[center][h2]Kochiya Sanae[/h2][h3]??? — Ruined Church[/h3][/center]
It became readily apparent to Sanae after only a few seconds that the soldiers on the ground were almost wholly incapable of dealing with the bullets that she was raining down from above. Given that their attacks against the barrier earlier had been with arrows and steel, though, the young woman thought for a second that such a result should have been a given.

Not like she had any reason to complain about that, though; if these people were aiming to kill or capture the two children still hiding in the church, then they deserved any sort of pain they'd receive from eating her projectiles head-on.

With her aim still trained upon those still attempting to approach the rear door, the young woman turned her head to see what was going on at the front of the church. It didn't take much more than a glance, though, for her to witness the rather brutal nature of how the others were fighting. It was one thing to read about killing in the news or manga and another entirely to see people [i]die[/i]—much less by decapitation from a single hit to the head, or by being bisected from shoulder to hip, or...

There was a brief lapse in focus as her vision blurred for a moment, but given the situation at hand the wind priestess knew full well that such a thing could lead to an opening that might lead to something even worse.

"...I guess I shouldn't take spell card rules for granted..." she mumbled to herself before placing her attention back towards the oncoming soldiers. At this point, though, it seemed quite apparent that none of the enemy soldiers had even a sliver of a chance to break through their defensive line—and given the fact that there were still people inside, it was almost guaranteed that even should one or two of the soldiers slip through that they would meet just as bloody an end.

That, of course, made the apparent call to retreat from the area a given. The soldiers that Sanae had been keeping away swiftly broke formation, and those that hadn't been executed or otherwise left incapacitated began to disperse back into the forest—likely back with the other members of their military force, if what the boy had said earlier held true.

With the present threat dealt with (for the moment, at least), Sanae took a deep breath and slowly floated back down into the church, her body none the worse for wear.

"It looks like the enemy's retreating," she remarked to those who stood guard inside as she landed on the floor. "...I'm no tactician, but I guess they cut their losses after seeing what happened outside. Not sure whether that's a good thing or not."

All the while, of course, the boy and his sister had remained protected by those who had placed their safety first. There was a sparkle in the former's eyes, of course—and the fact that there were such gallant figures so willing to protect the two of them while the others drove back the ones who had so simply threatened their home only served to inspire further hope in him.

"Thank you very much," the young man said, unsteadily rising to his feet before bowing towards those present. "But... You said they were retreating?"

His pale face seemed to grow even paler as he realized the implications of what had just been said.

"..."

The dread apparent on his face now that he had realized what his escape had come at the cost of—and of what more it could take from him—only now seemed to dawn upon him. Though the two of them were safe now in the company of heroes, the same could not be said of the people who would be sacrificed in his place.

[@VitaVitaAR][@DracoLunaris][@EchoWolff][@Crimson Flame][@Lugubrious][@Drifting Pollen][@Raineh Daze]