Chapter 21: Invading Nadasha
Preparations to invade Nadasha were making steady progress. Jade and the others were swamped with work as they headed into the final arrangements, leaving Ruri with nothing to do.
As she sunbathed in the garden in cat form with the spirits, Joshua came up to her. “Heya, Ruri.”
“What’s up, Joshua?”
“We’re all ready to start invading Nadasha, so I’m here to give you a rundown on our plans.”
The time had finally come. Ruri stood up straight and listened.
“First, you’ll be infiltrating Castle Nadasha along with me.”
“Right.”
“Finn will lead the army to Nadasha’s royal capital. Naturally, they’ll likely return fire, so they’ll probably cross swords before getting a chance to enter the city. Nadasha will, of course, send in troops, weakening the security at the castle. That’ll be our break to apprehend the King and his priests. After which, we’ll retrieve the belongings you asked for and destroy the summoning spell.”
“That’s fine, but I don’t know where my things or the summoning spell are being held.”
“No worries. I’ve already investigated that. All you need to do is come along.”
“Oh, wow! A diligent intel op as always!” Ruri said, looking at Joshua with respect.
“Didn’t you want to sock it to the King and the Head Priest while we’re at it?”
“Oh, right. I’ve got to sharpen my claws, then,” Ruri said, clenching her paw and ejecting her currently dull claws.
“Damn right. Scratch the hell out of ’em and leave a scar or two.”
“Heh, heh, heh, that King and Head Priest better get ready because here I come!”
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Outside the royal capital of Nadasha, Finn and the dragonkin from the Nation of the Dragon King commenced their attack. A large number of Nadashian troops retaliated in an attempt to stop their charge. And just like their last conflict, there was a clear power gap between the dragonkin and their human opposition.
Seizing the castle by brute force with so much of a clear advantage would be quick work, but that would only cause needless bloodshed. This entire war would come to a close as soon as they apprehended the King and the Head Priest, anyway, since they were the only ones pushing for any kind of war efforts. Because of that, Finn and his troops’ mission was to draw attention toward them in order to make it easier for Joshua’s group to infiltrate the castle. If they were to go to the castle with a huge amount of hot-blooded dragonkin in tow, then they might just overthrow it—literally and figuratively. Since plans were set to use the castle in the future, the Nation of the Dragon King wanted to leave it as intact as possible.
As the dragonkin fought, being careful not to go overboard, Ruri was commencing her infiltration of Castle Nadasha according to plan. Ruri and Joshua talked while concealing themselves in a vacant patch of shrubbery outside of the castle.
“Alright, you wait here, Ruri.”
“Aww, what? But I want to go too.”
“No dice. If anything happens to you, I’m dead meat,” said Joshua as he eyed Kotaro and the other spirits around Ruri. Rin was accompanying Finn since anyone using Spirit Slayer on them again would mean big problems. “So yeah, you stay put for now. Besides, you’re not able to fight, right? Leave it to the pros.”
“Yes, sir. As you wish, sir,” replied Ruri, reluctantly following orders. She had her claws all sharpened for the King and Head Priest, but this took the wind right out of her sails.
Joshua gave orders to the soldiers standing to the side of Ruri. She had been certain it would just be her and Joshua infiltrating the castle, but she was told that two people wouldn’t be enough. The plan was that after the operatives infiltrated Castle Nadasha and gathered all the soldiers and castle workers in one location, they would give the signal and the soldiers waiting on the outside would storm the castle.
“Hmph, seems they’re a tad confused in there,” Kotaro said, opening his eyes. He had been sitting silently with them shut this entire time.
“You can see inside?”
“I am the Spirit of Wind. Wherever the wind reaches, so do my eyes.”
“Ooh, you’re incredible, Kotaro. So what does it look like right now?”
