Lunaria was unable to feel her legs since a while ago. With her arms still strung above her head, the chains that continued to dig into her skin began causing her pain.
The orb that was in front of her kept on glowing, feasting off her strength bit by bit. By now, gravity that enacted on her body seemed to have increased several times, though it was only the effect of her fatigue.
With each part of her body weakening, her trauma only added to the pain of having to deal with the situation. Lunaria's head thumped painfully on the inside, serving as a constant reminder to her that she was in a cold, dark place alone while she suffered from the feeling of her body withering away. It didn't help that the bandits were constantly coming in and out from a separate passageway to take advantage of her current state.
The two devils from before were gone for quite some time. Whatever they were doing with such a large hoard of bandits was surely not something good. Lunaria didn't understand why they needed her yet, nor did she know about their future plans. If anything, she expected the bandits and the devils to have some sort of dispute since it was unlikely that they would be so obedient as to follow orders from a notorious species.
Her eyelids grew heavier the more she tried to stay awake. With her strength leaving her body, she became tired from simply being strung in the middle of the room. Her entire body weight was no longer supported by her toes, which barely touched the floor from the way she was placed, simply allowing the chains to painfully hook her wrists.
Disappointment was an understatement; Lunaria felt devastated that she was so easily defeated by mere tricks and deceit. As a proud dragonkin whose ego was shattered once in the past, she was on the verge of breaking from how fragile her current self was after being trampled upon years ago. The scars that were embedded deep inside her showed itself from her current emotional state, opening even more wounds that was certain to dig deep into her mental health.
"Oho~ where has the mighty princess from before gone to?" One of the thugs, who happened to be in the room standing guard, smirked at her.
Grabbing her by the top of her head, he lifted her crestfallen face, causing her to groan in pain from her hair being pulled. This only further fuelled the satisfaction and domination the bandits felt, for they were in the position of power now. Even so, Lunaria tried her hardest to look annoyed at them, despite the gut-wrenching feeling she had right now.
Of course, pain was expected from being captured. This certainly wasn't the first time something like this happened to Lunaria. When the men started beating her and used her as a punching bag strung in the middle, she simply allowed herself to be beaten without showing fear. As much as her crippling mental state was forcing her back against a corner more than ever, she still had enough control to prevent herself from shutting down completely.
"The mighty dragon princess, reduced to such a pitiful state," another bandit came forward, throwing in another punch into her gut. "What a feeling this is!"
"W… Why are you… following those men…?" Lunaria groaned, forcing herself to speak. "Don't you… have a… leader?"
"What use is following our leader if he is also willingly complying with 'their' orders?!" The thug shouted at Lunaria before making a gleeful smile. "'They' promised us wealth and power if we help them finish the task… we don't see a reason to not obey. As dumb or illogical their requests, we carried them out because of proof that they indeed possess the strength to change our lives."
"We have seen things, Hime-sama," a third thug mocked Lunaria. "We have seen what they are capable of, something you will never understand when you already obtain such power effortlessly."
"What part… of their lies… don't you get? I bet they are going to… abandon more than half of you… once they are done with me," Lunaria tried changing their minds by casting doubt on them.
"Trying to trick us will do you no good, Hime-sama," all of them laughed at her provocation instead, "We have already been granted the power needed, all they owe from us now is wealth."
To prove their points, the room was filled with red light from their bodies as soon as they applied magic on themselves. Lunaria widened her eyes when she saw this, for she knew that there was nearly no hope for her from the look of things.
The group continued to bring out their dissatisfaction on Lunaria's body. Punching and kicking her relentlessly, the pain and dismay that was brought on her kept on piling up.
"… Huh? What was that?" The bandit on the left suddenly stopped his fist from reaching across Lunaria's face when he realized the sudden trembling that came overhead.
The other bandits also stopped their assault on Lunaria, letting go of her torn clothes and looking around the area in slight caution. For a second there, they looked a little worried but quickly dismissed it when nothing followed.
