Nach-Exil Joint Occupation Negotiation [FanT/IC/Private]

[Nachfolgia]

Angelika was taken aback slightly by how blunt Haelger was being. This, of course, was shortly overshadowed by a feeling of being impressed by him. Haegler was smart, without a doubt. He had managed to have a good grasp on Angelika's personality and motivations after only knowing her for a couple days. She thought that she was good at hiding her thoughts, but it seemed that she wasn't good enough to fool a man of Haegler's caliber. She'd have to work harder of that in the future.

Angelika smirked as she knew the "game" was over. " An astute observation, Herr ReichsKommandant. It seems I've underestimated your ability to read people and I do apologise for that." She replied as she motioned for a drink server to come over.

The young private rushed over, doing his best to not spill the tall glasses of alcohol. " Champagne, my Obersterfuhrurin?" The private asked, trying not to make eye contact. Without saying a word, Angelika took a glass and began to sip on it, being careful not to smear her lipstick on the glass. The Private bowed slightly before leaving again. Once it was clear that no one was eavesdropping, Angelika stepped closer to Haegler and began to speak in a hushed tone.

" You are correct, Herr ReichsKommandant. I am not motivated by the Duality like my kinsmen. My motivations have been the same as they have been since I was a little girl. Knowledge and power are my passions and everything I do is to pursue both. As you have stated, my actions have secondary meanings.

To be honest, I don't particularly like going to these balls. It's always the same dribble and they distract me from what I want to accomplish. Naturally, I attend these to further my standing as leader. The more exposure I get, the more charismatic I look as an Obersterfuhrurin and thus, my cult of personality and power grows. Hence our dance, Herr ReichsKommandant.

Now, I say this with all honesty that I did enjoy our dance. It was... satisfying to be able to dance with another partner. It's been a long time since anyone had the guts to dance with the Obersterfuhrurin.

Now I don't want you get the wrong idea. " Angelika said as she chuckled a bit. " I'm not some emotionless monster that is incapable of having sincere feelings. I'm human and can still feel things like love and heartache. It's just that I have my doubts if I'll find anyone worthy to make children with, as much as the idea of a successor makes me nervous." Angelika said before finishing off her champagne.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

Dietrich listened to Angelika's confession with a sense of satisfaction. Oh, it was always nice to be right. To tear down facades and reveal what lied below. Granted, Angelika's facade only thinly veiled her ambitions in his opinion. Power...and knowledge but knowledge was just more power in the hands of those who knew how to use it. Knowing that it was power that drove her, and nothing but power, made her something rather easy to read. Easy to calculate with. So long as he supplied power, she would cooperate. So long as she couldn't gain more power by ditching him, she'd stay true to her words. Though knowing her she wouldn't even utter a single word one could later pin her down with.

"I can't tell if that is an honest compliment of yours or not, mylady. I find it so very hard to believe that the young men aren't asking you out for dances frequently, considering just how much they and their fathers hope to have them wed to you and rise in power. Excuse my blunt way of putting it but I felt as though they were rather, hm, unintimidated by your mood up untill I decided to bring one of them into a slightly more dangerous position."

When a private walked past again, with another tablet of alcoholic beverages, Dietrich expertly swiped a glass of the tray. The young man most likely noticed though probably wouldn't complain if he saw who had just taken from him. Or atleast when he saw in whose company that person was. Of course Dietrich didn't feel like drinking, staring at the transparent, slightly yellow-ish drink bubbling in the glass with disinterest. Sparkling wine. It was just good for appearances to hold a glass in ones hand at events like these.

"I don't doubt your ability to have sincere feelings Obersterfuhrurin. You wouldn't be human or an organic creature at all if you wouldn't have those. I can believe that you feel love and heartache. I just associate it with you loving positions rather than people."

Dietrich chuckled lightly.

"A jest of course, mylady. Now, I'm sure you do not share my utilitarian view of love so I wonder why you associate it with having children? For many cultures love appears to be a thing entirely possible without children. I can of course see why the idea of a successor is nervousity inducing to you. Already just the name implies one's own end, and nobody likes to think about that. We would all prefer to think of our lives rather than our deaths. Yet as a ruler, I do not have the luxury to not think of it, to not plan for the future of the realm I've been entrusted with after I've departed the world of the living."

Dietrich stared at the ground, clearly not liking what he said but saying it nonetheless:

"I trust my officers and aides, my ZZ to continue steering things in the direction I intended. But the problem is that none of them are like me. They aren't as..."great" as a person. None of them is an aristocrat. None of them has such a colourful and long history of service, of fighting for their country. None have left that much of an imprint on the nation. I doubt they will be able to successfully hold themselves in power. And what happens then...it is something I'd rather not think about."

Dietrich reached up to his mask, slowly undoing the locks before pulling it off his face, once more revealing just how youthful he actually looked. His face was clouded, his eyes seeming a bit milky as though he was lost in thought. He brought the glass to his lips and took a sip while continuing to stand there, looking rather dreary.

"If worthiness is what concerns you, I suggest to either look for someone you respect and who respects you. Someone with whom your goals and passions align. If they're passable in terms of physical appearance that's also good, both for public appearances and for one's own enjoyment of the relationship. Either that or drop the worthiness aspect and get a weak minded fool with lots of power behind him."

Pain flashed across his face at the last sentence. He downed the rest of his glass in one go and and then started lifting up his mask again, saying:

"Heirs and successors are always such a fickle thing. Theoretically they can be very useful politically and one tends to have absolute dominion over them and thus the ability to form and mold them in whatever way one wishes. Of course practices to do so in the past were barbaric and did more harm than good but with technology and psychological sciences marching forward, it has become as effective as never before. But a small risk always remains that one's heir does not follow their line and perhaps even ends up rebelling."

[Nachfolgia]

" That is because those idiots have yet to fully grasp how much control I have over them. They think that, since I'm still young, that I've yet to fully understand the position I hold. So, they test the waters on what they can get away with just short of treason. What they fail to realize is that I decided what is treason in my Reich. If he continues to slip up like that... I'll watch with glee as Herr Von Hohenhausen's little ' empire' comes crashing down. I know exactly what the position of Obersterfuhrur is capable of and I intend to take it to new heights."

Angelika had spoken the last few sentences with poison in her voice. It was most obvious that she had nothing but contempt with Herr Von Hohenhausen. To Haelger, it seemed that fate was not smiling kindly on the Nachfolgian CEO. When the probate walked by again, Angelika grabbed another glass of champagne at the same time as Haelger. She took a sip of the bubbly liquid before continuing.

" What I have learned about each of my predecessors is that their successor has undermined them in some way. Each new Obersterfuhrur has put forth new policies and laws that amend the old ones, either in part or entirely. I'm no different. My predecessors purged magic and the supernatural from the Reich and here I am, setting forth policies to use magic to our advantage in war. So, I doubt I need to explain why I don't find the idea of a successor appealing."

Angelika was too busy talking that she almost didn't notice Haegler's changing mood. He seemed to be turn more and more depressed as he talked, sinking deeper into a monotoned state. Realizing this, she studied him more as he continued to speak, waiting for something to jump on. She didn't have to wait long.

What Angelika didn't expect was the sudden twitch of Haegler's face as he talked about worthy lovers. It was quite subtle, but it was almost too noticable to her. It was almost as if he was screaming in pain. She wondered why Haelger would have such an adverse reaction to such a strange topic. She smiled in her usual devious way before prodding him.

" Is something wrong, Herr ReichsKommandant? You seem a little troubled by our conversation of lover and relationships. Have you had a bad experience, perhaps? Spurned by a lover? Heartbroken?" Angelika continued to press that button, hoping to get an answer.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

Dietrich stared at Angelika through the lenses of his mask, confident that she'd be incapable of reading his face now. He cursed himself for letting go off himself right then and there. It wasn't good when those old memories came back up. But Angelika had accidentally pushed the right buttons and sent him spiralling down into the old trauma. Well, no use crying about spilled milk. He'd just have to clean up the mess.

He crossed his arms before his chest, answering Angelika coldly:

"There was no love, Obersterfuhrurin. On neither side. Only cold calculation and naivete. You see, your father had the decency to spare you the child marriage. My father on the other hand took delight in arranging the worst one possible for me."

Before she could press any further, Dietrich grabbed one of her hands by the wrist, doing so quickly, like a viper and hiding the act as good as he could with their bodies. His grip was like iron for Angelika and so very much like the one she had experienced just this morning when he had pinned her in her chair. But this time he was wearing his mask and the reason was not hunger but a cold hatred. He only hissed:

"Stop."

, while squeezing her wrist. Angelika would find that his remarkable strength hadn't lessened one bit and that if she couldn't calm him down quickly, it would soon cost her her wrist.

[Nachfolgia]

Angelika flinched as Haegler grabbed her by the wrist. He was much too quick for her, moving on a near supernatural level, being too slow to react or defend herself. She tried to pull away, but Haegler's grip was in a death lock, making the attempt futile. Her expression at this point was now serious, narrowing her eyes at him in anger. Her wrists began to hurt as the man's grip tightened, putting a lot of pressure on her. The entire display was reminiscent of the events that occured earlier that morning.

Angelika was hesitant to call her Schildmadchen who were standing nearby, watching the crowd. She didn't want to cause a scene in such a crowded place. If it was shown that a foreign dignitary had put his hands on the Obersterfuhrurin, every Nachfolgian in the Reich would call for war and his head on a spike. More importantly, it would mean that the soon to be alliance between Exilvania and Nachfolgia would be dead before it even began and that was something that Angelika did not want.

As the pressure on her wrists worsened, Angelika knew that something needed to be done and fast. There was no way she could hide two broken wrists from her nation. So, Angelika thought of someway to get him to let go, something to distract him from his apparent anger. Thinking back on the times that Haegler broke his stoic demeanor, Angelika knew what to do. Weighing the pros and cons, with the pros being in her favor, Angelika acted.

Angelika stretched up, slightly on her tiptoes, and kissed Haegler on his gasmask. As her lips pressed on the side of the mask, the rubber material rubbed and make a faint squeaking sound. Of course, the act didn't go in noticed as several Nachfolgians in the immediate area witnessed the event. Naturally, the Nachfolgians looked on in complete shock as it was the first time seeing one of their own in a public display of affection with a foreigner. It was such a taboo act that audible gasps could be heard in the crowd. Heith, who was nearby, saw the two and frantically got her reporters attention to take pictures.

After what seemed like a minute, Angelika pulled her lips away, leaving a faint stain of red lipstick on his mask. " Oh Herr ReichsKommandant, you know how to make a girl blush. You've been giving me nothing, but compliments since I've met you." Angelika said loudly, obvious so others could hear. She looked at Haegler, silently asking him to play along.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

Just a moment ago Dietrich had been dominated by cold rage, fully intent on giving Angelika, who had taken on the face of his now deceased ex-wife in his imagination, all the pain he could. Yes, he imagined that voice, like chalk scratching over a board ringing in his ears, dripping with venom and laughing about him, that beautiful face hiding nothing but evil. Oh, in no way were those bad traits these days. They just ruined most of his early life and had induced a relentless trauma, one that Angelika had reawakened and that applied itself over her like a blanket, inducing relentless hatred in the ZZ Reichskommandant.

Thats why it was absolutely mind numbing and instantly broke the traumatic experience when Angelika kissed him. Not on his lips or his cheeks as it was not possible, but onto his mask, it squeaking a bit as she rubbed her lips onto it. An absolutely mind boggling act and completely out of character for the person whose face he had been projecting onto Angelika's, aiding him greatly in snapping out of it. His grip on her wrist instantly lessened as he noticed that it was in fact not his ex-wife he was looking at but rather the sovereign ruler of Nachfolgia. Hot and cold shivers ran up and down his spine as he realised that, as well as the possible implications of his behaviour, even more so when he noticed the attention paid to them, even the reporters taking pictures. Uh, oh, this was a terrible situation.

When Angelika finally pulled away, Dietrich, still dumbstruck, slowly reached up and touched the part of his mask where she had kissed him, rubbing it a little before holding his hand before his eyes and seeing the faint colour of her lipstick on it. No, he hadn't been dreaming, she really did kiss him.

Of course, as his rational mind kicked back in, he knew to quickly rationalize it away as some ploy to free herself from him, one that had worked fantastically. But he couldn't shake the feeling of awe at her decision since he knew that it was forbidden and looked down upon in Nachfolgia to have relationships with foreigners. She was taking an enormous hit to have her wrists freed in this manner and he knew full well that she could've used other options.

His usual deceptive self also snapping back into action, Dietrich bowed down before Angelika, saying:

"Only the best for you, mylady, though even the greatest of compliments pale in comparison to the real you."

[Nachfolgia]

" You are too kind, Herr ReichsKommandant." Angelika said coyly, looking away to fein bashfulness. The nearby Nachfolgians had begun to gather around the two, complete awestruck by what they had just witnessed. Some looked disgusted by the display, others looked as if they were at a lose of words. When the crowd got a bit too close, the Schildmadchen stepped in. The surrounded the Obersterfuhrurin and ordered the crowd to go about their business and continue partying. As the crowd dispersed, two Nachfolgians stayed and tried to talk to them, Heith Aleifrdottir and one o

" My Obersterfuhrurin, I'd like to ask you and the ReichsKommandant a few questions." Heith said, trying to push past a Schildmadchen who in turn was being rough.

" Let them through." Angelika ordered to which the Schildmadchen quickly stepped to the side, allowing the two reporters past.

" That was quite the display, my Obersterfuhrurin. Kissing a foreign diplomat in front of everyone. Who knew how infatuated you are with the ReichsKommandant. Heith said with a sly smile on her face.

" I have no idea what you're talking about, Frau Aleifrdottir. There is no infatuation going on. He simply complimented me and I repaid him with a sincere kiss." Angelika said coldly, avoiding eye contact with Heith.

" Of course, My Obersterfuhrurin." Heith said with a smile. " I'd like to do that interview with Herr ReichsKommandant before the party dies down. If that is ok with the two of you." She asked, pulling out a microphone

" As long as the ReichsKommandant is ok with that? " Angelika replied, crossing her arms and stepping to the side a bit so they could get a better shot of Haegler. With Haegler saying yes, the other reporter pressed play on his news camera and began to record the interview. Heith, did her thing, and start the intro of the interview.

" I'm Brigadefuhrur Heith Aleifrdottir of Nachfolgian National News and I am standing with ZZ ReichsKommandant Dietrich Haelger, supreme leader of Exilvania. Now, we are all aware of the up coming treaty signing that is scheduled to take place tomorrow morning. Can you give us a little insight on why this treaty came about and what urged you to align yourself with the Reich?" Heith said as she held the microphone up to Haegler.

Once he had answered that question, she asked another.

" Are you able to tell us anything about the treaty or are we going to have to wait until it goes public?"

And another.

" I was told that the surviving royalty of Yeuzuishan is scheduled to be executed tomorrow as well. Can you go into detail about their capture? What happen and what man power went into the operation?"

" Now my last question is for both you and the Obersterfuhrurin and is rather personal? What do you to see in each other as a perfect diplomatic partner? What is your relationship like in the few days you've known each other?" Heith said, her tone hinting at a possible double meaning.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

"Ah, the press. Always around when there's an interesting story to sell. Well, Brigadefuhrur Aleifrdottir, I was planning on having a chat with you anyways so this is most welcome for me."

Dietrich was mindful of Heith, as he always was around papparazzi. They had a terrifying ability to turn whatever one said into something completely different. Hence why he always tried to stay in decent terms with the foreign press, trying to walk a path between giving them as little information as was necessary to push his plans and agenda while also giving them enough information to not piss them off so they wouldn't start inventing things about him or changing them to make their articles longer and more interesting.

He wiped the rest of Angelika's lipstick off his mask with his hand as he got himself into proper posture for an interview. Outwardly relaxed but ready to jump at even the smallest opportunity to cause damage. Prepared like that he listened to Heith making her probably standard introduction, grimacing once under his mask as she got his name wrong. Luckily, since he had a mask, he was allowed to give his facial expressions free reign.

"Now please, Brigadefuhrur, promoting me to supreme leader of Exilvania on television, that is too much honour for one such as me. I am but the Regent of Exilvania, not its supreme leader. As for how the treaty signing came about, well, an uncoordinated war, a formerly unified land torn apart and the unwillingness to invest ressources for a great war over this piece of backwards land. Yes, I think that sums up the reasons for why this entire treaty came about in the first place. Besides,"

, Dietrich said as he leaned forward, into the camera, his green glowing visors reflecting the camera and the cameraman's face.

", whoever said I was aligning myself?"

Of course Heith had, like any decent journalist, prepared a small barrage of questions which she shot at him as quickly as he anwered the last one, giving him little time to think. It was a tactic he knew, often aimed at getting those being interviewed to not properly think through their statements and drop something that wasn't meant to be heard or said something differently from how they'd usually say it. His own experience with papparazzi was still limited at this point, but good enough to know what she was going for so he took his sweet time in answer. Granted, this particular question was easy:

"I can tell you that there will be peace in Yeuzuishan. Does that satisfy your lust for news untill its public declaration? Or will the anticipation deny you your sleep?"

