A/N: I have no excuse for why this chapter took up to 3 weeks to update! (pretty sure it was that long). If you've been waiting, so sorry it took this long! Hopefully the next ones won't be delayed. Until then, enjoy for now!
"L-Lev?"
Tensions skyrocketed in the building; none of them could believe their eyes. Lev Lainur, former employee and adviser of the late President of the CSC, Olga's father, and the very man who killed him. The traitorous murderer was the last person anyone one of them wanted to see in the office. Scathach would've already attacked if she hadn't considered the damage she might do to the office. Chevalier, Ushiwakamaru and Kiyohime had their hands on their weapons, ready to draw at a moments notice. Even Shirou, who is meeting him for the first time could tell he was bad news.
"Ahh, nice that you still remember my name." The man nonchalantly strolled into the office, unconcerned by the stares directed at him. Taking in the view of his previous workplace, Lev spots two unfamiliar faces. "Ho? Seems we have some new hires. Professor Lev Lainur, nice to meet you." He slightly bowed at Shirou and Kiyohime, the cyan haired girl hissing back in response.
"L-Lev, what are you doing here? When did you get back, did you finally escape your-"
The German broke into a laugh. "And you actually still believe that made up fantasy of yours despite being able to run this company, that really is something. You really are nothing like your father at all, Olgamally!"
"W-What are you... No, I-"
Cutting Olga off, Boudica grabbed her by the shoulder, almost yanking the silver haired lady back, stepping in front of her. "What are you doing here?"
"It's nice to see you too, Boudica. But my business is with Olga, if you don't-"
"I won't ask again: What Are You Doing Here?!" The redhead composure was slowly starting to slip as anger began to leak out. It was a first for everyone at the office, even Scathach had never seen her friend show anger like this before.
"My my, so hostile. I see you've not changed much, still babying Olga with your nice big sister act." Lev chuckled to himself. "Anyway, I have a contract for Chaldea. I was hoping you could find something for me."
"Do you honestly think we'll actually accept?"
"Now now, don't be so quick to decide. You could at least hear me out."
"Director, there's something Mashu and I-" Walking into the offices, Nightingale and Mashu paused at the door way when they saw the surprise guest. Dropping the folders in her arms, the lavender haired girl rushed towards Lev, clenched fist raised and ready. "Mashu! Wait!"
Aimed for his face, Mashu's fist slammed hard into something, but her strike didn't reach her target. "What the?-" No, she definitely hit something, she could feel her knuckles in contact with a flat surface. A yellow magic circle had formed between them, stopping and shielding Lev from the attack.
"Come now, Mashu. It's not nice to attack someone before greeting them." The magic circle begins to brighten, a strong force pushes Mashu back towards Nightingale. Catching the girl, the nurse quickly draws her weapon, pointing a multi-barreled flintlock pistol at Lev. "Still using that boorish weapon I see, Miss Florence."
"We'll see how boorish it is when you have a new hole in your- Wait, Shirou!"
"Trace, on!" Swords in each hand, Shirou takes the opportunity for a surprise attack, leaping forward for a downward slash. Cutting through the air, Kanshou and Bakuya approached the back turned to him, but an unseen force brings him to a halt, stopping him mid air. "What the heck?!"
"Hmm? You're one of the new faces that joined after my departure." Lev turns to greet him. "What's this? Gradation Air? Sword projection... Interesting, but barbaric." Without moving a single muscle, Shirou is flung against the ceiling, a loud sound indicating the dislocation of his right shoulder before he falls face first to the ground. "I see Chaldea has lowered it's hiring standards if this is-"
"That's enough, we all know you're not hear to reminisce." Scathach cut him off. "Just say what you came to say and leave."
"Still the same as ever, aren't you, former queen of a dead wasteland?" Lev scoffed at her. "Alright then, I'll make this simple for all of you: Bring that thing you call Medusa to the abandoned warehouse at Shinto's harbor at midnight and hand her over." Laying out his demands, the German cracked a smirk before proceeding towards the exit, nonchalantly walking past Nightingale and Mashu as if he didn't just drop a threat. "Oh, and it goes without saying, if I don't reclaim possession of what's mine by tomorrow, Chaldea can consider itself at war."