"Alright, time for some fun~"
In an aggressive manner, they ripped off Lunaria's attire, leaving her bare skin exposed to the air. Lunaria let out a weak gasp when this happened, for she knew what was going to come. Waves of nausea overtook her immediately at the reminder of her past. Tears leaked from the corner of her eyes uncontrollably. Despite her furious attempts at keeping her emotions hidden, yet her weakest part triumph over her rationality.
She squeezed her eyes shut instinctively, not wanting to accept the reality of things. Instead, her other senses were simply amplified with the lack of using one sensory organ, causing the rustling of the bandits' clothes to be heard even clearer for what that would come next. At that moment, she made a silent vow to herself that she was going to keep quiet, no matter what happened.
Just when the bandits were about to lay their hands on her, the door at the side of the room opened.
Lunaria wasn't able to hear what they said due to the ringing in her ears from her going into a panic attack. While she wasn't hyperventilating as a sign of being overrun by her fears, it was still enough to distract her from the present unintentionally. She could feel her stomach running wild once more, both from the effects of being assaulted previously along with the feeling of wanting to vomit. A piercing pain followed right after, as if a hot needle had been used to penetrate through her brain from how traumatic her memory was.
After quite some time, Lunaria calmed down when she realized that she was left alone in the darkness with the company of the orb. It certainly wasn't very comforting, but at least she was glad that whatever that was going to happen to her didn't happen. With a shaky breath, Lunaria took some time to stop herself from trembling in fear so she could access the situation yet again. It wasn't like there was anything she could do, with the orb still functioning and eating away at her.
It also didn't help that she was now fully nude. With the exclusion of her beautiful torn dress and undergarments lying in a sad heap on the floor, Lunaria was exposed to the core by anyone who came in. Her skin was dyed in bruises and blood stains from the beatings, the side of her cheek feeling swollen after multiple slaps and punches. A stinging pain came from the other side, possibly a cut across her face.
In such a desperate situation, Lunaria tried her best to distract herself from thinking about her desperate state by focusing on what caused the bandits to suddenly leave. Recalling the last few words that she could hear one of the bandits stated, it must mean that trouble had arisen to the point they had to leave their posts. There could only be one reason for the cause of such trouble.
At the same time this was happening, a large hoard of bandits were up against an equally large number of soldiers and guards, of whom included Sera and the others.
What that happened after Lucentia and Kaze left was them meeting up with Lunatea and the other two. They explained a little about their findings to the trio before concluding that they were going to launch a mass assault on the base while they lacked the manpower to defend. Somehow, the devils must have known of their plan because as soon as the soldiers were being anonymously tipped off to gather at where they emerged from the main entrance, all the bandits who were scurrying around the city also gathered to protect the entrance of their base.
It all started with the discussion of the five as soon as they met up.
The exit of the main entrance appeared to be right where the previous battle was: the graveyard. Since the entire area had been demolished from the short fight between Lunaria and the two devils, it was difficult to ascertain that a hidden entrance had been made where the rubble of the fallen church had covered. Lucentia and Kaze quickly met up with Lunatea and the twins, who spotted them when they came out.
"Huh, never would have thought they chose the most predictable place to be their entrance," Lucentia sighed. "How distasteful."
"It also proves that they were smart in that sense, since we wouldn't have checked here after all that," Luniel crossed her arms. "How was it?"
"We think we found Lunaria," Kaze answered hastily, wiping his brow. "There was an anti-magic barrier inside that encased a certain room where the sewer canal ended."
"The path at the garden was made with magic, leading all the way to their main base of operations," Lucentia confirmed Kaze's words. "The area itself isn't that large. There are quite a few split paths, but we took care of most of the bandits who were trying to escape below."
"Good job," Lunatea gave a nod of affirmation to them. "What do we do?"
"Leak the information to Father, of course," Lunaea suggested. "That way, he can help to pass it to Sir Ethan, who would inform the guards of this tip off, and then lead the guards over to this area."
"Alright then. I will be doing that. Kaze, please stay with my sisters, they will help you," Luniel told Kaze before soaring off.
