Yukihara Shrine, Harukami Shogunate.

  7:27 PM

  “Hey there.” Raleigh said, zipping away the photo inside his pocket.

  Lewis turns on his flashlight, lighting up the place. “What are you doing here, Captain?”

  “I’m…” Raleigh tries to answer, but chokes up midway. He chuckles before looking away from Lewis. “Who am I even kidding? I’m running away from your Staff Sergeant…”

  “Sir, what really happens between you and my Staff Sergeant?” Lewis asked, his eyes focused entirely on Captain Raleigh. “You can order me all you want, but I have to know. Maybe I can help you with that.”

  “Fine.” Raleigh answered honestly as he recounted the events before the Transference to Lewis. All the wars against Socialist rebels, the counter-insurgency ops and most important of all, his time serving with Boris.

  “He’s mostly a practical, but idealistic person at heart. He won’t ever forgive me for doing that to Tarya and that kid.” He exhales in disappointment. “I shouldn’t have gotten that medal, I didn’t deserve it… and this?” He turns his eyes to the Captain rank patch with a disgusted face. “Why did they give me this? To someone like me?”

  Lewis looked over to Raleigh’s expression. The man is just drowning himself in guilt, in ways that are wholly alien to someone like Lewis who had never experienced any of the wars that the United Federation engaged in before the Transference. The media have only praised the Marines for doing a brilliant job at crushing the Socialist rebels overseas, never delved into the gruesome details of what actually happens in combat. Someone will always be at the bottom, no matter how high they climb up the hierarchy.

  “You’re not a bad person, Captain. You did what you had to.” Lewis said, placing his fist on Raleigh’s chest. “To hell with the past, sir. What matters now is who you chose to be. You’re more than capable of leading us through this shithole, and you’re capable of handling losses.” He said, referencing the metallic dog tag of a fallen Marine that Raleigh had placed on the tree where the Harukamians hung their dead’s names. “Be that leader for us, sir, and I promised that I’ll talk it out with my Staff Sergeant for you.”

  “Thank you, Specialist.” Raleigh tilted his head up to stop his tears from flowing. Couldn’t be caught breaking down emotionally in front of a subordinate, he thought to himself. “You do well for yourself, I’ll make sure you get home to Alice.”

  “I apprecia- wait. How do you know about Alice?” Lewis asked him in a surprised tone, wondering how the Captain even knows about his hidden relationship with a girl from Azuria. “I never mentioned her…”

  “Boris can run his mouth, you know? He always talks about how it's his responsibility to get you fine lads home and what’s at stake.” Captain Raleigh began laughing a bit, finding it somewhat fun to mock Boris’s overattachment and his feeling of needing to protect his subordinates.

  “Perhaps there is more to you outlanders than meets the eyes.” A Harukamian man joined in, which caught the two Marines off guard. “My apologies for eavesdropping, but your story has convinced me that you people are indeed real and well-intended.”

  Lewis looked at the man’s peculiar appearance with curiosity. “It’s ok. Most didn’t trust us that much at first either.”

  The man’s appearance is nothing like he had seen before in this world. His eyes were blood red, maybe a bit cold but Lewis pushes that thought aside, perhaps it’s just how a lot of the demi-humans look in this world. Yet, he couldn’t help but notice the pair of sharp, long and dark red horns protruding out on the man’s forehead which was unlike any other demi-humans on the Eastern Continent as well as in the Shogunate that Lewis had seen during the deployment.

  Must’ve been a rare type of demihumans, he figured. Knowing about the long period of war and suffering that plagued this place, perhaps most of his kind was gone.

  “Good evening, sir.” Lewis offered a handshake.

  The red-horned man’s smile faded away slightly, replaced with a confused look at the alien Elysian’s gesture.

  Noticing the man’s confusion, Raleigh decides to help him out. “It’s our greeting gesture, you shake the other’s hand to acknowledge their presence.”

  “I see.” The Harukamian man accepted the gesture, shaking Lewis’s hand before switching to Raleigh’s hand as well. “You outlanders are very strange with your customs.”

  “Well, us Marines are the toughest there is in our homeworld.” Raleigh raised his arm forwards in front of Lewis, forming a fist. “No challenge too difficult.” He said.

  Lewis puts his arm forward, bumping the Captain’s arm. “No sacrifices too great.” He finishes the Elysian Marine’s moto with a chuckle.

  “You don’t seem to be afraid of me. So you really are not from here…” The red-horned man said calmly.

  “Why would we be?” Raleigh asked the man, not understanding where he was going with the situation.

  The man flashes a slight smile, as if he had a smart idea in his head before quickly adjusting himself. “It’s nothing. I’ll be seeing you again in a few days. Take care.” He bid farewell before making his way to the exit.

