Ash and Enciades followed the Glasgow gang and Saria to ensure that they won't get hurt.
He gave some cover fire, firing against some stray soldiers that were aiming at them with their crossbows.
"Hannah, I want you to rush in with the others after I create an opening." Vina ordered, holding her Warhammer on her main hand.
"Sure mate, you heard Vina!" Hannah rallied up the others. Shields on hand, they felt safer.
Ash gave them some cover fire, keeping the shield guards busy so casters won't be able to peek and fire arts at them.
Vina ran at the shield wall and she cocked her arm for a strike with her hammer. Swinging it down right in the middle of the shield guard, Vina made the shield bearer retreat backwards due to the heavy blow.
"Now mate!" Vina shouted as her arm rebounded. Feeling a little numb, Hannah drop kicked the shield again for more wiggle room and the gang infiltrated their ranks.
Taking advantage of the chaos quickly and efficiently with Saria coming in to block potential attacks. "I see that they're taking their training seriously." Ash nodded at them and was pleasantly surprised.
He didn't expect much from them, they're young women who just get into fights in Londinium. But now, they're acting as a cohesive unit and Ash thought Vina just needs more experience and knowledge to keep Victoria up and running.
Saria was the most valuable player though, she used her calcification arts on the shield guards. Effectively keeping them out of the altercation.
Hannah and Vina then made quick work of the back line with the other members of Glasgow. He forgot that they're not soldiers though.
After their adrenaline subsided, they were trembling like a leaf. They killed people for the first time.
"Hey, talk to me. You alright?" Ash grabbed Vina's shoulders and turned her to himself.
"I... I felt that guy's sternum crunch when I hit him with my hammer..." Vina's eyes were shaking and he sighed.
Hannah dropped her trench knives and Enciades shook her head at him. "She looked at the guy's eyes as she slit his throat." Enciades reported.
So he raised a wall of earth at their position quickly and made them sit down. He hosed them down with cold water.
"Remember, you're now the royal guard of Alexandrina. The crowned princess of Victoria. This is just the beginning, what if you were surrounded by Kazdel's forces? Freeze up like this again and you'll die." Ash gave them a reality check.
"So merciless." Enciades shrugged with a wry smile.
"N-no, he's right. Thanks." Vina nodded at him. "You're not Glasgow the gang in Londinium anymore. You're effectively the royal guard of Vina. And if you can't protect her, she'll be executed in a blink of an eye. That's the best outcome when you get captured too." Ash frowned.
They went green at the thought. Everybody nodded and took a big breath. Inhaling the scent of blood, smoke, and gunpowder that was dominating the battlefield.
"Come on, we can do this." Vina looked at him with a nod.
They continued taking care of squads with shield guards. Sweeping the field for enemies and they cleaned up quickly.
Vina and her friends were panting heavily. Lugging around equipment and weapons is different from doing physical training in safety.
The ground is uneven, battles were draining, and mental strain keeps on piling. The fights went on and on and on. They never felt that tired, ever.
"Have a fifteen minute break. We'll be going deeper, at the thick of it where Ursus' finest are fighting with our silver lance pegasi and elites." Ash informed them and they winced.
"You're a slave driver, you think they'll survive over there?" Enciades was amused upon seeing their solemn expressions.
He shrugged. "If they can't do this, then how in the hell are they even going to infiltrate Londinium and take it back from Kazdel? They also need to be familiar with our forces and how they fight. I refuse to give a useless monarch help." Ash scoffed.
"He's right, I won't ever lend my friends to an incompetent leader. I would rather die." Vina agreed and Enciades smirked at her.
"Good words, keep it up though. We don't have Intel about Victoria yet. But we'll definitely storm it when there's a chance." Ash began to send his ghosts all around the place to gain leverage.
It was only a matter of time before they found something useful against major players like Victoria.
"Thanks... For doing this, you know? Even though you don't get anything from this now." Vina sighed at their sad situation. They can't do anything at all without external help.
"It's fine, I'm in it for the end game. After we annex Londinium and instate you on the throne, we'll basically be the Gaul empire again. Three world superpowers combined would be devastating." Ash smirked.
"Let's go, we'll be going to the real front lines." Enciades led them deeper into enemy territory and they could hear the battles that were much fiercer.
"Uhh, mate... This is insane, look at that! There's tons of bloody arts flying around like it's raining!" Hannah pointed out.
