Nonetheless, the Hamel Tragedy passed.
The Faceless bid his farewell, and returned to his contacts in Erebonia, which were none other than several influential nobles who were against the Imperial Family. It was because of them who instigated the Hamel Tragedy in the first place, and subsequently, causing the Hundreds Day War. At the height of it all, it was none other than the Arundel Family who were the ones responsible. That name sounds familiar, right? It was Lechter Arundel's father who caused the damn war to happen. He, along with several other nobles, were beheaded in secret by the Imperial Family once they found out. Lechter, fortunately, was saved from death. And by some ironic twist of fate, he developed a special power, his trusty 'gut', and was recruited by Giliath Osborne into the Ironbloods.
With The Faceless and McBurn now gone, Arianrhod also took to seclusion but didn't forget her assignment at hand by the Grandmaster. She, along with McBurn, is overseeing the initial phase of the Gospel Plan. Other Enforcers will actually partake in it, but unlike them, there is someone who always watches to make sure the plan happens. The Gospel Plan itself won't happen until a decade or so later during Sky. Right now, Ouroboros is merely laying the groundwork. Particularly, The Faceless implanting false memories onto that black-haired boy to become his puppet of information gathering after the Hundred Days War comes to pass. The very same memories that will cause the boy to become the Black Fang, Enforcer No. XIII.
Campanella also bid the party farewell, as he had to make this report to the Grandmaster at the Celestial Globe. The Grandmaster was pleased with Naoto's parting gift, and ensured that a spot would remain open for Naoto to join in the future, whether it be on the seat of the Anguis, or an Enforcer.
That meant Vita was now all alone, left to her own devices with a sleeping Tamamo and Grianos in tow. She decided to let Grianos continue hunting at his own pace, and she would watch over Tamamo until she wakes up again. She was brimming with energy thanks to that big boost in Mana. She swore right then and there that she would thank Naoto, given the opportunity. She didn't know when that would be. As for their schedule, Vita recalled what Tamamo was assigned to do. Their next stop was Liberl. The exact location? Cassius Bright's House!
Vita started her departure, making her way toward Liberl while watching over Tamamo...
Thanks to that fateful night, it did not take long to catch wind of what happened. Specifically, privately owned militias owned by the Great Houses who call themselves the Provincial Armies. They too are part of Erebonia's military as a whole, but they don't directly respond to the Imperial Family. The Imperial Army does. These Provincial Armies are directly under the Great Houses and have been known to cause trouble. One such instance is the October War that Class VII and Rean Schwarzer partake in, which takes place in S1204. Many nobles do not like the Blood and Iron Chancellor, and through the Provincial Armies, they stage an entire civil war with Duke Cayenne at the top.
Most of Erebonia is ruled by nobility, so it would make sense for them to be the ones who cause trouble. And boy, did it turn into something alright. Seeing all of the dead villagers and several figures clad in green beneath the dark armor dead alongside them, the Provincial Armies quickly spun a tale that it was Liberl who was the one responsible for the attack. That was because the Jaegers who attacked, which were hired by said Provincial Armies, disguised themselves as their enemy, and even used Liberl's weaponry. One of the oldest tricks in the book. And yet, it worked. Sparks flew.
Erebonia had officially declared war against their neighboring country of Liberl on April 26th, S1192.
While His Imperial Majesty was against it, he had no way to stop it. All evidence he received pointed toward Liberl being the enemy. And this would eventually become known as the Hundred Days War.
The moment the declaration was received, the 13th Armored Division, led by General Craig the Red, stampeded the quiet road with its armored tanks, and went beyond Titus Gate, only to arrive at Haken Gate.
All it took was one shot by the Imperial Army for destruction to spread. By the time Haken Gate was fired upon, the ambassador at the Erebonian Embassy inside Grancel City delivered a single letter to Queen Alicia II, a declaration of war.
Liberl posed little to no threat against the might of Erebonia's Imperial Army. It's size was an eighth of Erebonia's. Each region started to get occupied one after another. Haken Gate was completely, and utterly destroyed. It was only until after the reconstruction of Haken Gate would one get to see what it looks like in the games. Before that, it wasn't as grand, or as sturdy. Invading it was easy for Erebonia because of that fact.
The well-known market city Bose was next to fall. Due to its centralized structure, Erebonia was quickly able to clear the Liberlian army within it. Citizens fled in terror, either to the west toward Ruan, or to the east toward Rolent.
From there, the Imperial Army split into two offensives. It split its army into two divisions. One division went west all the way down to the port city, Ruan. The other division headed eastward, right into the city of Rolent. Along the way, the soldiers were greeted by blockades in an attempt to block the march. The Imperial Army countered it with artillery fire, leaving behind even more destruction.
On the western ridge, there was one particular village that was struck with these loose artillery shells, killing many of its villagers.
