Resisting the compulsion, and it was a deliberate effect, was simply a matter of using her Will to do so. No one, especially not an enemy, was going to tell her, compel her, to do anything! Yuriko shook her head and felt more than a bit annoyed. Once she examined all of the possibilities, her irritation grew to anger.

She was in a Colossus, and there was nothing the swordsman could do to harm her. He could scratch at Eli’Theria’s outer armour, but at the rate he was going, it would take days of continued attacks to actually harm her. He was not like the Grandmaster Spirit Binder she fought alongside the Legate. His attack and defences were far below the tank. Of course, his versatility, mobility, and agility were leagues above the other, so it evened out. Then again, Yuriko was much stronger now, and perhaps her condensed aura absorbed most of the damage he could deal. She certainly felt pain when her Radiant infusion reacted with his crimson flames, but upon a closer look, that was all there was to it. Her Anima was sturdy enough that the reaction did not, in any way or form, damage her Anima.

Which on second thought was regrettable. How else could she strengthen her Anima if she couldn’t hurt herself…

Uhm, why did she look forward to feeling pain? Why was she anticipating it at all with any kind of expectation and excitement? Ancestors! What was wrong with her?

Shaking the sudden bout of self-doubt and recrimination, she glared at the Chaos swordsman. She had not responded yet, and he had pulled back to his original position. It looked like he was the only guardian in this layer and if she was to destroy the Chaos Fortress, she would have to bypass him or defeat him somehow. The fastest way was to use the Trinity Cycle, and she was in a place she wouldn’t mind if she destroyed it utterly.

But doing so now was a waste. Here was a swordmaster she could fight to her heart’s content. Unlike Swordmaster Kinohara, who, aside from her Ennoia was barely a match for Yuriko, this Chaos Lord was tough enough to take a hit or rather, she supposed he was since she hadn’t actually managed to…er…hit him.

The Chaos swordmaster held his two curved swords low, while the four carried by the disembodied hands floated around him in a strange pattern, one that increasingly became familiar.

‘Isn’t that the first dance?’ Yuriko thought to herself. It was different from how she performed it and emphasized the use of all six blades rather than Yuriko’s two. She knew that his attacks would forcefully open a weakness to her defense and then the rest of the blades would strike at it. It just didn’t occur to her to expand the pattern and intent to more than two blades.

So she watched him close as she resumed her attack. The Chaos Lord returned to defending his spot, not bothering to do anything other than deflect, block, or parry. The Intent behind his blade shifted from the first dance to the second, but from how smooth the transition was, Yuriko figured that he had merged it with the first dance, too. It was possible he had the third and fourth dance as well, or maybe other kinds of Intent? She didn’t know, but she was determined to find out.

They clashed for several minutes. Yuriko first matched six swords to six, but tripled it when the first blows, and the mocking smirk, happened. Eighteen blades against six wasn’t evenly matched. She was still being overwhelmed, but she could alternate weapons, strike, defend, and block with the extra, which prevented the Chaos swordsman from destroying a sunblade.

After ten minutes, the Chaos Lord grew bored and sought to finish it by charging, but this time, she was ready. She didn’t allow Eli’Theria to be struck, taking most of the force with her Anima. The resulting damage was merely small white marks on the orichalcum, which were easily repaired by the Chaos converter.

The Chaos Lord grew visibly angry and shifted to a different sword dance, moving to an approximation of the third dance. However, what he did wasn’t at all what Yuriko’s third dance was.

Chaos flames surrounded each blade, but they condensed close to the metal, turning into a luminous coating. The first blow smashed through her defence, and the second one followed immediately, striking the exact same place and with momentum doubled. The third doubled the shock and force of the second, and the fourth did the same. By that time, Yuriko couldn’t bear it, and the weapons landed on Eli’Theria. The Colossus staggered back a step, but the floating hands followed easily. The fifth doubled the fourth’s blow, and the sixth doubled that again. By the time the sword struck Eli’Theria’s thigh, the orichalcum crumpled and knocked them flying.

The pain and fear suffused Yuriko as the animating spirit panicked. She pushed her aching Anima to propel them away from the Chaos Lord, and with desperate eyes, she glared at the man, waiting for him to continue his assault.

But he stood there in the same ending stance after his blow. Steam rose from all over his body before he painstakingly reset his stance. The crimson flames nearly guttered out, but the next moment, a vortex of ambient Chaos swirled around him and drove into his body. The Chaos flames roared to life, dancing several paces above. Falling Adaviren leaves ignited paces away from the open flame, turning to nought but ashes.

Yuriko felt the ache of Eli’Theria’s wounded thigh. Her own body throbbed in pain, forcefully bringing her attention away from the Colossus. She wasn’t injured, but that was the least of their problems.

That waveform attack…that wasn’t the third. It was a different dance, one that magnified power to an incredible height! She could feel the swords resonate within her Anima, and she quickly grasped the concept it presented. But as before, it slipped from her fingers as something actively worked to prevent her from grasping enlightenment. She was all but sure that it was her Colligia, but it could also be the Chaos around her.

She was tempted to retreat, but her stubbornness wouldn’t allow her, as well as an inkling that if she did, enlightenment would only slip farther away.

“I won’t give up,” she muttered to herself, then gathered her sunblade pairs and pressed the attack.

____________

Virgil Davar ventured down into the Watchtower’s cafeteria. It was the Officer’s Cafe rather than the mess hall, or even the militia commons. The food was a lot better, as well as the facilities. Of course, now, with supplies being rationed, the cafeteria didn’t serve anything other than ration bar cuisine. Still, the chefs were able to make it palatable even with modest spices.

