"I doubt a child would gladly thank their parents' killer." As the child slept in his arms, he willed Gloucester to take her off his hands and hide her in its makeshift cockpit. She'd be safe there until the siege was over. Or maybe until Nobunaga realized he'd taken one of their kin, the princess of the clan no less, captive. "Loathe as I am to refuse her hellbent revenge, there are some saplings that don't deserve to burn with the rest of the accursed forest."
Taking off his mask, Lelouch starred as the child slept peacefully. And that was despite the bloodstains that soaked her rags of a meagre dress. What she was doing out here being hunted by her keeper's puppets, Alaya knows why. Still, bundling her up in his cape, the child carelessly dozed off in her enemy's clutches with a scrunched-up expression of fear and sadness as she dreamed.
'No child deserves to be abandoned so…' The boy sighed, letting the frosty cloud of his breath to disperse in the cold air. 'Guess I'll have to come up with something convincing enough for my dear to not murder the child on sight. Then again, what is her game in all of this?'
To ally with her was one thing, but to take her along with them… The young man couldn't decide. No, he could, but to do so without getting a clear read on the Einzberns would and could ruin their plans in the long run. Best to nip the problem in the bud, yet he couldn't resort to outright murder. That made him just the same as that family of hers who threw her to the wolves, to begin with.
"P-1, head for point Alpha-Three. P-2, smoke this area before heading to Delta-Five. Remove our tracks while I assess the situation and ensure the rear of the castle is turned to rubble."
Mask on, he clambered up on the Gloucester's palm to sit on its shoulder. The golem-Knightmare then moved towards the designated point. Behind them, the Panzer-Hummel vented smoke from auxiliary canisters, clouding the area as it started shooting and burning its way through the strongly defended forest triggering as many magical traps as it could on its way. As a diversion, it would buy him some time.
"Now… will I have to use my Geass… or…?"
Such a question would be answered after he had time to talk to the exhausted girl.
***
Back in the castle.
Carnage and destruction were two of the few things she enjoyed in her past life. But now, more than ever, the Daimyo had to concede that the methods she used then couldn't be compared to that of the modern era. Much less the future tech her darling, and by proxy, she, wielded at the palm of her hands.
As shamelessly as a child with a new toy, Nobu had only one thing to say:
'These Knightmare things rock!'
The giant war machines she first saw in her Lelouch's past continued their relentless assault. Six of the eight pawns, the total number of pieces her beloved brought to this battle, quickly turned the daunting fortress into mere rubble. Although not the maximum number of pieces Lelouch could control at one time, the Pawns were all she needed to level a sizable magi stronghold in a matter of minutes.
Four Gloucesters and four Panzer-Hummels. Not even the best Pawns he could conjure.
'Considering the ease of our test run, using a mere four Pawns against the non-magi insurgents of the Middle East, I've come to the conclusion that we need not expend our resources to summon the rest of the pieces to deal with unprepared magi.'
As much as Nobu didn't want to admit it, Lulu was right. With how little of a resistance the Einzberns managed to put up in the first assault, the paltry castle wasn't worth wasting the entirety of her darling's arsenal. Nor did they necessitate revealing his entire hand.
'As the first raid against the so-called prestigious magi clan, this feels like a joke!'
Granted, in the past, their forces would attack and eliminate smaller magus families with the objective of either enslaving or eradicating them within their Middle Eastern and Asiatic holdings. However, those could have been dealt with by mere foot soldiers. At worst, Lulu need only temper their men's resistance against mind control by applying Geass beforehand. But this?
'The Einzberns shouldn't be a spineless family of cowards like the rest we gunned down. No, these fuckers should be the worst of the worst. One of the elites of the existing great magi clans! But now…'
The battlefield resembled that of a ten-year-old warzone. One that experienced the shelling and spilling of blood for nearly a decade. And why? Because their attacker was frustrated. For quite a while, several years, in fact, it had been Nobunaga's sole objective to eradicate that family. To crush them into dust, leaving nothing behind as she sent their souls to the fiery pits. And for a long time, it had irked her on how difficult it was to find the hide or hair of those responsible for her twisted summoning.
