Just an orc pirate

The Saint herself walked among all of the defenders even as the last light of day faded. Each that she touched felt themselves bolstered and renewed, ready to face the coming dark. Humans and vampires alike bent the knee to her as she passed.

Darkness fell like a headsman's axe. And with it came a dreadful screech that echoed throughout the mountainsides.

All of the vampires of Torrezon heard it and felt it. A twisting of the innards, a pull, a call.

My children, came a dreadful, whispered voice. It is time to free you from your false imprisonment. Come! Come and join me! Else you will find yourselves dying for nothing!

"If we die, we die on our feet!" Theodors roared. A number of curses were spat into the dark, accompanied by the stamping of feet and crashing of armor. "You are the ones who would see us enslaved! We will be more than meager beasts!" The old cardinal grit his teeth, then raised his hands to the infinite void above him. "Alta Torrezon! Show him what we're damn well made of!"

Shapes began to drop out of the vast blackness that had consumed the sky. Not a single star shone. All sources of light -- flickering torches, candlelight, everything but the divine light surrounding Saint Elenda herself and some of the clerics who had been preparing -- went out. More screeching followed. Bats by their thousands, accompanied by things far larger than simple flying mammals, descended upon the city.

"Legion of Dusk!" came the call from High Marshal Vazante. "To the last! Fire!"

---

The seas raged.

The Legion vessels had been staying closer to shore, wishing to provide reinforcement by land at a moment's notice if necessary. This meant that they were putting much trust into the hands of the Coalition to pick up the slack and help keep any of the encroaching heretics from reaching the mainland. Many had gone off on their own pilgrimages, it had been said, and many were expecting to return tonight.

The calling did not make it easy, but they would hold.

They'd have to.

Even if many of those heretical vessels began to open their decks and allow some of the greater children of the dark god who flew to claim the heartcity to join the fight in the skies. They were hungry. They were powerful.

Koda’s personal security detail was also present, dressed as formally as they wanted to be. Most notably for the suitors that would arrive later, Satoru Umezawa of the Hyozan Reckoners and Greasefang of the Okiba Reckoners were positioned at the entrance. They had dressed similarly, entirely on accident – button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, armored pants, and a vest. Greasefang’s vest was armored, and her overall color palette leaned more into whites, yellows, and light purples, while Satoru’s vest was tight (on purpose, knowing him) and his colors stuck pretty closely to dark blues, dark purples, and black. Both had also picked out “I’m Here To Work” buttons, with Satoru wearing a purple one and Greasefang wearing a yellow one.

Lily of Thyrsus, likewise, was helping out as something akin to Koda’s honor guard alongside Leta and Biilziebub. She was dressed just as simply for the base, with a long, unpatterned blue dress and a formal black vest over it, but she also finished off the look with a dark green cloak for the drama of it all. She was wearing both an “I’m Here To Work” button in purple and an “I Am Koda Hayashi” button in green.

Koda himself was wearing his new Reckoner armor, made of deer leather and steel plating dyed a nearly-black purple. There was a serpentine motif detailed across all of it, mirroring the snakes and clouds of Koda’s Dokuchi Reckoner tattoos, and is was missing the left sleeve to keep his tattoos apparent. There were only a handful of places where the serpentine motif did not appear: across the metal and across parts used by other designs. One such place was the leather across Koda’s upper chest. There were two intertwined flowers over his heart. One was the Vazante rose, all of its petals and leaves and thorns accounted for, to honor his dads Arturo and Lazaro. The other was an iris with the kanji for his surname on the primary visual petal, to honor his mother Ayame. On the other side of his chest were two rats, a snake with four arms, and a mountain with three eyes, honoring Lethaltooth, Silentsign, Shigeki, and Shimatsu. To top it all off, he had a purple “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button affixed to his armor.

7 AM, One Hour Before The Party...

Koda and Lily’s old adventuring party from Odithis arrived to help out. There were five of them, just as strange as the two had described.

