It was the big day. The morning of the departure.

Those who answered the Ryu's pleas have all made their preparations. They have packed their things, said their goodbyes to their homes and to anyone who would miss them and made their way to Akamagaseki island. Lady Kyouko said in her letter that she would meet them all in Otomo Village, the port in the island closest to the anti-monster island Shizuyama. Through one way or another, they have all arrived at Akamagaseki and reached the port village. At the same time with the others, coincidentally.

Otomo Village was a sizable settlement with a notable estate on a hill, presumably Lady Kyouko's home. The early morning of the day meant that there was little activity in the village. Only the sounds of the morning breeze, the flowing waves and the chirping of grasshoppers could be heard besides the odd cart moving around, the early risers of the village getting ready for the day.

The arriving group would see the aqua-haired, draconic, Ryu yokai Lady Kyouko. She would be witnessed explaining things to a certain Zipanguese man who was lazily sitting on a crate. He looked carefree, had short hair and was peacefully eating sashimi, seemingly unheeding of the words of the Ryu. He wore a hooded cloak that was as white as his hair.

"Ah, good! You're here! Not everyone I contacted, but you will more than suffice... hopefully." Lady Kyouko immediately noticed the arrival of her taskforce. "Ladies, this is Kannazuki Kirei, also known as Gāng Fēng Shén in the Mist Continent. He is one of the first people I've contacted for this... task and so, arrived earlier." The Ryu introduced the white-haired man eating seafood. "I've already discussed with him the finer details of your objectives so he will be taking the lead in this operation. In short, this team's objective is to infiltrate Shizuyama and uncover any information regarding the dealings between Clan Oja and the Varjan dignitaries."

"I'm very sorry for this quick briefing for you see, time is of the essence. A huge Varjan fleet has just arrived in northern Shizuyama, approaching the Saikoten region from the north." Lady Kyouko continued, her tone anxious and her face full of worry. "I fear... It is an ominous development. That is why I'd like the team to mobilize as soon as possible. Lots of innocent lives may be in danger."

"But seeing that you are all yokai, I must say this:" Lady Kyouko stared hard at her taskforce, making it clear that her words should be heeded. "You will be the first monsters in thousands of years to ever step foot in Shizuyama. You will be met with fear, possibly hatred and anger at worst, but please, be patient with them. Trust my word that they are good people. And if you give a good impression, perhaps they'll even change their minds."

"I have a... mage contact inside Shizuyama. I will be teleporting you all to his location, my energies will be spent sending you while the contact spends his receiving you." Lady Kyouko relayed the plan. "Are you all prepared? Do you have any questions? Ask them now since we cannot tarry any longer." She asked the newly-arrived taskforce. "Speaking of tarrying, I'm sure I told Nyla to meet me here an hour ago..."

Piracy's a crime and crime doesn't pay, and we go home poor at the end of the day,
But I'd rather live my life in rags, than be taped to a desk with a wife as a hag.
We live each day like there's nothing to lose, but a man has needs and the need is booze.
They say all the best things in life are free, so give all your beer and your rum to me!

Hums of what nearby people would assume to be some sort of sea shanty could be heard next to a pond. Webbed hands dipped in the water, there was a blue-haired lady who seemed to enjoy herself with the company of a few koi fishes that seemed to have taken interest in the woman. Stella Maria Esperanza, for those who she introduced herself to earlier. The Terror of the Seven Seas, The Great Mighty Beast of the Depths, The Dashing Plunderer of Shiny Goods, The Sexiest Creature of the Oceans, or so were the self-proclaimed titles she boasted to many with a grin.

The dragon-looking woman took a swig of a flask she provided from one of the pouches attached to her belt. It wasn't rhum for sure, but water would do for the moment. She let water dribbling from her lips down to her chin, finding the wetness to be refreshing. She had been waiting for quite a while before Lady Kyouko summoned them all. Being on land for so long, she could feel the unpleasant sensation of her skin drying up, hopefully not cracking. Don't get her wrong, she loved being out of water to explore new islands, but she still was a monster of the sea. So when she had nothing to do but waiting, she'd find herself a nice little koi pond to dip her hands and feet and refresh, the water making her scales glisten in the sun with a myriad of colors akin to the rainbow.

For most of the meeting, she would keep her antics to herself. As a member of the broad dragon species as well herself, Stella owed Lady Kyouko that much of her respect and focus at least. When everything important important was all said, she cracked a confident smile and looked around those who would be her companions for this journey. A myriad of interesting monsters, that was for sure. This adventure sounded promising.

"Aye, there be somethin' I was hopin' you could answer, Lady. Ye been talkin' of "a huge Varjan fleet" earlier. How huge? Would they be able to wipe the island off with this armada? If so, why not call on the sea dwellers to sink 'em before they arrive?"

Nyla, your friendly neighborhood Shoggo baker

---

Today was the day! The day she was tossed aside sent away to help! She spent the morning aggressively cleaning the manor. Baking every kind of food she could, careful not to put too much of her special mix inside of the confectioneries lest lady Kyouko get angry with her. She had tried to convince herself she was fine, but as the hour drew nearer and nearer, it was becoming increasingly clear that she was in fact, not fine. Just who would take care of her? None of the other servants could do it as well as she could! Feed her on time, wash her clothes, wash lady kyouko herself-ahem, keep the manor in tip top shape.

And odd sense of Deja Vu aside...haa, her heart felt heavy.

"Oooh, I really don't want to go..." Nyla grumbled worriedly to herself as she'd just finish cleaning a speck of baked on food from a pan, tossing it into the water of the sink with a sigh. "...mnnngh, but a request from Lady Kyouko is a request...Gah but why do I have to goooo! I don't wanna!" Thankfully, no one was watching the normally demure and astute shoggoth rolling around on the floor like a petulant child. As she'd lay there on the floor, her eyes would soon glance up to the clock hanging on the wall.

Hold on.

What time was...

"Ah! Lady Kyoukooooo-"

And with that, she bolted out of the door towards the docks.

---

"-Samaaaaaaaaaa!"

Squish

The Ryu would feel a slimey, gooey body nearly tackle her to the ground as Nyla ran at her as fast as her gooey little legs could carry her across land. Nyla thus, buried her face in Kyouko's chest, nuzzling against it while her hands otherwise wrapped her in a gooey hug, multitude of eyes all closed and weeping at the prospect of leaving as the Ryu was further and further pulled into a gooey hug that didn't want to let go.

"I'm so sorry I was so busy cleaning, cooking, and making everything super ready for you so I can still be here even when I'm away and-and I made some special cakes you like! Left them! A-and if you change your mind I'll come running back in moments!" Tentacles were now starting to climb up the dragons body. All completely unconsciously, of course.

@AzureKnight, @PaulHaynek, @Riffus Maximus, @Rune_Alchemist

---

Not too far off from where the lady of the island had been waiting with her male company, a certain other female had been lazily passing the time. Sitting on a fence, basking in the morning sun that made her caramel-like skin glisten - and her scandalous micro-bikini outfit seem even less covering than it already was - a werecat was observing the goings-ons around her with a light smile. Her ears flitted from time to time, her half-closed eyes scanned the area, the village and the others gathering with a mix of curiosity and amusement. She was Coco, a foreigner to these lands who had come not because of a personal invite, but rather because of news, gossip and hear-say she'd learned about while visiting a different Zipangu isle.

Now she found herself here, having accepted to be part of this taskforce, for no other reason than to see what the lands of monster-hating humans were like... And perhaps to cause a bit of trouble while she was there. After all, pushing buttons and making others all hot and bothered were the things she enjoyed the most, seemingly at least.

As the dragonness began her little speech, another face approached - though this one came from the docks area of the island. Compared to the others who had gathered, she was of a much more diminiutive stature, but was rocking undeniably the most ample of bosoms in attendance! She had a larger smile on her face and was listening with great attention to what the ryu was saying. Although prior to the gathering, she'd been running around all over the island, sneaking peeks into the villagers' homes through their windows, barging into their sheds and barns, inspecting carts, wagons and wheelbarrows, with little to no regard for the concept of privacy or private property.

Then, as she was listening, her face suddenly looked shocked. Before she could speak her mind however, another of the group allowed themselves to steal the first word. A... Pirate...? A dragon? ... Some kind of oceanic monster at the very least, was now speaking and blurting out words, syllables and a question. The way this one spoke was rather peculiar. The little horned one blinked a few times and tried to wrap her mind around what had just been said.

The cat from earlier seemed amused, and snickered a bit under her own breath as she heard the buccaneer-lady speak, likely finding her way of talking to be funny.

Then, another incident!

