Yuki looked around at the field before her, at the soldiers lined up in their formation. Many of their faces were like stone—unchanging and unemotional—but their tight grips on their weapons and restless shifting betrayed their true feelings.
Her gaze shifted to the people near her. She stood in the back alongside the other mages and supporters. They number 250 strong, but fifty of them would be occupied with helping the front line. The rest were divided up into their respective affinities and averaged out for Yuki’s plan.
Akira was at her side with Erica and Yuna standing a bit in front of them. It took a bit of convincing from Yuki to get the lieutenant to allow Yuna to be with them. She argued that she needed protection during the preparation of the spell since it was possible that the hydra would target her. With the help of Corporal Yager and the colonel himself, Yuki managed to get Yuna for herself.
‘Now Akira and Erica can help her if she gets in trouble,’ Yuki thought.
Lieutenant Mason was also in the back and was speaking with Colonel Gyra. Soon, he would move to the front and fight with his soldiers. The Colonel was to stay in the back and give orders, providing support where he deemed necessary.
‘More than a thousand soldiers for one monster,’ Yuki thought. ‘You would think that would be overkill.’
But history and Yuki’s own experience told her that it might just be enough.
She did another quick scan of the future battlefield. Motion in the front left caught her attention. Soldiers were surrounding a man that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere to Yuki. With a thought, Yuki channeled mana to her eyes and the man’s face became clear as day. She recognized him immediately.
‘Mathali. Why is he here?’ she thought, frowning.
Mathali stood in the center of a circle of soldiers with his hands in the air as the soldiers pointed their weapons toward him. He was speaking calmly to them, but the soldiers didn’t waver.
“Akira, there’s something I need to check out really quick,” Yuki said.
“Alright. The soldiers are still locating the hydra, so you have a bit of time,” she replied.
Yuki nodded and began a brisk jog toward where Mathali was being detained. When she arrived, the soldiers gave her a curious look, but ignored her for the most part. Mathali noticed her arrival immediately and brightened.
“Ah, hello there,” Mathali greeted in a cheery tone. “I have important news that you may want to hear.”
‘I’m glad he has the sense not to call me his lady in front of other people,’ Yuki thought.
“Ma’am, you know this man?” a soldier asked. Yuki nodded.
“I do. Though, I’m not quite sure why he’s here,” Yuki said. She put on a bright smile and looked the soldier right in the eye. “You wouldn’t mind if you leave him to me, would you? I know you boys have a lot to do.”
The soldier blinked, his mouth a bit opened before he snapped it shut.
“Hey, let him go,” he said, turning to face the other soldiers surrounding Mathali. They shrugged and lowered their weapons, Mathali bowing and saying his thanks. “He’s all yours ma’am.”
“Thank you,” Yuki smiled. The man gave her a salute and walked away with the rest of the soldiers.
“My lady is quite the seductress, I see,” Mathali said in what sounded like praise. “I come bearing news.”
“What’s the news?” Yuki asked. She decided to ignore the first part. “I assume it’s really important. Otherwise, why are you here?”
“Yes, yes. It is quite important, my lady,” Mathali said, his voice becoming serious. “It has to do with this entire operation that is happening here.”
“The hydra killing?”
“Yes. To make it short, you will be dealing with a lot more than just the hydra, my lady,” Mathali warned.
“What do you mean?” Yuki frowned.
“I mean, there are forces at work right now that are behind that hydra. I did some digging with my contacts, you see. I was simply trying to find out more about the whole evolution situation. Who was behind it. Who’s running right now. It just so happened that I caught wind of something very important.”
“And what’s that?”
“A demon has taken advantage of this whole situation,” Mathali said.
“A what now?”
“A demon, my lady. He has taken the lack of control over the hydra and is using it for his own purposes.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Yuki said, raising a finger. “How exactly did you find out about this?”
“Quite easily, actually. The man was quite vocal about it,” Mathali replied. “He actually gave me an invitation to watch what he called, ‘the spectacle’.”
“So you know this man.”
“I do, my lady. Well, I know of him. They call him the Fiddler,” Mathali said, “because he plays people. He is a bad combination of traits: powerful, opportunistic, and has a severe lack of morals.”
Yuki agreed. That did sound like a bad mix of traits.
“What is he planning?” Yuki asked, readying herself.
“He decided that a hydra by itself isn’t entertaining enough, so he’s been rounding up various creatures that he intends to let loose during the battle. I do not know what creatures he has gathered. I just know that he describes them as fabulous.”
‘That probably means deadly,’ Yuki groaned. ‘I need to tell the colonel.’