The first one of note was the undead woman who didn’t look that undead. She was as pale as death, and the elaborate gothic dress she wore helped to sell it. Her long black hair was pulled back into a braid with a few strands left out to frame her face. Her eyes were such a dark brown that they were nearly black. She had finished her outfit with a purple “I’m Just Here To Steal From Rich People” button. This was Tabitha O’mally, the adventuring party’s necromancer and lich, according to Koda and Lily.

On her arm and much taller than her was a half-dragon half-human woman with red scales and deep tan skin. Her hair was just as vibrant a red as her scales, and she had clearly put in effort to at least brush it. Her eyes, also red and with cat-like pupils, seemed to glow on their own. She looked like she could rip open metal with her bare hands. She was wearing a full suit of silvered plate armor with golden detailing, looking like the knight to her wife’s princess fit. It had taken her a moment to get the red “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button secured to the armor, but it was now displayed proudly. This was Beatrice O’mally, the party’s barbarian and frontliner, as well as being Tabitha’s wife.

Compared to Beatrice, the rest of the party seemed to disappear into the background, especially Gideon Valkea. Half-human, quarter-demon, quarter-frost giant, but he looked like an average guy – tan skin, black hair, black eyes, average in height and build both – except for the horrific scarring around his eyes and his perpetual scowl. He was wearing a uniform of some sort, which was black, dark grey, and dark red. He had capped off his outfit with a green “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button. He didn’t look like what someone would assume a demon hunter should look like, and he didn’t take an issue with the presence of demons at the suitor party.

His cousin, Lohiarm Valkea, was practically neon white in comparison. Lohiarm was half-dragon in place of half-human, and his skin, scales, and hair were all such a stark white that one would think he had albinism. He had one green eye and one blue eye in the form of total heterochromia, which – based on the fact that he had Benoe practically glued to his hip – was probably the only hetero thing about him. He also wore a uniform similar to Gideon’s, though his was white and ice blue. He had picked out an orange “I’m Just Here For The Cheese” button to cap it all off. He was the party’s sorcerer and rogue.

And finally, Benoe the ranger, who by all accounts didn’t have a surname. He was just a normal guy. A handsome guy in his late 20s, but a normal human dude. Even his chosen clothing for this event – leather armor with a dark green cloak – seemed extremely easy to overlook compared to the rest of the party. He never drifted too far from Lohiarm and had picked a green “I’m Just Here For The Cheese” button, because he had his priorities in order.

Koda and Lily hugged each of them and greeted them as old friends, and introduced them to everyone else. Despite the strangeness of the adventuring party, they were easy enough to get along with.

8 AM, Start Of The Party...

The suitors had arrived, and it was go time. Koda took up an initial position at the center of the park to deal with the first wave of suitors, but luckily there would be a lot more moving around as the day went on.

He just needed to survive the first few hours when the most formal ones would give their offers first. Which meant he had to survive a bunch of Imperial nobles and their brats.

Koda’s personal security detail was also present, dressed as formally as they wanted to be. Most notably for the suitors that would arrive later, Satoru Umezawa of the Hyozan Reckoners and Greasefang of the Okiba Reckoners were positioned at the entrance. They had dressed similarly, entirely on accident – button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, armored pants, and a vest. Greasefang’s vest was armored, and her overall color palette leaned more into whites, yellows, and light purples, while Satoru’s vest was tight (on purpose, knowing him) and his colors stuck pretty closely to dark blues, dark purples, and black. Both had also picked out “I’m Here To Work” buttons, with Satoru wearing a purple one and Greasefang wearing a yellow one.

Lily of Thyrsus, likewise, was helping out as something akin to Koda’s honor guard alongside Leta and Biilziebub. She was dressed just as simply for the base, with a long, unpatterned blue dress and a formal black vest over it, but she also finished off the look with a dark green cloak for the drama of it all. She was wearing both an “I’m Here To Work” button in purple and an “I Am Koda Hayashi” button in green.

