Yuriko rose an hour before dawn. The battle that would decide the fate of Faron’s Crossing would happen in a couple of hours, and she felt nothing but anticipation. Definitely no fear or anxiety, nope.

Her Anima undulated with the turning of her mind. Her reach had grown by a few more inches, nothing like the growth it received right after the True Refraction, but still somewhat significant. Three hundred twenty-five inches from her skin. Compressing all of that made her feel as if she were encased in an iron sphere, which also affected her movements and agility. In short, she could no longer push all of her Anima into defence without suffering repercussions, at least not with her current techniques.

She could compress a hundred inches into a single inch, then add a layer that took only ten inches of compression as a buffer, and the last layer of a hundred inches. A bit more than two-thirds of her expansion was dedicated to hard defences. Of the hundred and fifteen inches left, she used fifty to support her body and increase her base strength and speed, doubling it. The last seventy-five inches was just enough to move her body around independently and served as her perception aura.

Her defences were such that she could stand around all day and let anyone under the Knight-level attack her and nothing would come of it. It wouldn’t even lead to any cracks or micro-fissures. On the other hand, the condensed aura can fend off a Knight’s attack with little issue, and it would take a great many blows at the same spot before her aura would crack. Those on a level higher would need fewer blows, and particularly powerful ones could shatter her aura completely. However, the latter level of power should only be possible for Knight-Commanders and their equivalent.

She didn’t think there would be that level of combatant here, so she should be safe. What that also meant was that she didn’t need to focus too much on defending herself and was free to go on an all-out attack. She could also use her Radiant Lance even in the midst of battle.

She could only cast her spell once without facing any problems. Twice and she’d grow woozy and even her condensed Anima would waver. It was a bit frustrating, being only able to cast once, but as it was a relatively new technique, she wasn’t well versed in its use, even after several weeks of practice. It was her Will that was strained, rather than her Anima or body. She didn’t have any training methods for that yet, though perhaps if she continuously used the Lance every day, then it would develop properly. Of course, casting a spell that was essentially a siege-level weapon in town was a big no-no.

By the same token, manually shaping the spell wasn’t viable within combat. The only time she managed was just before casting Radiant Lance. While shaping things herself would result in a more powerful blast, the time it took was just too long. An hour, at least. Of course, she should be practising Freeshaping in order to become faster and better at it, but according to Damien’s expertise, that would take years of consistent practice to get it as fast as using a Sorcerous Implement. She should actually start minor free shaping exercises, but Damien hadn’t given her a set of exercises yet. The man had slumbered within her mind more often than she was comfortable with, however, she was of mixed feelings about it.

On the one hand, it was another person sharing her mind and body, and one who could take over anytime he wanted to. That he could no longer do so without her permission was a huge relief, but it still didn’t lessen the violated feeling she sometimes had whenever she recalled those earlier possessions.

However, on the other hand, Damien was the singular source of her knowledge and eventual strength. He was the one who pointed out how to continue on the Ancient’s Way, even if her incarnations revealed that the path was actually embedded in Fri’Avgi. That she could do so earlier was still a good thing. Aside from that, he was surprisingly a source of everyday wisdom that she sorely lacked at the moment. Things that she would have asked her Da about, Damien answered. That this source of reliance and knowledge was less and less active was one that twisted her insides in worry.

Still, there was little she could do. She had all the Radiant energy Damien needed to remain active, although, perhaps that was the issue. Her Radiant energy now bore her Anima signature. Where before, they were merely housed within her Anima, now she barely absorbed neutral Radiant energy from the sun. Her Essence and Ennoia provided all she needed, and even though she still enjoyed sunbathing, she noticed that whatever Radiant energy she absorbed was inevitably stamped with her Anima’s touch. So, maybe he needed pure Radiant to function and not one that was tied to her energy signature?

Something to consider later on, and not now on the dawn of an offensive.

When she arrived at the town square, she reflexively glanced up at the hovering Chaos Ship. The Implacable Jade looked different from the Silver Tiger not just in colouring, but also in shape. Whereas the Tiger was long and sleek, the Jade was a bit more bulky though still in a triangular shape. The wings were a bit wider and she spotted the telltale signs of Plasma Carronades on wing turrets. There was also another set of tubes recessed into the hull, but she wasn’t sure what they were for.

Armsmaster Byrne, Constable Andersen, Centurion Jake, Sheamus Dorn, and the entirety of Chainbreaker Century were already in the square. The hundred men and women of the Agminis Century were in formation, and next to them were the three Koinos Colossi, Litai, Azavi, and Galad. Their Core Pilots, three Knights and three Journeymen, were fiddling around with the constructs. She didn’t quite remember the Journeymen pilots’ names, but she knew the Knights.

Koinos Litai’s Core Pilot was a Knight named Connor Griffin, a gruff thirty-year-old man with brown hair and eyes. He was thin but had a well-toned physique, and he was one of those men in the officers’ club back in the Frozen Camp who often flirted with her. However, she never got the sense that he was serious and was only doing it to be friendly.

