Military Movements

I woke up in a cold sweat that morning.

This dream felt more real than any other - as if I'd been taken straight from my bed last night and thrown onto the battlefield of that vision.

I was there, in the same armor and wielding the same sword that sat in my room, while I was holding a golden shield that I'd never seen before. I ran along a blasted hell-scape, with nothing but dirt and snow, jumping over the dead and cutting through scores of terrifying monsters that I'd never seen before.

We were moving towards a massive fortress. It was unnaturally black, and its outline clashed deeply with the red sky above.

There were people to my side, wearing armor I'd never seen before with symbols I didn't recognize.

"Push up, lads! Push onward to the Demon King or all is lost!" One of the men said to the rest of us, just as a lance found its mark. It pierced his armor, through and through, and he fell without a sound.

Another lance was falling towards me, and I threw my shield up just in-time to hear the THUD sound of it bouncing off. My HUD was also up, and I saw the shield bar decrease ever-so-slightly. I reached out to the man that had just fallen, but another man grabbed my arm and told me to keep moving.

The dream seemed to skip time, and we were now at the gates of the the black fortress. There were now fewer of us.

Two men went to open the doors, but instead the doors shattered and the force threw all of us off our feet, myself included. The two were crushed by the flying debris.

The HUD flashed red, as I saw the HP bar decrease, and a massive horned beast with wings hunched through the doors and let a monstrous scream.

As I got up, it reached behind it his back to pull out a two-sided axe and pointed straight at me. I picked my sword off the ground, and charged towards it with those who were left.

Then I woke up.

Was this really just a dream?

I could feel the sweat soaking into the cushioning of my helmet, the resistance of the sword through the "undead soldiers," as my HUD called them, and the pain of my neck when my bounced up and down on the ground as I landed.

Maybe so.

Maybe I was just imagining myself in one of those endgame quests, wearing my OP armor, in some super-heroic battle. After all, it wouldn't have been the the first time.

When I was an 8th grader, I did have a couple of dreams every now and then about how I was a member of a secret organization of a super-powered teenagers that fought off otherworldly spirits that possessed people at my school. I remember that I had to rescue the cutie that was our Class President at the time from the evil Student Council, and she was so happy that we started to date.

Now that I think of it, maybe I shouldn't have admitted to something so sad. Eight-Grader Syndrome really hit me hard that year.

Putting it out of my mind, I sat up in my bed. After stretching my back in either direction to get those nice pops out, I walked over to the windowsill and looked out at the town below. People were bustling around the avenue, putting up the final touches on the street-side decorations.

The sun was rising in the distance, washing the town in beautiful sunlight. It wouldn't be long before the military parade began, and the town was finally prepared to see their friends and family off to the long campaign ahead.

I hadn't had a chance to bathe the night before, so after I threw on my track-suit I made my way to the washroom with my cleaning supplies. Typically I was led there by servants, but I probably woke up before they could make their way here. It was fine, though.

Getting naked in-front of a bunch of women and having them wash me kind of embarrassed me anyways, so doing it all myself was preferable.

After getting refreshed, I made my way back to my room to put my armor on and do a bit of packing.

Casually strolling through the now-empty castle halls and whistling, I opened the door to my room to find my entire party, with their armored suits and outfits, in my room.

Lionel and Tonya sat on the end of the bed closest to the door, while Lucius and Stormbreaker sat on the other, creating a visible weight imbalance. Shireda Straozek, our newest party member, and Maximilian were gawking at my armor and sword – Maximilian was trying in-vain to pick the sword up off its stand, which refused to budge, and Shireda was staring at the armor in the same way Tonya was a couple of days prior – with awe.

I wonder if this is part of what Orion said about my equipment? The sword is light as a feather for me, but it's as heavy as a boulder if anyone else tries to pick it up?

Nicia was sitting on the windowsill and looking out at the town below, while Apollo was examining the contents of my closet, or rather the lack thereof.

I just stood in the doorway of my own room as the intruders talked among themselves or were examining and manhandling my things, at-least until Tonya saw me standing there.