This village was known as Ravennue Village...
The very same village a certain hot-blooded red-haired boy and his younger sister were currently living in...
One assignment Naoto gave Tamamo, apart from watching over Cassius Bright, was to watch over Ravennue Village. Thankfully, Tamamo did not spend that long in slumber. Only a day at most. Vita had already arrived in Liberl, only to see war break out. If there was one difference to Tamamo now compared to before, it was that Tamamo has two tails now! Vita didn't know why Naoto knew this, but he wanted Tamamo to witness the Hundred Days War in his absence. As for Vita, she had already explored parts of Zemuria and had her fair share of battles. Seeing a full scale war like this, though...
It was definitely a first for Vita, to say the least. Vita felt like she wanted to do something, but Tamamo reminded her that they were only there to observe. All Vita could wonder was whether or not this involved the 'Gospel Plan'. A plan that wouldn't reach its culmination point until a decade later.
Tamamo mentioned one thing that they could take action on. And that was none other than Ravennue Village.
Presently, Vita and Tamamo stood at a nearby cliff. They heard bombardment explosions to the south of them. Cries and anguish spread throughout the village. Many villagers were panicking, or fleeing in terror. Some managed to flee.
Two of these villagers were a red-haired boy and a girl, around fourteen and twelve years old respectively. It was the boy's birthday soon. The red-haired girl forgot her birthday gift that she was going to give him, quickly rushing back to the village despite the loose artillery shells. By some miracle, the girl reached her house.
In a lull between reloads, Tamamo jumped off the nearby cliff, and stole the gift the red-haired girl had in her hands. This stunned the girl, but realized what had happened. She quickly left the house to chase after Tamamo, only to bump into the red-haired boy not too far away. Tamamo dropped the gift in front of him, and quickly sped off. From a safe distance, it was then a loose artillery shell dropped on their house, exploding it to bits. The two survived, but lost their home in the process.
Seeing their home destroyed and now set blaze, this left the red-haired girl in shock for a while. After receiving an earful by the red-haired boy, the two knew they couldn't stay there any longer, and left Ravennue Village along with some other villagers. That's right. Thanks to Tamamo's efforts, the red-haired girl who was destined to perish here in the war was saved by her actions! She was Mischa Crosner, the younger sister of future Bracer, Agate Crosner!
Vita saw all of this happen from a distance and decided to aid the villagers in secret by healing their minor wounds, or by replenishing their stamina. It was then the girl realized what the little fox did for her, and by the time she wanted to give her thanks, Tamamo was nowhere to be found...
From there, Vita and Tamamo continued watching the Hundred Days War from afar.
Both Ruan and Rolent weren't as lucky as Ravennue Village. Ruan's water bridge that connected both halves of the city was destroyed. It would take Ruan a while to repair it. As for Rolent, its iconic clock tower that everyone loved to visit for sightseeing was blasted to smithereens.
An unfortunate brown-haired mother-daughter pair ended up getting stuck in the crossfire. As a result, the mother protected her daughter from harm, allowing all of the falling debris to collapse onto her. The woman's body got pelted by it as a result, and ended up dying from blood loss. By the time a certain and prominent brown-haired man from the Royal Army arrived on the scene and rushed in, it was already too late.
The man could only rescue her daughter from the attack...
Bose fell. Ruan fell. Rolent fell. The Central Factory of Zeiss was taken by the enemy. Professor Russell and the other workers had to relocate to Leiston Fortress. It was then the Royal Army entered a grip lock with the Imperial Army, not wanting to lose the rest of Zeiss. These decisive combat mechanics that Erebonia showed became known as the Blitzkrieg tactics. Erebonia kept pushing while the Royal Army could only stay on the defensive.
All Cassius Bright had to keep the Imperial Army at bay was Leiston Fortress, Grancel City, and Grancel castle. They were put under extreme strain. All hope seemed lost until Professor Russell developed a new kind of orbal patrol ship, courtesy of the expenses of the Royal Army.
General Morgan was not present during this. This entire operation was spearheaded by Cassius Bright, to whom Her Majesty the Queen assigned him the role of Commander. Despite that, this did not bring shame to the Royal Army. General Morgan had an entire separate task that he was assigned to do by Queen Alicia. To search for Naoto's whereabouts in secret. He knew he could leave the war in Commander Bright's hands.
And what came with that was the creation of these patrol ships. It donned armor far surpassing that of Erebonia's current tanks. It wasn't just their firepower that was increased as a result. If there was one thing to point out, it was the patrol ships' speed. It increased several fold! Thanks to this, the patrol ships launched a swift counterattack, eliminating several Armored Divisions that rolled in after the 13th. One after another, Liberl started to reclaim the land they once lost.
