For the next several days, Griflet and the rest of Britannia continued hammering at the western fortress, this time, eager to rescue their commander.
Griflet attacked multiple times each day. Sometimes he came alone, slipping ahead of the main formation in an attempt to force open a breach before the defenders could properly respond. Other times he arrived surrounded by ranks of Apprentice Knights, siege crews, and armored detachments. Without Sir Kay directing the battlefield, however, the assaults began to lose their edge.
The plans changed in detail, but rarely in purpose.
Every failed assault taught the defenders something. Every surviving squad learned which formations Britannia favored, how their siege crews repositioned, where their Knights preferred to concentrate pressure, and which routes they used when withdrawing. Sergeant Mindow reorganized what remained of the fortress defenders again and again, squeezing more efficiency out of fewer people with every passing day.
Yujin dealt with Griflet, and it always looked an even fight, but to Griflet, it was clear he was outclassed, adding to his frustration.
Whenever the Britannian Squire appeared, Yujin intercepted him before he could tear through the defensive line. He avoided flashy techniques and kept his movements as restrained as possible, relying on simple footwork, redirection, grappling, and sheer physical superiority to push Griflet away from anything important.
At first, some watching Martial Apprentices still tried to convince themselves that the two were simply monsters among Apprentices.
That illusion didn't survive long.
It also became increasingly obvious that neither man was a Martial Apprentice.
Nobody said it out loud, but both sides definitely noticed.
Yet the subject remained buried beneath nervous silence.
No one wanted to be the fool who formally accused the enemy of deploying a Martial Squire when their own side had clearly done the same thing. No one wanted to be the spark that turned one ugly campaign into a wider war involving every empire, kingdom, and republic bound by the Severian Pact.
There were plenty of people hungry for battle... but not on that scale.
Mikan returned soon after.
With Yoshimoto still recovering, she took over much of the pressure he had previously carried. By then, no ordinary Apprentice Knight on the western front could reliably stand against her alone. Ki carried her above formations while reinforced Portia threads tore weapons off line, dragged fighters from their footing, and opened gaps for Sekigaharan squads to exploit.
Even then, the situation remained miserable.
Britannia still had much greater numbers, equipment, and supplies.
Their soldiers rotated more often, ate better, slept longer, and returned to battle with fewer injuries piling up from one day to the next.
Sekigahara had none of those luxuries.
Every wounded defender mattered.
Every Martial Apprentice forced out of combat created another hole that someone else had to cover.
More and more often, that someone was Mikan.
By the end of each assault, she returned behind the walls drenched in sweat, breathing hard, shoulders trembling from the strain of maintaining flight while controlling Portia and reinforcing multiple weapons at once. She could defeat almost anyone sent against her, but she could not stand everywhere at once.
The fortress kept shrinking.
After the fourth day, finally, something changed.
A shout rose from the southern watchtower.
Heads turned toward the distant road cutting through the jungle, where they finally saw Sekigaharan banners.
Convoys emerged from the tree line one after another, escorted by fresh mid-level Martial Apprentices and burdened with food, medicine, replacement equipment, potions, arrows, armor, and everything else the fortress had been starving for.
The western wall erupted.
"They made it through!"
"SUPPLIES!"
"Reinforcements!"
The cheers rolled across the fortress like thunder.
Men who had been too exhausted to stand moments earlier dragged themselves upright just to see the incoming allies. Wounded Martial Apprentices laughed from the battlements. Others simply sat against the walls and stared, relief washing over faces that had forgotten what it felt like.
The siege had lasted long enough that some of them had stopped believing help was actually coming.
Britannia tried to intercept, as their commanders watched the fresh Sekigaharan forces enter the fortress under heavy escort.
Griflet tried to intercept as well, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Yujin remained near the front of every incoming convoy.
Any time Griflet approached, Yujin moved with him.
Any time Britannian Knights tried to pressure the supply lines, Mikan and the renewed defenders drove them back.
The situation had changed as the fortress was no longer starving.
And without Sir Kay, there was no commander present capable of turning the deteriorating campaign around.
One night, all of a sudden, Britannia withdrew.
They hastily began packing their siege equipment, consolidating their wounded, forming defensive columns, and marching west.
The Sekigaharans watched in stunned silence from the walls.
They left Sir Kay Pendragon behind?
Wasn't he Britannia's premier Apprentice Knight?
He was their commander!
One exhausted fighter slowly lowered his weapon.
"...They just left?"
Another stared at the retreating army.
"After all that?"
Then someone started laughing.
"We did it!"
The western wall exploded into cheers.
"We actually won!"
"YEAAAAAH! GET THOSE FILTHY BRITANNIANS OUT OF HERE!"
"Watch them run!"
"Haha! With Lord Yujin and Lady Mikan here, we were always going to win!"
Mikan, standing near the gate with one hand resting against the wall, gave the shouting fighters a tired look.
"Don't drag me into your bragging."
That only made them cheer louder.
.
.
.
The reason for Britannia's sudden retreat became clear soon enough.
