The Battle for the Imperial Capital (帝都攻防戦) is the name given to a major battle that took place in the Sacred Vollachia Empire approximately one year and eight months after Natsuki Subaru was summoned to the world. It was a crucial conflict during the latter part of Arc 7, revolving around a battle for control over Imperial Capital of Lupugana by the Imperial Army, Subaru’s Pleiades Battalion, and a loose collection of individuals that included the Emilia Camp, the Priscilla Camp, Serena Dracroy’s Flying Dragon Squadron, members of the Imperial Army, and numerous rebels who began uprisings all throughout the Empire, colloquially known together as the Rebel Army.
The battle was Vincent Abellux's apparent attempt to reclaim his throne after he was deposed by Chisha Gold and Berstetz Fondalfon. In actuality, however, it was a precursor to the Great Disaster, a predestined disaster said to bring ruin to Vollachia after the death of “Vincent Vollachia”. With the help of the Stargazer, Ubilk, Abel confronted Chisha in an attempt to fulfill the prophecy and end his own life, but the Fourth ranking Divine General, who was posing as Vincent Vollachia, took the then-former emperor's place to realize the forecast of Vincent Vollachia's death. The Great Disaster begins immediately following this.
Background[]
Though the entire civil war following the Imperial Coup was leading towards this major battle, preparations for it didn’t truly begin until the conclusion of the Destruction of Chaosflame. With Olbart Dunkelkenn’s infantilization technique having been used on Natsuki Subaru, Vincent, using the alias Abel, decided to use his appearance as an instigating factor to drive the country into a civil war, dubbing him the black-haired crown prince. This, of course, was a massive success, causing numerous riots and uprisings all across the nation, using a black-haired figurehead of their own as an excuse to go to war.
Meanwhile, Vincent had many of his allies gather in Guaral, including the People of Shudrak, General Second Class Zikr Osman and his soldiers, Divine General Yorna Mishigure, Private First Class Jamal Aurélie, various members of the Emilia Camp, and even members of the Priscilla Camp. Simultaneously, Roswaal L. Mathers of the Emilia Camp, using the name Dudley, was together with Serena Dracroy, where she decided to also take part in the war at the Imperial Capital, offering her Flying Dragon Squadron. Lastly, unbeknownst to them all, Subaru, who had been teleported to Ginunhive, was busy making an ally of every single gladiator and soldier on the island, instigating even the stalwart Gustav Morello and the bizarre, infantilized Blue Lightning to march as one to the Imperial Capital, gathering allies along the way.
Though many riots were forced to be quelled by the Imperial Army, they were incapable of bringing an end to all of them, and eventually, every force across the nation that was ready for war all gathered at the Imperial Capital. Utilizing the forces of the Divine Generals Arakiya, Olbart Dunkelkenn, Moguro Hagane, and Madelyn Eschart, and Second-Class General Kafma Irulux, alongside their respective armies, they defended the bastions of the Imperial Capital, thus starting the Decisive Battle for the Imperial Capital.
Battle[]
First Battle for the Fifth Bastion[]
Garfiel facing off with Kafma.
The battle at the fifth bastion started between a large army of centaur people and the Second-Class General Kafma Irulux. Despite such a large army, Kafma had great ease in defending his bastion, and he was prepared to annihilate the rest. However, before he could, another fighter appeared on the battlefield: Garfiel Tinzel. With Garfiel telling the others to stand back, he avoided all of Kafma’s attacks and met him atop the fifth bastion, and he challenged the general.
The ensuing battle between them was incredibly vicious, with Garfiel destroying and dodging a large number of Kafma’s attacks. Kafma was even forced to release his wings and take flight in an effort to keep Garfiel from reaching him. However, armed with the strength of his Divine Protection of Earth Spirits, Garfiel still managed to reach him and even drag him across the ground of the bastion. Though Kafma began to respect the boy, due to the role he had to play as a general, he was forced to use an underhanded technique that was all but guaranteed to kill his enemy: placing a large number of his insects directly within Garfiel’s body. Unable to pry Kafma’s hand away from his mouth, he was eventually pushed off of the bastion, leaving Kafma appearing to be victorious.
