Shouts of confusion, a storm of bullets and magic, the sounds of firearms, explosions, and the clashing of swords, spears, and all-manner of ancient weaponry. It was the nostalgic pandemonium that Guinnevere somehow missed after all the desk work she had been doing for the past weeks.
"Desk work truly is not my cup of tea."
She pulls out Rhongominiad from the corpse of an enemy then swings the lance to the side, hitting another enemy who had tried to attack her from behind and sending him flying away.
"Grant me the flames of order...dance upon my armament and permit me to use thy legendary strength...Dragon Force!"
Fire suddenly burst from her free hand and as she put it on her lance, the flames coiled around the golden surface like a snake making it look like a 3-meter long serrated drill.
"Guess I shall deal with the armored vehicles. I leave this place to you!"
Deciding on her next target, she then leaves her knights to handle the rest while she once more pushes onwards. Her enemies desperately trying to halt her advance. However-
"Guaah!"
"Ack-!"
"Sto-!"
None of them could even slow her down even though she was not using her previous bullet-like-charge from the start of the battle.
Their bullets missed their mark, their magic were literally brushed away with a swing of her lance, their swords and spears broke and their shields shattered upon a touch of the blazing lance; in short, they were mowed down like weeds.
"Now where did you go?"
Reaching into the deepest part behind enemy lines, Guinnevere looks around in search of the armored vehicles she saw a few minutes ago but unfortunately sees nothing.
'Strange. I swear I saw some of them around here.'
She wondered while sweeping Rhongominiad to the side and mowing down another group of insurgents that dared to come close to her. But at that moment-
"!"
-she felt something dangerous come up from behind her and in no less than a second, she had spun herself around-her lance bristling with raging flames, and struck the source of the malevolent presence. But contrary to what she expected, her lance struck nothing.
'Eh? There is nothing there!'
Her mind was a little rattled but then she felt it again behind her. This time, she didn't spin around as she had no time because of her current posture, so she opted to only continue on swinging her lance to a full circle and then-
*Clang!!*
-she hit something hard.
"I shall not let you go!"
Even though she has yet to look at what or whoever it was she hit, she gripped Rhongominiad tighter than ever and then started chanting another magic,
"Oh mighty beast, your legendary strength, burst forth like a solar flare, Dragon Breath!"
Rhongominiad suddenly started shaking intensely and she could even hear the fire swirling with intensity. Its heat, reaching extreme levels as Guinnevere could also see the asphalt by her feet slowly start to boil and her armor started growing hotter and hotter.
Not a moment later, she hears a thundering sound akin to a loud beastly roar as she felt her hand, which held Rhongominiad, jerk backwards in recoil while an immense force surged from the lance and the surroundings were dyed in scarlet.
The burst lasted for a good 4 seconds. After which, the heat died down almost immediately allowing Guinnevere to turn around and look at whatever it was that she had attacked.
"Ho~? It looks like the recon team was not exaggerating when they said you were the most dangerous one in the Royal Army. That was quite the replication of a Dragon's Breath. You are quite the talented human.", a deep baritone voice said flippantly.
Guinnevere directed her gaze towards the source and there, she saw a man wearing a bronze scale mail that bordered on being extremely gaudy and impractical; a helmet that was fashioned in the image of a dragon's head, objects that resembled bones and claws adorning the lower edges of the pauldrons, the same could be found on the elbow parts of the vambraces, and even the tassets had the same objects around its edges.
To put it simply, the person looked like someone from a fantasy novel or that one video game where a player is tasked to hunt gigantic monsters that Guinnevere sees some of her subordinates play on their handheld consoles during breaks.
She found the image ridiculous back then, however, this person standing before her so nonchalantly felt like something much more dangerous than a tactical missile coming at her.
"Hmph. I could say the same to you. That attack took no more than .4 seconds to activate. To be able to dodge that level of heat while wearing such gaudy armor, I say you are much more of a danger than me."
Guinnevere retorted. Her mind quickly going to full-alert.
"Hahaha! Dodging that attack of yours was next to impossible lady. I took the option of just taking it head-on and suffer some slight burns rather than make a shaky dodge that would have just led to my end.", the person laughed in response.
Not that Guinnevere cared and in an instant,
"Let strength dwell within me, and let the wind take me past the horizons...Tailwind!"
She rapidly chants the magic, Tailwind, and charges right at the armored man with no hesitation.
With Mach 2, anyone can travel a 20-foot distance in a literal instant, even harder to avoid something moving at such speed from such a distance. However-
*Clang!!*
-Guinnevere makes a face of utter shock as she sees her lance fail to reach her enemy's body.
"To think England's 'Brynhildr' lacks manners. To strike at me as I was speaking. Did your parents not teach you manners?", the person asked her in a flippant tone as he was effortlessly holding the tip of Rhongominiad in his hand.
Guinnevere could not believe her eyes. No one in the entire world has ever stopped her charge. Let alone catch it using one hand. Not even the current strongest Earth-based defensive magic could not stop it. But now, she has come face-to-face with someone who could stop her-bare handed at that, and it immediately told her one thing;
'This one is not human!'
