploring her inner self would give that answer and now was not the time. Especially after she sensed Athena being obliterated and returned to the realm of avatar spirits.

"Is all not well with the Bellum soldiers?"
"The soldiers of Pergrande have excellent battle form even when they do not use their firearms. They broke my barrier with ease. I cannot say how. I can only guess that their swords are not what we are used to dealing with."
"Their abilities amuse me."
"You are better suited for this sort of war than the two of us are, dear Ama. I would be concerned if you were not amused. Samira, I do not advise that you and your friend get close to any of these soldiers. It is a way to avoid the weapon fire, but you will be crushed by those that do not possess them. They are extremely swift and dangerous even for us."
"Ha! You must be joking."
"Kukulkan, do not underestimate them."

"Focus on helping those Arcanos fanatics. We have it handled here. Even the wind mage is stepping up her game instead of playing around. I think I even have to move." The wind around the area was starting to change. Kuku had sensed it. Even her winds were changing while being near the wind mage. The serpent slithered in the air and got a bit further away just as Leona finished her rapid spinning and unleashed the tornado that her magic had created. Those soldiers were very resistant though and were back on their feet in no time. "Those morons refuse to acknowledge their place on the ground at her feet. They should be begging for mercy after so many of their own have been killed not just by us but by everyone else near these borders. I can smell the ocean of blood within these mountains from here."

Samira had wanted to counter that by mentioning that some of that blood belonged to Bellum and their reinforcements as well, but that thought was quickly extinguished when she saw the two that had escaped her obelisk make their way towards Leona. It made sense for them to do so. She was easy to spot and reach by then and they probably thought that she was the one that had unleashed that object. More importantly though, the obelisk was about to unleash its energy again. With Leona now in its range on the ground she needed to stop it before it fired. "Kuku!"

"Finally." The serpent didn't need to be given the entire order. She already read her mind. The winged serpent made a rapid descent, Samira tightly holding onto the feathers to keep herself from falling off. The serpentine body hit the snow hard, landing between Leona and the group she was fighting and the last two members of the group that Samira had been handling. The tail of the serpent smacked against the Paladin and the Imperial Guard harshly, sending them flying straight into the obelisk. The obelisk cracked when the two collided hard against its surface. As they hit the ground and lied in the snow, temporarily dazed and confused, the obelisk continued to stand tall even with its damage. Samira slid off Kukulkan and took her place standing in the cold snow. The obelisk pulsed, its energy reacting to her presence and about to be released as another lethal wave of destruction. Not desiring this, Samira raised her right hand and formed it into a gentle fist while connecting with the obelisk using her magic. The obelisk was destroyed after that, its towering form becoming nothing more than sparkling particles that went downward to land upon the snow. The glittery sparks added a weird and disturbing decor on what was in actuality now a graveyard.

Samira knew those two wouldn't be down for very long. Only a minute more at the most. They had already begun to stir. Their armor worked wonders to protect them. A normal person would have been unconscious and had plenty of broken bones after being hit not only by the tail of a giant serpent but also to make impact with a stone obelisk. With the short time limit in mind, Samira used her requip magic and connection with Sagittarius to call forth a celestial bow in her hands. She took aim, and a silver arrow with a pale blue glow appeared as she fired. It went sailing towards the Imperial Guard, who had just got done pushing herself up and standing, if not a bit wobbly. The magic arrow hit her chest right where her heart was. The armor was powerful with its anti magic qualities. There was a tiny bit of resistance that Samira could detect. Miniscule, but still there. The magic of a mage with less offensive power would have trouble getting through it. There was no doubt in her mind. Unfortunately for that Imperial Guard, Samira was heavy in offensive capabilities thanks to her spirits and celestial power. The arrow still cut through, making its mark and even taking the body with it as it passed through. The Imperial Guard was not getting up from the snow that time.

