A Nascent Kaleidoscope.

POV – Taro Maniwa, Tengu Captain.

"Hold!" I shouted.

There were many coming our way. Their numbers were beyond ours by a large margin, but it was not without hope.

I could see the fear in my own men's eyes. Just the three thousand that I had under my command was already daunting, but looking downwards, there were tens of thousands of my brothers and sisters still ready to fight.

I just needed to handle my portion. It felt odd to say, but I had my own men to look out for, and I had to trust the others with their own as well.

We still had a few moments; they were marching towards us at a steady pace, but it would take a minute or two.

I walked down the rows of my men, patting the occasional one on the shoulder. When I noticed they were particularly nervous or scared, I made sure to silently reassure them.

However, I was concerned and confused by the actions of our enemies.

Why would they march so openly at us? They had the advantage of knowing the terrain, of fortresses, cities, and everything they needed to muster a proper defense. Yet, they so brazenly and willingly met us in open field combat?

It was odd.

I was never the strongest, but I believed that among my kin, I was one of the more strategic-minded. I thoroughly learned everything those human heroes from past ages taught when they came to Kyoto. Our kind never participated in wars on this scale in regard.

In the past, we have participated in conflicts, and even the great war. But that was almost entirely a protracted defense effort. The few times we did go on the offensive, it was entirely by small but elite teams to quickly assault a location or person and retreat.

Of course I wasn't alive back then, but I had studied the past conflicts of ours extensively in preparation.

There must be a goal, right?

What is their purpose, and what's their strategy?

They were coming, and with a closer look, their formations were messy. No, to call it a formation would be an insult, it looked more like a tidal wave – a combined horse all moving in one direction.

"Shields!" The shout reverberated from our side.

"Shields!" I repeated to everyone around me. They knew to listen to my orders above all others, even if I was merely repeating the orders from even my superiors.

My men took out their wands, holding them up and layering the magical shields in front of them.

The best part was that things could exit through our side even if nothing could enter through the front.

With that, the next order was given.

"Arrows at the read. Spears out!" I bellowed.

Like a magical version of a phalanx, thousands of spears pointed forwards.

"Fire!"

The volley of iron arrows was released, filling the sky.

The Fae warriors seemed completely unconcerned. Even as the first began to get hit and fall, their march didn't cease. Hundreds to thousands of them hit the ground, only to be trampled by their own people to continue their march forward.

There seemed to be a moment where all sounds ceased just before the first of them hit our front lines.

Spears were shattered right away, many of which were stabbed into the flesh and armor of our enemies.

The Shields vibrated and shook, but the initial collision was met with an unwavering defense.

I stood along with my soldiers, spear in hand, and I led them. "Push!"

"Push!"

"Push!"

They all shouted as one, and with a single step forward from my thousands of troops, the front line of the Fae stumbled and was disrupted, causing the ones behind them to lose their momentum.

The equivalent of giving them a sudden disorienting slap, followed by a combined advance, it left them completely at our mercy.

The front line of theirs fell quickly.

However, it was merely the beginning.

The battle immediately became bloody. The fresh corpses at our feet didn't magically disappear; the stench of blood lingered and splattered everywhere.

The meaning of 'rivers of blood' when describing bloody conflicts became more than just a metaphor as I experienced it firsthand.

Each of my soldiers was stomping through literal pools of blood that began to gather on the ground.

I looked up at the sky as something odd was happening, and I saw a blazing sun emerge. Lady Yasaka began to fight someone whom I didn't recognize, but if she personally took action, it must be someone important on the other side.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to focus on the battle in the sky; however…

"Dragons!" I shouted, pointing above the Fae army; many dragons with multiple heads came flying over among their other airborne numbers.

Spell Circles appeared in front of their mouths, and my eyes widened in realization.

Not simply mindless beasts.

"Get your shields up now, everyone in the back lines, shields above. Shields above!" I shouted until my throat became hoarse.

Trained as they were, the odd command took a moment; many shields emerged above, but spells began to rain down.

I steeled my heart, seeing many of my men hit the ground lifeless and many more who didn't have any bodies to bury remaining.

