Chapter 39: Their War Game
In the days leading up to the War Game, Kali, Goddess of Telskyura, had wanted nothing more than for someone to end her misery.
After losing the fight against Loki Familia and Hestia Familia, she had been stuck in Melen for no real reason aside from her Familia refusing to leave.
The reason why?
It wasn't because she was slapped with a fine by the Guild for the trouble they caused in Melen. They had no way of collecting if she were to simply pack up and return home.
Ohhhhhhoho noooo.
It was because her Amazons had been bitten by the dreaded lovebug. Many of them had been defeated in battle by the various men of Loki Familia and their Amazon blood now longed for them. Even one of her Captains, Argana, had fallen for the Loki Familia Captain when he backhanded her across the lake. However, larger blocks of her Amazons had fallen for the mysterious bespectacled man of Hestia Familia as well as the so-called "Archer" that came to Tiona's rescue.
Since then, she'd been stuck listening to her Children all act like love-sick school girls. The ones that had been defeated by Hestia's brats had gone around collecting all the upcoming War Game posters as if they were posters for an upcoming concert or something with many lamenting that the posters didn't have the profiles of the two men on them.
Several even got the idea to send their beloved weapons, the ones they fought and bled their fellow sisters with, to Archer after seeing that Tiona had entrusted her weapon to him, but their deliveries were turned away at Orario's gates by the guards like any sensible person. She loved each and every one of her Children, but it was probably time to teach them the common sense of mortals outside of their country.
As such, each and every day brought her closer to contemplating suicide and return to Tenkai just to escape this hell of her own making.
On the day of the War Game, her Children had begged her to allow them to watch it and thus she had no choice but to do so. With Ouranos's permission extending all the way to Melen, she and Njord worked together to fill the city with Divine Mirrors.
And it was through one of those mirrors that she saw "Archer's" opening move which caused a large portion of her Familia to shriek in delight, even those that hadn't been defeated by the man.
"It's hard to believe that power comes from a Level 1," Kali muttered while shoving her fingers into her ears to drown out the cheers.
And he actually was too. He said it loud and clear with no falsehoods that her divinity could find.
Kali's eyes bounced from right to left where her two Captains, Argana and Bache, were flanking her to ask for their opinions.
"Perhaps some sort of magic that allows him to bend metal and a Skill involving the bow?" Argana suggested. "One that improves his power depending on the elevation he fired from? It would certainly give a reason as to why his goddess gave him the vague title of 'Archer.'"
"Well…I guess Hestia is the type to be uncreative like that," Kali admitted, yanking her fingers out. "Then that means…"
Kali waved a hand in front of her personal Divine Mirror to the bespectacled "Saber" and the woman standing by his side, called "Lancer" according to the information offered by the Guild.
"These two will also be ones to watch," Kali muttered as she watched the sole Amazon of Hestia Familia blow a horn to signal the gate opening and for a chariot to ride out at blazing speed. "And that woman is 'Rider' then? Seriously, where did you come up with these names, Hestia?"
"But what exactly is in that box?" Bache wondered as the chariot blazed through the battlefield.
Immediately the incoming Apollo Familia Adventurers intercepted the chariot by firing arrows at it. However, light shot out of the woman's silver Magic Sword with each swing, and intercepted the arrows heading toward her and her war beasts. The ones that would hit her chariot or her package were ignored as they simply bounced off harmlessly. Even the ones that targeted the chariot's wheels were ignored as the arrows were pulverized into dust upon contact.
Kali wondered if she would get to see what would happen if those wheels were to crush one of Apollo's brats. However, she was disappointed to see the chariot turn and sever its connection to the box and return to the castle while leaving the package behind.
"Tch."
Judging from the sound to her side, Argana wasn't too happy about that choice either.
However, sparks began to fly off from the edges of the box, revealing its contents which caused Kali to roar with laughter.
X-x-X-x-X
"And there it is! The mysterious secret weapon of Hestia Familia!" Came the announcer's voice. "For those unaware, we of Ganesha Familia have partnered up with Hestia Familia to study new Taming Methods which resulted in the change in Taming Laws may have gone unnoticed by the majority of Orario due to the excitement of the War Game. The result of our research, as you can see, allows for even the ten-year-old Primo Libera to direct a Level 2 monster into battle! As Apollo Familia will soon see for themselves. For more information, please see the Guild."
X-x-X-x-X
Hestia ignored the advertisement-like commentary and focused on how Berserker and Primo would start the first fight of the War Game.
As expected, most of the attacking Apollo Familia Adventurers scattered at the mere sight of Berserker. They were probably only Level 1 after all and thus didn't stand a chance against the a regular minotaur, let alone Berserker.
"Hestia!" Apollo's enraged voice echoed from the other end of the chamber. "You would bring a minotaur, a monster, to our War Game!?"
"Lancer is registered with the Guild and Ganesha Familia as a Tamer," Hestia replied calmly, not bothering to glance at Apollo's direction, as she brushed her hair over her shoulder with her hand. "You can check for yourself if you want. As such, Berserker is also an important member of my Familia."
She then tuned out any other ranting Apollo might say in favor of watching Berserker and Primo's fight.
It had been Hestia's suggestion to switch Berserker's weapons into a club and shield rather than his twin axes. It was only her own naivety speaking, but she felt that a club and shield was both less scary to see and less likely to kill someone on accident. Caster had snidely asked her if that meant she was more okay with broken bones and severe blunt trauma over severed limbs and death and Hestia couldn't do anything but glare at him.
As much as she hated Apollo for dragging her into this, she didn't want to put the blame on his Children, even those that joined in without question. Like Primo had said, there were most likely those that were doing this because it was their god's order. For all Hestia knew, there may even be those that had been poached by Apollo from their previous Familia like Apollo was trying to do to Bell right now.
Quickly shaking her head, Hestia returned her full attention to her Divine Mirror.
Berserker slammed his massive mace down on the ground, sending a fissure toward the opposing Adventurers, keeping them at a distance as well as splitting their party in two.
Taking advantage of this, he charged forward, shield in front of his face to deflect the incoming arrows. It wasn't an action taken to protect himself though. Berserker's body proved its power as the arrows fired by the Level 1 and Level 2 Adventurers simply bounced off his already rock hard body that was only enhanced by the Falna that Hestia gave him. Probably.
She didn't exactly know how it was affecting his monster body with the bug in the Status.
Anyway, the reason he was protecting his head was because of the tiny girl riding on the standing saddle on his back.
It was a last minute idea, something Bell had suggested as a joke. Everyone knew that the biggest weakness of a Mage was that until they were more experienced, they had to remain still while chanting.
"If we had Primo ride in Rider's chariot or Berserker's back wouldn't that make her like the Legendary Royal Knights of the elves?" Bell had asked with a laugh.
It was not quite as funny when everyone stared at him with widened eyes and Welf took him quite seriously.
The saddle was more like a backpack for Berserker, one with straps wide enough to wrap around his body and underneath his arms. The carriage for Primo to stand in was made of metal to protect her from arrows as much as possible while still leaving her enough room to see and aim her spells. And in the worst case scenario, allow Berserker to reach back, pull her out, and toss her to safety.
It was something Hestia prayed wouldn't need to happen even though it would be good advertisement for their "Taming Services." A monster prioritizing the safety of its Tamer even before its own life? That was basically worth Berserker's weight in gold.