"Luniel volunteered because her combat ability isn't as good," Lunaea helped explain to Kaze while her sisters, thinking he was confused. "Mine isn't either, since both of us don't specialize in fighting."
"I would disagree," Lunatea glanced at the two with a smile. "Lunaea is simply being humble. Luniel and her are both equally as capable, except they are more of a caster than a swordswoman like Lucentia and I. As such, in the face of enemies who could limit their magic casting, they deemed themselves not as useful in situations like these."
"I see, how considerate," Kaze shifted his attention back to Lunaea, who shyly looked away at the praises from her elder sister.
While their group focused on clearing the area to allow the soldiers to discover the hidden entrance, Luniel was already back at the palace with her parents. Since she couldn't simply waltz into Ethan's room and inform him of such a finding, it was obvious she should rely on her parents for help this time round.
Once Reginsleif received word from her daughter, he bid her off with a quick wave before heading to meet up with Ethan.
"Shiina, send half the men to join the fight," Reginsleif instructed Shiina, who was accompanying to the King's office. "Have Sakuya join them, you will stay here with me in the event of an attack."
"Sir," Shiina answered while they were still walking.
When they got to the office door, Shiina immediately left to inform of the orders to the other dragonkin soldiers. Reginsleif stepped into the office where a stressed-out Ethan was, informing him of the matter told by his daughter as if it was something they had investigated themselves. Instantly, an order was sent out via direct order by the King and all the soldiers close to the watchtowers, who had a communication device, received said order.
Within minutes, all the soldiers in the city knew what was up and diverted most of their strength towards the graveyard itself. Those who were already preoccupied with the chase of the bandits were to divert either one or two soldiers towards the effort to subdue the location itself, leaving them to join a larger group of soldiers all over the city.
"Oh, it worked alright," Luniel made a light chuckle once she dropped herself in front of Lunatea and the others, clearing most of the rubble already. "When flying here, I could see soldiers all scurrying over right away."
"Father works fast, but even more so for Sir Ethan," Lunatea giggled. "He is really stressed out."
"You can't really blame him," Kaze sweatdropped at the group of dragonkin sisters making fun of the King. "Try losing a foreign princess in your own country."
"Alright, enough chatting," Lucentia stated, removing her sword from her sheath. "We need to hide before the soldiers get here."
The reason for needing their group, which was supposedly powerful enough to enter themselves, was due to various reasons that they needed to confirm. One, they were technically not allowed to be seen at the location of the hideout without a valid reason, which was why they would only show themselves after the soldiers arrive to act as backup. Second, they anticipated that the devils would be able to call back the rest of the bandits to defend the base if Lunaria was truly underneath. Third, they hadn't seen neither of the two devils nor the boss that Kaze described with the battle axe yet, meaning they were still hiding from plain sight.
It was quite the cruel way of doing things, meaning that they couldn't drop the hint beforehand that the soldiers had to be wary of 3 possibly very powerful enemies coming out of nowhere. Then again, that was also the reason why Luniel was to tell Reginsleif about this first, so he could have the soldiers be informed of this and prepare themselves while dealing with the bandits.
A few minutes later, the sound of the soldiers' armour clattering could be heard approaching from the distance. Kaze and the others were already well hidden at a slight further distance from the entrance hole they dug up, waiting in anticipation of something to happen.
Sure enough, the soldiers were just getting into proper formation to receive a quick briefing of how they were going to invade the hideout when suddenly more trembling of the ground came from inside the hole. The soldiers all turned towards it and found a bunch of bandits charging right out to face their enemy. It was all the more intimidating when all of the bandits were radiating the red veins and aura around them being cluttered together.
"W-What?! How are they all here!"
"Did the intel we get underestimate the number of bandits available?!"
"Shit, we don't have time for this! Defend!!"
The soldiers immediately got to attention and began fighting the bandits. Casters and healers took position behind the frontliners, ready to enchant them with body enhancement magic or heal the injured.
"Yikes, I pity the dead who were buried here," Lunatea shivered as the battle unfolded before them. "We are literally going to be fighting in a graveyard."
