Both teams were dropped off at the Eisengard mountains, from there they split up to follow their own paths that would lead them through underground passageways to the Sachsen Mines and the city of Roer.
The passage that the rescue team took to the mines could barely fit in the definition of a tunnel, in the same manner they could barely fit through the tight crevice. It was downright claustrophobic as they squeezed through the rock walls, slowly making their way through the tunnel, with only the light of the ARCUS units illuminating the way.
"Are you okay, Emma? You are lagging behind," said Jusis, looking behind him and faintly making out the silhouette of the girl from the light of his ARCUS strapped on his belt.
"I-I'm okay, Jusis. Thank you. I'm just having some…" She took a deep breath and pulled herself ahead with great strain before letting out a sigh. "Some difficulty passing through." If only Celine was there they could make her go through the tunnel by herself then teleport to her location, but Emma refused to let her familiar participate in a dangerous operation unless strictly necessary. It had been a whole argument but in the end the cat relented if only because someone had to watch the bowl of Water Window in case Roselia tried to communicate with them.
Understanding the meaning behind Emma's words, Jusis simply nodded and things could've ended right there, but unfortunately Millium was right in front of him and heard their exchange. "Oh, she's getting stuck because of her huge boobies!"
Emma whimpered in embarrassment and the only thing that stopped Jusis from palming his face was the tight space they were in.
Up ahead, to divert himself from picturing what Emma looked like squeezing herself through the narrow corridor, Machias decided to voice another thought he had. "Are you sure this is the right path, Sharon?"
"Undoubtedly, Master Machias. Master Gwyn himself explored these mountains back in his youth and mapped them out extensively and I have them committed to memory," said the maid as she led the way. Unsurprisingly, she had no issue traversing the tight tunnel while still wearing her maid uniform.
"His youth? I'd wager some things might have changed after a century or so," Rean added sarcastically.
Blissful open space finally graced them around half an hour later, an abandoned section of the mine that had been purposely closed off and left alone for this very purpose. A lot of things could be said about Gwyn Reinford, many of them unkind, but the man had to be commended for being ready for any situation.
They had covered way too little distance for the amount of time it had taken them but that had been accounted for in their plans. From their position, they'd follow a series of tunnels to the active part of the mines and since it was already night they wouldn't have to worry about workers, only the jaegers providing security would be an issue.
"Despite knowing that it is due to the miners leaving for the day, I can't help but feel the silence here is eerie," said Jusis, hand resting at his sheathed sword. "A contrast from the last time we were here."
Machias shuddered at the memory. "Yeah, crazy to think that the place was filled with magic knights stuck on the mountain. I can still hear them banging on the walls."
"Running away from them was fun!" Said Millium.
"How is it that you are afraid of ghosts but completely fine with magical golems springing out of the earth?" Jusis asked her with baffled indignation.
"Because they're different, duh!"
"There could've been dozens if not hundreds of magic knights slumbering in the Eisengard range. We should be careful, we can't be sure that those Ouroboros people took care of them all," said Emma.
"I disagree, Lady Emma. If the Almighty Conflagration was in charge of cleaning the mines then we can be sure that no magic knight is left. There are very few individuals in the entire continent who can match his power."
Instinctively, Rean gripped the hilt of his sword tightly. "Yeah, I doubt those magic knights were a problem for that guy."
Sharon continued to guide them through the tunnels dimly lit by orbal lamps, down mine shafts then back up again through ladders until finally she signaled for them to stay silent, indicating that hostiles were nearby. Silently, they approached a bend that led to a corridor and they could hear a couple of men talking, complaining about being bored.
"There are three of them up ahead," whispered Sharon.
Rean nodded. "Yeah, I sense them too. I will-"
And then the maid was gone. Caught by surprise at Sharon's burst of speed, Rean remained stunned in place for a moment then looked back, receiving shrugs from the rest of the team in response. He heard a choked cry coming from the men, a couple of grunts and then silence.
"The threat has been neutralized," Sharon announced.
Rean and the others joined up with her, slightly confused about what had just transpired in that short span of time. Their gazes fell on the three jaegers lying down on the floor, unmoving, then moved to Sharon, standing dutifully as she always did with her hands folded in front of her but this time holding a dagger in her hand. The blade was clean but a look back at the ground showed them a handkerchief stained red.