Back on screen, Berserker leaped forward, slamming down just in front of one of the Adventurers, causing her to fall back on her butt while her companions scattered and abandoned her in the face of the giant monster. The minotaur then leaned in close to her face and let out a burst of steam through the holes in his helmet. The woman let out a scream and scrambled away as quickly as she could.
"Berserker, huh?" Hestia heard Loki mumble. "More of your strange naming sense…well, I can't deny it isn't a good one."
However, simply running away from Berserker wasn't enough to save them. After all, he was carrying an extra package on his back.
Lights sparkled around Berserker's head before beams shot out from them, crashing near the scattered Adventurers and sending them flying.
X-x-X-x-X
"Ohh, that's one way for a Level 1 Mage to get around being stuck in one place while chanting," Tiona muttered as Apollo Familia tried shooting arrows at Primo again, only for Berserker to shield her with the metal slab and his own massive bulk.
"But still…more minotaurs?" Tione asked with a chuckle. "That Familia can't seem to get away from them."
"…Is that really a minotaur?" Ais asked, staring at the screen with a frown.
"What else could it be?" Tione pointed out and Ais didn't answer. "It's way too big to be a Cows."
"I think plenty of people say the same thing about Androctonus and Amazoness," Tiona pointed out.
"Okay, mentioning Phryne Jamil is unfair!"
"Hey Lefiya, what do you think about Primo riding a minotaur into battle?" Tiona asked, finally looking away from the Divine Mirror.
"Umm…I guess I'm a little worried that she is riding on top of a monster," Lefiya admitted as she watched her student trust her defense and evasion to the massive beast while she focused solely on casting her magic.
And cast it she did.
The spell continuously went off without any trouble as the arrows fired from Apollo Familia were being deflected by the minotaur's massive shield as it did its duty in protecting Primo.
"If I were to say something about it, I guess it would be that I wonder what she would do if she gets too big to ride him anymore," Lefiya said with a smile as Tiona laughed.
"That thing is like twice her size. By the time she's too big she'll probably have learned Concurrent Casting from you."
"I…think you're expecting too much from me. I barely just learned it myself after all."
"Don't worry," Ais said to Lefiya with a smile. "Riveria believes in you. And so do I."
"Miss Ais…"
A warmth spread throughout Lefiya's chest as she nodded her head resolutely. She had the trust of her two most important people in the Familia as well as the little girl fighting for her Familia's sake in front of the entire world. She will do them proud, no ifs, ands or buts!
X-x-X-x-X
Primo watched the retreating enemies with a relieved sigh. It looked like all of them were still alive and she didn't do something awful like blow off someone's leg.
"What now?" Berserker asked. "Chase? Go back?"
"Umm…we were only supposed to stop them," Primo remembered. "We can go after them but let's go back instead."
"Mm."
Berserker nodded his head before quickly raising his shield again as one last arrow came toward Primo, causing her to squeak in shock and nearly fall out of her seat. With a growl, Berserker stomped over toward a nearby boulder and with barely a grunt of effort, pulled it out of the ground, holding it over their heads in a massive show of strength.
"Uh…Berserker…?" Primo began as the Servant took a few steps closer to the Apollo Castle. "Asterios? Please don't. Asteri-"
But Berserker didn't listen as he let out a roar and threw the boulder as if it was nothing more than a ball. The boulder soared through the air, far above the heads of the enemy strike force, and smashed into the gate, blowing it, and parts of the stone it was attached to, clean off.
Berserker then let out a grunt as he nodded in satisfaction. Primo responded by slamming her staff down on his head.
X-x-X-x-X
"Well now, that's something you don't see every day."
Finn made that comment as he watched the elf girl bang on the minotaur's head, cheeks puffed up like a balloon, while the monster was crouched down, weakly covering its head from her assault. Even though realistically there was absolutely no way she should be able to hurt him.
"Looks like they weren't exaggerating when they said there was a new method of taming," Finn said as he shifted the stack of papers on his desk so that Primo Libera's profile was on top. The Guild was rather open in releasing the information of the two Familias doing battle, but only what was reported to them.
Primo only registered as an Adventurer a few weeks ago, a day before Hestia Familia's attack on the Black Goliath on the Seventeenth Floor, and the same day as Emma Flores, the girl that the Goddess Hestia had brought along with Bell Cranel. At only ten years old, Primo was already capable of casting her magic under combat situations and was a fast study according to Lefiya. The fact that she could ride a minotaur into combat and control it well enough to not allow it to murder Apollo Familia's Level 1s on sight spoke wonders of her potential. That being said, Finn heard a rumor that it was now possible for a God to play fetch with hellhounds under this new method.
"What do you think, Riveria? Remind you of your elven Magic Knights at all?"
"I believe that if they were to see a child that young perform beyond their ability on top of a monster, they would all have a collective heart attack."
Finn's fellow executives were discussing the child's ability between themselves across the room.
"But still, I am surprised that they would send a child so young out to repel the first wave," Riveria continued as the minotaur stood up and started walking back toward the Hestia Castle.
"Seems like she could handle herself and their crazy pet just fine to me," Gareth noted with a shrug.
"I am not denying her ability…far from it. Her deeds are quite praiseworthy, but she is still just a child. I would have at least had Miss Rider remain nearby just in case."
To a long-lived race like an elf, ten years old was probably frighteningly young to start Adventuring. Or at least, without a chaperone nearby.
"They probably have complete faith in their new Taming method then," Finn chimed in with his own opinion. "They might be using this as a way to advertise their services to correspond with the new law."
"Starting at ten million valis a monster, it ain't something regular Familias are going to be able to afford," Gareth pointed out. "That being said, I am curious as to how it works. Do we have the cash to spare?"
"If you go into the Dungeon on your own for a few days, I'm sure you can come up with it," Finn replied with a smile.
"Hmm…I'll think about it again after the show."
"Still…I have to wonder where they got their hands on a minotaur in the first place," Riveria muttered, hand over her mouth. "They are not exactly subtle and that one looks like an Enhanced Species."
"Has to be from Ganesha Familia, right? Probably as a gift for a long future relationship."
"Except Lefiya and Tiona didn't mention them leaving with a giant metal crate," Riveria reminded him. "It means that they found their minotaur from outside of the Dungeon."
"Well it's not unheard of for Enhanced Species to show up on the surface," Finn said. "You yourself said you met some bandits trying to burn down an elven forest with a red dragon, right?"
Riveria slowly nodded her head in affirmation, frowning at the memory.
"That expression doesn't suit you, Riveria," Finn continued. "Leave playing Devil's Advocate to me. As it is, I don't think Hestia Familia is in any contact with our mysterious Tamer. They're working closely with Ganesha Familia in this endeavor after all."
"You're right," Riveria admitted. "Ganesha Familia would have already asked about the origins of the minotaur, if they weren't the one to present it to them in the first place. Speaking of which…should we assume that figure nesting below Archer next to the bell is also a monster?"
"Come to think of it, they do have one more person than the number of registered Adventurers in the Guild," Gareth realized with a nod. "Wonder what kind they got."
"If it is a monster, it looks humanoid so perhaps a kobold?"
"Well, we'll find out as the War Game continues," Finn said as he turned back toward the Divine Mirror.
Hestia Familia was full of surprises and one by one those secrets would come to light.