"Thank you captain obvious. Of course there would be tons of arts being used here. You'd lose your mind at Luna and Soleil's front. Arts would be literally raining there." Ash laughed and they creeped closer.
There were hundreds of shield guards stationed at the vanguard. A silverlance pegasus reported to them after seeing Enciades and Ash.
"Sir, ma'am. We're out of AP rounds and the sporadic attacks of the emperor's blades have been increasing. We've got a couple of dozen of them with our shotguns, but they have adapted." The knight reported.
"Then we do this the old fashioned way. Any retrieved bodies from those guys should be given to me. Don't hit their heads, and helmets. You'll have a bad time." Ash took out his sword and he was given a couple of corpses.
He dispatched it quickly, the danger of contamination with demonic energies and influences at the battlefield was a huge threat.
"Now, you guys will be fighting alongside the silverlance pegasi and at least take one emperor's blade down." Ash grinned at them and they gulped audibly.
Vina looked like she bit a lemon and Hannah felt a lump on her throat. Their mouths were dry upon hearing him.
"B-but those guys are the imperial guards of Ursus right?" Hannah asked nervously. She might not read often, but learning about the spec ops of different countries was mandatory.
"What? You're the imperial guards of Vina, so you should be up to snuff." Enciades countered and they paled.
Glasgow knew more about the elusive emperor's blades that cleans up any eye witness. They're the strongest spec ops on Terra. Bar the abyssal hunters.
Paradiso didn't really have guys like those, so his elite operators didn't count. And his ghosts weren't meant to fight tooth and nail. They are assassins and spies.
Due to Ash's altercation with them, Glasgow learned of what they can do. And it wasn't pretty at all.
Vina hardened her expression and did breathing exercises. "Let's do this." Ash gave her another lolly for good luck.
"That's the spirit, I killed a squad of them when I was a teen. If I can do it, you can too." Ash ruffled her hair and rubbed her ears.
They deadpanned at him, he was an outlier. There's a reason they're called Ursus' finest. The guys didn't just look terrifying, they absolutely were.
Ash made them lie down for some rest. They won't be at a hundred percent. But they'll need all the rest they can get.
And hearing all the gunfire didn't make it any easier to sleep. Especially the big guys carrying the 30 millimeters that just arrived. Raining bullets on Ursus scum.
"Hahahaha! Commie bastards! This is for the Red Axis!" Glasgow and Saria heard a cyclops' booming voice as he unloaded thousands of rounds with the gau avenger.
"When did we turn into the Red Axis?" Enciades raised a brow at him.
"I liked the sound of it." He shrugged and he didn't want their cooperation to be called the allies. It was just less cool. And they were doing the invading, so it fits. But it was for the greater good.
"Should I gas them so we can be more Red Axisy?" Ash rubbed his chin and was contemplating it. Technically, they were already using flammenwerfers with arts.
And they're also using machine guns. "Huh, would it be called Asmodeus' buzzsaw?"
Enciades sighed at his antics and just ignored his ramblings.
"Report! We have eyes on a squad of emperor's blades! Prepare for contact!" A messenger shouted at the camp using a megaphone.
"It's showtime girls." Ash smiled at the gang and Saria. They groaned and even Saria wasn't sure she would get out of this unharmed.
Everybody was tense, bullets bounced on their shields. It made them tire out faster, but the almighty firearms that guns down normal soldiers were less effective on them.
Vina and the gang were stiff, but they suddenly heard the clinking sound of armor. The Silverlance pegasi went to the front and they drew their swords.
They concentrated their arts and light began to shone on their swords. And there was a nice shorty shotgun on their hip, ready to unload slugs on poor suckers.
"You'll take just one on, there's how many of you against one?" Ash tried to cheer them up.
"Your pep talk isn't working mate..." Hannah quipped back at him. Only Saria could use arts among them. And the emperor's blades are noted for their demonic arts.
"I'll isolate one just for you, ain't I a nice guy?" Ash smiled and he looked towards the incoming emperor's blades.
"Show me your determination." Ash walked up with the silverlance pegasi and they ran towards the enemies.
"Keep up the good work." Ash nodded at the knights and he disappeared.
Ash reappeared right in front of one of the enemies with a grin and he grabbed him right on the face.
He threw the guy towards Glasgow and Saria. Making them panic at the incoming hostile.
"Saria! Mate, I'm going to trust you with our lives! We can't block that guy's attacks!" Vina shouted out in urgency.
The blade righted himself and they frowned after hearing the breathing apparatus. It was intimidating and the red eye slits on the helmet looked at them.
