“The Ministry of Economics, Guild, and Trade, Praetor Flavius Del Amandus, has reported an economic downturn. Tribunes from the Farming, Mercantile and Slave Guilds have reported a decline in both growth and revenue.

Tribune Potitus Fla Triferus of the Farming Guild has reported that since the Empire lost the Greater Elies Region to the Other Worlder savages, the Empire has entered a food shortage, forced to tap into its reserves to feed the army. He has stated the remaining crop lands must triple production to replace the losses. The Farming Guild is the largest source of revenue for the treasury.

Tribune Lucius Co Titiedius Celatus of the Mercantile Guild has reported that profits had been cut in half ever since the loss of Italica and Valtris to the Other Worlders. Traders have struggled to maintain their supply lines since the Empire was effectively cut into two. Lucius has stated that his priority is to turn Bellnahgo and Knappnai into a new trade route to restabilize the economy.

Lucius has also prioritized relocating many mines away from the heart of the Empire where most of the fighting at and relocating them away from the heart of Falamrt. Many of the relocations are going to the Mountain Range of Ice and Snow, the western mounts by Edras and the southeast between the eastern Swestual Kingdom and south of the Avion Sea. The main Salt Mines along the Blue Sea coast have been consistently harassed by the Elbean Army and NATO aeroplanes.

However, the five Dwarf vassal Kingdoms have increased metal production with the main producer Golrash. The Imperial Army requested its largest order of swords and armor since the thirty-year war against the Dark Races.

The formation of the Falmart League has helped offset the damages of the war as trade with the Ticaret Conglomerate. Since the formation of the alliance, trade restrictions and hostility has been lessened, allowing both the Empire and Ticaret to trade more freely, bringing a small, albeit greatly needed boost to the Imperial economy.

As the war economy continues, a major issue that has been impeding progress has been the inflation of the cost of slaves. Tribune Gnaeus Hob Pilatus of the Slave Guild has struggled to meet the new demand for slaves as both farmers, merchants and miners need more labor to meet production quotas. The Guild says they were promised by ex-Emperor Molt to receive twenty thousands new slaves in the invasion of Earth, however, only a handful were ever received. Furthermore, mass escape of slaves has become more common than ever. Any escaped slave that has been recaptured please hand them over to the Slave Guild or the Adventurers Guild for processing. Any slave that escaped will either be sent to the frontlines or be sent to the mines

The slave economy has always been a critical industry for the Imperial labor market, especially now as the Empire has placed a mass conscription from each citizen and freehouse. Gnaeus has changed a policy that anyone who volunteers for slave work will be automatically freed in five years with all debts forgiven, depending on debt size.

As of now, the Imperial economy is in limbo as it rebalances and recovers from last year’s devastating losses against the savage enemy beyond the GATE that threatens the entirety of civilized culture and society. While some areas of the economy are growing thanks to the war, others are struggling to rebuild.” - Ministry of Propaganda

***

--- Malo Plains, east of the Blue Sea coast ---

March 30th, 2026

Delilah sees a Skeleton Warrior in front of her. She smirks as her blood boils with lust to kill.

She blocks the skeleton’s sword with one of her short swords and slices her opponent with the other short sword, hitting its arm and torso joints.

The body of the skeleton falls apart, disarming it. She kicks a skeleton warrior using her Bunny strength, utterly shattering the skeleton.

She looks around and sees some of the Rose Knights fighting the skeletons. While not as good as her, they’re not doing a bad job.

She looks at the Rangers and sees them engaged in a firefight with some mages.

Some of the facility’s security had ambushed them. Bailey ordered the melee forces to fight the skeletons and ghouls while the Rangers dealt with the mages. Ever since she started working with him, she is constantly surprised on how well NATO adapts to changing situations.

She looks to the two Rose Knight leaders, Beefeater and Panache. They just cut down two skeletons and have already started attacking the remaining skeleton warriors.

She tolerates the Rose Knights in the name of peace. She understands Sharpe has worked hard to integrate ex-Imperial soldiers, and she understands they were branded traitors by their people. Still, they are the daughters of the men who massacred her people, attached chains to them, and sold them away as wares to be sold and used.

Panache is just an elitist, always shooting glares at her and the other non-humans. She can see that she still believes that Demi-Humans are inferior.

However, even though Beefeater is a noblewoman, she does not act like one. She does not detect the standard haughty ‘I am superior to you’ attitude she picks up from most of the Rose Knights. It seems like she wants to live life to the fullest.

She notices another warrior charging at Beefeater, this time a Knight. She reacts on a whim and charges past Beefeater. Her blade hits the Knight’s armor, but she then swings her Kukri Blade to the gap between the helmet and body armor.

The knight's head drops down to the floor, and she sees it was a green-colored orc(1), which shocked her. There are two types of orcs, green are the more humanoid ones who act more like men, just bigger and stronger. They call themselves Uruk-hia so people don’t get them mixed up.

“Thank you,” Beefeater says as she gives a thumbs up. “That prick would have overpowered me.”

She smiles and waves. “I see you picked up some of the American terminology.”

“Can’t beat them, join them,” Beefeater replies.

“Just be careful, Beefeater,” Panache says.

She glares at Panache, but hears Beefeater chuckle. “Just ignore her. She is like that to everyone.”

She smiles. “Alright.”

She can see how tired the Rose Knights are. It has been a difficult, grueling fight so far. Since they first broke into the facility, they have been fighting pretty much nonstop.

She looks at the remaining enemy forces and smirks. She points her blade at the Rangers. “Go protect them. I will handle them.”

She then charges forward, going faster than expected. She swings her blades at athis summoned monster with such rage.

She was trained to be a killer. She knows that she is more potent and faster than the average Human male. But right now, she feels this surge of energy throughout her body. Her senses are going crazy, able to detect every slight movement.

She attacks the remaining enemies, moving past them all. With the skeletons, she attacks the joints, so they collapse.

Everything else she cuts down. until she sees a mage.

She smirks. “Hello there.”

The male mage holds up his hand. The surrounding objects start to grow black and float lift into the air.