Finn opened his drawer and peeked into it where the message Bell Cranel had given him on the night of the Banquet of the Gods.
X-x-X-x-X
"Vice Captain! Berserker and Primo are back!"
"I see them, thanks Gina!" Bell called back as he ran to the gate and hopped down to meet them. "Welcome back. You both did great. Were you hurt?"
"I'm fine and Berserker…" Primo began as she turned to the Servant who simply shook his head. "Is in perfect health too."
"That's good to hear," Bell said as he ruffled Primo's hair while placing a hand on Berserker's arm. "Head inside and rest. Lily's prepared a snack."
"Yay! Do we still have any of those pies Miss Rider made left?"
"You mean the galettes? I think there might be a few left…if Welf hadn't eaten them all yet anyway. I know he already ate like five of them."
"Ahh! That's not fair! I only got to eat one!"
"Hahaha, then you better hurry."
With a nod, Berserker picked Primo back up in his arm and the two entered the castle. As Bell watched them go, Emma walked up to him.
"What's the next plan, Bell?" She asked.
"Hmm…I'm not sure yet," Bell admitted as he looked out the gate toward the castle. "It's probably not good to be so reactionary, but I want to see what their next move is first."
"Whether or not they'll launch another attack or shore up their defenses?"
"Yeah. Since Berserker threw that rock at their gate, they may prioritize repairing before anything else."
"If that's the case then why don't we go poke at their open wound?" Welf asked, dropping down beside them, great sword at the ready with his red Magic Sword on his back. "Just waiting around while they try and make things harder on us doesn't suit me. Let's make a grab at one of their flags even if it's not part of the plan."
"…Yeah, you have a point," Bell agreed with a smile. He then looked up toward the tower where Archer and Fia were looking back down at him. "But first…we need to do something about their defenses."
X-x-X-x-X
"There he goes! Moonlit Dawn's making his move!"
At an Adventurer's shout, Syr stopped in the middle of filling a customer's glass to turn toward the Divine Mirror that appeared in the Hostess.
With his burning red blade strapped to his back and two shorter blades in his hands, Bell was making his way across the field toward the Apollo Castle. Following right behind him was Rider, ferrying three other members of Hestia Familia on her chariot. The new member, the pallum, and the pink haired girl.
Even though they had seen the speed and power of the war beasts carrying the chariot, it was a surprise to see Bell keep up with its speed even if it wasn't moving at its top speed.
"But Apollo's got a bunch of archers on the walls, doesn't he?"
"Yeah, how are they going to get past them?"
As if to answer them, another shooting star streaked across the sky.
The star smashed into the side of the wall, sending the archers flying off the wall from the explosive impact. Those that weren't sent flying quickly dove to the side as the wall collapsed around them. Before the rocks could settle, a second star smashed into the wall on the opposite side of the gate, repeating the process.
With the commotion in the pub, Syr took a quick glance at Mama Mia to make sure she wouldn't get in trouble for watching the War Game instead of doing her work, but even the Matron had her eyes glued to the screen. Taking that as implicit permission to keep watching, Syr turned her own eyes back to the screen.
Even though the archers on the walls had been taken out, Apollo Familia still had plenty of troops stationed at the front. However, as they had to funnel through a single exit, it only left them open to a wide attack. Something Hestia Familia took advantage of immediately.
Bell fell back a bit as the chariot sped forward and overtook him. The pallum and the human girl gave each other a high five before the latter jumped off the still moving chariot alongside the red headed young man. The two hit the ground at a run with the girl now letting off an aura of pink light. With Bell right behind them, they charged toward the mass of Apollo Familia members with the red head in front.
With a swing of the young man's sword, an ocean of flame exploded outward toward Apollo Familia. The flame not only burned the Adventurers in front, but also pushed them back into the castle gates, clearing the way for the three of them to enter without any trouble.
The scene caused a massive commotion in the pub.
"That's…what is that Magic Sword?"
"That guy…the Guild info says he's Welf Crozzo!"
"Then that's a legendary Crozzo Magic Sword!?"
With the way clear, the three of them ran pass the bodies as Bell pointed out the stairs leading up the wall to his friends, telling them to go up. The other two nodded and ran up the wall while Bell headed toward the recovering Apollo Familia members.
While most of the army had been downed by the flames, it looked as though they were all still alive. Several had already gotten to their feet and charged at Bell.
However, Bell did not hesitate. Moving like the wind, he met the incoming force head on with two short swords at the ready, one red and the other silver.
His blades caught their weapons and shattered them almost on impact. Those Adventurers with weapons that couldn't be shattered in a single hit had their faces quickly introduced to his fist or boot.
With each enemy that Bell took down or incapacitated, Syr's heart fluttered all the more. He was so much more confident now than he was when he fought the silverback back at Monsterphilia. It was a shame he was fighting other humans, but that couldn't be helped.
The pair on the walls were holding their own as well. The one called "Welf" was taking the lead with his Magic Sword burning away a wave of arrows that had been launched at them while the girl was fighting her way pass the defenders on the wall next to the flag. With a crystal red blade in her right hand and a blue one in the other she fended off two other Adventurers on her own in a flurry of red and blue lights.
Although Syr was by no means an expert in the matter she felt that Bell's fellow Adventurer did not fight like someone who only just became an Adventurer just the other day. In fact, she fought in a similar way to the Bell, although with more emphasis on her legs and kicks. Perhaps they had the same teacher or inspiration? Syr decided to ask Ryu for her thoughts when she got the chance.
The girl managed to overpower both of her opponents by shattering their weapons like Bell did before sending them flying off the wall with a kick. It really did feel like the girl was copying someone else. Was it because she had the same teacher as Bell? Or was it an imitation of an imitation?
Nevertheless, she managed to reach the flag. Taking the pole holding the flag in one hand, she swung it with her blue blade, cutting deep into the pole with the blade. She seemed to have hurt her hand a bit as she winced and shook it slightly before a second swing completely cut the pole in two.
With the flag in hand, the girl jumped from the wall and started running toward the chariot which was making a loop back to pick her up.
Another wave of flame engulfed the upper wall as Welf jumped off the wall himself but not before hollering to Bell first.
With his companions leaving, there was no reason for Bell to continue his rather efficient distraction. He broke off from the enemy with ease and sped right up toward the second flag. With a slash from his red short sword, the pole was cleanly cut in two, allowing him to abscond with the second flag.
The cheers within the pub and out across the city was loud enough to cause the very foundations of the building to shake.
Naturally, Syr's cheers were amongst the loudest within the pub until a soft look and smile from Mama Mia made her quiet down and get back to work.
X-x-X-x-X
"…We really need to figure out a better way in doing this," Rider muttered as she helped an exhausted Emma down from her chariot.
"I…can't…help it…" the girl whined as Rider unceremoniously dropped her onto the grass in response. "Oof."
"Well, that went better than expected," Welf said as he picked up the flag that Emma dropped. "We should probably hide these somewhere right? Are we allowed to take back stolen flags?"
"Probably, right?" Bell replied, tossing Welf the flag that he had taken. "The rules say that we have one point for each flag we capture. If we don't have it captured anymore then we wouldn't have a point, right?"
"I guess I'll go with the more complicated interpretation just to be safe."
"What do we do now?" Lily asked Bell as she helped Emma sit up. "Does Bell want to hit them again?"