Before the man could even speak further, Guinnevere wills herself to cast another attack magic and this time, since fire was not effective, she decided to use-
"Oh Heavens above, bring down thy flash of judgement upon my foe! Lightning!"
-a magic that uses electricity.
Blue electricity gathered in Rhongominiad and in the next instant, the electricity surged out and enveloped the man who let go of the lance while shouting in pain.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!"
"Not a chance!"
Seeing her opponent's momentary defenseless state, Guinnevere then uses Tailwind again to attack but as soon as she was about to chant, she heard the man mutter,
"Burn."
And immediately, red flames spewed out from the man's helmet and onto Guinnevere who was just getting ready to cast magic. Caught off-guard by the sudden counter, Guinnevere could not muster herself to jump away in time and just when she was about to start seeing her life flash before her eyes, something bumped into her that pushed her out of the way. The raging fire barely missing her as it roared passed.
She slid across the ground for a good few feet and when she understood that she had just been spared from an unexpected death, she looked at whoever was responsible for saving her life,
"Eh?! Captain Albert?!"
It was Captain Albert of the Saint's Guard Assistance Force, and he was panting heavily as he got up. His armor, partially charred black. Probably due to having been grazed by the intense flames that came at them.
"What in the bloody hell were you doing your Highness?! Don't just stand there! Get up! That nasty bugger is about to attack again!", Captain Albert, quickly remonstrated her and urged her to move. Just in time for her to realize that the man they were fighting was preparing for another attack.
"Lady of the Lake! I beseech you, grant me your divine protection and shield me from the flames! Water Sphere!"
She immediately casts another spell and in the next moment, another burst of flame surged forth from the man's helmet, causing Guinnevere to consider the man as a walking talking flamethrower.
The red flames made contact with the water and causing it to steam with a harsh hiss.
"Not good! The flames are too strong! Captain, can you cast magic?"
Guinnevere immediately noticed that her magic was too weak to continue defending them and so she requests the anxious captain to assist her.
But-
"Forgive me your Highness. I can no longer cast magic as I have ran out of mana when I tried to save you earlier."
-he immediately confessed he cannot.
Not that Guinnevere could blame him. Afterall, he did say it was because he had used it all up to save her.
"It's alright. But for now, get ready to move. This barrier will not hold for long. As soon as you see it weaken, jump back. I shall handle the rest."
She did not let that get her down and immediately, she instructed the knight to fall back.
"But your Highness-"
"It will be fine. I just let my guard down for a moment there and I am grateful for you rescuing me. I am not about to waste this precious chance at life you have given me but from this point onwards, this is not a battle between humans. You and the others should stay back and continue to push back the other enemies."
She assured him with a smile. But she also told them to stay away by sayin, 'This is not a battle between humans'. With that phrase alone, Captain Albert understood that he would be no more than a hindrance for Guinnevere and so he nodded to her instructions without further question.
"Good."
Seeing her subordinate being reasonable, she then turned her attention back towards the armored man who continuously spat(she assumes he was spitting.) fire at them like a flamethrower and as soon as she saw the water barrier sway for a moment,
"Go! Now!"
She commanded Captain Albert to flee the scene.
With the captain now falling back, she then started casting magic on herself,
"Ifrit, grant me the blessing to walk through flames."
A warm fiery glow enveloped her body.
"Sylphid, grant me permission to walk through your path."
Then a calm green light enveloped her, turning the glow into yellow.
"Undine, grant me your acknowledgement to bear your strength!"
and finally, a cool blue light enveloped her, turning the glow into pure white that made her dull-gray armor shine like polished silver.
"Three spirits combined, Elemental Trinity. Activate! Brynhildr, greatest of Valkyries, witness as I display your legendary strength once more!"
With a fervent shout, she stands up and faces the the flames that broke through the failing water barrier.
With her strongest magic, she confidently and defiantly faced the flames and even thought of countering with her strongest attack.
But then-
*BOOOOM!!*
-something crashed down with such force before her. Blowing clouds of dust and dirt around and then a very familiar voice resounds,
"I swear...I am so gonna slap Mother Nature in the face if I see her in the afterlife!"
And in the next moment, the surging flames were cut straight down the middle and was split. Not a second later, the sound of something crashing into a building echoed.
'Wha-?'
Guinnevere felt the tension quickly dissipate and she instantly regretted it. The pressure of death staring her right in the face was now gone and in its place-
"Yo. I told you to stop playing with the lance and just focus on being a princess. How many times do I have to tell you that?"
-the exasperated voice of the last person she would have see her in her current state and the feeling of utter shame and vexation.
She looked at 'him' and instantly recognized the unkempt ash-white hair, the arrogant attitude and the piercing black eyes that seemed to peer deep into her soul.
"Tch! At least you're alive. Can't have Evaline crying because of you dying a pointless death."
"What are you-"
"Shut up. After this, I'm leaving. You go and protect that nitwit of a Saint after.", 'he' then walks towards the a ruined building. Leaving Guinnevere completely at a loss on what she should say or think.
Confusion along with so many other emotions began to swirl within her heart as she looked at the familiar figure of the young man she had spent a part of her life with. Her mind finally forming the thought,
'You idiot! Why did you not say 'Can I kill this man, please?' first?!'