Now it was the Paladin's turn. He was not as easy to overcome. He had more time to recover from the initial tail swipe of Kukulkan. Samira's first shot missed because he had moved at such an incredible speed from where he originally had been. In nearly an instant he was right in front of her, punching and kicking but thankfully only hitting her barrier. Still, even her barriers wouldn't last against that amount of damage. His strength was much greater than normal. Without magic amplifying it she wasn't sure how that was possible. Yet, her barriers were getting cracks and beginning to show their weakness. The paladin saw the futility in just bashing on the barrier and jumped back. Using the telekinesis that she had seen earlier where the Bellum soldiers were fighting, the paladin called the sword of the Imperial Guard to him. Masterfully he caught it and once again used his speed with the intent on slicing through that barrier. Kuku had remembered what the others had said about the swords and she swerved her tail and body around Samira to take the hit for herself. Immediately she smacked the paladin back, allowing Samira a chance to fire off another magical arrow of Sagittarius, but it disappeared the moment it had made impact with the paladin.

Samira frowned. That had happened earlier when she tried to immobilize the Pergrande soldiers earlier. Yet, it didn't seem to affect the power of the obelisk. Were the paladins able to choose when their strange power obliterated spells or did it have its limits? Surely the paladin would have chosen to eliminate every single one of her spells if he could have. "Kuku, use your wind for a moment, please." She'd test it before she wasted another arrow.

Kuku hissed. She was annoyed that the foolish paladin had dared strike her scaly body. Now there was a cut in it! It wasn't enough to destroy her, but it still hurt like hell and pissed her off. Being told to attack was the best command a spirit could hope for. Once more, the feathered serpent increased the power of the wind around her. The slicing currents spread outward quickly. The paladin moved but it was futile to dodge her quick moving wind. He was caught in it, and as suspected his power to eliminate the spell did not kick in. His armor was torn apart in several sections and his skin was cut from head to toe. Yet, he still somehow managed to escape from total destruction of the slicing wind. The current faded, and the paladin was quite alive, although now on his knees and trying to cover some of the deeper wounds with his hands to stop the bleeding.

"I remember that snake." The paladin spoke, his words coming slow and painfully between winces from his wounds. "It was used against the other one. I have not forgotten that day. Many of my friends and comrades died that day."

Samira had already raised her bow again but lowered it slightly. She had figured there was a chance that she would run into some Pergrande soldiers that she helped the last time she was there along the borders between it and Sin, but she didn't for one moment think that there was a chance that she'd run into one from that day. Barely anyone had survived. Even she was lucky to have left. She had nearly died not only from summoning too many spirits at once but also because she had used a very dangerous item to amplify her power. If not for Apophis she probably would have died completely, and so would have anyone else that managed to walk away. "I was not aware that anyone from Pergrande had survived that."

"That was partially true. Your healing magic saved me. I was the only one. I was left for the clean up crew to find me among a pile of corpses. To think that I'd find that same mage here. Are you going to leave me here again? Alive and well enough to remember that I am the only one to walk away? To remember the faces of my comrades as they're killed off?"

Samira blinked, slightly confused. Back then, she had used that new healing spirit in the hopes of saving everyone that had been injured so they could return home and continue to live. While she did not completely know it then, it had been a clone of Apophis that had done so much damage. That had made her in a way responsible. She could see him being angry about that, but he didn't reference the dark serpent at all. Just Kukulkan, who had done nothing to anyone that day. The paladin seemed more upset by the fact that he had been saved at all. Had he wanted to die alongside his comrades? Was it really that horrible to survive while everyone else had died? Was that considered as being cursed instead of being blessed by luck? Samira couldn't very well say that she understood that enough to answer that complicated question. As for the paladin's question, that answer came much more easily.

"No," Samira said plainly. "You have been living on borrowed time that you did not want or appreciate. That has led you to being a problem today that I have to correct. If I were to ignore you and allow you to leave that would only complicate matters further in the future."

The paladin laughed, or as much as he could anyway while in pain. He forced himself to stand. It was a slow process but one that the Goddess of Ishgar was apparently letting him complete. "You're not wrong. I have trained myself to this point, believing that one day I could help destroy the magic that has caused so much suffering for my people. A few more years and not even you would be able to stop me."

