The Final Chapter

Setbacks

Chapter 8

"Charge!" Gorou took aim. His troup followed. It had been a tough battle. Many of his soldiers left their life here. But there was hope. Only an hour ago he witnessed the unbridled power of the 'Mouso no Hitotachi' and it hurt the enemy badly. It gave hope to the soldiers. The Liyue fleet arrived shortly there after and the fight seemed to take a turn. "Shoot!"
"Now!" Kojou Sara had awaited the general's signal. She and the troups of the Shougun burst forth. It felt strange to stand side by side Sangonomiya's soldiers after fighting them not to long ago. But they were fighting for their homeland. Nobody wanted it to get destroyed by those monsters. Everybody was here to help and Sara appreciated all of them. A rain of arrows hit the enemy troups and deminished them. The west of Narukami island seemed to be cleared. "Watch out!", the Tengu heard someone yell and then she got tackeled to the ground. The next thing she saw was the profile of general Gorou jumping up and aim a shot at a robot that attacked her from behind. She got up as quickly as she could but she couldn't help him. Before she could do anything that robot shot the Watatsumi General down. He screamed and tumbled down, trying to ask for help, but Sara hadn't been fast enough. She charged at it and took it down, before she ran towards Gorou. "Hey, can you hear me? Don't die here...", Sara said pressing her hands on his wound. He let out a kind of hissing sound when she put pressure on his wound. She looked at him overrun with emotions. No, she can't loose another man today. The sun was abou to set and she had lost too many men today. How would she ever face Sangonomiya again knowing her trusted general died in her arms. No he can't die here. "Thank you for saving me...", she said trying to keep him talking, but the life was already leaving his body. "No big de...", he wispered on his last breath. Sara broke down crying with his blood on her hands. At least the last thing he saw was a beautiful sunset on a horrible day.

"Go!" "But 'Her Excellency!' You can't stay here" The soldier looked at the high priestess. He tried to drag her on the life boat but Kokomi remained stubborn. "Someone has to stay so you can get away!" She freed herself from his grip and looked straight in his eyes. "But you are our leader, without you we will...", he answered desperately. "Yes, I am your leader. That means I have to protect you. Go now or we will both die here, which would make my sacrifice pointless" He hesitated but then he nodded and climbed in to the life boat. Kokomi helped him to get it down in the water and watched him paddling away from the ship. Then she turned and walked to the front of the ship. Those sea machines were already near. Her Vision would grant her the power to hold them back but not forever. She began attacking the two machines taking their attention away from the life boats leaving the slowly sinking ship. But her attacks seemed to do nothing. Suddenly one of the machines dived in to the water and pulled the ship into the sea. The high priestess tried to escape the attack but the enemy pulled her underwater too. Her foot got caught between some wodden planks. Staying here for a short while wouldn't pose problem but the other machine prepared itself for an attack on a helpless victim. But then the machine stopped moving entirely sinking deeper and deeper. She struggled to get free but failed. As her vision faded to black, she saw figure swimming towards her.
The next thing she was perceived was bitter cold. Kokomi tried to straighten herself up but found the surface to be slippery. Her saviour, who was a tall white haired lady, and her were swimming on a piece of ice. "Thank you...", Kokomi wispered. The woman turned to her. "Are you okay?" The high priestess nodded. "Who are you?", she asked her savior. "My name is Shenhe..."

Water sliced through the frozen enemies. Ayato looked at his sister and they both nodded. Then they unleashed a combo attack. Freezing the enemy and defeating them with ease. The Shuumatsuban and the Yashiro comission volunteered to defend the city. But Ayato worried now that the enemies multiplied. What was going on on front line? Did the troups fall? What about the fleet? And the support from Liyue? He needed to make a plan. Quickly before the city falls. He looked around, all seemed well. The rain had stopped with the sun setting, leaving the night sky clear. The moon gave them the necessary light to not get lost while fighting. "Comissioner Kamisato! They slipped through to the city!", a soldier yelled. With a little nod Ayato took his sister and followed him into city. Shops were destroyed and hilichurls terrorized the helpers and patients at the hospital. The Yashiro Comissioner began the attack and took the small group out. "How could this happen?", he asked. But the soldiers were as puzzled as he was: "We don't know... Somehow they must have broken through..." "Comissioner!", another soldier rushed towards them, "A group of hilichurls and a Mitachurl terrorizes the rest tents at the Front! And Lawachurl chased wounded soldiers into the city destroying countless buildings in the process! What do we do?" The messenger coughed and breathed heavily. How could this happen? They had to enhance the defences and work out an immobilzing strategy to prevent such things from happening further... "Allright. Ayaka with me, we'll take on the Lawachurl! You", he pointed at the soldier that lead them here, "will take your troups and follow our messenger back to the Front" He looked at his sister and both of them followed the trail of destruction left by the monster. Everywhere were the remaints of shops and apartments. Broken plates, crushed fruit. Destroyed lives. They both looked at each other with pain filled faces. If only they had built a better defence line, Ayato thought. Protecting the city was their job and they failed it miserably. He would ensure nothing like that happened ever again. "There he is!", Ayaka said, spotting the enemy in the distance. It rampaged destroying another house. "We'll freeze him, then I'll take him down!" She nodded. The Comissioner called rain above the Lawachurl, showering it with water, so Ayaka was able to freeze it. Then he took it down with rapid and precise sword hits. The rain stopped and an uncanny silence was left. "It's over now! You can come out", Ayaka said loudly. Her brother looked around. Right, there were supposed to be soldiers here... Suddenly he paused. There between the broken walls of a house was one. But he wasn't moving. They had come to late.