"Shall we proceed?" She asked with her trademarked polite smile. Machias started to stutter a question that was very obvious to everyone and Sharon cut him off. "I have dealt with the threat. Now I suggest we make haste, we must act in sync with our counterpart team infiltrating the Reinford HQ."
The rest of the way to the freight station was more straightforward and, mercifully, not filled with jaegers either. With how expansive the mines could get, the forces of the Nidhoggr corps couldn't place men in every nook and cranny, leaving only smaller teams to watch out some of the tunnels for monsters.
But unfortunately that meant that the bulk of their forces were guarding the train. The freight station was massive, of course, it had to be to tend to freight trains that would take torims worth of iron across the country, and it made the imposing Eisengraf seem much smaller than it really was. From their vantage point on top of a platform, Sharon counted around thirteen jaegers patrolling the locale while a couple of Reinford engineers tended to the train, with an unknown number of people inside the train where the chairwoman was being held.
The group of six separated with Rean, Machias and Millium aiming to enter through the back of the train, while Sharon, Jusis and Emma would go to the front, both teams meeting in the middle.
Millium took charge of leading Rean and Machias and credit where it was due, she demonstrated her capabilities as an intelligence agent and through their combat-links guided the two young men without saying a word. She knew exactly when and how to move, fast but still silently, avoiding the jaegers making their rounds on the area and hiding behind crates and machinery.
Meanwhile, the Enforcer was not used to working with other people and her combat-link with the rest of Class VII wasn't as strong, as such Jusis and Emma had to make more effort to keep up with her more erratic movements, which they did if only because of their training. Hiding behind a set of machinery, only one jaeger stood between them and the open door of the conductor's cabin while an engineer walked out of the train carrying equipment.
The Nidhoggr jaeger was utterly disinterested in his job, taking a long drag of his cigarette while holding his orbal rifle over his shoulder. His mistake, as Sharon used his distraction to rush the man and in a swift movement wrapped a steel wire around his neck then pulled on both ends tightly until the man's body went limp.
She's certainly no Arnauld, not that I'd wish he would be anything like her, thought Jusis as he watched the scene from behind their cover, eyes wide at the maid's demonstration of her strength. It only lasted for a moment and the noble quickly took a hold of himself, not wasting anymore time he went after Sharon with Emma following behind.
As the two students were about to enter, the same engineer from before had returned. The short woman with blonde hair styled in a bob cut looked at the armed strangers with stunned silence and the two replied with their own shocked surprise. Sharon's head popped out of the cabin and the maid locked her eyes with the engineer, offering a polite smile.
"Oh, Melody. I hope we didn't startle you. We're here for Lady Irina, is the train operational?"
"S-Sharon? I- uh- Yes? We barely started maintenance."
"Splendid. I'd recommend the rest of the engineers to keep their distance, for safety's sake."
The maid retreated back to the cabin and Jusis and Emma exchanged shrugs, following her, leaving the poor engineer utterly confused.
Closing the door to the conductor's cabin, Sharon started handling their controls and the next phase of their plan began. The Eisengraf was built by the Reinford Company and as such Sharon had, obviously, memorized the vehicle's entire operations manual and could operate the train just as well as any conductor.
Rean's team managed to enter the back of the Eisengraff without any drama and as soon as they were in, Millium pressed a set of buttons that locked the door behind them. "I rode it all the time with Gramps and I know eeeeeverything about how it works, so I should go rescue Alisa's momma!" was how she had volunteered herself for the job.
The sixth car of the luxury train was a passenger one and devoid of any occupants and after a cursory search around the premises, they moved onto the next car, the fifth one. One advantage Rean had to give to carrying out a mission inside a train was how straight forward it was, they just had to go on ahead and the worry about being caught by surprise from blind spots was lessened, their main concern being that they had to keep a low profile to avoid being seen from the windows.
Rean carefully took a peek at the window at the door that led to the next car and saw three jaegers inside. Two of them were sitting down while a third, a woman wielding a sword, stood with her arms crossed as they held a casual conversation between them. There were no signs of Irina Reinford yet. He started running the calculations of what the best course of action would be the train came to life and slowly started to move
The jaegers stood up startled, directing their gazes to the front of the train. "Hey, what's going on over there?" The woman yelled out. "Why are we moving!?"