It appeared as inhuman as ever. And the blade brandished his sword after turning towards them.
"You will regret stepping foot into Ursus." His distorted voice unnerved them and he ran at them.
Saria quickly maneuvered herself and threw herself at the front. Blocking a swing of his sword with her shield.
She almost crumbled from the heavy blow as Glasgow surrounded him.
"Fuck! This guy's strong!" Saria's hand began turning white, channelling her calcification arts and aiming it right at the blade.
HIs arm was turning white, Vina went in with Hannah and they tried to get a hit in. The blade conjured a shield though, and their arms went numb after rebounding against it.
"Interesting tricks." The blade released some black miasma and Saria's arts got cancelled. Making them frown at the sight.
He raised his hand and their eyes widened in shock as demonic energy suddenly bursted out of the ground. They felt like their every move was so slow. Like walking through molasses.
"Retreat!" Vina quickly ordered as they backed off from the area. "Everywhere we step foot is Ursus' domain." He summoned the miasma again while calmly walking towards them.
"This guy is bloody insane!" Hannah gritted her teeth. They can't even get near him.
Vina bit her lip, she was thinking of how to defeat the blade. She then went wide eyed after remembering that their weakness is their helmets.
She quickly went up to Saria and they planned. They don't seem to be enough to eliminate him outright. But damaging the mask was possible.
They prepared once again and Vina dodged after feeling something dangerous. A black blade formed near her side and it almost skewered her.
She sweated bullets from the near miss. Saria charged with a roar, going for a shield bash.
Hannah tried to strike with her trench knives and the last tower knight, Dagda. Swiped at the blade with her steel claws.
They were outclassed as the blade parried their attacks with one swing of his sword. "Enough games." He was about to summon another sword and stab them, but he suddenly flew forwards to Saria's shield.
Vina's hammer smacked him on the back, shattering the arts shield around him. Forgetting about her due to his hubris.
"Now!" Vina shouted and Saria used her arts full tilt on the blade's helmet.
He wasn't going to take it just like that and created another territory with black miasma.
Saria dropped her shield and aimed a punch right on his face as he stood up. But the miasma sapped too much of her energy and it turned into a pretty weak blow.
"You damaged my mask... It is unforgivable, I will need to kill you right here." His eye slits glowed redder and multiple black blades formed above them.
It stabbed Hannah and Dagda's thigh, pinning them down. While Saria managed to pick up her shield in time to block it.
Using her arts once again, she tried to impede the blade, but her calcification disappeared as quick as it formed.
Vina ran at him with a roar, rearing her hammer. She suddenly stopped and Hannah gasped. "Mate! Vina!" The Aslan got stabbed.
"Foolish, you will fall here." The blade scoffed. "Got you, ya prick." Vina threw her hammer right at his face and she was too close.
He got hit by it and they heard an audible crack. Saria then picked up Hannah, spinning around to build momentum and she threw her right at the blade.
"Come and have it you wanker!" She dropped kick him on the face while he was reeling and the helmet was heavily damaged by their efforts.
"Tch, Paradiso knows too many secrets about Ursus. We will be in the shadows, remember that." The blade was about to retreat in order to prevent the eldritch horrors spread.
But Ash suddenly arrived behind him and stabbed him on the back of the head with his sword. "Tough luck, my sword really loves whatever you have in your helmet."
The group dropped down on the ground in fatigue and exhaustion. Ash gave them a thumbs up for their technical victory.
"Saria, heal them up please. Good job, that was satisfactory. Obviously, I hoped that you would kill him, but you need more experience." Ash shrugged.
"Fuck you too." Vina flipped him off, putting pressure on her wound as she sweated.
"Hmm, maybe when you become empress. Not now though, good work." He ruffled Hannah and Vina's hair.
They didn't even had the energy to fight back. All they wanted was a nice bath and drop down on the floor.
Enciades then calmly walked up to him. "There's a group of Sankta calling themselves the Legati. They're asking for an audience with you, the twin empresses, and Mlynar."
He smirked. "I see, so it's time to establish the united nations? Then we'll be able to attack others due to their crimes against humanity. It's a good plan don't you think?"
Enciades chuckled at him. "What a devious one you are. Aren't our religion all about loving others? Kjera would be mad." She snorted.
"I call it tough love, gotta rough them up a little you know?" He laughed and Glasgow groaned. They were sure that he'd send them in more battles later.
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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.