Kotaro started to speak with a proud tone, perhaps delighted that Ruri had complimented him. “There are indeed few soldiers within the castle. The King is sitting on the throne. The people wandering around inside belong to the Nation of the Dragon King. There seems to have been a sudden and rather drastic change in the enemy’s stationing, so your men are scrambling to correct their course of action, but it seems that everything is going according to plan.”
As Ruri listened to Kotaro’s report, Joshua came to stand next to her, and the other soldiers looked their way and listened in as well.
“Hey, did you get that? Everyone, get ready to storm the castle,” ordered Joshua.
Although there was a general plan, it wasn’t proceeding exactly to the letter. Their men on the inside were actually taking longer than scheduled, but they couldn’t afford to go in and check. Even when they tried to, the wind spirits didn’t seem to want to go inside the castle for some reason. They were forced to believe in the operatives and wait, which was making everyone involved worried and restless. But upon hearing that the plan was being executed on the inside, a wave of relief settled over everyone. However, it wasn’t long before their expressions tightened and they focused on sieging the castle.
“Hm?”
“What’s wrong, Kotaro?”
“I don’t see the Head Priest within the castle.”
“Is he at the shrine, then?” Joshua questioned, pointing at the structure next to the castle.
Kotaro focused his attention over to the inside of the structure, but it seemed to be only occupied by low-ranking priests—not a single high-ranking priest was inside.
“There are hardly any priests inside there either. I don’t see the high-ranking priest anywhere within the Land of Nadasha.”
“Wha?! What do you mean by that? He ran away?! No, wait, I never got any reports about that...” Joshua said, his voice cracking. He was in a huge panic because they’d come this far but the most significant set of people besides the King were missing. He now needed to consider if they should still execute the strategy. He also needed to chase after and apprehend them if they indeed made a getaway. However, that wasn’t going to be a viable option if they weren’t within Nadasha.
“Calm down. I simply said I do not see them, not that they aren’t around.”
Both Joshua and Ruri cocked their heads at Kotaro’s turn of phrase. “Um, I don’t get what you’re trying to say,” said Joshua, confused.
“There is one location that is difficult for even me to see. That unpleasant presence... That’s...”
Just then they received the signal that they had been eagerly awaiting.
While Kotaro’s observation was concerning, Joshua decided to prioritize carrying out the plan. “Alright, charge!” With Joshua’s cry, the soldiers all charged into the castle at once.
However, Ruri held her position with Kotaro and the other spirits. By the time she finally entered the castle, everyone was disarmed, the King had been apprehended, and everything was over. However, the Head Priest was still apparently nowhere to be found.
“Joshua, what should I do now?”
“First, we secure your belongings and destroy the summoning spell. So, about that place Kotaro mentioned, the one that was hard to see...” Joshua trailed off, shooting Kotaro an inquisitive look.
“It’s below ground. It’s hard for spirit power to reach there.”
Joshua tensed his brow and squinted his eyes.
“Is there something there?” asked Ruri.
“You bet there is. The place we’re heading to right now holds the room they summoned you into.”
Ruri remembered the events of that time and felt confusion arise. “Huh? But the room we arrived in once we were summoned wasn’t below ground.”
“There’s a magic circle located directly below the spot the summoning took place. Say, Kotaro, about the spirits’ power not reaching? Does it have anything to do with why the wind spirits didn’t want to check the castle’s inside when I asked them? Why is it hard to reach to begin with? Is that even possible?”
“It’s impossible. There is no place devoid of a spirit’s presence and no place a spirit can’t go. Under normal circumstances, that is. But if Spirit Slayer is being used, then that’s a different story. We cannot use our powers anywhere that is being utilized.”
“Which means they’re currently up to something in the basement.”
“Then, the chances of them causing another explosion like back on the battlefield are...” Ruri started.
“Quite real,” Kotaro finished.
They continued to walk toward the room Ruri was first summoned in while being vigilant, but soon every spirit aside from Kotaro stopped in their tracks and wouldn’t take another step further.