Phase two of the plan had began: taking the train away from the jaeger filled freight station, rescuing Irina Reinford and taking back the Eisengraf in one fell swoop. Outside, the forces of Nidhoggr started to scramble as the train they were guarding started to move without previous warning and inevitably some tried to get inside but they soon found out Sharon had engaged the security system, locking all entrances.
Of course, locked doors wouldn't deter seasoned jaegers for long and soon they started trying to force their way through, firing off their guns and Arts at the windows and doors, but by then the Eisengraf started to gain too much speed for them to keep up, and even one lucky daredevil that managed to hold on to the train eventually had to admit defeat and let go before they started to move so fast that wouldn't be a viable option anymore.
As the situation scaled up, there was no reason to try to be quiet anymore, the jaegers on car 5 were already on full alert and about to go investigate what was happening at the front of the train.
"You two get the shooters, I'll handle the other one," Rean said and if his partners wanted to object to his plan they didn't have the time because he was already pushing the door to the fifth car open and rushed through the hallway between the passenger seats.
Machias and Millium followed right behind Rean and moved right and left, respectively, picking up their targets. "Drop your weapons and-" The shotgunner started but Millium was already ordering Airgetlam to fire up its energy beam at her target, hitting the jaeger the head and the man reeled back before falling down with a heavy thud between the seats.
The other gunner, the one Machias should've shot on sight but didn't, crouched down to use the seat as cover and pulled his orbal pistol just as his female partner intercepted Rean with her sword, both locking blades for a moment.
Catching the glint of the gun in the corner of his eye, Rean kicked the female jaeger in the stomach and simultaneously pushed himself away from her, tumbling back. The bullet zipped across the corridor, grazing Rean on his left leg.
"Lammy!"
The combat shell flew over the rows of seats and tackled the sword wielding jaeger, giving Rean time to get up and confront the man who almost shot him. The jaeger tried to fire another shot but his gun was knocked out of his hand by Rean's tachi, he then attempted to pull out a knife strapped to his chest but the Eight Leaves practitioner was faster, stabbing the man through his shoulder then knocking him out with a hammering blow of the hilt of his sword.
In a similar fashion, Airgetlam knocked out the other jaeger with a punch to the head.
Machias rushed Rean, flustered beyond words about his performance. "Crap, crap, crap! I'm sorry, Rean, are you okay! I… I-I know what you wanted us to do but-"
"It's fine, Machias," he replied with calm indifference. He looked down to his leg and luckily only his pants were a bit torn. "I'll just need a change of wardrobe after this. Now let's get moving, we don't have time to lose."
The response was a bit of a shock for Machias. He remembered very well the death glare Rean shot him and Jusis months ago after he was hurt trying to protect them and seeing as this wasn't that different of a situation, Machias had expected to be chewed out again. But then he was right, they didn't have time for that now so he put that out of his mind for the moment.
The second car of the Eisengraf was normally used for storage but with the current state of affairs it was mostly barren aside from few necessities, as such, Nidhoggr decided it was the perfect place to keep their war monsters: armored leopards.
The creatures had sensed the intrusion on the other car and one of them immediately started to snarl at the door, alerting the beastmaster that was taking care of them and when the train started to move, the monsters and their human caretaker were at full alert ready to strike whoever came through that door.
With their cover blown and nothing else to lose, Emma cast a powerful spell that blew the car's door off its hinges and sent it flying across the car, killing the monster on the spot. A faint cloud of dust hung on the car's entrance then hell then broke loose in a more spectacular fashion than what had happened with Rean's group, as the beastmaster fired off his shotgun at the intruder's and his monsters growled and howled in their direction. Sharon burst out of the cloud, sidestepping out of the way of the monsters trying to pounce at her, leaving them for Jusis and Emma to take care of. Without missing a beat, the maid rushed towards the jaeger, took a dive and rolled forward to avoid getting shot at and when she lifted herself up, she had her knife at the man's throat.
Behind her, the monsters met their demise as well.
It won't be long now, my lady.
