Tatsumi slowly drags himself to the Jaegers meeting looking like a depressed drunkard, aside from not having nearly enough alcohol that is. Wave was already there with his enthusiasm and Bols was making breakfast while Kurome is there for well, food...a lot of food. Wave greets Tatsumi but his words died in his throat when he sees Tatsumi walking into the walls repeatedly barely being able to open his eyes. Tatsumi eventually finds his way to the table and promptly falls asleep right on it.
Wave: Um Tatsumi...did you get any sleep last night?
Tatsumi: zzZZzzZZzz....
Kurome: Oi wake up *bops Yatsufusa on Tatsumi's head*.
Tatsumi: HUH WHAT! I SWEAR I DIDN'T TOUCH YOU!
Wave: Jeez what happened last night?
Tatsumi: Esdeath keeps hugging me like a pillow and if i accidentally woke her up well you can already tell what an angry ice queen would be like. Not to mention if i happen to touch her even slightly off then she would start aggressively flirting.
Kurome: Have you not been in love before?
Tatsumi: A few crushes here and there but none of them is a dominant sadist who is clueless about the thing.
Wave: Esdeath doesn't know about love?
Tatsumi: Have you seen a man bold enough to ask her out?
Wave: Oh, you have a point there.
Bols: Breakfast is ready, have some tea Tatsumi, it'll help.
Tatsumi: Thanks Bols *sips tea*
Wave: Man these taste great Bols!
Kurome: *bites into toast* It's good but nowhere near as great as his cooking...
Bols: His?
Kurome: Just an old friend of mine, he makes the most wonderful meals out there for my squad when Gozuki hasn't retired.
Wave: What kind of a person is he?
Kurome: The incredibly stupid and reckless one but kindhearted and lovable.
Tatsumi: That's an odd way to describe someone.
Kurome: He has always tried to help us with everything that he forgot about his own safety which worried me. It was like the man didn't even fear death.
Wave: I think i'd like to meet this fellow, where is he now?
Kurome: No idea, he parted ways with us a few months ago and stayed at the capital, he could be anywhere in the city as far as i can tell.
The door swings open again and the rest of Jaegers being Esdeath, Run, Seryu and Dr Stylish arrive. Run didn't say much and just sat down at the table for his omelets. Seryu was playing with Koro and avoiding Stylish despite the man's constant nagging about mechanical enhancements. Esdeath immediately headlocks Tatsumi on sight much to his dismay.
Tatsumi: Aack! Too...tight!
Esdeath: I'm not letting go of you that easily darling~ * Wave and Kurome sweatdrop at the scene*
Wave: Um general...Tatsumi is getting a bit...blue.
Esdeath: So it seems *lets go of Tatsumi* Oh well i'll continue later.
Kurome: What assignments do we have for today commander?
Esdeath: Nothing official, Run said he's going to town to visit the library while Bols will be meeting his family. Seryu is doing extra patrols around the capital. Stylish is occupied with whatever it is he's doing and i'm taking the rest of us hunting danger beasts. Wave you'll partner up with Tatsumi and Kurome you're with me.
Tatsumi: Why are you still clutching my hands?
Esdeath: Because i want to and isn't this what normal couples do?
Tatsumi: *crack* I think *crack* you're not supposed to *crack* hold it that tight!
Wave: *whispers into Tatsumi's ears* Your sacrifice will not be in vain, by being here you save another man from living a life worse than death.
Tatsumi: Please kill me.
Kurome: Maybe later...
[In the woods]
Wave: Are you sure you're experienced in hunting?
Tatsumi: Yeah, back at my village there's always danger beasts lurking nearby so most of us have to train to deal with them. I can already beat earth dragons and whatnot so i'm sure i'll be fine.
Wave: *whistle* That's kind of an impressive childhood there. Before the navy all i did was help around the house and go fishing.
Tatsumi: Hey, nothing wrong with wanting an ordinary quiet life.
Wave: Still though, there was this girl Naomi who had a crush on me. We hanged out together a lot and she shares the same interest about the ocean like me. One day she had to go deliver some cargos overseas with her father and got caught in a nasty storm. No bodies were recovered...I wished i had confessed with her...maybe i could've also stopped her going on that damn trip.
Tatsumi: *pats Wave on the shoulder* It's not your fault Wave, life can be horrible sometimes, we should look towards the bright future instead of the grim past.
Wave: You're right Tatsumi, Naomi wouldn't want to see me being miserable like this.
