OUTSIDE OF FORT YAOSEYUN, THE 154th REGIMENT OF THE AKUNI ARMY WAITED ANXIOUSLY. They knew that their siege would not hold for very long if reinforcements did not arrive soon. That being said, the closest army to them was General Clemont, who had ironically been stuck in his own siege on Fort Baneo about fifty miles away from Fort Yaoseyun. If either of them were to provide reinforcements to the other, their own siege might fall. And thus both the 154th regiment and Clemont’s 71st regiment were caught in a stalemate.

Ite stood just behind the siege lines, staring off toward Fort Yaoseyun. While she gazed into the distance, her mind drifted off to Yukan. All of her worries came back and her frustration began to rise once again. She couldn’t get her mind off of what had happened, and she was convinced that Yukan would’ve been still here with them had she stepped in. These thoughts ate at her all the while she stared at the fort that the 154th regiment was stuck at, meaning that she might have to sit here for months before she could see Yukan again.

“You know, Ite,” Kadaina called out as he limped over to her, “staring at those walls won’t make them fall any quicker.”

“Neither will us waiting out here,” Ite replied. “All that we’re accomplishing sitting and waiting is letting them regroup.”

“We’re also starving them out,” Kadaina continued. “There’s no way for them to get resources when we have the fort surrounded. Once they run out of resources, they either starve themselves or they charge out and attempt to break the siege. But even then, they’ll be weaker than us from being starved out for so long.”

Both of them stood in silence for a moment, with Ite’s attention once more turning to the fort.

“Not to mention,” the co-commander added, “we could use a break. True, this may be a tactically frustrating position, but it gives us some time to chart out where to continue from here.”

“But what about Yukan?” Ite asked dryly.

“Excuse me?”

“What about Yukan?!” the archer shouted. “Are we just going to let him rot in a jail cell while we sit here and twiddle our fucking thumbs? I went into this thinking we could get through this fast enough to save Yukan, but if we’re just waiting out here forever, who’s to say that they won’t just kill him? Think about it. Do you think that Kunshu would be against killing a prisoner of war if it struck him right? And what if this ends up being for nothing? What if Aotoshi manages to get behind our line of defense and break the siege before the fort surrenders?”

“Then they would need to be both extremely bold and extremely stupid to charge straight into Akuni territory,” Kadaina responded. Just as he said this, Ite suddenly knocked an arrow into the Nukenai Bow and shot it right over Kadaina’s left shoulder. A dull thud could be heard behind Kadaina and, when he turned around, he saw an Aotoshi soldier, dead with an arrow through his chest and a knife in his hand.

“Like him, right?” Ite replied snarkily.

“Yeah…” the mage answered. “Just like him…”

This statement was followed by the sound of a buggy approaching. The archers began to draw back their arrows and aimed them at the buggy as it came out of Fort Yaoseyun and charged toward the siege lines.

“Hold your fire!” Zenpan shouted as he rushed toward the buggy. The archers lowered their bows as Zenpan, Kadaina, and Ite walked toward the vehicle. Shirei left the car from the driver’s side while Mirikiteki left from the passenger side. The backseat door on the driver’s side was opened and Shirei reached in before pulling Yukan out and throwing him onto the ground. Ite instinctively ran out toward Yukan before Shirei pulled out a gun and pointed it at her.

“One more step and I’ll kill the both of you,” Aotoshi’s top commander snarled.

“What do you want?” Zenpan interjected.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Shirei continued.

“Not exactly,” Akuni’s general continued. “If it were what I thought it was, you wouldn’t have brought Yukan right to us.”

“Listen up,” Mirikiteki called out to the Akuni force outside of Fort Yaoseyun. “My name is Mirikiteki Shikaku. I have triumphed over you before. I killed several of your men and kidnapped this one as well.”

As she spoke, she grabbed Yukan by his hair and pulled on it, causing him to yell. Ite nearly charged at Mirikiteki, but was held back by Zenpan and Kadaina.

“Try to cross me again,” she continued, “and I will systematically pick this entire regiment apart until nothing remains. However, if you choose to accept this offer, I shall leave you be.”

“What are your terms?” Zenpan asked once again.

“In exchange for me sparing this boy and the rest of your platoon,” the assassin began, “you will end this siege and leave Fort Yaoseyun as Aotoshi territory.”

A gust of wind blew across the field.

“Don’t listen to her,” Yukan sputtered. “Don’t trust her! She-”

“Shut up, you damned brat!” Mirikiteki snarled as she yanked harder on Yukan’s hair before throwing him to the ground. “The grownups are talking. Now, what’ll it be, Imoru?”

The Akuni general scoffed.

Stolen story; please report.

“That’s supposed to be a dilemma?” he said.

“What are you-” Kadaina suddenly began before grabbing Zenpan by the shoulders and moving him away from Shirei and Mirikiteki. “Could you excuse us for a moment? We would like to talk this over.”

“Don’t be too long,” Shirei threatened as he gripped his gun tightly, aiming it against Yukan’s temple.

“Are you crazy?” the mage said in a harsh whisper. “You’re going to give up our position over one troop?”

“First off,” his co-commander began, “it’s the entire regiment, not just Yukan. Second, what more do we need this fort for? If we’re getting Yukan back, we don’t need a push toward Aotoshi as urgently as we do. We can fix our approach and refine it.”

“You’re missing the point,” Kadaina continued. “What about Mahando?”

“He’s done his job,” Zenpan replied. “About 14 minutes ago, I received a message that Mahando liberated Fulon. His army is now heavily bolstered with all of the POWs in the camp. Our diversion worked. It’s going to be a while before news reaches Aotoshi. Let’s take advantage of this while we still can.”