"Where the hell have you been?! I told you to be ready for our meeting with Demeter, you moron!" Tonya had stood up, and walked up until she was right in face as she both. I looked up at the roof to avoid her eyes.

"Oh I...I was getting ready. I came back to put on my armor."

I could see Apollo looking at what I was wearing, and then back to the closet, and then back to me.

"What is it?" I asked, just wanting him to come out with it.

"Hero, with the exception of this gray outfit, all your clothes are identical." Apollo said in a whisper, but still loud anything for everyone who wanted to listen could. I was about to say that it was all cool and that I didn't care, but Tonya interjected before I could finish.

"A Royal Acolyte was sent back into the same spot that Daisuke was summoned while the spell was still active. He was asleep when he was summoned, so they surmised that he was in his room at the time. And they didn't think that Daisuke would like the clothing from our world." She was in her armor, and when she crossed her arms it knocked against each other. "They were told to grab everything they could carry and come back. It was supposed to take about ten or so minutes, but they came back in two."

Her lips frowned for a moment before she caught it.

"Apparently the noise they created brought on undue attention, and the acolyte only had a moment to grab a few articles of clothing before they got charged and beaten by, and I quote, 'a crying, insane little girl that had a club.'"

I see Haruka gave them a warm welcome.

Tonya turned to me.

"Would you know this girl was, Daisuke?" She asked inquisitively, and she raised her armored fist. "Because if I ever go to your world, I'd like to give her a beating myself!"

Heh. You're acting like you're the one who got beat up.

For a moment – the image of an armored Tonya getting beat up by an third-year middle-schooler in pink PJ's popped up. I had to work pretty hard to hide the smile that was rising up on my face.

But I couldn't take the chance that she would actually do that, if she found her way there.

"Nope, nope. No idea at all. I'm going to go put my armor on." I said, pointing and walking towards my armor stand, eagerly trying to change the subject.

It didn't work, and Tonya went on a little tirade about all the evil things she'd do to Haruka if she met her. I didn't know why she was so angry, but I had learned a pretty good way of tuning her out most of the time.

I just quietly hummed to myself as I threw the breastplate over my head and securely fastened the armor plates to the rest of my body.

Now that the armor was on, with the exception of my helmet, it was now time to put on my sword. Maximilian and Shireda watched quietly as I put it on, as opposed to everyone else who was doing their own thing – like Tonya who was ranting to her brother, who was just smiling and nodding.

When I picked up the sword and started messing with the latch on it, he started laughing like he couldn't believe himself.

"Now, Hero, I know for a fact that between the two of us, I am the stronger one. So how can you possibly be handling a sword that heavy with a single hand?"
"Ancient magic?" I didn't have any real answer, so all I could say was a guess.

"Sure enough!" He shrugged his shoulders, and seemed satisfied with the half-ass answer I gave him.

I saw Lionel stand up in the corner of my eye and walk to the door.

"Alright, everyone. Now that the Hero is done getting suited-up, and Apollo has generously packed his clothes – I think we're ready to to meet with the Lord Commander." He opened the door and gestured for everyone to come out.

I patted around my utility belt to make sure I had everyone I needed: belt, potion containers, coin purse, and so on. With helmet in-hand, I got the bag of clothes that Apollo packed and left the room I'd called home for the last month or so.

We made our way through the halls of the castle, crossing the bridge that separated the two buildings, and to the second level of the Royal Army Garrison. We made our way to, what Lionel described as, the "Officer's Club."

It was a relatively large room, interspersed with chairs and tables. The regal paintings of what I assume are famous officers and soldiers, landscapes, and the heads of various hunted animals lined the walls. It had a lavishness that didn't seem to fit the more spartan rooms and halls that comprised the rest of the garrison.

In-front of the fireplace there was a long wooden table with various older officers, with the Lord Commander himself among them. The rest looked looked slight younger, with suits of ornate armor with various designs and varying colors of uniforms beneath. I assume the variety in uniforms were because of the multi-national nature of this campaign. They all had either an aquila, bear, shield, or lion on their armor – so I guess that's how they were differentiated.