Tatsumi: It's just simple advices really. Hey wait a minute, are those-
Wave: What?
Tatsumi: Look on the ground in front of you Wave.
Wave did so and observe the area. At first glance it was just some piles of sawdust which itself is already odd. Then he notices the bits of a wooden orb sticking out, recognizing it as the eye belonging to the class 2 tree beast. It wasn't just that one, no... The entire clearing they stood in was filled with mounds of sawdust like sand on a beach. Then, deafening footsteps sounded from right behind them...
[Earlier with Yosif]
Right i can start honing my magic again. Spear and Sayo shamelessly used Air and her friends as another excuse to go shopping much to Ieyasu's pain as they threa-AHEM- "persuaded" him into carrying the bags. I felt bad for the poor guy so i lent them some knights as well. Chouri is thinking of new policies and laws when we manage to overthrow the empire while Sheele is surprisingly helping him. Turns out being an airhead has its perks., she would always ask all sorts of questions which will make Chouri being able to make more detailed solutions to fit ALL of the possible criteria. I still don't know how he made a policy regarding trading to be able to solve sexism and agism at the same time but then again i'm not a bloody politician. Now i was standing in the training hall with the walls still have the outlines of Sayo and Spear. For their shenanigans, i gave them a spar with Victor only that he is no longer restricted by any rules. As in he could use magic...they didn't even last 30 seconds. Sheele gets off scot free since she actually bought the essentials instead of cosmetics. When asked why, she just replied with "What's cosmetics?" I didn't gave Sayo and Spear a chance to taint the innocent soul and distracted them with a shop giving a 50% discount on earrings. Right back on the matter at hand...
I know that i could utilize my magic beyond its original purposes and that was proven when i managed to create basic terracotta warriors by mixing Nature and Earth with a tiny bit of mana. So now i need to figure out if mana was what gave it life or was it Nature. Several minutes later and it's interesting to say the least when the answer was both. There is a difference however. Nature would give life on the body level by actually creating the summon where as mana create their souls which would then require a vessel. Naturally i went for mana to make a new addition the legion since nobody could really damage souls, maybe Yatsufusa but i doubt Kurome could see the thing in the first place. The amount i used is roughly 50 times bigger than what i do for terracotta warriors which is roughly 4.2 the amount of mana inside a paladin or 2.8 the amount of a phantom. Just to be safe i also form a shell of dark energy around the soul in case teigu can indeed harm souls thought it may not do much against Pumpkin since it's using light beams. Mixing light and dark together isn't exactly a smart idea so i decide to compensate by making the body metallic to hopefully deflect the laser. I need to remember to not make this too powerful since it will only serve as a distraction for Tatsumi to escape. Big, metallic and has a huge weakness...I have just the thing in mind, the iron golem from dark souls.
[Back with Tatsumi and Wave]
Tatsumi: WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!
Wave: Tatsumi stay back, go get Esdeath! GRAND CHARIOT!
Since Tatsumi left Incursio back at base he had no choice but to flee as well. But he wasn't getting Esdeath but making a run for it during the chaos. Just as he approaches a waterfall, someone grabs him by wrist and drags him into a bush. Tatsumi tried to grab his sword but stops when he saw that it was Bulat wearing Incursio. Akame and Leone shortly later with Lubbock and Mine being lookouts.
Bulat: Finally found you Tatsumi how did you managed to slip away?
Tatsumi: We need to leave now, i don't think Wave can hold it off for long.
Akame: Who's Wa-
Lubbock: HOLY SHIT!
Everybody looks up at Lubbock to catch the glimpse of Grand Chariot being flung into a cliff as a massive animate suit of armor lungs after him. They of course made the wise decision of getting the fuck out of there and save the questions for later. As the golem eventually slaps Wave far enough for Esdeath and Kurome to notice, it receives the order to pull back by jumping into the river. Questioning the logic of its creator, the golem decided to not give a fuck and swan dives down the waterfall splashing half of the water out before awkwardly swimming away with axe in hand constantly grinding against the riverbed. Esdeath and Kurome eventually find a concussed Wave stuck on a tree with Grand Chariot in its sword form next to him. Kurome was concerned about Wav'es health while Esdeath is worried about where Tatsumi has disappeared to. Despite being unconscious, Wave suddenly feels a need to run away to a deserted island and live under a rock for the rest of his life.