The question was how she was going to tell the colonel. Simply going up to the colonel and telling him that they were going to have to deal with more than a hydra would at best be ineffective and at worst raise suspicion.
‘I’ll make up something,’ she decided.
“Thank you, Mat,” Yuki said out loud. “Can you come with me for a bit? I need to tell a few people about what you found.”
“Of course, my lady,” Mathali said with a bow.
Yuki turned and began a quick march to where the colonel was standing. He was looking at a screen that was being projected from his metal disk. When Yuki came closer, the colonel looked up and locked onto her.
“Ah, Zero. How may I help you?” the colonel asked. He frowned as he noticed Mathali. “And who is your friend here?”
“This is Mat,” Yuki replied, waving her hand towards Mathali. “Mat, this is Colonel Gyra.”
“Hello, sir,” Mathali greeted with a bow.
“Hello,” Colonel Gyra said. He gave Yuki a questioning look.
“Yeah, so, why I’m here to say that I don’t think things are going to go as planned,” Yuki said, cutting right to the point.
“I’m sorry, what?” the colonel said.
“Mat here has brought up that he has seen a suspicious person in the forest. That person seems to be doing something that looks a lot like, um…” Yuki snapped her fingers and glanced over at Mathali. “What was it again?”
“He’s rounding up monsters and is urging them toward this place,” Mathali supplied. Yuki nodded.
“Yes, that,” she said. “So I would prepare for the possibility of a major battle.”
“Are you sure, Mat?” Colonel Gyra asked. “I have some men in there, and they haven’t reported to me that they’ve seen any monsters.”
“Makes you wonder, doesn’t it, sir?” Mathali said with a pleasant smile. “No monsters at all. I wonder where they have all gone.”
The colonel frowned and looked back at the forest. He licked his lips before glancing back at Mathali.
“What exactly did you see the man doing?” he asked.
“Magic. But, I think the better question to ask would be if I know the man. I’m sure you do as well, colonel,” Mathali replied, still smiling.
“Who?”
“He’s the Kidnapper. The Jester.”
At those titles, the colonel’s jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed.
“Describe him,” Colonel Gyra ordered, bringing a screen up.
“Around my height. A bit lanky with a quite unique scar that goes down the entirety of his face. I’m sure that will suffice.”
‘Maybe I should have just let Mat talk to the colonel,’ Yuki thought as she watched the colonel stare at the screen in front of him.
“It’s that fucking demon,” Gyra growled. He jammed a finger at a button on his metal disk. “Mages. Those not at least high rank B shall go to their squadron. Immediately. Squadrons, prepare Onslaught formations.”
“Colonel? What happened?” a voice replied over the comms.
“New information. Plan is changing a bit,” the colonel replied. “Just get in the formations. If nothing happens, then thank the gods.”
The colonel looked back at Mathali.
“Thank you, Mat. Even if you’re wrong, it can’t hurt to be careful,” the colonel said.
“It was my pleasure. I’ll be taking my leave now. I have done what I have come here to do.”
With a bow, Mathali walked away, heading towards the village that stood behind the battlefield.
“You have some interesting acquaintances,” the colonel remarked to Yuki. Yuki replied to that with a shrug. “You have a plan for a large wave of monsters up your sleeve somewhere?”
“I’ll try to think of one,” Yuki said.
“Thanks.” He looked off into the distance, his gaze hardening as he watched the motionless forest. “I’ll need to find a way to pay you after this, if we all survive.”
“I take cash, credit, or favors.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
A crackle over the colonel’s communicator took the colonel’s attention.
“Sir, we’re heading back,” a voice panted. It sounded like the person was running. “The target. The target is right behind us.”
“Did you see anything else?” the colonel asked.
“No sir! Just the hydra,” the person shouted. “We’ll be there. In five minutes. Or less.”
“Alright. Stay safe.”
While the colonel talked, Yuki took the opportunity to connect herself to the ground and scout the forest for any signs of the monsters Mathali spoke of. She didn’t get far though, before Akira contacted her.
[Yuki,] she said.
‘Yes?’
[We have a situation.]
Yuki sighed.
‘What is it?’ she asked.
[Yuna says that she feels a wave of monsters coming towards us,] Akira replied. [I’ve learned to trust her on these things.]
‘Get ready.’
Akira disconnected and Yuki turned to the colonel who had just finished relaying information to his officers.
“Colonel,” Yuki said. The colonel looked at her. “They’re coming.”
“Fucking hell,” the colonel groaned. “One thing after another.”
Then cries rose up from the forest, the screeches and screams of monsters echoing in the air. The colonel raised his arm and fired a flare into the air that exploded in a fiery blaze.
“Prepare yourselves!” he roared.
