After Campanella declared that, a brief moment passed by in silence. It was then Jayna heard a child-like voice speak into the room. It echoed all around as if it spoke directly into her soul.
"Yes...", The voice uttered. Before long, Jayna's eyes became bewildered, seeing a green-haired girl approach her. She seemed quite young. And yet, an unwavering will could be seen in the girl's eyes. A will seldom seen, even on the battlefield. She walked into the room acting as if she could take on the entire world of Zemuria.
For this person was KeA, the one who slumbers inside The Cradle deep within the Sun Fort. But for some strange reason, she seemed to have awoken once more, and was at Campanella's side, no less. From Jayna's first impression of this girl, she seemed no older than eight or nine years old. But that was far from reality. After all, she's the one and only homunculus who has survived inside The Cradle since the Middle Ages. All at the ploy of the Crois Family. They used the DG Cult for their own gains.
"This child...", Jayna began to say, taking a moment to observe the green-haired girl, but became at a loss for words. Before Jayna could even finish her sentence, Campanella acted quick and chimed in.
"She is Lady KeA. It has not been long since she has woken up. I was surprised to see that it was none other than us who she reached out to.", Campanella said, giving Jayna a brief introduction.
"Yes. I am afraid I am unable to do much at the moment. It is not the destined time yet for us to meet. That is forcing me to move in the shadows for the time being. But in return, it is allowing me to meet people like you, Miss Jayna.", Lady KeA answered.
"I take it I am not the only person of interest in this so-called plan. Just what is it, exactly?", Jayna tried to ask again.
"We can only tell you after you join.", Campanella answered.
The room turned silent again while Jayna pondered her next course of action. Her eyes shifted back and forth between one of the blue screens, which displayed the violet-haired boy, and back toward Campanella and Lady KeA. A glint of light streaked across her eyes, acting as if she had made a decision right then and there. She then began to speak, only to have Campanella's eyes light up in glee...
Meanwhile, as it got busy inside the government building in Haliask, a different scene could now be seen taking place. Some time had passed since I had launched my SoulFire Shot against the Red Ogre.
To our surprise, the nightly raids came to a swift end. Nidhoggr's attempt on the capital of North Ambria was just that. A meager attempt.
Still, plenty of killing took place, and it was a sight to behold. I had reached Level 69, and was only 31 Levels away from meeting the criteria to tackle the Vermillion Trials. This progress is going nicely, if I do say so myself. Many orbal guns lit up the darkness of the night. Sounds of clashing metal striking against each other struck everyone's ears. Dead bodies piled up, plopped down one after another. Most of them were either clad in black or clad in red, our enemies. But that's the way of the battlefield and how Jaegers operate. One day, they could be your enemy, but on another, they could become your allies. All become swayed by Mira.
Since there wasn't the scent of gunpowder masking the scent of battle, the scent of blood made it ever so prevalent, but I refused to touch any of it. The scent became strong enough to where even monsters would question twice on making an appearance or not.
Thanks to the efforts of Zephyr's scouts around the capital, they dominated the battlefield, and routed Nidhoggr.
In the end, we were able to find out who orchestrated this entire debacle. Turns out North Ambria's royalty still exists to this day when it was still a Principality. It was rumored he had fled the country instead of assisting his people during the Salt Pale tragedy, which incur their wrath. But turns out, he seemed fine and dandy. Enough that allowed him to flaunt Mira and hire not only Nidhoggr but also the Red Constellation to try and attempt to take back what he thought belonged to him. The country of North Ambria.
Sadly, reality came flying. Zephyr routed Nidhoggr while we and the Northern Jaegers were able to keep the Red Constellation at bay. The Jaeger King's strength proved no limit. They even managed to capture the ex-Grand Prince Balmund.
As for the Red Constellation, like I said, the SoulFire Shot claimed some of their lives as the Red Ogre braced for the attack. Courtesy of the Grandmaster. Divergent Weapons sure are something else. The Red Ogre directly collided with the arrow, and still wielded enough power to cut the powered-up arrow directly in two. It created an icy and fiery afterglow, burning several arge around him, and then left it frozen in place. The once rocky terrain soon became a frozen wasteland. Even Shirley was left wide-eyed at the result of the attack I launched. And that was just with one arrow. I used its power at a lesser degree during Grancel City's Instance Dungeon, but I was left pleasantly surprised with this outcome. Many of the Red Constellation Jaegers reported that their bodies were covered in icy flames, but it still burned them fro the inside out.
It was enough to let me arrive at Level 69, haha!
Thanks to this, our side won, and Rogan, who earned even more hatred, lost the bet. I could see it in his eyes that he wanted to show off his skills, likely to receive an even higher rank within the Northern Jaegers. I could care less, honestly speaking. It left the other few members happy seeing they would be fed for a while, so all's well that ends well, right?
On top of that, Shirley became even more enthralled with wanting to share a battle with me. Unfortunately for her, that did not come to pass. The Red Ogre seemed satisfied with that one strike. I bet his Stats are already completely maxed out, but I didn't want to find that out. Seeing that Nidhoggr failed in their attempt to take the capital, the Red Ogre decided right then and there that they had lost, and tore up their contract they had with Nidhoggr. He was surprisingly a decisive man. A good quality to have.
So the Red Ogre called off the eventual duel that I would have with Shirley. Not completely, for that would eventually come at a later date. We just don't know when. Shirley left disappointed, but seeing as she was on the losing side now, she could only listen to her father. Just like that, the Red Constellation retreated, and the fight for North Ambria's territory resulted in a win for the Northern Jaegers, and Zephyr.
With this came the most surprising part. Since Nidhoggr was focused with Zephyr, and that we kept the Red Constellation at bay, there was no one to disguise themselves as a child and break through the frontline. In return, Colonel Valestein kept his life. This was the very same battle that would cause Colonel Valestein to lose his life in the games, which would in return, allow those like the likes of Captain Rogan or Captain Glark to rise up and lead the Northern Jaegers. But as you can see, that did not happen.
Kasia was the first. Isola was the second. Colonel Valestein is now the third person I had the intention of saving. And the latter didn't even need the forbidden incantation to preserve his soul, as he is still alive unlike the other two! As for my fourth person of interest, it is none other than Guy Bannings. I am having Roselia save this incantation for when Guy inevitably clashes with Arios in the coming future.
Since Colonel Valestein remains alive, Sara will not go through the pain and suffering she will experience by losing him. That feeling of anguish didn't go unnoticed, however. The terms changed. In the games, it was Nidhoggr against the Northern Jaegers. But that scope expanded to four corps instead of two. The size of this battle, to say the least, was far more grandiose compared to what happened in the games. It was a big eye opener for Sara.
And to add to that fire, the Northern Jaegers caught wind of what happened behind the scenes. It was none other than their own Parliament who requested to kill their very own hero, Colonel Valestein.
Thanks to this new finding, Colonel Valestein made a decision. To retire from the Northern Jaegers. It was with great shame seeing his own country wanting to take his life. And with all the bloodshed seen in this battle, he urged his adoptive daughter, Sara Valestein, to reconsider her current position in the corp as well. So while Sara didn't exactly feel anguish from losing family, she garnered uneasiness. Uneasiness for the future of the path she walked on. Should she continue being a Jaeger inside the Northern Jaegers? Sara wasn't sure.
After retiring from the Northern Jaegers, Colonel Valestein wandered back to a certain village in the countryside. One that he was ever so familiar with. The very same home who housed another hero of the Northern Jaegers.
The Winslet Family.