The morning started with refreshing sound of cannons.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

The ironclads, and the returned squadron, fired at everything that dared defending. Mostly they were firing just somewhere, without caring for the collateral damage.

We didn’t care all that much about it. After all, we are the warriors of light and biscuits, and they are hordes of darkness and tyranny.

Well, only we considered the Benezian government to be a tyranny.

Bang Bang

Bang Bang Bang

Bang

The pirates were slowly pushing forward. They were met with heavy resistance at every street, behind every corner, inside of every building. The lead and smoke was coming from every direction.

We expected that much. We are in the heart of the enemy, it wouldn’t be surprising that they have a strong military presence here.

Bang Bang Bang

“Keep your heads down!” Emmanuel shot a purple coat on one of the barricades. Wherever we were before, the local militias would scatter after losing the commander.

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang

But not here.

“Just who, in the Emperor’s name, are they?!” Emmanuel had to take cover faster than the soldiers, after everybody on the barricades focused fire on him.

Bang Bang

“Get ready!” I drew the katana, and prepared to give the troops some breathing space.

‘Fwoosh’

‘Ping-ping-ping’

“ ‘Air slash’!”

After I swung the katana, a wave of magic flew towards the barricade, inflicting severe casualties. I managed to wound a woman with a rifle.

To hide my embarrassment, I pushed forward, while deflecting all shots.

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang

“IT ISN’T FAIR!” Instead of firing from time to time, the militia fired a huge salvo, hitting me everywhere.

No matter how frustrated I was, I couldn’t make up my mind to fire the guns at the militiamen. They were not even wearing anything uniform. Those were just civilians.

Bang Bang Bang Bang

There were women, elders, there were even children. Unlike the regular purple coats, the militia were firing as accurately, as I would, if I was to fire at maximum range with a blindfold, disabled FCS radar, while being shaken by Patricia, and sailing during a storm.

I was not the only one who shared this sentiment. The pirates too didn’t hurry to fire to kill. Some stray bullets were taking down the militia, however, few soldiers were trying to aim better than somewhere-in-that-direction.

It was a weird fight. The militia barely hit a side of a barn from 10 steps, while the pirates struggled to shoot only the males, or those who were unlucky enough to be hit by a stray bullet.

With my help, we pushed up to 30 meters away from the barricade. Then we heard a shout.

“CHARGE, YOU APES! DO YOU WANT TO LIVE FOREVER?!” I was curious (sturdy) enough to peek.

“Get ready!”

The militia started climbing over the barricade. They fixed bayonets, and rushed at us.

“Fix your bayonets! Form up!” Emmanuel stopped us from thinking, and instead of waiting for something, he drew a sabre.

Two masses of people rushed at each other. One of them consisted of a mish-mash of civilians, and the other was seasoned infantry.

“ ‘Air slash’! ‘Air slash’! ‘Air slash’!” I was casting the spells like crazy. The unexpected charge resulted in a bloody fight.

Both sides were taking heavy loses. Before the pirates came to their senses, they already took a lot of casualties. Then, it was the militia’s turn.

When we faced the choice of ‘kill or be killed’, it was evident that no one tried to feign their fighting.

Most of the militia from this barricade were killed. Now it was the time to push towards the next barricade, to repeat the same crazy fight.

No matter how slow and crazy it all was, the pirates were slowly pushing forward. The noble district was already encircled, and we were on our way to the Doge’s mansion.

We no longer heard the cannonade from the sea. All targets were destroyed, or they no longer deemed it necessary to waste ammunition.

Several fire teams met at the entrance of the Doge’s palace. Patricia and Yuriko were chilling. Emmanuel joined them in this endeavor.

“Why are we waiting?” I asked Patricia.

“Oh, welcome back? We are waiting for Mother. She ordered to wait for her, before getting to the ‘Main dish’.” (P)

“He’s gonna run away, you know?”

“Both of us know this palace inside and out. Trust me, as long as the crazy b* is still alive, he will not run away.” (P)

“Good to know…”

Only when a group of ‘toy soldiers’ appeared in the distance, we stood up and prepared for assault.

The elite guard of Alba will head in together with my crew.

“Let us pay a visit to my hubby, shall we~?” (A)