Kafma soon realized that he did not come out victorious, as soon after, Garfiel transformed into his beast form and appeared atop the bastion. Having basically gutted himself to remove the insects as well as devouring fire stones to burn and kill them, Garfiel came back to fight Kafma once more, something that left Kafma rather elated. Kafma and Garfiel then began throwing hands up close and personal, both sides taking severe injuries. Deciding to use his strongest attack against Garfiel, he ended up revealing an extra organ he held within his body, and he ended up unleashing a laser-like attack against Garfiel that could very easily leave him as nothing more than a red mist. However, Garfiel not only withstands it, but he heals and fights against it, and he ends up attacking Kafma with an attack so strong that he not only defeats the general, but he also tears a hole through the bastion.
Battle for the Second Bastion[]
The battle started out with the weaponkin launching their attack on the second bastion. Its guardian, Divine General Madelyn Eschart, stood in their way, using her might as a dragonkin and her boomerang-like weapon to repel all of them. During the raid, however, the battlefield became cold as Emilia arrived. Due to the cold’s negative effects on the weaponkin, they became unable to properly fight, and because Madelyn outclassed them anyway, Emilia asked them to retreat while she dropped a glacier on her opponent. With Madelyn destroying the glacier, she engaged in battle with Emilia.
Mezoreia's arrival to the battlefield.
The battle remained mostly even, with Madelyn withstanding and shattering every attack that Emilia used, while Emilia mostly avoided every attack thrown at her, using her Ice Soldiers for assistance. She even managed to separate Madelyn from her weapon and create a wall of ice to keep her from it. Attempting to negotiate with her and learn why she fought, she stated her own reason for fighting: for her knight. However, Madelyn did not give her an answer, shattering the ice wall and taking back her weapon. Summoning the Cloud Dragon Mezoreia, she had it unleash its breath, which Emilia just barely managed to deflect. This ultimately led to Emilia being forced to use the strongest attack in her arsenal, Absolute Zero, to freeze Madelyn solid.
Unfortunately, this backfired. Madelyn took over Mezoreia and proceeded to unleash attacks in its body. That said, with the arrival of Cecilus Segmunt, she was spared from a fatal attack. Cecilus challenged the Dragon while entrusting Madelyn’s body to Emilia, and in return, she offered him innumerable weapons of ice to use against the Dragon. That said, with something strange taking place in the Imperial Capital, Mezoreia flew to the Crystal Palace, with a disgruntled Cecilus following behind. It wouldn’t be long after that Emilia made her way into Lupugana as well.
Battle for the First Bastion[]
In this battle, the cyclops tribe attempted to punch their way through the walls. However, Divine General Arakiya, directed by Private First Class Todd Fang, easily wiped them all out with a flash of her fire. However, with the arrival of Divine General Yorna Mishigure and Priscilla Barielle, Todd left the scene, and a massive battle took place, one with Arakiya’s goal to incapacitate Priscilla and put her on the imperial throne. As she utilized her vast flames, immensely pressurized water, and scorching winds, Arakiya managed to continuously repel the two, leaving them in a position difficult to even get near her. This became tougher when, upon managing to reach her, her body either turned into flame or light and counterattacked. In fact, if not for the usage of the two’s respective Soul Marriage Techniques, they would have been severely injured.
Deciding to take the fight to the next stage, Priscilla and Yorna shared the Soul Marriage Technique with each other, igniting Arakiya’s confusion and fury enough that she revealed her covered eye. As the fight progressed, both Yorna and Priscilla’s attacks managed to reach her, bypassing the Spirit Eater’s intangibility. Eventually, Priscilla finally managed to strike Arakiya with her Yang Sword, granting her and her mother victory. Shortly after this however, they were encountered with something else.
Battle for the Third Bastion[]
Appearing to be the least defended of the five bastions, the winged people attempted to fight off the large number of golems that were used to defend the bastion seemingly in place of a Divine General. Soon after, the People of Shudrak, being led by their chieftain, Taritta Shudrak, as well as Heinkel Astrea, began making their assault as well. Realizing the intentions of the supposed weakness of the third bastion, Abel decided to send reinforcements through Zikr Osman and his troops, including Jamal Aurélie, realizing they would be being sent to their deaths. The golems were handled with incredible ease, and eventually, Heinkel managed to reach the top of the third bastion. However, waiting there was the hidden Divine General Moguro Hagane who decided to attack Heinkel for having slain so many golems on his own. After striking down Heinkel from atop the bastion, Moguro took on a massive form that surpassed even the bastion in height, and they sent off more golems.
