The Fw 200 takes off without much fanfare, only being escorted by two squads of Bf-110s and Bf-109s. Aboard the luxurious private aircraft, used solely as a cover-up for the Reich Marshal, Yuki, and Nicolae are being served coffee by Erika and Lola. Nicolae opted for a cup of espresso while Yuki, being the sweet girl she is, ordered iced milk coffee, a beverage otherwise known as cà phê sữa, if you catch my drift.
Nursing their respective cup and chilled glass in their hands, Nicolae speaks up first after she takes a sip of the glorious drink.
"So, that went much better than we could've ever anticipated. I'm honestly impressed that we can wrangler that much of a concession from Japan without a fierce negotiation." The Shoggoth's face mirrored the sentiment she said. Astonishment and glee, glee because they managed to pull a fast one on Japan with mere words.
Yuki drinks at that, leaving behind a coffee mustache as she gently places the glass down. "Even I was surprised, it seems like I've overestimated the mental defense around Amaterasu. As much as I hate to say it, my actions starting from my manipulation of the events leading up to the revelation of Japanese spies, have stoked her familial love, more than I expected."
Nodding, Nicolae comments after savoring the aftertaste of the expresso. "From what I seem to know about her origin, the woman is fairly lonely for a Sun Goddess. Especially more so when her mother, Izanami, has been out of contact with her thus far." Having said that, Nicolae suddenly reaches over, a finger outstretched to wipe away the foamy mustache above Yuki's lip. Much to the Marshal's embarrassment, Nicolae then tastes the foam with a lick of her tongue. "Huh, sweeter than I expected. I can get used to the taste."
Blushing with her mouth opening and closing a few times at the seemingly innocent but promiscuous act, Yuki then coughs to regain her cool when she notices Lola snickering to the side. "A-Anyway! With Amaterasu craving the feeling that is love in all shapes and forms, this aunt of mine will stop at nothing to ensure those she holds dear, love her. She has already lost so much in the Previous Era so she would be damned if any misgiving her people made drove me away."
Yuki then takes another sip from her coffee, licking her lips to ensure no more foam will cause her brief embarrassment. "But just that is not enough, not for what I have in mind, at least. Having Susanoo the Storm God stand up and disparaged me under public view, further led Amaterasu down the rabbit hole of wanting to make up to me. Starting with raising her Divine Artifact against Susanoo, thus making her stance clear for all to see."
"And that stance is she will side with you, a non-blood related niece, even if it is against her brother." Nicolae finished it for Yuki.
"For better or worse, yes. With Susanoo being shut down, and by extension, anyone with the same mindset as him, what would they think when I threw them a curveball alongside a hefty demand? A demand that Amaterasu so quickly decided to agree on."
"For the Heavenly Court, they will be displeased, but otherwise understanding of Amaterasu's my set. They will come around to either support her or stay out of the way."
"But not mortals, especially humankind." Yuki added. "Human is a petty race, they may outwardly agree with that decision, being their faults and all that, but they secretly harbored resentment. After all, 4000 pounds of gold is not a small amount and Amaterasu paid it off without a second thought nor consulting the Emperor's family and his generals."
Nodding, Nicolae says. "I see... For all of her utopia view, and by extension the Heavenly Court's, Amaterasu sure lost a lot of points just from that one move. Even if she steels herself just the way you advised her a few days ago, the poor Sun Goddess will see more and more people unwilling to cooperate. But at the end of the day, it's just that, nuisance, no?"
Taking another drink, Yuki admits. "Correct. Even if they disagree with Amaterasu on this matter alone, the shot callers of Japan still have to answer to the Heavenly Court. There's a reason why they tout that the current Imperial family is the offshoot of the Heavenly Court. Which is why sooner or later, with the help of Vill-V and her craftiness, Amaterasu will clean up the nation."
On her part, Nicolae places her now empty cup down. Her purple eyes appraise me, taking joy in seeing something that I don't understand.