Now the next questions was bit more delicate. The exact circumstances were definitely not something the press would need to know. Just how close these two little bitches had gotten to causing serious damage was not funny and one could argue and shift blame over the entire incident onto his troops, and through his responsibility for them as their superior, onto him. Ah, they should've searched better, maybe broken through some walls. It had been clear that there were secret passages when the princesses were nowhere to be found in the entire palace. And yet the troops had disregarded that possibility and the Nachfolgians hadn't been informed about the exact details of the battle over the palace when they had arrived so they obviously didn't go looking for secret passages either. A partial truth was perhaps best here:

"Yes, their deaths shall mark the ultimate end of the Yeuzuishan Empire and for all hope for its freedom. As for their capture, I cannot and will not go into detail about it since it might reveal Exilvanian military secrets on TV, something I'd rather avoid. But I will say this, the princesses ran right into our arms. The manpower necessary to subdue them and their accomplices was minimal."

And then came the last question? Already?, Dietrich mused. This was going pretty quickly. Though after hearing the question, he was sure it was one Heith had just made up during or after the little scandal that had just transpired. Nonetheless it was an important question that could make or break many things.

"I was not aware that I and the Obersterfuhrurin were perfect diplomatic partners. I sure hope it is a prediction rather than a fact, it means it might become true because if what we are at right now can be called perfect, then I'd like to re-evaluate the meaning of the term perfection for a while. As for our relationship, well Brigadefuhrur, I dare say it has been nothing but professional up to this point. Perhaps so professional that someone got a bit bored because of it."

The last words were clearly a jab at Angelika's little act, the scandal she had caused, notable to even the most braindead witness of the scene when Dietrich touched the part of his mask where she had kissed him yet again.

[Nachfolgia]

Angelika raised an eyebrow and smirked when Haegler took a jab at her. Of course he would blame her for the scandal that was caused by her quick thinking to avoid a possibly bigger fiasco. For all she knew, Angelika prevented war for the second time in the few days she has been in Yeuzuishan. Still, the light hearted banter was amusing to Angelika and she let out a light chuckle. This prompted Heith and the cameraman to focus on her.

" This is all a misunderstanding." Angelika chimed in, leaning in towards Heith for the camera to get a better view of her. " Herr ReichsKommandant has been nothing but an exemplary gentleman, showering me with various compliments and gifts. Since I was not prepared for such a suave diplomat, I had to think of something to show my gratitude...so I kissed him." Angelika said, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.

" Well it seems that the ReichsKommandant is a lady's man that none of us knew about." Heith commented before turning to back in front of the camera and signaling for him to stop recording.

" I think we've got all we need to send back to the Reich. Thank you both for the interview." Heith said before leaving with her camera crew.

" Well...now that that's over, maybe we'll have some time to actually enjoy the party. Care for another dance, Herr ReichsKommandant? I was quite fond of the last one. " Angelika said as she held out her hand.

For the rest of the night, the party continued without any interruptions. Nachfolgians drank, sang, and danced to their hearts content, all while watching the two leaders carefully. Angelika and Haegler danced a little bit, much to Haegler's dismay. For the most part, however, the two leaders shared drinks, a dinner, and talked about future details about what Angelika would experience when she visited Exilvania. The party eventually died down in the early hours of the morning and Angelika wished Haegler a good night before retreating to her chambers.


Angelika woke mid morning to light pouring into her room from a small gap in the drapes. She moaned and stretched as her eyes adjusted to the light. She glanced to the side of her bed where a Schildmadchen was standing at attention. Both Schildmadchen, the other on the left side of the bed, greeted her. Angelika sat up, letting the thin sheet fall off her naked body. She got out of bed, ruffled her already messy hair, and gave another stretch. She then walked over to the bathroom to wash herself.

Angelika spent the next few hours eating breakfast and getting ready for the big day. Today was the day of the treaty signing and the execution of the Yeuzuishan royalty and Angelika couldn't be happier. The dress that Clementine had made for this occasion was perfect and it went well with her all white overcoat and hat paired with white high heeled shoes. Not only did she looks good, but Angelika anticipated the reactions that this ceremony will bring, to the Nachfolgians, Exilvanians, and the Yeuzuishan.

With the hour drawing near, Angelika made her way to the square with her guards and the princesses in tow. The princesses themselves, still in a hypnotic state, were dressed in a light grey uniform that didn't resemble anything the Nachfolgians wore. Their heads were covered by burlap sacks and had to have the Schildmadchen guide them through the palace.

The square in it's entirety was prepped for the ceremony. A stage had been built at the end closest to the palace with both Nachfolgian and Exilvanian flags decorating it. A table and some microphones were placed in the middle of the stage for the signing of the papers. Loudspeakers were on either end of the stage to broadcast what was being said.

Security for the square was extensive, even more than the party that occured last night. Waffen-SS and Exilvanians were everywhere in the square, supported by armored vehicles and machine guns between the audience and the stage. The buildings around the square was occupied by soldiers of both nations to neutralize would be snipers. Checkpoints were posted at the roads leading out from the square, also reinforced by armored vehicles. The skies above were covered by anti-aircraft batteries, helicopters, and a few members of the Jagdgeschwader 63w, the Reich's very own Todesengel.

The Yeuzuishan civilians that were being rounded up to witness the events, numbering a couple hundred, were searched for weapons and led into the area designated for them. They were forced into a cordoned off area of high barbwire fences and no chairs with Nachfolgian and Exilvanian soldiers around the entire perimeter, seemingly for security reasons. The Nachfolgian and Exilvanian audience was treated to their own section, complete with enough chairs to seat them, with only a few having to stand.

With preparations complete and the audience taken care of, the ceremony was about to begin. Angelika and the princesses were backstage away from sight. Angelika waited patiently for Haegler to arrive, smiling in anticipation for the main event.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

All in all, the last evening was at the very least not entirely useless, Dietrich mused as he went about the business of of preparing for the ceremony. Apart from the usual platitudes, the horrible dances and compromising scenes, atleast some details about the Oberste Führerin's trip to Exilvania had been nailed down and he had managed to inform her atleast about some of what the trials and all the ceremonies around it might entail. He might almost call it a pleasant evening if it hadn't been for the less than pleasant events he had listed before. Though if taken correctly, even the most unpleasant moment could be utilized to one's advantage, he thought, grinning at his own image in the mirror he stood before while tying his tie.

The rest of the night had been fairly uneventful. Something he was glad about since it allowed him to calm down from the party with some simple paperwork. Nachfolgians may have been genetically enhanced but unless there were very good reasons not to, they too went to sleep, cutting that damned party short. Dietrich knew the importance of such parties to making and maintaining connections and deals but he still wasn't the greatest party person. He couldn't bring himself to enjoy festivities, a cultural and societal quirk of him since balls and parties from the exilvanian aristocracy were solely there for the politics. And with him having had very few political ambitions when going into that ballroom, he had been out of meaningful things to do very quickly.

He threw a glance at his confiscated Yeuzuishan desk and the stacks of documents spread across it while putting on his mask. Personally taking a look over the reports coming in from all over occupied Yeuzuishan had taken a while and it was not something he'd usually do in such detail by himself...but while he was here, why not? The reports had concerned a great many things such as infrastructure reconstruction, deportation, resistance sightings, current location of living and dead agents as well as inquiries concerning the fate of several people. He had written 'Anatomical Studies' onto those documents, sending all of these to their deaths at the hand of exciteable exilvanian doctors. Not something he'd regret and a standard procedure he usually followed whenever encountering a new people.

And so the night had gone by in a fly and morning had dawned upon him, the sun sending its rays of light through the open windows. And it had been then that Dietrich had realised that he hadn't been in any presentable state at all. A bit smelly perhaps by his own standards, his suit, the same he had worn to the party, badly creased and covered with inkblots. Yeah, he couldn't attend them ceremony like this so he had got out of that pronto and had jumped under a cold shower to get the lethargy that had set in with all the paperwork he had spent the night with out of his system. And now he was back in action, in trousers, socks, shirt, tie and mask and putting on the remainder of his uniform. Breakfast would have to wait. He had to make some preparations for his near immediate departure. He didn't dare leave Exilvania for too long. Too much work that required his personal attention to go on extended tours through the world.

As he checked his end tables for his order, his knife and other, smaller parts of his outfit that needed to go there, he noticed a brooch lying there, a brooch made in the shape of the Nachfolgian Eagle. The realisation that he had forgotten the brooch yesterday evening hit him hot and cold as he picked it up and opened it. It had been supposed to be a present and a message for Angelika. A wonderfully made brooch that could be opened, with a well shot photograph of her embedded inside. At first glance nothing anybody would find strange in that. It was a wonderful piece of art, made from gold and highly valuable gems...the eagle being made mainly from obsidian, the crown, sceptre and imperial orb decorated with tiny rubies, the imperial orb also featuring sapphires and agates. The legs of the eagle were made from amber. The sceptre, crown and imperial orb themselves though were mainly made from gold, as was the back and inside of the brooch. It was necessary to hold all the precious stones together.

But a true Nachfolgian fan of Angelika, an absolutely devoted follower, would notice something off. The picture within the brooch was not one of the official pictures made by her which were in circulation. Of course keeping an oversight over these what with her being an official head of state present at many official events where dozens if not hundreds of pictures were taken off her, as well as her modelling for official magazines did not make this easy. It was unlikely that Angelika would ever notice it..and more unlikely that she'd ever show the brooch to someone who would notice it. But on the off-chance it was noticed, it did represent a well hidden message.

"We have eyes on you."

It wasn't just any picture. It was the picture used in her profile in exilvanian intelligence dossiers. It wasn't a terrible thick dossier, but there were a dozen pages worth of, mostly, photographic material. Both self made and acquired from Nachfolgian sources.

With a sigh Dietrich let the brooch carefully disappear in one of his pockets. He'd have to take care of this at the ceremony then. Or just before. When he opened the door to his rooms, he found himself face to face with one of his officers. The man immediately snapped to attention and saluted, the salute nearly knocking Dietrich's peaked cap off. Dietrich responded with the same salute before inquiring:

"Is everything ready?"

He walked past the officer and the officer quickly fell in next to him and reported as they walked down the corridor together:

"Indeed, ZZ Reichskommandant. Security has been set up in coordination with Nachfolgian forces and is as tight as it could be. There's nothing that could potentially go wrong. We have the entire city on lockdown and the square used for the reaty signing is brimming with our forces. Should anyone try anything, they'll regret it before they could even fully process the intention of pulling somehting. Not that we think anything will happen. Civilians are already being rounded up and searched for any weapons. We have them shoved away in a nice, cordoned off area. They won't get anywhere with that."

Dietrich had his doubts about that. Yes, from what the man said they'd be well prepared for all methods of assassination one could try. The problem he saw was, that they all thought far too conventional. This was a realm whose people had access to magic afterall. He didn't believe in any attack with guns or similar things from the civilians. But he couldn't rule out the possibility that the resistance, although having received a good beating during their attack on the palace, would pull another stunt to save their princesses in the very last second. And Dietrich had every reason to worry, having poured through all those reports last night, he probably had a better idea of what was not quite falling in place and what was still missing than Angelika...or the Nachfolgian staff whose intelligence on the ground in Yeuzuishan had not been prepared from such a long hand as the Exilvanian network.

Dietrich knew that several people were still unaccounted for. People of power in Yeuzuishan who had seemingly disappeared shortly after it had become clear that Yeuzuishan was lost. Just like the princesses and the royal guard...who in the end turned up again from their hiding places to attempt todecapitate both Exilvania and Nachfolgia. He knew who was missing from the intelligence the deeply embedded exilvanian agents had gathered. The Yeuzuishan's top witch squadron was missing. Or atleast half of them. Dietrich was aware that the Nachfolgians scored several kills on them during their advance. But the other half was still missing. As was the Imperial Oracle, an important aide to the Imperial Family and one he had wanted to get into his fingers the most. Her ability of foresight was dangerous to their control over the country and would greatly aid the resistance. Of course, it was a foggy ability and did not always materialize from what he had heard...case in point Yeuzuishan being caught completely unaware of the sudden double invasion. But it would still be dangerous. Another person that was missing an was giving him headaches was the 'Youkai of Darkhit'. A powerful witch who had been supposedly locked up under the palace after having lost control of her powers and going on a killing spree through Darkhit. Naturally, they had found the dungeons empty when they got to them.

So yes, he had more than enough to worry about. So he asked the officer:

"Schattenkrag is here, isn't she?"

The officer just said:

"Yes, ZZ Reichskommadant!"

"Good. Inform her that I want her eyes on this ceremony. She should blast anything that looks even remotely threatening. What about the treaty?"

The officer held a cylindrical box in front of Dietrich which he took and opened on the fly, retrieving the document inside. Not particularly strong paper he noted...but good enough and from what he could read, all the terms were on it and the thing looked the part.

"The copy?"

Another box was held in front of his nose, which he also opened and skimmed the document just to make sure they both held the same terms. After being satisfied with what he saw, rolled the documents back up before he shoved them back into the boxes and handed them back to his officer.

"I'll take it, they'll get laminated right after the signing?"

"Yes, ZZ Reichskommandant!"

"Good."

The rest of the way passed in silence, the only notable incident being a pair of Exilvanian ZZ Elite Vets falling in behind them. Bodyguards of course. It would look bad if only the Oberste Führerin brought any. Their heavy leather coats as well as the Spanzow Miniguns in their hands were a reassuring reminder that crowd control would be absolutely no problem. Nor would volume of fire. They arrived behind the stage that had been set for the ceremony and Dietrich didn't have to look long for Angelika, her stunning figure, now all in white and feeling as though she was gleaming with light, easily made out behind the stage. He was very quick to stalk over there on his long legs, his men in tow. He saw her smiling, though wether it wasn an anticipatory smile for the event or a smile of relief about him finally having arrived, he did not know.

Having reached her, Dietrich as per usual bowed before her, taking her hand and pressing his filter against it in the usual parody of a kiss that he gave. To be honest, he'd prefer kissing her hand for real since it would feel a lot less awkward...but he had chosen to wear the mask in public and that's how it would stay. When he straightened himself again, he smiled at her from below his mask and said:

"You look stunning today, mylady. Clementine has done a truly astonishing job. Yet, allow me to say so, I think something is still missing in your outfit."

He, almost too casually, produced the brooch from his pocket, holding it out before Angelika.

"I originally intended to give this to you during the ball but...after a certain incident I decided to not throw any more oil into the fire and kept it untill now."

Yes, act as if everything was intentional. And it was most likely partly true. He definitely wouldn't have given Angelika the brooch after she had kissed him. It would've been water on the treadmills of the press and the gossipers. Something he was sure they both wanted to avoid.

[Nachfolgia]

Angelika smiled when Haegler took her hand and pressed it against his gasmask as he always did to greet her. He was nothing if not a gentleman. " Yes, Frau Clementine did a marvelous job with my dress. It is perfectly as I described it to her. She shouldn't have any trouble making a fortune in the Reich. Everyone will want one of her dresses after today." Angelika said as she twirled around to give him a good look at her dress in all its perfection.

As soon as she finished showing him the dress, Haegler pulled out the brooch. Angelika was breathtaken by its beauty and craftsmanship. The gems gleamed in the light at the right angle and the fact that is held the shape of a Nachfolgian eagle was a very pleasant surprise. The surprise continued when she noticed the seam around the entire brooch and a small hinge on the back. A locket! Angelika, with a glee, opened up the brooch to see the picture inside.

There was indeed a picture inside the brooch, however, it was not a picture she expected. It was indeed a picture of her, but in a rather compromising position. She was in the window of her room in Sturmgeist Manor, a feat that was already seemingly impossible for the photographer. The compromising part was that her chest was bare in the photo, obviously taken during the early morning hours. Angelika's smile was gone and her eyes narrowed as she examined the photo more.

Where did Haegler get the photo? How did he get it? How did the Xers get so close? Was it magic? Was it those bitches in the Ordo? All of these questions ran through Angelika's mind, but another thought occured to her. As odd as it sounds, she was impressed by this weird display of power. The fact that he had this much influence and that his agents can reach so far was inspiring. Of course, this fact was concerning and she would have to address this later, but for now, Angelika was amused by this flex of power.

" How did you...?" Angelika tried to ask, but was cut off by the sound of music playing, a triumphant mix of wind instruments paying over the loud speakers. It was the Sturmgeist ballad, a traditional piece that signaled the entrance of the Obersterfuhrur and the cue for the ceremony to begin. Angelika quickly put the brooch in her pocket, giving Haegler a dirty look before walking up the stairs and onto the stage.

As soon as she walked into the stage, followed by Haegler, the Nachfolgians and the Exilvanians, sitting on stage as well as in the audience, stood up at attention. Angelika quickly motioned them to sit as she walked from the stairs to the microphone position dead center in front of the long table. Nachfolgian cameramen tracked and recorded her every move, making sure to capture the moment in its entirety. The music died down and Angelika positioned the mic better to deliver her speech.

" Sons and Daughters of the Reich..." Honorable Exilvanians soldiers..." She nodded to the Xers, in the audience and on stage to her left. " Today marks an unprecedented moment in our two nations' histories. When war was at our doorstep...with the enemy literally across the street...we took the moral high ground.

