A Lover's Dilemma

Before the explosions occurred, Princess Yuna was at Ise-Jingu. It is a most important shrine for the Japanese people, as they believed the large sacred trees and beautifully maintained garden was home to the spirit of Amaterasu himself. Every year, they held a ceremony called Niiname-sai, as a thanksgiving for the abundance of their annual harvests.

Akira had accompanied the Princess who served as a substitute for the Emperor for the ceremony. As such, Oda had a large number of Mazoku warriors, who were now fully armored with customized Samurai-designed Armor and weaponry. Botan had given Oda instructions to always maintain maximum security measures for both of them, as they were both essential for Japan's future.

Oda did not need to be reminded of this. He looked at Princess Yuna, as a kami, and believed that her being chosen by the Overlord was fated. As such, he dedicated his life to her protection, although the real truth was, that he was in love with her. But he could never admit it to himself.

He was a mere soldier, and a magical Demon Lord who could be the most powerful being in the world had already made his claim on her. So he just stayed quiet and obeyed.

Yuna and Akira had Dinner at a nearby restaurant before they headed home, and about a few moments, after they left, and got into their bullet-proof and armored vehicles, the explosions started.

Oda was aware of the presence of the EDEN Jihadists and initially thought that they had commenced a preemptive attack. They were on the highway, heading to the Kyoto Imperial Palace to get to the safe rooms.

So he called his fellow members of the Imperial Guard who were at the palace guarding the Emperor and Empress. 

The phone kept ringing.

No one was answering.

He called another number. No one was also listening.

The car behind them and in front of them was also Imperial Guard.

Oda felt some sort of force from above, like air pressure from a helicopter draft, interfering with their car's movement.

He checked the side mirror, to see what was going on, then a missile launched directly at the car behind him, and exploded it to bits and pieces.

"What happened?" Yuna said. She then turned around and saw the exploded vehicle.

"We're under attack!" Akira shouted.

There was no one behind them, or on their sides. The highway was clear of other vehicles.

Oda increased their speed, and another missile launched straight into the car in front of them. It bounced off the highway, due to the explosion, but he was able to avoid it hitting them, due to his E-class Finesse, which helped him drive defensively.

They still could not see where the missiles were coming from, then the three of them felt a bump. The car's wheels were turning and the engine was running, but they suddenly stopped moving. Suddenly, the car was floating up into the sky. Something was lifting them but there didn't seem to be anything there.

They were raised to 40 meters, and the fall would kill Yuna and Akira because they didn't have Magitek on. Whoever was lifting them, was taking them somewhere, and didn't intend to kill them.

While helpless above the sky, the invisible thing that was lifting them had covered them with a communication cloak, that prevented any means of communicating from outside the barrier, that even the party contact ability, would not be able to pass through.

Not wanting to give up so easily, Oda instructed Akira and Yuna.

"Akira! Yuna! You need to listen to me. It's just the three of us now. And I need you both to survive. When we land, I will fight them to distract them as much as I can. When that happens, I will need you both to run, as fast as you can."

Oda handed them each a piece of his Magitek Equipment. He handed Akira a pair of Lesser Gloves and gave Yuna his Lesser Boots. Both had E-class Dexterity and E-class Finesse amplifiers.

"Our enemies have cloaking technology, probably jamming communications to the outside too. So when you run, as soon as you can. Call Master Yuri! He is your only hope," Oda said.

"What about you, Oda?" Yuna asked with pure concern.

"I will be alright, Princess…"

Oda knew that more enemies were waiting for him, and many of them were probably stronger than him. This will be the end of his life, and though he accepted it now, he still wished he could at least tell the princess his true feelings. Of why he decided to be part of the Imperial Guard. Of how when he was a young boy, a beautiful princess had shown him a kindness that he never felt in his life before being a son of a disgraced former general.

[STATUS UPDATE

[USER: PRINCES YUNA]

[USER: AKIRA ABE]

[DEXTERITY: F -> E]

[FINESSE: F -> E]

Akira and Yuna wore the Magitek Equipment, and Oda kept the rest so he can buy them enough time. The invisible flying thing had dropped them on top of an 11-story building on the outskirts of the City. 

Oda prepared himself for sacrifice. They had made a hole in the car's floor and Yuna and Akira quickly crawled below. Once the two were safe below, Oda opened the side of the car while covering his face.

He knew that they were trying to take Akira and the Princess alive, so if he hid his identity, they would hesitate to shoot him.

He opened the door and walked out with his hands raised.

He still couldn't see where the flying thing was, as it was invisible, but he knew it was there.

When he had a rough idea of where it was, he instantly tore the side of the car and with his E-class, Brawn pulled the gas tank out, sliced it open, then with all his strength, through it at where he knew for sure, the flying invisible object was. The gasoline had made bounced off of something in the air, though it appeared like there was nothing there. At that moment Oda knew it was the enemy. With Yuna and Akira having already gotten out of the car, Oda threw it at where the gasoline bounced, and he jumped towards it. 

"RUN!!!" he shouted at them.

Yuna and Akira ran for their lives to the door leading to the staircase,  while she was running, she shouted, "LIVE FOR ME, ODA!"

And before she fully entered the door, Yuna glanced at Oda one last time, with tears falling down her eyes. She knew Oda loved her. She always knew from the start. That's why she trusted him. That's why he came to her and told her about the Overlord. That's why he wanted her to reach her dreams. That's why to save her, he would give his life for her.

The car had exploded on the flying invisible object, disabling its cloaking field, then in his final moments, Oda jumped towards the ship, and ran at them swinging with his Lesser Katana. 

He leaped and landed on the ship with three passengers who were ready to fight him and kill him. 

One of the Mercenaries shot him in the shoulder. He felt nothing.

[STATUS UPDATE]

[WAR CRY OF LOVE +Bonus]

[ENDURANCE: E -> D]

Another bullet hit Oda in the left ear, blasting it away as he was heading toward them in the air.

The bullet deafened him but it did not matter to him.

Oda had one goal, and one goal only now. 

To kill the pilot. 

He raised his katana above him, and with all his speed and might, stabbed the pilot right in the throat, pinning him to the pilot's seat and locking the steering wheel to the right.

Everything slowed down for him, and he said to himself, in the last moment of his life, "I have nothing to regret now that the dark clouds have disappeared from the reign of the Empress."

The ship headed straight down, crashing with great velocity to the ground, and creating a huge inescapable explosion. Yuna had seen the vessel crash when she was running past an outside window. 

She cried while Akira was holding her hand, while they were dashing down the stairs.

  "Farewell, Oda Hatanaka. You are and always have been an honorable man like your father. We will see each other again someday," she said with regret.