And so. The stars scattered across the capital will soon find their fated meeting. Whether they knew or not, or even if they struggled against it, the twisting paths led them together. They say they meet tonight, here and now. So.

  "Lieutenant, wait up! You're moving too fast! This is madness!"

  "Don't act like a spoiled brat, Kircheisen. How can you be slower than a civilian?"

  "Don't be so hard on her. I mean, she's."

  "T-The step difference is too big! You two are so much taller than me!"

  "Hmm, hmhmm, hmm, hm, hmm. Mother, look at me. When I do this, I look just like the nymph from Dvorak's opera. Don't you think so?"

  "I would prefer that a grown woman like yourself would not play in a fountain. It is not dignified."

  This would be the point of no return for my own self. After all.

  "So this is where you were, Jester. I must say, your invitation was quite elaborate. And foolish."

  This moment will be the beginning of this man and the Legion He will command.

  "Greetings. I bid you welcome, Your Excellency Lieutenant General Heydrich. Your seat is ready. Let us view the spectacle."

  ". What?"

  And Thus.

  "Nnh?"

  "Huuh?"

  "Wait."

  "This is."

  "Oh my."

  "Something weird going on here, it seems."

  Curtain up on the evening's Grand Guignol.

  "Lieutenant. What's this?"

  When they arrived, they were greeted by a disaster that made Beatrice speechless. She was dreaming a bad dream, she thought.

  Given that they were looking for the criminals, it could be processed as a good thing in their journey, but the evilness just so happened to be well beyond anyone's expectation. Which was quite understandable. Who would anticipate, after all, a car being blown away and exploding in a fight involving two unarmed individuals?

  The number of savages was another point of confusion. Why were there two of them, and why were they fighting? Beatrice became more and more perplexed as Eleonore kept her iron-tight scowl.

  "Who knows? Anyway, look there, Kircheisen. Do you know who it is?"

  "Who.?"

  The girl's superior nodded her chin slightly to point to a tall man in a first-class military uniform at the other side of the alley. Taking a closer look, there also seemed to be another man beside him. The two of them appeared very handsome from afar, yet their overall impressions were both completely different and strangely similar.

  Beatrice couldn't express it, but she had the impression that she was looking at characters from picture books. Ones that made her blood run cold.

  They were.

  "Lieutenant General Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich. His Excellency the Chief of the Gestapo."

  "Wha— R-Really?"

  "Yes. And the one beside him is likely."

  The other man looked as gaunt as a shadowgraph. Although they could both see him standing there, for some reason, they were unable to discern his face.

  ".Who?"

  "It doesn't matter. Anyway, I don't know what the situation is, but if His Excellency is here, then there's only one thing that we can do. We have to defend him from the two savages. As far as I can see, we're the only soldiers here. With this, we can make up for trespassing on Gestapo business and overstepping our authority."

  She was right. Beatrice nodded in total deference to Eleonore and the old way she adhered to.

  "True. I don't know who those two are, but they're far too dangerous to dismiss."

  "Hmph, as arrogant as you are, you seem to know what matters. Let me tell you something else, then. Rather than guns, their kind are best handled with this."

  Eleonore smiled for the first time in a long while and, as if to approve of her subordinate's resolve, drew the sword at her waist.

  "Cut, stab, slash — hurt and scare them. Kircheisen, let me tell you that being at gun point isn't as scary as it sounds."

  "Roger that."

  The lady saw her foe and quietly vowed she would enter the battle. The cool, brave, and chivalrous attitude gave Beatrice so much energy that she forgot her fear.

  "I assume this is your very first real battle?"

  "Yes, but don't worry about me."

  By her commanding officer's night, the girl could battle fearlessly and without restraint. From the time she got employment in the army, she pledged her sword to the Fatherland, its people, blood, glory, and victory.

  "I believe you will not let me down. Our families have a lineage of knighthood. Having been born there, we cannot afford to feel disgust at killing or being killed. Charge!"