"And that's where Susanoo comes in. You propped him up as someone, a symbol small as it may be right now, that stood against the questionable surrendering of Amaterasu. A figure that doesn't bow down to your mightier-than-you act."
"That's right." Yuki then grins. "Japan is a nation that holds the same ambition as us. Well, almost, for they want to be an everlasting nation, and to do that..."
"They must become a superpower. The conditions to achieve that, however, are not presented in Japan. They may have zealots, willingly sacrificing for the cause. They may have a summoned hero, alongside her knowledge of the future. What they don't have is..."
Yuki finishes it for her. "Resources, a whole lot of them. Even if they can get their wind farm or geothermal plant up and running, they still need rare materials to build up their country according to their vision. Such rare materials are only available in other resource-rich countries and if you're too antsy to negotiate a trade deal with them, what will you do?"
Having taken a liking to their back and forth, Nicolae has a wide smile on her face. "They take what they kill. And I guess I don't have to say that it will interfere with your V2 project."
"Then I guess I have to add that Susanoo, who didn't submit to me nor the Sun Goddess, will be an attractive figure to see their ambition through. For you see, Amaterasu can't be trusted to fulfill her wish for eternity when she bowed to me." The Marshal stops to drink the last of her coffee. "Susanoo, now with enough support, can manipulate the mass, inciting them to back Japan into a phase of aggressive expansion. The hardliners and fanatics will no doubt throw their lot into this so when the voice of many calls for war, coupled with the potential benefits in doing so..."
"The Heavenly Court must accede to the demand, especially when their own coffer is running dried."
Yuki adds. "Amaterasu and Vill-V may think that they're in control, what's with their surprisingly modern technological advancement compared to the rest of the world, safe for Belka, but they will be hopelessly led by the nose. When Japan tries to annex its neighbors, thus weakening them in due time, we will then swoop in and clean up both sides. At least, that is the plan in the far future."
Listening thus far, Nicolae then claps excitedly. A well-crafted plan like this can also be called art so the Shoggoth has no trouble loving its creativity.
"A question though, just how did you even convince Susanoo to help you? Last I check, he tends to keep to himself."
The Marshal sports a devilish grin, akin to her Devil of a mother, while answering.
"You will be surprised to learn that Susanoo is a soft man, unlike his unruly exterior. Did you know, he has learned to bake sweets and makes surprisingly good meals and Dango? The man loves mortals, he loves them so much that he married nine outstanding ladies in obscurity after Ragnarok. Day after day, he will spoil his wives rotten while fostering them up to be their better selves. Funnily enough, even Amaterasu doesn't know about the change her brother induced when he first stepped on this world. To convince him to help me, I need only gave him a view of a potential future. Either Japan brings in its eternity, thus slowly but surely steering into the path that led to Ragnarok. Or Belka unifies the world and achieves the Everdistant Utopia, one where mortals and Gods alike work together to explore the furthest edge of the universe. The choice was elementary, really, for Susanoo is the last one to want Ragnarok, best known as the Omniversal Wipe, to occur a second time."
Nicolae then says with an understanding expression on her face. "He lost someone, didn't he?"
Yuki shakes her head, a tinge of pity marring her voice. "Not just one, many. This is not the first time he had to handle a polygamy relationship."
Suddenly, a brief moment of sleepiness overcomes Yuki. Yawning, she then addresses Nicolae. "I guess that's it for the day then. Care to help us back home? I really want to lay on a proper bed."
Giggling, Nicolae answers. "Sure!" With a snap of her fingers, Nicolae teleports them, Erika and Lola included, back to Berlin. Oh, and let's not forget the gold, all 4000 pounds.
Was it cheating? Properly. But then again, A Shoggoth is outside the natural order so it's not cheating if there are no laws about it in the first place. In a way, Nicolae is more God than most others could be in this world.
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Comberth Harbor... or what's left of it. After the Spanish Inquisition pulled out of the seaside military town, the entire place was rigged to blow up sky-high, leaving behind naught but barely useable ship berthings and ruined dockyards. Even the residential areas are not spared, having been set on fire, burning for three days straight.