A slimey, goopy, clingy and loud ... Slime..:! Showed up outta nowhere and proceeded to ram into Lady Kyouko. And then proceeded to sexually harass Lady Kyouko. All while remaining gluied onto Lady Kyouko like a splattered bug on a windshield... At this sight, the werecat let out a melodic laugh as she held her hands over her stomach at the nonsensical event unfolding. Apparently she couldn't help herself.

But the tiny one seemed less amused. Stepping forward, placing a hand on each of her hips, she took a somewhat wide stance and spoke up.

"Before any of that, my lady, I must ask! Is it wise to entrust such a vital task to this young... Boy? I trust your judgement of course, but this one cannot be more than two decades or so, yes? Surely, there must be someone more suitable to act as leader for the group?" The baphomet, who was known as Gwendolyn, asked rather forwardly... While puffing out her rather profoundly prominent chest... Which wobbled slightly as she did.

"Now, now, Tiny. Don't be like that. I'm sure this handsome guy will treat us with love and care." The werecat said, a coy smile on her face.
"T-Tiny? Are you referring to me, Gwendolyn, as tiny?"
"Hmm~? What's wrong with that? You are tiny, hun. Nothing wrong with that, 'course. Tiny girls are cute, y'know?"
"Wh- W-well, heh, I suppose you do have a point, Miss Kitty."

As the werecat spoke in a calm but playful manner, the baphomet was now beaming with a strange sort of pride after having been called cute... Even though she'd seemed veru upset at being called 'tiny' just seconds ago. Perhaps she was an idiot? Regardless, it seemed she'd all but forgotten about her very own question, at least for the time being. It didn't seem like the cat-girl had any questions of her own though.

---

Otomo Village_{@PaulHaynek @Rune_Alchemist @Xaltwind @Riffus Maximus}

---

It was early morning in Otomo Village, quite early in fact. Most people were still in their homes, not having set up shop or begun the day’s work. Lady Kyouko perhaps chose this time purposefully, in that regard, for the members of the newly formed taskforce to assemble at the rendezvous point. Some of the members began coming into view, a pretty colorful cast of people, as Kirei expected. The warrior opted to relax on a nice makeshift seat while he ate a bit of breakfast before heading out to Shizuyama.

”Hey now, Kyouko-san,” He began. ”There’s no need to mention that name here. This isn’t the Mist Continent after all. Kirei’s fine, and it’s a pleasure to meet you all.” He made a friendly wave to the gathered mamono, his eyes were closed but he donned an affable smirk on his face. ”As the good lady here stated, I’ll be leading this band into Shizuyama for the duration of this mission. Let’s work well together, yeah?”

His teammates consisted, so far, of a water dragon with an accent, who appeared to be a pirate of some sort. The other was Lady Kyouko’s maid, who finally showed up after being an hour late. She practically tackled her mistress, crying and sobbing as she had to temporarily bade her farewell. The scene was apparently funny to another new arrival, A werecat and a Baphomet, the latter the source of the laughter. Kirei wasn’t used to seeing such a monster, as they weren’t common around these parts. They were extremely powerful though, good he thought. ”I believe that you’ll find my capabilities to be more that qualified for this role, miss.” He responded to the small scythe wielder.

Shortly thereafter, another new arrival had made her way there. ”Urgh…” She moaned and yawned as she came up, clearly in a foul mood. ”It’s too early for this…” Eventually reaching the group, she took a moment to survey her teammates, along with Lady Kyouko herself. ”Good Morning Lady Whitescale. Hail to the rest of you. Rejoice, for you now stand in the presence of the esteemed Vară Riemsianne. Soon, my demon clan’s name shall be known far and wide. I am also someone who would much rather be in bed right now…” The orange haired girl was apparently a demon from a house of some renown, wanting to further spread her family’s fame.

”Hey! It’s rude to eat whilst someone speaks, knave!” She snapped, eyes dead on the hooded man enjoying his sashimi.

”Oh? Apologies Lady…Riemsianne was it? I figured that if I chewed quietly, it wouldn’t disturb your little speech there”

She didn’t seem to care much for Kirei’s witty retort. ”As a demon of noble birth, it is our natural duty to teach humans proper decorum. Shall I teach you some manners?”

”Now, now, let’s save the fighting for when we arrive at our destination.” A voice with no discernable origin suddenly rang out in the vicinity of the taskforce. A startled Vară jumped a bit and started to look around frantically. ”Wah!! Who’s there?!”

Kirei turned to the side a little way from the demoness, as a shroud of darkness began to form. From it emerged a woman wearing unique clothing and carrying a peculiar staff that signified that she was a caster of some sorts. ”Don’t fret, Lady Riemsianne, the voice came from me. My name is Lavinia Isabella, a caster here on behalf of the Witch’s Association. But, you can just call me Lavi. My apologies for being late, but I’m ready and waiting.” The woman who introduced herself as Lavinia emitted a strange aura, it was a bit unsettling.

Kirei turned to Kyouko. ”Alright, I believe that’s everyone. What are your plans for actually getting to the island, Kyouko-san?”

"I'm so sorry I was so busy cleaning, cooking, and making everything super ready for you so I can still be here even when I'm away and-and I made some special cakes you like! Left them! A-and if you change your mind I'll come running back in moments!"

Before Lady Kyouko could respond to the first questions, her Shoggoth maid Nyla crashed into her with an embrace, uttering apologies and assurances. The Ryu only chuckled and made no response to the climbing eldritch tentacles on her body. She even lovingly caressed Nyla's head before reassuring the distressed maid. "I am absolutely fine, Nyla! Haha, all thanks to you. You have served me well but I need you with them now. And please, do not worry about me. I can take care of myself."

Pulling the Shoggoth from her bosom, Lady Kyouko looked at Nyla directly in the eye. Or at least, the eyes on her "head" appendage. "And do not be sad, Nyla. While I still have business here that I need to attend to, I plan on going to Shizuyama myself. So we will see each other again."

She then issued her final order, for the time being. "Oh and, if you... if you see someone of the Oja Clan there, please treat them as you would treat me. Please?"

"Aye, there be somethin' I was hopin' you could answer, Lady. Ye been talkin' of "a huge Varjan fleet" earlier. How huge? Would they be able to wipe the island off with this armada? If so, why not call on the sea dwellers to sink 'em before they arrive?"

"While I am not certain of the exact size, I believe it is huge enough to encircle the island and completely blockade it." Lady Kyouko answered Stella's question. "And with the way Varjo works, if the war goes in their favor, they will have reinforcements as many will want to take part in the pillaging and plundering."

"...I cannot request to the denizens of the sea to risk their lives to aid a people that hates them." Lady Kyouko continued to answer. "I'm afraid all that I have in this situation are the resources and manpower I have gathered over the years and volunteers that answered my pleas. That would be you, Miss Stella."

"Before any of that, my lady, I must ask! Is it wise to entrust such a vital task to this young... Boy? I trust your judgement of course, but this one cannot be more than two decades or so, yes? Surely, there must be someone more suitable to act as leader for the group?"

The question was already answered by the aforementioned 'Boy', but Lady Kyouko decided to weigh in on the matter too. "Fufu... I assure you, Miss Gwendolyn. Sir Kirei is much more than he looks. Able to navigate, too, in matters unique to this part of the world." She then could not help but glance at Kirei himself. "...Hopefully."

”Good Morning Lady Whitescale. Hail to the rest of you. Rejoice, for you now stand in the presence of the esteemed Vară Riemsianne. Soon, my demon clan’s name shall be known far and wide. I am also someone who would much rather be in bed right now…”

Lady Kyouko giggled. "I'm afraid that to be known far and wide, one must need to be an early riser, Miss Vară." She remarked to the noble Flame Demon. "Nevertheless, you grace us with your presence and know that I am grateful for answering my call for help."

”Don’t fret, Lady Riemsianne, the voice came from me. My name is Lavinia Isabella, a caster here on behalf of the Witch’s Association. But, you can just call me Lavi. My apologies for being late, but I’m ready and waiting.”

"I will admit, I did not expect much from the Witch's Association so color me surprised." Lady Kyouko then smiled. "Your aid is very much welcome here, Miss Lavi."

”Alright, I believe that’s everyone. What are your plans for actually getting to the island, Kyouko-san?”

"Like I mentioned earlier, I will be teleporting you all to my contact in the island. Follow me."



Lady Kyouko led her taskforce to her estate up the hill, taking them to a courtyard where there was a huge stone platform in the middle. The platform had lines, both straight and curved, engraved on the surface. No doubt, this was some sort of a magic circle. "Please stand in the middle, everyone. I will begin the spell shorly."

