Muffled screams and cries reached beyond the howling flames settled upon the ruined cityscape.

A large crowd of civilians armed with sticks and stones marched down the streets alongside soldiers.

Bricks from burnt down buildings. Splintered wooden chair legs.

Whatever they could get their hands on...? Then, it's a weapon.

"Why are they fighting back all of a sudden-!? Retreat! We have to regroup------"

A stone brick smacked against the Betrasian corsair commander's head from behind, knocking him over cold.

The man who had thrown that brick then ran up and grabbed the fallen officer's spear before running elsewhere.

Despite most of them being killed by the attackers, the banded militia of citizens continued to push the enemy back.

There was no time to look back, for burial and regret can come later.

Why? Well... Everyone knew that Betras had many serfs and slaves.

They were convinced that they all had to fight for their own freedom.

However, that wasn't the sole reason for the citizen's willingness to strike back.

At the forefront of the roaring crowd stood a young lady who had instigated this.

The lady hopped on top of some rubble to make herself visible and encouraged them to keep advancing.

Her distinctive appearance was easily recognizable.

Peach blonde hair. Pupilles amber eyes. An exquisite face.

Even the over-glorified paintings and sculptures of her couldn't match it in person.

That's right, she was the well-known legendary adventurer from Elderia, Vixella Langford!

It wasn't just about her being with them in the fight, but rather how she was harassing squads of soldiers with various magic attacks.

In truth, she could just decimate them... But Vixella used this opportunity to train for the sake of controlling her other elements better.

Her plan was rather basic... It was to simply rally the citizens to fight.

Push to the armory, barracks, and help the soldiers cornered there!

It was a very simple and effective plan.

All she had to do was show that they had a fighting chance.

...

The militia grew larger as the scattered civilians picked up arms and joined in on the counterattack.

Plowing through the city with sheer numbers, they would scatter the attacking Betrasian force in half.

Eventually reaching the surrounded soldiers, the militia rearmed themselves with proper weapons from the armory.

After that, they went ahead and mounted a very fierce counter-attack thanks to how high the morale was at that point.

The Zyronians who regrouped eventually drove back the Betrasians out of their capital gates within the next few hours.

It was already noon... The sun was bright hot above them.

Drenched in sweat, the militia and soldiers unleashed cries of victory upon seeing the enemy retreat beyond the distant taiga hills.

Three officers then carried over crates and stack them up for Vixella to stand on and face the crowd.

"Well done, everyone! However, this battle is not over... I'm afraid to say that the enemy will return in force!"

The crowd of armed men and women began to grow unruly as grumbling noises could be heard here and there.

Some of the people in the crowd gripped their weapons tightly, making unsure or somewhat less determined faces.

"Now is the time to decide... Feel free to walk away if you treasure your life... No one will treat you like a coward, I'll assure that."

Although she said it relatively casually, there was a strong sense of solemn in those words.

The crowd hesitated as nearly half of them laid down their weapons and began to walk away, however-

"To leave is to live on... But to stay? It is to avenge Prince Castor... It is to protect the future generations... It is to fight for our beliefs!"

The crowd then fell silent and paused, including the ones who had already begun to walk away...

They all squinted their eyes, brushed their tears away, and ran back to pick up their weapons.

The whole crowd began to roar out cheers as the soldiers presented their arms.

The rows of soldiers then shouted, 'For the future and prosperity of Katraia---!!!', in unison.

This caused everyone to tag along and begin shouting, cheering, and raising their weapons.

Upon seeing the morale spike so high, Vixella hid her smile with a cough and sat down upon the crates.

"Fear not, people... Today, we won't die in vain! We shall stand our ground until the reinforcements from Kartasus arrive!"

...

For the defensive phase, Vixella once again simply told them to make roadblocks and ambush points throughout the city.

This was very easy, thanks to the burnt-down buildings and collateral damage that was caused in the earlier battle.

The plan was to force the enemy into favorable spots and skirmish them before retreating to the next point.

Vixella then rounded up Paladin Baron and the commanding officers to discuss where exactly to set up.

...

Vixella, as Xivieall, was used to rallying people to fight in pitched battles against demons during the ancient days of the Great War.

It was also noted down in various history books that Xiveall's simple yet effective plans had saved countless lives back at the time.

There was a time where the joint demon subjugation forces became split and cut off after a pincer attack.

