Chapter 253: [A Mountain of War and Death] 38/?: Chatting and Planning

------

As everyone had breakfast, the conversations and preparations for the battle that was to come were being unfolded, one such course of actions included sending the Harpy Tribe towards the Igni Kingdom first and foremost while leaving the ones willing to fight and participate in the battle with the rest of the group as they prepared for the invasion towards the Undead Labyrinth where the Necromancer held the children and many dead spirits captive.

"About the Harpies, although they can fly, it would be better for them to travel through the Veronica's Express," said Veronica.

"I see, yeah, I agree that they should- Huh? What do you mean by Veronica's Express? S-Shouldn't they go flying towards your Kingdom…?" asked Desephise, she did not know something like flying carriages or the flying train that Veronica was able to create.

"Just that!" said Veronica.

"Eh?! There is no way that a flying carriage could exist, the amount of Mana needed to fuel it would be- Huh?!"

Desephise glanced atop the sky as she noticed something that Veronica was pointing with her pale white finger… an enormous, snake-shaped carriage completely made out of black metal that was simply floating in midair.

"…Eh?! Huh?! What…?! What is that?!" asked Desephise. 

"First time?" asked Ragdaz, who had already reacted quite surprised when he saw the flying carriage before.

"This is Veronica's Express! It is our lady's special carriage with the capacity of carrying over hundreds of people across the skies! It even comes with defensive capabilities that can even defeat Dragons!" said Lilith, as she presented the enormous flying train to Desephise and the rest of the harpies.

"Amazing! Amazing! I couldn't expect less from Veronica-sama!" said Feroya.

"Impressive…" said Sevapheso.

"That is… a flying carriage?!"

"Was it made by Veronica-sama?!"

"She is truly… a goddess!"

"A goddess? Yeah… only a goddess would be able to create something like this!"

"Will we ride into that?"

"It looks kind of scary…!"

"Don't fear, it is Veronica-sama's carriage!"

Suddenly, as the Harpy tribe people reacted to the enormous flying carriage, the Veronica's Express rested over the ground, as it released white and phantasmagoric steam, suddenly its doors opened, revealing a dark interior that was carefully decorated inside with many seats, and even windows.

"It looks… not so bad?"

"Do we just get inside?"

"It is kind of scary though…"

"Will we be fine?"

"Ask the chief!"

"Chief-sama!"

"S-Should we get in?"

"This is more frightening than I thought!"

"But it was made by Veronica-sama, trust her!"

"Indeed, she saved us, she must mean no harm… It only looks a bit unappealing,"

"Everyone, now that you've packed your necessities, please get inside. Veronica-sama has confirmed that the interior is completely safe, there are many Ervas-sama Phantom Clones inside waiting for you, they will serve you with anything you need through the long travel!" said Lilith.

"Those that want to fight, stay with me, and those that want to keep living while carrying our legacy, get in," said Desephise with a serious and strong demeanor.

"Chief…"

"Let's get in, shall we?"

"Okay, mommy!"

"Mama, what about daddy?"

"I will stay here, I must fight for all of you, and also rescue the kids that are still within the Necromancer's grasp,"

"I will go as well,"

"We'll stay,"

"We fought once, and we can do it again, right?"

"Yeah, count me in, chief!"

"We'll rescue those kids even if it cost our lives!"

"We are weak alone, but united, we are strong, my brothers,"

"Let's do it!"

Most of the male Harpy of the tribe ended up staying behind, while most of the women were sent with the children. Although some females who were good with magic decided to stay as well.

When the harpy entered the Veronica's Express, they were greeted by a dozen of Ervas' Phantom Clones, who greeted them cordially and offered them many types of food and other things to pass the time.

"Harpies are brave! I recognize them as a strong group of warriors," said Ragdaz while nodding, his enormous body created a large shadow as he covered part of the sunlight, his powerful body was admired by many of the harpy men, he was the epitome of a warrior for them, alongside Desephise.

"Bear-kin and Harpy working together… how long has it been since it happened? I wonder what our ancestors would think about such a thing," said Desephise.

"I believe that they would think highly of us, of course! United we are stronger. As long as we forget about the differences between our tribes and our cultures, we are not so different, aren't we?" asked Ragdaz.

"Is that so?" asked Desephise.