When the invasion force, what's left of it anyway, landed and took stock of the situation, they almost thought that they were on an acid trip. Having survived the sinking of more than half of their fleet earlier, they failed to see why the Spanish would just scorch Comberth downed to the last brick. They soon understood, however, that they were stranded with their supplies and most of their high-ranking commanders being made into fish food. Until the next armed convoy could be sent from Sardegna, they would be living under a rock, literally.
Before they could despair any further, salvation arrived in the forms of Crusaders, survivors of the first batch sent to Spain. Headed by Kallen Kaslana, who took in the role of Acting Commander like a fish in the water, the tattered invasion force reconsolidated their position for months. Kallen had them bide their time by scavenging for supplies, fishing for food, setting up defensive positions, and refitting barely serviceable buildings into barracks and motor pools. Unfortunately, the topography of Comberth didn't allow for an airbase, but they made do with a field airstrip for now. With a barely functional stronghold on Comberth, Kallen and her new subordinates dug in against relentless harassment from the Spanish Inquisition and their mercenary cohorts. Each time they were repelled, a chunk of their morale was chipped away also. Kallen employed rotating shifts and priority supplies to those who were wounded, even going as far as hosting church sessions thanks to the surviving combat priests amidst the invasion force.
Still, the incessant hit-and-run attacks kept making things worse by the day on Spanish soil. By the time Sardegna gathered another sizeable group to reinforce the invasion force, the latter was tethering on either mutiny or surrendering just to get out of the Hell that was Comberth. Fortunately for Kallen, news of reinforcement came just in time for her to calm down another wave of dissension. A few days later, what's left of the Sardegnian mercantile fleet docked with the shabbily repaired berthings of Comberth. Unfortunately, they didn't escape unscathed even with armed escorts. Much like the invasion force, torpedo bombers sank a number of ships before making their escape, too fast for aircraft to chase and too hard to be shot down by their shipborne AA. As the acting commander, Kallen couldn't help but feel that this would be a recurring occurrence. Thankfully, that position wouldn't be held by her for the foreseeable future, hopefully. A somewhat reputable General arrived in the last batch... If only he wouldn't be so lecherous against her battle sisters. God wills it for she had accumulated enough micromanagement to last a lifetime.
Right now, Kallen Kaslana is back to doing what she does best, being at the forefront of things. This may or may not include jumping out of the way of a 37mm canister shell.
*BOOM*
Sparing a mere glance behind her, Kallen's heart sinks when she witnessed the devastation brought upon by the numerous lead balls. The squad behind her has taken the full brunt of it with limbs and torsos cutting bloody curves across the air, leaving behind slopping entrails on their wakes. Biting down her bile, Kallen then dashes diagonally, dodging another blast of canister shot in the process. Her enhance agility helps her shorten the distance in a blink of an eye, allowing her to be comfortably close to the stationary cannon. From the corner of her eyes, an A-rank Crusader also reached her flank, having the same thought process as her.
"God wills it!"
With a tacit agreement, the A-rank Crusader shores up Kallen's flanks by utilizing her guns to cast two barriers, blocking any further attacks. With her sides secured, Kallen holds up her own pistol, casting a short-range but devastating spell.
"Wind Burst!" A strong suction force appears a few meters in front of her as the magic pistol glows green. A second later, a condensed orb of sharp wind blades is formed. The orb's suction force is so strong that it also obscured the vision of the Spanish Inquisition, a pair of unfortunate sods are also being shredded into thousands of pieces for being too close. Their blood is consumed by the orb, painting it deep red before finally, the orb burst out just like its name. Leaving behind a bloody trail, the mesh of countless wind blades lunge at the AT position, reaping the life of the Inquisition squad manning it and also destroying the cannon into an unrecognizable mess. The trench system the AT position was put on is stunned at the aftermath.