Koda himself was wearing his new Reckoner armor, made of deer leather and steel plating dyed a nearly-black purple. There was a serpentine motif detailed across all of it, mirroring the snakes and clouds of Koda’s Dokuchi Reckoner tattoos, and is was missing the left sleeve to keep his tattoos apparent. There were only a handful of places where the serpentine motif did not appear: across the metal and across parts used by other designs. One such place was the leather across Koda’s upper chest. There were two intertwined flowers over his heart. One was the Vazante rose, all of its petals and leaves and thorns accounted for, to honor his dads Arturo and Lazaro. The other was an iris with the kanji for his surname on the primary visual petal, to honor his mother Ayame. On the other side of his chest were two rats, a snake with four arms, and a mountain with three eyes, honoring Lethaltooth, Silentsign, Shigeki, and Shimatsu. To top it all off, he had a purple “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button affixed to his armor.

7 AM, One Hour Before The Party...

Koda and Lily’s old adventuring party from Odithis arrived to help out. There were five of them, just as strange as the two had described.

The first one of note was the undead woman who didn’t look that undead. She was as pale as death, and the elaborate gothic dress she wore helped to sell it. Her long black hair was pulled back into a braid with a few strands left out to frame her face. Her eyes were such a dark brown that they were nearly black. She had finished her outfit with a purple “I’m Just Here To Steal From Rich People” button. This was Tabitha O’mally, the adventuring party’s necromancer and lich, according to Koda and Lily.

On her arm and much taller than her was a half-dragon half-human woman with red scales and deep tan skin. Her hair was just as vibrant a red as her scales, and she had clearly put in effort to at least brush it. Her eyes, also red and with cat-like pupils, seemed to glow on their own. She looked like she could rip open metal with her bare hands. She was wearing a full suit of silvered plate armor with golden detailing, looking like the knight to her wife’s princess fit. It had taken her a moment to get the red “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button secured to the armor, but it was now displayed proudly. This was Beatrice O’mally, the party’s barbarian and frontliner, as well as being Tabitha’s wife.

Compared to Beatrice, the rest of the party seemed to disappear into the background, especially Gideon Valkea. Half-human, quarter-demon, quarter-frost giant, but he looked like an average guy – tan skin, black hair, black eyes, average in height and build both – except for the horrific scarring around his eyes and his perpetual scowl. He was wearing a uniform of some sort, which was black, dark grey, and dark red. He had capped off his outfit with a green “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button. He didn’t look like what someone would assume a demon hunter should look like, and he didn’t take an issue with the presence of demons at the suitor party.

His cousin, Lohiarm Valkea, was practically neon white in comparison. Lohiarm was half-dragon in place of half-human, and his skin, scales, and hair were all such a stark white that one would think he had albinism. He had one green eye and one blue eye in the form of total heterochromia, which – based on the fact that he had Benoe practically glued to his hip – was probably the only hetero thing about him. He also wore a uniform similar to Gideon’s, though his was white and ice blue. He had picked out an orange “I’m Just Here For The Cheese” button to cap it all off. He was the party’s sorcerer and rogue.

And finally, Benoe the ranger, who by all accounts didn’t have a surname. He was just a normal guy. A handsome guy in his late 20s, but a normal human dude. Even his chosen clothing for this event – leather armor with a dark green cloak – seemed extremely easy to overlook compared to the rest of the party. He never drifted too far from Lohiarm and had picked a green “I’m Just Here For The Cheese” button, because he had his priorities in order.

Koda and Lily hugged each of them and greeted them as old friends, and introduced them to everyone else. Despite the strangeness of the adventuring party, they were easy enough to get along with.

8 AM, Start Of The Party...

The suitors had arrived, and it was go time. Koda took up an initial position at the center of the park to deal with the first wave of suitors, but luckily there would be a lot more moving around as the day went on.

He just needed to survive the first few hours when the most formal ones would give their offers first. Which meant he had to survive a bunch of Imperial nobles and their brats.

