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JAIME FONTOYA

While Askeladd and Toshi gathered the non-combatants, Tony and I carefully took down a small portion of the eastern wall. With help from the north platoon, we used those logs as a bridge across the moat.

Askeladd ordered us to guard the opening while he escorted the villagers to the cave.

"Why are we putting everyone outside the walls?" I asked as I fidgeted with my helmet. "Won't they be safer in here?"

"You saw firsthand last night what the bandits will do to civilians," Tony replied. "The safest place for them is as far away from the battle as possible."

"What will happen if the bandits attack them instead of the village?"

He shook his head. "That would be stupid. The kids know the caves and they don't. Once the bandits go in, we'll trap them. And Askeladd is right, this battle is going to end today. All the villagers have to do is hold out until tonight."

"What if they smoke them out?"

"A cave always has multiple exits. It'll gravitate to one."

I leaned against the cart we'd been using to watch over the walls. "If you were the leader of the bandits, how would you play this?"

Tony stroked his chin. "I'd attack the fighters first—especially us seven. We can take out the rest of the village once we're dealt with. When the farmers start losing, they'll flee to the caves as a last resort anyways."

"What about Messina? Since he wants everyone dead, what if he goes there while we're preoccupied."

"There's a chance he'll do that. But again, defeating us first is his best bet too. If we go in there after him, he'll have nowhere to run to."

The platoon was growing restless, playing games amongst themselves or simply taking a moment to get some shut-eye. Some even practiced their swordplay on the nearby trees.

"Hey, Susan, do you think you can use a sword?" I asked.

"I mean, anyone with a hand can use a sword. But I don't think I'd be any good at it. The same way you can use a gun but miss every shot."

"That's true." I waved Clash at him. "But you can hold your own with my sword. You might even be able to take down Askeladd with this. Do you want to switch?"

"You stick to your sword and I'll stick with my gun."

"Then let's switch when we come across a monster on our way back to Shoya."

Faint battle cries fled to us from the main gate. Kikori the woodcutter came running with it.

"The bandits!" he waved. "They're starting an attack on horseback."

I slipped my sword back into its sheath and put on my helm. "Let's go."

Tony held me back. "No, we can't just abandon this post. We need to wait for Askeladd to get back."

"Then what do we do?"

"Until he gets back, nothing." He turned to the woodcutter. "Are the other four really struggling?"

Kikori nodded. "They got caught up in Vienna's attack. Ilias instructed us to hold off the bandits while they deal with her."

"So that's why." Tony gritted his teeth. "I'm going to head over and help them. Jaime, take control of the platoon and wait for Askeladd to come back."

"What do I do if the front gate is just a diversion? What if the bulk of the bandits focus their attack here?"

Kikori shook his head. "Most of the bandits are at the chokepoint. They've coordinated with Vienna to attack while she keeps the other sentinels busy."

Tony patted my shoulder. "Even if a few of them come through here, I saw what you did last night. You'll be able to hold your own. This is a worse chokepoint for them and Aksleadd will be back any minute."

Just then, a woman wearing a more slender attire reminiscent of Tony's crossed the bridge into the village. "Hold on," she said, adjusting her wide-brimmed hat. "I can't let you meddle with their fight."

Her face was unmistakable.

I reached for my sword. "It's Florence!"

She raised her hands. "I don't want to fight right now, but if it comes to that then I want it to be fair. Since I know your abilities, it's only fair that you should know mine."

Florence summoned her Stand behind her. It resembled a golem made out of metal with glowing green eyes. Gears stuck themselves all over its body which made it twist unnaturally. It was as if it was made by a watchmaker.

"This is my Stand," explained Florence, "The Machine. It has two forms which I call Act I and Act II. Right now, it's in Act I. In this form, it's pretty fast, strong, and accurate—so much so that it can catch a bullet between its fingertips with ease. When I activate Act II, The Machine will plant its feet into the ground and shoot bullets from pistol-like barrels out of its right wrist. The bullets are made from my mana so it can fire as many shots until my gates break. While The Machine is in Act II, neither of us can lift our feet from the ground."

"Okay, now what do you want?" Tony asked, his hand hovering above his pistol.

"The same thing Vienna is offering to your four friends. Apparently, they're locked in a fight because they declined. Here out the proposal."

"Be quick with it."

"I want you and Jaime to leave. That elf knight in the woods too. You're not part of the village so I'm going to give you this one chance to walk away."

"That makes it simple then," I said. "We're fighting."

Tony flashed a smiled. "You heard the girl."