Neither side was discouraged, and Zikr led his men forward in a charge against the Divine General. Meanwhile, having already gained permission from Chisha prior to the battle, Berstetz decided to take advantage of the uniqueness of Moguro’s constitution to fire the Magic Crystal Cannon against the massive Rebel Army. However, thanks to the nearly self-sacrificing efforts of Beatrice and the handiness of Rui’s teleportation, Beatrice was able to use Al Shamak to send the blast into another dimension, shocking both sides. However, Abel managed to overcome this shock quickly, and he ordered his troops to move forward while summoning the Flying Dragon Squadron brought by Serena Dracroy.
As the People of Shudrak moved forward, they gained assistance in the form of Ram, who used her Wind Magic to amplify their arrows’ damage, retrieve their arrows, and even fire off attacks of her own. That said, upon receiving a command from the emperor at the Crystal Palace, Moguro retreated, leaving the Rebel Army behind.
Second Battle for the Fifth Bastion[]
Olbart's surprise attack.
Shortly after Kafma’s defeat, the centaur people offered Garfiel, as the victor who was responsible for opening up the hole in the bastion, to be the first one to pass through the walls. However, Garfiel did not accept and prepared to move onto the next battlefield. However, having already stopped the enemy at the fourth bastion, Divine General Olbart Dunkelkenn appeared before Garfiel and prevented anyone from moving forward, killing some of the centaur people who tried to push forward while handling Garfiel one-to-one.
Despite Garfiel’s feat of defeating Kafma, Olbart merely toyed with him, using misdirection and other shinobi techniques to thrash him. He made a point to show that he could very easily kill everyone there. However, because he was focusing on preventing anyone from breaching the wall, he couldn’t move forward to kill the enemy himself, leaving him to keep his focus on repelling Garfiel. Before long, he was ready to kill him. Before he could however, a man going by the name of Dudley stepped forward to protect Garfiel, easily handling the shinobi’s misdirecting techniques. With his own knowledge of shinobi and some guidance for Garfiel, Olbart prepared to fight both of them seriously, coming to see even Garfiel as a considerable threat.
As the fight progressed, Olbart eventually caught sight of an infantilized Cecilus, leaving the Vicious Old Man bewildered and annoyed, realizing that it must have been Chisha’s doing. Soon after, he had to cut the battle short, sensing something very wrong, and he retreated to the Crystal Palace. Left behind, Garfiel noticed something else was coming with his Divine Protection, and he warned Dudley about it.
Attack on the Support Group[]
Throughout the battle, Otto Suwen, with the assistance of Petra Leyte’s Yang Magic, used his Divine Protection of Soul of Language to listen to the channels of the war, allowing him to accurately determine the direction of the battle. With the help of Medium O'Connell and her escorting soldiers, they were able to convey this information to Abel, allowing him to make decisions that could direct the war. Furthermore, Frederica Baumann, using her leopard form, conveyed these orders across the battlefield and returned with other pieces of valuable information. Essentially, the support group made up the most important part of the Rebel Army’s forces.
Realizing that the flow of the battlefield was moving oddly, Todd Fang began moving around, until he eventually reached the support group that was situated away from the main camp. Successfully managing to slaughter the soldier entourage that accompanied Medium, Todd confronted Otto, Petra, and Medium in an attempt to kill them and end the battle faster. Utilizing the spirits that he terrified to work under him, he cast some fire spells in combination with his axe in order to try and kill them. On the other hand, while Medium distracted him at points, utilizing the buried fire stones that they had secretly placed around themselves in case of emergency, Petra and Otto attempted to scare the soldier off. This ultimately failed as, combined with the spirits, he was able to sniff out the locations of each mine and trigger them prematurely, leaving the support group mostly defenseless.
Otto, Petra, Medium, and Al holding off Todd.