Koda’s personal security detail was also present, dressed as formally as they wanted to be. Most notably for the suitors that would arrive later, Satoru Umezawa of the Hyozan Reckoners and Greasefang of the Okiba Reckoners were positioned at the entrance. They had dressed similarly, entirely on accident – button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, armored pants, and a vest. Greasefang’s vest was armored, and her overall color palette leaned more into whites, yellows, and light purples, while Satoru’s vest was tight (on purpose, knowing him) and his colors stuck pretty closely to dark blues, dark purples, and black. Both had also picked out “I’m Here To Work” buttons, with Satoru wearing a purple one and Greasefang wearing a yellow one.

Lily of Thyrsus, likewise, was helping out as something akin to Koda’s honor guard alongside Leta and Biilziebub. She was dressed just as simply for the base, with a long, unpatterned blue dress and a formal black vest over it, but she also finished off the look with a dark green cloak for the drama of it all. She was wearing both an “I’m Here To Work” button in purple and an “I Am Koda Hayashi” button in green.

Koda himself was wearing his new Reckoner armor, made of deer leather and steel plating dyed a nearly-black purple. There was a serpentine motif detailed across all of it, mirroring the snakes and clouds of Koda’s Dokuchi Reckoner tattoos, and is was missing the left sleeve to keep his tattoos apparent. There were only a handful of places where the serpentine motif did not appear: across the metal and across parts used by other designs. One such place was the leather across Koda’s upper chest. There were two intertwined flowers over his heart. One was the Vazante rose, all of its petals and leaves and thorns accounted for, to honor his dads Arturo and Lazaro. The other was an iris with the kanji for his surname on the primary visual petal, to honor his mother Ayame. On the other side of his chest were two rats, a snake with four arms, and a mountain with three eyes, honoring Lethaltooth, Silentsign, Shigeki, and Shimatsu. To top it all off, he had a purple “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button affixed to his armor.

7 AM, One Hour Before The Party...

Koda and Lily’s old adventuring party from Odithis arrived to help out. There were five of them, just as strange as the two had described.

The first one of note was the undead woman who didn’t look that undead. She was as pale as death, and the elaborate gothic dress she wore helped to sell it. Her long black hair was pulled back into a braid with a few strands left out to frame her face. Her eyes were such a dark brown that they were nearly black. She had finished her outfit with a purple “I’m Just Here To Steal From Rich People” button. This was Tabitha O’mally, the adventuring party’s necromancer and lich, according to Koda and Lily.

On her arm and much taller than her was a half-dragon half-human woman with red scales and deep tan skin. Her hair was just as vibrant a red as her scales, and she had clearly put in effort to at least brush it. Her eyes, also red and with cat-like pupils, seemed to glow on their own. She looked like she could rip open metal with her bare hands. She was wearing a full suit of silvered plate armor with golden detailing, looking like the knight to her wife’s princess fit. It had taken her a moment to get the red “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button secured to the armor, but it was now displayed proudly. This was Beatrice O’mally, the party’s barbarian and frontliner, as well as being Tabitha’s wife.

Compared to Beatrice, the rest of the party seemed to disappear into the background, especially Gideon Valkea. Half-human, quarter-demon, quarter-frost giant, but he looked like an average guy – tan skin, black hair, black eyes, average in height and build both – except for the horrific scarring around his eyes and his perpetual scowl. He was wearing a uniform of some sort, which was black, dark grey, and dark red. He had capped off his outfit with a green “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button. He didn’t look like what someone would assume a demon hunter should look like, and he didn’t take an issue with the presence of demons at the suitor party.

His cousin, Lohiarm Valkea, was practically neon white in comparison. Lohiarm was half-dragon in place of half-human, and his skin, scales, and hair were all such a stark white that one would think he had albinism. He had one green eye and one blue eye in the form of total heterochromia, which – based on the fact that he had Benoe practically glued to his hip – was probably the only hetero thing about him. He also wore a uniform similar to Gideon’s, though his was white and ice blue. He had picked out an orange “I’m Just Here For The Cheese” button to cap it all off. He was the party’s sorcerer and rogue.

