LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 39: Chapter 39
Chapter 39
INEI YOTSUBA
Inei had suspected Maya's plot. Of course he had, but still he was surprised that she had gone through with it. Nonetheless, it had simply allowed him to achieve his own goals. He had hoped that with the Yotsuba name Gu Jie, GAA and the USNA would have left him alone, letting him live his life in peace.
But he was wrong. So very wrong.
The name had done nothing to stop them, and they had reacted to his presence as he had expected. With greed, fear and war. And if that was their desire, then he would give it to them.
War.
And as he left his mother's solar he found himself walking into the garden, and the place was occupied by the very person he had come to see.
Mayumi stood there looking down at a rose plant forlornly, dressed in the ceremonial garbs of the head of a Master Clan, a set which she now sat in having replaced her father as the head of Saegusa clan.
"So, you are going away?" she asked, and there was both concern and worry in that tone as she turned to look up at him, and despite the look in those eyes he resolved himself for what he had to do.
"I am," he answered, and saw her lips thin as she looked down.
"I never thought I would experience a war while I was but a teenager, it all seemed to far fetch in those lessons at the academy," and indeed a few months ago war was but a nightmare and now it was a reality enthrusted upon them by the greed of men, and the revenge of a woman.
"Believe it or not I hate war this as much as you do," he said pushing away a strand of hair behind her ear as he pulled up her face.
"I would much rather spend my time with you than fighting our enemies abroad, but this has to be done," he assured her.
"They will not leave me alone, neither GAA nor the USNA. We could broker peace today, and then they will attack us again tomorrow. If not tomorrow then years later, again and again, Until one day perhaps their attack will be successful, and they would achieve their purpose and mayhaps kill me, even worse may harm you," he told her and that was what drove him to the extreme for Inei himself detested war, detested it for the devastation it would cause, for the deaths it would bring, for the orphans it would give.
"I cannot let that happen. Not to you," he said as he caressed her face.
"Never to you," he promised and she knew.
"I know, but it is also dangerous, unpredictable. You will be in the vanguard, anything could happen to y..." and he put his finger on her lips as he stopped her from saying any more.
"Two years," he said and watched her eyes widen.
"That is the time I have given myself," he said, and it was a tight timeline specifically given that they were talking about a transcontinental war.
"I am going top wrap this up in two years," he assured her, as he kissed her on the forehead.
"Then I am all yours...."
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...
....
...
Weeks later, a solitary plane flew over the largest military base of operations in GAA as the city braced for a retaliatory strike.
Their radars failed to pick up on the plane signal which was but a simple and small plane, carrying barely ten people. The small size blinded it to even the most sensitive radar technologies, and as it flew over the military base the planes door slid open as a solitary figure came out and looked down below.
"Are you sure about this Inei-sama?" came the question from the men behind him, as they watched their young soldier looking down at the military base.
"Yes, we must take out GAA's ability to attack Japan to get an upper hand, and this is the place to start," he answered, and the soldiers all looked at each other as an older man stepped out of the shadow.
"I am afraid that was not their intent behind the question, Inei-sama," and this was none other than the personal butler of Maya Yotsuba, Hayam Gonobu of the Yotsuba caln.
"They are asking if it is truly wise doing this all by yourself?" he elaborated and the boy in question smirked as the wind rustled up his flowing white hair which now reached his shoulders.
"Ohh, you need not worry about that. I can handle this all just fine," and with that the young man turned to the driver and with a single thumbs up stepped out of the plane and fell down, as one of the men rushed forth, a young graduate of Japan's NDU, a member of the famous Chiba clan—Naotsugu Chiba, the Hidden Blade,
"Is he mad?" he questioned concernedly, as he watched the boy's body falling through the air.
"I am afraid not," came the answer from the aged butler, who was looking down beside him.
"Impatient maybe. Mad not at all," and then suddenly they all stilled as they felt a massive wave of psions fill the air and his eyes widened as he saw a massive magical sequence appear in the air.
"They are onto him," the Chiba clan heir screamed as he saw multiple rockets and artillery shells headed for the sole figure falling through the clouds and yet he did not seem to care as he saw him raise his hands, as a single whisper reached him through the comms.
"Domain Exapnsion...."
"....Malevolent Shrine" and all he heard after that was a shrill whisper, before infront of his eyes the whole world was cut, and covered in smoke.
