“Land gods!” Zagara swore as she leapt away.

Yuriko was still stunned, and the miraculous feeling continued to exist within her perception. If she struck like this, with the shards, Zagara would be forced here or there. Counter with a strike on either trajectory and no matter her movement, she will be struck. Counter her defensive manoeuvres by attacking at this angle, here and here, then circle behind with more shards. Position them in such a way that whichever way Zagara dodged or twisted, one of the shards would catch her.

She did just as her intuition described, and she was rewarded with another blow that punctured Zagara’s gorget. The woman clutched at her throat, gargled a scream, then flung her daggers at Yuriko. She blocked them with Fri’Avgi’s second dance defence rays and stepped closer.

Her two dozen sunshards expressed all three of the sword dances, and they moved in groups of three. Each individual shard in the group moved and danced a particular way, but if one viewed the grouping, it was as if it was one harmonious dance. She struck a third time, and this time, punctured Zagara’s thigh.

And then…she ran out of Animus.

With a gasp, Yuriko forced herself to remain upright, and awake. It was a good thing that Zagara was already scrambling to escape. She could do little but watch her retreat, while she forced her runescript weaving to gather ambient Chaos to turn into Animus. Once a few seconds passed, the darkness creeping at the edge of her vision receded, but she remained near exhaustion.

While using her kinesis and manipulating her Anima didn’t consume Animus, it still required a minimal reserve within her core. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have the energy to move. Once a minute passed, she retreated, returning to the battlements. In the meantime, the Federation army, which had been watching eagerly for her defeat, withdrew.

A pity she hadn’t been able to take out their strongest warrior. But then again, she wasn’t in the best condition either. She waved off her people’s concern and half staggered to a nearby barracks, where she plopped herself down on an armchair. She stared at nothing while her Anima gathered Animus to refill her empty reserve, suddenly too weary to care about anything.

A few of the other Knights came by to congratulate her win, though she honestly thought it was a draw, at most. Heron, Krystal, and Mikel came by and accompanied her while she recuperated. Heron brought her a cup of kaf. The restorative aided greatly in her recovery and perked her up, too.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t be absent from their duties for long, so they went back to the wall. Their concerned gazes warmed her heart.

Ah. She didn’t have enough distilled Chaos to initiate Heron’s Chaos Baptism. No matter. His physique could still be improved.

She recovered fully by midday and resumed her watch. But little else happened. And then, towards the afternoon, a pleasant surprise.

Reinforcements in the form of the irregular scouts, a Century from Agminis, and a squad of Colossi, arrived from the east.

______________

“Tribunus Kaspar. Welcome to the Esras Manor. How can I help you?”

Mori Kozu Esras’ sapphire hair was styled to look like it was windblown and casual, but Agatha Kaspar could see and smell the pomade he used to style his hair and his carefully trimmed beard.

Agatha coughed delicately into her hand to focus her thoughts. The varied scents, sights, and sounds always distracted her in one form or another, a side-effect of her Facets. But in exchange, she always detected deeper than what the surface would allow. For instance, Mori Esras’ scent was a mess of stress, worry, excitement, and wariness all jumbled together into an emotional soup. Her presence here was a large contributor to his stress.

He was probably worried that Agminis would withdraw its support from the ruling ducal houses. The enmity between the two, Esras and Kinnock, had grown over the past year, with the Esras house blaming the Kinnock for the barbarians’ increased aggression.

Kinnock, on the other hand, blamed Esras for failing to properly oversee the city. Duchess Esras had failed in more ways than one. They weren’t able to eradicate the Assembly of Freethinkers and they weren’t able to detect the Council of Judgment’s formation. The latter had reached an agreement with the City-State of Ivala and had sabotaged the Chaos Channel. Many of their insurgents had been caught and interrogated, and most point to the excesses of the Upper City and the inability of those who lived in the Lower Ring to free themselves of poverty and advance their Heritages.

Esras blamed Kinnock for letting the Sharine Earl weaken the southern front, all to chase after a kidnapped grandchild, and in the process, provoking a greater response from the Northern Barbarians. They should have left the useless girl to her Fate, according to Duchess Esras.

Either way, their concerns were of little relevance to Agatha’s errand.

“Legate Brygos requests that House Esras turn over weapons, or instruments made from Nyctferrum. It is needed to stabilise the Gemheart, and without them, Rumiga City’s Gemheart may fail,” Agatha said smoothly.

Mori Esras, the little Duke, answered slowly, “We only have a few things made of Nyctferrum.” He frowned. “Mostly sentimental objects or little fittings for bigger things.” He shrugged. “Will the Legion recompense it or will we need to submit a request to Realmheart?”

“The Legion will take care of such matters,” Agatha said curtly. “The need is urgent, so I suggest you deliver your keepsakes and odds and ends soon. Within the day.”

Mori nodded, then pursed his lips. “Have you asked House Kinnock for their keepsakes?”

“I will.”

“I see. Then, it behoves me to ask you to remind them of their duty. The insurgents have become true rebels and Kinnock now holds jurisdiction over them. If only they stuck to their true purpose, we wouldn’t be pushed to this extent.” He sighed.

Agatha narrowed her eyes and could barely hide her distaste. But then again, he was the next in line to the Ducal seat. She knew he’d long achieved the necessary qualifications to become the next Duke. That he would use her as a messenger…

“Alright. I will tell them,” Agatha agreed. As long as they provided the needed Nyctferrum, there was little else to say.