The Machine contorted its body, planting itself firmly into the ground. One of the farmers carrying a pistol fired at Florence, but was met with a bullet in the head, dropping him to the floor.

"Take cover!" Tony screamed, tackling Kikori so they could hide behind the cart.

Florence didn't see them and was instead focused on mowing down the villagers who returned fire. However, their aim wasn't at all that great. They would constantly miss and shoot around her instead.

I unsheathed Clash, deflecting all of the bullets back at Florence to give time for the farmers near me to take cover. This was enough for them to either hide or run away.

Some of the bullets I deflected managed to hit The Machine in the head, but the user was completely fine.

"Are you shocked that deflecting back my own bullets doesn't kill me? The Machine is made out of metal and can tank its bullets."

Once everyone was out of Florence's line of sight, I swerved behind a tree.

"Why tell us your abilities?" Tony asked. "You could've easily taken us out if we received no warning."

"I don't fight for the sake of it. I fight to become stronger. If I took all of you out because you weren't prepared, it'll be a fluke. I wouldn't have grown as a warrior." The Machine unplanted its feet and went back to Act I, giving it and Florence the ability to move. "If I'm going to fight you, I'm going to do it fairly. I can only grow stronger if my opponents are at their strongest. That's why I told you my ability. And if you somehow beat me, then you can become stronger in my stead."

"We would've gotten along," Tony teased. "I'm a person who's always looking to hone their skills."

"Then why are you fighting against bandits? You can't hone your skills against people that prey on the weak."

"The weak can't fight for themselves. I see skill as a ladder and I feel ecstasy the higher I climb. But sometimes stopping to help others who are struggling gives a feeling no high can ever achieve. That's all there is to it." Tony shook his head with a disappointed sigh. "And if you want to become stronger, Florence, then how come you've sided with the bandits?"

"I'm not siding with them. I'm merely cooperating. I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for Messina. He rescued and welcomed me into his party when I was adrift in the Great Sand Sea. Helping him seek out his justice is the least I can do. I owe him that much."

"If those farmers were much weaker than you, then why did you kill them? How does taking their lives help you grow?"

"They attacked me first. I only killed them out of self-defence. Even a bear will smack away bees if it gets stung. All I was tasked with was to deal with you two. I'm sparing the villagers' blood so they satisfy Messina's thirst for justice."

"Alright then. You are a woman with a strong ideology so I trust you. This fight is between me, Jaime, and you. Let the farmers go so Messina can pick them off."

Florence considered the offer. "Fine, but they have to leave within thirty seconds or else I'll consider them my enemies. And if they attack me, then I won't hesitate to dispose of them."

Is Tony seriously going to believe her?

Tony sighed. "Alright everyone, listen up. Jaime and I will deal with Florence. I need all of you to leave and regroup at the armoury."

"Are you a fool?" one of the farmers berated. "She's going to shoot us down. Besides, we can help you."

"No, she won't. Unless you provoke her, she's not going to do anything. As someone who sees the world the same as her, I believe her words."

"We don't!"

Kikori stood up, taunting Florence with an antagonistic look. He swung his axe over his shoulder, walking away with his back turned towards her.

As promised, Florence didn't harm him.

This caused a chain reaction, prompting the others to flee from the opened section of the wall. By the end of the thirty seconds, the only ones left were me and Tony.

One thing was for certain—our designated battlefield favoured Florence. The Machine could mow anyone exposed in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, the section of the village we were in was the most open.

It was an untouched field the farmers had been saving for raising livestock. There was no cover except for a few stacks of logs, a few hardened trees, an empty cart of wheat, and a small shack used for drying meat.

Between me and Tony, it was he who could match Florence's long-ranged fighting style. Deflecting her Stand's bullets was my best compromise at a long-ranged attack and it proved to be anything but useful.

I could always throw my sword. No! If I'm somehow exposed, Clash's ability is the only thing protecting me.

I was a swordsman and we thrived at close combat. Florence was controlling the pace of our fight by keeping me at a distance. If I could somehow close it, then I could make her dance to my melody.

There was no way I could sneak around her in this open field so rushing her head on as quickly as possible was our best bet in winning.

You're an experienced warrior, Susan. Please tell me we're both thinking the same logic.

Light footsteps approached from outside the walls. To untrained ears, they belonged to bandits. But learning from someone in two months had you picking up on minute details about them.

"Askeladd!" I screamed out. "Don't come any closer!"

Florence had The Machine transform into Act II, twisting the upper half of its body to face the opening.

The footsteps ceased.

Askeladd listened to me. Good.

"What happened?" he screamed over the walls. "I heard gunshots."