“What’s wrong, guys?” asked Ruri.
“We can’t go any longer...”
“Feeling weak.”
Confused, Ruri looked at Kotaro.
“All of you, stay there,” Kotaro said.
They all seemed like they wanted to follow along, but they couldn’t find it in themselves to advance any further, so they disappointedly watched as Ruri walked off without them.
As they picked up the pace, Kotaro looked over to Joshua. “I feel a power bigger than I expected. It might be best to seek reinforcements. If the spirits won’t approach this place, it means that the magic is in use at this very moment. Seeing as how that magic absorbs both spirits and mana, you dragonkin won’t be able to use your magic either.”
“Seriously?!”
“I’ll be busy protecting Ruri, so I might not be able to get around to protecting you as well.”
Joshua scrambled to strengthen his forces. The fact that the magic was in use naturally meant there was someone there using it. He had the bare minimum of his men guard the prisoners while the rest went with him. Now all assembled, they opened the door to the room Ruri had been summoned to.
However, contrary to their expectations, no one was inside. Joshua, along with everyone else, investigated the room for clues. They discovered a thin gap set in the wall, and Joshua used his draconic strength to kick the gap at full-force, destroying the wall and revealing a staircase leading underground.
“Ooh, a hidden staircase!” Ruri was unexpectedly impressed at the ninja-esque setup.
“Alright, let’s do it. What about you, Ruri?”
“I’m coming along, of course!” She probably should have waited to be safe, but she didn’t want to be left behind after coming all this way.
Joshua smiled knowingly, possibly understanding the intentions behind Ruri’s answer. For insurance, Joshua put Ruri in the middle of the group, and then they descended the dim, torch-lit staircase.
Ruri’s cat body was small and prone to being stepped on by accident, so Joshua carried her in his arms as they gradually walked down the hidden staircase. The rest of the men around him stared at him with envy. He could feel the tension in the air instantly deflate as he saw where everyone’s priorities lay at the moment.
Once the party reached the bottom of the dim, damp-smelling staircase, a thick metal door revealed itself. Ruri jumped from Joshua’s arms and went over to Kotaro’s side. Joshua then signaled with his eyes to one of the soldiers, prompting him to open the door. Once he did, they rushed inside all at once.
Ruri and the others could hear a violent uproar from inside. Amidst the noise, Joshua could be heard nervously saying, “Oh crap, I really can’t use magic!”
Ruri hesitantly peeked inside the room. The interior was brightly lit and everything was visible, unlike the dim exterior. Since magic wasn’t an option, Joshua and his men were knocking people out one after another with their weapons and hand-to-hand combat. Even if they couldn’t use magic, they were still dragons. They were so agile that humans didn’t stand a chance at landing an attack on them. The priests tried to retaliate with their “Spirit Slayer” magic, but since they were all opposed to physical labor, the old men lacked stamina and started to collapse to the ground like flies.
There were more inside the room than they expected, so it seemed like it would take a while before they finished clearing it, but Ruri was relieved to see that Joshua and the others would be fine. She instead focused her attention on scanning the room. It was more pristine than she’d expected—a hall about as wide and built about the same as the room above. However, the one difference from the room above was that there was a gigantic magic circle drawn on the floor, emitting light.
“Kotaro, is that Spirit Slayer magic too? If I remember correctly, the summoning magic is located here, underground, right?”
“Aye. It’s the summoning magic that called you here. It takes a considerable amount of mana to widen the path. I assume they’re compensating for the mana they lack by pulling from the world around them. I can feel power coursing into that magic circle. An unpleasant presence, indeed.”
Even Ruri could feel the power flowing into it. Once she comprehended that, a terrible inkling ran through her mind. “Say, would the reason there’s power flowing into that magic circle be because they’re trying to use it to summon people again?”
“Most likely.”