_____________

“You’ve fought a hundred Chaos Lords in the open? That’s impossible!” Centurion Veran Jake of the Chainbreaker Century exclaimed.

Yuriko raised a brow, “Are you doubting me?”

“Huh, no, never,” the man backpedalled with a chuckle, “but a hundred barons…they should not have been able to stay in the plane. Not for that long, and not after expending that much of their Chaos.”

The reinforcements consisted of Chainbreaker Century, three Colossi and their support squad, and surprisingly, Shaemus Dorn who had accompanied her since the Chaos Sea. They marched down the Rumiga Road, with a single troop transport carrying their supplies and munitions. The way Veran told it, they had been harassed by the Federation scouts every step of the way, but from the condition of the transport and the fresh look of the Century, Yuriko thought that he was merely exaggerating.

Due to their shared experience in assaulting Ouera Bo, the two of them had struck an easy friendship, even if Veran had strange ideas. They crossed the eastern district and into the west in short order while the rain continued to pour.

Marron had even made his way to the town hall, despite Niamh’s protests. They were in the Knight’s council chamber now, and Yuriko described the town’s circumstances and the position and fortifications of the Federation forces. That the Chainbreaker and attaches made it through the Federation’s encirclement was probably because they had been distracted by Yuriko and Zagara’s duel.

“But, that many Chaos Lords within the same region would have drastically lowered the area’s ambient Chaos to the point that they would have starved. Unless,” Veran mused, “they’re being fed by the troops?”

“That isn’t an unlikely scenario,” Marron said with a cough. “Yuri’s been able to keep them at bay, but I know they’re getting human reinforcements, too. We’ll have to defeat them as soon as we can. Even more are coming by the day. How can the Chaos Courts spare so many warriors… Oh, they may have come from the Chaos Fortress.”

“I don’t think so,” Veran said at the same time that Constable Tara Andersen yelped, “Chaos Fortress?!”

“There’s one north of Rumiga City. It’s the reason we were cut off,” Marron answered briefly, shook his head and negated his initial guess. “And if those barons came from there, then they would have had to cross Imperial territory. They would have been spotted, or reports of their depredations would have reached the city.”

“It may have been reported,” Veran said slowly, “but there’s trouble in the city, too. The report may have been lost. The entirety of the Frozen Camp command should have come here, but the city’s sending them south against the Ivalans. My Century and the Colossi half-squad were the only ones they could spare.”

“In any case, since there are more Knights, then I think we can try to cull the Federation elites. And your legionnaires are a welcome addition to our forces.” Constable Andersen smiled. “Will you come under my command or will you remain an independent force?”

The question was rhetorical since Legion Agminis outranked the local forces, but they usually didn’t take over command, as far as Yuriko knew. Besides, Centurion Veran Jake wasn’t suited to command more than his own troops, by his own admission.

“We will work independently, thank you,” Veran said smoothly. And that was that.

Over the next few days, all the way to the 25th Day of Water, skirmishes continued between the Faron’s Crossing defenders and the besiegers. Yuriko practised her newly-discovered perfect strike, and since there were legionnaires on guard now, she felt secure in activating her Facet.

The Golden Silhouette was blurry.

Her movements were slow and fuzzy, but the sword dances and the Four Phases remained crisp and clear. Yuriko matched her movements with the silhouette, and her Facet highlighted where she made mistakes or was slightly inefficient.

But the Golden Silhouette didn’t show the perfect strike again, nor did she show any reaction when Yuriko performed what she did against Zagara. Instead, she only performed the basics and repeated them over and over.

For Yuriko, that meant that her Facet wanted her to hone her foundations. Come to think of it, Swordmaster Kinohara said the same to her. A castle cannot be built without digging deep foundations, and neither can a swordmaster be born without training the basics to perfection.

So, despite her eagerness to hone the fusion and expression of the three sword dances as one, Yuriko returned to practising the Four Phases and the sword dances. She made quite a bit of progress now that she didn’t feel so pressured to defend the town. With three Colossi and six more Knights, the siege was all but done.

The Federation continued to bombard them with cannon shells, but with a hundred more Journeymen and Knights, keeping the reserves topped up was easy. The Chaos Lords had increased in number though, from a hundred to two.

However, Yuriko didn’t fight them alone anymore. Her brother had insisted that he was well enough to support her from the observation tower as long as she didn’t stray too far. She practised her Radiant Lance too, but she didn’t really have a viable target.

“You’ve learned Sorcery now? When?” Sheamus asked her when the two of them shared a watch.

“It just happened,” Yuriko shrugged.

He stared at her strangely, then laughed. “Only you would have such fortuitous happenings.” He nodded towards the south. “These people…I think they may have violated the pacts of the Coalition. Definitely, Chelda would never consort with the Chaos Courts.”

“It doesn’t bother you?” Yuriko asked, “Fighting against your…er…countrymen?”

Sheamus snorted. “People of the Coalition are not one nation. Chelda isn’t close to the Coalition-Imperial border. We fight more with the Xylarchy than the Empire. These fools have touched upon something they shouldn’t have and it will bring ruin. Besides,” he chuckled, “I’m an adventurer. Mercenary if you’re being mean. My allegiances go to those who need and pay me.”

“Alright,” Yuriko said easily, somewhat happy that the dour man was by her side.