Liberl started to push back so hard that the opposing leader, who was none other than Naoto's Father, General Giliath Osborne, ordered even more Armored Divisions to strike Liberl at all sides. But Leiston Fortress proved to be too much of a defensive stalwart that halted their movements altogether. They could not take that beast of a fortress down. If there was one thing to point out, it was that Liberl's ally, Calvard to the east, started to take action, and sent in soldiers to assist Liberl and fight back even harder than before.
It all reached a breaking point when the Septian Church decided to step in, and officially requested a ceasefire between Erebonia and Liberl.
By this point in time, a full one hundred days of slaughter and destruction passed. Hence the name, the Hundred Days War.
Queen Alicia II confronted General Giliath Osborne, and finally signed a peace treaty after several rounds of negotiations. Disregarding receiving provisions and other miscellaneous conditions to help speed up recovery on both sides, General Osborne gave one outlying condition that Queen Alicia had to accept, or the war would continue.
And that was to wipe Hamel off the face of the map, and keep what had transpired a heavily guarded secret that only high-ranking officers of the Imperial Army and Royal army, and respectively, the Imperial Family and Royal Family, could know. To the general public, they would soon forget Hamel even existed. Queen Alicia agreed, and the ceasefire began.
While all of this took place, General Morgan continued searching for Liberl's new secretly appointed Crown Prince, only to find himself tucking a tail between his legs. No matter where he tried looking, he couldn't find him!
That was for a good reason. Little did everyone know that Naoto is presently residing in one of the lodges of the DG Cult!
Before long, the scenery began to change. It no longer focused on the Hundred Days War.
"And so...all of this leads back to me, huh?", A voice uttered softly in the depths of what appeared to be a dark and decrepit area with a sole elevated platform carved out of rock and stone that tried to act as a bed. At most, a few pots and plants could be seen scattered around the room. It was akin to a jail cell. A violet-haired boy, who seemed no older than six years old, could be seen seated atop the cold, stony bed. Despite the dreary atmosphere, the boy remained calm. After all, he wanted to come here on his own volition.
Of course, that boy was me!
I'm now inside the DG Cult. What else is new?
Still, I wasn't alone. I could see a smaller figure resting beside me. It was a girl who had bright lilac-colored hair. To be honest, I did not expect to encounter someone so soon. I saw dried-up tears in her eyes. Her cheeks reddened.
"Big Sister...Big Brother...", The girl uttered softly, revealing a somewhat pained voice. Upon a closer look, I saw several chain marks around the girl's wrists and ankles, likely having been chained up for prolonged periods of time. Now, I could go into detail as to why the DG Cult is terrible and all that, but the games did that for me. Why talk about it? It's best just to experience it yourself. Save the questions for later.
I only have one purpose here, to encounter and potentially recruit allies to my side earlier than when they appear in the story. I just didn't think I'd meet my first encounter so soon, like I had just said!
Reaching my hand downward, I wiped the tears away as the girl attempted to sleep. She was likely having a nightmare. Most kids here do. I've already grown numb to the cries of anguish from the other cells.
This girl didn't belong to the mainstream games that was considered canon, she belonged to a side game where it had its own plot placed between games, and focused primarily on Crossbell State and Remiferia. This girl is a year younger than me, making her five years old. Sherryl Sky, the younger sibling of Jillian Sky, whose family once served Remiferia's royal lineage...
The title, as I recall, was Akatsuki no Kiseki? It was never released outside of Japan, but it was still a fun game overall. Sherryl here was literally captured in broad daylight when their family wasn't looking, and had zero luck with her rescue. I'm sure her bigger sister Jillian must still be worried. But life moves on, right?
Sadly, that thought ended once I heard the cell door begin to open once more. A ruffian-sounded voice reached my ears, only to see a shadow get flung in my direction.
"Hey you two brats, here's some fresh meat!", The rude voice said. They hid their entire body behind a dark-colored robe, for obvious reasons. Unless it was a High Priest like Joachim, the Cult's normal members hid their appearances. They did not like to stand out. I mean, it's a Cult. What else is there to expect?
Following that shadow, I saw the person get thrown our way, who seemed quite small and frail. The same couldn't be said about their eyes. They appeared dead. Not ouf of dread. No, it was entirely different. Very similar to the dead eyes of Randolph Orlando who I had fought a while ago. Likely a trained assassin of some sort. They also wore a cloak that covered up most of their body. But this person shifted around enough that allowed me to see glimpses of armor.
"...", The person said, not uttering a single word. I was soon attracted to the color of the person's hair. It was clear she was a girl. She had bluish-indigo hair, and it was quite wavy. Seeing the cultists leave, I looked down at her.
"Welcome to the pits of Gehenna. What do they call you?"
"...Ennea...", The girl finally said, finally gathering enough strength to introduce herself to me.