Disclaimer: I don't own Gate or Nihon-koku Shoukan as it belongs to its rightful owners.

Arc 2: A City, A Diplomacy A Dragon

Noble City Interlude: Prologue to the Victors: The Last Hour

For
a very long time, He was deemed untouchable by many of his opponents or
even his own enemies. Amongst all the battles and fights he had
encountered, this was the first time he was literally touched by a
lesser powerful opponent and got blown up by an explosion materia
afterward. He had to admit that the man with the glasses was a pest,
utilizing a sneaky move that he did not see coming and moreover, the
remnants of what hit him. The weapon did look like it came from the
upper civilizations but it had its own simplicity compared to the
magnificent magical flintlock barrels of the Parpadians

He realized one thing and he quickly bought into his own confidence.

Had
he not belittled the people he was facing, he would still be pursuing
them, or he may have succeeded in claiming that crystal.

Luscious couldn't help himself but laugh for the first time as the realization came to him.

"Simple actions would usher in the outcome of this event."

"Look to the east when the sun finally emerges."

Indeed her prediction actually came true.

"Rory, what a sly fox you are." He gave a small smirk while shaking his head.

The
explosion had sent him flying across the city and eventually crashing
into a ruined empty tower. Now, the man himself had just recovered as he
chose to sit down amongst the rubble, gazing at the view of the city.

The
dark clouds were starting to fade away, indicating that the tides were
turning. Despite the wyverns still wreaking havoc, and the appearance of
the new dark dragon which had taken a life of its own, the individuals
that are keeping the fight, are still alive.

He couldn't
understand why the apostle of Emroy had so much faith in them and would
they really be the reason why things are finally changing?

He
wasn't sure what was going to happen next other than just waiting for
the moment to arrive. His attention was shifting to the east where could
sense a strong powerful force approaching.

Yet amongst all that, He now knew that he couldn't control all of this but the only thing he could do right now was watch.

Luscious
raised up his hand as an essence appeared on his palms that slowly
manifested into a dark crystal, that eerily resembled the one that the
others had.

He began to ask himself if this was how far it could go for him.

It
was a common legend that the set of crystals that were crafted to serve
as the crucial components of a seal. These artifacts were dispersed
throughout the vast territories of the New World. One of them, by some
twist of fate, ended up in the Rodenius Continent, where it was somehow
obtained by the Lourians, which was once a mighty and formidable force
in the land. However, the cruel kingdom eventually met its downfall at
the hands of the mysterious and unknown Sadera, many years ago.

He
considered himself lucky enough to wield this type of crystal with
permission from its guardians, and the task of fulfilling a request from
a once powerful former queen of the bunny warriors, that he could use
its power to its fullest potential.

Not as to destroy or assist in conquering Qua-Toyne, but as to bring humiliation to the Saderan empire itself.

Pursuing the crystal was just part of the bigger plan.

Though, there was one question that still remained in his mind...

How will this play out?

XXXXXXXXXX

"Are you really sure about this?"

Technically, this was something that they had not tried before. From a personal standpoint, of course.

"Yeah, the thing is ready to fly off."

Carl
was optimistic about it. He had seen many people use a drone while they
were on top of a building just to capture a good aerial perspective of a
place. Some even tried to use a drone just to locate a missing object
or perhaps a person accidentally.

As of now, they have decided to
deploy one of their drones towards the city in an attempt to locate the
remainder of their team. Despite the seemingly daunting nature of this
task, it is a necessary measure to gain a better understanding of the
situation outside. With the help of the drone, they hope to gather
valuable information that could aid them in their mission.

"So
that means, whatever we see in this thing, they can also see it too?"
Itami then said, not really familiar with the process and how it would
connect two or more devices.

Carl smiled." Yeah, remember that big
monitor back at the guest house?" He remarked." Just imagine, they'll
be watching a rare live broadcast of a Super Bowl or a Monster fight or
something..."

He added." And we're going to be their cameramen for that."

Itami
became bewildered for a moment as his statement sounded cryptic and
prophetic." Oh, I see." He said while switching on the main controls."
Whatever is happening in the city, I believe it's going to be full of
surprises."