"One, two and... three."
"YEEOOOWWWWCCCCCHHHHHH!" Following the pop of his shoulder, a loud yelp rang out past the infirmary, through the entire third floor.
"S-Senpai... are you alright?" Mashu asked, removing her fingers from her ears.
"There. You should be good to go, but if you still feel any pain after an hour later, let me know."
"Thanks, Florence-san. Still... who the heck was that? I've never seen magecraft that just stops someone midair like that, and he wasn't even looking at me."
"Shirou-senpai, have you've heard of ESP? It's also known as Clairvoyance, technically falling under the category of physic powers rather than magecraft. But with his intellect, it's possible that Professor Lev managed to achieve a similar effect through magic." Walking back from the countertop, Mashu held a tray with three cups of tea. "That's right, you've never met him. Shirou-senpai, have you heard from anyone about the incident before?"
"I've heard mentions once or twice, but I don't know the specifics." Receiving his teacup, Shirou shook his head in response.
"Where to start... How long have you been in the company?" The nurse asked him.
"I applied right after high school so it's been about a year?"
"Right... this took place on Christmas about two years ago, so a few months before you would've started third year in high school. Olga's father and founder of Chaldea, Marisbilly Animusphere, was still Director at the time, and Lev was part of the company as his adviser as well as a researcher. He was close to the Animusphere's, so from time to time he would partner with Olga in the field, and had also saved her life on multiple occasions. It didn't take long before Olga grew feelings for him, albeit one-sided ones. Cringeworthy to watch, but understandable I suppose."
"Wait, the Director had a crush on him?!" Shirou choked, nearly spitting out some of his tea.
"Ahahaha..." Mashu sweat-dropped.
"As it turns out, he was only getting close to get Olga so her could learn more about Director Marisbilly's weaknesses." Taking a sip of tea, Nightingale continued. "Chaldea held a party on Chirstmas, after which Director Marisbilly and Lev went out to have a drink with each other. Wasn't really surprising since in addition to being colleagues, they were best friends, which as it turns out was nothing more than a big act. The next morning, the Director's headless corpse was on the office front door, holding a mocking letter written with a quill in his own blood. We never found the severed head."
"His head?! What the hell was that Lev guy after?!"
"Information probably. Believe it or not, it is theoretically possible for one to extract information from the brain if it's properly preserved and undamaged. Following that, Lev vanished without a trace." The mistyrose haired nurse sighed. "After that, well... finding out her crush was only screwing around with her didn't exactly leave Olga with pleasant memories. Granted, she doesn't act that much different now than she does back then but... she's definitely changed. And here we are, with him threatening us to hand him a victim of human-magic experimentation. Can't say I'm surprised, really."
"So that's why the Director was so..."
"Why she didn't just verbally tear him a new one as her usual tyrant-like self would?" Nightingale finished Shirou's sentence. "Yea... Let's just say that when it comes to that traitor, things get a little complicated with our Director. I'd imagine right now she's actually considering weather or not we should hand Medusa over, even though she's fully aware that it would be wrong. Regardless, I sure as hell am not handing over one of my patients to that scumbag."
...
*knock knock*
"Coming." Placing the novel in hand back onto the small stack next to her, Medusa quickly made her way towards the door. "Oh, Scathach, Marie-san? Please, come in." Inviting them both in, she quickly cleaned up the novels scattered around on her bed. "Is something wrong?"
"Well, I don't mean to scare you but... there's something you need to know." Leading the tall girl to sit next to her, the crimson haired woman quickly filled her in on the situation with their surprise guest, the bad blood between him and Chaldea, his visit this morning and the demand they received from him. "It may not be safe here anymore, so we might have to move you someplace safer."
"Oh... I see..."
"Medusa-san, do you recognize this man?" With the tablet she brought with her, Marie pulled up Lev Lainur's profile on screen
"No, I've never met him." Taking a close look at the photo, the purple haired girl shook her head. "Is that the man Scathach was telling me about, the one who's after me?"
