Chapter 93 Rulu’s Rally

Rulu's POV (Point of View)

I was such a frail child back then, I was always in bed and needed the help of others in order to live. I was unable to give back anything as thanks as I was too weak to lift heavy loads and I was not as intelligent as my older siblings.

I loved to read but I wanted to do something more with my hands. I learned to sew from the artisans when I was not sick and I learned how to cook from the hired staff who made my meals whenever I was bedridden with a fever.

When I was finally freed from my bed and was able to walk on my own two feet without fainting from a lack of energy, I began to do what I could to help the people in the capital. I learned of their struggles against the monsters and harsh winters. So I learned to nurse the wounded and cook a warm meal to fend off the cold.

I made many friends and was able to meet Kokona, my long-time mount and best friend. She was an unusually large hororon and I helped nurse her back to health when she was only a baby that was no taller than the height up to my knees.

When Kokona grew to be 2 meters tall, I felt jealous. I wanted to be big, I wanted to be strong or fast but I knew I could never be like that. It was made clear when, one day, I was attacked by a baby gengiri which looked like an overgrown centipede that was half a meter tall.

When I tried to fend it off with a stick big as my arm, the baby gengiri easily knocked my first strike away with its small fangs in its mouth. I fell to the cold snowy ground and felt the encroaching feeling of fear creep into my knees which prevented me from standing. I began to cry and as if answering my call, Kokona came and killed the monster before it could eat me.

I was relieved but a feeling of disappointment in myself overcame me. I was 12 and I still could not fight monsters like my siblings. Seeing that I was depressed, Kokona sat on the ground and presented its back to me as it turned its head to meet my eyes.

For some reason, I could understand what Kokona meant. She told me that if you want to fight, then we can do it together. I felt like I was about to break out into tears of joy but before that we heard more monsters rustling in the nearby brush.

Wiping my tears away, I climbed on to Kokona and we fought together. I was of course scolded by my father but on that day I felt like I had fulfilled my duty just like my big sister Shizu. I felt that for the first time, I was brave …. Like Azi.

*****

Again, Rulu now saw that look in Kokona's eyes. The pair of eyes were asking her if she wanted to go fight the monsters. Rulu heard the cries of villagers as they ran for their lives and the clanging of metal as the village guard moved and fought to protect the lives of the others.

She and Kokona witness this from the slightly elevated hill of the southern outskirts of the village. It gave a view of the festival grounds and was where the cooking team for the festival staff were stationed.

"I'm going. Everyone, please evacuate with the rest. I must meet up with my sister." Said Rulu as she gave the best commanding tone she could.

"But Lady Rulu, we can't…"

The staff member's words stopped as their eyes were stunned at the sight in front of them. All of the staff member's were retired veterans of the military who were too old to continue fighting or too injured to stay in the army.

They once rode out with a young Shizu out to war and remembered the majestic visage of the young girl on her mount. Rulu, who was atop Kokona's back, turned Kokona around to meet the gaze of the staff members.

This caused them all to be stunned silent as the sun shone at her back which caused them to instinctively see the parallels between Shizu and Rulu in this instance. Rulu had an air of nobility and pride like Shizu in this moment, but Rulu had a gentle aura of calm as her smile reassured them rather than fired them up for battle.

"Go now! I will fulfill my duty, just as you have done for this nation as will I!"

Kokona chirped in affirmation and flapped her wings which made the staff member's stand at attention as they reflexively cried out a loud affirmation.

"YES! MA'AM!"

*****

In the midst of the festival grounds, Nosuri and Ougi fought alongside a squad of 4 village guards. They had evacuated all the villagers in the nearby area but they needed to exterminate as many monsters as possible before moving on.

Azi and Shizu had already passed by due to the noticeable craters made by Shizu's heavy strikes with her umbrella and the charred monster corpses from Azi's fireballs. Still, the number of monsters were still numerous as the group of 6 were still surrounded.