"Good. The Hero and his party have arrived." The Lord Commander parted with the group of officers and went directly to me, saluted, and moved to shake Lionel's hand.

"The King will surely miss your presence, Lionel. But I'm glad you've accepted a role in our forces." He then turned to me.

"And you, young man, you did good work a week ago. Every single man and woman of our combined armies knows of you, and they are sure of their victory. They know that the battles ahead are going to be hard, but they believe in you." He looked at me up and down. "But if what our scouts say is true, then you'll need to utilize every ounce of training you've received, and then some. Don't rely on your legendary equipment, Hero – rely on your skills as a soldier, and the men and women at your side."

He turned back towards the table, and towards the officers standing there. When we approached, they saluted and then returned to their normal stances.

"These men and women, Hero, are the generals that will be leading this phase of the campaign. The Kingdom of the Aquila has the most intact army, and is the majority of our forces, but these countries are their homes, and their soldiers and officers know the land. Plus – they have a score to settle."

He pointed towards a laid-out map on the table. This was the first-time I'd ever seen the lay-out of this world, and the only thing I'd known prior to this was that there were six countries besides this one.

Aquila sat roughly on the most eastern part of the massive contenent, and three arrows moved directly west and southwest. Going west was the Kingdom of Byzantia, with a bear. Southwest was the Teria Union, with a shield. And at the far west was the Estronian Republic, with a lion. They were labeled "2", "1", and "3" respectively.

There were other countries with their own insignia, but they didn't seem to be so important at the moment.

He looked towards us, and began to point towards the table.

"The plan that we've established is this, Hero: The First Army, comprised of the Royal Army and the Terian Guard, will move due south to engage the invaders. Likewise: the Second Army, composed of our forces as well as both loyalist and rebel force under an, albeit temporary, united flag will move to free Byzantia."

I recognized the name "Byzantia" as the country that Stormbreaker hailed from, and rather than listening to the lord commander, he was looking straight at a general with the bear on his armor. The man pretended that he didn't see him.

Lord Commander Demeter glanced at the two of them, but continued on without a word.

"The Third Army will be split up and act as a reserve force for the two armies." He moved his finger towards Estronia. "Once we've reclaimed those two countries from the Darkness, the armies of those countries will remain, and Aquilan soldiers will unite with the Third Army – which are composed of Royal Army and Estronian milita." He started poking at the Lion symbol. "Our scouts say they're amassing an army in the former-Republic, using the two other countries as a buffer against the invasion they know is coming. We need to take these countries back as soon as possible, and then quickly move on."

He moved his finger back and looked towards me.

"Everyone here knows this, but you may not. Our enemy utilizes both the willing – and the unwilling – as a part of its forces. The insane and desperate, which now worship the Demon General, fight willingly. Captured forces, slaves, criminals, and so on, fight so unwillingly and are under the thrall of a local leader – someone said to be rewarded by the Demon General himself, in-exchange for some unknown action, with ruler-ship of a country. And this leads to our next issue..."

There was a beat of silence, and he impatiently called on Lucius to speak.

"Ah." Lucius cleared his throat. "Before we reached my Temple, Daisuke, do you recall the first person you killed?"

"Ye-yeah, that..."Dark Acolyte," right?"

I remember him.

He got a way better fate than he deserved, to be honest.

"Hm. Yes. Well..." He paused for a moment. "Well, when he said that he was 'chosen' by the Demon General..."

"The new rulers of the conquered lands know we've summoned you here, Hero." Demeter cut off Lucius. "The day after we destroyed the cultists, without any way of them knowing that their comrades had failed, they immediately started a massive growth of their forces."

Uh, oh.

"In-short, my friends, they not only know that we're coming, but they also know that the Legendary Hero of myth is coming. They know that the reincarnation of the Legendary Hero that stopped them in their hour of triumph a thousand years ago is here."

"So what does that mean for us?" One of the generals asked, nervously.