"Yes, but don't worry. Chaldea will do everything in our power to protect you, we're definitely not going to hand you over to anyone, okay? Now then, we'll let you get back to your books." The french lady reassured her. Gesturing to Scathach, the two of them quickly left the dorm room. "So, what do you think?"
"Well, it's possible that Medusa has never met Lainur directly while he had held her captive. It didn't seem like she was lying. Doesn't solve our problem though."
"You're not wrong..." Stroking the rose-shaped ring on her finger, Marie let out a sigh. "As much as I hate to admit it, we have our backs against the wall here, especially with who we're up against. Moving Medusa to a safer place is going to be tough; that man knows where all our safe-houses are. And we'll to deal with whatever is going down at the harbor tonight, which will more than likely- no, it'll definitely end with conflict; there is no way we get to walk away from this."
"So be it, I am not handing Medusa over under any circumstances. Especially not to some scum that refers to her as a 'thing' rather than a person." A chill went down Marie's spine, she could never steel herself for how scary Scathach can be when she's pissed.
When the both of them returned to the second floor offices, Ushiwakamaru called them over from her desk, where Chevalier and Kiyohime were gathered around. "Ah! Antoinette-dono, Scathach-dono. Just in time, I believe I have a plan."
...
"Here you go, Olga" Walking into the Director's office with a tray, Boudica placed two cups of coffee on her desk along with a small plate of cookies. "Just as you like it. I also have some cookies if you'd like. You could do with a little sugar right now."
The silver haired lady just stared at the cup with no response. It was written all over her face, the reality that her father's murderer showed up today. No, in Olga's mind, a part of her still believed that Lev was forced and ordered to kill her father. Even though all evidence points towards the truth, her sentiment as a human still couldn't believe it. The man she ended up falling in love with was merely playing around with her. If the usual Olga could see her right now, the moping girl would've been fired without a second thought.
"Mmm! This is good, you should try one." Taking one of the cookies into her mouth, the redhead tried to break the silence again, but to no avail. Sighing, she walked up next to the silver haired lady. "Olga... Alright, let's get this over with. You'll feel better if you let it out instead of bottling it up."
"I... What should I... I just... I mean what if. Do you- do you think that if we comply, Lev will..."
"Do you really want me to answer that?" Turning away, Boudica looked out the office window, trying to hide the disdain slipping onto her face. "Olga, even if you refuse to accept them, facts and facts. You don't want to accept the truth, fine, I won't force anything onto you. But here's the reality of the situation is, we'd be handing over an innocent girl to a murderer. Can you really bring yourself to make that decision?"
"I... you're right... I just... still can't believe that..."
Taking a breath, the redhead quickly regained her composure. Turning the Director's chair to face her, she bent down in front of her, taking the silver haired lady's hands into her own. "It doesn't matter what that man said, nor should it. You've done a brilliant job of running the company up till now. I believe you'll do the right thing, Olga." Clasping them together, Boudica had a pure and genuine smile on her face. "And I'll be there supporting you all the way."
"Boudica... Thank you."
"Now, you should finish your coffee before it gets cold, we have work to do."
*knock knock*
"Director, it's Ushiwakamaru! Scathach-dono and I have something to discuss with you."
"Where'd you go? Out for lunch?" Entering the abandoned warehouse, Sanson was waiting for Lev when he got back to their temporary hideout.
"I stepped out for a short walk, also ran into some old friends on my way. Nothing you'd need to concern yourself with."
"Sure... You do know that the point of hiring people is so that you don't have to do things yourself, right?"
"Come now, Mr Sanson. Even I'm allowed to have a little fun, to stretch my legs for a bit and put in my fair share of effort."
"You really are one screwed up individual, aren't you?" The executioner sighed. "Anyway, the others are raring to kill something, Eric especially. As for Phantom, I've done what I can for his face, not that he had one to begin with, but his injuries are beyond saving. With how obsessed with revenge he is right now, the freak won't admit it, but he won't last a few more days. Oh, and that was delivered while you were out." He pointed at the large freezer truck parked in a corner.
"Ho? It's finally arrived?" A malicious grin grew itself on Lev's face.
"Not that I care, but I suppose I should ask what that is. That's clearly not a freezer truck, is it?"