"Sister! 3 at 3 o'clock and 2 at 11 o'clock." Yelled Ougi.

With deft motions, Nosuri let loose arrow after arrow in quick succession. All hit their mark as the monster's heads were pierced through. The bodies now lay lifeless on the ground, but this small victory was short lived as a group of 5 gengiri attempted to rush her front in hopes of allowing their fellow kin behind them a chance to strike at the annoying archer.

Ougi and the squad of guards were unable to react in time as they were still occupied with the other half of the initial swarm of gengiri they had encountered. Ougi could cut the enemies down with ease but the durability of his blades were at their limit.

Azi had no time to maintain them due to his work with his house and forge, so Ougi and Nosuri had to make do with what they had. They could have bought new weapons but prioritized replacing their traveling equipment for the future.

With everyone too occupied to intercept the new enemies, Nosuri braced for another hard fight but before the small group of gengiri could make an attempt at them. A large black and white figure charged at the gengiris' flank.

This figure began to tackle and claw at the gengiri. This crushed the smaller gengiri to bits while the slightly bigger ones reeled back in pain from the rending claw strikes. In response, everyone used the chance to finish off their opponents before moving to aid the new arrival.

After a few minutes of battle, Nosuri looked to see who their savior was and as if posturing a question she asked.

"Lady Rulu?"

Atop the figure was Rulu who noticed an abnormality and blew on a flute to communicate with Kokona. Signaled by the soothing tone of the flute, Kokona turned its head around and saw the incoming attack from her rear. Kokona turned her feathery body and jumped, she then landed claws first into the gengiri that tried to sneak up on them.

In a somewhat calm tone, Rulu asked a question as she held back the stirring feeling that was trying to crawl up from her stomach.

"I...I need an update. Please tell me where Sister Shizu is."

"She is with Azi and they are currently making their way to the southern outskirts's entrance." Answered Nosuri.

"This festival grounds are somewhat clear and the perimeter is set thanks to Lord Yashimu command. We should move to aid Shizu as the situation is becoming abnormal." Added Ougi.

Rulu nodded in agreement and took command. Everyone nodded without argument as while Rulu was not an official knight of Kujyuri, she was considered royalty.

Rulu was also somewhat intelligent and knew that the number of gengiri and their sudden appearance was too abnormal. From her time studying the reports in Kujyuri, Shisayama's monster attacks on this village never penetrated this deep and were kept isolated at the walls. This warranted further investigation but Rulu kept that thought to herself.

Rulu looked around and saw that everyone was waiting for her command, so she ordered the group of now 8 combatants to move to find Shizu and support her.

It did not take long for them to find her, as the sounds of heavy clashes and explosions of what sounded like fireballs rang out. This startled the group, but this only emboldened them to make haste as the situation sounded dire.

They all hoped that Shizu was uninjured.

Making it to the edge of the festival grounds, Rulu gasped at what she saw. The stench of the piles of monster corpses was caught in her nose. Some piles had monsters that were cut to pieces while others were charred black their flesh still burning in the cold winter's early evening

The sight and smell of the spilled purple blood and monster entrails made Rulu feel a bit queasy but she held it back to live up to her duty as a citizen of Kujyuri. She needed to be strong, she wanted to be strong.

After passing the monster corpses, the group came across an even more horrifying sight.

*****

-Minutes prior-

"Push forward lads! It's time we show the power of our steel!"

Edgar, an old blacksmith, stood at the front of the group with a sword of his own creation in hand. He swung it and cleaved a gengiri's head from his body in a single swipe.

He took a moment to admire the superb weapon he had made, but was inattentive to the next gengiri that charged forward to attack him. Edgar attempted to swing at the monster but his panic caused him to swing wide which missed the monster entirely.

But before the monster could bite into Edgar's neck, the glint of the blade passed in front of Edgar. This cleanly sliced the monster's head off in a more clean manner than Edgar's untrained slash.

Looking up, Edgar saw a disappointed Kajima who had a scowl on his face.