Kadaina stood there for a moment in silence before nodding his head. Zenpan turned back to Mirikiteki and Shirei.

“We’ll take your offer,” he said. “Hand Yukan over and I’ll tell the troops to stand down.”

“You first,” Mirikiteki protested. “What if you end up deciding to keep this fort under siege after we let him go?”

Zenpan stopped for a moment. He was clearly in a losing position. Mirikiteki would not surrender Yukan until he surrendered Fort Yaoseyun. But he also knew that she could just as easily go back on her promise when the troops began to retreat. He pulled Ite aside for a moment and whispered something in her ear. Her composure changed from tension and anger to one of determination. She nodded and turned toward Mirikiteki and Shirei before Zenpan faced his troops.

“Gentlemen,” Zenpan called out. “We have done what we needed to here. Let’s regroup in Murasakino.”

The troops began to break from their ranks and head away from the fort as Mirikiteki turned to Shirei.

“Pull the trigger.”

Before Shirei could act upon this command, however, an arrow flew through the sky and struck through the cylinder of his revolver, causing all of the bullets to fall out and the pin to dry fire.

“You cheat!” Ite shouted as she knocked another arrow into the bow. Kadaina suddenly rushed out and grabbed Yukan.

“Topiam suorfis mutis!” the mage shouted before a large ball of light separated him and Yukan from Mirikiteki and Shirei, giving him time to escape with Yukan in tow. The resulting blast knocked Shirei down. Before he could retaliate, his radio transmitter gave a signal. He put it up to his ear and developed a stern expression before heading back toward Yaoseyun.

“Where are you going?” Mirikiteki called out to Shirei as he fled. “Aren’t you going to help me?”

“It would seem that the emperor has…other plans,” Shirei continued coldly. “He expected more from the best bounty hunter in Crenon.”

Mirikiteki’s eyes filled with fear. The reality of her doom set in as she realized her fate. Either she would die here at the hands of Akuni or she would die by the hands of her emperor. Hopeless, she reached into her pocket and took out a capsule. Ite ran up to her and delivered a hefty kick, causing her to drop the capsule before Ite dug her foot into the ground and pushed the capsule into the dirt.

“You’re not getting out that easy,” the archer growled. “After all of this, you think I would let you get away with poisoning yourself? You think I would just let you take your own life? You think I would just throw away my chance at revenge?”

Mirikiteki unsheathed her katana and sliced at Ite, but she blocked it with the Nukenai Bow, with both weapons sparking as they connected.

“I’m going to do what I should’ve done last night!” Ite shouted.

“As am I,” the bounty hunter muttered before going in for another slash.

Although the slice was parried, Ite could not block a kick to the gut that Mirikiteki delivered shortly after, which sent her flying backwards about six feet. When Ite got back up, her foe smiled wickedly as she charged in once again. This time, however, Ite delivered a right hook to Mirikiteki’s nose, breaking it. Blood began to seep out rather quickly.

“That’s it!” she yelled as she wiped the blood from under her nose. “You’re dead! No more games!”

Mirikiteki charged once more at Ite. Yukan began to rally to his feet, but the weakness in his legs forced him to remain sitting until Kadaina came over.

“You’re not looking so hot,” Kadaina remarked.

“Thanks, genius,” Yukan scoffed. “Could you just heal me already?”

“Running low on fumes,” the mage replied. “It’s been a long day. I can get you to safety, but it’s going to be a while until we can heal you.”

“Fuck…” the swordsman muttered. “It’s fine. Just don’t grab my arm too tight.”

“Got it.”

Kadaina hoisted Yukan up by his shoulders and the two began to head toward the medical tents outside of Fort Yaoseyun. Yukan looked back over at his girlfriend as she fought the woman that had kidnapped him.

“Look at her go,” he began. “I’ve known that she’s this good for a while, but she still never fails to impress me.”

“No kidding,” his friend replied. “Now, stand still so I can see the full extent of your damage.”

“How many places do you think you can be injured in at once?” Yukan nonchalantly asked.

“What?”

“Whatever. Just put ‘everywhere’.”

“Uh, okay…”

As the fight continued between Ite and Mirikiteki, Yukan managed to finally regain his balance on his own two legs. Ite had since been slashed across her flank by Mirikiteki’s katana, although Mirikiteki was sporting a black eye to go with her bloody, broken nose as payback. Ite managed to trip Mirikiteki, creating a grisly smack as she landed. In a desperate attempt to regain momentum, Mirikiteki kipped up and charged at Ite in a mad dash, katana pointed to the archer. Despite her efforts, however, she had telegraphed the attack far too much, leading to Ite managing to dodge the attack. When Mirikiteki finally turned around to see Ite still standing, Ite fired an arrow toward Mirikiteki. The assassin’s pupils contracted before the arrow finally connected with her black eye. One last spurt of blood left Mirikiteki’s mouth before she fell onto her knees, the arrow having pierced her brain. Finally, she fell backward, pushing the arrowhead into the ground as she collapsed.

Once she was certain Mirikiteki had died, Ite returned the Nukenai Bow to its usual place on her back. Yukan rushed toward his girlfriend, heavily limping and fighting through the pain coursing through his body in that moment. He held her in the tightest embrace he could muster. Ite’s staggered breath felt warm upon his shoulder as she sobbed.

“It’s okay, Ite,” Yukan heaved as he tried to calm her tears. “It’ll be alright. I’m back.”