Micchi Versus the New World - Chapter 118 (Patreon)

Alt link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U84ZWaSd4ulNmfdjxQAH9TMhc5aRjbMDPY6SzbxK6gI/edit?usp=sharing

Chapter 118

We only got as far as the wreckages. Shit was brutal. All the wreckages bumped against the hull as we sailed into Kajar's port. Ship parts were strewn all over the water, crashing against the docks at the mercy of the waves.

I wouldn't have believed it if Kain hadn't told me, but Kajar was on an island in the middle of the lake. The city was pretty and probably rivaled Cynderace in size. At least from what I could see of the magnificent, sprawling capital from our ship. There were a lot more palaces like Owyn Medir's in Ash'tar, but I could only make them out by the golden domes peeking over the city walls and smoke billowing into the sky.

The giant obsidian monolith was a damn eyesore among it all.

"I can't believe it." Loraine choked up as she walked to the ship's bow to get a better look.

"Did Sultan Yusef summon this in an attempt to stop us? Or did the demons invite themselves?" Kain quietly asked from behind.

"Does that answer your question? There ain't a single Amarinth soldier among 'em." I pointed to the city ramparts where demons gathered by the hundreds to jeer at us. Flying monsters poured from the monolith, weaving between the towers of Kajar and perching atop building rooftops.

The crew and army were shaking in their boots. Most of them probably hadn't seen this many demons before.

"Lady Micchi." Kain came to me with worry in his voice. "We only have five ships worth of soldiers. The demons probably outnumbered us ten to one. I say we pull back and rally our forces from the other cities, regroup with Lady Anya and Commander Rugal, and lay siege next month once we've readied the other ships in Ramatarj."

"Why?" I asked.

"W-What do you mean, why? It will be a slaughter out there!" he cried.

"I came all this way to kick the sultan's ass, and that's exactly what I'm gonna do. If the rest of you wanna chicken out, then be my guest. More fun for me. You're right about one thing, Kain: it's gonna be a slaughter, because I'm the one who's gonna dish out the pain. So, who wants to take this city with me?"

Everyone on the ship reached for their weapons and nodded to each other. Loraine squeezed my hand, and Kawa licked the other to show that she wants to jump in. Even Yui, who was curled up and being looked after by Frey, raised her head to look me in the eyes. Lastly, Kaoru was waiting impatiently for me and would have gone with or without the others.

Kain sighed, then flashed an exhausted grin. "In that case, let this be our first strike at Sathorayn and the demons. All hands, open the sails! Helmsman, full speed ahead! Everyone else, brace for impact!"

As soon as the sails dropped, our mages summoned gale winds to push the ships forward. We were going at breakneck speeds. The demons weren't slouching either. Magic spells and arrows bombarded us in volleys, but they were blocked by spell barriers around the ships.

We closed in on the harbor like a racecar to the finish line. Everyone dropped low and grabbed onto something.

"Get up, Yui. Chika didn't raise a little bitch." I picked her up and joined Kaoru at the bow.

"Uu… I'm still feeling sick, Anego…" Yui whimpered.

"Y-You're crazy! You're all crazy!" Demar screamed from the bowsprit, still tied up and hair fluttering in his face.

All five ships crashed hard. The shields came down. Kaoru and I let the momentum throw us onto the harbor where an army of demons stood in the way of Kajar's giant gates.

"It's party time!" I smirked.

An army of Scoth, Jinwan, and Amarinth turncoats jumped from the ships and charged headlong into battle with Kain leading the charge. Meanwhile, Kaoru and I bashed our way through swathes of demons. A female demon lassoed my wrist while another, much larger demon brute stampeded toward me.

One hard yank sent her flying into the water. I sidestepped the other and stuck a leg out, tripping him over the edge and into the water.

Volleys of spells suddenly exploded into us. While all it did was dust my jacket, a whole lot of people on my side were down for the count and groaning.

"We need to do something about those mages on the ramparts!" Kain shouted to me.

"Gotcha. Yui, you good? You're up!" I flung Yui straight into them while the trail of vomit rained down on the demons. She landed on top of the wall only to be dogpiled in an instant.

"Yui! Micchi, what did you do?!" Frey cried.

"Was that a good idea?" Kaoru asked, shielding her eyes from the sun to get a better look.

The hair on my arms and the back of my neck stood up. A surge of electricity discharged down both ends of the rampart, shocking demons to a crisp and blowing a chunk of the wall off. It was hard to see, but a single fist popped out of the rubble and gave a thumbs up.

"Look, she's fine. Now that we ain't getting pelted from above, it's about time we knock on the gates," I said.

"We'll create an opening!" Kain shouted. He pushed ahead with a large number of soldiers, cutting down demons to make a clear path up to the gates.