"They're currently patching up the Adventurers you burned," Archer said as he landed beside them from the bell tower. "If you strike now, they'll have to split between defending their injured and intercepting you and their defense will be weaker."
"…But they took on Welf's Magic Sword head on constantly, right?" Bell asked. "If we interrupt their treatment…"
"Some might die, yeah," Archer finished bluntly as Welf winced.
"Well…since Kazuki ties itself to my Magic Status it's not as bad as it would be if you used yours but…" Welf defended himself but his voice started trailing off at the end.
"Then let's not," Bell decided immediately. "I know that attacking them now may force them to surrender faster but I want to at least let them heal most of their wounded first."
Archer simply sighed as he shook his head.
"You're just making things harder for yourself," he pointed out with crossed arms.
"I never once thought that this path I've chosen would be easy," Bell replied, looking Archer directly in the eye. "But I'm going to see it through nonetheless."
"And Lily will be with Bell every step up the way!" Lily said as she jumped with her hand raised up.
"I think it's far too late for us to jump ship," Emma added with a smile while scratching her cheek. "Not that I ever intended to."
"And if you end up messing up, I'll pick you back up and set you straight," Welf said, wrapping an arm around Bell's neck with a grin before turning his head to the side with his tongue sticking out. "Ugh, that was lame!"
"Really?" Rider asked as she placed a hand on Archer's shoulder, the man sporting a rather complicated looking expression, while Lily and Emma giggled into their hands. "I thought it was rather manly of you, Welf. Every hero needs a friend that sticks by them through thick and thin after all."
"Just like Argonaut and Crozzo…" Welf muttered under his breath.
"Hmm? What was that?" Bell asked.
"Nah, nothing important," Welf quickly said with a laugh. "So, what's next on the agenda, war leader?"
"Please don't call me that even as a joke," Bell said rather quickly, showing just how uncomfortable he was at the thought. "For now, let's rest. Then when night comes, it'll be Lily, Gina and Jack's turn."
"Roger!" Came Gina's voice before the Amazon landed on Welf's back with a salute.
"Gah!"
Welf let out a grunt as he and by extension the person he was hanging onto, Bell, fell over.
"That's for having a fun conversation without me!" Gina said as she pointed a finger at the two boys.
"Is there something on my back that attracts tiny girls to jump on it?" Welf asked Bell in a rather serious tone, causing the younger boy to laugh.
"Master Welf does have a really big back after all," Lily said, poking Welf's back with a stick.
"Where the hell did you find a stick!? There's nothing but plains all around us."
"It's an arrow shaft."
"Uwaaah!?"
Naturally the arrowhead had already been broken off but Welf still scrambled away nonetheless.
"I wonder if things will go as planned…" Archer muttered as Rider placed a hand on her cheek with a wry smile.
X-x-X-x-X
"What is going on!?" Hyacinthus demanded as he slammed a fist against the table. "How did we let a strike force of only three people escape with two of our banners!?"
"I've no excuse…" Lissos said. "We couldn't plan around Crozzo's Magic Swords or that Archer person."
Hyacinthus nodded his head.
They had indeed lost the initiative in several ways. The preemptive strike on their flag, the minotaur routing their strike force, and now this nonsense.
"We've also got to reform the wall guards," Daphne said. "We got too many people with burns that still need to be treated and Cassandra is running on fumes. That being said, we need to work on fixing the gate and patching up the walls."
"And what's the problem?"
"No one wants to go outside where they can be shot by someone who can fire accurately from two kilometers away."
The information only served to infuriate Hyacinthus even more, but it wasn't as though he could blame them. That shooting ability was not natural for a Level 1 but there was no proof that he wasn't a Level 1 that didn't just have a powerful Skill or Magic and it was too late for them to demand an investigation by the Guild.
Hyacinthus felt that it was hard to understand what his Lord Apollo had been thinking. Loathe he was to admit it, Apollo should have called off the whole affair after what had happened in the bar or the "evidence" that Bell Cranel had offered of his own innocence.
He could have sworn that his god had given up on the idea of taking Bell Cranel from Hestia Familia after it was said that she and Loki Familia had seemingly gotten over their goddesses' mutual animosity and were in some sort of alliance with each other.
Did something happen during that drinking party with Lady Demeter?
"Hyacinthus?" Daphne spoke up and Hyacinthus realized he hadn't said anything for several minutes.
"Wait a moment, I'm thinking," Hyacinthus replied quickly.
The goddess had gifted Hyacinthus's god several bottles of wine and although Lord Apollo did love his spirits, he had been drinking a lot these past few days. It was rare for him not to have one bottle by his side and he wouldn't share it with anyone, not even Hyacinthus.
That last point was like a dagger being driven into the man's heart. It was his god's right to keep everything to himself of course, but he had always shared all of his gifts with Hyacinthus even though the man would try to refuse them on principle only to eventually give in due to the god's insistence.
The sudden difference in behavior was both jarring and frightening.
Were they dancing in the palm of someone else's hand? Did someone want them to strike at Hestia Familia? To reveal these "impossible" Level 1 Adventurers while they watched from the safety of Orario? But the only one who had any interaction with Lord Apollo was…
Hyacinthus slammed a fist on the table so hard that it collapsed and shattered underneath hime, startling the Apollo Familia executives.
"We've been played for fools…" he growled.
Whoever it was that organized this most likely predicted that Apollo Familia would lose terribly. From what Hyacinthus saw just within this first hour alone, their chances to win was probably nonexistent. Hyacinthus couldn't leave the castle walls at all lest he be sniped, and they'd lose instantly.
And with Lord Apollo not properly setting their lost conditions, it was likely that they'd lose their entire Familia if Lady Hestia was feeling spiteful, which Hyacinthus had no reason to believe that she wouldn't be.
But Hyacinthus couldn't just surrender. He would lose Lord Apollo's favor if he did. They had to play this out and lose as painlessly as possible. He had to make it seem like they were still trying to win though or else his god might suffer from the mysterious puppet master.
If they could at least defeat Bell Cranel, they could at least save some of their pride.
Thankfully, Hyacinthus had gathered some Magic Items in secret to help him do such that. Should Bell Cranel attack again, he'll be ready for him.
"For now, focus on getting the wounded treated," Hyacinthus ordered. "Take them inside the keep and out of sight of that Archer. We'll give up on the gate for now but post guards in the shadow of the walls either way. Who knows what they're up to now?"
X-x-X-x-X
"Good evening and welcome to the first ever Archer and Rider's Cooking Hour!" A cheerful redheaded woman said with a smile as she waved at the empty space in front of her with both of her hands before bringing her hands together in applause. "Yay! Clap clap clap."
"The first and probably only show we'll ever have the chance to put on," came the dry addition of the white-haired man to her left. "Still, it was an order from our goddess, so we have no choice but to obey."
"True. We don't even know if anyone's really going to be watching this, but I guess we'll just do it even if it turns out we're just talking to ourselves the entire time."
"Well there's a lull in the fighting and its around dinnertime so I don't think they'll be anything else to watch. Unless there are people that would rather watch Apollo Familia treating their wounded."