Car 4 was the dining one, a small luxury restaurant with a bar, and where Irina Reinford was being held. The woman was sitting at a table flanked by two jaegers, one of them a redheaded man with a striking scar across his face, barking questions at his radio while holding a huge orbal rifle in his other hand. The second one jaeger was another man, tall and wearing a full helmet that hid his features.
Rean opened the door and Millium quickly rushed inside with Airgetlam providing protection from a powerful blast of a fire Art, a ball of flames that seared the carpet and ceiling and risked setting the whole train on fire. Rean cut through the flames with Arc Slash and Machias followed up with a blast of his shotgun, this time hitting his target, and although the jaeger's armor protected him the man was down for the count.
Amidst the chaos, the other jaeger lost his composure and turned around, aiming his orbal machine gun at the attackers and firing a barrage of bullets that was deterred by a wall of orbal rocks.
"Alright, you buggers, that's close enough!" The redheaded jaeger yelled. "One more step from you and she gets it," he held up his orbal rifle and pressed it up against the chairwoman's temple. She rolled her eyes.
The red haired jaeger's attention was solely on Rean's team but a gurgled sound made him turn his eyes back to the other end of the train just in time to watch his companion fall down with puddle of blood quickly forming under his throat, with Sharon, Jusis and Emma standing over him.
"I apologize for the delay, madam, but we are here to rescue you," the maid bowed with her usual pleasant demeanor, as if she had not just killed six people on her way there.
"Your timing is adequate enough," Irina responded with her usual cold composure and scanned her surroundings. "Where is Alisa?"
"Lady Alisa is with the party responsible for taking back the Reinford HQ, madam. Right now she's working with Lady Angelica and the rest of Class VII to arrest Count Rogner."
The older woman's eyebrows raised slightly, denoting the faintest hint of surprise.
"Hey, quit your yappin!" The full helmeted jaeger called out, pulling out his pistol and placing it under the chairwoman's chin. "Did you all forget what kinda situation this is!?"
"Lower your weapons and release the chairwoman right now!" Rean demanded. He had his tachi firm in his hand but he knew that any wrong move could mean disaster. Valimar was already flying above them but controlling the Divine Knight from outside meant he didn't have the same precision as doing so from inside, as such he couldn't attempt to use him on the train. Maybe if he-
Four blurry objects zipped across the train train car, fast like bullets, and after blinking a few times Rean noticed two thin blades lodged in the hands and wrists of each of the jaegers. The men grunted and cursed but didn't seem overly bothered by the attack, pulling the offending objects from their limbs, and they were about to follow on their threat of ending Irina Reinford's life but their fingers and hands suddenly froze and they dropped their guns to their own utter disbelief as they watched their weapons tumble on the floor.
"Finally," Irina breathed out and got herself up, slapping the redheaded jaeger in the face as he tried to hold her.
Both jaegers groaned and hissed, backing away as they clutched their hands. "The hell did you do, you bitch?" The helmeted jaeger grunted.
"Those blades were dipped in rock serpent venom, which is said to have petrifying qualities. Of course, that is an exaggeration, in reality it is a simply fast acting venom that numbs one's muscles, but in large quantities it can lead to permanent muscle paralysis. How much venom did I use, you must be wondering. Well, I'm not so sure myself, to be quite honest," she almost sounded chipper with her explanation while the former hostage takers turned more and more uncomfortable. They weren't in pain, in fact they felt nothing, as if their limbs had been severed, and it was spreading through their entire arms. And then Shaorn pulled out her forearm sized dagger. "But it's not like that will matter to you anyway."
The coldness in her voice sent a shiver down everyone's spine as the maid took her first step towards the men. Would she really execute the jaegers right then and there? Luckily for the jaegers, the Reinford chairwoman intervened.
"That's enough, Sharon. There is no need for any more bloodshed."
"But, madam, these men-"
"Are you questioning my orders, Sharon?"
The maid looked almost panicked at the reprimand and stepped back, holtering her weapon. "My apologies, my lady."
"Head to the conductor's cabin and make sure we arrive at Roer safely. Class VII can handle securing our prisoners, correct?" She asked, turning to Rean.