She has seen Lelei La Lalena do this. It is telekinesis. The crates, stones, and body parts start flying towards her.

She slashes the crate, cutting it in half and scattering wooden splinters everywhere around her. Then she slashes at the incoming stones, but failed to stop the stones.

She looks forward and sees a large stone coming at her. But then she sees the black glow around it disappear.

Tyuule tackles her as the stone passes them both, hitting the wall.

She sees Tyuule suddenly looking at her in a strange way. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Tyuule says with a smile. “Just as I suspected, you are irrational right now, but don’t be stupid.”

“Sorry,” she responds. “I got carried away. But I got most of them.”

She stands up and looks at the dark mage. She sees a bolt pierce through his head, the rest body jerking suddenly before dropping down dead.

She looks towards Beefeater who is looking at her bowgun. She is impressed by the accuracy of the small one hand ranged weapon. At first, she thought it was a small crossbow however Scott explained they called one hand crossbows a ‘bowgun.’ “Thank you, Beefeater.” She could not believe she said those words to an Imperial woman. However, she just did.

“All good,” Beefeater replies. “I can’t believe this thing even works in the first place. Because of how light it is, I expected it to either break or miss the target entirely when fired.”

“That's Composite for you,” Corporal James Ward comments as he walks up. “It makes weapons like that lighter than wood and metal, but just as durable.”

Bailey then walks up. “Are you alright, Delilah?”

She looks at her boyfriend and gives her a thumbs up. “Everything is great. I am having the time of my life. Why do you ask?”

“Because you are being more reckless then normal,” Bailey says in a matter-of-fact tone.

She chuckles upon hearing that. She has observed that most males from most species have this urge to protect females. She finds it cute that he thinks he is trying to protect her; even though he knows she can kick his ass in a fight.

“The Knights needed to cover your six,” she says. “And I am at my most fit for combat right now.”

“What is that even supposed to mean?” Bailey asks. “You've been acting weird over the past few days.”

Before she could reply, she saw Private First-Class Adam Hopkins walk up.

“Sir,” Adam says. “Lieutenant Elliott is reporting in. Captain Sarah says Vanguard-7 needs support.”

“Right,” Bailey says. “Rangers, Knights, we are moving to support our sister unit. Bunnies, up front.”

“Roger that, boss man,” she replies. She lowers her HSDG(2) so she can see the IFF beacon. The beacon shows a waypoint that allows her to see the general direction of friendly units. She just needs to figure out the correct path to get to them.

“Down this way,” she says. “Follow me.”

She rushes down this hallway. Up ahead, she sees this skeleton just standing there.

The stories of these skeletons are that they were either once warriors or ordinary people. They were brought back to life like this through dark magic, which Darlko specialized with. They use this magic to turn people into ghouls or skeletons for their own bidding.

She rushes up behind the skeleton and slashes it in half.

She chuckles as her kill, but then looks to her left. It looked like her VISOR detected something, but she saw nothing. She blinks and just as she finishes blinking, she swore she just saw a dim glow right then and there. “Interesting,” she mutters.

“You’re fast today,” Tyuule says in a shock tone. She looks in the same direction at her. “What are you looking at?”

“My VISOR said it saw something,” she replies. “But it might be broken.”

“Interesting,” Tyuule says. “Well, they said these things are prototypes so they might not be working properly.”

“Hmm,” she mumbles. She then hears an intense firefight. “We better go.”

---

Sharpe is kneeling by a pillar. He is reloading his M4.

The path behind him was closed off by a mage, using some kind of ground-based magic. Then, the enemy forces unleashed their ambush. Some enemy Knights and mages are taking cover up ahead, pinning them down.

Normally, this would be easy to handle however a Minotaur came through the ceiling right on top of them. Ghouls came down after it as well.

Rory is fighting the Minotaur right now while the Rose Knights fight off the ghouls.

He decided to let Pina handle his right flank. Close combat is her specialty after all.

“Maintain suppressing fire Rangers,” he orders.

His Rangers are lined up, taking covers by the pillars. They unleash a hail of bullets at the enemy. Some of these bullets find their mark against an Imperial soldier. Safe to say, he died pretty much immediately, his blood splattering against the ground with audible splats.

Others take cover by a dirt wall that was erected by a mage.

“There are way too many Imperialists here for a research facility,” Andrew says.

He had the same thought. He expected some Imperial soldiers and Darlko Knights, but this was just ridiculous. “Yeah. This confirms that this is a staging area.”

“Yeah, but for what?” Jerry asks. “Wouldn’t they be afraid of an air strike, being above ground and all?”

“It will take the Ospreys, a fuel tanker to get back to Alnus,” Randy explains.

“Stop the chatter and engage,” he interjects, wanting his Rangers to pay more attention to the here and now.

He sees a mage behind one of its defensive walls create fire with magic.

This High Elf moves up to the mage and takes control of the fire and swings it towards the Rose Knights.

“Pina, heads up,” he says over the radio.

Before hitting the Knights, the flames turn into ice. Then the icicles drop to the floor.

He moves from his position and heads to Lelei and Tuka. As he moves, he feels a sharp pain by his ribs, where Rory broke them. “Nice shot, Lelei. Keep those Mages pinned down. Tuka, try and take out that mage.”

Both nod at his order. Lelei stands and fires an energy blast, covering Tuka’s advance.

Tuka Luna Marceau moves to the right and fires an arrow from her composite compact bow, killing the High Elf.

He looks at the enemy position and sees they are being suppressed. He looks over to Rory and the Knights.

They all seem to be holding their ground. Rory seems to be struggling with her fight against the Minotaur because of just how little space there is. Rory likes open space to move around to strike the flanks.

Pina and the other Knights are holding. The new armor and swords seem to be holding up.

He starts to move to help Rory and the Knights. He feels someone grab his vest and sees Randy.

“Hold up sir,” Randy says. “You will just get in the way with your wound. If you go down, we all go down.”

He hates to admit but Randy is right. “Lelei, you plug that hole in the ceiling. Specialist Alicia Moore covers her and supports Rory.”