And finally, Benoe the ranger, who by all accounts didn’t have a surname. He was just a normal guy. A handsome guy in his late 20s, but a normal human dude. Even his chosen clothing for this event – leather armor with a dark green cloak – seemed extremely easy to overlook compared to the rest of the party. He never drifted too far from Lohiarm and had picked a green “I’m Just Here For The Cheese” button, because he had his priorities in order.

Koda and Lily hugged each of them and greeted them as old friends, and introduced them to everyone else. Despite the strangeness of the adventuring party, they were easy enough to get along with.

8 AM, Start Of The Party...

The suitors had arrived, and it was go time. Koda took up an initial position at the center of the park to deal with the first wave of suitors, but luckily there would be a lot more moving around as the day went on.

He just needed to survive the first few hours when the most formal ones would give their offers first. Which meant he had to survive a bunch of Imperial nobles and their brats.

Koda’s personal security detail was also present, dressed as formally as they wanted to be. Most notably for the suitors that would arrive later, Satoru Umezawa of the Hyozan Reckoners and Greasefang of the Okiba Reckoners were positioned at the entrance. They had dressed similarly, entirely on accident – button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, armored pants, and a vest. Greasefang’s vest was armored, and her overall color palette leaned more into whites, yellows, and light purples, while Satoru’s vest was tight (on purpose, knowing him) and his colors stuck pretty closely to dark blues, dark purples, and black. Both had also picked out “I’m Here To Work” buttons, with Satoru wearing a purple one and Greasefang wearing a yellow one.

Lily of Thyrsus, likewise, was helping out as something akin to Koda’s honor guard alongside Leta and Biilziebub. She was dressed just as simply for the base, with a long, unpatterned blue dress and a formal black vest over it, but she also finished off the look with a dark green cloak for the drama of it all. She was wearing both an “I’m Here To Work” button in purple and an “I Am Koda Hayashi” button in green.

Koda himself was wearing his new Reckoner armor, made of deer leather and steel plating dyed a nearly-black purple. There was a serpentine motif detailed across all of it, mirroring the snakes and clouds of Koda’s Dokuchi Reckoner tattoos, and is was missing the left sleeve to keep his tattoos apparent. There were only a handful of places where the serpentine motif did not appear: across the metal and across parts used by other designs. One such place was the leather across Koda’s upper chest. There were two intertwined flowers over his heart. One was the Vazante rose, all of its petals and leaves and thorns accounted for, to honor his dads Arturo and Lazaro. The other was an iris with the kanji for his surname on the primary visual petal, to honor his mother Ayame. On the other side of his chest were two rats, a snake with four arms, and a mountain with three eyes, honoring Lethaltooth, Silentsign, Shigeki, and Shimatsu. To top it all off, he had a purple “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button affixed to his armor.

7 AM, One Hour Before The Party...

Koda and Lily’s old adventuring party from Odithis arrived to help out. There were five of them, just as strange as the two had described.

The first one of note was the undead woman who didn’t look that undead. She was as pale as death, and the elaborate gothic dress she wore helped to sell it. Her long black hair was pulled back into a braid with a few strands left out to frame her face. Her eyes were such a dark brown that they were nearly black. She had finished her outfit with a purple “I’m Just Here To Steal From Rich People” button. This was Tabitha O’mally, the adventuring party’s necromancer and lich, according to Koda and Lily.

On her arm and much taller than her was a half-dragon half-human woman with red scales and deep tan skin. Her hair was just as vibrant a red as her scales, and she had clearly put in effort to at least brush it. Her eyes, also red and with cat-like pupils, seemed to glow on their own. She looked like she could rip open metal with her bare hands. She was wearing a full suit of silvered plate armor with golden detailing, looking like the knight to her wife’s princess fit. It had taken her a moment to get the red “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button secured to the armor, but it was now displayed proudly. This was Beatrice O’mally, the party’s barbarian and frontliner, as well as being Tabitha’s wife.

