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INVASION (III)

Rio shuffled his halberd sideways, piercing a flanker and skewering him up before tossing him over upfront, dragging down four men with a simple move . His feet surged with sudden acceleration as he shifted sideways, evading a storming arrowhead that blasted past him, piercing a skull of someone behind him before they even had a chance to cry out .

Whistling out in relief, his eyes glanced toward the source; a woman clad in silver armor was hidden behind the squadrons of shieldbearers, donning a majestic-looking, golden bow, shooting arrows freely, each more deadly than the last .

Cursing inwardly, Rio reoriented himself, finding his place on the battlefield . It wasn’t terribly large, yet it was still enough to host over forty thousand men altogether . The feeling was incomparable to any other one might experience in life; when all inhibitions are let go of and men charge in a maddened desire to live, it creates the sort of perfection that cannot be replicated elsewhere .

Swayed by the roars and cries, Rio charged as well, determined to at least draw the woman’s attention so she wouldn’t go about shooting his men freely . He threw himself directly at the charging vanguard of storm-clad lads, blue lightning tracing over their limbs, creating chaotic, web-like strangles of lightning . A few bolts pecked at him, causing him to wince yet not to stop .

Halberd ablaze, he swung downward in full throttle, piercing the tender earth beneath and spraying rock upwardly in a frontal cone, bolts of fire mingling with the mud . The squadron of men separated, forming a crescent encirclement made up of six people, each donning the exact same armor -- gray iron tempered with lightning, blue capes fluttering in the invisible winds .

The dust settled as Rio charged, pushing Qi into the halberd as the already massive weapon expanded all of a sudden . He swept in a full circle, stirring a temporary whirlwind of fire around him . The outburst unsettled the men as some scrapped to retreat, two failing to react in time, devoured in the consuming winds and fire .

Rio jostled himself sideways, evading another arrow that piercing the point where his feet used to be less than a breath away . A cold sweat broke out of his back as his eyes veered up once more, meeting the woman’s -- they were violet and violent, the storm of anger raging inside her gaze . Rio pursed his lips as he realized the source of anger wasn’t that he was felling her men -- no, it was that he had caused her to miss twice . She must have taken a huge hit to her pride, he mused, withdrawing with a spin and explosively thrusting the halberd, driving it through the chest of one of the men .

The dancing lightning ceased, extinguished like candle’s fires in the rain, as the limp body fell off the halberd, plumping onto the earth in silence . There was no way a single thud of a body could ever make a volatile sound that would make it echo in such a massive battlefield; all sounds were blended together, making it nigh impossible to distinguish which of the fallen were friends and which were foes .

Discarding the depressing thoughts, Rio ran sideways as per instructions, toward the meeting point; there, he suspected, Xia should be arriving any second now and he couldn’t be lagging behind .

Despite cutting across the frontal line of the battle, he evaded expertly, occasionally helping a group of soldiers push back . His halberd danced freely, its tip expounding coral flames ever so often, the sounds of the shaft whizzing through the air drowning out all others for that singular moment . He felt at home, Rio realized, within this chaos; his eyes saw every flaw he could exploit, his ears heard all that could threaten him, his body moved freely, like a fish in the ocean .

He’d spotted Xia almost immediately once he climbed over a hill and into a dipping valley; the Mountain Pass was huge, yet the mountains surrounding it were even larger, casting perpetual shade over the pass . She, however, shone within that shade, like a resplendent star in the already brilliantly lit sky . She heaved the massive greatsword, even larger than Rio’s halberd, over her shoulder and struck at the earth; though to others it may appear brutish, lacking grace, in his eyes, she was at her most graceful when she was swinging that engorged thing about -- she was like a tempest, a terrible storm sweeping through the ranks of the army as though they weren’t even there .

She cut over ten men in a single swing, the blood spraying out and dousing her . She pushed out without even blinking, dragging the sword behind her and pulling it over her shoulder once more, swinging it in a downward trajectory . Each one of her strikes caused the earth to tremble, cracks to spread, men to shake and shudder .

Her blood-red hair blended perfectly into its surroundings, unchained, fluttering in the storm . The black eyes of death stared down the opposition with the loftiness that couldn’t be faked; Rio found himself coming to a halt, his lips agape, admiring . Was he even necessary? Hardly . Though he’d recently learned the Art of Duality, mastering both Laws of Ice and Fire, Xia didn’t need such tricks -- she had her body and her blade, and even still nothing could stand in her way .

She rammed through a group of twenty in a row of two hundred, breaking open their ranks, finally reaching the bowmen and archers firing from behind . Without even stopping to catch her breath, she threw herself over into the firing squads and swung -- swung so freely and melodically she seemed to be writing a song . A masterpiece .

The earth trembled in fear, the skies shook in respect, and all those who met her blade were cleaved . Limbs and body halves strut through the air, the disemboweled guts spraying the earth in the decaying odor and color .

Men began fleeing, their Wills decimated; that sword didn’t just cut through their bodies, but through everything that they were . She was an unstoppable hurricane -- the death invoked in the times of war .

All settled a few moments later, the first front on the pass closed . Xia stood at the center of the carnage, pulling her helmet off . Sweat on her forehead glistened beneath the rays of the dawning sun, her posture dignified .

Once more, feelings of shame surged within Rio . Though he’d promised the Empyrean himself he would profess his feelings, he had failed to do so . His feelings were not worthy of her . How could he possibly measure up to someone like Xia? In no time she would surpass him, bounding the ladder of success . She might even get into the Lord Empyrean’s personal force -- her talent seemed to have no bounds . She might even be personally instructed by him, by the man who withstood the world with his body alone . No tricks, no arts -- defiance of the flesh alone .