"Others would, perhaps. Fortunately, this is not up for debate since we will never see this come to pass. I do hope you have been satisfied with how you spent your life since that day." With that said, Samira raised the bow once more. "Farewell." A different arrow was shot out. It was one more powerful and golden bright as it sailed through the arrow at a blinding speed. In an instant it pierced the paladin's chest and heart. The now broken sturdy armor the paladin wore was no match for the arrow. He joined his dead comrades in the snowy graveyard now. Just like he had wanted to that day so long ago.

(Word Count: 2433
Samira Total: 5748)

Samira Enemies Defeated:
6/6 Imperial Army Recruit
12/12 Imperial Army Officer
1/1 Imperial Guard
1/1 Imperial Paladin

Leona took a deep breath and enjoyed the peace while it lasted. She also slung her Laser Rifle onto her right shoulder, raised her hands into the air, and summoned Sky Champion Rafale, Guardian Lion, Tempest Avian, and Griffin for a combined air-ground offensive. Once that was done she took the laser rifle from her shoulder and held it in her right hand again. Her plan was to have Tempest Avian and Griffin remain airborne and attack her enemies from above while Sky Champion Rafale and Guardian Lion occupied enemies on the ground. Meanwhile Leona would be shooting them with her laser rifle until they closed in on her, upon which she would use her tried-and-true Wind Strike Magic.

Leona had brought out her summons just in time because two people dressed in knightly armor wielding broadswords flickered onto the screen of her Smart Glasses and received target markers just as they charged towards her from around sixty meters away. Griffin and Tempest Avian had taken to the sky at Leona's telepathic command while Rafale and Guardian Lion remained beside her. She aimed at the armored person on the left and prepared to fire an Armor-Piercing Shot when they blinked out of existence and reappeared a moment later right in front of her. The startled Leona ducked to avoid losing her head to the knight on her left and popped up, jumping back to avoid a follow-up swing from the knight to her right.

Leona hopped back again as a rain of Steel Flechettes rained on her enemies at her telepathic command to Tempest Avian. The Steel Flechettes hit the soldiers but did very little damage... the worst thing the attack did was lightly scratch their armor. They almost immediately went on the attack, charging the Wizard Saint from each side and trying to catch her between them for a pincer attack. Rafale and Guardian Lion saw this and interceded on Leona's behalf, engaging the soldiers and buying her some breathing room while she figured out how to take the fight to them.

Rafale crossed his swords and barely blocked the blade of the soldier on the left while Guardian Lion simply tanked the attack on him and drew his right paw back, swinging with great force and hitting the soldier's chest. The soldier took the hit but did not even blink before lashing out with their broadsword and cutting Guardian Lion in half at the waist, causing him to disappear. The soldier smirked and advanced on Leona, who fired an Armor-Piercing Shot to the chest that barely fazed them.

The soldier then took a running start and blinked out of existence, confounding Leona. The Wizard Saint heard a whistling sound from behind and jumped forward, barely avoiding a sword stroke to the neck. She landed and spun around to face the soldier only to find them lunging forward to stab her through the chest. Leona sidestepped the lunging stab and hit back with a left-handed Mach Jab to the face and tried to follow up with a Mach Straight before the soldier moved aside and performed a spinning slash that grazed the left pauldron of Leona's armor.

The Wizard Saint frowned and aimed her weapon, firing back with another Armor-Piercing Shot that hit their chest and mildly inconvenienced them. They turned to her and blinked again, then reappeared and swung at Leona with their right fist. Leona barely ducked in time and hit back with a left-handed Mach Uppercut to the chin that did not even faze them. This particular soldier was giving Leona a hard time, but she would win this fight. She had to if she wanted to live to see tomorrow.

Leona had slung her laser rifle across her body and prepared to engage the soldier again when she felt a forceful impact from her left and was sent flying about five meters to her right. Leona landed on her right side and coughed loudly for a few moments because of having the wind knocked out of her. That was what she got for losing situational awareness and developing tunnel vision.