Unfortunately, no one but the group of fighters led by Xiveall was able to retreat towards the western border.

((By this I mean the western border of Elderia // formerly demon territory.))

But just as they were about to retreat outside the demonic lands, the ground blew up and split in half.

And endless ravine that was formed by wide-area magic that day what drew the Elderian border today.

The demons had foreseen their retreat and had been preparing the land with hollow mineshafts and magicians.

When the time came, all they had to do was make the ground erupt and crumble, forming a deathly steep ravine.

Having their retreat cut off, Xiveall's men grew wary as the demons were slowly closing in upon them from all sides.

Backed against the steep ravine, there was not much they could do... And they all knew that the demons took no prisoners.

Xiveall, despite that, gave out orders meanwhile he, including a brave few, went out to risk their lives and stall the demons.

The remaining forces who stayed behind were racing against the clock to build a makeshift bridge for them all to cross over.

When all hope seemed to have been lost, the bridge was built and they fled across in just the brink of time.

And before the demons approached, the bridge was cut off and destroyed without a trace as it fell into the ravine.

When the demon encirclement forces arrived, they were left dumbstruck to see the humans taunting at them on the far side.

Demons weren't impulsive creatures... They were intelligent, cold, and calculative... So they sent a few flying demons to fight.

But without any ground support, the air units couldn't do so much except harass the humans who swatted them away like flies.

The next nightfall, the said demons across the ravine instead became encircled by the human forces which had won the previous battle.

To cross back to the demonic side of the land, the humans together built a more reliable bridge for the whole main army to cross.

They then fortified that bridge and supported it with countless beams jammed into the cliffsides alongside sturdy hanging cables.

This crossing then became the main resupply point for the humans and was where they regrouped to mount the final counterattacks.

Thus, every book about the Great War would mention that Xiveall's bridge idea would become the turning point of it all.

This bridge would be later known as 'Xiveall's Crossing', keeping that name until today despite multiple reinforcements and renovations.

Even though more bridges were later strung up, Xiveall's Crossing remained to be the main passageway for travel between the border.

Xiveall also said that anyone with enough willpower to stay calm during desperate times could probably figure it out just like him.

This, further increased his popularity and respect through the many misconceptions that he was a very humble and reliable person.

So to say... Monuments of Xiveall AND Vixella were probably soon to be sculptured everywhere throughout the world.

...

After a few tiresome hours, the evening sun shone down upon the makeshift defensive positions placed throughout town.

Blockades were built throughout the city with the use of rubble, market stalls, or whatever big chunk they got their hands on.

This plan was already tested once. Xiveall had a slight flashback of his former life when he was fighting within a sandy townscape.

He was a mercenary... They formed a roadblock maze through town which then slowed down the enemy vehicular advance.

Dealing with the enemy infantry and smaller vehicles which could fit through proved to be relatively easy.

In the end, the defenders of that sandy townscape stalled just enough time for their backup forces to arrive.

Like said, the plan was to hold out as long as possible before retreating to the next defensive position.

This was also to draw the enemy's attention so the people who could no longer fight can escape.

...

An eerie wind blew by as the militia and soldiers peeked over the boarded-up fortifications with wary looks.

Past the broken gate, Betrasian soldiers and corsairs numbering a few hundred came into their field of view.

Cutlasses, shields, spears, and heavy composite crossbows were amongst the ranks.

Some of them who donned robes and garments of the like also seemed to be magicians.

The enemy rained various magic and projectiles onto the makeshift defensive positions.

Eventually, the defending forces were forced to go out and stop them before any more casualties were present.

The brave men who stepped out were killed without remorse by spearmen hiding behind shieldmen with pavises.

"Damnit, these cowards...! They're hiding behind those damn shields- Aag..."

One of the defenders who couldn't hit past the shield was impaled by a spear.

The Betrasians advanced with a phalanx formation... It was a very effective advancing formation used since the times of old.

The corsairs pushed forward in rows, shieldmen front, spearmen behind, all meanwhile protecting their ranged combatants.

If the one upfront got tired, they would switch rows and bring forth the shieldmen who had already rested.

By doing it this way, they could advance their frontline without having to pause and regroup during the fight.

The shieldmen held off the attacks by solely focusing on defense, occupying and harassing the attacker out front.

The spearmen who stood a row behind them slipped their deadly tipped blades through the gaps to end the fight.

The militia became somewhat frustrated, calling the enemy cowards since they were heavily relying on shield tactics.