"No, Mr Sanson, it is not. This, my friend, is an investment I spent three months chasing across half of Greece. It was quite troublesome, but worth the effort." Walking up to the vehicle, the German pulled out a small tablet from his coat. With a few swipes and pushes, the truck's door slowly opened up, and Lev's broke into a murderous smile. From within the freezer truck, the sounds of someone breathing could be heard. "Be at the warehouse in Shinto's docks at midnight for the exchange. And let Phantom do what he wants, there's someone who'll take his place should he not return... We are going to have some fun."
The Shinto docks, usually bustling with workers during the day, was dead silent under nightfall, the sounds of the sea was the only thing to be heard in the otherwise empty area. Parking the company car near the entrance, Scathach, Medusa and Ushiwakamaru got out, making their way toward the abandoned fishing warehouse nearest to where stacks of shipping containers were kept.
"This..." The crimson haired woman could feel it, a boundary field had been set up around the area, probably to keep away any unwanted attention. Rounding the corner, the executioner stood waiting for them near the other warehouse entrance, along with the Bloodaxe King and the indigo haired fighter. "Well... here we go..."
The two groups began their approach towards each other, stopping when they were around seven meters apart. "Well this is a surprise. I thought for sure you wouldn't show, at least not with the hostage. So what's your angle here, surely you guys aren't just going to hand her over just like that." Sanson remarked, resting his drawn claymore on his shoulder.
"Save it, hurry up and get this over with before I change my mind." Scathach spat back a him, her fist clenched in anger.
"Alright then, you." He pointed his blade at the purple haired girl. "Come on over, you've someone to meet."
Hesitantly, Medusa began walking over slowly, looking towards the ground though it did nothing to hide the grimace on her face. Ushiwakamaru remained silent next to Scathach, she could see the white haired man scanning the area, still wary of them. Tension rose as either side remained in place, both waiting for the other to make a move. When she finally got to them, Eric yanked the purple haired girl over by her arm. "Oi, Sanson! Are we really just going to leave without a fight?!" The Bloodaxe King yelled out.
Sanson didn't respond, still unsure of the situation. Overhead, dark clouds were passing the sky above them, temporarily blocking the moonlight on them. Turning towards the hostage, she stared back at his gaze. Under the darkness, he could barely see her yellowish grey eyes. "Wait, yellowish?-"
"Kiyo-chan! Now!"
"Yes, Anjin-samaaaaa!" Breaking into a devilish smile, the purple haired girl literally started steaming. In an instant, she lit up a bright orange, bursting into a fiery explosion. The flames engulfed the axe wielder while the other two barely got away, but not without suffering burns of their own.
"What the hell?! Dammit, Caligula! Attac-"
"Anzus!" Scathach blast forth a volley of rune flames, creating a makeshift wall of fire that force the Sanson and Caligula to separate before he could finish. "Mashu!"
"HAAAAH!" Sprinting out from her hiding spot the shadows, Mashu comes charging full speed at them. Armed with a giant cross-shaped grey shield, she runs straight into the indigo haired fighter, ramming him towards the shipping containers storage.
"Shit! What the heck was that?! Lev never mentioned anything about the target spontaneously combust-" Another explosion occurred, blasting a burning Eric into the abandoned warehouse through the wall.
From within the scorching flames, someone else rather than the target walked out. Long purple hair slowly shortened to a shorter cyan blue, her skin paled while two white horns sprouted forth on either side of her head. "That's what you get for laying your hands on me. Only Anjin-sama is allowed to touch me, you vermin!"
Shapeshifting, the ability to borrow another's body or change ones appearance. The latter in Kiyohime's case, the dragon-girl's ability to physically morph was flawless as long as she could act the part.
"Good job, Kiyo-chan!" Ushiwakamaru joined her side, both of them headed towards the new warehouse entrance while Scathach headed after Mashu.
"Tch... great, just great. Dammit, where the hell is Phantom?!- !" Barely raising his claymore in time, he managed to block the bright pink light aimed at his chest, the cluster of magic flares backing him a few inches. Looking up, he sees the caster accompanied by her body guard "And then there's this one..."