Once everyone assembled, Lady Kyouko smiled warmly at them as she began to glow with magical power. "Before everything, I want you all to know that I am deeply thankful that you will be aiding Shizuyama. In behalf of the island, know that I am in your debt." The line engravings on the platform then glowed with magic too. "Lastly, however, I want you all to stay safe. I want to see you all again when I come to Shizuyama."

The taskforce's vision was then enveloped by white light...

---

When vision returned to the taskforce's eyes, they found themselves in a clearing inside a forest. In front of them was a bald, fair-skinned man with glowing blue eyes. His thick armor was colored red, but he seemed to be a caster rather than a frontline warrior. "That was... far more exhausting than I ever expected..." The man panted. "Anyway... Welcome to Shizuyama, taskforce. I am... Janus. I am Lady Kyouko's... Please, give me a second to catch my breath..."

There were two tents in the clearing with a put-out bonfire between them. Most noticeable, however, was that it was already nighttime. "As you can see... it is already night despite the spell taking place in the morning." Janus remarked. "I spent the whole day receiving you from Lady Kyouko's estate. I'll bet it only lasted a second to you, huh?"

The rustling of the bushes introduced a new figure to the clearing. "Janus! Are you done-- Oh, looks like you are." A grizzled, raspy male voice came from the newcomer, who had the same armor as Janus but colored blue and wore a gold-painted barbute-like helmet over his head. "The taskforce, I assume? Name's Sidonus and I hope we get along well and I hope I don't have to say that again to a monster in the future."

"Sidonus." Janus interjected before anything developed. "Anything from the beach?"

"...The Varjans have a ton of boats making landfall. The locals have a thin line to greet 'em."

"What...?"



Janus and Sidonus quickly lead the taskforce to a tall cliff, a good vantage point overlooking both the town and the port as well as the beach beside it and the bay waters beyond. And what they saw would likely send chills up the spines of an average person: There were ships of varying sizes floating near the port. Too many to count, several of them having already docked on the seemingly abandoned port and landed on the beach. The vessels were dark and wicked, decorated with bones, skulls and spikes. These were the Varjans, an entire fleet of them ready to take over Shizuyama.

On the hills overlooking the beach and Sanjo Port, a hundred-strong force of Shizuyaman warriors have set up barricades and towers. There were samurai fighters, onmyoji casters, shrine maidens and auxiliaries, all fully-armed and ready for battle, likely the last battle of their lives. They manned the hastily-built wooden walls and towers, but they did not move against the landing Varjans. At least, not yet.

Sanjo Town was not far from the port, yet it was not empty. Civilians were still walking through its streets and the homes still had lights inside, indicating they were occupied. Were they aware of the Varjan fleet poised to strike at their port? Perhaps they were confident in their protectors to repel the invaders. A flattering thought, but the Varjans appeared to outnumber the warriors of Shizuyama fifty-to-one.



And then it happened, the port where some of the Varjan ships docked and were unloading troops exploded. A trap from the defenders, taking out at least three Varjan ships and the forces with it. Horns blew, arrows were let loose, the night sky was lit up by the exchange of magical spells and artillery from both sides. As the Shizuyama casters conjured giant fireballs to launch at the Varjan ships, the latter loaded flaming boulders into their catapults and hurled at the island's defenders.

The long beach was still filled with Varjans though from fully-occupied rowboats, but the samurai warriors rode out in their horses to greet them while being supported by shrine maiden archers in the towers. But the Varjans disembarking from the boats were numerous, and the unit of Shizuyaman horsemen was tiny in comparison. The samurai cavalry crashed into the arriving Varjans decisively, but it looked like they were wading into a flood.

As the battle raged, more boats made landfall on the beach. The defenders could not cover the entire stretch so these Varjans met no resistance. Some joined the main fight while a whole vanguard broke off and went straight for Sanjo Town, probably in an attempt to hit the defenders from behind. The fighting had alerted the village, but they had no idea that there was a contingent of Varjans heading their way.

"We must aid the warriors of Shizuyama!" Janus declared. "No doubt, that members of Clan Oja are with them... but we also cannot abandon the town."

"I'll go and warn the town, maybe have some of the taskforce with me. You take the rest and help the warriors." Sidonus suggested.

"Split up? When we are already few?"

"We've got a pirate Dragon, a Shoggoth, let me emphasize; a Shoggoth, a Baphomet who weirdly has a chest and I don't even know what she's supposed to be." The last one pertained to Lavinia. "We also have a barely-dressed Werecat and some Succubus noble, I guess. I think we'll be fine." Sidonus finished.

Janus sighed at the brazenness, and looked to the taskforce. "What say you, taskforce? Shall we split up?"

@AzureKnight, @PaulHaynek, @Riffus Maximus, @Rune_Alchemist

---

The werecat and the baphomet remained mostly quiet, except for the latter still rubbing the back of her ehad and going: 'Ehehehe~' for some reason. They listened to the ryu's answers and responses without any interupting, then dutifully followed their employer as they led them to where she deigned to send them off.

As they stood upon the magic circle, slowly being enveloped in the mighty eastern dragon's magic, they heard her words of good luck and her concerned wish for them all to meet again safely at a later time.

"Awww~ Don't worry, hun. We'll be just fine. See you later~" The mostly-naked werecat said softly, giving Kyouko a reassuring smile.-
"Indeed! With my power on our side, there's no denying that we'll be able to handle whatever challenges come our way. Wa-ha-ha!" The baphomet ... reassured? ... Well, more like boasted.

And then, everything went incredibly bright and white, and Coco remarked as such, holding up an arm to shield her eye, whereas Gwen stood there with eyes wide open, hands on hips and looking like she was posing for some kind of magazine-cover or something...



it was... A lot darker... then expected on Shizuyama. Or at least, that was the first throught that crossed Gwen's mind when the bright light from Kyouko's spell finally disappeared. Coco was less concerned, feeling a bit of relief that the intense glow had gone away and been replaced with the calm and pleasant murk of night. The werecat's eyes were still slightly aglow, likely a resullt of her retinae absorbing too much light. To her, the visibility was no more or less an issue than if it had been the middle of the day. However, any thoughts of small-talk or in-group-conversation was quickly dashed as a voice spoke up.

A voice of a man. A tired man. A man who sounded like he'd just tried to run a marathon through a desert. Looking over to the source of the voice, the monster group would find it belonged to a bald fellow in weird armor, with glowing eyes. He said a bunch of ragged things inbetween breaths, but wasn't able to explain much before another fellow joined the gathering of individuals.

This one wore similar, but differently colored, armor to the bald one. He also wore a helmet. He introduced himself rudely and was very mildly chastised by his comrade who had done the receiving of the taskforce teleportation. The short-stacked Gwen was bout to speak up on behalf of her team, but was quickly silenced by a sneaky werect who slid in behind her, placed one arm on her sohulder and one hand infront of her mouth, restraining the little hellraiser.

Which caused the baphomet to flail her arms in protest.

"Sssshh, not now, Tiny. Just listen, 'right?" Coco stated casually.

... Eye-blinks later, a bunch of stuff and things happened, and the group was led from their forest-landing at some campsite, to a bunch of cliffs overlooking a beach, a port and what was frankly an unfairly large Varjan armada making landfall. There was also a laughably miniscule group of defenders in what looked ilike a hastily-built rampart preparing to meet their uninvited visitors. It didn't take a military genius to see how this was going to play out.

As the explosion that took out three Varjan ships announced the start of the battle, Coco relinquished her grip on Gwendolyn, who gave the werecat a side-eye and grumble, before turning to look out over the battlefield. She blinked a few times. TRen rubbed her eyes and blinked a few more times. This was the first time the baphomet had ever seen a real battlefield after all, so the sight was a lot to take in all at once. However, the little one didn't have much time to either adjust or take in the scene, as the two armored men began to talk amongst themselves. They were arguing on what should be done. The one with the bucket on his head wanted to go and ... Do something... About the villagers in the port town, who for some reason hadn't evacuated the minitue they saw a host of dark, skull-and-bone-adorned ships come racing towards their shores. The other, bald one, wanted the group to stick together and not divide their already few numbers. After all, the one with the ugly helmet wanted some of them to run down onto the beach, where two monster-hating forces were currently fighting, in order to find those Oja-people that Kyouko was concerned about.

Coco's tail swished from side to side, she cast an uininterested glance down on the beach, then looked over towards the port proper.

"Seems like you got your first decision to make, hubby." She said leisurely, seemingly not alarmed about the situation before them at all. "But you'd better make up your mind quick, 'cuz those locals on the beach are gonna get crushed in a few minutes." The werecat stated and urged.
"Wh-What're you saying, Miss Kitty? We must go at once, post-haste! They need our power to withstand the black ones!" A much more invested and frantic Gwen stated, though she didn't really manage to specify who or which of the local groups needed their help... Albeit, both required it in all honesty.
"Calm down, Tiny... Let's let our leader decide who goes where, 'kay~?" COco didn't seem bothered by the imminent slaighter at all, given her relaxed way of speech and acting.