"Yes, of course," he replied firmly, although his wary eyes turned to the maid as she was already moving to the front of the train. The cold and swift deadliness that Sharon had demonstrated was absolutely unnerving. Enforcer Nº IX, the Severing Chains, talented, smart and deadly, it was a good thing she was on their side but her status as one of the society members meant that could be temporary. Would they have to fight her one day? What would that mean for Alisa?
And there was also a second thought that floated in Rean's mind that bothered him greatly.
Is that how I looked when I killed those jaegers in Ymir?
"Hey, it's here, I found it!"
Millium yelled out, taking Rean away from his thoughts and turning everyone's attention to the girl, who was crouching behind the bar.
"Huh? What did you find, Millium?" Emma asked with concern. Could it be something important, such as a secret document from the intelligence division she was looking for? Or maybe a weapon that was kept in the train? Or goodness, could it be a bomb placed by the jaegers?
"Mister Toodles!"
Or that.
Smiling and giggling, Millium held up a stuffed bear in her hands. Beyond the light brown of its fur, common in any other toy bear of its kind, were a little checkered vest and a tiny hat, both cerulean colored like Millium's hair, almost like custom made for the girl. "Gramps gave it to me but I forgot it here the last time I took the train. I'm so glad that nothing bad happened to him. Lammy, give Mister Toodles a hug!" She shoved the plushie against the combat shell's face, which replied with its jumble of noises that nobody but the girl herself understood.
That was one way of easing the tension. Rean noticed Jusis shaking his head in disbelief but also noticed the faint smile on his lips.
"Rean Schwarzer, do you have the status on the other team?" Irina asked. "From what Sharon said about your operation, I can surmise you've planned to apprehend Count Rogner and get the forces of the Nortian Army that's taken control of the city to stand down, correct? It is of utmost importance that they have already accomplished their mission by the time we arrive in Roer."
"We don't have a way to communicate with them right now but I'm sure they are fine."
"Blasted contraptions, this is taking forever!"
Laura smashed her greatsword against another archaism, by now having lost count on how many she alone has destroyed, nevermind her entire group.
Gaining entrance to the Reinford HQ through the underground tunnels had been easy, Sharon's instructions had been clear and guided them to the secret entrance in the outskirts of Roer and unlike the mines these were actually man made and had plates with directions, so traversal was easy. Reaching the end of the path, they found a door locked by a six digit password through which they reached the lowest level of the Reinford building's basement. They took to the stairs, foregoing the elevators to avoid having their entire team boxed in in one place and stuck with no way of escaping; it would take longer but it was safer.
According to the information gathered by Angelica and Sharon, Heidel Rogner not only took over the position of CEO but also had taken over the Reinford HQ as if it was his own home, firing the staff and replacing them with his own and there were talks of him even throwing furniture away, adding insult to injury for Alisa. At least it made locating him easy.
They had planned and expected to have to silently infiltrate and to take on soldiers of the provincial army patrolling the building and not archaisms from Ouroboros, which when destroyed sent signals to other archaisms of their locations, meaning the more were destroyed the more showed up. Currently on the third floor, their advance upwards had slowed down considerably.
Gaius wiped the sweat from his brow. "This is not dissimilar from the attack at the Garrelia Fortress, except for the lack of bodies."
"Thank Aidios for small blessings, I guess," Alisa sighed as she lowered her orbal bow. She looked around to see the corridor littered with all kinds of automaton machines and the damage that their conflict caused, an archaism was stuck in a placard hanging in a wall, pierced by one of her arrows, meanwhile Elliot was extinguishing a fire that had all but consumed a cabinet full of files. It was just the third floor, reserved for administrative functions of the company but it still was her home and Alisa couldn't help but feel her chest tighten at the sight.
Seeing her student looking down, Sara put a comforting hand on her shoulder and offered a kind smile. "Hey, nothing a bucket of paint can't fix, right?"
"Right. These are just things we can replace," Alisa picked herself up, tightening her grip on her bow and lifting up her head. "What's Fie's status?"
"I'm on it," said Angelica, her ARCUS unit already out and on speaker mode. "Hey little fairy, how's the situation up ahead?"
"Don't call me that."
"I bet you'd like it if Vivi called you that."
A long, exasperated sigh came out of the speaker and everyone could visualize Fie's green eyes rolling to the back of her skull. "The archaisms are coming from the sixth floor, there's a lot of open space here."