He received a chuckle.

"You said it best... I hope we can find them."

As the drone came to life, it soared into the skies and towards the heart of the city.

Carl
took on the responsibility of controlling the device using more complex
controls. He knew that this drone was different from the ones civilians
use back home. It was faster, more agile, and capable of smooth
maneuvers through the air. To operate the device, Carl had to wear a
specialized apparatus that completely covered his eyes. This was the
only way to see the live footage and ensure precise control over the
drone's movements. As he worked, he was focused and determined, with his
eyes fixed on the screen. His movements remained fluid and precise as
he knew, one mistake could cause major problems.

Itami stood there
as his eyes were directed to a small monitor on the table that also
showed the current environment that the drone was in. The device was
still amongst the clouds and then it began to descend slowly as the
outline of the city re-emerges. Soon, the entirety of Maihark was in
full showcase.

"It's definitely breathtaking to see the whole thing from above yet..." Carl trailed off his words.

"Yeah, I could definitely see how messed up the place is right now." Itami finished off his words.

The
sudden transformation of the environment was nothing short of tragic.
In just a matter of minutes, the beautiful city had been reduced to an
apocalyptic ghost town. As the two men surveyed the scene before them,
they were left in shock at the sheer devastation that lay in front of
them. The ruins of multiple buildings lay scattered around them as if
the entire city seemed to have been abandoned. Now, the task of finding
their fellow recon members seemed even more daunting. They had no idea
where to start their search, but both of them had a gut feeling that the
eastern side of the city might hold some clues.

"Cool, let's go with it then."

So Carl made the adjustments as the drone headed in a certain direction.

So
far the monitor has shown more structures in ruins and empty streets,
moreover, pockets of smoke were clouding some spots which made it
difficult for them to actually see the scenery they were heading to.
They hope that they can finally some signs of life.

Unbeknownst to them, their prayers were answered.

The
clouds of smoke slowly faded away and the visibility had been restored.
Yet, somehow the monitor that Itami had been looking into remained the
same.

"Carl-san, what do you see so far?" He asked, only to receive silence.

The man looked again and saw the latter slightly trembling and cold sweat running down his cheeks.

"Carl?" He called again.

"I-I uhh..."

Itami was getting worried as he approached the man.

"Is there something happening there?" He began to guess, using his own Otaku imagination.

"A fight between two immortal beings?"

"No."

"Wyverns spitting out fires again?"

"Uhmm..N-Not really."

"Please,
I hope it's not our team getting cornered by giant titans." He added,
referencing a certain anime series, he had watched back home.

In the midst of that, the American ranger finally gained the courage to speak and blurted out what he actually saw.

"I-It's a dragon! A freaking BIG one!"

Carl
was terrified and started pressing a lot of buttons to get the drone to
fly away to a safer area. "I'm telling you, what the neighborhood
residents said were saying were all true, we got a big bad dark dragon
running around!" He exclaimed.

Itami raised an eyebrow as he gave a puzzled expression at first.

Suddenly,
a deafening roar reverberated throughout the entire city, its echoes
reaching even the far-off hills where they were currently stationed. As
if on cue, the small monitor flickered to life, revealing the true
nature of what the man was witnessing.

Soon, Itami's confused
expression turned into realization as he understood what the man was
trying to tell him, and his own imagination just went off from there he
was horrified to see the creature itself through the screen, which made
him utter an old but famous name of a fictional character that eerily
resembled the monster.

"Gojira..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Everything that had happened so far right now was an adventure. A very risky adventure that could definitely kill someone.

It
was apparent that Tomita and Hitoshi had the privilege of experiencing
it first hand, and due to the fact how exhausted they felt when they
finally beat their enemies.

Both men were still in the LAV, albeit
making the best of their available time to relax. In those moments,
they all thought everything was over and they could just go return back
and call it a day. The now-empty plaza proved it and not a single dark
creature was there to ruin that peaceful moment, with the exception of
one thing.

"Yay! You two are alive!" A familiar voice then entered the scene.