Yuki looked around at the field before her, at the soldiers lined up in their formation. Many of their faces were like stone—unchanging and unemotional—but their tight grips on their weapons and restless shifting betrayed their true feelings.
Her gaze shifted to the people near her. She stood in the back alongside the other mages and supporters. They number 250 strong, but fifty of them would be occupied with helping the front line. The rest were divided up into their respective affinities and averaged out for Yuki’s plan.
Akira was at her side with Erica and Yuna standing a bit in front of them. It took a bit of convincing from Yuki to get the lieutenant to allow Yuna to be with them. She argued that she needed protection during the preparation of the spell since it was possible that the hydra would target her. With the help of Corporal Yager and the colonel himself, Yuki managed to get Yuna for herself.
‘Now Akira and Erica can help her if she gets in trouble,’ Yuki thought.
Lieutenant Mason was also in the back and was speaking with Colonel Gyra. Soon, he would move to the front and fight with his soldiers. The Colonel was to stay in the back and give orders, providing support where he deemed necessary.
‘More than a thousand soldiers for one monster,’ Yuki thought. ‘You would think that would be overkill.’
But history and Yuki’s own experience told her that it might just be enough.
She did another quick scan of the future battlefield. Motion in the front left caught her attention. Soldiers were surrounding a man that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere to Yuki. With a thought, Yuki channeled mana to her eyes and the man’s face became clear as day. She recognized him immediately.
‘Mathali. Why is he here?’ she thought, frowning.
Mathali stood in the center of a circle of soldiers with his hands in the air as the soldiers pointed their weapons toward him. He was speaking calmly to them, but the soldiers didn’t waver.
“Akira, there’s something I need to check out really quick,” Yuki said.
“Alright. The soldiers are still locating the hydra, so you have a bit of time,” she replied.
Yuki nodded and began a brisk jog toward where Mathali was being detained. When she arrived, the soldiers gave her a curious look, but ignored her for the most part. Mathali noticed her arrival immediately and brightened.
“Ah, hello there,” Mathali greeted in a cheery tone. “I have important news that you may want to hear.”
‘I’m glad he has the sense not to call me his lady in front of other people,’ Yuki thought.
“Ma’am, you know this man?” a soldier asked. Yuki nodded.
“I do. Though, I’m not quite sure why he’s here,” Yuki said. She put on a bright smile and looked the soldier right in the eye. “You wouldn’t mind if you leave him to me, would you? I know you boys have a lot to do.”
The soldier blinked, his mouth a bit opened before he snapped it shut.
“Hey, let him go,” he said, turning to face the other soldiers surrounding Mathali. They shrugged and lowered their weapons, Mathali bowing and saying his thanks. “He’s all yours ma’am.”
“Thank you,” Yuki smiled. The man gave her a salute and walked away with the rest of the soldiers.
“My lady is quite the seductress, I see,” Mathali said in what sounded like praise. “I come bearing news.”
“What’s the news?” Yuki asked. She decided to ignore the first part. “I assume it’s really important. Otherwise, why are you here?”
“Yes, yes. It is quite important, my lady,” Mathali said, his voice becoming serious. “It has to do with this entire operation that is happening here.”
“The hydra killing?”
“Yes. To make it short, you will be dealing with a lot more than just the hydra, my lady,” Mathali warned.
“What do you mean?” Yuki frowned.
“I mean, there are forces at work right now that are behind that hydra. I did some digging with my contacts, you see. I was simply trying to find out more about the whole evolution situation. Who was behind it. Who’s running right now. It just so happened that I caught wind of something very important.”
“And what’s that?”
“A demon has taken advantage of this whole situation,” Mathali said.
“A what now?”
“A demon, my lady. He has taken the lack of control over the hydra and is using it for his own purposes.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Yuki said, raising a finger. “How exactly did you find out about this?”
“Quite easily, actually. The man was quite vocal about it,” Mathali replied. “He actually gave me an invitation to watch what he called, ‘the spectacle’.”
“So you know this man.”
“I do, my lady. Well, I know of him. They call him the Fiddler,” Mathali said, “because he plays people. He is a bad combination of traits: powerful, opportunistic, and has a severe lack of morals.”
Yuki agreed. That did sound like a bad mix of traits.
“What is he planning?” Yuki asked, readying herself.
“He decided that a hydra by itself isn’t entertaining enough, so he’s been rounding up various creatures that he intends to let loose during the battle. I do not know what creatures he has gathered. I just know that he describes them as fabulous.”
‘That probably means deadly,’ Yuki groaned. ‘I need to tell the colonel.’