"It makes sense, the sixth floor had started going through renovations a little before the war broke out, some walls got taken down and it was mostly emptied out," said Alisa.
"Yep, the archaisms are coming out of a bunch of crates piled up in here. They've been gathering around the stairwell we were using and are about to advance but-" An explosion. "I booby trapped it. You shouldn't go through there, by the way. I also disabled the elevators so Angelica's uncle can use them to escape and in case the provincial army shows up they'll have to use the stairs."
Disabling the elevators was putting kindly the fact that Fie destroyed the elevators' cables with explosives and they had crashed down their respective pits. More damage to her home, thought Alisa.
"At least that is going to attract the archaisms to that side of the building, not that's going to stop them for long. There's another set of stairs we can use on the other side of this floor, can you continue to scout ahead, Fie?"
"Ja. Over and out."
"Alright, let's get going," Angelica pocketed her ARCUS, as Alisa took point and directed them. "The sooner we get our hands on my uncle the better."
"If he's still around here. He must know we're here already, can he have escaped with an airship through the roof, Alisa?" Elliot asked as they began to run.
"Nah, he won't run," Angelica replied instead. "My uncle may be a scheming asshole but he is still a Rogner, stubborn to a fault. Running away from the company he was about to fully take over would hurt his pride, so he'll make a stand here."
"With these archaisms all over the building I'm sure he has some nasty surprises waiting for us on the 23rd floor. Everyone, watch yourselves," said Sara, receiving a sound "Understood!" from her… students? The Bracer wasn't sure if that was the correct term for them under those circumstances anymore, even if they still referred to her as instructor.
Whatever the case, they picked up the pace, going from the third to the fourth and then fifth floors with no issue. On the sixth floor they were more careful to avoid being detected by the archaisms, luckily they kept being attracted to the location where their counterparts were destroyed.
The seventh and eighth floors were deserted but on the ninth Fie called them, saying she had found a problem on the tenth floor. The problem being bigger and tougher archaisms. So far they had encountered the smaller kind, like the three wheeled ones, the flying drones and the bipedal ones with guns for arms, now they had stepped up their game with the bulky, floating types.
Fie was currently engaged in combat against three of them, or better put she was dodging laser blasts in the middle of a corridor that looked like a war zone.
Without needing to say anything, the group rushed for her assistance. Laura and Gaius rushed down one of the archaisms, sword and spear stabbing through its plating and pushing the robot away. Angelica engaged the second one with a flying kick that destabilized its flight and allowed Fie to get in close and strike it with her gunblades. The remaining one was all Sara's and she made short work of the archaism.
Meanwhile, Elliot and Alisa watched their backs, with the musician using his orbal staff to create a wall of ice and rocks in the stairs to slow down would be pursuers. "This should hold on for a while but we should hurry."
"Right, we still got a lot of ground to cover," said Sara. "Fie, continue scouting but only stay one floor ahead of us now and be careful, if you encounter any more archaisms wait for us."
After a quick sweep of the area while the former jaeger scouted the next floor, they continued on their trajectory to the 23rd floor. The rest of the way ahead was much the same with the more dangerous patrolling the area instead of rushing towards their quarrel, so these were a little smarter than the weaker ones from before. The security strategy seemed to be to throw dozens of cheaper archaisms at them to exhaust the invaders and then let the stronger models pick them off.
Maybe that would've worked if they had thrown at least five times the amount of archaisms at them or if they had to go for 50 more floors, but Class VII was a well oiled machine, their efficiency in combat had become without comprare in the past months and their combat-links were stronger than ever, even Angelica assimilated herself easily with them, and despite their initial setback they managed to step up their pace, arriving at the residential floor of the Reinford HQ. They were a little tired but nothing that would deter them.
It was quite the upsetting sight for Alisa when they climbed up and saw the living room couches and even her mother's bed piled up in the corridor, ready to be taken away. "Are you kidding me? Your uncle is ransacking my damn house!"
"That's low," Angelica shook her head. "But then if my uncle had slept on your mom's bed I'd recommend she set it on fire."
Alisa huffed and pulled another arrow from her quiver, stomping her way across the penthouse to her mother's office as surely that would be where Count Rogner was holed up. Angelica followed next to her, cracking her knuckles, while Sara ordered Fie and Elliot to stay behind and watch their backs.
