Yuuka took deep breaths; the bursting pieces of the gun damaged his right eye. Blood had covered a part of his face; he was still lying on the ground and didn't want to stand up.
"It's over."
But he had lost all hope of winning the battle and had resigned himself to the idea that he would die without achieving his final goal of giving a final present to his parents.
The idea of a soldier dying proud as a commander who fought for his allies was not something he ever wanted.
But he had lost all hope of winning the battle and had resigned himself to the idea that he would die without achieving his final goal of giving a final present to his parents.
"Yuuka!! Get down from that tower. I am here to kill you myself."
"!!!"
A voice pulled Yuuka out of his thoughts by calling him, followed by an explosion that sparked another bright glimmer around the port.
"Huh..?"
A Yuuka lifted himself and looked at the port,
"They are still fighting."
He saw Asphodel ships moving dangerously near the port, firing volley after volley directly at the enemy, exploding barrels and taking all the cannon fire upon them head-on.
Yuuka realized that the will to fight and survive was still alive, and he saw the possibility of winning. This realization spurred him into action; he needed to fight his own battles.
With a single wish and thought of Arata and Kriska, his wife and daughter, he prepared himself to face his enemy.
"I am coming down, Milize."
It was facing Milize head-on. He knew she would have a bloodlust for him, and she must've blamed Foal and him for the death of her Father. She wouldn't kill him quickly. He will have a chance to fight.
The tiny raindrops falling in short intervals were finally going out in s complete shower. The dark clouds finally began their significant downpour.
Yuuka left his rifle behind and began descending the stairs; he reached the bottom of the tower.
He was surprised the door wasn't shot once, or someone tried to force it open. The open removed the hand on his right eye, which wasn't hurting as much as before.
He took a long breath and finally opened the door,
"Ha!!"
"!!"
A Yuuka opened the door a knife aimed right at his heart came through the door; the darkness of the door. Yuuka immediately reacted to it by going in the left direction.
He caught the attacker's right arm, gave them a quick knee to the gut, and quickly disarmed them of their knife by pushing them against the wall and kicking it away.
"Agh."
The attacker let out a small cry of anguish as their face struck the metal door,
"Don't come at while shouting. It is better to stay entirely and attack; come on, learn some things, Milize."
Yuuka began mocking the attacker, shaming them for their terrible combat kills.
"I am very well aware of skill class, Commander Yuuka. Now, leave my sister."
"..."
Yuuka looked surprised at the outside of the door; a young woman with dark hair stood pouring rain. Her clothes and body were completely soaked, but she held a gun against Yuuka.
"Milize.."
"I said, realise my sister."
Yuuka looked briefly at the hair of the lady, whom he thought to be Milize, but she had white hair instead of black. Yuuka readily let off her arm.
"He is pretty strong you were right about him, Milize. I guess I lost the bet."
The lady was Milize's older sister, Anju Asina. Seemingly the two sisters had made a bet about whether Yuuka could tackle the sudden attack.
After Anju stretched her arms, she looked Yuuka directly in the eyes.
"You should have taken my knife instead of throwing it away. You are skilled yet not very smart."
"And You are neither competent nor skilled."
At Yuuka's rebuttal, Anju could not reply; it was confirmed that she had lost in a battle against his head with zero chances.
"Come on; you two get out already."
At Milize's order, Yuuka and Anju emerged out of the watchtower; the rain began falling on Yuuka's face;
the raindrops washed away the frozen blood on his face as it came seeing down while he looked directly at Milize.
"..."
Both stared at each other with cold eyes while Anju approached Milize's side.
"So, we finally meet. I didn't think our final battle would happen in such a way. Still, I am very amused. I have waited for this meeting for so long; I'll kill you myself today, Yuuka Sakaguchi."
Yuuka didn't even flinch hearing Milize's words rather than sacring him; they excited him more.
"If you are so much after my blood, kill me already. Come on! What are you waiting for?!"
"Come on, the only reason you even came down the tower or the sole reason you are alive now is that I want to kill you with my own hands."
It was more or less the truth. If their history didn't have such a special connection, Yuuka would have been killed long ago, but that's what made this moment special.
Milize handed her gun to Anju and brought out her survival combat knife while Yuuka was ready to battle her bare-handed.
Somewhere in the port, another explosion occurred, illuminating the darkness around them. The wind blew her hair away even when they were soaked wet.
The two battle between the two captains was about to begin, a struggle that took years. Both of them, this would happen but never this way.
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