The Fire Rises

Reconstruction hadn’t even begun in Paris before the city was once again turned into a warzone. Berlin attacked the British occupied half of the city unprovoked thus sparking the Coalition War.

It didn’t take long for the British to be pushed out of the city, but that was as far as the Germans could go.

***

“What did I tell you?” Sean Thompson, the Pink Knight, watched as the border between London and Paris was consumed with a rushing river, blocking the German advance. “I knew that Berlin would attack us. It was as inevitable as the sunrise. Of course, it’s all useless. Brianne’s River makes us untouchable.”

“Oh, you flatter me, Sean.” Brianne Essex, the Pink Maiden, replied humbly.

Jack Butler slowly stepped forward. “That’s great, but is this where your grand strategy ends? I don’t mean to insult you, but the British army didn’t exactly steal the show when we fought Paris.”

“Hmph.” Sean turned up his nose slightly before looking away. “Now that Berlin has taken Paris and allied with Rome, they’ll probably divert their attention towards Moscow.”

“And what then? I told you, I’ve already mobilized my troops to invade Rio, I can’t spare much manpower right now.”

“Don’t worry, they won’t be beating Moscow.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“If the French failed then what makes you think the Germans will succeed?”

Jack wasn’t satisfied with that answer. After a sigh, he made a suggestion, “You know…we could probably still ally with Japan…”

“Absolutely not!” Sean slammed down his fist.

Jack recoiled in shock. “All right, all right… Don’t get so worked up…”

He scoffed, “I told you, the Japanese cannot be trusted…”

That’s what he said to Jack, but the truth was that he didn’t believe in making alliances with those who he believed to be stronger than himself.

***

“You know, I still don’t think this is a good idea…” Gabrielle, the Violet Knight, said as he looked over the battle plans.

“It’s a rock solid plan, don’t worry,” Klaus, the Indigo Knight, reassured. “All you have to do is keep the British at bay while we conquer Moscow.”

“That’s what I have an issue with. You really think you can defeat Moscow?”

“Of course!” Hana, the Indigo Maiden, chirped. “The French only failed because they were exhausted and unprepared. The German army is at max capacity, and we’re ready for the Red Maiden’s Ability, Winter, assuming she’ll even have enough time to use it at all.”

“All right then…” Gabrielle still had his doubts, but all he could do was grin and bear it. After all, if Klaus and Hana wanted to, they could’ve easily wiped out Rome. Sparing himself and Camilla was a much greater mercy than they deserved.

Rome might’ve been in shambles, but they still had this one last chance. As long as the Germans succeeded against Moscow, Rome could survive and make a comeback.

***

“Sir, the Germans have invaded our territory,” Mikhael Kutuzov, the general of Moscow, reported.

“Figures…” Yuri Chekhov, the Red Knight, rubbed the back of his head. “Didn’t think they’d be so stupid, but here we are… Are you ready to initiate the defense plan?”

“Of course.” Kutuzov presented the battle plans. “We’ll retreat while trying to deal as much damage to them as possible while prioritizing our own safety.”

“That should buy us enough time…” Yuri leaned over to Natalia, the Red Maiden. “I’m sorry, Natalia, but you’re going to have to use your Ability again.”

She nodded. “I understand.”

Now that their trump card was known, this battle would be much harder. However, the Russians still had plenty of tricks up their sleeves.

***

Keitaro and Toko were exhausted after the battle with Enyu and Yanmin. However, they didn’t have time to rest. When Enyu used Swarm, all the troops had been cleared from that part of the front for some reason, and after the bugs had disappeared, they didn’t come back right away, giving the Japanese army the opportunity to move and exploit that hole in their line. They managed to gain a lot of ground before the Chinese were able to move in troops and stabilize their defense.

“Damn it…” Keitaro rubbed his face. “I wish we could’ve taken care of Enyu too… That would’ve ended it all…”

“If only, but either way, the battle turned the tides in our favor.” Musashi had just entered after stepping out to deal with some business. “Keitaro, Toko, you two got a letter.”

“Hm?” Toko’s interest was piqued.

“Pass it here.” Keitaro took it and tore it open. “It’s from Jack and Ella.”

“W-what’s it say?” Toko leaned over to look.

The letter read, “We’re sure you’ve heard by now that New York and London have entered into a war with Berlin and Rome. While we would’ve liked to invite you to this alliance, London vetoed our suggestion. However, we still consider our secret alliance to be valid, so we’ll continue to keep you posted.” At the bottom, it was signed Jack Butler and Ella Appleton.

“The world’s really starting to burn down, huh?” Keitaro

“Well, I suppose it can’t be helped,” Tomoe said as she ate a riceball.

“I guess not…” Toko read over the letter again.

“Well, whatever.” Keitaro tried relaxing as best he could. “We’re a bit behind schedule here, but as long as we take down Shanghai before they’re done duking it out then we should be okay.”

Keitaro was perhaps being a bit too nonchalant, but Tokyo had just won a major victory, all they had to do was keep up the pressure.

***

Enyu stood silently in the war room, General Yu Guan before him. He had managed to return safely, but only by himself…

“Sir… While the death of the Yellow Maiden is regrettable…” He paused, almost about to shed a tear himself. “The war is still ongoing, and it’s not looking good…”

Enyu didn’t say a word as he leaned over the table, looking straight down.

Guan cleared his throat. “We lost a lot of ground after evacuating.” Enyu’s bugs attacked everyone indiscriminately except for himself and Yanmin which is why their troops were cleared out of that area. “We’ve managed to set up another line and hold it, but we’re stretched way too thin now. I don’t think we can last more than a few days.”

Once again, Enyu was silent. But after what felt like an eternity he asked, “How’s Project Hei going?”

Guan was surprised to hear that, but he answered, “The prototype has been finished, but—”

“But what?” Enyu cut in.

“It’s very unstable…”

Enyu laughed softly. “Unstable?” He picked up a phone and chucked it across the room before yelling, “I don’t care! Get it for me right now!”

“S-sir!? You can’t be serious! It’s way too dangerous!”

“That doesn’t matter anymore!” He slammed down his fists on the table. “All that matters is saving Shanghai and avenging Yanmin! Got it!?”

“But sir—!”

“Just do it!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.

Shanghai had been backed into a corner. Using Project Hei made sense as an eleventh hour gambit purely for that reason alone, but the main reason why Enyu was doing this was revenge. He wanted to tear Keitaro limb from limb, hear the screams of pain from the monster who destroyed his city and killed his beloved, and he wanted to do it all before joining Yanmin…