Approaching the entrance to the office, Alisa attempted to open the door and looked completely unsurprised when it didn't budge. She moved to a digital panel next to the door and pressed a set of keys on its keyboard. A bright red light lit up and the panel displayed the words "ACCESS DENIED."
"Ugh, of course he changed the password. Whatever," Alisa groaned and proceeded to press another combination of keys. "Voice override. Disengage security system."
The panel lit up once again, this time with a green light displaying the words "ACCESS GRANTED" and Alisa explained that the office doubled down as a panic room.
"Well, if my dear uncle is there in panic, what are we doing here talking? Let's provide him some company!" Angelica flung the doors open then immediately jumped to the side as two automated turrets on the ceiling opened fire in her direction.
The rest of the team fell back to the sides for cover as well, with Alisa saying those were a new addition.
"Seems like you made yourself really at home, uncle!"
Even from the other side of the room, they could hear the indignant "hmph!" from Count Rogner, sitting at the desk on the other side of the room. "Angelica, how unsurprising."
"Aww, not happy to see me, uncle Heidy? Well the feeling is mutual!" She shouted back, peeking from behind the door and immediately retreating as the turrets fired again.
"I've always told my brother he was too soft on you. Whenever you went on your escapades he would say you were just rebelling, but I knew, I knew it wasn't so simple and childish as that. It's not enough for you to not act like a proper woman of the nobility, you'll never be satisfied until you've completely ruined this family, will you? It's as if you derive some sick pleasure in dragging the Rogner name down the mud along with you."
"My father's been soft on me!? Are you kidding-" Angelica was interrupted by Alisa putting a hand on her shoulder, asking for her chance to speak.
"Count Rogner, this is Alisa Reinford. Despite what Angelica just said, I do hope we can reach an agreement and solve this non-violently. At this moment the rest of our team is in the process of rescuing my mother, the chairwoman, and we're coordinating with the RMP and Intelligence Division to take back Roer. It would be much easier for all of us if you asked the provincial army to stand down, there is nothing to be gained from a prolonged fight between us."
"Do you honestly believe your words will sway me, girl? You are just like your mother, you believe your riches put you in the same position as the nobility, when in actuality you are just another commoner, no better than the rest of the rabble who should lower their heads and be thankful to be governed by your betters."
"Betters?" Said Laura, stopping Alisa from replying herself. "You've kidnapped the Reinford chairwoman, taken control of the company her family built and even dared to take her home as your own. Your behavior has been nothing short of despicable, Count Rogner. You're no better than a common thief."
"The company her family built? Don't make me laugh! The Reinford Group was built with investments from House Rogner, it would be nothing without us and by all rights it should belong to us along with everything that money bought. Just like the rest of Erebonia, Reinford would be nothing without the nobility. What you call taking over her home is nothing but reparations for the indignity I had to endure after years serving as director of the 1st factory and having to answer to a commoner."
As the count continued to rant, Sara readied herselves. The turrets had incredibly fast response times so she would need to be quicker. On the count of three, she jumped through the door's threshold, rolling then firing her gun at the turrets and destroying them. The others followed immediately after, guided by their combat-links to stand in formation with their instructor.
But as soon as they got into position, they were assaulted by a silvery shadow that attempted to cut through their front line in a single motion. Sara was the first to notice and she dodged its attack, but Gaius wasn't so lucky, he raised his spear defensively and jumped back but the enemy still struck him, cutting at his forearm. Angelica used her steel gauntlets to block a swipe that went for her head and rolled to the side and the assailant continued on, moving to Laura but she parried the attack, forcing the enemy to back away.
Finally they were able to look at their attacker, an archaism made to resemble a human wielding a sword, and not just any sword but an eastern style one.
Laura had defended herself on pure instinct, muscle memory activating in her because she knew what the following move the archaism performed would be for she had been on the receiving end of it countless times, and now seeing the stance the automaton took, even if it was different from what she was used to, she knew what it truly was.
Meanwhile, Alisa went to Gaius' side, asking him if he was okay. "I'm alright, Alisa. This is-" He winced. "Superficial."
"Yeah, right," she immediately picked up her ARCUS and cast a healing Art on her friend, stopping the bleeding.
