I yawn slightly. It was quite a long night, but the preparations got done, and a got a good night’s sleep in the end.

It’s the moment of truth now. I guess we won't actually be to know if it was successful until we emerge the other side, and that’s by far the weakest link of the plan. It might well be the portal on that side was built miles away from anything useful and we'll just be setting fire to a field uselessly. It might even be we deal no damage and walk straight to our deaths.

There’s a few too uncertainties for my liking, but I couldn't think of anything better.

As I watch some siege engineers bolt the two ballistae down, I sort of wonder why Cultivator didn't consolidate his advantage from the attack on the capital. He has grievously wounded the king, killed the male heir, and wrecked the cities morale with that attack. A solid play for sure, but as a prelude, it would be better still. It suggests he is strapped for resources himself?

"Boy, snap out of your reverie, its starting." Seria quips.

I nod. From what I heard, the girls enjoyed their 'leave', if you can call it that.

I look at ballistae. Melody is sat on a raised podium nearby, now dressed in leather armour and a metal helm, holding a gilded sword and a white wand. Dressed for war. She nods to the soldiers, then over to us.

Seria starts practically going Super Saiyan. Outputting a magical power so intense that her surroundings have erupted in blue fire... no... it’s still lightning, of course... plasma.

Though its rather intimidating, I step closer to her, and so does Kurono.

Are you ready, Aeris?

'I'm tired...' she moans, her sword form at my waist rattling in her sheath, but she obliges. I am dyed with tendrils of darkness. Kurono outputs a massive amount of shadowy power as well, far larger.

'Un... Daeche is much better at this Master-sama.'

I'm assuming 'Daeche' is Kuro's spirit? Well, we are just a backup here, don't worry, Aeris.

After analysing the portal with her team for some time, Kurono discovered that treating it as a regular leygate was dangerous. It appeared to be made of void spirits, rather a mixture of the others. It was a good thing Seria avoided it when we came out.

So, with her help, we're convincing it that we're also void mages. Or specifically, we're disguising Seria so she appears as a Sage of Void whilst she opens it.

Another rather slapdash affair, but it seems to work... the portal changes from a surface of calm black water to a roaring vortex sucking light in... like a black hole.

Suddenly, the ballistae take that as a cue. There is a crunching 'ka-pow!' noise followed by the roar of passing shots to either side of us. If I didn't know for sure they weren't firing at us, I think I would've have just needed the brown trousers.

There's no way of telling if they're actually reaching the other side and detonating, but we did do a test firing last night that was very successful, so I'm pretty confident about consistency.

I watch the left-hand ballistae as two soldiers rapidly winch the bowstring back with 'heave-hoes'. As they do, the mechanism also lifts a bolt from the hopper into place automatically.

Its barely 10 seconds to get it operational again. And a second thunk and whoosh sends another pair of exploding bolts into the portal.

After that, another squad of six archer soldiers march over, sending a few waves of arrows in for good measure. I didn't suggest this part, but it’s a meticulous thought by Melody, I guess?

We continue to channel power to cover another five shots... but Seria looks angrily at me after that. Looks like that’s all the cover we can manage... time to go.

I raise my arm to the girls. Kiku and Aria's weapons come out, and we dash to the portal as a grimacing Seria strides up with us. Kurono is starting to look rather exhausted as well.

We all link hands as per usual leygating procedure, and in we go.

This time, the process is different to usual. It’s dark. Nothing to be seen. No voices. Just the feeling of Kali and Aria's hands, and the voice of Aeris.

She is muttering "Un... I am blackness. I am darkness. We are shadows. We are hidden. No sight. Any sight. Hide from view. Look away. I am blackness..."

Though it sounds like her having a chuuni phase, I'm sure it’s actually her working hard at pretending we're void mages. It must be hard on her, honestly, with how strong Michael and Seryamerya are... let’s hope Kurono's power continues to aid us this far.

Then... after what feels like an eternity... something happens... a dim light, and then a flash.

And we are here... the land of demons at last. I stare around and blink.

It’s a mess.

To say the least... the bombs have done something. The entire area is a sea of blue-white fire, the effect of the incendiary. And here, it is night now, allowing the flames to cast eerie shadows.

But the most disturbing part is bodies. Some demons are still waving around screaming. But just at a glance, there are four dozen. We appear to have chosen a fortuitous time to strike, even if it does make waver slightly.

But we stay quiet. Kiku does an arm signal straight out of a commando repertoire, and points over to a forested area to the left. I nod, and the girls follow. Except Kaede, who disappears suddenly. I expect her to be scouting ahead.

Well, we're here, first part of the plan went off without a hitch. I didn't expect that... so what now?