"Nyah~" A strange sound came from above, and a black cat morphed into a young lady. She punched the nearest dragon with such force that it sounded like a thunderclap and sent its body straight down on top of the enemies' numbers.

Was that the legendary Nekoshou?

I heard such a legendary Youkai existed and even heard rumors of one appearing at Lady Yasaka's side, but I wasn't privy to the details.

The Devil Wings it sprouted from its back confirmed the rumor; it seems that Lady Yasaka managed to retrieve one of our Legendary bloodlines from the Devils.

Many more of my kin joined the aerial fight. While I too could fight in the air, I unfortunately was not the most adept at combat.

No, my talents were best served down here.

I helped one of my brothers to his feet and pushed him to the back to be healed.

The shouts and cries all around us began to blend together along with the clashing of flesh and steel.

If it becomes a simple trade, we were on the losing end; they had too many compared to us.

Even if we could pull back our wounded to receive quick healing for small wounds, certain things couldn't be healed without returning to camp for a true medical reprieve.

"Captain Maniawa, new orders have come in." One of my kin landed next to me, bloodied and bruised but carrying new orders. "Left side will retreat backwards, right side will advance. Your job in the middle is to pull them in and let them cascade downwards unaware."

My mind raced as I considered the implications.

They don't have direct orders!!

It made sense; they had no proper generals, no higher command. They were told to line up and just march forward.

Even from where I was standing, I could see a non-insignificant number of their number attempting to cut off the heads of my comrades that they killed. The most obvious reaction was utter fury that swelled up in me, to desecrate my fellow warriors. But I pushed it down to analyze the situation better.

I grabbed the messenger by the collar, pulling him closer. "Report to the general. I believe they have no higher command structure; they're preoccupied with individual glory and achievements. Allow me to lure them in fully, and I will filter them downwards to create a meat grinder."

The general's plan was to create a unified and altered 'line' formation, but a diagonal line. He must have noticed it too; they had no higher structure, so they would keep pushing 'forward' and not realize that they were instead being pushed downwards. Essentially, it was like tilting your blade slightly so that an enemy's blade would slide off yours rather than taking the full brunt of a true block.

And while the proverbial 'blade' of the enemy was sliding, they were losing men while ours held the advantage in defense position.

Of course, there needed to be a more thorough method to filter the front lines downward. The vast majority of people on the battlefield had no idea what was going on; simply, they pointed their weapons forward and followed the ones in front.

"I'll relay your words, Captain!" He nodded and took to the sky to fly back to where he came from.

We had practiced these kinds of formations, for small-scale battle, but the deceased human heroes always reminded us of one facet when it came to warfare in this regard. The side that has the most adaptability is almost certainly the side that will win.

"Warriors of the 4th division, listen to my orders!" I let my voice carry through the use of my Youjutsu, a small application that seemed to be proving itself in this situation. "Box formation!"

They let out a mighty roar in acknowledgment and didn't hesitate to follow the strange order.

They forced open a large 'box' right at the center, with lots of empty space in between.

"Advance!" I shouted.

With a thunderous stomp, they took a step forward, pushing back the Fae in front.

"Advance!"

Another step, spears met shields, and while some of mine died, in disproportionate measure, more of theirs fell to the iron tips of our spears.

We pushed forward, pulling away from the army enough that it left a gap.

"Center, collapse inwards! Two Columns form on each side!" I shouted after we gained enough distance.

The box formation shifted, and they recombined into two parallel lines.

The center of the formation was the first to respond, collapsing downward, and like a dam, the enemies pushed and followed.

As if they achieved some great victory, they seemed to believe they passed some threshold and continued like a tidal wave.

It created a concurrent effect, believing they had pierced our front lines and filtered through our two columns with reckless abandon.

If they were so preoccupied with glory and such, they would all be wanting to take the heads of our 'leaders,' and the leaders would be far into the back.

And without anyone giving them orders, without someone to oversee each move, they were like a bunch of wild chickens rushing forward without knowing why, only intent on continuously pushing forward.

The fighting high above became more intense; I could even feel the pressure from down here.