Compared to Beatrice, the rest of the party seemed to disappear into the background, especially Gideon Valkea. Half-human, quarter-demon, quarter-frost giant, but he looked like an average guy – tan skin, black hair, black eyes, average in height and build both – except for the horrific scarring around his eyes and his perpetual scowl. He was wearing a uniform of some sort, which was black, dark grey, and dark red. He had capped off his outfit with a green “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button. He didn’t look like what someone would assume a demon hunter should look like, and he didn’t take an issue with the presence of demons at the suitor party.

His cousin, Lohiarm Valkea, was practically neon white in comparison. Lohiarm was half-dragon in place of half-human, and his skin, scales, and hair were all such a stark white that one would think he had albinism. He had one green eye and one blue eye in the form of total heterochromia, which – based on the fact that he had Benoe practically glued to his hip – was probably the only hetero thing about him. He also wore a uniform similar to Gideon’s, though his was white and ice blue. He had picked out an orange “I’m Just Here For The Cheese” button to cap it all off. He was the party’s sorcerer and rogue.

And finally, Benoe the ranger, who by all accounts didn’t have a surname. He was just a normal guy. A handsome guy in his late 20s, but a normal human dude. Even his chosen clothing for this event – leather armor with a dark green cloak – seemed extremely easy to overlook compared to the rest of the party. He never drifted too far from Lohiarm and had picked a green “I’m Just Here For The Cheese” button, because he had his priorities in order.

Koda and Lily hugged each of them and greeted them as old friends, and introduced them to everyone else. Despite the strangeness of the adventuring party, they were easy enough to get along with.

8 AM, Start Of The Party...

The suitors had arrived, and it was go time. Koda took up an initial position at the center of the park to deal with the first wave of suitors, but luckily there would be a lot more moving around as the day went on.

He just needed to survive the first few hours when the most formal ones would give their offers first. Which meant he had to survive a bunch of Imperial nobles and their brats.

Koda’s personal security detail was also present, dressed as formally as they wanted to be. Most notably for the suitors that would arrive later, Satoru Umezawa of the Hyozan Reckoners and Greasefang of the Okiba Reckoners were positioned at the entrance. They had dressed similarly, entirely on accident – button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, armored pants, and a vest. Greasefang’s vest was armored, and her overall color palette leaned more into whites, yellows, and light purples, while Satoru’s vest was tight (on purpose, knowing him) and his colors stuck pretty closely to dark blues, dark purples, and black. Both had also picked out “I’m Here To Work” buttons, with Satoru wearing a purple one and Greasefang wearing a yellow one.

Lily of Thyrsus, likewise, was helping out as something akin to Koda’s honor guard alongside Leta and Biilziebub. She was dressed just as simply for the base, with a long, unpatterned blue dress and a formal black vest over it, but she also finished off the look with a dark green cloak for the drama of it all. She was wearing both an “I’m Here To Work” button in purple and an “I Am Koda Hayashi” button in green.

Koda himself was wearing his new Reckoner armor, made of deer leather and steel plating dyed a nearly-black purple. There was a serpentine motif detailed across all of it, mirroring the snakes and clouds of Koda’s Dokuchi Reckoner tattoos, and is was missing the left sleeve to keep his tattoos apparent. There were only a handful of places where the serpentine motif did not appear: across the metal and across parts used by other designs. One such place was the leather across Koda’s upper chest. There were two intertwined flowers over his heart. One was the Vazante rose, all of its petals and leaves and thorns accounted for, to honor his dads Arturo and Lazaro. The other was an iris with the kanji for his surname on the primary visual petal, to honor his mother Ayame. On the other side of his chest were two rats, a snake with four arms, and a mountain with three eyes, honoring Lethaltooth, Silentsign, Shigeki, and Shimatsu. To top it all off, he had a purple “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button affixed to his armor.

7 AM, One Hour Before The Party...

Koda and Lily’s old adventuring party from Odithis arrived to help out. There were five of them, just as strange as the two had described.