The Germanic magi family was a secretive bunch. Not even the Matou clan had info on precisely where to find them. And though they could've saved time by waltzing into the Clock Tower to seek out someone who may have an idea, that in itself was suicide with their current standing in the moonlit world.
Servants, they may be, the unknown that was the upper echelon of the Clock Tower was still something to be wary of.
The general area that was the country of Germany was too vast to covertly sift through, forcing them to resort to buying out the information from former Grail War participants and a distant rival of the golem makers in Romania to even narrow the number of places to look into. And it was only because Lelouch opted for a subtle diplomatic approach that not a single peep had made it to the Clock Tower Lords. Had any been made aware of their search for the great, enigmatic Einzberns, then perhaps this sudden invasion wouldn't have gone so seamlessly.
Now, looking all around as their 'well-protected' forest burned ablaze, the Daimyo haughtily scoffed. Her venting turned it into a cackle that revealed in joyous carnage as she cried into the sky. "Ha! 'Great' my ass! 'Enigmatic' bullshit! You're all nothing but cheating, snivelling cowards! Hiding behind the wall after wall, shrub after shrub, thinking you're safe in your little home. Well, tremble in fear as I burn your hidey holes to the earth! Wail in damnation as I turn your safe haven into hell itself, this I swear! FIRE!"
With a flourish of her blade, two of the Panzer-Hummel variant Pawns outfitted with rocket armaments let loose against the spires of the tallest sections of the castle. The resulting blast sent them toppling like spears that caved down upon the annexe interior, turning the ancient building into mere ruins. The Gloucesters stood by her and supplemented their destruction by shooting through what windows and balconies the Einzberns could use as a vantage point for long-range counterattacks. Not that they'd been able to return any so far when all those that tried were gunned down in a matter of seconds by the purple Knights' smaller mounted machine guns upon being spotted. A few had tried flanking her frontal assault. Those were left as mere blood stains splattered about by the lumbering Knightmares' feet.
"Hmph, as I expected. Nothing but worthless dolls and pets." Nobunaga spat at the lifeless eyes of a homunculus butler as she kicked its lifeless corpse into the rubble alongside the many animals and familiars that tried to bar their path. To the war dolls of her darling's own making, she ordered. "Take no prisoners! Show no mercy to magi scum!"
Their replies were given through the sound of reloading machine gun magazines. Empty cartridges thudded to the floor as a flourishing of lances caused the burning air to swirl and sear, all followed by even more rampant explosions and gunfire that tore further into the ruined castle walls.
With all the firepower they used, one could argue that they already used up far more munitions than any average country would dare expend in a single military engagement. They would be right. However, it would be worth it. For the sake of wiping the shit stains that masterminded the mechanism that was the corrupted ritual, Nobunaga would spare no expense.
It didn't matter to think economically either. Despite Lelouch's creations needing to use physically made modern weaponry, the cost was offset by the resources they gained from their conquests. Unwieldy and bulky lances? Easy to think up and cheap to slap on together. Rudimentary tanks and artillery cannons? Simple to acquire its designs via having their puppet countries procure designs from simple defence contractors. There was no need to purchase materials for treads and turrets either for those Lelouch could order with a simple wave of his hand. Even shells were cheap considering the number of rare-earth metal mines they 'liberated' during the past few years of their covert campaign.
All they needed for a single puppet, a basic Knightmare frame, was a hunk of metal fashioned into its image and the weapons it would carry and use in battle. Pilots are not included. Nor necessary, for that matter. They had Lelouch's experience and legend for that.
Said legend would be the envy of every army in the Throne of Heroes' known history, and perhaps even future. Glorified and romantic as they were in the past, no mere mortal army could withstand the might of Lelouch's own. Hell, she doubted Iskandar's would last a minute against the Pawns she commanded now if Lulu were to manipulate them himself. And she struggled against that brute's relentless horde.
