YAHOO! I'm back! As promised, continued updates for the next 3 days as well! Hope to see everyone there!
Y/N POV
We were summoned back to Riften Magoji's Mansion, where my friend sat, waiting. Entering the manor, I was immediately greeted by the delicious scent of a feast. However, I refrained myself, and walked towards Riften first as we patted each other on the back.
"Y/N! You're back, my friend!" Riften said, clearly delighted.
"Of course! I even finished that commission on the Great Spirit of Wind! Now that the people of Kararagi can rest easy, I have decided to take my leave, unfortunately. The attacks of the Witch Cult has left the City of Priestella devastated, and some of the candidates tasked me and a team with a mission. So I have to return."
"You couldn't even finish the fine lunch I prepared for you? Is it really that urgent?"
"No, no, I didn't mean it like that. How could I refuse my business partner's generosity? However, I do have one request for you in exchange for a new idea I had recently."
"What exactly are you offering me?"
"A simple blueprint for a revolutionary artillery weapon: not the cannon, trebuchet, nor catapult: a breech loader. A long-ranged weapon that allows you to strike your enemy who is approaching on the horizon. I know I'm exaggerating here, but the range is exceptionally far."
"I see, this is valuable indeed. Now, what did you want from me?"
"A entrance ticket to Zesperga, and the Jimuna Volcano."
"The Jimuna Volcano? For what ever reason would you go to that hellish place? There's nothing but scorching lava and savages nearby. They won't even accept trade, nor do they have anything good."
"That's where you're wrong, my friend. What I'm looking for is not near the tribes... it's in the dead centre of all magma." I pointed to the swords on my back. "I presume you know what those are?"
"Those swords... they are very finely made, from a single glance. However, I can sense something deeper and more powerful hidden inside those vessels. What ever could they be? Unless... no way. Are all of those three, part of the legendary collection that's on par with the Sword Saint's Dragon Sword Reid?"
"You guess correctly. The Shadow Sword, the Spirit Sword, and the Life Sword. Now that the Love Sword is calling out to me, I can't just sit here and deny its beckons, can I?"
"Ha...hahaha! Go ahead, my friend. I am very interested in what and how you'll utilize those divine equipment. I'll inform the head guard of Zesperga via a Minister in Banan, so don't worry."
"I'm glad to have someone to count on, Riften. Well then, let's dine, shall we?"
"This is one very long ride..." I commented on the boring journey as our steam engine carriage slowly moved us towards Zesperga, the lava fortress. It's going to take quite a while before we get there, so I introduced poker to the Battalion and decided to have them duke it out while I pondered on something more important.
We have everything we need until Arc 6 now, don't we?
Three (almost four) swords of power, check.
Five Witch Factors, check.
Abilities unlocked in Deceit Witch Factor: 9 / 10.
What's the last one that has yet to be even mentioned by Frakinedottir? Perhaps she didn't know about the tenth? Perhaps I should ask her that next time I meet her.
"Now, let's see our progress on the elements, which I've not checked in a long time..." I scrolled through to my Periodic Table, and oh god was I shocked.
Woah...
The last time I checked, I was only at Krypton, and now, the whole 5th row has been unlocked! I now have control even over valuable substances such as tin, rhodium, palladium, and even iodine! These are much needed in my future experiments, and brass is already available to use! Trumpets incoming-
CRASH
"What was that?" I asked, confused at the sudden sound that came from the back of the carriage. I got of Fulgenta who was pulling at the front, and everyone got ready as I looked out the window to see what was there.
There was nothing.
Which seemed kind of strange, since I just heard a loud sound-
In that moment, a knife flew past my face, slicing my cheek as it bled. The knife flew past me into the dirt, and only then did I realize around a few hundred men surrounded us. As I tried to figure out what was happening, a large catapult was brought out a few hundred meters from my location, and it launched.
"Bruh. Who wants us dead so much that they will literally send artillery to wipe us out...?"
"I'll take care of this, Y/N." Palmyra said as she readied her staff, and I nodded before she started her spell.
"Il Dona." Palmyra chanted as a giant metal spike rose form the ground and pierced the large piece of stone, shattering it into pieces before the rest of my Battalion exited the carriage.
"You ready, everyone? Let's kick some butt." I said as I took out an iron pole, the weapon that I use whenever I don't want to seriously injure my enemies. "Akra." With the Yang Magic covering my skin, I charged towards the mercenaries.