Just barely, I could make out the scene of two ships flying around, and I believe I saw our Young Lord joined with Lady Yasaka.

I didn't need to worry; ever since the Young Lord joined with Yasaka, he has never let us down.

I focused on my own objectives.

Spear in hand, I stabbed it into another Fae, twisting it into their chest.

The battle was far from over.

(Line Break)

POV—Angelica Lathas, reporter for Devil News Today.

"Angelica Lathas, here with –"

An explosion nearly knocked me off my feet, and my hair blew all over the place as I covered my head.

"Angelica Lathas, here with De – "

Another explosion rang out, a little further this time, but still enough to disrupt my introduction.

"Angelica Lath –"

"For the Winter Queen!" Hundreds of people riding on horses that galloped through the air made everything vibrate and tremble as if they were on the ground. The thunderous sound of hooves hitting the 'ground' despite being in the air still reverberated everywhere.

Just as quickly as they tried to fly over, a bunch of Youkai also took to the skies and collided with them midair.

It was utter chaos!

Why did I decide to come this close to the front lines!?

I nearly let out a scream as one of those bone-armored people on their horse fell to the ground right next to me.

The Bone person stood up, looked around, and his eyes landed on me. He drew a dagger from his side. "I'll mount your head on my wall."

He walked towards me menacingly while everyone else was busy with the enemies in the front.

It was like he was taking a stroll.

Just as he got close, I threw the heaviest punch I could, knocking him flat on his ass.

I'm a pure-blooded Devil, you low-level errand boy.

It made me mentally scoff.

I may not be a fighter or train myself, but I'm still not someone you can just saunter up to like that!

Hmph.

"Anglica Lathas here with Devil News Today!" I adjusted my blouse and fixed my hair.

Greg gave a thumbs up from behind the camera.

Oh right, he was still recording this entire time.

"The previous recording got cut off; allow me to fill everyone at home in on the details. The Youkai just received reinforcements through a teleportation network, and just now the armies began to clash in earnest. As you can see, it's become rather chaotic."

The fact that I was attacked!

"The strange giant from before – I've received word that it was an evil god from antiquity. It's gone now, and things take a strange turn. There are dragons all over the sky – "

I gestured for Greg to pan the camera upwards to get a good view of the many dragons in the sky where the fighting was equally chaotic.

"— and furthermore, there seems to be an intense fight happening between the leaders also high up in the sky." I gestured to Greg again, and the camera tilted to another side. "We can see the clashing of fire and ice along with some figures fighting."

I kept it vague because even with the camera and everything, we could just barely make out the figure of Wilhelm Schweinorg, Lady Yasaka, and a handful of other people.

Honestly, there was so much going on, my commentary was not important. I made sure Greg was recording the important parts and vaguely naming and gesturing to what was happening to paint a picture.

The ground suddenly shook – no everything shook.

There was a cataclysmic thunderclap with a surge of purple lightning up in the sky that reverberated down below here, and we could see something shoot off in the distance.

And there was so much more. Spells being tossed around, an array of lights that illuminated the snowstorm even if it wasn't visible.

And that was just what was happening up above.

There were strange things happening below here as well.

The camera panned down.

"As you can see, it's heated up exponentially; it seems like both sides have decided on a decisive battle rather than dragging out a prolonged war." I looked at a giant skeleton swinging around a flaming sword that sent shivers down my spine.

"Oh, it's the magic recording Devil again!"

I blinked, recognizing the voice as the Lady of the Lake we had met before.

She walked up, pushing her face into the camera.

"L-Lady Vivian." I managed to get out. "Do you have any thoughts on the current fighting?" Well, she should have some thoughts that might help clarify things, right?

"Oh! You want to know what's going on?" Her eyes lit up. "Well…." She looked up. "The Winter Queen is fighting with some of your people. I can see the Fox, the Half-Devil, the Witch, and the Demi-God, along with the recently resurrected human and the thing."

"Pardon? Did you say recently resurrected human?" I wanted clarification because we caught some strange things on camera, but I had no idea what was going on.

