Chapter 173 - War

As the Angels with bows and arrows continued to rain them down, most Slayers deferred back to taking cover using the rocky terrains. The other ones were not so lucky at all, however. Bodies of dead Slayers pierced to death by the sharp golden arrows laid on the ground, lifeless and bloodied. Those Slayers who have yet to even be deployed to missions and have been subjected to being in the Operation Liberation as their first real taste of battle were shook to their core. 

Majority of them were the ones who died first. "This is a massacre…" Cosette whispered to herself. "We can still do it. If the Commander, the Emperor, and sir Patel manages to actually bring them down, then that will direct them closer to our blades. Just trust in their capabilities, Yin.. Do not be impulsive, or that will be the death of you and those who seek to save you from it." Hector said to the white haired Slayer. 

Yin was annoyed at himself after he realized that he focused too much on tunnel visioning towards the amalgamation of Angels up above and was keen on bringing them down. "I-I only wanted to help." Yin said softly with some implications of regret in his voice. "Everyone wishes to help, Yin. But for now, we have to trust in the Commander." Suna consoled him.

Waves of water began to rise up from the ground below as the Commander casted them to do so while Shaheen elevated a slab of the concrete from the ground to rise up with them, making it their stepping stone. The Angels focused fire on the three, but Emperor Nicholas created a Wind shield around them, rendering the arrows useless. 

"A-Are you telling me they plan to charge right in and break their formation?!" Fen Kaori was surprised at what he saw, his eyes dilated at the sight of the three of them performing something as reckless as this. "At this rate, we will all get whittled down slowly by the archers. We have no other choice but to bet on that. It is what you planned, right?" The Serpent Summoner asked the Allcaster. "Yeah. I believe it is, but I did not expect them to do it this up close…" 

The Angels were being bombarded on both sides, from team Gamma who were hurling projectile spells as well as the beasts flying up above – they also had the Commander's group to take care of. A lone Angel walked in front of ever other Angel which caused them to step aside to give her room. "Who the fuck is that supposed to be?!" Luken Regalia exclaimed.

It was an Angel who took on the appearance of a child, with glowing white eyes and shining platinum blonde hair, coupled with the generic traits of an Angel, such as the wings and grimoire. Yet this one was not armed at all. "Does not matter, Luken, this is not the first of the 'new' variations of Angels that we have seen today." The Emperor said to him. 

Yin's head started to hurt as his eyes fixated on the one Angel that gave the Commander the creeps. "That one Angel, she looks familiar." He said to himself. Indeed, there was some sort of memory gnawing at Yin which made him recognize her. 

Luken and the other successfully managed to break through the ranks of the Angels and ruined their positioning. With the help of team Gamma and Beta providing covering fire as well as the beasts, the Angels were now one by one starting to fall from the sky. "Aqua Juxtaposition." The Commander threw out droplets of water from his fingers, whoever made contact with those were now targets of his attack. 

In less than a second, speed was the Commander's main weapon as well as his rapier. He sliced off as many wings as he could muster. Shaheen Patel also smacked those who were getting near them with his hammer, white the Emperor blew away the projectiles. This trio which was conceived not more than two hours ago was doing work in the front lines of the battle. 

"Now!" Hector shouted out, signaling the other team Alpha members to take charge in just get in there. Team Beta also ran right behind them. The casualties brought upon by the archers were still ramping up, there was no way to successfully evade all the arrows. Hell, even Suna's shoulders were pierced by the arrows, but the wound was only superficial as her armor underneath her Six Blades robe covered most of the damage.

Yin Sohaya activated his Nix Eyes, in the battlefield, he glowed up much like an Angel would. As he danced around the area, decaying each Angel to death while the others held and clobbered at their footing in order to keep them in place, they wanted to rescue the Commander and the others who were slowly falling down from the Enforcer leader's stone stepping spell. 

"We are falling down, Shaheen! Can't you do anything about it?!" Luken worriedly pointed out. "This is my limit, shit, I could not notice that my control over our footing was slowly getting sloppy!" The three braced themselves in preparation for their fall. "Save them!" Yin Sohaya shouted out as Cosette, Suna, and Hector backed him up. "Now I know that I cannot be a hero all by myself. I would not have been able to make it this far without their help. No matter how much stronger I get, the strength of relying on others is a valuable aspect in of itself." Yin said as he smiled.

"Are you seriously grinning at this situation?!" Cosette facepalmed herself. "Oh well, whatever keeps you fighting, I guess. Heh." She followed it up with a chuckle. "We've got to speed up if we want to catch those three!" Suna exclaimed.

Ryoko noticed that Luken Regalia was going to turn into mush after kissing the ground below from that height, she hurriedly flew downwards in order to save them. "Pardon me, Master Gavin, your orders regarding disrupting the Angels will have to wait." She communicated telepathically to her master. "W-Why is that, Ryoko?!" The Serpent Summoner was startled at the way she phrased her words. "Because I have to save you idiot of a friend, master." Her last line assured Gavin that all was well. 

She dove down and caught the three of them in mid air. "Damn. Thanks, Ryoko, I owe you one." Luken said while giving a thumbs up sign to the Elder Wyrm. She just scoffed and flew right back into action. "Even when Gavin is not near us, he is still out here saving your butt, Luken, it is just like the olden days." The Emperor pointed out. 

After seeing that they were already safe, Yin and the others slowed down. Suna mistakenly turned around and what she saw would haunt her for the years to come if she ever were to survive this operation. Mountains and mountains of bodies of Slayers as well as Angels trailed them. "So, this is the height of this war…" She said to herself after noticing that some of the ones who have died were familiar faces which she fought alongside with many missions ago. 

Hector Incendium had no emotions after seeing his fallen comrades, some of them even wearing the Inferno Garden's robes. "Do not let your emotions get the better of you. Emotions will not help us survive here, just feel lucky that it was not you lot who bit the dust and died. If they died that quickly into Operation Liberation, then that can only mean one thing – they were not strong enough to live. Their deaths are their fault entirely." He said. Yin got fed up and just straight up threw a punch at the prodigal Fire Slayer. "Watch your fucking words, do not say that type of things in front of our dead brethren." Yin towered in front of Hector who was now on the ground himself. "Why not? Are you not relieved that you yourself did not perish instead of them?" Hector kept talking. "Both of you calm down!" Suna attempted to separate them by dragging Yin back. "Seriously, we are in the midst of a war and you two decide to bicker like children. Hector – that was wrong of you to think like that, I do not know what sort of shit the Inferno Garden has taught you, but you have to keep thoughts like that to yourself." Cosette said as she sighed. "As for you, Yin, if you decide to let your temper get the better of you and attack another Slayer, I will personally see to it that you will get reprimanded from your duties as one. Do not test me." 

This was the first time that they saw Cosette act like this. Yin helped Hector up by offering his hand. The Inferno Garden A Rank Fire Slayer kindly declined. "I am fine. It was my bad anyway, I apologize."