"It means that plans we made for the Hero to join us in glorious battle must be changed. He cannot accompany us to battle." Demeter responded, frankly.

"Then if we can't have him join us, then we've lost before we'd even begun!" Another officer yelled, and the crowd started bickering amongst themselves.

Demeter pounded on the table with his fist and the group went silent.

"You were eager to take back your country with our allied forces even before we summoned the hero!" He yelled at the man who just spoke. "The plan remains the same as before. The Hero may accompany our armies, but he and his party must part ways once we meet the enemy on the battlefield.

He turned back to me. "To put it simply – if you join us in battle, the enemy will focus solely on you. They'll ignore the soldiers around them, and will sacrifice their army just to kill you. Even you cannot fight an entire army."

He was right.

The hero before me was the reason they lost it all in the first place, so they'd risk it all to kill me. If I died, then they might not be able to summon a replacement in time and this "Demon General" would be able to finally invade this Kingdom unimpeded.

"Gentlemen, as a result of this, I have modified I plan to account for this. The hero and his party will first accompany the First Army, going south. Once contact is made with the enemy, he will split off and move deeper in the country. We'll still defeat the army and push them back, but the Hero will aid in our advance by freeing local towns along his way to the capital and create further problems for the defenders. Once we have either decimated them or pushed them to their capital, we shall lay siege to it as the party moves in to kill whatever trash resides as ruler. We will do this for each country in this campaign."

He paused for a moment, waiting to see if there were any dissenting opinions.

When no one spoke up, he continued.

"We may repeat this for the second phase, depending on how this goes. And since there's no disagreement, our meeting is concluded." He stood up straight, and looked at each of the men that stood before him. "We may have the Hero at our side, but he cannot defeat the Darkness by himself. We will take on the armies of the Darkness, and crush them beneath our boots! I've seen the men and women under your commands, and every one of those tens of thousands are sure of themselves! They know they can win, and they can taste it! Now go to them, spill the blood of those that would see us as sacrifices and slaves to their Demon General, and take back your countries!"

"Yes, Lord Commander!" They said in unison.

"Hero, go with the First Army, as I said. After your seperation from them, you'll have free reign to do whatever you feel is necessary to hinder the enemy warmachine and strike at their leader." He pointed to Lucius. "Should they ever have need of you, for whatever reason, Lucius has a magical device that our Generals can use to relay messages with you." He saluted me again. "Good luck Hero, we all believe in you. Take the fight to them."

He turned away and continued looking at the maps.

We turned away and saw that Stormbreaker was waiting at the door as the Generals left the room. His size intimidated most of them, which caused them look away from them and scuttle past him as fast as they could once they reached the door.

I thought he was just eager to get moving, but then he grabbed the General of the Byzantian Army by the arm. His bodyguards unsheathed their swords and held it to his throat, but he just ignored it.

The rest of us quickly crossed the room to see what was up.

"...You promised those townspeople you would protect their escape, you coward." Stormbreaker said in a deep, growling voice.

Is this what he sounded like? I' never heard him speak.

"I made no such promise. I simply chose to-" Stormbreaker squeezed his arm tighter, and the General led out a small cry of pain.

"You choose your life over those innocent people – our countrymen! They would have been lambs to the slaughter, if not for me." He violently threw the man to the ground. Two of the General's bodyguards picked him up off the floor and helped him out, while another kept his sword tracked onto Stormbreaker.

"Is there, uh, anything you need to let out, Stormbreaker?" Maximillian asked, with Stormbreaker looking through the door that the general ran through.

"I suppose not."

"The military parade seems to be underway." Lionel announced,as he stared out of the window, and turned to us with his trademark smile. "Shall we join them?"

The nine of us walked through the corridors of the garrison, finding our way down a set of stairs that led directly into the courtyard.

It could fit a reasonably large number of people, as they did while they gathered everyone in the capital's defense, but today they had removed all of the training equipment and seats to make extra room. Still, they had a small section dedicated for the horses of officers and such, and the rest of the courtyard was standing-room only. Soldiers constantly poured from the door next to us and followed the orders of an officer barking at the new arrivals.