"Sorry Mr Sanson, but we'll be your opponents." Thigh high white boots with the feet and heels black, a black miniskirt to go with the ruby red sleeveless blouse with three purple flower petals printed near the left breast. Two long silver twintails coming out of the large red hat she wore, adorned with frills like the rest of her outfit. Two ruby gloves on each hand, a rose-shaped ring sat on her right middle finger.
"I see time at the Association has made you a rather capable magus, hasn't it?" Frankly, Sanson could believe his eyes, the scared pathetic girl he failed to kill years ago couldn't be found anywhere in Marie's sky blue eyes. Looking down, part of his left arm had been singed. Second degree superficial at most, he could still make use of it, but having an impaired arm isn't ideal against the two of them. "A two on one? Pretty sure the Antoinette family's idea of fair is different there, Princess."
In response, the french lady fired off another flare cluster at him. "You're right, my parents wouldn't consider this fair, but the dead don't really have a say in this. So if you wanted them to have a say in this, you really shouldn't have killed them."
...
"HAAAAAH!" Raising her shield in retaliation, Mashu met another wild swing with a shield thrust.
Lord Camelot, a specialized mystic code in the form of an giant cross-shaped shield. Unusable by most due to its absurd size and weight, it spent years gathering dust in Chaldea's storage until it finally found a wielder with a compatible magecraft type, and one that could actually lift it. Armed with her mystic code this time, her defenses were far stronger, nearly quadrupled compared than before since she had an ideal catalyst to focus her magecraft. Right now, Valient Wall of Snowflakes could allow her to bring a speeding locomotive to a complete halt.
But even then, her opponent did not stop. "GRRRRAAAAHHHH!" No matter how strong he was, there'd be no getting past her defenses with just bare fist alone. Knuckles split and bleeding, he still continued hurling his fist over and over again even though he could barely budge the immovable object in front of him. But the man did not seem bothered by this- no, it was as if he didn't care at all.
Timing it right, when the next fist slammed the shield again, Mashu parried his arm away. Using the top vertical end of the cross-shaped shield, the lavender haired girl thrust her arm forward like she was swinging her fist. Before the mad fighter's other arm could reach her, her attack aimed for his gut connected, the impact sending Caligula backwards, cratering into the ground. "There... that should- !"
"Urrrrgggghhhh..." Pulling himself out of the ground, Caligula struggled back up. Her attack must've broken a rib, blood had been forced up his throat and leaking from his mouth. But the mad fighter wasn't the least bit concerned, instead he started snarling and growling at the shield-wielder. "GRRRAAAAHHH!" Letting out an enraged howl, the mad fighter charges forward at her.
"Mashu! Duck!" The instant she heard the command, Mashu dropped onto the ground, allowing a runestone to blitz right over her head. Impacting against the indigo haired man, electricity burst forth from the symbol etched on the small rock, shocking the man in place. "Now!" Taking her chance, Mashu charged forward at the defenseless opponent. Quickly spinning in a one-eighty, she slammed her shield against him, sending the mad fighter flying right into a shipping container. When the dust cleared, the man finally showed no signs of movement; if he wasn't already dead, then he surely won't be getting up anytime soon.
"T-Thanks, Scathach-senpai." Running up to the crimson haired woman, Mashu thanked her.
"Don't mention it. Come on, let's get to the others and deal with the remaining two."
"Senpai, was there anyone else? We only had three here tonight." The lavender haired girl asked as they both ran back towards the others.
"I don't think so, if anyone else were here, they'd have attacked already. It's like Ushiwakamaru predicted, they're most likely- !" Noticing a growing shadow on the ground, the two of them looked up, eyes immediately widening to find a shipping container flying towards them. "Look out!" Quickly tackling the younger girl, Scathach and Mashu barely entered a walkway in between two stacks on shipping containers in time as the giant metal box crashed into the ground. "D-Damn... Mashu, you okay?"
"Y-yea... somehow..." Using Lord Camelot to steady herself, the lavender haired girl quickly got back up. "Wha... what was that?"
"RRRRRRRAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" A roar, and it wasn't the indigo haired man from before.
"Great... what the hell is that?"