As
soon as a certain individual unexpectedly emerged from the window,
Tomita couldn't help but let out a comical scream. Hitoshi managed to
contain his reaction, but he was visibly startled by the sudden
appearance.

It turned out to be the cat girl herself, as Selina,
equipped with this wide grin, greeted both men with a very enthusiastic
and lively cheer.

Tomita was acutely aware of his own reaction and
tried his utmost to revert to his usual self - a persona that was more
composed and resolute. However, he couldn't help but feel a sense of
unease as he pondered over what he had just done. There were moments of
embarrassment that slipped through, and the gravity of the situation
weighed heavily on him. Luckily, there was no one around to witness the
ordeal. On the other hand, Hitoshi was able to brush off the awkward
moment and proceeded to speak.

"Selina-san, how did you get here so fast?" He asked.

The cat girl gave a wink." Oh, you know...the usual cat people abilities nya..." She said.

"What about the others? Chef Ramsay, are they alright?" Tomita asked this time.

"Aha!
That's what I'm about to tell you guys." Selina replied while bringing
out a small pinkish gem that was attached to a necklace, that later
glowed brighter.

Moments later, a floating manifestation of the
great chef's face appeared in front of them and the familiar voice
emerged from the artifact.

"You two big boys, after you finish your task, please head back to the restaurant at once!" The old geezer sounded more concerned as time passed.

When Hitoshi was about to interrupt, he was startled again by the man's fiery words.

"Not
the time to ask more fucking questions, but we are all heading to the
western gates and you're coming with us believed it or not...because
yes...! We care about your safety even though you're all capable of
murdering monsters and surviving shits...Let's get that right.."

His
statement ended right there, and the men realized that all of it turned
out to be some kind of recorded speech through that gem.

Both of them looked at the cat girl with confused expressions, knowing that they also had their own goal to pursue afterward.

Selina continued to smile and shrugged back.

"Alright, I guess we better get going before-" She halted her current actions as she quickly sensed something approaching them.

"Selina-san, everything okay?"

By then, the cat girl immediately banged on the LAV, as her once smile vanished, indicating that the situation was turning bad.

"How do you get inside of this iron thing!" She exclaimed, before Tomita opened the back seat, she immediately entered.

"What's happening this time?" Hitoshi asked once more, his eyes filled with his alertness.

"They are heading towards us!" Selina replied back, adding more anticipation and confusion.

Not long after, the creatures that chased them before emerged from a certain direction in huge numbers.

"What
in the actual shit! I thought they were all gone!?" Tomita exclaimed
once again, he began to start the engines and drive back towards the
restaurant.

Hitoshi reloaded his rifle, in case one of those
things came to attack them again. But in an unexpected twist, the dark
dragon-like creatures ignored the military vehicle and instead proceeded
towards the eastern side of the plaza.

This left the trio confused as their curiosity began to be piqued.

"So they're not really attacking us for real?" Tomita wondered as they began to observe.

The
dark creatures seemed in a hurry as they headed towards an area where a
giant shadow loomed over. Their bodies began to evaporate as all of
them began to leap towards the huge mass that continuously moved and
they were all absorbed by it.

Later, they heard huge stomping sounds that rocked the ground, and soon, they heard a terrifying roar.

The
trio's mouths gaped in awe as they finally saw the massive beast
emerging from the foggy smoke, that immediately took all the words they
had to say.

"What the heck are you guys staring for!? Just make this iron fort move NOW!"

"Holy
crap, now I understand! "Tomita exclaimed back, as the LAV's engines
came to life and the man immediately stepped on the pedal.

The vehicle quickly sped away from the scene as the arrival of the dark dragon in the western district neared.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Princess..." Yuji muttered under his breath.

He
couldn't believe that it was her. The young lady who caught his
attention during the negotiations and the one to dragged him along to a
small adventure across the city not long ago.

The redhead herself
had a similar reaction, wondering why or how in the world the chronicler
got himself riding a wyvern but considering that a knight from the
Qua-Toyne's defense group was with him the entire time, there was no
doubt that they survived whatever horrors they'd encountered prior to
this event.

This was the second time that both groups had met.