During the preparation period before the War Game, Hestia said that since the War Game was going to be shown live to all of Orario that Rider and Archer take advantage of it to show off their cooking. However, she seriously didn't think they'd actually do it. She was sure she had played it off as a joke, which meant that they were doing it using her joke as an excuse! Hestia also couldn't believe that a few goddesses had taken up a pen and parchment from somewhere and seemed to be getting ready to take notes. If Hestia had used her Divine Mirror to spy on her Familia's favorite pub, she would be able to see the dwarf proprietress taking notes as well.
"Well then, let's start the show with a special meal for our darling Primo straight from our Hestia Familia Head Chef's cookbook!"
"Since when did I have that title?" Archer shot back even though he was currently wearing a white apron that had the words "#1 Chef" on it. "In any case, our little Primo's favorite food just so happens to be peaches. Leave her alone and she'd be eating nothing but peaches for each meal."
Hestia quickly scanned the vicinity of the castle in search of Primo. She found her Child in the courtyard practicing her spell against a few dummy targets Lancer had set up for her. As such, the elf had no idea her secrets were being blabbed to the whole world by the two parent-like Servants of her Familia.
"And so, to commend her for her excellent job at the start of the War Game, we'll be having a peach party," Archer declared as he gestured to the basket of peaches in front of him. "The main course will be Peach Soup."
"Soup?" Rider asked the question many of the surrounding gods and goddesses were thinking. "When it comes to turning fruits like peaches into a liquid, shouldn't it be more of a juice? Hang on…tomatoes are considered to be a fruit and we have both tomato soup and tomato juice. What is the difference between calling it soup or juice, I wonder?"
"Well, don't sweat the little details," Archer said, waving the million valis question aside. "First off, we have to remove the skin from the peaches. Since we're feeding quite a lot of people, we'll be using quite a few of them today."
"Our Captain went out of his way to have them brought here himself," Rider explained with a mischievous smile. "But you didn't hear it from me, okay?"
"If the fuzz on the peaches bothers you, you can easily remove it by rubbing a towel over them," Archer continued, ignoring Rider's side comment. He cut the peach in two and handed it off to the woman who easily peeled the skin off with her fingers. The two of them worked quickly and efficiently, peeling every single peach without pause. "Once you've finished peeling the skin, dice them up and toss them into a Magic Stone blender."
"Ooh," Rider said as she held the lid down on the blender while the machine did its work.
"Once the fruit has turned into liquid, add milk and blend it again. Then do the same with cream and lemon juice. Once that is done, place it into a larger bowl and salt it."
"Is it all right to add some salt to something that's going to be sweet?"
"Adding just a bit of salt highlights the sweetness a bit more. It's why some people add salt to watermelons or why salted caramel is a thing."
"Hmm…"
Rider kept working with the blender even as she asked questions to Archer, probably more for the audience's sake than her own.
"Ahh…my hands are going to end up numb," Rider said with a laugh.
"Don't give up yet. We still have a lot more where that came from."
"Ah…ahahaha…"
After a few more minutes of blending, Rider was released from the hand rumbling hell she put herself into and collapsed onto the ground. Hestia didn't think it would be this easy for a Servant's hand to get numb. She was probably just fooling around
"Leave behind some chopped peaches to use for later. While we wait for the soup to chill in the fridge, let's make a salad to go with it. Naturally, it will also use peaches."
"And this too!"
Rider quickly recovered from her numbness as she bent below the table and hoisted up a massive rock hard, brown, and cured boar leg attached to some kind of wooden cutting board to hold it in place.
Archer stared at the leg for a good minute before peering down below the table as if wondering where exactly Rider had been hiding it and how he had missed it. Or maybe he was just acting to put on a show for the invisible audience.
Hestia swapped over to the throne room where she could see Caster chuckling to himself for no apparent reason.
"Ham, huh?" Archer muttered, recovering rather quickly. "Yeah, that'd work."
Archer lowered his hand down below the table and when he pulled it back up, a cutting knife with a blade about as long as his forearm was in his hands.
From there he carefully started slicing thin strips of ham from the leg, revealing the rich red color of the meat underneath, as Rider was ripping apart some vegetables to throw into a salad alongside some slices of peaches.
"Mix the ham with the peaches and salad with your favorite dressing," Archer continued as the two tossed the salad in the large bowl. "Then once the soup has been chilled properly…add some white pepper to the soup…then garnish it with the chopped peaches we set aside earlier and some mint. And we're done."
"Wow…" Rider's soft gasp was echoed by several goddesses, Hestia included.
In the white colored bowl was an orange and pink colored liquid with the mint and peach cubes floating in the center.
With the bit of presentation, Archer then gave a courtly bow as he stepped to the side so that the finished soup and salad took center stage with Rider having left the kitchen a bit earlier.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh…I want it…and I don't even care for peaches," Loki let out an agonized voice of desire that was mimicked by a few other deities as Rider came back with her hands over Primo's eyes as she led the girl to the table.
"What's that smell?" Primo was asking. "It smells really really good!"
"It's a new dish we're trying out," Rider explained. "And we're letting you have first taste. Ta-dah!"
Rider took off her hands just as Primo reached the table, allowing the elf to see the food in front of her, causing the girl to squeal in delight.
"What is all this? Why is this here? Is it all just for me? Is it my birthday already?"
Bouncing on the balls of her feet, Primo fired off several questions with sparkles in her eyes eyes before Rider placed her hands on Primo's shoulders to calm her down.
"Easy there," Rider said kindly as Archer drew up a stool for Primo to sit down. "It's not going anywhere so have a taste first."
With a quick nod, Primo picked up her spoon and gently dipped it into the side of the soup, only drawing the liquid up to her lips. She let out a sigh of delight as she took in the sweet aroma. With a single sip, another wordless squeal escaped her mouth as her hand moved up and down in delight, bringing a smile on Hestia's face.
Rider turned to Archer with a smile on her face as she held up a "V" sign at him. Archer tried to play cool as he simply folded his arms and turned his body to the side but nonetheless flashed her a thumbs up in response as Primo cheerfully ate the soup, completely unaware that she was being watched by the gods.
Still, Hestia was definitely going to have the two make the soup for her once they got back home.
"Well, that's it for our show," Rider said with a perfect smile as she waved with her hands again. "Perhaps we'll do it again sometime."
"Don't count on it though," Archer said with a wry smile as Primo looked back and forth between the two in confusion with her spoon in her mouth.
As everyone aside from Caster funneled into the kitchen, attracted in by the smell of dinner, night slowly fell over the first day of the War Game and the end of the first, but hopefully not last, Archer and Rider's Cooking Hour.
X-x-X-x-X
Night had fallen on their little corner of the world.
It was only expected that a siege battle would last for a while, but a certain group of people knew that the War Game could be ended in an instant if they did not care about the costs.
The costs to the enemy that is.
Lily didn't particularly care what happened to Apollo Familia during or after the War Game, but she kept those thoughts to herself. There was no reason to make the others think of her as callous or something. Lily herself wasn't sure if that did make her callous either. Even if Apollo Familia was being directed to attack them by someone else, there was no reason for her to care about what happens to their enemy.
Which was why she was implementing the plan to sabotage the enemy's supplies alongside Assassin and Gina. Bell had been reluctant but Lily pointed out that by doing this they could force Apollo Familia to surrender faster.
The three of them were making their way across the field under the cover of darkness. Granted it wouldn't be of much help when they got closer to the enemy castle due to the fact that decent night vision came with the Falna package. It was kind of necessary for those that planned on making a living in the underground world known as the Dungeon after all.