Our nations decided to forge peace among the ashes of war. To work towards prosperity and peaceful coexistence between nations that, throughout their history, have chosen war as their profession.Today, that peace becomes official as a treaty will be signed on this very stage, marking a place in history that our children will look back on and admire. The day that Nachfolgians and Exilvanians...two warriors...chose peace."

Angelika paused for a second and then motioned back to Haegler, who was seated at the table.

" Herr ReichsKommandant...the treaty of you will?" Angelika said before walked around the table and taking a seat.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

Dietrich blinked once when Angelika let the brooch slip into her pocket...a pocket he hadn't noticed before on the dress if he was being honest. He didn't know why exactly he blinked and that actually felt sort of odd to him. Was it this sense of stunned disbelief that she had just stuffed away such a marvelous present and threat? He knew that as leaders, they both commanded tremendous ressources so perhaps this was of too little importance to her to really consider it yet it still rubbed him the wrong way. He made a serious threat that they could see her and potentially also kill her back at home. Though an entirely rational explanation soon formed inside his mind. Perhaps it had been this threat that made her negatively predisposed to the brooch and that was why she wouldn't wish to wear it or be seen with it. Yes, that made the most sense, he decided as he followed her onto the stage.

He had to admit, they had a pretty good view and the security measures had not been understated. MGs and armoured vehicles just to protect the stage, high fences cordoning off the people actually let onto the square, locking them where they were. He could see the men garrisoned in the buildings that had a good view of the stage with his bare eye. No snipers were to be expected. Larger crowds were held off the square with set up checkpoints, also supported by armoured vehicles. In the center of the square, on the elevated socket that had previously hosted the monument to the Emperor, toppled during the battle over the city and obviously removed to clear the square for the ceremony, a platform had been cleared with a fence around it and provided seats for the important Nachfolgians who had traveled here from far away. Exilvanians from the officer corps were also here, although notably less and much lower in rank and political power than their Nachfolgian counterparts. He noticed that a fence had been set up between those two parties as well as a fenced ceiling above their heads. They were really going to some lengths to separate them from one another as well as from the crowd.

Slightly inclining his head backwards, he looked up into the sky, watching the hunks of Nachfolgian attack helicopters circling overhead and even further above that he saw the traces of Nachfolgian Witches in the sky. The air was undoubtedly clear of enemy contacts and would remain so for the foreseeable future. He threw a sideglance at Angelika, wondering if she was perhaps up to something. A last minute betrayal? Now would be a good, last chance for her. She had amassed forces that were matching his in numbers at the very least. And unlike him she had taken to the air too and was holding air supremacy. He sent a glare at one of the Exilvanians already seated on the stage, his collar marking him as a high ranking ZZ officer. A slight nod upwards was all it took to communicate what was needed. He received a barely noticeable nod in return. Alright, MANPADS were in position around the square.

With that dealt with, Dietrich focused his attention back on the ceremony. Angelika was giving a fairly short speech, all of it of course perfectly staged, the music dying down perfectly just as she had finished adjusting the microphone. Cameras were filming her from every angle and good lighting was provided from the edges of the stage. He was also sure that some form of editing would be used to improve the footage before it was made accessible to the public for watching. Though he was sure that no editing would be necessary due to Angelika since every single one of her movements seemed to be perfect, well trained in and practiced. An elegance and determination was to every motion she made that would carry over very favourably into the filmed version, he was sure of it.

He had taken a seat a the table, set up there solely so they'd have a solid base to help with writing their signatures onto the documents. Angelika's speech was rather short so he didn't have too much time to get comfortable. She was quick to reqest the treaty from him, a request he immediately complied with, unscrewing the lid from the boxes he had with him and retrieving the paper as well as its copy. One for each. He handed both of them over to her, accompanying them with a predatory:

"Here you go, Oberste Führerin. Please, do have a loo-"

Dietrich was cut off mid-sentence by a sudden shockwave hitting not only him but practically the entire square and beyond. The gathered Yeuzuishans were thrown around like ragdolls, hitting the fences that kept them contained, which started creaking and then broke under his uncommon assault, fauling to the ground with entire piles of Yeuzuishans on top of them. The guards were faring little better, being violently launched backwards against the surrounding buildings or the stage. Cover did not seem to exist for this shockwave...and on that note, neither did it appear to affect anything non-organic... the soldiers situated within the building, perhaps even behind walls, being thrown back against other walls too while the men within their vehicles were thoroughly shaken through. Seatbelts weren't exactly a thing in Exilvanian tanks atleast so shaken through was till putting it mildly. The shockwave was massive it's diameter easily reaching several hundred meters and encompassing the entire square

Dietrich was violently catapulted backwards, where he slammed into one of the support beams for the stage's lighting, denting it a bit before he fell to the ground. With some visible effort, his spine clearly having suffered some damage from the violent clash, he got his head to look upwards. He heard screams of pain, yells for medics from military personnel, radio messages coming in like a torrent, asking what the hell was going on. Indeed, what the hell was going on? What was this shockwave? With even more effort he slowly heaved his upper body upwards, increasing his line of sight drastically and allowing him to look at the square, to see the source of the shockwave.

A pale girl was standing there, dressed in what looked like little more than some rags. Long dark hair sprouted forth from her head in twintails while unnatural flames surged skyward from one of her purple eyes. A large scar adorned her stomach. From her back a long, scorpion like tail coiled over her, ready to strike and it seemed as though a pair of antennas was growing out of her head. As he looked at her, he watched how she leaned backwards and started cackling, madness clearly within her voice and eyes as she did so.

The cackling stopped as abruptly as it had begun as she suddenly froze before slowly inclining her head downwards again, looking straight at Dietrich...and if Angelika had also managed to recuperate enough from the blast then at her too. The girl didn't even open her mouth yet suddenly she spoke within their minds, like a devilish child let out to play:

"My, so you are the the pitiful excuses that ultimately facilitated my freedom? A scarecrow and a mistress? How on earth did the Empire fall to the likes of you? Speck of dust that you two are, I would've been surprised if you had even managed to conquer your own cradles.

Now, you just invaded my turf, killed and butchered my playthings and nearly robbed me of my ultimate revenge...that cries for punishment...so...who do you reckon I should punish first?"

Dietrich gulped under his mask. This power, combined with the Yeuzuishan historical records and the information his men had gathered. This was undoubtedly the Youkai of Darkhit, the one who had been supposedly locked up deep below the palace. The one who had been missing when they had come to look for her. He had to admit, she was everything they had made her out to be in the stories. From what he had seen, he'd guess that she was an immensely powerful witch specialising in psychic attacks. A strange combination in his opinion but that mattered little considering just how effective it proved to be right now. Crap, what would he do now...when the Yeuzuishans brought down the Youkai, they had needed an entire witch battalion, several regiments of Imperial Guard and the Emperor himself. They didn't have that at hand, did they?

[Nachfolgia]

Angelika reached her handout to grab the treaty papers from Haegler. Her back of her mind was still preoccupied with the brooch and the message that came with it. How did they get it? Why go to all the trouble? Haegler and the Exilvanians had some explaining to do, but she kept her focus on the ceremony and the task at hand. She will get her answer one way or another.

As soon as Angelika's hand touched the treaty papers, an invisible shockwave slammed into her and Haegler. She was knocked clean off the stage. Unfortunately for the Nachfolgians behind the stage, that also got hit by the shockwave, their Oberste Führurin landed on them and the equipment. Even more unfortunate, the way she landed on her video equipment and kinsman, caused some of her bones to break on impact. Her arm and collar bone took most of the impact and she rolled a couple more feet before stopping.

Angelika groaned in pain as she laid on the ground. She was trying to get her bearings and figure out what happened when a voice called out. At first she thought the voice was out in open air, but after a few moments, she realized that it was in her mind. Angelika's heart beat faster as the voice continued to speak. She couldn't see the woman up on stage directly, but a few Nachfolgians camera were trained on the scene once their operators had recovered. Angelika saw who the voice belonged to through the monitors set up behind the stage. Angelika's eyes widened as she felt an emotion she hadn't felt in a long time. Fear.

The Nachfolgian soldiers that were thrown prone were starting to get back up. One soldier, who was manning the mounted machine gun on top of one of the armored vehicle on the left side of the stage, had gotten pretty thrashed around by by blast. Once he shook off the initial impact of his head hitting the weapon, he looked over to the stage and spotted the witch.

" [ Shit! Unknown combatant! Center stage!]" The soldier called out as he racked the charging handle back and swing to turret around.

"[ Open fire!"] The officer inside the vehicle commanded.

With that command, the machine gun operator opened fire on the witch, letting loose a hail of lead.

"[ Enemy contact! Single combatant, front right of stage! Engage! Engage! Engage!]" The officer made the call on the radio to the other officers and radio operators in the square. Soldiers, recovered from the blast, now scrambled to action. Several soldiers stopped on stage and began opening fire on the witch, being sure to check their fire so to not hit non combatants. While soldiers were engaging the witch, others took it upon themselves to evacuate the square of the Nachfolgian and Exilvanian guests. As calmly as they could, the audience was directed towards the nearest checkpoint, while more soldiers ran into the square secure it.

During the chaos of the gunfire, the Schildmadchen made it to Angelika's side. "[ My Oberste Führurin, we need to get you to safety.]" One said as they say her up. Angelika, clutching her damaged arm, looked around the area as the Schildmadchen helped her up, trying to get a grasp on the situation. From the monitors, she could see the witch was now preoccupied by the soldiers firing at her. From the camera recording, Angelika also caught a glimpse of Haegler still on the stage, shielding himself from the gunfire happening meer feet from him.

"[ Grab the ReichsKommandant and get him to safety. He's still on the stage.]" Angelika commanded two of the Schildmadchen to do. They quickly obeys and took of to the stage. Two more Schildmadchen proceed to pick Angelika up to carry her away. As they did, she spotted the princesses on the ground a few yards away.

"[ Stop! Stop! Execute the princesses. We can't risk the Yeuzuishans capturing her.]" Angelika frantically pointed towards the princesses with her good arm. Two of the Schildmadchen obeyed the order and broke away while the remaining Schildmadchen rushed Angelika out of the square, using their blistering speed. Heith, who had not run away as the gunfight started, overheard the execution command and quickly grabbed a camera and followed the Schildmadchen towards the princesses.

The two Schildmadchen who were commanded to escort Haegler, jumped on stage from the back and grabbed him, quickly yanking him off stage. On the ground, the Schildmadchen positioned Haegler to sit up, facing them. " Herr ReichsKommandant, we've been ordered by the Oberste Führurin to bring you to safety. Can you walk?" One of the Schildmadchen asked. Once he replied that he couldn't, the two lifted him up on their shoulders and took off out of the square.

Back to the other Schildmadchen still in the square, once the reached the princesses, they hoisted them to their feet with a violent jerk. Heith positioned herself in front of the princesses and the Schildmadchen, making sure she had a good angle and that it was recording to every working monitor in the square. Standing behind the princesses, the Schildmadchen yanked the bags off of their heads. The camera zoomed in on their faces for a better look.

Instead of their usual dark hair, the princesses' hair was dyed bright blonde. Their eye color also changed, from brown to blue. It was apparent almost immediately that the Nachfolgians altered the princesses' physical appearance to resemble themselves. This was a blatant statement of humiliation to the Yeuzuishans that their conquers have little regard for their lineage and can do with them as they please. The statement would have been perfect if the ceremony went as planned, but this was plan B.

The Schildmadchen extended their arm and grabbed the princesses by the back of the collar and manipulated them to stand between them and the camera. With their other arm, they activated their blade gauntlet, the blade clanking as it engaged. They Schildmadchen paused for dramatic effect before, in a single synchronized motion, thrusted their blades into the backs of the princesses. The princesses let out and audible gasps as the blades went through their bodies and protruded out the front, right in the middle of their sternum.

As soon as the Schildmadchen retrieved their blades, the princesses collapsed to the ground. Heith walked up and focused the camera on their faces, now frozen in their last moments of life. Blood escaped from their wounds and leaked out of their mouths. As the final breath left them, tears slowly fell from their eyes. Heith couldn't help but smile at the scene as she continued to film, hoping this was the footage worth all the hard work she put into the past few days.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

The bullets never reached the girl. Dietrich watched with a slight disbelief how the bullets were apparently stopped mid flight and just hovered in the air as the damn Youkai turned her head to smile devilishly at the unfortunate soldier who had opened fire on her. A mad glint was in her eyes as she spoke:

"Well that's just rude, don't you think? You'll need some discipline. And your peers as well."

Again that damn voice in his mind. God he hated it. He wondered just how good this devil had to be at micromanaging because the before she had clearly just talked to him and by extension also Angelika. Was she micromanaging whatever mind she peeked into, whatever mind she spoke with? That was truly tremendous if it was true. Regardless of that though, Dietrich just watched in astonishment as the Nachfolgian soldier suddenly stopped firing...before swinging the turret around and pulverizing the HMG teams, both Nachfolgian and Exilvanian, which had just been recovering...and then his head just suddenly exploded, the body going limp and stopping the damning salvo that had just severely weakened their defense of the square.

It didn't matter that soldiers were now coming on stage and greater fire was being focused onto the damned superwitch. Dietrich realized her intentions, which were to act as a distraction of sorts for a limited time while weakening the square defenses...so that others could serve as a distraction for her.

The fences were down, the heavy machineguns pointed at the crowd unmanned or destroyed. The soldiers around the square often either still recovering due to having hit more solid objects than the crowd had or quite distracted with evacuating the guests of honour or advancing on the Youkai. And the crowd, filled with little sympathy for their brutal occupiers, exploited this opportunity immediately. Many a soldier focusing on the Youkai would suddenly find himself grabbed by one or more Yeuzuishans, tearing at his or her uniform, trying to take their arms off them and kill them while at it. For the poor guests this was indeed very bad as they were practically amidst the crowd. Of course their elevated position and the limited ways of entry to their platform made holding easy but the soldiers trying to evacuate them quickly found out that evacuation was not a good idea and that they'd have to stay on top of the broken monument in the center of the square, surrounded by angry and by now partly also armed Yeuzuishans.

Dietrich watched sort of helplessly as all of that went down, the Youkai's plan fulfilling itself without any further input from her. He saw the Nachfolgians fighting valiantly but not even the greatest soldier could survive many smaller enemies, clinging to him like leeches. He would know, considering that it was one of his tactics often employed against strong enemies when long preparations and planning were unavailable. He saw his Exilvanians faring little better. Of course their greater strength and speed helped them...but having a Yeuzuishan hanging off practically every limb made movement rather difficult and tended to nullify strength for the most part.

Now, he had not been the only one focused on the battle. The Youkai too had focused on it, watching with perverted glee as both Exilvanians and Yeuzuishans were getting torn apart by the mob while she held off the bullets aimed at her. Nichts, the combat nurses would have one hell of a job today , Dietrich thought. Now while they had both been distracted, Angelika's guards had apparently sprung into action. Dietrich noticed it only when he saw the Youkai turn around again, her expression suddenly freezing before it turned into one of pure rage. Dietrich followed her glare, just to witness the Schildmädchen's blades slicing right through the front of the clothes they wore, their tips dyed red with blood. Heith was also there, holding a camera trained onto them. Most likely capturing their final moments for the world to see. Good woman, under the current circumstances this wasn't ideal but that was some quick thinking and willingness to do the groundwork herself. Very commendable.

Dietrich was interrupted in his musings when two hands suddenly grabbed him at his armpits. Judging by the feeling he got from the arms that grabbed him, he immediately knew that it was the Schildmädchen, confirmed rightaway when two of them looked him in the face, asking ever so monotonously though this time with a certain hint of urgency wether he could walk. A question he was about to answer with no when suddenly a voice rang out in his head...and judging by the Schildmädchen's reactions in theirs too.

"NO! YOU DO NOT JUST RUIN MY REVENGE LIKE THAT! YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS! I WAITED AGES AND YOU JUST THINK YOU CAN SWOOP IN AND STEAL MY LONG AND DRAWN OUT KILLS FROM ME?!? OH NO, I'M GOING TO DEMAND BLOODY RETRIBUTION OF EQUAL VALUE FOR THIS! GET ME THOSE LEADERS OF YOURS!"

He saw the Schildmädchen with the princesses as well as Heith suddenly twitch and grab their heads. He barely noticed that the Schildmädchen with him had let go off his armpits too, holding their heads as well. Given their high standing and most likely intensive training, they seemed to be able to resist the mental takeover that was clearly being attempted for a few seconds...but the psychic assault was unrelenting and once the Youkai raised her eyebrow, clearly irritated with their lack of obedience, even their last defenses would fall, each of the 4 Schildmädchen on the stages snapping to attention and probably hailing her. The Youkai had done something fairly simple. She had taken their minds and noticed their extreme loyalty towars Angelika. And then...she had simply replaced Angelika with herself and it would stay that way for as long as she had a hold of their minds. Heith appeared to be similarly under control, as she moved closer towards the Youkai and started filming her now.