"I'm pleased to see that both of you have survived." Parna took away most of their attention.

The young man smiled back in return.

Ine kept a calm face and remained silent as she wasn't in the mood to join any conversation.

The bunny girl knew what she meant.

"I saw it too." She said, her own voice filled with guilt, as she joined the captain in silence, as a sign of honoring the man.

"How
many people have to give their lives until this is over?" Pina began to
question herself. The devastation and chaos that surrounded her, a
panoramic view of the city that was also a part of her childhood.

This was the reality of the situation and idealistic thoughts weren't relevant at this hour.

However,
there was a part of her that encouraged her to return her attention to
the young man. Something about the chronicler, the place and kingdom to
which he belonged piqued her interest. She could sense a hint of
perseverance in him despite the fact that his own home did not appear to
be plagued by wars and conflicts.

"So Parna-san, what do you think will be the next plan?"

The silence was broken by Yuji himself.

The
bunny woman took a deep breath, letting out a weary look." We need to
take the crystal as far away as possible." She said." Do you still have
it?"

The man brought the crystal out, which was still embedded in
the stone tablet." Yeah, I think it's still in one piece." He replied."
It's pretty heavy but I can manage it."

Pina's eyes were drawn to
the mysterious artifact, so she raised both brows in fascination. It
looked very familiar to her for some reason. As if she'd seen it before,
but her hazy memories could only conjure up an image of that crystal in
a different color and location.

As the group was now formulating a plan, the place where they had to flee was finally chosen.

"The
western side of the city.." Ine suggested." From what I know, that's
where most of the people would go in case the entire city has been
destroyed."

"You mean the western gates?" Pina thought to herself, personally familiar with some of the important spots in the city.

Parna
nodded." Yes, a final passageway to flee from the city." She agreed,
before suddenly sensing a hostile presence approaching them.

By then twisted voices were heard and became even louder as seconds passed.

Their
surroundings were still covered by scattered grayish mists. They could
only pinpoint what they could see, which were silhouettes approaching
them.

When Yuji was about to speak again, that same voice erupted loudly.

"I could sense them! THEY ARE HERE!"

Not
long after, an imperial wyvern rider emerged from the mist, The wyvern
itself had undergone a monstrous transformation, and its neck stretched
out effortlessly to attack them.

"Look out!" Pina exclaimed but
was too late to warn the two as their own wyvern was the one to get bit
instead on the tail, to which it roared in pain.

Ine struggled to
maintain balance as she tried to prevent the creature from moving wildly
and also get the culprit away from attaching its teeth to the poor
wyvern's tail.

At the same time, more wyvern riders joined in with
different and terrifying looks. All of them possess bloody and
distorted faces as if they were corrupted by an evil force. They began
to harass and even taunt them.

"You're all going to fall to your deaths!"

"There's no escaping his power!"

"Give us the crystal!"

At
that point in time, Yuji found himself compelled to take the initiative
in defending himself and his companions. Without hesitation, he drew
his trusty handgun once more and aimed at the wyvern that had been
relentlessly attacking their wyvern's tail. With a resounding shot, the
bullet struck the creature's head, causing it to release its hold on
them. Not content with that, Yuji then turned his aim towards the rider,
who was brandishing a sharp blade and poised to strike. Three
well-placed shots later, the enemy rider fell, defeated. As he turned
his attention back to the other riders who were now closing in on them, a
sudden jolt shook the very air around them, accompanied by a deafening
roar that echoed through the skies. The situation had taken a dramatic
turn.

"No! Please not now!" Ine was losing control and so was the wounded wyvern as they began to quickly descend.

Pina
commanded her griffin in an attempt to save them but the wyvern riders
kept them at bay. So in turn, they had no choice but to flee in a
different direction so that they would not get fully surrounded.

It was frustration that took over the Bunny woman as more struggle kept on coming to torture them.

As
the mist dissipated, the two young ladies were finally able to discern
their surroundings and the path ahead of them. The once obscured
landscape was revealed, allowing for a clearer understanding of their
journey.

It turned out to be now dead eastern district.

However, luck was not on their side as what they saw made them horrified and almost got them to the brink of a breakdown.