Did Samira get the license plate number of that bus that just hit her?

She hopped to her feet and faced the two soldiers as they charged her together. The Wizard Saint clenched her teeth and prepared to fight them both at once. She waited until they got close, then dropped to a knee and slammed her right fist into the ground, casting a Storm Impact spell that did little but kick up a cloud of snow. That was all Leona would need. That and Ses Revanche, which Leona drew out of her right boot with her right hand.

The soldiers continued to charge at her, effortlessly tanking another storm of Steel Flechettes from Tempest Avian and a Blade Storm from the Griffin with their well-made armor. Knowing that she was not going to win by going on the defensive, Leona immediately went on the offensive. She gambled on an audacious plan and dashed to meet them with a Zephyr Dash that covered five meters. She reappeared in front of the soldier to the right and greeted them with a slash to the right cheek followed by a left-handed Mach Straight that hit them in the right eye.

Leona followed up with a slash to the left cheek before jumping back to avoid a sword swing from the other soldier and hitting them with a left-handed Wind Blast. She turned back to the soldier on the right and sidestepped a downward two-handed power chop and sidestepped again to avoid a left-handed punch, then retaliated by hitting them in the face with a Swift Palm followed by a slash across the throat with Ses Revanche. The soldier immediately grabbed their throat with their left hand and tried to muster enough strength to strike down the Wizard Saint before expiring, but they could not manage to raise their sword before collapsing to the snow and bleeding out from the slashed throat.

Leona turned to face the other soldier and sidestepped a downward one-handed chop before ducking under a forceful punch. Leona hit the soldier with a left-handed Mach Uppercut to the chin and followed up with a left-handed Mach Straight to the face before ducking under another punch. She slashed the soldier across the left cheek with Ses Revanche and performed a Tornado Kick that hit them in the right cheek.

After weathering that flurry of blows the soldier struck back with a powerful punch that slammed into Leona's left shoulder, but the Wizard Saint retaliated with a slash to the throat that wounded them badly enough for them to take a half-step back and try to stab Leona through the chest before dying. Leona sidestepped the attack and the soldier collapsed to the snow like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

When the two armored soldiers were dead at last Leona saw a female Pergrande soldier clad in gray and black with her arms folded across her chest standing fifty meters away flicker onto her Smart Glasses and receive a target marker. Leona then noticed the guns of the soldiers she had dispatched earlier float up into the air with their barrels pointed at the Wizard Saint. The blonde cursed under her breath and dashed forward with Zephyr Dash to avoid getting perforated by the floating weapons. She stopped about ten meters away from the female soldier and fired a Crescent Cutter that flew true and was about hit the soldier before abruptly disappearing. It did not even make contact before vanishing, causing Leona to blink.

What had just happened?

The woman laughed before rushing Leona, lashing out at the blonde with a flurry of fists. Leona jumped back and then leaped into the air, launching into a Meteor Jump Kick that hit the woman in the chest to no appreciable effect. Once Leona landed the soldier responded by throwing a forceful punch at Leona's chest and the Wizard Saint just barely avoiding it with a sidestep. Leona struck back with a Mach Straight that the soldier ducked under before making a sweep kick that the blonde jumped over. Leona was forced on the defensive as her opponent launched into a flurry of punches and kicks with a lot of force behind them.

Leona stepped back and continued to step back while dodging punch after punch with the occasional kick aimed at her kneecaps. She continued to dodge until she raised her left hand and fired an Air Pressure spell that hit the soldier in the face... and did nothing but mildly inconvenience her. The soldier chuckled at Leona like the Wizard Saint had just told an amusing joke. Magic was obviously not working on the opponent, so Leona would just have to use Ses Revanche.

Leona went on the offensive again, going in for a slash to the face that scarred the soldier but did not deter them for long. They promptly lashed out with a punch that Leona dodged by moving her head right so that the fist only connected with her hair. The Wizard Saint slashed again with Ses Revanche and hit the same cheek with a second strike from her knife. She heard the sound of guns being fired in her direction and dashed to avoid being hit, sprinting just in time to avoid being hit in the head and shoulders with gunfire from above.

