Tides Of Protomis CXXXII

Gremory’s Assault

The invasion of the demon realm was still underway, after all, even with the happenings of their homeworld, there wasn’t exactly all that much information being funneled back to those there. Aside from what was related to their own mission, of course. The main group sat on pieces of “Wood” Felled by their hands, in a circle. While the allied demon force seemingly lounged around as well, or watched the surrounding area. The sounds of chattering filling the otherwise silent area. Arctaius himself bit down upon a sandwich, filled to the brim with roast beef and cheese. A personal favorite of his. Something which his mother had made for him many times as a child. Upon chewing and swallowing, he began to speak once more.

“To think that those maps Lei drew up helped that much…” He stated, gaining a nod from Kazimir in Response.

“Yes. I’m surprised we ended up on the same continent as the Holy order… Considering there are multiple, given what those three told us. I do wonder how their trip back home is going.” Kazimir added. Zhao began strolling over to Alarick, with the latter opening a void in front of the man, without speaking, knowing quite well what he was asking for.

Zhao reached in, pulling out one of his own favorites, pre-packaged Dumplings, as well as a bottle of water.

“It’s always good to have more than one option out there, even if they all don’t work as expected.” Lei said, with a smile.

“Like that Demon fishing experiment of yours?” Miyamoto questioned, with a raised eyebrow. Zhao rubbed the back of his head, though, keeping the same smile on his face.

“It was one of those things that sounded better in concept, that much, I’ll admit…” Eventually, Arctaius began making his way toward Alarick, decidedly sitting closer to the man.

“So, Half-Pint. I’m sure you’ve heard about that movie they made, based on your ancestors… How did you feel about that?” Arctaius questioned. In response, Alarick began to reach into the void, bringing out his own meal, a simple convenience store bento box, which he’d grown fond of over his time in Yamato. After all, the only one out of the group who knew how to cook a half-decent meal was Zhao himself.

“It comes with the territory… They didn’t contact me at all, either, but I said it myself, I was no longer Alarick Von Zaisen. That was the right decision, surely…” The blonde began to trial off, as his blue orbs began to go to the azure sky above them. Though, he eventually snapped out of his stupor.

“Still, Many of you have your own family having things made about them.. Arctaius, you have that Biography that was written for your grandfather, right?” Alarick questioned.

“Arctaius’ Grandfather…” On the other side of the circle, Liang put a hand on his chin.

“Cyamus, right? He helped stop that orbital shell from hitting in World War 2. Yet, you don’t see him mentioned in the history books, at least, not until recently.” Arctaius simply nodded. Afterward, Junko parted her lips to speak once more.

“I guess in a way we kind of brought more attention to our family’s by taking the actions we did… Though, THOSE two have been silent. I prefer it to be that way, regardless… My own two parents, Purists, still haven’t gotten so much as a single word from those two since we came back from Tsugashuan.” Troubled parentage, that certainly wasn’t something exclusive to her. The nearly unreadable look on Kazimir’s face and his relative silence said it all. He shook his head, attempting to push those thoughts aside.

“Well. Maybe we could make a movie about us… Sounds like we could make a mint…” Kazimir said, with a nod.

“You kidding…? What do any of us know about making movies? Or distributing them for that matter…” Alarick questioned. To this, the man had no response. Silently, Gilga and Hyperion watched them conversate from their side of the circle. Until the slayer decided to chime in.

“Well. I have a friend who works in the movie business, but he's hard to get a hold of… I think he directed some movies… I think it was called… Fields of Honor?” He stated, matter-of-factly. The slayer looked on in surprise at the eye-widened looks he received back.

“Wait… You mean to tell us that you’re friends with the director of one of the most critically acclaimed movies out right now?!” Miyamoto questioned. The man only titled his head.

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“It’s that popular?”

They couldn’t believe what they were hearing… What rock was he living under? Either way, it seemed it was one he was content to live under, given how he was already standing up and walking away. It would take some time, but the others in the group eventually joined him. And just like that, the army had uprooted itself, and began to move once more. A march across the foliage covered landscape.

“So our enemies are in the very center. Never really considered that to be a site for their capital… I question what awaits us there.” As hyperion spoke, he found himself stopping in his tracks, and eyes flying to the sky above. The same could be said for Miyamoto, Gilga, and all others who were capable of sensing demonic energy.

“It seems that someone has come to cut us off before we reach our target…” The one to which they all sensed descended from above. What looked to be a stone relief of a woman showed herself in front of them, a smile gracing her features.

“So this is the all-too famous human invasion… With allies of this realms origin, No-less…”

Zhao’s hand went toward the hilt of his blade, while the same could be said for Liang. Enkidu made an appearance in Gilga’s hands. Upon simply seeing her, they were already more than ready for combat. The group's monk stepped forward, speaking out.

“You know who we are, that is clear… But who are YOU?” He questioned. The woman simply bowed slightly.