But it was nontheless true, Kirei didn't have much time to make a call here. And that was if he would manage to make one at all, as if there were any hot-heads or glory-hogs among their ranks, they likely wouldn't be able to resist the sight before them and leap on in without waiting for proper commands.

... Gwen was one of them, but Coco had luckily managed to grab a hold of the little goat-lady's tail and had a really good grip on it, forcing the tiny but buxom baphomet to stay in place for now.

The sea dragon groaned. Stella felt like she was just about to step on a landmine. Being part of a "taskforce", she didn't actually expect to be sent to war directly against the Varjan forces straight off the bat. This... complicated things a smidge. Not that she was stranger to battles, she fought plenty before, but she was no soldier. Skirmishes, she could do. Full-frontal assault against an army, not so sure.

With bright blue and purple eyes beginning to adjust to night-time, the pirate lady knelt by the edge of the cliff, scanning the raging battle below. She frowned, teeth grinding. Shit, this was just no good at all.

"There's just too many of 'em. Varjans'd be givin' every fleet I've ever encountered a run fer their money." Stella pointed out, her gaze set at the ships lining the coast. She doubted it was all of the fleet, and yet it was still impressive. If it had been before the current Demon Lord's time, she could have easily sank that fleet with the help of her good old pals Levi and Karkka. Alas, no point in thinking of the past, there were perks to their current conditions too.

"Honestly, I think we should stick to skirmishes, like takin' out that stray bit going fer the town. They be fightin' on your turf, aye? Ye know best where to get 'em where it hurts. And if ye lose yer town, ye lose yer resources t'fight and ye get attacked on two fronts." That and she'd prefer to avoid civilian casualties, even though she won't say it.

Stella contemplated the shores for a moment, observing the dark waters. "If ye really wanna go out there t'fight, I can sink a few ships by me self, but I won't be much use in a big fight like that." She was no Leviathan of the old world, but she still had the means to give a fleet some troubles. She was however concerned at how exhausting it would be to do so.

Nyla, your friendly neighborhood Shoggo baker

---

The shoggoth pouted the entire time Kyouko was speaking, even as she was being caressed and cuddled, the shoggoths expression remaind one of indignation and petulance. It was only the assurances that Kyouko would be joining them later did the shoggoth finally calm down just a bit, though she didn't seem happy as her expression seemed to be more one of melancholy now. It brought to mind some unpleasant events...but Lady kyouko wasn't going to toss her aside. No, she wouldn't. She wasn't like that.

...

but she had also told herself that about him, too.

"....Okaaaay." Nyla exhaled, clearing her throat and taking a few steps away from Lady Kyouko, taking stock of her now companions in this endeavor. Some sort of cat, a couple of lizards, a human, and...a granny with way to much in the chest area. Weren't baphomets supposed to be much...smaller? The Shoggoth frowned lightly, but didn't say anything as she'd return to her normal demure, silent and maidenly mask as she'd now follow the group back towards the estate up the path she had run down mere seconds ago.

She'd wished she could have spent a bit with her new allies a bit before being teleported. Getting to know them. Feeding them tasty definitely not suspicious snacks. Cleaning. Cuddling...using her tenta-

Ahem.

"Good bye, Lady Kyouko. I shall do my best for you." The shoggoth would bow as they were teleported. She wasn't sure if she could uphold her request for the Oja clan, but...she would try.

---

And out of the teleport, they were immediately met by a balding older man who claimed to be Lady Kyouko's acquaintance. She wasn't certain if she believed his words at the start, but she also didn't have anything to act on suspicion wise. Nighttime, huh? It seemed there were some time discrepancies...ah, that meant Lady Kyouko had been without her for an entire day already! Oh dear oh dear that wouldn't do at all!

As the other man appeared, Nyla was lost in her own thoughts. Thoughts about Lady Kyouko. Oh goodness what if she burned food? What if she needed freshly folded towels for a bath? Who'd do her hair? Rub down her exquisite scales to make sure they shined? She didn't trust any of the other maids or servants to do it properly! She was resisting the urge to just hold down the bald man and demand being returned when she caught the tail end of the second mans words.

Varjans already making landfall? Pulling her thoughts from Lady Kyouko's bosom, she'd focus on the task at hand. She couldn't disappoint Lady Kyouko after all. She had too keep herself focused. Upon the cliffs, she could see much of the area below. The town, the port, the beach beside it. It would be a rather serene sight, had it not been for something else upon the shores.

Ships.

Too many to count.

Some were already docked. The Varjans apparently spared no expense. This was no mere attack or assault fleet, no. This was an invasion fleet with troops and men ready for a full, hostile takeover. The only thing standing between the Varjans upon this land, were what seemed to be a contingent of Shizuyaman troops. She couldn't count them all at a glance, but there was no way there was enough to take out that entire fleet. Their defenses were woefully inadequate, numbers aside.

She wanted to go to town, it was likely the safest option for her, but something Janus said caught her attention.

Members of the Oja clan?

"While i would prefer getting to know my colleagues a bit better before skirmishes, Lady Kyouko asked me to look after members of the Oja clan should I meet them." The Shoggoth bowed. The others seemed reluctant, but in her personal experience, decisive action was needed here, so decisive action she would give. "Pardon me, I do not mean to act like I am taking control of the situation but If a member of the Oja clan is there, then it is my duty to serve them as I would Lady Kyouko. Join if you wish or not."

She doubted they could win the battle, but if she could ensure whoevers it was survival, then she'd do it. Without waiting for confirmation from her allies, the Shoggoth just...climbed down the cliff, using her mass to sort of just crawl along the side of it, before plopping onto the ground some ways below, making a beeline for the hills where the supposed Oja Clan was fighting.

---

_{@PaulHaynek @Rune_Alchemist @Xaltwind @Riffus Maximus}

---

Pre-Skirmish Fare

”I fail to see what being up at this Demon Lord-forsaken hour has to do with gaining recognition...” The noble continued to groan. As Kyouko made her explanation, Vară followed along with the others as the taskforce stood on the teleport conduit. While the demoness was no stranger to fighting, she was a bit nervous about being thrown into what amounted to be a full scale war. Lavinia and Kirei, however, were as cool as cucumbers. In fact, Lavinia in particular seemed to be getting impatient, as if she wanted to get on the island as soon as possible.

”Teleportation, huh? Naturally, I've no issues with that method.” Lavinia said.

”Ive...never actually teleported before. Uhh...how does it work, exactly” Vară said.

”What, seriously?” Kirei chimed in. ”You're in one place, then there usually a flash of light, and afterwards 'poof', you're somewhere else.”

Vară looked at Kirei as he gave her an assuring pep talk. She reluctantly acknowledged his words with a gesture and awaited the next phase.

Arrival on Sanjo

With a flash of light, the group would instantly find themselves in a forest clearing, and were greeted by a pair of armor-wearing humans. Vară was taken aback by the sweating man, who spoke as though he was completely out of breath. ”Ehh...I was worried about the whole ordeal, but it seems that it's taken more out of you than me...” She said to the armored pair.

”High level magic is often exhausting. You two gentlemen along with Lady Kyouko have my utmost respect for being able to teleport a whole group all the way here.” Lavinia said.

Vară looked around and noticed the sky had darkened since they were at Otomo village. ”Why is it suddenly dark? It was morning just a moment ago, wasn’t it?” She inquired.

”Correct.” Said Lavinia, ”To us maybe, however, time has moved differently for us than for the outside world. Sorcery can be quite complex.”

”Ugh…Not sure I understand. But, if you say so…” Vară replied with an irritated expression.

Kirei walked ahead of the group, stopping just in front of the pair of armored warriors. ”I do believe that’s enough idle chatter, peeps.” He began. ”I’m curious as to the situation on the beach. You said your names were Sidonus and Janus, yes? Lead the way.”

Following the knights, the taskforce was led to a cliffside that overlooked the port and the town. The native warriors have already built fortifications that lined the either beach, each being manned by numerous fighters. The bay, on the other hand, was completely littered in Varjan warships. The sight all but confirmed Kyouko’s worst fears: it seemed that an all-out siege was imminent. What made Kirei raise a brow was the sight of civilians walking around town as if nothing was going on. Weren’t these people told to evacuate? He said to himself. He was snapped out of his thoughts by the large explosion that rocked the shoreline. It seemed the natives set a trap for the fleet, as a small bunch of their ships were blown apart by a surprise attack. That signaled the beginning of the conflict.