Leona smiled once the magazines ran out, but she did not smile for long because the soldier made all the empty magazines drop out of the weapons and loaded new ones into them in a display of power and control that was genuinely impressive. Leona had to strike back before they could aim, so she quickly wiped Ses Revanche on the snow, put it away, and dashed forward to perform a Sonic Slash aimed at the soldier's throat. Leona disappeared in a "flash step" and reappeared, performing a slash with her right hand that the surprised soldier only narrowly avoided with a timely backstep.

As a result of the movement Leona cut them across the collarbone instead of the throat, still doing no appreciable damage thanks to the armor they wore. Leona frowned at both the incredible durability of the armor and her own stupidity. The soldier responded by punching at Leona and hitting nothing but air. Leona was getting tired of the back-and-forth struggle and decided to end this before she lost the initiative for good.

Leona began a one-two combo of Mach Jab to the face followed by a Mach Straight, both of which connected. She then followed up with a Mach Uppercut that missed and dodged the sweep kick aimed at her feet, then followed through with a Silver Blade spell to the face that cut the soldier diagonally across the face just as they punched Leona squarely in the chest. Leona staggered back and the soldier advanced before a thin red line appeared and caused them to stop for just a moment, giving Leona just enough time to draw Ses Revanche and run over to them, then stab them in the forehead while they drew their fist back for another powerful punch.

Finally overcome by all the wounds they had suffered, the soldier fell to the ground and landed on their back, never to move again. The guns she had been controlling somehow fell into the snow and landed. Leona took a deep breath... the fight was over. She had won.

Leona walked over to the dead soldier and retrieved Ses Revanche from its place. She then wiped it off on the soldier's outfit and took a deep breath before looking at the dead woman. Those last three soldiers had given her a hell of a fight and demonstrated to her that Pergrande's best soldiers were no slouches when it came to fighting Wizard Saints.

Leona had been so focused on the fight that she did not even know Samira was in the area. When the blonde turned away from the dead soldier and faced her companion she could not find anything to say to the Goddess of Humility. Leona remained silent and took another deep breath as Tempest Avian landed to her left and the Griffin flew overhead in a sweep for more enemies, causing a brief gust of wind that rustled the blonde's hair.

Leona felt the adrenaline fade and deactivated her Gale Force ability. It had been a hell of a fight, but the Wizard Saint of Courage had won against daunting odds. She put away Ses Revanche, looked at Samira, and began to slowly approach the teal-haired mage. That soldier wearing knightly armor had done a number on her with that powerful surprise attack and so did the punch from that woman wearing the armor with the hood. Once Leona reached her partner the blonde stopped and greeted Samira, struggling to find words with which to greet her.

"Hey there, Samira. Are you OK?" Leona asked the teal-haired mage awkwardly. Of course Samira was OK. She was one of the strongest mages in existence with the magic to match. She had taken care of the soldiers who had dared to oppose her, sweeping them aside like they were nothing. Leona was the one who had struggled against the Pergrandian soldiers before finally getting her act together, but it was still a tough fight.

[Post Word Count: 2,236]
[Leona's Word Count: 8,822/4,000]

Enemies Defeated:
9/9 Imperial Army Recruits
8/8 Imperial Army Officers
2/2 Imperial Guard
1/1 Imperial Paladin- Private

And so the world around Samira fell silent. Leona and her summons were still fighting the soldiers they were up against, but Samira didn't hear any of it. Every sound was tuned out. The only thing she could hear was what had just transpired on repeat within her mind. Her body was even still in firing position, the bow in her hands aimed at a person that no longer stood there. Only a spectre of her own mind's making was there.

"Now is not the time to overthink this. Save it for when we are clear from this place." The injured serpent told her, the mild annoyance clear and coming through her tone clearly. "I would have thought all that time spent with Kaori would have hardened you. Your reaction and handling of this is pathetic."