"We can't do anything about the location now," Lucentia stood up, ready to join the fray. "But we can help determine the outcome of the fight."
With a bold declaration, the four sisters made their flashy entrance. As soon as they revealed themselves walking towards the group in a slightly ajar 'V' shape, the soldiers and bandits nearby all trembled in fear at the amount of energy each of them exerted.
Lunatea and her sisters all had a blank look on their faces, showing off their emotional intensity as well as releasing part of the magical energy they had, which was what that contributed to the intensity that could be felt by everyone in the air right now. Even Kaze, who was hiding the obstacle still, shuddered at the density of it. Different colours of aura could be seen releasing from the sisters, flowing up to the sky like the flames of a candle.
Raising her hand to the sky, a huge magic circle in red appeared above Lunatea. Similarly, Lunaea and Luniel had their hands faced forward, two different magic circles appearing in front of them that was proportional in size. The soldiers instantly received buffs and heightened senses from the magic itself, raising gasps from the crowd. Meanwhile, all the bandits got debuffed instead, as evident from the angry shouts and grunts coming from their side.
When Lunatea was ready, her magic circle activated. The bandits all caught to flames instantly, causing another round of pained cries to flood from those who were on fire. There were more of them, of course, since not everyone had shown themselves from under the tunnel yet. The reason why Lunatea chose flame magic despite there being a chance of it spreading to the soldiers was simply to show off her talented control over her signature magic, along with making it a grand entrance. As stated, flame magic was the flashiest among the other elements.
Lucentia instantly rushed in as soon as the flame intensity quelled slightly. Coating herself in a layer of fire protection magic, she swung her sword effortlessly past each bandit. Decapitated heads and limbs flew off from each body she passed, some of it already burnt to a crisp while others still in the process of combustion.
The sudden appearance of the overwhelming support from the dragonkin princesses boosted the morale of the soldiers, to say the least. The fight itself had barely started and they were suddenly already gaining the advantage. What little strength that each bandit displayed earlier from their aura could only be described as meagre after encountering the strength of the dragonkin princesses.
Since the wave of bandits continued after the first round were beaten down, the sisters were able to get a cover of the continuous clashing between the soldiers and bandits to charge right down. Needless to say, they planned this assault, as if they were leading the way for the complete domination while in truth were just trying to lure the true enemy out. Lunatea and Lucentia charged straight into the hole while Lunaea and Luniel stayed behind, as though caring for the rest of the soldiers who were also rushing right in with a battle cry.
"Kaze, you can come out now," Luniel called out to him once she confirmed that everyone had ran in.
"O-Oh…" Kaze stepped into plain sight, feeling a little shaken up about the entire display. "Did you girls overdo it?"
"Not really?" Luniel shrugged. "This much is nothing, especially when we haven't even found the devils yet."
Kicking aside a charred body, Lunaea and Luniel glanced towards the entrance of the graveyard. Though it may still be an entrance, the appearance itself was already so destroyed that it looked like a messy lump of hill with broken stairs and burnt soil.
"Why aren't you two going to follow them?" Kaze asked Luniel, who glanced back at him.
"Oh, because we need someone to stay on guard here in case of an emergency," Luniel explained in a very simple manner to Kaze. "Have you ever thought that whatever is below could be a trap?"
"Yes, but-"
"Kaze?!"
Kaze was about to continue asking them when he was cut short by a surprised cry. Turning to the origin of the noise, he widened his eyes when Shoko, Noel and Mitsui showed up. The said voice came from Shoko, who rushed up to him without hesitation and hugged him tightly. He was knocked back a little from how fast the foxkin ran into him, especially when she didn't hold back her strength.
"Ahaha, hello Shoko," Kaze smiled wryly at the foxkin, giving her a headpat. "Sorry, I wasn't able to contact you all that I was safe."
"Your Highness," Noel immediately showed her respect to the two dragonkin princesses. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, nothing," Luniel grinned, greeting Shoko and her two new friends. "We rescued Kaze, found the bandits' lair, then attracted the attention of the soldiers over."