Vivian nodded. "I've never seen someone brought back like that! What an interesting sight it was."

I had trouble finding the words. "And what do you mean by the 'thing'?" Because the context clues for the others were rather obvious considering I had a list of whose-who that Lady Leviathan had given me.

Vivan frowned. "Don't' know, but it's scary and has a connection to the moon. I thought it was a faerie like me, but it's a bit different. Some kind of natural spirit close to a God." She shrugged.

"I see…" I did not see, but I had to keep my professionalism! "But Lady Vivian, why aren't you participating?"

"Avalon has a peace agreement with the Winter Court. As long as I'm not attacked, I'm not allowed to help." She shrugged with a 'what-can-you-do' kind of look. Rather quickly, she snapped her hand forward, deflecting an arrow that was about to hit my shoulder. "Like that!" She said cheerfully, her hands suddenly enveloped in power, and torrents of water suddenly washed over the direction of where the arrow was shot.

"…Thank you?"

"Hehe, don't thank a faerie!" She chuckled bashfully. "But I won't take advantage of you this time!"

Oh dear…I completely forgot about that in the chaos….

Thank Lucifer.

"But wait, I saw that same surge of water similar to what you just did before?" I looked at her, recognizing the same 'spells' she had cast.

Vivian pouted and stomped on the ground. "That brute was picking me up and using me as a shield! Every time I 'blocked' an attack, I would 'have' to retaliate! Brutish traitor!" She huffed.

...I have no words.

However, I didn't even have a chance regardless, because a meteor-like object fell from the sky with a red light enveloping it.

It hit the ground with a loud thump, causing a shockwave that shook the ground.

I had to cover my face to blow any kicked-up dirt and snow off the ground, but I noticed Lady Vivian created a barrier around us.

Several more figures shot to the ground just as fast, and something happened for sure; there seemed to be a sort of pause that happened amidst the fighting.

"The Winter Queen is defeated!" Lady Yasaka's voice rang out.

It took a moment, but cheers erupted from our side, loud enough that I felt like an earthquake was occurring.

And almost just as quickly the faeries began to scatter.

It was like the queen of an ant colony getting squashed, and the ants became erratic.

I've never seen so many people abruptly try to run away at once, and it was utter chaos even considering the fighting that was going on.

Of course, there were many shouts and orders thrown out as the Youkai pursued.

I'm glad that we're recording, because I would not be able to properly retell the events that have happened in any meaningful way.

"So, she's beaten." Vivan relaxed with a strange look. "Now it's time for the fun part!"

"What's that?" I looked at her.

"Negotiations!"

(Line Break)

Wilhelm POV

One thing became abundantly clear as the Winter Queen was defeated.

They are not united.

I knew some things about Fae, a bit about their society, so I can understand why that is so. They live very cutthroat lives. A very eat-or-be-eaten mindset, even if it's less aggressive on the surface.

They exploit any openings to eke out a small advantage.

So, watching hundreds of thousands of Fae break away and start running, scattering in every direction, it wasn't something that caught me off guard.

Even their 'fighting' hadn't been organized.

It was a very simplistic method of—go here, attack.

Of course, we wouldn't have let them run away for free.

They had received the order to chase.

The difference between organized and disorganized. Not to mention, we fought to our strengths while they arrogantly thought to try and match us without any considerations.

Truly, they never had a proper enemy.

It was like someone being powerful but not knowing how to properly wield their strength, resulting in only a fraction of it being utilized.

Vivian spoke about how the Winter and Summer courts constantly wage war, but it's safe to assume their methods of 'war' differ heavily from ours.

We faced almost no resistance marching towards the Winter Queen's castle.

The scattered remains—well, some brave souls wanted to put up a resistance, but at this point, we now outnumber any resistances by a significant margin, with the majority of their numbers scattered and running away.

I hummed to myself as I stared at the large gate to the walls around the castle.

It was rather magnificent, certainly a marvel of architecture and creation. One could almost call the whole thing a work of art.

That's what I would say if half the castle wasn't destroyed for some reason.

Oh right, I shot my bow this way.

Whoops.

"Shall I knock?" I asked, looking at Yasaka.