The menu for the day was something called ration loaf. In gravy. Essentially meat minced so well that whatever part of the animal it came from was completely unidentifiable, then coated in chunks of ration bar, then baked. The drippings were collected to make the gravy, and smothered in pepper, salt, and a few odd herbs. It was, well, much tastier than a plain ration bar. It was served with a serviceable red wine and all the tea or kaf he could drink.

Today, he decided to eat here instead of having food brought to his office or into the ritual antechamber. Sadeen was too busy and simply forwent lunch. And something must have been wrong with her current iteration since she chased him away, muttering all the while that he was too distracting.

So, he spent the morning training and then tried to catch up on his paperwork. The Haveenians and the Wyldling Wave had backed off. They were still there, but the reprieve had lasted several days already. It was suspicious, and he half wondered if the Chaos Duke had already begun his assimilation. There were no signs, but then again, he didn’t know if there would be until it was too late. Even if his wife assured him otherwise.

He spent time with his sons and his future daughter-in-law the past few afternoons. Marron was continuing his treatment to return his body to full function, and in the meantime, he had a headache with Rami’s Heritage.

Yet another of his children didn't receive the Davar Heritage. Rami’s was also unidentified, though he suspected it was also from the Mishala lineage. If not, it was one of the branches farther back. All he knew was that Rami’s love of gardening had awakened a Facet and Heritage that enabled him to encourage the growth of plants. It was not a farmer’s lineage though, as the speed of the boost was far from ideal and most of the farmers around Faron’s Crossing could increase a crop’s yield by tenfold with their Facets. Rami’s could increase growth, yes, but it was unsustainable if he forced it too much. The plant withered and died as it consumed whatever nutrients it needed from its body rather than from the user’s Animus.

He could command the plants to do things they normally wouldn’t be able to as well, such as forcing grass to grow and entangle someone’s feet. The range wasn’t all that good so it wasn’t a very combative Heritage either. It was a good thing Rami wasn’t all that interested in fighting. Perhaps, if things weren’t so messed up, he would be able to learn Spellweaving or to be a Runescribe.

As it were, Rami’s batch had already lost opportunities to learn for being stuck in a plane at war. Something the Haveenians and the Chaos courts would pay for.

He settled on a table after getting his meal and was just tucking in when someone called out to him.

“Commander Davar! Fancy seeing you here!” a cheerful voice called out to him from the cafeteria’s entrance. He looked up and nodded to Swordmaster Demina Kinohara. She brushed a strand of her over her ear and giggled as she came over. “Taking a break and slumming with the masses?”

Virgil raised an eyebrow. “Hardly the commoners here. Fine officers of the militia.”

“Of course, of course,” Demina chuckled. “Merely pointing out that your august presence is hardly unnoticed.” She nodded at the militia officers, who, Virgil realised, were sitting or standing a bit too stiffly.

“Carry on,” he said out loud, and the militiamen seemed to relax. Not by much. He had forgotten protocol after too long an absence, but this reaction had not been the usual. Then again, he was now a Knight Commander. There were roughly sixty thousand warriors of his rank throughout the Empire, which honestly seemed not at all rare. But the Empire spanned nearly a hundred planes, and though the frontier planes had fewer numbers, each Stable or Core plane had populations that numbered in the billions.

Kinohara grinned as she sat down. She hadn’t gone to the front to get food, but one of the servers came to her nonetheless. She was part of the 29th Pia’Vasi’s staff, which warranted special consideration from the local staff.

The woman was not unfamiliar to him, though mainly it was because they had been introduced earlier. She had claimed to be one of his daughter’s instructors while Yuriko studied in Realmheart’s Academy, and he later sought her out to hear stories of her stay there.

He made polite small talk while they ate, though a question she raised made him hesitate.

“So, Knight-Commander, where do you intend to serve now?” Kinohara asked curiously. “Surely, you don’t intend to stay in retirement here?”

Virgil shook his head. “That’s true. After the war, I would have to reenlist, if only to find out how to advance.”

“Are you returning to your previous legion?”

Virgil shook his head. “Knight-Commanders are seen as redundant in the Legion structure. I think, if I remember the Imperial Code, I’m warranted to lead an independent battalion but I’m not sure what service needs me most. I’m thinking of just staying here and watching the kids grow first…”

“Oh, that’s nice. But I believe once your youngest has flown the coop, nothing would tie you down?”

“Then I’ll probably move to Realmheart with my wife,” Virgil chuckled.

“I see…”

They supped in silence for the meanwhile, before Kinohara commented, “Your daughter, she is a sword prodigy. I believe it would be a waste to keep her training in Sorcery.”

“That’s hardly your call,” Virgil said mildly.

“No, you don’t understand, she skipped an entire step in swordsmanship. She is an intuitive fighter, and all it would take to push her to mastery is a bit of insight.”

“Well,” Virgil said while feeling mildly uncomfortable, “Yuri’s an avid warrior. I’m sure she’s fighting somewhere now.” Then he muttered under his breath, “Even if she’s ignoring everything else…”

“Ahahaha,” Kinohara chuckled softly, “Perhaps she is. I’ve always thought she was a restless woman.”

Virgil simply nodded and continued to eat. They didn’t speak of more pertinent matters and his thoughts returned to their preparations. He only hoped Yuriko returned with Eli’Theria soon. The beacon was almost complete.