News spread through the fortress that Britannian territory had come under attack from the Republic of Gorteau. At nearly the same time, confirmation arrived that Sekigahara and Gorteau had formally joined hands in a defensive alliance.
The timing was no coincidence.
Britannia had launched its invasion because Sekigahara was still reeling from Kandria's earlier assault. The Confederate had barely begun rebuilding when another super-nation marched against its exposed territory with a far greater commitment of troops, supplies, siege equipment, and Martial Apprentices.
Britannia had intended to exploit that weakness before Sekigahara could properly recover.
For the Republic of Gorteau, allowing that to happen would have been disastrous.
Among the four super-nations surrounding the Serevian Dungeon, Gorteau was positioned farthest from Sekigaharan territory. If Sekigahara were forced to abandon land around the dungeon core, Britannia and Kandria were the powers best positioned to seize it. Gorteau would gain little from Sekigahara's collapse while watching its two imperial rivals expand deeper into the dungeon.
That was unacceptable.
So Gorteau intervened.
While Britannia poured manpower into the Sekigaharan front, forces from the Republic struck the comparatively exposed Britannian territory elsewhere in the dungeon. Gorteau did not need to conquer anything. It merely needed to create a threat Britannia could not ignore.
Even the Britannian Empire could not comfortably sustain wars on two fronts.
Orders were issued for the forces besieging Sekigahara to return immediately.
The moment the Britannian army began moving back to defend its own territory, Gorteau withdrew as well. No attempt was made to hold the land it had attacked. The entire offensive had served its purpose the moment Britannia was forced to abandon the Sekigaharan campaign.
The message was obvious.
If Britannia continued trying to devour Sekigahara while it was weakened, Gorteau would not stand aside and allow it.
The brutal siege that had consumed the western fortress for weeks ended almost overnight.
Britannia retreated.
Gorteau pulled back.
Sekigahara finally had room to breathe.
And for the first time since Kandria had broken the uneasy peace between the four nations, the Serevian Dungeon fell silent again.
The silence, however, was different now.
The four super-nations had finally drawn blood from one another.
The old restraint was gone.
.
.
.
In the days that followed, the western fortress finally began to resemble something defensible again.
The alliance with the Republic of Gorteau had bought Sekigahara exactly what it needed most: time. Broken walls were rebuilt, damaged battlements reinforced, and fresh supplies filled storerooms that had spent weeks sitting nearly empty. Potions, medicine, food, weapons, and replacement equipment arrived in steady convoys, while exhausted Martial Apprentices were finally given enough time to sleep, recover, and rotate away from the front.
Most of the wounded gradually returned to duty.
Yoshimoto Seishin among them.
After nearly a week of forced rest, he was back on his feet and ready to fight again, only for Britannia to conveniently disappear before he had the chance.
The timing irritated him more than he was willing to admit.
With the western front stabilized and the immediate danger gone, new orders began spreading through the fortress. Patrols resumed. Reconnaissance teams were reorganized. Martial Artists who had spent weeks simply trying to survive were finally being assigned missions beyond holding the same battered walls.
For Yujin Kai, that meant his job here was finished.
He chose to leave in the middle of the night.
There was no ceremony nor announcement. Everyone in the fortress knew he was a Martial Squire, but it was clear that the highest ranking martial apprentices didn't dare leak anything, not just in fear of themselves but for their families they'd left behind.
Yujin had barely reached the outer wall when a familiar voice called from behind him.
"Leaving already?"
His shoulders stiffened as he slowly turned.
Mikan Furutsu stood several meters away, arms folded loosely across her chest.
Throughout the entire defense, Yujin had made a very deliberate effort to avoid her. He had been unfailingly polite whenever they crossed paths, answered every harmless question she asked, and then immediately found somewhere else to be.
There were simply too many uncertainties surrounding Mikan Furutsu.
Her Ki.
Her connection to Guts.
Her lack of knowledge regarding the Beggar Sect.
Yujin had no intention of stepping blindly into another conspiracy when he still didn't understand the first one.
The questions regarding her Ki could wait... he knew where the Furutsu Clan lived.
"You use Ki too, right?"
Yujin froze.
For a split second, it genuinely felt like she'd reached into his head and pulled the thought out herself.
Mikan tilted her head. "I'm curious. Who taught you?"
Yujin stared at her.
"...Are you truly not from the Sect?"
Mikan frowned. "Sect? Which sect?"
His eyes narrowed behind the mask.
"Do not try to fool me."
He stepped toward her slowly.
"Only one person I know had ever called it Ki."
Mikan's expression barely changed as Yujin stopped a few steps away.
"Who taught you?"
Mikan hummed quietly.
"Hmmm."
Yujin was getting impatient.
She seemed completely unconcerned by the faint pressure beginning to leak from him.
Then she smiled.
"You ever heard of the New Demon?"
Yujin's entire body jerked.
"What?!"
Mikan laughed as Yujin tried to hide his surprise.
"Ah. You heard me mention him earlier, right?"
"Yes, I know." She waved one hand dismissively. "But he does have a message for you."