"So… this was your doings?" Mitsui looked at Lunaea for confirmation, in which Lunaea responded with a nod. "Oh man… the damage around here is insane."
"Don't blame us for all this," Luniel raised her hand to show her innocence. "Whatever damage caused here was already done when we came. It was the result of Lunaria's fight."
"Yes, we just helped to move the rubble so that the soldiers would be able to find the secret entrance," Kaze confirmed the details. "Well, I didn't help much."
"As long as you are alright," Shoko let go of him, giving his side a light punch. "Jeez, everyone was worried about you."
Immediately, Sera and Rena's group caught up with the speedy Shoko. They had similar reactions when seeing Kaze, glad that he was alright. Addressing their concerns with the dragonkin twins, everyone managed to arrive at a similar conclusion with what they were currently doing. Now that all the guards, including Lunatea and Lucentia who were both leading the fight. It truly was strange why they came up with such a discrete plan when in the end they were going to meet up again.
"Honestly, I bet my father was involved with this," Yuuji sighed, shaking his head after giving his best friend a hug. "Whatever drawback that is going to happen will probably be omitted depending on the direction of the situation."
"We should probably move. I don't think we are allowed to be here, even if we came out of good intention," Rena declared, looking at her friends. "It is not safe."
"No, Lunaria is down there," Shoko, ever the hot-blooded one, pointed down the hole. "I'm not letting Lunatea and Lucentia go alone with a bunch of soldiers. What if they are running into a trap?"
"That does not give us the right to be here still," Sera shook her head.
"What about Lunaea and Luniel then? And Kaze?"
At her demanding questions, everyone looked hesitantly at the trio. From the look on their faces, they were already certain that they couldn't convince Lunaea and Luniel to leave, considering that they had the ability to back up their strength. Kaze, however, was a different case.
"Kaze… we know how you feel," Sera began speaking, as if trying to soothe him to leave with them right now. "You probably feel bad about letting Lunaria get taken away."
"… Sorry Sera, I'm with them," Kaze showed an apologetic look and gestured to the twins. "I can't face Lunaria if I turn away right now."
"Are you two not going to advise him against this?" Sera turned to the twins with a desperate look.
"Nope," Luniel replied in a firm tone. "This is Kaze's choice, we have to respect it, even if things turn out ugly because of that."
From the manner that Luniel spoke, it was evident that she was serious. Should things go south in the event of something grave happening, Lunaea nor Luniel would not be held accountable for Kaze's condition. Protect him as they might, but if it came to even his mortal death, it was a respectable decision since Kaze already understood what it meant to participate in a fight like this. The last time he got beaten, he was unable to do anything at all.
Sera aside, everyone else was just as unconfident in the situation they were in. While they set out to rescue Lunaria on impulse, in reality they knew that their powers were at such a limit that even if they did find Lunaria, they wouldn't be able to do much of the fighting itself. Their opponents were likely going to be even stronger than the centipede monster from before, something that they struggled with greatly.
All of them wanted to leave immediately due to the situation being out of their league but were hesitant because of Kaze. Even in the face of such danger, he still chose to remain put. It was like he didn't care for his safety, for he was more concerned for others, Lunaria in particular.
"Lunaea, Luniel, I think I'm going in," Kaze stated, walking into the hole. "I can't wait any longer."
"Ah!" Luniel suddenly widened her eyes, jumping forward with her wings spread and pulling Kaze away.
Lunaea also reacted right away, casting a multi-layered barrier in front of them as soon as she sensed what Luniel found out.
A split second later, a huge explosion rocked the entire ground beneath them to the point that more tears showed up on land. Followed right after, a huge burst of dirt and ash came from within the hole. The figure of a person showed up, being the cause of the entire rumbling.
"Waa!!" Kaze cried out, for he was suddenly tossed back by Luniel without a reason.
The barrier was effective in stopping the effects of the explosion, but succeeded in attracting attention to them. When everyone met with the person who came out, only Kaze reacted differently.
"Ho? You are from that time…"
It was the leader of the bandits, holding his bloodied axe in one hand and a human head in the other.