  “Huh.” Raleigh puts his hand on his hip. “Strange fella.”

  “Doesn’t he sound a bit too cheerful and carefree despite living in this sorry country, Captain?” Lewis asked him.

  “I don’t know. Probably got his spirit lifted by the presence of food. Haha.”

  “Maybe so.”

  Yukihara Mountain, Harukami Shogunate

  Sansekiro Fortress.

  8:00 PM

  Senki sat in front of her father’s armor set alone in silence. Candles around the room dimly lit the chamber, giving the place some warmth even in the cold night on the snow-covered mountain.

  Despite her father’s passing, the only thing she could think about now is that she had a brother unknown to her and the outlander’s arrival with their armored wagons and massive, grey flying metallic dragons. Overwhelmed with thoughts and confusion at the same time, she had decided to isolate herself within this chamber.

  Her world had been completely flipped upside down. Less than a week ago, her life had gone on normally like it has always been for 17 years: Wakes up, light breakfast, archery training, lunch, sword training with Lieutenant Hauke, musket training, polearm training and other miscellaneous activities. All that time training, just so one day she could survive the inevitable collapse of society. Until the outlanders arrived.

  Their arrival had been met with suspicion, but not hostilities. The Elysians, or so they called themselves, have proven that they are indeed here to help the Shogunate back on its feet. Outsiders have never been an issue to the Shogunate ever since the typhoon isolated the archipelago, much less threatening it during her grandfather’s reign when the country had a strong army, a strong navy and even dragons under its command but now? They couldn’t muster more than 400 able-bodied troops for the raid, lest they kept the final stronghold of the Shogunate undefended. The comparison to the Shogunate’s current state of affairs to its former glory is nothing short of pitiful.

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  “Jotei-sama. The outlanders’ Ambassador is here. He wishes to speak to you.” A female servant outside her quarter announced, her silhouette highlighted through the paper-covered sliding door by a small candle.

  Leaving with no other choice to get the country out of its pitiful situation, Senki made her decision. She has to strike a deal with whatever this outlander gave her in order to allow the people and the country to survive, even if she did not fully trust them.

  “I’ll be there in a short moment. Prepare the tea room.”

  “Understood, Jotei-sama.”

  Senki stood up and walked to the Yukata standing on display neatly in the corner, preparing to undress to swap to something more formal for a late night meeting.

  “So… the old man is dead, huh?” A cold voice behind her suddenly rang out.

  Senki turned around, pulling a hidden Kodachi from her back as she aimed the short sword at a mysterious figure in the corner of her room. Confused how someone could break into her quarter so quietly as well as evade detection from her guards outside. The room fell into silence, that’s when she also noticed that her guards silhouettes outside her room had disappeared.

  “Raise your voice, and this entire residence is dead.” The shadow in the corner of her room threatens just as Senki was about to open her mouth to yell, with only his blood red eyes barely visible in the dark room lit by a few candles.

  The fact that this person in the shadow broke into the fortress, bypassed all the guards and got into the Empress’s quarter without her noticing was beyond unsettling for Senki. She tried thinking of ways to defeat this intruder, but nothing came to mind. She decides to probe for information instead, since if this person wants her dead, he would’ve done so.

  “Who are you?” She moved to the side slightly, grabbing another Kodachi for her other hand.

  Several small electric sparks zapped in the corner, lighting a candle which revealed the man’s face. Noticing a long, red pair of horns protruding out of his forehead, Senki’s heart sank in terror as she realized who she was looking at. “Tha-That’s not possible. Lord Raijin?!”

  “Lord Raijin…” The man sighs in disappointment. “I travelled all the way from Hōshōjima and this is now you greet me, sister? Or should I rather say, half-sister?”

  Senki made a confused face, but the man ignored it. He pointed at the family’s set of swords and in particular, her father’s set of armor. “That thing, this place…” He paused, looking around the entire room with a pained expression. “... it was supposed to all be mine.”

  Calming down, Senki began to remember her father’s story he told her before passing away. “You… how? How did you become the Raijin? That shouldn’t be possible, the legendary Lord Raijin of old hasn’t been sighted ever since the Ancient Khanterran’s arrival.” She said, referencing the old tales she was told as a young child about Lord Raijin.

  Although many sailors from all over the Eastern Continent throughout the Shogunate’s existence had made it through the typhoon to reach Kōyōjima Island, none has been able to do so as a diplomatic mission like the Elysians with so little losses and in such numbers.

  According to Senki’s memory, the world has always had seven gods and goddesses representing seven magical elements: Flame, Water, Earth, Life, Wind, Energy and Frost. The history of how they came to be was lost due to the passing of time, with only methods of transferring power from one god to another chosen individual left.