"Oh please, my hands are full." She smiled back, literally having dragged the unconscious body of the Winter Queen with her this entire way.

At our back, tens of thousands of Youkai stood there stoically, releasing a rather impressive combined aura together.

I leveled a finger, pointing at the gate.

I condensed my power of destruction at the tip of my finger. It was a rather interesting use of it that I copied from the Hollow before.

Zero.

I released the blast, destroying the gate.

Around us, thousands of Youkai immediately rushed in. There were some Fae present, guards, maybe even some loyalists and whatnot, but our soldier quickly engaged them, not giving them a chance to mount a proper defense.

Yasaka and I were unconcerned by it, though.

Despite the clashes happening around us, we walked without much fanfare towards the main entrance to the castle. Raikou, Scathach, and Artoria joined us, as well as various higher-ups of the Youkai and Pendragon families. Of course, Nurarihyon was side by side with Yasaka as he kicked the door in and we entered the castle proper.

I expected some magical defenses, but I'm guessing that my Bow may have destroyed the majority of them.

I still shudder thinking about that enhanced attack.

The fact that I felt such a significant rebound because of it, well, it speaks volumes of the power it held. And even then, I don't think I utilized to the fullest extent that new 'threshold' by which I could draw upon its power.

Thoughts for later.

Lots of neat artwork around the castle. Honestly, it was the most 'human' looking place of the Fae that I've walked inside.

Well, besides Vivian's house.

There was nothing overly strange; it would not look out of place in the Underworld among the devils.

It seems that a lot of supernatural societies kept to this same sort of décor and atmosphere.

To the point where we didn't even need to figure out where we were going, the throne room was easy to find.

Yasaka took the lead this time. There were other Fae around the castle; they didn't look like combatants, so we didn't immediately attack them.

Yasaka kicked open the large doors to the throne room, letting the sounds echo amongst the corridors.

And as expected, we weren't alone.

Maybe a hundred or so Fae were inside. They were much different than the ones we've run into beforehand. These were… well, if I had to give them a designation, I'd call them the Aristocrats of the Winter Court.

Combat ability... well, they had auras above the average Fae, but they didn't immediately scream warrior. But looks can be deceiving, but I felt pretty confident in my initial assessment.

They stared silently as we entered the room.

Their eyes landed on the Winter Queen, beaten and bloodied and missing both arms.

Without warning, Yasaka tossed her into the center of the room, her body rolling a few times before coming to a stop.

Behind us, Raikou and Scáthach closed the big doors, standing in front of them protectively.

You could practically taste the tension in the room. No words needed to be spoken to understand the situation.

Yasaka's wooden geta tapped against the tiled ground amidst the silence as she walked forward, even stepping over the Winter Queen's unconscious body as she moved to the throne, sitting in it.

She swung one leg over the other, leaning back.

Nurarihyon was at her side, leaning against it, using his cane to support himself. He had been through the wringer; it looks like his old age is catching up to him somewhat.

Overall, we were all tired and weary after everything that's happened.

"We are the—"

"Quiet." Yasaka held up a finger to shush the Fae that attempted to speak first.

He shrank his head back, reading the situation well.

She tapped the throne of hers impatiently as if thinking about something. Truthfully, she was just setting the tone, letting all the 'Nobles' of this place sweat a little.

"The Winter Queen is defeated; by all rights, this kingdom is now under our rule." Yasaka finally spoke.

There was a beat of silence as they heard those words.

"I demand hospitality and—"

"Execute him." Yasaka didn't let him finish.

The particularly courageous Fae's head went rolling on the ground, blade dripping down Arthur's blade, and Yasaka sent him a nod.

Yasaka clapped her hands. "Thankfully, I came prepared. Artoria Dear, can you please put the list on the door?"

Artoria nodded, taking out a large, rolled parchment; she unfurled it and stabbed it to the door with a random dagger she had on hand.

"I understand a little bit of your people. You're probably biding your time, waiting for negotiations. Even the side that surrenders usually gets a say, or at least a chance to make their pleas. However, that's not going to happen. Please direct yourselves to the list now hung on the door over there." She pointed. "Read it thoroughly."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

All eyes in the room turned to it.