However, forward shield formations like those were vulnerable to flanking and wide-area high-impact magic attacks.

The ballistae and smaller slingshot catapults placed within the alleyways and rooftops helped disrupted the enemy's advance.

Groups of mages, archers, crossbowmen, javelin throwers, and Vixella had also rained waves of ranged attacks on the enemy.

However, this didn't prove as effective as expected since the enemy advanced very aggressively.

After all, they had herbalists, stockpiles of potions, and healers to keep their squad leaders alive.

In just an hour, the defenders were pushed all the way back to the palace district.

Both sides, out of desperation, decided to flank each others' garrison forces who were still recuperating from the fight.

Chaos unraveled as everyone including the injured and exhausted on either side were forced to fend for their lives.

Atop the palace courtyard, the swish of blades sounded as two vivid figures chased after each other rather violently.

Amoth, the corsair commander, spun around his Haladie Daggers at Vixella who awkwardly dodged due to her dress.

Amoth remembers her really well since she was the one who had rallied the enemies alongside citizens to fight back.

This, naturally, caused many deaths among his ranks and was also unnecessarily putting people's lives in danger.

"Hm, is this the proper way to greet a noble lady~? Commander~?"

Vixella scolded Amoth whilst slanting away gracefully to avoid his near-invisible lightning-speed slashes.

[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2b/d9/d8/2bd9d80d37baebd2c0b647316a874715.jpg]

((Haladie Dagger Reference))

Amoth, despite using the best of his footwork to outmaneuver her, was not able to land a single hit on Vixella.

She simply ducked, sidestepped, and pivoted away at every move... And she's doing this in that damned dress!

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Amoth stopped in his chase to catch his breath slightly and glared at her who simply smiled at him.

The burning buildings in the background portrayed a visage of a demon, seemingly out of his reach.

"It's hard to believe... You've already seen through all of my attacks... However-!"

He then leaped up high above her and came down with his blades spinning in an all-out decisive attack!

Vixella blinked once upon realizing that the incoming attack was lethal and entered a combat trance.

Her form systematically pivoted sideways and strung out the arm-blade before leaping up against him.

Yet Amoth did not hesitate! Because, without a shield, no one was ever able to block his 'Four-Hit-Killer' attack-

"It's useless---", CLANG--!!! they have all brushed aside in a single parrying swipe, "W-What...!?"

She grabbed him with her free hand and threw him to the floor... Vixella then proceeded to chase at him with wind magic.

Amoth hit the ground but rolled and jumped away before Vixella's magic-coated arm-blade slammed the ground apart.

"S-Shit...", he felt the blood trickle from his forehead, "No wonder you're a legendary adventurer."

He didn't pause and threw an arc of daggers at Vixella who simply ran out to the side and circled back at him.

They then clashed blades once again as she steadily pressed Amoth onto his knees with just a single hand.

"Hah...! You don't fail your reputation as a 'Monster'...! But now I understand why you're fighting so hard...!"

Upon hearing that, Vixella snapped back to reality as a single teardrop had just finished running down her right cheek.

She looked down to see the flinching Amoth who was desperately trying to hold back the arm-blade which pressed at him.

"Thanks for snapping me out of that.", she then uppercut him with her left hand but didn't take chase.

The impact reeled Amoth back before he recovered with a few unsteady steps while clutching his jaw.

His mask fell off... Revealing Amoth to be a determined-looking middle-aged man with a scar streaking across his face.

Amoth once again raised his haladie daggers to prepare himself for another offensive at Vixella who nodded back at him.

"I would like to surrender... But that is not an option... I... I also have something I must fight for... NO MATTER WHAT!"

He then threw multiple daggers her way, which Vixella simply brushed aside.

When he came within her striking distance, she raised her knee to perform a kick.

Amoth, seemingly confident in his judgment, shifted his body away as the foot came up.

But little did he see it coming as the raised leg instead twisted back against him from the side.

TEM BR-??

Brazilian Kick!

[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/404059426413084672/646038632716828694/BR_Kicku.jpg]

WHACK!

The full force contacted against the side of Amoth's neck, rendering him unconscious his limp body was thrown to the side.

At this point, Vixella had probably forgotten to take into account they were fighting right by the edge of the courtyard balcony.

The pacifying kick meant to capture the enemy commander instead sent over the railings and towards an unsightly death.