  How did this man find Lord Raijin? Why did Lord Raijin choose her half brother as a successor? Thoughts and questions running through her mind, but there is no time to think.

  “It’s Raiden now, actually.” He corrected Senki, pointing at himself with a confident smirk before switching back to her, slowly pacing around the room. “Besides, our father is nothing more than a self-centered, arrogant man who refuses to correct his mistakes. He refused to acknowledge me, refused to take me in and then went on as if life was normal, as if I was never born.” He said, getting angrier as he drifted along the sentence.

  “And then you came.” He pointed at Senki with a strong hatred in his eyes, which caused several more electrical sparks around his arm to appear. “How dare that man have someone like you after abandoning me?”

  “Do not disrespect the Taikō!” She pulled out the sheath of the second Kodachi, holding the weapon on her second hand as she took a fighting stance.

  “So caring about those close to oneself, just like that old man.” Raiden facepalms, disappointed at Senki’s reaction to his slight outburst.

  “It’s only normal for those like us, not to a monster like you!” She said to him, “caring about those who love you is obvious.”

  “Is it?” Raiden said, slightly smirking as his ear twitched slightly at the upcoming footsteps approaching. Measuring the sound, he calculated that he has about two minutes. “What was his name again? Hauke? That former outside sailor who’s always with you in the Dōjō almost every day?”

  A cold ran through Senki’s back. This man must’ve been watching her for a long time, long enough to know the name of everyone close to her. “You bastar-”

  “You seemed to treasure that Azurian. I can understand. Would be a shame if something were to happen to him, no?” He said, grabbing a piece of paper on a table. Lighting it up using electricity, the paper began burning. He lets the piece of paper go, allowing it to ascend upward toward the ceiling.

  Several Onibanes clung themselves silently and obediently on the dark ceiling, much to Senki’s horror. Notorious along with the Kibaōkami for their ferocity and aggressiveness, the sight of so many clinging obediently above the ceiling shook her to the core until she realized that the man in front of her was still controlling them.

  The Onibane’s old smooth and curved beaks were morphed into long, rapier-like shapes for stabbing in a high speed dive. The wings were also hardened on several parts, forming blades that could slash even if they miss the initial attack dive, injuring the preys to allow the the rest of the Onibanes finish them off. If nothing else, their blade-like wings were also poisonous to help weaken their prey.

  “That Azurian won’t stand a chance, half-sister.” He said. “I’ll let you make your choice, follow through with my request or everyone here dies.”

  Senki was about to lash out before hearing several footsteps behind the paper wall.

  “Jotei-sama.” Lieutenant Hauke’s voice rang out behind the sliding door. “My condolences for your loss, Senki. I’m here to say that… I’m proud of you. That little girl who could barely wield a training stick back then has now become the Empress. The Taikō would’ve been very proud of you as well.” Hauke finished up, slightly embarrassed about his bluntness with words but pushed forward anyway.

  She had never heard Hauke say anything like that to her, which made the current situation she found herself in even more painful. “Th-thank you, Hauke.”

  “It’s only right.” He said.

  Unable to find ways to put Hauke out of danger, she decided to acquiesce to Raiden’s demand despite internally cursing herself for doing so. “You’re relieved of duty, Hauke. There are Azurians with the Elysians outside, now may be your only chance to go home and be with your family somewhere in Azuria. Tomorrow I will go on the raid, and the fate of this kingdom will be decided. I don’t want you to die.”

  “Jotei…no, Senki,” Hauke said quietly. “Do you not need me anymore?”

  “It’s not-!” She raised her voice slightly, finding it painful to do this to someone so close to her. “It’s for your safety. Go home, that’s my final order!”

  “...”

  “If that’s your final order.” Senki could hear Hauke trying to hold back his emotion despite being on the other side of the room. “I’ll follow dutifully.” He grabs his old saber and leaves the hallway quickly.

  “Hmph.” Raiden made an annoyed expression. “I supposed that could do as well, that guy had nothing to do with my plan.” He quickly flashes forward, disarming Senki faster than her eyes could see him.

  Inspecting the pair of Kodachi in his hands with a neutral expression before putting them back on their sheath, he threw them back to Senki.

  “That’s my sister. Being a good girl just like that old man raised you to be.” Raiden let out a satisfying laugh quietly as he made his way to the fortress’s private garden.

  “I’ll see you again in a few days.” He said, letting the Onibanes grab his shoulders and flew him away into the dark night. “Take care of yourself, sister.”

  “Kami… please help me.” She picked up the Yukata on the stand, wiping the tears away as she began wearing it. Senki exits the room, heading to the tea room where the Elysian’s Ambassador is waiting.