Dietrich was quickly grabbed again and quite roughly dragged over the stage before the Youkai, Heith with a smile so gleeful it looked like it was a drawing plastered onto her face, filming him, heavily wounded and obviously captured. They just threw him onto the ground before the Youkai. Then the two Schildmädchen who had brought him saluted and joined their two comrades in some form of honour guard for the Youkai.

This situation was bad. Dietrich still had his weapons with him, but somehow he was doubtful that he'd be able to reach them without Heith noticing. Or the Youkai for that matter. He didn't hold any illusions in regards to his mental privacy. She could probably see every plan he made, every move he wanted to do, in advance.

"Smart of you to assume so, Raikscommendant. Indeed, I can see whatever I want in your mind. Even what you want to hide from yourself."

The Youkai crouched down low in front of him, savouring every word she spoke in his mind like she took some perverted, sadistic pleasure in it:

"Do admit it...she has grown on you, hasn't she?"

Dietrich didn't grace her with a response, instead saying:

"Not bringing her as well? This feels rather one sided."

The Youkai just shrugged, her mental voice telling him:

"Well, honestly, originially I had thought about having the two of you perform some acts together and have Heith here broadcast it into the world before killing you both. Absolutely ruin the two of you inside and in the world would've been a good start for the retribution I'd demand for stealing my vengeance from me.

But a simple peek into the minds of these ladies revealed to me that she's already out of my range. Doesn't matter though, she won't get far."

There had been a certain sense of relief welling up within Dietrich when he heard that Angelika was already out of the Youkai's reach. He told himself that it was just his selfishness, being happy about not getting degraded in front of the world by engaging in certain acts with Angelika because Angelika simply wasn't here. The fact that his heart skipped a beat when the Youkai told him that Angelika wouldn't get far was just something he blamed on himself fearing death once again now that he was at its doors once more. Still, he asked, trying to keep the conversation going and himself alife.

"What do you mean, she won't get far?"

The Youkai smirked before gracing him with a reply:

"She just killed the two princesses. The rightful heirs. The symbols of the resistance. A resistance still very much alife and actually having waited only for me to give them an opportunity to snatch them and get away with them. Of course I didn't intend to give them that opportunity but alas, it looks like that blonde bitch stole my kills. And they'll be out for her blood now..."

---

As the Schildmädchen rushed Angelika away from the square and back towards the palace, a palace that seemed an awfully long distance away, they were suddenly greeted by what looked...witches? Why yes indeed, out of four alleyways, two on each side of the road, two before them and two behind them, two witches came flying out. They were flying immensely low, probably having started in the alleys and having stuck low there. The speed of their maneuver as well as the fact that they had made it through the alleys unscathed, implied that they were veteran fliers. And their entire demeanor and makeup confirmed that. They wore brown uniforms, relatively simple, something you'd see on soldiers from the WW2 era. Their striker units seemed to match that era as well. Looking at their appearance they'd carry a certain similarity to a Bf-109 E striker unit. Though both their uniforms and strikers didn't seem in the best of shapes, carrying burns, scratches and the likes. These had seen heavy combat. The witches themselves had a plethora of different familiar tails and ears and all seemed to be fairly young, most likely around the age of the Nachfolgians' very own Todesengel.Weaponwise, they all seemed to carry something akin to ZB-26 LMGs.

One of the girls then hovered forward while her comrades held Angelika and her bodyguards at gunpoint. Most of their faces seemed to be filled with a strong mix of grief, rage and hatred, many of them having white knuckles and trembling arms as they kept their weapons trained on Angelika. It was clear that they were only barely keeping themselves from just shooting her to pieces. But the one who had come forward showed no such signs. She looked calm if not a little sad as she came to a stop before Angelika and pointed the gun she held right at her guts:

"Any last words, leader of the Nachfolgians? Else I, Rikugun-Chūsa Zhenia Winseng of the 1st Squadron of the Imperial Yeuzuishan Air Force, sentence you to death for the crime of invading our country, attacking innocent citizens and ending the royal bloodline of Yeuzuishan!"

[Nachfolgia]

The Schildmadchen suddenly stopped just short of the main stairs of the palace when they realized they were surrounded. The two of them set Angelika down and immediately went into their combat stance, trying to block the Oberste Führurin's body from line of sight. They remained undeterred by the weapons leveled at them, ready to die if it meant Angelika would live. This seemed like a lose cause as the Schildmadchen were not equipped to deal with witches.

When the commanding officer of the Yeuzuishan witches hovered closer to them, the Schildmadchen stepped in between her and Angelika, blades at the ready. They were just about to cut her down as she talked, but Angelika pushed between them and stood in front of the Yeuzuishan, showing no signs of any weakness. She even held her broken arm down at her side like nothing was wrong. Angelika wasn't about to give them the satisfaction of seeing her weak and vulnerable. Using subtlety, Angelika glanced in the air for brief moment, noticing several black dots zipping through the sky in her direction. Angelika smirked.

Standing almost face to face with the witch, Angelika spoke. " You think you've beaten us, little girl? Standing there like you're about to be the hero of the day. The savior of Yeuzuishan, capturing and killing the Nachfolgian Oberste Führurin, avenging the Royal Bloodline.... It's pathetic.

I'm starting to suspect that all this isn't about the princesses or your country. Tell me, unterlegen, is this personal? Did someone you know get killed during the assault? A sibling perhaps? Or was it your parents? I'm correct, aren't I? Did mommy and daddy die like dogs being out down? Maybe they're about to die now, in that crowd down there, getting slaughter like stuffed pigs." Angelika continued, getting into her head just to get a reaction.

" Does that make you angry? Do you want to cry, little girl? Kill me? Cut my head off and put it on a pike? Well unfortunately...you won't get that chance. " In that instant, a strong magical barrier formed and encased the Oberste Führurin and the Schildmädchen inside, shimmering in the sun light as it activated. At almost the exact same time, a witch wearing heavy black armor came screaming in at high speed towards the Yeuzuishan commander. Her blade was at the ready, intending to cleave the commander's head off her shoulders.

The witch was not alone as five more witches converged on the location, each armored and armed to the teeth. The witches wasted no time with small talk and immediately engaged the Yeuzuishan witches in a fierce dogfight, firing at them with small arms, slashing with blades, and blasting them with magic. Closer inspection of the witches, revealed the Nachfolgian flag on their shoulder armor. These witches were Nachfolgia's own witch unit, the Jagdgeschwader 63w, the Todesengel. These girls were the Reich's first witch unit and by far the most deadly, sporting an advanced tech flight suit and integrated weapons system. The Yeuzuishans were in for a tough fight against their Nachfolgian counterparts.



The situation at the treaty signing was far less desirable. The onslaught by the turned Nachfolgian machine gunner left many of the Nachfolgian and Xer soldiers dead or wounded, ripping them apart like they were made of paper. Luckily, as lucky as the situation can be, the soldier was quickly dispatched by the witch that turned him.

What made the ordeal even more unfortunate was that now the Yeuzuishan civilians, given the circumstances, had new found bravado and have begun to attack the occupiers. They tackled and punched the Nachfolgians and Xers as best as they could, in an attempt to gain an upper hand. Despite their superior training and fire power, the soldiers had a hard time against the sheer numbers. Dozens were being mowed down by machine gun and small arms fire, yet more seemed to replace them, like a bad B-rated zombie movie.

Some Nachfolgian soldiers, running out of ammo or having their weapon knocked out of their hands, resorting to brutal hand to hand combat. Soldiers were hacking and slashing at the unarmed Yeuzuishans or beat them down with their fists, anything to prevail. One soldier sent his axe cleaving though one poor Yeuzuishan's collar bone before being swarmed by the group. Nachfolgians medics were doing their best to tend to the wounded, but they were shown no mercy by the riotous crowd, being beaten and killed by rocks and fists. The Nachfolgians held their ground, not wavering from the fight, but the odds were not in their favor.

Radio operators still inside sealed armored vehicles called over the comms for reinforcements to come as quickly as possible as the could not hold the square. The command vehicle called out over the radio to move all vehicles into a firing line to contain the Yeuzuishans. The vehicles obeyed the commands and moved through the crowd, running over any Yeuzuishan in their way. The vehicles lined up and the gunner's hatch opened on each one, a Nachfolgian popping out and manning the machine gun. Without another word spoken, the Nachfolgians opened fire on the crowd of Yeuzuishan, slaughtering them by the dozens, especially those how had taken Nachfolgian weapons and were returning fire.

" Release the "Schreckenshund, now!" A Nachfolgian vehicle commanded ordered over the comms. One of the armored vehicles, one that had a larger personnel bay than the others, dropped its ramp. From inside the vehicle, six monstrous looking dogs ran out in a pack. They were a mix of organic and mechanical parts, having metal plates and limb supports grafted to their bodies. Their teeth were replaced with metal and saliva and blood oozed from their mouths. These abominations were hungry and looking for blood. The Schreckenshund took off into the crowd and attacked any Yeuzuishan that was close, ripping at them and mauling with their teeth. Each chunk ripped from flesh and bone was devoured by them and they did not stop.

The other half of the Todesengel witch unit, seven total, was hovering over head, trying to get a read on the situation. The Nachfolgians were being over run and reinforcements were moving in, but their biggest threat seemed to be the lone witch of the stage. This group of Todesengel split up and divided their attention to the numerous hostiles. Three of the Todesengel began to strafe the Yeuzuishan combatant, peppering them with their weapons and magic.

The remaining four took the fight to the witch. One Todesengel manifested a barrier around Haegler, keeping him safe from the turned Schildmädchen and the incoming fire before coming in fast along with her comrade and knocking the Schildmädchen clear off stage with a shoulder check. They didn't want to kill them just yet and focused on incapacitating them. When that was done, they distracted the witch with some small arms fire.

While the witch was distracted, the remaining two Todesengel set up their attack, hovering above the square. They joined hands from a brief moment and when they pulled away, two strands of serrated wire connected the two. They extended the wire between them to a length of seven feet. They two Todesengel then flew towards the witch as fast as their strikers could carry them. Mid flight, they activated their power, engulfing them and the wire in electricity. They flew directly towards the witch, intending to cut her in half or at the very least, ensnare her.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

Zhenia sighed in disappointment as she had to listen to Angelika's gloating. She herself was luckily still honourable enough to let Angelika finish, else her gamble probably wouldn't have worked out quite as well and probably with her having several rifle rounds in her gut. But alas, Zhenia was an honourable girl and was going to let Angelika finish, regardless how childish she thought her gloating and boasting sounded. When the barrier went up, she only said:

"How unfortunate."

, with a hint of dissatisfaction in her voice. She didn't need to look up to know that their time had run out. It appeared that the Youkai had not been quite as much of a distraction as she and her comrades had hoped for. The screeching of the Nachfolgian engines announced the enemy witches inbound well enough and Zhenia know that one was going straight for her judging by the sounds. She had only few moments to react but within these extensive combat experience kicked in and guided her body as she brought her LMG up to parry the Witch's attack, reinforcing her gun with magic to ensure that the Nachfolgian would not slice straight through like she had seen it happen with some of her other comrades in aerial dogfighting of Yeuzuishan. It was a good alternative to creating a shield around oneself as it took up much less magical energy. One did have to be fairly skilled in melee combat for it to work though.

The clash with the Nachfolgian Witch, who had come from above and thus had a serious speed advantage on top of the one she already had with her more advanced strikers, was brutal, kicking up a lot of dust as the blade met the barrel of the gun. If Zhenia would've been any less skilled than she was, she probably would've been rammed straight into the ground even if she had parried. However, she used the Nachfolgian's excessive speed to her advantage, angling her gun so the blade and thus the entire force of the Nachfolgian would slide downwards and towards the ground next to her. She also used the pressure applied gun to suddenly swing it around when the witch was past her and, zooming backwards to put some distance between her and the Nachfolgian, started firing magically enhanced 8mm AP rounds at the Nachfolgian Witch.

Not all of the Yeuzuishan aces were as lucky as their commander though. One more was struck down in the initial onslaught, having decided to put up a shield around herself to protect herself but it got shattered by the Todesengel who had aimed for her, shattering it with her speed and magical enhancements and practically grinding the poor Yeuzuishan ace into the dust. The Yeuzuishans who had survived the initial onslaught somehow, mostly by dodging, quickly dispersed and took to the skies, although remaining on a low altitude. They knew well that the higher they went, the greater the discrepancy between their own striker units and the Todesengel's striker units would be. One of them wasn't quite as lucky as the others, a salvo from a Todesengel managing to catch her unawares and damaging her striker which went up in flames. The ejection mechanism appeared to be damaged and so the witch was stuck within her striker and helplessly sallied towards the ground, burning, before slamming in there in a magical explosion not too far from the square they had been at to sign their pitiful peace treaty just before.

The Yeuzuishan Witches engaged in combat with the pursuing Nachfolgians immediately, magical tracers of their bullets flying through the sky and spells lighting up the streets below as the light became more and more scarce. Dark clouds were shoving themselves in front of the sun and the distant sounds of thunder rolled across the country. It appeared that a thunderstorm was coming. The Yeuzuishans avoided getting too close to the Nachfolgians, knowing that they were not as well suited for such an encounter. Perhaps better trained for it but not as well equipped. And so they used the fairly small turn circles their striker units provided them with in an attempt to outmaneuver the Nachfolgians. Of course the Nachfolgians had an immense speed advantage over them but the old designs, with their low speed did manage to maintain a maneuverability advantage through that. It would be a long and tough dogfight

---

Now Angelika and her Schildmädchen were left alone on the street. Well, not quite. There was that squashed body of a Yeuzuishan Witch not far from them but apart from that they were alone for the moment. But a commotion from several of the alleys that the witches had come out of as well as people gathering further away in front of the palace probably made it an easy guess that they would not remain so for long. They had to get out somehow. But where could they go? It appeared as though every single alley was home to voice rapidly coming closer. TThe flickering light of torches started casting the shadows of people advancing towards the street onto the walls of the alleys long before the people themselves came in sight.

Now, this could have been the site of a heroic last stand and the eventual sacrifice of the Oberste Führerin Angelika von Sturmgeistberg. But that was not to be as fate had more in store for Angelika.

A sudden:

"Psshht! Over here!"

, could suddenly be heard from one of the buildings flanking the street. The eyes of Angelika and her Schildmädchen would fall upon none other than Clementine standing partially hidden in the doorway, motioning for them to come over. Once they were there with her, if at all, she sighed in relief, saying:

"Mon dieu my Obilste Fululin, that was quite the risky act to pull before the top witches of the country. If Zhenia had been killed earlier in the fighting when you took le country, you surely would've died."

She then noticed Angelika's mangled arm and worry snuck into both her face and her tone as she asked:

"Oh no, this looks bad. You will need treatment as soon as possible..."

She hesitated for a moment before continuing.

"...which will be impossible to get quickly if these roads aren't cleared quickly. Or we'll be torn to shreds if we don't hide soon."

She looked at the Schildmädchen that were with them, addressing them firmly, as though she was giving them orders:

"We need to hide. But we also need to inform Nachfolgian Forces and medical experts where we are and to come to our location. This house belongs to a former client of mine, I believe I know a very good hiding spot in here where the Obrist Führeron can stay. You on the other hand should head to the next, well organised Nachfolgian unit you can find. Best do so as obviously as possible. Might hopefully draw attention away from here and give us more of a chance. I'll stay with the Ober Führin."

Only then did she notice what she had done, putting her hands in front of her wide open mouth, terror in her eyes as she started begging for forgiveness:

"I am so sorry Ang-my Obers Fühlur, I did not mean to command, I-I just...I...please, mercy? I only want the best for all of us!"

---

Back around the square the situation was getting gorier by the minute. Exilvanians and Nachfolgians being torn limb from limb with bare hands, Yeuzuishans being mowed down en masse by machineguns, etc. Still, the situation was getting out of hand and spreading like wildfire through the entire city. Hard not to considering all the sounds of battle originating from there left very little to imagination. Once bloodied survivors who had not been on the square itself but outside of it fled further into the city, spreading the message that the Youkai had returned and attacked the occupiers, making them start killing every Yeuzuishan they could find, the people couldn't hold back. Mothers and their children often tried to flee into their basements or deeper into their houses. But many fighting age men and women decided to bring the fight to the occupying forces rather than wait for their deaths and the repercussions over the treaty signing fiasco.

The entire city was soon embroiled within harsh urban combat as Exilvanian and Nachfolgian troopers had to clear roadblocks and the like to get reinforcements and supplies flooding through the city again. The ZZ Sektionsleiter for Yeuzuishan, Klersk Vormyn, had luckily escaped the treaty signing fairly quickly after the Youkai had caused the massive ruckus and was now coordinating the Exilvanian Cleanup Efforts within the city. He contacted the provisional airfield of Darkhit that had been set up by Exilvanian Pioneers and quickly got their arsenal up in the air. Exilvanian Gunships were inbound for Darkhit and reached it fairly quickly, letting themselves be guided over radio to resisting hotspots which they swiftly cleaned out with rocket barrages. Meanwhile entire platoons were being airlifted into the city with Gu-52 transport helicopters, together with armoured reconnaissance and light armour to take care of any and all enemies left within the city. The only place that the Exilvanians were notably absent in was the square, from which they had retreated fairly quickly to fall back onto more favourable positions...besides...they didn't want to risk friendly fire on the Nachfolgians. For many an Xer, the connection between the image of a Nachfolgian and the act of not pressing the trigger had not yet been made so surely that they wouldn't submit to it int he heat of battle.