That kick had also ripped apart Vixella's dress since Amoth was had also slashed up towards her face during that kick...

One of the Betrasian soldiers who had run up to check on the situation in the courtyard saw it all happen before his eyes.

"C-Commander Amoth-!? Damnit... N-No... Don't give up... Everyone! T-That bitch is up here! Let's kill her and storm the palace---"

His shouts were cut off upon being slashed down by Alderius who had also run up the courtyard steps behind him.

Alderius then walked up to check on Vixella but shortly paused upon seeing her exposed frilly garter-belt panties.

"Aye lass, quite the exhibition here."

"Hm, I didn't like-", she tore off the dangling bits, "-this dress anyway!"

"So, you avoided Amoth's infamous 'Four-Hit-Killer' attack without a shield and won?"

"No? I parried it."

Alderius made a wry look but knew that she wouldn't lie.

When someone is that powerful, they had nothing to hide.

"Since we're safe for the time being, mind showing me how?"

"Hm, watch and learn...", she did a simple-looking swipe, "There."

"Again."

"There."

Upon intensely focusing his eyes on the blade, he finally saw how it went...

In that one swipe, she had drawn a curvy line very quickly with the swipe.

By doing it like that, she could easily parry away multiple times by glancing the blade's momentum onto the next.

However, that was still quite a hard feat to pull... But if she uses that technique regularly...! Alderius then realized it.

"I heard you were very proficient with magic... But lass, your swordplay is also years beyond anyone...?"

Alderius scoffed and went to look past the balcony railings, "What an unsightly ending for a devoted man."

"Right, Commander Amoth-", she regrettably walked over, "I didn't mean to kill him."

"Don't fret over it, lass... In battles like these, no one can prevent what's bound to happen."

"Old king... You knew him?"

"Heh, it's all in the past.", he looked at the smoke-filled sky, "He was a good fellow... just happened to serve under the wrong guy."

"I somehow thought so too! Seeing how he didn't hesitate to take away some Little Johnnies!"

"W-What...?"

"That aside, we have company."

Vixella turned around to see a squad of Betrasian soldiers appear by the courtyard steps.

Vixella turned back to back against Alderius as the soldiers moved in to corner them against the balcony.

"That's the Zyron King... And she's the one who killed our commander... Let's reap their heads----!?"

Unexpectedly, Alderius rammed that talking dude with his great shield and broke out of the encirclement.

He then taunted the surrounding enemies by whacking his shield, causing all of them to hesitate.

To be exact, they weren't hesitating at Alderius but rather the scene that was seen behind him.

Below the courtyard steps, the same butler they had captured earlier were tossing aside their allies with shadow hands.

There was then a somewhat wicked yet composed smile present on his face as he chased after the ones who tried to flee.

Seeing your allies being dying in such a manner as their limbs twisted horrifyingly didn't seem too fun.

Even worse, Xenthur had even drained some of them which caused their skins to wither much like old age.

In the end, a single person in the midst of battle is worthless.

What scared them was the scene beyond that...

In the background came armored horsemen who flattened the ranks and rows of their crossbows and mages.

The militia forces, upon realizing that it was the reinforcements from Kartasus, quickly regrouped and fought back.

Upon witnessing their oncoming defeat, the corsairs surrounding Alderius and Vixella threw away their weapons.

The sound of Alderius' plate boots clanked about as he hurried down the steps alongside Vixella's subtle low heels.

Xenthur who made his way up the steps to greet them exchanged high-fives with the both of them as they went.

"Xenthur, make sure no one up there escapes."

"Understood, my lady... I will not hold back..."

"Lass, you got quite a reliable assistant, don't you?"

But before she said anything, Vixella abruptly tumbled herself and Alderius over as two daggers clanked against the steps behind them.

"You have my thanks, lass...!"

Alderius unsteadily spoke out before getting up and raising his great shield to cover for them.

"Save it for later... And you might want to buckle up."

"Good-", he lifted the lowered faceplate back up, "-Idea!"

In the treeline aligning the decorated path before courtyard steps, unknown assailants dressed in dark capes appeared.

The ones who surrounded them this time around seemed rather proficient in their craft so it was probably hired assassins-

"Shield-!!!", Vixella screamed out and ducked behind him just as Alderius heeded her sudden call.

A rain of arrows then came from the hedgerows down the path, as some had hit near them and on Alderius' shield as well.