Still they didn't have to worry about wall guards too much.
When they saw that torches were going up on the walls as part of a night watch, Archer had quickly shot them down and scared off the ones patrolling on top of the walls. The ones inside the keep proper and those behind the walls were left alone. Archer claimed he could shoot them down if needed but that would be showing their hand too easily. But if Lily and the others needed to escape quickly, he'd do so in a heartbeat and Bell was ready to drop in at any time.
The three of them crossed the plain without any trouble, only making conversation to reconfirm their objectives.
Lily and Assassin were to sneak into the castle and sabotage the enemy supplies as much as possible. It was unlikely they would keep it all in one place, but losing any amount of their supplies, especially after the assault earlier today would be a huge blow to their war power and their morale.
Once that was done, they would make their way out before their trap was sprung. In the event that it fails, Lily would signal Gina for help. Gina was to wait outside until said signal where she would proceed to bombard the walls with her Magic Sword which would be a signal for the others to perform a rescue.
Lily wasn't so arrogant as to believe she wouldn't get caught, even with her magic ring. It wouldn't be a failure on Assassin's or the ring if they get found out after all.
"But…I wonder if the people who are watching through the Divine Mirrors can see you or not," Gina said as she followed behind Lily while Assassin was supposedly a bit further ahead somewhere in the darkness. "Of if it's still limited to people with magic?"
"Isn't it the clairvoyance of the gods?" Lily asked. "Lily would think they would be able to see Lily."
"Yeah but it's only to watch us, right? I don't think they can do anything more than that."
"Lily supposes it is important whether Miss Gina looks like she's talking to herself or not."
"Ah. I didn't even think about that."
Rather than feel dismayed at the thought, Gina simply giggled to herself. Lily simply sighed as she shook her head.
Finally, they came to the walls of the Apollo Castle. As soon as Lily touched the stone wall, Assassin reappeared in front of her.
"It's super quiet," Assassin reported with a smile. "Not too many people are walking around, but everyone is scared so they are looking around at every bit of noise."
"Lily can work with that," Lily said as she double checked that her ring was secure around her finger underneath her glove before turning to Gina. "Lily and Jack will head in now. Remember the signal, Gina."
"Pretty sure I would figure something's wrong when fog suddenly erupts from a castle when there isn't a single cloud in the sky," Gina replied with a pout before sticking her tongue out at Lily.
Lily childishly mimicked the gesture before she pulled out a rope and hook from her bag. Not the big one she brought along to their Dungeon trips but a smaller one that wouldn't get in the way of their stealth mission.
She quietly scaled the wall with Assassin doing the same behind her.
The two of them reached the top of the wall and found no sign of any guards as Archer had said. The remains of torch braziers used for night watches with their still smoldering embers could be seen though. As expected of a Servant, their skill was beyond the limits of normal people.
For the record, Level 5s and higher were not normal.
The top of the walls was completely deserted. Apollo Familia was not taking any chances with another of Archer's shots. Below the wall however, was a different story. Although there weren't any braziers lit, there were guards patrolling the grounds. Still, it meant that Lily had free reign to travel on top of the walls. Or at least the ones that could be seen from the top of their bell tower.
In the distance, Hestia Castle's bell tower rang out, causing the members of Apollo Familia to flinch and dive for cover as as the corner of the wall opposite of Lily exploded.
Yep, Archer and Fia have properly conditioned Apollo Familia to duck away whenever the bell rang as it meant Archer was about to fire an arrow. Hopefully the runes around Fia's head didn't wear off or else they would have to deal with an extremely deaf harpy in the near future.
For now, Lily had to find the location of the supply depot. Not one of the smaller closets that Archer spotted various members of Apollo Familia running to throughout the day, but the biggest one they had.
Most likely it was deep within the castle itself like where Hestia Familia kept their supplies.
Which meant things were going to be difficult.
For Lily anyway.
She then turned toward Assassin with a smile.
X-x-X-x-X
"You know…it's really no fun watching a War Game with someone who knows what's going to happen."
"You were the one who invited me here."
As it was nighttime, the gods at Babel Tower had adjourned and returned to their respective Homes with Hestia returning to Loki's Twilight Manor with said goddess.
Loki had been planning on heading straight to bed, but Hestia had said that her Children were planning a night raid, which meant that there was no way Loki could miss it.
But for a night raid, it sure was uninteresting.
So far Hestia's Divine Mirror only showed the Amazoness walking alone through the plain. Of course, it also showed the grass split apart in front of her, telling Loki that there was someone else there that the Divine Mirror couldn't see. It was limited to what a normal mortal could see to keep things exciting after all.
Well, that was a mouthful.
Which meant it was someone, probably the pallum, wearing a magic item that made them invisible. That Caster was definitely shelling out for every advantage he could get in this War Game.
Still, with Hestia by her side, Loki found it difficult to believe that she was Enyo or someone working with them. She was just too easy to read. Sure, she kept mum about Archer and the other "-ers" but you'd have to be a rather crappy God or Goddess if you couldn't keep your Children's secrets.
Back to the War Game though, all that was going on was the white-haired human girl was currently wandering around the halls of Apollo Castle without anyone seeing her.
It must be a Skill that made her harder, or even impossible, to notice if she could just duck in a corner with her hands on her head and have a cienthrope walk by and not notice or even smell her.
"She must be a real pro at hide and seek," Loki commented.
"The girls stopped playing that after Jack went missing for three hours," Hestia muttered. "We found her crying in one of the cupboards in the bath because she thought she was forgotten about again."
That was both depressing and hilarious. Deprilarious.
Still, when it came to recon, it was one hellova powerful tool if it worked on monsters too. It might be the reason why their Party could reach the Eighteenth Floor after barely three months as a Familia.
Well, that was probably more Saber's skill considering he was powerful enough that it made Loki's precious Ais gain Status Points just from sparring.
Speaking of which, Loki hadn't confronted Hestia about the question of whether or not her special Children were Spirits or not. Well, not counting "Master" Bell Cranel and Argonaut anyway. She wasn't sure why. It wasn't as though Hestia would be able to escape after all.
Maybe she was worried about what would happen if they were.
"What then?"
"So what?"
Those questions entered her mind.
Would anything even change if she knew the answer to her question? Well, at worst she might push a possible ally against Enyo away if she were too pushy. Despite her looks, Hestia was among the most spiteful of the gods that Loki knew. Which was why Loki wanted to see what happens to Apollo after this. Though Hestia was probably too kind to force Apollo back to Tenkai, it should still be quite a show.
In any case, there wasn't really anything to gain from investigating Hestia and her kids anymore.
But back to the War Game, it looked as though little Jack found herself in one of the larger halls of the castle, which had been turned into a treatment room for the injured Apollo Adventurers. The girl carefully walked along the edge of the room as to not step on anyone but stopped next to one of the injured men.
Loki's eyes widened slightly as the little doll slowly reached her hand to the back of her waist and drew out her dagger. The light in the girl's eyes seemed to have vanished, replaced with the desire to commit bloody murder.
But before the knife could be brought down, the door to the hall opened again as a red headed woman poked her head in to check on the injured. But in the small moment that Loki's eyes turned toward the woman, little Jack had disappeared from view. No, there she was, hanging from the rafters. Smart girl.