Meanwhile Dietrich, still wounded, had the immense luck of a barrier suddenly manifesting itself in front of him. Magical in nature without a doubt. Which was good. Whatever the Youkai was doing was magical in nature so a magical barrier was much more likely to keep her out than any technological knick knack. He gave the witches a thankful one, one he was sure they wouldn't even see but he did it nonetheless because this small distraction, this small respite was all he really needed. With precise moves he opened one of the pockets of his vests and grabbed something inside of it, producing what appeared to be a small, hand-held radio. A glance upwards reassured him that the Youkai was, for the moment, still fully distracted with the Todesengel. So she had neither seen him taking it out nor had she managed to read his mind. That was a relief. He knew the radio was set to the right frequency so he just pressed a button and quickly spoke into it:

"Schattenkrag! Where the hell are you?!? Can't you see that things are getting rather uncomfortable here?!?"

For a moment he received no answer other than static, which made him already fear if the Youkai's magic was somehow interfering with radio communication....but that fear was quickly alleviated when the familiar but slightly distorted muffled voice of Schattenkrag replied through the radio.

"Haste makes waste ZZ Reichskommandant. I already switched out the ammo types. Currently having an anti-magic, nerocite capped and tungsten core round ready and waiting. Just waiting for the perfect shot."

Dietrich sighed. Professionals and their damned perfection issues. One day it would get them or others killed. Like him for instance.

"Excuse me if I say so but I think a perfect shot is one that involves me coming out of this entire debacle alife and kicking. So I'd prefer it if you could take the shot right! Fucking! Now!"

"I'll say it again, haste makes waste ZZ Reichskommandant. Ende."

And with that she broke off the connection, leaving Dietrich to stare at the radio in his hand completely aghast. God, if she wasn't so good, he'd have had her shot for mutiny. Now she just left him to hope that she knew exactly what she was doing and that her perfection didn't just include an absolutely stunning shot but also his survival. He slipped the radio back into his pocket while looking up again to see how the Todesengel were faring...just to see the barrier around him slowly fading out.

The Witches, while having managed to initially surpirse the witch with their attack, had not managed to do so for long. The small arms fire was, just like that of the soldiers before, being caught in mid air by some barrier before being dropped to the ground. Then came the pair of Todesengel, their attack actually going unnoticed by the Youkai...but not by Heith, who had not been knocked off the stage. The mind controlled woman stepped between the Youkai and the Todesengel, apparently fully intending to take the attack. It was Heith's sudden movement that made the Youkai aware of the other attack on her and she sent a psychic blast the witches' way that would seriously bring them off their trajectory.

And then the Youkai did her thing again, thus this time she was clearly putting more effort into it, stretching her arms out towards the Todesengel and slowly clenching her fists, as though she was holding stress balls in her hands that she was trying to squeeze till their absolute destruction. It would hit all of the seven Todesengel still flying above the square and it was an absolutely unrelenting psychic attack that probably didn't claim their minds immediately for only two reasons. Their own protective magic as well as their utterly broken minds. Still, the fight over who was the lord of their minds, Angelika or the Youkai, was a tough one that would claim all their focus and all their magical energy and even like that they were fighting a losing battle as the Youkai's own power seemed endless. And that was why the protective barrier around Dietrich dissipated. Luckily for him though, the Youkai was fully focused on enthralling the Todesengel so she didn't read his mind and see the apparent danger brewing.

But there was still another problem left for him. Heith.

The enthralled woman had picked up what appeared to be a gun, dropped by one of the many soldiers who had perished here by now. And she was pointing this gun straight at his brains, probably intent on keeping him lying low and subservient to her new mistress. She would probably shoot immediately if he made a move. And at this range there was no way for her to miss. Which did give Dietrich an idea. He could feel his spine slowly regenerating. He was still far from combat ready but he could definitely try to lunge at Heith. And perhaps...he had only recently found out that he himself could actually enthrall people. It ashamed him a bit that he had used Angelika as a guinea pig for it...but it was well worth it. Angelika had been of a particularly strong spirit who absolutely did not like being made a near mindless puppet. She was exceptionally strong willed in that regard. Not to mention that she absolutely loathed being forced to harm herself physically or psychologically. Now...surely Heith would be weaker in spirit? And if the actions he commanded her to do were not against her herself but against someone she held as dear as her own Oberstefuhrurin? Could he perhaps enthrall someone enthralled?

Dietrich was not going to just lie down and take everything straight to his face while others attempted to facilitate his rescue. Wether it was Angelika with her well meant attempts with her Schildmädchen or if it was Schattenkrag just waiting for her perfect shot did not matter. He had to do something himself so he could shake off this feeling of being a damsel in distress.

Suddenly, without making a sound, the ZZ Reichskommandant lunged at Heith, the woman being able to fire three shots off, two of which hit his head and took his eye, a large chunk, probably more than half of his brain and a good quarter of his skull. It also tore the mask apart that he wore, just as he had predicted, making him able to use his fangs. He landed on top of Heith and brought her down, using the superior strength he had in his upper body to grab her head and her shoulder and heavy his head onto there. Without a single moment of hesitation and just a single prayer to Nichts to give him good luck, he bared his fangs before pushing them deep into Heith's pulsing veins on her neck and started sucking. God, it had been so long since he had last sucked blood. Angelika had been the last. This blood was of course not quite as good...but it was wonderful nonetheless. Heith struggled at first, trying to push him off but his grip and his bite were iron and even a few more bullets put into him didn't get him off her. Soon she went limb.

Now, Dietrich could've sucked much more out of her, so much more just to heal his spine, his skull, his brain and the few torso shots he had received now as well. But he didn't want to. He wanted Heith to be in the best possible condition she could be in so she could fulfill the task he set her upon. Besides, he was sure tha Angelika would seriously re-evaluate the treaty if he were to kill Heith right here. And so he stopped after only sucking on her for a few seconds.

Then he rose, blood dripping from his mouth as well as from his exposed brain. He had to admit, this was the mother of all headaches but his cognitive abilities were not impaired. Atleast not noticeably. It was nice seeing that this gamble of his had worked out. He hadn't known if he could actually survive such a wound. Alas, that was not the time for musing, with a certain roughness he shook Heith to get her out of that stupor that followed his bite and get her faster into that state of mind where she'd atleast notice him. He received a smile from her in return the moment she recognised him, like an innocent child. Nichts, that expression did not fit this woman at all.

Trying to be not too loud, he hissed at her:

"Heith, I know, I'm asking a bit much off you but would you please kill the Youkai for me? You have a gun in your hands, just go, stand up, point the gun at her head and shoot her."

Now Heith was in an interesting state of mind. She was still enthralled by the Youkai, though the Youkai had made it a rather simple enthrallment, having basically reversed her feelings for Angelika and the Youkai. So Heith now saw the Youkai the way she saw Angelika and Angelika the other way around. But at the same time she was not also in Dietrich's thrall, caged in that dark, dark and painful world where onl his voice brought relief, where only obeying his commands stimulated her. Not to mention all those voices of reason within her, telling her to go along with him.

"The Youkai has gone mad. It is for her own good that we put her down. Our fellow compatriots would never be able to see her for her true glory and hunt her. The false Oberste Führerin would surely torture her. She doesn't deserve such a painful death. Let us make it quick for her. Quick and painless and by a loving hand. It is better that way.

Dietrich really hoped that this would work.

[Nachfolgia]

The Todesengel that attacked Zhenia was successfully parried by the Yeuzuishan's quick thinking. The Nachfolgian witch was barely able to keep herself from smacking the ground, positioning her legs awkwardly to keep her upright. The stabilizer on the witch's left striker unit scrapped the concrete as she went to stop herself, causing some damage.

As the Nachfolgian turned around to meet her opponent, weapons at the ready, the Yeuzuishan beat her to the punch and fired several rounds from a few feet away. Luckily, the barrier around the Nachfolgian blocked some of the incoming fire, but it quickly shattered due to the magical nature of the rounds. One of these rounds slammed hard in the Nachfolgian's shoulder, causing her to jerk back before flying off to gain some distance. The Todesengel didn't need the suit's damage report to know that the round penetrated the armor.

She grunted in pain as the incendiary round burned her gunshot wound. With one good arm, the Nachfolgian maneuvered around the Zhenia and attacked her with a barrage of magic rounds of her own. Her attack was relentless against the Yeuzuishan, firing near continuously thanks to her superior ammo capacity. The Todesengel kept the pressure on the Yeuzuishan commander, giving her no room to breath.

The rest of the Todesengel engaged in dogfights of their own against the Yeuzuishan witches. The couple kills right off the bat afforded the Nachfolgians the chance to double up on enemy targets. Rounds and spells flashed throughout the skies as the dogfight became more intense. The Todesengel kept their speed low to offer more maneuverability as they twisted and cork screwed to answer the like minded Yeuzuishan. Despite possibly not having the same combat experience as their enemy, the Todesengel were well trained and proved a formidable opponent.

Two Todesengel were chasing down one Yeuzuishan, putting the pressure on her with spells and rounds. One of the Todesengel, while the other kept the Yeuzuishan busy, held her hand out in front of her. Runic lettering began to manifest and glow red all over her armor. In an instant, unnoticed by the enemy, a demonic sigil manifest in the air in front of the flight path the Yeuzuishan was taking.

From the sigil, a horrific visage appeared, clawing it's way out of the center. It was the image of a giant, pale skinned woman with four horns on her head and four arms. The torso, being the only part of the body that immerged from the sigil, was completely bare and there was a cloth covering the woman's eyes. The imagery of this demoness from hell seem incredibly real I the moment.

The demonic woman roared a terrifying and thunderous scream as she reached for the Yeuzuishan, the scream itself vibrating through her entire being. Whether or not the Yeuzuishan became frightening by the visage, the Todesengel took this opportunity to attack, lunging at her with their blades.

Another Todesengel was being tailed by one Yeuzuishan witch, showing her skill as they moved through the sky. The Todesengel, to protect herself from the incoming fire, casted both a magic barrier as well as her own unique power. Two canisters on the Todesengel's back shattered and a black, grainy mass spilled out of it. The Todesengel manipulated the black mass and used it to shield herself from the Yeuzuishan's spell attacks. She then counter attacked and sent a mass of black tentacles towards the witch. The tentacles moved to surround the Yeuzuishan and ensnare her from all sides.

---

In the midst of all this chaos, Angelika never expected to see Clementine, her French tailor. She figured the woman would have died in the square like so many others. Yet there she was, beckoning the Oberste Führurin and her Schildmadchen to hide in a nearby building. With no time to think and the enemy closing in, as well as the dogfight happening overhead, the Schildmadchen had no choice but to carry Angelika over to Clementine.


The group hunkered down in the building as the enemy rushed around them on the street. The Schildmadchen had weapons at the draw, ready to defend the Oberste Führurin with their lives if they were discovered. Angelika herself didn't dare make a noise even as Clementine whispered commands to her and the Schildmädchen. She simply looked her in the eyes, wondering where this bravado came from.

Of course, as soon as Clementine was done, that bravado vanished and she began to profusely apologize. Angelika simply smiled and placed a hand on her head to comfort her. Whether her comforting was legit or not, Clementine did not know.

" It's perfectly fine, Frau Clementine. You are simply doing what is natural in this stressful situation." Angelika said with a smile before glancing to one of her Schildmädchen.

" [You go for reinforcements, bring them here immediately. Make sure you lure as many of those snakes as possible.]"

" [ Yes, My Oberste Führurin.]" The Schildmädchen said before leaving.

The Schildmädchen snuck out of the building and into the street, making sure she was not spotted right away. As soon as she was far enough away from the Oberste Führurin, the Schildmädchen opened fire with her SMG and yelled to get the Yeuzuishan's attention. Once that was achieved, the Schildmädchen took off in the opposite direction, racing through the streets.

---

The situation at the square was now way out of hand. The fighting spilled out from the square and was slowly encompassing the city. More and more Nachfolgian soldiers and SS soldats were being committed to the fight. Several armored columns were pushing through the city, clearing out any combatants they can across.

The PA systems on some of the vehicles as they moved through the street urged the locals to stay indoors and out of sight and that if they are caught in the street, they will be considered hostile. The Yeuzuishans should be considered lucky that they were getting this warning from the Nachfolgians, who usual shoot first and ask questions later.

The Nachfolgian ground troops went from street to street, engaging any Yeuzuishan that was caught in the streets. This time they were taking no chances with any of the local. Current ROE was to engage any locals in the streets. The soldiers were absolutely pissed that they had to fight in the same streets they conquered weeks prior. No more games were being played with the Yeuzuishan, it's now kill or be killed and the Nachfolgians were damn good at it. All Nachfolgian ground forces were pushing from the outskirts of Darkhit, in a street by street sweep to the center from all sides. The 2nd battle for Darkhit was raging like an inferno.

The airfield at FOB Aufseher, a few miles outside Darkhit, became abuzz as Nachfolgian squadrons were scrambled. Helicopters and air support aircraft lifted off from the runway in response to growing chaos. Even the reserve witch unit, the JG 39w Rabe, were being called to the skies to support the ground troops push through the city.

---

Inside the square that was still pockets of resistance from the Nachfolgians. Armored vehicles, each hatch sealed tight, still moved over the bodies that littered the ground to withdraw and conduct rescue operations to the wounded that had not been torn apart by the crowd. The few Nachfolgian soldiers still alive, withdrew into some of the nearby buildings and barricaded themselves inside and resolved to make a last stand if necessary. The scene was utter chaos and the Nachfolgians were losing ground in the fight, a possibility that was unthought of against such an inferior enemy

To make matters worse, the Todesengel quickly lost the upper hand on the Yokai. They were virtually stopped dead in their tracks by the Yokai's mental attack. Despite the Todesengel's training and resilience, they barely held off the attempted control, grunting in pain as they tried to fight it. The fact that the Yokai was doing this to six high level witches simultaneously was testament to her power.

While the rest of the Todesengel struggled against the psychic bombardment, one of them made a last ditch effort to break free. Using all of her concentration and strain, the Todesengel tried to use her power. She screamed in pain as she shifted her physical form into smoke, just as the Yokai was about to take over. She sighed in relief as the mental takeover suddenly stopped. Keeping her smoke form activated, the lone Todesengel wisked away to find a blind spot to attack the Yokai.

Back on the stage, Heith was now under the influence of both the Yokai and now Haegler. This created confusion within her as there were now two people who had control over her train of thought. On one hand, the Yokai was now the Oberste Führurin to her, the one person who she swore allegiance to. On the other, Haegler's words were so soothing and pleasing to her, urging her to obey him.

To make things worse for her, Haegler ordered her to do the unthinkable, kill the Oberste Führurin. Granted, the Yokai was not Angelika, but in her mind, that fact was a real as her own body. Haegler's reasoning seemed sound and feeling the urge to comply, Heith began to tear up.

" I-I... can't. She's the Oberste Führurin. I've...known her since she was a child." Heith mumbled to herself as she became more distraught by the fact that she had to do it. She could not resist Haegler's soothing words.

Heith sat there and looked at her weapon for a few moments, coming to terms that this was for the best. She slowly stood up, clearly shaking with fear. The woman weakly walked behind the Yokai, who was still busy with the Todesengel. With a shaky hand, she pointed the gun at the back of the Yokai's head.

" I'm sorry..." Heith muttered before slowly pulling the trigger.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

It was here that it became clear why Zhenia was the leader of the Yeuzuishan top aces, in this fight against an enemy so superior in technology. Not only had she managed to parry a surprise attack from the superior enemy coming with a height advantage with bravado, had even landed hits on her superior enemy and was now dogfighting her, evening out the situation with skill and superior control over her magic. The Nachfolgian Witch, despite having been hit, managed to make use of its more advanced Strikers' speed, quickly moving away from Zhenia and putting distance between the two of them. And now, with range between the two of them, the Todesengel had plenty of time to start lining up its weapon and fire, deadly magic ammunition being spat out towards Zhenia without pause.

Zhenia, knowing from previous encounters with the Nachfolgian Witches that her speed did not match that of the Todesengel so she had no way of catching up to her if she truly wanted to bring distance inbetween them. Due to that she instead opted to empty the remainder of her magazine at the the Nachfolgian Witch before making a run for the alleys, magical ammunition tearing into the buildings behind her. Zhenia knew that she couldn't advance on the Todesengel in the open. The Todesengel had a the better ammunition pool and could easily keep her under continuos fire if she tried and unlike the Todesengel, she did not have an advanced suit of armour to protect herself, only thin cloth and her own magic. She had considered for a moment to use the Nachfolgian's fire to her advantage and aid her fellow squadronmates in their fights, forcing the Nachfolgian to either stop firing out of fear or friendly fire or perhaps even aid her brethren by accidentally making her hit one of her own. But alas, she had no guarantees and perhaps the Nachfolgian Witch would hit one of her remaining squadron mates.