Not willing to miss the chance, Kallen and the A-rank Crusader dive in for the kill, knowing that there are also machine gun emplacements along the trench line. They must be cleared for the rest of the Sardegnian Army to safely break through the frontline. Going their separate ways, the two Crusaders run along the trench with Kallen constantly firing her magic pistols at any foes she comes across. A shot to the head with a sharp ice arrow, a horizontal wind blade to cut three soldiers in half, a fireball to clear out a room of hostiles... Kallen does everything she can to achieve her objective, the removal of the Spanish Inquisition and her allies from one of the trench lines surrounding Comberth.
Kallen is just about to clear the last stretch of her wing of the trench when a couple of grenades land at her feet. Faster than she could think, Kallen leaps backward while firing a controlled wind burst at the front with her left pistol, propelling her further behind. Before she even stabilizes herself, Kallen uses her right pistol to cast a spell at the ground, raising an earth wall between herself and the grenades. She barely makes the arrangement before the grenades, presumably cooked earlier, explode mightily, destroying her earth wall and obstructing her vision. Fortunately, her natural defense as an S-rank Crusader protects herself against fragments, as long as it's not a 1000kg bomb that is. Kallen still shudders whenever she remembers her first foray into Spain when her sisters were bombed to pulps.
Shaking that stray thought away, Kallen rushes forth through the dust cloud, ducking beneath a rifle bash before shooting the unknown man in the heart. She then stands to fire three shots of ice bullets at a buff-looking man holding a machine gun. Ignoring the machine gunner dying with his torso pierced and frozen, Kallen then rounds a corner constantly firing her pistols at a barricaded intersection where a few Spanish take cover behind. Or are they mercenaries? Either way, she has them suppressed for now, allowing her to charge up a fireball at the end of her pistol's barrel. Right when her enemies poke their heads out after her suppression, Kallen hurls the fireball at the barricade sending it off with a big bang alongside its occupants. Making her way through, she spares not a single glance at the burning soldiers for her ends is insight.
Kallen has come across a command bunker of a sort.
The few remaining guards, foreigners and Spanish alike, rush at her with guns blazing. Holding her left pistol close to her chest, Kallen casts a light barrier in front of her while she crouches down. The barrier performs its job admirably, tanking the incessant bursts of multiple SMGs with a few cracks here and there. Raising her right hand over the barrier, Kallen fires a wind blade at the enemies, cutting limbs and heads in the process. Kallen then stands up to advance slowly with her raised barrier, she does come across a survivor but before she can say anything, the man raises his sidearm at her. The killing intent is not lost to Kallen, albeit regretful, she is forced to give the man a mercy kill.
It's not like he would want to live with two missing legs anyway. Kallen would suffer not her current enemy with such a fate, even after what had happened to her compatriots.
Stepping inside the command bunker, Kallen is surprised to see another female, another Spanish Inquisitor. The scarred woman in front of her is busying herself with burning the last bits of intelligence Kallen was hoping to find. Turning around, the Spanish woman's disfigured face causes a wave of pity to well in Kallen's heart. Understanding Kallen's feelings, the scarred Inquisitor chuckles.
"You need not waste your pity on me, Crusader. I've made peace with what happened to me for a long time already."
Kallen then flinches when the Inquisitor pulls out her service pistol, slowly, before placing it on the now empty table, save for a few canteens and mugs. On closer inspection, the service pistol is crooked, bent in places that hamper its normal operation. Limping over to a wooden chair, the Inquisitor sits down with a grunt. Whatever happened to the woman has clearly left behind serious ailments, Kallen easily deduced that.
Seeing that the woman is not a combatant, currently, and seemingly wants to talk, Kallen dismisses her barrier. The Crusader then moves to stand in front of the woman, unsure for the moment of how to proceed.
"Girl, you know what caused me to be like this?" The woman suddenly asked, her fingers tapping on the table.
A shake of her head is what Kallen offered.