They ran over to where foot-prints were painted on the ground, looked around to make sure there was enough room between them, stood at attention, and then began marching towards the town below. As we were guided towards the horses, the footprints seemed to be filled nearly as soon they were vacated.

Wait a minute.

We're being guided to horses?

There were eight horses – two of them had saddles with pretty high quality leather with a variety of pouches, on-top of a blue and white clothe with the Aquila emblazoned on it. These apparently were the Adrastia duo's personal horses.

All but one of the rest were relatively plain, with plain leather saddles, with one of them being quickly replaced for a two-seated saddle since Shireda had joined us too late to get her own. Lucius didn't seem all that pleased with the arrangement, but I'm sure he'll get used to it.

The final horse, which I figured was mine, had a dark-brown leather saddle, decorated with gold-painted metal. Under it, the torso of the horse was covered with some navy fabric with yet more gold trim.

The previous hero really liked their gold.

On the clothe that ran past the saddle, towards the hind legs, the head of a raptor with a pair of crossed lightning bolts behind it was sown on both sides.

"Do you like it, Hero?" Maximilian looked down to me as he asked. "Lucius had told the armorer that none of the original hero's riding equipment was recovered back then. I had a leather-smith who owed me a favor put that together. And Tonya went to a local tailor to have that made for you as well!"

"...You didn't have to tell him that..." Tonya quietly said. Maximilian moved his horse closer to Tonya's and dramatically leaned into her, with his hand on his ear.

"What was that Tonya? I couldn't quite hear you!" He yelled, provoking Tonya to unleash a flurry of uncontrolled slaps and punches in his direction. He laughed as he moved his horse out of arms-length.

"I didn't say anything! Anyway, Daisuke, get on your damn horse already!"

Ah.

Could I really admit this – in this particular moment?

In movies, it all looks so easy and the horses didn't look so...massive. In the movies they can just hop on-board even without a saddle.

But, I'd never actually seen one before. Not in person. I didn't expect it to be taller than I always.

"What's the matter, Hero? Let's go!" Apollo yelled impatiently.

I guess I better try to at-least get on.

There was something I could put my foot in, so I raised my foot until it was nearly in my chest and just stood there for a moment as the horse moved back-and-forth. I think what I should do next is just get on, right?
I put my hands on the saddle and tried to push myself upon onto the horse. But I could feel the saddle sliding and I stopped. I gave it another shot, and another, and another.

Eventually I was able to just cling to the horse and climb up enough to throw me other leg over.

"...Okay. Now, lead us out Hero. The Lieutenent of one of these formations should let us through before they begin." Lionel had a certain eagerness in his voice.

Should I admit it now? That I can't ride this?

Suddenly a window forced its way to the forefront of my HUD.

Guide: Riding Horses

I guess I can ride it.

Using its reigns, I turned the horse towards the direction of the small gate that held the horses in and gingerly applied my spurs just enough to get it to casually walk forward.

A formation of silver-armored soldiers had just begun to march forward when the person in-charge ordered it to halt with a loud shout.

"Forward – march!" I heard him shout as we departed the garrison.

I looked behind me as we strolled downhill and saw Tonya and Lionel each staggered behind me, leading two of our party-members. Lucius and Shireda rode directly opposite to me in the back.

We quickly found our way behind the next formation and was showered with confetti floating in the air. Rose pedals littered the ground, and citizens of all ages were cheering us on.

Some were yelling at the names of some of the soldiers. Some of them wished them good luck while other joked that their friend should try to come back in one piece

Children were waving a number of small flags, and I saw a woman run into the formation to hug one of the officers, kissing them goodbye.

Most of the crowd was focused on their friends and family, but some of them focused on me when they saw me approaching. I could hear them telling me that they loved me, how they believed in me, wishing me luck, and so on. I waved at them and smiled, but I felt uncomfortable with this heap of praise I was getting for things I hadn't even done yet.

People were throwing roses at me, and I could feel the hear them lightly hiting the armor before they fell to the ground.