[Time skip to Night Raid being surrounded by Stylish's soldiers]
Things were looking hopeless for the crew as the paralysis has started to take effect. And then an air manta flew in the fray carrying Najenda and...7 others? But that wasn't what stunned everyone even after Susanoo jumps down with the Oarburgh clan (without Daniel, Merraid and Babara) Instead, they were drawn towards a portal of purple flames opening up right above Night Raid's base as a large figure floats out wearing the same black cloak Tatsumi saw at the Jaegers' mission. The bizarreness doesn't stop there as the figure drags a piano with them out of the portal and proceed to play it while seemingly levitating using the wind. The melody was short but it brought terror alongside it (THAT part of golden wind) The moment the figure finished playing, a tsunami of flames cut through the trees surrounding the battlefield revealing hundreds of paladins and phantoms who have crept up unnoticed. The Oarburgh having seen them for the first in such numbers froze in shock as Mine has to drop Pumpkin to not accidentally blow it up. Since Pumpkin gets stronger the more troubles the user is in...It's now overheating like reactor 4 at the threat of being surrounded by an undead army. Stylish's remaining soldiers could nothing as they get turned into Swiss cheese at the unstoppable assault of the legion. Night Raid despite being furthest away also have to defend themselves from Phantoms lunging down from the sky. Stylish having no other choices, used the danger beast serum and consumed his scouts for a powerup. Sadly, this was futile as his opponent rises from underground revealing itself to be a hulking mass of steel wielding an equally massive axe.
Najenda: So many...EVERYBODY RETREAT! WE CAN'T TAKE THIS MUCH ON!
Gilberda: Are you sure the air manta can carry all of us?
Najenda: Only one way to find out, grab the others quickly!
Meela and Loris helps carries Lubbock aboard while Gilberda and Cassandra got Akame and Tatsumi. Bulat was wearing Incursio thus immune to the poison so he picked up Mine and finally Cassandra and Taeko help carry Leone. They flew away with Chelsea and Susanoo being last to get on while barely catching the sight of danger beast Stylish being bisected a huge gale of wind coming from the golem's axe.
Najenda: They must have tracked Tatsumi back to our base or maybe they followed Stylish. Is everybody okay back there?
Leone: Lionel is fixing most of the damage so i'm good.
Bulat: Incursio blocked all of their attacks so i'm fine as well.
Tatsumi: Few cuts here and there's but nothing serious.
Taeko: What was that boss?
Najenda: That...was our new problem, the abyssal legion as Tatsumi has heard.
Mine: Wait....DOES ANYBODY SEE WHERE EXTASE IS!
Chelsea: The what?
Lubbock: We must have forgotten it during the fight!
Najenda: I know that it's the last thing we have of Sheele but we can't go back, the legion outnumbers us severely.
Susanoo: General Najenda, look!
The legion has continued to pursue them as the cloaked figure from before now with bat wings is flying after them with 4 phantoms by their side. Night Raid didn't have much range in combat and has to rely on Mine's Pumpkin and Oarburgh's throwing knives along Cassandra's chakrams. Taeko also helped out by sending wind blades after them but she could barely hit them at the speed they were flying. The knives being more in number did hit but didn't no any noticeable damage. Pumpkin was the mvp as Mine hold down the trigger and swings it horizontally like a greatsword and the laser cuts through all of the phantoms along the figure. But the figure with their wings gone was close and able to catch the tail of the air manta. Before anyone could react, an inky black tendril sprouts from one of their sleeves and wraps itself around Cassandra before pulling her down as the figure freefalls into the woods below. Gilberda cries out in despair seeing her friend being dragged to her death and had to be held back my Meela, Loris and Taeko. It pains them as well but there's nothing they could do without jeopardizing everybody's safety. The first mission for the revolutionary and the Oarburgh has already lost one of its member.
Down below, Cassandra sees the approaching ground and closes her eyes to brace the fatal impact. Only it didn't came and instead a potent draft of wind stops her inches before hitting the ground. She was relieved for a moment before realizing she was still grappled by the dark tendril. Even with her abnormal strength, the grip held firm as the tendril slowly pulls her towards the cloaked figure. The figure put their remaining hand on her neck and she feels a jolt of electricity before everything went black.
Total inventory:
Grenade launcher
Venus Magnum
Ascended Wraith set
Primordial's wrath: Damascus
Almighty Five Sights: Spectator
Diadem of supreme arcane might
15 copper 53 silver 38872 gold
Current familiars:
- Sergei the Armor Demon
- Victor the Soul Of Cinder