He descended the hill and entered the shallow deep, walking around and over the corpses, moving toward her . The surviving soldiers of their side either regrouped and moved to support the other fronts, or tended to their wounds, temporarily withdrawing . As always, she seemed to hold no expression . The only time he’d ever see her in a different light was when she was fighting; wild, unbridled, smiling, shining . He may have felt he belonged in the war, but she was born into it . Of it . By it . It was incomparable .

" . . . hm?" she mumbled softly as she heard the footsteps approaching her, turning her head sideways, spotting Rio . "You are late . " she said simply without a change in the expression .

"Sorry," Rio smiled meekly . "It seemed, though, from my point of view, I’d be more of a nuisance if I tried to help you . "

"The plan was to storm the front together," she said . "We could have done it more efficiently if you were here . "

" . . . could have we?" Rio mumbled lowly, into his own jaw .

"What?"

"Nothing," he quickly shook his head . "Sorry, I’ll take the blame . Don’t worry about it . Are you fine?"

"Yes . Just a tad bit tired . After a minute or two, I will be ready to return . " she nodded, taking out a few pills from her void treasure and swallowing them in one go .

"It shouldn’t be necessary, I think," Rio said, glancing toward the still-open fronts . "Bit by bit, they’re withdrawing . I think they’ve realized the sneak attack will no longer work and are simply trying to withdraw with the fewest possible losses . "

"Even still," she said . "Us joining means fewer regular soldiers dying . "

" . . . " that was the difference, Rio realized, biting his lip . While he selfishly only thought of her, she thought of everyone . She certainly wasn’t flawless -- the winds and the skies can attest to that -- but she was . . . better . Brighter . At the very least than him . "True . You got stronger again . "

"Hm . " she nodded simply . "I got lucky . "

" . . . I’ve a feeling you’re not long for the ranks of a General," Rio chuckled bitterly . "If you keep progressing like this . Perchance, in the near future, you might become my commanding officer . "

"You can rise as well if you apply yourself . " she said .

" . . . yeah . " could he? Perhaps . However, he didn’t wish to . Even becoming a General was a mistake . He was not made to lead the men; it was too tiring . Too big of a burden lay on his shoulders, too many cracks in his heart each time he’d lose some men in a charge . He longed for a simple life, where he was one of the soldiers, charging, trying to make a name for himself . Well, he did . And now the regrets seeped in .

"But you don’t want to?" Xia tilted her head sideways, her black eyes examining Rio’s expression with curiosity .

"Not . . . particularly . " Rio replied honestly .

"Why?" she probed .

" . . . why? Hah, plenty of reasons, I imagine . " Rio said . "The first being that I’m not that well-suited for high command . "

" . . . " she remained silent for a moment as he met her eyes; the hell be damned, she’s truly beautiful . . . "I think you would make a fine Commander, Rio . You respect your men, and you always charge in front of them . You lead by example . And I have seen that your men respect you too . " Rio’s heart fluttered for a moment, his stomach contracting . It was too much for him to receive such open compliments from her .

" . . . how do you deal with it?" he asked all of a sudden .

"With what?"

"With losing them," he elaborated . "Settling after a battle, waiting in your tent for the report on how many of your men were killed . "

" . . . I make a promise with myself," she said almost immediately after . "That the next time, fewer would fall . And the time after even fewer . All the way until I manage to come to a zero . "

" . . . knowing you," he chuckled . "You might just achieve it . "

" . . . I am recovered," she said following the short silence . "We should join the others . " she took a brisk step forward, passing him . In a moment of strange, alien courage, he spun on his heel and grabbed her arm, surprising her as she turned and met his hardened gaze . "Is everything alright?" she asked in confusion .

"--" Rio found his lips stiffen; what should he say? I love you? It seemed too grand of a gesture . May I court you? Too curt, heartless . I wish to make a cabin in your heart? He was hardly a poet, a marvel with words . He was a fool for letting his body overcome his mind . He couldn’t say anything . "N-nothing, sorry," he lowered his head in shame, biting his lower lip . "I thought I’d seen something strange . Must have been a reflection . "

"Oh . " she nodded, seemingly not seeing through his lies . He let go of her arm, his fingers slightly bruised from violently grasping thick, sharp steel of her arm guard . "How can it be, Rio?"

"What?" he asked, looking up in surprise . Her expression seemed to have hardened somewhat, black eyes staring at him sternly .

"You brave the front of the Origin War, yet cower here . "

" . . . you know?"

"Even the deaf and the blind know," she said . "We are not children anymore, Rio . Not trainees in an army . I do not need a man looking at me from the hills, feeling unnecessary, unable -- no, very able but unwilling to aid me . Not an admirer from afar who thinks me too holy for him . I cannot change the insecurities of your heart, and, quite frankly, I do not want to be burdened . I do not mind you lacking ambition, but I do mind the meekness accompanying it . I am far from the holy woman you make me out to be in your mind; until you see that, I cannot reply to your heart . I am sorry . "

Stunned, Rio watched her climb back up the hill and vanish from his sight . He couldn’t move, his lips slightly agape, eyes like saucers, timid wind grazing his flushed cheeks . His heart beat madly, his legs feeling wobbly yet seemingly cemented into the earth itself, like a statue . He couldn’t hear the sounds of the battle anymore, couldn’t see the majestic dawn creeping up on the horizon, could feel the thirst for the battle surging in his veins .

"Heh," he let go of the breath he was holding lethargically, his shoulders slumping, shaking his head . "Pathetic," he added, taking the first step toward the hill, climbing slowly . I suppose, he thought, I can seek early retirement after today . Go to the outskirts, perhaps become a farmer . There must be some doll-eyed girl out there who might fancy a hardened soldier . Aye, there should be . There should be . . .