"Indeed. Our primary goal is the same, to protect our people. We forge our bodies, and we practice techniques to grow stronger and survive. We hunt together and we share our food with the rest of the tribe. And we see that the most precious thing is the younglings and the next generations," said Ragdaz.

"Sheesh, since when did the old and muscle brain Ragdaz got this poetic? I don't remember you like this, old man," laughed Desephise.

"Gahahaha! Since my two children had come back to me, I have strived to change, to become a better man… And I want to fight for this future I am building with all of my might," said Ragdaz.

Desephise glanced at the tall bear-man, as Ragdaz's eyes shined brightly with a strong and blazing conviction so strong that it began to affect her as well.

"Hah, I see how it is… You are right, old man. We are not so different…" said Desephise with a bright smile, as the sunlight covered her glossy chocolate-skinned body. 

Ragdaz could not help but an eye at her beautiful body as he remembered the memories of that single night that they spent together after some booze.

"Desephise, if everything goes well, I will make you my wife!" said Ragdaz confidently.

"…Eh?" muttered Desephise.

"Ah, here he goes again…" muttered Gaius.

"What's up with father? He thinks he's young now or something?" asked Azra.

"Mother looks like a tomato! Hahaha!" laughed Feroya.

"This is quite romantic… love between two tribes," said Sevapheso.

"S-Shut up! What the heck do you think you are saying, you old bear man?! You disgusting mass of muscles… W-Who would ever want to be your wife?! Y-You, idiot! Imbecile! Now we look like a stupid couple in front of everyone!" roared Desephise as she began to punch Ragdaz's strong stomach, which was packed with strong muscles and biceps, which barely took any damage from her wing's claws made into fists.

"Gahaha!" laughed Ragdaz.

"Stop laughing! It is not funny! Grr!" roared Desephise as she flew over Ragdaz's head, trying to strangle his neck, but even his neck was strong and muscular, becoming an impossible task, which only made her look even more stupid as if it were a couple playfully fighting around.

"Gahahaha! That tickles!" laughed Ragdaz.

"Don't laugh! Don't laaaaugh!" roared Desephise.

As Desephise and Ragdaz continued their romantic interactions, the rest of the group including Veronica and Ervas were discussing their next course of action.

"Is there any plan? Or do we simply rush in as we did with Oggoth?" asked Anna.

"I don't think so, Ervas and Veronica are not good with complicated plans, after all, ~," said Ismene.

"Yeah, they like to crush their enemies by playing nasty and using all of their cheat powers and enormous armies!" said Acathea.

"We'll crush the Necromancer and his monsters without even having to plan things out!" said Amelia.

"Yeah, peko! I will blast them away with my blazing kicks, peko!" said Pekorina.

"Hm, we need to all work together and we'll destroy them! With my steel fists!" said Goliath.

"Draaaaaaaaaaa!" roared Draconia as she released fire from her mouth.

"The Necromancer might be able to create an army of Undead, but our strength and lower numbers are clearly superior. Our lords will surely triumph once again, as they will always be destined to," said Lilith.

"That's right, Lilith-san! You are right, my sister! Hm, we'll destroy any challenge that dares come the way of our masters!" said the Lilith Sisters, Eisheth, Agrat, Naamah.

"And with our strength, they can now conjure spells with the power of other attributes, their null affinities mean nothing now!" said Ozgeth.

"Indeed!" said Feroya.

"Yeah!" said Sevapheso.

"Griishaaa!" roared Pete.

"I will eat everything that comes my way, gubooo!" said Aqua.

"Aqua-nee-sama, that might be a bit too much, gishi," said Charlotte.

"Eh? Is that so, gubo?" asked Aqua.

"…Huh? Do we give out that feel? I am pretty sure that we are quite cautious, we like to plan things out before doing anything rash, to be honest," said Ervas.

"No, we actually plan things out! But I guess all of you think that something needs to be incredibly smart and genius to be called a 'plan'?" asked Veronica.

"Yeah, with Oggoth we also planned a lot, we simply did it around our idea of charging inside his dungeon…" said Ervas.

"Yeah, that's right… And we also have come with a few good ideas in how we can enter the Necromancer's hideout without even having to walk down there~" said Veronica.

"Amazing, Veronica-sama is a genius!" said Lilith.

"It is a simple plan, so listen carefully!" said Veronica.

-----