I honestly tried to catch some of them because, while I didn't like the attention, I did like the sentiment. I managed to get a little handful of the thorny flowers, as did the the others that were following me.

Tt was difficult to hear much of anything else through the cheers and the slow, repetitive metallic knocks of armor and weapons marching down the street. I turned away from the crowd and looked forwards, towards the marching soldiers.

Each formation had its own flag. And I could see two flags marching in unison in the far distance. The Aquilan soldiers typically wore armor with a standard metallic finish ontop of a gray clothe outfit. In-between the formations of Aquilan soldiers, there were others that wore the same armor but they wore black underneath. They must be the Terian Guard.

The street was long, and the soldiers marched slowly. I thought we'd be going straight to the gate ahead of us, but I heard shouts in the distance and column slowed down before making a left turn.

We made our way to the adjacent avenue, and proceeded towards the gate again. On this street, there were civilians but there were also the brown-robed figures of the Cult of the Chosen. People gave them a wide birth, but they stood in silence and kneeled on the sidewalk as we passed. Orion with the same aides as before stood behind them, smiling as we passed.

We passed the thick castle walls and marched further down a stone road that was still lined with cheering people. We made our way within a massive wooden structure, which Tonya said that the entire First Army would muster before going south.

It seemed to go on forever – when everyone had finally arrived, which took a few hours for this portion of the parade to finish, each soldier of the thirty-thousand man army was standing at-attention. We were positioned in-front of the army, along with the army's command staff, and before a balcony that overlooked the army.

After waiting quite a while longer, doing nothing but sitting on my horse as I could hear the crowd in the rafters above having the time of their lives, I finally saw what we were waiting for.

The King, flanked by Princesses Meine and Isabelle, came to forefront of the balcony. He bade to the crowd to quiet down, which it did rapidly.

"Brave men and women of the First Army – their acolytes, soldiers, and officers – and the Legendary Hero and his party, whom join you this day – today is the first step taken on the long road that lies ahead!" His deep voice roared through the arena. "Aquilans and Terians march together to free the Terian people and their land from the hateful shackles of the Darkness, and cleanse the land of the innumerable and unspeakable horrors that plague it!"

He paused for a moment, maybe catching his breathe.

"Teria may have been the last to fall but it, alongside Byzantia, shall be the first to be freed!" The crowd started the cheer, and the King looked down at the Terian General that sat on his horse besides us. "When you led your refugees and what remained of your honorable army to our border, I was at the border personally to receive you with our army. I promised the battered among you that you wouldn't be exiled from your country for long, and I have delivered upon my promise!"

The General and his staff bowed their heads.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Much of my men had volunteered their lives to cover my people's escape from the monsters that over-ran us." His words had a hint of sadness to them, but he spoke with such discipline that it was hard to tell. "Thank you for your generosity and in both your name a well as my former Lord's, and the fallen, we may now exact vengeance from those fiends."

The Terian portions of the army roared to live, and their cheers drowned out the crowd above.

"Of course! I do not wish to keep you for too long from fulfilling your wishes, so allow to me see you off personally before the army marches south." He and his daughters quickly turned around and made their way down to us, emerging through a door that was directly below the balcony.

They made their way to the Aquilan commanders that were to our right. The commanders saluted the group, and they talked for a few minutes. Even though they were only a few feet away, the crowd was so loud that I couldn't really hear much about it.

They then made their way to us, or really just me in particular. Isabelle was her usual energetic, happy self and I could see Meine shooting Tonya, and then me, the evil eye.

"Hero, I am beyond estatic to see you with us. And I see you have finally received your armor!" He gestured towards my equipment with a smile on his face.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I actually just got it a couple of days ago."

"It suits you. Mighty armor for a mighty hero!" He laughed heartily. "I wish you great fortune, Hero. And Lionel?"

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Please do protect the Hero as if you were protecting me, my friend." The two nodded, and the group was about to proceed to the Terian generals as Isabelle rushed over to me and started pulling on my leg.