When Kaoru and I got to the front, we knew right away it was magically reinforced. I wound Sacchan up and smashed the iron gate. It didn't budge. A sigil on the surface of the barrier glowed brightly, then faded.

"The fuck. This is stronger than I'm used to breaking." I scratched my head over the magic on it.

"We could probably climb the wall," Kaoru suggested.

"You can. We can't. Don't leave us behind!" Kain yelled as he ducked from the swing of a giant's club.

"Brute, can you hear me?" The disjointed voice of Mildred echoed in my head.

Kaoru looked at me weird as I flicked my gaze in every direction to search for the nutty enchantress.

"I know you can hear me. I'm reaching you with greater telepathetic magic all the way from Cynderace," Mildred said.

"Get the fuck outta my mind!" I shouted aloud.

"What's wrong with you now?" Kaoru squinted at me.

"Calm down, fool! I'm trying to tell you, the barrier before you is being cast by an elder demon. They are believed to be among the most powerful in the demon lord's armies. Having lived for centuries, these elder demons are capable of incanting powerful magic such as the one impeding your siege," she explained.

"Okay, I didn't need to know all that. Just tell me how to break it—"

"I'm telling you, it can't be broken! You must find another way in. Normally, I wouldn't care if you threw your head at it all day, but the life of my beloved Kain grows more at risk the longer you dawdle!"

"Well, shit. If you're so worried, then why ain't you out here helping us?"

"Because my beloved tasked me to oversee the defenses of his precious capital city alongside Commander Rugal! Find another way in, damn you!"

The last line echoed so loudly that it blew my eardrums.

"For fuck's sake." I sighed.

There had to be some way. When I scanned the broken section of the upper wall Yui had made, it didn't look like the entire thing was enchanted. We could probably break it.

Or I could keep trying to break the gate instead.

"Kaoru, how much firepower you got? Can ya pump it like when you tried to off me and Yui?" I asked.

The projection of Bishamonten flared out behind Kaoru in a burst of flames. She shedded one side of her kimono and summoned Kamigoroshi into her hand from a bolt of thunder. Black flames ignited over her entire arm and spear.

"Is our plan to just hit this until it opens?" Kaoru raised a brow.

"You got a better plan?"

"No." She shook her head. "I like this plan."

Mildred's voice blasted in my mind like a shrieking hog. "You idiot! Muscle-brained fool! How many times must I tell you that your barbaric force won't work?"

We charged up our attacks. Sacchan ignited with an inferno of blue flames.

A hand suddenly rested on my shoulder. It almost felt like Chika's, but it was Kaoru I saw when I glanced over my shoulder.

"Micchi, focus your magic. As an Elementalist, you're capable of so much more. Just as I focus all my magic on a single point in my strikes, so can you. Release all that energy the moment you hit. It will become much more potent," Kaoru said.

"Ya gotta explain it in layman's terms. That shit don't make sense in my head." I shrugged.

She chuckled. "Think about how badly you want to hit something. Hit that one spot like you mean it."

I breathed deeply, then stared at the part of the gate I wanted to pummel. The elements began to gather to the very tip of Sacchan and into the size of a marble, swirling like energy like a bomb.

"Now we're talking!" I smirked.

We smashed the gate at the same time. Kaoru on the right side and me on the left. An explosion of concentrated magic shattered the barrier. Both gates went soaring over the city and embedded into the side of a palace. A gaping hole was left in its place.

Demons on the other side, blown back by the impact, picked themselves off the ground and stared in disbelief. I, on the other hand, ignored them and threw a middle finger into the sky.

"How's that for unbreakable, Mildred?" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

"...I'll hand it to you this time, Brute…" This time, Mildred went silent for good.

"Micchi!" Loraine rode in on Kawa's back and offered a hand to pull me up.

We thought about giving Kaoru a ride, but she shook her head.

"I won't fall behind. The little lion, however, will just have to catch up," Kaoru said.

Frey rushed up the wall where Yui was lying down at.

As Kain and our armies flooded into the city, demons also jumped out of the woodwork to slow us down. Mages shot down flying monsters trying to swoop in and catch soldiers off guard. Spells shot out unseen from between buildings. We were getting ambushed all over the place despite breaking through.

"Hear me, citizens of Kajar! People of Amarinth!" Loraine bellowed down the main road, failing to stop the battle but drawing the attention of people hidden in their homes. "Sultan Yusef has led Amarinth astray. He's invited demons to your doorsteps. To the Oasis Throne. He is not fit to rule, but I am. My name is Loraine Arselios, daughter of Laeeq Arselios, and I've come not as an invader but as your fellow citizen. Stand with me. Join us in repelling these demons and bringing Sultan Yusef to pay for his crimes!"

I thought it was a damn good speech. At first, it seemed like everyone had turned a deaf ear to her.

"You gonna let your turf get ransacked by these ugly ass demons? I sure as hell ain't gonna let that happen. If you don't either, then get out here and send these bastards packing!" I shouted.