"That was the Second Form of the Eight Leaves: Gale," said Laura, her eyes glaring fiercely at the archaism.
"Oh? It's impressive that you figured it out so quickly, but then you're the daughter of Viscount Arseid, if I'm not mistaken," said the count. "Yes, you're correct. This archaism has been programmed with the combat data of the Divine Blade of Wind, Arios MacLaine. It is capable of fatefully replicating his movements to their finest details, you have no hope in challenging it!"
"Arios? Where the- How did the society get Arios' combat data?" Sara was utterly befuddled. She had read the reports from Crossbell's Guild branch and the presence of Ouroboros in the city had been minimal, with the incident months ago being the work of the D∴G Cult. But now they were able to replicate Arios' combat style on an archaism? Did they have Arios under surveillance without even him noticing? It was deeply troubling.
Mistaking Sara's reaction as fear, Heidel Rogner laughed. "Ha! Impressive what money can buy, is it not? Well, prepare to meet your-"
The count was interrupted by the most peculiar of reactions, one which was downright perplexing for the rest of the Crimson Wings team as Laura was laughing. Not that the Arseid girl was unheard of laughing or that her laughter was a hysterical one (it was rather elegant like she normally was), but still, it was vexing to see her like that during combat.
"Uh Laura, are you okay?" Angelica side eyed her.
"My apologies, I couldn't contain myself. It is simply that…" She cleared her throat and lifted up her sword, regaining her poise and looking even more imposing than before. "I have trained with a disciple of the Eight Leaves One Blade for the better part of a year. Do you honestly believe this cheap copy can hold a candle against the sword of Arseid!?"
Without warning, Laura rushed forward with ferocity at the archaism. She counted within her mind, one… two… It changed its stance to the Morning Moon Form. At the count of three the sword came out of its sheath, predictable, and Laura avoided the blade without effort by spinning her body in one leg and swinging her sword with all her strength. A normal person would have been split in two after being struck that way but the archaism was made of reinforced steel and it was simply sent rolling across the floor, like a tin can being kicked.
Count Rogner's jaw dropped on the floor at the scene.
"It is a shame that Rean isn't here to destroy this insult to his master's teachings himself, so as his partner and fellow follower of the path of the sword this task falls upon me. Instructor, my friends, please allow me to handle this."
Not that Laura had given them the time to argue as she immediately returned to the offensive against her enemy. That archaism represented everything that fueled her feelings of inadequacy, bad enough that the evolution technology on the field of combat was leaving martial arts behind, bad enough that existed things that went beyond that such as Divine Knights, now they were adding insult to injury by copying other swordmasters' techniques and attempting to replace them with machines.
The archaism attacked with Autumn Leaf Cutter in an attempt to overwhelm her with its speed, and maybe that would've worked but once again its movements were predictable. It didn't fight exactly like Rean and Laura doubted it fought like Arios MacLane either, so many of its movements were just the basics of the Eight Leaves that Rean had taught her.
Everything it did was automated, acting by analyzing its opponents movements and calculating the best course of action but that made it awfully predictable. It couldn't truly understand its opponent on a deeper level that gave their duel any meaning, beyond mere calculations and probability. It lacked determination to overcome its limits, it lacked imagination to improvise during a fight, it was barely any different from their orbal computers back in Thors. It was a heartless machine and it could never compare to a real person.
With Laura keeping the archaism occupied, the rest of the team moved in on count Rogner, who watched the fight with wide eyes and wincing with every loud clang of Laura's sword against the machine. That was not what the society had promised him at all about the Regenenkopf Type-0 capabilities.
"Well now, uncle Heidy, looks like you're out of tricks up your sleeve," Angelica cracked her knuckles with a devilish smile on her face, enjoying every second as her uncle paled face turned to them.
Alisa took less joy in the affair and simply asked the count to, please, contact the provincial army stationed in the city and tell them to stand down.
"D-do you honestly think that I will give in to your threats? The Regenenkopf model is simply taking its time with the Arseid girl and when its done it will-"
"RAGH!"
A furious scream and the sound of metal being ripped apart made them turn their attention to Laura as she bisected the archaism, the machine falling lifelessly on the ground in a shower of sparks and smoke.
"You were saying?"