He then looks at the enemy position, not like that they have been pinned here for so long. “Frost blows them to hell.”

Alicia goes with Lelei and starts shooting at some ghouls. Putting her bayonet on her rifle and decapitating a ghoul with the bayonet.

While Alicia is a hothead and gets carried away, he knows he can trust her to get the job done. She hates to lose.

Frost pulls out his M320 grenade launcher. He fires a fragment grenade into the forward enemy position. The barrier is destroyed from the blast, creating an opening.

“Let them have it!” Randy orders.

He and all the other Rangers open fire. He sees many of the enemy fall. He sees one of Tuka’s arrows hit a staff, damaging the orb in the process.

Redirecting his attention and gun, he fires at the damaged orb, destroying it in its entirety.

---

Yao watches the battle wage. At first, she thought they were in trouble but soon they turned the battle in their favor.

The hole in the ceiling is blocked and the Rose Knights are now cutting down the remaining ghouls.

The other enemy group is getting cleaned up as well.

She then hears something happening behind her. She looks around and sees the wall move away, revealing a new chamber filled with numerous Darlko Knights.

She also sees two mages, one a human man who is moving the wall., the other, a female mage casting a spell with a purplish hue.

“Sir Scott?” she says, nervously.

“What is it?” Scott asks. He then looks and sees what she sees. “Seven o'clock! Rear flank!”

She watches as Private First-Class Marvin Scott turns around. His machine gun lights up as he lays suppressing fire.

However, it is too late. The female mage fires the spell and hits Scott.

Scott hits the pillar behind him and slides down, screaming in agony.

She sees this purple acid like liquid all over his vest, eating it away. Some of it on his right side of the neck and cheek.

“I need a healer!” She yells.

The team medic Specialist Jerry William rushes up and then starts hurriedly taking off his vest, trying to get the acid off Scott.

She looks up and sees Lieutenant Colonel Sharpe and Sergeant Andrew Steele start firing at the new targets. She also sees Tuka lower her bow and pull out her pistol.

Seeing how Tuka is holding the pistol and aiming it, she decides to help.

She takes Jerry's pistol from its holster and aims. She sees a Knight charging towards her. She aims for the head and fires, getting a headshot.

She aims at the other enemy Knight and shoots him in the head as well.

“Nice shot Yao,” Andrew says, impressed.

“Thank you?” she replies, surprised to get a compliment. She is not used to that kind of treatment.

She thought their weapons were much more complicated than this. Based on all the training she has seen she thought you had to be a master marksman to use such a weapon, however this is far easier than she thought.

She fires again, killing that female mage who hurt Scott.

As the Darlko’s first sneak attack failed, the male mage formed a magical energy shield, which surprisingly deflected many of Yao’s pistol shots. Based on Lelei’s experimentation with DARPA in shield magic as part of their weapon project to create force field to protect infantry and vehicle, a magical shield should crumble after four to five gunshots from a pistol or two to three shots from rifles as they are not conjured with any principle of kinetic force in mind.

However, when Yao looks closely at the mage, she sees that he has a magic-boosting amulet around his neck, which enhances his magic effect 5 times to conjure a magic shield good enough to resist gunshot. Two Imperial archers, one with a bow while the other has a crossbow. Arrows come through the shield.

That is when she sees two Bunnies rush past the archers and Knights. The two swiftly cut down all the Darlko and Imperials defenders with ease.

She stood there amazed. She has heard stories of the Warrior Bunnies however she never seen one until Alnus. This is the first time she has seen them fighting.

As the shield collapses she sees Vanguard-5 come around the corner.

---

Sharpe is happy to see Bailey team. He points to Beefeater and orders her to join Pina.

“Alright girls!” Beefeater says. “Charge!”

He watches as Beefeater’s team rush past him to join Pina in battle. He then sees Delilah as she finishes cutting down a swordsman.

He notices the berserker’s eyes present in Deliah’s eyes, just like the ones Rory Mercury had earlier.

Delilah charges forward, faster than he has seen her before. To his surprise still she has all this energy.

“Sorry for the delay sir,” Bailey says. “Rangers move in and provide support. Private First-Class Dohate, go help Jerry with Scott.”

He watches as both Vanguards rally up and overwhelm the enemy force with superior fire support.

He then sees the Rose Knights and the two bunnies clear up the remaining ghouls.

He watches Rory holding her Halberd. The Minotaur is holding onto her weapon, both pushing against each other, trying to get an advantage over the other.

As Alicia calls out, Rory suddenly jumps up and lands on her Halberd and then jumps forward. She kicks the beast into the wall, breaking open his chest armor.

Seeing an opening, Alicia fires a control burst into the Minotaur head, killing it. The beast body collapses onto the ground, shaking everything for a moment.

“Thanks for the assist Bailey,” he replies.

Bailey chuckles. “No problem.” He then looks at him and his eyes turn wide. “What the fucked happened to you? Looks like you were just in a bullfight.”

He takes a breath, seeing that the fighting is over. “Rory and I had a one on one.”

“What?” Bailey asked, with a bewildered look on his face. He leans forward and whispers, “You two fucked here?”

He looks at him, dumbfounded. “What the… no. She went into her berserk mode and we had a fight. I think she broke a rib or two.”

“Sorry sir,” Bailey says as he chuckles. “Just saying what we are all thinking.” He then slaps him on the back.

He then places his hand on Bailey's chest to get his attention. “Hold up,” he whispers. “You just assume that we fucked?”

Bailey chuckles and shrugs his shoulders. “Well… to be honest it is everyone's favorite fanfic sir. How close you two are, everyone gossips and guesses on ‘what if’ if you weren't banging Sarah.”

“I don’t have time for this,” he says as he runs his eyes. “What is going on with Delilah? She seems to be fighting harder than usual.”

“You noticed too?” Bailey says. “I thought it was just me.”

He calls Tyuule over.

“What can I do for you Lieutenant Colonel?” Tyuule asked.

“What is going on with Delilah?” he asks. “She is acting differently. Her behavior mirrors Rory when she is in her battle frenzy state. Should I be worried?”