  "Sure thing! Miss Riza, move back and hide!":

  Beatrice stamped her foot and — with lightning speed — plunged into the hurricane-like violence in the midst of the scoundrels.

  "Uoooooooohhh!":

  "Huh?"

  Her first attack was deflected — she caught the savage's counterattack with the middle part of her sword. The impact was powerful enough to send her flying backward, but she kept her balance by digging her combat boots into the ground. The viciousness and ferocity of the attack made her think that her opponent wasn't human at all.

  "Who the devil are you? Where'd ya crawl out of?"

  The red eyes in his pale face burned with a fiery, demonic glare. As unlikely as it was, he was unarmed. The man — Wilhelm Ehrenburg — deflected her sword with his naked hands alone. The scent of blood and beast made it relatively obvious that he was little more than human. With a single exchange of blows, Beatrice knew at once he was a true killer and no friend of the common. But that was exactly why she could not retreat. To fall to one so vile was the opposite of what a true knight would do.

  "Villain, yield and be taken into custody. I am Beatrice Waltrud von Kircheisen. Resist and I will sever your limbs!"

  The stern and solemn reprimand made the man's eyes widen and look slightly baffled at first, but then his shoulders began to shake and his mouth twisted into a wicked smile, which was succeeded by a cackle just as sinister.

  "Heh. Hehah. Hahahahahahaha! Big words there. Real funny shit. A valiant lil' lady,. aren't ya? Do you seriously think you can match me with a body that fucking small!? I'll spread ya out on the ground, impale ya so good it'll make ya cry for mommy, and scatter yer pieces all over the place!"

  A landslide of thick bloodlust swept over her. The wickedness clogged her nostrils, clouded her vision, and made her oxygen-deprived limbs numb. The very existence of this man challenged her comprehension of the world. And for exactly that reason, she couldn't allow her to breathe air of their human world any longer. Beatrice had no doubt in her heart.

  "You filth. You are irredeemable."

  "Yeah. Not once in my entire life did I ever imagine that I could be saved. Bring it, lady. I'll show you what you get when you step into other people's fights."

  "You don't need to tell me that."

  When the killer invited her, Beatrice squared her stance and took a step forward. As a soldier, the girl had something that she needed to protect.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  "I'll show you what's most important!"

  Her outraged bellow was followed by a sobering, earnest thrust. Deflection, evasion, a riposte — not like the quick opening exchange, this one was promising to be a real fight to the finish. Beatrice fearlessly met her rage, determined not to let it overwhelm her and the justice of the path she walked.

  And.

  "Ahh, this is boring. This is the first time in ages I've gotten all fired up, and you interrupted me. Talk about ruining the fun."

  The second villain was approached by the other Valkyrie.

  "You there. What are you?"

  "Hmm?"

  She was not furious like Beatrice. The woman's eyes as she examined the creature before her were cold and barren as ice. It was as though she was trying to figure out how to deal with the beast.

  "A man? A woman? Which one? Who are you?"

  The woman knew only too well that it was not the frail girl that it appeared to be. The creature was engulfed in a whirlwind of decay that could almost be equated with a dress of bloody mist. The naive smile was a thin disguise for a whirlwind of hate, resentment, and indignation.

  Eleonore did not even have to remove the mask to feel the utter madness underlying — it was near bubbling and seeping through. The amount of people this creature killed was several times greater than Beatrice's opponent. Eleonore easily understood that this one was far more dangerous than the other.

  So.

  "I'm neither. Want to see? Here."

  The vast emptiness under the creature's raised skirt did not alter Eleonore's attitude. She had suspected that it would not be a pretty thing ever since she saw the monster wearing a dress.

  "This way I can love you regardless of what you enjoy. What do you say?"

  "I see you're serving up some meaningless philosophy along with your vile appearance. How filthy."

  It was just what she had suspected, and that was the reason she could not abide the creature.

  "I am Eleonore von Wittenberg. Come, you rabid cur. All filth polluting the Reich's capital shall be eradicated and disinfected."