So she stuck to the alleys, speeding through them at high speeds yet always making sure to keep a cool head and a speed that would allow her to take some sudden turns and just generally give the Nachfolgian Witch on her tail a hard time keeping up...till she was suddenly gone.

It was but for a brief moment, enough to momentarily confuse the Todesengel, make her insecure. And then, suddenly, using her magic to boost her own engines, Zhenia shot out from a window from the Todesengel's left, using the surprise and boosting herself to quickly close the gap to the Todesengel, where, once she reached her, she slammed her LMGs butt straight into the helmet, hoping to at best incapacitate the Nachfolgian Witch or atleast break something in the helmet that would make keeping it on difficult. Then, using her momentum, she continued flying upwards, high over the buildings again before letting herself drop down towards the Yeuzuishan, turning her Striker off and funneling all energy instead into a forward shield as well as the bayonett on her LMG. She was a veteran ace and as such she could easily control her fall down towards the earth and towards the disoriented Nachfolgian, building up plenty of speed on her way down and her shield, oversaturated with magic and focused entirely on her front, did a splendid job at holding off any barrage the Nachfolgian could fire upwards. It seemed to be the one for that particular Todesengel.

And then Zhenia's head suddenly just exploded and the awesome array of magic and precision ended up being little more than a body falling and hitting the battered Nachfolgian Witch.

---

The Yeuzuishans' experience with the Nachfolgian Todesengel's magic was actually not that high. Of course there had been previous dogfights between the two but usually the Nachfolgians enjoyed overwhelming ground and air support which made those aerial dogfights short and didn't necessitate the usage of specialised magic, thus not actually giving the Yeuzuishans any experience with what the Nachfolgians were able to create and as such the sudden usage of these abilities caught them unawares, much to their own dismay.

The Yeuzishan had been too busy trying to outturn the Nachfolgian Witches, dodging bullets and spells while returning fire herself whenever an opportunity arose, that she at first didn't notice one of the Todesengel stopping to fire. However, when she suddenly started glowing even more than usual, she very much noticed but her mate did a good job at keeping her preoccupied, not allowing the Yeuzuishan to send more than a short burst of 8mm AP and tracer rounds her way. It was then that the Yeuzuishan noticed something glowing behind her, mainly be her body seeming darker to her while the Nachfolgians seemed bathed in even more light, light coming from behind her. She risked a short glance back and was taken aback by the massive sigil in the air that opened shortly after, summoning a horrifying creature in the shape of a demonic woman. Atleast that was what the Yeuzuishan thought and she halted abruptly, not wishing to collide with the demon or get close enough for it to grab her with its arms.

She could have probably still escaped the Nachfolgians had she not hesitated for a single moment. A single moment too long and it cost her her life as the next moment two blades broke through her magical shield and penetrated straight through her body, coming out at her front again all bloodied. She looked down at them for a moment before the Nachfolgians retracted them again, letting the now almost limp body slide off them and slowly tumble down towards the city as her magic slowly disintegrated, its source having ceased to live. But what had made the Yeuzuishan hesitate? It was the realisation that the Demoness causing her to stop out of professional fear was actually unreal...and that her stop had cost her her life. Why did she realise the illusion wasn't real? Because seveal AA missiles passed through it shortly after it had materialized. Exilvanian forces on the ground, obviously not coordinating with the Nachfolgians or having been briefed by them over what they were doing, had immediately opened fire on the illusion as it did not actually bear the mark of the Nachfolgians and was as such a potential enemy.

---

The Yeuzuishan Ace spat out a "Tch!" as the black mass spilled out of the Todesengel's canister. At first she thought it to be some sort of smoke with nefarious aftereffects if she were to be so stupid to fly into it and as such she wished to avoid it...untill she realized that the smoke actually stayed with the Todesengel rather than disperse in the air behind her. It quicly formed a shield between her and the Yeuzuishan and it was then that the Yeuzuishan thought she knew what she was dealing with. Just a simple, magical shield reinforced by utilizing some sort of material. She gave a few test shots off against it, noting that they did indeed not penetrate at all. Then she opted to go for a different option.

She put a lot of her magical power into her bayonet before accelerating into the direction of the Nachfolgian Witch who had slowed down, most likely hoping to go on the counter offensive now that her shield had earned her a bit of respite. Now, the Yeuzuishan Witch was going to smash bayonet first into that double shield and would have most likely penetrated both of them, though if she would've been able to still penetrate the Todesengel's armour after that without hitting a critical weakspot was unknown. Alas, it never came to be as just before she hit the barrier, the Todesengel went onto the counteroffensive, utilizing the black, grainy mass to do so.

The wall suddenly seemingly coming to life, tentacles shooting out and holding on to the Yeuzuishan Witch caught her by surprise. Less experienced witches would've probably attempted to hold and reverse but she knew exactly that if she did so, she'd become an even easier target for the tentacles who could then reach her and hold on to her more easily. As such she decided to use her speed to her advantage and simply alter her flight path a little so that she would overshoot the barrier at full speed. It was a sound plan. It went off almost without a hitch.

Sadly only almost, As she overflew the wall, most of the tentacles tried to grab her way too late but one actually managed to get her, taking a hold of one of her legs and putting a prompt stop to her flight. Indeed, it was very prompt, so much so that she yelped in pain for a moment and the sudden force pulling her back made her drop her LMG. The tentacle of course, having been just a single one, was also ripped apart from having had to hold on to such a fast object. However, now that she had been abruptly slowed down and practically disarmed, the other tentacles could and would quickly reach her, restraining the Yeuzuishan Ace in the air. She was now helpless in front of her Nachfolgian captor and she clearly didn't like it, spitting at her and hissing:

"Your filthy leader will not survive. Your nation will not continue to keep its hold on Yeuzuishan. The people have risen and they will continue to rise. They will find your bitch of a leader in the streets and they will rape and torment her before killing her. Shame to your nation when it will become public!"

Meanwhile the Todesengel's numerical superiority was starting to show, as one Ace after another got disposed off, only increasing the Nachfolgians' superior numbers. The battle in the air was as good as over.

---

Clementine looked after the Schildmädchen who left with quite some worry, especcially when she opened fire and yelled. Then she looked kind of fearfully at the Schildmädchen still with them, probably expecting her to punish her for the lack of respect she had shown before Angelika before. As the crowd outside turned their attention onto the Schildmädchen, Clementine quickly whispered:

"They will be bound to check where she came from. Quick, follow me to the hiding place."

Clementine quickly went ahead, however, suddenly she hesitated before returning and taking one of Angelika's hands, quietly asking:

"I hope you don't mind Mademoiselle?"

She waited only for the slightest hint of an answer before pulling Angelika's arm over her shoulders and supporting her as she lead her onward. At the same time she threw another glance at the Schildmädchen, a hint of that authoritative tone from before returning back into her voice as she commanded:

"You look out and handle any threats or physical tasks. You are no doubt better suited for those."

She led them to a backroom where she motioned for the Schildmädchen to remove a carpet from the floor. She didn't speak for it, mainly because there were voices and footsteps behind them. Yeuzuishans had entered the building as Clementine had assumed they would, probably checking if there were any other Nachfolgians hiding here. Under the rug they found what looked like a heavy trap door. Again she wordlessly motioned for the Schildmädchen to open it, though when the trap door creaked a little she hastily motioned for her to do it slowly and more carefully. She was obviously overreacting a bit, being clearly nervous what with the Yeuzuishans in the house. There was a lot more creaking than just that of their trap door so they could easily get away with opening it. Once the trap door was opened, Clementine motioned for the Schildmädchen to guard the door in case any Yeuzuishans caught up to them while attemting to explain to both the Schildmädchen and Angelika with sign language that she'd climb down first to check it out.

She quickly took the ladder down into the pitch black darkness that was below. It didn't take long untill she returned again, tugging slightly at Angelika's dress as an obvious request to climb down with her. Then her eyes moved over to the Schildmädchen. They stayed there for a moment before moving to the carpet. And then back to the Schildmädchen. Then back to Angelika. Then to the door. It wasn't difficult to tell that she wanted the Schildmädchen to stay outside, close the trap door quietly for them, pull the rug back over it...and then do whatever was necessary. The Yeuzuishans were a lot closer now, judging by their footsteps and the volume of their voices. There wasn't much time left. She trusted Angelika to make the right decision. Perhaps her own life wasn't worth a dime to Angelika compared to one of her Schildmädchen...but if she stayed outside she'd be captured no doubt. Perhaps even interrogated rather than straight up killed. And if there was one thing she knew, then that she'd probably break easier than a Schildmädchen. If a Schildmädchen would even get catptured in the first place.

Just moments later she was alone with Angelika, in complete darkness. There were no lights down here, the last source of light having vanished when the Schildmädchen pulled the carpet over the trap door. Up above them they could soon hear the sounds of the Yeuzuishans, walking over them, looking for anyone left around here. But they obviously didn't find the trap door. They weren't looking particularly closely either.

"Let me see if I can't find us some light...I'm pretty sure my client had electric light installed here...but if it still has any energy left in these times is an entirely different question..."

Angelika could hear Clementine walk, the sound of her heels being very audible to her in the darkness. When she couldn't use her eyes, her ears would get more sensitive and the clacking of their heels was very loud on the stone floor. She could hear Clementine trip and fall, cursing for a moment in french before she got up again. She could her someone, most likely Clementine, feeling along a wall before she breathed a sigh of relief and Angelika could hear the 'clack' of a lightswitch...but nothing happened. Again Clementine cursed in french. Then she continued, the sound of her heels on the stone floor being the only thing she heard. Suddenly she heard Clementine knocking against something, seemingly made from wood. For a moment there was only knocking and swishing heard as Clementine seemed to search something made from wood. Then came again a familiar sound, a 'click', and this time it was actually followed by light.

For a split second Angelika could see Clementine, slightly bruised and bent over a wooden desk, her fingers on a small desk lamp which was now supplying some light. The floor was made from black and white porcellain tiles by the looks of it. The walls were a sensual shade of red. Strange contraptions lined the walls, paired with what would've looked like people in the short flash that the light was there but were actually mannequins. And then there was a corpulent Yeuzuishan man standing right next to Clementine.

There was no time for a warning or anything. The moment the light went on, he lunged at Clementine, bringing her to the ground and making her push the lamp off the desk. The lamp fell down onto the ground and broke, the light suddenly flickering on and off randomly and shining directly into Angelika's eyes, blinding her everytime it flashed up. In the meantime she could hear what sounded like a fight. Some kicking and shifting, some punching and most of all Clementine gurgling and gasping for air. A voice, speaking french although with an audible Yeuzuishan accent was ranting:

["Well, well, well, what have we here? The traitor bitch is here and has decided to get some revenge? What was that? I can't hear you!"]

There was preciously little time for Angelika to save Clementine. If she was even capable of doing so, wounded as she was. She could always just vanish into the darkness and the man would most likely never find her. The question was of course who would have the greater patience but alas, it was probably the easiest way to stay alife the longest. She'd just have to wait for hours, maybe even days, here down in the darkness with a healthy, hate filled male and try to not make a sound as she would hope that Nachfolgian forces would find her. Which they surely would if her Schildmädchen got out.

---

Back on the square, the situation was dire. Not because of the Yeuzuishans. Most of them were dead by now or had left the square, the fighting having spread out to other parts of the city by now and nobody really wanting to stay around the terrifying Youkai. But it was the Youkai who made the situation this dire, what with her powers keeping even the Witches of the Nachfolgians at bay. Dietrich was honestly surprised and just hoped that he could end this all with Heith before it got any worse. A hope that came too late as he noticed the Todesengel's resistance crumbling. There were final screams...and then silence. Only the sound of gunfire and explosions all over the city were still audible. Dietrich believed that he heard the Youkai snort. He could guess that it was because one of the Todesengel had, as it seemed, managed to change her very form and thus somehow escaped the Youkai. She was probably pissed that she didn't catch them all.

"That I am indeed Dietrich. But worry not, my new servants will take care of it."

Dietrich shook when he heard her voice in his mind again. He quickly tried to blend out all of his memories concerning Heith but if there was one thing then that someone's attempt to not think of something only made it all the easier for someone who could peer straight into one's mind to find it. When Heith fired, the bullet barely even left the barrel before being forcibly pushed back into it and making the gun almost literally explode in her hands.

"Tch, tch, tch, Heith, I had such high hopes for you. You were going to be with me as I would conquer the world. You would make me look good while doing so. You would bask in all the glory, all the power I could give. Perhaps, if you would have done your job right, I'd have made you my right hand. Why squander such amazing prospects for this?"

The Youkai turned around. She probably sent more mental commands, though these were only audible to the Todesengel who saluted before flying off. Three of them started attacking the armoured vehicles and remaining Nachfolgians on the square without hesitation. Two of them flew off in search of their sister who had escaped the Youkai's grasp. Their mission? To bring her back before her so she too could be made to embrace her new mistress.

Meanwhile the Youkai looked up into Heith's eyes. Heith on the other hand was completely frozen, incapable of moving even a single finger as the Youkai inspected her. It didn't take long but suddenly the darkness surrounding her withdrew. Her own voices, constantly attempting to reason with her disappeared. The unnatural adoration for Dietrich did too, instead replaced with disgust and scientific curiosity over his exposed brain.

"I see. So that's what happened. Quite interesting. Show me what you know about that ability of yours Dietrich."

Now it was Dietrich's turn to have his mind ravaged. He was lucky that she still left him his free will and his mind unaltered, most likely to torment him with the things he saw. He tried to blend out the scene in the morning, when he had had Angelika at his mercy. Of course he was unsuccessful and could hear the Youkai snicker in his mind. She was very much enjoying watching the one who had ruined her plans get degraded into a mindless minion. But after a while it was over. How did he know? The previously shortly very intense headaches vanished. Instead he heard the Youkai talking in his mind again.

"What an interesting ability you have there Dietrich. Shame that you know practically nothing about it and that it seems to be very limited in its effectiveness. It could have saved your life. A slave who could enslave for me would have been quite valuable."

She cocked her head slightly to the side, staring at Dietrich, her eyes wandering to the exposed brain of his.

"Speaking of your life...this is problematic. I wonder what it would take to kill you? Well, I suppose taking your entire head might do the trick, right? Heith, are we ready to broadcast? I'd like to get atleast one of them on camera. I'll get the other's corpse later and parade it in front of it too."

Heith had indeed already picked up her camera again and was giving the Youkai a thumbs up as she filmed her and Dietrich. The Youkai on the other hand straightened her back and extended her hand towards Dietrich, who only sent back a hateful gaze.

"Kill me bitch!"

, he spat. Or atleast he wanted to. He found out very quickly that he somehow couldn't speak. Suppose that in order for things to look better on camera for the Youkai, he was made to not insult her. Then suddenly the headaches started, racing through his mind again. He doubled over, grabbing his head, his one hand lunging straight into exposed brain matter, gripping it hardly, massaging it, as though it could stop the pain. He could feel it bulging, popping. He had no illusions that he was going to end up like that Nachfolgian tank crewman at the start of this debacle, who'd had his head popped by the Youkai.

An unfortunate end if nobody were to do anything.

[Nachfolgia]

"[ Damn, this bitch is fast.]" The Todesengel muttered to herself as she chased Zhenia down the streets and alleyways. She had to keep her speed low enough to make the hair pin turns, their strikers unit being built for open air scenarios where speed was needed. Every time the target tracker on her helmet tried to get a lock, the Yeuzuishan disappeared around a corner and as soon as the Todesengel rounded that corner, the enemy had rounded the next one.

One such corner led to a straight away and the Yeuzuishan was nowhere to be seen. Logically, the enemy should be in front of her, being no turns for another could hundred feet. The Yeuzuishan also didn't go up as there was no signs of her in the sky. Before the Todesengel could react, the Yeuzuishan burst through the window and connected with a butt stroke. The Todesengel caught it the helmet and sent her into the wall. The force of the impact cracked the visor, the flight display flickered and malfunctioned.

The Todesengel's head was split as blood ran down the side of her face. She hovered in a holding position as she tried to shake off the concussion. When her vision returned and had some understand of what happened, the Todesengel searched for the Yeuzuishan. It took some time for the tracker to get a read on the enemy's position due to it's broken nature, guiding the Todesengel's gaze upward.

There she saw the Yeuzuishan diving down on her, putting all her energy in forward shields. The Todesengel answered in turn and rocketed into the sky towards the Yeuzuishan. The Todesengel, unable to put all her magical energy into her shields like the Yeuzuishan, she opted for 60/40 split on her magical output. She didn't need the speed in this engagement, knowing that one of them would be dead in this game of chicken.

The Todesengel extended both of her arms in front of her and opened fire, sending dozens of rounds at the Yeuzuishan. Round after round impacted the enemy's shield, deflecting in every direction. The Todesengel did not let up on the assault, continuing to fire as they got closer. Either one of them looked like they would swerve to avoid the other, fully intending of slamming into each other.

"[ Dread Sister, Xeraura, patron of the damned and harbinger of annihilation...I come to your cold embrace. My heart is heavy, not for my death, but for not doing more to spread your violence across the world. I pray you show mercy on your child and make me anew as your creature of endless ruin. Loyalty to the end...we give our lives to Nachfolgia.]"

