“Wasn’t the angel much more graceful?” one of Suleiman’s Janissary captain’s whispered. He was standing next to Suleiman and a few other leaders of the various armies. “She defeated enemies and fortifications alike with one punch. How come she’s using a person like a whip?”

Suleiman shook his head. “It just means her opponents are quite strong,” he said. “Didn’t you see? The white wall withstood her punch, and she was forced to use some tricks to isolate one of her enemies. However, while I may be Sultan, I’m not an expert at combat. One of you should decide; how can we help her?”

“We should quickly wipe out the Hungarian army,” the leader of the sipahis said. “They’re a motley crew. It seems like their infantry was hastily gathered. The only orderly ones are the knights, but they should be no match for our Janissaries. Once the Hungarians are defeated, we can concentrate our firepower onto those twelve men—if our angel hasn’t won yet, that is. While those men can defend against a punch capable of destroying fortress walls, aren’t our bombards capable of destroying walls as well?”

“Well said.” The captain of the Janissaries was the next to speak. “We seem to be lucky. Their army is rushed, and their leadership is quite poor. It seems to be a group thrown together to stop our advance as the real army gathers within their capital’s walls. Perhaps, we can capture them and threaten those men with the prisoners’ lives.”

Suleiman looked around, and his advisors nodded in agreement. “Then it’s settled.” He raised his hand. “Bombards, fire straight into their army!”

***

“The keepers of the church are losing,” a noble from Hungary said. “Didn’t the king assure us of their victory?”

“No, the king assured us they’d be able to distract the witch long enough for us to wipe out the Ottomans,” another noble said. The two were sitting in the middle of the cavalry formation, waiting on top of their restless horses. “I don’t know what the king’s plan is. Why are we letting someone younger than my own son command us? What is the war council doing?”

“The king surely has a plan,” the other noble said. “He’s out here with us. I’m certain he doesn’t want to die or lose the fight either. He wouldn’t lead us to our deaths.” The noble craned his neck, trying to get a better look at the king. In the next moment, the king raised his arm.

“While the witch is distracted, we’ll wipe out the Ottoman’s,” Louis II shouted. “Cavalry, charge! We’ll break the enemy formation! Infantry, follow through!”

“We’re charging? Just like that?” the second noble asked. His mouth was questioning his king’s decision, but his body was following orders. Being in the middle, he wasn’t allowed to hold back during a charge or he’d be trampled from behind. All he could do was raise his arm along with his fellow cavalry and shout, “For the glory of Hungary!”

Screams accompanied their shouts. Stone balls tore through the army that had barely begun to move. Ammunition that should’ve been saved for castle walls were being used on the people instead, but Suleiman didn’t feel the pinch. He didn’t need ammunition as long as he had Alice. If he saved the ammunition just in case Alice lost her fight, wouldn’t that be planning for defeat? Only those who constantly strove for victory deserved to win! “Regular armies, advance! Don’t let the cavalry get past you. Once they’re stuck, Janissaries, fill them with bullets! Sipahis, loop around and eat away at the flank of their army!”

***

“Just surrender, witch!” one of the keepers shouted. He had to shout to be heard over the din of the battle that had just started. “You might be damned, but you’ll be even more damned if you kill one of us!”

“It’s useless,” another keeper said. “She doesn’t speak Latin!”

“Does any of us even know how to speak Turkish?”

“No, but I can speak German!”

“We can all speak German, Matthew.”

“But have we tried it?” Matthew asked. He shouted at Alice, “Hey, stop resisting!”

Alice froze mid-swing, and the person she was holding suddenly lost momentum. His head dropped to the ground and scraped away at the dirt before coming to a halt. “How do you know my native language!?” she shouted. “And those powers too! Were you guys thrown into this world by that insane red dragon as well?”

“Native language?” one of the keepers asked. “You’re German? But why are you fighting for the Ottomans?”

“German?” Alice frowned. The man in her arm twitched, so she raised him up and slammed him down to stop him from moving. “I don’t think so? You guys, are you natives of this world?”

The keepers exchanged glances with each other. “If we’re not from this world, where else would we be from?”

“Seems like there’s a misunderstanding then,” Alice said. A vein bulged on her forehead. This whole time, there were people who could understand her native language, but she was thrown into an empire that couldn’t? “Give me a second.” She turned around and shouted at Suleiman who was in the distance, “Hey! Do you speak German!?”

“I know some!” Suleiman shouted back in confusion. “Why?”

Alice’s eyes widened, and her grip unconsciously increased on her hostage’s ankle. “This whole time, I didn’t have to learn Turkish at all! What the heck!” She glared at the keepers. “Why didn’t you tell me this three months ago!? It’s all your faults!”

“Wait! I thought we were talking!?” The keepers retreated as Alice advanced, swinging their companion around by his leg.

“Talk is cheap!”

The keepers retreated again. “Should we summon Madam Mary’s friend?” one of them asked.

“Absolutely not! She’s a devil.”

“But she’s Madam Mary’s friend,” the keeper who brought up the idea said. “Given what we know about Madam Mary, isn’t it highly likely she captured and reformed a devil through beatings like she did to us? Since Madam Mary allowed the devil to live, she must be a good entity now. How about this? We’ll ask Paul.”

“Alright,” another keeper said. He shouted, “Paul! Should we call Madam Mary’s friend to save you?”

The keeper in Alice’s hand shouted back, “Yes! A million times, yes!”