Azavi’s Core Knight was a middle-aged woman named Ziya Fletcher. She had red hair and green eyes, a slight beer belly, and looked soft. She had a jovial nature but was quite fierce when provoked. She had reined in the rowdier officers in the club when the drinks got too free, though she loved downing buckets of ale if given the chance.

The last Koinos, Galad, was piloted by a dour young woman named Katherine Haru. She had dark hair and eyes, and would not have looked out of place in a farmstead. She often kept to herself and had a strange sense of humour, often laughing to herself while she read a book or pamphlet.

The Century took notice of her when she arrived in the square and snapped a salute. Yuriko returned it and they went back to attention. Centurion Veran Jake glanced at her, before returning to briefing his troops.

“Yuri.” Finan called out.

The prince was clad in combat gear, mainly a forceweave coat and trousers, both in grey. His green hair was tied in a bun and most of his fringe tamped down with pomade. He had a flower cradled in his hand, a five-petaled specimen, white speckled with purple. The stem stuck out between his fingers and curled in a half circle.

“Finan,” she greeted politely, then looked at him up and down. “Are you joining the battle?”

“Yes. Don’t worry, I’m confident in my own protection.”

“Ah, yes. Your Anima Telum?”

“Anima Armatura, actually,” he said with a grin. “He will keep me safe. But more importantly, here.” He extended the flower. “Please wear this on your ear.”

She looked at it warily. “What is that?”

“A communication device, grown and powered by my Facet,” he said simply. “While my prowess in combat falls far short of yours, I can support you by reading the flow of battle and directing you where you can do the most good.”

“Oh. Thank you.” Yuriko reached for the flower and as soon as it landed on her palm, she used her kinesis to float it over her left ear and tucked it into her hair. The stem curled around her earlobe and shot out smaller tendrils to grip her hair. “How does this work?”

“Merely speak and I will hear it. My voice will be transmitted to your ear, too.”

“Shouldn’t you also give this to the other Knights?”

“I have.”

Yuriko stared pointedly at the nearby Veran, who ostensibly did not have a flower over his ear.

Finan coughed and reddened slightly. “Er, I didn’t shape flowers for them, but seeds.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I prioritize you, of course,” he continued with a grin. “You are the strongest Knight, after all.”

His bodyguard, who was standing behind him, reacted a bit when he said that. Yuriko wouldn’t have noticed if she was only using her eyes, but her perception aura caught the slight jerk. Still, the man should be on the same level as Swordmaster Kinohara, who was close to advancing to Knight Captain, right?

Yuriko rolled her eyes and headed over to Veran. Finan and his bodyguard followed along behind her. A few minutes later, more warriors entered the square and sorted themselves into squares.

The other Knights had gathered together and Veran had finished his pep talk.

“What’s the plan?” Yuriko asked Tara and Trevor.

It was Finan who answered though, and the others deferred to him.

“Simple enough. The Implacable Jade will be responsible for the Steam Cannon bunkers. She will blast the targets with Plasma Carronade bolts and Orihalcum shells. The kinetic impact from the shells should bust through the bunkers and destroy what’s inside. The rest of us will head straight towards the westernmost camp, which is their most important one. The Colossi will break through the palisade while the other Knights and infantry squares will engage with the enemy directly.

“Yuriko, if you will spearhead the offensive? The Chaos Lords will be yours to deal with while the other Knights take care of the enemy Adepts. Cillian here,” he gestured to his bodyguard, “will engage any Masters that are stationed there, but will otherwise stay with me, but only if Swordmaster Kinohara cannot take it.”

Yuriko nodded along and none of the others protested.

“Let’s move out,” Finan said enthusiastically. He glanced at Yuriko longingly and whispered, “I am not strong enough to stand by your side, but I will help as I can. Good fortune.”

“Thanks.”

She spotted Finan’s friends, as well as the Foster twins in a group near the Agminis Century. She also saw Heron, Krystal, and Mikel within one of the infantry squares. None of them waved at her, but Heron gave her a short nod when he noticed her looking, as well as a slight reassuring smile.

All in all, there were roughly five hundred warriors, nearly a dozen Knights, and three Colossi. Quite a bit less than the three or four thousand enemy warriors, but they also had the Implacable Jade. She was confident that this was a force strong enough to break through the Federation. And if not, well, she could always make use of her Radiant Lance. And if worse comes to worst, she could Freeshape an orb of Radiant energy and let it explode.

They marched from the town square and assembled near the southern gate. Yuriko and the other independent Knights climbed up on the walls. The alpha strike would come from the Chaos ship. She could barely see the enemy encampment from here, and only the tips of their palisade walls were visible behind the hills, a longstride away. She called Fri’Avgi to hand and created five dozen sunshards.

The flaring of her golden light seemed to be a beacon to start. The Implacable Jade rose up above the Protective Dome, even amidst the sporadic bombardment. Then, it oriented itself to the south, and with Whumpf! Blasted several Plasma Carronade bolts.

Boooom!

And with that, Yuriko propelled herself from the walls and ran towards the Federation camp.