Chuckling, the woman says. "I was punted across the ground by a bloody Chariot-class Demon, believe it or not. It was a couple of years ago when a stray Demon spawned in a derelict outpost, going on to terrorize a nearby village. I was visiting my family there when the bastard slaughtered them, its body impervious to my pistol before smacking me with its forelimb. The other Inquisitors said that by the time reinforcement arrived and the Demon was slain, I was nothing more than a husk at that point due to broken limbs and losing blood. But miraculously, I survived albeit with minor mana corruption."
"You don't mean...?" Kallen had a feeling about where this conversation may be going, and she didn't like it one bit.
The Inquisitor nods with a calm face. "You guessed correctly. Doctors said I only have a year to live at most but I'm approaching the third year currently. During this time, I've taken an oath under the Lord to ensure no others should bear my fate. The fate of being a broken survivor that can change into a walking dead any moment. Yet, imagine my surprise when this whole fiasco happened, villages and towns being ravaged by Demons, herded together by none other than the Papal State. For what reason, I may never get it nor do I think I would care to find out why. I only care about the fact that Sardegna has tried to play out as God when it shouldn't be and innocent people have suffered. Seeing as you have a good head on your shoulders, tell me this, child. Do you know the price Sardegna paid to ensure your existence or that of your sisters?"
At first, Kallen is entranced by the experienced aura the Inquisitor possesses, yet, her sudden question stokes something in her.
"What do you mean by saying that? Sardegna has always acted on the will of the Lord. We will never suffer an ally state with the horde of Demons?" Again, it was another person that said the Holy See was behind the turmoil in Spain. "And what is the price that you speak of? Each of us has chosen this fate out of our free will, knowing full well that we will most probably lose our lives while undergoing the Trial of our Lord."
Listening to Kallen's confident words, or not, the seasoned Inquisitor easily identified the seed of doubt in Kallen's inner heart. She knows for she has played mind games with a not-so-small number of Sardgena operatives. "Young girl, take this from a woman twice your age. This battle is just the beginning, you may win and break our line but it's doubtful you will win the war. Knowing how Sardegna operates, this war will no doubt tear away at your worldview, little by little, piece by piece, until there's nothing left in you but a cold, murderous monster. Heed my advice and know that not everything is what it seems to be. There are higher powers in play and it will do you good to figure out the truth of your existence and the reason behind this war. Do it while you still can, while your innocence is still intact."
Coughing out some blood, the Inquisitor is a bit shocked when Kallen is about to rush over to help but stops herself at the last second. "I didn't judge you incorrectly. Even though you paved a blood path here, even though you have been indoctrinated, there exists a person worth saving behind that facade of a Crusader. I will bet my money that other Crusaders may just be the same as you but sadly..."
The Inquisitor leans back, putting on a disarming, last smile. "I don't have time left."
Alarms suddenly flare inside Kallen's mind. A part of her is angry that she herself has fallen for another trap like this, but another part is greatly disappointed and distressed that she will lose her first shot at getting any useful information about this war... About herself.
Not having much time, Kallen points her pistols vertically, one at the roof and another at the ground. Casting a 360 degrees coverage light barrier, Kallen sincerely hopes that this is enough. Then...
*BOOM*
The entire command bunker is set off in the last huzzah due to a time bomb. Unprotected, the Inquisitor breathes her last before the bomb disintegrates her body alongside everything else in the room. All but one, Kallen. Deactivating her barrier, Kallen's left breathless for a few moments as she struggles to regain her bearing, her Crusader attire now worse for wear. It seems like the shockwave from the blast affects the Crusader more than she thought, even with the barrier, for Kallen is dizzy just walking out of the almost collapsing bunker.
With shaky steps, Kallen soon makes it out of the bunker before moving to the trench wall, leaning against it as she takes a deep, dusty breath. A loud rumble catches her attention and when she turns back at the former bunker, Kallen finds it has collapsed and flung a wave of dust in the air, almost causing the Crusader to cough.
Understandably, Kallen can't help but sigh, head tilting up into Heaven.
"Ma~, I have a feeling that the Spanish will be loving their explosives."
This time, the seed of doubt in her heart is watered.