Licking her lips at the pleasant destruction didn't last, however, as the ceiling of the main building collapsed but left a largely untouched wall barely scratched. The mosaic image of a gorgeous red-eyed, platinum-blonde woman clad in a ceremonial dress with its arms clasped in prayer stared at her from on high. The presumptuous image of the homunculi template irked the daimyo somewhat.
"Oy, remove that eyesore!"
Whistling to one of the Gloucesters, it wordlessly followed its mistress' orders and opened fire. But as the smoke cleared, much to Avenger's dismay and surprise, the mosaic wall still remained. Seemingly unmarred by the explosive shells the Knightmare fired upon it.
"Hoho. Able to defend even against that much firepower… whatever's behind it is something worth protecting, is it, you rats? Then…" With a wave of her crimson katana, both purple Knightmare frames shot flares at the mosaic. "Try this on for size!"
Not a second later when red smoke lit up the place, thunderous fiery blasts rocked the immaculate art piece. Explosion after an explosion sent ash and flames into the air, turning the surroundings into either slag or glass with how hot the incendiary burned.
Firearms had always been her favoured weapons. They were loud, powerful, and extremely efficient in informing her foes that all hell was about to break loose and it was in their best interest to be scarce or be scattered all over the place. A war machine that spewed a near-continuous barrage of volatile explosives, like that of a minigun but made out of barrels the size of a mortar cannon… well, that trumped her classical favourites. Now no one, not even a magi family that evaded their hunt for so long, could—
"Okay…? What the fuck?!" Such was her frustrated proclamation after the minute-long volley from the Panzer-Hummels ended with the dust clearing. The mosaic piece of the white-haired woman remained steadfast. Not a scratch, not even a stain from melted metal and stone marred it. No, more than that, its beautified expression looked to be mocking her even. Clearly, it wasn't just a normal wall. Enchanted defences, and a boundary field, were likely in place. "So… playing the stubborn game, eh? Can't just leave well enough alone and allow me to send you all to hell quietly, huh?!"
Nobunaga stepped forward and the air shifted. From the haze and heat of the flames, embers sparked and roared as the ground beneath her cracked. Enraged at the futile resistance and the audacity to force her hand, she'd summoned her arsenal. A few hundred rifles all lined up in a firing squad, all of them carrying shells that burned with hate and malice, coated in the emotion that was her namesake and legend.
"Burn!" At her will, the rifle cracked and a barrage of death befell the image.
Surely, by this, nothing would remain and she could move on with the eradication. Though Lelouch's Pawns carried weapons capable of reducing many a man to a mere speck of sand, her arsenal was of a class far greater. That was not to say that her darling's creations were lacking. True, they could only make use of man-made equipment that would be outclassed by any Servant of combat capability C-class or higher. But that was just the case for the Pawns that were made with what material they could easily find in the Asian mountains. And he had yet to expand the repertoire to include the rest of the other types of pieces on the Chess Board that was his Noble Phantasm.
All that aside, it didn't matter how limited Lelouch's army of Pawns were when they were far more cohesive and capable than most other heroes. Though many recorded in the Throne had experience fighting alongside each other, the Demon Emperor was titled such because of his army's unmatched coordination. Such was the ease in teamwork when the soldiers didn't have to worry about pride, ego, or glory. And besides, what her beloved lacked in killing power, Avenger had ample supply. Anti-divinity that could tear away at a god's power, at that.
This was why when she gawked at the intact glass mural of a benevolently smiling homunculus woman, she seethed with anger.
Unharmed, spotless, perfectly still. The mosaic wall stood strong. And though the smoke may have dissipated, Nobunaga's fury was just revving up.
"Oh… Ohohoho… You really want me to push it, don't you?!" her brow twitched in annoyance as her crimson hair flared with power. The smoke was gone, replaced by a haze that started to melt the ground around her. "I don't know what you're trying to hide, but I'm gonna make you all pay for angering me so! Taste this, mother—!"
BOOM
"—fucker?!"