The first one of note was the undead woman who didn’t look that undead. She was as pale as death, and the elaborate gothic dress she wore helped to sell it. Her long black hair was pulled back into a braid with a few strands left out to frame her face. Her eyes were such a dark brown that they were nearly black. She had finished her outfit with a purple “I’m Just Here To Steal From Rich People” button. This was Tabitha O’mally, the adventuring party’s necromancer and lich, according to Koda and Lily.

On her arm and much taller than her was a half-dragon half-human woman with red scales and deep tan skin. Her hair was just as vibrant a red as her scales, and she had clearly put in effort to at least brush it. Her eyes, also red and with cat-like pupils, seemed to glow on their own. She looked like she could rip open metal with her bare hands. She was wearing a full suit of silvered plate armor with golden detailing, looking like the knight to her wife’s princess fit. It had taken her a moment to get the red “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button secured to the armor, but it was now displayed proudly. This was Beatrice O’mally, the party’s barbarian and frontliner, as well as being Tabitha’s wife.

Compared to Beatrice, the rest of the party seemed to disappear into the background, especially Gideon Valkea. Half-human, quarter-demon, quarter-frost giant, but he looked like an average guy – tan skin, black hair, black eyes, average in height and build both – except for the horrific scarring around his eyes and his perpetual scowl. He was wearing a uniform of some sort, which was black, dark grey, and dark red. He had capped off his outfit with a green “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button. He didn’t look like what someone would assume a demon hunter should look like, and he didn’t take an issue with the presence of demons at the suitor party.

His cousin, Lohiarm Valkea, was practically neon white in comparison. Lohiarm was half-dragon in place of half-human, and his skin, scales, and hair were all such a stark white that one would think he had albinism. He had one green eye and one blue eye in the form of total heterochromia, which – based on the fact that he had Benoe practically glued to his hip – was probably the only hetero thing about him. He also wore a uniform similar to Gideon’s, though his was white and ice blue. He had picked out an orange “I’m Just Here For The Cheese” button to cap it all off. He was the party’s sorcerer and rogue.

And finally, Benoe the ranger, who by all accounts didn’t have a surname. He was just a normal guy. A handsome guy in his late 20s, but a normal human dude. Even his chosen clothing for this event – leather armor with a dark green cloak – seemed extremely easy to overlook compared to the rest of the party. He never drifted too far from Lohiarm and had picked a green “I’m Just Here For The Cheese” button, because he had his priorities in order.

Koda and Lily hugged each of them and greeted them as old friends, and introduced them to everyone else. Despite the strangeness of the adventuring party, they were easy enough to get along with.

8 AM, Start Of The Party...

The suitors had arrived, and it was go time. Koda took up an initial position at the center of the park to deal with the first wave of suitors, but luckily there would be a lot more moving around as the day went on.

He just needed to survive the first few hours when the most formal ones would give their offers first. Which meant he had to survive a bunch of Imperial nobles and their brats.

Koda’s personal security detail was also present, dressed as formally as they wanted to be. Most notably for the suitors that would arrive later, Satoru Umezawa of the Hyozan Reckoners and Greasefang of the Okiba Reckoners were positioned at the entrance. They had dressed similarly, entirely on accident – button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, armored pants, and a vest. Greasefang’s vest was armored, and her overall color palette leaned more into whites, yellows, and light purples, while Satoru’s vest was tight (on purpose, knowing him) and his colors stuck pretty closely to dark blues, dark purples, and black. Both had also picked out “I’m Here To Work” buttons, with Satoru wearing a purple one and Greasefang wearing a yellow one.

Lily of Thyrsus, likewise, was helping out as something akin to Koda’s honor guard alongside Leta and Biilziebub. She was dressed just as simply for the base, with a long, unpatterned blue dress and a formal black vest over it, but she also finished off the look with a dark green cloak for the drama of it all. She was wearing both an “I’m Here To Work” button in purple and an “I Am Koda Hayashi” button in green.