“Oh no sirs,” Tyuule says. “This is normal for Bunnies. She is going through The Heat period. During this time, a Warrior Bunnies senses become more sensitive, we become stronger, faster, more reactive. You have nothing to fear, this only happens when a bunny carries a life within her.”

“Okay,” Bailey mumbles, confused by that explanation. “So, this will… wait What! Delilah! Get over here!”

Sharpe also looks shocked and is surprised by what he just heard.

As Delilah walks over, he looks at Tyuule. “You knew?”

“Just a moment ago, I felt something strange about Deliah, I put my bunny ears on her belly and found that she is with a child after hearing a heartbeat,” Tyuule says. “This is normal for our people. Bearing a child temporarily makes a warrior bunny faster and stronger as well as more driven. This phenomenon is similar to the nesting instinct found in any animal, demi-human and even human.”

Sharpe looks over and sees Bailey yelling at Delilah.

“Hey!” Bailey yells. “Deliah, why didn't you tell me that you are pregnant?”

“I am? That wonderful darling!! No wonder I feel a deep surge in power within me whenever I fight. The Heat will enable me to fight better alongside you darling! I bet I can even take on Minotaur head-on all by myself and win right now! Hahaha!” Delilah cheerfully states, bouncing up and down with excitement.

“Deliah, don’t be stupid like that!” Bailey says in a frustrated tone. “You have no right to put our unborn child in danger like that? What would happen if you got hurt?”

“Knock it off Bailey!” Delilah responds and touches her belly. “I am a Warrior Bunny. We have almost no males to go fight for us. We have to fight and defend our homes and loved ones. Our enemies never cared if we were with children. I am fighting with you and NATO to regain the life and peace of my people that have been pillaged by the Empire, but most of all I am fighting for our future too! Don’t deny our baby a chance to help her mother and father!”

“Delilah is correct,” Tyuule adds. “Unlike most females when they are with a child and get weaker, we temporarily get stronger. We use that to defend our home and friends. Friends like all of you. It would be considered a disgrace if she backed away from a mission when she was in The Heat since it denies the unborn childs the honor to support their mothers to defend the homeland. Our people have a deep warrior culture so we believe even an infant can fight for some capacity. In fact during the desperate war against the Empire, many of our people impregnated themselves to gain an edge in battle. Our babies are used to distract the enemy.”

As Sharpe listens, he gets frustrated too. He has experienced many culture clashes, but most are very subtle. Logically what Tyuule made sense. If you have to constantly defend yourself, you would use any and everything you can to win.

“We will talk about this later,” he says. “Now let’s focus.”

He glances over and sees Scott shirtless and getting patched up. He looks badly hurt and knows he cannot deal with this pregnancy drama right now.

“Both of you stay here,” he orders.

“Randy, Pina, secure the area,” he orders.

He kneels next to the two medics and looks at Scott. Lelei is standing next to them watching. “Sitrep Doc.”

Jerry shakes his head. “I stopped the acid, but it caused a bad burn. Lelei said it was some kind of acid spell.”

“Just do the best you can,” he says. “Both of you get him ready for extraction.”

He can see something else is on Jerry's mind. “Speak your mind Sergeant.”

"Sir," Jerry says. "Our UMBAV(3) is fucking useless against magic. I thought this model was supposed to be magic resistant. I know it can stop most arrows and blades but magic just tears it apart. Magic will get a lot of our people are killed. I don't know what to do, I only have so many treatment options."

DARPA has been working with many defense companies trying to invent better body armor for the troops. To stop situations like this. So far, the project is a failure mainly because there are too many different types of spells to counter. It also depends on the skill level of the mage. Too many unknown factors to make effective armor. Based on Lelei’s suggestion, the only way for this to work perfectly is to recruit an alchemist to put enchantment on the armors to resist magic perfectly.

“Just do your best Jerry,” he says. He then pats Jerry on the shoulder trying to calm him down.

He then looks to Scott. “Looking good Scott.”

“It hurts,” Scott says in a weak voice. “A lot.”

“Think about the positives Scott,” he replies as the two medics finish wrapping bandages around him. “Women love scars on a man, so this is an improvement for you.”

“That is true,” Sarah adds over NW. “I bet your cat friend in Italica will like them. I will see if she can come visit.”

“I guess that would be good,” Scott mumbles. “Still stings like hell.”

He pats Scott’s leg and stands up. “Bailey and Frayen.”

Bailey walks up. Lelei carrying Frayen's head walks up.

“We are leaving right?” Bailey asks.

“Retreating?” Lelei asks.

“What about my body part?” Frayen asks.

“Look,” Bailey says. “If you haven’t noticed we've been facing far heavier resistance than expected. We need three more Vanguard units or a Special Forces group.”

“I hate to say it, but he is right,” he states. “Another engagement like that and we will be out of ammo.”

“I don’t think so,” Frayen says. “That looked like a final stand. Moving walls like that would cost a lot of mana. They looked desperate. I believe we are close.”

“And let me guess,” he says. “If we leave now, we will not get a second chance at this.”

He looks around and takes a deep breath, feeling a pinch on his ribs. He sees everyone looking at him waiting for orders. “Jerry, go with Vanguard-5 and get Scott out of here. Bailey, get your team and the Knights out of here, contact Johnson for extraction. When you get out there contact command, I want a B-52 to level this place. Vanguard-7 with me. We don’t leave people behind and we are not going to start now.”

“I guess that includes body parts now,” Alicia says.

Beefeater laughs loudly. Everyone looks at her and she stops, places her hand behind her back. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he says. “Everyone rolls out.”

He regroups his unit, and they start moving out. “Do you have any idea where your body will be?”

“I feel like I can sense it however I cannot point to a direction,” Frayen replies.

“Lelei?” he asks.

“I don’t know,” Lelei replies. “At Rondel all the important chambers have special doors. They have magical locks and enhancements. The doors are also very decorative, telling some kind of story. Either the history of the city or a story of a hero Archmage or…”

“Get to the point Lelei!” He says, annoyed by her tendency to lecture.