Yujin was fully convinced she was lying.
Mikan cleared her throat and lowered her voice slightly.
"Want to get beat up again, little prince?"
Yujin stared at her in horror.
Mikan's smile widened.
"Whatever that means."
She leaned forward slightly, studying him.
"Little prince! What a shameless nickname!"
Yujin's brow twitched.
"Even you got beat to pulp, huh?"
A bead of sweat slowly slid down the side of Yujin's face beneath the mask.
There was no mistaking that message... very few people could have known it happened.
Mikan folded her arms again. "Anyway, you definitely have a lot of Ki. But I don't remember seeing you fly or do much with it besides strengthen your body."
"So who taught you?"
Yujin remained silent for several seconds, steeling himself as he decided to take a risk.
"...The Old Demon."
Mikan blinked.
"Huh?"
Her head tilted.
"Are the two related?"
Yujin opened his mouth.
Something clicked as his eyes widened.
The New Demon called it Ki.
Master Bankei called it Ki.
That term hadn't existed within the Oni Clan before... it only ever existed as Black Dragon Energy.
Yujin's thoughts raced backward through every strange detail he'd encountered over the last several days until one conclusion began forcing everything else into place.
They're connected!
The tension in his chest loosened almost instantly.
The New Demon, the man who had utterly demolished him, wasn't against Bankei.
If anything, he seemed to have a closer connection to his Master than Yujin had initially thought!
That meant... the New Demon was against Mangusu as well?
Which meant Mikan probably wasn't some hidden enemy planted by Mangusu.
For the first time since entering the fortress, Yujin felt genuinely relieved.
Mikan noticed the change immediately.
"You okay?"
Yujin exhaled.
"...Yes."
He hesitated before finally reaching up and removing his mask.
Mikan raised an eyebrow and smiled a little, seeing his handsome face.
"So?"
Yujin sat down against the battlement.
"The Old Demon taught me what my clan had misunderstood for generations... using it in an ugly way."
Mikan's expression sharpened with interest.
At first, they spoke cautiously.
Yujin introduced himself and his true affiliations. He explained how the Oni Clan had always understood the energy through the framework of Shadow Dragon Energy, something inherited through tradition, secrecy, and bloodline.
It was only recently that Master Bankei had stripped away much of that confusion and shown him that the energy was broader than any one clan technique.
Ki was life.
Mikan listened carefully as she introduced herself as well.
She began sharing what Merun had taught her.
Flight, body reinforcement, weapon reinforcement.
Maintaining control while channeling Ki through multiple objects at once.
Yujin's eyes widened several times throughout the conversation.
Mikan laughed at his misconceptions as if she wasn't in the same boat a week or two ago.
Hours passed without either of them noticing.
The moon slowly crossed the sky while they sat on the western wall comparing everything they knew. Yujin explained his focus on physical reinforcement, suppression, and the way Ki interacted with the foundations of his Shadow Dragon Arts. Mikan explained how differently the New Demon approached the same energy, treating it less like a secret clan technique and more like something almost embarrassingly simple once someone understood the basics.
The more they spoke, the stranger Yujin felt.
Mikan Furutsu wasn't what he had expected.
He knew where she came from.
A peasant girl from the countryside whose family had somehow risen into prominence, with Mikan herself becoming one of Sekigahara's most promising Martial Artists.
Yet there was very little calculation in the way she spoke.
She was direct.
Curious.
Confident without constantly trying to prove it.
Yujin found himself strangely comfortable around her.
Perhaps that made sense... he had always valued purity.
Purity of purpose.
Purity of technique.
Purity of intent.
And for all the strange circumstances surrounding her, Mikan Furutsu felt remarkably straightforward.
It was also unexpectedly pleasant to speak with someone who practiced what he had once considered the purest form of the Shadow Dragon Arts.
No.
Ki.
By the time the first light of dawn crept over the horizon, Yujin realized they had spent the entire night talking.
He looked toward the brightening sky.
"...I should go."
Mikan stretched her arms above her head.
"Hmm! Already?"
"...Yes."
For some reason, there was a faint reluctance in his chest.
Yujin stood and replaced his mask.
"I'll visit Gifu someday."
Mikan smiled.
"See you."
He nodded once.
Then he disappeared over the wall.
Mikan remained there, waving toward the empty distance even after he had vanished from sight.
A presence appeared beside her almost immediately.
Merun leaned against the wall.
"What did I say?"
Mikan didn't answer.
"He was a nice guy, right?" Merun continued. "Not only did he save Big Sis Ichigo, that fellow actually wants to fix his clan from the inside out. And since I trust Master Bankei, and he saw enough in him to take him as a student, I trust that he must be a pretty good guy too."
Merun glanced sideways.
"Mikan?"
She was still staring toward the place Yujin had disappeared.
Merun's eyes narrowed.
For a second, Merun realized the number of people getting caught in Mikan's web was growing
"...Are you collecting a harem, dear sister?"
Mikan's eyes widened into crescents.
"Hehe. I don't know what you mean."