Loki found herself letting out a breath she hadn't been holding, an act mirrored by Hestia beside her.
"Okay, wanna explain what that was?" Loki asked.
"I have no idea," Hestia muttered. "Bell said that Jack had a bit of a…bloody streak in the Dungeon but…I thought it couldn't have been that bad."
Loki let out a sigh. It was like looking at another Mini-Ais except it extended from monsters to people too.
"So, you got a baby Jack the Ripper in your Familia huh?" Loki asked, feeling rather happy about her clever little joke.
"Aha…ahahaha…hahaha…I guess."
Hestia let out a rather stilted and depressed laugh at that. Loki supposed she had already heard that joke before and was tired of it. All the more reason to keep using it then!
Back on screen, the woman made her way pass the injured until she reached the door on the other side of the room. Opening it up revealed several medical supplies. Potions, salves, bandages, the works.
After the woman grabbed a few items and left, the girl dropped back down and stared at the injured man again before returning her knife to its sheath. She pulled a leg back as if wanting nothing more than to kick the man's head instead but ended up thinking better of it as she went to the medical closet and poked her head in to see it for herself.
Nodding to herself, she simply closed the door and walked away. Then again, it wasn't as though she was carrying anything other than her knives and it wasn't as though she could break everything without alerting at least someone.
Hestia and Loki watched Jack comb the castle for about another half hour, finding a pantry where Apollo Familia kept some of their food supplies, before she returned to the spot on the wall where she had climbed up from. Once there, she suddenly turned around after a nod and started retracing her steps.
X-x-X-x-X
Lily had been unsure about letting Assassin explore the enemy castle alone, but her fears had been completely unwarranted. She had been able to make it in and out without giving herself away and had found two of the enemy's supply closets. Too bad she couldn't find any of the bigger ones, but a medical cabinet and a pantry was good enough for now.
The medical closet was located in a large hall that had been turned into an infirmary to treat the people who had been burned by Welf's Magic Sword. Lily remembered the power she had seen used against the Black Goliath. The new sword was nowhere near that level but Welf had used it several times without the blade shattering. Judging from the conversation between Welf and Caster, it probably wouldn't shatter as easily as regular Magic Swords either. Had Welf started down the path of creating Magic Swords on the level of the Servants' Weapons?
Lily quickly shook her head, clearing away the irrelevant thoughts as she and Assassin made their way across the room, being careful not to step on anyone.
"Jack? What's wrong?"
"That man was there when they made fun of Mommy and Emma."
Assassin pointed toward one of the injured humans on the floor.
"Can We hurt him more?"
"No."
Lily quickly shut the Servant down, ignoring her puffed cheeks, and dragged her by the hand toward the closet. They carefully opened it up and slipped inside. First order of business was to destroy part of their medical supplies.
Lily would have loved to stuff as many of these potions into her pack as she could, but her pack was nowhere large enough to do that and it was currently filled with items prepared for the sabotage as well as potions of a higher grade than the ones in this closet. Just in case.
In any case, Lily and Assassin got to work.
The two of them removed tiny stones from one of the pockets in Lily's backpack and carefully set them around on the shelves. Each stone had a strange symbol carved into them, with each one having a pair of the same color. These were stones holding Rune Magic that they received from Lancer.
If activated properly, they should explode outward, shattering the potions and damaging everything else in the closet.
They were set to go off the second time the door medical closet door slams shut. Supposedly anyway.
Once that was done the two of them quietly slipped out of the closet and carefully shut the door behind them. Thankfully no one was awake or healthy enough to notice them. Lily understood the feeling completely. She had wanted nothing more than to sleep the burns away after the Black Goliath fight after all.
With that done, it was time to hit the pantry.
Lily had Assassin take the lead at a distance as the Servant was less likely to be spotted than Lily was. Unlike Assassin, Lily couldn't mask her scent all the way and she still made a bit of noise when she moved. Not much, but she suspected any High-Class Adventurer would be able to spot her if Welf and Bell could. She also had to avoid any chienthropes or werewolves that Apollo Familia might have.
Thankfully it seemed as though the two of them weren't on any of their patrol routes as they only had to hide from humans on the way to the kitchen pantry.
The kitchen was also devoid of life aside from a guard patrol outside of it. Luckily there was a big enough gap in their patrols for a skilled thief like Lily to slip through. It was rather clear that they were not putting much effort into their job. Their morale must be rather low after losing two flags with nothing to show for it.
Once inside the pantry, Lily and Assassin set to work, carefully placing inconspicuous little bags amongst the rest of the ingredients. They were little stink-bombs made by Naza to help them for the War Game. Lily had helped her make them and their effectiveness was experienced first hand by the chienthrope who accidentally set one off right in front of her face. The poor woman was rolling on the floor rubbing her nose against everything she could to try and get the smell out. It was probably the second time Naza ever came so close to death, via nearly chopping her own nose off.
Lily was just happy that she wasn't nearly as affected due to the mask she managed to slip on beforehand.
Nevertheless, this way a good portion of the enemy rations would be spoiled with this attack. Lily had wanted to do a bit more like spiking the food with laxatives and other weak poisons, but Bell and Hestia put their foot down on that and only allowed her to do something so overt that Apollo Familia would have to be blind and stupid to not notice.
And so, stink bomb it was along with some firecrackers and paint bombs.
"Is Jack finished?" Lily asked as she set down the last stink bomb at the base of pantry so that it would pop if someone swung the door all the way open to get in.
"Yes," Assassin replied as she gingerly set one at the top shelf in a way that even a light shake would cause it to fall down and explode. "Stinky stinky…"
"It's going to smell a lot worse if it explodes while Lily and Jack are in here," Lily said as she reached for the door. "So, it's time to go-"
But before she could touch the handle, the doorknob turned and the door slowly creaked open.
The one who entered was a pallum, looking rather sleepy and was either here to get a late-night snack or sent to pick up one by someone else. He blinked several times as he looked at…no…looked through Lily toward Assassin who was staring back at him.
And that was when all hell broke loose.
X-x-X-x-X
Gina had been waiting patiently by the wall trying to remain focused. But it was so boring that she found herself sitting with her back to the wall while kicking her legs up and down. She didn't have much of a role to play in this War Game and to be honest, she didn't care. She wasn't one to stand in the spotlight after all. Gina would much rather support Primo or Bell in their dreams instead.
Still, it didn't mean that she was happy just sitting on her hands like this.
"Are they done yet?" She muttered to herself.
A shrill scream echoed in the night sky, causing her to jump to her feet.
"A girl's scream? It didn't sound like Lily or Jack though."
Nevertheless, it was definitely something that shouldn't be happening during a stealth mission.
Gina quickly grabbed onto the rope and pulled herself up top and looked around.
As she scanned the courtyard, someone crashed through a window, screaming their head off. Hot on his heels was a smiling black shadow that Gina had gotten well acquainted with the last few days before the War Game.
It wasn't the cheerful or playful one that Gina knew though. It was an empty smile that one wore because they were enjoying something that they probably shouldn't be enjoying.
The person Assassin was chasing blew past two guards shouting at him, completely unaware of Assassin coming up behind them. In a flash of steel, the guards dropped to the ground, one clutching their arm which had been cut clean off below the elbow and the other holding their stomach.
