Chapter 74: Stall

“Fuck you! That was the perfect chance to kill her! What are we going to do now? This worthless symbiote refuses to calm down!” Delghar slammed his fist onto the table, shattering it into pieces as he swallowed another pill. His symbiote, reduced to a mindless tool, refused to cooperate—flailing around, lagging behind Delghar’s will. Such was the fate of a silenced symbiote; it would take time before Delghar could sync with it again and use its flight and mud armor properly.

Sheena sighed, exasperated. “What do you mean, perfect chance? I warned you that Litmus had copied our tactics. Unlike you, I’m not immune to bullets—especially if they hit my eyes.”

“What are you going to do now? I can’t fight for at least a week! Can you beat them alone? I’ll let you have the credit this time. You can even use my army.” Delghar took a deep breath, trying to sound calm as he bargained.

Delghar was in trouble. Unlike Sheena, he had no loyalty to the Empire—but the Empire had its own way to control its symbiote users. The drug they relied on could only be produced by Imperial alchemists. Without it, an uncooperative symbiote might consume its host from within. So Delghar had no choice but to obey. If the Latvin Empire were destroyed, Delghar would most likely die with it.

The subjugation medicine, as they called it, not only subdued a symbiote’s will but also increased compatibility with the host. That was why, unlike Litmus or Mutual, the Empire had more leeway in choosing its candidates.

“Our musketeers won’t make a difference now. Their army is made of real knights, while ours is mostly peasants,” Sheena said. All they could do now was delay them—use guerrilla tactics to stall the enemy.

As she pondered how best to defend the Empire, her personal knight approached and whispered something into her ear.

“Really?” Sheena blinked.

“What? Why are you whispering, soldier? I’m a captain too! We’re on the same side! Are you withholding information from your peers?” Delghar barked.

“No, sir! We scouted those Litmus and Mutual scum, and they’ve retreated to Evesys Castle,” the soldier reported, saluting.

“Bah, cowards. Good. Let us take Sicily. This will be good enough to report to our king,” Delghar said. With a single bark, he roared at his subordinates, ordering them to march toward Sicily.

“Wait, it might be a trap,” Sheena said.

“Then it’s your scout’s fault for not noticing it. He should be executed,” Delghar replied.

“Keep your filthy hands away from my knights,” Sheena warned. Delghar only shrugged and left.

“We should have left him there,” the knight spat, out of Delghar’s ear. “Why don’t we just defect to Litmus, Milady?”

“Stop that thought, soldier. We are knights of Latvin. Loyalty defines the man, not the nation… Ah, even if you defect, it would be pointless. We no longer have that option. It’s do or die now. Litmus and Mutual want to kill every noble and knight of Latvin—that includes us,” Sheena said. After a moment of hesitation, she added those last sentences. She realized that loyalty was a rare resource in Latvin, so she used fear to reinforce it among her soldiers.

“Yes, my apologies, Lady Sheena.” The knight saluted. His eyes said otherwise, but nevertheless, he obeyed Sheena—and he also agreed with her. They could not surrender anymore. The massacre of knights in Evesys territory and the refusal to accept Sicily’s surrender were hot topics among the knights. His loyalty was not to the nation, but to his commander before his eyes. He had been looking for ways to defect to other countries, but his commander insisted on staying loyal to Latvin, to his dismay.

Meanwhile, Hiro received news that Litmus and Mutual were preparing symbiote users to be sent to Latvin. Litmus would be sending Cylia the Neverland. He was a bit disappointed that it was not Seraphine—he had left quite an impression on him—but a symbiote user was a symbiote user. Mutual, on the other hand, would send Divine Host Gilgamesh.

What surprised them was that another nation had decided to pitch in after Litmus sent beastmen refugees to its borders. That nation would send Divine Host Val Sabertooth to help conquer Latvin.

With their arrival, there would be four Divine Hosts converging on Latvin, excluding Hiro. The war had escalated. Hiro decided to hide his skills for the time being. Symbiote users from Litmus might accept him, but hosts from other nations would not look favorably on his status — he was not a true symbiote after all.

Of course, this was only talk around the war table. They would need time to arrive at the frontline — time Cecile and Altair did not have. Altair admitted she might be able to handle Delghar or Sheena on her own, but she would definitely lose if both of them attacked together.

“Gah! Damn it — headquarters ordered us to buy time for two weeks! How the hell are we supposed to stall them for fourteen days?” the general groaned, kicking his chair in frustration. “Don’t they know we’re outnumbered? Moreover, they can all fly! They’re faster than horses! We could not retreat if we engaged and lost — idiots!”

“So what are we going to do now?” someone asked.

“What else can we do? We can’t use effective guerrilla tactics if Sheena and Delghar are chasing our knights,” the general said.