The Varjan ships unloaded scores of Varjan soldiers, all armed to the brim. The sounds of the surrounding waters were drowned out by the charging and warcries of the incoming fleet of fighters. The Shizuyaman warriors rode out to meet their adversaries. However, it was clear that they were painfully outnumbered, and victory against their attackers was quite unlikely. To make matters worse, more ships sailed into the port. Unloading more soldiers, the Shizuyaman forces were stretched too thin to block off their advance, allowing some squads to head off in the direction of the town. That just wouldn’t do.

Kirei looked at Nyla, who went off on her own down the cliff, desperate to locate and assist any member of the Oja clan she could hopefully find. ”Her loyalty to her master is admirable, but it clouds her judgment.” Kirei said, shaking his head. He then turned to the rest of the team.



”Alright, not much time for a briefing so I’ll make this quick. Vară, Coco, and Gwen, you lot go and assist Sidonus with protecting the townspeople. Stella, Lavinia, and myself will go after Nyla and assist Janus with this battle here on the beach. We locate any surviving member of the Oja clan and make their well-being a top priority! Clear? Good! Let's try not to die here, yeah?”

With that, Kirei began hopping down the cliff with grace and speed that seemed to defy what a human should be capable of. With his elegant moves, he appeared to be hopping off the air itself. He quickly caught up to Nyla, making sure to aid the shoggoth in case she was blindsided by any oncoming attacks. ”My, my, you’re in quite the hurry. Let’s try to stick together, there’s safety in numbers after all.” He said to his eldritch ally.

Vară barely had time to react to Kirei’s commands as the situation escalated, but she understood nonetheless. She was perfectly fine with helping the townspeople, as saving innocent humans was par for the course for any mamono. No, it certainly wasn’t because she was scared of getting caught up in a bloody battle between countless warriors and mainly wanted to help the townsfolk as a means of spreading her fame, certainly not… ”Alright Janus, lead the way to the village and prepared to be amazed by my regal abilities!” She exclaimed, attempting to hide her nervousness.

”Understood.” Lavinia said calmly, but solemnly. She vanished into a haze of darkness, only to reappear at the bottom of the cliff. She then held her staff as if it were a bow, as she did she channeled a similar dark energy from it. It condensed itself into the form of an arrow bolt, which she then promptly fired. The bolt sped past Nyla and Kirei, and hit a group of Varjans that lied ahead of the two. Shocked cries were heard as the group was felled by the sudden explosion of dark energy that assaulted them. Kirei quickly looked back at the source of the shot, smirking a bit.

”Hey, not bad!” He said, complementing the witch-like mamono.

@AzureKnight, @PaulHaynek, @Riffus Maximus, @Rune_Alchemist

---

[colomor=gold]"Meowkay, handsome~"[/color] Coco said with a slight purr, finally letting go of Gwendolyn's tail... Which caused the top-heavy baphomet to let out a surprised 'Eh!?' before falling flat on her tits face and getting a mouthful of nice, fresh Shizuyama dirt. Mmm, nutritious! Spitting and standing back up, brushing herself off and giving Coco an indignant glare for about two seconds, the little goat-girl quickly recovered her pep.

"A-hem! Fear not, Sir Janus! We will show you the overwhelming power of the mighty baphometi! Those villagers are as good as saved, Mwa-haa-haa-haa~!" She finished off her little spiel with a confident laugh while bumping her chest. Which made it jiggle. 'Cuz physics, duh.

"All the bluster'n and pomp from our two princesses aside, you want me to make a staircase down towards the town from up here, Jan-jan? Earth magic's handy like that~" Coco snidely commented on Vara and Gwen, before offering to use her magic to help speed their group along in their task.

"Pah, there's no time for that, Miss Kitty!" Gwen interjected. "We shall simply leap from the cliffside and then dash towards the settlement, post-haste! Come, Sir Janus, I will happily carry you!" She... Suggested...? And why was she holding out her arms in such a way as to imply she intended to carry Janus in a Princess-carry...?

... Silliness aside, it seemed the werecat and the baphomet were ready to follow whatever directive Janus decided upon.

---

"...Am I not Janus? And am I not going to the beach?" The recent dialogue had left the spellcaster confused as to who the monsters were talking about.

Regardless, Janus joined Stella, Nyla, Kirei and Lavinia in the battle in the beach. The Varjans were distracted with the samurai horsemen still putting up a valiant stand that none of them saw, much less expected, an exploding bolt of darkness from Lavinia. The surprise attack caught the attention of the immediate Varjans, who turned to look at the newcomers.

Janus was amongst the group, and it seemed he was someone some of the Varjans recognize. "That's the old armor of the Scarce Legion." One of the Varjan Warriors remarked. "A legionnaire fighting alongside monsters? You bring shame to your legion brothers here!"

"I may be of the Scarce Legion..." Janus gauntlets began crackling with lightning. "...but I am no longer their brother!" The caster raised his arms to shoot thunder at the Varjan Warrior's position, exploding the sand. He shot more bolts at the Varjans, displaying his arcane might to the devastation of the invaders.

Now the Varjans had something else to deal with other than the Shizuyaman defenders, but they still had numbers on their side. The closest samurai warrior was pretty near the taskforce's position, but they were too swamped by Varjans to notice the monsters coming to their aid. In order to get to them, the taskforce needed to deal with a line of Varjan Warriors blocking their path.

Janus was already battling a portion of them while the rest stepped forth to challenge the rest. One of them seemed to be a champion of sorts, seeming more special than the rest. His helmet was shaped like a bat's skull, with bat wings decorating it and the rest of his dark-blue armor had other bat motifs. The blade part of his glaive seemed as long as its shaft, with a fresh samurai corpse impaled on it. "Didn't expect monsters here, I admit, but I'm afraid that whatever your plans are, they end here."

The champion then swung his spear with the dead samurai, hurling the corpse at the taskforce, before charging along with seven axe-and-shield-wielding Varjan Warriors.

---

"Janus is going to the beach, not the town! That's me, you twits! Now stop fooling around and let's help these poor sods live, at least, a day longer." Sidonus deftly slid down the steep ground without any aid, expecting the monsters to follow with their own innate abilities.

-

By the time the taskforce reached the town, the Varjans had already began the assault. The screams of the townspeople filled the air as Varjan Brigands mounted on horses ran down fleeing villagers while Varjan Warriors entered homes and dragged its occupants out to be slaughtered. Torches were hurled at the mostly wooden buildings, inciting mindless infernos amongst carnage. The invaders seem to have forgotten their original goal and instead busied themselves pillaging the town.

Sidonus unsheathed his sword with one hand and armed his other with a javelin. He then surprised an incoming horseman with a throw from the spear, hitting the Varjan in the gut and sending him from his horse. "Distract as much Varjans as you can to give the villagers time to escape. Go after those chasing people down." Sidonus said to the taskforce. "We'll meet each other here again in ten minutes or something." A Varjan then emerged from the sliding door next to Sidonus, only for the latter to kick him back inside before following after him for the kill.

They soon spotted a squad of four Varjan Brigands with swords chasing and cornering a villager man with an infant in his arms. Perhaps it was time for the taskforce to establish their presence here, that the Varjans will not run rampant unopposed.

Stella sighed in defeat as she watched the maid Shoggoth run off on her own. So much for a well thought-out plan before throwing themselves straight into the fire. She didn't have much choice to follow them, well actually she did but...

"Aw, piss. Aye aye, cap'n." How could she say no to this handsome lad. She likes it when they take charge. Such confidence, it was enough to make a woman swoon for this warrior.

Alright, enough lusting. Time to go to work. As much as it dismayed her, she'll have to go into the thick of battle this time. The cliff was steep but Stella used her sharp dragon claws to dig herself in the rock and dirt and climb her way down, which took her longer than some of her companions before reaching down. She followed Janus closely behind, staying clear of his lightning spells. as a creature of the sea, she wasn't too fond of electricity herself.

The Leviathan girl opened her gourd of water, breathing in the whole content through her mouth. She could feel the power rushing in her lungs as her dragon powers awakened upon filling herself. Her eyes glowed brightly of blue and purple, grinning to herself with all her fangs.

With the agility of a skirmisher, Stella deftly dodged the corpse thrown at the ground. They wanted to play dirty, were they? She'll show them just how much a pirate plays dirty. She dug her tail into the sand next to her and used the shape of her tail to scoop it up and throw a shovelful of beach dirt to the warriors. Some had the reflexes to raise their shield to protect them from this large-scale "pocket sand" tactic, but one of them unfortunately caught the brunt of the sand and couldn't see the pirate dragon-lady unholster one of her flintlocks and taking a clean shot at the warrior's face.

She didn't lose a moment and breathed out a torrent of water towards the warriors and their champion. But instead of being hit with the force of a tsunami, the water stopped just as it would crash on them, lingering mid air.

