My Foresight was ringing alarmingly, warning of oncoming disaster. I mean, no shit. This situation is serious… uh… as the hundreds of wraith-orcs flooded around us I realised my Foresight wasn’t screaming at me about this imminent danger, but one shortly in the future, which had been looming closer due to several prior events, but had now solidified to something baleful.

Great, that’s all I need. but forget about it for now, we have more pressing issues…

“Die for me, cruel bringer of fire and foul beasts. Alas for you, my poor child, you shall perish due to the whims of men.” Kiku looked at Shaeula, her mad eyes radiating sorrow. She brought her one remaining arm forwards in a pointing gesture, and her host of spectral thrall orcs she had secretly been building up over time surged forwards.

“No thank you.” Shaeula sniffed. “I shall not-not die here. And do take responsibility for your own actions. You can not-not blame everything on others.”

“Oh, your deaths are certain. Kondou-dono declared you must be disposed of, before I can…” her attention strayed, she seemed distracted, but even so a cloud of her nails formed around her once more.

“Keh-keh-keh. How interesting. My attacks are passing right through them.” Ixitt observed as his projectiles and thrown weapons phased right through the host of orcs, barely doing anything.

Shaeula’s pinwheels sliced apart the mass of orcs, severing their bodies, but they quickly reformed. Still, it kept most of them back, a few slipping through to engage me and Ulfuric. Their blows rained down on us, phantasmal fists and spectral weapons swinging. The injuries they inflicted were weak, far less dangerous than the original strength of orcs, but even so, in our ragged and exhausted state, the sheer number was oppressive. Then nails started raining down on us, forcing Ulfuric to draw out the last of his earth energy to drag clay walls out to absorb the impacts.

“We need elemental fire. It purifies them!” I cried out.

“I see. Keh-keh.” Ixitt pulled out three glittering glass vials. “Luckily I still have these left I see. Keh-keh.” Hurling them into the swarming ghosts they flared with green and yellow light before exploding violently, scattering billowing flames everywhere. Orcs disintegrated, spilling ether, and we dragged in what little we could.

“Yes, you were correct, keh-keh, it seems.” He chortled. “Alas, I am all out of the bluesteel powder you charged for me. Keh-keh. I hope you have another plan?”

“I do as it happens.” I trickled a tiny amount of my remaining flame energy into the bluesteel head of my spear, and it struck down an orc, now doing real damage. “Shaeula, can you do a combination attack with me? Like in Las Vegas.”

“Of course.” She had her bells in one hand, and drawing in a tide of verdant energy into them, causing them to shine and ring, she then cascaded it my way. I greedily sucked it in, and fed it into my last flickers of flame. “Foehn!”

The fragile mud walls in front of us collapsed, yellow flames gushing out like liquid. Orcs were swept up in the deluge, and as they exploded in their dozens level-up notifications appeared and ether scattered everywhere. Still, the spread was clearly insufficient to deal with all the orcs, though a few who weren’t caught in the initial wave wandered into the clinging sparks being thrown off and burned like candles too.

You have gained in strength. Your level has increased from thirty-five to thirty-seven.

Seeing the gushing wave of fire roaring towards her, Kiku panicked, remembering the terrible pain and damage the last Foehn had inflicted. With a shriek she summoned her massive spikes of rusted metal from the ground, forming an interlocking barrier of iron. Foehn scattered into it, starting to eat away at the surface, but the widow hopped backwards, eyes wild.

“If you could summon such hellfire again, we could triumph.” Ulfuric whispered, his greatsword slashing, doing little but slowing the orcs as they reformed under his blows.

“Yeah well sorry, but I’m beyond dry now.” I gasped in response. Shaeula was also looking pale, her chakras drained. “I hate it, but we are going to have to retreat. Besides…” I nodded towards the horizon, and Ulfuric sighed, a great booming noise.

“I see. Indeed, the fortunes of war turn away from us rapidly.”