“I am sorry Lieutenant Colonel,” Lelei replies. “Frayen body parts should be considered important. They would put it in their most important chamber. I just don’t know where that would be.”

He looks at Andrew. “Andrew. If this were a video game where would this chamber be?”

Andrew stops and thinks. “Well, in almost every game or manga I read the final chamber is usually up top or on the button. Because we did not detect a deep underground section so that means one of the higher levels.”

“The tower,” Rory says. “We should go to the tower. All important people live in a tower. FIts their egos.”

“I don’t agree,” Andrew replies. “Yes, the tower is where the important people live however you don’t put a research facility in one. Especially if you are researching Apostles, you need space. Something important, like a vault room. That is where you get all the good stuff. You only go to the tower to fight the final boss.”

“Impressive,” Lelei says. “I really should look into these games you speak of.”

“After your housework Lelei,” he states. “I agree with Andrew. Frayen, Lelei, where would be a good place for such a vault?”

Lelei then snaps her fingers and smiles. “I remember in WOW(4) we had to find something similar. The vault room was always in the top center before you go up towers.”

“Seems logical to me,” Frayen says.

He glances down, not liking how Frayen said that. He glances back at everyone. “Lelei, Andrew, take points.”

---

Sharpe sees five guards at the large door. “That looks fancy. Is it like the ones in Rondel?”

“Yes,” Lelei replies. “But the architecture is crap.”

“What is the plan sir?” Randy said

He looks at the guards. “Andrew, Tuka, cover Frost. Frost, fire grenade. Rory, Alicia and I will move in and secure the door.”

He watches as Andrew and Tuka move around the corner. They open fire at the enemy troops.

Private First-Class Harvey Frost loads up his grenade launcher. He moves behind Tuka. “Fire in the hole!” He fires the explosive grenade, killing all the enemy soldiers there.

He rushes up with Rory and Alicia, checking if the bodies are dead.

“If anything behind the wall didn’t know we were here, they do now,” Alicia points out.

“They knew we were here already,” Randy says. “I hope they fear us if they hear that.”

Once everyone confirms that the enemy is dead, he walks up to the door. As Lelei explained before, he sees all these strange writings with pictures. He wonders what it all means. “Lelei, I assume it is enchanted?”

“Probably,” Lelei says as she walks up, carrying Frayen.

“Can you read it?” Andrew says.

Lelei looks closely. “A little. This kind of writing has been deemed forbidden by Rondel Archmages however I recognize some symbols that we share. It says something about darkness, true path, and…"

"It says The Dark and the Light are the truth path, restrictions are only limitations of true power, the darkness shall rise from the east. That Rondel shall become one with Darlko. The will of Valker," says Frayen.

"You know the language of dark magic?" Lelei asks.

"It was not always forbidden Lelei," Frayen answers. "And as an Apostle of Knowledge, the Guardian of the Library of Elaish, I have to know."

"But it is forbidden?" Lelei replies and then thinks. She looks at him. "Your First Amendment protects you from censorship of ideas?"

"In theory yes," he replies. "The idea is to have a marketplace of ideas, to be shared and debated. Normally the best of wins, it was how the west was founded."

"But not all ideas are equal," Frayen interjects. "Bad ideas can win in that marketplace."

The first thing he thinks about is Facism and Communism and how they came to be. Both ideologies won their debate at the time and then left a trail of bodies. However, the only reason they were defeated was because people could challenge them.

"Lelei," Frayen says. "Forbidding a subject is usually powerful and established to maintain their power. Rarely for the better of society."

"Are you saying it was wrong for the Rondel Academic Council to forbid dark magic?" Lelei asks.

"Partly," Frayen replies. "Rondel was correct to see the threat that dark magic poses. However, they were wrong in blinding themselves to it by erasing all knowledge from their society. You cannot fight what you are blinded to."

"Why are you afraid of dark magic?" Andrew asks. "Usually when something has dark in it, it is usually something bad."

"I wouldn't say bad," Frayen replies. "Dark magic can be powerful and give the mage amazing power. However, it comes with a cost. The cost is different for each mage and not necessarily making you evil-."

"But everything has a price," he finishes.

"That is fine and all, but how does that help us get through the door?" Randy asks.

"I can open it," Frayen says. "I will need to use Lelei though."

"I know my magic has gotten stronger, but I don't think I can do it,” Lelei says shyly.

“I have seen your mana and spells become one of a kind,” Frayen says. “While my master(5) was interested in your master-”

“He is not our master,” Rory mumbles as she crosses her arms.

“You have yet to learn to control your newfound knowledge,” Frayen continues, ignoring Rory. “I will help you learn how to master your knowledge and mana and then you will be among the best.”

“Right now,” Frayen continues. “I need your body and mana as a conduit. Place your hand on the door.”

Lelei looks up at him, looking for direction and approval.

He gives an approving nod. “You can do it.”

“If you can’t we have a plan B. C4,” Alicia adds with a smirking tone.

He watches as Lelei places her hand on the handlock. She closes her eyes as Frayen begins chanting.

He sees Frayen's head glows purple, blue, green and red. That energy glow moves up Lelei's arm until it surrounds her. The hand that is on the door glows.

Then the door glows as the different symbols glow.

Lelei starts to scream as all that energy flows through her body.

He feels the urge to stop this but stops himself. The sound of her screaming frustrates him. Sarah has been telling him that he needs to give the girls more space to grow. He believes he needs to protect the girls, including Rory even though she is an Apostle. Being the adult male in the group, he sees it is his responsibility.

He knows about her horrible relationship with her biological father so while he hasn’t adopted her or see the need to unlike Selina, he does see himself as some form of father figure for her. Her education bill surely makes him feel like one.

“You got in Lelei,” he says. “Just remember our training. Focus(6).”

Lelei looks at the door and she clench her teeth. She pushes against the door with all her might.

The large door locks open and slowly starts to open.

Seeing this he looks to his Rangers. “Randy, Andrew, Yao, Frost, stay here and guard our six. Everyone else stormed the room.”

Once the door opens, he rushes into the room. He stops right at the entrance, aiming his rifle. He looks around, looking for targets.