"Ye boys should be wary o' wearin' buckets on yer head at sea. It's easy to drown in 'em."

Stella twisted an outstretched hand upwards. For the warriors wearing a full helmet, the water that was suspended midair started seeping into their protective headwear. If they wouldn't get rid of their helmet, they'll find themselves fighting for air soon enough. Either way, that would provide enough of a distraction for the others to make a move against some of the Varjan warriors.

[@AxureKnight], @PaulHaynek

---

After having a confused Janus reconfirm which of the two armored gentlemen were who, and after Sidonus gave the pair a bit of an insulting for getting them mixed up, the cat and the goat exchanged sheepish looks with one another and then shrugged... Apparently neither of them were all too concerned about having gotten the names of these two humans mixed up. Probably for different reasons, but that didn't matter so much at this time. Everyone had been issued their destinations and now they were all blasting off, so to speak, to wherever it was they were meant (or had chosen to) go. Even the rude Sidonus had slid down the cliff already and begun rushing towards the besieged port.

Port was a bit of a generous description though... It was more like, a fishing village. With a solitary pier. Calling it a town was also a bit of a stretch, as Coco could count the number of houses from atop the cliff and see all the various residences without any issue. But now wasn't the time to argue semantics.

Making a gesture with her hand, the werecat called forth a small disc-like protrusion from the cliffside, stepped upon it and then began to ride it down towards the beach, like an elevator or escalator. Gwendolyn, on the other hand, stepped forward to the edge of the elevated ledge, put her hands on her hips, smirked widely, and then performed a forward flip while shouting: 'Gwendolyn, taking off!'

While Coco's ride down was smooth and simple, albeit perhaps not the fastest, she made it down with no issue and began unhurriedly jogging towards the village of Sanjo. Meanwhile, Gwendolyn's top-heavy physique caused her to perform an excessive amount of aerial rotations (which she had not planned or accounted for) which in turn caused the little baphomet to lose her composure and coordination... Resulting in a glorious bellt-flop on the sand below, complete with a cloud of cartoonish proportions rising into the air and the ground being somewhat indented and forming a shallow hole in the shape of her fram... Which she was now stuck in. Face-first. Oof.

A moment of silence later, a teary-eyed Gwen rose and rubbed the sand from her eyes and hair, before looking from side to side, making sure nobody had witnessed her little faux-pas, and then began to run along and follow after Sidonus and Coco. The baphomet was a bit more motivated though and quickly caught up with the werecat. As the two ran alongside one another, the former turned to the latter.

"We must hurry to save the villagers from these wretched hooligans, Miss Kitty! Come, hasten your pace!"
"Don't rush, Tiny. We don't know just how many are in there yet, and we don't want to get caught surrounded and penned in with her panties down."
"Hah, a trifling concern! I would break us out even if I lost my panties! Onwards!"
"Wh- No, that's not what I meant. Tinyyy~!"

Coco's complaint and metaphor fell on deaf ears, as the baphomet sped up and quickly caught up with Sidonus. Once Coco and Vara got themselves to the pairs side, the human issued some kind of half-hearted plan, before rushing off to fight. Coco sighed and cast a side-long glance at the man as he rushed off to engage in battle. She then looked to Vara and Gwendolyn, stretching her arms up and arching her back slightly, seemingly limbering herself up before taking any sort of action.

"Well, you heard the man, ladies. Let's get this over with, 'right?" The werecat said, before selecting a seemingly random direction, which wasn't the same as Sidonus, and took off in a rather casual, unenthused run. Gwendolyn waved at her companion - which was pointless, as the werecat had turned her back towards her.
"Good luck, and good hunting, Miss Kitty! I too shall join the frey now, hah! May we meet again soon, Lady Demoness." The little goat-girl said, both to Coco and Vara, before bouncing off in her own direction.



Coco's pace made it very clear that she wasn't in any actual hurry or felt any real urgency in the situation. She was much more concerned with taking in her surroundings, checking the side-streets and smaller nooks to make sure she wasn't being followed or boxed in, eithe rby Varjans or by the local villagers. Ensuring she had ways to escape and get back to where she'd come from, the werecat finally took notice of a situation unfolding as she turned a corner.

A group of savage Varjans were apparently readying themselves to attack a shizuyaman man and his infant. Although she wasn't overly concerned with their well-being, even Coco had enough of a heart to feel disgusted with this sight before her. What kind of people were so cowardly and vile as to gang up on a single person carrying a helpless baby? Channeling magic into her hands, the werecat slammed her palms down into the ground infront of her, still standing a ways back from the Varjan group who were facing the other way.

The magic was set free and surged through the dirt ground, racing towards the Varjan soldiers. Then, as quickly as it had raced forth, it errupted from the ground below the marauding invaders. Taking the shape of jagged, fang-like protrusions of solid stone, a 'tooth' for each of the gathered pillagers shot out from below them. Some aimed to strike at their targets groin or crotch-area, while others struck higher, aiming for the chest or abdomen. Coco watched with sharp, focused eyes - but still kept her wits about her, looking and glancing sideways to make sure nobody came around a corner or tried to blindside her.

In the case that the rock fangs didn't send their targets flying or crumpling to the ground in pain, she'd start gatheirng magic energy to unleash a lightning bolt or two should the need arise. In the ncase that she was successful though, she'd disperse the energy, approach the father and child and urge them nonchalantly to get the heck out of the village.



Excitedly racing through the simple dirt streets, lined with equally simple and pedestrian street lanterns, Gwendolyn had an excited and strangely happy look on her face. Perhaps it was adrenaline, or perhaps it was the expectant excitement of knowing this was her very first time in an actual battle where there were things at stake... And where she could finally display the power and skill which made her a superior monster and a worthy agent of the Sabbath!

She soon came across a house that had been partially lit on fire, while a pair of marauding armored fiends were busying themselves with pulling a kicking and screaming woman out from the blazing dwelling, Feeling herself swell with righteous power, the little baphomet slid to a halt, stretched her hand out and, with a flash of brief light, conjured forth her iconic scythe from the depths of hammerspace!

"Villains, halt right there!" Gwen called out, pointing her hand at the duo of dastardly degenerates. "I, Gwendolyn have arrived, and you shan't lay a finger on this good maiden! Have at you!" She proceeded to call out, before charging forward like a bull that'd just sat down on a wasp and gotten its butt stung.

Despite her short legs, the baphomet was still ridiculously fast, and closed the gap between them in a mere moment. Drawing within range, she swung her scythe diagonally one way, and then the other, striking at both of the ne'er-do-wells. With her scythe's magic power, it'd cut through any bulky, non-magic armor as easily as a hot knife through butter, and with its energy-draining abilities, these two would flop over like a pair of cards in the wind! ... Well, at least if she hit both of them.

Nyla, your friendly neighborhood baker
Sanjo Beach

---

It wasn't often Nyla had involved herself in such chaotic battles. She'd much rather be doing things behind the scenes, quietly supporting those that did fight battles such as this. Still, she couldn't deny how effective she could be in such a scenario considering her unique capabilities as a slime. Still, she was just a little disappointed there were no cute girls here. It made this just a bit more annoying to deal with. At least she might have some fun playing with the boys a bit if she could grab a few...

"Now now, there's no need to be so serious." Nyla responded to the helmeted champion. The Shoggoth's body shifted, enlarging herself as much as she could with her mass in an attempt to corral and deter the warriors from getting close. After all, all she'd need is a good grip on just one little ankle and yoink.

Still though, for now her main target was finding Lord Oja.

"So why don't you have a Macaron," The shoggoth's mass shifted, growing in size into a blunt, circular object with a handle jutting from one end...a...giant frying pan? "And have a seat!" She'd swing the hefty human sized, cooking implement at the champion. Of course she didn't really care for fighting. Her attention was split. Half on this man that was standing here, and the other half frantically searching for her target - Lord Oja.

---

_{@PaulHaynek @Rune_Alchemist @Riffus Maximus}

---

A sweatdrop of embarrassment appeared on the side of Kirei's face and Janus made sure to correct the taskforce on what his name actually was. ”Ah, sorry about that, friend. Uh, sometimes I’m terrible with names…” He apologized, attempting to play it off. He then witnessed the power of the armored man as he left loose fierce bolts of lightning against their Varjan foes. He whistled as a compliment after seeing Janus’ handiwork. ”I’ll have to remember not to get your name wrong in the future!” He said with a playful smirk.

