The Villainess Will Not Bring Dishonor To Her Family

109 - Labyrinth - Part 1

The roars of war and elements was deafening and almost nauseating. The mental exhaustion of just that wasn't to mess around with, and that is even though I saw multiple air magicians from our side trying to bring the noise down. Without them our ears would have been destroyed at this point. Not only that, but the magical attacks are like a never ending stream of blows both from the front and from above. As long as you're within the first ten rows you need to stay sharp. Still, the Tepet army is beautifully organized in a grid like formation taking elements into account. Since the main element of the Tepet army is earth, each fire, water and air magician is assigned an overhead area they need to defend from magical attacks the best they can. This includes sound magic for the wind mages.

As we approach our destination we switch places with the currently placed Tepet troops, and they retreat with a calm and well experienced precision that sends shivers of nostalgia through my body.

We get to the third line and take up a section of this area, trying to merge with the Tepet soldiers the best we can and fall into rhythm. Spear users like Peony are kept further in the back away from the attacks, but I still stay near the front and watch curiously.

We didn't get a proper view of the brilliant teamwork from the Tepet troops. The enemy is on them constantly, but without hesitance, and with a calm mind they slash the enemy from above, or stab if needed. The enemy gets in close a lot rather than using spears at a distance. The enemy shield line is swords and shields as well, but it appears to be a line of defense from the violent attacks to emerge from as small surprise attacks.

As for why they're not using spears, my guess is that the Tepet troops use earth or fire magic to destroy them. A spearline ends up having their spears forwards, and an entire spearline with shattered spears is a line lost entirely. That is at least my hypothesis of why none of them use spears. Another thing I find curious is Headal's attacks. If I was to judge from yesterday, then they were testing out ways to get through the Tepet line. Yesterday the Headal army was trying a spearline together with billhooks. The Tepet army could have crushed all the spears, but charged them. Perhaps to create an unpredictable pattern. It couldn't be the first time Headal had tried that combination. No, there were a lot of spears yesterday. I did see a few war hammers, but they were back around where we jumped down. Perhaps they were to join as a surprise attack if the Tepet army charged?

While wondering this I note a couple Tepet soldiers with billhooks moving through the ranks up next to me. They give a small nod. Their eyes lit with a bit of worry. It was our time.

I glance to the men behind me and see that they realize the same. I can see hints of fear... hints of worry that they will never return. They look to me for hope, for a certainty that they will return home like yesterday... but there is no such hope.

Some of us will die today.

However, if I let this show they will all hesitate and die. I mustn't be afraid...  I am more than a soldier on the battlefield, I am a part of something bigger. Something beautiful and honorable. I am a single life in the flow that will break the line. I am not alone either, I-

'Rei-chui.'

A chill runs down my spine as Haruki's voice sounds from behind me... and the noice of war grows silent and distant. Where Vitis' shape as once been, Haruki, my subordinate in my former life stood crouched ready with a fire in his eyes...

Everything got silent... and... at a second glance they all seem to be there...

"I'll be right behind you!" Asher's distant voice draws my eyes to the side. The scent of fire lingers in the air as flames trickle by us.

A single though that should never enter my mind busts forth. I... don't want to lose everyone again... I don't want to see them burned, beheaded or stuck on spears... I don't want to see them cut down.

There are three sins where I am from. Desire, fear and regret... and in that moment I know I exhibit all of them... but I cannot. I must not. We are a part of something bigger. The sacrifices are worth something bigger and more important!

'Rei-chui,' Aiko's warm bubbly voice speaks from right in front of me.

Why now? Why is this happening now and not before? Is it because we're waiting for the order? No, I cannot stay like this. I must not regret the past lest I be unable to look forward. I must not fear, or we will never survive. I must not be greedy or selfish. I need to face it. For fear spreads in a group, and only the man itself can defeat it, the sinking and weakening feeling that spreads like rot throughout my body.

Three breaths.

If I want them home, we must go. There is no way but forward. Think it through and make sure that there are no regrets by the time we charge. My former comrades died for what they believed in. They had no regrets, only fire of passion burning within. I know this, and at the end even Haruki walked to death without hesitance.

The fear of loss is mine and mine alone. They neither shared it nor wished me to suffer. We were prepared to die. We had a cause more noble than the lives lost.

I will save as many as possible, but our mission is clear.

Aiko gives me a big grin as she puts on her mempo. 'Let's run, Rei-chui. Give them no legs to stand on.'

Her figure disappears, and Spence stands in her stead all jittery to get going. The wait is clearly making him anxious.

Looking over them, they all look quite anxious. It's only their second battle after all. A smile ends up curling up on my lips for some reason beyond me. As the roars of war returns, it is as loud as violent before... but it is nothing as it was before. The beautiful roars of my ancestors I've not heard for almost nine years now echo in the air. My body feels light, and behind each man nearby I hear whispers, soft whispers among all the noise. Prayers.

I turn towards the battlefield and summon the ice nodachi. As long as it doesn't leave my grip I will cut through the front line like a tidal wave of energy.

I look behind me to the young men once more and clap Arven's shoulder nice and roughly to shake him out of his little fearful trance. His stiff body mellows under my hand and he finally breaths out, and as I turn back to the frontline muttering the first mass enhancement spell, I hear the words we'd been waiting for.

"Pull away their shields!"

The two billhook men-at-arms quickly spear through our shield line and hooks the enemy shields... and in that instant a path opens...

Golden threads linger among the enemy soldiers, shining beautifully and brilliantly with prayers among them. Without even thinking I cut around the golden thread and deeply into the first enemy in their second row. My voice flows in the wind in the roars of war, and the harmony of voices from my ancestors and creates a beautiful harmonious song, and for a moment, we are one.

"Now! Split them up!"

Those words tell me in an instant that everything is wrong.

"PULL BACK AND REGROUP!" I bellow out at the top of my lungs. No, we had expected this much to a degree. That's why we stayed close to the front line rather than dig in deep. Yet, when I prepared to step back, there were only cold and hard stone walls around me.

The one behind me cracks for a moment.

"Hero!" Asher's panic shows but for a moment before everything shuts closed again. I swing at the stone wall, but where I cut another layer appears... I look behind me where multiple enemies stand ready with cautious body-language... if you want me here so badly, I'll rip you apart so you can't prevent me-

Another wall appears there... I'm walled in... I look up and with a satisfied mind finds air, and one of those golden threads from before leading into the air. My stone prison may be four meters tall, but they put the walls close enough that I can use the sides to get up.

I glance down to the sword and take a breath. I could wait and hope that the others get here... at least... that's the last thought I had before my prison began moving away from the Tepet front line... I let go of the sword and jump up at the moving wall, hoping and praying that they don't consider a horizontal wall before I get out. It's a race against time.