Spring Arrives

The news of Moscow’s fall quickly reached Yuri. He took it very badly. He ordered everyone to exit their temporary headquarters. After he was done, every inch of the room had been obliterated.

Of course, it hardly mattered. The order was immediately given to retreat. With their capital gone, they needed to set up in a more reliable location, build up a defense, and then start whittling down the enemy with guerilla tactics.

Yuri decided that they’d make their last stand in Berlin. It was dense, making it hard to attack, and had plenty of infrastructure which would help with transporting troops and supplies.

However, they’d be dealing with two armies invading from each side. Natalia’s Winter would slow them down, but their chances of victory were becoming more and more remote.

But there was one thing they could do…

Yuri flexed his muscles. He was confident that his Ability, Power, could best any other Knight or Maiden in a fight, and with Jack, Ella, Keitaro, and Toko being the only ones left besides him and Natalia, this would truly be the final battle.

***

While the Japanese army had to deal with Russian stragglers and holdouts, their march to Berlin was mostly unimpeded. It was a bit ironic that they were now occupying Istanbul and Rome, two cities that they had once liberated, but there wasn’t much to be done about that now.

Once they reached Berlin, they began preparing for a full invasion.

***

Natalia’s Winter didn’t work on the move, so the Americans were able to chase the Russian army with normal weather, and while the Russians attempted sabotage and guerilla attacks, the American Spymaster, Allan Pinkerton, was an expert in mopping up such rogues.

If anything, the American army only strengthened as they approached Berlin.

***

As the siege began on Berlin, a blizzard came not long after. However, at this point, it wasn’t much more than an inconvenience to the Americans and Japanese. The Russian army had been left exiled, undersupplied, and battered. They could hold for a few hours at most.

Even the guerilla troops that were sent behind the American and Japanese lines weren’t able to meet their objectives, being promptly crushed by Okita and Pinkteron.

However, most of those guerilla units were merely distractions to let just one slip under the radar…

***

The snowstorm raged as the Kurotai escorted Keitaro and Toko’s APC through the outskirts of Berlin behind the frontline. But just as the APC stopped to reposition itself, a Russian soldier emerged from a nearby building and fired a rocket launcher, blowing the vehicle to bits.

The APC was left a charred husk as fighting ensued between the Kurotai and the Russian guerillas. However, most importantly, Yuri Chekhov had revealed himself, ready to face off against the Black Knight and the Black Maiden.

“What did I tell you?” Keitaro said as he watched the battle from a vantage point with a pair of binoculars. “I knew they’d try something like this.”

Musashi, Tomoe, and Toko all watched along with him. It was a bit sad to watch, like a mouse just about to touch the cheese on a mousetrap.

“Well, let’s get going.” Keitaro stood up. “Musashi, Tomoe, you cover me and protect Toko. I’ll handle Yuri myself.”

Keitaro jumped into action, rushing to the battlefield.

He ground to a halt as he locked eyes with Yuri. “Looking for me!?”

Yuri grunted as he grit his teeth.

“You really need to do better than that!” Keitaro smirked. “It’s a wonder you made it this far if you still think cheap tricks like that will work!”

Yuri responded with fury, using Power to strengthen his legs and lunging towards Keitaro like a bullet with his fist raised.

As Yuri punched, Keitaro held up his hands to block and tried to dodge, but it didn’t work and was sent flying by the sheer force of the hit, thankfully landing softly in a pile of snow.

Keitaro wheezed as he tried to get up. He got hit in the shoulder and he couldn’t move his arm.

“How was that for a cheap trick?!” Yuri walked towards him, ready to finish the job.

“My trick was cheaper…” He coughed. “Check your hand…”

Yuri looked only to see that it was starting to disintegrate into black dust. “W-what!? What did you do!?”

“Not bad, huh? Destruction… That’s my Ability… It lets me destroy anything I touch… You shouldn’t have rushed in so blindly if you didn't first know my Ability…”

“You bastard!” Yuri cried out as he revved up another punch to finish Keitaro off for good.

But just as he was about to slam down his fist, a steel rod rocketed from behind, going through his chest.

He looked down and blinked. The steel rod was halfway stuck inside him. A second later, another tore through him. He tried looking over his shoulder, trying to find who he overlooked, but that was interrupted as another steel rod punched through him, and then another, and another.

Yuri was turned into a pin cushion as a flurry of steel rods pierced his body, and he lived until the very last one that went directly through his Core, shattering it into glowing red shards.

As Yuri’s Core was destroyed, he finally slumped over into the snow. Keitaro had seen the entire scene from only a couple feet away, yet it hadn’t even phased him. He fell onto his back, the excruciating pain from Yuri’s attack finally hitting him.

“Keitaro!” It was a familiar voice.

Barely raising his head, he saw Jack in the distance running towards him.

“Keitaro! Are you all right!?” He kneeled down next to him.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine…”

“You shouldn’t have gone ahead like that, you knew we were coming.”

“Yeah, I guess so…”

Keitaro had shared his plan with Jack and Ella in advance. He was meant to serve as a decoy while Jack ambushed Yuri with his Ability, Ironwork, but Keitaro had confronted Yuri earlier than planned, putting himself in great danger.

“Keitaro!” It was Toko. “A-are you okay, Keitaro!?”

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry.” Now that Toko was here, he was trying to hide his condition.

“You really need to get some medical attention.” Ella was here now too.

It wasn’t long until Keitaro was carried away. His injury actually wasn’t too bad and he’d make a speedy recovery. Knights and Maidens were also more resilient than normal humans which certainly helped.

However, as Keitaro and Toko were away from the frontline, the war ended. The Russian army was defeated, Berlin was taken, and Natalia Stashevskaya, the Red Maiden, was killed. From what Keitaro heard, she had accepted the failure of Moscow and her death with grace.

That left only New York and Tokyo left in the Genesis Tournament. Whether they liked it or not, the last battle was here. Keitaro Owari, the Black Knight, and Toko Owari, the Black Maiden, vs. Jack Butler, the White Knight, and Ella Appleton, the White Maiden.