“Where are my manners? I am called Gremory. One of Maleggan’s newly appointed generals…” Newly appointed?

“If that’s the case… Then they already replaced the ones that have been killed?” Arctaius questioned.

“Indeed…. Those weaklings couldn’t hope to compare to us. In short time, those who call themselves the holy-order will be exterminated by Valefor, and the path to Mvchk will be open once more.” Weaklings? Was this just a common bluster, or was their truth to this statement? From what they were sensing, nobody there could tell.Though, a question if the importance could be asked. Their battle against Sigma was a dangerous one, and the same could certainly be said for Gammena. But there was a difference. Their strength had only grown since then. Sigma required 8 of them together. While the last general was handled with fewer…. Without fear, Zhao and Liang removed their blades from their scabards, and rushed forth,swinging, and trying to carve through the demon’s skin, but only found that the extremities the intended to cut, darkened slightly, and that their blades could no even cleave through the surface.

The demoness returned the favor with a left, and right hook respectively, which sent them barrelling away. But she did not have much time on test, as a yellow-cloaked Arctaius had already appeared in her line of vision, Slamming a het cloaked fist into her toros… And yet, the effect was as little as the woman simply being knocked backward a few feet. Before she shortly stopped herself. It was in this time that she decided it was time to counterattack, her body began growing, until the point where she towered over any of those there, the stone growing darker once more. A swift bend of the legs, and leap forward, brought her back into striking distance with Arctaius. Rather than back out, he met the challenge directly. As the large fists descended upon him, the man leaped up, making it directly to the chest, and slamming his shoulder against it, knocking her off balance. A rush to take advantage came next, as his feet touched the ground, and his arms wrapped around one of those his opponent attempted to strike him with.

Planting his feet into the ground, and heaving upward, the general was launched into the sky above, and it did not take long for others to begin attacking with him. Miyamoto shot forward, her energy forged Tachi shining in her hands, And just in front of her, Hyperion…. Yet, even so, the demoness looked nonplussed by her situation. As the two fighters began closing in on her, she acted immediately in returning their charge, eluding a lateral swipe from Junko, she slammed her enlarged fist into the girl, knocking her away. And as Hyperion went to hack her into pieces with his blade, he found that even his sword could not pierce her skin. And he himself was launched away by a hand grabbing him, and throwing him away, resulting in him nearly crashing into the next one coming to join the attack, Kazimir, had it not been for the latter moving out of the way.

“... Her skin seems to be stopping anything we throw at her, and her attack power and speed certainly aren’t weak. But I think there’s something else here than simple shapeshifting, given the size change…” Kazimir’s observant gaze moved across the battlefield as he continued to observe the ongoing battle, and a certain pattern began to stick out to him. The instance before an attack hit her skin, the changes in the stone’s color, a sort of… Visual change in even the structure.

“So that’s it… She’s changing the way matter is organized in her body, rapidly, at that.” This was noted by those closest to him, Jirou, and Liang.

“Is that so.?” The yakuza questioned.

“Yes… Which means I have the perfect technique to end this quickly… Though, I haven’t used it since Tsugashuan… Jirou, can your gravity hold her down?” The man only nodded, and his arms extended outward.

“Gravity Well -Formula 70!” Completely unaware, the demoness continued to knock away all of those who got too close to her, a look of pure joy, and excitement covering her visage.

“An entertaining battle, but one that is mine regardless! Prepare to meet your end, Hum-”

Her words were interrupted by her body slamming into the ground below, a crater forged where she fell… Something which gave Gremory pause. Just what was going on here?! Her gaze flew from enemy to enemy, trying to find the culprit among them… And eventually, she focused upon a specific two. One with light of Crimson swirling around him… Was it those two? What were they planning on doing next? With the general not exactly being eager to find out, she slowly began trying to push back against the oppressive force that was now keeping her down. And yet, despite her effort, she moved at a snail’s pace.

“... Have you realized your folly?” The demoness’ attention shifted once more, toward the source of the words, the slayer Gilga.

“We didn’t make it all this way by being weak. Even knowing we’ve killed generals before, you decided to come alone. That is the reason your life will end here…”

Before the woman had much time to respond, she was swallowed by the resident esper’s influence, and began to feel every molecule in her body being ripped apart, put together, ripped out of their place, and put where they shouldn’t be. If she could scream, it was very likely that she would have been.. And yet, she could not… DEMED was occurring as she cursed the ones who defeated her mentally. The battle was already over, and she’d failed. Shortly following this, the fighters re-grouped on the ground. Aside from a few bruises, or cuts, just fine to continue their trek.

“... Now then. We have a capital to Invade. Let's get back to that, Eh?” Arctaius began walking off as he spoke, and to little surprise, no disagreements came from his allies.

つづく

To Be Continued

A/N - Apologies if this feels a bit rushed. I ultimately plan to make sure the upcoming chapters are of a higher quality.