Right as he was ready to kill them, assistance came in the form of Al, whose presence on the battlefield made no difference anywhere else. Because of him, Todd was completely unable to land any decisive blows, making him wary and leading him into creating a wall of flame to surround the group. Making it seem as though he was using it for cover for his own retreat, he made one final swipe at Otto. Once again, however, he failed, as Otto used his Divine Protection to dodge him. Ultimately, Todd retreated for good, leaving for another battlefield. With their enemy gone, the support group was forced to leave before they were burned, but not before Otto muttered about a problem he sensed with his Divine Protection.
Battle for the Fourth Bastion[]
The battle initially began with the glow people combatting the shinobi and Olbart Dunkelkenn. The glow people were presumably defeated, and Olbart decided to move to the fifth bastion to strike the opponent that defeated Kafma there, leaving Second-Class General Gudda Dialmo and his army as the defenders in his and the shinobi's places.
With Beatrice saved thanks to Rui and Subaru's efforts, the two girls who prevented Berstetz from using the Magic Crystal Cannon to decimate the battlefront of the third bastion meet and ally themselves with the Pleiades Battalion. The group sets their sights on conquering the fourth bastion being defended by General Gudda Dialmo and his troops.
Subaru's Cor Leonis and the Pleiades Battalion's war cries managed to recreate a lost technique of old that forcibly manifested the Flow Method and used the body's internal mana to strengthen a group, inducing an effect reminiscent of yang magic trigged by the war cries, heightening the abilities of everyone in the battalion. Gudda attempted to attack the Galewind Horse Subaru was riding on, was met with Gustav Morello's shield, and was blown away by a hammer attack from Weitz Rogen. The entire defense force at fourth bastion was uprooted and pulverized with not even a single fatality caused by the Pleiades Battalion. Under Subaru's orders, Gustav, Hiain, and half of the battalion went to support the other invaders at the bastions, whereas Weitz and the other half held their position at the fourth bastion. The remaining five, a unit comprised of Subaru, Beatrice, Rui, Tanza, and Idra, proceeded to enter Lupugana.
Coinciding with the arrival of the Pleiades Battalion to the battlefield was the entrance of Scorching Lady Serena Dracroy, her Flying Dragon Squadron, and the two members of the Emilia Camp who visited her, Roswaal and Ram, to the war front.
Conclusion[]
With the arrival of the Stargazer Ubilk in the main tent of the Rebel Army, he decided to assist their leader, Vincent, in reaching the Crystal Palace, where he would encounter the commander of the Imperial Army and his former aide, Chisha Gold, under the appearance of Vincent. After one last conversation, Chisha used his iron fan to push Vincent out of the way, while he himself took a fatal strike from the undead Balleroy Temeglyph, thus triggering the start of the Great Disaster.
Aftermath[]
Directly after Chisha's death, Moguro arrived in the Crystal Palace to protect Vincent per the false emperor's orders. A short time later, Vincent unmasked himself and revealed his true identity, casting aside the name Abel and taking charge of the forces at his command to commence an evacuation of Lupugana when the reality of the Great Disaster's form became clear, ordering Moguro to hold back Balleroy and the ally who had suddenly taken his side, Mezoreia, controlled by Madelyn. At the same time, Subaru, who was within the Imperial Capital, also decided to retreat once he found and saved Rem. A majority of the living forces evacuated the city; however, Priscilla, Yorna, and Arakiya were ambushed and captured by undead at the first bastion. As a result of Priscilla's disappearance, Al stayed behind in Lupugana. Moreover, Cecilus remained in the area to hunt for the Great Disaster's ringleader, and Heinkel's breakdown following his defeat at the hands of Moguro demoralized him from acting until a man found him and brought him outside the city's vicinity by force. The battle ended without a proper conclusion, as the circumstances had transformed from a battlefront where living armies fought each other to a crucible of chaos in which the living clashed with an army of the undead. The battle itself, the blood spilled because of it, and the lives lost during it were all in vain, as many who had died in the hours prior to the Great Disaster rose one after another.
Aside from the deaths of Chisha Gold and the soldiers or combatants who engaged in the conflict, the full repercussions that the battle has left on the Empire have not been fully comprehended by reason of the ongoing effort to terminate the Great Disaster taking more precedence in the minds of Vollachia's occupants.