As
they approached the eastern district, their eyes were drawn to the
towering figure of a massive dark dragon. Its immense size seemed to
dwarf even the nearby towers, and it stood amidst the ruins with a
sinister grin on its face. The dragon was clearly aware of their
presence, and its expression conveyed a sense of cunning anticipation.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cato kept moving his eyes as he observed the scenery around him.

He
ignored the many attempts of the good windy climate to calm him down
nor the beautiful landscapes of the greenfields and mountain ranges.

It
was a good decision that he rode a variation of the Men in Green's iron
forts which didn't even have roofs, almost as if it was designed for
sightseeing.

He was not aware of how much time had passed as his mind was focused more on a certain individual.

He didn't even speak for quite some time, rather than let his mind think of multiple scenarios happening at the Noble City.

From
possibilities of a catastrophe or a plague washing over the city or
even an invasion...even all of them could happen at once. However, it
was impossible for Sadera to act this early and launch an attack, let
alone an aerial invasion unless what a certain apostle had told him
before.

"Sadera isn't that foolish to send all of their armies
to invade just one kingdom, but their arrogance could take them to the
most absurd decisions."

"If you finally see the signs, then that only means that they are also looking for it as well."

He
recalled seeing that large dome-like energy that surrounded the city
via the Men in Green's unique invention and he began to realize that
what the Oracle told him was slowly coming true.

"I hate to break
your thoughts Cato but, you should calm yourself for a while and not
look tense." It was Hodor who spoke, sitting alongside the old mage, his
whole back resting on the comfortable cushion of the iron-moving
fortress.

The old man sighed in return." I know, and I thank you for telling me that." He added." I am just worried for Lelei."

"I
am in the same league as you, just in case you forgot." Hodor gave a
small smile." But I don't let imagined troubles get into my thoughts."

"I have faith in my little girl."

A slight chuckle escaped from the mage." Now that sounded familiar." He remarked." You've read the book, I supposed."

The
elf man shrugged." Not all, but some key details made me interested."
He explained." And of course, we should always expect to meet horrible
people every day."

They were going to as the time drew near, yet,
they weren't the ones that were going to engage the enemy, but the ones
from above.

Soon, from a few distances away, they could finally
see an outline of the city and the essence that surrounded it. However,
unbeknownst to them was slowly waning. At the same time, the radio
chatters increasingly became louder.

"Just want to confirm if you guys also see other outside groups with spears and swords?"

"We got a cavalry riding along with us."

"Groups of fox tribes here...but they're friendly."

"Calm down fellas, There are allies of this Qua-Toyne or whatever you call it, but that's according to our guide."

The conversations were enough to catch their attention. Cato and Hodor took a glance at each other before finally realizing it.

Somehow,
the beacons had been lit once again after hundreds of years and it only
meant that everyone was uniting to defend what was once a last bastion
of hope.

By then, both of them had sensed a powerful force from the skies.

"Gentlemen, I would like you all to look above." The voice on the radio suggested.." Now that the weather is all goody again."

Not
long after, a group of iron triangular birds emerged from the east as
it headed towards the direction that they were going. They zoomed over
them at incredible speed and finesse.

"Here come the F15s..." The driver of their military vehicle remarked.

Cato and Hodor gaped in awe, having been able to witness the magnificent iron dragons of the otherworlders.

At
the same time, a digital timer from the military vehicle began to sound
an alarm, reminding everyone that a couple of hours had already passed
and they were finally reaching the endpoint.

And for the rest of everyone, the final hour had officially commenced.

CHAPTER END.

AN:
Hello there again, so this Is an interlude/Prologue for the climax of
the arc, which possibly will consist of 3-4 chapters and one or two
epilogues. The arc will be coming to its final segment, and I hope I can
finish all the chapters. Regarding, the time-lapse of the invasion and
the scenes of the main characters battling each obstacle, all that
happened in just a matter of 2-3 hours, and the final hour which will be
the next chapters ahead, would determine who will be the victors of
this event.

With that said, thank you so much for reading the chapter and I appreciate you guys for giving time to read the story :)