Samira lowered the celestial bow, switching its angle and position so that it was lazily being held by one hand at her side. "You are not wrong." The sentence was said truthfully. It was pathetic for someone in her position and station. Her past experiences should have made her very resistant if not completely immune to second guessing herself in such a battle. Kaori never second guessed herself. She just did what had to be done regardless of what it was. That should have been something she learned. That was something she had thought she learned. It must take being part of a war to make one realize what they knew about themselves was not completely accurate.

"I suppose I have forgotten those days and allowed myself to become softer than I should rightfully be." Samira turned around and shifted her gaze towards Kukulkan's injury. The paladin's sword had left a deep gash. The winged serpent's celestial energy was pouring right through it. It was true that for the most part beings summoned from other realms did not die in the traditional way. If Kukulkan had been injured enough she would have just returned to her own realm to restore herself instead of meeting death. They still felt pain though and Samira did not care to have the serpent remain injured if she were to stay in the mortal realm. Kukulkan, after all, was not a being that could heal herself. She only had the destructive aspects of the god she was the avatar of.

Samira placed her free hand on top of the serpent's wound. As she used a different spell the wound began to heal and disappear altogether, leaving nothing there except the perfect scales of the creature. "I do not plan on repeating today by having the same concerns." The serpent failed to recall that of the two former friends Samira was the more gentle and reasonable one. The other was more along the lines of react first and ask questions later, if that was possible after the reaction. Samira didn't quite agree with that approach. Still, she knew that she had to adapt and take in some of the qualities that she had been taught in the past.

In the current case, Pergrande had made themselves an enemy of Bellum once again. It was only a matter of time before they became full enemies of the entire magical world. They should be treated as such. But, she supposed time would tell on where the world's affairs went from there. That first battle was likely only the beginning. Would she even be a part of the next phase? Who knew?

Leona had approached shortly after Samira had healed Kukulkan. It wasn't until Leona had asked if she was all right that Samira acknowledged her fully. "Yes. I have received no injuries from the battle." Physically fine? Yes. Very. Mentally? Questionable. Spilling her mind onto Leona was not something she felt like doing, however. Samira was a private person and it wasn't as if they were in the proper environment to have a lengthy and complicated discussion.

"Because I took the hit instead, but no one cares about that." Kukulkan added, seeming to be offended that she had not been asked if she was fine.

"Yes, thank you. Also consider that you have been healed as appreciation."

"Hmph." The serpent hissed and turned away.

Samira gently shook her head and dismissed the serpent's attitude. She had no desire to scold her. Now that the serpent was taken care of, the Goddess looked at Leona more closely and attentively, taking notice that the woman wasn't exactly at one hundred percent. Honestly Samira had intended to go look for more Pergrande units or aid a group of Bellum mages further, but after seeing Leona it was probably best to put that on hold. The other Wizard Saint had obviously had to put in a lot more effort to clear her group of soldiers than Samira had to. Perhaps that had to do with their differing strategies. She wasn't about to insult the wind mage by implying she herself just had more raw power to eliminate them quicker and far easier.

"You look tired, Leona." Samira stated with concern. "We should head back to our previous group so you can rest. The avatars I left behind have been keeping me updated. Their battle has ended as well so this is a satisfactory recovery period."

(Word Count: 879
Samira Total: 6627)

Leona looked at Samira and took a deep breath, unable to say anything meaningful. The blonde's posture was not one of a conquering heroine. Instead Leona looked... tired, for lack of a better word. She also felt tired.

Even though the Wizard Saint of Courage was standing only a short distance from the Goddess of Humility, Leona might as well have been standing miles away from Samira. Samira had made the fight against Pergrande's soldiers look so easy. She had swept them from the field with powerful crowd control attacks and dealt with any surviving soldiers with little effort. Samira was truly a Goddess of Ishgar, a figure of incredible, even mythical, power that few could stand against.

