章節 56: 9.X Interlude: Lise II

Lise frowned as she heard her brother laugh like criminal walking towards the gallows.

"WE'LL GET OUT OF THIS ALIVE!"

With that sentence alone, she already knew that her big brother was going to do everything in his power to make sure that she gets to live. It didn't matter to him if he died; only that his little sister would manage to survive through the bloody defense that they had to muster.

If only she hadn't been wounded. A brief bout of overconfidence led her to take a shallow hit on the side of her abdomen. While it was no longer bleeding as profusely as before, it made a dent on her ability to breathe properly. The pain shot forth from each deep inhalation, causing her concentration to lapse at times. It was an annoyance that she really didn't need at such a critical fight-

"RAARRGHH!"

The collective war cries of the Dezimals around them reverberated through the young girl's chest as she prepared herself physically and mentally for the next round of nonstop assault. If she gathered her brother's plan correctly, then they only had to hold the line until the rest of the Nenners managed to break through the enemy defenses.

That was easier said than done, however.

*CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!*

For the third time that day, Lise tensed her muscles as they began to enact their methodical 'dance of death,' a term coined by her brother during one of their training sessions back when they still served under that despicable woman. With their backs against each other, her brother in all but blood stood his ground behind her, both of them dodging and weaving throughout the battlefield in a veritable cyclone of blades and fury.

*CLANG! STAB! SLASH!*

Lise heaved as she parried an overhead swipe from her right-hand side before then using the gathered momentum to swing back around and deliver an armor-cutting counterattack. She winced as her arms buckled through the slash, her breathing getting more ragged as their fight for survival ticked on. The wound on the left of her abdomen was also making it harder for her to concentrate, the pain nagging at her sides with each heavy breath taken threatening to make her scream in agony. Granted, she should've- Movement!

"Lise!"

The girl didn't even register her brother's warnings as her body moved on its own, her reflexes honed through constantly fighting against a former Primzahl screaming at her mind to block high.

*CLANG!*

Lise's right arm almost buckled as heavy metal met tempered iron in a fierce clang that seemed to send sparks around them. The young girl heaved as she tried to throw off the lumbering halberd of off her-

*Crash! Slash!*

-before then going for a forward slash on the tin can's open chest, exposing the Dezimal's innards in a spray of blood and gore that never seemed to end.

"You okay?!"

Lise clutched her aching side as she did her best to catch her breath, "Yeah... I'm okay, Bro!"

This was bad. She must never let her brother discover her wound. Big Brother already had too many things to worry about, let alone something as insignificant as a shallow graze.

*STAB! Whoosh! SLASH!*

Without a second thought, Lise took a step back as she felt Rouge lunge from behind her, delivering a fatal stab to the oncoming Dezimal. Meanwhile, she deftly ducked under a swipe meant for a taller target before returning the favor tenfold with a right-hand slash on the abdomen.

"ALL DEZIMALS! STAND YOUR GROUND! THE DIRT EATERS ARE APPROACHING! DO NOT LET THEM PASS!"

The fighting and carnage came to another momentary standstill as the 'P.A. announcer,' as her brother had one called it, blared out another message, this time, about the incoming Nenners most likely threatening to swamp their assuredly thinner defenses. She took that brief moment of reprieve to gather her thoughts and catch her breath as she stood with her back against her equally ragged brother.

Still, at least their fellows got their message. Thank god for her brother's uncanny genius. While they were doing remarkably well against what she thought would be certain doom back when they were running from the same Dezimals just over a week ago, Lise was honestly surprised to realize that these no-name 'tin cans,' as her brother called them, were just unskilled soldiers meant to overwhelm anyone who opposed them through sheer numbers alone. If it weren't for her carelessness earlier, perhaps she would still be uninjured, and perhaps, her Big Brother wouldn't need to cover for her mistakes as much as he was already doing now-

"FOR THE EMPIRE!"

"ROOOOAAAGGGHH!"

