- Dawn of War -

Elaine felt a knot in her stomach, a deadly premonition of things to come. She wanted nothing more than to abandon her post and follow Taro and Akari into the spire. Instead she led an army of three hundred strong amongst other armies all with the intent of destroying the Tower of Babel.

Meanwhile, a demonic battle continues to rage on, just under the clouds. The black and white serpent would coil and turn into each other. Aoi looks on in desperate hope.

“Please be ok… Asmodeus.” she’d whisper under her breath.

Despite the disruptions Taro and his friends caused, the Pale Serpent still had armies loyal to her. Roughly five thousand soldiers station themselves in front of the spire.

Lyla’s armies reached up to three thousand in total. It was going to be an uphill battle. They could no longer employ the mine trick due to their need to advance. So new tactics were required for them to conquer the Tower. For eons that will come to pass this war would be called… The war to reach heaven.

“Agghh I’m not smart like Taroo!” Lyla shouts, banging her head into the wall. “I don't know how to plan these things!”

“Babe! Relax!” David tries to calm her down. “We just need to rush in, no? What’s the problem?...”

Lyla turns and snaps on him,

“No! I hate it when people die! If we do that, countless lives will be lost needlessly… We need something more, something to minimize our losses and expedite the end of battle.” Lyla was lost in thought until…

“Ohhh my god! I’m sorry Davvee!” she cries into her arms sobbing, “I shouldn’t have snapped at you my love! Could you ever forgive me??!”

“No baby! It’s …. OKay!” David reassures her yet still shocked at the fact that she would snap at him, “It’s just…”

“W-What?...” She wipes a tear from her eye,

“Heh… You’re going to make an awesome queen. Hehehe…”

……

Inside the tower, Akari and Taro make it to the inner sanctum.

“Let me off…” Taro asks,

“Oh. Okay…” Akari gently lets him down, “H-Hold on are you okay?... You look paler than usual...”

“Oh it’s nothing, just feeling light headed is all.” Taro brushes off her concern. She looks on, worried.

“LIke I said it’s weird,” he tries to change the subject, “Lucifer said we were close. The question is how close.”

“Right, but in a massive tower like this. Close could be relatively quite far for a snake that size.” Akari protests,

“Good point but a few things stuck out to me.” he starts, “When I called out Shion’s name randomly, I was hoping that she could hear me, but that may not have been such a ludicrous thought… She slammed me into the wall then. She told me to shut up specifically. Why would that matter if she wasn’t near?”

“Remember when the wall cracked?” Taro concludes, “I’m a pretty frail guy, I don’t think it’s possible for me to do that kind of damage, do you?”

They both look at the wall where the crack was.

“S-She’s in there?...” Akari trembles.

……..

In the war room, David taps his fingers as a makeshift drumstick on the table.

One two three four

One two three four

One two three four

Many of the generals in the room were infuriated by the needless noise being made by the hapless oaf, but no one would dare tell off the queen’s lover.

One two three four

One two three four

One two three four

Lyla sits with her head in her hands deep in thought on how to approach the tower. But then hears a guard muttering under their breath,

“That needless counting…”

“AH!” Lyla shouts,

Everyone gathers around the ditzy queen.

“I’ve got it!” she proudly proclaims, “One Two Three and Four!”

“W-What?... What does that mean babe?!” David combs his hair,

“Rolling Barrage!” She proudly proclaims making finger guns, “I heard about it in history class!(Though not really!)”

The generals look at each other in confusion, naturally they’ve never heard of such a thing.

“One, two, three, four, Go! Go! Go! Ahahaha!” she cackles,

“Ouhh!” David coos as though he understood the incoherent babble, “You’re a genius! Wowow! …Baby!~"

The generals slap their foreheads and groans as they feel like they’ve a long campaign ahead of them…

“We need lots and I mean lots! Big Big! launcher things! Four of em! All along the length of the battlefield!" she excitedly squeals,

The queen makes mimicries of explosions along the assault width of the map.

“You heard her!” David orders the generals,

“W-What?... I don’t understand…” he protests,

“Ahh this is why amateurs are so…” David peeks from his pose, “We need four rows of artillery all along the width of the attack front. We’re going to try a rolling barrage.”

The general stood dumbstruck that he could decipher the squealish queen.

“Well?! Hurry! Time is of the essence! Alert all of the soldiers that their window to move is four seconds!” he barks,

“Y-Yes sir! Right away!” the general scrambles away to get to his task,

David walks behind the sitting Lyla and drapes his arms around in a loving hug.

“Aw! I didn’t know I was engaged to such a smartie poo!~” David chirps

“Huu!~ It was only through our Wuv!~ that I could come up with such a thing!~”‘ she swoons,

The lovey dovey couple continue to baby talk each other as the armies set up.

……

An array of artillery were stationed all along the length of the battlefront. Those without adjustable peripherals were fitted with wheels. Soldiers were stationed similarly just 100 meters from the artillery.

Elaine was stationed on the front lines.

“(Taro.. Akari… Please be ok…)” the Justiciar thinks to herself,

She recaps her orders.

“REMEMBER! YOU HAVE FOUR SECONDS AFTER EACH BARRAGE!”

“DO NOT OVEREXTEND! BUT DO NOT HESISTATE EITHER! ONLY MOVE FORWARD!”

“READY?!”

“HOOORAHH!!”
her army roars their approval,

“THEN LET JUSTICE BE DONE! LEST THE HEAVENS FALL!”

*BBWAAAAAAHHHHHHH

The rapid explosion secedes and war cries fill the air.

…….

High above, in the Tower of Babel. A lone slime overlooks the ongoing chaos from the tip of the spire.

Thus marks the beginning of the war.