I could see ghostly shapes in the sky flying back towards us in the distance. If it was that ghost girl with the strange light ability, we were finished. How can we get out of this? It won’t be through combat strength… think… think… wait, that’s it!

“Hey, don’t you have to go find your wedding ring?” I remembered the conversation that had taken place between the Astral Emperor-candidate and Kiku. “If it’s important to you, I think you shouldn’t be wasting time with us.” I ducked under several orcs and thrust my spear into the blazing Foehn, coating the already cracked head in napalm. Now my blows could kill orcs, though how long my weapon would last was likely measured in seconds, minutes at best… “I bet you lost the ring during our battle in the shrine. And if so…”

Behind us the shrine was still an inferno, the Foehn still feeding greedily on the natural wind energy of the place. At my words Kiku paused, raising her hand to her mouth, gnawing on her missing ring finger.

It’s working… we might just pull this off…

“No, no. Kondou-dono ordered me to see you dead.” She shook her head, what little hair she had remaining after her earlier brush with the flames hanging over her face like a shroud. “I must… I must…”

She’s conflicted. She hates this Kondou-dono, and her ring is obviously deeply important to her. But it seems she has to follow his orders… wait…

As we were forced back, I continued to exhort her to listen. “Actually he said ‘I want these fuckers gone!’ didn’t he? Well, well done. You win. We are leaving. Therefore we are gone. Besides…” it was time to bluff and cajole, as my spear was on its last legs, the shaft now on fire, spearhead melted and barely recognisable. “… just think how close we came to defeating Kondou-dono. You were almost free. I didn’t want to fight you, we could have been friends if we met under better circumstances. I would hate to have to kill you here. Death by fire is painful, and I hate hurting women.”

“Indeed.” Shaeula also understood what I was going for. She dug out what fire energies she had, her amber eyes not missing Kiku flinch as the small yellow bolts blasted a few orcs to ashes. “I have great sorrow for you, poor female. If you had met a better, kinder master such as my Akio… alas, fate can be cruel. Even so… it is not-not too late.”

“Keh-keh-keh. Most rings are silver or gold, for humans, I believe, keh-keh? They melt at rather low… temperatures.” Ixitt chimed in. He may not have had any remaining ways of using elemental fire, but he blasted heavy bolts into the fiery ground, sending droplets of the deadly Foehn everywhere, further scaring Kiku.

“Well, when next we meet, I hope you make the right choice. Even when ordered to fight, there are ways to restrain yourself. I promise you, this Kondou-dono won’t hurt you for much longer…” we began to backpedal rapidly, and the orcs started retreated from the flames.

“I do not trust you, vile man, my burns remind me of your cruelty…” the golden sea of fire was reflected in her lifeless black eyes. “… still, my husband, I cannot abandon you…” she muttered, before she turned her attention back to us. “You have fled, as Kondou-dono wanted. When next we meet, I shall finish this. Only when all foul men lie in their graves, can we women be free.” With that she turned for the shrine, still shivering in fear, yet she raced towards the flames, metal forming a sort of umbrella over her head to deflect the falling droplets of napalm.

Well damn, I can’t believe that worked… the ghost girl overhead was following her ‘mother’ and the orcs were retreating from the flames. “All right. we didn’t exactly win, but… getting out of this alive will do, right?”

With that we retreated, running until we had left enemy Territory…

********

Safe within Shirohebizumi shrine, behind salt wards, we regrouped. I slumped down, exhausted, and Shaeula lay on my lap, while I caressed her head and stroked her hair. Our surviving forces were gathered, and Tillyae was leading her musicians in a soothing song, called song of healing.

“Well, that could have been better, but I think we can consider it a victory.” I said at last, and a murmur of agreement spread around the shrine. We had taken casualties, which would normally be great cause for grief, and I sure wasn’t hard-hearted enough to see our troops as disposable, even ones who had joined such a short while ago, but thanks to Shaeula’s broken skill, they would re-join us in time.