A panting Lily came out of the window soon after, pulling out several potions as she dumped one on the one who got cut across the stomach before grabbing the detached arm, jamming it against the stump, and pouring another potion over it.
She then pulled out a glowing orb, smacked it against her leg, loaded it into her crossbow, and fired it up into the air.
Red smoke poured out of the orb. It was a flare that was supposed to signal that the stealth mission failed and that they needed help.
Red meant that Assassin was the one that was in trouble but from what Gina saw, it was more like Assassin was the one causing trouble.
Bell and Fia would be on their way immediately after seeing the flare so Gina and Lily would have to at the very least slow down Assassin somehow.
Gina wasn't dumb enough to think she could actually stop her. Not to mention that she didn't think Apollo Familia would believe her if she said she was trying to help them.
"Ahhh…what a pain!" Gina groaned as she stood up and drew out her daggers before crossing them into a "X" above her head.
"Blazing sparks come forth!" She chanted, sparks shooting out from her body. "Let the hunt commence, fueled by rage!"
It was the magic she got after receiving a Grimoire of all things from Primo, who in turn had received it from Caster. And who knows where the Captain got it from.
"This one pays tribute to Penthesilea! Outrage Ortigia!"
Lightning shot out from her body before condensing around her like a shell. From the outside it looked as though she was inside a bubble of red lightning, one that expanded and contracted at her will.
With her enhancement active, she raced across the wall toward where Assassin was chasing her prey…was that a pallum? There was no way a pallum could be faster than Assassin unless they were Braver or maybe one of Freya's Bringar.
Which meant Assassin was obviously toying with him.
Leaping off the wall, Gina landed between Assassin and the pallum.
"Jack, stop!" Gina said, spreading her arms out to try and block Assassin. The Servant simply jumped over her. Gina blinked as she slowly turned around. "Yep. What was I thinking?"
The bubble contracted around her as she spun around on her heel. The red sparks streaked across her arms and legs as she sped after Assassin. Each step she took left a small blot of fire on the grass as she quickly closed the distance between her and Assassin. Normally, no amount of magic would be able to let her close the gap, she found that out repeatedly. But since Assassin was playing around, it was easy to get close by running by her side.
"Jack, stop!" Gina called out again, but Assassin ignored her and kept on running. Well, at least she wasn't trying to kill her too.
Three guards tried to block them, probably not getting the memo that Gina was trying to save them.
"Out of the way! Out of the way!"
Thinking that they'd probably have a better chance at surviving a Crozzo Magic Sword than a rather angry and out of control Assassin, Gina drew the purple Magic Sword Welf gave her and swung it down in front of her.
A sparkling electrical explosion sent them flying away, allowing Assassin to run by without bothering to even glance in their direction.
"Jack, come on!"
"Over there!"
Spinning around, Gina saw several archers pointing at her. They drew their bows and took aim at her.
Before they could fire, Gina slammed a hand down onto the grass, causing the lightning coursing around her to expand like a balloon. Their arrows made contact with the bubble and sparks shot out from her body into them, sending them flying away from her. A little handy benefit to her little shield.
Gina then swung the Magic Sword down toward them, sending another surge of electric energy out at their feet, blasting them away.
After that, the Magic Sword cracked and crumbled away.
"Uh oh…" Gina muttered. "Welf's gonna be mad."
Throwing the rest of the broken sword aside, she tried to call out to Assassin one more time.
"Jack, enough, please!"
But Assassin still refused to stop "playing." Or rather, it looked like she was finally done playing. She drew out a knife and flung it at the pallum's leg. The pallum let out a scream as he fell to the ground, knife lodged into the back of his leg. He flipped himself around to see Assassin slowly walking up to him, cleaver at the ready, ignoring the pallum's pleas for forgiveness.
"JACK!"
Luckily for the pallum, salvation came in the form of Bell, literally dropping in from the sky.
The Hestia Familia Vice Captain landed behind the pallum so that Assassin could see him immediately.
Blood drained out of Assassin's face immediately as though she had seen something she desperately did not want to see. Considering it was Bell, her beloved "mommy," Assassin no doubt knew what she was doing was bad. She even quickly hid her knives behind her back and started turning her head around as if trying to find a place to escape to.
Seeing that Assassin had stopped her rampage, Bell let out a sigh as he looked up. Gina looked up as well and saw Fia flying around in a circle above the castle.
Operation Harpy Fall!
A super unique plan where they had Fia carry one of them and drop them into the middle of an enemy group! She was also fast enough to swoop in, grab them, and fly away if needed. An ingenious plan that Lily came up with when Fia offered to fly Primo around when the elf asked her if flying in the sky was all that fun. A plan that could only work if one was light enough to be carried by a harpy!
Too bad they had to reveal it like this though.
Bell then turned to look at the pallum in front of him. To Gina's surprise, Bell yanked the knife out of his leg and carefully helped him to his feet.
"It's Luan, right?" Bell asked. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah?" Luan replied.
"Good."
And then Bell casually backhanded the pallum across the face, sending him flying across the yard. The fact that he did it with such a passive expression on his face actually made Gina shiver. Wait, Luan? Wasn't that the pallum that insulted Bell, Emma and Hestia at the bar?
"Ooooooh," Gina muttered to herself with a nod as the electricity around her vanished. "No wonder Jack was so angry."
Bell simply watched Luan's body roll to a stop before walking up to Assassin who flinched away as he raised a hand up, no doubt expecting to be hit for disobeying him and going off on a near-killing spree.
However, all Bell did was place his hand on Assassin's shoulder and pull her into a hug.
"Have you calmed down?" He asked softly. "I'm very upset right now. Do you know why?"
"We're sorry…" Assassin said quickly. "We're sorry We broke our promise. Please don't hate Us."
"I can't ever hate you. I am upset that you broke your promise, but I don't blame you. Even I could just barely hold it in after all."
"You call that holding it in?" Gina asked, pointing to the groaning pallum in the distance. "He must have flown ten meters, at the least!"
Bell didn't say anything to Gina's little joke. He simply let out a breath before grabbing and throwing Assassin into Gina's arms. He then drew out his two minotaur horn blades and swung them above his head.
A red sword smashed down above him into his own blades before he forced them to the side. Their owner landed only a few meters away from Bell before launching himself at Bell again.
"Bell Cranel!" The Apollo Familia Captain, Hyacinthus Clio screamed at him. "Even if it's just you! As long as it's just you!"
"We don't have time for this!" Bell hissed. "Gina, Lily!"
Gina didn't need clarification on what to do. It was time to freaking go.
Hoisting Assassin over her shoulder, Gina made a beeline for the stairs leading up the wall.
"Running away!?" Hyacinthus demanded and Bell stopped to look at him before turning his head toward the line of injured Apollo Familia Adventurers.
"There's no time," Bell said again before the flares were fired between them, hiding him and the rest of Hestia Familia in colored smoke courtesy of Lily.
Once the smoke cleared, Hestia Familia was nowhere to be seen, leaving only Apollo Familia to pick up the broken pieces.
X-x-X-x-X
Somewhere during the show, Loki had frozen with her mouth slightly agape and eyes wide. Glancing to her right, she saw Hestia with her hands over her mouth.
"Guess I'll hold off on the jokes for tonight," Loki thought to herself.
The first day of the War Game came to a quiet close.