Omega casted a buff spell on all of us, while Sphinx started drawing Magic Circles around the enemy horde, preventing their escape as one step onto the hidden traps will literally blow them up into the air. Elsa hacked away at them using her kukri knives, while Meili rode on a Wagpig, scaring many bandits out of the way.
Yae and Halibel fought side by side using their kunais. Halibel began to teach Yae how to use her weapons better, as he is a professional ninja. Now with his skills and her original ones as an assassin, decimating the surrounding army was no problem at all.
Colette and Palmyra assisted each other with grace as they slashed and bombarded the enemy with spells. Their combo has recently gotten better, as they are friends who supported each other through their entire lives. Colette's control over her Beast Bracelet has also gotten better, since now she could partially transform herself into the 'Beast' form, for example, she could strengthen one arm for a powerful punch.
Capella was somewhere within the mess turning the bandits into meat bags. Now you might say I should be worried, but I'm not really because she'll turn them back at the end of the battle. It's just her way to put them out of the fight, saving us a lot of work. as for Typhon... she's making people fall to the floor in laughter, as if they've been hit with Rictumsempra.
Seeing that everyone was doing fine, I charged towards the catapult and sliced it to pieces using two diamond swords. Deconstructing the two weapons, I summoned Zeam and readied myself for more mercenaries, but a single one stood out from the crowd, and dashed towards me at a speed that could rival Elsa.
I hastily raised Zeam for a block, and if I didn't, I'm afraid I would've been beheaded in an instant. There was someone this strong in Kararagi besides the Iron Fang and Halibel?
I jumped back to create distance between us, and I suddenly noticed his features. Standing across me was a 1-meter tall rabbit human, with red eyes and a classic kimono wear, along with two white sword sheathes by his side.
Hm... for some reasons, I can't help but feel that this demi-human felt familiar.
I slowly allowed my Imperceptible Extensions to emerge from my back and move towards the rabbit human. However, just before they reached him, he sidestepped to avoid their grasping fingers.
"Ho?" I said, surprised at his skill of perception. "Commendable. Actually, now that I look at you again..." My mind flickered to one of the Tanpenshuus that I've read before, and remembered the description of this very particular fighter. "One of the Commanders of the Scratch of Silver."
"The Beheader, Shiroro Tonerico, is it?" I guessed, and the look on Shiroro's face confirmed it. "Your epithet is so easy to guess, just like Elsa. One simply needs to watch where you're aiming at."
"You seem to know me well. I've never met you nor heard of you until we were hired today, so you could only be someone who has never shown himself while manipulating things behind the scenes. However, the fact that you can block my blow means that you are an experienced fighter. Fascinating. But I will complete my mission." Shiroro unsheathed his two swords, to which I responded by taking out Inen and Ryokyo, before placing Zeam between my teeth using one of my Extensions.
"My pleasure to be sparring with you, Shiroro!" I proclaimed as I dashed towards the mercenary, who jumped into the sky at my approach. Shiroro's nimble body allowed him to pseudo-air-walk, but I can counter that easily.
"Pseudo-Eclipse: Samurai's Wind Steps."
Using the absorbed skill from Gluttony, I marched towards Shiroro in the sky, and our blades clashed before the sounds covered the battlefield, halting everyone's movements.
Just like Elsa, his movements were extremely easy to predict, since they always aimed for the neck. Fitting moves for the 'Beheader'. However, the issue was his insane speed, which could easily match me at Ul Akra enhanced state. I'm barely keeping on with my El Akra, and I activated Al Akra as I summoned my spirits.
"Alchemis: Il Goa."
"Cahya: Il Jiwald."
"Bayanga: Il Minya."
The three original spells soared towards Shiroro, and he was forced to retaliate against the homing middles of fire, light, and shadow crystals. Taking advantage of this moment, I thrusted Inen forward in an attempt to parry his sword away, and miraculously, it worked.
I then slashed down with Ryokyo before he took the blow and fell down to the ground, wincing at the pain before standing up defiantly once again.
He's got spirit, that's for sure.
But I don't have time for this.
"Dominator's Domain Third Gear: Gravitational Downforce."
I activated the barrier that surrounded the area, and Shiroro was instantly pinned to the floor. Miraculously, he eventually got used to it and was somewhat immune to the increase after a little while, before he threw one of this swords as a last-ditch attempt to hit me.
Instinctively, my Imperceptible Extensions and Prudence's Barrier activated, but they didn't even need to. The knife Shiroro threw clattered to the ground as the force of gravity pinned it down, and Shiroro's ears drooped in defeat, which was something I didn't expect to see.
