They soon arrived at the palace a mammoth structure of cast-iron and stone that seemed to stretch on for a mile, the royal courtyard was painted with blood and entrails with the corpses of the city guard scattered throughout.

The Imperial Guard was nowhere to be seen which was logical the Empires army was broken up into three separate divisions. The armed forces, the primary army of the empire who had marched to face the kingdoms battalions. The city guard is charged with protecting the people and maintaining a sense of justice and order in the slums and upper districts.

And the last was the Imperial guard an elite combat unit comprised of the most skilled fighters and sorcerers in the empire, their only purpose is to safeguard the royal family. They don’t give a shit about anyone else the citizens of the city guard, they wouldn’t live a finger to help and Mari found them to be a bunch of arrogant cocksuckers but they were strong and strength is what they needed above everything else.

Falling to line Mari and Lilith nodded agreeing to wait for the perfect moment to launch a counter-attack, the bickering and chatting of Albatross fell to silence as two people made their way to the front of the pack capturing the attention of all in attendance.

One of them was Lucian the man they’d run into before his monstrous frame and handsome face were pleasing on the eye but Mari had no doubt that those muscles weren’t just for show and if they try to fight him head-on they’ll likely end up as little more than a bloody smear on the pavement.

Alongside Lucian was a tall woman with skin like a doll and sharp ruby eyes that glistened under the moonlight, “Fine work, soldiers!” Lucian praised his voice roaring crisply like distant thunder.

“The plan went off without a hitch.” The woman said smugly.

“So now on to phase two, We’ll be smashing down those doors and meeting up with the boss, then we’ll skirmish with Imperial Guard the final barrier in our path.”

“Excuse me, Regimental Commander, a question.”

“Speak plainly!”

“And make it snappy boy!”

“Thank you, It’s just that I’m a little concerned Sir.”

“About what?” Lucian questioned

“Facing the Imperial Guard, A thousand of the best men and woman the empire can produce, while we stand at only 300 with the other 5000 of us are fighting with the main imperial army, frankly commanders, I’m not sure we can win this.”\

The pair of regimental commanders laughed hardily at the lack of confidence and concern of the soldier, the rest of the contingent appeared perplexed so it was safe to assume that the grunts aren’t aware of the full scope of the plan.

“Ordinarily you’re concerns would be right on the money.”

“But not this time, see our employer has made us some powerful friends so numbers won’t be an issue.”

At that moment screeching and the sound of explosions rocked the palace, whoever these friends were it sounds like they commenced their assault. Lili’s hands started to shiver so I held them to try to comfort her if only a little.

“What kind of friends could take on a thousand elites?”

“The Hyogo Family and The Elder Sisters of the Church.”

“Oh don’t forget about the boss Lucian.”

“So does that answer your question, all we need to do is bash the door until it cracks open.”

This situation turned from dire to catastrophic these guys were bad news but if the royal family and all of the elder sisters are here we’re royally fucked. But if all of those pricks are here then that means, he’s here “Seijuro” Mari spat digging her nail into her hand to the point of almost piercing her skin.

“Now then boys and girls, prepare your spells and let’s bust this door open.”

More and more Albatross soldiers were starting to arrive the chance to counterattack was diminishing by the second, perhaps they should make a strategic retreat, no that would just draw their attention, shit think Mari, think…

“Onyx Magic: “Steinspeer”

“Gale Magic: Perosus Procella”

Twelve stone spears were mixed with a small cyclone that materialized in the middle of the court, it caught and killed several dozen Albatross members, those two voices almost brought a tear to her eyes.

“Tyrian, Madoka!” Mari whispered

The surprise attack proved extremely effective as several Albatross soldiers lay dead, thankfully we narrowly avoided becoming another pair of corpses.

Madoka rained down arrows guided by gale magic she become quite the little sniper, the two regimental commanders evaded the projectiles with relative ease. And looked unperturbed as they surveyed the damage in silence.

“Argh! Sneaky little shits!” The woman glowered

“Lisianthus Academy students is it?” Lucian queried.

“Oh they think they’re clever do they, I'll have their heads!”

The surviving soldiers staggered to their feet and assumed a defensive position around their commanders, blades drawn and nerves steeled.

“Madoka, cover me!” Tyrian said leaping from the ledge and crashing to the ground below splitting the stone street on impact. It was easy to forget just how enormous Tyrian was not only in terms of his height but his girth and muscular were astonishing.

“You got it Tyr!” Madoka chirped

Clutched in his hand was a hulking mountain of steel forged into a two-sided battle axe, it was forged out of a special steel called Cleosten which was twice as strong as regular steel. The headmistress had the forged well in advance of the war but unfortunately due to a certain detour, neither Lilith nor Mari had them on hand.

A small contingent of the soldiers rushed Tyrian and though they put up resistance Tyrian was able to power his way through crushing them and splattering their blood. Madoka showed her skilful marksmen ship by picking off a few more.

Seeing this as an opportune time to strike and not wanting to get caught in friendly fire, she signalled Lilith and the two launched an attack from behind capturing them in a pincer formation.

Lilith demonstrated her growing skill by slashing a handful of the soldiers in their exposed areas, Mari followed suit “Void Magic: Crimson Mantis Blades” An old favourite spell that made quick work of the remaining soldiers save for the two regimental commanders.

She found the lack of action on the commanders part strange they stood back and watched as their own men were massacred, they held an almost callous indifference towards the loss of their own comrades.

“What the shit, Mari is that you?” Tyrian shouted

“No shit, how many other void mages do you know Tyr?”

“Wait then the person with you is, Lilith!”

“Sharp eyes, Usa.” Lilith said removing her helmet.

Mari followed suit discard her stuffy helmet with a flick of her hair, they moved to stand alongside Tyrian to face down the two enemy commanders. Lucian laughed seeming to derive some twisted sense of amusement from the turn of events.

“An ambush on two fronts, they’ve taught you well it seems, children of the academy.”

“ Hey, Cordelia are we settling this in our usual fashion?”

“Sure if you have a Rias on hand.”

“I’m always carrying, you know that.”

Lucian reached into his chest pocket and produced a Rias coin “Heads deals with the pests, tails open the door, what's your call?” Lucian primed the coin to be flipped. “Heads like always!”

A single flip later and the positions were decided Lucian would be our opponent while Cordelia would try to open the door, not that we had any intentions of letting that happen.

“I take no joy in severing the wings of chicks yet to leave to the nest, but sentimentality won’t stay my hand, struggle with all you have Class IX or you’re going to die.”

“For one of the worlds premier corps your men are weaker than piss, you don’t seem all that different to me" Mari mocked

"Prepare to get your ass kicked!  You cocky son of a bitch!" Tyrian  howled 

“Young Hubris, How nostalgic, Now come!” Lucian beckoned.