The Todesengel muttered a death prayer as she continued to move upward to meet the Yeuzuishan head on. The last sentence added was the affirmation of her duty as a citizen of the Reich, to die with unwavering loyalty to the folk of the nation. Her saying such words was evidence that she was prepared to die and in all honesty, she thought she would, but hoped that she could take the Yeuzuishan with her.

What she did not count on was the Yeuzuishan's head exploding from an unknown round from the far off right of them. The Todesengel could not disengage fast enough and was slammed hard by the Witch's body. The force of the impact sent them both falling out of the sky and smacking a nearby roof. The Todesengel would survive the fall, but not without serious injuries.

The two Todesengels' plan had worked perfectly against the Yeuzuishan. The illusion casted by one of them seemed real enough for the enemy to stop and hesitate. This gave the Todesengel the perfect opportunity to attack and sent their blades deep into the girl.

"[ May the Dread Sister devour your filthy soul for all eternity, never to know peace again.]" The Todesengel muttered to the Yeuzuishan, making sure her voice was the last thing the girl heard before dying.

They pulled the blade out for the sides of the Yeuzuishan, splitting her open and letting her fall to the ground. The Todesengel watched some nearby by Exilvanians attack the illusion of their goddess before dispelling it and rocketing off to fight more of the Yeuzuishan.

The Todesengel that manifested the black sand like substance had captured her opponent rather effortlessly. The Yeuzuishan, having being caught by one of the black tentacles, had nearly escaped by the sheer force of the sudden stop. Thanks to the quick reaction of the Todesengel, more of the black mass was sent to the Yeuzuishan and prevented her escape.

The Todesengel kept a tight hold on the Yeuzuishan as she moved closer to the witch. She silently listened tk the captured witch's rant in her last moments of life. She didn't even react when the Yeuzuishan spat in her face, the spit trickling down her visor. All she did was lean closer to the restrained witch, letting her gaze at the reflection of herself in the visor. The Yeuzuishan knew right then that her opponent, the Nachfolgian in front of her, her killer, had no humanity left in her. She was just a weapon of war and nothing else.

Without any other words spoken, the Nachfolgian manipulated the black mass once more, this time covering the Yeuzuishan's head. In one swift motion, the black mass forcefully turned the witch's 180 degrees to the rear, snapping her neck. The mass released its grip on the girl and her body fell to the ground below.

---

Angelika's situation was getting worse by the minute. Yeuzuishan locals were everywhere and there was little time to act before the mob was upon them. The Schildmädchen failed to lead the lynch mob away from the Oberste Führurin, prompting the three to move quickly to avoid capture.

Angelika did not let her pride get the better of her as she was helped by an inferior women. In fact, quite the opposite happened. True that any Nachfolgian would refuse help from an unterlegen such as Clementine, rather risking death than live with dishonor. Angelika, on the other hand, felt pleased by the woman showing such initiative and bravado. She was correct in her assumption that the panicking, blood covered woman she met in the store would rise to such an occasion and show strength and resolve.

And so Angelika allowed herself to be commanded and led around by Clementine. The Schildmädchen, however, was not too keen on following commands. The Nachfolgian didn't respond when Clementine told her be look out and handle any obstacles in their way and simply glared at her. When the Schildmadchen hadn't responded to her, Angelika looked over her shoulder at her body guard.

"[ Well...you heard the woman.]" Angelika said, giving the Schildmädchen a look.

"[ Yes, my Oberste Führurin.]" The Schildmädchen replied and resolved herself to complete Clementine's commands.

The trio walked to the backroom and the Schildmädchen removed a carpet to reveal a secret door. When the Nachfolgian tried to open it, making a noise, Clementine motioned for her to not make so much noise. This prompted a low growl from the Schildmädchen before doing exactly what Clementine wanted her to do.

Once open, Clementine and Angelika went down while the Schildmädchen closed the hatch behind them and moved the rug back into place before hiding herself nearby in case the locals found her charge.

The secret room was now pitch black with no light entering from anywhere. Angelika stayed in one place while Clementine searched for a light, smirked as she heard her stumble and curse in a language she didn't know. When Clementine found a light turned on a small desk lamp, Angelika breathed a sigh of relief. She was about to say something to Clementine, but was stopped by a sudden figure being illuminated by the lamp. It was a man, standing in the dark without them knowing. Angelika's eyes widened and before she could warn Clementine, the man attacked her.

The man, having slammed Clementine to the floor, knocking the lamp to the ground. Angelika had a hard time seeing what was happening, but could pick out the shapes. From the sound of it, it seemed like the man had Clementine pinned and was choking the life out of her, speaking in his native tongue.

Angelika stood there and anger filled her entire being. This entire day had been ruined by these locals. All the planning ruined, all the lives lost, because the Yeuzuishans could not accept their place in this world now. They just could not follow the orders of their superiors and live longer, happier lives. And now this man was trying to kill one of Angelika's aids. These thoughts raced through Angelika's mind and caused her unbelievable anger at the entire situation she was in. In this dark room, with a broken arm, being chased by an angry mob, Haegler and Heith probably dead by now or worse.

Angelika's anger boiled over and she decided to act. She ran over and kicked at the silhouette of the man, connectimg with heel of her high heel shoe to the what she thought would be the man's head. She heard the man hit the table behind him as he was flung off of Clementine. "[ You filthy little Yeuz. How dare you touch my property with your grubby, inferior hands? Who the hell gives you the right to soil my property. ]" Angelika said in a hushed time as she continued to stomp on the man with her high heels, hoping to puncture his body with them.

---

With Heith's failed attempt at murdering the Yokai and now the Todesengel under her control, the Nachfolgians lost the square at the moment. The small pockets of soldiers still fighting off the hordes would not last long, now isolated from reinforcements that were still pushing through the city. The last support they had, the Todesengel were now making strafing runs again them, making matters hopeless for them.

The armored vehicles in the square were sealed tight and had no where to go, with the Todesengel firing on them and with the Yeuzuishan locals climbing and banging on the hatches. The perimeter cameras on one APC, showed not only the locals surrounding the outside, but their own witches firing on them. Luckily the vehicle was up armored enough that the Todesengel's rounds didn't penetrate the hull.

Decided to do something about the traitors, the commander started to call out orders. "[ Load the mortar! Anti witch rounds, 1 second delay!]" He radioed to his crew in the back of the armored vehicle.

"[ Yes, Herr Obersturmführer.]" The crew member said before opening a compartment that had some mortar rounds in it.

"[ Anti witch rounds, 1 sec delay! Loaded!]" He called out as he loaded the round into a automated mortar built into the vehicle, with most of the mortal being housed inside while the barrel went up and out the top of the armored vehicle.

"[ Fire at will! Fire at will!]" The vehicle commander called out. The crew member obeyed and fire the first round, before loading and firing again and again.

Each round launched out of the top of the vehicle straight up and exploded several meters above them, showering the surrounding area and sky in shrapnel. The Yeuzuishans around the vehicle, if they weren't shredded by the mortar rounds, quickly scattered to safety. One Todesengel unknowingly flew too close to the first few rounds and got torn to pieces by the shrapnel. She lost control of her smoking striker unit and slammed into a nearby building.

Another Todesengel, having witnessed her sister in arms got down, decided to put an end to the vehicle once and for all. She flew by and hovered on the right side of the armored vehicle, using her shields at max to protect her. Knowing that she didn't have long until her shields went down, the Todesengel had to move fast. She cocked her fists back, as she did so part of her gauntlet moved in front of her fist, creating a reinforced punch plate. The Todesengel quickly delivered two punches to the side of the vehicle, denting the thick plating with her immense strength. The dent from her second punch seemed to be deeper than her first one.

Feeling that her strength was properly calibrated, the Todesengel bent down and attempted the pick up the side of the vehicle. She grunted as she strained to lift such a heavy object, her striker units kicking in the after burners as her magic energy began to overload. Astonishing, the vehicle began to lift on one side and using everything she had, the Todesengel tipped it over on it's side.

As the vehicle tipped to the point of no return, the turbine in the striker units overloaded and burnt out, losing all magic output as smoke billowed from the burners. The Todesengel, unable to fly anymore, fell to the ground and immediately unhooked herself from the burning wreck that was her striker. Another Todesengel flew by and picked up her grounded sister and took off to the skies with her in hand.

The one Todesengel that was not under the Yokai's control had successful escaped the sight of her sisters, hiding herself in a nearby building and keeping her striker output so low that it would not be detected by the others. She watched as the situation unfolded in front of her. Heith failing to kill the Yokai, her sisters attacking their countrymen, and now the Exilvanian leader at her mercy.

She watched and waited for the perfect opportunity to attack the Yokai and hopefully end this chaos for good. When the Yokai turned her back to her to deal with Haegler, she saw her chance. She turned her body back into smoke and moved as quickly as she could to the Yokai without being noticed. When she was right on top of her, the Todesengel turned back and thrusted her blades into the upper back of the Yokai.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

Her boot indeed connected with the man's head. However, the weight of the man, his hard skull and the force of Angelika's kick proved too much for the heel in question. She did have to keep in mind that while Clementine was good at what she did, she probably definitely didn't configure a ceremonial outfit to be capable of taking a lot of punishment and action. And so the heel broke when she kicked the damned Yeuzuishan off Clementine, making standing for her suddenly a much more difficult thing.

Clementine very audibly gasped for air the moment the Yeuzuishan was off her, sucking it in as it wheezed through her mouth. She coughed and wheezed and generally didn't sound like she would be of any help anytime soon, her windpipe having probably been nearly crushed.

Meanwhile Angelika was now standing over the Yeuzuishan who had dared to assault Clementine, delivering a flurry of kicks against him. In the darkness she couldn't really see what she hit, most likely orienting herself solely by the feeling of hitting something soft and the yelps of pain it provoked. Alas, she had to do so standing on a high heeled boot without a high heel...her other heel had been spared the fate of it, solely because she was hitting the Yeuzuishan with less force now and had so far managed to not accidentally hit any bones but it would doubtlessly break soon as well. Her balance was anything but good. Something that showed when the Yeuzuishan, in his disoriented and weak attempts to protect himself from her kicks, actually managed to grab a hold of her boot and pushed it backwards. Most normal women, having had the bad stand Angelika had and being pushed back with force would've probably fallen.

Regardless of what happened, the Yeuzuishan quickly made use of the small window of opportunity that had opened for him and lunged forward, either toppling Angelika fully if she hadn't already or just landing straight on top of her. God, was the guy heavy, probably atleast twice as much weight as she had, stinking of sweat and piss. Apparently this secret basement very much lacked a proper toilet. Anyway, he now was on to of her, pinning her with his weight. Normally it would've probably been of little concern to her if her opponent weighed twice as much as she did but she was now in a bad position where she'd have a hard time to leverage her strength and skill against his weight. Atleast she was spared the sight of him due to the darkness.

["Ah, you little bitch are going to pay for that. Fucking Nachfolgian, I'm gonna fuck you up beyond recognition!"]

His stinking breath came right into her face as he talked in his native tongue, little more than gibberish for Angelika. Still, it was clear that his intent towards her was malevolent and she had to get out of this quickly.

---

"And it all comes together perfectly."

, Dietrich could still hear the Youkais voice echoing in his head, despite the pain that made him feel like it would burst any second now. It was clear that she was taking her sweet time with him. He knew she could do it far quicker, having seen how fast she had popped the head of the Nachfolgian tanker. Through a red haze of pain and blood he looked up at the Youkai and saw the Todesengel swooping down on her from above. And he was pretty sure she was not one of the controlled Youkai, considering that those had all flown off. Seeing the engaged blades on her gauntlets, he had good hope that she was about to end all of this for good.

Alas, the two Todesengel who had been on the hunt for her where there almost immediately, swooping in and quite literally tackling her out of the way and out of balance, making her slow down not far from the Youkai...which was all she needed to casually target her for her mental assault, busying the Todesengel once again with the attempt of a mental takeover. And the Youkai's power, now not divided over 5 other Todesengel in an attempt to subdue them as well, was working immensely quickly on her. An attempt to morph back into her incorporeal form would most likely mean the immediate loss of her "free" will as even just a single trace of attention spent on something else could be fatal in this moment.

"I knew they'd take this moment. Oh, they don't regard you particularly highly, but they know of your strategic and diplomatic importance in this entire ordeal and what it could mean for their Oberste Führerin. They know exactly that they can't have you dying here just yet. So of course, once I would move to take care of you, she'd have to come out. And voila, there she is and soon she is mine. Though I don't think you'll get to see that anymore. Ahahahahahaaaa."

The Youkai's condescending tone and mocking laughter hallowed through Dietrich's brain as the pain became unbearable. He could quite literally hear brain cells popping from the strain put onto them by the Youkai...and then it was suddenly over.

Oh sure, his headache had still increased far beyond his pain treshold, Dietrich having lost most of his self discipline with tears of blood having run down his cheeks and his breathing ragged...but it wasn't continuing. The pain was still there but not growing any greater than before. He slowly took his hands off his ears and started looking around, wiping his eyes first to get the blood out of them. There was the Youkai...though she was missing something. His damaged brain needed a bit to put two and two together and he realized...it was her head that had blown up, not his. Strange. He hadn't thought she'd make a mistake like that. Or had her powers gone haywire after she had used them this extensively?

Everyone on the square who had been under the control of the Youkai quickly found themselves back to normal. The Todesengel, the Schildmädchen and Heith were all returned to their normal thinking, with Angelika as their one and only true superior and the Youkai as what she truly was, a dangerous monster that had attempted to usurp the throne of their leader and violated their minds. Of course they all had a bit of a headache, of course things were a bit hazy for all of them...but all of them could remember exactly what they had done after the Youkai had messed with their minds...but they couldn't tell anymore why they had done it.

The radio built into the remainder of Dietrich's mask flickered to life, a muffled voice saying:

"Two high value targets down. My job is done."

He felt like he was missing something. But he couldn't quite put his finger onto it. Everything still hurt so badly. Was he forgetting something? Well, no surprise, given that his brain was barely still in a state in which it could biologically function. With a sigh, he slowly slumped forward, face first onto the bloody stage and passed out.

[Nachfolgia]

From what Angelika could tell in the darkness, her kicks were definitely hitting their marks. Her unbalanced, one high heeled stance, however, meant that her kicks weren't doing the damage they needed to be. She had hoped that she would kick hard enough to puncture some of the fleshier parts of the Yeuzuishan's body with her blunt heel. With that heel breaking off during the initial attack, Angelika was little more than kicking with a flat shoe, no hard surface to be particularly effective.

Angelika did anticipate the man catching her foot and throwing her off of him, the Yeuzuishan not being the pushover the princesses were. Due to already being off balance, Angelika failed to catch herself and fell back on the concrete floor. Before she could recover, the man was already on top of her and pinned her under him. Being this close to him, she wished her nose didn't work either for this man's entire being reeked something foul. The Yeuzuishan perpetuated the stereotype that Angelika already believed, that he and his people were filthy, piss covered commoners.

Angelika thrashed about and hit the man as best as she could with her good arm, but to no avail. The man was firmly planted on top of her and wasn't going anywhere. His rancid breath made her panic a little bit more as thoughts of rape ran through her mind. Such a thing was about the worst thing you could do to a Nachfolgian, being a people unafraid by death. Angelika needed something, anything to get the assailant off of her. She needed a something blunt or something sharp to kill him. She needed something...metal.

That's when it clicked in her mind. The Brooch! She still had the brooch that Haegler gave her that was shaped like the Nachfolgian eagle. It may not be very sharp, but it was made of metal and with it's irregular angles, it could gouge flesh with enough pressure.

With her good arm, Angelika reached into the pocket of her overcoat, allowing the man to make hits on her. She pulled out the brooch and positioned it just so to make slashing easier. From there, she calculated where his eyes would be and slashed at them. Whether it hit his eyes or his face, she knew he would flinch back as a natural reaction and slashed at him again to further throw him off balance.

With enough room to now move, Angelika slipped her leg in front of her and kicked him off. Returning the favor on him, she leapt up and got on top of him. Bearing the excruciating pain, and with her adrenaline pumping, Angelika used her broken forearm to put pressure on his chin and move it out of the way, grunting in pain as she did so. Angelika then dug the brooch deep into his fleshy neck and didn't stop until he stopped moving and bled out.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

Angelika's daring planned worked out perfectly as despite her dress taking more punishment by the grubby hands of her attacker, she was able to make him yelp in pain and fall backwards, giving her a split second to pull out one of her legs from under him before he practically fell onto them. Now with one of her legs in front of her, she could finally build up enough force to kick him off, her other heel breaking as well this time. She'd probably have make some rules for Clementine to make everything made for her in the future a bit sturdier. Who knew what it would get used for.

Now with the man off her, Angelika had an open window to exploit, to take care of the assailant once and for all so as to secure their hiding spot just for themselves. Her broken arm had to serve her once more here, regardless of the pain it caused, else this fight would drag on for too long and who knew who would eventually notice the sounds coming out of the ground. So she did the best she could, forcing the Yeuzuishan's fat and woobly chin upwards, just for her to be faced with more chins she couldn't see but feel. Lots of fat she'd have to cut through. It was a testament to Angelika's character or just to how desperate the situation was that she actually went and dug the brooch into this fleshy mass of a neck, pushing it in deeper and deeper, through skin and fat, the fatty thrashing around below her. She was definitely being shaken through by him but his efforts were too uncoordinated to throw a skilled warrior like her off and so she remained untill his movements got weaker and eventually ceased, the only sounds remaining down here being Clementine's wheezing breaths and Angelika's own heavy breathing.

