"You should be sleeping," Sunny said gently as Josephine landed beside him on the city wall.
"Sleeping?! My people are getting attacked, and you tell me I should be sleeping?!" Josephine retorted, her voice sharp with disbelief.
"Hold on… Your people are still in the training ground, all cultivating."
"…Huh?" Josephine was dumbfounded. "If they are all cultivating, then who is fighting the Wendigo—"
Her words died in her throat as she shifted her stunned gaze to the battlefield. Millions of Mercenaries surrounded the Wendigos in a perfect, impenetrable circle, while Star, Nicolas, Nioh, and Blood Eye surged into the fray.
"These are?!" she gasped.
Sunny walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Yep, these are our vanguard… Our people don't have to risk their lives in war."
Josephine remained speechless, her eyes fixed on the Mercenaries, who were now engaged in what could only be described as a heated battle, though it was quickly becoming a massacre.
"But still! You should have woken me up! What if something unexpected happened?" she demanded, finally regaining her composure.
"Nothing will, I made sure of it," Sunny smirked, inhaling the scent of her hair. "Now, keep your weapon. You are my Queen; there's no need to raise a weapon. Just sit back and watch."
Josephine relaxed a little, nodding slowly.
_
'What are those two doing?! There's a battle before them, at least thirty miles ahead, but they are what?! Romancing??' Mila thought with a frown from her vantage point in the tallest building.
"What should we do, Mother?" the young man behind her asked.
"Nothing. Retreat. The Lion soldiers aren't needed," she said, her voice laced with an unusual mixture of awe and resignation.
The young man nodded, turning to relay the order. Mila, meanwhile, turned her gaze back to Sunny and Josephine.
'It seems we are finally seeing the light,' she muttered to herself.
___
[At the Battlefield.]
BOOOM!
General Volkov, the Wendigo general, flew backward from an unseen force, landing skillfully on his feet.
"You think I'll go down that easily?!" he bellowed at the four figures before him: Star, Nicolas, Nioh, and Blood Eye.
Star scoffed, a glint of amusement in her eyes. "If we wanted you dead, you would be by now."
"Yes… Just surrender and follow us," Blood Eye added, holding her two SMG guns, both clearly grand-class weapons, ready.
"Fighting us will only lead to your death," Nicolas stated, casually resting his broadsword on his shoulder.
"Why are we even chatting with him? Let's just cut off both his arms and throw him at the King's feet," Nioh said coldly, his voice devoid of emotion.
Volkov's gaze darted around the chaotic battlefield. His soldiers were dropping dead, one by one. Each of his troops was faced by a hundred grand-class Mercenaries; they had no fighting chance whatsoever.
'Fuck!! I should have gained more information before attacking! That stupid Xanor said they only have ten thousand, with the strongest being a master. Then where did all these soldiers and these four monsters come from??!!' Volkov raged internally, turning his gaze back to Star and the others.
"Hahaha! You think I don't have a trump card?!" he laughed, a desperate bravado in his voice. He then commanded: "Show yourselves and kill all these fools!!"
BOOOM!!!
Star's, Nioh's, Nicolas', and Blood Eye's faces subtly changed, a flicker of surprise crossing their features.
__
Sunny and Josephine, watching from the wall, saw massive black worms erupt from the ground, surging directly towards the Mercenaries.
BOOOM!!
{5,000 temporary grand class Mercenaries Destroyed.}
"Are those Mythic Beasts?!" Josephine exclaimed, her eyes wide.
"Demonic Beasts… And there are so many," Sunny observed calmly. He flicked his wrists, and ten million temporary elite-class Mercenary chips materialized in the air.
"Distract them, while the grand-class Mercenaries deliver the final blow," he ordered.
Josephine watched in fascination as the purple chips transformed into purple-clad figures. They landed on the ground with synchronized precision and immediately surged towards the enormous worms.
__
"Hahahah?! You see that?! I am invincible!!" General Volkov yelled, a renewed surge of confidence filling him.
"So annoying," Star muttered.
BOOOM!!!
"…?!"
Volkov and the four commanders turned to the worms. Chains of pure energy held them to the ground, lightning crackled and struck some, while others seemed to be drained of their celestial energy, exploding into a shower of black blood.
"Impossible?! Mercenaries can't use such powerful skills?!!" Volkov exclaimed in utter horror as millions of purple Mercenaries smashed into the remaining worms, attacking them relentlessly.
"…?!"
He took a step back in fear. 'Why does it feel like I brought sheep to fight a pride of lions… We stood no chance from the very start,' he thought, a cold dread seeping into his being.
"Die or surrender!" Star declared, raising a hand above her head. Nioh, Nicolas, and Blood Eye stepped back from her, giving her space.
"Come forth and feast!!" Star commanded.
SWHOOSH!!
Thousands of snakes, each radiating a palpable aura of power, shot out from the ground, rushing towards the still-standing Wendigos and striking with deadly precision.
"GRAAAA!!"
"RRAAAA!"
Painful growls and shrieks echoed across the battlefield as the remaining Wendigos dropped dead.
"You… You guys didn't even go all out!" Volkov asked, his voice filled with shock.
"Of course, you weren't our opponent to begin with, so why would we?" Nioh asked, walking slowly towards him, his expression cold and unyielding. "Thinking you could jump out from the hole you live in and attack our kingdom, what gave you that much gut?!" he continued, still advancing on the General.
"GRAAAAA!!"
General Volkov let out a furious roar, a final desperate burst of defiance, and charged forward. "I have enough!!"
WHOOSH!!
Nioh appeared behind Volkov in an instant. He slashed his sword to the ground, a single clean motion, removing the blood from the blade.
Volkov slowly lowered his gaze to his shoulders, seeing that both his arms had been cleanly severed.
"AHHHHHHH!!!" He shrieked, a raw, agonizing cry as pain shot through his brain.
"Nioh's equipment all provides agility boosts… Among us, only he can try to match up with Star," Blood Eye explained, walking towards the General, who had dropped to his knees, black blood gushing from his wounds.
"You all will die! The rest of my soldiers would be in your city by now! You still lose!" Volkov screamed, his voice strained.
"Oh… Only if they're still alive," Star responded calmly.
BOOOOOM!!!
BOOOOOM!!!
Volkov's gaze snapped to the city, some miles away from it. Two massive explosions occurred from underneath it, bursting open the ground.
"This?!" He was stunned, his eyes wide with incomprehension.
"Yep… Your troops are all dead," Star confirmed, her voice devoid of pity.
"…The… The Emperor will have your heads!!" he shrieked, his voice laced with venom.
"Let him come," Star said simply. She grabbed one of Volkov's horns and began pulling him with her, dragging him across the blood-soaked ground.
Nioh, Nicolas, and Blood Eye followed behind, stepping over the countless bodies of the fallen Wendigos.
In less than thirty minutes, the battle had reached its swift conclusion: the complete annihilation of the Wendigo army.