"First, upon acknowledgment of these concessions, we will withdraw back to an area of 10 kilometers—the standard of measurement we use back home—around the portal we used to enter this realm. We will be retaining that as our exclusive territory and relinquishing any rights to any other conquered territory."

The fact of the matter is, they don't want to have to deal with everything here. Obviously, it's important to retain authority over the portal area and keep a 'spot' there. Of course I could cut it off at any time, but reopening it would be annoying, so it's best to just keep the foothold as a military outpost of whatever they decide.

"Second, the Winter Court—namely, the faction and members it comprises—will provide reparations in the form of our choosing, namely precious metals and the like. The exact number of what is owed is on the list."

I glanced over to it and winced.

That's a lot of zeroes.

"Third, any captive sentient species will be turned over to us to return back to our world if they belong there. Do not try to hide or be cute about it. If we discover that someone kept a 'pet' human or some other species of similar regard, we will be back."

The list was much more in-depth about it, hitting a lot more details that should realistically get the point across without them being able to argue their way out of it.

"Fourth—and this goes along with the third—any type of slavery is henceforth banned within the territories of the Winter Court. Anyone involved in such will be receiving a visit from us. That means, when a human or what have you wanders in the Fae Realms, you will deliver them to us, and we will be taking them home."

There were a lot of frowns and annoyed looks, but the still warm and severed head on the ground served as a rather large deterrent to any verbal denouncements.

"Fifth, if—and that is a very generous if—you find yourselves in the human world, you are beholden to the laws of the land. Any 'deals' or 'trades' that you make will have to be submitted to the nearest non-human or supernaturally aware governing body, and they have the authority to reverse it without any argument from your end."

This was, she abridged it heavily. There was much more to it, but she wasn't going to wind herself up talking for an hour on the rules regarding this.

Mostly, this was just to curb them coming to cause chaos in the human world. At the very least, it acted as a sort of buffer, not some blind ideal that everything would be perfect from now on.

"Sixth…" Yasaka paused. "This one concerns you; stop playing dead." She looked down at the Winter Queen.

The Winter Queen's limp body suddenly tensed, and she slowly leaned back up, a visible hatred and fury in her eyes.

"You will be sealed for a thousand years. That is your punishment, as the majority of this escalation rests solely on your shoulders."

"You dare not kill me." The corners of her lips curled up. "Why should I agree to any of this?"

"Wilhelm." Yasaka called out to me.

I casually walked past the Winter Queen, and I may or may not have kicked her on the back, knocking her onto her face.

Honestly, fuck her.

I happily stood next to Yasaka, receiving a rather intense glare from the Winter Queen. "I had a chat with the First Dream." I made sure to use the term they were familiar with. Immediately as I said that, her eyes widened and whispers broke out among the Fae around us. I guess he was even a bigger deal around these parts than back home. If I randomly told someone I had a chat with Great Red, they'd look at me in surprise but not make an overly big deal about it. "He was very specific in what we were allowed to do with you. You're right; we don't' dare kill you, but don't worry; I'm told there are plenty of fates worse than death that won't cause any problems."

The Winter Queen was silent, and then it felt like she paled slightly.

Really, there was no other option.

One, you refuse, still suffer the punishments, and get treated even worse. Two, you agree, and only get sealed with everything else.

"...I surrender." She hissed out. Everyone in the room could tell it took significant effort for her to say those words. "I accept all your terms."

"Wonderful." Yasaka clapped her hands, smiling. "Now, Artoria, please take out the next three lists. We're far from done."

Ah, it was noticeable this time; she paled even more.

But I let out a breath I felt like I was holding in since this war started. It was over with her defeat, but now, it truly felt like we were done.

Some smaller things to wrap up, but I could see myself heading home by tomorrow.

After this, I could use some vacation time.

(Line Break)

A/N

New world coming up in a few chapters as everything settles down. Also, got two arachne chapters up, and a cyclops chapter up over on p.a.t.r.e.o.n.

If you want to read 10 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone

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