The second chapter of the Shakugan no Shana X: Eternal Song manga series.
With the Great War having commenced, the Flame Haze led by Karl Berwald were having difficulty breaching the defenses of Sokar, one of Töten Glocke's generals.
Summary[]
During the night, a little girl and a priest saw lights coming from the nearby forest. The priest held his cross and warned the girl that they were mysterious flames which humans shouldn't see or get involved with. The two walked back into their village.
The battle in the forest, between Flame Haze led by Karl Berwald and Crimson Denizens led by Sokar, was louder than if 20 of the Holy Roman Emperor's armies were gathered, and the sounds were proof of a battle which shouldn't exist. The various mysterious flames were too vivid to be hallucinations and the land was shaking as if an earthquake and avalanche were occurring simultaneously.
Monument Stronghold protecting the Denizens and surrounding the Flame Haze.
The Flame Haze were trying to open a path for their commander, but the forest itself was protecting the Denizens, the effect of Sokar's Monument Stronghold. Commenting on even lowly Flame Haze soldiers knowing of his powers to prepare for the war, Sokar trapped a squad of Flame Haze with trees, with Denizens surrounding them from above. The Denizens slaughtered the Flame Haze, with one Denizen holding up a decapitated head, and they cheered for Sokar. Though the Flame Haze knew of Monument Stronghold, that didn't mean they could break through it.
The Berwald Group currently sending waves to attack the forest created by Monument Stronghold, with Sokar hiding within.
Outside the forest, an annoyed Karl ordered a fourth wave of troops to charge into the forest, but his adjutant argued against it, even if it was their plan, because no one from the third wave had returned. The plan, by order of Sophie, was for their army, the Berwald Group, to figure out how to break through Monument Stronghold by being observant as to how the Denizens were crushing the waves of Flame Haze. Outreniaia and Vetcherniaia pointed out that the defenses would only break if Sokar was killed, and they had to kill him before the forest itself advanced on them and broke their line. Karl ordered all remaining Flame Haze forces to charge, much to his adjutant's dismay, but Karl's Lords knew that he only wanted to fight himself and thought that his personality wasn't suited to being a commander.
The remainder of the Berwald Group charging in.
Sokar was surprised as he watched Karl and his troops trying to break through Monument Stronghold by force. He thought that due to Ninurta's death, no one was protecting the foot of Brocken Mountain, so if Karl got past him, he would reach Brocken Fortress.
The Flame Haze being extinguished by Sabaeru Kaze.
Karl shouted to his army to gather around him so that they can pierce through the forest, causing Sokar to begin attacking with the forest trees. Karl shot an arrow into the sky which exploded into a bright light, after which his adjutant ordered the troops to jump into the air. However, a swarm of flies, Jarri's Sabaeru Kaze, engulfed the troops and killed them, with Jarri watching the battle from afar. The troops who were able to escape the swarm were caught in Sokar's hand-like tree and crushed.
Karl pierced through the tree on his flying arrowhead Zorya and challenged Sokar to a one-on-one fight. Since he didn't know where Sokar was hiding, Karl planned to raze the whole forest. Sokar tried to trap Karl with multiple hand-like trees, but Karl burst through them with his arrowhead. Convinced of his victory, Karl boasted to Sokar that after killing him, he would go after Asiz. This infuriated Sokar, who attacked with a mass of branches, revealing his location in the forest. He appeared from underneath Karl and captured him in his hand. Sokar shot out branches from the ground, which began to skewer the remaining Flame Haze troops. Proclaiming that no one would touch Asiz until he completed the Grand Scheme, Sokar wrapped Karl inside a ball of branches and crushed him.
Sokar's eye blown off.
Suddenly, Sokar's eye was blown off by Karl, who was injured but had survived by using Gripen's Howl to make a hole in Sokar to escape. What would determine this battle was if Karl could get close to Sokar, and having done so, he proclaims check. Sokar cursed his mistake of underestimating Karl's power, but told his Denizen army to retreat to fight another day, He told Karl that he would kill him even if he perished doing so, which impressed Karl. As he was obliterated by Gripen's Howl and Draken's Roar, Sokar asked for Asiz's forgiveness before exploding.
Characters[]
* denotes if the character debuts in this chapter
- Karl Berwald
- Sokar
- Berwald Group adjutant*
- Sophie Sawallisch (mentioned)
- Outreniaia and Vetcherniaia*
- Ninurta (mentioned)
- Jarri
- Asiz (mentioned)
Powers and Abilities Used[]
Unrestricted Spells[]
- Monument Stronghold - Sokar
- Sabaeru Kaze - Jarri
- Gripen's Howl and Draken's Roar - Karl
Locations[]
Quotes[]
- Karl (to Sokar, Outreniaia and Vetcherniaia): "Heh, looks like you're a bit mad—— but I've picked fights with you guys for many years and my anger has never been contained for even a moment!! Outreniaia! Vetcherniaia! Let's show him!! The power of me, "Archer of Aurora" Karl Berwald-sama and the Divine Vessel Zorya!"
- Karl: "The song of aurora is in perfect form today as well!! I think I'll quickly cut you down and take the head of the crazy angel reclining on the mountain!"
Sokar: "Don't get carried away, louse! My Monument Stronghold is an unbreakable barrier to protect my master. Even if tens of thousands of the likes of you flocked together, you won't pass."
Outreniaia and Vetcherniaia: "Kyahh he's mad." / "Run, ruuun." - Sokar (to all the Flame Haze): "All of you will die here!!! Until my master's wish, the Grand Scheme which will transform the world, has been completed, not a finger or even an ounce of breath will touch Asiz-sama!!"
- Sokar (to Karl): "Simply being destroyed would dishonor me. Even if I have to sacrifice myself, I'll kill you!!"
- Sokar (thinking): "My irreplaceable master, "Weaver of Coffins" Asiz-sama. Please forgive... "Barrier of Burning Dust" Sokar's greatest mistake, the foolishness taken in your most important time..."
Trivia[]
Cultural References[]
- German was used in two instances to emphasize the battle taking place in Germany: "Angriff", meaning "attack", was used for a diagram of the battle, and one of either Outreniaia or Vetcherniaia had referred to the forest as the "Schwarzwald" (
黒森 Shuvarutsuvaruto, lit. "Black Forest")