"It's a lot to explain, but the bandits are attacking the main gate right now and Ilias, Mondatta, and the twins are locked in a fight with Vienna. Tony and I are fighting Florence."

Askeladd let a moment pass before deciding to trust us. "What do you want me to do?"

"Don't interfere with our fight. Let us take care of her. Most of our platoon escaped just fine and are rendezvousing at the armoury. Meet up with them there."

"Will the two of you be fine?"

"Don't worry about us."

"Alright. Good luck to you two."

I couldn't see him, but I knew Askeladd nodded valiantly before heading around. He could easily scale the wall but probably gave some distance before doing so.

Florence smiled. "Thanks for that."

"Think of it as a favour returned. A thank you for sparing the farmers so that our fight is fair."

She turned towards Tony. "You seem like a good man, Bullet-Tooth. I hate to kill you."

"And you seem like a lovely girl," he replied. "I hate to die."

We're in the middle of a fight to the death but they're so cute. It's a shame they're on opposite sides.

The Machine twisted its upper half along its waist and pointed its wrist at the cart. "But even though I can't tell where you're hiding from through your voice, I can remember faces pretty well. You were beside that farmer with the axe before the others started shooting which means you must be hiding in the same place as he was!"

Before she could shoot, bullets began firing at Florence from random places. One after another, all coming from different directions.

"What?" Florence questioned as The Machine turned towards where each shot came from. "Was I wrong?"

A bullet fired from within the shadows of a bush, so The Machine ripped through it with its bullets. But no one was there.

Then another shot from within the shack. Again, The Machine shredded through it to find the place empty.

While Florence turned from one place to another exposing nothing, Tony popped his head out from the cart's cover and fired at Florence. However, her Stand reacted in time, shooting his bullets down.

"Hehehe." Tony licked his bullet tooth. "I've embedded my mana in every single bullet in this village. No matter who fires it, it will grow into a rose."

"I see, you grew roses from the bullets those farmers shot earlier."

The shots that Tony fired grew into a rose, firing the bullets at Florence, who again was protected when The Machine moved its hand.

"That's pretty smart." The Machine pointed its clenched fist at Tony. "But those gunshots won't do anything. You know that. You were only trying to confuse me to buy yourself some time. Now I know exactly where you are! You're out of options! Prepare to die!"

The Machine fired a continuous stream of bullets from its clenched fist at the cart. Tony dove down, but that rackety old thing wouldn't hold long. The bullets will rip through it and expose him. And to add salt to the wound, there were no places around him to take cover behind.

Once that cart is destroyed, he will get mowed down before he can even take two steps!

Tony returned fire at Florence, whose Stand simply moved its hand to protect her from incoming shots. When his bullets landed on the ground, they didn't even get a chance to bloom before The Machine shot it apart.

I could sneak around her, but Tony's namesake would've turned ironic before I could get halfway. Rushing her head on would ensure she stopped shooting Tony, but she would be focused on me. How long could I hold her off with Clash? I would surely tire but she'd just continue shooting. And if I reach her, how could I take her out? I'd have to attack with Clash, but that would leave me open for a moment—that was all she needed for a bullet to hit me.

I could throw my sword at Florence but Askeladd warned me to only use it as a last resort.

A swordsman without a sword is just a man.

I knew throwing my sword was the only move that could buy Tony enough time. But how do I play this?

Of course! Florence isn't my only target!

I leapt from cover, taking a quick second to analyze where Tony was. The gunslinger was hiding about fifty feet from me.

That's a good distance.

With one swing, I hurled my sword in Tony's direction. As it wasn't headed towards her, Florence ignored it and went to shoot me instead. My nimble feet hid me back behind the tree before a single shot was fired.

The sword landed beside the cart.

Tony stared at it. "Huh?"

"Susan, that's my sword! Use it!"

Just as the last of his cover was ripped apart, Tony armed himself with my sword, letting his mana flow through it to activate Clash. He stood his ground with a solid stance, letting my sword do all the work of deflecting The Machine's bullets.

Clash could protect its user from anything, but the length of time it could do so depended on the user's stamina. I could last much longer using Clash than Ilias because my body was more fit than his.

Sadly, Tony wasn't much of an active man. He drank a lot and ate a lot, and his main way of fighting involved pointing and pulling a trigger. Not exactly an engaging activity.

"How many more seconds can you keep deflecting, Tony?" Florence roared. "Thirty seconds? Twenty? Ten? How long can you keep up until you tire out? The Machine is an unstoppable force and that sword is an immovable object, but the person holding that object is tiring. I can see it, Tony. You're sweating."