A dark elf kicked the door of their house open, knocking a demon unconscious. More and more, citizens of Kajar took to the streets with whatever tools they had to use as a weapon. Soon, guards joined them. Then soldiers who were in hiding.

The entire block set off a domino effect as the commotion drew others from their homes to pitch in.

"Fuck yeah!" I pumped a fist.

"We'll rally the citizens from here. If you can push through to Sultan Yusef, I won't stop you!" Kain said.

"Micchi, the sultan should be at the Makhal Palace. Shall we finish this together?" Loraine asked.

"Let's do it." I nodded.

Kawa charged through hordes of demons, punting them away like ragdolls. Kaoru ran alongside us doing the same. Most of the demon forces had gathered at the front gates, so the rest of the city was sparse.

We rammed through the wall that surrounded Makhal Palace, a castle that was lavish even down to the fortifications that protected it. Gold was a common color. The whole place reminded me of the Taj Mahal, except excessively larger and more extravagant.

It was the obsidian monolith jutting out of it and rising to the sky that ruined the view. The thing must have come out from underneath the palace.

No one greeted us in the courtyard landscaped with beautiful flowers and trees. A wide, rectangular pool stretched to the entrance with tiny fairies dancing over the waters.

I dismounted from Kawa as soon as we got to the palace doors. They were ridiculously tall, and unlike the city gates, it wasn't enchanted. Kaoru and I pushed the doors open to reveal an enormous chamber inside.

Sitting on a golden throne in the very back wasn't Sultan Yusef. It was a giant red demon with a white beard and hair draping down his chest. He wore black plate armor that oozed with mists, and he wielded an obsidian mace.

The sultan was groveling at the ground in front of the demon. He glanced over his shoulder at us and cowered.

"There! They made it past your defenses! We… You need to beseech the demon lord for help!" Sultan Yusef cried.

"You really stooped this low, Uncle Yusef?" Loraine's voice was strained with hurt and anger.

"The Oasis Throne belongs to me!" he shouted. "Not Laeeq, not even you deserve it. It and all its riches belong to me, and I'll do everything I can to keep it this way!"

I laughed out loud and made sure the sultan heard me. "What happened? You were so cocky back in Cynderace. Started sweating bullets when you were losing battle after battle against me? Byron's crying in a dungeon, your Admiral Demar's decorating the front of my ship, and all your soldiers are turning on you. Tell me how it feels to lose, bitch? Because I don't know the meaning."

Sultan Yusef was about to retort until the demon waved him off.

"Relax. You're terrified of these gnats? The demon lord tasked me to take care of them, and so I will." The giant demon rose and stood at a height of maybe fifteen feet.

"Step outta the way, medium-rare. My beef's with the snot-nosed elf next to your feet," I said.

"I'm hurt that you don't know me. I am Dogra, the Destroyer. I am the Ramaleiks. For thousands of years, I have lived and many heroes I have slain. Your dark undergrounds are rife with my servants, sowing chaos and softening your— huh?"

I grabbed a handful of his white beard and yanked his head part way down to look me in the eyes.

"Don't let me stop you from monologuing. Keep going. It's a lot more satisfying once I get a punch off!" Another yank brought him to his hands and knees, and I buried a fist into his jaw.

Dogra skidded across the chamber until Kaoru stuck out a foot on his head and stopped him.

"H-How?" The demon coughed up blood.

"You controlled the Ramaleiks?" Kaoru repeated the name with such wrathful spite that it made the red demon's face go pale. "You and Chika conspired with the eunuchs of Jinwa to kidnap my Yonnu. You're coming back to Taiq'ae with me and revealing all those your servants in my city, then I'm going to lop off your fingers knuckle by knuckle."

"Wait… Wait, no! Let me go!" he cried, nails scraping the polished floor tiles as Kaoru dragged him outside.

Sultan Yusef was speechless. He sat on his trembling knees, watching Dogra taken away.

"Alright, Sultan. Open your mouth," I said.

"Huh— auuggh?!"

I shoved Sacchan down to his mouth. Gold molars clamped tightly on the tip of the wooden bat. He shot a pleading gaze at Loraine as though she was the only person who could save him.

"I'm sorry, Sacchan. I know his breath probably stinks but bear with it, alright?" I apologized to my bat.

"Uncle Yusef, I accept your abdication of the Oasis Throne. I'll take better care of it in your place. My first act as Sultana of Amarinth is to decree your punishment be handled by Micchi," Loraine said, then nodded to me.

The sultan's pitiful eyes turned to me, teeth chattering on the bat.

"You're probably wondering why I got Sacchan in your mouth. Well, lemme tell ya— I promised myself I'd shove Sacchan through your ass and out your mouth, but I don't wanna see you shitting your pants. So it's going to go through this end first." I grinned.