"Come on, Daisuke! I need to give you something!" She so happy she was actually hopping up and down and shuffling side-to-side.

Please don't fall off the horse, I said to myself as I struggled to get off.

As soon as I turned to face her, she pulled my hand towards her and started tying some kind of bracelet to my wrist. It had the same white and blue fabric that her dress consisted of.

"This is a friendship bracelet!" She giggled as she finished up. "I had my personal acolyte imbue it with magic! She said that it would help you heal from the wounds you get in battle, so you wouldn't have to see an apothecary as much."

I didn't know how it would help anymore than what I already had, but if that's case then it might stack pretty well. Plus, her smile was so heartwarming that I couldn't help but accept it.

Please know this: I'm not a lolicon. I just happen to melt around this girl.

She quickly gave me a hug, and waved me goodbye as she and her father and sister went to the Terian command staff. Her blue ponytails bounced up and down as she ran to them.

I was smiling like an idiot as I turned to get back on my horse, and I could see Tonya looking at me in absolute disgust. As if she were telling me to die telepathically.

I'm not a lolicon, Tonya.

A few minutes passed as the King spoke with the Terian commanders. The Terian general shook the King's hand, as well as both Princesses. After they finished, he looked towards the Aquilan general, and men from both groups turned towards the Army and started shouting orders.

The two generals and their staff rode over in our direction.

"Well-met, Hero!" The Aquilan commander spoke first. He looked like he was roughly fifty years old and had a fairly smooth face. "Forgive me, I didn't think to introduce myself while we met with the Lord Commander – I am Commander Diomedes Altox. I am co-commander of this grand army, and commander of the Aquilan compliment."

He gestured to his Terian counterpart. He had a sharp face, and his deep blue eyes matched perfectly with his long blonde hair.

"I'll be honest with you, Hero. When Commander Altox told me that the 'Legendary Hero' would be accompanying us in this campaign, I accused him of being an old drunkard." Altox let out an embarrassed laugh, and he rubbed the back of his helmet. "Oh don't look at me like that, we joke around like that! We're good friends."

I looked between the two of them, and they were nodding in unison.

"I am Commandant Emi D'arc – I am also co-commander of the First Army, alongside Diomedes, and supreme commander of all remaining Terian forces. It may surprise you, Hero, but the scouts say our soldiers fight-on in the Union." A look of determination came upon his face. "So it's especially important for me that we make haste to save my countrymen."

"As it is for me." Altox steped up. "In a country taken by the darkness, I'm touched by their enduring bravery. Their will to live shall be rewarded."

The three groups of us waited until roughly half the army had passed. As we waited, my party made small-talk with the two commanders. They avoided subjects concerning the Darkness, focusing on things that was relaxing and funny.

As for me, I couldn't think of anything but what I was getting into. From the few words they spoke, they made it sound like Teria in its current state was some sort of hell-on-earth.

I imagine every other country is like that right now, but the confidence I had the previous night had disappeared and I started seriously doubting if I was ready to proceed.

But it was too late to refuse at this point, anyways.

Still, I couldn't help but tremble nervously about what was waiting for me there.

Tonya rode up to me, and I felt her hand on the pauldron of my armor. I looked over and she had reached down from my pauldron and held my hand. She had a smile on her face as she looked down at our interlocked hands.

Within a few seconds she saw me looking at her, wondering what the heck she was doing, and she frowned and looked away.

"Don't give me that look, you pervert! I-I just wanted to make sure you were alright before we left!"

Thanks?

"It's okay, Tonya. Thank you for checking up on me." She looked surprised, and her face became flushed.

We spent the ten minutes like that. Just sitting together on our horses, in silence, with my hand in hers, waiting for the army to march past.

"Company – halt!" One of the men leading a formation shouted, and the army came to a rapid halt.

"Join us, ladies and gents." Commander Altox said to my party. "We've got a long ride ahead of us."

With that we followed the two commanders, as well as their staff, into the middle of the marching column.

This was the start of our south-bound journey to the Terian Union, and the first step to saving this new world from the Darkness.