“I will do it. I can outrun them,” Altair offered.

“Thank you, Divine Host Altair. I will lend you my knights. We just need to stall them. If we delay them long enough, we’ll get support — Cylia will help us. She’s a master of illusion; she can distract one of them while you handle Delghar.”

“Let’s begin. Don’t worry — Mutual will also send a Divine Host, Gilgamesh. If Gilgamesh can catch one of them, they’ll be finished. And we’ll also get Sabertooth from Delana. I heard he’s tenacious,” Altair smirked.

“Meeting dismissed. Thank you, Divine Host Altair. We’ll rely on you. Ah — but no pressure. If it fails, we can still fall back to Languille.”

“Tch. You’re better than commanders who treat soldiers like expendable pawns, but I still don’t appreciate your cowardice,” Altair said, and left the meeting.

“We wish you well, Divine Host Altair. Your safe return is what matters to all of us.” The general smiled, taking no offense at her words.

Her shining mithril-plated armor and gleaming golden hair would not help her in guerrilla warfare, so she cast off the armor, tied her hair into a bun, and donned a green cloak often worn by Litmus scouts. She, who rarely battled against humans, had learned to be stealthy. Her radiant figure once inspired hope against endless tides of monsters, but now was the time for ambushes.

Flying low toward Sicily, her eyes fell upon the ruined city gates where Latvin soldiers nested. It had been only two days since her retreat, yet Latvin had already reconquered the city. The place was mostly deserted; with how often the city had changed hands, it was no wonder most civilians had long fled.

Delghar had yet to recover his full strength. He was wounded, his vision blurred. He had been forcing his symbiote to hasten the healing, but there was only so much it could do. It had taken Altair a week to restore a single hand; for Delghar—stabbed in the chest and eye—it would take about as long.

Regardless, Delghar was a reckless commander. Sensing weakness in his foe, he drove his army toward Sicily and captured it, thirsting for achievement. Sheena, lagging behind, pouted—wondering why Litmus had fled so easily. It was the perfect moment to strike back. With Delghar out of commission, Altair now had her chance to face Sheena alone.

“See! You’re just a coward! We made it here just fine!” Delghar boasted, flaunting his conquest.

“Tch. You’re so reckless,” Sheena muttered. Her fear materialized moments later.

“Attack! We’re under attack—ARGH!!” a soldier screamed. An alarm rang for only a moment before vanishing in a burst of golden light.

“Damn it.” Altair cursed under her breath. Despite her lessons from the scouts, she simply wasn’t built for stealth. Her attack had been too conspicuous—she wasn’t Jonathan, the assassin.

“I told you!” Sheena roared, her wings unfurling from her back. She shot through the houses and rubble, reaching the source of the scream: a beheaded Latvin soldier. Her gaze darted toward the culprit—who was already lunging at her, rapier poised to strike.

After trading blows, Altair took some distance, scanning her surroundings.

“Hey, pigeon. Where’s the dirt monster?” she asked.

“He’s in the rear, thanks to you, firefly. Apparently, he’s allergic to insects,” Sheena replied.

“I see. Well, I’ll be taking my leave now. See you later.” Altair took off, soaring away.

Sheena pondered whether to pursue her but ultimately relented. There might be more ambushes ahead—she couldn’t afford to be careless. Whatever happened to the Litmus army, it no longer mattered; if the enemy chose to stall, that only worked in their favor. Once Delghar recovered, they would crush them.

“Why didn’t you beat her? Cowards!” Delghar’s voice echoed behind her.

“Watch your mouth, Delghar. If not for me, you’d be dead. I told you there would be traps. Look, she ambushed us. We were lucky this time.” Her tone hardened. “I won’t let your reckless tantrums go unchallenged. From now on, you and your army will obey my orders.”

“But the king wants us to liberate Latvin territory! Are you defying orders?”

“Can you swap heaven and earth? Bring back the dead? No? Then don’t talk about impossible orders. Charging head-on would be suicide—is that what you want, Delghar?”

He gritted his teeth. “…No. You’re right.”

“Good. Remember—you’ve escaped death twice. Consider yourself lucky; not many symbiote users survive that.” Sheena’s eyes narrowed as she recalled those who hadn’t. All had died because of one mistake—a stray bullet, a moment’s distraction during a duel.

“The sun’s setting. Eat, then rest. We’ll crush them once you’re healed. As annoying as you are, I still need your strength to win this war. Don’t forget to replace the guards at the ruined gate.”

“Tch!” Delghar turned away, stomping off. He hated taking orders, but Sheena was right. For now, all they could do was wait.

Little did they know—the attacks were far from over. Altair still had something in store for them.