"AHHHH!" he screamed as the plane rocked and stumbled in the air, he held on for dear life and as it stabilised he watched and the whole area was covered in smoke, and yet to his surprise the captain of the plane was descending it taking it down, and as it cut through the massive cloud of smoke everyone in the plane gasped at the scene infront of them for right there the largest military base of GAA was no more.
The whole area was converted into s single straight plane, reaching for miles and miles, and as the plane descended he could not believe his eyes at the scene as he found one person standing there on the ground, his hair rustling in the wind as he turned towards them.
"Handle the rest...."
And it was in that moment Naotsugu Chiba learned the true meaning of the name, country killers. And why the Yotsuba were feared as much as they were.
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MAYUMI SAEGUSA
War was unpleasant. It was to be abhorred, and even though she knew that many around her were cheering at the display of strength from them, it was all coming at a cost. At a human cost.
Few understood that, she did. And much to her dismay so did Inei. For all his banter, he was more acquainted with the dangers and perils of war than anyone else, and felt them more intensely than anyone.
The burden of millions of lives, even if they were enemies was not an easy one to carry. It was not one she could imagine herself carrying, and neither would she have to. Neither would anyone in her generation have to.
Two years. She had seen the truth behind those words, the hidden truth that none saw. Even now on enemy shores Inei-kun was protecting them, all of them if not at physical cost then, at a great mental one.
And as she saw the ruins of what was once a bustling military base she could imagine only all the death, as the rest of the troops landed on the ground once more and there he stood.
His hair which had grown out now flew in the air, behind him as he stood there looking impassively at the Sunset before he turned towards the camera, his eyes dead and yet even through the lense she could see it—the burden, the toll of the massacre he had just carried out in that gaze.
"Take care of the rest..." and with those words he walked back into the air plane, as the soldiers looked in awe while many on people on the screen cheered and yet she found herself reviled by it all and stumbled to the balcony barely stopping herself from emptying out her stomach as she walked into the garden, and held onto the ring bound to her neck and gripped it tightly.
"You do not seem to be in a celebratory mood," and she snapped back, and saw the very woman who had set it all in motion walking towards her.
"I see no reason to be," she answered honestly, knowing full well that the woman cared little for pleasantries, and games. And neither was she wished to play any, in station she was equal to her now, and yet all the respect and admiration she had once had for the woman had been smothered away by what she had been forced to witness.
"Is that so?" the woman asked as she walked upto her and looked down at her.
"Do you feel no elation at seeing your enemies destroyed?" she asked, and Mayumi smiled.
"Do you?" she asked, and the woman's gaze narrowed as she turned to the sky.
"No, I did not," and there was longing in that tone.
"I had hoped I would, and yet even as I saw the people that ruined me turn to dust, I felt nothing. No joy, no elation. Nothing at all," and that was a tragedy indeed.
"Was there really no other way?" she asked, and the woman sighed.
"War was inevitable, you know that better than anyone," and she did. She really did.
"I just wish there was," she said and suddenly a finger reached for her face as the woman pushed it up and looked her in the eye.
"Care for him, care for him in ways I cannot, I always knew I was deficient as a mother and a woman. Don't shun him for our fallies, for my fallies. Inei Yotsuba is wasging this war for you as much as he is for me. Do not shun him for it, share his burdens," she said softly and Mayumi nodded.
"I intend to," and she indeed did.
"Come then, it is time for you to learn of the Yotsuba's second greatest weapon," and with that she followed the woman to her personal quarters and found herself staring at a screen, showing a massive building.
"That is the STARS HQ in the USNA," and her eyes widened at that, as she looked towards the screens as they shifted to show another person standing at the dock of what appeared to be cruiser thousands of miles away.
"Shiba-kun," she gasped as she recognsied the face, as she saw him reach and pick up a massive specialised CAD.
"Inei may be the face of the power of the Yotsuba, and he is a powerhouse unlike anyother. But the truth is that the Yotsuba have another powerhouse that rivals him. You must have heard rumorsa bout him as well, given your assosciations now," Maya-sama added as she saw him pull the trigger of the Cad.
And seconds later she watched as the whole STARS HQ in the USNA blew up, the explosions pattern was indeed familiar to her, it reminded her of the report she had read years ago, of an attack being repelled by the JSDF.
"Impossible," she gasped as she connected the dots.
"His operational name is Special Officer Ooguro Ryuuya, otherwise known as...."
"...Maheswara...."
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