The room looks like a primitive lab. Primitive test tubs, a firepit which is boiling a pot. He sees different kinds of animals butchered up like they were part of simple experiment.

Then he sees his objective, Frayne body part. It is his chest, having over some pots. It looks like the blood is being drained from it.

“This is the objective,” he says.

“We should look around and see what we can find,” Lelei proposes.

“I agree,” he says. “Lets see what they are trying to… do… stand fast,” he orders, looking forward.

While his eyes see nothing his HSDG VISOR is highlighting a target. The object looks fuzzy and misty. That is when his eyes focused on the misty object.

His eyes were wrong. The VISOR creates a clearer picture, and it looks more like a see through humanoid in an ancient looking armor. It looks like a spectreal.

“What is that?” Alicia asks, seeing the same object.

“I have no idea,” Lelei replies. “I have never seen or read about this.”

“I have never seen this before,” Rory adds. “But maybe I heard stories. A misty creature that appears and disappears.”

His VISOR creates a clear image of this spectral. It walks up and stops right at the center of the room.

“It is a Wraith,” Frayen says. “A humanoid creature that lives in the Phantom Realm.”

“Phantom Realm?” Lelei says. “Like your Phantom magic?”

He looks at Frayen, concerned. While he didn’t see the fight, Lelei and Rory told him they thought they kicked Frayen ass the first time(7).

Phantom magic is having the ability to phase the mage body out of this realm. While you can still see the mage, objects can pass through it. The only reason they beat him the first time was because Lelei used lightning magic. She assumed that work, because of its electrical charge, has the effect of recreating the molecular integrity of Phantom magic users, which she correctly deduced that phantom magic has the same effect of molecular phasing on an object or a person that causes their molecular bonds to lose off temporarily. However, that is only a theory.

“What the hell is a Wraith,” Alicia asks.

“Be very careful Sharpe,” Frayen says. “They are exceedingly rare, very ancient, and very dangerous. Just like my magic, a Wraith can fade in and out of our realm.

"Ahh, I finally get to meet the warriors of the Other World," the wraith says. "And two Apostles, impressive."

"Who are you!" Rory demands.

"You have been away from these lands for too long Rory the Reaper," the wraith states. "I am Valker, Lord of of Darlko."

"So you are the leader of Darlko! The first time I see your face!" Lelei says.

"Yes," Valker says. "And you must be the special mage I heard so much about from Kagash."

Lelei looks at Valker confused. She pointed to herself. "Me? I don't understand."

"You have been learning the Other Worlders' ways and refined the world of magic but their way of magic called technology will never match the magic of ours," Valker says.

"The knowledge of science and technology is far more powerful than you think in enhancing magic," Lelei says. She then takes a step toward. "And I don't care what you are, Darlko will never rule magic. Thanks to the principle of science and technology, I have gotten stronger than the majority of Rondel mages and created new and better spells you cannot imagine so just give us Frayen's body."

Valker remains quiet for a moment. "We shall see."

Lelei glares at him; she points her staff at him as it glows blue. This lightning strike forms at heads right at him.

Valker forms a darkish bubble. The lighten attack is absorbed into the bubble. The bubble then disappears in a mist form in the vault room.

Lelei blinks in confusion. “That was not supposed to happen. That was not a normal lightning attack. It is a reoccurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged equalize themselves. The more energy you have that meets, the more gigajoule of energy you have in the attack. Sense facing Frayen I tried to learn everything I could about electrostatic discharge so how did you block it so easily?”

Valker then holds out his hand. Then this powerful ghostly wave of energy comes out of his arm and hits Lelei. Lelei is hit and flies backwards out of the room.

"I am not impressed," Valker states.

"Lelei!" He said.

He and Alicia fire their rifles, pouring half a magazine into the wraith. He watches the wraith fade out and the bullets go through him, hitting the wall.

The wraith suddenly moves towards them quickly. It goes to the right, the left in a jaring way. Almost like it is teleporting or vanishing as it moves.

Rory riches forward and slashes at it but the Wraith goes right through her.

The wraith then grabs Alicia and tosses her into one of the lab tables.

He sees Rory swing again, her Halberd swings through him again.

Once the Halberd finishes going through, Valker phases back in and grabs the weapon.

Valker lifts Rory up and slams her onto the ground.

He fires his fire and sees Valker phase out again.

"How do you hit him?" He asks himself.

He then gets an idea and charges forward.

As expected, he goes right through Valker.

He grabs his Mk-26 Taser he keeps to fight Apostles with(8). Taser provides an electoral charge and he knows it has an effect on Frayen, he is assuming it will work on a wraith.

Caller grabs him and sticks his nails into him.

He points the taser at Valker and fires.

Valker let's out an annoying scream as he gets tazed.

"That hurt," Valker says annoyingly.

He looks at Valker as he phases back out. To his surprise the taser wires are still connected to him so he tased him again.

Valker then phases back in and tips the wires off. He grasps with his hand.

He suddenly feels himself lifting off the ground. He then sees Valker's other hand is aimed at his chest.

However, nothing happens. He looks at Valker with confusion, like what he is trying to do is not working.

On his HUD he sees Tuka preparing to fire an electric arrow, enhanced by her magic. "Take the shot!"

Tuka fires her arrow.

Valker drops him and grasps the arrow with telekinesis. Then the arrow explodes.

All his tests worked. He understands his phrasing works. "Everyone, when he phases out, we cannot hit him unless it's electric. However, when he is phased out, he cannot hurt us. He can only Attack and defend himself while phased in but is vulnerable."

Rory comes up right behind him for a strike.

Valker phases out and does his vanishing away. But the room starts to shake as this ghost-like energy blast Goes for Rory.

Rory swings her Halberd, cutting the blast in half. "You might be a spirit, but you are not the only mystery creature I have run into."

He watches the fight. "Rory, you assault. I will flank. Tuka, fire another one of those lighting arrows when he phases back in."

They acknowledge his order.

---

Lelei is laying on the floor. She feels herself being shaken.

She opens her eyes and sees Yao. "Yao?"

"I am glad you are alive," Yao says.