The question was how she was going to tell the colonel. Simply going up to the colonel and telling him that they were going to have to deal with more than a hydra would at best be ineffective and at worst raise suspicion.
‘I’ll make up something,’ she decided.
“Thank you, Mat,” Yuki said out loud. “Can you come with me for a bit? I need to tell a few people about what you found.”
“Of course, my lady,” Mathali said with a bow.
Yuki turned and began a quick march to where the colonel was standing. He was looking at a screen that was being projected from his metal disk. When Yuki came closer, the colonel looked up and locked onto her.
“Ah, Zero. How may I help you?” the colonel asked. He frowned as he noticed Mathali. “And who is your friend here?”
“This is Mat,” Yuki replied, waving her hand towards Mathali. “Mat, this is Colonel Gyra.”
“Hello, sir,” Mathali greeted with a bow.
“Hello,” Colonel Gyra said. He gave Yuki a questioning look.
“Yeah, so, why I’m here to say that I don’t think things are going to go as planned,” Yuki said, cutting right to the point.
“I’m sorry, what?” the colonel said.
“Mat here has brought up that he has seen a suspicious person in the forest. That person seems to be doing something that looks a lot like, um…” Yuki snapped her fingers and glanced over at Mathali. “What was it again?”
“He’s rounding up monsters and is urging them toward this place,” Mathali supplied. Yuki nodded.
“Yes, that,” she said. “So I would prepare for the possibility of a major battle.”
“Are you sure, Mat?” Colonel Gyra asked. “I have some men in there, and they haven’t reported to me that they’ve seen any monsters.”
“Makes you wonder, doesn’t it, sir?” Mathali said with a pleasant smile. “No monsters at all. I wonder where they have all gone.”
The colonel frowned and looked back at the forest. He licked his lips before glancing back at Mathali.
“What exactly did you see the man doing?” he asked.
“Magic. But, I think the better question to ask would be if I know the man. I’m sure you do as well, colonel,” Mathali replied, still smiling.
“Who?”
“He’s the Kidnapper. The Jester.”
At those titles, the colonel’s jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed.
“Describe him,” Colonel Gyra ordered, bringing a screen up.
“Around my height. A bit lanky with a quite unique scar that goes down the entirety of his face. I’m sure that will suffice.”
‘Maybe I should have just let Mat talk to the colonel,’ Yuki thought as she watched the colonel stare at the screen in front of him.
“It’s that fucking demon,” Gyra growled. He jammed a finger at a button on his metal disk. “Mages. Those not at least high rank B shall go to their squadron. Immediately. Squadrons, prepare Onslaught formations.”
“Colonel? What happened?” a voice replied over the comms.
“New information. Plan is changing a bit,” the colonel replied. “Just get in the formations. If nothing happens, then thank the gods.”
The colonel looked back at Mathali.
“Thank you, Mat. Even if you’re wrong, it can’t hurt to be careful,” the colonel said.
“It was my pleasure. I’ll be taking my leave now. I have done what I have come here to do.”
With a bow, Mathali walked away, heading towards the village that stood behind the battlefield.
“You have some interesting acquaintances,” the colonel remarked to Yuki. Yuki replied to that with a shrug. “You have a plan for a large wave of monsters up your sleeve somewhere?”
“I’ll try to think of one,” Yuki said.
“Thanks.” He looked off into the distance, his gaze hardening as he watched the motionless forest. “I’ll need to find a way to pay you after this, if we all survive.”
“I take cash, credit, or favors.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
A crackle over the colonel’s communicator took the colonel’s attention.
“Sir, we’re heading back,” a voice panted. It sounded like the person was running. “The target. The target is right behind us.”
“Did you see anything else?” the colonel asked.
“No sir! Just the hydra,” the person shouted. “We’ll be there. In five minutes. Or less.”
“Alright. Stay safe.”
While the colonel talked, Yuki took the opportunity to connect herself to the ground and scout the forest for any signs of the monsters Mathali spoke of. She didn’t get far though, before Akira contacted her.
[Yuki,] she said.
‘Yes?’
[We have a situation.]
Yuki sighed.
‘What is it?’ she asked.
[Yuna says that she feels a wave of monsters coming towards us,] Akira replied. [I’ve learned to trust her on these things.]
‘Get ready.’
Akira disconnected and Yuki turned to the colonel who had just finished relaying information to his officers.
“Colonel,” Yuki said. The colonel looked at her. “They’re coming.”
“Fucking hell,” the colonel groaned. “One thing after another.”
Then cries rose up from the forest, the screeches and screams of monsters echoing in the air. The colonel raised his arm and fired a flare into the air that exploded in a fiery blaze.
“Prepare yourselves!” he roared.
