Akira Asahara

The army prepared itself. 10,000 of Glynn’s World’s kingdoms stood armor ready or mounted on horseback. The few party members remaining scattered, on orders of their heroes, to move southwest. Cordelia and her cavalry traced the top of the hill, waiting to charge. In the middle, the protagonists gathered around Akira and the avatars he presented. Much like the festival a couple of months prior, the avatars went blank with a flash of lightning and were reborn with the glamor of the three sisters.

“We’re back!” Elbeth waved. “Did you miss us, our followers?”

The army roared in the way only several thousand men could. 

“That’s fantastic. It is such a relief to see my island returning to its pristine condition. Whatever losses you may have experienced fighting for us, I say, look around you. You have given this land back to its people. We will rebuild into a greater realm after this day, and with that will come the greatest blessings I can bestow upon you. Your fortunes are going to be grand!”

Again, the army chanted their thanks. If anything was to keep them riding, it was to chase the gold. 

“As goddesses,” Rani stepped forward. She used a scarf to cover her face. “We have an appreciation for the fairer sex. So to you, princess, and Weeksworth, whom my beloved sister has blessed, I would like to offer you this gift.”

The green goddess materialized a sword out of sparkling light and floated it over to the hardened princess, her face softening in the glimmering light.

“This is Thadmor, made by a close friend from our original realm. May this mark you as Glynn’s World's highest authority, the Prime Herald. It’ll revive you once and alter the direction of winds where it points.”

“I am honored,” she replied dutifully. “I will fight and die by your name.”

Marine walked forward through the protagonists toward Akira. While his demeanor had proven himself to be calm, he looked nervous this time around.

“I-I’d like to thank you, Akira, for leading the heroes to so many victories,” she said, her speech patterns not matching the bard at all. “There haven't been any deaths in some time. They seem stronger thanks to you, so as a gift-.”

“I do not need anything.” The man raised his hands. “I’m not here for the power, only the mission. Come to me once everything is back in order, please?”

“Oh, okay then.”

Akira’s voice projected outward. “Follow my lead, my men, my fellow Japanese. The fortress will be nigh impregnable, but I will show you the path to victory.”

The army brought itself to a fever pitch, the perfect rush of adrenaline to push itself into the oncoming situation. The protagonists, less so, but only from their minor detachment. They were at the 80% mark of this game, and were starting to get sick of it. The Fargo Heroes stood with silent determination. One hero couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Enough! I’m sick of your bullshit, Akira!” the man yelled. “I’m tired of all this waiting! Just get on with it!”

Nobody recognized this man. While many cliques were made in the band, none of the heroes were familiar with everyone else. Thus, it came to everyone’s surprise to find a Demon General in their midst, one moment a man, and the next a humongous monster. More emerged amongst the army men.

Akira’s face went white. “It’s an ambush!”

The sheer size and weight of the hidden monsters scattered men either by fear or their weight. They had emerged in the thick of it, surrounded by blades but tough enough to withstand them. If magic was their weakness, they had plenty of human shields in their vicinity.

It was as if the darkness had been watching them from afar. The city lit up with red, insectoid-like eyes, and its form detached itself from its nest with debris flying in all directions. The beast was a shelled fortress expanding and contracting with its arthropod shells made of castle walls, and at its feet rushed a legion of fodder. They were the land forces. From the seas, the leviathans poked their heads out of the mist and emitted beams of black light from their powerful jaws, seeking to be artillery for the medieval battle to come. 

Their arsenal came to crash upon a barrier of ethereal energy. The three avatars stood on the top of the hills, hands outstretched, emitting their will upon their land. No beams would reach the heroes.

“We got this!” Rani called. “Finish them, quickly!”

The first Demon General fell to those words, as a railgun annihilated its entire upper half. Fuuma’s weapon hadn’t been tuned since the incident on the central mountain, but his soul and hatred had become a much more powerful source of energy. He had no doubt his weapon could kill.

Hideyoshi used his staff in a similar manner, its wooden form blessed to become an armor-piercing shell in itself, bending to his will. He’d prefer to fly into melee, as it was more his style, but his cloud stopped working a while ago. Now he relied on the Flash Step, like Akira had instructed.

Shige’s magic out of the hero group was now the weakest. He had grown accustomed to a mixed fighting force involving sealing spells, buffs, and distractions, and his toolkit was an expansion on that base strategy. Warlock, priest, and wizard magic. Without that behind him, he was only immensely powerful, rather than godlike. He hadn't adapted to the situation easily.

Still, 50 heroes were far beyond whatever numbers the Demon Generals could dish out. What would’ve been a challenge for four of them was fodder at this point. If they weren’t the last Demon Generals on Glynn’s World, there’d be precious few left. They'd better be powerful if they wanted to live.

That left only the enemy ahead, and Akira leapt down the hill to face it. “Heroes, to battle!” Akira called. “Follow me! We’re finishing this!”

The protagonists moved as a unified front, taking it to the enemy as a central spear tip. The army was still regrouping after the scare, leaving only a few men ready to meet the legion approaching them, but early crackles of godlike lightning strikes blew those worries away. The hill would be safe.

That didn't dissuade Cordelia in the slightest. “Riders, to me! Follow me on the flank!”

Under the safe blanket of the goddess’s magic, the three avatars breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment there, it looked like things were about to reverse on themselves. 

“I can’t believe we got through that.” Marine shuddered.

“Yeah, I was starting to get second guesses,” Rani added. “Should we keep this barrier up or should we help?”

“I think that Akira boy knows how to get in,” said Elbeth. “I trust he’ll be able to lead them into that bug.”

“Man, you really got a winner there, Elbeth.”

“Hmm?” The noblewoman cocked her head. “I thought he was your hero.”

“No? Marine?”

“I only have the two.”

“Wait, is he just a normal human then?”

“He hasn’t died yet, so maybe?”

Elbeth shook her head. “No, he’s clearly been blessed before. Unless we’re talking-.”

The eldest was the first to think it, and her avatar lurched forward with an agonizing twitch. The sisters only understood it a second later, and they felt it too, an ice-cold chill as if a predator was lurking right behind them. Their greatest fears played in their heads like a cackling demon, taunting them. Did they willingly let themselves fall into a trap?

The unfolding battle still pressed on. The heroes and their many magics decimated the monsters approaching them, leaving only the fortress as a serious contender, while the princess took the flank with her men, ready to encircle and cut off the darkness with her blessed sword lighting the way. At the spear tip ran Akira, with Fuuma to his left and Hideyoshi to his right, his most trusted allies. With a movement of fingers, they received the signal to hang back, leaving Akira far at the head. He had only told them the plan on how to board. Now was their time to strike.

The sisters had heard of a similar name to Akira Kasuga, though they didn't believe them to be the same person. Age 26, savior of Tolky’s Land and Hero of Orcanto, Akira had been summoned by the gods since age 11 to fight their battles, and had done so for almost 40 years. Many realms had been shaped by the boy's interference, and his total tally of worlds touched remained unknown. He was a mercenary, a sword for hire in the war between light and dark worlds. Every campaign he accepted, he won. When gathering heroes from Earth, from Japan in particular, the gods had a saying that the sisters heeded, but did not understand, because why wouldn't you take him? He was the strongest human in the Astral Plane. Why not summon him?

No, said the gods. Do not trust him. Beware of the Planet Killer. Beware of Akira Asahara.