Chapter 68: Lost

“Enemy attack! They’re besieging us!”

“Shit! The back gate was destroyed when we took this town. We can’t hold this position—we should retreat,” the general said, but Altair disagreed.

“Don’t be a chicken now. Let’s greet them first. Do they have any divine host?” Altair asked.

“Yes. We have a divine host on our side. Litmus is too cowardly,” her aide scoffed.

“Yes, ma’am. A symbiote user, Captain Sheena, is with them.”

“I have orders to flee if we encounter any symbiote users. But do you think you could handle their symbiote user, Lady Altair?”

“How dare you—”

“Stop it, Hanuth. His advice was sound, born not from malice but from concern. At the very least, he does not wish me to perish. There are no certainties in war, General. But don’t you think you’re being too cowardly, fleeing before even meeting the enemy?”

“Understood. My apologies.”

“I shall trust you to protect our rear. You can do that much, right?”

“Yes. I will do my best.” The general nodded. “Please be wary, Lady Altair. Latvin is known for slaying three symbiote users of Vertia in less than a year.”

“...I will heed your warning. But I do not intend to flee before meeting the enemy. I hope you can forgive my selfishness.”

“No. You are correct, Lady Altair. It is true that I was being a coward. I was ordered not to let a single symbiote user die, no matter what.”

“I will not die that easily. Heh… Litmus certainly has a strange sense of chivalry. I know other countries have their own cultures. But we are neighbors—how can we be so different?” Altair then drew her rapier. Golden tentacles sprouted out her back. They glowed and undulated as she walked to the front gate. “Alright, enough chitchat. The enemy approaches. Let’s go meet them.”

With the guns plundered from Latvin, the soldiers held the line, but it was only a matter of time before the ammunition ran out.

“ARGHH!!” An enormous explosion came from the gate as they walked towards it. Hiro wondered whether the enemy had used cannons, but he changed his mind when he saw the ruins of the gate. The gate was split in the middle as if a gigantic sword had cleaved through it.

A knight in shining white armor stood before the gate. Bullets bounced off her armor in vain. White wings unfurled from her back as she held her greatsword with a golden hilt. She looked a bit different from what Hiro remembered, but from her face, Hiro was certain she was Sheena.

“Divine Host Altair is taking the field! Everyone, make space!” The white knights of Mutual sounded the horn. They cheered as they cleared the way for their hero. Altair leaped to the gate, her rapier thrust before Sheena.

A golden spark suddenly flashed before her eyes—a bullet had been shot by a Latvin soldier and deflected by her golden tentacle.

“Cowards. I guess it was to be expected from Latvin scum who enslaved the boon granted by the heavens,” Altair said. Sheena returned the greeting with silence.

Altair was the first to break the silence. Golden tentacles sprouted from her back, lashing at the white knight. They bounced off her armor, chipping some of it away. Sheena leaped back, her wings supporting her as she glided through the air. Surprisingly, Altair followed suit. Eight golden tentacles undulated from her back as she chased Sheena in aerial combat.

“...They are certainly different from Lord Seraphine, aren’t they? I didn’t know they could fly,” Cecile said, watching the two angels fight in awe.

“Should we just stand back here? What about Latvin’s army?” Rebecca asked one of Mutual’s knights.

“As long as Divine Host Altair wins, there will be no problem.” The knight smiled. “They are divine boons granted to us by God. With them, we shall fear no darkness. They will be the ones who keep us safe.”

“But the enemy is also a combat symbiote user! We should at least engage their army; otherwise, they might distract our symbiote users.”

“... If that is your wish, esteemed Divine Host. But I must say that I disagree. Engaging the enemy’s army will have little merit, and we would suffer greater casualties if stray bullets flew our way.”

“Cecile and Nana, flank the enemy. Ask a squadron of Mutual’s knights to go with you. Since you are symbiote users, they should follow your orders. Rebecca, stand guard here,” the general interrupted.

“You! How dare you command a Divine Host!”

“I apologize. I merely advised them. They will follow my advice, right?” The general sighed. He knew his retort was coming, but he didn’t have time for pleasantries. It was good that he knew how to maneuver with his words.

“Yes!” Cecile and the others immediately went off to grab a horse.

“You are Hanuth, right? The battlefield is changing. With the power of guns, they could distract symbiote users to give their own symbiote users an edge. I shall position my archers with guns to shoot at Sheena, but Latvin is more experienced in this new tactic than we are, so we must not get complacent,” the general said as he saw Sheena and Altair duking it out in the sky.

“Tch! What a fruitless endeavor. But since you have the support of a Divine Host, I will comply. Men! Go to the gate! Shoot those scums! Engage them!”

Cecile and Nana rode their horses with two squadrons to flank from the left and right, while Rebecca commanded the rest of the troops from the ruined gate. But their concentration was drawn toward the two divine beings engaging in the sky.

Altair was faster, her eight golden tentacles guiding her in the sky as she flanked Sheena. But she couldn’t deal a fatal blow. Sheena’s strikes were heavy. Despite Altair blitzing around, Sheena controlled the battlefield.

Sword aura from Sheena’s sword rained down on the ground. Like an artillery strike, each of her sword swings carved deep gashes in the earth. Altair was more elegant in her style. She nimbly evaded and blocked the strikes that came after her as she chased her in the sky.