Both he and Lavinia perked up when it was mentioned that apparently, Janus was once a member of a sect within the Varjan ranks known as the Scarce Legion. ”My, my, I’ve not known Varjans to turn coattails very often.” Lavi said ”I’m nonetheless curious, but I suppose we’ll save that for later. We have ourselves a live one~” She eyed the Varjan warrior adorned in armor more sinister than his peers. After saying his peace, he threw the corpse of a samurai at the team, which Lavinia and Kirei easily dodged.

”You’ll come to find that life is full of surprises, darling.” Lavinia said, taunting the warrior with a seductive tone. ”Would you care to put this harlot in her place, Mr. Champion?” Following Stella’s lead, Lavi let loose a torrent of water of her own. However, she aimed the stream at the champion’s feet, along with the other lesser soldiers that surrounded him. She then froze the water, trapping them in the sand.

”Takes all the fun out of hittin’ moving targets, but I won’t complain!” Kirei said. The champion would find it hard to avoid the giant frying pan made by Nyla, having his feet frozen. Kirei then proceeded to materialize a pair of twin katana with white tsuka, then after taking a crouching stance he completely vanished. Did he flee from the fight?! It would seem not, as four out of the seven axe warriors that gathered around the main target had suddenly fallen. Bloodied gashes in their armor marked where they had taken damage. Enishi then reappeared beside his comrades, as quickly as he had vanished.

Lavinia shot icy arrows at the other three remaining soldiers, which hopefully would leave the champion standing alone With his feet frozen, it was likely he’d get flattened by Nyla’s frying pan. Unless he had something up his sleeve…

---

---

_{@PaulHaynek @Xaltwind}

---

Vară, amidst her regal pose, had an embarrassed look frozen on her face. Did they get the names of their allies mixed up? First thing arriving on the battlefield, and already an error was made?

”You…you mean you’re Sidonus and not Janus?? Oh, oh crap!” She began to panic for a moment, her hands waving in a flustered manner. ”I’m sorry! Kirei, it was that dunderhead’s fault, he told me the wrong names! I mean, I was TOTALLY paying attention when you introduced yourselves before…” By the time she realized it, Sidonus had already left her side and speared a Varjan marauder off of his horse. Coco and Gwen were also doing their part in quelling the attacking bandits, leaving Vară to fend for herself.

”Shit! I need to focus!!” She said, snapping herself out of her stupor. This was her chance to earn fam- save the innocent from a terrible fate! She noticed a group of three brigands who had cornered a pair of young children. A perfect opportunity!

”Stop where you are!” She yelled in a campy and boisterous voice. ”I, Vară Riemsianne, will not allow you to harm those children!” The three stop to turn to the source of the voice, being shocked that it was revealed to be coming from an unassuming young woman. The pair of children looked on with horror on their faces, fearing for the inevitable end. The trio of brigands laughed at the young girl, not taking her seriously. They seemed to be pleased with her beauty, however, and decided to forgo the children and focused their attention on the fire demon.

”Firefly.”

Upon uttering her technique, the attackers were subjected to a barrage of little wisps of vermillion sparks. Dozens of tiny flames pelted the men, exploding upon impact and tearing right through their armor, charring their flesh as a result. After her assault finished, the burned remains of the men crumbled to the ground along with their charred weapons. The kids looked with shocked faces, the young woman managed to save them!

Walking quickly over to the children, she knelt down and began speaking to them in a low voice. ”Hey kids, rejoice, for you are safe now. Please run away somewhere safe while you can. Oh, and one more thing…” She got especially close to the kids, which made them a bit uncomfortable.

”Make sure you tell everyone that Vară Riemsianne was the one that saved you, get me? That’s Vară Riemsianne, don’t forget it!

Saarvel had been raiding kingdoms in the name of the Shadow Masters ever since his induction into the legion. Sure there were close calls, but he survived them all. Where his fellow legionnaires fell, he stood alive with the victors. It would be one thing if he was a mere plunderer, but he did not live this long without knowing how to kill a man in seconds.

But this was one fight he never prepared for. Saarvel knew no one in his legion who did. They were here to slaughter men, not monsters. Still, Saarvel thought this paltry squad would not amount to much. Because if they were, he wouldn't know what to do. So when Stella gushed forth a wave of water that threatened to drown him and his group with water above land, Saarvel panicked but still managed to slash away the water with his bloody glaive while his Varjan Warriors scrambled to remove their helms to let out the water.

But that was not all, Lavinia also streamed water to their feet that turned to ice, freezing them in place. Saarvel watched as his group was taken down by Kirei and Lavinia, leaving him to face Nyla who had a human-sized frying pan hovering over him. Saarvel raised his spear to block the swing but it was futile. The Shadow Master was knocked down and out to the sand, ending the Varjan threat for a scant few moments.

"Everyone! I think the battle, and the Oja Clan, are lost. Look!" Janus said, pointing to the swarm of Varjans ascending the hill and engaging the last line of Shizuyaman defenders and fortifications. "...I wanted to find at least one survivor. A warrior who can vouch for us." The mage declared but looking at the surroundings, there didn't seem to be any living samurai left. They had all been killed as the taskforce fought in that brief moment, littering the beach with their bodies and the Varjans they took down with them.



Another line of Varjans were coming towards the taskforce, a brave group of ten barely-armored Brigands with axes and javelins. "Let's clear these rabble out and regroup with our forces on the village--"

Just as Janus finished, something tackled Kirei all the way towards the flowing seawater of the battle-bloody beach. It was Saarvel, who had regained consciousness and was now filled with nothing but rage. His helm dripped with blood from the heavy concussion but that did nothing to hinder him from throwing Kirei under the water and choking the swordsman with his gauntlets.

"I'll save you, hold on!" Janus was about to blast Saarvel away but he was interrupted by a thrown javelin that nearly hit him followed by an axe swing that he ducked under. "Gods damn it!" The mage had to fight off his attackers before he could help Kirei.



Before Nyla could join the fight, if she wanted to, she spotted in the corner of one of her many eyes a person crawling amongst some rocks nearby. A fallen samurai warrior, in broken armor with about three arrows sticking out of his back. Where was he crawling to? Perhaps even he didn't know, merely following his body's last gasps of life.

His helmet was off and the Shoggoth could see his scruffy, short black hair. Nyla would recall Lady Kyouko talking about how one of the Oja Clan members having this kind of look. Still, such a description fitted many so this poor samurai could be anyone. Then again, Janus said that they needed a local survivor.

---

The Varjans never expected the earth to suddenly erupt from under them, hitting them in... unfortunate parts of their bodies. They were left unconscious with only the father and his baby child, the latter crying loudly. The father recoiled when Coco approached but when she told him to escape, he bowed his head. "Thank you, milady." He said before leaving.

As Coco rounded the corner in search for more people to help, she would see Vară squaring off with a Varjan in black and dark purple armor and wearing an iron mask...



The children, intimidated of Vară, nodded vigorously at her request. Both out of gratitude, and out of fear of her fiery wrath should they not agree. The children then looked beyond the Fire Demon and screamed, running off in a mere moment.

It was sufficient warning for Vară to roll aside to dodge the thrust of a claw weapon. The Fire Demon then beheld her attacker, a Varjan in black and dark purple armor of overlapping spiky plates. His iron mask was simple but still expressed terror. His gauntlets each had a set of three claws jutting, completely black in color. Vară could sense magic from the weapons.

"You're no Shizuyaman, you're... a monster, aren't you?" The Varjan remarked, grinding his claws with each other. "Very... unexpected."

More Varjans arrived, these ones on horseback. "Lord Na'kratz, you need help with this girl?"

"No, I think I can handle her." Na'kratz replied, not taking his eyes off Vară. "Go chase some fleeing villagers. Each of them will make a fine slave." The horsemen trotted off and followed their orders, riding to chase Shizuyaman villagers.

"Now then, monster. Shall we?" Na'kratz awaited Vară's move.



The pair of Varjan Warriors were too stunned in surprise to react to Gwen's attack. They scrambled for their weapons, completely forgetting their victim.

One of them was successfully slashed by Gwen's scythe and he was immediately on the ground, down and out. The other Varjan Warrior managed to narrowly evade his scythe swing and quickly retaliated with an axe swing of his own. His attack found its target, his axe hitting Gwen's horns... only for it to shatter and doing no damage to the Baphomet. It did kind of sting, though.

Undeterred, the Varjan Warrior pulled out his round shield and tried pushing Gwen into the burning house.

@AzureKnight, @PaulHaynek

---

With the father and his baby safely away, hopefully to make it out of the village without running into further hazards, Coco's quest continued. As the werecat rounded a corner, she performed a remarkable feat of self-lag, pulling back to behind the house she'd just rounded, once she saw what waited ahead. It was the fire-demoness, along with a Varjan wearing a suspicious mask and brandishing metal claws which likely weren't meant for wood-working. There was also a whole pile of ... Coal...? No, those were definetely too big o' piles to just be random charcoal lying about. Dead shizuyamans taken by the fires? No, the village hadn't bee set ablaze for that long, there was no way the fires lit in the buildings would have done that at such speeds.