The desk lamp was still blinking sporadically so they still had atleast some light. Clementine clearly appeared to still be in pretty bad shape, considering that by the sound of it or more like the lack of sound of it, she didn't even try moving away from where she was, just continuing with her wheezing breaths. She would probably need a medic later, just like Angelika did.

It would probably not take long for Angelika to notice, just after her adrenaline levels went down to more normal levels, that there were really no other sounds than their breaths. There was no sound of steps above them or of Yeuzuishan voices. It appeared as though everyone was gone, leaving nothing but an erie silence.

---

The Schildmädchen who had hidden outside would've had the pleasure of watching the Yeuzuishans search the building. Alone or in small groups they were going about and looking through the house while their city burned in the fires of war once again. But alas, it looked like everything would be fine for a while. The Yeuzuishans didn't seem to find anything of note and many of them started heading back out of the building...

...but then the sounds of a fight reached the ears of some unfortunate young man who ended up following the sounds untill he found himself before a rather large rug. He pulled it aside without hesitation, revealing a trap door. It was then that he called out, called out for more reinforcements and the sound of footsteps clearly indicated that many more of them were coming. He had found something. And the Yeuzuishans had fairly few options to pick for who it could be, considering that they knew the Schildmädchen were the personal bodyguards of the Nachfolgian leader woman. And a Schildmädchen had left this building, quite openly so.

However, before the Yeuzuishans arrived and wanted to open the trap door, screams came up from the outside. Screams of pain and terror, quickly intermingling with gunshots. Weapons were being fired in full auto. But there was another sound, a sound not quite as easily recognised for what it was. A sound as though air was escaping through a valve. But it would not take long for those present in the house and without any view of what was going on outside to find out.

The young Yeuzuishan was torn about where to go, clearly wanting to check on what was happening outside but also clearly not wanting to leave whoever was down in the basement alone. To his fortune, or misfortune, he didn't have to decide. What was happening outside was rapidly coming to him, judging by the ever closer screams of fellow Yeuzuishans within the building. And it didn't take long for the Todesengel and the young Yeuzuishan to see what it was that caused everyone such pain and terror. A cloud of vile green gas quickly approaching through the corridor like a wall, obviously being blown into it by a gasthrower. The boy didn't even have time to properly process what was happening, frozen in shock untill the wall of green hit him. What happened next was probably one of the most horrifying things the Schildmädchen would ever see. His clothes disintegrated and his flesh started melting off his bones which also quickly seemed to disintegrate once in contact with the gas. He still had the time to scream his lungs out, though the gas quickly entered them and started dissolving them too at a rapid pace, together with his throat and everything else along the way. He was quickly starting to cough, coughing out his own tongue and teeth before a melting face slid over his jaw and made it impossible. He died within seconds.

Now the Schildmädchen had the choice of wether she wanted to stay and hope that her Duality would grant her a better fate than this boy...or if she would run to outpace the cloud of gas?

[Nachfolgia]

Angelika sat there in the darkness taking in everything that just happened. The fear, the anger, the hyper awareness from the adrenaline, it all started to register to her again. During the fight that took less than a minute, Angelika's mind was blank. All she cared about in that moment was her own well being. It was the moment that she was at her most primal and for any Nachfolgian, it was the moment she felt most alive.

Ironically, this moment of livelihood for her came at the price of death for someone else. Her assailant was now dead, dispatched by a mere trinket of beauty and treasure , but utilized by a woman of a warrior society. Angelika looked down at her hand that still held the brooch. The bejeweled eagle, that was cold to the touch, was now warm and dripping in blood. Blood. That vile man's inferior blood had now covered her hand and splattered on her white outfit. The thought of the Yeuzuishan's defective organic material was all over her filled Angelika with disgust. She would have to get tested and cleansed when the danger subsided.

Through all the silence of the dimly lit room, Angelika heard screams coming from above her. She couldn't tell if the screams were Yeuzuishan or not and who was causing them. All she knew was that she was still in danger and quickly got up off of the dead man. She rushed over to Clementine and picked her up off the floor as best as she could.

" Get up, Frau Clementine. It would be a shame for you to die now after all that bravado." Angelika said in a semi sarcastic manner. In all honesty, she was quite impressed with her tailor.

Topside, the Schildmädchen did a particularly good job hiding from the Yeuzuishan. She was still close by in case her Oberste Führurin was discovered, but far enough away that she herself wouldn't be found. The Schildmädchen knew that if she was found, that she would likely die, but not before putting up a fight.

The Nachfolgian watched as the Yeuzuishan crowd searched the building and moved on. Unfortunately, something was happening down below the trap door that drew the attention of one Yeuzuishan man. The Schildmädchen prepared to attack the man as he removed the rug covering the trap door, but was stopped by a series of sounds. The sounds of gunfire erupted nearby had caused the maiden to duck back behind cover. The gunfire didn't sound like Nachfolgian and there was another sound that accompanied it, a hissing sound.

The hissing sound, being somewhat familiar to the Schildmädchen, caused her some confusion. She was certain that the sound did not come from her countrymen. She couldn't place where she had heard the sound before until she saw the sickly green gas waft into the area. It was the same gas that the Exilvanians deployed when the palace was attack a few days ago. She didn't see what effect it did that night, but knew it was lethal.

The Schildmädchen was expecting the gas to be similar to any chemical weapons, attacking the respiratory and nervous systems of the victim. What happened to the Yeuzuishan, however, was furthest from what she thought. The man seemed to melt instantaneously as his body made contact with the gas. Even his bones began to disintegrate as it made touched this horrid weapon. The Yeuzuishan barely had time to scream in pain before he died from the weapon. The Schildmädchen made a mental note of everything she saw to report to the Oberste Führurin later.

The Oberste Führurin!! She was still in the building and was now in danger of the Exilvanian's chemical weapons. She popped out of her hiding spot and got the Exilvanian's attention.

" Cease fire! Cease fire!! Nachfolgians are in the building!" The Schildmädchen yelled and waved her arms. She prepared to move away from the gas if the wind carried it towards her.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

She could barely see Clementine, what with the light still flickering and not particularly pointing in their direction. Yet Clementine's breaths were still short, still wheezing, still anything but healthy. When Angelika lifted her up, the young woman, her voice raspy and croaky, said:

"Mon dieu....I....would have never...thought you would...hold me in your arms...like this...is it heaven...yet?"

The woman was, obviously, slightly delirious, probably due to the lack of oxygen. Her windpipe had clearly been damaged severely by the rabid Yeuzuishan. If Angelika had any medical knowledge at all, then she knew that if Clementine was kept in this state for too long, without any proper medical care, she would most likely take permanent brain damage due to her brain cells dying off. There were ways of course to help Clementine immediately...but Angelika was not in the state to perform these, if she knew of them in the first place, nor did she have the necessary tools at hand. A shar tool would've been needed, a precise cut to the throat at the very least to allow Clementine's lungs to suck in the air they needed. Alas, she had no knife on her and had ruined the brooch given to her.

There few things left for Angelika to do. She could continue to attempt and comfort Clementine in what might very well be her final moments. But she could also attempt to to search the basement room with the little light she had. Perhaps she could still find something of use. Like any new clothes. Her current clothes were soaked in blood and sweat and torn so badly that they only barely covered her privates, if at all, and generally proved to be more limiting to her movement.

---

Meanwhile up above the Schildmädchen's shouts proved effective. The gas was still blowing forward towards her a little bit further but it was just its momentum and its furthermost tendrils were already starting to disperse in the air before her. The fsssssshh of the gas throwers had also ceased, meaning that there was no new gas being pumped out into the air which must've been an immense relief to the Schildmädchen.

As she waited for their saviours to show themselves, she could hear the sound of boots hitting the wooden floors, indicating that several contacts were rushing towards them. The sound of slow, even heavier boots was also heard with them. Muffled breathing through gas masks came out of the cloud in front of her and then, all of a sudden, the cloud seemingly clinging onto them with tentacle like tendrils before those dissipated, Exilvanian Rifle Grunts came from the cloud, weapons at the ready and rushing past the Schildmädchen, heading further into the building to secure rooms and floors there. And there seemed no end to them. An entire squad had already rushed past her when the Schildmädchen could make out a tall form in the rapidly dissipating smoke.

When it stepped forth with steps that made the wooden floorboards creak in protest, she was faced with a gas masked individual over 2 meters in height, dwarving her with ease. The man wore a short leather trenchcoat straining to cover his muscled frame...and his sleeves were rolled up? She could see sweat pearls on his exposed pale forearms, which showed off extremely thick and pulsating veins to her. A gas mask and a helmet covered his head, soulless green visors staring down at her. He didn't make another sound but breath deeply and rythmically through his mask.

The Schildmädchen wasn't left with much time to consider what she saw. Before she could speak or try to explain anything, she suddenly received a highly forceful crack to the back of her helmet. Then another crack against her weakly armoured stomach, causing her to double over, right into the giant's knee. She was out cold within just a single second, taken out by what were clearly allies just hours before. As her conscience faded she saw the soulless green eyes of several Exilvanians staring down at her, one of them holding a rifle with a smashed skeleton stock. Her helmet was well made. From behind the giant a man appeared, looking vaguely like an officer due to his peaked cap. Her eyesight faded into darkness but before her mind slipped away too, she still heard him say:

"Bring her away once the gas clears. Also, someone get a bottle of our spray. We'll need it to get the supreme bitch out of here."

---

Angelika of course heard the commotion above her. All the footsteps. The running. The by now only occasonal screams and gunfire. Perhaps it was safe to go back out? Safe to get help? It clearly sounded like some form of military force was driving away the Yeuzuishans.

Alas, the decision to go and check herself was luckily taken from her the trapdoor suddenly being sent falling onto the floor with force, letting some light spill down into the room. The light was clearly darkened though, someone standing in front of it and blocking it. The question over who it was was quickly answered when a giant shape suddenly jumped through the trapdoor, landing on the floor with a loud thump. The glowing green eyes of an Exilvanian visor scanned the surroundings, stopping when they were on Angelika. The thing reached up to its face, saying:

"Code White, I have found the target."

Immediately after he had sad that, another two shapes jumped down from above, going down onto their knees upon landing to absorb the impact before getting back up. Exilvanian Rifle Grunts judging by the barely visible uniforms. The light still didn't work in Angelika's favour. They advanced quickly into the room, guns pointed everywhere while scanning it with their night vision. Meanwhile the big guy, an Exilvanian Acid Gas Veteran, approached Angelika, holding his weapon that looked oddly like a flamethrower pointed at her.

"Found a corpse! Yeuzuishan by the looks of it. Slit throat."

, one of the Exilvanian Rifle Grunts suddenly shouted from behind Angelika. He had knelt down next to the corpse and lifted the chin of the Yeuzuishan to look at the wound. He then looked around for the weapon with which it was done...and found the discarded brooch immediately. The Exilvanian stood up and walked over to it, carefully picking it up before waving it around a little to get some of the blood off. Meanwhile the other had found Clementine.

"Found a live one! Looks like a Nachfolgian civi. Doubt she's got much longer though."

Meanwhile someone had climbed down the ladder leading into the basement and come to the front, flanked by another two Rifle Grunts. It was another Exilvanian, clearly visible by his gas mask as well as the vaguely visible blue of his uniform. His red collar with the ZZ marks on it on the other hand was already much much more difficult to make out on the other hand.

"Well, well, well, who would've thought? The Oberste Führerin of Nachfolgia, hiding like a rat in a fat local's sex dungeon. I had not expected to be able to see that in your lifetime and yet here we are."

He then motioned with his head for the Grunts with him to approach Angelika.

"Restrain her. Then seal her up. We've got to move fast. Nachfolgian troops are approaching quickly, no doubt alerted by some of her other bodyguards."

The Grunt towering over Clementine asked:

"And what do we do with this one?"

The officer spared her but a single look before shrugging, saying nonchalantly:

"Kill her. We don't her."

Meanwhile the two rifle grunts had approached Angelika, both having shouldered their rifles and holding metal cuffs in their hands, no doubt meant for her wrists and ankles.

[Nachfolgia]

Before Angelika would even help Clementine breath properly again, the multiple footsteps from above gained her attention. Judging from the pattern of the footsteps and how heavy they were, she knew that they were not her fellow kinsmen. Angelika has listened and noted Nachfolgian patrol idiosyncrasies and you would not be able hear them through twelve feet of stone and dirt.

Her fears were realized as the trapdoor above her blew open and slammed to the floor below. This prompted Angelika to place Clementine on the floor and step in front of her, showing the same protective behavior just moments prior. This was a bad time for Angelika to be weaponless. The sidearm she usually carries in a holster underneath her jacket seemed to have been lost in the chaos of the treaty signing, leaving Angelika practically defenseless. Nonetheless, Angelika still had her martial arts training to fall back on, even with a broken arm.

Through the dim light pouring out from the opened trapdoor, Angelika saw several figures jump down. She got into her fighting stance, ready to go down fighting this unknown enemy. Angelika was relieved to see that, even through the darkness, they were Exilvanian soldiers. She slowly released the tension in her body. Of course, that ease quickly left when a large Exilvanian jumped down, causing her to take a step back. She was then quickly put on edge when the Exilvanian pointed his bizarre weapon at her.

" What is the meaning of this, Exilvanian? Do you have any idea who you're pointing a weapon at? I am Oberste Führurin Angelika von Sturmgeist, supreme leader of the Reichsmilitarstraat and her Volk. Lower you're weapon immediately." Angelika demanded while standing her ground.

The Exilvanian seemed to ignore her command as another figure climbed dowm the ladder into the basement. This one looked to be a ZZ officer, judging from this rank tabs. Angelika stood firm and was about to address him when he began to talk, being rather condescending to her.

" You forget yourself, Exilvanian. You need to show more respect to your allies and watch what you say." Angelika replied, staring down the taller Exilvanian without fear.

Then he gave the orders to restrain and bag her, as well as to kill Clementine.

" What?! How dare you, Exilvanian?! Who gave you such orders? A splinter group of your government? The Church of Nichts? Capturing the Oberste Führurin and killing my property is a capital offense. You and your men will be shot for this and your families turned into a meat swing!" Angelika yelled as she tried to resist.

---

Back at the Square, the chaos had finally subsided. With the witch dead and the Yeuzuishan locals scattered, reinforcements had entered the square and began to collect the dead and wounded. Soldiers poured in and secured the perimeter with men and armor as the Læknir started treating their wounded comrades

It was a bloody mess as bodies were piled everywhere. Most of the bodies on the ground were long dead, becoming more of a recovery effort than a CASEVAC. To top it off, most of the casualties were Yeuzuishan, making it a chore to sift through the carnage to find Nachfolgian bodies. Nevertheless, the square was quiet as most of the fighting came from elsewhere in the city.

All enemy combatants were eliminated, the most pressing being the Yeuzuishan witch that had caused all the unnecessary death. The Schildmädchen and Todesengel within the square were no longer under the witches control. Despite the throbbing headache, they came out of the battle relatively unscathed, except for one Todesengel that was shot out of the sky.

One Schildmädchen grabbed the side of her helmet and groaned in pain as she tried to shake off the feeling. Looking around, she couldn't believe the carnage that had transpired. She remembered everything that happened while she was a slave to the witch. It was like being trapped inside her body watching the events happen and being unable to do anything.

The Schildmädchen's stupor was quickly brushed away by an incoming message on the Schildmädchen encrypted frequency. The message was from one of the guards that took the Oberste Führurin to safety. It read Schildmädchen down. The Eagle captured by Exilvanians. Location: Sector 3, East of the Palace.

Thinking quickly, the Schildmädchen called out to a nearby Todesengel that was hovering above her, still recovering from the dizziness.

"[ The Oberste Führurin is in danger! Need eyes on the east of the palace now!]" The shouting got the attention of the Todesengel who called on the radio to one of her own.

"[ Todesengel 10, I need confirmation of a possible Code Black on the North East. Get eyes on the Oberste Führurin.]"

"[ Copy that, Todesengel 4.]" One Todesengel replied before activating her radar ability. Concentrating hard, the Todesengel expanded her sense out across the city, widening her view. In the direction of the last known location of the Oberste Führurin, she spotted the unmistakable signature of her leader, programmed into her ability to stand out against the background. She could see the distorted, humanoid shape of her target surrounded by several other humanoid shapes.


"[ Got eyes on the Oberste Führurin. Confirmed several unknown targets in close vicinity. They're attacking her.]" The Todesengel replied in a rather deadpan tone of voice.

"[ Shit.]" The other Todesengel muttered before turning back towards the Schildmädchen. "[ We're moving in to secure the Oberste Führurin. Get there as quickly as you can.]" The Todesengel said before her and the Todesengel flew off to save their beloved leader, with the Schildmädchen following on foot.