Ruri immediately lost her cool. They were trying to victimize more people? All for their own self-conceited reasons? They had no idea how much pain and sorrow she went through, having her family and home stripped away and being forced against her will to come to an unknown world without any clue how to survive. The fear, the sadness, the confusion—it was so painful. And every time she remembered her world, it was probably going to be just as painful. These people had absolutely no consideration for the feelings of the people whose lives they ruined.
Ruri was filled with an uncontrollable rage. She was past the point of no return. She looked around the room, running her eyes over the area to find the Head Priest. The entire room was in chaos as Nadashian priests tried to flee from the dragonkin soldiers trying to capture them. Amidst that, Ruri spotted a face she could never forget—the mean-spirited codger and the root of this evil, the Head Priest.
Once she found him, she leapt in. In Ruri’s mind, the dangers of jumping into a battle in progress went clean out the window.
“Wait, Ruri!” Kotaro desperately cried from behind her, but it was to no avail. Ruri was so enraged that his voice didn’t reach her ears.
Slipping in between the people in the heat of battle, she beelined straight for the Head Priest. A priest that had either been punched or kicked would occasionally come flying her way, but she skillfully dodged their bodies and reached her destination.
Carrying her momentum, Ruri pounced at him at top speed. “You no-good bastard!” She used her claws, which she’d sharpened specifically for this day, to scratch the Head Priest’s cheek, leaving a wound.
“Wh-What is this cat doing here?!” the Head Priest questioned, falling over on his rear. He held his cheek and looked at Ruri in fear.
“Don’t think I’m through yeeeet!”
“Eeek!”
The moment Ruri tried to pounce at him once again, the Head Priest took out a transparent stone from the box behind him and tossed it toward Ruri. It was immediately followed by an explosion.
“Nyaaaaa!”
At the very last second, Kotaro stood in front of Ruri to shield her. The barrier of wind that Kotaro deployed protected everyone, including Ruri, from harm. However, the blast from the explosion sent her small body tumbling on the floor.
“Are you alright, Ruri? You shouldn’t push yourself, darn it,” Joshua scolded in a disappointed tone, rescuing her from the floor.
Still slightly groggy, Ruri said, “Thank you, Joshua... Was that explosion from the Spirit Slayer?”
“So that’s what they used in the war, huh?”
While the blast was smaller than the one on the battlefield, the stone caused the exact same explosion. Ruri looked around the room to see that it had singed the ceiling and damaged several places.
Almost all the priests were laid out on the floor, and Kotaro was constricting the Head Priest with his wind magic.
“Kotaro.”
“Are you okay, Ruri?”
“Yes, how about you, Kotaro?”
“I’m fine. This is the same kind of magic item, I suppose, as the bracelet you’re wearing. Just like Spirit Slayer magic itself, it absorbs power into the stone and causes an explosion soon after. I never would have imagined they’d constructed something so devious...” Kotaro uttered in disgust.
Once Joshua checked the box behind the Head Priest, panic seeped into his face. Inside was a mountain of explosion-causing stones of all shapes and sizes.
“We gotta do something about these stones,” Joshua warned.
“We could always put them inside my pocket space, but are there any more? If there are any around the castle, they could likely explode...”
Ruri and Joshua both turned pale. One stone was enough to cause an explosion, but if there was a large amount of stones elsewhere and something caused them all to explode, then it was quite possible that the entire castle would come crumbling down. And if that happened, they would be buried alive, so it was extremely dangerous.
Joshua barely knew anything about Spirit Slayer himself. No one even knew what triggered them to activate. They wanted to ask if there were any more stones around, but the priests in the room had all been knocked out by Joshua and his men, leaving the Head Priest as the only one who could provide answers. However, even he had fallen unconscious, foaming at the mouth in shock. While everyone was initially worried that he might be dead, he was apparently still breathing for the most part.
That was when Kotaro interjected, “Ruri, place what we have now into your pocket space for the time being.”
“You’re right, I’d better hurry and put them in there before they explode,” Ruri said, agreeing.