So, that meant that this was most likely the remains of Varjans. Courtesy of that fire-demon. Didn't really take a genius to figure that out, especially with the shrieking of children that Coco had heard a bit earlier. Not exactly makin g afavorable impression on the locals if you're allowing their children to watch as you char people into carbon right infront of them? Then again, that girl hadn't seemed too bright during their exchanges with Lady Kyouko and the two armored fellows. Coco sighed.

She'd no intention of getting involved in this scuffle. She'd attacked the Varjan warriors cornering the father and his son because she took them by surprise, but she'd no desire to make her presence known to an abberation in the Varjan ranks like this. Plus, if this demoness was alright with just straight up incinerating people into ash, then she really doubted there was any need to interfere. After all, if push came to shove, the demon would probablhy just burn down everything around her in order to survive. Thus, a decision was made!

And that decision was to 100% Vara and the weirdo in the Freddy Kruger-get-up and go somewhere far, far away! Yup. Time to make like a cat and gracefully escape move on to somewhere else~

And so she did!

Coco would thus simply continue her tour of the burning village, carefully moving through the streets, using her ears and sharp eyes to keep herself appraised and informed about her surroundings. The werecat mage would stop to offer beleaguered townsfolk her aid - either by removing obstacles in their paths or by thrashing Varjan mooks - so long as it didn't put her in any immediately unfavorable positions. Of course, by that same course of action, the actual numbers of villagers she did help were probably not as numerous as it could have been, had she been as ... Energetic, as say Sidoneus or Gwen or Vara in her own efforts.

But cats be lazy.

She figured helping a few more locals would be more than enough, then it was time to head on back towards where their little group of heroes were to reconvene. It'd most likely be a good idea to get there before the others, to make sure the area was safe and secure, naturally. Not because she wanted to slack off or avoid doing any more actual work. Hah, nonsense!

---

@PaulHaynek

---

"Unf...! You brute, how dare you! Take this!" A most indignant Gwendolyn chirped, after being hit in the horn with an axe. She swung her scythe, but it missed again, and now the Varjan warrior was trying to use his shield to bulldoze her into a building. Which was on fire. Which was just not a good time. For anyone. Period.

Unfortunately, the Varjan warrior would soon learn that there are few things with as sure feet as goats. Or, more specifically, goat-girls. As the man rammed his arrow-blocking-object into the little baphomet, there was not more than a comedic clonk-!-noise, as both him and his (not actually) immovable object came to a complete halt.

Gwendolyn stared at the man for a bit, blinking in confusion. Then a proverbial candle lit up above her head and she finally realized what the guy was trying to do.

"Ho-ho! You dastardly fiend, trying something like that while possessing not but this amount of paltry strength? Know thy place, worm!" A strangely excited and smiling Gwen announced.

... She then raised one leg, plonked her hoof onto the shield's face... And pushed. With all her might. Like she was trying to stomp on an empty can of soda, or something. Well, regardless, she put a lot of heft into her pseudo-kick-shove-move.

Which, as we all can rightfully imagine, wasn't exactly what the Varjan soldier had been expecting. Especially not when he was sent flying backwards, through the air, across the street, and into the wall of the building on the opposite end of the road. With a loud clatter and crashing. Again, Gwendolyn looked at the man, blinking a few times.

"Wai-- What, no? No! That wans't how this was supposed to go! I was supposed to kick your shield out of your hands and we were meant to engage in an epic bout of grappling! Hey! ARe you even listening!?" A most upset baphomet was flailing her arms and puffs of train-whistle-like smoke was shooting out of her up-right ears as she berated the collapsed man for his... Transgression? Failure to meet expectations? Whatever it was, the guy was just having a bad day.

After it became painfully clear that the poor sod wasn't getting back onto his feet to try and challenge her again, Gwendolyn huffed and pouted, placing her scythe's butt-end onto the ground and making it fade into the ether from where it had appeared. She was mildly annoyed. But only mildly. ANd it passed soon enough as she started moving once again - as the excitement of her next potential encounter filled her with the endless possibilities of what could be.

In fact, so consumed by her own delusions was she that the baphomet didn't even realize the street took a sharp turn at one point, and instead charged head-first through one of the wooden walls of one of the burning buildings. This in turn placed her inside a living room or something, where a group of mo less than six manly Varjan men were bravely brandishing blades against a most worthy adversary! A mother and her two daughters! Or maybe it was a woman and her nieces? Whatever the case, they were unarmed, unarmored and most assuredly a threat to any armed military force!

All of the occupants were, of course, somewhat perturbed by the fact that one of the walls had just exploded and a tiny, medicine-ball-chest goat-girl had just entered into the domecile, looking equally confused and bewildered as the on-lookers. However, the mutual surprise didn't last very long. The women yelped and the men growled, snarled and made uncalled-for comments, before beginning to advance.

Shaking her head, horns and ears free from debris, splinters and ash, Gwen managed to somehow regain her bearings and comprehension of where she was and what was going on.

"A second group of maidens needing saving? Fewr not, I, Gwendolyn, is he- Woah! Hey! Watch it, buddy!" Gwen's speech was interrupted as one of the varjans rudely charged ahead and tried to remove her head from her shoulders. It seemed these fellows weren't keen on entertaining her. Which caused the little lady to frown. "Quickl, you three! Out through the hole I made... For, uh, for you! Yes. Leave this to me." The short-stack called to the women, before narrowly evading the attack of another soldier.

The good news were that the lads didn't have enough room inside the... Room... To all charge at her at once, unless they wanted to collide with their brothers. The bad news was that there were six of them, one of Gwen and three women who couldn't fight back in any meaningful way at all. Add onto that the fact that the house they were in was on fire - again - and the possibility that there were more Varjans out there in the streets... Well, things just weren't great athe moment.

Thus, Gwen took it upon herself to solve this issue quickly, by way of magic Taking a breath as she bounced backwards a few steps, she charged magical energies into her palms and between her fingers, weaving a spell. The men shouted and raved about kiling the witch before she could get her cast off, and none of the boys slouched on that front. Unfortunately, their attempts amounted to little more than widl, desperate swings which failed to connect, or only managed to graze the baphomet, failing to do any real damage or stopping her spell.

"Howling winds, I order you! Blow my enemies afar! Tempest Twister!!"

For anyone interested, the spell 'Tempest Twister' does not actually exist and is merely the product of Gwendolyn's own, terribly corny sense of naming.

But despite this, a spell nontheless manifested. In the form of a giant-ass horizontally aligned cyclone, with the rough diameter of the front of a truck... Which, as you can imagine inside a confined space like this, caused it to take up most of the interior... And blew a hole, and sent most of the house as a whole, crashing out the opposite end of Gwendolyn's position...

Which was also unfortunately where the Varjans had were standing.

If they all got caught up in it, they'd be most likely subjected to a brief aerial trip, before crashing down in the waters some ways beyond the town's coast... And if some of they somehow managed to avoid the ginormous vaccuum-clearner-expulsion that had just happened, well, let's just say the building was no longer structurally sound.

Nyla, your friendly neighborhood baker
Sanjo Beach

---

The assault had gone well, initially. With their combined might she had successfully managed to bonk this vile man into next Tuesday. Excellent. All they'd need to do next was sweep up the remaining filth in the area and then find any remaining Oja....ah. Her head turned briefly towards Janus. The battle was lost? And so swiftly? She supposed it was illogical to assume that they would be able to single handedly drive off an entire invasion force, but...

All at once her attention and eyes were turned towards the man crawling away. Was it? Could it? Did she dare hope? Nyla compressed her body, retracting the many tentacles and mass into herself as she'd quickly make herself much less of a target, trying to disappear amidst the rocks herself as she'd slide over to where this man was crawling. Even if he wasn't from the Oja clan, saving him would help Janus and he seemed, if nothing else like the leader or someone to follow for the moment.

So Nyla would gently grab the man, tentacles gently gripping him and pulling him behind some rocks.

"Shhh. Its okay." She'd quietly whisper. She'd reach for the arrows. Normally it'd be difficult and dangerous to pull them out - they might be the only thing stopping him from bleeding out currently, but she couldn't also just leave them in right now. So with a gentle pull, she'd pull out each arrow, and lay him on her lap. "Young master, you can rest now." She'd smile at him, ignoring the fighting going on at the moment. "Just rest and maybe...have a little bite? Its packed full of nutrients and will make you feel much better quite soon." She'd offer a small, brightly colored looking cake to the man.

Of course, she'd have no problems force feeding him if he refused.