She sits up and hears rifle fire from behind. She sees Randy and the rest firing down the hallway, engaging the enemy.

She then looks back at the vault room and sees the battle. she sees her friends are struggling to hit the wraith.

Tuka arrows and Sharpe tasers seem to have an effect however, not enough of a punch.

She knows how to defeat Valker but it failed. "I don't know what to do. I failed them."

"You did fail," Frayen answered. "But you failed because you underestimated him. You need to try again."

She takes a breath. "I don't have the mana. Besides, he will block my attack again."

"You were right," she continued. "I have been learning all this knowledge thinking that was enough. But I failed to control it. My inexperience cost me and my friends."

"Then I will help," Frayen says. "Yao is it? Tell Sharpe to keep Valker busy."

"I can," Yao says and then runs off.

She watches Yao rush into the vault. "What do you recommend?"

---

Sharpe fired his rifle and sees the bullets go through Valker.

Valker rephrases back in and grabs his rifle, crushing it.

Then Rory rams right into him with her shoulder. Valker flies a few feet away before phasing and recovering.

"Good strategy boss," Rory says.

"He is smart," he replies. "If he hasn't figured it out, he will soon."

He tries to think of another way to end this fight.

He sees Valker powering up two spells. One looks like some black mist spell in one hand, the other is that purple bubble but smaller.

He sees this light chandelier between them.

"Tuka, the chandelier!" He orders.

He pulls out his Colt M1917 and shoots at the chandelier rope.

The chandelier drops to the floor. Tuka uses her fire magic at the chandelier, engulfing it into the flames.

His VISOR shows Him that Valker retreated from that. "Rory."

Rory uses her Apostle speed and attacks Valker before he phases back out.

"We need a better plan," Tuka says.

He watches Rory get a strike on him but then vanishes away. He then appears right next to Rory and sticks. She blocks and backs away.

He sees Alicia charge behind Valker, bayonet on her rifle. She rams it into the Valker back.

"Sharpe!" Yao yelks.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Lelei says she is going to give it another try," Yao says. "Frayen said he is going to help her. He said by her time."

He is annoyed by that request. He does not know how to do that at this point.

He looks back at the fight. He sees Valker phased out but the bayonet still on his side.

He then remembers that his taser wire was still connected to him when he phased in and out.

"I have an idea," he says. He grabs his taser and reloads it with a new clip.

He looks at Yao. He remembers seeing how she took Jerry's pistol and killed those soldiers with great marksmanship. He was impressed by that even though she never used it before.

"Take this Yao," he says. "The bullet has a wire. When I get to him, I want you to fire it at him. I am going to get him to stay phased in."

"I think I can-," Yao started to say.

"You either do or you don't," he says. "No middle ground. Now I need both of your canteens.”

He sees the convision in their eyes but they had their canteens to him. After that he rushes over Valker.

He goes to Alicia as she wipes some blood off her face.

“This guy is a total asshole sir,” Alicia says.

“You said it,” he replies. “I need him to get on him when he phases back in. I also need your canteen.”

Alicia smirks. “I get it. Rory and I can do it. Rory lets kick this motherfucker ass!”

He sees Alicia charges forward with her knife in hand. He then sees Rory smirking evilly and charges forward.

He sees Valker phased out as he is attacked from two sides. He sees their plan, each attacking after another to keep him phased out.

As the fight continues, he opens all four canteens, including his. He starts carefully pouring the water on the ground to make a small pool. He is trying not to have the water spread out too much.

He looks back at the fight. He sees Alicia and Rory working in perfect sync. He is impressed by how well they work together in a fight.

They attacked his flanks and almost got him. But Valker vanishes and appears above them. He then lands hard right between them. He forms this blade with a like spell and slashes. He sees Rory get big cuts; her clothes torn. Alica body armor is slashed apart. He hopes her armor protected her from any deep cuts.

Seeing them down. He knows Rory will be fine in time, but he is still concerned about her.

He looks at Valker. “Hey Casper!”

Valker looks at him confused. “My name is Lord Valker.”

“There is no way I can remember that name. To many Vs in it,” he responds in a smartass tone. “So, I am promoting you to Casper. Congratulations with your promotion.”

He sees Valker walking towards him. Just as planned. He did not want him to finish off Alicia.

Valker then disappears and reappears right in front of him. He grabs him.

He grabs his arm, and both have a strength fight. He notices Valker steps in his small pool. “Bring it.”

He sees Yao fire the taser he gave her through his VISOR. The two wires hit Valker in the back.

Valker suddenly feels a jolt of electricity in his back.

“Tuka!” He yells.

Tuke fires another electric arrow. It hits Valker in the back. The combination of the two electricity plus the water he is in shocks him all over his body.

He feels a jolt of energy and feels the tension in his muscles.

He sees Valker phases out. Everything starts to look fuzzy and mist at the same time. His vision starts to go bluish.

Valker then turns towards Yao and Tuka. He grabs Valker's arm and holds him back. “Hit him again!”

Yao and Tuka hit him again with their weapons and Valker feels another shock through his body.

“What?” Valker asks in a shocked tone.

He can see that Valker is confused. Right now, they are phased out and he knows they shouldn’t be able to harm him, but they are. The taser wires are keeping a link to the other realm so he can still feel pain that is inflected.

He sees Valker notice the two wires. Valker tries to grab them but his hand goes through the wires. He conducts that this realm cannot interact from the other realm, explaining why he and Frayen had to phase in and out.

He then sees Andrew, Frost, and Randy rush in.

When Valker phases back and slashes the wires, he rams a grenade into his arm. Valker then grabs him and tosses him off. “Everyone fire!”

Everyone who is standing fires at Valker, bullets and arrows.

As expected Valker phases out and all the bullets and arrows go through him. However, he sees a his grenade explode.

Normally a fragmentation grenade would either kill or mortally wound everyone here, being so close in a confined location.

He sees Valker standing there in his realm, like nothing happened. He could not believe it. Maybe the grenade woudln;t kill this wraith in his own realm however he expected some form of damage.

