Yet again I have to commend you on these slick historical references. That Joan of Arc one was brilliantly done!

Man, there was a lot of action in this chapter! And as I've said before, I'm a big fan of the way you write action sequences. You have a very short, choppy, direct style that makes the action feel like it's happening in real time, and including a couple of timely thoughts or dialogue in there, as opposed to getting lost in longer, purely descriptive paragraphs, really helps the reader feel the emotion behind the action and give it a personal feel. I think some of the best examples of this among your work were in Amazon Country, but the big battle sequence here is just as good as any of those, I think.

There may have been more important things going on in this chapter, but Yukia saving Higgins was maybe the biggest highlight for me (and there were quite a few of them here). You've been building toward that in the back end of the story, and the first half of this chapter having her geek out in her grimoire over him and question why she can't swallow him down served as a nice build up to her shooting Natasha in the back. I'm curious to see how she justifies that in her head next chapter (or if she's finally ready to accept how she feels about him), as well as whether Natasha is going to figure out it was her.

Going back to the start of the chapter, Chloé's teasing/guiding Emilie about just how they're going to save the nekos was as fun as it was hot. I have to admit, I expected Emilie to be a bit more prudish at the idea of having sex with both Mika and Chloé, but she got behind the idea pretty quickly. The neko's nervous excitement at the idea, as well as at Chloé' convincing her to shrink him down and get him off to prove that he could be in to her, was really cute and endearing. I feel like Emilie was initially approaching the idea as a duty to her people, which obviously isn't how you want to approach sex, so to see her excited for more is great to see.

We've kind of hit the "all is lost" moment here, which makes sense since we have to be nearing the end of the story. Still, you came at the moment hard, not only are Emilie and Mika captured and Oklahoma feeling so hopeless that she wants to give up, but you even gave Natasha a nuke. A nuke! (As a side note, I love that Oklahoma referred to it as an A-Bomb. Very 1950s of her).

I like how Oklahoma got emotional as she was telling Chloé that things are hopeless, though. It shows how far she has come as a character and how much she actually cares for all of them. Still, I think that practical way of looking at things fits her character perfectly, and it's understandable that she would start thinking of settling things before the end instead of never giving up. Still, it's easy to understand why Chloé's upset with her over it. They're just two different people with tow very different outlooks on things.

Of course, obviously Oklahoma is going to come around before the end of things, right? Right?!

Higgins' having that classic line at the ready for when he landed a punch on Natasha was great! he doesn't say much, but he knows how to taunt when he wants to. His whole fight with Natasha was fantastically done and once again makes him look like a credible fighter, given how fast and skilled the neko are.

I also love that he, for the first time, felt emotional about the loss of some of his troops. Again, great character development here, especially since this wasn't dwelled upon, as that would have felt weird and out of place for his character.

I'm eager to see what arrangement Chloé and he come to.

Lastly, Natasha continues to be a spectacular villain. She's straight up mad and obsessed with no redeeming qualities whatsoever (even the one person she showed some semblance of feelings for was a psychotic murder). I also like that you gave her a reason to keep Emilie alive, as it would have been weird that she went from saying everything she needed to say and wanting her dead to keeping her around for the climax if she wasn't needed to keep Mika in line.

Well, I got to this one a bit later this time, so hopefully the next chapter will seemingly come quicker for me. I'm curious to see how things shake out as we're nearing the end.