With the roar of over a hundred loyal souls, the sea of metal armor sprang to life once more, charging with a fervor and zeal Lise could only compare with the fanatic church-goer that she once saw back when she was still a child. She gritted her teeth as the onslaught began anew, both of them surrounded from all sides with only their weapons as the key to their continued survival.

"Ready for round two, motherfvckers?!"

Mother... fvckers?

*CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!*

The curious word was pushed to the back of her mind as Lise moved to block a three-slash salvo from the first Dezimal that managed to get to their faces. With the same efficiency taught to her by her brother, she used the momentum from the last block to come around and attack with her own round of slashes.

*SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!*

A three-slash 'combo' of her own. Brother would've been proud if she saw such an effective use of skill to disembowel their opponents. Now that she thought about it, the smell of iron was starting to get too powerful, probably due to the amount of blood spilled all around them as they went through each attacker with skill and finesse. In a way, she couldn't help but feel grateful that she had always butted heads with that accursed woman, their constant arguments giving her the skill to stand side by side with her brother instead of simply watching from the sidelines like before.

*CLANG! SLASH! STAB!*

It was a nightmare, seeing someone she deeply cared about acting like she didn't exist at times back then. Lise tried constantly to break the spell binding her brother to that woman, but to no avail. Instead, Aria made it a demented game of tug-of-war, offering her a spar every week wherein with each win Lise got, the Primzahl would weaken her hold on her brother. But if she lost, then the bvtch would reinforce the spell tenfold by what she called 'Consummating.'

Needless to say, Lise couldn't sleep for days when the Primzahl showed her firsthand just how she did it.

*CLANG! Crash SLASH!*

Ever since then, her brother no longer acted as sane as he did back when they first met. Lise could feel her brother's mind start to unravel with each passing day, only being held together by sheer purpose and, shamefully, his own little sister trying her best to look as incompetent as possible.

Rouge had wholly forgotten the whole year that they spent working under Aria, his mind constantly being manipulated by the bvtch of a Primzahl to the point of almost erasing the big brother that Lise loved and held dear. Even now, the effects of the tampering still lingered on, her brother constantly doubting himself and forgetting things he had already done just hours ago. The daily teaching sessions that they had back then were wholly gone, she'd noticed, as Big Brother still insisted on his apparent lack of skill with a weapon beyond his current shortsword.

It was heartbreaking, seeing her big brother act like an old crone with failing memory.

*CLANG! CLANG! STAB!*

Still, it might be hard, but Lise would always do her best to care for her mind-addled brother, even going so far as to feign ignorance of some of her older brother's more obvious plans in favor of acting like the young girl that her brother had adopted and cared for since they first met. While somewhat degrading, it was of no consequence if it helped Rouge through some of his more doubtful moments.

*CLASH! SLASH! SLASH!*

The fight for survival continued, her sword arm blocking a strike meant for her older sibling before rebutting with two frontal slashes to the attacker's chest. The constant back and forth was going well, but as the fight wore on, Lise knew that her veil of incompetence would have to be put at the wayside. They were getting tired, that much she knew, and they still had some time before their reinforcements could arrive.

With a deep breath, the skilled girl assumed a stance that her brother had taught her during a time when he still held a seething hatred for their employer. Crouching down on the ground with her shortsword flared out on her right-hand side, Lise readied her legs for a rush that she was sure her brother would recognize despite her worrying state.

"Haha... COME AND GET SOME!"

With the same fervor their useless enemies showed, Lise sprang to life, defying her injury and fatigue as her newfound energy launched her toward her startled enemies. The Empire thought that they could hold them all off? Well, too bad! They were going to get out of this Empire! With Brother's veritable fountain of knowledge and 'tactics,' they were sure to escape from this life of slavery and despair! It didn't matter that she didn't even know what her brother thought at times. She had absolute faith that it was for the best despite his forgetfulness. She just had to make sure that Big Brother would stay the course and help him heal.

It was exactly like what her brother would do for her... Lise will protect Rouge to the best of her abilities. That was her only sworn purpose in life.

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