Leona, on the other hand, looked like an average mage who had gotten in way over her head. She had been a Wizard Saint for quite some time and she had struggled against Pergrande's forces. Wizard Saints were not supposed to struggle against their enemies. Wizard Saints were supposed to rule any battlefield they set foot on and scatter their enemies before them. In contrast to Samira, Leona did not rule the battlefield.

It had taken Leona frequent use of her summons, a lot of effort, and quite a few lucky breaks for her to survive the battle. She had not put on her best showing today and Samira was a witness to that. Leona had taken hits that she did not have to take by standing still and shooting at the gun-wielding soldiers instead of staying on the move. She had taken more hits by losing situational awareness when it needed to be maintained. It was safe to say that Leona had made a lot of mistakes today, but those two were the biggest mistakes she had made and the mistakes that could have cost her the most had she not managed to get her act together and persevere over Pergrande's forces.

However, despite her numerous mistakes and her unimpressive performance at the start of the battle, Leona was still alive. She had gotten her act together in time for her to make a better showing against Pergrande's best and possibly even show how she had earned her title as the Wizard Saint of Courage. She had won a victory over Pergrande's forces and nothing could take that away from her. With that thought giving her energy Leona's posture straightened. She now looked like a peer of the Goddess of Humility.

After having that inspiring thought Leona realized that Samira had answered her question earlier and that Kukulkan had chimed in with a comment of her own. Samira had answered that she had not been injured during the battle and Kukulkan snarked that Samira's lack of injury was due to the giant serpent taking the hit for her. Leona's summons had taken quite a few bullets intended for her, so they probably felt the same way towards Leona.

Once the conversation between her and Kukulkan had ended Samira stated that Leona looked tired. Leona did not bother to hide her fatigue. The blonde was tired and no amount of posturing or assurance could hide it.

"Yeah, I'm tired." Leona admitted to Samira. The blonde was informed that Samira's "avatars" had been watching a battle of their own and the fighting where they were had ended. That was a good time to recover from this fight. After everything she had been through Leona had quite a bit of recovering to do.

"OK, Samira. Let's get going." Leona agreed with Samira's suggestion to leave this area and go somewhere where it was truly peaceful. Leona had had enough of battle for today and just wanted to recover from it. Unless more enemies showed up, the Wizard Saint of Courage would be happy if there was no more fighting to be done today. That was a far cry from her earlier stance, where she referred to the search for enemy soldiers as a "hunt." That was Leona before she got a dose of reality.

Pergrande's soldiers were no ragtag bunch of ill-equipped bandits who could only threaten her in very large numbers. They were well-equipped and well-trained military forces whose basic soldiers had given her a hard time with their fast-firing guns and the quantity of guns they could bring to a fight. Pergrande's best soldiers were tough customers who could have easily handed Leona her head if Leona had not been as strong and as adept in hand-to-hand combat as she was. Finding out that Pergrande's soldiers in knightly armor and hooded soldiers boasted an incredible resistance to magic was an unpleasant surprise for the blonde who had made the simultaneous use of a weapon in one hand and magic in the other an integral part of her fighting style.

Leona would have to improve her weapons and armor, but she would also have to learn some new tricks if she wanted to stay relevant in the face of enemies equipped with modern weapons and body armor. Her Ranger Laser Rifle was a good start, but in the future she might want to switch it out for a laser pistol so that she could fight on the move instead of having to stand still to aim before firing. Leona would also look into finding or making modern versions of her old weapons; for example, she could find or make a knife with anti-armor properties to give her a fighting chance against enemies wearing modern body armor. Those would be good reasons for Leona to put some effort into developing technology and conducting magical research.

Once she had decided her path moving forward Leona then turned her thoughts to figuring how how she was going to leave this area. She had thought of hitching a ride with Samira to save some time and effort, but then the blonde decided against it. She did not need her fear of heights to compound her troubles. Leona would just summon Winged Lion and travel that way so that her acrophobia was one less thing for her to worry about.

[Post Word Count: 1,012]
[Leona's New Word Count: 1,012]