"How long are you going to just sit there!? GET UP!"

Kajima yelled at Edgar in a commanding tone and violently tugged on Edgar's arm to get him to stand. Edgar was surprised that he was now sitting on the ground but opted to not dwell on it.

After Edgar got forcefully pulled up to his feet he sighed a bit in contempt. While he respected Kajima as a blacksmith, he felt that the famous blacksmith was dishonored by taking Azi on as his apprentice. He then let out a slight scoff in Kajima's direction which was disregarded by Kajima who directed the group of 15 blacksmiths.

"STICK TOGETHER AND DO NOT LEAVE EACH OTHER'S SIDE! NOW! FOLLOW ME!"

The blacksmith group had been fighting the monsters from the outdoor forge to the edge of the festival grounds. Luckily, none of the blacksmiths lost their lives but they were getting drunk from their small victories.

The effects of their over-excitement showed when they arrived at the southern outskirts's gate. There they saw Azi and Shizu engaging a large group of over 50 gengiri, 5 kengiri, and a large unknown monster that seemed to watch over the battle from the rear.

Kajima noticed that there were already numerous monster corpses littering the ground and deduced that the pair was locked in battle for a prolonged period. A blacksmith, in his overzealous state, charged at the swarm of gengiri that Azi and Shizu were dealing with.

The old blacksmith wanted to show his metal to prove that he was superior to an upstart like Azi. The other blacksmith's cheered him on while Kajima attempted to run forward to stop the fool but was blocked by the crowd of burly blacksmiths.

Azi, who had just grappled a gengiri and thrown it into another cluster of monsters, then noticed the approaching old blacksmith. While mid-motion of his next attack, Azi saw that the old blacksmith had not noticed the gengiri that was flanking him to his left.

Increasing the speed of his punch, Azi quickly finished off his opponent and moved to grab the old blacksmith by the collar of his shirt to then toss him behind his right side to save his life. The old blacksmith felt weightless for a moment and then felt the cold ground on his back.

The group of blacksmiths booed Azi, but he ignored them as he focused on fighting the gengiri that had almost killed one of their compatriots. In an attempt to drown out the noise they were making, Azi produced another fireball infused punch that rang out as he struck down at the monster.

This caused the gengiri to explode into a spray of purple blood and guts while it also caused the ground under it to crater. What was left was a mess of a corpse that looked like a stain upon the land. This shut the blacksmith's up for a moment, but Edgar broke them out of their silence.

"DON'T LET THE KID SHOW US UP! CHARGE!!!"

"NO WAIT….." Said Kajima.

But Kajima was too late. Filled with vigor and vainglory, the old blacksmiths charged into the fray.

When Rulu and her group arrived, they witnessed the results of the blacksmith's foolhardy charge. They were not warriors or soldiers, and while they got a few good hits in, they soon started to get picked off one by one.

A man had separated from his pair and was subsequently attacked by a kengiri that had noticed the approaching group of food. The man was caught off guard and due to his folly, his arm was torn off. The sound of the horrendous snapping sound that the kengiri's claw strike made startled many of the blacksmith but they soon noticed the bloodied man on his knees.

The now disarmed man cried out in pain, but before a monster got to him. Kajima had run over and quickly dragged the man away from the battle. Rulu saw this and made her way to Kajima.

"Rulu? What are you? You know what, never mind. Can you stabilize him?" Asked Kajima.

Dismounting from Kokona, Rulu examined the now one armed man's injury and grimaced as she saw that the group of blacksmiths were causing trouble for Azi and Shizu.

"I will try but please get those men away from the front."

"I understand Rulu. Do your best." Said Kajima.

Rulu then looked over to her group of soldiers and instructed them.

"All of you, please assist Lady Shizu and Sir Azi."

"YES MA'AM!"

Rulu then turned her attention to her patient and thought to herself, I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.

Unbeknownst to her, a pair of large eyes peered in her direction as they shined a bit blue, but the owner of these eyes slithered off to wait for its moment.