  It was a child of the Stygian darkness of the city. Eleonore could not abide the environment that could breed such monstrosities. The Fatherland had lost the last war, and therefore hopeless failures enveloped it like a faint cloud. The woman aimed to destroy the cause of this problem and wipe out the darkness with the light of victory. That was her responsibility and holy mission as a knight of the Reich.

  "Ahah, hahahaha. Kill? Kill? Kill me? These humans who are always saying things they can't do. I hate all of you! Tell me, go on and tell me who's going to die here!"

  "You. By my hand. Right now!"

  Failures like this monster had no place in the great Fatherland Eleonore envisioned. The spectre the defeatists left behind had to die.

  That sacred night, Berlin shook to its foundations in two deadly struggles. Sparks flashed and screams of life. No one else had any place in the dance of the beasts and Valkyries.

  "What a mess. Those girls sure are something. It's safe to say they're barely half human at this point."

  The woman watching the struggle from afar voiced her gentle astonishment. She exclaimed sincere surprise and a kind of admiration, but — strange to say — fear not much. The priest standing beside her remarked in a querying manner, as if to get more of her response.

  "Is the women officers' handicap, then?"

  "Yes. They're not normal, either, but their enemies are just too far off. Such monsters as them occur from time to time. Humans whose environment molds them into human beasts with no help from martial or magical arts. True fiends. These. From what I can tell, the little boy is a nine, while the big one is a seven. The redhead soldier is normal, but she trained hard enough to become another seven. The blonde little lady, though, is only a five. Nothing special. Still, there was no better set-up. If they switched opponents, the blonde girl would already be dead. And with that, the redhead would have to fight both of them at once. She seems to know that, but the reasonable option of allying with the blonde to take out the girls one after the other is likely against her code. Best for them would be to flee, but the knightly mindset won't allow it. What a pathetic battle. There's nothing they can do now."

  Her tone of voice as she watched and remarked upon the battle was relaxed and amused. It was almost as though the woman was not aware that, if she was right, she also was in peril. Or maybe she did know, but had a reason to act like it did not.

  "Should you not go and help them, then?"

  "Me? Why? Or, more precisely. How?"

  No answer was forthcoming, however.

  "Forget I said that. I somehow felt as if you would be capable."

  Her straightforward question made the priest a little evasive. Certain facts were appearing in front of his eyes and ears, but even if the other person was aware of it, he could not be too explicit about his gift. The priest did not have the courage to speak. His desire was to silently die like a flower in the desert. The priest was always prepared to flee and had a strong inclination to "let sleeping dogs lie" in his life.

  "I must say that this is a quandary. They may be soldiers, but they are also women in desperate need. If there is anything that I can do to help. I would be more than willing to do it."

  "It's better you don't. You're a minus ten, anyway. And I might as well say that the blue-haired woman spacing out over there is a one — the pinnacle of mediocrity."

  "Then."

  Seemingly irritated with the woman's careless attitude, the priest kindly turned her chin towards the other way. There were two individuals standing. In spite of his eyes and ears — for some reason — he couldn't describe those two beings. So, he wished to know what she thought about them.

  "What about those gentleman?"

  "Huh?"

  "Weren't they visible to you? They must be the one the Head of the Gestapo and that person the Minister of Propaganda likes to keep hidden. How do you think they would get along?"

  The response to that question was strange and more than he had hoped for.

  "Ah. Ah."

  As if her soul had just been torn out of her body, the woman shook like she was in shock, only miserable gibberish coming from her mouth. What did she see? What did she feel? What were they to the eyes of a witch? Trifa's uncontrollable curiosity even surpassed his fear.

  ".? What's wrong, Miss Schw?gelin?"

  "No way, this is just. This can't be real."

  ".?"

  "Why? How? Why, why, why, why."

  Her composure, which was present even when she profiled the two murderers, shattered like nothing — as though now she was faced by real monsters of another world.

  "I don't believe it. This is insane. I won't believe it! Why do creatures like this exist in this world!? "

  Her shriek was a sure sign that the night had only begun.