Bullet-Tooth was running out of breath. He couldn't even redirect the bullets towards Florence so he was just chaotically deflecting them all over the place just to keep himself safe.

"Just one slip-up is all I need to disarm you. And now Jaime has nothing to protect herself with."

Was throwing my sword really the right move?

"There!" Florence screamed. "I found your opening!"

The Machine shot at Clash's handle, disarming Tony. My sword flew into the air, landing right between Florence and me.

The Machine dematerialized as the out-of-breath Florence erected her back.

"Jaime, thank you for lending me your sword." Tony grinned. "But Florence, you've exhausted your gates. You were shooting at everything which meant you were using up a lot of mana. You had to unsummon your Stand just now because it was taking its toll, right?"

"Don't act so cocky!" she screamed. "I'll catch my breath faster than you can take cover. The Machine is very accurate and once I'm done with you I will walk up to that elf girl and end her as well."

Tony flicked his hat upwards to show his boastful face. "You're one step behind! You're still loading your gun; I've already pulled the trigger."

"What delusions are you on?"

"I know my face looks good, but is it seriously so handsome that you haven't noticed the hundreds of roses surrounding you?"

Tony was right. We had been so focused on him that we practically ignored the terrain. Florence was standing in a field of recently spawned roses.

Florence gazed around. "These can't be your—"

"Roses?" he giggled. "Actually, they are."

"How? When did you plant all of these?"

"You're still out of breath which means I can take a moment to explain. This is my ability, Guns And Roses. If a fired bullet imbued with my mana stops moving, the mana grows into a rose that can refire said bullet."

"That doesn't explain how all these bullets got here. There's no way you thought to plant these here ahead of time."

"You're right, I'm too lazy to do something like that. So guess again."

Florence's eyes bulged out. "The Machine! When you were deflecting its bullets with Jaime's sword, you were imbuing your mana into them. And you weren't just deflecting them randomly—you were never aiming for me! You were planting them in as many directions as you could to surround me!"

"And you've almost caught your breath which means you're going to start shooting again. You said you knew our abilities, but I doubt you actually know how Guns And Roses works. Let me be fair and explain it. The roses fire the bullets relevant to how high the sun is. The higher the sun, the faster the bullet." He gazed into her eyes. "Do you know what time it is?"

She glanced upwards. "Aaah! The sun is at its highest point!"

"That's right," Tony smiled. "It's high noon!"

The roses pointed at Florence, all of them simultaneously shooting their bullets.

With fear injected in her voice, Florence called out her Stand. "The Machine Act I, do something!"

The Machine materialized in front of her, punching away all of the rose bullets Tony shot.

"Aaaaah!" she screamed as her Stand kept up with the barrage of bullets. "Since you were deflecting the bullets we were shooting head-on, it means there is one relatively safe place—your blind spot. Directly behind us!"

Florence hid behind The Machine. That angle had fewer roses.

Is she really going to make it out of this?

"Jaime, don't just stand there!" Tony called out. "This is your opening! Attack her while she's distracted!"

I rushed to where my sword was deflected, snatching it just as The Machine punched out the last rose bullet.

It then planted its feet into the ground as it adjusted its aim at me. "The Machine Act II, shoot her!"

But before it could even fire a single shot, The Machine faded away.

"Whaaaaaaat?!" Florence screamed.

"You used up the last of your stamina to protect yourself," Tony mentioned. "Your gates are spent!"

I leapt at Florence, who was quick to react. She grabbed my sword and interlocked her other hand with my free one.

She was strong, but there was one thing that was dangerous about her—her desperation. Because of it, her strength was exceeding that of mine.

My hands will get crushed.

I rocked my head back, headbutting her on the forehead.

"Damn it!" she cried as she lost her grip. "You're wearing a helmet..."

That sudden move caused her to let go, falling backwards onto the ground.

Tony approached with his gun out. "Seems like me and the kid were the ones who grew stronger from this encounter." He tipped off his hat. "Thank you kindly."

Florence got on her knees and stared at the sky. She held her hat to her chest. "Do it quickly."

"I truly admire your ideology of fighting people when they're at their strongest. You have great potential. I'm not going to pluck a flower when it hasn't yet shown its true beauty," Tony said. "However, since we can't have you meddling with the battle—"

Tony smashed the butt of his gun against the back of her head. She was knocked out instantly.

Even though Florence would be paralyzed for a few days because of her spent gates, we tied her tightly against a tree just to make sure.

"Please understand that we hold you in the highest respect," I reassured.

Without a moment to spare, Tony and I rushed towards battle at the front gates.