Sheena flew low, and Altair was hot on her tail. Like fighter jets, they engaged in a dogfight close to the ground. Then the moment came. A bullet hit Altair close to her eye. For someone like a symbiote user, even a direct hit from a low leveled musketeer would do no more than a scratch. But in a deathmatch against fellow symbiote users, a single moment of distraction was all that was needed to tip the balance. Sheena knew this—and had purposely led Altair into an ambush.

“Shit!” Altair paused as she felt a tinge of pain in her face. Sheena quickly countered, her sword glowing white as she unleashed her ultimate attack—the same strike that had taken down the gate.

The white flash surged toward Altair. She dodged at the very last moment, but it was too late. The blade cut through her shoulder, slicing down from her left arm all the way to her leg.

“ARGH!” Altair lost her balance and crashed to the ground like a fighter jet that had been shot down.

Sheena swooped down without hesitation. Altair’s life flashed before her eyes as the blade swung.

Then, an explosion hit Sheena, knocking her out of the air. Nana had fired her explosive arrow at Sheena from horseback.

“Hurry! Shoot her!” Cecile swooped in. The knights with her raised their muskets and fired at Sheena.

Thanks to the distraction, Altair regained her senses. Using her golden tentacles, she lifted herself from the ground, sealing her wound and forming emergency prostheses. She took off into the sky, regaining her balance.

“Retreat!” Cecile commanded. With haste, the knights turned their horses back toward Sicily.

Sheena turned toward Cecile and Nana, hesitating. Altair was still alive. If she pursued Altair, Cecile or Nana could strike her, turning her own trap against her. But if she went after Cecile and Nana, Altair could swoop back in.

“Are you okay? That was so dangerous,” Rebecca hopped in from the ruined gate, welcoming the trio.

“... Fuck!” Altair kicked a nearby table. “Fucking cowards!”

“Lady Altair, we must retreat to Evesys Castle,” the general said, his voice a tinge of worry and fear. With Altair wounded, their chance of winning had plummeted.

“You! You dare speak to me like that! … No, I am sorry. You are right. Sorry. I lost my cool for a bit. Hanuth, bring me some water.”

“Yes, Divine Host Altair.” Her aide quickly ran with the other soldiers to fetch water.

“General, I apologize. That was unbecoming of me.” Altair sighed and bowed toward the general.

“It is fine, Lady Altair. No offense is taken. Lord Seraphine often lost his cool after fighting. However, will you continue to fight? I must advise against it—you are wounded now. The tide of battle seems to be against our favor.”

“You are right. I shall heed your advice. I need five… no, make that three days to regenerate my arm and leg, and a great deal of food. In the meantime, I shall let my soldiers follow your orders. I trust you will not waste their lives.”

“Of course. We shall now prepare to retreat. Knights, report.”

“Yes! Knight Captain and Symbiote User Sheena has mustered her army. She herself has retreated to the back line, General.”

“Retreat cautiously. If Sheena comes forward, we will have Altair engage her again. This time, instead of her fighting alone, we shall have a squadron of Mutual’s knights accompany her as meatshields and distractions. You all worship symbiotes, correct? Then you will throw down your lives so she may survive.”

“Yes, sir!” The knights saluted at once. “We must protect the Boon!”

“Protect the Boon! Save the Boon!” Mutual’s knights chanted.

Hiro had feared these knights were nothing more than bootlickers and yes-men. When things went well, they acted submissive and relied on their symbiote host’s power. But when things turned dire, he thought they would abandon her.

Apparently, Hiro’s fears were unfounded. They were true fanatics. All Mutual knights were ready to lay down their lives for their divine symbiote host. At the very least, most of them were. He had yet to see any deserters, even after news spread that Altair had been wounded and nearly defeated.

The knights’ steel faces were filled with tension. A certain unique madness burned in their eyes as they wielded rifles, bows, and swords to cover the retreat. A squadron of Mutual’s knights stood behind and sacrificed themselves so the rest could return toward Evesys mansion as the Latvin army rolled into Sicily.

“Geez, if only they fought like that from the beginning.” Rebecca rolled her eyes. Hiro wholeheartedly agreed.

The general sighed as he explained, “Mutual has incorporated religious indoctrination into their military. But we Litmus knights had similar tactics. When our champions were losing but still alive, we must do our best to keep them safe. We must sacrifice ourselves so the symbiote users can retreat.”

“I knew about the orders from the king, and it was also the correct thing to do. I just criticized them for not doing anything at the beginning,” Rebecca said.

“The battlefield had changed. We knew that because we experienced it firsthand when Lord Seraphine went against Jonathan, but they hadn’t.”

“True.” Rebecca recalled their battle against Jonathan. Jonathan was a special case since he was an assassin type, so they had their guard at maximum from the beginning. But Sheena was not an assassin type. Rebecca imagined if two Lord Seraphines had faced each other on that battlefield, their armies would probably have acted similar to Mutual’s army now.

And so, Litmus suffered their first defeat in the campaign. Sheena chose not to pursue them. She knew her victory was because of the distraction caused by her soldiers. As the sun set and they returned to Evesys’ castle, Hiro suddenly received a level-up notification.

[You have leveled up to level 2]