“I can hardly believe thisssssssss. A fellow kami hasssssss taken our hosssssspitality.” The White Snake kami hissed, looking at the Jade Beetle kami and his four surviving attendants, who were huddled in one corner.

“Indeed, clik-clik. I feel shame, but I appreciate your sanctuary, White Snake. You had clik-clik the fortune to meet a noble human. We were not clik-clik so lucky. Still… he was punished, I believe.”

“Perhaps he will succumb to his injuries?” Shaeula hoped, speaking up from my lap. “The spear drove deep, and I could-could see elemental wind discharged within.”

“Well, we can hope.” I continued playing with Shaeula’s hair, feeling embarrassed at the eyes on me, especially Ixitt, who was snickering in that rasping way of his. But I had made up my mind that Shaeula was mine, so… ugh, us Japanese are lousy at public displays of affection. Still, that isn’t the issue now. “… but I don’t think so. I missed any vital organs, and while he didn’t seem that strong, his movements and aether… his stats are probably in the upper end of human potential at the least. Even so… he’ll be out of commission for a while… but, I can feel a really bad problem coming our way. I can’t precisely place it, but it’s days away at the latest…” The premonition I was assuming my Foresight was providing was chilling. It was as if a cloud was forming around those close to me, a great danger…

“I see. I would advise against attacking imprudently.” Ulfuric declared. “Omens of ill-fortune should be heeded. We should strengthen the defences here and around the Anchor.”

“Grul says why are you so cowardly, badger-man?” Grulgor drawled sarcastically. Some time after our safe return Grulgor and his trolls also returned, their flesh slowly healing from many injuries, their armour filled with craters and shattered plates. Hell, Grulgor has even bent that massive mace I made him nearly at right-angles, which really takes some doing… “Grul had much fun smashing, crushing and breaking. Grul says there is still more to destroy!”

Apparently the trolls had broken through the barrier when we collapsed it, and after annihilating any orcs that were in the area they managed to find some undefended Buildings and destroy them, until they neared the centre, when barrages from a swarm of Defensive Emplacements became impossible to push through.

“Well, let’s stay calm. I think we still have the advantage. Sure, we lost the element of surprise with our new army, but… well, we broke their hold over Hisuikomushi shrine and rescued the priest and the kami. That’ll really cut their forces. No more siege-beetles right?”

“That woman with the nails is also wounded, and I believe you have put-put doubt in her mind. At worst, she will not-not fight at her best, and perhaps will even throw in her lot with us.” Shaeula commented. “You have wounded that vile mortal quite severely too.”

“It wasn’t just me.” I grinned. “You were totally badass when you spat that exploding weasel-snake into his face. I know just how much his ability hurt, so I’m impressed.”

“Of course you are.” Shaeula crowed. “Still, I believe his League was unimpressive, so when I put my all into resisting his ability, I found-found the pain becoming bearable. Still…” she burrowed deeper into my embrace. “… it was still terribly painful. We have many scores to settle with him.”

“Indeed. After sharing the memories from that poor ghost… yeah, Kondou-dono is human garbage who needs disposing of. Still, we damaged his Territory quite a bit in terms of defences as well. There is still the Sniper Emplacement, and the large number around what I presume is the Territory Anchor, but other than that… with him so hurt, he won’t be able to replace them quickly.”

“So that just-just leaves the issue with the ghosts.” The previously quiet head of the weaselkin mages, Danaera, spoke up. “Alas, our wind would not be effective.”

“Yeah, we need flame, and while your wind can be used to feed it, we are relying on what Shaeula and I can stock…”

We spent time considering the problem, mainly what to do about the widow of nails, her ghost daughters and the orcs. In addition we would need to fix a massive amount of our gear. I had none that was functional left, for example. In the end, Shaeula and I returned to the Material for some rest and recovery, figuring that we would definitely need to be at our best for the upcoming battles, and whatever my Foresight was warning me of…