Koda himself was wearing his new Reckoner armor, made of deer leather and steel plating dyed a nearly-black purple. There was a serpentine motif detailed across all of it, mirroring the snakes and clouds of Koda’s Dokuchi Reckoner tattoos, and is was missing the left sleeve to keep his tattoos apparent. There were only a handful of places where the serpentine motif did not appear: across the metal and across parts used by other designs. One such place was the leather across Koda’s upper chest. There were two intertwined flowers over his heart. One was the Vazante rose, all of its petals and leaves and thorns accounted for, to honor his dads Arturo and Lazaro. The other was an iris with the kanji for his surname on the primary visual petal, to honor his mother Ayame. On the other side of his chest were two rats, a snake with four arms, and a mountain with three eyes, honoring Lethaltooth, Silentsign, Shigeki, and Shimatsu. To top it all off, he had a purple “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button affixed to his armor.

7 AM, One Hour Before The Party...

Koda and Lily’s old adventuring party from Odithis arrived to help out. There were five of them, just as strange as the two had described.

The first one of note was the undead woman who didn’t look that undead. She was as pale as death, and the elaborate gothic dress she wore helped to sell it. Her long black hair was pulled back into a braid with a few strands left out to frame her face. Her eyes were such a dark brown that they were nearly black. She had finished her outfit with a purple “I’m Just Here To Steal From Rich People” button. This was Tabitha O’mally, the adventuring party’s necromancer and lich, according to Koda and Lily.

On her arm and much taller than her was a half-dragon half-human woman with red scales and deep tan skin. Her hair was just as vibrant a red as her scales, and she had clearly put in effort to at least brush it. Her eyes, also red and with cat-like pupils, seemed to glow on their own. She looked like she could rip open metal with her bare hands. She was wearing a full suit of silvered plate armor with golden detailing, looking like the knight to her wife’s princess fit. It had taken her a moment to get the red “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button secured to the armor, but it was now displayed proudly. This was Beatrice O’mally, the party’s barbarian and frontliner, as well as being Tabitha’s wife.

Compared to Beatrice, the rest of the party seemed to disappear into the background, especially Gideon Valkea. Half-human, quarter-demon, quarter-frost giant, but he looked like an average guy – tan skin, black hair, black eyes, average in height and build both – except for the horrific scarring around his eyes and his perpetual scowl. He was wearing a uniform of some sort, which was black, dark grey, and dark red. He had capped off his outfit with a green “I’m Just Hoping For A Fight” button. He didn’t look like what someone would assume a demon hunter should look like, and he didn’t take an issue with the presence of demons at the suitor party.

His cousin, Lohiarm Valkea, was practically neon white in comparison. Lohiarm was half-dragon in place of half-human, and his skin, scales, and hair were all such a stark white that one would think he had albinism. He had one green eye and one blue eye in the form of total heterochromia, which – based on the fact that he had Benoe practically glued to his hip – was probably the only hetero thing about him. He also wore a uniform similar to Gideon’s, though his was white and ice blue. He had picked out an orange “I’m Just Here For The Cheese” button to cap it all off. He was the party’s sorcerer and rogue.

And finally, Benoe the ranger, who by all accounts didn’t have a surname. He was just a normal guy. A handsome guy in his late 20s, but a normal human dude. Even his chosen clothing for this event – leather armor with a dark green cloak – seemed extremely easy to overlook compared to the rest of the party. He never drifted too far from Lohiarm and had picked a green “I’m Just Here For The Cheese” button, because he had his priorities in order.

Koda and Lily hugged each of them and greeted them as old friends, and introduced them to everyone else. Despite the strangeness of the adventuring party, they were easy enough to get along with.

8 AM, Start Of The Party...

The suitors had arrived, and it was go time. Koda took up an initial position at the center of the park to deal with the first wave of suitors, but luckily there would be a lot more moving around as the day went on.

He just needed to survive the first few hours when the most formal ones would give their offers first. Which meant he had to survive a bunch of Imperial nobles and their brats.