This is bad. If we attack carelessly, Remi might be harmed.

"Lita, prepare to catch Remi," I say. "Blood Vortex!"

I release a torrent of blood, cutting off the snakes. Lita swiftly catches her and runs off to the school. "Oh, hello, Vio," Dita says, landing soundly on the ground.

"I should've predicted. Only you could lead an army this barbaric."

"To the victors goes the spoils," Dita says. "Soldiers need entertainment, too, you know. And what better entertainment than sex slaves and loots?"

"I'll tell you what: your severed head! Blood Salvo!"

Dita leaps forward, evading the exploding blood arrows. Snakes burst out from her mouth, coiling around me.

"You've got a nice body yourself, Vio," Dita mocks. "Ahahha, I can imagine it in my head now. I will strip you down, beat you up, let men violate you until your mind breaks and your body surrenders. Then you will be nothing, Vio. Nothing but an outlet for lust ...."

"In your dreams!" Lita shrieks. "Mana Blast!"

"Black Chupacabra!" I scream, releasing a giant hellish dog from my sleeves, sending Dita flying.

Lita and I rush outside the city to confront Dita, but we meet an Empire courier instead, escorted by two Argentum Sentinels. Dita has been knocked out.

"That courier is an Old Sentinel," Lita murmurs. I glance at Lita as she seemingly throws something to the air.

Drats. Three of them. Where are John and Aelita?

The courier walks forward. She bows to me and throws me a letter. "The Empire issues a formal letter of apology," she says, "the actions of the Penal Battalion are against our code of conduct."

And with that, they take their leave.

Do they think an apology will settle all this?

"Vio, we have to head back," Lita says. I nod weakly. We disperse once more.

The dying screams and calls for help spur me into action. I enter every house systematically, beheading each and every demon I encounter.

At last Lita and I converge once more on the centre of the city, surrounded by dead bodies. "So much destruction," Lita comments painfully, "and for what?"

"For nothing," I answer.

"Find John and Aelita and organize healing efforts. I'll contact the headquarters."

"Okay," I say, gulping my spit. The stench of blood begins to make me feel dizzy.

Everything is so disgusting.

I spot John and Aelita coming outside a house. John's comforting a crying Aelita, so I approach them.

"I can't take this anymore," Aelita sobs. "I'm retiring. I'm going home."

What? What happened to Aelita? Don't tell me she got ... nope, her armor doesn't look broken or taken. Just what happened here?

"T-there was a little girl," Aelita, "raped by three men. She-she died ...."

"Aelita!" I put my hands on her shoulder firmly. "I know it's traumatic, but you're an Imperial Guard. They're looking up to us. You have to stay strong."

Aelita is silent. "Please, Aelita. We need your healing abilities," I say, "if you lament over the little girl's death, the best way to redeem yourself is to help save the lives of the wounded here, isn't it?"

Aelita wipes off her tears. "You're right," Aelita says. "Let's go."

John nods appreciatively. He and I immediately forage for survivors while Aelita rush to one of the two major hospitals, one of the few buildings left.

As I walk through the ruins of the outskirts of the town, I see the other major hospital still standing strong. I enter the building through its front door. Strangely enough, it is dark.

"Heah!"

A woman dashes at me with a lightning blade. I instinctively duck, unsheathing my own sword.

"Wait, Elaine!" one man shouts, "it's an Imperial Guard! Look at the ribbon!"

The man, Revan, switches on the lights. Elaine looks at me dumbfounded.

They both fall to the ground with relief. "Huah," Elaine says, clenching her chest, "we're saved."

"Are there just the two of you here?" I ask.

As if answering me, a horde of civilians appear from behind the recipient desk and from the stairs. Among them, I notice a number of doctors and healers.

"Revan, Elaine, mobilize all the doctors and healers. We have to make this hospital operational again."

"Okay. Got it!"

I hurry back to the other major hospital. Aelita is sitting on the centre of the lobby, where hundreds of dying men and women lie. She unleashes a strong green aura, healing them. The few unscathed civilians bring in more and more wounded, often with wheelbarrows or scratchers.

"Aelita, I have good news," I say, "there's another major hospital in the outskirts. I'll redirect the wounded there."

Aelita, unwilling to break concentration, merely nods. I issue a flurry of orders: those lightly wounded are to be transferred to the hospital in the outskirts. I also send John to fetch a few doctors from there.

Meanwhile, I scour Mirakarta once more for the remnants of the Empire's dogs. But I find nothing except dead bodies. Many, many dead bodies.

Whelps, maybe those Argentum Sentinels have cut them down. 

Lita approaches me. "I've contacted the HQ," she says, "they're sending help from nearby cities."

I nod weakly. "How's the situation there?"

Lita shakes her head. "Not good. The outer fort has been breached," she sighs.

There is a short silence. "Alright, let's go back to the carriage," Lita says. She shows me a gemstone. "I bugged one of the Sentinels earlier."

Nice!

Lita and I sit inside our carriage. She activates the gemstone.

"That is your plan, isn't it, Princess of Terror?" Lady Jessica barks.

"What is?"

"The Mirakarta Massacre," Lady Jessica replies. "You deliberately put your most mentally unstable subordinate in charge, knowing she would allow or even encourage such a thing to happen."

"I lent you my most skilled underling and this is what I get? Those soldiers of the Penal Battalion–if you can call them soldiers in the first place–are beasts. Simple as that."

There is a tense silence. "Anyway, I see an advantage to this, even. This will strike fear to Irvine's heart," the Princess of Terror declares.

"Fear? They're not afraid! They're angry!" Lady Jessica shouts. "It's over. The propaganda war is lost. From now on we will expend much blood."

I hear the sound of swords being unsheathed. "It's not very nice to draw your daggers in front of an ally, isn't it?" the Princess of Terror says. I could almost feel her smirk. "Especially since Operation Case Yellow needs my troops."

Case Yellow?

Lady Jessica, judging from the noises, puts her daggers in their sheathes again. "Very well," she says. "But I don't want Dita Luxor to be anywhere near the frontline."

"Fine. Not that I'd lend her to you anymore."

I hear the sound of the gemstone falling to the ground, shattered. "Drats. The jewel wasn't stuck properly," Lita cursed. 

"What's Case Yellow?" I ask. 

"No idea," Lita replies. "I'll send off the recording to Batavia."

I nod, agreeing. Suddenly, my communication orb brightens; there is a transmission. I touch the orb, activating it. Sir Cadogan's holographic shadow appears.