Valker phases back in. He holds up and figures and slowly waves his hand. “I am amused by your determination however you know nothing of the phantom realm. Your technology has no place in my realm.”

Then he sees these two large energy balls form around Valker arms. Then this large pulse wave is released, knocking him and everyone else down.

Valker stands there after pushing away everyone. "Impressive but your magic called technology seems to be no match against me. My city has been in the shadows for too long and now we will be the masters of these lands."

He sits up. His broken VISOR detects an energy signature coming from the hallway. He feels a great pain in his chest, from his two broken ribs. He has learned to manage that kind from being in Delta, to operate until the mission is done and then get medical help. But getting thrown like that form that pulse brought that pain right up from, even if it is only temporary.

He looks and sees Lelei walk into the room.

His eyes widened from the sight. Like before when she opens the door, she and Frayen are glowing all these different colors. An energy field of mana all around her and growing.

Lelei eyes are glowing bright. He can see that Frayen's head is acting as a battery and guide.

"Valker!" Lelei says in her Grayen voice. "In order of the third ministry and the code of Magic, darkness shall never reclaim these lands."

Just like Lelei clothes waving around, he feels his jacket moving from the surge of magical energy.

Valker gives her his full attention. He holds up his hand and fires this darkness mist spread spell. Everything in its path is consumed into darkness, like it is eating it.

Lelei forms a golden spear-like object. She fires it into the black mist.

Once inside it burst into a flare. The brightness of it eats away the mist.

Lelei moves both her hands as she chants a spell. Sparks of electricity start hitting all around. Her eyes also emit an intense spark of electricity.

"Another lightning attack?" Valker says. "You tried that before. I know how to stop it." He then forms a darkness bubble.

"No," Lelei says with Frayen’s voice. "It is more than that."

She generates a massive spark of electricity and blasts it at Valker with far greater intensity than before.

"Lighting Avalanche” Lelei yells

A massive blast of electricity hit the bubble and quickly dissipated the dark bubble and hit Vakler at full force.

Even though the VISOR was designed to block extreme light like this, but he was forced to cover his eyes partly.

He sees Lelei spell hits Valker with full force.

Valker lets out a loud, painful screams in pain as the massive stream of lightning hits him and destabilizes his entire body.

Valker stands there but barley. HIs body is shaking as his armor breaks. Steam is coming off him and the surrounding area. He then uses the remaining of his strength to form a shockwave blast that knocks Lelei back and quickly dashes to grab a strange stone.

“Now I know why they want you dead!! The knowledge and magic of the Other Worlders are more dangerous than I thought! You are truly a great threat to Darlko! We will meet again Lelei and when that time comes, I will make sure you don’t survive to threaten Darlko anymore and Rondel will never be part of the Other Worlders.” he says and disappears in a bright light

"Wow," Rory says, shocked by what happened.

"Where did he go?" Tuka asks.

He gets up. "He used a teleportation stone. Just like what we used to sneak into Legreth(9)."

He thinks about the last thing Valker said. It sounded like Darlko is afraid that Rondel will join the US in the war. Him and Lelei have had many conversations about the city, that she holds the city to a high regard. But she said there is no way Rondel would ever betray the Empire, even though they are the most progressive city on Falmart.

Lelei explained that Rondel is too important for the Empire to lose, being one of their wealthiest and research cities. While losing Italica was a punch in the face, losing Rondel would be like losing an arm. However, the city is loyal to the Empire as the Empire has been a major investor and protector of the city. While Rondel has been around since the elven times, it was the Empire that made the city into a crown jewelry.

There are only two reasons why NATO has not attacked Rondel. One is because they pose no military threat right now, too far away to be used as a staging ground and the Row Stream acts as a buffer. There is no direct path between Alnus and Rondel.

Because there is no direct route to Rondel and how far it is from Alnus, the military brass has not found a need to attack it. There are other theaters of war going on that have more pressing concern. The other reason is out of respect for Lelei. She has spoken highly of the city and in her letters to Grand Master Cato El Altestan has shown some sympathetic groups within the city towards NATO.

Hearing Valker say that makes him wonder what is going on in Rondel and that NATO maybe should take a closer look. He understands that NATO is not willing to risk an invasion that far north yet, especially for an inactive city in the war so far. Clearly there is more going on behind the scenes than the brass and he understands.

He looks at Lelei as she gets ups.

Once she is back to normal Lelei falls to her knees then floor.

He quickly rushes over to her and checks to see if she is alive. "Lelei!"

"Body on fire," Lelei mumbles in an exhausting voice. "And cannot move."

He chuckles. "You did good."

He picks her up in his arms and looks around. Everyone looks fine, just beaten up. "Can you grab Frayen's head and his body?"

"Yes sir," Andrew says as he walks in.

"Randy, do a quick look around," he orders. "Then let's get out of here."

“Way to go Lelei!” Alicia praises. “You blast that guy good! Nice job Lelei or should I say Darth Lelei!!”

“Why do you call me Darth?” Lelei inquiries in a weak voice.

“Darth means Dark Lord,” he replies with a chuckle. “It comes from the Star Wars franchise. We will watch it during the next movie nights. However, i must admit that you are strong with the Dark Side with that lighting blast of yours.”

“I am not a Dark Lord! And my lighting blast is nothing dark about it, I just apply the principle of breakdown voltage in the air and electron avalanche to make my lighting far stronger” Lelei says in a pissed tone.

“We're just joking that all!” he replies. “But when you see Star Wars you will like the Darth Title.”

“That wraith sure is a troublesome creature! We must contact DARPA to make a Proton Pack for this.” Alicia states

Andrew walks by with a laugh. He and Frost are putting Frayen's torso into a bag. “Wow. I cannot believe you know that.”

“I might be a tomboy at times that doesn't mean I know some culture!” Alicia replies.

“Proton Pack?” Lelei asks, confused.

“A device used to capture and stun ghosts or wraith using a stream of protons. It is from the Ghostbuster franchise,” he states. “After this Ghostbusters will be going on the movie list.”

“Well, more movie nights for researching new spells!!” Lelei smiles.

“Of course, you say that,” Alicia says.