PLUCK... PLUCK!

PLUCK-!

PLUCK PLUCK PLUCK!

The assassins who ambushed them were instead counter-ambushed and riddled with feathered steel arrows.

A few archers with bows nocked appeared from the hedgerows.

Their leader, a woman, then stepped forward... She had dark short brown hair and a lax composure.

Dressed in some rather expensive-looking hunter garments, she informally greeted Alderius with a wave.

"Ugh...", Alderius fell onto his bum and lowered his shield, "K-Kartana... The hell are you doing here-!?"

It was the Queen of Ikrus, Kartana Ikrus, alongside her Royal Archers.

"Glad I made it on time, old man...! There was a little delay on the way here, you see-?"

She then gestured over her shoulder as a heavily plated steed and its knight rode up to them.

The man who rode the said horse popped down his helmet's faceplate to gasp for fresh air.

His face greatly reassembled King Alderius, if not paying mind to the older look and beard.

"Heck yeah! Our boys sure gave 'em hell, Brotha!"

It was Alderius Heineken's older brother.

Clyde Heineken, the King of Kartasus.

"You're still very lively despite the years."

"Hahaha, what years? I'm still in my young fifties!"

A CENTURY LATER

(Battle Horn Transition)

The belltower was sounded to signal the end of the battle as the citizens who had earlier fled returned to the city.

After burying the dead and grieving, the people who had survived were now in the palace as they all knelt to pray.

The priests helped each other to lift Prince Castor's cleaned corpse into a finely decorated sarcophagus.

...

"What-!? You and Castor had an affair-!?"

In the background, the two old kings suddenly broke out at Kartana who raised her hands in surrender.

Kartana, now feeling a bit bashful, began to tuck up her hunter bandana to cover her red lower face section.

"Well, yeah... Don't sound so surprised about it...? We knew each other since we were kids, so...!"

She then turned away to look at the sarcophagus before sighing deeply before closing her eyes.

Clyde then grasped Alderius' shoulder, nodded at him, and walked to talk to his men in the back.

King Alderius walked firmly up to face the sarcophagus and stopped in front of it to stand there in silence.

After a short while, he began to hug it, smearing his tears upon his dead son's decorated sarcophagus.

Vixella who was busy discussing something with Xenthur also saw this and made unsure faces alongside everyone.

"Old man, stop that... The others are looking..."

Kartana walked over to the sarcophagus and dragged the sobbing Alderius away from it.

"My son... Castor...! You did me proud... You really did...!!!"

Alderius curled up on his knees and began crying even more.

"Hm, please do take it easy on him... He had just lost his son, after all."

"Yea? He seems happy enough that his son didn't die a loner-!? Aha, what am I saying?"

Kartana's eyes welled up in tears as she uncontrollably began to brush them away before making a regretful face.

"You don't seem too good yourself... Let's sit you down somewhere for a bit."

Vixella then guided Kartana over to a bench and sat beside her to give comfort.

...

Kartana stopped sniffling, took a deep breath, and brushed away the last of her tears.

"T-Thanks... And ya... The Elderian Emissary, right? Sorry... I... What was ya name again?"

"Vixella Langford."

"Okay, call me Tana and I'll call ya Ella, deal?"

"But you are a queen..."

"It's fine when we're alone, Ella."

"Hm... Okay then, Tana... I have a preposition."

She then looked over at Xenthur who ran up to them and handed over the usual business brochure.

Kartana took the sheet and quickly scanned her sharp eyes through it within those few seconds.

"Magical Jars? Right, my court magicians said these were popular recently... So ya the owner?"

"The one who magically exhausted herself for two months straight to make it happen? Yes, that's me..."

Vixella then stared blankly, recalling the suffering she had gone through to perfect the concoction with Luna.

"Sounds rough...! But ya revolutionized the world of magic, no? Cheer up a little, Ella!"

Kartana continued with a smile, "So... Ya selling cheap? We ain't got as much buck as Zyron but..."

"I understand. Your advisors can discuss the prices with our branch managers later."

"Well... I don't really understand...? I ain't too sure about this business stuff..."

Vixella reached out her hand with an eye smile.

"Then let's make it simple... Friend Discount?"

Kartana nodded, took her hand firmly, and laughed out loud.

"If ya put it like that then, of course, my dear friend Ella!"

... After signing the contract on the spot ...

"On second thought, can you stop calling me Ella?"