Sighing, I released my fingers and decided to unravel the domain, and the gravity returned to its original intensity. "Come on, get up, Beheader." I said to the rabbit human who laid on the ground, but unexpectedly, he dashed immediately after grabbing his sword, and swiftly cut my head off.
"Ah... still so feisty. Can we just talk about this?" With a flash, my head reattached itself onto my neck, and Shiroro gave a look of absolute surprise and shock. Before he could attack again, he stepped into one of Sphinx's magic circles and an explosion sent him flying into the sky before falling down.
"Return the damn goods that you stole from us, you bastards..." He muttered weakly while struggling to stand up, and his words contained some very interesting information.
"Oh? Stolen goods?" I walked right in front of him, daring him to attack. Seeing that he didn't, I sighed and snapped my fingers. A piece of wood appeared out of thin air as its atoms fused together, and the rabbit-human looked at my hand in wonder.
"See? If I can do this, do I look like I need to steal whatever you guys have? Obviously, whoever hired you to kill us is the one actually stole it. Classic trick."
"Huh? No way that's true. The info-giver was a trusted partner of ours that has been supporting us for so long it's hard to even remember when."
"That's exactly the point. Whoever it is, has probably seen your group as an asset that they want to control. And from my point of view, I believe your mercenary group is one that completes their job quite proficiently. Therefore, since you guys have pride and will not yield to anyone, unlike the Iron Fang which is under Ana's direct employment, they decided to use a different method to acquire you guys, and in this case: by stealing all your goods just so you need to beg them for it since they probably have way more manpower, and along with the added assets from your group, enough to take you all out."
Shiroro started thinking hard, and I personally am sweating on the inside. I'm a damn science kid, not some kind of debater... if not for Chid-chan's restored Book of Wisdom 2.0, I would've been doomed by now.
"Your argument has logic. We'll go see if what you said is true. I know where the info broker's base is. Come, let's go."
"Pleasure working with you."
I then left for the vehicle, and to be honest, those mercenaries really busted it up. So while I fixed up the car Omega, I left the subjugation to the rest of my Battalion.
Whoever the info broker is, they're going to have a really bad day.
Because they messed with the wrong person.
Somewhere in Kararagi...
"...and with that, the Scratch of Silver is ours to control."
"Really? If that's the case, I think we can move onto the next step of our plan. Where are the goods? Our troops are ready for a fight, we just need your resources."
"Delivery!" A sound came from the door, and the info broker looked up in delight.
"Ah, it seems my troops are here-" The info broker walked towards the door, but the entire wall was blown open, revealing the two scheming leaders and a few of their grunts.
"Who dares attack my base?" The one on the throne yelled, furious at the sudden attack. The info broker squealed in surprise as Shiroro came into view.
"Shiroro! What is the meaning of this?"
"I heard all you said, you lying bastard." Shiroro said as he took out his white swords, and in an instant, he beheaded the info broker without even giving him a chance to speak. "Now suffer in hell for your crimes."
"Shiroro!" The leader yelled in rage, and more troops from the info broker's side emerged and cornered the Scratch of Silver's mercenaries. "You think you can get away with this? Even if you get away from here, do you think the Iron Fang will sit still as they watch you usurp my group?"
"They've been already told not to interfere by a higher power. You have no idea what you're dealing with, Chiwakaku. This is the end of the line. As for our current predicament...come in."
Another crash resounded through the building, and when the smoke cleared, half of Chiwakaku's men were wiped out. Five people stood beside Shiroro, and one of them stepped forwards. "Hello, Chiwakaku... remember meeee?"
A whip sword appeared in one of the man's hand, and Chiwakaku reared back in surprise. "You! You're the 6th-"
"Yes, I am. Hello again, Chiwakaku. How many years has it been, around 12? I used to lose against you back then, but now... you are going to die on my blade."
"You're the 6th on the Assassin Rankings... and 4th in command in the Assassination Organization. Why would you help the Scratch of Silver raid our base? If it was personal revenge, you would've just come to assassinate me right away."
"The words of a dying man means nothing to me, Chiwakaku, but I'll tell you for old time's sake. It was Mother's direct orders. Of course, Mother would definitely never do something like this, even if it was a client's request. However, she has a leader now, and I daresay it was this Master's will that I am here. To reunite me with my old enemy in such a fashion, I am both grateful and in awe of such a figure."
"I've dwindled too much, Mother's not going to like it if I drag this on too long..."
"Yutoki, wait-"
"Your fate... is already sealed."
SH-BING