“Yeah, please do,” said Joshua.
Ruri threw the dangerous items into her pocket space and breathed a sigh of relief.
Joshua repeatedly slapped one of the priests awake and threateningly asked if there were any more stones in the castle. To their great relief, he informed them that there weren’t. In the meantime, he split everyone up—one group was to transport the priests out and the other group was to search for anything pertaining to Spirit Slayer magic.
Ruri immediately stood before the summoning circle, asking, “But how are we supposed to destroy this thing?”
“Simple,” Kotaro replied. He used a razor-sharp gust of wind and chopped up the stone floor. The light that had been emanating from it this entire time dissipated, taking any sign of the mana flow with it.
“Well, that was anticlimactic. But even if we destroy the magic circle, they can remake it so long as they still have a written record, can’t they?”
Joshua nodded. “Yeah, they can. That’s why we’re going to search every nook and cranny.”
Some time passed, and the spirits who parted ways halfway reconvened and made their way downstairs. Everyone then split up and searched the castle and temple. The group of spirits wasted no time; locating the Spirit Slayer spell was a matter of grave importance to everyone, including the spirits themselves. Thanks to their help, their search wrapped up sooner than expected.
It was then showdown time.
In order to have her little talk with the King and Head Priest before they were hauled off to the Nation of the Dragon King, Ruri asked Joshua to isolate them in a separate room.
Castle Nadasha had already been placed under the control of the former Nadashian moderates, who were under the Nation of Dragon King’s care. The only ones in the room were the ex-King and ex-Head Priest, two individuals stripped of any social status. However, both had brazen expressions, almost as if they didn’t comprehend the turmoil they themselves had caused.
It was time for Ruri to bring their cocky attitudes down to size! These two old fogeys had no more authority, no more royalty. Even if Ruri roughed both of them up a little bit, she wouldn’t be charged with treason. No one would chide her for going at them as much as she wanted. In fact, people would most likely thank her for a job well done.
“Joshua, take off my bracelet.”
“Aye, aye. You enjoy to your heart’s content, now,” Joshua said with a devious smirk, taking off Ruri’s bracelet as instructed.
Ruri reverted to human form, leaving the King and Head Priest stunned. However, their reactions were due to a cat turning into a human and not them recognizing Ruri herself. She pulled out her wig and glasses from her pocket space and put them on. When the King and Head Priest saw her like that, their shock turned into full-blown astonishment.
“Y-You’re...” they both stammered, pointing at Ruri as if they had seen a ghost.
“Glad to see you scumbags doing well!” Ruri greeted, slowly walking up to them with an ear-to-ear smile. “Are you two ready? Well, it’s okay if you’re not. In that case, it’s time for you to feel the wrath of a girl who can never go home ever again!!”
Both of the men had not only abducted Ruri and the others by summoning them to this world but were planning on summoning more victims without ever learning their lesson. Needless to say, Ruri showed neither of them any mercy. It was just what a couple of people who nonchalantly incited a war with no regard for people’s lives deserved.
Ruri balled her hand into a fist and, in the next instant, the screams of the King and Head Priest echoed throughout the castle and beyond.
After the cries had settled, a very refreshed-looking Ruri came out of the room, wiping the sweat from her brow.
“Oh, are you done?”
“Yup.”
Joshua took a peek inside the room, but he seemed surprised by what he saw. “What? I thought you were going to pay them back harder—like really rearrange their faces. Are you sure this is enough?”
“Well, I’m just an average girl; I’m not strong enough to rearrange anyone’s face, really. Besides, it’d end up hurting me, too. So, yeah, it’s fine. I’ve gotten more than my fill.”
Considering what the King and Head Priest did, Ruri’s revenge was a pretty light punishment. However, she was able to take out all of her pent up rage, which took a massive load off of her shoulders.
Jade and the Nadashian people would be administering their real punishments. Both would need to make amends for everything they helped incite.
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