The sun was high, the spirits up, her skin fresh and chest perky.
"Lady Tsunade looks refreshing today" The soldiers addressed her, the gold-rank adventurer in particular stared at her as if he wanted to eat her alive, but Tsunade didn't care.
"Thanks, Laier" She dismissed his comment, her stare looked far into the skies to the position where Azrael and I were levitating, ready to watch a movie.
Surely she was used to being sought after, but she wasn't used to being left dissatisfied and expectant. And I have already done that twice.
"They are coming!" A sentry screamed, arriving in his horse after having scouted the area. It was time to fight.
"Everyone, get to your positions!"
She had already predicted this outcome and laid out a plan. Although I have yet to know what her objective is behind this offensive. The forces of the Baharut Empire retreated into the Azerlisia Mountains, carrying heavy bags filled with Armatista.
Last night's rendezvous gave me all the information I needed, or at least, all the information soldiers of this rank were able to offer. Their army was adept in using this mountain range to their advantage, they had to cross it every time to fight what was known as the 'Anual War' against the Re-Estize Kingdom.
Tsunade wanted to take advantage of that. The battle hadn't yet started but I already knew who was going to win, even though I was not an expert.
"I believe one of Tsunade's objectives is to witness with her own eyes the effect of the armatista, my lord" Azrael explained to me.
The centinels of the Re-Estize Kingdom's army noticed the Empire's movement, gave the intel and chased like Tsunade expected them to. According to our information, usually, they wouldn't give chase of the mountains as they knew the empire held the advantage of this ground.
But, the Armatista changes everything; the greed, the drive. Also, Azrael and I saw that surprisingly, the forces sent by the Re-Estize Kingdom were even bigger at least double that of the Empire's with a higher number of sorcerers among them compared to common infantry.
For just a mere retrieval mission, this was too big of a force. I made some signals to Azrael and she nodded.
We landed among their forces, but they couldn't see us within the spiritual world. A warlock, in particular, walking at the front, had the highest concentration of spirits around him. That could only mean... he's killed plenty.
Also, he didn't look like he was a part of the army, instead, he was an adventurer.
From what we understand in this world there is an independent force called the Guild. From which mercenaries can undertake jobs designated by their respective countries and even citizens; like mercenaries. Essentially, he's like Laier, but he's not in a group, he's on his own.
"I knew that report was full of nonsense, a gigantic fox as if such a thing could exist" He jested and watched the soldiers rush at the mountain, he didn't follow them.
"Remember you won't receive your reward until we have the armatista, snake!"
"You ain't got to tell me twice, scourge".
There didn't seem to be an amicable relationship between him and the soldiers.
"Princess Renner may be relieved that the report ended up being fake. Don't get distracted, we're more than likely being led into an ambush, but retrieving the Armatista is our main priority, sorcerers be ready!"
...
For us, it was like a movie. From Limbo, we witnessed everything in 4K. The Empire's army ambushed them up the hills... Snake was a great addition to the Kingdom, he didn't rush in, instead he played it carefully and supported on the sidelines.
Soon, the advantage of the Empire became evident.
A sorcerer grasped a small piece of armatista between his hands, and started chanting.
<3rd Tier: Fireball>
*BOOOOOOMMMMM!!*
What was supposed to be a fireball somehow turned into a ballistic missile that destroyed a small region of forest, burning hundreds to a crisp and reducing the morale of the Re-Estize army considerably.
'Holy shit, that's... a bit of a powerup'.
The sorcerer who chanted that spell collapsed... he wasn't able to resist the rush of sun energy he used to execute that attack. That is interesting, so through the use of Armatista, mortals capable of magic can use Sun Energy.
"Master, I think your involvement in this world is bound to change everything forever".
I nodded, now I understand why they're so desperate for the Armatista. That small rock, which to me is equivalent to less than one chaos point, managed to increase the strength of the magic to such a degree.
"But I still wonder, why does Armatista appear here but not in your world, Azrael?"
"I believe the explanation lies in the concentration of mana in the air. It is precisely what allowed evolution to occur and humans capable of using magic manifested in this world. Back in our world, atmospheric mana is not concretised at all. For angels like me, our abilities are not powered by mana; instead, they're racially innate. However, since your sun energy inadvertently transforms into armatista upon being in contact with concentrations of mana, it should be safe to assume at some point you will be able to create it on will".
"Hmn..."
I had to listen attentively to what she said.
"If I were to create a lot of it, would you angels benefit somehow from it?"
"Now that we are starlight angels, as a personal experience I believe I have a high compatibility with sun energy. Rather than using it as a catalyst as these wizards do, it would be better to assimilate it to become stronger, or so I believe".
"Alright, at some point when I return to the heavens, I'll make sure to create a lot of it for you guys".
"My lord is merciful".
**
**
Tsunade ended the battle less than an hour after it started with the overwhelming defeat of the Re-Estize Kingdom, as expected. The adventurer and sorcerer, Snake, had long since fled the scene, although he didn't go far... that shrewd snake instead flanked the position of the Baharut army, going up the mountains through a different ledge, although only Azrael and I kept a watch on him.
Unbeknownst to the eye, Tsunade not only created a great expanse of water that ended up pushing the hundreds of heavily injured remaining members of the army down the mountain, but also, hundreds of her small slugs were mixed within that water, and they attached themselves to the bodies of those soldiers.
Similarly, during the fight, she also had katsuyu attach herself to the bodies of the Baharut Army soldiers. Perhaps, this was also a part of her greater scheme.
"Retreat!"
The general of the opposition called for a retreat, the Baharut Empire's army with their morale at the highest momentum, wanted to give chase and exterminate all of them, but Tsunade raising her hand stopped them from doing so.
At this stage, no one didn't respect her as their leader, even when she wasn't a part of the fucking army from the beginning.
When even the strongest member of their group, Laier, worshipped her as if she were his goddess, the others could only follow.
"Don't bother giving chase, our priority is to return this armatista to the Emperor's noble hands!"
And she's also an expert at spouting bullshit.
"Yes, Lady Tsunade!"
Just like that, the battle was won. It would later be known as the Battle of Liberation as it was the first time the Baharut Empire ever won a battle with such overwhelming differences. For each soldier of the Empire lost, the Kingdom lost a hundred...
The following night was a banquet at the top of the mountain range where Tsunade, once again, drank to her fill. This time I didn't need to use any illusions as I had already extracted all the information that I could from this group, it was only a pity I couldn't do the same with the Re-Estize Kingdom's army, however, I imagine that's something Katsuyu will take care of.
The blonde sannin enjoyed her night, shamelessly rejecting the depressed Laier's advances and eventually pulling me back into one of the tents before the banquet even finished.
She pushed me on the bed and closed the tent behind her. A gust of darkness manifested in the room, ten waving wings fluttered and Azrael manifested, staring at Tsunade's blushing cheeks.
"I don't appreciate the rough treatment you have towards my lord".
"Give us some privacy, Azrael" Tsunade said solemnly.
They looked like they were about to have a go at each other, Azrael is perhaps too overly loyal. I stood up and dusted myself off.
"Azrael".
"... yes, my lord?"
"You don't need to go if you don't want to, just don't make a move" I ordered her, Azrael smiled and bowed, showing her appreciation.
Tsunade frowned, I walked up to her and held her silky golden hair.
"You were amazing today".
"..." She blushed and stared at my hands one second before focusing back on my eyes.
"Are you ready for me?"
"I can hold you both in my heart just perfectly–"
"Wrong answer, Tsunade" My smile dropped, and once again she came up to me with this nonsense. I grasped her by the neck.
"Brat!"
Tsunade grasped my wrist so hard even my tough skin cracked, I swung her to the side like she was some ragdoll and the last thing she saw was her body phased by a cluster of moonlight mist.
"My lord?"
"Let's go".